#downton secret santa 2021

[emmybrown]

Lady Rose MacClare icons for @daisies-ivy as a downton secret santa gift

[downton-bridgerton]

Merry Christmas, @stxrks ! I do hope you love this photo set edit I made for you (yes, I am your Secret Santa)! 💗

I do also wish you (and everyone) and safe and happy holiday season! I love you all! 🎄May you celebrate it with the people you love the most 💗

[ohtobealady]

Merry Christmas! This is my gift for @glowstar826 - I’m typically not a Mary/Matthew writer, so I do hope I’ve done them justice! And I hope this rounds up a happy Christmas Day for you!

—-//—-

The ribbon pulled tightly at her finger, and Mary wiggled it free, gathering the ends and then tugging slightly. There: A Perfect Bow.

“Hello.”

Matthew’s voice startled her, though she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that, and she pulled in a small breath through her nose.

“Unless you want your gift to be spoiled, I suggest you return to your dressing room,” she tossed over her shoulder. A curl fell by her face, but she could clearly see her husband through it.

Matthew was smirking. His blue eyes twinkled in the firelight, her lamp already extinguished.

“Are you really wrapping my gift?” He teased. “I was hoping that wasn’t the case.”

“No?” She turned away from him and pretended to put finishing touches to the already perfect ribbon. “And what, pray tell, were you hoping?”

“Well,” his voice lowered and Mary could feel him walking slowly up behind her. “On our first Christmas as married people, I was hoping I’d receive a more personal gift. A gift that one cannot simply wrap.”

Mary felt the sweet little place in her tummy flip, just the way it always did when he spoke that way, the way it always did when he pressed himself behind her, his chin resting in the crook of her shoulder, the way she felt his evening stubble against her cheek.

She smiled. “I hope you aren’t suggesting anything indecent.”

“I’m not sure I’d use that word.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” she patted the gift in front of her, and turned more fully to Matthew. His smirk had melted into a flirt of a smile, and Mary rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Matthew. I do have to have something for you to unwrap tomorrow morning. And I’m quite certain that whatever you have in mind is not something Mama or Papa would appreciate.”

“I beg to differ,” Matthew stood straight and cocked a brow. “I think Robert would very much appreciate the thing I have in mind.”

A baby.

Mary turned away from him and stood from her stool. She wordlessly walked to their bed. She wouldn’t comment; she couldn’t possibly comment because Matthew was right.

Matthew was always right. It was the thing she loved and hated the most about him. And, even more annoyingly, his response triggered that small panic she’d recently tamed. Mary was never a defeatist, of course, but neither was she an optimist. What she was was determined. She was determined Matthew would be well again after the war. She was determined Matthew would come to his senses about saving Downton. And after the procedure, she was determined they’d find hope again. Hope that their determination to be happy would not go in vain. And earlier this week, when there was a lack of her monthly disappointment? Oh, Mary allowed herself to be blissfully optimistic, thinking of uncharacteristically romantic ways to tell Matthew — tell him they’d done it.

But then, no. Two days ago made it painfully obvious she’d just been late. And as a salt to the wound, Nanny was allowed Christmas Eve off and Tom had recruited her to help with darling Sybbie. As she held her baby niece, and spoke to her, she’d spied Mama eyeing her with such a look that it choked Mary.

And now the choking was back.

She folded herself beneath the coverlets and duvet and felt the weight of her husband as he settled beside her. She felt the warmth of his hand through the silk of her nightgown, and she sighed.

“I’ve said something wrong —“ he found her hand.

“— No,” she shook her head, stopping him. She closed her eyes. She tried to shake the darkness of her thoughts away. “It was me.” Her fingers grasped his hand, Mary trying to communicate to him how she was fine, she was alright. “Ignore me.”

But Matthew knew her better.

She felt him settle ever closer to her, and she felt as the wall she so safely kept begin to crumble the closer he got.

“It’s impossible to ignore you.” She looked at him in the firelight, but he wasn’t teasing. The twinkle of his eyes from earlier was gone, and there instead was a dark sincerity. “I’ve tried.”

She smiled at him.

“Really,” he continued. “Do you know when I realized I had to marry you?”

“Had to?” Mary blinked. “Goodness. Not something every woman longs to hear.”

Matthew laughed. “No, I mean, I had to because, if I didn’t, I would never be happy.”

She wiggled further into their bed. “No.”

“A year ago. Last Christmas. When we played The Game.”

Mary hadn’t expected that. “The Game?”

