#knife ninja was on Thanksgiving

[witchcraftingboop]

Unfortunately, because of my upbringing, if someone tells me about an unsuccessful crime, especially a dumb one, my first instinct is not "oh no let's comfort them" or "be safe, play nice with them." I start laughing.

Because wdym you went to fight someone for owing you money and their uncle threw a knife at your neck (light graze, he was more scared than anything) from across the parking lot? You lost a 5-to-1 fight cause you were so hot to jump you ran straight into an undercover ninja? Hilarious. What was doubly funny was how serious this kid's family was about it. Meanwhile I'm perched on their living room couch tryna not to bust my rib. I absolutely could not hold it in any more when ninja-starred boy's older brother started grumbling about going back to break the dude's kneecaps. Because that was the second funniest thing I'd heard that day, albeit tasteless and super cliche. There's a prime of his life uncle out in that parking lot whipping out and chucking butcher knives at your boys and you want to return?? And over only $200 no less?? I was beside myself, damn near inconsolable. I had to stop hanging out with them that day though, cause stupid was for sure catching in that household.

And then at my apt some other dumb ass was trying to steal cars, and all I can do is laugh. Because wdym you went through the effort of marking their shit and breaking in and you forgot to finish the YouTube tutorial on how to hot wire a car? I laughed my ass right back to sleep. Homie couldn't even get a Kia to start and all you need for them shits is a screw driver! Mans is marvelously lost, couldn't even pick a crime he could do. I had to give my boss photos of all the police and K-9 units posted in the parking lot, howling it up through the woods until the wee hours, to excuse the few days I was late. I was so overjoyed at having met such a supreme level of dumb ass in my own backyard that I'm pretty sure he still doesn't believe me. I've met a lot of car thieves but ain't a one just sit in a car and let the alarm blare like that before crying out and taking off. Shit felt like Christmas came early. I have never seen a grown man in a ski mask flail their arms dashing over ice like that neither. He kind of looked like Captain Jack Sparrow got caught up on land after a minor snowstorm; it was a decadent treat of a sight.

It's just so funny when people pick a crime and they suck at it. Whatever you're gonna do, be a great one, but especially if you're picking an illegal trade. Because I know my old friends would've split a side right alongside me to see how these wee bairns go about their shit.

And I'm not gonna pretend it's not funny to try to make an example of a kid over $200 and find yourself in the ER cause his uncle packed you and your friends up or like it's not hilarious to run hollering from your third attempt at stealing a car in the same parking lot. People are acting like clowns, and I'm loving the sight of this circus being in town.

[forever-rogue]

Omg what about a steve x reader where his parents dont even bother to be home for christmas so the reader plans a big christmas dinner / afternoon with all the kids and the teens and Steve gets to experience the holidays with a loving found family and maybe a mistletoe kiss too?

AN | Ooh, this idea is so cute 🥺

Warnings | Language

Pairing | Steve x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 3.4k

Masterlist | Steve, Main

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Merry Christmas!”

“Fuck!” Steve’s eyes grew wide as he found you standing in the doorway with a sheepish smile on your face. He softened when he saw that it was you, but remained poised with the knife in his hand. You raised an eyebrow at it, and he set it down with a small sigh, “I didn’t even hear you come in! Are you some kind of ninja?”

“Sorry,” you offered him a pretty little smile as you bounced over to him, standing on your tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. His large hands settled on your waist as he pulled you closer, pressing soft kisses to your cheeks, nose, and forehead before stopping at your lips, “hey, my love.”

“Hi angel,” he brushed his against yours before sighing softly, “wasn’t expecting you till later.”

“Things wrapped up early at my aunt and uncle’s house,” you looped your arms around his neck, playing with the soft curls at the nap of his neck, “so I came to see you because I missed you and wanted to see you!”

“You saw me last night…”

“And I still missed you, Steve,” you whispered, causing him to blush shyly as a pretty rose pink settled in his cheeks, “cause I’m kind of in love with you, ya know?”

“I love you,” he promised, his brows quickly furrowing, “wait a minute - why Merry Christmas? It’s the day after Thanksgiving!”

“Exactly,” you nodded eagerly, “it’s Christmas now! So that means only holiday foods, Christmas music, and everything festive! And I had a brilliant idea.”

“Oh no…” there was nothing but soft affection between his words but you put your hands on his chest, “tell me then…”

“I was thinking we could go and get a tree today!” your enthusiasm was normally infectious but today you swore you saw his face fall, “and get an early jump on everything! My dad’s going to be traveling for work a lot this month so he won’t care what we do and I’m not sure about your parents-”

“They’re not going to be here,” he cut you off and there was a weird edge to his tone. He’d never snapped at you like that, and you recoiled from his touch, “and they never are.”

“I-I didn’t know,” your voice was soft as you took a step back from him, a frown tugging down the corners of your mouth, “I’m sorry, Steve. I didn’t mean-”

“No, it’s fine,” he shook his head before looking at you with apologetic eyes, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“‘s okay,” you touched his face, stroking over his cheek, “we’re okay, my love. How about we just stay in and watch movies today? Be all lazy and cuddle?”

“Yeah,” he agreed with a small smile, turning his head to press a kiss to the palm of your hand, “that sounds perfect.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You’d thought about what Steve had said for several days after. He had seemed so upset when you even mentioned Christmas that you made you loath to approach the topic again. This was the first holiday season you were spending together as a couple, and at all - you’d only meet him at the beginning of the year when you’d moved to Hawkins. You knew that his parents were absent and distant, but you didn’t know that had applied to the holidays too. 

You didn’t want to upset him further, so you’d ended up talking to his friends about it, and they were able to enlighten you. But…that didn’t make you feel any better. If anything, it made you feel worse. Steve Harrington, your golden-hearted and sweet boyfriend, had never had a proper Christmas. Not since he was a very young boy, and he didn’t even really remember that. It broke your heart; Steve did so much for everyone else, did so much to make things good for the ones he loved. He gave and gave and he really asked for so little in return.

But this year you were going to give him everything you could and make it the best Christmas ever. This year Steve was going to be the one that received, he was going to get everything that you had to give. And, naturally, everyone else was on board with your little plan.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“You still haven’t told me what we’re doing,” Steve’s gloved hand was holding yours, thick fabric wrapped fingers entwined as well as possible, “you could be taking me to get murdered for all I know.”

“Relax,” you gave his hand a squeeze as you slowed your walk down the block, “I would never murder you! I love you too much for that…”

“Then what’re we up to?” he raised an eyebrow in suspicion and you giggled at him, “you’re a devious little thing, you know that?”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” you insisted, leaned over to press a kiss to his wind-chapped lips, “but I do hope that you trust me…”

“Of course…”

“Good,” you started to pull him to the end of the block and didn’t stop until you were standing in front of the biggest tree lot in all of Hawkins, “then I hope you’ll help me find the perfect tree.”

“Baby…” he looked between the rows of lush, green trees before looking back at you, finding a soft, pleading little look on your face. As much as Steve wasn’t initially jazzed about the idea, he couldn’t say no to you, his angel, “are you sure?”

