#still working through this year's xmas cards for friends

[writeyouin]

Hello!! Omg I love your writing SOOOO much!!! If holiday requests are open, I was wondering if you might gift us with a V for vendetta Christmas fic? Like, something fluffy where reader is stuck in the shadow gallery and is having a real blue Christmas UNTIL... V surprises them with something unexpectedly festive? *cough* mistletoe *cough* ❤️❤️❤️

V X Reader – Christmas Blues Part 1 of 2

A/N – Okay, so I got two very similar xmas requests for V for Vendetta, so I’m doing this as a 2 parter. Part one is this, part 2 will be smut. You can read part one without part two.

Warnings – None.

Rating – T

V stared at you, certain you must find his expression mocking behind the jeering grin of his mask. He had never intended to hurt your feelings, only to let you down gently as it were. He knew he didn’t do enough for you. There was never enough time, and his work was important… But weren’t you also important?

No, nothing could compromise his mission. If all went according to plan, he would be ready to blow up the Old Bailey in another two years, thus starting his revolution. Yet, doing such things took time, and there was so much that V had to learn and prepare. He didn’t have time to rest – not even on Christmas Eve. However, in telling you so and seeing your disappointment – Well, it was just another way in which he was a monster.

The worst part was that you were taking it in your stride. Granted, V could see how upset you were as your eyes became glassy with tears you refused to shed, but you didn’t complain; it seemed that you knew just how much his work meant to him.

And so, V left you, stating a humble apology as he passed you and made his way to the roof. He had to hurry. There was a train to catch – a train straight to the Chancellor that was jam-packed with priceless intel.

Even when V left you, you still refused to cry. A small part of you had known this would happen. It was quite likely that V didn’t celebrate Christmas anyway. How many times had he told you that the holiday was stolen from its pagan roots? Or that the name was changed to suit its Christian hosts? And now that the UK was stuck in a dictatorship, the Holiday was only used to control people – it was like a gift the Chancellor could give or take away at will.

If the population was good, they would get their later curfews and sparkly light shows, but if they ever needed further subjugation, then a false threat would be created by Suttler’s goons, and harsher lockdowns would be put in place. Then, said imaginary threat would then be taken care of just in time for New Year’s Day so the people would have a chance for revelry, all while feeling a false sense of security under their great and powerful leader.

So, that left you all alone, as usual, but you knew you couldn’t blame V. To act as he had was simply his nature. You could no more ask him to change than you could ask birds to stop flying or fish to cease swimming. You simply had to pull up your bootstraps, pick some traditions, and enjoy the Holiday spirit.

That was easier said than done since there was nobody to lift your spirits and hype you up as you did all the things you were supposed to do. After eating dinner alone, listening to Christmas music, and hosting a lone trivia card game, you were quite thoroughly depressed.

In the end, you put on a film from V’s collection. In your current mood, It’s a Wonderful Life seemed to be the right choice; besides, you liked picking a film from Suttler’s blacklist, and It’s a Wonderful Life had been banned at the start of his reign for its socialist views.

Partway through the film, you spotted V’s sparring partner – the suit of armour he tormented during his favourite movies whenever he thought he was alone. Well, if he could be V’s movie frenemy, then he could also act as your film friend.

Slowly, you started talking to him, giving your opinions on the film, and of its characters. At some point, you began acting out scenes, much as you had seen V do, though where he chose violence, you chose love. The suit was your James Stewart, and you, Donna Reed, though sometimes, you would switch roles if you thought it was a particularly good Stewart scene. You lassoed the moon for your metal friend, then you switched roles and offered it a broken mansion for its honeymoon.

Although there was no mistletoe kiss in the film, you stole some you had decorated the fireplace with anyway, placing it over the armour’s helm. It was almost as if you would have felt silly kissing it without the mistletoe, even though it was ridiculous to peck the metal beak either way. You turned away from the unmoving man so that when you did kiss him, you would be able to swing around dramatically and give him that world-ending, 1940’s bombshell of a kiss.

The film played alongside in the background as George Baily returned home safe – he was loved and cared for, and then, it was the perfect moment to swing around, throw your arms over the broad shoulders and kiss –

V?!

Your momentum carried you forward as your lips pressed against the cool metal of his mask.

You tried to scramble back, hurrying out apologies but V held you steady.

“Don’t.” He told you. “Don’t apologise.”

“V, I- I thought you were-”

“I came back,” He said as if it were the only thing that mattered. In truth, he had rushed through his mission, stolen the required intel on a USB and hurried back without even so much as looking at the data. Leaving you the way he had didn’t sit right with him. You were an amazing person, always forced to put yourself second since you did everything you could to please V. He didn’t want things to be that way. He wanted you to have more.

Granted, the two of you weren’t yet in a relationship, but you had just kissed him, albeit inadvertently, and V was no fool; he knew the feelings you harboured for him.

“(Y/N),” He whispered your name, placing a gloved hand on your cheek. “You have given me more than I could have ever hoped for. You are a virtuoso of my heart, vibrant and vivacious as you pass through the veneer of villainy that masquerades so violently in the vales above. Of all that resides here in the Shadow Gallery, you are the most valuable to me. Although it is entirely selfish of me to ask such a thing of you, I hope that you will stay with me… always.”

You trembled against V, entirely terrified to open your mouth in case no sound came out. He waxed poetry so eloquently, and you often failed to make yourself say all the things you thought without tripping over your words.

Still, you couldn’t stay silent at such an important time in your life. V was – He was everything and to have him by your side would be like capturing the stars themselves, cosmic and inexplicable as they illuminated your heart and mind, burning any darkness or fear away.

You couldn’t look away from V, knowing his gaze must be expectant beneath the mask. Realisation dawned upon you, you didn’t need fancy words, or masses of poetry to complete the moment. All you needed was what V valued most; the truth.

“I don’t want to spend a day without you. I love you, V.”

“Then, by all means, let us abandon our fat metal friend,” V spared the suit of armour a backward glance, thinking how you could have kissed it instead of him, “and retire elsewhere. I myself do not celebrate this holiday, but I would love to partake in some of your more beloved traditions.”

#fanfiction #fanfic #reader insert #reader #v #v x reader #v fore vendetta #v for vendetta x reader #christmas blues #part 1 #part one

[kingsofeverything]

I’m interested! Can you post The fake relationship for a work party? 🫶

Thank youuu 💛 Yes! This is based on a tumblr post that I can’t find now.

Anyone who reads this, remember it’s unfinished, unedited, etc.

And here’s the list of other WIPs

“Yes. Yes, sir. Sounds great. We’ll see you then,” Louis says, and waits for his boss to hang up first. As soon as he does, Louis slumps in his ergonomically designed desk chair and sighs.

He never meant to lie to his boss. It’s not the sort of thing he normally does. But when he first started the job almost a year before, his boss asked if he had a girlfriend or a boyfriend, and his brain couldn’t keep up with his mouth. He answered as if it was a multiple choice question instead of a yes or no question, accidentally outing himself as well. Thankfully his boss just smiled and nodded and told Louis to bring his boyfriend along to happy hour at the bar around the corner.

That first day, Louis went out after work with his new boss and coworkers like a dutiful employee who desperately wanted to keep his job. It turns out that, for a group of accountants, they’re a rather wild bunch. And at almost twenty-eight years old, with a good bit of bartending through college, Louis is… not so wild.

He had more than his fair share of booze and boys over the last decade or so, but as he’s gotten older, his hangovers have gotten worse, and his tastes have changed. Now he much prefers a glass of wine with dinner (two on weekends), video games or movies on the couch (the ability to pause and go pee is underrated), and a ten o’clock bedtime (midnight on weekends). He does go out occasionally, usually with his best friend and roommate Harry, though with his schedule at the bakery, they tend to stay in more. But Louis hasn’t had time to date, really. Or hasn’t made time. He hasn’t found a guy who can give his comfy couch any competition.

But his boss doesn’t know any of that because Louis had the brilliant idea that first evening out after his first day on the job, to use an imaginary boyfriend as an excuse to leave early. He’s done the same every single night out since. Sometimes he’ll stop in for one drink and make a joke about getting home before his boyfriend goes to bed. But most of the time he successfully uses his imaginary boyfriend’s odd work schedule as a reason to skip out on everything. Even the annual company picnic in the park the previous summer.

When he started the lie, he kept it bland and boring, with no details about his imaginary boyfriend or his job. Less than a month into it, Louis started to elaborate. First, mentioning Harry by name, and then dropping little details into conversations. It was easy when no one knew Harry and Louis knew Harry wouldn’t be stopping by his office or anything like that when it’s way across town from the bakery and their apartment. And it wasn’t as if Harry would care. He’d probably think it was funny. So Louis just kept his little lies to himself, not wanting to burden Harry with keeping an unnecessary secret.

Now he’s backed himself into a corner. Because his boss gave him plenty of notice and has practically begged Louis to bring Harry to the company holiday party.

So he has less than a month to find a new job.

Louis flicks his finger against the clip art of the printed invitation, eyes darting around the office to check that no one is watching him, not that they’d be able to see his text conversation. Still he backs up to the far wall of his cubicle, the one that’s actually a wall and not a partition, and sends a quick message.

Louis: Need a favor

He bites his lip, staring at the screen, but a reply comes almost immediately.

Harry: What

Louis: Come to my company xmas party and pretend to be my boyfriend and I’ll give you $20

Harry: What

Louis: $20 and a $20 Starbucks gift card to pretend to be my boyfriend for one night and not ask why

No dots appear. Louis blinks at his phone, trying to will Harry to agree.

Harry: $20 and a $20 Starbucks card, a foot massage, buy me sushi for dinner, and you have to take the trash out without complaining about it for the next year. And we’re talking about this when you get home tonight. I might need to add to my list of demands.

Louis: Ok

If that’s all Harry asks of him, he’ll gladly give it.

—

“Hello, darling,” Louis says the second he opens the door and sees Harry laying on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. The hood of his sweatshirt is pulled tight around his face so that only his eyes and nose are visible. He looks tired, but comfortable and warm. “That’s my hoodie you’re wearing.”

“Finders keepers.” Harry loosens the strings of his hoodie to uncover his pout, pushing it back off his head. With a quick pat to the couch cushion, he says, “Come sit.”

Kicking off his shoes, Louis drapes his coat over the back of the couch. Harry lifts his head, and Louis sits, waiting for him to lay back down so he can comb his fingers through Harry’s curls.

The weight of Harry’s hand against his shin is warm even through his trousers. Harry reaches down and slips his fingertips under the hem, pushing down Louis’ socks and scratching lightly at the hair on his ankles. He sighs and his breath is hot on Louis’ thigh. “Explain, please.”

Louis starts at the beginning. It’s less embarrassing than he expected it to be. He really thought Harry would give him hell for lying to his boss. But he doesn’t even seem mad that Louis lied to him. He listens quietly to Louis’ explanation, humming and nodding occasionally, rubbing circles over Louis’ ankle, and not speaking until Louis is finished.

“Since you started the job in January?” Harry asks, tapping his fingers against the back of Louis’ calf.

“Yeah.” Louis holds his breath.

“What if you’d like, met someone and wanted to bring them to the party?” Harry glances up at him. “You would’ve just like, imaginarily broken up with me? And I never would’ve known.”

“Suppose so,” Louis says, exhaling and tracing the curve of Harry’s ear with his eyes. “I haven’t been on a date in forever though.”

“True.”

While Louis twirls Harry’s curls around his finger, he thinks back to his last date. It was a few months after they moved into the new apartment, right before he put in his notice at his old job. The guy hadn't been awful or anything, Louis just found himself wondering why he’d bothered leaving the house halfway through dinner. And Harry can’t really say anything when he’s been “quite happily single, thank you very much” for going on two years now.

Finally, Harry says, “I’ll do it.”

“You will?”

“Yeah.” Harry rolls onto his back, looking up and meeting Louis’ eyses. He catches his lower lip between his teeth, studying Louis’ face. “Do you have a plan?” When Louis shakes his head, Harry says, “Okay, so… You haven’t really lied about anything other than like, calling me your boyfriend. I’m not like, pretending to be someone I’m not, so it’ll be easy. I’ll just be me, but like, with hand holding and kissing and stuff.”

“What?” Louis frowns down at him. “Why kissing?”

“Please, Louis. This is an office party. There’s always mistletoe.” Harry rolls his eyes and sits up, hair standing in all directions from Louis’ attention. “I don’t mean, like, making out or whatever you’re thinking. But…” Slowly, Harry leans in, licking his lips and Louis’ eyes track the movement. He glances up holding Harry’s gaze as he presses a slow, gentle kiss to his parted lips.

Instantly, Louis’ face heats. “What… Why’d you do that?”

Harry snorts. “The party’s tomorrow and we’re supposed to have been dating for more than a year, Louis. You can’t blush and stutter if I peck you on the lips.”

“It’s not… I didn’t…” Louis holds his hands to his cheeks, trying to cool his heated skin.

“I’ll be your fake boyfriend, Lou, but you clearly haven’t thought this through.” Sitting back against the armrest, Harry takes a breath and blows it out, puffing his cheeks. “We have to like, practice kissing under the mistletoe.”

Narrowing his eyes, Louis lowers his hands, though his cheeks still feel flushed. “I feel like that’s probably unnecessary.”

“Nope. Totally necessary.” Pushing himself up off the couch, Harry yawns, then says, “I’m exhausted. I’ve got an early morning, and a party to possibly attend.”

“Possibly?” Louis asks.

“Yeah, I mean, like I said, I’ll do it, but not if you’re going to argue with me about the like, logistics.”

“Logistics?”

Harry nods, stretching his arms overhead so that Louis’ hoodie lifts up and Harry’s sweatpants slip down. Louis almost misses Harry’s response, but he leans down and ruffles Louis’ hair, drawing his attention. “I’ll only be your fake date if you make out with me — with tongue — for two whole minutes.”

“What?” Louis jumps up from the couch.

“Two minutes,” Harry says, shuffling off towards the kitchen so that Louis has to follow him. He reaches for the tin of mints he keeps in the junk drawer and pops one into his mouth, holding the container out towards Louis. “Mint?” While Louis takes a mint, Harry pulls out his phone and sets a two minute timer, showing the face of his phone to Louis. He loudly chews his mint, swallows it, and taps the start button on the timer.

That is apparently what Louis needs to convince him that Harry isn’t joking. He hurries to swallow the mint in his mouth, and almost chokes, while Harry lounges against the counter, arms crossed, smirking like he doesn’t think Louis will do it. The timer doesn’t make a sound, but Louis can see it ticking away on the screen of Harry’s phone, and it suddenly feels like now or never.

