#hanukkah fanfic

[aggressivewhenstartled]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, Peter Parker, Michelle Jones, Ned Leeds, May Parker (Spider-Man) Additional Tags: Hanukkah, Hanukkah Fluff, Holidays, holiday fic, Menorah, Fire Hazards, sufganiyot, Excessive amounts of Sufganiyot, Latkes, Jewish Bucky Barnes, Jewish Peter Parker, Irish Chatholic Atheist Steve Rogers, Alien quarantine as plot device, Absolutely no mpreg I promise, or I guess sorry, depending on what you're into Summary:

“Happy Hanukkah,” Ned said. Peter could hear him typing, presumably pulling up classified medical documents from Mr. Stark’s system about the Diplomatic Space Incident the previous night. “You got…eight days of quarantine.”

“Aunt May is going to kill me,” Peter moaned.

“She’ll have time to calm down,” Ned said, trying to sound helpful. “You really got, like, two weeks. But eight days sounded funnier.”

#aggressivewhenstartled #stucky #fic #stucky fic #fanfic #hanukkah fic #hanukkah fanfic #jewish bucky barnes #jewish bucky #jewish spiderman #jewish peter parker

[ao3-shenanigans]

Merry Christmas ya filthy animals!

And a big shout out to all the authors and illustrators who’ve helped deck their fandoms in holiday festivities!

I wish a very happy holidays to everyone who celebrates!

#happy holidays! #ao3 shenanigans #fandom #farart #fanfic #writing #art #holidays #hanukkah #kwanza #Yule #christmas

[frozenoj]

Published Reylo Fics Master List

Everyone knows reylos stay winning, and I have no doubt we'll be one of the most published fandoms of all time. List originally posted on twitter (and actually stolen from an anti lmao) but ported over considering... all that.

(Note: I'm mostly just C&P'ing right now, if you know an author has a tumblr and they aren't tagged please lmk thanks! And ofc lmk if I've missed any or as new things get published.)

Ali Hazelwood Cinematic Universe

Three novels, three novellas, and she's just getting started.

Go Hex Yourself by Jessica Clare

When Reggie Johnson answers a job ad, she’s astonished to find that she’s not applying to work at her favorite card game, Spellcraft: The Magicking. Instead, she’s applying to be an actual familiar for an actual witch.

We'd Know By Then by Kirsten Bohling

Meeting your soulmate triggers "the glimpse"—walking out of Dorothy's house in Kansas and into the colorful world of Oz. The problem is, Brighton has ALWAYS seen in color.

For Love and Bylines by Merrin Taylor

When Ava Thompson is offered an undercover investigative role, she jumps at the chance. But posing as a high school senior proves to be more than Ava signed up for when she meets brooding English teacher, Nico Adams.

Almost Perfect by Charlie Mitchell

Recovering from a brain tumour, Ben has lost confidence in sex & relationships. So he gets in touch with Rey, a specialised sex worker, to help him get over his fears.

Soul Searching by E. A. Blevins

Finding your soulmate is like winning the lottery. They're rare and precious and lead to riding off into the sunset. They're not supposed to be your high school English teacher or carry baggage that can tear you both apart.

The Hurricane Wars by @theaguanzon

A land ravaged by storms and conquerors… A refuge across the sea that comes at a price… A volatile alliance between two bitter enemies… A growing attraction as dangerous as it is irresistible…

Crossroads by Chaney Banett

Ester lives a simple enough life as a waitress at a truck stop diner, plopped in middle-of-nowhere Minnesota. Her days aren’t boring necessarily. It’s just that they’re one all the same.

She doesn't question life very often. She doesn't question anything at all, actually.

…Until the mysterious regular at booth sixteen starts asking.

Hanukkah at the Great Greenwich Ice Creamery by Sharon Ibbotson

Grumpy Cohen orders a coffee when he goes to deliver a present from his mother at the ice creamery. While there he's immediately drawn to River, the Deaf woman who makes the ice cream flavors.

My Roommate is a Vampire by @jeenonamit

Cassie Greenberg's desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. She knows there has to be a catch—only someone with a secret to hide would rent out a room for that price.

Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire. And he has a proposition for her.

The Rockstar’s Omega by Hannah Haze

Layla won a backstage pass to meet her idol, Ash Canon. What will they do when his scent sends her into heat?

(Does anyone know if Hannah's other works also used to be reylo? LMK!)

The Alpha Nextdoor by Dani Doll

It doesn’t matter how hot the alpha next door is. She’s a beta, and that means it’ll never work between them. Right?

The Exception to the Rule by Christina D. Ambrose

Violet Dawson is spirited, independent, and definitely not your typical Omega. She's determined not to be drawn to the gorgeous Theodore Chamberlin, senior editor and company Alpha asshole.

They are thrust together to plan an event, and all seems to go well until Violet's workspace floods, and they have to share an office.

What will become of them when their close proximity causes Violet to go into heat?

The Most Titillating Tale of Miss Hall & Dr Black by Jenny Michelle

Miss Charlotte Hall, bored & neglected by her Grandfather, has a shameful problem. Desperate, she turns to his physician for help. But she hadn't expected the help to be quite so…manly.

Antique Magic by Kait Disney-Leugers

Brie St. James is in need of a part-time job. She finds it at Spirit Antiques, owned by the handsome and aloof Ezra. But there's more to the shop than meets the eye. Under the layers of patina and dust, a gateway to the magical world and the shop is the crossroads of goods for the magical residents.

To Have & to Hold by Avery Crow

When Clara’s work visa is denied, she figures that’s the end of the road for her. Until her boss offers to marry her.

The idea of going back to cold, gloomy London and the dark past that haunts her is only slightly worse than having to somehow convince her friends and coworkers that her new marriage is authentic, and that there is any sort of love between them.

But Andrew Morrow is full of surprises, and Clara soon finds herself in over her head and pining for a man who is, after all, only doing her a favor.

Kirsten S. Blacketer

Kirsten has a ton of books, like omg a ton! Looks like at least 7 different series/collections? I don't know how many of them were reylo originally (could be all, could be just a few) but check them out.

#reylo fanfic to published books pipeline #the love hypothesis #love on the brain #love theoretically #steminist #under one roof #stuck with you #below zero #go hex yourself #we'd know by then #for love any bylines #almost perfect #soul searching #the hurricane wars #crossroads #Hanukkah at the Great Greenwich Ice Creamery #my roommate is a vampire #the rockstar's omega #the alpha next door #the exception to the rule #The Most Titillating Tale of Miss Hall & Dr Black #antique magic #to have and to hold #kirsten s blacketer #ali hazelwood #book rec list #reylo #long post

[phoebe-delia]

For your eight nights of Drarry event, what about “I get drunk on jealousy.”

Drunk on Jealousy

And for the finale of Eight Drarry Nights 2023, I am honored to write this for @xx-thedarklord-xx. Sam, I hope you know by now just how much I love your work. Apologies that this is so late. It's been a rough week (shoutout to my discord friends for the sweet support! You guys are amazing). But I wanted to give this proper time, which I haven't had until now. So, without further ado, here we go! And, of course, Happy (belated, now) Hanukkah.

Featuring: a secret relationship, possessive!Harry, and a Draco who is determined to drive Harry crazy—in the best way—until he snaps.

At this point, I'm starting to think the pint in your hand is just for show. You've hardly touched it. I'd wager you're entirely sober.

You come to pub nights with our colleagues, every other Friday, yet you hardly drink anymore. Would you be surprised that I've noticed? When have I not noticed you, Potter?

I've seen you watching me. You're not being very subtle; if you want to keep this a secret, you're going to have to tear your eyes away from my arse. Not that I want you to, mind you. I always want your eyes on me.

Have you caught on to my game yet? You're an ex-Auror. Use your talents of deduction. I flit and flirt my way through the pub, talking to everyone but you, but it's always your bed I come back to, isn't it? Meanwhile, you stew and scowl and glare at me from the corner of the pub as if you don't know the foregone conclusion.

Silly Potter. There's an easy way to get me to end this; a quick, surefire solution to this self-inflicted torture. You'd just have to march over here with that big, tough Chosen One bravado, scoop me into your arms, and kiss me the way you usually do when no one's around. No one else would dare touch me again, and we'd finally be free from sneaking around. Win-win.

But you're trying to be a gentleman. You're trying to "give me my space" and let me bring our relationship out of the proverbial closet when I'm ready. It's admirable; very touchy-feely-sweet-Gryffindor of you.

But I've had enough. I'm ready for more. I'm sure you'd say that I could simply tell you. But where's the fun in that? It's much more entertaining for me to see you get all worked up, jaw clenching with every smirk I throw your way as I talk and laugh and flirt with other men.

Tonight, though, I think you've finally realized. Or, at least, you're going to lose it. I'm talking to—what did he say his name was? Greg? Thomas? I'm not sure, but it won't matter in a moment. You're gripping that pint like it's personally offended you; I'm almost afraid it's going to shatter in your hand.

From the corner of my eye, I see you all but slam it on the table, the drink sloshing a bit over the rim. While the rest of the pub is too rowdy to notice, your tablemates startle and look at you with alarm. But you're glaring at me. I just deepen my smirk and raise my eyebrow at you.

You rise from your seat, letting your chair fall over behind you, and stride purposefully over to me.

Good.

That's it.

Come and get me.

#i think the Maccabees would agree that the *real* miracle is a reprieve in my writer's block coinciding with some free time #that's the true meaning of hanukkah obvi #eight drarry nights 2023 #drarry #draco malfoy #harry potter #draco and harry #harry and draco #draco x harry #harry x draco #draco/harry #harry/draco #draco malfoy and harry potter #harry potter and draco malfoy #draco malfoy x harry potter #harry potter x draco malfoy #hpdm #drarry squad #drarry fic #drarry fanfic #drarry fanfiction #drarry ficlet #drarry drabble #drarry fandom #hp fic #hp fanfic #hp fanfiction #hp fandom #harry potter fandom #harry potter fic

[ao3sbatfamily]

'broken memory (of you and me and something)' by JustGail

Author: @evilwickedme

Jason sat down on the chair he’d taken before. He was strangely restless and excited, but he still forced himself to say, “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“I already said I’m fine with Christmas,” Bruce said.

