#holiday card contest

[187days]

Day Seventy-Six

Today I discovered that Mr. C is the most cautious driver ever. Usually, he gets to work way before I do, but this morning he was right in front of me, doing ten under the speed limit on the road up to the high school. Did I tease him for it as we were walking into the building? Yes.

I mean, it made me late for the holiday breakfast!

One of the excellent traditions at my school is that, on the last Thursday before winter vacation, we spend the time we'd ordinarily spend in PLC meetings having a delicious, celebratory meal. The advanced culinary class prepares it, our admins serve it, it's always great. My Cacophonous friends and I spent the hour chatting over coffee, quiche, stuffed french toast, and other delicious foods. We also got to vote in the department "holiday card" contest, and we'll see if social studies pulls off a win!

Also, Ms. A and I had an interesting chat about the fact that I almost never do something fluffy or non-academic before a vacation. Now, I don't care what anyone else does- it's up to each teacher to figure out what works best for them and their students- but my own thinking is that my students will only take my class seriously if I do. So I take it very, very seriously. I mean, I respond to their complaints with jokes about being a Grinch, but then I do my teaching.

My APGOV students finished a test, which went pretty well. My Global Studies students started a little group project. They have to find out the answers to 10-15 of the questions (depending on their group's size) on the Citizenship Test, and put together some form of presentation to share that information with their classmates. They'll finish the work tomorrow, share after we come back. It's good research and citation practice, it gets them thinking about their own government, and it's knowledge they'll need next year in American Studies (when they actually take the test for real).

And! I had a lot of students say they liked this assignment, and even one or two say they were glad I wasn't showing a movie.

So that's a win!

What else? Today's spirit theme was "storm vs warm," so students and staff were dressed in a hilarious mix of winter gear, tropical shirts, etc... And, yes, there were kids who committed to wearing shorts even though it was barely cracking double digits this morning. North country kids are immune to the cold, obviously.

[stampswithbenefitscom]

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[citrinae]

gingerbread kisses.

or: christmassy things you do with them. there are some more holiday-themed drabbles/headcanons in the works so hopefully i'll get around to posting some of them anytime soon!

ft. the monster trio

☆*。luffy

• hot cocoa, ornaments dangling from his ears, snowman-building contests, him pushing you into a pile of snow and joining soon after, snow fights turning into snow angel-making contests, crumbles of the gingerbread he stole from sanji’s kitchen, once he exposed a fake santa in front of a bunch of kids at the christmas market. 

• he’d make it his life’s mission to make sure you’re laughing, always, especially around this time, when his restlessness and impersonation skills increase tenfold. luffy on christmas eve is like mixing coffee with an energy drink. and even though he vehemently claimed he’d help you decorate the tree, he cannot help throwing everything on him instead, tinsel and ornaments and lights, turning himself into a walking greeting card. 

• after one, two, three more attempts at placing decorations on the actual tree, a defeated sigh leaves you eventually as you hang a glass bauble around your nose. luffy’s eyes are glowing brighter than the lights blinking around his neck and he leans forward to press a kiss upon your lips, long and sweet, bauble slipping off and unfurling into constellations on the floor as he does. do remember to brush those under a carpet before someone witnesses the mess you’ve made in here.  

• “what’s that for?” you laugh, a pinker shade crossing your cheeks, only for you to be met with a shrug and a smile reaching luffy’s ears. “felt happy, was all,” he says, and it’s completely genuine, even more so when he adds, “you’re awesome.” you smile back. and just as spontaneously you pull luffy in for a hug, wiggling the rest of the ornaments off him, encircling you both in a sea of colour and glitter. the moment doesn’t last for long and it’s the silver star lingering at the bottom of your decorations box that catches his attention now. “who makes the coolest half gets to place the star on the top.”

☆*。zoro

• mulled wine, hesitant pecks under the mistletoe, a freshly cut conifer carried on one shoulder and chopper cheering merrily on the other, damp wood and pine filling your nose when you rest your chin over his head, pinkies touching, his hands wrapping themselves around you after you’d both have fallen asleep at the fireplace. 

• it’s common knowledge that zoro isn’t good with dates. neither is he someone to put as much importance on a holiday, “i guess people needed an excuse to drink without feeling bad for it,” and at first you are more than sure he’d spend christmas morning training. therefore not finding him in his usual spot, barbells and swords and towels untouched and forgotten, should come as a total shocker to you. 

• but you’d have found what he’d been up to way sooner if he hadn’t gotten himself lost on the way to the town and back to the ship. sunset victoriously colouring his outline and a hand at his nape, he blames his absence on an old lady mistaking a sword shop for a tavern. for all you know, it was probably him mistaking a tavern for a sword shop. there’s a rectangular object in his fist you cannot take your eyes off—a knife case. “found nothing to grab my attention, dunno. still i thought this might come in handy to you,” he lies. better throw yourself into his arms because getting presents from roronoa zoro is like seeing him rip himself open for you. of course the quiet sigh coming with his reaction isn’t always that reassuring, but deep down he’s happy to know his efforts brought a smile to your face. 

• you two spend a good part of that night in the storage room, clinking bottles and letting yourselves get carried away with stories from your homelands. before you get to open yourself another one, he gestures with his knee towards your pocket knife. “let’s see what this devil can do, shall we?” you know exactly what he means by this. with a swift hand, you slide the knife under the bottle cap. when it pops, there’s a smirk climbing on zoro’s face, “that’s my babe.”

• apple and cinnamon tea, matching sweaters, him spinning you around the kitchen while humming some carol he picked from the north blue, scented candles, sugar melting in a frying pan and your lips touching the tip of a wooden spoon after he asks if this syrup is sweet enough for you. "at least half as sweet as you are, mon cœur."

☆*。sanji

• food shopping is the default. he’s got everything planned out, lists and schedules of the best providers on the island, and he wants to make sure everything goes immaculately at dinner on this special occasion with you. you’re not surprised when you notice that a good part of his basket is made of either foods you like or stuff you’ve asked of him before. mans does his homework all right. 

