#otp: maybe you need some normal friends

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Remember This (Cygnet Scholar drabble)

requested by @accidental-spice

As the years that followed would blur together, many details of that night would too. Was it a high school prom or a grand royal ball? Had he invited her, or had she brought him? What song was playing, and who had sung it, and for how many nights prior had he prayed for a moment just like this?

But one part of that night Gideon would remember for the rest of his life: Hope leaning toward him with a spark in her eye, and the first kiss she gave him, and the lingering taste of forever on her lips.

(a/n and tags under the cut)

a/n: this one was super duper duper fun to write! it has similar vibes to spicy's birthday drabble, and that makes it even better!

taglist: @accidental-spice@kanerallels@ouatnextgen@booksteaandtoomuchtv [let me know if you’d like to be added to or removed from the cygnet scholar taglist!]  

📀 Spotify Wrapped Drabble Roulette

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Cygnet Scholar Superhero AU (Once Upon a Time)

"Hey," Hope threw on her pink leather jacket as she stepped out from behind the divider, "if I was outmatched, would I have made it back here in one piece?" "That's what worries me," Gideon rolled his eyes. "You worry too much," Hope flopped into the beanbag chair on the other side of the room. She pulled a handful of various yet particular friendship bracelets out of her jacket pocket and slid them onto her wrists.

Kindom Trap (Cygnet Scholar, Once Upon a Time)

He glanced ahead downhill and saw, about thirty seconds ahead of them at their current trajectory, a long stone wall, one there was no way the carriage could be moved to avoid. Whoever was trapped inside would have to climb out the door of a moving carriage. He pulled on the door handle and found it stuck— probably why the person inside was crying for help— but eventually managed to pull the door open a little, and the momentum carried him and his horse along with it as the door swung open downhill. He slowed slightly, until he was side-by-side with the open door, and saw the blur of a blonde maiden in a pink dress. He didn't have much time to examine her— they were getting closer and closer to the thick wall below. "You'll have to jump!" Gideon said, "I'll catch you. Otherwise you'll crash!"

This week’s word is…

✨ PINK ✨

Find the word in any WIP and share the sentence containing it. Reply, reblog, stick it in the tags, tag us in a new post, or keep it private. All fandoms, all ships, all writers welcome.

[elis-blawg222]

November 8 - Friday

Whew! Caught up at last!! (took me long enough)

Today was actually pretty good. I called Angel before school which made me really happy!! (I love him sm ill sob rn actually). My class wasn't toooo bad. The teacher talked sooo much ugh, but I drew the whole time so it was fine. I made my oc thinnn n pretty, love him. Also we had to go around the room and talk to people for like 30 minutes. 30. (did yk you have 30 minutes??)

It was so nerve wracking, especially because I was unprepared lol. I bet I looked like such a total weirdo with the lack of eye contact I was making, but at the time I was just trying not to break a nervous sweat LMAO.

Then, after my class I went to the library (on call w/Ange) and did an assignment. I went home afterwards because my phone was gonna die, and I needed my charger.

After a bit at home, I went to my next class, and I had a test in this one. It went good I think! We studied beforehand which I'm really grateful for.

We had a break in this class, so I went to walk around for a minute, and during this my mom texted me with:

"Eli

What did u eat today"

...

nothing. So, I said "I had some chicken nuggetss after my class hehe"

to which she responded "No fries no pop. How many nuggets"

GURL. So i was like "I did get some fries lol? and i got 10 why?"

and she just CONVENIENTLY NEVER RESPONDED. UGH.

(but wait theres more.)

After my class ended I went home and got ready for work. I was otp w/Angel (because seriously when am I not?) and he was playing minecraft. It was so peaceful and entertaining to watch and listen to him play- I loved every bit of it. Then, we talked about how we should play together (I ltrly will do anything to idc).

Work was actually ehh, not toooo bad. My dad and friend and her mom stopped by which was nice, and also my hairdresser LOL. They both tipped really well (obviously my dad did but yk).

I went home after what felt like one billion years, I was so so so happy. When I got home I just said a few things about my day like I usually do, and made sure to slip in the fact that I got a free meal at work. Which isn't wrong, I did, but I didn't get anything. I actually am just gonna let my friend get something tomorrow. but they don't have to know all that shhhhhhhh.

Then my mom stopped in front of me and was like what did you eat? and so i repeated myself bc no one listens to me <3

(I told her fried chicken tenders, fries, mac and cheese for context, a very 'me' meal tbh or at least it was)

Then, she was like "how many chicken tenders?" "no drink?" "did you finish it? all of it?" "so then you ate 2 full meals today?"

oh. my god. like. genuinely.

why. is. she. interrogating. me. pls. fucking. leave. me. alone. IM GENUINELY MORTIFIED AND HONESTLY IM SO AGGRIVATED. LET ME STARVE IN PEACE HOLY FUCK.

I tried to act like a normal person and be like ??? why are you interrogating me? BC WHY ARE YOU (as if I'm not literally starving myself)

She was just like "because I need to make sure you're getting nutrients." ok girl.

Then, I went to my room and she went to bed. I cleaned my room a bit and did a homework assignment, so I'm pretty proud of myself.

Also if you couldn't tell by now I fasted today. I was gonna either 48 hr fast or do 2 24 hr fasts back to back, but I think I'm just gonna do around 36 hrs. I wanna eat in front of my mom tomorrow so maybe she'll start leaving me alone (I seriously doubt it).

It just gets really frustrating when every meal I have she thinks isn't enough, even when I'm genuinely full. I can't eat like I used to like I physically cannot, she has to get that.

Anywho, I was thinking of making some cucumber boats tomorrow, I think it'll be fun.

Total Steps: 6.7k

Look at me meeting my step goal for once. I'm gonna start really making an effort at meeting it!

'Til tomorrow :)

(P.S. actually getting activity on these makes me so nervous but haiii)

[shinakazami1]

people took all the popular characters smh. maybe the fern or the adventure line?

You. You get it. You always get it <3 IT'S LOVELY SEEING U HERE HI HI

FERN

1) How I feel about this character:

*Looks at my Fernator Au* do you think I'm normal about this plant. Do you. Do you really.

On serious note - I adore it. The fact it's in Confusion ending it's perfect. How it is made to be an important detail, forgotten later by the narrative. The fsct we have to study it, the music cutoff.

Its foreshadowing without payback. And I love it.

I'll now ramble a bit about Fernator AU cus I missed it KEHSHDH

As I discussed in my Fernator theory post, nature seems to pay a bit role in the game. Ferns are placed in both the Freedom ending and the Memory Zone. They're always at an important key element of the main story, at least to the Narrator. And later, in Bucket destroyer ending, Fern is amongst "Stanley's friends". Because it's that! It's friendliness! The Freedom ending, while ironic, is supposed to give Stanley some freedom Narrator made. And Memory Zone is their safe spot from the story. It's an important area to him. So, while it's not in our face - fern, in a way, does have a meaningful role to play in the story. That's why my first ever AU was Fernator. Narrator wants to mean something. He is important to the story - because without him, there would be noone to tell it. But he's also Stanley's friend. Most of the game can be a study of his character and psyche.

So yeah. Adore the fella sm

2) All the people I ship romantically with this character

If we count Fernator AU - Stanley and the Bucket. But, once again, not really shipping it sjshsh,

3) My non-romantic OTP for this character

The above ones + the Narrator. Some self love for the man~

4) My unpopular opinion about this character

*stares at my Fernator AU* lord, what can I say. It IS freedom. It is insanity. It's another 'living' being of the game. It's more important, at least to me, than to many. It's there for a specific reason - confuse. And be memorable. But the fact it's spread around the game gets to me. There is no way Narrator doesn't make the human-made vs nature-made comparison. It's so cool.

5) One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

That I would have finished projects for my Fernator AU ngl to u boss KSHENAHEJWHSH /silly

On serious note - it serves it purpose perfectly, nothing needs to be added.

THE ADVENTURE LINE ™️

1) How I feel about this character

I still can't believe It ™️ is not an arrow. We literally fooled each other sm djehhshs

I LOVE IT™️. the yellow paint thing in games can get obnoxious sometimes and just how The Line ™️ started living it's own life was so awesome. How It ™️ was intruding through the environment. I'm a big fan of non human characters, and It ™️ had just so much personality thanks to the swirls and the music. Amazing.

2) All the people I ship romantically with this character

Never thought about it much. Stanley maybe? And the Tape guy. Could be silly. Or maybe some of the sliders 432 makes us do.

