#christmas reruns 2023

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Christmas Reruns 2023 Day 20: The Twelve Sweaters of Christmas

Merry Christmas if you celebrate it and happy holidays if you don’t!  One of the things I love about Christmas is watching reruns of all the old classic Christmas movies��Christmas is a big time for nostalgia.  A few years ago, I decided to incorporate that tradition into my fandom life and post my CS holiday reruns.  So here you go!  Enough holiday (mostly) fluff to get you to New Year’s Day. (With a new story posting on Christmas Day.)

Rating: G

Word Count: 1986

Other chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Note:  This story was written for my “Christmas with Captain Swan” collection in 2020.

Note #2: *facepalm* Somehow when I originally posted this yesterday, I accidentally repeated the text of "The Gingerbread Castle", which was the rerun for day 19. As a result, I have decided to reblog this one, so you get the ACTUAL "Twelve Sweaters of Christmas"

CS Genre: AU

Killian Jones neatly folded what felt like the one-hundredth sweater today, and stacked it on top of the pile.  He prided himself on running a clean, neat, ship-shape establishment, and he hated when his clothing went askew.

Of course, given the fact that it was twelve days before Christmas, keeping things neat and tidy was a constant battle.

Killian never would have believed he’d find himself here.  He’d had a promising career in front of him.  He’d joined the Navy fresh out of high school, determined to follow in his older brother Liam’s footsteps.  Liam had been his hero, he’d been brother and father and best friend to him after their mother died and their father abandoned them.  

If only he hadn’t had to be a hero to everyone else.  When Killian was seventeen, Liam had perished at sea after a terrible storm.  He’d sacrificed his own life, saving seven of his crewmates before finally succumbing to the ocean’s fury.

After several months of aching grief, Killian had decided to live a life to make his brother proud.  He’d decided to go into the Navy himself.  He’d been a natural, taking to the water like a merman, never more content, never feeling closer to Liam than when he was out on the water.  Things were looking up.

Unfortunately, tragedies rarely come on their own.  When it rains it pours, and all that.  Two years into his naval career, Killian got into a catastrophic automobile accident.  Not only had he lost his love, his Milah, he’d also lost his hand.

And so he’d found himself alone, his promising career down the drain and with no idea what he was to do with his life.

Killian took a deep breath as he picked up yet another sweater to fold.  Such dark thoughts had no place on this beautiful, snowy day, less than a fortnight before Christmas.  Suffice it to say, after spiralling for a time, Killian had picked himself up and started on a new venture:

Revenge

He’d come across the clothing store quite by accident.  He’d been passing through the small, sea-side village of Storybrooke, Maine one day, and just happened to step into the store.  It was intriguing; had something of an edgy, pirate theme to it.  It was run by an eccentric man named Edward Teach, who went by the moniker “Blackbeard”, no doubt due to the bushy mass of facial hair he sported.

Something about the store spoke to him, excited him in a way nothing had in months.  Perhaps he could run an establishment such as this, combine a theme he was passionate about with goods people needed, and voila!  The perfect business venture.

He hadn’t been in the store ten minutes before he’d made a promise to himself: Revenge is going to be mine.

It almost felt like fate the way everything worked out after that.  As it happened, “Blackbeard” was looking to retire.  Within a month, Killian had used the last of his inheritance from Liam to purchase Revenge and make it his own.

Nearly ten years later it was still going strong.  He’d even managed to expand, turn it from something thoroughly niche into something more mainstream--while still maintaining it’s edge and it’s roots.

Revenge was Killian’s baby, and he was incredibly proud of it, and never more so than at Christmas.  He prided himself on having everything the discerning Storybrooke customer could want for their holiday clothing needs.

The bell over the door sounded, and Killian looked up to see an angel with soft waves of sun-gold hair, tight jeans and a red leather jacket walking purposely toward him.

More like stomping toward him.  The way her green eyes glittered dangerously as she approached proved that she was quite the angry angel.

She was utterly magnificent.

“Lost a bet,” she said curtly.  “Point me in the direction of your ugliest Christmas sweaters.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Emma Swan should have known better than to make a bet against Ruby, particularly about something outrageous, and if there was anything Ruby’s clothing choice today was, it was outrageous.

Emma liked Christmas--within reason.  Who didn’t like time off and peace on earth and all the holiday goodies you could eat?

But there was nothing reasonable about the sweater Ruby had chosen to wear for her shift at the diner this morning.

Emma groaned as her roommate sashayed out of her bedroom into the shared living room of their apartment..

“Ruby, it’s too early for this,” she groused.  “You look like Christmas threw all over you.”

Ruby poured herself a mug of coffee, and then sat opposite Emma on the couch.  “Hey don’t knock it.  Everybody loves a good ugly Christmas sweater.”

“More like loves to hate it,” Emma muttered.

A sudden gleam came into Ruby’s eye.  That really should have been Emma’s first clue to turn and run.  Nothing good ever came of Ruby looking at her like that.

“Wanna make a friendly wager on that?” Ruby asked.

“A wager on how many people will hate your clothing choices?”

Ruby rolled her eyes.  “The opposite.  I bet you I get more compliments today wearing this sweater than I’d get on any other day.”

“How would we even quantify that?” Emma asked.  “You usually keep count of the compliments you get?”

“Fine,” Ruby conceded.  “How about this: Come into Granny’s on your lunch break and sit in my section.  I bet you I get a genuine compliment on my sweater during your meal--totally unprompted too.”

Emma considered it.  “What are the stakes?”

Ruby thought for a minute and then smiled.  It was not a reassuring sight.  “You win, and I clean the apartment for a month.  But if I win….if I win, you have to wear an ‘ugly’ Christmas sweater every day until Christmas.”

Emma didn’t even take a moment to consider it.  Getting out of cleaning for an entire month?  So worth this bet, and it wasn’t like she was going to lose anyway.

“You’re on.”

Later that day when Emma and her partner, Sheriff Graham Humbert, stopped by the diner for lunch, they hadn’t been seated for five minutes before Emma realized she’d made a profound mistake.

“Hey guys!” Ruby smiled at them as she reached their table and pulled out her pencil and pad of paper.  “How’s your day going?  It’s been crazy around here this morning!”

“Pretty quiet at the sheriff’s station,” Graham said, smiling as he looked her over.  “That’s quite a sweater you’re wearing today, Ruby.  Very festive; I like it!”

Emma groaned as Ruby shot her a triumphant look.  Rookie mistake.  She should have known better than to bring Graham with her to lunch.  It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Graham had been more than half in love with Ruby for years.  She should have brought someone like Leroy to lunch.  She doubted that man had ever complimented anyone in his life.

But Emma was a woman of her word.  She’d lost the bet fair and square, and pay up she would.

Which is why she currently found herself talking to the owner and proprietor of Revenge.  

“Lost a bet,” she said curtly.  “Point me in the direction of your ugliest Christmas sweaters.”

The man behind the desk--Killian, his name tag said--grinned at her.  “Love, I’d wager the term ugly could never be applied to you no matter what you wear or don’t wear.”

Emma rolled her eyes.  The guy was hot, she’d give him that--with his artfully messy black hair, piercing blue eyes and reddish scruff.  And all the leather.  It really should be illegal for a man to wear that much leather and to wear it so well.  Still, Emma was in no mood for being hit on--handsome man or no.

“You’re hilarious,” she said dead pan.  “Now about those sweaters…”

He grinned again and then winked.  Actually winked.  “Hilarious?” he asked, stepping around the corner and gesturing for her to follow him.  “I prefer dashing rapscallion, scoundrel.”

Her stomach did not swoop at the way he almost growled that last word.  It didn’t!  

The fact that she was totally lying to herself annoyed her more than every aspect of this ridiculous bet.  “How about you be ‘shop owner who does his job and points the customer in the right direction’?  Think you could manage that?”

The rest of Emma’s shopping experience went without a hitch.  She grabbed the plainest Christmas sweater she could find--a simple powder blue v-neck covered tastefully with snowflakes. 

Maybe Ruby would take pity on her and call her bet paid off if she wore this thing.

Probably not, but one never knew.  It was the season of miracles, after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning, Killian opened the store as usual, taking a moment to be sure everything was ship-shape before unlocking the doors and turning the sign in the window to read “open”.  He glanced over at his “ugly Christmas sweater” display and smiled wistfully to himself.

He’d spent a fair amount of the evening thinking about her, Emma Swan, her credit card had proclaimed.  She was beautiful, aye, but there was more to it than that.  Though their interaction had scarcely lasted a quarter of an hour, though their conversation had been relegated to Christmas sweaters and the bet that had forced her to purchase one, he had the strangest sense that they were the same deep down, that they were kindred souls.

He was utterly captivated by her.

Killian sighed as he turned on the cash register and checked his supply of cash in preparation for what would likely be another busy day.    It was the first time he’d had any meaningful glimmer of interest in a woman since Milah’s death, and he was surprised at how nervous it had made him to interact with her.  For probably the thousandth time since yesterday afternoon he mentally kicked himself for not getting her number. 

A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets.  Liam had told him that five hundred times if he’d told him once.  

