#(( HAPPY SOLSTICE AND HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY ))

[smoke-and-silver]

Ministry Holidays : Imbolc

A small series of how the ministry celebrates the Wheel of the Year, following my personal headcanon that the ghouls and Siblings of Sin observe the solstices and equinoxes.

Imbolc, celebrated at the start of February, to keep spirits hopeful in the middle of dark and cold winter.

As this holiday is primarily about hope, the fire ghouls keep the candles in the cathedral lit for an entire 3 days, without the air ghouls blowing them out at night as they would usually do.

Mountain works with the Sisters to plan the garden for that upcoming spring. He gets everyone's input to make sure their food supply is where they need it to be.

There's a small dance held in the dining hall to help everyone shake off the winter blues and any stagnation they're feeling. Cumulus and Ifrit enjoy it the most, dancing with just about everybody who wants to participate.

Imbolc is also meant to light up one's creativity. It's a time of inspiration and you'll see ghouls and humans alike in the ministry scribbling away working on new songs.

White, yellow, orange, gold decorations--the colors of flame--adorn both the cathedral and its residents. Long-suffering ghouls allow the Siblings to weave ribbons around their horns and through their hair.

This tradition is meant to show the ghouls how valued they are and how much all of their hard work is appreciated.

Swiss is the most happy with being adorned and the Siblings take full advantage of it. He ends up covered in all sorts of trinkets.

Different breads and cakes are the primary dishes served at dinner during Imbolc, along with a cheesy soup one of the sisters makes that everyone loves.

--and a TON of brewed drinks, for anyone who partakes in alcohol. Everyone waits for the inevitable moment where a drunken Omega leans too far back in his chair and falls over. Every year he manages to trip. Once or twice he's stumbled into an altar and knocked the whole thing over.

Someone has to carry Dewdrop to bed when he inevitably overindulges and passes out too. Swiss carries him like a little princess whereas Aurora just slings him over her shoulder.

Don't worry if you find yourself in the same position: every ghoul is there to make sure you make it back safely to your room without falling over.

--or to hold your hair back for you if you puke.

[deancashorrorfest]

hey, everybody!

happy holidays, solstice, yule etc.

this is pretty preemptive, but I figured I’d drop a post before I forget 😅

after last round, I ran a little poll in the horrorfest server and nearly everyone voted in favor of shaking things up a little next round 😏

that is to say:

HORRORFEST 3 WILL BE IN REVERSE!!!

If you’re unfamiliar with reverse bangs, that is when the art comes first and the authors write a story based on the art prompt instead of vice versa.

I will update the rules accordingly and post in the coming weeks, but next round will still be opening up in February and posting in October as usual.

[spacetimesally]

With the winter solstice cultural celebration in full swing, Sally spends the holiday forlorn and alone drifting through space in confined quarters, but when a certain cosmic space imp makes a festive appearance, it becomes a howling holiday hootenanny in, "Jerry Cosmic's Big Bada Din Festivity Extravaganza Spectacular"

Happy Holidays everybody. From Spacetime Sally Industries to You and Yours. Enjoy.

[bg-sparrow]

Winter Tag Game

Thanks for the tag, @moonlightandstarshimmer! Love these! Sorry it's so late!!

1: Spell Your Name in Christmas Songs

(Everybody's Waiting For) The Man With the Bag Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas Carol of the Bells Auld Lang Syne

2: Do you decorate your pfp/change your URL for the holiday season? Sometimes! Depends on the platform. Tumblr, usually not. On Discord right now, I am "BG Snowman". :)

3: Do you do anything to celebrate Winter Solstice? Not really, but it is a notable day for personal reasons: I found out I was expecting my first child on Winter Solstice, so that's always a fun memory I associate with the day.

4: If you could be any wintertime mythical creature (sentient snowman, flying reindeer, runaway gingerbread man, ghost from a christmas carol, etc.) what would you be? I want to be an Elf on the Shelf. :)

5: What colors do you like seeing come out in the wintertime? ALL OF THEM. So many people complain about how dark it is in the winter (and as I get older, I get it), but we decorate that darkness with the loveliest Christmas lights! And little kid me loves the classic red-blue-yellow-green string lights!

6: A song you love from your spofity wrapped/year-end roundup? Rosie's Nocturne by Michael Giacchino (JoJo Rabbit, 2019). It's absolutely gorgeous. I fell in love with it while I was writing Now I Am Become Death in April, and it's followed me through some of my other WWII BttF fics ever since. Also, go see JoJo Rabbit now if you haven't. Sam Rockwell? I swear I never expect to like him (idk why) but he nails every role I've seen him in, especially in this film.

7: Four things that make you happy in the winter?

Chrsitmas lights. I want all the Christmas lights in any color, any shape, any size. They are magical.

Being Santa Claus. :) When my parents told me, my reaction wasn't denial, outrage, or sadness — I couldn't wait to do my part. Realizing every parent did this because they loved their kids that much was humbling. And realizing I could extend that magic to anyone long before I ever had a family of my own? Oh, I love it. I love bearing that badge. I love making this time of year special.

That it's not frowned upon that I want to stay inside under a blanket playing with yarn and watchin TV/ movies all day

I'm not sweating, there are no bugs trying to eat me, and my skin isn't flaring up from sun & heat exposure!

8: Tag some people, but no pressure!

@daryfromthefuture @synthsays @mythical-bookworm @professorsaber @bttf-dork @brinkle-brackle @bri-to-the-future @manebioniclegali (If you like!)

