#the few i can think of are the christmas special for the second season

[vroomvroomwee]

You know what one of the nicest things about Doctor Who is? It's that, at its core, this show is fundamentally a sci-fi show, and how whenever they're running away from fighting aliens and monsters and what not, they never beat them by using force or physical conflict (unlike every new and old generic marvel movie) these silly guys (gn) always find a way to outsmart them, or find an actually science based solution, or talk them down. And that just shows they understood the essence and genre of the show, and I think that's so cool

[undreaming-fanfiction]

Day 24 for @steddie-spooktober, Pumpkin. I'll just finish this hellish month and then write all the good Halloween-y stuff when people already look forward to Christmas. There.

"Oh my god. That's Eddie Munson!"

Steve's eyebrow did that treacherous twitch. Here we fucking go again.

Robin just snickered. "Oh wow. That's like what, the fifth one today?" She didn't even look sorry for Steve, the traitor! She just kept making the coffee order, creating a lovely heart in the milk foam.

The woman who ordered the coffee didn't even bother to try and whisper to her friend. She was squealing and pointing at the unsuspecting rock star who had earphones over his head. "What do you think he's reading? It must be something dark. He has a reputation, you know."

Another twitch in Steve's eyebrow, but he was a professional. It was fine. He could do his job even when annoyed. Maybe.

Robin flipped the whiteboard with their seasonal specials. The other side revealed a meticulously prepared game of Eddie Munson-themed bingo. "Wanna play, Steve?"

He scowled at the board. All of those were classics, the stupid shit people say when they meet a rock star like Eddie Munson.

He took an erasable marker and scribbled X next to the questions, comments and other atrocities he managed to catch.

I wonder if he'll show me that special tattoo if I ask nicely. Check.

I heard he's unforgettable in bed. Check.

People say he has a...you know. A piercing down there. Check.

I don't believe the rumors. A guy like that can't be taken for long. He was made to sleep around. Check.

I wonder what he's drinking. Probably something dark and bitter. Mmm, how mysterious!

"Bingo!" whispered Robin. "Now, as per the rules of this humble establishment, once we have a bingo, you get to go there and be a bitch. Do your worst, oh platonic soulmate of mine. I'll be watching."

Who was Steve to deny Robin one of her favorite hobbies? He fluffed his hair and re-applied his lip oil, arranged some pastries on a kitten-shaped plate and made his way to Eddie Munson.

Eddie was lost to the world, but there was a familiar pattern in Steve's footsteps, one that reverbated through the wooden floor. In a second, Eddie had dropped his book and gave Steve the widest smile. One that he couldn't even conjure up on stage. This smile was only for Steve, and Steve fucking hoped the women noticed that.

Eddie made grabby hands at him, pulling him down into a quick kiss. "Is your shift over, Stevie? Can we go?"

Steve shook his head. "Nah, two more hours to go. Ish. Are you sure you don't want to wait for me home? You must be tired."

"Tired?! Pffft. I mean, yeah, but I want to spend time ogling my boyfriend when he's at his sexiest - covered in flour and sugar. And speaking of sugar..." He glanced at the plate. "Is that for me?"

Steve laughed and set the plate in front of him. "Honestly? Even if it wasn't, those doe eyes of yours would persuade me in a second. But yeah. It'll be Halloween soon, and I was testing out some spooky cookies. Do you like pumpkins?"

Eddie gasped and clutched his heart. "Do I?!"

Steve kissed Eddie on the top of his head and put his earphones back on. In a few seconds, Eddie was back in his own world, book, music and cookies.

In a corner of his eye, Steve saw the two young women, speechless. Robin was serving them their coffees, giddy with anticipation. She'd prepared them in to-go cups, just in case.

Steve stood in front of them, flipped his hair and smirked. "Well, ladies. You've had many questions or guesses, and I'm happy I can answer them. You know. To give you some peace of mind" He nodded to Robin. "The list, Rob?"

Robin glanced at their bingo board. "I wonder what he's reading!" she read out.

Steve nodded and returned to the frozen guests. "The book to end all books. That's what Eddie calls the...uh. Tolkien bible thingy. Silmarillion." He pronounced it gery carefully. "He reads it to me sometimes, when I can't sleep. Works like a charm." He might have smirked at the blush creeping up the woman's face. "Next."

Robin saluted him. "Special tattoo?"

"He won't show it, I made him promise he'd no longer get arrested for public indecency. Besides, it's only me that gets to see it. Next."

Robin fake gagged. "Is he unforgettable in bed?"

"Sure is. He talks to my chest hair. I think they're a couple."

Robin gagged again. "Why...ladies, get better questions! That piercing down under?"

Steve snickered. "Very real. Very...effective." He sneaked a glance at Eddie. Sexy and charismatic, yes, but more importantly warm, happy and home.

In a sing song voice, Robin got to the next point. "Is he really taken?"

"Take a guess," Steve winked at them. Or at least tried to, because the customers were already halfway out of the door with their coffee cups, and a very generous tip left on the counter.

"Aw," muttered Robin. "Shame, I thought these two would last longer. It's been ages since someone lasted the full Munson reverse bingo."

Steve laughed and helped her clean the table. "Would a pumpkin cookie console you?"

"Only if I don't have to hear about your bedroom rituals ever again," she said and reached for a cookie. "Or at least until the end of the shift."

[videovamptramp]

holding on too tight (just right)

// wednesday ironically loves affection… as long as it’s from you //

warnings: insecure!reader, insecure!wednesday, a bit of angst but mostly fluff, you’re both oblivious idiots in love, wednesday is a softy for you <3

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

wednesday addams, for as long as she can remember has been completely and utterly disgusted by the mere thought of love. there was nothing more repulsing than the idea of someone kissing her. swabbing spit with someone who’s grossly in love with her. whenever she would see her parents exchange different forms of love she’d have to physically hold herself back from gagging. it wasn’t just because they were her parents, really. she felt the same way when she saw a random couple on the street, or at school. wednesday didn’t believe in love, she felt as though everyone who was overly in love with their significant other was dramatizing their feelings, or just pretending. there’s no way anyone could feel that much.

well, that’s what she used to think… until she met you. when wednesday first met you, she hated you. you were all smiles, and dimples. it was disgusting the way you’d light up like a christmas tree whenever you saw her or she responded to you. the way you laughed made her stomach coil. not to mention how revealing your outfits got towards the hotter seasons. wednesday hated the way her eyes would migrate towards you whenever she’d walk into a room you were in. she didn’t want to think about your eyes or how they changed in color depending on the lighting. so she ignored it for as long as she could.

she ignored your longing looks, and the way she’d see your signature doodled next to her last name on your notebook, whenever she’d make the mistake of taking a peak at what you were smiling at. she pretended as if her stomach didn’t flutter in a nauseating way at the thought of your name hyphenated with hers. it even got so bad that wednesday tried to ignore your existence all together, but that wasn’t very effective. instead of your smile, she saw your eyes full of hurt and even saw you tear up when you realized she was ignoring you. she caved and spoke to you the next period. wednesday didn’t understand why the sight of you nearly crying, especially because of her, made her incredibly uncomfortable. it was a feeling she’s never felt before.

“… and then i told him to fuck off! he was only being a jerk because i totally rejected him last fall. then sabrina told me—“ you cut yourself off when you see wednesday staring at you with a blank expression. you assume she’s bored and irritated, causing you to blush in embarrassment, “sorry wen, i got carried away talking… i know i talk too much.” you tuck a strand of loose hair behind your ear, and she doesn’t look away from you as your gaze shyly makes it way down to the grass you’re both sitting on. “if i didn’t want to listen to your pointless rambling i would have intervened and said so.” she declares simply, and your eyes widen slightly, as you look at her with pure glee. god that look on your face makes the corner of her lips tug upwards, and oh no, wednesday addams is smiling softly.

the smile is faint and barely visible, but it’s there. “you’re so sweet, wednesday. you always make me feel so special!” you exclaim, practically gushing as you pull her in for a tight hug. wednesday’s little cold heart swells a few sizes at the action. she hates affection or any sort of physical touch, but this… this is nice. wednesday doesn’t even threaten you and after a few seconds you pull away, a rosy pink blush on your nose and cheeks. “i’m sorry… i got carried away again.” you apologize, and her tenebrous orbs stare into yours. “do it again.” she demands and you look at her as if she just said the most absurd thing on the planet.

though, you don’t deny her request, and you cautiously wrap your arms around her, holding her close. wednesday hugs you back, and your heart nearly stops beating. “thank you.” you blabber out loud, and she pulls away, “why are you thanking me?” she questions uncertainly, and you meet her eyes with a dopey grin on your lips. “because you just let me hug you! twice! i know you have a rule about physical touch or affection, but i… i really like it. especially when i care about someone. so thank you for letting me hug you.” your words of innocence make wednesday feel as though her heart is being squeezed so tightly it might pop. “my rule does not apply to you. you are the only exception.” the words come out of her mouth before she can think twice, and though they surprise her, she doesn’t take them back.

how could she? you were now staring at her with stars in your eyes and your smile caused that queasy feeling to set back in at the pit of her belly.

after that, you find every and any excuse to touch wednesday. you hold her hand whenever you’re sitting beside her in class or lunch, and in the hallways. you lay you head in her lap and will reach for her wrist, moving it onto your head and demanding she play with your hair. you play with her fingers whenever you’re speaking to her in the halls (it’s nearly impossible to keep her concentration when you do that). you fix her bangs for her whenever the wind messes them up, and you even took what she said as an open invitation to cuddle with her during your guys movie nights.

wednesday is very surprised to find out she doesn’t hate physical affection coming from you. every little touch burns wednesday’s skin in the best way, and she finds herself yearning for your touch whenever she doesn’t receive it. which is why the last week has confused and upset her deeply. it started after she walked you to class last week, as she always does.

“see you after class, wen!” you lean in and kiss her cheek, causing her to force herself to grimace. she still has an act to put on at school after all. “oh wait!” you exclaim as you reach for her wrist and pull her back in for a hug. “good luck on your botany exam!” you cheerfully tell your girlfriend before pulling away and making your way into class where yoko is flashing you a look. “what?” you ask uncertainly, and the vampire raises her brows. “aren’t you afraid she’s going to snap one day because of all the dramatized affection? i mean, she is wednesday addams.” yoko points out, and you frown as you take a seat beside her. “she’s never been bothered by it before…” you trail off.

a wave of insecurity washes over you, “do you think i should stop? i mean, you’ve known her longer…” your voice is laced with vulnerability. “i mean, i would definitely reel it back a bit because she’s wednesday.” yoko explains as if that’s explanation enough, but you don’t know wednesday like me, your mind screams but you only nod. “yeah, she might be tired of it.” you mumble, your cheerful mood suddenly gone. could wednesday really be tired of your affection? you remember the way she grimaced in the hall after you kissed her on the cheek. you wonder if that was for show or because she genuinely didn’t like affection. wednesday wouldn’t force herself to endure your affections simply because it makes you happy… right?

suddenly you’re overthinking everything, and you can’t help but let your thoughts run wild. you can’t even concentrate in class and when the bell rings, you stand up and gather your things; stuffing them into your backpack before leaving the room. as soon as you exit out of the classroom, there’s wednesday with that blank look on her face waiting for you. your heart flutters every time she comes and picks you up, and walks you to each of your classes. though, you physically dim when you remember what yoko said about wednesday growing tired of the affection. the last thing you wanted to happen was for her to grow tired of you and the relationship.

wednesday notices something’s wrong right away, as soon as you see her your eyes usually light up like a street lamp every night on routine. “hey wen.” you greet her with a smile. “how was your exam?” you ask as you begin walking. wednesday looks down at her empty hand that you usually take, and she tries not to frown. “fine. easier than i expected, perhaps we went a little too overboard with the studying.” she tells you and you giggle. “yes, well, you had three different study plans ready. at least you’re always prepared.” you tease and she tries not to think about the way you aren’t holding her hand or arm; the only form of affection was when your arms brushed together as you two walked through the crowded hallway.

“how was gorgon anatomy?” she asks, trying to figure out why you’re acting stranger than usual. “fine!! boring.” you answer too quickly, and wednesday turns her head to look at you. you were walking with your head high and eyes forward. as if you were trying not to look at her at all. wednesday can see on your face clear as day that something is wrong. before she can question you anymore, you both arrive in front of your werewolf reproduction class. “i’ll see you after class?” you ask hopefully, and she rolls her eyes. “you’ll see me after every class.” she states, still not understanding why you ask her every time, if you know she’ll be here like clock work. you smile at her response, blushing. “okay. bye wen, try not to kill bianca during fencing lessons.” you half joke before staring at her with a longing look and rushing inside.

wednesday blinks a few times, frozen in place. you always kiss her before you two part. every single time, even when she was just going to stand in a different line, you were placing a sweet kiss somewhere on her face. the sinking feeling in her stomach is unfamiliar and uncomfortable. she clenches her fists as she walks away. suddenly she’s angry at herself; what did she do? had she said something? or did she do something that upset you? is this one of those things where she accidentally did the wrong thing and hurt your feelings? she’s hurt them many times on accident before, you were so insufferably sensitive. yet, wednesday found that was one of the many things she loves about you.

she tries not to think about how strange you were before class, but she ends up taking out her frustrations on bianca during fencing lessons.

wednesday tried to assure herself that you would be fine by the end of the day. your mood changed very quickly when you were upset. you could never be sad or angry for too long and wednesday ironically loved that about you as well. but that was last week, and you still have barely touched her. wednesday didn’t think it was possible to need physical contact, but god she does. she craves your touch every time you’re near, even when you’re not, she still wishes you were so you could kiss, caress, and even hold her. but ever since last week your touches have been minimal.

you don’t hold her hand in the halls anymore, nor do you kiss her cheek at any given chance. sometimes you’ll slip and reach for her hand during movie night, but quickly let go when you remember what yoko said. you had somehow allowed that little nagging voice in your head to convince you that wednesday was trying to preserve your feelings every time you touched her. you’d let that mean conscious of yours allow you to believe that wednesday secretly disliked all of your hugs, kisses, and loving touches.

today is movie night, and wednesday is adamant on making things return to normal. she hates that insecure feeling she’s had for the last six days. that pestering emotion deeply rooted inside of her, whispering over and over that you’re losing interest in her. that you’re craving someone different; perhaps someone more full of joy, and like you. someone who isn’t allergic to color, and who has a kind smile. maybe that boy who’s always smiling at you in the ice cream place in the mall. or the girl from the shoe store who remembers you and your shoe size, she always compliments your jeans. it makes wednesday’s stomach burn.

