#scrooge x magic

[laurfilijames]

All I Want...

Pairing: Will Miller x reader

Words: 1.3k

Warnings: Angst. Swearing. PTSD. Panic attack. Mentions of an unhappy childhood, military service, personnel being KIA. Tom's death. Grief. People being unhappy at Christmas. (There's some fluff too, bear with me!)

Summary: Will tries to fight off a panic attack early on Christmas morning, his unenthusiastic feelings toward the holiday making him feel guilty on top of everything else on his mind, only to be reminded that it's okay to not feel festive and that he's not alone.

A/N: I'll be the first one to admit that Christmas isn't all it's cracked up to be sometimes. People often call me Scrooge, but I've learned over the years to prioritize my mental health around the holidays and take it all in stride. To those who struggle in any kind of way this time of year, I see you, and this is for you.

This fic follows some of my headcanons about the Miller brothers in that they didn't have a great upbringing, and that Will often suffers from poor sleep and panic attacks.

---

Scrooge. The Grinch.

These were some of the names bestowed upon Will over the years, his less than enthusiastic feelings toward Christmas noticed and pointed out as often as possible during the holiday season by those closest to him, mainly Benny.

It was innocent enough, his brother, Fish and Pope all aware and understanding to the reasons why Will wasn’t overly excited, but sometimes it got under his skin and the temptation to tell Ben to fuck off sat on the tip of his tongue on more than one occasion when he got going on a roll of teasing him.

He always tried his best to keep his opinions to himself, not caring to bring it up in order to avoid the shock and disbelief that someone could hate Christmas, having to stand and painfully listen to whoever was scolding his humbug ways try to convert him and preach all the reasons why it was so magical.

He had been this way for as long as he could remember, the earliest memories of an unhappy Christmas morning tucked away in the back of his mind until they inevitably were pushed back to the surface each time the radio stations turned their usual music to all the annoying holiday songs and people started asking the mundane “Are you ready for Christmas?” questions to everyone who never wanted to give an honest answer. He could always see the stress most people carried with them this time of year, the worry of spending money they didn’t have and not meeting expectations evident on their faces as they frantically rushed around to get all the things ticked off their lists to make the day ‘perfect’.

Perfect was never a word Will would use to describe any of his past Christmases, the thought making him scoff and shake his head as he looked up at the night sky, counting the stars as a way to try to clear the persistent thoughts that had gotten him out of bed at 3:26 AM.

Vivid images that he had tried to blur and forget always reappeared no matter how hard he tried; his parents yelling from the kitchen loud enough he had to peel Benny and his one toy from under the tree to go outside to get away from the anger, not to mention the countless Christmas mornings he woke up to gunfire or spent the day trudging through the rain and freezing cold, or had sweat clinging to his back in the heat of the desert, more often than not spending December 25th on tour and deployed somewhere that mimicked hell.

Will couldn’t help but feel guilt more than usual on days like today, thinking of all the families whose sons or daughters, husbands or wives and everything between never made it home to celebrate another Christmas with them, that shame becoming part of the reason he tended to make sure he was always off serving somewhere, not feeling like he deserved to be in the warm comforts of home with those he loved.

Add that to the long list of things his ex resented him for, one more thing he could never do right, and something else she refused to make an effort to understand despite him trying to explain it.

Today it seemed to all weigh more than it normally did.

Tom’s death was still fresh in all their minds, this being the first Christmas Molly and the girls would have to spend without him, and the thought of their irreparable grief made Will want to crumble.

He exhaled a long breath, blowing it out shakily from his lungs, his chest feeling tight as his heart pounded inside it like a caged animal.

He inhaled as slowly as he could manage, one, two, three, counting in his head to gain control over the quickly rising panic.

Exhaling out, one, two, three, his heart still hammering, his pulse furiously thrumming in his neck.

His hand shook as he lifted it up to rub the back of his neck roughly, feeling sweat accumulating on it and dampening his palm that was equally wet.

The steadiness of the number of seconds between each laboured breath was doing little to keep him calm, the thoughts of his conversation with you a couple of days prior echoing in his mind to drown them out along with the ringing in his ears.

You swore up and down a hundred times that you were fine with not celebrating, assuring him that you were relieved to not make a fuss over Christmas and reminding him that your own views of it were also plagued by unhappy memories; that being alone with him was more a gift than anything wrapped in paper and bows under a tree. He knew you meant it when you said you wanted to hide away with him until the madness of it all was over, but now his mind was playing tricks on him, making him doubt your words and sending him into a tailspin over projecting his attitude toward it on you.

But he knew you wouldn’t lie to him.

He kept on that train of thought as his fingers wrapped around the railing on the deck, gripping into the wood as hard as he could, feeling the splintered pieces from years of weather digging into his skin. Drawing in another short breath and gasping slightly, he did his best to remember why he came outside in the first place, seeking fresh air that ironically had become suffocating.

One, two, three, he repeated to himself again, closing his eyes to better focus on slowing his breathing down.

A minute and thirty-seven seconds had passed with him concentrating, able to let the consistency of the numbers aid him as he continued to count, the feel of your warm hands slipping up his cold, clammy back allowing him to finally release the tension he had been holding in his shoulders.

“I’m okay,” he muttered, his voice lacking the conviction he hoped it had.

“I never thought you weren’t,” you whispered, your hands still pressing reassuringly on his torso as you moved beside him, your lips meeting his shoulder to kiss it twice.

Will smiled, grateful for your belief in him, never making him feel weak or like he needed saving, simply there with a love and empathy he had sought his whole life.

He released his grip on the rail and glanced over at you, shooting you a weak smile gathering you in his arms for a hug, kissing the top of your head appreciatively while you continued to rub your hands in a calming, languid pattern across his skin.

“I love you,” he murmured, feeling his heart beat in a stronger rhythm different from how it had moments ago.

“I love you too, Will,” your lips moved against his chest, your arms squeezing him a little tighter as you pressed yourself closer to his body.

“You’re sure you’re happy to spend Christmas this way?”

“More than happy,” you reiterated, pulling your face away to look at him, his blue eyes like flames against the deep navy of the night sky.

“Okay,” he sighed, leaning in to kiss you.

“You know there’s that song, ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’,” you smiled, watching his expression change, his grin stretching out to form the creases in his cheeks as he shook his head.

“Please don’t sing it.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

Will chuckled and kissed you again, slowly, his tongue slipping into your mouth with a gentle demand.

“Let’s get back to bed,” he said quietly, nodding toward the house after he broke the seal of your lips.

As he led you into the house, your fingers laced with his, he thought how maybe he could find ways to celebrate Christmas with you that wouldn’t make it all seem so terrible, the idea of creating your own traditions somewhat exciting to him.

He smiled at you over his shoulder, stopping in the middle of the hallway where he clasped your face in his hands and kissed you deeply, his body pressing into yours with a need to show you just how much you meant to him, knowing that as long as he was with you he could face anything.

---

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[jo-harrington]

Disaster Preparedness (Eddie Munson x Store Manager!Reader)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Summary: Maybe it's time to put a name to whatever it is you and Eddie are...but not without some misunderstandings first.

Previous Part: Peak Sales Hours

Warnings/Themes: AU where the Upside Down doesn't terrorize Hawkins. Reader works at the Claire's at StarCourt. Eddie works at TapeWorld. Angst, Jealousy, Fluff, and a series of unfortunate misunderstandings with a sweet ending.

Note: A day late, but what can you do. This was sort of always a pre-planned part of the Store Manager Verse (and actually set at Christmas Time at StarCourt) but a very special prompt made me switch it up. So without further ado @allthingsjoeq and @bettyfrommars please consider this collection of Holiday shenanigans inspired by I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus my take on Prompt 14 from your Holiday Prompt Party:

You can tell that the mall Santa is a babe under that beard, and you decide to get closer to investigate.

With a little twist...

You can find my masterlist here for more featuring our resident Store Manager and all of my other writing.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

---

The holiday season wasn't Eddie's favorite, per se.

Just like Thanksgiving, it was a time to make do. Couldn't really celebrate when you were reminded of the things you'd lost or didn't have in the first place.

Still it had its high points. Cookies were great, having a little extra cash between Wayne's holiday pay and bonus and the handful of parties he'd be able to deal at, and let it be known that...Eddie Munson was a sucker for snow and always wished for a White Christmas.

And for his friends? Eddie would always muster up the Holiday Spirit and Christmas Cheer. A special one-off campaign for Hellfire, a potluck dinner with Corroded Coffin, and handmade gifts that he spent way too much time on.

This year...working at StarCourt brought its own spin on Holiday cheer and it was a little annoying.

If he hadn't worked the closing shift on the 30th, and seen all of the overnight workers and maintenance vehicles that rolled out of the service corridors as he walked out, Eddie would have thought that it was magic that transformed StarCourt Mall into a true Winter Wonderland come December 1st.

Because it was night and day.

Lights were strung around every store entrance, wreaths and garland hung every 50 feet from the ceiling, soap snow fell down from special blowers in the vents onto the food court, and the space in front of Montgomery Ward suddenly contained a special gift-wrapping destination.

And suddenly the mall muzak had a festive flair to it.

It was honestly kind of sickening.

He wasn't a scrooge or anything, it was just overwhelming and appeared all at once. And after how overwhelming Black Friday had been, how was anyone supposed to cope with the bright lights, large crowds, and repetitive music? He intentionally started turning the shop radio to a higher volume to drown out the bells jingling and carols mingling for the next few shifts after the decorations appeared.

"It's Holidazzle," you told him as he leaned against the entryway to your store--"the conversion Eddie, for God's sake!"--and watched you hang a special banner in the window, featuring the Gift of Piercing and cartoon bears ice skating around a tree.

"It's overkill," he argued.

"It's Mall Life." You climbed down from your ladder and surveyed your work with a critical eye. "You get used to the big everything that is Christmas and just deal with it, and then, come January, it all dies. We're decorating today, and next week we start wearing reindeer antlers on the sales floor. It just is what it is. Gotta get the customers into the festive spirit so they buy more before it all tapers out.

"Surprised Kyle isn't already wearing like...a Santa hat and a cheesy sweater with ornaments hanging off it or something."

And Eddie wasn't sure if you were somehow clairvoyant or just knew his boss well enough, but that's exactly what Kyle wore to his next shift and, indeed, every shift for the remainder of December.

Santa hats in every color--and he'd bought hats for everyone else in the store--and if there wasn't a Santa hat, there was tinsel in his hair. A piece of glittery garland strung around his neck and a mug full of cocoa constantly present in his hand, even when he was on the sales floor. And, somehow, a different cheesy holiday sweater on every single shift he had.

Where did he even get them?

"Listen," he clapped a hand on Eddie's shoulder and shoved a candy cane in his hand. "I know you're Mr. Non-Conformity, but in this instance, you just gotta go with the flow. No one wants to give their money to the Grinch. But Jolly Old Saint Kyle? He's who they're trusting for their Christmas Gifts. You catch me?"

---

So Eddie tried.

He did. He tried.

For all of 3 days.

He wore the hat, he played the game, he did his spiel about gift certificates and BOGO, and he didn't even get a treat at the end of his shifts because you worked the opposite schedule from him. With school and all it was hard...

He just wanted to kiss you. Was that too much to ask for? It wouldn't be the most romantic place but he figured that he could set out some mistletoe by the baler and trick you into a festive smooch when you took the cardboard out. He could do that now, except he couldn't.

...but Wednesday night you'd both be closing. You'd swapped shifts with Mindy two weeks in a row so you could go to his show last week and she could go to her kids' Christmas Recital at the elementary school this week.

He definitely planned to make his move and get his reward. And give you a little reward of your own, seeing how hard you'd been working too. He wondered if this might be the chance to officially ask you to be his girl. Everyone had already made the assumption the two of you had been dating for months...why not put a name to it? And then he could take you out on a real date.

What could possibly go wrong?

Famous last words.

With a few minutes until his fifteen, anticipation building...Mike and Dustin ran into Tape World, looking out of breath and nervous.

Eddie was finishing up a special order for a customer when he saw them out of the corner of his eye. Little assholes, lurking by the door. Mitch had tried to walk up to them and give them the spiel but they waved him off.

"We're here for Eddie."

Great. This better not be about one of them missing Hellfire on Friday.

"What do you want?" he huffed, trying to be a little patient with them since it was the holidays after all. He picked on them enough at school. "It’s busy tonight."

"Well," Dustin shifted. "We were coming to see the new Ewoks movie--" Eddie snorted and grinned at them fondly. "--and we were just killing some time, when we passed by Mom's store."

Eddie couldn't help the bark of laughter he let out with that one. He told the guys to cut it out, this...continuation of calling you Mom since Halloween.

"You guys gotta stop calling her that," he scoffed. "Steve Harrington's your Mom. Get that straight."

"Well then Mom is upstairs right now flirting with not Mom," Mike sassed, hands on his hips.

Now that gave Eddie pause. Harrington? Upstairs with you?

Flirting?

“Kissing.”

Kissing?!

"What?" Eddie's voice broke a little as he reacted. He chuckled to try and alleviate some of his own nerves. "Isn't Harrington dating someone? Pretty sure I've seen him running around with that cashier from KB Toys."

"Well it was Wicks'n'Sticks."

"But we think they broke up!" Mike piped up. "Because Steve quit Scoops last week."

"Which means we need to pay full price for movie tickets again," Dustin nodded.

"But Nancy said that Robin told her…that he got a job at Santa's Workshop," Mike thumbed over his shoulder. "And we just saw Santa upstairs with Mom and she was wiping strawberry lipgloss out of his beard."

The first thought in Eddie’s head was that you didn’t wear strawberry lipgloss.

The next was that you didn’t wear strawberry lipgloss when you kissed him. What if you wore it for Steve?

No, that was ridiculous.

But unless Santa’s Workshop was operating as a functioning kissing booth and Harrington was looking for a quick and easy fix for a bunch of housewives smooching him after their kids asked for a new bike or Hot Wheels racetrack or Tina the Talking Tabby doll…there was no explanation.

Which, alright, Eddie wouldn’t normally consider himself a jealous person. An envious person. Yeah, he might have seen a little green at the edges of his vision when the kids fawned over Steve Harrington time and again, but ever since he was brought down a few pegs—humbled—he didn’t seem like the same old douchebag from Hawkins High that he used to be.

Eddie might even say Steve was kind of alright.

But you were his girlfriend…or something…

And the jealousy and possessiveness he often mocked others for over the years, as he watched meathead jocks tighten their arms around their girlfriends shoulders as he simply walked past, suddenly overcame him.

“Mitch I’m taking my fifteen!” He called towards the back of the store and strutted out of Tape World, all while Mike and Dustin called after him, fully intending to get to the bottom of this obvious misunderstanding.

