#barris winter festival

[oleander4]

𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 & 𝑳𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 / 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 & 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝑩𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔

𝑟𝑒𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡

𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑣𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑑

𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓-𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑣𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓-𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒

ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑣𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒

𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑣𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛

My interpretation of the 2nd and 4th theme of the Barris Winter Festival @barris-event-blog

[saeculorum-art]

Contribution to the Barris Winter festival 💙 @barris-event-blog

[camedownonamoonbeam]

A rose must remain with the sun and the rain

Or its lovely promise won't come true

To each his own, to each his own

And my own is you

What good is a song if the words just don't belong?

And a dream must be a dream for two

No good alone, to each his own

For me there's you

If a flame is to grow there must be a glow

To open each door there's a key

I need you, I know, I can't let you go

Your touch means too much to me

Two lips must insist on two more to be kissed

Or they'll never know what love can do

To each his own, I've found my own

One and only you

One and only you

[honeyviearts]

Warmth

Let's get you warm again, shall we?

The blizzard was raging outside when Thomas made it back home, shivering so violently his teeth were chattering together.

" Love, is that you? ", sounded the concerned voice of the man sharing Thomas’s life.

They’d moved in together last year in early spring, after the Crawleys had given Thomas one of the estate’s cottage for Christmas, a quaint little thing with the prettiest garden, and two bedrooms.

" It’s due time you got your own place Barrow ", Lady Mary had said. " So you can be safe to bring your gentleman friend as often as you want ", she’d whispered to him as she handed him over the keys. "I hope your Mr Ellis will finally be able to move in with you… you’ve been thinking about it, haven’t you? "

It so appeared Anna and Miss Baxter — that is, Mrs Molesley — had talked to their respective employers and worked behind the scenes to make this happen, unbeknownst to Thomas who as both butler and a bit of a gossip, knew more often than not when someone was scheming behind his back. 

So here they were, Richard having left his position both to be with Thomas and get closer to his aging mother, the both of them now living together. Richard worked in Ripon in a clothing shop, while Thomas remained butler at the big house, joining him every evening in their home after closing the Abbey, Richard usually back before himself.

This Christmas was bound to be hectic, as barely a few days before the start of the festivities terrible blizzard like the ones you usually only saw in pictures books had stricken the county, temperatures dropping dramatically and snow falling into a thick coating, painting everything in pure cottony white.

That’s how Thomas found himself freezing in the middle of the night, Richard heaving a relieved sigh.when he heard him coming in.

" Did you come back by foot? Alone in that weather? ", he worried as he stripped Thomas down to his shirtsleeves. The fabric was damp through and through, his coat almost starting to freeze.

" Actually I went back with Mrs Hughes as I didn’t want her to walk alone, and could hardly ask Mr Carson to come down himself. He’s not getting any younger. I went home immediately after, and that’s not like anyone could have driven me with all that snow and wind… Walking was the safest option ", he explained, burying his frigid nose into the crook of Richard’s neck, shivering and closing his eyes. Richard’s body was deliciously warm, and weary to the bones as he was, Thomas might have fallen asleep here and there. That is, if Richard hadn’t shaken him lightly when he felt him loosen up against him. 

" Hey hey, love, don’t go to sleep like this, we gotta warm you back and get you changed, lest you want to spend Christmas in bed… "

" Well, I wouldn’t exactly be opposed to this—" Thomas answered cheekily.

" Smartarse. "

" You like it. "

" Yes, I do ", he laughed. " Come on, I’ll draw us a bath so you can relax… "

" I like the sound of this " he whispered, voice muffled by Richard’s collar. 

" Do you, now? " he smirked.

" Yeah… very much so."

@barris-event-blog

[barris-event-blog]

Barris Winter Festival Announcement!

We're very excited to announce the

Barris Winter Festival of Fanworks 2022/2023!

We're looking forward to a month of Barris-centric goodness, starting on December 26, 2022. Any fanwork that celebrates the beautiful ship that is Thomas Barrow/Richard Ellis will be welcome, long or short, big or small.

