#s4 gingerbread

[simmillercc]

This is so adorable! We always do gingerbread houses at this time of year, and they tend to look a lot like this, so I'm super happy to see it!

Available to download on Patreon

Release Dates:

Choco Puds - 03.12 Mini Puds - 10.12 Bow Puds - 17.12 Public - 24.12

There are 2 versions, you can have both installed at the same time:

Gingerbreadhouse_BG - base game version, level 2 cooking skill Gingerbreadhouse_Baking - requires Get to Work, 3 decorate varients, level 3 baking skill

vegetarian safe & lactose free

available in restaurants

ingredients optional

uses prepped cookie dough optional (home chef sp)

There's a little extra fun with both gingerbread houses - your sims have the option to 'steal a gumdrop button'. They will do a 'nom nom' animation and get a playful buff getting them in a holly jolly mood for the holidays!

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Multi serving: max vertices 989/ polygons 1056 Single serving: max vertices 39/ polygons 41

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[helloidkwhatimdoing-0]

What we do in the shadows has got me thinking about vampires all the fucking time oh my goddddddss

[gold-onthe-inside]

gingerbread kisses

who? spencer reid (s4) x bau!reader

summary: your first christmas as a couple with spencer involves baking, construction, and lots and lots of kisses

word count: 1.9k

content warnings: oral (f receiving), spencer calls r 'sweet girl', minors dni

"Yours looks so much better than mine," you whined, looking over at Spencer's gingerbread house, perfectly cut panels holding together to form a house while yours sagged at an angle.

"It's not that bad," he replied, if only to make you feel better and shifted closer to see if he could fix the angle of it, and you peered over his shoulder, watching his nimble fingers carefully adjust the panels, reapplying icing like it was glue. "There," Spencer said, pulling his hands away... and then it sagged lower and he frowned at it, puzzled, and you stifled a giggle against his shoulder at his utter confusion. Your nose pressed into his soft woollen sweater, arms wrapping around him. "Maybe if I--"

"Just leave it," you told him, kissing his cheek, your lip balm sticky against his warm skin. Even now, 6 months into dating, his cheeks flushed at your kiss, and he looked down at you, chasing your lips, his hands finding your cheeks, fingers equally sticky with icing. It was always so earnest, filled with as much longing as the first time you'd kissed him. He doesn’t want to let go when he pulls away, but then there's a streak of icing on your cheek and he can't help a wince.

"Sorry," he said, oblivious to your dazed look, moving to wipe his hands and you let out another soft groan of protest at the loss of him, only for him to come back to gently wipe your cheeks clean. "Can I tell you something?" he asked, looking at you intently.

"Always," you replied with your sweet smile and adoring gaze.

"This is the best Christmas I've ever had," he said, putting the cloth away, and you wished you could express how much you loved him in this moment, but you've never been as articulate with your affection as him. So you do what you know best; you tugged him closer, kissing him. You could live in this moment forever, his lips on yours, sitting on the floor of your apartment. Spencer pressed you back against the couch, his hands seeking your jaw, his tongue darting to your lower lip. He's always careful with you, slow and thoughtful, his thumb gently angling your chin higher.

You parted your lips, his tongue languidly exploring your mouth. His hand carefully slid down your neck, his thumb finding your pulse and he broke for breath, placing warm gentle kisses along your soft jaw. "My sweet girl," he murmured, reaching your ear. "I could do this forever."

Your heart fluttered the way it always did. He’d called you his since the beginning, sweet girl. He’d say it often, a gentle declaration of his affection. His hand slid down, thumb tracing the collar of your sweater, his face buried in your neck as he left his own mark on you, teeth grazing gently against the soft skin and your breath hitched. “God, Spence…” He felt you shift underneath him, already overwhelmed by his touch. Your fingers tangled in his hair, tugging a little when he mouthed at your neck. One of his hands rests on your hip, his thumb brushing the skin under your sweater.

He couldn’t help himself. You felt so warm and soft, so lovely wrapped in his arms. He pushed your sweater up gently, baring more of your skin, his touch warm, and light. He could spend hours just tracing his fingers across your skin. You tasted sweet, like sugar and vanilla, and he shifted, adjusting to slide between your legs. You tilted your head back, looking up at him, your eyes slightly unfocused, lips parted with your heavy breaths. His head dipped, mouth leaving marks along your neck as he pushed your sweater up again, just over your ribs, your breath stuttering as his teeth grazed over the sensitive skin. Your hand fisted in his sweater, a needy whisper escaping you, "Spencer..."

"Let me take care of you," he murmured against your shoulder, pushing your sweater high enough for you to wordlessly lift your arms so he could toss it to one side, and he needed to catch his breath as he looked down at you. He’d seen you a hundred times before, all those soft smooth curves, your soft sighs and breathless gasps that he lived for. You were so trusting in his arms, the way your fingers threaded through his hair, your back arching when his mouth found your stomach, kissing reverently at your soft skin. “So perfect,” he murmured.

You don't have the brainpower to spare to respond with anything other than his name, said so many times that it should have lost its meaning by now, but it never does. The way it came out all breathless and needy, desperate and reverent, the way you’d call his name as he pressed you into the couch, body over yours, pinning you in place as his mouth found your skin, tracing a path along your hip. You pulled uselessly at his sweater, biting your lower lip. “So impatient, my sweet girl,” he murmured, and your whine sent a spark straight through him.

"Want to see you, angel," you pleaded and he couldn’t deny you, even if he wanted to, not when your hands already reached to push under his sweater, your hands warm on his skin and he pulled back, pulling the offending garment off completely. You smiled, looking at him fondly. "Much better," you murmured, shifting up to kiss him again, your warm lips meeting his.

He met you readily, pressing you down again, his body covering yours, a warm comfortable weight. He could never get enough of how you fit against him, the feel of your soft skin against his fingers, the way your mouth moved against him, sweet and willing. The way your legs moved to wrap around him. "Okay if I take this off?" he whispered, hands finding the waistband of your pyjama pants, beige with little cookies printed over them, hot breath fanning over your face, eyes watching you as you nod. He slid the soft material down your legs, leaving you bare before him. It was a view he loved, all your bare skin, all his to touch and explore.

Your breath hitched as his hands gently nudged your thighs further apart, and he slowly sank onto his knees between them. You let out a small groan involuntarily, just at the sight of him between your thighs. "Angel..."

He shushed you gently, fingers tracing circles on your thighs, so close to where you wanted him. His eyes roamed over you, taking in every detail, your breathing and the way your legs twitched. “Just relax, my sweet girl,” he murmured, his thumbs rubbing soothing strokes across your skin.

"You're not making it easy," you muttered back.

He couldn’t help the smile at your comment, his hands slowly shifting your legs, lifting them to pull off your panties, and he could feel the way your breath caught, your body shifting slightly to help. He was so close to you he could practically feel your heat against his face. He was still gently running his fingers over the skin of your thighs, trying to keep you calm. “You’re so beautiful,” he said, voice impossibly soft.

His warm breath against you made your head spin, and you were too lost in the feel of his hands and mouth to do anything but gasp his name and tilt your head back. You were so wet, so needy for him, and you couldn’t help the way your legs shifted, pleading for more. He gently nudged at them, spreading you open further for him. He looked up at you, eyes dark with desire, the sight of you underneath him, leaning back against the foot of the couch, your chest heaving and your body tense, just for him.

He leaned in, and he didn’t miss the way your body jolted when his tongue licked over you, and he hummed against your skin. You tasted so sweet, so perfect, and he was slowly getting addicted to the taste, his hands holding your thighs in place as he slowly explored you. He’d wanted to make you fall apart, the way you’d done so many times for him, bringing him to the knife’s edge before pulling him over. But he couldn’t wait long, and he pushed forward, his tongue circling before he suddenly thrust forward, tasting as much of you as he could.

The effect was instant, and he felt you jerk against him, your gasp turning into a long moan. The sound made his hands squeeze at your thighs, wanting you closer. You were always so responsive to him, so sensitive, and you were already on edge from his light teasing. He loved the sounds you made, all those soft noises that you seemed unable to help when he was like this. He loved the way your skin felt under his hands, the way you would pull and tug at his hair when he was teasing you. He loved the way you felt, warm and soft all around him. He loved you, and he wanted you to fall apart. He was almost relentless, tongue working over you, delving into you, wanting you to come completely undone.

He didn’t want to pull away, wanted to keep going, to take you as close as he could, but you were already teetering on the edge, so close to climax. He loved how responsive you were, how he could pull those sweet moans and gasps so easily from you with just a few caresses. He wanted to see you come, wanted to feel your body shaking against him. He pulled back for a second, breathless, his voice already wrecked from how sweet you sounded, “Come for me, my sweet girl."

Your fingers scrabbled for his hair, needing something to hold onto as he brought you through your climax, his tongue not leaving you until you were begging him to stop, your body sensitive and overwhelmed. He let his hands gently trail across your thighs as you fell back onto the couch, boneless and still quivering. He couldn’t help a little smile at how wrecked you looked, your hair falling over your eyes, your body trembling. And yet you still looked beautiful, your bare body on display for him, your skin flush and warm. He shifted forward, his lips gently kissing your stomach and travelling up your body, until he laid down on top of you, his weight carefully resting between your legs, his head buried in your neck.

"I love you," you whispered, holding him, your fingers trailing over his back.

He lifted his head at your words, still so touched by your sweetness. After all this time, you still managed to surprise him. He shifted, propping himself up on an elbow to look down at you, his gaze soft and adoring. “I love you more,” he murmured, reaching up to gently brush a strand of hair out of your eyes, fingers tracing the line of your jaw.

"Not possible," you murmured.

He smiled, leaning down to kiss your forehead. “Agree to disagree,” he teased, his hand gently caressing your hair, fingers carding through the messy strands. He liked you like this; soft and pliable in his arms, your body still trembling from your orgasm. His fingers traced down the side of your face, before his knuckles grazed gently over your collarbone, tracing the line of your shoulder.

"You were right," you murmured, looking at him. "Best Christmas ever. Even if I can't build a gingerbread house for the life of me."

He looked at the wreckage of the house, then back to you, hiding a smile. “You’re good at a lot of things, sweetheart, but decorating is just not your strong suit,” he teased and you huffed and shoved at his shoulder in mock offence. He just pulled you on top of him, kissing you deeply all over again.

