#take this as your TOA christmas special

[feather-dancer]

Tales of Arcadia Fanfic Recommendations - Part 6

I do admittedly have things left to read in my tabs I’d normally prefer to clear out before posting one of these but when you sail past the 30 mark I think it’s about time to get it out my drafts, yeah? Most importantly means this will be out before Rise of the Titans comes and emotionally destroys us all.

Needless to say soon as this is posted I give it 24 hours before 7 starts, we’ve got some amazing writers in this fandom and there’s a couple I juuust want one more chapter before I feel I can recommend it. Hope you find something you enjoy :)

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

If at all interested in my own writing you can find it here!

General Trollhunters

Romeo, Question Mark - Jim is figuring himself out and has a question for Toby though nervous of how he might react. Honestly the support Aromantic’s need when they’re either questioning or coming out, Toby is a gem.

By The Book - After his dad left changing his world Jim had moments in his life where he needed to wrangle things in a way he could understand them with some moral support along the way that wasn’t there to do it for him, just give a light nudge the right direction. Comes with light Jilaire fluff.

That I Could Fear a Door - Jim was pulled from the Darklands whole but you cannot escape the trauma of your experiences quite so easily. It will take a little time, a lot of patience and perhaps the right ear to listen but with it can come hope.

Lest Back the Awful Door Should Spring - Sequel to the above, Jim’s capture to be sentenced by the tribunal echoes his experiences in the Darklands a little too closely sending all his careful progress hurtling back in one fell swoop. Is it any wonder he chose a false freedom that Unkar offered?

Façade - The confirmation that Mr. Strickler is not the man you thought he was probably was not going to be an easy one, Jim’s thoughts sit ill after that dinner.

Fashion - All changelings take root somewhere in a human life before their changeling one succeeds it and Nomura is no different. She felt love she could not understand and the ache of loss will follow for as she meanders through this world by the Whisper Man’s orders and her own volition of needing to belong somewhere. She will try her hand with the humans and the trolls, paint the road with blood as much as indulging herself with the arts and even risking her heart until everything leads her to Arcadia’s doorstep.

In Deep Trouble - What happened in the Deep during Season 2?

Aftermath - Just after the finale of Season 2 the Market trolls are forced to run leaving their homes behind and follow the Trollhunter they had dismissed so many times into the great unknown before them.

Don’t think - Jim weighs up his options and attempts to settle his thoughts before making the final decision whether or not to go through with using Merlin’s potion.

Nocturne for a Trollhunter - Jim learns a new hobby that gives him another way to relax that doesn’t involve cooking, one that follows him beyond Arcadia.

The Asteroid - A rare 3Below fic for my lists if centered on a certain hedge witch and Wizard. The end of the world is coming but not by Morgana’s hand and Merlin certainly never warned Douxie about it so if this truly is the end then it’s the best time to bring your loved ones close so you won’t be going out alone. Yes it’s Zouxie.

A bright future so it seemed (but that light grew a little less bright) - Claire’s parents (Or more specifically Ophelia) set her on the perfectionist’s path early, even a little slip can feel like the end of the world

Rest, Master Jim - You might be able to escape the Darklands but you cannot escape the consequences of being trapped there for so long as easily.

General Wizards

Not Found - So why did neither Douxie or Archie find the two remaining changelings in Arcadia or bring back the sole Akiridion when Merlin asked?

Place of Power - A lovely bit of shameless Zouxie fluff in that brief period the gang was at Hex Tech before the plot came to get them.

Bitter Water - Only two of the old team remain in Arcadia and those were Jim and Krel, the rest having left to pursue educational pursuits and in one particular case kept away for Nari’s safety. For the Akiridion he is still here with reminders of his heritage and what it took to have this life on earth chasing him all the way. It’s always good to have friends with a listening ear and hot chocolate.

Together, Dearest - The very act of resting is a potential invitation for nightmares and Nari is no different but when once more in the waking world you will find you’re not alone, there are hugs available.

The Night Belongs To Us - Lovingly described Skraelroc fluff during their long hunt for Merlin and the strangeness that can be observed on clearer nights.

Nineteen Plus Nine Hundred, Give Or Take - 900 years is a long time by anyone’s standards but perhaps during that Douxie can figure out how to truly live.

Twelfth Century Wizard, Twenty-First Century Witch - The follow up to the above, when you’ve lived a long and interesting life things can still pop up in odd ways... Even if you haven’t quite mastered the sacred art of texting yet.

ERAS TÚ (It was you). | Tales of Arcadia One-Shot - Would you want to live forever if it meant leaving everyone behind? Jilaire.

the only way for us to go - From his rescue from the streets of Camelot to the eventual guardian of this realm, Douxie has come a very, very long way. Through the frustrations of trying to learn magic, the belittling of others, the faith of Morgana and the power of music his experiences throughout 900 years truly make him what he is.

lay down your head - Even the mightiest can be plagued with the not so humble migraine. Skraelroc fluff.

Stricklake

Merry Christmas, Doctor Lake - Some Christmas gifts are worth going all out for and getting your friends and family to help out to make it extra special.

Grocery Run - After the incident where Merlin dismissed Strickler for being a changeling it is time for an excuse to get out the house for a bit and have a frank discussion about their relationship, the future beyond the incoming battle and lingering insecurities of two worlds colliding.

Alternate Universe

Fashionista, How Do You Look? - An AU that very much takes the term very literally here where everyone is human, Skrael, Bellroc and Nari are fashion designers plus many other ToA characters we know and love are either in the industry in some way themselves or on the fringes because of their jobs/who they know. Sometimes you work with catty bitches and want to kick back and watch the fireworks you know? Contains friends to almost to enemies to friends to maybe we’ll get our shit together this time but the odds aren’t great Skraelroc. There’s also a Zouxie oneshot in this collection that was a gift for meee because of the corner I dug in the AU.

Atlas, Fallen - When a star falls from the sky it is a punishment so when Atlas suddenly finds himself amongst the humans he had observed from above for countless ages in a flesh body like theirs he fears his Mother is punishing him and unable understand what he did wrong. While trying to find his way back home he gets a crash course in what it’s like to be human making friends along the way. Slow burn Jilaire.

she once was a true love of mine - I put this under the AU section even though it wavers between that and not, a mixture of classical Arthurian mythos and the glimpses of the Camelot in Tales of Arcadia where one kingdom collapses from war another strengthens by taking their princess as queen. While Arthur might have turned her head once it is the sibling that seems to be catching Gwen’s eye of late as much as her thoughts. Morgwen but in the department of pining.

Pulled From The Ocean - AU doesn’t quite fit this one but it feels a bit more fitting than general. A little oneshot snapshot of Jim living with deafness and the contrast of one world that falls easily into supporting that whereas the other tries their best but it makes the slip ups sting even more.

you are a stranger here, why have you come? - Fate is a funny old thing, something happens a little bit differently such as a father not leaving alone and everything can change so drastically. Nari’s fondness for children strikes again and this time it involves a 5-year old Jim Lake Jr. ending in the Order’s care and their foray into found family. Somehow Jim is even more of a disaster and as likely surmised from the fact I write this trope myself I am very weak for it.

go into your local forest and you will find a friend and a boy - Toby was unlucky in the friend department and by the time he is ten he still feels miserable and lonely having to endure Steve’s increasing bullying all the while. This is of course until he finds a blue half-troll hiding out the daylight hours munching cans in the local woods...

#trollhunters #3below #Wizards #ToAWizards #Tales of Arcadia

[nyxicnymph]

Guardians of Arcadia: Operation: Secret Santa

Christmas is quickly approaching in Arcadia. While the town may not get such luxuries like snow or ice-skating, the Guardians still want to participate in some form of Christmas tradition all together. Some might not know exactly what is happening, but they're giving it their best shot! (TOA CHRISTMAS SPECIAL WHEN?!)

Rating: ages 13 and up!

Warnings: Canon and character typical levels of teenage violence. Staja. Jlaire. No Zoe, sorry guys. Oh, and swearing.

Part Seven: Aja's very very very very big dilemma. No, wait. He's small.

Aja left her brother in the kitchen, taking her notebooks and pencils and dumping them on her bed. She opened one and flipped through the empty pages, giggling. She picked the pink sparkly notebook up and slapped it on her desk in excitement.

The motion and air displacement caused a thin piece of paper to fly up towards Aja. She snatched it out of the air, and deciphered the human writing on it.

"Oh, no. My Secret Santa! I forgot!" She yelled. She covered her mouth, glancing at the door. She lowered her voice. "I have to get the Eli a gift!"

The paper looked back at her un-consolingly. She knew Eli very well, thanks to all the time they spent together on Akiridion-5, and she could think of a billion things he'd enjoy.

"I might be in trouble."

--

Aja was hastily ruffling through everything in her room, trying to see if she could find the perfect gift without leaving Varvatos Vex's intense care. She'd already left once, she wasn't sure if old geezer Varvatos would let her out again.

"He'd love this hoverboard! I've seen him look at it, and all the other ones back on Akiridion-5. He gets so excited! Maybe I should get him one!" She paused. "Oh, but there are so many things he would enjoy! He was so enamored with everything on Akiridion-5! This is too hard!"

She flopped onto her bed in frustration. "The best place to go searching would be Akiridion-5 itself, but I'm supposed to be here for the month!"

Aja lied on her bed for a few minutes with her eyes closed, debating a plan. Her eyes flew open and she rolled off her bed, dashing through the house, deeper into the mothership. As she ran, she called her little brother's name.

"Krel! Krel! Krel, I need your help!" She announced as she found herself in the control room. "I need you to open a portal to a market on Akiridion-5. I will be wearing my hood, going as an Incognito."

"Why do you need to go back to Akiridion-5? You're supposed to be here for the month." Krel tweaked a screw. "But sure, whatever. Here's the remote."

He tossed it, and Aja caught it as she ran past. "Thanks, little brother! I have to go shopping!"

She opened the wormhole, threw on her cloak, made sure she had enough money, and jumped through. She landed on the ground in an alley close to a market she knew well. She grinned and chuckled.

"This will be perfect."

--

"AGH! THIS IS NOT PERFECT!" Aja yelled, kicking a canister. "There are too many things that the Eli would enjoy!"

She kicked the canister again, then sat down, defeated. "What would he appreciate? What he would use?"

She thought about it. "A hoverboard would only trip the Eli up. He needs something useful, especially since after the month is over, we're coming back here to deal with the remainders of Morando's forces. He needs..."

A grin split her face. "A serrator!"

Aja quickly sprinted through the market, and made her purchase of a very high quality serrator. Not quite royals quality, but only a step down.

"Thank you!" Aja cheered, running back to her alley. She activated the portal, and jumped through. She tucked the serrator into her cloak as she fell into the control room.

"I have returned! I am victorious! I shall see you at dinner, Krel!" Aja yelled as she ran through the ship.

She giggled in sheer glee as she made it to her room and slammed the serrator onto her desk. She grabbed the nearest box, dumping the contents on the floor. She enthusiastically put the serrator on the box and wrapped it in as many pretty papers as she could find. Then she slapped some stickers on it, a giant bow, and confetti she'd found in Toby's room a few months ago.

"Perfect! The Eli will never know it's from me!" Aja giggled.

----

Eli was spinning on his desk chair, to mimic the feeling he had in his head.

After all, what would he get such a popular person?

#tales of arcadia #nyx's toa obsession #douxie #toa hisirdoux #douxie casperan #wizards toa #toa wizards #jim lake junior #jim lake jr #troll jim #claire nunez #tobias domzalski #aja tarron #eli pepperjack #krel tarron #steve palchuk #3below #blinkous galadrigal #aaarghhh #toa blinky #toa aaarghhh #nyx writes stuff #guardians of arcadia #secret santa shenanigans #the guardians of arcadia secret santa #take this as your TOA christmas special

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 36

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: New Year’s Eve

A/N: Oops, I'm late again. But this is the longest chapter so far (over 6k words) so I hope you can forgive me for that!

This chapter finally brings back some friends we haven't seen in a while and introduces a couple of new ones too. I'm not gonna lie, having read ToA just once about a year ago, my characterization is probably very off so my apologies for that!

Now, hope you guys enjoy this mega chapter! Please let me know what you think! It's suuper important.

Words: 6,2k 

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

…

After the boxing day Leo and Calypso returned back to their flat and the ‘normal’ life. Calypso already started remembering the downsides of working at a flower shop as it was a surprisingly busy time of the year with the wealthy people of that area wanting some flowers for their New Year celebrations. She and her boss Demi were the only two running the shop between the holidays while the second assistant was on a break. The older woman promised Calypso a day off for New Year’s eve, though, claiming that young people like her should be having fun that day instead of working. She graciously accepted the offer even though she didn’t have any plans for that day; after the eventful Christmas she kind of just wanted to stay at the flat with Leo.