• be watchful of zoning out because if you keep your eyes on something for more than thirty seconds he’ll get it for you. no questions asked. he might also make some other additions on the spot if you happen to stumble upon any trinkets that remind him of you in one way or another. does someone sell heart-shaped ornaments at the stall on your left? he’ll get one for you. snowflake ornaments? he’ll get one for you, “because, darling, you landed on my heart the way snow graces a withered tree.”

• shopping bags at your feet and your cheeks rosy after shouldering past animated gushes of people at the market, your retreat is an isolated bench near the docks and the clicking sound of sanji’s lighter. he folds an arm around you. “cold,” you try to reason for huddling yourself into him. snowflakes begin to dot the sky a whiter canvas, floating on your head and nose. sanji doesn’t say it out loud, but a selfish part of him wishes you were feeling cold more often. 

[joelsfavoritegirl]

more pre-outbreak joel hcs because this man takes up every square inch of my mind<33

. let’s be real he lives for sports, joel is the type of guy to invite tommy and all his friends over js to watch the “big game” (and he’s manning that barbecue 100% and doesn’t let anyone get near it, it’s just him cooking on it and he ends up missing half the game because of it but oh well)

. the driest fucking texter on the face of the earth i swear, his number one response to almost any message you send is just 👍 and then he’s confused later on when you assume that he’s upset

“are you mad at me?”

his head turns to your direction, brows furrowed and raised, “what?”

“are you mad at me?” you repeat, fingers fiddling with the hem of your shirt as you look at him.

he hesitates for a moment, like he’s almost about to ask if you’re mad at him. “no, sweets, i ain’t mad. why would i be mad at you?” he drawls, turning to face you fully.

“cause earlier when i told you i was gonna be home later you just replied with a thumbs up. you didn’t say anything else.”

“oh not this again- “

. WAS THE BIGGEST HISTORY NERD IN SCHOOL, ik that boy knew anything and everything if you asked him. history was the one subject he had straight a’s from no joke. remembers years and numbers like he was born for it, it’s srsly fascinating.

“napoleon bonaparte died which year?” the voice of the host of the game show booms from the tv. your eyes are flickering over the answers on the screen as you look away from your book for a second.

“may 5th, 1821,” joel mutters, his head comfortably settled in your lap as you card your fingers through his hair.

it makes you frown down at him, scoffing softly before you look back at the screen.

“1840,” the contestant replies and the buzzer practically defeans you, indicating that it’s the wrong answer.

“a couple years off there, Roger,” the host chuckles, flashing that unnatural white-teeth smile to the man, “napoleon died on the 5th of may, 1821”

and joel is chuckling in your lap, patting your thigh in victory as he watches your dropped jaw.

“i was a history buff in high school, what can i say?”

. i also feel like joel would’ve actually been a pretty smart kid (we don’t talk about him thinking the rover in the museum in tlou2 was the real one from mars), i also definitely think he went to music high school parallel with normal high school (he was a band kid through and through you can’t convince me otherwise). hardworking, smart, a bit of a goody-two-shoes if you squint, would’ve probably gone off to a decent college/university if it wasn’t for sarah’s appearance (wrap it before you tap it kids!!)

. type of guy to scoff whenever people say their favorite holiday is valentine’s day but you know damn well he’s got it marked on his calendar so he can remember to buy you some nice flowers and take you out to some fancy date (and fuck the shit out of you when you get home but that’s a whole other story). you tease him about it every year but he just brushes it off (his cheeks are red and he has to clear his throat bcs he himself knows it’s true and he’s too much of a gentleman to fully deny it)

literally the loml it’s critical atp<33

[ohyoufool]

Omgcp holiday poll time. Begin.

[ann-ndsims]

Seasons of Love Challenge

If you want a mini-challenge that centers on romance, story, and gameplay, then this might be the perfect challenge for you! I introduce to you, the Seasons of Love Challenge! Pair up or create four pairs and be the matchmaker and the writer of their destiny. Get indulged with their story and help them find love by the end of the season!

For each season, we have different couple that may or may not fall in love before the season ends. I recommend that you edit the in-game season length, it can be up to 7, 12, 21 or 25 days per season, depending to you. This challenge can either be rotational or generational, it’s completely up to you. 

Feel free to remove and add some more activities to the following. These are not really rules, but more like guides or checklist that you can do so that you won’t run out of ideas to do for each round, and hopefully, help progress the relationship of the each pair. 

For those who prefer slow-burn romance (like me!) there’s a Slowburn Romance Edition by the end with some set of rules, be sure to check that out! This is supposedly a personal challenge for my game, but I thought it would be nice to share it with the community. If you do this challenge, please don't forget to add the hashtag #TS3SeasonsofLove and mention me, I would love to see other simmers enjoy this little challenge that I've created 💖

Note: You may play this in any order.

SUMMER

trope:  enemies to lovers

backstory:

 - sim A is demoted from her work because of her hotheaded nature, and was assigned in this town where her grandparents/(or) sister live. She absolutely hates that, she wants to go up the ladder and build her name, but how can she do that now that she's demoted and stuck in this town?

 - sim B is carefree and enigmatic, living his life to the fullest. He used to get sick a lot when he was a child and now that he's a teen and rarely gets sick anymore, he wants to break free from those restrictions and do the things he hasn't done in his childhood. 

how things started:

  ~ Just few days before his birthday, sim B is feeling rebellious and wants to spend the best of his teenage days, even if that means breaking the curfew. So, he stayed out late with his friends to party and even went to the beach and lit some fireworks just before he go home. But, on his way home, the police patrol saw him! He knew he's so screwed, but what can he do? He plead with the cop, which happens to be Sim A, but she don't take any of his bullshit. Which eventually leads to some misunderstanding, fight and disliking each other. Guess the last of his teenage day is remarkable afterall, especially if you're being escorted back to your house in police car. 

