#made my friends watch this episode over christmas. some of them had to watch it twice

[nghtwngs]

silly human traditions

description: you’ve never had a new year’s kiss before. neither has the doctor. you decide to change that tonight.

pairing: tenth doctor x reader (you can probably read it as eleven too!)

genre: fluff, friends to lovers, mutual pining

word count: 1.2k

warnings: alcohol consumption (by the doctor), ten might be ooc bc im literally rewatching eleven’s episodes (im on the second christmas special rn!) and i think ive lost his voice but i hope that’s not the case

a/n: happy new year!! i wrote this up like real fast bc i was thinking about kissing ten and well… yeah

You walk into the TARDIS’s control room with a huge grin plastered on your face. “Doctor, we have to celebrate our first New Year!”

The Doctor looks up from the control console and turns his head to face you. “New Year?” His eyebrows are furrowed, lips curled down into a frown. “There’s no concept of time in the time vortex—how would we celebrate New Year’s?”

“Well, my phone’s calendar doesn’t change.” You pull out your device, opening the calendar app and holding it up for him to see. “It’s currently December 31st. And also we celebrated the holidays this past week.”

He pulls out his glasses out of his suit and puts them on. He squints at your screen anyway. “Well, I guess so. How’d you figure we do that?” He jumps up, running over to you. “What about a planet where everything is made of water? Or we could watch a galaxy of stars fizzle out into nothing but dust!”

“Well, Doctor, I was thinking we could just, I don’t know… spend it on Earth? Watch the ball drop in Time Square or something? Hm, actually maybe not that.”

“You little humans and all your traditions.”

“You love it.”

He mirrors your cheeky grin. “Alright, then! I think I have just the place.” He rushes over to the console, doing his thing. The TARDIS makes her signature wheezing noise, reminding you to hold on tight. “New York! Present year… well, for you anyway. Two hours ‘til midnight. Dress well. We have a party to crash!”

You make a sound of excitement, giving the Doctor a chaste kiss on the cheek. “Amazing.” You run off to the TARDIS’s vast wardrobe to find an appropriate outfit.

After finishing getting ready, you pop back into the control room to find the Doctor fiddling with his tie. He’s dressed in a black suit. A classic. You think it suits him well. (Pun not intended.)

“No bow tie this time?” you ask, walking over to him.

He just shakes his head. “Nah.”

“You clean up nicely,” you say, tightening his tie for him.

He smiles so softly at you that it makes your heart ache with need. “You do too.”

You clear your throat when the intensity of his gaze hits you. “Well, we better get to the party. Don’t wanna miss anything else.” You link your arms, dragging him out of the TARDIS.

Turns out, the party he took you to crash is filled with a bunch of celebrities. No one either of you care for, but celebrities nonetheless. It makes you feel important to be around all these people. Like you’re important enough to be around the Doctor, who you’d say is the most famous of them all. It makes you feel special. Being here. With him, but maybe not with him.

He doesn’t even bother to correct anyone when they mistake you for being an item. You often wonder if there is any deeper meaning behind that. It makes your heart stumble off beat. But that’s silly. A ridiculous, quite pathetic notion.

Silly human things, you suppose.

But it’s okay. He makes you feel special. Anyone the Doctor chooses to be his companion is special.

The very best of humanity, he’d say.

The Doctor has a sip of some random alcoholic drink you were both offered (you declined) and sticks his tongue out in disgust. He immediately places the glass back onto the tray. “That was dreadful. Absolutely dreadful.”

You can’t stop yourself from giggling until he grabs your water and chugs the entire thing. You grumble, “I was about to drink that.” But your words come out much too soft, too fondly for him to believe you’re really upset over it.

He leads you out onto the balcony with his hand on your back. You forget all about your drink.

“Oh my, God!” You double over, holding onto the Doctor’s arm. “They were sentient? How can grass be sentient?” You both continue to wheeze like it’s the funniest thing the two of you ever heard.

“Yeah, they were quite rude honestly. Telepathic. Said my hair looks ridiculous,” he muses. His voice suddenly goes quiet. He leans into you, staring into your eyes like it’d make you any more honest. “Does my hair look ridiculous?”

You run your fingers through his locks, making sure not to mess them up. “Your hair looks great. I always like it.”

“Yeah? You think so?”

You nod in agreement.

Cheers erupt from inside, and you’re worried you missed the countdown. But there’s still another five minutes left.

“Do you have any resolutions for the New Year, Doctor?”

“Resolutions? Why would I need resolutions? Is that some human tradition? Why do you have so many traditions?”

“People just want to have goals, I guess? I never really stuck with mine. And well, it’s really just that and uh… the New Year’s kiss.”

“New Year’s kiss?” He frowns.

“Yeah, they say if you kiss someone at midnight on New Year’s, it’ll strengthen the bond between you? I don’t know. It’s silly. I’ve never had a New Year’s kiss before, so I couldn’t tell you if it’s true or not.”

“Huh.” There’s his thinking face. Nothing good ever comes from his thinking face. Not unless you’re in a life or death situation, and you don’t think you are right now. At least you really hope not. “Do you… Would you like to test that theory out?”

You almost choke. “What?”

“Well, I mean, it’s not like we have to or anything.”

“I didn’t peg you as the superstitious type.”

“I’m not. But no harm in trying it out, right?”

No, there’s a lot of harm in trying it out, you want to say. You think your heart might explode out of your chest. That would be a horrible way to start out the new year. He’d have to find another companion whose heart stays in their chest cavity and away from both of his.

“Yeah, no harm at all.”

Why can’t your mouth just stay shut sometimes?

You hear the countdown start.

Ten.

He holds your chin between his index finger and thumb.

Nine.

His warm eyes look into yours.

Eight.

You’ve never been touched with such gentleness before.

Seven.

His scent is so clean and warm and so him.

Six.

The proximity is completely dizzying.

Five.

You think you can feel your knees buckle.

Four.

How can he look at you as if you’re the only interesting thing in the universe?

Three.

When he’s seen it all.

Two.

A quick glance at your lips.

One.

The Doctor presses his lips against yours. It’s wonderful. He tastes like berries. When in the world did he have berries? Your arms slink around him, pulling him as close as possible. He doesn’t seem to mind. He cups your face with his hands. What a brain melting kiss. The strings of his hearts are knotting with yours. You want to be consumed by this feeling.

It doesn’t register that you have to breathe for a minute, but you think you’d kiss him forever if you could. You have all the time in the world anyway. You wonder how long can Time Lords go without air. Probably much longer than humans, yeah? You, with much reluctance, pull away.

He pecks your lips again. He grins cheekily at you. “A while.”

You scoff. You hate it when he does that. And when he smiles at you like that. Your neck grows hot even though it’s cool outside. “It’s midnight.” You’re still breathless.

“It is.”

“You’re my first New Year’s kiss.”

“You’re mine.”

Maybe it’s true; the bond between you does feel stronger this year. You kiss him again and then some more.

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Ngl 'm kinda salty that instead of having Sun, or Solar, or Monty in today's gaming video on Laes, they had Roxanne, someone who is irrelevant to their channels besides being a running gag for teasing Sun. I know that Davis is probably too busy to record with Kat, Reed, and Valentine but I'd rather wait for him to be available for however long it takes than to watch a gaming video with Roxanne in it :/

My only theory as to why the Roxanne Show did this huge collab was because that they have recorded a VR lore collab episode with them as well and they were available.

Which.........

Isn't great.

I don't like their portrayal of Vanny.

That's my woman blorbo and you screwed her up.

Keep her away from me.

Although, I've never been a big fan of their Roxanne portrayal either.

My personal opinion. Take it with a grain of salt.

I thought the Christmas Special was terrible.

"Did everyone enjoy the Holiday Special?" "No RAGS... only you did." "Oh... well that pretty much my target audience anyway..."

*i watched the whole thing so you don't have to. Honestly, if you have seen the two very short clips of Davis's Sun and Earth/Kat singing, that's all you need. Because they're the only two of this musical that can actually... well... sing.*

The singing made my inner choir kid cringe.... and I just... did not care for the plot.

Roxanne was stressed over the holidays... because of the drama SHE created.... She whined about her estranged on again off again father not liking Christmas, whined when Gregory tried to invite Cassie over, Whined when Gregory was upset and dealing with drama of his only ghost friends potentially leaving the astral plain, Was annoyed when Freddy was trying to be a good boyfriend because she wasn't happy that not EVERYONE was having "the best christmas ever" Cus "Who doesn't like Christmas?" I don't know, Roxanne... people who are busy, people who work retail, people with dead relatives (like Cassie by the way) .... people who don't CELEBrate Christmas???

And I was waiting for the other shoe to drop so much in this special. Because so far, All they've sung about what makes Christmas Great is the Commodification and the Commercialism of Christmas.

That's what makes Christmas great. The cookies, the presents, the colorful lights.....big parties, traditions... etc etc....

Which, come on, I do NOT expect animatronics to get up like the Peanuts Holiday Special and tell me about the Birth of Jesus Christ.

But what I did expect them to do, was talk about the importance of family, and why being with the people you care about is so important... and there was... an attempt at that. But it didn't really land for me.

They didn't even bother to get into how other people celebrate Christmas.

It was all hyping up the commercialism of the Hoilday, and getting excited about that... I understand Gregory, cause he's a literal child... but every single animatronic was either for Christmas or anti Christmas for very commercial reasons.

And what's the crisis.... Roxanne is upset because not everyone likes Christmas and no one is falling into line for her plans for the Holidays... Not everything is about you. Gregory's friends are literally dying and Cassie is mourning her Dad over the holidays.

I thought the special would be about appreciating what you have, even if things don't work out. But no, everything works out and even her estranged father makes up with her for no reason other then because.

Respect for all the voice actors, talent and origination to get the RAGS Christmas Musical together... I just did not care for the plot. And People are free to disagree with me on this... but I found the whole Musical rather shallow and I have seen Hallmark Christmas and Rankinbass Movies with more meat.

I will say.... TSAMS (and MAFS to some extent) did a much better holiday special with far less production... because that's what it's really about, just spending time and exchanging gifts with people who you know care about you. And Earth and Solar experiencing Christmas with others that care about them for the first time and a feeling of warm togetherness and family that wasn't about a big planning or party, while also packing in some of the stressful feeling of the Holidays as well.

And yeah. If Sun was on "Vacation" they could have used this as an opportunity for Solar to be in gaming videos, since Davis himself isn't sick.

We've never seen Solar and Moon play a game together, and I know I'm not the only one asking for it in the official server.

Just involve Solar in more gaming videos. HE ASKED to be in them more. Just DO IT.

[factual-fantasy]

24 asks!! :DD Thank you so much!! :}}

WAAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! THIS WAS SO SWEET I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY!! JUST- THANK YOU! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!! 💖💖😭💖😭😭💖💖

@annathefenecfox

I haven't watched the episodes she's in yet.. but I love her color palette! She looks really sweet :}💚💙💛

@spinelfan11

They would run XD

@supersecretnerd

Woof, she looks like hello kitty! <XD What even is she? A squirrel..? Geez, if I ever add her to my AU, she will definitely be getting a full fur color make over- XDD

(Also thank you!! :DD)

@rubydraft (Comic in question)

YES YES! That was very much intentional! :DD And the answer lies in the fazbands!