But as it happened, Hazel texted her the day before the eve that she was having a small ‘gathering’ with a few friends and since Calypso hadn’t seen her for several weeks due to the work and a break from the art classes, she told Hazel that she would come. When she had asked Leo how he would feel about it, he had offered to go with her. Usually he would have spent the New Year Eve at Jason and Piper’s annual party but it was not happening this year due to their complicated situation. The flatmates had still decided to not tell Hazel or Frank about their own, developed situation, because they hadn’t even told Leo’s parents yet.

“So what is this Hazel like?” Leo asked Calypso as they were getting prepared for the evening out. “She doesn’t mind a stranger coming to her party, right?”

Calypso almost missed his question because of Leo’s current state of shirtlessness. A moment earlier he had wanted to know if she thought he should wear a light red or a white shirt to the party and hadn’t bothered to put either of them on yet. Not that she minded. No, her boyfriend definitely was not a bad sight with his tan, strong body, a quiet voice in her head said. “Oh no, she doesn’t mind,” Calypso finally remembered to answer. “I think she was even happy to hear you are coming with me. Besides, you have met Frank before, so technically you are not a complete stranger.”

“Are those two dating?” Leo asked.

“No, they are not. Not officially, at least. Hazel likes him but due to various reasons they have decided they shouldn’t rush it. Sounds kind of familiar to me.” Calypso looked at him significantly.

“It does? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Leo raised his eyebrows, and Calypso nudged him on the arm playfully.

“Anyway, Hazel is great. She is the kind of person who seems really sweet on the surface but she would probably kick your behind if needed. She’s also kind of mysterious when it comes to her own story but I feel I can trust her. I may have even accidentally slipped her once that my flatmate is kind of neat.” She smiled at him shyly.

“Oh? So you’ve talked about me to her.” Leo grinned in response. “Hope you remembered to mention my good looks and quick wit…”

“Yep, and your modesty,” Calypso shook her head. “Seriously speaking, though, I find her very inspiring. Despite everything she’s been through, she’s thriving to do the things she enjoys, and she’s an incredible artist. Better than I, for sure.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. I like your art.”

Calypso was happy and slightly flustered about Leo’s compliment but she wanted to explain herself. “I’m not selling myself short; I am just telling the truth. She really is that great.”

Leo raised his hand. “Alright, I believe you.”

“Good. Uh, hey, how should I wear my hair for the party?” Calypso asked as she stepped in front of a hallway mirror, taking some hairpins into her hands.

“I… I like it the way it is?” Leo looked at her with slight disbelief, as if he couldn’t believe that she didn’t like her current hairdo.

“Thanks… I don’t know. I could leave it mostly free but maybe I’ll add some waves.” Calypso wasn’t quite sure why she cared so much how she looked because that wasn’t like her, but she figured it might have had something to do with her being nervous about meeting new people at the party. Hazel and Frank were probably the only ones she knew there, after all. Her paying attention to her looks definitely didn’t have anything to do with the fact that she liked it when Leo gave her that special look that he reserved only for her.

“Sunshine, just so you know, you are the kind of person who will always stand out no matter what you wear. Me? Well, you could perform your magic on me but I’d still look like Santa’s elf.”

Calypso couldn’t believe that her boyfriend clearly had no idea of the effect he had had on her only a moment earlier (and still had). “Leo, don’t let this get to your head but I think there's a certain charm in your elf ears.” She took one of his earlobes between her fingers and tugged it gently.

Leo’s eyes brightened at her comment.

“If that’s what you think, then screw what anyone else says.”

“That’s the spirit,” Calypso approved, letting go of his ear and almost leaning close enough to give him a cheek kiss, but then she withdrew quickly. Leo looked quite disappointed. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked teasingly.

“I thought that you were going to kiss me,” Leo replied honestly.

“I’ve heard that there’s a habit that you kiss your partner at midnight on New Year’s. It’s not midnight yet, is it?” Calypso blinked innocently.

“No, but…” Leo couldn’t come up with any arguments to Calypso’s statement so he didn’t finish his sentence.

“Sometimes good things are worth waiting for,” Calypso finished with a smile and withdrew into her room to change her clothes. While doing that, she admitted to herself that this phase where everything was so new was pretty exciting.

…

A little bit later Calypso was dressed up in a dark blue short dress, tying the bracelet she had gotten on Christmas around her wrist when Leo got out of his room. He had switched his usual mechanic’s overalls to a white collarless shirt, suspenders, and pinstripe pants. Calypso had a feeling that he would have also put his tool belt on if that had been socially acceptable. To her surprise, he seemed to have even tried to flatten his curly hair a little, although it hadn’t quite worked out.

“Wow, look at you. The only thing you’re missing right now is a hat,” she noted, ruffling his hair a little. What she actually meant was that she thought he actually looked very nice in his current clothes. It was quite different from what she was used to seeing on him – even at school Leo usually wore a casual t-shirt or a hoodie and worn jeans – but she didn’t mind either look. Leo frowned at her, though.

“Don’t look so concerned,” Calypso continued with amusement. “I just meant that you kind of remind me of some film stars of the past. I just can’t get my finger on who. It’s a compliment, though.”

Leo’s frown disappeared. “Alright, thanks.” Then he took a second look at her and his eyes got that funny gleam he always got when he was about to say something embarrassing. “Woah, Sunshine. I’m suspecting that you are made of copper and tellurium.”

“And why’s that, mister chemistry nerd?” she asked, although she could pretty much guess his answer.

“Because you’re CuTe.”

Calypso shook her head in disbelief, but couldn’t hide her smile. “Really, Leonidas? Out of all the cheesy pick up lines in the world you chose that one?”

“Nothing wrong with chemistry puns, mi sol,” Leo claimed. “But I do think that you, um, clean up nicely.”

“As do you,” Calypso admitted, feeling the warmth gathering to her cheeks. “But we should probably get going now before we melt each other with these compliments. It’s getting pretty late already,” she noted when she checked the clock of her phone before dropping it back into her purse.

“Okay, I’m as ready as I can be,” Leo replied and tugged a strand of Calypso’s hair gently before picking his keys and heading to the door after her.

…

Frank and Hazel lived on a different campus than Leo and Calypso so it took them a while to find it. The party was organized in Frank’s flat because it was bigger than Hazel’s. The latter had explained that Frank had applied for a two-room flat because he had several pets (who would however be spending their New Year at Frank’s granny) and he was lucky enough to be able to afford it due to his work and because he had inherited his mother.

“I’m not sure what I was expecting but not this,” Calypso told Leo when she noticed a cat tree and a big pile of toys for both cats and dogs in one corner of the house. “For some reason I pictured him having a gym or something in one of his rooms.”

“I guess never judge a book by its cover,” they heard a voice behind them say. Calypso felt heat rise on her face as she realized the speaker was Hazel.

“H-hi, Hazel!” Calypso stuttered. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Hazel waved her hand when she noticed Calypso’s expression. “I can see why you would imagine that.”

“Well, I shouldn’t have assumed anything either way,” Calypso muttered. “What about you, though? What is your place like? I really should visit you some time.”

“Way smaller and I have a couple of flatmates there. But to be honest? I like it that way. My father tried to buy me a new apartment several times but something always happened to those places, like they were cursed or something. One burned, one had some water damage, one was full of bugs… But I was able to get my current place because I do some odd jobs for a neighbor. So far nothing weird has happened.”

“Not that it’s any of my business, but didn’t you once tell me that your father doesn’t contact you all too often? Yet he was going to buy you an entire apartment? Calypso asked, confused.

“I think it’s because he’s proud as hell,” Hazel shrugged. “His cousin or something - a president at your uni, I think - bought his son an entire house in a nice area, and my father just couldn’t let him flex about it. Well, his plan didn’t quite work out as I just told you.”

“Wait, the son of our uni’s president… then do you happen to know Jason Grace?” Calypso asked, connecting the dots in her head.

“Yes, I do,” Hazel answered. “A distant cousin. We lived in San Francisco at the same time for a little while until he moved away. And now we’re somehow both here. Small world.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Jason is Leo’s good friend. And this is Leo, by the way,” Calypso introduced, feeling weirdly happy about being able to introduce him to her friend, even if they were still keeping their relationship status a secret.

However, soon Calypso noticed that Hazel took Leo’s appearance in for a moment longer than was necessary and she couldn’t help but feel just a little bit uneasy even though she knew that she didn’t actually have a reason for that. Leo was dating her, and Hazel seemed very interested in Frank. But there was something unusual about her stare, and she couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Hello, Leo.” Hazel seemed to return back to her regular self as she shook his hand, although the color of her cheeks might have been a tiny bit darker than a moment ago. “I’m Hazel. Calypso never stops talking about you at our art classes. I’m not entirely sure if it’s extremely adorable or a little annoying.”

“What?” Leo turned towards her and she couldn’t stop herself from blushing. “Cal, I didn’t know that you are constantly talking about me behind my back! Hope they have been good things, at least.” “Don’t worry, they’ve been nothing but good things,” Hazel reassured him, glancing at Calypso mischievously.

While Hazel’s teasing reassured Calypso that she had simply imagined her interest in Leo, they were getting dangerously close to the relationship topic, so she tried to change the course of the conversation. “Hazel, you didn’t have to tell him that! Now he won’t stop boasting for the next two weeks,” she said exaggeratedly even though in reality she was secretly kind of happy that Leo heard about her compliments.

“Sorry, Caly,” Hazel grinned at her, not looking particularly sorry. Then she leaned closer to her, whispering. “Just a little help from a friend. I thought you were going to get together during your vacation!”

“Th-thanks, but that really isn’t necessary,” Calypso whispered back, hoping that her acting was good enough to convince Hazel that she and Leo hadn’t made any progress yet. To her relief, her friend got distracted when a guy who was at least a head, maybe even more, taller than Hazel, with dark, short hair appeared next to her.

“There you are,” the guy said. “Nico was wondering if…” When he realized they had company, he gave them a polite smile.

“Oh, hi! Nice to see you guys!”

“You both have met Frank before, right?” Hazel asked.

“Yep,” Leo confirmed. “Frank thought I was a bad dog owner, but quite frankly, that was an understandable mistake.”

“How is your dog doing now?” Frank wanted to know. “Hope he’s good?”

“Never better! He enjoyed following Calypso everywhere while we were at Waystation over Christmas,” Leo replied happily.

“So are you two…?” Frank turned his head between Calypso and Leo. Calypso couldn’t help but wonder how many times they would still be asked that question that evening.

“No, no, no,” Leo denied. “That’s crazy talk. Right Cal? She just came with me because it was a better option than spending the holidays alone in our flat.” Calypso nodded along even though she didn’t like that they had to lie to their friends. But it was her who had made the decision to not tell them.

“Yeah. We’re just flatmates,” she confirmed.

Luckily, Frank didn’t ask more. Again, Calypso noticed that Hazel was staring at Leo with that mysterious expression on her face and she was already going to ask if something was wrong when Hazel addressed Leo:

“Have we… Have we met before? I mean, before tonight? You look so familiar to me but you can’t be…” She frowned.

“I don’t think so?” Leo seemed a bit confused. “Not that I remember, at least.”

“Oh… alright. I guess you just really look like someone I used to know. You haven’t ever lived in New Orleans, have you?”

“No, I haven’t,” Leo shook his head. “I’m originally from Texas. And yeah, I’ve also lived in a few other states for short periods of time when I was moving from a foster home to foster home but never in Louisiana.”

“Alright, sorry for bothering you about that,” Hazel said.

“It’s OK. Now that I think of it, though… I did have some distant relatives in that area, but I haven’t seen those people since I was a baby.”

“Really? What’s their last name?” Hazel seemed to get more interested again.

“Valdez, like mine. I think the mom of the boy who was around my age was my mom’s cousin or something like that. Why? Do you know them?”

“Yeah… Possibly… The boy’s name is Sammy Valdez. Does that sound familiar?”

“Hmmm…” Leo stopped to think about it. “Maybe. The boy’s name did start with S. I’ve seen pictures of me playing with another kid who looked a lot like me in our relatives’ yard but I think I literally met him just once. I was like one back then.”

Hazel seemed a little bit disappointed by Leo’s answer. “Alright. Sorry, it’s just that Sammy used to be my only real friend until I moved away from there and I was just wondering if you knew anything about how he’s doing now. I guess you don’t.”

“No, can’t say I do. My fam… well, they weren’t particularly accepting of me after what happened to my mom…” Leo said bitterly. “One of my aunts spread some sick lies… So, yeah, I moved to a foster home and haven’t seen any of my relatives since then.”

“I understand…” Hazel said sympathetically. Calypso imagined that Leo must have been grateful that Hazel didn’t question him more about what had happened. “Sorry, this is not a good topic to talk about at a party. My curiosity just got the best of me, that’s all.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Leo waved his hand dismissively. “Let’s just move on.”

