#jurdan christmas

[justdaphne]

A Christmas in the mortal world

Jude and Cardan celebrate Christmas with the Duartes

As the hooves of the ragwort steeds touch the pillowing snow, the High King and Queen of Elfhame were welcomed to the mortal world with the sound of the frosty wind swooping past them as chill ran up their spine while taking in the Christmas atmosphere with vibrant lights before them. Little children were busy playing in the snow at hours late like this, seeming to make a friend out of it, with rocks, sticks and carrots. Peculiar, thought Cardan, but he was rather intrigued. Everything was covered in snow as if it was a blanket, shielding it from the chilly weather.

Jude took Cardan’s hand and led him into Vivi’s house before he could get anymore distracted. Inside was warm, contrary to the cold outside, due to the nice, big fireplace Heather had installed.

“My, my. The King and Queen of Elfhame making a guest appearance, I see.” teased Vivi as she greeted them with a tray of freshly baked cookies with Heather beside her. The smell itself was so sweet anybody could be easily baited by it.

“I’ll be home for Christmas.” replied Jude, singsongly, which made Heather giggle.

“Don’t mind if I do.” said Cardan as he took a cookie from the tray. He seemed to have melted from the inside as he took his first bite due to its scrumptiousness, thus grabbing more greedily. Typical of him really.

“There are more batches of these cookies we’re making so don’t worry.”

“JUDE! CARDAN!” Oak yelled in his Christmas sweater, running to hug them as tight as his little arms could. Taryn and her young child followed shortly, both in matching Christmas pajamas.

“Let me show you guys the tree we built!” said Oak as he grabbed the couple’s hand, leading them to the living room.

Tree? Built?

There was a massive christmas tree in the corner of the living room as Oak had said. It was decorated with bright, colourful lights that were pleasing to the eye, giving a warm, comforting touch to this seasonal holiday. Beside the tree was the vibrantly large fireplace that kept the house from freezing to death. There were seven large red socks hanging above the fireplace, each with each person’s name written on it.

“Those are Christmas stockings which have little presents inside aside from the main presents,” explained Jude, when she saw her husband’s bemused expression.

“Can you guys help out here?” Taryn asked, shouting from across the house from the kitchen. “There seems to be a commotion..”

***

On their way to the kitchen, Jude stopped Cardan from walking any further. They were standing in a doorway and above them, a mistletoe was hung.

She tiptoed to kiss him softly on the lips. “You’re supposed to kiss someone who’s next to you if you’re under a mistletoe.” she explained, pointing to the mistletoe above them. A sly grin crept up his face.

“Well then, as High King, I will make sure to hang mistletoes everywhere in our palace back home then,” he replied, brushing her hair aside and placing it behind her ear.

“What if I’m not next to you but say, one of the advisors were?”

“Then I’ll make sure you’re tied next to me until there is no space between us.” he replied, stealing another kiss which made Jude giggle.

“Unbelievable, you are.”

***

The kitchen was a mess. Cookie dough was literally everywhere.

“What happened here?” Jude laughed.

“This is exactly why we need your help. The mixer exploded!” said Vivi with batter all over her hair. The sight caused a roar of laughter from Cardan to which Vivi replied with an eyeroll.

“Yeah whatever. Just help out.” Vivi said and tossed a mixing spoon.

The baking was quite intense since no one was speaking but only baking. Cardan would admit that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing since he grew up with servants to do everything for him and never learned how to bake. He was just mixing the dough mindlessly until Jude took over. To loosen up the intensity, Taryn got a hold on one of Heather’s speakers and a song began to play. An all too familiar bell sound started to ring and before you know it, Vivi and Heather were dramatically singing the intro for All I want for Christmas is You. Then everyone started to dance or clap along to the beat. Genuine smiles plastered on their faces and laughter filled the air, contributing to this joyous holiday.

***

They fell back against the coach, all exhausted from the baking except Oak and Taryn’s son who were watching on a tablet. The cookies were to be baked for quite a while. When it all seemed like they were finally going to get rest, the doorbell rang. A grumble came from Vivi as she begrudgingly stood up and made her way to the door to answer it. A choir of children dressed in white began to sing Silent Night - singing harmoniously and beautifully. It was like ascending to the heavens. The rest came to see the carolers too and they were all moved to tears with their wondrous performance. It amazed Cardan to witness what these children could do.

The oven rang - the cookies were finally done. They all rushed into the kitchen to smell the aroma of the baked cookies. Without much surprise, it smelled mouth-watering.

“Oak, can you bring a cookie and some carrots and place them below the fireplace?” asked Taryn as she picked up her sleepy son.

“Alright.”

“Make sure you don’t eat it!”

“Of course not! I want presents and not rocks.”

“Why would you need to put cookies and carrots below the fireplace and why would you get rocks instead of presents?” asked Cardan.

Oak laughed at his confusion. “Don’t you know about Santa?”

“Who?”

“He’s this old man who lives in the North Pole and delivers presents to kids if they’re nice and rocks to bad kids. He comes through the fireplace so the cookies are for him and the carrots for his flying reindeers!”

“But how could he know if you’ve been bad or good? They’re agazillion children in this world!”

“He just knows..duh!”

“..weird”

“You should go to bed now, Oak. If you want Santa to come.” said Vivi

“OH YEA!” He replied as he rushed up the stairs. “GOODNIGHT EVERYBODY”

“But how does -”

“He’s just a myth, Cardan. Come on, we should get some rest too.” said Jude, walking towards the stairs.

***

As usual when they visit the mortal world, Oak gives up his room so that Jude and Cardan can stay there. Before going to bed, Jude gave Cardan an early present to open up.

“Pajamas?”

“Christmas pajamas, love. I have a matching one.” Jude smiled.

“It’s lovely. Thank you.” Cardan replied.

When they both had their pajamas on, Cardan scooped Jude up in his arms before collapsing on a bed far too small for the both of them.

“So, what do you think of this holiday so far?” Jude asked with Cardan in her arms.

“Peculiar but .. I like it. I like seeing you this happy.”

She smiled “It reminds me of my childhood here before..” she sighed, “It’s a very special one and I wanna make sure I share this with you.”

She brought her mouth to his, kissing him sweetly and softly, not the intense, hungry ones they usually share, but the ones that say I love you and I’m glad you’re here with me. A kiss can say things words can’t.

“You’ve made it special for me, Jude.”

***

“ITS CHRISTMAS ITS CHRISTMAS!!”

Everyone in the house was all awakened with Oak’s excitement and wanting to open the presents he was expecting to receive. They gathered around the tree suddenly surrounded with piles of wrapped presents, all dressed in their Christmas pajamas. It must’ve snowed at night since the snow outside was nice and smooth with no footprints marking into the snow.

“Santa came!” Oak exclaimed.

“He sure did.” said Heather, to which Vivi laughed in response.

And then, the opening of presents began. It was filled with cheers and thank yous, laughter and excitement.

“So before we came here, I had this made for you.” said Cardan, somewhat nervously when he gave Jude a box nicely wrapped.

“You knew about this gift-giving part?”

“Let’s just say I wanted to be prepared.” Cardan explained while nodding to Vivi.

When Jude opened the present, she seemed to have melted, a soft smile teasing her lips. “It’s so beautiful.” She said in awe as she picked up her new dagger, made of gold and emerald crusts. A brand new one to her collection.

“This is for you.”

“Oh Jude, you shouldn’t have! But if you insist..” Jude rolled her eyes.

It was one of those mortal books. She knew they intrigued him since she caught him rereading Alice in Wonderland about a million times before so she figured to get him a new one.

“I also got you a library card so we can borrow more if you ever get bored.”

“Jude, don’t you know you’re the best wife anyone could ever ask for?” Cardan said dramatically and hugged her tightly.

“I know,” she laughed.

The Duarte household was filled with laughter and showered with love. One would be brought to tears. It was warm and cozy inside although it was snowing outside, like angels descending from the heavens to wish everyone a merry Christmas.

“Merry Christmas, Jude.”

“Merry Christmas, Cardan.”

[judeswife-panini]

fanfic friday: tfota edition

glitterlight by scarletaire

Summary: “Jude.” Cardan’s voice is so bewildered she stops to look at him. “Why do those children have knives strapped to their feet?” Or: A mission in the mortal world takes an unexpected turn. The High King of Elfhame discovers the holiday season, makes a new friend, and unveils a wonderful, shining secret.