---

He planned to ask you about Harrington the moment you opened the door to the loading dock, hauling the dolly of cardboard boxes behind you.

A simple "hey sweetheart, how was your day, anyone named Kris Kringle come to bother you?" and he would have had his answer and all of his doubt would have been alleviated once and for all.

Except that as soon as you appeared--with your disheveled hair and makeup, your slumped shoulders, and your groan of weariness--your eyes got brighter and you melted at the sight of him. So happy to see him, so relieved.

Then he melted.

"God, what a night," you groaned and let the dock door slam behind you. You abandoned your cardboard and walked right into his arms where he was standing by the baler; your arms wrapped around his waist and your face nuzzled into his flannel, just the way he constantly craved. "Some lady wanted an individual gift receipt for every single item she bought. Then Chrissy almost messed up this kid's piercing. Thank God I stopped her as soon as I saw."

"Oh yeah?"

"And then I swear I'm like...I just have one of those faces where everyone comes and complains to me as they're shopping. I have to hear about everyone's life story or their relationship issues, especially this one guy..."

Eddie's ears practically perked up at that.

"This one guy?" he urged you to continue, on the edge of his proverbial seat.

"I dunno," you sighed tiredly. "Not the first time he's come to me for advice. He's a nice guy and he means well, but it just seems I'm always the one. And I'm happy to help just...not during Q4, you know? He needs to figure out how to talk to his ex on his own. And not just...come in looking for extra glossy strawberry lip gloss thinking he's gonna kiss his way back into their good graces."

Extra glossy strawberry lip gloss.

Eddie wondered if he was pushing his luck if he were to ask if this nice guy was dressed in a Santa suit.

Still his heart soared nonetheless. He should have known that it was nothing to worry about, that those little shits just put two and two together to make five, and that mom wasn't actually kissing Santa Claus.

It was just a misunderstanding.

"How was your night?" you backed away from him slightly to look into his eyes. "I feel like I haven't seen you in days."

It was like a weight on his chest had been lifted, as he stared into your sparkling eyes.

"Same old, same old," he chuckled away the doubt. "Probably worse because no one knows what they want to give as gifts for Christmas and they're not listening to me."

"How dare they not take the advice of the great God of Music!" you feigned outrage.

"Gonna give me an inflated ego, sweetheart."

"You mean you don't already have one?" you teased.

Whatever fleeting bits of doubt remained disappeared as his fingers found your sides and he tickled you as punishment for the jab. Even more so as you grabbed his face and kissed him to get him to stop.

---

You'd spent the remainder of your break on Wednesday night softly kissing on the loading dock. You held hands as he walked you back to your store. Then once the mall was closed, you continued the kissing against the side of his van in the employee lot as the rest of the cars disappeared one by one.

With one last kiss goodbye, you agreed to Christmas movies and cocoa at his place on Sunday.

But as he sauntered into the mall on Sunday morning, twirling his lanyard on his finger as he headed to Tape World, Eddie swore that the universe was mocking him--

Or it was just that trademark Munson Bad Luck.

--because with a quick glance up towards your store, he saw you, holding the gate up with one arm, talking and laughing with someone conspicuously dressed in a Santa suit.

Well, he couldn't really see the holly jolly bastard that was up there making you smile, but just a quick glimpse of red velvet and white fur and all of his doubt was back.

The two of you still hadn't put a label on your relationship yet. He'd wondered the other night as he drove home if it was a little juvenile to want to call you his girlfriend. Was it too high school? What did a real life, grown up boyfriend do? He only had TV shows to go by and he figured you'd laugh if he tried to give you his '84 class ring that was stashed in his sock drawer. In fact, he was sure of it.

But how was he supposed to get past the visceral need to be your boyfriend when you were up there being wooed into potentially becoming the new Mrs. Claus yourself?

By Santa Harrington no less.

The doubt was back with a vengeance.

Kyle--decked in red onesie pajamas, butt flap and all--clocked his woes as soon as he walked into the store.

"Don't tell me she broke up with you," he guessed as he counted up the registers for the day. "I know it's not the end of the world, but you guys barely got started. What the hell did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Eddie answered honestly as he restocked the front display.

"Hmmm, actually come to think of it, that might be exactly the point."

"I don't think we were ever together, if I'm being honest."

"Dumbass," Kyle chuckled under his breath. Eddie, exasperated and just needing someone to commiserate with, explained the whole thing to his boss, who simply ate it up like a gossiping housewife and then laughed louder. "No seriously, you're a dumbass. This is the Mall at Christmas, dude. You're gonna start going cross eyed if you're looking around every corner for a suspicious Santa Claus flirting with your girl.

"Why don't you save yourself some heartache and just talk to her. You know, like you should have been doing this whole time? So, one time only because you're my buddy, I'm letting you take an extra break so you can go up there and talk to her."

And Eddie knew Kyle was right: it was all about communication.

Communication, or the lack thereof, was how the two of you had gotten this far, right? You'd known each other since May? June? And had only figured out that there was some mutual attraction in...what? September if Eddie was going to be honest with himself. Two weeks ago if he wasn't.

Lack of communication, caused by self doubt and fear, cost him...months...of getting to kiss you and hold your hand. And while he cherished the time spent being your friend, he was always gonna wish he had all that time being more.

So no, he shouldn't let it draw out much longer.

---

Unfortunately, he really was a dumbass.

So instead of taking advantage of it being so early in the day that there were practically no customers in the mall to go upstairs and clear things up with you and maybe ask you out on a real date...

Eddie booked it across the mall to Santa's Workshop.

There he stood, wasting his extra break in line with the handful of proactive parents coming in early to get their family pictures with the Big Man himself.

"What's on your wish list this year?" A little boy in a tiny navy suit tugged on the leg of his jeans and asked him.

"Uh..." He was at a loss when it came to kids and his hands wrung around his lanyard. But he couldn't just leave the little guy hanging. "A new amp...and maybe a Skeletor action figure."

The boy's eyes got wide and blabbered on about his desired Castle Greyskull while his mom ran a comb through his hair.

"Eddie?"

Eddie froze and his attention shifted from the kid, up and up green velvet clad legs then torso, to a familiar cherubic face and tousled curls covered by a pointy hat.

"Gareth?" he chuckled, staring incredulously at his friend dressed as one of Santa's Helpers. "...what is this? I didn't know you..." his eyes slid down to the little boy, then back to his friend. "...were an elf."

"I was trying to keep it under the radar," he shrugged and gestured down to his costume. "Especially since they have me dressed like this. Uh....anyway, why are you in line for Santa?"

"Uhh..." Eddie scratched the back of his neck then folded his arms across his chest. "Gotta get my wishlist in before all the good gifts are taken."

Gareth narrowed his eyes in suspicion and Eddie hoped that he would just chalk it up as another one of the million things he'd seen Eddie do over the years of their friendship.

"Can I keep the picture?" Gareth finally asked mischievously. "Or was Wayne planning on sending out a special card this year?"

"Nah man," Eddie nodded, grateful not to have to answer any more...invasive questions. "It's all yours."

"Nice." Gareth held his fist out for Eddie to bump and then let the family ahead of Eddie in to see Santa.

Which meant he was next.

Now, Eddie wasn't big on confrontation, so unless he was actively thwarting bullies and deterring them from picking on his friends, he wasn't the type to pick a fight. He also wasn't the type to have a calm and rational discussion and get to the bottom of a problem either.

So this was new territory for him.

What would he say?

What could he say?

"Now listen here Harrington," he muttered. "You...she...I..."

He ran a hand over his face and shook his head.

"I heard you're having some relationship issues," he tried again. "But you can't keep sniffing around my girl. My girl? Ugh...but what if she isn't."

There were a few flashes of a camera and by that time, Gareth was back to lead him to his execution.

"Alright, young man," he snickered. "Are you ready to meet Santa?"

"Shut up," Eddie shoved him and stalked along the carpet into the little photo area.

He was too preoccupied with the task at hand, too consumed with thoughts of you laughing with Steve Harrington and exactly what he was gonna say, that he didn't notice that it wasn't Steve under the beard and hat until he plopped himself directly on Santa's lap.

Santa groaned as Eddie settled himself and threw an arm over his shoulders.

"Aren't you a little too old for this Munson?" Santa deadpanned. "Or is this one of your little Hellfire pranks."

Eddie froze at the familiar voice, as years of hearing that grumbling gritty tone at Benny's and the police station and around town flashed through his memory.

"Hop?" he whispered in horror.

"Who were you expecting?" Hopper grunted.

"Why are you Santa?"

"...don't tell me you thought Santa Claus was real, kid?"

"No, I just--" Eddie stammered, looking for the right words. "I...Why?"

"I'm doing this to surprise Jane," he explained in exasperation. "Buddy of mine runs Santa's workshop and Joyce said she'd bring the kids to the mall today, maybe get a picture. So I pulled some strings. I don't know what to get her for Christmas; she's keeping her wish list under wraps."

It all started making sense for Eddie. Jane was friends with Dustin and the others so he'd seen her around Hawkins High, even though she wasn't interested in DnD. She was a good kid, if a little shy. Of course Hop was doing this for his adopted daughter, wanting to give her a perfect Christmas.

"But you...were up at Claire's earlier?" Eddie narrowed his eyes, the reason for him being there still eluding explanation.

"Because that's Jane's favorite store. I swear I'm single handedly keeping them in business with the number of earrings and scrunchies I buy every week. The manager promised she'd keep an eye out if Jane and Joyce popped in today, let me know everything Janie was looking at if this ended up being a bust."

Hopper shot Eddie a pointed glare and Eddie, correctly, looked ashamed of himself.

"Alright, less talking," the elf at the camera rolled their eyes and waved for Hop and Eddie to scoot closer. "More smiling. Say jingle!"

There was a flash and a polaroid was shoved into Eddie's hand as Hopper shooed him away.

---

"What is this?" you pulled away from Eddie's soft, warm lips as your hands felt something foreign in his back pocket.

The Year Without Santa Claus wasn't the most romantic Christmas movie, but Eddie was feeling a certain type of resentment when he had chosen the movies at Family Video, and it was mostly going ignored in favor of cuddling and kissing and sweet words.

Until your hands worked their way downward to pull Eddie's weight further into you, and you found--

"Did you go take a picture with Santa?" you giggled as you inspected the Polaroid. Eddie groaned and rested his head on your shoulder. "Can I keep this?"

"Believe it or not," he sighed, "Gareth already has dibs."

"May I ask why?"

"Because he likes to ruin my life. Pretty sure he's gonna take it to Fox Photos and get it made into t-shirts."

"No, why did you go take a picture with Santa silly," you shoved him. "It's really sweet."

He turned to look up into your eyes, to get the courage to just...tell you how silly he was being...to ask you out for fuck's sake...but the way you looked at him, the softness of your gaze, the way you reached out and pushed his bangs out of his eyes...he didn't want to ruin it all.

"I promised I was getting into the holiday spirit didn't I?" he shrugged pathetically. "Couldn't let the opportunity pass without getting photo evidence."

You stared fondly at the picture for another moment and then pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"It's perfect."

---

After Eddie had chickened out, you planned your get-togethers for the rest of December.

Or rather, the lack of them.

With finals coming up and the semester coming, and then mall hours getting later and later the closer to Christmas it got, the opportunities to hang out became sparse.

The best the two of you could unfortunately--or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it--come up with was Christmas Eve.

You'd fight off those final last-minute holiday shoppers, and come 6pm when the mall closed, you'd both be off to Benny's for the special pot roast dinner that he put up for anyone who didn't have family to go to, or didn't want to go see the family they had.

With Rick out making the rounds, and Wayne scheduled for that sweet time-and-a-half holiday double most years, Eddie usually ended up at Benny's anyway.

This year, with you, it would be perfect.

He just had to get through the next few weeks without a hiccup.

The universe, once again, decided to test him.

Mock him.

It was almost comedic at this point.

Santa was everywhere.

Of course, he would be, it was Christmastime but...everywhere in relation to you.

Thankfully, it wasn't Harrington he needed to worry about.

However, that meant it wasn't just Santa he needed to worry about.

It was all of the mall Santas.

Hop had shown his face in the red suit and beard once or twice more and scared the life out of him. Especially when Eddie walked smack into him on the way to drop an Orange Julius for you on the night you closed.

The church's community choir had spent one Saturday afternoon caroling by the Sears, all dressed as Santa Claus. As the two of you made your rounds window-shopping and chatting on your break, one of the Santas grabbed you and spun you around in a circle during a jazzy rendition of The 12 Days of Christmas where you, apparently, were the true love bestowing the many gifts.

How Eddie let a bunch of Santas serenade you before he got a chance to, he would never know. Nor would he let himself live it down.

And then one awful day, he found you sitting at your usual table in the food court with a charismatic older man in a Santa suit--sans hat or beard. The man sat in Eddie's usual seat and leaned quite close, making you look entirely uncomfortable; he couldn't help puff up his chest to ward off the intruder by the time he reached the table.

"This is Henry," you introduced as politely as you could. "He's gonna be the manager at the new Spencer's store when it opens in January."

"Figured I would do the neighborly thing and just say hi," he chuckled and looked down at his attire. "Oh? This? Figured that this would be a great way to do something nice for the community in the mean time."

"That's great," Eddie sniffed judgmentally, getting a weird feeling about this Henry. "Nice to meet you. You're in my spot though."

"Eddie!" Your eyes went wide and you bit your lip to stifle your laughter.

"Hey, nope, totally get it," Henry held his hands up and stood from the seat. "Those lunch breaks are short, especially when you want to spend them with friends and not a stranger like me. Nice to meet you guys. See you around."

Eddie dropped into his seat and you waited until Henry was well out of earshot to scold him.

"That was not nice."

"I'm not nice," Eddie grumbled. "He was looking at you weird, like he wanted to steal your soul or something. Did you not get creepy stalker murderer from him?"

"No, I totally did," you nodded. "He was like...dead behind the eyes. I know, that's awful to say. Anyway, are you feeling soft pretzels and cheese because I--"

"Are you a Santa magnet or something?" Eddie interrupted you and you looked like a deer in the headlights.

"What?" you giggled. "What do you mean?"

"I dunno," he shrugged. "Seems like they're just always around."

"It's Christmas, Eddie," you frowned in confusion. "Even I have a little Santa dress that I'm gonna wear to work. Everyone's just in the spirit."

"Yeah well..."

"I thought you were trying to get in the spirit too," you reminded him and then reached over and plucked at the fair isle sweater Kyle had gotten the whole TapeWorld team so they could match for a group picture. "Exhibit A, Mr. Grinch."

"I am trying," he whined. "It's just hard to be extra jolly when someone's always sniffing around your girl."

"Am I your girl?" you asked. You were obviously teasing him, but still...Eddie froze. "You haven't asked me if I want to be yet."

