#the ghost of christmas past for our trixie

[fic-al]

People Call Me Trixie

CHAPTER TWELVE

THE UNEXPLODED TRIFLE

As the number 55 made its return journey back to central London. Trixie was pleased she had visited her friend. Sister Bernadette had looked frail. Trixie was certain she had lost weight. Although difficult to tell in her more fitted dressing gown, rather than her usual habit, but her face did look thinner.

She had found her in good spirits, if not a little tired and a bit preoccupied, which was to be expected. She seemed particularly thrilled with the dead butterfly. Trixie, not for the first time, heard Marianne's laughter ringing in her ears. She knew exactly what Marianne would have said.

She had tried to talk to Dr Turner, she really had. Tried to take more of an interest in Timothy. She had asked them to join them in the dining room on more than one occasion. He always made some excuse, she had taken to making up a little bag of food for him to take home for the pair of them. Quite often he would leave before she had finished preparing it. Sister Bernadette always seemed to know what to say and Trixie felt awkward and out of place. A bit like a spare set of forceps, left behind in the autoclave.

By Christmas 1958, Trixie realized she had been more than a spare set of forceps. She felt like she had been offered a front row seat at Billy Smart’s Circus and had foolishly been sat facing the wrong way throughout the entire performance.

It was Christmas Eve, and she knew she wasn't the only Nonnatun, whose wedding invitation had seemingly got lost in the post. Unless of course they had arrived at Nonnatus House following its inhabitants and half of Poplar, being evacuated due to a newly discovered unexploded bomb. When she saw the bride-to-be coming out of the nuns makeshift chapel in the Rescue Centre. She could hardly believe her eyes. Trixie had seen her former colleague so little since she had last visited her in St Anne's and was still a little startled at seeing her out of the habit.

"Si..Shelagh! I didn't expect to see you here, on the day of your wedding!"

Trixie didn't know if she believed in fate, but she would put this meeting down to divine providence and ask her burning question, anyway. Even though she had been told to wait until after Christmas.

"We have a patient, Jenny and I, here in the Rescue Centre. Mrs Bridges, her husband is suffering from battle fatigue and I wondered if I could talk to Dr Turner. Obviously not today, I mean, I know this isn't a good time..."

Trixie reeled back on her heels at the sight of the anger in the former nun's eyes.

"No, this is not a good time, Nurse Franklin!" She snapped, "I am sure I don't know what you are talking about! Dr Turner is sat by his son's bedside and has been since yesterday evening." Shelagh seemed to gasp for air but continued,

"Timothy has polio and has been placed in an Iron Lung. I am very sorry to hear about your Mr...I can't imagine why you think Patrick would be more suited to deal with this, rather than the designated locum. If you feel it is an emergency, I suggest you refer to him, Nurse!"

Shelagh had finished talking through frustration and tears. Trixie could only watch her walk away. She had been on call all night, dashing between her patients, the ones who had been fortunate enough to remain in their own homes, then checking on Alan and Yvonne Bridges. She hadn't even been aware Shelagh had spent the night at the Leopold Institute or why?

Trixie found a quiet spot on the stairs and hugged her knees together. She knew it wasn't her fault, but she had only added to Shelagh's distress. She had been so wrapped up in her own efforts to help Alan; she hadn't questioned why Shelagh was at the Rescue Centre on the morning of her wedding. Or stopped to think before hastily asking for what she wanted.

Her thoughts soon went beyond Shelagh to Timothy and Patrick. Just over two years ago she had sat at the Nonnatus dining table and heard the worst news imaginable. She couldn't comprehend that today she had just been told similar news concerning the same family.

That old familiar taste of bile climbed up Trixie's throat, as the shouts and the laugher from the main hall started to echo and move further and further away. All Trixie could hear was the rhythmical ticking of the unexploded bomb a few streets away, she could hear it, keeping time. It was getting louder and louder.

The bomb did go off, but Trixie, everyone, and everything else survived. This time.

Yvonne Bridges was able to give birth in her own home and unbeknown to the sisters with her childhood sweetheart present.

Alan offered the emotionally tender Trixie a sweet sherry, after Jenny had left to meet Alec. She followed him into the kitchen.

"I think I will have one myself, just to wet the baby's head."

Trixie noticed him pull out a bottle of Famous Grouse scotch whisky.

"Yvonne's old man, got me onto this, never used to touch anything stronger than a pint a' mild, but he always fetches me one when he comes to visit." Alan poured a hefty measure into a tumbler, "A little nip, now and again Nurse, well it sometimes calms, what do you call them.. the horrors?"

