#Thinking of doing like a spring version of my Christmas collection

[wacky-nameless-inventor-24]

Hey uhhhh

Does anyone wanna send me small Fenro springtime prompts? 👉👈

[thefoxholecast]

The Original Foxhole Court Extra Content (Archived from Nora Sakavic’s Tumblr)

We copied the following text directly from the pre-2024 version of the Foxhole Court Extra Content page on Nora Sakavic’s Tumblr blog (korakos.tumblr.com/fox). In March 2024, she did “some spring cleaning” by shortening the list of links and deleting/hiding old posts. The links in this copy lead to archived snapshots of the old posts on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Some of the links are broken. If you have copies of these posts, please let us know so we can fill in missing content!

Because Tumblr only allows up to 100 links per post, we're unable to replicate the full list here. View the full list of links on our blog here: thefoxholecast.tumblr.com/FoxArchive

The Foxhole Court

ETA 2023: most of the posts here are from 2013-2015. Some of them overlap with older drafts. Some answers have evolved over time, even if they haven’t been updated here. Most I haven’t changed my mind on, for better or worse. Take ‘em or leave ‘em, and good luck making sense of ‘em around all the drunk rambling and detours. One day if I have the energy I’ll just sort it into a coherent reference.

~~

Two sections here: the questions submitted by tumblr users, and a miscellaneous collection of stories & factoids pulled from the oft-neglected blog. The questions aren’t in any particular order, though I did try to organize them by subject matter. Ish. Once the dust is settled a bit I’ll try to find a better sorting system. Also, the tumblr tag I use for questions is http://korakos.tumblr.com/tagged/foxhole-court-questions-and-spoilers

Lots of spoilers for The Foxhole Court ahead!

Preface: Why are Asks disabled in 2016?

COURTING MADNESS

—Exy Rules & Regulations

—Exy: A History of the Sport

—Palmetto State University

—The original “What Happens After King’s Men” post

—SON NEFES, the cousins’ freshman year through Renee’s eyes

——One . Two . Three . Four . Five

—Nicky Hemmick

—Seth Gordon

—Aaron Minyard

—Matt Boyd

—Kevin & Andrew

—David Wymack & the Monsters

—Wymack & Andrew re: Neil

—Dan Wilds is recruited to the Foxes *

—Allison through Dan & Renee’s eyes *

——pulled from an abandoned, unfinished book about the Foxes’ women

TUMBLR

NEIL

—Neil’s life on the run

—Do they ever celebrate Neil’s birthday?

—What if Neil told the truth earlier?

—Neil through the Foxes’ eyes

—Neil through Ichirou’s eyes

—Neil’s looks post-book and relationship with his reflection

—Does Neil ever talk to Bee?

—Neil’s millions

—Neil’s fight training

—Who’s Neil closest to beside Andrew

—Neil’s fashion style

—Cellphone ringtone

—Christmas/birthday presents for Foxes

—Does Neil ever cry?

—Neil’s lonely fifth year

—When Neil’s overwhelmed

—Does Neil crush on his teammates?

—Neil & Ichirou’s intimidation

ANDREW

—Andrew’s sober look at his teammates & Neil

—How did Andrew react to Cass’s letter?

—Andrew’s medication and the follow-up

—Has Abby seen Andrew’s scars?

—Andrew & Mama Bee

—Andrew & Roland

—How far has Andrew willingly gone?

—What animal figurine did Andrew buy Betsy?

—Andrew’s eye color

—Andrew’s opinion of the cats

—What’d Andrew say to Nicky in TKM?

—Andrew’s honest opinion of Exy

—Andrew’s thoughts on Neil’s binder

—Andrew and his sexuality

—If Andrew had met Neil’s mother

—Andrew’s thoughts on Neil’s sexuality

—Andrew’s fondest memory of Neil

—Andrew’s aforementioned withdrawal

—Do you think Andrew is really really really awesome?

—Proust and Andrew

—What happens to Proust?

—Andrew’s reaction to Neil’s bday blood

—Andrew on Neil eventually changing out

—Does Andrew get grumpy?

—Does Andrew get less dead inside?

—Does Andrew call Neil by his name?

—Why give the Foxes crackers?

—Andrew’s first choices in winning a fight

—Who liked knives?

—What got chopped from Drake’s arc?

—Does Andrew get off thinking about Neil?

—Post Andrew & Bee’s side story?

—When did Andrew start thinking Neil was interesting?

—Any other words he can’t stand?

—What does he think about nicknames?

—Explain Andrew’s fatal disease in the comic version

—Andrew’s canon mental state

—How did Andrew not know about Tilda’s abuse?

—Why punch Neil for “Sorry”, and when Andrew is sick

—What’s with Andrew and promises

—Andrew’s thoughts on Roland’s premature confession

—Andrew’s arrest

—Wanting nothing vs not wanting anything

—Why was Andrew laughing after Drake?

—If Neil had chosen Dan & Matt over Andrew

NEIL & ANDREW

—The other 10%

—Which teammate caught on first?

—Do Andrew & Neil go on dates?

—When did they first hold hands?

—When did Andrew clue in?

—Exites self-censure

—Betsy’s & Aaron’s reactions to the news

—Roland’s opinion of things

—The breaking point

—Who tops?

—On tying people up

—Their domestic life aka Sir Fat Cat

—I love you

—Andrew and the bed issue

—Nightmares

—Do they learn to talk to each other?

—Blaming Neil for Drake

—Andrew comforting Neil?

—Neil’s fondest memory of Andrew

—Neil getting Andrew off for the first time

—Neil seeing Andrew naked

—Neil & the sex how-to

—How was the first time

—Where’d it happen?

—When was their first hug?

—“I won’t let you let me be”

—Their roadtrips

—Neil waking Andrew up

—Andrew’s real smile

—How does Andrew show appreciation for Neil

—Their happiest moments

—Does Neil ever make Andrew laugh?

—Does Andrew take comfort in Neil

—Does Andrew get protective/possessive?

—Doesn’t Neil crave affection?

—Andrew re: Neil’s panic attacks

—Media reaction to Andrew/Neil

—Further reaction to Andrew/Neil

—On “accidentally” sitting in laps

—What if Andrew died?

—What if Neil died?

—Reaction to getting hit on by others

—Do they celebrate anniversaries?

—The first time Neil pushes Andrew down

FOXES

—How tall are the Foxes?

—Why is everyone so short?

—Where did their names come from?

—What were their majors?

—What do the Foxes look like?

—What are their Hogwarts houses?

—Reaction to the kidnapping

—Do Neil & Renee become friends?

—What did Allison do with Seth’s urn?

—Nicky’s evolution over the drafts

—Do the Foxes get their skiing trip?

—Does Andrew know Nicky kissed Neil?

—When did Aaron & Katelyn fall for each other?

—How did Andrew and Wymack end up handcuffed together?

—Kevin’s favorite things

—Kevin and Andrew’s on-court kerfuffle

—Dan’s haircut

—Dan & Matt’s relationship

—Dan & Matt’s first kiss

—Matt bouncing back from Columbia

—Matt rooming with the monsters

—The other what-if OT3 aka D/M/N and the dynamic

—Do Allison and Renee have the hots for each other?

—Matt forgiving his father

—Any mistletoe shenanigans?

—Thanksgiving and the Foxes

—Kevin’s best friend

—Janie Smalls

—How did Kevin and Thea meet?

—Foxes’ favorite ice cream flavors

—Kevin & Andrew’s on-court argument

—Foxes’ taste in music

—Kevin’s middle name & drink of choice

—Do Kevin & Neil want to kiss?

—Which Fox would Kevin kiss, then?

—Kevin’s best non-Exy memory

—Allison’s three bets

—Why is Allison’s middle name Jamaica

—Kevin, Andrew, and Neil staying friends

—“Joan of Exy”?

—Can the Foxes sing?

—Some of the Foxes’ previous bets

—Do Nicky & Allison become friends?

—Are Foxes based on RL people?

—Nicky when Neil asks about friendship

—Dan & the monsters in Columbia

—What if Kevin was killed?

—Renee and her near-death experiences

—More background available on Renee?

—Why doesn’t Aaron let the Foxes in?

—Team’s reaction to Drake, Andrew’s reaction to being outed

—Andrew & Aaron’s time with Tilda

—Does Aaron reconcile with Andrew over Tilda?

—Nicky & his parents after Drake

—Foxes thoughts in Baltimore

FOXES POST-TKM

—The Pro Teams

—The Weddings

—Neil as the Best Man?

—Kevin after TKM —Thea, Jean, Foxes, and Riko

—How does Kevin & Wymack’s relationship evolve?

—Renee after TKM

—Nicky after TKM

—Aaron after TKM

—Allison after TKM

—Dan & Matt after TKM

—Dan and the US Court

—Any pro-period scandals?

—Andrew & Neil’s relationship with their team

—Would Neil hold Matt’s children?

—Neil & babysitting the Foxes’ kids

—Which Fox’s child would curse first

THE FUTURE FOXES

—Who is Robin Cross?

—Neil and Jack

—Andrew’s reaction to Neil punching Jack

—Foxes’ reaction to Neil punching

—Kevin and Jack

—Neil’s new recruit

—Andrew and Jack

RIVALS

—Who is Riko Moriyama?

—Riko & Kevin’s evolving relationship

—More about Riko & Kevin’s past

—How did Riko break Kevin’s hand

—Riko’s brutality toward Jean

—Any draft where Riko wasn’t killed?

—Were Riko, Kevin, and Jean involved sexually?

—Does the Fox-Trojan rematch happen? Also how do the Trojans & Jean get along?

—Do Alvarez & Laila (Trojans) have backstories?

—Thea’s number & thoughts on Raven brutality

THE “ADULTS”

—Kayleigh Day & David Wymack

—Abby Winfield & David Wymack

—Wymack’s parents

—Did Wymack cry during the trilogy?

—Did Kayleigh know about the Moriyamas?

.

.

.

.

Nora & the Foxes

—Fancast and Andrew

—Changing opinion of Foxes over the years

—Bits of the scrapped K/N/A threesome here and here

—The KxAxN AU where Kevin died

—Will there be a sequel?

—What inspired you to develop Exy?

—Fox fanfictions, collected by coldsaturn

—Why a pseudonym?

—What came first, characters or story?

—Were you the artist of the comic version?

—What did the comic-Foxes look like?

—What do you do when you’re not writing?

[writemarcus]

Playwright James Ijames on 'Fat Ham,' the spotlight on Black queerness and life after a Pulitzer

A Q&A with the Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright of 'Fat Ham.'

Written by Marcus Scott

Wednesday February 8 2023

James Ijames won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Fat Ham, an irreverent riff on William Shakespeare’s Hamlet that feels like a call to arms for Black joy and queer representation. A jambalaya of satire, magical realism and the American domestic sitcom, the play follows Juicy (Marcel Spears), a morose online-college student, as he tries to come to terms with the marriage of his newly-widowed mother, Tedra (Nikki Crawford), to his Machiavellian uncle Rev (Billy Eugene Jones). “This ain’t Shakespeare,” Ijames noted in the show’s program. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Shakespeare, this just ain’t him. This ain’t a tragedy…This play is offering tenderness next to softness as a practice of living. This play is celebrating Blackness that is traditional and weird and lonely and happy and grieving and honest and frightened and brave and sexy and churchified and liberated and poetic.”

Fat Ham had its world premiere in the spring of 2021 in a digital production by Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater. A year later, it made its onstage debut at the Public Theater, directed by Saheem Ali, and became one of the buzziest plays of the season. On March 21, 2023, that production will begin a limited run at Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre. We chatted over FaceTime with the playwright as he prepared to step into rehearsals.  

Fat Ham moves Hamlet from a medieval Danish castle to a modern-day cookout in North Carolina. Why a barbecue?

“Barbecues are cumulative spaces. It starts with a few people and then it grows. There’s food, and people are drinking. It’s a space of truth-telling, it’s a space of game-playing, it’s a space of intimacy and warmth—and it’s where secrets come out. My family recently came together for the Christmas holiday and a cousin of mine made an announcement about being pregnant. Everyone was just so excited and lifted by that; everyone’s energy turned towards them in this really beautiful way. I wanted a space where that sort of collective joy was possible and also where a big, messy argument was possible. Where a fight was possible, where drinking was possible, where eating was possible, where romance was possible. In Shakespearean comedies, when you go outside or into the woods—like the forest of Arden [in As You Like It] or the forest in Midsummer—it’s a space where anything’s possible. There’s magic. We’re not inside, in a cold room in a cold castle. We’re outside: We have decorations, we’re colorfully dressed. We are in the sort of space where magic is palpable and possible.”

Juicy is not your typical Hamlet. He is Black and Southern and, as you describe him in the play, “thicc.” What was the motivation behind that?

“Well, I’m Black and from the South, and that drove my desire to play with people that sound and look like me. When you see productions of Hamlet, he's usually white and sort of athletic. I wanted to make a version of this play that was open to a body type that wasn't that; I'm a person who, for pretty much my whole life, has had some struggle with my weight and my perception of what I look like and how I feel in my body. And another thing I wanted to do was to explore Blackness in the South in a way that felt contemporary, that didn't feel held by history—looking at Southern communities right now as opposed to a nostalgic imagination of the Black South.”

Why did you choose for Juicy to have a passion to study Human Resources in college?

“Human Resources is about care and workflow. Efficiency. I wanted Juicy to have a passion for something that felt antithetical to his father. He wants to make sure people are okay.”

How does that contrast reflect other things about the way you have approached Shakespeare’s story?

“I think the play is exploring multiple modalities of masculinity. We see a lot of different kinds of Black masculinity on the stage. We see Juicy, we see Tio, we see Larry, we see Pap and Rev. And there’s a masculinity that’s implied about the community that they live in, that is sort of present in the room. I wanted to show that masculinity is not monolithic—it’s not as simple or cut-and-dried as it’s often depicted. I also wanted to explore cycles of trauma and violence in families. I’m interested in primordial stories, stories that no matter what culture you walk into, there’s like a version of them. I always think of Hamlet as—and I don't know that a lot of people think of it this way—but I think of Hamlet as a Cain and Abel story: the story of a sibling killing their sibling to get ahead. Anybody can relate to that; that’s a [narrative] that you inherit and moves with you through generations. And the younger folks in the play have to make some decisions about whether or not they want to continue that, whether that’s what they want their lives to look like and their relationships to each other to look like. I’m calling into question the stories that we’ve been passed down as wisdom. Because sometimes it’s wisdom, but more and more I look at those stories as cautionary tales of what you shouldn’t do. Vengeance isn’t gonna help Juicy. Killing his uncle is not gonna help Juicy’s life get any better.”