Tags: Post-Canon, Fluff, Holiday Shenanigans, Basically A Hallmark Christmas Movie But Jurdan, Cardan Greenbriar in the Mortal World, Christmas Cookies, Ice Skating, Hot Chocolate, Gift Giving, Cardan is Excited, Jude is Exasperated, Idiots in Love, Pregnancy

Words: 8375 Chapters: 1/1

i loved this fic a lot and i highly recommend it -- especially to fellow lovers of domestic bliss and post-canon jurdan <3 lots of cardan being confused by the mortal world as always

[letmeliveinelfhame]

Read/see how my Holly Black collection grew in the space of a year!! Apologies for the long ass post 😂

June 2023 - Read the main trilogy + The Lost Sisters on my Kindle for the first time. Fell in love and bought physical copies of the trilogy and How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories as a bundle from Amazon (I need The Lost Sisters to be released as a physical 🙏)

22nd June 2023 - a pin I ordered was dispatched

19th July 2023 - the Jurdan bookmark I bought was dispatched

August 2023 - Bought The Stolen Heir and Book of Night (still haven't read it yet, though) from The Works

1st November 2023 - Ordered Tithe from Waterstones

5th December - First photo shared to one of my Instagram accounts (the collection was so small back then 🥺)

25th December 2023 - Received Illumicrate replica of Jude's sword, FairyLoot playing cards and Cardan trinket dish and US collector's edition of The Cruel Prince as Christmas gifts

17th February 2024 - Waterstones order including Valiant and Ironside arrived

20th February 2024 - Elfhame candle I ordered was dispatched

4th March 2024 - Entered the Bonnier Books UK sprayed edge duology (1 winner), Wren quote bookmark and The Prisoner's Throne sticker sheet (350 winners) giveaway by sending my proof of preorder of the book from Waterstones. Only 350 would be selected, but I was outside the 350 entries so I didn't think I'd win anything

8th March 2024 - Finished reading The Prisoner's Throne and added it to the little collection

10th March 2024 - I moved the collection to the mini bookcase behind my bed so it could have its own shelf

3rd April 2024 - I typed up, printed and tea-stained copies of Cardan's letters to Jude. To use the exact font, I had to use my college Microsoft account instead of my personal one as the font was a premium feature

8th April 2024 - Received the Wren quote bookmark and The Prisoner's Throne sticker sheet that I didn't think I'd win

May 2024 - I moved the collection back to my main bookcase, giving it a larger shelf

17th June 2024 - I received the Illumicrate editions of The Stolen Heir and The Prisoner's Throne from a reseller on eBay

29th June 2024 - Illumicrate edition of Book of Night arrived from a reseller on Vinted

9th August 2024 - I received the FairyLoot edition of The Prisoner's Throne as a birthday gift

Current collection:

I'm waiting for The Darkest Part of the Forest and 4 items to add to this 🙈

[queenofmistresses]

Mistletoe

A/N the Countdown to Christmas Writing Competition day 6!!!

poly!Jurdan x reader

My lips press against her lips and I feel her grin against me and giggle. I love when she giggles. 

“What’s going on here?” Cardan asks teasingly, wrapping his arms around us. We pull apart and I grin at him, throwing him a wink. 

“Just mistletoe.” I shake the branch above our heads. 

“Ok… why are you kissing? Isn’t it poisonous…?” I look at him in shock. 

“It’s a tradition!! For Christmas! You kiss under the mistletoe!” He looks at me in complete confusion. “Faeries miss out on the best things.” I mutter.

I explain the basic concept to Cardan and once he understands the idea he quickly rushes off with no word. I shrug at Cardan’s weird behaviour and feel Jude tug my shoulder as she pulls me back in for a kiss.

The next morning me and Jude wake up and promptly notice that Cardan never came to bed, alerting us. We get dressed fast and make our way to the throne room, hoping he’s there. When we open the large, wooden doors, we both freeze as we look at the view in front of us. 

The hall is filled with branches of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. And at the centre of the room is a sleeping Cardan on his throne. God he’s cute. I wink at Jude and she smirks at me seeming to get the idea. 

We quietly walk up to the throne and approach him from each side. We lean forwards and press a firm kiss to one of his cheeks each, making it dramatic and loud to wake him up. When he wakes up and realises what was happening his face turns hot and red making us giggle. 

I knew he’d like this particular tradition.

[dvartesgfs]

alysh! certified jurdan lovebot, romantasy lover, books, rain, grayson hawthorne, stephanie garber, jennifer lynn barnes, tulips, paekai, averyjameson, fall time, pumpkin flavoured things, converse, lana del rey, taylor swift, arctic monkeys, history, music, gilmore girls, pinterest, true crime

hi everyone! :3 i'm alysh!!!(sheher) this blog is all about my books, majority of it will probably be the cruel prince, ranting about jurdan. anyway, i started reading late 2022, about christmas time, my favourite books are the cruel prince, the inheritance games, once upon a broken heart, ann liang books, n, runyx's books! my favourite authors are jennifer lynn barnes, stephanie garber, holly black, emily henry, ann liang, tahereh mafi, holly jackson and, runyx! i struggle making friends, because of my awkward nature, but, i promise to chat if you just drop a hi <3 cr���� reckless

links! tiktok! instagram! side blog!

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

thanks for the tag @acourtofbooksandmemes ! 🥺❤️

3 ships: Jurdan, Feysand, Auden St. Poe

first ever ship: yikes, i have no clue! maybe Edward and Bella from the Twilight Saga? lol

last song: oof haven't listened to music in a couple days so nothing is paused on spotify... probably a Christmas song since that was a few days ago?

last movie: it's been so long since i watched a movie 😭 think i watched The Lost City about a month ago? EDIT- just realised i watched Glass Onion over the weekend lmfao

currently reading: Priest by Sierra Simone

currently watching: nothing! i'm not a big TV person

currently consuming: had buffalo cauliflower mac about an hour ago, but nothing right now.

currently craving: not food

tagging @kevin-day-is-bi @lavenderlemonrose @charincharge @villainofthepiece @the-hospitality-of-knives @jurdanhell @mydarlingvillain @congolife no pressure! 🖤

tag 9 ppl you want to get to know better, tagged by @apocketfullofhobbits​ !! <3 Thank you!

3 ships: - pynch (even after all this time) - this is extremely niche but: Cove Holden (from the game "Our Life: Beginnings and Always") and my MC - And two ocs in my head who will appear in my novel IF i ever write it :,)

first ever ship: Zoey & Chase from Zoey 101 (I literally cried when they kissed and Chase had to leave the school....)

last song: Last song I listened to is "Still life" by RM

last movie: Disenchanted

currently reading: Greywaren (have been reading it for 84 years but I'm trying to Take It Slow bc I don't want the series to end)

currently watching: Maggie Stiefvater's 2020 writing seminar. Last show I watched was Wednesday.

currently consuming: Nothing rn

currently craving: No food currently, but a concert. I'd love to go to a concert rn.

Tagging @namullethoe @toastertalks @atleasttheyvegotstars @facepalmmylifeu @micmicyoongis @sofatato @geisofbullshit @thatgordongirl and @booksinaballroom (even though I think I already know you pretty well hehe) <3

[sarahjtrash]

Best Christmas Ever

Jurdan, 1K words, Rated T

Summary: Cardan tries to show Jude that he’s been learning about human traditions. 

A/N: I wanted to sneak in one holiday fic for Jurdan but also make it a little funny. Enjoy and happy holidays!

-o-0-o-

Jude had had enough. 

The council drove her insane after the war, and if everyone made it out of the room alive for the past few months, that was purely a consequence of Jude’s self restraint. Everyone wanted word with the Queen or had words about the Queen, and while she would listen to there complaints til nights end, the idea of curling into Cardan became a greater idea. 

Disregarding some etiquette, she’d excused herself early from the room without a word tonight. She really could not be yelled at by the Court of Termites any longer, and as the regent of the land, she stood and exited without further notice.

After ruling together for a few months, her and Cardan agreed that some days required only one of them to attend these menial tasks. It created a system for them both to take time off. Jude usually took her time to train, but Cardan recently wanted to know more about humans and took every opportunity to do so. Over dinner tonight, Jude expected a full on report and questioning about her species. It wasn’t something that she wanted to handle, but she found Cardan’s efforts to be endearing nonetheless.

She nodded at the guards stationed outside their door and pushed it open, faintly registering the scent of greenery. It caused her stomach to churn in a dramatic fashion. When she looked up; however, she was dumfounded. 

In the middle of their suite, decorated with candles, ribbons, glass, wood, and a million other trinkets stood a 10 foot tall pine tree. It looked destroyed and chaotic. Standing in front of it, back turned, was her husband. Cardan quickly spun to look at her, surprise painted across his face. 

“You weren’t supposed to return for another hour and a half,” he said.

Jude replied, barely hearing herself. “I got off early.”

Cardan nodded, before finishing wrapping the scarf in his hands around the tree as if it were cold. 

“I added something to the room,” he said, nonchalantly.

There were already pine needles on the floor, and a rather significant trail from the entryway to the tree’s current location. Even if they had maids to clean them up, it built onto the frustration she developed over the day. 

“I can see the tree, Cardan,” she said.