“No, Hanukkah,” Jason said. He wouldn’t have been able to explain his stubbornness on the issue even to himself, let alone to Bruce. But he knew this is what he wanted this year. “I want… You don’t have to. But it looks nice.”

Bruce takes a moment to collect himself before replying, “Okay. I’ll have Alfred dig out the hanukkiah, it should still be in the Manor somewhere. We’ll do just the first night.”

“But it’s eight nights!” Jason protested.

“We’ll do one night, and see where we go from there, okay?” Bruce got out of his chair abruptly and walked to the window, facing away from Jason. “I’ll see you at dinner, Jason.”

#ao3 #fanfic #fic rec #dcu #batfam #batfamily #batman #jason todd #bruce wayne #judaism #hanukkah #i found this a bit late #batman is jewish

[inejschumacher]

Carol of the Dreidels

My F1 Secret Santa Fic for @chaoticnandovibes on AO3!!

This was so much fun to write!! I love writing about the holidays and exploring beyond the generic Christmas traditions. And exploring beyond to a part of Lance that is not as loved or respected in general. Also, I love New York esp during the holiday season (and snow)!! <3

Synopsis: Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso take a walk through Central Park during the holiday season, building upon their relationship through cute little activities. Afterwards, Lance takes Fernando to a Jewish choir to show him more of his religion, inciting a deep appreciation for Lance and his religion.

Thank you @f1-fic-secret-santa and @wanderingblindly @eyes-likepilotlights for giving me this delightful opportunity!! I really hope you guys host this again next year xoxo

To my new mutuals, hello, hi! I love y’all and hope you enjoy this fic, esp my not-so-Secret Santa💋

Please show some love, comments and kudos are always appreciated <3

Events may or may not have been inspired by the best Home Alone movie

#f1 secret santa #strollonso #formula 1 #formula 1 fanfic #lance stroll #fernando alonso #aston martin #christmas #hanukkah

[youneedsomeprompts]

~ HANUKKAH ~ PROMPTS

requested by: anonymous

Feel free to use and reblog!

looking out for menorahs in the windows when walking the streets

singing together after lighting the menorah

playing dreidel

being overly excited when winning the dreidel

exchanging Hannukah gelt

"Mhm, you smell like latkes!"

having to peel a ton of potatoes to make fried food together

eating sufganiyot

unwrapping gifts together

hiding the matzoh

blessing the candles and fire

prayer of gratitude for the Hannukah miracle

prayer of gratitude for all joy in life

having family over

attending grand menorah lightings

playing card games

first time lighting their own menorah

having a real season of miracles

falling blissfully asleep with their belly filled with sufganiyot

relaxing completely when the candles are lit

#hannukah prompts #hanukkah prompts #chanukkah prompts #winter prompts #winter holiday prompts #writing prompts #prompt list #fluff prompts #writing inspiration #writing ideas #writers on tumblr #writeblr #fanfic prompts #prompts #otp prompts #setting prompts #activity prompts #20 prompts

[sillygooseassociation]

Sweater Lovin'

Request: I have thought of a request for you! Matching "Ugly" Christmas sweaters with Ted -@believemetheodore 💕💕💕 Ps happy holidays! 

Description: You and Ted decide that AFC Richmond's holiday ugly sweater party is the perfect time to not only tell the team about your relationship, but tell the world as well.

Warning: mentions of ted's big dick lol

Pairing: Ted Lasso x reader

Word Count: 3.4k words

A/N: i did it! i got another holiday fic out before Christmas was over! Well, technically Christmas is over where I am (it's 1am), but it's not over for all of the world yet, so I'm considering that a win. 4 more holiday fics to go, two for jason and two for ted (one for each containing smut 👀) and then we'll be back to our regularly scheduled program. happy holidays, please enjoy! oh also, all of the sweaters are linked in the fic! i really hope you like all of the sweaters, i worked very hard to find ones i thought were great for each character specifically.

-

A chill runs through your body as you brought your hand down from knocking on Ted’s door, the Richmond puffer wrapped around your body clearly not doing enough to keep you warm. As you attempted to warm your hands by blowing on them while rubbing them together, Ted opened the door, a bright smile on his face, “Hey there, honey!” The mustached man pulled you into a sweet kiss, his hands resting on your biceps before he pulls away, “Let me put on my sweater and I’ll be ready to go!”

The man skirted away in his collared white button-up, heading back to his room as you walk around the living room, taking in the boxes scattered around the room. Even though Ted wasn’t the one moving, you were joining him in his flat, he was quick to offer to donate some of his things, wanting to make sure there was space for your things, “It was my place first darling, but it wasn’t really home until you came along, so I don’t want it to feel like it’s anymore mine than it is yours”. Your entire apartment resembled his living room, though all of your belongings were packed as opposed to only some of his things. As you looked around the room, coming up with some ideas for which decorations and photos would go where, Ted enters the room, dressed in his sweater, “Ready, sweetheart?”

You turn to him with a sweet smile, nodding as you both journey to the door, Ted taking his puffer off the hook and incidentally matching you. After locking up the flat, you and Ted begin the trip to Nelson Road, your fingertips brushing each other every so often as you walk, both of you having to work hard to not lace your fingers together. “You think they’ll be surprised?” Ted chuckles at your question, not at all annoyed despite you asking this question god knows how many times over the past week. “Well, Beard and Keeley know, so we know there will be no shock there. Roy seems to know everything, and even if he was surprised, it’s not like we’d know.” You giggle at that, Roy is a close friend to both of you and even if you can read him better than when you first met him, the man didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve by any means. 

Ted glances at you, a soft smile on his face as you laugh, his pupils practically forming hearts as he looks at you. The two of you crossed the street, switching from the park to a sidewalk bordering the street, Ted subtly switching to your left side, acting as a buffer in between you and the street, before he continues, “Boss signed off on our HR paperwork and Higgins processed it so obviously they know. Now, the boys? I’m not sure. As much as they tease me whenever they catch me lookin’ at you, I don’t know if they actually think I have it in me to win you over.” A boisterous laugh leaves your mouth as you lightly slap Ted’s arm, “You did not do any winning over, you know that.” 

He mirrors your laugh, throwing his arm across your shoulders, feeling safe enough to do so with the sunlight subtly disappearing and a barren block of the street, “I’m not sure about that honey, I did manage to convince you to move in with me after only eight months. And we both know how out of my league you are.” You jokingly roll your eyes at his comment, shoving him off of you, your action met with his beautiful laugh, “We both know that no convincing happened, Teddy. I practically begged you to let me move in as soon as possible when you asked me.” 

You place your left hand on his forearm to stop him, turning him to face you as you glance around, making sure the coast is clear before looking back at him. “And, I am not out of your league in any way, my love. I mean just look at you,” Ted blushes as you run your fingers through the graying stubble along his jaw. “I’m with the most gorgeous man alive. Not to mention he has a huge fucking di…” “Whoa whoa whoa,” Ted’s face quickly turns red, stepping closer to you and covering your mouth with his hand, “Let’s not do that here, yeah?” Your eyes twinkle at him as you run the tip of your tongue along one of the lines in his palm, a choice that Ted groans at, “Darlin’, we are not skipping this party, so you’re gonna need to stop this before we have a problem downstairs.”

A chuckle comes from your lips as you back away, continuing your journey down the sidewalk, Ted quickly falling in step with you. “Putting all that aside until later tonight, we’re both lucky, okay?” A smile rests on Ted’s face as the two of you arrive at Nelson Road, heading to the back door, “Agree to agree, honey.” Though outside the thick-walled building, you swear that you can hear the loud music and cheers of the team from here. Ted opens the door for you, the break in the fortress’s protection confirming that you were in fact hearing the noise of some of your favorite people.

Rather than entering through locker room doors in the hallway, you and Ted enter his office first, dropping off your puffers before joining the party, seeming to be the last to arrive. The room erupts in cheers when they see the both of you, excited with your presence and seemingly not paying attention to your sweaters, “There you are, the best part of the Greyhounds’ management team! Oh, and the gaffer is here too!” The boys howl in laughter at Isaac’s rib at Ted, the team captain has changed out of his traditional secret Santa uniform and instead now wears a black sweater with the words “Big Gift Energy”. 

The two of you laugh at his joke as well, though you know Ted is in agreement with the team’s leader while you are adamant Ted is the best part of the entire beloved team. Sam comes over with two beers, passing one to each of you, a bright smile on his face as he greets you, “Hey, nice sweater there, Sam!” The player thanks his coach, straightening out his sweater that shows an elf and Santa dancing before examining each of your sweaters, most likely preparing to return the compliment. Sam’s smile somehow becomes even brighter, looking up at both of you before tossing you a wink, “I like your sweaters too, nice choice, Coach Lasso.”

You laugh lightly at Sam’s comment as he walks to join his teammates, you imagine spreading the news or sending people in your direction. Ted leans down, his hot breath meeting your ear, sending a chill down your spine, “He’s right you know, I made a great choice.” Before you can respond, Ted is walking around, his voice loud and jolly, apt for the season as he greets the people you both have come to consider family. You hear a gasp that you recognize as Colin’s, turning to see Sam talking to the man dressed in a red sweater with the iconic “Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal” line embroidered across it. 

Though before you can respond to his reaction, you are pulled into Keeley’s arms, “Babes, this is great! I’m so glad we found these sweaters, this was the best way for you to tell them!” You chuckle at your best friend, she already knew about your relationship with Ted and yet it seems like she may be the most excited about the news. Pulling away from each other, you take in her outfit, though you helped her find it online, the model-turned-PR manager dressed in knee-high white boots and a short sweater dress with sequin lights across it. Even though Keeley knew about your relationship, you imagine she is this excited since she can now talk about it with Roy, who you now realize is standing with her.

Looking up to greet Roy, possibly the loudest laugh you’ve ever had comes from you, you’re not even quick enough to soften it by covering your mouth. Behind Keeley, Roy stands with a small, proud smirk on his face, dressed in his normal black jeans and a black sweater, though his sweater is covered in pictures of faces, well, one face, specifically, the face of Jamie Tartt. You struggle to hold yourself up as laughter combs through your body, barely noticing when a familiar hand is placed on your lower back, “What’s up with you, darl…” Before Ted can finish his question, he notices Roy’s attire, stifling his own laughter as he raises his eyebrow at the man, “Uh, whatcha got on there, coach?” Roy looks down as though he has no idea why Ted would be asking such a question, looking back up at the now public couple, “The invite said ugly.” 