Thanks again for the tag!

[rumor-imbris]

Solstice day 2023

My dearest readers, mutuals, followers, friends Sorry for leaving very few traces of me on here lately but my absence. My heart feels very heavy and now that this year is heading towards its end I felt the need to lighten it a bit, as much as I can.

This year started badly and ended worse. From the beginning I had to struggle with my mental health, personal issues, fears, insecurities, phobias and constant self-doubt; always pushing myself to find the strength to live on my own height, in my job, in my passions and hobbies, to be good at everything I do, to be someone, anyone, to be perfect. And if I'm not, then it's a reason to ask myself what's wrong.

I achieved some goals, little ones. Giant ones for somebody, never big enough to me, but I keep on trying. I try to keep on trying. I thought I could save the year... stepping on the path to face my deepest fears, being impeccable at the last audition, starting to write down anything of the dreamed novel sleeping in my mind... But then a new hole swallowed me, striking from under my feet unexpectedly.

Yesterday I lost my little ginger joy, my beloved prince, my furry friend, comfort, a piece of my soul. My cat Lucifero (Lu for almost everybody) was 11 years and 4 months old and was majestically beautiful. He suffered from a renal failure which turned very serious in a few days, until his kidneys became totally inactive. We had to euthanize him to stop his sufferings, for he wasn't able to eat, drink or even stand on his paws anymore. It was the worst thing I ever did in my life, one of the most painful moments my memory got marked with. I was forced to take that decision for his own good, helped by the great kindness and clarity from the veterinarian stuff who guided me during the whole heartbreaking procedure. Even my parents, who took care of Lu since I went to live elsewhere, are in such pain and can't believe it.

Still I wonder if I did a big mistake, if I do deserve to live while he is in the ground now, if I do deserve to breathe since I was the one who allowed to make his breath cease...

I cry all my tears still, my pain has come to know a new unknown depth and I sincerely say that I hate life, for beginning and for ending the way it does. This carousel of night and day, give and take, live and die, eat and be eaten really made me tired. Dead tired. And the most beautiful things, the most beloved wither as frail flowers, while I keep walking, rot inside.

I don't know what the new year will take, I just know I have this march to continue, with a heavier heart weighing me down... and I cannot stop, for those I love. When I kissed my baby Lu goodbye, I promised him we'll be together again as atoms shining in the same bright star someday, and I believe we will.

I hope I didn't sadden you guys too much, and I'm sorry for such a gloom post; but I think it's fair from me, especially for those of you who were gently waiting for new posts, to say that I might take a hiatus time and not be around for a while. At least, until inspiration comes back igniting me again, as Ratonhnhaké:ton still fills my dreams and heartbeats.

Until then, Happy Holidays; wish you the greatest opportunities and joys for the new coming year. Be strong, whatever you all are going through, whatever demon you're fighting, outside or inside of you. I root for you.

Take care

Yours truly

Rumor Imbris

[mirandamckenni1]

Radagast - Beltane Fire Dance (Celtic Pagan Folk Music) Radagast Music - Beltane Fire Dance Celtic Pagan Folk Music Beltane is a Pagan holiday, and one of the eight Sabbats. It falls about halfway between the spring equinox (Ostara) and the coming summer solstice, Litha. The holiday celebrates spring at its peak, and the coming summer. This festival is commemorated with bonfires, maypoles, dancing, and performing fertility rituals. Beltane is a Celtic word, meaning “the fires of Bel.” Bel, likely referred to the Celtic sun god, Belenus. It represents the return of the light and, through the hierogamy between the God and the Goddess, a period of renewed fertility and prosperity. Happy Beltane to everybody! Radagast☘️ follow Radagast: https://ift.tt/2V4i8Qd to support the project join or: Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEgImgGbOZZJOyIfpVEPzDw/join this music is protected by copyright #beltane #celticmusic #paganfolk #celticfolk #paganmusic #firedance #wiccanmusic via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuNBqR9Y628

[multi-royalty]

Yesterday was December 21st; The Winter Solstice. It's also known as the darkest day of the year. Since autumn, every day has been getting darker as it headed towards the solstice. Today, however? Today it starts getting lighter. Slowly but surely, light is coming. It won't get any darker than it was yesterday. And you know what? Anything life throws at you, it will get lighter. Slowly but surely. Find the moments of light in life and bask in the warmth; However you find it necessary. And I want to wish you the warmest happy holidays. Whatever you celebrate, however you celebrate. I hope you have a restful and joyful moment. I hope you find light. I hope you have a smile on your face. I hope you have friends by your side. As always, I'm cheering you on! -- 💜💜 Victoria

“You can't see the future coming — not the terrors, for sure, but you also can't see the wonders that are coming, the moments of light-soaked joy that await each of us.” — John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed

I needed something like this today <3 hoping for happy things coming soon to everybody!

[deadangelos]

How’s the party!!

[heinoushangar]

She really hates that her mind already started alternating verses; I saw Krampus whipping Al~as~tor underneath the Mistletoe last night .. Sweet Lucifer, that is not an image she wants to be stuck with all night. Just focus on finishing up this Rotten-Children-Being-Sacrificed-To-Krampus gingerbread tribute and listen to the tunes on the radio ..

[rigmarolling]

Historical Holiday Traditions We Really Need To Bring Back

Here comes Santa Claus, and also a bunch of annual holiday Things we do to ensure he commits a truly boggling act of breaking and entering and leaves goods underneath the large plant in the living room.