Well, there was no sense dwelling on it now.  Emma Swan had walked out of his life when she walked out of his store, and there was no changing that.

Or so he thought.

Not a quarter of an hour after opening his doors, who should arrive, charging forth in all her wrathful glory than the lovely Miss Swan herself?

Killian grinned at her teasingly.  “Back again, love?  Couldn’t resist my dashing self, is it?”

She rolled her eyes.  “You wish.”

He did.  He really, really did.

“Well, Swan, what can I help you with this lovely morning?” he asked.

She looked surprised.  “You remember my name?”

Killian chuckled and scratched behind his ear.  “I never forget a face, and yours, love, is exceptionally beautiful.”

“Not your love,” she said, but Killian took note of the way her cheeks reddened at the simple endearment.  “Anyway, I’m not here to flirt.  I’m here for another sweater.”

“Another Christmas sweater?”

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh.  “Apparently that blue one with the snowflakes I bought yesterday won’t fulfill my bet.  Ruby told me it barely even fit the category.  Got anything uglier for me?”

“You, darling are in luck,” Killian said.  “Revenge just so happens to stock some of the ugliest ugly Christmas sweaters in the state.”

Today, after a fair bit more banter and pleasant small talk, she’d decided on a red, woolen zip-up cardigan.  Featured prominently on the sweater were several applique snowmen playing musical instruments.  It was...it was quite something.

“This is actually kind of perfect,” Emma said, trying it on and looking herself up and down in the floor length mirrored column next to the sweater display.  “Definitely fits the category, plus it’s a cardigan.  I can take it off after I’ve shown Ruby I actually wore it.  I’ll just say I’m too hot or something.”

He grinned teasingly at her and wiggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner.  “You certainly are, love.”

She laughed at that before removing the sweater and setting it on the counter to be rung up.  “Do those exaggerated lines actually work on anyone?”

“You’d be surprised,” he answered.  “At any rate, they seem to have served their purpose today.  You seem to be leaving my establishment in better spirits than you entered it.”

She smiled.  “I guess I am.  Thanks, Killian.”

He inclined his head.  “A lady in distress needs my assistance, and her wish is my command.”

She laughed again.  “Alright, well I have to get to work.”

He rang her up and wished her a good day.  Just before she stepped out the door, he called out to her again.  She turned toward him.

“Any chance I might see you again?” he asked, feeling like a tongue-tied young lad with the lass he fancied.

“With Ruby being the way she is,” Emma said, “probably a really good chance I’ll be back.”

And so she had.  She returned the next day, settling on a sweater bearing the visage of The Grinch, the day after, choosing one that depicted all twelve gifts from the famous song, the one after that in her own, colorful words, looked like Christmas exploded in woolen form.

Each day their conversations lasted longer, and each day he fell a little bit more for the lovely Miss Swan.  He came to look forward to her visits every day with eager anticipation, mentally thanking whatever brilliant soul invented the “ugly  Christmas sweater”.

On the fifth day, Killian managed to unearth a gem of such glittering ugliness and ostentation, he felt the need to pat himself on the back.

“Yep, that’s certainly a disaster,” Emma said grinning at the garment covered in a large Christmas tree, filled with ornaments and a banner along the bottom that read MERRY CHRISTMAS! In huge letters.

“Oh, but love, you haven’t even seen the best part,” Killian announced.  “This particular sweater comes with a battery pack.”

She shot him a disbelieving look.  “I’m almost afraid to ask, but what exactly does the battery pack do.”

Instead of answering, he turned the device on.  LED lights flashed in every tiny ornament on the sweater, and the MERRY CHRISTMAS! nearly had a strobe light effect.

Emma groaned before dissolving into laughter.  “This is it.  This is the ugly Christmas sweater of all ugly Christmas sweaters.  If this doesn’t satisfy Ruby, I admit defeat.”

Killian watched her go that day with more than a little melancholy.  What if that was the sweater that would do the trick?  What if she didn’t return again?

He needn’t have worried.  Emma Swan showed up at his door bright and early the next morning.

His heart leapt at the sight of her.  He’d fallen hard and fast for this woman, and he saw no likelihood that would change any time soon.

“What? Even the monstrosity with the flickering lights didn’t satisfy the demanding Miss Lucas?” Killian asked by way of greeting.

Emma laughed.  “Oh it did,” Emma assured.  “I think I actually managed to render her speechless with that one.  It’s just...well my bet was for a different sweater every day until Christmas, and I’m a woman of my word.”

And for that he was profoundly grateful.

So it continued.  Each day she came in, each day she bought a sweater, and each day he fell a little bit more in love with her.

When Christmas Eve arrived, Killian noticed a change in Emma’s demeanor almost instantly.  She looked...uncomfortable.

“Is something the matter Love?” he asked, brow furrowed.

“No,” she said, drawing out the syllable, “It’s just..well...I’m here to ask you out.”

Killian choked on the sip of coffee he’d just injudiciously taken.  “Pardon?”

“Okay, first I have a little confession to make,” Emma said.  “Remember that ridiculous sweater with the battery pack around day five or six?”

“Aye,” he said carefully.

“Well, after I wore that, Ruby actually released me from my bet,” she said, looking bashful.  “She told me I’d fulfilled the spirit of it or something like that.”

Killian felt the smile creeping over his face.  “And yet you continued coming in and making your purchases every day.  Whatever for, darling?”

She tried to look stern.  “Look, don’t make a bigger deal of it than it is, but, I don’t know.  I kind of enjoyed our daily shopping sessions and conversations and all of that.”

His smile grew.  “You enjoy my company!”

“Don’t let it go to that over-inflated ego of yours.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said, making a cross-my-heart motion over his chest.  “And for the record, I have greatly enjoyed our little...retail dalliances...quite a bit as well.  Now what was that about asking me out?”

She suddenly looked bashful again. “So the sheriff’s department is throwing this Christmas bash and ugly sweater contest tonight, and I was hoping maybe you’d...I mean, I know it’s Christmas Eve, and people want to spend it with family, and I totally get it if you’re not interested or it’s not your thing or whatever, and don’t feel obligated, but I just thought--”

Killian leaned across the counter and kissed her.  “Swan, I would like nothing better than to accompany you to your party.  Just tell me when and where.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ruby watched Emma walk into the diner hand in hand with Killian Jones later that evening.  She smiled broadly, reaching over to slap Graham’s arm as he sat beside her.

“Ow!” Graham groused.  “What was that for?”

“Look!” Ruby said.  “It worked!  I told you it would work!”

Graham obediently followed her directions and then grinned.  “I can’t believe you talked me into helping you rig that bet just to play matchmaker!”

“I told you!” she said again.  “Didn’t I tell you?  I knew Killian would be perfect for Emma.  She just needed a little push.”

“That she did,” Graham said with a laugh.  “Remind me to never doubt you again.”

They watched for a moment as Emma looped her arms around Killian’s neck and the two began swaying gently to the music that was playing.

Who would have known that an ugly Christmas sweater would lead to what was sure to become a romance for the ages?

NEXT CHAPTER->

[urfavnegronerd]

right there- alina baraz

summary: lazy day w miles (either 1610 or 42) 

pairing: miles x black coded reader  

w/c: 839

sum slight

warnings: lowk suggestive if you squint, fem (?) reader (miles refers to reader as ma and mama and princesa, but no use of pronouns so idk if it counts as fem reader), grammarly edited, but nothing really lmk if i missed something

published: august 7, 2023

song lyrics are italicized

ven aquí- come here, vení- come here (informal), princesa- princess

s/o @lunarfleur for this concept, luv u babycakes smooches

i get so caught up

The day had effortlessly slipped away, like sand through your fingers in a lazy, syrupy, and euphoric haze.  

“Mama? baby?” Miles mumbles, his face halfway nuzzled into your stomach, his hands absent-mindedly kneading at your hips, listlessly raising his head to meet your half-lidded gaze, lifting your chin to meet his eyes. 

“Mmm?” 

“Ven aquí,” 

might of forgot us, can you remind me? 

His voice is a tired kind of raspy as he’s pressing his lips into yours in a mixture of lenience and hunger, his calloused hands cradling your cheeks, pulling away, and kissing your nose. Returning to his original position on your stomach, nuzzling his face into your stomach once again to watch an older CoryxKenshin video. Confused and blushing, you return to your copy of When Dimple Met Rishi, dreamily running your nails across his durag massaging his hair through the silky fabric. 