Reaching out, Louis tugs on the strings of Harry’s hoodie — Louis’ hoodie, but finders keepers, apparently — twisting them around his fingers and pulling Harry down to meet him just as he moves fully into Harry’s space. He steps to either side of Harry’s crossed ankles, and Harry drops his arms, grabbing onto the counter with both hands, fingers curling over the edge. Harry’s eyes flicker down and Louis brings their lips together, releasing his hold on the hoodie to cup Harry’s face with both hands.

Two whole minutes, with tongue, Harry said.

Behind his closed eyelids, Louis rolls his eyes. He tilts his head slightly to the right, stroking his thumb over Harry’s jaw and guiding him to meet him, their lips parting at the same time. Harry hums, pushing off the counter, forcing Louis to take a step backwards. He grips Louis’ hips, steadying him, and Louis grabs hold of his shoulders, still feeling unsteady. Mostly that’s due to Harry’s mouth on his because of course he’s a good kisser. He sucks on Louis lip, one hand pressing into the curve Louis’ lower back, the other creeping towards Louis’ ass, when the alarm on Harry’s phone blares and they both jump backwards.

“That wasn’t totally horrible, was it?” Harry asks, slightly breathless.

Louis shakes his head, because it wasn’t, but also because he’s known Harry for a while and never thought to kiss him before and he doesn’t know why. Definitely not horrible. He reaches for the fridge in search of a distraction and something cold to drink.

“Okay, so, I’m going to bed.” Harry snatches Louis’ water bottle from him and takes a sip before handing it back. “Don’t worry about your boss or whoever. I think we know each other well enough that we won’t have any trouble convincing them we’re together.”

“So you’re in?” Louis asks, taking a step back and gulping his water. He raises his eyebrows and says, “You’re going to make this fake dating au a success?”

“Yeah.” Harry nods, scrunching his nose. He pulls his hood back over his messy curls and says, “I suppose I need to wear a suit.”

Louis shakes his head, pulling Harry’s hoodie strings again, this time so tightly that Harry’s nose is all that’s visible, tapping it lightly with the tip of his finger. “Wear whatever you want. Glitter, lace, a tux, a dress…”

“Okay,” Harry mumbles through the fabric of his sweatshirt and Louis pulls on the hoodsweatshirt until he can see Harry’s face againthe hood falls off. “’Night, Lou.”

“’Night, darling,” Louis says, tucking Harry’s hair behind his ear.

——

Louis spends all day Friday working from home and regretting the past year of his life.

In the late afternoon, Harry comes home with shopping bags, and Louis finds himself grinning at him like a loon. He catches himself mid-sigh, and freezes, eyes going from almost closed the force of his too big smile, to wide open, and jerks his head around to stare back at the television.

“Sorry I’m late,” Harry says, rustling his shopping bags before dropping them onto the couch beside Louis. “Realized I didn’t have anything to wear to an office Christmas party.”

“You don’t have to dress up.” Louis turns and pulls his feet up, watching Harry unwrap his scarf and take off his hat. Combing his fingers through his hair, Harry scratches his scalp, stuffing the beanie into the pocket of his coat.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you!” Harry stops, coat dangling off his arms. He hurriedly joins Louis on the couch, and says, “I meant to text you earlier. I thought about it today and I think I’ll need some time to like, get into character. I meant to give you some warning. Sorry. But, um… I’m officially your fake boyfriend as of right now.”

“Now?” Louis frowns, reaching for one of Harry’s shopping bags, but Harry smacks his hand away. There are still X hours until the party.

“Yes, sir.” Harry nods and winks, which Louis always finds annoyingly endearing, because he’s never sly about it, always obnoxious and over-the-top dramatic, with accompanying sound effects and open mouth. “I need a shower. You coming with me?” Before Louis can register what he said, Harry barks a laugh.

Standing and gathering his bags, he walks around and looks down at Louis from behind the couch. Louis tips his head back, about to ask Harry if he plans on being a pain in the ass as of right now, too, and if that’ll carry on all night at the party, but Harry bends down and kisses him before he can speak. It’s no two minute kitchen make out session with tongue, but it’s unexpected, and somehow, even at an angle, Louis’ barely open mouth lines up perfectly with Harry’s cold, peppermint chapstick flavored lips.

Harry walks away and Louis is left there, the tips of his fingers hovering in the air in front of his mouth. The tingling doesn’t dissipate when he finally touches his lips.

Perhaps a better use of his day would’ve been shopping for himself or even sorting through his own clothes in an effort to find something to wear to the party, rather than simultaneously regretting his life choices and trying to figure out when the hell he developed these feelings for Harry and why he didn’t notice them before.

While Harry showers, Louis rifles through his closet, searching for magically hidden clothing that he’s forgotten owning or buying. All he finds is a black blazer and his fitted black trousers — the ones that he never wears anymore because they’re a bit snug. No one’s looking at his bum when he sits behind a desk all day. His deep red scoop neck t-shirt seems festive enough, but he refuses to do more than put on deodorant and blow dry his wet hair after he showers.

It’s a sort of penance for jacking off to the memory from the kitchen the night before. He had to do it. No question.

Harry seems to be all in with this fake boyfriend thing and Louis is powerless to stop it, which means that if Harry’s as big a proponent of PDA as he suspects, he’s going to spend the duration of the party touching Louis in one way or another. However innocent the intention, Harry’s hand in his all night would still give him a boner eventually. God forbid Louis rest his palm on Harry’s lower back.

So he pregamed it a bit. Tired himself out. That way, Harry can kiss him under as much mistletoe as he likes and no matter how red Louis’ cheeks get, at least he’s less likely to spring an erection in the middle of his office Christmas party.

Louis adjusts his hair in his reflection in the bathroom mirror, flicking it off his forehead. He steps out of the bathroom just as Harry opens his bedroom door and they both stop short as Harry drops his coat.

“Oops,” Harry says, but Louis catches it before it hits the floor.

“Hi.” Louis tries to see as much of Harry as he can in the few seconds he allows himself to look.

“That’s very boyfriendy of you, Louis,” Harry comments as he slips his arms into his waiting coat. Louis brushes the backs of his shoulders, straightening Harry’s coat, though it doesn’t need it.

“I try,” Louis says, wondering if he should behave any differently towards Harry. Maybe he ought to change the way he talks to him or acts in his presence as a boyfriend rather than just Louis. He drums his fingers against his stomach and smooths his brow, unsure what he’d need to do differently.

The walk to the subway is colder than Louis thought it’d be, which is typical of him in any winter weather. Harry’s always telling him he should wear more layers. He keeps his hands in his coat pockets, balling them into fists until Harry tugs on his elbow, pulling his hand free.

Even without gloves, Harry’s hands are warm, or at least warmer than his own. He holds Louis’ hand between both of his as they walk, forcing Louis to stay close by his side until they reach the first step leading them underground. Louis follows, keeping his eyes glued to the back of Harry’s head where the ends of his hair curls over his scarf.

The party is being held at the same bar around the corner from the office where everyone else goes for happy hour. As soon as they walk through the door, Louis takes their coats, and when he turns back around, Harry passes him a beer.

“Introduce me,” Harry mutters, slipping his arm around Louis’ waist, and tucking his hand through the vent in the back of Louis’ blazer so that it rests on Louis’ hip.

Turning at the warmth and weight of Harry’s palm, Louis finds Harry already leaning towards him, making it easy for Louis to mutter, “Mr. Davidson is my boss. He’s at the end of the bar. Blue jacket, glass of whisky?”

Harry nods and smiles and proceeds to charm every person in the room. It’s completely unsurprising, but Louis is annoyed at how well he plays the part.

“So what else is there? Someone has to get drunk and dance on a table.” Harry props his hands on his hips and twists at the waist, looking around the room. His eyes go comically wide and his lips form a perfect O. “Presents, Louis. There are presents over there. Were we supposed to bring something?”

“Don’t worry about it. Didn’t want to bother you, so I picked up another $20 Starbucks card.”

Clearly affronted at the thought, Harry gasps and squeezes Louis’ upper arm. “You know I love gift exchanges.”

“Yeah, but there wasn’t a lot of time. Sorry. I—”

“Next time,” Harry says, frowning at the envelopes (?) when Louis pulls them from his jacket pocket and puts them on the table with the other gifts.

Louis nods and let’s Harry guide him away, hand cupping his elbow. He doesn’t want to get drunk, after all, it’s his office party and his boss is present. Aside from that, he could easily slip and say something that would ruin their story.

“Louis!”

Louis and Harry both turn and Louis smiles at his favorite coworker. “Merry Christmas, Niall!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Niall says, pointing with his beer bottle. “This the famously mysterious Harry?”

Louis rolls his eyes as Niall shakes Harry’s hand. “This is Harry, yes. I wouldn’t say he’s famously mysterious though.”

“Sure. Okay. It’s not as if anyone placed bets as to whether or not he existed.” Niall nods and winks and Louis is pretty certain such bets were placed and he’s curious about who won and who bet which way. He turns to the tall man standing next to him and says, “This is my boyfriend Shawn. Been trying to get you to meet at happy hour, but—”

“Actually, um…” Harry starts, then frowns, scratching at the stubble on his chin. “Shawn and I kind of know each other?”

It’s said like a question and Louis panics at the thought that perhaps Harry and Shawn have slept together at some point over the past year, but Shawn quickly puts that fear to rest. He grins, reaching for Louis’ hand, and says, “I work around the corner from Harry's bakery. Stop in all the time for coffee and too many pastries.”

#unfinished wip #fake relationship au #that's actually what i was going to title the fic lol #tobethemselves #snippet

[lesless]

glowing, growing 🔮 🍀

It is gently dropping small, delicate flakes of white outside & the air is so still, quiet, like a whisper. My love took the dog & headed out to a town 2 hours away to meet his father so he can spend tomorrow working on an initiative that may prove to be a wonderful investment of time/energy/etc., but not without quite a lot of work first. I am proud of him in a lot of ways, but I will miss him. I do enjoy my down time though, so I will make the most of it.

I had planned on meeting up with a friend tonight after she had dinner with her sister, but neither of us wanted to do much once the sky grew grey & it began to snow. I wrote a list of what I want to do solo tomorrow--tea (I need to reign back my coffee consumption, again), journal, breakfast, eat, go to yoga, get a juice from the place next door to the studio, a bath with the bath bomb I bought at the botanical gardens. Then, get some work done on the photo and/or writing project, buy some yarn to make gifts, write xmas cards, then maybe meet up with that friend I missed today. It sounds like a great solo day, exactly the kind of thing I like to do! A little chill, a little activity/movement in the A.M., a little productivity, a little shopping, a little fun.

It is funny that since I sorted through my clothes & replaced them with quality items I enjoy wearing that I feel like I have SO many options but I have SUCH a small number of items now compared to when I started weeding out synthetics. I have reflected that life is funny like that, sometimes when we lack quality we go for quantity, don't we?

Being deliberate in purchasing/replacing items has been a years-long thing & lately I do feel surprised that interacting with quality on a regular basis is satisfying, though I have kind of always held the idea that spending extra $ on things you interact with daily will make your daily experience more enjoyable. A nice face wash, comfortable bedsheets, decent rubber gloves to wash dishes in. I suppose I will just never stop appreciating little things in life.

Sunday bb will return, we will relax & play BG3, spend our last little bit of solo time together until next year, quite literally. Tuesday our friend arrives, I visit the allergist, then Thursday my cousin arrives, then Sunday we fly to Texas, then it's holiday madness & remote work, then we fly to Mexico, the new year blooms, more remote work, & we return to life & a new semester.

In more mundane news, I told myself that I would learn how to french braid my hair while it's short so I can become accustomed to it as it grows out & I have stuck to my word! 3 successful braids so far, though my arms do get exhausted & I feel feeble every time I braid it. Just as I feel weak every time I do core exercises (2 down this week! pretty good considering I spent 3 full & exhausting days in the office today) at least I'm doing it! I will get better! I can't expect myself to be good at something right off the bat, as much as I want to be for my ego's sake.

I still always feel at least a little anxious after socializing with people I am not intimately close with, & I have done an assload of socializing over the last 3 days, BUT I feel relatively unscathed after this week. 2 fumbles, which I felt I saved, & maybe I shouldn't be cataloging my social blunders mentally but also maybe mentally I'm a little left of center & I should just be OK with that, too, instead of self-monitoring so heavily. Anyway, I think the level of comfort I DO feel has a lot to do with the fact that I really just feel delightful about the people I work with; I really genuinely like them all. They are all such characters, so knowledgeable, incredibly well-intentioned, & most of them are as sassy & quippy as I enjoy in a person without the malicious undertone that often accompanies that trait.

Anyway I am trying to remind myself that bettering is incremental & when I look back at how far I have come I am proud of myself, too. Lastly, perhaps, I must shake the scolding I want to give myself at every imperfection.

It is a beautiful night & I am comfortable, listening to music & watching everything collect a thin layer of white outside of my window. I have things to look forward to, people to love, people to love me back, humble goals, & a deep appreciation for the now. I hope you, too, find a quiet sort of peace as the year wraps itself in darkness & cold. I hope spring makes you feel like you can start over if you need to. I hope you treat yourself gently tomorrow.

#me

[kellanved-ammanas]

Space Mercenaries AU Chapter 23: Confession

My Xmas gift to myself this year is continuing this fic because I've been wanting to come back to it for a while now and just kept not doing so. I intend to start working on it properly in the New Year. Whether or not I will follow through on that intention remains to be seen. But hey, because there's no big over arching story, it's easy to drop in and out of as the mood takes me.

~

Even after being heavily modified the ‘camper van’, as Sniper had dubbed it, was still quite small as far as Scout was concerned. Though, since it had originally been sized to be small even for the Tuefort aliens, making it even this big was impressive. Even with Engie and Pyro’s help, it had taken Sniper several weeks to finish it and make it habitable with air conditioning and the like. But… the bed had to be folded up against the wall to make room for the card table. How could anyone comfortably live in such a space?

“You sure you’re comfortable living out here by yourself?” Scout asked as he closed the door behind himself, making the space feel even smaller.

“Yep,” Sniper replied with zero hesitation. It hadn’t even been a full week since he’d moved out here though so he might still change his mind eventually. Probably wouldn’t though if Scout had to guess. “I warned you it was small.”

“Yeah, you did. But, uh, as long as you’re happy with it, who cares, right?”

Sniper grunted an assent. “So now that you’re out here, what you wanna do? I got cards and drink… or uh, maybe let’s not do that. It’s from the bar in town.”