“i brought ven helsing and the house at the end of the street. can we please watch the scary one first this time, wen? i had nightmares after last weeks.” you flash her puppy eyes as soon as you stroll into her shared room, the movies in your arms along with the snacks. you have black liquorish, milk duds, cherry coke, a big of chips, and mini kit-kat’s. wednesday knows the black liquorish is for her, and she can’t help but let her heart lurch at the sight of you. “we can watch whatever one you’d like first, cara mia.” she tells you in that tone she solely reserves for you. she makes your stomach fill with butterflies. you walk over in her direction; she’s already sitting on her bed. you kiss the top of her head; you can smell her shampoo. you let all the snacks go at once, letting them fall onto her bed.

the kiss on her head wasn’t enough to fill that hole inside of her. she desperately needs you to hold her before she falls apart. she feels stupid for the lump in her throat as she watches you walk over towards the dvd player and television. you pop the movie in and start it up, turning around and smirking at her. she keeps a straight face, trying not to show you how close she is to breaking down. “lights off?” you ask with a cute little grin, and she nods, not trusting her voice. you turn the lights off and join her in her bed. you keep a short space between you both and the small distance pains her deeply.

she tries to focus on the movie, she really does. but every time she does, her eyes seem to migrate to you like magnates. you look scared and you jump every time a scary scene unfolds on the screen. she wants to hold you, but she’s afraid you’ll reject her. she’s afraid she won’t know what to do. she’s afraid she’ll be awkward. god, why is she so afraid of everything when it comes to you? she’s wednesday addams, she isn’t afraid of ghouls, monsters, or even murders, yet she’s afraid of messing everything up with you. losing you would be the greatest misfortune, and for her to lose you simply because she’s herself… that’s enough to make even the strongest person hurt.

you forget about everything for a moment, the peace that comes with being by wednesday’s side makes every problem and negative thought go away for awhile. you lean in, wrapping your arms around her waist and resting your head on her shoulder. you forget about what yoko said for all about two minutes before abruptly pulling away, as if you’re physically trying not to touch her. her throat aches as she swallows thickly and she tenses up, there’s a few seconds of silence that tick by, before she asks the question that’s been badgering her mind this entire week.

“are you tired of me?” wednesday asks quietly, in a voice so low, if you weren’t sitting so close you wouldn’t have heard it. you reach for the remote and pause the movie quickly, turning to look at her with a look of shock, “what?” you ask her, making sure you heard correctly.

wednesday is staring at her lap, refusing to meet your gaze. “i’m aware i’m not the most conventional girlfriend… i do not know a lot about relationships. i hurt you without trying, and i never say the right thing. if i upset you, or did something it wasn’t my intention.” she goes on, and you only grow even make confused. “wednesday, what are you talking about? i’m confused as to where this is coming from. you’re a wonderful girlfriend, and frankly, i don’t enjoy it when you talk about yourself that way.” you tell her and she finally looks at you. the look of hurt in her dark eyes is as clear as water. “then why have you been different? you don’t hold my hand in the halls anymore, or kiss me— you just jumped away from me after a minute of cuddling. i thought you said you loved physical affection when it came to the people you care about… do you not care about me anymore?” she asks, and for the first time since you’ve known wednesday, you can hear the vulnerability in her voice.

your heart aches in your chest, and your eyes soften. “if you’ve grown tired of me just tell me what it is i did. i’ll fix it.” she sounds so adamant and it breaks your heart that she would even consider changing anything about her wonderful self. you immediately reach out and cup her cheek with one hand, she nearly melts into your touch. “oh wednesday, i’m so sorry. i thought you were tired of all my affection… i thought i was too clingy.” you glance away shamefully as you admit this, and her eyes nearly widen. “i would never ask you to change anything about yourself, wen, and i could never grow tired of you. i don’t ever want to hear you talk about yourself that way. you’re far too intelligent and phenomenal for that. got it?” you ask, and she doesn’t respond.

you kiss her nose before looking into her eyes, “got it??” you ask again and she nods. “please don’t feel as though you’re too clingy. i… i enjoy your forms affection very much.” she confesses, and you can see a cute crimson blush coating her cheeks. your heart skips a beat, “you do?” you question in pure shock. “i do. i’ve never been one to enjoy those gross things… but with you it’s different. you’re my exception.” she states affirmatively, and now it’s your turn to blush. “you always make me feel so special.” you reveal, your face hot and your cheeks pink. “you are special to me.” she says bluntly, and your eyes are suddenly big and childlike, staring at her as if she put stars in the sky.

“oh wednesday!” you gush as you lean in and hug her tightly. she hugs you back, and when you try to pull away after a minute, her hold on you tightens. “let me hold you a little bit longer. please.” she practically begs, and your entire body goes warm. “we can cuddle and finish the movie, silly.” you remind her and she hesitantly lets up, allowing you to get into a comfortable position. “c’mere, i’ll be the big spoon this time!“ you sound so excited she doesn’t dare disagree. “if you tell anyone i’ll deny it.” she warns, before crawling into your waiting arms.

[dayenurose]

I know this is a bit late in coming, but it is here (at last!). For @roguegambitweek Day 3 - MojoWorld.

I decided to do something a bit different this year for my annual Romy fic rec list. Instead of simply making a list, I decided to write a fanfic fic rec fic. This layers within layers effort was certainly a stretch of creativity, but I think it turned out rather well. I hope you enjoy!

TGIRomy by DayenuRose

Summary:

Rogue and Gambit receive a mysterious invitation to a movie night. Will the accept the invitation, or is it a trap? Will Rogue, Remy, Jubilee, Kitty and Logan agree on what to watch? And, why is no one paying attention to the commercials? Find out all this and so much more when you tune in for TGIR!—Thank God It’s Romy! Fridays at 8/7 Central.

(Read on [ao3])

And now for the main feature…

T.G.I.Romy - A MojoVerse Fic Rec List

The premise of this rec list is relatively simple–fics which could be a show on Mojo-verse TV. Most of these are some variety of AU or crossover, although a few are a bit more ‘canon compliant’. I’ve broken the list into two. The first half are the ones which appear in my fic rec fanfic. The second are those fics which fit the topic, but I wasn’t able to include in the fic. I hope you enjoy these fics.

Reality TV

Beauty and the Geek, X-Men Style by Chellerbelle @chellerbelles [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: T | Universe: Evo | Words: 73,969 | Status: Complete

Summary: AU: The cast of X-Men Evolution does the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek. Can ten beautiful women and men, and ten intelligent men and women learn to become a whole lot more?

Notes: Chelle created a fun opening credits of the show. There’s a link in the first chapter “Notes.”

Sitcom/Holiday Special

Everyone Loves ROMY! - HOLIDAY SPECIAL Episode by NicoPony @nicopony79 [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: G | Universe: Comics | Words: 12,610 | Status: Complete

Summary: It’s Christmas Eve on Krakoa with Mr. & Mrs. X. What holiday surprises are in store for our favorite couple and their family? It’s up to one merry Elf to make the season bright! Guest appearance by the Man in the Red Suit!

Notes: Written in script format.

Hallmark Movie

Chapter 5 - Day 4: So Close to Reaching That Famous Hallmark End of Fourteen Ways to Fall for You by lettersfromnowhere @lettersfromn0where [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: G | Universe: X-Men | Words: 2,549 (Chapter 5) | Status: Complete

Summary: Day 4: this is why you should never give aliens access to TV movies - you’ll probably end up with a simulation somewhat like this over-the-top royal-and-commoner AU straight out of a Hallmark movie.

Notes: Each chapter is a different ‘genre.’ Chapter 5 focuses on our Hallmark Movie theme, though the whole story is a fun read. While the chapter begins (and ends) with a framing device which is part of the greater story plot, the chapter does work as a standalone.

Western

Gambler’s Bounty by Sandmans_Raven @sandmansraven [ao3]

Rating: T | Universe: X-Men | Words: 31,150 | Status: WIP

Summary: Shady things are afoot in Colorado. Who is Dr. Millbury and what does his miracle elixir actually do?

Notes: All of Sandmans’ fics are a great read. I highly recommend all of them.

Heist

Lebeau’s Eleven by IlargiKat @ilargikat [ao3]

Rating: G | Universe: Comics | Words: 14,182 | Status: WIP

Summary: Planning a heist is not easy, especially when you need special skills to pull it off. The luck of being an X-Men is that the skills are within reach, maybe not people willing to commit a heist.

Notes: While the G Rating is fine for the majority of the story, Chapter 5 is really more of a M rating.

Sci-Fi - X-Files

Strange Encounter by Valerie J [ff.net]

Rating: T | Universe: Comics | Words: 16,662 | Status: Complete

Summary: When a strange woman falls out of the sky without being harmed, Mulder and Scully are sent to investigate. X Men X Files crossover.

Faith and Dreams by Valerie J [ff.net]

Rating: T | Universe: Comics | Words: 64,232

Summary: Sequel to Strange Encounter. Dana Scully never really expected to see the mutants again. But when tragedy strikes, Dana finds herself embroiled in an alien conspiracy that threatens not only her world. But the Xmen’s as well. X Men X Files crossover.

Notes: Here’s two episodes for the price of one.

Special Features

Heist - Round 2

Counting Drinks by Sandmans_Raven @sandmansraven [ao3]

Rating: T | Universe: Comics | Words: 2,092 | Status: Complete

Summary: It’s a hot one at Gus’s Saloon.

Notes: If I could choose the way Rogue and Gambit the live action universe, it would be in a Leverage-esque series where Rogue and Gambit pull off heists and cons in order to help those who get taken advantage of by the rich and powerful. From time to time, they are joined by the Thieves Guild and their closest friends—Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolverine (Laura and Logan). When I read this fic, I felt like it would be a perfect episode of this show.

Bonus Heist Non-Fic

Playing for Keeps by NickBateman [YouTube]

FanFilm: (no summary on site) - Gambit is invited to an exclusive poker game featuring the worst of the worst. When the stakes are this high, did anybody actually expect this to play out differently?

Note: Who said all fan creations must be fanfics? Enjoy a fanfilm. This heist/con would also fit for an episode of my imagined series.

Sci-Fi - Matrix

Chapter 4 - Real Love of Threads by Ludi_Ling @ludi-ling [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: M | Universe: X-Men | Words: 11,176 (Chapter 4) | Status: Complete

Summary: Whilst on a mission Rogue and Gambit become stranded in a world where the very reality of their love is tested. Movie-crossover.

Notes: Like “Fourteen Ways to Fall for You,” each chapter is a different universe. This was also another fic I read early in my Romy journey. It introduced me to many different worlds where we might find Romy (some worlds are comics adjacent while others are created out of whole cloth for this fic).

Quick content warning for the Matrix chapter - there’s some Rogneto and cheating. The OTP is definitely Romy, but Rogue is ‘technically’ in a relationship with Magneto, so your mileage may vary.

Sci-Fi - Pacific Rim

Compatible by DayenuRose @dayenurose [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: T | Universe: Comics | Words: 2,891 | Status: WIP

Summary: Rogue is a former Jaeger pilot who has no interest in finding a new drift-compatible partner. Gambit is a potential Jaeger pilot who is unable to find a drift-compatible partner. Sparks fly–both figurative and literal–when these two meet. She wants nothing to do with him. He wants to understand her. WIll Rogue and Gambit be able to help each other gain control of their powers and reach their full potential in time to help save the world?

Sci-Fi - Star Wars (Clone Wars)

A Long, Long Time Ago: X by Seagull18 (crossoverqueen9703 on ff.net) [ao3] [ff.net]

Rating: G | Universe: Evo | Words: 22,928 | Status: WIP

Summary: “Routine missions” are a joke to anyone remotely connected to a Skywalker, but if really shouldn’t include Anakin and Ahsoka getting caught by pirates and escaping with the master bounty hunter that caught them in the first place.

Or: Remy Lebeau, better known as Gambit, had never been one for subtlety; when he wants something, he rarely lets petty things like laws and common sense get in his way. If common sense said kidnapping Jedi and selling them out to pirates after siad pirates tried to kill him for cheating at gambling was a bad idea, he had no intention of listening to it.

Or: The only people with worse luck than the Skywalker lineage are X-Men. Rogue planned on spending her week freeing prisoners, test subjects, and slaves from a bunch of lame space pirates. The plan did not work.

Or: Post X-Men: Evolution Gambit and Rogue in Clone Wars.

Notes: This fic appears to end at Chapter 17, but the fic is marked as a WIP. Take that as you will.

War Film/Period Piece

Uncanny X-Men 1943 by stellarose [ao3]

Rating: M | Universe: X-Men | Words: 44,114 | Status: Complete

Summary: X-Men AU. Emma Frost runs Division X, a classified squad within the secretive Special Operations Executive based in London. It isn’t their job to win the war, only to save those they can. Emma’s squad of Psylocke, Angel, Logan, and Fantomex set out [to] rescue three mutants trapped in occupied and increasingly hostile France. But when the mission takes a turn for the worse, Emma and the team must decide if they cut their losses, or fight twice as hard to bring everyone home.

Notes: Romy is a secondary couple in this fic, but I do enjoy and highly recommend it. I read this early on in my Romy journey and this fic has always stuck with me.

[bullet-prooflove]

Special Delivery: Alexander 'Tig' Trager x Reader

Part of @storiesofsvu Holiday Bingo! The square was Winter Cabin!

Tagging: @crazy4chickennuggets @kmc1989 @withakindheartx @mortal--soul @thatonesexycancerian @chaoticqueenie98 @buddinglinguist @spookyboogyuniverse @thanossexual @anime-weeb-4-life @redpoodlern @nu1freakshow @lexondeck @adaydreamaway08 @goblinenby @fanfic-n-tabulous @just-a-girl-who-wrytes @ankhmutes @keyweegirlie @trublu2u @thebaileybugle @joyfulfxckery @im-just-a-mississippi-girl @multiflixshelves @luvvstvrkeyy @goosterroose @storiesofsvu

Part of the Crazy, Fucked Up Love Arc:

Crazy, Fucked Up Kind of Love - Tig discovers your secret.

Not Leaving: - Tig tells you he's not leaving.

Show You - Tig shows you how beautiful you really are.

Welcome Home (NSFW) - You welcome Tig home in a very special way.

Tig decides he wants his first Christmas with the baby to be special, even if his son still resides inside of you. It’s the reason he plans a babymoon a fortnight before your due date. He has everything planned to perfection. He heads up to the cabin a few days before Christmas Eve with Juice and Kozik, together they set up the tree and decorate the cabin. Jax chops firewood outside, leaving the stack alongside the hearth.

The only problem is Tig can’t cook, he has a couple of recipes under his belt but beyond that he’s out of his depth. He asks Gemma for help and as usual she comes through for him.

“You gonna propose or something?” She asks him as she plans out the shopping list.  

“Suzie’s been a trooper while I’ve been running between Stockton and Reno trying to smooth over all this shit with the guns.” He tells Gemma as he sits down at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee. “I haven’t been around as much as I would have liked.”

“You’re trying to make it up to her before the baby comes.” Gemma says knowingly, tapping her pen upon the surface of the notepad.

“I want to remind her how special she is.” Tig explains to Gemma, his thumb tapping against the mug. “How much her and the baby mean to me. It’s not been easy, being apart, especially when she’s so far along.”

