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the-blind-assassin-12 · 2 years

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🎁🎁🎁 Lovely Weather

A SNEAKRET SANTA GIFT DRABBLE

A/N: Merry December and Happy Holidays, everyone! Don’t mind me, I’m just here to leave another gift under the tree. These are my way of giving back to some of the lovely content creators here whose work brings me joy. I tried to personalize them a little bit for each person they’re dedicated to, but they’re just as much my gift to anyone who has ever shared their work or who has ever read mine. Thank you for being lovely <3

Gift Tag: @writeforfandoms - Who had this to say what I presented her with a choice of characters: “ijhfe;wnofhnwe you were not kidding when you said tough question.” But ultimately Jack won out, and I went with snowflakes, mittens & sleigh ride for the prompts. Jen, I hope this makes up for that devastatingly tough question. I hope it makes you smile and fills you with the kind of fluffy warmth that I feel whenever I read one of your stories. Thank you for being so lovely, and I hope you have the happiest, warmest holiday season!

WC: 2,880

Warnings: none. it’s 110% fluff.

“And last but not least, let’s get a look at our holiday weekend weather!”

The sound of a scissor blade being dragged along a length of bright red ribbon filled the few seconds of silence between the newscaster sending things over to the meteorologist, but Jack still heard you suck in an anticipatory breath. Raising his eyes from the tablet in his hand - he’d been reviewing some data that Ginger sent him regarding a prototypical weapon that would be available for testing in the new year - he looked over at you and had to hide the slight grin that pulled at the corner of his mouth. You were staring at the screen, scissors still in hand as you let the coiled ribbon bounce back toward the gift it was secured around, and he could almost hear the hopes and wishes that were swirling in your thoughts.

Don’t you worry, gorgeous, there’ll be plenty of snow where we’re goin’.

You didn’t know that yet though, so he kept quiet and watched as you waited to hear what the forecast would be.

“Thanks Jodi,” the meteorologist said, standing in front of a map of Kentucky. “And it’s looking like a pretty mild one again, folks, which is great news for anyone who is planning to travel to see family or loved ones this year.” The radar screen circled around again, a few tiny splotches of light green popping up to indicate some patchy rain moving through the Louisville area on Christmas Eve the only precipitation showing anywhere on the map. The camera panned back out to show the weather person again, and with an apologetic wince they continued their segment. “But for anyone out there dreaming of a white Christmas, it looks like you’ll be waiting at least one more year.”

You let out an audible sigh, Jack noticing the sag of your shoulders as the meteorologist handed the broadcast back over to the main newscasters, and even though he knew it would be better to keep his plan a surprise, he hated seeing you let down even if it was only temporary. It’ll be worth it though, he reminded himself.

Still, he wasn’t about to let you stew in disappointment. “Hey darlin’.” He leaned forward to set the device he’d been scrolling through down on the wagon-wheel coffee table, head tilted to one side as you turned to look at him. “I’m sorry you didn’t hear what you wanted to.” Even though it's better that there won’t be any snow here, because then I won’t have any trouble with-

Your expression softened, the lights from the tree and the ones hung around the window frame reflecting in your eyes and making your cheeks glow, and the sight scrambled the rest of his thoughts. “It’s alright, Jack.” Moving the gift you’d just finished wrapping into place under the tree, you shifted to your knees and faced him fully. A small huff of a laugh left your lips as you shrugged. “I knew it was a long shot, I was just…”

Reaching for your hand, he pulled you from the carpet and up onto the couch. “You were holdin’ out for some holiday magic, hmm?” He let you get settled against him and then wound his arm around you, tugging you close enough to press a kiss to the side of your head.

You hummed in response, one hand coming up to rest in the center of his chest. “I guess I was.” With another sigh, this one far less disappointed, you laid your cheek on his shoulder. “But I’ve got all the magic I need right here.”

That made him laugh even as it warmed his whole being. “Well shucks, gorgeous, I know I’m good with rope tricks, but I ain’t sure that qualifies as magic.”

Picking your head up, you rolled your eyes and gave him a playful smack. “You know what I meant, Daniels.” I do. The hand over his heart moved up so that your fingertips could trace the edge of one of the open buttons on the henley he wore. “I’m glad we were both able to get the time off. Spending the holidays with you is all I actually care about.” Your lips met the exposed skin just over the top of his collar, Jack tightening his grasp on you. “Snow just would have been the cherry on top.”

Having grown up in sunny, southern California, Jack knew that the opportunity for you to have had a white Christmas was less than zero. Instead of snowball fights and hot chocolate, you’d spent your winter holidays as a kid on the beach with your siblings and your friends, building sandcastles instead of snow forts. Though you secretly always longed for the big, puffy flakes and frosty blanket, snowmen and sleigh rides and everything else that you’d seen in holiday movies, it wasn’t until you took the internship at the distillery in 2011 - and moved to Kentucky - that you actually thought it might be possible.

“Just my luck that the last white Christmas in Louisville happened the year before I moved here, huh?” You’d since moved up within the organization, switching over from being a distillery employee to working in research and development for Statesman, opting to stay in Kentucky for the long and snowless haul.

Jack let out a snort. “Wasn’t much more than an inch of powder,” he recalled, rubbing his palm up and down your bicep, “and it was gone by supper time.”

You held up the finger you’d been touching him with, lifting your head as well so you could look him in the eye. “Still counts.”

“I guess it does.” Gonna be a whole lot more than that when we get up north. Wanting to keep his surprise under wraps until the last moment, Jack changed the subject. “Speakin’a weather, you hear from your parents? Their flight get in alright over in London?”

Your brother had moved overseas a few years back after a long study abroad stint, finding a job and then a husband, settling down in the outskirts of the sprawling city. Since then, your parents had alternated between spending the holidays in the US with you and Jack, and traveling to spend time with Paul and Cal. They also occasionally made the trek across the Atlantic, but since you were only ever guaranteed a handful of days off surrounding the winter holidays, you rarely got the chance to do the same. This year you only had off from the 24th to the 26th of December, Jack likely having to go in the day after Christmas, or at the very least attend a virtual meeting via his glasses, so a trip to England was simply not in the cards.

A trip up to the Adirondacks, though? That was definitely in the cards

“They did.” You answered his question and he nodded. “My mom called to let me know they landed while I was in my office this afternoon.”

“Good.” A yawn broke free then, and Jack didn’t even try to stifle it. “You all finished wrapping gifts for the night?”

“Yup,” you responded. “Just need to clean up and-” Then it was you who couldn’t keep a yawn from escaping.

“And then I think we should get some shut eye.” Need to get a good night’s rest so I’m sharp for the mornin’. “What d’you say?”

Standing so that you could start to gather up and put away the wrapping paper, ribbons, labels, tape, scissors and other tools and decorations that Jack didn’t know what to call, you took his hands in yours and pulled him to his feet as well. “Sounds good to me, Jack.” You bumped your nose against his and then dropped a kiss to the corner of his mouth, where the bristles of his mustache met his lip. “See you in the bedroom.”

– – –

Both of you had fallen asleep quickly, the last few days at HQ having been packed ones in order to get things done in time for the holiday, and though Jack would have liked to let you sleep in the following morning, he couldn’t. Because the sooner we get goin’, the better.

Waking you with a kiss, he waited for you to blink your eyes open, and when you did, the sleepy smile on your face felt like sunshine. “G’morning, gorgeous,” he greeted you through a grin of his own.

“Hey, you,” you responded through a sigh, reaching up to wipe at your eyes. “What time is it, Jack? Why are you…” You groaned and shifted closer to him, seeking out the warmth of his body beneath the sheets. “We’re off, Agent Whiskey,” you mumbled. “We should be sleeping.”

“Well, I’m afraid we’re not, darlin’.” It wasn’t the truth, and he didn’t like tricking you, but there was no other way to get you to HQ without raising too many questions, and he had to get you there, because that’s where the Silver Pony waited, all fueled up and packed with bags that Jack had put together for both of you the day before.

That got your attention fast, and your eyes flew open as you propped yourself up on one elbow. “What?! What happened? Everything okay? I-”

“Woah, woah there, easy, Iain’t sure yet what’s goin’ on. Just woke up to a message from Ginger sayin’ we needed to report soon as we could.” Jutting his chin in the direction of your nightstand where your work tablet sat next to your phone, he went on. “You probably got the same message. You can check it.”

Sighing, you rolled to your other side and picked up the device. Sure enough there was a message from Ginger - one that Jack knew would be there because he had asked the woman to send it to you. Thanks, Ginger Ale, you’re a lifesaver. You pressed the heel of your palm into your eye and let out another sigh. “You’re right, I did get one, too.” Setting the device down, you sat all the way up, suddenly alert. “Says to report to the hanger, so I guess that means field work? Why would I need to go to-”

“Not sure.” Jack shrugged and leaned in to kiss your cheek. “But I know if we don’t shake a leg she’s just gonna keep on sendin’ ‘em, and…” He trailed off and you nodded.

“No, you’re right.” You tipped your head back to stretch your neck, taking a deep breath through your nose and then releasing it slowly. “Let’s get going, Jack.”

“I’ll go start some coffee,” he said. “Can you be ready in ten?”

Throwing the cover back, you swung your legs over the side of the bed. Even though Jack knew that you weren’t thrilled about the prospect of being called into work on the morning of Christmas Eve, you winked at him. “Be ready in seven.”

Perfect.

– – –

Jack had intended to let the surprise go for as long as he could, but the second that you arrived at the hangar and it was empty, you knew that something was up. Your steps echoes in the large space, and you raised a brow in confusion. “Jack? What’s going on? Where’s Ginger? Where’s Champ or… anyone?”

“Now, don’t be mad,” he said with a smirk as the two of you stepped up next to the sleek jet. “But there ain’t no mission, and we’re not here on Statesman business.”

You scrunched your face, still clearly confused. “What? Then… why are we here instead of still at home in bed, Daniels?”

Lifting one hand, Jack patted the metallic paneling of the plane. “Because we have got somewhere to be this weekend, and I don’t think you’ll mind so much once we get there.”

That was all he gave you, along with a wink, and then he pressed the button that would open the passenger hatch, helping you up into it. He felt his heart swell at the trust that you placed in him, and then the two of you were in the air and on your way.

Once Jack got the Pony off the runway and into the air, it didn’t take long for you to notice what direction he was flying in. “Are we… are we going to New York?” Cat’s outta the bag now.

He knew that you meant the city when you asked, since that was where Statesman had another office in the Northeast, and since it wasn’t a lie he didn’t correct you. “Yes ma’am,” he answered. “Good eye.”

You hadn’t said much after that, the headsets making communication possible but not convenient as you sat directly behind him, and you’d opted to simply look out the window at the world below you. But when he neared the metropolis and didn’t start to perform descent maneuvers, you spoke up again. “Jack? I think you overshot the city, I-”

“I said, we were goin’ to New York, darlin’. I never said anything about the city.”

“Upstate?” You asked, and Jack could hear the excitement in your voice. “Jack? Are we going up-”

“Hold tight,” he told you. “You’ll see soon enough.”

And he was right, the flight coming to an end less than a half hour later at a small private airfield where the runways and tarmac were all clear - but the surrounding ground, trees, buildings and cars were covered by several inches of glittering snow. As he helped you down and out of the jet, your eyes widened and your mouth dropped open.

“Jack…” Your voice was quiet and he knew that it was because you were taking it all in. “Jack, you…”

Using your still joined hands, he tugged you into his chest and wrapped you in his arms. “How's this for a white Christmas, hmm? Better’n a little dusting down in Louisville?”

You laughed, though there were tears of joy forming in the corners of your eyes. Jack swept them away so they wouldn’t freeze on your lashes. “Yeah, I’d say so, cowboy.”

He grinned. Nice segway. “I didn’t fly you up here just to stand on the runway though, sugarplum. Got somethin’ else up my sleeve. But first I think we should bundle up, because it’s only gonna get snowier from here.”

A glee-filled expression lit your face then as you let out a breathless sigh. “Lead the way, then.”

– – –

You got to the ranch about twenty minutes later, layering up in the backseat of the car that had been waiting for you at the airfield. There had been snow jackets and thick, water-proof pants, scarves, hats and mittens in the bags that Jack had stowed, and as you donned them all piece by piece, he kicked himself for not going with gloves instead so that he could lace his wool covered fingers with yours. These are warmer though, and that’s what’s best. You zipped up your coat and he couldn’t help the sly smirk that came with thoughts of unzipping it later when you were in your room, letting his fingers travel all over your body instead of just your hands, doing his best to warm you up after a day spent in the cold. Gotta get there first, though.

“Why are you lookin’ at me like that, Jack?” You asked, breath puffing out in front of your mouth and snowflakes beginning to land on the crocheted hat you pulled on when you’d gotten out of the car.

Reaching for your hand, he wrapped his around it. “Just thinkin’ about how much I love you is all.”

That made you smile, rising on your toes to kiss him and licking away a snowflake that had landed on his lips first. “Love you, too,” you whispered without pulling away. “Thank you for this.”

Hands going to your waist, he turned you around toward the barn that you’d been standing in front of just as it opened. “Don’t thank me yet. Got one more surprise for you.”

As the door slid open on its track, a horse pulling an open sleigh made for two appeared, and you gasped with delight. “Are you serious right now?”

The animal bobbed its head as it walked, puffs of white air coming from its nostrils as it let out a friendly huff. “I am, darlin’.” He leaned forward and around to kiss your cheek from behind. “You wanted a White Christmas like the ones in the movies? Well, you got one.”

Shaking your head in awe, you looked back at him. “How did you… when…Jack…”

“Found this place when I was workin’ in the city last year,” he explained. “Needed somewhere I could go so I could ride and blow off some steam and… this ranch was perfect.” You muttered a it sure is, and he kissed you again. “Now, this beauty is gonna take us for a ride, and then we’re gonna warm up by the fire and watch the snow come down. How’s that sound?”

You removed one of your mittens then, shoving your bare hand into one of his, twining your fingers inside the mitten and squeezing. “Sounds like the best Christmas ever, Jack.”

Seeing the happiness on your face, hearing it in your voice and feeling it in the way you gripped his hand, he had to agree.

This is the Ranch that I looked up for inspiration. It was the first one that I found in the area that did holiday sleigh rides. and when you see the names of some of the horses that they own, you’ll know why it was just too perfect to pass up.

Thank you for reading! If you would like to be added to or removed from my taglist, please feel free to let me know by sending a message or by filling out the form on my masterlist :)

tags: @something-tofightfor @paracosmenthusiast @cannedbees @dihra-vesa @disgruntledspacedad @littlemisspascal @mishasminion360 @nyctophiliiiiaaa @practicalghost @tanzthompson @harriedandharassed @woodlandmouth @swtaura @trickstersp8 @princessxkenobi @imtryingmybeskar @wildmoonflower @mswarriorbabe80 @theredwritingwitch @silverstarsandsuns @competentpotato

#sneakret santa 2022 #agent whiskey x female reader #jack daniels x female reader #jack whiskey daniels #jack daniels kingsman golden circle #agent whiskey fic #holiday gift drabble #kingsman golden circle #agent jack whiskey daniels #happy holidays!

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rin-bellatrix · 2 years

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Santa Baby

"I'll wait up for you, dear." - Eartha KItt

Rhys is working late into the night on the eve of Mercenary Day. With no friends around to spend the holiday with, he might as well get some work done. But Fiona has other plans, stopping by to gift her boyfriend with some naughty holiday cheer... 🔞

Written for rhyiona lovers who enjoy some adult after hours holiday celebrations 😏 (that face is so sleazy I'm sorry 😂)

Header art by unluckycheese

Part 4 to this ongoing series that I just keep adding to. Not necessary to read parts 1-3 to enjoy this, not a lot of story relevant plot is involved with this one 😏 (The Face strikes again oop-)

Holiday wreath dividers from this post. Minors DNI divider from this post. Green ribbon with bell divider from this post. Red ribbon with holly/mistletoe divider from this post.

In case I haven't made it clear - this chapter contains smut! 🔞 Nothing in this chapter will advance the plot, so it can be skipped with no problems! If that's okay with you, then please enjoy~ 😉

Happy Mercenary Day~ ❤💚💛🤍⛄❄⭐🎄🎁🧸

Promethea shined with festive lights, the wealthy city sparkling with decorations of green and red. Golden stars twinkled atop trees and delicate baubles glistened with newly fallen snow. Shimmering lights flickered while nestled among plentiful wreaths that hung around Atlas' home base. Mercenary Day was only a couple of hours away and the head of said corporation was seated at his desk, fingers tapping and clicking away rapidly at his keyboard. The only light on in his office was what was reflected off of his monitor, and the glow from holiday lights all over Promethea that poured in from behind through his large bay windows.

Rhys sat all alone at his desk on Mercenary Day eve, having sent all of his employees off with a paid three day vacation. A happy employee was a loyal employee. There were no helpful secretaries to meet at the lobby, no security guards patrolling by on their routes. No chefs in the cafeteria, no researchers blackened with soot testing new weaponry in the R&D departments. No one was here, but Rhys needed to keep Atlas running at a bare minimum, because while he could afford to be a generous and thoughtful employer, that didn't mean that he could let his actual business remain stagnant in the meantime. Time is money, after all.

Sitting back against his plush office chair, he sighed as he flexed his left hand, stretching the tendons and muscles before shaking it out. Rubbing his dry eyes briefly, he idly wondered if he should grab another cup of coffee to help finish this one systematic report, or if he should just call it a night and come in early on Mercenary Day to get a head start on it after resting for a while.

Although it was the holidays, he wasn't really feeling the festive spirit. Mostly because he had no one to share it with.

Ringing up his oldest friend, Rhys had hoped he could reunite with the former Hyperion accountant, but the call only resulted in confusion and a notion to start hitting the gym. Vaughn was embarking on a massive group hike to bond during the season, some sort of spiritual expedition to celebrate the holiday while also bringing his group of desert dwellers closer. Rhys was...not the athletic type, and a prolonged journey on foot over large stretches of land just didn't seem like a good time to him. So the two best friends bid each happy holidays with promises to meet up in the future, and that was that.

Sasha had tried to visit, but she was off in a whole other solar system, and the weather over there had gotten very bad, very quickly. Snow storms had kept her indoors and far from the closest Fast Travel Station. This would be cause to worry, but the text she had sent informed him that yes, while she was stranded until the weather eased up, she had no concerns because she was currently located in a truly massive and opulent resort. Even if the snow didn't melt for months, there was enough high end food and drinks to last her and the other guests a very long while. Not to mention personal jacuzzis and trained masseuses on call. (Rhys was only a little bit envious.) She promised to pay a visit as soon as she could, sent him a picture of her enjoying a ridiculously expensive meal, and (with a minimal amount of gloating) wished him a Happy Mercenary Day.

Loader Bot and Gortys had sent a transmission about a week ago, notifying him that they were going to be in the area around the time the "human winter holiday" was to happen, and that they would stop by to celebrate the festivities with him, although very briefly. They were on their way to another galaxy and Promethea was only a very quick stop along their continuous journey. However, since then he hasn't heard from either of them and Mercenary Day was fast approaching. He wondered if they missed their deadline and were going to be late, or even show up at all. Apparently they were en route to watch a once in a lifetime event, something about an aurora borealis in a new planetary system that the human eye couldn't handle (Gortys had happily mentioned something about "eye sludge" and he had to stop her there). He supposed he could forgive them if they were running late and had to skip over him, because the next time that phenomenon was dated to happen wouldn't be for another 3202 years. So for now, all he could do was wait.

Athena and Janey had sent him a festive card, and in it they explained that they were spending some time with a teenager named Pickle (what kind of a name was that?). A picture of Janey's bright grin was only matched by Pickle's equally large grin, her arm slung around the kid's neck in a loose imitation of a choke hold. Athena's usually stoic demeanor was relaxed as she looked at the two, a small smile warming her face so that she didn't appear so cold. Their picture was centered beautifully on the front of the card, which now sat next to the framed picture of his girlfriend that he always kept on his desk.

Speaking of said girlfriend, he had of course tried to coax her into spending at least the day with him. But she was off on Official Vault Hunter Business™️ - as specifically requested by someone(s) in Sanctuary - and was currently too busy being knee deep in varkid guts (probably) to bother caring about mistletoe and fireplaces.

He did have the brief chance to speak with her earlier, and he asked over his ECHO device if she liked the present he was able to send her. It was a sleak jacket, made out of a new fabric that doubled as light armor. The sales lady hooked him once she explained that it was fashionable and functional. Not only would it help to keep Fiona safe, but she'd look good while wearing it too.

Fiona had smirked at him through the screen, only able to get out a quick "Yes Rhys, the jacket is beautiful, thank you-" before someone off screen called for her. She glanced away and Rhys felt the sharp sting of disappointment as she called back that she was almost done. She returned her attention to her ECHO device and offered her boyfriend an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I've gotta go... I'll see you soon, okay? Love you!" Rhys was barely able to reply with a "Love you too-" before their call disconnected.