Everything inside of him was on red alert at that moment.

Evasive maneuvers? No, that was a bad idea. All power to the forward shields, which were holding but weakened. He didn't have enough firepower for this.

"No..." he replied awkwardly. "I haven't."

The way your expression dropped broke him, and he knew he had fucked up.

---

"I'm disowning you," Kyle shook his head in disappointment by the time Eddie got back from lunch. "In fact. We all are."

"Jesus Christ," Eddie groaned.

"Mitch! Paulie! Eddie's disowned."

"You can't fire him, he's closing tonight," Paulie argued.

"Not fired," Kyle pointed across the store with authority. "Disowned. And such a shame; Edward Tapeworldington, first of his name...you shall never be king."

Eddie stewed in the laughter of his coworkers.

"Why don't you ever listen to me?" Kyle threw an arm around his shoulder. "You could have asked her out right then and there. Been like 'hey you wanna be my girlfriend?' And it would have been like...the happiest day of your life. Hell, happiest day of my life. Cuz then I wouldn't have to hear you bitch about it all the time."

"Didn't know I complained that much," Eddie muttered self-consciously.

"All the time," one of the other guys chuckled.

"It's not complaining," Kyle corrected. "It's just that...we want you to be happy. As cliche as this sounds, we're like a family right? Hey, psst, all of you? Savor it, you're only gonna hear me say it once.

"If one of us is miserable, we're all miserable," he continued. "And you've been kind of a miserable piece of shit for a while, Ed. I'm sure your buddies would tell you the same thing. Lovesick puppy act's only gonna get you so much sympathy until you're the one getting in your own way."

Eddie felt his stomach turn because getting in his own way really did hit the nail on the head.

He thought about it for an eternity--really only 30 seconds--went about asking himself what had held him up for all this time. Fear of rejection obviously but even he started to think that some of the things that had gotten him so caught up were just...excuses.

Even now that he knew you liked him just the way he liked you, they were just excuses.

"So why can't I just...say something?" he finally asked.

Kyle clapped his hand down on Eddie's shoulder twice and then turned so he could head out for his own break.

"Only you can answer that question kid."

---

"Hey do you wanna go out sometime? Ugh."

So he practiced.

"So remember how we're supposed to go to Benny's for Christmas Eve? No."

For days he practiced.

"You know how the first time we went out for pizza I mentioned it wasn't a date? Well this one is. No god, you're an idiot."

Through the rest of the semester, during band practice, he even almost flubbed the lyrics at the gig at the Hideout on the Tuesday before Christmas. There were only so many days left until your dinner together at Benny's and he really wanted it to be your first official date.

But if Eddie was gonna fix this, if he was gonna ask you out, he needed to get it right.

"Hey sweetheart." He muttered as he counted down Paulie's register at the start of his closing shift. "I know I really flubbed it last time we talked but I really like you and I want to know if you'd be my girlfriend.

"We've already kissed enough for it," he added at the end and then winced.

"How about you just lose that last bit," Paulie offered beside him and signed a few receipts. "And then it's perfect."

"Yeah?" Eddie asked hopefully. "Alright. Cool. Great."

He would do it after work tonight.

"Edddiiiiieeee!!!" a screeching voice called from inside the mall and Eddie and Paulie both watched as a Santa with flailing arms ran into TapeWorld. "Eddie man, I really need a favor. I need to use your bathroom."

"What the f--Gareth?" Eddie looked around the store to make sure he wasn't just hallucinating. Gareth was already shedding the hat and the fake beard and unbuckling the wide belt from around his waist. "What the hell are you doing here? Why are you Santa? I thought you were an elf?"

"There's no time to explain," Gareth panted. "But there's a line through the food court to use the bathroom and I couldn't wait, so you either need to let me into your back room or I'm gonna exorcise a demon right here on your sales floor man. Please."

"Ugh," Eddie wrinkled his nose and pointed towards the stockroom. "Yeah, sure whatever. Gross."

"I owe you one," Gareth tossed the fluffy jacket of his costume over the counter at Eddie and then ran into the stockroom. Hopefully just in time.

"So glad I'm cleaning the bathrooms tomorrow night," Paulie scrunched his nose in disgust. "Alright, you and Mitch need anything before I go?"

Eddie was about to say no, was about to send Paulie on his way.

But then he looked down at the coat and got an idea.

An awful idea.

Eddie Munson got a wonderful, awful idea.

"Actually, now that you mention it," Eddie grinned and shrugged the coat on, then the belt, and as he glanced up at Paulie, his coworker groaned, clearly able to read Eddie's mind.

"I thought we agreed no more gimmicks," Paulie exclaimed. "You're just gonna go up and talk to her."

"Yeah," Eddie nodded. "I, Santa Claus, am gonna go up and talk to her. I'm not even gonna take my full break, just five minutes, and then you can leave."

"This isn't gonna work man."

"None of my plans ever do," Eddie shrugged and pulled Paulie into a big hug. "But if it does, I owe you my whole life."

And off he went, across the mall, and up the escalator. He adjusted the coat and the hat and then remembered that he forgot the beard on the counter.

No matter, of course; he really didn't want to get fake beard in his mouth when he planted one on you.

There was practically a line out the door by the time he got to your store. He was able to see you through the window, on the register checking one customer out after another.

You were in the zone, but you didn't look stressed. You smiled a smile that didn't quite reach your eyes, but every so often Mindy would crack a joke beside you and it did.

"This actually might be the worst idea," he muttered to himself.

But it was too late.

It was now or never.

You were gonna kill him.

Some of the younger kids in the store started muttering in excitement when they spotted him, only for their parents to say "that's not the real Santa" and "Santa doesn't wear ripped jeans" but you were oblivious until he was standing right beside you at the counter.

"Excuse me," he took a breath and lowered his voice like he would during Hellfire. "I heard there was something special on your wish list this year, young lady."

"Sorry sir," you answered without a thought. "I'll be with you in a second."

"You can't even take a second to help jolly old Saint Nicholas?"

You turned your head, obviously about to tell him off as you schooled your features into something plastic and robotic and customer friendly, until you realized it was him. Then something visibly short-circuited in your brain and he smiled brightly.

"I'd like to apologize to all the boys and girls shopping tonight," he announced to the customers theatrically. "But I have very important Christmas business with our dear Store Manager here. It'll only take a minute."

He was surprised when a few of them started laughing and clapping.

"Alright Santa," you finally composed yourself to answer, arms crossing over your chest in annoyance. "What official Christmas business can I help you with?"

"Well, I was reading over the wishlist that you sent up to the North Pole," he explained. "I don't have it with me, you see. Had to leave it down in the workshop so the rest of the elves could work on the scrunchies and the lipgloss you wanted."

"Uh huh."

"And the new windshield wipers that you refuse to let Santa replace."

You rolled your eyes and waved your hand to get him to go on.

"But there was one thing on the list that...maybe it's these tired old eyes--"

"Old?" you giggled and reached out to tug on his curls. "Your hair isn't even white Santa."

A bunch of nearby kids boo'd.

"Clock's ticking," you whispered. "Get on with it, or I'm gonna have to kick you out Ed."

"--maybe these tired old eyes weren't able to read. See I thought it just said friend. But my trusty elves Kyle and Paulie and Mitch assure me it says boyfriend."

Mindy cooed an awww from beside you and Eddie felt his confidence grow.

"So, Miss Store Manager," Eddie held his hand out to you. "Which one is it? Because I happen to have some high quality...boyfriend material that I can use to make your wish come true. Is that what you'd truly like this Christmas?"

Mindy immediately slammed a hand onto your shoulder and squealed, and although your lips were clamped shut and nose was scrunched, Eddie was sure that you were holding back a smile.

It was the longest 30 seconds of his life.

"Yes, actually," you finally responded. "That's exactly what I want for Christmas Santa."

Eddie's heart surely grew 3 sizes in that very moment as a bunch of customers clapped. And he was eagerly about to jump forward and plant a kiss right on your lips when your hand slammed against his chest to hold him back.

You laughed and your eyes sparkled with promise as you pointed to the door, a silent understanding that you'd continue this conversation later. But for now?

"Get out of my store!"

---

Eddie found you leaning against the side of his van when he clocked out. Your car was parked beside his, running idle, as you waited. The radio softly played the Nutcracker Suite and you hummed along to it.

"Alright," he began when he got close enough. "I know that what I did was a big no-no, but I think everyone was in good spirits about it."

"You're lucky they were," you glared at him in--what he hoped was-- fake annoyance. "I really would hate it if my DM got a call complaining about that. Then I'd have to break up with you before we were actually even together."

"I wouldn't blame you," he winced and then looked down at his feet. "So...do you wanna go out sometime?"

"Like a date?"

"Yeah," he glanced up at you and then back down at his feet. He shuffled them back and forth. "Dinner at Benny's on the 24th? How does that sound."

"Ugh, I dunno," you sing-songed and took a few steps to close the distance between you. You grabbed the lapels of his jacket and shook him a few times.

"Wh-what are you doing?" he questioned as you lifted his hair and turned his head back and forth.

"I'm looking to see if this was the quality boyfriend material that Santa just promised me a few hours ago."

"Hey now," he grabbed your hands in his. "I most certainly am. We've just...been friends for so long. I didn't know if..."

"I do," you answered before he could finish.

"But what if I..."

"You aren't."

"I was gonna say 'what if I fart under the blankets while we're cuddling.'" He deadpanned. "See, this is why it's important not to make assumptions."

"Alright, Fartmeister," you challenged him. "If you want to Dutch Oven your girlfriend, I guess I can't fight you. But don't be shocked when I do the same thing to you eventually."

"That's all I want from a girlfriend," he said. "A strong sense of retaliation and justice."

"Alright then."

"Alright." He shook your hand like you were making some kind of deal. "Christmas Eve at Benny's for our first date."

"Sounds perfect," you agreed.

"Good."

"Good."

You launched yourself in his arms and pressed your lips to his and he swore, probably for the first time in his life, he believed in the spirit of Christmas.

---

Next Chapter: Standard Operating Procedures 1.06

[rocknrollbabe14]

You Make Everyday Feel Like It's Christmas (Joe X Reader)

You Make Everyday Feel Like It’s Christmas

Summary: It’s your second Christmas with Joe. Christmas has a new meaning for you this year. But you’ve always loved this time of year. But this time, you want to bring a little holiday cheer to your fiancé. Joe doesn’t “hate” Christmas but he’s not quite feeling up to it this year. Can you manage to get him in the Christmas spirit? Or will he be a scrooge?

Prompts: Shopping, “I cannot believe you’re making me go shopping on Christmas Eve.”// “Don’t be a Scrooge.”// “I’m freezing, come warm me up.”// baking

Rating: 18+ (for the fact at the end, it alludes to premarital sex) 

Also, special thanks to @josephs-quinns for making my header and making my visions come to life. Love you ❤️❤️❤️

You were never one to put off Christmas shopping. Matter of fact, you thought people were crazy for waiting until the very last day to finish their Christmas shopping. The thought alone made your stomach twist with anxiety, making it feel like it was bubbling up into your throat. How could people be so calm when they were working against the clock to make last minute Christmas magic happen? You had never understood it—until now.

“I can’t believe you’re making me go shopping on Christmas Eve.”, Joe groaned as he slid on his peacoat, fixing his scarf just perfect around his neckline. 

The weather in London was absolutely frigid in comparison to what you were used to in the United States. Moving to London to be with your fiancé was something that you never imagined would be on your bingo card. But, here you were. You had been together for almost two years now and you knew that being engaged in under two years sounded a little bizarre, but Joe had claimed he knew from the beginning that you were the one for him.

You knew how it sounded. It sounded very cliché looking back, but you loved him and you were happy with him. This was only the second Christmas you both were spending with each other. Tomorrow’s plans were clear. You were spending half Christmas Day with his mom and his stepdad and the other with his dad and his stepmom. Joe never really had talked a lot about his parents divorce and how his childhood was. 

Fortunately, you couldn’t relate. Your mom and dad had been happily married for thirty years. The plan was to fly in and see them the week after Christmas with Joe in tow. At first, you weren’t sure how your parents would take you moving to another country to be with your fiancé. However they both were supportive of your relationship.

They had always been supportive of you and your decisions throughout life, making comments that they had raised a smart daughter, you had your head on your shoulders, etc. All the ones most parents said about their responsible children. It made your feel good, made you feel like you had completed your due diligence of being their child. 

You rolled your eyes playfully at Joe before laughing lightly. “Come on, babe. Don’t be a Scrooge.”

Joe sighed lightly. “I’m not being a Scrooge. Just wondering why we waited until the absolute last minute to buy my mum and dad’s presents along our mate’s.”, he tried to feign a fake smile and chuckle. 

Something with his energy seemed off, but you couldn’t quite place your finger on it. 

“They were your friends first. And you can’t show up to your parent’s houses empty handed.”

Joe held your peacoat, helping you slip into it. One thing about him was certain. He was a gentleman. 

“It’s going to be so busy.”, he groaned lightly. 

He wasn’t doing such a great job at hiding his disdain for the holiday activity you both were about to take part in. 

“Why don’t we just try and make the best of it? You know I hate waiting until last minute to do anything especially Christmas shopping. My anxiety is through the roof.”, you admitted as he grabbed the door knob, opening the door to your all’s house that you shared.

Immediately, you both felt the nip of the winter wind causing you both to grimace. You pulled your peacoat tighter, beginning to button it quick and in a hurry. It was something you had learned to do in the past year of living here.

“I’m going to try.”, he looked at you. “I started the car so it’d be warm for us.”

“Thanks.”, you smiled softly as he let you out the door first, carefully locking it behind you both.

He rushed down the steps in order to make it to the car before you did. A smile came across your face as you remembered why. Him being the gentleman his parents had raised him to be, there was no way you were opening your own car door. He never gave the opportunity for that to happen and he wouldn’t either. It was something that was important to him, just one of the many he ways he showed you he cared. 

You looked up at him, feeling the cold air nip at your nose. He finally gave you a soft smile as he opened the car door, making sure you got in safely, and closed the door once he mad sure your appendages had made it safely into the car. You watched him through the defrosted windshield coming over to the other side, wasting no time in getting before shutting the door. He rubbed his hands together easily, shivering lightly. 

Joe wasn’t usually affected by the cold. He was used to it, being raised in London and all. Winters were harsher there. He had told you that before you moved to be with him. He was brutally honest about everything before allowing you to move to be with him. But you respected that. 

“Cold?”, you asked lightly.

“I’m freezing.”, he admitted with a soft chuckle as he leaned over, giving you the perfect position to kiss him in. “Warm me up.”