3) My non-romantic OTP for this character

Look above. Maybe love-hate with Narrator jdjdhd

4) My unpopular opinion about this character

People see It ™️ as an animal, often as a dog. I see It ™️ as a being beyond that. It's so interesting that It ™️ moves when we are not looking. It ™️ travels between the blinks. I love It ™️ as something stuck on walls and floors. Maybe It ™️ can talk to stickers.

It ™️ is playful but I feel The Line ™️ in a way cares about Stanley. Similarly to how I view 432.

5) One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

It would be cool to see The Line ™️ in the epilogue ngl,, but again. I adore the current form of the game and wouldn't have changed anything.

[kazoosandfannypacks]

IS THIS THE ORIGINAL SACRED TEXTS?

I'm thinking of changing their ship name, don't get me wrong I love Princess Scholar, but most other ships use the same name, and people use cygnet for Hope with her parents,

and I was thinking maybe Cygnet Scholar? cuz Hopeful/Princess Scholar just doesn't fit completely for them because Hope's not necessarily a princess

[disdaidal]

Giving you a character: Billy, of course. :p

Of course, Billy Hargrove was to be expected :D

How I feel about this character: I have strong and complicated feelings about this character. He's a bad boy, the kind of guy I would have absolutely hated in high school but also the kinda guy who would not be boring at least. :D He's loud and obnoxious and parties like an animal, but his taste in music is impeccable (I love rock and metal and music from the 80's and I will not take criticism for that). He's got pretty eyes (that curly mullet is... well, let's say, H&M did it better <3), a nice body and a great fashion sense (denim-on-denim and leather jackets ftw) and he drives a Chevrolet Camaro from '79 like a madman. He can also be pretty funny when he wants to be, ridiculous even. So, what's not to like really? :P

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I mostly ship him with Steve, Eddie and Argyle (the last two are totally crack and fanon but who gives). I think Billy and Heather could've been hot, more than friends, maybe even friends-with-benefits if not an actual couple. Just sayin'. I've seen some great headcanons, maybe even fanart of Billy and Chrissy and I think, you know, the princess and metalhead setting could've worked with them, too.

As for my most 'problematic' Billy ship, I actually really like Billy and Hopper. There's this whole daddy kink thing involved I suppose. Lowkey my favorite crackship Ted and Billy as well. :P I'm also very supportive of Billy and El in general, I think the actors had great chemistry in s3 and I can see why some ship them, so I suppose I lowkey ship them (in spirit), too.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Though I ship Billy and Heather romantically, I also love seeing them as 'gay besties', supporting each other and protecting each other. It's one of my favorite headcanons in this fandom. Same goes for Chrissy I suppose, if not romantically involved.

Though Billy had his issues with Max, maybe even than beyond just normal 'sibling-ship', I still enjoyed their relationship a lot. It's clear that they spent a lot of time together (whether they actually hated it or not), and that they deeply cared for each other.

My unpopular opinion about this character: The majority of the fandom seems to think (or at least acts like) Billy is the worst character in the show and at least used to actively bully and harass Billy fans and shippers (his actor got his fair share of that also I hear). Though Billy was definitely not the nicest character or even particularly 'goody-good' (he was a bully and quite shitty at times actually), acting like he's worse than Dr. Brenner, for example, is bullshit. We clearly did not watch the same show.

Also, for other Billy fans... He might be your baby, but he's not an actual baby. He's not really your son or child and you don't need to 'protect' him from the haters who can't separate fiction from reality (just block them) or tw/anti Karen or any other character you don't like in favor of Billy (you're no better). Billy can also be shipped with characters other than Steve (male or female, older and younger, even self-inserts) and just because you don't like it, doesn't make the ship automatically 'problematic'. It just means there are people out there who like different things than you and you need to learn to suck it up and look away. It's for the best.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon. That Billy wouldn't have faced such gruesome death. He wasn't a good guy, but he didn't deserve to die, especially so young. I also wish we could've seen what really happened between him and Max between seasons 2 & 3 because clearly their relationship improved there. Such wasted potential.

[bluewarf]

I have a lot of scattered thoughts about Dungeon Meshi vol. 9, actually. (gonna talk about spoilers below)

-Marcille has a definite habit of misjudging and infantilizing the other races. Comes with the territory of being an elf. Even so, she seems to take that tendency to the extreme with Fallin. Maybe it's because Fallin was so young when they first met? I do think it's interesting though to view it through the lens of Marcille having unacknowledged romantic feelings for her. Loudly insisting that Fallin's just a little girl who needs looking after is a lot safer than examining the depth and nature of her attachment to her best friend.

-that said, Marcille x fireball OTP

-The look of pure excitement on her face after being told that she'd just been killed and brought back-- babygirl, you are just as much of a freak as all these other weirdos in your party.

-Speaking of, Laios' internal moment of "oh, but I'm the freak?" when Marcille casually mentions having eaten fish testicles.

-and to continue on the subject of the dynamic between these two characters specifically, there's a lot to unpack with Laois' succubus taking the form of Marcille, his initial reaction to it, and the way that it ultimately goes about winning him over. So much so that I don't know where to begin with it, really.

-everyones' succubi have some interesting implications. Marcille having the romantic sensibilities of a middle school girl and/or telemundo-addicted abuela. Chilchuck being charmed by generic Hot Single half-foot ladies who bear no resemblance to the estranged wife that he's nonetheless remained faithful to. Whatever the fuck senshi had goin on.

-and of course, Izutsumi. kitten. :( She really doesn't seem to have had anybody looking out for her before joining Laios' party. Even Toshiro, who calls his servants family, was so quick to leave her behind in the dungeon when she went MIA. I do love the moment where she pauses to consider the idea of her beast half as a companion and partner. OTP ended with Marcille/fireball, Izutsumi/self-acceptance is my new ship.

-(in light of the nature of her succubus, I'm choosing to interpret her as aro-ace btw. girl CAN still appreciate the raw sensual power of a panther tho.)

-Chilchuck's dad side really comes out where Izutsumi's concerned. The way that he tries to guide her to the "right" answer when she's frustrated with the rest of the group, how quickly he assumes responsibility for her seemingly disappearing, and the fact that he's the first to suggest looking for her despite in no way being physically up for it when he's normally mr. pragmatism. I am such a sucker for adoptive parent/child dynamics.

-oh yeah, why did that cute little page spread of "monsters that steal your heart" on chapter 60 kick off with chil having a nightmare about his three daughters being axe murdered (by himself?) and senshi getting ensnared by a vision of his former party alive and embracing him. all drawn in a chibi style. Ryoko Kui has really mastered tonal whiplash.

all of that isn't even beginning to touch on Kabru, Mithrun, and the massive lore drops, but I'm gonna have to come back to that later.

[omniblades-and-stars]

character breakdown etc forrrr sera and morinth? :3c

Sera:

How I feel about Sera: I love Sera. Underrated, overhated. She looks at the whole in the sky, at the terror all around her and says, "I want to fix this." And what does she have to fix the sky and fight against everyone using this as a way to do uncountable harm to normal people? Arrows and friends. And so she uses those things to try.

One of my favorite conversations with her happens very early on (even though I love so many of her interactions.) And it's this one:

Sera: Anyway, stopping wars should earn more sovereigns than this. Need things back to normal for coins to be flowing again. Another reason the templars and mages need to be sat down.

Inquisitor: I’m pretty sure the Conclave proved it’s not that easy.

Sera: Yes, it is.

Inquisitor: No, it isn’t?

Sera: Why? Because someone yelled it real loud? Make them prove it.

That's right Sera, make them prove it. Anyways I love Sera. She's fun, she says what she means, and I just really think a character who takes the piss out of the baddies and the problems by not overthinking things too much and just doing something about it is so needed sometimes.

Shipping for Sera: I think Sera and Dagna are actually very cute together. Unfortunately, a lot of people in Inquisition are just not nice to her so other than the Inquisitor and Dagna I think the other women haven't earned her time.

Non-romantic OTP: Sera's friendships with Blackwall and Iron Bull are my favorite things in the whole world and I'll die on the hill of their friendships.

Unpopular opinion: I think taking the whole fandom into account, the fact that I love Sera so much is an unpopular opinion. She deserves more respect in game and amongst Dragon Age enjoyers.

One thing I wish had happened: I wish that the developers had not wanted me to hate her and had given me some less... Derisive conversation options at some points.