The animatronics can scan the Fazbands and get any important information about the child they might need. Such as the child's name, age, and which parent they belong to.

The Fazbands also act as a proof of purchase. If the the animatronic scans a child and no fazband is detected, that child must be brought to an employee. As there is no current proof that the child has had their admission paid. Hence why Gregory has a red outline, he has no fazband!

The blue kids all have standard fazbands. As every kid is given when they enter the pizzaplex.

But if its your kids birthday, they are given a special fazband that has them show up differently in the animatronics scanners. This tells the animatronics that the golden kids are the birthday boys/girls! And they will address the child as such if they ever encounter them. :)

(Also there's an Easter egg in one of those panels that no ones pointed out yet.. 👀)

Oh yeah, there's a lot of em. :( But the animatronics don't have to worry about them. They have handlers to watch over them and keep angry Karen's/crowds away.

I haven't really figured out their whole schtick yet..

I think in the partial swap they haven't changed much. Although Monty is a kindler gentler Monty. With Foxy by his side he's simmered down some. And his theme is a little different than before.

Roxy I think is more of a recluse in the partial swap, like original Monty is.

As for the true swap.? I haven't really figured it all out yet. Thinking that Roxy is a golfer and Monty is a racer..? I haven't thought it all through yet <XD

@wolfie-777

Off the top of my head I have these two Minecraft wolf OCs that I made a while back :00 I cant remember any others if I happen to have them-

@itschrisboys

:D Thanks!

@wdillustration

XD I wont draw that today, but maybe sometime I'll draw him giving someone a big ol bear hug :)

@acedgola

:DD Hiii!! I use FireAlpaca! Its got some problems but at least its free! Its easy to learn but also has enough tools to be used by a professional! You can also animate with it if you have the patience to figure out how to use it XD

Overall, 7.5/10 would recommend FireAlpaca!

(Post in question)

I'm not a hardcore fan, but yes! I do love the little korbo :}} And those are some Kirby slippers I got for Christmas! :D

They're my artist hands! And I'm not sure what you mean.. 11 hands is a perfectly normal number of hands to have!

Right.?

I just imagined Glamrock Freddy having an imaginary friend that looks a lot like a purple/blue bunny.. :( 💔

@softkidlavender

My beautiful eyeballs have been known to lure people to my blog XDD (Also thank you! :DD)

@basementdregon101

:DD I'm glad you like it!! :}}}

@rockbott0m47

A fant. Its often mispronounced as "fart"

@ardent-38 (Comic in question)

WAAAA I REMEMBER THOSE TAGS!!! I SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING IN THE COMMENTS- WAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! IT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY AND IT STILL LIVES RENT FREE IN MY BRAIN 💖😭💖

AND THANK YOU AGAIN!! I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKE MY GOLDEN BOYS AND MY OCTONAUTS STUFF!! WAA THANK YOU SO MUCH!! 😭💖💖💖

AAAA THANK YOU!! :DD I'm so glad you like them!! :}}}

@fizzy-stars

XD I'm glad you felt inspired by me to bring those OCs back! And I hope that bite tasted good XDD

<XD It'd be more like;

Classic Bonnie: "Dude, what happened to you?

Swap Bonnies: "😒......"

It's all fun and games until I emerge ominously in the background with a snowball the size of a car XD

Everyone starts looking through the cookies and trying to figure out which one they want. Meanwhile I push everyone aside and snag all the peanut butter ones XD

[talesfrommedinastation]

My redneck neighbor Doug watches 'The Return'

Doug and I have made up for our disagreement regarding Montana. I did not, in fact, go to his St Patrick's Day party (due to the fact I was busy with my daughter's Scout pack being in the parade), but we bonded over the insane weather in our region recently.

He had a lot of strong opinions on this, and it was a little scattered. Kind of like most TV shows, I guess.

CW: Doug Doug's on and continues to have Feelings about Certain Geographic Locations. Enjoy!

---------------------------------

Episode 4: “Redneck Family Bonding”

You know how I know them clone boys is from Florida?

Because the show opens to Little Orphan Blonde sleeping in their busted work van wearing a puka shell necklace while her brother Daddy Warcrimes is shooting fruit on the beach all while their adopted mutant dog chases critters away from the trash can.

Yup. Average day in Florida. 

Of course Daddy Rambo is sitting on the ledge, watching Daddy Warcrimes and mumbling to himself. Do you think he peeps on the neighbors in the other part of Space Daytona? He totally does. Daddy Rambo, you need a girlfriend, make that fruity robot wear a skirt and take it out on a date or something. 

Hell YEAH, my boy Toaster Strudel is BACK! Look at him hugging everyone. Good man. Love him. Why is Daddy Warcrimes still wearing that fisherman sweater, is it St. Patrick’s Day still? Where’s Rex? Oh well. 

And they’re chilling out on Hoops’s porch, chugging the man’s liquor and eating his sushi. I would, too. Oh man, they’re referencing Ryan-from-Accounting. I’m sad now. Where’s Church Lady? Probably realized she was too good for Ryan-from-Accounting, or maybe she found his bitch wife Laura and now they wine buddies. I guess. 

Aw, Mutant Jimmers is friends with the monkeys. God damn, I love Mutant Jimmers. 

No one can hack into the iPad Little Orphan Blondie took from her internship at the Museum of Science and Industry. Little Orphan Blondie’s a kid, make the kid do it! All kids know how iPads work! 

They still kept Daddy Warcrimes’s armor with the Georgia colors and the skulls! And that’s why Daddy Rambo won’t look at him–look at Daddy Rambo’s colors, man’s a Gator fan and the SEC decides everything now don’t it. 

So…they’re going back to Space Wyoming? Oh man, I remember this dump. I hope they threw THAT BLOND JACKASS’S body in a dumpster and let the bears eat it. 

Back to the walk-in refrigerator where Daddy Warcrimes hung out with….oh. Oh. Sassy Park Ranger. Oh. But hey they found an ATM! How else are they gonna buy weed out here? 

You know it’s a redneck family vacation because someone’s gotta get out of the trailer and turn on the circuit breaker cause there’s no power and they gotta watch the Saints play. At least they ain’t hot wiring the HMS Search Warrant to power shit up. Actually, it would be great if they did–that’s some redneck engineering right there and it’s good bonding for those angry boys. 

Oh the daddy fight! Daddy Warcrimes and Daddy Rambo need the therapy and they ain’t gonna get it so they gonna do what rednecks do when they upset and need to talk…go outside the trailer and scream and shove each other while the dog barks at everything. Someone needs to trip on a rusty rake now. I feel like I’m watching my own family on Christmas.

Of course, turning off the power means the critters are coming! Is it gonna be a snow gator? No? Oh man it’s one of them worms from that sand movie that Bobbie Lee keeps talking about! 

Go go Daddy Warcrimes go! Save Daddy Rambo! 

Once again, they rednecks, because nothing solves a problem like shooting a gun repeatedly into the ground. Don’t none of these folks have a taser? Some bear mace? Come on, there’s a Wal Mart on Space Daytona I know there is. 

Mutant Jimmers is helping everyone out! Go Mutant Jimmers go! When does Mutant Jimmers get her own show? 

Toaster Strudel bitching at everyone as he gonna do. I agree Toaster Strudel, I agree. 

Man look at Little Orphan Blondie go and there’s Julio doing all the work while being chased by the snow critter. Why does every animal on earth wanna mate with Julio I swear to God. 

And they turned the power back on and boom no more critter chasing. This is the most redneck show I swear I’m watching a show about my idiot brother in law and his friends in Wyoming. 

Nothing brings the family together like going out to an abandoned trailer, searching for the power, shooting guns, getting chased by critters and a screaming shove-fight outside while the dog chases a big-assed animal away from the garbage. Yup. Space rednecks. They all need NASCAR shirts. 

Well, they got the iPad working again….back to Space Florida! And they all getting along.

Meat Muffin, why did this episode make me so happy?

Tagging Doug's fans because yes: @skellymom @cdblake1565 @megmca @sued134 @eyecandyeoz @amalthiaph @yeehawgeek @eelfuneral @thecoffeelorian @lightwise @archivistofnerddom @askyourfox @heavenseed76 @totallyunidentified

[gmariam321]

So I binge-read my biggest Torchwood fic this weekend. I'm still cringing over some of my writing, but otherwise you know what? It was still pretty good, particularly with plot and character. I'm proud of what I accomplished with my beta, who helped hash out so much of it. We had such fun working together! There's nothing like coming up with crazy ideas and figuring out a way to actually make them work. I also really like some of my original characters. Kind of makes me wonder why I don't ever write original characters with an original plot, but then I remember they need an original world, and I like the ready-made fictional worlds I write fanfic for. I have no real desire to build my own.

Anyway, the story was an alternate version of Children of Earth. I came to Torchwood after the series was over, but I think CoE did well in the ratings, didn't it? I feel like it was generally well received . . . until it wasn't. Aside from the devastating death of Ianto, there are countless plot holes that I'm guessing fans really started picking part online and then thought, hmmm, maybe it's not so good after all. We got some great Janto pics and gifs but their actual moments on screen were not the moments they could have been, you know? (True story: I convinced my parents and brother to watch it with me after they gave it to me for Christmas and at the end my dad had no idea Jack and Ianto were a couple. I think my mom figured it out but my dad totally didn't see it because it just wasn't enough. I still want to know why they were so weird from the beginning. I'm trying to remember if I wrote a story about it now...) And then fanfic exploded and there are now countless versions that are just..better. Stories that fix the plot holes of CoE and give Jack and Ianto the moments they deserved.

Fanfic really took Torchwood and elevated it. Sure, we wrote lots of smut (tentacles, anyone?) but we also gave relationships the depth we rarely saw on screen. We explained how Jack and Ianto came to be, even through all the new Big Finish revelations. We gave them real moments (and not just smutty ones.) We made them mortal and immortal. We saved Ianto countless times and let them travel the galaxy. We gave Gwen actual consequences and growth and even made her and Ianto good friends. We took the potential of the show, of 31 episodes and a few Doctor Who crossovers (sorry, I'm not counting the fourth season since most fanfic is set before it) and explored it over and over, showing readers not only what TW was but could have been. We filled in the missing scenes, expanded it, even rewrote it. I wrote over a hundred fics and probably read ten times that. What an amazing thing!

I'm so glad I was a part of it and have both good memories and some good stories to look back on. ❤️

[morallyinept]

HAPPY SUNDAY LOVELIES! 🖤

Ooof what a week. Busy with work, but I'm on vacation again next week, woo! Plenty of time to write, and catch up on my reading list and I can't wait. 🤗

The weather has turned over the last two weeks here where I live in the UK, and it's very rainy and cold, so I'm looking forward to snuggling up with warm fuzzy socks and hot chocolate on the regular. 😍

So without further ado, let's crack on with this week's Whip Round.