Another roar of laughter racks through your body, Ted practically having to hold you up as he moves his hand to your hip. Your boyfriend, though incredibly entertained by Roy’s take on the party instructions, attempts to lightheartedly reprimand him, “Now Roy, does that seem like the best way to improve your relationship with Jamie?” Before Roy has a chance to give Ted an answer sure to be riddled with expletives, Jamie joins the conversation as he slings his arm around Roy’s shoulder, “Don’t worry coach, he’s just doin’ this cause ‘e’s jealous of mah sexy face.” You snort at Jamie’s response as well as his sweater, a winking Santa face placed in between the phrase, “Ask your mom if I’m real”, Roy growls at the younger man, “You have five seconds to remove your arm from me, Tartt.” 

Keeley leads the two bickering men away, smiling at you and mouthing “congratulations” to Ted, to which he mouths “thank you” back, excited beyond words that he was standing here not only with you, but with you. You wipe away your tears, your laughter dying down as Ted moves to stand in front of you, “I swear, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” Ted chuckles, more at you than what Roy is wearing, “Yeah, I can see that, sweetheart.” You look around the room, happy to see everyone having a good time before turning back to Ted, the man offering you a cider as he moves to take your beer. He was fucking perfect. You hadn’t even asked him, you hadn’t even had the chance to make a comment about being handed a drink you didn’t like, yet Ted made sure to grab you your favorite drink to replace the beer. 

You smile at the gesture, taking the cider from Ted and giving him your beer, both of you opening the drinks and taking a sip. You just stare at him, in awe of what you have, before his hand comes towards your face, wiping off a drop of cider that gathered on the corner of your mouth. He brings his hand to his mouth, sucking the drop off his digit as you just watch him, “I love you, Teddy.” He smiles brightly at you, “I love you too, hon.” Before you have the chance to make a comment on wanting him to do something else with his thumb later, Rebecca and Higgins join you, Ted moving to stand next to you so that the two can stand across from you. “Well, your shoulders seem much lighter now that this is out in the open,” Rebecca smiles sweetly while Higgins nods in agreement with her comment. 

You open her mouth to thank her but stop yourself, distracted by Leslie’s sweater, an option that you and Ted both quirk your eyebrows at. Of course, the two of you recognized the characters, Henry loved playing the game with Ted over FaceTime, then adding you to the mix after meeting virtually. Ted chuckles at Higgins' pink sweater, as he smoothly slips his free hand into the back pocket of your jeans, certainly excited to be able to touch you in public after eight months in secret, “Hey, Leslie, buddy, why are you wearing an Among Us sweater?” A light seems to go off in Higgins’ head, pointing to Ted as his face lights up, “Among Us! That’s what it is! Rebecca asked me and I just couldn’t remember.” He seems pleased with himself before seeing your still confused faces, “Oh, yes, well I told my boys about the party over breakfast a couple of weeks ago and said I couldn’t find a sweater to wear. They said they had it covered and then gave this to me this morning, I have no idea what sus…mas means though.” 

Higgins shakes away his confusion as he is called away by one of the players, leaving you, Ted, and Rebecca to laugh at your lovable, but sometimes clueless, friend. “Boss, wow, I…love your sweater,” you snort back a laugh at Ted’s compliment as Rebecca dramatically rolls her eyes, “Oh please, Lasso, please save your American niceties tonight. This was out of my choosing, it is all the fault of Keeley and your girlfriend, her girl-next-door aura is truly just an act.” You jokingly scoff at your friend, “Rebecca, just admit it, you bet that you could beat me at trivia at our girl’s night and you lost, simple as that. It’s not my fault that no one can beat me.” 

Ted points at you as he nods, a knowing look on his face, “Yeah, that one I can attest to. No one gets one over on Y/N in pub trivia, Beard and I learned that the hard way.” In the corner of the room, you see Beard relaxing in his chair that he pulled out of the office, his feet propped up on a bench as he reads Little Women, a Christmas classic. Without looking up from his book, Beard shouts in agreement with his best friend, “Beat our asses.” You turn back to Rebecca with an innocent smile and a shrug as she groans, looking down at her red sweater with a wine glass in the middle, encircled by the words “All I want for Christmas is you”, though the word ‘you’ is crossed out and replaced with the word ‘wine’. 

Rebecca bitterly mutters under her breath before you all laugh at the situation, your shared friend complimenting your’s and Ted’s sweaters before, ironically, going to refill her glass of white wine. Alone again, you turn your head to look at Ted, incredibly aware of the placement of his hand as he takes a drink of his beer, “You having fun with your hand back there, Coach Lasso?” A small smirk appears on Ted’s face, side-eyeing you before taking a quick swig of his beer, “Just enjoying the perks, my love.” You chuckle at him before looking back at Beard, surprised by his sweater choice, the words “Die Hard is my favorite Christmas movie” printed across his chest. You look at Ted, who is already looking at you, which brings a light blush to your cheeks, “Is Die Hard really Beard’s favorite Christmas movie?” Ted shakes his head, smiling at your question, “No, his favorite is The Holiday, he loves a classic Nancy Meyers. He just wears that sweater to start a debate.”

You chuckle, not at all surprised that Beard would do that, taking a sip of your cider before turning to see Keeley approaching you with a bright smile, “There’s England’s new favorite power couple!” Both of you laugh at her greeting, Ted taking his hand out of your pocket only to move it to your hip, pulling you into his side. You wrap your arm around his waist, cuddling into his side, “Hey Keels, what’s up?” The look in her eyes tells you she’s up to something, though you have no idea what it could be, “The fans love keeping up with the team, you both know this. So I’m posting photos on the team’s Instagram stories of the party and all the sweaters.” You nod along, suspecting that you know where she’s going with this, but you still want her to ask, “Okay, and…?” Keeley rolls her eyes, after two years of friendship, she knows that you’re making her ask just to be annoying, “Would you be okay with me posting you two in your sweaters?”

Even though you and Ted discussed things like this when deciding to tell the team about your relationship, you looked to him for confirmation. The two of you decided to be completely in the open when you told the players, you would be free to walk to work holding hands instead of walking with Beard in between the two of you as a buffer. This didn’t mean you would be doing any interviews any time soon about the romance between Richmond’s gaffer and physical therapist, but you wouldn’t hide your relationship either. Ted gave you a nod with a small smile, a smile you returned before turning back to Keeley, “Of course, Keeley. Just make sure to tag me so I can put it on my story.” Your friend squealed in excitement as Ted squeezes your hip lightly, knowing just how many times you tearfully complained to him that you couldn’t just post about him on social media like “any normal person”, as you would say. 

Keeley pulls out her phone as Ted takes your cider can from you, placing them on the bench behind you. Running your fingers through your hair, you turn to Ted as you run your tongue over the front of your teeth just in case of runaway lipstick, “Do I look okay?” Ted smiles softly at you, leaning in to kiss between your eyebrows, “Perfect, as always, baby.” You send him a smile before the two of you turn to Keeley who is already snapping pictures, though she defends herself before you can complain, “Don’t worry, those are just for me! Not social media!”

You jokingly roll your eyes before Ted moves to stand behind you, resting his jaw on the side of your head, making sure to stand far enough to the side that his sweater is still visible. Leaning back in his embrace, you smile brightly at the camera as you place your hands over his. The phone flashes, Keeley sending you both a thanks before running off. Both of you chuckle at her and you then turn in Ted’s arms, wrapping your arms around his neck and playing with the hair on the nape of his neck while he tightens his arms around your waist.

“Have I told you that I love you lately?” You look to the sky and hum as you jokingly think, Ted chuckling lowly at your face, “I don’t know, I think you need to, just to be safe, you know?” Ted nods, leaning close enough for you to share the same air, the end of his mustache hairs tickling your upper lip, “I love you, Y/N.” You smile brightly, scratching at the base of his head with your fingernails, “And I love you, Ted.” 

The two of you meet in a kiss, his scruff (that you begged him to make part of his style at least every so often) brushing against your palm as you move to hold his face in between your hands. The various voices of the room become loud cheers of excitement and a couple ‘get a room’s, the both of you pulling away as Ted releases you to swat away at the boys. A vibration from your phone leads to you pulling it out of your pocket, opening up the Instagram notification, and smiling at what you see. You hold your thumb on the screen to pause the story, enjoying your’s and Ted’s first picture as an official-to-the-world couple. The green of his sweater and the red of yours balance well, emphasizing the holiday season and the reason for your party. 

You select the button to repost on your story, Ted’s arms snaking around your waist as he rests his chin on your shoulder. He watches over your shoulder as you add text to the photo, using the red from your sweater to write “Happy Holidays” and the green from his sweater to finish with “from mine to yours”. You rest your head against his as you smile at the photo, Ted’s chest dressed with two honeypots and the words “Oh Honey” in between while your sweater shows two reindeer with the phrase “Oh Deer!” Ted kisses the side of your head as he squeezes his arms just slightly around your waist, “Merry Christmas, honey.” You press post, sharing your love with the world, “Merry Christmas, dear.”

#happy last night of hanukkah #jolly kwanza #merry christmas #ted lasso #ted lasso fanfiction #ted lasso fanfic #ted lasso fic #ted lasso x reader #ted lasso tv #isaac mcadoo #sam obisanya #colin hughes #keeley jones #roy kent #jamie tartt #rebecca welton #leslie higgins #coach beard #christmas fic #jason sudeikis

[randomfoggytiger]

Eight Nights of Mulder: Day 6, Dreidel

Perhaps a Part II to "Something Approaching a Normal Life".

*****

“Yes, Mom, yes, I will-- what? You… what? Yes, yes I-- yes, Mom, I got it. Yes, I’ll tell him. Mom, Mulder’s here I have to go--” 

Mulder wandered in, sun-tanned and healthy and wonderfully free of an earful of Maggie Scully itinerary. “How’s your mom doing?”

“Planning a surprise for you.” 

