#gingham christmas

[girlschannel]

[angeloftheodd]

My present to you is my smile.❤️💚🎀🎄

🍒 Instagram Post 🍒

[craftyladybug]

Black Gingham hair Scrunchie 🖤 Also available in yellow, blue and hot pink.

[icestory-is]

[aestrologist]

<3

[margaritabloom]

I got this adorable paw print pink pillow as a Christmas Prezzie!!🥰💕🎄 Herman loves it too! That red spot on his forehead is his Christmas kiss I gave him. Teehee… 💋🎄💕 . #margaritabloom #christmas #merrychristmas #pawprint #pinkchristmas #pinkmas #kittycat #iloveyou #christmaskiss #kawaii #gifts #christmasgift #kawaiipillow #catpillow #socute #happiness #xmas #pinkxmas #ilovepink #gingham #shabbychic #cottagecore #catsofinstagram #catlover #kittylove #fairytale #december #ᴄʜʀɪsᴛᴍᴀs2022 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmrl9kmOiAH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[misschatz]

Christmas Holiday Patterns 🍬Link in Bio https://ko-fi.com/s/08b6e09347 #peppermintpatterns #patternmaking #pattern #patternmaker #patterndesign #patternmaking #pattern #patternmaker #patterndesigner #peppermint #plaid #tartan #checkered #gingham #shirt #creativemarket #illustration #freelance #christmas #xmas #holiday (at Peppermint Grove, Western Australia, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClJDxDpqfjs/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[withleeknow]

seasons of you.

pairing: minho x reader genre/warnings: established relationship, tooth-rotting fluff or at least i hope so lmao, not v edited and literally no one is surprised lol i sound like a broken record atp just adding that into every post word count: 0.7k note: inspired by a highly fucked up thing that @matchannie said to me yesterday lmao it has not left my brain since you said it you absolute monster

as always, i’d appreciate any thoughts or comments you may have, and please drop a like and/or reblog if you enjoy reading ♡

navigation / masterlist / ko-fi

minho falls in love with you four times a year.

minho falls in love with you in the spring, over blooming cherry blossoms and vibrant daffodils that greet you on your weekly sunset walk. over the feeling of your fingers intertwined with his own without soft fluffy gloves getting in the way, now that it's finally warm enough to retire that extra layer of protection for the season. over the sun coming out of hibernation and filling your days with golden light, falling upon your face and casting you in a magical hue. over the remnants of winter that still leave behind a palpable chill in the air early in the morning or late in the night, that has you reaching out for the comfort of his warmth. over your delighted smile when he brings home a bouquet of tulips after a long day at work. over your glassy eyes, reddened nose and flushed cheeks as he takes care of you when the seasonal allergies kick in.

minho falls in love with you in the summer, over picnics in the park where you both lay on blue gingham picnic blankets, your head on his chest, as you watch the clouds overhead drift peacefully. over watermelon gelatos passed between teasing lips, the confectionary melting too quickly for your liking under the blazing sunlight. over spontaneous drives to the beach even though neither of you can swim, but you go just for fun, just to build sand sculptures in the shape of your cat babies and stand on the edge of the water to splash at each other. over long naps on the couch on days where you're too lazy to venture into the outside heat, preferring to stay cuddled up together under the air conditioner with niki playing in the background.

minho falls in love with you in fall, over shared slices of pumpkin pie as you watch the leaves turn yellow and red right outside your window. over the adorable way you hide your face behind your hands on nights where he puts on a horror movie because he insists on honoring the halloween spirit. over your off-key rendition of taylor swift's all too well (the 10-minute version) for most of the season because you adamantly claim that it's autumn's official anthem. over weekends spent attached at the hip, baking sugar cookies for hours on end. over your crestfallen pout as you take note of how the days keep getting shorter and shorter, already missing warm sunny weeks with all your heart.

minho falls in love with you in winter, over matching scarves and beanies, even though he often has to carry them for you because you have a bad habit of forgetting them before you go out. over the first snow of the season because they say that if you witness the first snowfall with the person you love, then you will stay together for a long, long time. over sweet cuddles in bed as a bad christmas movie plays on tv, and you fall asleep on his shoulder about half an hour into the movie despite being the one to select the movie in the first place. over your return from a shopping spree with your girlfriends with nothing for yourself but everything for soondoongdori, from christmas themed clothes to treats and toys.

but then again, maybe it's not entirely accurate to say that minho falls in love you merely four times a year. if he wants to be precise, then he would say that he falls for you anew every morning he wakes up and sees you asleep in his arms like a delicate miracle granted by a star he once used to wish upon. if he wants to get technical, then he falls in love with you with every smile that you send his way, which is a terribly sappy thing for him to admit but it doesn't make the statement any less true.