The two stared at each other for perhaps a bit too long. It reminded Jude of when they first were interested in one another. Neither of them quite knew how to react, hoping that what they said would not irritate the other too drastically. 

Cardan looked at his handiwork, pride filling his voice. “Do you like it?”

Jude did not, in fact, like it. The tree was a mess and was barely recognizable as a tree. It seemed that Cardan had raided both their closets in an attempt to dress it in the most ostentatious thing he could find. It was absolute chaos, and it was a conundrum as to why he would even pretend that it was a good idea. 

“Why is there a tree in our bedroom?” Jude finally asked. 

Cardan looked affronted. “It’s December 24th.”

If that was supposed to be of importance to Jude, she had no idea. “And tomorrow will be the 25th?”

His face lit up. “Exactly!”

Jude grimaced at him and gestured for him to continue. His face seemed to fall a little. 

“Tomorrow is Christmas, is it not?” He asked, worry painting his tone.

She felt like she could laugh. Looking around the room more, she noticed the way he’d enchanted little lights to float around their room and encouraged garland-like plants to drape from the walls. Above their bed, she noticed, with some chagrin, hung mistletoe. When she looked back at her husband, she noticed that he was wearing some awful faerie rendition of a Christmas sweater. 

“Tomorrow is Christmas,” she indulged.

“Then I put up this tree in commemoration,” He turned back from the tree to look at her. She clearly had been smiling too much. “You find this amusing.”

She noticed cookies and what was most likely eggnog by the fire. She most certainly did find this all amusing, but no in the way her husband hoped. 

“I do,” she said. “You’ve clearly done a lot here, and it looks great—"He puffed at that—“but one detail escaped you.”

Cardan looked around at his handiwork. “Was it the Santa costume? I found that to be slightly ridiculous and couldn’t force myself.”

“Cardan. I don’t celebrate Christmas.”

He whipped back towards her. “I thought all humans did.”

“I appreciate your efforts, but it is a holiday for Christians, which is a human religion.”

“And you are not one of those?”

She grabbed his hands, trying to convince him with her eyes that she didn’t mean to offend. The grin still couldn’t leave her face. “For all intents and purposes, I grew up in Elfhame. There are a lot of bits of human culture that I do not understand. You could have decorated this room to celebrate Hanukkah, and I would have no idea.”

He seemed to deflate at her words and chose not to ask what Hanukkah was. “So no Christmas?”

She squeezed his hand. “Yeah. No Christmas. This holiday is as foreign to you as it is to me.”

He glanced longingly at the little assortment of cookies. “I thought that it would be nice to show you that I’d been reading about human culture.”

She leaned up to kiss his cheek. “I appreciate the thought.”

He still looked off and seemed downtrodden that his efforts were wasted. It felt like she kicked a puppy. 

“I may not celebrate Christmas,” she began, “but I would love to learn about it.”

He seemed to light up at that. “Truly?”

She nodded and walked them over to the couch where she nibbled on cookies and listened to her husband passionately tell her tales of chimneys, reindeer, pagan traditions, and elves. Throughout the whole speech, she never once mentioned that there was some religious component to the whole spiel because Jude honestly didn’t care. She loved that he wanted to show her he cared about her. Somewhere throughout his speech, she snuggled close to him and felt the love in her chest erase any frustration from earlier. In the warmth of his arms and the fire, Jude felt too things very intensely. The first was that maybe eggnog was not that bad. The second was that even if she didn’t celebrate Christmas, this was surely the best one ever.

-o-0-o-

Thanks for reading!

Masterlist

[cardanapologist]

who’s gonna write me a fic about drunk cardan trying to do drunk jude’s hair into the little horns she likes 

[runningquill-art]

Have a Magical Christmas, everyone!

[Please don’t edit my art]

[IG @runningquill_art]

[themadauthorshatter]

... I just love OTPs, I can't help it.

OTP HEADCANONS: 2020 Edition

These will include the series of Red Queen, Dorothy Must Die, SGE, The Folk of The Air, and Nightmare Before Christmas(I'll throw in the Skellington kids, too, because I love them💙)

MAJOR TW FOR ALL THE EVENTS THAT OCCURED IN 2020, AND THAT INCLUDES QUARANTINE.

RED QUEEN:

At the news of a Pandemic, Mare and Cal are equally confused and scared, but at least they're not on the battlefield.

They hold up in Paradise Valley until the quarantine is lifted.

It starts off fine with them doing puzzles, hiking, and doing some exercises to pass the time. Then 3 weeks pass and both are bored; Mare's bored enough to drink coffee onto of the fridge and Cal's sitting in a chair upside down because fuck court etiquette, he's so bored.

Cal contemplates luring wolves with dinner scraps again.

They had a mini argument that meant nothing because Cal's hair got long and he wanted Mare to cut it, she but only offered to shave his stubble, not cut his hair.

They both get a lot of sleep, and have a lot of nightmares, which they comfort each other from.

They also really enjoy the silence.

Cal gets into poetry and Mare paints. Both are surprised at how good the other is at their new hobbies.

They talk. A lot. It begins awkwardly and ends with the two in each other's arms.

Cal becomes more of a punner, and Mare loves and hates it.

There's tall of getting a dog, but there's one problem: Paradise Valley doesn't have any shelters, and they'll be arrested or forced ro turn back hime, regardless of rank.

Mare grows taller... by 2 inches. She almost killed Cal for how much he laughed.

When they're allowed to go out, Mare often forgets to bring her mask.

Cal's good at remembering their masks.

Mare REFUSES to leave when she hears about the murder hornets.

Cal gets repellent to calm her down.

They also recover some Old Era TV Shows.

ENDLESS quotes from The Office, Friends, and many more shows.

Cal visits Maven's grave more. Mare comes with every now and then, but usually lets him go alone.

They don't usually argue, but those arguments never last.

They tried a bit of ability training, and greed that they should be careful when Mare summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky and Cal almost set fire to everything around them.

They read a lot, too, but Cal reads more than Mare because she falls asleep, usually on him.

DOROTHY MUST DIE:

Nox had no clue what a Pandemic was, or what the big deal was about going outside and not being near people, until Amy explained it.

First day of online school crashed and burned because Nox had NO IDEA what he was doing, which led to Amy 'accompanying' him in classes.

Amy puts her college plans on hold for a little while.

Nox is more emotional and neither of them know how to handle it.

They have more nightmares, since there's nothing to keep their minds busy, but Amy is more reserved about it. Nox prefers to write about what he dreams, anyway.

Nox stays up, from all the nightmares, but Amy sits with him to keep him company.

When Amy heard about the murder hornets, Nox held up a fly swatter and opened all the windows.

Amy does fine, but Nox dies from boredom, when they're done with school. And I don't mean he just sits and groans, he lies face down on the couch as Amy tries to get him up.

They spend A LOT of time in Nox's apartment, and it's literally spotless because Nox is THAT bored.

They binge a lot of TV shows, and Nox falls in love with shows like Peaky Blinders.

They tried watching Game of Thrones. It didn't go well; negative past experiences.

Nox figured out the plot twist to The Umbrella Academy WAY before Amy did.

They watched Heathers and Amy asked Nox what he'd do if she was dealing with trash friends and guys who don't take 'no' for an answer. The look on his face when he asked who it was reminded Amy of who he was before meeting her.

Nox finds YouTube and discovers the guy that makes knives out of anything and makes it his mission to copy each and every video, come Hell or high water.

Amy walked in on him doing this and genuinely wondered if he was okay, and asked if she could help him.

They also binged musicals. Nox isn't a huge music person, but he still loves them; Kansas has its own magic that he finds intriguing.

Amy once found Nox crouching ontop of the fridge while drinking a mug of coffee.

Madison stopped by and dropped off some rhinestones, lash glue, and a tool to apply the stones. Amy spent a lot of time putting the stones on her face while Nox watched, with Madison and Dustin also watching via Facetime, sitting backwards in a chair and wondering what her plan was, even making very Julien Solomita-esque comments, mixed with very 'I used to be a fighter and a spy' comments that made Amy, Madison, and Dustin laugh. Some if those comments:

"I know Glamora told you to lighten up, but I don't she'd expect this."

"If those were real diamonds, you wouldn't need any armor or a weapon. Just headbutt them, and you're good."

"Don't be upset, but it's the beginning of summer, so I don't think winter's coming any time soon."

"Whichever chandelier you made out with, I will find them, damn it."

After a little while, Amy asked if Nox wanted a rhinestone face. He agreed, but only as long as she took out all the red stones. He could handle pink, but no red.

It took them an hour to get the stones off.

Their hair gets long and they agree to cut each other's hair. Nox cuts her hair chin length and Amy tries to be as style his hair. They don't look the best, but they at least look good.

They absolutely watch Unus Annus, and start quoting that.

When they get the news they can go out wearing a mask, Nox got confused and got 3 different masks: a masquerade mask, a normal face mask, and a gas mask, which he wears all the time to annoy Amy.

