#Carry On Countdown Day 17

[prettygoododds]

Surprise! You get a Shepard perspective!

Enjoy :)

Day 17 - Surprise

[carryon-countdown]

🕯️Carry On Countdown 2024 • Prompt List ❄️

Hello Snowvians! It's our pleasure to announce that it is once again time for the annual 2024 Carry On Countdown. The Carry On Countdown is a fandom hosted, month-long ‘countdown’ event to the Chapter 61 Snowbaz anniversary for The Simon Snow Trilogy by Rainbow Rowell. The event begins on November 25th and features daily prompts to help inspire all kinds of wonderful fan-created content as we draw closer to Simon and Baz’s anniversary date on December 24th.

We encourage fanfiction, fanart, cosplay, memes, songs, playlists, crafts, etc. The prompts are completely up to your own interpretation and can be used in your original content however you like, but if you have any questions, please send us an ask. 

Speaking of, our admins are excited to present the prompt list for this year's Carry On Countdown: 

Day 1, NOV 25: Something Old

Day 2, NOV 26: Chosen

Day 3, NOV 27: AU/Alternate Universe

Day 4, NOV 28: Daydreaming

Day 5, NOV 29: Forest

Day 6, NOV 30: Truth/Dare

Day 7, DEC 1: Gently

Day 8, DEC 2: Bleed

Day 9, DEC 3: Side Ships/Alternative Ships

Day 10, DEC 4: Dinner

Day 11, DEC 5: Wavering

Day 12, DEC 6: Normal

Day 13, DEC 7: Lyrics

Day 14, DEC 8: Sour

Day 15, DEC 9: Sweets

Day 16, DEC 10: Punk

Day 17, DEC 11: Surprise

Day 18, DEC 12: Vessel

Day 19, DEC 13: Fluff

Day 20, DEC 14: Teeth

Day 21, DEC 15: WLW

Day 22, DEC 16: Angst

Day 23, DEC 17: Goats

Day 24, DEC 18: Holiday Shopping

Day 25, DEC 19: Truce

Day 26, DEC 20: Savour

Day 27, DEC 21: Intertwined

Day 28, DEC 22: Snowed In

Day 29, DEC 23: Alight

Day 30, DEC 24: Something New

You are welcome to participate in as many or as few of the days of the event as you wish. Completing every daily prompt for the COC is not mandatory, although anyone who does will earn a special spot on our “Page of Honour” once the event has concluded. 

The COC is a fan-created and fan-run event, and we have a lovely, dedicated team of admins who are busy organizing all of the fun: Cora @otherpeoplesheartachept-2, Froggy @jasonfunderberkerthefrogexists, and Raegan @carryonmylovelies.

Even though we can hardly believe it, this is the 9th consecutive year that the fandom has hosted this countdown, and its admins are thrilled to continue this cherished tradition with you all. We feel quite lucky to be a part of something so special every year, and we truly cannot wait for another delightful season of sharing Snowbaz fan-creations with one another. We wish everyone who is planning on participating in the countdown the best of luck. And don’t forget! Our askbox is always open for any questions you may have concerning this event.

Reblogs are very much appreciated (please reblog!), and the hashtags we encourage using with posts relating to the countdown are #Carry On Countdown and #COC 2024. 

Much love,

The admins of the 2024 Carry On Countdown ❤️‍🔥

[bazzledazzlepitches]

COCD Day 2: Chosen

“Really Snow? That’s your plan? Wait for me to kill someone? You’re the worst Chosen One who’s ever been chosen.” -Carry On, Chapter 17

Crazy how it’s already carry on countdown season 🫣🫣 I missed day 1 but I did want to try and do a couple of the prompts since I’ll finally be on break for at least HALF of the challenge, and I’ve been a little hyperfixated on carry on (again). Day two’s prompt was “Chosen” and I decided to base my drawing on Baz’s iconic line. We’ll see how many prompts I end up doing 🫣

@carryon-countdown

[monbons]

Carry On Countdown Day 17: Surprise

It's my birthday. Simon and Baz threw me the best surprise party a girl could ask for.

Today's pocket surprise: The most adorable of party hats

@carryon-countdown

[talentpiper11]

Carry On Countdown Day 17: Surprise!

Today’s art is a slight spoiler for the wonderful @monbons’s incredible fic, The Boy Next Door . If you haven’t read it yet, I IMPLORE you to give it a go. It runs the whole gamut of emotions a fic can elicit, from heartbreak to wholesome, dramatic to domestic, sweet and sharp and saucy in turn.