He flashed his puppy dog brown eyes at you playfully, the ones he used when he was being a little cheeky. You’d never admit it with words, but he already knew that he could win you over with that look. 

“When we get home.”, you smirked back at him before leaning down and giving him a kiss. 

“Fine.”, he feigned being hurt. 

You smirked over at him as you linked your phone to his car. One way or another, you were determined to get him in the Christmas spirit no matter what it took. Scrolling through your phone, you decided on a song finally to kick off the car ride. The beginning notes of “Like It’s Christmas” by the Jonas Brothers came on, causing you to begin giggling to yourself. Joe shot you a look immediately, a coy smirk working its way across his lips.

“Really?”, he asked through a small laugh.

“Come on, babe. It’s one of my favorites.”

“I’m aware, love. Just didn’t know we had to endure the boy bands along with the other chaos surrounding today.”

Your eyes panned down to your lap, trying to ignore the pang in your chest. He didn’t mean it like that, did he? Shaking your head lightly, you continued to try and convince yourself that he didn’t mean it like that. The happy, bright Christmas music continued to play in the background but now you weren’t really in the mood to sing now. Joe’s grip tightened on the steering wheel as you all continued to the mall. You were beginning to wonder if this was the best idea. But you were determined to put him in the Christmas spirit. That was your ultimate goal. 

“I’m kidding.”, he choked out.

But you didn’t really feel like he was joking.

After a little convincing, he finally got you singing even if he wasn’t doing much of it himself. 

As Joe searched for parking, you could begin to tell his patience was beginning to wear thin. He swore a little, a few obscenities coming out of his mouth at how crowded and congested it was. Once he noticed you had heard him or was watching him, he abruptly cut them short. He was trying his best for you whether you knew it or not. He was struggling to be in the spirit this year but how could he tell you? The answer was simple. He wouldn’t. 

It had taken a week or two after Thanksgiving for him to finally get his ass in gear and help you put the tree up. He remembered you saying back home, you usually put the tree up after Thanksgiving. Like literally the night of or the next day. He could remember laughing, thinking you were a little obsessed with Christmas but he found it cute, if he was being honest. It’s part of what made you—well, you. He didn’t understand what was really going on with him this year. 

But he didn’t have much time to think about that as he shifted the car, placing it in park and eyes panning over to you. 

“Ready, love?”, he asked with a sigh. 

“Yes.”

"Here goes nothing.”, he smirked easily. 

Westfield was always busy. But it was especially busy at Christmas time. Today, was no exception. Maybe it was even worse. Joe was going to go with worse. 

“So where are we going first?”, he asked, grabbing your hand lightly. 

“Uh—what about we hit up Burberry? Weren’t you wanting to get your dad a new scarf?”

Joe shrugged. “I guess.”

“You guess?”, you repeated back. “Joe, I need you to help me here. You know your family and friends better than I know them. I get we’ve been together almost two years but you know more of what they like.”

“Sure, we can get dad a new Burberry scarf Sounds good, love.”

Entering the mall, Joe could feel his blood pressure rising. It was so crowded—especially to be Christmas Eve. Hadn’t people finished already? They should have, you all included. Joe began to tug at his scarf lightly, feeling as though it was choking him. He needed to breathe. 

“Can you at least give me some input? Gifts are special. I love gift giving. It’s my love language.”

Joe also loved to give—taking his friends out to eat or cooking a meal, buying you things here and there just to show you he loved you and cared so you were confused as to why he was being indifferent now. 

“I know, love.”

You sighed lightly as you felt like you had to practically drag him into Burberry. The employee greeted you both, asking if you were looking for anything specific. You explained you’d like to find a scarf for your future father in law.  She led you to the patterned scarves, leaving you both to make the decision on which would fit Joe’s dad the best. 

“What about this one?”, you turned back to show him the archived beige cashmere scarf. 

“Yeah, looks good.”

Joe barely flicked his eyes up from his cell phone. 

“Joe.”

Joe’s eyes pulled up from his cell phone once again.. “I said it looks good, love. I’m sure he’ll love it.”

You huffed lightly in frustration before closing your eyes and trying to remind yourself what today was about. Yes, Joe was being totally intolerable right now but you were still very much in the Christmas spirit and you were not about to let him ruin that for you. You would convert him before it was all said and done. 

Picking up the scarf, your voice came out sharper than you had intended. “Okay, let’s checkout.”

What was so important on his phone that it couldn’t wait? This behavior was very unusual for him. He never let anything distract him around you—not his phone, not anything. He followed you to the counter, wasting no time in handing you his wallet to pay for everything. Sighing, you forked over his debit card and watched as the cashier swiped it and handed it back to you, allowing you to place it back in his wallet. She asked if this was a gift (it was a different associate than earlier) to which you answered yes. 

Proceeding, she asked if you all wanted it gift wrapped. Once again, you found yourself being the only one to answer her question. It was as if she could sense some tension between you both. 

“Finishing up last minute Christmas shopping?”, she tried to make casual conversation.

“Yeah, we’re usually never this late.”, you fake laughed. 

She sensed it. “It happens to the best of us.”

“It does.”, you agreed, almost gritting your teeth and hoping Joe could hear the annoyance laced in your voice. 

“Here you are. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for shopping with us today.”

A fake smile spread across your lips. “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you as well.”

Once again, Joe was not interacting with you, this only causing for your blood to boil further.  However, he finally put his cell phone away for a few minutes. You were glad—because you were afraid you would have said something you may have regretted. You didn’t want to fight with him today. Sure, every couple has their disagreements but which ones argue near Christmas time? You didn’t want you all to be the one. After taking a small break to run to the restroom and talk some sense into yourself and attempt to give him the benefit of the doubt, you felt a little more positive. 

“So what all do we need?”

“What do you mean, love?”

“What all are you planning on getting everyone? All we have so far is a Burberry sweater for your dad.”

“Uh, let’s see.”, Joe began. “I guess we can get Wes some top shelf booze.”

“Okay. That leaves Ollo and your mom.”

“I’m not sure what to get Ollo.”, Joe admitted. 

“Doesn’t he like photography?”

Every answer that you were getting from Joe was like pulling teeth. It didn’t—and shouldn’t be this hard to pick up gifts for your loved ones. You spent a lot of time throughout the year thinking of the perfect gifts to give everyone in your life. You didn’t understand what was holding him up. Finally, you decided to help him. 

“What about a new sleek leather camera bag?”

“Yeah, that’s good.”

Good. That was the best adjective he could come up with to describe what you considered to be a very thoughtful gift for his friend. The rest of the day felt almost like agony. You all had spent more time than you had intended at the mall, totaling five hours in what could have only taken a couple of hours. It was five-thirty, almost six. The mall was closing at six. Joe carried most of the bags. It seemed like it was totally against his will which only dampened your mood further. 

You all had gotten Ollo his leather camera bag, Wes his top shelf booze, and his mom a Gucci scarf and gloves. 

“Ready to go, love? They’re closing in thirty minutes. And I don’t know about you but I’m so ready to get out of here and head home.”

“Yeah.”, came your short response. 

You were at the end of your fuse. Walking towards the exit, Joe attempted to grab your hand with his free one. Loosely, you allowed him to intertwine his with yours, hoping he would get the hint. But it didn’t seem that he had yet. The winter wind nipped at your nose as you all walked outside to the car. Joe let go of your hand to unlock the car door. And before he could even attempt to come to your side and open the door for you, you beat him to the punch.

Frustrated and hurt didn’t even begin to describe your emotions right now. Joe looked confused as you slammed the door shut lightly, grabbing your seatbelt and fastening it. You watched in the mirror as he shook it off and loaded all the bags inside the car before getting in himself and starting the car. Your phone automatically linked back up, Christmas songs beginning to play in a loop. You were no longer in the mood to be joyous and in the spirit. 

“Love?”

“Hm?”

“Are you okay? You seem—off.”

Joe tried to start the conversation lightly, easing into it. 

“I’m fine.”, you insisted, crossing your arms.

Your body language definitely indicated otherwise. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”, you snapped, almost instantly regretting it but it was enough for him to stop prodding. 

The rest of the car ride home was in silence other than the radio playing upbeat Christmas songs. Ones you would usually sing along to, but not today. Not now. Ten minutes away from home, you cut the radio off  and let the rest of the ride be in complete silence. Joe knew he had fucked up and in a big way. The sun had set by the time you all pulled into your driveway. The outside light illuminated the driveway as he placed the car in park, shutting it off. 

You wasted no time in unbuckling and grabbing your fair share of presents to carry inside.

“Do you have the house keys?”, you asked dryly. 

“Yeah, here.”, Joe handed them to you and he could have sworn you almost ripped them out of his hands. 

He watched as you marched up to the door, unlocking it, and disappeared inside. It took him a few minutes to catch up, but when he entered the house he noticed you had set everything down on the couch and had disappeared into the bedroom. The door was closed. His brown eyes panned to the Christmas tree, the one you always plugged in as soon as you all arrived home from whatever errands you had to run. It sat in darkness. His heart sank knowing something was wrong with you. 

He sat the armful of presents on the couch beside your pile before he hurriedly kicked his shoes off, racing to your all’s shared bedroom. He turned the doorknob but it didn’t open. 

“Baby?”

No answer. You had never given him the silent treatment before. Sighing, he tried the door again but to no avail. It was obvious you didn’t want to be bothered. What had he done that was so wrong? He needed to figure it out and fast. Walking back over to the couch, he sat done on the section that was clear of the pile of presents. What could he do to fix whatever he had broken? The house was silent. The silence only feeding into his dilemma. 

He didn’t have much time to wallow in his woes before his phone dinged. Wasting no time, he picked it up and looked at the name. Wes. 

-Hey. What time are we doing dinner Tuesday?

Joe typed back quickly. 

-We were thinking around six. Does that work?

A swoosh indicated his message had sent. 

It was just a few seconds before his phone dinged again. 

-Sounds good. Finish up your last minute Christmas shopping with Y/N?

He sighed before typing back.

-Yeah, we did. But I feel like she’s mad at me.

-How come?

Joe sighed, beginning to text with a recount of the day. He started from the very beginning and worked his way through your all’s entire day. Joe’s heart sank into his stomach, realizing where and how he had probably went wrong once he saw the entire day in a tangible, typed messaged. From the beginning, he hadn’t seemed very thrilled that you all were going last minute Christmas shopping. Then, he wasn’t exactly thrilled with your music choices. 

-I know Christmas is usually hard for you and it’s not exactly your favorite. Especially since your parents divorced. But it sounds like she was really trying to include you and make you happy this Christmas. It’s your first as an engaged couple.  She may feel like you could care less and she’s hurt by that. 

-How do I fix it?

Joe felt stupid even sending that question to Wes. But he needed an idea where to start. 

-Give in and get in the Christmas spirit. 

Wesley made it sound so easy. But before Wesley could even respond, Joe had an idea brewing in his head. He had been really shitty in the fiancé department today, especially when you tried to include him in the sing-alongs in the car, picking out his friends and family’s Christmas presents (which you helped put a lot of thought in, proving you cared about them just as much as he did), and just making the best of  the day together with someone you loved. 

Rising from the couch, he went over and plugged the tree in. It instantly lit up the small corner of the living room, making it feel more cozy and comfy. He admired it for a moment, the glare of the lights on the tree reflecting on the various pictures of you both hanging on the wall. In all the pictures, you both looked so happy and in love. Step one was complete. 

Joe’s phone dinged again, reminding him that he hadn’t viewed the message from Wes. But he didn’t think he needed to. He knew what he needed to do. Making his way into the kitchen, he flipped on the lights and pulled a few ingredients from the fridge before slipping your very merry apron on. You had a special one just for the holidays to make things a little more festive. He couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath. It made him smile. You did the cutest things. 

His mom always made the best gingerbread cookies at Christmas time. And he was about to attempt to recreate that recipe. They probably wouldn’t be as good as hers, but it was worth a try, right? He had made them with her most of the time, especially when he was a little boy. It was time to keep the tradition alive. What else could be better to set the mood than putting on a little Christmas music? 

He turned on the playlist you had made, specifically for the holidays. You had shared it with him on Spotify. The festive music began filling the house as he mixed the ingredients in a bowl, landing the flour everywhere but where it needed to go. The kitchen almost looked slightly hazy, causing him to laugh lightly. He had to admit this was kinda fun, making him feel a little warm and fuzzy inside. All he needed was you to make this feel complete.

Another idea popped into his brain, one he could maybe use to coerce you out of the bedroom. You loved hot chocolate. Swiss Miss was your favorite with the tiny little marshmallows but you always added some more to give it the perfect amount. Digging in the cabinets, he found a packet. He followed the instructions and heated up a cup of hot water before mixing the packet of hot chocolate mix into it. He managed to find your stash of mini marshmallows and poured a few into the cup, making it look like something out of Hallmark movie. 

He had paused his baking because he needed you to help him finish them. It didn’t feel right to continue on without you. Grabbing your cup of hot chocolate, he closed his eyes and attempted to talk himself up before reaching the bedroom door. He knocked gently. 

“Love. Can you open up?”

A few seconds went by and he wondered if you were going to let him in or continue to shut him out. His hope was fading, a sigh escaping him as he almost turned to go. But you opened the door, sniffling lightly. 

“Joe?”

“Yes, love?”, he spun around carefully, keeping the hot chocolate from spilling. 

“Did you make me—hot chocolate?”

“I did.”

“You added the marshmallows just like I like them.”

He laughed nervously. “Of course I did. I know how much you love them.”

You smiled lightly, your sniffles fading. He could tell you had been crying and that made him feel even worse. It was like a dagger through his heart. He hated seeing you sad and didn’t even want to think about you crying. 

“Look, I’m sorry I’ve been a jerk today. I wasn’t the best fiancé. And for that, I’m sorry. Christmas has just always been a difficult time for me.”, he looked down nervously at his feet before looking back up at you. 

Your face was sympathetic. “Joe.”

“And I realize you were just trying to make me feel better and include me in the holiday festivities. I’m very sorry I was such an ass today.”

“Joe.”

“I love you baby and I just—”

“Joe.”, you spoke louder, trying to gain his attention, finally succeeding even if you had to interrupt his sentence. “Are you making something gingerbread or are you burning one of my candles?”

“I’m attempting to bake using my mother’s recipe for gingerbread man cookies. It only seems fitting you help me—if you want to.” 

“Of course, I do.”, you came closer and leaned in, placing a kiss on his cheek. “And can I have my hot chocolate before it becomes cold chocolate?”, you teased.

“Yeah.”, he laughed nervously before handing it to you, you following behind him.

You noticed he had plugged the tree up, giving light to the living room. It was one of your favorite things at Christmas time. Seeing the tree light up the room in almost complete darkness. 

“You plugged the tree in?”, you asked, taking a sip of your hot chocolate.