Jack, will you do the honours?

Catch up on last week here, sugar

☆ Things I've posted this week

Five Days - Chapter 8 - I honestly don't want this series to end... But we're getting into the thick of it now. Thank you for all the love for Joel & Reader. 🖤

Thrash Metal - Dieter Bravo One Shot. Thots about a pierced Dieter birthed this and I am not sorry.

The Bow Tie - Dieter Bravo GIFLET

Self-Care With Dieter & Jett focused on loss this week. It was a bit of a heavy subject, but two special guests, Agent Whiskey & Marcus Moreno, stopped by to share their stories.

A Loving Ode To The Writers is my message to all the incredible writers out there in the fandom. And a big F you to all the haters.

This Week's Writer Wow shone the spotlight on my fellow Ezra bae @sp00kymulderr whom I just adore for so many reasons. And you will too, go give them a follow if you're not already. 🖤

☆ Things I'm currently working on

I've teased out my next series after Five Days to some of my friends on Discord this week - teehee... 🤭 Stay tuned for it coming in January.

Got a couple of one shots on the go and as always plenty more GIFLETS to come.

☆ Things I've read this week

I've book marked quite a lot to read and catch up on this week. I'm planning on catching up with some of my favourite writers too next week whilst I am off work.

Some fics that stood out to me this week were:

Be Good, Be Quiet - @undercoverpena Jo mentioned that she wasn't so innocent this week, and after reading this, she's absolutely right. 😜 Holy smokes, this was super hot and made me all up in my sexy Joel feels! Oof. Check it out, it will not disappoint! Innocent my ass, Jo... pfffft. 😉

Sub!Frankie & Bondage - @swiftispunk I had the biggest grin on my face reading this and if you've read it too, you'll know why. Good God this was excellent and packed so much punch! 🔥

Letterman Jacket - @fuckyeahdindjarin I've had this Javi P fic saved on my TBR for a while and am kicking myself I haven't read it sooner because it is utterly divine. Still thinking about that damn jacket now... 😍

Dry Run - @chronically-ghosted Once again, Taylor knocks it well and truly out of the park, this time with Javi P dancing with you. And I couldn't be more enthused or enthralled reading this. It's a scorcher. 🥵

Hoofbeats - @psychedelic-ink I'm a sucker for this pairing of Joel & Whiskey, and this story was exceptionally good with the imagery and feels. I absolutely loved it. 🥰

All these fics and more will be added to my Pedro Character Fic Rec List too.

Just want to give a shoutout to this post too from @fuckyeahpaperco by @fuckyeahdindjarin who makes stunning, and I mean STUNNING Pedro stationary. I can't wait to get my hands on some, been eyeing those post-its! I will be treating myself for sure. Perfect little stocking fillers in time for Christmas too! 🎄

☆ What have I been watching/listening to this week?

I caught up on some Pedro Podcasts this week whilst at work, some of them I hadn't actually listened to in full before...

I've made a playlist putting them all together, and it also includes Pedro's episode on Motherhacker. So, please feel free to click on and have a listen for yourself if you haven't.

My absolute favourite has to be the Talk Art Podcast. Hearing Pedro talk about art he loves is phenomenal.

☆ What have I been up to this week?

Working, and squeezing in some reading and writing. The weather hasn't been too great here for hiking the last two weeks, so I'm itching to get out this week and go for a hike if I can, stretch the ol' legs.

I hope you guys have had a great week and are enjoying the weekend. That wraps it up for this week so I'll catch you on the next Whip Round.

Stay kind, stay creamy. Let's skedaddle, Jack. 🖤

🖤

[rickie-the-storyteller]

Meet the Writer Tag!

(Thank you so much to @mysticstarlightduck for tagging me! Sorry I took so long lol)

This is me!

(I don't normally wear this many accessories/jewellery lol. But I wish I did! I love it sm)

Three Fun Facts About Me:

I have never been in a relationship before. Ever. The only experience I have in that department is through other people's stories, not really my own. And by that, I mean that I'm used to watching my friends/people around me getting in and out of relationships, and listening to songs about romance and love and heartbreak... but not really relating to them due to not having any of those experiences myself (but it's alright, tho. It'll happen when it happens! In the meantime, I always have my made-up ships from my writing lol).

My favourite book growing up was "Matilda" by Roald Dahl. I thought Matilda was such a cool girl growing up lol. And lowkey relatable in a lot of ways. No, I wasn't a child genius. But she kind of fits into the archetype that I always found comfort in due to being that kind of person myself. Smart/intellectually curious, bookworm, introverted/independent, genuinely kind and has a heart in spite of being seen as cold by others (another example of this is Huey from Boondocks. Been rewatching some episodes of that show recently and wow... forgot how crazy it was lol. It's good, tho).

Christmas is my favourite holiday! 🎅❄️🎄I do get why some people may dislike it, I guess (like, my younger sister isn't a fan, and she's explained why... I get it. The over-commercialisation of it takes a lot of the "specialness" out of it, you know? Distracts from the actual meaning behind it and all. Plus, it can suck if you're just feeling sad and lonely during a time of celebration for everyone else. Aside from that, technically Easter is more significant if you look at it from the lens of which Christian holiday is most important). But I love the joyfulness and festiveness. Makes me feel all jolly and cosy inside. Plus, I love singing Christmas carols. And presents. And Christmas movies. I just love Christmas lol.

Favorite season:

Autumn. Or fall, as some others prefer to call it. That's when my birthday is!!

(Second place is summer because that's holiday season. Plus, that's when my sister's birthday is.)

Continent where I live:

I live in the UK, so Europe.

How I spend my (free) time:

Writing (duh)

Writeblr stuff (tag games, making OC playlists, answering questions, communicating with followers and having discussions with them about writing, etc)

YouTube (mainly watching videos... but I do want to start making videos myself at some point. Stay tuned for that, I guess)

Studying/school assignments (I'm in university)

Listening to music

Singing

Watching movies/TV shows

Reading

Eating lol

Are you published?

No. It'd be cool to be, though. Pretty sure I've mentioned this at least once before, but I want to self-publish the Stephanie Smith saga once I'm done with it.

Introvert or extrovert?

Introvert. 100% introvert lol. I feel most comfortable within myself when I'm by myself. As a kid, I was so painfully shy that the thought of going up to someone and asking a simple question would terrify me lol. As I got older, though, I was super duper lonely, and I realised that I had no real friends because I was keeping myself all closed off in a tight shell, so I'd literally force myself to open up and become more social and make friends with other kids. I practised it, like how you do with any skill. Now it's not so bad. I'd say I can carry a conversation with someone fairly well, even if I don't know them so well.

Favorite meal:

Ooooh.... this is hard. I love most foods lol.

I think I'll go with something a little bit more traditional. I'm Kenyan, and one of my favourite meals that I've grown up eating is chapatti and stew (any kind of stew, or soup. But my mum would usually make this stew with kidney beans. That was a big hit growing up). Haven't had it in almost a year, tho.

Aside from that, I love pizza. And Nandos.

Tagging: @clairelsonao3, @exquisitecrow, @mister-writes, @winterandwords, @mjparkerwriting, @e-everlasting-g, @erieautumnskies, @annethewittywriter, @writingwithfolklore, @ashwithapen

[storiesofsvu]

Start of Something New

Derek Morgan x reader (kinda…it’ll make sense i promise) Warnings: language, mentions of loss of a parent, comfort all the way through otherwise. Covers the "holiday movies" for my bingo and the "neighbors" square of @resanoona 3k bingo!

You were slumped on your couch, doom scrolling through your phone in a feeble attempt to distract yourself when you heard a festive playlist burst to life on the other side of the wall. It wasn’t that the walls were paper thin but your living room shared a wall with Derek’s living room and you could often hear anything over certain volume going either way. It was one of the way the two of you had become friends. You’d exchanged phone numbers pretty early on after moving in, just to make sure if there ever were problems you could shoot off a text instead of having to climb off the sofa and wander down the hall to knock on the door. Then there was one night of TV binging where the same theme song could be heard through the wall at the same time, after hour three your phone buzzed with a text, Derek teasing you about your obsession and you shot back that he was doing the exact same. The next text that came through was him inviting you over for a few episodes and a beer and your friendship was born.

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at the sound of the Christmas music flowing through the air, you used to love the holiday, but it was really all a sham that you could finally see through. You figured Derek was setting up for some stupid Christmas date night, which made you grumble, pulling the blanket tighter around your body as you turned up the volume on your phone. About twenty minutes later you heard the tell tale knock on the wall separating your apartments and you let out an audible groan.

“What?!” You called from your spot on the couch and the knock just repeated itself, louder this time.

Letting out a huff you got off the couch, leaving the blanket wrapped around you, phone clutched in hand you scooped up your keys and wandered out of your apartment, locking the door behind you. Derek’s door was unlocked, but you still knocked before letting yourself in.

“Jesus, someone’s feeling festive.” You greeted as your eyes swept through the space. His tree was up the last time you were over but it had still been bare. Today it was covered in glittering lights, sparkling garland and a ton of ornaments, there were Christmas lights illuminating over the balcony doors.

“Figured it might help brighten up the place, make the mood a little better, ya know?”

“Hmm.” You replied, tugging the blanket tighter around your shoulders.

“What’s going on with you?” He asked with a small laugh and you huffed.

“I’m sad and I demand cuddles.” You pouted and he chuckled.

“Okay sweetheart, you’ll get them. I figured we could watch a couple of movies anyways?” He crossed through the space to the open kitchen, “you want some eggnog? Spiked hot chocolate?”

“The second please.” You moved to the couch, dropping down onto it and tucking your blanket in, knowing that Derek would say no to help if you asked. A few moments later he returned with two large mugs of boozy hot chocolate and a plate of pastries, sinking down onto the couch beside you, his free arm naturally coming to lay across the back of the couch.

“So, what’s first? What’s your favourite?”

“Grinch.” You replied with a sigh, sinking into his side, “but I don’t wanna watch it.” Derek could feel the melancholy wafting off you and his head tilted down to look at you instead of the TV.

“Hey…” he nudged at you gently, “what’s eating you? You were all about Christmas last year. You were the one who insisted I needed a tree.”

“I used to watch it with my mom…. It’s my first Christmas without her.”

“Oh fuck…” he muttered, “sweetheart I should’ve realized. I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.” You muttered, taking a hefty swig of your drink, “just no Grinch.”

“We could start with one of those ridiculously cheesy Hallmark movies? Take a drink every time something cringey or very stereotypical happens?”

“I’d like that.” You cast him a small smile before snuggling back into his shoulder.

Derek picked up the remote and scrolled through a couple of options until you found one that you agreed had to be absolutely terrible and clicked play. His idea to brighten your mood and help you relax into the idea of celebrating the holiday worked even better than both of you had thought, you rolled right into a second ridiculous movie and halfway through it were all laughter and smiles. You pointed out all the stupid things, the over the top tropes and couldn’t help but laugh at the cheesy, terrible writing and how real life was never anything like these.