His eyebrows flew up-- for me? she interpreted-- and he shook his head, incredulous and disbelieving. 

“For me?” Bingo. 

“She said she wants to celebrate us getting the files back.”

“But that was months ago.”

“I know-- and apparently, she’s been planning this for months. Though what she’s planned is beyond me.” Scully sighed, decided against pinching her nose, crossed her arms instead. “The party’s at five next week.” 

She looked up and had to bite down a grin: Mulder was flummoxed-- there was no other word for it. His mouth flapped once, twice; his eyes widened; and his eyebrows still migrated north. Finally, he lifted a hesitant hand to scrunch then smooth down the back of his hair. 

“I… tell her thanks. From me.” 

*****

Scully, for all her impeccable punctuality, arrived late: snow and traffic she excused to herself, ignoring her nervous breaths and shaky hands. Mulder’s car was already pulled up on the curb-- and Bill’s, she acknowledged with (what she was horrified to realize was) a shudder. Now thoroughly riled up at her cowardice, she slammed the door and crunched across the white lawn with as much dignity as her expensive boots would allow. 

Of all people, her partner answered the door. 

“Happy Hanukkah!” he crowed, grin positively Grinchy while watching Scully’s world grind to a halt. 

“Oh, there you are, honey-- welcome home!” Maggie swept under Mulder’s arm with a benevolent hug, an upbeat, infectious party sprite undeterred by her daughter's ramrod posture. “Happy Hanukkah!” 

“Mom, I didn’t know you celebrated.…” Scully began, eyes darting between both of them as they shooed her through the hall to the coat rack. 

“Don’t be silly, Dana, you know we’re Catholic.” 

Mulder clucked his tongue rebukingly. 

“Then what’s this about?” Whirling around, hat suddenly gone and coat pulled half off, Scully clutched at Maggie’s arm-- or Mulder’s-- and held on, demanding answers. 

“We’re celebrating Hanukkah, Scully. You almost didn’t make it in time for the light show.” 

And Mulder-- this incomprehensible, insensible version of him, anyway-- gave her a good-hearted nudge towards the living room. 

“I… you’re Jewish?” Though Scully tried not to let it, the fact that Mulder had told her mother about this part of himself before her… stung. “If I had known--”

“Oh, I’m not. Or I might be. Hard to say.” Mulder vague-speak: an outright challenge.  And he had the cheek to look endearingly smug about it.  

She, as always, rose to the bait. 

“Mulder.” 

To her surprise, it was Maggie who coughed up an answer: “Dana, leave the poor man alone. I had a dream about him a few months back.” 

Another grinding halt: immediately pivoting, she locked eyes with her mother, aghast. “Mo--” 

“I know you don’t believe in them, but it was real and it happened. Since then, I’ve been planning out this event for the both of you-- and I won’t hear any arguments.” And she scuttled off to the beeping oven before Scully could get a word in edgewise.  

Mulder was having much too fun snacking on fried foods and peeking between her and the decorative menorah resting on a nearby side table. It would almost be amusing if it weren’t so tragic. 

“Mulder, I’m sorry. Mom meant well--”

“Scully, it’s okay-- I’m having a great time. Your mom’s been teaching me all the customs and proper words; and I, I even met a few of your relatives who knew more about Hanukkah than I did.” He chuckled, really pleased. 

Wonder of wonders. 

“Mulder, are you really Jewish?”

She watched him tilt his head mid-chew, watched his jaw grind back and forth between ideas. “I don’t really know, Scully. I think my mother was. Culturally, if not religiously. I have a few memories of her mother, fewer of her father; but… but, yeah, they served these potato pancakes--” he waved one of his snacks for emphasis “--when we dropped in for morning cartoons. Sam and I were always more interested in reruns than talking with ‘the old people’.” 

In the stretch of silence that followed, lengthened, she watched regret bloom behind his eyes. “And maybe that was wrong of us. If I’d known…” we’d lose touch filled the gap, unspoken, “then I think I would have wanted to know more about them. We stopped going right… before. I guess we got so used to being Mulders we forgot how to be Kuipers.”  

Scully nodded, grabbed a potato. Decided to join Mulder in whatever this was for him.  

*****

It wouldn’t pass for the laxest definition of Hanukkah-- all eight nights crammed into one, Maggie and Mulder repeating phrases and rituals back to each other, a nameless relative handing out dreidels and no one caring in the least they were for children's games-- but the celebration was, in its own way, a success. Though the crowd was small (not a lot of stricter family members wanted to attend) and the food a little hit or miss, everyone was determined to have a good time; and that determination carried the night.  

Maggie sent her guests home with leftovers and a little party bag of chocolate coins--  “Gelt!” she repeated, over and over, while Mulder licked tasty smears from his eager fingers-- but whisked the cleaned menorah and dreidels away to her holiday storage, before anyone had even left (cleanliness and promptness still wound tight into her military wife gears.) 

The tromp back through the snow was peaceful. Scully took advantage of the moment to slow their walk, gaze fixed on the white winter moon. They paused in front of her car, his enthusiasm and her absorption meeting somewhere in the middle.   

“Well, Mulder? Do you feel celebrated?”   

He nodded, tossed another gelt into his cavernous mouth, smacked twice, loudly, then cleared his throat. “I’ve been to two of your mom’s parties now, Scully, and I think they get better and better.” 

“That’s only because Bill wasn’t there,” she teased, watching him shift his left boot in the snowdrift. He’d made a little angel, unawares.  

“Yes, he was.”

What? “What? No, he couldn’t have been.” 

“Scully, his car’s just over there.” 

In a flash, she remembered-- yes, Bill’s car was there, had been there before she’d even arrived. “But… but I didn’t even notice him.” 

Mulder snorted. “That’s because your mother kept him hopped up on fried food. He was happy as a clam and didn’t want to come over and bother me.”

“Mulder, of course he wanted to bother you. He probably didn’t think it would look good to bully the Jewish boy on his special day.” 

Her partner shrugged; and the silence pushed her more upright to study him closely. 

“Sometimes I… I can’t help but wonder if I’m misremembering things, Scully. Mom never spoke Yiddish, or practiced cultural holidays, or mentioned Temple; but it didn’t… she doesn’t seem to be avoiding her roots out of shame. And maybe she doesn’t tie herself to being Jewish. Or maybe… what if I made it up in my head, only recalled bits and pieces of my childhood rationalizations and blew them up into a separate identity out of another sense of having been wronged? I’m a Mulder, but….”

But in light of his mother’s denial and rebuke and slap, being a Mulder was shaky ground at present; and escape with a new or reclaimed sense of identity would seem a beautiful salvation to a man scrabbling for any purchase from sheer desperation. 

Scully never weighed in on his family matters-- he hadn’t wanted her too-- but the pieces only fit one way, logically. Rationally nothing else made sense. But as easily as she dismissed the more insidious insinuations of old Spender’s relationship with the Mulders, she also sympathized with her partner’s continual doubts on the subject. Confused by yet another topic Tena complicated by her silence, Mulder was left to drift, clinging to her support and her unflinching, scientific reasoning for reassurance. 

And my family’s open arms and toddled-out traditions. 

“Mulder, at some point a part of us will be lost to time. No one can trace their lineage without it cracking apart under the faults and frailties of common humanity; but more importantly, the common element in all of us is what binds us beyond who we are and what we have chosen to define ourselves by. In one generation, identity can change completely, be it biological or environmental factors. Human wars upend lives and redefine boundaries; and, when a few more wrongs are made right, those lines dividing people collapse, leaving whoever is left to face each other with more in common than not.” 

He was nodding along, mulling over her words. Time to narrow the scope by throwing in a personal illustration.

“Although my family prides itself on its Irish roots, only the very old ones can speak Gaelic; and I’ve learned more about Irish myths and traditions from working with you than I have from an Aunt Olive or a second cousin Seymour. I and my brothers and Melissa were raised Catholic, but only Bill and I chose to remain in the faith. Charlie’s children will turn into different men than Bill’s son, and all three will continue that cycle as they grow up and move out and start families of their own.  

“In short, Mulder,” she said, winding back the spool of her thoughts with a self-deprecating grin, “you’re you. And if that means you enjoy celebrating Hanukkah in the Scully family style, then….” 

She slowed and stopped, puzzled, as he nudged a chocolate from his coin stash at her. “What?” 

“A gelt for your thoughts. I figured you more than earned it.” The expression in his eyes-- starstruck humility and gentle persistence-- undercut Mulder’s flippancy; and brooked no argument. I owe you everything and you owe me nothing, they reminded. It’s the least I can do, they insisted.  

If eating a piece of candy was what Mulder needed from her, then Scully was determined to do it and do it right. She ripped the foil off, popped it in her mouth, and chewed and swished vigorously until every last bite was gone. I do it all for you, Mulder, she thought, this proof and my words and even who I have become. 

Scully watched his eyes twinkle, thankful, before he turned, parting ways after a promise to compare leftovers on Monday.  

*****

She was back in the car, back on the road, almost to her apartment, this time clutching the gelt wrapper like a talisman, swishing her thumb back and forth across the crinkles during the long red lights.  

Scully made a mental note to thank her mother. Whatever tonight was, Mulder had needed it.

*****

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

(Tagging @today-in-fic~)

#txf #fic #mine #Eight Nights of Mulder #Day 6 #Dreidel #S7 #right before #Millennium #Hanukkah #with the Scully fam #Maggie Scully #Scully #Mulder #I guess you could call this a part two to #Something Approaching a Normal Life #xf fanfic #“Don't be silly Dana we're Catholic” and Mulder's rebuking tongue click is my favorite #eightnightsofmulder #eightdaysofmulder #randomfoggytiger's fic

[jomiddlemarch]

candles

“Got these for you,” Joel said, holding out the battered box of candles. Tess hadn’t seen that uncertain look in his eyes before. No one else in Boston ever would.

“What for?” 

“Y’know Jackie, she keeps track,” Joel replied. “Said it was next week, these’re enough candles for the whole thing—”

“You mean Hanukkah? You got me Hanukkah candles?” 

Joel nodded. He’d do shit like this, something soft but in a hard way. 

“The holder whatchamacallit—”

“Menorah,” Tess offered.