“I agree. Frank, were you going to say something about Nico before you got interrupted?” Hazel turned to him.

“Oh yeah,” Frank remembered. “Nico wanted to know if it’s OK that Will comes here a bit later. He’s working today, apparently.”

“No problem,” Hazel replied. “We may not have a lot of food and drinks left by that point, though, but he’s gonna have to deal with that.”

“Nico? Not Nico di Angelo, by any chance?” Leo joined the conversation.

“Yep, that’s him. He’s my half brother. I know, we look nothing alike,” Hazel commented when she noticed Leo’s expression.

“No, I was just surprised that you know him and Jason too… Soon you’ll probably tell us you know Percy Jackson too.”

“I’ve heard stories of him from the others,” Hazel chuckled. “But no, haven’t met him personally, at least yet.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you met him some time soon,” Leo predicted.

Calypso felt she had already been quiet uncomfortably long, just listening to Leo and Hazel talk and trying to figure out what to make of it. She couldn’t deny that she had felt a bit jealous at first but when she had learned that Hazel had only seemed that interested in him because he had looked like an old friend of hers, she had relaxed somewhat. Maybe the trust issues were a result of many failed relationships, if she could call them that given that most of them hadn’t lasted too long. Cursing herself for her unnecessary thoughts, she asked:

“So, is there anyone else I know here besides Nico?”

“I invited Rachel from our art classes too,” Hazel answered. “You remember her, right? She said she was really happy to spend the New Year’s Eve in any place that isn’t his father’s penthouse.”

Calypso remembered Rachel as a really enthusiastic and unique artist. She herself tended to try to make her art look a bit more simplistic while you really had to stop and look at Rachel’s art to be able to see its many dimensions.

“Yep, I remember her,” Calypso responded. “I’ve often thought about talking to her but there’s something a bit… intimidating about her, like she knows something about me that even I don’t know…” “She’s fine, though, when you learn to know her,” Hazel reassured her.

“That’s nice to know. If I see her, I’ll say hi.”

“Good,” Hazel nodded.

“Hey, Sunshine,” Leo nudged her on the arm. “I’m getting hungry. Maybe we should go and get something to eat.”

“Somehow he is already hungry even though he ate at home before we left,” Calypso said in disbelief. “How’s that even possible, Repair Boy?” Then she realized how the nicknames may have sounded to the others’ ears so she hurried to add: “Um, sorry, we’re used to using nicknames at our flat. With everyone. I’m Sunshine, Jason is a Lightning Boy and so on. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure he won’t eat everything!”

“It’s OK, there’s plenty for everyone. Also, if you plan to dance at some point tonight, watch out for my pink haired friend Lavinia. She is a little bit eager about tap dancing.”

“I don’t think we are gonna dance…” Calypso cursed herself for blushing like a teenager when she pictured herself going for a slow dance with Leo, standing as close to him as possible. “…But thanks for the warning.” Then she waved at the hosts quickly and started dragging Leo out of the room.

“Well? What do you think of my friends?” Calypso whispered when they were picking some nachos on their plates and no one was in the hearing distance.

“Hazel seems cool,” Leo replied nonchalantly. “But you really think I pay attention to anyone else when I have my amazing girlfriend next to me?”

“You’re so cheesy, Leo,” Calypso said but gave him her brightest smile. She might have also kissed him if it weren’t for the other people nearby and the fact that she was carrying a plate full of food.

“Part of my charm, babe,” Leo claimed, giving her that stupid grin that never failed to make her feel things. He sat down on an unoccupied chair near the table and started enjoying his nachos. “Hey, these are really good! You gotta try them.”

“Babe? I thought we already had our nickname discussion,” Calypso interrupted him. She sat down next to him but didn’t taste her nachos yet, instead expecting his answer.

“But it’s better than Mamacita, isn’t it?” Leo asked innocently.

Calypso couldn’t argue with that logic. “Well, yes, it is, but… maybe you should stick to Sunshine. Or just Cal. I’m not… huge on pet names. I’m just not used to them.”

Thankfully Leo seemed to understand. “Alright. I won’t call you a babe, then. My mom just used to say ‘a dear child has many names’ and it seems that has stuck with me. I think she meant that we have a tendency to give nicknames to those we care about. Maybe that’s the reason why I sometimes go a bit extra with the names I give you guys… especially you.”

“Oh. I see.”

There was something weirdly sweet about Leo’s reasoning behind his nicknames and Calypso couldn’t help but smile down at her food. She didn’t realize she had been lost in her thoughts for a moment until Leo said:

“Earth’s calling Calypso. Try this,” Leo handed her a nacho that had some sauce she wasn’t familiar with on it.

“Chili?” she asked when she tasted it and felt a slight sting on her tongue. It wasn’t a bad sensation, though; this sauce was notably milder than the one Leo had once fed her. “You really find ways to make me eat it.”

“Admit it: you liked it.”

Calypso was feeling a little brave because they were somehow still alone in the room: “Make me.”

Leo was about to lean closer to her when someone entered the room without a warning.

“Uh… Hi!” Nico di Angelo finally reacted to their presence when Calypso and Leo jumped a bit farther from each other.

“Hi, Nico,” Leo greeted him. “I wasn’t expecting to see anyone I know here but it looks like I was wrong.”

“Seems so,” Nico replied, not in a mood for small talk.

“So how is it going?” Leo asked. “And how’s Will?”

“It’s going,” Nico shrugged, combing some of his long bangs to the side with his fingers. “Been trying to take it easy lately. Doctor’s orders. Will works as an intern at a hospital and turns out they really needed his help on New Year’s Eve so he’s not here yet. Something about lots of fireworks related accidents and so on…”

“Fireworks suck,” Leo commented, and Calypso noticed an angry spark in his eyes. “They feel like such a waste of money and they cause people to lose their eyes and such.”

Calypso wondered if Leo’s hatred towards the fireworks had something to do with the fact that fire was involved but she decided to ask about it later.

“Tell me about it,” Nico agreed. “Anyway, how do you two know Hazel and Frank?”

Calypso briefly explained how she had met Hazel at the art class and Leo told Nico about Festus’ vet visit.

“Somehow Hazel even knows my second cousin from Louisiana. How crazy is that?” Leo marveled.

“Pretty crazy, yeah,” Nico admitted, not contributing more to the topic so Leo decided to ask about something else.

“You haven’t happened to hear anything about Jason or Piper lately? I accidentally ran into Piper at Christmas and she seemed to be doing OK then, but… I’m still a bit worried about them.”

“I don’t really know much.” Nico replied vaguely. “Just that Jason hasn’t been home much lately. He’s always training, or with Percy and Annabeth or… I dunno. Just avoiding dealing with the situation. Or that’s at least how Will has interpreted his behavior. He’s way better at reading others than I am.”

Leo let out a frustrated sigh. “If only those two talked it out, said what they really thought…”

Calypso couldn’t help but see the amusing side of Leo’s statement. She started chuckling at him and both Leo and Nico gave her perplexed looks.

“What’s so funny about this? I was trying to be serious, Cal.” He narrowed his eyes, folding his arms over his chest.

That only made Calypso even more amused. “I know, I know! I’m sorry. It’s just that… don’t you think that’s a little bit ironic coming from your mouth?”

“From my mouth…?”

Nico still looked like he understood nothing about what was going on, but Leo had at least a tendency to blush when he realized that Calypso was right.

“Oh, this is totally different!” he claimed. “I, um, have my reasons to keep my mouth shut in certain situations. But those two… they’re just being weird.”

“I’m not even trying to follow this conversation anymore,” Nico stated, going to gather some chips and a beer from the food table. “Will would probably be able to translate Leo’s incoherent speech but he’s not here so I’m just gonna eat quietly now.”

Leo gave him an annoyed look and focused on his own food for a while. Once finished, he told Calypso that he wanted to see where the rest of the guests were. Calypso, relieved that Nico hadn’t apparently connected the dots about their relationship, agreed to follow him, but soon she realized that it might have been a mistake when Leo was walking towards the dancing area.

Being on the dance floor usually meant that you were expected to dance.

And she was not ready to dance. At all.

First of all, she hadn’t danced in years and while Calypso usually wasn’t too self conscious about those kinds of things, she still didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of Leo and the others. Second of all, she was quite sure that people would speculate - again - if they saw her dancing with Leo and she didn’t want that. She may have told Hazel about her crush some time ago and she did trust her, but who knew what kind of connections the other people in the room had?

Suddenly she realized that she was being paranoid. The people at this party were in their late teens or early twenties and probably had never even heard of her father. And why would they care if she was dancing with him? That was a normal thing to do at parties. It didn’t automatically have to mean anything.

There were already a lot of people gathered on the dance floor when the roommates arrived there. A few were dancing a bit farther from the rest of the group, while the others were watching a pink haired girl with real tap dance shoes on showing her skills. She must have been Lavinia, Calypso concluded. And based on her determined look, she seemed ready to challenge anyone who dared to pass by into a dance battle.

“Lavi!” Hazel’s voice came from behind Calypso. “Are you showing off again?”

The group that was standing in front of Lavinia moved from her way, and Calypso got a better look at her. Her shoulder length hair was flying freely and she was wearing a purple T-shirt and black pants to go with her shoes. Calypso also noticed that even though she had stopped dancing, one of her feet still kept tapping quietly on the floor, as if she was unable to stand still.

“Sorry, Hazel. Couldn’t help myself,” Lavinia muttered, and Hazel’s expression softened a bit. Calypso was still surprised to see this side of her because usually she seemed very kind, but clearly she still had authority even over people who were way bigger and older than her whenever it was needed.

“It’s OK! But try to let the others dance too, and not just tap dance.”

“Alright,” Lavinia answered but rolled her eyes when Hazel didn’t look. Calypso could hear her whisper to the closest people: “She just doesn’t understand the art of tap dance.”

Soon after that, the people in the room started dividing into smaller groups, some trying to chat over the loud music, some dancing. Calypso and Leo tried to spot some familiar faces but Hazel had already disappeared somewhere and Frank, Nico and Rachel weren't nearby either. Just when Leo opened his mouth to ask something, Calypso noticed that Lavinia, who had stopped dancing, was approaching them.

“Hi. We haven’t met before,” Lavinia started.

“Yeah, hi. I’m Calypso. Hazel’s friend from the art classes.” She shook Lavinia’s hand and then turned towards Leo. “This is my b… flatmate Leo. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Lavinia Asimov. Hazel and I used to go to the same school,” Lavinia said, but Calypso couldn’t help but notice that even when she was shaking hands with Leo, she was actually eyeing her.

“That’s cool,” Calypso replied casually although she was starting to feel slightly weird because of the staring.

“So, Calypso, do you know how to dance?” Lavinia asked.

“Not really, I just know some very basics,” she replied. “Haven’t danced in years, to be honest.”

“I could teach you, you know,” Lavinia blurted.

“Really?” Calypso asked, slightly confused by the other girl’s eagerness.

“Sure, why not? I’m pretty good.” Lavinia grinned at her.

“Do you mean now or...?”

“Now or whenever you’d like.” The girl twirled a strand of her pink hair around her finger as she spoke.

It took Calypso a moment to realize that Lavinia was actually trying to flirt with her in her own way.

“Hold on. I’m really flattered, but… I’m already taken.” Calypso rubbed the back of her head. From the corner of her eye she could see Leo’s stance getting more relaxed when he heard her answer. “Sorry. You seem like a cool person, though.”

Lavinia seemed visibly disappointed by Calypso’s response. “Are you taken by him?” She pointed at Leo judgingly. “You could do better than that.”

Calypso wasn’t sure what to answer, given that she wasn’t supposed to reveal their secret to anyone, but to her relief Leo cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Miss Pink? We literally just met; what makes you think you know what kind of person I am? You’re right in one thing, though,” he continued before Lavinia could reply. “Namely, she is way out of my league. And her boyfriend would probably kill me if I looked at her in the wrong way.”

“But… didn’t you just say you two are flatmates?” Lavinia asked suspiciously.

“Oh, yeah,” Leo responded quickly. “Cal’s boyfriend lives far from our uni so it was more convenient for her to get a flat from somewhere nearer to it. He knows he can trust me.”

Calypso wasn’t sure what amused (and scared) her more: the lies Leo came up with or the way he managed to sound that convincing even though he was literally coming up with the story as he spoke. At least Hazel wasn’t listening because she probably wouldn’t have bought it. Eventually Calypso decided she needed to contribute to the story as well.

“Besides, my boyfriend knows that I would kick Leo’s ass if he ever did anything inappropriate.”

Calypso noticed that Leo’s mouth was twitching slightly, but he quickly pulled the poker face back on and rushed to nod along.

“Totally. I wouldn’t wanna try that.”

Lavinia finally seemed convinced enough. “Alright. Well… I think I’ll go and find something to drink now. Dancing makes me thirsty.”