After the second movie you protested, saying you couldn’t handle anymore of it and Derek suggested swapping to the Home Alone trilogy and you were more than okay with that. He made sure to refill your drinks, and definitely made sure to give you all the cuddles you desired. The credits were rolling on movie number two and he glanced down at you, chuckling at the sight of your eyes fluttering, fully relaxed into him.

“You asleep there princess?” He teased and you scoffed.

“No.” You let out a sigh, pushing up to sitting properly and stretched out your body. Unlike when you’d first arrived, you were full of warmth, a happy smile on your face that Derek couldn’t help but smile at. “I should get going though, your couch is comfortable, but not comfortable enough to sleep on.”

“Alright.” He squeezed at your shoulder, guiding you back through the apartment to the door. He expected just a quick goodnight, surprised at the way you suddenly turned back to him, wrapping your arms around him in a tight hug as you let out a small sigh.

“Thank you.” You murmured after a moment, “for all this. Even if it’s not what you intended in the first place.”

“Hey… anytime.” He pressed a light kiss to the top of your head and you let out a happy hum before pulling away, “and I don’t want you to be alone on Christmas. You’re coming over here, okay?”

“Don’t you already have that whole found family thing to be with?”

“So?” He shrugged, “what’s one more member of that?”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.” He flashed you a wicked grin and you couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“Alright. But only if you promise those butterscotch marshmallow squares.”

“Oh that’s a guarantee baby.” He pulled you to him for another tight hug, “now go get some beauty rest.”

“Night Derek.” You smiled once more before turning and wandering back to your apartment.

True to his word, Derek encouraged you to join in on as many festivities as you wanted, making sure not to push too hard and joining you on the couch for movie nights instead of dealing with so many people on the days you didn’t want to. You got to meet a bunch of his friends, and he got to meet a couple of yours, a Christmas that you thought was going to be miserable and lonely ended up being filled with so much joy and love you never would have noticed what was bothering you.

It was on New Year’s Eve that it finally happened, years of friendship morphing into something more when the clock struck twelve and Derek pulled you to him for a gentle kiss, his hand cupping your cheek. You relaxed instantly into it, smiling when he pulled back to murmur a quiet ‘Happy New Year’ you returned the sentiment, but rather than step away you stepped closer, kissing him once more and truly was the start of something new.

________________

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[2ducks-agoose]

So I just watched all of season 5 and here are my thoughts

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED (I will also tag with spoilers)

•I loved how Robin and Sophie had such a connection without even meeting each other. I have a relationship like that with someone I care about how Robin was acted really broke my heart. It’s was so good. I was at the verge of tears (to be honest I was on the verge of tears so many times)

•MORE HUMPHREY!!! He’s one of my favorites so I’m glad we finally got more of him this season. ALSO Sophie backstory, glad to see it.

•Different relationships were shown, like Thomas and Pat, Thomas and Fanny, more Pat and Captain (finally), Julian and Pat, Julian and Alison, Robin and Sophie (I LOVED THIS SO MUCH), Robin and Annie, and long expected Captain and Havers. This all made my heart swell to see how much they all care for each other.

•Kittys death. Her death was probably very painful, with possible muscle cramps, and lots of nausea, and so much pain. I feel so so empathetic towards her. I just love her

•Thomas fucking came out as Scottish. I was texted my friends about that one, ngl

•my mixed emotions about Captains death. To start off with I 100% live for his backstory. I love how to just wanted to see Havers one last time, and just how they showed so much affection in some small hand touches. How the Captain died looking at the man he loved. That just broke my heart. My only complaint is that he didn’t get the much screen time. Like his story was so hyped up for about 5 years about we got about a whole 10 minutes or less of his backstory throughout the whole series. And backstory episode didn’t really revolve around his backstory like the others had. I would have loved to see him pining over Havers and getting clues to try to find Havers. We could have seen more of just Havers and why he was so important to Captain. This would have just made so much of a more impact to the story with giving them more backstory. I just want to see more of them. I am begging that we get more in the Christmas episode but it’s highly unlikely. Makes me sad.

•Captains and Havers names I think fit pretty well, but the fandom’s names will forever live in my heart. I headcanoned their fandom names to be middle names because I can’t let go of them. But seriously I really like the new names but still are going to be the Captain and Havers.

•Robin being very smart and picking up on stuff/ listening very well was something I wanted to see forever. Finally got it

•I love that Mike and Alison are finally having a child, but holy shit they are not ready at all. I adore both of them both so much but they are seriously at the moment very unprepared. I don’t know how it’s going to go at first but I think when they eventually get the hand of it they’ll be great parents. This might take a while

•Julian finally letting his feeling out. You can really tell he sees Alison as a daughter. I hate him but damn that speech was good

•ANNIE-VERSEY, all these Robin moments are hurting my heart.❤️

•Humphrey pranking the Ghosts with Alison was so amazing. YOU GO!!!

•Kitty admiring Alison but also understanding and caring for her boundaries the best she could.

•The Captain finally being more open about his sexuality and opening showing his attraction to the news reporter.

•When the Captain thought he was going to move on, HE WAS CLENCHING HIS STICK BECAUSE HE WAS PRACTICALLY HOLDING HAVERS!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH

•Fanny being good at poetry was something I didn’t know I wanted but what I now know I need

•The Captain is even more desperate than Thomas.

•Robins not only learned French but Russian as well

•More of Alison/Mike in the series. Absolutely love them

This isn’t season 5 (yet) but for the Christmas Special I’m hoping to get:

1. More Captain and Havers

2. Captain’s Last name

3. More Humphrey and Kitty friendship

4. Baby

[taliskermortem]

okay on to episode 9

again under the cut so as not to bore you all

MINSEONG AND HYEONGJOON DATE:

the cuddling. its back. i’m still not over it.

minseong not impressed he’s been abandoned

oh my god. he made a list. i’m in love with him.

hyeongjoon’s driving terrifies me and minseong willingly got back in the car with him behind the wheel that’s some serious bravery

ah my hyeongjoon he’s so shy and awkward

why are they the only ones doing a proper activity

also they did not wear warm enough coats for this… oh never mind they did bring better coats thank god

why is hyeongjoon like this, he’s such a mess and its adorable… at least its an excuse to hold hands i guess

HOT PACKS AS A LANGUAGE OF LOVE I GUESS

(side not again… okay i never used to understand why so many koreans hate cucumber because where im from its really not that strong of a taste but that was before i had a korean cumcumber and now i undersand completely i don’t know whats wrong with them )

COUPLE RINGS I'M DEAD MINSEONG-AH WHY ARE YOU SO CUTE THEY’RE HIDEOUS

i’ve just ealised this is minseong’s first proper date bless him (no that one with junseong did not count that was just friends hanging out)

also how does hyeongjoon make those slits in his eyebrow disappear so thoroughly

ah communication. we love it.

they’re so cute together

JEONGWOOK AND HYEONGJIN DATE:

aah jeongwook i wish you weren’t so hung up on yoonghee

glad he’s enjoying himself though and he seems more relaxed with hyeongjin than i expected

oh my god imagine if hyeongjin didn’t like dogs this would have been a disaster

i too would focus on the dog and not the date can’t really blame you for that one

no no if he’s going to serenade i’m out of here i can’t deal with that i’m sorry even if you have the best voice in the world i cant hack it

WHY A CHRISTMAS SONG WHAT IS GOING ON GET ME OUT OF HERE

okay i’m sure he has a lovely voice but i think i died of embarrassment hyeongjin you truly are stronger man than me

okay it’s nice that jeongwook is opening up and showing more of himself but this is not really feeling like a date at all and if i were hyeongjin i would feel so incredible awkward right now

ah jeongwook don’t cry noooo this poor guy, he seems to really be struggling i hope he’s okay

THE EVENING:

not the dates coming home in order of how successful they were (from least to most in my personal opinion)

minseong following hyeongjoon to his room even though they’ve spent all day together already

JUNSEONG AND SEONGHO FIRST TO LEAVE LAST TO RETURN TAKE FROM THAT WHAT YOU WILL

yoonghee and junseong’s friendship is important to me okay

seonwoo literally could not answer a question directly even if his life depended on it

oh wow he’s really just going to sit there and stare at junseong and seongho in the kitchen what the hell dude

wow this isn’t awkward at all what are you trying to achieve here other than making everyone uncomfortable

let’s be honest the real final couple from this show is hyeongjoon and food

they talked for SEVEN HOURS HAHAHA I’M FINE (also still sitting together at the table it’s the little things okay)

AH I'M WEAK – hyeongjin wanting to talk to junseong and junseong taking seongho with him with that soft arm on his shoulders yes hi ive died had to rewind like five times to catch what they were saying because i was too distracted watching them… oh my god seongho’s ‘im going with you’ look im totally fine

GREY SPORTSWEAR FAMILY

seongho abandoning them to all the dishes he created just to hang out with junseong some more

okay im glad they had the same reaction as me to taking him to his house

THE HEAD ON THE LAP/SHIN SEONGHO PLEASE

“a very personal song” it was a christmas song bro

sensible seongho – go talk to jeongwook not them

poor jeongwook i feel like he’s been totally confused this whole day and to be honest i cant blame him there was a much simpler and susinct way for hyeongjin to get his point across without sounding kind of like an asshole and hurting people’s feelings

hyeongjin, my dude, stop. he get’s it, you misunderstood. let’s just let it rest and say you had a good time but you don’t have feelings

i understand hyeongjin not wanting there to be a misunderstanding but also jeongwook is right why he’s saying it like this is weird and hurtful

right i knew this conversation was going to go down the toilet but i didn’t think it would be this bad

unnecessary drama is all im saying

VOICEMAIL AND PHONE CALL TIME:

ha seonwoo no message from seongho or yoonghee this is what happens when you act the nice guy and have no follow through

seonwoo to seongho – awkward phone call and the first thing he brings up is seongho’s date with junseong this guy is a joke he literally said the other day they should just focus on each other not on junseong but he cannot let it go

two messages for junseong i’m living for this he deserves it

his face when he heard yoonghee that was priceless oh my god he’s so sweet and yeah i just love their friendship

love the silent pause before the second message like junseong and literally everyone else is holding their breath in anticipation

JUNSEONG-AH DID YOU WAIT LONG I'M SOBBING

also i’m pretty sure junseong has his eyes closed like he can’t quite believe it

AND THE PREVIEW:

look i don’t really want to talk about this i’ve been mad about it all day and will be for the next week

but also

from the voice mails we now know:

junseong – seongho

seongho – junseong

yoonghee – junseong

seonwoo – seongho

hyeongjin – seonwoo

minseong – hyeongjin

so the only one we don’t know is jeongwook, which means he definitely doesn’t have any messages and unless he sent a message to hyeongjoon (which is definitely possible) hyeongjoon also won’t have any messages

i kind of wish minseong had told hyeongjoon beforehand that he hadn’t sent him a message just so hyeongjoon isn’t expecting it and it’s not going to ruin his evening after the date they had

ugh it’s still such a mess i’m just going to try and forget about everything that isn’t junseong and seongho being soft

[harringtonstilinski]

Always The Babysitter - Chapter Eight: The Upside Down

Author: @harringtonstilinski​ Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) (eventually) Word Count: 3,404 Warnings: lil’ bit more angst, fluff if you squint Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! We get more Dusty in this episode!! If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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season masterlist

series masterlist

series playlist 

After we left the station, Jonathan sped back to his house. As soon as we got there, we all hopped out of the car, grabbing the monster hunting gear and heading inside the house. We all got to work putting the items where they needed to go, as well as screwing all the Christmas bulbs back in.