You should absolutely read it.

Have you read it? Yes? Good, then peek below the cut for the surprise…

THE SURPRISE PARTY!

See here the final moments of the fic captured as faithfully as I can manage— I’ve never done an ensemble shot before, but it was well worth it to pay homage to this truly incredible fic and it’s truly spectacular author.

Happy Birthday, @monbons! Thank you for being such an incredibly supportive friend, for helping me get to know more people in the Carry On community, and for letting me part of your creative process and being part of mine. I feel lucky and honored to count you as my friend. I hope you enjoy your surprise!

(PS: if you take a closer look, I’ve tried to include your favorite birthday confections!)

Thanks, as always, to @larkral for the support and advice, and to @carryon-countdown for managing this whole event.

[rimeswithpurple]

Carry On Countdown

Day 17: Surprise

"You don't understand, Basilton. She needs a unicorn!"

-Lady Grannie Ruth (probably)

One of the many background conversations I had with @thewholelemon while working on Infinity in a Teacup involved Lucy's birthdays. We quickly decided that Grannie Ruth would go over the top with presents; a hamper that Simon could fit in filled with gifts, a unicorn (that was maybe or maybe not rented, that may or may not already have a stall at Grandad Malcolm's). Thanks to Littlest Purple for the name Star Shine Fairy Cakes!

I also thought Baz could've quipped, "oh Ruth, you brought dinner!"

Also on AO3!

[skeedelvee]

Carry On Countdown Day 17 - Surprise

For this year's COC I've decided to put together daily fic rec lists! Let me know if you find any new favorite reads from these <3

For todays prompt I've gone with fics that involve spells gone wrong with surprising outcomes

Wayward Bun by @bookish-bogwitch

Rated E, 4,900 words

Leave it to Baz to be sophisticated, even as a bunny.

Back To Start by @aristocratic-otter

Rated M, 72,084 words

Simon expects that his autumn break will be a mix of boredom and following Baz around. He's half right. Or, when Simon accidentally spells Baz back into a baby, what will he do?

The Pitch and the Frog by Spockzilla

Rated T, 6,969 words

Simon looks up at me and croaks. As I look down in horror, he clears his throat and says, “Baz, you’re so big.” “Oh fuck,” I say under my breath.

the prerogative (to have a little fun) by Gettingby

Rated T, 3,670 words

Simon has Shania Twain stuck in his head. He accidentally turns himself and Baz into girls and crisis ensues.

Toil and Trouble by @royalasstronaut

Rated E, 28,055 words

"Oh, so it’s my fault you turned me into a fucking nightmare—” “I turned you into myself!” “That’s what I’m saying!” Simon and Baz swap bodies. Just not in the way you'd think.

✨Gratuitous self recs✨

Take a Seat by me! @skeedelvee

Rated E, 2,074 words

Through a mishap with his magic, Simon transfigures himself into Baz's desk chair. He's utterly trapped when Baz comes back to their room to study, but quickly realizes there's no place he'd rather be. Being a chair isn't so bad when you get to get off with your fit roommate.

The Emperor's New Clothes by me! @skeedelvee

Rated E, 1,903 words

Simon thinks he's so smart for thinking of a great prank as well as his eighth year spell all at once, but when it goes wrong he's the one who has to "suffer through" the consequences. Or the story of Simon spelling Baz's clothes invisible as a prank, but they're only invisible to him.

If you have any recs that fit the prompt that I've missed, feel free to leave them in the comments! There's plenty of gaps in my reading so there's a good chance I may not have read it

Also I've had a hard time finding if some people are here on Tumblr, so if you know someone who hasn't been tagged, feel free to leave that in the comments as well <3

@carryon-countdown

[megafighter343]

Can Denji Survive These Horror Movie Villains?

So, a few days ago I watched Anthony Gramuglia's You Cannot Survive These Horror Movie Villains https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI7YOGb0e3Q I enjoyed it a lot. Very fun countdown of some of the most terrifying "you're so fucked" kinda villains in horror.

