#mori's holiday series

[moriiartist]

Just reblogging this b/c I'm feeling in the holiday mood, and rereading these makes me happy! Cheers, and happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate :)

BACK TO NAVIGATION…

The tag list can be found here!

OVERVIEW…

SYNOPSIS: In order to get into the holiday spirit, I have decided to release ten special oneshots featuring our favorite block men! These stories mainly revolve around Christmas traditions (hence the title of the series), and contain plenty of tropes that I like, so I decided to beat you over the head with them. 

SCHEDULE: Once per day from December 15th to December 24th!

STATUS: Started 12/15/21, Finished 12/24/21

Keep reading

[arts-bloody-rose]

Blood of A Rose - Bait and Switch (Art the Clown x Fem!Reader)

Masterlist

Summary - A series of unfortunate events leads to (Y/n) turning on her favorite clown.

Notes - Based on a request to show reader snapping on Art 🫢 I originally wanted to take a smutty approach, but I didn’t feel that it was realistic to his character and behavior in this scenario so decided not to for this one.

Word Count - 1,926

Warning(s) - Acts of aggression, minor argument/tension, angst

Song Inspiration -

Ice Nine Kills - Ex-Mørtis

The rain started the week. It wasn’t the soft, misty kind (Y/n) usually enjoyed during her peaceful walks through the cemetery, finding time for herself to recoup.

No, it was a downpour that began when she was still a good distance from home. An unrelenting, soaking storm that had her sprinting back, camera now ruined despite her best efforts to shield it. 

When she entered the building, anyone who even glanced at her would steer clear. She stood stiff in front of the door that closed behind her, clothes drenched and dripping wet along with her hair that stuck to her face. Her eyes held a heavy glare, filled with hatred for the universe that defied her. 

As she shuffled into the work area that Art occupied in front of his desk, she made her way over and took the camera from around her neck, nearly slamming it onto the empty stool beside him. 

Art jumped, items dropping from his hands and snapped his head to look over at her. He took in her disheveled appearance and emotionless expression, then suddenly started to hunch over in laughter. He motioned at her during his fit and held a hand over his stomach as she crossed her arms, giving him a pointed look. 

“I don’t suppose you know how to fix a water-damaged camera?”

He then gasped, laughter coming to a halt. He pointed to the soaking camera and her eyebrow twitched in confirmation. Art pouted and solemnly shook his head. 

She rolled her eyes and went on to spend the next few hours trying to salvage what she could, praying the water hadn’t seeped into the lens she so loved, but no amount of drying or tinkering helped. The final death blow came when the shutter jammed with a soft click. Silent, but devastating.

The tone was set for what she now declared a dreadful week. 

(Y/n) woke up the next night to find her latest series submission, Memento Mori, was shredded by protestors through the local newspaper. She had come to expect the harsh criticism, but something about this particular review clawed at her. It was brutal, dismissive, and worst of all, physically destroyed her work.  

Tasteless, is what they called it. As if her entire soul, spilled across her paintings and photos, could be reduced to a single word. (Y/n), who had always been quiet and careful about how she handled criticism, could barely stop her hands from trembling as she lowered the paper with an incredulous chuckle.

It stung in a way it hadn’t in a long time. And that sting stayed with her as her hand came up to press against her forehead in disbelief. 

“I don’t get it. These same people go out and watch people get slaughtered for fun in the movies, dress up all bloody and disfigured for some holiday, yet when I put it on a canvas it’s morbid?” (Y/n) ranted and ripped the newspaper in half, tossing it into a steel bucket and beginning to pace. 

Sensing the rising tension, Art put down his tools and spun on his stool to face her, one leg crossed over the other with his hands folded over his knee as he gave her his full attention. 

She whipped to face him, hand on her hip as she continued. “Am I really that fucking messed up? Am I wrong? Just because I don’t follow their status quo?” 

Art shook his head with a snobbish expression, pointing his nose up, hand shooing at the space beside him. 

“Trust me, I wish I could brush it off, but when someone tears up my work, that’s an entirely different story.” His face twisted into an offended countenance, nearly breaking his neck with how quickly he looked at her. 

He then stood and grabbed the ripped newspaper from the bucket, holding the two pieces together to read the article. He analyzed the photos provided showing security cam footage of the perpetrators, taking in every detail of the individuals involved. 

Art then dropped it back into the bucket, stalking past her to grab his bag and throwing it over his shoulder. He turned to look at (Y/n) who simply watched indifferently and nodded his head towards the door for her to follow him. 

As the rest of the week piled on with a series of small mishaps, it seemed as if she was only inching closer to her breaking point. The littlest inconveniences chipped away at her already weaker state of mind given what had happened already. 

Packages arriving late, leaving her without the materials she needed for her next gallery submission. Tripping over a piece of wood laying around in the work area to which she casually flipped off. Her shirt getting caught on a doorknob as she walked past it in an already irritated state of mind. 

(Y/n) tried to push it all aside to maintain her usually calm demeanor, but it all inevitably added to the growing pit of frustration in her chest. She felt it slowly spreading, a storm forming just beneath her skin.

By Friday, her patience was thinner than spider silk.

She painted the canvas on her easel, limited to such mediums as her new camera had yet to be delivered. She felt the metal piece connecting the bristles to the handle wiggle as it loosened over time, teetering on the edge of falling off as she painted in the finer details of her work. 

As per usual, Art sat at his desk beside her, tinkering away. He then paused with a thoughtful expression, tapping the screwdriver in his hand against a nearby empty jar. 

(Y/n) sighed, trying to keep calm as she thought the sound wouldn’t last too long and he would go back to working. When it didn’t, she took a deep breath to compose herself. 

“Please stop.” She asked politely, but he caught her irritated undertone and his eyes glimmered. 

He held up the hand that was tapping in an apology, nodding before looking back at what was in front of him. As (Y/n) continued to paint through the interaction, he grinned mischievously. 

The tapping resumed and (Y/n) poked her tongue at the inside of her cheek, dropping her arm that was painting and tapped her foot. She closed her eyes to calm herself once she felt the familiar sense of anger begin to bubble, taking another deep breath. “Art, stop.” She asked a second time, her voice now firm. 

He pouted and put his hands in his lap, looking down at it in disappointment. She paused for a moment, waiting for him to start back up. When she deemed it clear, she lifted her arm again and resumed painting. 

For the third time, the tapping resumed, this time in a rhythm. Her heart began to race as the frustration continued to build, nearly spilling over. It felt as if the sound was only getting louder, the high-pitched sound of the glass nearly painful. 

Just as she thought it couldn’t get any worse, the tip of the brush finally fell off and paint smeared onto the canvas as it fell. 

Without hesitation, she dropped the handle and snatched the jar from Art’s desk, chucking it against the wall nearby and shattering it to pieces. 

She stared at Art furiously, nose flaring slightly. His hands were up in defense, mouth creating an ‘o’ of surprise with eyebrows raised. He then smiled deviously, setting down his tools without breaking eye contact and rising from his chair intimidatingly. 

Her head tilted up to look at him, standing her ground and expression unchanging as he stepped in front of her. His hand then snatched her jaw, almost painfully as he forced her to hold his gaze. His nose twitched before he suddenly let go, turning away from her with a frown and walking towards his bag. 

He picked it up, slinging it over his shoulder and looked at her one last time before walking out of the building. 

(Y/n) stared at the door as it closed behind him, taking a deep breath. She turned to look at the shards of glass on the floor, biting her lip in thought. One of her hands covered her eyes, then ran down her face before she grabbed a broom sitting against a corner and began to sweep up the mess. 

Guilt began to set in as she finished, deciding to wind down in her room before anything else had happened. She sank into the edge of her bed, elbows on her knees as her hands held her head.

(Y/n) tried to defend him, telling herself that he was just trying to cheer her up. But that couldn’t have been true. He knew she was irritated and went ahead and continued to annoy her anyways. But that still didn’t mean she had to lash out at him of all people. 

He had his own personal oddities and behaviors that were out of the norm, but he still had her best interest in mind. He just didn’t know how to properly show it and she should have been more understanding. 

(Y/n) eventually laid down on the bed, closing her eyes as her music played softly in the background. 

She wasn’t sure how long it had been before she heard the front door open again, a couple of hours at the least. She shot up from her bed, taking a deep breath and stood to open her door. She looked to her left, seeing Art’s now bloodied form dropping his bag in the workroom and she immediately walked over to him. 

Art jumped when he felt arms wrap around his torso from behind, face twisted into confusion before he realized what was happening. His shoulders relaxed, expression neutral as his dirtied hands came up to rest over (Y/n)’s arms. 

Her breath seeped through his suit as she sighed and he patted her arm, turning around in her grasp to face her. She looked up at him with apologetic eyes, lips frowning and his head tilted endearingly. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you…” She mumbled in shame, gnawing at her lip anxiously as he stared down at her with a level of intensity that was almost too much to bear. 

Art patted her cheek, his usual smile popping onto his face when he pulled away from her and motioned for her to wait a second. He turned to his bag and began to dig through it, picking out a few things before turning back to her. 

In his hands were new brushes. From the looks of it, they seemed to be of higher quality and her eyes lit up. 

The smile now on (Y/n)’s face nearly rivaled his own as she gently took the brushes from him, eyeing them in appreciation. She giggled excitedly and hugged him tightly, cheek squished against his chest. He patted her back, tipping his hat when she pulled away. 

“But why? I snapped at you?” She asked genuinely. 