As Nancy loaded the bullets into the revolver, I stood next to her, watching. We looked at each other. “You’re scary with a gun.”

She smiled a little, looking back down. “I feel like a badass.” 

I heard hammering, so I went to see where the noise was coming from. It was coming from Jonathan, hammering nails into a wooden bat.

Nancy stood next to me, gas can in hand, asking me to pour gasoline down the hallway into Will’s room.

Once the bear trap was secured down and ready to go, Jonathan went into the kitchen and got three sharp knives out of the utensil drawer, handing me and Nancy one each.

“Wait, so… we’re gonna cut ourselves to draw the Demogorgon to us?” I asked.

“Yes,” Jonathan said. “Now, remember–”

“Straight into Will’s room, and–,” Nancy said.

“Don’t step on the trap.”

They looked at me, waiting for me to add in the next step. “Oh! Uhm… wait for the yo-yo to move.”

“Then…” Jonathan said, flicking on the lighter before closing it. “You ready?”

“Ready,” Nancy said.

I took a deep breath, putting the blade of the knife to the palm of my hand. Jonathan started counting to three before he told me and Nancy that we didn’t have to slice our hands, the latter saying to stop talking before saying the number three and all three of us slicing our hands, blood immediately pouring out of our hands.

Letting the sting settle in for a moment, I ran to the kitchen sink, putting my hand under the water. Once I felt the bleeding had died down some, I put paper towels on my hand to help stop the bleeding as Nancy got my bandages ready. 

She wrapped my hand as tight as I told her to before we all moved to the living room, me having bandaged Nancy’s hand before she started bandaging Jonathan’s hand.

We all heard faint creaking, so we looked around a little as I stopped my pacing from in front of the window, Nancy asking us if we heard the same noise she did.

“It’s just the wind,” Jonathan said.

I went back to my pacing as Jonathan reassured Nancy, “Don’t worry. My mom, she said the lights speak when it comes.”

“Speak?” Nancy asked.

“Blink. Think of them as alarms.”

A few seconds goes by before Nancy asks Jonathan if his bandages were too tight, his reply being that they were fine.

A banging on the door made me jump out of my skin, a hand over my heart as I tried to get my breathing back in check.

“Jonathan? You there, man? It’s-it’s Steve!” 

I looked at Nancy then back at the door, confused. “Steve?” “Listen, I just wanna talk!”

“Liv, answer it,” Nancy whispered.

I looked at her as if she were crazy before she repeated her words, getting my ass in gear. Removing the chain lock on it, I opened the door, saying, “Do you really have to yell?” while putting my bandaged hand on the outside of the door. 

“Liv?”

“Steve, you need to leave,” I said, as softly and calmly as I could.

“I’m not trying to start anything,” he said.

“I don’t care about that, that was 6 hours ago. You just… you need to leave. Please.”

“No, no, no, I–I messed up, okay? I messed… I messed up. Okay? Really. Please. I wanna make things right.”

I just looked at him, sadness in my eyes at hearing him confess that he messed up and needed me… or really Nancy. As he was pleading with me, I was waving my non-injured hand at Nancy and Jonathan, telling them to separate if Steve comes bursting in here.

Steve looked at my injured hand, and I knew he was instantly more worried about my being hurt than trying to make things right with everybody. “What happened to your hand?” He moved my hand to try and look at it, asking if there was blood on my bandage.

“Oh, that? That’s nothing. Dustin and I were fighting over something and I guess I cut my hand.”

“Something else is going on, don’t lie to me, Liv.”

I sighed. “Nothing, Steve.” I hated lying to him. 

“Wait a second, did he do this?” Steve asked, trying to push his way into the house… and being successful after I told him no. He looked around at everything; the bat, the lights, Jonathan and Nancy. “What is… what the…?”

“You need–” Jonathan started.

“Jonathan, I got this,” I said. “I know how to handle him.” Getting in front of Steve, I looked him in the eyes, saying, “You need to get out of here.”

He put his hands on my shoulders as he went to ask what all the stuff was.

“Steve, I’m not asking you. I’m telling you to get out of here.”

“What’s that smell? Is that– is that gasoline?” He tried putting me behind him to drag me out of the house. Yes, he’s done that before. 

A gun cocking had me turning around, Nancy having the gun pointed in mine and Steve’s direction. “Steve, get out!”

“What? What is going on?” he freaked.

“You have five seconds to get out of here.”

“Okay, is this a joke? Stop. Put the gun down.”

I saw Steve’s hands in my periphery, almost like he was trying to protect me… or just to try and get Nancy to not shoot at us, I don’t know. 

“I’m doing this for you,” Nancy said.

I heard Jonathan say Nancy’s name which then prompted me to pay attention to the lights as Steve was trying to negotiate with her.

“Nancy! The lights!” I yelled, which made her turn around to look at them blinking.

“It’s here,” Jonathan said, grabbing the nail bat.

“Wait, what’s here?” Steve asked.

“I swear I’ll explain everything at a later date,” I rushed out.

Nancy and Jonathan were back to back now, Steve’s questions being ignored.

“Will someone please explain to me what the hell is going–” Steve asked, before the ceiling came crashing down, the Demogorgon the obvious cause.

It hadn’t come through the slimy barrier yet before Nancy started shooting at it. Jonathan pulled her by her waist and went into the hallway as I grabbed Steve’s hand, pulling him along behind me. 

“Watch the trap,” I said, jumping over it, a few “oh my god!” exclaims coming from Steve.

When we made it inside Will’s bedroom, the older Byers’ boy slammed the door shut, Steve saying, “Jesus! Jesus! What the hell was that? What the hell was that?”

I put my hand over his mouth as I heard the Demogorgon growl… or scream. “Steve, I need you to shut the fuck up.” Turning around, I took my hand off his mouth, watching the yellow yo-yo that was placed over a chair.

The lights were still flickering, thuds were heard, noises coming from the creature told me that it was still in the house.

“What’s it doing?” Nancy asked.

“I don’t know,” Jonathan answered.

At this moment, I was beyond thankful that Dustin wasn’t here to witness all this. Steve, on the other hand, I knew would be having some nightmares about this, so I was already mentally preparing for the countless sleepovers I’d be having at his house.

The electricity jolting and Nancy asking if we heard anything had me coming out of my thoughts. Jonathan answered no and opened the door, going out first, Nancy behind him and Steve and I tagging along after Nance, everything still sitting in the same places undisturbed.

We walked into the living area slowly, while looking for the creature. Jonathan, Nancy and myself were all quiet, but Steve… he was muttering that this was crazy to himself before shouting it and picking the phone up off the receiver to call the cops.

Nancy noticed and moved to stop him, slamming the phone on the ground, breaking it. I had to jump out of the way or else I’d get hit, giving a quiet “Hey!” as I did.

“What are you do– what are you doing? Are you insane?” Steve asked.

“It’s going to come back!” Nancy said. “So you need to leave. Right. Now.”

Steve looked at me, our eyes meeting. Mine begging him to leave for his own safety. He looked back at Nancy before running out of the house. 

It was probably about 10 seconds after Steve had run out that the Demogorgon came back, lights flickering more than they did the few minutes prior.

“Where is it?” Nancy asked.

“Come on,” Jonathan said.

“Come on, you son of a bitch,” I exclaimed.

The lights went off a few seconds after Jonathan started provoking the creature. I felt something behind me before Nancy yelled my name. I turned around, seeing the ugly creature up close for the first time since Eleven put its playing piece on the board what seemed like forever ago.

I screamed as it took me down to the ground, its slobber getting into my mouth just a little, making me gag in the process. When it opened its face, all I saw was teeth; rows and rows of teeth.

Gun shots sounded before Nancy’s voice yelled, “Go to hell, you son of a bitch!”

It stood up, which gave me the perfect time to start coughing and taking deep breaths. Clicking brought my attention to Nancy, the creature looking at her and opening its face, showing its rows and rows of teeth.

I heard someone yell out, something thudding against something else. When Nancy said Steve’s name, I instantly went alert, my main goal trying to keep him safe. Watching as Steve led the creature to the hallway, I felt hands on me, helping me up.

Steve did some twirling motion with the bat before hitting the creature again. “He’s in the trap! He’s stuck!”

“Jonathan, now!” Nancy yelled.

Jonathan and I ran towards the hallway, him getting in front of the group, while I went to his left, standing by Steve. Jonathan threw the lit lighter onto the gasoline I had poured, the creature going up in flames for a moment before he went to get the fire extinguisher that I hadn’t seen either of them grab from the station.

Putting the creature out, we all coughed from the smoke that was coming up from the fire being doused. 

When we all could see and breathe again, Nancy asked, “Where’d it go?”

“No,” Jonathan said. “It-it has to be dead.”

I sighed. “I don’t see anything other than boiling slime.”

I heard the lights before I saw them, the four of us backing up into the hallway, thinking it was the creature, but the lights stopped right at the trap before moving right back down the hallway. I looked back at Jonathan, knowing what he knows.

We followed the lights as they lit up one by one on what seemed like a single strand. We stopped near the door, Jonathan whispering, “Mom. Is that you? Mom.”

Going outside on the porch, my focus stayed on the street lamp, as was everyone else’s. It flickered before staying on.

“Where’s it going?” Nancy asked.