Morinth:

How do I feel about this character?: How in the world do I condense my feelings about Morinth into a format that isn't just unintelligible wailing? How I feel about Morinth is that she and every ardat-yakshi have been failed by asari society and culture. She is the monster they created, no? Is there really no cure? No way to detect this genetic illness before the worst happens?

I don't know, maybe it's my soft and forgiving heart, but I want to believe she wasn't beyond redemption. It's not like she'd be the only person on your squad who has murdered people.

Shipping for Morinth: I don't really have any romantic ships for her. Not even because of the whole like frying your nervous system out until you die thing. I think what she needs more is a community and friends.

Non-romantic OTP: Fully think her and Jack should get to be friends. And some flavors of Shepard even.

OK and hear me out: Shepard clone and Morinth redemption arc side story? Is that too silly, probably (the clone thing is intrinsically silly), but I've had a lot of candy tonight and it came upon me just now like a flash of divinity.

Unpopular opinion is probably the same as what I wish had happened: I wish she'd had a chance at redemption.

[kazoosandfannypacks]

OH THAT'S SO CUTE I LOVE IT!!!

🥧🎃🧡 and maybe a Hope Swan-Jones and/or a Gideon Gold 🥺

Technically, here's both of them!! (She's burying him)

Thanks for the ask!!!

Ask game

[kazoosandfannypacks]

"that's christmas to me" cygnet scholar fanfic for @all-fandoms-christmas-festival

summary: when gideon tells hope he got her a very special christmas present this year, she obsesses over what it might be a/n: for those wondering, this fic is standalone from my other cygnet scholar fics, but it does contain references to some of them! also, since you already have to rejigger the timeline just to make cygnet scholar work, i figured i may as well canonize my other favorite rarepair too. i don't go into much detail about it in the fic, but this is set in an au where rumple dies so that gideon can come back as a baby at the end of season 6, and sometime several years later belle remarries and august becomes gideon's stepdad. taglist: @accidental-spice @kanerallels @ouatnextgen @booksteaandtoomuchtv [let me know if you'd like to be added to or removed from the cygnet scholar taglist!] also on ao3!

That's Christmas To Me

 "So, what do you think your parents got you this year?"

 Gideon looked up from his textbook and raised an eyebrow at the girl across the living room floor.

 "Is this a genuine question, or just an attempt to distract yourself from the algebra homework?"

 "Can't it be both?" Hope asked.

 Gideon rolled his eyes. "You know my parents."

 "So I'm guessing more books than you can carry," Hope said, "and another hand-carved ornament for the tree?"

 "Bingo," Gideon nodded, "and it's only fair, since mom's getting a book from me, and my stepdad's getting a new roll of typewriter ink."

 "That sounds horribly practical," Hope laughed.

 "Oh yeah?" Gideon asked, "what did you get your parents?"

 "Come on, Gid," Hope said, "it's a week before Christmas. Do you really think I already did my Christmas shopping?"

 "It's four days until Christmas," Gideon said, "and unless you plan on shopping on Christmas Eve, that's only three shopping days, counting today."

 "I'll think of something," Hope shrugged.

 Gideon shook his head and rolled his eyes, then fixed them steadily on her for half a second, watching the glow of the fireplace illuminate her carefree smile. What would've sent him into a tizzy of a panic attack rolled off her shoulders like it was nothing.

 "How's studying going?"

 Gideon turned to see Hope's mom behind him with a tray in her hands.

 "It'd be better if someone didn't keep getting distracted," Gideon said.

 "Yeah, Gid, what's wrong with you;" Hope mockingly deflected, "we gotta focus!"

 "Oh, sorry, my bad," Gideon joked in return.

 "Maybe some cookies and cocoa will help," her mom said. She set down a tray of sugar cookies and two festive mugs of steaming hot chocolate.

 "Thanks, Mrs. Swan," Gideon said.

 "You're welcome, kid," Emma said, then looked to her daughter, "and, Hope? Stop distracting the poor boy and let him study, okay?"

 "Yes ma'am," Hope sighed and mockingly saluted.

 As her mom left, Gideon picked up one of the mugs set before them, one with a somewhat ridiculous-looking festive moose on it, which he'd mentioned once or twice was his favorite of her family's odd assortment of Christmas mugs. He took a sip and sighed with contentment.

 "What's your mom's secret to such perfect hot chocolate, anyways?"

 "Cinnamon," Hope smiled, as she reached for a present-shaped cookie, overflowing with frosting and decked out in red and green sprinkles.

 "Fabulous," Gideon said.

 They both returned to their work, but only for a few minutes, before Gideon spoke up again. 

"Have you even started Christmas shopping yet?"

 "Now who's distracting who?" Hope asked. "But, of course not. Why, have you finished already?"

 "Yup," he smiled, and after a pause he added, "I even got a special gift for a certain friend of mine this year." He then took another sip of cocoa in hopes that his expression wouldn't give away his surprise.

 "Which friend?" Hope asked.

 "A certain girl in my algebra class," he smiled behind his cocoa mug.

 "Which girl?" Hope's eyes narrowed. 

 "A longtime friend," he said, "a girl who owns an armload of friendship bracelets, and whose mom makes hot chocolate with cinnamon in it, and who I'll be seeing at dinner on Christmas Eve." He took another sip of cocoa, but he didn't get much chance to enjoy it.

 "Charlotte?" Hope asked, her tone a not-so delicate balance of confused and offended, "you got a 'special Christmas gift' for my best friend Charlotte? My aunt Charlotte?"

 In an involuntary response to her startling misunderstanding of his hints, he quickly spewed his sip of cocoa out of his mouth, hoping most of it ended up in the mug, and later hoping her dad wouldn't ask where these brown stains on the living room rug came from.

 "What, no!" Gideon said, stumbling to regain himself, "Hope, I got a special Christmas gift for you."

 "You did?" Hope asked, her mood instantly changed, the usual sparkle returning to her crystal blue eyes, "what did you get me?"

 "Now," Gideon said, "would it really be much of a special gift if it wasn't a surprise?"

 "I can still act surprised," she said, with a hint of a frown and large, blinking eyes which he almost gave into.

 "Sorry," he said, quickly looking back down at his algebra textbook, "you'll have to wait until Christmas Eve."

 "This is cruel and unusual punishment," Hope grumbled.

 "Yup," Gideon smiled.

 "You do know this is gonna make it even harder for me to study now," Hope said.

 "Yup."

 "And I'll never get this homework done if I'm distracted."

 "Yup."

 "And then I'm gonna fail algebra."

 "Yup."

 "And then I'm gonna get held back a year."

 "Yup."

 "And then we won't be in the same class anymore." 

 "Yup."

 "And then you're gonna have to find a new special girl in next year's algebra class to give a special Christmas gift to."

 "Yup."

 "Gideon!"

 He knew he'd carried that bit a bit too far when Hope called him "Gideon" instead of "Gid."

 "Would you like some help with your homework, Hope?"

 "I'd like to know what a certain special boy got me for Christmas."

 "Can't help with that," Gideon said, hoping she couldn't tell his face was red as a Christmas bow at how she'd just called him "special" without meaning it as an insult.

 "Why'd you even go and tell me if it's supposed to be a surprise anyway?" Hope said. "Taking a new form of torture for a test drive?"

 "I have my reasons," he said.

 The reasons, of course, were that he'd never given her a gift before, and if she didn't know he was giving her a gift, she'd have no time to pick out a gift for him. He didn't necessarily need a gift from her, or expect one, but it occurred to him that she might feel bad if he gave her a gift and she came empty-handed, so it was only fair to give her warning.

 And also, a part of him enjoyed watching her obsess over it. It wasn't that he wanted to torment her or stress her out for once in her life, of course, but her attempts to goad the answer out of him were, as predicted, delightful and charming.

 "Now," he continued, "would you like some help with the homework?"

 "Only if you tell me what you got me."

 "Fine," Gideon said, "looks like you'll fail this class and I'll have to give a special gift to some other girl from my math class next year."

 "Alright," Hope said, with an exaggerated eye roll, "I guess if it's the only way."

 They both slid a little closer to each other so he could see her textbook, and then Hope slid closer still.

 As she started explaining how the answer she got was twenty-seven point five percent while the correct answer was two, Gideon glanced behind her at the mountain of gifts under her family's tree. Given that she hadn't begun to shop for her parents, and her brother was still off writing his own adventures, he had a hunch that most of those presents were for her. With all those gifts awaiting her, he suddenly felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. What if his gift didn't live up to her hype? What if it got metaphorically lost in the sea of brightly colored packages that awaited her the morning after? What could one gift, no matter how "special," really mean in comparison to all that?