Entries can be winter-themed or inspired by the season‘s festivities, but don’t have to be. We'll post some prompts later this week for those of you who enjoy them (or need them to stir the muse into action), but they're not mandatory, either.

There’s no need to sign up in advance. To participate, simply post your work (or a link to your work) on Tumblr and tag this blog, starting on December 26. Or send it in to this blog and we will post it for you. There will also be a collection on AO3.

The only rules are to please be sure all entries and submissions have the proper trigger warnings! (Please include any trigger warnings for v*mit, as admin is very very emetophobic!)

Let's light up the season with some Barris love! 💙🎄❄️

[jolie-goes-downton]

💙❄️ BARRIS WINTER FESTIVAL 2022/2023 MASTERLIST ❄️💙

The Barris Winter Festival 2022/2023 has wrapped! A whole month filled with amazing new Barris fanworks is behind us - time for the masterlist!

FANFICTION

"Just To Be Two Blokes" by @just-two-blokes - T, Fluff

"snowy mornings and memories" by helloilovefanfiction - T, Fluff

"Valeting" by @just-two-blokes - not rated

"The Secret Between the Lines" by @just-two-blokes - T, Hurt/Comfort

"The Greatest Gift" by @the-girl-in-the-box - G, Fluff

"The More I See You" by @camedownonamoonbeam / wildamongwolves - G, Romance

"Strike Twice (Till We Meet Again)" by ThornyWildRose - E, Angst/Smut

"Mr Jingle My Bells" by @infinity2020corner - T, Humour/Romance

"The Fragrances That Remind Me Of You" by @just-two-blokes - T, Romance

"That Dream, Here Beside Me" by @camedownonamoonbeam / wildamongwolves - T, Romance

"If the sky comes falling down, for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do" by @just-two-blokes - T, Friendship

"Fortunate Indeed" by @infinity2020corner - G, Fluff

"Sort It Tomorrow" by ThornyWildRose - M, Romance

"Your Song" by @just-two-blokes - M, Romance

"Take That, Chris Webster" by @camedownonamoonbeam / wildamongwolves - E, Smut

"The Card" by @just-two-blokes - not rated

"A Flood of Light (Downton's Eleven)" by @jolie-goes-downton / Jolie_Black - T, Drama/Adventure

"Better" by @leelajoy716 - G, Fluff

FANART

"Fly Me To The Moon" Series - Erotic Barris fanart by @saeculorum-art (NSFW!!!)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

"Dream a Little Dream of Me" Series - other Barris fanart by @saeculorum-art

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

"Warmth" - Fanart & Ficlet by @yumejane-zo

"Silver Lining (2022)" - Fanart by @jolie-goes-Downton

OTHER FANWORKS

"Darkness & Light / Change & New Beginnings" - Photo edit by @oleander4

"To Each His Own" - Music & Photo edit by @camedownonamoonbeam

Moodboard for "The Fragrances That Remind Me Of You" by @infinity2020corner

Moodboard for "Just To Be Two Blokes" by @infinity2020corner

"Light & Dark (Thomas Barrow’s Barris Mixtape)" - Playlist by @junkshop-disco

"Songs Richard Ellis played to Thomas Barrow at some point" - Playlist by @just-two-blokes

"Thomas Barrow & Richard Ellis, and eclipses as a harbringer of change" - Meta by @reinikainen

(Link to our AO3 collection)

A big thank you to everyone who has contributed, to everyone who has cheered the creators on, and to @barris-event-blog for hosting the event! 💙 It's been a wonderful time.