But a little worm of a thought crept into my mind these past few days "Could Denji take these villains?" What can I say? I love Chainsaw Man and given it's a horror-tinged work, I figured it'd be fun to match Denji up against these supposedly unstoppable forces. Spoiler Warning: This post is gonna do a lot of spoiling for Chainsaw Man and probably have spoilers for the works talked about in Ant's video. And Ant's video, really. If you're not wanting either of these, keep on scrolling. Also, watch Ant's video if you haven't. Is really good. Only rule I'm going with for this is that Denji is going at this alone. No Aki, no Power, no Asa, no Himeno, no Kishibe and certainly no Kobeni. This is Denji vs. 20 horror movie villains. With that said, let's roll.

20. Denji vs. Sadako Yamamura

Given the rules of the Ring curse, I don't think Denji is really capable of taking Sadako down. She has an extensive catalog of powers and can kill with a thought. At best, he could try befriending her if he meets her when she's nice, but I don't know for sure if Pochita's "give her lots of hugs" approach will be effective. Now, Samara Morgan, that's easy. Like, we don't even need to talk copy the tape and pass it on. The second he and Aki enter that video store, Denji's probably gonna spot that copy of Yor, the Hunter from the Future and demand they rent it. Completely ignore the the Ring tape, that's gonna be Aki's problem, not his. He's going into Yor's world!

19. Denji vs. Carrie White

Oh, this one's easy. Denji would beat Carrie with kindness. Both are outcasts with weird powers, so I can absolutely see Denji managing to befriend Carrie, giving her a support network that she needed when facing stuff like the school bullies or her awful mother. He'd probably ask Carrie to the prom before Tommy does. When the whole pig's blood prank goes down, Denji would probably rush the stage to drag Carrie off and get her out of there, even if he'd have to transform into Chainsaw Man to survive Carrie's early onslaught of telekinetic attacks. I dunno, I just picture the two of them outside the high school, Denji comforting a crying Carrie, licking the pig's blood off of her. It's a weirdly cute image.

18. Denji vs. It (aka Pennywise the Dancing Clown)

Despite Ant making the argument that soloing It wouldn't work, it absolutely could for Denji. See, Pennywise preys on fear. He likes to make sure his victims are nice and scared of him before he eats them. The problem here is that Denji is absolutely fearless. The dude went through absolute hell for so much of his life that a clown trying to eat him would probably be seen as a mild annoyance. Pennywise would be low diffed by Denji easy.

17. Denji vs. Lucy (Elfen Lied) Man, this is one where the "give her lots of hugs" strat really feels like a Hail Mary, doesn't it? Like, Chainsaw Man or not, I don't think Denji is gonna win a stand-up fight against the Diclonius Queen. Like, unless Denji can somehow kill her with kindness, he's pretty screwed here.

16. Denji vs. Pinhead

Well, first off, Denji is probably too stupid to work the Lament Configuration, so this is an easily skippable fight. Otherwise, while I think Denji would put up a hell (heh) of a fight, I just don't see him winning this under normal circumstances. Pinhead is immortal and has a high pain tolerance. The times he has been killed, he's revived himself in Hell. Now, I did note that this was a loss for Denji under normal circumstances. There is one trump card Denji has that I don't wanna pull out all willy-nilly, but in the case of Pinhead, I think we'll draw it here. Pochita. Resting within Denji is his closest friend, the Chainsaw Devil, Pochita. Literally, Pochita is inside of Denji, functioning as his heart. In very rare circumstances, Pochita has taken full control of Denji's body and reverted to his full, true form as the original Chainsaw Man. The Devil that other Devils fear. The Hero of Hell. True Form Chainsaw Man. (Note: 'True Form Chainsaw Man' is not an official title, just one I'm using for convenience.) Now, you might be wondering what the key difference here is and what turns this from loss to win. At least, if you haven't read CSM. If you have, you know what Pochita can do in his true form, but for those who need a refresher or just a crash course; basically Pochita can erase concepts from existence by eating their associated Devils. In Chainsaw Man canon, World War II and AIDs didn't happen because of Pochita.

I think the same ability can be applied to the villains Denji faces down in this list. Now, you may find yourself asking "Well, Mega, why not just have Denji turn into True Form Chainsaw Man and wipe out all the villains?" Well, my logic here is mainly because that's not something that's easily done in the manga. It's mostly an act that comes about when Denji is at his emotional lowest. After Makima had both Aki and Power killed. After Barem presented Nayuta's head to Denji on a platter (after already killing Meowy and the dogs on top of that.) True Form Chainsaw Man is not something Denji can just at-will transform into. It's basically Pochita taking the wheel because Denji is so emotionally devastated that he can't do anything.