Because I’ve always got a hankerin’ for the days of yore, here are some historical holiday traditions we really need to bring back:

1. Everything that happened on Saturnalia

Saturnalia was the ancient Roman winter festival held on December 25th--which is why we celebrate Christmas on that day and not on the day historians speculate Jesus was actually born, which was probably in the spring. 

Saturnalia was bonkers. As the name suggests, it celebrated the god Saturn, who represented wealth and liberty and generally having a great time.

Above: Their party is way cooler than yours could ever hope to be.

During Saturnalia, masters would serve their slaves, because it was the one day during the year when everybody agreed that freedom for all is great, actually, let’s just do that. Everyone wore a coned hat called the pilleus to denote that they were all bros and equal, and also to disguise the fact that they hadn’t brushed their hair after partying hard all week, probably.

Gambling was allowed on Saturnalia, so all of Rome basically turned into ancient Vegas, complete with Caesar’s Palace, except with the actual Caesar and his palace because he was, you know. Alive. 

The most famous part (besides getting drunk off your rocker) was gift-giving--usually gag gifts. Historians have records of people giving each other some truly impressive white elephant gifts for Saturnalia, including: a parrot, balls, toothpicks, a pig, one single sausage, spoons, and deliberately awful books of poetry. 

Above: Me, except all the time.

Partygoers also crowned a King of Saturnalia, which was a predecessor to the King of Fools popular in medieval festivals. The king was basically the head idiot who delivered absurd commands to everyone there, like, “Sing naked!” or “run around screaming for an hour,” or “slap your butt cheeks real hard in front of your crush; DO IT, Brutus.”

Oh, wait. Everyone was already doing all that. Hell yes.

(Quick clarification: early celebrations of Saturnalia did feature human sacrifice, so let’s just leave that bit out and instead wear the pointy hats and sing naked, okay? Io Saturnalia, everybody.)

2. Leaving out treats for Sleipnir in the hopes of avoiding Odin’s complete disregard for your property

The whole “leave out cookies and milk for Santa” thing comes from a much older tradition of trying to appease old guys with white beards. In Norse mythology, Odin, who was sort of the head god but preferred to be on a perpetual road trip instead, took an annual nighttime ride through the winter sky called the Wild Hunt. 

Above: The holidays, now with 300% more heavy metal.

Variations of the Wild Hunt story exist in a bunch of European folklore--in Odin’s case, he usually brought along a bunch of supernatural buddies, like spirits and other gods and Valkyries and ghost dogs, who, the Vikings said, you could hear howling and barking as the group approached (GOOD DOGGOS).

That was the thing, though; you never actually saw Odin’s hunt--you only heard it. And hearing it did not spark the same sense of childish glee you felt when you thought you heard Santa’s sleigh bells approaching as a kid--instead, the Vikings said, you should be afraid. Be VERY afraid.

Because Odin could be kind of a dick.

Odin was also known as the Allfather, and like any father, he hated asking for directions. GPS who? I’m the Allfather, I’m riding the same way I always ride.

And that was pretty much it: “I took this road last year and I’m taking it again this year.”

“But,” someone would pipe up from the back, “there are houses on the road now--we’re gonna run right into them. We could just take a different path; there’s actually a detour off the--”

“Nope,” Odin would say. “They know the rules. My road, my hunt, my rules. We’re going this way.”

So if you were unlucky enough to have built your house along one of Odin’s favorite road trip sky-ways, he wouldn’t just plow right past you.

He would burn your entire house down--and your family along with it.

Kids playing in the yard? Torch ‘em; they should have known better. Grandma knitting while she waits for her gingerbread Einherjar to finish baking? Sucks to be her; my road, my rules, my beard, I’m the Allfather, bitch.

Above: Santa, but so much worse.

To be fair to Odin, he could be a cool guy sometimes. He just turned into any dad when he was on a road trip and wanted to MAKE GOOD TIME, DAMN IT, I AM NOT STOPPING; YOU SHOULD HAVE PEED BEFORE WE LEFT.

To ensure they didn’t incur Odin’s road trip wrath, the Vikings had a few ways of smoothing things over with Dad.

They would leave Odin offerings on the road, like pieces of steel (??? okay ???) or bread for his dogs, or food for his giant, eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, because the only true way to a man’s heart is through his pet. 

People would generally leave veggies and oats and other horse-y things out for Sleipnir, whose eight legs made him the fastest flying horse in the world and also made him the only horse to ever win Asgard’s coveted tap dancing championship. 

(Side note: EIGHT legs...EIGHT tiny reindeer...eh? Eh? See how we got here? Thanks, nightmare horse!)

Above: An excellent prancer AND dancer. 

And if Odin was feeling particularly charitable and not in the mood for horrific acts of arson, children would also leave their shoes out for him--it was said that he’d put gifts in your boots to ring in a happy new year.

If all that didn’t work and the Vikings heard the hunt approaching, they would resort to throwing themselves on the ground and covering their heads while the massive party sped above them like a giant Halloween rager. 

So this holiday season, leave your boots out for Odin and some carrots out for his giant spider horse or you and your entire family will die in a fiery inferno, the end.

3. Yule Logs

Speaking of Scandinavia, another Northern European winter solstice tradition was the yule log. Today, if you google “yule log,” something like this will pop up:

...which isn’t an actual log, but is instead log-shaped food that you shove into your mouth along with 500 other cakes at the same time because it’s CHRISTMAS, and I’m having ME TIME; so WHAT if I ate the whole jar of Nutella by myself, alone, in the dark at 3 am?