Her husband nodded. “Yes. Robert had given you —“

“—The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Papa seems to think the Brontës are less obvious at Christmas —“

“The point is,” Matthew spoke over her, “that you were there, before the fire, surrounded by your family, and I saw you. The real you. Not the grand Lady Mary you so pretend to be.”

“Had you never seen me before? We had known one another for seven years, Matthew.”

“Not really. Not that way.”

Again, his voice had deepened, and for a moment Mary felt guilty over making light of what he was trying to say.

“Sir Richard Carlisle sat watching you, unamused. Critically, even annoyed, as you shook you head about. And as you pretended to fall. As Robert boasted no one would get it. As Rosamund and Cora shouted, frankly, terrible guesses. I saw you, and I looked at him watching you and I knew,” his voice softened, “you deserve to be adored, Mary. And I adore you. And not as Lady Mary Crawley, but just Mary. My Mary.” Mary felt his fingers grip her own tightly. “And I will adore you regardless of the gift you give me this year, or any year, or if we’re given a gift at all.”

Her heart was beating in her throat. Her lungs could not fill deeply enough, but Mary nodded. “We will be given one. We will.” And then — because the sincerity in his voice was far too much, because the love she felt for him filled her with such light and life she could hardly breathe - she lifted her chin. “Though speaking of The Game: you must swear faithfully to not tell anyone of Papa’s strategy. We’ve had quite a long winning streak using it.”

But Matthew furrowed his brow. “Until now, of course.”

“Until now?”

But Matthew’s smirk returned. “Yes. For this year, you’re on my team.”

He leaned in, slowly, and Mary closed her eyes, feeling the soft press of his smile against her own.

She pulled away and nodded. “Yes. You’re right.” She smiled again. “Now I’m on your team.”

[much-brighter-ink]

Downton Secret Santa gift for @bella-caecilia !

I know you love Cora, so I hope you enjoy this gifset gift (giftset!) of Cora being her lovely self, and that you have a happy, fun, and safe holiday. Merry Christmas!!

[ID: 5 gifs of Cora Crawley from Downton Abbey, amid conversation with other characters. / end ID]

[cobertaddict]

Merry Christmas to @abumperprize!! So happy I got you for the secret santa exchange! Hope you enjoy :)

[bright-heart-raccoon]

Tis I your secret Santa! 

@downton-bridgerton

I hope you enjoy your gift! 

[bella-caecilia]

Merry Christmas to @everyhazyday! 

I hope you enjoy this Downton Secret Santa gift!

You can also read it on AO3.

[dumpingpinggu]

Merry Christmas!🎄🎁

@hergowns-hershoes-herhairdos (I got you)

I hope you'll like this simple fan mv I did and have a nice day! :DD

And again, to everyone seeing this, Merry Christmad yet again and have nice day!! :DD🎁🎁

[emmybrown]

hello! so, @downton-not-downtown-smh and i are organizing a downton abbey secret santa together.

the name is pretty self explanatory, but it's basically a secret santa within the fandom where we can exchange gifts, such as fanart, fics, edits and gifsets.

you have till december 1st to sign up, and on christmas day, we will all post our gifts.

when you post your gift, use the "downton secret santa 2021" tag and remember to tag who your gift is for. if you post a fic on ao3, use the tag there too, please.

if you have any doubts, feel free to contact @downton-not-downtown-smh or me. our dms and ask boxes are open.

sign up here

[glowstar826]

This is my Downton Abbey Secret Santa gift for @doingwonderfully!

I hope you enjoy this! Merry Christmas!

CHARACTERS: Tom Branson, Matthew Crawley, George Crawley

SYNOPSIS: Unable to sleep, Tom decides to take a midnight stroll. He soon discovers that he’s not the only one awake.

JUST A BIT OF READING, HM? April 1922

If Tom Branson could be anything in the world—anything of his choosing—he’d choose to be a koala. He heard somewhere (where exactly he heard this was not something he’d be able to tell you) that it was the sleepiest animal on Earth. It was almost two in the morning, and after laying in bed for around four hours, Tom couldn’t sleep. As such, he found himself up, still dressed in his sleeping clothes, wandering through the many, many, many halls of the house. He was currently in the bachelor’s corridor, observing each lamp he passed with great intensity. It was an admittedly futile effort to concentrate himself into exhaustion.

On the left side of the hall, warm, orange light pooled out of a gap between one of the doors and its threshold. It struck Tom as mighty strange that someone else was awake, perhaps plagued with the same restlessness as him. Slowing his steps, he pushed his eyes in with the palms of his hands, hoping that would make him feel more awake, but it only led him to seeing black spots and discovering the crust that had formed there.