He was glad that she had such a lucrative career in her newfound lifestyle choice - being a vault hunter really suited Fiona. She never had to worry about where her next meal was coming from, never had to worry about housing or lack of funds. She was able to navigate through her life now without having to worry if she or her sister were safe. Her confidence soared and she was finally comfortable enough to set her roots down. He just kind of wished that maybe they recruited a few more vault hunters so that she could have a bit of time off to spend with her loved ones, especially her boyfriend. Was this selfish on his part, absolutely. But he would never ask her to put anything before her career, because then that would make him not just selfish, but an asshole as well.

He just missed his girlfriend, that was all.

With a deep sigh that was heavy with longing, Rhys rolled his chair closer to the desk, zeroing in on where he had left off in his work when his ECHO comm beeped.

Lifting his cybernetic hand, he unfurled a mini hologram of Gortys waving at him. "Rhys!" she chirped, and her tone in that one word was enough to make him smile. "It's so good to see you! Sorry we were a little late, but we're here now! Could you open the doors?"

"Hey Gortys, sure thing, I'll be right there," he answered, standing and heading over to his large office doors. Flicking through some menus on his holographic screen, he remotely unlocked the metal doors and reached them just as they parted and revealed his two favorite robots.

"You guys, it's been so long! How ya doing?" He just managed to get the words out before Gortys rolled right up to his feet and threw her little arms around his thighs.

"Oh Rhys, we missed all of you sooo much! Loader Bot and I have been learning so much and having so much fun, but we always think of you!"

Rhys grinned, reaching down and affectionately rubbing Gortys' smooth dome as she still clung to his legs. "I'm glad to hear it, Gortys." He looked up and met the glowing red eye of Loader Bot's visual sensor. "LB, still rocking the sleek look I see."

"Indeed, this mechanical skeleton that the digital replica of Handsome Jack wanted to insert inside of you is made from the highest quality materials. There has been no need to replace or repair any of its initial structure. It truly would have gone to waste if it had been wedged inside of your rotting, boneless corpse, as the Jack AI had originally intended."

Loader Bot walked over to his first friend, reaching around the tall human to embrace him in a socially acceptable form of physical affection, hugging his meaty body close to his mechanical one.

"Uh... Yeah, I'm uh, glad it's working out for you buddy... Cool, cool," Rhys murmured, fighting off a wave of nausea as he patted Loader Bot's boney back. Clearing his throat, he pulled away to look at the two robots before him. "I know you guys gotta get going soon, when's the next time you think you can stop by?"

"Oh, it won't be for a while I don't think. The next galaxy over has very strict traveling laws. We're gonna be lucky if we are allowed to leave in the next fifty years!" Gortys supplied, rocking steadily by Loader Bot's golden feet.

"What?!" Rhys cried, gaping at them wide eyed. "Fifty years?!"

"Pay no mind to Gortys, she is exemplifying a new feature she had recently stored in her memory banks."

"Gottem!" she cried out happily, her digital eyes creasing with the smile implied in her tone.

"I have already advised her to delete it, but she refuses."

"Hey Rhys. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made you worry. I blame all of this on Jo, it's their fault."

Placated that his robo pals wouldn't be held up on the other side of time and space for half a century, Rhys gave a sigh of relief and asked "Jo? Who's Jo?"

"Jo mama!"

Rhys shook his head in disbelief as Gortys rolled around in excited circles by his feet. The Atlas CEO hadn't fell for a 'jo mama' joke since he was in middle school. Apparently Gortys had discovered old memes. He wondered how much patience Loader Bot truly had... Then he remembered his days with The Stranger and immediately knew LB's patience would stretch much farther for Gortys than it ever had for him and Fiona combined. Which was a good thing. For Gortys.

"We will be leaving now, the ship we need to set sail on is departing in half an hour." Loader Bot offered his metallic hand and Rhys grasped it with his own, cool silver embracing gleaming gold in a firm handshake. "Enjoy this human celebrated winter holiday season. We will return for a social visit in less than fifty years time."

Rhys grinned, reaching out to pat his long time friend on his shoulder. "Thanks, and I sure hope so LB."

"It's a promise," Loader Bot said, using the same hand to form a fist. Rhys immediately curled his hand into a ball and the two bumped their fists together. "Come Gortys, say your farewells so that we can make it to our ship."

"Ooh, but I haven't even told Rhys about deez~!"

Loader Bot gently took hold of Gortys' little hand, leading her away and towards the elevators. "You may ask him next time, that way you have incentive to return and verbally harass him again."

Rhys called out to their figures as they disappeared around the corner. "Goodbye Gortys!" And just to make her happy, he shouted "Deez what?"

"Deez nuts! Hahaha- oh! Wait, what if he's allergic? Rhys! I take it back if you're allergic!"

The president of Atlas shook his head, a wide smile stretched across his face as he turned around and headed back inside his dark office. He adored those two so much, and honestly couldn't wait for their next, hopefully longer visit.

Now to get back to work... He tried to remember where he left off and what graph he had left to review as he walked over to his desk. But in the light from his monitor, he noticed his chair was occupied with another person.

Fiona sat in his chair as if it were her throne, her scarlet smile was coy and sultry beneath her shining jade eyes. Before he could take in any other details from her, his surprise and excitement got the better of him and he was rushing over to pick her up in a tight hug.

"Fiona!" he cried out against her hair and jacket, picking her up until the tips of her toes were barely touching the ground. She huffed a delighted laugh against his neck and shoulder, clinging to him as he squeezed her firmly. "Oh my God, what are you doing here? I thought you were busy!"

Rhys pulled back enough to look down at her, but he didn't loosen his hold one bit, almost afraid that if he let her go, she'd disappear and reveal that this was nothing but a bittersweet hallucination brought on from lack of sleep. But she was real and solid in his arms, the delicate scents of her perfume and shampoo wafting up to him, combining with the feel of her body heat seaping through his clothes. Her hands clutched his shoulders, the feel of her grip twisting the fabric only aided in proving that she was really here.

She parted her lips to answer him, but before she could get a word out, he dipped down and kissed her soundly. She chuckled against his mouth, and the feel of her sucking in a breath was cool against his lips. He pulled back again to look at her and felt himself in awe of her beauty as she smiled lovingly at him.

"Am I able to get a word out now?" she questioned, laughter tinting her voice.

"Sorry," her murmured, still in shock of having his girlfriend in his arms, when she should have been far, far away. "It's just... Wow..."

The vault hunter scoffed in amusement, reaching up to gently pinch at her boyfriend's rosey cheek. She couldn't believe just surprising him on Mercenary Day would get him to blush, but here she was, looking up at her tall CEO and basking in his affections. "Surprise~"

His response was to lean down and kiss her again, this time allowing her time to respond in kind. Fiona happily wrapped her arms around his neck, still barely standing on her tippy toes as he hadn't yet released her from his enthusiastic embrace.

She brushed her turquoise tipped fingers over his styled wavy hair, murmuring softly against his lips "Did you miss me?"

"Always," he answered without hesitation, squeezing her gently before slowly lowering her until she could stand on her own.

"Cute," she said, a satisfied smile quirking her lips as she playfully booped his nose.

He grinned in response before asking, "So are you gonna tell me how you got in here, or do I have to review my security protocols?"

"Let's just say that I have my ways~" she winked, before lifting her hand and flashing him a company keycard that looked a lot like his, before she flicked her wrist and the card disappeared. "And it doesn't hurt to have a pair of willing decoys to distract while I secure my entrance..."

"Ah..." he nodded in understanding, remembering that Gortys and Loader Bot could have easily entered his office since they did have authorization, but he hadn't thought about that as he was just too eager to see them again. "Interesting set up you have here. And the uh, supposed 'business' that was 'too important' to abandon?"

The former con woman grinned, tilting her head until she could peer up at him from beneath her lashes. "Another ploy to make you think that I couldn't make it in time to spend the holidays with you... Does that put me on the naughty list?"

"Hmm..." Rhys mulled over thoughtfully, pretending to think this over as he watched the mirth spread across his girlfriend's face. "It would seem likely, but I think you might be able to make amends. You've still got about an hour left before Mercenary Day, so if you're really good, you might avoid some coal in your stocking this year."

Fiona snickered, twisting her finger around one of the short curls at the nape of his neck, cocking her head to the side as she asked, "What if I tell you that I came by in person to thank you for the jacket you gave me? Would that help?"

He hummed in agreement, his fingers drumming along her waist as he nodded and answered, "That does seem like a step in the right direction."

The Pandoran stepped back out of his reach, leaning back against the edge of his desk as she tugged at the lapels of said jacket. "It really is a beautiful gift... Isn't it?"

For the first time since he noticed his girlfriend in his chair, he was able to get a good view of what she was wearing. The light from the city at night poured in from his bay windows, falling over her form in shafts of multicolored light that only complimented her beauty even more. She wore the jacket he bought for her, a dark burgundy knee length piece that looked so good on her. He was very happy with his purchase, and she appeared to be as well. Her hat was nowhere to be found, and her legs were bare because instead of her usual knee-high boots, she wore a pair of simple black stilettos.

Perhaps she wanted to go out to dinner after this, her attire more suited to a fancy restaurant rather than vault hunting. He was about to ask her where she'd like to go, when she spoke up first.

"Doesn't it look good?" she asked, watching him carefully.

"Definitely. You know, they had other colors but I know red is like, your thing and so I uh... I... I was um..."

His words trailed off as she slowly pulled the tab for the zipper down her body, letting the jacket part before she casually shrugged one shoulder out of the jacket, revealing that underneath, she wore a lacey set of black lingerie, and nothing else. She sat braced against his desk, peering up at him in nothing but the present he bought for her, a tiny set of underwear, and her black heels. "It looks really good, right...?"

Rhys swallowed thickly, his eyes roaming over the length of her bare leg that she stretched out to draw his eye. He nodded slowly, preoccupied with trying to burn this image into his mind forever. "Yep... Looks... Very good. Very very good. The best, in fact..."

She brushed the tip of her shoe along the side of his calf, while reaching out to tug on his festive tie to draw him closer. "Why don't you let me show you just how much I appreciate your thoughtful gift, hmm...?"

Rhys willingly drew closer to her, stepping in between her legs as she parted her knees to make room for him. "Oh fuck you're so hot, how are you this hot...?" It was more of a rhetorical question as it seemed like he was talking more to himself than actually questioning her, but all the same it made Fiona grin with pride.

She pulled on his tie to bring him down to her, parting her mouth eagerly as she felt his tongue swipe across her lower lip. His hands braced themselves by her hips as he leaned over and thrust his tongue against hers, making her sigh in pleasure. He tilted his face and reached up to cup the back of her head, angling her to kiss her deeper.

Fiona released his tie, letting her touch trail down his chest and stomach to his belt. Rhys pulled away from her mouth with a wet smack, reaching behind her to fiddle with his keyboard and save his work. The Pandoran nibbled along his jawline, moving on to kiss down his neck as she pulled his shirt partially out of his slacks to delve her greedy hands underneath to reach his bare skin. Rhys, meanwhile, was very distracted and more than eager to join his girlfriend in whatever she had planned. Finally, he manages to save and shut down his computer.

As soon as his monitor goes dark, he pushes it off to the side of his large desk, as well as any papers or miscellaneous items that could get in the way. When everything is all clear, he pulls back to look at Fiona properly, now with no other distractions in the way.

Greedily eyeing the new set of lingerie, he runs his human finger over the scalloped edges of her bra cup, the texture of lace delicate and expensive beneath his fingertip - a beautiful contrast against the smooth skin of her breast. "Is this a gift to me, from you...?"

Fiona's smile is sexy and mischievous, gazing at up at him as she slightly arches her back, encouraging more of his touch. "I used your money to buy this set. It was tailored specifically for me, but it wasn't too expensive..."

Rhys firmly cups her in his hand, her breast sitting full against his palm as he runs a thumb over her hardened nipple beneath the fabric. She sighs lightly as he answers, "Now that's a good investment..."

She chuckles quietly, meeting his bi-colored eyes as she purrs, "Glad you think so..." before tugging on his open vest to bring him down to her lips again.

She wraps her arms around his neck, her hands diving into his wavy hair while he reaches under her jacket to rove over her bare skin. She suckles on his tongue and he in turn reaches down to squeeze at her hip. She hums appreciatively, arching into his body as he brings his hands up to the back of her bra, unhooking the garment after some fiddling. She pulls back with a pop, gazing at him heavy lidded with a gentle smirk. "So eager, you barely had time to appreciate me in this before you're taking it off."

"It's not that I don't appreciate it, because I do, I very very very much do, but I haven't seen you in a month-" kiss "-I am so so so so so happy to see you-" kiss "-you look so damn hot right now-" kiss "-and you could be wearing diamonds and I'd still insist that you look best naked."

Fiona chuckled into the fervent kisses he placed on her mouth, letting him peel off her jacket and bra, dropping it off to the side as he kissed down her neck while his human hand came up to cup her bare breast. She sighed in pleasure at his knowing touch, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt and vest over his shoulder as his thumb swiped gently over a budded nipple.

"Rhys..."

"Oh Fi, I've missed you..."

He sucked against her pounding pulse and she let her head fall back, whining softly as she leaned back against his desk for support. Her right leg came up against his side, trying to pull him closer. She plunged her turquoise tipped fingers into his thick hair as he kissed down her chest and quickly sucked her other nipple into his mouth. Her soft moans echoed in his empty office, and she was always astonished at how quickly he could rile her up in so little time.

He alternates lovingly over her panting chest - finger, lips, teeth and tongue teasing her until she's pulling him up and back to her mouth. She bites on his bottom lip as she tugs his shirt completely free from his slacks, pulling it up in an attempt to get it off. With a groan, he pulls back enough to shuck his vest before tugging at his tie to loosen it, pulling it over his head and tossing it somewhere off to the side. He works at his shirt's buttons as Fiona reaches forward and begins to undo his belt. She peeks up at him as she slides it out of the buckle, working on the button and zipper next, and he loves the sight before him, wondering how he got so lucky to be the one Fiona wanted most of all.

Rhys shrugs off his shirt, exposing his bare chest and the large expanse of his blue tattoo just as Fiona is parting his slacks. She pauses when she glances down to see his festive boxers. He's very obviously aroused but she can't help but smirk at his Mercenary Day themed underwear.

"What?" he grouses, a blush high on his cheeks. "I was trying to embody the holiday mood okay?"

"Oh you're in the mood alright~" she purrs, reaching down into his pants to rub him through his festive boxers.

His eyes flutter shut and he moans softly, making the Pandoran bite her lip and pull him closer. She strokes him over his underwear as she kisses him, swallowing his sounds of pleasure as he ruts eagerly up against her hand.

Eventually he pulls away and immediately starts tugging on her panties, muttering in a voice thick with arousal, "I need to get these off of you now..."

The vault hunter laughs but insists that she's not gonna be the only naked one here. She helps Atlas' head push down his slacks and as he toes off his expensive shoes and kicks his clothing away, she looks down and sees that of course his socks are holiday themed too. She giggles and Rhys lays her gently back against his desk as he tugs her damp panties down her legs, stopping to gently remove her heels and set them carefully off to the side.

Fiona is now completely naked on his desk, and as he straightens to look at her, she props herself up on her elbows and curls a leg around his hip to bring him closer. Rhys wonders how he's gonna get any work done from now on, when all he'll be able to think about while sitting at his desk, is how good Fiona looks splayed over the polished, wooden surface with her lustful gaze trained on him. He eagerly leans over her, kissing her again as if he can never get enough of her mouth. She slowly reclines back until she's laying flat over his desk, wrapping her legs around him and grinding her wet core over the tent in his boxers. They both groan into the kiss, and Rhys quickly reaches between them to shove his underwear out of the way.

He grips the base of his erection and guides it between her lips, rocking slowly against her to coat himself in her slick. Fiona is mouthing over his throat, moving on to leave hickeys over his neck and shoulder, proud of the color it makes when her love bites pepper over the blue of his tattooed skin.

Finally he pushes against her entrance, and she lies back to watch his face, only to find his eyes meeting hers.

He pushes in slowly, giving her body time to adjust to his intrusive strokes. If the way her eyelashes flutter and her kiss-swollen mouth parts with exhales of pleasure, then he's doing a good job. He presses fully against her, and leans down to kiss gently at her parted lips. She returns his kiss eagerly as she flutters around him, and keeping his hips still is so hard when her walls are squeezing him so tight. His elbows are braced beside her to keep his weight off of her, but when she arches, her breasts push against his chest, her nipples grazing teasingly over his skin. She's got the heel of one foot hooked just underneath his ass, keeping him pulled close against her. Her other leg is curled around his back, the smooth skin of her inner thigh brushing up against his side.

"Fiona, can I-"

"Yes, please, move..."

Her legs relax enough to let him ease back, before he begins rolling his hips into her body. They sighed in pleasure simultaneously, her eyes falling shut but immediately opening to catch his gaze. He loved watching her face as he worked to draw as much pleasure out of her as he possibly could.

"Rhys..." she murmured, her hands trailing up his arms, over his shoulders and down his back. He rocked into her again, this time plunging into her quicker and she yelped, arching her back and digging her blunt nails into his shoulder blades.

He grazed his parted lips across her jawline and down the arch of her neck, stopping to suckle a bruise onto her collarbone as he began a steady pace between her legs.

She gasped and whined in his ear, and it was all he could focus on. The taste of her sweat on his tongue, the pounding of her pulse against his lips, the breathless, helpless way she called for him, the way his name sounded as she panted and writhed beneath him. Her body fitting against his like his other half, the wet, hot, sporadic squeeze of her core, the way she trusted him enough to allow him this opportunity. There was no one and nothing like her, and he loved her so entirely.

Fiona, Fiona, Fiona...

"Rhys, Rhys- Ah Rhys...!"

He pushed himself up to brace his hands on either side of her, watching her body bounce with every meeting of their hips. She was close, he could tell by the way she was trying to stifle her louder moans, and the way her hands sought any part of him to find purchase of.

With this angle, he could watch as she shuddered, her thighs tightening around him as her walls spasmed around his length, her hands curled around his biceps as her orgasm washed over her. Watching the pleasure reflected on her face and in her eyes was always his favorite part, knowing he was the one to satisfy her needs.

When she squirmed at the beginnings of overstimulation, he slowed his thrusts until he was fully sheathed inside of her, panting heavily as arousal still pounded through his veins.

She parted her eyes, gazing up at him through partially wet lashes, before tugging him down on top of her to kiss him thoroughly as she came slowly down from her high. Rhys waited, his patience tested but never broken, the need to finish still so strong in him, but he'd always wait until Fiona was ready.

She curled her arms around his shoulders and nipped at the shell of his ear, her sultry words like a fire in his blood. "We're not done yet..."

Rhys nuzzled into her bare shoulder, his hands sliding down her body until they found a firm grip underneath her thighs. He picked her up and took a step back, falling back into his overly expensive office chair.

Fiona quickly righted herself, and the movement sent a spike of pleasure straight to his gut, making his hands latch on to her hips automatically. She steadied herself on his lap, before swiveling her hips in a devious circle, making him groan deeply as his head tipped back against the head rest. As soon as she started bouncing in his lap, he spread his thighs to give her more room to maneuver. He looked down at where their bodies met, watching with hot, molten pleasure as she rode him just the way she liked. The sound of her hips slapping wetly down onto his was drawing him closer and closer to his finish.

There was literally nothing hotter than his girlfriend, his heterochromatic eyes taking in the way she moved over him and worked his body with confidence, her lusty smile and dark eyes were the most beautiful things he had ever seen. She leaned down, swirling her hips in the most delicious little circles and kissed him, drawing his bottom lip into a gentle bite. He felt his stomach tighten and knew he was about to come.

Wrapping his human arm around her lower back to keep her in place, he secured her completely against him, slipping his mechanical hand in between their bodies. His cool metal fingertips found her flushed bud, which made her flinch at first contact. He activated a steady vibration and she yelped, clinging to him desperately as she locked up with a sudden climax.

This time Rhys allowed himself to follow with her, his hips trying to buck up into her as he shuddered and ejaculated deep within her clenching walls. She whined in sensitivity, rolling her hips against his vibrating fingers as she continued to milk him, wanting to draw out both of their orgasms as long as possible. Soon though it became too much, and he slowly removed his touch to instead wrap his arms around her back to secure her to his chest.

The vault hunter sat in a boneless heap against him, panting against his tattooed neck as she savored the afterglow. He was so warm right now and his arms wrapped around her could easily lull her into a good night's sleep.