  ~ If things aren't already worst as they are, he, unfortunately, bumped with the same cop again when she joined the surfing/scuba diving club. Oh well, guess they have to see each other a lot now. Will this be the perfect summer as he imagined, or will it be totally ruined because of that one hot-headed cop?

traits:

childish, athletic, loves the sea

grumpy, natural cook, snob

skills:

Athletics, martial arts, logic

Diving/surfing/swimming, fishing, charming

jobs:

Police

Lifeguard/Scuba diver

misc:

pull booty traps and bicker

prank each other

activities:

scuba dive/surf together

play water balloon fight and pillow fight

throw a pool party and receive positive moodlets. you may do the following:

   * Perform Fireworks Extravaganza (Having three large fireworks i.e. Golden Dragon/Facemelter) during party    * Play in the sand    * play and swim in the water together    * skinny dip together

Try water balloon arena

Spend the summer festival together, join these activities and win Summer Festival Ticket:

  * get holiday greeting card in photobooth   * buy a snow cone   * Get Face Painted       * Skate together   * Soccer Shootout   * HotDog eating contest   * Water Balloon Fights

 date idea: 

Beach date, skinny dip, windsurf, and go boating together, take pictures!

Compete in a bowling alley

Watch a live show performance

Watch a band performance

Recommended Mods: 

Social Club Mod by @phoebejaysims

Surf's Up Sun & Fun Wave store content

SPRING

trope: distant childhood friends to lovers

backstory:

  ~ Sim A and Sim B where inseparable when they're kids. They spent afternoons playing video games, playing with their toys and painting together. But things changed when they entered High School. Sim B moved to a different part of town and became more distant as she found new circle of friends, and eventually, had a boyfriend. She thought it was forever! Only to find out that she's pregnant with someone who totally, totally dislikes children. So, she runaway from home and found herself back to the small apartment where she was raised, back to where sim A lives just next door. 

  ~ Sim A was surprise to see Sim B again. He always wanted to make up and be friends with her again, but he always felt shy and small when he sees her with her new set of friend and popular boyfriend. Now that she's back, will he finally have the courage to talk to her again? 

  ~ Moreover, can Sim B raised this child alone? And will she find comfort again with the boy next door?

traits: 

artistic, dramatic, friendly

socially awkward, artistic, handy

skills:

handiness, inventing, video game

painting

activities:

play video games together

go to karaoke and have a duet

play hopscotch together

compete in darts

visit each other's house and chat

Attend Spring Festival/Love Day together and do the following activities:

    * send love letters     * Slow Dance during Spring Festival     * Spring Dance Queen and Spring Dance King (optional)     * Hunt eggs     * Try kissing booths!     * Try the Love tester machine      * roller skate together     * Play horseshoes together

sim A must make a portrait of the other

sim B must make a toy for sim A's child

misc:

they must be distant friends at start

let Sim A go to parenting classes

let sim B know about the pregnancy before they start dating

Date idea: 

~ Park date, cook the dishes that you will bring, and watch the sunset/sunrise

~ Go to greenhouses and take pictures together in flower fields

~ Amusement park date

AUTUMN

trope: Second chance romance

backstory:

  ~ Sim A and Sim B are highschool sweethearts. They dreamed of living together and building their family when they were teens. They thought it was forever. But things took a drastic change when Sim B suddenly disappeared when his father died, leaving him to live with his mother in France, leaving sim B behind. Sim B never expected this, she never expected to bear a child with Sim A as well. She can't seem to find him anymore, but still, she decided that she will raise this child. 

  ~ Years later, Sim B discovered that their child was sick and only had a few months left. Pile with grief, the kid is constantly looking for his/her father as well. Sim B doesn't want to let her child rest without seeing his/her father. So, again, she tried to look for him. And she found him! Turns out that he's now a rockstar in France, with a name and career. After knowing all of this, he quickly booked the ticket back to their town.

  ~ Will him coming back after years of disappearance mend their broken hearts and finally build the family they've dreamed? Or will they stay together just for the sake of their dying child?

traits:

green-thumb, nurturing, coward

virtuoso, charismatic, materialistic

skill:

Guitar, drums, bass, charming

Cooking, canning, gardening

job:

Music career: Rockstar

Gardener

activities:

take care and grow a plant together

catch butterflies and fireflies on the cottage

play in the pile of leaves

Attend Fall Festival together (with their child). Join in activities and actually have fun!

  * Apple Bobbing contest   * Pie Eating contest   * Enter Haunted House

- Throw a costume or feast party during or before Spooky Time Holiday. You may do the following for the party:

* Plant and grow pumpkins    ~ make Jack-o-lanterns, or;    ~ bake pumpkin pies (or both) * wear costumes for the party * cook and bake the dishes for the party * Let their child do trick-or-treat

must spend time as a family every weekend together and go out of town

must teach the child and help with his/her homework

must accomplish every child's wish

must be a good parent to the child

Both must be best friends with their child

must not argue or fight in front of the child

the child may or may not die

misc:

sell harvestable or jams in the market

Sim B must play for tips on the park

optional woohoo spot:

 woohoo in pile of leaves

date idea: 

~ Coffee Date with just the two of you wearing couple outfits, take pictures!

~ Watch a horror movie together

~ Watch in theater

~ Go to a dive bar or lounge

recommended store content:

Canning Station (store content)

Produce Stand Mod

WINTER

trope: force cohabitation

backstory:

~ After getting tired of the big city, Sim A decides to travel, and he happens to land in this very town and rent in Sim B’s place. He’s a successful author, but he’s very shy and introverted and all the socialization and parties of the big city aren’t for him. He find this new town peaceful and gives him more inspiration to write. Perhaps, he can spend the winter holiday here, or will he decide to settle down in this quiet little town?