It felt like a warm hug. 

“I did.”, he smiled back at you, the sparkle finally in his brown eyes. 

“And you’re playing my Christmas playlist.”

A smirk was creeping across your face. 

“I am.”, he smiled back at you. 

You couldn’t help but smile as you followed him into the kitchen, noticing all the ingredients and gingerbread cookie cutters on the counter hidden in a pile of flour. He was really trying and that meant more to you than anything.

“Christmas has just been hard for me since my parents divorced. I’m sorry—it’s not fair to you. I just remember the holidays being difficult because I had to split time between both sides of my family and between both parents. They love me and I’m thankful for that—I even feel selfish for feeling this way but it was hard when all my friends got to celebrate with their perfect families.”, Joe began rolling the dough out. 

“I’m sorry that it’s been difficult for you, babe. But we have each other now. We’re family—we can start our own traditions. We can see your parents but maybe set some traditions up just for us?”

Joe looked over at you. “I’d love that.”

“Yeah? Me too.”

“Maybe soon we can make these with our kids.”

You giggled. “I’d love that. So much.”

You both leaned in and shared a soft, tender kiss. As you both pulled away to admire each other, your favorite modern Christmas song came on. The one from earlier, the Jonas Brother’s “Like It’s Christmas”. Joe couldn’t help but begin to smirk as you both pulled away. 

The snow on the ground, love in the air

The sleigh bells are ringing

This is what it’s all about

The fire is warm, the angles are singing

Joe watched you intently, smiling from ear to ear as he watched you begin singing the lyrics. It was a matter before he joined in on the second part. 

And I don’t want to miss a single thing

Don’t wanna put end to all this cheer

But as long as you’re with me, it’s always the time of the year 

You both sang the chorus, looking deeply into each other’s eyes as you continued to work on cutting out gingerbread men. 

You make every day feel like it’s Christmas

Never wanna stop

Feeling’ like the first thing on your wishlist

Right up at the top

I can’t deny what I’m feeling inside

Nothin’ fake about the way you bring me to life

You make every day feel like it’s Christmas

Ever day that I’m with you

“You do know the lyrics.”, you teased him, taking another sip of your hot chocolate while raising your eyebrows. 

“Only because it’s true.”

“What’s true?”

“You make everyday feel like it’s Christmas. Like you’re the best present I’ve ever received and you make me the happiest man in the entire world and I can’t wait to marry you.”

“I love you.”, you sighed dreamily. 

“I love you too.”

“Wanna start on that new tradition?”

“And what’s that?”, Joe teased.

“Well, if you’re serious about making these cookies with our own babies in a few years.”

“I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”

“By the way, the holiday apron—very sexy.”, you smirked, sitting your hot chocolate down.

[cartoonlandinfo]

¸„.-•~¹°”ˆ˜¨ . ¨˜ˆ”°¹~•-.„¸

Once upon a time…

There were a kingdom. They had a cruel queen and of course, a stupid king.

Our great queen loved to kill people for fun. But one day, she had no people for her hobby.

but her stupid husband had an assistant. He could found some portals, to another universe’s.

Soon their dead game got all over the cartoon’s world. They gave powerful magic to villains, so they could win easier.

But they made a little mistake.

They killed SCROOGE MCDUCK’s father.

Scrooge left his own original personality behind. He wanted to build a country based on peace and happiness.

He found his people, and they found new ground for living in peace and without war.

.o0×X×0o. . .o0×X×0o.

+Continue?

Welcome to DreamLand!

Call me The Narrator! I’m going to tell you whatever you want to know!

[stardustedinfinity]

patrochilles, madosaya, and mekt x sparrow for the sleepy ask meme?

Patrochilles

Who is a night owl: I think Patroclus definitely has the “gets all his work done at 11 o’clock at night” vibes.

Who is a morning person: Achilles wakes up and gets ready for the day like a Disney princess.

Are they cuddlers: YES absolutely yes. They are never not cuddling.

Who is the big spoon and who is the little spoon: Achilles is normally the little spoon, but there are moments when he really wants to hold Patroclus.

What is their favourite sleeping position: They are tangled together. One of them is on top of the other.

Who steals all the blankets: Achilles. 10,000%

What they wear to bed: In a modern AU, Patroclus wears the Scrooge Look (™) and Achilles wears either those fancy robes or boxers. 

Who likes seeing the other wearing their t-shirt: Patroclus. He almost set the kitchen on fire because he was too busy looking at Achilles in his slightly-too-big shirt instead of the definitely burning pancakes.

Who falls asleep mid-conversation: Achilles. “I’m not tired” he says 10 seconds before passing out.

Who wakes up in the middle of the night with nightmares: Achilles gets a lot of nightmares of Patroclus dying. I’m sure it’s fine.

Who accidentally punched the other in their sleep: Achilles may be the obvious choice, but I actually think it’s Patroclus. I think it would be funny.

Who can’t keep their hands to themself: Both of them. They have to be holding each other constantly.

 Madosaya

Who is a night owl: Sayaka.

Who is a morning person: Madoka!

Are they cuddlers: Y E S.

Who is the big spoon and who is the little spoon: I feel like Sayaka would be the big spoon.

What is their favourite sleeping position: The big/little spoon position but they’re facing each other.

Who steals all the blankets: Sayaka - she gets colder at night than Madoka

What they wear to bed: What they wear in the official art! Though I think Sayaka also likes flannel.

Who likes seeing the other wearing their t-shirt: Sayaka steals Madoka’s sweaters sometimes and Madoka thinks it’s adorable.

Who falls asleep mid-conversation: Madoka

Who wakes up in the middle of the night with nightmares: I’d say both of them. They’ve been through a lot, and I think nightmares just come with the magical girl package at this point.

Who accidentally punched the other in their sleep: Sayaka once.

Who can’t keep their hands to themself: Also Sayaka! She loves hugging and being hugged by Madoka.

 Mekt x Sparrow

Who is a night owl: Sparrow is basically nocturnal at this point.

Who is a morning person: Mekt! He gets up an hour before Sparrow and cooks breakfast.

Are they cuddlers: Neither of them will admit it but they are.

Who is the big spoon and who is the little spoon: They switch depending on the day they’ve had.

What is their favourite sleeping position: Mekt is sprawled out on his back, and Sparrow is huddled up next to him.

Who steals all the blankets: Sparrow. They become a ball of blankets. Consumed by the blankets.

What they wear to bed: Mekt wears a pajama shirt and shorts. Sparrow wears pants and either a shirt or a sweatshirt.

Who likes seeing the other wearing their t-shirt: Sparrow has stolen Mekt’s shirts and they will not stop stealing Mekt’s shirt. Mekt secretly leaves some out for them. 

Who falls asleep mid-conversation: Sparrow. They don’t realize how tired they are and crash out when they hit the pillow.

Who wakes up in the middle of the night with nightmares: They both get bad nightmares, but Mekt tends to wake up more from them.

Who accidentally punched the other in their sleep: Sparrow did at the start of their relationship. It was instinctual, but they don’t do it as much later on.

Who can’t keep their hands to themself: Mekt. He always ends up with an arm around Sparrow.

[rimarkka]

DT17 x Encanto AU

I already see some Ducktales x Encanto AUs and they were really good

But I want to present my version of this AU

I want to bring dt17 characters into the Encanto’s world. It’s still a family concept with magical gifts in a magical house.

Could Duckworth move into the house and revive it?

Speaking of assigning roles

♪ Wait, who’s a sister and who’s a cousin? There’s so many people How do you keep them all straight? ♪

Scrooge as Abuela 

Have you noticed that the Miracle Candle and the Number One Dime play a similar role in the plot?

♪ We swear to always Help those around us And earn the miracle That somehow found us The town keeps growing The world keeps turning But work and dedication will keep the miracle burning And each new generation must keep the miracle burning ♪

I think he’s more concerned with the Number One Dime the Miracle Candle by helping the townspeople through deeds and adventures than by helping people itself

Donald as Pepa

Pepa is emotional and with her mood changes nature. Donald is no less emotional

♪ My tía Pepa My tío Donald

Her mood affects the weather When she’s unhappy Well, the temperature gets weird ♪

Daisy as Félix

She has no gift, she became part of the family by marrying Donald

♪ She fell in love with Family Madrigal McDuck And now she’s part of the Family Madrigal McDuck ♪

June and May as Dolores and Antonio

The biological daughters of Daisy and Donald

♪ Cousin Dolores can hear a pin drop <…> Antonio gets his gift today ♪

Huey as Luisa

They both take greater responsibility for the well-being of their family

♪ I’m the strong one, I’m not nervous I’m as tough as the crust of the Earth is I move mountains, I move churches And I glow ’cause I know what my worth is ♪

But for both of them, this responsibility is a cause for concern. Their gift weighs heavily on them. Luisa has it as a nervous tick and a song

♪ Give it to your sister, your sister’s older Give her all the heavy things we can’t shoulder Who am I if I can’t run with the ball? If I fold to ♪

And Huey has the Duke of Making a Mess

Dewey as Isabela

They both focus more on image than on gift.

♪ My older sisters��brothers <…> one graceful Perfect in every way ♪

He acts like he’s good at everything, but he’s really worried that his gift isn’t enough

♪ I’ve been stuck being perfect my whole life ♪

Louie as Camilo

Louis in the series is shown as a skilled manipulator, actually (not in a bad way). He knows what to say when to smile and so on

♪ Camilo shapeshifts ♪

I believe it’s his gift

Della as Bruno

♪ We don’t talk about Bruno Della! ♪

I want to see this song in the context of «don’t talk about her so as not to piss off Scrooge», and not «don’t talk about her so as not to cause trouble from her»

♪ They say she saw the future, one day she disappeared ♪

It’s all canon. Della is gone. They don’t talk about her. The end.

Just kidding, I’ll tell you about her fate later

Beakley as Julieta or Agustín

Beakley is not bound to this family by blood, she entered it like Agustín, but not by marriage, but as an approximation.

I couldn’t choose one character, as I found it interesting that even without the gift Beakley would have the skills of cooking and «magic» to even be able to prepare healing food

Webby as Mirabel

Mirabel has no gift, and Webby is not tied to the McDuck family in blood, so she has no gift either. In fact, nobody even allowed such a thought, so they even didn’t try. I’d like to end the story with Webby’s becoming the new the Number One Dime the Miracle Candle’s keeper. 

As far as their family ties are concerned, everything here remains like the cartoon, and does not change under the state of affairs in Encanto. Beakley is still Webby’s grandmother. Scrooge has just become the father of Della and Donald. Donald and Daisy are the parents of May and June. Dell is the mother of triplets.

It’s not that the relationship between Webby and Scrooge is that important. I love this storyline twist in dt17 and it can be in this au too, but I can’t say that it is absolutely necessary, it seems to be superfluous

The main character will be Webby. On the day of receiving gifts, May and June, born on the same day, were afraid to go alone and refused to do it without Webby.

Ugh, going all the way up to two doors knowing that she would never be a part of the family and get any gift... it must hurt

It was Webby who noticed how the house began to collapse, because there was discord in the family. With their quarrels, the gifts weaken. So she intended to help everyone.

Their main conflict was Della, or rather her disappearance. So the Webby began to reveal this secret.

She found a prophecy by which Della flew away and suffered a plane crash. Unlike Bruno, whose poor predictions were not believed, Della herself did not believe her predictions. She believed she had the right to change her fate with her gift.

I don’t really want to take a flight into space because a rocket crash is too much

Why did Scrooge cover it up and get angry at every mention of his daughter? Because he kept Della’s faith in the ability to change her destiny. But after the crash, he changed his mind. For this reason, he ignored Webby’s words about the destruction of the house because he had seen the prophecy about it, and he was convinced that fate cannot be changed.

Scrooge broke it. But Webby collected it and saw herself in the end against the background of the destruction of the house.

Webby loved her family so much, so she decided to go out on emotion to prevent it. But during the escape, Della caught her. She was quite alive, ha

Della had indeed crashed the plane, but she had survived with the loss of her leg. She lived inside the walls of the house, unwilling to return.

She gave an answer to Webby’s questions. It was not only Scrooge who looked at the prediction incomplete. Della dropped the memory first, splintered from it a small piece that did not allow one to look beyond the image of Webby. There was Della too. And just like Webby, she loves her family too, but she thought it’s better without her

Kinda similar, right?

It’s only then Webby realized how stupid and wrong they both are when they run away

They rerun Della’s gift and watch the entire memory to learn how to prevent it.

Della looked at the girl condescendingly, seeing herself in her, but allowed her to. Because if the outcome is predetermined, her efforts will not make it worse.

Webby really saw how she helped her family, in particular, the triplets who first quarrelled when they began to slowly discover the secret of Della.

At this time, Gosalyn as Mariano came to court with Dewey.

I don’t mind them as a couple, but I just want them to feel like friends in that au

Later, Webby extorted the confession that Dewey did not want to marry, he did not know if he loves Gosalyn in that way

So… Webby was trying to make up with everyone and she’s even doing it well until Scrooge told her that he didn’t see the good in her actions

How do those words of Abuela resemble those of Scrooge "you are not part of the family!"

And the house collapsed…

Webby escaped. Scrooge talked to her heart-in-heart. They found an understanding. Della jumped on the donkey, said it’s her fault, she had predicted it. Tearful reunion of father and daughter. Repair of the house. Webby is a new keeper.

The end :з

SORRY IS IT TOO MUCH, HUH?

[candyvenombites]

Mickey and Friends X Madoka Magica

Soul Gems

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

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted any of my work and since I finally have a break from school, I decided to do a little something.

It’s no secret for those that have seen my page that I’m a Disney and Madoka Magica fan, so I combined the two.

I drew eight soul gems for Mickey and Friends and I might draw more in the future but for now I’ll show the eight I have.

Before I do show you I will make it clear that yes I did use a templates for something of the drawings. All these templates were free to use templates online. With that out of the way, here ya go!

This soul gem belongs to the mouse man himself! If this gets turned into an actual comic or fanfic then Mickey is the Madoka of the story. He has a lot of love for his friends and wants to help anyway he can, thus giving him the heart shape.

This soul gem belongs to my favorite duck (besides Scrooge). Donald’s soul gem can be looked at in two ways. One is that it’s a rain drop and the other is that it’s a tear drop. Either way, it related to him being a sailor and his water manipulation abilities.

This soul gem belongs to everyone’s favorite clumsy dog dad! Goofy was a hard character to make. Mainly because I didn’t know what theme to give his outfit and gem. I eventually settled on a cross for his soul gem shape, mainly because crosses are used as a symbol of protection.

This dazzling soul gem belongs to our sassy, but kind Daisy. Daisys soul gem does look a lot like Homuras, but she is not the Homura of the story funnily enough. I decided on giving her the Diamond shape, because after all, diamonds are a girls best friend.