His bedroom was a small oasis, far away from the usual Brooklyn noise, a quiet dream far far away from everything you were running away from. The dazey smog of cigarette smoke permanently hanging in the air of your apartment, the smog that got caught in the fibers of your clothes, irreversibly weaving its way into your braids. You’d evolved to the point that it smelled comforting, but at the same time, it was a permanent burden on your shoulders, the scent weighing your shoulders down.   

tell me to come back, i got a lot on my mind

“Ma, come back,” he mumbles, pressing his face into your cheek. “Want another kiss,” 

Laughing and leaning into his mouth, adjusting your face up to him, you comply. The kiss was a warm envelope, encasing the two of you in a heavy and exultant moment of obscurity.  

i know it’s been a while, been a while, but i need you this time 

The two of you pull away and you return to your book as he returns to the animated lull of his video. The two of you stay like that, kissing every couple of minutes and going back to your respective past times. It was moments like this that you savored, the tenderness of his room, the soft scent of peppermint oil mixed with sandalwood, and the delicate warmth of the musky cologne he wore like a second skin. He never wore too much though, enough for you to associate him with that smell and the light menthol of his chapstick. The boy did wonders on you, he and his mother had shown you the kind of love you’d only seen on old reruns of Love and Basketball, Poetic Justice, Love Jones, and The Preachers Wife when it aired during Christmas.  

i’ll be in the city, get dressed don’t keep me waiting

Tender and loving, the kind of love the older woman preaches about on her doorstep, the one that’s like that one bible verse. The love in this boy's heart was patient and kind, comforting. A soft place to land, a small escape from everyday life. The kind that helps you take down your braids, and helps wash your hair. The kind where he’ll let you braid and unbraid his hair, gently raking your hands through his thick and luscious inky curls, half adoring his bed of curls, half detangling them.  

can you be my shotgun? be my all-time, be the right one

His eyes are half-lidded as he glances up at you furtively, warily drinking in your beauty. The ethereal glow to your soft brown skin, the brown eyes that hide under your eyelashes with an alluring light to them. The eyes that never failed to make Miles’ heart skip a beat when he looked deep into them, his eyes pouring into you like hot wax in a candle. 

“Whatchu need, baby?”  

you ready? let me know 

“Vení,” he whispers, eyes set low, drunk on lust, fatigue barely lining his eyes. As per routine, he reconnects the two of you, this time he’s above you one arm resting on the wall behind you. Deeping the kiss as he pulls you upward, he exhales a sharp, ragged, yet blissful breath. The kind that makes you pull back and look up at him quizzically. 

“Everything okay, sueñito?” 

“ ‘s all good ma,” 

“You was just breathing all weird, is all,” 

“ ‘m okay, princesa,” 

“Okay,” you smile and exhale, angling up to him more. 

ima need you right there

The youtube video is long forgotten, the book haphazardly discarded beside you, you softly tug his chain forward as he runs his hands along the side of your hoodie, his right hand finding yours and timidly fusing your hands together. Using your left hand, you gently run your fingers over his eyebrows, in an attempt to unfurrow them as he smiles and leans into you. 

“You’re so beautiful, mama,” he mumbles into your lips, and then the two of you are lost in an enraptured oblivion. 

ima need you right there, right there wimme  

🩷 reblogs are always appreciated for reach <3

taglist: @lunarfleur @hearts4hobie@mayeluvsu@nagi3seastorm @n1cole-ghost@hummusxx@milesmolasses@kombuuuu

xoxo,

rae <3

[dressupdragonne]

Events From 2022 that have NOT had a Single Rerun

Single SSR:

💕 Demon's Portrait: Lilith • Devil's Whisper

NOV 14 - 22, 2021

💕 Planet Wanderlust (iPanda): Momo • Cutee Planet Wanderlust

(even though it's a collab technically, it has reran on the TW server)

APRIL 13 - 18, 2022

💕 Reedpipes of Old: Aphrodia • Reedpipe Song

APRIL 23 - 29, 2022

💕 Reverie Carnival: Loen • Clown's Welcome

JUN 15 - 21, 2022

💕 Wave Invasion: Caprico • Euphonius Night

JUN 25 - JULY 1, 2022

• FUN FACT -> this event has not rerun on any server including the TW server

💕 Ocean of Storms: Loen • Glint in the Night

SEPT 12 - 18, 2022

💕 Sprouting Confession: Ai • Sprouting Love

OCT 18 - 24, 2022

💕 Secrets of Star Sand: Priestess Tess • Starry Sands

NOV 10 - 16, 2022

Double UR:

💕 Queen's Christmas Ball: Erika • Pure White Tranquility (UR pavilion), Erinka • Passionate Lantern Feast (UR pavilion), Momo • Snowy Deer Jingle (SSR recharge), William • Christmas Academy (SR welfare)

(I ran out of space for pics for the other suits in this event, just trust me lol)

DEC 22, 2022 - JAN 1, 2023

My Opinions:

They could be sprinkling all these Single SSRs all over the place and totally catch us up on reruns. In fact it would make way more sense as it would force new players or people who didn't finish into a bind of spending or skipping. I just literally don't understand from a business standpoint why they'd just NOT rerun them. This ain't even a 2 reruns waiting for the special return pavilion situation. They haven't even gotten that far. Anyway it's frustrating me because I'm missing pieces from 5/8 of the singles from that year and I want to finish them 🙃 I'm so close on most of them.

Source: atsukii's GitHub (won't let me link in post I will drop link in replies)

EDIT: Removed Reminiscence of Flower and replaced with Devil's Whisper. Apologies, my source was not up to date. (And I sorted by pavilion and I guess devils whisper didn't count as pavilion since it was tiered rewards).

[imasallstars]

SR/SR+ 【Christmas Usamin】Nana Abe

FOCUS STAT 　　　n/a, this card is a BALANCED card TOTAL APPEAL 　　　 13 259 Skill:「One Night's Coaxing」 　　　(Perfect Lock) For every 18 seconds, there is a 35~52.5% chance that NICE/GREAT notes will become PERFECT notes for 6~9 seconds Center Skill:「Cute Ability」 　　　 All COOL-type cards gain a 30% boost in their SKILL PROBABILITY

※ this card is available through scouting from the White Holiday gacha available until December 13th 2023 14:59 JST. This card may return, in the case of a rerun of the White Holiday gacha. gacha.

[loublu8]

can you just ramble? ramble for as long as you want. as a fellow late 00s brit who's into some of the same interests as you (specifically vida the vet, charlie and lola, me too, balamory, abadas, and literally just any other cbeebies show i grew up with) i'd love to hear it!

if it's a ramble you want, a ramble you shall get. In other words here's like, my complete history with CBeebies. As a 08' kid, I was born in a weird transitional period for the channel. This was one year after they introduced the now iconic blocks of Get Set Go, Discover and Do and Big Fun Time, and Chris and Pui were going to move on from pres in 09' to work on Show Me Show Me. Postman Pat was just fresh from it's big SDS overhaul, which people either loved or hated (I think I liked it as a kid but looking back on it, it's nothing to get worked up over IMO, I just don't get why Pat can do James Bond-esque stunts now and is perfectly content riding a motorcycle.). Oh, and there was this little show about a garden of the night that began the year prior, I doubt that you've heard of it. Yeah, In the Night Garden was probably the first major CBeebies show I remember getting obsessed with, and looking back at it? I honestly don't know why. It's not a bad show at all, don't get me wrong, but I don't know why I was so obsessed over it to the point of having this dancing Igglepiggle toy as a kid.

Also, I remember loving the Hahoos as a young'un, part because a CBeebies magazine I got ages ago had little Hahoo toys. I took them on holiday to Turkey with me, yeah can you tell I'm autistic? I don't think I have them anymore, and if I do they're probably all scuffed up and missing paint. But that's okay, I can easily buy them on eBay to fill a place in 2 year old me's hear- HOW MUCH FOR 5 SMALL PIECES OF PLASTIC?

Yeah I didn't know these things were going for this much until my mum saw someone on Facebook ranting on how stupid expensive they are nowadays about a year ago. Anyways, on the topic of CBeebies' Bedtime Hour (and A Quarter nowadays), there's one elephant in the room I must discuss, the closedown screen.

This slightly green thing telling you to get some sleep absolutely terrified me as a kid though, it wasn't on the same level as the Eastenders theme's doofs and Christmas crackers if I remember correctly, but it still gave me PTSD for years on end. (Hey, at least I wasn't around for when the channel started, I really wanna meet whoever thought it was a great idea to make this screen bright blinding pink right after the goodnight song settled everyone down, just so I can tell them how dumb that idea was.)

Like all things I was spooked of as a kid, I got over it when I was getting nostalgic for the brand. Speaking of closedown screens, how is the closedown screen for the 2023 rebrand really good? Like, it would make a great screensaver without the text. You can say what you want about the new logo (which I think is fine, it fits in with the rest of the modern BBC branding so it succeeds in that aspect), but you gotta admit they did a really good job with revamping the idents for the channel.

Anyways, onto more of my favourite CBeebies shows. Charlie and Lola is easily up there as one of my favourites. It'sMy mum distinctly recalls taking me to the live stage show (which, live stage shows are a whole other can of worms I can talk about), and I couldn't remember much about it so I researched it, and it looks like they did a ridiculously good job of translating the show to a stage play while keeping the show's unique artstyle.