“Yes,” you promised softly, taking his other hand so you were holding both of them, “I know the holidays haven’t always been the best for you, Steve, but I want to change that. I want to start new holiday traditions with you - you’re my family Steve, and that’s what matters. Not what’s happened in the past, or anything, just now and us. I-I love you, and I hope you know just how much. But I also understand if it’s something you’d rather not do. I just thought it might be nice…”

“I want to,” he promised softly, and you could see the glossiness of his eyes, and the slight tremble of his pretty pink lips. You looked at him with hopeful eyes and he nodded before leaning in and kissing you gently, “I really want to. You’re some kind of magic, huh?”

“No,” you shook your head softly, “I just happen to love you so, so much and want you to have the best Christmas ever.”

You wiped away the few tears that had rolled down his cheeks. He reached for your hand and pressed a kiss to your knuckles through the gloves and all, causing you to chuckle lightly, “thank you.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for,” it was a soft, reverent promise, “now come on, the perfect tree is out there waiting for us to find!”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You took a step back and looked around the large living room, taking it all in. The tree was up and fully decorated, the fireplace was crackling merrily, with two stockings hung on the mantle, along with lots of other decorations. You'd managed to find a couple boxes of old ornaments and decorations tucked away in the Harrington attic and pulled them out, along with the new ones the two of you had picked out. The whole place was decked out and festive, warm with love and affection. 

Steve was finishing putting up the tree topper, looking at you to make sure it was placed correctly. You nodded eagerly, giving him a thumbs up as he started to climb off the small step stool, “wait! Stay there for one second.”

“What are you up to, silly girl?” but he remained rooted in place as you ran up the stairs, listening as you fumbled around for a few moments before running back down. You almost tripped over your own feet, “slow down or we’ll end up with a trip to the ER!”

“It’s fine,” you held up the polaroid and waved it at him eagerly, “I wanna take your picture! We can start a whole new scrapbook.”

His entire body flooded with warmth as you held up the camera and he grinned at you. For the first time in a long time his smile for a photo didn’t feel forced or fake, but it was large and genuine. You snapped the picture and pulled it out as soon as it printed, shaking it gently before setting it onto the counter. Steve climbed down and came over to you, wrapping his arms around your waist before gently picking you up and spinning you around, which caused you to giggle happily. 

“Merry almost Christmas, my love,” you whispered when he set you down. The two of you were looking at each with sweet, shy smiles before you leaned up to kiss him, “everything looks beautiful.”

“Still not as beautiful as you,” his smile was cheeky as you playfully huffed at him. He fought off any remarks as he gently kissed you, “merry almost Christmas, angel.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The best part of having absentee parents was that you could spend as much time at Steve’s as you wanted. At this point you basically lived with him, stopping by your place only when you needed some clothes. Otherwise you were practically glued to him; you were on winter break from college and you were taking full advantage of it. You’d get up early to make sure Steve had something to eat before work, often stopped in to bring him and Robin lunch at Family Video, and liked to have dinner ready by the time he got home. He insisted none of it was necessary; you reassured him that you knew but still wanted to do it for him. He’d never been cared for as much as he took care of everyone else, and you enjoyed getting to do these types of things with him. Any moment spent with Steve was worth it.

“I think we have everything now,” you set down a bowl of crushed peppermints onto the table. You were decorating gingerbread houses together, and had pulled out all the stops, making sure you had everything you could have dreamed of, “these are going to be the best houses ever!”

“And I’ll bet mine is even better than you could ever dream of,” he teased, sticking his tongue out at you. You rolled your eyes dramatically as he leaned over and kissed your cheek, “hate to break it to you.”

“Oh? That sounds like a challenge Harrington,” you grabbed some of the frosting with a determined look on your face, “it’s on. Don’t cry when I win.”

“As if,” but there was a pretty smile on his soft lips as the two of you got to work. There was soft music playing on the radio as you both worked on your little houses. 

The two of you worked happily, random conversations popping up here and there as the afternoon passed. Steve had started a fire that warmed the whole downstairs as snow lightly fell outside. The freshly baked gingerbread (yup, homemade - you weren’t cutting any corners this year) filled the house with delicious smells. You wouldn’t have changed a thing about that day. 

“All done,” you grinned happily as you looked at the little house you’d created. It was far from perfect, but still extremely cute and you loved it, from the cracked peppermint snow to the little marshmallow snowman you’d constructed, “whaddaya think, Stevie?”

“It’s cute,” he looked it over, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully as he silently appraised your work, “not bad for some amateur work.”

“Amateur work?” you feigned offense as you clutched at your heart, “I’ll have you know that this is easily professional level craftsmanship! Let me see yours then, handsome.”

“Here you go,” he turned his towards you and you couldn’t help the way your mouth opened in surprise. He had done an excellent job for someone claiming it was his first time; the house was well constructed and adorable with all the little candy decorations. He’d even created two little people that were in the little yard, “tell me it’s not perfect.”

“It’s…amazing,” you admitted sheepishly as he grinned happily, looking ridiculously cute, “I love it, Steve. I like the little people too, very creative.”

“It’s us,” he whispered, trying to gauge your reaction. When he saw how your smile grew he couldn’t help but relax, “us in the future in our very own house.” 

“It’s just missing a few things then,” you whispered as he raised an eyebrow, “like a dog or a cat and a couple of kids for starters.”

His big honeyed eyes studied you as your cheeks warmed up along with a sweet smile. A nervous breath escaped his lips as you nodded softly, “do you mean it?”

“Yeah,” you whispered, “if that sounds good to you.”

“More than,” he leaned over and kissed you, his lips capturing yours in a soft, saccharine little kiss before he rested his head against yours, “it’s perfect.”

“I think so too,” carding a hand through his hair, you gently scratched at his scalp as he leaned into your touch, “I meant it when I said you’re my family, Steve.”

“I know,” he closed his eyes and exhaled shakily, “I’m so in love with you.”

“Me too, Steve, me too.”

“And this totally means I won, right?” he asked as you laughed, shaking your head in amusement before nodding in agreement, “what’s the prize then?”

“Whatever you want, handsome.”

“I can think of a few things,” his hands settled on your waist as he pulled you into his lap, kissing you with a growing neediness and hunger, “including you.”

“Yes, please.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

On Christmas Eve you woke up early to soft sunlight streaming in through the gauzy curtains and Steve still sleeping soundly next to you. He had an arm wrapped around your waist, his face burrowed into the pillow next to you as he snored lightly. You pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before untangling yourself from his long limbs. He made a small sound of protest but didn’t fully wake up and sank back into the covers. 

You wanted to get a jump start on the way and tiptoed downstairs to start on some breakfast before wrapping some of the presents you’d acquired for Steve. They weren’t anything grand or over the top, but small, special things you hoped he’d like. The rest of the gang was going to come over in the afternoon to spend the day together, a surprise that no one had spilled to Steve through some miracle. You wanted this to be the most special of all, and what better way than to spend the day with all of your favorite people?

Whatever divine being was out there was on your side today because you had just finished placing the last of the presents under the tree and turning on the lights when he padded downstairs. He looked so pretty, despite having just woken up with sleepy eyes and wild bedhead. 

“What are you up to, hmm?” you flounced over to him and leaned in to kiss him, ignoring his protests about having morning breath. You brushed his hair out of his eyes before brushing your knuckles over his cheek. 