He simply shrugged with a sheepish look and she giggled and shook her head, stepping up to kiss him on his cheek. He blinked rapidly at her, swinging abashedly. 

“Why are they bloody?” (Y/n) asked him with a smirk when he started to turn to make his way to his desk.

Art froze, lips downturned as if he was caught in the act with wide eyes, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. 

Tag list: @callsignwidow @hoe-for-daddywise

[azure-firecracker]

X-Files Masterpost

This post will be a central location where y’all can locate all of the X-Files content I make on this blog. Hopefully it makes it easier for things to be found! The goal is to update semi-regularly, but it will not always be 100% up to date. Also bear in mind that I am a first-time watcher, so please refer to my most recent posts if you want to know where I am in the show. I hope this is helpful!

My favorite thing about this fandom is how friendly y’all are, so please feel free to come to me with questions about any of my TXF stuff, fic or meta requests, random asks, or anything at all:)

My X-Files Fanfic

I have a general rule of not replying to comments for mental health reasons, but if you read these, know that I cherish every single comment and they often make my day, so please consider commenting if you enjoy:)

Beneath the Ice, Beneath My Skin (Teen and Up, 9,984 words): My first fic! An alternate version of Ice where Mulder is actually infected by the parasites. Paranoia and tension ensue!

Flight and Sanctuary (Teen and Up, 6,656 words): Scully and Mulder deal with the aftermath of Irresistible. Lots of angst, lots of worry, lots of hurt/comfort. As of the creation of this post, this is my most popular fic.

(And FANART! By @scullysmywife ! Yippee!)

Salvation (Teen and Up, 7,599 words): Mulder’s perspective during his missing scenes in The Erlenmeyer Flask, followed by how he and Scully cope with the trauma. Very angsty featuring some torture. 2 chapters: one during the episode, one after. The chapters can be read individually or together.

Save Me from the Fire (Teen and Up, 5,672 words): An alternate version of Our Town where Mulder and Scully switch places. Very tense, but also very heartfelt and tender (I hope). A personal favorite of mine.

And FANART❤️❤️❤️ by @scullysmywife

Piece Me Together (General Audiences, 3,147 words): Scully takes care of Mulder post-731. Introspection and moments of extreme proximity ensue. Probably the most introspection-heavy fic I’ve written.

Caught on Tape (Teen and Up, 4,044 words): Scully finds tapes that Mulder made for her while she was abducted. Very emotional, almost pure angst with a bittersweet ending.

I Hate All of My Habits, But I Happen to Love You (General Audiences, 5,066 Words): A series of vignettes depicting Mulder’s internal monologue throughout some pivotal/my favorite MSR moments, as he slowly realizes he’s falling in love. This fic was a birthday present to myself:)

Raise Your Voices (Teen and Up, WIP): My ongoing multi-chapter fic in which Mulder and Scully go undercover in a community choir. Set in Season 2, featuring lots of fluff, humor, angst, hurt/comfort, and little tidbits about folk music from all corners of the world.

(And FANART! By the amazing @scullysmywife !)

Fic Rec Roundup (Seasons 1-3): Favorite fics I’ve read.

My Season Reviews

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Individual Episode Takes

Deep Throat

Ice

Beyond the Sea

Irresistible

End Game

Anasazi

Syzygy

Wetwired

Memento Mori

Small Potatoes

Demons

Meta

Mulder + Scully + Saving Each Other

Intelligence Comparison

Mulder + Scully + Needing Saving

Season 2 Abduction Arc

The Problem with Season 2

Conversation on the Rock

What they Need to Hear: Irresistible vs. Teliko

Bringing Him Back to Life

MSR + Truth and Lies

Playlists

Mulder

Scully

Me Ranting About The Mulder and Scully Playlists (Not a Playlist)

TXF x Songs

MSR x Gracie Abrams Songs

MSR x Billie Eilish

Miscellaneous

Mulder + Scully being lousy at their jobs ( +Addendum)

Acknowledging Scully + Mulder’s good agent-ing in Season 1

Fanfiction Writers Made TXF

Why I love MSR

X-Files Episode Locations Game

My Camp Roommate’s Reaction to TXF

Criticizing the Score (+ Accompanying Meme)

Scully the “Rational One”

X-Files Ask Game

Pet Headcanons!

Holiday Headcanons

[aquagirl1978]

A Series of First - Masterlist

Thank you to all who participated in this event - I was shocked by the tremendous interest in this event. Never had I thought so many would write for this event - and to have written pieces for so many different suitors. I hope everyone who participated had fun and those who read any of these fics enjoyed seeing some new content for these suitors on their feed.

Ikemen Sengoku

Much Has Changed But I Still Have You (Keiji Maeda) by @whatever-fanfics

Coincidences (Ranmaru Mori) by @nightghoul381

First of Many (Ranmaru Mori) by @whatever-fanfics

Welcome to the Future (Kichou) by @cidylee

Ikemen Revolution

Happy Together (Harr Silver) by @aquagirl1978

The Yule Ball (Blanc Lapin) by @aquagirl1978

Deck the Halls (Fenrir Godspeed) by @aquagirl1978

Ikemen Vampire

Merry Christmas My Juliet (William Shakespeare) by @eventinelysplayground

The Beginning with You (Jean d'Arc) by @fang-and-feather

First Kicks (Vincent van Gogh) by @not-krys

How Far We've Come (Jean d'Arc) by @fang-and-feather

Adjusting to a New Life (Sebastian) by @fang-and-feather

Quickies at the Holiday Party (Charles-Henri Sanson) by @fang-and-feather

Ikemen Prince

Dance Lesson (Jin Grandet) by @eventinelysplayground

Say Yes (Jin Grandet) by @randonauticrap

Guilty Pleasure (Kagari Amagase) by @nightghoul381

Ikemen Villains

Staged (Liam Evans) by @judejazza

Cigarettes After Sex (Jude Jazza) by @aquagirl1978

[ourstaturestouchtheskies]

💘 valentine's 💘 day 💘

illustration from The Quiver of Love: A Collection of Valentines Ancients and Modern by Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway

hi y'all!

sending you all valentine's greetings! 💖💝

I just wanted to let y'all know about a couple things I'm planning to do on the blog for valentine's day 💕💕

I'll be the first to admit that valentine's day is not exactly a favorite holiday of mine, but it's hard to deny the appeal of the aesthetics. so, to that end, I thought we could have a little fun with it 🥰

here's what I've got lined up:

cursèd valentines 🥀💔

a series of "anti-valentines" that I designed last year that you can send to your belothèd or just to your other friends who aren't big on valentine's day. the designs feature some lovely arrangements of poisonous flowers lol

macabre valentines 💀❤️

a couple valentines I designed last year with some danse macabre imagery and lyrics from noah kahan's "everywhere, everything." these are romantic I suppose, but in a distinctly memento mori way

"ash-entines" ⚰���💕

considering that ash wednesday happens to coincide with valentine's day, I thought this would be a fun time to combine some traditional valentine's imagery with some good ol' ash wednesday bleakness lmao. I don't celebrate ash wednesday anymore, so this is really just more to indulge my love for the drama of it all than anything else

inbox valentines exchange 💘💝

since we can't drop valentines and candy into each other's decorated shoeboxes, feel free to pop into my inbox (on or off anon - whichever you prefer!) with an emoji or a "happy valentine's day" or whatever strikes your fancy, and I'll give you a silly little vintage valentine 🥰

okay, if you made it to the end, thanks for reading! that's all I've got for you today, but I hope you enjoy your valentine's day however you choose to celebrate!! 💕💖💘💝

[johannesviii]

Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2023

What a weird year for pop music, full of strange trends, confusing garbage and unexpected hits. Once again, even if the charts don’t always reflect it, music as a whole is currently very interesting to follow closely.

Disclaimers / Rules:

I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these lists. There’s songs that charted in my country way higher than they did in the US, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

No song that I already put on a previous list is elligible.

No old hit song that is re-charting due to a holiday or a trend is elligible either.

Of course there will probably be stuff in French somewhere on this post. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible.

I have sound-to-color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

A lot of bad stuff happened to me this year (several accidents in a row, and also my cat died) but some good stuff too, thank goodness. I only went to two concerts this year (Bloodywood and BMTH), but they were both absolutely amazing. Pretty sure the Bring Me The Horizon one was the best concert I ever went to, actually, and there's a lot of competition considering all the great ones I went to in 2022. I'm just sad 100 gecs had to cancel theirs, I was really looking forward to it. Oh well.

Let’s start with the good or interesting albums that came out in 2023, and oh my, that's a long list already.

Albums

Starting as usual with stuff that disappointed me: Depeche Mode's Memento Mori was... actually it was all right, but I miss the days when I could get excited about a new Depeche Mode album, I really do.

Pink Tape by Lil Uzi Vert was a giant fucking mess. There's some absolute bangers on it, and then you get to the next track and it's the worst thing you've ever heard. Which makes for an interesting listening experience, for sure, but one I'm in no hurry to repeat. At least it's never boring.

After the Magic by Parannoul isn't exactly my cup of tea, but you should definitely listen to it once, I think. It's something special. It might grow on me, though, because I only listened to it for the first time last month.

On the other hand, I listened to Scaring the hoes by Jpegmafia and Danny Brown a while ago, and while this one is definitely not my cup of tea, it's also a ton of fun and I don't feel like a single second of my time was wasted on it. You should listen to it for the samples alone, and just out of sheer curiosity if nothing else.