Your breakthrough play was Kill Move Paradise in 2017. How do you think you've changed as a writer since then?

“Oh, gosh. When I look at Kill Move Paradise, that play is quite erratic, you know [he laughs]. I always describe it as the way that I try to metabolize my anger and my fear and anxiety about being a Black body driving around in America, walking around in America, just trying to live my life. And so it has that anxiety in it. It has that fear and nervousness in it. It’s in the text, you can feel it on the page. As I've gotten a little older, I've experienced more and I've written more—the more you write, the better writer you become. I'm more intentional with story, with plot; how I'm weaving a theme or a theory into the action of a play is a bit more sophisticated than it was when I was starting out. The anger is usually shrouded in rebellion or exuberance. At a point in my life, anger sort of dragged me down into a space of high-blood-pressure fury. But I think now the work offers people an invitation to metabolize anger in a different way. By the time we get to the end of Fat Ham, people are dancing in the aisle.”

They certainly are.

“And that is not to negate the fact that we’ve just watched the thing that had pain in it, that had trauma in it, that had violence in it. But just because you’ve been through difficulty doesn’t consign you for the rest of your life to difficulty, to trauma, to pain. We have access to joy, we have access to resilience, we have access to exuberant ecstasy. Black history, in this country in particular, teaches us that: The blues and jazz and hip-hop come out of extraordinary awful scenarios and settings. Those art forms are undeniably both Black, but undeniably exuberant, resilient, unabashed, queer—all of those things! They possess all of those things. When I sit down to write a play, I know that at the end I have to send people out into the world, into the streets, into workplaces, into homes. My hope is that I’m leading them to some hope.”

This play is pretty fantastical, and there are various displays of spectacle and magic. There are also a panoply of images and homages to the Pan-African cultural experience—allusions to Louisiana Voodoo as well as Central African, Creole and Haitian Hoodoo symbology.

“Ghosts are a feature in a lot of my plays. Magic is a feature in a lot of my plays. Because I’m a person who grew up with people who kind of had magical ways of thinking. I grew up Baptist: hardcore, every Sunday, sang in the choir, youth ministry, youth usher—like, I am a church gay! I also grew up in a family that has New Year’s Eve traditions that they do, and will throw salt over their shoulder, or say “Don’t sweep over a single man’s shoe because he won’t get married.” That sort of Hoodoo connection to the spirit world and connection to ancestors was also a big part of the family that I grew up in. And so magic in that respect feels very real to me. Ancestors feel very present—the reverence for people who have passed on is immense. So, to me, the ghost of Juicy’s father showing up isn’t just a specter from this other world that is coming with caution and with information. Juicy is having a conversation with his ancestor and he talks to his ancestor, the way that I talk to mine. The thinness of that veil between here and there—I relish in that, and the theatrical allows you to do that with a lot of ease. I didn’t want the ghost to be a joke. He’s funny—that cat is extremely funny—but he also has these great moments of, like, “Wow, I really messed you up.”  

There is a long literary tradition of Black writers explaining Blackness to people who aren’t Black. You don’t do that here. In fact, this play comments on performing Blackness, trauma porn and “enterpainment” on stage—and it’s done with humor. Why was this important to you?

“Humor is powerful. It opens us up to hearing things in a new way. It’s a big part of all of my plays. The question about explaining Blackness is huge to me. I don’t feel like I have to explain Blackness to an audience. I’m assuming that everyone will catch up who doesn’t understand.”

At the end of the show, there’s a cover of the funky dance-pop disco tune “Kill The Lights” sung by Broadway actor Mykal Kilgore. What inspired that particular needle drop?

“I love disco music, just personally. Anybody can dance to it. If you are off-rhythm, you will be on a rhythm with disco music because it’s four-on-the-floor and is just all-encompassing. It strives for ecstasy, it strives for moving from a passage from one state to another. Probably because they were all like using drugs and having sex while they were listening to it in the Seventies and Eighties. But this is a contemporary artist singing in the disco style. It’s not a song from the era. It just moves people! That music moves people.”

If you were to classify your previous plays by genre, with Fat Ham being disco, what would your other shows be?

“Ooh.” [He laughs.] “I think Kill Move Paradise, if I had to put a genre to it, it’s Southern hip-hop, right? It’s sort of grounded in that culture. I would say White is like pop music—it’s like my Ariana Grande album. And Miz Martha is Americana music. It’s like bluegrass with a trap beat.”

Only nine writers of Black descent have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in its 105-year history: Charles Gordone for No Place to Be Somebody, Charles Fuller for A Soldier’s Play, August Wilson for Fences and The Piano Lesson, Suzan-Lori Parks for Topdog/Underdog, Lynn Nottage for Ruined and Sweat, and the last four prizes in a row—Jackie Sibblies Drury for Fairview in 2019, Michael R. Jackson for A Strange Loop in 2020, Katori Hall for The Hot Wing King in 2021 and now you. Is something going on in the zeitgeist? Is there something special about Black writers that make their work more urgent right now?

“I think a few things are happening. Black writers and Black directors have been trying to push the form in new directions, to be both in conversation with the cannon and also pushing against the cannon. Those four plays—starting with Fairview and going to A Strange Loop, The Hot Wing King and Fat Ham—all four of those plays are actively doing those things. And so are some plays that haven’t won Pulitzers but have been defining culturally, like Slave Play and things like KPOP. The audience for that work is already there and primed, and it’s just waiting for someone to make art for them, you know what I'm saying? People are curious about what is possible in the form. I remember seeing Fairview and just being blown away by the audacity of it. It made me want to be more ambitious—to create more of a social experiment with my work in collaboration with an audience. I think the same thing is true of A Strange Loop and Hot Wing King in terms of those plays’ exploration of Black queer identity. And that flows rather beautifully into Fat Ham, which is doing the same sort of thing by taking a play that people cherish like Hamlet and saying, ’Not only is this mine, it’s mine in these particular ways, and this is what I’m gonna keep and this is what I’m gonna discard.’ So some of it is just us, as writers, wanting the form to feel as vital and as urgent as possible. And one way to do that is to examine how we write things and try to find new ways into storytelling.”

Those last three plays in particular have centered on Black queerness, and on what we might call radical softness. Is there something in the ether? Was there something in the culture that made us say, “Now that’s something we need to address, to attack, to appraise?” Because it all kind of happened around the same time.

“Hmm. I don’t know. That stretch of plays spanned the heartiest points of the pandemic, and we were all quite hungry for connection, closeness, touch, tenderness. And that offered an opportunity for people to be excited about seeing something that felt soft or vulnerable. I think people respond to that because we want to be better. Culturally, I think, we want to try to do things differently. It remains to be seen whether or not that will continue, but people wanted to engage with things that felt tender, that felt connective, and all of those plays are great examples of that. And I think that’s also true of Fairview; with the separation that it is asking for, it’s asking for people to sit in an embodied space with an idea.”

Last question: How has your life changed post-Pulitzer? Has that changed how people think of you and your work? Or how you think of yourself and your work?

“Oh my gosh! It’s just made my life so much busier, but it’s also made me focus on the work. Refocus on my craft and my practice. I don’t want this prize to freeze me in time. I want to keep pushing and keep expanding what I do.”

Fat Ham begins previews at the American Airlines Theatre on March 21, 2023, and opens on April 12. Tickets are available here. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Follow Marcus Scott on Instagram:@therealmarcusscott

Marcus Scott

[stageplaymlp]

:P

Do you have any TMNT merchandise?

Who is your favorite mutant character?

Do you have any fan characters/personas/self-inserts for TMNT?

BUDDY I HAVE SO MUCH TMNT MERCH IT’S INSANE

Including but not limited to:

TMNT IDW poster

Multiple fan-made shirts

Multiple keychains

Many, many issues of TMNT IDW including Vol. 7 of the IDW Collection (somewhere, I lost it 😔)

Hotwheels monster trucks

A woollen hat I got from a Christmas market that looks like Mikey

Shitty knockoff bucket hat I got from a spring market

Finger puppets

(1) pair of socks

Leonardo YouTooz plush

HIM

2. OOOOOOF that’s hard

Okay, not counting the turtles, I do really like Alopex, Mondo Gecko and Mona Lisa from IDW specifically

3. I do have a sona and it’s just my fursona (I think I’ve posted them before so check out my art tag, or my Twitter I guess)

In terms of original characters, though, a couple months back I worked on a design and story for my idea of a Rise version of Mona Lisa. I want to improve her design a bit, but here’s some reference images I drew for her

Thank you for the asks!

[daviddunwoody]

THE DUNWOODY CHRISTMAS LETTER

Happy All the Happy Days! I bought a little Christmas tree after I got drunk and sat on the 3-ft. one in '21. The temple ornament the Mormons gave me is roughly the same size, so maybe I'll make one of those little Christmas town scenes.

I quit drinking in Spring, unrelated to the tree. I'm not counting the days since I have no doubt the future will happen, and I'll need A Drink at some point. But not alone, and not until I pass out naked in a hotel corridor.

I have this idea that the emergence of home internet made manifest some nightmare (or totally natural) version of the collective unconscious. It may have also been the Rapture for God fans, making this the Tribulation. Let's make it the best ever!

I am not a crackpot btw

I think when a baby brain comes online, it just starts downloading all stimuli and data to begin calibrating the ol' mind. That must be terrifying until someone swaddles you and makes you feel safe. Then, I assume, the downloading slows to a more manageable pace and the baby can start observing things.

I think the best way to describe my autism would be that my brain's sponge-ality was not adequately reduced. Too much information for someone who was already analyzing his analysis of his own thoughts in real time.

Perhaps the Internet, and the cartoon world it has led to, are kinda giving everyone a taste of that anxiety. Maybe there really is some adaptive nature to autism, idk

Oh hey, good news! I'm writing again. Therapy and good people are good. I've wrangled most of my crazy energy back into the "pen," LOL, if you catch my drift.

I'm just awful at writing letters though. I start and stop personal messages because I know they will lead to the terrifying Conversation. How do you say from a place of love, "I think of you often and wish you well, please don't write back"

Like this letter I guess? Maybe olde-timey rambling public diary entries are my jam. Anyway, I really hope everyone has a nice rest of their 2023.

-Dave

[valenhell]

From the studio that brought you “I can’t find good Byler fics in the ao3 tag”, comes:

"The Definitive Byler fic rec list"

Literally no one asked for this but because I spent the majority of last year (...and 2019, and 2018...) reading byler fics and coping with life, I thought I’d make a list of some of my absolute favorites. 

The other day I was basically starving for some byler fics and the angel @magicalfairy provided me with some of her faves so I thought I’d do the same, because I love reading, and I love all of these fics and I appreciate their writers💗 And fic writers in general, come on!

- This is a mix of long works and one-shots/short stories. - Everything is mostly fluff with a tad of angst and a lot of internalized homophobia conflict.  - Every fic is completed, except for the ones I mention that they are not. - I try my best to lay out the stories in a way that I won’t spoil you the plot but also warning you of some stuff you might don’t like. Either way, all of these fics are correctly tagged by their respective authors/owners, so read at your own risk. For better understanding, in between brackets I denote Rating, Words and quantity of Chapters. - I feel like I should clarify, none of these are narrated in the singular first person. None of that “And I told him...”, no. 

Long fics

a dream always the same (T, 99k, 35 chapters) What happened in those few weeks between the Battle of Starcourt and the Byers leaving Hawkins. Literally a satisfying and very needed fill in of season three, with a good dose of Mike’s thoughts and conflict. Mike’s characterization is specially amazing in this one. The writing style is amazing and I know the author put everything into making it historically accurate, and it was really sweet. You probably read it, it’s by the amazing sevensided here on Tumblr🧡

Spring Break (T, 120k, 14/15 chapters) The slowburn of my dreams. Lots of internalized conflict and conflict with each other. Conflict within the Party (uhh kind of), conflict with Mike and Will. Byers family has moved and the kids are visiting! Chaos. Characterization is on point. Yeah, I know it’s unfinished, but the fourteenth chapter actually serves as a pretty nice ending. 

This is where it starts (M, 148.8k, 24 chapters) Aged up characters. The Party is in college and Will disappears again, but now it’s different. Mike knows he didn’t vanish from thin air, and the discovery he and the Party end up making is pretty insane. Mystery solving/fantasy/third dimension, throw in a bit of D&D and Mike realizing some shit, and you get this marvelous fic. It’s a breath of fresh air. The world building is definitely one of the elements that stands out the most, because it’s very nicely described, it sounds like a dream and it’s completely immersive. Absolute gem of a fic. 

there’s a Starman waiting in the sky (M, 30.6k, 8 chapters) Do I need to say anything? Will is out there living his best life and Mike realizes that wow, umm, maybe his best friend looks a bit too nice with that costume... and wait, is he getting horny? It’s actually really fun and sexy.

The Evening Speaks (T, 23k, 7 chapters) In where Mike is a late-night college radio host and Will is the art student that stays up till late to catch up with Wheeler on the Mic. They flirt through songs y’all, this one is really sweet. 

heads or tails? (E, 24k, 3 chapters) Aged up characters. I know most people don’t enjoy sex in fics and with specific characters but this one is insanely well written. It’s a slowburn that commits to the tension and with every word you are grasping and anticipating their next move. I think you can find the author here on Tumblr as yousaidyes🧡

The Man of Average (M, 56.7k, 5/? chapters) Aged up characters. No but you don’t understand, the writing here is absolute gourmet. The story is exciting as well, it’s super interesting. Weirdly enough, for being very aged up characters, they are well characterized but they don’t feel like teenagers. They are naturally Mike and Will. The author really captured Mike and Will’s essence. I know, it’s unfinished and it’s updated very rarely, but this is the typical fic you can’t believe someone just posted on the internet for free. I will say though, I think it’s definitely not for everyone. Read at your own risk.

Heartstrings (E, 82.8k, 24/? chapters) Aged up characters. By the same author of The Man of Average. A collection of memories, the road to Mike and Will’s happy ever after. And fucking hell!!!!! You’ll cry and get angry, you’ll cheer for them, then you’ll want to crash their faces together because god dammit you love each other!!! But yeah, same thing here. The writing and the way the story is laid out as a nonlinear narrative is brilliant. And I also think this is one of the best Will versions I’ve read. The author might as well be the og creator of this two characters tbh. You can find the author here as mylesimeblr🧡

Sinners behind the walls (T, 1.5k, 1/1) And because I can’t stop recommending this author, a little thing of Mike tormenting himself but also being too deeply committed to Will. 

