#Christmas Gift Ideas for All

[noisycowboyglitter]

Bring the Elf on the Shelf to Life with a "Chatty Elf" for Your Family

Is your family known for its endless chatter? Do you have a mischievous elf who loves to stir the pot? Then the "Chatty Elf Talkative Family" is the perfect description for your holiday cheer! Imagine a bustling household filled with laughter, shared stories, and the constant pitter-patter of excited voices. From the moment the elf arrives, expect a whirlwind of playful banter, inside jokes, and

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impromptu performances. This dynamic family embraces the holiday spirit with open arms and even louder voices, creating a joyful atmosphere that's contagious. Whether it's sharing family traditions, discussing the latest holiday movie, or simply catching up on each other's lives, this talkative tribe knows how to make every moment count. So, gather 'round the fireplace, grab a cozy blanket, and prepare to be swept away by the infectious enthusiasm of the Chatty Elf Talkative Family.

Picture this: a living room adorned with twinkling lights, a beautifully decorated tree, and a group of people who can't seem to stop talking. The elf, with a mischievous glint in its eyes, adds fuel to the fire, sharing daily antics and encouraging everyone to join in the fun. From the youngest child to the oldest grandparent, everyone has a story to tell and a laugh to share. The house is filled with the sounds of laughter, clinking glasses, and the occasional burst of song. It's a chaotic yet heartwarming scene that captures the essence of the holiday season.

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So, if you're looking for a family that embodies the spirit of Christmas – loud, joyful, and full of love – look no further than the Chatty Elf Talkative Family. Their infectious enthusiasm is sure to brighten even the dreariest of days.

Spread some holiday cheer with hilarious matching Christmas outfits! Whether you're a family, friend group, or work crew, coordinating funny Christmas attire is a guaranteed way to turn heads and create unforgettable memories. From punny slogans to silly character costumes, there's a matching look for every group. Imagine the laughter as you pose for your annual Christmas card or simply enjoy a festive gathering. These matching ensembles are

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perfect for breaking the ice, sparking conversations, and adding a touch of absurdity to the holiday season. Get ready to embrace your inner goofball and create a matching Christmas moment that will be talked about for years to come.

So, gather your crew, choose your favorite funny design, and get ready to spread the Christmas joy! Whether you opt for matching sweaters, pajamas, or accessories, the key is to have fun and let your personalities shine through. Remember, the more outrageous the outfit, the better the laughs!

Discover the true meaning of the holiday season with heartwarming stories, traditions, and inspiration. From the joy of giving to the magic of togetherness, explore the countless blessings that Christmas brings. Unwrap the spirit of generosity, kindness, and

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hope as you celebrate with loved ones. Let the warmth of the season fill your heart as you embrace the timeless message of peace and goodwill. Create unforgettable memories and cherish the precious moments that make Christmas truly special.

Whether it's a simple act of kindness or a grand gesture of love, the gift of Christmas is found in the spirit of giving and sharing. Immerse yourself in the wonder of the holiday season and let the true meaning of Christmas shine bright in your life.

[waytooobsessedwithlife]

My 2024 Christmas Wishlist:

F1 merch (shorts, hats, hoodies, etc)

F1 Legos

F1 scale car models

F1 scale helmet models

F1 driver cards

F1 tickets

F1 paddock passes

F1 sim

F1 car

F1 team

Sensing a pattern? Me too. If you wanna buy me any of these, especially the last few, just lmk!

[cienie-isengardu]

Present for Shang Tsung

[accirax]

Through the magic of an AU, Xander, Min, and Teruko make it through the night, avoid a Class Trial, and participate in the first motive alongside everyone else. Except, this time, the first motive is... a gift exhange?

(basically, if it wasn't clear, i'm drawing the drdt characters doing a secret santa exchange with each other, hopefully posting one interaction per day until christmas!)

[yakultii]

do u guys have any ideas wot to get my brothers for christmas they are in their late and early twenties and are both into gaming and pokémon but already own everything they want

[weezeranitsweezy]

my personal weezer collection

[bellaxgiornata]

What would you get our traumatized Irish Catholic boys for Christmas? And what about our traumatized Italian Catholic and cocky Vampire?