They do stay in shape as much as possible, but there is evidence that they could have been more active, with their muscles shrinking and both having lost a little weight.

Nox NEVER drops his guard, and quarantine didn't help.

They tried dying their hair, but it didn't work as well as they'd hoped.

SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL:

Tedros worries about Agatha and everyone else, but Agatha keeps him in check.

Crime drops big time, so that's a plus for Tedros and Agatha.

They have more time to breathe, with everyone being inside and avoiding each other.

Tedros hates the quiet at first, but Agatha helps him adjust.

They spend a lot of time wandering the castle and answering whatever call there is, if any.

The SGE is out for a little while, so they don't hear too much from there.

Tedros, without normal king business to distract him, has more nightmares and starts losing sleep because he doesn't want to dream about what's happened to him and his friends.

Agatha has nightmares, too, but she's better at hiding it.

They do talk about it and agree to be more open with what's going on in their heads.

They also agree that they'll help each other through these times.

Tedros helps Agatha with swordplay and Agatha both gets him into reading more and tries to help him with his magic.

Whenever there's something they need outside, Agatha gets it because she's not that afraid of getting sick; she grew up eating frog and lizard soup.

Tedros worries about her, but doesn't really stop her because she's taller, and having fun trying to stop Agatha once she's committed to doing something.

Tedros finds a new hobby: origami.

Agatha doesn't join in, per se, she more watches because she's never seen Tedros be so patient with something.

They play around with each other's hair, as it grows longer. Agatha ties Tedros's hair back and Tedros braids her hair.

They write to Sophie or anyone else, like people who have some sort of report of a crime or complaint duch as infertile soil, so their penmanship improves.

Tedros grows a bit of a stubble and, after some prickly kiss attacks, Agatha threatens to shave it off herself, if he doesn't. It's all in good fun, but she sort of did mean it because his face and cheeks were really scratchy.

Tedros REFUSES to let Agatha go out alone, even when she's masked up.

When they go out, Tedros always carries a sword.

Picnics in the woods.

Star gazing at night.

Agatha starts wearing pants, as an experiment, and her "dresser"/dress designer is APPALLED.

There are times they argue, but they stay together and communicate because relationship goals.

THE CRUEL PRINCE:

At the news of a Pandemic/plague, Cardan ordered all the human servants to get as healthy as they could so they'd be able to go outside. He would accompany them, but they could not let Jude go out.

She's not happy, when she finds out

Cardan asks if she can avoid going to the human world, so she doesn't get sick.

She goes anyway and returns unscathed.

Cardan considers glamoring the human servants to keeep Jude healthy, but Jude almost pincushions him for it.

Anxious? Worried? Psh! Don't be silly. Cardan becomes somethimg if a paranoid maniac because he's scared of Jude getting sick and dying because he's Fae and she's Mortal, so she's more susceptible to illnesses and he doesn't know wnoufh about mortals to get her healthy agaun were she to get sick, but there's nothing wroung with him, really.

Whenever they're not ruling, Jude practices her swordplay while Cardan reads, major plus being that he reads full series to not worry about Jude so much.

Jude helps Cardan with sword fighting, using wooden practice swords not metal, and Cardan helps her try to get into reading, reading to her as she rests her head on his chest when she doesn't want to read read.

Cardan discovers manga and graphic novels and is too confused for Jude NOT to laugh; "He's in armor made if IRON. How is he able to fly!?" "I've seen a lot people different people, and none of them have made this face." "... So is Spiderman THIS one or THIS one?"

Sword practice usually ends with Cardan on the ground exhausted while Jude simply stands and chuckles for him to get up.

Cardan doesn't get beat smd scarred, he gets poked and minorly bruised, which he was not ready for because of how he was treated by Balekin.

One day, while Cardan was reading some Sherlock Holmes, Jude slipped hoop bracelets on and tied ribbons to his tail, at least as many as she could before she got caught; she only realized as such when his tail started flicking out of her reach and curling around her wrist, and saw Cardan grinning at her.

They do visit Taryn and Vivi still, but Cardan only wears a mask to remind Jude, who does not forget ever.

Cardan thinks about his 'friendship' Nicasia, Locke, and Valerian and semi-realizes that Valerian and Locke may have been using him while Nicasia was at least a little genuine.

They talk about Locke and equally wish that they had helped Taryn in killing Locke. If not, then they wish that they at least watched. They agreed that if time travel was real, Jude could help Trayn kill Locke and Cardan could watch, as long as he helped dispose of the body.

They laughed at that a couple minutes later.

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS(Featuring the Skellington kids(I'd say Skull Kids, but I feel like Skull Kid(s) was taken)):

Jack knows what a Pandemic is; he lived through one while he was alive.

Sally knew it would happen because she knows one happens about every two hundred years/whenever a year ends in 20.

The triplets know what a plague is, but have never seen one actually happen.

When they explored the human world at night and noticed there were absolutely no humans in sight, Luna reminded her brothers that the humans were told to stay inside to prevent any spreading.

Jacob takes the opportunity to MAKE SURE people actually stay inside.

Pro: he got Instagram famous. Con: Jack and Sally were not happy at all with how reckless he was.

Let's say, for the sake of the story, Halloween had to be cancelled worldwide because regulation and a need for things to get better.

Upon hearing the news of Halloween getting cancelled, Jack was very salty about it; "Why cancel Halloween, if the 4th of July was still allowed to be celebrated?"

All of Halloween Town was very upset; the living are so fragile, it ruins the fun of scaring them.

The Mayor was in deep, DEEP distress, but Jack made it up to him, and the rest of the town, by saying next year's Halloween would be ine no one would ever forget, and it's not because he's 'borrowing' a holiday again, it's because they'll all have a year of scaring shenanigans built up inside them all that will make up for what was missed.

Everyone rejoiced and Jack, once he got back inside his house with his wife and children, sighed and mentally kicked himself for saying no one would forget next year's Halloween; there was one Halloween in particular he sure as hell isn't forgetting any time soon.

Daemon's carving more intricate pumpkins and plans on giving the humans mini-scares so they keep quarantining, hiding a 'surprise' for any entitled Karens he finds.

Luna is the most obedient of the triplets by staying in Halloween Town and instead studying what she calls a 'counter-plague' so there's no need for a Pandemic; she refuses to call it a vaccine because that would imply sje wants to help the humans that shot down and could have killed her dad. She still has a bone to pick.

Jack doesn't spiral out like in the movie, he has Sally to help and the triplets to keep his mind busy.

While Jacob and Daemon keep the humans from leaving their houses, Luna researches the current events and learns of murder hornets that are large, sting like all hell, and cause death to anyone unfortunate enough to get stung.

Jack gets very intrigued and they collect as many as they can and keep them in a jar, but take one out to study it.

They were not impressed; murder hornets? Jack has seen worse.

Since there wasn't a Halloween, Jack decided to walk through the streets, seeing as how Daemon and Jacob already did a lot of the scaring for him(thise little shits). He had to admit, it was nice to walk in the night and only hear the animal sounds and not screams.

Luna did not find a 'counter-plague,' even with Sally's help, but she did discover some poisons she could use against her brothers. Sally made her promise not to do so.

On the Halloween night where nothing happened, Jack took his family out to a picnic/star gazing session. Genuinely one of his favorite Halloweens to date.

HENRY STICKMIM COLLECTION:

Henry and Ellie knew it was going to happen and were more than surprised to also see Charles planning ahead by making a list for what they needed, even admitting he'd been following the news and rumors and stocking up on ADD medicine so he wouldn't have to go out to get them.

The other soldiers weren't worried until they were told to go home and take a break for a little bit.

Triple Threat wasn't really effected until day 24.

On day 1, they just hung out and were relatively calm, working online, doing workouts to stay fit, and just being as normal as possible.

On day 24, all three are more than a little bored. Henry's bored enough to andwer calls from telemarketers and prank them, Ellie's contemplating bleaching her hair with peroxide, and Charles is playing with fidget toys he's bough and collected over the years, though he's doing it more because he's a little stressed than bored.

Henry and Ellie are surprised to this this, but Charles admits he used to bite his nails a lot, but stopped after a LONG while.

Speaking of names, Ellie paints hers and the boys', though while Henry paints his in clear coat, Charles paints one hand black and the other in red, mint, and glittery pink on one nail because try stopping him.

It makes Ellie laugh and pisses off Henry so much.

Ellie gets calls from her family saying they want her to come home, or closer to home, because they're worried and she instead blocks their numbers.

They watch a lot of horror movies as a reason to stay inside.

When they get bored of American horror and try Japanese, Asian, and more western horror movies.

Instant regret.

They watched the movie Audition and Henry looked at a very unimpressed Charles, who said the antagonist was being sloppy, and hid all the kitchen knives, saws, and sharp and blunt objects, including tools(must've remembered Human Piece).