Alan reached for a sherry glass for the midwife.

"Actually Alan, I wouldn't mind a nip myself. It's awfully cold in that beastly working men's club and if Jenny's boyfriend is right about Nonnatus, we may be there for a few more nights."

"Have a drop of the low flying bird, as my father-in-law always calls it." Alan poured her a rather large dram equal to his own. "You've earned it, you've really helped me Nurse, let me do something for you."

Trixie knew that she was now last on call and was rather glad of it after leaving the Bridges, once ensuring the baby's head was more than sufficiently wet. She was finding her bike didn't quite go in the direction she wanted.

She stopped at the little tobacconist off Chrisp Street, that never seemed to close. The proprietor had stocked Marianne's colour coordinated accessories and when Marianne finally gave up smoking forever; he switched his stock to Nurse Franklin's favoured all black selection.

As soon as he heard the bell chime, as she walked through the door, he was there. She wondered if he ever slept? He immediately took the Sobranie Black Russian from beneath the counter.

"What tickles your fancy today, Nurse? Something a bit special, it is Christmas after all! How's about a nice bottle of advocaat, I have Warninks. Makes a lovely snowball with a drop of Lowcocks lemonade. How are you off for maraschino cherries, sweetheart?"

Trixie realized she hadn't actually spoken since she stepped into the establishment. The eternally cheery shopkeeper always seemed to know what she wanted.

She had intended to buy a small bottle of scotch and try to hide it from the nuns, but maybe the garish bright yellow liquid combined with a bit of child's pop, wouldn't seem so much of a temptation to the sisters. It was Christmas Eve after all and it might be something even Cynthia might enjoy. She had a feeling Sister Monica Joan might not be able to resist.

As she was about to pay, she noticed something catch her eye, reflected by the glass of the countertop.

Trixie finally found her voice, "A bag of those too, please."

The lights were on at Kenilworth Row. Dr Turner's car was parked in its regular spot. Surely that was a good sign?

Trixie went up to the flat door where she had boldly let herself in maybe a hundred times before, but not recently, not these days. She tripped up the steps and stood on something soft.

"Damn and blast!" she cried as she removed, first her foot, then her work shoe, from a sherry trifle. It had been left on the Turner doorstep by some thoughtful patient . Trixie tried to repair the damaged greaseproof paper covering it, hoping no-one would notice.

She took a large handkerchief from the bottom of her nurse's bag, fumbling past the advocaat bottle. She tried to clean from her shoe, the cream, jelly, and hundreds and thousands. For the first time in her life, Trixie realized the popular pudding decoration was so aptly named. The tiny sugar sprinkles were in, her shoe, her stocking, between her toes and absolutely everywhere, hundreds and thousands of them.

Trixie sat on the step for a few minutes, took a deep breath of Poplar night air, nearly making herself dizzy. Wiped her leaking eyes, on the trifle and street muck, stained hankie and realized how ridiculous she must look. If Marianne came to the door now, she would...

Trixie put the small net bag with the shiny glass marbles through Dr Turner’s letterbox and slowly made her way to her temporary home, giving herself enough time to clear her head.

[glapplebloom]

It’s the BEST... GIFT... EVER!!! (Best... Gift... Ever...)

Its the day before Hearth’s Warming Eve and everyone is doing some last minute things.

The Student Six are indeed going home for the Holidays. Considering Gallus has no one to celebrate it, I have a headcanon that says he is going to rotate spending the holidays with one of them. Starting off with Silverstream since her holiday has the least preparation needed to participate. Also, shipping.

And if you’re wondering why Starlight Glimmer isn’t here, she’s gonna spend it with her friend Trixie. Will they go to the Crystal Empire to hang with Sunburst? Or Sire’s Hollow to be with Starlight’s father. Who knows? But as soon as those two pass by, we get our song.

Now comes the opening song, which I found quite enjoyable. They’re singing that its one last day before they could get everything ready for Hearth’s Warming, but its worded so you can actually use this for Christmas. So here’s some highlights...

The Pies and Apples are back together, and they brought along a Pear. It is nice to see them. But there is one more guest missing from this equation...

Sugar Belle is gonna join in the festivities. She is pretty close to an Apple after all. Say, I wonder how Marble feels about her?

Oh... By now you noticed that there isn’t a “Review/Rewrite” on this like my previous MLP reviews. I think the next story will focus on this special.