“Hence Christmas up in the cabin.” Gemma summarises as she sits back in her chair.  “It’s rustic, it’s quiet, the perfect place to have a little mommy and daddy time before baby Matthew arrives. I’ll cook something up for the two of you and get Chibs to bring it up later with the gifts from him and Evelyn.”

“Thank you, you’re a godsend.” Tig says, kissing her on the cheek as he raises to his feet.

When you step into the cabin, he can see how much you love it. You’ve always wanted to have Christmas in a cabin, you remember telling him that on your second date. You’d been talking about favourite holidays; he wasn’t big on them, but you were. You loved everything about the Christmas season, the lights, the magic, even the Santa suit…

Especially the Santa suit as he had learned last year. He’d noticed the way you’d got a little hot and bothered while editing a Santa porno and decided to test his theory. It had been the most debauched night of his life, the things the two of you had gotten up to…

He can’t look at old St Nick without a blush creeping across his cheeks and he certainly could not return that suit.

You spend the evening in front of the fire, resting on Tig’s chest as you doze on the couch. You listen to the sound of his heart beating in his chest, your fingers playing over the fine chest hair. You’re half asleep when Chibs lets himself in. Tig tilts his head towards the other man who holds up a gift bag of presents in one hand and bag of carefully prepared food in the other.

“Just dropping off.” He says softly, a smile tugging at his features.

You struggle into a sitting position on the couch, your palm smoothing over the roundness of your belly before you say.

“Actually Chibs, I think my water just broke.”

It moves quickly from there.

There’s been a crash on the country road leading up to the cabin, there’s no way an ambulance can get through until the cars have been cleared from the road. It’s a fast labour, before you know it Chibs is between your legs telling you to push. Tig sits behind you, your back pressing against his chest as he murmurs soothing words into your ear.

The language that comes out of your mouth...

A sailor would be proud.

Chibs delivers the baby on the rug in front of the fire.

“Welcome to the world bonnie wee lad.” Chibs grins as he holds up the baby. He has a flock of Tig’s dark hair and the most beautiful blue eyes you’ve ever seen. Chibs wraps the infant up in a fleece blanket from the back of the couch before handing him over to you.

Tig’s cheek comes to rest against yours as you cradle your son close to your chest, his lips ghosting across your skin.

“You did good Suzie Q.” Tig whispers as he looks down at Matthew Filip Trager. “You did so good.”

Love Tig? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Can’t get enough of Tig? Check out his Masterlist here!

Interested in supporting me? Join my Patreon for Bonus Content!

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[lovelynim]

2 centimeters

Squealing Santa 2023 Genshin Impact - Kaeya & Diluc

A/N: Merry Christmas, Mango-anon! That's right, I'm your @squealing-santa this year!

Heheh, isn't it funny that we changed the roles? After getting a gift from you in last year's SS, I tried to come up with something just as special - hopefully I made it up to your expectations!

Also, I couldn't find any canon info about the characters' height, so let's just go along with this one, yeah?

I just want to wish you a happy holiday season and thank @hypahticklish for hosting the event again!

Summary: When you are decorating the place, 2 cm can make a lot of difference.

Word count: 1338 words

“I think I remember this one, brother,” Kaeya chirped happily as he gently pulled another decoration from inside that old chest. Pinching the string that was attached to the toy to hold it up to his line of sight, Kaeya admired the golden, star-shaped object as it brought him some old memories from his childhood. “Hah, last time I saw this one, we still-”

“Care to do something other than reminiscing?” Diluc interrupted, with a frown on his face. Letting out an audible grunt, the redheaded dropped another box on top of the counter - also full of decorations.

By the end of the year, the people of Mondstadt had the tradition of decorating their houses to celebrate the arrival of winter and to cherish the moments they had together throughout that year. At least, most of the people did it.

Diluc wasn’t sure when it was the last time he had bothered to do something like this. He was even more clueless about why he decided to do it this time. Maybe his change of heart had something to do with the traveler or the latest events? Maybe after spending so much time with that spoiled bard was, at last, affecting him? Maybe was he sick? Diluc didn’t know - and did it really matter at this point? He looked to the side, spotting Kaeya’s smug, amused glance at him. Diluc rolled his eyes.

“My, of course, brother. I just couldn’t help myself… All the sweet memories coming back to my mind,” Kaeya mused poetically - mostly to annoy his brother even further. “I’m sure the winery will look just as lovely when we are done decorating it.”

Kaeya quickly got back to his feet, starting to hang a few garlands near the entrance, adding the ones that resembled small berries and snow flakes to enhance the composition even further. The captain smiled, proud of his work. “What do you think, Diluc?” Kaeya sighed proudly, placing his hands over his hips as he admired the results of his efforts.

However, as more seconds passed by and there was no sign of answers from his dear brother, Kaeya repeated himself, this time also looking back. “Diluc? What do you… think…”

“Just- agh, just a second,” Diluc grunted, gritting his teeth and stretching his arm as high as he could. Standing on the tip of his toes and leaning against the shelves, Diluc tried to place a bright, golden star on top of a tree - a spot that was clearly out of his reach.

Kaeya scoffed quietly, surprised that his brother would find such difficulties in such a simple task. “Do you need a hand? I could lift you if you want-”

“Shut it,” Diluc groaned, planting his heels back into the ground - and if looks could kill, Kaeya would’ve been sent to Celestia right at that moment. Diluc, already having his patience running short, looked at Kaeya’s work.

His eyes, despite all the charming decorations, focused on a garland that hung right in the middle of the composition. Diluc did the math inside his head and that thing was standing almost as high as the tip of the tree and, with no stairs or chairs around, it seemed that Kaeya managed to reach that spot effortlessly. Diluc felt that sight leaving a scratch on his ego. “Yeah, it’s decent I think,” Diluc huffed.

“Decent? Well, it’s still a compliment from you, I suppose, so I’ll assume I did a good job,” Kaeya crossed his arms, with a smug look on his face. The captain looked around and, after a few hours of work, they were almost done with the winery’s decoration: all that was left was the golden star in Diluc’s hand. “Let me finish that for you, brother.”

“What?” Diluc arched his eyebrow, turning his attention back to Kaeya.

“I said: let me finish that for you,” Kaeya repeated while approaching Diluc, reaching out his hand, waiting for the star to be handed to him.

“There is no need, I can do it myself,” Diluc narrowed his eyes and Kaeya chuckled. “What’s so funny?” The winery’s master muttered, getting back on the tip of his toes as he tried to reach the top of the tree.

“How tall are you?”

“W-what?” Diluc gasped, feeling a faint heat taking place in his hands. “What’s with this all of the sudden?” The reddish tones began to take a brighter shade around the tip of Diluc’s ears, almost matching his hairtone.

“Just curiosity,” Kaeya giggled, standing by Diluc’s side. Kaeya placed a hand over the top of his own head and moved it, hovering it just a couple of centimeters above Diluc’s. “Oh, I’m taller, indeed. I never noticed you were the smaller one…”

“S-so?” Diluc sighed annoyed, getting even angrier when he saw the way Kaeya looked at him. “It’s just… what? 2 centimeters? It’s not that much of a difference, it might even be thanks to the heels of your boots.”

“Well, brother, you see, 2 centimeters can make a lot of difference,” Kaeya teased, looking up to the tip of the tree. “Come on, let me help you ~”

“I don’t need your help,” Diluc insisted, determined to shut his brother by placing that damned star on top of the tree.

“Suit yourself.”

Kaeya watched carefully as Diluc tried to reach that spot again, holding the golden star with the tip of his fingers, barely keeping a hold on it. Almost there… so close… 

“G-gah!” Diluc squeaked when he felt a pair of hands holding him by his waist. He felt another electric shock spread across his body when fingers dug into the spot - with just enough pressure so they could get a grip on his body.

“Q-quit squirming, you’re kind of heavy, you know?” Kaeya grunted, nearly getting hit by a flailing limb. With some effort, Kaeya managed to lift Diluc, getting him high enough so he could reach the top of the tree. “Hurry up..!”

“I- agh, aham tr-tryihihing!” Diluc choked on a laugh, struggling to reach out and place the star when all the nerves on his body were telling him to press his arms down his body. His brother being Kaeya, Diluc couldn’t be sure if that… feeling was a mere accident or something planned. “S-stohop squeehezing me lihihike t-that, you- ahah- ack!!”

“H-hoh?” Kaeya gasped, still managing to pull a tease in a situation like this. Diluc’s squirming was making it harder to keep him high up, but Kaeya would rather have them both falling to the ground than lose a chance to provoke Diluc like this. “H-how can you be… heh, this ticklish being this… short?”

“I’m nohot!” Diluc groaned, hitting Kaeya’s leg with his heel (mostly because of how his leg flailed than because he wanted to). 

“You’re not what? Short or ticklish? Because it looks like you’re both” Kaeya squeezed Diluc’s waist again and a strangled laugh escaped his brother’s lips. Kaeya smirked. “J-just put the star over there, my arms are getting tired.”

“If you- ahah, f-fine!” Diluc groaned in defeat, grabbing the tree with one hand and pulling it closer. Finding it more difficult than it should be, at last, Diluc managed to place the golden star in place, quickly tapping his brother’s hand. “D-done! Put me down! Puhuhut me down!”

“As you wish, brother,” Kaeya said, lowering his brother back down until he could place his feet on the ground - safe and sound. “See? It wasn’t that hard, was it?”

Diluc breathed deeply, telling himself mentally this wasn’t the time to call Kaeya names and deciding that, just this once, he would let it slide… that, of course, under one condition. “One word about it…,” he threatened Kaeya - so brotherly-like of him.

“Huh? Or what?” Kaeya provoked him again, poking Diluc’s side and making him jerk away with a sharp gasp. “Come on, asking your big brother for help it’s nothing to be ashamed of…”

“Kaeya, no.” Diluc warned, wrapping his arms around his torso, “I’m serious. Kaeya, nohOHOH!! KahAHAHayea!”

[0littleladybug0]

maybe if u are still taking requests, a cg!eddie or maybe robin x little readers first Christmas as a little babbbbbbbby

AHH YES OF COURSE!

Cg!Eddie Munson x Little!reader

Summary: Eddie makes sure that his first Christmas with his little one is as special as it can be.

Tags/Warnings: Age Regression, bottle feeding, reader is a small itty bitty baby, fluff fluff fluff, insecure reader for like a microscopic amount, somehow theres always spelling mistakes i cant find so ignore my poor writing and spelling

You had told Eddie about your regression for a fairly recent amount of time. It had only been a few months since he immediately took the role as your caregiver and you both enjoyed every second of it. No matter how many times you dealt with any insecurities about being small, he was there to reassure you how much he truly enjoyed taking care of you. 

Which is why he wanted to make this Christmas season extra special for his little one. 

He knew how much you loved Christmas and the holiday season, the whole appearance of Christmas and the lead up to it engulfed you in nostalgia and a certain childlike joy and peace. 

He made it his mission to make you feel as tiny as possible during the Christmas season, knowing that if big you loved Christmas this much, little you could only love it just as much. 

To say that Eddie spoiled you during the holiday season would be an understatement. He always took you out to go Christmas shopping, picking you up treat after treat (his rule about sugars and sweets quickly became less lenient as the holidays went by), and always made sure to pop in a christmas movie in his TV when giving you your night time bottle and cuddles before bed. 

Did you think it was strange that Eddie began to baby you a lot more than usual? Maybe a little. But you were too excited about Christmas to detect anything about your boyfriend's behavior. 

The whole week you had been updating Eddie every day on how close you were to the magical day, your advent calendar being your prized possession the whole month.

“Daddy!!” You called out from the living room of his trailer. 

Eddie rushed in, pot of mac and cheese still in his hand at the sudden call of his name. 

“What is it baby?” he asked, kneeling down to our level on the floor as you presented the calendar in his face.

“S’ one more day until Christmas Eve!” you excitedly announced. 

Eddie chuckled at your excitement and ruffled your hair. “That's right! I've got such a smart little one.” he praised planting a kiss on your cheek. In the time that Eddie has been your caregiver, you still haven't gotten used to how much little you loved praise, especially from Eddie. He couldn't get enough of how shy you would get at the sudden rush of red that would spread across your face, causing him to praise you any chance he got to see his baby happy. 

“Cmon, dinner should be ready soon, and I better not see that door open until after we eat, capisce?”  Eddie playfully warned. 

“Yes daddy.” You giggled, waddling over to the table as you awaited your dinner. 

Soon Christmas eve arrived and now Eddie understood what you meant when you told him how much you loved Christmas. Your Christmas jammies stayed on the whole day and Christmas music stayed on the radio. Eddie thinks putting you to bed that night was the hardest thing he ever had to do. Usually when you were having a hard time sleeping, he liked to put you in little space. He quickly regretted doing that last night when you refused to sleep in his room and stayed up on the couch with a flashlight, claiming you were waiting for Santa. 

When Christmas morning came you were just as excited as the past days and Eddie made sure to keep it extra special for you. 

It surprised him that you remained big the whole day, he assumed because Christmas was your favorite holiday, you would give yourself some time to regress and enjoy the Christmas cheer. He could tell you wanted to, but there was something blocking you. He made it his mission the rest of the day to destroy whatever was blocking his little baby from coming out. 

And as Christmas day began to come to a close, Eddie knew what he had to do. He sat you down on the couch, ordering for you to cover your eyes. 

You did as you were told, you covered your eyes with your palms as you awaited for your boyfriend to come back. You opened your eyes at the sound of his sweet voice., 

“Ok, you can open them now.” Eddie said, a cheeky grin beginning to spread across his face. 

You opened your eyes and saw another present in his hands. 

“Eddie, what's all this? I thought we already exchanged gifts this morning?” You asked, looking at him holding another present in his hands. 

“I know, but this is different. I know how much you love Christmas, and I love that you love Christmas, but I want little you to enjoy it too. I don't want you to have to hide during your favorite time of the year. I want you to be able to slip and feel safe knowing that I'll be here to take care of you. You're my little baby, and my baby deserves a good and happy Christmas.” Eddie confessed, pulling you onto his lap cupping one of your cheeks with his hand. 

His soft words almost brought tears to your eyes. No one has ever been as kind and gentle as Eddie in your entire life. 

“Really?” You ask softly, Eddie already seeing you slip the smallest bit. 

“Yes baby.” he lightly chuckled at your attempt to stay big knowing he had already one little you over. “Merry Christmas baby bear.” He smiled, handling over the semi poorly wrapped gift. Eddie was an amazing boyfriend and caregiver, but maybe next year he should leave the wrapping up to you. 

You gave him a cheeky smile, knowing that there was no way to stay big anymore as your little space quickly engulfed you. You began to tear open the wrapping paper, exposing a new box with a cute polar bear pattern scattered around the box. Eddie watched the way you bit your lips in concentration as you struggled opening your gift. Finally you had gotten it open with one final “Hmph” and Eddie swears he had never heard a cuter sound than your gasp of excitement. 