[junkshop-disco]

Thomas Barrow’s Barris Mixtape

Brave Face - Beth Rowley / Under the Weather - KT Tunstall / The Moon and Me - Tom Baxter / Tonight the Streets Are Ours - Richard Hawley / Long After Tonight Is All Over - Julie Rogers / Don’t Say - Gabrielle Aplin / Indestructible - Robyn / Stay Awhile - Röyksopp & Susanne Sundfør / One Night with The Valet - Tennis / Loving & Free - Kiki Dee / Rainy Days and Mondays - Carpenters / Goin’ Back - Dusty Springfield / The World’s Strongest Man - Scott Walker / A Different Corner - George Michael / I’m a Better Man (For Having Loved You) - Englebert Humperdinck / Every Night - Paul McCartney / Love Song - Lucy Rose / Rambling Man - Laura Marling / Love Letters - Ketty Lester / Emotions - Brenda Lee / Solitaire - Andy Williams / Goodbye to Love - Phoebe Bridgers / If It Wasn’t For the Nights - ABBA / Love Is A Losing Game - Amy Winehouse / Chasing Pavements - Adele

listen here

[infinity2020corner]

Another contribution to the Barris Winter Festival 💙 @barris-event-blog

Moodboard gift for The fragrances that remind me of you by @just-two-blokes

[just-two-blokes]

Valeting - A Thomas Barrow x Richard Ellis Drabble

A short Drabble For 'Barris Winter Festival'

@barris-event-blog

'How does it actually work like this? As the king's valet, I mean', John Bates' voice sounds almost bored, but his more than curious look betrays him nonetheless.

A calculating grin steals onto Mr. Ellis's face. Yet he takes his time answering the question. Only when he has taken a small sip of tea from the steaming porcelain cup in front of him does he turn to John with a quiet smile.

'I didn't think I'd ever have to explain his trade to another valet', he says.

John opens his mouth to protest, but Ellis waves it off with an amused smirk.

'It's not nearly as spectacular as you make it out to be, Mr. Bates.'

'It must be an honour to attend the King in person', John urges, and Ellis just sighs.

'Of course it is, Mr. Bates. However, I can assure you that even the King wants to be dressed in the same manner as Lord Grantham or any other Viscount, Earl, Marquess or Duke in this country.'

'I just don't understand', John begins, but this time he is interrupted by none other than the butler of the house, who comes storming into the room with a red face and a furious expression in his eyes. His hands are clenched into fists at his sides and the anger in his eyes is impossible to miss. He does not seem to have noticed the two valets at the table. Otherwise he would certainly have chosen his words more wisely, which he seems to mutter to himself.

'Of course they brought Carson back, the old slimeball. I hope he cleans all the silver himself if he already feels he wants to interfere with my job. At least he's got those arrogant King's servants on his back now. Let's see how he gets on with them. The only one of them who at least has decency and kindness is Mr. Ellis. I only wish his smile wasn't so beguilingly cute, then at least he would be easier to forget.'

With this last sentence, Thomas finally turns his gaze away from the corridor and towards the table at which Richard and John sit transfixed. A mixture of horror and a slight grin has spread across Bates' face. Mr. Ellis, however, looks as if he is about to either sink into the floor or fall around Thomas's neck. John is not sure which of the two options is more likely.

And Thomas? His face turns even redder in a matter of seconds than it already was. His cheeks almost seem to glow and small drops of sweat form on his forehead, which finally run silently over his temples and drip into his collar. His eyes widen in panic as he looks at Mr. Ellis, who seems to be trying hard not to burst into hysterical laughter. At least that is the impression John gets.

Thomas, however, does not seem to feel like laughing at all. His heart is pounding at breakneck speed and he can feel bile creeping up his throat. If only he hadn't eaten so much for breakfast. His stomach rumbles painfully and his mind races. But before he can say anything, he is overcome by nausea and turns on his heel, stumbling towards the men's corridor.

John and Ellis look after the butler with thoughtful glances. For a few seconds there is a breathless silence in the Servants' dining room. Only interrupted by the monotonous ticking of the clock on the wall opposite. After a few more silent seconds, John struggles to get up from his chair.

'I should probably check on him. Not that he's getting seriously ill' his gaze in Ellis' direction is piercing and Richard feels as if he is being x-rayed from top to bottom. But before John can limp out of the room, he himself shoots up from his chair.

'Please don't trouble yourself, Mr. Bates. I'm going to check on Mr. Barrow.'

