#penguin socks

[apnourry]

it was hot at work, i was hot at work, i forget the rest

[gongyussy]

locker room bj angles... a continuing saga

[juustozzi]

a dumping ground for some random quick doodles

[sportsthoughts]

Day 33 of offseason gifs - In The Room S03E02

[ehghtyseven]

I must say, terrible meal habits aside, I do enjoy pre-game erik in the knee socks and short shorts 😏

[iridescentis]

you know what my reputation is? irl?

having cool socks

isn't that awesome :D

[helianskies]

17 for ScotSpa pls!

apologies to the anon who asked for engspa for the same prompt (which honestly made me laugh) but scotland got there first, and i can't be helped ;)

Families

“That was your mother on the phone,” Antonio says as Alasdair stares at him, wide-eyed and patient, from the sofa. He holds a hot drink in hand. He’s like a deer in headlights (the phone is a terrifying thing!).

“What’d she want?” Alasdair asks him while Antonio returns the phone to its receiver.

“Oh, nothing much,” the other responds with a light shrug. “Just wants to know what our plans are for Christmas… If we’re planning to come down, and if so when… Oh and also maybe our New Year plans, too, while she’s on the phone…”

“Oooh…”

“Yeah…”

“Sorry…”

“She’s got a point, though,” Antonio reminds him. He sits down next to Ali on the sofa, before he kicks up his legs and rests them across the other’s lap (Alasdair does not mind. The penguin-patterned socks alone almost make him chuckle). “We do need to think about what we’re doing. Christmas isn’t far away.”

To be honest, it isn’t the first time he’s made such a point, but Alasdiar would prefer it to be the last. He supposes that’s up to him, though.

Somewhat glumly (and perhaps in a vain attempt to delay the inevitable further), Alasdair says into his hot chocolate, pre-sip, “I thought we wanted to go away for the holidays,” to which Antonio replies:

“Then we have one hour to decide where we’re going and book a hotel, because she’s going to call back, and she expects an answer. It’s either a holiday for us, or three days minimum with your family,” he so declares. “Her rules, not mine!”

“Can’t we go and see your family?” suggests the other, a slight whine to his voice—a whine that rarely appears—that he’s quite possibly picked up from Antonio—that feels rather justified at this moment. “Your family is more normal than mine!”

“And yet, I married you anyway,” Antonio smiles, a radiant beam.

It is a smile to ease the oncoming headache that this conversation is causing. A headache not caused by the thought of spending the holidays with his family so much as… the pressure to do so. It’s not something Alasdair’s in the mood to think about right now, but…

“We could always then see my family for New Year’s,” Antonio promptly informs him, a sort of trade-off should they see the Kirklands for Christmas. “And as ‘normal’ as you think mine are, wait until you see my brother, his fiancé, and our dad after a few party drinks.”

He pulls a knowing face and makes a gesture with his hand, like a bottle tipping violently back, a clear indication to Alasdair that he’ll be in for a fair few laughs—assuming he isn’t going to be trollied with them!

Family—families—are funny things. They’re great things. They’re weird things, when they want to be. And Alasdair does love his family. He loves that Antonio is now part of his family, too, and that he has become part of Toni’s. A bigger family. A better family.

Still, there’s no doubt in his mind that, whatever shenanigans a New Year’s party could bring, his family is definitely weirder. There is simply no contest to be had, and he tells Antonio as much. Though, that all said, they’ve not warded off his partner yet. Antonio has a point. He’s stuck around, joined in the silliness, held his hand through headaches long gone. That’s a blessing he’s still counting and will be counting for a long time.

“Christmas with your family should be good fun,” his dear partner insists all the while (whose side is he on?!). “I’d look forward to it, personally. The cosy house, the big fire, the roast dinner, the— the hats we all wear from those cracking things!” His smile stands proud. Warm. “Besides, we can always go on holiday right after we see my family in January. A couple nights in Seville, or maybe somewhere a bit further south…”

His foot tickles at Alasdair’s side, a playful nudge, a wicked hint.

Suddenly, the living room feels a lot warmer than it was before, and that is certainly not thanks to the central heating!

“Sounds like a right good plan,” Alasdair responds, face red, freckles alight. “If— If that’s what you’d like to do for the holidays, ‘course.”

“I think it might just be,” Antonio grins.

His foot retreats. He moves, quite fast, across the sofa to huddle up next to his partner’s side. The gap between them has closed. For a moment, Alasdair wonders if it is getting too warm to keep his jumper on (and the rest of it!) but, just as Antonio leans in, millimetres away, lips nearly upon his skin, three delicate words leave his mouth:

“Call your mother.”

Alasdair has no intention of ignoring such a command. He puts his cup down, gets up, goes to the phone, and begins to dial her number right away.

So, a Christmas at home it is! A Christmas with his wild, weird, wonderful family it is! A Christmas spent surrounded by the people he cares about most in his life, and who he would do anything for, and who he loves in spite of all their quirks and charm… A perfect Christmas it is!