Balamory, obviously as a CBeebies viewer prior to 2016, I know what a Balamory is. I don't need to explain it. Though one weird memory I have is I remember going past the local barbers one day and seeing a Balamory rerun airing. I dunno why they showed CBeebies in the barbers of all places. On the other hand, Me Too!, which to me always felt like Balamory, but a wee bit worse (because that's exactly what it was!), and I don't remember my exact feelings towards it as a kid, but as a teenager, I became obsessed with it after found the Me Too! YouTube channel after I was pretty much done binge-watching Abadas. It quickly became my main comfort show, like if I'm not in the mood for anything else, just stick an episode of Me Too! on, there's like 150 episodes and I'm not sure if I've even seen over half of them. I've seen more MT! eps than Balamory though, probably cause it's more easily accessible. With Balamory, you gotta go on the internet archive for episodes of that. Abadas was one of the shows I distinctly remembered the intro for, though I misremembered it with Baby Jake of all shows (they came out around the same time). I went and revisited it one January day in 2023, around the time I was starting to put my Bubble Guppies hyperfix on the backseat as the show was about to end, and instantly fell in love with it. Really wish the production company behind the show didn't go bust as there was a lot of cool supplementary material with the show as well, they did a bunch of shorts on Vimeo which I happily recommend.

Eventually, I fell out of CBeebies around 2014 or so as, well, I was getting older and was ready to move on to more grown up shows (this is coming from the same kid who kept actively watching Nick Jr. well into his teenage years). But then I was channel surfing at my nan's around October 2019 or so and decided to stick CBeebies on for fun after deciding whatever was being shown on Challenge was too boring, I guess. Something Special was probably the show that launched me back into my CBeebies hyperfix, yea of all shows. Completely forgot the show used Makaton and as someone who was interested in sign language I went on a binge-spree to study all of Justin's signs. I became fairly competent at it. I got into Hey Duggee for a a bit as well, known as every parent's lifeline apparently. The game show episode is one of my favourites, mostly due to all the fun references they crammed into the episode. As a fan of the shows we people call game, it was a fun surprise. I also rediscovered some of my old childhood favourites that were still getting reruns. Swashbuckle was a bit too recent for me to have recalled watching it as a kid but my brother was certainly around for it and Tree Fu Tom, which was still rerunning at the time. Charlie and Lola still aired reruns, and back in 2019 I kinda just glanced at without much thought before realising a few years later that it was actually really good. Night Garden made me cry of nostalgia, and I also thought Baby Jake was the biggest feverdream ever conceived on television. I even was one of the weirdo's who listened to CBeebies Radio, though honestly there's no point in listening to it live as you can find all it's content on the Sounds app. Admittedly, I haven't gotten super into Bluey. Y'know, the most popular preschool show of this decade that didn't begin in this decade? Yeah I watched about 10-15 episodes of it, said "wow, this is one of the best preschool shows ever crafted", and then moved on to watching the same 40 Blue's Clues & You! episodes again. I'm sure if I force myself to binge watch it more I'll fall head over heels in love with it though. So if I haven't gone crazy for Bluey, what modern CBeebies shows have I gone crazy for? Funnily enough, two that released within the span of around 5 months. The Game Catchers was the first one I got into. I just kept binging episodes and instantly fell in love with it. Always thought the show's main concept was really, REALLY good. Teaching kids about outdoor games in the day and age of iPads is a really smart move. Don't really see many people in the fanbase yet unfortunately, it's certainly one my favourite CBeebies shows from the last 5 years. Also it has absolutely ruined me as any time I hear or say the phrase "so cute" I immediately have to connect it to Nina.

Vida on the other hand I pretty naturally got into. I checked it out, watched the first few episodes, and thought it was pretty good, but never intended it to become my next big hyperfixation. I was sooooooo wrong. I've always had a soft spot for shows with cute animals (Was a big LPS 2012 fan way back when) so naturally this was always destined to be a show I'd fall in love with. I also love all the characters in the show too. Pippen's my personal favourite, but Zigzag is a REALLY close second though. She's a cute bunny who canonically has ADHD. What's not to love.

Okay I think I've talked enough and I've been typing this out for like, 2 hours, I really need some sleep. I could talk about all sorts of other CBeebies shows I enjoy (LazyTown, Tish Tash, JoJo & Gran Gran, Carrie & David's Popshop's a more recent one I've binged from the days of old) but I've talked enough so yeah.

[keithrm]

Memory Loss On Memory Lane

(2024/02/17)

When a relationship is broken, one of the many things we lose is mutual recall.

We all get nostalgic feelings from specific things, perhaps a place, a scent, or a song.  For many of us in my generation, TV theme songs can be a real kick down sentimental memory lane.

Lately, part of my late night routine involves the TV being turned on to Catchy TV, and the show “Newhart” – not the “The Bob Newhart Show”, where Bob Newhart plays a psychiatrist, but “Newhart”, where he plays the owner of a little inn, in Vermont.  For me, there is something very emotional about the theme.

The emotion connects directly with my ex, Elizabeth.  But here is the catch; “Newhart” ran from 1982 to 1990.  I did not meet Elizabeth until 1990.  As such, the bulk of the show ran during a previous – and most unsettling – marriage.  The nostalgic tug of the theme does not bring up any of the negative emotions or associations with the first marriage.  The feelings the theme brings up are tied to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth and I were big fans of ��Twin Peaks” when we first met.  I have a very strong emotional response to that theme song.  “Twin Peaks” premiered in 1990.  My memory of it and Elizabeth is crystal clear.  But my memory of Elizabeth and “Newhart” is non-existent.  I have only the emotional tug of the theme to give me a clue.  And when I look at the dates “Newhart” aired, she and I could have only watched the last season together, or perhaps reruns.  That said, I do have a vague recollection of us discussing the college drinking game, “Hello Bob”, where everyone is required to take a drink whenever someone says “Hello, Bob” during “The Bob Newhart Show”.  Likewise, there is a nebulous memory of discussing the fun characters Larry, Darryl and Darryl from “Newhart”, but these memories are so foggy, I could have had those debates with anyone.

Oh, how I wish we could have remained a friendship connection, to email each other or to be able to have a dinner every now and then.  I do send her a happy birthday email every year, and I give her a Christmas gift every year – secretly place by her door around midnight on each Christmas Eve, with the card signed, “ . . .  Santa”.  The three dots represent, “I Love You”.  She knows who “Santa” is, but she does not know what the dots mean.  Fourteen years now, Santa has left his gifts.  Fourteen years, and she has sent me a small gift of her own, sent via my daughter.

In 2023, for the first time in those fourteen years, I did get to see her and talk for a bit.  Her cheer and bubble was as effervescent as ever.  She looked happy, and healthy, and honestly, beautiful.  She had moved into a new house, and had an old family clock from my Dad that she no longer had a place for, and she wanted to return it to me.  I crumbled in the meeting.  I was not emotionally strong enough, but all this is a bit of a digression.

Would that I could ask her, “Did we watch ‘Newhart’ often?”  As a couple, you have more RAM and even more ROM – your hardwired memory is larger, and your randomly accessed recall is greater. When a relationship is broken, we lose so many things.  At times, like my first marriage, the breakup was the beginning of a new life.  I was reborn.  The breakup with Elizabeth has left me feeling old, feeble, and forgetful.

[hotarutranslations]

#CDJ 23/24

COUNTDOWN JAPAN 23/24

Thank you very much!!

Uwa-----i!!

Thank you very much, for the lots of support today

It was

Our first live as the 13 of us…😳⚠️

This month we've been rehearsing for the new year lives, and of course we were having rehearals for this, Although we can see the shape of the 13 of us,

Its nice to meet everyone……!

This is the current Morning Musume! Thank you very much!

How did Ishida look💙🩵

ROCKIN'ON.com

We full sang and danced 10 songs🕺

Please definitely check out, the setlist and stage photos

In particular, Brainstorming……

Its been a while since performing this🔥 Waitaaaa🔥

Morning Musume "Brainstorming"

Fukumura Mizuki-san, Sayashi Riho-san, Ishida Ayumi, Oda Sakura-chan,

The 4 of us danced to the intro and outro ロdance,

I like how it is, with the new system😌🫶🏻 I want to perform it somewhere again

Man!

It wasn't just like, I'm sweating~ The festival was so hot, You could see the sweat we were dripping on the floor!

Those in the back, back back, up to those on the sides~~, I could see a lot of people,

It was happiness😌👏🏻

2023 for Morning Musume,

JAPAN JAM 2023 ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2023 Inazuma Rock Fest 2023 COUNTDOWN JAPAN 23/24

Thank you for help with the festivals in all four seasons I loved it I'm really always happy about it

It was a hot end to the festivals🌏🔥

Again, we'll do our best in 2024 for Morning Musume to continue to be a group everyone loves🌏🔥

When you see Morning Musume, please stop byyyy!!!

Tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, Its the Hello! Project Countdown Live

⋆͛📣December 27th 5:00PM~ January 2nd 12:00AM "Morning Musume '23 FC Event ~Musume xFANxFun!x Christmas~" Stream

Merry Christmas----🎄.*

December 29th COUNTDOWN JAPAN 23/24

1:15PM~ EARTH STAGE set🌎💫

12/30 "Iikubo Haruna and Morning Musume 10th Generation MBS Youngtown"

Somehow, 10th generation will be delivering a Youngtown~~~

Duu couldn't make time for it because of work, I'm sorry, but the 3 of us will be on the radio, It was super fun, I'm anxious about it

📣December 31st~January 1st CDTV Live! Live! New Years Special Morning Musume '23 will be performing!