[herinsectreflection]

I think that while there are a lot of important thematic elements to Buffy and Angel's relationship - the way they influence each other gradually builds the ideological core of both shows - they just aren't that enjoyable to watch as scene partners. I think a big reason for this is that they are both characters who are strongly driven by guilt. Angel is always feeling guilty about what he did without a soul - his feelings about that are always dictating his actions (or inactions). Buffy has her responsibility complex that is magnified sky-high by her duties as a Slayer, and as a result feels guilty about everything that happens within a 10 mile radius of her. The result is a lot of scenes that are very thematically rich, but are also basically just two guys hanging out feeling guilty with each other. Their Gingerbread scene is a really good example of this. It's a really good statement on existentialism - Buffy feeling like she can never solve evil, and Angel reminding her that no she can't, but that that's not the point - but it's also a conversation that is driven by their individual guilt complexes. Buffy is guilty because she feels responsible for every person she can't save, and Angel feels like he can never make up for the things he did in the past. It's interesting, but when you have two characters so driven by guilt, they feed into each other and it easily slips into being maudlin and dreary.

Which is why I think both characters come alive a bit when they are partnered with characters that push against that guilt. For example, Buffy's interactions with Faith and Spike are often fun because these are characters who (at least on the surface) refuse to feel guilt. They push against Buffy's natural tendencies. When they are paired together, both characters are pushed to new places, and so the scenes spark in fun ways. This is really noticeable in something like Lovers Walk. After the big climax fight, Buffy and Angel are both feeling quite down, while Spike looks at them and says "Oh come on, that was fun! Don't tell me that wasn't fun?". It injects an immediate sense of levity and joy into a scene that would have otherwise lacked it.

Angel is the same - he really sparkles as a character when he moves to his own show and is partnered with Cordelia, who is another character who just refuses to feel bad about who she is. She is aggressively self-possessed, and she encourages Angel's lighter, happier, less guilt-driven qualities. When the show loses her in S4, it slips into dreary and maudlin - until S5, where again Spike comes in and fulfils a similar role to Cordelia. He refuses to feel guilty in the same way that Angel does, and that pushes the character to new directions.

This isn't to dismiss Buffy/Angel or their bond with any other character, just to point out that on a base level, it's not always that fun to watch two guilty characters. If you have a guilt-driven protagonist, one of the best ways to create fun is to pair them with a guilt-free scene partner.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Saturday, November 30

BUFFY: Honey, we need to talk about the invitations. Now, do you wanna be William the Bloody, or just Spike? ‘Cause, either way, it's gonna look majorly weird. SPIKE: Where as the name Buffy gives it that touch of classic elegance. BUFFY: What's wrong with Buffy? GILES: Huh.. such a good question. SPIKE: (Ignoring Giles) Well, it's a terrible name. BUFFY: My mother gave me that name. SPIKE: Your mother, yeah, she's a genius.

~~BtVS 4x09 “Something Blue”~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

you look so handsome in that sweater vest (Buffy/Giles, E) by guin_ramble

Just One Day (Buffy/Angel, M) by MeTheMermaid

[Collection] Omegaverse Exchange 2024 [2 works for BtVS/AtS, so far] (Angel/Angelus, E + Buffy/Faith, T) by unrevealed authors

[Collection] 2024-11: Wanksgiving the Third [2 works for BtVS, so far] (Buffy/Spike, E + Buffy/Faith, E) by unrevealed author

heavy is the heart that stands alone (Buffy/Faith, T) by Mistfire24

Spike's Secret (Buffy/Spike, T) by fizzy31funny

All Covered With You (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Geliot99

All Covered With You (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Geliot99

[Chaptered Fiction]

Shadowed Suspicion Chapter 351 (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure xover, T) by madimpossibledreamer

Sheriff of Sunnydale, Chapter 1/? (Mayor Wilkins, OCs, T) by Mingo (Wulf47)

In Every Generation, Chapters 1-2/2 COMPLETE! (Buffy/Angel, ensemble, T) by Taaroko

Thaumogenesis, Chapter 2/? (Angel/Cordelia, T) by thepunkmuppet

It's always blood, isn't it?, Chapter 3/8 (Buffy/Spike, M) by turzelque

Potential Friend: Season Two, Chapter 5/22 (Buffy/Angel, T) by srmcd1

In the Company of Witches and Slayers:, Chapter 187/200 (Willow/Tara, E) by VladimirHarkonnen (TheLightdancer)

Smoke and Leather, Chapter 12/? (Spike/OC, Buffy/Angel, Buffy/Riley, M) by EagleAlwaysFliesAlone

Miss Summers Goes to Washington, Chapter 5/? (Buffy/Faith, M) by storiwr

Fade, Chapter 3/? (Ensemble, M) by FriedaBerlinFan

For Science, Chapter 2/? (Buffy/Riley, Buffy/Adam, E) by mattilamb

The Buffy Chronicles: Life After Sunnydale, Chapter 5/? (Buffy/Spike, E) by sweetmelodykiss

Love Is the Ultimate L Word, Chapter 2/14 (Buffy, The L Word xover, T) by RavenclawSlayer

The Shadow Within, Chapter 3/? (Faith, F/F, F/M, E) by Fmfan1980

Sold Out, Chapters 9-10 COMPLETE! (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Melme1325

Stories of True Love in Capeside, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by CheekyKitten

The Office Hellmouth, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, R) by Willow25

Comin’ to Town, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Melme1325

Incarnate, Chapter 24 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Sigyn

The Science of Being Yours, Chapter 11 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Maxine Eden, ClowniestLivEver

Lawfully Wedded, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by violettathepiratequeen

Some You Lose, Chapter 21 (Buffy, Stargate xover, FR13) by lyapunov

A Man in Shadow, Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, 13+) by Zab Jade

Christmas at the Folly, Story 3: Third Generation (Buffy/Spike, 13+) by myrabeth

Lawfully Wedded, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by violettathepiratequeen

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: they’ll pull you out of your skin, and pour a god in (Cordelia, worksafe) by artsying-ifer

Artwork: Episodic art for BtVS 3x11 “Gingerbread” (worksafe) by revello-drive-1630

Artwork: take all that away and what’s left? (Buffy, worksafe) by lillbitdramatic

Artwork: “If we both know, then I’m not the only one thinking it…” (Buffy/Spike, worksafe) by o-cm-draw-o

Artwork: He is the blueprint (Spike, worksafe) by chillhypocrite

Gifset: [Willow's outfits by color] (worksafe) by clarkgriffon

Video: Drusilla's Diary entry 2 "Lots to Be Thankful For.” by Slayin It with Juliet Landau

Crafts: I made a scented candle based on Spike from “Buffy” (worksafe) by Pauldbraun_

Vampiricspikes Fanart thread (misc banners, worksafe) by Vampiricspikes

[Reviews & Recaps]

Essay : Managing fear of others . Exemple : Buffy Summers & Faith Lehane by Cailly_Brard7

PODCAST: Reporting Live From the Magic Box (S5E8) by It Stakes Two

PODCAST: S4. Ep18/19. Shiny Happy People/The Magic Bullet by Investigating Angel

[Community Announcements]

Posting AI Assisted Stories by Administrator

2025 [Spangel] Marathon Posting Guidelines by spangel-fanwork-marathon

Revamped IWRY Marathon 2024 — week four masterpost by iwillrememberyoumarathon

Flair Makeover Announcement by Training-Pickle-6725 [mod]

[Fandom Discussions]

All these years later, the biggest mystery of Angel the Series is how Kate Lockley survived her attempted suicide in Season 2 by coraniaid

watching some Angel again and I love it when a little bit of his Very old man comes out by johnsspacesuittight

[ask by coraniaid] Do you think Faith might have spent Thanksgiving 1998 with Buffy and her mom? answered by juanabaloo

I think to me my Faith lesbian timeline is in season 3 she doesn’t really get that she’s a lesbian by shewhosleepsalotincemeteries

Anya was originally conceived of only as a non-recurring antagonist (for Season 3’s The Wish) by coraniaid

buffy calling spike “william” when breaking things off with him is so sad bc it’s her way of recognizing the humanity in him by lesbianmarrow

Sometimes I think about how intensely Joss Whedon wanted us to believe that Riley was a good guy by softbrah

Sometimes I look at the notes of BTVS gifsets and see people saying shit like how the Angelus storyline should have never happened to Buffy by charlottenewtons

[Reactions and speculations about Buffy comics S8] by xaeyrnofnbe

Willow being afraid to go back home because she thinks everyone is going to reject her by magpie-trove

[ask by jazzmckay] character ask game: spike answered by thelaughingmagician

[anon ask] I’ve never watched Buffy the Vampire slayer, I’m curious what do you like about it? answered by femsolid

Bad Blood by Happy-Panic849

"Daddy issues" by brwitch

Rewatching has made me realise Spike was always a sexual predator by Mean-Dragonfly

Angel/Buffy watch question by jengafat

The nicest thing Xander ever did by clickyr

Buffy and Dawn first day of school by clickyr

Did you like Buffy's dress in the Season 1 finale?? by samof1994

How would yall rank these big bads? by Competitive-Grab8470

What lines live rent free in your brand? Mine is “yoooo meatpie” by The_budgetwolverine

Would Buffy have agreed to free Angelus in Season 4 of angel? by FoxIndependent4310

Unpopular opinion but I absolutely love Buffy’s micro bangs by buffylover98

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[thelasttaleofthepari]

I passed my finals and am free from the prison that they call school (for a few weeks) so time to continue my AiStars Rewrite because I am better than Bandai

(also I am prone to forgetting things so if I repeat information from the last post,,,, just be patient w/ me please 😭)

Season 1 (continued???)