“Nothing,” you lied sweetly, “just got up early today, ‘s all.”

“Mhmm,” he quickly picked you up, causing you to squeal in delight as he walked to the kitchen where breakfast was just about ready, “you already did all of this?”

“Yup,” you grinned as he set you down on the counter, “wanted to have it all ready for you, my love. Happy Christmas Eve.”

“Thank you,” he bit the inside of his cheek as he ghosted his fingers along your jaw before resting his hand at the base of your neck, tenderly stroking the soft skin there, “this has been the best Christmas of my life. All thanks to you, angel.”

“Not all thanks to me,” you insisted, pressing a soft finger to his lips, “but this has been the best for me too.”

The two of you studied each other for a few moments, exchanging soft breaths and shy smiles, accompanied by soft kisses. Before you could get too lost in him, you put a hand on his chest before gently pushing him back, “we should eat breakfast before it gets cold and you end up taking me to bed.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he teased as you slid off the counter and went to pour coffee, “never heard you complain before!”

“Oh, I’m not,” you insisted, grabbing his favorite mug, “but there’s much to do today! No rest for the wicked.”

“You’re up to something…”

“Me? Never,” you grinned sweetly, but he could see through your façade, “just…have things to do today.”

“Mhmm…” he didn’t believe you but wasn’t about to push either - he’d get it out of you one way or another.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You’d just finished showering and getting dressed - despite your insistence that Steve wasn’t taking you to bed, you hadn’t turned him down - when you heard the doorbell ring. You grinned as Steve looked at you in confusion, still finishing his hair. 

“I’ll get it,” you almost ran out of his room as he cast a curious look at you. He shook his head as he listened to you run down the stairs before he heard the creaking of the door. You grinned when you saw Dustin and Eddie accompanied by the rest of your friends, “hey guys! You’re just in time! He doesn’t suspect a thing.”

“Everything’s going according to plan for once,” Eddie handed you a bunch of mistletoe just as you had requested and you made a small sound of delight. You pressed a kiss to his cheek before stepping aside to let everyone in. 

Once the whole gang was inside, you heard Steve coming down the stairs. You all waited with bated breath as he realized that you were all here. His entire face lit up with happiness as he looked at everyone, “what’s all this?”

“Merry Christmas Steve,” you held your hand to him, motioning for him to come down. He eagerly took your hand, softening when you laced your fingers together, “it’s Christmas Eve and what’s a better way to spend the day than with your family?”

“Nothing,” he agreed, letting his friends all take turns hugging him, “this is wonderful you guys!”

The afternoon and evening was spent with lots of eating and playing some silly holiday games, while cheesy holiday movies played in the background. There really wasn’t anything that you could have thought of that was better. While you chatted with Robin and Nancy and Steve hung out with the boys, you could feel his gaze shifting back to you every now and then. It brought a smile to your face every time, making you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. 

It was late by the time everyone had left and you were thoroughly stuffed from all of the delicious and worn out from all of the festivities. You glanced around the kitchen as you took in the mess, letting out a small but happy sigh. Everything could wait until tomorrow, you decided. 

Steve was clearing some of the trash out of the dining room when you decided to put your little plan into action. You grabbed the mistletoe and held it behind your back as you stood in the doorway. Steve looked over and a smile crossed his features as he came over to you. 

He looked at you with the softest expression, “thank you for everything, sweetheart. Today was….it means the world to me, you know?”

“I’d do anything for you, Steve Harrington,” you promised, “but there’s one thing I’d like to ask of you.”

“Name it - anything.”

“Will you kiss me?” you held up the mistletoe as high as you could and looked at him with wide eyes as he beamed at you. He nodded softly, his hands finding your face as he leaned in and gently kissed you, right there under the mistletoe. He pulled back when you were both breathless and giddy, “merry Christmas, my love.”

“Merry Christmas,” he whispered against your lips, “the first of a lifetime together.”

[two-oaks-farmstead]

Preparing the Kitchen for Cataclysmic Culinary Chaos (and Avoiding Turkey Emergencies)

Preparing the Kitchen for Culinary Chaos Welcome to the battlefield, aspiring culinary warriors! As we gear up for those epic feasts that leave our stomachs full and our pants feeling a little too snug, it's important to remember that a well-prepped kitchen is your secret weapon against cooking disasters. Now, I'm no Gordon Ramsay (though I have been known to yell at my burnt toast on occasion), but I've got some tips to help you navigate the treacherous waters of holiday cooking with humor and grace. First off, let's talk about preparing the kitchen. It's like laying down a solid foundation before building your culinary masterpiece. Clear out any unnecessary clutter from your countertops - we don't want rogue utensils tripping you up in the heat of battle. And for goodness sake, sharpen those knives! Dull blades are like trying to fight a turkey with a rubber spatula - it's just not gonna end well. Preparing the Kitchen with the Right Tools A Nice Full Set of Good Utensils Will Serve You Well Stainless Steel Cooking Utensils Set Cooking Utensils Set with Spatula A Nice Set of Cookware Always Helps White Granite 10 Pcs Induction Kitchen Cookware Sets Cuisinart 17-Piece Cookware Set If You Are Going to Carve a Turkey, You Need Sharp Knives Pro Kitchen Knife Set Ultra Sharp High Carbon Stainless Steel with Ergonomic Handle Ninja Foodi NeverDull Premium Knife System, 9 Piece Knife Block Set with Built-in Sharpener Preparing the Kitchen - Have a Good Turkey Plan Next, let's address the turkey emergencies. These feathered beasts have a knack for throwing us off our game with their tricky cook times and unexpected surprises. One minute they're golden brown and delicious, and the next they're dry as sawdust. So how do we avoid this disaster? Well, my friend, especially if you are baking/roasting, invest in a meat thermometer! It may seem like overkill (pun intended), but trust me when I say that knowing the internal temperature of your bird can mean the difference between Thanksgiving triumph and poultry pandemonium. You could also try the deep-fried turkey (the personal favorite with my clan). It's way easier than it looks, just be sure to follow the safety recommendations ...otherwise keep 911 on speed dial! You could also smoke a turkey yourself if you have the equipment. In my humble but correct opinion, a smoked turkey ranks number 2 on the yummy scale! One more option, to err on the side of caution, is to simply order your bird ready to go from your local butcher shop-many offer this as a service. Now that is a great way of preparing the kitchen for those with bird anxiety! Preparing the Kitchen with the Right Recipes If you would like the recipes and tips from a true southern kitchen warrior family just check this out! From beginning to end, we've got you covered! 7 Recipes – 1 Awesome Christmas Dinner – Southern Style Preparing the Kitchen for Challenges - Chill the WIne And finally, remember to approach these culinary challenges with humor and grace. Yes, there will be mishaps along the way - burned pies, lumpy gravy, and maybe even an accidental sprinkle of salt instead of sugar (oops!). But hey, it's all part of the adventure! Fill up your wine glass, laugh off those mistakes, and embrace the chaos because at the end of the day, it's not just about perfect dishes; it's about the memories you create with your loved ones. So, my fellow kitchen warriors, arm yourselves with these prep tips and turkey emergency avoidance strategies. And remember, even if everything goes up in smoke (figuratively or literally), you'll always have a good story to tell and a reason to order takeout. Happy cooking! If you missed Parts 1-4, …What were you thinking??? That’s ok… You can get them right here! The Ultimate Guide to Preparing and Decorating Your Home for a Wild Family Feast at Christmas-Part 1 Family Feast Part 2: Declutter and Clear the Way for Feasting Fun Family Feast Part 3: Getting those Christmas Decorations On Point Family Feast Pt 4: Setting the Table for a Feast Fit for Royalty (or at Least Your Quirky Uncle) And you don’t want to miss part 6 either! MORE WAYS TO CONNECT We also, as a homesteading family, have a variety of blogs that might interest you. A Life on the Farm focuses on the more personal side of the homesteading life. We discuss subjects like family, parenting, relationships, homeschooling, cooking, canning and so much more. Two Oaks Farm Talk concerns the more technical side of homesteading. We discuss subjects like gardening, food prep, and farm building and construction with lots of tutorials! Farm Raised Family is basically a hub for everything under the Two Oaks Farmstead umbrella. You can learn a great deal about all parts of the farmstead there. The Farm Raised Family blog focuses on financial matters such as budgeting, saving, and more and on current events affecting families. You can also have a more in depth look at all that we do by visiting our Two Oaks Farmstead YouTube Channel and be sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss a thing! Farm Life and Freedom is the new podcast we are in the process of launching! It is going to be so much fun! You could also check in with our Farm Life and Freedom Youtube Channel. Two Oaks Farmstead is the farm store… the one that holds the umbrella! Check us all out and join us, not only on our blogs and Farm Life and Freedom podcast but come join the fun on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter… wherever you get social! Read the full article