Ahh Soulie I love this question so much but OMG I had to THINK for this one!! Mostly for Owen and Henry because we don't learn too much personal stuff about Henry (plus he's a centuries old vampire so like...what the hell would you gift him?). And I think I'm only just starting season three of Boardwalk Empire so what I thought of for Owen is more of a funny gift. I'd probably have a better answer once I've seen more of him in the show if I'm being honest. But anyway, for those who're curious on my gifting ideas and thought process for Matt Murdock, Michael Kinsella, Frank Castle, Owen Sleater, and Henry (whatever his last name is 😆), I'm putting everything below the cut cause y'all know I'm longwinded 😅

Also feel free to join in on ideas in the comments because I'd love to hear what other gift ideas y'all would have!

Gifting something to Matt Murdock seems like...an impossible task to me. Whenever I write fics, I honestly hate coming up with ideas for a character to gift him something 🤣 Why? Because this man doesn't remotely scream materialistic. I mean he barely makes any money at his law firm and is all too happy to be paid in bananas. And his only hobby is illegal and probably going to get him killed. So what the hell do you get Matt?

Personally, I'd gift him some sort of spa day or a long ass massage. He'd certainly need to be forced to take the time for himself and use it, but you know that man's battered and worn body would welcome a nice, long massage. Then maybe treat him to a nice dinner at a great restaurant because I always worry this man isn't eating enough.

Bonus gift: I'd give him a weighted blanket, too. I feel like it would help relax him on the nights he doesn't go out beating criminals.

Okay, this one came far too easily to me for Frank Castle. I'd gift him a rescue dog. Why? THIS MAN NEEDS A DOG OKAY. Frank and a dog just go together in my mind.

I also think Frank would thrive and heal a little from the unconditional love of a furry friend. And he could certainly use the company from a canine companion. I just know a dog would bring a smile to this man's face and bring out that softer, non-murder-y side that we all know is there inside of him. And honestly, I worry about how incredibly alone Frank feels after losing his family. So a dog would be perfect.

Bonus gift: Possibly some new books to read because I imagine this man doesn't enjoy much television in his downtime.

This one also came far too easily to me. I'd gift Michael Kinsella with a little vacation literally fucking anywhere calming and peaceful outside of Dublin. He desperately needs to get away from the stress of his family's business and just his crazy, shitty family in general. They're obviously not good for his health and I think he could seriously use the break. I'd also get him some less depressing books so his ass stops just reading Steinbeck and starts reading something else. You need some new books, Mikey.

Bonus gift: I'd surprise him by having his daughter Anna come along on the vacation. After eight years in prison, those two could really use some bonding time without Mikey's meddling family.

This is where things started to get tougher for me. Like I said, I'm barely in season three of Boardwalk so I feel like I don't know much about Owen personally. He hasn't had that much screen time besides some killing, scheming, and sex. So this gift idea was a bit more on the entertaining/funny side. I think further into the series I could come up with something far better.

I'd gift Owen an expensive bottle of Irish whiskey and lots of condoms. I mean, it certainly seems like he'd use both of them. The man is...definitely a flirt who has every intention of following through on his flirting 👀

Bonus gift: I don't know, me? Do I count? You can have me for Christmas, Owen.

Okay so Henry is the toughest one for me to answer this for. I mean he's a vampire and he's a few hundred years old and the movie doesn't give that much background or personal information on him. So what would I gift him for Christmas?

Considering he's a few centuries old, I doubt he's materialistic (certainly doesn't seem that way). I doubt he'd like a vacation because I mean...he's probably well traveled. We know he's got some morals since he doesn't feed on humans because he used to be one. So I imagine this vampire would enjoy literature and maybe art--things that connect him to the human side he lost. Though I assume he probably already owns and has read all the classic novels, so maybe I'd gift him something that's current that might resonate with him that he hasn't read yet.

Bonus gift: Maybe an engraved lighter? The vampire does seem to enjoy smoking. Or maybe something handmade and sentimental.