minho loves you every day of every week, of every month, of every year. he's loved you before he even met you, when you were just a romanticized idea in his head and hadn't yet walked into his life like the angel he was always meant to find. he loves you every minute of every hour; there isn't a second where you're not on his mind, not a single beat of his heart that doesn't spell out your name. he loves you throughout the seasons and a million times in between.

permanent taglist: @onlyycb97wife @starsandrqindrops @borahae-reads @abbiestearsricochet @cutiespaghetti @anthropologykpopmultistan @moonlinos @mjnhoz @caitlyn98s @piercidh34rts  @stayceebs97 @linocz @yaorzu-blog @biribarabiribbaem @kayleefriedchicken @extrhotjne @caitxx1 @palindrome969 @todorokiskitten @azuna-sz @meanergreener @nxzz-skz @jazziwritesthings @poutypoutybin @bookyeom @jisuperboard @wyzminho @amarecerasus @channection @lastgreatamericandynasty1 @judeduartewannabe @chanshyunjin @firelordtsuki @astronomicallyyy @alm334 @lashaemorow

all rights reserved © withleeknow. reposting, translating and/or modifying is not permitted by any means. [posted 08.04.2024]

[joojconverts]

4T3 Conversion of TwentiethCenturySims' Catalogue

A 4t3 conversion of (most of) twentiethcenturysims' catalogue for all your sims! I truly hope you like it! Enjoy! <3

In this compilation are included sets, mini-sets and standalone pieces that the original creator made! Recolors, posepacks, fantasy items, repeated pieces (things very similar to what I've already converted in the past), and pieces categorized as "timeless" are not included!

This is what I've been working on haha! My last statement for some time... thank you all so much, once again! 💖

————— —————

Known Problems:

The trim on the "Wilma Casual Dress" (purple dress with bow) gets a bit wonky at the end of the skirt! I tried to fix it in many different ways, but this is what I got!

The pleads on the "French Hen Dress" also get a bit wonky, same as above!

LIGHTING GLITCHES ONLY APPEAR ON CAS!

* Note that teens and elders have neck gaps. This is sadly the price for having them available! For teens, try using this and this slider by gruesim!

————— —————

ALL OG CREDITS GO T​O @twentiethcenturysims! IT’S NOT MY MESHES, AND IT’S NOT MY TEXTURES, I JUST CONVERTED THEM TO THE SIMS 3!

————— —————  

NOTES:

Because TwentiethCenturySims is a great creator, his whole catalogue is quite low-poly and gameplay friendly, so don't worry about that!

All 3 hats are hat-slider compatible and unissex, as always!

The Ida, Annie and Elsie dresses (gingham and flowers pattern) all have 11 presets. First 10 are overlays, having multiple floral options, but with collars, buttons and bows being recolorable. Last one is completely recolorable!

The "baby sweater" (green sweater with black tie) has 4 presets, first two having christmas-like patterns, third one having a knitted pattern, and last one being completely CAStable!

The "baby dress" (red dress with white collar) has 12 presets. 6 first presets have a velvety texture which is recolorable, with 5 flower options to the collar, and one without the flowers. Same applies to the other 6, but they don't have the velvet texture to the dress!

The "baby hat" also comes with 2 presets, one having a velvety texture, and the other one not!

The "Havana jacket" (orange jacket with white shirt) has 31 presets. First one is completely recolorable, and the other 30 are a variety of overlay patterns to the white shirt. The jacket stays recolorable in all of them!

The "Eleanor 1930's Dress" (green dress with bow) has 6 presets. First 4 have overlay patterned presets to the dress, but the bow, collar and trim stay recolorable. The last 2 are completely CAStable!

The "Piper Dress" (kids' dress with blue bow) has 4 presets. The first 4 have overlay patterned presets on the dress, but the rest remains recolorable! The last one is completely recolorable!

The "Goose Suit" (kids' gray suit) has 3 presets. First two have different patterns checkered patterns, and the last one is plain. In all of them the collar is an overlay texture.

The "Ruffles the Clown Costume" has 2 presets, having two different stripe options.

The "Billy Sailor Suit" (Toddler's sailor-inspired outfit) has 2 presets, with two different mask options. The second one has three little recolorable circles on the belt.

The "Darlene Sailor Dress" is the same as the above, but reversed haha!

The "Swan Suit" (houndstooth patterned suit) is totally recolorable, though it may not seem like it lol! I added the houndstooth pattern from CAS, which you can remove and put anything you want instead!

The "Bonnie Two-Piece Dress" (checkered dress with buttons) has two versions: the AF-EF version, as usual, and a teen-age conversion, just because I feel like it'd be useful to you!