January 1st~Febraury 23rd Hello! Project 2024 Winter ~THREE OF US~

We're having concerts throughout the country! Tickets are on sale depending on the venue!

🎫Tickets on Sale

⋆͛📣Around New Years…… It seems Sendai Broadcast's "Sugo! Job" will be rerun👩🏻‍💻

Definitely read the serialization, ok

#136 Excellent Jacket Play✍️

Sendai Broadcast "Ara Ara Kashiko" If you missed, "Ishida Ayumi Goes!" its being streamed on,

OX VIDEO STORE

see you ayumin <3

[saintmeghanmarkle]

The Harkles Night Before Christmas. by u/Significant_Air3878

The Harkles Night Before Christmas. Twas the night before Christmas at grand Olive GardenMeghan scowled (while Harold applied Elizabeth Arden).She had just applied bronzer, then brushed out her hair, spending thousands of dollars each week on self-care.Meg looked out the window, her mind clear of thinking,Seeing H leave the guest house togo do some drinking.The children had left with their grandmother, Doria(Who was high on something that brought too much euphoria).When from bathroom 16, there arose such a clatterThat Meghan got up to see what was the matter. She threw on a bathrobe, all wrinkled and brown(Embroidered with "Duchess" and neat little crown).Meg rang for security, no response to her call,remembering then that she fired them all.She got up to go take a walk through the place(But first, she phoned Backgrid, you know, just in case).When what should she see with her wondering (left) eye--In her own 16th bathroom was the ghost of Princess Di!She looked as she had at the height of her fame,then Diana started shouting, and calling her names:"You're a liar, a harlot, a thief, and a snake;you've embarrassed my son, you're a snob and a fake.With your weird-bottomed pants and much-altered face--no one believes your New York City car chase.You will never be me, so quit copying my style,and your venom towards Catherine is terribly vile.With your parking lot trots and your podcast endeavors,you bring shame to your family, to mine, and to Trevor."Meg started pleading, "But I'm not to blame! No, I'm the sweet victim, just go read Endgame!"Diana exhaled, saying "give me my watch back," to which Meghan replied, "Don't pick on me, I'm black."Lady Di looked at her and took in what she saw--a very sad woman with hands in a claw.Her eyes, they were rabid, her cheeks, gaunt and sharp.Her nose had been chiseled, her lips smacked like carp.Meghan's eyebrows had been drawn three sizes too big, done just recently for the reboot of The Tig.Her very strange hair was drawn up in a bun, her skin screamed that she'd taken in too much sun.(Perhaps there had been no sunscreen on the yachtfrom all the times sailing--she'd traveled a lot.)Diana said, "Harry's not here, I must go,I'll leave you to your Montecito shit show."She turned towards the mirror and gave Meg the fingerThen disappeared, only her memory to linger.Table 12 heard as Di disappeared from her sight,"You're a narcissist bore, and Piers Morgan was right!"Meghan went back to bed and turned on the TV,Seeing Suits reruns, "Good, now I can just watch me."Then she marked 5AM for her clock-alarm set,and drifted to sleep dreaming of a private jet. This is the Christmas of Meghan and FecklessMerry Holidays to all, just don't break your necklace!​https://preview.redd.it/65bp44ixt48c1.png?width=1536&format=png&auto=webp&s=bdbb35f0a51e6292f0a53570c075c252da800511​ post link: https://ift.tt/YHi6LEZ author: Significant_Air3878 submitted: December 24, 2023 at 12:53AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

[newgabeorder]

Toon Time Theater Rumor

Since the passing of my father, Oscar Ramos, my mother basically cut cable TV services from our household, and I am left lonely without it since. Though I live-stream Toon Time Theater on Saturday mornings, I've been wondering which direction to take after (less than) two years on the internet space. 2023 started it all, and 2024 had many changes to the format. 2025? I have feelings I'll turn the "horrible" nights into nightclubs full of deadlier anime than what I am used to. As you can see, I have a practice of live-streaming occasional marathons of single anime series that last until 12:30 AM Pacific. That's like the time Toonami signs off in the East coast, right?

Also, I've been wanting to run the isekai-themed U-PICK poll, but with the U-PICK arc nearing its end and the Separate Ways arc on its way, I figured I'd give the polls a rest. Instead of having a poll to get the INVINCIBLE FIGHT GIRL dilemma situated, I decided to rerun Bartender on Saturday mornings to coincide with Toonami's INVINCIBLE FIGHT GIRL broadcasts. Eventually, I knew Bartender had a Christmas episode, and I intend to live-stream it the morning before the MASHLE marathon.

[busterstrouble]

breathe in breathe out it will be ok || Self Para

(tw: death, abuse, violence)

If I ever leave this world alive, I'll take on all the sadness that I left behind. If I ever leave this world alive, the madness that you feel will soon subside. So, in a word, don't shed a tear, I'll be here when it all gets weird. If I ever leave this world alive.

Everyone has lost someone in their life. Some people have lost people they were close to and some have lost those they only knew through others. Either way death and loss is something that brings everyone together in some way. In this world not everyone will die but they have faced it through others.

What death is to you may not be the same as it is to others though. Death is the end of their being. Not the memory of them but the ability to make any more memories. You will never get to go hit a bucket of balls with them at the driving range again. You will never get to call their phone and hear their voice in the other end. You will never get to celebrate a tradition the same ever again. This list of what you will no longer get to do is endless. That is a place where grief likes to live. In the world of what was taken from you. The memories you will no longer get to make.

Now the memories you have previously built are all you have left. They will play like reruns in your mind any time you think of them. The brain does fade and the fear of loss of memories can sit in the back of your mind forever. It is up to you to replay those memories in your head so you never forget. The problem with that is the sadness that comes up when you think of those you have lost. Your mind will fight itself. No i cannot think of the memory; it will ruin my day or i will cry. Then on the other hand your mind is begging you to think of the memory so you can relive the happiness you once had. This is something you will have to sit and deal with forever.

Some memories are not pleasant. They are the ones maybe only you have and its the last moments of their life. You could be watching the last breath leave their body. You could be watching them gasping for air as their body is slowly dying on the inside. The memory of your hands crushing their rib case as you attempt CPR to give them any last chance of life. These memories may take over the good memories; but only for a brief time. The last moments of their life when they look a way you have never seen them before. You have to remember that that version of them will live with you forever but they will also be over shadowed by the good memories. Living intertwined in your memories forever; but that is the only way they can coexist.

It was Christmas Eve 2023 - the night they all crossed over. The day their bodies shed their last breath. The last day the all howled together as a pack. The territory battle between the Cor Pack and the Italian Vampires who were pushing the boundaries finally reached its climax. The feud started nearly 15 years prior but after push and pull over the Camden Town neighborhood only one side could win. There was no way for both sides to survive. Business could only survive if one clan kept control. Unfortunate for Buster and the Cor Pack they were only 6 deep. The Changretia family were dozens. Buster and Rancor had the monopoly over the illegal auction in Camden Town. Nothing went in or went out that they didn't have their hands on. Lucrative and a connection to packs all over the UK they really had zero competition - until the greedy Vampires caught wind. They simply wanted territory originally - the business was none of their concern but if the Cor Pack lost their territory they lost the business as well. Goods can only come in through the warehouse; sellers and buyers were not going to trust the confidentiality if they moved locations. The Bread Warehouse was in operation since before The Blitz in the 40s. Every day for 15 years the feud brewed and more and more Changretia vampires bought in.

The locals were protected by the Cor Pack; they trusted them, were afraid of them, and benefited from the Bread Factory and the hidden business within. When Lokus Changretia himself finally moved into Camden Town he swindled his way into the hearts of the locals; offering false promises. Turning faith on the Pack that kept them safe for years. Soon the allies turned; but Buster himself was unaware of where the allegiance lied until the end. Betrayed by their close allies the Cor Pack was led into an ambush. 6 lives flat lined.

This was Busters family. They were who he had spent nearly 20 years of his life with. Every day. Tick and thin. Hate and love. They had felt it all. The blood family was long gone; as if it never existed. Left him stranded and never returned. Rancor. Marshall. Phillip. Emmett. Arthur. Ada. That was his family. Rancor. Last Breath 12.24.23 7:15PM.

The leader of the pack. The alpha. The one to turn Keaton when he was a young boy. The two were practically made for each other. Sought each other out; and Rancor offered to change him. Leading the pack into a fight they expected to win he went out as a true commander. Fighting from the front. Throwing himself between the Italian Vamps and the rest of his pack. Buster watched from a warehouse window; hoping for the element of surprise - he watched his Alpha and only true father figure held up against a building with a metal pipe. Teeth clashing against the metal until he took a fatal bite from Lokus Changretia.

Marshall. Last Breath 12.23.23 7:18PM.

If Buster was the Sargent at arms; Marshall was his right hand man. Turned in the same week the two were raised together from young boys to men. The only voice that would calm Buster down. Where Buster was the brawn Marshall was the brains - always able to get them out of trouble if it was looming. As Rancor was being held against the wall it was Marshall who charged from behind a parked car in any effort to surprise the swarming vampires. Held by 6 vampires Marshall was forced to watch as Rancor was murdered. Cries piercing the alley way - finally taken out by all 6 vampires Marshall was left with 6 bites all along his body.