Inside the box he had packed you a whole gift basket with all of your favorite little treats, accompanied by a new bottle with snowflakes on it, a reindeer stuffie, a new onesie with snowmen on it, and a new red paci with a reindeer in the middle, lettered beads spelling out “Little Dear” on the handle. 

“Daddy, I love it!” you squealed at the new goodies in front of you. 

“You do?” Eddie asked, making sure he had bought everything correctly. Poor Eddie has been knee deep in finding you the perfect little gear, doing as much research as he could on the bestest brands and stores. His gift left him apprehensive up until you opened it, his worries melting away as soon as he saw how much you enjoyed your gift. 

“Yes daddy, I love it all! Thank you thank you thank you!” You squealed, hugging his sides tightly. He returned the tight bear hug, rubbing your back and planting a kiss on the top of your head. 

“What do you think, should we try out your new goodies?” Eddie asked, holding up the bottle in his hand and the onesie in the other.

You nodded excitedly. Eddie hadn't bottle fed you many times but it was always something you wished you could do more. Now with your new bottle, both you and Eddie were excited to incorporate it into your night time routine. 

Eddie slipped your new paci into your mouth as you smiled happily. 

“There's my little baby.” Eddie cooed, kissing you again on your forehead. He just couldn't get enough of you when you were little. Caring for you was his favorite thing to do ever. 

He picked you up from the couch, knowing that if he didn't carry you now, you would just start pouring on the couch until he did. Your legs wrapped around his waist as he held you on his hip around the trailer to his bedroom. He laid you down on his bed as he rummaged through his dresser. 

“Alright baby bear, do you want daddy to change you or do you want to do it yourself?” Eddie asked. You had seen eachother naked and changed in front of each other a plethora of times throughout your relationship, but this was different. You were just a little baby, and Eddie wanted to make you feel comfortable with everything. 

“You do it daddy.” You smiled up at him, kicking your feet as they hung from his bed. 

“Ok then, arms up!” he said, tugging your sweater uo our arms and off your body, making sure to give you as many kisses and raspberries on your sides and tummy as he could. He couldn't help it, he loved the way you giggled and squealed. He helped you into your new onesie and a pair of his pj pants. You argued that you didn't want to wear any pants but Eddie insisted that you couldn't just walk around the trailer in no pants. So when he offered that you could wear a pair of his, you accepted with your brows furrowed, but Eddie knew your fussiness wasn't serious. 

He picked you back up and carried you back to the couch. He wrapped you up in a thick and warm blanket and turned on the Christmas movie channel on the TV before going to the kitchen to warm up your bottle. 

He simply couldn't take his eyes off of you and how cute you looked wrapped up in his big blanket, the way you cuddled into your stuffy so gently and how adorable you looked with your new paci. Soon the microwaved beeped, indicating the bottle had finished as he took it out. He poured a drop on his wrist and licked it, testing the temperature to make sure it wasn't too hot for you. He nodded to himself as he approved the temperature and began to walk over to the couch. 

Your eyes were glued to the movie on the TV. You didn't even notice Eddie walking back until you felt the indent on the couch. 

“Ok, you ready baby?” Eddie asked. 

You suddenly became anxious and slightly self conscious. Because bottle feeding had been a new thing for the both of you, you still didn't feel as comfortable as you wanted with it. It was never Eddie's fault, he wanted you to be as comfortable as possible. And being the perfect caregiver that Eddie is, he noticed your change in behavior right away. He placed the bottle on the small lamp table next to him as he laid on the couch, his arms open inviting you in. You happily accepted, moving closer to his side as he held you. You both lost yourself in the movie for a while and Eddie assumed you had gone nonverbal throughout the minutes passing as your talkative state died down and he was left with a cozy and sleepy baby. 

When he found the time was right and you had calmed down, he reached for the bottle again. He softly took the paci out of your mouth and held the bottle, waiting for you to accept. Your eyes fluttered at him and in your safe and sleepy headspace, accepting the warm bottle of milk seemed like a dream. Your lips latched slowly and softly on the bottle as you began to drink. You tried to reach for the bottle before Eddie took them, tucking them back into the blanket and around your reindeer stuffie. “It's ok baby, I got it, you don't have to worry, daddys got you.” he reassured. 

As you kept sipping, you found yourself cuddling deeper and deeper into Eddie's chest, falling sleepier and sleepier. When Eddie found that you had finished the bottle, he gently removed it from your lips and placed the paci back in to avoid any fussiness in your sleep. He turned the small lamp off but decided to leave the TV on for soft lighting and background sounds to keep you asleep. He kissed your forehead once more and wrapped his arms around you. 

“Merry Christmas little one.” He whispered as you two fell asleep in each others arms. Neither of you would have wanted to spend Christmas any other way. 

[marshallpupfan]

New Marshall Pics! (Season 10, Ep.14)

A new episode premiered in Canada today (which will also air a few days later in the USA, too), so... well, you know what I'm gonna say. :)

Segment 1 - "Charger's Christmas Adventure"

Charger's appearance lets you know right away that this is more or less a Rubble episode. At least all of the pups got to help out during the mission (sans Rocky, surprisingly), and Everest even showed up to contribute, too. Fortunately, there were no villains to cause problems, so it's a good ol' fashion rescue.

In terms of Christmas specials, I think everyone will still like season one's "Pups Save Christmas" better, but personally, I think I might've liked this one more than the one in season 7.

Segment 2 - "Pups Save Great Uncle Smiley's Cup"

Despite the title, no, this has nothing to do with Marshall's pet frog, Smiley. This Smiley is related to Mayor Goodway... and that's call I can tell you. The episode kind of treated the character as if we already know him or something, but... I sure don't.

In any case... hey, EMT Marshall! It's been a while, eh? He didn't get to do too much, but I'm at least glad to see the folks working on the cartoon still remember the outfit. Rocky was called in to help the most during the mission, likely to make up for his lack of assistance in the previous segment. Naturally, some animals got loose later on, which required Zuma and... well, I don't have to say, do I?

Overall, the episode wasn't bad. The first segment was definitely the better of the two, but the second has its merits. I wish the Christmas segment had been a full episode though.

That's all for now. From the looks of things, there won't be another episode for two weeks, so I'll be back then with more new pics!

[emilylawsons]

if you’re feeling like it: hand-holding 30 or 34 for Helen and Dale? :3

Oh, I had fun with this one! I think my heart wants to believe that year between seasons 1 and 2 was a good time for them. Went with 34–holding hands while driving.

Thanks for the prompt!

Touches Ask Game

…

Windows down, music blasting.

That is the way Helen likes their drive to Bendigo for Christmas. Val has a turkey in the oven and has promised clean sheets on the bed in Dale’s old room. As they cruise down the freeway, Helen tips her sunglasses back over her eyes, fighting the hot rays of early summer in Victoria.

Dale is in the driver’s seat, bopping his head along to Helen’s choice of heavy rock. He’s the most relaxed she’s seen him in months. Since he took over the desk last autumn, he’s on edge, constantly trying to prove he belongs where he’s at and isn’t simply a filler for Geoff—a substitute until someone “better” comes along. His change in energy for this holiday is refreshing, and Helen is grateful for a stress-free trip.

This isn’t the first time she’s been to his mother’s, and their little trip back in the winter had been…well, it had been less than desirable. Dale had spent the entire time on the phone, listening to the radio—anything for updates on what he initially believed would become a huge story. He had been convinced they would have to pack up any minute and return straight to Melbourne, and not only had it left Helen unnecessarily antsy, but she’d watched him deflect and miss every single one of his mother’s attempts to enjoy their company.

Helen and Val had reached an understanding and appreciation for one another that weekend.

For this visit, however, they’ve had a talk. Dale is not to think about work. He is not to turn on the telly outside of the usual Christmas specials. And he sure as hell is not allowed control of any radio. Hence, Helen packing a shoebox of cassettes for the ride.

The current tape ends, and she sifts through her box for a new one. It needs rewinding, but the second Pat Benatar blares through the speakers, Dale is on cloud nine.

Helen can only giggle at his antics—at his exaggerated pitch and his enthusiasm as he drums on the steering wheel. He’s lucky they’re on a long stretch of road with few cars, or his swerve might have dire consequences.

“Watch the road, or I’m telling your mother to bust your arse when we get there,” she threatens with a chuckle.

But he keeps going. “We belong to the light, we belong to the thunder!”

He grasps her hand and holds it up victoriously, and she nearly chokes with laughter. “Dale!”

“We belong to the sound of the words we’ve both fallen under!”

He keeps up his dramatic performance, hand still holding hers. “Okay, Dale, really—”

“Weeeeee belong! We belong, we belong together!”

He stops and turns the volume down, both of them in fits of hilarity. And as she sees the smile on his face—a genuine smile for the first time in weeks—she thinks…this can work.

“Ladies and gentleman, that was the musical stylings of Dale Jennings,” Helen narrates, putting on her camera voice. “Tune in next time…if he doesn’t crash the car.”

“I’ll be here all week,” he gives a little bow, planting the hand holding hers back on the steering wheel.

“You know, we should see if Lindsay will let you turn this into a bit. Really put a bug up Geoff’s arsehole.”

“Oh, I’m sure the ratings will soar.”

“It’s what the people want—to be dazzled and entertained, right?”

Dale only laughs and shakes his head. “I bloody love you, you know that?”

Helen reaches for his hand again, offering him a sweet smile. “Yeah, I know.”

[writefightandflightclub]

That special something: Santiago “Pope” Garcia x reader (a fluffy, cute Christmas story!)

A/n: wrote this quickly on Xmas morning while everyone else in the house was still asleep! If you want some romantic, cute, Hallmark movie Santi vibes this Xmas, this is my present to you! Just a quick one (and I’ll come back and proof later as I’m sure it will be needed!)! Merry Christmas lovelies, ILYSM! 🧡

Gif: @fernandabarrera

Rating: general audiences (but my blog is 18+ minors DNI)

Warnings: alcohol mentions.

The last minute rush of Christmas Eve panic-buyers has finally died down, the shelves of your cosy little artisan store almost emptied of goods.

After an exhausting day of supporting frazzled shoppers to secure the perfect purchases, you are now mentally slipping into festive mode. You’re polishing off a glass of the mulled wine you’d been handing out to customers, humming along to the lilting Christmas tunes as you finish cashing-up, and you even imagine you’ll be able to close-up on schedule until-

-The bell above the door tinkles once more, indicating a new arrival. You have to suppress an audible groan as you turn towards the noise, but you plaster on your game face. You can do this. Just one more customer.

“Merry Christmas Eve! Let me know if I can help you to find that special something,” you recite, the words spilling out on a weary auto-pilot. Your words, however, falter as you turn towards the man who has just stepped inside.

For a moment, you imagine that you might have finally fallen asleep on your feet, or perhaps slumped over the counter. This patron is handsome enough that you could believe you have slipped into a Hallmark-inspired dream.

Your eyes travel down the length of him, and back up again. Sturdy black, lace-up combat boots adorn his feet, leading up to a pair of fitted blue jeans, denim pulling taut around his ample thighs. He’s bundled up in a grey wool coat and midnight blue scarf, looking deliciously cosy, melting flakes of snow adorning his shoulders. And then, there’s his entire head and face area to enjoy.

Damn.

He’s certainly handsome.

His every feature (lips, nose, eyes, brows, cheekbones) is stand-out, yet somehow still harmonious. His brown skin is decorated with a layer of greying scruff along that mighty Disney-Prince jaw. His head is adorned with silvered curls -as perfectly swirled and placed as the ribbons you’ve been gift-wrapping with today- which have been dusted with a sprinkling of snowflakes.

You smile, and as he returns it and the creases radiate out from around his eyes you wonder if winter has suddenly passed and it is spring already, for a flutter of warmth dances in your belly.

As he turns, clasping the door shut behind him to preserve the heat, you first of all plant your hands firmly on the surface of your counter, squeezing the edge. Second of all, you spot the sizeable backpack he has slung over his shoulders. He’s likely fresh from the airport you reckon, just in time for Christmas. A squashy neck pillow is clipped to his bag, and the size of it is more substantial than a day-pack. You wonder idly who he’s visiting for the season.

As he turns back towards the interior, his dark, chestnut eyes do a sweep of you, and then of the stock. He runs a hand over his scruff before taking a few steps inside, his large pack now looking like a hazard as he meanders through the walkways between the precarious displays.

“Would you like to set that down by the counter?”

He lifts his eyebrows and pops his AirPods from his ears. “Sorry, I…”

You try to repeat the question, but with his warm eyes directly on you it takes a moment to push the words out. “Would you like to set your bag down? While you browse?”

He flutters his eyelashes at you while he thinks, and your middle turns to honey.

“Thanks. Been a hell of a trip.” You idly wonder where he’s travelled from. His weariness makes you suspect a little further than a quick hop. You watch the man puff as he emancipates himself from his pack, setting it down at the foot of the counter. You see the glimpse of a jaunty, roll-neck Christmas jumper as he unfurls his scarf too, setting that down as well as the warmth of your store envelops him.

He smiles and nods at you as he commences his browse around your display stands and shelves, scanning every inch of your store. Pausing sometimes in front of some items and rocking foot to foot as he ponders. Picking up little trinkets and items and turning them over contemplatively in his broad hands. Replacing each carefully and stuffing his hands in his jeans pockets -pulling them tight over his rump- as his face scrunches in deep consideration, lips coming to a pout and brows knitting.

Watching him, you find yourself suddenly and entirely ambivalent to the fact you’d just been about to shut up shop; despite having promised yourself yourself only moments before his arrival that you were out of here. Still, you suppose you do have places to be tonight. Stunning as he is, you feel you should probably make some attempt to expedite his purchasing.

Doing your non-intrusive shopkeeper walk, you emerge from behind the counter and round to the door, subtly flipping your sign to “closed” for good measure. Then, you round towards the man, stepping up beside him, your hands clasped neatly in front of you. “Can I help you find that special something?”

He turns. Smiles at you. Points up with his index finger, his eyebrows jumping towards his hairline. “That’s the name of the shop.” You enjoy the gravel in his voice, rough and thawing like gritted sidewalks.

It is. Special somethings.

This close, you notice that his cheeks and the tip of his nose are ruddy from the cold. You notice the subtle dusting of freckles on his nose too. Your face feels suddenly warm. “It is. So can I help you find anything special? Is there someone specific you’re shopping for?”

He rocks from foot to foot again. Saws his hand back and forth over his stubble and you hear it bristle. The sound sends a hum of electricity which beds down under your skin. “I was supposed to pick something up before I left Colombia.” He shakes his head. “I really don’t know what to bring them.”

Parents? Friends? Spouse and/or children?

Is it unprofessional to be willing so hard that he be single?

You smile softly as his eyes flick back to pore over the shelves. He seems on edge. Whoever he is visiting for the holidays, it must be a big deal.

“I can help with that,” you soothe. “We can find something perfect.”