But that log cake is actually inspired by actual logs of yore that Celtic, Germanic, and Scandinavian peoples decorated with fragrant plants like holly, ivy, pinecones, and other Stuff That Smells Nice before tossing the log into the fire.

This served a few purposes: 

It smelled nice, and Bath and Body Works scented candles hadn’t been invented yet.

It had religious and/or spiritual significance as a way to mark the winter solstice.

It was a symbolic way of ringing in the new year and kicking out the old.

Common belief held that the ashes of a yule log could ward off lightning strikes and bad energy.

Winter cold. Fire warm.

Everybody loves to watch things burn. (See: Odin.)

The yule log cakes we eat today got their start in 19th century Paris, when bakers thought it was a cute idea to resurrect an ancient pagan tradition in the form of a delicious dessert, and boy, howdy, were they right.

In any case, I’m 100% down with eating a chocolate yule log while burning an actual yule log in my backyard because everybody loves to watch things burn; winter cold, fire warm; and hnnnngggg pine tree smell hnnnnggg.

(Quick note:  The word “yule” is  the name of a traditional pagan winter festival, still celebrated culturally or religiously in modern pagan practice. It’s also another name for Odin. He had a bunch of other names, one of the most well-known being jólfaðr, which is Old Norse for “Yule father.” If you would like to royally piss him off, or if you are Loki, feel free to call him “Yule Daddy.”)

4. Upside down Christmas trees

I just found out that apparently, upside down Christmas trees are a hot new trend with HGTV types this year, so I guess this is one historical trend we did bring back, meaning it doesn’t really belong on this list, but I’m gonna talk about it, anyway.

Side note: Oh, my god, that BANNISTER. I NEED.

Historians aren’t actually sure where the inverted Christmas tree thing came from, but we know people were bringing home trees and then hanging them upside down in the living room as early as the 7th century. We have a couple theories as to why people turned trees on their heads:

Logistically, it’s way easier to hang a giant pine tree from your rafters upside down by its trunk and roots. You just hoist that baby up there, wind some rope around the rafter and the trunk, and boom. Start decorating.

A Christian tradition says that one day in the 7th century, a Benedictine monk named Saint Boniface stumbled across a group of pagans worshipping an oak tree. So, instead of minding his own damn business, he cut the tree down and replaced it with a fir tree. While the pagans were like, “Dude, what the hell?” Boniface used the triangular shape of the fir tree to explain the concept of the holy trinity to the pagans. Some versions have him planting it right-side up, others having him displaying a fir tree upside down. Either way, it’s still a triangle that’s a solid but ultimately very rude way of explaining God. Word’s still out on whether anyone was converted or just rightly pissed off that this random guy strolled into their place of worship, chopped down their sacred tree, and plopped HIS tree down instead. Please do not do that this holiday season.

Eastern Europeans lay claim to the upside-down tree phenomenon with a tradition called podłazniczek in Poland--people hung the tree from the ceiling and decorated it with fruits and nuts and seeds and ribbons and other festive doodads. 

(God, who lives in these houses? Look at that. That’s like a swanky version of Gaston’s hunting lodge. Where do I get one? Which enchanted castle do I have to stumble into to chill out in a Christmas living room like that?)

Today, at least in the West, upside-down trees are making a comeback because...I don’t know. Chip and Joanna Gaines said so. 

Some folks say it’s a surefire way to keep your cats from clawing their way through the tree and then puking up fir needles for weeks afterward, which checks out for me.

5. Incredibly weird Victorian Christmas cards

So back in the 19th century, the Christmas card industry was really getting fired up. Victorians loved their mail, let me tell you. They loved sending it. They loved getting it. They loved writing it. They loved opening it. They loved those sexy wax seals you use to keep all that sweet, sweet mail inside that sizzling envelope. (Those things are incredibly sexy. Have you ever made a wax seal? Oh, man, it’s hot.)

The problem, though, was that while the Victorians arguably helped standardize many of the holiday traditions we know and love today (Christmas trees, caroling, Dickens everything, spending too much money, etc.) back in 1800-whenever, a lot of that Christmas symbolism was, um...still under construction. No one had really agreed on which visual holiday cues worked and which...didn’t.

Meaning everyone just kind of made up their own holiday symbols. Which resulted in monstrous aberrations like this card:

What the hell is that? A beet? Is that a beet? Or a turnip? Why is it...oh, God, why does it have a man’s head? Why does the man beet have insect claws? 

What is it that he’s holding? A cookie? Cardboard? A terra cotta planter?

And then there’s this one:

“A Merry Christmas to you,” it says, while depicting a brutal frog murder/mugging. 

What are you trying to tell me? Are you threatening me with this card? Is that it? Is this a threat? How the hell am I supposed to interpret this? “Merry Christmas, hide your money or you’re dead, you stupid bitch.”

Also, why is the dead frog naked? Did the other frog steal his clothes after the murder? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS?

Victorian holiday cards also doubled as early absurdist Internet memes, apparently, because how else do I explain this?

Is this some sort of tiny animal Santa? A mouse riding a lobster? Like, the mouse, I get. Mice are fine. Disney built an empire on a mouse. And look, he’s got a little list of things he’s presumably going to bring you: Peace, joy, health, happiness. (In French. Oh, wait, is that that Patton Oswalt rat?)