[luxurysoapbars]

Look no further for gifts and cute bathroom and kitchen decor! Handmade soap bars, trinket dishes, soap dishes, coasters, shot trays and candles! All our soap sets come gift wrapped!

If you prefer to not order through the apps provided message me directly for other arrangements 💖 Order yours today 🎁

Shop my closet on Poshmark! My username is @life_is_a_beach. Sign up with my code LIFE_IS_A_BEACH and get $10.

[mitamicah]

One Jere and two Franks :3

I wanted to draw my flamingo boy again and took the opportunity to then also draw more Peacock!Jere and this big handsome version of Frank (right) as well designed by @hotcat37 :3 (I hope you done mind :'D)

Signle files under the line

[theflyingfeeling]

💖 it's here, it's pink, it's sparkly, and full of fluff 💖

Hiiiiii and welcome to witness my attempt at an Olli/Allu Advent Calendar, in which I'll give you ~a cute little something~ about these two idiots in love almost every day until December 24! My plan is to use prompts from this list to either write a fic based on the prompt or just some good ol' delulu thoughts if all else fails. I cannot guarantee there'll be a post literally every day, but I'm really excited to try this out and I thank you for your support along the way in advance 💝

The biggest thanks and a million hugs go to one of my favourite human beings @kraeuterhexchen for making the adorable banner!! I mean helloooooo?? 😭 Go show them some love ❣️

For December 1, the prompt list is titled One True Pairing Moments, and the prompt I chose was 'calling just to hear their voice' 🥺 You can read the fic below, I hope you like it <3

.

PS. Even though this is an advent calendar of sorts, I'm not planning on making this particularly Christmassy. I hope no one minds terribly!

~

Falling for Aleksi had, in a way, sneaked up on Olli, at least if he fooled himself a little. He could pretend he didn’t feel any different about the man than he did about, say, Joonas or Tommi, but that strategy only worked for so long – that is to say, approximately until Aleksi as much as smiled softly at him from across a room or bumped his shoulder into his jovially when walking down the street and Olli would feel his breath getting caught in his throat or stumble in his words, his tongue tangled like shoelaces, which was so unlike him as well and frustrated him to no end. It really took a special kind of fool to not only develop some level of feelings for a friend, a colleague, a bandmate for Christ’s sake, but also become so hopelessly enamored with him that you rolled awake in bed in the dead of night, grabbing your phone and tossing it back on the nightstand again and again because you couldn’t decide whether or not you should, on some erratic 2 o’clock impulse, call him to let him know he was the very reason for your insomnia. 

Turning on his back, Olli groaned (only a little desperately) as he remembered losing himself in the lingering hug they had shared just before the arrivals lobby at the airport, inhaling Aleksi’s scent and wishing they wouldn’t have to go home just yet, even if Olli was more than ready to finally sleep in his own bed again. Ironically, ever since they had returned home from tour, Olli had spent night after sleepless night missing Aleksi terribly: his stupid jokes and playful banter that bordered on being flirtatious if Olli allowed himself the benefit of delusion; his quick, subtle smiles that probably meant nothing; his little touches Olli hoped meant something; his smell and his touch and the softness of his hair at the back of his neck, compared to which the blanket Olli was grasping in his fist was like sandpaper. (How he had come to know of the qualities of Aleksi’s hair in such detail, he preferred not to dwell on too much to save himself from the heartache, so let’s just leave it at ‘stressful, emotional week far away from home’ and ‘a little too much to drink’).

Above all, Olli missed Aleksi’s voice. He hadn’t even thought that was possible, until the other morning when Olli had woken up to a voice message Aleksi had left just hours earlier, rambling about a song idea he had gotten in the middle of the night – something he did from time to time – and Olli had spent the next several minutes replaying it over and over again as he had lied in bed procrastinating getting up and and instead closing his eyes to better imagine Aleksi lying there beside him, turned on his side to face Olli, talking to him sleepily like they often did when they shared a room on tour and were just too lazy to join others at breakfast. Much like the hug at the airport, Olli wished those moments would have lasted way longer than they did, often ending abruptly when either of their phones would go off with Santeri’s name on the screen, a passive-aggressive interruption to the soft, low tone of Aleksi’s early-morning thoughts. (Sometimes, when Olli was lucky enough, he had been blessed with the bliss of feeling the light touch of a fingertip tracing along his collarbone, cut short just as frustratingly by their well-meaning tour manager politely enquiring whether the two of them had plans of dragging themselves downstairs for some toast and coffee, or if they’d rather starve until lunchtime, for which he wasn’t at all sure they’d even have time that day.)