~ The death of her mother brings Sim B so much grief. Now that she’s just living on her own, she decides to open again their old bakery and let travelers rent her place. She’s a loner, more now that her mother, her only bestfriend died. Now she just spends her time baking and selling and knitting to ease her mind, will this new traveler who stays with her bring some color in her dull life? 

traits:

shy, brooding, bookworm

loner, perfectionist, unlucky

skills:

Knitting, baking

Writing

job:

Author

Bakery Owner

misc:

- Hang Holiday Lights

- Buy a mistletoe

activities:

- must give gifts to each other

- Attend Winter Festival Together

~ Snowflake Day is held last Thursday of Winter ~ don't do any work. make sure to have positive moodlets and enjoy the festival.   * Take greeting card photos   * snowboard together   * ice skate together

attend (or hold) a gift-giving party

* give gift to each other ~ gift idea: a book written by him, and a cloth knitted by her

make snowmen together

build an igloo together, sleep there

Make snow angels

Have snowball fights

Swim in cold water

kiss under the mistletoe before the season ends

optional: 

the author can sell his book in the bakery itself, or make a mini library space (You can use this mod from nraas)

Sim B can sell the knitted products she did in the bakery

they must work together while the other is writing and the other is knitting

the author must finish at least 3 novels before winter ends

sim B must make at least 2000 simoleons from selling bake goodies

optional woohoo location:

woohoo in igloo

woohoo in sauna

date ideas:

~ go ice skating together, have some cup of cold choco, make snowmen and snow angels, take pictures!

~ have a sauna date!

~ watch a musical performance

~ Library date!

~ Spend sometime outside by the fire at night

recommended mods:

Knitting Mod

Savvier Seller Mod (for the bakery), or

SimState Business Mod, or;

The Merchant Mod by @anitmb

Baking Station (Store Content)

A useful thread on setting up a home bakery

notes:

i know that setting up a home business can be a bit complicated, so you can have 2 alternative options, 1) you can just purchase another community lot near your house and have the bakery there; or, 2) just drop the bakery all at once and you may find a different job for sim B.

ADD-ONS

Of course, this challenge wouldn't be as fun if you didn't share your gameplay and screenshots with the community! So, here are additional things that you can do for all rounds:

Take a screenshot of every activity that you did.

Pick your favorite memories and you may edit them as Polaroid pictures.

Make them do couple poses and take amazing photos of them together!

For each round/season that you finish, edit the photos that you had like a scrapbook, photo album or whatever creative idea you can think of.

Upload them and don't forget to put the hashtag #TS3SeasonsofLove and mention me so I can reblog it!

SLOWBURN ROMANCE EDITION

Now, if you’re like me who likes to take things slow, this rules are for you! You may or may not apply them, just an extra challenge for those who wants slower romance to this challenge. 

You must only force up to only 10 romance interactions, the rest will be up to the sims autonomy and wishes

You can not force them to kiss and woohoo, it will only depend on the sims wish and/or autonomy

You can only force atleast 3 dates, the rest will be up to the sims autonomy/wish

This challenge is made by ann-ndsims. Huge thank you as well to @frostedshore for giving me the idea for the Summer prompt and helping me come up with ideas for this challenge💕 If you like to modify it, convert it or have some suggestions and/or mod recommendations, feel free to send me a message! Don’t forget to mention me if you do this challenge and use the hashtag #TS3SeasonsofLove, I would love to see other simmers enjoy this little challenge that I made. Enjoy and happy simming!

[amywritesthings]

gingerbread sweet. / a reiner holiday ficlet

pairing: reiner braun x f!reader ( attack on titan / shingeki no kyojin ) word count: 1.1k summary: It's the Titan frat's annual gingerbread house competition. Your boyfriend, Reiner Braun, is determined to win. You, however, are determined to distract.

tags: modern au - university, holiday fluff, gingerbread houses, all the marleyans are in a frat bc i said so, devoted boyfriend!reiner, light sexual tension credit: dividers by @saradika

welcome to the eleventh day of the twelve days of amymas !!

“Does the door look crooked to you?”

"The what?"

"The door. Look at it."

There’s nothing more amusing than watching your hulk of a boyfriend crouch over a tiny gingerbread house.

Reiner Braun squints as he presses a gumdrop to the front — circular windows make it modern, or so he claims — then pauses.

Distracted by a very minor detail, you can already feel his anxiety running his brain a mile a minute: a lopsided door may deduct a few points from Marcel's arbitrary points system from this very arbitrary holiday competition.

Because he's absolutely fucking determined to win.

Granted, the bragging rights are his, but the grand prize will not be — Reiner, of course, rarely rides this hard for something he wants.

No, he’s too willing to put everyone else's wants and needs above his own.

So the grand prize of the Titan fraternity annual gingerbread house competition is going to go to you, hell or high water.

He’s going to win you that goddamn spa day gift card that Marcel has been dangling as a sweet little incentive no matter how long it takes him to mold this gingerbread house into his image.

"I think it looks straight."

The tip of his pink tongue pokes out a little from his pressed lips as he leans in closer. "...I trust your eye more than mine."

The blonde sits up to fish for the green icing piping bag. He's gentle with the way he eases the icing along the edges of the tiny confectionary door.

(An icing wreath, like this couldn't be anymore adorable.)

“Reiner?” you coo.

“Yeah, babe.”

Flat. He’s in the zone.

“You know you don’t have to slave over this thing, right?”

You scoot your chair closer to his, dropping your temple to his large tricep.

“I can buy my own spa day card.”

“False,” he corrects. “I’ll buy you the spa day card myself, but if I gotta cheat Porco out of winning for the third year in a row. Pieck’s gone at least five times on our dime.”

"When were the other two times?" you ask, not correlating the math.

"Well, our freshman year," Reiner begins, using the green icing to make little bushes at the foundation of the house, "we did a Valentine's day relay race that ended up with Bert in urgent care with a broken nose. Then, the one-and-only pool party chicken fight tournament — Pieck and Porco fought dirty."

"Is that why it was the one and only?"

"Yeah. Bert got another bloody nose, but that time from Annie going a little too hard."

He snorts.

"We had to save him from becoming the next Owen Wilson, so — no more chicken tournaments."

Titan frat is… well, excessively competitive, you've learned in your year or so of dating Reiner.

(Blame Porco and the new pledge, Eren Yeager, for only exasperating in this year with the month-long holiday challenges.)

You shrug a shoulder. “I could help.”