[riftimagines]

Thanksgiving Headcanons

I live! At least for the Holidays XD. Anyway I’ve done some Thanksgiving Headcanons. I did some Sylas and Morgana because a lot of you have asked for them and I haven’t gotten to them so uh here’s some content for them XD I hope you enjoy!

Kayn

-Food? A lot of food? He’ll be there immediately for that. This one is basically a bottomless pit you’d think he has a void for a stomach. Where it all goes? You have no idea but you will notice as your cooking that some of your ingredients might be a little short or when one dish is done some of it is missing by the time dinner comes around. Damn ninja skills keep you from catching him but you know it’s him. The cheeky look on his face tells you enough.

-He does kinda like cutting the vegetables. It gives him an opportunity to show off his knife skills. By knife skills I mean flipping and twirling a knife in a way that looks like he’ll cut his fingers off and gives you anxiety to watch. The little shit that he his will laugh as you panic when he speed chops or seems like he’ll hurt himself or you. He does know what he’s doing though so no worries. He’s just a bit of an ass sometimes.

-With Thanksgiving comes not only food but family as well. Kayn’s family mostly being Zed and he is...well Zed. He’s stoic and intimidating for the most part. It’s actually kind of unnerving when he just sits there and watches you both. He very much so is just like a shadow lingering in the room watching but not really acting. Truth is he probably isn’t entirely sure what to do and doesn’t want to interrupt your hard work cooking there. He might finally move when he’s caught Kayn sneaking too much food and stop him in the act, slightly embarrassing Kayn in the process.

-He likes the holiday overall. It’s nice to spend time with those that actually mean something to him and it’s kind of nice to do something normal. At least for a day. Though perhaps he shouldn’t have eaten so much. He could really use a nap and a sweet love to snuggle with.

Akali

-She is so here for the cooking. Eating it is great but spending time with you and messing around making great dishes is the best. It’s fun to learn what you make and teaching you what she makes. In the end some dishes can even be mixed together to make a fusion that is uniquely your own and that definitely puts a light in her eyes.

-Her family of course is coming over, no debates. She won’t take no for an answer from anyone and will drag Shen and Kennen to dinner if she has to. It’s a family holiday! The balance can wait till tomorrow! She and her heartlight went through all the trouble to make a nice meal and they will eat it damn it! It’s both hilarious and terrifying to watch her pull the literal wall of muscle that is Shen towards the house all while telling him to screw the rules and take a break.

-Shen and Kennen are fairly calm company. It’s Akali that likes to stir the excitement. Usually by telling you old embarrassing stories or rumors she’s heard about Shen. To which he promptly denies or corrects which annoys Akali just a little because she’s trying to stoke some feeling out of him. It’ll get to the point she’ll start flicking food at him. At first she’ll just be chastised for doing so until something just breaks and Akali gets a very accurate shot of mashed potato launched at her forehead. It’s probably the first time you’ll see a small smile on the stoic eye of twilight and it really is hard not to laugh at Akali’s gripping.

-The holiday is actually pretty nice, even if she has to force her family to chill out for a day. She’s happy to wind down the day with you, some pie and maybe some tea while enjoying the cool nights breeze. This is really nice. Can you both do this all the time?

Sylas

-Is admittedly a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of food on this holiday. As someone who starved or ate moldy bread and rats it’s just so much. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to try everything and is absolutely sure everything is as heavenly as it smells. Anything is better then wet rats honestly.

-Feels a bit bad about having all this food for just you two. He’d probably want to invite people who are less fortunate to join you both. Especially poor mage families with children. No children should starve on a day for feasting. He could not bare to watch them suffer as he did.

-Even though he has no family of his own anymore he’s very happy to share this day with you and all these people. To see everyone eat and be merry. No prejudice. No status. No war. Just peace and happiness. It’s exactly what he wants to strive for. A world where everyone is equal no matter where they came from or who they are.

-He is very grateful to you for introducing him to this holiday. War is all well and good but it is so nice to remember what he’s fighting for and that it is possible to achieve his goal. For now though he’d just like to enjoy the day with you and show you how much you mean to him.

Morgana

-Ah a holiday celebrating family and togetherness. Such a lovely mortal holiday and truly one to be celebrated. She isn’t the best at normal cooking but she’s pretty good at baking! She’s happy to make a pie or some cookies for dessert. Otherwise she does need your help with everything else.

-She’s happy to let you try what she’s making and she’ll try what your making too. To be fair of course. It really warms her heart whenever your face lights up from something she’s made. Not only are you absolutely adorable but it makes her feel like all the lights from the heavens are shining on her once more when you been at her in joy. She did not think she was capable of giving light anymore and she is glad she’s wrong.

-Family is...a sore subject for her. A part of her wishes she could celebrate this day with Kayle. To be a family. To love again as sisters should, but that’s just a dream that will never come to fruition. She would be more down but she’s not alone. She has you! With all your mortal joy and love. Making her feel more joy now then the centuries she’s spent alone.

-She has enjoyed this day tremendously with you. You are wonderful to her in all your quirks and imperfections. You are all she could ask for. A person to love and to revive love back and for that on this day she can truly be grateful.

[joecial-distancing]

2019 in review in review:

A few years ago I started tracking yearly goals, books read, movies watched etc in a year, along with overview blurbs, in private posts. End of 2019/beginning of 2020 I was really frazzled/burned out about a lot of stuff and just never finished up making the thing. 8 months later, got the urge to read back what I’d got done, then figured I’d maybe go ahead and see about finishing. 