A kiss for the whole world by Enter Shikari is a weird beast, because the singles are absolutely incredible, but then the rest is a big pile of nothing (at least in my opinion). But the singles, man. I really don't know how to judge it as a whole, the quality is on a rollercoaster.

Kind of the same thing happened with Electric Sun by VNV Nation, one of my favorite bands of all times if not my favorite, if you recall. Some tracks completely floored me, the rest was meh. Oh well. Noire was so incredibly good that I can live with an average VNV album dropping after it.

Fanfare by Dorian Electra was full of absolute bangers but... I don't know, there's some of the madness of the previous record missing. And yes, I'm saying the album containing the minion line (you know the one) is more serious than My Agenda. Go figure. But it's still very good!

Two different friends told me to listen to 4D by Blank Banshee, so I did, obviously. Great electro album. Send tweet

I'm not entirely sure what to think of Atta by Sigur Rós. I cried several times while listening to it for the first time and it's a genuinely impressive series of tracks, but it's also so devastating I've only relistened to it twice since then.

I only discovered Svalbard a couple of years ago, and this year they dropped The weight of the mask, which might be even better than their previous album. It's mostly about depression and trying to fake normality while being depressed. Not a very pleasant topic, and yet this is full of energy and... hope? Everything sounds unbearably bright and between the screams, you feel like everything will be better eventually. Great stuff.

Speaking of depression, there's also No joy by Spanish Love Songs. If you recall their previous album was my album of the year a few lists ago. Their sound changed slightly, and at times it almost sounds like The Killers, but not in a bad way. There's a couple of tracks I don't like very much, but the writing is still on point, and some tracks are among my faves I put in the "unelligible songs" part.

Census Designated by Jane Remover, on the other hand, came out of nowhere just to kick me in the face. I don't even know what to say about that one. Go listen to it.

I found Gunship almost by accident a few months ago, and they immediately dropped a new album, called Unicorn. It's just a huge pile of great synthpop through and through - if you don't mind a couple of really stupid lines (godddd that third track is full of them). The other downside is that it's way too long (more than an hour), and if it was up to me, I'd remove at least four tracks from it. Unlike...

...10000 gecs by, who else, 100 gecs. It's less than half an hour long and it's so fun and so varied in its sounds and so stupid while still being incredibly well produced. For the longest time I couldn't decide which one of the last five albums on this list was my favorite, and then I relistened to all of them in a row and felt compelled to play this one a second time after I was done. Definitely worth the wait.

Unelligible Songs

This is kind of a non-hits rec list of sorts, but you know the drill. I also have to mention that two songs from previous lists (The Magic Key by One-T and Dernière Danse by Kyo 2003 represents) recharted this year for some unfathomable reason.

Gonna start with my fave tracks on some of the albums I already mentioned. Because why not.

The only song I consider great on the Depeche Mode album was People are good which sounds like character development considering People are people also exists

Speaking of Depeche Mode, one band arguably out-depeche-moded them this year so let me introduce you to ††† (Crosses) with Ghost ride, Invisible hand and Holier

Lil Uzi Vert is next with Suicide doors and its deranged intro immediately followed by FUCK YOU, AND FUCK YOUR BITCH then Uzi following that by stating they're the Crow. Yes, really. Also there's Werewolf, literally a Bring Me The Horizon song with Lil Uzi Vert on it, and if I had a nickel every time that happened this year I'd have two nickels, which isn't much but-

Wait let me interrupt this list with another song called Werewolf which I've listened to WAY too much this year. It's the kind of song you listen to ironically at first but after the tenth time that happens you realise it's no longer ironic and you love it for real. Seeing Motionless In White live kinda helped, not gonna lie, but still

For Enter Shikari, we have A kiss for the whole world, Bloodshot, and especially [pls] set me on fire, which might be one of my most listened to tracks of 2023, actually

VNV Nation had Wait, Invictus, and Artifice, which are all absolute bangers in my opinion. Ronan is angry and we love to hear it

By the way this year Pink released an extremely VNV-like song called Trustfall and it's very good but also uncanny

Kylie Minogue is also doing something vaguely similar with Hold on to now but in a more mainstream normal way btw

And then for something completely different, we have Dorian Electra singing about obsessive fans on Symphony, fame on Wanna be a star, and most importantly writing anon hate and immediately deleting it on anon

Run is the first track of the Blank Banshee album I rec'd and it's only one minute long so listen to it maybe

Technically I can recommend Gold if you want some taste of the Sigur Rós album but you need to listen to the entire album to get the full crushing effect

Svalbard isn't going to lighten up the mood with How to Swim Down and Faking it

Neither is Spanish Long Songs with Clean-up crew, Marvel, Here you are and Lifers, the last one being notable for having what's possibly my fave bridge of the entire year, and all of them for being endlessly quotable. Stay alive out of spite everyone

Also not lightening up the mood is Jane Remover with Census Designated on the album also called Census Designated

But what's this? It's Gunship with a steel chair trying to punch some joy into this list with Holographic heart, Nuclear Date Night, Taste like venom and Monster in paradise!!

And the gecs with a second steel ch- wait no it's a plastic chair shaped like a frog. Anyway here's Dumbest girl alive and Hollywood baby, and both of them go wayyy harder than they have any rights to

ok that was a lot of songs already. Here's Everything goes on by Porter Robinson as a palate cleanser

Also the first reggaeton song to ever end on one of my playlists, Sci-fi by Tainy and Rauw Alejandro

Also I'm gonna put a gif here otherwise Tumblr won't let me post something with such a long uninterrupted list in it

Ok back to the list of recs

Let's get the humiliation out of the way and say that this year I listened to Raining blood but it's super emo more than I ever listened to Raining blood in all my years combined

Oh yeah and Linkin Park released some old (finished and unfinished) tracks from the Meteora era and I'm kinda pissed off cause Lost missed the year end list. Fighting myself is excellent too, and if you want a really heartwrenching unfinished track, Resolution has a giant Chester-shaped hole where its chorus should be and the lyrics make it even worse. You're welcome

Possibly the most mainstream song on this entire rec list but I'm also pissed off Bad Idea right? by Olivia Rodrigo didn't chart enough to count for my top ten hit songs

I can offer you Eat the acid by Kesha if you want an awesome but mildly disturbing listening experience

For some electro/future pop here's Head over heels by Solitary Experiments

Wait there's also Bring the noise by Neuroticfish

Over is there if you need some Chvrches doing some Chvrching

Justice for Gladiator by Jann

Pointing at Even Jesus got the blues by Gabe Lee and saying I would listen to more country if it sounded half as good as that song, not like anyone cares

Holding on to nothing by Sierra. Send tweet

Northwind + Sky-colored dream by Strawberry Hospital and Parasite Heart is just seven minutes of cool pastel screams

And for an absolute goth banger everyone collectively decided to ignore here's Train to Harlem by Korine

I can't get enough of Nosebleeder by Lil Lotus and that's probably mildly embarrassing at my age but I've decided to stay mildly embarrassing forever

kisses by Slowdive if you want vibes and vibes only

Blood and sugar by Boys Like Girls if, like me, you want something that sounds exactly like The 1975

Choose your fighter by Ava Max if you want something that sounds exactly like Barbie Girl

I really wish I could explain what my feelings are every time I listen to The King by Anjimile but the only thing I'm sure about is that I'm feeling something a LOT and that it's terrifying

On a lighter note here's Mall rat by Durry, a very upbeat pop punk song about mall goth teenagers having fun and it's extremely good, listen to it immediately if you're having a bad day

And as some of you might have expected because of that previous gif, we're gonna finish with some Bring Me The Horizon, who have joined my list of favorite bands alarmingly quickly (that new album can't drop soon enough), and let's just say LosT and especially AmEN! were some of my absolute fave non-hit songs this year. Seriously. What the fuck was that.

And now, some elligible hits that didn't make the list.

Honorable Mentions

Tiki Taka (Vacra) - Afrobeats is the best thing that happened to the charts in recent years.

Shining Light (Aime Simone) - I wish I liked that artist more.

Unholy (Sam Smith & Kim Petras) - At first I didn't like this one, and then I headcanoned Kim Petras as a girl in a confessional and Sam Smith as the priest on the other side looking concerned but also weirdly into it, and suddenly it was a really funny song.

Dance the night away (Dua Lipa) - I'm pretty sure that's the song Chained to the Rhythm by Katy Perry is talking about

Casanova (Soolking) - This is a borderline guilty pleasure, and also it sounds like Magic System. Which is a bonus, by the way.

Calm Down (Rema) - Afrobeats is the best thing that happened to the charts in recent years 2: the sequel

Rush (Ayra Starr) - Afrobeats is the best thing that happened to the charts in recent years 3: the sequel to the sequel

Strangers (Kenya Grace) - Very good low-key track to play when you're driving at night

Bloody Mary (Lady Gaga) - What can I say. It's Lady Gaga. It's good.

I remember everything (Zach Bryan) - And for "songs that would be on the list if I had good taste-"

Going going gone (Luke Combs) - The last cut from the list. Great earworm, good writing.

THE ACTUAL TOP TEN LIST

This is a very solid list, actually. All of these things are still on some of my playlists to this day.

10 - Bad Habit (Steve Lacy)

US: #39 / FR: Not on the list

This was the last cut from my 2022 top 10 and it was a painful one, so imagine my joy when I saw it was elligible for this year's list too! Welcome back, Steve Lacy, your little song is still an earworm and a half even after all this time.