The lovesick idiot that he was, his thumb hovered over the ‘play’ button of Aleksi’s voice message, probably for the millionth time that week. The chest-carving hesitation turned into a heart flip when he noticed Aleksi was online.

Then Aleksi began to type, and Olli held his breath the entire time until a new message appeared in the thread, anticipation holding him by his throat.

You awake?

Olli exhaled and typed his affirmative reply, leaving out the reason why.

He blinked at the screen, waiting for Aleksi to ask him a random question that clearly couldn’t wait until morning, or perhaps talk about something related to another late-night Twitch stream (from what Olli had gathered, Aleksi had been doing a lot of those recently, and with his last remaining braincell Olli had managed to resist the temptation to watch every single one of them, because he knew that if he did, it would only dig his grave of pining and longing deeper, seeing Aleksi smile and giggle about but not being able to do that with him or snuggle up next to him when he was wearing that flannel Olli often used as a blanket in the tour bus). But instead of another text appearing on the screen, Olli’s phone began to vibrate in his hand, and it took him an embarrassingly long while to understand it was because Aleksi was calling him. 

“Hi,” he sighed when he finally collected himself enough to speak. He prayed he’d be able to hear what Aleksi was going to say from the thumping heartbeat echoing in his ears.

“Hi,” a soft voice said. “Sorry, I know it’s late…”

“No, not at all,” Olli hurried to say, “I mean, I wasn’t sleeping. Not even close, actually.” Part of him hoped Aleksi wouldn’t ask about it, but in some foolhardy way the possibility intrigued him. 

Nothing much, he would have likely said anyway, but what would happen if he told Aleksi how it really was? That he squeezed his pillow imagining it was him instead, or wailed into it because something had reminded him of a moment-that-was-probably-not-a-Moment™ they had shared? What would Aleksi say if he knew Olli sometimes touched himself the way Aleksi had touched him That One Night they never talked about? The only obstacle between Olli and that knowledge was a bottomless ocean of cold sweat and cowardice, and Olli had never been a great swimmer.

“So, ummm…,” Olli said when Aleksi’s end stayed silent. “What’s up?”

A short breath of laughter sounded through the phone line.

��Honestly? I don’t know, I… It’s just been a… weird week, I guess.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, like… my head’s just been so full of… everything and… I’ve been so busy and kinda tense and… fuck, this is going to sound crazy,” Aleksi laughed that brief laugh again, although to Olli it didn’t sound particularly cheerful. Tired, more like. Strained, somehow. Not sad, but definitely a little troubled, and Olli intended to find out why.

“I’m all for crazy, you know.” Olli hoped his sorry attempt to lighten Aleksi’s mood would work, and so he smiled in relief when he heard Aleksi chuckle at his comment.

“I know,” Aleksi said softly, in that tone of voice that had Olli melt against his bedsheets. “So yeah, it’s been a rough week, but… in between all that stupid shit, I’ve been thinking a lot about… umm… well, the tour and– and… about you, for some reason,” (the troubled laugh made its return) “and… yeah. That’s sort of helped me a lot recently.”

Olli listened to the words carefully, not fully believing what he was hearing, yet clinging on to them until they were all but swirling around in his otherwise empty head like dry leaves in October wind.

“And tonight I just couldn’t fucking sleep for some reason and nothing I did seemed to help and so I thought I’d call you. And I’m–” If it hadn’t been dead silent otherwise, Olli wouldn’t have heard the shaky breath Aleksi paused to take, “I’m sorry I’m calling you at this hour and bothering you with this all but I guess I just… wanted to hear your voice. To see if that would help.”