The "Viola 1930's Dress" (yellow stripes and brooch dress) has 5 presets. The first, second and last presets are totally recolorable, having different mask options! Third and fourth presets have floral patterned overlays on the dress, but the collar, belt, etc. remains recolorable! The brooch looks a bit off without the accessory overlay, which is the next note!

There is an overlay/color mix accessory for the brooch on the "Viola Dress, which can be found in the socks category. It gives a multiplier (details) to the brooch, as well as making it fully recolorable! If you're going to use the dress, I highly recommend only using it with the accessory activated! It has a separate thumbnail, as seen in the previews!

As you saw on the previews, there are two buy mode objects: a highchair and a potty, both for your babies! They're found where these objects are usually found (Kids -> Baby Furniture). The potty costs §30, and the highchair costs §100!

You probably noticed the 4 skirt thumbnails (with its half options) at the bottom. Because I don't want this post to be gigantic, I'll link to the original post where twentiethcenturysims explains how to use them and their purposes: HERE! Yes, they're found under "accessories"!

I think that's all haha! Now to the download! <3

SimFileShare |  Dropbox

☕  buy me a coffee or become a patron!

————— —————

Credits:

@twentiethcenturysims for all the meshes and textures; you can find everything here!

💖 @katsujiiccfinds​​​ @emilyccfinds​​​ @kpccfinds​​​  @xto3conversionsfinds

[holdinbacksecrets]

who in svt would get as close as possible to you in the subway train while you're standing and hover over you, just to assert their dominance? i feel like it would be mingyu and coups the most, god i can hear those shit eating grins-

ohmygod

also, what about being afraid to ride public transportation unless you’re with him… you probably had one uncomfortable night ride and told yourself never again. then minghao told you to call him whenever it’s late and you have somewhere to go. you have to close your eyes the first time and focus on the feeling of his hand holding yours. with time, you go from watching him alone, to the scenery outside the window to the fellow passengers in the subway car.

mingyu and seungcheol… they’re the boys to ride with during rush hour and the odds are not in your favor for getting a seat, but you’re glued to his strong build, barely noticing the sudden jerks. it doesn’t hurt that his cologne overwhelms your senses in the best way, and his knuckles run up and down the length of your spine continuously. hell, you nearly fall asleep.

every one stares at jeonghan when you take the train together, but he’s too focused on the details of your day and convincing you to come to a few of the abroad tour stops or entertaining you with his latest debacle

joshua meets you at your stop every night he can and ohmygod how it releases all the butterflies and love confetti. he leans against the closest light post and you beam

once, you and jun waited at a bus stop for two hours in the pouring rain, and the memory is something you write down again every few months because you’re terrified it will leave you before you write your wedding vows

soonyoung would light up like a christmas tree taking a train in europe during your honeymoon. so many pictures. so much love. so wholesome

reading the same book with wonwoo who looks over at you and waits for your approval to turn the page. he stops reading if you fall asleep

you convinced jihoon to take a mattress on public transit once. it was a distressing experience, and now he won’t even whisper metro card

seokmin packs sandwiches for you in a cute lunch box he ordered online, and you exude a cheshire-wide smile every time you read his notes. he also loves to take public transportation for dates. like picnics only happen if you take the bus because in his head, they go hand in hand, and watching him sit beside you with the gingham blanket on his lap as he mindlessly trails his fingertips over your hand on the way to the park makes your heart melt

you’ve watched seungkwan on the train for months and try not to laugh at his unimpressed expressions or his dissatisfaction with an americano picked up from a new cafe. every time you try to talk to him, his stop is coming too soon, and you’re terrified of making him late or interrupting is schedule

you finally connected with hansol on the bus after months of stolen glances. it took you a couple weeks to realize you ride bus five at the same time at least a few times during the week. you’re amused and keep track of how long it takes for him to notice and gradually work his way closer to your seat until he gets on three stops late and the only available spot is beside you. he says: “did you forget your headphones?” before offering you one of his airpods. the first song he plays is one of your favorites, and it gives you chills

chan meets you at the red line and always has a book in his bag for you to read if the car gets crowded. having something else for you to focus on is his top priority, as if his hand in yours wouldn’t do the job just fine

[doll-princesse]

New Year; Post Claudie.

Claudie was happy to receive Christmas goodies this December. She is wearing her handmade lace trimmed slip and a gingham skirt, plus the Maplelea cardigan, and the shoes from her traveling outfit.

According to her pamphlet, Claudie brings home a tin of cookies from Angelo’s Bakery every year. She even saves the smallest one for Dizzy Dot. Adorable. The yo-yo, then called a quiz, is gifted by Claudie’s cousin, Sidney, and the postcard is from her grandmother.