“I don’t think that’s the monster,” Jonathan said.

~~~

I knew Dustin was okay the moment I saw him. We both had tears in our eyes as we embraced each other in a tight hug. Looking at him, I cried even more than I already was. Crying that I was happy he was alive and well, but also sad at the information he told me about Eleven.

Everyone that was involved with the Upside Down, the Demogorgon and Eleven were all at the hospital… or the lab, I’m not sure, to sign papers, get bandaged and to visit Will. I had so much anxiety about seeing Will that my leg was bouncing as I sat in the chair.

I got up and went out of the waiting room, needing to stretch my legs and get a snack from the vending machine. Dustin was asleep on Lucas… who was asleep on Dustin, so I knew he’d be fine.

What I didn’t expect was to have a little shadow. As I looked at the contents in the vending machine, I sighed. “What do you want, Steve?”

“When I said I messed up earlier,” he said. “I really meant it. I messed up.”

“With Nancy and Jonathan?” I asked, looking at him.

“Them, yeah… and you.”

I didn’t know what to say. I just went back to looking at what I thought looked appealing.

He sighed and leaned his back on the wall next to me. “Look, I’m trying here, okay? I messed up by ditching you, I messed up by pushing you away when Nancy and I happened… I just–”

“Royally fucked up?” I asked.

He nodded, slowly. “Yeah.” Looking at me, he asked, “How can I make it up to you?”

I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment. “You remember that time we watched Halloween and I couldn’t sleep at my own house for like a week, so we had those sleepovers at your house?”

He chuckled. “Yeah. Your mom thought you ran away.”

“You remember how we called them Scary Movie Sleepovers?” I smiled.

He smiled back, nodding. “Yeah.”

“Well, get ready for a week of me staying at your house again,” I said. Looking back at the machine, my smile dwindled. “If it’s okay with Nance.”

“Look at me,” he whispered.

I did, seeing sincerity in his eyes as he said, “She’ll understand, and she knows about those nights.”

After a few seconds, I looked at an item that brought back memories. “No cheeky moves, Harrington.” I put the amount of money I needed for the item, pressing the respective buttons.

He chuckled again as I bent down to pick up my item. “You got it, Henderson.”

Opening the bag, I put some Peanut M&M’s in my hand, taking one and biting around the peanut. Steve took one, popping one into his mouth and chewing it whole.

We talked and laughed while sharing our favorite snack. The boys rushed by us, Dustin stopping to tell me that Will was awake and they were headed to see him. I told him that I’d be there in a moment and to tell Will that.

I did go and see him, tears in my eyes at seeing alive and well in person. I gave him my special hug before the boys pulled me away to talk to their best friend.

~~~

One Month Later

“Something’s coming,” Mike said. “Something angry.”

“Hungry for your blood,” I said, bending down between Mike and Dustin, hands on the backs of their chairs. “It… is almost here.”

“What is it?” Will asked.

“It’s the thessalhydra, I’m telling ya,” Dustin said.

“It’s not the thessalhydra,” Lucas said.

“I’m telling you, it’s the thessalhydra.”

Placing the gaming piece on the board, Mike said, “The thessalhydra!”

“Damn it.”

“It roars in anger!” Mike said. “Will, your action!”

“What should I do? I–” Will said.

Walking over to him, I placed my hand on the back of his chair, bending down to get eye level with him. “Fireball him.” I smiled when he looked at me.

“Fireball the son of a bitch,” Dustin said.

Will rolled the games dice, getting the amount he needed, all of them cheering.

“Fourteen!” Dustin yelled.

“Direct hit!” Mike said. “Will the Wise’s fireball hits the thessalhydra.” He stands as he continues, “It makes a painful–” Then he proceeded to screech like a dying bird. “And then, it crumbles to the ground.” He goes down on the ground, and I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“It’s clawed hand reaches for you one last time and, and, and…” Mike pretending to be a dying thessalhydra was one of the highlights of my night as the boys cheered and danced around.

“Lucas cuts off its seven heads, and Dustin places them into his bag of holding,” Mike continued. Dustin held up his backpack in victory as Mike added, “You carry the heads out of the dungeon, victorious, and you present them to King Tristan. He thanks you for your bravery and service.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Dustin said. “That’s not it, is it?” He looked up at me. “Is it?”

“No, there’s a medal ceremony–” Mike said.

“Oh, a medal ceremony?” Dustin sarcastically said. “What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, the campaign was way too short,” Lucas said.

Will agreed before I cut in and said, “It was ten hours!”

“But, Liv, it doesn’t make any sense,” Dustin said.

“This whole game doesn’t make any sense to me,” I exclaimed.

“It makes sense!” Mike said.

“Uh, no, what about the lost knight?” Dustin asked. He then looked at me, confused. “Isn’t there some club at the high school where they play D&D?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s called Hellfire. I’m not a part of it, though.”

“You should be.”

“And the proud princess?” Lucas said, bringing us back to the conversation at hand.

“And those weird flowers in the cave?” Will added.

“I don’t know, it’s–” Mike started.

Footsteps sounded as someone came down the stairs. That someone being Jonathan, who said, “Jeez, what’s that smell?”

“They’ve been farting,” I said, crossing my arms, a smile present on my face.

“No, that’s just Dustin,” Lucas chuckled.

I couldn’t help but laugh at Lucas’ comment and the fact that he was blowing raspberries while singing about Dustin farting. Tapping the top of his head, I laughed as I said that we needed to go.

The Byers boys and us Henderson kids all said our goodbyes before walking up the stairs and into the kitchen, where I heard Jonathan ask Will if he had a good time.

“Hey, kids,” Mrs. Wheeler said.

“Hey, Mrs. Wheeler,” Jonathan said.

“All four of you, wish your moms a merry Christmas for me, okay?” she asked.

“Sure thing,” I said. “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Wheeler.”

“Merry Christmas.”

Turning to walk to the front door, I put my arm around Dustin before I noticed a scent that was always one of my favorites. I smiled a little as we walked out to the car before I told Dustin that I’d be back in a moment. Grabbing the present I had brought just in case, Dustin gave me a knowing look that I tried to ignore.

I walked back in the house as Nancy was giving Jonathan a kiss on the cheek. Walking past her and into their living room, I peeked a look at Steve in his red Christmas sweater. I whispered his name, giving a come here motion with my hand. Once I felt we were in a somewhat private spot, I handed him the present I’d brought for him.

“For you,” I said. “It’s nothing, really. I just saw it and thought of you.”

He unwrapped it, eyes going a little glassy. “Uhm,” he said, turning his head away for a split moment before looking back at me. “I love it, Liv. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” I said. “At least now you’ll be able to check and see if you’re on time for school or not.”

We chuckled, both of us knowing that he was famous for being late to school almost every single day.

“I’ll see you after the break?” I asked.

“Yeah, for sure,” he said. He smiled before placing a kiss on my forehead like he always did.

When I got back in the car, I looked over at Dustin, who had a look on his face that said he knew something I didn’t. “What?”

“You like Steve,” he smiled.

“What?” I said. “No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. You just don’t want to admit it.”

I couldn’t think of anything else to say after that, so all I did was give a reply of “Shut up,” before starting the car and heading back home.

As I laid in bed that night, I thought about what Dustin said. I didn’t like Steve…

Did I?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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~~~

A/N 2:  hi, friends! i have no excuse why this late. i really don't. but, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox.

Additional Note: there's kind of a deleted scene in this episode where hop and liv talk. if y'all are interested, i can write that scene for you!! also, i know that some of y’all are waiting to see your requests, and i promise i’ll get to them. the writer’s block hit really bad with them. atb is the only thing i have motivation to post for at the moment.

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24​​ @stixnstripesworld​ @fandom-princess-forevermore​​​ @quanticobae​​​ @mischiefandi​​​ @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak​​​​

Steve Harrington Taglist: @madaboutjoe

If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski​.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Posted on January 7, 2024 *Happy New Year!!* 

[beeceit]

I have never met my mother's mother (though apparently we met once when I was a toddler), I didn't even know her name until high school when my mom, drunk, went on a rant about her. She left when my mom was still in her early teens with little if not no warning. My mom still asked me if I wanted her to be invited to my high school graduation. When she was a teenager and angry at her mom, my paternal grandmother would sit her down and teach her how to make Christmas ornaments until she felt better like she was taught by the mother of her husband's ex-wife. I called that woman grandmother too, my craft room (living room) is filled to the brim with fabric and ribbons that were given to my grandma after she passed and I'm still teaching myself to quilt and make wreaths like she did. My first attempt at a quilt has fabric from what was once her stash and fabric gifted to me by a friend who knew I had an interest in sewing. When I cook with cinnamon, I still feel the need to warn him that he can't eat it, despite living on the other side of the country. I've made friends from every corner of the earth, most of them I will never meet, but we still share our cooking through descriptions and pictures and ask each other if we can have some. My fiance proposed to me back. years into our engagement, with a mug that says 'I drink coffee for your protection'. I drink exclusively tea out of it. They wrote a note with their finger on my bathroom mirror that says 'I love you' when they visited months ago and I carefully avoid wiping the mirror when I shower because I can still faintly see it in the steam. My hair has finally grown long enough to braid again and every time I do I think about how I learned to braid from my father, who taught me and my brother how to for a mother's day gift for our mother and his. People whose names and faces I've long since forgotten braided my hair in dressing rooms for pow wows I hardly remember because they saw I couldn't reach well enough to do it myself and offered to help. Whenever I watch Moana, one of my baby brother's favorite movies, I think of a friend I haven't spoken to since high school who that movie meant the world to because he saw himself in it. They dance similarly when 'You're Welcome' plays and I think they would adore each other. My brother wasn't even born yet when we last talked. The mother figure I fought with and felt unsafe around my whole childhood apologized for the way she treated me unprompted. We laugh together now and it no longer hurts when my mom says I take after her. The tmnt hyperfixation that has consumed me for more than a year is a rekindling of a love for the franchise I got from her as a child when she sat me down with her dvds of the 1987 cartoon. I sing the theme song with her and my three year old brother on long car rides. Her mother asks how my fiance is doing every time we ride home from work together. My brother asks me to ask her if she's seen whatever anime he's obsessed with any given time I visit. My friends on voice calls who have never met him and likely never will tease him the way I do and he teases them back. I think my brother has some magic power to turn anyone into a surrogate sibling if he tries hard enough. He and I both wear coats passed down from an Uncle that is no longer with us. I love him more than anything, I've now spent more of my life without him than with, my passion for puppetry is from him. My family shares a knowing nod when we get teary eyed over the Harry Belefonte episode of the muppet show. I've wanted to be a puppeteer as far back as my memory goes.

I miss my grandma's pumpkin pie, I think I'll ask her for the recipe again and hopefully not lose it this time. I'd like to pass it down to children of my own some day.

[hepbaestus]

Ello hep!! Congrats on 250 <3

For your ask game!!

💜🖤✈️🍐🌝🌺

Ello shen!!! I hope you've been well! <3

💜 describe yourself in five words or less!

I always find this type of question difficult, but I think dependable, resilient, introverted and genuine are good words to describe myself. I've gotten better at being these things over the years but they still hold true to who I am (or at least what I hope others see and know me as).

🖤 favourite hobbies outside of your blog?

I don't really have many hobbies (I have a lot of abandoned hobbies though) but taking photos and playing pc games are two hobbies of mine that I enjoy a lot! I want to branch out and do more like pottery painting and flintknapping, I've done them both before and want to do more of, but money ;-;

✈️ favourite place you've travelled?

I've not really travelled much (or at least have some memory of it) but I have to say Wales! I went to Wales, almost 2 years ago now, to climb Snowdon and it was so pretty!

Here are just a few of the photos that I took during the car ride/climb up so that you can see just how pretty it was.

🍐if you could make one character real, who would it be?

Oooooo there's so many! Shen, why would you do this to me? /lh

I think I would make Newt from the Maze Runner trilogy real. Either him or Dean Winchester from Supernatural. I think it'd be interesting to see how they'd live their lives, like, would Dean have become a firefighter like he was applying to be before he died or would he go into another profession?

🌝 a show you would recommend to everyone.