So, I wanna save Pochita for fights where victory seems 100% hopeless. Fights where even kindness just isn't on the table as a way to victory. And I gotta say... don't think giving Pinhead a hug is gonna do anything.

So, Pochita takes over and after a grueling fight, devours Pinhead. It's a victory, but it's the hardest fight they've had so far.

15. Denji vs. Jason Voorhees Oh, easy. Jason may have a high body count and come back a lot, but he's still just a man compared to Chainsaw Man. Denji would tear Jason to ribbons. Wouldn't even need to get his new girlfriend Carrie involved in this, though she'd probably also low diff Jason. He's weak to Psychic, as shown in New Blood.

14. Denji vs. Nemesis

Eh, this is just Final Form Jason. It'd be high diff, but Denji can absolutely go the distance on this. It helps that Nemesis is usually hanging around a zombie-infested Raccoon City, so there's plenty of zombies for Denji to snack on to replenish his blood supply.

13. Denji vs. The Invisible Man

Weirdly, this is gonna be an unconventional victory for Denji. I mean, it'll probably just be him putting a chainsaw through Jack Griffin's solar plexus, that's the standard part. No, the thing that gets him the victory is just the simple act of transforming.

Ya see, when your transformation involved chainsaws sprouting from your forearms, it can get... messy. Blood going everywhere and if even a splotch of that blood hits Griffin, then that gives Denji a visible target to attack. Jack's going down easy.

12. Denji vs. The Djinn

Man... I think this one's a clean loss for ya, Denji. Like, this dude's a reality warper... don't touch the fire opal, I guess. That's all I got. There's no way he's winning here.

11. Denji vs. The Deadites Man, and you thought Ash Williams with his one chainsaw hand was bad for the Deadites...

10. Denji vs. Michael Myers

You remember all the stuff I said about Jason? Same applies here. Michael Myers may be pure evil, but he's still just a man. Thorn cult bullshit or no, you ram enough chainsaws into Michael and he's going down. Will he put up a fight? Sure. Will he win? No.

9. Denji vs. Art the Clown

Art's a new player on the scene and while Denji did good against Pennywise, I don't feel like I have enough of a grasp on Art's abilities to call this one. Call this one a no contest on the board, especially since I don't wanna play the Pochita card for this one.

8. Denji vs. Kayako and Toshio I'm not as familiar with Ju-On to know if there's anything that would make it so Denji could beat these kids and given that I've had him lose out against an Onryo already, best to keep things consistent. This one's a loss for him. 7. Denji vs. Xenomorph

I think Denji can take one Xenomorph, but it would be a brutal match-up. One of the advantages Denji has is that his opponents usually have blood, something that needs to maintain Chainsaw Man form. Problem is, Xenomorph blood is acidic, so not only does that mean he's getting hurt tearing into this thing, he can't even heal from those wounds. He could still down one of them, but put him up against a pack and he's screwed.

6. Denji vs. The Ghosts from Pulse Yep, that's another loss for Denji. Not much hope against the Japanese ghosts. 5. Denji vs. The Great Old Ones I... think he's got a fighting chance here. Like, this is a dude who in his own work is being squared up against the concepts of War and Death. We may be ants to the Great Old Ones, but Denji's more like a wasp. Sure, he could swatted down, but wasps have been known to kill humans. Put this under like, extremely high difficulty. Some real Dante Must Die shit.

4. Denji vs. Dracula

Most iterations of Dracula would fall to Denji. Like, OG Dracula was killed with Bowie knives, I think the dude with the chainsaw face has good odds. Hard to bite into a man's jugular when your own has a whirring cutting chain going through it. However, the big one Ant brings up is a total loss for Denji.

Alucard.

So, I brought up True Form Chainsaw Man and how it can erase things from existence by eating them... yeah, this is something that Alucard canonically can survive. The biggest trump card I had for Denji and Alucard can just say "Hah! No..." to that shit. This is a major loss for Denji, no way he can take on Alucard.

3. Denji vs. King Ghidorah

It's a hard battle, but Denji has some experience with fighting Kaiju. I put this at "has a fighting chance" along with the Great Old Ones.

2. Denji vs. Freddy Krueger

Oh, Freddy is the most screwed out of any of them. See, Freddy Krueger kills in your dreams. Guess who lives in Denji's dreams...