This is the illustration of Claudie looking into the store window, admiring the Velveteen Rabbit and hoping he will come home with her on Christmas morning. I cannot help but be charmed by the doll in the window. If we ever get a mini Claudie doll, I’d love to dress her like this doll.

[andkisses]

♡ new clarity | heeseung ♡

you thought you’d made peace with your past–but here, at this pre-finals christmas party, it seems like there’s much, much more than you bargained for

♡ heeseung x gn!reader | wc. 2.8k ♡ genres/tropes: college!au, party atmosphere, high school sweethearts to strangers to 👀 ♡ mentions of/warnings: party atmosphere lol, drinking/drinking games, kissing, pet name usage, reader is implied to be shorter ♡ a/n: an old writing from my old blog that i accidentally deleted :”) inspired by pool by paramore but specifically this version lol i've added and revised it a bit as well

♡ masterlist ♡

Whatever this is, it had been building and bubbling and rising since eleventh grade. That’s when you set down on this path. When your friend introduced you to her friend, who in turn introduced you to all of his friends. He had seemed kind enough, with sparkly doe eyes that caught the sunlight in enchanting ways. The way his eyes seemed to light up, too, when he met you for the first time. He had some sort of magic to him, you figured—an air that made people want to get to know him better. It had been a simple meeting in the cafeteria during lunch period.

It had been simple, once.

Now, it’s anything but.

Navigating senior year had been stressful enough, but Heeseung’s laugh made it easier. Heeseung had been the kind of person who could cheer you up with a terribly bad pun—puns he never seemed to run out, a seemingly endless supply of groan-inducing monstrosities. His firm shoulder and tender touch and listening ear made hardships bearable.

The way he would look at you, with all the love he could muster in his eyes, small smile on his lips, made it bearable. His kisses, loving and gentle and playful and passionate. The way he would come over to help you with your essay but end up chatting with your mom while cutting fruit. His whispered nothings when he said goodbye, fingers slipping from yours, with a promise to see you in the morning and a smile that would leave your cheeks flushed and your heart full.

You balanced each other in this way–you did the same for him. Cheering him on at his softball games with cheesy homemade signs that were completely embarrassing but made his heart ache in a unique way nonetheless. Helping him study for AP exams that would boost his college applications. Holding him while he cried into your arms after not getting accepted to his dream college, muttering confusion after confusion that you had no answers to. No solution or fix. You couldn’t fathom why, either; he had the grades and the extracurriculars. He was a model student. He was everything. You told him to try again. He told you it didn’t really matter anymore.

Heeseung was different after that night, in subtle ways that close friends picked up on but teachers and passerby people missed entirely. You saw him changing right in front of your eyes as he grappled with the consequences of his future. His laugh wasn’t as loud anymore. His jokes became less frequent. He got quiet.

His touch felt more distant.

You broke up the week before graduation, a shared agreement where you were both okay with the fallout. Your mutual friends were shocked, especially the ones who introduced you all the way back in eleventh grade. It felt like so long ago. Yes, you would miss his touch. Crave his kisses. Long for being held when all you two would do is watch the stars on a gingham blanket and talk about the future, any future. As long as this imagined future involved you two together, it was okay.

As you sat in a crowd of your graduating peers, it felt like you didn’t know which way was up or down.

College came, and freshman year blew by, as did sophomore year. Memorable only the way you would recount a movie that was neither bad nor good. You tried a bunch of things: club activities that failed because the ones you wanted to join occurred at conflicting times–class had to come first. Jobs that turned to dust because they were only temporary for various holidays or tourist influx. Dates with no one ever worth mentioning.

The first half junior year melted away with major-related courses and more papers than you could believe. You tried not to think about the times Heeseung would come over to be your editor, scribbling nonsense in the margins of your rough drafts. Just like you tried again at the dating scene. There had been others, but none like Heeseung. None with a smile like his, that lit up a room it shined so brightly. None with eyes that sparkled and softened whenever they saw you. Or with a voice like his when you were sad, and he would sing to you.

Some of them wouldn’t even try to sing to you.

And now, here you are: at a Christmas party you said you wouldn’t attend because you had to study for finals–class had to come first. But your friend dragged you along, saying you would enjoy it and have fun. “I guarantee it,” she’d promised, chucking cute, Christmas-y clothes in your direction. You normally wouldn’t have been persuaded, but the incessant asking began to overpower any odds of studying. You’d settled on your favorite jeans and a loose red sweater with sequins interweaved before you had even decided on actually attending.

Your friend was giddy on the way over, in a way you’d never seen her before. As she shifted the car into park, practically jumping out of her seat, you’d put it down to her succeeding in dragging you out to some random party. She was gone the moment you two stepped inside, telling you to “have a great night!” with a wink as she vanished into the crowd.