Main characters as usual are Yume, Koharu, Rola, Mahiru, Ako, and Haruka Ruka 

I said that S4 only had Yuzu, Yozora, and Tsubasa but we’re changing that– Lily now is also part of S4 and takes Hime’s spot since,, yk,,, Hime’s missing 

Hime disappeared a while before the S4 Selection (so she was there for her second year at FSA and was in S4 for one year, but is not there for her third year when the series takes place) 

Hime disappeared after an S4 concert (the same one that Yume and Koharu attend to in Episode 1 of AiStars)-- and Yume was the last person to see her (and the rainbow power was accidentally given to her here idk how just bear with me) 

Anyways uhhhhh what else 

Brands in the rewrite aren’t under a specific type; they don’t fall under cute, cool, sexy, pop coords specifically (so they can make coords that vary in types) and idols can choose what coord they want based on their preferred idol type 

We’re deleting that one FSA rule where you can’t make a brand if you’re not in S4 because I think that’s lame and stupid and doesn’t do much for the plot anyways 

So some characters still have the same brands (Lily w/ Gothic Victoria, Yozora w/ Romance Kiss, Yuzu w/ Shiny Smile) but some don’t 

Ako, for example, uses a brand that’s story themed– this brand is heavily connected with a film production agency and the agency and brand correlate stories (like if the brand released an Alice in Wonderland collection, the film agency would then release a movie based on Alice in Wonderland) 

I wanted to lean more into Ako’s acting side and thought this would be a good fit 

Haruka Ruka uses a brand called “DECO●LOUR MY WORLD” that follows a decora and candy concept

Oh and she’s also the princess of this land called “E-Magi Nation” (pronounced “imagination”) and everyone thinks she’s putting up a persona because there’s no land called the E-Magi Nation silly! Except no she’s dead serious she’s a literal princess from the E-Magi Nation and her home palace is actually made of gingerbread and candy canes thank you for asking 

Romance Kiss’ official concept says that its a “brand that travels around the world” and takes inspiration from different ethnic cultures, so I was thinking this brand would have a whole bunch of branches in different parts of the world with different top designers and such– Yozora (and later Mahiru) is the top designer of the Japan branch 

The muse of Romance Kiss is in charge of representing the different cultures of the brand 

The school coords in Four Star Academy also has various silhouettes rather than the typical “different tops- same skirts and shoes” pattern 

Here’s an example with an Ako Star Coord I designed 

(I didn’t design anyone else guys I don’t have any ideas I tried with Hime and it was a disaster so please be nice about the Ako design I tried my best) 

Also people can enter the magic fitting room thingie (I forgot what its called HELP) by using their Aikatsu mobile instead of their Aikatsu pass because idk I thought it’d be cool I’m not too sure about this idea though

Lets move on from most of the plot points and go to the end of the season 1 where the S4 Selection happens because I forgot SOOOO many things!! Yay me!

In Wind Dance, Haruka Ruka loses to Yuzu (but since everyone in S4 is a third year including Yuzu, Haruka Ruka gets the spot for S4 next year) 

In Bird Theatre, Ako wins the spot for S4 by beating Tsubasa 

In Moon Beauty, Mahiru beats Yozora and inherits the muse position from Yozora

Its here where Yozora announces that she’s taking a hiatus from being an idol to focus on being a designer (for Romance Kiss) (guys I need reasons to get the 25th S4 Gen out of Season 2 okay bear with me) 

In Flower Song, Lily wins over Rola and Yume,,, however, Rola wins over Yume and gets the S4 spot; Yume becomes Flower Song Class’ admin

TLDR: basically Rola, Ako, Mahiru, and Haruka Ruka are the 26th generation of S4 and are the S4 for Season 2, Mahiru (or Ako I’m not sure) becomes the leader for S4 and we say goodbye to our previous generation of S4 

Oh and Hime shows up at the finale! But like in a super mysterious way where we know its her but no one sees her and she’s just quietly lurking and its basically a hint to her being in the next season

Season 2

Ohohohohoho here’s the fun part 

OKay SO 

The top idol Hime Shiratori has shown up to Four Star Academy… with the Perfect Idol Elza Forte 

Idk why they’re there its probably to try to steal S4 away from FSA 

Anyways Elza does her big performance and she gets her Star Wings and everyone’s in awe and she’s made her name as a perfect idol you guys know the drill 

Hime says that she has returned to help her friend Elza collect perfect idols and get all the Star Wings like they’re Pokemon 

And because of this, she is currently residing in Venus Ark (not as a student she just stays there as a guest of Elza’s) 

The normal shenanigans happen, some Venus Ark characters get their pretty wings 

Oh and later, Hime does a performance (which is her big return back to idoling (which she kinda hates), just for Elza to get her sun wings) and gets the Earth Wings 

A big thing here is how Hime truly trusts Elza and wants her to achieve her dream, doing the one thing she hates (being back in the public spotlight) just so Elza can get her mom’s approval (this is important later) 

But you may be wondering…. if Hime got the Earth Wings… what wings does Yume get? 

LOL HAHAHA GUYS 

she’s not getting any wings 

(I swear I love her she’s one of my favorite characters I just gonna make her struggle… sorry) 

The lineup for the wings goes like this: 

Kirara has Mercury as usual 

Mahiru gets Venus (guys guys calm down I know that Elza has Venus canonically but I swear I have a good reason!!!) (the good reason being that I like Mahiru and Rola together and if Rola gets Mars then Mahiru should get Venus because in mythology-)

Mahiru got her wings due to a plot point in Season 2 where she has multiple muses in Romance Kiss to show the many faces of beauty in different cultures rather than just one– she implements this officially in a festival celebrating different cultures and does a performance and BAM SPR 

Hime gets Earth because it made the most sense to me 

Rola gets Mars and Aria gets Jupiter, like in canon 

Ako gets Saturn (I kind of pushed out Yuzu and Lily in Season 2 so that they play roles similar to Yozora and Tsubasa and Hime in the canon Season 2 of AiStars, so that Ako and Haruka Ruka can get their pretty wings) 

Rei gets Uranus and Elza gets Neptune (because *mumbling* the Sailor Moon ship) 

Haruka Ruka gets Pluto and her wings are made of candy because I said so 

Oh and Koharu’s back! She was in France for a bit learning more about fashion and Elza took her in and now she’s a cool fashion designer who loves Venus Ark with all her heart and having the time of her life 

Aria and Hime also have a sweet relationship– Hime actually meets Aria in Season 2 (rather than pre-show in AiStars), and the two connect 

The main reason they connect is because they were both muses of My Little Heart. My Little Heart was Hime’s brand before she disappeared, and after she did, the whole brand was running around to pick up the pieces 

They had a little reboot and got a new muse (our little fairy Aria) who became the new muse of My Little Heart 

Hime is sorry for the trouble and hate that Aria received after she became the muse but Aria’s very sweet about it with her– they get along quite well because Aria sees Hime as this cool older sister and not a top idol, and Hime is truly at her calmest with Aria 

Oh speaking of brands, Hime has a private brand in Season 2 to avoid the same thing that happened with My Little Heart (she’s planning to leave the spotlight again after Elza gets the Sun Wings) 

We’re gonna skip a lot of plot points because.. again… I forgot a LOT of the ideas I had I should really write these down 

Hime finds out that Elza was just using her the whole time and gets really really upset,,, and pulls a little revenge 

Can you guys guess what it is 

Lol Hime gets the Sun Dress… surprise(!!)

I know Hime is out of character here compared to canon but then again this is my rewrite and I can do whatever I want and I think she should be able to destroy a few dreams because of the betrayal she feels 

And everyone was like “WOAH!! How did she do that!! Gasp!! The Sun Dress is here again??!” 

So the main rival of Season 2 shifts from Elza to Hime

Uhhh skipping more plot points,,, but Yume is doing pretty great! She was kinda moping around after she didn’t get an SPR but she and Koharu made up and created a new brand called “Rainbow Berry Parfait” Yay!! 

So she’s kinda vibing because her best friend is back 

OH MY GOD WAIT I FORGOT TO MENTION 

So at the end of Season 1, because she lost the S4 Selection and was exhausted due to the rainbow power, she took a small hiatus 

She still trains a LOT, more than she used to, so she learns to control her rainbow power again idk how 

But you may be wondering,,, Yume has no SPR nor a sun dress, how the heck is she gonna beat Hime in the finale? 

Basically, Yume and Koharu,,, craft a Moon Dress by themselves– its not given from the system or anything but they literally make a dress that can rival the Sun Dress 

Each one of Yume’s friends help her too, like Mahiru making the crown, or Haruka Ruka helping get certain fabrics? Stuff like that 

And then in the near finale of the season, Yume performs in this Moon Dress (without wings) 

She activates her rainbow power and has a super powerful aura,,, except the rainbow from her aura then goes into her back,,, and forms a pair of wings 

And its sort of basically the system deeming her “worthy” of the Wings of Stars 

Yume wins the competition and beats Hime– so both of them sort of get what they want? Yume is at the top now because of her hard work and now her super rainbow power and Hime is finally lifted the burden of being the top idol 

Also Rei, Aria, and Kirara get Elza’s mom to give her a hug and they sort of mend their relationship from there 

And in the end of the season, Yume beats Rola in the S4 Selection, Mahiru, Ako, and Haruka Ruka win their S4 spots again

Rola decides to go to England to find out what being an idol means to her (and makes a cool rock band because I think that’s what she deserves) 

Koharu is now the top idol of Rainbow Berry Parfait– she leaves Venus Ark and opens a boutique that is also a candy shop because why not 

Ako is the top actress,,, ever; she’s getting film deals everywhere, every movie she is in sells out completely, she’s a big hit 

Mahiru is a supermodel, she’s constantly traveling the world for brand deals; one of the most influential people in the world 

I’m ngl I barely talked about Haruka Ruka,,,, oops I swear I love her 

I imagine that she gets her own talk show that’s super successful- I also remember making her have a rivalry with Yuzu so she probably beat Yuzu sometime in Season 2 but I never mentioned it until now 

And Yume is the top idol of top idols; she’s now the leader of S4 with her super successful career and now she’s just vibing 

Elza and her mom are working to mend their relationship good for them good for them 

Also Elza apologizes to Hime for using her because I think Hime deserves that apology; they don’t end up being friends again but they do end their little,,, whatever they had going on, amicably 

Venus Ark leaves Japan at the end of Season 2 and they’re gonna go to some other country to girlboss and be better than other idol schools good for them 

Hime actually stays in Japan! She now helps with Hotaru’s (Moroboshi’s sister) flower shop! 

Yozora is the top fashion designer for Romance Kiss in the Japan branch 

I think Tsubasa starts an idol agency because I think it’d be cool to have one of those and no one would do it better than Tsubasa 

And Yuzu and Lily make their own idol unit its literally a canon event 

And I think those are all my ideas so far for the series but if I remember any more ideas I’ll probably reblog this with the new ideas 

Also if you read this whole thing, I APPLAUD YOU BECAUSE HUH??? One of god’s strongest soldiers fr 

(Note: I swear the characters, especially the main six, are very close to each other I was just trying to get my ideas out so I didn’t focus on much on the relationships between characters) 

Also I definitely planned more for lore building like the origin of the rainbow power and how the aikatsu system works (because that thing is definitely sentient,,,) but that's all in Season 3 + 4 where there are new characters (,,,,my ocs,,, STOP SCREAMING I AM BUT A GIRL WHO WANTS TO INDULGE HERSELF IN HER LITTLE DELUSIONS!!!) so that may be a different post,,, maybe

(special tag for @elcall, I hope I did Ako justice 🫶)

[pi-creates]

Dropping the link to the Telltale Modding Community's Christmas themed mod for TFS. Key features being a snowy change to the environments, a gingerbread themed school, and numerous other texture changes to bring the whole season into the holiday spirit.

