#Pay Classics Forward for Christmas

[aethon-recs]

30 Tomarrymort Recs for 2024 — One-Shot Edition (Part 2)

2024 recs continued! Here's a round-up of some of the most compelling one-shots that I came across in 2024 that I hope showcases the diversity of talent in our ship across a broad range of tropes and themes and ratings 🤍

Criteria for this list: one-shot, complete, published in 2024. Can be read in 1 sitting. Overall for 2024, I've split up the year-end recs into 3 parts: (1) Completed Multi-Chapter Fics, (2) One-Shots, (3) WIPs. Here’s the link back to Part 1: Completed Multi-Chapter Fics. 

The 3rd and last part of this list (WIPs/Longfics updated in 2024) will be posted soon. Happy reading!

*

A Moment of Curiosity (or Weakness) by koel7 (E, 6k, complete)

“I’m having these dreams,” Harry says. “You’re in every one of them. I think you’ve been in them for a long time, I just didn’t know it was you.” Tom inclines his head, and Harry sees the red eyes. He sees deathly, pale skin, and a flash of green light. “Do you remember?”

a pale horse by @ictyn (E, 7k, complete)

Harry, a penniless orphan, struggles to survive under the superstitious judgement of his isolated puritan community. One day, a vile omen is left before the church, an omen which portends only doom. The elders choose to cast Harry out, sending him as a sacrifice to a crumbling castle. The Dark Lord waits within, ravenous for the taste of his blood and the sweetness of his soul.

A Prank Unlike Any Other by A_Single_Cactus (E, 2k, complete)

It was April Fools’ Day. Harry decides to prank Riddle by acting differently. He decides to act nice. It doesn’t go as planned.

Adhesion by @telelli-writes (T, 5k, complete)

Overachieving sixth-year prefect Tom Riddle is on the fast track to be Head Boy next year, a Department Head by thirty, and Minister for Magic by forty. Harry Potter, Quidditch star and the most popular boy in school, doesn't factor anywhere into those plans or Tom's life. Until Professor Slughorn pairs the two of them together on a Potions project.

bad guy by @circleofplanets (M, 5k, complete)

Considered the power couple of Hogwarts, Tom Marvolo Riddle and Harry James Potter have been the topic of interest ever since they got together. A series of interviews getting close and personal with their friends and their outsider perspective on the famed couple.

Blood of the Covenant by @solelyseeking (E, 10k, complete)

Perhaps more than Parseltongue ran through Tom's veins. The Gaunts carried a hunger in their blood- not just for power, as is their right- but for each other. Tom thinks of the way their legacy had dripped from Harry's tongue, later that night, as his wrist works beneath the covers. He feels no shame for his urges. Tradition is sacred, after all. And Tom had always wanted a family.

Consume by @known-concepts (E, 4k, complete)

Something goes awry during Voldemort's resurrection, the balances of life and death are upset, and there is only one way to fix it.

cult classic by @aitafrog (G, 3k, complete)

For his whole life, Harry’s been looking forward to leaving behind the Dursleys and making his own fresh start. He’d envisioned endless opportunities ahead of him, with countless ways of reinventing himself. But for all of his daydreams and plans, he never quite imagined his fresh start involving the infamous cult leader Tom Riddle.

Customer Service by lilacscented (T, 6k, complete)

Furious at Borgin & Burkes’ blatant false advertising and shoddy customer service, Harry spends his Christmas Eve on a quest for Justice. Tom, meanwhile, is just punching the clock for some holiday pay. Both of them end up getting more than they bargained for.

deadbolt by @duplicitywrites (E, 8k, complete)

Tom is stunning at sixteen. He has always been an exception in a sea of mediocrity, a chameleon of sorts, conducting himself with the arrogance of genius astride the pity of orphanhood. Each facet of Tom Riddle is a domino on the path of Voldemort; it is up to you to divert them. Or: Harry goes back in time again, and again, and again.

don't blame the stork by @theonceandfuturequeenoftarts (T, 10k, complete)

Harry feels a little adrift after the war, so Magic decides he needs a baby, Magical Britain decides he needs to be Minister, and Voldemort decides he needs some company.

Eternal Hunt by @metalomagnetic (E, 3k, complete)

Harry wants to be good. Tom wants Harry.

Fearsome Thing by @0p4l3sc3nc3 (NR, 13k, complete)

It was him. The angel. "P-pleased to meet you," Tom murmured, and then cursed his tongue for the stutter, and his throat for the raspy tone of his voice, and his heart for being a traitor. And the angel—Harry, he had to remember that name now, it was of utmost importance—smiled at him. "The pleasure is mine.”

Heartbeats by @cyandenial (T, 10k, complete)

Harry Potter, a medical student, volunteered to help in St Mungo's hospital for the summer, to gain extra credits and some practical experience. He was assigned to look over one old man, a task no one wanted, because Tom Riddle wasn’t making it easy for anyone. His horrible attitude brought about every nurse to tears, and Harry was determined not be among those who cried. To everyone's surprise, he managed somehow… Until he didn't.

his love life and death by @noctelier (T, 5k, complete)

Tom Riddle doesn’t get sick. His immune system, just like the rest of him, is extraordinary. Incomparable. No one would dare suggest otherwise. Which is why everyone goes silent when he starts to cough. Or: Tom contracts Hanahaki Disease, knows what he must do about it, and decides he’s better than all that (until he doesn’t).

Ho, Ho, Ho by @moontearpensfic (E, 3k, complete)

Tom's parents take him shopping at the mall, where he scopes out snake paraphernalia and a Santa Claus with pretty green eyes.

if the moon should ever doubt by @fericide (M, 6k, complete)

They meet in the Astronomy Tower.

Mistletoe Managed by @tommarvoloriddlesdiary (T, 3k, complete)

“What’s so bad about magical mistletoe?” Harry asks. Hermione sighs, “Well, magical mistletoe won’t let a person go until they share a heartfelt kiss... So he'll be there a while.”

O Come, All Ye Faithful by @shyinsunlight (E, 3k, complete)

The sanctity of midnight mass requires dignity, composure, and absolutely not dropping the thurible when Harry fucking Potter walks in fifteen minutes late. Harry, who hasn’t darkened the church door since last Easter, and who’s apparently decided Christmas Eve is the perfect time to make his triumphant return to worship.

paint your eyes with sunsets by @boyneptunee (T, 5k, complete)

Tom moves to a new apartment building where he more or less gets himself a boyfriend and a family. Oh, and there's also a cat.

Resonating Souls by @endlessburningdarkness (E, 4k, complete)

Minister Riddle has an unusually dream filled night.

Roughly 19 Years Later by @dividawrites (E, 2k, complete)

Platform 9¾ is a nice place for reunions.

seven by lilacscented (T, 7k, complete)

Harry meets Tom Riddle on the first day of school. He has just turned seven. “So you’re like me,” he says, a statement, not a question. “Meet me in the woods later this afternoon.”

Soil by @ratzeebatz (T, 11k, complete)

The thing about Tom, and many people were aware of this, is that he had a combination of traits that made him both dangerous and infinitely appealing to anyone that spoke to him.  Or: Tom Riddle is a murderous herbologist, and Harry smells better than anything he's smelled before.

stumbling into wonderful by @satflesk22 (E, 5k, complete)

The Ministry sees fit to meddle at Hogwarts in an attempt at curtailing rising pureblood sentiments, to try and lure prospective recruits away from the Dark Lord Nott. Unsurprisingly, the Heir of Slytherin is stuck together in a room with the Chosen One. The worst part is that it bloody works.

The Betrayal (and Boon) of One's Own Biology by @riverxsong-ao3 (E, 7k, complete)

Tom Riddle had always known he was destined for greatness. As a young wizard, he was certain he would present one day as an Alpha - strong, powerful, in charge. When he did not, he came to accept that he must, in fact, be a Beta. Then, one day, everything changed.

The Descent by @chaos-bear (E, 5k, complete)

Secrets, grief and blood magic collide in the depths of the Austrian Alps.

The Good Knight by @mosiva (E, 9k, complete)

Harry and Tom drifted apart at Hogwarts, and Harry hasn’t seen Tom in years as she’s off travelling the world. But Harry doesn’t have time to be sad about it. She’s got problems closer to home – like helping the Order of the Phoenix to combat the recent rise of one Lord Voldemort.

the thing lay dead by @duplicitywrites (E, 7k, complete)

In the end, there was one body that all refused to touch. It unnerved people to see even the corpse. Harry tended to him, this man made mortal. Smooth, alabaster skin and thin, brittle bones. Peaceful in death as he had never been in life. No longer a monster. Now a body, just like everyone else.

this is my persona, secret lover (he's my collar) by souliloquium (M, 3k, complete)

Some things are the same, some things are different. Harry is not the Boy Who Lived. He still finds the locket. And Tom finds him.

We Bow to Each Other, Harry by @liquidluckandstuff (T, 4k, complete)

Harry falls asleep with the Horcrux around his neck and has a very strange dream.

When the Weight is Gone by @marrythemonstersao3 (M, 7k, complete)

In the quiet after the war is over, Harry feels the empty space in his soul like a missing limb. Eventually, his grief and longing come to a head when Death offers him a choice: to move on for good, or go back and do it over again.

*

[thefreakandthehair]

mistletoe.

written for @steddieholidaydrabbles | prompts: mistletoe | wc: 999 | rating: teen & up | tags: alternate universe- no upside down, alternate universe- flower shop au, eddie pov, eddie munson has a crush on steve harrington, confident!steve harrington, fluff, getting together, first kiss, background buckingham mention

It’s chaos. 

Clippings, and rogue petals, and ribbons that still need to be tied into bows as far as the eye can see. Long tables lined with crinkling plastic to protect the aged wood take up the center of the room, and somewhere off in the distance, Eddie can hear Chrissy on the phone with what sounds like a disgruntled, last-minute customer. 

“... Sir, it’s December. Most of our poinsettias have been reserved for weeks. We have two left that we can give you. You can have them, or you can—”

Eddie’s sure Chrissy’s about to kindly tell the phone stranger to go fuck himself and he couldn’t be prouder of how far she’s come, really, but he loses the thread on the conversation when Steve bustles in from the back.

“How many carnations does one middle school Winter Wonderland dance need, anyways? Are there even this many kids in the town?” In his warm, forest green jacket and black beanie with wind-flushed cheeks and rosy nose, Steve exhales and sets the box of carnations down on the counter. 

“Enough to pay the rent this month with carnations alone, apparently,” Eddie jokes, tapping Steve’s jean-clad shin with the toe of his boot. “We’ll be here all night doing these ribbons, won’t we?”

He tries to make it sound like a chore, like something he hasn’t been looking forward to since Chrissy told them she had a date and couldn’t stay. Any amount of alone time with Steve is welcome, even if it means tying tiny bows on small carnations and pricking his finger a hundred times with the stupid little pins. 

“Probably, yeah,” Steve shrugs with a smile. “It’s not so bad though, right?” 

“Not at all.” Eddie bites the inside of his cheek to keep from beaming. 

When Chrissy wraps up her part— invoices, confirmations, and all of the paperwork shit that Eddie and Steve are better off leaving to Chrissy— she practically skips out of the office with a wave and a smirk. 

“You do know that if she and Robin hit it off, this is gonna be a regular thing, right?” Eddie jokes, hoisting himself up to sit on one of the tables and grabbing a ribbon to wrap around another flower. 

“Robin hasn’t stopped talking about Chrissy for months. This is going to be our life, Ed. Mark my words.” Steve laughs with Eddie’s favorite crooked smile, the one that only ever seems to be targeted at him. 

He tries not to let Steve’s phrasing dig its claws too deep into his lovestruck brain, but our life wiggles its way in regardless. 

Eddie looks around and takes in all of the fine details— a half-eaten bag of plain chips, two cans of coke, carnations and ribbons strewn about in somewhat orderly piles. Chrissy left the radio on when she left, the station alternating between the top hits and classic holiday songs, and Steve bobs his head to Wham!’s Last Christmas. 

This could be their life; not just the tumultuous riptide of highs and lows, but all of the mundane minutiae in between. 

Eddie and Steve. 

EddieandSteve. 

“You okay? Stab your thumb again?” Steve asks, tearing Eddie from his reverie. 

“Yes, and actually, yes,” Eddie laughs, breathy through his nose, and wipes his thumb on his jeans. Before Steve can grab his hand and check him over, and probably push Eddie over the edge into doing something incredibly fucking stupid in the process, he brushes it off. “It’s fine. Let's get these bitches done.”