He runs a nervous hand through his curls, displacing them into something even more wonderful. He emits a one-noted laugh, offering you a lazy flash of teeth. “Bottle of tequila’s not going to cut it this time. My buddy…” You can’t help but note the affection he imbues those words with. “He and his wife have invited me over to their place. For Christmas.” He pumps his eyebrows, as if he can’t quite comprehend their gesture.

You make your eyes wide, showing that you are listening. It’s not hard - in truth, you are rapt.

“Okay,” you nod. “We can work with that.” You look hastily around the low-stocked shelves. “A classic gift to ease along their Christmas, and show your gratitude, right?”

He huffs air out from between those kissable lips. “More like a ‘sorry for being here’ kinda thing.” He laughs but it is a terse, self-deprecating sound. “Got anything for that?”

You start to walk in a direction and with your hand you wave him along with you. He follows. “I’m sure they’ll be delighted to see you!” You know you’re certainly delighted to see him. There’s a lot to look at. “Now, what about this?” You pass the item into his hands, your fingers brushing his, and he turns it over in his palms like he had all the others.

“I dunno,” he sighs. “This is great but I…” He chews on his lip, and you wait patiently for him to finish his sentence. “I’ve been away a long time. And I haven’t been the best at… I haven’t really been… He’s my best friend, you know, and I…”

You don’t know, because he’s not finishing any of his sentences, but at the same time; you get it. You can fill in some of the blanks. His buddy means a lot to him. He’s been away for a while, and now he feels like he’s at a deficit. That he has something to make up for. That he doesn’t fully deserve his friend’s freely offered invitation to spend their special day with them.

“Okay,” you reassure softly, slipping the item from his hands and placing it haphazardly back on the shelf. “We can keep trying.”

You hover a hand around his elbow, and lead him over towards the next stand you have in mind, following the same routine. You pass a series of objects to him and he turns them over and around; but not a single one seems to spark anything. Not a single item seems good enough. Nothing, to him, feels adequate enough to gift to this man who clearly means a lot to him. Nothing seems adequate to make up for the gesture he sees as far too generous. That he sees as an intrusion.

“I’m sorry,” he finally says, upon seeing you surreptitiously checking the clock on the wall. “Shit, look at me. It’s Christmas Eve. You probably have somewhere to be. I’m such as ass.” He’s been unconsciously stalling, you think. He’s nervous about going to his buddy’s house. And, truth be told, if your store can provide him a temporary haven, then you are more than content to be a little late in catching-up with your friends tonight.

Feeling bold, you place your hand on his arm. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it. I’ve got the perfect thing.”

His eyes settle on you for a moment as you lean in, your voice warm and smooth and enticing like a mug of hot chocolate. His gaze flits gently over your face. “For real?” You quash the vague urge to bite his sizeable earlobe.

“Yeah!” You enthuse, an excited smile spreading over your face. “Come here. Over to the counter.”

You skip over there, your mellow shopkeeper walk forgotten, and you grab something up from the counter, waiting for him to cross to you.

The man obediently stands in front of you, clearly intrigued by the gleeful, slightly mischievous expression on your face.

Then, once he’s stood still, you produce a large, shiny Christmas bow from behind your back, the backing already peeled off to expose the adhesive. Next, with a flourish, you stick it ceremoniously on to his coat, patting it down firmly to affix it to the right side of his chest.

He compresses his chin into his chest to peer down at it, a surprised smile crinkling his nose. “What’s this?”

“It’s you.” Your eyes shine brightly as you explain. “You are the perfect special something to take to your friend’s house.”

His warm eyes search yours, his doubtful tongue darting along his lower lip.

With careful fingers, you fluff out the shiny, elaborate bow, making it perfect. “Really,” you insist. “You clearly have so much love for your friend. And, I’d guess, from the fact you’re invited to share their special day with them, that you mean just as much to them too.” On instinct, you reach up to smooth the lapels of his coat with your palms. “I don’t care how long it’s been since you saw them. You don’t need to be nervous. Nothing you can arrive with is going to be a better present than you being there with them - allll the way from Colombia- just like they wanted.”

His eyes grow misty with a depth of feeling. His lips hover between round shapes of stunned silence and curved watery smiles. His gaze flits all over your face again, until he is finally overcome by a 100-watt smile. “Alright. Then how much for the fancy bow?” He taps it proudly with his index finger.

“Free of charge,” you smile, batting your lashes at him.

“That’s a terrible business model.”

You release a bright laugh. “Silly! I’m just trying to get you out of my shop.” You nod towards the sign on the door. “Don’t you know we’re closed?”

His eyes sparkle as he receives your joke, and you cling on to the sweet, eddying feeling his smile inspires. You each linger there a moment more, until the man finally nods, sweeping up his pack from the floor and replacing it on his back, careful not to disturb the new shiny ornament adorning his chest. “I’d better get going then,” he revs softly, and -you think- as reluctant as you are to part ways. Stalling now for an entirely different reason.

It is as much as you can do to nod, smile fondly, and fold your arms around your middle.

“You, uh, got some nice plans for Christmas?” he asks as you walk him towards the door, dragging out the moment as far as is humanly possible.

“Yeah,” you tilt your head from side to side. “Spending it with my friend Frankie, his wife Ava and their kid. Think they took pity on me.”

Your patron looks at you very curiously then, a wild sparkle of delight dancing in his beautiful warm eyes. “Huh. Frankie sounds a lot like my buddy. The type to take in strays at Christmas.”

“Something like that,” you smile, then, to your surprise, your patron leans in, pressing his lips to your cheek in a chaste kiss, the tip of his nose still cold as he sinks it into the soft cushion of your face.

A giddy delight rises in your stomach. It is something like butterflies; spring already in the depths of mid-winter. Then, your customer grins. “I’ve a feeling I’ll be seeing you again,” he ventures.

“I hope so,” you bravely venture back as he steps out into the cold, snowflakes once again dusting him, like icing sugar all over a delightful snack.

“And hey,” the man says before he turns from you to plod along the street. “Thank you.” You look at him quizzically. What for? He looks you up and down once more, drinking you in like a measure of warming mulled alcohol. “For helping me find something special, just in time for Christmas.”

You heart thuds wildly as you watch him walk away, his words laced with a subtle double-meaning.

You close up the shop, pleased that you stuck around to serve that one last customer. He didn’t buy anything, but he might just be the best gift you’ve had all year.

You giggle to yourself as you pull the shutter.

Makes perfect sense that you stuck a bow on him, you think.

[fangirlingfromdownunder]

Home For Christmas

TGWRC Christmas in July Event Fic

Prompt - Someone resorts to desperate measures to get home for Christmas. “Sounds like a fun party…So why aren’t you inside enjoying it?”

Pairing - Jensen Ackles x Reader

Masterlist

“Want a top-up?” Genevieve asks you, holding up a half-full bottle of Pinot Noir. You just shake your head and excuse yourself outside to the patio. 

Austin winters were generally quite mild and tonight you were thankful for it. Still, you wrap your shawl tighter around yourself as you look out over the Padalecki’s backyard from the deck. The kids are all noisily singing carols and playing games inside and you know you should be in there celebrating Christmas Eve with them but it’s hard to get into the spirit when you know their Christmas wishes won’t be coming true. Ever since your husband gave you the unfortunate news a few days ago you’ve been trying to find ways to keep the kids distracted and make the season as special as possible. 

That’s how you ended up planning a joint Christmas with the Padaleckis, starting with a sleepover tonight. You packed up all the stockings and presents and hid them in the back of the car earlier in the day so you can surprise them in the morning. You contemplate trying to put your act back on to join them when your phone rings. You stare at your husband’s name on the screen for a moment before answering. His tired yet handsome face pops up filling your screen. You return the most sincere smile you can.

“Hey Honey,” you say.

“Hey Sweetheart, how’s the party going?”

“Great. Gen broke out the wine and the kids are inside doing karaoke and playing games together. They seem happy…”

“Sounds like a fun party … So why aren’t you inside enjoying it?”

“Just getting some fresh air … And trying to work out how I’m going to break the news to them. In 10 years you’ve never once missed Christmas.”

“I know. Everything was different when I was filming Supernatural. I just don’t have any pull around here. I would give anything to be there with you guys, you know that.”

“Yeah, I know. I just … I miss you.”

“I miss you too, Sweetheart. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault filming got held up. Do you wanna talk to the kids?”

“I don’t wanna upset them. We can video call with them tomorrow.”

“Okay…”

“I gotta get back on set, try and have some fun for me. I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you too, Jensen.”

Once the line goes silent you shove your phone back in your pocket, take a deep breath to compose yourself and go back inside. You refill your glass as you walk through the kitchen, taking a big gulp before joining everyone in the living room. Sitting down on the couch beside Gen she pats your knee comfortingly – she knows how hard it can be to not have your partner by your side, especially during special occasions so has been doing her best to cheer you up. 

“Alright, kiddos, I think it’s time to start getting ready for bed,” Jared says standing up and lowering the volume of the music. All the kids groan in unison. 

Gen sits up straighter and adds, “Do you want Santa to come? Santa only comes if everyone is asleep.” 

“But we wanna stay up and see him!” Tom whines.

“That’s not how it works. Santa won’t come if you’re not tucked up in bed,” Gen adds.

“But Mamma, can’t we stay up a little while longer? What if Daddy gets here?” your daughter asks as she climbs into your lap.

“Uncle Jared and Aunty Gen are right, Santa won’t come if you stay awake, and nor will Dad.” You kiss your daughter on the head and stand up keeping your four-year-old on your hip. “Come on guys, go upstairs and brush your teeth and I’ll come up and read you a story and tuck you in.” You carry your daughter upstairs as the other kids begrudgingly following behind. 

Once they all run into the bathroom to brush their teeth your seven-year-old son hangs behind for a second. “He’s not coming home is he?” he asks.

You crouch down to his level and shake your head, “I’m sorry, Baby, he’s doing his best. He wishes he could be here. He loves you and your sister so much.”

“Can we at least call him before bed?”

“Go brush your teeth and I’ll text him and see if he can have a quick chat between scenes.”

Your son nods and joins the rest of the kids in the bathroom. You send off a text to Jensen asking if he can talk, but you already know he won’t check it while filming. Then you sit on the end of Tom’s bunk bed with the Twas The Night Before Christmas book and wait for the kids to come in. Once they come in you give them a few minutes to settle under the blankets of the two beds and then start to read. 

“... Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.” you read. Closing the book, you stand up and tuck them all in.

Your son quietly stops you, “So no answer?”

You shake your head. “Sorry, Sweetie, he must be working. He’ll call in the morning.”

He sadly rolls over, snuggling into the covers beside his sister. Holding back tears you turn on the twinkling Christmas lights on the small tree in the bedroom, shut off the overhead light and quietly shut the door before making your way back downstairs. 

As you sit on the couch where Jared and Gen are both now spread out she asks, “They go down okay?”

“Yeah, they’re good kids. I just wish I could give mine what they want most.”

“It’s hard to believe they kept filming so late. I’ve never been asked to work Christmas,” Jared says.

“They weren’t meant to, but there was a blizzard and they got pushed back and then a few of them just couldn’t get a flight so they decided to keep filming. I know he tried his best. It’s not his fault, it just sucks. Especially for the kids.”

The three of you sit quietly scrolling on your phones for a while waiting until you’re sure the kids are all fully asleep. After about half an hour you all get up and start to arrange the presents under the big tree in the living room. Jared drinks the glass of eggnog and takes a bite out of the carrot and cookies the kids put out for Santa and his reindeer earlier in the evening. You and Gen also fill the stockings on the fireplace. 

“I hope they’re happy with what I could manage,” you say.

“As you said, they’re good kids. They’ll be grateful even if a little disappointed that their dad’s not here,” Gen says as she hugs you. 

“Come on, we should all get some sleep. They’ll all be up at the crack of dawn,” Jared adds. You and Gen nod. Jared goes around the house shutting off lights and checking the doors as you and Gen head upstairs. You take a quick shower changing into a pair of comfy, warm Christmas pyjamas before laying down in the guest bed. 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

It’s well after midnight when a quiet knocking noise wakes you up. You blink a few times, adjusting to the lack of light in the room. You hear the quiet knocking again from the balcony doors, so you get up and make your way towards the doors. When you slide the sheer curtain to the side carefully you’re met with the sight of a tall, muscular man with a bushy beard in a red hat, flannel and dark jeans. Covering your mouth to keep yourself quiet you swing the door open and let the man in. As he steps in he holds a small piece of mistletoe above your head. 

“Sorry Santa, I don’t think my husband would appreciate me kissing another man.”

“It can be our little secret. You can’t deny the mistletoe,” he says as he leans down and captures your lips with his in a soft, passionate kiss. You eagerly kiss back, wrapping your arms around his neck. 

As you pull back slightly you run your fingers through his long, scruffy beard and say, “I could get used to this.”

“Merry Christmas, my love.”

“But how? Earlier you said-” you ask.

“After that call, I knew I had to find a way to get here. So, I called in a few favours. Trust me, it was all worth it to be here with you and to see the kid’s reactions in the morning.”

“They’re gonna be so happy. You know their Santa letters really only had one thing on them: for Daddy to come home. They’ve been so good and understanding, but also trying hard to cover their sadness.”

“I love my job, you know that. But I love being a husband and a father more. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“I love you so much.”

“Do you think you can keep quiet if I give you your first Christmas present now?”

“Jensen…You just being here is enough.”

“Maybe it’s a little bit for me too…” He starts walking you back towards the bed until the back of your knees hit the soft blanket. “You have to promise to stay quiet though.”

You bite your bottom lip between your teeth and nod and he pushes you back, you sink into the mattress. Looking down at you splayed out for him, he pulls off his hat and flannel before crawling onto the bed, holding his weight above you. 

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

You wake with a start when you hear doors opening down the hall and loud voices. You quickly shake your naked husband to wake him. “I know you’re tired but you gotta get dressed and get downstairs. If they find out you were here most of the night…”

He tiredly rubs his eyes and sits up while you jump out of bed, lock the door and pull your pyjamas back on. You toss his clothes at him impatiently as you hear loud knocking on the door and see the doorknob turning. 

“Mummy! Mummy! It’s Christmas and Santa was here! Why won’t your door open?” you hear your daughter calling from the hallway.

Jensen finally pulls his shirt on and stands up. As he’s pulling his jeans up his legs you push him towards the balcony doors. As he’s doing up his button and zipper you pull his hat over his messy hair and shut the doors behind him.

“Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!” the whinging continues. As soon as you can’t see Jensen on the balcony anymore you open the bedroom door. 

“Sorry, Baby, I must’ve locked in last night when I went to bed. Merry Christmas! Did you say Santa was here?”

“Yeah! Santa drinked the milk and ate the cookies! And left presents!”

“Really? Is everyone else downstairs?”

“Yep! You sleeped in.”

“I did. Let’s go join everyone.” You pick her up and carry her downstairs.