Rhys was trying to catch his breath, pressing his nose into her hair as he gently stroked a loving hand down her back. His pulse was beating wildly, and he knew that he had the most absolute, stupidest grin slathered across his face right now. But eventually, he knew he had to rouse his girlfriend from her light dozing.

"Hey, Fi...?"

"Mmm...?"

"Wanna head home and shower, then sleep in our comfy, cozy bed? Wouldn't that be better?"

"Mmm..." she sighed, seeming as if she was content to stay snuggled up against him. But she shifted slightly, pulling back enough to look him in the eyes. "Can we order take out? I'm starving..."

The company man's ego could probably not get any bigger than it was right now. "Oh~ Worked up an appetite did you?" His smug smirk was half irritating, half humorous. "I guess I can't blame you - I gave you a pretty good work out if I do say so myself..."

Fiona rolled her eyes, reaching up to pluck playfully at his nipple. He yelped, jumping in his seat which jostled them apart. She sat wet and naked in his equally wet and naked lap, watching as a fierce blush spread over his cheeks. "You were saying...?"

"Yeah, well..." He cleared his throat. "Let's uh, let's get home so we can shower..." From where she was now perched on his lap, he could feel their combined juices sliding down her thighs and onto his. "...A shower would be really good right about now..."

The Pandoran woman snickered, pushing herself off to stand on wobbly legs. She tried to stand confidently but her knees still trembled slightly and the sight blew up Rhys' male ego like nothing else. She caught sight of his smug grin, and combined with his tousled hair and the after shocks of pleasure still zinging through her body, she had to admit to herself that he was pretty damn sexy right now. Blushing lightly, she turned away from him to pick up her scraps of clothing from the floor.

The president of Atlas got up soon after and winced at the mess they made on his luxury office chair... But eventually dismissed it and went in search of his own scattered clothes.

Fiona shrugged on her new jacket as Rhys was cinching his belt. He looked like he had just dressed after taking a roll in the sheets - hair and clothes all mussed, bruises dotting his neck - and she supposed she didn't look much better. As she righted her clothes, subconsciously taking note of the stickiness of her inner thighs, she noticed Rhys pull up a call on his palm display.

As it rang, he whispered to her, "The usual?"

She nodded as the staff to her favorite restaurant picked up. She curled her arm around her boyfriend's, walking with him out of his office to the elevators. He punched the number in for the garage as he placed their orders, requesting for delivery at his apartment.

As he was getting ready to hang up, the worker on the other end chirped, "And Happy Mercenary Day Mr. Strongfork!"

Taken slightly aback, Rhys looked at the time and realized that it was indeed past midnight. It was officially Mercenary Day. He returned the sentiment and hung up, turning to look down at the woman at his side.

"Happy Mercenary Day, Mr. Strongfork~" Fiona cooed with an impish little smile.

Rhys groaned, shaking his head as he turned away and said, "Don't call me that when we're out in public..."

"Oh~?" she questioned, tugging on his vest to get him to face her. She could spot a light blush blooming across his face and over the tips of his ears. Interesting, perhaps something to explore at a later time...

He twisted and caught her in a hug, effectively hiding his blushing face from her curious eyes. "Happy Mercenary Day Fi... So far, it's the best one yet..."

Fiona nuzzled into his neck, planting a soft kiss against the black rings there. "I'm not done giving you your gifts yet..."

"Oh~?" It was Rhys' turn to shift into a playful mood, his initial embrace now taking on a flirty edge as his hands roamed suggestively down her back and sides.

She snickered, leaning against him as she threw her arms over his shoulders. She nipped him playful along his jaw, pulling away completely once the elevator doors opened on the garage level. She tugged coyly on his tie as she sauntered out of the elevator towards his car. "We've got the whole day to ourselves... Let's not waste it, hm?"

Rhys, despite the love making that had just happened, was practically salivating at the notion of spending all day with his incredibly sexy girlfriend. He fumbled around in his pockets for his car keys, eager to get on the road and into their large bed.

The rest of the night was just getting started, if Fiona's sultry smile and bedroom eyes were anything to go by.

🌟Happy Mercenary Day🌟

©rin-bellatrix 2022

☆ borderlands masterlist ⋆ main masterlist ☆

#rhyiona #rhys strongfork #rhys the company man #rhys the ceo #fiona borderlands #fiona the con artist #fiona the vault hunter #borderlands #tales from the borderlands #tftbl #rin's fic #happy mercenary day #happy holidays #Merry Christmas #gortys #loader bot

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herbeloveve · 2 years

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for the sleepover thing! top 5 killing eve and hannibal eps?

hiii!!

i’ve been waiting to answer this bc i wanted to give it some proper thought <3

for killing eve:

5. 1x07

in this episode we see eve investigating anna, and because of that we see a glimpse into vil’s past and how her mind works. while i love those moments, i think there’s a lot to be said about eve’s mind set here too - we see her actively making decisions that are harmful to herself and the operation. but eve doesn’t care about that, she’s self serving and she wants villanelle. she wants to know everything about villanelle. she’s doing everything to get her

4. 1x08

i love season two so fucking much, but i know if the show ended here, i would’ve been happy. i liked seeing eve’s conflict of stabbing villanelle and then immediately regretting it. whether it came from a place of guilt or traditional ‘right and wrong’ that got to her is definitely up for debate, but i’ll always love reckless selfish sadistic eve

3. 2x08

the whole scene of eve killing raymond and axing his shoulder fucking kills me. i love seeing vil ask eve if she’s okay and eve completely stonewall her and insist that she’s fine. eve doesn’t like talking about her feelings, she’d much rather get on with life without the added bullshit of dealing with emotions too. villanelle’s possessiveness really shines through in the final scenes of this episode also - ‘you’re mine’ to shooting her in the back after she felt betrayed was delicious

2. 1x05

this and number one are soo neck and neck with each other. i’ll always have a soft spot for vil holding eve’s knife against her throat and eve being so clearly turned on by it. whether she knew it then or not, eve wanted villanelle in her entirety. she liked being scared of her- she wanted to be scared of her

1. 2x05

everything? kills me. actually kills me!! villaneve kitchen scenes are unmatched and i could talk about them for hours. villanelle learns a lot about eve during this episode- the disregard she has for own life being one of them. she already knows that eve is like her, but she tests her during this episode. villanelle seeks out eve’s reactions throughout their scenes together and comes to her own - mostly correct - assumptions about eve’s character

for hannibal i don’t have favourite episodes but i do have several moments that kill me dead

5. will’s intro scene

4. season 2 finale

3. will - he left me with a smile

2. hannigram final scene

1. bedelia’s final scene

thank you so much for the ask!!!!!

#ask #lesbian-hannibal

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music-industry-updates · 2 months

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The Top 5 Christmas Songs to fresh the Mood

Christmas is a time of joy, celebration, and nostalgia. One of the most cherished aspects of the holiday season is the music that accompanies it. Certain Christmas songs have stood the test of time, bringing warmth and happiness to generations. These songs have become synonymous with the festive spirit, and their melodies and lyrics are etched in our hearts. In this article, we explore the top 5 Christmas songs that continue to enchant listeners year after year, making them timeless classics.

1. “Silent Night”

History and Origin: “Silent Night” (originally “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht”) was composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber, with lyrics by Joseph Mohr, in the small Austrian town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg. The song was first performed on Christmas Eve at St. Nicholas Church.

Impact on Christmas Traditions: The serene and soothing melody of “Silent Night” has made it a staple in Christmas Eve services and caroling traditions worldwide. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011, solidifying its importance in global holiday customs.

Notable Covers and Renditions: Many artists have covered “Silent Night,” each adding their unique touch. Bing Crosby’s version is one of the best-selling singles of all time, while renditions by Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli, and Josh Groban have also received acclaim. Each version brings a fresh interpretation while preserving the song’s peaceful essence.

2. “Jingle Bells”

Background Story and Creation: “Jingle Bells,” originally titled “One Horse Open Sleigh,” was written by James Lord Pierpont in 1857. Though initially intended for Thanksgiving, its catchy tune and festive lyrics quickly made it a Christmas favorite.

Influence on Holiday Culture: The song’s lively and cheerful nature makes it perfect for Christmas celebrations, from school performances to community caroling events. “Jingle Bells” captures the fun and excitement of the holiday season, contributing significantly to its cultural prominence.

Memorable Performances: “Jingle Bells” has been performed by numerous artists, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Michael Bublé. Its versatility allows for various musical styles, from jazz and pop to rock and classical, making it a perennial favorite across generations.

3. “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby

Songwriting and Initial Reception: Written by Irving Berlin in 1942, “White Christmas” was first performed by Bing Crosby on his radio show. The song quickly became a massive hit, providing comfort and nostalgia during World War II. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in the film “Holiday Inn.”

Bing Crosby’s Iconic Version: Crosby’s rendition of “White Christmas” is the best-selling single of all time, with over 50 million copies sold worldwide. His smooth, warm voice perfectly captures the longing for a snowy, picturesque Christmas.

Cultural Significance and Awards: “White Christmas” has become a symbol of holiday nostalgia and sentimentality. Its enduring popularity is evident in its frequent airplay during the Christmas season and its inclusion in numerous holiday compilations. The song’s success has cemented Bing Crosby’s legacy as the voice of Christmas.

4. “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey

Creation and Release: Released in 1994, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” was co-written and co-produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff. Despite being a relatively modern addition to Christmas music, it has achieved iconic status.

Chart Performance and Sales Records: The song has consistently charted during the holiday season since its release, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100 multiple times. It has sold over 16 million copies globally, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Modern Classic Status and Its Impact on Contemporary Christmas Music: “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has influenced contemporary Christmas music with its upbeat, festive energy and catchy melody. Its enduring popularity has solidified its place as a modern holiday classic, inspiring countless covers and adaptations.

5. “Feliz Navidad” by José Feliciano

Inspiration and Composition: José Feliciano wrote “Feliz Navidad” in 1970, blending English and Spanish lyrics to create a bilingual Christmas song that celebrates the festive season’s joy and unity.

Global Reach and Popularity: The song’s simple, heartfelt lyrics and infectious melody have made it a worldwide favorite. “Feliz Navidad” is especially popular in Spanish-speaking countries, but its universal appeal has crossed cultural and linguistic boundaries.

Unique Bilingual Appeal: “Feliz Navidad” stands out for its bilingual nature, bringing together diverse audiences in a shared celebration of Christmas. Feliciano’s warm, inviting voice adds to the song’s charm, making it a beloved holiday staple.

Conclusion: These Christmas songs have become integral parts of holiday celebrations worldwide. Their melodies and lyrics continue to evoke the festive spirit, making them enduring favorites for all ages. Whether through the serene calm of “Silent Night” or the joyous energy of “Jingle Bells,” these songs capture the essence of Christmas, bringing warmth, joy, and nostalgia to listeners year after year.

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run-aled · 3 months

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RED VALLEY: WHILE YOU WERE HYPERSLEEPING‘Part Four’

[transcript]

SCENE 1

THE CRYOSUITE. GORDON BUSTLES IN WITH A BOX UNDER HIS ARM.

GORDON: Eyyy! It's only bloody Christmas Eve! Hi Warren. Thought I'd come down and spend some of the evening with you.

GORDON MAKES A FUSS OF SITTING HIMSELF DOWN AND RUMMAGING IN HIS BOX NEXT TO HIM.

GORDON: I had a poke around in the cupboards and found some Christmas shit. There's a little 8 inch silver Christmas tree here made of tinsel. Look… you can have that. Oh… And speaking of tinsel...yikes.

GORDON PULLS TINSEL OUT OF THE BOX, STANDS UP AND DRAPES IT OVER THE POD.

GORDON: There. That fits quite nicely. Oh… Right - the piece of resistance...music.

GORDON PULLS OUT A TAPE RECORDER AND A TAPE.

GORDON: This is 'O Little Town of Bethmayhem', one of Pus Crank’s festive rock medleys. They were a regular fixture at the annual Unholy Night Christmas all-dayer at the club in my hometown. Ah… You would've loved it.

HE LETS THE MUSIC PLAY FOR A MOMENT.

GORDON: So, you look good. I mean your pod looks good. The bleep bloops sound happy. This pod is far more advanced than the ones used on other subjects that I've seen or read about. It's much smaller. More, uh, coffin-sized. Like umm, Spock's coffin in Wrath of Khan. It would fit nicely into a photon torpedo chute, I think? It's fully portable… apparently. They told me it can run on battery power for 100 years, Lightweight alloy, the wheelspop out the bottom if I press the unlock-

HE PRESSES IT. THE HISS OF HYDRAULICS AND A LITTLE BLEEPING ALARM AS THE POD UNLOCKS AND RELEASES IT'S WHEELS.

GORDON: Oh shit. Ah no, Shit. Lock. Lock. Lock. Lock. Lock.

IT HISSES BACK DOWN AGAIN.

GORDON: Christ.

PAUSE.

GORDON: Anyway. Tis the season, so thought I'd make this a themed visit. You had a Christmas here, Warren. Maybe not all that different to mine. Let’s see how that went shall we. Here's your Ghost of Christmas Past. We're Warren and Gordon, woooooooooo!

HE TURNS OFF THE MUSIC AND HITS PLAY ON HIS OWN TAPE RECORDER. WARREN IS MAKING HIS WAY THROUGH THE MESS ROOM ON CHRISTMAS EVE, 2018.

WARREN: Ding dong merrily on high. I’m making a recording. Youjoin me here at Red Valley, area of outstanding natural misery, National Heritage site of historical tedium, on Christmas Eve. At least, I think it's Christmas Eve. There aren't many indicators out here, I'm just going off a very small desk calendar from the office. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer still won't even tell me their names, much less the actual date. Even now, when it's just me and them, they tap their little Overhead barcode ID badge and tell me it’s not my concern.

WARREN: I digress. It's bloody Christmas Eve, allegedly! It's 10:45 in the evening and this is Warren Godby, coming live from the Red Valley mess room with a warm bottle of dessert wine, seeing in the birthday of our lord and saviour by treating myself to a Christmas movie. Well,perhaps not an actual bona fide Christmas movie per se, because the collection here appears to contain no discernible festive...oh wait… Jingle All The Way. Two? Jingle All The Way Two? Who made a sequel to Jingle All The - WWE Studios? What the fuck is this?

HE FRISBEES IT.

WARREN: Actually, this DVD collection appears to have been lifted wholesale from Second Time Around. I think every second-hand place has more or less the same collection. Romcoms with red titles on white backgrounds, yes...not one but two copies of The Day After Tomorrow, yes...ex rental copy of The Passion of the Christ, never saw it, save it for Easter...Ah...the unwanted garbage sequel category...Godfather 3, Die Hard 5, Terminator: Genisys, ugh, Prometheus...come on...oh, wait, A Christmas Carol. Oh for fuck sake, CGI Jim Carrey version! Is it too much to ask for a muppet?

THROWS IT BACK.

CUT TO: TIME HAS PASSED. WARREN IS ON THE SOFA.

WARREN: So… Rodrigo didn't make it out of the final test on Tuesday. I came out first, I was in the recovery bay when whatever happened happened. They won't tell me what took place of course. But he's definitely dead. Saw Rumpleteazer mopping up the corridor afterwards. Not as bad as with Ryan, er… they were sponging down the cryosuite for half a day after whatever they did to him. Was he...when was that, was he… was he … was hethird or fourth to go? Why can't I remember that?

WARREN: I thought Rodrigo was going to win. He was young, barely mid-20s, pretty fit. Massive thighs. He was an addict, I knew that much. That was probably it. Still I… I thought he'd last longer than me.

WARREN: I don't really know what happens now. Just Mungojerrie left to tend to the place over the festive season, must've drawn the short straw. Halbech and Rumpleteazer disappeared a couple of days ago. They left in a truck instead of getting picked up by the usual helicopter.Bunch of Overhead roadies jumped out, packed up a lot of stuff this time. Definitely get the feeling that things are wrapping up round here. Jerrie’s in the farmhouse… don't know what he's up to. All looks cosy from here.

WARREN: It's not my first Christmas alone. I actually prefer them that way. Infinitely superior to the holidays I used to have growing up. Boo hoo… Woe is me, getting maudlin. Anyway, I expect whatever the next test is, it'll be the last one. So, let’s make the most of the night. Maybe I'll give Prometheus another shot. How bad can it be. Toodle pip.

CUT FOR THAT ENTRY, BUT THE TAPE ROLLS ON.

GORDON: Well, that wasn't quite the festive cheer I was hoping for, but hey, you're the one who-

WARREN CUTS IN.

WARREN: Oh my god. Oh my god. What was I thinking? Why...why was Guy Pearce even in that movie, why wouldn't you just hire an old person to play an old person...why did they run away from the doughnut spaceship when it was falling over in that direction, if they just turned 90 degrees and they wouldn’t have... forget it. Fine, Let’s do it, CGI Christmas Carol. Goodnight.

PAUSE.

GORDON: Okay. Do we think you're finished or-

BLUE SKY: Sorry, are you talking to me?

GORDON: No, I'm not talking to you. We're still not tal-

WARREN: Why would Robert Zemeckis dedicate so much time to making so many films about creepy dead eyed PlayStation characters? Why? What do you gain? Creepy android Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge, if Michael Caine was here, he'd step on your fucking neck-

CUT.

BLUE SKY: I'm sorry, I didn't catch that.

GORDON: Warren doesn't enjoy the motion capture period of the director Robert Zemeckis.

BLUE SKY: Robert Zemeckis is a film director who came to promi-

GORDON: I know!

WARREN: Who asked for more Die Hards? Who the fuck is Jai Courtney? No one knows!

GORDON: I'm sure I had some kind of plan for the Ghost of Christmas Present section of all this, but I've completely forgotten it.

WARREN: He’s here. He's in Terminator: Genisys as well! Who the fuck is this guy? How is he playing the son of John McClane and Kyle Reese-

BLUE SKY: Jai Courtney is an Australian actor-

GORDON: Oh my god! Everyone stop talking!

THE TAPE STOPS.

GORDON: Jesus. Well, this was remarkably similar to a family Christmas at my parents’ house, so thanks for that little triggering episode. I think I need some freezing cold air.

GORDON GETS UP TO LEAVE.

GORDON: Oh! Wait! I forgot the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come! Bit of a reach this but it's the best I could do in these uncertain times. A voicemail I got last night.

GORDON HITS VOICEMAIL ON HIS PHONE AND TURNS THE SPEAKER UP LOUD.

VOICEMAIL: Message received at 23:40 p.m. on Monday the 23rd of December.

A PARTY, IN A PUB MAYBE. CLIVE SCHILL, DRUNK, TO THE MELODY OF SILENT NIGHT:

CLIVE: Gordon night, Porlock night, Fuck this up, I'll set you on fire, alight, that's better, I'll set you alight.

CLIVE DROPS HIS PHONE.

VOICEMAIL: Next message received yesterday at 23:43 p.m. on Monday the 23rd of December.

CLIVE: Away in a Gordon, a dick on his head, the little lord Gordon is such a dickhead, I'll be coming in January to see how you are, if you've messed up anything I'll hit you with my car. I'll actually be coming in a helicopter though. A hel-ee-cop-tahh. Merry Christmas bitch, see you soon, love to Warren, kisses, what a dick. Oh hello darling, sorry Daddy was just making a phone call to one of his special frien-

GORDON TURNS OFF THE VOICEMAIL, AND SPENDS A MOMENT CHANGING THE TAPE BACK TO PUS CRANK.

GORDON: So that's something to look forward to, isn't it. I'll leave the music with you for a while. Look… I'll be back tomorrow, we can sing some carols or something. Merry Christmas, Warren.

HE TURNS PUS CRANK BACK UP AND WALKS AWAY.

CUT TO:OUTSIDE THE STATION. IT'S DARK, EVENING. LITTLE BREEZE, JUST SNOW FALLING SOFTLY. GORDON HAS LIT A BONFIRE. IT CRACKLES AS HE STANDS BY IT, STAMPING HIS FEET TRYING TO WARM UP.

GORDON: Personal log. It’s Christmas Eve. Oh, no, it’s it's actually Christmas Day now. I lit a fire with the left over wood. Thought it would be a problem with the snow falling but I tossed the dregs of some anaesthetic vapour over it. Nearly took my bloody eyebrows off.

THE FIRE CRACKLES AS GORDON THINKS.

GORDON: Don't know what I was thinking expecting anything cheerful to come from Warren's Christmas Eve. Bit of blind festive optimism I suppose. Anyway, that was actually his last tape. So, I know what happened next. They went for the big one, they put him under properly. Just like he is now. You know… I haven't really talked about what happened that first night here. Bryony let me watch it all. And I did, I stood there and I watched. They put him under general anaesthetic, put a tube in his mouth to ventilate him, started putting all these lines in his arteries and veins. They put gunk in his eyes to protect them and covered them up with goggles. They gave him an infusion to bring down his core temperature.

