#gifted to my grandpa

[little-cat-press]

Sometime when my older siblings were little, my dad discovered that they found stories about his childhood more entertaining if he told them as "One time my friend Frederick..." instead of "One time when I was a kid...", and thus Frederick Stories were born.

I loved hearing Frederick Stories growing up, and so did all of my siblings. At some point, Dad decided to write (some of) them down, and a year or two ago I asked him for the file.

And now, currently in the mail to arrive late for Christmas, is a hand-bound copy of his book.

Two copies, actually, because I'm also sending one to his parents. He mentioned in the introduction that when he had first written these stories down, he had given them a copy for Christmas, and I thought they would like to have another, probably more nicely bound, one.

There's a third copy for me, but it took me long enough to finish these two before Christmas, and my copy isn't finished yet. Mostly, but not quite.

It is bound in a nice brown cloth I have, and titled with gold paint, because I thought it would lend it a sort of Old Book vibe that I thought would go well with the title.

Hence also the gothic font for the title.

I also did a few experiments with ways of turning cloth into bookcloth, which is why the two books are a bit different in color. The one on the right in the above picture is the original cloth color.

The edges are gilded with the same gold paint as the title is done in, which also helps with the Old Fancy Book vibe I wanted.

Almost all of the stories opened with "One day, Frederick..." or "One time, Frederick...", and I picked a nice ornamental font for the dropcaps there.

[munsonfamilyband]

Slick Sunday post for @lexirosewrites !! I decided to just post it like this since this is probably going to be long. I do promise it has christmas in it but there’s a build up to that. Also very minor TW for child abuse. It’s less than a sentence but still. And also, this is canon up till s4, I don’t really know how different it is, the important thing is that Chrissy lived and Eddie didn’t get eaten as much as he does in canon.

—————

It starts in 1987. It’s late November, Steve has unofficially taken over his house since he hasn’t spoken to his parents in so long he doesn’t even remember. Eddie and Robin are over helping him decorate their tree. They’re all wearing ugly sweaters and pajamas. Steve and Eddie had just started officially courting, while Robin and Chrissy were still dancing around each other. She was in the middle of lamenting her latest failed attempt to ask her out when the front door opens and the Harringtons enter. A fight breaks out pretty quickly and it culminates in a few smashed ornaments, Steve getting slapped, Eddie being literally sat on by Robin to keep him calm, and Steve being told his things needed to be gone by the next day. He’s told that his behavior is not that of a Harrington.

And then they’re gone.

Eddie forces Robin off of him so he can hold Steve, and she goes to call Hopper. He and Steve had been close before Starcourt and since he came back last year they’re reconnected. (Steve calls him dad behind his back, he’s too scared to say it to Hop’s face yet.)

Hop shows up a few minutes later, only to be followed by one very angry Claudia Henderson. She explains that El had called Dustin on the walkie about the phone call she overheard and Claudia left right away.

They both start helping him pack once they know he’s okay and they all go to Hop’s cabin for dinner. While they’re eating Steve casually mentions that he wants to change his name. What he thought would be a casual comment with little fanfare resulted in Claudia baring her teeth at Hop as they argued over who got to bring Steve into their family officially. It would be scarier if Steve wasn’t ready to cry from how loved it makes him feel. He does eventually have to burst their bubble and tell them he wants to be a Buckley. This does get Hop and Claudia to calm down but it also gets Steve tackled off his chair by Robin in a hug.

Fast forward, it’s now the mid 90s. Chrissy and Robin live in the brownstone next to Eddie and Steve in Chicago. Steve and Eddie got married two years ago and earlier that fall they had learned Steve was pregnant. They had so far only told Robin and Chrissy, but that was because Steve was at home while Eddie was at work and he begged Robin to come with him to buy tests. Both Eddie and Steve knew it was time to tell everyone else, since he had just finished the first trimester and with christmas coming up they decided to go with the most cliche announcement possible.

The four of them go back to Hawkins for the holidays. Robin and Chrissy are staying at the Buckley’s and Eddie and Steve are staying at Hop’s cabin.

The first person they tell is Wayne. They have dinner with him for christmas eve and then over dessert exchange presents. Eddie gets a new set of steel toed boots and Steve gets a new coat. Then they hand Wayne his gift and Eddie grabs their camcorder to record his reaction. Inside is a new baseball hat placed upside down with something balled up inside it. Wayne takes the cloth out and flips the hat around, freezing as he reads it, then quickly dropping it and picking up what is now clearly a onesie. In bold letters the onesie says ‘Grandpa’s Fishin’ Buddy’. The hat says ‘Grandpa is my name, Fishing is my game’. Wayne, still gripping the onesie in his hands looks up at them with wet eyes.