The Red Envelope series (T/E, 167K, two completed works) Something happens that Will thought was impossible and from there, pure drama and romance. Anything by this author has the potential to become your absolute favorite fic, but this series in particular is amazing. I doubt that any of you haven’t read this, but it doesn’t hurt to put it in this list. I’m pretty sure the author is serendipitous-magic on Tumblr🧡

A New Fight series (T, 91k, two completed works, one WIP) And finally the Star Wars AU that we all needed. But this isn’t your typical “Mike is Han”, “Will is Leia” and “El is Luke”, it’s way more interesting than that, and the author has appropriated the Star Wars world like no other. I’ll admit I’m not a 100% fluent in SW lore but this is amazing to me either way. This author is also on Tumblr, tea-for-one-please🧡

- Yes, most of these are (if not all), in a way, canon compliant/canonverse/canon continuation into fanon. (In a way)

One-shots and short stories

Sundae for Two, Please (G, 4.8k) Steve being the supportive friend and older brother these kids collectively need. (not Jonathan erasure, we love him). Steve is very sweet himself, and this little cute thing through his POV is gorgeous. Yes, it’s byler.

Backstage (T, 10k, 2/2) Jonathan, you forgot to mention to Will how hot your new band’s guitarist is, dude. Now he’s hyperventilating and weirdly flirting with him in the corner. Background Stonathan because why not.

102 Peach Street (G, 3.8k) Established relationship, but not only that, they are married :’’))) PURE fluff. Extreme fluffiness. Diabetes. 

sweatshirts and bottled up feelings (T, 3.2k) Or, Mike thinks that the sweatshirt Will wears looks insanely good on him. And kitchens are for lovers. 

kiss it better (T, 16.3k) Basically one of the best character studies of a few precise moments of Mike and Will’s relationship and feelings. 

will wonders ever cease (T, 11.3k) #i ship will and happiness. Omfg what a beautiful piece of fanfic. Will centric, this kid really deserves all the good in the world.

The Calm After the Storm (T, 1.6k) Tooth rotting fluff, boyfriends in love. Boyfriends being lazy, cuddling, love words, kisses. Boys loving each other’s company... Basically, Mike and Will in their element. What more can you ask for?

neither of us ready to let go (T, 4.8k) That scene from season three, but a bit of a fix it. 

Still in love (G, 1k) Domestic, married life au fluff. Y’all, I’m a sucker for established Byler, even if I can’t find many fics with it. But this is very sweet. It takes place in 2020, but I don’t think there are any mentions of the COVID-19 crisis that I remember.

I Nver Find Out ‘Til I’m Head Over Heels (G, 12.5K) Classic 5+1 fic. If you haven’t read it, where have you been? This is your moment. In where Mike keeps inviting Will to the school dances and Will thinks it’s just a joke until he realizes it’s not. 

Before You’re Gone (T, 5.9k) Will is leaving Hawkins and Mike thinks this is a great moment for a confession. This one I discovered last friday, thank you friend @magicalfairy 💗

You’re weird Wheeler (M, 4.5k) Mike unintentionally starts a tradition of going to each other to talk about their sexual encounters just after they finish. Will keeps getting more explicit with the details he shares, and he makes his best friend interested. This one is really fun y’all.

Out-Of-Town Friends (N/R, 4.6K) It’s not rated. I haven’t re- read it but I’d say it would probably fall in a T rating. So cute!! Will has new friends and sneaks off every friday and the Party doesn’t know where he is going, so Mike decides to follow him and is surprised. 

Snowed Under (G, 1.3k) By the same author of The New Fight series. Mike is spending christmas by himself in college because a snowstorm hits Chicago and Nancy can’t drive to see him, but then he has a surprise visitor. Ahhh just a lil sweet holiday fic. Super cute. 

you love me anyway series (T, 7.1k, three completed works) Literally just the cutest thing ever. Established Byler. Will loves to take pictures and he loves taking pictures of Mike. It’s adorable. 

you wanna be friends forever (i can think of something better) (T, 9k) This one is so amazing. So. Amazing. From Will’s POV, my kid deserves the world and he gets it. 

okay not to be okay (T, 4.9k) Mike is a bit sad but then everything is okay. 

can’t hold out forever (G, 18.4k) Y’all!!!!! 5+1 sweetness. Mike has been falling in love since kindergarten. And it’s long af, you’ll enjoy it. 

even if it takes forever (G, 1.3k) College short AU, they miss each other, they love each other, they promise all to each other. It is sappy y’all.

clear as day (N/R, 18.4K, 4 chapters) It’s not rated, but I’d say it falls in the T category. Strangers to friends to lovers. And also, everyone is pretty gay; we have our dynamic trio Mike, Max and El as disaster lesbians (and gay). Will works at the library and he is also gay. Lucas and Dustin and Will are the best friends we needed. It’s very sweet and the Party is kind of formed here!

I went overboard with the one-shots, so you must have realized how much I love long one-shots and I favor them over long works lmao but they are all amazing!!! If it’s on this list, I probably read it at 2 am, sobbing in my bed. So. Hope you enjoy it☺️🧡

[theolsentimes]

Mary-Kate Olsen's Singular Style

She came to fame as a twin, but the actress's cultish look is entirely her own. Here, with Lauren Hutton, she pays homage to another fashion inspiration, Grey Gardens. Written by Laura Brown, with photography by Peter Lindbergh (Harper's Bazaar, 2007)

VIEW GALLERY

Mary-Kate Olsen may be the only young actress who breezes into her local Starbucks wearing towering, fashion-fierce Balenciaga boots, who arrives at her latest premiere (in Mary-Kate's case, for the new season of Showtime's Weeds, in which she plays a devout Christian with a pot fetish) sporting an oversize cross, and whose favorite band is Led Zeppelin. She may, in fact, be the only young actress who knows who Led Zeppelin is. MK, as she is known to her friends and family, is also a punctual and professional sort. She arrives for a poolside tea in Los Angeles 10 minutes early, ordering a hot chocolate while explaining her fetish for all things sweet — "I'm a candy girl, like Tootsie Rolls and Swedish Fish" — and objecting when the waiter tries to take the sugar bowl away. She is wearing a nautical striped T-shirt (her mom's, from the '70s), tucked into two black Wolford slips rolled down and turned into a tight, Robert-Palmer-video-style mini, and multicolored sparkly Christian Louboutin stilettos. She's just had her hair colored, returning to a sunnier shade after some experiments with both peroxide ("I woke up one morning and was like, I want white-trash hair today") and the dark side (an auburn-haired near-Goth moment last year). She's carrying a large black fringed leather Prada tote — she doesn't do small bags — and her fingers are covered with rings, most notably two vintage coiled gold snakes stacked on top of each other. ("They remind me of twins, sort of double headed.") Altogether, the effect is less her famed "bag-lady chic" than an edgy, body-conscious, and, yes, sexy silhouette. If she weren't 21, she could be 40. And French.

Few people need reminding that Mary-Kate — with her twin sister, Ashley — literally crawled into celebrity aged nine months (courtesy of Full House) and has not been out of the spotlight ever since. She has been a celebrity for more than two decades. Perhaps that's one reason she seems as if she came out of the womb worldly, the textbook old soul. "Yeah," she says with a small shrug. "I get that a lot." With all of that attention and all of the money (her and Ashley's company, Dualstar, has famously become a "billion-dollar business"), Mary-Kate could easily have ended up the type who wears pink terry cloth and carries a variety of small dogs. "Could you imagine?" she says with the politest version of a snort. "No way." She credits her exceptionally close-knit family (she has five siblings) and, interestingly, early stardom with helping her keep her perspective. "I think it helped that I started in front of the camera, so it didn't come as a shock. If I was a teenager and was thrown into the spotlight, I don't know how I would react, to be honest." Though the tabloids are all too keen to brand her a skinny, nervous deer in the headlights, in person Mary-Kate is easy in her skin, confident and surprisingly tactile, curling up in her seat and touching you on the arm to make a point. She laments the generic style of most actresses and cites only men as style inspirations: "Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp. Men, they just dress the way they want, and they don't think about Who Wore It Best." She doesn't much care for Who Wore It Best, noting she avoids those pages by "wearing vintage so often. I just dress the way I feel instead of looking for what's the new handbag." If Mary-Kate and Ashley have their way, more people will be wearing clothes and carrying bags the way they do. They have just shown the fifth collection of their ready-to-wear line, the Row, and recently launched a contemporary label, Elizabeth and James, named after a sister and a brother. The Row's holiday collection (in stores next month) is a slick mix of skinny leather pants, razor-cut blazers, butter-soft, slouchy tees, and a destined-to-be-cultish pullover fur. Lauren Hutton, who stars in the Row's Spring '08 look book, says, "The clothes are extraordinary. A man I was with just loved them. The pieces are just so genius, soft like a baby's skin. Simple minimalist stuff, but really spectacular." Mary-Kate, designer, faces an interesting challenge. She has to marry Dualstar — which has made its fortune selling tween-tastic DVDs and pastel Mary-Kate and Ashley T-shirts at Wal-Mart — with her increasingly edgy and subversive taste. Dualstar executives, some of whom have worked with her since she was a child, often nag her, mom-style, about pulling her hair back "or wearing a color," she says with a laugh. "I had this event recently, and I was like, They're going to be so happy that I'm wearing ... purple. I actually have to think about those things, though, you know, so I don't get trashed." Get trashed sometimes she does. Hutton says, "Once in a while, she'll wear something and I'll think, Oh, baby doll, take another look. But to have the bravery, to take the chance to do that, is pretty wonderful. She is making her own way, which is hardly ever done in Hollywood." Of Mary-Kate's penchant for gigantic Balenciaga heels, Jenji Kohan, the creator of Weeds, says, laughing, "I'd be like, 'It's Tuesday. Do you really want to be wearing those shoes?' But she pulls it off." Designer Giambattista Valli, a friend, says, "She likes to take risks, but because she has such strong personal style, she always manages to make it work. Even if she had nothing on, she'd have style." And MK chic is spreading. "Sometimes I'll look at people or at a magazine and I'll do a double take because I'm like, Oh, my God, that's my outfit, but that's not me," Mary-Kate says. Playing with her wire-rimmed aviators, she jokes wryly that she should have bought shares in Ray-Ban. (She and Chloë Sevigny pretty much brought back white '80s Wayfarers.) She tends to fall in love with a look, then wear it until she's done. "If I put together a good outfit, I'll wear it for three days and then switch it up with a blazer," she says. "I still love my vintage jeans, my tights, and my pants, though." She didn't start wearing heels, in fact, until a couple of years ago: "I kept watching Ashley walk around in them so gracefully, and I'm such a klutz. But I ended up loving heels, and I don't usually take them off." She wears precisely one pair of flat shoes: Chanel's knee-high patent-leather gladiator sandals. This season, it's Balenciaga's fall collection — all of it — that has Mary-Kate obsessed. She is close to designer Nicolas Ghesquière and says, "He is so talented, but he's the nicest, most down-to-earth guy, and that makes everything he does more brilliant. I bought everything, but I haven't got anything yet," she says like a girl impatiently waiting for Christmas. Will she wear the new pieces with her infamous clodhopper boots? "Uh-huh. Wore them the other day, actually." Mary-Kate always goes with her gut, even if some people (back to those tabloids) don't quite get it. "The tabloids say things about me? What do they say?" she asks archly. "People are going to write what they want, and everyone's going to have their own idea of who I am. But I'm not trying to be friends with the people who are reading them, really." After a rough couple of years filled with near-forensic scrutiny of her weight, she'll have you know that she does eat. "This is not going to sound good," she laughs, "but I like making crispy tofu sticks with peanut sauce. I love my sashimi and my salmon and my vegetables." She observes, "Stress plays a big role in how I look day-to-day. I've always been very active — Pilates, yoga. I grew up horseback riding every day for hours. I love dancing. I usually last longer than anyone on the dance floor." A common image of Mary-Kate has her emerging from a coffee joint with an oversize cup. "I always get creamed for having my Starbucks cup," she says, sighing. "But the only time people get photos of me is when I'm getting coffee, when I can't sneak away from the camera." She also resents the pictorial implication that she and Ashley are dilettantes. "They take photos of us going into our offices, and it's 'Mary-Kate and Ashley shopping again.' But I'm going to work for eight hours, and we're working so hard. ..." She trails off. "It just shows how people want to think of you." Mary-Kate is not above celeb watching herself, however. Newly obsessed with Victoria Beckham, she notes she avidly watched Beckham's Coming to America documentary: "She's running around in a bikini and heels, and I'm like, Oh, my God! I do that, too!" How positively Grey Gardens. "I run around my house naked with heels all the time. It's so funny. All my friends will tell you I love running around in kimonos and jewelry or naked with jewelry." More people will be watching Mary-Kate soon, thanks to her role in the Emmy-nominated Weeds. "I am a very good Christian girl," she says with a wink. "She has her moral beliefs — and she happens to smoke pot." Of her newest cast member, Kohan adds, "Mary-Kate is complicated. She's a big celebrity, a huge media icon, but you have to separate the media images from someone who has the same issues, the same desires, as anyone else." Of course, Mary-Kate's image, in all its incarnations — from high fashion to small screen — is her strongest asset. And she has yet to settle on one. "I feel like I've lived 10 different lives already and I'm only 21," she says, almost as a reminder to herself. "But I also feel like I'm entering a new chapter." One thing on which she is clear, though: She doesn't need to be looked at all the time. What would she do for a day if she were invisible? "I would probably go to a restaurant with my friends, who would be able to see me, of course," she adds pragmatically, "and I would sit outside and enjoy a nice lunch with them. Then I would walk down the street." The old soul takes a sip of her little-girl-sweet hot chocolate. "That's what I would do."

[fuwushiguro]

The Playboy theme is basically your theme ™. Why not different versions of Playboy? Like,

Spring Collection Playboy - Pastel Pinks and Greens. Chiffon. Sunlit.

Valentines Collection Playboy - Red and white. Satin or velvet. Chocolate

Golden Playboy - Gold, beige, and whites. Silk. Champagne.