He stopped after a week of Charles being himself and literally shaking at Hannibal Lecter as they watched the Silence of The Lambs series.

All three open up more about their lives. It's ugly, there's yelling, conflicting life philosophies, and even some insults thrown. Henry admits that gotten screwed over by the law enough times while fending for himself to have as little faith in it as possible, Ellie admits she ran away from home and would rather die than go back because of how tight of a leash they kept her on, and Charles admits that while he has thought about quitting on the government and turning to a life of crime, he never did because that would have been to easy of a choice. Training for the military was and still is hard as hell, which Henry and Ellie can tell because Charles can physically do more than them(if they ran a mile, Henry and Ellie would be exhausted and Charles wouldn't even be out of breath), but he's never given up on it because he knew his parents would skin him, if they were still alive.

There were tears at the end, and the team all needing to be alone for a little bit, but they were back together and agreed to be a little more open with each other, since they were a team now.

[kevin-day-is-bi]

For my dear @frenemies-to-lovers ​, who is my Knife Wife!! This did turn out on the long side, but I hope you like it!

It’s a Human Thing

Cardan was absolutely, completely, and totally in love with the girl in front of him. He was also not able to focus on how amazing she was because of how odd his human pants felt against his skin. Jeans, Jude had said, thrusting them into his arms. They, she had told him, were going to buy presents. And now they were in this store, this store that was bigger than the High King’s Palace in Elfhame, where everything was bright red. Jude had a list clutched in one hand and was pushing a shopping cart, as she had called it. 

“Okay,” She said, turning the cart down an aisle. “We both need to think of something for Taryn. I am going to get her a new scarf. A human scarf.” She turned to me. “You need to get her something, too.” 

Cardan frowned, staring at what they were walking past. He pulled one off the shelf and popped off the lid. It was a candle.

 “It’s a scented candle.” He looked up at Jude. She was leaning on the cart and smiling slightly. “Sniff it.” 

He raised an eyebrow at her, then sniffed the candle lightly. It smelled like vanilla. Cardan hummed and looked at the other candles on the shelf. He pulled another one off and smelled it. It’s light, jasmine. He held it out to Jude. 

“Would Taryn like this?” She smelled it and nodded. He tossed it in the cart and they kept shopping. 

This was going to be Jude and Taryn’s first Christmas since they were stolen. In Elfhame, they celebrated Solstice. They celebrated it much like they celebrated everything else, with drink and dancing until dawn. Cardan had been assured that they still had drinking and dancing for Christmas, but that there were a few important differences. 

Vivienne and Heather were hosting a party Christmas Eve and Christmas day, and Jude had invited the original Court of Shadows to come. Somehow, three humans and six fae were going to fit into Heather’s incredibly small apartment. When Cardan had voiced his worry, Jude had given him a look. 

Cardan received a lot of looks from Jude. There was a ‘you are being very annoying’ look, a ‘you need to stop drinking now’ look, a ‘you are making me very turned on in the middle of this important meeting’ look. Cardan felt he gained a new look at least once a week. This was a new one. He was pretty sure it meant ‘if you ruin this for me I will cut off your head with Nightfell’. So he had simply assured her they would easily find the space and changed the subject. 

“Ok!” Jude said, tossing a soft-looking midnight blue scarf into the cart. “Ready to go? We still need to wrap them.”

…

“Explain the hat.”

“It’s a human thing.” Cardan raised his eyebrows, looking skeptical. Jude sighed and plunked the red-and-white hat down on his head. “There’s this story they tell kids, I don’t know where it came from, but this fat old man  goes around the world Christmas night and delivers presents to all the kids who have been nice, and coal to all the kids who have been naughty.”

“Is he a fae?” Jude made a face.

“Not that we know of.”

“But he is magic?” 

“Yep.” 

Cardan tilted his head, soft black hair falling over one eye. Jude had her hair pulled back in a thick knot, and Cardan found himself wishing he could run his fingers through it. 

Decorating was more fun than Cardan had thought it would be. There was a tree - not real, Vivienne had said with a scoff. Real ones were messy, - and several garlands of holly strung over windows and doors. Heather had pulled out several boxes of decorations from somewhere. Jude had held the plastic and glass ornaments in her hands every time before she hung them up, seemingly trying to comprehend their existence. Cardan was helping, although he wasn’t entirely sure he was doing it right. There didn’t seem to be much of a pattern, it was more of ‘hang things up where you want’. 

Oak was also helping, though he was doing more talking than hanging. Cardan found himself fascinated by tales of mortal school; hearing a fae child talk about lunch lines and playing games felt like the whole world was slightly tilted. 

“Oh, and in art class we made Christmas decorations! We cut out snowflakes and glued them to blank CDs and decorated them with Sharpies and gems. I brought mine home.” 

Oak ran to the door and dug around in his backpack, pulling out the ornament. It was slightly misshapen, with very bright red and green scribbles on it. Cardan raised a brow, but Jude grabbed it and hung it up right in the front. 

“I hope you aren’t ruining the tree,” Vivienne called from the kitchen. Cardan examined the tree. It had several empty spots and looked as though they had simply thrown the boxes at it. 

“No,” He called back, and Oak snickered. Vivienne came in balancing a tray of mugs and began passing them out. It was hot chocolate with white floating things in it. 

“What are these?” He asked. Heather, having followed Vivienne in, gasped.

 “You’ve never had marshmallows?” She looked horrified, and distantly Cardan wondered if she was as horrified as him on the first night Jude had kissed him. He doubted it. Oak jumped up and down, sloshing his hot chocolate down his arms. 

“They’re amazing! They’re fluffy and light and sweet and you have to try one.” 

Cardan hesitantly took a sip, catching a marshmallow as he did it. After a moment of thoughtful chewing, he nodded. 

“I believe I do enjoy marshmallows,” He said, trying to get another one with his next sip. Oak giggled. 

When Cardan looked up, he noticed Jude giving him another look. He had seen this look before. ‘You are incredibly attractive right now and I am struggling not to throw myself at you with wild abandon’ was the general meaning of it. Cardan was not one to leave and let lie, so he smirked at her, showing just a flash of teeth. Her chin jutted out, challenge ripping through her eyes. 

Cardan went for another sip, but someone knocked on the door. Vivienne went to get it, but when she opened the door she inhaled sharply. 

“It’s a fae,” She said, voice quiet. Jude and Cardan looked at each other and walked over. It was indeed a small fae, short and furry with distressingly long teeth.

“My King,” The creature gasped, bowing. “My Queen.”

“Yes, what is it?” Cardan was annoyed. He had hoped not to be called upon, just for tonight and tomorrow. 

“Your pardon, Majesties. I was told to bring this to you.” The fae held out a cream envelope with a shaking hand. The thick red seal on the back had already been broken, but Cardan could see it was Madoc’s. 

Next to him, Jude drew in a sharp breath. Cardan unfolded the letter and scanned the few short lines of text. Wordlessly, he passed it to Jude. She gave him a quick look and read the letter. Cardan was carefully still, shoulders tight. Her head jerked up to look up at him. 

To Their Majesties,

I will arrive at sundown. I am excited to see the girls and Oak. I am bringing presents.

…

“He’s coming?” Jude stared, wide-eyed, at Vivienne. Vivienne was leaning against the counter, hands wrapped around a mug of coffee. Her own cat eyes went huge, and she pushed off the counter. 

“He isn’t supposed to be.” Vivienne set her mug down and put her hands on her hips. “He certainly isn’t coming into this apartment.” 

Next to her, Taryn pursed her lips and shifted. She fixed her attention on her own cup of coffee and took a sip. 

“Taryn?” Cardan cocked his head slightly. “How do you feel about Madoc coming over?” She mumbled something into her coffee, not looking at any of them. Jude spun to her, eyes narrowed. 

“What was that?” Taryn lowered her cup and reached a hand up to push her hair over her shoulder. She still wasn’t looking at them. 

“I may have invited him.” 

“What?” Vivienne and Jude spoke at once. 

“Well, he raised us! This is his first Christmas and he’s in the mortal world and we haven’t payed him any heed and I wanted to be nice.” Jude stared at her, horrified. “It’s not like he can ruin the whole day. Even he doesn’t have that much power.”

“He almost took over all of Elfhame.” Jude grabbed Taryn’s shoulders, shaking her a little. “He ruined our childhoods and almost ruined both Cardan and I’s reign! Why would you think he can’t ruin Christmas?!” 

Taryn looked taken aback. Cardan crossed his arms. She really should have thought this through. 

“I thought-” Taryn bit her lip. “Maybe Oak would want to see him.” Everyone craned their necks to see into the living room where Oak was furiously typing on a laptop. Jude was the first to snap out of it. 