This one belongs to our gentle and sweet Minnie. Minnie was another hard character to make, since a lot of her story was made from head-cannons. This design is one I’m really proud of and it makes me happy whenever I see it.

This beautiful orange soul gem belongs to our hyper musical rooster. Despite Panchito not having much in terms of canon backstory, he was one of the more easy characters to make. The reason he was easy is because I knew right away what his abilities would be and what he’d wish for. His personality was also very fun to play with.

It’s time for my favorite green parrot! Josè is probably one of my favorite Disney characters ever, so I had a lot of fun creating his character. I knew exactly what his powers were gonna be, I just had to find a wish and make a backstory that corresponded to it. I hope I was able to do this magical bird justice!

And now we finally got to the Homura of the story! Mister Oswald the Lucky Rabbit! Deciding who was gonna be the Homura of the story was difficult. I went from character to character to decided who would be best, before I settled on Mickeys brother. I’m still working on Oswald’s story, since his relationship with Mickey is way different from Madoka and Homura. However, it’ll be cool once I’m done.

Now this is a rough drawing of what all their soul gems look like when they transform into their magical forms. I plan on updating them soon to look more like accessories like in the anime once I have more time. Here is what I plan to have them look like (These are subject to change)

Mickey: A broach

Donald: An arm band

Goofy: A necklace

Daisy: A gem on a hair accessory

Minnie: A garter

Panchito: A belt buckle

Josè: A bow tie

Oswald: An earring

If you’ve read down this far I want to say thank you. It’s nice to find people who actually take interest in what you’re creating. I hope you all have a wonderful day

💕🍬Stay Sweet🍬💕

[thedivinelights]

The Sky is Full of Light, Swirling in Spirals Bold and Bright (Modern AU Jacob/Ebenezer)

A separate Modern AU Scrooge x Marley thing set in 2011 I have had in the works for a while and I felt I had to share the hurt/comfort with you all. Prepare for lots of comfort and lots of hurt.

TW: Child Abandonment

(UNDER THE CUT)

Say what you will about the rain or the fog or the pollution, but there was no denying that Canary Wharf was beautiful on a snowy night.

It was customary for both of them, Jacob and Ebenezer supposed, to walk the path of the Thames on their Sunday strolls. No matter the busyness of life that accompanied them wherever they went or whenever the frosty December air nipped at their cheeks, this had been a constant. A constant in a continuously changing world that tended to leave old souls like them far behind. There was nothing more inherently magical than watching the beauty of the moonlight, bold and bright, dance across the reflection of the water, shifting and changing like the tides of the ocean. Towering buildings looming over like sentinels, secret and solitary, kept their mysteries hidden behind illuminated windows. Manufactured, ersatz stars in a city that often blocked out the real ones.

Jacob believed the financial district a modern wonder of the world. Ebenezer believed it a testament to the ingenuity of the human mind. But both knew it to be a home to the sprawling empire they built together with their blood, sweat and tears. A way to prove to the world that they would not be shackled by the chains of a flawed society. It was imperfect and rough and dented and bandaged and healed and beautiful. It was so… so beautiful. No one would take it away, even if they had to fight tooth and nail to protect it.

The distant sounds of traffic faded away as their feet gently crunched through the fresh snowfall, walking in companionable silence as the pavement was blanketed in the purest white.

“Hey Ben… you wanna grab dinner while we’re out?” Jacob asked, looking up at his husband, his voice barely above a whisper against the tranquil backdrop of the winter night. His cane — now more an accessory than the aid it had been in recent months — rested under his arm.

“Mm… sure.” Ebenezer’s voice was muffled against the thick, colourful scarf wound tightly around his neck, lips hidden beneath the fabric. “It’s half-past nine, though. Not many options.”

“What about Big Easy?”

Ebenezer let out an uncharacteristic snort. “Christ’s sake Jacob, we’ve been there a hundred times at least! Sooner or later, I’ll wake up and find you’ve become part of the menu.”

It didn’t go unnoticed how their gloved hands locked together, Jacob pulling him a little closer, shoulders brushing as he leaned against Ebenezer as he beamed with a grin to rival the Cheshire Cat’s infamous quirk.

“You mean you wouldn’t love me as a lobster?” He asked, his voice whiny and hurt despite the clear smile.

Ebenezer rolled his eyes playfully at Jacob’s antics, elbowing him slightly. “Only if you came with a side of butter. Maybe then I’d consider it.”

Jacob laughed. “You drive a hard bargain, love, but I’ll take it if it means I get to see you smile like that.”

Damn it, over three decades of knowing this lovable bastard of a man and still the Silver-Tongued Viper could be one hell of a charmer when he wanted to be. Ebenezer had to concede to his wit when he felt his heart flutter with stupidly sincere warmth and affection, and he could feel his lips tug upwards into a smile despite his ‘best’ efforts to maintain that impish frown upon his face.

It was disgustingly cute. It was maddeningly sweet. It was incredibly endearing. It was them.

And wouldn’t you know it, but for the first time in a long time, they liked being them.

Conversation flowed easily between the both of them, touching on subjects that happened to strike their fancy. Expanding into Asian markets when the year turned,  whether Home Alone or Elf would be their chosen movie for the season, even the upcoming charity gala they planned to host for those unable to celebrate the holidays with loved ones. Those pedestrians who passed them by looked as if they had gone mad from how uncanny it was. How could they not? Look at the way they handled themselves as if there wasn’t a care in the world! Look at the merriment that had been remarkably absent from the bustling city’s harried inhabitants! Look at how such wondrous, wonderful wanderers of the world held the sparkle of London’s lights captive in their eyes! It was the purest form of adoration, the kind of contentment only developed from years of trials and hardships.

As the clock drew closer to ten, they found themselves treading upon a quieter, less-frequented stretch of path, the snow intensifying and blanketing the city deeper around them in an angel’s caress. Their discussions grew more hushed, then, the intimacy of the night only deepening their connection, as if all the worries and cruelty of the past had been washed away like the river they walked alongside.

SIlence soon overtook their words… and it was in that comfortable silence that they heard it.

Jacob noticed the way Ebenezer seemed to freeze for a moment, his powerful stride slowing to a hesitant shuffle. It was a whimper so weak, a plaintive cry so faint that one would’ve mistaken it for the icy breeze had it not been for the notes of distress and the rustles of fern that accompanied it.

“Is something wrong, Ben?”

He didn’t answer, instead moving forward with cautious steps. The rustling and whimpering continued, and Ebenezer lowered himself down to the ground, snow seeping into his trousers as he inspected a cluster of bushes near the path. Jacob followed close behind, leaning against his cane for support.

In the dim moonlight, Ebenezer’s gloved fingers gently brushed away the dense thicket, snow crunching beneath his touch. The cries were more prominent now, high-pitched and shrill. The kind of sounds that pierced the heart and demanded attention, needs and comfort.

The pained cries of an infant. An infant no more than a few months old, bundled up in a thin pink blanket ripped to shreds by the thorns of the surrounding bush. Her shut eyes were red and blotchy from crying, her tiny fists clenched and raised helplessly in the air. She appeared to sense a saviour, and her lips quivered as she let out another desperate wail.

“Mother-love in infancy and childhood is just as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health.”

“Holy shit- Ben, get the kid out of there!”

Ebenezer’s heart raced as he carefully reached into the thorny bush, cradling the baby girl gently into his arms, careful not to disturb her more than necessary. She was so small, so fragile, so thin, so cold… and already she had been exposed to the harshness of the world that took years to corrupt them.

It wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t fair.

“Jacob, call 999. Now.” Ebenezer instructed, holding the babe close to his chest. His voice seemed monotonous and unnatural, as cold as the air around him and as distant as the hum of the city. Flat. Still. 

But the ocean was never still. The ocean was never calm. The wind howled and the waters rose with every minute that passed, ever furious and ever ruthless. Poseidon was angered by the cunning Odysseus’ transgressions against his child, and the lord of the seas raged against the wretched, lamentable mortals who thought themselves beyond divine punishment.

There was no justice. No salvation. No love for this life barely living. What cutting fangs would this monster have? What savage roar would follow it wherever it went? What weaknesses could be exploited from this dangerous beast? What weapons would be needed to slay it?

Jacob fumbled for his phone, throwing off one of his gloves as trembling fingers dialled for emergency services. Ebenezer heard naught of what was said, deafened by the piercing cries of the child in his arms, frantic in her fearful communication, overwrought in her outpour of mournful wails.

“They’re on their way, Ben.” The words spilling out of Jacob’s mouth was barely coherent in his speed, but it was enough to Ebenezer all the same.

“Hold her, Jake.” 

“Wh-”

“Just do it.”

Jacob nodded, taking the shivering infant into his arms, shielding her beneath his jacket. She whimpered under the sudden shift of movement from beneath her, but the warmth of his embrace seemed to garner some comfort. She settled into his hold, her tiny fingers grasping at one of his exposed digits, clinging onto it as if it was a lifeline.

Ebenezer swiftly unfurled the scarf wrapped around him, the tassels flinging about in the breeze from the rough force of his movements. But his touch was lighter as a feather as he cocooned the little girl, bundling her up from the snow that only seemed to fall faster with each passing moment.

“Shh… it’s okay, little one.” He cooed, fingers brushing over the delicate skin of her cheek as he adjusted the scarf around her tiny form. “You’re safe now.”

The baby's cries began to subside, her eyes blinking open to reveal a pair of the most innocent, wide-eyed amber orbs that Ebenezer had ever seen. It was like honey. It was like spiralling gold, shimmering against smokey hues of white and grey.

Jacob looked up to his husband, his lower lip quivering as he held her close. “Can it really be said that such a small and innocent thing is safe, Ben?”

But when his gaze was met with a burning determination- a whirlpool of resolve… he’d known the beast had awakened within. He knew that when Ebenezer Scrooge set his mind to something…

…it was almost surely a success.

“We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish.”

They stayed with her when the sirens began to close in. They stayed with her when the paramedics arrived to examine her. They stayed with her as the authorities questioned them for information. They stayed with her even as she was taken away to the hospital to receive proper care.

And she’d never know of her bloodline, not one bit of them or their cruelty. Not their names or their birthdays, their eye colour, blood type, hair. Not their favourite shoes or shows, their favourite foods or the stories and lullabies they might have sung in another life. All she would know is the kindness of two old, damaged, trying men who found her in the snow ‘neath the moonlight.

For all she knew, they would be her parents.

And that… that would be more than enough for her.

“...Good night.” Tagged: @rom-e-o @a-christmas-carol-from-hr @quill-pen @undeadchestnut @m0nsterwife

[tropes-and-tales]

No Idea What I’m Doing

December 1:  Ice Skating/Wintry - First Date (Marcus Pike x F!reader)

(From the winter prompts by the lovely @youvebeenlivingfictional​, found here)

CW:  Grumpy holiday Marcus; slight angst; tooth-rotting fluff; cursing.

Word Count:  1391

AN:  Requested by @bport76​

The holidays are supposed to be a time of family and togetherness, of cozy evenings with loved ones…and yet Marcus Pike feels so low, so depressed that he’s turned into something of a Scrooge around the office.  He scowls at the décor, scowls at the festive luncheons and happy hours and gifts passed between friendly coworkers.

He feels bad about it.  He hates that he can’t even fake it this year, but his ex-wife just gave birth to her second child, and Teresa just married Jane a month earlier, and Marcus is left to wonder when he’ll get his happily ever after.

And then he catches himself wallowing and feels even worse.

-----

It’s a coworker that sets up the date, and Marcus resists as much as he dares without being insulting.  It’s his coworker’s sister-in-law, and Marcus winces to imagine a future where he has to share holiday dinners with this guy…but his excuses are flimsy, and the coworker finally sells it as doing him a favor.

“Look, she’s a nice girl, but she’s shy and she’s coming off a long-term thing.  At the very least,  you’d be helping her get less shy, you know?  Get her sea-legs back under her so she can start dating again?” the man says.

Marcus sighs and agrees to it.  He’s only there to be a practice run, so there’s no pressure.  He can fake it for an hour or two, then get back to the serious business of wallowing in his own self-pity.

“Fine,” he tells his coworker.  “Give me her number and I’ll set something up.”

-----

It’s the Scrooge-Marcus that sets up the date at the National Gallery skating rink.  Romantic-Marcus would have found a perfect, intimate place to dine, then taken you to some perfect, intimate second spot—an art gallery or a pottery class or something unique and memory-making.

Scrooge-Marcus wants to put in the minimum effort (it’s only practice for you, and a favor to his coworker for him) and then go home alone to sulk.  Ice skating seems almost passive-aggressive as a first date:  he can’t skate at all, he doubts you can either, and it’s hardly sexy to dress for.  Plus it’ll be cold, noses will be red and runny…it’s almost cruel, in fact.  It’s something a middle schooler would plan, would get his mom to drive him to and from in a minivan.

Yet when he calls you to set it up, you seem excited at the prospect.  Marcus feels the tiniest bit of shame to be treating you so dismissively when you seem nice enough.

-----

The night arrives.

At the skating rink, the National Gallery is lit up, and there’s fairy lights strung around the rink.  Piped in holiday music makes the moment seem far more magical than he thought it might be.

You’re already there.  He can see you standing nervously by the skate rental, a pair of white skates already in hand.  You’re wearing a blue scarf the color of a robin’s egg, as you told him you would.

Dammit, he mutters to himself.  You’re cute.  Even shifting back and forth on your feet, even nervously pressing your lips together, he can see that you’re cute—

Then you turn in his direction, catch sight of him—and at that moment, it starts to snow.  As if it was on cue, for god’s sake.  The gentle fall of snow glittering in the lights of the ice skating rink, and you gifting him a shy, tentative smile—

Goddammit, he mutters again, knowing full well he isn’t getting out of this unscathed.

*****

David had warned you that Marcus Pike was not really looking for a girlfriend.  He gave you a rundown of the office gossip about the man, and you had groaned to hear how the entire date was sold to Marcus:  sad-sack sister-in-law, recently dumped, too inept to date without a few practice runs.

Unfortunately, there is some truth to it.

You aren’t that sad, you don’t think, but you were recently dumped.  And you are so out of practice that when you try the dating apps, you almost immediately delete them.  When did available men start the courtship dance by sending dick pics?  

And anyway, none of said dick pics were at all tempting, so why bother?

So you agreed to a date with Marcus Pike.  You needed the practice, and if nothing else, you’d get a night out from it.

Goddamned David never once said Marcus Pike was handsome.  When you pressed, your idiot brother-in-law shrugged and said, “eh, he has brown hair.  Brown eyes.  He’s okay.”