NO BC this is what I try and do every holiday season you literally have called me out 😭😭 I had a playboy Halloween and playboy Christmas and pink is my default but I’ve been HANKERING to do a green or a purple 🥺 but I LOVE these ideas I think I might go to my default for January and then do a valentine one for February 😈 maybe spring for March? I always end up missing the pink default after a while though I just can’t win 😩 but tysm for ur ideas ur mind is big and sexy 🤤💕

[parme-san]

rules: tag 9 people you want to get to know better.

tagged by: @butchsunbeam HI MUTUAL i saw your tag on the way to work and then i forgot about it </3 thank u for the tag though it made me smile

favorite time of year: i always say spring is my favorite season because i don't like when its hot and its nice when it stops being cold and i like flowers but if "christmas" is a time of year that's my favorite. i like everything about christmas especially the lights :) and i like snow even though it doesnt snow where i live now and i'm so sad

comfort food: hm i like a lot of food.. when i'm sad i like to drink a coffee or dandelion root tea (coffee substitute) and put milk and sugar in it (i dont usually put milk in it when i'm not sad). and i like birthday cake flavor. oh and pizza my favorite order is pineapple + chicken + ham with barbeque sauce

do you collect something: garbage!! :) kidding but not i have a little cardboard box i put stuff i find that isnt technically worth anything but i like (stuff like clothing tags, candy wrappers, broken jewelry, pressed leaves, loose change, etc). and i like plushies but i dont want too many because i want space in my bed

favorite drink: i like water its good. and blue gatorade and sprite

favorite song: i dont know actually everytime i listen to my own playlist i kind of dont like it <3 i don't know if i'd call it my favorite but i am rather fond of choke by idkhbtfm i find it oddly comforting. one time i was mad sick and i couldnt go to sleep or stay asleep so in my fevered haze i looked up "choke music box version" and played it on loop for literally 9ish hours straight so i could stay asleep

current favorite song: usually i dont know that either but i did just listen to right now by akon for two days. it just scratched my brain you know

favorite fic: bro i dont know im not really a fanfiction reader all i can think of is this sonic fanfiction i never finished where like scourge was in it and zonic the zone cop too and like the kid versions of sonic and tails came to the future and had to stay in grown up sonic and tails's house and i think scourge ate a toaster waffle. from what i remember it was like really well written and i might follow the author on tumblr to this day i cant remember

i don't usually tag anyone directly but if you would like to do this consider yourself tagged!

[deepautumncolors]

💅🏻 ~Manicure Monday~ 💅🏻

Hi everyone! The flowers and lilac trees are in full bloom, so that means it’s time for me to paint my nails purple. Yesterday I painted them with a new color called My Color Wheel is Spinning from the OPI Celebration Collection that came out for Winter 2021. It was geared towards Christmas and New Year’s, but I think it has a lot of nice colors for the spring and summer as well. One of my coworkers gave this polish to me for Secret Santa, and I’ve been excited to wear it!

Of the twelve polishes and three glitter topcoats in the collection, half of them are holographic and this is one of them. It’s a warm-toned shimmery violet with flecks that appear silver in the bottle. But once you put it on, you can see all the rainbow-colored sparkles in different lighting. The pink and orange undertones really stand out in the sunlight!

The formula was very smooth and easy to apply. It looked fully opaque to me with one coat, but I put on a second one anyway because I always do. I also want to mention that this is my first Infinite Shine polish from OPI with a silver brush handle instead of the regular version that has the black one. It doesn’t seem any different to me so far, but maybe it will last a little longer. Overall, I really like this polish and I think it’s very pretty!

[in-the-dollpalace]

rating felicity’s entire collection

So I thought I do another one of these, and since I’m going in order of the year the story takes place, Felicity is up next. I noticed that in my kaya post there were a lot of spelling mistakes. I suspect I have some sort of dislexia in spelling and alway type stuff wrong but I do my best to fix it if I spot it, so please forgive those.

Felicity is one of the oldest characters and has a very large collection, so fasten your seatbelts and keep all hands and feet inside the ride, because this is going to be a very long post.

It ended up being so long that I thought about breaking it into two parts, but in the end I decided to make it just one long one.

DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE JUST MY OWN OPINIONS, IF YOU DONT AGREE THATS OKAY! PLEASE DON’T ATTACK ME OR LEAVE HATE COMMENTS IF YOU DON’T LIKE MY DECISION. THANK YOU!

Alright, lets start with her meet outfits and dolls.

1: Rose Garden Meet Dress and Pleasent Company doll

Dress: 10/10 My favorite out of her three meet dresses

Doll: 9/10 not my favorite version of her, I wish her eyes were brighter green but that may just be the tint of the photo idk. But, you have to give her props for being the OG felicity

2: Traveling gown meet dress and Mattel doll

Dress: 8/10 I like the shade of purple and the flowers, but the stripes are just not doing it for me.

Doll: 11/10 this is the best version of her in my opinion. I just love the shade of her eyes and her bright red hair, its just so captivating

3: Beforever meet outfit and doll

Dress: 5/10 the fabric on the blue part is pretty but everything else is just terrible. the skirt looks weirdly out of proportion, and the yellow part is supposed to be a quilted petticoat underneath but is just a flimsey fabric attached to the dress with a diamond print on it. It also doesn’t come with a shift underneath because you had to buy it seperatly. The dress and doll was litterally the only thing they gave felicity when they yanked her out of retirement, litterally nothing else. They should have kept her in retirement if they were going to do that to her.

Doll: 7/10 It’s a cute doll but just doesn’t look like felicity. her hair looks brown and her eyes are a hazely greenish brown. It sorta looks like felicity but if you put her in modern clothes and hairstyle I probably wouldn’t recognize her.

4:Rose garden meet accesories

10/10 I love when american girl includes historically accurate money! The hankercheif and necklace are also cute, and the bonnet completes the look perfectly. Her bag also matches her dress so I love that.

5: Traveling gown meet accesories

10/10 pretty much the same as my above statement, except the bag no longer matches her dress but thats okay

6: Beforever meet accesories

7/10 I don’t like that they took away the bag and money. The straw hat is cute though

Alright! next up, Her school collection!

1: School outfit

10/10 I love this outfit so much for some reason. I just can put my finger on what it is. Maybe its the jacket or maybe the rich color of the skirt idk i just love it

2: Reading and writting lesson set

10/10 I love the feather quill and the little book. I think the detail of the little horse sketch is super cute

3: comb-back writing chair

10/10 I love antique furniture and this looks so authentic. I want one in human size for myself not gonna lie

Next, Felicity’s holiday collection!

1: Christmas gown and stomacher

15/10 Felicity’s collection peaked with this dress

2: Fashion doll and invitation

10/10 I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. I love dolls for my dolls. I also like that they included the little invitation

3: Noah’s ark

8/10 Yay, more toys for my toy! I do think they should have sold it longer, because now it’s a rare item and very expesive and hard to find

4: Shrewsbury cakes

9/10 I love the cute basket and I like the little cookie cutters. I tried shrewsbury cakes once (I think on a feild trip idk) and they were kind of nasty though

Next, her birthday collection!

1: spring gown

8/10 I love the shade of pink and the flower apron, but I feel like it needs a little something, like maybe some lace around the apron or something? Cute dress overall

2: Posie the lamb

20/10 I love this lamb with every fiber of my being. I would die for her.

3: Table and chairs

8/10 cute set but i wish it came with plates and stuff the price they sold it for

4: chocolate set

9/10 I love the fancy designs and the facy napkins. I wish it came with a little chocolate bar or something to show that its NOT a tea set no matter how darn much ebay sellers want it to be

5: Party treats

10/10 flowers and statue are cute and the cakes look tasty

6: Guitar

10/10 I love the shape and design. 

Now for her summer collection

1: summer dress

10/10 I love this dress. So simple yet so elegant. The hat is very pretty as well, I think it really finishes the look

2: Plantation play kit

9/10 The name is questionable. plantation, like a slave plantation? I havn’t got the chance to read the whole series yet, how does it handel slavery? Do they potray slaves as “hApPy tO sErVe” or does it make it clear that it wasn’t okay? All that aside, the set it is cute. I like the bird

next, her winter collection

1: Red cloak

10/10 I love cloaks.

2: Muff, mittens, and Pattens

10/10 I’m not sure what these are but they are cute

3: Travel trunk

10/10 I love trunks so much

Now onto her Bedtime collection

1: Night shift and cap

10/10 I love old fashioned nightgowns, this is so cute!

2: Bed and bedding

10/10 Looks so cozy and warm. I love the curtins and bedposts. I like how it matches her original meet dress color scheme

3: Side table

8/10 its a table. not much to say or explain about it

4: Nightime nessesities

10/10 I like the old fashioned book and the bed warmer. I thought they edge of the book was a really long candel wick at first lmao

5: clothes press

10/10 looks like a nice place for storage and matches the bed and side table

And here are her extra outfits:

1: Limited edition town fair dress

10/10 very cute. I love the little wooden thingie

2: Riding breeches and hat

10/10 heck yeah screw gender norms

3: Riding habit and hat

11/10 I... Love this dress. The green really makes her eyes pop and the jacket is just 😍

4: work dress

8/10 Not much to say about it. I like it well enough

5: Tea gown

10/10 This is from the movie I believe? It’s very pretty

6: gala gown

7/10 I actually don’t know where this is from. I’ve never seen it before. Is it from the movie too? What is it supposed to be? Is it a christmas gown? I’m confused

Extra accessories:

1: Baby Polly and cradel

8/10 cute enough, but way too rare and over priced for me. I could just buy a mini baby doll if i wanted her that bad because thats basically all this is

2: Colonial carriage

10/10 I actually never heard of this before now. I love how extra it is

3: Stable set

5/10 I don’t like how they cheaped out and did a paperboard background. I expected something better quality for the price they sold it for

4: Penny the horse

10000000000/10 Y’all already knew this was coming. You guys know I love horses, and this looks almost exactly like my beloved stuffed animal horse from when I was a kid.

I get more and more tempted every day to but every horse American Girl ever produced.

And Finally, Elizabeths collection!

1: doll and meet dress

doll: 8/10 when her doll came out they changed all the illustrations to make her blonde which kinda annoys me. other than that I guess she’s cute

dress: 8/10 Pretty dress but I’m not sure why they put her in her party dress instead of her everyday dress

2: Meet accessories

9/10 very fancy and pretty. the hat should have came with her dress in my opinion

3: Holiday gown

5/10 I’m going to be really honest with you guys; I don’t like it. I think the colors clash and the squiggle things look weird and out of place.

4: Cloak

10/10 Like I said before, I like cloaks. I like how its all matchy-matchy with felicity’s too

5: Tea dress

7/10 This is from the movie too I think? Its... an interesting look

6: Riding dress

9/10 I feel like I’ve seen a dress similar to this in a movie once but i dont remember where.

7: Summer dress

8/10 its cute.

8: Night shift

10/10 same thing i said about felicity’s, I love old fashioned night gowns

9: elizabeth’s doll

10/10 Another doll for your doll! This doll is very pretty actually

And that is all! If you made it all the way to the end, I love you. Stay tuned until next time!

[project-box]

What would have been 04: Henry’s desk + collectibles

Please read this if you haven’t yet!!!

Searching the desk was the “minigames” in Project Box. During the day, when the animatronics would bury themselves underground again, Charlie would have a chance to search for anything to help her escape-- only she finds her father’s belongings instead.

Below contains scripted dialogue Charlie had for each collectible, as well as 2 diary entries from William Afton in the mid 80s.

In the books, Henry’s work is mysteriously cleaned out from his garage. In Project Box, Afton was the one who stole it all, along with Henry’s desk and placed it inside the game’s main room. Henry’s recordings would have a stack of work papers, with different passcodes being written each tape. By watching each tape you could unlock a different drawer from his desk.

The desk drawers

Tape 1 found on top of the desk contains the first mention the box, as well as the passcode to open the left drawer. The passcode for the left drawer would have been “1578” to reference the easter egg of what Baby repeats in a distorted voice in Sister Location.

Clicking the Box in the left drawer would have moved the box to the desk’s top. But I’ll talk about the box in another post.

The right top drawer has a passcode that references the distortion you hear when zapping Ballora on night 2 of Sister Location. In tape 2, the writing paper on Henry’s desk would read “P.H.A.S.E”, giving the order of buttons you would press to unlock the 2nd drawer.

The right bottom drawer would have the passcode be “RWQFSFASXC” in reference to shadow Bonny ( or in Project Box’s case, twisted Springtrap ). The keypad is supposed to look like the arrangement of the ‘QWER ASDF ZXCV’ keys on the English keyboard.

The collectibles

I’ll talk about the tapes in another post.

The photographs: The first photograph is Henry and Afton at the grand opening of the original Fredbear’s Family Diner. The logo was inspired by 80s logo of Pizza Time Theater. In both photos, Henry is wearing sweaters to reference Nolan Bushnell. Henry’s handwriting was changed from cursive to capitalized print to differ himself from Afton’s cursive. The smudges on the polaroid’s writings hint that Henry is left handed.

The blueprints and springlocks: These were to 1. hint that Fredbear and Spring Bonny’s springlocks were designed differently ( though it’s hard to tell here since Spring Bonny’s blueprint isn’t actually finished... sorry LOL ). The differences in their design would play into the story, which I’ll explain in another post. I had to research how springlocks actually worked, since the best description we get is in FNAF 3.

Afton’s diary entries: I’ll explain why Afton’s diary entries are in Henry’s desk in another post. These entries exist to lay the foundation of Project Box’s backstory: The history between Afton and Henry. They were inspired by the books mentioning the police finding entries written by Afton, and how they went from praising Henry to cursing him, and even showing Afton's paranoia.

Afton entry 1:

17th December, 1984:

Henry has done it again. When doubted because of his unusual designs, he manages to overcome that doubt and amaze me and our patrons with this constructions. His work could fool children with the way these machines move with the illusion of life. It makes me wonder.

Bones, veins, organs. Rods, wires, circuit boards. Humans, are we not just complex machines? What separates us from them? When a computer is dismantled, it no longer operates. There are many who think we do the same. That when a human dies, they cease to exist.

But I know better. I am well aware of the lingering “existences”. They watch me. They follow me. I can feel their glares on my neck even as I write this.

The machines I create are only that- machines. I’ve always envied Henry’s gift of the illusion of life. But perhaps, I can finally surpass him. The life I create can be authentic. So be it.

To the souls I give gifts, bodies once more. And to the machines, I give life.

Afton entry 2:

15th March, 1985:

I once entertained the thought of getting a tattoo or two. To draw a meaningful picture on my skin. To see a mirrored version when I look in the mirror. But now, as I stand before the glass, there’s only a symmetrical pattern of rings and lines stamped across my body. I’ve grown to adore them over the months. Our scars have the power to remind us that the past was real. I can recall that day as if I dreamed it last night.