“Yeah, no thanks. Cards sounds good though.” Even though that’s what they did a bunch back at base. Never could go wrong with it though.

Without another word, Sniper pulled his deck out from one of his tiny kitchen’s drawers and sat at the table. Scout sat across from him.

They played for a while, doing a small amount of gambling and chatting, Scout doing most of it of course. Pretty normal stuff but… they were all alone out here, just the two of them. Back at base there’d been the constant possibility of someone else wandering in, passing through or coming in to do their own thing or sometimes even join in and play with them. Here though, the possibility was so much lower it might not even exist.

Being alone with Sniper was something that Scout thought about quite a lot, probably more than he should. He liked to daydream about things they might do together when alone, many chaste but some not so much. But well, if he were to ever even so much as confess his feelings, being alone together would be the time to do it, right? So maybe…

But, no. That would be weird, right? They were friends and coworkers, if he didn’t feel the same it’d just be awkward. And then if they did start something and it didn’t work out, that’d be even more awkward and uncomfortable.

At the same time though, his feelings weren’t just infatuation based off Sniper being hot. He genuinely enjoyed Sniper’s company. He listened to Scout’s blather without complaint and even seemed to enjoy Scout company, so much so, he’d invited Scout out here to see the camper van. So maybe… he felt the same?

Was he even into men though or people in general? Was there any way for Scout to find out? … Probably yeah but he didn’t want to be invasive and weird. So maybe he should stick with what he’d been doing and just be content with…

“You okay, mate?” Sniper asked. “You’re being awfully quiet all of a sudden and it’s your turn.”

“Oh, uh… sorry. I was just…” Scout played his hand. Oof, that was bad; he hadn’t even really looked at it.

Sniper raised and eyebrow before playing his hand, winning the round and the small pool of money they’d placed on the game. He didn’t deal the next hand out yet though. “You want to talk about it?”

Apparently Scout had gotten himself so worked up and flustered over Sniper and his feelings for him that he seemed unwell enough to be worried about. He was real bad a romance, huh? Well, this was a chance to talk about it so… “Do you think that dating a coworker would be unethical?” Gotta establish that first right before bringing up the possibility for anything else.

“Uh, potentially a bit awkward, especially if a breakup happens, but probably not unethical. Why? You into one of the guys?”

“Yeah.” Scout couldn’t even bear to look at Sniper. Instead he stared down at the table between them. Why was it that his confidence always seemed to desert him whenever it came to romance? It was just plain not fair. Even when he wasn’t feeling it for real, he’d learned to do a pretty good job of faking it except when it came to personal relationship stuff. … Relationships were hard, especially romantic ones.

“Oh, can I ask who?”

Here it was, Scout’s chance. All he had to do was look up an say ‘you’ with suave flirtatious confidence. He could do that… maybe.

He looked up. Sniper’s arm rested comfortably on the table in front of him as he looked at Scout with his usual intense stare that Scout still wasn’t sure was a sign of interest or just how Sniper looked at everything. Scout took a breath and… nothing came out of his mouth.

He wasn’t ready to confess yet. He’d never truly considered doing so before now. It had only ever been daydreams and wild imaginings. Normally he planned these things. Really put thought into want he was going to say and how he was going to say it to reduce the risk of blundering his words bad enough that his exact meaning was lost or obscured. Maybe that had always been his downfall but… regardless, he wasn’t ready yet.

It was too late though. They were already talking about it and Sniper was waiting for an answer. If only he could melt into the floor or… vanish like Spy liked to do whenever he wanted to be done with a conversation. Yeah, becoming invisible would be a real neat trick to be able to pull off right now. Too bad that was…

Sniper’s eyes widen. “Uh… didn’t know you could do that.”

“Do what?”

“Go invisible.”

“I’m not…” Scout cut off as he looked down at himself because he had become transparent. Not his clothes but seemingly everything else. “Huh, didn’t know I could do that either.” Even as he watched, his arms faded back into being visible, much like how Spy faded in and out of being visible, but a slower process. “Um… cool, I think.”

Could he do it on command? He’d wanted to become invisible before and had, so all he had to do was think about it and… it worked! He was fading again! Again, slower than Spy’s shift into invisibility but happening nonetheless. Having lost focus, he shifted back but still pretty awesome. “It’s like I have super powers or something.”

Sniper didn’t look as excited about it. “You maybe want to go talk to Medic about… whatever is causing that?”

Scout took a breath to say ‘no’, he didn’t want to go see Medic about anything medical related outside of battle unless absolutely necessary but… it would be the perfect opportunity to escape their prior conversation. Which would give him more time to think about how to confess his feelings before actually doing so. So… “Yeah. Probably a good idea.” He wanted to know about it anyway.

***

A loud knocking disturbed Spy’s reading. It was Scout, he always knocked like that. Spy could ignore it until he went away but… Scout didn’t come to his room often so he probably wanted something. Likely something inane but it didn’t hurt to make sure.

So Spy put his book to the side and got up to answer the door. Scout was grinning like an excited idiot on the other side, meaning most likely it was something inane. Too late to not answer now though.

“Yo, Spy, guess what.”

Spy crossed his arms, making sure to continue to block the door so Scout couldn’t come in. “What?”

“Turns out I’m half shapeshifter, the same kind of alien you are. Isn’t that cool?”

If Spy had a proper heart it would’ve skipped a beat at that. How had Scout found out? And more importantly did he suspect anything further? Probably not, else he’d be mad, right?

“Medic apparently knew this whole time but didn’t tell me for some stupid reason because he thought I knew or something. Even though I think it was pretty obvious I didn’t. But hey, check it out, I can do this.” He went still, clearly focusing on something and started to fade into invisibility. “Pretty cool, right?”

“Not really.”

“Yeah, yeah, you can do it too, I know. I think it’s cool though.” Scout faded back into invisibility as he spoke.

“Why are you telling me then?”

“Because… I don’t know. You’re the only shapeshifter I know so…” he shrugged. “It means my deadbeat dad is or was one too. You probably don’t know him, the galaxy’s pretty big and you can’t know all of them but… maybe you do? My mom’s name is Ellen so maybe you know a guy who talked about her or maybe about having a son with her or… something.”

“Even if I by chance did know your father, why would you want to meet him? He left you, didn’t he? So why would you want anything to do with him?”

By now all of Scout’s excitement had drained away, leaving him looked kind of dejected. “Just… I don’t know, curiosity about who he is or was, I guess. And I want to know why he left. Like, maybe he left because he had to not because he wanted to. Probably not but a guy can dream, right? So I thought it was worth asking on the off-chance you did know him.”

If Spy was ever going to come clean, now would be the time. He wasn’t going to though. Scout probably had a right to know considering how closely they were working together but… Spy was still a coward and too selfish to try to do better. It was easier for both of them this way.

“But anyway,” Scout continued, “you think my mom knew?”

Yes, she’d known and had been into it. “I don’t know, probably.”

“Hmm… I guess I’ll have to ask her. Speaking of that, I got to go tell everyone else now too because it’s cool.” His smile had returned. “Not so great talking with you as always. See you around.” He turned and left.

Spy stepped back inside his room, quickly closing the door again. It had only been a matter of time before Scout learned he was half alien of course but… it had still come somewhat as a shock. At least he didn’t know anything else… for now. Hopefully it would stay that way but who could really know what the future held?

#my writing #tf2 #team fortress 2 #space mercenaries au #space au #scout #sniper #spy #speedingbullet #spydad

[grimhunts]

KNOWING YOUR PARTNER WELL CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE WRITING TOGETHER A LOT EASIER. ( REPOST DO NOT REBLOG ! )

NAME: Dani

PRONOUNS: she/her

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: Usually discord! If we’ve written/chatted before, then mutuals can DM me for my handle, but I’ll use tumblr DMs for new people 

NAME OF MUSE(S): Hunter and Caleb Wittebane, at least on this blog. I’ve got a couple of solo d.escendants blogs, and a multi with a few primarily animated muses

EXPERIENCE / HOW LONG (MONTHS/YEARS?): I think I’ve been consciously rping for nine years...? But I’ve been writing on tumblr specifically since about 2017

PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED: tumblr, discord, instagram, kik (rip), wire, and maybe a random forum or two. i’m only active with tumblr and discord now for writing

BEST EXPERIENCE: I’ve made some really impactful connections from rping, from finding one of my best friends to this day, to meeting some pretty awesome gals and movie night pals (can’t wait for our next one!). While I’m not in contact much with them anymore, I think one of my best experiences was receiving an xmas card a few years ago from one of my writing partners at the time. It was the first time I ever received mail under my alias, “Dani,” and it just felt really cool and cute to receive

RP PET PEEVES / DEALBREAKERS: Plotting only works when there’s something to bounce of off, and I’ve definitely had times in the past where I’ve reached out or vice versa for plotting, and had minimal or no ideas thrown back at me. It can get disappointing sometimes

FLUFF, ANGST, OR SMUT: I was gonna say fluff and angst, but while I still really enjoy fluff, I’m realizing a lot of my favorite past threads have all had elements of angst to them... oops. It seems I’m a sucker for writing out muses working through emotional conflict, but hey, it’s never without a happier ending of some sort (ignoring that one thread with Caleb’s death I’M SORRY). I’m selective about smut, I don’t really do it on dash, but if the muses are of age, and it’s consensual in-context, then sometimes I’ll dabble in discord

PLOTS OR MEMES: I love both! Memes are a great way to get new interactions going especially, so I love sending them, but I do also adore getting to plot extensively with others. I can get super into plotting more often than not, and have a crap ton of fun doing it :)

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: I’ve got preference for long replies, those can be the most fun to continue on, but I enjoy doing both

BEST TIME TO WRITE: Unfortunately, the motivation to write tends to hit me at the ungodly hours of night. It is currently 2am while I type this up... My hope is that once I’m back at school, I’ll get back into a rhythm of hitting up drafts in the afternoon or evening, when I have downtime between or after classes

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): That is a loaded question for me lol... I absolutely vibe with Hunter in 3x01, as far as being a lil nerd and starting to accept himself, but even though she’s on a different blog, I probably relate much closer to Willow, given some of my experiences and the way that I’ve come to view myself over time

TAGGED BY: @trvehearted (ily alice) TAGGING: I’m not quite sure who’s done this one yet, so you can absolutely steal this from me PLS ;)

#just human ( ooc ) #duels mazes and mountains ( dash games )

[bleachellie]

ellie plays pkmn (2003-2017)

started writing a list of when it was i did some of my recent pokemon playthroughs, and then it morphed into trying to figure out when it was i first got Every one of the (main) pokemon games i have 😳 and it took a while, but i think this is probs abt as detailed as i’m gonna be able 2 get 🤔 gonna split this up into 2 posts tho, bcos i ended up writing a Lot 😦

so ruby was the first pokemon game i ever got, for my 7th birthday 😝 i’d been into pokemon a while before this, collecting the cards + watching the anime etc, but i’d never played a pokemon game b4 ruby 😧

my cousin then gave me his old copy of red when we went to visit them the following summer, so i can more or less pinpoint the date i got it too

i then got silver for my 8th birthday, as well as firered bcos it came out the day After my bday, and then i’d have got emerald the following xmas

yellow i got given by one of my mom’s friends from work at some point, but i can’t remember how/when i got sapphire and leafgreen.. they were definitely After emerald but Before pearl tho, so i’ve put them around 2006 🤔

i can’t even begin to guess how many times i’ve played any of these games 😅 i kept my original ruby, firered and emerald saves for years, and mainly used sapphire and leafgreen to do replays, but i even deleted + started replaying ruby and emerald at some point.. firered i definitely only ever played through that once tho, cos i traded it to a friend in secondary school at some point 😔

i can start being a lot more precise once i get to gen 4 and beyond tho 😈 mainly bcos i either started getting games when they came out, instead of as presents, or bcos they’re recent enough i can still remember 😌

so pearl and platinum i got on launch, which i can remember 1) bcos i originally wanted diamond, but we went out looking on the day it released and it had sold out everywhere, so i ended up getting pearl instead 😭 + 2) bcos i preordered platinum and got a cool giratina figure w/ it, that’s unfortunately lost atm 🙁 i kept these original pearl/platinum files all the way up til 2018/2020 respectively, which is the first time i ever replayed them 😦

soulsilver i remember getting around easter 2010, and that playthrough was the only time i’d ever played through the full game up until last year 🤯 i don’t know exactly when it was i started that 2nd playthrough, but i know i definitely started a new save while i was on holiday in 2015, and i’m p sure it wasn’t too long b4 that

i can’t remember exactly when it was i got black + black 2, but i’ve got no reason to think it wasn’t when they came out 🤔 those original playthroughs are still the only time i’ve played gen 5, and i still have the save files now.. but i think they’re probably my next games up for a replay 😳

side note: from platinum up to black 2, i used my online nickname “munchy” as my trainer name in game 😝 so, while a few years ago i released + traded nearly all of my pokemon that had my deadname as the ot (except for a few special ones, like my original swampert from ruby, and some shinies i caught in emerald 🥺) i still have all my pokemon from these games!!

i got gold from a carboot sale on holiday around 2013, along w/ a pikachu game boy colour, a ps1 and crash bandicoot 2 😝 i’ve never played it tho (apart from checking it still worked, which it did!!) but i got it cos it was cheap and a nice thing 2 have 😅

y was one of the first games in a while that i didn’t get around release, bcos i didn’t have a 3ds at the time 😔 but i’m fairly sure it was the announcement for the gen 3 remakes that made me go out and get a 3ds, along w/ y finally as well 😭 and then i got omega ruby when it came out 😎

moon i got on release, and it was the last main game i got b4 figuring out my gender, so it was the last main game i used my deadname in 😦 i did start a replay of this a year or 2 ago, but i didn’t get v far b4 abandoning it, and i should probs pick it up again soon 😔

a replay of red on the virtual console was the last game i actually used my deadname in tho.. i can’t remember exactly when it was, but i know it wasn’t v long b4 i came out, cos i was pissed off i’d just completed it and now i’d have 2 restart w/ my new name 😭 altho actually i ended up deleting the file but never replaying it, cos let’s go, pikachu! came out 😧 i also got a physical copy of blue around the same time, but i never played it

and that’s my pokemon history from 2003-2017!! ☺️ gonna do another post 4 everything since then tho, otherwise this post is gonna be Way too long 😳

#ellie plays pkmn

[theretirementstory]

New Years Eve has arrived, it’s normally a time for looking back over the year and remembering the high points and not so high points. I think I will give this a miss this year, I don’t want to remember being taken to hospital in an ambulance, the three small glasses of water I was allowed in a 24 hour period, or eating only natural yoghurt and puréed fruit for breakfast,lunch and dinner for 12 days 😳. So let’s just have a round up of the last week.