Media tracking below the break. thoughts/blurbs written in 2020 italicized, 2019 not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_____________________________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Didn’t do so hot on explicit personal goals, but had a lot of stuff go ok around them this year.

School’s been fine/better than fine.

Job’s probably the biggest failing. Still with same job, haven’t made the firm moves to jump off, dragging my feet too much on exploring stuff w/ Columbia/NASA GISS.

Did not get better with covid, lol

Dating life still non-existent, but I’ve registered on apps, gotten more comfortable with selfies, improved general social life dramatically, been flirted with, updated my wardrobe, and generally started to get comfortable accepting that I’m a hot person.

Somehow got extremely better during covid.

Books

Grant (finished)

We stan a taurus legend

Guy was good at exactly one job, and was fortunate enough to have been in the right place/right time to get to do it.

Mort (discworld)

Definitely best discworld I’ve gotten to so far.

Don Quixote p. II

Really entertaining in a way that part 1 wasn’t; I was shocked how much the meta element landed for me.

Consider the Lobster (DFW collection)

had zero context on who DFW is/was when I read, and still don’t exactly tbh. Wanted to wait for a pause in The Discourse before diving into more of him, but dunno if I’m ever going to get that.

Crime and Punishment (revisited)

Weirdly didn’t get much more out of this than I did the first time I’d read it

Better Than Sex (HST Gonzo papers)

Xerox/widespread fax accessibility opening citizen access to mass media in a manner really reminiscent of what social media would go on to do at a much larger scale. Has a much more deliberate narrative arc than the other gonzo papers collections, also has that excellent HST richard nixon eulogy

The Brothers Karamazov

SPQR

Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Didion collection)

Pet Sematary

Not my favorite King, but not bad

Sourcery (discworld)

still funny/charming, but Mort really made clear/reminded me how much the hapless sadsack Rincewind mold of protagonist wears on me after a while.

The Devil's Teeth

My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Liked it a lot more once I realized it was doing a Fear and Loathing thing.

Homage to Catalonia

This should be the Orwell that gets taught in schools. Make it a followup to All Quiet on the Western Front or something, jeez.

Lyndon Johnson I

Having now finished all of them, this one’s probably the least-interesting but sets up a bunch of important context that the others still then feel the need to retread.

The Razor's Edge

Recommended to me as a “white guy discovers eastern mysticism” book, but also is more interesting in its treatment of that than I’d expected (helps it was written in the 40s). 

Cat's Cradle

There’s a part in this where Vonnegut’s making fun of people who try to bond with strangers over being Hoosiers, and my dumbass immediate thought was “ooh, Vonnegut’s a hoosier? Me too!”

Lyndon Johnson II

Robert Caro felt compelled to apologize for spending so much words lionizing Coke Stevens, segregationist opponent to Johnson’s senate run. His goal was pretty clearly to show lbj’s lack of campaign charisma by contrast, definitely definitely overcommitted in his own narrativising.

Libra

I want to go back to this after reading some more De Lillo.

Gravity's Rainbow

This book absolutely kicked my ass

Overstuffed and referential in a specific way that really keeps me hooked in instead of put off. When I learn about some piece of cultural context that I retroactively recognize as being referenced in this, I want to go back and reread the entire thing.

From Caligari to Hitler

Kind of fails both as film criticism and cultural analysis, but absolutely made me want to run for the hills when considering current relationship between mainstream movies and demands of pop culture.

I took a class on Weimar cinema in undergrad that I now realize was probably biting pretty heavily from this and never once referenced it.

Movies

Venom

Movie itself is not as fun as the Tom Hardy hype coverage. PG13 was the absolute worst space to aim for, PG- or R- versions of this could have been a blast.

Harryhauser Argonauts

Was tripping when I put this on, and it was all kinds of fun.

2001: a Space Oddyssey

First time seeing this, all-time classic for a reason!

A Good American (the NSA doc)

Dr. Strangelove

Mel Brooks History of the World p. I

Not my favorite Brooks, best joke was at the beginning.

In Bruges

Had been a while since I saw a proper dark comedy.

Spiderverse

Fukkin awesome!

Visually great, and extremely better than usual superhero stuff for being aimed at PG instead of PG-13.

You Only Live Twice

Highlander (Revisited)

I watched The Old Guard on netflix recently and it mostly just made me wish I was watching Highlander instead, because at least Highlander knows exactly how goofy it is

Moonraker

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Much like The Shining, I though this would have been 100% spoiled for me by cultural osmosis, but turns out it wasn’t, and even the scenes I had seen *totally landed* in-context still.

Kung Fu Hustle

Ichi the Killer

Really gross, really fun

Matrix Reloaded (watched thru highway scene) (Revisited)

The highway scene was not nearly as cool as I remembered it being.

John Wick 3*

Probably dumbest plot of all of them, best choreography. I like how every single fight had its own distinct flavor. “Knife museum fight” “horse fight” “halle berry dogs fight” 

Akira

A classic

Pet Sematary * (ugh, bad)

Why can’t john lithgow be in good movies anymore

The Revenant

MCU Spiderman

Fuck this was awful.

MCU Spiderman 2*

Really weird, complete Rorschach Test of a movie: it’d be totally valid to read into this that global warming is Fake News, for instance.

Lmao this was completely awful

Rites

Dredd (non-stallone)

oh hey Lena Headey’s in this

For All Mankind!

Watched in honor of moon landing anniversary

Lion King *

Watched it way too stoned, was like dark side of the moon + wizard of oz except instead it’s a lion king script reading + nature footage edited for lip syncing.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood *

Many scenes of very long setups for really stupid shaggy dog jokes, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. I do kinda want to rewatch now knowing more about manson, which I knew pretty much nothing about beforehand

Blowout

A good john lithgow movie

also I think I like travolta in things.

Lord of War

A Good cage movie

I like when Eamon Walker shows up in stuff.

Taxi Driver

A classic

Snowpiercer

Watched in a bar with only one speaker working, which is the correct way to watch. Weirder and funnier than I thought it was going to be, which still doesn’t make it good, but,

dbz big green dub

Exorcist III

Brad Dourif just tearing it apart

Deep Red (argento)

Suspiria (1977)

Watched the remake in 2020, which was ok, but nothing tops the Goblin score.

Elf Bowling

Thanks, Gnome

Parasite *

Interesting to me that this one seems poised to hang around people’s good esteem for a while

TV

FMA: B

Rick & Morty

Saw some episodes, generally pretty funny, some misanthropy that’s probably appealing to a certain type of teen al a something like House, but ultimately I don’t totally Get the intensity of discourse about it.

Leterkenny

Mob Psycho 100

One Punch Man

Deadwood

Watchmen

Only watched like half of it. Was playing around with a lot of hefty imagery/thematics, but didn’t really seem ready to rise above playing (tho also I feel like it’s weird on some level to *expect* them to rise above that in the first place)

Music

New Avantasia

HEALTH/ show

lol remember concerts

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard/ show

Just learned about King Gizz in 2019 and got completely obsessed with them. I don’t tend to expand my music selection very readily, and a lot of what I currently *do* know is old/inactive stuff, so it was/is incredibly exciting to have an active group with good momentum just immediately win me over like that.