9 - Cruel Summer (Taylor Swift)

US: #18 / FR: Not on the list

I have no idea how a song that rhymes "oh woah oh" with "summer" can sound so good. Well played, madam. Well played.

8 - Star Walkin' (Lil Nas X)

US: Not on the list / FR: #67

Not the best Lil Nas X song by a mile, and still quite good! It plays a lot at the gym for some reason. The hype is real, even after hearing it pretty much every hour on the hour. And despite that weird, weird line about his dad.

Very surprised it's not on the US year-end list, by the way.

7 - Vois sur ton chemin (Bennett)

US: Not on the list / FR: #69

If you're creeped out by the AI-generated kids in the music video, I think that's kind of the point, which is why I can tolerate it for once.

Anyway, this is a remix of a choir song about lost kids, originally from a retro movie called Les Choristes which came out back when I was a teenager. And now it's been turned into a somewhat creepy techno remix of itself, and you know what's bad about that? Not a single thing actually. Play it again.

6 - Fast Car (covered by Luke Combs)

US: #8 / FR: Not on the list

If you remember correctly, Fast Car was the number one song of the very first list I made in this series (1988). And since this cover is so similar to the original song, I considered making it non-elligible for this list. I counted it in the end but put it kinda low compared to the original. It's only fair.

5 - Anti-hero (Taylor Swift)

US: #4 / FR: Not on the list

I was pretty indifferent to this one at the beginning of the year, but it slowly but surely grew on me. Everything has already been said about this song. So yeah, it's very good. I like it. It's on the list.

Moving on!

4 - Substitution (Purple Disco Machine x Kungs)

US: Not on the list / FR: #56

Some songs just make you want to move every single time you hear them, without fail. The thing is, this one plays a LOT on the radio in public settings, so catch me dancing in the aisles of the local supermarket every time it's on. It's like some memetic SCP bullshit.

At this point, it should be possible to make a great playlist with all the best retro-sounding hits we got in the past five years or so - and yeah, put this one on it too, for sure.

3 - Miracle (Ellie Goulding, Calvin Harris)

US: Not on the list / FR: #51

At some point this was my number one, and can you really blame me? An Ellie Goulding song with a drop that sounds exactly like a Robert Miles track? Really?

Then I realised I loved Robert Miles' tracks because of that dreamy piano/synth melody they all have, and that this song only had a drop/musical chorus that sounded like that, so something was missing. Oh well. Still a fantastic dance track, though.

2 - Escapism (Raye)

US: #48 / FR: Not on the list

Welcome to the other side of most of The Weeknd songs, I guess, but that's also what makes this track so compelling. The intro sounds like anxiety, and even when the song gets more pleasant to listen to it just never goes completely away - just like in the lyrics, in fact. Well written, well produced, everything is on point and if I had better taste it would probably be number one on this list.

Alas, I am what I am.

1 - Just wanna rock (Lil Uzi Vert)

US: #28 / FR: Not on the list

At some point, this was the third song on the list. Why shouldn't it be? It's so brainless compared to Escapism, and laughably short compared to Miracle. It's just a fragment of a song. It sounds like the intro of a track that will never start.

It's also by far my most replayed hit song on this entire top ten list and I can't justify that in any way. So yeah, putting anything else here felt like lying to myself. The fact it never really starts also means the hype never really ends. Going "daaaaaaaaaaaamn" along with Uzi's distorted vocals is so satisfying.

I just wanna rock, man. What a vibe. See you next year!

[ranmaruswife]

Hanamaru - Spider Lilies

In honor of Ranmaru's event in Shining Live that begins tonight, I thought I would write up a piece on the flower featured prominently in his new card art: spider lilies.

Red spider lilies are known scientifically as lycoris radiata (referenced in another work within Utapri - “Lycoris no Mori” or “Forest of the Lycoris”). They are one of the most popular symbols in Japanese folklore and in hanakotoba they are heavily associated with death and final goodbyes. As such, they are known by a plethora of ominous names including “hell flower” “flowers of the dead” and “ghost flowers.” 

Their most common name, however, is “higanbana” with “Higan” referring to the “Far Shore” in Buddhism (the realm of the dead), as well as the Buddhist holiday of the same name, which takes place in the days surrounding the autumn equinox, the specific time of year in which these flowers always bloom. During Ohigan, it is customary to visit the graves of one’s ancestors and pay your respects. So it is no wonder that they have become heavily associated with loss, death, and separation.

These blooms are also often grown near temples and graveyards for two reasons. The first is that they are thought to guide departed souls through the cycle of death and rebirth, while the second is that the leaves, bulbs, and flowers of the spider lily are poisonous. In old times, before cremation became the norm in Japan, these deadly blossoms would keep wild animals from disturbing the buried corpses of deceased loved ones. Their crimson pigment around gravesites is also said to be attained by the blooms sucking up the blood of the dead.

Another interesting piece of Japanese folklore related to spider lilies is one of a mother who died in childbirth, thus abandoning her child, who turned into a lycoris, earning them the name “sugetobana” or “orphan flower.” There is also a superstition that having one of these flowers in your home will cause it to burn down!

Now while red spider lilies are heavily associated with death and loss, white spider lilies on the other hand are representative of rebirth, new beginnings, and a simple way of life. They are also considered a guiding force, growing along the mythical Sanzu River, on the path to enlightenment.

Now that you’ve read this far, it’s time to tie all these meanings back to Ranmaru and his character in Shining Live’s Onmyouji series. In this drama, Ranmaru plays the character Ran, a kijin or oni god, who looks over Tokiharu, a half-human half-demon who was orphaned when his parents gave their lives to seal his power. Obviously, as an oni god and a warden of hell, it is only natural for his character to be associated with a flower with so many ominous meanings and connections to Buddhist mythology. As well as the awesome fire powers he seems to possess in the idolized artwork. But beyond the character he plays, these flowers can similarly be related to Ranmaru’s own life experiences.

Ranmaru’s backstory is one comprised of death and loss. And much of his character arc is about coming to terms with his feelings of abandonment and starting life anew with the person he loves. He cannot allow himself to be weighed down by death and grief; he must move forward on a bright road to the future, leading a simple, uncomplicated life without worry of what tomorrow holds. As he knows that anything can be taken away in an instant, he chooses to live in the present, which is considered a foundation of ultimately reaching enlightenment. 

Anyway, I really love rambling on about Ranmaru and flowers. So I’m happy to have a new one to canonically associate with him. ^^ If there is more information to be shared once the story is released for this event, I will be sure to update this post. And will also add on the symbolic meaning of that juicy pomegranate in his hand~

[dark-lina]

Morticia the Angel of Death

Name: Morticia ( her parents like Addams family)

job/race:they have different names, some call them angels of death, others reapers, still others shinigami.

age: older then 20 younger then 58 (first episodes of Adams family show in 1964) powers: who knows ?

favorite thing: her pet It furry ball with an eye and wings

favorite food and drink: mexican food , favorite drink blood mary

character: Morticia, despite her dark appearance, is quite nice, loves Latin music and Mexican costumes, and the entire culture associated with the Mexican holiday of the dead.

She does not take her work as a reaper too seriously and sometimes she can delay the end of someone's life for a long time.

Util this person finish things that have already begun.

She prefers hell over heaven because it's more fun. She likes the taste of alcohol, but both other stimulants do not work on her.

Death angels are not good or bad, they take both good and bad, they have their own world between heaven and hell.

History: Not much can be said about Mortica, she is one of young ones of her kind . She comes to Hell regularly not only to escort more souls.

More info about race and angel of death under the cut:

Angels of death

Hmm, that's what mortals call us most often these days. We were once known as emissaries of Anubis, guiding the soul to the afterlife, or children of Thanatos the Greek god of death, shinigami in Japanese culture. Grim reapers known from the Middle Ages.

All this has a grain of truth in it. It is our task to end the life of the mortal and return the soul to its destination.

However, we are not remembered… because our role is limited to a few short moments. Ending life, taking the soul to judgment and escorting it to heaven or hell. And then we come back together. Angels treat us with reserve, as do demons, because death is neither good nor bad… it stands in the middle, we never choose a side. We end the lives of both good and bad people in the same way… that's our role, but sometimes heaven and hell get in our way.

Our world…

It is placed between heaven and hell in the middle, ours is neither super light nor super dark, not as colorful as heaven and hell. The colors seem faded, compared to the colors of the living world, the pastel colors of Heaven, or the neon lights that are in Hell. But it's our home and we love it.

Me, my family and my job.

Morticia… that's what my parents named me after a character from a TV series for mortals. But it doesn't bother me, Mori… Ticia… Mor… I am called differently, for some people my name is too long. My parents are cool, but they are a bit old-fashioned, they don't understand that I don't want to just sit in the world of the angels of death when there are so many things to see.

As you know, I am an angel of death, but not all of us are in the business of ending people's lives. My father Thanon works as a coordinator… he deicded where is angels going to fly, and whose life is about to end, or there is a slight chance that it could be end, many factors influence it.

My mother Banshee has her own cafe, it's not like there's nothing to do in our world, but hell is a bit more interesting.

Did I mention that sometimes heaven and hell prevent us from doing our job?

You know, lately there have been imps running around the world of the living, killing some people prematurely… it's causing a lot of trouble with the papers.

Or we are supposed to mow down someone life, and angels like cherubim or guardians do not allow us to take someone away.

It's frustrating sometimes… but we can't argue with the boss.

I guess that's it… I hope I've satisfied your curiosity.