“Maybe, but if they miss each other a half-hour visit in the park does just fine.” There was something in Jude’s voice, and Cardan turned to look at her. There was anger and annoyance, but Cardan could see in the tightness of her mouth eyes that she was worried, as well. Worried and scared and hurt. 

Taryn kept stammering, but Cardan stopped paying her any attention. He watched Jude, watched the annoyance and anger crest, watched her eyes turn stormy. She turned and left in the middle of Taryn’s pleading to Vivienne, who was just watching with narrowed eyes. Taryn stared after Jude. Cardan followed, nodding slightly to Vivienne as he went. 

Jude stormed to her bedroom and stood by the small window. Cardan shut the door quietly behind them and perched on the bed. He remained silent, waiting for her to speak. She broke after only a few short moments.

“I don’t want him here.” Her breath was coming short and fast as she crossed her arms. “I don’t care if it’s childish. This is my first Christmas since I was six, our first break since Eldred stepped down, the first time we are together and not being attacked, not fighting, not having to plan and plot and handle Orlagh or Nicasia or Locke. I wanted a time where I could be with Vivienne and not be mad at Taryn and see Oak smile.”

She broke off, tilting her head back slightly. When she spoke again, it was softer than before. “He has been a presence in my life forever. Even before I knew it, my life was ruled by him. I just wanted this nice human holiday without him.” 

Her voice rose, and she lashed out a hand and punched the wall. The plaster cracked ever so slightly, and Jude grunted softly. Cardan rose and skirted the bed, going to stand by her. He took her hand gently. Her knuckles were red, and one of them had split open. He glanced up at her face. 

To say she was angry was to say the sea around Elfhame was wet. True, as he couldn’t lie, but vastly underplaying. Cardan had never wished more that he could lie, just so he could hold her and tell her Madoc wouldn’t ruin anything. But Madoc was in the habit of ruining things. Jude sniffled. Cardan looked at her in surprise. 

“I’m not going to cry,” She said sullenly. “Unless it’s out of anger.” 

Cardan hummed and pulled her close. He tucked her head under his chin and rubbed her arms. Cardan had found out that when Jude was upset, physical touch grounded her. Otherwise, she got in her head and spiraled into anger. Cardan, having the opportunity to touch someone he loved for the first time in his life, was all too willing to comply. 

“I can’t stay here,” Jude whispered. “Not with him, not in the same apartment. I don’t want to fight, and I know he’ll ruin it.” She sighed, shoulders hunching under his grip. “I suppose we can go back to Elfhame.” She didn’t sound thrilled. Cardan wished he could just snap his fingers and disappear Madoc. 

“If we go back to Eflhame,” Cardan said, mumbling into Jude’s hair. “We could spend the night in my rooms. We need not deal with anyone else.” She pulled back and wrenched her head towards the window. 

“I don’t have a choice. I simply cannot be in the same apartment as him.” Cardan straightened. Spending Christmas alone was not the worst idea, but it was for Jude. Cardan wondered…

“Come back to Elfhame, and I will try to distract you.” Jude flashed him a smile. 

“You always do such a good job.”

…

Jude opened the carved door. Hair dripping down her back from her bath, she slipped into a blood-red doublet and thick green tights. She sighed, relishing the feeling of the velvet and wool against her skin. It felt like home. 

She squeezed out her hair, then braided it back. Cardan had said he had to do something, then left her to bathe. The bath hadn’t been pleasant, all her anger and fury and worry over Madoc coming out in great heaving gasps. When she had dragged herself out, she had sworn not to think about him for the remainder of the night or for Christmas tomorrow. 

Someone knocked on her door, and she rushed to open it. She blinked in surprise. It was Fand, out of her usual armour and in a black doublet. Fand bowed. 

“Your Majesty. The King asked me to find you.” 

Jude reached back inside the door and found her boots, the comfortable worn leather supple beneath her hands as she laced them up. Then she followed Fand, slightly confused. Fand did not lead her to the throne room, instead leading her to a small dining room attached to Cardan’s rooms. 

When Fand nodded at her and opened the doors, Jude was taken aback. Inside, someone had put up a large pine tree, and it was covered in bright berries and soft glittering cloths. The whole room seemed to shimmer, and wreaths were flung over every chair and onto the mantlepiece. But what was more shocking were the fae inside. 

Surrounding the table were Cardan, The Bomb, The Roach, The Ghost, and Grima Mog, all dressed in fineries. Fand slunk by her and joined them, cerulean skin standing out against the soft browns and greens. The Roach even had on a velvet Santa hat, though it looked odd on him.

Cardan stepped forward, holding two spun glass cups of wine. He handed one to her, taking a sip of the other. Jude shut her mouth, which had fallen open slightly, and gave him a grin. 

“Merry Christmas,” He said, the words sounding odd in his mouth. Jude laughed, taking Cardan’s goblet and setting both of theirs aside. She flung herself at him, hugging him tightly enough he gasped for breath. The Bomb cheered loudly as Jude kissed him. She reveled in the softness of his mouth. He put his mouth to her ear and breathed. “I love you with all of my shabby, worm-eaten, and scabrous heart.” 

“I love you, too,” She whispered back, laughing again and clutching him tighter.  

Merry Christmas!!!

Thank you, @jurdannet​ and @jurdannetrevels​, for hosting this!

[elidelochans]

I'm so excited for this! Let's bring some holiday cheer to Elfhame next month ❤💚☃️

We have another very special announcement…

Subjects of Elfhame, behold: Christmas in July! A reel (a.k.a. mini-revel) brought to you by The Living Council.

On 25 July 2020, for one day and one day only, get ready to deck the brugh.

We know you can hardly wait until December to get your kick of fluffy Jurdan snuggled up by the fire, soft Jurdan exchanging gifts, or steamy Jurdan under a carefully placed mistletoe. Which is why we are hosting this reel to allay your cravings.

There will be no official prompt list, but we will be posting prompt suggestions/taking submissions for prompt suggestions- so if you’d like to see something specific, put it in our submissions box, and maybe someone attending the reel will be inspired to gift you with content!

Content for this reel includes (but is not limited to) the following:

Fics/One-Shots/Drabbles

HCs

Drawings/Paintings/Doodles

Comic strips

Playlists

Moodboards

Edits

If you have any questions about this reel, please feel free to drop us an ask/message here, or on any of The Living Council’s personal accounts: @slightlyrebelliouswriter23​ @mysweetvilllain​ @nite0wl29​ @clockworkgraystairs​

-The Living Council

[kingandfireheart]

There’s just something so pure about Jurdan and Rowaelin Christmas that cannot be beat

[lilacs-with-lavender]

Black Licorice

Jude Duarte x Cardan Greenbriar

For my secret snusband the lovely Cee, @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln​. It’s been a joy sending you anons and I’m sorry this isn’t longer!! Merry Christmas I hope your Holidays are amazing but just in case they aren’t take some Jurdan fluff!

Summary: Cardan experiences the mall, Jude likes Black Licorice and Oak just wants to get everyone the perfect present.

WC: 1,188

Warnings: overwhelming amounts of tooth rotting fluff & Christmas cheer

Cardan had decided that snow was terrible. A cursed type of weather sent to make his life miserable while spending Christmas with Jude and her sisters in the mortal world. The wet cold flakes clung to his eyelashes and stuck to his hair, effectively making his ears and nose red. Not a single item in his wardrobe had been labeled ‘suitable’ for the cold weather and Jude had forced a thick coat upon him before they left to visit the monstrous shopping mall. It was a puffy orange monstrosity that clashed terribly with everything Cardan owned. Although he supposed its one saving grace was that it still smelled faintly of his darling nemesis. 

Said woman was, as usual, dancing with death. This time by sampling varieties of black licorice at a nearby stand in the giant shopping mall. Cardan had tried some because he thought surely something that made the eternally serious Jude smile was worth his attention. He now suspected the candy was made by a hag who had ensured no mortal could resist its taste. This theory was quickly disproven however when Heather expressed a similar disgust for the candy when Jude proclaimed that the evil sweet was ‘the best’. Leave it to his wife to choose the blackest most twisted candy to love. “Cardan! Pssst Cardan!”

Startled from his thoughts, Cardan looked down to where Oak stood pulling anxiously at his sleeve and yelling in what he must have thought a quiet voice. “Are we going to sneak off to buy presents now?!”

It was Cardan’s own fault that the younger boy was so excited, after all, he was sure many Folk would kill to sneak off with the High King of Elfhame to buy presents. “I wanna see your reaction to more mortal shops!”

Oh. Well, he supposed that could be another reason the prospect was so attractive. Oak had found considerable joy in the fact that Cardan had never been to a ‘Lego store’ before and wouldn’t even tell Cardan what ‘Legos’ were. He sighed and fidgeted with the earrings on his right ear, “Fine but we have to find a very convincing excuse Oak, we both know Jude can tell when we omit the truth.”