Mistimed the edibles and ended up with a really good finale and a really long subway ride home.

New Yeasayer

Sad they split up

Steve Wilson Tull remixes

Aqualung’s a good album and the sound mixing’s kinda bad, so I liked this project.

Stonefield

Opened for Gizzard. Really good as studying music

Video Games

Civ VI: Gathering Storm

Hades

Turns out Supergiant’s design proclivities all work *extremely well* on a roguelike

Baba is You

Untitled Goose Game

Cute, if maybe a bit overhyped

finally fucking finished Pillars of Eternity

Had fun with it, but too long, and really dour for how long it is.

Pillars II

Kinda drifted off it eventually, but I do genuinely like that the flavor of the fantasy is colonial era rather than medieval.

There’s a Balancing Bastard Factions element where it’s like the writers are just being smartasses after a while. Having to go extremely out of their way to make siding with colonizers seem like a competitive option.

Pokemon shield

Cuphead

pisses me off, which was a nice outlet when I was stranded by flight cancellations during thanksgiving

Celeste

Also very difficult, but really easy to stay patient with, which is nice.

Disco Elysium

None of the discourse made me want to play this, but people talking about the mechanical stuff it did got me extremely interested. Mostly Delivered IMO.

Breath of the Wild

You can approach the nodes of the main quest in the order you choose, and the second one I chose made ninjas start fucking spawning everywhere when I’m just trying to explore, and there’s no way to make it stop. May go back to it one day.

Podcasts

Relentless Picnic Patreon feed

The treats really helped me start distinguishing individual personalities, compared to the regular eps.

Picnic Discord!

<3

FatT Counterweight

Fun, but also I think Mechs are not my shit.

FatT Spring in Hieron/ end of that particular world

8 months since I’ve last tuned into FatT. ah well.

Law School

He’s in everythiiiing!

You Must Remember This: Manson family

*There’s* the context

Misc.

Kindle train guy

Times Square sleeping guy + kids taking selfies w/ him

toddler singing along after Psycho killer (a, ya, ya ya, ya)

drunk and dragged to a drag show

Central park football family

Soft Steel Drum Subway Busker

Weird old lady going to grand central for oysters

2018 in review (cards):

MySelf (CC)

Self: Tower

Blocked: 10 Cups

Ethereal/subconscious: 8 Swords

Material: 3 Swords

Past: Justice

Future: Page Wands

Attitude: Sun

External: King Swords

Hopes/Fears: 5 Coins

Trajectory: High Priestess

Also Self:

Hierophant

7 Cups

7 Coins

Blind Spot:

(self & others): 5 cups    ||    (others not self): High Priestess

(self not others): Moon   ||    (nobody): 3 Cups

[thefactsofthematter]

newsiestober - “family”

so. i may or may not be a couple days late on this, but the @newsiestober prompt for the 11th was “family” AND it’s thanksgiving weekend here in canada, so you know what i had to do...

i present: a thanksgiving spectacular, set in the cake fic verse, some time after javid’s wedding. you’re welcome. 1.1k words, no warnings!

-

Jack had mentioned it in passing one day, about two weeks ago.

He'd just casually thought to mention that— oh yeah, he told Medda they'd host Thanksgiving this year, since they just moved into a bigger place, so they've finally got space to entertain.

Davey had been incredibly overwhelmed at the idea of hosting all their family and friends-who-are-like-family, considering that neither he nor Jack has any clue how to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, but Jack Kelly has the kind of sheer confidence that will rub off on anyone, so he'd taken it in stride and simply decided to teach himself how to cook.

Now, two weeks later, the Thanksgiving-cooking-spectacular is in full swing.

Spot and Race are here to help— a godsend because, surprisingly enough, Race has a fair bit of culinary talent, probably something to do with growing up in a big Italian family. He's currently covering the uncooked turkey in a seasoned butter, rubbing it in a borderline obscene way that has Jack nearly pissing himself laughing.

Spot and Davey have been tasked with sitting in the dining room and peeling potatoes, to be cooked and mashed later, which is a task that they can certainly manage. Jack is tearing up bread for stuffing, and everything seems to be rolling along in an orderly fashion.

Crutchie will be bringing pies later, Sarah and Kath should be here eventually with a homemade cranberry sauce, and Medda will be bringing along her signature sweet potato casserole. It kind of seems like the whole meal might come together without a hitch.

"Race, I swear to god," groans Spot, staring into the kitchen at his husband, who now has an entire fist in the turkey for absolutely no reason. "Just put the bird in the oven or it won't be cooked in time. What are you doing?"

Race simply shrugs, looking very much like that meme of the cat with the knife— you know the one.

"We're having a good time," he replies, entirely nonchalantly. "You wouldn't understand."

Spot drops his head on the table and sighs heavily.

"Jesus, it's like having a child..." He sits back up and points a scolding finger at Race. "This turkey gave up its life so we could have a nice meal, and now you're violating it. Just put it in the oven."

Race rolls his eyes, but does as he's told, and Jack crosses the kitchen to help him load the huge roasting pan into the oven without dropping it.

The day continues on in a similar fashion— with Race directing everyone in how to makes the dishes, and then going off the fucking walls with chaotic energy as they work, doing everything form very dangerous pirouettes in the kitchen, to trying to juggle knives. He only begins to calm down when Medda arrives in the mid-afternoon, because although she knows just how crazy he can be, he still hates to embarrass himself in front of his mother-in-law.

Everyone starts to arrive shortly after Medda, and soon the apartment is abuzz with chatter and laughter. They're getting an early snow this year, just enough to look pretty out the window and start setting the scene for the holiday season, and then melt as soon as it hits the ground.

Esther is hovering around the kitchen, not used to leaving the cooking up to other people, but Sarah, Kath and Medda are trying to lure her away with a bottle of wine. Les is entertaining Smalls, showing her how to play some game on his phone, Mayer is dozing off on the couch, and Spot and Jack are now fully immersed in watching football.

This leaves Race, Crutchie and Davey to put the finishing touches on dinner— carving the turkey, stirring gravy, and tossing salads. Davey has, of course, been tasked with the easiest job of simply standing at the stove, drifting a spatula around a pot of gravy, while Race gets far too enthusiastic with a carving knife and Crutchie whips up a huge Caesar salad.

"Dinner in ten minutes!" yells Race, finally setting down the carving knife and letting Davey's anxiety levels sink back down. "If you don't wash your hands, you're not invited!"

Before he can even finish his sentence, Smalls has sprinted from the couch to take a seat at the table, which makes Race step out of the kitchen to shoot her an incredulous look.

“Don’t get your germs all over my meal,” he scolds, rather melodramatically, which makes her giggle. “There’s no way you washed your hands that fast.”

“I don’t have germs,” she whines, still laughing. “You’re the one who kisses my brother, so I think that means you have germs.”

In a mock rage, Race storms into the dining room and lifts Smalls out of her chair, dragging her back to the kitchen and holding her over the sink. She’s screaming with laughter as Crutchie turns on the tap and pulls her hands under.

“Disrespected by a ten year-old who won’t even wash her hands…” grumbles Race, who finally breaks his angry front and bursts into laughter as he starts to tickle her. “I can’t believe it! I really can’t!”