Not that looks matter that much, but when you turn and see your date for the evening, that slightly-mussed hair that curls against his collar, that slight stubble and those goddamned kissable lips…you honest-to-god go a little weak in the knees.

Fuck my life, you grumble as you turn away, as you take a steadying breath and wonder how in the hell you’re going to get through the next hour.

*****

Plan a date at the ice skating rink, Marcus had told himself.  It won’t be fun for her at all.

Bullshit.  

You bring your own skates.  You help him rent his own, and when he struggles to lace them, you kneel at his feet and do it for him, your face bent away from him so that he can only see the edge of your shy smile.

“You’ve done this before?” he asks, and he wants to kick himself for asking a stupid, obvious question, but you laugh and say you have.

“I took lessons growing up,” you reply.  You offer him a gloved hand, help him hobble out onto the slick surface.  He clings to your hand too tight, and he flails out his other hand until he’s grasping the waist-high wall.

There’s nothing sexy about skating-appropriate clothes, he had told himself too.

Double bullshit.

Once he’s sort of stable on his skates, he urges you to go on without him for a few laps, so you do.  You’re in black leggings, form-fitting to your curves, your thighs as you glide away from him.  You’re wearing a short jacket, also cut to your form, and the blue scarf and a matching blue headband, and you look lovely and cutely sexy as you warm up.

The shy tension on your face melts away as you skate.  Whatever muscle memory you have keeps you well served on the ice:  you glide like a natural, you do neat little swivels and turns, and once—when you’re warmed up—you even perform a jump, a tightly efficient single rotation in the air before you land on a blade.  You give yourself a pleased smile, then look over at him.  You startle to find him watching you—the only time you wobble on your skates and have to balance yourself.

When you return to him, there’s a sparkle to your eyes, and Marcus can’t help but smile at you.

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” he confesses as he stumbles forward another step.  “I’m from Texas.”

You swivel on your skates and face him:  you drifting backwards, him stumbling after you.  You hold out both of your hands:  an invitation.

“Want me to teach you a few things?” you ask, and it turns out that Scrooge-Marcus has disappeared and Romantic-Marcus has returned.  He doesn’t want it, but he can feel the nervous hammering of his heart in his ribcage, the fluttery feeling in his stomach.  The first step of a crush, of new love, maybe.  

You smile at him, peer into his eyes like you might be able to really see him.  Dave said you were in a long-term thing, recently dumped.  Maybe you can see his pain because you’ve felt it too, yet here you are—game for this date with him, smiling at him even if he wasn’t especially warm to you over the phone.  You’re smiling at him, so he thinks he can salvage it, and already he knows of a place to take you afterwards:  the perfect little coffee shop where you can wrap your hands around a mug of hot chocolate, where you can tell him whatever you’re willing to share about yourself.  

“Please,” he says, and he takes your hands and allows himself to be led forward.  “Please do.”

[toonqueen]

Duckvember Day 22: Loved Duck

I was gonna try to draw Gene and Faris looking cute on a motorcycle but I have failed. I���ll try later maybe. Instead I picked a song from each of my shipping playlists. SOME CHARS I don’t have a full shipping playlist for them but I have shipping songs on their character playlist if that makes sense lol.  TUMBLR will only let me post 10 links at a time so I will reblog this with more links and info. Next part coming in a second!

Duck Revenger  x Alpha (Nega Donald and Nega Uno)

So I have a headcanon for Negaverse Donald and Alpha would still kinda be heroes. But of course, being the Negaverse, they have more edgy drama. Also Uncle Scrooge is evil and they have to deal with that. 

Duke L’Orange x OC Gallery 

Gallery belongs to @fluxchix

This is actually from a playlist I made for a story that took place wayyy in the future where Gallery is resurrected by magic and Duke’s been alive for a good thousand years (also because of magic.) LOOK it’s a long story. There was space travel and mysteries it was great okay. 

AND THEN here’s a normal shipping song I always think of them with: 

Faustina (OC for Ducktales/Darkwing)

GOD her shipping playlist just has so many good songs in it to pick one is hard. It’s not having her shipped with anyone in particular just how she does relationships lolol. Lot of the songs make her sound worse than she really is I swear. >_>  Two for her

Also this song this has gore:

Non Gore version: 

Fethry x Poe (Ducktales 2017)

So I ship these two for my headcanons for 87/comic blend universe. Poe and Fethry in that universe don’t start being an item until Magica and Gladstone have been together for awhile. I don’t really have a playlist for that ship because there isn’t really any drama to it to have a playlist lololol. For 2017 I have Poe being an active villain so of course more dramaaa. This playlist has a lot of Raven based songs but the main one I picked to show is just a nice angst with a twist ha.

Gene x Djinn

Oh lawd I’ve been trying to fill their shipping play list for more happy songs because MOST of their story is happy. It’s just easy to find songs for when that ONE bad thing happens. (*cough* Merlock *cough.)

Grimstone (Nega Gladstone) x OC Sheldrake Netta

My headcanon for Nega Gladstone is up to stuff with @cataradical OC’s Sheldrake. But they are both bastards so their playlist is full of bastard love songs. 

[transgenderswagcompetitions]

Round One starts Monday, May 15!

Here are your match-ups (links under the cut):

Barney Guttman from Dead End: Paranormal Park vs. Adrien Agreste from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

Flora from Winx Club vs. Tecna from Winx Club

Peter Parker from Spectacular Spider-Man vs. Snapdragon from High Guardian Spice

Sprig Plantar from Amphibia vs. Marcy Wu from Amphibia

Danny Fenton from Danny Phantom vs. Link from The Legend of Zelda

Big Bad Wolf from Shrek 2 vs. Doris from Shrek 2

Scrooge McDuck from Ducktales vs. Big Macintosh from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Donatello from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. Leonardo from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

--

Perfuma from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power vs. Adora from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Bow from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power vs. Lloyd from Ninjago

Prince Adam from He-Man vs. Teela from He-Man

Nya from Ninjago vs. Jay from Ninjago

Fa Mulan from Mulan vs. Sonic from Sonic Boom

Hera Syndulla from Star Wars Rebels vs. Kanan Jarrus from Star Wars Rebels

Kurapika Kurta from Hunter X Hunter vs. Magenta from Blues Clues

Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist vs. Sailor Uranus from Sailor Moon

--

Raine Whispers from The Owl House vs. Matt Tholomule from The Owl House

Hunter from The Owl House vs. Luz Noceda from The Owl House

Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb vs. Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb

Kai from The Hollow vs. Cybersix from Cybersix

Dipper Pines from Gravity Falls vs. Grenda from Gravity Falls

Stanley Pines from Gravity Falls vs. Mabel Pines from Gravity Falls

Stanford Pines from Gravity Falls vs. Jenny Wakeman from My Life as a Teenage Robot

Gene Belcher from Bob's Burgers vs. Gwen from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

--

Lake from Infinity Train vs. Reggie from Twelve Forever

Penny Fitzgerald from The Amazing World of Gumball vs. Rigby from Regular Show

Bugs Bunny from Looney Tunes vs. Wirt from Over the Garden Wall

Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4 vs. Kyoko Sakura from Madoka Magica

Marco Diaz from Star vs the Forces of Evil vs. David from Craig of the Creek

Odd della Robbia from Code Lyoko vs. Terry from The Dragon Prince

Jessie and James from Pokémon vs. Sylveon from Pokémon

Snufkin from The Moomins vs. Haruhi Fujioka from Ouran Highschool Host Club

[zahri-melitor]

The Best of DC #22

This is another reprint edition of a bunch of Christmas Stories, I'll run through them:

A Swinging Christmas Carol - Teen Titans #13 (1996). I have already covered this. No Santa, just A Christmas Carol retelling.

Merry Christmas - Batman #247. Still no Santa. A family gets trapped in the snow and comes across a mysterious house with an old man astronomer inside. They encounter a criminal inside who wants to kill them all. Batman turns up and ends up punching out the criminal (after they all get herded back out into the snow). They're saved by a Bright Star In The Sky (according to the astronomer) as apparently a very convenient supernova goes off and blinds the criminal right as he's trying to shoot them.

Freddy Freeman's X-Mas - Captain Marvel, Jr #46. Only fake Santas. Freddy's moping about Christmas a bit as he wishes people wanted FREDDY not Captain Marvel, Jr for things. Then Mrs Fortheringham invites him down to the orphanage to celebrate with the kids. One sad kid points out they never get any presents, so Freddy goes on a quest to find some, runs into an old villain of his playing Santa, Lightfingers Louie, who agrees when Freddy asks him to come play Santa for the kids, and gets the X-Crooks Club to put in to get presents for all the kids. One of the X-Crooks doesn't want to give money (Hard John), and ends up beating up Louie and stealing the Santa suit and presents. However when he is taken to the orphanage by CMJ he suddenly realises how terrible it would be to deny these children the presents. It is very, VERY Shazam.

A Christmas Peril! - Batman #27. This is another A Christmas Carol retelling (surely they could have spaced these out better). This is far looser and involves an orphan rich young boy named Scranton who is called Young Scrooge for trying to extort people in business (he's cornered the Christmas Tree market using thugs for instance). His uncle turns up dressed as Santa to be his guardian, and Scranton thinks Santa is stupid. Batman and Robin turn up and take Scranton to see the damage his thugs caused (in the traditional 3 visits, and wants to spot fix the issues he sees). Scranton is apparently also getting robbed in turn by his butler. His uncle figures this out and is captured, then Scranton returns and also gets captured...but Batman and Robin save them, and we get the return of the decked out Christmas Batplane. Still no real Santa though.

The Sandman: The Seal Men's War on Santa Claus - Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2. FINALLY ANOTHER SANTA.

Titus Gotrox, a rich old man, mocks Jed Paulsen when he comes asking for contributions for the Christmas fund and promises a million dollars if Jed can prove Santa is real. Jed then summons the Sandman to help him find Santa.

I'm going to level with you - I do NOT understand this Sandman, but there's a bunch of travelling by magic and witch power.

Sandman and Jed get set on by Santa's Elves who think they are Seal Men, not the Sandman. They're told off by Mrs Claus. The Seal Men have apparently kidnapped Santa! (the Seal Men are in fact seals dressed in people clothes who walk on their back flippers)

Sandman and Jed get captured and end up with Santa. Sandman breaks them out:

Ah yes of course, the hypno-sonic whistle would be useful to widen chimneys, Santa, if you don't want to undergo the Superman Shrinking Exercise Plan.

However they are once again recaptured, to discover why the Seal Men are mad at Santa - they've been getting useless gifts! Sandman and Jed say this must have been a mix-up, some kids in the Sahara Desert 'must have been getting frozen fish' and the king of the Seal Men lets them go. (Why do the seals have a king? Don't ask that question).

Santa then sorts everything out and comes to visit Titus Gotrox and guilts Titus into handing over the 1 million dollar cheque.

Robin's (Very) White Christmas - Batman Family #4. Once again only many fake Santas. Dick's still dating Lori Elton in this one btw.

Millionaire "Father" Bruce Wayne, hey Lori?

Dick will admit he's cold, but he still won't wear pants as Robin.

Anyway in this story Dick's helping out with the Christmas fundraising drive at Hudson Uni in a blizzard, hoping to get on his flight home to Gotham before it's cancelled.

Except oh no! the airport is closed! And Dick doesn't seem that cut up about it as Lori invites him over for Christmas. Except...surprise Bruce, Alfred and Aunt Harriet flew in earlier to surprise Dick when they saw the weather forecast, so both families have Christmas together. (Dick really does not seem thrilled by this state of affairs)

The Man Who Murdered Santa Claus! - Justice League of America #110. Someone murders a department store Santa.

These panels about why Barry, Ray and Ralph can't turn up are hilariously funny to me, as apparently Barry's hanging out in the 30th century for Christmas, Ray Palmer is probably contributing to why he ends up divorced, and Ralph Dibney is just very in love with Sue and on holidays.

Also Hal Jordan slipped on some soap in the shower and knocked himself out, so we get John Stewart instead as Green Lantern. (No seriously. That happened).

Anyway an incredibly dull plot involving a villain called the Key ensues where he snares a member of the JLA in each of his traps, but the Phantom Stranger saves each of them. Then the Key still sets off the bomb of his plan, the JLA evacuate the city neighbourhood, and John Stewart contains the explosion with the Lantern ring. John Stewart also rebuilds all the tenement houses destroyed in the explosion "without roaches, rats, collapsing ceilings and such".

Next up: a whole lot more 80s comics titles I've never heard of.

[niku30]

Charles x Scrooge is giving me so much fluff omg.

Quick question: How secretive are there in their relationship? Considering the times, I'd assume only a few people know of it, but idk.

Oh my gosh YES! They truly are the definition of wholesomeness and comfort - also for each other! 😭

Regarding your question - I can definitely see them being quite secretive about their relationship. Not out of shame or fear, but out of mutual respect. Charles is aware of Scrooge’s insecurities and he wants to give him the space he needs in order to deal with his emotions.

I think Emma ( my bestie who owns Charles ) at one point said that she could see them always kind of be a couple that prefers to be - well, a couple - in the back of the room both literally and metaphorically, and I really love that! They do not mean to attract attention yet they want to be able to enjoy themselves among the others at family gatherings while also being able to be on their own at times, enjoying each other’s presence. I also think that their love for each other is rather obvious to the ones around them but it is sort of an unspoken thing they eventually notice and gladly accept.

( The magic of AUs - especially if they are based on vibrant movies with beautiful messages - is that you can just decide to make the people around them accept them for who they are even if it was - realistically speaking - particularly hard for queer people back in those days. )

[theimperiumchronicles]

Happy STS! Your characters are invited to a Halloween party; costumes required. Tell me what they're dressing up as and how the night goes. 🙃

Happy STS that tripped and fell over into Monday. ;)

I'm going to skip @theimperiumchronicles and go with some of the others cuz they need love <3

****

@devil-in-the-details-ay

Astaroth - the grim reaper

Yara - A butterfly (at Asti's insistence)

Their night would go lovely because it would not be spent in Hell. They would be on Earth. Where...you'll find out in the story later. ****

@the-andromeda-effect

Caliban - Scrooge (Adira picked it out, everyone else finds it HILARIOUS)

Adira - Aphrodite (Caliban picked it out)

Theron - Toth

Lars - Agent X from Men in Black

Marcin (2nd Bodyguard) - Agent K from Men in Black

The party will be, of course, at the mansion. Adira will have a blast as those around her relax some knowing that all is safe on the estate grounds. There is lots of laughter and fun, not one drop of worry. (this will be vastly different from the Halloween one shot for this storyline)

****

@magical-mistakes-vm

There is a theme here - the whole cast will be dressed up in 1920's attire. Think Magical Mistakes does Peaky Blinders. Of course Vollrath would be Tommy. Balor states that Mahala is NOT Grace (because not dead) or Lizzie (for reasons)...she's some nebulous 3rd female who Tommy doesn't fuck over. *snorts* Balor, being the older brother, is of course Arthur. Baldur grows out his beard to go as Alfie. Elmar does his best to pull a Luca. The party would be hosted by the Coven. No one is going to piss Vollrath or Balor off because...reasons. Mahala would get to meet many of the others from the Coven that she had not already met, which would go very smoothly. The night would be a great success with everyone having a fun time in the 1920's theme.