Hours pass, quickly and comfortably, and they eventually tie their last ribbon. 

“We did it, Jesus H. Christ,” Eddie celebrates, hopping off of the table and tossing the last carnation into the box. “Do you still have skin on your fingers? I don’t think I have fingerprints anymore.” 

“Now would be the time to go commit some crimes,” Steve snorts, his nose wrinkling, and Eddie wants to kiss him right on the mouth. “Before you head out though, I uh, I think we forgot one. Close your eyes for a second.” 

“What?” 

“Just close your eyes? Please?”

Eddie does as Steve asks because he’s helpless to not, his brows knitting together in confusion because closed eyes. He hears rustling and the sound of scissors snipping ribbon. What’s so special about this carnation? What’s so secretive that Eddie has to close his eyes and miss valuable alone time with Steve? Doesn’t Steve get it? Every second with his eyes closed are seconds he doesn’t get to stare. 

Steve’s stool slides against the tile floor, scraping as Eddie feels Steve standing closer. Close enough that he can feel Steve’s breath against him when he says, “Okay, open your eyes.”

In front of him is Steve Harrington, his favorite smile, and wide, hesitant eyes holding a hastily tied together bundle of mistletoe just above their heads. 

“I know it’s not Christmas yet or anything, but I couldn’t wait.” 

“You’re not fucking with me?” Eddie asks, heart clattering in his chest as hope gouges its way out of its deepest recesses. 

“Definitely not. I really like you, maybe more, and I know I didn’t have to wait for some big moment but tonight, just the two of us, it felt right. If I’m wrong, I’ll chuck this in the garbage and we can never bring it up again but—”

Eddie launches himself at Steve, both arms wrapping around Steve’s neck. 

Maybe he should’ve taken it slower— maybe their first kiss should’ve been patient, tender— but he’ll have other opportunities to show him the softness he deserves. Instead, Eddie kisses Steve just like he’s fallen in love with him: spontaneously, impulsively, urgently. Steve drops the thicket of branches and pulls him in closer, one hand balling the edge of Eddie’s shirt up in a fist by his hip and the other cupping the back of Eddie’s head, meeting his intensity wordlessly. 

Through the murky daze of Steve’s lips against his, Eddie hopes that this is their life. 

[princessmisery666]

Cold Hands

Summary: Dean has a solution for your cold hands.

Warnings: fluff

W/C: 103 - sorry. 

Challenge: @justagirlinafandomworld Flash Fic Challenge 5 Prompt: Little Drummer Boy by Pentatonix

Characters: Dean Winchester, reader.

A/N: A follow on from Snowflakes but can be read as stand alone.

Dean has committed a cardinal sin and his ears are paying the price. You convinced him to surrender control of the radio, a Christmas miracle.

You immediately found a Christmas station. He’s suffered through covers of classics, new pop songs, and now Little Drummer Boy plays. 

Dean steals glances at you until you lean forward to put your hands over the vent.

“Cold?” he asks. He untucks his shirt, takes your hand, tugging you across the seat to lay your hands on his stomach. 

“Geezus!” he flinches. “You're so cold.” 

Resting your head on his shoulder, you sigh happily. “But you’re soooooo warm.”

Part 3 - Mistletoe

Master List

[mymegumi]

DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS ෆ GOJO SATORU

⠀ event masterlist

“do you think it’s gonna snow this year?” gojo asks, voice hush in the darkness of your bedroom as he rests his head in his hands, his hands resting flatly on your stomach as you try to watch the movie you have flickering on the television. it’s a classic christmas movie, something gojo had insisted on putting in, but he’s not even paying attention as he looks out the window to the calming night sky.

you hum, head tilting to the side to look outside with him, the nightlife calm and serene for once as you run your hands through the top parts of his hair—fluffy and silky. his eyes are doing that thing, where they almost close before he’s opening them again, indicating a sort of sleepiness that invades the bones. “maybe. why don’t you wish for it for christmas?”

“wishing for things for christmas is for little kids.” he sticks his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout, pressing his ear to your chest as he sighs loudly. “my baby thinks i’m a baby.”

“sometimes you act like one.” you muse, looking away innocently as he jolts up from his position with a scandalized look on his face, mouth open wide. there’s a beat, as if he’s waiting for an apology that he’s certainly never going to get before he lays back down, grumbles leaving his lips rapidly. “case in point.”

“whatever.” he turns over now, facing away from you but sticks his head back ever so slightly so he’s still touching you. you’re not sure if he means to, but even if he were upset, he makes sure that the two of you are always touching. “you’re so mean to me.”

you hum contemplatively, hands sifting through his hair idly as you watch the movie without truly watching it. “geto thinks i could be meaner.”

“and he also thinks that the moon is made out of cheese.” gojo retorts, huffing dramatically so his chest rises and falls as he turns his head to look at you through one eye. “so i’m not trusting him as a judge of character.”

“i mean, he was joking, right?”

gojo’s silence is your only answer.

“is it snowing?” you ask a moment later, eyes drifting from whatever scene was happening in the television to the window. you squint and lean forward a little, trying to see if if’s truly snowing out or if you’re just seeing things.

“snow?!” gojo is running to the window before you know what’s happening, nose pressed against the glass and breath fogging up the window as he marvels at the outside. “it’s snowing!! i manifested that shit, do you see it?!”

you’re content to stay in bed, in the warmth of your heated blankets and the soft cozy pillow you’d spent months choosing and the plush mattress that had cost you an arm and a leg to buy, but your darling boyfriend has other plans for you. with a hand gripped on one of your arms, he rips you out of bed with a gleeful shout, pulling you in the direction of the door. the door leading to the outside where it was cold and snowing.

“satoru!” you yelp, narrowly dodging the shoddily made snowball he’s made in the point two seconds you’d looked away. “do not hit me!”

the outside is mostly untouched, save for the few and far between feet marks of dogs and their walkers. there’s about a foot and a half of loose snow outside, which makes making snowballs difficult for your snow-haired boyfriend. he’s got his tongue stuck out as he attempts to press the snow together into a ball shape. “i can’t make this stupid snow work with me!”

“no snowmen tonight, then.” you groan, sitting down in the snow and feeling thankful your boyfriend had made you take out the snow pants from storage the other day.

gojo groans, falling down in a huff next to you before whining and rubbing his ass. while the snow had buffeted your fall, apparently gojo has fallen with a bit of force—meaning he’d have a nice purple bruise on his ass in the morning. “stupid snow. this isn’t at all what i wished for.”

“oh, so you admit you wished for it to snow?” you tease, bumping your shoulder into his with a soft chuckle.

the red of his cheeks is either his embarrassment or the cold winds biting at them, but you’d like to think it was the former. hard to embarrass, you enjoy flustering gojo whenever you can. “i mean—i didn’t not wish for it to snow.”

“you’re so childish.” you laugh, hand grabbing some snow and shoving it onto his reddened cheek, making him swipe at your hand and pull you closer to him through the snow. “but i love that about you.”

“you love all of me, right?” he whispers, eyes searching across your face as he tilts his head to the side. ever the confident man, you suppose he can have his moments of insecurity, too.

you nod, pressing your cold nose against his. “i love you. all of you, gojo satoru.”

“i love you.” he presses his lips to yours gently. “always.”

[retrosofa]

I've finally collected the four issues of Tanoshii Youchien that feature Yoshiko Suganuma's Cutie Honey manga! I honestly never thought this day would come, considering how rare these back issues are. These little comics will probably never be released again, so I'm very thankful to own them.

The Tanoshi Youchien manga was marketed to little kids and basically an advertisement for the TV series. Each chapter is two pages long and usually holiday-themed for whatever reason. Aside from the first chapter, there is almost no action or violence. There is also no nudity, which is rare for any Cutie Honey product! We don't see Honey's iconic "Honey Flash" even once.

Suganuma's artwork is absolutely stunning. Her drawing style is truly the epitome of classic shoujo manga. I can't find a lot of information about her but it seems she was last active in the 80's, drawing horror manga. Not sure how she got involved with Cutie Honey.

Below are summaries of each chapter along with some additional information on each issue:

November 1973 (New Serial): Honey Kisaragi introduces herself and stops Panther Zora from stealing jewels. Zora requests the help of Sister Jill and swears she'll make Honey pay in next month's issue.

December 1973: Panther Zora tries to steal Christmas cake from Honey but is easily thwarted. Zora and her subordinates are mounted like decorations on Honey's Christmas tree. Honey tells the readers to look forward to her New Years story.

January 1974: Honey is getting ready for New Years with Mami and Junpei, when a Panther subordinate attacks. Honey and Junpei drive him away. The final panel is a coloring page. The next chapter is advertised as "It's Setsubun, Honey." This was the only chapter printed in black and white.

The furoku for this issue included a "Hikari Train", which featured Honey as one of the passengers. This issue also included a full-color two panel comic about Honey losing a game of hanetsuki.

February 1974: Honey, Seiji, Mami, and Junpei celebrate Setsubun. Sister Jill and her minions try to run off with stolen jewels but they slip on fukumame. Honey and Seiji laugh at Jill's defeat but warn the readers to be careful of where they're walking.

The furoku for this issue included a Honey paper doll. This issue also included "Popular Manga Karuta" which featured Honey on several cards.

The final chapter tells the readers to check out next month's issue but doesn't imply the continuation of Honey's adventures. It could be the editorial staff were unsure if they were continuing the serial or not.

Please do not repost these images without my permission.

[rararazaquato]

SRMT SECRET SANTA‼️‼️

hello, @dreadfullyclue , it's me, your secret santa! due to me being an absolute fool, the fic i wrote for you can't be posted to ao3 yet (i'll have it up by christmas eve at the latest). so, in the meantime, i'm posting it here! hope you (and anyone else who comes across it) enjoy!!! and thanks to @sweetcircuits for running this event!!!

Title: Nova's Mistletoe Mishap

Rate: G for General

Summary: Nova is too proud to ask Sparx out over the holidays. So, she tries to set up an elaborate scheme instead. However, she just can't seem to catch a break. Spova, Nova-centric, 5.2k words.

Nova was in a bit of a pickle.

Admittedly, she was no stranger to pickles. Her life’s purpose was defending her planet from the forces of evil, she’s been in a few pickles in her time.

But those were all tangible, physical problems. Being trapped, or fighting a horde of monsters, those had easy solutions. Usually, it was smashing her way out of those situations. When it wasn’t a job for brute force, that just meant one of her other teammates could deal with it. Otto's saws and Antauri’s claws were better for precision work. If it was a technical problem, Gibson could handle it. And if a long range attack was best for the job, she could always rely on a Spear-o from Chiro or a Magnatingler Blast from–

Ugh.

This was Nova's problem. An emotional one. She could handle those easy-peasy if they were other people’s. How many times had she been Chiro's shoulder to cry on, or Antauri's confidant? How many times did she mediate when Otto said something insensitive and Gibson got angry over it?

But having her own emotional problems? Needing to confront that red menace that stole her heart? Pfft, get real.

And yet.

It was approaching the holiday season, and Nova's very soul was aching to do something about her situation. But she needed to be sly about it, for the sake of her own pride.

Her brainstorming session was occupying her mental faculties during movie night. Otto had selected a “holiday classic”, some sort of hokey romance film about a young woman being whisked away from her big city job by a charming country boy who showed her the true meaning of life. Or something. She wasn’t really paying attention.

“Otto, I didn't really take you for the romantic type,” Chiro said. He was tinkering with some sort of little gadget, clearly not enjoying the film.

��Nah, this makes total sense,” Sparx (ugh) said. “He’s always been a sucker for this sort of thing.” His muzzle scrunched up when he snickered.

He’s so cute, Nova thought to herself, regrettably.

“Everyone, shhh, the best part is happening!” Otto was on the edge of his seat – literally. He was watching the screen so intently that he had leaned forward until he was no longer actually sitting.

“But, Chris, what are we doing here?” the beautiful blonde woman on the screen asked. “Why have you taken me to a beautiful cabin vacation in the woods?”

“Wait, is this the setup for a horror movie?” Chiro suddenly perked up in interest. “It sounds like the setup for a horror m–”

Otto shushed him, but Nova was inclined to agree. If she was alone in a cabin in the woods with some random guy, she’d assume something was about to go horribly wrong and she’d need to beat him up. Evidently, however, the movie didn’t seem to grasp this idea.