GORDON: Then… they transferred him into that pod, the giant cigar tube. No one was concerned. Except me. The pod then filled with water, or what looked like water. You could feel the cold coming off it. They let me touch it. It's like er… jelly. And all the time his heart is slowing, all the beeps are dropping in tone and pace and it looked like no one wanted to help, that they were just going to watch him… die.

GORDON: And then it all went quiet. And then the most absurd little ring tone noise, like when Sonic gets an extra life or something. And he was...hypersleeping. And I went to my new bedroom and had a panic attack. So... er, yeah… there we go! A little taste of life at Red Valley.

GORDON COMES OUT OF HIS THOUGHTS AND STEPS BACK FROM THE FIRE, GOING TO PICK UP A FIRE EXTINGUISHER HE BROUGHT WITH HIM.

GORDON: The fire’s gone down now. I could let the snow put it out but it’s much more fun using the fire extinguisher, never used one in the real world, but here I use it all the time.

WITH A LOUD HISS GORDON LETS RIP, PUTTING OUT THE FIRE IN A FEW SECONDS.

GORDON: Yippee ki yay Mother Hubbard! THE FIRE HISSES AS IT DIES.GORDON: There is something to being out here all alone in the dark. You can be completely...honest.

HE THINKS FOR A MOMENT, BEFORE YELLING TO THE SKIES:

GORDON: I WATCHED PROMETHEUS THE OTHER NIGHT AND I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS THAT BAAAAAAAAD!

SUDDENLY, IN THE DISTANCE, A SOUND. A CAR ENGINE STARTING.

GORDON: What was that?

HEADLIGHTS HAVE TURNED ON.

GORDON: What the...Hey!

HE STARTS TO RUN TO THE SOURCE OF THE NOISE. THE CAR, OR VAN, OR WHATEVER IT IS, STARTS PULLING A THREE POINT TURN, TO LEAVE.

GORDON: Hey! If you didn't want to be seen, don't shine your full beams at me! Hey! I didn't mean that about Prometheus! Come back!

THE VEHICLE HAS TURNED AND WITH A CRUNCH OF GEARS AND WHEEL SPIN ON GRAVEL, DEPARTS. GORDON RUNS ON FOR ANOTHER MOMENT BEFORE GIVING UP.

GORDON: You better have been Santa!

HE TAKES A MOMENT TO CATCH HIS BREATH.

GORDON: Does Santa drive a camper van?

END.

#red valley #transcription #gordon porlock #red valley podcast #red valley spoilers #warren godby #clive schill #podcast transcription

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animepopheart · 3 years

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Master List of Christmas Anime Episodes

Last year on my blog, we posted a full list of every Christmas anime episode known to man (well, maybe not quite...more on that below), based both on an old forum post that I think is now lost to time, and additional efforts to add missing episodes and update it.

Check out the list below if you want to anime-style Christmas cheer! And please help us make the list more complete by reblogging to get this out there and replying with which episodes we’re missing or any we got wrong! We’ll be happy to credit you if we add any episodes you tell us about.

Note: Linked reference notes below lead to articles we’ve written about those specific Christmas episodes.

.hack//Quantum (three OVAs)

009-1 (OVA) (Ep. 2) – “Holy Night”

Accel World (Bonus) (Ep. 7) – “Achel World Seven”

Acchi Kocchi (Ep. 10) – “Bear Encounter ⇔ Lovelymas”

Ace Attorney (Ep. 8) – “Turnabout Goodbyes – 1st Trial”

After School Dice Club (Ep. 10) – “Happy Holy Night” [1]

Aggretsuko (Ep. 11) – “We Wish You a Metal Christmas”

Ai Yori Aoshi ~ Enishi (Special) – “Beautiful Snow” [1]

Aikatsu! (Eps. 12, 114, 165) – “We Wish You a Merry Christmas!”, “Happy Tree Christmas☆,” “Luminas☆Christmas”

Amagami SS (series)

The Ancient Magus Bride (Eps. 16-17) – “God’s mill grinds slow but sure.,” “Look before you leap.” [1]

Angel Beats! (Ep. 7) – “Alive” [1, 2, 3]

Asteroid in Love (Ep. 8) – “Winter Diamond”

Astro Boy (Ep. 13) – “The Light Ray Robot”

Azumanga Daioh (Ep. 17) – “December / Incredible Santa / Christmas Meeting” [1]

B Gata H Kei (Eps. 4) – “Throbbing Christmas Eve. What Does a First Kiss Taste Like?”

B Gata H Kei: Yamada’s First Time (Ep. 11) - “Year 2 Class H’s Christmas Eve! Take Me To Bed!” (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Baka to Test (Christmas special)

Baka to Test to Shōkanjū (Ep. 8) – “Runaway and Maze and the Summoned Beast Instrumentality Project”

Bakuman (Eps. 23-24) – “Winning and Losing,” “Imagination and Presentation” [1]

Bakuon!! (Ep. 8) - “Winter Break” (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Bartender (Ep. 10) – “Christmas Miracle” [1]

Big-O (Ep. 11) – “Daemonseed” [1, 2]

Blend S (Ep. 12) - "I Love You!" (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Blue Period (Ep. 6) – “Serious Mental Breakdown”

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (Ep. 2) – “Let’s Get Wiggy With It”

Bokura Ga Ita (Ep. 24) – Episode Twenty-Four

Boys Be… (Ep. 11) – “The First Snowfall”

Canvas 2: Niji Iro no Sketch (Ep. 23) – “Christmas Colored Decision”

Cardcaptor Sakura (Eps. 35, 62) – “Sakura’s Wonderful Christmas, “Sakura, the Cards, and the Presents / A Present For the Cards” [1, 2]

Cardfight!! Vanguard (Ep. 454) – “Examinees’ Merry Christmas”

Carole & Tuesday (Ep. 21) – “It’s Too Late”

Charger Girl Ju-den Chan (Ep. 10) – “Present!?”

Cheer Danshi!! (Ep. 7) – “Strain”

Chi’s Sweet Home (Ep. 58) – “Chi Wishes Upon A Star”

Chihayafuru (Ep. 23) – “The Night is Nearly Past”

Chocotto Sister (Ep. 24) – “Happy Christmas” [1]

Chrono Crusade (Ep. 12) – “Holy Night” [1]

Citrus (Ep. 8) – “war of love”

City Hunter 2 (Eps. 37-38) – “To Kaori From Ryo, With Love At Christmas: Episode 1”, “To Kaori From Ryo, With Love At Christmas: Episode 2” (via tomodachi-to-koibito)

Comic Party (Ep. ?)

Clannad After Story (Ep. 10) – “Season of Beginnings” [1, 2, 3]

Crayon Shin-chan (Eps. 32, 127, 213, 258) – “Action Mask and Xmas,” “Miss Yoshinaga’s Eve,” “Christmas Party with Schoolchildren / Selling Christmas Cakes / Looking Forward to My Present from Santa,” “Miss Matsuzaka is Not Alone on Christmas”

Cyborg 009 (Ep. 11) – “Christmas Eve Mirage”

Dai Guard (Ep. 13) – “Things That Can be Forgiven, Things that Can’t be Forgiven”

Death Note (Eps. 33-34) – “Scorn,” “Vigilance” [1]

Delinquent Hamsters – “Christmas Eve Punks,” “Chris Moose is for Good Ham”

Denkigai no Honya-san (Episodes 3, 9) - "Party Hard," Snowy Night" (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Detective Conan (Ep. 42, OVA 2) – “Karaoke Box Murder Case,” “The Santa Claus of Summer” (via tomodachi-to-koibito)

Devil Lady (Ep. 11) – “Box”

Digimon Adventure 02 (Eps. 38, 42) – “A Very Digi-Christmas (Holy Night the Digimon Big Gathering!),” “Digimon World Tour, Part 3 (Love and Borscht, The Ferocious Battle)”

Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters (Ep. 13) – “The Christmas Disappeared!? The Calendar Thief Calendarmon!”

Dinosaur King (Ep. 45) – “Santa Saurus!”

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (Movie) [1]

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan (Eps. 1-2) – “Precious Place,” “Joy to the World”

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (Season 1 Ep. 32, Season 2 Ep. 1) – “Frolic! Silent Night,” “Another Christmas Challenge!”

Doki Doki School Hours (Ep. 7) - "Santa Girl and New Years' Fun" (via @lancernolancing) NEWLY ADDED

Doraemon (Ep. 486, 87, 488, 489, 643, 652, 692, 956, 1332, 1428, 1523 – “Day Changing Calendar,” “Nobita and Doraemon’s Christmas (part 1),” “Nobita and Doraemon’s Christmas (part 2),” “Mini Santa,” “Nobita’s Christmas Play,” “Snow in March,” “Flying Christmas,” “Time Skipping Pulley,” “Santa’s Chimney,” “Santa Mail,” “Santa Bag and Christmas,”

Dr. Slump Arale-Chan (Ep. 35, 87, 138, 162, 236) - "Bad Bad Santa," "Arale the Super Prize Girl," "Painful Christmas Day," "The Christmas Lie," The Horror of Black Santa!!" (via Matthew Lucas) NEWLY ADDED

Dr. Stone (Ep. 21) – “Spartan Crafts Club” [1]

Dropkick on My Devil! (Ep. 3) – “Episode 3”

D.N.Angel (Ep. 25) – “The Black Wings”

The Duke of Death and His Maid – Episode 9

Ef – A Tale of Melodies (Series) [1]

Ef – A Tale of Memories (Series) [1]

Excel Saga (Ep. 12) – “Big City Part II”

Di Gi Charat (Eps. 16, 21) – “Usada Explodes,” “Di Gi Charat Christmas Special”

Fairy Tail (OVA) – “Fairies’s Christmas”

Fate/Grand Order -MOONLIGHT/LOSTROOM-

Flint the Time Detective (Ep. 13) – “Cavemen’s Christmas”

Food Wars (Ep. 79) – “A Midsummer Christmas”

Fresh Pretty Cure! (Ep. 45) – “We are Four Pretty Cures! Separation in Christmas Eve!!”

Full Moon wo Sagashite (Ep. 37) – “A Present from Full Moon” [1]

Futari wa Pretty Cure (Ep. 44) – “A Holiday Visitor / I Couldn’t Be Happier!? Nagisa’s White Christmas”

Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart (Ep. 42) – “A Rink Full of Sweethearts? Slipping and Falling into Grave Danger!”

Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star (Ep. 45) – “Cake, Kazuya and Christmas!”

Gabriel DropOut (Ep. 9) – “Christmas and New Year’s Eve Surprise”

Gal & Dino (Ep. 1-2) - "Nice to Meet You! & Look, Kitties!", "My Friend's Coming Over & I Ran Into Your Ex" (via @lancernolancing) NEWLY ADDED

Gakuen Babysitters (Ep. 12) (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Ghost Hunt (Ep. 12-13) – “FILE 5: Silent Christmas Part 1,” “File 5: Silent Christmas Part 2”

Gintama (Eps. 37, 200-201) – “People Who Say That Santa Doesn’t Really Exist Actually Want to Believe in Him,” [1, 2] “Santa Claus Red Is Blood Red,” “Everybody’s A Santa” (via squirrelstothenuts)

Golden Time (Ep. 24) – “Golden Time”

Golgo 13 (Ep. 37) – “Christmas 24 Hours”

Gosick (Ep. 22) – “A Christmas Carol Decorates the Windowsill’s Happiness”

(MS) Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (Ep. 5) – “Say it Ain’t So, Bernie!”

Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (OVA)

Gunparade March (Ep. 12) – “Whenever You Say Goodbye”

Gunslinger Girl (Ep. 4) – “Bambola – Doll”

Hamtaro (TV) (Eps. 25, 77, 129, 180, 231, 232, 283) – “Merry Christmas!,” “A Wonderful Santa Claus!,” “Mimi’s Christmas,” “The Mysterious Gift,” “Arriving to Your Smile!,” “It’s Santa,” “Merry Christmas!,” “A Christmas Ride!”

Hanamaru Kindergarten (Ep. 12A) - "A Hanamaru Christmas” (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Happy Lesson (OVA) (Ep. 3) – “Unsettling – Happy Mamas!”

Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto (Ep. 10) – “Demon Lord”

Hayate the Combat Butler (Ep. 1) “‘Unmei’ In English Is ‘Destiny'” [1]

HeartCatch PreCure! (Ep. 44) – “A Christmas Miracle! We Met Cure Flower!”

Heaven’s Lost Property (Ep. 13) – “Queen of the Sky”

Hell Girl (Ep. 8) – “Miracle of Christmas Eve”

Hetalia (Eps. 28, 31) – “In The World,” “Academy Hetalia Christmas” [1]

Hetalia World Series (Eps. 19-20) – “How Everyone Spent Their Christmas,” “America and Christmas”

Hidamari Sketch (Ep. 12) – “December 25: Goodbye Ume-sensei”

Himouto! Umaru-chan (Ep. 8) – “Umaru and Christmas and New Year’s” [1, 2]

Hinako Note (Ep. 11) - “From One Year To The Next” (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Honey and Clover (Ep. 4, 9) – “Actually, I don’t like Christmas all that much… …” [1, 2], “Did she notice? Why is it that I don’t tell her? / That brooch was so heavy”

Horimiya (Ep. 12) – “Hitherto, and Forevermore”

How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? (Ep. 10) – “Do You Like Christmas?”

I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying (Ep. 12) – “Fusion Sage Day” [1]

The Idolm@ster (Ep. 22) – “On Christmas Eve” [1]

The Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls (Ep. 24) – “Barefoot Girl.” [1]

I”s Pure (Ep. ??)

Ichigo Mashimaro/Strawberry Marshmallow (Ep.12) – “Present”

If Her Flag Breaks (OVA) - "Christmas? Do You Think I'd Make Use of Something Like That?" (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

If I See You in My Dreams (OVA) (Ep. 3) – “One Snowy Christmas Eve…”

Invaders of the Rokujyoma!? (Ep 12) – “Invasion Going Well!?”

Irresponsible Captain Tylor (OVA) (Ep. 6) – “White Christmas” [1, 2]

Is the Order a Rabbit? (Ep. 11) – “The Girl Dons a Red Coat and Drives a Team of Rabbits Across the Christmas Eve Night Sky” [1]

Is the Order a Rabbit? BLOOM, episodes 10-11

Itsudatte My Santa! (OVA) [1]

Jeanie with Light Brown Hair (Ep. 25) – “Alone on Christmas Eve”

Jewelpet (Ep. 38) – “Merry Merry ☆ – Santa Comes to Town”

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (Movie)

K-On! (Ep. 7) – “Christmas!” [1]

Kaitou Saint Tail (Ep. 12) – “Surprise! The Large Lizard Santa Claus?!” (via tomodachi-to-koibito)

Kakushigoto (Ep. 9) - "Your Lie in December" (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Kamichu (Ep. 13) – “We Do What We Want” [1]

Kämpfer (Ep. 12) – “Their Christmas: The Entrails’ Miracle”

Karin (Ep. 19) – “A Couple’s Eve is Embarrassing” [1]

Kasimasi – Girl Meets Girl (OVV)

Kids on the Slope (Ep. 4) – “But Not for Me”

Kill Me Baby (Ep. 10) – “Santa Icicle Snow Mantra”

Kimagure Orange Road (Ep. 38) – “Kyosuke Timetrips! The Third Christmas”

Kimi ni Todoke (Ep. 22) – “Christmas” [1, 2, 3]

Kin-iro Mosaic (Ep. 11) – “Try and Guess How Much I Like You”

Kissxsis (OVA, Ep. 2) – “Christmas for Two”

Kobato (Ep. 19) – “…White Christmas.” (via art-of-wandering)

Kodocha (Ep. 38, 89) – “The Special Christmas Kiss,” “Hallelujah on X-mas eve? My heart…”

Koi Kaze (Ep. 9) – “Wind Flower”

Koikimo (Ep. 4) – “On This Holy Night”

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki (Ep. 21) – “Black Santa is Sleepless in the Night”

The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (Ganbare Goemon) (Ep. 11) - "Santa Claus is a New Villain!" (via CancerDog) NEWLY ADDED

Linebarrels of Iron (Ep. 10) – “Over Drive”

Log Horizon (Season 2, Eps. 5-10) – “Christmas Eve,” “A Lost Child at Dawn,” “The Suifū Maidens”(The Maidens of Watermaple),” “Akihabara Raid,” “The Changing Battlefield,” “Guild Master”

Love Live! Sunshine!! (Season 2, Ep. 8) – “Hakodate” (via avatar-of-thevast)

Love Hina (OVA) – Christmas Special [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions (OVA) – “Glimmering… Explosive Festival (Slapstick Noel)”

Lovely Complex (Eps. 2, 10) – “The Ex-Girlfriend Love Triangle?!,” “A Confrontation With The Ex-Girlfriend?! The Epic Breast-Baring Battle!!”

Lucky Star (Ep. 11) – “The Various Ways for Spending the Holy Night” [1]

Lupin III: Pt. 2 (TV) (Ep. 12) – “The Sleight Before Christmas”

Macross (TV) (Ep. 35, 64) – “Romanesque,” “Christmas is in the Hands of the Goddess” [1]

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s (Eps. 9, 11) – “Christmas Eve,” “A Gift for Christmas Eve”

Magical Princess Minky Momo (Ep. 41) – “Please, Santa Claus”

Magikano (Ep. 11) – “Was it Really a Holy Night?”

Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful (Ep. 5) – “Will I Catch a Cold Tomorrow?”

Maison Ikkoku (Eps. 2, 18. 39-40 – “Love is in the Air? Which One Does Kyoko Love Best?”, “Kyoko’s Gift! What, You Mean It’s For Me?”, “Love Takes Guts! Godai’s Part Time Job Ploy!”, “A Bittersweet Favor! Budding Christmas Love!?” [1, 2]

March Comes in Like a Lion (Ep. 10) – “Something Given (Part 1) / Something Given (Part 2)” [1, 2]

Maria Watches Over Us (Season 4) (Ep. 7) – “Blank Map of the Future”

Marmalade Boy (Eps. 40-41) – “A Holy night. I’m alone on Christmas Eve/The morning of lovers. Merry Christmas”

Martian Successor Nadesico (Ep. 13) – “There Is No Single Truth”

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch (Ep. 38) – “A Christmas Present”

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure (Ep. 38) – “Battle on Christmas Eve”

Minami-ke (TV) (Ep. 12) – “Of Christmas And Eves” [1]

Miss Caretaker of Sunohara-Sou (Ep. 12) - “Kotatsu, Year End, Santa” (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (Ep. 10) – “Troupe Dragon, On Stage! (They Had A Troupe Name, Huh)”

Mitsudomoe (S1 Ep. 9. S2 Ep. 2) - "Santa Claus is my Eccentricity," “The Marui House Is Full” (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Mother of the Goddess Dormitory (Ep. 8) - “Kiriya Wishes Upon A Christmas” (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Momokuri (Eps. 23-24) – “Excitement! Christmas,” “To the Day of a Cold: Part 2”

Motto! Ojamajo Doremi (Ep. 45) – “Merry Christmas with Everyone!” (via Henry, comments)

Motto To Love Ru (Ep. 9) - “For Whom The Bell Tolls” (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Ms. Vampire Who Lives in My Neighborhood (Ep. 10) – “The Vampire and the End of the Year”

My Little Monster (Ep. 10) – “Christmas [1]

My Love Story (Ep. 17) – “My Christmas”

My Hero Academia (Ep. 101) – “Have a Merry Christmas!”

My Senpai Is Annoying (ep. 3) – “And Then, It’s Christmas”

My Wife is a High School Girl (Ep. 26) – “I will always love you…”

Mystic Messenger (Christmas DLC) – “Christmas Eve”

Nekopara (OVA) – “Nekopara OVA Extra”

Neo Ranga (Eps. 35-36) – “What Happened to Christmas Eve?”, “Christmas in Crisis”

Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas

Nichijou (Ep. 22) – “Nichijou Episode 22”

Ninja Nonsense (Ep. 10A) – “The Ninjas Have Christmas”

Nisekoi (Eps. 3-4) – “Need,” “Mother”

Nodame Cantabile (Ep. 3) – “Lesson 3: Queen of Percussion”

Nodame Cantabile: Paris (Ep. 5) – “Lesson 5: Chiaki and Nodame Cross Paths” [1]

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Purezza (Eps. 3-4) – “Ah, It Hurts…”, “Yūto’s Scent…” (via squirrelstothenuts)

Odd Taxi (Ep. 11) – “If We Could Go Back to That Day”

Oh My Goddess (OVA) (Ep. 4-5) – “Evergreen Holy Night,” “For the Love of Goddess”

Ojamajo Doremi (Ep. 45) – “Help Santa!” (via Henry, comments)

Ojamajo Doremi Sharp (Ep. 44) – “A Happy White Christmas” (via Henry, comments)

One Piece (?)