“Does it?” Olli asked. Aleksi’s confession had made him clasp his blanket close to his chest, as if that would do anything about his rapidly beating heart.

“Yeah. It does. So maybe just… keep talking?”

Despite his mind living a life of its own, completely unfit to form a single coherent thought, for Aleksi’s sake Olli tried his best to think of something to say, but everything he came up with was something he was not ready to tell him quite yet. 

“Uuummmm…” he said to buy himself some time, but while he waited for his useless brain and mouth to form any actual words, Aleksi spoke again.

“Fuck, I’m– I’m sorry, this is too weird, I shouldn’t have– I’ll let you go back to–”

“I miss you,” Olli blurted before Aleksi would hang up on him. He squeezed his eyes shut when Aleksi went silent, too silent for too long for it to mean any good.

The line stayed open, however, which Olli took as a positive sign, even if the seconds during which all Olli could hear was Aleksi's quiet breathing seemed endless.

“And I you,” Aleksi finally replied. “A little too much, probably, or at least that’s what it feels like,” he chuckled. Olli almost missed the quiet sniff that followed.

He had to steel himself for his next question.

“What do you mean?”

“Just… forget it.” Aleksi said quietly. Contrary to Aleksi’s request, Olli knew he was going to all but ‘forget it’ for the next 3-5 business days; mentally he booked all his evenings as well as most of his mornings and noons for pondering what exactly had been in Aleksi’s mind in that moment or why he had sounded so sombre, almost disappointed. He’d probably never come to any satisfactory conclusion about it though, at least not without a little help from Aleksi himself. 

A ridiculous idea popped into his head, and before he could stop himself, the words flooded out of his mouth.

“Do you wanna come over some time? To hang out? When your schedule’s a little less tight, I mean.” He sucked on his lips and closed his eyes as he waited for Aleksi’s answer, ready to hang up the moment he’d decline the offer on some obvious and logical reason for why Aleksi couldn’t possibly make nor want to take a trip to the north to see him, such as ‘didn’t we just spend over two months on the road together?’ or ‘damn, buddy, I miss you alright but not quite that much, I’ve done enough sitting in public transportation for one year, thank you very much lol’ or ‘what about Rilla?’

“You could take Rilla with you, you know.” Olli hurried to say, just in case, the deranged part of his brain thinking there might be a chance Aleksi might be at least considering it.

“Oh! Well, umm… I actually might have time next week? If– if you’re actually being serious about this.”

Funny you should ask, Aleksi; I’ve actually never been more serious about anything in my entire life than I am about having you here with me so that I can hold you and be held by you and see your face when I wake up in the morning and say goodnight to your annoyingly cute face instead of via text message and maybe, if the stars are in position and the northern wind won’t discourage me too much, I might actually be brave enough to torment you with the knowledge of just how miserable I’ve been since we last saw each other.

“I think it would be cool,” he said, because he had a feeling what he wanted to say would’ve been a tad too much and sudden. “I mean, if you’re up for it, of course. I understand if you can’t make it though, I know you have all those side projects.”

“No, I think it might actually do me some good to get out of the capital area for change.” Then there was a muffled ‘ouch’, followed by a laugh that sounded much brighter than any of the other ones Olli had heard from Aleksi that night. “Sorry, correction, it might do us some good. Rilla just told me she’s most definitely coming too. Rilla, stop nibbling on my toes!”

Olli smiled tiredly at the mental image that was painted in his mind of Aleksi and Rilla cuddling in bed, both minding their own business from what it seemed while still minding each other as well, very much indeed.

“I’ll be sure to set up a bed for her in the guest room.”

“The guest room? Do you not know her at all? If she’s not getting the master bedroom, she’ll ruin all your rugs and most of your shoes. Probably also gossip about you to all the neighbourhood dogs. And she’s brutal.”

Olli held his stomach as he laughed, tears almost forming in the corners of his eyes. In his defence, it was late and he was finally becoming tired, thus too far gone to help himself, let alone feel embarrassed about being in stitches about something Aleksi had said that was only mildly amusing. (It wasn’t the first time that had happened either, and likely not the last time.)