Phillip. Last Breath 12.24.23. 7:25PM.

The found brother. Rancor found Phillip stranded north of London; left for dead. Turned and rejected by his family; Philliip never lost the feral. The packs wild card Phillip was always first to use his fists before his brains. Buster fought with him side by side before they agreed to separate and get higher ground. Buster went left and Philliip went right; he never mad it to the warehouse floor. Over zealous Phillip decided to detour only to be strangled to near death. Nothing but muffled howls heard from the dark corner. Buster knew he was gone when his voice forever went silent in his head. That was three gone.

Emmett. Last Breath 12.24.23. 7:26PM.

The only born wolf to join the pack. Found the life of his family and their ways to not be sufficient enough. He was tired of following the rules of his own father so while on a post graduation trip abroad Emmett deflected and joined the Cor Pack after years of searching for a family he believed in. Buster had left Emmett with the youngest in the pack; fighting in the rear. As the voices started to to fade Emmett knew that was a sign to retreat. Take the young two and run until they couldn't be found. It was all too late. 6 vs. 24 was never a fair fight. At the mouth of the tunnel Buster watched as Emmett, Arthur, and Ada were ripped to shreds by the fangs of a dozen vampires.

Ada & Arthur. Last Breath 12.24.23. 7:26PM.

The Twins. The only two that Buster himself had changed. Both fosters in his final foster home - they had only arrived a few years after he left but he never stopped checking in. There was a moment when Ada started looking battered and bruised and Arthur was rail thin. Buster knew he had to save them - it was an offer just like he was offered. They accepted and have spent the last 12 years with the Cor pack. If there was anyone they wanted to save it was the brother sister pair. Ada the devil and Arthur the maniac. Only two to refer to him as Keaton. Watching their wolves scream under dozens of teeth almost led Buster to surrendering himself.

Buster taking the higher ground was his only saving grace. It is what truly saved him and he knows it. Everyday he relives it. The screams. The howls. The panic in all 6 of their voices as they faded in his mind. The silence was deafening. From a world where he was surrounded by 6 voices all their own; each filling a small void. His family. Wiped out in front of him. Every day is hard. Buster knew he didn't even that courage to say their names out loud. What would he even say. The memories he had no one to share them with. Nobody knew them now. He was the only one. He thought of writing to Emmetts parents to letting them know he was gone - but the weren't his family - he was their family. Swynlake was his safe haven now. This was going to be his new home. Every day was a battle. Everyday it was harder to get up and smile. The memories were there but it hurt him to his core to think of them. It felt wrong to laugh. It felt wrong to smile. It felt wrong to do anything but mourn them. The wolf inside was barely surviving - or at least thats what it felt like. Their pack was gone. The love was gone. Buster knew he was to carry on their legacy but even forming a pack felt wrong. Who was going to follow him if he was still unable to lift his head and howl on his own. The wall was up. It was not coming down. The aggression was ramped up and it was not going to go down. Buster was going to to deal with it time. When the screams don't haunt him. When the business is back running. When the sound of Adas laugh doesn't make him tear up. Until then - his family was gone. Their deaths on replay. The screams a broken record. The silence deafening. Alone. Once again alone.

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Christmas Reruns 2023 Day 32: New Year New Town

Merry Christmas if you celebrate it and happy holidays if you don’t!  One of the things I love about Christmas is watching reruns of all the old classic Christmas movies–Christmas is a big time for nostalgia.  A few years ago, I decided to incorporate that tradition into my fandom life and post my CS holiday reruns.  So here you go!  Enough holiday (mostly) fluff to get you to New Year’s Day. (With a new story posting on Christmas Day.)

Rating: G

Word Count: 1868

Other chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

                                                                                                             A/N: Taking place sometime not long before grown up Henry calls for Hook, Regina and Emma to come to his aid in the alternate Enchanted Forest in 7x2, the residents of Storybrooke are living out their Happy Beginnings. With New Years approaching, Regina and Snow decide it’s time for a new town wide initiative. Emma and Killian use the occasion to make a special announcement of their own. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Good morning, Beautiful.  How was your night?”  Killian crooned softly as he leaned down to kiss Emma’s cheek, his hand softly caressing her shoulder.

Emma smiled as she slowly opened her eyes and turned over to meet her husband’s adoring gaze.  She’d introduced him to the song a few months ago, and ever since then, he’d woken her up to it nearly every morning.

They’d been married for five years now, and yet Killian could still make her stomach swoop like a teenager with her first crush.  It should be illegal for someone to be so romantic.

Emma sat up, ran a hand through her riotous curls, and then pulled Killian down for a long, slow kiss.  Life was good.  Life was really good.

Killian pulled away with a reluctant groan.  “I’ll never complain about a good morning greeting like that, my love, but if we continue on in this manner, we’ll never make the city council meeting on time.”

Emma groaned.  “You sure we can’t just skip it?  It’s New Year’s Eve; I’d much rather just stay here in bed with you.”

“Likewise darling,” Killian said with one more smacking kiss to her lips before he threw back the covers and got to his feet, “but you know neither Regina nor your mother would ever let us get away with that given their New Year, New Town initiative.”

Emma groaned again.  “Oh yeah, that.  Can’t wait”

About a month ago, just after Thanksgiving, Regina and Snow had called a special town council meeting.

“We’ve been Big Bad free for five years now,” Regain began without preamble, staring down each of the members of the council, “and you’d think that would mean our town would be nearly perfect, by now, but that is not the case.  I’ve still had to deal with the same petty squabbles as I’ve always had to, and I think it’s high time we do something about it.”

“Just what kind of squabbles we talking about ‘your majesty’?” Leroy asked, scowling fiercely

“Well, for one thing, I think we would all appreciate it if you’d lay off the threats of a lawsuit everytime someone eats the last of Granny’s bacon before you get there.”

“I have always tried to get as much bacon as I possibly could, and my brothers all know it”, Leroy argued.  “They double cross me at the diner counter, they know what to expect.”

Regina rolled her eyes and looked on the point of retorting back, which Snow quickly stepped in.

“The point is not to point fingers at any one person,” she said.  “The point is that I think we all have things about ourselves that we could change in order to become the best versions of ourselves.”

“So, Lady Snow, what particularly are you and the queen proposing?” Killian asked.

“As you all well know, the holiday season is just now ramping up, and before you know it, it will be Christmas and then New Years,” Snow explained.  “Regina and I were talking over tea one day, and we had a thought.  New Years is the time for resolutions.  What if we–all of us–the whole town–made new year’s resolutions to make our town a better, friendlier town?”

“We’ll call it the ‘New Year, New Town’ initiative,” Regina said in her typical no nonsense tone.  “It will, of course, be compulsory for all residents of Storybrooke.”

There was a general groan among the council as everyone began talking at once.  Regina banged her gavel, finally restoring quiet to the council room.

“While I personally don’t think New Year’s resolutions are a bad thing,” Archie said, “I do have questions about how it would work practically, though.  Surely you can see that forcing the town to make New Year’s resolutions is a bit heavy-handed, even for you.”

“Not happening, Sister,” Leroy tossed in.

“For once, I have to agree with the dwarf,” Killian tossed in.  “No bloody way in Hades you will get the town–or even most on this committee–to go along with such an authoritarian scheme.”

Regina sighed in exasperation.  “Listen Captain Guyliner…”

Snow stepped in again before things could further devolve.  “Okay, maybe we can’t make it compulsory, but I was thinking, we could have incentives.  You know, get pledges from various businesses for prizes for anyone who makes and keeps their resolutions until the end of the year.  Make it a fun, citywide competition.  That sort of thing.”

After a fair bit more debate, the council finally voted six to five–with Regina, Snow, David, Archie, Whale and Marco voting aye and Zelena, Emma, Killian, Leroy and Granny voting nay–to implement the initiative.  Emma had been on the fence about the whole thing, but what finally tipped her to the “nay” side, was Regina’s final decree.

“There is one thing I must insist upon,” Regina said.  “If we can’t force the entire town to comply with the initiative, we must at least stand in solidarity in our efforts to encourage full participation.  To that end, I move that the initiative be compulsory for the members of the council.”

Another groan around the room.

“What’s stopping everyone from just making self-serving resolutions?” Whale asked.  

“Well….” Snow began slowly. “Now just hear me out!”

No statement that started like that could ever end well.

“Regina and I discussed that, and we came up with a plan that we think is fair for everyone,” she said. “We, the council, have a say in each other’s resolutions.  Everyone is free to submit resolution ideas for each other, and then on New Year’s Eve, we hold a vote to determine what each person will focus on next year.”

That suggestion got more than a little pushback, but in the end, it was reluctantly adopted.

And so here they were, New Year’s Eve morning, making their way to town hall to decide upon and commit to their resolutions for the coming year.