“I wanted to show you the beauty of nature in the wintertime, Noelle,” the red-haired man responded (why did it have to be a redhead and a blonde? Nova would have assumed the universe was taunting her at this point, but the universe had directly told her and the team that it liked her, so this must’ve been a really unfortunate coincidence).

“It is beautiful…” the woman sighed, looking out at the snow-covered trees from a cozy windowsill.

“So are you,” the man responded, before glancing up at the ceiling. “And look at what we have here.”

“Mistletoe?” the woman said, blushing profusely.

“I don't know if I would want to risk having a Viscum album in my living quarters, personally,” Gibson scoffed as the movie couple kissed beneath the mistletoe. “It's toxic. I don't want a poisonous plant just hanging about.”

“It's not usually fatal, Gibson,” Antauri said. “Besides, you’d need to eat it in order to be poisoned. If it just hangs as a decoration, it cannot harm you.”

“Not fatal to humans, sure, but we’re a good bit smaller than humans! It could have increased effects!" Gibson retorted. “And besides, I don't trust some of you to not eat it.” He shot a pointed look at Otto with that one. The green monkey did not notice, as he was too absorbed in the movie. Nova would usually defend Otto from that sort of targeted comment, but she did recently witness him eating a chili pepper with toothpaste on top in an attempt to create “homemade peppermint”, so maybe Gibson had a point there.

Suddenly, an alarm blared.

“We’re receiving a distress call!” Antauri rose from his seat and changed the screen to a radar view (earning a sad “my movie…” from Otto). “There's a small horde of Formless in the industrial district.”

“Ugh, are you serious?” Chiro rolled his eyes. “And I was just getting settled. Okay, Hyperforce Go, or whatever.”

The next day, Nova barely even remembered the fight. Clobbered some Formless, had to clean the goo out of her fur, just a standard battle all things considered. The team was on patrol, scouring the planets immediately surrounding Shuggazoom in their solar system. Sparx was on the main controls, Otto and Gibson were monitoring the Super Robot’s status, and Nova… well, she was still trying to think of how she could quell the stirring of her heartstrings.

“Well, this patrol has been boring so far,” Sparx said, leaning back in his seat in a way that infuriated Nova with how much it charmed her.

Another alarm.

“Oh, I stand corrected,” Sparx said. “Hey, Antauri! We got a distress signal again!”

“Already on top of it,” the silver monkey responded, descending from his tube and checking the Super Robot’s GPS. “It's coming from planet Haustoria-25.”

“Hey, isn’t that the planet that’s just one big mistletoe farm?” Otto asked. “Like, the one that supplies mistletoe to the entire solar system?”

“You can farm mistletoe?” Nova didn’t want to admit it, but that did sound like a surefire way to manufacture a convenience where she would have to do something about her feelings for Sparx.

“It says so on this brochure I got,” Otto said.

“Hm, so it does,” Antauri said. “All right, team, we’re going in for a landing. Chiro?”

“Already on it,” their boy leader said over the comms.

As the Super Robot touched down, Nova was a bit nervous at first – the ground was completely blanketed in a white layer of snow. However, taking a look at the stats panel, it said the external temperature was a completely tolerable 22 degrees.

After checking that the Super Robot was, in fact, displaying the temperature in Celsius and not Fahrenheit, Nova was the first one to bolt from the door and onto the planet outside. She immediately clambered into a tree, searching for those little white berries from the movie.

“Powdered sugar…?” Gibson said, sticking a “snow”-covered finger in his mouth.

“Hey, who was it who said that he didn’t trust the rest of us to not eat random stuff last night?” Sparx teased from inside the robot.

There it is! Nova spotted a sprig of mistletoe wrapped around a nearby branch, luckily managing to stifle a laugh at Sparx’s joke. She plucked it from the tree and tucked it behind her ear.

Actually, was there a technical term for what the robot monkeys had instead of ears? Antennae? Audio sensors? Nova wasn’t sure, and frankly, she didn’t care. She got what she came here for.

Or… Nova glanced around at her surroundings. Mistletoe hung from various branches, and if Sparx would just come outside…

“Wait.”

“Hm?” The rest of the team turned to look at Antauri.

“I’m getting a message on my comms,” he said. He turned away from the rest of the team in a manner that reminded Nova of Chiro trying to make a subtle phone call to Jinmay. “Hello? Yes, this is Antauri. Of the Super Robot Monkey Team, yes.”

“Who is it?” Chiro asked. He, Otto, and Sparx peeked out from inside, none of them having stepped foot outside.

“Oh, you have it covered?” Antauri said, ignoring Chiro’s question. “Excellent. Oh? Ah, greetings– yes, I will tell him I say hi. Say, do you want to come over for dinner? We have a lot of… Ah, busy. Understandable. Well, I wish you all happy holidays, and we hope to see you again soon.” He then turned back around to face the team.

“Don’t worry, everyone, the threat has been neutralized,” Antauri said. “Some sort of sucrose monster attacked the farmer population here, but the Frog Team stopped it.”

“The Frog Team?” Gibson said, powdered sugar dusting his mouth.

“Suupa says hello, by the way,” Antauri said with a smirk. “But yes, they arrived before us.”

“Well, back inside for me!” Sparx said, pivoting on his heel and walking away.

“You were never even outside!” Gibson complained, following Sparx and the others back inside.

Nova, meanwhile, sat in shock.

I was so close…

“Nova? Are you coming?” Antauri asked.

“Yeah, I guess,” she said, not really able to disguise her disappointment. She jumped down from the tree branch before hovering back inside on her jetpack so as to not get more powdered sugar between her toes.

“I like your new accessory,” Antauri said.

“Thanks.”

“It’s very…” Antauri paused. He then looked outside, then back at Nova, then outside again.

“I get the feeling I may have accidentally thwarted some sort of ulterior motive of yours.”

“Gee, ya think?”

“Well, I won’t pry into your plans, Nova,” he said. Then, he slid up next to her.

“It’s Sparx, right?” he whispered.

“I’m going to my room,” Nova groaned.

“What? Just because I’m the stoic one, that means I can’t be curious?” Antauri said, a glimmer in his eye. “Let me have a little fun once in a while.”

Nova’s shoulders slumped. Antauri blinked.

“Nova, truly, you have my blessing as second in command,” he said, his expression going from playful to firm in an instant. “Personally, I don’t think you need my blessing, but just in case you wanted it.”

“I appreciate it, ‘Tauri,” Nova said with a soft smile. “Sorry, I’m just in a funk right now.”

“If you need to talk to someone, I’m always willing to lend an ear.”

“Thanks.”

“Of course, Nova.”

The next day, the team was back on Shuggazoom. Sparx, Otto, and Antauri were off running some sort of errand, leaving Gibson, Chiro, and Nova in the Super Robot.

It’s the perfect plan, Nova thought. I put the mistletoe up at the entrance to Sparx’s tube, and then when he comes down, I kiss him. It’s completely and utterly foolpr–

“N-Nova?”

“Gwuh!” Nova jumped as Chiro’s voice broke her out of her thoughts. She hadn’t even realized that he had come down his own tube. “Chiro! What’s up?”

“Well, I wanted some advice…” the boy said, nervously rubbing his arm.

“Okay, shoot.” Nova could take a break from her masterful plan for a moment…

“Well, since you’re a girl, and also a robot, I figured you might know what robot girls like as presents?” Chiro said. “I want to get Jinmay something really special, but I don’t have any ideas.”

“Well, Jinmay and I are pretty different, y’know?”

“Sure, but it’s not like I know any other girl robots,” Chiro said before pausing. “Or, uh, all that many girls to begin with?”

“Y’know, contrary to popular belief, girls aren’t all too different from boys,” Nova said. “You don’t have to think of getting a gift for Jinmay as getting a gift for a girl, so much as you have to think of it as getting a gift for. Y’know. Jinmay.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Does Jinmay have any hobbies?”

“Uh, she likes robotics?” Chiro said. “I-I’m not just saying that because she’s a robot, or anything, but y’know, I’ve seen her make stuff out of scrap metal? Oh, she likes cute things, too! She collects these little…” He pressed his fingers to his temples. “Gah, I can’t remember what they’re called! They’re these stuffed animals that she has a bajillion of! I’d know ‘em if I saw ‘em!”

“Do you…” Nova tapped her finger to her chin. “Do you want me to take you to a toy store and help you find one?”

“Yes, please!” Chiro nearly cried. “I don’t want to go in there by myself… I can’t be in the stuffed animal section alone…”

“Y’see, I usually go there alone, so none of you think I’m going soft or anything,” Nova said with a grin. “But I guess I can take you, sure.”

“Thank you…” Chiro sighed and Nova rolled her eyes.

Teenage boys and their weird hangups, she thought. I mean, who’d get insecure over buying a stuffed toy?

You would, her thoughts responded.

Shut up, me.

The two of them returned from the store… hours later. Turns out, being the heroes that save the entire galaxy on the regular means that people give them discounts, if not just free items. Chiro had finally remembered that the toys were called “Bebkins”, and he proudly walked back into the Super Robot with two huge gift bags full of the things that he received for the price of one. Nova, meanwhile, had purchased a stuffed animal for herself – a little cardinal bird with button eyes.

I need some retail therapy after the emotionally intense days I’ve had, lately, she thought. Let’s just… ignore the fact that I bought a toy version of… a red thing… that flies…

Stupid Sparx. His dumb, beautiful, ship-piloting face was seeping its way into everything!

“Again, thank you for your help with this, Nova,” Chiro said once they re-entered the Super Robot. “I really appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it!” Nova said. Then, her face dropped. “Seriously, don’t mention it. I’m not trying to get anyone on my case about losing my edge.”

“Yeah, yeah, my lips are sealed,” Chiro said, miming a zipping motion over his mouth. “But I don’t think you’re losing anything. As leader of the Hyperforce, it is my personal opinion that you’re doing great!” He gave her a thumbs up and a wide grin.

“Thanks, Chiro,” she said.

“Besides, if I was gonna say anyone was losing their edge, I’d say it was Sparx,” Chiro said before blanching. “D-don’t tell him I said that!”

“Didn’t plan on it,” Nova said, hoping her leader didn’t catch the bead of sweat that snuck its way out from under her helmet and down the side of her face. “Can I ask why?”

“Well, I don’t know if I’m just imagining things, but I keep catching him making weird blushy faces at y…” Chiro’s teeth clenched in a grimace. “...yo-yos.”

“...Yo-yos?”

“He’s been getting really into yo-yo tricks lately!” Chiro stammered. “And it’s affecting his performance in battle! Too busy thinking about, uh, walking the dog, and…” His eyes nervously darted around, pointedly not making eye contact with Nova. “And other yo-yo tricks, that I definitely know the names of.”

“...okay, yo-yo tricks.” Nova could admit she had some dense tendencies, but she wasn’t a fool. Chiro was trying to dance around saying you, and she knew it.

It’s not like she didn’t know Sparx held some sort of attraction to her. She was the only girl on the team and he was an infuriatingly flirtatious monkey at heart. It was bound to happen whether she liked it or not (and the jury’s still out on whether or not she liked it). She just… really wished Chiro hadn’t brought it up. Because that meant she had to think.

Why won’t that stupid, beautiful monkey ask me?! Do I have to do everything myself around here?!

“Well! I’m going to go! Uh. Wrap these presents!” Chiro hoisted the bags into the air before stiffly walking back to his tube. “And try to learn more about yo-yos!”

“Can’t be convincing about it if I only know the name of one trick…” he grumbled at a volume that Nova could only assume he thought was “quiet”. Alas, between the cybernetics giving her enhanced hearing and Chiro’s general difficulty with the concept of an inside voice, she heard him loud and clear.

As he left, Nova was finally able to get back to her plan. Sparx hadn’t come back from his errand yet (well, neither had Otto or Antauri, but those two weren’t exactly on the forefront of her mind), so Nova just had to get the plant in position. She took it out from its place behind her ear, leaned up to the string she had attached to the top of Sparx’s door earlier that day, aaaaaand…

“Nova!”

“Eep!” She whipped around to see a very peeved-looking blue face staring right back at her.

“Give me that,” Gibson snarled, snatching the mistletoe out of her hand.

“Hey! That’s mine! Give it back!”

“Oh, no, I don’t think so!” Gibson said. “At best, this is an unintentional hazard. At worst, this is an assassination attempt!”

“Gibson, why on Shuggazoom do you think I’d assassinate someone on the team?”