“So yeah, ummm, I can take a look at some flight options for next week and let you know, alright? I’m gonna let you sleep now and… I should get some myself too.”

Olli wanted to tell Aleksi he’d love to stay up chatting until dawn, but the yawn he let out when he opened his mouth to speak implied Aleksi had a point.

“Yeah, let me know. And… thanks for calling, I… you have no idea how much I needed this tonight.”

That was as close to a confession as Olli was able to get as of now.

“Probably not half as much as I did.”

Olli chuckled at Aleksi’s response, mostly to hide his own agony.

If only you knew. If only I knew how to tell you.

It didn’t take long for Olli to doze off after they hung up, and when he woke up to the kids from next door having a snowball fight under his window in the morning, he noticed new messages from Aleksi, sent half an hour after their phone call had ended, complete with screen captions of airplane schedules.

Would these days work for you? I might be free all week actually 😇

Olli cuddled into his pillow while typing his reply, hoping it wouldn’t wake up Aleksi.

yeah I’m free as well. I’ll pick you two up from the airport 🖤

From then on, Olli started counting the days until he’d see Aleksi again.

[toruandmidori]

It’s the most unavoiiiiiiiiiiiidable time of the year! 

That’s right. It’s coming. 

Get your annual, seasonal obligations out the way early with our range of simple, funny and wildly cynical Christmas cards and gifts! 

Shop the full range online here, individual links below: 

JESUS’S BIRTHDAY

LOOSE PLANS

GLAD YOU DIDN’T DIE

MERRY WTF

TRANSCENDS SOCIAL MEDIA

ANNUAL RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY

[sikyurame]

Kinda wanna attempt to write a story about Willow’s first christmas with Donald and Gyro

But asdfgg effort…

[beelzeballing]

looking up how to bind books rn. for heterosexual reasons

[griseldabanks]

Comfyvember 12

Story: The Last of Us Prompts: Hand on shoulder — Practical gift — Movie night

Jackson really was an amazing place. Joel hadn't bothered with Christmas in twenty years—no point, no time, no desire. Too many memories, too much pain. And no one else seemed to care much about mistletoe and tinsel either, not when one wrong move could spell the end for you and everyone around you.

But here in this one small pocket of sanity in a world of chaos, they had Christmas trees. Lights, both electric and candles. Red berries that he didn't think were actually holly, but something close enough. People sang Christmas carols. The chapel had a little hand-carved Nativity set in one corner, a menorah in another, and at certain times of the day, there was story time for the children, where someone would tell traditional winter tales from a multitude of cultures.

And then there were the movie nights. Every Friday night, the whole town—except for a few on guard duty—would crowd into the meeting house, where an ancient projector would be carefully set up with one of their treasured Christmas movies, and everyone would pass around treats while they watched. They didn't have much in the way of cinnamon or vanilla, and chocolate had to be carefully rationed, but there was plenty of corn to pop. They drank steaming mugs of apple cider and something kind of like eggnog. There were cookies sweetened with honey, and candy made from maple syrup. And children's eyes shone with just as much wonder and excitement as he remembered seeing decades ago.

Tonight, the movie was Home Alone. Joel had been reluctant to go to this one; even just hearing the name dredged up memories of Sarah watching it incessantly when she was a kid. But Ellie was enamored with every movie they showed, so she dragged Joel out to see this one too. They sat together and watched the woes of a boy whose cushy life in a big house with a family who could afford a vacation to Paris couldn't have been further from their own experiences.

When they introduced the old neighbor shoveling snow that the kids were afraid of for some reason, Ellie leaned over and nudged Joel in the ribs. “He's just like you,” she whispered. “'Cause he's old.”

For that, Joel nudged Ellie back and reached over to snag a handful of her popcorn. She stuck her tongue out at him, then turned back to the movie and laughed at the next joke.

He kept glancing back at her through the movie. He'd thought it would be painful to revisit this old favorite of Sarah's, but somehow everything was different with Ellie at his side. He watched the way her eyes crinkled up with laughter, the way she contentedly munched on her popcorn, the way the light from the projector reflected on her eyes thrown wide in surprise at Kevin's crazy attempts to keep robbers away from his house.