I had a lot of fun contributing alongside other talented mod people in creating textures for this, and I hope people who use the mod can feel the effort we all put into it. Merry Christmas, mates!

[the-best-url-on-this-site]

"Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn/ The power of man, for none of woman born/ Shall harm Macbeth"

"Despair thy charm, And let the angel whom thou still hast served Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb Untimely ripped"

...

OOPSIE!!!!

The witches thought that a c-section counted as not being of woman born, but when Macduff tried to kill Macbeth, it didn’t work! Silly them! Now with the prophecy in full swing and Hecate riding their asses, they better find someone who can actually defeat Macbeth, and quick!

1,000 years later, Macbeth is still king and has now taken over the entire world!

In this universe where all fictional characters are real, the witches must assemble a team of characters marked by Hecate from “birth” with a special MacBrand denoting that they are capable of ending Macbeth’s reign of terror!

CURRENT CAST:

Doofenshmirtz

Orion Fowl (but not Artemis)

Shadow the Hedgehog

Woody from Toy Story

Lighting McQueen

Pinocchio 

Gingerbread man

"This fucking guy" (cookie from chip ahoy commercial)

Tinkerbell

Annabeth Chase

Dean Winchester (s4 and on)

The Creature (Frankenstein)

Winnie the Pooh

Criteria for additions:

Human or of human intelligence

Not Traditionally Born (Naturally born OR c-section) FROM A WOMAN (of their species). If you find us a biological child of a trans man, that's fair game!

Not totally OP (this sadly disqualifies Athena, Dionysus, The Powerpuff Girls, the Monkey King, and Jesus (second coming). They may still appear in the story in some capacity though)

Resurrected characters must be in a new body (Danny Fenton is still in his original body, so he wouldn't work, but Dean Winchester's body post season 4 was reconstructed by Cas, so he does)

No Robots*

Clones cannot be mass produced (for storytelling reasons- Boba Fett would totally work but the Clone Army would not)

Funny

Can you think of Any More Characters using the updated criteria?

[rebelmeg]

Rebelmeg's TSB Mark VII Masterpost

I GOT MYSELF A BLACKOUT FOR THIS ROUND OF THE @tonystarkbingo!!!

S1 - Would You Rather...? | Gen | Iron Family | fanfic

While Tony recovers, Morgan keeps him entertained.

S2 - Tea and Sympathy and Seeing Too Much | Gen | Peggy Carter & Phil Coulson, referenced Pepperony and Ana/Edwin | fanfic

In which awkward SHIELD agents have tea and deal with seeing too much PDA.

S3 - Rebelmeg Drabbles - Chapter 31: Stunned into Stillness | Gen | Iron Family | fanfic drabble

Tony holds his daughter for the first time.

S4 - Not Yet: Chapter 12 | Teen | Tony Stark & Death, Tony & Harley Keener | fanfic

Taking his arc reactor out is always a bad idea, but Tony doesn't think twice this time.

S5 - Laugh Lines | Gen | Pepperony & Iron Family | fanfic

Pepper has spent years watching the subtle (and sometimes unsubtle) ways Tony's face has changed. This one is probably her favorite.

T1 - Wingmen and Airmen, Flirting and Flying - Chapter 1: Two Drink Limit (Limits Were Made To Be Tested) | Teen | Carol/Rhodey, Tony/Maria Rambeau | fanfic

Tony and Rhodey are having a night out before an important Air Force/Stark Industries presentation in the morning. As it so happens, so are Maria and Carol… Except they know who they're talking to, while the boys have no idea that the ladies they're talking to tonight will be the same ones making their jaws drop tomorrow. Rhodey lays down the law, Tony scoffs at the very idea, Carol is considering hijinks, and Maria is up for the challenge.

T2 - Not Yet: Chapter 14 | Teen | Tony Stark & Death | fanfic

The time Tony didn't die.

T3 - Not Yet: Chapter 8 | Teen | Tony Stark & Death | fanfic

Finding out about the palladium poisoning, and trying to fix it, turns out just as well as you could expect.

T4 - I Want You Back | Gen | Pepperony | fanfic

Pepper asked for the separation when Tony couldn't let go of Iron Man. Then, when she got what she asked for, she realized just how much she was giving up. And found a way to own up to her own shortcomings, and meet the love of her life halfway.

T5 - On and Off the Record | Teen | Pepperony | fanfic

Pepper is a broadcast journalist. Tony is a big-time CEO. When their chemistry makes them friends at first sight, it's really only a matter of time until they finally turn into something more.

A1 - Hot and Bothered and Gone on You | Teen | Pepperony | fanfic

A few weeks into Pepperony’s new relationship, Pepper’s heat comes early. And they haven’t talked about it yet.

A2 - Gingerbread, Cocoa, and Coffee | Gen | Tony & Bucky | fanfic

Tony tries to pull one over on Bucky, who is (unsurprisingly) not fooled. Also, there's a real big gingerbread house.

A3 - Tony's New Cars | Gen | Pepperony | fanfic

Tony seems to have replaced all his cars. Pepper finds out why.

A4 - Not Yet: Chapter 5 | Teen | Tony Stark & Death, Tony & Rhodey | fanfic

Tony faces a very unhappy new year.

A5 - Wingmen and Airmen, Flirting and Flying - Chapter 2: Darts and Tequila and Pairing Up | Teen | Carol/Rhodey, Tony/Maria Rambeau | fanfic

Rhodey braces himself to make his move, Tony makes his, and last call comes as a surprise to everyone.

R1 - Optically Deficient Is The New Sexy | Teen | Pepperony | fanfic

Tony ponders the positive effect Pepper's reading glasses have had on his life. In bed.

R2 - Not Yet: Chapter 9 | Teen | Tony Stark & Death, Tony & his Bots | fanfic

Getting out of his banged up suit after his disastrous birthday party isn't going very well.

R3 - Not Yet: Chapter 1 | Teen | Tony Stark & Death, Tony & Maria Stark | fanfic

Tony's life begins with Death.

R4 - Not Yet: Chapter 7 | Teen | Tony Stark & Death | fanfic

In Afghanistan, Tony visits Death again. And again, and again, and again.

R5 - Not Yet: Chapter 4 | Teen | Tony Stark & Death, Tony & Rhodey | fanfic

Tony's night in the lab does not go as he planned.

K1 - Bot Shaming - Part 11 | Gen | Tony & Dum-E | social media post

In which Dum-E continues to be a disaster with a fire extinguisher, and Tony continues to be a shocked and appalled Bot Dad.

K2 - Not Yet: Chapter 11 | Teen | Tony Stark & Death, Tony & JARVIS | fanfic

Tony doesn't like being buried alive, suffocating, and drowning all at once. No, he does not.

K3 - Strictly Ornamental | Gen | Pepperony & Iron Family | fanfic

Tony is doing some last-minute (see also: forgotten) gift-wrapping while Pepper tries to keep their baby out of the Christmas tree.

K4 - Wingmen and Airmen, Flirting and Flying - Chapter 3: I'll See Your Hangover, and Raise You Another | Teen | Carol/Rhodey, Tony/Maria Rambeau | fanfic

The boys are having just as miserable a morning as could be expected after their night out, but when they finally do show up at the demonstration, a couple of familiar faces are there to greet them.

K5 - Primal Satisfaction (of the Clothes-Stealing Variety) | Teen | Pepperony | fanfic

Pepper really understands her husband. Both his possessive caveman side, and his nostalgic pack rat side. Rhodey would really rather not hear about it at all.

ADOPTED PROMPT: abuse - Not Yet: Chapter 2 | Teen | Tony Stark & Death, Tony & the Jarvises | fanfic

An act of neglect sends Tony into Death's arms once again.

ADOPTED PROMPT: Next Generation - It's Good To Be Back | Gen | Peter & the Stark Family | fanfic

After the Snap and everyone comes back, Peter visits Tony in the hospital and meets someone he didn't expect.

[coraniaid]

On that note, my vote for the most unfairly criticized episode of each season (based on these IMDB ratings)

S1) I Robot, You Jane -- Season 1 has a handful of episodes I'd defend as genuinely great, and this ... well, this isn't one of them. It's still miles better than Teacher's Pet or The Pack or The Puppet Show though, and I'm surprised to see it so low down the list.

S2) Bad Eggs -- not Season 2's finest hour by any means, but it is a mystery to me that people rate this below Go Fish or Reptile Boy or Killed By Death or Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered, all of which are actively bad episodes.

S3) Gingerbread -- I'd argue that Season 3 only has two bad episodes, and while this isn't one of the best of the other twenty it's not Dead Man's Party or Beauty & The Beasts, so I'm not sure why it's the lowest rated episode of the season.

S4) Beer Bad -- I don't know, maybe putting 'bad' in your episode's title isn't a great idea? I guess it worked for Bad Girls though. I'd definitely rather watch this than Doomed or Goodbye Iowa or Where The Wild Things Are (and none of these are the worst episode of Season 4 either).

S5) Real Me -- cheating a little as this isn't by any means the lowest rated of the Season 5 episodes. (I agree with IMDB about those ones though.)

S6) Doublemeat Palace -- yeah, this one is actually quite good, sorry. One of the few Season 6 episodes that both tries to be funny and actually is quite funny.

S7) Help -- again, cheating a little as this isn't particularly near the bottom of the list for Season 7. I think it's one of the best episodes of the season though, which is definitely not the IMDB consensus. This -- and not all the over-the-top nonsense with the First -- is the direction I wish that the whole season had headed in.

[steveharrington]

I did try to send you the link to the plushies last night but I know sometimes Tumblr freaks out over links in asks so if you go onto the site entertainmentearth and look up Stranger Things plushies they should pop up! They all look a little goofy admittedly except for the vecna one that straight up looks terrible. If you did get the link just disregard this 😊

I LOVE THESE LITTLE BITCHES!!!!

[masimmy5]

The cookies of the Holiday

Ginger Bread Earrings

DOWNLOAD

[miss-unfortunate-yt]

(1/2) The Exterior!

The Gingerbread Mansion | #SimsTalesCollab | Happy Holidays The Sims 4 Speed Build and Tour | NO CC

Watch: https://youtu.be/O7dUhHpeSIs

Gallery Name:  MissUnf0rtunate

Today I have a treat for you! Join me in welcoming the Christmas holiday with a super neat Gingerbread Mansion Sims 4 build! This is my entry for the #SimsTalesCollab.