“Okay, we might see you later.” Calypso nodded at her before she disappeared from view. Once they were sure that she was far enough, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Whew, she really seemed convinced we are dating,” she whispered to Leo. “I was worried she wouldn’t believe us. Also, Mister Not-boyfriend, I’ll have you know I do not approve of lying but in this case it was probably for the best. So thanks.”

Leo grinned at her. “You’re welcome. Geez, Sunshine, do you see the effect you have on people? Everyone is falling on your feet.”

Calypso blushed a bit. “It’s a bit weird… I am not used to getting attention.”

“You’ll get used to it once I shower you with the Leo love,” he whispered and Calypso blushed even harder.

“Gods, Leo! Don’t say that here!” Calypso peeked around and was relieved to see that no one they knew was nearby.

“Couldn’t resist,” he claimed but then got more serious. “Uh, so… do you think dancing would be pushing the line that we have set?”

“It probably would,” Calypso said a bit sadly. “Maybe when we’re home, though.” She added quietly.

Leo seemed pleasantly surprised by her answer. “Oh! Okay. I’ll be looking forward to that.”

“Hey, listen,” Calypso spoke again. “Maybe we should split up for a moment. Nico and Frank could probably use your company and I’d like to catch up with Hazel a bit since I haven’t had a chance yet. Is that alright with you?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Leo nodded. “I need to make sure that Nico doesn’t eat all the miniburgers from the bar.”

Calypso chuckled. “Alright. Save some for me too! I've only tasted the nachos so far!”

“I will try,” Leo replied, emphasizing the word try. “Well, see you in a bit!” He waved at her.

Once Leo had disappeared, Calypso started looking for Hazel and found her from the balcony with Rachel and a couple of other friends of hers, watching the fireworks from the distance.

“Hi, you guys,” she greeted. “Looks like nice weather for the fireworks show.”

“Yep, it is,” Hazel agreed. “So… how did your little vacation go?” She went straight to the topic, smiling at Calypso slightly mischievously. “You and Leo seemed pretty chummy over there.”

“Chummy?” Calypso laughed awkwardly. “I don’t even know what that means,” she lied, trying to use the fact that she wasn’t a native English speaker as her advantage. “But the vacation was pretty good. Sure, there were some ups and downs as you can expect when you’re spending the holidays in a new place with people you don’t know very well, but overall? I had a good time.”

“I can almost see with my own eyes what exactly happened there now…” Hazel rolled her eyes. “Come on. Give me some details. Please tell me that some progress has happened.”

“But there really is not much to tell,” Calypso insisted. “I taught Leo’s little sister Georgina some baking and sewing and stuff like that and helped with the Christmas preparations and met some new people… Oh! And Leo’s family has an animal shelter; they had some adorable dogs and cats and…”

Hazel looked less enthusiastic when she realized that Calypso really was not going to tell her any news about her and Leo.

“So… nothing really happened?” she asked.

“No,” Calypso said as convincingly as she could. “Although we did have a good talk one day and I feel that we can be more open towards each other now. But we are not together. It’s not the right time for that yet.”

Hazel tilted her head, still unconvinced. “I heard Lavinia talking about you a moment ago, though. Something about some guy not realizing how lucky he was.”

Calypso started feeling she was reaching the limits of her acting skills, but she tried her best. “I… uh, may have told her that I was taken to make things less awkward. Sorry, I know that was extremely rude of me.”

“No worries,” Hazel reassured her. “I’m sure she’ll get over it quickly. Besides, I happen to know that there’s someone she really really likes and hasn’t just found the courage to ask her out yet.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I hope she manages to do that at some point.”

The girls proceeded to talk about other things, such as Hazel’s vacation, the foster animals of Waystation and their expectations on the upcoming art classes, with Rachel joining the conversation as well. Calypso was just laughing at Rachel’s story about the many uses of a hair brush (she had used one for painting and another for threatening her teacher who had misbehaved towards her) when Nico rushed into the balcony, looking even paler than usual.

“Calypso, I think you should come. Something’s not right with Leo.”

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au

[helpimobsessedwithpercyjackson]

What do you think would've been happening if the PJO/HOO/TOA and MCU were happening in the same universe?

Ugh pure chaos

Tony adores Leo and Blitz he even makes a workspace for Leo near his so he can advise him (and get advised by him)

Leo’s fascinated with Vision, the only thing stopping him from taking Vision apart and figuring out how he works is his fear of Wanda’s wrath

Percy loves Peter’s energy, although Peter’s a little too perky for them to be besties

Percy’s taking a walk with Annabeth and he sees Doc Ock or someone wreaking havoc, then he sees Peter running past “is this one yours?” “Yep, wanna help” “nah I’m good you got this”

Annabeth confides in Nat that she feels useless sometimes without any special powers, Nat assures her that the group would be lost without her, she knows from experience

Frank adores Hawkeye, he follows him around asking all these questions about archery and one day Clint gives him some of his arrows as a gift and Frank faints

Hearth and Clint discuss being deaf and how they can use it to their advantage, they love using sign language in front of people who refuse to learn it and make fun of them

Jason and Cap are besties, Leo and Piper joke that they could be twins, Steve argues that he would never wear those glasses (“you would wear a gift from a God” “not true Thor gave me the ugliest socks for Christmas, I’ve never worn them once”)

There are actually two sets of Norse Gods in this scenario, Magnus is super jealous, he complains to Alex about it all the time (“why do they get the good ones?” “I know, it’s okay” “their Thor is hot” “I know, just breathe”)

Hazel loves Wanda, she knows a bit about having an unwanted power that she struggles to control. They talk about what they’ve been through and the grief they’ve caused and help each other recover in ways that their friends can’t

The Kanes, Hearth, and Dr. Strange all hang out, Strange is fascinated that Sadie and Carter channel the gods to perform magic (“what do you do with your gods?” “Fight them usually”)

Hearth loves the way Strange performs magic, he and Sadie get annoyed that Strange doesn’t get exhausted the way they do when he does things though.

Apollo doesn’t like any of them (“they’re all so egotistical! I don’t know how you all stand them! Just because you save the world a few times doesn’t mean you should have a big head about it”)

Meg helps Shuri develop farming tools that helps increase agricultural production (Shuri doesn’t really care about it but Meg is so into it that she works really hard on it)

Shuri loves Blitz and helps him with some designs for Blitzen’s Best and she puts some of his ideas into new suits for T’Challa

Nico’s a big fan of Bucky, he has just the right amount of angst that he’s looking for

Will hangs out with Sam purely so they can make fun of Nico and Bucky, their insult game increases by 20 when they’re together

Anubis talks to Thor about being a god (“you’re the god of death? Well for me that would be my sister Hela! She tried to kill me, she took my eye and destroyed my home... but I’m sure you’re very nice” “um, I pinky promise I won’t do that?”)

Piper and Sam are obsessed with Valkyrie , Piper because she’s a badass and Sam because she wants to know more about other valkyries. Valkyrie loves Piper’s story about blasting Hercules with the Cornucopia

Bruce and Halfborn talk about everything they can think of, from quantum physics to their favorite movies. Mallory doesn’t understand what they’re saying and instead goes knife throwing with Nat

Reyna loves Carol, they talk about leadership and the difficulties of having to stay stoic and strong for everyone around them

Percy and Scott have the same sense of humor, Annabeth and Hope consider locking them in a room together until they get all their jokes out of their system

Loki’s disgusted to hear about the mcga Loki (“I would have done it with much more flair... not that I would have of course... I’m on your side!”). Alex hates him, understandably

Zia talks to Bucky and Cap about how weird modern society is (“Carter took me to a mall, it was so strange” “I went to a mall once... I almost got murdered”)

A door in Valhalla leads to the Avengers base for some reason. TJ accidentally walked in on Tony showering once. There was a lot of screaming and a minor attempted stabbing.

Real estate prices go way down since everyone wants to get the hell out of New York

#pjo #percy jackson #hoo #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #toa #annabeth chase #mcu #tkc #the kane chronicles #mcga #magnus chase #alex fierro #leo valdez #mcga blitzen #jason grace #piper mclean #marvel #sadie kane #carter kane #zia rashid #hazel levesque #nico di angelo #mcga hearthstone #frank zhang #samirah al abbas #peter parker #tony stark #steve rogers

[purplerose244]

Hi everyone!!! 💜💜💜

Today is my birthday! 🥳🥳🥳 DJ Kleb put on some music, let's celebrate!! 😎

Been another year, so let me take out my imaginary book of fairy tales and let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, an Italian fangirl discovered the Tales of Arcadia world 😍

So I can admit, I started to watch the show very late, even if I knew about it for a long while: that's because the screenwriters of my beloved Ninjago, Dan and Kevin Hageman, had announced they were going to work on this. I thought that it could be worth it just by that, but never really got interested. Besides, I didn't even have Netflix at the time, so eh 🤷‍♀️

Fast forward time, it was a month before the release of 3Below when me and my friend decide to share to get Netflix. And I remembered about the show, Trollhunters, and I decided to give it a look.

And I guess I kinda-

I DEVOURED IT, REGRETTING ALL THE TIME LOST NOT WATCHING IT 😢

There was just something really special in all of this, from this very standard yet pure protagonist, this smart love interest, a best friend that was actually and always supporting his best bud (how I loved Toby 🧡). Then the trolls, the bonds between the characters, the plot, the villains, the feelings behind and 🤯

After I discovered it was going to be a trilogy, I got super excited but scared as well: new characters, what about Jim and the others? Will I ever love others like I loved the Trollhunters team?

If you know me enough and the way I fangirl about beautiful baby boy Krel, you know the answer is yes 💙💙💙 3Below got me good, the best sequel for Trollhunters with the complexity of the characters, more beautiful bonds and a new thrilling atmosphere. Also that's how I met my OTP Kreamus 💜

And now, we are waiting for Wizards that will probably kill us all 😅 So thrilled and hyped for it, HECK YEAH 💕💕💕

All of this to say that I'm really happy to be part of this fandom, full of talented and wonderful people I'm glad I met!! 😊

I'd like to make just a few names, it's a thing I did last year too for another one of my fandoms and I like the tradition 🤷‍♀️ Whoever is in the TOA fandom though, love ya pal 👍

Sooooo:

@akozuheiwa My favorite Kreamus artist and mutual shipper! Girl I'm so happy I've met another person crazy for these two math dorks!!! 😎😎 (also the writer that taught me to fear the 🙂)

@thearcadialedger THE theorist! I love your theories about the show so much, they inspire me a lot! Also your posts about The Dragon Prince are beautiful ✌

@ginger-le-gay What can I say, an absolute icon, never met such a loyal fangirl before. Really inspiring 🧡

@fligshaag Wonderful artist, your work is beautiful, I love your style!💕

@shitpostsfromarcadiahigh Do I even have to say it? I know I'm gonna wake up with a smile as soon as I see one of your shitposts 😂😂

@earth-ambassador-jim A mention for the very nice art you make and the fic/fanart I got for the secret santa on Christmas, it was the cutest thing 😍

@yellowmagicalgirl I love your posts, especially about Douxie, your theories are so cool! 👌

@regwishesshehadmagic Always present in the Krel Tarron tag 💙 Also your GIFs of the show gives me life 😚

I know I missed many of you, sorry about that, I honestly appreciate every single old and new member for the fandom! 💜 Anyway thank you for your work! We're going for the third part of this amazing trilogy!

... so yeah, I guess I'm celebrating my last birthday before the storm 😅

Well then everyone, stay safe wherever you are and have a good day!!! 😙😙

#sure it's not the best period #but I have cake #and my family #so it's not all bad #also shows to look forward to #heck yeah #birthday #toa #tales of arcadia #3 below #3below #trollhunters #toa 3 below #toa 3below #toa trollhunters #jim lake jr #toby domzalski #claire nunez #krel tarron #seamus johnson #kreamus

[theofficersacademy]

The warmth of the Goddess’ blessing has blanketed the land in a rich array of color, and the people whisper their prayers for the year’s crop to grow bountiful under her care. As they wait, hearts and minds turn to thoughts of love and friendship, women weaving fresh petals into lush garlands as gifts for close friends, or to court the attention of a hopeful lover.

With the warmer weather comes more activity along the continent’s coastline, however. The city of Enbarr, the capital of the Adrestian Empire, has long enjoyed its position as the largest and wealthiest port of southern Fódlan. Its reputation for safe and secure trade has been called into question though after a recent string of stolen shipments occurred in Adrestian waters. The Church has heard the desperate pleas of the people, and now sends you to investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Black Eagles Mission: Investigate the thefts!

Welcome to TOA’s first house-centric mission season since April! This season’s mission will be focused on the Black Eagle house, but there are also non-mission tasks available as well. (Please see the FAQ for details on how this works, even if you’ve read the FAQ before.)