“I said at worst! I never said it’s what I actually believed!” Gibson said, his eyes suddenly widening and his hands flailing. “Just… taking precautions!”

“Give it back.”

“Only if you give me a reason why I should,” he responded. “If not, I’m taking this back to my lab to vaporize it.”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Because… because…!” Nova could feel her face heating up. That… can’t be good. Almost on instinct, she brought out her weapons, golden fists gleaming in the fluorescent lighting of the Super Robot’s main room.

Antauri knowing is fine. That’s whatever. But Gibson? He can’t keep his mouth shut to save his life! If he found out about my plan, my reputation would be toast!

“Are you threatening me?” Gibson’s face fell. He moved back a pace and furrowed his brow.

“I’m not… threatening you!” Nova said, threateningly. Still, she regained enough composure to retract her weapons and just resort to making grabby hands at Gibson. “I’m just… really frustrated, because… because!”

“Because what?” Gibson said, jetpacking a little bit higher into the air to keep the mistletoe out of Nova’s reach.

“Because…!”

“Hey, guys, I’m back early!” Otto said, descending down his tube. “Antauri and Sparx’ll be back in a mo…”

Gibson and Nova stared at him.

“...ment. In a moment.” Otto blinked before grinning like a madman. “Gibson, you big dummy!”

“Wh-huh?”

“You’re supposed to put the mistletoe above both of you, not just the girl you’re trying to kiss!”

“What?!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll leave you two to it!” Otto said. “Not what I expected, though. Gibson, I didn’t think you liked Nova like that.”

“I… I…” the blue monkey stammered as he lowered himself back to the floor. Nova wanted to applaud Otto for that one, honestly. For the first time ever, someone had discovered an easy way to get Gibson to stop talking!

“See y’all!” With that, Otto went back up his tube, presumably to his living quarters.

Gibson and Nova just stared at each other.

“That was. Not. My intention.”

“Figured as much.”

“I’m going to assume that you were intending to use this…” Gibson started, holding the mistletoe out in his hand. “..for its more culturally pertinent purpose.”

“Yep,” Nova said.

“I see.” Gibson let Nova take the plant back. “My apologies, Nova. I got too wrapped up in the poisonous aspects, to the point where I forgot about… you know. Everything else.”

“It makes sense, really,” Nova said, tucking the mistletoe back behind her ear. “You’re the type of guy who thinks more about science than romance, I get it.”

“For your information, I can be quite romantic when I want to be,” Gibson insisted.

“Mhm, yeah, sure.”

“Really, I can!”

“Keep telling yourself that, bub,” Nova said.

“I’m just… more innovative about it!” Gibson said. “Mistletoe is just so… pedestrian! My romantic gestures are far more personalized. For example, one time, I constructed a-”

“Can you leave now?” Nova groaned. “I’m trying to hang this somewhere?”

“Please tell me you’re hanging it above Sparx’s tube.”

“Shut up!” Nova nearly screamed.

“Wait, really?”

“Y-yeah?”

“Oh, I genuinely had no idea,” Gibson said. “Thank goodness, really. Do you know how often Sparx just… shows up in my laboratory to talk about how obsessed he is with you? It’s very annoying, and he never practices appropriate lab safety!”

“Ugh…” Nova sighed. “Why won’t he just tell me that? Why do I have to make the first move!”

“Frankly, I think he’s a bit of a coward,” Gibson said. “He puts on such a braggadocious demeanor, you’d think he could put some bite behind his bark and just ask you himself.”

“Exactly!” Nova said. “If he’s so confident, he should just do it!”

“Eh? Who are we talking about?”

“Sparx!” Nova yelped. He and Antauri had also returned, and fairly silently at that.

“You were talking about me?” Sparx gasped, fluttering his… well, the cybernetics made it so his eyelashes weren’t exactly visible, but his eyelids blinked in such a way that Nova was certain that he’d be doing just that if he were a normal monkey instead of a robot one.

“No!” Nova said, hoping Gibson wouldn’t out her on her lie. Thankfully, Gibson just shook his head no.

“Well, it’s not like I know what the context would’ve been, anyway,” Sparx shrugged. “Okay, I gotta go talk to Otto about something. See y’all on the flipside!” He gave a quick salute before leaving.

“Speaking of Otto, he contacted me on the communicator to tell me you two were…” Antauri gesticulated wildly (at least, by his standards; he was not a particularly wild gesticulator).

“It was a misunderstanding, Antauri,” Gibson scoffed.

“That… makes more sense than what he told me.”

After a deeply embarrassing explanation to Antauri, Nova wasn’t exactly keen on continuing her mistletoe quest that night. Sparx and Otto had gone up to bed early after dinner, so she couldn’t count on the red monkey to be out and about and trigger her trap. But that was okay; it gave her time to reflect while she slept. Or, at least, while she tried to sleep.

What was she going to do? Nova watched her alarm clock strike midnight. The holidays had officially started. Nova rolled over, knowing that in 24 hours, the biggest winter celebration of Shuggazoom would end. After that, her time would be up. She’d have to wait an entire year for this opportunity to come again.

You could just tell him, y’know, said her logic.

And he could just tell me, y’know! her emotions responded. Why’s he gotta be so cagey about it!

Vrrrr! said the mechanical drilling coming from Otto’s room down the hall.

“Great,” she grumbled. Nova dragged herself out of her sleeping pod and shuffled her way down the hall before knocking on the big green door.

“Otto, can you cut that out!” she yelled. Usually, when she asked Otto to be quieter at night, it would take her busting his door open to get him to even respond (which he never minded – fixing the holes in his door was always an easy task that kept his hands busy). This time, however, the response from her teammate was strangely immediate.

“Nova! Hi!” Otto said, rushing to close the door behind him.

“Otto, can you please tone down the noise? I can’t sleep with all of your engineering thingamabobs going off.”

“Well…” Otto trailed off and fidgeted with the tip of his tail. “Y’see, it’s kind of a big project, and we – I mean, I’ve been procrastinating on it a whole lot?”

“A project?”

“For the holidays, y’know?”

“Can I see it?” Nova asked, glancing pointedly at a new metal installation in the door from last time she visited Otto.

“No!” he squeaked, spreading his arms to block the potential destructive path of Nova. “I mean, not now! You’ll see it tomorrow! Trust me, you’ll love it!”

Part of Nova was really curious, wanting to shove Otto out of the way and check it out for herself. However, after her brief spat with Gibson, she figured that she had already had enough of antagonizing her team members for today.

“Fine, keep your secrets,” she said with a smile. “Just, do you have any quieter tools?”

“We got some!” Otto said, returning a toothy grin. “I mean, I got some!”

“Okay, thanks,” she said, before waving goodbye. Otto did as well, and Nova noticed he didn’t return to his room. She was too tired to really interrogate that behavior, though. However, as her own door closed…

“Phew! False alarm!”

Wonder who he’s talking to? Nova thought. It didn’t matter, though. Otto’s power tool noises were noticeably quieter, a soft white noise permeating her thoughts.

Tomorrow. That’s when I’ll set it all up. Tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow was suddenly today.

Nova was nervous, more nervous than she had been in a very long time. She clutched a stuffed animal in one hand and the sprig of mistletoe in the other. It was starting to wilt.

“Oh, who am I kidding…” she said out loud. “This was never going to work. Even if I did get him under the mistletoe, would I even do anything? Clearly, he wouldn’t take the initiative, and I’m not sure if I would, either…”

She sighed and rolled onto her stomach, face pressed into a pillow. She prepared to scream.

knock knock.

… what.

knock knock knock.

“Ugh! Coming!” Nova called. She wiped the drool off her muzzle and cracked her back before making her way to the d–

“Happy holidays, Nova!”

“Sparx?!”

There he was, in the flesh and metal. Same cocky grin, same cute little fangs, same everything. Nova thought she was going to vomit.

“What… what are you doing here?”

“Gee, what’s with the sour face?” Sparx asked. “Whatever happened to ‘Joy to the World’, eh?”

“I don’t mean to be sour, y’know, I just–”

“Nova, I got you a gift.” His jaw was visibly clenched. Maybe Nova’s eyes deceived her, but she could’ve sworn his face was somehow redder than usual.

“Oh, uh, thanks, Sparx!” Her plan was never coming to fruition, huh? Nova accepted her defeat as she looked around behind Sparx. The only thing she could see was Otto, peeking out from behind a corner.

What’s he doing there?

“Where’s the gift? I don’t see it.”

“Uh, that’s the funny part!” Sparx said, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s, uh, y’know, I, yeah, uh…”

Otto chose this moment to make eye contact with Nova.

“Look up,” he mouthed silently to her. Nova, not particularly adept at reading lips, cocked her head in confusion. Otto just rolled his eyes and jabbed a finger upwards.

So, Nova followed the visual cue, and–

“Oh!”

What on Shuggazoom is that.

Thin sheets of steel molded into leaf shapes and haphazardly splotched with green paint. Little polygonal shapes made of metal that looked like white and red berries.

This… this is…!

“Mistletoe,” Sparx confirmed.

“I made it!” Otto chimed in.

“Ack! Otto, what are you doing here!” Sparx said, whipping around.

“Making sure you don’t bung it up,” he said. “Plus, I added a special feature when you weren’t looking!” With only his head visible from behind the corner, Nova was surprised when he revealed a remote in his hand with a big red button. With a push, the inner mechanics of the artificial mistletoe began to whirr, unfolding the “berries” into little screens.

“NOW, KISS!” was the text scrolling past on the screens.

“Sparx, I…”

“I know, it isn’t the real stuff, but visiting the mistletoe farm gave me the idea,” Sparx admitted. “I asked Otto if he could come up with some sort of fake mistletoe? And I guess he added some extra features last night while I wasn’t looking.”

“So that’s why Otto wouldn’t let me into his room…” Nova mumbled. This was… a lot.

“I mean, to clarify, we don’t have to do this!” Sparx stammered. “Traditions can be dumb and boring and all that! We could start our own tradition!”

I…

“Like, we could spar under the mistletoe instead!” Sparx continued, still clearly stalling for a response. “You’d kick my butt every time, sure, but hey, I kinda deserve it, in a way!”

I can’t…

“We could also just do nothing! Under the mistletoe! We could just treat it as any other holiday decoration! Just hang it under every door frame, why not?”

I can’t take it anymore!

“Or we c–” With her eyes squeezed shut, Nova went in for the muzzle to muzzle clash.

Nova wasn’t really sure if wild, unintelligent monkeys kissed. It seemed to be a mostly human convention. But kissing under the mistletoe is also a human convention. So, as she pulled her teammate in, she didn’t really feel like it mattered.

Sparx nearly fell over from the force, but Nova didn’t care. She caught him before either of them toppled to the ground.

When she finally pulled away, Nova opened her eyes to see Sparx’s face was definitely redder than usual.

“Wow, I, uh…” She could practically see the hearts in his eyes. “Wow.”

“You should’ve done this sooner!” Nova chided.

“I thought you’d want to make the first real move!” Sparx said.

“No, I wanted you to!” Nova said.

“Then why didn’t you say so?!”

“Why would I ever say that?!”

“I don’t know!”

“Then why did you expect it!”

“Can we kiss again?”

“Yes, you idiot!”

The two lovebirds just sort of… kept kissing and arguing and kissing and arguing and kissing and arguing…

“G’mornin’, Otto,” Chiro said, with Gibson and Antauri flanking him. Each of them held a large variety of gift bags. “What’re you standing here for?” Otto just gestured towards the couple with the tip of his tail.

“And then, he accused me of trying to assassinate someone!” Nova said.

“That’s crazy!” Sparx agreed, before the two of them embraced in a kiss once more.

“Huh. They were arguing earlier,” Otto said, keeping his voice low so as to not disturb the “happy” couple.

“What, you think two hotheads like them wouldn’t flirt by yelling at each other?” Chiro said.

“Well, if it works for them,” Antauri said with a shrug.

“I don’t need to see this,” Gibson sighed. “Come down to the Super Robot’s main compartment when they’re done with their… peculiar little ritual.”

“But you’ve seen my Magnatingler Blast do work in battle!”

“And all I’m saying is, a Lady Tomahawk does more work!” Back to kissing.

“Ooh, they’re fighting again!” Otto said. “Gibson! Can you get me one of those poppy-corn wreaths while you’re down there? One of the ones with butter? I wanna eat it while I watch this!”

“No, Otto, I will not!”

And so, Nova got her holiday wish in the end. The real mistletoe withered away a few days later, but the love between her and Sparx? That may never disappear.