Build Information

Name: Gingerbread Mansion

Type: Residential

Location: Brindleton Bay

OG Lot Name: Hounds Head

Lot Size: 64x64

Value: $498,117

Player Tested: Yes, Fully functional

[gold-onthe-inside]

masterlist

spencer reid x oc:

dr piper bishop <- track tag #oc: dr piper bishop for updates

Dr Piper Bishop is the newest addition to the BAU after Elle Greenaway's departure as a consultant appointed by Aaron Hotchner. She quickly rises to a Senior Supervisory Agent after a series of courses and successful cases. But what wasn't seen coming by her was the growth of a new family with new people to protect, finding love and with it, trauma, hurt and ghosts haunting her every move. (currently on season 7)

hemkärlek | spencer reid (s6) x oc (piper bishop) | fluff agent seaver catches spencer and piper in a moment of domesticity.

ataraxia | spencer reid (s5) x oc (piper bishop) | comfort piper suffers a bout of insomnia from overly philosophising at 4am

deck the halls | spencer reid x oc (piper bishop) | fluff, domestic caving in to the norm of the street, piper and spencer decorate the house, but their neighbours are total assholes about it.

comfortember 2024:

laws of thermodynamics | spencer reid x f!reader | fluff spencer and reader spend a rainy afternoon in, and he explains thermal equilibrium over a cup of cocoa.

just stay with me | derek morgan x f!reader | childhood friends, references to buford, hurt/comfort after carl buford is arrested, derek morgan seeks comfort from an old childhood friend.

ralvez:

ice cream never tasted so sweet | spencer reid x luke alvez | college au, meetcute, fluff spencer reid picks up a job at an ice cream parlour during the summer break but that job is quickly derailed by a cute stranger who seems to be addicted to ice cream.

spencer reid x reader:

bau!reader:

hey, december | spencer reid (s2) x bau!reader | fluff on a snowy day in chicago, spencer's terrible aim lands him in hot water with his crush.

tongue-tied | spencer reid (s2) x bau!reader | borderline smut, mostly fluff the bau notice spencer being quieter than usual, the resident genius pressed to reveal an embarrassing injury

gingerbread kisses | spencer reid (s4) x bau!reader | smut with plot if you squint your first christmas as a couple with spencer involves baking, construction, and lots and lots of kisses.

santa's little helper | spencer reid (post prison) x bau!reader | fluff after finding out henry no longer believes in santa after he missed last christmas, spencer dedicates this year to bringing the magic of christmas back to his godson's life... with a little help from you, of course.

count the odds | spencer reid (s8) x bau!reader | established relationship you reflect on the past year at rossi’s annual nye party, which brings you back to your relationship with spencer, and all the different ways your lives could’ve gone, and the odds of you both finding each other.

blake!reader:

new year's resolution | spencer reid (s8) x blake!reader | sprinkles of angst and smut the end of the year brings your life in perspective, the trajectory of your life inverse to the champagne you drink. the morning after, spencer brings you around to the idea that when one door closes, another opens.

wrong person... | spencer reid (s8) x blake!reader | wrong recipient, hurt comfort (?) spencer sends a message to the wrong person in a fit of anger... and then does his best to make up for it.

smells like infidelity | spencer reid (s8) x blake!reader | songfic, reader heavy convinced that her friend has been murdered by her husband, reader confronts him on his own... she's so sure he did it.

tough!reader:

a shot of whiskey | spencer reid (s6) x tough!reader | mild angst, domestic reader contemplates whether she's sweet enough for spencer

frostbite | spencer reid x tough!reader | case-fic spending christmas on a case is hard enough without you tracking down the unsub on your own, and tough as you are, you're not invulnerable.

postgrad!reader

make the yuletide gay | spencer reid x postgrad!reader | hurt/comfort the year's been hard, and the holidays hurt, and spencer realises maybe this christmas, comfort precedes joy.

analyst!reader

pair programming: part one: driver | spencer reid (s1) x analyst reader | annoyances to lovers, casefic you invite yourself onto a case to help penelope after an unsub runs a blackhat operation onto her set-up, getting to know your best friend's team in the process.

greylist | spencer reid (s6, post-JJ, pre-Doyle) x analyst!reader | annoyances to lovers when your celebratory drink with penelope is disrupted, you end up at a bar with the person you famously cannot get along with even if you were paid... until you do.

corrective maintenance | spencer reid (s7) x analyst!reader | annoyances to lovers, lovers' quarrel your complicated and suppressed feelings for spencer result in an argument, the blowback of which leads to a fight with penelope.

medic!reader

amelie, where'd you go? | spencer reid (s2) x medic!reader after you save spencer from his overdose after the hankel kidnapping, he's haunted by the glimpse of you.

coming soon:

[luveline]

𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 | 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

Steve doesn't really like the holidays, but he likes you. So, he makes some concessions. Rainbow lit, tinsel-covered, pine tree-smelling concessions.

6k words, christmas centric, fem!reader who celebrates christmas, mutual pining, gingerbread houses, mistletoe, ugly sweaters, friends to lovers, idiots in love, allusions to s4.

❆

Steve hates Christmas. He doesn't want to get into it and he won't, not when you love it the way that you do — quietly, and yet every movement hints at your excitement. 

Your hands are basically shaking when he lugs the new box onto the desk. It's adorable. 

"Thank you for doing this," you say, meeting his eyes and sending him one of your too-nice smiles. Kind that makes him nervous and sick and excited all at once. 

"I don't know why you're so eager. They're the same cheese-fests this year as last year," he says.

You lean over the counter enough for him to smell your perfume. "That's not true. You said you have The Christmas Star, right?" 

"Ten whole copies." 

He pulls open the cardboard box and digs for your desired tape. The case is cardstock and crisp with newness, and it squeaks as he pulls it up and displays it against his chest. 

You beam. "Yes. How much? Expensive 'cos it's new?" 

"Not with the employee discount," he says, placing the tape down neatly. 

Your smile turns shy. Steve has always thought you were pretty, in the same way he thinks that grass is green and stars shine at night, but lately you've turned to a sweetness that has his teeth aching if he thinks about it, all manner of terrible emotions flooding his idiot brain. Jealousy, protectiveness, and — he shudders — affection. Even now he's tempted to round the desk and make up an excuse to touch your arms, or your hands. Your face. 

"Thanks, Steve," you say softly. 

"Of course. There has to be one pro to working in this dump, right?" 

"Is it a dump? It looks super clean." 

He hesitates. "We had to fix it up. Holiday decorations are coming in tomorrow." 

"Make that today!" 

You both turn to see Robin struggling out of the back room, two boxes held in her arms and hiding her face. She stumbles to the desk and Steve leaps to help her, unveiling her grinning face. There's a meanness to her eyes that Steve abores. 

"Well, yesterday. Keith says they got here last night, which means today is officially the first day of Family Video Christmas." 

"It's November," Steve says, narrowing his eyes. 

"Thirty first!"

Robin pries open one of the huge boxes and thrusts both hands in unafraid, pulling out streams of green and silver tinsel like festive innards. Her eyebrows jump up. "Nice," she says appreciatively. 

"I almost wish I worked here." 

"You can stay and help," Steve says. 

Your laughter makes his chest hurt. "I can't. I have decorating to do all by myself next door." You straighten your Palace Arcade polo and your black, plain skirt. "Do I look okay?" 

Steve has a terrible lapse in judgement wherein he thinks about telling you exactly how you look, lips pressed together ready to make a 'b' sound, but he stops himself in the nick of time. Friends don't really do that. 

"You look fucking adorable," Robin says, having wrapped the tinsel around her neck in a makeshift scarf. She sparkles as she turns to Steve. "Doesn't she?" 

"Adorable," he says tightly. 

You scratch under your ear. "Thank you.” 

You promise to come back at the end of the day for The Christmas Star and escape before Robin can poke fun at your shyness. 

The door closes behind you and Steve buries his face in his hands. His cheeks are hot. 

"That was pretty bad. Better, though," Robin says, an air of genuineness about her that he knows she doesn't truly possess. 

Steve scrubs a hand through his hair, temper welled to the surface quick and uncomfortable as usual. He pushes it down and turns away from Robin and the glaringly bright Christmas decorations rather than say something snappy that she doesn't strictly deserve. 

"Maybe by Christmas you'll be able to look her in the eye." 

"Maybe by Christmas I'll have friends I actually like." 

"Points for quickness," she cheers. Steve can feel her moving to stand beside him. "But ultimately weak." 

"It could happen." 

"Could it?"

He rolls his eyes and starts to log The Christmas Star under his name for you. Employees get pretty good privileges, like reduced rates and nulled late fees. You could keep it 'til the 25th, if that's what you want. 

Robin drapes tinsel over his shoulders. "I really, genuinely think that, despite your bad posture, your hair, your clothes," — Steve scoffs — "and your dismal taste in movies, she likes you." 

He's so distracted by her (mostly) joking insults that he doesn't quite hear the end. Then, when it sinks in, his incredulity lends itself to a new target. 

"What?" 

"Steve," Robin says flatly. 

"She likes me?" 

"I think so. She's not coming in here every day for me." 

"How should I know? I'm not exactly a good judge of it." 

Robin taps her foot against his. They're overly familiar if not overly affectionate friends, and he relents in his bad mood, pulling the tinsel from his shoulders with a dejected sigh. 

"I doubt it. She was excited about the new movies." Not me. He doesn’t think you'll be back tomorrow.  

"Why aren't you excited?" Robin asks.

"You know I don't like the holidays." His agitation is clear in his annoyed hand gestures, fingers furling and unfurling. "Weeks of torture. Cranky moms walking around like somebody shoved a candy cane up their-" 

"Steve, that's like, ten percent of the holiday season! There's a bazillion other things to like about Christmas." 

He snorts. "Like what?" 

—

Steve doesn't know how she managed it, but Robin has someone orchestrated the older gaggle of their friends to sit down anywhere but next to him. When you arrive, late and full of abashed apologies, the only seat empty is the chair to his right. 

You collapse beside him and the December chill outside follows you. Cold emanates off of your clothes. You peel out of your black denim jacket and press the back of your hand to his. 

"Cold, huh?" you ask. 

He swallows around nothing. "Cold." 

Your touch lingers. If he were your boyfriend, he'd take your cold hands in both of his and blow on them generously. He'd rub your stiff knuckles until they were loose and your fingers limp. 

Robin opens her arms and a half a dozen boxes clatter into the middle of the table, upside down and on their sides. Steve turns his head to read the font, and then promptly sits up. 

"No," he says. 

"Steve," Robin pleads, already turned away to retrieve a wicker basket full of candy. "Don't be a loser." 

"Too late," Eddie says, painted nails digging into the cardboard flap of his box. 

"You don't want to make one?" you ask Steve. 

"Gingerbread houses are a little elementary school, aren't they?" Steve turns to Jonathan imploringly. "You agree, right?" 

"No," Jonathan says with a laugh. "Me and Will still make them every year. El's getting good at them, too." 