Emma took a deep, calming breath, as she and Killian took their seats at the council table.  Killian took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze offering her his support and strength.  She couldn’t care less what the council had decided for her resolution; the whole thing was ridiculous anyway.  What did have her nervous and excited and a little freaked out was the plan she and Killian had come up with just before Christmas when they learned the news.  Fact was, it was a big deal, a really, really big deal.

Regina, dressed in her customary power suit, banged her gavel against the table to quiet the gathered council and call the meeting to order.

“Okay, as it’s New Year’s Eve, and I’m sure we all have better places to be, let’s go ahead and get to it,” she said. 

“Here’s how it will work,” Snow said eagerly. “Everyone will vote on the proposed resolutions via secret ballot.  The ballots will be tabulated, and then each one of you will be given an envelope with the list of suggested resolutions the council proposed.  The one picked for you will be listed at the top in red.”

“And if we refuse to go along with that one?” Leroy asked, crossing his arms and scowling fiercely.

“We aren’t unreasonable,” Snow said in answer.  “If you can’t go along with your top choice, you have the option to choose one of the other selections on your list.”

Voting and tabulation were rather quick affairs, and within fifteen minutes the results were in.

“Just to get you all to stop bitching about this and see that it’s not that big of a deal, I’ll go first,” Regina said, taking her own envelope.  Taking her letter opener, she neatly slit the top of the envelope and pulled the single sheet of paper free.  Taking a moment to read through it, Regina scoffed.  “‘Cut back on snarkiness and insulting nicknames’?  Really?  I don’t–”

“Oh yes you do, your majesty,” Killian said.  “I’ve lost count of the number of times you’ve called me some variation of ‘Handless Wonder’ or ‘Captain Guyliner’.”

“Oh, did I hurt your little feelings?” Regina snapped.

“Aaaannd there’s the snark,” Emma commented.

“Fine!” Regina said, “just to prove to all of you that I’m serious about making this initiative work, I’ll accept your stupid resolution.”

With the first resolution reveal out of the way, the rest went rather smoothly.  Snow resolved to refrain from revealing secrets (although Emma personally preferred the resolution Killian had submitted for her mom: Call before coming over to your daughter and son-in-law’s house).  David resolved to make time for his mates now that his farm was taking up so much of his time. Zelena resolved to cut out envy from her life.  Leroy resolved to stop running through the town yelling “terrible news!” about anything less than a full blown emergency.  Whale resolved to stop drinking while on duty.  Archie resolved to actually get a medical degree not given to him from a curse. Granny resolved to replace the uncomfortable mattresses in her inn. And Marco resolved to take classes to bring his woodworking business into the twenty-first century.

Finally, it was down to just Emma and Killian.  The moment of truth.

Emma stood up, and without even looking at what was written on her envelope said, “I resolve to be the best mother I can possibly be and to learn all I can about how to care for a newborn.”

She was met with blank, confused stares as she sat down and Killian rose to make his announcement. 

“And I’d like to address my resolution directly to Dave,” he said with a cheeky grin.  “Mate, my resolution for next year is to not get your daughter pregnant….again.”

For a moment the blank stares continued until suddenly Snow gasped.  “Emma….Killian?  Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Emma stood, and laced her fingers with Killian’s as her smile bloomed and a tear fell from the corner of her eye.  “If you think we’re saying you’re about to be a grandma again, then yes.  We found out on Christmas Eve.  It finally happened!  I’m pregnant!”

Later that night, after the ball dropped and the new year came in amid fireworks and cheers, Emma settled in bed in Killian’s embrace.

“How are you feeling, love?” he asked, holding her to him and nuzzling her neck.  “Is the little one causing any distress?”

“At the moment all is well,” Emma said.  “Now in the morning when the nausea hits like a ton of bricks I might have a different answer, but for right now, everything feels just about perfect.”

Killian placed his hand on her belly and rubbed gently, his attempt, she knew, to caress their growing child.  “Something tells me this new year is going to be our best one yet.”

“Something tells me the same thing, babe,” Emma said.

They fell silent for another moment before Emma broke the silence with a chuckle.  “How long do you think it will take for the council to realize we totally blew off their resolutions for us?”

[webseriesviral]

Friday TV Ratings: Blue Bloods, Shark Tank, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Dateline NBC, WWE SmackDown - canceled + renewed TV shows, ratings Published: December 30, 2023Photo: The... #movie quote #movies #movie line #movie line #movie scenes #cinema #movie stills #film quotes #film edit #vintage #movie scenes #love quotes #life quotes #positive quotes #vintage #retro #quote #quotes #sayings #cinematography

[conojitology]

The Excuses And Half Truths Annual Report 2023

And lo, it came to pass the days known as Betwixtmas fell upon the land. The people were filled with dolor and langour, picking listlessly at food prepared days before, gradually becoming as one with their sofas, eyes wide but unseeing as yet another rerun of that Only Fools And Horses Christmas special with the hilarious Batman bit unspools on the telly. Woe and alas, even yr humble author was…

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

426 of 2023

“fool for love”

I have Traveled To: More than three states in the US Mexico Canada A place that starts with the letter L Austria An island A big city Anywhere in Africa Japan A place where English is not the main language Anywhere in the southern hemisphere India Netherlands

I Have Read: Any of the Bible At least two Harry Potter books The entire Twilight series Catch-22 Animal Farm A Dr. Seuss book Instructions to a piece of Ikea information A warning label that made me laugh A biography/autobiography Dante’s Inferno A Chuck Palahniuk book A newspaper in the last week Something that made me cry

I Like to Eat: Spam Mexican food Brussell sprouts Onions Watermelon Vegan food Bacon Chocolate New things Escargot Hummus Haggis Indian food Home cooking Fast food

My Favorite Actors Include: Mark Wahlberg Morgan Freeman James Franco Leonardo DiCaprio Robert DeNiro Samuel L. Jackson Chris Hemsworth Elijah Wood Johnny Depp Steve Buscemi Robin Williams Jack Black Channing Tatum

I Have Listened to These Bands: Taylor Swift AC/DC Jay-Z Frank Sinatra Pink Floyd Fall Out Boy Incubus No Doubt The White Stripes Skrillex Tenacious D Metallica Britney Spears Ke$ha The Beatles

I Have/Had These Pets: Dog Cat Horse Bird Hamster Lizard Snake Guinea Pig Goat Fish Mouse Spider Pig Hedgehog Ferret

I Have Seen These Movies: Fifth Element Gone With the Wind Nightmare Before Christmas High School Musical Kickin’ It Old School Casablanca Predator White Men Can’t Jump AVATAR 12 Years A Slave Saving Private Ryan MASH Mamma Mia! Dark Shadows Riding In Cars With Boys

If I Could Have A Super Power, I Would Choose: Mind control Mind reading Teleportation Flying Bullet-proof Speed Super-strength Invisibility All-Knowing X-Ray vision Freeze-touch Time traveling Invulnerability Telekenisis

I Am Scared of: Clowns Heights Spiders Open spaces Small spaces Vacuums Snakes Needles Strangers Michael Myers Bugs Tiny holes Highways Germs Police

My Favorite Color Is: Red Yellow Orange Green Blue Purple Gray Black Brown White Pink

I Am Currently Wearing: A t-shirt A hoodie Capris Shoes A bra Make-up Perfume Deodorant Hat Something with a superhero/symbol on it Nail polish Scarf Pajamas Boxers Sweatpants

I Would Describe My Best Friend As: Bossy Intelligent Promiscuous Funny Whiny Honest Reliable Loyal Lazy Adventurous Unique Complicated Open-minded Well-read

In the Last 24 Hours, I Have: Read Drank alcohol Had sex Eaten meat (ew!) Danced in public Went swimming Changed my clothes more than once Said something mean Cleaned Spent money on something pointless Sang aloud Met someone new Played a game of some sort

Things In the Room With Me Now Are: A TV Another person Something that belongs to a child A pet Food Bed Art Clock not connected to a phone/computer A mirror Medicine Books Drugs or alcohol

The Last Person I Texted Is: My significant other Someone who sucks at spelling A different race than me A relative Someone I don’t really like Someone I went to high school with My best friend A person I work with At home In the room with me Knows more than one language Is female Is under the age of 21 Someone I live with

I Am For: Abortion Death penalty Amnesty Gun control Gay marriage Prayer in school War in the middle east Marijuana legalization Banning cigarettes in public places Higher taxes Higher minimum wage Standardized testing Lowering the legal age for drinking

I Have Committed These Crimes: Jaywalking Smoking weed Shooting heroin Shoplifting Breaking & entering Public intoxication Hit & Run Speeding Opening someone else’s mail without their permission Burglary Vehicular manslaughter Lying under oath Truancy

I Took These Classes In High School: Home Ec Physics Photography Criminal Justice Journalism Debate Creative Writing Art Music Theory Philosophy French Theater Choir Psychology

What I Watch On TV: Reality shows about celebrities Game shows News Reruns of classic shows Award shows Modern Family Doctor Who Scandal Infomercials HSN MTV Singing competitions Cooking shows Traveling shows

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 237

Our Little World/Xmas Special

“Our Little World”

Plot Description: a teen who’s lost her souls leads Dean to Crowley and a fast-growing Amara. Castiel sees an old acquaintance on TV, stuck in an earthly body

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: No one died…that we saw

Yeah, bet that won’t come to bite you in the ass, Crowley. “You’re strong, but I’m stronger” “…for now” how do you ground the Darkness and not think that that’s gonna come back around some day.