The child nodded seriously, grabbing hold of Cardan’s palm and walking stubbornly forward, face set in a way that reminded Cardan eerily of his queen.

~ ❄ ~ 

An hour or so later Cardan was up to his neck in presents, his tail thrashing underneath his clothes as he tried to balance all the bags and boxes. Oak was of course as carefree as usual, his small hands grasping a greasy bag full of twisted hot breads called ‘pretzels’ that he insisted Cardan buy from him. Everything was bought with Taryn’s small plastic card that Cardan was beginning to think meant infinite wealth in the mortal world. It had all been very overwhelming so he was glad Oak had decided to come along.

There had been a store full of very painful looking underthings that Oak had refused to go into when Cardan asked, apparently the vendors there sold mortal ladies’ clothes of the intimate variety. Then there was the intensely confusing apothecary where they bought Taryn’s gift, some box of lotions and creams that the sales woman assured them, “any woman would love”. Shortly after Oak had dragged Cardan to the infamous ‘Lego’ store, a concept that actually intrigued the high king. He purchased two sets of the confusing brick puzzles, one for each of them, and they had continued on. Vivi and Heather were getting couples’ pajamas, a soft reindeer patterned set chosen by Oak and approved by Cardan. Jude was the most difficult to shop for Oak claimed, and Cardan felt more than a little smug when he told the younger boy he had already found the perfect gift for his frightening wife. “Where did you boys get off to for so long?”

Speak of his queen there she stood, looking unfairly stunning in a pair of soft pants that mortals called ‘corduroys’ and a cream colored sweater. “We plundered the store where they sell strange building games for children.” 

“Huh. Well we’re getting ready to go, come on.”

Jude was eyeing him with what Cardan liked to call her ‘something is afoot’ glare. Not to be confused with the very similar, ‘I want so desperately to murder you’ glare. His tail twitched nervously beneath his shirt as he slid his hand into hers and they started for the mall’s crowded exit. Cardan opened his mouth to comment on how strange it was that mortals enjoyed communing in large enclosed spaces for reasons other than reveling, but before he could speak Jude spoke loudly. “Oak why don’t you run ahead and ask Vivi if she bought a present for me, I swear she always forgets mine.”

Oak opened his mouth in shock at this, unable to process the mere notion of someone forgetting to give a Christmas gift. “Of course!”

As soon as his little horns had disappeared and joined Vivienne and Heather up ahead Cardan could have sworn the temperature around them dropped a few degrees. Or maybe that’s what would’ve happened had they been in Faerie, the weather usually worsened when he was nervous. Jude tugged on his arm and looked up at him with narrowed eyes, Cardan tried to cover his gulp with a cough. “What’s the matter?”

The High King of Elfhame blinked. “Sorry?”

Jude gave him the ‘you must have less than one brain cell’ look and repeated herself. “What’s wrong?”

“I- nothing is wrong-”

A small hand covered his mouth to keep him from speaking, but Jude didn’t speak. Instead they had stopped in the rotating door contraption Cardan had nearly died in earlier on their way in, and- wait was she nervous?

“I’m sure this time of the year must be difficult and all because um- well this year you don’t have a family to spend time with.” She paused, deep brown eyes flitting around and looking anywhere but at him as she continued.

“I want you to know that I- we are all your family by marriage and such so there’s no reason to feel out of place. I know a crappy apartment in the mortal world probably isn’t your idea of a nice place to spend the holidays but we can go back to Elfhame right after Christmas if you like and-”

It surprised Cardan even now, that rushing nauseous feeling that warmed him all over and caused beetles to take flight in his stomach… love. He kissed her right there, in the middle of her sentence, in the middle of the mall. Spirits above he hadn’t even realized he’d been sulking and here his queen was worrying about how he felt spending the holidays with her family. 

Fireworks went off when she sighed a little into his mouth, the surprise giving way to joy as he felt her lips curve into a smile around the kiss. Jude tasted like warmth and black licorice, and suddenly the bitter mortal candy didn’t seem at all disgusting to Cardan.

~ ❄ ~

Aaaaaah ok be kind this is my first time writing these dumbass beans and I was nervous. Let me know how I did on ao3 or just like this post and leave! Although reblogs are very appreciated *virtual hug* 

Hope everyone stays safe and has a great holiday!

[figonas]

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Thank you!! Here’s a sneak peek from one of the chapters of my Modern!Jurdan AU ☺️

“It’s like a wishbone, we each take one end, make a wish, and pull. Whoever gets the bigger half has their wish come true.”

I take the flimsy paper between my fingers and risk a glance up at Cardan. He’s smiling at me, clearly pleased I’m humoring him.

“What are you gonna wish for?” As I look at him his eyes reflect the flash of headlights from the road below and I realize there’s nothing I want more than him. Nothing so unattainable that I need to wish for it.

SEND ME A ROSE 🌹 AND ILL SHARE A SNIPPET FROM ONE OF MY WIPS

[clockworkgraystairs]

Christmas Dinner || Jurdan X-mas in July

AHHHH there is more Christmas!Jurdan!!!!!!!!! 🎄🎄

Rating: T

Summary:  The Duarte's are hosting their Christmas dinner and Vivi sets a trap for Jude to bring his boyfriend and introduce him to the family.

I guess this can be considered a little prequel to You got me trippin? 

This is also my first time posting somethin in 1st person sooo...let’s see how it goes lmao

Tags:  @jurdannet @jurdannetrevels @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @sweetlyvillainous @aesthetics-11 @thesirenwashere @jurdanhell @demydreamer-otaku-and-book-lover @nightbringer @b00kworm @mysweetvillain @thefolkofthefic @yafandomsdotnet @vanessa172003​

[if you wish to be tagged/untagged or if I forgot to tag you pls let me know!]

A massive thank you to Becca @sweetlyvillainous​ for betaing this for me!! Love u 🧡

Masterlist             Read on AO3

This is a terrible, terrible idea I keep repeating myself.

If I’d shown a little more steadiness with my sister I wouldn’t be in this situation. I knew she was nervous about presenting her girlfriend to the family, specially to our father. And because she is extra as hell, she couldn’t choose another date that wasn’t on Christmas Eve. For weeks now she’d been texting me, grumbling about how was she going to be able to pull it off. I told her to relax and just go with it.

What I didn’t expect though, was for Vivi to arrive out of nowhere to the school where I work, talking nonsense about me bringing a fake date to dinner with hopes of taking the attention away from her. 

After spending 15 minutes trying to convince her it is not necessary for me to do that, her insistence is such I end up babbling how bad that idea is since I already have a boyfriend, and fake dating someone else would certainly create problems.

Big mistake.

Looking at me with something like betrayal in her eyes, now she starts questioning me about that boyfriend who I’d never talked about before. I bite my lip. When it comes to personal stuff I prefer to keep it private, even with my own family. I have my reasons. 

And just because luck is not on my side today, in the middle of her inquiries I hear a faint “Hey, babe!” behind me. I groan. Of course. Of course he had to arrive in that moment. 

We both turn to look at him. Cardan approaches us wearing that mischievous grin reserved only for me, so different from the polite smile he uses with his students. His hair is tied up in a bun as he also wears it for work, few curls escaping it in the most adorable way. 

With a pang of panic, I notice Vivi noticing how dumbfounded I’m looking at him. Her eyes light up in a way that I know means nothing good. I frown at her. 

“I was looking for you on the cafeteria, one of your students told me you were here.” He pauses. “I- didn’t notice you were busy though, sorry.”

“Not at all!” Vivi says with exaggerated enthusiasm. “I’m Jude’s older sister, Vivi! You must be her lovely boyfriend.”

“Oh, yeah I am. Nice to meet you!” If I didn’t know him so well I wouldn’t notice the slight blush on his cheeks or the way he looks at me in contained alarm.  

It’s too late by the time I put the pieces together. When I realize what is about to happen, my sister is already handing Cardan a rolled piece of paper.

“I came to make sure Jude invites you to our family Christmas dinner! She’s so absentminded sometimes isn’t she?” 

I’m going to kill her. Slowly.

Horrified, I stand there and see Cardan take the invitation, grinning. His polite, charming smile.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” He says. “Thank you so much Vivi.”

My sister turns to me and whatever look it’s on my face makes her hesitate. Although, not enough. She claps her hands once and makes an excited squeal. “Well I must go now! But I’m so excited you’re coming to join us Cardan, see you there. Ciao!”

With that she turns and leaves.

-

So here we are. My boyfriend driving by my side, as we are about to arrive to my parent’s house.

My knee bounces without control as I twist my scarf between my fingers. At any moment now, I’m sure my heart is going to bolt out of my chest. 

“Jude dear, is everything ok?” He asks. I notice I’ve been quiet almost the entire road.

I turn to look at him. He looks dashing, even if it’s not a strictly formal dinner he always finds a way to dress as it was. Black ensemble and green scarf that stands out his pale skin, though his nose and cheeks have a touch of color because of the cold weather. 