That's right. Good ol' Pochita. The second Freddy tries anything with Denji, he's gonna be facing down the Chainsaw Devil. The Devil other Devils fear.

So uh... good luck, Fred. Don't think those Dream Demons are gonna help you out there. They've probably bailed already. Denji doesn't even have to do anything, just sit back and let Pochita go full power Chainsaw Man. Freddy's gonna get eaten and wiped from existence easy. No more Bastard Son of a 1000 Maniacs. No more Springwood Slasher. No more Nightmare on Elm Street. He's just gone. 1. Denji vs. The Thing

And whereas #2 on the list was a no diff, I really have no idea how Denji could even begin to fight something like the Thing. It's a microscopic alien parasite that will get into his bloodstream and mutate him and Pochita from the inside. I don't even know if Power's hemokinetic abilities would even work on him and I can't even play that card since this has gotta be Denji soloing the opponent, but this one might be one where he just loses. Game over. Sorry, Denji. So, I'd say roughly half the list would be victories for Denji, two entries would be better odds than if he was a normal human, one entry is mostly wins except for one very OP iteration, about seven are straight up losses and one is a complete shrug on my part. Hope you enjoyed reading this long, LONG post of mine, be sure to check out Ant's original video up top if you haven't already and keep up the Halloween spirit, folks. God, I am gonna get some real angry reblogs and comments on this one...

[dohrnaira]

Carry on Countdown - Day 17 - Fluff

Introducing Lady Ruth Moominsbury to the AU. Of course she's always making fluffy pancakes for picnics.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

[prettygoododds]

Day 17 - Fluff

Simon reflects on his time spent at the Pitches

[carryon-countdown]

🍂Carry On Countdown 2023 • Prompt List ❄️

Hello, friends! We are excited to announce that it is once again time for the annual 2023 Carry On Countdown. The Carry On Countdown is a fandom hosted, month-long ‘countdown’ event to the Chapter 61 Snowbaz anniversary for The Simon Snow Trilogy by Rainbow Rowell. The event begins on November 25th and features daily prompts to help inspire all kinds of delightful, fan-created content as we draw closer to Simon and Baz’s anniversary date on December 24th.

We encourage fanfiction, fanart, cosplay, memes, songs, playlists, crafts, etc. The prompts are completely up to your own interpretation and can be used in your content however you like, but if you have any questions, please send us an ask. 

Speaking of, this year’s admins are thrilled to present the prompt list for the 2023 Carry On Countdown: 

Day 1, NOV 25: Creature

Day 2, NOV 26: Confession

Day 3, NOV 27: AU/Alternate Universe

Day 4, NOV 28: Stars

Day 5, NOV 29: Fight

Day 6, NOV 30: WLW

Day 7, DEC 1: Midnight

Day 8, DEC 2: Sick

Day 9, DEC 3: Pride

Day 10, DEC 4: Wrath

Day 11, DEC 5: Side Ships/Alternative Ships

Day 12, DEC 6: Wings

Day 13, DEC 7: Shudder

Day 14, DEC 8: Blade

Day 15, DEC 9: Familiar

Day 16, DEC 10: Smoke

Day 17, DEC 11: Fluff

Day 18, DEC 12: Hunger

Day 19, DEC 13: Sci-Fi

Day 20, DEC 14: Flowers

Day 21, DEC 15: Begin Again

Day 22, DEC 16: Music

Day 23, DEC 17: Bite

Day 24, DEC 18: Cross

Day 25, DEC 19: Carnival/Faire

Day 26, DEC 20: Angst

Day 27, DEC 21: Gift

Day 28, DEC 22: Gently

Day 29, DEC 23: Cherry

Day 30, DEC 24: Crack

You are welcome to participate in as many or as few of the days of the event as you wish. Completing every daily prompt for the COC is not mandatory, although anyone who does will earn a special spot on our “Page of Honour” once the event has concluded. 

The COC is a fan-created and fan-run event, and once again we have another dedicated team of admins who are busy organizing all of the fun: Cora @otherpeoplesheartachept-2, Lola @dragoneggos, Froggy @jasonfunderberkerthefrogexists, and Raegan @carryonmylovelies. Please stay tuned for our Meet the Admin’s post in a few weeks!

If you can believe it, this is the 8th consecutive year that the fandom has hosted this countdown, and its admins are thrilled to continue this cherished tradition with you all. We wish everyone who is planning on participating in the countdown the best of luck. And don’t forget! Our askbox is always open for any questions you may have concerning this event.