He saw the movie through Ellie's eyes, and it became new. Just like the rest of the world did.

Later that night, they stood outside the meeting house along with several other huddles of people lingering to say goodnight. Ellie enthusiastically recounted every last one of Kevin's traps, as if they hadn't both just finished watching the same movie. “And then he set his head on fire!” she crowed, throwing her own head back and laughing. “Man, that kid would've been great against the infected!”

“Yeah, he probably would have,” Joel said, glancing around and noticing that they were the last ones there. He clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, let's go home.”

They set off down the snow-covered streets, occasionally waving to fellow townsfolk they passed. They walked in silence until they turned down a side street off the main, well-lit road. Down this way, they saw few lights, since there weren't many people who lived in these houses.

“Is this what it was like?” Ellie's words sounded close, muffled by the snow surrounding them. “Before, I mean. Is this what Christmas was like?”

Joel nodded. “More or less, I guess. Though there were more people trying to get you to buy expensive crap for Christmas presents. Can't say I miss all the commercials and crowds in the mall.”

“I wish I could see a mall at Christmastime,” Ellie sighed wistfully. “Just imagine—you can walk around and just pick something brand new to give somebody for Christmas.”

“Nah, you're much better off here,” Joel said. “Speaking of which,” he added, coming to a stop outside his little cabin, “come on inside. Got something for you.”

Ellie's eyes opened wide with that same wonder he'd seen while watching the movie with her. “Wait, you mean like a Christmas present? But it's not till next week!”

Joel shrugged, leading the way up the steps to his house. “I'm on rotation for patrols next week. Don't know what time I'll make it back on Christmas Day. But it's ready, so I might as well....”

“Okay, so what is it?” Ellie charged up the steps after him, brimming over with smiles and energy.

“All right, all right,” Joel laughed, flipping the lights on and heading over to the cupboard where he'd been keeping her gift. “I didn't wrap it or nothin' yet.”

“I'm guessing it's not another trip to a....” Ellie's voice trailed away as he turned back towards her.

Joel crossed the room and placed in her hands a brand-new leather holster. “Merry Christmas, Ellie.”

For a moment, Ellie just rubbed her thumb back and forth over the soft leather, and Joel wondered if she were disappointed. It was a practical gift, sure, but after her birthday present, maybe she'd been hoping for....

Ellie looked up at him, eyes sparkling. “This is so cool! Where'd you get this?” She immediately buckled it on, pulling an imaginary pistol out and blowing nonexistent smoke away.

“Made it.”

“You made this?”

Joel ran a hand through his hair, feeling a little sheepish now. “Uh...yeah. Hank showed me how. Made a few others didn't look so good before I really got the hang of it....”

“Aw man, now I feel bad that all I got for you was a new coat.” Ellie clapped her hand over her mouth.

Joel grinned. “You got me a coat?”

“Yeah, I traded for it....” Ellie swore. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”

“Well, I promise to look surprised when you give it to me.” He pulled her into a hug.

Ellie squeezed extra tight for a moment. “Thanks, Joel.”

“Merry Christmas.” And it was—a merrier Christmas than he'd had in twenty years.

[mariocki]

A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Signalman (BBC, 1976)

"The tunnel collision is the worst to be feared. Your nightmares would go hard to equal it. The wreckage becomes hideously compressed in the confined space. If fire breaks out, the tunnel and its ventilating shafts become furnace flues. You cannot see in the dark to get the wreckage and the bodies out. The screams of the injured and dying echo in a most... persistent way. It's the shape of the tunnel, you see, sir."

[locklyle1kanij]

I’m in the process of planning to make my friend a copy of all the young dudes, and i’ve never done any book binding before like ever and i’m excited yet terrified! If anyones got any tips on book binding that they’ve learned from experience pleaseeee let me know!!

Especially with printing the book bc that’s what i’m the most confused on and, how do you decide the number of pages per section to put the book together and with making the holes to thread the string through to thread the book together, how do you decide how many holes to make?? I’m sorry if this doesn’t make any sense but i’m not sure on how to word it.