“Couldn’t get one. Tommy’s only good carvin’ wood. Seemed dangerous. Figured we could rig something up, for the window.”

#tlou fanfic #joel/tess #joel miller #tess servopoulos #holiday prompts #candles #hanukkah #soft Joel Miller #drabble

[notes-from-sarah]

Kitty's Unexpected Hanukkah Road Trip

Rating: G/K+

Length: 6,700 words

Summary: Kitty is on her way home for the winter holidays when she’s attacked by The Purifiers. When Magneto rescues her she’s not sure she should trust him at first, but as they talk she discovers they share a lot in common. One-shot. Claremont canon compliant.

Link on AO3

Link on FFN

A/N: Takes place at some point after X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills and a few months after The Uncanny X-Men, Issue 150 – I, Magneto where Magneto thinks he’s killed Kitty at the end. Kitty is around 14 years old and her current superhero name in the comics is Sprite.

December 1981

Kitty Pryde swayed methodically from the motion of the train. The ride from New York to Deerfield was a long one, and normally she would enjoy the time to read her comics or listen to tapes on her walkman. She’d even brought spare batteries and headphones, but she wasn’t interested in distracting herself. All she could think about was what home would be like. Her mom and dad had told her they were separating and she was brimming with anxiety over how Hanukkah was going to go. Would they be fighting the entire time? Would they blame her for their divorce? How was the rest of the family going to react? All of these questions swirled in her head and caused her stomach to clench in the most uncomfortable way. She tried to look out the window but there wasn’t much to see in the dark. Fresh snow occasionally hinted at the presence of hills and ravines in the countryside. Trying to calm herself, Kitty closed her eyes and rested her face against the glass of the train window. It was cool against her skin. Kitty focused on the coolness and tried to forget about her anxiety.

Suddenly, the door to the train car blew open with a cloud of smoke and a shower of sparks. People screamed and dove for cover as the door rained through the car in small fragments. Kitty ducked her head, instinctively protecting her face from the debris. Peeking up over her arm to see what sort of threat in particular this was, what she saw chilled her to the bone. Standing in the wreckage were three figures clad in the distinctive metallic armored garb of The Purifiers. Ignoring the screams of the passengers the leader swept the car with a small square device and before Kitty could blink twice the device was pointed at her. Kitty didn’t even hear the shrill beeping coming from the electronic as she jumped to her feet. She was an X-Man, she needed to act.

“Prepare for judgment, demon,” said the man holding the device pointed at her. His two followers silently raised guns, aiming them squarely in her direction.

“You can’t do this!” A passenger clad in a brown camel hair coat stood. She seemed to be over her initial shock. “Put down your guns.”

“If you attempt to stop us, you will join her, demon worshiper.” The leader raised his own weapon, this time pointing to the woman in the camel hair coat.

Kitty glanced at the woman. She could see the fierce protective instinct in the woman’s eye. She wasn’t going to back down. Kitty knew The Purifiers would kill the woman. She had to do something.

So she did.

In the blink of an eye she threw herself backward towards the wall of the train. The Purifiers turned their attention back to her and reacted quickly, but not quick enough. Their fingers only just squeezed the triggers as she phased through the wall of the train, tumbling backward into the dark night.

Skidding, sliding and stumbling down the side of the ravine, Kitty knew she had to get as much space between herself and The Purifiers as possible. Speed was important now, not caution. Throwing herself into a headlong dive she phased through the trees and brush in her path. Head over heels, gravity dragged her to the bottom of the ravine in seconds. With a dull splash, Kitty found herself sitting waist deep in brackish water. Gasping for breath at the shock, Kitty tried to gain her bearings. The fresh snow from yesterday made the area strangely luminous in the dark. It also made her path to the ravine bottom more than obvious. Without waiting for another second to pass, Kitty used her phasing powers to do her walking-on-air trick and ran along the ravine bottom in the opposite direction of the train tracks. Her only hope was to get herself somewhere where she could call the rest of the X-Men. She’d seen what those Purifiers could do to a Mutant who was all alone, and she didn’t want to test if she could beat them in a fight.

The bottom of the ravine twisted and turned every which way. Kitty tried to remember her training, to keep her head calm and do what she knew how. Not leaving tracks was a good start, Logan would be proud of her for thinking of that, but the energy it took to use her powers to run through the air was beginning to drain her. That, and the cold. She was wet and the night air was more than frigid. The jacket she was wearing was no match for real cold. She just had to keep it up a little longer. She knew she could do this, she had to, she had no other choice.

The ravine took a sharp turn ahead of her, and where it turned a bridge spanned from one side to the other. A road! Kitty thought in relief. Roads meant towns, towns meant phones, rescue was within sight. Using every last bit of strength she had, Kitty scrambled up the side of the ravine. The slick snow cover made it necessary for her to use her powers all the way up the side of the steep slope and by the time she crested the hill she was exhausted.

Trembling as shivers wracked her body, Kitty hesitated on the side of the road. Looking up and down it she had no clue where she was, or how far away she might be from any sort of town. She’d been on the train all day but she didn’t have the foggiest idea of approximately where that would put her between New York City and Chicago. Deciding it was better further away from the tracks rather than closer, Kitty turned toward the bridge and began walking.

The road was quiet. Trees grew close to the edge of the rural lane and even though Kitty strained her ears, she couldn’t pick up the sounds of any approaching cars. She also couldn’t see any driveways where a house might be lurking. Just trees and fields. Great, thought Kitty, I’m going to freeze to death out here on the road instead of spending a nice Hanukkah with my parents. If I live through this I’ll try my best not to be mad at them for getting a divorce. Trudging on, Kitty was on the cusp of giving up hope when in the far distance she heard the sound of a car. It was coming up the road from behind her, Kitty could see the headlights flashing through the trees. It seemed to take forever to get close, the car was traveling slowly on the snowpacked road. As the car got closer Kitty stood in the middle of the lane, waving her arms. She didn’t want them to miss her in the dark.

The car came to a stop, it’s lights blinding Kitty. “Hey!” she called out to the car, “I’ve been in an accident and need help.”

The doors of the car opened and three people stepped out. Kitty could hear an electronic beeping, the same beeping from on the train. These weren’t good Samaritans, they were-

“The Purifiers have come to send you back to hell, demon. Kneel, and accept your judgment.” Kitty didn’t need to see to know that the metallic clicking she heard was three guns being trained on her. Fear flooded her brain, she was so tired, she wasn’t sure she was going to survive this. Gulping, she prepared to use what little strength she had to phase one more time. The timing had to be just right or those bullets would hit their mark and she’d be a goner.

“Strange, Purifiers, I was just going to tell you the same thing.” The voice from above was filled with a cold fury and echoed in the still winter air. Kitty and The Purifiers jerked their heads towards the sky. Hovering above them was a helmeted man, a long cloak flowing from his shoulders.

“Magneto!” Kitty breathed. If things weren’t bad enough, now the man who almost killed her a few months ago was joining the fray. Was she ever going to catch a break?

Three guns pointed at the sky, but just as The Purifiers curled their fingers around the triggers, their guns began to disassemble in their hands. Pieces of firearms fell to the road, leaving the anti-Mutant evangelists completely unarmed. “Get in the car!” yelled the one who had been driving, “we can’t fight this one!”

Magneto threw out his hand and The Purifiers seemed to freeze in their tracks. Completely immobilized by the metal in their clothes and armor. Magneto’s lip curled in a sneer. “You take great and righteous pleasure in hunting down a child, but look at you when you have to go against someone who can actually fight back.” Waving his other hand the fallen pieces of the guns stretched into bands and flew around the necks of the attackers. Without so much as a movement from Magneto the bands began to constrict.

Kitty knew he meant to kill The Purifiers. For a long moment she wanted to let him. The anti-Mutants were gasping for breath, their limbs still immobilized by Magneto’s powers. Their eyes rolled in fear as the last of the air was being strangled out of them.

“Stop!” Kitty knew she had to at least try. It’s what Professor X would want. “You can’t kill them.”

Magneto paused, glancing down at her. “These murderers cannot be allowed to live, child. The next time they might succeed in killing you or another defenseless Mutant.”

Kitty knew he wasn’t completely wrong. The Purifiers were ruthless and showed no mercy to anyone. Still, how could she just stand back and watch them die? “There’s got to be a better way. I don’t want anyone to die.”

“Unfortunately, my dear, that’s not the world we live in.” Magneto began descending from the sky, his concentration, however, remained completely intact. “Survival of the fittest sometimes means that blood will be spilled. You cannot ignore a threat just because it’s unpleasant to deal with it.” Alighting on the ground between her and the car, Magneto turned to face her fully.

Kitty had no idea how she was going to convince Magneto to spare the despicable lives of these cultists. Truth be told, she kind of wanted revenge for all they had put her through. The image of Professor X came to mind, all those times he’d told her how important it was to use their powers to make things better, not to exact revenge. Kitty shook her head. “This won’t help.”

“Then what alternative do you propose, my dear?” Magneto’s tone was that of a teacher patiently waiting for you to come to the obvious solution.

“We can tie them up and leave them here. We’ll call the police and tell them what happened. They were attacking me, they’ll probably even admit to it. They can rot in jail where they deserve.” Kitty knew the cult was under scrutiny from the state and the feds. Certainly this would be a slam dunk case and these thugs would be off the streets for good.

Magneto didn’t say anything for a long, long time. He looked at Kitty hard, almost ferociously. It was kind of frightening, but Kitty didn’t look away. She wasn’t scared of him – that much – and she was sure she was right. Only the force of her determination was going to convince him.

“Very well, child. I accept your alternative.” Magneto turned to face The Purifiers. “Kneel, apes, and thank this Mutant child for your lives.”

Kitty was shocked when all three anti-Mutants dropped to their knees mumbling tearful thanks before the bands of metal snaked from their necks to fasten securely around their ankles. Her eyes darted between the pathetic cultists and Magneto. The Mutant stretched his palm toward the pieces of one of the guns that was laying in a heap on the road. The pieces twitched, then jumped into his hand fully reassembled. Twisting his other hand into a fist, Magneto dragged all three cultists to dangle before him in front of the car. The figures hung limply in the car headlights, like puppets from a string. Kitty gulped, not sure where this was going.