Oh good. Misha’s done with whatever he was up to that prevented him from being here.

Did Dean just tell Cas to go touch grass? He’s not wrong. My boy is looking rough, and all he has done is watch TV

Ok. So it took an extra episode for the Lizzie Borden fanatic to die ☹️

Oh. Oh, Cassy. He’s been watching reruns of trash tv to stave off his thoughts and memories 😭

The look, the horrible dawning realization that he’s found Metatron, and Metatron’s working as a camera operator for the news

I know this wallpaper. This is the wallpaper from the Changing Channels episode

We’re back to exorcising demons?? Wellllllllll maybe not

It’s important that a growing teen learn some good cat memes

I’ve been checking out the lamps in hell, and they are really nice. There are a bunch of like art nouveau shades, they’re gorgeous

Omg he’s not even doing it for the news, he’s like a tragedy paparazzi. He might even be orchestrating it

Man, if this old asylum is where Crowley’s been hanging out or has an entrance to hell…it REALLY shows how much wreckage Amara caused in the demon ranks

I’m glad that SOMEONE ELSE has addressed the fact that every time someone mentions (or I type) the Darkness, I feel like we’re talking about the band for a second…I do wish it was someone other than Metatron

I mean, maybe don’t bait Cas into hitting you, Mets

Sure, Crowley, we’ll call what you and Dean had BROmance

Yeah, i guess that when the Darkness said “we’ll always help each other” or something like that, it cuts both ways. It’s not just a threat to Dean. She’ll protect him too…or she’s just mad at Crowley. I dunno

I’ll piece together what the parallels of Cas and Sam’s fights mean at some point, especially since Cas had to be baited into fighting and then really went on the offensive and ends up not killing Metatron while Sam goes in looking for a fight, tries to be a pacifist, and ends up killing a few demons. Cas was also having visions back at the bunker and Sam…well, he’s having them now

The indignity of having to keep your phone charged IS rough, Metatron, I know…

I AM UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE ENERGY WE’VE BROUGHT INTO HELL TODAY. Amara is very in love with Dean (who on this show isn’t?)

What is the lore in this show?!?! The Darkness is god’s SISTER??? (I can’t believe we’re getting this reveal when I’m so close to season 4 of Sherlock)

Why are you getting visions of the cage, Sammy??

“Xmas Special”

Plot Description: the Doctor and Clara are trapped on an arctic base and their only hope is Santa Claus!

Oh good, I waited til really late to watch another long dw episode

These elves are so mean to her!!

What a brilliant time for the Doctor to show up, seconds after Clara tells the very real Santa that she stopped believing in fairy tales

Is Santa a time lord? His sack of toys is obviously bigger on the inside…

You know what gets me about shows and movies that are meant to be for families that discuss the existence of Santa? And this might be a more recent phenomenon. But aside from the weird mechanics of adults who don’t believe in Santa still somehow finding presents under the tree from Santa on Christmas morning because of course he exists in this universe….but you’re also showing these shows to your like 5 year old who’s just learned through watching that there comes a time you stop believing in Santa even though they’re only now at an age where they can recognize Santa. It’s just weird and I have no idea if that paragraph made sense

Wtf is going on at this arctic base? Why can’t she look or think about these beings in the infirmary??

Ah damn…the Doctor and Clara fucked it up for these people. Whatever they were tying to accomplish, they just BARGE IN

LOW BLOW, DOC! You can’t bring up Danny, and you REALLY can’t insinuate that he’d be cheating on Clara. It’s too soon for her and it’ll pretty much always be too soon for her

Omg they’re really are gonna get saved by Santa…..he just sent an army of toys into this base

I’m usually not a huge fan of how Santa gets depicted in Christmas specials (not in a “this doesn’t fit my headcanon” but more in a “he’s just uninteresting” way) but this one’s at least a little fun and interesting.

I really think he’s a time lord

…I forgot they didn’t know they lied to each other…I forgot they lied to each other at the end of the last episode

I do love that they keep saying Twelve looks like a magician

He’s got a point…it would definitely be offensive, as an extraterrestrial, to find out we have a horror movie called Alien. Then again, we have a lot of horror movies named a lot of things, so…anyway “no wonder you keep getting invaded” is a good reaction

Ah, fuck. The Dream Crab got Clara.

I know this is the Doctor trying to save her, but in this perfect dream world, it’s super jarring to see the hallway walls turn into chalkboards with “DYING!” written all over them

Oh good. The Doctor has come to actually save her….excuse me?? He let himself get taken by the Dream Crabs too??

Huh…so the only way to kill them is to reject the dream

THEY DID AN INCEPTION?? The Doctor and Clara were in a dream but everyone’s been in a dream since the beginning? Since they all got into the infirmary??

He’s so against any real touchy freely stuff, and I am forever living for that

…nah, there’s still 18 more minutes. How…I don’t like this existential crisis they’re giving me “no one ever knows they’re not dreaming m. Not ever. Not for one second of our lives” don’t do that to my brain. Please

Stop physically reaching out to them!! What is wrong with you people?!

Have we really circled back to Santa’s real?? We spent a bunch of time proving he wasn’t real in the last dream, and he still might not be because this is still another dream but who knows??

This girl has an interesting Christmas itinerary. She’s gonna watch Alien and The Thing From Another World before her dad comes around. Then she’ll watch Miracle on 34th Street before what I can only imagine is a Game of Thrones marathon…and last “forgive Dave???”…which she’s somehow apparently already done that last one

Please tell me this isn’t yet another dream. What??? It’s been 62 years since they’ve seen each other??? It was another dream. When did Steven Moffat watch Inception? Did he wait four years? Because the number of levels of the dream were just too much. And then the tangerine at the end, like the spinning top.

[doctornolonger]

misc Big Announcement thoughts, take 2:

"upcoming seasons" – for now, the rest of New Who will remain on HBO Max. Disney wouldn't be interested in the show if prior series were required viewing, so this basically confirms that RTD will be going for a full "soft reboot" with Gatwa after (via?) the 14th Doctor specials.

Will this mean new episodes become available in the US right after they finish airing on BBC 1, like how iPlayer works now? As sad as it may be to see BBC America consigned to 24/7 reruns, I won't miss the ads very much.

RIP to my Irish friends tho. Shafted again.

This year BBC sold its share of BritBox to ITV, who will be folding it into their new ITVX platform next month. So the Classic Who distribution rights will probably be up for grabs at the end of this year. Odds that Disney+ snaps them up? Would be nice to stream all of Classic and New Who in the same place – would much rather it be anywhere but Disney+ though!

Come to think of it, between Classic and New Who, Torchwood and Class, Sarah Jane and even the K9 series that used to air on Disney XD … even without anything new, there's already enough to justify a new tile on the Disney+ homepage. A realistic mockup from Gerard Groves on Twitter:

This begs the question: what would we see in the MCUfication of Who – the WhoCU, if you will? Educated guesses below the cut:

Because of Chibnall's switch from Christmas to New Year's, Daleks didn't appear on TV in 2018, and it led to the first year that the Nation estate made less from Dalek merchandise than they had before the revival. This triggered a clause in Tim Hancock's original deal – which both sides were still holding to, even though it technically expired in the move to BBC Worldwide – so I've heard that the estate started shopping the Daleks around to other studios. (Hancock also recently resigned.) Rumour has it that Disney bought ~30% of the rights in a silent auction. BBC still owns the designs from the TV show, but after 2023 they wouldn't be able to call them "Daleks" anymore – the "drones" were introduced in Revolution as a workaround. This has probably changed with RTD's emergency return and this Disney+ deal, but the fact remains that Disney can use redesigned Daleks with or without RTD's permission.

We might also get shot-for-shot recreations of missing episodes with new actors! According to people I trust – and many thanks to [redacted] for inspiring most or all of these bullet points – the BBC received film print copies of "Marco Polo" from a private collector in 2013, but they're so damaged they're basically unwatchable. Following UKTV's success with Dad's Army in 2018, BritBox had been talking about reshooting "Marco Polo" for the 60th anniversary, like An Adventure in Space and Time had been for the 50th. (It's mostly a single set, after all.) This would be a test run for a more ambitious First Doctor revival. Animation is not the future for our "missing" episodes…

Or maybe as Gerard visualized, McGann will get another shot – he looked pretty good in The Power of the Doctor, didn't he? According to one of the same sources for the spot-on Centenary leaks, BBC Studios looked into doing a live-action Eighth Doctor miniseries after the big hit that was "The Night of the Doctor", but management changed and ordered Class instead. I love Class and all, but … what a missed opportunity!

Is MCUfication a good idea? I have very mixed feelings. As Neo from WhoCares remarked, after so many years of ambling, the franchise being steered in a new direction so purposefully is uncomfortable and kind of scary. But this won't be RTD's first time reinventing Who. In the end I have to trust that we're in capable hands!