Which brought you to this.

“What are you doing here?” you ask as Heeseung begins to kiss your cheek down towards your jaw. The bathroom lights were off, but the owner of the house had strung up oversized Christmas tree bulbs to illuminate the space and bring festivity or what have you to the small room. At least, that’s what you assume as your mind tries to process everything all at once.  Red, green, and blue tones dance across his dark hair that curled up at the edges, a tousled look. You notice he still smells like orange and cinnamon, even after all this time.

It has a particular effect on you.

He hums against your skin, and you can feel his smirk. “Kissing you,” he says simply, as if it were the most obvious thing. Maybe it is.

“Be serious!” You playfully bat against his shoulder, and even with the solid hit, warmth against your palm, he doesn’t feel real. This couldn’t be real. You hadn’t seen each other since that summer after freshman year.  You texted and talked but it regarded boring mundane things, nothing ever too personal or revealing. You’d become strangers. You hadn’t even told him about your boyfriend, or the break up following, or the other boyfriend, or the other break up, or the third boyfriend and the third break up...

But they never sang to you, so they weren’t worth mentioning.

A quick peck on the tender flesh of your neck, warmth spreading from each spot Heeseung kisses. “I am.”

“Seung…” you warned, resolve waning.

He laughed against your neck, pulling you closer in the dark. “I missed that,” he murmured.

“What? Me scolding you?”

“No, you saying my name,” he replied, slowly rocking you back and forth. “Actually, no. That was a lie. Just you. I miss you.”

Even though you’re sure it only happened less than half an hour ago, it feels like a million years since you caught Heeseung’s eyes in the living room. It was filled with people, milling around each other and shouting over the obnoxiously loud music in order to hear better, which in turn only made everything else louder. The din was slowly and surely becoming unbearable, and you turned to leave when you felt a stare.

You searched the crowd, standing on the hearth to see above the drunk people and the sorta-sober friends crying about how finals were next week and here they were, playing beer pong with ginger ale because someone forgot to bring more beer to play said beer pong. He looked as shocked as you felt, eyes wide and sparkly and lips slightly agape. Your heart jumped as he began to part through the pained students attempting to forget their GPAs and make his way to you, and you were moving towards him before you even realized it.

Somehow, that led to kissing in the bathroom down the hall, where both of you had raced to lock the door, with no real lights and stupid dollar store Christmas bulbs strung about.

Somehow, you’re okay with it.

“Sing me a song,” you request. You can still hear the party outside, tinny-sounding songs bleeding through the walls and party noise. It sounded like someone just scored big in ginger ale pong or failed miserably. But Heeseung, your Heeseung, is here and in front of you and in your arms. You wrapped your arms around him, arms tight against his back, your head tucked into his chest. This was probably what your friend meant, why she was so adamant about your attendance, though you don’t know how she could have known about Heeseung. Maybe it was his magic again.

You suppose it doesn’t matter. She’d probably tell you all about her evil plan to get you and your ex back together—

You flinched in Heeseung’s arms, eyes shut. Calling him an ex didn’t seem right, though that’s certainly what he was. You’d dated, then you'd broken up. You both agreed to do so, regardless of the begging of mutual friends. Regardless of all those different futures you’d envisioned together. Yet, here at this party, in a place you didn’t expect to see him, a place that didn’t make you even think of him, in his arms, ex seems too harsh.

“Please?” you ask quietly, finding yourself nuzzling into the softness of his flannel.

Heeseung laughs, bright and so much like him, and the rumble through his chest makes you smile. “Needy, are we?” he teases, voice soft. You can imagine him biting his lip like he would when he teased you and his own cheeks flushed. You lean more of your weight against him as he quietly sings to you. “I’m underwater, no air in my lungs... My eyes are open, and I’m giving up... You are the wave I could never tame... If I survive, I’ll dive back in…”

You turned up to him, chin resting on his chest, confused pout on your lips. “Are you asking me on a date?” you question. “I don't even know why you’re here. You don’t go to school here. Or anywhere near here.”

“One,” he begins, bringing up a finger and lightly booping your nose, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re the one who asked me to sing, so I sang. How dare you label me with ulterior motives.” He smiles, nose scrunched against yours, and you can’t help but giggle at his affections. “Secondly, my school had finals last week. I’m finished, and I thought I’d come over and watch all the other people suffer and drown their sorrows in cheap liquor and apple juice.”

“It wasn’t ginger ale?” you ask, frowning.

“They’re too broke for ginger ale, my delight,” he says, the pet name rolling off his tongue like he never stopped calling you that. Like there wasn’t almost three years separating you two like this. “They’re college students.”