“You are being permitted to live, you are not being permitted to hurt another Mutant ever again.” Magneto flicked a finger and the right hand of each anti-Mutant was drawn forward. Tossing the gun into the air, it hung there, supernaturally suspended, the barrel aimed at the outstretched hands. He turned to Kitty. “Get in the car.”

Kitty didn’t want to listen, but she didn’t know what else to do. Magneto seemed to forget about the people he had dangling in the air and went himself to the driver’s side. Kitty wasn’t about to be left here with these murderous creeps, so she dove for the passenger’s side door. Once inside, Magneto used his powers and crushed the electronic device that had been beeping non-stop since The Purifiers had gotten out of their car. Putting the car into gear, Magneto pressed the accelerator and smoothly navigated around the people and the gun dangling over the road.

Kitty was almost afraid to ask, but she couldn’t stop herself. “What are you going to do to those freaks? What’s the gun for?”

“To remind them what it means to go against Mutants whenever they remember why they can no longer pull a trigger,” Magneto pronounced, grimly.

Kitty turned in her seat to see what was going to happen next, but the winding country lane quickly obscured the site of the attack. Only faintly a few moments later did she hear the distant sound of a gunshot. As merciless as The Purifiers were, Magneto was far more ruthless.

After a few more minutes of silence Kitty reached over to turn up the heat in the vehicle. She saw that her movement caught Magneto’s eye. A weird feeling rippled through her. The last time she’d been this close to him he’d zapped her with a bolt of energy that had almost done her in. Did he even recognize her? She wasn’t wearing the outlandish costume she’d had last time. He didn’t seem to know who she was, he was helping her just because she was a Mutant. She wondered if he would have done the same had he known she was an X-Man.

“Where are you taking me?” Kitty pushed the heat lever to max, then did the same for the fan. “Where are we?”

“I’m taking you somewhere you’ll be safe, child.” Magneto seemed to notice that she was cold since all the air vents simultaneously shifted to blow air on her. “I have no idea where we are.”

Kitty looked up at him, eyes wide. “You mean we’re lost?”

“I have complete mastery over magnetism and as such can control the magnetic fields of the entire Earth. I cannot truly be ‘lost’ anywhere magnetism exists. However,” Magneto shrugged, “I’m not entirely sure where we are or where the closest town might be. I don’t usually travel on the ground.”

Kitty blinked. “So, where exactly are we going then, if you don’t know where we are?”

“That entirely depends on you, child. Where were you heading to before those animals accosted you?” Magneto’s blue eyes glanced from the road to her face. Every word he said sounded so confident and assured. It was no wonder he was the X-Men’s greatest foe.

“I was on the train-” Kitty started.

“The train?” Magneto cut in.

“Yeah.” She nodded.

“How did you come to be on the road?” Magneto looked at her again. Kitty was a little worried he wasn’t paying enough attention to his driving.

“I jumped off when those freaks came after me. I didn’t want any of the people on board to get hurt.” Kitty put her hands up to the vents, the car was starting to spill out properly warm air now.

“You didn’t consider that you might be hurt?” Magneto sounded curious.

“Well if I didn’t then somebody woulda got hurt. I don’t think I could live with myself if someone got hurt on account of me.” Kitty looked at her hands for a moment thinking about all the close calls she and her X-Men friends had had. “Besides, I can phase through solid objects, I knew I’d be okay.”

“You are very brave, child.” There was approval in his voice. Kitty would have thought that he wouldn’t have cared.

Still, the compliment warmed her. She sometimes got told things like that from her teammates, but people like her parents or Professor X rarely praised her for bravery, usually they chided her brashness.

“My name is Kitty, by the way.” Kitty realized she hadn’t told him what to call her.

“Short for Katherine, I presume?” Kitty couldn’t quite tell with the helmet obscuring most of his face, but she thought he might have quirked an eyebrow when he asked the question.

“Yeah.” Kitty hoped he wouldn't call her Katherine, she only ever got called that when she was in trouble.

“Well, Miss Katherine, I believe I interrupted you as you were telling me your destination.”

Kitty cringed at the use of her name but tried not to let it show. “Right, anyway, I was on the train to Chicago so I can spend Hanukkah with my folks before those creeps made me take a detour.”

“You’re Jewish?” Magneto slowed the car to look at her.

Kitty tensed. She wasn’t used to dealing with dangerous antisemitism and she really didn’t want to start tonight after all she’d been through. “Yeah, you got a problem with that?” She remembered phasing through Magneto before and causing him harm, she didn’t want to have to do it again.

“No, Katherine, you have nothing to fear.” Magneto reassured, pressing the accelerator once more. “I, too, am Jewish.” There was a slight pause before he added, “Or, I was.”

Something in his voice caught Kitty’s attention. For the first time all evening there was a hint of uncertainty in him. Perhaps even doubt. He was such a commanding presence normally, the uncertainty was a sharp contrast.

“My bubbe says there’s no such thing as a former Jew, it’s a life sentence.” Kitty could feel the cracks forming in her perception of Magneto. She’d never thought of him as anything other than an evil spectre, a villain to be stopped, even some sort of warlord. She’d never considered that he was also a person.

“Is that so?” Magneto gave her an expression that Kitty could only interpret as a pre-smile. His eyes looked at her but it was clear he was far away. “Mine used to say something similar whenever I’d complain about how boring the sabbath was.”

Knowing Magneto had a grandmother was like a hammer that completely destroyed the illusion of Magneto the Master of Magnetism. He wasn’t some faceless monster, he was as human as she was. He had a family, people he loved and cared for. He had feelings. Hell, he probably had a favorite color and flavor of ice cream.

Kitty’s world was spinning out of control.

Turning off the rural lane, Magneto pulled into a gas station. The shop was closed up for the night, but it had a dirty payphone lit by an overhead light out front. Magneto parked the car in front of the payphone. “You should call the authorities and make your report.”

Kitty opened the car door and stood, feeling her pockets. “I don’t got any change.”

“No matter.” Magneto got out of the car and stood by the payphone. Lifting the receiver he tapped the payphone and handed her the handset.

Kitty took it and put the phone to her ear as she grabbed the phone book and flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. She could hear the dial tone so she punched in the number for the police. The call went through with no prompt for payment. “Bet that comes in handy, not having to pay for calls,” she said. After she said it she realized she might have spoken out of turn. She still couldn’t see Magneto’s face properly and she guessed he was more than likely frowning at her. Man, Kitty, she thought, you really can say some dumb stuff you know.

He didn’t respond but the police picked up. Kitty explained that she’d been attacked and where they could find her assailants. She’d seen the sign for the road they were traveling on and knew The Purifiers were only a few miles away. Shivering as she hung up, she was motioned back to the car by Magneto.

Still reeling from her revelations about the other Mutant, the only thing she could think now was that she wanted to know more. As she settled back into the passenger seat and put her hands back up to the heat vents, she looked at Magneto. “What’s your name? I mean, your real one. I promise I won’t tell anyone.” Mutants, villains, superheroes, monsters, they had names like Magneto, Sprite, Spider-Man. Names they had chosen for themselves to separate themselves from the rest of humanity. People, though, had names. First and last names that showed a connection to other people, to a family and a larger culture.

“Telling hardly matters anyway.” Magneto sounded almost tired. “I have no one my anonymity would protect. As far as the world is concerned, who I am – who I used to be – is little more than a ghost.”

“You don’t have a family?” Kitty could hardly comprehend such a thing. Her mom and dad were her entire world, and the X-Men were a part of her family now, too. Her anonymity as Sprite protected so many people she couldn’t imagine losing.

“Not anymore. Not after Auschwitz.” Magneto’s eyes remained carefully on the road.

The word sent a chill up Kitty’s spine. “Were,” Kitty’s voice was almost a whisper, “were you there?”

“Yes.” Magneto’s voice was calm. What little of his face Kitty could see betrayed nothing.

“And you lost everyone?” Kitty didn’t really need to ask to know the answer. For all the survivors she’d met the story was always the same.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry.” Kitty let a silence lapse between them. It felt disrespectful to ask anything more.

Leaving the rural lane, Magneto brought the car onto a larger state route. Kitty wasn’t entirely sure where they were driving to exactly. She guessed maybe a bus station or something.

“My name,” Magneto broke the silence between them at last, “was Magnus.” Taking his hands off the wheel, but still using his powers to drive, Magneto pulled the helmet off his head and set it on the center seat.

Magnus. Such a normal, human sort of name. Something his parents gave him. Something he learned to write at school. Kitty looked at his face properly for the first time. He didn’t seem so scary now.

“My great aunt Rachel, she was at one of those camps.” Kitty didn’t know why she was saying this. “She’s always so mean and angry all the time and Dad says it’s because of that.” Kitty knew she was being overly bold, but she’d always had a big mouth and not enough sense so she pressed on. “Is that why you’re so angry? Is that why you want to hurt everybody?”

Magneto – Magnus – took his eyes off the road to study her for a long moment. “In a way, yes,” he said at last. “But I don’t want to hurt everyone, Katherine, I want to live in a world where no one gets hurt anymore. The world, as it is now, is dead set against such an idea. The only option is to use force.”

“You really think you can do it, make a perfect world where nobody gets hurt?” Kitty and the other X-Men had talked at length about Magneto’s plans after their last encounter. For some reason Professor X kept insisting that Magneto wanted the same thing they did, she never really believed that was true.

“Perhaps not, but someone has to try. If we just sit back and wait for the world to change we will only find ourselves in chains. I’ve seen what happens when you wait for people’s better angels to guide them, it only leads to destruction and death. I have the God-given power to do something this time, so I will do it.” Magnus’ eyes flashed and Kitty could see the passion of his conviction.

“But, aren’t things different now? Don’t we have laws and rights to protect us?” Something about Magnus’ words frightened her, those far away nightmare threats seemed a lot more imminent the way he talked.

“Katherine, I see that you are a smart girl. You know the world is more complicated than good guys and bad guys. When one homo sapien makes a law, it takes only another to unmake it. Whatever they give us they can also take away. We have to take what is ours, with or without their permission.” Magnus held Kitty’s eyes in an almost frightening way, his voice had hardly changed in volume yet it seemed louder and stronger somehow. “And this world, dear Katherine, is ours.”