For funsies, Balor and Elmar both decide once more to try and "steal" Tommy's girl. Now...this goes as expected...but at least this time most of the time they're laughing at the Blinders jokes that go along with it. The only hitch is that afterwards Vollrath and Balor both get teased mercilessly regarding haircuts till they grow out. Definitely season 5...lawd... ****

@princess-of-thieves-id

Diyan/Noar - Capt. Jack Sparrow

Inara/Renisa - Elizabeth Swan

Arik - Will Turner

There will most likely be at some point a sword fight. Someone is going to get slapped, most likely Diyan/Noar. And, just like the movies, Elizabeth Swan will be leaving the party with Will Turner. *laughs*

****

Tapperhet

Meeri - Snow White

Einar - Prince Charming

Lorcan - Huntsman

Elio - King

Thieran - the apple

Hilarity. The night will be pure hilarity. Why did Thieran pick the apple? Because he wasn't damn well going to be the Queen, she was a right bitch. So, instead he wanders around looking like a cast member of an underwear commercial and making way too many jokes involving apples, and fruits, and...it's bad, okay. Just try not to think too hard. That being said, the others all agree he would have slayed in a gown!

****

@behindthesemasks

Melania - her mother. *dies* Who else would be fitting but to go as Marie LaVeau? Marie, coincidentally finds this hilarious and lends her period garments and does her hair and makeup.

Nic - Papa Legba

Alexander - Hamlet

Ambrose - Baron Samedi

Cade - Gede Nibo

Marie - Manman Brigitte

Gabe - Diable Tonnere

Klaus - Baron Criminel

Erik - Guede L'Orage

Dontanion and Francois don't need to dress up, they scare the shit out of people as is.

If you think ANYONE is stupid enough to disrupt a Meirs-LaVeau party on Halloween, of all nights, you would be wrong. Everything will go perfect, because if not...those Loa mentioned...well, they won't just be costumes....

tagging @raincoffeeandfandoms and @call-sign-shark cuz I think you'll find the one for Magical Mistakes a wee bit humorous even if you don't know the characters from that one. (put pics below so you can try to do an imagine)

Also, Sharkey, I can see Heaven partying it up with LaVeaus...

@blind-the-winds - look what our Magical Mistakes babies are doing!!

@saltysupercomputer - Looook at them all, they's all having funsies!!

@aziz-reads @toribookworm22 @pheita @writingmaidenwarrior

[leasstories]

Lea’s advent calendar 2023 - Masterlist

Day One : A dangerous festive decorative competition (Eddie Munson x gn!reader)

Day two: A cozy holiday night with Eddie (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day three : A Christmas in Bali (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day four : Mistletoe (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day five: A magical pocket watch (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day six: Scrooge Munson (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day seven: A cute winter night (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day eight: The snow battle (child!eddie x child!reader (gn)

Day nine: 1987 is gonna be our year (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day ten: First Christmas as a Family (dad!Eddie x mom!reader)

Day eleven: A Metal Gingerbread House (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day twelve: Not so Unrequited Feelings (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day thirteen: Scary (Dad!Eddie x mom!reader)

Day fourteen: Vacation with your Boss (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day fifteen: My dork (Eddie x gn!reader) coming soon

Day sixteen: You Had a Crush on Me? (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day seventeen : Distracted (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day eighteen : A Stressful Christmas Eve (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day nineteen : We will stick to it (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day twenty: Stuck Together (Eddie x gn!Reader)

Day twenty-one: You’re doing great (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day twenty-two: Eddie’s mischief (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day twenty-three : you’re the worst (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day twenty-four : Fate (Eddie x gn!reader)

Day twenty-five: A “fake” date (Eddie x fem!reader)

[uncaaj]

Fanfic: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Starring Donald Duck Chapter 2 - Enter Scrooge McDuckStar (DuckTales x JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

CHAPTER 1 | chapter 2 | MORE COMING SOON...

READ NOW ON AO3!

“Bless me bagpipes, I cannot fathom that I’m back in this country. I told myself I’d never forgive the Japanese for luring away me darling Holly. But I will admit…”

Joseph “Scrooge” McDuckstar reached for his hip and paused the tape. He yanked the Waddleman cassette player from his trench coat belt and perused it.

“They do make some fancy gadgets,” he remarked, before returning the Waddleman to his holster and lowering his headphones around his neck.

Having survived a 13 hour cross-country-ocean flight from Duckburg to Tokyo, Japan, Scrooge adjusted his fedora and took stock of his surroundings. Streams of people flowed through every pathway in Narita International Airport like blood cells through veins. Their chatter and clattering footsteps were a cloud of noise above the crowds. If Scrooge thought JFK Airport was busy, this was unfathomably busy. He had survived plunging a powerful warrior into a volcano and yet, finding Holly Duckjo in this jungle of plain-colored clothes and plain-colored suitcases was going to be the hardest task of his 68 years of life.

“Papa! Over here!”

The voice drew his attention in its direction and there she was. Leave it to his daughter to make it all fall into place.

“Holly!” He ran toward her, shoving a bystander by their face and meeting Holly in a tight embrace. All his predisposed grievances melted away and all he felt was joy.

“Thank you for coming,” she said.

“No trouble,” said Scrooge. “If you ever need me, give me a day and I’ll cross the globe for you.”

“And mom?”

Scrooge scoffed. “She made a fuss but family comes first. I told her it wouldn’t be longer than my business trips.”

“Good.” Holly tightened her hold on Scrooge. “Oh, papa.”

“Um, y-you can let go, Holly,” Scrooge chuckled. “I’m glad to see you too.”

“Papa!” she complained. “It’s been so long since you’ve held me.”

Scrooge pulled her away slightly and winked. “You’re 45, my dear. Act your age a little, eh?”

Holly playfully shoved him. “Oh, thanks for the reminder! I’m gonna tickle you for that!”

“Holly, wait-”

But he could not stop it. Holly and her devious smile had already reached his chest and began to work their magic. He felt the giggles well up from his belly and they cascaded out of him like a waterfall. “Kn-knock it off!” he protested.

All too suddenly, she tickled under his armpits and his spine locked up. It was the tickle spot that brought him to his knees, and she knew it.

“OOOOH NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Time seemed to stop as all eyes turned to them and every drop of chatter ceased. Holly blushed and even bowed in apology to a couple of people. Scrooge rolled his eyes. “What are you yahoos lookin’ at?!” he yelled. 

The crowds continued their movement and Holly bent down to pick up Scrooge’s suitcase. “I’ll take this, papa.”

“Don’t worry about them, dear,” said Scrooge, following his daughter to the exit. “By the way, remind me about Dontaro-did you say it was an ‘evil spirit’?

The color left her cheeks and tears started flowing as she gripped his coat. “Oh papa, my poor Dontaro! I saw it! It grabbed the gun! An…arm that wasn’t his!”

“And no one else but you saw this arm?” Scrooge asked, “Not even the police?”

“Yes!” said Holly.

“I know Dontaro says this came upon him not long ago, but…what about you, my dear? Has anything strange happened to you?”

Holly shook her head. “Not at all. Papa, what can we do? Dontaro says he won’t leave the cell until he finds out what’s causing this!”

Scrooge pulled Holly in close to him again. “There, there. Now that I’m here, everything’s going to be okay. First, we’ll go see my grandson. Take me to his cell.”

Holly nodded and took his suitcase to the door. Scrooge took one glance back at the swarm of people and snapped his finger. A pair of eyes atop a great red robe met him, and the man they belonged to rose from his seat by the near gate. He took long strides behind Scrooge and Holly as they ventured out into the city.

+++

When Scrooge entered the detention block at the police station, he made sure to expect the unexpected. Each one of the inmates cowered in the corner of their cells, as far away from the far cell as they could muster. 

“I tell ya,” said the bailiff, “Somethin’s haunting him, and he’s violent! If word of this gets out, I’ll be on the street!”

Scrooge unbuttoned his coat and threw the length behind him. “Don’t worry, I’ll be taking my grandson with me.”

Scrooge took slow steps, the sound of his leather shoes echoing down the corridor.

“Sir, please,” the bailiff begged. “I can’t be held responsible for what he might do-”

“Stay out of my way,” Scrooge replied firmly. “I’ll take care of this.”

He continued down the way until he reached the cell and beheld his grandson. The cell floor was scattered with items-a bike, an electric guitar, various model kits finished and unfinished, and stacks of books on supernatural phenomena and the occult. And there sat Dontaro upon the bed, looking as cold as the stone that surrounded him.

“Dontaro!” said Holly, holding onto Scrooge’s coat. “It’s your grandpa! He’ll be able to help you. Please come out!”

Dontaro slid off the bed and walked over to them, hands in his jacket pockets. He stopped right before where the cold metal of the door met his feet and Scrooge faced his grandson, bills merely centimeters from touching.

“Come on,” said Scrooge, “we’re going home.”

“Get lost,” said Dontaro.

Holly gasped.

“I didn’t ask you to come,” Dontaro continued. “What can you ‘help’ me with? I’m sorry you came all this way, gramps…” Dontaro held up a metal cylinder with arcing wires dangling from one end. “...but I’m beyond help.”

Scrooge blinked and raised his left hand, his bad hand. The pinky was gone. He was less concerned that Dontaro had broken it off, and more so with when he could have done it.

Dontaro tossed it behind him as if it was salt to banish his evil spirit. “Did you see it? This spirit possessing me is no laughing matter. You need to leave, gramps. I don’t want you to lose what’s left of your life.”

Scrooge stretched his neck. As if he thinks I’m clueless, he thought. I know exactly what he’s dealin’ with. Still, it’s amazing that he could pull a stunt like that from the jump. Whether he wants me help or not, the lad’s gonna need a hard lesson if he’s going to survive what’s to come.

“Lad?” said Scrooge before stepping back and gesturing to the man in the red robe. “This is a dear friend of mine. His name’s Muhammad Avdol, but I call him Gyro. I met him in Egypt three years ago.” Scrooge pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Gyro? Make my grandson get out of that cell.”

Gyro stepped forward. ��Mr. McDuckstar?” he said, turning to Scrooge. “I may have to get rough if he’s going to choose to leave. Is that okay?”

Scrooge nodded. “That’s fine.”

The bailiff stumbled back then bolted forward. “Wait, how rough?!” Scrooge stopped him with an arm. “I will not have a scene in my jail!”

“Shut it!” said Scrooge.

“Papa!” squeaked Holly, gripping Scrooge’s arm tight. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry, dearest,” Scrooge reassured. “It’s for his own good.”

Dontaro scoffed. “You really think I’ll leave with a threat like that? You look tough, Mr. Avdol, but you’ll only make me wanna stay to spite ya!”

Gyro stretched his hands out, making an unknown gesture. He closed his eyes and his robe fluttered from the force of an unseen wind. Opening them again, a hulking bird-being burst forth from his body and took its place behind him. Its strong muscles rippled and its beak shone in the cheap lighting.

Dontaro shuffled backwards, an awestruck look across his beak. “Is…is that…?”

“That’s right,” said Scrooge. “Gyro has an ‘evil spirit’ just like yours, and he can control it by his will alone. We call it ‘Scientist’s Red.’”

Dontaro marveled at the sight before him, but before he could think, streams of fire snaked out from the bird spirit’s wings and they wrapped around Dontaro’s arms and legs and dragged him off of the bed. He grunted as the heat burned his feathers away and seared his flesh. It was so overwhelming he could not scream.

“Papa! What are you doing to Dontaro?!” Holly exclaimed, too stunned to move.

“He’s in pain but there’s nothing there,” said the bailiff.

Dontaro gritted his teeth and sank his head low. Emerging from his form much like Gyro’s spirit, was his own, equally as muscular with a firm face and a bill similar to Dontaro’s own.

Scrooge smiled and crossed his arms. “There he is. Dontaro’s more powerful than I envisioned.”

The spirit grabbed Scientist’s Red by the neck and the two spirits locked themselves in a duel. Gyro’s brow dripped sweat with his effort. “He’s…just as powerful as me! I don’t want to seriously hurt him!”

“You see, lad?” Scrooge called. “Your ‘spirit’ stands beside you, created by your life force. Because of that, we call them ‘Stands.’ It’s not evil, Dontaro. It’s you!”

Dontaro panted heavily, surrounded by fire. “Having…trouble…breathing…”

“But you gotta watch out,” Scrooge continued. “As you weaken, so does your Stand.”

“Enough with this ‘Stand’ business!” Dontaro yelled suddenly, and his Stand withdrew from Scientist’s Red and griped the cell’s iron bars. Dontaro grunted as his Stand slowly pried them apart like matchsticks.

“Th-the bars are bending on their own!” howled the bailiff. 

Yet Holly could see the Stands plain as day. She was mystified, witness to a phenomena she never could have dreamed in her life. Dontaro’s Stand finished its job and Dontaro climbed out through the wide gap. Gyro’s arms fell to his sides and Scientist’s Red suddenly vanished from sight, and he took a seat on the stone floor.

“What are you doing?!” Dontaro declared. “You let me win?”

“Not exactly,” said Gyro. “I could’ve sent you to the hospital if I wanted. But I don’t think any of us expected you to pack a punch like that. Besides…” He nodded toward the ruined cell door and Dontaro looked back at what he had done. “I did what I was asked. Mr. McDuckStar? He’s out.”

Holly ran toward her son and squeezed his waist. “Oh, my darling boy!”

“Mom, stop…” grumbled Dontaro.

“Show your mother some grace,” said Scrooge. “She was worried about you. Now I think we’ll be on our way. Apologies for any trouble we caused.”

Dontaro was led out by his mother and Scrooge and Gyro bowed toward the bailiff, who looked like he had seen ghosts.

Once out in the sunlight, Dontaro shook out his school uniform. “Gramps?” he asked.

Scrooge turned to him. “Yes, lad?”

“You’re sure I can control this…Stand? It won’t attack if I don’t tell it to?”

“You got it.”

“Also, how do you know what they are? You’re not giving me the whole scoop.”

Scrooge cleared his throat. “Let’s go get some coffee.”

Holly raised her hand. “Ooh, I know a great café just down the street!”

“Gramps, what’s goin’ on?” asked Dontaro.

Scrooge placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him down the street. “I think you need to hear this story from the beginning.”