Christmas Day, I must have been good as I had a lot of presents and my stocking had been filled. I got two French short story books, lots of chocolates, jams, teas a calendar and money. I had already bought myself the ruby pendant I had seen in town. I prepared my lunch which took over three hours to eat but it was worth taking my time as I ate rather a lot but never felt too full. The doctor had said I could have a drink so I had a small glass of champagne.

I had Christmas messages from Indonesia, America, Pauline in Lille and Jony in Paris as well as a number from friends and family in the UK. it was a wonderful day and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

My grandchildren had their Christmas Day with Daddy and Grandad on Boxing Day. My granddaughter received an iPad and she was happy to phone me from it. My grandson received a wooden workbench so he can start creating things (we all have to start sometime 😂).

“The Photographer” received money and later in the week he bought himself additional items for his camera. Then can you believe his car started to play up and yesterday on his way home from work he had to stop the car immediately and ring the RAC! I think it’s called “Sod’s law”! These things are sent to try us and that’s exactly what they do.

“The Trainee Solicitor” also had a trying time. He and “The Ex-Graduate” had been to her parents for Xmas lunch. As they were leaving at night, he forgot there was a small step down, he missed it and went over on his ankle. He hurt it quite a bit and it was swollen and extremely bruised. Just as well he didn’t have to go to work!

Unfortunately “The Ex-Graduate” was back at work on Wednesday and has been there everyday since. Hopefully, not for much longer will she have a job where she has to stand around for hours.

The cleaner came on Thursday and brought me a gift of chocolates and bonbons. Then my neighbours came in with a big box of chocolates for me and a handwritten card wishing me all the best for 2024.

I had a walk around the garden, checking out anything that is starting to grow. I found new growth on the hellebores, the snowdrops starting to peek through and also tulips coming through in the front garden. I checked the planter I had put together in 2022 and saw that the tête à tête are starting to grow. I pulled the tubs with the cyclamen in out from under the laurel bush to give them some more daylight. One looks as if it may not recover but the other didn’t look too bad. However, we are due some heavy rain so they may need to be protected from that.

I am thrilled as my hair is growing back pretty quickly. I didn’t lose all of the hair on my eyebrows but I have lost my eyelashes. I am still wearing my hat but that is because I don’t want my head getting too cold.

On Thursday Pauline messaged to say she had had an interview for an internship in Spain. It is with a Real Estate Agency and she had to do a video for either selling or letting a property. She sent me the videos (taken in her Grandma’s house) and then I corrected a couple of things in English, center for centre, moldings for mouldings. She sent it off and a short time later she got an email to say the job was hers. She starts on the 8 January. Now she is looking for accommodation. Pauline is coming to see me this morning so I will be brought up to date.

Music has always been a big part of my life, it can bring memories flooding back and I often can’t sing along as I am choked with tears at lots of the memories. I have said previously it’s not just the lyrics it’s the music too which has the effect on me. So first today is a song from 1991, it’s The Farm and “All Together Now”. The second song is also from 1991, it is “Unfinished Sympathy” by Massive Attack.

The village down the road has a competition each year for the best dressed tree. The trees are put outside your home and there are three prizes. I loved this “Tour de France” inspired tree. It must have been difficult to judge as three trees were joint first.

At this point I would like to wish you all a happy and healthy 2024. Keep safe until we catch up again.

#memories #new year #barsuraube #photography #Christmas #family&friends #champagne #90’s music #tourdefrance #my garden

[smollobsession]

17.12.23

So a lot has happened... this will just be written as I remember things :D I've restarted online Korean lessons! The new teacher seems lovely. The goal now is to also open the grammar book soon :D

This weekend I've done a lot of clothes shopping. 2xjeans, bras, shirt, 4xleggins, 2xsweatpants... i spent so much money :( but i really ran out of clothes. shirts i have plenty of but trousers and dresses all went through a lot.

I also put away clothes I don't fit right now. I bought 2 more boxes at pepco and emptied my wardrobe of things I don't need, put them up in the loft. I also threw away 10 bulky bras that were taking up so much space and that I no longer wear.

Speaking of the loft, i finally took the sheets off the bed and washed them. ... now waiting patiently for step 2 :P putting them back on and wanting to sleep there.

And, speaking of clothes I don't fit. Weekends are a problem. I'm eating well during the week and then the weekend comes and I undo it all. I definitely need to plan on Friday and do the shopping so I stop eating sweets and ordering lunches that aren't good for me but uh >< the struggle is real.

I was supposed to meet Mr.I last weekend but I cancelled it because I felt sick and then this week he did the same so we pushed it to next year :D

I made plans with E to go to Dresden next weekend. Tickets purchased :) it'll be just a day trip but I haven't been there in the 8 years I've lived here!

Another place I hadn't visited before that everyone talks about is Stromovka. But a few weeks ago I finally went there :) The weather was horrible for the trip back but it was quite lovely for the actual walk. I took some pics I really like. I also slipped on the ice and fell down in front of a lady with a dog - the dog loved skating on that ice lol :D

I haven't been able to participate in any more protests because they overlap with my work hours, but I did manage to do two things.

I went to a Doctors Without Borders fundraiser for Gaza and bought 800czk worth of things. I got some pins and a little wallet that I sent to L as a part of our server's Xmas exchange. I forgot to put the MSF pin in the envelope but that's not a big problem for reasons I'll explain later. I am more sad that I didn't make the envelope more fun but I realized too late that if I didn't send it straight away, I wouldn't do it until a week later and that was toooo late.

I also paid for a 2gb esim that I hope will go through to someone in Palestine who needs it.

At the fundraiser I also bought a watermelon hairclip for my watermelon loving friend V. I will give it to her in February when... we go to Singapore and Cambodia together!

After some waiting all flight tickets have been purchased and all accommodation booked. The rest we have to do closer to the date - visas, sim cards, tour bookings etc.

I'm excited :D I'll see L there and bring her the pin - i find it funny because it's in English and Czech so I think it's be hilarious for her to wear it in Singapore. And I'll pick up the season's greetings I ordered through her <3 (which I have yet to pay for!)

We are, by total accident, landing on CNY so we're definitely going to Chinatown first night to experience THAT :D and then one day I'll revisit some parts with V, see some new things in the city too. And 2 days I plan to spend on the beach and doing the treetops walk finally! I'm kinda hoping D will be able to join us but it's unsure as of yet.

And then we're going to Cambodia which will be one big temples viewing trip and genocide museum sadness and food extravaganza. I'm wondering if I should invite E to this trip...

But! I'm trying to not be too excited so for now that's all I'll say about the trip :D

During the absolute worst of weather I finally went to that shop near Mirak to get A the bag. Luckily they still had the white one (sadly no black one for me :( ). On my way back I stopped by the Christmas Market and had an overpriced trdelnik and a nice raid with only 4 people that we won in the last second. It was fun!

I finally finished sense8 a few weeks ago. I have to say it was a bit more boring than I remember it but ok, I'm glad I finished it.

I also finished MDWAP :( I did find out that FINALLY The Unbelievable Truth hosted by David Mitchell is on a podcast so I'm listening to that now, and I've downloaded Dan Carlin's Hardcore Histories, all the free ones, for the next listening. I'm just glad I'm enjoying things again lol.

I watched some music shows - aaa and a gayo, idk which one :D - with the server and had a lot of fun. Han and Seungmin running back to the stage when 3racha FINALLY WON AN AWARD was so much fun :D

And of course, Dan and Phil are back and they are not only doing their Christmas videos but also giving me reasons to share squees with T on whatsapp :D

Feeling some kinda way about all these people right now O.O

[actualtext]

Dec 27, 2022

All In One

Tuesday- Friday

I no longer felt apathetic. I had a normal range of emotions, nothing too extreme, but I was still very exhausted. I didn't have the motivation to do anything at all, not even work. Ya girl is broke af this week. :( The only day I did feel like working was Thursday and that's only because a friend had contacted me saying that she wanted to hang out, so I got ready, and then she canceled. Considering I was already dressed, I decided to try to work for a while. Work has been really slow so I only made like $45 and then I went home because I was feeling very tired. I made Vegan Pozole, and since I don't know how to only make single servings, it lasted me all the way until christmas day. :) I didn't starve this week or spend too much money on eating out so that was nice.

Even though I felt really tired, Jaime invited me out for dinner on Friday so I got my exhausted ass up and got ready. He picked me up and we had a great dinner dispite the fact that the original place I chose was closed. After eating, he mentioned that he needed to do some xmas shopping still so we went to the outlet mall and shopped for his parents. I realized at this point that I hadn't bought any gifts for my family who I had planned on seeing. I got gift cards for everyone because I didn't have the time or energy to do actual shopping. I was still very tired during this exciting outting. I felt like I was being dragged around, and I didn't mind, I just didn't wanna have to do anything extra. It was nice seeing Jaime.

Saturday

I woke up, and felt the most sluggish I have ever felt. I woke up around 11am but stayed in bed until noon. Everything I did felt like it was taking forever. The first thign I did was have a partial anxiety attack in my morning shower. Partial because I can normally ignore a negative thought, but this time it took me until I was crying to kind of realize that's what was happening. I was thinking about how critical my sister can be sometimes in regard to others. I thought about what if she hated my gift, and then tried to remind myself why I wasn't able to put much effort into gifts this year, and how she wouldn't know what I'm going through because I haven't made it a point to tell her whats going on, but also because if I did I feel like the version on her I know would end up using my weaknesses against me, and even tell others with out me wanting her to. I took the longest shower of my life, but made sure to do things I would consider self care- facial routine, and shaving (makes me feel feminie and soft). I needed to wrap gifts and despite not wanting to put any effort into the christmas gifts the day before, I all of a sudden wanted the gifts to not seem so lame. I decided to wrap the gifts as something other than what they were. I was still moving slowly but I was excited for their reactions.

It was about 4pm when I realized I hadn't eaten all day, and even though my gut told me I was hungry, I felt overwhelmed, and like I didn't have the time to make myself food because I still had so much left to do.

My cousin Ruby (one of my mains) messaged me asking what I had planned for the evening. When I told her nothing, she asked if I wanted to join her and her family on a christmas light driveby, I aggreed. We decided 8:30 pm would be good.

My friend Ethan (my first vegan friend) messaged me letting me know that he was helping his mom make vegan sheppards pie, and that I was more than welcome to stop by. I told him I needed to drop off some food at my sisters so that I would have something to eat the next day, and that I would be stopping by afterwards. My sister asked me if I was doing okay and I lied, even though on the way to her house I cried just thinking about talking about my feeling. I decided I wasn't going to discuss how I was feeling because I didn't want to cry much more this day, and I didn't do either. Going to Ethan's place was so fun. His family was watching a football game and they were asking me all these questions cause they hadn't ever actually met me. They were all really funny and welcoming. Very anti vegan though. Ultimately, him and I went to his bedroom and sat in silence on his be staring at our phones. It was so nice. I felt content after hanging with him.

Sunday

I had originally packed a dress for christmas day, allong with some cute stockings and shoes, but when I woke up, I didn't have the energy to change out of my PJs (they were festively printed with santa clause riding a skateboard). I went to my sisters house not really caring that I was feeling very "Meh." I had dropped off all the gifts and my food the day before so I just simply took myself to her apartment and didn't have to worry about everyhing else which was nice. I didn't cry this morning which I would consider a win. Everyone was excited to see me which made me feel really nice. Even my nephew, who I'm not particularly close with told me that he was gonna miss me when I left the state. That surprised me the most and also warmed my heart. I had asked for snack and money for my 18 hour drive to Indiana. The family came through. I got all the snacks I wanted and $100 which was really sweet. My sister even surprised me with a Pink hoodie/sweats set. That was uncharacteristically sweet of her.

I hate that I view my sister in such a negative light. I wish I could get over how she WAS and take her for who she currently IS. I just have a really hard time getting over things that affect the people I love (like when she was ugly to my niece and nephew), and I have a hard time getting over people hurting me too... I just feel so untrusting of her because I don't want her to be able to hurt me again. She know's I'm a very caring and giving person, and she's taken advantage of my kindness in the past. I just wish I could trust that she wouldn't do that again. She's the only sibling I have..

Wow, this is making me cry.

...She's the only sibling I have that makes me feel like she wants to be my sibling. and even then she's not really done a very good job making me feel like she loves me.

Our relationship wasnt strong enough when our mother died and I can't stop feeling like I'm an only child. It's so lonely.

My mom really spoiled me to the best of her ablitiy even though she was mean sometimes, she made me feel so loved. And like....no one is ever going to be able to love be te way my mom did. I worry about this alot. None of my remaining family can love me like she did, and I feel that so clearly and strongly. I hate it.

anyway, I had dinner with Jaime again. We went to an indian restaurant that got our spice levels reversed and so his food was too spicy and he couldn't enjoy it. I had also forgotten my wallet and he paid for me, so I felt terrible. I thought the dinner was somewhat of a distster but I got to hang out with someone who didn't make a fuss about it, and who made me feel safe and cared for so that was a lovely note to end the night on.

Monday

I spent the night at my niece's apartment christmas night. She had work this morning, but her roommate (a friend of mine from high school) was there. We mostly just lounged around and then went IKEA browsing with my niece. I felt inspired to come home and clean. I only had my desk left but my roommate kindly reminded me that I could do my room in segments and that I didn't have to overwhelm myself.

I haven't showered since Saturday which is really embarassing for me to mention, but I just want to take note of my lack of self care. I've eaten quite poorly quantity and quality wise. I did make the decision to stop drinking soda today, so I'm gonna try to stick to that. Soda isn't a major part of my diet currently, but I don't like how it makes me feel. (this, after I practically chugged a can of dr. Pepper and immediately felt disgusting.)

See ya tomorrow!

[theghostus]

2023

What's up 2023! Also an update from my last post.

That Sat Le Bf wasn't working. He wasn't even replying to my messages, Only told me late at night after I sent him an emotional message that he went out shopping with his aunt threatening to fuck this. He immediately replied (not all, of course) that he will message me tmr. His message was to tell me that we will be having dinner with his BFF and fam. I mean really. He told me he doesn't have money and doesn't want to meet. Sigh. Thinking about this pisses me off.

We met his BFF and fam. His two daughters are cute. The younger one is a little out of control, but they're the parents. They can handle them. I'm the sort of a slow burner with big and little people. I see how they behave and what they're like before I act accordingly. Thankfully they live nearby. Gave them a Xmas present in the form of a bath soap and handwash courtesy of my mum's bingo and award prizes. Le Bf bought his aunt a pair of gold earrings with one of 8 credit cards. I'm thinking of pushing him one last time to cancel 5 of them. Overall was okay. The little monsters were their parents' problem, after all.