Just as you get downstairs you hear a loud knock on the front door. “Should we get that, Bubba?” She nods, as you carry her towards the door. Your son is busy rummaging through his stocking with Tom and Shep and barely hears anything. As you open the door your daughter screams and reaches for her dad instantly. Finally hearing the raucous the boys run into the entryway, your son’s jaw instantly drops when he sees his dad and runs into his arms. You smile at the scene in front of you before Jensen pulls you into the family group hug. 

[popculturebuffet]

Uncle Scrooge: The Secret Santa Spell Review (comission by WeirdKev27)

Happy Holidays all you Happy People. It's that time of year again, time to haul out the holly and the breadcrumbs because we're talking about ducks again. Yes while I haven't talked about ducks nearly enough on this blog as of late, finding a Ducktale for christmas has always been a priority.

This year though Kev took the reigns on this one after realizing this was a tradition, and found me TWO. We were originally going to do the darkwing duck christmas special, something I didn't know existed and still know little about on purpose and still plan to next year.. but then... he found this. See back in 2021 I reviewed the Carl Barks comic a letter to santa. You can find the review here.

But the main takeaway is it features THIS iconic scene

Look saying i'm a simple man would be a boldfaced lie, but sometimes it's the simple things like an absurdly rich duck and his nephew fighting to the death with heavy machinery so one of them can give their nephew's the remaining machine as a christmas present that bring me joy on this holiday season.

That said after years of basking in the warm glow of having randomly found a comic about Scrooge and Donald battling to the death with steam shovels, I found something just as holly jolly.. and just as gloriously, wonderfully nuts. My friends it's time I introduced you to the Secret Santa spell.

Again Kev, my producer of sorts, deserves the credit here: he found this in Disney Christmas Parade, IDW's christmas anthology they printed every year for a while, and god bless him for it as this story is gold. It's a genuinely good, well done Magica story that thanks to taking place on christmas and involving a claus somehow less thought out than the one where if you kill Santa you become Santa, figgy pudding, a murder tree, and a volcano finale, is also completely bonkers and I love every second of it. This is a geninely fantastic scrooge story and one worth taking a look for yourself if you can find it online since it's out of print. For those of you who can't or simply don't wanna, come with me under the cut as we explore the hap happiest christmas since bing crosby tap danced with danny fucking kaye while Donald and Scrooge tried to pummel each other with steam shovels.

This story comes to us from writers Fransico Artibani, Lello Arena and artest Silvio Cambolli. I hadn't heard of any of these people before this as i'm not really up on my itallian duck comics but they do an excellent job here and I certainly will be looking out for more of their stories.

For this story we open at the bin a few days before christmas as everything's winding down for the holiday and Donald's doing one of his last bits of slave labor for Scrooge when two Scottish obviously suspcious carollers show up. Scrooge apparently gets so many that both are and aren't villians in disguise he's worked up a bit of an extreme solution.. granted he wanted to just pour oil on them but then legal got involved.

So he has to go with the Virtuetron 3000, an elaborate setup he had gyro work up that puts MIND READING HELMETS

Yup i'ts magica.. I mean I can't blame Scrooge for being suspcious, turning her shadow into a teenager to sneak into the mansion only for said teenager to fall in love with scrooge's daughter, this ain't, but i'm less concered with Magica and Co's half baked scheme and more concered a man who underpays his employees, quite literally owns the town, and already has a fairly sketchy moral compass has MIND CONTROL technology.. and giant killer robots

You'd think this would be an out of character expendature... but he got it from a reliable presidental source

Scrooge did all this so he could have a restful christmas. Magica.. isn't having the same as she has some uninvited guests.

Okay so some introductions are in order as i'm sure some of you had the same reaction I did

Thankfully Inducks also indexed who they are. Starting with the one I DID recognize, the little tyke is Magica's niece Minima, the basis for Lena and Magica's exact oppisite: kind, selfless, cheery. The only thing she isn't inverted on is magical talent, as Minima has a knack for it.

The two strangers are Rosolio and Gramma DeSpell. Yes GRAMMA, that's magica's grandma. What's intresting is there's two distinct versions of the character that don't really contradict each other, with this one in the 90's becoming a bigger fixture, and there being nothing to say this isn't the same character given a Sabrina the Teenage Witch style makeover, just a few years BEFORE Zelda and Hilda's got there's in fact. Go figure. She's a bit of a hippie and tries to talk down Magica from her schemes.

Her sidekick here, and sexual harasser, is Rosolio, a mildly inepet magician who followed her from italy to hit on her.

So Magica's about ready to just abandon her magic shop and go.. fuck off or whatever when Minima innocently brings up something...

Yes folks, this is indeed our premise: Santa put in a clause in his magic that's somehow weirder than "If tim allen shoves you off a room tim allen become santa claus" or "If tim allen dosen't find a wife in time he ceases to be santa claus" or.. let's just say anything tim allen adjacent. If you wish for something seven times and happen to be some sort of spellcaster, you get it, regardless of morality, intent or what it actually is. Which DOES mean good news for one little boy man robot

But still raises a LOT of questions. It's not a bad concept, that asking for something enough means santa will take pity but why isn't their restraints? Why has Magica, someone Santa would objectively not liked asked 7 times? why have we only heard about a magic version of the junior woodchuck guidebook this once? why didn't we get a fourth season of ducktales so Frank could adapt this? These are the things that keep me up at night. This is also a thing that keeps me up at night.

Donald just admit you need glasses instead of taking it out on your children, for all our sakes!

So Magica goes to the north poll to deliver letter 7 personally while Gramma.. only stops Rogoilo from going with her then hopes she'll be okay.

Magicia isn't as an elf being pulled by a sleigh full of pengys and getting there late notices her. Honestly we wouldn't have this plot at all if the best boy pengy wasn't busy.

Magica is frozen solid and is revived by 30 cc's of hot chocolate. I don't know if Tom Hanks sang to her, he was also busy that christmas

Magcia repays this kindness by busting up the north poll, going on a rampage to find Santa since the elves handle letters. Keep in mind this ENTIRE act of the story, her getting frozen, her going on a rampage, her bringing an evil dead tree to life before fighting an army of teddy bears and snowman

YUP. You didn't think the insanity stopped at mind policing, killer robots, santa clauses and improperly placed penguins did you? Nope we get a full on offscreen lord of the rings battle complete with ents simply because Magicia wants to gloat in person. And despite this section being padding.. it works. of COURSE magicia would want to gloat to santa, of COURSE she coudln't wait for Christmas day. It's totlaly in character and her singing oh christmas tree or spitting out hot chocolate are just.. such nice character touches. Of course she's so dedicated to being evil she hates something sweet. OF COURSE.

It's something neat about this comic: i'ts bonkers, no question.. but it's also simply fantastic on it's own merit. The idea of Magica getting a santa wish is neat on it's own, but the story then uses Minima to anchor it: she's frustrated it seems her aunt will never be happy and always obess over the dime, and thus teleports to the bin to take it from her, not understanding WHY it's precious to scrooge or WHY her aunt wants it, simply wanting to make her aunt happy. No one even knows; the thought police helmet's don't scan ill intent.. because there isn't none. It's just an innocent child wanting to bring her Aunt christmas. This version of Minima reminds me a LOT of 87 webby, and it's in the best way: innocent , kind, selfless.. all the good things.

Anyways Santa finally goes to confront magica, wondering why she's doing this the answers no.. and forgetting his own stupid policy until it's too late, with her asking for the dime and him entering a trance to go get it.

It's christmas eve and Scrooge is bored as nothing's going on. Disturbingly he wants to know how litigatoins are going. Those orphans aren't going to be forced out into the snow themsleves, ghosts of past buisness partners be dammned!

Scrooge is interuptted from taling to Mrs. Quackfaster byt he arrival of santa. Thinking it's magica in a disguise , he sicks a robot guard dog on her he turns into a sheep.

But then we get the crowner, the weirdest, best, and most wonderful thing in this story.. I present...

I"ll level with you all, while holiday shopping was easy this year, i've still been dealing with a lot of seasonal depression and regular ole depression. It's been a long month with loved ones in the hosptial (nothing serious but also nothing you need to know about in full), work piling up and me not even taking the time to enjoy some of my gifts. I've had plenty of kind people, thoughtful gifts, and wonderful friends but sometimes the stress of this job, as much as I love it, and the world can get to you. So getting to just relax and review a comic where Santa turns Scrooge's bin into a giant figgy pudding while under hypnosis.. it helps> it warms the spirit and reminds me why I do this. For the joy of good stories.. and for the wonder of nonsense.

For those who like me wondered what Figgy Pudding actually even is, wonmder no more: it's a traditional british pudding made out of animal fat. You no doubt have more questions but we have more story

So Santa snaps out of it once he gives Magica the time and she teleports out. Scrooge asks santa to go get it.. but despite you know having TURNED SCROOGE'S BIN INTO PUDDING and stolen his prized possesion, he's .. less than helpful.

I just.. dude... man.. santa dude man claus... Christmas is important. It brigns joy to children and it's why youd o this. I get that. But how does "I need to return the dime I stole while BRAINWASHED due to a stupid bit of magic I never bothered to undo or work up a backup plan for", equate to "greed begats greed'.

For starters the Dime.. isn't just a dime.. and you should know this. Your santa. You know everything about a person, it's your deal. This dime was the first bit of honest money Scrooge ever earned, a reminder of what he started, something he dearly loves and treasures not because it's MONEY but because of what it means. And even not knowing that Scrooge didn't start any of this shit. Scrooge has to constantly ward off Magicia's crap, something you DO for a fact know as you rejected her wish till your dumbass magic kicked in. She's not trying to steal his hoarded gross amount of money, she's trying to take the dime and she's trying to do it for an evil plan. YOU KNOW BETTER SANTA.

Granted this could be a christmastime grift as Santa gets Scrooge to promise a big dinner and bonuses for everyone in duckburg, so he could've simply been fleecing scooge.. and I prefer that interprtation as it fits santa better: Santa would WANT to make up for what he did with magica and WANT to stop her because Santa is a kind, caring person. And even if she hadn't used the santa spell against him, she still attacked his elves out of spite. I prefer to think he would've helped anyway but knew Scrooge deserved to be taught a lesson which, fair play to the big guy.. Scrooge ABSOLUTELY did.

So they go to stop him while Magica goes to show off her dime.. and minima realizes Magica didn't open her present and thus dosen'jt know and is about to make an oopsie.

So Scrooge and Santa go to stop her, but can't... luckily thanks to Minima giving Scrooge a chocolate coin instead of giving her the midas touch, the spell gives her...

It's an excellent brick joke on Magicia hating chocolate, and a great visual. it temproarily makes her the sweetst duck in the world.. which leads to some shipping bait

But a genuinely sweet ending for Minima who, if for one moment and only thanks to magic.. gets to enjoy her aunt. I mean Magica becoming sweet thanks to choclate magic is KINDA Messed up.. but it's hard to not enjoy a child who simply wanted her aunt to be happy.. getting that for one breif moment.

I still feel bad for her as this won't lass, Magicia will be back to her abuse hateful self.. but I can't begrudge a kind, innocent little witch her happy ending. I just don't have it in me. It's not forever, Magicia gets herself back.. but for one day.. she'll treat her family how they deserve. And Rogilo how he really dosen't but you can't have everything now can you?

So because we can't just end on the sweet moment, Santa assures Scrooge the figgy pudding bin will turn back after christmas.. but until then.. he has a promise to fufill.

Every christmas story should end with the whole town eating a rich man's property. Hell EVERY christmas should. Eat the rich's buildings kids!

This story is excellent. Really werid? yes. Having a pretty bonkers ending for no reason? Yes. Is said ending hilarious, the throughline of Minima heartfelt, and the zanier stuff also really funny? Entirely. It's a well done Scrooge story set around christmas with santa's indgiance at helping scrooge being the only thing I really don't like. Had he phrased it less as "you brought this on yourself" and more "you don't deserve it after how you've treated your employees" it'd make more sense. Still one little bump dosen't ruin the figgy pudding.. I think. I don't know how figgy pudding works. I do like this story though and highly recommend it. Thanks for reading.

[look-at-the-soul]

New traditions

Modern Tommy Shelby x Reader

🎄 I wrote this one shot to celebrate @runnning-outof-time almost 2.5K, K congratulations 🎉 you’ve made a few celebrations before but timing wasn’t on my side and I couldn’t finish the story on time, now your Bingo celebration came just in time as I had this Christmas idea ♥️ so it couldn’t be more fitting, I hope you continue to do more celebrations and posting more incredible stories -one day I will catch up ☺️-

Summary: Setting up the Christmas tree together, becomes a new tradition for Tommy, Y/N and Charlie, let the beautiful the season do its own magic and make your wish, you might find your favorite Shelby doing something he wouldn’t normally do. 😉

Special thanks to @lyarr24 for the food recommendations 🥰

 After taking a shower, Tommy got ready. The second floor was oddly silent, Y/N was nowhere to be seen and Charlie wasn’t in his room. But as he reached the first floor, he heard a low conversation and giggles and small chorus of a song.

“Go around the tree, and keep the ribbon with the little loop like this,” Tommy saw Y/N pointing at a piece of ribbon perfectly placed.

“Like this?”

A hand on her hip, her jeans hugging her legs, her ass was hidden by an oversized sweater Tommy swore belonged to him. “Beautiful, see? It wasn’t so hard.” Y/N nodded at the kid as she walked to the fire place, there was a garland decorating the top of it. As Charlie kept singing and messing up with the lyrics, Y/N took something out from a shopping bag.

Tommy’s heart caught up in his throat as he saw three Christmas socks in her hands.

One for him, one for her and one for his son, with Charlie’s name embroidered.

“Y/N look! Dad can help us with the star, we don’t need the ladder anymore.” Charlie pointed at him, still frozen in spot.

“We didn’t want to wake you up, so I asked Charlie to help me set up the Christmas tree.” Y/N explained as she walked towards him, giving Tommy a small peck on the lips, she tasted like hot chocolate and cookies.

“Will you help us Dad?” Charlie asked showing off his smile. Charming just like his father.

He had a busy morning ahead, but as Charlie ran to Y/N and they both pleaded with puppy eyes, he couldn’t say no.

“Alright.” He cleared his throat, pushing away the emotions, or at least trying to. “What can I help you with?

“Mr. Shelby I brought some coffee for you.” Frances announced placing the tray on the table, after asking if he wanted something for breakfast and Tommy answered that he didn’t, she left the drawing room.

“Charlie I think we can turn up the volume of the music now.” Y/N winked at Tommy, brushing his lips one more time as his son went to choose the playlist . “I have a surprise for you, later.”

Tommy raised his eyebrows in surprise, “are you going to dress up as Mrs Claus?” he licked his lips suggestively.

Hitting him in the chest with the Christmas sock, Y/N looked over at Charlie, lost in the gifts she had wrapped already, trying to find out the content of the package with his name on the tag.

“No what I had in mind, but that sounds like something you’d like.” Y/N answered while a soft blush covered her cheeks.