“And mess up your pretty nails?” Reiner shakes his head, glancing briefly through his peripheral vision. He smirks. “Ain’t no way.”

Right.

Reiner’s also very giving, during this season — in more ways than one.

First it was the fully-paid-for manicure yesterday.

Then it was the reservation for a Christmas Eve dinner to your favorite spot in the inner city.

Now he’s trying to win Marcel's approval in this ridiculous decorating contest in your name, and you feel… well, loved.

(There's no disputing that you've won the boyfriend lottery.)

Which, of course, means you have only one thing you can do in this situation.

He’s too wound up.

Distracted.

So you reach down to the pile of icing supplies strewn about, picking the small red accented tube.

You swipe some on the tip of your finger, mindful not to get it under your nails.

Reiner doesn’t even see it happening.

He’s too busy playing fixer-upper on the front side of the house, his too-big hands delicately toying with the too-small decorations he’s pasting on the cookie.

You wait a few seconds, letting him place the door where he wishes, before swiping the icing over the side of his neck.

Reiner tenses, turning to see what the hell just hit his neck, but he’s too late—

You’re already leaning in, sliding the tip of your tongue along his skin.

The man gasps, dropping his own piping bag to the supply assortment below.

“What are you—”

“Decorating,” you murmur nonsensically, grinning from ear to ear as his attention disappears completely from the gingerbread house to you.

“The guys are in the other room,” he rasps, eyes wide.

The pledges, he means — banished to the enclosed patio as they work on their own poorly-designed houses.

Through the last year while dating Reiner,  you’ve learned very quickly how sensitive he is.

Sometimes all it takes is a look to get him hard.

Your ego has never recovered, and it’s not deflating now.

Except his eyes soften and a gentle chuckle exits his throat when his golden eyes search your face.

“Wait, you got—”

“What?”

His hand gently cradles your jaw. 

“Hold still, baby.”

His thumb raises to swipe at your nose, where his smile only grows.

You stay still, obedient to his command, unable to stop looking at him.

God, he’s gorgeous.

He’s so fucking gor—

Something touches your lips, and you belatedly realize Reiner’s taken it upon himself to push the red icing along the seam of your lips, parting them easily.

You can taste the sugary sweetness on the tip of your tongue.

“Shit, sorry." When your brows knit in confusion, Reiner explains himself. "Seems like I missed a spot.”

Oh.

Oh.

His pupils dilate as his gaze drops to your lips, as if he’s ready to devour your whole.

Your entire body turns into flames.

“Just one spot?” you murmur, and a wicked smirk crawls to his mouth.

That same thumb drops to glide the remaining icing over your chin.

“I fear it's a couple of spots, but don't worry. I'll get you cleaned up.” He tilts his chin. “I take care of my girl, remember?”

(As if you could ever forget.)

His words get your blood pumping. Pledges and wandering eyes be damned.

“What about the gingerbread house?” you murmur, entranced by the way he continues absently swiping icing over your jaw, chin, and cheeks.

(Marking a trail his lips will devour.)

“We can bring the icing upstairs,” Reiner suggests with an innocent shrug. You know it’s anything but. “I’ll finish that damn house eventually, but I have something sweeter to tend to.”

Before you can say another word, the blonde stands from his chair and gently takes your hand into his.

You easily stand with him, unable to stop giggling as he tugs you eagerly upstairs.

He’s determined to win, yes, but to him —

He’s already won.

He has you, after all.

.

[tainbocuailnge]

there's a bit of old academia (and I don't know how contested it might be nowadays, but that's not important for this post) associating medb's invasion of ulster with the coming of winter

this is referenced in the snowy background of rider medb's cards and summer medb's third ascension

cnoc na riabh continues the association with her edinburgh being a notably cold city and her enjoyment of valentines, a winter holiday

when castoria is preparing to become the holy sword in avalon, the worst and most lonely parts of her life are called her winter memories

morgan is often called winter queen, which in setting was given in response to her cold demeanor, but also refers to her excruciating isolation and loneliness

cnoc na riabh intends to overthrow morgan due to her predecessor queen mab making a deal with morgan that mab would take over as britain's ruler should morgan ever prove incapable of the job

cnoc na riabh is a winter queen like morgan, but she defined her winter as a season of love rather than loneliness through valentines

[livhowlett]

I've seen someone say that a 'Great British Bake Off: Holiday Special" with David, Georgia, Michael and Anna would be great.

BUT

What about a 'Taskmaster New Year's Special' with the addition of @neil-gaiman

Think about...

Micheal would probably be the "older" contestant that struggles with the most straightforward of task. Like when he had to peel an onion. (With him also being from Wales, Greg might go easy on him.)

David, would either run around with the enthusiasm of a child or get so incredibly frustrated it would be comedic gold! Either way, very entertaining .

Georgia, has worked with Little Alex Horn before (The Alex Horn Show) so I feel like she'd have no issue telling him to go do something or "bullying" him around. I also feel like she's quite clever and would do very well.

Anna, is a bit of a wild card. I don't know much about her personality. From what I've seen I can only guess she'd have a fun time and Greg would mock her for being young, beautiful and so full of life (like he dose with many contestants)

And then Neil. I feel like he'd be able to out smart alot of the tasks and find the crafty work arounds. All while being silly or very serious

I could be WAY off. But I think it be fun to watch.

Thoughts???

[187days]

Day Seventy-Five

There's a friendly competition amongst the departments for who can create the best "holiday card" photo, so this morning I went around and took pictures of all of my social studies colleagues (and took a selfie), and added us to the most "'Merica" background I could find: eagles, fireworks, flags, Santas with flags... I thought it was pretty excellent (and so did my GOV students when I showed them). I also delivered candy and hot chocolate to my Cacophonous friends because 'tis the season. And I did this all while wearing my excellent, garishly-patterned Christmas fleece (because today's "ugly sweater" day, and we interpret sweater loosely).

So I was more eye-catching than usual, and that was fun for me.

As for the actual teaching I did today, it was pretty good!