"Will made one with a door that opens last year," Nancy says, pride for her boyfriend's brother clear in her pert smirk. 

Steve rolls his eyes. "That's good for him, and I mean it, but why are we doing this? Tell me there's beer, at least." 

"Yes!" Eddie cheers, slapping his thigh. "Harrington, you're finally saying something I can get behind. I have a little something extra in the van, just say the word." 

"There's beer," Nancy says emphatically. 

Eddie pretends to die in his chair. You giggle like crazy at his dramatics and set about opening your box, fanning gingerbread walls and roof panelling out over the table. 

Steve feels old resentment for Eddie bubble up like it never left. He wants to be the one who makes you laugh like that, all sweet and secret like you're trying not to make a fuss but you just can't help it. The resentment fades when you reach across from him and open a second box, laying supplies out in front of him one by one. 

"I think we should be a team," you tell him. 

"That's not fair," Eddie says.

"Can it, Munson-"

"We can all be teams," Robin says, returning with a blessedly cold six pack, three piping bags, and a handful of metal tips. "You two, me and Eddie, Nancy and Jonathan." 

Steve doesn't miss her suggestive eyebrow wiggle, and neither does anybody else. You turn to Steve in confusion. He shakes his head vigorously in a rapid and untrue show of I don't know, arm weaving under yours to bring your attention to the bigger piece of gingerbread. "This is the floor, right?" 

Steve’s surprised by how good of a team you turn out to be. Your gingerbread house takes shape slowly. Steve holds the pieces in place and you apply the icing seams like caulking, smoothing the lines out with your index finger and licking it clean. You’re a picture of happiness, happy jabbering interspersed between singing along to the Christmas songs on the radio and warding off insincere insults sent your way. 

"My grandma can decorate better than that, and she's pushing ninety. She has glaucoma."

“Cut the shit talking, Eddie,” you warn, flicking him with a jellybean. It hits his neck, and his retribution comes in five more aimed at your gingerbread house. 

The sides wobble unsurely.

Steve frosts the roof, assuming it’ll be easy. It isn’t easy at all, and soon any cuteness you’ve made is ruined by his ugly hatching. He winces, then frowns, then glares, eyebrows furrowed in agitation. 

Jonathan and Nancy are the ones to beat. Both nerds, both neat. Jonathan’s an artist and it’s obvious he does this every year, their house made up of pretty white swirls and gem decorated doors and windows. They're bantering quietly, insincere declarations that make Steve jealous — not of Jonathan, exactly, but of their relationship as a whole. They fit together in a way Steve and Nance never had. They’re effortless. 

Robin and Eddie make a good go of it, surprisingly. Steve had expected Eddie to throw the competition before he could lose, and hates to be proven wrong. Dorks combined with too much imagination, their gingerbread house has become a sort of macabre scene with a dead gingerbread man outlined in the snow surrounding, and icing stalagmites rise under the roof’s overhang.

You pull your chair in as close to Steve’s as you can, your knee pressed into his thigh and your elbow glancing off of his bicep every time you place a jellybean.

“There,” you say, pulling back. “That looks awesome, doesn’t it?”

It’s a hot mess. Unbalanced, too much icing on one side of the roof and not enough on the other, you lean back into Steve’s chest, your skin to his skin and your hair smelling of jasmine, appraising the work you’ve made just as it begins to fall apart. The weight of the roof becomes too much and the walls split either side of one another, in both slow motion and fast. Steve sees it happen incrementally, and it’s too quick to stop. 

Your gingerbread house collapses. 

“Fuck,” Steve says. “Fucking fuck.”

You get second place. 

“It looked good when it was actually standing,” Nancy reasons, her lies obvious in her raised pitch, her queasy shifting. 

“It did,” you agree. 

Steve’s self-loathing abates ever so slightly. 

“Pity win,” Eddie says with a cough. 

You laugh like crazy, and Steve decides gingerbread houses are for kids. 

—

After the gingerbread house disappointment, Steve thinks things cannot get worse. He is swiftly proven wrong. 

It's his turn to host a party, Robin's idea, and Christmas crawls ever closer. When he closes his eyes at night he can see the faces of every annoyed mom asking for The Christmas Star. Carols play in his ears unbidden. He finds himself humming songs he hates out of nowhere and clamping his mouth shut hard enough to chip a tooth every time. 

You love decorations, and so he and Robin have spent the last hour making his big empty house something fit for a rom-com, wreaths and tinsels and rainbow flashing lights. You love Christmas music, and so the stereos dialled to a cruel thirty in preparation for your arrival. You love cookies, and so, to Steve's amateurish expense, plates of sugar cookies line the kitchen countertops, along with all the finger foods one could ever desire. 

Though in Steve's case, that's none. He hates Christmas parties, reminded of his parents' misaligned efforts to earn favour with equally pompous parents. He and Tommy would hide out in backyards with stolen booze, and when that got too cold they'd shuffle inside, warm in their chests and numb in their fingers. 

He frowns at the memory and wizzes it all away. Tommy was an asshole. Steve was an asshole, he still is. This party isn't for his parents. 

It's for you. 

Not that anyone can ever, ever know. 

"What do you think?" Robin asks, pulling at the edges of the sweater she's changed into. 

It's a movie reference he should understand, but doesn't. "I love it." 

She smiles. Rare for them to operate above dry sarcasm and quick wit. Christmas makes Robin squishy, like she's forgotten how shitty the world is, and Steve wants her to have a good time tonight. This includes being nice (which he should be more often, anyway). 

"Go change. She'll be here soon."

"Who, Nance?" 

Robin tips her head back. "Oh, yeah, Nancy. Definitely who I meant." 

He flips her the finger, putting an end to their Christmas niceties. She's still laughing as he climbs the stairs and barrels into his room. He doesn't bother closing the door even as he hears the doorbell ring. The pizza should be getting here around now. 

Steve doesn't rush. He’d left cash on the countertop. Robin can deal with it. 

He ducks forward and pulls his polo up the length of his back, hair puffed out like a cloud. He'd set aside his ridiculous reindeer sweater on the top shelf of his closet. Or, at least, he'd thought he had. He searches once, twice, and then gives in to his short temper and drops his face into his hands. 

Stupid Christmas. Stupid sweater. Stupid party.  

He hears your inhale like a whisper. Breath caught in your throat. 

"Steve," you say, sounding surprised. 

It's his room. He's not sure what's so surprising. 

You're standing in the doorway looking angelic, all things considered. Your features softened by powder, wearing a white Christmas sweater with dainty beaded snowflakes and a plaid skirt. You look pretty, and Steve's not one for dramatics but he wishes he was dead. 

"You look nice," he says pathetically. 

"You, too," you say. You clear your throat. "I mean. Uh-" 

"You okay?" he asks, pushing hair out of his eyes. 

Your smile falters. You look at his naked chest. Steve worries he's making you uncomfortable and turns as nonchalantly as he can to his closet again, says, "I can't find my sweater. It's…" He lifts a bundle of jeans up. "Horrifying." 

"I can help." 

You step into the room. Each footstep silent, you've already discarded your shoes. He looks down to your stockings and then up again, ignoring the blush that wants to emerge at the sight of your thighs. 

"It's brown, and it has a weird red thing hanging off of it. Rudolph's nose." 

You step close enough that he can feel the heat of your arm and run a hand down the shelves. It takes a couple of seconds at most and you've found it, pulling it from the pile carefully. He loves the way you move, each inch deliberate. 

You press the sweater into his chest. His hands come up, his fingers cover your own. 

When he's with you, Steve feels as though everything — every movement, every moment — is broken down into its finest details. He thinks he could draw your fingerprint if asked, each miniscule line embossed into his skin as you touch him. 

"Steve?" 

But that's ridiculous. 

"Thanks. I think I got tinsel in my eyes or some shit," he mutters, averting his gaze.

"You're welcome. Robin sent me to see what was taking you so long. I'll tell her it was a Rudolph related crisis." 

You stroke his arm. 

He loses his shit internally, hand reaching for your retreating figure as you turn your back. He doesn’t know why. Maybe he would’ve kissed you.

"Steve?" you ask, now standing in the doorway. 

He recalibrates, muddled. "Yeah?" 

"Get dressed,” you encourage. You give him a short smile, blinding, and laugh quietly as you leave. 

He's hopped up on hope as he gets dressed, a smile plastered over what had felt to him like a seasonal scowl. He's no idiot; arm-touching, your tinkling laughter. Maybe his crush isn't as hopeless as he'd thought. 

He smooths down his hair for much longer than necessary, listening as the door opens and closes and opens again, friends trickling in with happy hellos and complaints about the weather. It's cold but too wet for snow, and evidence of it trails in from the front door through the hallway where shoes lie discarded in clumsy pairs.

He picks over them and finds his friends, ones he made willing and otherwise, draped over his living room like old throws. Max and Lucas have stolen the couch where they sit laughing, clearly gossiping about something. The rest of the lunch club stick close by, bowls of snacks already claimed and in cross-legged laps. 

"Steve," Jonathan says, "what the fuck is that?" 

"Fucker," Steve says. He's the butt of too many jokes, then, and he glares at Robin even as she plates him some still-warm pizza. 

"Sorry," she mouths. 

You curl up on the couch next to Max. He appreciates the unlikely friendship you've formed, sort of a sistership. You only know her through Steve but he genuinely thinks you'd pick her over him, and that makes him like you more. 

That's all he does, lately. Finds new ways to fall in love with you. 

"That is the ugliest sweater I've ever seen," Max says.

Fucking Christmas. 

—

Steve's been in a bad mood since he came downstairs, and you're not okay with it. Despite your shameless meltdown in his bedroom at seeing him shirtless, you don't quit. You spend some time with Max on the couch, and when she seems a little less agitated you track him down. 

He's definitely hiding. 

"I think Max's glasses are hurting her nose," you say. 

Steve looks over his shoulder at you, and he smiles, the slopes of his face kissed by the open refrigerator light. "They'd hurt anyone. The lenses are like, five inches thick." 

“Poor girl,” you mumble, more to yourself than him. 

He turns back to the fridge and pulls out a two litre of coke. “You want a drink?” 

You shake your head. His hair looks incredibly sweet from this angle, and you don’t mean that in a condescending way. It curls toward the bottom of his neck, that tiny bit too long compared to his usual cut. His neck moves as his head swivels, and there’s ligaments, there’s muscle, the bump of his Adam’s apple, all of it commanding attention. You think about stepping forward to touch him, his neck, to curl your finger around the side of his throat and hold him in place. If there’s one thing about Steve lately, it’s that he’s always fucking moving. He can’t sit still. He looks between you and the empty glass in question, twice, a third time. 