Orange (Ep. 11) – “LETTER 11” [1]

Oreimo (Season 1 Ep. 7, Season 2 Eps. 14-15) – “There’s No Way My Little Sister Can Write a Novel,” “I Can’t Confess to Her,” “My Little Sister Is This Cute”

Oregairu (Season 2, Eps. 6-9) – “Without Incident, The Congress Dances, But Does Not Progress.”, “However, That Room Continues to Portray An Endless Everyday Scene.”, “Even So, Hikigaya Hachiman.”, “And So, Yukinoshita Yukino.” [1, 2]

Patlabor (TV) (Eps. 10-11) – “Eve’s Trap,” “Eve’s Terror” [1]

Persona 4: The Golden Animation (Ep. 8) – “We’ve lost something important again”

The Pet Girl of Sakurasou (Ep. 14) – “Windows and Lights on Christmas Eve” [1]

Ping Pong (Ep. 6) – “You Love Table Tennis More Than Anyone Else!”

A Place Further Than the Universe (Ep. 10) – “Partial Friendship”

Pokemon (Ep. 65) – “Holiday Hi-Jinx”

Polar Bear’s Cafe (Ep. 37) – “Christmas Planning / Christmas Trouble”

Popotan (Ep. 8) – “Christmas”

Pretty Cure (Ep. 44) – “A Holiday Visitor”

Pretty Cure: Max Heart (Ep. 42) – “A Rink Full of Sweethearts? Slipping and Falling into Grave Danger!”

Pretty Cure: Splash Star (Ep. 42) – “Cake, Kazuya and Christmas”

Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live (Ep. 38) – “The Happy Bell on Christmas Eve” [1]

Prince of Tennis (Ep. 165) – “The Tenipuri Family Goes to Hawaii?! – Christmas at the Tenipuri Family”

Punch Line (Ep. 3) – “Mars Attacks!”

The Quintessential Quintuplets, season 2, episode 4 – “Seven Goodbyes Part 3”

Rainbow Days (Ep. 1) – “Episode 1”

Ranma 1/2 (OVA) (Ep. 2) – “Tendo Family Christmas Scramble”

Ranma 1/2 (TV) (Ep. 75) – “Step Outside”

Re-Kan! (Ep. 6) – “A Super Awesome Holy Night” [1]

Read or Die (Ep. 10) – “A Christmas Carol” [1, 2]

Recovery of an MMO Junkie (Ep. 1) -“IRL, Online”

Rental Magica (Ep. 12) – “Requiem for the Holy Night”

ReLIFE (Ep. 16) – “Date” [1]

Rent-a-Girlfriend (Ep. 8) – “Christmas and Girlfriend”

Rilakkuma and Kaoru (Ep. 9) – “Snowman” (via squirrelstothenuts)

RIN-NE (Ep. 22) – “Christmas in the Derelict”

Robotics;Notes (Ep. 15) – “I’ll Show You a Dream”

Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals (Ep. 39) – “Christmas is the Last Chance for Love! / Cleanup is a Chance to Wash Away the Past!” [1]

Sakura Quest (Ep. 20) – “The Phoenix in the Holy Night” [1]

Sakura Trick (Ep. 8B) - "A Cherry Blossom-colored Christmas" (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

Sailor Moon S: Hearts in Ice (Movie)

Saiyuki Reload (Ep. 13) – “~Lovely Baby~ Just a Tiny Tiny Story” [1]

Samurai Pizza Cats (Ep. 48) – “The Cheese Who Stole Christmas / Nyankii Santas Fly Through the Air” (via squirrelstothenuts)

School Rumble (Ep. 19) – “Here, There, Everywhere Is Christmas! Bravely Moving Forward For Christmas! Shatter, Christmas!” [1]

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (Ep. 64) – “A Christmas Present of Death”

Seitokai Yakuindomo (Ep. 11) – “Santa’s Sexual Desires”

Senran Kagura Shinovi Master (Ep. 1) – “CHANGE THE WORLD”

Sgt. Frog (Ep. 39, 90, 192) – “Keroro Christmas Battle,” “Keroro Spring Cleaning Battle,” “Keroro, I Cannot Say Merry Christmas,” “Keroro, Christmas Prevent!/Keroro Platoon Cake is a Man’s Battlefield!”

Shaman King, 2021 (Ep. 20) - "Joco’s Christmas" (via art-of-wandering / @art-of-wandering) NEWLY ADDED

SHIROBAKO (Ep. 12) – “Exodus Christmas” [1]

Shugo Chara (Ep. 10, 12, 13) – “Character Transformation!”, “Amulet Clover!”, “Sad Christmas Eve!”, “Big Disturbance! New Year Live!” [1, 2]

Sing Yesterday for Me (Eps. 9-10) – “Christmas Carol,” “A New Year of Beginnings”

Sister Princess (Ep. 20) – “Christmas Love Destiny”

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, (Ep. 12) – “Sleeping Princess of the Demon Castle”

The Slime Diaries (Ep. 11) - "Where is Santa Claus?" (via DaijoubuJoeKun) NEWLY ADDED

SoniAni: Super Sonico The Animation (Ep. 11) - "A Saint Comes to Town" (via eyevocal) NEWLY ADDED

Space Brothers (Ep. 96) – “Astronaut and Father”

Steins;gate 0 (Ep. 3) – “Protocol of the Two-sided Gospel: X-Day Protocol”

Stellvia (Ep. 12) – “Confession”

Strawberry 100%) (TV) (Ep. 14) – “Christmas of Past Loneliness”

Strawberry Marshmallow (Ep. 12) – “Present”

Super Gals! (Ep. 39) – “Holy Night! – Ring! Ring! – Emergency Bell of Love!”

Sweet Blue Flowers (Ep. 11) – “Winter’s Fireworks”

Sword Art Online (Ep. 3) – “The Red-Nosed Reindeer” [1, 2, 3]

Tamayura Hitotose (Ep. 11) – “A Christmas Eve Story♪”

Tenchi Muyo: Daughter of Darkness (Movie)

Those Who Hunt Elves (Ep. 21) – “Those Who Wait For Noel”

To Heart (Ep. 12) – “The Season of Emotions” [1]

To Heart: Remember My Memories (Ep. 10) – “A Long Night”

Tōka Gettan (Ep. 9) – “Snow”

Tokyo Godfathers (Movie) [1, 2, 3, 4]

Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho (Season 2, Ep. 6) – “Militant Fist Chapter: A Christmas Eve Without Smiles”

Tokyo Mew Mew (Ep. 37) – “The Shining Tear: Celebrating Christmas with just the Two of Us”

Toradora (Eps. 17-19) – “Mercury Retrogrades at Christmas,” “Under the Fir Tree,” “Christmas Eve Festival” [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Toriko (Ep. 87) – “Merry Feasttmas! Gourmet Santa’s Present!”

Tsuki ga Kirei (Ep. 11) – “An Encouragement of Learning” [1]

Tsurezure Children (Ep?)

Urusei Yatsura (Eps. 10, 79) – “Pitter-Patter Christmas Eve,” “Mendo Family – Summer Christmas”

Usagi Drop (Ep. 3.5) – “Dear Santa” [1, 2]

Uta no Prince Sama (Season 2, Ep. 14) – “Shining Star X-Mas” [1]

Vandread (Ep. 10) – “White Love” [1]

The Wallflower (Ep. 12) – “Oh, My Sweet Home!”

Wedding Peach DX (OVA) (Ep. 3) – “Reunion ~ We Even Fight on Christmas ~”

White Album (Ep?)

Why the Hell Are you Here, Teacher? (Ep. 10) – “Tenth Period”

Winter Garden (TV)

The World God Only Knows (Ep. 6) – “Flag.6.0 I’m Ordinary?”

Wotakoi (Ep. 6) – “Bleak Christmas” [1]

Yawara (Eps. 116-117) – “Rich Idiot!”, “The Greatest Present”

Yes! Pretty Cure 5 (Ep. 42) – “Nozomi and Coco’s Christmas Vow”

Yes! PreCure 5 GoGo! (Ep. 44) – “Open! Everyone’s Present!”

Yo-kai Watch (Season 2, Ep. 23) – “A Very Christmas / The Koma-Santa Clause / Yo-Kai Ol’ Saint Trick”

You’re Under Arrest (Ep. 11) – “Santa Claus Panic”

Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Great Mankai Chapter (S3, Ep. 5) – “Brightness Unleashed”

Yumeiro Patissiere (Ep. 12) – “The Seven Year Merry Christmas!”

Yuri on Ice (Ep. 11) – “Gotta Super-Supercharge it! Grand Prix Final Short Program”

Yuri Yuri (Ep. 7) – “Christmasery”

Yuru Camp (Eps. 11-12) – “Christmas Camp!”, “Mount Fuji and the Laid-Back Camp Girls” [1, 2]

#anime #christmas anime #anime christmas #christmas #christmas movies

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castielcommunism · 3 years

Text

I don’t mean this in a “I want to start fights with people” way, but I genuinely don’t get the strain of argument on here that the show itself is especially punishing towards Dean or that he’s treated unfairly compared to other characters.

Like usually the order of operations goes: someone will say dean is the POV character of the show, and his interpretation of events, his emotional state, and his needs are privileged above other characters. Someone will then respond and say this isn’t true and basically argue the opposite, citing character assassination (either deliberate or accidental depending on who you ask), especially in dabb era, as a big source for this argument. Like, he’s written as intentionally bad or malicious in a way that is OOC and casts him in a negative light by virtue of him doing XYZ awful thing. So he’s “punished” by the writers by being written as out of character.

And so like I said I don’t really get this framing very much? At least, when I say “supernatural is The Dean Show” I mean basically that - he is privileged above other characters. He gets more screen time, more character-centric arcs and episodes, more nuance, etc. This is especially true when comparing him to Cas, but I think it also holds true when comparing him to Sam (and I don’t think saying “Sam has nothing to do and very little personality in the later seasons” is a generally controversial statement? Like I love Sam but I agree with this, he’s given very little to do and it sucks).

And Supernatural does regularly punish its characters! Nobody can be happy. They get Mary back, she dies. They get Cas back, he dies and comes back and dies again. All their friends die, either because of Sam and Dean’s choices or by pure tragic circumstances. Jack dies. Dean has a breakthrough moment in season 3 where he ostensibly realises his father is an asshole and regrets devoting so much of his time and energy to him, only for the brothers to go on to praise their dad for virtually the rest of the show. These guys are not allowed to have long term happiness or catharsis. They are not allowed to grow.

So where my confusion lies is like, all the main characters on spn perpetually have a bad time. They’re all punished, both fairy and not, for their actions (Cas especially, he’s always failing and fucking up, which forms the basis of a lot of conflict in the show - godstiel and casifer to name a couple big ones). I think it’s also true that Dean is generally proven correct by his own assumptions, and when he’s not (ie, him thinking Jack is a monster for example), there’s no real reckoning moment where he’s like oh shit I just did this awful thing and was wrong, I need to go reflect on my actions and then become a better person. People might call him out for his shitty behaviour but nothing really comes of it. Like I can’t really watch spn without noticing that Dean is the de facto protagonist and occupies a special space in the narrative that other main characters don’t. He also holds power over Sam and Cas - he is almost always in the driver’s seat, both literally in the Impala and narratively in the story. There’s even a post on here joking that we need to invent a version of the bechdel test to measure how many conversations in the show don’t reference or relate back to Dean somehow.

And then ALSO another important thing is that like I don’t hate Dean for this lol. I just think it’s boring and bad writing. There are a lot of very good posts on here talking about how the show would be better if he were a deuteragonist. Asking how the show would shake out if he were de-prioritised and we got more arcs dedicated to exploring Cas and Sam is, I think, a genuinely interesting question, but you have to accept the premise that Dean is privileged in the narrative in order to ask that question.

So tl;dr I guess my point is like, every guy on spn is punished and tortured by the narrative, and Dean is the principle character of the show that every character arc eventually bends towards. And I think because of that, as much as his suffering is highlighted more and given more space (because he is, again, the protagonist - we don’t see Sam crying alone in a field because Mary died, for example), he’s also given more opportunities to be correct and is generally favoured on a narrative level even if the text of the show is punishing him for doing something. So I don’t really get what people mean when they say “Dean is unfairly punished” above and beyond the general punishment that happens on the show to every character

#spn.txt #dean.txt #meta #does this make. any sense.#been meaning to make this post for a while bc I’ve seen this argument a lot and I don’t really get it #also if you’re hostile on this post I WILL block you. i just want to know what people mean when they say this I’m not looking for a fight

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fleckcmscott · 2 years

Text

FleckCMScott’s Masterlist - Part 2

Oneshots and select novellas can be found here. Multichapters and artwork can be found on Part 1!

Explicit chapters/works are marked with an “*.”

See What Happened

Summary: Snapshots from the lives of Arthur and Y/N - based on your requests!

Read on Ao3 (uses Sarah’s name instead of “Y/N”)

On Tumblr:

Windows Open* - Y/N has a mild kink. Arthur loves her anyway.

“Strogonof” - Arthur reminisces about his and Y/N’s first dinner together. Y/N’s happy to relive it with him.

The Vanity* - Arthur tries to get ready for work. Y/N joins him.

The Knot - Arthur and Y/N finally have the wedding they discussed on their sprint to City Hall.

Adjusting* - Arthur moved in with Y/N nearly two weeks ago. It takes more getting used to than he’d thought.

Comfort & Joy - Arthur & Y/N celebrate their first Christmas together. Not everything goes as planned.

Home Early* - Y/N has to attend a conference for work. Arthur misses her.

Bittersweet - After a little prompting, Arthur tells Y/N about his first kiss.

The Find* - Arthur and Y/N tidy up their wardrobe. What he comes across surprises him.

Things Past - Arthur shares a childhood memory with Y/N. She sees it differently than he does.

Pre-Show* - It’s a big night for Arthur. Y/N helps him prepare.

Another Year - Arthur’s birthday is coming up. Y/N wants nothing more than to make it great.

To Have and To Hold* - Y/N makes an oversight at work. The resulting extra hours with Arthur delight them both.

Another Decade - Arthur discovers Y/N’s fortieth is just around the corner. He hopes to get the occasion right.

Awake* - It’s one of those rare mornings in which Y/N stirs before Arthur. She reflects on sharing life (and a bed) with him.

The Falls - Arthur and Y/N reach Gotham City Hall. Two weeks later, they share a taste of newly-wedded bliss.

Homemaking* - In the middle of the night, Arthur finds comfort in routine. When Y/N follows, he doesn’t mind at all.

Fun and Only - During a night out, Y/N and Arthur bump into someone from Arthur’s past. Y/N tries to decipher him.

Test of Time* - Y/N’s long work hours are hard for Arthur to bear. Together, they find a way to cope.

Bewitching Hour - October has been a blissfully busy month. With Halloween around the corner, Arthur and Y/N have some planning to do.

After - Arthur is heartened to have Y/N back by his side. But moving forward isn’t as simple as he’d daydreamed.

Twelve O’Clock - Gotham’s supposedly finding its way. Whatever her skepticism, Y/N and Arthur resolve to enjoy New Year’s Eve.

Out of Sight* - Y/N has an unexpected dash of inspiration. Arthur doesn’t require much convincing.

Photoplay - With Y/N’s encouragement, Arthur learns to enjoy a different kind of attention.

Coffee & Donuts* - Arthur’s thrilled to be part of a crowd. Though the evening doesn’t go perfectly, Y/N’s flirtations make it sweet.

Stepping Stones: Ch.1, Ch.2, Ch.3, Ch.4 - Y/N and Arthur share a delightful life, one that isn’t perfect but wholly theirs. When his struggles take a serious turn, she’s surprised by the toll it exacts. Though the steps they’ll have to take aren’t easy, walking them together makes all the difference. (Read on Ao3 (uses Sarah’s name instead of “Y/N”)

Backward, Forward: Part 1, Part 2* - After Arthur’s release from Arkham, getting back into the swing of things proves to be a challenge. With a little help from Gotham’s favorite star therapist, he and Y/N try to meet it.

The Thread - It’s been nearly one year since a grocery run brought Y/N into Arthur’s life. He decides to make a plan.

A Cup of Cheer - While waiting for Arthur, Y/N gets ready to deck the halls with love and laughter.

Do Not Disturb* - During a much needed getaway to the Catskills, Arthur and Y/N make a few discoveries about themselves - and each other.

The Move - Arthur and Y/N ready themselves - and their belongings - for what comes next.

Heebie Jeebies* - It’s the Halloween season and Y/N’s working against the clock. After she recruits Arthur for help, the new look he creates sends shivers down both their spines.

The Loss - Arthur and Y/N come face to face with an inevitable step in the cycle of life.

Glad and Golden Hours - Two months after Arkham, Christmas Eve is on its way. Y/N and Arthur prepare to host their nearest, dearest friends.

Room Service* - A radio program spurs Arthur’s bolder side. What he comes up with is just what Y/N needs.

Tiny Sparks - On a beautiful night in Gotham, Arthur and Y/N enjoy a long awaited date.

Before - Released from Arkham State Hospital, Arthur works towards returning to his normal life. With a big item checked off his to-do list, his romantic soul spends the evening dreaming of the future to come.

Pillow Talk* - While Y/N spends some time away, she and Arthur find a way to play.

Making Motions - Months ago, Y/N shared an unexpected flight of fancy. Arthur decides to take it to heart.

Every Day - After their first New Year's celebration, Arthur and Y/N ponder how to proceed.

Silver Dollar* - An outage in Gotham provides the perfect opportunity for a special night.

Rain or Shine - Y/N cherishes the joys Arthur has returned to her life - and traverses echoes of the past.

Haunted Heart - Mabel invites the Flecks to visit for the holidays. On Halloween, more than trick or treats await them.

Frills and Thrills - A typical night becomes anything but typical.

Hearth and Home - During Christmas in Missouri, Arthur learns - and Y/N relearns - how to celebrate with family.

Something Old, Everything New* - After Arthur has a run in with the past, Y/N provides the shelter she’s always hoped to.

What Didn’t Happen

Summary: Since his debut, Joker’s been figuring out his new life. Through every shift, Y/N’s presence lingers.

Read on Ao3 (uses Sarah’s name instead of “Y/N”)

#arthur fleck #arthur fleck fanfic #arthur fleck x female reader #arthur fleck smut #arthur fleck x ofc #joker 2019 #watchwhathappens #arthur fleck x reader

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angstama · 3 years

Text

apple tree | chifuyu.m

pairing: chifuyu matsuno x reader

genre: angst, slow-burn, unrequited love, pining, fluff, chifuyu doesn’t love you that way :(

warnings: as usual, heartbreak coming ahead <3

✧. in which you look back on the times that chifuyu had been the highlight and heartbreaker in your youth.

you were five when you first met chifuyu matsuno under the big apple tree one summer day.

head deep into bending the fragile weeds into a flower crown when a blonde haired boy with the prettiest ocean blue eyes approached you. “what are you doing?” he asked curiously, licking his already melting chocolate ice cream while looking at the imperfectly balanced flower that you had spent hours on crafting in your hands. “making a flower crown.” you answered simply, not even sparing the blonde haired boy a glance as you were too focused in tweaking the branches.

“woah that’s awesome!” he beamed in excitement, plopping down next to you instantly and leaning in closer to take a look at it. “yeah i know right!” you smiled in triumph, finally looking up to see whoever was showing interest in your little hobby and behold, there sat chifuyu in a rainbow striped t-shirt with his legs crossed and eyes gleaming with interest.

in all honesty, your flower crowns were horribly ugly, but in chifuyu’s eyes it was uniquely you. perhaps it was maybe because he hadn’t seen anyone making an actual flower crown before or perhaps maybe he was just feeling sorry for the girl who always sat alone under the big apple tree that never bloomed a single fruit all year round. whichever it was, you wished that it was the first. “teach me how to make one please!” he grabs your wrist, causing your cheeks to burn under the scorching hot sun and heart rate quickening though you were clueless as to why it happened being only at the age of five, so you decided that it was okay to have him around.

strangely ever since then, you were never seen alone under the apple tree in the park again.

you were nine when you first understood the concept of crushes, with the help of your best friend, chifuyu matsuno of course.