But a LOBSTER? What’s with the lobster? It’s basically a sea scorpion. Why in the name of all that is good and holy would you saddle up a LOBSTER? I hate it. I hate it so, so much. Just scurrying around the floor with more legs than are strictly necessary, smelling like the seafood section of Smith’s, snapping its giant claws.

This whole card is a health inspector’s worst nightmare. It really is.

I gotta say, though, I am a fan of this one:

Presumably, that polar bear is going in for a hug because nothing stamps out a polar bear’s innate desire to rip your face from your skull than candy canes and Coke and Christmas spirit.

This next one is actually fantastic, but for all the wrong reasons:

I know everyone overuses “same” these days but geez, LOOK at that kid. I can HEAR it. SAME.

If you’ve ever been in a shopping mall stuffed with kids, nothing sums it up better than this card. This is like the perverse version of those Anne Geddes portraits that were everywhere in the late 90s. “Make wee Jacob sit in the tea pot; everyone will--Jacob, STOP, look at Mommy; I said LOOK. AT. MOMMY--everyone will love it.”

Actually, you know what? Every other Christmas card is cancelled. This is the only card we will be using from now on. This is it. 

Wait, no. We can also use this one:

Merry Christmas. Here’s a fuckin’...just a dead fuckin’ bird.

[sfbgs]

Happy Winter Solstice and Holiday Season ❄️ San Francisco Botanical Garden has always been a place to recharge, heal, and just feel good. More than ever, we need to prioritize our health and well-being by deepening our connection to nature 💚 Enjoy some reflective solo time or bring your loved ones to the Garden—we are open and free to everybody on December 25 and January 1 🌿 If you can and haven’t already, please consider making a year-end gift to the Garden and give the healing benefits of the Garden to every visitor. To learn more about the impact your donations make possible, read our 2021 Annual Report 📝✨ Wishing you good health this holiday season! 📚 Please Note: Library, Bookstore and Plant Arbor will be closed Dec 24, 25, 31, and Jan 1 🌱 Bean Sprouts Family Days special holiday week hours: Dec 22-31, Mondays through Thursdays, 10am-2pm 📸: Winter light pouring through the canopy into the South Africa Garden by @saxonholt 🌸 #sfbotanicalgarden #happyholidays #freeday #supportlocal #peace #calm #getoutside (at San Francisco Botanical Garden) https://www.instagram.com/p/CXwwH0Xv-eR/?utm_medium=tumblr

[troped-fanfic-challenge]

Chopped: Holiday Trope Exchange 2020 Masterlist!

A huge thanks to every person who signed up for our fic exchange, we got 21 really wonderful fics! We’re sorry it took us so long to get this out to you all! For anyone who isn’t sure what this was all about, this was a double blind gift exchange where each of our twenty-one (21!!!) writers were assigned four tropes from an anonymous recipient, and were tasked with writing a fic that fit our holiday theme, and included all the tropes. The only guidance from their recipient were a couple of brief notes they included during the sign up, and both the writer and recipient were revealed when we shared all the fics! A big thanks to the Tropesters who stepped up to write a second fic when we needed them! These fics, as with all our TROPED fics, were creative and unique, and found ways to utilise tropes that may seem so simple but were transformed in really spectacular ways! Please enjoy these wonderful holiday fics!

——————————————————————————

roots in my dreamland (my house of stone, your ivy grows) (Rated M) [Bellarke]

Written by @captaindaddykru for @thelittlefanpire. The four assigned tropes were 1) Doppelgängers, 2) one character is a dancer, 3) first snow, and 4) kissing to keep a cover/a secret.

Summary: Clarke really wants it to work out with Bellamy, but as an A-list Hollywood actress there’s a lot of contractual obligations she can hide behind instead of confronting her own insecurities and past mistakes. Luckily, this Christmas she’s lucked out, and her stand-in Josie is more than willing to (completely selflessly of course) take her place.

Now comes the hard part.

brighter than moonbeams (Rated T) [Memori]

Written by @the-most-beautiful-broom for @thedefinitionofendgame. The four assigned tropes were 1) The characters play a game,2) Secret Santa, 3) Exes to Lovers, and 4) Surprise kiss.

Summary: Murphy and Emori fall in love fast, and then talk themselves out of it. Years later, their paths will cross again, and they realize that their might be parts of their story that are yet to be written.

What a way to start the year (Rated T) [Bellarke]

Written by @bellarkeshoe for @bellamysgriffin. The four assigned tropes were 1) Law enforcement partners, 2) Character gets BADLY injured and they hide it somehow only to reveal later that they are mortally wounded, 3) Characters hugging after they’ve been through hell, and 4) Kissing in the snow.

Summary: It’s New Years Eve, and Bellamy and Clarke got stuck working.

It’s Alright, It’s Okay (Rated M) [Clurphy]

Written by @sailawaymayday for @wwjacksparrowd. The four assigned tropes were 1) Found Family, 2) Groundhog Day/timeloop, 3) Character gets shot/stabbed/BADLY injured and hides the wound somehow, only to accidentally (someone else touches them and their bleeding, they collapse, etc.) reveal later that they are mortally wounded, and 4) Hurt/Comfort.

Summary: Clarke makes it onto the Ring with the rest of Spacekru. What happens when New Years Eve keeps repeating itself? And what does Murphy have to do with it?

Dancing in Graveyards: An Arkadia Anthology (Rated T) [Gen Fic]

Written by @justbecauseyoubelievesomething for @kinetic-elaboration. The four assigned tropes were 1) Small town gothic, 2) Christmas Lights, 3) First snow, and 4) Sneaking someone in/out of your window.