Reblogs are very much appreciated (please reblog!), and the hashtags we encourage using with posts relating to the countdown are #Carry On Countdown and #COC 2023. 

With love,

The admins of the 2023 Carry On Countdown <3

[kweenkday]

Hey! For the WIP Game: 17 Stars? I love your writing so much <3

I have a feeling you're going to like this one a lot.

here's a longer snippet 😁

Andrew slipped the knives out of his armbands and put them on the counter next to him. These days he only carried three. All of them gifted to him—by Renee, Bee and Aaron. He gave Neil a significant look and waited. No way in hell a man like that didn’t carry any weapon on him. He was too jumpy. Too wary of his surroundings. 

Neil rolled his eyes and pulled the leg of his pants up. He slipped a knife from the strap around his calf and dropped it on the floor—on the side where he could reach it before Andrew did. Paranoid, Andrew thought but stopped himself from commenting out loud. 

“Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about your tattoo,” Andrew said. 

Neil nodded. He pulled his hoodie sleeve up and tapped his finger on the inner side of his forearm. “I want a line here.” 

The moment he exposed his skin and the scars carved into it, his face changed. His eyes turned darker. As if he expected Andrew to take one look at the scars and tell him to fuck off. 

Andrew was never going to do that, but he surely wasn’t getting Neil’s angle at all. A line? Whatever. He had a rule in his studio. No matter how simple a tattoo was, he always drew the thing and got it approved by the client before putting it on their bodies. He pulled a notebook and a pen from the counter and handed it over to Neil. 

“Show me.”

“Really?” Neil said, his eyebrow shooting up. “You’re a professional. It’s literally just a line.”

Andrew huffed an irritated sigh. “Draw the line, Neil.”

Neil scoffed and opened the notebook with a little more force than necessary. “You’re not going to make me do this for each one, right?” Neil said and drew a steady line on the paper. “Here. A line.”

“So this is going to be a repeat thing, then?”

“Yes.”

Andrew finally got it. It was a count. An incredibly boring one at that. “What are you counting?”

Neil smiled. It was a practiced, tight smile. Brilliant but entirely devout of sincerity. “Does it matter?”

Andrew shrugged. “You can do better than tallies. Unless a dungeon prison wall is the look you’re going for.”

“I’m not counting anything good,” Neil said, his voice dark. 

“What will you get in the end? When the countdown is done with?”

Neil stared at Andrew for a long minute, then diverted his eyes to the wall behind him. 

“I get to live,” he whispered. 

[pacey-bunce-loves-joey]

Carry On Countdown 2023 Master Post

30 days of mayhem in an otherwise meaningless world :)

Day 1, NOV 25: Creature

Day 2, NOV 26: Confession

Day 3, NOV 27: AU/Alternate Universe

Day 4, NOV 28: Stars

Day 5, NOV 29: Fight

Day 6, NOV 30: WLW

Day 7, DEC 1: Midnight

Day 8, DEC 2: Sick

Day 9, DEC 3: Pride

Day 10, DEC 4: Wrath #3 Most Loved

Day 11, DEC 5: Side Ships/Alternative Ships

Day 12, DEC 6: Wings

Day 13, DEC 7: Shudder #1 Most Underrated

Day 14, DEC 8: Blade #2 Most Loved

Day 15, DEC 9: Familiar #2 Most Underrated

Day 16, DEC 10: Smoke

Day 17, DEC 11: Fluff

Day 18, DEC 12: Hunger

Day 19, DEC 13: Sci-Fi #3 Most Underrated

Day 20, DEC 14: Flowers

Day 21, DEC 15: Begin Again

Day 22, DEC 16: Music

Day 23, DEC 17: Bite

Day 24, DEC 18: Cross

Day 25, DEC 19: Carnival/Faire

Day 26, DEC 20: Angst

Day 27, DEC 21: Gift #1 Most Loved

Day 28, DEC 22: Gently

Day 29, DEC 23: Cherry

Day 30, DEC 24: Crack

[sucrosette]

★— ⋆｡˚ [Precious Things]

For Day 17 of Carry on Countdown 23, Fluff (the streak remains unbroken!) @carryon-countdown

Simon's had a long day at work. Too long a day, but Basil's there when he gets home to get him safely into bed.

Rated T, for the sweet, nonsexual intimacy of cuddling your exhausted partner naked in bed.