 He shifted his attention away from the assortment of red and green parcels across the room and the little parcel under his own tree back home, putting them all out of his mind so he could instead focus on how to explain to Hope that in no world could x equal four-hundred and ninety if x minus fifteen equaled twenty-five.

🤍💙🤎🩵🖤

 "It's horrible, Charlotte," Hope complained as she waited in the lunch line.

 "What, that algebra pop quiz?" Charlotte asked, "or Merry Mystery Meat Friday?"

 "Neither," Hope said, "Gideon. He's been absolutely tormenting me."

 "Oh, right," Charlotte said, as the lunch lady poured some gloop on her plate, "it's absolute torture that you're getting an extra Christmas present this year."

 "You don't understand," Hope said, wincing at the smell of the food on her tray, "at first, I kept asking what it was to be dramatic."

 "And you're not being dramatic now?"

 "No, no, I still am," Hope said, "but now I'm being dramatic with purpose. I can't just let him give me a special gift without giving him anything in return."

 "So buy him something?" Charlotte suggested. "You haven't started your Christmas shopping yet anyways."

 "Yes, but what do I get him, Char?" Hope asked as they made their way to their usual table. "What if I show up with a gently used toaster and find out he got me a gently used convertible? Or I get him a PS5 and he got me a pencil sharpener?"

 "Those are vastly overexaggerated scenarios," Charlotte said, then sighed, "but I get the sentiment. Did you tell him that's why you want to know?"

 "That would ruin the surprise."

 "Well, have you tried asking around?" "Syd doesn't even know this one," Hope said, "and if she hasn't heard about it, no one has."

 Before they could continue the conversation, Gideon took a seat next to Hope.

 "So glad to see you're both present, right now," he said, "it sure is special to share such a moment with you guys."

 Hope tried to ignore him in an attempt to hide her frustration.

 Gideon looked at the girls' lunch trays and smiled.

 "What's that?" Gideon asked, "hamburger surprise? Mystery meat?" He pulled a paper bag out of his backpack and continued, "it sure is a gift to have a mom who packs you your own special lunch every day. It's almost like a Christmas present you don't have to wait for."

 "You're a real jerk sometimes," Hope said, "you know that, right?"

 "It's an inherited trait, I'm told." Gideon said, pulling a sandwich out of his bag. 'Some might call it a gift."

 "And if you don't stop it soon," Hope said, "there'll be a special surprise in it for you," and she scooped up a big spoonful of the gloop in front of her and brought it closer to Gideon, "mystery meat on rye, perhaps?"

 "While putting the school's excuse for 'food' on my sandwich is a truly terrifying threat," Gideon said, holding his sandwich away at arms' length until Hope put down her spoon, "that's not much of a special surprise if you tell me about it first."

 "Speaking of 'not much of a special surprise because you tell me about it first,'" Hope changed tactics, leaning toward him with a doe-eyed expression she'd kept on reserve for just such an occasion, "it sure would be nice if a certain boy told me what he got a certain girl for Christmas."

 "I already told you," Gideon said, "I got my mom a book."

 Her doe eyes were wasted on Gideon, who smugly took a bite of his sandwich.

 "I give up," Hope said.

 "Good," Gideon said, "because I'm not telling."

 "Fine," Hope said, then mumbled under her breath, "hope you like your toaster."

 "What?"

 "Nothing."

 "Anyways," Gideon said, "did you guys want to meet up to work on homework later?"

 "I'm busy," Charlotte said, which didn't come as a surprise. She'd been too busy to do homework with them a lot recently.

 "I've got Christmas shopping to do this afternoon," Hope said.

 "Oh, starting early, are we?" Gideon asked.

 "I'll have to start early if I've got an extra gift to get this year," Hope said.

 "An extra gift for whom?"

 "No one special," she quickly recovered.

 "Well," he said, "maybe we could do homework afterwards?"

 "Sure, but not at my house." Hope said. "Mom and dad are working, so I can't have friends over."

 This was true, but it was also an excuse. If they studied at his house, she might have the chance to do a little snooping and figure out what this mystery gift was.

 "I told my mom I'd help her at the library this afternoon," Gideon said, "maybe we could study there?"

 Dang it.

 "Sounds great," Hope lied.

🤍💙🤎🩵🖤

 "You know the real reason we met at the library?" Gideon asked as they sat down in a side room of the library. 

 "Because you know if we're at your house I'll try to sneak a peek at my Christmas present?"

 "You know, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind," Gideon smiled, "but I also thought the library would help minimize distractions."

 "Oh, sure," Hope said.

 His plan was secretly foiled, though, by Hope's own mind. She brought plenty of distractions with her. Not only did she have the usual to distract herself with, she had plenty of other things to think about, like "what could he have gotten me?" and "I hope what I got him is good enough," and eventually, "why did he even get me a special gift this year anyways?" and on occasion before she could stop herself, "Gideon looks especially nice today." 

 Sure, he didn't look much different than normal. He wore his trademark style of a flannel over a t-shirt with a corny slogan (though in place of a science pun, today's read "MERRY CHRISTMOOSE" over an image of the stupidest moose Hope had ever seen.) Gideon's deep golden hair was parted the same way it always was. His smile was the same and his laugh was the same and his eyes bore the same combination of intelligence and innocence that always made Hope catch her breath when they fixed themselves too hard on her. But today, she noticed it all at once, and it only added to her usual level of distraction.

 They'd hardly been working for half an hour when another distraction came along, this time in the form of Gideon's mother.

 "How's it going in here?" Belle asked, looking over her son's shoulder at the senseless arrangement of letters and numbers and symbols.

 "About as good as always," Hope said.

 "Almost, anyways," Gideon said.

 "Almost?" Belle asked. "Any particular reason why that is?"

 "You know," Gideon said, "now that you mention it, when we study at Hope's house, her mom always has cookies for us."

 "Does she now?"

 "Yes ma'am," Hope said, catching Gideon's drift and quick to help him out, "she says cookies are a sort of brain food. If they weren't, dad wouldn't let us keep them around the house."

 "I see," Belle said, "well, I'm not about to spoil your supper, but how about I bring you guys some hot cocoa instead?"

 "Close enough," Gideon shrugged.

 "I'll be right back," his mom ruffled his hair.

 As a dangerous Christmas miracle, Hope got an idea.

 "Can I help you, Mrs. Booth?" Hope asked.

 "I'd like that very much," Belle said.

 "I can help too," Gideon said, starting to get up himself.

 "We got it, don't worry," Hope quickly got up. She placed a hand on his arm and said, "we'll be right back."

 "Okay," Gideon said, with that calculating look on his face he often got when he was trying to get to the bottom of one of Hope's brilliant ideas.

 But as it stood, he hadn't caught onto this one, because he made no attempt to thwart her time with his mom.

 "I'm glad to see you two getting along so well," Belle said, as she and Hope found themselves waiting for the library's Keurig to heat up. 

 "Yeah?" Hope said, already pleased at how quickly she could shift this conversation to suit her needs. "Does he talk about me much?"

 "A bit," Belle smiled.

 "What kind of stuff does he say?"

 "Well," Belle said, "just a few things here and there. A few things I can't say."

 "Does one of them have to do with a special surprise Christmas present?"

 "Maybe," Belle said, with a wink and a lower tone of secrecy as she loaded a hot chocolate K-cup into the coffee machine.

 "What is it?" Hope whispered.

 "I can't say," Belle responded.

 "Well, you're no help." Hope grumbled.

 "Is there," Belle paused, "a special reason you can't just wait until Sunday night to find out?"

 Hope nodded.

 "Well, what is it?" Belle asked, as she changed out the used hot chocolate pod for a new one.

 "Can you keep a secret?"

 Belle turned away from exchanging the styrofoam cups in her hands to give her a knowing glance, one she'd clearly been the one to pass down to her son.

 "I got him a Christmas present too," Hope whispered, "and I wanna make sure it's not a toaster or a playstation."

 "A toaster?"

 "It's a metaphor." She said. "Long story. I just don't want to give him something too big, or too small, or too stupid."

 "I see," Belle nodded, "Well, I'm not about to breach my son's privacy, but I won't breach yours either. If you tell me what you got him, I'll tell you if yours is too much or too little."

 "You'd really do that for me?" Hope asked.

 "Of course." Belle said, taking both cups of cocoa in her hands.

 Hope motioned for Belle to come closer, then whispered in her ear.