Aside from the BE mission, there are other fun things taking place! This season will run from Garland Moon to Blue Sea Moon in TOA canon, but since it’s November-December in real life, some of our non-mission tasks are going to be in honor of the holidays (Fódlan celebrates Thanksgiving in June and Christmas in July)! Take a look!

BE Mission Task Board

Enbarr, the Imperial Capital, the crowning jewel of Fódlan, the place where Saint Seiros first alighted on this continent, the genesis of all civilization… A city that predates the Empire itself is bound to be filled with rich history and places to see. Take advantage of his opportunity and see what you can find!

The merchants, based on their personal experience, claim that the attackers were simply pirates, with no specific targets except for anyone with potential loot. Their stories share one consistent fact: that the pirates flew a yellow banner, bearing the emblem of a brown horse leaping over a lemon. They would investigate, if only they had the funds and supplies. Hey–so long as you’re bothering them all the time, why not help them out? Time is money, and you’re wasting theirs!

The nobility, having done their own investigations, claim that they have spotted ships flying a flag with a very specific emblem on it, one that originates from the Dagdan continent. They’ve always considered this truce with Dagda to be a fragile one at best, and the youngest of the group are itching for a chance to go to war. They’re also not too happy about potentially sharing the glory–you’ll have to work whatever magic you have if you want them to give up anything valuable.

You’ve learned about defensive structures from studying the battlements of Garreg Mach, but Enbarr offers a fresh perspective on city defense in an area that you’ve had little opportunity to study: defending against attacks from the sea. Enbarr’s city-watch has gladly allowed students and faculty of the Officers Academy to marvel at their state-of-the-art onagers, crucial for fending off enemy ships. It’s a unique opportunity, so you better not squander it! [Bows +1]

One way or the other, you find yourself on a ship to patrol Enbarr’s shores. It’s a tense journey, to be sure, and you watch as the sailors frequently look out to the ocean for the marauders. An alarm bell rings above you, and the crew erupts in a panic. “They’re here! They’re coming!” None of your professors have ever taught you how to fight on a boat, but sometimes experience is the best teacher. Hope you’re a quick study! [Any Weapon +1]

NEW! At last there’s a breakthrough in the investigation. A patrol brings news of an isle off the northern coast that seems to have some sort of habitation, evinced by the boats seen coming to and from the place. You’re sent to check it out from a safe distance and report your findings to the Knights of Seiros. The ocean, however, has other plans, and a sudden storm turns the waters rough as you enter the shallows. Whether you’ve planned for it or not, you’ve found yourself washed ashore this island... There’s smoke rising from the trees in the distance. Good news? Probably not. [Grants Gauntlet +1]

NEW! There’s a smaller isle off the coast of the larger one, and at a glance it seems to be nothing more than a collection of rocks. Someone in your party insists on investigating it, and sure enough... it’s an island made entirely of jagged rock. But before you shove off again to spend your time more wisely, you stumble across what appears to be a trapdoor buried beneath the stone. Inside? A treasure cache of gold, odd trinkets, and - strangely - a ridged, bone-white weapon that bears a resemblance to one you’ve seen before...

Non-Mission Task Board

The Garland Moon has come once again and brings, well, the garlands! The Pages of the Blessed Incunabula, a book club, is hosting their annual costume contest! Dress as your interpretation of characters from songs and stories and enter to see if you win! There is a category for each house, encouraging students to use their own country’s folktales. Winners get the special Lion’s Garland, a gigantic wreath of flowers that is traditionally refused by the victor and granted instead to a close friend or (potential) lover. Make your costume and fantasize about who you’ll give the Garland to (or grumble about why you can’t keep it for yourself).

Have you been searching for a hobby that blends your singing talent and love for melodrama? Well, search no more! Thespian blood runs through your veins, and the Garreg Mach Theatre Club is in need of fresh meat–ah, members–to fill their ranks for the Choir Festival! Whether you’re singing your heart out, building the sets, or making constant references to your favorite opera, help put on a musical rendition of The Lament of Saint Macuil! [Faith or Authority +1]

The Inter-House Reception is a traditional event on the 29th of the Garland Moon intended to bring down walls between students of different backgrounds at the academy. This year, it’s a grand feast in a potluck style! Bring your own dishes to the dining hall and share with all your friends. Try not to poison them though.

Wild beasts have been spotted in great flocks outside the walls of Garreg Machs. The giant birds don’t seem to be gathering to attack the monastery, but the Church can’t be too careful. Go figure out what’s been calling the creatures to the fields in such large numbers, but try not to be maimed for inciting their territorial defense. Befriend them, hunt them, or maybe even try to tame them -- good luck! [grants Flying or Riding +1]

NEW! The Rite of Rebirth is one of the most important days of the year, and in some ways also one of the most dangerous. With the Holy Tomb open to visitors for a single day, security needs to be tight to handle the massive crowds coming from all over the continent. Students with availability have been asked to help patrol. Hopefully no one causes a commotion. [Grants Lance +1]

NEW! There’s a special tea brewed for the Rite of Rebirth. The leaves must be kept fresh, so there’s no stock of them in the monastery. Archbishop Rhea calls a handful of students with free time to venture into the mountains to gather the incandescent flowers that grow at its peak. The mountain is under protection of the monastery and frequently patrolled by the Knights so the trek should not be dangerous. But as you near the top, you find that snow has blanketed the peak. Even stranger than that are the houses built out of ice, though no one seems to live here. Is this the work of magic or... something else? Whatever the case, you decide to take some time to enjoy this mid-summer winter wonderland.

NEW! As the sky is believed to be the home of the Goddess, the stars are thought to be the souls who have departed this world to join her. With the shorter nights, the Blue Sea Moon is the month when the barrier between the world of mortals and the world of the divine is thought to be the thinnest. Late at night, when the sun has finally disappeared completely, the people of Fódlan take some time to commune with their departed loved ones.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the divided task board work?

This season’s mission is assigned to the Black Eagles. Therefore, tasks from the ‘BE Mission Task Board’ must be undertaken by someone that is affiliated with the Black Eagles.

Tasks from the ‘Non-Mission Task Board’ have no house restriction and can be undertaken by anyone.

These aren’t the only threads I can do, right?

Of course not! These are just prompts to help give some ideas of possibilities. You’re always free and encouraged to make up your own threads. You’re also more than welcome to worldbuild on your own, using these prompts as a base.

How do I claim the skill points?

In order to qualify for the skill point, the thread must clearly allude to the listed task and preferably feature the task being completed; however, the point can still be claimed even if your muses narratively fail the task (failure is sometimes just as fun to write as success, after all). You do not need to message the masterlist to claim your skill point.

Can I only do one task?

Nope, you can do as many as you’d like with as many different partners as you’d like! You can do the same task with more than one person! However, you can only claim the skill point for each task once.

What if my partner leaves or drops a skill point thread?

If the dropped thread has at least 2 notes (not counting likes, only reblogs with replies in them) and you have hit at least 400 words on your end, you may still claim the skill point.

Remember to use (and track!) the #toa open tag for any open threads, and you can also post a link to your open thread on the appropriate Discord channel! If you have any other questions or concerns, shoot us a message through the masterlist or on Discord!

#toa mission #mission: seaboard

[makalations-blog]

Translation: Graph 03.2017

Hey there. In the March Graph, there’s a 2 page special called “Ima-Kore” basically meaning, “Right now I’m into this thing” and four people (one in each corner) get to introduce what they’re into right now. 

The bottom right corner was Makaze this time. So please enjoy her weirdness. You can find the magazine here.

Graph 03.2017

*Now* I’m into ~This~

 This! 1 (A picture of her with her douki)

The three classmates in Soragumi!

Christmas day was Akari-chan’s (Matsukaze’s) birthday, so we had a celebration together! I thought we were able to take quite a good picture together so… I posted it here (laughs).

 This! 2

(some special kind of chicken) Eggs

On the Takarazuka Sky Stage New Year’s Special event, I played a game with Serika-chan (Serika Toa) and Makko-tsuan (Makoto Rei) and I was the victor! The prize was related to the year of the Rooster, so an eggs and rice set. And it was…. Soooooo delicious!! I think it was the best I’ve ever eaten! I even gave Akari-chan some for her birthday!

 This! 3

Cleaning hard-to-reach areas

Usually I often work on cleaning my house, but recently I’ve been focusing on hard-to-reach places like the window panes and under the washing machine, etc. So I’m attacking places you wouldn’t normally touch. I was cleaning the panes of the window with a pressurized spray, but… the liquid ran out before I was done! The last 15 or so centimeters are still dirty! I want to finish cleaning it as soon as possible!! And the washing machine… even though I only got it about six months ago, I cleaned out so much hidden trash and clumps of dust! Everyone… why don’t you try cleaning it, too? (laughs)

 This! 4

Music at Night

Recently, I’ve been listening to ‘healing’ music while reading books before going to bed. I feel like watching TV or playing on the cellphone before bed isn’t so good. So you can turn down the lights and relax by lighting some candles and calming your heart before bed.

 This! 5

Harry Potter Series

I have really neglected this series of 6 (see Note at the end) books and movies. But I watched them all over the winter holidays with the especially enthusiastic Harry Potter otaku of Sora-gumi, Sumire-chan (Sorahane?). Thanks to her, I was finally able to completely catch up with it. (laughs)

 Note: Ok, ok. We all know there are *7* books in the Harry Potter series. I stared at the page long enough to make sure that what was typed was 6 and not *7*.

It could be a typo on Graph’s part. Or Makaze could have been mistaken. Or, as might be relevant to point out, in Japan longer books tend to be divided into smaller books (in order to be easier to carry around on trains, etc). As the later books which are rather large come in pieces, it could be that it was just a simple mistake due to there being a possibly larger number in Japan?

Honestly, I dunno what happened here- but yeah. It says 6. I dunno~~~

#Translation by Makalations #Makaze Suzuho #Soragumi #Graph #03.2017

[mreugenehalsey]

How Cafés Can Increase Sales & Attract Customers This Christmas

The December holidays are just around the corner. With Christmas, Hanukkah, and other celebrations, this is a busy shopping period and time to exchange gifts.

All the extra foot traffic makes a great opportunity for café owners to boost sales with extra services and products. It’s also the perfect time to encourage customers to indulge in rich, warm drinks and take shelter in a cosy coffee shop. Read on to discover how to attract new customers and increase profits with some seasonal offerings.

You may also like How To Improve Consistency When Making Espresso-Based Drinks

Coffee shops have many great gift options.

Offer a Unique Seasonal Product

Create a product that is made for the season and has limited availability. This is a great way to encourage existing customers to spend a little more. Just look at the success of the pumpkin spice latte.

Use your creativity and bring something new to the menu. This could be based on current trends or an updated version of a winter classic, like a limited-edition flavoured hot chocolate. Or you can always add your own twist to a seasonal drink, such as a specialty version of the eggnog latte.

Alternatively – or additionally – add new food items to the menu. British mince pies, seasonal cookies, and candy canes are all easy ways to increase sales.

A comforting warm drink can attract shoppers during winter. Credit: Toa Heftiba

If you don’t want to revamp the menu, consider adding seasonal decorative touches. Edible glitter, candy canes, and Hanukkah gelt can all be used to make your standard offerings something special.

Change your latte art to something wintery. Can you make a snowflake or a snowman?

Likewise, consider themed cups, decorating the café, and adding seasonal music. You can create a warm and welcoming holiday environment without changing your core business. If cold and tired shoppers see your space as an inviting place to take a break, they’re more likely to buy something.

Learn more in How to Pour & Etch Christmas Latte Art: A VIDEO Guide

Your coffee shop should be a cosy and inviting escape from the cold. Credit: Andrea Piacquadio

Turn Roasted Coffee Into A Gift

Roasted coffee makes a great gift. Bring in limited-edition coffees and market them as presents. The season is an opportunity to showcase new coffees and encourage customers to spend a little more on something special. Why not take the opportunity to promote that clean, aromatic, and fruity Kenyan you only have available for a month.

Build gift boxes with both these limited coffees and your usual offerings. Try grouping coffees by origin, processing method, or profile and selling them as a themed package. With a little creativity in the presentation, you can easily make a beautiful gift and increase sales.

You could also partner with a local roaster and create limited-edition coffee boxes that raise the profile of both of your businesses.

Rethink roasted coffee as a gift item. Credit: Nate Dumlao

Create Gift Boxes For The Coffee Lover

Why stop at roasted coffee? Create custom boxes for coffee lovers. Friends and family members looking for an easy gift option will be grateful that all the research was done for them.

Consider combining a bag of roasted coffee with an appropriate brewing accessory in a well-presented package. This could be paper French press filters, a set of coffee sieves, or a new grinder, dependent on your budget.

Pair a couple of bars of fine cacao with coffee from the same origin or add a mug from a local ceramic artist. Thoughtful pairings can make unique gifts that customers are willing to pay more for.