Kitty gulped, Magnus was throwing her completely off balance. Everything he said scared her, but at the same time didn’t sound that unreasonable either. She wasn’t sure what to think. She wished Professor X was here to help her make sense of it all.

Magnus turned his eyes back to the road. “I can see I am frightening you, child. I did not mean to cause you distress.”

“I’m not scared,” Kitty said, even though it was a lie. “It’s just, well, I’ve never heard someone talk the way you do. Do you really think people, humans, will just turn their backs on us? Even our friends and family?”

“Katherine,” Magnus’ voice assumed a gentler tone, “we must believe this to be the case. To do otherwise would be utter foolishness. I’ve seen it happen before, it can always happen again. Just take a look at The Purifiers. Though they are but few, their ideas are spreading. We cannot afford to be caught unawares.”

“But if they all turn against us, then we don’t have a chance. There’s so many more of them than us.” Panic was starting to bubble up in Kitty’s chest. Professor X had made everything seem so hopeful, like people were generally good and could be trusted. Now the world seemed a lot more dangerous than it had just a few hours ago.

“A chance is precisely what we do have, and I do not intend on wasting it. A fight is coming, Katherine, and whether you like it or not, whether you are ready or not, you will be drawn into it. As will we all.” Magnus turned from the state route onto a larger highway, he seemed not to be looking at the signs at all, just navigating by pure instinct. “Do you know why our people celebrate Hanukkah?”

Kitty was a little taken off guard by the question. “The oil in the lamp at the temple was supposed to burn only one day, but lasted for eight instead.”

“Yes, that is why we light the candles, but why is the holiday celebrated?” Magnus had a way about him that made Kitty think he’d have made a good teacher in another life.

“Um,” Kitty struggled to remember what she’d learned in the religious education classes she’d had to attend before her bat mitzvah, “the Romans, or um, maybe it was the Greeks, they tried to make us stop practicing our religion and took over the temple and when we got it back there was only the one thing of oil.” Kitty cringed internally, she could just see her parents’ disappointment at her lame explanation. She glanced over at Magnus to see if he was similarly disappointed.

Instead of disapproval he was giving her the smallest of smiles. “I never had much of a head for the details of all the stories either. I suppose that’s why we have rabbis. However, the salient points are clear even in your telling. We were attacked by outsiders, oppressed and defiled. That which was most holy was desecrated. Oppressors benefited from our subjugation and had no reason to protect or help us. We had the choice to either fight back, or die.”

Kitty could see where Magnus was going with this analogy. “That was a long time ago.” Even as she said it, the phrase seemed hollow. The future was suddenly very dark.

“Those who don’t learn their history are doomed to repeat it, Katherine. I’ve learned my history, I hope you have too.” Magnus’ tone was fierce and chilled Kitty to her core.

“So, what can we do?” Kitty wasn’t prone to nihilism, but the thought of facing increasing oppression and subjugation for the rest of her life made everything seem so bleak.

“We fight, and we never stop. Not even for a second.” Magnus’ voice was firm, but his expression softened when he looked at Kitty. Apparently her fear was showing on her face. “It seems that I can’t talk to you about this without frightening you. What does Charles say when discussing the state of the world?”

Kitty blinked, thrown for yet another loop. “Charles?”

“You thought I was unaware of your affiliation with Charles Xavier?” Magnus sounded a little confused.

“I, uh,” Kitty didn’t want to admit to anything, but it seemed that the jig was up. “If you knew who I was, why did you help me?”

“I bear no ill will against you, or Charles, or any of the so-called X-Men. I fight for all of Mutant-kind, I do not bear petty grudges over past skirmishes. We must band together if we are to survive. In many ways we are more alike than we are different, child. Someday that will be clear.” Magnus gave her a hesitant look. “I hope you can forgive me for hurting you in our last altercation. It has grieved me these many months thinking that I had harmed you.”

Kitty could hear the regret in his words. She wasn’t sure what she thought anymore. “I’m not sure,” she said truthfully, “Storm said I was as close to death as she’d ever seen. It’s only ‘cause she took care of me that I was able to get better like I did.”

“I am truly sorry. I wish I could make it up to you somehow.” Kitty believed him. Magnus really did feel bad about attacking her all those months ago.

“I suppose saving my life was a good start. I think we might be even now.”

Magnus gave her a small, warm smile. “I can see Charles’ influence on you. You are far more forgiving than I would have been.”

Kitty wasn’t sure quite what to do with that. She was glad that Magnus could see that she was a real X-Man, someone Professor X had taught well. Forgiving wasn’t always easy or in her nature, but she kept trying to remember what Professor X might say. She was trying so hard to be a real hero and have people take her seriously, it seemed like maybe she was getting there.

Traffic around them was thickening up. Kitty caught sight of one of the highway signs and realized Chicago wasn’t too far away anymore. “Hey,” she said “that’s pretty neat, we’re almost home.” As she said that, her original worries from the train came back to her. How was she gonna get through this holiday knowing that her family was all broken apart. Sitting back in her seat she wrapped her arms around herself. She wished Ororo was here to make her feel better.

“Is something wrong, Katherine?” Magnus asked. “Aren’t you happy to be going home?” She guessed her moodiness was obvious.

“It’s not gonna be the same. My parents are getting divorced and it’s just not gonna be the same ever again. It’s like I’m gonna have two separate families instead of one. I don’t know why they can’t just stick together. It can’t be that bad.” Kitty knew Magnus probably didn’t care about her little family problems, but she wanted to tell someone. She was so embarrassed that her parents were splitting up. Why were they being so dumb about this anyway? Couldn’t they just come to their senses and stay together.

“That must be very difficult.” Magnus’ voice was empathetic but shifted into a firm resolve as he said, “But you must be brave in the face of this adversity. You will come through this stronger than steel.”

It wasn’t exactly the sort of pep talk Ororo would have given, but somehow it did make her feel a little better.

“And also,” Magneto added a moment later, his voice softer, “hold on to your family, Katherine. Take not one day with them for granted. Hold them close and don’t be angry at them if you can help it.”

Kitty swallowed. She suddenly wanted to hug her parents tight. Gulping, she asked the question that had been bothering her since her parents told her of the separation. “Do you think they’re gonna blame me for pulling them apart? They used to be so happy together.”

Magnus took the exit for Chicago. All the traffic slowed down as they came into the city proper. “No,” he said. “Your parents must be good people to raise a girl as bright and kind as yourself. Such people would never blame an innocent child for their own incompatibilities.”

His words made Kitty feel a little bit better. She had been worrying about this for what seemed like forever now. She also glowed at the compliments. It wasn’t every day that someone who almost killed you said nice things about you. “It’s gonna be weird, though,” she said at last.

Magnus nodded. “You will have to find a path forward with your parents and yourself. As long as you remember to love and respect each other you will surmount this obstacle and come through this stronger. You are not losing your family, Katherine, it is just growing in a new direction. Growing can be painful, but it is what all living things must do.”

Kitty shook her head to clear it. Those words sounded like they could have come from Professor X himself. Maybe the Prof was right and the difference between the X-Men and Magneto wasn’t all that big after all.

“Where do you live?” Magnus asked, distracting Kitty from her musings.

“Oh, uh,” Kitty looked out the window to try and catch one of the signs they were driving past. “I live in Deerfield, it’s more North of here and not too far from the lake.”

Magnus nodded. “Are there any large metal structures near your house?”

Kitty thought about it. “There’s a TV station not too far away, they have a lot of big antennas there.”

Magnus closed his eyes and seemed to be feeling for something.

“Hey,” said Kitty, “keep your eyes on the road!” She reached out as if to grab the wheel.

“I’m well aware of my surroundings, Katherine. Fear not.” Magnus seemed to be concentrating.

Kitty held her breath, they were going to die. She looked out her window and saw all the cars jostling for space around them. She gulped, clinging to the door handle and wondering if she should put on her seat belt. This close to home and she buys the farm because some guy thinks he can drive with his eyes closed.

Magnus’ eyes snapped open and soon enough he was merging through several lanes of traffic apparently knowing exactly where he was going.

“You’re kinda crazy, you know that?” Kitty didn’t release her grip on the door.

“So I have been told.” Magnus’ voice held a hint of dry humor. “You should not worry, I am in complete control of every particle of metal in my surroundings. Nothing I don’t want can happen.” Kitty believed him, but it still seemed kind of crazy.

Finally, they came into sight of the TV antennas from the station. Kitty knew how to get back to her house from here. “Go left,” she gestured. She stopped and looked at her watch wondering if her parents were at the train station waiting for her. She saw that her watch wasn’t working. It must have gotten fried by the water in that ravine. And it was her new digital watch too. Bummer. She glanced at the dashboard but there was no clock there. “Do you know what time it is?”

Magnus thought for a minute. “Chicago is in the Central Time Zone, is it not?”

“Yeah.” Kitty nodded.

“Then it is about seven o’clock at night.” Magnus thought for a moment longer. “Perhaps closer to a quarter till.”

“How’d you know that?” If he was right then her parents hadn’t left for Union Station yet, her train wasn’t supposed to arrive till closer to nine. Kitty was glad. She was ready to be home and get into some clean clothes and give her mom and dad a hug.

“My powers let me feel the rotation of the Earth, I can approximate time from there.” Magnus shrugged. “Our abilities can let us do so much more than we might realize, all we must do is have a little imagination.”

Again, there he was, sounding like the Professor. Kitty indicated that he should turn right into her neighborhood. “Turn here, my house is at the end of the street.”

Outside her house, Kitty could see a bunch of cars in the driveway and on the street. She saw her grandma’s car and her aunt’s station wagon. That meant the cousins were there too. She bet everyone was having a great time and she could almost taste the doughnuts and latkes.

Magnus pulled the car onto the edge of the street right in front of the house. Shifting the car into park he exited and came around the car to open her door. “As promised, young one, I have delivered you safe to your home.”

Kitty slid out of her seat and shut the door as she exited the car. She was so happy and relieved to be home again her worries seemed to melt away. Mom and Dad and her were going to figure this out and she didn’t know exactly what would happen but she knew it was going to be all right. Her happiness bubbled over and flinging her arms around Magnus’ neck she gave him the type of enthusiastic hugs she usually reserved for her friends. “Thank you so much for helping me.”