Yesterday, my mum and I finally went to Bro's pl. The journey takes 2 buses to reach plus a 15min walk. Their pl is small compared to mine. However, they are cosier and more fun as they have 2 cats. I plan to make a weekly trip there to make friends with the shy cats. Also, le bf is working about 30 mins away from there; it's killing 2 birds with one stone.

I'm on edge whenever I bring mum out, especially around ppl. I can't let my guard down. It's hard, especially when I don't have a job yet. The migraine and the breathlessness are real. The last time I was breathless was when I was at a job where no one was there to help me about 8 years ago. Yesterday my breathlessness was tough as I could feel a sharp pain each time I tried to breathe in. I discovered this wherever I spent about 200 at the mall. Damn you CNY sale.

All I want in a job is to suit my personality or keep me happy enough to stay.

My aunt still hasn't come through. Instead of keeping me updated, she stayed radio silent till I asked. She is pending for my next follow-up on Tues. I'm sure she has a ton of excuses, and all of them are not her fault. Looks like she going to get a monthly follow-up. I need the money to fix up my kitchen. My house looks so fucking empty and lacks the warmth that a home should have. I really want a proper sofa.

Just so damn tired; everything hasn't settled.

Side plot: for CNY, I feel le bf doesn't want me to meet his family. By me meeting his family, he is stating a commitment and telling the family he will have to change religion (yeah, we're an inter-racial 'couple'). He thinks I've forgotten. Time and time again, I've proven to him I DON'T forget. This 14 Jan will be the last time I probably meet and contact him (it's so hard, so so hard not to). Again, I'm not sure if I want that much commitment to him.

This brings me to another social influencer/branding marketer; his relationship. He's gay and born to a Malay Muslim family. He's the eldest of 5 siblings and literally helped his mum put himself and his siblings through school while his dad was in prison. His family is accepting of his orientation and relationship with a Chinese man. They even bought a house together. His partner even met his family. Even his father, who was released from prison last year, met him. The difference is his partner's family doesn't know him (maybe some do) and even his orientation (maybe not all) as he looks like a typical straight guy. His fans have seen his partner on his live Tiktocks while vacationing in Bangkok. So I think Le Bf will keep me away from his family, much like the above scenario. But is that a bad thing, though?

I want to do typical couple things yet keep it lowkey.

8/1/23

[zentloper-xmas]

Christmas 2017

Hello all from the “Zentloper” abode,

I’ve always wanted to do an annual Christmas letter. It was a tradition in my family growing up; Dad would round up all our input about what significant events that had happened over the year to include and then he’d type it up and we’d all gather around the table putting our signatures on the cards as we readied them for the mail. In my first marriage, I didn’t have too many friends and family to differentiate myself from the old “Zentler Xmas Letter” and could not justify partaking. But things have changed considerably, choices made, lives rehashed, and this year I find myself in the circumstance where it makes sense to gather a list of people to whom extending a seasonal greeting seems appropriate. Congrats, you made the list. ;)

So where to begin? 2017 has been a rather blessed year for Neil and I, most things considered. We still reside in our little studio apartment on the second floor of a complex in the middle of San Jose, but that may be changing next year. Ultimately, we both want a house somewhat secluded from the grid while remaining in Silicon Valley, but there’s a lot of saving left to do to make that dream a reality. Somehow, I’m confident, we’ll make it work. Until then, our heads are filled with daydreams of home ownership and little do-it- yourself projects– I guess that’s fairly normal for two people embarking on life together.

Of course, it would also be preferable if said domicile had a multi-car garage... Our “fleet” as Neil calls it, has expanded from two vehicles to four over the course of this calendar year. His most recent acquisition– a 1983 Chevrolet Camaro Z28– has been a source of entertaining joy-rides and mechanical (mis)adventures, with the promise of “many more to come.” Early this year, back in February, he also purchased a new motorcycle; namely, a 2017 Indian Springfield, and his old bike, a 2013 Yahama V-Star became my baby. I’ve had my fun decking it out, adding a windshield, repainting the saddlebags, giving it a tank bib, and more. But more importantly, the purchase enabled us to take many wonderful weekend rides together, exploring destinations throughout California: taking in the gorgeous views, reveling in the sensation of freedom as we glide down the road through twists and turns, and enjoying one another’s company. We hit up lots of National Parks and beaches or just cruised unfamiliar stretches of pavement for the heck of it. On our way to Reno in June, we unexpectedly hit snow– very glad we avoided frostbite on our toes. Our year’s capstone ride was Las Vegas in August, crossing the desert in the scorching summer heat. I decided to assemble a quilt of California such that we could document our journeys with patches and pins from each location.

We do wish we had more free time to take advantage of together. Neil has been working with Schwan’s Home Food Service for almost a year now, which has a good salary and benefits but incredibly long hours. Of course Neil, overachiever that he is, has excelled in the role; he’s the second highest Sales Rep in the region or something like that, which is most of the West coast. I’m immeasurably proud of him.

Meanwhile, I’ve been on the path of pursuing my Masters in Business Administration at San Jose State University. Having graduated back in 2010, I was a little nervous about returning to school, but I studied hard and took the GRE sometime in March and got excellent marks and was thus conditionally accepted, pending some required courses, which I completed online. I began my coursework in September and have already learned so much. I find that my brain is much more suited to comprehension and application of concepts than it was when I was an undergrad. Too weird. But then, my background in English and Visual

Arts and profession in the theme park industry has certainly made me stand out from the rest of the business crowd, and it’s fun being a little unique.

I also underwent what should be my last SRS procedure: a hysterectomy in September. Neil took time off work to care for me while I recovered, which was swift; in three weeks I was back to 100%. Transitioning has been more than a six-year process at this point, but I can safely say I’ve never felt more comfortable than I am now, both physically in this body, and emotionally. Neil’s unwavering acknowledgement of and participation in my gender identity, and his love for me for who I am, is truly something I never thought I’d have in a partner.

I hope this message reaches all of you at a happy point in your lives as well. We think of you and the ways you’ve touched our lives often, even if we don’t express it.

Best Wishes, Rick and Neil

#Zentloper #Christmas #Xmas #Letter #2017

[trustprogram]

Christmas flamingo

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#Christmas flamingo

[uswolves]

#traditional #gouache #little Curly asleep in his blanket #still working through this year's xmas cards for friends #when you can't think of what to paint- just paint their animals #never fails!

[thewritewolf]

Mari Christmas And A Happy New Adrien

Summary:

Lost in the aftermath of Hawkmoth's defeat, Adrien loses complete track of time and before he knows it, the holiday season is upon him. Will a Christmas visit to his girlfriend's house be just what he needs to move on?

Hello and welcome to my piece for the @mlsecretsanta event! My giftee, @lesslinette, asked for among other things, Adrienette, family bonding, fluff and just a bit of hurt/comfort and I aimed to please!

I had to do a good amount of research into French and Chinese Christmas traditions (including interviewing my long-suffering French friend - thanks @emsylcatac!), so hopefully I didn't get anything *too* wrong.

Read on Ao3

Enjoy!

Marinette 💖: You still up?

Adrien: Yeah Still not sleeping great House was always too quiet Never thought it could get more quiet tho lol Whats up?

Marinette 💖: :( Just wondering what u were doing 4 xmas Since You know

Adrien: Since father went to jail and mom died again? Haven’t thought about it Guess ive still got time to figure it out

Marinette 💖: … ..Its the 23rd of Dec Like 2am Not a lot of time left

Adrien: oh Guess uh Stay at home?

Marinette 💖: Adrien Its been like two months Youve been going crazy in there Youll just be stuck in there all by yourself Why don’t you come over?

Adrien: I don’t know… I don’t want to bring anyone down Or ruin anyone’s christmas

Marinette 💖: Adrien ‘Kindest Boy in Paris’ Agreste

Adrien: Oh no she used my middle name

Marinette 💖: You are coming over tomorrow And letting me pamper you And letting my family - your REAL family - love you And that is the end of that ...Is that okay with you?

Adrien: Whatever you say ma’am

Marinette 💖: Good Be here no later than fifteen hundred Let me know if I need to pick you up

Adrien: Will do

Adrien laid back down, his face lit up only by the glow of his phone and the only noise in the room being Plagg’s snoring. Putting his phone to sleep, he turned over, closed his eyes, and honestly smiled for what felt like the first time in a long time.

---------------------

Adrien reached the door to his girlfriend’s house with a gift under one arm, an envelope in his pocket, and a weak smile on his face. The latter wasn’t because of a lack of feeling on his part - the exact opposite, actually.

It had been hard to go to sleep after their conversation that night, a swirl of mixed emotions keeping him from getting the rest that he craved. Last night wasn’t much better and he was left exhausted. He’d even been half tempted to call and say that he couldn’t make it, but somehow that only made him feel worse.

So here he was. He’d shambled his way to the car, driven himself there through blurry eyes and frequent yawns, and turned the doorknob. Maybe they’d understand if he just dropped off the present and headed home.

Well, maybe not home, but just where he lived.

The instant the door opened, a wave of hot air buffeted him. Not only did it warm his freezing face, it brought all sorts of wonderful smells on it. There were the expected scents - baked potatoes, salmon, chicken. But then was something else, something a little harder to place.

After puzzling over it for a moment, he shook his head and stepped into the house. No sooner had he closed the door behind him than he heard some voices calling out from deeper inside.

“Wait, was that the door? The family wasn’t supposed to be over until tomorrow, weren’t they?”

“Tom, that has to be Adrien!”

There was excitement in Sabine’s voice that warmed his heart, but not quite as much as when he’d taken a couple steps into the house and was blindsided by Marinette bursting out of the living room to wrap him in a hug.

“Worried I might not show?” Adrien whispered after they parted from their kiss.

“Not even for a moment, chaton.” She smiled up at him before her eyes wandered down to his arms, a suspicious look on her face when she saw the one present. “Looks like you showed some restraint this year.”

“Of course!” At her continued doubting look, he added. “Come on, I’m perfectly capable of giving reasonable gifts.”

“Last year you tried to give me my favorite restaurant.”

“But I didn’t!”

“Only because I hid your checkbook and credit cards!”

Adrien snorted. “Details.”

Rolling her eyes, Marinette tugged on his coat sleeve. “Follow me, you ridiculous man. You can put your gifts under the tree, we’ll open them tomorrow.”

She led him into the living room, where their Christmas tree had been set up in all its glory. There were red paper chains wrapped all around it and a huge variety of homemade ornaments - including a few that he’d made in years past. Ever since he and Marinette had started dating, he’d been welcomed into their household with open arms. And even before that, they’d been nothing but kind to him.

His eyes poured over the tree, looking for one specific ornament. It didn’t take him long to find it - with its poor quality, it stood out among the beautiful glass orbs and painted baubles. His fingers brushed over the patches of glitter, a nostalgic smile spreading across his face as he took in the patterns of melted wax inside it. His first ornament. They’d barely been dating a few months when he’d made that one.

Had it really been four years already?

Arms wrapped around him from the side and he looked down at Marinette’s chin resting on his shoulder, peering up at him with big blue eyes.

“What’re you thinking about, hot stuff?”

“Old memories, that’s all.”

“Hmm…” She leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. “You just about ready to make some new ones?”

“With you? Always.”

“You two want to come in and help us finish cooking dinner?” They both jumped when Sabine’s voice reached them.

Blushing, Marinette reluctantly let Adrien go and headed toward the kitchen. “Coming, maman!”

------------------

A few hours later and the four of them were seated around the dining room table. Some things had been moved around from what Adrien remembered from the usual arrangement, and a long table had been set up. Most of the spaces were empty - with the four of them, only about a third of the table was occupied. But while the chairs were mostly left bare, the table was not.

Even though he had helped make some of it, Adrien was still amazed at how good the food all looked when laid out on the table like this.

Most of it was pretty traditional, at least from what he knew. A lot of the time his experience with Christmas dinners were meals allowed to grow cold until he gave up on his father showing. But the roasted chicken was still steaming when they cut into it, the smoked salmon and toast still holding the heat of the oven on them. Add in the gratin dauphinois and this was just about the ideal Christmas dinner he could imagine.

Naturally, it got even better with Sabine’s contribution - spring rolls.

As Adrien shoveled them onto his plate, he asked Sabine, “Is this the only Chinese dish for today, maman?”

“Just you wait, dear.” She smiled over her plate. “Today was Tom’s turn to make dinner. Tomorrow will be mine and you’ll definitely have your fill then.”

“I can’t wait!” Adrien took some of the chestnut sauce to pour over his chicken. Which reminded him… He glanced nervously toward the oven. “I don’t suppose you made foie gras, did you?”

Marinette made a face and shivered.

Tom quickly shook his head. “Oh no, son. Back when Marinette was… what? Eight, nine? She found out how it was made and made us promise to never have it again.”

“Eleven years later and we haven’t broken that promise yet,” Sabine finished. “There are plenty of other foods in the world.”

“That’s good.” Adrien breathed a sigh of relief. “It always made me uncomfortable when my father ordered it.”

“Ordered, dear?” Sabine gave him a confused look.

“Oh, we never really cooked our own dinners.”

Tom’s jaw dropped. “Not even Christmas dinner?”

“Nope. Sometimes he’d have to order the dinner prepared the day before and then we’d reheat it the day of, since no one wanted to come into work on Christmas day, you know?”

“I see…” Tom shared a look with Sabine, but the meaning was lost on Adrien. “Well, you make sure you have your fill, son! We’ll be making more for tomorrow, so this is all for us.”

“Thanks,” Adrien said with a grateful smile.

The conversation meandered and for the most part Adrien was just content to listen in, drinking in the company after spending so much of his time recently just by himself. Well, mostly by himself. Marinette would visit whenever she could get the time between college classes and internships. Nino and Alya were more elusive, if only because they were outside the city so often these days.

But there was one person who was his constant companion, Adrien thought with a smile as he peeked into the breast pocket of his T-shirt…

...Only to see that it was empty. Maybe he’d gone to visit Tikki and the kwamis of the miracle box? Adrien was drawn out of his thoughts when Sabine directed a question at him.

“Are you ready for the pre-dessert snacks, dear?”

“Oh! Sure, yeah. What do you have?”

“You’ll love it!” Tom excitedly got up and hustled over to the kitchen, Sabine right behind him. He raised his voice to be heard as he went to the room next door. “We know how much you love camembert so…”

Adrien’s eyes widened. They didn’t…

Tom returned with a platter of cheeses in his hands and a frown on his lips.