Coffee-related books, clothing, and travel mugs are other items that you can bring in for the season and keep in stock if they don’t sell out. You can also include gift certificates for your café, so that people have the option of choosing roasted coffee with their preferred profile.

Brewing accessories are great gifts for coffee lovers.

Offer Experiences

Create seasonal experiences such as holiday workshops, seasonal cuppings, or just a straightforward Christmas party with complimentary snacks. They will attract new customers and encourage existing ones to bring their friends. Having gift packages on-hand during events is a good way to increase sales.

If that seems overwhelming in a busy period, why not offer gift certificates for future events? A voucher for a cupping or barista workshop in January makes a great gift and can help you avoid a slow period after the holidays.

Seasonal events can attract customers and provide an opportunity for sales.

Team Up With A Charity

At this time of year, many people are thinking about how they can give back. Consider making a donation from every seasonal product sold or creating charitable gifts. This could be for a local charity or one specific to the coffee industry.

Customers will be interested to learn more about the project you support. A conversation about the initiative can create lasting community bonds.

Similarly, if you offer coffees associated with a social justice project or routinely buy from direct trade suppliers, highlight it. Customers may be more willing to support a café that they know cares about community.

You may also like Support Fight Against Cervical Cancer in Coffee Communities

Celebrate the holidays with a seasonal drink. Credit: Nate Dumlao.

Whether you choose to transform your café into an all-out winter wonderland or simply add a few gift-wrapped bags of coffee to your shelves, there are many ways to increase sales and attract customers this holiday season.

Market coffee accessories as gifts, bring in new products, or throw a Christmas party. The holiday season is a great opportunity for café owners and yours to make the most of.

You may also like Café Owners, How to Diversify Your Offerings & Increase Profits

Written by Angie Molina.

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The post How Cafés Can Increase Sales & Attract Customers This Christmas appeared first on Perfect Daily Grind.

from Perfect Daily Grind https://ift.tt/2P8PZ13

[bingo-the-barker-blog]

Solangelo Christmas!

Hi! I'm new on tumblr, just signed in today. I'm a huge Percy Jackson and Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, and Trials of Apollo fan girl. And, yes, I am aware that this is really late for Christmas, but I've had this story stuck in my head forever, so...here it is. TOA takes place 6 months after BOO, in January, so this is about a month before that, a week before Christmas. I am going to apologize in advance for any spelling/grammar errors. Feedback is appreciated, hope you enjoy! Nico POV A week before Christmas, Jason and Piper visited Camp Halfblood. They insisted that Nico should decorate his cabin and he agreed, thinking it wouldn't be such a bad idea, as long as they helped him so he didn't have to do it alone and look like an idiot. Jason was flying around, hanging up lights on the roof. Piper was standing on a step ladder hanging the mistletoe over the cabin door. Nico was against the frame, staring of in the distance "Hey, Nico, what are you looking at?" Came Jason's voice from right beside him. Now is when Nico noticed that he had grown just as tall as Jason over the summer. He even got some of his Italian tan back, but it faded once it got colder. Nico sighed and ran a hand through his hair, which was now styled in an undercut. Will Solace, his best friend, polar opposite, and super secret crush, had paid paid Mitchell from Aphrodite to cut it in his sleep.(My second story!) Nico hadn't actually minded all that much, though he did dye both boys hair green the next night. If he had a warning about the haircut first, he would have gone a little easier on them. The son of Hades forced himself to look away from a certain son of Apollo playing guitar in the commons and get back to decorating. "It's nothing Jason" Nico brushed it of but Piper had noticed him staring. "Aaaawwww" the Cherokee girl cooed. "Someone has a crush!" "Yeah so what if I do?" He spat back. "You have got to ask him out already" complained Jason. "You two have been flirty best friends for 6 months now. We know that you both like boys. And that your meant to be together!" "Wow" Piper added. " I thought I was a fan girl. But he does have a point." She directed at Nico. " I AM going to ask him out soon, it just never feels like the right time or place" Nico told the truth. "Well that ends today" Jason said. " The very next time you see him, make a move." That's when The son of Jupiter realized that Piper had taken down the step ladder and the two boys were under the mistletoe. " Um, you don't have to-" Jason started awkwardly, but shut up when Nico pulled a Hershey kisses out of his hoodie pocket and shoved it in Jason's face. The son of he Greek devil had been pulling that trick for years and it never failed. Will POV It was a normal day at camp for Will. He hung out with Nico in the morning, who was now decorating the Hades cabin. The son of Apollo was just hanging out in the commons, singing "Love Don't Die" by the fray. It reminded him of his favorite person in the world, the tall dark and handsome son of Hades, with those black eyes and that mischievous smirk... Then a couple of his guitar stings snapped, shaking him out of his daydream. It was an old guitar, his very first one his mom gave to him when he was 12...(next post:wills backstory)... Seven years later it was a little out of commission. But it was still the first one he ever played and would always hold a special place in his heart. He glanced back over to where he had seen Nico earlier. He was standing under the mistletoe with Jason. Will felt a pang of jealousy. The he saw Nico pull some thing out of his pocket, small and wrapped in a silver wrapper. He held it out to the blonde until the son of Jupiter took it. Will recognized it as a Hershey kiss. The son of Apollo had been craving some thing sweet lately. Maybe he could just walk over and ask for a piece of chocolate... Nico POV Just a few minutes after they had gone back inside to decorate, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it" he told his friends. He flung open the door and found himself face to face with none other than William Alexander Solace. His eyes widened and he glanced from Jason and Piper who had devilish grins on their faces, up to the mistletoe and then back to Will. "Hey" Will greeted him, as cool as ever. "Hey" Nico responded with slight hesitancy. "So" Will continued. " I saw you give Jason tat Hershey kiss earlier and I was wondering-" Nico cut him of by leaning down and kissing him. It wasn't anything over the top, just a light peck on the lips. He had to crane his neck because the son of Apollo was at least 5 inches shorter than him. When he pulled away Will was blushing just as hard as him and his freckles were glowing. But he also had that one smile that Nico adored the most, the one that could light up a room even without the Apollo sunlight powers. "So I guess this means we're officially a thing" Will said with complete confidence. "Yeah I guess it does" replied Nico happily. " you want to help us finish decorating?" "Sir I'd love to" said Will.

[nyxicnymph]

Guardians of Arcadia: Operation: Secret Santa

Christmas is quickly approaching in Arcadia. While the town may not get such luxuries like snow or ice-skating, the Guardians still want to participate in some form of Christmas tradition all together. Some might not know exactly what is happening, but they’re giving it their best shot! (TOA CHRISTMAS SPECIAL WHEN?!)

Rating: ages 13 and up!

Warnings: Canon and character typical levels of teenage violence. Staja. Jlaire. No Zoe, sorry guys. Oh, and swearing.

Part 10: Sorry I tried to kill you nine hundred years ago. I was possessed.

Aaarrrgghh was slowly wearing a circle in the heartstone room. He was unsure as to what he could even get for Douxie. Douxie was a very vibrant person, but somehow very private. Probably came from centuries of not spilling any disastrous secrets.

Not only that, but he wanted it to be a very good gift. To make up for things he'd done in the past.

Aaarrrgghh decided to go look around Trollmarket, wondering if he could find something that the wizard would enjoy. He watched as Stricklander left Blinky's home and returned to the surface. Aaarrrgghh passed by Bagdwella's home, then paused.

He knocked on her door. When she opened it, she glared out suspiciously until she recognized him. "Ah, Aaarrrgghh! How can I help you?"

Aaarrrgghh shrugged. "Need a gift."

"Ahh, for that human holiday?" Bagdwella shoved him in. "Is it for Blinkous?"

Aaarrrgghh shook his head. "Wizard."

"Oh, that boy wizard who's been around lately. I see. Wizards are tricky to shop for, you know. You came to the right place."

Aaarrrgghh wasn't so sure about that, but nodded anyways. "What's best?"

"Well, usually, they appreciate spell ingredients, but since he's the former apprentice of Merlin, he probably has more than enough for now. Perhaps he'd appreciate something more personal to him this year?"

Aaarrrgghh rumbled, thinking about what might be personal for Douxie. Douxie was fond of Nari, who was... a plant?? Plant person. But Douxie also loved music, and had played some old Trollish tunes for him and Blinky a while ago. He'd done it very well, and had shown a lot of respect and care for the tune.

"Music," Aaarrrgghh grunted out.

Bagdwella clapped her hands together. "What kind of music is he most skilled in, or does he like the most?"

Aaarrrgghh stopped to think again. He could remember Douxie playing around with many different instruments as well as singing, but the one he seemed closest to was one with strings.

So he told Bagdwella, "Strings."

Bagdwella hummed. "Come with me."

They walked through Trollmarket, Bagdwella taking the lead. She stopped in front of a shuttered stall.

"ECKLES!" She yelled, banging on the wall. "I need you to come out!"

"Again? But, Bagdwella, everyone knows I'm gay-" The troll stopped as he opened his door. "Oh. A customer."

"Yes, a customer. He needs to find an instrument with strings for someone flesh sized."

Eckles nodded. "I have some of those. Come inside, friend of Bagdwella."

Bagdwella followed them both. "You know, Eckles, if you just advertised, you would get a lot more customers."

"I'm shy, okay?"

Bagdwella shrugged. "Too bad, I'm going to tell everyone I can about your shop now. Everyone knows you're gay, no one knows you own this shop. No one even knows it exists except for me. You can't live on cave moss forever!"

"Yes, I can," Eckles replied.

"No, you can't."

Aaarrrgghh tuned out their friendly bickering as he browsed the tiny instruments. He dismissed the ones that looked similar to instruments that Douxie had already used around him. He settled on a roundish one, carefully picking it up between his fingers, and carried it over to Eckles, who was still arguing with Bagdwella.

"This one."

Eckles immediately stopped with Bagdwella, and stumped over to the counter. He looked it over. "A banjo. Haven't been many looking for these lately, but perhaps your squishy friend will enjoy it. Forty-five socks, any make."

Aaarrrgghh searched his beard, and pulled out thirty-seven socks, but couldn't find any more. Bagdwella came to his aid.

"This is why everyone should carry bags," she tsked, laying down the remaining eight socks needed for the purchase.

Aaarrrgghh and Bagdwella left the shop, which was bigger than it had looked at first, and returned back to the main street of Trollmarket. Bagdwella sighed.

"Honestly, I understand he's shy and cautious. But he does good work. He makes all the instruments he sells. Everyone called him crazy for making them human-sized, but it's trolls like you who help push his vision further." Bagdwella grinned. "I'm glad you could help."

Aaarrrgghh nodded. "Me too."

The two trolls parted ways, and Aaarrrgghh hid the banjo in a safe place. He'd put it in a box the day of the gift exchange. He wondered if Douxie was having an easy time of it.

--

Douxie was not having an easy time of it. In fact, he was having a very wild time.

#tales of arcadia #nyx's toa obsession #douxie #toa hisirdoux #douxie casperan #wizards toa #toa wizards #jim lake junior #jim lake jr #troll jim #claire nunez #tobias domzalski #aja tarron #eli pepperjack #krel tarron #steve palchuk #3below #blinkous galadrigal #aaarghhh #toa blinky #toa aaarghhh #nyx writes stuff #guardians of arcadia #secret santa shenanigans #the guardians of arcadia secret santa #take this as your TOA christmas special

[nyxicnymph]

Guardians of Arcadia: Operation: Secret Santa

Christmas is quickly approaching in Arcadia. While the town may not get such luxuries like snow or ice-skating, the Guardians still want to participate in some form of Christmas tradition all together. Some might not know exactly what is happening, but they're giving it their best shot! (TOA CHRISTMAS SPECIAL WHEN?!)

Rating: ages 13 and up!

Warnings: Canon and character typical levels of teenage violence. Staja. Jlaire. No Zoe, sorry guys. Oh, and swearing.

Part Eight: What would the most popular girl in Arcadia want?

Eli spun in his desk chair as he thought. Of course he, the weird nerd, would get the most popular person out of the whole group. Everyone loved Claire. She had everything. Good looks, smarts, charisma, the ability to adapt, magic!

"Anything I get her is gonna be so useless to her," Eli cried. "She's already got everything a girl could ever want!"

Eli kicked his desk in frustration, then left his room, throwing on his shoes. He needed some fresh air. He decided that walking through Arcadia's main street would at least let him get some window shopping done, so he could have an idea or two.

As Eli walked through the main street, he heard hushed, upset voices. He rounded the corner and saw the tall wizard from the name drawing, Douxie, arguing with... a cat.

"That was the stupidest decision you've made in several decades, Hisirdoux!"

"Well it worked, Arch! I now have the knowledge I need-"

Eli sprinted away before he could hear anymore of the strange conversation. He didn't need to accidentally catch wind of Douxie's giftee.