Realization in Henry’s eyes as he caught me tucking a small, lifeless body into Chica’s torso. Blonde curls and a bow. I never asked for her name, I never cared. Reminiscences of my hands on her throat only moments ago were discarded by Henry’s hands suddenly on my own throat. The realization in his eyes burned into anger. I was wearing Spring Bonny that day. His fingers flexed, and I collapsed on the ground as the spring locks he warned me about so many times pierced into me. The last thing I saw before blacking out was him placing Chica’s mask back onto it’s shoulders, hiding the girl.

The anger in his eyes that day, however, is worth nothing to me compared to the horror that filled them days later when I returned to him unexpectedly. He thought he ended it for good. He was mistaken. I told him his son looked just like that girl with curls. It would be a shame if his daughter looked like that too.

He’s been quite cooperative since then. At least until recently. The look in his eyes now: Determination. He’s hiding something.

Charlie’s dialogue when collecting

Photograph ‘Grand Opening’: “The fact that my dad worked with him for so long…. Makes me sick.”

Photograph ‘Christmas ‘79’: “Mine and Sammy’s first Christmas. I guess sweaters were my Dad’s way of dressing formally.”

Fredbear’s blueprint: “Fredbear. I never knew he was his own character, separate from Freddy… I’m sorry you have to be trapped in that... cage, Michael.”

Spring Bonny’s blueprint: “The counterpart to Fredbear. How are they so... cursed? Both only… shadows of what they were supposed to be.”

Fredbear’s springlock: “A spring lock. Gotta be careful with this fella, he’s small but he packs a punch.”

Spring Bonny’s springlock: “This spring lock… the spring is rotating a different direction from the other one I found.”

Afton’s entry 1: “Is this… why he did it? What he did to those kids... to Michael?”

Afton’s entry 2: “This was what dad meant in his tape. This is how he found out. Dad... I’m so sorry.”

[silvanable]

Fly Me to the Moon : William Shakespeare

i’m a shakespeare whore. i think that’s explanation enough—

kidding, sort of...

any who, i wrote this on the 17th/18th what is time i’m pulling an all nighter lol & wanted to wait to post it on christmas so it’s likely you’re reading this then. i hate the holidays, for stupid reasons really, but i figured after cranking out the angst for the season which will obviously be posted before this, i should sort of make up for it with fluff so all my readers don’t sacrifice me for punching them in the gut and drinking their tears—

like i said before, will is shady but i love him and honestly i can’t help and want to be soft. so this is really super self indulgent. there’s also a song attached, while the reader could be any gender i used annapantsu’s version because i adore the softness of her version in this one~

happy holidays and merry christmas to those who celebrate! here’s my apology gift to all my wonderful followers~ ♡

↪  GUIDELINES

✒ tags : reader-insert, fluff, puck wants cuddles too

✒ warnings : n/a

✒ word count : 1591

The soft patter of your feet was hushed by the rug beneath you. Bare feet tickled by the plush and fuzzy material that caressed your toes with each step.

You had come home from being out all day, seeing old friends you would say, despite them being rather new to you as was the era. That was not of any importance though— what mattered now was the whereabouts of your lover.

You were certain he was still here, as you had asked him in the morning if he had plans, and all that had come of the conversation was that he intended to work on his plays. You had wished him luck, a kiss to his cheek goodbye, not taking note of how those bi-colored eyes trailed after your figure as you flitted away.

Your goal was in sight as you sauntered down the hall with a skip to your step, eager to greet him and fall into his embrace. He was just beyond the cracked door of the study.

A hand delicately pressed against the stained, smooth door to open it. Your voice flitted over the air in greeting eagerly, “William, I’m—”

Where you found your poet and playwright was where you had expected him… mostly.

It was a rather adorable sight, one that had caught you off guard.

Stretched over the muted rose-hued chaise was William, stretched languidly and so unguardedly. A hand curled against his cheek while his chin dipped against his chest, which rose and fell in deep, peaceful breathes. Papers littered over his lower abdomen and lap— one still loosely held in the hand that had fallen towards the floor, above yet another few pages scattered across the plush carpet.

One of your hands came to gently press against your mouth, hiding the growing smile and stifling the sweet laughter that threatened to pour from your lips.

The slight noise of your amusement caused a bundle of tawny fur— one you had missed moments before— to stir.

Eyes of amber and scarlet blinked open towards you. A pink nose wiggled, small whiskers shivered in response. Long, soft ears stretched up and towards you.

In acknowledgment of your presence, Puck stood up and bounced from his perk at William’s side, bounding over to your feet with a strange eagerness.

He was a curious rabbit, unafraid of you and so excited by your appearance now, and you adored it.

“Hi, Puck,” You greeted the bunny, scooping him into your hands from off the floor.

A bundle of fur in hand, you stroked him gently between the ears as you quietly crept forward. You rounded the low table between the seating arrangements and towards the chaise.

Once more, Puck was on the plush seat, taking the initiative to return to his place nestled between his loving owner’s arm and side.

You smiled at the action before turning your attention to the floor.

Toes gently brushed against the corner of the pages as you shifted, moving to bend and pick them up. You were careful as you slipped the one from his fingers and collected the others from your lover’s lap— cautiously so as not to disturb his much-needed rest.

Smooth paper shuffled through your fingers, doing your best to organize them in the somewhat order you retrieved them. More or less satisfied with them, you placed the stack on the elongated table.

Puck all the while watched your movement, curious to what you might be doing. It was only when you were done and turned towards him and his owner, did you both make eye contact.

Sometimes the watchful intelligence beyond those heterochromatic eyes was unnerving— always so observant and keen much like…

Your eyes softened as they found their way to William’s peaceful expression.

Just like him. Always mindful and attentive to the details around him.

The soft smile never faltered from your lips, it only grew.

You lowered yourself to the carpet. Your fingers carefully intertwined with William’s hand available to you. Your cheek pressed against the cushiony side of the furniture as you nestled beside the chaise.

Eyes lovingly flickered up to examine the face of your lover— glowing with unspoken admiration and adoration.

Sometimes you wished there was a way you could express yourself as he did. His words were always so sweet, so ladened with beautiful poetry and care. Each verse that left his lips, no matter the moment, always seemed so carefully crafted as if he had spent years perfecting it just for your ears.

The pleasant thought lulled you, your fingers curled further against his palm and brushed over his knuckles. The silence wrapped around you like a calming blanket.

Your eyes fluttered shut as you took a deep breath.

A quiet hum vibrated from your throat.

“Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars...”

Your lips moved, tongue forming words as you breathed the familiar song from your time.

“Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars,”

The melody ghosted from your lips and filled the room.

“In other words, hold my hand,” You smiled sweetly, “In other words, baby, kiss me,”

Puck blinked slowly at you, eyes half-lidded as he listened to the soft melody of your voice, coaxing the bundle of fluff to sleep as his ear twitched gently.

“Fill my heart with song and let me sing forevermore,”

You hand not noticed how the hand in your own twitched, curling further into your touch.

“You are all I long for— all I worship and adore,”

Mismatched eyes fluttered open and as they fell on your face, a small smile pulled on thin lips.

“In other words, please be true— In other words, I love you.”

“If thee had not stolen my heart already, thou song would have bewitched me to fall under thy spell, my loving siren.”

The gasp fright that left your lips caused a faint chuckle to fall from his luscious lips. The sound was a melody of its own to your ears and soothed the frantic beat of your heart as it threatened to burst from your chest.

“Did I wake you? I’m sorry,” You whispered quietly, shyly as your blush crept up to your ears.

William adored the sudden shyness.

“If I had known speaking would silence thy sweet song, I would have remained in my own silence a while longer,” He drew himself off the chaise to sit up. Your hand was pulled up to his lips, where he placed a delicate kiss against your knuckles.

Puck was rather displeased at the sudden movement, displaced from his comfort.

You, on the other hand, flushed with a soft tint over your cheeks.

“Will thy come closer for me?” His voice was gentle with the question. Crimson and amber eyes begged and coaxed you to comply.

“Yes,” The word left you breathless.

Your hand was pulled forward, your body followed it without question, led straight into the waiting arms of your lover.

Pulled against a warm chest, wrapped in inviting arms, you fell into the embrace with a content sigh. You prepared to sink into the peace, into the comfort you so wanted, only to be disturbed as William shifted.

With careful movements— as not to push you off the narrow chaise or squish the wriggling bunny that wedged himself between you— you were set on your side for better comfort. In the next moment, you found William nestled against you. His head rested against your chest, ear pressed to your ribcage to listen to the steady and melodic beat of your heart with a content sigh.

The surprise that had briefly touched you was replaced by a glow in your heart, warming your chest as you smiled sweetly down at the man that held you so close.

You wrapped your arms around him in return, cuddling him closer to you, to envelop him in your presence.

And Puck’s— who vehemently nudged himself between you two where your thighs touched, clearly not appreciative of being squashed and forced to move to another place.

A soft chuckle left your lips in a short puff, an action that shook your shoulder and echoed in your chest— a detail the poet pressed against you had not missed.

“My love, my dearest ladybird, would thou grace me with your sweet songs once more?” The request was spoken softly against your chest, the warmth of his breath tickled your throat.

You hummed in response, the sound vibrated and low in your chest.

“Fill my heart with song, let me sing forevermore,”

Your voice filled the room. A soft, lulling sound that brought an unexplainable peace to William.

“You are all I long for, all I worship and adore,”

Your fingers found their way to his hair, threading the soft locks through them as you drew circles in his shoulder.

“In other words, please be true,”

The softness of your tone as it played such a sweet melody soothed him. He nestled further into your loving arms, enjoying the feel of your fingers that combed through his hair.

“In other words,”

His breath matched with yours, chest easing in slow rises and falls as the comfort of your touch and embrace lulled him to peace once more.

“Oh, in other words...”

You smiled down at William, basking in the joy that his serene expression gave you. You lifted your head from the plush comfort that supported it to place your lips softly in the sweetest against the top of his head.

“I love you.”

[virgojeons]

true love (jjk)

summary: you and jungkook spend your first christmas together. 

alternatively, a merry love story based on the lyrics of true love by ariana grande.

genre: fluff, humor, college au, established relationship, holiday series, jeon jungkook x reader

word count: 4.6k

warnings: cursing, implied sexual content, excessive use of pet names

wattpad version here, ao3 version here

a/n: well, here i am!! pls be gentle with me, this is the first time ive ever posted my writing on here and ive been debating it for months lmao. i truly truly hope u enjoy!!

on the first day of christmas when you gave me all them kisses, boy you showed me things, come hold me please and never let me go.

"Five days until Christmas and you're still decorating the tree?"

You yelped at the sudden sound of your boyfriend's voice, dropping your over-accessorized ornament and watching helplessly as it shattered against the floor.

Immediately, you whined. "Jungkook!"

Jungkook suppressed a grin at the furrow of your eyebrows and the pout of your lips, kicking his shoes off and tossing his coat onto the couch. He didn't mean to scare you, really. You even knew he was coming over. It's just that you left the front door unlocked (as you always did when he was on his way, despite him constantly scolding you for it) and there was no way you would've heard him come in over the sound of Jingle Bell Rock blaring through the house.

"Sorry, baby," He chuckled, bending down beside you to help pick up the remnants of your best ornament. "I didn't mean to scare you."

You glared at him in between collecting the shards of glass in your hand. "I spent hours making that."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Hot glue gun burns, sparkles stuck on my face and everything."

Jungkook took the pieces of glass from you with an amused look on his face, standing from his kneeling position to toss them in the trash can you had earlier moved to the living room for easy access. "I'm sorry. I'll make you another one."

"It's not the same." You sulked, finding fun in being stubborn and giving him a hard time. It was getting increasingly difficult though, with his rosy nose and ears and that little gleam in his eyes.

It was then that he made his first move of the night, tugging you by your oversized Rudolph sweater so quickly that you had to latch onto his shoulders for leverage with a squeal. His grin only seemed to grow once you were officially in his space, taking notice of your lack of pants and the snowflake stockings that appeared to be in their place instead.

"You don't look too sorry," You chuckled, heart stuttering at the way he was gazing down at you in such close proximity.

Jungkook shrugged, nudging his nose with yours. "I'm just happy."

They were such simple words, but it was the way he said them, the way he looked at you when he said them. You couldn’t lie, the excitement of spending your first Christmas together, completely alone, was incredibly infectious. It was gross and it was corny and everything else you swore you would never be, but you were in love with Jungkook. Devastatingly so. You from nine months ago probably wouldn’t even recognize the present you; a fact that friends, family, and even Jungkook alike loved to tease you about. Cracking the so-called ice queen was a feat to be celebrated, apparently. Whatever. He was yours and you were his so you didn’t quite care about the technicalities of it. Even if the story went a bit differently, in your opinion. 

The brutal snow and temperatures of February were beginning to fade into spring when you met Jungkook. 

You and Jimin had been attempting to finish your economics homework together in your favorite coffee shop; a hidden treasure that was a ten minute walk from campus and ticked all your aesthetic boxes. You two were sipping from your respective hot drinks, neglecting your heaps of bookwork in favor of discussing the new season of Stranger Things. Jimin was deep into his theory of Hopper still being alive when his eyes flickered to the door at the sound of the bell, widening slightly in recognition before a bright smile took over his face.

"Jungkook!" Jimin called, waving whoever it was over.

You followed his gaze and turned your head in the direction of the entrance, growing curious when the boy walking towards your table wasn't familiar to you. It took you less than five seconds to realize that the boy in question was attractive. 

Like, extremely attractive. The kind of attractive that should not be subjected to the way you look right now. 

It took you even less time to whip your head back around, glaring at Jimin with wide eyes and a panicked expression.

He met your glare with a confused scrunch of his eyebrows before it slowly transformed into a smirk, quickly catching on to what your pointed look was for. The night before had been a late one. You, like any other normal millennial, had impulse bought a pretty yellow Nintendo Switch solely for the new Animal Crossing game. As soon as it arrived on your doorstep you were retreating into your room, tearing the package open with squeals of excitement.

Maybe you completely lost track of time and played until your eyes were bloodshot and you heard birds chirping outside. Maybe you got an astounding two hours of sleep. And maybe you had fallen asleep without setting an alarm and woke up thirty minutes later than usual. 

The details were insignificant though, because you were throwing on a pair of leggings and the first sweatshirt you saw, brushing your hair and your teeth, and hastily sprinting to your car all in record time.