“Something wrong, papa?” Marinette’s eyes glanced between Tom and the cheese platter.

“No, no… its just… I could have sworn I bought more cheese than this. And I was so sure that I had purchased camembert.” He rubbed his chin. “Ah well, there is more than enough for the three of us anyway.”

While Sabine set down a large bowl of salad in the middle of the table, Adrien glanced at Marinette. At his side, Marinette was biting her lips and pointedly staring into the middle distance, trying her hardest not to laugh. For his part, Adrien was frustrated that he couldn’t go anywhere without Plagg making a noticeable dent in the food supply.

His annoyance with Plagg was so great he almost didn’t enjoy the Yule Log that Tom had made for dessert. Almost, but not quite.

Once they were done with dinner, they cleared the table.

“So, how’d you like the meal?” Marinette asked as she dried off the dishes while Adrien washed them.

“Definitely better hot. And homemade.”

Marinette chuckled. “I’m glad the bar was so high for us. Really makes us feel like we accomplished something here.”

“How about…” Adrien bit down on his lips and narrowed his eyes in thought. “It was the most delicious meal I’ve had in months.”

“Ooo, now we’re getting somewhere.”

“Years even.”

“Good, good, go on.”

“I had never known food could taste so delicious until you graced me with your heavenly meals.”

Marinette’s eyes gleamed with restrained laughter, the hint of a barely contained smile ruining her deadpan. “Glad I could finally weasel how you really feel out of you.”

“Yeah you’re pretty good at that, aren’t you?” Hands still in the sink’s soapy water, he leaned over and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“No fooling around now, we still have to help put up the last decorations before we relax for the night.”

“What sort of decorations?”

“Paper lanterns and paper chains. That sort of thing.” At Adrien’s politely confused look, she added, “It’ll help make mom’s side of the family feel welcome. Plus they look pretty cool.”

“Well what are we waiting for then? Let’s kick this into overdrive!”

Adrien suddenly worked in a flurry, Marinette scream laughing as she got splashed with some of the water thrown up by his breakneck pace. Marinette could barely keep up between her giggling, but she somehow managed.

With the last fork, plate, and glass sparkling clean and put away, Marinette shook her head and dabbed at her slightly damp shirt with a fresh towel.

“You’re a dork, you know that?”

“So my girlfriend tells me.”

Adrien relished the sometimes quiet, sometimes loud evening he spent with the Dupain-Chengs. When he went upstairs and cuddled Marinette in the cozy darkness, Adrien felt only excitement for the next day

----------------

Morning came swiftly, but Adrien rose to meet the dawn’s first light with a smile on his lips and a spring in his step. Marinette was… a little less eager, but he managed to coax her out of the bed, eventually.

When they finally got down the stairs and made it to the kitchen, Sabine’s eyes widened and she even froze in the middle of folding one of her dumplings.

“Marinette? I’m surprised to see you up so early.”

Bleary eyed, her daughter simply jabbed a finger toward Adrien and grunted. Adrien rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled.

“I knew you’d be a good influence on her, sweetie.”  Sabine patted his cheek with a warm smile. “Now, once you’ve had some breakfast I’d really appreciate some help out here. From you especially, Marinette, since you know exactly how to do it the way I like it.”

“Can’t Tom help?” Adrien made some toast for him and Marinette, doing his best to stay out of Sabine’s way. “Not that I’m not willing to lend a hand, but he’s got to be pretty good at it after all this time, right?”

Sabine laughed and even Marinette cracked a smile. “You’d think so, but no. The man can make almost any dessert known to French mankind, but I’ve yet to see him finish one spring roll or dumpling in all our years of marriage. Just about the only thing I’m trusting him with today is the roasted pork.”

“Not even the cheese plate?” Adrien asked, tongue in cheek. To his surprise, Sabine shook her head gravely.

“We don’t make one for Christmas day. After all, everyone that is going to be here is from my side of the family and we’re all lactose intolerant.”

“Oh.” Adrien glanced at Marinette, who shrugged.

“I got lucky and got papa’s tolerance for it, I guess.”

“Huh… well, can I help?”

A few hours passed, most of which Adrien spent doing vital but unskilled cooking like stirring and kneading. Although they did let him try to fold a few dumplings. It ended up nowhere near as well done as Marinette’s, but she still gave him a kiss on the cheek for the good effort. From what he gathered, Tom had never even managed to get it to stay together.

They had just put the last batch in the oven when they heard a knock at the door, Sabine quickly taking off her apron as she rushed to answer it.

Adrien’s ears perked up when he heard a conversation in Chinese start up, but between him being a little rusty and them speaking so fast, he couldn’t pick out much.

A few moments later, Sabine walked back into the room with an older Chinese couple. Marinette pulled him towards them. Sabine put a hand on Adrien’s shoulder and introduced them.

“Adrien, these are my parents. My mother, Ling,” she said, gesturing towards the grey-haired woman currently hugging Marinette. “And my father, Zheng.”

The older man’s grey eyes sparkled with excitement as he held out a red envelope for Adrien, who just now noticed that Marinette had also been given one. He froze, eyes widening. Was he supposed to have gotten them something too? He hadn’t realized that anyone would be getting him anything, except maybe Marinette. There was a moment where he was about to decline but he took a shot in the dark and accepted.

The moment his hand touched the envelope, Zheng spoke in Mandarin, “Best wishes for the New Year!”

“Thank you very much!” Adrien replied automatically in the same language. While the finer points might escape him, Adrien was fluent in niceties.

Zheng’s eyes widened before he nodded sagely to himself. “Ahh, I see you’ve picked up some Mandarin from my daughter, yes?”

“Oh, no, sir. I’ve been studying since I was fourteen.”

Once again, Zheng’s eyes widened before he chuckled and looked knowingly at Marinette. “This one is definitely a keeper! I approve.”

Marinette’s cheeks were almost as red as the envelope, but she still smiled.

The bright, enticing red of the envelope made him want nothing more than to open it right then and there. But Adrien took a nod from Marinette, who had very pointedly left it sealed even as she refused to set it down. He chose to follow her lead as they all made their way to the living room.

While the Dupain-Cheng parents and the Cheng parents were getting settled there, Marinette volunteered them to go make some tea. Once they were in the kitchen and out of earshot of the new arrivals, Adrien held up his envelope with a raised eyebrow and curious look.

“You can go ahead and look at it now, it’s just not polite to do it right when you get it.” She carefully unsealed the envelope. “It's this Chinese tradition - good luck money for the new year, you know?”

Adrien followed her lead and found one ten, one twenty, and one fifty euro note inside. Glancing over, it seemed Marinette got the same. He was half tempted to just give her his euros since he didn’t have any need for it, but decided that might be tacky. If she would even take them at all. After stashing the envelopes away in a kitchen drawer, they came back with tea for everyone.

Over the next few hours, more and more family members funneled into the house. Adrien, used to seeing maybe four people during the holiday season, thought the room would be close to bursting after the first aunt arrived with husband and two kids in tow. But then came the uncle and his family, then the second aunt with her boyfriend and by the end of it fifteen people were packed into the living room. For some reason apples in boxes became involved? Adrien thought that was a pun but that was more his pun sense than his linguistic skill.

Before anyone could get too settled in, they finally got to opening presents. Despite his fears from the red envelope, no one else seemed to have gotten Adrien anything.

At least, none of the extended family had. The Dupain-Cheng family, however…

“Here you go, dear.” While the rest of the room was chattering among themselves, Sabine placed a package about as big as a shoebox on Adrien’s lap. Before he could react to it, Marinette had shoved a bag stuffed with packing paper.

“Let me go get your-”

Adrien felt a tug on his arm and looked down at Marinette seated beside him. “Open your gifts first and then we’ll open the ones you got us.”

“Okay, okay.” Adrien looked at the box on his lap and tore it open. He tilted his head in confusion as he lifted the fabric that he found there out of the box. His eyes widened when he realized it was an apron with ‘Kiss the Chef’ on it.

“Its for when you come over to cook with us!” Tom beamed down at him proudly. “Now you don’t need to borrow our aprons any more - you’ll have one of your very own!”

Adrien felt his eyes get misty and he bit his lips to keep himself from crying. After a few moments of pulling himself together, he managed to say, “Thank you, guys. I’m really looking forward to wearing it!”

“Speaking of…” Marinette prodded the bag she left with him.

“Right, right.”

Adrien removed the paper and pulled out what turned out to be a sweater, cream colored and decorated with mistletoes and black cats in red scarves. It felt amazingly soft as he slipped it on over his head, embraced in a warm hug that - he lifted the fabric to his nose and took a deep breath - yes, smelled exactly like Marinette. For now at least.

“Do you like it?” Instead of replying, Adrien wrapped his arms around Marinette and pulled her close to him, nuzzling his nose against her neck. Giggling, she smacked his arms lightly. “I’ll take that as a yes, now let go!”

After he pulled his arms back, he stood up and stepped between the Cheng family members and made it to the tree before heading back to the little corner of the living room that they had claimed. He passed the envelope to Tom and the box to Marinette.

“A… gift card for an appliance store?” Tom said, his brow furrowing.

“I wanted to get you an actual new stove because you’re always upset at it,” Adrien explained in a rush, feeling embarrassed that his gift felt so… impersonal compared to theirs. “But when I went to the store I had no idea what actually made a good stove and searching it up on the internet only made it more confusing and… yeah,” he finished lamely.”

He glanced up at them and felt better to see them smiling back.

“That’s very thoughtful of you, Adrien! Thank you, we’ll make good use of this.”

Beside him, Marinette began opening her gift, which Adrien was much more excited for. Not because he had spent any less for it, but because that at least he knew exactly what to get.

He knew he’d done good when she gasped as she pulled out the expensive fabric she’d once stared at longingly from the otherside of a store’s window in Paris. Which, of course, meant that he was also expecting the smack on his arm from her as well.

“Adrien! This is expensive! You definitely shouldn’t have bought this.”

“Actually, you’ll remember that I get to spoil you exactly three times a year - birthdays, Valentine’s, and Christmas.” He gave her the most innocent look he could manage. “So you like it then?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You know I absolutely love it, you cat.”

“Then that’s great!” He continued with the overly chipper and oblivious tone, knowing how much it bugged her. He rubbed his hands together. “So… when’s dinner?”

-----------

After a Christmas dinner packed with Chinese dishes, they slowly returned to the living room.

Adrien sat in a corner of the room, taking in the warm and inviting atmosphere, the excitement and energy of so many people gathered together in such a small space.

Holding Marinette close, Adrien felt like he was part of a real family for the first time in a long time.

#Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrienette #Love Square #Tom Dupain #Sabine Cheng #ml secret santa exchange #my writing #Mari Christmas and a Happy New Adrien

[btsmosphere]

Sparkle | JJK

~summary:

Jungkook may have been planning a little something... a powercut is only a small barrier

Jungkook x female!reader

~word count: 2.5k

~roommates au, friends to lovers, getting together, fluff

Rating: g

Warnings: irresponsible milk drinking(?), tons of fluff

~a/n: so I am taking part in a bingo writing challenge with @btsholidaybingo​ and this is the first of my bingo squares: ‘xmas lights’!! It’s a really fun challenge and I am working on a lot more to come!

At this time of night, when it’s not really night but it’s too dark to still be day, you can enjoy the Christmas lights. From your window, it feels as if you can see the whole city – your house is right at the top of the hill.

Right now, when you can turn your own light off and admire the multicoloured constellations sprawled across the valley, it’s nice. However, when you go to bed it’s a different story. In the darkness of your room at night, it’s all too easy for the festive glow to sneak around your curtains and keep you awake.

Jungkook’s cooking at the moment, so you don’t want to go out and see what kind of horrors are going on in your kitchen.

At least it means he’s taken his music with him. That’s the thing about Jungkook: he’s always surrounded by music. And really, you don’t mind it. In fact, it’s something you’ve come to love. It’s reassuring, knowing another living person is just next door even if you’re snowed under with work and haven’t seen him all day.

And if you haven’t seen Jungkook, it is a bad day indeed.

But at this time of night, when it’s not really night but it’s too dark to still be day, you will take the peace and enjoy the Christmas lights.

Blinking, you realise you zoned out. The lights were floating in your unfocussed vision, but you soon pulled your attention back in. Sweeping your eyes once more over the cityscape, you noticed a darker section.

Then another patch of lights blinked off.

Vaguely, your memory reminded you that was what had jerked you to attention a moment ago. Lights cutting out. It felt like they should merely flicker, and you watched, feeling as if you were in mid-air, waiting for the inevitable moment of meeting the ground again.

But instead, a whole new square of the city fell into darkness.

And then, suddenly, you were blinking, eyes protesting at the newfound dark you had been submerged in. You were frozen, for a second.

Then you whipped around, as if you would find something coming up behind you. Nonsense, really. Your room had already been in darkness to let you watch the lights.

Walking across the space with nothing but muscle memory, your hand stretched out, hesitantly groping for the light switch. When your fingers stumbled across it, you flicked it.

Nothing.

With a sigh, you flipped the switch back off and stuck your head from your bedroom door.

“Kook?”

Your voice came softer than you expected, probably not reaching down the hall. Just as you cleared your throat, the concerning sound of something clattering to the floor interrupted you.

Eyebrows shooting up, you went straight to investigate.

“Kook!” you called into the dark kitchen. As you squinted, you could make out a human-sized shape on the floor, “Are you okay?”

“I think the power went out,” his voice returned.

Though you rolled your eyes, a smile sprung irresistibly to your face.

“Yeah, I had noticed,” you chuckled, “do you need some help-?”

Stepping into the space, it seems your calculations were off. Jungkook was a lot closer than you had expected and your leg hit him, tripping you up. But before you could topple over, Kook’s hands materialised at your hips, pushing you upright again.

“Woah, hey,” he laughed breathlessly, “careful.”

Clambering up from his knees to stand in front of you, you could hear the charming smile he was flashing at you rather than see it. Flustered, you stepped back and away from his hold. For a moment longer, he seemed to forget himself before he dived back down to retrieve the bowl he had dropped.

“Right, well, er,” you struggled to collect your thoughts, “don’t open the fridge until the power comes back. Do we have any candles, or anything-“

“Wait, Y/N, I just started cooking! I need to put everything back in the fridge. What if I open it really fast?”

“I don’t know…” you admitted.

Standing side by side in the dark, staring at the fridge for some sort of answer, you never felt more like a student. Which, of course, you were, but you hadn’t felt this clueless about something since the first time you did your own washing in first year.