He found himself in front of the record shop. He looked in the windows, wondering if this was an accident, or more of Arcadia's weirdness. Right in front of him was a Papa Skull record, a brand new one that had only been released a few weeks ago.

"Never would have taken you for a heavy metal freak, little guy," a voice came from the door. Eli spun around and saw a pink-haired young woman leaning against the doorframe.

"Oh, I'm not. But a friend of mine is. She really likes this band, I think." Eli tapped his chin. "Is it expensive?"

"Slow down, kid. Let's take this inside. My name's Zoe. What's yours, kiddo?"

Eli gulped nervously. "Eli."

"Well, Eli, if your friend likes Papa Skull, we have a lot of merch. It's my best friend's favorite band, too. He played their opening act once, you know."

Eli nodded, not actually knowing at all. "That's cool. How much is it?"

Zoe shrugged. "Depends on the person."

"That's not a good way to run a business," Eli frowned.

"I know, but its how I choose to run it. I have plenty of money, this is more of a hobby then anything." She shrugged again. "How much merch are you getting, Eli?"

Eli fidgeted. "Can I look around? I'll need to see it before I can make a calculated decision."

Zoe gestured to the store. "Yeah, go ahead, take as much time as you need. I'm not going anywhere."

Eli nodded and started looking around. He found some stickers and a bracelet right off the bat, and he set those on the counter. He went a little farther into the store, and found a Papa Skull cropped sweater. He put that on the counter as well, and went to grab the record from the window.

He hesitated. This was going to be really expensive, possibly above Jim's price cap. He returned to the counter and pulled out his wallet.

"I think this is everything," he said, giving her his card.

Zoe looked at him with searching blue eyes. She then looked between him, the pile on the counter, and the window.

"All right. If you say so." She rang up his items, bagged them, and returned his card. "Have a good day, Eli."

Eli nodded and waved as he left the store.

"Wait."

Eli turned around. Zoe smiled at him. "Thanks for stopping by. I hope you come around more often."

Eli smiled back. "Whenever I'm not out of town, Miss."

Zoe laughed as Eli left the store. "You're a good kid, Eli."

Eli finally made it back home, and started unpacking the shopping bag. His fingers brushed against a thin cardboard, and he gasped. He pulled out the record he'd been eyeing the whole time he was at the store.

"How did she get that in there without me noticing?" Eli asked no one in particular. He didn't really want an answer, even if he didn't know.

This was Arcadia. Weird stuff happened all the time in this town.

--

Claire was super excited for her gift. After all, this had to be the easiest person to get a gift for!

#tales of arcadia #nyx's toa obsession #douxie #toa hisirdoux #douxie casperan #wizards toa #toa wizards #jim lake junior #jim lake jr #troll jim #claire nunez #tobias domzalski #aja tarron #eli pepperjack #krel tarron #steve palchuk #3below #blinkous galadrigal #aaarghhh #toa blinky #toa aaarghhh #nyx writes stuff #guardians of arcadia #secret santa shenanigans #the guardians of arcadia secret santa #take this as your TOA christmas special

[nyxicnymph]

Guardians of Arcadia: Operation: Secret Santa

Christmas is quickly approaching in Arcadia. While the town may not get such luxuries like snow or ice-skating, the Guardians still want to participate in some form of Christmas tradition all together. Some might not know exactly what is happening, but they’re giving it their best shot! (TOA CHRISTMAS SPECIAL WHEN?!)

Rating: ages 13 and up!

Warnings: Canon and character typical levels of teenage violence. Staja. Jlaire. No Zoe, sorry guys. Oh, and swearing.

Part Twelve: A very merry gift exchange!

Jim's house was fuller than it had been in a while. His mom had taken Walt out of the house so that everyone else had the space.

Truly, it was a sight to see. Gifts of varying sizes were piled up on the coffee table by the stairs, as close to the Christmas tree as everyone could get without jamming up the living room. Jim had set snacks up on the counter between the kitchen and dining room, having rolled up the window there, and moved the dining room table to the basement so there was room for people to hang out and dance.

Jim set the hot cocoa pot on the portable burner, and looked at the crowd. Blinky and Aaarrrgghh had come from Trollmarket via the basement tunnel, but everyone else had come through the front door.

Jim skirted the crowd really quick, and grabbed the gift bag he'd slid under his bed that morning. He checked that the tissue paper was hiding the box inside sufficiently, wrote Krel's name on the tag, and returned to the others, slipping the bag on the hall table with all the other gifts.

Krel plugged in his portable DJ table, and started remixing some of the Christmas classics. Douxie bounced in approval, then frowned at his lack of an instrument. Jim watched as Douxie disappeared towards the garage, then reappeared with two hardware store buckets and a hub cap on a tripod. Jim watched in amusement as Douxie hastily set up a basic drum kit, and started playing along with Krel, using two screwdrivers as drumsticks.

The livened up tunes brought more activity to the group, and Claire pulled Jim in for a dance. As they danced, Claire smiled.

"You did an amazing job putting this together, Jim," she told him. "Look how happy everyone is!"

"I know, it's nice. I like spending time with everyone without there being a constant world-ending threat hanging over our heads."

Claire giggled. "Yeah. It is very nice. And we get to spend more time together, too," she whispered before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

A sudden shout of "Whoo!" distracted them both, and Jim looked behind himself to see Aja and Steve facing each other with identical "Time to do something stupid" grins.

"Oh, no," Claire said as the other couple stared into each other's eyes.

It wasn't a romantic stare. On the count of three, they both threw their heads back and started chugging eggnog as fast as possible. Jim facepalmed, and went to interfere in the name of safety.

The party continued, until finally, Douxie looked at Jim. "I do believe now would be an excellent time for the gift exchange."

Jim nodded. "Can I borrow your hubcap?"

Douxie handed it over. "Technically, I'm the one borrowing it, but here you go." He also gave Jim one of the screw drivers.

Jim nodded his gratitude. He then turned to the crowd and banged the screwdriver across the hubcap, effectively getting everyone's attention. He cleared his throat and set the noisemaking tools down.

"If you all would go to the hall table, find your name, and take your gift to the living room, that would be spectacular."

Aja bounced on the balls of her feet, and was the first one to the table. She searched through the gifts and soon held up a package wrapped in orange tabby print paper. "This one is mine!"

Steve stepped up as Aja left to go sit on the couch, shaking her parcel the whole way. Steve pulled out a significantly smaller gift, but still grinned at it. He followed his girlfriend to the couch, but sat on the floor in front of her, looking at his gift from all angles.

Toby stepped up next, and only poked around for a minute before pulling out a medium-sized, box-shaped parcel. Toby grinned at the bare-bones wrapping, and took the box to the living room.

Blinky laughed as he stepped up next, and found his name on a rather large gift bag. "Ohoho, fascinating!" The troll muttered to himself, peering at the large amount of tissue paper in the top of the bag.

Eli came up behind Blinky, and as it turns out, the most heavily decorated package was for him. He looked at it somewhat fearfully before carrying it to the living room, where Aja giggled nonstop for about thirty seconds, but while not staring at him, somehow.

Krel glanced at his sister with mild concern as he stepped up to the table, and picked up the gift bag Jim had set there at the start of the party. He gazed at it, the gears in his mind visibly turning. Then he shrugged and joined his sister on the couch.

Aaarrrgghh carefully plucked the large, purple gift bag up off the table, and Claire giggled behind her hand. Jim raised an eyebrow at her, but she looked away as innocently as possible. He shook his head as Douxie stepped forward.

Douxie picked up a long, oddly shaped package, and his face lit up. "Oh?" He asked no one in particular as he ran his hands over it. Then he cradled it in his arms as he entered the living room with everyone else.

Claire left Jim's side and picked up the flat, square package that was on the table. She hefted it curiously, then stepped aside so Jim could get to the table.

Jim looked at the rather intimidating package before him, and double-checked the name. Sure enough, it read "Jim" in sprawling handwriting. He went to pick it up and paused.

It was really freaking heavy! Jim used all his Trollhunting strength to pick it up and carry it to the living room, where he opted to set it on the floor instead of trying to hoist it onto a table or a couch.

As Claire sat down with him, Blinky asked, "So, who goes first?"

Jim faltered mentally. "Uh. Why don't we start with... uh...."

Douxie cast a spell and Blinky ended up glowing blue for a second. Douxie leaned back and explained, "Blinkous will go first, and pick the next person to open their gift."

Blinky grinned. "Thank you, Master Wizard."

"Please, for the last time, call me Douxie."

"As you wish," Blinky said. Then he opened his gift bag, and pulled out a polaroid camera, a thing of film, and a book of fairytales. "Oh, I am going to have to learn this particular piece of human technology! And thank you for the book! I'm sure I will learn many things from it!"

Blinky looked around and pointed at Aja. "You've been restraining yourself for a while now. Go on."

Aja squealed. "Thank you, Blinky!"

She quickly tore off the paper on her parcel, and revealed a huge Nerf gun underneath. Steve gasped. "I can't wait to show you how to use that!"

"No! I will learn on my own!" Aja pushed his face away with her foot, holding her gift far above her head so he couldn't get to it. "But you may open your present now, my oaf."

Steve immediately stopped and started picking at the paper around his small-ish gift. He found a cardboard box underneath, and Jim noticed Krel looked rather smug at Steve's annoyance. Steve finally got it open, and Jim's suspicions were confirmed when a small, glowing band fell out of the box.

"What is this?" Steve asked in confusion.

"It is for your axe, Toothache. You put that on the handle and press this button, and the whole weapon is augmented, and gains new features," Krel explained.

"Oh, cool! I can't wait to try it out!"

"Not in your backyard," Krel warned.

"Okay, I promise I won't do it in my backyard. Why don't you open yours?"

Krel shrugged, and started pulling out the tissue paper Jim had carefully placed inside the bag, and then reached in. Jim noticed he had been holding his breath, and let it out quietly as Krel reached into the bag and pulled out the Lego technical Mars Rover, as well as the pamphlet on Mars.

"Oh, fascinating. I saw these at the store. You build them from tiny pieces, and they resemble one of your other human creations." Krel looked around the room, and settled on Aaarrrgghh. "The big one can open his gift."

Aaarrrgghh slowly smiled, and unpacked the gift bag. He ate the tissue paper as he pulled it out of the bag, and then pulled out a large plastic circle, a thing plastic wrapped package, and a huge skein of yarn. The large troll rumbled happily. "Make socks."

Claire nodded from beside Jim, but Aaarrrgghh missed it, still looking happily at the tools. "Will learn." Then he looked around and spotted Eli. "Eli's turn."

"Me?! Oh, okay!" Eli started pulling off the bow on the paper, and unwrapped the paper itself to find another layer of paper. "Oh, boy."

Aja giggled, and almost fell off the arm of the couch as Eli continued to unwrap layer after layer of wrapping paper. When he finally reached the box, she shrieked in joy, and actually fell off the couch. Steve moved to check on her, but she popped up and propped her face up in her hands, resting her elbows on the arm of the couch.

"Go on, I am being normal!"

Eli--and everyone else--raised an eyebrow at that, but he continued to open his gift. He lifted the lid off the box and gasped. "Aja, you didn't!"

"What? Who says it was me?" Aja feigned.

Eli stared her dead in the eyes and raised a serrator to eye level. "Akiridion tech, and Krel already gave a gift."

Aja flopped forward onto the couch. "Fine. Yes, it was me. Do you like it? I can teach you how to use it!"

"That would be fantastic, yes. But not now. I think it's Douxie's turn!" Eli said.

Douxie startled. "Oh! All right!"

Douxie undid the twine around his gift, and unrolled the paper from around his gift. This went on for a while, but slowly, a shape was revealed.

"A banjo! I lost one of these in the twentieth century! It's so well crafted!"

"Eckles in Trollmarket," Aaarrrgghh said, before looking away shyly.

"Well, thank you! This means a lot to me!" Douxie glanced around the room, and his eyes settled on Toby, who was holding onto his gift with wide green eyes. "I think Toby is ready to open his gift."

Toby gasped, a smile growing on his face. "Thank you!" He opened up the square package, revealing an Amazon box. He split the tape, and then reached inside to reveal... a pink Easybake oven.

His face registered many emotions at the same time, principle among them being confusion. "Uhm, thanks. I think I'll enjoy making late night snacks with this."

"That was the intent!" Blinky announced, outing himself as the giver of Toby's gift.

Toby pointed at Claire and Jim. "They're the only two left, they can fight it out."

Claire turned to Jim with the biggest puppy eyes, and Jim laughed. "Okay, go ahead."

Claire squealed. "Thank you, Jim!"

