#a christmas present from me

[eleilinnrallin]

This is a reminder for those who handmake Christmas presents that now is not too early to start. It may in fact be a good time to start if you have a lot to make/your craft takes a long time. You should maybe start it now, whether that's brainstorming or actually doing the crafts!

[topnotchquark]

Nico saying that Lewis gives his daughters boxes of presents every Christmas just got caught in my mind.

Imagine you were a mixed race boy born in Hertfordshire, different from everyone else around you. Bullied in school, being raised by your father to compete in a sport where money is very much of essence and you and your family do not have a lot of it. And then you meet this other boy who comes from the kind of life you dream to live one day. You're friends and fierce competitors. You find solace in each other. You visit Monaco for the first time with your friend, dreaming up the life you will have when you make it, when you beat out of the mould that the world thought it could capture you in.

And then you two grow through the ranks and you're at the pinnacle of your sport and you have what it takes to win and the world recognises that you can win. And you win. You win with your friend and fiercest competitor by your side fighting with you for those wins, and this fighting ruins something something that was valuable to both of you when you were still innocent and unsullied by life.

But despite everything that went into the doing and undoing of this relationship, you still realise that this person you once called a friend has a life and family beyond your bitter dynamic. He has children, and children need love and affection and good memories. And you're a better man now so you understand that. So you make sure the kids get gifts on Christmas. And you make sure of it every year. Afterall, if you met someone you loved deeply when you were both kids, wouldn't you feel a pang of nostalgia when they had kids. Wouldn't you try to extend the warmth that you couldn't find for your friend to his children. Afterall, whatever happens during childhood basically remains with you forever.

[caseythebunnyboy]

nothing else in my bunny brain, only a much bigger and stronger dom teasing you for being so small and vulnerable by whispering things like this in your ear:

"awww, look at that. all it takes is one of my hands to pin down both of your little wrists together, so cute."

"such a small boy, wouldnt be able to fight back much if i decided to be a little forceful with your body, could you?"

"look how easy it is for me to carry you! gosh, such an easy little thing to toss and play around with whenever i want."

[rancidsugar]

[thefrogdalorian]

Din Djarin + Chapter 9: The Marshal

[fictionadventurer]

What was the point of Scrooge's trip with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come? On a structural level, it makes sense--three is the fairy tale number, and you can't visit the past and present without also including the future--but on a character level, it doesn't quite seem necessary. Showing a man that he'll die alone, unloved, and unmourned seems like the strategy you take as the last-ditch effort to convince a guy that he needs to change his ways. But that situation doesn't apply to Scrooge. He started softening immediately after he first arrived in his past. By the time he finished with the Ghost of Christmas Present, he was fully onboard with the need to reform, so the Ghost's vision of his future seems like unnecessary cruelty. Why show him all this when he was already planning to change his ways?

A few things come to mind. One is that this vision of the future wouldn't have affected Scrooge unless he had already changed his ways. A cold, hard businessman could have seen his lonely death as just the way of the world, might have viewed the people who stole the clothes from his corpse as just people doing what's practical in this world. He needed to relearn the value of the intangibles--human connection, respect for others--to see the true horror of the lonely death and the vultures who defiled the dead man.

But why the horror? Can't he reform without being threatened with doom? It's possible--but it's also possible such a reform would be temporary. After all, Scrooge started as a friendly, loving young man, but retreated into himself and his business out of fear of poverty and fear of the way the world looks down upon poor people. Even if a reformed Scrooge started on a course of Christmas charity, there was always a chance that the enthusiasm would fade, and the worldly fears would start creeping back in. The only way to beat those fears is to give him something to fear that's even worse than poverty. He needs to see the horrible end that his selfish ways would lead to, so he won't be tempted to slide back into them.