Happy Holidays, Monkey Team! And may all of your holidays in the future be just as joyous and loving!

[mcrcki]

winter market!! heck yeah !! i love a silly little mini event to carry us through the holiday season , so i'm gonna turn this into a plotting and starter call. it'll probably be a little smaller than usual but i want to make sure i have time to just get a first wave of starters out for y'all !! if you see any plots you like, please hit the heart and i'll dm you on discord!! if you want a starter please REPLY AND SPECIFY. if you don't specify, i will not do the starter, please don’t request more than 3 starters per writer. also if they are unplotted requests, you'll get a dm from me to just plot a little !! ♥

alani tiure | star wars | 0 / 3

she/they pronouns ; tbh alani will probably not be there for the majority of this market. they don't like crowds, they don't get this whole thing so if you find them there it's a rarity

charlie morningstar | hazbin hotel | 1 / 3

she/her pronouns ; to literally no ones surprise, charlie is absolutely loving this. she signed herself up day one to be an elf and is out there for hours in her elf costume helping people. she didn't realize how much fun this was going to be here.

kaz brekker

daniela dimitrsecu | resident evil | 0 / 3

she/they pronouns ; will probably only be there if their girlfriend is going and gonna be watching their back. they may sneak off to grab some dinner but otherwise daniela is not the kind to just be out in the winter weather for fun!!!

danika fendyr | crescent city | 0 / 3

she/they pronouns ; danika is there working security for some ot pay, but will also be taking some of their breaks to take pictures with hot santa and have a little fun. they don't have family in the city, so the holidays were going to be pretty boring if she didn't work this.

elain archeron | a court of thorns and roses | 0 / 3

she/her pronouns ; elain is working at a toy donation booth and doing whatever she can to give back. she knows what it's like to go without so she wants to be there giving back in whatever way she can.

juliette benoit | the vampire diaries | 1 / 3

she/her pronouns ; classic mom at christmas time. she's got a toddler that she's trying to make this whole season special for, so if you see her running around after a 3 year old trying to get him to sit nice for santa and also attempting ice skating, please be kind

jesper fahey

kaya dura | star wars | 0 / 3

they/she pronouns ; this is a child trapped in an adult's body, they are running around hopped up on sugar, trying to go ice skating, doing every activity there is, just doing whatever they can. they have really come to love this time of year and isn't going to let some personal shit get in the way of that

leia organa | star wars | 0 / 3

she/her pronouns ; leia's gonna be making some press appearances, doing whatever she needs to continue to be a public figure, probably a speech or two but really she's only there for work and to keep a low profile. there's too much going on for her to just stick around for long

marley bishop | the vampire diaries | 0 / 3

she/they pronouns ; considering the current climate of their family, the holidays are not something marley is exactly looking forward to. she's gonna be working at the ice bar, making some extra money and enjoying the distractions more than anything.

omega archeron | star wars | 0 / 3

she/they pronouns ; a last minute gift shopper, doing everything they can to get presents for their giant ass family and also avoid all of them during that process. will definitely be trying to get some pictures with hot santa and maybe taking their brother ice skating but really just trying to be a little wholesome for once.

rosemary winters | resident evil | 0 / 3

she/they pronouns ; is trying to have some christmas spirit while being in the middle of just the biggest family drama. they also are definitely trying to get their gf not gf to have a mistletoe kiss

sella palpatine | star wars | 0 / 3

she/her pronouns ; sella just loves christmas and learned to skate from the market in past years and is now taken up a job to teach kids how to skate in between enjoying the market with her family and girlfriend. (subject to change depending on The Horrors™)

sophie hatter | howl’s moving castle | 1 / 3

she/they pronouns ; running her usual stand and will not be abandoning it !!! no matter what people say !!!! they will be around trying to spend some time with their son but for the most part just running her shop and having fun enjoying helping other people’s holidays

inej ghafa

sulpicia volturi | twilight | 0 / 3

she/her pronouns ; she just quite literally will not be there im so sorry, she has spent so long in a tower and is scared of crowds so she’s not gonna be around

tatum riley | scream | 0 / 3

she/her pronouns ; unaware and kinda just vibing, she wants to go ice skating but sucks at it, will probably dick around with the snowball fight but also getting drunk with her roommate so come do ice shots with her

vesta starkos | star wars | 0 / 3

she/they pronouns ; literally just here to do crime and pickpocket, maybe steal from booths. but probably also rigging the snowball fight so that she can win after placing her own bets against it

victoria sutherland | twilight | 1 / 3

she/her pronouns ; is really only here to grab a bite at night, trying to avoid her ex situationship while fixing her current relationship but will definitely just be grabbing strays off the edge of the crowd

mu qing

violet sorrengail | fourth wing | 0 / 3

she/her pronouns ; you gotta drag her out of the house by her hair rn so she's not going to be around at the market. she will probably be there passing through to and from work but otherwise being an absolute recluse lately

[mimilind]

A Magical Classmate - Part 5

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Reader

Rating: T

Chapter Word Count: 3200

Parts: [ < Previous Part ] [ Next Part > ] [ Masterlist ]

Full story: [ AO3 ]

You have two magical evenings with Drake.

5. Classical Music and Dancing

The first lecture after Christmas, Drake strolled inside very much like the day he first joined your class. A bit late, looking elegant in suit and tie, and paying no attention to the teacher. This time, however, he paid all the more attention to his classmates. Nodding, smiling, giving little waves, and to your increased delight he took his seat next to you.

Sitting beside him, you were reminded of how much you had missed him. Every day of the holidays you had thought about him and even counted the days until uni would start again – highly unusual, for you. 

“How was Christmas?” you whispered.

“Dull.”

“Were you in America with your family?”

“I was here in town, not doing much. I learned to bake gingersnaps… and practiced my Swedish. Oh, and I memorized the textbook for the new semester if there is anything you want explained.” 

Your chest grew tight. Had he been alone all through Christmas and New Years? Poor him… You wished you had known, then you could have come to visit. 

He poked you playfully. “Don’t look like that, it wasn’t too bad. I listened to a lot of music which was fun. I even bought CDs with that loud, noisy junk you guys listen to.”

You couldn’t talk more because of the ongoing lecture – people nearby were frowning at your whispering – but his grateful smile made you feel better. You were glad that Catrine suggested you buy him a present, and even more glad you had chosen something music related.

At lunch, Drake gathered everyone around him. “I have a belated Christmas gift for you.”

“You didn’t have to,” said Catrine.

“I wanted to.” He unfolded a glossy folder with the title ‘The Barber of Seville’. He explained it was an opera by Rossini, and that he had tickets for the entire class to the Sunday performance.

You were thrilled to get an evening in Drake’s company – even if it was together with everyone else. But when Sunday arrived, you became nervous. Opera seemed so fancy; what would you even wear? Should you bring a snack? Probably not popcorn and soda like when going to a movie… 

After changing clothes several times and spreading the contents of your wardrobe all over the room, you at last picked your most proper outfit, and brought no snacks. 

You arrived at the opera house half an hour early, and found Drake already waiting in the lobby. When you joined him, you decided to be bold. “I have never been to the opera before. Can I sit with you, so you can explain if I don’t understand?”

That was an excuse, of course; you just wanted to be near him.

“Sure.” He didn’t seem to suspect anything.

When everyone had come, you went to your seats together. They were at the third balcony, right in front of the stage. Ascending the stairs, you looked out through the panorama windows and admired the view of the Göta Älv river gleaming pink and orange in the evening sun. A sheen of frost was covering its calm surface.

You entered the narrow balcony and took your seat. When you peeked over the railing you saw how far below the floor was.

“Afraid of heights?” asked Drake amusedly.

You weren’t, but you didn’t mind if he thought so. “Very. You must comfort me!” 

“I don’t believe you.” He grabbed your shoulders, jokingly pushing you forward. 

You gave an undignified squeak as the sheer drop before you made your belly tingle. “Asshole,” you giggled, though you were secretly pleased with his teasing.

“That’s me,” he acceded unashamedly.

You took hold of his arm, leaning against him. “Now you made me even more afraid.”

“Liar.” But he didn’t push you away.

A sound began; the orchestra was tuning their instruments in the pit below the stage. The murmur of the audience silenced expectantly as everyone took their seats, and then the lights went out and the music began. 

Drake whispered in your ear: “This piece is called the overture. It’s an intro to the opera.” His breath tickled your neck and you shivered.

His arm was warm under yours and his perfume drifted to you. Did he think you could focus on the music under such circumstances?

But to your surprise your attention was soon caught by the unfolding drama. They sang in Italian, but there was a thin monitor above the stage with the translation. The singing was beautiful, and you found that you cared about Rosina and Count Almaviva. You wanted them to have their happy ever after, despite how stupidly the count went about his wooing.

Drake kept whispering explanations to you, because the storyline was often confusing and not very realistic – though still entertaining – and in doing so he sat so close to you his leg was pressed against yours. You still held his arm and contemplated taking his hand instead, but you were too afraid. What if he pushed you away? Hand-holding was quite something else than just sitting close. He might not be as into you as you hoped… and you didn’t want to risk losing his friendship.

Instead you decided to be content with what you had and enjoy the pleasant evening.

The following weeks, the lectures and labs continued as usual, and as time passed you became more and more convinced you had to do something about your crush on Drake. You couldn’t keep pining like this; it had a bad effect on your studies. And your appetite, and sleep, and mostly everything else, too…

On top of it all, there was talk on your campus about the upcoming spring ball, a very grand prom hosted by the technology university. One of your classmates had a contact who was a student there and could get you tickets.

None of your friends were going; Catrine found it too expensive and Martin didn’t like parties with a dress code. Andreas was not in town that weekend, and Drake seemed unaware of the event.

But you were intrigued. A ball… it sounded luxurious and exotic, like being in a fairy-tale. But in order to go, you needed a date, and the only date you wanted was Drake.

If you asked him, he was sure to suspect why.

After pondering about it through many sleepless nights, you finally decided to ask him after all. A prom meant classical music and classical dancing – you could make it sound like you asked him because he might like it, not because you wanted to go on a date with him. 

And if he turned you down, then at least you would know. Then you could forget him, and the way it felt now that would almost be a relief.

Despite your sound reasoning, bringing the subject up the next day made you a nervous, fluttering mess. You could only pray he wouldn’t notice how badly your fingers trembled.

“So, eh, did you hear? There’s this ball coming up at Chalmers, with fancy clothes and music, and waltzes and everything. Right up your alley. Wanna go?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. I bet you are good at dancing, and I need a…” You had meant to say ‘date’ but changed the word at the last moment. “Uh, a friend to go with.”

For some reason, being called “friend” always made him look pleased, but he still seemed ambivalent. It took a while until he replied, during which your heart pounded so hard you feared he could hear it, and the trembles in your fingers worsened.

“Sure, why not?”

Nearly staggering with relief, you fought the urge to make a victory dance. “Good. That’s settled then,” you said as calmly as you could.

The day arrived at last. When you went out to the waiting taxi, you for once felt beautiful and attractive. Your outfit was rented for the occasion and fitted you perfectly, like it was made for you.

Drake had asked you to order the taxi, since he – strangely – had no phone. But he said he would pay for it, which was a relief; after buying the ball ticket you were rather broke. 

When the car drove up his street, you became nervous, but in a good way. Drake and you were going on a date! Or, not outright a date, but it still felt that way. You fidgeted with the fabric of your fine clothes as your heart beat faster and faster.

You saw him from far away where he stood waiting. He wore a black dress suit with tails again, with a green bowtie and matching pocket square, and he had combed his hair differently. It fell over his forehead in a side parting that suited him much better than his normal slicked back style.

As he entered the car, he looked around curiously as if he had never been in one before, and patted the leather upholstery appreciatively. “Nice.” Then he turned his eyes to you and stopped his motions. “You look great,” he said after a brief pause. It sounded like he had meant to say more.

You felt at a loss for words too. He was so handsome it almost hurt you physically just looking at him.

“You too,” you managed.

Then the taxi started and the intense moment was interrupted by Drake’s excited exclaim: “Wow, look how fast we’re going!”

The driver chuckled. “Fast? This?”

The car was in fact going very slowly, yet Drake seemed mesmerized by the ride, his face glued to the window like an eager retriever. 

After a while, he seemed to remember something and managed to tear his gaze away. “This is for you.” He put a small box in your hand.