Is this a Home Alone Reference?

If you’re making a Christmas Special, it would be nice to reference your forefathers of Christmas Specials.

While I have not seen either movie, I do hope this is a reference to a Christmas Vacation and not Elf.

And Twilight is going, as this special coined the phrase, Twilynanas. She still has to decorate the castle because Shining’s Family is coming over and get everyone’s gifts. But Applejack calms her down and decided to make things easier for her...

With everyone’s approval (though Pinkie was reluctant), they decided to do a Secret Santa (Hearth's Warming Helper) so they only have to get one gift for the pony they pick. Twilight got Pinkie Pie, Pinkie got Twilight, Rarity got Applejack, Spike got Rainbow Dash, Applejack got Spike, Rainbow Dash got Fluttershy and Flutrershy Got Rarity.

I’m gonna split up the story telling by Gift-Giver for now. Starting with Spike, who wishes to get Rarity’s. He asks if its okay to trade, which AJ said it is if he can figure out who got who. Before he could fully ask, she didn’t get Rarity. He tries Twilight and Pinkie, but eventually Fluttershy sort of agrees to trade. He spends the rest of the episode until the climax trying to make a gift for Rarity.

Pinkie doesn’t know what to get Twilight. She had gifts for everyone that matched each other, but one gift alone can’t be matched up. So after a talk with her sisters, she decides to go to the ones who would be BEST GIFT GIVERS: the Yaks. This one is fun so I’ll get back to this.

Fluttershy has the Batman dilemma: what do you get for the person who doesn’t seem to want anything? So while Batman decides cash (because who wouldn’t want money?), Rainbow Dash gets a Candle. Discord arrives to ensure that she gets something truly great for Fluttershy: a Winterchilla. I’ll point out a reference from these two later, but that boils down their story.

Fluttershy and AJ goes to Rainbow Falls to get their gifts. But Flim and Flam are there and tricked Fluttershy into buying a cheap doll that they say is the must have gift of the season. The two eventually save others from buying more of it but they are stuck with those gifts. Though AJ seems to enjoy stomping on Flim and Flam’s schemes.

Back with Pinkie Pie, the Prince reveals a secret to her: the Yaks are best at everything except one thing: Gift Giving. But Prince Rutherford gives her a map to the best gift givers known. We’ll get back to her later.

Rarity ordered a gift for Applejack. But due to a mailing mishap, it is sent to a completely different Farm. Not wanting to deal with the Postal Service (and I don’t blame her), Rarity decides to go to the farm herself. Muffins, meanwhile, you know works at the Post Office because despite all the windows there’s only one worker and they’re taking a break JUST WHEN YOU NEED THEM!!! This is why everyone does things online now. We’ll get back to Rarity soon.

And Twilight, thanks to Spike, is going Twilynanas to try to figure out the best possible gift for Pinkie Pie. Then it comes to her...

PUDDING! Specially Chancellor Puddinghead’s Pudding. It was made after the founding of Equestria and was considered Legendary. But its not in his book, but a spell book she found after 4 hours of researching.

Thing is she lost track of time and Shining and her family arrived. Daww, Flurry Heart looks so cute! But as you expected, the decorations aren’t up yet.

They pretty much know she’s obsessing over something, and once she is done they do talk that they could have helped with her Hearth’s Warming Helper gift instead of her going Twilynanas. But as her pudding is cooking, Flurry puts some more ingredients when it has to be specific.

Pinkie’s Quest to find the Gift Givers is complete. They introduce themselves and reveal to us and reveal that they’re similar to the Ghosts of Christmas Carols. One knows your past, one knows your future and one make sure the present is retained. So they got the perfect gift needed for Twilight. And they also give her a riddle.

G.I. JOE!!!

Back with Rarity, she finds the farm but they mistook it for themselves. This inspired their son to really go after fashion. After lunch, he was willing to give it back knowing it wasn’t for him, but she lets him keep it and also promises to make him her guest at Fashion Week.

And when everyone reunites: the pudding becomes the Blob and the Winterchilla becomes a WinterZilla when the sun sets. Long story short, because you got to see it, Fluttershy tames the Snowzilla and Pinkie’s Gift for Twilight is what fixes the Pudding.

In the wrap up, Rarity told AJ about her gift going to someone else, when AJ says that her father told her sometimes the hat chooses its wearer. So while she may have a dozen or more, they are still special to her.

Discord’s gift to everyone is destroying those dolls. And no one was upset about it.