BBC Merlin. I have a lot of fond memories of just having finished eating tea (evening meal, whatever you may call it) and sitting in the lounge and watching an episode once a week. Also if I had to suffer through the 2012 Christmas Eve episode finally then so do you :)

🌺 what is the best gift someone has ever given you and why is it important?

The best gift that I've ever been given was a little hand-sewn felt cat-like creature from a long-time irl friend of mine! She gave it to me a fair few years back now and I made sure to keep it when I was going through a rough patch of life™.

It's actually sitting on my desk right now, looking at me as I game or do anything on my laptop. It fits perfectly in my hand and whenever I feel homesick I look at it and it feels like I have a piece of her with me even though we're 200+ miles away from each other and it makes me smile.

If she sees this (which I doubt with how much I post), she is a moot of mine here, I hope she knows that I love her and miss her. I haven't been home since Christmas so maybe soon I'll plan a trip back home.

Ask game!!

[zosociologist]

"Dating Peter Tork Would Be Like..." [Scrapped]

[Teacher!Peter x Librarian!Black!Female!Reader Headcannon]

A/N: This was bound to happen eventually...just glad I was able to get this out of my system; WwaBRiM per usual and likes, comments, & reblogs are strongly encouraged(=

Era: Mid-70s (around the time Peter became a teacher)

Warnings: Mentions of fooling around, and light makeout stuff.

Yeah, you knew who Peter Tork was....as did every young woman that came of age in the 60s and had a working television in the house.

Re-run episodes of The Monkees is what helped you get through your last year of college, and although you hate to admit it, you'll be forever grateful(:

Your love for sharing knowledge led you to get a Bachelor's in Education, but your spite of those around you saying that men don't like women that are "overachievers" got you your Master's in Library Science.

You have quite a few interests: you paint, sing, and play the guitar now and then, and read and write a lot of poetry and stories. 

So, you took those skills and became a Librarian at a nice high school in the hills, and the job is very enjoyable, just as you would’ve expected it to be.

You expected there to be hundreds of things checked in and out per day and thousands per week, resulting in hours of restocking shelves and setting displays.

And you were expecting to have engaging conversations with students as they tell you about their recent reads, while you return the favor by giving them even more book recommendations to further expand their minds.

What you DID NOT expect when the new school year started, was for an oddly familiar man to approach your counter inquiring about an instructor’s copy of a textbook that he’d ordered for his science course. 

And you’re still not sure if it was your slight gasp or starstruck demeanor over the random circumstances, but something made him chuckle at the situation while you spoke in disbelief, “Nooo, you can’t be”, “The only problem is, I am”. 

Far off from his former band days, Peter grew his hair out much longer and sported a beard that you thought fit him very well. He also dropped his alias and went by his actual surname, Mr. Thorkelson. A subtle change that made a huge difference.

At first, you weren’t so sure that Peter could be that friendly a person, even bashful at times, but you learned early on that it was all genuine. 

That was just the kind of person he was. On the job, Peter could talk to anyone and make friends with everyone. 

But after a while, you noticed he went out of his way to make conversation with you…even though the library is nowhere en route to his classroom.

You two soon became good friends, bonding over various things from literature to your shared love for the folk music scene. 

Whenever you had free time in your schedules, you’d be at each other’s respective workstations scribbling ideas on chalkboards or making pyramids out of lost library cards and bookmarks (that you’d return to the students that lost them immediately after). 

Somedays you and Peter could even be found in the teacher’s lounge, sharing reviews of movies you’d watched in theaters that past weekend. 

Your coworkers started calling you “two peas in a pod” and neither of you minded it…as a matter of fact, you were both kinda hoping the phrase spoke for itself. 

There would be days when you’d set a big apple on his desk before he got to his classroom in the morning, and he’d return the gratitude by waiting until you were in the back of the library somewhere, ID-ing some publishers, before placing a folded paper crane on a short stack of books on your counter. 

Of course, there was something there! But nobody said anything for fear of ruining the great friendship you both had cultivated for months.

But in the thrill of the moment, and contrary to Mr. Thorkelson’s belief, you took the liberty of making the first move…and at the Christmas faculty party of all places!

The event was off school grounds at a venue in the city. The night was young, and it was freeing to see your coworkers let loose outside of the professional box that working as educators placed them in. 

Add in the fact there was an open bar and everyone was basically on cloud nine.

There were Secret Santa gifts and party games, and one of them was, of course, "Truth or Dare".

Salaries were exposed, shots were taken, relationships and teacher pregnancies were revealed…

But your new Library Assistant, with a suggestive amount of wine in their system, took the liberty of shooting Peter a truth question: "I saw you put a crane on (y/n)'s desk a week or so ago. Do you two have something going on?"

Your eyes shot up from the unopened Secret Santa gift you received just in time to witness Peter finish his old-fashioned, "With all the love and respect in the world, no. We do not."

Your co-workers gave lively reactions, and the game quickly moved ahead, but now the tension between you two became suddenly unavoidable.

Peter couldn't bring himself to look at you, let alone in your direction. He thought he messed up everything, by not saying something different. He felt like it set his relationship with you back by a long shot. How was he supposed to recover from that if he ever did find the balls to confess that he thought the world of you?

You, on the other hand, didn't think much of it….mostly. I mean, sure, you did like him….A LOT. But for the sake of professionalism, you figured that if it wasn't meant to be, then it wasn't meant to be.

The evening progressed and so did the party, but you figured you'd make your discreet leave and wave goodbye to a few close coworkers early. 

You saved Peter's goodbye for last and gave him a warm embrace like usual along with a warm message, "Don't worry, okay? We're good! I'll see you back at The Hills after the break. Merry Christmas, Peter."

And off you went…….to the venue's unsupervised walk-in coat closet to retrieve yours. It took you a bit of sliding around coats on hangers to track it down but you finally were able to get a hold of it.

When you opened the closet door to exit, Peter was on the other side holding your Secret Santa gift you left behind.

You kinda just stood there? Mouth open and in shock, but the good kind. You even backed up a little bit, hoping that he would walk in. 

And he did. Shutting the closet door behind him, Peter stepped forward, closing the gap as if he was just a short space away from you.

"You forgot this on the table and I didn't want you to leave without it." He smiled, handing the gift back to you as you handed your coat over for him to hold. 

Unraveling the silver and gold wrapping paper, you couldn't help but rest your forehead against the gift and laugh: a hardcover copy of "Origami: The Art of Paper Folding" by Robert Harbin.

You were tickled because you KNEW it was Peter, and he couldn't help but smile at your infectious laugh.

"What? What's so funny?", "No, it's just this is so adorable! Did you plan this? Did you pull strings to be my Secret Santa?", "I didn't, I promise that was coincidental. I just figured since I was making so many of these and leaving them with you, I'd give you something so you can make your own.", "But I like when you make them for me!"

Your eyes were filled with such sincerity, and you were HOPING…that it would be enough for him to TAKE A HINT…..

You didn't wait. You kissed Peter, but he immediately followed suit, cupping your face as he leaned into it. The book slipped out of your hand as Peter grabbed your waist, backing you two into the wall as the line of hung coats surrounded you both.

The kissing intensified, and Peter dropped your coat to the floor as he unbuttoned his cotton henley shirt, never taking his lips off yours. You lost all sense of time. The closet got smaller and warmer by the minute, and frankly, you were feeling more aroused than you ever had in your life. And he sensed that, but he also respected you much more than just minimizing what you two share to a quick fuck in a stuffy coat closet at the faculty Christmas party. 

So in the midst of you reaching to undo his belt buckle, he stopped you, fixed you both back up, retrieved his corduroy jacket, and kissed your forehead.

Gathering your things, you both left the party together, unnoticed, and hand in hand. 

You two finished the evening by watching artists perform at a venue you randomly stumbled upon. 

❣Dating Life❣

You and Peter becoming official made everything that you were already platonically doing regularly, feel a lot more special.

You still bother each other on school grounds, but now you enjoy one another off of school grounds as well! (In more ways than one)

Movie theaters, plays, concerts, farmers markets, and bookstores on the weekends. And you have sleepovers at either of your apartments.

You always love his place. It always feels cozy and nostalgic because of some things he has around from his days as a television star. 

He'll lay his head in your lap in his living room conversation pit and share stories from the set, and you enjoy every moment of it. He plays his guitar or piano and you'll listen or sing along.

But you're convinced he loves your place more. He adores just how much "the essence of your apartment matches your personality" or whatever that means. 

You'll admit, you have a lot of scholastic things lying around that gives away your identity as an educator, but your apartment holds much more than that! 

He loves your collection of autobiographies, novels, and poetry books of Black authors, and finds joy in having you read passages written by esteemed artists of the Harlem Renaissance to him as he listens intently.

You'll cook together and sit on your couch watching sitcoms, music, and game shows.

And he was SO determined in helping you out whenever you have a wash day, so you walked him through how you detangle your hair and he's been a specialist ever since😌

He will make up any and every excuse possible to hold you and just be in your space. 

He loves when you just lay together in silence, preferably with the window open so you can hear the sounds of the outside world and everything happening around you both while you're in your little sacred space. 

That's happened quite a few times on Sunday nights, which rolled over into Monday mornings…which resulted in carpools to work where you'd have to act like you two didn't just arrive together from the same place.

You were almost late quite a few times on those types of mornings, it's like Peter wouldn't let you shower and get dressed in peace without messing up your outfit due to his..............antics…..

Oh, he wasn't a saint. You've heard rumors of the parties he'd host at his old Hollywood home, but you didn't think he was THIS mischievous…

When it came to sex, you were far from innocent. But Peter brought out this adventurous side of you as far as stepping out of your comfort zone goes.

You went three rounds in the back of a van at a music festival high off Mary-Jane once because you kept giving him praise and it drove him insane.

Sure, the bedroom, shower, kitchen, and balcony were nice…..but the library back room, teacher's lounge, janitor's closet, his classroom, and school parking lot in his backseat were mind-numbing. There was also your childhood bedroom when you went back to visit once…It was an otherworldly experience. 

And he's such a giver! His definition of helping you de-stress is going down on you while you vent about what happened during the day and how it made you feel (and how he's making you feel). 

He LIVES for seeing you come undone and lose yourself in pleasure, it's a challenge to him almost.

You're careful with how blissed-out you look after he makes you finish because HE WILL immediately go again.

And that's basically Peter's whole thing, he lives to please and enjoys helping in any possible way he can

Like that one time you and your library assistant were supposed to go over to the primary school to read books to the little kids and sing songs while you played your guitar , but the assistant got sick so Peter gladly snatched up his guitar as well and went along as your Stories and Songs accomplice

[End of Writing]

I started writing this in May but I just had so much going on during the summer that I would have to keep pausing my writing and just add on when inspo hit. This is basically the entire headcannon I guess, but I just didn't know how to close this one out and I didn't wanna just abruptly stop, ya know? BUT my classes are starting back soon....and with that comes the random and unexpected spurts of writing inspiration so I'm hoping for the best😅

[tokkiheart]

Winter Romance K-Dramas For The Holiday Season

A list of wintery K-Dramas for those who love snow and winter vibes.