“it’s when you want to share the biggest chicken drumlet with them dummy!” chifuyu explained, voice muffled from stuffing his face with fried chicken one after another. you weren’t sure how the two of you derived at the current topic, though you remember the last you checked, chifuyu was rambling on and on about the new girl in your class. “so, you’d share this with whoever you have a crush on?” you asked as you pointed towards the biggest drumstick that chifuyu had saved for the last, as always.

he nodded impatiently, grabbing the very same drumstick and ready to devour it but only to come to a halt when the two of you locked eyes. “want some?” he offered, waving the fried chicken in front of you. “wh-what?” your words fumbled, taken aback by chifuyu’s sudden offer right after the whole sharing of the biggest chicken drumlet explanation he had just made. “you kept staring at it. do you want it?” he asked, with innocence laced in his voice, oblivious to the shade of red slowly making an appearance on your cheeks. you huffed, “am not!”. chifuyu only lets out a snort, “yeah sure,” he chuckles boyishly, leaning down to rest on your shoulders, causing your body to stiffen upon the sudden contact. that afternoon, for almost an entire hour you were forced to sit as straight as you could, afraid that something was going to erupt in your tummy again as you could feel the bubbling sensation that threatened to explode.

you were thirteen when you finally realised that you, y/n l/n, wants to share the biggest drumstick with chifuyu matsuno.

it was christmas eve and chifuyu had invited you over to his place for a dinner, claiming that his mother had threatened to throw his precious romance mangas away if he didn't invite you.

you arrived at the matsuno’s household ten minutes earlier than stated with a tray of roasted potatoes held in your hands and beads of sweat running down your forehead despite the freezing cold temperature outside. for the eight years of friendship you had with chifuyu, you’ve never felt this nervous seeing him and his family. it’s the cold, you naively thought, when the door swung opened, revealing your best friend dressed in a maroon striped sweater with suspenders. his eyes widened, not expecting to really see you when he was just opening to check in an attempt to ease his mother’s sixth sense. “y/n? why didn’t you knock?” he gasped, gently tugging the tray on your hands into his as he looked at you in surprise. “well, i was gonna but you opened the door before i could!” you scoffed a white lie, wanting nothing but to cover up the fact that you had been standing outside because you couldn’t get your heart to calm down.

“chifuyu why don’t you give y/n the gift you got for her now?” mrs matsuno chimed, elegance evident in her posture and movement when she lightly dabbed a napkin across her lips which made you wonder how is it possible that she's the mother of chifuyu when chifuyu shared not a single bit of her grace when it comes to eating. chifuyu pauses briefly, “give me a sec,” he nods before stuffing the roasted potato that was previously halfway into his mouth and standing up to jog over to his room. “he cleaned the house for two months for it.” mr matsuno chuckled as chifuyu jogs out again, this time with a paper bag held in his hand.

“you better wear it everyday.” he sent you a playful wink, handing you the brown paper bag. you carefully unwrapped the ribbon that bounded the paper bag and pulling out an overly oversized hoodie enough to fit you through a lifetime. you noticed that it was same hoodie that chifuyu often wears except that yours was in the shade of emerald green, the colour that chifuyu had taken the effort to remember that you had once claimed as your colour when the two of you had a heated discussion on what colour represents yourselves.

“wow! now we have a friendship hoodie!” you beamed in excitement, pulling the oversized hoodie over your sweater. “how do i look?” you asked, posing a few turns at chifuyu as he took a good look at you. “pretty.” he held a thumb up before stuffing another spoonful of pasta down.

your lowered your gaze upon hearing the sudden compliment your best friend gave, opting to look at the last piece of roasted chicken that mrs matsuno had offered you earlier just now before chifuyu could lay his hands on it. your lips pursed, not entirely confident to do it but eventually picking up the piece of meat and placing it on chifuyu’s already dirtied plate from all the sauces he had mixed with his food. “thank you,” you mumbled, looking anywhere else but chifuyu’s burning gaze on you.

the butterflies were taking flight soon and you on the other hand had no idea how to contain it.

you were sixteen when chifuyu first broke your heart on the first day of the spring season, openly declaring in front of you and takemichi that he’ll be confessing to the pretty girl sitting in front of him during lunch time.

her name is haru.

“no way! you’re kidding!” takemichi gaped, leaning in closer to chifuyu as the close proximity between the two of them wasn’t enough for him to hear chifuyu clearly. chifuyu crossed his arms, confidence evident in his posture, “of course not! i’ve already decided, there’s no going back!”

“be sure not to scare her away!” you stuck your tongue out to which chifuyu rolled his eyes in response. “eh? you’re just jealous that no one’s confessing to you!”, wiggling his head in a playful manner as he brought an ‘L’ sign up to his forehead to further anguish you. you raised a middle finger, wanting nothing more than to end this conversation for you weren’t sure if you were able to contain the effect of your heart dropping six feet down.

you knew chifuyu succeeded when he came running to you after school with the brightest smile you adored, a faint tint of blush coated on his cheeks. “guess i’m gonna see you lesser huh lover boy?” you chuckled softly, shoving your textbooks into your canvas bag as he swung himself onto your desk with a smug grin. “you’d wish huh don’t you? but no, you’ll still see me as often when i’m off from boyfriend duties,” he sang happily. perhaps maybe because it was chifuyu’s own words, you believed wholeheartedly that you were okay with being just his best friend and being supportive of his relationship. so you watched chifuyu’s love for haru bloomed into something more than just the typical puppy love you often watch on romcoms.

in just a blink of an eye, two years had passed and the next thing you knew you were spending your birthday without your best friend for the second time in a row. “this sucks,” you grumbled, throwing your phone aside when the time struck midnight, announcing a new day had just arrived. chifuyu’s words were just empty affirmations when you realised that you barely ever saw your best friend. you weren't sure if the two of you were even best friends anymore. it felt more like he’s just a friend that you talk to occasionally now. you see, chifuyu is a loyal friend and that’s a widely known fact and that’s what made it even more heartbreaking for you because chifuyu always does just enough to keep your friendship alive and you had no reason to hate him for that.

you rubbed your temples tiredly, wanting nothing more than to run your aching head into the wall when a packet of your favourite watermelon mints was thrown onto your desk. “rough night?”atsumu, your beloved table-mate asked smugly. “you don’t say,” you mumbled, rolling your eyes at the obvious as you impatiently tore the packet open. “he didn’t wish ya happy birthday did he?” the freshly bleached haired boy questioned. atsumu got his answer when you didn't sat in silence, opting to look out the window to distract yourself from the threatening tears prickling at the corner of your eyes. and god do love to test you when the scene of chifuyu leaning in to kiss haru on the lips ever so gently unfolds at your sight. oh how you wished that it was you who he’s kissing right now.

chifuyu always does just enough to keep your friendship alive.

it was already late into the night when you heard a knock outside your balcony. your breath hitched when you saw that it was chifuyu who had disturbed your little movie marathon alone after the events that had happened lately. “hey,” he breathed, a soft smile wearing on his lips to which you returned it with an awkward one, inviting him into your messy room. “oh we’re in our friendship hoodie!” he chuckles nervously. your eyes travelled on him, realising that indeed he’s wearing the same hoodie that you were currently wearing right now. “it’s late chi, what’s going on?” you sighed, tone coming off harsher than you intended to. chifuyu nods slowly, face soon replaced with an apologetic look. “i’m sorry for missing your birthday, i feel horrible really,” he begun. “ i know i haven’t been around lately, so i want to make it up to you.”

your brows furrowed at chifuyu’s apology, you knew he was being so sincere so why did you feel even much more upset hearing it? “that’s it? you could’ve just done this in school tomorrow chifuyu.”you sighed, trying your hardest to mask the pettiness within you with a tired voice. “ i know i know, but i couldn’t sleep knowing that i left my best friend alone on her 18th birthday.” he looked at you hesitantly as you quietly pulled your duvet over your lap. “how about let’s go hiking and watch the sunrise this weekend? just the two of us. i know you’ve been wanting to do that.”

you wished you weren’t in love with chifuyu so that you wouldn’t give in so easily. you wished you were petty enough to make a scene and just be angry at him but you couldn't so here you are right now, hiking up the trail with your hand in chifuyu’s as you helped him up the slope. “your stamina really sucks,” you retorted to which chifuyu huffed in response. “it’s not that my stamina sucks, it’s that this trail is literally ninety-eight percent high slopes,” he pouts.

“well you could've chose not to show up.”

“no! i want to do this with you. what are you talking about?”

you only smiled at his little defence. “whatever,” you mumbled as you quickly dropped your grip on his and walking ahead of him in an attempt to hide your blush. “hey! wait for me!”

it was near autumn when one day chifuyu appeared in the wee hours of the night with tears streaming down his cheeks when he fell into your arms and hugged you tightly. you found out that haru was moving away to the states with her family and had broken up with chifuyu, refusing to try out long distance relationship.

so like any other best friend, you let chifuyu cry into your shoulders as you sat in silence that night, heart breaking at the torn state chifuyu was in. he truly loved her.

you were twenty when chifuyu held your hands and asked you to be his.

“chifuyu matsuno! where the hell are my batteries?” your voice echoed through your shared apartment, causing poor chifuyu to jump and drop the eggs he was previously holding in his hands on to the floor. it’s been almost two years since haru and chifuyu had broken up and you had spent a great deal of time trying to mend his broken heart though you knew that it would never be fully healed. she was his first love after all.

the two of you had moved in to a small apartment close to your university as planned since young, officially becoming roommates. “fuck!my eggs!” chifuyu cried out loud as he frantically lets go of the spatula in his hands to grab a kitchen tower and clean up the pool of egg yolk and egg white on the marble floor. you groaned in annoyance when chifuyu doesn’t answer your question, slamming the tools drawer shut and making your way towards the kitchen.

“i swear chi-” you paused when you saw chifuyu kneeling on the floor with his pink kitten design apron tied against his body, a pout clearly evident on his lips. “what ever happened?” your head tilted slightly, annoyance slowly decimating. “you screamed like a mad woman. that’s what happened.” he retorted. you rolled your eyes, grabbing another kitchen towel and joining chifuyu on the ground. “well if you didn’t misplace my batteries, i wouldn't be screaming.”

“if you looked close enough, it’s literally on your study desk.”

“it’s not!”

“it is!”

“it’s not!” you huffed, getting up and stomping over to your room to prove a point but your eyes widened, horrified by the pure sight of your batteries accompanies by a fresh pack with a sticky note attached on top of it. ‘you’re welcome <3′, it wrote. you slowly walked out of your room with your head hung low, doing the walk of shame. “say it,” chifuyu taunts as he skilfully tossed the omelette onto the plate and placing it in front of you. you scrunched your nose, lips pursing and taking a deep breath. “i’m sorry,” you mumbled quietly, fingers fumbling at the ends of your shirt. “ah-ah i can't hear you,” you hear him sing, a little too happy. obvious that he’s enjoying this. you sighed in defeat, clearing your throat loud enough. “i’m sorry,” you said it loudly this time.

chifuyu lets out a laugh in satisfaction, throwing his head back while you on the other hand could only pout at his triumph. but that didn’t mean that your heart didn't swell up at the expression of happiness he has on his face right now. digging in at the breakfast that chifuyu had made for you which had now became a routine, you couldn't help but to feel small under chifuyu’s intense stare on you. “are you not gonna eat?” you raised your brow, eyeing the untouched omelette on his plate. chifuyu rests his chin on his palm, looking at you with a look of as if he had something to tell you.

“i will.” he hummed before reaching out to grab your hands. your body stiffened, dumfounded at what’s currently happening. “you know, for the last two years, life was a little less painful thanks to you.” chifuyu confessed earnestly, “ i guess what i’m trying to say is that, you’re my end game y/n l/n. i don’t think i would've came this far if it wasn’t for you so i’m going to ask you this once,” he paused, intertwining his fingers in yours as he gazes into your eyes deeply,

“will you be my girlfriend?”

your relationship with chifuyu wasn’t a perfect one but the two of you always made it work somehow. which is why here you are sitting against your bed frame with luggages packed by the side wondering what exactly had gone wrong along the way?

and you realised that you were never meant to be chifuyu’s end game. you were never meant to be his forever.

“you think that i don’t fucking know that you were always looking at her instagram when you think i’m not around?” you screamed, body shaking from the exhaustion that’s taking a toll on you both physically and emotionally. “i don’t see how it’s wrong wanting to see how my friend is doing?” chifuyu snaps.

you scoffed, crossing your arms as you looked away. “yeah. as if you don’t still say her name in your sleep. as if you don’t fucking mess up our favourite food, as if you didn’t tell takemichi that you wished i was haru!” this was the last straw for you. you were too exhausted to try anymore. haru was irreplaceable and you were just a temporary band aid for chifuyu.

it was as if you had hit jack pot when your lover went silent. “i’ve loved you for so long chifuyu. but loving you hurts too much. i’m so tired of this.” you finally allowed yourself to break down, letting yourself go loose on the emotions you’ve suppressed for years as chifuyu could only watch in remorse for tearing you apart till this state.

you finally understood why the apple tree never bloomed any apples.

you were twenty seven when you decided to leave chifuyu matsuno. fifteen years of friendship and seven years of being each other’s significant other. you finally walked away, planting one last final kiss on chifuyu’s lips and shutting the door on your ex-lover’s sleeping figure.

#chifuyu matsuno #chifuyu x y/n #chifuyu imagines #chifuyu x reader #tokyorev x reader #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers headcanons #tokyo manji gang #angst #fanfic #mikeysano #manjiro sano #reader #tokyo revengers takemichi #takemichi

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nothingtolosebutweight · 3 years

Text

This is my Masterlist, which will be updated frequently with finished stories and also with sneak peaks of works in process. Those will be marked with: ✍🏼

🎞Modern AU // ⚔ Canon Divergence // 🧸Just Fluff // 🔞Smut // 💀Characters Death

My Edits

VIKINGS

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IVAR

⚔ I'll be Good

-> After Ivar returns to Kattegat in Season 6B, he finds a quiet place to rest and reflects on past mistakes.

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HEAHMUND X IVAR

🎞 Suck it,baby!

-> Ivar enjoys a pleasureable moment in the kitchen with Heahmund by his side.

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🎞 If loving you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right

-> Heahmund is deeply in love with Ivar and everything could be so perfect for the two of them - if there wouldn't be this one big problem.

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🎞💀 Bury me deep inside your heart

-> Heahmund drives to an old farmhouse and has a bizarre encounter on the way.

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🎞🧸 Beloved Patient

-> Ivar is sick and Heahmund has to deal with it

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🎞 Somewhere I belong Part 1 | 🔞 Part 2 | Part 3

-> Ivar longs for a partner by his side and has a crush on one of Ubbe's colleagues. Therefore, he is overjoyed when he gets the chance to go on a date with Heahmund and things seem to go more than well.

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🎞 Don't turn your back on me ✍🏼 - Masterpost

-> Ivar's hot-tempered behavior and his inability to communicate his problems or compensate his negative feelings in other ways puts the relationship between him and Heahmund to a severe test. Perhaps love cannot always overcome all obstacles, and perhaps love alone is sometimes not enough to justify keeping a relationship going.

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🎞🔞 Good Boy

-> Ivar thinks he earned his christmas presents earlier, cause he was a good boy. Heahmund thinks otherwise.

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⚔ Under the Night Sky | 💀 The End |

-> Snapshots of moments between those two that happened under the Night Sky. No chronological order.

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⚔ Ridiculously in Love

-> Short drabble: Ivar and Heahmund do not share the same taste in clothes.

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🎞🧸 Happy New Year

-> Ivar thinks he will have to spend New Year's Eve alone, but a surprise visitor sweetens his evening.

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🎞🔞 Working from Home

-> Heahmund is in the middle of an online business meeting with his colleagues when Ivar decides it's time for a little payback.

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🎞🔞 All Night Long

-> Ivar had a good day regarding his chronic leg pain. So he joins his brother as he heads to a club, not suspecting that his evening would even get better.

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⚔ Love Language

-> Heahmund suffers under Ivar's tyranny during his captivity until some day, he makes a discovery that gives him more power than he would have thought possible.

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🎞 Battle for the Sun - abandoned - Masterpost

-> Ivar is a loner in real life. Since childhood, he was ostracized and bullied by his classmates because he is different. He could neither play catch with the other children nor wrestle with them. To this day, his body is too weak for that, too prone to breaking bones. Since he was a teenager, he has therefore escaped into another world where he can be all the things he will probably never achieve in real life: strong, respected and appreciated for his talents. Video games became Ivar's second home, but one day a new gamer shows up who challenges him in a special way and causes cracks in his sanctuary.

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⚔ Heaven's just a Sin away

-> Driven by his affection for Ivar, Heahmund repeatedly plunges head over heels into the sea of sins, only to drown in his feelings of guilt immediately afterward, asking God for forgiveness for his actions. His inner conflict is also reflected in his battered appearance. A circumstance that doesn't appeal to the young prince at all.

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⚔ Let my Prayers be your Fortress

-> Before every big battle, Ivar makes the effort to style his hair in a special way. On this particular day he gets unexpected help or, as Hvitserk sees it, someone sabotages him

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⚔🔞 Fuck me like you Hate me | Part 2

-> Ivar and Heahmund can't get through a day without getting into an argument over something small. Heated discussions between the two have become an everyday occurrence for all bystanders. Everyone is annoyed by it, except the two of them. After all, it's the best kind of foreplay for them.

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🎞🧸 Little Goatie

-> Heahmund has a present for Ivar that he considers very questionable at first. Only when he takes a closer look at it does it bore deeply into his heart.

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⚔🧸 Three Simple Words

-> Ivar just wanted to take a bath and then retire to his room for the night's rest, as he had done so many times before. On this day, however, something is different and nothing will ever be the same again.

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🎞 Final Masquerade

-> After the death of Sigurd, Ivar had only one task. To approach the investigating cop, get information about the state of the investigation, and distract him. He always did his job well, was proud of that too, but this time he had done one part too well. He had gotten too close to the cop named Heahmund, infecting himself with something he didn't know how to deal with along the way, which was slowly destroying his self from the inside out.

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🎞🔞 Sweet Prince

-> He could feel the warmth of Ivar's breath mingling with his own cold one, creating an electrifying current that surged through their bodies.

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Series:

♥🎞 Bits and Pieces (#heavarbitsandpieces) - Short drabbles

○ Monster

○ Pie

○ Happy Baby

○ Glitter

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IVAR & UBBE

⚔ Flower Crowns and Withered Egos

-> Ivar & Asa & Ubbe: Ivar wants his privacy and sets off for the cabin in the mountains. But everything turns out differently than planned.

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WIPs

⚔ One more Light ✍🏼

⚔ What tomorrow brings✍🏼

⚔ Under the Night Sky: Blood Moon ✍🏼

🎞 Roads Untraveled ✍🏼

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permanentcrossfics · 4 years

Text

Blurred Lines: A Different Christmas // h.s.

How do we write Christmas fics in a really weird year? I’m still not sure, but I tried to string together a bit of relief for the end of December. I’m shutting myself up now, even though there’s lots I want to say. This is for anyone who wants it, anyone who needs it, anyone who enjoys it (or hates it!) silently and vocally alike. My Christmas gift is the happy and unexpected bonus of anyone reading what I have so much selfish fun thinking of and spinning out. Happy and Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, and a happy and merry end of December if you don’t and are just doing you! x

9.1k

It was the big Christmas tree you’d dragged back home by yourself on top of a rickety shopping cart all the way from a place on Second Avenue that had been your breaking point. Picking it had its own bittersweet undertones, but the smell of fresh pine tickling your nose even through a mask had kept you afloat as you struggled to get it off and onto curbs before traffic pancaked you in the middle of the road. It wasn’t until you were back inside, still wrapped in your coat and struggling to get it upright in the stand the correct way that you burst into a torrent of hot, selfish tears and bowed your head, kneeling next to the mass of needles and branches. He should be here! He should be helping you. He should’ve helped anchor lights in windows, he should’ve had an opinion on the scented candles, he should’ve made you go back for decorations you just weren’t sure of because you wanted them regardless of what he thought, and he should’ve helped pick, and carry, and set up the tree. The whole reason you’d gone out to get a fresh tree – something real in a year that had felt anything but – was to lift your spirits, but instead you were sobbing next to it and it all felt a little dramatically pointless. It was everything you’d avoided last year by flying off to England but that you couldn’t escape this time. What was the point? What was the point of pretending?

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“You coming home with me this year?”

Again. He asked the same question you’ve been dodging for weeks since plans had started to look uncertain again, not because he was pestering you, but because somehow, some way, you were both hoping for an answer with a loophole.

“I can’t,” you said softly, regretfully, holding your phone close to your face with one arm as you curled up under the duvet of a bed in an apartment that had somehow become yours together instead of his alone throughout the course of a very new, very different, very unsettling year. “For a few reasons.”

And he knew that.

Harry’s deep breath crackled and he dragged his hand down his face, holding it there as he shook his head, the thought processes you’d learned to read so well hidden from view.

You’d liked going home with him last year -- loved it, even. You’d hardly had time to look forward to a repeat when the world had flipped in the first quarter or sooner, and the sand had just kept slipping through the hourglass until all time for hope of a new and normal Christmas was gone and sucked away into the void of the year.