“I don’t read minds,” he says eventually, near pleading. 

You decide some flirtation is in order. 

“I’m glad you can’t,” you say lightly, crossing what’s left of the kitchen tile between you to stop at his side. You pretend that you’d wanted a drink, taking a glass down from one of his cabinets so he can fill it for you. Something he could’ve done himself. You hope that’ll be clear enough for him — the blatant want to be close. 

It isn’t, unsurprisingly. 

“What’s that mean?”

“Well, I think…” You lower your voice,a private confession. “That sometimes what I’m thinking, it might be- Uh, telling.”

Poor Steve. That hadn’t come out anywhere as smooth as you’d anticipated. It’s harder to tell him now you’re confronted with him, his every detail. And Steve, sweetheart, angel Steve, he misses the mark. Forget different pages, Steve’s reading a separate chapter, and your flirtation reads as a deeply unromantic confession. 

“Is there something wrong?” he asks. 

“No,” you say. “Of course not.”

His eyebrows jump and his forehead crinkles. “You sure?” His protective tone melts into something softer. “Let’s hear it, whatever it is.”

Steve isn’t patient. You know that about him. His temper is short and fierce. You like how hot he runs, love his agitated pouting and his dark-eyed scowls — he’s handsome in every expression. 

He isn’t patient, but he tries. He’s kind, and if you wanted to sit and talk about the hypothetical that isn’t bothering you, he’d listen. 

“I actually wanted to ask if everything was alright with you,” you say gently. 

His hand wobbles, fastening the coke cap. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I’ve noticed you don’t really like Christmas.”

He smiles, and soon the smile catches, a shy lip bite that has you fighting with your hands to keep them where they hang at your sides. 

“You got me.”

Steve pushes the twin glasses of coke back and then turns around, resting the small of his back against the countertop. You step in front of him without thinking, head ducked to catch and keep his eyes. They’re such a lovely brown, light and earthy, potted with white dots from the fluorescent kitchen light like falling snow as his eyes slip down. You swear, Steve is looking at your lips. 

“Is there something I can do?” 

It’s a terrible time to ask because you genuinely mean it, you’re not just trying to cop a feel. He doesn’t smirk or laugh as you’d thought he would, he only smiles. 

“Thanks, but I’m good.” He tips his head back, criminal, neck arched and ever-enticing. “Fucking sick of this itchy straight jacket,” he groans, pulling at the collar of his sweater like he’s hot. 

He is hot. You’d both benefit from a sudden winter breeze. 

His head drops, eyes lit with confusion. “What? Something on my face?”

“Something,” you agree. 

You look behind you to check what you’d thought you’d seen was truly there. When it is, you turn back to Steve with a feigned concern. “Here, come step into better light.”

You hurry into the doorway, frowning. 

Steve frowns in turn and follows you. You give the game away without meaning to, looking up at the sprig of mistletoe pinned sloppily above you. 

He sees it. He lights up. The happiest he’s looked all month, Steve scrubs a hand over his face and into his hair, pushing it out of his eyes as he comes to meet you. Your stomach flips with excitement, because oh shit, he looks like he wants to kiss me. 

“Butler, I’m in need of one of your finest cokes, please.”

Oh, no.

Eddie bounces into view with a certified shit-eating grin, hair decorated with tiny metallic baubles. His sweater is surprisingly normal, a black and white knitted affair with reindeer and snowflakes. 

He comes to a stop beside you. “What’s happening?”

Don’t look up, don’t look up, don’t look-

“Shit, hey! Mistletoe.”

Eddie opens his arms. You sigh, to his delight, and lean in so he can give you a chaste kiss on the cheek. You try to look at Steve and find your view blocked by a mass of hair.  

“Wow, sweetheart. And I thought we were friends,” Eddie says good-naturedly. 

You scrunch your hand in his sweater to push him away, not unkindly. Guilt gets the better of you and you pat the place over his heart. “We are.”

He makes a kissy sound and dives in toward your neck. Startled, you squeal, stumbling away from his rabid affection and back into the kitchen. He follows, though he doesn’t try anymore kisses. 

“Harrington! I wasn’t joking about the coke. Can I-“

“Help yourself,” Steve says. 

He sounds miserable. 

—

There isn’t time or opportunity to smooth things over with Steve that night. Actually, a week becomes two, and neither do you kiss nor talk about kissing. You want to explain to him what he probably already knows — you really had been standing there for him, hoping for a kiss, a proper kiss. 

He’d looked crushed. You don’t use the word lightly. Steve looked as though somebody had stepped on his chest and pressed all of their weight against his ribs. Frazzled, unhappy. You can’t get the look out of your head, and Christmas doesn’t feel so cheerful with the gap that yawns between you, an icy crevice. 

You try to explain and things get in the way. At the video store, you show up with a plate of apology cookies hoping for a second chance and suddenly the radio breaks and gets stuck blaring ‘Here Comes Santa Claus’ like a storm siren. You meet up for games night with a twig of mistletoe in your purse hoping to be a tad more brazen about it and he sits on the opposite sofa, doesn’t take any pee breaks, effectively foiling your plan with inactivity. You ask him out for hot chocolate over the phone and he can’t come. 

“My parents are flying home. I gotta pick ‘em up from the airport.”

You don’t know whether he’s lying or not. His parents actually being home feels outlandish. If he is lying, he doesn’t want to see you, and if he doesn’t want to see you… 

He doesn’t like you. Not the way you like him. 

You worry you imagined the whole thing, his enthusiasm, his starry eyed smile. 

So you’re giving it one last shot. If it doesn’t work you’ll spend your Christmas heartbroken and sulking, but if it does you might actually get to kiss him. It’s a huge thing, and your hands are shaking with more than the cold as you bump up the small step to Steve’s front door. 

The green wreath hanging below the peep hole jitters as you knock, a fragrant twining of pine and cinnamon sticks. 

The door opens all at once.

“Hi,” you say, biting the tip of your tongue. “Hi, I’m, uh-“

The man who’s answered, who you summarise to be Steve’s father despite never having seen him, looks disinterested. “Steve,” he calls. “One of your friends.”

He walks away with nothing else to say, a dark brown liquid lapping at the sides of his small glass. You pull the wrapped box in hand closer to your chest, shifting from one numbing foot to the other as a small tumbling sound comes from upstairs. A pair of hinges squeal, and Steve is halfway down the stairs before he’s even looked up. 

He slows as he approaches the bottom. 

He’s in pajamas. Sweatpants, nondescript, but his too-tight shirt clearly of the Christmas variety. A snowman smiles over his chest. 

“It’s laundry day,” he says. 

“Sure.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t go out with you-“

“Steve,” you interrupt, shaking your head. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

“Is that… for me?”

The box in your hands is wrapped modestly. You hadn’t wanted to shove Christmas down his throat, trading reds and greens for a shiny silver paper pressed with fine glitter snowflakes. 

“Yeah. It’s for you.”

Steve stares at you. You stare back. 

“I’d invite you in, but…” He shakes his head. “Let me get my coat.”

Steve doesn’t close the door, to his father’s annoyance, deep grumbling echoing from the kitchen area. You watch him shove his socked feet into a pair of sneakers and scramble to grab his coat and a scarf. 

“Okay?” he asks, stepping out onto the path and closing the door behind him. 

You don’t answer, distracted by his hands suddenly held up, the scarf thrown neatly around your neck. He does a single knot and tucks it under your jaw. “Awesome,” he says. 

You walk down his street. Hawkins is half woods, and soon you’re weaving between naked trees, no destination in mind, not one unspoken feeling acknowledged between you. 

“Why do you hate Christmas?” 

It’s just dark enough for Steve’s clouded breath to show against the sky. “I don’t,” he says.

Your footsteps break over leaves so frosted they crackle. 

“I mean, I guess I do,” he says. “I don’t know. I think I want it to be better than it is.” He stops under a tree that’s clinging to its last handful of leaves and gives a low-hanging branch a playful shake. “I never enjoyed it, as a kid. Or, I don’t remember. I’m sure I liked it when I was still snot-nosed.”

“So, last year?” 

He chuckles warmly. “Exactly.”

You walk a little further, too awkward to hand him his gift. 

“I don’t hate it. But it’s cold, and everyone’s rushing, and the bad outweighs the good.” He sounds tired. 

He breaks your heart like that. 

You stop walking and Steve takes your cue, the two of you toe-to-toe, your sneakers dirty, his socks odd. One white and one grey. 

“I got you this because… um, I have something to tell you. I don’t think I can say it out loud, but- but I hope it adds something to the scale.” You extend the box slowly, your fingers stiff with the cold. “You deserve some good. You deserve a lot of good.” 

You laugh, flustered, and Steve joins in, chest lifting with it as he accepts his gift. 

He rips off the wrapping paper, at first carefully and then less so, shoving little pieces into his pocket as he goes. You take the bigger scraps from him so he can look at the box itself. 

Your gift is actually multiple gifts contained inside, and the first isn't technically a gift at all. The Family Video copy of The Christmas Star.

"Is this-" 

"I've been meaning to give it back to you. I'm sorry, I know it's not a real gift, I just figured- I mean, you've never seen it. I thought we should watch it, and that you'd like it if you did. Or maybe you'll hate it, and that would be fine too." 

He nods and moves to the next gift, lips twitching with an emotion he won't share. 

"That's your size, hopefully. I asked Robin but she didn't know. I kept the receipt." 

Steve smiles at you. "Would you hold this?" he asks. 

You put your hands out and take the box back, worried, but he's only unzipping his coat. Quick as a flash he's shrugging into the sweater head first. It's a simple thing, red wool, soft to touch. A Christmas sweater, though there's no decoration beside a tiny holly leaf embroidered at the collar in dark green. 

"This is fucking sweet," he says. 

You agree. He looks good. 

A shiver racks his spine. 

"Put your coat back on, you're gonna freeze," you say gently. 

He beams at you. "My dead body will be the best dressed in the morgue." 

"Don't joke about that!" 

He laughs and gets back into his coat, zip right up to his neck. He still looks cold. 

The third present is a gingerbread house kit. The fourth, a sprig of mistletoe. They're obvious now the sweaters in action, and Steve seems mildly confused by them. You leap to explain. 

"I thought, I mean- I want a do-over." You tilt your cheek toward your shoulder, scared and fond at the same time. "I wanted you to kiss me. I think you wanted to kiss me, and then Eddie," — you laugh loudly, cheeks burning with the cold — "was being himself. And Steve, I brought that stupid plant with me to Robin's house last week hoping we'd be alone, and to work the week before. But you're hard to pin down." 