“For me?” Surprised, you opened the box. There was a bracelet inside, with alternating green and silver beads. “Oh my God…” you breathed, toughing it with awe. “It’s beautiful.”

He pulled up his sleeve, showing an identical one on his wrist. “I wanted us to match tonight. Here, I’ll help put it on.” 

As his finger touched your arm, a shiver went through you. The bracelet felt cool against your skin.

“Thank you. I love it!” You probably ought to say that it was too much, and he shouldn’t have, but for once you held your tongue. He wanted you to have this and obviously could afford it. You didn’t want to make him feel bad.

When you arrived not long afterwards, you ascended the stairs to the banquet hall together. Observing the other finely dressed students, you saw Drake was easily the most handsome man there, looking so much like a prince you again wondered whether he was one for real. A prince in exile. 

Walking on his side, you felt like royalty too. 

On top of the stairs, a photographer offered to take a picture of you together. You were about to say yes but Drake swiftly said: “Nej tack,” in heavily accented Swedish.

As he pulled you away, you gave him a quizzical look.

“We will remember this night without a photograph, I am sure,” he said smoothly.

You nodded. There was no way you would ever forget such a magical evening, and then it had not even begun.

The banquet hall was amazing. Chandeliers spread a mild, warm light over the many tables, decorated with spring flowers and confetti. You found your seats next to each other, with your names written in gold letters on neat cards. Drake pulled out the chair for you before taking his own.

Drake and you were surrounded by technologists, who turned out to be both nice and funny. They didn’t mind speaking English for his sake. 

Thanks to them, you were taught the customs of a formal dinner. There were many toasts – to the spring, to women, to men, and other toasts just because – and each time you were supposed to say “skål”, raise your glass, and meet the gaze of first your date, then the person on your other side, and lastly the one opposite to you.

You loved the toasting. Looking deeply into Drake’s large, pale blue eyes gave you flutters each time, and you thought he might be similarly affected. The way his pupils grew slightly wider made you think he actually felt something more than friendship too. 

The evening progressed most pleasantly. You ate, one tasty course after the other, sipped sparkling wine and cider, listened to speeches and classical music, and of course talked to Drake a lot. He told you about formal dinners he had attended in his boarding school, and what his favorite foods were, and named all the classical pieces the orchestra played in the background.

He treated you most attentively, politely refilling your glass, and actually standing up when you had to go to the bathroom, and again when you returned so he could pull out your chair. You had never before felt so indulged and cared for.

When the dinner was over, the tables were moved aside to make space for dancing. Drake bowed to you. “May I have this dance?”

You readily accepted, your chest becoming full of butterflies, even more so as he took your hand and led you onto the dance floor. His hand was larger than yours, warm and calloused. 

The first dance would be a waltz as was the spring ball custom. You stood facing him, placing one hand on his broad shoulder and the other in his hand. Again feeling his warmth, his scent, meeting his gaze as he held you.

When the music played up he took the lead and elegantly moved you along the circle of pairs, dancing like a professional. His steps were so graceful you at first felt clumsy, despite how much you had practiced at home, but when you began to relax in his arms you soon found his skill helped you. Following his lead, you waltzed in unity, feeling light-footed and uncommonly gracile.

Others were looking at Drake and you with admiration, and no wonder. He was outshining the entire dance floor and it spilled over to you.

“Where did you learn to dance like this?” you asked breathlessly, both from the exertion and his closeness.

“I learned it as a boy. My parents often hosted balls and other social events before the war and I was expected to dance with all the old hags. I didn’t mind the dancing as such, but the stink of Chanel and mothballs nearly became the death of me.” He made a mock suffering grimace.

You frowned in puzzlement. “What war?”

“Did I say war? No, I meant before the… eh, bad times. You know, when uh…”

Even more puzzled, you tried to figure out what bad times those might be. Something financial, maybe, if it had put an end to balls and social events? “The nineties’ recession?” you suggested.

“That’s the one, yeah.” He spun you around a few turns and you had to focus on your steps instead of talking.

But you couldn’t help wondering a little. It felt like he really had meant to say “war”, but if so, what country was he from then? Somewhere in the Middle East? Perhaps his family were oil billionaires from Kuwait or something. Though, with his hair- and eye color he didn’t look very Arab… unless he was adopted? 

Either way, his casual comment had managed to increase your curiosity about him even further.

After the waltz finished, more followed. You danced until your feet hurt and you became hot and out of breath.

“Shall we catch some air?” Drake suggested, offering his arm.

You went down to the street outside, joining a small crowd of other tired guests, letting the fresh spring night air cool you off. When Drake removed his suit jacket and vest, you had a hard time taking your eyes off his shapely torso hinting through the shirt he wore underneath. You wished he would button it down, but this time he didn’t.

You drifted closer to him under the guise of moving away from a woman’s cigarette smoke. 

“I have had a magical evening so far,” you told him.

“Magical?” He grinned. “Glad you think so. I’m enjoying it too; great food, great music, and it’s been nice to waltz again. Been a while since the last time. Thanks for asking me.”

His smile was irresistible and you returned it. “Thanks for accepting.”

You returned inside and were thrilled when Drake hung his jacket on a chair first. Now when you put your hand on his shoulder in the dance, you could feel the warmth of his skin under the thin fabric. It made your heart throb quickly.

Your dancing improved steadily; you learned from his confident lead. It felt like being in a dream. You were allowed to be in his arms for a whole night… to continuously keep eye-contact. To feel his muscles move under your hand resting on his shoulder, and feel his hand holding yours… 

The final songs were slow and romantic. Drake drew you closer until you were practically dancing in a hug. As you leaned your head against his chest, the surreal feeling increased. This was too good to be true.

But soon it would end, and despite everything you still didn’t know how things were between Drake and you. Was this only friendship, or had it become more? He was your prom date and you had danced all evening, but he said himself he had even danced with old hags in his childhood so that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Maybe he just liked the dancing itself and didn’t care who he did it with?

You needed to see him again, just the two of you, but the next ball was a year away. What could you suggest instead?

The music stopped. Time to say something… 

At the last moment you had an idea. “You know, now that we tried your kind of entertainment with that opera performance earlier and now a classical banquet and a ball, we ought to try my idea of a night out,” you said lightly, trying to act casual.

He looked amused. “What might that be? A student pub with bad music and getting wasted on cheap drinks?”

Your face grew hot as you were reminded of how you followed him home, drunk as a skunk. “No, but what do you say to fast food for starters, then watching a movie and eating lots of popcorn, and afterwards sharing a few drinks in the park?”

“Together with the rest of the class?”

You looked down, fidgeting with your sleeve. “Or just the two of us? Would be less, uh, crowded…”

He hesitated before replying, and when he did he sounded a bit guilty: “I’ve never seen a movie… it couldn’t hurt, I suppose.”

“What?” You forgot your embarrassment. “You never saw a movie? Not even renting a VHS and watching it at home?”

“My parents were very old-fashioned,” he said uncomfortably, and now it was his turn to avoid your gaze. 

“That explains a lot,” you said, thinking about how he always struggled with technical appliances, and didn’t even have a phone or a TV at home.

Not until you were getting into the waiting taxi a while later, did your brain catch his choice of tense. My parents were very old-fashioned. Were. Had they died?

Maybe you could ask him on the next date.

The thought filled you with a new swarm of butterflies. He had accepted! This was not the end; soon you would go on another date! And perhaps after that one, you would finally know what his feelings for you were.

A/N:

In case anyone wonders what the reader’s outfit for the ball was, it’s a bit difficult to say because it depends on the reader's gender and style. But google “spring prom” and check images, and pick the most beautiful dress or suit you find – that’s what you were wearing. :)

Translations: Nej tack = no thanks, skål = cheers

Parts: [ < Previous Part ] [ Next Part > ] [ Masterlist ]

Full story: [ AO3 ]

[vedurnan]

Get To Know Me

Tagged by @upatreewithoutaharness. thank you my angel, i love tumblr things like this :)

Tag (5) people you'd like to know better! I'm tagging @ivalician @offspring @scootil @softboypassing @psygull

Last song: At Giza by OM. i listened to it while stocking yogurt inside the cooler at work and it was great. i felt like i was in communion with all people who have lost themselves in the motions of a thoughtless and repetitive task. my coworker was on the other side facing the stuff as i was stocking it and she waved to me through the yogurt, which made me remember how we planned to hang out and watch conan the destroyer later in the week, and i thought about how we would order chinese food to eat while we watch the movie, how i was looking forward to that, and how cool it was of her to ask to come over and watch it. the whole experience made me very glad for my life which is a feeling that OM provokes in me a lot!

Currently reading: THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN, endlessly... i am now early in Citadel of the Autarch. where will fate bring Severian next? i think much has yet to be fulfilled. it just keeps getting better and better. the book of the new sun is something that to me is so good it's almost impossible to talk about.

i pass in and out of reading a few other things also. two big ones for me have been the Penguin Classics selected writings of Meister Eckhart and The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh. i enjoy both but both leave me wanting something. i also have a kindle sample downloaded for Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl, which a few friends were talking about reading together as part of a book club... although i have not looked at the sample yet!

Currently watching: last night i really wanted to watch Children of Men but i didn't want to pay the 4 dollars to rent it on any kind of service so i just watched clips on youtube from the movie until i felt like i remembered enough of the rest of it that it was "refreshed" in my mind and i didn't need to watch it again. remembering this makes me feel some regret. i should have just rented and watched the movie.

today i was thinking that i should watch some of the star trek shows from the 80s and 90s again. i loved them as a kid and there's this toy store near work that has tons of the old action figures of all the characters. one of my coworkers is super into star trek and he showed me his collection of like every deep space 9 figure. i have such a fond, warm place for those shows in my memory!

Current obsession: wintertime! i keep thinking about autumn and winter and how eager i am for them to come. i want to walk around in the frigid and misty winter night and go downtown and really feel like i am in the absolute center of some kind of cold, austere, hierarchical structure. then i go back to my apartment and the warm light and comfortable things. today my friend asked me if i was doing anything for christmas this year. like five months in advance! how cute! when i was a child for some reason i had a playmobil playset of the three wise kings from the nativity story. just the kings and their camel and their supplies, no other nativity stuff included. i had no awareness of any bible stories as a child except the nativity scene and i only knew about it because my dad explained who the three toy kings were. because of that i always associated christmas with a feeling of extreme ancient mystery as a kid

[arcplaysgames]

Actually, no. lemme recap now because I bet once I meet the Big Bad and beat them it'll be like 2 hours of cutscenes and dialogue.

Where did I leave off-- REALLY? THAT LONG AGO? FUCK ME.

Okay SOMEONE remind me LATER to sum up Empress, because I completed it. Note to self, it's around 12/2 in your screencaps.

So Shido wins the elections because it turns out that no one saw the Thieves' big calling card for him, and those who did didn't remember it. There is obviously Some Shit going on with people's mass apathy syndrome.

Because Persona only has one theme and it's "people will be too lazy to pay attention to the truth, fucking sheeple," I guess.

/clucks tongue. I'm not really impressed by this turn of the story, I'm kinda Over the slow increase in apathy that winds up being the undoing of the world until we beat up a god and save everyone. This is the third time, I would have shaken shit up by having the Hidden Big Bad send the Thieves a calling card, demanding they come protect their Treasure, and then you meet the Big Bad and just gimme a villain with a motive, goddamn. It's a supernatural story, the sky's the limit!

I shouldn't kvetch too much yet. Anyway, Shido admits to his crimes, but the populace doesn't seem to care and still supports him.

Shido's lackeys basically go "okay Shido had a major meltdown buuuuuut we can still carry his agenda forward bc if we don't, we're all going down with the ship here."

Excellent question. In P4G I had a pretty strong idea what was doing that and here I do not, can y'all drop some hints?

Morgana points out that the general public has a Palace and has a Treasure. It's Mementos. So if the crew wants to force a mass shift in the world's perception, they can do that. But like all other Palaces, when the Treasure is taken, Mementos will collapse, to be replaced with new, corrected cognition.

In the process, the crew will lose their powers. Oh and Morgana is gonna die.

The game hasn't said that part yet but if they didn't kill Ryuji, they're gonna kill Morgana, fucking bet.

I love you, Morgana Notacat.

This was actually where I got my idea of what Morgana is. Morgana's upgraded Persona is Mercurius/Hermes. Yanno, the god of messages, of thieves, of swiftness, and well-known classic psychopomp.