Summary: Three small town gothic stories intertwine as old friends reunite and try to make the best out of their lives. Raven returns home after her foster father’s death and is pulled like a magnet to her enigmatic highschool sweetheart. Jasper seeks solace from a tragedy and desperately attempts to outrun the ghosts of the past. Bellamy battles his inner demons and prays not to tear himself and his loved ones apart in the process. And all of them come to realize that they belong together, even if the place they call home is shadowed by sorrow.

do or die, you’ll never make me (because the world will never take my heart) (Rated T) [Bellarke]

Written by @shen-gong-oops for @probably-voldemort. The four assigned tropes were 1) Fake dating, 2) Amnesia AU, 3) Enemies to Friends to Lovers, and 4) Superhero AU.

Summary: As the youngest member of the Guard and the daughter of the Guard former leader, there are high expectations set for Clarke. The Marketing and PR teams at Ark expecting her to be prim and proper during any conferences, while simultaneously performing their well-rehearsed fight choreography to a T.

But when four unknown supes challenge the juggernaut that is Ark Industries, Clarke wonders if herodom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Merry Christmas, Lovebirds (Rated G) [Murven]

Written by @kinetic-elaboration for @shen-gong-oops. The four assigned tropes were 1) One character cautiously says “i’m going to kiss you now, okay?” or some variation of that, 2) Mutual pining, 3) A misunderstanding, and 4) Tattoos.

Summary: There’s never snow for Christmas on the beach, Murphy is a culinary genius, Raven has a boyfriend, and other presumed facts, too obvious to mention.

Once Upon Our Story (Rated G) [Bellarke]

Written by @andthelightbulbclicks for @bellamythology. The four assigned tropes were 1) break-up/make-up, 2) Did they or didn’t they, 3) Extremely biased flashbacks of the same event, and 4) Bookstore or library AU.

Summary: Bellamy returns with as much fanfare as one can imagine when driving a school bus decorated as Santa Claus through town, leaving Clarke shocked and all of their friends confused given he hasn’t been home in months.

(Or: Six months ago, Bellamy left Arkadia.

Six months ago, Clarke didn’t.

Six months ago, their friends knew the relationship ended, even came up with their own versions of what really happened. But the question that they all want to know for certain– is why?)

Dream A Little Dream of Me (Rated T) [Clurphy]

Written by @queenemori for @vmreed. The four assigned tropes were 1) One character has a child, 2) Protectiveness, 3) Only one bed, and 4) Soulmates.

Summary: It was just Murphy’s luck that right as he was starting to enjoy Earth, he had to leave. But he’d rather that than succumb to a fiery death wave. He and the other residents of the Ring remembered Clarke every year during their New Year’s Eve celebration. But even when they weren’t celebrating Clarke, Murphy couldn’t seem to get her off his mind. He wished his brain would stop playing tricks on him by making him think she was alive. Clarke was dead. Wasn’t she?

i don’t wanna burn out, so wont you please set me on fire again? (Rated M) [Murven]

Written by @kuklash for @sparklyfairymira. The four assigned tropes were 1) Protectiveness, 2) Exes and Lovers, 3) Small Town AU, and 4) Characters fall on each other and have a moment.

Summary: The wind nipped at Murphy’s nose as he stood in the doorway of the gas station on the edge of town. Work was slow, as it always was after sundown, especially in the mid-December cold, but someone had to make sure the good townsfolk of Arkadia could get their milk and gas after the small general store closed. All 800 of them. He watched the cars drive by throughout the day, recognizing each and everyone of them. Bellamy’s beat up truck he worked all highschool to afford, Clarke’s clean new sedan, even that jerk Finn’s loud ass motorcycle. He watched them all pass one by one, his old classmates returning home after another semester of college at the University of Polis. The only sign that time was passing at all.

The phone inside rang, breaking him out of his melancholy, at least for now.

“Great,” he thought, sarcastically. “A phone call 10 minutes before we close.”

He walked back inside and put on the most cheerful customer service voice he could muster.

“Dropship Gas, this is Murphy. How can I he-”

A familiar female voice cut him off, leaving him cold.

“Murphy? Thank god!”

It was his ex.

Everybody wonders what it would be like to love you (Rated M) [Bellarke]

Written by @sparklyfairymira for @captaindaddykru. The four assigned tropes were 1) Celebrity AU, 2) Meet Ugly, 3) Characters must share something, and 4) Characters aren’t together but are mistaken to be.

Summary: Bellamy Blake and Clarke Griffin are household names thanks to their music. They belong to the same label so they often work together on duets—even though they can’t stand one another. Their first meeting is disastrous and six years later they still can’t get along.

toward brighter days (Rated T) [Sea Mechanic]

Written by @reggieshamster for @/ashplana. The four assigned tropes were 1) Apocalyptic Log, 2) bed sharing, 3) road trip au, and 4) mythical creatures.

Summary: Dear Harper,

I am ridiculously out of it this morning. Last night, when we reached the campsite, Luna suggested we give Echo her own bedroll, since she gave hers up the night before.

Which meant Luna was sleeping with me.

Beside me.

Excerpts from Raven’s journal as she travels to Polis for the Winter Solstice Festival

three words, two hearts, one maybe (Rated G) [Bellarke]

Written by @bellamysgriffin for @bellarkeshoe. The four assigned tropes were 1) Youtuber AU, 2) best friend’s sibling, 3) frikdreina, and 4) miscommunication.