With these words and without waiting for an answer, Ellis hurries towards the corridor, but before he can step out of John's sight, he turns to the other valet one last time. And this time there is an almost insinuating expression on Mr. Ellis' lips.

'You know, Mr. Bates. It is indeed an honour to dress the King of England. But let me tell you this. There are some men I would rather undress than the King.'

Without turning around once more or waiting for a reaction from John, Ellis disappears from John's sight, leaving the valet alone in the servants' quarters.

With a quiet grin, John Bates reaches for his steaming teacup and brings it to his lips. Hiding his laughter in the teacup, he doesn't even notice the kitchen maid who has joined him.

'Mr. Ellis just asked me if I'd seen Mr. Barrow. Don't you find it strange that he spends so much time with him when he is an employee of the King himself?' Daisy asks, frowning as she looks out into the corridor.

'To be honest, I don't find that strange at all, Daisy. And besides, after all these years in this household, there's nothing left to surprise me' John replies dryly, setting his teacup down on the saucer with a soft clatter.

In fact, there is really nothing left in this household that could surprise him. Not even the wild flirting between his butler and a royal valet. This is still Downton Abbey, after all.

[the-girl-in-the-box]

The Greatest Gift

A/N: Happy Barris Winter Festival! I'm about to be cranking these things out about as fast as I can, given I waited so late to get started (blame school starting up again and the nightmare leading up to that), but I will be answering all four prompts before the Festival's end! That said, no warnings for this piece! I hope you enjoy!

Summary: It's a few days before Thomas and Richard's first Christmas together, and Thomas is worrying about how to make it perfect for them. Richard makes an attempt at showing him the ways it's already perfect.

--

There was always a first for something- this is something Thomas had always been acutely aware of. But when it came to a first Christmas spent with someone, the first gift you got for that person, the first year you would begin to build traditions with them, that was a far more important first than many others. As it stood, this was to be his first Christmas with Richard, and he was feeling more than a little nervous. They’d managed a little tree for their cottage, and had been putting up some other various decorations, but he still felt a strange sort of pressure to get it just right- all of it.

Unbeknownst to him, he’d been muttering about some of this as he hung ornaments on the tree, the words indistinguishable from each other under his breath- but that wasn’t really what tipped Richard off as he laid out a bough of holly across their mantel. No, that wasn’t what did it. Just the fact that Thomas was muttering at all was enough to get that point across. He let out a soft hum as he watched and listened, trying to figure out what exactly was wrong. When that effort proved to be fruitless, he sighed and said, “Thomas, what’s bothering you?” 

Thomas had apparently not been expecting this, as he started and dropped the ornament in his hand, cursing quietly under his breath as it hit the ground and shattered. “Great, that was just what I needed,” he snarked, which was just another sign to Richard that something really was wrong. He’d dropped the habit of being nasty these days, but it always reared its head again whenever he got too stressed out. This led to further muttering, though this time he could make out what it was Thomas was upset about. The ornament, of course. Still, that was clearly only a symptom of the underlying issue, which Richard still intended to fish out from him.

He walked over to where Thomas was now trying to pick up the broken pieces of glass, and knelt down with him, taking his hands to distract him from this task for the time being. “Thomas,” he said, his tone more gentle this time. “What’s going on?” Thomas looked up at him, and he shifted the way he always did when he didn’t want to answer, usually for fear of how Richard would take it. He sighed, and began to gently rub the back of Thomas’s hands with his thumbs to try and soothe him. “I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”

“I just liked that one,” Thomas muttered. When Richard lifted a brow, skeptical at the idea that he’d told the whole story. A little more shifting, and the truth came out. “I don’t want to mess this up.” Ah, there it was.

Richard pulled Thomas over to sit with him on the sofa, and once he’d succeeded in that, he asked, “Alright, what is it you’re afraid of messing up, love?” 