[ winter prompts here! ] [ ficlet collection on ao3! ]

[allthingsscented]

merry & bright 🎄💖

[apnourry]

midweek crisis😍🥰😍

[legolasghosty]

Flower prompt! How about blue salvia for willex? 💙

...ignore the fact that this was sent in like 4 months ago...

"I figured out what it is!" Alex exclaimed, dropping down onto the park bench beside Willie, a shy smile pulling at his lips. "You're pebbling!"

Willie stared at him for a second. What? Also, who gave this guy the right to look that cute in a hoodie and basketball shorts? Seriously. His hair is all damp and messy from band practice and the tan lines on his ankles look ridiculous. And somehow, he's still the prettiest person Willie has ever seen.

And he also definitely said something... whoops.

"Sorry, what did you just say?" Willie asked sheepishly.

Thankfully, Alex's smile didn't dim. "All the little gifts and stuff," he said. "It's called pebbling, it's a kinda love language thing."

Willie tilted their head. "Um, what? Gifts?" Willie wasn't much of a gift person in general. Christmas was a pain in the neck, trying to figure out what everyone wanted.

"Like the other day, with the snare keychain you found after work?" Alex responded, mimicking Willie's confused motion. "Or the pink sea glass last week? All the little stuff you give me. It's called pebbling."

"I do that with everyone though," Willie said slowly, trying to think. "It reminds me of you guys. It's not really... on purpose."

Oh gosh, now that Alex pointed it out, Willie kind of did give all their friends a lot of random stuff. Some of it was cool, but most of it was probably junk. He just liked sharing it with them. But... they didn't want to be annoying to their friends...

"Gosh, sorry, I didn't mean to overstep," Alex burst out, startling Willie. "I just saw something online about it so I was doing some research and I guess I just wanted to tell you. But I'm so sorry, we can drop it-"

Willie covered Alex's mouth with his hand before he could say anything else. "No it's okay," they promised, pushing away their own thoughts. "I just didn't really, um, realize I was doing it. I don't want to bug anyone."

Alex wrapped his fingers loosely around Willie's wrist and moved their hand from his mouth to his cheek. "It doesn't bug me," he promised. "It's actually really sweet. I was looking into it cause I wanted to learn how to... I don't know, do it back I guess? Cause I love it when you share stuff with me and I wanted to give that back to you."

"You wanted to-" Willie began, but then gave up. Words were way too complicated.

They slid their hand around to the back of Alex's neck and kissed him. Because, really, what else could he do? What words could show Alex just how much he meant to them? How he was always on their mind, drumming and dancing and laughing and holding them? How little things like this just pulled Willie deeper into the ocean of love he felt for his partner, and how Willie never wanted to resurface. The English language didn't really have the right words for that. So instead, Willie kissed him.

When they separated, one of Alex's arms was around Willie's waist. His other hand was tangled in their hair. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes sparkled. In books, there tended to be lines about how one character could see a million things in another's eyes. That wasn't really the case here though. All Willie could see in Alex's eyes is "I love you" repeated over and over and over again. He hoped Alex could see that message shining right back at him as they breathed in tandem.

"You're amazing," Willie murmured, resting his forehead against Alex's.

"Learned it from you," Alex answered, his faint chuckle tickling Willie's skin.

"So it's called pebbling?" Willie clarified.

"Yup," Alex confirmed. "Apparently penguins do it too."

"Well at least I got somewhere to go with my fancy tuxes," Willie joked. "I beat penguins."

Alex laughed and pulled them back in for another kiss. And a couple of days later, when Willie showed him a little collection of pebbles, worn smooth by the Pacific Ocean, he kissed him again before he could get out the words, "These made me think of you."

[todayisafridaynight]

jo the second he finds out masato's a little zesty

[eppujensen]

My attempt to summon spring with flower pics failed. Might as well post some more wool wocks, since the past weekend delivered another layer of fresh snow. *sigh*

But! Gorgeous white-based DIY Fair Isle knit socks - with penguins! The pattern is called We Love Winter. How-to by Merja Ojanperä at Meillä kotona; photo by Hannes Paananen. (NB. Finnish only.)

[newlullabies]

Fuzzy Animal Socks by mycutesock on Etsy

[sportsthoughts]

Day 39 of offseason gifs - Kris getting dressed - In The Room S03E05

[notnights]

Dreamsworks has always had really great animation choreograph like we all meme about Boss Baby but idk how many people have actually watched it and while the story is average, the animation movement and choreography is still incredible and as expected of Dreamworks. Over the past decade their main focus on animation direction was more strictly kid-aimed but with the recent Puss and Boots movie, still on-par with their recent kid stuff, utilized their incredible experience with animation choreograph, AND added a great visual style high-lighting what they’ve been doing for years in the best way possible. I’m so thankful for what Spiderverse did for the 3D animation industry.