Summary: After an accident blinds Clarke, Octavia’s been encouraging her best friend to keep up with her artwork. In order to inspire her, she recruits the help of her older brother, Bellamy, who’s recently launched a new exhibition at his museum, to feature her work. Bellamy likes Clarke’s work, and he’s more than happy to help. But when she doesn’t show on the big day, he takes matters into his own hands. With an old video camera, he records people’s reactions to Clarke’s artwork so that she’ll know just how talented she is. But when he sends it to his sister, he doesn’t expect her to upload it to YouTube. And he definitely doesn’t expect to go viral.

Something Beautiful, Simple, and Bright (Rated T) [Clurphy]

Written by @wwjacksparrowd for @queenemori. The four assigned tropes were 1) Friends with Benefits AU, 2) Prank war, 3) characters are not together but are mistaken for a couple, and 4) Based on a Song.

Summary: Six months after Wonkru and Eligius manage to establish peace and divide Eden between themselves (with a little slice shaved off for Spacekru, of course), Clarke has a mission: plan a New Year’s Eve party for fifteen hundred people within three weeks.

Murphy’s mission? Stop her from burning out in the process. Oh, and if he could just get Monty to quit it with the freaking noisemakers, that would be great, too.

(…Okay, yeah, he’d also like to date Clarke for real instead of just sleeping with her. But that’s a pipe dream, right?)

put your faith in the devil and the deep blue sea (Rated M) [Clurphy]

Written by @probably-voldemort for @kuklash. The four assigned tropes were 1) Time Loop AU, 2) Characters fall on top of one another and have a “moment”, 3) Enemies to Lovers, and 4) Superhero AU.

Summary: Twenty years ago, when the clocks changed from 11:59pm on December 31st, 1999, to 12:00am on January 1st, 2000, the world ended, exactly as the doomsdayers had predicted. Now, there are only a few livable months left on Earth, and the privileged are evacuating for a life in space, abandoning the planet.

But not everyone has given up.

Clarke was only three when the world ended, and she’s spent most of her life in her mother’s lab. Now, as the last space ships are preparing to leave, her mother’s machine is finally ready, and Clarke and her mother are heading back in time to try to stop the apocalypse from happening in the first place.

An attack on the lab leads to Clarke heading back to 1995 on her own, and the past isn’t quite how Clarke’s vague memories from the beginning of her life paint it. Clarke soon discovers that not only did the machine do more than just send her back in time, but she wasn’t, in fact, sent back alone.

Will she be able to stop the apocalypse before the clock strikes midnight? Or are some parts of history unchangeable?

All I Want For Christmas (Rated T) [Memori]

Written by @thedefinitionofendgame for @the-most-beautiful-broom. The four assigned tropes were 1) Fake dating, 2) Joke kiss turned real kiss, 3) One character is sleeping and the other character is watching them totally in love, and 4) Blanket fort.

Summary: Tired of being single, Murphy decides to take matters into his own hands and get himself a girlfriend before the annual Christmas Day dinner with his friends. Having had bad luck in the past with girls - all twenty four of them - Murphy is determined to make the twenty-fifth, the “Christmas Day” number, his forever.

Of course, this is easier said than done. When his fellow coworker, Emori, seems to be having similar problems and suggests them being each other’s “fake dates” to their Christmas parties in December, Murphy jumps at the chance. Fake dating is better than being totally alone, right? It appears that way, at least until Murphy starts to catch feelings; the ones that make you question everything you think you know. As their “fake feelings” start to become more real, Murphy realizes that Emori’s the one he wants for Christmas. But she’s got walls up and even though his heart doesn’t stand a chance, Murphy’s determined to break them down and show her what falling in love really means, maybe with the help of a little December magic thrown in.

As long as we’re together, no I can’t get much higher (Rated T) [Murven]

Written by @dylanobrienisbatman for @andthelightbulbclicks. The four assigned tropes were 1) Zookeeper AU, 2) Treasure Hunt, 3) secret places, and 4) Secret Santa.

Summary: Murphy has only known Raven for a little while, but the longer he spends getting to know her, the more he realises that there’s no hope of him not falling in love with her.

So when he gets her for Secret Santa, he makes it his mission to nail it.

before i knew you (Rated G) [Clexa]

Written by @dylanobrienisbatman for @sailawaymayday. The four assigned tropes were: (1) Pen Pals, (2) 3+1, 4+1, 5+1, etc., (3) surprise kiss, and (4) character meets another characters ex.

Summary: What do you do when your penpal, the person you know the best in the world, who you love, turns out to be the rather rude (if also rather pretty) sales girl from downstairs? Lexa is about to find out. or - 3 times lexa and clarke meet without knowing they’ve been penpals since childhood, and the 1 time Lexa figures it out.

when life gives you shit, you make kool-aid (Rated M) [Becho]

Written by @reggieshamster for @dylanobrienisbatman. The four assigned tropes were: (1) Bodyguard AU, (2) Bed Sharing, (3) Kissing to Keep Cover/a Secret, and (4) a Character gets shot/stabbed/badly injured and they collapse, being caught by their loved one.

Summary: Bellamy used to have it all, and then one screw-up cost him his career and his fancy life. Now, working as a bodyguard for alcoholic businessmen and their families, he gets a call from his sister for a job… escorting a hitwoman to testify against a man convicted of crimes against humanity. What could possibly go wrong?

and left the secret at the grave (Rated T) [Clurphy]

Written by @probably-voldemort for @justbecauseyoubelievesomething. The four assigned tropes were: (1) Murder Mystery, (2) Partners in Crime, (3) Exes to Lovers, and (4) Snowed In.