It was like a flood of words after that. “The whole bloody thing,” Thomas said. “I’ve never even done any sort of Christmas with just one other person before, and now I’m trying to get the tree right, and I’m trying to figure out exactly the right thing to get you, and how we’re going to work around what the House is doing for Christmas, if we’re going to have our own meal here somehow or if we’ll manage with them, if there’s anything I’ve forgotten…” He paused finally, and let out a small sigh. “I just want to be sure it all goes right.”

His confession was met with a small, comforting smile from Richard, who chuckled softly. “Darling, you have nothing to worry about,” he said affectionately. “Christmas is already going to be perfect, if only because we get to spend it together this year.” 

Thomas levelled him with a disbelieving look. “I’ve already broken an ornament and I haven’t figured out what exactly our Christmas is even going to look like,” he said. “I mean, you just heard everything I still have to do- it’s clearly still a bit of a mess, don’t you think?” 

“Probably,” Richard allowed with a chuckle. “But even if it ends up being a mess… I just need you here to make it a good Christmas. I’d be more than happy with that.”

His words earned a small smile from Thomas, who chuckled softly. “Alright,” he said. “Well… I’ll probably still worry about it. But I’ll try not to as much.” He looked down at the broken ornament, and he sighed. “That’s still a shame though.”

Richard looked down at the broken ornament thoughtfully. “Yes, it is…” 

Christmas soon came, and that night, after they’d returned to their cottage from Downton Abbey, Thomas and Richard sat down together to exchange gifts. Thomas had gotten Richard a lovely pair of cufflinks, a pair of silver moons, which Richard had loved as soon as he pulled them from their box. Thomas was proud of how happy Richard had been. 

Richard had likewise gotten Thomas something he was sure to appreciate: a brand new pocket watch, engraved with the current year- the year of their first Christmas spent together. He was still admiring his new pocket watch as Richard got up and slipped out of the room, and he frowned slightly as he looked up at him. “Where are you going?” he asked.

“I’ve just got one more thing for you is all,” Richard answered him.

“What- something else?” Thomas repeated incredulously. “What happened to one each? I thought we said we didn’t have the finances for much more than that.”

“Something came up that I couldn’t let slip by,” Richard defended. “And it didn’t cost me anything, don’t worry.” 

He returned with a small box, which he handed to Thomas as he sat with him again. Thomas looked up at him curiously, then down at the box. He was half tempted to give it a little shake and see if he could figure out what was inside, but he decided just to cut the suspense and open it instead.

What he found inside the box was a little star ornament- the very one he’d dropped days before and broken. It had clearly been repaired, and he looked up at Richard with wide eyes. “You had it repaired?” he asked in surprise.

“Well… I went ahead and repaired it,” Richard answered. “I know you liked it quite a lot, so… I thought it might be a nice gift to fix it and return it to you.”

Thomas smiled softly at him, and reached up to cup his cheek. “It’s a lovely gift,” he said. “But if I’m being entirely honest… the greatest gift I’ve ever received is you.”

If you've enjoyed this fic, please feel free to check out my masterlist!

Happy Barris Winter Festival!

@barris-event-blog

[saeculorum-art]

Contribution to the Barris Winter festival 💙 @barris-event-blog

[camedownonamoonbeam]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Downton Abbey Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Thomas Barrow/Richard Ellis Characters: Thomas Barrow, Richard Ellis (Downton Abbey), Richard Ellis' Mother (Downton Abbey) Additional Tags: Barris Winter Festival (Downton Abbey), Mutual Pining, Established Relationship, Post-Movie: Downton Abbey (2019), POV Thomas Barrow, Feelings, Love, Tenderness, Period-Typical Homophobia, Light Angst, Acceptance, Fluff and Angst, Self-Doubt, our boys and their bittersweet partings Summary:

"I will," Thomas assures her, this time looking at her and clasping her hands tighter, "I promise." * A little contribution to the Barris Winter Festival run by @barris-event-blog, for this week’s theme “Darkness and Light”. In which Thomas is on a visit to the Ellis homestead (and the parting is, of course, temporary).