 Belle smiled.

 "Hope," Belle said, "I don't think that gift will be too big or too small at all. It sounds perfect."

 "Really?" Hope asked, feeling a massive weight of anxiety float away in a mere moment.

 "Yup. Now, you take these," she handed Hope both cups, "and, wait just a second."

 Belle took a bottle of syrup from the counter, clearly meant for the coffee, but apparently multi-purpose.

 "French vanilla?" Hope asked.

 "Your mother has her way of dressing up hot cocoa," Belle said, pouring a squirt of syrup into each cup, "and I have mine."

 "I'll have to remember that," Hope nodded, "And, thanks. Thanks for, well, everything."

 "Better get back to your studies," Belle winked.

 Hope took a sip of her cup of cocoa on the way back to their table. It was perfect.

🤍💙🤎🩵🖤

 "So, Gideon," Hope said, as they sat down together for their Christmas Eve dinner, "are you gonna tell me what you got me for Christmas yet?"

 "You'll find out soon enough," he smiled, "and, uh, did you end up getting that 'extra gift for no one special' yet?"

 "Maybe," Hope winked.

 "Oh, how adorable," Charlotte said, taking a seat in between Hope and CJ.

 Gideon's mom soon filled the seat next to him, followed by his stepdad, then Hope's parents, then Charlotte and CJ's, and finally the Mayor and her sister, with her daughter, Robin, next to CJ.

 Gideon tried his best to enjoy the ham and scalloped potatoes set before him, though his mind was on what would happen afterwards, the real meat and potatoes of the evening for him: when those gathered would start exchanging gifts, followed by singing carols, and the space in between those traditions when he'd find an excuse pull Hope aside and give her her gift. Sure, he could just give it to her now, or when everyone else gave gifts, but this one was different, special. It was a gift from him to her, simple as that, and it didn't need anyone else's attention.

 After the meal, as the family gathered around the tree to open presents, Gideon pantomimed joy as he thanked Mrs. Nolan for the book she gave him that he already had two copies of, and he was polite and respectful and didn't lie too much as he told the Mills sisters how much he liked the sweatervest they'd given him.

 Of course, there were genuine joys too, as there often are at Christmas. The younger generation oohed and awed as they each unwrapped a set of dice sent from Hope's brother in the Enchanted Forest. The house filled with laughter as the mayor gave Hope's grandma the annual gag gift of a perfect red apple. There was a type of mischievous joy passed between both parties as Hope unwrapped a present and stuck the bow that it'd been adorned with squarely on Gideon's forehead.

 And still, Gideon's focus was on the one gift that still had yet to be given. After all the packages beneath the tree had been unwrapped, Gideon excused himself, and quietly made his way to the front room of the house, where his jacket hung on a hook by the door.

 "Trying to make an escape before you can give me the elusive special Christmas present?"

 He turned and saw Hope standing in the doorway behind him, the lights of the merry festivities behind them reflecting off the sparkles on her red velvet dress.

 "Not at all," he said, as he slipped his jacket on and put his hands into the perfectly oversized pockets. "I just had to come grab a special gift for a special friend of mine."

 "Oh?" Hope asked, "she must be something pretty special if you had to leave all that excitement just to give her a gift."

 "Excitement?" Gideon asked. "Well then, I guess I better head back in now then. I'd hate to miss whatever festivities are happening without us."

 Hope took a step in front of him, blocking his path. "We can watch my dad and grandpa sing a rousing duet of All I Want For Christmas is You anytime." 

 "Can we really, though?" Gideon asked, sidestepping past her. She mirrored his step.

 "Charlotte's recording it," Hope said, "now, what'd you get me?"

 He sighed. As much as he loved the look on her face as she awaited his gift, he couldn't keep this up for too much longer, not without giving such a small gift too much hype and a huge letdown.

 "Fine," he said, pulling a wrapped square box, slightly larger than the palm of his hand, out of his pocket.

 "Oooh!" Hope said. She reached for it, but he held it up in the air above their heads.

 "What's the magic word?" He asked.

 "Um," Hope said, jumping up to try and reach it, "if you don't give it to me now I'll kick you?"

 Her idle threats didn't scare him anymore.

 "How about please?"

 Hope rolled her eyes, but they stopped halfway, the spark in her eyes frozen as they refracted onto his.

 "Please?" she asked, softly, and she almost seemed genuine rather than annoyed. He nodded and handed the gift to her without a word or a breath left in his mouth, acted upon by something almost beside himself, outside of himself, larger than himself.

 She tore the paper off the package with a careful excitement, and opened the box inside.

 "A charm bracelet," she whispered.

 "I hope you like it." He said, pointing to each charm on the bracelet in the box. "I picked out the charms myself. There's an angel for the snow angels we used to make in the backyard, and a music note for the caroling karaoke every year."

 "Especially the time we turned Silent Night into, well, the opposite of that," Hope added.

 "Exactly." Gideon smiled, "and the reindeer's for that time we tried to wait up to catch Santa Claus."

 "Hey, that snare trap worked perfectly!" Hope defended.

 "A little too perfectly."

 "Yeah," Hope laughed, "he was so mad at us."

 "And then we got coal in our stockings for the next three years," Gideon said, with a chuckle.

 Hope looked back down at the bracelet in her hand.

 "Is the candle for the time you burned the gingerbread cookies?" Hope asked.

 "Actually, the fireplace is," Gideon said, "The candle's for the time you set your hair on fire."

 "I'd almost forgotten that one," Hope said. "And what's the present for?"

 "For this," Gideon said, taking the box from her hand, "the first present I ever gave you that I bought instead of my parents."

 "I love it" Hope shook her head with an amazed disbelief. "Can you help me put it on?"

 "Sure," he said. He took the bracelet out of the box, and handed the box back to her. He then clasped the bracelet around her wrist.

 "How did you even come up with all these?" Hope asked.

 "Those are all my favorite Christmas memories, Hope. When I think of a Merry Christmas," and his hand slid from her wrist to her hand, and his tone lowered, and he continued, "I think of you."

 He watched her expression closely for any sign of discomfort, but instead saw a smile, and the red of her cheeks brought out by the red of her dress.

 "I have something for you too," Hope said, letting go of his hand so she could dig through her purse.

 "For me?" Gideon asked.

 "Of course," Hope said, "you didn't think I'd show up empty handed, did you?"

 "The thought had crossed my mind," he said.

 "Well, it was a silly thought," Hope said. "Here."

 She pulled a wrapped gift out of her bag that was only a little bigger than the box he'd given her. He opened it to reveal a small leather journal.

 "It's very nice," he said, unsure if his gift seemed too much in comparison.

 "Open it up, stupid," she said with a smile.

 He opened the notebook to the first page, which had a handwritten note.

 "Hey, Gid!

 I didn't know what to get you for Christmas, but I saw this notebook and thought it was missing something. Don't worry, I fixed it for ya.

 -HSJ"

 "What does that mean?" he asked.

 "Turn the page," she said.

 He turned the page to see a picture of them at Christmas when they were kids, pouring frosting that was meant for a gingerbread house directly into their mouths. Next to it was the recipe for gingerbread, with the temperature to set the oven to circled with red glitter ink multiple times.

 He turned to the next page: a drawing of a massive snow fort with four tiny stick figures on top. "EXPECTATION:" some writing above it said, and the facing page said "REALITY:" and featured a photo of them as kids, cramming next to Charlotte and CJ inside a circular wall of snow not even six inches tall.

 A few pages further, he found a drawing of his favorite mug with the moose on it, and two recipes for hot chocolate: Mrs. Swan style and Mrs. Booth style.

 "What's all this about anyways?" Gideon asked.

 "You're always filling your brain with all that useless school junk," Hope said, "algebra, Shakespeare, Washington, it's exhausting. I don't wanna see that pretty little head of yours get so full of numbers and names and dates that you forget what really matters."

 "Like what?" Gideon asked, with a smile.

 "Stupid intangibles like family and friendship and love and all that crap," Hope said, "I know, it's no charm bracelet, but…."

 "It's perfect," Gideon said.

 "Really?" Hope asked.

 "Really." Gideon said. "Of all the things I want to remember, you're the most important one."

 "Thanks," Hope said, that red flush creeping again along her cheek, "now, we'd better get back to the rest of the party before our dads start wondering what's taking us so long."

 "Yeah," Gideon said.

 But, apparently, they were too late.

 "Well, well," Gideon and Hope both froze as they heard his stepdad's voice across the room.