Wiping the crust away, Tom let out a breath. Almost seven months had passed. He couldn’t believe that Edna Braithwaite had come to haunt him again. Tom thought he’d been rid of her when Mrs. Hughes had fired her last, but when he learned Cora had taken her on as lady’s maid, fear had started to build up in Tom’s stomach. Now, all he was waiting for was when Edna would inevitably strike.

As Tom edged closer to the door, his nerves instantly settled, a coaxing sensation passing through them. A gentle, melodic voice was singing, murmuring sweet nothings the only way a mother could for her child. The way this voice spoke nearly reminded him of his own mother when he would scrape his knee or stub his toe. Except, it was not a mother saying those things.

It was a father.

“Sleep, now, little Georgie…sleep, now…”

It shocked Tom to hear this soft side of Matthew. However, it shouldn’t have, for Matthew wasn’t like most men. His friend was a very hands-on sort of father; after he’d fired Nanny West, he’d hired a new nanny with the understanding that she wouldn’t be too involved with his son when it came to raising him. Matthew had once told Tom that he didn’t want to leave his son in the care of someone else; he wanted to be there when George uttered his first word, took his first step. It amazed Tom to see how dedicated Matthew was. Not even he could say he was as dedicated a father as his brother-in-law.

Tom knocked lightly on the door to let Matthew know he was there. The soft singing came to a sudden halt, making Tom cringe.

“Who is it?”

“Tom.”

A shuffle of feet followed before the door was swung open by Matthew.

“What are you doing up so late?” asked the taller man, holding little George with one arm. Strangely enough, his hair wasn’t mussed from sleep. A trace of pomade still lined his blond strands, making Tom think that perhaps Matthew hadn’t even laid his head on a pillow. What if he had been in this vacant room the whole time?

“I could ask the same,” Tom answered. “You couldn’t have heard George crying from your room.” Tom didn’t need to ask why Matthew was singing to George; he’d been a father long enough to know when and why these things usually occurred.

“If you must know,” Matthew answered as he allowed Tom inside, returning to the armchair he’d been sitting on as Tom sat at the foot of the bed, “I was up reading.”

“Reading?” questioned Tom as he propped his elbows up on his knees, resting his chin in his palms. “You’re not a schoolboy, you don’t need to read.”

Matthew laughed at this. “I had hoped that I wouldn’t get caught, but I trust you. I know you won’t inform anyone of what you saw.” After a momentary pause, Matthew asked hesitantly, “You won’t tell anyone…will you?”

Tom rubbed his eyes. What could Matthew be hiding that Tom would have to be sworn to secrecy for? He was already keeping a big secret of his own; he didn’t like the fact that Matthew was asking him to be his secret-keeper, too.

“I don’t think reading is a secretive thing. Sure, you’ll probably miss breakfast tomorrow, but Robert won’t mind.”

“He will once he knows what I’m reading about,” Matthew countered with a breathy chuckle. It was then that a varnished, almost antiquated desk sitting on the far left corner filled Tom’s line of vision. On top of it, there laid tons and tons of pages, all filled with inked notes. Next to it sat a shiny, gold-rimmed fountain pen with an ink bottle next to it. Next to that, a stack of books was shoved against the wall. They were haphazardly kept with bits and pieces of paper sticking out of them. Tom had a feeling the notes would be very important as he asked his next question:

“Do those notes have anything to do with it?”

Matthew grinned sheepishly, adjusting his grip on George so that the small baby’s head could rest on his shoulder.

“They have everything to do with it.”

George’s hair had been as dark as Mary’s when he was born. But now, it was a light brown. By the time George turned one, Tom had a feeling it would be as blond as Matthew’s.

Seeing that Tom was waiting for Matthew to continue, Matthew elaborated by saying, “I’m studying to become a barrister.”

As Tom wasn’t an aristocrat in his heart of hearts, he didn’t have a negative reaction. Instead, a great deal of pride swelled in his heart. Matthew becoming a barrister only meant one thing, and that was properly drafting legislation which would enforce more restrictions on driving. If Matthew became a barrister, he’d prevent other men and women from suffering the same way he had. He’d prevent more people from being ripped away from their loved ones.

“Really?” asked Tom excitedly even though he fully understood what Matthew had just revealed. “That’s excellent, Matthew!” As he thought of who else in the family would be excited, his jumpy mood drained away as one woman came to mind: his dearest love, Sybil. While he knew Mary would be happy for Matthew, she wouldn’t understand the implications of Matthew becoming a full-fledged barrister like Sybil would have.

“Thank you, Tom. But remember: not a word of this to anyone. Please.”