I mean, in APGOV, they just had a test. Specifically, they had the multiple choice section of the test today; they'll do the FRQ section tomorrow. So I was just fielding last-second questions, and then supervising the test-taking, but it was still good!

Since I didn't see my last two sections of Global Studies on Monday, I did the lesson they should've done then today: I introduced the new unit on government and history, and taught the unit vocab terms. That went well because students had some great questions and comments, and actually discussing the terms is way more fun than just silently copying their definitions.

Now, since my first two sections already had the new unit guides and vocab terms, I told them about the mini-project everyone will be doing tomorrow and Friday; they're going to do research to find the answers to the questions on the Citizenship Test (it's a group project, so each group will get a handful of the questions) since it's now the law that students have to pass said test with a 70% or better to graduate high school. I read them that portion of the law, we chatted about it, and then I pulled up the Kahoot I've used with seniors (it doesn't have all the questions, but a good selection) and let them take a crack at it. That was wildly fun, and it gave students something meaningful to do while I got my other sections of the course caught up.

I masqueraded as a distance coach for the first half of track practice. I took our long and mid-distance runners out to the track (snowless because of all that rain we got) to do 800m repeats while The Head Coach put the sprinters through a workout. Afterwards, I took the sprinters back for block practice, The Head Coach took the middle distance kids to practice 4x400 relay passes. I like working with the different groups, and it feels like I'm taking on more responsibility this indoor season. I like it!

[stampswithbenefitscom]

Stampin' Up! SO MANY EXCITING THING HAPPENING!

Please use hostess code: UH7H7M3P when placing an online order under $150.   SHOP 24/7 AT http://www.TheresaPingel.Stampinup.net   We want to celebrate our 35th anniversary in style! From 3–31 October, anyone who joins our fun crafting community as a new demonstrator can choose either 35% OFF the cost of their Starter Kit or get 35% MORE product with their Starter Kit! What a deal! Use the…

[kiwiana-writes]

All Those Christmas Clichés: Advent 2023

Because I'm the emperor of terrible decisions... fuck it, let's do an advent fic. Daily triple drabbles, set 1-25 December 2023, using the prompt list from @youneedsomeprompts found here.

All Those Christmas Clichés (now complete!)

December 1st: Making an advent calendar for a friend/loved one December 2nd: Going to pick a Christmas tree together December 3rd: Decorating the house December 4th: Putting up Christmas lights in their room December 5th: Writing letters to Santa December 6th: Secret Santa December 7th: Writing Christmas cards December 8th: Studying the other's wishlist December 9th: Decorating the Christmas tree with one additional new ornament every year December 10th: Baking a ton of Christmas cookies December 11th: Bringing cookies everywhere they go December 12th: Only listening to Christmas albums December 13th: Practising Christmas songs on the piano December 14th: Watching old holiday movies December 15th: Going to a Christmas market December 16th: Having a winter picnic with cookies and thermos flasks December 17th: Shovelling snow after heavy snowfall December 18th: Putting up candles everywhere December 19th: Having a sledging contest December 20th: Eating clementines until the whole house smells citrusy December 21st: Inventing new hot chocolate recipes December 22nd: Dressing up their pet December 23rd: Baking fruit bread December 24th: Decorating a gingerbread house December 25th: Preparing a large Christmas dinner together

[libraryofloveletters]

holiday extravaganza 2023!

hi besties!! those of you that have been around for a while now that the holidays are my favourite time of the year; christmas, new years, and my birthday. 

so in honour of my favourite season, I bring to you; the holiday extravaganza 2023.   

it's a bit different this year, I've picked out prompts and drivers/players that are attached to each. they are meant to be blurbs so they vary in length but aren't very long :) - I hope you guys enjoy these as much I did! - as always, thank you to @diorleclerc the beautiful banner :)

running from: December 20th to December 29th. // 4-5 blurbs a day :)

tagged under: holiday extravaganza blurbs 23

December 20th

Sebastian Vettel - The Right Way To Do It 

Sebastian is the most meticulous person you've ever met in your life, and yes, that also translates to Christmas tree decorating.

Rodri - Don’t Fall

It was safe to say the man who comes from sunshine had yet to ice skate in his life. You made it your mission to change that; he was in Manchester,  after all.

Carlos Sainz Jr - Always You 

The infamous Sainz Christmas party. Every year your parents dragged you along and you only went to see one person. Your motives for going haven’t strayed despite growing up.

John Stones - Sing It With Me

John’s Christmas parties were famous for being crazy and unhinged, much like their host himself; because who else would end up drunk on a table, singing Christmas carols?

Jack Grealish - Made For You

His favourite time of the year; when you suggested the idea of matching pjs, Jack was all over it.

December 21st

Aaron Ramdale - Messy 

Aaron can’t help himself when he comes home from training and finds you baking Christmas cookies.

Mick Schumacher - Say Cheese  

Angie, much like her human father, hated to sit still for photos. Imagine the struggle to get both Schumachers to sit for a holiday card.

Paulo Dybala - Sweet Like Candy 

You had started making holiday treat bags for your class with the help of your boyfriend, who seems to be puzzled by the long curved candy you put in the bags.

Charles Leclerc - Stuff It

Charles goes a bit over board seeing that it’s your first Christmas with him, as his girlfriend that is. He revives an old tradition you two had as children.

Max Verstappen - Gimme A Smooch 

He was never one to indulge in things like mistletoe but since he begun to date you, he didn’t have much of a choice. 

December 22nd

Lewis Hamilton - The Art Of Wrapping

As he does every year, the house is filled with shopping bags and Lewis struggles to wrap all of his gifts. This year, he has a secret weapon; you.

Christian Pulisic - A Solid Foundation 

You and Christian have a contest to see who can build the best gingerbread house. Safe to say, you both went a little overboard

Kevin Magnussen - Something Doesn’t Taste Right 

Your husband convinces you that he knows how to make eggnog, no need to buy it from the store. His father’s recipe is the best of the best.. that’s if Kevin can figure it out.