 He turned to see August smiling and calling to the other guests.

 "Belle, Killian, Emma," August called, "it looks like someone's under the mistletoe."

 "Huh, wonder who that could be," Gideon thought, before he noticed the guilty look on Hope's face. She looked up at the ceiling, and his eyes followed her gaze.

 Hanging above them like Damacles' sword was a festive assemblage of green leaves and holly berries, tied together with a bow, a scarlet letter that spelled trouble.

 "I'm sorry," Gideon said, "honest, I didn't realize it was there."

 "I know you didn't," Hope said, with an eye roll.

 Despite how fast his heart was suddenly beating, time seemed to hold still. He noticed several things very clearly— the looks on the faces of the parents gathered around them, ranging from the smile of his mom to the deathly glare of her dad. He noticed the way her eyes reflected the fairy lights that surrounded them, and the hint of a smile under her reddening cheeks. He noticed how sweaty his palms suddenly were, and he regretted wearing such a warm sweater, and his jacket as well now, and it dawned on him all at once that he'd never kissed a girl before, and that the number of people watching them had gone from zero to one to four to eleven in seconds, and that most of them probably expected him to kiss her, and that at least one of them would probably be very upset at him if he did.

 He also knew that, as far as he knew, Hope had probably never kissed anyone, either, and that if she wanted him to be her first kiss, that was great— but on her own terms. And if she didn't, well, she couldn't get mad at him for this.

 He bent down ever so slightly, leaned closer to her, then turned his head and planted his lips on her cheek, the cheek that wasn't as visible to their uninvited audience, but that, although his eyes were closed, he could tell had reddened by how it warmed at the touch of his kiss.

 He then pulled away from her, and they stood apart, merely looking at each other with a smile, and a nod to indicate there was no more left that needed to be done. This was met with the rest of the gathering shuffling back to their places, a few with a sigh, though Captain Jones with a smile that made Gideon fear much less for his life.

 "Hey, Gid," Hope said, as they walked back to the party, trailing along behind the rest of the group.

 "Yeah?"

 She slid her hand into his, and he looked down at her.

 "Think you can get me a mistletoe charm for the bracelet?"

 "I think so," Gideon said.

 "Thanks," Hope smiled, and stepped up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek, this one spurred on not by mistletoe or tradition or expectation of others, but simply by merit of the spirit of Christmas that hung in the air, and of the love carried between two friends who were well on their way to becoming so much more.

[sparethcsympathy]

Michelle and Soldier Boy for ship memeee 💕

ULTIMATE SHIP MEME! || @twiicetheheart

General:

Rate the Ship -   Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs

How long will they last? - Fucking. Forever.

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - I don't wanna say too quick, and i don't wanna say it took forever for them also. least for soldier boy, the second something happens to her that involves dealing with homelander. whether she was hurt-- or just feelings hurt, i think seeing the look on her face--- broken and all, that's when he realizes... that he hates seeing her sad, hurt--- and that's when it hits him that he loves her.

How was their first kiss? - oh my god. you know michi and i haven't talked about that, but i do have an idea of when they first kiss. def think it's when he tells her about his past-- like his real past, and also telling Michelle about his time with the russians-- maybe not entirely, because lbr he's still trying to block our most of his trauma and also probably can't recall what ELSE they done to him. -- but i imagine when he finally gives his name to Michelle, not his supe name. his real name. like letting her in--- fully. which he hasn't done in a long time. and also i think Soldier boy would be the one to make the move first, it would have been soft. despite who he is, cause he's not a soft man-- but with Michelle ? he's definitely got a soft spot for her. It would have been sweet and slow, filled with so much emotion, want & just vulnerable.

Wedding:

Who proposed? - lbr soldier boy would. he's old school. man bs.

Who is the best man/men? - .... nobody. LMAO WHAT FRIENDS ? xD

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? - damn idk. starlight maybe xD though she's gonna be like Michelle--- him ? LMAO idk guess we gotta see what bg characters are Michelle's friends.

Who did the most planning? - Michelle would. but why do I feel like she would try to still have him involved in SOME STUFF.

Who stressed the most? - Michelle. She's planning it after all.

How fancy was the ceremony? - Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? -

Sex:

Who is on top? - soldier boy is top dog-- but that doesn't mean he won't switch to let Michelle *cough cough* ride him.

Who is the one to instigate things? - soldier boy ! LMAO C'MON how can he not ? she's a babe.

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they? - Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? - listen soldier boy is a supe, he's never out of energy he's always up for it, and also women can last so ayyye ! these two can go hand in hand-- unless Michelle gotta be somewhere and THEN a quickie is in the works.

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - yes, soldier boy definitely is a man when it comes to wanting his women to cum. so yes, he will make sure she reaches climax before him ( which also means he cares about her, putting her needs before his )

How rough are they in bed? - Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it. // SO i think they can be both. cause it's SB and he def would have soft moments with Michelle, but also he's a dirty talker when needed.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - maybe two. soldier boy did say he wanted to be a dad after all.

How many children will they adopt? - none sorry kiddos.

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Michelle but don't think she doesn't have soldier boy help-- she makes his ass.

Who is the stricter parent? - soldier boy ? in some parts, and Michelle in other parts. so equal-- but Michelle still would be softer.

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Michelle LMAO

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - also Michelle

Who is the more loved parent? - i think they are both loved. but the kids would def be clinging to Michelle more.

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? - Michelle. can you imagine soldier boy ? god no.

Who cried the most at graduation? - Michelle. soldier boy @ himself was like : don't you dare cry pussy. don't do it-- fuck I'm crying shit.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - soldier boy lbr. he's like i got you kid, i got you don't tell your mother.

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - michelle. soldier boy can't cook for shit.

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - i think Michelle. cause soldier boy looks like he has more of an appreciation for good after being in the box for a long ass time.

Who does the grocery shopping? - Michelle. listen soldier boy did it once, and he only got meat/jerky/junk food/beer

How often do they bake desserts? - i think Michelle does it a lot when she has the time. cause she seems like she knows how to bake real good.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - soldier boy loves meat. I see Michelle being our salad girl for sure.

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Michelle would be the one to do this. soldier boy though will surprise her-- and try to cook.... :) didn't go well though.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - soldier boy cause he can't cook to save a life, and to take her out and show off his lady.

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? - soldier boy.... for sure.

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Michelle does

Who is really against chores? - Soldier boy lmao !

Who cleans up after the pets? - both do. if they have

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - SOLDIER BOY

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - neither do. cause do they really have people come over ? LMAO.

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - michelle. so it's hers now :) !

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - both. both do.

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - if they have one i think they would both do it together.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - Michelle does it for each and every holiday, and also ben enjoys it cause he's been gone for a long time-- and like i said i think appreciates things more.

What are their goals for the relationship? - stay alive is number one for sure. but also have each other back no matter what.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - neither

Who plays the most pranks? - neither

[itsanidiom]

SHIPPER TAG GAME

LET'S GOOOOO~ tagged by @negrowhat

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care anymore?

Glorestor or Glorfindel / Erestor of Middle Earth Fanon Fame. Not that I don't CARE about it anymore, mind you. There's just not enough new content (for obvious reasons god it's old and there's like one conversation of original source material). I don't think about them as much anymore. Like I used to be reading fanfic EVERY NIGHT and we're talking like novel length fanfics (as you can imagine people in the LOTR fandom write lol). Anyway here's some super old fan art... (>u<)

2. Which ship would you consider your first one?

Oh god...something Dynasty Warriors related for sure...

Probably like Sun Ce / Zhao Yu or Gan Ning / Lu Xun. (GO WU! lol) I feel like there were other couples I'm totally forgetting right now...but yeah god I love Dynasty Warriors...

Also...daaamn Gan Ning looks good there I should go buy the latest game. (>w<)

3. Your first fanfic belonged to which couple?

Like the first one I wrote or read?? I went into my oldest of old "old writing" folders and found this list of docs that I haven't been touched in over ten years. SO I'm gonna saaaay it was a Dynasty Warriors fanfic...one of these pairings. (^ ^;)

Also kind of hilarious to see that I literally still organize my fanfic files in the same way for over half my fucking life ago...nice...

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw a fanart over?

I feel like it would have been something Inuyasha related. That or something Final Fantasy X. I do not remember, but it was probably some version of these scene.