This is yet another part the Nurse/Lawyer AU for this CoC... originally it was only three parts, but I think now we're up to five parts for it. I hope you enjoy them all. 🖤 [Part 1][Part 2]

⋆｡˚

It’s been a long bloody day.

My head bangs gently against our front door, my eyes closed softly against the light of the hallway that leads to our apartment, too tired to fumble with the keys until I find the right one to unlock the door and let myself stumble over onto the couch and collapse into unconsciousness.

I bloody well want to, I’m already there internally, already thinking about how nice it’ll be to curl up and allow myself the sweet oblivion of sleep, of nothing. It was sixteen hours straight, and even if it’s not the worst I might have to work in an emergency scenario, even if I’ve done it many, many times before, it is exhausting. I would very much like to be asleep yesterday and not be feeling my bones so much anymore.

The keys are heavy in my palm, but I start fiddling with them all the same, despite the loud noise of them being entirely too much to handle now. I just want quiet. I want quiet and I want Basil and I want our apartment and our bed and blessed, beautiful sleep.

The door opens of it’s own accord, without my help from the key, and there he is. My Basil. He’s wrapping his arms around me and tugging me properly into our apartment.

Our apartment.

I’m still getting used to that, you know, it’s not like we’ve been together that long, but this was our apartment now. Our apartment, full of our things, pictures of our friends and family, our food in the fridge, or everything together. Our future even, maybe.

I’d resisted at first, you know. We’d only been together six months, it wasn’t exactly a sure thing then, and something in me wasn’t confident enough to think I could keep Baz then, but he’d insisted. My lease came up and I was bemoaning not being able to afford how much more they were asking for and Baz had insisted.

“Pay me what you do now if it bothers you so much, that way you don’t feel like it’s a charity affair or some such other nonsense,” He’d said, all posh and snooty like he could get when he was certain he was right. I hate when he thinks his right, by the way, because he usually is right. “Besides, we’re together. We spend over half our nights together, there’s no reason to be shy about moving in to mine.”

So Basil’s ‘mine’ had become ‘ours,’ just like that.

Our place is much nicer than my place had been, all that lawyer money probably had something to do with it, but Baz didn’t gloat about the difference between the two. Not before it had become ours, not during the inevitable move, and not now either.

Now it was just ours, and Baz was holding me in it, petting soft through my hair and smelling faintly of woodsmoke and dark red wine.

“I told you, you didn’t have to stay up waiting for me,” I’m trying to scold him, but it’s only soft and fond and so, so bloody tired.

“I know, love,” his voice is half a song and ridiculously calming. I’m already sighing against his chest, thinking about biting into him I’m so overly fond. “I missed you though, and I’d work I could do from home anyway, so I did that. Now we can sleep in together and I won’t need to be ready for my first meeting until two in the afternoon.”

I hum tiredly against his shoulder, nuzzling it softly already half asleep in his arms.

“Sounds nice, doesn’t it? A nice ten hour sleep, a lazy morning, maybe breakfast in bed, maybe cocoa if I’m feeling fancy about it,” He’s lulling me to sleep with his soft morning plans for us and I think he knows it, except he’s started this while we’re still in the living room.

“Bed,” I manage to murmur, my nose still buried in that same spot against his skin. “That sounds lovely, tell me more in bed.”

Basil laughs quietly at me and I think I love the sound. That’s a lie, I know I love the sound. By now I am well and truly, stupidly in love with Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch. He’s already told me I don’t have to take his name if we ever get married. I can’t believe he’s already thought wedding thoughts, we haven’t been together a full year yet.

I can’t blame him though. I have also been guilty of wedding thoughts already in our relationship. Not terribly deep ones, I’ll admit, but wedding thoughts none the less. Just soft little thoughts, like how handsome he’ll look in a tuxedo, what flowers he might pick out for us, how nice an outdoor wedding might be. Basil’s definitely going to be the one planning a majority of the event, he’s such a bloody perfectionist. I’m partial to the perfectionist in him though, and I don’t think most of the little details will matter half as much to me as they’ll matter to him. Maybe the flavour of the cake would matter… I’d like something related to cherries, maybe. Probably. Definitely.

I’m too tired to be entirely decisive on anything just now, but I do know that cherries would be delightful.