Morgana keeps remembering himself being born in Mementos. He's without a doubt some manifestation of humanity's rebellion against systems, the literally cognitive patron saint of Phantom Thieves. He's a mascot in the most literal sense, an emblem of good luck for the Thieves' work.

Even the fact he's a cat kind of fits in nicely. Cats are free spirits who opt-into being it other people. They are creatures of choice.

I'm gonna be big sad when Morgana fucking dies lemme tell you. I'm pretty sure he's, like, sustained by Mementos and the plan is to collapse it? Yeah, Morgana is fucked.

Goddamn HERMES, that's so cool. Morgana, our psychopomp into the bowels of the collective unconsciousness.

GODDAMIT NOTIGOR WHAT DO YOU WANT, IT IS CHRISTMAS FUCKING EVE, YOU BETTER GIMME PRESENTS.

I know that you know that we all know that this isn't Igor but sometimes it fucking floors me how much he isn't Igor, jesus fucking christ. Who tf is this guy. I hope he's the Big Bad somehow bc there ain't anyone else at this point.

Please don't pull another It Was The Gas Station Attendant, Persona, I'm fucking on my knees begging you.

lmao i love the game poking the player to ensure they noticed Morgana is acting odd

Deep in Mementos is... this..... uh..... thing. A bunch of otherworldly veins flowing down into the core.

/looks nervously around

so uh. is it a hot take to say that, uh, the last segment of this game here, the Mementos Depths, is the ugliest place in the game? Just wondering because wow working through this place, I was struck by how completely aesthetically unappealing all of this is. It should be mysterious and eerie but mostly I am finding it.... blurgh. I thought Kaneshiro's Palace was pretty unappealing too, but this is bad enough I feel the need to remark on it.

/gestures at screen. What is all this????? oh god it reminds me of the Collector Base in Mass Effect 2. Except that game came out in 2010 for the previous generation console. /winces

Anyway.

The Depths of Mementos is a prison of complacency.

All of the Shadows the Thieves defeated are in the prison cells. They are relieved to be there, where they don't have to think. Everything is taken care of for them.

Man, remember back in Persona 3 when it turned out that defeating all the Full Moon shadows was actually the thing that doomed the world? Wouldn't it be hilarious is the Thieves fucked all this up the whole time? l m a o.

I honestly don't know if that's what's happening here yet, I haven't reached, like, the Explanation, but it does feel a bit like alllllllll the way back at the start of the liveblog when I was contending with the ethics of the entire idea of stealing someone's heart and what it does. The game went out of its way to justify doing it with Shido's attempted suicide, but the bridge to far for me (and thankfully for Ann too) was killing these people.

But now what happens seems to be akin to ego death instead, and.... I dunno, man, is that much different than murder?

SIGHS LOUDLY

okay is that true or is this another fucking situation where Izanami is like "WELL REALLY when you THINK ABOUT IT all I'm doing is giving humanity what they really want soooooooooo it makes you think huh, doesn't it make you think"

MAYBE THE GAME WILL PROVE ME WRONG, I DUNNO YET.

oh my god. oh my god.

IGOR!!!!!!!! IGOR IS IN THERE!!!!

LEMME IN!!!!!! LEMME IIIIIIIIN I NEED TO SEE HIMMMMM I NEED TO TALK TO HIM I MISS HIM sobs

yeah no, bet, it's igor's cell. which means Notigor locked him up? maybe Notigor is the final boss, that'd be great, it'd slot in perfectly with this place being a prison and Reverie having been stuck in the shitty Velvet Prison this whole time.

please igor help me, i'm so tired of the edgelord execution shit.

PSYCHOPOMP MORGANA!!!!!!!!!!

me pressing my face against the bars whispering I'll be back for you igor i love you

lol what if it isn't even igor in there can you imagine

[thebigrewatch]

TASKMASTER : SERIES 1 : EPISODE 2 : The Pie Whisperer

I'm back folks and ready for another viewing of Taskmaster. This time it's series 1, episode 2 and it features my favourite episode name, The Pie Whisperer. I like pies, I like whispering, what's not to love about it all? Anyway, my boss is away today so I'm doing this instead of working. I've had some breakfast which included a giant chocolate orange button from M&S (a bad habit I've got into recently) so I'm ready to roll! I still find it unnerving that they do a sort of comedy dig at the contestants when they introduce them because they don't do that going forwards. I'm glad because it does make it more of a panel show vibe and that's now what TM is about. Prize Task: Most Impressive Item.

Tim Key goes first this time and brings in his London Marathon medal from 2009.

Romesh brings in an Arsenal cap that was thrown from the tour bus after the 2001/2002 win. Romesh says he doesn't know which player it came from and Josh says that someone could have thrown it from the other side of the bus which is a fair point! Now we know with hindsight that football things do not go down well with Greg so he's not to fussed about this prize. Greg goes so far as to say when he's King football will be banned! You'd think future contestants would learn from this but there's always someone that brings a football item.

Roisin next and she does a classic Roisin and brings in a massive bottle of champagne! Romesh goes into a hilarious tirade about Roisin being an alcoholic and how we shouldn't be celebrating that.

Josh's prize elicits a gasp from the audience because he brings in the trophy he won on the TV quiz show Pointless. Everyone loves a bit of Pointless so you can see why that would be great. Great bit of back and forth with Greg, Josh and Romesh: Romesh: The whole set up for that is just so that we know that Josh won Pointless...

Josh: No!

Romesh: ...that's the whole reason he put that up there.

Greg: Is that because your hat has been rather downgraded in the last 10 minutes? I imagine, Josh, when you were on Pointless all the money you won went to charity, didn't it?

Josh: Correct.

Romesh: *looks absolute daggers*

A great moment. Anyway, on to Frank's prize offering. He's such a great man, he's brought in a leather hat that you get out of a Christmas cracker because he says it's the only style of hat that looks good on him. He says you can't wear a paper cracker hat all year round because 'the seam is unreliable'. Brilliant. And again we bring it back to Romesh by Greg saying he's impressed by Frank's hat but 'if only you'd tossed it over a bus' like Romesh's Arsenal hat.

Tim Key wins, then Frank's hat, then the champagne, then the Pointless trophy and then of course the Arsenal hat. Bit gutted about the Pointless trophy as that was the only one that got a reaction from the audience.

Task 1: High Five a 55 year old, fastest wins, your time starts now. Oh this is a cracker of a task. So cringe getting them to speak to members of the public in a shopping centre. It's interesting to see what they're like, the awkwardness of having to ask people their age. And we're in for yet more Tim Key shenanigans!

Frank starts off by trying to bring a member of the public into his predicament by saying 'I'm looking for a 55 year old, what do they look like?' just desperately trying to get some help from them. Frank decides to high five people of different ages and see if he's allowed to add them up, he gets enough people but needs a one year old. He looks behind him and there's someone pushing a buggy so he goes running after it. Brilliant editing.

Romesh makes a sign to say he'll give someone £20 if they high five him. After this point he remains almost motionless because I think he thinks that the sign will lure the 55 year olds in, but alas it does not. He manages to pay a 50 year old for a high five after an hour.

Tim Key looks so hilariously ridiculous in his outfit here. It's alright if he's in the house but when he's in a shopping centre he just looks ridiculous, it' brilliant! He's so awkward here, it's almost unbearable to watch. In the end he says he's filming something for Comic Relief and he needs to high five a 55 year old. Cue much discussion from the group! They agree Tim needs to give some money to charity in order to absolve himself. He starts trying to negotiate with Greg to ask how much he'd have to pay to go to 1st place! Task 2: Identify the contents of the pies, you may touch the pies but you may not breach their pastry.

Frank goes first, he is quite quick and took a psychic approach to the pies, just looked at them and said what they might be. This is where the title of the show comes from as he's described as the Pie Whisperer. We get to see the pies opened now to see what's in them:

A picture of the taskmaster, a regular steak pie, frozen peas, toothpaste and marbles (not easy to pick up with a knife and fork).

Romesh and Josh were grouped together. They try smelling and they both see the pies have had the bottoms cut out of them and can see bits and pieces through them so they get some good guesses. Then comes a hilarious discussion, as illustrated by the gif, where Roisin says that they both breached the pies with their eyes! We see later that the pies collapsed for a lot of them so they actually were able to see what was in them.

Next up it's Tim and Roisin. They both ask Alex to breach the pastry for them, but Roisin adds another element of difficulty by looking away while he breaches the pies and looking back to see his reaction to eating them. Tim's reaction when he sees the marbles in the pie is brilliant. Alex eating the toothpaste pie is something I'll never get out of my mind.

Frank has a hilarious moment trying to guess the hot toothpaste pie:

Milk pie

Yoghurt Pie

Extra Strong Mint Pie

Minty Tippex Pie

The final pre-recorded task: Do something that will look impressive in reverse.

NOW. This bring us an iconic TM moment. Romesh and Tree Wizard.

But first we see Josh who is pulling a van while he's lying on a skateboard. Obviously he was being pulled along by the van. Alex says that Josh said that was the most exciting thing he'd ever done.

Tim Key - his is quite dull, he does a jigsaw, but it was cinematically quite nice to watch with the Bond style music.

Frank...well, bless his little heart. His is called 'Push Up and Away' and he basically stands up from lying down without bending his knees.

Roisin's is quite beautiful even though she is essentially just spitting water out of her mouth, but it's got melancholy piano music and it's in black and white so it looked great. And now onto Romesh. TREE WIZARD BACK FROM THE DEAD TO CREATE SOME BALLOONS

It's just brilliant. He's got the balloons there and he's unpopping them, but the song is fantastic. And genuinely it's something that goes round in my head a lot! Roisin and Romesh become joint winners. I thought Romesh should have got the full win but on the re watch I think they both deserved it.

Now we're onto the live tasks. I don't usually like the live tasks because they tend to be a bit of a car crash but let's see what we've got now. They're all shackled to a bench and they've got to crack the code to get themselves out. The clue is it's Alex's weight and Greg's weight. Roisin manages to get herself out first, then Romesh, followed by Josh, Tim and lastly Frank.

Roisin is the winner of the episode and she gets the Pointless trophy! I thought it was a great episode again, I mean they all are really so it's silly me saying that every time but I enjoyed it a lot.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Why Can't They Get TRON Right?

Perhaps we fans of the 1982 Steve Lisberger-directed sci-fi adventure TRON were lucky to even get a belated sequel in the first place...

TRON: LEGACY was greenlit by Disney after many years of the original film garnering a massive cult following after its so-so box office run during a summer where E.T. ruled the roost. Contrary to popular belief, TRON was not really a "flop". It just wasn't the blockbuster Disney had wanted it to be, its okay $50m gross against a $17m budget did not put it in the echelon of STAR WARS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Its many video game spin-offs, such as the arcade game from Bally Midway, fared way better... As did the home video sales over the years. The film got a fantastic 2-disc DVD in 2002, followed by a new game called TRON 2.0. A second life well-lived, so far...

Disney got Joseph Kosinski, who had directed multiple video game commercials including those for HALO 3 and GEARS OF WAR, to helm the picture, and brought back Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner from the original. After a whole 2 1/2 years of hyping this picture up, beginning all the way back in 2008 at San Diego Comic Con (that "TR2N" teaser that was later slightly redone as the film's theatrical teaser in late 2009), TRON: LEGACY bowed in Christmas 2010 to mixed reviews but fairly impressive box office.

I mean, impressive for a movie that was a belated sequel to a cult classic sci-fi movie that wasn't for everybody! I mean, really, $400m worldwide for that kind of thing is nothing to scoff. But for Disney, it wasn't enough. An animated series called TRON: UPRISING debuted on Disney's various channels - namely Disney XD - to solid ratings, but then Disney moved the show to a timeslot where few could stay up and watch it. They straight up murdered it, ratings sunk, no second season...

But, it still seemed like a third movie could happen, after an executive shake-up or two. Kosinski would be back, along with Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, and LEGACY newcomers Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, and Cillian Murphy. By spring 2015, TRON: ASCENSION was locked and ready to go for a fall shoot... But Disney got cold feet, after the release of a similarly big-budget sci-fi film of theirs - Brad Bird's TOMORROWLAND - bombed at the box office. Typical capitalist nonsense, a slightly similar movie fails? Boom, your project's dead. TRON: ASCENSION did not move forward...

Shortly thereafter, Disney began developing a spin-off film called TRON: ARES. A TRON movie in name only, if you ask me, starring Jared Leto. Said to be a creep that somehow dodged Me Too, and also... Uh, his erratic behavior? All that "method acting"? And his resume hasn't been too hot, either... And yet, the years have gone by, Disney keeps trying to make Fetch, I mean- TRON: ARES happen. Even after proposing and then shelving a Disney+ series based on the property.