“Gloves, red lipstick, high boots, singing Jingle bells...” Tommy pressed his lower lip between his teeth and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

Y/N couldn’t stop the laugh, as his hands squeezed her waist.

“You left me alone this morning.”

Feeling his arms locked, she was pressed dangerously close to his toned body. His lotion was addictive.

“Thought you were tired from last night activities.” She whispered opening the top button of his blue shirt. “Charlie almost caught me this morning.”

“Oh you wore me out, but I could always go for one more.” As Tommy smiled, small lines formed around his eyes. Lines of happiness as Y/N liked to call them.

“Dad do you know what Y/N got me? She says it’s heavy and its got thirteen letters.” Charlie complained interrupting their conversation looking up at his father.

Breaking the embrace, Y/N smiled at the mini-Tommy, he was just as curious as his dad, trying to get hints and clues since they started decorating early that morning.

“Nope, she went alone to shop in peace, says I don’t have patience.”

“You don’t.” Y/N interjected adding some crystal render to the decoration on top of the fireplace.

“So you don’t know?”

Pouting, Tommy shook his head.

Truth is he did know what present Y/N got his son, it was a beautiful horse collection that included three books and a set of horses figures, he knew Charlie would love it. But he wouldn’t ruin her surprise.

Tommy saw Y/N smiling at Charlie’s complain. He had asked Frances already.

“If its any consolation, she doesn’t want to tell me what she got for me.”

“That’s because is a surprise!”

After fixing some of the lights that didn’t work, he got up from the floor with a groan.

“Right, I hope you clean up everything after you finish, I gotta go.”

“What? Where?” Y/N popped her head from behind the tree with a look of a disappointment in her eyes, Christmas ornaments hanging from each finger. “I thought we’d spend the day together decorating.” She was hoping they could make it a beautiful new tradition.

With a loud huff, Cyril joined them only to keep sleeping peacefully next to the fire.

“I won’t be long, I just have to do something.”

“Daaaad.”

Guilt shot through his system, two pair of eyes looking at him accusingly.

“You promised to watch the Grinch with us.”

Part of Y/N’s Christmas ritual consisted of decorating the tree, bake cookies and watch a Christmas movies marathon.

“And Home alone too.” Charlie added.

And suddenly he felt like the worst person in the world.

“Fine, I’ll do it on Monday.” He gave in after a few seconds, there was no way to escape the Christmas decoration.

Y/N’s eyes sparkled, it was their first Christmas together and she was looking forward to the whole process.

“Really? Are you staying?” Y/N placed the tree ornaments back in the box and walked to were he was standing. She still wasn’t used to him working during the weekends. Lifting on her tip toes, she brushed her lips against Tommy’s. As he nodded, a beautiful smile appeared, and she pulled him by the neck to kiss him one more time. “You make me so happy.”

That’s all he wanted to hear. He would do anything just to see Y/N smile.

“I’m hungry.” Charlie complained.

“See I could go leave the papers and buy some food.” Tommy offered.

Y/N made a sound with her tongue and tilted her head. “I know that trick... we can order lunch in the app and get it delivered here.”

“What do you want?” He wrapped his arm around her waist, as Y/N leaned her head against his chest.

“Fish and chips!” Charlie demanded excitedly, running around.

“Where did he get all that energy?” Tommy asked looking at the ceiling.

Y/N laughed and inhaled his scent. “He’s your son, what did you expect?” Walking to her phone, she started placing the order, while with her free hand, she gave Tommy some ornaments. He made sure to get her approval before hanging each piece.

“Can you add extra ketchup for me Y/N? Please.”

Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Charlie placing the teddy bears with matching scarves under the tree, he was so polite.

“Of course sweetheart.” And as she said that, an arm sneaked around from behind.

“Where are you buying lunch from?”

“From Harry Ramsdens’, is that alright?”

“Yeah, love that.” Tommy kissed her neck and then the spot behind her ear that made her toes curl. Taking his wallet, he gave her his credit card.

“I think the tree is ready.”

Almost, Y/N thought walking to one of the boxes.

“Do you like this star, Cyril?” The dog sniffed the item, and Y/N moved it back just in time before he could lick it. “I think that’s a yes.”

Touching Tommy’s arm, she moved her eyes to Charlie, who was touching the crystal angel ornament he chose to remember and honour his mother.

“The tree needs the final touch son, do you want to put the star?”

“But it’s so high, I can’t reach the tip.”

Without further explanation, Tommy gave Charlie the star and took him in his arms. Lifting him above his head, the kid was able to set the star in the highest part of the tree. Struggling a bit when he started to laugh as his father’s fingers tickled his ribs.

“Are we ready now?”

“l’ll do it!” Charlie smiled running to take the remote to lit the tree.

“3, 2... 1!”

Turning on the lights, the three of them remained quiet for a moment, admiring their work.

It was probably one of the simplest thing he had ever done, but it meant so much. Sharing a moment with his son and girlfriend, listening to his happy voice singing and laughing with Y/N, telling her what he wanted to ask Santa, Tommy thought that this would be a happy holiday for him, not like the previous or when he was about his son’s age.

Swallowing his emotions, he was grateful for the doorbell ring interruption. Cyril stormed out barking.

“I’ll get it. Charles, help Y/N with the plates.” He instructed walking to the door.

 After finishing their lunch, Y/N walked to get one of the presents and then back to the dining room.

“I was going to wait until Christmas Eve to give you this, but I guess we can open one present early.” She still had another present for him wrapped, it was a beautiful leather cover for his new iPad with a matching briefcase.

Tommy looked at her surprised, he wasn’t expecting the big box was for him.

“Go on, open it.” Y/N encouraged him with a smile.

Tommy left his cigarette on the tray. His heart fluttered with joy as he found what was under the shiny paper.

“Wow it’s so cool Dad.” Charlie spoke for him.

“When did you get this?” He asked in shock, looking at his girlfriend.

Y/N knew she scored when her eyes found Tommy’s. “Yesterday, I couldn’t resist it.”

“Can we assemble it?” Charlie’s eyes were fixed on the train set.

“Why don’t you open the box? We’ll be there in a minute.” Y/N offered to give Tommy a moment, he was suddenly quiet. Turning to look at him, she was now worried. “If you don’t like it I can ask for a refund.”

Before she could finish, Tommy was shaking his head.

“Thank you.” Sometimes, if she looked closely and he was caught off guard, she could see his emotions right in his eyes. This was one of those rare moments. “This is the best present you could give me, love.”

She didn’t know, but she was healing old open wounds, she was giving his inner child the love he sometimes couldn’t find.

“You’re welcome babe, I’m sorry it took you a few years to get the train around the Christmas tree you wanted, but it’s better late than ever.” Her hand came to rest on his cheek in a caressing motion.

Tommy closed his eyes the moment when his forehead touched hers. “Can’t believe you remember it.”

When they talked about how they would spend the holidays, somehow Y/N managed to get inside the deepest parts of his soul, where no one else was allowed to, and he ended up sharing a memory of his childhood and how he always loved to see the stores full of Christmas decorations and one store particularly placed the tree next to the window with a train going around the base.

“Are you going to help me or what?” Charlie shouted from the drawing room.

Burying his fingers in her hair, Y/N felt him smiling against her lips.

“He sounds just like you.” She chuckled intertwining her hand with his to walk to the other room.

“It has the track sections, the caboose and the little cabin with the driver!” Charlie exclaimed happily, he already had the pieces ready on the floor.

In silence, Y/N snapped a photo of Tommy and Charlie from behind, without them knowing, without a pose as they were setting the track, her boyfriend had a beaming smile, genuine, the kind that hurts your jaw after smiling so much.

“Put the batteries there, no turn that one.” Tommy instructed his son after stepping back.

The train started to move around the tree and Cyril inspected it, barking a couple of times, while Tommy struggled to find the right words to say. How could something so small mean so much?

He couldn’t stop the thoughts of those times when there wasn’t enough money for dinner, decorations or presents.

“I have something for you as well.” Tommy announced, then turning to Charlie, he whispered something in his ear and the kid ran upstairs.

“What is it?”

“You’ll see in a minute.” The smirk Y/N saw didn’t help, but he insisted on covering her eyes. “Charlie can you take it out from the bag please? Be careful, it can bite you.” He joked winking at his son as Y/N tried to hide herhands.

“Tommy!”

“Y/N!” He imitated her voice.

Seconds later, his hands moved away from her eyes and she found Charlie holding a music box with a small village inside.

“How...H-how did you know?”

“I asked Isaiah to be my eyes while you were shopping, he mentioned you kept coming back to watch it, after he drove you back home, I asked him to go back to the store to get it.” By the surprise in her eyes, it seemed like he got the right present.

“It needs a key to work.” Y/N stated, taking the box from Charlie’s hands.

“Right, about that...” Tommy offered her his hand and she pressed her palm against his, he turned it around, placing a key chain with two keys. “We’ve talked about taking the next step in our relationship.” His thumb was moving in slow circles in the back of her hand. “You’re so important in my life, my son loves you as much as I do. And we spend most of our time together... here. So I want to ask you if you would like to move in with me?” Charlie cleared his throat. “With us, I mean.”

One was the key to musical box and the other one of his house.

“Tommy yes! I want to move in with the three of you.” She pointed at Cyril, who only moved his head to get comfortable.

Placing his hands on her cheeks, Tommy pulled her for a kiss.

“It’s going to be so fun Y/N!” Charlie hugged her after they broke apart. “Will you stay tonight?”

Y/N blushed, she usually sneaked out before the sunrise, but that morning Charlie caught her walking from Tommy’s room.

“Will you stay forever?” Asked Tommy with a smile that reached his eyes.

“If you want me to.”

“Now we can watch a movie!”

“You can pick the movie, I will get the popcorn.” Y/N told Charlie who was already running to the other room.

But before she could walk to the kitchen, Tommy grabbed her by the arm and pulled Y/N back for a deeper kiss now that his son wasn’t looking.

“Are you really living with us?”

“It looks like that.” Y/N ran her fingers through the shaved sides of his head.

“That means I get to have you in my bed every night?” His lips went to assault her neck, nibbling gently.

“Starting tonight.”

“I’ll make sure you get a drawer or two.” He joked.

“That’s very generous from you.” And she pulled him before Charlie could start shouting that the movie was about to start.

An hour later, they were cuddling in the big sofa, Tommy placed his free hand wrapped around Y/N’s back. She was caressing Charlie’s hair, he fell asleep on her lap in the middle of the movie, in her other hand she was holding a glass of wine. After the movie finished Y/N took the book she bought for Christmas, another new tradition she wanted to do, buy books for her loved ones and read every night until Christmas Eve.

She knew there’s was something magical about the season, Tommy even agreed to wear the matching socks she bought for them, maybe next year she could convince him to wear matching pajamas.

Tommy looked at them; Y/N snapped a photograph of their legs tangled, with the fireplace in the background, Cyril could be seen there as well.

“Are you posting that to your Instasnap?

Y/N had to suppress a laugh to not wake up Charlie.

“Instagram baby.”

Rolling his eyes he added. “Whatever. Same shit.”

Unlike the movie, he wasn’t home alone. He had exactly what he needed to be happy.

***

A/N: Do you have any special traditions? You know it’s just a bit crazy because I decided to open my blog on Christmas Eve last year and my very first post was a Tommy/Charlie photo, so this just seemed to be the perfect match for the holidays. I hope you like this story, if you do, your thoughts and comments are the best gift you could give me 💝

Master list

This is the combination I chose from the Bingo:

Tag list:

@lyarr24 @datewithgianni @runnning-outof-time @gretelshelby @cloudofdisney @cillmequick @zablife @moral-terpitude @cutecurly-hair @prettylittlehoneyeyesxoxo @lespendy @gypsy-girl-08 @onlydeadcells @peaky-cillian @shelbydelrey @forgottenpeakywriter @esposadomd @stevie75 @strayrockette @the-forest-witchh @elenavampire21 @peakyscillian

If you want to be added to my tag list, let me know :)

[beachy--head]

I didn't plan on writing a Christmas drabble this year, but then @babyjapril posted the most perfect gifset and it inspired this little Japril Christmas movie AU. Hope you'll enjoy, and happy holidays to you all!

___

Christmas in Bozeman, Montana, is always a treat, and even more since April moved away for med school and then for work. Seattle is not that far, and she tries to visit her family as often as she can, but there’s something special about the town during the Christmas season. She absolutely loves spotting the Christmas lights in the streets as she makes her way to her parents’ property, the snowy mountains offering a picture-perfect background for the season.

This year is no exception, meeting all her requirements for a perfect Christmas. At home, the lights in the Kepner’s Christmas tree are sparkling, there are so many wrapped gifts under the stockings that opening them on Christmas morning would surely take hours, and her mother spends most of the time in the kitchen, making treats and baked goods at the speed of light. 

A few hours after she arrives, April finds herself already in the kitchen. As she helps her mother add a layer of white frosting on some cookies freshly out of the oven, Karen Kepner starts listing a few last-minute details about the festivities. “Oh, and you know Robert Avery, who owns the Jefferson grill in the city outskirts? Tall, blue eyes, makes the most perfect cup of coffee? Well, his son is visiting him for the holidays, for the first time in forever, apparently. He’s a doctor too, you know! Lives in New York, or Boston, or somewhere East. So I invited them both for Christmas Eve, because the man shouldn’t have to cook on Christmas, he already does it enough during the year, and he helped your dad once with the tractor, remember? So I thought–”, and at that point, April, used to tune her mother out when she starts rambling, offers a few “yeah” and “is that so?” now and then, and thinks no more of it. 

The next day, she meets Jackson, Robert Avery’s prodigal son. At her mother’s insistence, she plays the part of the perfect tour guide and shows him everything Bozeman has to offer, she takes a few walks with him around town and laughs when he admits he’s not much of an outdoor man, they even sit down once in the cold, watching people skate on the ice rink and sharing stories about surgeries and their respective hospitals (Boston’s Mass Gen seems way more peaceful than Seattle Grace Mercy West) before she dutifully walks him back to the Jefferson Grill. Robert Avery is a sweetheart, so she’s not surprised that his son is as charming, and they hit it off as much as two big city outsiders in a small town can. His laugh when she offers him anecdotes about her years in Bozeman warm her heart, and she finds out she actually looks forward to Christmas Eve, even if it means her sisters taking a dig at her for daring to be a single, twenty-something surgeon living alone a few states away and her mother insisting she eats her weight in stuffing.

Christmas Eve is magical, Robert Avery regaling them with tales from his youth, Jackson complimenting her mother’s cooking skills and having a second helping of everything, her father looking at the whole family with a wide smile, and for a few perfect hours, she truly feels the Christmas cheer she always hopes to find when she comes back home. 

And then her overactive imagination just has to ruin it.