“Yeah it’s just... My family is a little,” I pause. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

We are not the type of family that introduces romantic partners, ever. My twin sister tried to do it some years ago with a terrible and embarrassing outcome. At some point in the middle of breakfast, she’d asked her daddy to pass the salt. Both our father and Locke moved to grab it at the same time. What came next, well… if that Locke dude had restrained himself to make a sarcastic and really tacky comment about it, maybe he would still be welcome in the house. Alas, he is not. 

Ever since that day, every time someone brings a guest to the house my father gets in a mood that is pretty uncomfortable for everyone. Sooner or later he makes everyone run.  Not exactly the first impression I want Cardan to have. 

We’ve been together for some time now, about eleven months. But the topic of introducing our families has never been on the table so far. I know he comes from a problematic family even if he doesn’t talk much about them. As for me, I have to admit I’ve grown so attached to him that I’m terrified of Madoc, or any other of my relatives, scaring him away.

He takes my hand in his, warming it, and smiles softly. “It’ll be ok. Breathe.”

I sigh, hoping he’s right and grip his hand tighter.  

The inside of the house looks as if Santa’s bag had exploded. There are lights and ornaments everywhere. Even the tree is bigger than previous years. A delicious smell of food fills the place. As I stare in awe I hear voices coming from the living room.

“Jude? Is that you?” Hurried steps sound in the wooden floor and a few seconds later my little brother appears wearing an absurd red and white onesie. He crashes against me and I laugh, hugging him back.

“You do realize that’s for little kids don’t you?” I ask. “It looks good on you, though.”

Oak scoffs and pulls back. “Well of course it does. I look good on everything.”

Cardan chuckles next to me and for the first time my brother notices him. His eyes and mouth open widely, blinking at him and then turning back at me. Once. Twice.

“Jude,” He murmurs. It cracks me up how shy he can get around new people. “Who’s this?”

Ah, here we go. I take a deep breath and grab Cardan’s hand again. 

“Don’t be rude,” I warn him. “His name is Cardan. Cardan, this is my brother Oak.”

Cardan greets him, extending his hand to him. Oak shakes it, visibly puzzled. “And Cardan is…?”

“My boyfriend.” 

A slow, mocking and devilish smile spreads on his face. I swear to god that kid was taken out from the movie Cheaper by the Dozen. All the shyness is suddenly gone.

“You and Vivi are really trying to give dad a heart attack today aren’t you?” He turns to Cardan and adopts a serious expression I almost believe. “Please tell me Jude doesn’t call you daddy.”

“OAK!” I hiss. I look at Cardan and he gazes back with amusement, I notice he’s biting back a laugh. 

“WHAT? I need to know earlier if I need to take my phone out, last time I didn’t have time to record when dad…” He motions with his hand. Yeah, I remember.

“She doesn’t.” Cardan affirms. Mimicking my brother’s mischievous smile he asks. “Is there a story there I need to know?”

Oak hesitates, even though I’m sure he’s dying to spill it out.

“Taryn would kill you.” I remind him.

“She’s not coming. For what I’ve heard, either it’s Locke’s turn to visit his family or something about dad running him under the car if he dared appearing. I’m not sure.”

Great. 

“What if I beat you at Mario Kart?” Cardan asks, pointing at the console resting next to the tv. 

Oak squints at him. “Are you challenging me?”

“It’s not a challenge when I know I’m going to win.”

Turning to me, my brother grins. “I like him.”

-

I know this is the first time I’ve brought someone home, but still I don’t know if I should be offended at my parent’s surprised faces. Oak had to tell my mother twice that Cardan is my boyfriend before she nods in understanding.

On his side, Cardan is being the full gentleman. To be fair he always is, but I notice the extra effort he’s doing today. It warms my heart. The only sign of nervousness I notice in him are occasional deep breaths he takes when he thinks no one is watching.

We get to meet Heather too, who is adorable and I honestly don’t know how on earth she fell in love with my lunatic sister. In a matter of minutes Cardan is already friends with her which helps with her evident tension. Vivi seems to relax as well. 

Christmas music plays on the background as we eat. This is probably my favorite part of the evening. Don’t get me wrong, I love gatherings with my family but food calls me on a spiritual level. Cardan knows it too, chuckling at my excitement while I’m serving us mashed potatoes. 

“So, Cardan.” My father starts, serving the wine. My heart leaps in my chest, oh no. “You met my daughter at work?” 

He nods. “Yes sir, I arrived there about two years ago. I teach preschool and first grade.” Winking at me he adds. “Jude used to hate me.”

Madoc turns to me, frowning. “What happened?” I roll my eyes, classical worried dad.

I take a long drink from my wine and shrug. “Nothing, he stole the ‘best teacher award’ from me, on his first six months. I’m pretty sure he bribed the students that year.”

To my surprise, my father barks a laugh. We all stare at him wide-eyed. 

“Keep repeating that to yourself, love.” Cardan teases. “It was a clean triumph.”

“You’ve always been competitive Jude, that’s no secret.”  Vivi adds. “It’s nice to finally meet someone who can pull up with that.”

I turn to glare at her. You and I are going to talk later. She sticks out her tongue at me. 

“Do you guys have sex?” 

“Oak!” My mother shouts as my father and I both choke on our wine.  

-

When Cardan parks the car outside my apartment it’s already past midnight. 

Surprisingly, this turned out to be one of the best Christmas celebrations I’ve ever had. My boyfriend somehow managed to not only avoid any uncomfortable moments around my family but also to wrap them up around his little finger. With jokes and tales about us the night had passed incredibly fast. 

Toasts were made, hugs and gifts were given. By the end, we were sprawled on the floor wearing silly sweaters and watching the merciless Mario Kart match between Oak and Cardan. It ended up in a tie. Rematch was already set for New Year’s Eve.

It was everything I never thought it would be.

“Well, did Vivi’s plan work?” Cardan asks.

I turn to find him already looking at me with a knowing smile on his face. Still, it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“C’me on, you weren’t really planning on inviting me to your family’s dinner. Something was surely going on the day she gave me the invitation.” 

Sighing I whisper. “I’m sorry.” 

He knows me too well, more than I even know myself sometimes.

“Don’t be, it’s not a topic we usually discuss.” He shrugs, reaching my hand with his. His thumb makes slow circles on my skin “Still, I should’ve asked if it was ok with you. Forgive me if I crossed a line.”

“You didn’t. I just wasn’t planning for you to meet my family yet.” I regret those words the moment they leave my mouth, knowing how they sound. Cardan doesn’t let go of my hand but he stops his ministrations. “Wait, that wasn’t…”

“Jude, it’s ok.” He says, turning to the windshield. I know him well enough too, and notice the touch of sadness behind his words. 

“No it’s not. Please listen.” I insist, my heart is beating fast now. That look on his eyes is exactly what I tried to avoid the whole night. “The reason why I wasn’t thinking to introduce you to my family is that they’re ridiculously hard and annoying with every new person that visits. And this is the first time I took someone home and…I don’t know, I-”

“You thought I’d leave?” He turns his gaze back to me, warily. 

At the beginning of the day I did. But I don’t find the words to admit it, so I don’t answer.

After a moment of silence he asks “Do you want to know why I agreed to go?”

I swallow and nod. Cardan inhales deeply..

“We’ve been together for some time now. And you know, you must know, I’m not playing around Jude.” I start to say something but he silences me with a soft finger against my lips.  “I love you. If I agreed to whatever scheme your sister had in mind it was because I wanted to show you that I’m not going away. No matter what.”

“My family…”

“They love you. It’s only natural for them to ask what my intentions are… and maybe tease us about it too. I’m willing to admit your dad is a little scary. But not enough to make me run away.” He winks, cupping my face.“There is nothing on earth that would make me want to run away, Jude. That’s how much I love you.”

Feeling my eyes sting I blink. “I love you too.”

We’ve said those words before. But I find that they acquire a different meaning, somehow deeper. My chest is suddenly too small to hold everything I feel for this man. He’s not going anywhere. He loves me. I’m grinning like an idiot and I’m proud of it. 

I lean to rest my forehead against his. “Since it’s our first Christmas together… and you already met my family.” His smile widens at that. “Would you like to stay the night?”

“There’s nothing I would like more.” Cardan angles his head to give me a kiss that I accept gladly, coiling my arms around his neck.  “I usually spend Christmas alone, I guess it’s time for new traditions.”

We remain entwined for some minutes, it fastly turns into something hotter and desperate. I’m already straddling his hips when I pull back a few inches. I bet my lips are as swollen as his. He is looking at me with hunger… and love.

“How about a tradition in which we spend Christmas night undressed and watching some crappy Netflix movies?” I suggest.

My toes curl when he leans to bite my lobe and purrs. “Yes, please.”