Summary: At 8:57 on the morning of December 23rd, eight year old Jordan Green discovered the body of Skybox Inn owner Vera Kane on the floor of the lobby. His screams woke up the other guests of the inn, as well as the live-in butler.

The discovery of the body was followed shortly by two more discoveries. The first was that the storm the night before had knocked out the phones and the internet, and the second was that the inn was completely snowed in with no hopes of escape anytime soon.

Thirteen people trapped in an inn.

Uncountable secrets.

One murderer.

One question.

Who killed Vera Kane?

what a tangled string of Christmas lights we weave (Rated T) [Linctavia]

Written by @thelittlefanpire for @reggieshamster. The four assigned tropes were: (1) Royalty AU, (2) Cyrano AU, (3) Characters fall and end up landing on top of each other and have a “moment”, and (4) Hair brushing and/or braiding.

Summary: When the royal family loses their beloved Prince Wells, the future king of Arkadia, all eyes are on them. The Queen remains as stoic as ever, the Spare grapples with his new responsibilities, the Princess drowns in her grief, and the King is threatening to abolish the monarchy forever.

At Christmastime, as tensions in the palace rise with the vicious tabloids outside, the royal family makes an escape to a castle in the mountains, hoping to find solace and reconcile with their loss.

Princess Octavia will try to mend her broken heart back together as she becomes entranced with the letters sent back and forth between herself and another. But when it’s revealed who the true penman is, will she rise above her sorrow or sink further into it?

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Take a read! Leave a kudos/comment! Our Tropesters worked so hard on creating some unique, festive fun fics from all the amazing tropes that were sent in. Thanks again!

[anotheronechicagobog]

Requests

So the holiday season is fast approaching and there’s now an abundance of people writing Christmas fics. And that’s great, but not everybody celebrates christmas. I don’t. My family celebrates winter solstice and Ukrainian Christmas (Orthodox christmas is the traditional way to phrase it) Ukrainian christmas is nothing like Christian christmas, the traditions are incredibly different and almost polar opposites, the gist of it is; candles, white tableclothes, and pierogies.

So during the holiday season I tend to notice the lack of fics for other winter holidays. Which leads me to the reason behind this post. I will temporarily re-open my requests BUT only for non-christian christmas requests.

So the rules are:

- No christmas requests

- Specify if you’re requesting and x reader fic or pairing

- Please don’t request anonymously so that I can message you privately to request infortmation about the traditions specific to that holiday/your family

- I do not write for Hank Voight, Wallace Boden, Christopher Hermann, Alvin Olinsky, or Daniel Charles unless it’s a x daughter!reader fic

Happy holidays eveyone 😁

[succulem]

As the first holiday I am celebrating since starting down this path, I have decided to spend Litha being as productively witchy as I can. I have made a honey solstice cake, sun tea is bathing in the light, and eggshell powder is in the works. Happy solstice to everybody, and stay safe ☀️

[allthemarrowoflife]

marauders era: rescuing one last christmas

it was christmas eve, 1977.

with the war rising more and more each day outside the castle, the christmas spirit of those who stayed at hogwarts was at its lowest. the seventh year gryffindors had all stayed together to enjoy their last holidays as students.

the following night, right on the the 25th, would be a full moon and, thanks to that, remus, usually the most jolly and cheerful amongst his friends around this time, was in a terrible mood.

to make matters worse, the younger students who stayed were sad to be away from their families and scared about the war that invaded their daily lives.

and then alice had an idea that would make everyone's day way better

that's how james ended up with a red painted nose and jingle bells hanging from his antlers, borrowing the name "rudolph" for the day.

alice, frank, peter, fabian, gideon and remus all put on their elf costumes.

lily, sirius, marlene, dorcas, edgar and kingsley stepped into their roles of human representatives of the north pole, guiding the children to the great hall and telling the stories of the elfs sent by santa as a last minute resource to raise the christmas spirit there.

at least for a few hours, remus (under the name of "chocolate chip, the chief elf") and his friends were able to forget all their worries, be it the imminent war in their future or the approaching full moon, as they saved that christmas not only for the children but also for themselves.

this is way shorter than what I usually write but i just wanted to give a little jolly feeling to my day. happy holidays, everybody. whichever one you celebrate, may it be cheerful!!!

(happy solstice for my fellow pagans, love ya)

[velvet-cupcake-games]

Because Christmas, Hannukah and other cold-weather holidays are approaching, does Avalon have a similar holiday? If so, who celebrates and how do they celebrate?

Avalon has seasonal festivals that mirror traditional Irish Celtic / Neo-Pagan holidays. The Winter Solstice is the big winter festival, likely involving feasts, winter bonfires, and a lot of holly garlands. Winter Solstice is associated with oathkeeper fae, so it is also a time of renewing vows.

I haven’t really fleshed it out since Made Marion takes place during the summer. We will be seeing Summer Solstice festivities in the game. They’re associated with greenling and wildling fae and are linked to fertility, so that should be a good time.  Everybody in the game is happy to celebrate - since Avalon’s spirituality is more philosophical than religious, characters like John and Meissa who adhere to other religions are still welcome to partake.

For reference, spring equinox is associated with elves and fall equinox with gnomes and cat sidhe.  That covers all the major fae species.

I will probably give these holidays Avalon-specific names at some point.