Ahh yes one more thing * pick up something*

This is my pet It... see you soon mortals.

Morticia by me

Hazbin Hotel  by Vivziepop

[plinko-mori]

Dad Mori is my side blog 👋 hi

Have u read the dad Mori series, important question, and second question, would you like to

Ooohhh hello! I follow you, not with this side blog but I know you >:D

I actually haven't read the Mori series since I know that exist since... Your ask I guess? Idk I just woke up Idr, or a post you did I guess

I would like to read it and compare it with my perspective of Mori because I'm a Mori kinnie + I already have an OC with Mori being a dad so yeah, I would... In some weeks in my winter holiday ^^

[hobidreams]

Raaaaaiiiin!!

I miss talking to you! 🥺 How are you? I hope you get to take your holiday break for while these days? I hope things are okay (if not better) with you! 🥺❤️❤️

Also I'm getting out of my cave and gonna ask, was wondering if you knew this news already-- I've seen on IG that Motomi and Ryotaro are having a baby omg!! Have you seen??👀😆 ✨️

Anyways! Hope we get to talk to you. And I hope you'd get a well deserved (!!!) vacation/fun and chill time, away from all the stress and worries this time! Please have a good break and have some me-time. Take care always and miss you! Talk to you soon again! 🥺❤️ Happy holidays and whichever you celebrate!✨️💟

-🧇

Jeez, ok so apparently Motomi posted it last November! My bad, i'm the one who's not updated! 😅 awwh imagine they would have the kids (with Wataru & Midori's) have a playdate and all that awwh! 💕

Anyhooo~ how are you, miss Rain? I hope you're doing okay and get to get away from stress! Happy whatever event you celebrate and talk to you soon! 💟✨️

-🧇

HI BABE!!! 💞 omg its been such a zoo over here because ive had to finish all the stuff i left until after exams but i did get a few solid days of nothing in over Christmas break haha. i hope you had an amazing holiday! did you do anything special?

yes omg its SOOOO CUTE how both couples are pregnant... And then Mori and Ayano are still together and happy 😭🥺 im so happy for them! their new year pictures were super cute too. im really hoping they bring back LIBJP for season 2... there was supposed to be a new series in progress but it was cancelled(?) or at least thats what the subreddit said. but then theyre bringing it back again??? LOL so idk haha. but i hope we showed enough demand for it bc its so much better than the american version T___T

i am starting school again next week so i am kinda already tired LMAO in the meantime, trying to get as much done as i can before i have to start doing all my readings and work and applications for summer positions. what are you up to lately?? 💞

[sskk-ao3feed]

Reading Between The Lines

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/tnzHoMZ by YunaYamiMouto The long awaited sequels to Leafing Through The Pages, I Found You! Starting with the holiday season! Words: 6412, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Series: Part 1 of Life Is A Book Of Endless Pages Fandoms: 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M Characters: Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Armed Detective Agency and Port Mafia Ensembles (Bungou Stray Dogs), Original Characters, Null (OC dog), Dazai Osamu's Parents (Bungou Stray Dogs) - Character, others mentioned - Character Relationships: Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu & Paul Verlaine (Bungou Stray Dogs), Armed Detective Agency Ensemble & Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu & Port Mafia Ensemble (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai & Dazai's parents, Tsushima Tane/Tsushima Gen'emon, Hirotsu Ryuurou/Natsume Souseki (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Fukuzawa Yukichi/Mori Ougai (Bungou Stray Dogs), Ozaki Kouyou/Yosano Akiko (Bungou Stray Dogs), Edogawa Ranpo/Edgar Allan Poe (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu & Dan Kazuko (OC), Dazai Osamu & Null (OC), Dazai Osamu & Edogawa Ranpo & Yosano Akiko (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Gin & Akutagawa Ryuunosuke & Dazai Osamu, Dazai Osamu & Izumi Kyouka & Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai & Dazai's PM subordinates, Dazai Osamu & Yumeno Kyuusaku | Q (Bungou Stray Dogs) Additional Tags: Fluff, Family, Friendship, Some angst, Soukoku | Double Black (Bungou Stray Dogs), Fix-It of Sorts, At the moment I'm writing this I still haven't decided whether to kill Fyodor, But I probably will, Sequel, Dazai Osamu Needs a Hug (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu is a Menace (Bungou Stray Dogs), Happy, developing romantic relationship(s), It's here y'all!, Slow to update bc this is the first chapter I've written so bear with me 'XD read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/tnzHoMZ

[brookston]

Holidays 1.3

Holidays

Bitcoin Day

Chin State Day (Chinland)

Day of Silence

Drinking Straw Day

Gensh-Sai (Japan)

Humiliation Day

International Mind-Body Wellness Day

J.R.R. Tolkien Day

Loosing (a.k.a. Namsoong; Sikkim, India)

Martyr’s Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Memento Mori Day (a.k.a. "Remember You Die" Day)

Ministry of Religious Affairs Day (Indonesia)

Nakhatsenendyan Toner begins (Armenia) [Until 1.5]

National Be Yourself Day

National Crypto Currency Day

National Do It Now Day

National Florence Pugh Day

National Write to Congress Day

Nyilo Winter Solstice; Bhutan)

Passport Presentation Day (Russia)

Proof of Keys Day

Remember, You Will Die Day

Revolution Day (Burkina Faso)

Riddle of the Year

Sandstone Day (French Republic)

Shigoto-hajime (1st Day of Work; Japan)

Snappy Comeback Day

Snow Day

Tom Sawyer’s Cat’s Birthday

Women Rock! Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Anchovy Day

Cherry-Filled Chocolate Day

Fruitcake Toss Day

National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day

National Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day

1st Wednesday in January

Most Popular Day to Start Looking For a New Job [1st Wednesday]

National CanDo Day [1st Wednesday]

Ski Season begins [1st Wednesday]

Independence & Related Days

Alaska Statehood Day (#49; 1959)

Queensland (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Anterus, Pope (a.k.a. Anteros; Christian; Saint)

August Macke (Artology)

Daniel of Padua (Christian; Saint)

Day of Remembrance for Princess Olga (Slavic)

Feast of Holy Prophet Malachi (400 B.C.E.)

Festival of Pax (Ancient Rome)

Festival of Sleep Day [began yesterday at sundown]

Genevieve (Christian; Saint)

Hakozakigu Tamaseseri (Ceremony of the Red Ball; Japan)

Harryhausen Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Holy Name of Jesus (Christian; Saint)

Inanna’s Day (Pagan)

Jack Levine (Artology)

Jimmy (Muppetism)

J.R.R. Tolkien Day (J-Days)

Kuriakose Elias Chavara (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church)

Macaroni Art Day (a.k.a. Make Macaroni Pictures Day; Pastafarian)

Orpheus (Positivist; Saint)

Prophet’s Birthday (Sunni Muslims) [12th of Rabi’al-awwal]

Tamaseseri Festival (Hakozaki Shinto Shrine; Fukuoka, Japan)

Tenth Day of Christmas (Snow Day)

Twelve Holy Days #9 (Sagittarius, the sacral plexus; Esoteric Christianity)

Twelvetide, Day #10 (a.k.a. the Twelve Days of Christmas or Christmastide) [until 1.5]

Valentin de Boulogne (Artology)

William Passavant (Episcopal Church)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [2 of 71]

Prime Number Day: 3 [2 of 72]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [1 of 57]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [3 of 30]

Premieres

Ace is Wild or The Flying Casket (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 12; 1960

The Arsenio Hall Show (TV Talk Show; 1989)

Big Fat Quiz of the Year (BBC TV Series; 2011)

Birds of Fire, by the Mahavishnu Orchestra (Album; 1973)

Blossom (TV Series; 1991)

A Creep in the Deep or Will Success Spoil Boris Badenov? (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 11; 1960)

Don Pasquale, by Gaetano Donizetti (Opera; 1843)

Don’t Give Up the Sheep (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Forky Asks a Question: What is Cheese (Pixar Cartoon; 2020)

Head Office (Film; 1986)

I’m Walking, recorded by Fats Domino (Song; 1957)

Mayor of Simpleton, by XTC (Song; 1989)

On Being Ill, by Virginia Woolf (Essay; 1930)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series; 1993)

Statistical Thermodynamics, by Erwin Schrödinger (Philosophy Book; 1952)

Sylvia Scarlett (Film; 1936)

Time Cat, by Lloyd Alexander (Novel; 1963)

Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! (Radio Series; 1998)

Today’s Name Days

Genoveva, Odilo (Austria)

Cvijeta, Danijel, Genoveva, Mladenka (Croatia)

Radmila (Czech Republic)

Enok (Denmark)

Gerhard, Gert, Keerdo, Kert (Estonia)

Elmer, Elmeri, Elmo (Finland)

Geneviève (France)

Genoveva, Irma, Odilo (Germany)

Genovefa(Greece)

Benjámin, Genovéva (Hungary)

Genoveffa (Italy)

Miervaldis, Ringolds (Latvia)

Genovaitė, Vida, Viltautas (Lithuania)

Alf, Alfred (Norway)

Arletta, Dan, Danisz, Danuta, Enoch, Genowefa, Piotr, Włościsława (Poland)

Gordie, Maleahi (Romania)

Ulyana (Russia)

Daniela (Slovakia)

Genoveva (Spain)

Alfred, Alfrida (Sweden)

Gaynor, Geneva, Genevieve, Guenna, Jenifer, Jenna, Jennie, Jennifer, Jenny (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 3 of 2024; 363 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 1 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Beth (Birch) [Day 9 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 22 (Bing-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 22 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 21 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 3 White; Threesday [3 of 30]