“You guys are gonna break something,” giggles Davey, corralling the two maniacs out of the kitchen as he starts to take food to the table. “Just go sit down, you goofs.”

Slowly, the whole family starts to filter into the dining room and sit down at the table, as Jack arrives to the kitchen to help Davey carry out food.

Once he’s sure they’re out of view of any too-curious eyes, Davey grabs Jack by the waist and presses him up to the counter.

“I’m thankful for you,” he whispers, before pressing a quick kiss to his husband’s lips. “You, and this whole crazy family we’ve got here. I’ve never been happier.”

Jack laughs and blushes a little as he leans up to kiss Davey back, but they’re interrupted by a squeal from the doorway.

“Ew!” screeches Kath, a glass of red wine in hand and huge, goofy smile on her face. “They’re kissing in here!”

Davey can feel his cheeks flush as the whole family bursts into laughter and Jack groans, subtly shooting Kath a middle finger.

“Everyone just start eating!” Jack yells, making everyone laugh a little harder. He kisses the corner of Davey’s mouth with a laugh. “We should probably get in there, shouldn’t we?”

-

tag list: (i removed the urls that don’t work anymore, if you didn’t get and tagged but you still want to be, let me know your new user!!)

@landlessbud @eponinemylove @i-got-personality @alovelymoonbeam @penzyroamin @graceful-popcorn @auspicioustarantula @orollyitsracetrackhiggins @backgroundensemble @magimerlyn @myheartissetinmotion @papesdontsellthemselves @supremebesson @marvels-ninja @aw-jus-let-em-try @big-potato-asshole @stop-the-presses @starrysence @wilde-guess @never-fear-brooklyns-here @fandom-fangirl07 @theresagoodchanceicouldfly @dying-poet @asphodelnerd @agressive-cinnamon-roll @daveysexual @soft-colors-and-such

[idealistmbti]

MBTI types as texts I’ve sent/received, part 2

part 1

INFJ  that pic he just posted on ig is so... menacing. like something you would see outside your window on a foggy night and screech

ENFJ had lunch with this guy who was nice except his general vibe just had a very strong likeness to Elliot Rodger

INTJ passed this girl coughing her lungs out in the hallway, first thought was “spew germs in your own fucking dorm, jillian” then as an afterthought “damn is she ok”

ENTJ children’s screams resounding through the house and no one bats an eye. happy thanksgiving

ISTJ guess who’s stressed and poorly dressed? whose life’s a mess

ESTJ prob just flunked my calc test, I had the Fanboy & Chum Chum theme song stuck in my head the whole time

ISFJ remembering those episodes of Avatar where Appa was missing is seriously enough to ruin my entire day.

ESFJ waiting for people to leave the kitchen so I can take the aluminum foil off my ugly spanish flan & be faced with my failures

ISFP I am sick and tired of living like this. I need enrique iglesias to release a spanish christmas album.

ESFP Idc if it’s fake, that season was still the peak of reality television. I nearly astral projected that time gloria went after shaun with a fucking kitchen knife

INFP I’m reading a Spider-Man fanfic and I keep accidentally imagining Tony Stark as Joe Mantegna instead of RDJ and I don’t know what to do

ENFP somehow my dad told me to bring him his stethoscope instead of his phone by mistake, but I didn’t question it so we basically ended up recreating the “why the fuck would I say printer?” vine

INTP naruto: becomes the strongest ninja in his village at 16 me, age 19: cannot complete the one (1) essay I wanted to finish this weekend despite it already being 90% done

ENTP urgent matter - someone help me find that song about the icky peanut butter womb

ISTP yeah he’d been sitting in the sun for like 2 hours, that stuff directly correlates with how photogenic the cat is. it’s like how iphones can charge wirelessly now he was just rly juiced up

ESTP look at that EXQUISITE mop top

[charlinert]

As Easy as Falling 34/?

New Chapter of As Easy As Falling….

A/N: TISSUE and EXCESSIVE USE OF COPING KIT WARNING!!!!

Summary:  Felicity Smoak had everything figured out until tragic news causes her to rethink her life. As part of dealing with tragedy she embraces her adventurous side in the form of skydiving. Will love be waiting for her between the clouds or will she let tragedy keep her away from falling?

Read from the BEGINNING AO3

***************

CHAPTER 34

The smell of omelettes wakes her and when she checks her phone it’s an hour later than when her alarm was supposed to go off. It’s Oliver’s day off and actually the day he’s supposed to take her to treatment, but today will be the day when they inform Dr. Isaacs that she’s not continuing with the trial.

She can hear the howling of the wind outside and she wishes she could just stay in bed, curled up next to Oliver and spend the day snuggling together, but today is important and even though she dreads what is coming, it has to be done.

She gets out of bed, puts on her fluffy nightgown and follows the smell of the omelettes being made in the kitchen.

For a moment she stands to the side observing Oliver behind the stove. He’s always been sexy to her, but standing there with a pan in his hand, being all domestic makes the sexiness increase a hundred fold.

“I thought you were still sleeping.” he says not even looking in her direction.

His hair might be growing back to the length she loves, but for some reason he still reminds her of a ninja.

“Why didn’t you wake me? I must have pressed the off button and I can’t even remember doing that.” she says walking towards the counter.

“I deactivated the alarm. Since you only have to be at the clinic a later today I thought it was a good idea to just have you wake up on your own. Yesterday was an emotional day and even though you’ve decided not to continue with the treatment you still need your rest Felicity and on that I’m not willing to compromise.” he finally turns towards her sporting a deep frown between his eyes.

She brings her hand to her forehead and jokingly salutes him, “sir, yes sir!” which at least makes him smile for a moment.

He puts down the pan on the stove after slipping the omelette in one of the plates and moves to the coffee machine. She sees this as a perfect opportunity to get close to him and wraps her arms around his waist resting her head against his back. She can feel the tension in his body dissipate the moment she does this.

“Good morning fiancé.” she says sweetly, holding her position, feeling him sigh.

He breaks her hands apart and turns his body so he can face her. His eyes soften and he gently kisses her. “Good morning beautiful.” he greets back in the tone he only reserves for her.

He sighs again, and when she frowns at his sudden change in demeanour she places her hand lightly on his cheek, gently tracing her fingers over his scruff, knowing his thoughts are at war inside his head.

“Hey…it’s gonna be alright honey. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

He looks down towards her eyes and she can see the tears welling up in his big blues again. “You don’t know that.” he says, his voice barely over a whisper as he tries so hard not to let the tears spill.

“You’re right, I don’t know that for sure, but I do know that it doesn’t matter what happens, our love is strong enough to overcome anything.” she tries to soothe.

“I don’t want to let you go Felicity. I don’t think I can handle losing you.” he finally caves as a sob leaves his lips and tears soon follow flowing down his cheeks.

She has no words. There’s nothing she can say that will make this better. All she can do is be here and comfort him in the same way he has done for her numerous times. She wraps her arms around him as he lays his head on her shoulder. She cradles his head allowing him to cry and she speaks soothing words into his ear.

After a while he calms down and she places the softest of kisses against his forehead. He gives her a watery smile as she wipes away the remaining tears on his face.