5. Did you ever get into ship discourse?

Not that I can remember...do not need this in my life...lol but maybe I've reblogged some RPF like discourse? Like the "should or shouldn't you ship" type discussions. I'm on the side of "do whatever you want but don't send it to the famous people" [ex. like ATEEZ fanfic/fanart] or "if they are literally doing it as part of their promo go ahead, it's for fun/they literally requested it as part of their promo" [ex. BillyBabe]. (^ ^;)

6. Did you used to have any no-otp or have it currently?

It honestly always depends on the quality of the fanart or the fanfic because even a notp can turn into a OH!tp if it's good enough. [Exhibit a: my Phaya/Tharn/Chalothorn fanfic]

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

Weirdly the one new Chalothon/Singh fic from The Sign. But I really need AO3 to fix the spelling of his name in the tag...

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs?

PhayaTharn are the current obsession~

Look at them...adorable...

9. Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

Still wish John Wick / Santino fucked...also like James Bond / Q and The Protagonist / Neil and Arthur / Eames...bromance is SUCH a waste but considering the genres of these movies it is never gonna happen...I have to wait for the Thai BL versions lol (^ ^;)

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

OH I haven't been traumatized by watched it yet, but Dead Friends Forever has made me get onboard with Macau/Chay of KinnPorsche fame because OMG LOOK AT THESE CUTIES!!!!

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, was considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

GOD I remember there was a LOT of Sesshomaru x Inuyasha yaoi when I was a kid LMFAO like...straight up cancelled...I dunno if it was normal back then but no yaoi was normal back then so like it sadly all got lumped together or something...then again looking at some of the comics that are coming out these days...

12. What was your favorite crack ship?

All the McFassy ships from back in the day like OMG REMEMBER JUNGKOV?? STELIOS AND LETO??? ARCHIE AND ROBBIE? SO MANY CROSSOVERS!!

LOL Sorry that just brought me back LOL

13. Who is the couple you read more fanfics of?

Ahhhh I don't know...I usually either write a lot or read a lot...I literally have a fic rec list for Glorestor lol and then when I look in my AO3 bookmarks the top ship is Hannigram sooooo let's say Hannigram even though I haven't read one for a while.

14. What most of your ships usually have in common?

toll and smol...i like me a toll and a smoll...lol or big and small...i dunno something something contrast something something just crush him and/or be uncharacteristically gentle or somehow incapacitate the larger man with your wiles...that is all...

15. What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

Miscommunication < seconding @negrowhat's response. Cannot stand it. Such a boring trope. Very annoying for me (the audience).

[kazoosandfannypacks]

NO STOP THIS IS SO ADORABLE AHAHAHHAHAHHHHHH

i love it SO MUCH

@accidental-spice look! a cygnet scolar ficlet!!!!!!

these are some stock images i found that are giving christmas cygnet scholar! 😁

Adorable! That last one is so cute, I had to write a drabble for it <3

Thanks for sending these!

(drabble under the cut)

Christmas in Storybrooke was always...a bit different from what the movies said small town Christmases were like.

That doesn't mean they didn't try, though.

They didn't have a mall, or...any place really, where kids could meet and take pictures with 'Santa,' so every year they'd doll up an old abandoned farm house and dub it 'Santa's Workshop.' They'd hire in some older guy to play Santa--it almost always ended up being Gepetto--and manage to convince the local youth on Christmas break to be hired on as his elves.

Hence, why Hope and Gideon were in their current predicament.

Usually, to gain Christmas present money, Hope would shovel driveways and sidewalks for her elderly and/or lazy neighbors.

But it was December 20th, and it had not snowed a single inch.

Desperate, Hope had taken the Santa's Workshop job, and convinced her best friend/ secret boyfriend to do it with her.

Gideon was always good at saving money, so he didn't necessarily need to take the job. But he never could say no to Hope.

Which was how he ended up in a scratchy green tunic, ill-fitting green tights, and a stupid hat with giant plastic elf ears attached to the sides.

"I'm telling you, Gid. We need to come up with our elfsonas." He and Hope had been tasked with sweeping up the pine needles under the large Christmas tree, which was a never ending battle between sticky, sappy pine needles and the worst broom known to man.

"Hmm. Well, what's a good elfsona name?" Gideon smirked and leaned his chin against the broom handle. Even in an abhorrently colored green dress and plastic elf ears, Hope still managed to look beautiful.

"Tinsel McSleigh?"

"Jingle Holidayson." Gideon offered.

"Mary Christmas...but spelled M-A-R-Y."

"Pepper M. Int."

"Frosty the Elfman."

"Buddy the Elf, but not that one."

A shadow suddenly fell over the Christmas tree. "Elves. Quick yapping and get back to work." Gretel, who'd been hired on as 'head elf,' was standing there with her hands on her hips, looking grumpy.

"Sorry, Gretel." They both chimed, and giggled a little bashfully.

As soon as Gretel walked away, the conversation recommenced. Just quieter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a grueling six hours of sweeping pine needles, herding small children through long lines, and wrapping prop presents, the two teens were more than excited to ditch their 'elfsonas' and leave.

"Freedom!" Hope lifted her arms and spun around. "Until tomorrow, at least. Aw, man..."

Gideon chuckled, lightly tossing his arm around her shoulder. "Think of the paycheck, Hope."

"Eyes on the prize." She agreed, squinting up at the sky. "It looks like it's gonna snow."

Gideon looked up as well. Sure enough, the clouds had that...look to them, like something was gonna happen. "Let's hope it at least snows in time for Christmas."

"Bet you $5 of my elf money that it'll be too cold for snow." She shivered, snuggling closer to Gideon. "'Cause that's just our luck."

"Actually, that's a common misconception. Snow can occur at any cold temperature, it's the humidity of an area that determines how much snowfall-"

Hope reached up and gently grabbed Gideon's cheek. "Hey, Gid?"

"Uh...yeah?" He blushed.

"I'm gonna kiss you now."

So she did, cupping his cheek in her cold hand.

The kiss was chaste and short, but Hope always had a way of leaving Gideon breathless no matter what.

"What ever happened to surprising our parents with us at Christmas dinner?" He asked, moving his arm around her middle like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Hope shrugged, mischief dancing in her blue eyes. "They won't find out. Watch." She kissed him again, this time using her hand to block their connected lips from view. "Foolproof."

They pulled away from each other, grinning like idiots in love. And that's when they noticed the change in weather.

"Hey! It's snowing!" Hope held out her hand, catching a fat snowflake on her palm.

Gideon chuckled. "Wow. It's like our kiss made it snow, or something."

"I mean...stranger things have happened in this town." Hope cocked her head, genuinely considering the possibility.

"Sure. Let's go with that. It's not just nature." He took her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "Let's go home. I seem to remember you promising me a Mario Kart rematch."

She smirked, competitive side flaring. "Ready for me to win again, you mean?"

"You wish!"

The two of them continued to bicker, all the way home.

[iyliss]

Edo for the ask meme!

and also Cecil ;u;

WAIT i only notice now it's "yu-gi-oh characters" i am a fool i am clown but oh well i'll make it work.

So for Edo:

Why I like them/why I don’t: I mean like you know kind of a blorbo by proxy. I think he has this very fun balance of deeply normal AND kind of unhinged. Of very secretive and distant and in deep need of helping and talking to people. Need to control and be guided. But also that's what being a teenager with parental issues does to a guy I can't blame him.

What I like about their appearance: so i kind of love how his hair fits on his haid it's something I really try to replicate like it's this feeling of... technically it IS short but also it's just a bit long. It just falls a bit all over him. Yeah idk how to explain but I love attempting to draw it.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names? so yeah never watched the dub beside specific eps and clips so I'm a chronical sub names user BUT Aster is so cute and fits him so well imo. Actually I probably should use Ed because it's likely what his names is supposed to be but idk i'm used to a spelling and pronunciation and it's really hard for me to switch.

OTP: yeah so like destinyshipping yeah yeah. Made a thousand art and fics and AUs and stories what am I supposed to say. They hit the perfect balance of terminally sad and messy AND very cute and hopeful. Also i do like heroshipping and whatever edo/manjoume is called but i admit i have a hard time being strongly invested in something of GX that is not saiou.

NOTP: Never really saw a ship that I disliked heavily so I'm not going to make myself think of one.

OT3: I have been so sooo many thoughts about edo/saiou/judai combination situationship lately. Listen. Edo having his silly childhood crush and his silly teenage crush on two people (he's actually painfully in love but shh). One clearly has no interest in romantic relationship or is overall very distant with it and the other spends half the time disappearing from public circulation to go deal with supernatural creature. Then eventually he realize that they 1/ spend a lot of time together 2/ are much MUCH closer than he thought 3/ may or may not have something going on between them. But also the entire point is that. Yeah. Neither Saiou nor Judai really are into anything like a "romantic relationship" and function fairly well together because of that but also if Edo just TALKS TO THEM ABOUT IT maybe he can not feel left out all the time. Things like that. I hope someday I can write them but it'll be long and messy.