Yuki Tsunoda - A Sweet Treat

Over your years at Alpha Tauri, you developed a habit with your driver; a sweet treat left behind as a peace offering when something went wrong. This time, Yuki was the one leaving the sweet treat.

Fernando Alonso - Wrapped Up 

Yet again, Fernando has forgotten to buy his Christmas gifts but there’s only one person that he cares to get something for.

December 23rd

Pierre Gasly - The Christmas Market 

You were missing home quite a bit and Pierre decides to indulge in one of your favourite holiday traditions.

Jenson Button - Jingle Bells 

The kids are convinced that they hear the bells on Santa’s sleigh, and Jenson is the exact same way. 

Darwin Nunez - Burnt 

Darwin suggests you host a dinner party at your place for a few of his teammates before you all head out for the holidays. He seems to have underestimate how much work goes into said party.

Son Heung-Min - Rudolph, The Red Nose Reindeer 

The winter fair was in town and Sonny decides that you two should go pay the reindeers a visit, because that’s what Santa would want.

December 24th

Jude Bellingham - A Visit To Santa

Jude decides now that you two are back home in England to take his brother to do the one thing they always did as kids; visit Santa.

Virgil Van Dijk - Holiday Oopsies

A snowstorm hits Liverpool and Virgil decides it would be good to take the kids to the park. Even with a warning from you, someone ends up in the hospital on Christmas Eve.

Daniel Ricciardo - Holiday Tunes

He insists on making a playlist for the holiday party, picking the worst possible songs on the planet.

Ibrahima ‘Ibou’ Konate - Movie Stars 

Ibou decides it would be a good idea for you two to make a vlog over the holiday break, just so he can keep his teammates updated.

Ruben Dias - The Lights Shining Down On You 

The people of Manchester love Christmas, just as much as you do. Ruben makes it his mission to ensure that you get to see every single Christmas display there is to see.  

December 25th

Antonie Griezmann - Glues Sticks and Pom Poms 

Every year since moving to Atletico, his girls have helped him to make Christmas cards for his teammates; this year was no different. The three of them covered in glitter, glue and pom poms.

Dominik Szoboszlai - I Spy With My Little Eye

This Christmas was different. Dom made you work for your gift rather than giving it to you; following the clues through the neighbourhood to your final gift.

Erling Haaland - Moo-rry Christmas

Erling insists that Santa has to get cookies and milk for his journey to Norway. Now where you got that milk? Erling the Farmer was on the job.

Trent Alexander Arnold - Christmas With The Robertsons 

Andy and Rachel have a holiday date night and call their two favourite people in the world to come babysit for them; auntie y/n and uncle trenty.

Andrew ‘Andy’ Robertson - Bumps and Bruises 

You convince your boyfriend that it’d be perfectly safe to go down the massive hill.. except it wasn’t.

December 26th

Jordan Henderson - Chocolate Doors 

Jordan buys your children a Christmas advent calendar, but they don't exactly understand the concept.

Jobe Bellingham - Must Watch 

His training took over most of his time so now that he was on break, you insisted you two do nothing but laze.

Yassine Bounou - The Mystery Gift

The Sevilla players have a tradition of playing secret Santa amongst themselves. You're a bit confused when a gift ends up on your desk.

Achraf Hakimi - Unwrapped

Kylian invites a few friends over to celebrate Christmas with him and his family. You can't quite remember what happened the night before you know you don't remember the events leading up to this morning.

December 27th 

Sergio Ramos - Christmas Cookies 

The kids insist Santa must get cookies when he drops off his present. Sergio make sure they know that Santa stopped by during night.

Pato O’Ward - Roll Over

Home for the holidays and cooped up inside due to the rain, both puppies and Pato go a little stir crazy.

Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez - Work Place Friendly 

RedBull hosts their annual holiday party, everyone sprawled out through the factory and you two ? Well.. that was a different story.

Thiago Alcantara - A Countdown To Midnight

Thiago insists on a new way to do the new years kiss, because waiting hours for one kiss wasn’t good enough.

Richarlison - A Brazilian Christmas

Rich stays in London for the holidays but he’s feeling bit home sick. You try your best to work with what you’ve got to cheer him up. 

December 28th

Kylian Mbappe - Ho Ho Ho 

When Santa’s elves weren’t at the workshop, his niece and nephew were a bit disappoint. Uncle Kyky finds a way to cheer them up, even if it earns him a few teasing comments from you.

Kostas Tsimikas - Mountains of Snow

Kostas insists that you two should go out into the snow and make a snowman. When you say no, he uses his skills of persuasion to get you to change your mind.

Mark Webber - Snowed In 

It wasn't even his idea to go to Switzerland, and now he was stuck on New Year's Eve, in the worst place on the planet; the airport.

Esteban Ocon - Behind The Curtains 

A school boy crush on his teammate; all it takes is a few sips of liquor and a photo booth to reveal his true feelings.

Lucas Paquetá - Box It Up 

As long as it takes to put up, it comes down in half the time. Lucas doesn't understand the delicate process of re-packing your ornaments.

December 29th

Giovanni ‘Gio’ Reyna - I’m Not Wearing This 

Gio tells your aunt that he loves the sweaters she knits.  So when he's gifted one, you make sure that he wears it.

Joe Gomez - Stuck 

You and Joe take a week off before Christmas hectic-ness to go up to the cabin and relax. The last thing you expected what to get snowed in.

Marcus Rashford - The Time For Giving 

The last place you expected to bump into him was the exact place you seem to find him.

Kimi Raikkonen - New Years At Home

From partying to parents; you and Kimi celebrate your first new years with your baby girl.

Lance Stroll - Choo Choo Trains 

Uncle Lance promised his nephew a toy train and when he remembers, he scrabbles last minute to find something.

[cometapollo]

dude PLEASE do some Christmas headcanons for TPOF cast, I need to know what u think they do (specifically mason cuz I'm obsessed with him atm <33)

Naw cus The Price of Christmas would be such a chaotic fangame. I need it in my life

I have this general headcanon that Mason will just pick up and carry Fox whenever and wherever he felt like it- just picks him up by his waist and slings him over the shoulder. Fox just texts Mason like

Fox; I need to be tall.