“Is this… I’m gonna be a grandpa?”

Eddie can’t stop smiling behind the camera and he turns it slightly to catch Steve as he smiles at Wayne, giving little jazz hands as he says, “surprise.”

Eddie just barely pans back to Wayne to catch him standing up to pull Steve into a hug.

“I’m so happy for you two. Ed, you better put that thing down and get in here.”

———

The next people they tell are the Henderson’s. While Dustin will also be at Hop’s that night, Steve had wanted to be able to see his mom for christmas so for years they had been doing brunch at the Henderson’s before the three guys go to Hop’s and Claudia goes to get some extra hours working at the hospital.

They show up right on time with their gifts and enjoy breakfast before it’s present time. Dustin gets the new Dungeons and Dragons book that had just come out and a new set of dice that looked like the night sky. Steve gets a new cookbook and a scarf. Eddie gets a scarf as well as a new toolbox for work. Then Steve hands over the gift bag to Claudia, but before she opens it he turns to Dustin while Eddie gets the camcorder again.

“Dustin, I need you to promise me, right now, that what you see right now will not be told to anyone today. Got it?”

Dustin rolls his eyes as he responds, “Dude, it’s just a gift-“

“Dustin. Promise me,” Steve interjects.

After they stare at each other for another 30 seconds Dustin gives a dramatic sigh and promises. With that done Steve gives Claudia the okay to open her gift. She takes out the tissue paper and pulls a folded up sweatshirt and a folded canvas bag out. The bag is unfolded first and Claudia gasps, quickly unfolding the sweater and then dropping them both to rush over to hug Steve.

“Oh, I’m so happy for you! My baby!” Claudia is crying as she and Steve hold each other tight, Steve laughing with pure joy. Eddie catches Dustin standing up out of the corner of his eye and refocuses the camera on him, following him as he goes over and picks up the items his mom dropped. The bag says ‘Grandma’s Magic Bag’ and the sweatshirt says ‘World’s Best Grandma’. Dustin stares at them and then he’s shouting.

“You guys are having a pup?!”

Eddie just grins at him over the camera as he asks, “You ready to be Uncle Dustin?” Eddie then barely keeps the camera from breaking as Dustin rushes him in a hug.

———-

Their final present is that evening at Hop’s. Steve is drinking hot cider and curled into Eddie’s side on the couch, Robin right next to him with a hand on his ankle, Chrissy on her other side laughing as Max shares a story about college. Steve looks around the room and sees Dustin already staring at him, practically vibrating in his seat. It’s clear that he’s doing his best to not spill the beans so Steve huffs a laugh and claps to get everyone’s attention.

“Alright, present time?”

The next minute or so is a rush of movement as everyone finds a spot and grabs their gifts, Steve holding tight to his gift for Hop. Eddie had El help him hide the camera earlier so she can turn it on without giving anything away.

Presents are passed around and opened. Max gave Steve a new poster for his classroom, and Robin got him the fancy desk organizer set he had been looking at for months. Mike got Eddie new patches for his work coveralls and Will gave them a beautiful painted version of their wedding photo. (Steve does tear up over it but tries to cover up as best he can, stupid pup hormones).

Then Steve stands and hands Hop his bag, giving El a wink as he walks past her and he sees her squint her eyes for a breath before giving him a wink back. Steve settles back in to Eddie’s side and gives Hop the go ahead. He pulls out what is clearly a mug wrapped in tissue paper with a hat stuffed into it. Hop takes the hat out first and looks at it, his face unreadable, before he sets it down with the words hidden. He quickly takes off the tissue paper and reads the mug. His face is still blank but everyone can see his eyes filling with tears as he makes eye contact with Steve.

Eddie gives Steve a little nudge and that’s all it takes for him to get up and go hug his dad, being wrapped up in his arms as Hop cries. After a beat where it’s still silent Hop speaks, looking over at Eddie. “Years ago, I thought I would never get to be a grandpa.” Steve just hugs him tighter and the room around them erupts as everyone starts screaming. Eddie gets dog piled by the boys, excluding Dustin who has collapsed on the floor from the relief of not having to hide that anymore. Steve feels two people wrap around him from behind and glancing at their arms he sees that it’s El and Max, both hugging him. When everyone has calmed more Steve goes back to sit with Eddie, who can now place his hand on Steve’s stomach. Hop sits down and finally shows everyone his gifts. The mug has a sheriff’s badge and it says ‘Chief Gramps’ and the hat says ‘Professional Grandpop’. Hop puts it on his head that night and refuses to take it off.