There's also the fact that seeing his death makes him ecstatically happy to find that he's alive after the Ghost is gone. Had Scrooge been spared the vision of his future, he might have been happy to find himself on Christmas Day, but his joy would have been nowhere near the manic glee he experiences after coming back from the future. Now, he doesn't just get a new start--he gets a second chance. Coming back from his own grave makes him mindful of his death, but it also makes him hyperaware of the fact that he's still alive. He isn't in the ground yet. He still has time to do good and make connections with others so he doesn't die alone.

Seeing the past reminded him of the innocence he'd lost. Seeing the present reminded him of the people whose lives he was missing out on. Seeing the future reminded him that death is waiting, so it's important to live virtuously while we can. All three are important because all three brought him outside of himself and taught him to value the wider world, just in time to live through another Christmas Day.

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

just think itd be funny if they met irl

[cuppatealove]

I finished the quilt!

(Pattern)

The light's terrible, but I couldn't wait until morning to post!!

[nivenor-krosis]

[courtesanofdeath]

LOOK AT THEM I AM WEEPING

[tippenfunkaport]

something something, visited by three spirits that push you to reinvent yourself

and meanwhile, the three mother-type figures in Adora's life were all key to her to figuring out what she really wanted and who she wanted to be but literally...

Light Hope "died" trying to right a wrong from the PAST

Queen Angella died trying to preserve Adora's PRESENT

and Shadow Weaver died to give Adora a chance at a FUTURE

[tortellinigirl]

i think the adult relationship to the childhood dog is something that is so tender and heart-wrenching and important. you are the last vestige of my childhood. you are the sacred keeper of the memories i hold dearest, but you can barely see or hear me anymore. who do i become once you’re gone? where do i turn to remember myself? you’re the last one sitting next to me at the door of a childhood home that no longer exists, waiting patiently for the return of a family that no longer exists. where can i live when you, too, no longer exist? i can’t let go. please don’t make me let go. i know you’ll leave soon. i wish you didn’t have to. but she’s just a dog. her life is short and i will witness her death and i’ve known this from the beginning. i didn’t think it would come so fast. am i ready? have i become someone yet? have i become unrecognizable to her yet? does she still see the child i was? i’m still the child i was. please, don’t forget the child i was. please don’t take her away from me.

[soukokumychildren]

Okay but imagining in my story Chuuya learns after he loses his v-card that Arahabaki the king of dragons in his past was a virgin trying to educate Chuuya about sex *inhale*, I think that’s be pretty funny

Cause Arahabaki a few chapters ago almost quite literally instructed Chuuya to have sex to get a surprise (I.e, his body literally becoming an omega and affecting Dazai during sex so he becomes an alpha in a totally human (apart from skill users) world where no such things exist).

Not to mention Arahabaki watched what Chuuya does so basically he watches them during s—*gets shot since I’ve said too much*

[furbygone]

LOOK WHO I RECEIVED!!!!!!!! (passes away)

[broken-clover]

Regularly frustrated by the fact that most of my fixations aren't mainstream enough to have much in the way of official merch, but for the sake of both my sanity and my wallet, that's probably a good thing

[sincerely-sofie]

Made up my bulletin board all pretty with art and goals for the upcoming New Year! Hopefully staring at Twig cheering me on will get me through writing the last chapter for The Present is a Gift. It’s a real doozy, that one…

Making the art for this was a real treat. I almost like the two mock-ups I made for possible bulletin board layouts more than the finished product!

On the topic of The Present is a Gift’s completion status: I have one chapter left to write, and then the full first draft is done! Once it’s finished I’ll let the manuscript sit for a couple weeks or so and then come back to edit it with fresh eyes. The chapter is giving me a lot of trouble though, because it’s an extended flashback that dives into Darkrai’s backstory from an outside POV, and I am struggling to get into the narrating character’s head enough to write it very well. Nevertheless, I persist, and I’m hoping I can get the pre-edit break period mostly over before the end of December!

Thanks for reading my goofy lil post on my bulletin board. Enjoy this meme.