You take a deep breath before continuing, eyes determined at his collar, "If you don't want to kiss me, that's okay. That's why I brought the gingerbread house, because ours was awesome before it fell apart, and I'm pretty sure Robin gave us a dud on purpose. We made something really cool together, and I think we can do it again." 

"I did want to kiss you. I do." 

You bite the inside of your lip, nose scrunched up in happiness. "You do?" you ask, and there's this feeling in your chest like you could burst, and all the cold shrinks into nothing. You're warm in your arms, your fingers, your fingertips. 

His hand comes up to his face briefly, shielding his eyes. "Am I obvious?" 

"Am I?" 

His exhale tickles your cheeks. "No," he says breathlessly.  "No, you're not." 

He says it like it's a good thing. A great thing. 

"Everybody else knows," you say similarly. 

"I know." 

He brings a hand to your cheek. It's cold, cold as your face, but he still winces and rubs at the apple with his thumb. "You're freezing," he says as he inches forward. 

His lips are warm. More gentle than you'd imagined, hesitant, and the box you're holding stops him from getting as close as you want him to get. He kisses you once, then he pulls away and kisses you again, his lips slightly parted. 

It's better than you'd thought it would be. His palm stroking your cheek, the pressure, the heat. Knowing he wants to kiss you now as he wanted to then. 

"No fucking way," he says, tilting his head back. 

You tip your head back too. Something wet falls in your eyelashes, a drop of rain. 

Not rain. "It's fucking snowing," Steve says. 

It's snowing. Because it's Christmas, and the powers that be are on your side. 

"Happy Christmas, Harrington," you say jovially. 

You're given another kiss in reward. Reward, or to shut you up. You're not sure. 

—

Steve is impartial to Christmas. He doesn't want to get into it but he will, because you love it. 

The snow — the snow, which had fallen thick and fine as powdered sugar, which you adore, and which makes coming to see you in the days leading up to Christmas near impossible. It's something out of a movie, Steve, seriously, and you need to appreciate what's happening. 

The music you play when he comes to see you, records on your record player and cassettes in your tape deck lying on your chest, knee to knee and thigh to thigh with him. Your quiet humming; you won't sing, but the small sounds alone are enough to make him want to kiss you (though everything does now). He can't hate Here Comes Santa Claus when you hum along under your breath, lips skipping over the skin of his bicep, your hand scratching a rhythm into his hair. 

Everybody knows Santa's coming, I don't see why they have to have a whole song about it. 

Are you jealous? I'll write a song about you. Or maybe I can steal one. You ever hear Santa baby? We can make it Stevie baby. 

Christmas music? Not his thing. You calling him baby? Fine, he can get behind it. At least until January. 

Christmas sweaters! He fucking hates them. They're ugly, they're scary, he doesn't wanna walk around with a pom pom on his chest thank you so much, but he has to allow them. Has to. If only so he can watch you get dressed with one eye hidden in your pillow and the other wide open. Thank little baby Jesus in the manger for Christmas sweaters so you have something to tuck into your skirt, so you have a reason to wear a skirt at all, and a reason to take one off. 

Christmas snacks he can get behind. Or, he can get behind this. You on the couch, a needle threaded in your hand. A bowl of popcorn in his lap, and your face as you lean back. 

He throws a kernel and it lands in your open mouth. 

You both holler, twin expressions of unadulterated joy, popcorn spilling over the sides of the bowl. You just look so happy, he climbs on knees to steal a kiss. A smiling kiss, the very best kind. 

"Aren't you supposed to do this stuff before Christmas eve?" he asks. 

"I've been a little busy." 

Steve digs his face into your neck so you won't see him blushing, hands curling around your waist in an impromptu hug. Yes, he supposes you have been. 

You kiss his temple sweetly. 

"Merry Christmas," he murmurs. He really, really means it. 

❆

thanks for reading! im so out of practice but hopefully this is okay!! i meant to post it yesterday but anyhow, i hope you enjoyed <3

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, January 2nd - Friday, January 3rd (Part 2)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Video: The Twisted Buffy Guide 2x14: Innocence by Twisted View

Video: Buffyverse Discussion: Why We Love Glory by Buffyngton Post

Video: The Buffy Awards Slayer Sunday by Jane Talks Buffy

Video: Analyzing Buffy: Welcome to the New World | 1x01-06 by The Bronze

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Had the Perfect Series Finale (But It Wasn't in Season 7) by Zeliard

Video: Buffy The Vampire Slayer's "The Key" Storyline Made Absolutely No Sense: Revisiting Dawn's Blood & B by Prosecco

Podcast video: Angel | The Lazor Comb Podcast #105 ["Rm w/a Vu"] by Lazor Comb Productions

Podcast video: Buffy's Angels: Him by The Franchise: A Film Podcast

Podcast video: Buffy's Angels: Spin the Bottle by The Franchise: A Film Podcast

Podcast: Top 5 and Bottom 5 Buffy Episodes Ever (Buffy and the Art of Story Podcast) by Lisa M. Lilly

Podcast: Episode 55 - Swangel and the Barfy Feelings (Graduation Day Part 1) Audio Only by The Sunnydale Diaries - A Buffy Podcast

Podcast: ANGEL 1.3 - In The Dark by Buffy the Vampire Straya

Podcast: ANGEL - Lonely Hearts by Buffy the Vampire Straya

[Recs]

Music rec: Buffy's theme as a synthwave track recced by NewRetroMage

Fic recs: Favourite fics of 2024 [two Spuffy fics] by trenchcoat full of recs

Fic rec: Pieces (Fanged Four, M) by QueennHalloweenn recced by February Fangfest

Vid rec: Buffy the Vampire Slayer opening credits animated with REAL plasticine recced by manibolly

Vid rec: Spike | I'll Keep Coming by genericaces recced by kliomuse

[Community Announcements]

February Fangfest 2025 by Ayaka0

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[Fandom Discussions]

I get the will-be-done spell had spuffy all wildly in love bc tv and stuff but it’s incredibly funny to me considering buffy’s parents by camellcat

Season 3's Gingerbread versus Season 6 by coraniaid

The similarities between Jenny Calendar and Robin Wood, and how that plays into Giles’ reaction to Wood by lilatara

according to my friend who i’m watching buffy with, my hottest take so far is that i actually love xander by selkiemaidenfae

Why the First didn't take Tara's form to psych out Willow by oddly-informed-raven

Still so mad that Angel was Spike’s sire but then they retconned that because it would be too gay and made it Drusilla by starspangeledwanker

I know that the idea that Amy Madison is secretly in love with Willow is not canon by coraniaid

Spike looking back at the final fight and saying “he’s gonna kill her” and then shrugging and walking away by francesderwent

Goddddddd season 6 was really just. Pulled out of their asses by kittythelitter

Question - - Does anyone else notice stakes more now? by WBGX

Fangel by FallenAngel00

Slayin it continued by multiple posters

Did Buffy actually enjoy it? continued by multiple posters

Slayer Calling, Healing & Disabilities continued by vampmogs

Was Angel sending Nina away sexist? continued by sybil

My fav quotes from Cordelia by Cailly_Brard7

Watchers Council VS Initiative by Ok-Vanilla-2984

What do you think were the worst jokes of the show? by foreseethefuture

What [AtS] moments cringed you out the most? by SpeedHot3049

What's something the writers did that felt forced? by PristineSituation498

newbie scooby with a question! [what's the consensus on souls?] by Fragrant-Stretch5549

Books and Novels by everythinggoes0613

DAE feel like everyone putting so much pressure on Buffy? by frcklx

She did a great job as Cousin Beth by SassyOccasionaluser

Gift from friend [The Official Grimoire] by oak_berry444

What's an underrated scene you love? by ATH3NA01

Very… thought provoking for sure | S4 E22 “Restless” by The_Fullmetal_Titan

Continuity between Buffy season 6 and Angel season 3 by Tuxedo_Mark

"painbow" by MxKittyFantastico

This was an AWESOME START to the season!!! | S5 E1 “Buffy vs. Dracula” by The_Fullmetal_Titan

unpopular Buffy The Vampire Slayer Opinions by TheMortikaLacrosse

Did Ángel deserve his soul? by FoxIndependent4310

The trio. The most Evil villain? by FoxIndependent4310

Which Spike did you prefer? by PlaneAutomatic4965

Does it still bother anyone that they never mention Jesse again? by Personal_Reward_60

Moments in Buffy that made you laugh by Unimatrix_Zero_One

Okay so, let's say Oz hypothetically took Xander's place in Becoming Pt 2, and gave Buffy the false message from Willow by PristineSituation498

Is there an age limit for a potential? by Automatic-Adeptness4

Is Season Seven Worth Watching? by reystreasure

Dark Willow vs Glory by Elegant-Hospital-101

Season 4 Change I would make.... by Automatic-Adeptness4

The Yoko factor and Angel and Riley by mmpppppppp

Spuffy & Tillow contrasting moments [in All The Way] by sirtch_analyst

Stuff from the comics that you love? by jdpm1991

Olaf the “Troll God”s Hammer by ryeandpaul902

S7: E7 Conversations With Dead People by midnight_sparrow

Xander Vampire by melbreddituser

I think Xanders pretty fuckin awesome by ConsiderationKey392

Oz just exited the show, and it kinda sucks so here's an appreciation thread ig! by AbhayXV

Why the First didn’t came to Willow in Tara’s “body”? by Suriel_hunter

Dawn and the key by PaleHorseman101

I just finished watching season 6 by Ijustliketodraww

Do you think Angel can give himself a moment of happiness? by captaingatorgirl

Which season has the best stand alone episodes in your opinion? by CoasterTrax

I'd Bite You in a Heartbeat by DapperDunedain

A theory of Willow and Kennedy by yrboyfriend

The smarter and idiot Big Bad by FoxIndependent4310

"Let's go to work"/"Let's roll" by Arctolamia

The Musical Episode 👍🏻👍🏻 by Tight-Target-2065

Does anyone else dislike Xander? by Plus_Woodpecker_4982

If you could go back and pick one character's arc to rewrite, what would you change? by Tight-Target-2065

Larry-s2 by Heavy-Ambition1161

Thoughts? [on Angelus' humanity] by jogaforacont

Am I really missing out by not watching Angel? by lurkr-mercry

A delightfully fun opener! | S2 E1 “Judgement” by The_Fullmetal_Titan

Discrepancies by CantB2Big

Cordelia season 4 by bigbadllama

Will watching Angel concurrently with Buffy drag down my viewing experience? by The_Fullmetal_Titan

Who else loves puppet Angel? by Dry-Dragonfruit5216

Why is Faith sometimes hated the most for the Empty Places scene? by Dry-LightBlueSky55

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