———————

Et viola. Also, this is Wayne’s hat because I love it so much:

[igiveupreally]

I'm a really fucking horny person so I prepared this as a New Year's gift. Yeah, enjoy🎄🎆🎊

[xxplastic-cubexx]

Did someone ask for a tactical grandpa deployment? The Crazy Taxi reference was too powerful to be contained in tags 😌

THE TACT GRANDPA DEPLOY ON THIS TUESDAY MORNING ???

[hurricanek8art]

Last art post because my nerves are getting to me, sorry for spamming 🙃 I just wanted to post my ref sheets for my girls because I'm proud of them. No idea if Tumblr's gonna crunch these too, so better safe than sorry, click for quality, you know the drill. Sorry for my chicken scratch handwriting, dysgraphia makes writing neatly hard. :P

Aja's ref sheet is kind of a huge mess, so I'm just posting the current armor and downtime/off-duty looks I've got for her. I'm proud of Vega's, though!

[crownedinmarigolds]

I despise despise despise when family just assumes I will draw something for them or for another family member out of the goodness of my heart. Like I of course love gifting art or whatever, but I don't know how anyone can listen to me saying "my day is 100% full, I have a full time job, a husband and daughter I spend time with, and I draw commissions in my limited free time" and then just assume I can give out free art out of nowhere. I'm sorry - I cannot cheerfully accept drawing hyper-detailed emotional art pieces with my current schedule without incentive to do so. I have a very organized schedule I adhere to. "You should do it because he loves you!" I'm sorry - fuck off with that. I love him so much too but I am BUSY and he himself isn't even asking me this is you basically asking for a free commission for him. I know it makes me sound like a big jerk who isn't grateful or whatever but I am so busy and they don't even bother offering to pay me at all.

[ohfallingdisco]

my friends with depression: keep your birthday cards. i am begging you. i have mine in a drawer and when i start to feel especially worthless, i read through them and there’s my lost grandpa saying i love you, my favorite aunt’s funny cards, my parents actually writing heartfelt things, and doodles from friends from all throughout my life, usually with something innocent like “you’re cool, like your style.”

keep your birthday cards.

[so-very-small]

this father’s day, shoutout to my dad for leaving when i was 5. without him, i might have never have needed a coping mechanism and subsequently found g/t. considering how shitty he is, honestly not a bad trade off. thanks and good riddance, king.

[gael-garcia]

Grandpa just turned 83 (18th) and I turn 32 (19th)

[stromer]

i cant speak on the speculation regarding pete buying brock a build-a-bear christmas gift with voice notes of the team… please i can’t even begin to think about the implications of this

[ftm-radio]

Hello! Here are some fun facts about me!

I am...

quite pale

permanently tired-looking with shadowy circles under my eyes

naturally very protective of and reluctant to part with my blood (nurses HATE him)

sensitive to bright light

unfortunately rather hairless

liable to use unnecessarily formal/stilted language at the drop of a hat

fairly nocturnal

a hermit

currently obsessed with victorian aesthetics (for writing purposes, but still)

literally allergic to sunlight, I think???

and I have to say, it is horribly cruel of the universe to make me so vampire-coded when it is my god-given, transgender right to be a goddamn werewolf.

[shannonsketches]

lays on the floor do you guys ever think about how in ResF Bulma falls for Vegeta's fake-out with Freeza and both she and Yamcha are worried about Vegeta's villain fake-out strategy in Champa and Beerus' mini tournament and how it's only been a couple of years since the Buu saga and how Vegeta straight up stopped using that strategy after that tournament

[machiavelli]

Happy Christmas Eve everyone!!🎄🫶✨

[sergeantjessi]

Thinking about the past few days and... This was the first christmas in years that I've felt... actually happy? whoat

[ectonurites]

i wish i was joking but GENUINELY one of the easiest ways to get me to cry is. get me thinking about Stephanie Brown too hard

[pineappled-e]

the knowledge that my grandpa was playing the bass line of allstar by smash mouth in a coffee house in the 90s/early 00s is knowledge that i, frankly, don't know what to do with.