[uwmspeccoll]

A Moser New Year’s Eve

We close out 2022 with these somber wood-engraved landscapes separated by images of icebergs by noted wood engraver, book designer, and fine-press publisher Barry Moser from his 1983 Pennyroyal Press edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, printed by master printer Harold McGrath in a limited edition of 350 copies. The original edition, of course, was published in London in 1818, and Moser’s production was based on a copy of that edition from Special Collections at the Smith College Library.

With its somber winter imagery and our own penchant for wood engravings (18% of our posts for 2022 have wood engravings), we thought this was an appropriate way to ring out the old and ring in the new, as our graduate intern Olivia is currently working on a major exhibition of Barry Moser’s work to open in February 2023. Our copy of the Pennyroyal Frankenstein is another gift from our friend Jerry Buff.

We wish you all a safe and festive passage into the New Year!

View more posts on work by Barry Moser.

View posts from New Year’s Eves past.

View more posts with wood engravings!

[barris-event-blog]

Reminder!

The Barris Winter Festival of Fanworks starts on December 26, 2022!

If you’re looking for inspiration, here are some prompts for every week of our event.

Week 1 (starts Dec 26): Winter Festivities 🎄 🎆 🥂 (Any and all - don't consider yourself limited to Christmas!)

Week 2 (starts Jan 2): Darkness and Light 🌓 🕯️ 🔥

Week 3 (starts Jan 9): Snow and Ice ❄️ ☃️ 🛷

Week 4 (starts Jan 16): Change and New Beginnings 🌱 🌒 🚂

But please don’t limit yourself to the prompts - all Barris fanworks are welcome, whether they’re winter-themed or not. You also don’t have to post a fanwork that fits a prompt within the exact week stated below - earlier or later is just as good.

If you post your work on AO3, please add it to the Barris Winter Festival Collection!

This event will close on January 22, 2023! Can't wait to see all the wonderful works contributed!

Happy Barris Winter Festival!

[themousefromfantasyland]

The Guardians: How Jack Frost entered a snowball fight with Winston Churchill, J.M. Barrie and Rudyard Kipling

Extracted from Jack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning by William Joyce

Historical side of Tumblr, did they really knew each other in real life, or is Joyce just going mad as usual 😂

It was a piercingly cold winter night. Jack was leaving the Athenaeum Club. He belongs to many clubs. Private clubs are a vital function of the social life of young and old men in this whirligig era. These clubs are elegant and brimming with friendships, rivalries, and the excitable friction of men with ambition and ideas. It is at the Athenaeum that Jack has made some of his most interesting friendships.

On the night of this report, Frost was seen walking out of the festive warmth of the club with three companions. They were bundled against the cold, laughing and chatting as they trekked their way down the snow-covered steps to the street. As is his habit, Jack hung back a few paces. He enjoys observing the easy joviality of his friends at the end of an evening of fun.

The most affable of the three is young Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, whose booming laugh and manner reminds Jack of his old friend Nicholas St. North. Churchill had been a devilish child, full of mischief, and had been kicked out of most of the finest schools in Europe. On this evening he is smoking a huge cigar and is at this point singing the song of one of the schools he had attended.

“Sandhurst was a great school with a wretched song!” he shouted out, interrupting himself midchorus. The other two friends, Joseph Rudyard Kipling and James Matthew Barrie, are both writers of some renown, though tonight they were singing the song of a school they had never attended and were doing so with considerable volume and enthusiasm.

“It would jolly well help if we knew the words,” said Kipling, laughing, but this ignorance did not seem to hamper his and Barrie’s happy attempt.

Jack grinned. He liked his friends best when they behaved less like adults and more like children.

But as the group reached the sidewalk, they passed a huddle of street children who stood shivering in the evening air.

“Please, sirs, a penny for the hungry,” said one child with a practiced, hopeful desperation.

Jack’s friends did not even glance the children’s way. These children were cold and close to starving. Jack saw the ragged clothes. The thin, lanky legs and skinned elbows. Again Jack stayed back, watching as his friends continued down the street.

The children stood quiet and shivering. They watched the happy threesome stagger and wail down the street.