He also reveals to Dash that he set up the whole WinterZilla thing so Fluttershy can be the hero. Dash was about to complain, but seeing Fluttershy happy made her not go on about it.

And Spike’s gift is an incomplete song. Not a fan of it, not because of Spike’s singing (I do like him singing) but because the lyrics are meh to me. Even when everyone else jumps in. But we do see a montage of other families celebrating.

So it seems Starlight and Trixie are just celebrating in her Wagon.

Daww, they’re still doing the Pie Family Traditions. 

This is nice.

Our Future Fashionista got a gift that, while not fashionable, shows his parents respect his choices.

Happy Snilldar Fest!

And Flim and Flam are going home with a bunch of unsold dolls.

Carols, carols, carols, carols, carols!

Overall, a fun holiday special. Lots of fun stuff to see and each one had a story going for them. And Shining Armor shines. He actually does stuff in terms of a character and as a soldier. Even if it isn’t Christmas, check it out when you can.

[ilonacamille]

Get to know me tag

Hello everyone! I’m so thankful I was born in the right decade to share my journey online. The fitblr community is a wonderful place filled with wonderful people. I think it’d be pretty cool to get to know each other a bit better so here’s an incredibly long get to know me tag. I tag @healthierhappier-me @justanotheruserjms @elenadoeslife and anyone who wants to do this tag :) 

1. What is your full name? Ilona Camille R. M.  (Already cheating this, but I’m literally the only person in the world with this name and not everyone has to find this blog)

2. What is your nickname? My family calls me Sis (as in sister) but like the Dutch version is Zus

3. What is your zodiac sign? Aquarius (Turned 21 on 02/16!)  

4. What is your favorite book series? I loved the Girls series by Jacqueline Wilson. I’m such an adult.

5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? Yes.

6. Who is your favorite author? Can I say John Green? I might sound like a basic B but I guess I am.

7. What is your favorite radio station? MNM (Belgian)

8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? Cheesy? haha

9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? Magical

10. What is your current favorite song? Moving Parts - Trixie Mattel or Wonderland - Taylor Swift

11. What is your favorite word? Fairylights

12. What was the last song you listened to? Want You Back - 5 Seconds of Summer

13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? The Good Place

14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? Any Bridget Jones movie

15. Do you play video games? Does Sims 4 count? 

16. What is your biggest fear? Dying

17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? I am nice to everyone

18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? I trust too quickly but also lose trust very quickly

19. Do you like cats or dogs better? I have one cat and four dogs. So..

20. What is your favorite season? I always say Fall but since I’ve been craving strawberries and pool parties I’m going with Summer.

21. Are you in a relationship? Nope

22. What is something you miss from your childhood? My grandmothers.

23. Who is your best friend? My dog lol

24. What is your eye color? Grey

25. What is your hair color? Naturally: brown. Right now: dirty blonde 

26. Who is someone you love? Mom

27. Who is someone you trust? My brother

28. Who is someone you think about often? Probably my dog haha

29. Are you currently excited about/for something? I’m seeing Harry Styles live in a few weeks!

30. What is your biggest obsession? Rupaul’s Drag Race for sure!

31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? Hannah Montana

32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? My gay bestie

33. Are you superstitious? Incredibly

34. Do you have any unusual phobias? Is it unusual to be scared of balloons? I’m really scared they will pop. 

35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? Both

36. What is your favorite hobby? Pole dancing

37. What was the last book you read? Valley Of The Dolls (still reading)

38. What was the last movie you watched? Legally Blonde

39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? Guitar and Ukelele

40. What is your favorite animal? Alpaca

41. What are your top 5 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow? The ones I tagged for sure and honestly if I follow you, it means you have great content. I’m picky.

42. What superpower do you wish you had? Reading minds

43. When and where do you feel most at peace? We have a fairly big yard. In summer I love to go to our poolhouse and have breakfast whilst seeing the sun reflect on the pool, chickens running around and my dogs playing.

44. What makes you smile? My dogs

45. What sports do you play, if any? Zumba, poledancing

46. What is your favorite drink? Virgin Mojito

47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? Probably in class when we weren’t allowed to use our laptops. My friend and I were probably the only people to have passed a note in college.  

48. Are you afraid of heights? Yes

49. What is your biggest pet peeve? People talking over me or not listening

50. Have you ever been to a concert? Probably over 20 so far

51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? I’m a vegan/vegetarian/pescotarian. Basically I try to aim for vegan BUT! I live in the middle of nowhere and most restaurants don’t even have a vegetarian option. I adapt but I always try to go for vegan. I did not eat meat for the last 11 years and maybe 5x fish? 