There isn’t anything any of them can say to make this better, but she’s determined to live her life, starting with their wedding. Once she’s sure he’s feeling a bit calmer she changes the subject to something exciting.

She touches his face one last time to make sure he’s okay then she takes over from him and starts making their coffee while he finishes the rest of their breakfast.

“So Mr. Queen, any ideas where you’ll be taking your new wife for our honeymoon?”

“Isn’t that supposed to be a surprise?” he asks curiously, failing to hide his smile.

“I suppose it is, but whatever you are planning I think you should probably just talk to Dr. Isaacs first.” she responds, feeling like she failed this attempt to turn the mood around. They are right back at facing facts again.

“I already have a few ideas, but you’re right. After today’s appointment I’ll talk to him and get his opinion.” he sounds a bit more like himself now.

She places the coffee on the counter and waits for Oliver to finish dishing up and sit next to her. They mostly sit in a comfortable silence eating breakfast when he puts down his knife and fork and turns to her.

“I’m sorry that I’m making this harder on you. I know it’s your choice but I’m having an incredibly hard time to accept that this is your future…that there’s absolutely nothing I can do to help you. I feel so powerless.”

“Oliver, hey, hey look at me.” she prompts taking both his hands into her own. “I know this is hard and don’t think that it escaped me that you didn’t sleep a wink last night mister!” she tries to joke. “But honey we can’t change the possible outcome of this. You have done so much for me and Oliver you have changed my life in a way that I didn’t even think was possible. I didn’t think I would be sitting here with my fiance the day I was diagnosed with this illness, but here I am. But I am sick and it’s reality.” he sighs working through her words. “Oliver, reality or not, we cannot let this stop us from living our lives. I choose to plan for our future. I choose to believe that I am at least going to have some sort of future with you and by that I’m not saying we should ignore the facts, I just want us to live. And when it comes to the hard parts we’ll deal with it like we’ve always done, but let’s enjoy our time together…no regrets okay?”

He nods his head in approval and takes a deep breath, “no regrets.”

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

She feels so much lighter since she made the decision to stop the treatment. She braced herself for her mother’s reaction to the news but her reaction blew her away. She could see her mother was sad, but the support that sprouted from that was unbelievable and almost out of character from the eccentric woman she’s known all her life. Their main focus became the wedding and she’s incredibly grateful for this distraction.

She decided to go back to work too. Since she’s becoming a Queen, she needed her colleagues and employees to see that she is invested in this company and that she loves her job just as much as the first day she started working there.

On Oliver’s insistence she only works three days a week and only half days so she can give her body enough rest as well. He keeps on reminding her that he’s not willing to compromise on the fact that she needs her rest despite the new changes happening in their lives.

Although she rolls her eyes at him every time he would say something like that, she is grateful for his insistence on this matter. Stopping treatment didn’t necessarily mean that all the side effects stopped immediately. It took a while, but within the first two weeks before her first checkup she already felt a huge difference in her body. She still grows tired, but the nausea is gone and surprisingly the pain is much less too.

Oliver doesn’t miss one checkup and they were happy with the fact that the cancer cells either increased by a very small percentage or stayed the same, so the medication she is using is sufficient and no major changes has to be made.

Planning the wedding on the other hand is a whole other story. She has her hands full between the bizarre ideas of her mother and her very opinionated future sister in law. Strangely enough Moira is the chilled one and her new hiding place from her ‘wedding planners’. The only request from Moira was to have the wedding at the Queen Manor and quite frankly she didn’t have a problem with that request at all. It is an intimate setting and far away from unwanted prying eyes.

They decide on a small ceremony with 80 of their closest friends and family. They also added a few important colleagues from Queen Consolidated and the Star City elite, since it is the Queen’s first born getting married. The amount of guests is relatively small considering the elaborate parties that’s been held at the Queen Manor.

The weeks fly passed between Thanksgiving celebrations and Hanukkah with her mom. They had a huge celebration at Oliver’s loft prompting another long discussion from her mom about why they were staying in Felicity’s small one bedroom apartment when Oliver’s loft had so much more space.

It does make sense though and after another discussion at home they decided that Felicity would move into the loft before the wedding which will become their primary residence. Donna would move into Felicity’s apartment for free. Felicity feels that she owes her mom at least this and by giving her the apartment she has peace of mind that her mother has a roof over her head and doesn’t need to worry about making rent every month.

So here she is on Christmas Eve at the Queen Manor staring at the Christmas tree’s twinkling lights while everyone is scurrying around to get dinner ready. Raisa insisted that she stay away from the dining room and the kitchen, much to Oliver’s delight and she’ll probably have to endure the teasing for a long time after this.

“Are we winning with the seating chart?” Thea asks almost jumping on the couch next to her.

“I hate this part.” Felicity grumbles reverting her attention back to the tablet on her lap.

“It’s not that bad.” Thea mocks her and places her hand on Felicity’s bald head, patting it.

She decided to forego the wig tonight. Since it is just family she wants to be as comfortable as possible.

“Felicity! Your hair is growing back!” Thea exclaims making Felicity laugh at the high pitch.

“Yeah, it’s already two centimetres an…”

“It’s blonde!” Thea interrupts inspecting the fine hairs on Felicity’s head.

“I know right? They say that sometimes after treatment hair changes. Some people who had straight hair suddenly have curly hair and a lot of other strange things, but what is really curious though is how fast my hair is growing. I didn’t expect it to grow so fast.”

“It’s incredible Felicity. How are you feeling though?”

“Except for the tiredness I’m actually feeling quite good. The pain is much less and I’m thankful for that and I’m just…I feel like myself again you know?”

Thea nods in understanding and leans forward to give Felicity a hug. “Next week this time you’ll be my sister for real and I’m so happy you’re feeling better.” Thea says still holding on to Felicity.

“Me too Thea.” Felicity responds placing a kiss on Thea’s temple when they break the hug.

“You get back to the seating chart while I go and assist with the last couple of things in the dining room. I just wanted to check if you were okay.”

“Thanks Thea. You’re awesome, although I think you would be more awesome if you took over the seating chart.”

“No chance sis. Your wedding remember?” Thea winks and leaves the room laughing.

She has to give it to Thea, she is very crafty when it suits her. This whole time she couldn’t help herself arranging the wedding, but when it comes to the bad parts, now all of a sudden it’s her wedding.

Felicity laughingly shakes her head and looks down at her tablet moaning to herself. She has to focus otherwise she’s never going to be able to get this chart organised before the wedding.

When the doorbell rings she whispers a soft “oh thank God,” and jumps up to open the door. At this point she doesn’t care that things work differently here, as long as she doesn’t need to stare at the names on her tablet anymore, she’ll talk to whatever stranger is at the door.

“I’ll get it!” she yells on her way to the door and opens it.

“Dr. Isaacs?” she says surprised seeing the older man standing outside the door. Did Moira invite him to the dinner? Why is he here?

“Good evening Felicity. My apologies for interrupting your family on Christmas Eve, but I had to speak to you about an urgent matter.” he explains.

He is pale and looks conflicted carrying what seems to be her medical file.

“Felicity, we have a problem.”

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