“Did you come here to see me?” you ask, the idea popping into your mind. Part of you is screeching because oh my god did you seriously just say that? To him? To his face? But another part, the one closer to your heart, needs to know. The part that’s been daydreaming about something similar to this, though none of them ever occurred in a bathroom at a Christmas party with cheap lights. A part that longs for the simple time, of falling asleep after sweet kisses and talking about the future, any future.

A future with you two together.

“If I survive, I’ll dive back in... I’ll dive back in, I’ll dive back…”

“Hee-seeeeung—” you drawl, sounding like a petulant child. You don’t care, you’re too hopeful. “Answer meeeee.”

He mimics your tone. “Fiiiiiiiine.” He stood you up, pushing you off him with his hands on your shoulders as he levels a stare. His eyes sparkle, even in the low light“Go out to dinner with me tomorrow night.”

You raise an eyebrow.

He smiles awkwardly. “Please?”

“Heeseung, I’m one of those sad college students waiting to suffer for finals. I need to study.”

He groans playfully, like you’d told him he had to win a golf tournament for a chance at dinner. He drops his arms and rolls his head back before looking back up. “Let me try again,” he says, hands clasped behind his back and smirk barely contained on his lips. “Can I purchase your favorite takeout and bring it to your dorm and help you study?”

“Depends.” You pinch your chin between your thumb and forefinger in a mock thinking position with pursed lips. You’ve gotta tease back somehow, right? “Study like real study–you know, the boring way–or study like you kiss me after I get a review question correct?”

“Hey, studies show that rewards help you learn and retain more information.” Heeseung shrugs before his faux seriousness fades into a myriad of giggles as he quietly repeats himself, “Studies... study... haha.”

“Oh my god.” You lightly shove his shoulders back, causing him to break out into more laughter. And there it is, that bright smile that made the sun ashamed. That warmed your cheeks and kept your heart beating on the bad days. The one you’ve longed to see so dearly.

“I miss us,” you say. Or breathed. You didn’t really put effort into saying it, but it came out nonetheless. You lean back against the counter, and Heeseung mirrors your stance against the opposing wall. “Why did we break up?”

“We were different,” Heeseung replies, as if it’s the easiest answer. Maybe it is. “We needed space.”

You bite your lip thinking, eyes everywhere but Heeseung. Is this really a good idea? Had breaking up even been a good idea? College had been lonely without him. He was there but he wasn’t. Baseline text messages were different from face-to-face heartfelt conversations. He’d become a stranger, an idea you kept in your memories. But now, he’s within reach of your fingertips, and something deep inside tells you that if you catch hold, you’ll fight to keep him close this time.

“About tomorrow night…”

Heeseung’s head shot up, eyes anxious. “Yeah?” he exhales, as if he’d been waiting for you to say something, anything.

“If you promise to bring my favorite takeout and a decent supply of kisses,” you say, stepping forward with your hands behind your back just like he had been, “because I do have a lot to study for, I guess you can come over.”

“Really?” Heeseung steps close, and he seems timid. Like you might yell and tell him to go away. Like this whole moment isn’t actually happening. His eyes hold hope and joy and happiness. And you want to keep them that way. “You’re willing to give us another try?”

You nod, biting down a shy smile. Heeseung moves to hug you, swoop you up in his arms and you know he’s going to try and spin you around like a Disney movie. A thought comes to mind quickly, new options forming now that there’s more possibility. You hold up a hand, and his chest runs straight into your palm. “What?” he asks, fearful and worried.

“You still haven’t actually kissed me tonight, Seung,” you remind, tilting your head up towards him. You point all around your face and neck before tapping on your lips. “I don’t think I could wait until tomorrow night after all this time.”

Heeseung pouts, pulling at your hands. “I’d get red lipstick on me, though.”

You smile slyly this time, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling close. Heeseung’s smile grows wide, making your heart pound with the puppy love you’d felt before, but this time, it feels like it could grow into something more. You two were older now, maybe wiser if the school system had done its job. Or maybe you were still fools.

At least, you can be fools together.

You bump into his nose with your own, something that makes you feel little and young and powerful again. You smile up at him and, even in the darkness and the stupid Christmas lights, you can see how his eyes glitter and shine with a particularly new clarity. “Something tells me you wouldn’t mind,” you whisper.

Heeseung bumped his nose back. A quick peck, and you smile that he still tasted like hot cinnamon candies. “Something tells me you’re right.”

[growup-thatbeautiful]

always an angel (never a god)

Tags: mentions of childhood abuse, language, childhood best friends, weddings, angst

There was a time when you’d painted Jake’s fingernails. “For practice,” you explained, picking out the perfect blue to match his eyes. “So I can do my own next.” You had been sitting in his backyard, a ziplock bag of colors in between you. The grass was soft and green and dewey, just at the end of summer, and the air was ripe with the smell of the peach tree you sat under. The t-shirt you wore was probably his- even then you ended up stealing half of his clothes during last-minute sleepovers and spontaneous swims in his pool. 