Julian: 21 December 2023

Moon: 50%: 3rd Quarter

Positivist: 3 Moses (1st Month) [Orpheus]

Runic Half Month: Eihwaz or Eoh (Yew Tree) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 14 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 13 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 1.3

Holidays

Bitcoin Day

Chin State Day (Chinland)

Day of Silence

Drinking Straw Day

Gensh-Sai (Japan)

Humiliation Day

International Mind-Body Wellness Day

J.R.R. Tolkien Day

Loosing (a.k.a. Namsoong; Sikkim, India)

Martyr’s Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Memento Mori Day (a.k.a. "Remember You Die" Day)

Ministry of Religious Affairs Day (Indonesia)

Nakhatsenendyan Toner begins (Armenia) [Until 1.5]

National Be Yourself Day

National Crypto Currency Day

National Do It Now Day

National Florence Pugh Day

National Write to Congress Day

Nyilo Winter Solstice; Bhutan)

Passport Presentation Day (Russia)

Proof of Keys Day

Remember, You Will Die Day

Revolution Day (Burkina Faso)

Riddle of the Year

Sandstone Day (French Republic)

Shigoto-hajime (1st Day of Work; Japan)

Snappy Comeback Day

Snow Day

Tom Sawyer’s Cat’s Birthday

Women Rock! Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Anchovy Day

Cherry-Filled Chocolate Day

Fruitcake Toss Day

National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day

National Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day

1st Wednesday in January

Most Popular Day to Start Looking For a New Job [1st Wednesday]

National CanDo Day [1st Wednesday]

Ski Season begins [1st Wednesday]

Independence & Related Days

Alaska Statehood Day (#49; 1959)

Queensland (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Anterus, Pope (a.k.a. Anteros; Christian; Saint)

August Macke (Artology)

Daniel of Padua (Christian; Saint)

Day of Remembrance for Princess Olga (Slavic)

Feast of Holy Prophet Malachi (400 B.C.E.)

Festival of Pax (Ancient Rome)

Festival of Sleep Day [began yesterday at sundown]

Genevieve (Christian; Saint)

Hakozakigu Tamaseseri (Ceremony of the Red Ball; Japan)

Harryhausen Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Holy Name of Jesus (Christian; Saint)

Inanna’s Day (Pagan)

Jack Levine (Artology)

Jimmy (Muppetism)

J.R.R. Tolkien Day (J-Days)

Kuriakose Elias Chavara (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church)

Macaroni Art Day (a.k.a. Make Macaroni Pictures Day; Pastafarian)

Orpheus (Positivist; Saint)

Prophet’s Birthday (Sunni Muslims) [12th of Rabi’al-awwal]

Tamaseseri Festival (Hakozaki Shinto Shrine; Fukuoka, Japan)

Tenth Day of Christmas (Snow Day)

Twelve Holy Days #9 (Sagittarius, the sacral plexus; Esoteric Christianity)

Twelvetide, Day #10 (a.k.a. the Twelve Days of Christmas or Christmastide) [until 1.5]

Valentin de Boulogne (Artology)

William Passavant (Episcopal Church)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [2 of 71]

Prime Number Day: 3 [2 of 72]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [1 of 57]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [3 of 30]

Premieres

Ace is Wild or The Flying Casket (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 12; 1960

The Arsenio Hall Show (TV Talk Show; 1989)

Big Fat Quiz of the Year (BBC TV Series; 2011)

Birds of Fire, by the Mahavishnu Orchestra (Album; 1973)

Blossom (TV Series; 1991)

A Creep in the Deep or Will Success Spoil Boris Badenov? (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 11; 1960)

Don Pasquale, by Gaetano Donizetti (Opera; 1843)

Don’t Give Up the Sheep (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)

Forky Asks a Question: What is Cheese (Pixar Cartoon; 2020)

Head Office (Film; 1986)

I’m Walking, recorded by Fats Domino (Song; 1957)

Mayor of Simpleton, by XTC (Song; 1989)

On Being Ill, by Virginia Woolf (Essay; 1930)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series; 1993)

Statistical Thermodynamics, by Erwin Schrödinger (Philosophy Book; 1952)

Sylvia Scarlett (Film; 1936)

Time Cat, by Lloyd Alexander (Novel; 1963)

Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! (Radio Series; 1998)

Today’s Name Days

Genoveva, Odilo (Austria)

Cvijeta, Danijel, Genoveva, Mladenka (Croatia)

Radmila (Czech Republic)

Enok (Denmark)

Gerhard, Gert, Keerdo, Kert (Estonia)

Elmer, Elmeri, Elmo (Finland)

Geneviève (France)

Genoveva, Irma, Odilo (Germany)

Genovefa(Greece)

Benjámin, Genovéva (Hungary)

Genoveffa (Italy)

Miervaldis, Ringolds (Latvia)

Genovaitė, Vida, Viltautas (Lithuania)

Alf, Alfred (Norway)

Arletta, Dan, Danisz, Danuta, Enoch, Genowefa, Piotr, Włościsława (Poland)

Gordie, Maleahi (Romania)

Ulyana (Russia)

Daniela (Slovakia)

Genoveva (Spain)

Alfred, Alfrida (Sweden)

Gaynor, Geneva, Genevieve, Guenna, Jenifer, Jenna, Jennie, Jennifer, Jenny (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 3 of 2024; 363 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 1 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Beth (Birch) [Day 9 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 22 (Bing-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 22 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 21 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 3 White; Threesday [3 of 30]

Julian: 21 December 2023

Moon: 50%: 3rd Quarter

Positivist: 3 Moses (1st Month) [Orpheus]

Runic Half Month: Eihwaz or Eoh (Yew Tree) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 14 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 13 of 31)

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Infinite DC: Godzilla Vs Godzilla

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/vzwdi4o by LivingStoneWriter For reasons unknown, Godzilla has betrayed the people of the "Pacific Rim" universe, after living in their realm for 10 straight years. Marshal Stacker Pentecost and his son, Jake, can only rely on the Gladiator of Gallifrey to discover a way of destroying the powerful Titan, putting an end to its destruction. Only Suri, the Sixteenth Gladiator, is the one to respond, after a happy holiday reunion that's promptly cut short in the emergency. Of course, Suri has reason to believe Godzilla is innocent, with the circumstances of its betrayal not adding up together. With the help of her companions, Goku and the Minions (as well as a couple of others who tag along), Suri investigates the possibility of another Godzilla that has emerged from the Pacific Rim rift. Words: 1954, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English Series: Part 37 of Infinite DC Fandoms: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Pacific Rim (Movies), Godzilla - All Media Types, Godzilla (1998), Dragon Ball, Minions (2015), Despicable Me (Movies), Batman (Movies - Nolan) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Characters: Suri (Infinite DC), Alan Harris (Infinite DC), Erica Harvey (Infinite DC), A.J. Harris (Infinite DC), Jake Pentecost, Stacker Pentecost, Mako Mori, Raleigh Becket, Newton Geiszler, Hermann Gottlieb, Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos, Godzilla, Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Nate Lambert, Philippe Roache, The Minions (Despicable Me), Vik Malikova, Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne, Amara Namani Relationships: Alan Harris/Erica Harvey, Raleigh Becket/Mako Mori Additional Tags: Doctor Who References, Regeneration (Doctor Who), Whoniverse | Doctor Who Universe, Batman References, Classic Doctor Who References, Godzilla References, Protective Godzilla (Legendary | MonsterVerse), Movie: Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), Action/Adventure, Action, Monarch Organization (Legendary | MonsterVerse), Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Multiple Crossovers, Monsters, Kaiju, Kaiju (Pacific Rim), Jaegers (Pacific Rim), Travelling in the TARDIS (Doctor Who), Life in the TARDIS, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Time Lord Angst, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/vzwdi4o

[blenderscaty]

Critique 2

INTO THE FOREST OF THE FIREFLIES LIGHT

Author

Yuki Midorikawa -She is primarily known for her shōjo manga works in the magazines LaLa and LaLa DX, published by Hakusensha. Her most successful works have been Hotarubi no Mori e, which received a film adaptation in 2011 and Natsume's Book of Friends, which has been made into an anime series that aired for six seasons (2008–2017).

CHARACTERS/CHARACTERIZATION

Gin

-Gin is the male protagonist in Hotarubi no Mori e Movie, alongside with Hotaru Takegawa.

Hotaru Takegawa

-Hotaru Takegawa  is the female lead in the Hotarubi no Mori E Manga and the movie adaption, Hotarubi no Mori e Movie.

Sou Jinnai

-Sou Jinnai is the older brother of Ritsu Jinnai who chose to live with his father after their parents divorced, leaving Ritsu and their mother both. While they were apart, Sou kept in touch with Ritsu by writing letters to each other.

Ritsu Jinnai

-Ritsu Jinnai is the younger sister of Sou Jinnai who has been living together with her mother ever since their parents divorced and Sou moved out together with their father.