By 2020, it seemed to be going full speed ahead with a director attached, Garth Davis. He exited the project a little while ago, now it has KON-TIKI, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 5, and MALEFICENT 2 director Joachim Ronning as director. It was supposed to shoot this month... But because The Walt Disney Company and all the other big studios just can't pay actors and writers what they need to keep roofs over their heads... Production has stalled...

And the other day, you had Ronning saying, "This is Hollywood. We close deals for breakfast. Why do we suddenly have all the time in the world when every day is so precious? These tactics are extremely frustrating. It’s time for diplomacy so we can get back to work – under conditions that are fair to everybody"...

Really? Like... Really??

It's like this TRON spin-off is cursed, infected with a virus if you will:

Stalled and stalled for years, went through more than one director, evolved out of a cancelled true sequel to the previous TRON film (which will turn 13 in December), has freakin' Jared Leto super-glued to this thing (as lead actor and producer, like what's his stake in TRON?), and now its director is being a dingus about the strikes...

And here I am, saying... Disney, you could've just greenlit TRON 3 from director Joseph Kosinski, filmed it in 2015, released it in 2017/18-ish... And called it a day.

Hell, you could've landed Kosinski after he went and directed 2022's megablockbuster juggernaut TOP GUN: MAVERICK! But ya didn't!

Disney just doesn't know what to do with TRON, it seems. They seem to keep going back to it for aesthetic reasons, but can't somehow make the story itself work in order to get Marvel movie grosses out of it. (Not that it should be doing that in the first place, it's freakin' TRON.) As a friend of mine put it, Disney looks at it and says, "The one with the highlighter bikes, yeah let's do that!" The story itself really isn't out of reach in a post-MATRIX world anyways.

Ex out TRON: LEGACY's budget and how Disney bean counters expected it to do, and you have a movie that quite a few people went to go see in a theater! $170m+ domestically, $400m worldwide. Again, that was fantastic for a TRON sequel! Reportedly, Disney hoped that this December 2010 release would be the next AVATAR, which was a December 2009 release. They hoped that the digital world spectacle and 3D would be their ticket to having a piece of that pie, but they guessed wrong... They missed the forest for the trees. Plus, the 3D craze evaporated at the speed of sound after AVATAR came out. And that was because a ton of movies that didn't do what James Cameron did to deliver a truly immersive experience soured audiences on 3D. Most of the time, you essentially paid to watch a movie with sunglasses on.

But all those TRON woes go back to their difficulties making sci-fi pictures that become hits, or franchises. All the way back to 1979's ill-fated THE BLACK HOLE, and plenty more, from ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE to JOHN CARTER OF MARS to TOMORROWLAND to LIGHTYEAR to STRANGE WORLD.

It's especially strange to me because science fiction and futurism and space travel are a big part of Disney... I mean, Tomorrowland itself in the Disney theme parks, it was there since the day Disneyland itself opened in 1955. Walt Disney's DISNEYLAND anthology TV series had whole programs dedicated to space and the cosmos: MAN IN SPACE, MARS AND BEYOND, etc. And of course, the big one... EPCOT! Both EPCOT the city concept and EPCOT Center/Epcot, the theme park in Walt Disney World.

I should shut up, probably, and just be happy that Disney is doing *anything* with TRON in the film world. We have the two rollercoasters, yes, the one in WDW Florida and the one in Shanghai. I'd love to ride it, but Florida ain't the place for a person like me at the moment, so that's gonna have to wait.

Anyways, I've been very iffy about this TRON-without-Tron movie since we started hearing about it right around this time in 2016... I just find it kind of fascinating that it has stalled for so long, and right as it was about to get shootin'... The strikes happened (and of course had to/needed to). The reports say that it's still on once the studio heads stop being dinguses, but we shall see...

But for me personally? I just want the actual TRON 3... Maybe, if this movie happens first and does okay for itself... Then we get TRON 3? A sort-of two mainline movies, a spin-off, and a threequel situation? I'll take whatever I can get.

End of line.

[firespirited]

Today I practiced shell stitch, had to redo the swatch several times as the tutorial video didn't specify to always start/end a row with either a single crochet or 3 double crochets. I like the shape much more than the 3 of a granny stitch, it somehow looks more polished. Video tutorials are really helpful but I'm just not yet at a point where the stitches are neat and easy to count and 'spaces' aren't really obvious. Being limited to 45 minute sessions means that it's over right as I'm starting to get into the groove. You know when it starts to seem intuitive?

I've had crochet stitching appear in my dreams so at least you know some of it is getting written to the hard drive. 😁

Fixed a cute red top (beads had been ripped off around the v-neck and I had just the right amount of ric-rac in silver) and I'm wearing that now. Accepting that a wardrobe change is inevitable would be easier if mail order clothes shopping wasn't full of really ugly tops. The moment you're XL in France, which for me was at 16 when I was just curvy not overweight, you're cut off from anything nice. You can get the brown-grey 'taupe' , the leopard print or shapeless sack of business carpet print. 🙃 I really want basics: 95% cotton, some stretch, long torso, v-necks in black white and blue. Seriously considering ebay UK and its import fees for some M&S classics. Maybe even the infamous Shein.

Finally got my bloods done! There was a backlog over the holidays. Must have been a mug full. We're looking for another intestinal opportunist and checking on the anemia and diabetes. The anti-fungal in december did something, I was able to actually taste christmas dinner and that was amazing. The cotton mouth isn't pain but it's been months of eating what feels like cardboard in varying textures. 😑

I've been busy sorting files: dumping stuff in folders instead of naming it properly came back to bite me. I used to have multiple freeware programs for renaming & making thumbnails and they got lost in the windows reinstall or just don't work any more. *Rename Master* is a freeware gem (all sorts of insert, replace and numbering options) . I really need to find a right click to autogenerate thumbnails program again.

Also been sorting out the to-do lists, gradually working down my massive 'keep' notes and bookmarks to create a document of things I'd like to watch, tagged all the 'reading' and 'listening' notes.

I'm putting together just pay postage bundles. $8 for A5 letter size, $30 for a big shoe box kilogram. Less in the EU. Stuff's on the website: the vintage heads, reroots that need paint, a bunch of incomplete imperfect monsters. Just let me know. I can also include fur wigs, glittery stretch fabrics and various small findings.

The plan is to wait for test results and go from there, continue slowly tidying and destashing, try size 46 tops for size, with doll projects to look forward to. Try to stay sane. 😂😘

[gelucas206]

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[cathygeha]

REVIEW

Two Scandals and a Scot by Tracy Sumner

The Duchess Society #5

 Splendid, scintillating, sensual story that was a joy to read! Slipping back into the Leighton Cluster, seeing how the couples are doing, and joining in vicariously as the family closer than one based on blood manages to continue to thrive was the perfect way to spend the day.

 What I liked: * Theodosia “Theo” Astley: raised in poverty, taken in by a sister that was unaware of her, trained by The Duchess Society, intelligent, dreams of having an education and teaching, tries to be what is expected – but is not, doesn’t trust easily

* Dashiel “Dash” M. Campbell: Scottish, difficult backstory, intelligent, lived by his wits, taken in by Macauley, beautiful, chick-magnet, doesn’t share or trust easily, true to the Leighton Cluster, an author, a bit of a surprise to himself and others

* The way Dash came to Theo’s rescue after what must have been a fiasco of an engagement party

* The kiss that changed the lives of Dash and Theo

* The strong bond between all in the Leighton Cluster

* The sizzle and steam leaping off the page when Dash and Theo are together

* That quiet Theodosia is not as quiet as most think she is – she might even surprise herself

* The way it all works out in the end – loved every moment of the reading of this story

* Looking forward to Jasper Noble’s story in book six of the series

* All of it except…

 What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like

* Thinking about ton expectations and people trying to live up to them

* Thinking of the way the poor must have lived in this time and wishing it wasn’t so

 Did I like this book? Yes

Would I read more in this series? Definitely

 Thank you to Wolf Publishing and the author for the ARC – this is my honest review.

 5 Stars

     BLURB

 Step into a world of scandal, romance, and unexpected love! With witty banter, sizzling love scenes, and a twist on the classic marriage of convenience theme, Two Scandals and a Scot is a must-read for fans of the Duchess Society series by USA Today bestselling author Tracy Sumner!

 Scandal number one. A runaway bride.

 Scandal number two. The kiss.

 When Theodosia Astley’s shocking engagement ball sets society ablaze, she finds herself in need of a hero. Can she help it if her savior comes in the form of her intrepid former student, Dash Campbell, a captivating gambler with a heart of gold?

 The carriage was empty. And parked in her brother’s drive. She had no idea it was his.

 With a bookish wallflower’s assistance, Scottish ruffian Dash wrote a novel that made him famous. When he finds himself presented with the opportunity to pay his erstwhile teacher back, how can he refuse? Even if Theo’s sharp wit fearfully fascinates him. It’s a dangerous wager for a Scottish gutter rat to think of falling for the sheltered sister of a duke.

 When Dash proposes marriage to salvage her reputation, Theo suggests her own twist on the age-old agreement. They marry—but remain friends who do not fall in love.

 What could go wrong?

 Set against a backdrop of faithful wagers and sizzling desire, Two Scandals and a Scot is a thrilling tale of forbidden romance, with affection and passion pitted against societal expectations and personal demons. Follow Dash and Theo as they navigate their way through the high stakes world of love as they discover whether theirs can withstand the tests of time and circumstance.

The Duchess Society Series #1 The Brazen Bluestocking #2 The Scandalous Vixen #3 The Wicked Wallflower #4 One Wedding and an Earl #5 Two Scandals and a Scot More to follow! Prequel: The Ice Duchess Christmas novella: The Governess Gamble

[caribouv]

all these... people... were ranting about how elon's rampage about the spending bill was just some autistic/neurotic fixation. great material analysis and hope the ride they got taken on was enjoyable. jfc.

So, if you go back to last Tuesday, [the bipartisan proposed spending bill would] limit high-tech investments in China for national security purposes. Now, it just happens that Elon Musk has factories Tesla in China and is planning AI in China, and a ban on high-tech exports would have really messed with this whole business strategy centered on China. It was at that point that Musk begins this Twitter storm of more than a hundred tweets warning that this bill is too expensive, that it’s outrageous, that it contains, you know, a 40% pay raise for Congress and a whole bunch of things that just weren’t true. This was all a smokescreen to get Congress to kill the bill because it had this China provision that would have cost Musk a lot of money. So, about 12 hours after that, Trump, who had been silent about the bill, clambers on board and says, “Yeah, this is a terrible bill, and you need to change it so that it includes a provision waiving the temporary debt ceiling.” Well, by Thursday, the bill was dead. They had to negotiate a whole new bill. And at the end of the day, Congress wanted to go home for Christmas, and so it passes overwhelmingly. But in the meantime, 38 Republicans had refused to get on board with this waiver of the debt ceiling. The Democrats were never going to give Trump that kind of leverage, so the Democrats were never going to vote for a waiver of the debt ceiling. Trump must have known that. End of the day, Musk got exactly what he wanted: The China provision was stripped from the bill. Trump did not get what he wanted: The waiver was not included in the bill. And so, it’s a classic case of Musk rolling Trump. And so, there are a couple of questions here. Is Trump aware of this? Is he whistling past the graveyard, as that comment suggested? He’s not stupid. He may be evil, but he’s not stupid. And he must know that Musk took him to the cleaners on this and that this is going to happen going forward, right? I mean, Trump is supposed to be some kind of a China hawk. So there are going to be all kinds of conflicts between what Trump wants to do and what’s good for Musk’s business interest. And these are both narcissistic guys. I argue that there’s room for only one scorpion in this bottle and that at some point Musk is going to overplay his hand and Trump is going to get sick of him.

and then the real interesting part to me in all of this:

So, if you play this forward, at some point Trump decides that, “Wait a minute, this guy has too much power. He’s upstaging me. He’s promoting some things that are at odds with my own agenda,” and then Musk can say, “Well, look, I’ve got six different ways that I can screw you.” And I was looking back at history. I could not find another single case in the entire annals of world history where another leader who had dictatorial ambitions put somebody who he didn’t control in such a position of power. So, I don’t think this is going to end well. And how exactly it ends will be fascinating to watch.