Magnus seemed stunned by her effusiveness. Kitty smiled as he relaxed and gave her a brief embrace. He really isn’t so different from the Professor, she thought, it’s too bad he won’t just join us X-Men and fight on our team.

Kitty stepped back, still smiling. “Where are you going to go now?”

Magnus gestured in a general direction away from the city. “I will go where I am needed most to defend Mutant-kind.”

Kitty nodded. She was glad he’d been there tonight to help her. She was pretty sure she’d be a goner if he hadn’t shown up when he did. She glanced at her house. Warm light spilled out the windows filtered by the gauzy curtains in the living room. In the center of the big window stood a lit menorah, the glowing candlelight beckoning her inside. Looking back at Magnus a thought started to grow in her. After everything she’d learned about Magneto tonight, everything they’d talked about, it seemed kind of wrong to just say goodbye out here in the snow. It was Hanukkah, after all, he should have someone to celebrate with.

Reaching out, Kitty took Magnus’ hand. “Come on inside,” she said, “there’s enough latkes for everyone.”

#Kitty Pryde #Magneto #Erik Lehnsherr #Magnus/Magneto #X-Men #Chris Claremont #Comics #Claremont Canon Compliant #Jewish Holidays #Hanukkah #Fanfic #Fanfiction #AO3 #FFN #Jewish Kitty Pryde #Jewish Magneto #7k words #xmen

[clexmas23]

Hey Everyone! Here is the theme/idea list for Clexmas! Remember, you can pick any topic and post at any point in December. I'll still post after Christmas so we have the full month! Can't wait to see what you all got! Merry Clexmas!

#Clexmas22 #Clexmas2022 #Clexmas #Clexa #Clexa fandom #the 100 #clexakru #clexa fanfics #clexa fanfictions #clexa fanfic #clexa fanart #clexa edit #clexa moodboards #clexa manips #clexa family #clexa holiday au #clexa christmas au #clexa hanukkah #clexa winter au #clarke the 100 #lexa the 100 #clarke griffin #lexa woods #commander lexa #clarke x lexa #lexa x clarke #the 100 fandom #merry clexmas

[creative-chaos-apparently]

HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAYS IN ANY WEATHER!!

#any weather jedtavius #happy holidays #merry christmas #happy hanukkah #i am not Jewish but I looked up Hanukkah sweaters and Nicky’s made me laugh so hard #night at the museum #jedtavius #natm #my art #my fanfics #jedediah and octavius

[divinemissem13]

A Very Voyager Holiday

@25daysofvoyager, day 8 submission.

After years of throwing Voyager's holiday parties, Neelix is surprised to learn that Federation winter holiday traditions include much more than just Christmas trees and Santa Claus.

This one got away from me a little bit... but then, it may have gotten away from Neelix too! Chapter 1 is below, but the full story will be on AO3 (4/5 chapters are already posted). Enjoy!

Chapter 1 “Eureka!” Neelix exclaimed as he finally found the box of Christmas ornaments he had been looking for, crammed into a corner in the cargo bay. Although he had only learned about Christmas once he joined the crew of Voyager, it had quickly become his second favorite holiday (after Prixin, of course!), and he was especially excited this year because Naomi Wildman was old enough now to help him decorate. He couldn’t wait to tell his goddaughter all about Santa Claus and his reindeer, or to see her face when she saw the lights on the Christmas tree for the first time.

In previous years, the tree had been on the holodeck and only available for viewing during the tree trimming party, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. Neelix had noticed that many crew members never got the chance to enjoy it because someone always had to keep the ship running. So this year, he had decided to replicate a tree and set it up in the middle of the mess hall where everyone could enjoy it for the entire month. 

Recent events (starless voids, failed slipstream drives, endless encounters with hostile aliens) had resulted in a steep decline in crew morale. But Neelix was certain that a month of holiday festivities would go a long way towards lifting everyones’ spirits. 

Neelix entered the mess hall, grunting under the weight of the box of decorations as he hefted it onto the nearest table. It wasn’t meal time, so the mess hall was only sparsely occupied with crewmen scattered around reviewing PADDs or enjoying a beverage between shifts. As he scanned the room, Neelix was delighted to see Naomi sitting at a table near the massive pine tree, engrossed in a game of Kadis-kot with Seven. Neelix picked up the heavy box once more and carried it over to their table. 

“Well now, how are my two favorite non-Starfleet crew members today?” Neelix said in an exuberant tone that made Naomi giggle and Seven roll her eyes. “How do you like the tree?” he continued, without waiting for an answer. “It’s a big one this year! I hope that we have enough decorations to cover it. If not, we may have to start making some new ornaments!” 

In her typical Seven-of-Nine way, the ex-Borg raised an eyebrow at Neelix and excused herself, claiming to have other things to do much more important than decorating for a party. As he watched her leave, it occurred to Neelix that Seven probably didn’t know much about Christmas either. He made a mental note to include her in as much of the festivities as she would allow. 

He turned back to Naomi who had begun to pull on his sleeve, trying to get his attention. “Neelix, what about the other holidays?”

Neelix looked at the little girl, quite confused. “Well, they come at different times of the year… you know, Prixin was a few months ago. And then of course Valentine’s Day is coming up and then St. Patrick’s Day…”

“I’m not talking about those ,” Naomi insisted. “I asked my mom about the tree and she said that she didn’t celebrate Christmas when she was a little girl. And neither did my dad. They don’t even have Christmas on Ktaria.”

“Well, I… oh. Hmm. Do you mean that Christmas isn’t a Federation-wide holiday?” Neelix suddenly felt very foolish. He had thought Christmas was just a fun celebration where everyone gives gifts and sings songs.  It had never occurred to him that it might have a specific cultural or even religious significance.

“But Ensign Wildman celebrated a different holiday when she was your age?”

Naomi nodded excitedly, “Yes! It’s called Hanukkah and there are games and candles and food and presents too!”

“Well it sounds like you know all about… Ha-nuh-kah?” Neelix said it slowly, trying to sound out the strange word. 

“Only a little bit,” Naomi admitted. “Mom says we lit candles in our quarters last year, but I don’t remember. But she promised to tell me the story this year. And teach me how to play the game and everything. You can come too, if you want.” 

“Naomi,” Neelix smiled warmly, “I think that is an excellent idea. In fact, that gives me an idea… but let me do some research first and if it pans out, I can tell you all about it!”

“Please, Neelix! Tell me now!” Naomi begged. “I’m old enough!”

Neelix chuckled lightly and his eyes danced with excitement. “I have no doubt that you are, my dear. Just give me until dinner time and if what I’m thinking is correct, you and I will plan a big holiday surprise for the whole crew!” 

“Dinner time? You promise ?” Naomi raised an eyebrow skeptically and Neelix briefly wondered if that was a quirk she had picked up from Seven or from Captain Janeway. 

“Cross my heart. Now, I’ve got to get working… I’ll see you later, Naomi!” Neelix called as he bustled out of the mess hall to start looking up Federation holidays. 

Naomi watched her godfather leave and shrugged before turning to pack up her Kadis-kot board. Maybe Seven of Nine would have time to finish their game before dinner.

@elephant-in-the-pride-parade @gijane-7702 @hanukkahbingo

#25 days of voyager and prodigy #hanukkahbingo #hanukkah #christmas #holidays #festivus #latkes #apple sauce #tradition #heirloom recipe #family #star trek voyager #neelix #naomi wildman #candles #fanfic #i wrote this #ao3 link

[be-compromised]

Marvel Hanukkah Fic Recs

A handful of fic recs featuring Clint Barton and/or Natasha Romanoff and hanukkah. Reblogs and comments with more recs very welcome!

The Part That Don't Last by samalander

Teen and Up, no warnings, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanoff

Summary: Of all the tuning shops in all of Ohio, she had to walk into his. And now Clint can't escape the memories of Natasha, and how she broke his heart.

Note: A no powers AU that goes back and forth between Clint and Natasha's developing relationship at high school and them meeting again years later. Natasha and her Black Widow movie family are Jewish in this one, and there's a hanukkah scene.

Yihye Tov by stardustandswimmingpools

Gen, no warnings, Clint Barton/Laura Barton, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanoff

Summary: Clint invites the Maximoffs to the farm for Christmas and ends up celebrating Hanukkah from scratch.

Note: A lovely, banter-filled friends and family holiday fic with Jewish Maximoff twins and Natasha Romanoff.

five hanukkahs in the life of clint barton by hoosierbitch

Gen, no warnings, Clint Barton/Phil Coulson

Summary: Sometimes it takes more than one light to lead you home.

Note: Jewish Clint Barton across the years with a focus on friendship including a delightful Jewish Maria Hill.

Holiday Cheer by Flowerparish

Gen, no warnings apply, Clint Barton/James Barnes

Summary: Steve finally sighs and says, “We’re doing a Secret Santa.”

“No.”

“You agreed,” Steve protests. “You said you were in.”

“I did?”

“I may have nudged you into it when you weren’t really paying attention,” Steve admits.

Note: A cute holiday fic focussed on a secret santa gift enhance with mentions of Hanukkah (giving a gift for hanukkah instead to a canon Jewish character) and New Year.

#Fanfic #Fic recs #Hanukkah #clint barton #natsha romanoff #Clintasha

[steevbuckk]

FAVORITE STUCKY FICS | 15/100

Where the Lovelight Gleams by @trenchcoatsandtimetravel 

[Childhood Friends, 25 703 words, Teen And Up Audiences]

Summary:

Firefighter Steve and Sci-fi writer Bucky get thrown together when Bucky's apartment burns down after Thanksgiving, featuring long lost childhood friends, Jewish Bucky, Alpine, and lots of mutual pining.

more fics

#100stucky #stucky #stevebucky au #steve x bucky #stevebucky #steve rogers x bucky barnes #stucky fic rec #stucky fanfic #stucky fanfiction #stucky fic #steve rogers #james buchanan barnes #bucky barnes #jewish bucky barnes #childhood friends #friends #christmas #christmas fics #winter #hanukkah #fluff #holiday #xmas #alpine the cat #modern bucky barnes #modern au #fic rec #my recs #moodboard #marvel