No sleep. No makeup. No breakfast. And worst of all, no coffee.

And so, it was blatantly clear you had no desire to let a boy that beautiful even glance at you in that state, let alone introduce himself. But it didn't look like you had a choice in the matter, because moments later he was towering over your table with a stupidly handsome smile.

Jungkook grinned, reaching out to do that Weird Bro Handshake with Jimin. "Hey, Chim."

You were already plotting various methods of painful revenge in your head.

"Hey, Kook. What are you doing here?"

"I kind of work here," He chuckled. "Well, as of like, yesterday. Today's my first day."

"Oh, so this is the new job you were telling me about," Jimin nodded in realization, then his eyes flickered mischievously to yours. You’re rapidly shaking your head. "You know, this is my friend ___'s favorite coffee spot."

A scowl immediately takes over your face, only to be wiped off and replaced by a sickeningly sweet smile when Jungkook turns his head to look your way. The instant your eyes meet his you quite literally want to melt into the floor. 

Jungkook smiles at you. Like, really smiles. "Hey, that's cool. We'll probably be seeing a lot of each other then, right?"

Across the table, Jimin snorts, which only adds to the way your cheeks are absolutely flaming. You send a harsh kick to Jimin's leg as inconspicuously as you can, all while batting your eyelashes at Jungkook.

"Uh, yeah! We probably... will."

Jungkook looks positively amused, but if he notices Jimin rushing to clutch his leg, he doesn't say anything.

"Sweet," He grins again. There's a brief few seconds where you two are just gazing at each other, stupid and shy, until Jimin loudly clears his throat. "Right, well, I should probably go clock in. Let's chill sometime this week, Chim."

"Sure thing." Jimin sings, smugness plastered all over his face.

Jungkook waves, already backing away from the table with his eyes on you. "Nice meeting you."

You feel yourself flush again and you absolutely hate it. "Nice meeting you too."

With a final smile, Jungkook disappears behind the employee doors. The moment he leaves your eyes are screwed shut and you're slamming your head against the table. The silence speaks for itself. You don't even need to see Jimin's face to know that he's either smirking or stifling his laughter.

"Don't." You warn.

"You just blushed," He says anyway. "Like, four times."

"I most definitely did not blush."

"You did. You still are."

"I'm embarrassed!" You wail. "That's literally the only reason why. I look like I got ran over and dragged for three blocks."

"Jungkook sure doesn't seem to think so," Jimin hums, snickering as he sips his coffee.

"Stop."

"He likes you." He insists.

"He was just being polite." You defend.

"That is literally my childhood best friend. I think I would know."

This makes you pause. Then you sigh. "He doesn't even know me."

He doesn’t disagree. But then again, "Not yet."

"Stop trying to play matchmaker, Jimin. He said five words to me," You spoke firmly, exasperated as you downed the final sip of your latte. "Plus, I'm just focusing on me and my degree right now. No distractions."

Jimin knew that you were already worn out, and even though he was mostly joking around, he wouldn’t want to push you any further. He’d drop it.

"Fine. We'll see who's right in the end, though."

For now.

"I will dump that hot coffee over your head."

As it turns out, Jimin was kind of right.

It takes a grand total of four visits to your favorite coffee shop before Jungkook asks you out. The first time you were by yourself, nose buried in a book as Jungkook was clocking in. He wasn't able to speak to you until about an hour later, when the morning rush had passed and you had finally lifted your head from whatever was in that book. 

You were honestly dreading facing him again, but you were prepared and actually presentable this time. Also you were kind of starving. And so, you hesitantly approached the counter. Jungkook took your order, both of you all fidgeting hands and sheepish smiles. You mentally patted yourself on the back when you spoke without any real mess-ups, and prayed that the cool girl aura you always tried so desperately to maintain was being transmitted. 

Not like you were trying to leave a lasting impression, or anything.

He hand delivered you your coffee and muffin with a beaming grin, all while his new boss glared at him from behind the counter. He didn't have to know that you knew cashiers weren't supposed to serve the food.

The second visit was a few days after. You were with Jimin again, shooting down every jab he made about you only wearing a pretty dress because you knew you would be coming here. Jungkook joined you both during his break. As soon as he untied his apron and sat himself directly across from you, it struck. You knew you were screwed. You just couldn't stop staring at him. The chin in the palm of your hands and sparkles in your eyes type of staring. You would be much more ashamed if you couldn’t see the way he was staring right back. Jimin found this hilarious, of course, and would subtly find ways to connect you two in conversation. You weren't sure if you loved or hated him for it.

It was that visit that Jungkook insisted on sharing his slice of strawberry cake with you, claiming he wasn't that hungry. The both of you were embarrassed, whacking his arm and dismissing him as Jimin complained about being the third wheel. By the end of his break, Jungkook was positively smitten, you were begrudgingly infatuated, and Jimin was awfully smug. He reluctantly said bye to you both, and you were slouching forward with your head in your hands the moment he disappeared from visibility.

Jimin looked extremely pleased. "Believe me now?"

"Focusing on school," You protested. It was a weak one, but. Well.

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" He mused.

And suddenly, you were frantic. Panicking. This was definitely not a part of the plan.

Quickly packing up your things, you groaned loudly. "You. Maybe me. Or both. I can't think in this place anymore."

"You'll be all over each other by next week."

"Shh!" You were childishly covering your ears and speed-walking out of the café.

Try as you might, you couldn't help yourself and returned the very next day after all your classes had finished. Jungkook was already there when you walked in, taking a customer's order but doing a double take and flashing you a smile when you appeared in his line of sight. This visit consisted of nothing but pretending.

Pretending to be studying. Pretending you weren't listening to him take orders just to hear his voice. Pretending you weren't sneaking glances at him. Pretending that the way your eyes kept meeting wasn't making your skin prickle. And you were just fine pretending, until suddenly he was in the seat across from with you his apron off and a steaming hot chocolate in hand. You tried your hardest to remain indifferent, you really did. But then he was pushing the beverage towards you with gentle eyes and his smile hopeful, telling you it was his treat because he noticed how hard you were studying. And then you were melting right along with the marshmallows in that mug.

The two of you talked about your majors, your families, your favorite shows, even Jimin. You asked about his tattoos and he explained them with ease. You also may have pulled out one of the oldest tricks in the book at the sight of his knuckle tattoos, gasping in feigned wonder when you pulled his hand against yours to measure the size difference. 

His hand could swallow yours whole and still have some leftover, you discovered. It was a very rewarding experiment.

You made each other laugh and blush down to the very last second of his break. Scarily enough, being in each other's presence was so annoyingly addictive that you found yourself hesitant to watch him leave. You could tell Jungkook felt the same by the way he dragged out his goodbyes. I work again on Thursday, maybe I'll see you then? Your fingers brushed as he softly took the mug from you. It was really fun talking to you. You were biting your lip to keep from smiling embarrassingly big. You look really pretty today, by the way. And then he was off.

You made a strangled noise the second you were outside with your fingers frantically beginning to type a message to Jimin.

promise not to say i told you so :///

Jungkook asked you out on your fourth visit. As soon as you approached the counter, he just blurted it out. As if it was something he couldn't hold on his tongue any longer. You couldn't hear yourself say yes over your brain malfunctioning and the powerful thumping of your heart, but you knew you did. His heartbreakingly gorgeous grin told you so.

On his break, Jungkook brought you a latte with a heart carved in the cream. You just couldn't conceal the coo that escaped you, which quickly resulted in his cheeks reddening. 

Cute, you thought. 

He quizzed you on your personality and the type of activities you liked to do, admitting that he would use the information to conjure up the best date you would ever go on. Six days later, Jungkook stayed true to his word. Not only was it the best date you had ever been on, but you were completely certain it would ruin any other dates for you moving forward, unless they were with him. Much to your annoyance and also utter delight, you were so sure of Jeon Jungkook and your brief but striking time together that you kissed him. Right on the swings of your favorite childhood playground, first date rules tossed aside.

He was so caught off guard that his eyes expanded to twice their normal size and your teeth banged together. You drew back, slightly mortified and ready to jump to your death from the tallest slide on the playground, but Jungkook was huffing a laugh onto your lips and grabbing your face like it was nothing. Then you two got it just right, and something clicked. The earth fell off its axis and you were rendered breathless and all that nauseating cliché shit you chastised as a myth. And from that day forward, you two were completely, tooth-rottingly, inseparable.

"Easy," Jungkook proclaimed, pecking your lips. "We finished the tree."

He set you back on the floor gently, releasing a dramatic breath of air as if lifting you to place the star on top of the tree had actually winded him. As if he wasn't a muscle pig. You rolled your eyes and told him as much.

"Don't be a baby, muscle pig," You shoved at his bicep, only proving your point further when he didn't move an inch. ‘And I finished the tree.”

Instead, he caught the hand that you nudged him with and pulled your back to his chest, caging you between his arms. "Muscle pig, huh? That's what you think of me, baby?"

You flushed at the teasing lilt in his voice, suddenly very eager to escape his hold. But try as you might, he just wouldn't budge. A loud laugh left your throat as you flailed in his grasp, his muscled arms bulging in the turtleneck you bought him for his birthday a few months ago. Suddenly, you decided that you would be returning it for your own personal peace.

A high pitched whine left your mouth, one that lost all its seriousness once it was drowned out by your giggles. "Jungkook, let go of me!"

You would just not stop wiggling, and Jungkook could not stop laughing. He could live the rest of his life like this, his brain pauses to think. He's so happy.

And when you're thrashing so violently that your heel kicks his pocket with a force that has an object clattering onto the floor, Jungkook has never reacted faster in his life. Instantly your imprisonment is gone, and Jungkook is on your floor in a flash. Your eyebrows draw together at the sight of him scrambling for whatever it is, and all you're able to see is a sleek black case before he's quickly stuffing it back in his pocket.

You're eyeing him when he rises back on his feet. "Feel like sharing?"

Jungkook whistles noncommittally. "Not particularly, no."

There's a drawn-out beat of silence where you're just gazing at each other, neither one of you backing down. And then you're crossing your arms, and he's looking at your nose and your forehead and anywhere but your eyes, and then you're arching an eyebrow. He looks at you and breaks. Defeat.

"It's your present," He lets out a heavy sigh. "Well, the main one anyway."

You positively squeal. "Ooh! Can I see? Please?"

"Baby, it's the 20th."

"Can I have a hint?"

Jungkook blinks. "No, you cannot have a hint."

You're instantly pouting, but Jungkook expects that, because he knows you better than anyone else. Which is why he knows that you're a little spoiled, with a bit of a bratty streak, with just a dash of calculated charm that you use to your advantage to get just about anything you want. He's never seen it as a bad thing. In fact, he finds it cute. A little hot, too, if he's being truthful.

Anyway, he came prepared. Just as you're opening your mouth to no doubt make him spill the surprise, he's hushing you with a bruising kiss to your lips. The kind of kiss that makes you go pliant against him, the kind that makes you make a little noise in the back of your throat. The kind you've been waiting for all night. 

It’s the trick that never truly runs its course. 

And Jungkook is melting, too. Melting, turning to mush at your very feet, until you're moving backwards and clutching at his shoulders, ready to push him onto the couch.

"Mmm," He's humming against you, before he reluctantly draws back. He lets you chase his lips once, twice, before he chuckles lowly. "Hold on, angel."

You're suddenly feeling warm all over after his kisses, wanting nothing more than to cuddle into him into the couch and feel him next to you. Or maybe above you. With that chain you always tugged on dangling in your face. You really weren't picky.

You watched Jungkook break away from you and rummage through his bag with a frown and a newfound heat at the pit of your belly. "It can't wait?"

Like he said, he knows you, which means he knew kisses alone wouldn’t be able to satiate you nor get you to stop asking questions for the entire week. No matter how mind-numbing they may be.

"One second," He promised, and you definitely counted at least five, but he quickly found what he was looking for all the same. "I brought a surprise. Well, two surprises."

He was holding both of his hands behind his back with this stupid grin on his face. You squinted for a few seconds, suspicious, before breathing out a laugh. "Are you ever gonna show me?"

Jungkook looked way too happy with himself.

"The most important surprise is mistletoe, obviously. Gonna have to find a way to glue it on to the ceiling above your bed." And there was that mischievous little smile that told you he had every intention of carrying that out.

You folded your arms over your body and scoffed. Even if you were trying and failing to keep your lips from quirking up and possibly, maybe finding it a little harder to breathe all of a sudden. "You're unbelievable, Jeon."

He just winked and held up his other hand, pulling a gasp from your lips the second you realized what it was.

"The Polar Express!"

"I had to check like, four different stores in the mall to find it. That's why I got here a little late, by the way. But I thought we could make some hot chocolate like in the movie and watch it together and," Jungkook pauses to think, licking his lips. "There's a 'ride my train' joke in here somewhere but I don't know how to say it."

He's snorting at his own delivery before you are, and once your giggles permeate the air he's invading your space again with a lovesick smile.

"You are the sweetest boy," You praise, holding his pretty face with both hands and peppering small kisses all over it the way he secretly likes. "But you make me sick to my stomach sometimes."

If anything, this makes him smile even wider. "I love you too, baby."

You and Jungkook are in complete darkness besides the light coming from the TV in your room playing Polar Express. His head is on your shoulder with his arm strewn across your waist, and his entire leg slotted between yours. He's soft. He smells like the lavender body soap you keep in your shower. His gentle breaths hit your neck every time he exhales and you're now cliché enough to believe that the heart underneath you beats in tandem with yours. 

Both of your stomachs are filled from the takeout he ordered for dinner and the peppermint hot chocolate you made while he was in the shower. You're still mentally replaying the moment he stepped back in your room, towel wrapped around his waist with droplets of water cascading down his body. His prominent abs and tattoos and wet hair had you scrambling to sit up, clearing your throat as you tasked yourself with handing him his mug. If he noticed you ogling him, he surely didn’t react to it.

Made us some cocoa, you said.

He brought the beverage to his nose and sniffed once, twice, before his entire face bunched up. Peppermint is nasty. Then he was gulping it down.

I thought it was nasty, you laughed in disbelief.

Nothing you make me can be nasty. Thank you, baby.

And now you’re thoroughly warm from the tips of your fingertips down to your toes, and you figure it has less to do with the cocoa and more with the way Jungkook so obviously loves you. The way you love him.

Feeling a tugging at your shirt, you look down to see him peering up at you with a dazed twinkle in his eye. "You're not hot in this?"

You purse your lips and pause, knowing what was coming. "No. Are you?"