“Of course,” Tom agreed instantly. Seeing that Matthew looked a bit tired holding George, he held his hands out, saying, “I’ll hold him.”

“Thank you, Tom,” Matthew said with an exhausted huff, carefully passing a sleeping George over to Tom’s waiting arms. Then, he got up and began organizing his notes.

“How long have you been studying?” whispered Tom as Matthew gathered his notes into a neat stack, placing different pages into different labeled folders. Standing up slowly, Tom made his way over to the desk to see what topics Matthew was going over.

“Almost two years,” Matthew revealed, and Tom was shocked. That meant he had begun studying when Sybil was alive. All of a sudden, tears sprung at Tom’s eyes. He gazed up questioningly at Matthew, who sent him a look of understanding.

“Sybil knew,” Matthew said to him quietly, answering the question Tom didn’t need to ask. “I told her as soon as I began my course. She was very proud of me and hoped I would succeed. Since I had already earned a law degree to become a solicitor, all I needed was to take a BPTC at an Inn of Court. I completed the course a few months after Sybbie was born.”

“And now?”

“So far, I have attended twenty-three out of twenty-four dinners required at Lincoln’s Inn. After my twenty-fourth, I will be eligible to be called to the bar. However, I will elect to not practice as a barrister and will keep it as a title only. Seeing that Robert will already be furious with me for studying to be a barrister, I need not make matters worse by practicing as well.”

Tom’s mouth nearly dropped open. Why would Matthew study for almost two years just to have it as a mere title?

“What? That’s ridiculous! Why on Earth—?”

“Unfortunately,” Matthew cut across as he began putting his folders away, “I am the heir of the estate before anything else. In fact, any other endeavor I pursue might as well be called a hobby, because effectively, that’s what they would be. I don’t really need a job, but having one would keep my head out of the clouds—and it will also give me a sense of purpose.”

“Then why will you elect not to practice?” hissed Tom with desperation. “As a barrister, wouldn’t you be able to draft legislation for Robert to put forth?”

Matthew looked nonplussed, turning his full body to face the other man. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Your accident, Matthew! You—you nearly died that day! Not everyone is as clever as you. Not everyone has your instincts. Think of all the good you’d do if you had the ability to create a law that would keep people safe on the road!”

“Shhh! George is sleeping!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Tom apologized, remembering that he held a sleeping baby in his arms. Lowering his voice, he continued, “What I mean is, if you became a barrister, you could pave your way to becoming a member of Parliament. Right? And then you’d be able to draft the legislation yourself and use Robert’s influence—”

“I’m afraid that is going a bit too far, Tom,” Matthew sighed. “Robert is not a very open-minded man, as you well know.”

“But he wouldn’t mind if you planned to become a member of Parliament?”

“He would,” Matthew insisted. “Robert is not a very political man, either. He only has a seat in the House of Lords because they gave it to him.”

“But think about it, Matthew,” Tom pleaded, handing George back to Matthew. “Think of how many lives you could change. Wouldn’t Robert be pleased at the idea of you saving lives? He’s a good-hearted man above everything else.”

At that, Matthew said nothing, but he did look very contemplative. Letting out a breath, he murmured, “It’s getting late, so I’ll be heading back.”

“I will, too,” Tom agreed. As he started for the door, he turned and said, “But you will think about it, won’t you?”

Matthew looked up at him with tired eyes, managing a small smile.

“I will.”

[veryverynotgoodwrites]

Chapters: 1/10 Fandom: Once Upon a Time (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan, Captain Hook | Killian Jones & Emma Swan, Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard & Emma Swan, Prince Charming | David Nolan & Emma Swan Characters: Emma Swan, Captain Hook | Killian Jones, Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Prince Charming | David Nolan, Elsa (Once Upon a Time), Evil Queen | Regina Mills, Snow Queen | Ingrid | Sarah Fisher, Anna (Once Upon a Time), Widow Lucas | Granny, Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Captain Nemo (Once Upon a Time), Robin Hood (Once Upon a Time), James (Once Upon a Time) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Downton Abbey Fusion, Alternate Universe - You've Got Mail Fusion, Secret Santa, Friends to Lovers, Forbidden Love, Alternate Universe - 1920s Summary:

Brought together by letters and fate, Emma Swan and Killian Jones must find a way to earn acceptance from Emma's wealthy family as they fall in love.

A Downton Abbey/You've Got Mail mash-up for downeystarkjr. Merry Christmas! <3

Captain Swan Secret Santa 2021

-

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Merry Christmas, @downeystarkjr! I’m your Secret Santa for @cssecretsanta2020! I hope you had such a lovely holiday!