Jack appeared angry with his friends. He knew they may have had childhoods of comfort, but each had experienced great turbulence and heartbreak in their youths. They should not, could not, would not ignore the wretched children they had just passed. They must be made to listen.

So Jack made himself invisible. It is a power he uses subtly. If a party is dull, he will simply disappear. Or if he wants to secretly influence the outcome of an event, being unseen makes his efforts much easier.

At this point in the proceedings he discreetly launched three expertly constructed snowballs at his friends.

Each hit its mark.

All three men’s hats were knocked to the snowy ground. The three then spun around and stared at the children. The children stared back.

Apparently, a war had silently been declared.

“This aggression must not go unanswered,” muttered Churchill as he, Kipling, and Barrie crouched down and began busily packing snowballs.

Though invisible, we surmise that Jack was delighted. He whispered to various children, “Better get busy. They’re bigger than you.” They instantly fell to their knees and began to pack snowballs themselves.

Churchill and Kipling both have military histories and have seen battle, so they knew the necessity of a steady supply of ammunition. Barrie, as records , is the worst shot of the three, so he continued making snowballs while his cohorts took up positions behind a lamppost and a mailbox.

“Wait for my command,” said Churchill, puffing his cigar.

The children were seasoned snowball makers, and they had amassed an impressive hoard of ammo. They wereready to attack, but they seemed uncertain. Again Jack intervened. “Concentrate on the one with the cigar.”

The children were so focused on their enemy that they hadn’t even noticed that Jack was nowhere to be seen. They heard his suggestion, and without questioning it, they acted.

And charged! Their battle cry was high, shrill, and impressive. Eight little voices sounded like an army.

“My word,” said Kipling, astonished.

“Steady!” commanded Churchill.

Barrie stopped his constructions and readied for the attack, a snowball in each hand and several in each pocket.

In an instant the children were upon them. The air was thick with snowballs and shouting and cheers.

“Fire!” yelled Churchill, but his command was muffled by five or six direct hits on his head and shoulders. He fell backward and lay on the street as helpless as an overturned turtle. Four children stood over him and pounded him with snowballs.

“My cigar!” he yelped. And indeed his cigar had been knocked from his mouth, landing somewhere inside his coat.

Kipling and Barrie tried to lend aid, but both were hit with such accuracy that their eyeglasses were caked with thick clumps of snow and neither could see a thing.

The three men were being overwhelmed, routed, in fact. But suddenly, the tide of the battle changed. Twenty or so members of the Athenaeum Club had seen the skirmish from the windows and were rushing out to lend a hand.

Jack had reappeared and raised his staff, and within an instant, he brought about a blinding gale of snow to slow the Athenaeum men.

A smallish boy who looked particularly ragged raised two fingers to his mouth and let out a high, sharp whistle that could be heard for blocks. The boy had not finished his first note when children began to appear from seemingly every direction and swarm toward the fray.

And so this snowball battle became epic. Adults against children. Jack watched with astonishment. What had he triggered?

Old men — older than eighty — who minutes before could barely hobble with canes across a plush dining room carpet, were now rippling over snow-snow-covered cobblestones with the vigor and skill of Roman gladiators.

Gangly half-starved children, some as young as five years old, were standing their ground or attacking with the stalwart cunning of the most seasoned generals.

The blur of a thousand snowballs glistened in the streetlamps’ glow as cheers and laughter of pure exultant joy filled the air. The strange untethered glee of making pretend war with well-packed snow had turned men into boys, and children into heroes.

Jack returned to invisibility, but he stayed in the thick of this battle royal, flying from place to place faster than any snowball. He was heard shouting instructions or guidance to anyone he felt was in need. At first he only helped the children, but as the ruckus continued, he began to urge the Athenaeums on.

So focused were the combatants that none ever wondered who was helping them.

The fight reached a pitch so fevered that one by one participants began to collapse with exhaustion and merriment. There were calls of:

“Stop! Enough!”

“I surrender!”

“I’m done!”