So many plans. So many memories that lived only as memories of daydreams now. So much else, so much more important, devastating, and tragic you couldn’t even put it into words and, frankly, didn’t want to. Not now -- you spent too much time thinking about it to think about it now, too.

“Filming’s done soon,” he said from behind his hand. “I can book my flight to New York--”

“Harry--”

“And then go to Manchester after Christmas -- after the New Year, we always take a bit of a longer break. Mum won’t mind--”

“Your mother’s barely seen you since last Christmas,” you said. “Your sister, too, and there’s not enough time to--”

“Course there is!”

“Two weeks quarantine in each?” you asked. “That’s a month of staying put, let alone--”

A split second glance at his face was all you saw before the screen went black and you bit your tongue. He hadn’t hung up, because you’d heard the soft thud when his phone collided with his chest, and you could hear him breathing now, so you waited, suppressing your own urge to snap as he had his. Despite having spent the better part of the year together, it was frustrating to think about not being together for the season. All you wanted was him, though you knew better than to voice it out loud. He’d do it -- for you, he’d do it if you asked him to -- and you’d have to live with the guilt of taking him away from his family at the time of year where family should be together most, if it mattered to them. And you’d been weirdly lucky enough to have him most of the year between carefully navigated business trips. He was only one man with one body. It didn’t -- couldn’t -- matter that you wanted him, too.

That you wanted to be with the man you loved.

When he picked up the phone again, his face was drawn, tired, and not just from filming, you suspected.

“Go home,” you urged, swallowing the break in your voice. “You miss home, and home misses you. I’ll have fun decorating and send you all the pictures you won’t be able to do anything about.”

His throat bobbed hard, audibly, and his eyes looked dangerously shiny.

“Next year I’ll go home with you,” you said, burrowing half your face into your pillow. “London and Holmes Chapel both.”

“Next year,” he said eventually, voice raspy. “We’ll have Christmas at home next year.”

You nodded, forcing the lump rising up, up, and up back down. “You should go to sleep,” you said. “It’s late and you have to be up early.”

“Later for you,” he said and you sighed, noting the 3:08 timestamp at the top of your screen.

“Let’s go,” you said. “Call me when you can.”

“I will.” Sad, but resigned. You wanted to reach through the screen and touch the downturned corners of his mouth to push them back upright again. “Sleep well, and I love you.”

Taking a deep breath, you murmured, “I love you, too,” before hanging up the call and the room descended into darkness and you into a fitful sleep.

***

At first, you were determined to make the most of it. Your studio had always been small, cozy, and Christmasy to the best of your abilities, but his -- your -- apartment had so many more possibilities. Candles were the first to be set out, with strategic clusters of red, green, and gold-colored wax placed all about and nestled in fake holly wreaths. String lights that cast a pretty glow lined windows even in the bedroom for some last minute holiday cheer, and despite the urge to drive him up a wall, you did your best to only pick out other decorations that you’d both like and want to use in the future. Because as much as you might avoid talking about it in many certain terms the longer the relationship went on (it still felt so funny to think that a one night stand had turned into a relationship), there was a future. He was your future. It wasn’t your first Christmas together, but it might be your last one apart.

He should be here! He should be helping you. He should’ve helped anchor lights in windows, he should’ve had an opinion on the scented candles, he should’ve made you go back for decorations you just weren’t sure of because you wanted them regardless of what he thought, and he should’ve helped pick, and carry, and set up the tree. The whole reason you’d gone out to get a fresh tree -- something real in a year that had felt anything but -- was to lift your spirits, but instead you were sobbing next to it and it all felt a little dramatically pointless. It was everything you’d avoided last year by flying off to England but that you couldn’t escape this time. What was the point? What was the point of pretending?

Wiping your nose, you stood, eyes heavy, swollen, and itchy. With your coat gone, you heaved the tree up until it was sitting securely in its stand, needles scattered in its wake but branches full and outstretched, enveloping you in the warm smell of Christmas in a way the cedar- and balsam-scented candles couldn’t. Stepping back with your hands on your hips, you looked up at it, the swell of your anxiety simmering, thanks partly to your crying fit and partly to succeeding at the task. You’d decorate it bit by bit to draw the season out, and then on Christmas Eve, you’d call him and you’d both sit by your own trees and talk until it was Christmas Day for him. It was just for now -- this wasn’t the way of all ways for all time.

Click.

You nearly passed out cold from the rush of fearful adrenaline shooting through you when the lock on the door clicked. In three seconds, you ran through whether or not you’d locked the door, determined that you had but then had forgotten, and figured out that somehow, someone had gotten in and they weren’t supposed to. You spun, frozen, brain zooming to determine if you dove behind a sofa or if you charged, but you didn’t get the chance before the door opened.

A duffle bag, a foot, a body, in that order, and then a pair of wide, green eyes rimmed with circles just above a cloth mask.

“You do not get to be mad at me,” he said, voice muffled. He grunted and pushed the door open wider to bring in the rest of his luggage as you stood there, as equally speechless as you were breathless. “I tested before I came here,” he said, speaking with a loud if exhausted sort of authority, like he was trying to get the words out before you could protest. “But I’ll take the guest room, and I’ll get my own food, and we’ll keep out of each other’s space until the two weeks are up.”

He brought his bags in the rest of the way, and it was only when he was halfway by you that he stopped in his tracks. “Y’haven’t moved,” he said, eyebrows furrowing as he narrowed his eyes on you. “Are you all right?”

Lightheaded, you nodded.

“O… kay,” he said, stilted, still eyeing you. “M’just gonna go get settled and showered, then.”

“What are you doing here?” you asked, the words finally forcing themselves from you.

“S’Christmas.”

“You’re supposed to--”

“Mum knows,” he interrupted. “M’taking Christmas here this year. Gem’ll have Christmas with her and I’ll go along after. She’s excited about having two. ‘Scuse me….”

Nodding, you waved him away to hurry, shoo, because you could feel the emotions rising in you again and your confusion wasn’t enough to quell them. Fifteen minutes ago, you’d been kneeling on the floor with aching knees, crying, and now here he was.

You’d wrestle with the confliction of doing what was right and doing what you wanted… later. Later, when you could wrap your head around it and the choice he’d made.

Two weeks. That would put you just on Christmas Day, basically. Just two weeks.

***

Dodging him around the apartment was a lot more difficult than you would’ve guessed for how big it was. More than once you nearly slammed into him in the kitchen, and someone was always in the favored bathroom. For his part, he’d taken to wearing a mask when he roamed, and even though you told him he didn’t have to do that, all he did was hum behind it. You got it -- the positive result from the crewperson on set had spooked everyone, and he was being safe. You both were being safe, but for as mindful as you’d been throughout, all you wanted to do was hold him, hug him, kiss him. Video calls were ridiculous when you were in the same house and you could hear his laugh through the walls. But you got it, and if you kicked too much he’d book a hotel to quarantine away from you, so you’d rather have him here, as selfish and risky as it was.

It was three days into your little bubble that he finally dared to get within arm’s reach of you. You were mulling over where to put the chimney sweep ornament when he shuffled over to the foot of the ladder you were leaning on, and you raised an eyebrow, arm outstretched.

“Can I help you?” you asked.

He shook his head, the lights from the tree reflected in his eyes. “Just watching,” he said from behind his mask.

“You’re standing a little close, aren’t you?” you teased. Jokes were all you had -- all anyone had this year, if they were lucky.

Immediately, he scowled -- how funny you could tell what his face looked like so clearly even with the cloth stretched firmly across it -- and you giggled. “Watch what you’re doing,” he said, taking his hands from his sweatshirt pocket to grab the ladder legs, and with his support, you held on tightly and leaned over to place it on the prime branch.

“Thank you,” you said. “Do you want to pass me that box?”

He did so and you murmured your thanks, resting it on the top step as you pulled ornaments out to hang them.

“Not there,” he said before you could drop a hook over a branch with a snowflake. “Give it… thank you.” He took it carefully from you and placed it on a different one closer to him, lower than where you were placing it but slightly higher than you could reach without a ladder.

“Thank you.”

Together, slowly, ornaments were hooked and rehooked (and rehooked yet again when one of you noticed the other had moved them from a spot you each thought was perfect) until the tree was trimmed, each branch heavily laden, bearing the weight of ornaments and of providing joy after the year behind.

“How’d you get this home?” he asked, looking up at it with you once you were off the ladder.

“Carefully,” you said dryly. “Oh! The top.” You turned, but he cut across your path.

“I’ve got it,” he said, grabbing the box from the precarious stack next to the coffee table.

“I want to,” you whined and he snorted.

“You’ve done the whole bloody thing,” he said without venom. “Let me do just the one.” With it in hand, he climbed the ladder as you held it steady, and he set it on the topmost branch, prodding it until it was tall and straight up, all five points outstretched and shining.

“That’s perfect,” you said under your breath, resting your head on his leg, and he patted the top of your head gently. You stayed like that for a minute, two, three, and more, with your arm curling around his calf, embracing as much physical contact as he’d allowed since he came home. “How many more days?”

“Eleven.” He sounded thoughtful, resentful, and exhausted all in one go. You squeezed his leg and kissed his knee through his joggers.

“Then it’s Christmas,” you said.

He exhaled slowly, still patting your head. “Christmas morning.”

***

Eleven. Whole. Days.

Eleven days of more of the same. He’d eased up, thankfully, and dared to venture a little closer with a mask on, because, as you’d reminded him, he had tested negative. You sat on opposite ends of the couch, enjoying the Christmas tree and decorations together, laughing, talking, planning, and exchanging stories about everything that had happened while you were apart. His, of course, were wildly more interesting, but he somehow managed to hang onto every word of even your most droll and mundane ones, and always with the right questions and supportive murmurs of agreement as necessary.

Eleven days of saying goodnight and crawling into a bed that was too big for one when two was next door.

Eleven days of not being able to share meals properly or touch each other -- sex aside -- and eleven days of Hell.

“It’s your fault,” you said one night from your end of the couch, scowling with your arms crossed. The tree twinkled happily despite your sour mood, and music that was too merry and bright played from the television.

“Me?” he asked indignantly.

“Yes! You had to do that stupid film.”

“It’s not stupid.”

“You’re wearing a mask in our home,” you said, burrowing into the cushions. “If I want to call it stupid, I will.”

He groaned, dropping his head forward. “Baby….”

You grunted.

“It’s only a couple more days. A couple more days, and then it’s Christmas. Think of it like a present you’re waiting for.”

Despite yourself, you snorted.

“I’m all you want for Christmas, aren’t--?”

“Shut up,” you said, kicking his thigh with your extended leg. He snickered, eyes crinkled and full of light all their own.

“Couple more days,” he said, patting your ankle. “Couple more days, and then you won’t even be able to get rid of me. We’ll be in bed all weekend.”

“I’m not calling your mother from bed.”

He waggled his brows with some exaggeration and you rolled your eyes.

That had been around day five, maybe six. Suffice it to say, by Christmas Eve, you were done.

“It’s one day!” you said over breakfast in the kitchen. “One day, Harry!”

“We made it this long,” he said, pouring hot coffee into a mug that had his face printed onto the head of dancing elf -- a gift from his mother shipped along with a matching one for you that she insisted you both open ahead of time to enjoy for as long as possible. “We can make it a couple more hours.”

“If I stripped naked, what would you do? Stand there and watch me?”

He froze and looked at you over his mask, the heated warning pinning you in place. Huffing, you pushed the stool away from the counter and hopped off it.

“Where are you--?”

“Out,” you said. “I’m going to get--” You floundered. “Coffee.”

A beat passed and his eyes dropped to the mug in his hand.

“We literally have--”

“I’m going out!” you said, wrapping your neck and half your face up in a scarf to keep warm. You were going out, because you were mad, and the tantrum was burgeoning. That poor man had seen more unreasonable tantrums from you this year than he had in the entire two and a half you’d reciprocally acknowledged each other’s presence, and you hated it. But he’d hate it, too, if you’d gone on a trip for work and come back and things were off.

Could be worse, you reminded yourself. It could be so very, very much worse.

“I love you,” you said, calmly, firmly. “I’ll be back. I’m only going around the block. Take that--” You waved at his mask, “--off. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way in..”

When you returned, he was in the guest room, but a fresh cup of coffee in your own dancing elf mug rested on a mug warming plate. The last of your frustrations that hadn’t melted with the walk deflated and you picked it up, enjoying the aroma before taking a deep sip.

He always made it better. And the coffee was nice, too.

His mother called in the afternoon and you hardly noticed he was at your side until the phone was in front of your face and you gave a startled hello.

“Has he been wearing that the whole time he’s been home with you?” she asked, her gleaming eyes and wide, genuine smile matching her son’s own warmth.

Home. With you.

“He has,” you said.

“S’posed to be proud of me,” Harry said and Anne laughed.

“Of course, sweetheart. We’re still calling tomorrow?” she asked you.

“Yeah,” you said. “We’ll be here.”

“Next year will be different, won’t it?” she all but clucked. “Did you like your mugs? I got one for me, Gemma, and Michal, too.”

“Used them just this morning,” he said, squeezing your hip and wandering away. “Won’t be posting them anywhere for people to see, though….”

Eventually -- finally -- the day drew to a close, and you crawled into bed with the knowledge that it was just one more night. One more night, and then in the morning you could say hello like you wanted to. One more night and you wouldn’t want to bite his head off. One more night and you wouldn’t feel so mental, as he would put it.

And yet, lying there, the minutes dragged. Ten? No, just one. Fifteen? Five.

It felt like Christmas, though. As much as this was pure torture, this was what Christmas was supposed to feel like -- like it used to feel when you were a kid and you’d wait for weeks tingling anticipation, counting down, hoping that you’d find what you wanted under the tree, bursting with more energy than any amount of sugar could give you. Except instead of presents, or money, or sweets, you were waiting for the man who’d been under your nose for two weeks by this point. You got to kiss your boyfriend tomorrow. You got to see your boyfriend, hold your boyfriend, and celebrate Christmas with your boyfriend.

Twenty minutes? Two.

12:02.

Two minutes after midnight.

Christmas.

Fourteen days.

Oh!

You sprang from the bed before you could think about the matter and darted to the door over the cold wooden floor, but when you rounded the corner in the hallway, out of nowhere, something all but slammed into you. Sucking in a sharp breath with a screwed up face, you squeaked when you collided with a very warm, very sturdy frame. Belatedly, two arms shot out to grab you by yours to steady you. “Oh my God, I--”

Hair, forehead, eyes, nose, and mouth, too. No mask.

“Are you o--?”

He didn’t get to finish his question. You clapped your hands over his cheeks and kissed him soundly before he could kiss you first. Under ordinary circumstances, he’d laugh -- you both would -- but rather than that, he locked both his arms around you tightly and spun you, teetering precariously with you in tow until you got to the guest bed. Tackle was an apt word for how he delivered you to it, but you were the farthest thing from upset at finally having not even an inch of space between you. The bed smelled like him and it was warm, he was warm, and you were kissing again, and again, and again, cold noses smushing together as you found new angles.

“Christmas,” he mumbled between them.

“Mmhm,” you returned against his mouth, legs interlocking with his. “I missed you,” you whispered.

“Missed you, too.”

Shivering, you both pulled the duvet up over your shoulders, and you curled up against him. Cologne, skin, and laundry detergent, with a bit of his minty toothpaste. There was no scented candle for that. You pressed your fingers against his chest and scratched lightly through the smattering of hair there. “We could go to our bed,” you reminded him, but he shook his head.

“Y’here now,” he rasped, leaning in to press his lips comfortably to your hairline, one arm draped over your back. “Let’s stay here tonight and we can change things later.”

“Were you coming to get me?” you asked, voice shaking as the last of the shivers left your bones.

“Yeah,” he admitted. You laughed, teeth chattering, and he pulled you closer. “Don’t laugh!” he said, rubbing your back and warming you. “S’been two weeks for me, hasn’t it?”

“For you!”

“You try bein’ home with you for that long,” he mumbled.

Shaking again, but less than before, you kissed the underside of his chin. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, darling.”

***

When you woke up, his back was to you, and his one shoulder was rising and falling with the rhythm of his sputtery, wheezy snores. You smiled, closing your eyes, and snuggled into the pillow. Better -- much better. You dozed on for an unknown amount of time, and you were walking the line between sleep and consciousness when featherlight kisses across your brow startled you and you jerked awake.

“Sorry,” Harry mumbled, only sounding slightly truthful. You made a noise and stretched, shaking from head to toe before curling up into a tight little ball next to him and opening your eyes fully. His own were puffy with sleep, but he grinned radiantly as if he’d been awake for a while.

“What?” you asked in a croak.

“Nothing,” he said. “Mum’s gonna call soon.”

Groaning, you halfheartedly turned your head to look over your shoulder. “What time is it?” you asked, straining to see the window and get a gauge.

“S’ten,” he said. “So about three for them. Sure you don’t want to call from bed?”

You glowered at him and his lip twitched. “I’ll put the coffee on.”

When you finally managed to leave the warm nest of the bed, the living room had been transformed. The tree was on, twinkling under the streams of light pouring in through the windows, and he’d lit the fireplace, too, flames licking up and up behind the glass. Soft, melodic Christmas music floated from the far corners of the room, and the smell of coffee tickled your nose.

“So,” he said from his spot at the island as he unwrapped cheeses and opened jars of olives, and jams, and honeys, and other goodies. “What time do we pop the bubbly?”

Laughing softly, you shuffled over. “It’s ten.”

“Little after ten now,” he said, lips pressed tightly together and arms flexed until the lid popped. “And somewhere in the world it’s five o’clock.”

You pulled a grape off the bunch lying on the counter and popped it into your mouth, chewing not so delicately but enjoying the sweet burst of freshness. You’d no sooner swallowed than his phone started buzzing and you grabbed it, sliding your finger to answer the call from the incoming Mum and pointing it at him.

“Happy Christmas, honey.” Anne’s voice was warm even through the phone, and Harry’s head whipped up.

“Wh-- Happy Christmas-- didn’t know you were-- ‘scuse the mess,” he said as you giggled behind the phone.

“Having a good morning so far?”

“Goin’ ok, yeah,” he said. “Just getting started, heating up the coffee.”

“Where’s your better half gotten off to?”

Trying not to melt, you waved your hand in front of the camera.

“Hello, love,” she said. “Happy Christmas.”

“Happy Christmas, Anne.”

“Are we going to get to see you today?”

“Fair’s fair,” Harry chimed in. “Turn that thing around, why don’t you?”

Rolling your eyes, you flipped the phone and waved, sliding around the counter to stand next to him.

“That’s better,” Anne said with a firm nod. She had a red top on with a festive, sparkly necklace, and looked a good deal more put together than either one of you.

“Where’s Gem?” Harry asked, taking the phone from you so you could unbox the crackers.

“Upstairs napping off the morning,” she said. “She’ll want to call again later.”

And that was how the morning went, with each of you passing his mother back and forth while you carried plates and trays full of snacks to the coffee table and couch in front of the tree to nibble while tearing into gifts on camera, including a box full of chocolates for you, Branston pickle for him, and Christmas crackers for both of you to have, “A little bit of home this year.”

“Thank you,” you said, clutching your sweets close. “And thank you for--” Unbidden, you choked up, and Harry glanced at you sharply, his inquisition vanishing with his understanding. For sharing him -- allowing you to steal him away during the holidays in a year where everyone needed family, either by blood or choice. He squeezed your shoulders and his mother, as adept as he was at redirecting a conversation, piped up.

“Promise you’ll come see us again next year,” Anne said. “It’s been too long.”

“It has been,” you agreed, resting your cheek on his shoulder.

“Maybe sooner.” Harry looked down at you. “If things ease up?”

You nodded. “Summer in London,” you mused. “That would be nice.”

“And then a bit of time back home. We could go before things pick up in August.”

Summer in London. A beacon of hope you couldn’t erect just yet, but a beacon nevertheless. A bit of time with him before he, hopefully, went back to work and you got to revisit adjusted and postponed plans.

The rest of your Christmas Day was quiet -- different from the year before when you’d been overwhelmed with names, faces, screeches of Uncle Harry, and not being sure how to break your way in. You kept trays of cheese, crackers, and other snacks within an arm’s reach, and by the early afternoon both of you had a comfortably steady buzz from the bubbly he was good at topping off both your glasses with -- never sloppily drunk, but enough to be warm in your fingers and toes and to seek out cuddles from him under the blanket you were snuggled in on the sofa with paper crowns on both your heads.

“Can I tell you something?” you asked, ribs crunched from how far you’d slid down on the sofa to nestle into his side, all but eye-level with his chest. “And have it not be as awful as it sounds?”

You felt his laugh before you heard it. “Sure,” he drawled. “What is it?”

Squeezing his wrist, you turned your mouth into his forearm, eyes on the television as a snowman leapt and bounded over a wide, snowy plain before jumping into the air. “I like this Christmas,” you admitted into his skin.