SUMMARY

a six-year-old girl named Hotaru Takegawa, who gets lost in a forest inhabited by a yamagami, or mountain spirit, as well as ykai (strange apparitions from Japanese folklore). She is found by a mask-wearing, human-like entity named Gin, who informs Hotaru that he will disappear forever if he is touched by a human. Gin then leads Hotaru out of the forest. Hotaru returns to visit Gin in the forest over the next few days and they become friends despite the limitations on their interactions. Although at summer's end she must leave Gin to return to the city and her studies, Hotaru promises to return to visit him every summer holiday. As the years go by, Gin hardly ages while Hotaru physically matures and grows closer to his apparent age. Upon reaching adolescence Hotaru begins to struggle with their budding romance and their uncertain future together, while Gin wishes he could touch and hold the young woman that Hotaru has become. When Hotaru reaches high school, Gin takes her on a date to a festival in the forest hosted by the spirits. The night ends in tragedy when Gin mistakenly touches a young boy who sneaked into the spirit festival, though before he disappears, he and Hotaru embrace and confess their love for one another. The story ends with Hotaru accepting her pain and moving on with her life.

MORAL LESSON

I learned in this story that friendship chooses no one. Whatever you are, your economic class, your race, colors and any differences either you are a human or a spirit this can't hinder true friendship. If the hearts are bind with genuine bond, form and origin wont matter. Frienship is the greatest treasure you can find in this world. It gives color to one's life and can save a shattered lonely heart. With someone you can call a true friend is more than enough reason to be happy in life.

[moriiartist]

DON’T KISS AND TELL (PLEASE DO)

۫  ּ   ִֶָ  ࣪✦ PAIRING \ C!GoodTimesWithScar x GN!Reader

۫  ּ   ִֶָ  ࣪✦ SYNOPSIS \ To say that you had a crush on Scar was an understatement- it seemed like you had been pining for the man forever. However, despite your desire for more, you are firm on not doing anything to ruin your current relationship- even if that meant going to extreme lengths not to get caught standing under any mistletoe. (Un)fortunately for you, it seems some other people might have a different idea…

۫  ּ   ִֶָ  ࣪✦ WARNINGS \ Mild language, self doubt

۫  ּ   ִֶָ  ࣪✦ A/N \ Here we go! Rock N’ Roll buckaroos!! First part of the Big Holiday Thing!!! To be honest, I’m just glad to get this all posted. I started writing this series sometime in early November (smack dab in the middle of prepping for finals), and it’s been a pretty wild ride trying to keep my grades up as well as making sure I’ve been completing these on time. I hope you all enjoy!

Living on the Hermitcraft server was an… interesting experience.

More often than not, you were stepping out of your base to find your friends in the crux of some crazy scheme, stalking other players while disguised as trees, running about willy-nilly on the hunt for a dragon egg, or spawning in thousands of boats to make the lag caused by the Redstone farms look like child’s play. 

You had gotten used to the chaos, even grown to appreciate it during both of the wars that Grian had started, but it was still a shock for you to wake up to find the entire server blanketed in a thick sheet of sparkling snow.

Your breath clouded in the chilled air as you walked along one of the Boatem pathways, your hands tucked tightly into the pockets of the thick winter jacket you had scrounged up from the deepest parts of your storage system. Frost crunched under your boots with every step, the shimmering green-blue of the mending enchantment shining through even the ice that had built up over the few minutes you had been out and about.

It was like the entire server had been overtaken by a tundra biome, the snow swallowing up the sounds of the world and leaving only the sound of wind. It seemed like there was nothing around for hundreds of blocks, as you stared out across the server. For a moment, you felt like you were the only person in the world.

That illusion was shattered as soon as you glanced to the side to see Cleo’s grinning face.

You yelped, jumping almost two blocks into the air as the redhead cackled, patchwork face twisting into a brilliant grin full of mirth and light.

“C-Cleo!” you gasped, resting your hand on the pommel of your netherite sword. “You can’t just scare me like that!”

“But it was funny!” she protested as soon as she got her laughter under control, still grinning like the absolute madwoman she was.

You puffed your cheeks out in a pout, crossing your arms over your chest with a dramatic huff. “Meanie.”

You paused.

“By the way, where is everyone? You’re the only other player I’ve seen since I woke up this morning.”

Cleo’s eyes lit up, and the undead woman excitedly slung an arm over your shoulder. “You didn’t see the message on your comm? Well, no, obviously, but Xisuma sent one out earlier. So, you know how we normally have a Christmas district? Well, since we don’t have any districts this year, we’re all getting together to make the entire server holiday-themed.”

You brightened, a shy smile tugging at the corners of your lips. “Oh? That sounds cool!”

Cleo laughed once more, green eyes glinting merrily in the sunlight. “I know, right? The meeting’s starting in about an hour, so we should probably get going.”

You ducked out of her grip, giggling at her faux-wounded expression, and summoned your rockets from your inventory, shifting your coat to allow your elytra to extend fully. You had always found them pretty, the iridescent membrane sparkling all colors of the rainbow as soon as the light hit them.

Shooting a short wave to Cleo, you launched off the ground with a whizz of a rocket, carving an arc as you flew through the cloudless blue sky. Behind you, you could faintly hear the sound of the other player following your path over the sound of wind rushing through your ears, and you huffed to yourself as she playfully darted underneath you.

Dipping and weaving like dragonflies, it wasn’t long before the pair of you caught sight of the spawn point where everyone was supposed to gather. Already, you could make out the figures of the other server members swarming the area, the height at which you were flying making them appear as though they were as big as ants.

You smirked. Better give them a show.

Folding your elytra completely, you allowed yourself to dip into a free-fall, air shrieking past your ears and dragging at your clothes. You laughed, the sound being thrown back at you as you tumbled through the air, the giddy feeling that always came with flight bubbling up into your chest.

The ground rose to meet you, and before you could splatter all over the ground, you banked out of your dive, landing with a solid ‘thud’ right behind Mumbo Jumbo, successfully scaring the ever-living daylights out of the tall Brit.

“What’s up, potato boy?”

“Oh my goodness!” he cried, pressing a hand to his chest in a manner that reminded you of a genteel Victorian woman. Cleo landed behind you, grinning wryly as she moved to pat the man on the shoulder.

“Sorry about that Mumbo,” she said, completely not sorry. “Managed to spook them earlier, and you know what they say! ‘What goes around, comes around’.”

Mumbo blinked, fearful features morphing into bewilderment. “What? I don’t- I don’t think that’s how that works-”

The spud was cut off by the sudden appearance of another Hermit, their crunching footsteps approaching from behind you.

“What’s going on over here?”

Immediately, you felt heat rush to your cheeks, and you scowled at the equally teasing looks both Cleo and Mumbo shot at you. Steeling yourself, you turned yourself around to see Scar approaching, a confused but happy grin affixed to his face.

The usual maroon suit he wore had been discarded, replaced by a thick overcoat that swirled around his feet as he walked, collecting a thin layer of snow. A plush olive green scarf was clumsily tied around his neck, and your fingers twitched as you repressed the urge to fix it for him. When his eyes landed and locked on yours, you felt like you had been punched in the gut, all of the air whooshing from you in one heavy breath.

You recognized this feeling.

The way your heart seemed to stutter and come to a screeching halt in your rib cage, the way you felt as though you had contracted altitude sickness, light-headed and struggling to breathe, and how your hands seemed so much sweatier than usual. (It was kind of gross, to be honest)

You had a crush on GoodTimesWithScar.

“O-oh, hey! I wasn’t sure if you were coming or not!”

Scar’s words broke you out of your daze, and, as you shook your head subtly to clear your thoughts, you smiled at him, trying not to let any of your embarrassment show.

Judging by Cleo’s stifled giggle, you didn’t think you were a hundred percent successful.

“I didn’t see Xisuma’s message, but, ah- Cleo here rounded me up quickly enough to get over here on- on time,” you explained, fiddling with the zipper of your coat nervously. Gods above, it was so annoying how much Scar’s mere presence affected you, sending butterflies fluttering through your stomach and tying your tongue into knots.

Scar grinned, that same damn grin that lit up his entire face and made it something beautiful, ethereal, almost.

“That’s amazin’! Thanks, Cleo! I don’t know what I’d do if my best friend weren’t here!”

Ah. There it was.

You had a crush on GoodTimesWithScar, but it could never be anything more than a crush because the man was your best friend. Your partner-in-crime. Someone who you could trust with all of your deepest, darkest secrets.

But not this one. Never this one.

You chuckled, trying not to let the pain you felt show. “Right.”

Any further attempt at a conversation was quickly doused by Xisuma’s sudden appearance, the Hermitcraft admin teleporting in front of everyone in an explosion of rioting green and purple code.

“Alright everyone,” he started, bringing his two gloved hands together with a clap. “Let’s get started with this thing, yeah?”

As you listened to the British man’s spiel, it turned out that everyone had gathered together in order to enlist in the ‘Christmas-ification’ (as Grian so eloquently put it) of the server. What impressed you the most about the entire endeavor, however, was just how much of a tactical operation it was. 

Xisuma had organized the effort in such a way that different teams of Hermits would be decorating different areas of the map. Unsurprisingly, you found yourself grouped with the rest of the Boatem members (much to everyone’s delight), tasked with transforming the village into a winter wonderland.

As Scar wrapped an arm around your shoulder, brown hair bouncing up and down as he wiggled excitedly, you wondered if the mischievous gleam in your fellow server member’s eyes was a trick of the light.

… Why did you feel an impending sense of doom?

It was almost absurd how many materials the Hermits hoarded, the entire center of Boatem village dotted with chest monsters and spare materials just lying about. Not that you were exempt from the sentiment, though, as you produced yet another shulker box from your inventory filled with spruce leaves and ribbon.

The holiday beautification project was well-underway, and, as you looked over Boatem village, observing your friends as they built beautiful Christmas trees and strung lights all across their builds, you toyed with the thought that maybe, perhaps you all were a bit too invested in this.