Shouts became laughter. The din of the battle dissolved into a singsong of helpless giggling and gasping and guffaws.

Churchill struggled to his feet. He was laughing with more gusto than anyone. He pulled his still-lit cigar from some deep fold of his coat and took a long and satisfying puff.

“I suggest we call an end to these hostilities,” he said to the spent troops. “I suggest we call this battle a draw.” He took another puff.

The half-block heap of young and old sat panting, their warm breath making a wheezing fog around them.

“I say we are all victors, and so to all must go the spoils,” Churchill continued. “Let us retire to the warmth of the club. I urge that we leave the snow to fall in peace and that we feast like kings!”

Cheers of agreement rang out. As they helped one another to their feet, Churchill began again to sing his old school song, the song of his beloved Sandhurst:

“And so from those who have gone before, to those who are yet to come,

We pass our motto loud and clear, all evil overcome.

As true as is a brother’s love, as close as ivy grows,

We’ll stand four square through our lives to every wind that blows.”

It was then that Frost tactfully reappeared as stealthily as he’d vanished in the first place. Smiling, he watched the scene unfold. Churchill slapped him on the back, still in full-throated song and joined by all who knew the words.

@ariel-seagull-wings @thealmightyemprex @princesssarisa @angelixgutz @amalthea9 @the-blue-fairie @tamisdava2 @mask131

[barris-events]

"Blue is the most human colour" (Regina Spektor)

Thomas and Richard go see Snow White (released in December 1937)

Molesley attempts to give Richard dating advice

Snowed in together

Richard gives Thomas a nice dark red sweater for Christmas as a gift (to them both)

Thomas gets a letter (or letters) from someone he treated while in the RAMC

“In the night when the moon is large, the world spreads blue in every direction." (Lynda Barry, Cruddy)

Richard overhears some more classic Downton bullying along the lines of "Thomas Barrow has kissed many a man" because to some of Thomas's (ex) colleagues, every man is one too many

"The mood is right, the spirits up. We’re here tonight, and that’s enough.” (Paul McCartney, Wonderful Christmastime)

Mod AU with neighbours Thomas and doctor!Richard in which Thomas knocks on Richard's door, asking if Richard could patch him up

Thomas takes Teo on long walks as a ruse to meet up with Richard

Thomas helping George eat his vegetables, possibly during the royal visit, and Richard sees him

"Oh, the fire is slowly dying. And, my dear, were still goodbye-ing. But as long as you love me so, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”

“And when I'm feeling alone, you remind me of home.” (TS, Christmas Tree Farm)

“I found what I was looking for, a love that's meant for me. A heart that's mine completely, knocked me right off my feet.” (Kelly Clarkson, Underneath the Tree)

“It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, toys in every store. But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be on your own front door.” (Bing Crosby, It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas)

“They're singing ‘Deck The Halls,’ but it's not like Christmas at all, ‘cause I remember when you were here, and all the fun we had last year.” (Darlene Love, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home))

A hallmark Christmas plot where usually cynical about festive things Thomas falls in love with the cute ornament designer Richard Ellis

worrying about finding a Christmas present that is neither too little nor too much to someone far away

Mod AU where the bauble designing workshop is a team building exercise and Richard notices Thomas keeps being left out

If I should lose you, the stars would fall from the sky

If I should lose you, leaves would wither and die

The birds in May-time - they'd sing a mournful refrain

And I would wander around - hating the sound of rain

With you beside me, the rose would bloom in the snow

With you beside me, no winds of winter would blow

(Ralph Rainger & Leo Robin, listen)

A series of dates where one or other of them can’t focus because their work-honed senses are being offended by crimes such as a teapot at an incorrect angle, a waiter’s ill-fitting jacket, poorly polished cutlery, a too-true to life overheard impression of the king, etc.

"Whisper a dangerous secret to someone you care about. Now they have the power to destroy you, but they won't. This is what love is."

You can find the Nice image prompts here, and the Naughty ones here. Feel free to use whatever bits you like, and happy creating! ♥️🎄✨🌶♥️