After dinner, everyone gathers around the fireplace, swapping stories she must have heard a hundred times. She loves her family, she really does, but she needs a break, so she goes to the kitchen and sets out to get a head start on the dishes. Jackson volunteers to help out, drying the plates she washes, and they soon talk and laugh like they haven’t just met four short days ago. They only stop when she washes the last of the plates, and she doesn’t know what happens, but his fingers lightly brush her arm as he takes the plate from her hands, and she shivers. His touch is electric, and she raises her head, finding his eyes already on her. His hand find her again, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and she can’t help but stare at him. 

From the living room, she hears her parents exclaim that it’s time they get a move on or they’re going to be late for midnight mass, another cherished Kepner tradition, and the moment is gone. Jackson snaps out of his trance and steps backwards, shaking his head, and it’s not long before he and his father leave, his eyes avoiding her as he profusely thanks her mother for her generosity. 

So much for a perfect Christmas holiday.

She goes to bed, feeling confused and, she’s adult enough to admit it, disappointed. And because she’s April Kepner, she soon starts to feel extremely annoyed with herself. She always does this, having huge expectations that don’t go well when confronted to reality, and she’s a fool for thinking that this time would be different. That a fancy, handsome surgeon would play his part in the Christmas movie she’s apparently written in her head, and act out cliché moments under the Christmas lights. 

The next morning, waking up before everyone else, she quickly dresses up and goes for a short walk to try to clear her head. Still replaying the moment in the kitchen in her mind, she takes comfort in the fact that she’s due to go back to Seattle in a few days. She’s not going to let her delusional brain ruin what is otherwise a perfect Christmas, thank you very much, and she can easily avoid Jackson Avery until then and not make a fool of herself.

Well, it would be easier to avoid him if he wasn’t standing in her parents’ driveway as she comes back from her walk.

His eyes seem clearer than ever, and she manages a small smile, hoping he’ll credit the cold for her blushing cheeks. She stares at him a few seconds too long before she remembers her manners. 

“Hi, um, did you forget anything yesterday?”

“Actually, I did,” he answers in the low voice he seems to use just for her, and she really wishes her body would stop reacting so strongly to his presence.

The snow starts to fall just then, but she barely registers it, because she can’t tear her gaze away from him. He gets closer to her, shakes his head with a soft smile on his lips, as if he can’t believe what he’s doing, and slowly raises his hand to hold her neck. 

Their lips touch, hesitantly at first, then more insistently, and as they kiss for what seems like hours under the falling snow, she can honestly say that this Christmas is definitely a perfect one.

[lovecanbesostrange]

I see some people come out of the woodwork again and talking about how super terrible the Fox X-Men movies are. Especially - the absolute valid and most annoying point - how the women were nerfed and underutilized. Biggest criticism, forever a big stain. But I'd argue that X-Men '97 still fell into that same trap. Better? Yes. Holding back still? Also yes.

Most of all this hit Storm. Once again. In part this is thanks to where we are with streaming. Tight seasons, few episodes, not much room to breathe. All that while the team pulled nuggets from so many storylines that have spanned decades. There is very limited time and the biggest casualty is the loss of emotional character beats.

Depowered Storm is a well-known moment from the comics. But the reason why it is looked back on fontly is because Storm still had things to do and say and found herself in new ways, including as leader of the X-Men regardless. Readers followed her for quite some time in that state and could wrap their heads around the situation. The beginning and ending of that journey are wonderfully adapated with Lifedeath, but there is no middle. And apart from those focused episodes Storm does... very little.

They do give her a due badass moment early, even mention her status as an Omega Level mutant (won't explain the concept, easiest yet not totally accurate way is to say the best they can be with the power they have and it's off the charts). There is a case of tell, not much showing going on overall though. And in the finale when Cyclops decides it's time to stop fighting he looks at Storm, she gets it, but you have to be a superfan to find the little nuance, to see how this is very much in-character and it does make sense. Storm has a few very wise lines, something she is known for, a few pew-pew-lightning moments, but sidelined. So hard. Not even allowed to talk about what she feels seeing the footage from Genosha.

For non-comic readers a fun fact: in the recent run of X-Men, the Krakoa era, mutants terraformed Mars. Omega level mutants. Of course Storm was there. Prominently. That was a huge thing. The Krakoa era is ending right now and a new relaunch under the banner From the Ashes is coming. And just this week Marvel put out a teaser that "Earth's Mightiest Mutant" would join the Avengers roster. They had buzz for a day with lots of guesses (the word mighty can be interpreted in a few ways) and guess what, it's Storm. (Although I think going from being the Voice of the sol system in intergalactic matters to Avenger is a downgrade.) Meanwhile '97 Storm barely fought in the big climactic battle. Huh.

A tv show has more time than one single movie. That's the whole reason why watching shows is awesome. A narrative that builds over time and can follow some sidepaths. But not anymore. X-Men '97 would never give us a fun little Christmas special, there is no room. And that's sad.

I enjoy the way they went with Madelyne Pryor. But it all happened in one episode and then Jean was a bit angry at Scott, who for once didn't do anything wrong in this bizarre situation imho. They ignored one of the worst moments from his comic history (thank you so much), gave Madelyne a happy ending (for five seconds), but also left no breathing room. The best they did however was the way Jean struggled with the emotions. She remembers things she wasn't physically there for and her love for Nathan is still just as real. What a blessing. So it makes sense that when she fights Nathan she holds back.

Telling stories that involve Jean Grey can be very tricky. With every super powerful being the threat can't just be punchable. So I get that the Cosmic Birb sighting was limited to one appearance. But what happens? Oh, right, Jean faints. I would be here for a few scenes where Jean explains how this vast power is still overwhelming. That there is a fear of tearing earth itself apart. But what we get is Jean powering up, exhausting herself, powering down and then not being strong enough (even next to Storm) to keep Asteroid M from falling. No, no, we needed Magneto's power or else... which, I enjoy the group effort, but I would have at least appreciated a little "we almost got it, if only we had this tiny bit more" and not making it seem like Magneto is the one and only. They pushed the asteroid in place for him to pull, okay? Please. They should have shown how he could not have done that alone.

The show does have a bias super in favor of Magneto. Without even discussing that his plan is stupid. It comes from an emotional torment I understand. I understand him. I understand Rogue and Sunspot joining him. It's still dumb as hell. And within the three part finale there is no room for any debate and a lot of flip-flopping. Which, again, as a comic reader I can put under a microscope and tell you how this makes sense with a nice good-will reading. It does. But it's buried under the high octane beats. (There wasn't even room to take in what happened to Logan. Honestly I like Logan as a character, but the joke of him being everywhere is not even a joke and there is a certain fatigue and the way Logan was not the focus of '97 makes me appreciate the show even more. I like him! It's somewhat hilarious how the Adamantium pull was the cliffhanger shockfest and then... kinda nothing... of course I know S2 has a lot to pull from with that.)

Speaking of the ladies, the way bias is showing and how two things can be true at once and interpretations can vary - let me ramble on about Rogue in all of this.

On the surface oh I can't complain. My blorbo had things to do. Things to punch, lines to cross, angst to go through - I was fed. I will rewatch so many moments for years to come. But if you want to be cynical about this, Rogue's arc revolved around a man. No, two men. They shoved a decade long on-again, off-again romance from the comics into the show that already has five seasons and never remotely hinted at this. They started with a quiet Magneto and Rogue moment so we can see jealous Gambit. And when she makes a choice after a dance and kiss, Gambit dies. The one she wants. But also Magneto seemingly for a bit. And Rogue rampages.

Equality win: Man successfully put in the fridge so the woman gets to soar. Rejoice! (This is the perfect Rogue/Gambit dynamic though; you are depicting the couple wrong if he iesn't the one with a lovestricken face enjoying to be held in her strong arms. He pines, she gets the manpain moments.)

You could absolutely argue that Rogue's whole motivation is tied to dudes. But if you want to get over this you can look closer at what she says. She remembers Remy. She does this for him. But also every other dead mutant from Genosha. We did not get to see what this would have looked like, but when she chooses Magneto, she also chooses Genosha. She chooses a place at the table, the whole "Queen" deal. And when she joins him again in the finale, she talks about "no more dead mutants" (oh sugar, he's about to destroy the world with everybody). There is just so little time it gets lost. No time for nuance and showing the amount of survivor's guilt she feels. Unlike Storm and Jean though, she is allowed to let loose. She was ready to kill. And disregarding what came next, she dropped Trask from that rooftop.

The show is extremely in favor of Magneto and Rogue, and still doesn't have enough time left to give them the right build-up, because ten episodes isn't enough. Love that Morph got to confess their feelings for Wolverine, yet I'm sure a lot of the audience is baffled with his shapeshifting-power-duplicating powerset. Something that was really nice was the journey Jubilee and Sunspot took together. The way he went from hiding his powers, coming out, being betrayed by his family, giving in to rage for a moment, ultimately wanting to and saving people - true heart of the story.

Okay, this is long and like the show has a dozen different points without following through on one single issue. Ha! I enjoyed every second of it. I have bought monthly X-Men comics for over 30 years now, they are always with me, but these past few weeks have reignited the spark. 10/10 show, highly recommend. But can people please not pretend as if they did everything right? Also with so many stupid, stupid, highly stupid things that have happened within the pages of X-Men stories... just chill.

[densi-mber]

It’s Tradition After All

A/N: Here’s a little season 3 Christmas party AU. Inspired by prompt two on this list.

***

“Ok, I found the tree and ornaments,” Deeks announced, appearing from the storage area with a large trash bag and a box that jangled.

“Great, can you put them over there?” Nell directed, pointing across the room. As usual, she’d taken on the self-appointed job of turning the office of special projects into a winter wonderland.

“You got it. You want me to start putting the tree together?”

“No, Eric’s going to do it. Thanks though.”

“Gotcha. Let me know if you need anything else,” he offered. On his way back to the bullpen, he found Kensi standing on her desk, stretching up to reach something. Deeks tilted his head, frowning.

“Are you—are you pulling down the mistletoe?” he asked in outrage. Kensi jerked, looking back at him momentarily before continuing with her task.

“Yes,” she answered crisply.

“Why?”

“Because, it’s a stupid, outdated tradition,“ she started. Getting on the very tip of her toes, she hooked a finger around the ribbon securing the mistletoe to the wall behind her desk. She tugged it free with a triumphant sound, and Deeks automatically stepped forward to brace her as she hopped down from the desk.

He felt the warmth of her skin through her shirt for the few seconds it took her to find her balance and turn to face him.

“And you’re not going to trick me into kissing you,” Kensi finished, shaking the offending object in his face.

“Kensi, I did not put that mistletoe up there,” he insisted with a chuckle. She scoffed, folding her arms over her chest.

“Oh really? Then who else would put it directly above my desk?”

“You forget that as lovely as Eric and Nell are, they can also be extremely odd.” Kensi stilled at that, something that Deeks couldn’t quite read crossing her face. “Look, how about I promise that I won’t try to trick you into getting under that mistletoe at all tonight?”

He held out his hand, giving his best pleading look. Kensi sighed, and slapped the mistletoe into his palm.

“Fine. But don’t even think of hanging it above my desk again.”

***

True to his word, Deeks didn’t make a single attempt to get Kensi under any of the mistletoes (yes, there were multiples). He did end up under one with Nell, who dramatically leaned back in his arms for him to peck her on the cheek. When Callen had later pointed out that Deeks and Sam had fallen prey, Sam had glared at Deeks, taken a step away, and emphatically stated,

“No way in hell.”

Now Kensi stood by the snack table with Nell, chatting about Eric’s new business plans. Kensi nodded along when Nell paused, eyes once again gravitating towards Deeks.

He seemed to be in the middle of some story, his hands waving expansively as he spoke. She saw Sam smiling reluctantly, shaking his head at Deeks’ antics. As much as Sam pretended Deeks annoyed him, even he couldn’t resists his charms all the time. It seemed no one could.

“And then Eric’s going to put a swimming pool in the middle so his employees can go for a swim on their lunch breaks.”

“That’s a good idea,” Kensi murmured distractedly.

“Kensi.”

“Hmm?” Kensi whipped her head around, finding Nell staring at her with a knowing smirk.

“Something grab your attention?” Nell asked innocently.

“No, uh, I was just thinking we better get started on the gift exchange before Sam gets annoyed with him,” Kensi excused herself, hoping it would be enough to distract Nell from her own lapse in attention.

“Oh, they look like they’re doing ok,” Nell observed, peering over Kensi’s shoulder. “I put a lot of brandy in the egg nog.“

“Yeah, I noticed.” Kensi held up her half-empty glass, then slanted a wry glance at Nell.

Nell just spread her hands wide in response. “I’m just an elf spreading good cheer. And while we’re on the topic, could you go deliver this to Deeks for me?”

“What, elves don’t make house calls?”

“No, you’ve been standing over her with me for the last hour and I’m trying to help you mingle,” Nell explained bluntly. “Now go on. I need to make more egg nog.”

Shaking her head, Kensi took the present Nell had retrieved from who knows where, and headed for Deeks. Callen had joined the group since she last looked, and from the sound of it, was goading Sam about something.

“Oh, and there’s my lovely partner,” Deeks said as she approached. Based on the extra twinkle in his eyes and empty cup in his hand, he’d enjoyed a little Christmas cheer himself.

“And she comes bearing gifts.” Kensi held out the present. “It’s from Nell.”

Deeks took it with a grin, giving the box a little shake. “Ooh, sounds expensive,” he joked.

Before he could get the lid off, Callen interrupted him with a raised finger.

“Nobody move, you’re both under the mistletoe,” he said, grinning when Sam made an exasperated sound.

“Kensi, I did not plan this,” Deeks insisted nervously.

“No, I know you didn’t.” Looking over her shoulder, she glared at Nell, who raised her glass innocently, and mouthed what looked like, “it’s tradition”.

“Meddler,” Kensi muttered.

“Well, go on,” Callen encouraged her. “One of you has to make a move.”

“Callen—” he protested softly.

“No, it’s ok,” Kensi said. And then, she didn’t know what possessed her. Maybe it was the egg nog, or her competitive nature. Or the simple way Deeks stayed true to his word. Before she could think it through too thoroughly, she grabbed either side of Deeks’ head, and tipped her chin up towards his. She had a split second to see his eyes widen in surprise before their lips met.

It was a brief kiss, close-mouthed, and hardly the most passionate, but Kensi’s lips tingled and she was distinctly aware of how nice the softness of his lips felt on hers.

She released Deeks and dropped back down on her heels, lifting her chin defiantly. Deeks stared back at her, an unfathomable look in his eyes as his tongue flicked out to run along his bottom lip.

“All right, Kensi wins,” Callen decided, breaking that silence that fallen around them. “You’re gonna need to step up your game, Sam.”

“For the last time, I’m not kissing any of you,” Sam retorted.

“Kensi, I—” Deeks started to say, but she cut him off again.

“It’s just a tradition, Deeks. Like you said.”

“Right,” he murmured, not stopping her when she turned away.

Yes, it was tradition. And if her lips still tingled, burned, with a the pleasant memory of their kiss, no one needed to know that.