Before I know it, Baz has already gotten us to the bedroom. He must’ve carried me there, because I think my legs have well and truly given out on me. Maybe I’d been dreaming about our wedding, and that’s how I didn’t notice a single step of the way there. It’s entirely his fault, by the way, for being so comforting and soft to rest against right when I’m through the door– before I’ve even made it through the door technically.

“Come here.” I’m being demanding, I know, pulling at his shirt with weak arms while he’s undressing me.

He slips from my grip all too easily, perking a brow down at me, out of my reach and knowing full well I’m too sore and tired and out of it to try again. “You’re not sleeping in our bed in your work clothes,” He says it like it’s obvious.

“Our bed,” I hum back at him, repeating his words and forgetting myself all over again.

“Simon Snow, you are too bloody tired to function,” Basil scolds softly, his fingers working me out of my clothes with a touch too tender compared to all his sterness. I love him, I’m all too aware all over again.

I love him so bloody bad. “Mhmn… Come cuddle though… it’s been so long…”

“I’m getting there,” Baz’s placating me. He taught me that word. It’s not an uncommon word, apparently, but it hadn’t been in my vernacular before we were dating. Vernacular. There’s another one.

Baz finally finishes undressing himself and climbs into the bed next to me, pulling me into his arms and tucking me under his chin, tucking us both in under the sheets. “Better,” I mutter out, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” he murmurs back to me, running his fingers soft through my hair, “You need to rest though. We both do. It’d been a long day.”

“Such a long day,” the words leave my lips more exhausted groan than proper words. I’m too tired to care.

It’s been over twenty hours since I’ve been in our bed and I think I might already be mostly asleep. I might’ve been mostly asleep since I’d fallen through the doorway. Baz is humming a tune for me, soft and low. He’d been a music student, once upon a time, an era ago, he says, before the accident. He always calls it the accident. Someday, maybe he’ll tell me about the accident. Not tonight though.

Tonight he’s humming for me, his voice is quiet and deep, the perfect vibrato to pull me in deeper. “I love your voice. I love you. You’re so beautiful, everything about you is beautiful…”

Baz chuckles that dark chuckle again and I can’t keep my eyes open any longer. “You’re even more beautiful to me, love, now rest, alright?”

“Mhmn…” I think I’m half in a dream already, and he keeps petting me and humming for me. He’s tangled our legs together and every part of me feels heavy.

He always makes me feel so safe. I love him so much. I’m not sure if I said it out loud that time, but I feel it in every part of my body, in every part of my soul.

“I love you too, Simon Snow,” Basil’s voice is like a song, and I love that about him too, “I love you so much more than I can possibly say with words.”

His song takes me to sleep, and I’m already dreaming about his pancakes in the morning and his dark chocolate cinnamon cocoa, I can already taste it on my tongue. Nothing tastes better.

[rimeswithpurple]

Carry On Countdown Day 17 - Fluff

This is a real game and they would definitely own it! Simon gets to flex his forklift certification skills at home too!

[skeedelvee]

Skee’s Carry On Countdown Masterlist

For this year's COC I decided to put together daily fic rec lists! Let me know if you find any new favorite reads from these <3

Thanks for following along, y’all! I’ll keep this master list pinned on my profile for a while 👍🏻

Day 1, NOV 25: Something Old

Day 2, NOV 26: Chosen

Day 3, NOV 27: AU/Alternate Universe

Day 4, NOV 28: Daydreaming

Day 5, NOV 29: Forest

Day 6, NOV 30: Truth/Dare

Day 7, DEC 1: Gently

Day 8, DEC 2: Bleed

Day 9, DEC 3: Side Ships/Alternative Ships

Day 10, DEC 4: Dinner

Day 11, DEC 5: Wavering

Day 12, DEC 6: Normal

Day 13, DEC 7: Lyrics

Day 14, DEC 8: Sour

Day 15, DEC 9: Sweets

Day 16, DEC 10: Punk

Day 17, DEC 11: Surprise

Day 18, DEC 12: Vessel

Day 19, DEC 13: Fluff

Day 20, DEC 14: Teeth

Day 21, DEC 15: WLW

Day 22, DEC 16: Angst

Day 23, DEC 17: Goats

Day 24, DEC 18: Holiday Shopping

Day 25, DEC 19: Truce

Day 26, DEC 20: Savour

Day 27, DEC 21: Intertwined

Day 28, DEC 22: Snowed In

Day 29, DEC 23: Alight

Day 30, DEC 24: Something New