M.Heiral; ego or lights

Fox; Both.

M.Heiral; k

and then boom, Operation Christmas Lights is a go.

Derek harasses those mall Santas.

Celia gives everyone the most expensive gifts possible. It don't matter who it is, she's spoiling them for the holidays.

Komodo and Dragon make homemade christmas cards together over the course of about a week. Derek doesn't get one.

Fox hosts a Christmas party on Christmas Eve, featuring classics such as Secret Santa, eggnog contests, in-person torture sessions, watch-a-thons, and more!

[junipers-archive]

Happy Halloween

Word Count: 900

Includes: fluff, tooth rotting fluff really; about Spencer and reader on Halloween night enjoying whatever Spencer has planned!! (also ik its not halloween but in my head it always is.)

You hadn't exactly planned the night. In fact, you'd left it up to Spencer to decide how you'd spend you halloween together.

This of course landed you with tons of unanswered questions as you followed him out of the car, trailing behind him cautiously since he was known for acting particularly spooky near the holiday.

Meaning he was more likely to jump scare whoever he was with at the time.

This year you'd both agreed to dress up as Emily and Victor from the corpse bride, him because he had an affinity for Tim Burtons films and you because it had always been one your favorites as a kid.

However as your dress begins to drag, you get closer to what looks like the end of the parking lot, and you begin to hear carnival music you regret your choice of outfit just slightly.

"Spence where are we?"you question, stopping in your tracks.

He looks back at you, smiling, "Trust me?"

You take a few steps forward linking arms with him then, "Always."

As it turns out, you find he had taken you to Washington's "Spooktacular Carnival" event in one of the many parks nearby. As you entered you were both greeted by a Man dressed as Frankenstein who only grunted and pointed when you asked where you could get a map.

From there you both explored to your free will, first stopping at one of the many food trucks nearby to "aquire sustanacance for the spookiest night ever" as Spencer put it. You marveled at the food given to you seeing as it was halloween themed and your tacos looked as though they were somebody's guts and his burrito looked like the remains of someone's flesh.

Though provoking less than hungry appetites within you, you ate your meals and went on your way, stopping by a myriad of carnival-turned-halloween games,

such as "Witches brew" which involved you making your own liquid nitrogen ice cream,"The butcher shop" in which you both entered a pumpkin carving contest and the "Mummy's Demise" in which you happily wrapped your boyfriend in toilet paper, blind folded him and then guided him through a maze filled with 'ghouls and monsters of the undead'.

To say the least many games such as these drained the life out of you, which Spencer proudly stated was the "point of hallow's eve!"

Your favorite game over all though had to be the apple bobbing contest in which Spencer, being Spencer who was so dear of Halloween, dunked almost his entire upper-body into the barrel of water searching for the apples.

Completely forgetting, of course, that he had put makeup on earlier that night to maintain his "dead-ish" look.

After, if not console him on his loss in the contest but also appease your once more growling stomach, you bought some cotton candy for the two of you, which was needlessly to say, being advertised as the brains of the Walking Dead.

By the end of the night you had explored every inch of the carnival, winning the pumpkin contest and getting the two top prizes, a giant bag of candy, which Spencer took excitedly and a Sephora gift card, which you also accepted with glee.

The last stop, was as both of you had been referring to it all night "the big Kahunna", aka the Haunted House. The line was so long you both had decided to buy the tickets for the latest time, there was no avoiding it now. Both your scaredy-cat butts were about to be spooked.

"Y/n I know you're tired...we can just go home." Pleaded Spencer, but you wouldn't let him chicken out this late in the game.

So, you linked arms with him perhaps for the last time that night and stepped up, giving a woman dressed as The bride of Chucky your tickets while Chucky, which you assumed was her date, led you to the entrance.

To say the least you were jump-scared more than once going into the house with was decorated in an old Victorian fashion that gave you the creeps. As Spencer nervously racked his brain for facts to list off about the time era and how Halloween was celebrated in Victorian England, which you learned was throwing lavish parties including intricate rituals and everyone involved.

You however also learned that he is terrified of spiders more than any of the creatures that were popping out at you. And that you were more genius than your genius for bringing a camera in to record his reactions, earning you tons of footage of his albeit cute but equally laughable surprised face.

The haunted house led you guys through a series of rooms, including scenes played out of 'Frankensteins creation', 'Dracula's breaking', 'The Shining's' most origonal scene and more.

Some were even interactive which as Spencer thoroughly enjoyed, as you were more happy to watch the scenes play by.

In the end, you walked out covered in fake blood, spider webs and god knows what they threw at you, grinning like idiots. But never once had you felt un-safe with him beside you, still with your arms linked you walked back to the car together, hands filled with the trinkets and treats gathered that night.

Just before you got to the car he turned to you still grinning, kissed your temple and whispered "Happy Halloween".

[youneedsomeprompts]

~ IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME ~ HOLIDAY EVENT PROMPTS

requested by: anonymous

Part 1

Feel free to use and reblog!

Secret Santa

baking a ton of Christmas cookies

bringing cookies everywhere they go

decorating the house

practising Christmas songs on the piano

studying the other's wishlist

inventing new hot chocolate recipes

going to pick a Christmas tree together

going gift shopping together but actually looking for a gift for the other

putting up Christmas lights in their room

writing Christmas cards

dressing up their pet

ice-skating on a frozen lake

having a sledging contest

skiing

making an advent calendar for a friend/loved one

baking fruit bread

using the cold outdoors as a freezer

shovelling snow after heavy snowfall

eating clementines until the whole house smells citrusy

putting up candles everywhere

going on a Christmas market

knitting a Christmas sweater

decorating the Christmas tree with one additional new ornament every year

watching old holiday movies

preparing a large Christmas dinner together

having a winter picnic with cookies and thermos flasks

writing letters to Santa

decorating a gingerbread house

only listening to Christmas albums