“Well, I already cooked the bacon,” Jungkook said, “so it’s really just the milk and cheese.”

“I suppose you could risk opening the fridge,” you shrugged.

“Maybe…” he was chewing his lip. You knew he was.

Sighing, you spun on your heel and headed towards the door again.

“I’m going to go and see if we have any candles, or something.”

Back in your room, you rummaged blindly in your drawer for your phone. Often, as today, you stored it in there to avoid getting distracted by it when you had work to do.

Thankfully, it lit up, but boasted pitifully low charge. You just had to hope it would last long enough for you to find an alternative light source.

Pressing the button for the torch, you started at your wardrobe, wondering if you had any candles left over from birthday presents tucked away. None there, or in your desk or underneath your bed. Resurfacing from between the dusty boxes you kept under there, you slumped back against your bed.

Casting your eye fruitlessly around your room once more, you heaved yourself to your feet.

“Kook, can I go look in your room?” you called, walking back down to the kitchen.

Instead of a response, though, you were met with a spluttering sound. Entering the room, your torch illuminated Kook, hunched over with a milk bottle in one hand. His other was covering his mouth.

“What are you doing now?” you asked, incredulous.

Lifting his head, he coughed once more, sending a single drop of milk down his chin. His shirt was also spattered with it. Tilting you head, you raised your eyebrows.

“Please tell me you’re not chugging our milk.”

“You said not to open the fridge,” he mumbled weakly.

“Oh my god…” you sighed. Unfortunately, you couldn’t help the sudden burst of laughter that overtook you when he gave you full puppy-dog eyes.

“You’re a mess, Jeon Jungkook,” you smiled, “go and get another sweater.”

“This is the only one you haven’t stolen!” he protested.

Biting your lip, you looked bashfully down at the large black jumper you currently had on. Maybe he was right.

A second afterwards, your phone light drastically dimmed. There it stayed for a moment longer as you met Kook’s eyes, before you were both sent back into darkness.

“Ugh,” you groaned, “okay. You can have this jumper, but you need to take that one off. And then we need to find some lights.”

Knowing you were under the cover of darkness, you lifted Jungkook’s sweater over your head and held it out for him. Standing in only your bra and jeans, you noticed the effects of the heating being down.

“Kook,” you shook the jumper in what you hoped was his direction, “take it, come on. I’m cooold.”

“S-sorry,” he stammered, fabric soon leaving your hand.

Trekking back through the hallway, Kook following you this time, you parted ways to go into your respective rooms. You made your way to your wardrobe again with arms outstretched and felt around, picking the first jumper you came into contact with.

“Tada!”

The shout came as you had just put one arm into the sweater. Jumping around, you were met with a bundle of lights and a beaming Jungkook lit up behind them.

“Oh- sorry,” his eyes suddenly grew very round and he turned his back before you could blink.

Tugging the jumper on with haste, you cleared your throat.

“You found lights, then?”

“Yeah, um,” he looked tentatively over his shoulder to confirm it was safe before turning to face you again, “my mum sent up Christmas decorations, remember?”

“Oh! I didn’t realise,” you said, beaming nonetheless, “how come we haven’t put them up yet?”

“Uh, just didn’t have the time, I guess,” he replied as you scooped up a battery pack and began untangling the fairy lights attached to it.

While you worked, a cute frown making its way onto your face as you fought against the knotted wires, Jungkook just watched you through the mass of glowing lights. At last, you got the end free, your victory dance shaking him from his stupor.

“Do you know any card games?” you asked, draping the string of lights around your neck as you did so.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“That’s what people do in power cuts, right?” you brushed past him.

“Um… I guess it is,” Jungkook followed you through to the living room.

Making a start by placing your string of lights along the back of the big sofa, you waited for Jungkook to join in. He was being awfully quiet. After a few moments, he did get the idea and placed the whole luminescent bunch onto the middle sofa cushion, beginning work on your vision.

“God, how many of these are there?” you laughed dryly when you pulled out the third battery pack.

“No idea,” he grimaced, “I thought you liked Christmas lights anyway?”

“I do,” you conceded, “I think they’re working better than candles would have, too.”

Eventually, the two of you had cocooned your living space in the lights. The nest of space between your sofa, rug and chairs was bathed in the warm white light. Stepping back, you couldn’t help but smile.

It was still too quiet, though.

“Are you alright?” you asked quietly.

“Hmm? Yeah,” Jungkook spoke, standing to join you observing your hard work.

“You just seem quiet,” you mumbled.

As if to prove your point, Jungkook let silence elapse between you. But, like always with you two, it was comfortable.

“Cards?” he prompted after a while.

“Oh, yes,” you remembered, tearing your eyes from the scene in front of you to the boy at your side, “do we… own a pack of cards?”

Lips parting in thought, he tilted his head to one side.

“We don’t, do we?”

At the same time, you both grinned, laughing softly. The sight of his smile only served to make yours wider.

“Blankets?” he proposed instead.

You quickly agreed. On your return to the living room, you laughed out loud, finding Jungkook holding out a wine glass full of milk for you.

“I could grate some cheese for dinner but that’s just depressing,” he gave a small smile.

Laughing loudly, you made a show of swirling the milk around your cup and sniffing at it like the tasters on tv, before sipping it.

However, Jungkook’s laughter cut off as he sunk down beside you, his fingers fidgeting around the stalk of his own glass.

“Kook, what’s going on?” you gently elbowed him, “you’re so quiet.”

“I, er,” he freed a hand to scratch at the back of his neck, “how about some music?”

“Yeah, okay,” you frowned, “but, Kook, the power’s out-“

“Just wait here, okay?”

And then he was gone before you could protest, practically running from the room.

Was something seriously wrong? You knew you had been busy lately, but you always tried to make time to see your flatmate. In all honesty, he was the highlight of your day, and you had to stop yourself from fantasising about being more than friends…

But right now, you were worried. Right now, it seemed like he needed a friend, but since when had he started acting like this?

Before you could get up and follow him, though, you heard his footsteps returning. Not a moment later, he rounded the corner with a guitar in his hand. Definitely not what you had been expecting.

“I didn’t know you played guitar,” you said. It surprised you; for all that you could hear his music from your room, you would have thought you’d have heard if he had been playing the guitar.

“I’ve been learning,” he didn’t quite meet your eyes, shuffling his feet.

“Okay,” you spoke slowly.

While you waited, he walked forwards and sat on one of the chairs facing you.

Just before he began, he looked up. Somehow your heart melted at his big eyes, heart already in your mouth for some reason.

And then his face was lit up in profile again, soft glow highlighting his features. As you gazed at him, unable to look away, his fingers began to pick out a soft tune. For someone so modest, he was incredibly skilled. Watching and listening in awe, your heart nearly burst when he started singing too.

His voice, though he sang softly, clearly a little nervous, floored you. And the words… he was singing about love, about a beautiful girl that made him happy, a girl he wanted to stay happy.

In your head, you had the privilege of imagining that girl was you.

All too soon, the song came to a close.

Staring at him, you held your breath to the last second before he relaxed, lowering his hand and putting his guitar to one side.

“That was beautiful, Kook,” you breathed.

But instead of responding, he stood, taking your gaze with him as he crossed to sit beside you on the sofa. A small smile curved his lips, a ghost of a laugh falling between them.

“I had a whole night planned out,” he waved his hand, “I was making carbonara, and-and I had all these decorations waiting in my room, I know you love them…”

While he took a deep breath, yours was completely stuck in your throat.

“I’m sorry about the, uh, the milk,” he chuckled, “it’s not exactly romantic, but… I was wondering if you wanted to be my girlfriend?”

Finally having forced the words out, he looked nervously up at you with glistening eyes, no doubt thanks to your magical setup. He watched with that unwavering gaze as you tried desperately to form words in your head, simultaneously trying to process if you were in the real world at all.

“Please answer,” he whispered.

Until then you hadn’t noticed how impossibly close to each other you were. Until his words brushed against your lips.

Suddenly your brain caught up with itself, deciding this was real after all.

“O-of course,” you rushed out, tongue momentarily darting to your lips, “yes, yes!”

“Yes?” he repeated, eyes widening more, if that was possible, seeming in total disbelief.

With sudden bravery, you surged forwards, pressing your lips to his. Melting into the kiss, you felt his hands float up to your waist, hesitant at first until you kissed him harder, pulling him forwards with your hands fisted in the sweater you had recently given up.

Now he was kissing back with equal measures of hunger and tenderness, hands holding you firmly.

When you broke apart, exhilarated and reluctant to let each other go, you let your forehead fall against his.

“Yes.”

The grin he awarded you was brighter than all the lights around you. And later that night when the city burst into light again, barging past your curtains to interrupt your darkness, neither of you paid it any mind.

Hope you enjoyed! Please reblog if you did💜xx

@aianloveseven​ @preciouschimine​ 

Contact me to be tagged in new work!

#btsholidaybingo #thebtswritersclub #purplearmynet #jungkook x reader #jungkook fluff #jungkook roommate au #jeon jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook imagine #jungkook imagines #jungkook scenarios #jeon jungkook scenario #christmas jungkook #bts fluff #bts imagines #jk fluff #getting together #jeon jungkook humour #jungkook humour #jungkook comedy #bts scenarios

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

That’s Christmas To Me| Julie and The Phantoms Cast

Dream-a-little-bigger-x’s Countdown to Christmas 

Day 4 

A/N: I got so excited when I saw this one was the next one I had to write! I hope you enjoy! I also wanna thank @calamitykaty​, @vicesvsvirtuesfanfic​, @vrthngiwnt​ and @bright-molina​ for letting me pick your brains and bounce some ideas off of you. I love you loads! 

Pairing: Platonic! JATP Cast x fem!reader

Summary: 2022, season 2 was about to be released on Netflix and the cast was invited to promote the show on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. A dream come true. When the host asks them for their favorite holiday memory together, the cast immediately flashes back to that time at the Christmas Markets. 

Song(s) used: That’s Christmas To Me - Pentatonix | Happy Xmas (War is Over) - Echosmith ft. Hunter Hayes

Warnings: Spiked hot chocolates, but no one gets drunk and no one drinking is underage. 

Words:  3,970

Checking her outfit in the full-length mirror once again, y/n sighed nervously. All dressed out to the max for her very first talk show. Her styling team had outdone themselves once again. The gold flared pants, the white satin button down shirt and the white heels just made her feel so fabulous. 

Though she couldn’t deny the fact that she was nervous. She was going on a live show, not any live show, but the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, nonetheless. Her family watched that show religiously every single night. That thought did not calm her down either. 

A soft knock made her snap out of her thoughts and turn around to find Madison in the doorway with an excited smile on her face. “You look gorgeous!” she exclaimed excitedly and ran up to her newest best friend, engulfing her into a tight hug. 

She was sporting a gray glittery jumpsuit with black pumps strapped on her feet, her makeup done beautifully and her natural curls flowing over her shoulders with bejeweled clips pulling it out of her face. 

“So do you!” y/n retorted with the brightest smile she could muster, though Madison could see right through her and squeezed her hands reassuringly. “My heart is thumping.” The words came out in a whisper as though she was telling a secret. 

“So is mine, but we can do this. We got each other, okay?” 

Y/N and Madison had gotten along straight away the first day y/n came to set. It was nerve-wracking to weasel yourself into a tight group of cast members who’ve already spent two years working together, but they made it so agreeable. The first day, Madison and Owen came up to her and started bombarding her with so many questions about herself and her character. All she knew about the latter was that she’d be Reggie’s love interest and the villain’s niece who worked for him to try and get Reggie, Luke and Alex into his club. Which of course, would not work out as y/n’s character would fall for the bassist too. 

The entire cast welcomed her into their group straight away and the whole process became so enjoyable to the point where it just didn’t feel like work anymore. It just felt like spending time with friends and trying to memorize words and songs at the same time. It was weird. But so much fun. And now, they were able to finally promote said season. 

“Madison, y/n, time to go,” one of the show runners said to them when he passed y/n’s dressing room. The two girls nodded and after a simultaneous deep inhale and exhale of stress, they made their way to the hallway where the boys were waiting. 

Charlie and Jeremy offered y/n a wide smile to ease her nerves a little before Charlie held out his hand in front of him. “We got this. Legends on three?” The others nodded and, with a content smile on her face, y/n placed her hand on top of Charlie’s. 

“One,” said Charlie. 

“Two,” Jeremy and Madison added in unison. 

“Three!” Owen and y/n finished and all five their hands went up in the air as they yelled out “Legends!” Though it was scary, y/n knew she had four amazing people that would guide her through it. 

“Please, welcome the cast of Julie and The Phantoms!” Jimmy introduced them and, while the Roots played the infamous intro song, the cast walked through the red curtain. Madison and y/n ahead, holding one another’s hands as to not fall in their heels, then followed Charlie, Jeremy and Owen. 

The audience cheered and applauded until they sat down and the music faded away. “Welcome, welcome!” Jimmy said excitedly. “Thank you for being here!” The cast beamed at the host, unable to contain their excitement nor nerves. 

“Thanks for having us,” said Charlie, the polite Canadian. 

“So, exciting news, season two of your show Julie and The Phantoms premieres on Netflix tonight, is that correct?” 

“Yes!” all five said, though not quite in unison, and the crowd roared again. Y/N couldn’t hide the smile on her red painted lips as she looked out into the sea of people. 

Jimmy turned to the crowd, “If the people at home have never heard of your show, how would you explain it?” His eyes fell on the girl closest to his desk, which was Madison, allowing her to answer the question. 

“Uhm… Julie and The Phantoms is about this girl, Julie, who tragically lost her mom and, with it, her love for music. That is until one day, she plays this old CD she finds and out pop these three lovable, dorky ghosts who used to be in a band in the 90’s, called Sunset Curve. They died when they ate bad hot dogs--” the crowd let out a laugh, and it made Madison chuckle too. “Yeah! -- Anyway, and so these boys kind of help her find her love for music again and they form a band, called Julie and The Phantoms as the audience can see the ghosts when they play with Julie. And a lot of things happen and it’s funny and light and cute!” 

Jimmy let out a chuckle too, “And now there’s a season 2!” Another cheer erupted from the crowd. “What can you tell us about season 2, Charlie?” he directed the question to the boy next to the newbee. 

“A lot happens! We see what happens with Nick and Caleb, and we meet Philippa, Pips, Covington who will stir up some crazy stuff in the boys’ lives, especially Reggie’s,” he explained with a grin. He stirred in his seat a little before placing his arm on the back of the couch, behind y/n’s head. The girl tried not to react to the overwhelmingly amazing scent of sandalwood that emanated from this movement. 