52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? A vet by day, superstar by night. My parents tried very hard to explain it didn’t work like that.

53. What fictional world would you like to live in? Sims 4. It’s so aesthetically pleasing.

54. What is something you worry about? School, weight, love, health,...

55. Are you scared of the dark? Yes

56. Do you like to sing? A lot

57. Have you ever skipped school? Lol yeah

58. What is your favorite place on the planet? I loved London so much the last 4 times 

59. Where would you like to live? Staying right here in Belgium

60. Do you have any pets? 4 dogs, 1 cat and 3 chickens

61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? I can be very excited in the morning but staying up late is like a talent.

62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? Sunset

63. Do you know how to drive? I do, I still need to get my license though. 

64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? Earbuds

65. Have you ever had braces? Those demonic devices that go in your mouth? Yeah.

66. What is your favorite genre of music? Pop

67. Who is your hero? Bruce Springsteen

68. Do you read comic books? When I was a kid I used to read them a lot (Belgian ones)

69. What makes you the most angry? Inequality 

70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? real book

71. What is your favorite subject in school? Social Media

72. Do you have any siblings? An older brother

73. What was the last thing you bought? A beautiful cocktaildress. It’s just above the knee, mintgreen, has sparkly details on the shoulders. And I think it’s a chiffon fabric? So adorable.

74. How tall are you? 5ft4

75. Can you cook? Yes! I’ve been looking up new recipes the last few weeks

76. What are three things that you love? * Makeup * Velvet clothes * Workout clothes

77. What are three things that you hate? * Racists * Homophobes, transphobes * Injustice

78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? It’s kind of equal

79. What is your sexual orientation? Who even knows

80. Where do you currently live? Belgium

81. Who was the last person you texted? Mom

82. When was the last time you cried? When I fully breakdown under school stress 

83. Who is your favorite YouTuber? Karuna Satori ASMR or Shane Dawson

84. Do you like to take selfies? Love 

85. What is your favorite app? MyFitnessPal/Fitbit

86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? Great

87. What is your favorite foreign accent? The stereotype British one and Australian

88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? LITERALLY ANY PLACE IN THE US. Preferably LA/NY though haha.

89. What is your favorite number? 162

90. Can you juggle? Nope

91. Are you religious? I’ve been raised as a Catholic but I’m not really practicing any beliefs right now.

92. Do you find outer space of the deep ocean to be more interesting? Outer space

93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? No, I wish I was

94. Are you allergic to anything? Christmas trees. Oh yes. December is such a lovely time for me. 

95. Can you curl your tongue? Yes

96. Can you wiggle your ears? No

97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? Not a lot (oops)

98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? Beach in summer, forest in fall

99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? Walk into the room and assume everyone likes you

100. Are you a good liar? Yes

101. What is your Hogwarts House? Hufflepuff

102. Do you talk to yourself? Yeah

103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Ambivert

104. Do you keep a journal/diary? Does this tumblr count?

105. Do you believe in second chances? Depends

106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Look at the ID, try to return it.

107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? I hope so

108. Are you ticklish? Incredibly. I’ve kicked many people who were careless about my warnings.

109. Have you ever been on a plane? Nope, very scared.

110. Do you have any piercings? Just earrings

111. What fictional character do you wish was real? Wonder Woman (let’s pretend she is)

112. Do you have any tattoos? nope

113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? Buying my pomeranian and choosing Communication- social media as my degree

114. Do you believe in karma? Yes

115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? Nope

116. Do you want children? Yes

117. Who is the smartest person you know? My brother

118. What is your most embarrassing memory? You just made me have a cringe attack. I participated in a talent show at my school and was singing Jar Of Hearts. But my microphone didn’t work so I spend 3 minutes dramatically singing and everyone saw the weird kid doing a weird lip sync to an instrumental number.

119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? Yes

120. What color are most of you clothes? Black, burgundy and blue

121. Do you like adventures? Yes

122. Have you ever been on TV? Yes, I used to be an extra for tv shows

123. How old are you? 21

124. What is your favorite quote? “If you can’t love yourself how the heeeelll are you gonna love somebody else, can I get an Amen?” - Rupaul

125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? Savory Oh if you’re tagged, pm me for the link to the questions so you can copy+paste :)