Favourite card they use: D-time because at some point we tried recreating it with my friend on some tea biscuits with sugar and all and it was fun.

Favourite moment they were in: IMAGINE HOLDING SAIOU'S HAND WOW I WISH THAT WERE ME THAT SO UNFAIR COME OOON no also the whole scene is one of my fav ygo moment ever.

Least favourite moment: uuh i guess i was not quite impressed by the amon mini-arc with echo and everything? But also beside a dozen ep season 3 didn't amaze me the most so it's not on him.

And for apparently the new exclusive yugioh character Cecil Harvey (actually he'd make for a really fun ygo protag. I have that AU somewhere)

Why I like them/why I don’t: Cecil feel like a very classic jrpg protagonist from afar like yeah he's very kind and devoted but has to prove himself after having been driven to do bad things... But also... I think he's very unique in how that kindness and devotion is portrayed. In the average story it'd be about how sad it is for him that he keeps sacrificing himself for others and carry such a burden and so and so... But not in FFIV. In this game his kindness is a burden for others. His devotion, his sense of sacrifice, make other people have to take care of him. His sensibility means his emotions are always the most important thing, and it's so rare for stories to take that angle instead of making the protagonist's emotion well... the most important thing. It makes him a very subtle character, both deeply positive and good but also almost destructive to people around him under the wrong circumpstances.

What I like about their appearance: he is SO pretty, squenix just don't make beautiful men like this anymore. His hair looks so soft and airy, the little jewels and decoration and make up is so cute, and i love how he looks like he glows in the dark. I will say I especially love the fact that Amano's artwork, the pixel art, the remake, dissidia, and all the different re-design he has means Cecil's look is less a defined set of rules and more a direction, certain choices, specific artistic takes. It's less about accurate reproduction and more capturing his essence. It's very liberating to draw.

OTP : ot3 is below but know i'm a baron trio truther and it's above anything else. Cecil/rosa is cute on it's own but I think it lacks a little drama and spice. Cecil/Kain feels a little bit more fun to play with on its own but it's never really just that sole ship to me. Also actually let me call this "favorite relationship" or something and say Cecil and Golbez are the reason I got into FF and their dynamic is the most beautiful thing, so full of pain and love and everything.

NOTP : He doens't have many popular ship so like. None I can think of.

OT3 : BARON TRIO BARON TRIO BARON TRIO these 3 idiots love each other so much in such different way and their relationship becomes sooo interesting and also so gentle when they're all together. And I love how it's frankly very supported by canon? In the DS version whenever 2 are reunited they will think of where is the other and want them here. In DFFOO all Cecil want is to have BOTH of them with him. In WoFF they repeat a scene from ffiv but Kain is sick, Cecil is looking for a cure and Rosa is watching over him. They're just fated to always need all of each other.

Favourite moment they were in: Uuuh practically every scene with Golbez? Calling him "brother" for the first time when they're about to die, and again when they're about to be separated. When he's lost to darkness in TAY but hears his brother calling him so he doesn't disappear. When he tells him he's guiding light in Dissidia. They're so full of love.

Least favourite moment : I guess like most iv fan, when he tells Rosa and Rydia to stay out of the final battle. They kind fo justify it because the 3 guys have very personnal reason to want revenge/answers so Cecil doesn't just think women shouldn't fight but. it does show how this game still can't give female characters as much emotional intensity as the male characters.

Would I fuck, marry or kill them: chosing the fourth secret option where i marry his brother because i so SO want Cecil and Rosa as in-laws.

[earthgrudgefear]

hidan!!! for the ask game

YES right to it

obviously this is going to be a long post

you've been warned !

favorite thing about them: oh man. i think he's a really unique character. he's only like 2% justified in his anger and he makes it everyone else's problem. he's never depicted as anything BUT evil. the shinobi world is insane right? toddlers are raised as soldiers the second they can hold a knife. and so was he, no different from the rest of them. and the series Doesn't like to push that blame onto people, really early on you hear about all the awful things zabuza did and at the end of their battle he still dies as a respectable shinobi. BUT from start to end with hidan he is ONLY bad. he's doing this for FUN he's not doing it for a mission, he's not doing it because he needs to do it to survive like it was NEVER in question that this guy is JUST EVIL. but you CAN find these human sides to him. he has a Real bond with kakuzu, like they Actually are concerned for each other. in Akatsuki Hiden he meets a kid and he forms a bond with That Kid to the point of giving him funeral rites (burial rites?) when he dies. not as a sacrifice but as someone he cared about. when his village turned on him and he felt REAL betrayal. if he didn't care about them to some extent, he wouldn't still be mad about it. it's just FASCINATING.

least favorite thing about them: i don't even think there's anything i don't like about him. he's so fucking annoying and if i had to deal with him i'd try to kill him too BUT because i don't have to deal with him he's my best friend i like him SO much

favorite line: to be so transparent i like when he's picking on kakuzu for keeping the headband for him.

AND if i can use the book - i like this, it's less about the line itself but more about the repetition of it. like this is how they start every fight and i just think that's delightful

brOTP: y'all already know it's kisame. my defense for this has absolutely no basis in their interactions because honestly? kisame doesn't care for him too much. HOWEVER kisame is the easiest akatsuki member to get along with and hidan is basically impossible to get along with. i think it's a good match.

OTP: kakuhida, motherfuckers. they're everything to me. they were on screen for all of three seconds and i already knew that was it. i haven't been normal about them since. and they're canon as far as i'm concerned. stated or not they were Something.

nOTP: k*nan (sorry for censoring you name queen i don't want it to be searchable) i have such a Visceral reaction to them together i Cannot stand it. their characterization is so BUTCHERED for that ship that they become Unrecognizable. and i don't fucking get it like ??? yes they're both hot PICK ANYONE ELSE. also shipping him with any of the kids. like. that's not cute. he's young but he's not that young also holy shit they don't deserve that anyway

random headcanon: i probably mentioned this somewhere before and it's so easy but i think his favorite color's pink. like red sure because i mean look at him but also. Pink. i like pink for him.

unpopular opinion: i've touched on this before i don't think jashinism is real. i think he made it up and i think maybe he's convinced himself it's real. but i don't think there is a single other person who's ever heard of or tried to join the religion before. there's the kid i mentioned from the book but he learned straight from hidan, and then goddamned ryuki from boruto who i swear to God the writers wanted him to literally be hidan but they weren't allowed. neither of which really compel me to believe it. it just doesn't make tons of sense

song i associate with them: ouuh choke on one another death spells. that's been a big one recently

favorite picture of them:

favorite's a big word but i had this one saved to my phone which is probably good enough

OKAY 10000 points if you made it to the end you win idk what you win but you win

[twisting-echo]

I was blocked by Lily Orchard for calling her rude and standing up for myself

I didn't even know who Lily Orchard was until 8 p.m. yesterday. It was my sister and a friend who told me that she is kind of famous for being toxic. and then we looked through the Tumblr hashtag and found out more less-than-ideal things about her.

I was casually looking for some Belle and Sulley Disney Mirrorverse content, and I saw a post about someone asking how long before someone starts to ship Belle and Sulley. So I decided to playfully reblog the post, and boy do I wish that I hadn't.

I just dropped two of my dumb ship edits in the reblog, and I wrote "Belley is my OTP!!!" with a triumph emoji indicating my derpy pride in it.

She reblogged me and said, "Congratulations, that is the worst ship name EVER. Bluebelle was RIGHT THERE."

She didn't have to go out of her way to reblog what I reblogged just to insult me, bully me, talk down to me, and treat me like I'm stupid over a ship name. She didn't have to make me feel stupid, but she did anyway.

So, I did something that I normally don't do, which is stick up for myself. and it earned me a block. She didn't apologize for being so rude; she didn't even want to acknowledge what I had said, so she blocked me like I was nothing.

If someone told me that they felt that I was being rude to them, I would immediately apologize because I actually care about how I treat and talk to people. And if someone pointed out that they already did something that I accused them of not doing, I would act like an adult and politely eat my words.

I'm so sorry about this vent, you guys. Maybe I'm a little too overly sensitive and let things bother me. 

Here is the post. 👇