He has the decency to look a little clueless. He was always doing that, in a playfully childish way you grew to love.

"Actually, yeah I am," Jungkook furrows his brows, like it was something he was just now realizing. And then he's sitting up and pulling his shirt over his head, and you're instantly staring at his back and remembering the way it feels to rake your fingers up and down it, and he's turning back to you with a lazy smirk. "You don't wanna take yours off, angel?"

You swallow. "I'm okay."

Jungkook starts to laugh, that cocky laugh that is equal parts douchebag-ish and sexy. He's most definitely turning you on and he most definitely knows this, which is why you're glaring at him until he reaches over you and picks up the mistletoe from your bedside desk. He dangles it over your heads, makes sure to wriggle his eyebrows suggestively when he does it, and you want to laugh, you really do. You would probably roll your eyes and call him a nerd too while you were at it, if it weren't for the way he was changing his position and starting to lean over you. Crowding your space in your favorite way. 

Jungkook hears your breathing pick up once you're directly under him, watches the way your lips part and your eyes change for him, and decides to go for the kill.

Nothing about the kiss was soft or gentle. Jungkook clearly had a point to prove and knew how he wanted to do it. The dangling mistletoe was soon forgotten in favor of holding your face by your chin, landing with a chime on your wooden floors. He worked your mouth open in that sloppy, messy, dirty way he only exhibited when he was feeling particularly desperate. Saliva pooled at the corners of your mouth and you were trembling underneath him, clutching at the warm skin of his back. It was nasty, absolutely obscene the way his tongue was in your mouth like his life depended on it. And you loved it. You couldn't stop making these little sounds, and Jungkook was groaning into your mouth right along with you. You were seconds away from pleading for him to do anything he wanted, to make you his, when he's abruptly pulling from you with a wet pop and a string of saliva between you.

Your ragged breaths fill the air, both of your chests heaving as you take a second to attempt to drag yourself out of the haze he's built around you two.

The asshole has the audacity to laugh. "Hot yet?"

"You don't have to bring out the mistletoe to kiss me, you know." You eventually say instead.

"I know," He pants, still smiling like the all-consuming beauty he is. "But you love Christmas. And it's our first. Wanna do it right."

You feel the need to close your eyes, let his words sink in, and so you do. You let the statement blanket over you until you're positively beaming, and when you open your eyes, he is the same. You are so irreversibly in love and you think he might be perfect. You tell him as much.

"You're perfect," You say, all soft and starry eyed. You're nodding when he starts shaking his head, and when the tips of his ears begin to turn red and he's putting his head down, you're giggling and putting both hands on either side of his head to get his eyes back on yours. "I love you a lot."

Jungkook is so happy. "Love you most."

And then he's leaning down again. This kiss is much less frantic, more steady, but still passionate and still with Jungkook, which means it fills your body with heat all the same. Your head is floating and you're squirming under his hold again when you break apart for air.

There's no point in trying to resist him anymore. You never can.

"I'm gonna take my sweater off now."

Jungkook scrunches his nose, and grins. "Okay."

read part two here!

[ideasthatbuildcities]

Hello everyone! I’m going to post this Holiday gift for @ruddcatha because she was my giftee fot the Inuyasha Fandom Sceret Santa ( @iyfss)!

I really hope you like this and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to post it sooner.

 At first I wasn’t really sure what to write but after bouncing some ideas off with the amazing @witchygirl99 she helped me a little and this One-shot came to be. It’s just really a fluff peace, really, really, really fluffy that I hope you like and it’s something that resembles what you had in mind when you wrote your prompt.

Christmas Traditions

“Momma, what are you doing?” a soft voice asked behind her. Kagome smiled and looked down to her little girl.

“I’m doing a little bit of Christmas decoration,” she replied with a soft voice while she crouched down to be eye to eye with her daughter.

“Christmas?” the little girl asked, enjoying how that new word sounded in her mouth. 

“Yes, honey, Christmas. We celebrate it every year, and now you get to be a part of it!” she exclaimed. 

The little girl exclaimed and started jumping around repeating the word “Christmas” over and over again and Kagome couldn’t help but smile. Now that Moroha was a little older than four years old, she started to be more talkative and loved expanding her vocabulary and learning new things. Kagome didn’t know how involved Moroha would want to be with Christmas but she was secretly hoping that she would be able to share some things she used to do with her own mother when she was a child.

“Dad is picking the perfect tree for us, Moroha,” she smiled at the thought of Inuyasha looking for the perfect tree for their family. He didn’t quite understand the idea of Christmas, but he knew it was important to Kagome, so he did his best to help in any way he could. She wanted the three of them to go and look for the tree together, but Inuyasha insisted that she stayed inside since it was cold and he didn’t want her to catch a cold in her condition.

Kagome put her hand on her belly and felt a strong kick on her hand. Yes, it’s definitely going to be a boy this time. She knew Inuyasha was going to pick the perfect tree for them, but she was really looking forward to the whole family to go together. 

Well, we’ll go next year.

“Tree? What do we do with it?” she asked, curiosity lighting up her face.

“We put it inside our house, it’s going to be over there,” she explained, pointing at a spot in their hut. “And we decorate it with ornaments,” she paused, waiting for Moroha to ask her mandatory question.

“What is that? Ornament…” Moroha softly repeated after asking her question. 

“It’s what we use to decorate our tree. We are going to make our own ornaments, like I used to do with my mother,” Kagome smiled, melancholy showing in her features. She really missed her family and would love for her mother to meet Moroha, but she knew that was impossible. 

“And how do we do that?” 

“Look,” she replied, showing her daughter all sorts of dry flowers that she had been collecting during the last spring. There were also little sticks, thread, paper, some dark ink, some twigs and leaves.

“We can grab this,” she said pointing at a flower in her hand, “And we can use this thread to tie it together with this other flower,” Kagome replied while showing Moroha how to do it.

“Momma, it’s beautiful!” the little girl exclaimed as she grabbed some twigs and started tying them together. 

While Moroha was busy making her own ornaments, Kagome looked at some leaves and smiled to herself. Maybe she was about to get into the naughty list, but she didn’t care. She was a married woman, after all. After grabbing some thread, she started to work.

“What is that?” she heard her daughter ask, again.

“It’s a mistletoe,” Kagome replied, holding it in the air. 

“A mistle-what?” Even though Moroha was trying to do her best when incorporating new words, some words were plain impossible to her. 

“A mistletoe, we hang it in the ceiling and when dad and mom or uncle Miroku and auntie Sango are under it, they have to kiss! Moroha, you are in charge of reminding everyone of their duty under the mistletoe!” Kagome declared as she smiled. 

“I will do it, mom!” Moroha exclaimed in all seriousness. 

They spent the whole afternoon crafting their own ornaments, Kagome being so relieved and happy that Moroha loved their new tradition. She was quite surprised with how good and creative was Moroha with the limited crafting materials she provided. She knew she was doing her best but she couldn’t help to think about how much Moroha would love to see the ornaments from her time so colourful and full of life. Suddenly, a noise outside the hut pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Daddy, you are back!” she heard Moroha say. 

“Keh, of course I’m back!” Inuyasha replied while shrugging the snow off his shoulders. “And look what I brought! I picked the perfect tree!” he said proudly. Kagome could swear she saw him puffing his chest at that statement. 

She looked at the tree Inuyasha had picked and he was saying the truth; he did pick the perfect tree. It was full of leaves and it perfectly fit the spot they had picked for the tree. It wasn’t too big but it wasn’t too small, either. It was, like he had said, perfect.

“Welcome home, Inuyasha,” she said while she greeted him with a kiss.

“And what have you been up to?” Inuyasha asked while putting his hand on Kagome’s belly, greeting their unborn child. 

“Daddy, daddy, we’ve been making ornaments for the tree!” Moroha explained, happy to be able to share her work with her father. “Look, I did this!” she said while handing him a tiny stick figure made out of twigs. The stick man seemed to have a sword. “That 's you!! I wasn’t able to give him your ears, though,” Moroha pouted while explaining her failure.

Kagome was able to see how Inuyasha’s eyes were full of love when he saw what Moroha had done. Even though she would never say it out loud, she saw how a little tear that threatened to fall was quickly blinked into oblivion. 

“Thank you, honey, I love it,” Inuyasha simply replied as he leaned down and kissed Moroha on her temple. After a few seconds of silence, Inuyasha spoke again. “Do you want me to put down the tree so you can start decorating it?”

“Yes!! Do it, do it!” she started jumping up and down again. 

This girl really has a lot of stamina. Kagome thought while shaking her head.

Once Inuyasha made sure that the tree wasn’t going to fall off, he announced that Moroha might start decorating it. When Kagome made an attempt to stand up and start helping with the decorations, Inuyasha motioned her to sit down again.

“You already did a lot of work while crafting these ornaments Kagome, you need to rest,” he said smiling down at her. “I will let you tell me where they go.”

Kagome laughed at that comment, knowing that she could actually be a little picky when it came to how the tree should be decorated. After a few hours of Inuyasha and Moroha decorating the tree, Inuyasha grabbed the mistletoe Kagome had made and was about to put it on the tree when Moroha stopped him on his tracks.

“No! Dad, stop! That doesn’t go there!” she practically screamed as if that simple act had offended her, the tree and Christmas itself. Inuyasha looked at Kagome and she playfully smiled, playing dumb and looking at Moroha as if she held all the answers.

“That’s a mistletoe and has to be hung from the ceiling! Mom said you will hang it when you come back!” Moroha explained.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome. She was suppressing a laugh so hard that he swore she was about to give birth on the spot. He shook his head. 

“And where should I hang it?” Inuyasha playfully asked. 

“There,” Kagome replied, pointing at a place near the fire. 

Inuyasha did as he was told, paying close attention to whatever Moroha had to add to that matter. She surely was as talkative as her mother. 

Kagome stood close to Inuyasha while he finished hanging the mistletoe and smiled at him. For a moment, they forgot about everything and stared deeply into each other’s eyes. Inuyasha’s eyes were warm and full of love, as were Kagome’s.

“Dad, you have to kiss mom! You are both under the mistletoe!” Moroha stated, happy to be able to carry on with her duty. 

Inuyasha looked at Kagome and she giggled in response.

“Oh, I see why it needed to be hung,” Inuyasha jokingly replied. “I guess I have no other choice,” he said, faking defeat.

He grabbed Kagome by her waist and took her by surprise. Kagome gasped, not expecting the kiss to be that type of kiss, but Inuyasha captured her lips before any sound could come out of her mouth.

The kiss they shared wasn’t passionate, since their four year old was watching, but it was a kiss full of love, where Inuyasha tried to show Kagome how much he loved her and how thankful he was for the life he had with her. Kagome understood as she felt the same way.

XXXXXXXX

After a few days, a few more mandatory mistletoe kisses and making Sango blush and feel awkward being forced to kiss Miroku in front of everyone thanks to the mistletoe, it was Christmas morning and Kagome couldn’t be more excited for the gift exchange.

“Mommy, Daddy, come here, presents appeared under the tree!” Moroha screamed the minute she opened her eyes and saw the tree. 

Of course, it was quite a normal sight, with presents inside bags made out of cloth and nothing spectacular like the ones Kagome used to see in Hollywood films, but it was her own version of Christmas with her family and she honestly didn’t care. It was perfect.

“This one has my name on it!” Moroha exclaimed, eyes beaming with joy. Even though she was still young, she had recently learnt to identify her name.

It had been quite easy, after Moroha fell asleep Kagome and Inuyasha put all the presents under the tree for Moroha to see when she first woke up. They knew it would get harder and harder as each year passed and Moroha’s senses sharpened, but they would enjoy surprising their daughter for as long as they could. 

“Then it must be for you,” Kagome replied with a smile, just waking up and putting a hand on her belly.

Soon you’ll come out and next Christmas you’ll get to have your own presents.

 Moroha opened her present and stared at it, it was a red piece of cloth and she examined it, trying to figure out what it was.

“I don’t know what it is…” the girl said, slouching her little frame.

“Let me see Moroha, bring that over here, maybe we can figure it out together,” Kagome said, unable to move from the bed she shared with Inuyasha. Turns out being pregnant with a hanyou baby was a little more rough on a human body than a normal one; she had learned that with Moroha, and every day that passed made it harder and harder for her to move around.

Moroha sat down between her parents as she grabbed that little piece of red cloth with her hands, she was so careful it seemed she was afraid to break it. 

Kagome pretended to examine it and she even put a hand under her chin, as if she was thinking. After a few seconds she said, “I think I have an idea, come closer, Moroha,”.

When Moroha was well within her reach, she put the cloth on her head, as if it were a headband and made a bow on top of her head.

“Moroha, it looks like you have ears!” Kagome exclaimed, acting surprised.

“What?! Really?!” Moroha asked, her big round eyes filled with hope. She shot her hands right to the top of her head and felt the little fake cloth appendages. “I have ears,” she quietly said, and then she exclaimed once more; “Mom, Dad, I have ears like Dad! Mommy, mommy I want to see!”.

Kagome was overwhelmed with joy to see how that little gesture made Moroha so happy. She knew she felt like something was missing and she wanted to feel special like her dad, as she had put it. It wasn’t something big or expensive, but it was important to Moroha and Kagome wanted to give her the world. 

“Inuyasha, could you please hand me my mirror?” she kindly asked her husband. 

Kagome’s voice seemed to snap Inuyasha out of his state of shock and he went to fetch for it. After a time that seemed like hours to Moroha, he came back with a little mirror and carefully gave it to Moroha.

The little girl looked at her reflection on the mirror and screamed.

“I have ears, like daddy! Look, mom, I have ears like daddy!” she screamed again. Inuyasha could swear he saw how Moroha’s eyes turned glassy as she smiled with pure joy. He tried to fight it, but he also felt how tears began to well up in the corner of his eyes. 

Her daughter wanted to look like him. Her daughter wanted to have the same ears he cursed so many times before. And his wife, his Kagome understood that and wanted to give their daughter the world and make her happy. 

Inuyasha looked at Kagome and caught her looking at him. He knew Kagome loved him with every ounce of her body, she sacrificed everything for him, she gave him Moroha and was carrying their second child. She was the most caring woman in the world and he couldn’t be happier to be allowed to be part of such a loving and caring family.  His chest was swelling with love and gratitude. Even though it was the same promise he made to himself every day, he renewed the vow to make Kagome the happiest woman alive and protect their family at all costs.

Inuyasha got up and grabbed the two presents that were left on the tree. One contained the gift he got Kagome and the other one was Kagome’s present for him. He handed her her present and sat down next to her.