The K-Dramas on this list take place primarily during winter. These are mostly going to be rom-coms because that’s…really about all I watch.

The bare minimum requirement for a K-Drama to make it on this list is for there to be at least one snow scene or scene that I can reasonably conclude is set in winter.

While You Were Sleeping

Starting off my list is this fantasy rom-com drama (which is not to be confused with the 1995 American rom-com movie of the same title, which I also like, but that’s neither here nor there) which starts off on one fateful snowy Valentine’s Day where Hong Joo, a woman who has had prophetic dreams ever since she was young and is powerless to stop or change them, was supposed to wind up framed for the accidental vehicular manslaughter of a police officer named Woo Tak. Both she and the officer are saved by Jae Chan, who has a prophetic dream about Hong Joo being framed and having her life fall apart because of it. Anyway, the three of them all have prophetic dreams and work to figure out why they have these abilities while utilizing them in order to save those that they love.

This drama features plenty of wintery scenes as some key moments within the drama take place during late winter, but also a scene around Christmas. This drama also features some of my favorite tropes (some of which I can’t list for spoiler reasons) and also features the rarest of creatures: a love triangle that actually doesn’t aggravate me.

Doom At Your Service

This supernatural fantasy rom-com drama takes place primarily in wintertime, I think it starts somewhere in December or January, with the end being in March. There’s mostly rain scenes in this drama, but there are two snow scenes in episode 11.

This drama is about Tak Dong-kyung, a woman who just found out that she has a terminal brain tumor the same day she discovers her boyfriend is actually a married man. One night, while drunk, she declares a desire for doom to befall the world. This ends up bringing Myul Mang, Doom himself, to her doorstep. He offers to grant her wish as well as make sure she doesn’t feel the pain or negative effects of her illness for the 100 days of their contract. She of course agrees and over time, both of them begin to falling in love with each other.

I’m going to be super honest about this drama, the 2nd lead female and her love triangle is 100% skippable without impacting your enjoyment or understanding of the show. It’s very bland, boring and kinda…easy to not care about when you have the high-fantasy romance happening in the A plot. This drama isn’t perfect, but I still continue to recommend it because Seo In-guk and Park Bo-young really brought their A games to their roles and it’s really worth it to watch their parts in the drama.

Pinocchio

Yet another Lee Jong-suk drama makes its way onto this list and the first time this drama has made it on one of my lists because I recently finished it.

This drama is undeniably set in and around December. Why undeniably? The Christmas decorations and the music. Not to mention there’s also an episode that takes place on Christmas Day which has a very drunk Dal-po/Ha-myung telling his adoptive father and “little” brother “Merry Christmas, pew pew.” Which, is simply adorable.

Anyway, this K-Drama is very basically about news reporters. Very specifically focusing on the male lead character Ha-myung (also known as Dal-po) and female lead, In-ha. Dal-po/Ha-myung’s family was destroyed by wrongful news reporting, which the worst of was largely done by the In-ha’s mother. Ha-myung ends up being adopted by In-ha’s grandfather and so he’s also, legally, her uncle.

They grew up together, went to school together, fell in love with each other and now work as reporters at two different news companies that are rivals.

Soundtrack #1

This is a short 4 episode long K-Drama that’s on Disney+.

This K-Drama has a friends-to-lovers story, with Sunwoo the ML having been pining for the Eunsoo the FL for 8(?) years. The story focuses primarily on a time when they’re living together in Eunsoo’s home for two weeks in order to help her write the lyrics for song about unrequited love, something that Eunsoo has no experience with, but knows that Sunwoo does (though she has no idea who the unrequited love is really directed to). The show seems to take place during winter, there’s plenty of snow, that’s for sure!

I originally only wanted to watch this drama because of Seo In-guk’s cameo, but I ended up actually really enjoying the show despite how short it was!

Romance Is A Bonus Book

Either I am being too generous with what K-Dramas I consider to be wintery enough for this list or Lee Jong-suk really loves doing dramas that are set in wintertime.

This drama is primarily set around late fall, maybe early winter?

Anyway, here’s a third Lee Jong-suk winter-y drama. Unlike the other two on this list, this one is a noona romance where the age gap between the characters is 5 years.

I’ve talked about this drama before many a time and how it feels like curling up in some warm blankets with a hot drink and a good book.

This drama is about Dan-yi, a divorced single mom who has been struggling to get hired after a 7 year job break. Desperate to get a job, she “erases” her college education and work experience on her resume when applying to work at the publishing company that her long-time best friend Cha Eun-ho works at as an editor (when he’s not teaching college classes or publishing his own successful books).

If you want warm and cozy feels for the fall or winter season or for the holidays, I strongly recommend this drama, even if you think that you wouldn’t like it because it’s a noona romance.

Goblin: The Lonely and Great God

This drama is set in fall and winter. I feel like it’s set primarily in November/December. There’s plenty of snow and rain, not to mention Christmas lights and decorations!

This drama is about a man named Kim Shin who was a decorated military general who was betrayed by his king and forced to witness his family be killed before being murdered himself. Except he doesn't really die and is instead transformed into an immortal goblin. He wanders through the years in search of the prophesied "goblin's bride" who is the only one with the ability to remove his sword from his chest and set his soul free. 19 years ago, he happens to save a pregnant woman from a life-threatening accident and as a result her child is able to see and talk to ghosts, but because she was never supposed to be born, she has to hide from a grim reaper - who just so happens to now be the Goblin's roommate.

I Am Not A Robot

I’m not exactly sure when this drama is set, but it must be winter because the characters are bundled up and snow is on the ground and falling from the sky. There’s also rain!

Anyway, this drama is about a male chaebol heir named Min-kyu, who is allergic to humans and the mere touch of a fellow human being can cause him to have a severe allergic reaction. He becomes interested in a humanoid robot being made by a company that he just bought/acquired called Aji3. He convinces the scientists to allow him to do a trial run of the robot in his home. They agree, but the day before they are to start the trial run, something happens to the robot that makes it not operational. In order to save their company and the project, the man who designed the Aji3 goes to the inspiration and model for the robot - his ex-girlfriend Jo Ji-a. Since she too needs the money in order to work on her own inventions, she agrees and poses as the robot.

While posing as the Aji3, Ji-a comes to care for and eventually falls in love with Min-kyu, who has also fallen in love with her.

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo

This drama is for all the people who love a good school drama with a friends-to-lovers story. This drama is set during the fall semester of college.

This drama is about Kim Bok-joo, a girl who has been a weightlifter most of her life and has never really considered doing anything else. She falls in love for the very first time with the older brother of her friend Jun-hyung and gets swept up in the feelings. In order to spend time with him and get his attention, she does things that she’d never considered doing before.

Jun-hyung and Bok-joo have a really fun relationship dynamic which starts off almost enemy-like. Jun-hyung teases her at first and while I didn’t like him calling her “Chubs” he doesn’t mean it maliciously, so I guess I’m forgiving of his brief use of the nickname lol They’re really supportive of one another and this drama is something I recommend to non-sports loving people like myself lol

My Roommate Is A Gumiho

Another school drama, this one also being set in college/university.

This drama is about Lee Dam, a female history major student who has never been in a relationship before winding up in possession of (via accidentally swallowing) the fox bead belonging to Shin Woo-yeo, a 999 year old gumiho hoping to become human. Due to the nature of the bead, it causes some ill-effects to Lee Dam, which lead to her and Shin Woo-yeo entering into a contract cohabitation agreement.

You Who Came From The Stars

So, I’ll be honest, I’m only 1/3 of the way through this show (I’m just starting episode 7 as of writing this) but I’m including this one on the list because just like Pinocchio, this show is set primarily in winter. Very specifically, in December.

You’ll see a fair amount of Christmas decorations, lights, etc. in this drama!

This drama is about an alien who had been on Earth for the past 400 years and in 3 months is due to finally return to his home-world. He winds up with a new neighbor, a famous Hallyu actress.

I’ll be honest, the female lead is a bit… unlikeable at first/currently for me and I’m having a tough time with this drama, but it’s got enough intrigue to keep me interested and I’m hoping she gets some positive character development.

[more-than-a-princess]

A  VALENTINE’S  APPLICATION. 

your  name: The Supreme Overlord of Ice and Snow, Gundham Tanaka

your age: 17

your perfect date:  I've never been on such a thing, but I imagine a walk in the woods or a hike would be ideal. Somewhere secluded, within nature, where we could find a clearing to break for a feast. Or perhaps, we simply stay inside and watch anime, or read grand tomes together.

make out in private or in public?:  Private. If the mere mortals saw a God do this deed, I'm afraid that it would have dire consequences.

do you like to cuddle?:  I have only done such a thing with a bear and a dog, but I believe I would enjoy it with someone that can withstand my aura.

tell me something about you: My magic skill level is at 420, however, I depleted some mp earlier casting a spell to calm a demon, so now it is at a measly 380.

why do you want to be my valentine?: You are my closest friend, someone that will never judge me. You are full of life and light, someone who is popular and so unlike myself. I admire you, Dark Queen. And am hopelessly in love with you.

//Your reply is in my drafts, coming soon~

Valentine's Day Application - Accepting through February 14!

It was crass to ask for Valentine's Day applications while wishing only for one in particular, wasn't it? Sonia had wanted to be open to celebrating the holiday however it was meant to be done in Japan: sending chocolates to friends, gathering up the courage to send a very specially-crafted chocolate to one person in particular, and simply enjoying the red and pink, heart and chocolate-filled atmosphere.

She didn't want to have expectations that were higher than that: nothing like she'd seen in anime, in their very special Valentine's Day episodes. In romantic slice-of-life shows, they were just as pivotal as the Christmas episodes: confessions that made or broke couples. There were no higher stakes, and Sonia tried not to dwell on those too much each afternoon she sat in Gundham's lab, watching him bathe a bear or feed a snake, or allowing her to groom the puppies and kittens that came into his care.

And wondering if, just maybe, he had it in him to care for another human as deeply as he did for his animals. It had been foolish to wish for it, she thought as she brushed over fuzzy bellies and long tails. He had so much to give to those who needed it, she had no right to ask to be a priority, his priority.

Yet...there it was, black and white, in her hands: a request, a wish, that matched her own.

"Imagine," She murmured, her smile soft as she reread the words again and again, committing them to memory as if they would disappear the moment she looked away. "Being Gundham Tanaka and never experiencing a date, or cuddles, or kisses. I would not believe it unless he told me."

Sighing, content and relieved and so many other emotions she'd found herself suppressing for so long, Sonia ran her hand over the page and nodded. She wouldn't cry. Even if there was no one around to witness it, she would not shed tears for something so wonderful: it might give him the wrong impression. That his application saddened her, when it was, in fact, the exact opposite.

"Yes, a thousand times yes," Sonia said. "To my closest friend, the one person who sees me for everything I am and will never judge me for it. I would be happy with anything, as long as it is with you."