Harry snorted. “S’not awful, s’the point -- Christmas is supposed to be likeable.”

“You know what I mean,” you said, sighing. “I know it’s just us and there’s no family or anyone around, but… I dunno… it’s not all bad, is it?”

“Like having me to yourself?”

You groaned and rolled your eyes, shaking your head. “Shut up,” you mumbled.

He kissed the top of your head, crown crunching under it, and you grunted. “S’not so bad,” he said into your hair. “Like having you all to myself, too, y’know.”

“You’re just saying that because you have to because you’re stuck with me,” you said and he laughed with another smacking kiss.

“Not stuck with me yet,” he crooned. “Can leave any time you want.”

“Maybe I will….”

“Oi!”

Giggling, you untangled yourself from him and squirmed out from underneath the blanket. “More bubbly?”

***

Boxing Day was a Christmas redux, with more cheese, sparkling wine, music, and calls with family and friends. Long distance versions of old favorite games were adapted and adopted, and you snickered quietly from the corner of the couch, staying out of his way when he shouted about how he had hit the button, it was his trackpad that hadn’t worked.

The late afternoon and on, though, was yours together and alone with the time difference breaking up the party earlier than it normally would be. The bittersweet cloud vanished, though, when you at some point you separated even further into your own activities -- him with his stack of new books and you with a film you played quietly on your laptop. Able to be near each other without having to be wrapped up and begging with your bodies for sorely missed attention, it finally, really, felt like home again.

“It’s so pretty out,” you murmured, nose pressed to the windowpane to see as much of the light-lined streets as you could. It got dark earlier and earlier these days, and yet later than it had even a few days ago. “I love Christmas in New York. I wish--” You caught yourself ahead of finishing the sentence, thinking better.

You wished it was a normal year -- for many reasons -- so you two could go out and see the city. So you could show him your favorite places, so you could make memories together like you had with him last year. It wasn’t anything life altering or new, but it was different when you were with someone you loved. You wanted him to know you -- all of you, even the unknowable parts.

“Y’know,” he said next to your ear, hand on the back of your neck as he slunk up behind you, “it’s getting pretty late.”

You turned your head slightly, looking at him in the reflection of the glass. “Do you want to go to bed?”

Too early for sleep. Was he asking for sex?

Harry hummed and shook his head. “How ‘bout you get your coat on?” he murmured. “Let’s have that Boxing Day walk we didn’t get last year.”

“Now?”

“When else?” he said. “Haven’t been out yet, and it’s late. Streets’ll be empty. We can go wherever, do whatever, see whatever.”

“You’re serious?”

Nodding, he pulled you by the arm and you stumbled with him, still processing it even as you pulled beanies on with masks and (winter) gloves.

“Where are we going?” you asked.

He shrugged, calling the elevator. “Dunno,” he said. “Figured you’d lead the way. Show me your favorite bits. Seem t’remember summat about Bryant Park last year.”

There were sobering realities at the street level, too. Gates were down on storefronts that hadn’t been pulled up since March, awnings above them tattered from months of neglect and ‘For Rent’ signs flapping against them in the wind. The usual post-holiday influx of tourists was thinned, with hardly a white sneaker in sight, and everything was just a little quieter than it should be and would be in a usual year.

But there were lights. Broadway’s may have dimmed for the time being, but endless, endless displays of lights, brighter without the ambient light pouring from storefronts diminishing their power, offered beacons of hope -- literal lighthouses in a storm of a year -- and led you uptown like a trail of breadcrumbs.

You pulled him this way and that way, weaving through side streets to look at any display that looked bright enough from a distance, fingers locked tightly with his in a way they never were outside of the house. As bittersweet as it was no one was out, it afforded you a level of privacy you never had, anywhere. Not even Holmes Chapel. You couldn’t remember a time where you’d ever held his hand for this long at one time, if you were honest, and while you didn’t need it, you enjoyed the option.

In between zigs and zags, he mumbled stories to you about this time, and another time, and a time after that, pointing at buildings, venues, restaurants, and hotels, and you listened half in awe and half in earnest. It was a whole other life he’d lived without you before, and you’d only been aware of the surface of it. Nobody knew what he was telling you except the people he’d lived it with, and you didn’t think you’d ever get over or be able to thank him for trusting you to be someone he chose to share it with.

“I love Sixth,” you said, sighing as you walked past giant red Christmas ornaments three times the size of you both, the reflection of the string lights wrapped around tree branches bouncing off their shiny surfaces. Radio City’s electric red script beamed at you both from a distance, and traffic lights winked and waved in the wind up and down the avenue. “They do a lot with it.”

“It’s pretty,” he said, squeezing your hand. “Tree’s this way, isn’t it?” he asked.

You raised your eyebrows. “Yeah,” you said.

He jerked his head and you blinked.

“You want to?” you asked.

“Just a bit,” he said. “Let’s go.”

“There’s people!” you warned him, because even from here you could see the trickle of people with the same thought. “And I saw online they have a schedule--”

“We don’t have to get close,” he said, pulling you firmly. “S’big enough we don’t need to, just wanna take a peek.”

He was so certain, but you were less so, because all you needed was someone to see him to break the serene bubble you’d blown around yourselves. Despite that, you shuffled with him until the tree was visible, a bright, glowing ball of multi-colored lights stretching towards the sky. “Wow,” you whispered under your breath.

“S’nice,” he said and you nodded your agreement. It was nice -- despite the sad press it had gotten, the tree had turned out very nice at the end of it all, tall and impossibly beating all odds. What a metaphor for the year.

“It’s beautiful,” you murmured, squeezing him around the middle.

“Come here,” Harry said next to your ear.

“Hmm?” Reluctantly tearing your eyes from the tree, you gasped when he pulled your mask down first and then his own in two swift tugs, revealing a cheeky grin with a face cradled by the fabric. “What are you doing?” you asked, eyes darting around.

“Getting a kiss by the tree with my girlfriend,” he said. “Now, come here,” he repeated. This time, you obliged and allowed him to steal one, two, three kisses, each one of them smashed against your lips with a palpable sort of eagerness that made you think he would drink you if he could. This felt… normal. Normal, safe, and free.

You couldn’t remember the last time you’d felt like that.

When you broke and burrowed against his neck, he covered the back of your head and wrapped his other arm around your back, cocooning you in the shell of the most protective embrace he could give. Just a man -- any man, a regular man -- holding the person he loved, and, after his decision to stay with you through Christmas and New Years, he arguably loved you most.

Through the thick knit of your beanie, you felt him kissing your head, and you nuzzled into his scarf. “Thank you,” you said, face safely out of sight. “For coming here.”

“Not mad a’me for it?” he mumbled and you shook your head. “‘Kay, good.”

Shivering, you huddled closer and he tightened his arms, shielding you from the brisk wind.

“People will see,” you said, but despite that you held him closer.

“Who cares?”

He did, despite his quiet rasp. He did, and you knew why he did, but right then, you could pretend that it didn’t matter at all.

***

It was simultaneously the longest and shortest week of your life.

The longest, because time didn’t exist, much like it hadn’t for most of the year. Days, afternoons, evenings, and nights blended together, blurred by a happy holiday haze onset by too much of everything good -- sleep, sustenance, and spirits. The weird, if nice, part of all the extra time was having the chance to do things you’d enjoyed over the course of the year all over again. Nine times out of ten, when the two of you were together, it was rushed even on the long layovers. You’d watch one series or a film the whole way through, and next time you’d have to be on to the next one you’d agreed to hold off on until the other was there, but after having spent most of the year under the same roof, the typical race to the next one was paused. Instead, you settled in for old Christmas films and other ones you hadn’t seen since you first started properly dating, lending a timeless sort of quality to the week.

The shortest, because he’d only just gotten there. How had it been three weeks since he’d walked in the front door with a mask on and a warning? Three weeks, two of them masked, and now it was over and done. The whole year was over and done, with 2020 coming to a slow close after feeling simultaneously like it never would and like it was moving much, much too fast. Who would’ve known this would be how it would turn out after kicking it off in the back of his car with a paper plate full of snacks and the countdown on his phone? You’d made it through another year, together.

“Do you know what I just realized?” you asked as you unpacked the bag from El Diablito at the kitchen counter. In the background, the low hum of commentators on the TV remarking about how different this year was provided a steady buzz amidst familiar scenery of lights in different cities. Berlin had gone first, then London, and now, gradually, the new year on the east coast was gliding ever closer.

“What?” he asked over the noise of him unfurling the bag of tortilla chips.

“This was our first year together,” you said. “Full--” you drew an arc through the air-- “year, I mean. Saying it and all that.”

He didn’t say anything, but when you looked at him the corner of his mouth was lifted up slightly. “S’pose it is, yeah. Feels like longer.” He fished a chip out with his index and middle fingers before crunching into it noisily.

“Almost three years of everything else,” you murmured, unwrapping a taco to inspect it. “This one’s yours.”

“‘Everything else’?” he teased, snickering when you slid the taco across the counter to him. “Watch it, it’ll fall apart….”

“Shut up and eat,” you said and he barked a laugh, grin permanent and eyes sparkling as he unwrapped it to peek.

“In a minute,” he said, setting down his food, satisfied it looked right. “Come here,” he said.

“Why?” you asked, smiling slightly though you eyed him suspiciously. “What do you want?”

He motioned with his hand. “C’mere a minute,” he repeated, voice light but eyes tight, and he swallowed hard. A cold wave washed down you from head to toe. You didn’t know why you were suddenly so nervous, but the nerves themselves spiked your anxiety and made your scalp prickly and your palms sweaty, and they got worse when he grabbed one of your hands -- your left hand -- to hold between his. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about summat.”

Oh, God.

“Harry,” you said, but he shook his head.

“Lemme do this.”

Five seconds. Five seconds was all it took to imagine the words coming out of his mouth, quietly, with soft, trusting eyes waiting patiently, hopefully for an answer. Five seconds was all it took for you to imagine mucking it all up with a twisted tongue, not because you weren’t sure what to say, but how to say it. No, no, no -- you didn’t want to hurt him, not even temporarily, not even by accident.

Clearing his throat, he squeezed your hand. “I dunno how to do this,” he said, and for the first time ever, you were pretty sure he laughed without his eyes. You made a noise in your throat and curled your fingertips into his palm. “I love you,” he continued, Adam’s apple bobbing, lips trying and failing to form a smile. He was terrified, but determined, and you held his hand tighter while pressing your opposite one into his cheek.

I love you, too. You couldn’t say it, but you felt them swelling in your chest, growing your heart not two, not even three, but six times over.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying, “M’going to spend the rest of my life with you,” with a thoughtful quality in his rasp. “I think, if-- if that’s somethin’ you….”

You couldn’t breathe. You couldn’t, you were trying, but it was like sucking in helium.

“So, m’kind of wondering if--”

“Harry--”

“I’m not,” he shook his head. “I’m not asking you anything right now, because we’re not ready.” He rubbed the back of your hand assuringly. “We’re not ready, you have… and I’m….” He exhaled sharply, dropping his head, and your hand moved from his cheek to his hair and you rubbed the back of his neck. “I just want to know,” he said, breathing heavily, with his voice muffled into his chest, talking very fast, barreling through and tripping over words, “if I’m totally off base here. Cause m’not gonna now when there’s so much shit happening, but like… I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth when-- if I do, so if I could just get an idea of what you think, because we had a talk once but now every time you cut me off at the knees and--”

He sputtered, stopping short, and you pressed your face into his short hair.

“I want it,” you said, sounding braver than you felt admitting wants out loud. “I do. I will.”

His shoulders fell with his slow, deep breaths, and you rubbed your fingertips into his scalp gently.

“I will,” you say. “Promise,” you added, voice cracking. “You’re not off base.”

Neither of you said anything for a while. You couldn’t -- you quite literally, physically couldn’t -- and he was gulping for air as quietly as he could.

“Okay,” he said into his chest finally, sounding inexplicably embarrassed. “S’good to know.”

Silly, silly man. Did he really think… did he doubt…? “I love you,” you murmured.

“I know,” he said. “I know y’do.”

“No, you don’t.” You kissed his head. “I love you, I-- you’ll never know.”

Harry took a deep breath before straightening up, head high and curls falling over his forehead above the weariest, most agonized eyes you’d ever seen. His cheeks were bright red, and he might as well have just run a marathon for how spent and miserable he looked.

“I promise,” you repeated. “I promise, honey.”

He nodded slightly, mouth still set in a thin, grim line, and, instinctively, you stepped in to kiss him, because no. No, that wouldn’t do. Stiff and unmoving at first under your lips, gradually he warmed and softened, releasing your hand to grab your hips and you moaned softly, hands running across his shoulders over his hoodie. You promised -- when it was right, when you both could, if he asked and it was what you both wanted? There was only one answer you’d ever give.

The stool scraped against the floor when he stood, but he never broke the kiss, and you squeaked when you stumbled back against the counter. You opened your mouth wider when he coaxed you to, dizzy behind your closed eyes, and you let your hands wander freely, pulling him into you as the intensity behind the kiss escalated from comfort to need.

Two weeks. Two weeks -- three -- of pent up energy. Of hardly being able to touch each other, of being close but not close enough.

“Come here,” he demanded in a mumble, the firm hold he had on your jaw to hold you in place as he kissed you the way he wanted leaving you breathless. Rarely did he ever do that; usually, he guided you into what you both wanted to build it until the bubble of tension popped. There was something thrilling about being told though -- something that reminded you of when you were new, three months instead of almost three years in. Something that was like when time was limited and you had to be efficient to learn each other and what would feel good and do good for the other and yourselves, and telling was sometimes all you had.

Harry broke away with a wounded little noise and you blinked, dazed. “M’just….” He grabbed two tacos with one hand and threw them back into the paper bag. “M’moving these.” Tacos, nachos, and burritos all went back in, topped off with the chips, and he shoved them aside with some impatience. You laughed breathily and lifted yourself up onto the counter with his help, but it faded when he stepped between your legs and cupped your cheek and jaw and you caught a glimpse of the blown pupils and flushed cheeks that gave him a wild, primal look before your own eyes shut.

Each and every tender sponging of his lips across your jaw and down your neck made you ache, and it was all you could do to stay upright and not collapse back, limp from how weak you were. His needy, mesmerized groans made your belly tighten, and when he tugged the hem of your shirt you nodded.

Shirt, sweatshirt, bra, and undershirt were the first to go, and the straps had no sooner fallen down your shoulders than you let out a wordless, guttural shout from deep in your chest when Harry latched on and sucked your nipple with greedy enthusiasm, moving with you when you squirmed, his stubble scraping the soft skin of your breast.

“Oh my God,” you gasped, eyes watering and elbow nearly buckling underneath you in your effort to hold yourself up. “Yes, please,” you said when he pulled the strings on your sweats.

“That’s my girl,” he said, releasing with a pop and latching on again. “That’s my girl… gonna make it better for you.” He stood tall again when he pulled by the waistline, and you wriggled until they were at your knees and you could kick them off the rest of the way with your underwear as he dropped his own to his ankles.

With nothing left between you, you shivered, shrinking into him when he stepped closer and drew his hands around your body in a circuit. Legs first, stomach, back, breasts, shoulders, arms, and repeat, each squeeze and dig of his hands and fingers just a little restrained and not as zealous as his groans and heavy breathing made him out to be -- like he was trying to be good, or patient, or….

“It’s ok,” you murmured between kisses. “You don’t have to wait.” They’d done the waiting -- more than enough of it. You just wanted him now.

“Sure?” Harry rasped and you nodded, eyes rolling up when he slipped his fingers between you both and they slipped up and down your folds. “Sure,” he confirmed under his breath. “Open a little more for me, love-- there we are, thank you.”

You folded your arms around his neck and over his back and locked your ankles loosely just under his ass, heart racing in your chest.

“Breathe in--” Harry murmured and you squeezed your eyes shut when he fit his head against your entrance. It slid and you laughed, kissing his jaw when he kissed your brow through his grin. “Deep breath for me.”

Every time. He did that almost every time with you, first asking for a deep breath and then, invariably, pulling a long exhale from you when he thrust into your warm, wet cunt. “Oh, fuck,” he whispered in awe, holding still. You could feel the tremors pulling each fiber in his muscles, and when he throbbed inside you, you bit your lip. “Holy shit, you’ve got me good,” he groaned.

You laughed once. “Yeah.” Yeah, something like that. Wincing, you rolled your hips forward and gasped softly from the stretch before tightening your arms and pressing your face against his hot skin. You nuzzled in between your own slow, lingering kisses, taking deep, grounding breaths. He was soft, and smooth, but firm, and hard, and he smelled amazing. Clean -- all soap and cologne with some detergent that smelled even more from the warmth of his skin.

“Oh, God,” you whispered. “Oh, God, I--” You sucked in a harsh breath, abdomen tightening as you pulsed around him, feeling wetter, and you moved your face higher, nose pressed into the base of his sheared hair as you moaned quietly. “Oh my God, I love you.” Pitchy, bordering on hysteria, but you’d be hard pressed to remember a time you felt it as much as you meant it like you did right then. “I love you, I love-- I-- you feel--” Good. Better than good. No one had ever fit like he had -- too much, but just enough, physically, mentally, emotionally.

“I love….” Harry gulped. “Shit, ok, m’gonna….” He made to pull his shoulders back, but you shook your head.

“No, no, stay,” you begged, wrapping your arms and legs tighter. “Stay, please,” you murmured.

“I can’t-- ok,” he panted. “Lemme….” He gripped your ass and pulled you closer and your back arched as you opened your thighs just a little more. “There we go,” he grunted, hips snapping forward as he finally moved. “That’s… fuck, that’s better now.”

You could hear the effort you could feel between your legs -- each sharp pull of breath between his teeth, each muted grunt between his driving thrusts, and the pants he let out when he had to stop for a moment to catch his breath. “M’ok,” he said every time between labored gulps for air. “M’good, I just need to--” and he grit his teeth before he began again, and again, you gasped and whimpered, shrinking closer to him.

You didn’t want to be anywhere else, with anyone else, now or ever. You didn’t want to be this close to anyone else again ever. This was never supposed to happen. He was never supposed to meet you, know you, fall in love with you, nor you with him, but now he had, and you were, and you couldn’t imagine it any other way. You couldn’t imagine a world in which he didn’t come home to you, for you, and where you weren’t there. Not waiting -- never waiting on a man, any man, but ready for him when he returned and ready to move forward together.

He was yours. He was yours, and you were his, and the mere thought pulled something behind your belly button, making you groan.

“What?” he asked, kissing the side of your head. “What, darling, what?”

“I’m gonna cum,” you whispered and then whimpered, tightening your hold around his neck and in his hair. “Harry--” you choked, shuddering with your deep breaths.

“I know.” He grunted, thrusting with slightly more power. “Fuck! Tight little--”

“Don’t stop,” you begged. “Don’t stop, I’m close, I’m so-- I just need--” Faster and faster you rolled your hips against his, crying out against him when he wedged his thumb between you both to catch your clit, a stream of mumbled, “I’m gonna cum, you’re making me cum,” confessions hidden in his neck. Deep breaths. Long, slow, and deep, with your toes curling behind him until you were barely breathing in your efforts to concentrate, because you were right there. And then, you did cum, hard, convulsing and sucking in harshly as you trembled your way through whimpers of his name, immediately and thoroughly exhausted.

Both his arms locked around you, then, all but crushing you to his torso in his efforts to hold you up, and he thrust hard, fast, deep, getting the right rhythm and stroke he needed. Barely able to keep your eyes open, your mouth moved soundlessly around the demand -- request -- to cum. Cum, Harry, cum, baby, please. Wordlessly, he sputtered through a sharp exhale, and it was the only indication before you felt the hot, wet release accompanying his groans.

“Fuck,” he choked, one of his hands landing hard on the counter to prop both of you up. You laughed, eyes rolling up, and you held on tightly through his turn to shake.

“Happy New Year,” you said, still feeling a little punch-drunk from your orgasm.

He nodded. “H-Happy--” he gulped. “Happy New Year, darling.” His shoulders slumped. “Reckon this was the problem,” he said. “Should’ve fuckin’ rung the year in right last time, y’know?”

“Right,” you breathed even as you shook your head, not quite caught up with what he was saying.

“M’only sayin’,” he said. “We had sex the one time last Christmas. Should’ve had… a bit more,” he said indeterminately.

“We haven’t had sex since you’ve been home.”

Sighing heavily, he kissed your shoulder. “S’pose we’d better start,” he slurred. “S’not the new year yet.”

#harry x reader #reader insert fanfiction #harry smut #harry styles smut #harry styles imagine #harry imagine #harry styles blurb #harry blurb #harry styles one shot #harry one shot #christmas #blurred lines #blurred lines: adc #blurred lines: a different christmas #a different christmas #permanentcross #original writing

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