Kagome decided she had the right to open her present first, being pregnant and all, and open her the bag as Moroha sat down on her legs. 

“Mommy what is it?” the little girls asked as Kagome put her hand in the bag and grabbed whatever was inside of it. 

She felt something cold and pulled her hand and looked at it. It was a necklace that contained a pendant with a shape of a little girl that looked incredibly like Moroha. Kagome shot Inuyasha a quizzical look to which Inuyasha replied in a whisper only audible to her. “Once our baby is born, we can have Totosai make you a new pendant to add to your necklace,” he simply said, as if that would answer everything.

But oddly, they were so connected that was all he needed to say. That was enough for her to understand.

“Look baby girl, that’s you! I will carry you with me forever! This is beautiful, I love this present with all my heart,” Kagome said out loud while she hugged Moroha and looked at Inuyasha. It was a look that poured all the love she had for him, and some implication that she would be thanking him later.

“Dad, it’s your turn!” Moroha exclaimed as she jumped out of Kagome’s embrace and crawled over Inuyasha. 

Inuyasha opened his gift and found a bracelet that contained an amulet. He didn’t know what it was, so he looked at Kagome, waiting for her to provide an explanation. 

“It’s a bracelet!” Moroha exclaimed. Kagome was so happy that Moroha was loving the holiday as much as she used to do when she was a child.

“It seems to be a very special bracelet, indeed,” Kagome added, faking curiosity. “It seems to be a bracelet that protects the ones that have something special to protect,” she said as she winked at him.

Inuyasha looked at them both, completely dumbfounded. He knew he loved his family with all his heart, but every time Kagome or Moroha did something, that proved him that he was capable of feeling even more love than he thought he was.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha and she knew exactly what he was thinking, because she was thinking the same. She loved her hanyo and their hanyo children, and even though she sacrificed a lot to be there with him, she would do it all over again. 

“Mom, Dad, I love Christmas!” Moroha screamed beaming with joy and pulled them out of their thoughts. 

“I know Moroha, I love it too,” Kagome said, messing with Moroha’s hair. 

“Mom, careful with my ears!” her daughter said, covering them like her father did every time she wanted to play with his ears.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha and smiled, at the same time she felt a quite strong kick in her belly. She was about to put a hand on her belly until she felt Inuyasha’s big hand on her.

“Easy boy, let mommy rest,” Inuyasha said while stroking her belly.

“How did you know it was kicking?” Kagome asked, surprised.

“You tend to make a face whenever he’s being rough with you,” he simply said. 

Kagome smiled at Inuyasha and leaned in to kiss him, to which Inuyasha immediately responded. 

“Mom, dad! You are supposed to kiss under the mistletoe!” Moroha exclaimed, laughing.

Kagome smiled, she had everything she could have ever asked for and more. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yay! This was my first time participating in Secret Santa so I’m really happy to be part of this. I really hope you like your present @ruddcatha!

I Googled and Christmas was celebrated in Japan for the first time in the 1500 so I said, why not? Let Kagome and Inuyasha’s family be the one to start that, lol. I’m going to apologyze if I made Moroha be not realistic at all or I didn’t make her behave as four year old should, I haven’t been around kids that small in a while, so I did my best and I googled a few things. I hope she’s not too off. 

Anyway, thank you so much for reading this little fluffy one-shot <3! Merry Christmas everyone!

[purplesurveys]

1277

Who are you most nervous about introducing potential significant others to?  Ooooh moving forward, probably Angela hahahaha I have no idea how I’d break it to her if ever I do start seeing somebody again. She’s well aware of all the shit that I let slide so she might get intense with the scrutineering.

What is the most exciting thing about your life right now?  Just the fact that I feel on top of the world these days. My days of being depressed and picking at my insecurities seem to be far behind me and the change has looked to be apparent coming from friends who’ve told me I seem happier, louder these days.

What was the most important non-academic thing you learned in high school?  To not be scared to fight harder for the things you believe in or what make up your identity, coming from having to hide a same-sex relationship during that period. That feeling of being constricted and having to hide to stay on some conservative seniors’ good graces really pissed me off so high school was really crucial in letting me discover just how much I’d be willing to fight and test the waters to be able to live as me.

Have you ever had a job that deeply affected your personal life? How so and do you still work there?  Hmm no, not really. If anything my job is one of the things that helped make me a lot livelier and happier.

Do you have a “one who got away”?  It felt that way at the start when my view was still skewed, but it didn’t take long until I realized she was not a loss at all.

If you were in a superhero movie, would you be the hero or the villain? Hero.

If you found a mouse in your house, would you be frightened?  Mice or rats are the literal worst fucking thing I could see in my house. I definitely see myself making a big deal out of it lmao, especially rats.

Have you ever tried to perform magic tricks?  Nobody ever taught me, so no.

Can you do more with a yo-yo than just "go up and down"? Nah, which kinda makes me feel ashamed because considering it was a Filipino who invented the modern yo-yo, I feel like it should be my responsibility to know a few tricks LOL.

What is one form of technology that you wouldn't be able to live without?  Instant messenger.

Did you get an allowance, growing up? Why or why not?  Starting high school. Before that I was living in our family’s duplex, so my grandma could make packed meals for all of us – not to mention the fact that my parents were also still on their way to establishing themselves at their respective workplaces so we weren’t all that well-off yet. 

When we moved into our own place, we started with my mom making our meals but eventually it just proved to be time-consuming and a lot of work considering she also had a job to go to. With that and the fact that both my parents at that point already got a couple of promotions, we switched to allowance.

Would you rather go to a water park or an amusement park? Why?  Amusement parks though I would only probably head to the safer rides and food stalls with all the deep-fried offerings haha. I cannot handle more intense rides. On the other hand, water parks have always sounded nasty to me.

What is one instrument you wouldn't mind learning how to play?  Piano.

What's the longest amount of time you've had to wait in line for something?  The stupid LTO, because you can never count on government agencies to be efficient. Technically my whole time in there took a couple of stages, but all in all I spent eight hours there.

What is something that you would like to learn more about?  Korean. I just graduated from my Basic Korean 1 class but I already have plans to enroll in the following course, since I seemed to do well and I want to keep the momentum going.

What is something that one of your family member collects?  Mom has a large collection of chef-themed figurines and other sorts of trinkets like a chef timer, shot glasses, etc - but mostly the figurines - that she has displayed in a glass case. I should keep that in mind for when I start Christmas shopping, actually...she hasn’t updated that collection in a long time. Thanks for the idea!

Have you ever moved to a new school before? If so, how did it feel?  No, not in the middle of the same period since I went to the same school from kinder to high school for 14 years. I only “moved” when I started college. Like I’ve said in previous surveys, it felt freeing to finally not under be the hands of an environment ran by...well, Catholics. It was a culture shock to see rallies everywhere, to find out I could wear short shorts or even go to school naked if I wanted to, and to see boys in my class (I went to an all-girls), but it was all the good kind of shock.

Have you ever legitimately forgotten to do homework?  Always, because I never wrote them down.

Do you enjoy autumn leaves or spring flowers more? Why?  I experience neither season.

Depending on where you live, why might a day of school get canceled? Typhoon.

If you could meet any fictional character from a book, who would it be? Melanie Hamilton from Gone with the World.

What are some common places that people tour when they come to your city?  I rarely see foreigners here since my area isn’t particularly known for tourism; most go to the island provinces like Cebu, Aklan, Palawan, etc. If I had to recommend spots here, I’d tell them to go for Pinto and maybe the rooftop bars that offer a view of Manila’s skyline. 

What's one food that you did not enjoy as a child, but do as an adult?  Chicken curry, which I used to dread.

Would you rather have a mermaid tail, a fairy's wings or a unicorn's horn? I guess the wings just because I feel like it’s the only practical one.

What is an animal that you'd like to have as a pet but it's not allowed?  I don’t think that way about animals I can’t keep as pets anyway.

What are some things that you do to make the world a better place?  I always clean up at restaurants (my mom doesn’t understand why I do it because “the servers are here for a reason, Robyn”) but I always see the relief on their faces when they see I’ve stacked up the plates and cups so I don’t see a reason to stop doing it. I keep the door open for people who happen to enter/exit a building the same time as me, share dog adoption posts, don’t make a fuss about or towards a shop staff who messes up...things like that. I hope it’s able to help, even if just in a small way.

Has the last person you had sex with ever had sex with someone besides you?  I don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has already.

What’s your favorite store at your mall?  We have several malls within the vicinity but I like frequenting NCAT.

Have you ever done a workout DVD?  No but my mom is fond of those.

Who usually takes out the trash in your family?  Either of my parents.

What song are you currently obsessed with?  My Universe is soooooo good. It’s Coldplay’s classic sound but they somehow managed to perfectly blend in BTS’ style as well, so I love how it turned out.

When you go fishing, do you make someone else get the fish off the hook?  I've never gone fishing.

Do you take any prescription meds?  Nope.

What happens if you don’t take them?  Who was the last person you dreamt about?  My dad.

Do you prefer your tea sweetened or unsweetened?  Sweetened, though I don’t usually actively look for iced tea. I’d have it if it was served, but I don’t typically order it for myself.

How often do you honk your horn?  As long as I am annoyed, which gives my mom a mini heart attack every time because she insists I just let people have their way to avoid getting into fights. Sometimes when she’s driving and someone’s being stupid on the road I lurch forward to do the honking for her and it pisses her off soooooooooo much but it also gets the job done so *shrug*

Do you have any children? If so, names and ages? I don’t.

Have your parents ever witnessed you doing something inappropriate? What?  TMI but I almost got caught doing the m-word once but my reflexes were at lightning speed that day so when my door opened I was able to fix myself up and appear as though nothing was happening lol. My mom also saw a hickey on me once but I was able to veer the conversation away when she started inquiring.

Did you get babysat a lot as a kid?  No, I did the babysitting.

If you were the principal of a school, what would you do differently? Actually deal with teachers who mistreat or make issues towards their students. I had several teachers I know didn’t like me but I could never do anything about it because there was no way in hell the school was going to take my side.

Are you doing anything fun tomorrow?  Continued from yesterday. If I took this question yesterday to refer to today I would’ve answered yes because we actually have a really fun PR stunt scheduled for execution today, wherein we get to sponsor someone’s whole wedding from food to flowers to the host and fillm crew :D :D But tomorrow is just Monday so the real answer to this is no.

What is something you'd like to receive as a housewarming gift?  I dunno the usual housewarming gifts, but I would appreciate anything practical, or anything that you’ll need at the least expected times, like batteries or even like Sticky Tack.

How old were you when you first experienced the effects of puberty?  Oooh I was an early bird – I was 9 when I could first tell my first period was on its way; it came a month after I turned 10.

What is your least favorite holiday, and why?  I don’t dislike any holiday because they all mean a day off work lol.

What were some outdoor games you played as a child?  We usually played piko (hopscotch), our local version of freeze tag that we dubbed “Ice ice water” for whatever reason, and a garter game that we call 10-20. Dodgeball was a favorite during recess and lunch, too.

Did you accompany your parents on "Take Your Child to Work" Day? That’s not observed here, but my mom did use to take me and my siblings to her first workplace. Are cemeteries peaceful to you, or do they freak you out?  They’re actually more interesting to me than anything else. I like learning about the different lives of many different people, even if I only technically know them by their birthday and date of death. Sometimes the inscriptions would be more detailed and tell more about their life, sometimes I’d come across babies who only lived a few days...and it’s just interesting to have those glimpses into life.

Which ancient civilization would you be interested in learning more about?  Filipino, because Western colonization destroyed proof of most of it. 

Do you have better long-term memory or short-term memory?  Long.

What was the last situation that made you cry? Describe.  I cried this morning. Nothing bad or heavy, I just found myself thinking again about my mental state last year.

Which forest animal would you be most afraid to encounter?  Anything that wouldn’t hesitate to tear my limbs apart.

Do you believe in anything supernatural? (ie: spirits, etc)  No.

Has anyone close to you ever gone to war?  No. The closest link I have to the military, other than my dead great-grandfather, is Angela’s uncle who’s like a general or like a colonel or something, idk titles.

Have you ever experienced altitude sickness?  Yeah, occasionally. Pressure in the ear is a bigger nuisance to me, though.

Is there anything, any event, you wish you could remember more clearly?  The last time I saw my grandfather. My only clear memory of him that day was stepping out of the house to leave (my mom and I were visiting) and him sending me off with the message to always be kind and good. If I had known I would never see him again, I never would’ve left.

Have you ever rubbed anyone’s feet?  Hmm no, not that I can recall.

If you had to get advice from someone of the opposite sex, who would you go to?  I’d go to Hans for certain advice, but not for every single situation. He’s the only person that comes to mind.

What was the last new food/drink that you tried?  So last Wednesday I finally got to try this Instagram-based doughnut shop that I’ve been eyeing since August and it turned out to be even MUCH BETTER THAN EXPECTEDDDDDD. Like yeah their photos were always mouthwatering but I didn’t expect it to taste as good as it looks, since most pretty food I’ve encountered usually end up just tasting meh. Anywho, I got two orders of their sampler box and they served me their specialty bacon doughnut, signature brown butter, and a bunch of their chocolate and peanut butter variants and I loved every single fucking thing.

Have you had a good day today or was yesterday better?  Oh it’s hard to tell, it’s only 9:05 AM. Both days might be uneventful, though.

Have you ever played Sudoku?  I don’t actually get how to play it hahaha. I feel like I’m too stupid for sudoku.

Do you ever take surveys for money?  I tried it last year when applying for jobs was still a bitch for me, but the thing is most of those surveys look for employed participants so there was rarely ever a survey that fit me anyway.

Do you like Barbie or Bratz better?  Bratz.

Do you prefer purple or green grapes?  I don’t like grapes.

Who was the last person that made you laugh?  Idk, probs one of the boys since I was watching videos of them earlier today.

Where does your best friend live?  A nearby city.

Who did you last confide in?  Angela.

Does your car have an alarm?  Sure.

Where was your mom born?  Somewhere in Metro Manila.

What can always make you feel better no matter what?  My dogs.

What is something you’ll never eat again? Why?  I don’t think there is anything. I feel like I’m always bound to retry things and that I would be open to doing so, even fruits. One thing I’m firm about never drinking again, though, is coconut water. Get that SHIT away from me.

What is currently happening that is scaring you?  I’m not feeling scared these days.

Have you ever found a stranger’s note somewhere? If so, what did it say?  Probably. But nothing sticks out.