The mountain megabase that was still under construction was dotted with pine trees, glittering with glass ornaments and golden tinsel. The gaping maw of the cave that led to Grian’s alleyway base had been modified to include an aurora borealis in the stained glass ceiling, the light from the end rods making the colors shift and dance like the real thing.

On the other side of the village, Grian was helping Scar out with stringing wreaths and ribbons all over his starter base, the avian insisting on outfitting all of his bees with little Santa hats.

It was a miracle the blonde gremlin didn’t become a walking pincushion, what with how many times he could’ve been stung.

“Hey, can someone help me over here?”

You perked up at the sound of Mumbo’s voice, dropping the tinsel you were carefully wrapping around a tree to trot over towards the sound of his voice- coming from in front of the façade of one of the shops Grian had built as part of his base. The tall dark-haired man was perilously perched on a wobbling tower of scaffolding, something that you couldn’t make out held in his hands.

Instinctively, you were moving to hold the stack steady so that the spud didn’t slip, him shooting you a thankful glance for your efforts. You watched as he strung the bundle he was holding up, directly over the door frame. After squinting your eyes for a bit, you suddenly realized what it was he was putting up- mistletoe.

“Does this mean I have to kiss you now?” you asked, only half-joking as Mumbo clambered back down from his place in the skies. The Brit shrugged, dusting off his hands with a satisfied hum.

“If you think you should, I guess. If I were you, though, I might want to save that kiss for someone else,” he said, a teasing edge to his voice that left no questions about who he was speaking of.

“Gods, does everyone know about that?” you said, face flaming at Mumbo’s cheeky grin. He shrugged again.

“Pretty much.”

You groaned, allowing your head to ‘thunk’ into the mustached man’s chest, and he patted your back comfortingly.

“... Why don’t you just confess?”

You blinked your eyes, which had previously been screwed up in righteous pain, open, staring up at Mumbo with a confused look. “Confess? Mumbo, do you know what would happen if I did that? Hels below, that would ruin everything. I’d much rather stay friends than say something and torch our relationship.”

Mumbo furrowed his eyebrows. “But that wouldn’t ruin anything?”

You pulled away, scrubbing at your face in exasperation. “You don’t know that. I’d rather not take the risk, thankyouverymuch.”

Hearing Impulse’s shout in the distance, you reached over to tug at Mumbo’s hand.

“C’mon, let’s-let’s just go.”

The rest of the group had huddled up at the center of the village, just a little bit off to the side of the Boatem hole. As you approached, Mumbo in tow, your eyes caught on the dramatic gestures Grian was making, red-green-blue wings puffing up from the force of his excitement. Smiling amusedly, you didn’t notice Scar’s eyes flicker over to land on where you were still holding the taller man’s hand, usually bright eyes dimming as his smile became strained.

“There you guys are!” Impulse exclaimed, obviously relieved to have a reprieve from Grian’s emphatic ramblings.

“There you guys are!” Impulse exclaimed, obviously relieved to have a reprieve from Grian’s emphatic ramblings.

You waved cheerfully, not-do-discreetly pushing Mumbo towards where the avian was standing. At his bewildered stare, you pinned him with a look that hopefully said ‘calm your bestie down’.

“What’s up?” you said questioningly, eyes flickering between everyone who had gathered together. Impulse grinned, propping his hands up on his hips.

“Christmas cheer, that’s what!”

The group broke out into groans at the corny joke, excluding Scar, who giggled like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. Your face softened at the sound, watching him fondly out of the corner of your eye as he doubled over with laughter. Silly.

“No, seriously- we’ve all been working hard, so I was going to ask if everyone maybe wanted to take a break?”

The response was a resounding ‘yes’, all of you tired and sore from the sheer amount of decorating you had been doing, deciding to make your way over to Impulse’s base for a quick rest. Even your hands, as calloused from building and mining as they were, were tingly and chafing. At this point you were tempted to pull off your gloves and just bury them in a nearby snowbank to relieve the stinging.

Scar must’ve noticed your discomfort, your mouth pressed into a hard line, because soon enough he was dropping back from the rest of your group to walk beside you, nudging you slightly with an arm.

“Are you okay?” he murmured, expression open and concerned as he searched your gaze worriedly.

You huffed slightly, offering him a small smile. “I’m fine, just scratched my hands up a little.”

Scar frowned, the expression reminding you hauntingly of a sad puppy, and grabbed for one, holding it gently between his own. You flustered at the contact, averting your eyes with a slight cough and praying that he didn’t notice how stiff you had suddenly become.

“Well, when we get inside we can patch you up, alright?”

You nodded, tucking the shy smile that was spreading across your face into the warm collar of your jacket. Gods damn it Scar, why do you have to be so cute?

However, as you reached the main door to Impulse’s base, you realized that you had one glaring issue: You and Scar were heading directly towards the door, where somebody had hung another bunch of mistletoe. The green sprigs innocently swayed in the breeze, almost as if it was taunting you with its very presence.

Your eyes darted towards the brunette at your side. The last thing you wanted to do was kiss him. What if you made everything weird? What if he didn’t like it? What if he realized that you had a crush on him and didn’t want to speak to you anymore?

Yeah, you were not going to risk it.

…

… So how, exactly, were you going to deal with this?

You glanced towards your feet, thinking, and, after a moment, it was like a lightbulb had gone off above your head. Surreptitiously, you wiggled your foot out of one of your boots until the garment was barely on, your ankle bent at an awkward position to account for the sudden looseness. Then, in what could be argued to be the most graceful move in all of Hermitcraft history, you tripped, sending your shoe flying.

Scar made a sound somewhere between a bicycle horn and the yelp of a kicked puppy, practically teleporting over to where you were sprawled across the ground.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” you said, answering the unasked question in his eyes. “Just- go ahead without me. I need to get my boot.”

“Are you sure?” Scar queried, worrying his lip between his teeth. You tried not to stare at his mouth for too long.

“Yeah, I won’t be far behind.”

Mission success! 

You entered Impulse’s base a few minutes later (your boot safely secured back on your person) only for Scar to drag you to one of the chairs, the material surprisingly comfortable despite the industrial theming. As the brunette fussed over your injuries, you glanced up to catch Pearl’s exasperated look towards you, scrunching your face up in confusion. Before you could ask her what her problem was, however, you were interrupted by Impulse.

“Scar, I think I have some bandages and health pots somewhere in storage if you want to go get those.”

“Yes! Those would be amazin’!” the other player breathed, a relieved look on his face as he hurried through the door that Impulse had gestured to. You paused as you watched him leave, suspicion suddenly crackling through your body as though you had been struck by lightning.

Whipping your head around, you catalogued every entrance and doorway in the vicinity, horror dawning on your expression. You made eye contact with the rest of the group, face paling as you recognized the self-satisfied expressions painted across their features.

They had hung mistletoe from. Every. Single. One.

Was this what true betrayal felt like?

The next few minutes were spent avoiding getting caught under any of the doorways with Scar in a grand maneuver that would’ve made even the greatest spy proud. Whether it was by ‘conveniently’ forgetting something in the other room, or furtively pulling up next to another one of your friends to kiss them instead (completely missing the injured flash in Scar’s eyes), you were quite proud with how well you had been able to keep yourself from being put into an awkward situation with the man who was only supposed to be your best friend.

Naturally, you couldn’t stay winning forever.

“Alright gang,” Grian chirped, a strained smile on his face as he attempted to hide the frustration he was sure that everyone else was feeling. How the hell had you managed to slip out of their trap for so long? “I think it’s time to head back out.”

Gathering up your things, you filed out with the rest of the group, finally allowing yourself to relax as you exited the base. After this, you wouldn’t have to worry about having to kiss Scar. As nice as it would be, you would basically be taking advantage of him. You felt sick even thinking about it- you never wanted to abuse his trust like that. Ever.

However, as you reached the doorway, walking a few paces behind Scar, you weren’t counting on Pearl’s annoyance with you to bubble over. The two of you had been avoiding your feelings- mutual feelings- for each other for too long, in her opinion. It was time to end this.

For that second time that day, you stumbled, a well-timed push sending you tripping over your own feet and into Scar’s arms. You went shock-still in his embrace, even as the brunette’s hands encircled your waist to keep you from tumbling over. Dazed, you blinked up at him, only to find his gaze already on you, something so soft in their olivine depths that it sent heat scorching through your cheeks.

Your eyes were glued to his face, even as he glanced up, a shy, lopsided grin working its way across his cheeks.

“Look,” he said, voice so low it was almost a whisper. “We’re under the mistletoe.”

And, as your gaze flickered up to follow his, you realized that he was right.

Well, shit.

You were about to pull away, panic settling over your features as it suddenly occurred to you that this was it, this was the end of your friendship, when he tightened his grip on you, something that almost looked like desperation flitting over his features.

“Please,” he said, a beseeching tone in his voice that sent your racing thoughts screeching to a halt. “Please kiss me.”

You never wanted to abuse his trust, but who were you to deny him when he asked so nicely?

As you pushed up, gently pressing your lips against his in a sweet, slow moment, you were deaf to the elated cries of your friends.

Pearl slumped against the door.

“About time you lovebirds stopped being idiots.”

@danny-boy27 @the-tired-system @silently-plotting-murder @g0re-h0und @hermitscapes @peanut-is-freed @itsonlydana @sina-the-idiot @amearla @rabukabait​