You definitely presented me with a challenge: I’ve had to flex my creativity to create you a historical AU that blends your favorite elements of Sybil/Branson from Downton Abbey and You’ve Got Mail, and I hope you love what I came up with for you!

This will be a 10 chapter story, so over the next few weeks I’ll be posting chapters and finishing up this tale for you!

I hope you enjoy it! <3

TAGS:

@downeystarkjr  @teamhook @hollyethecurious @the-darkdragonfly @tiganasummertree @jrob64�� @justanother-unluckysoul @ultraluckycatnd @winterbaby89 @snowbellewells​ @xarandomdreamx @klynn-stormz @omninerdgirl

[infinitestarsintheskye]

A03 Stats

I was tagged by @kaytikazoo. Thanks lovely! 

I joined October of 2013, and have posted 32 works in 10 different fandoms.

What are your five most popular works of all time? (starting with the most kudos)

1. When I Kissed The Teacher with 180 kudos (Captain America/Agent Carter - Steggy Single Parent/Teacher AU) 

2. The Lady and the Chauffeur with 124 kudos (Agents of Shield - FitzSimmons Downton Abbey AU) 

3. Four with 94 kudos (Agents of Shield - FitzSimmons, pre-canon speculation) 

4. I’ll Always Be With You with 93 kudos, (Captain America/Avengers/Agent Carter - Steggy Endgame Canon Divergence)

5. 2015 NMTD Secret Santa with 83 kudos, (Nothing Much to Do/Lizzie Bennet Diaries - Beadick, Pedrazar, Donalduke, Dizzie, Various drabbles) 

What are your five least popular works? (starting with the least kudos)

1. Lydia’s Spiral with 8 kudos (Lizzie Bennet Diaries - Lizzie Bennet & Lydia Bennet, post canon speculation fic) 

2. Winter Flurry with 12 kudos (Agents of Shield - FitzSimmons, FZZT poem)

3. Wednesday, Tuesday, Thursday with 21 kudos (Agents of Shield - FitzSimmons, Academy Era, How they met fic) 

4. First to Last with 22 kudos (Captain America/Agent Carter - Steggy, Future Fic) 

5. October 29th with 24 kudos (Lizzie Bennet Diaries - Dizzie, Future post canon fic) 

Are you surprised about any of these lists? 

Nah. All of the bottom five I wrote during the fairly early stages of the AoS fandom, when I was about 15/16 years old anyway and not that good a writer, or were written for fairly small, fairly niche fandoms, like NMTD and LBD. The top ones, not really either. When I Kissed the Teacher was written DIRECTLY post Endgame when the Steggy fandom was on literal fire, and was a multichapter fic so got lots of exposure during that time. The 2015 NMTD one is a bit of a headscratcher. Maybe bc I included LBD in there, for legitimately about a paragraph. Who knows, I cannot account for its popularity AT ALL. 

Optional, if you want to calculate it (remember that ao3 will count all the words in a multichap towards the year it is completed, regardless of how much was actually posted that year): How many words did you publish in 2020?

I wrote 157,931 words this year, which is about 100,000 more than I have ever written any other year. I think I doubled my overall wordcount this past year ALONE, and I only started writing fully and properly in about May. 

What’s a favorite fic you published this year?

Oh Other People easily. 

How do you feel like you’ve improved as a writer this year?

Well, I feel a lot more confident in myself and my abilities. I wrote my first ever long form fic, and I pushed myself and wrote things I never thought I ever could or would. I feel like I’m beginning to acknowledge that I can actually write and that I’m not actually that bad at it.

What is something new you did writing-wise in the past year? (new fandom, pairing, setting, genre, collab, etc)

I wrote my first smut! (See Other People) I never in a billion trillion years thought I would write smut, and yet here we are. I surprised myself, by kind of enjoying it too. 

What is something writing-related you would like to try in the future? (check back at the end of the year and see if you did it!)

FitzSimmons Pride and Prejudice AU. I want to do it so badly, I will do it I promise, it’s coming at SOME POINT I just need to figure out the logistics of it, will honestly I think will take longer than writing the damn thing. 

Today’s date, so you can see how your results might change if you do this again in a year

02/01/2021

I think just about every writer I know of has been tagged in this now, so if you are a writer, haven’t done this yet please consider yourself tagged! 

[emmybrown]

updates!!

@downton-not-downtown-smh and i have contacted all the secret santas!!! now, just take your time and make sure to post your gifts in christmas, with the "downton secret santa 2021" tag and tag who is receiving your gift.

if you have any more doubts, please contact us. also, if any mistake happened and you didn't get your message after signing up, you gotta contact us too.

good luck people!!!