Jimmy’s eyes landed on y/n and she was certain that for a moment, he knew what she was thinking, but then he asked her a question instead. “How was it for you, y/n, as the newcomer to the cast? Did they immediately embrace you or did  you have trouble being accepted?” 

“I hated it--” she replied seriously,  but then giggled, “No, I loved it! They were so kind and so welcoming, I immediately felt like I was part of their tight group. It did feel strange at first, I’m not gonna lie. But after a while, coming to work didn’t really feel like working anymore.” 

“And your character, Phillipa, was she accepted by the other characters?” 

She cleared her throat of any nerves before answering. “Pippa was… well-- she was working for her dead great-uncle, so she had to make sure she was accepted and weasled herself into the friend group pretty quickly. She knew how to get to Reggie especially and thanks to him, got into their friend group.”

“That’s amazing. I’m so excited to watch! My daughters are eight and nine, and they loved season 1 of Julie and The Phantoms. They’re thrilled to see the new season!” 

A chorus of “aw”s were shared within the cast as well as throughout the audience. 

“Yeah, they’re pretty cute.” He picked up his cue cards to remind himself of the next bullet point he needed to talk about. “Oh! Since it’s almost Christmas, I like to ask my guests to tell us a fun holiday themed story before I send them off, do you guys have a fun holiday themed story for us?” 

The cast exchange glances until Owen asked, “Should we talk about the Christmas market we did last year after filming?” The rest of the cast made sounds of agreement with a few giggles mixed in between. 

“Tell us about the Christmas Market!” Jimmy shouted excitedly, almost resembling a five-year-old getting their Christmas presents early. 

Owen took the lead on this one. “So, we were all in Vancouver, we had wrapped season 2 and we would soon be going home, but we decided to spend one last night together at a Christmas market in Vancouver city…”    

Bundled up in layers of sweaters and a thick coat, y/n trekked through the layer of snow that blanketed to grounds of Vancouver City. She was trying her hardest not to focus on the blistering cold that nipped at her nose but rather on the story Charlie was telling the others in front of her. His voice boomed into the busy streets, along with the others’ laughter. 

She always loved the way Charlie told his stories about every wild adventure he’d ever been on and the way Owen quipped back with the wittiest of comebacks. Or how Madison would chime in with her typical Gen Z humor none of the boys understood. Y/N was sure going to miss the entire dynamic of the group when they were back home. 

Thousands of lights flickered above y/n’s head as they strolled through the entrance of the infamous Vancouver Christmas Market. She let her eyes take in the beauty whilst her stomach fluttered from excitement. Her love for Christmas Markets had never faltered over the years. It still excited her in the same way it did when she was just a child. 

“Can we get a hot chocolate first? I’m freezing!” Savannah suggested, her teeth chattering as she snuggled into her thick scarf. Smiling, y/n hooked her arm around hers and pulled her closer in hopes the warmth of all her layers would help the blonde girl a little. 

“I heard they have a unique recipe that only the Christmas Market here ever uses!” Charlie added with a wide grin before leading the gang towards the warm beverage kiosk. It resembled a cabin from a ski resort, decked out all the way with Christmas lights and foliage. 

The group stood in front of the kiosk and read the menu to figure out whatever they’d want to drink. “Ooh, that Peppermint Hot Chocolate sounds delish,” Owen said, and when y/n’s eyes landed on the words, her mouth curled up into a smirk. 

“We’re going that route tonight, hm?” 

The hot chocolate he was talking about was spiked with peppermint schnapps and chocolate liqueur. This sounded right up y/n’s street, and she knew it would warm Savannah up from the inside. 

“Follow me or don’t follow me, that’s up to you, but I am taking that route tonight.” Owen rubbed his gloved hands together until the lady inside the kiosk looked up at him, signalling that it was his turn to order. “A peppermint hot chocolate, please.” He sounded way too confident for someone who had just turned 21 that year. 

The woman peered over her half-moon glasses, letting her eyes glide from his eyes to his toes before sneering, “ID, please.” Owen’s mouth dropped open and with a lot of cursing underneath his breath, he reached for his wallet. 

“Ha! Owen’s getting ID’d!” Charlie cackled, shaking his head. The woman’s eyes darted over to the second boy, giving him the same one-up before raising her eyebrows as if saying “I’m gonna get you too, little boy”. 

And she did. She ID’d Charlie too. No one else but Charlie and Owen, which everyone had a good laugh at as they were sipping their hot chocolates, which for three out of ten isn’t spiked. 

While Jeremy and Booboo were still teasing the two boys, y/n turned around and let her eyes scan the entire view in front of her. All the pretty lights and the snow whirling to the ground so gracefully and the music floating through the air made the cold more bearable. 

A gasp eliciting from Jadah’s tiny body made y/n snap out of her thoughts and turn to the younger cast member. Her eyes were wide and shimmering, looking up at the tall Christmas tree that was towering above their heads with tens of thousands of lights blinking back at them. 

“Isn’t that the walk-through Christmas tree?!” she asked, excitedly. 

Madison took her hand and, giggling, they weaved through the sea of people towards the one-of-a-kind festive fairyland. Y/N exchanged glances with the rest before they, too, made a beeline towards the tree, dodging people left and right. 

“Hey, Owen, are you sure you’re gonna be able to fit?” y/n asked the tall Oklahoman teasingly. The boy’s mouth dropped open, and before she could properly register it, he started chasing her. She ran past Madison and Jadah, and tried to duck behind any other visitor until he eventually picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. The girl shrieked, prior to a giggle.  

Jimmy’s voice echoed over y/n’s flashback to the most festive night of that year. “You guys really sound like a close group of friends.” 

“Yeah! We are! We’re like a little family!” Charlie replied, dropping the arm that was on the back of the sofa around the girl’s shoulder. 

“What happened next?” Jimmy then questioned, curiously. The whole scene almost resembled a toddler listening to his bedtime story. 

Jeremy cleared his throat with a chuckle. “Well, if this night were a movie, you’d now have a cute montage of us going through that magical tree and on the carousel like little children.” 

“Yeah, you’d see us stuff our faces with churros and pretzels,” y/n added, making Jimmy and the crowd laugh. 

“And we got a lot of Christmas shopping done too!” Madison chimed in with a smile. “I actually got everyone’s present when they were right there with me. None of them noticed.” 

“Oh, no, I noticed,” y/n replied with a smirk, to which Madison reacted with widened eyes. 

“What’s next?!” Jimmy queried. His eyes were glistening as he listened to the cast talk. He just loved their dynamic and how well they got along with one another. 

Y/N continued the story as her mind tumbled back into her daydream. 

The music had stopped just a few minutes ago, but only now y/n’s ears picked up on the sudden absence. Knitting her eyebrows together, she lifted her eyes to the stage in the corner of the market where singers were carolling minutes ago, and was now completely empty. As the small amount of alcohol made her brain a little woozy, her teeth gnawed on her bottom lip in thought. 

“Guys… Should we--Should we go sing a song?” she suggested, causing all of them to look up in surprise. “There’s no one on the stage… Should we?” she pointed at the podium to emphasize what she meant. 

As smiles appeared on each of their faces, the group walked up to the stage and grabbed a microphone each. Charlie reached for the acoustic guitar on the stand, but y/n stopped him. 

“Let’s do a capella for once?” she told him tenderly. 

When his eyes met hers, she felt her lungs expand with the gasp that left her body. How gorgeous could one’s eyes be. But with that one look, the boy also knew what song she wanted to sing. The one song that had been stuck in her head for the past month during filming. And the rest of the crew knew too because when y/n counted them in softly, they all started to sing along. Their voices mingling perfectly and floating throughout the night sky. 

“The fireplace is burning bright, shining all on me I see the presents underneath the good old Christmas tree And I wait all night 'til Santa comes to wake me from my dreams Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me”

Savannah locked eyes with y/n and a smile fell to their lips before they looked out to the audience they had assembled with their harmonies reaching across the entire Christmas Market. 

“I see the children play outside, like angels in the snow While mom and daddy share a kiss under the mistletoe And we'll cherish all these simple things wherever we may be Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me”

Owen came to stand next to y/n and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they all sang the chorus together, the tall blondie on lead vocals and the others harmonizing in the background. 

“I've got this Christmas song in my heart”

“Song in my heart”

“I've got the candles glowing in the dark I'm hanging all the stockings by the Christmas tree Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me”

As though they had prepared the entire performance, Booboo led them into the next verse while the others acted as backing vocals for him. His warm, deep voice sent chills down everyone’s spines, especially of the people in the crowd. 

“I listen for the thud of reindeer walking on the roof As I fall asleep to lullabies, the morning's coming soon”

His cast mates then joined in again and together, they sang the chorus once again with Jeremy taking lead this time. While they did, y/n took a hold of Savannah’s gloved hand, squeezing it as they looked at each other with intent in their eyes. Like they meant what they were singing to one another. 

“The only gift I'll ever need is the joy of family Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me I've got this Christmas song in my heart”

“Song in my heart”

“I've got the candles glowing in the dark I'm hanging all the stockings by the Christmas tree Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me”

Y/N turned her head to the other side now, locking eyes with Tori and Sacha, and shooting them a wink before they lapsed into the chorus one last time. It felt good to sing with everyone for once. During filming, it was always just a select group of people that got to sing together. 

“Oh, the joy that fills our hearts and makes us see Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me I've got this Christmas song in my heart I've got the candles glowing in the dark And then for years to come we'll always know one thing That's the love that Christmas can bring Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me”

As the crowd erupted into cheers and applause, the group shared an intense look, one that said they were always going to be friends. No matter how far away they’ll be from tomorrow on. Even if they don’t get picked up for a third season, they’re always going to be there for each other and be the best of friends forever. The only gift they’ll ever need is the joy of family. And they were family. 

“That was so beautiful!” Jimmy exclaimed after they’d told him about everything that had happened that night in a short synopsis. “Now, I believe you’re gonna sing for us now?” 

The cast nodded in unison. “Okay, what are you bringing us tonight? The song you sang at the Christmas market?” 

Madison giggled, “No, though we love that song, there’s one we collectively think is one of the greatest Christmas songs ever. It’s the ultimate classic Happy Xmas, War is Over by John Lennon.” 

“Amazing! You can go get ready!” he gestures to the tiled floor in front of the red curtain where the crew had set up their instruments and five microphones for them. “Catch Julie and The Phantoms season 2 on Netflix from tonight! They’re singing for us now. Madison, y/n, Charlie, Jeremy and Owen, take it away!” 

Owen counted them in by slamming his sticks together and then began playing the rhythm of the song. Y/N then chimed in with the jingling of the tambourine before the other boys and Madison joined with their respective instruments. Soon after, Madison’s voice floated through the talk show’s studio. 

“So this is Christmas And what have you done Another year over A new one just begun”

When the girls lock eyes, they shoot one another a wink before y/n takes over the next part of the verse. 

“And so this is Christmas I hope you have fun The near and the dear ones The old and the young”

Then the boys chime in, their voices mingling as they linger in the air for everyone to hear and enjoy. Y/N lets her eyes dart over to Charlie, who’s already looking at her with a smile on his face. 

“A very merry Christmas And a happy New Year Let's hope it's a good one Without any fears”

The others shut up, giving Charlie the floor now. He really was born to be a rockstar. The way he just owned the stage and looked like an absolute legend, singing his heart out and playing his guitar like a pro. And he’d only started learning when he was on season 1 of Julie and The Phantoms. 

“And so this is Christmas For weak and for strong The rich and the poor ones The world is so wrong”

For a split second, he locked eyes with y/n again as she took over and faced the audience with a smile, still working her little tambourine for the extra jingles. Somehow, this just felt like one of their jam sessions during rehearsals and not at all like it was a live broadcast on national television. 

“And so happy Christmas For black and for white Ooh, for everyone Let's stop all the fights”

Their voices mingled together again, and, in a boost of confidence, y/n grabbed the mic from its stand and walked over to Jeremy, rocking out with him as he shredded on the bass. 

“A very merry Christmas And a happy New Year Let's hope it's a good one Without any fears”

The music slowed down, and while Madi, Owen and Jeremy took care of the soft backing vocals, y/n walked over to Charlie and sang the lines to one another, never breaking eye contact. 

“And so this is Christmas And what have we done Another year over A new one just begun”

The music picked back up. Madison took over this time, and while y/n worked her tambourine, she danced her way towards the Latina girl with a smile plastered on her face. 

“And so happy Christmas We hope you have fun The near and the dear ones The old and the young”

She then turned to Owen as he took over on the next part. He shot her a quick wink whilst his mouth curled up on one side. “A very merry Christmas And a happy New Year Let's hope it's a good one Without any fear”

Each taking their turn, starting with Owen, they all sang a part of the backing vocals while the boys and Madison played the instrumental intermezzo. “Merry Christmas” 

“So this is Christmas”

“War is over now” 

Returning back to her spot, y/n placed her mic on the stand again, and along with the others, sang the very last lines of the song. 

“War is over If you want it It’s over now”

The crowd erupted into cheers and applause while the band assembled in the middle of the stage. Charlie grabbed y/n’s hand and gave it a small, reassuring squeeze. All five of them together took a bow before exchanging knowing glances. 

This time around, they knew they were going to see each other tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that as they were doing all the promo they could. It felt a lot more reassuring than it did that day at the Christmas Market when they had no clue when they’d see each other again. Though all of them knew that this was still the only gift they’ll ever need. Their little found family.  

JATP taglist: @hannahhistorian92​ @marinettepotterandplagg​@thequirkybookaholic​ @bookdealer5​ @tenaciousperfectionunknown​ @hemmingsness​ @iainttakingshitfromnobody​ @ifilwtmfc​ @angryknightstatesmantrash​ @kiss-themoongoodbye​ @rudysbay @thedarkqueenofavalon​​ @caitsymichelle13​​ @calamitykaty​ @wiselight​ @kcd15​​ @vicesvsvirtuesfanfic​ @stars-soph​ @kinda-really-lost​ @notasofti​ @alexpjoyner​ @n0wornever​ @kaitieskidmore1​ @tefilovesreading​ @pxperphxntom​ @crybabyddl​ @parkeret​ @headheartbellarke​ 

Names crossed out are the ones I couldn’t tag. 

Lemme know if you wanna be on my taglist! 

#julie and the phantoms #julie and the himbos #jatp #jatp x reader #jatp cast x reader #charlie gillespie #owen patrick joyner #jeremy shada #madison reyes #savannah lee may #tori caro #jadah marie #sacha carlson #julie and the phantoms cast #dream-a-little-bigger-x Christmas Countdown #dream-a-little-bigger-x's countdown to christmas(ish)