Of course, he’d agreed- he always did. If anyone asked him- a football teammate or a nosy teacher- he would tell them to fuck off. Everyone knew that meant it had to do with you. He would take shit about anything except for you, they learned. 

But his dad came home early from his business trip. Jake didn’t have time to take the polish off before George Seresin saw his son’s blue nails. He didn’t care much that they matched Jake’s eyes. They ended up matching the bruises hidden across his ribs; the bruises you tended to when he snuck through your window later that night. He didn’t need to go through the window anymore, your mom knew about his “troubles at home” and he was welcome anytime, but it kept up the childlike appearance. 

He had been 13, at the time. Apparently, the nails were too much, because George stopped coming home after that. No one in the town said anything about it, and the Seresins went on like nothing changed. You knew Jake’s mom, Dolly, well enough to know that she wouldn’t tolerate anyone talking about her children, so no one ever did. You were probably the only one who ever saw Jake cry about it; it only happened once when he was the only player on his baseball team not to have a father to throw with. Dolly had searched for hours the night before to find George’s old glove, but it was nowhere to be seen. 

Jake’s older sisters, Violet and Jenny, painted your nails from that point on. You never asked Jake to do it again, and he never brought it up. You were young enough to think that it really had been the nail polish to made George leave, and Jake believed whatever you did. It would be years until you realized that it probably had more to do with the fact that George never loved Dolly, hated his children, and wanted nothing more than to drink himself sober. 

“Angel,” Jake used to call you. Because he’s always thought you’re the most beautiful person. Because it’s what Anakin called Padame, and you had loved Star Wars. Because what else was there to call an angel? When did he stop calling you angel? It couldn’t have been that long ago, right? When did you lose him for the last time? 

When he left for boot camp, you were a senior in high school. It had been unbearable. You wrote him letters sprayed with the perfume he gave you for your sixteenth birthday. It smelled like clean laundry and green grass. You thought it smelled like home. Years later, he would tell you that it did, in fact, smell like home when he was thousands of miles away from you. 

Blue eyes and sandy hair. Dirt underneath his nails and calloused hands. Electric blue skies shifting into a watercolor of purple and pink through gingham curtains at his kitchen window. Mud mixed with twigs to make witches' brew and Christmas sweaters you pretended to hate. That’s how you’ve always know him. When he came back from basic, he was the same, just different. His hair was shorter, cropped close to his head. He’s lost some weight, and the football muscle becoming leaner. Of course, he would grow the muscle back later on; he could never stand not being able to pick you up and spin you around like he did after all those football games. Ironically, his accent grew with time apart. So did his ego, but you expected that. 

The first girl he brought home was the sweetest one. Short black hair and grey eyes, like a thunderstorm. She left after one week with his family, leaving behind a heartbroken Jake. You were the one to help him through it, drinking a bottle of vodka underneath the stars on a wooden fence with barbed wire cutting Xs through the sky. Jake didn’t cry about girls, but she’d messed him up pretty badly. Bad enough for him to be honest with his sisters. Bad enough for Dolly to call your mom and have her send you over with a tray of cookies that Jake never told you he hated. Violet was kind enough to make you her hangover cure the next morning after you woke up with red eyes and a dry mouth in Jake’s bed. Nothing happened, naturally, but you never could convince Violet that. Whenever Jake was upset, it was a family affair. 

The next girls he brought home passed in a blur. As he got older, they got worse and worse. Fake, rich, and bratty. He said he loved them and they would be enchanted by his stories about flying a plane. They didn’t stick around long enough to hear about the parts of him that hurt, though. Not like you did. Maybe that’s why he can’t look at you the way he looks at them. They see the stained glass, you see the breakage it took to make it. 

You never thought it would end like this. 

An engagement ring. Shining in a Tiffany blue box, casting a kaleidoscope of color across the kitchen. A wedding veil, long and draped and crusted with diamonds at the end. White heels with tulle bows on the back. A backyard, down-to-earth wedding, despite the possibility for more. An always-present local violinist rehearsing old country love songs on the porch, a sweating pitcher of iced tea on the table beside him. 

All for her and Jake. 

Dolly’s house is buzzing with energy. Her family and his family all coming together in a chaotic mess of introductions and “how can I help?”s and “I’m good with whatever”s. Jake’s fiancé is the perfect future wife with a steady job and the desire for a big family. From the few times you’ve met her, she seems lovely, and Jake is completely enamored with her. For the first time, you see hearts in his eyes. 

You’re just here to drop off some food- it’s supposed to be family tonight. Dolly invited you, and Jennifer begged you to stay, but they both knew that it was pointless. It’s utterly selfish of you, but you can’t get over the fact that he’s getting married. A cruel part of you tells yourself that you never even tried to get his attention.

You’re meant to be in and out, but you can never say no when Dolly asks for help. You should’ve known she would have an alternative motive when she asked you to get flowers from the back of the barn- it’s been a dead patch for years. 

The sunlight peeks through the stubborn clouds, and his hair moves golden with the wind. He isn’t facing you, but he doesn’t need to for you to be able to recognize the broad expanse of his shoulders or the hanging posture of his head from the way he leans forward over the rotting wooden fence. 

If you were smarter, you would turn tail and run away. Save yourself a night of crying. But you aren’t, and, about him, you never have been. 

He doesn’t look up when he speaks before you get the chance to. “Were you planning on lookin’ or actually coming over to say hello?” 

“I wasn’t looking at you,” you defend, knowing it isn’t true. If he catches your lie, he doesn’t say anything about it. Instead, he asks the question you’ve been dreading. 

“Why aren’t you coming tomorrow?” 

Why, you ask yourself. Why? Because you can’t stand to see Dolly embrace her like she’s a daughter. Because you don’t want to be the only one not smiling at the reception. Because you’ve loved him your whole life, and he doesn’t seem to know. Because she’s lovely and beautiful and you’re the one he used to play dress up with. 

Because you’re selfish and twisted. 

“Angel,” he says. And, no, he can’t do that. He can’t call you that now. Now, when he’s going down the one path you can’t follow. Now, when he’s pretending like he doesn’t know how you’ve loved him since he was eleven. Now, when you’re losing him. “Things don’t have to change. Right?” If you didn’t know any better, you would say he sounds scared. 

You do know better, though, so you know Jake never gets scared. 

“You know that’s not true,” you respond. The way his grin falls breaks your heart in two. Here you are, standing before him, bleeding out with a smile on your face. Dying and saying the tears are out of joy. “You’re going to be a husband, Jake. I can’t be in the middle of that.” 

“You’re my family,” he tries again. 

“I’m your friend,” you counter. Dolly and Violet and Jenny would disagree, and, honestly, you don’t believe it either. But it gets you through the conversation. “And I don’t think she’ll appreciate my presence. None of the others ever did.” 

“She’s not like that.” He means it, and you know it’s true. She’s been nothing but gracious and generous to you. 

“I know,” you respond quietly. “But I can’t do it. I just can’t. I don’t expect you to understand.” 

He waits a moment before he responds, his eyes looking into yours. There’s emotion in them that you aren’t used to seeing towards you. “I do.” He says it softly, and you almost don’t hear him. 

“What?” 

“I understand. Every time you’ve brought home someone, I feel what you’re feeling right now. The pain. Feeling like some part of you is being taken away.” He reaches up to cup your cheek with a gentle hand. Every part of you screams that you shouldn’t do this; you shouldn’t give him a reason to hate you for years. But you lean into his touch, the warmth of his palm against your cheek. It’s a fight not to beg for more. You do have some semblance of pride, though. 

“It doesn’t matter.” There’s a sad smile on your face and a matching one on his face. No one should look that heartbroken the day before their wedding. “It’s too late.” 

He doesn’t have to say anything; you both know it's true. With a heavy heart, you place your hand over the one cupping your face. There’s going to be a wedding band on one of those fingers tomorrow. It gives you strength to remember that.  

It’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done; lacing his fingers with yours only to drop his hand to his side. He accepts the gesture. He lets you go. 

It wasn’t meant to be. He has a new angel now, one that will love him for as long as she can. It’s for the best, you tell yourself as you walk away. 

Blue eyes and blond hair. A little boy with a broken heart and blue nail polish. That’s how you’ll remember him.

[barbielore]

12 Days of Spring is a collectors edition release designed by Mattel designer Bill Greening, the principal designer for collectible products released under the Barbie Signature banner.

The release has a similar structure to the 12 Days of Christmas release, also by Bill Greening, except structured around an egg instead of a present. And also, I'm not really sure what "12 Days of Spring" means, whereas I do have some idea of the cultural significance of 12 Days of Christmas.

The set comes with a doll and a number of accessories. The doll herself uses the vintage face and that always adds a certain level of class to her style. Well, I say "class". I think what I mean by that is that she is serving.

The pink gingham has been a really popular look for Barbies lately, obviously popularized by the 2024 movie.

But if you're not a fan of the pink gingham, she also has a floral chiffon outfit that I find absolutely amazing. Huge win for Bill Greening here even if I still don't understand the point of this release.

I want to attend this doll's tea party.