She peeled off the spaceship themed paper carefully, setting it aside. She opened up the folded flaps on the top of the box, and reached inside. She pulled out a pack of stickers, and a set of bracelets. Then she pulled out a sweater, which she immediately pulled over her head. She glanced in the box and squealed. "The newest Papa Skull record! Thank you, whoever!"

Jim looked at her pile. "Someone really knows your tastes."

"Well, I don't do much to hide them," she laughed. "It's your turn, Jim."

Jim inhaled, and started unwrapping his gift. Slowly, he revealed a box of some very fancy cutlery. He inhaled sharply. "Oh, my. I've been hoping to replace the stuff in the kitchen ever since I got turned into a troll. So, thank you."

Douxie cleared his throat. "I broke a leg to get that."

The room exploded in laughter. Douxie grinned and added, "Your mother was rather disappointed that I fixed it myself, as well."

"Oh, were you the kid who specifically requested her at the ER earlier this week?" Jim jabbed.

Douxie threw some wrapping paper at him. "No more questions."

The room laughed again, and the party continued, slowly devolving into chaos as people started enjoying their new gifts. Jim placed the new knife block in the kitchen, and stepped back, happy that he finally had more tools to work with.

Claire coaxed him out of the kitchen, and they rejoined the party. It was truly a very merry Christmas.

----

Thank you all for reading this! I can't tell you all how much I appreciate all of you who have come through this merry journey or chaos with me, and these goofy Guardians! Every person who's interacted with this fic is beloved to me, and that's a lot of you!

I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this, and maybe I'll write another one of these fics next year!

Merry Christmas!

#tales of arcadia #nyx's toa obsession #douxie #toa hisirdoux #douxie casperan #wizards toa #toa wizards #jim lake junior #jim lake jr #troll jim #claire nunez #tobias domzalski #aja tarron #eli pepperjack #krel tarron #steve palchuk #3below #blinkous galadrigal #aaarghhh #toa blinky #toa aaarghhh #nyx writes stuff #guardians of arcadia #secret santa shenanigans #the guardians of arcadia secret santa #take this as your TOA christmas special

[purplerose244]

All I want for Christmas

Here’s my present for @yellowmagicalgirl!! Hi, I’m your Secret Santa 😎 Here for you a Jlaire Christmas fic hurt/comfort with some fluffy moments, I hope you have a nice Christmas ❤❤ A special thank to @toa-secret-santa for this wonderful event, I enjoyed a lot writing this! 😊

Enjoy!! ^ ^

Here the fic on the AO3

So… his girlfriend was late.

Nothing to fear someone would say, maybe you arrived too early some other would say, take the hint and move on Jim Lame Jr. a third person would add – or that was just a remaining of Steve’s high school reign of terror into his head. And then there was him, who was in a relationship that had survived high school, Trollmarket, Darklands and the end of the world – twice. Who trusted this girl like few other people in the entire world. Who knew to be have been stalling for half an hour at this fancy restaurant, constantly looking at his phone to make sure he was in time.

The waiter was giving him such deadly eyes he couldn’t help but scratch his chest looking instinctively for his amulet, just in case. Only to pet the cloth of his jacket. The Glamour Mask was definitely a powerful item, turning all of his mighty half troll figure into his skinny old self. As much as it felt good to look human again, he could help but feel off. He never truly liked appearances, and lying to himself was ridiculous. Just for tonight, though, he promised himself not to be overly existentialistic.

He could sit on a chair of his size! The wonder!

His phone started to ring, his heart fluttered hoping to finally get a word from Claire. Nope, just good old Tobes. Four minutes late now. Eh, maybe he was getting paranoid.

“Hello?”

“-Jimbooo!! Merry Christmas!-”

“Tobes you said it this morning already. Right at midnight, remember?” Not his ideal alarm, with all the danger faced until now he had become pretty good at waking up automatically with his sword out – poor Bagdwella woke up only to faint right after.

“-Can’t I say it twice to my bestest friend in the world? Aaalso Nana may or may not want me to check in and make sure the sweater she made for you is big enough. She kinda took the cookies hostage so… Merry Christmas, please tell me the sweater is good!-” Jim giggled. How could it not? Somehow his tough troll skin could still melt under the fluffiness. One of the best presents he got all day, even though it was a tough fight against Blinky’s book, a handmade historical volume with all his adventures as the trollhunter and Jim Lake Jr., and the other trolls’ effort to build him a statue like the ones in the Hero’s Forge back at the Trollmarket – out of scratch and garbage, but still heartfelt. Also Claire’s was still left…

“It’s perfect, tell her I say thanks.” The music in the background sounded different from usual, it was definitely not Ms. Domzalski’s usual eighties Christmas movie. More like some kind of Rumba lesson. “Are you guys dancing?”

Toby made a disgusted noise.

“-Just Nana… and Varvatos.-”

“For real?!” Boy did he miss stuff from Arcadia.

Even from the phone he could hear the light shrug.

“-We have our Akiridion friends for Christmas, apparently they don’t know what it is and that is unacceptable. Apart from the geezers’ love show it’s kinda fun you know? Aja has spent a full hour staring in awe at the decorations and Krel is at his fourth hot chocolate. Tried to stop him, kept shifting the mug through all his four arms, the sneaky genius.-” He sighed, but in a playful tone. He was definitely happy to have those two at his home – maybe even Varvatos. “-You’re at the restaurant, dude? How is the Christmas going for you two lovebirds?-” Right on cue his smirking voice appeared, of course. His own fault telling him about all the planning he did for this night – even though there was no way to hide something like that from him.

Jim stared at the empty spot in front of him, sighing.

“Claire’s not here yet.”

“-What?… she’s ten minutes late, what’s going on?-” That was a great question. “-I leave you all alone in New Jersey, see what happens. Do I have to put up a new three rules plan? Like back for the double date?-”

“Not sure how to prove your method since that time I basically went on a date with Morgana.” The implications of that night could still give him the creeps, and judging from Toby’s whine it wasn’t just him. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Besides, she can take care of herself.” There wasn’t even much danger hanging around, only a bunch of goblins and that warrior thingy they threatened away a while ago – now it was a Wizards’ problem.

“-If you say so, I guess I’ll leave you th- Luug for the last time, stop stealing Chomsky’s wife, she’s not a toy! She would be in any other place but not in this house!-” A happy barf came from the phone. “-Well, gotta scram. Say hi to Claire, for me! And to Blinky and the others!-”

“For sure, bye.” Call ended, still no sign of his girlfriend. Everything was too quiet, this fancy place was moved just by polite whispering and some light clanks of the stools. The waiter passed by his table, giving him a very annoyed and questionable eyebrow. “Huh, scusa, sorry, five more minutes?” The man sighed in the subtlest way and nodded, leaving him to his empty table.

Jim started to bump his fingers over the present for her, the red wrap almost mesmerizing to look at. He peaked at the phone. A quarter of an hour. He felt like he was on the verge of the ‘maybe I should send a message’, but couldn’t shake away the ‘I’m definitely I’m exaggerating’ feeling. Or maybe he was just hungry. When they started to plan this special night Claire had insisted to come to this specific Italian restaurant, ‘La Gialla Ragazza Magica’, saying there was something on the menu that she thought even his troll tongue might appreciate. It was certainly a nice thought. His first normal date at a normal place in a while, with his not so ordinary girlfriend.

Who was… peaking at the window? All covered in mud?

Jim jumped on his feet, the chair falling down. Right when their eyes met he saw the faintest tears forming, and his heart broke right there. The moment she tried to escape he was already running, probably bumping the famous waiter who broke in a few furiously whispered Italian curses.

Who cared? He didn’t. Nothing else mattered.

It had snowed a couple of days prior, now the streets were covered in white wonder. He almost slipped a couple of times but didn’t slow down. It was just a matter of showing her how serious he was. Because there was no way she could outrun him, Claire knew it well. That was why, as soon as they stumbled in an old forgotten park, hidden behind a bunch of dry trees ready to be taken down, she slowly stopped, panting softly.

Jim did the same, exhaling just one breath before scooting closer. Her tearful eyes blocked him.

“It’s nothing, I promise.” She immediately wiped away her tears.

“Claire what happened?” An attack? Another enemy? The guilt for waiting impatiently was starting to burn his stomach. He approached her cautiously, like she could run away again if he tried a rush move. “Was it the knight thingy again? Someone else?”

“No one attacked me Jim. It’s… it’s not important.” She took a bench and sat on it, looking at everything but him. She could be so stubborn sometimes. Even while wearing a purple dress covered in mud all over the gown. Even while having a lavender coat with one shoulder unstitched. Even while holding for dear life against her chest a silver bag with a blue ribbon. Even while biting her lip just to hold everything for herself.

Jim sat nearby and smiled at her, gently taking her face between his hands. It was weird again, seeing his human hands. Like nothing had really changed after all.

“I don’t really like how this not important is making my girlfriend cry. Should I beat him up?” Claire rolled her eyes, even if a little grin escaped her lips. “Ah, there, that’s better. That’s all I want for Christm- Oh my gosh, old overused Christmas songs are prophetic, what do you know.” He gained a giggle, the night was getting wonderful already. He slowly took her hands, bringing them together, cold and shaking. The bag softly drifted against her chest. “Alright, spill.”

Claire sighed, looking better, leaning into his hold.

“It’s stupid, really.”

“If you’re involved then it’s definitely not.” She shrugged, eyes down, still looking unsure. “Come on Claire, don’t make me speak Spanish to you, you know I can do that!” Ah, a snort. He was definitely going in the right direction.

“Please spare me from such painful experience.”

“Then you know what to do, chica loca.” Every single one of Senor Uhl’s harsh lessons was worth it just to hear this laugh, a wonderful sound able to turn the cold winter just a little bit warmer.

Claire looked down at the present, her smile slowly fading into disappointment.

“I just... I struggled a little to find the perfect present for you.” Claire Nunez getting this late for an event? “I already made something for you like a month ago.” Oh thank goodness, now the world was in balance again. “But the more I thought about it the silliest it looked and...” She grunted, frustrated, crossing her arms over her stomach, the bag in the middle. “I don’t know, I freaked out. And then I come to this exotic restaurant with all the atmosphere, with my boyfriend all elegant and a present ready on the table that is definitely gonna be amazing and...” Claire whined, giving him a smile. “You just have to make everything special for me, do you?”

Jim winced, scooting closer, a little wary.

“You don’t like that?”

“I love that. Makes me wanna do something in return, and this is what happens when I try.” She sighed, looking down at her gown. “… I was trying to find a spell for making you human again.” Jim couldn’t help but gasp, looking at her in disbelief. “I know you’re seeing everything in a better light now, I know you’re embracing your new life and you’re okay with that. It was supposed to be for one night, tonight, instead of using the Glamour Mask.” Claire’s eyes fell, the faintest bags underneath. Just how long she studied for that? “But I failed, none of the spells I tried had worked, not even after I sneaked some of Merlin’s old books.” A natural scowl took over her face for a moment, forever marked as a reaction to that name. “I’m sorry Jim. I wanted to give you the best Christmas after all you’ve been through, and now…” She took the bag between her hands, her wet cheeks vivid under the streetlights. Shook by the disappointment and the hatred.

But oh, if Jim cared about that awful guy right now. There was absolutely nothing that could distract him from this wonderful warm feeling taking over inside, challenging winter for supremacy and winning without a sweat.

She did it for him. For no one but him.

Jim hugged her, waiting for her surprised hands to lean on his back. If there was something good that truly came from his transformation was how life had became so much vivid. All of his senses were hyperactive, capturing everything around him. The pinching caress of the winter breeze, the chatters of citizens excited for festivities, the Christmas lights so painfully beautiful, the mouthwatering smell of doughnuts in the streets.

And her. Her scent, her voice, her touch.

“I love you.” Her sweet, gentle shiver as words took place into the air. To the point even Jim was forced to acknowledge them. Right. He never said that before, such an obvious yet fundamental thing. Right now it felt just right.

Claire pushed him away just to look into his eyes. In her brown irises there was astonishment, wonder, awe. Love. So much love, blossoming in her smile. And in her laugh.

“Took you long enough.”

Jim grinned. Right, he couldn’t even gather the courage to ask her to prom, let alone the l-word. She was simply one step ahead, and he would had not taken it any other way.

“You just have a quicker pace. I’m catching you, always will.” Or maybe she was willing to wait for him to speed up. That was what he thought, when she took the Glamour Mask off his face for just a moment, his blue fuzzy face in full view in the Christmas night. She was ready to make sure he was seen, was welcomed, was close, like right now when she kissed him so gently with her cold lips, the caress of a snowflake. Making him forget who was troll, who was human, and what actually mattered outside this moment.

When Claire pulled away, lips beautifully red and lucid, the regret was still apparent into her eyes.

“… I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I really wanted to give you something special tonight.” She put back the mask, smiling weakly.

Jim tenderly caressed her cheek.

“You wanna give me something special? Please let’s get to our table, I’m pretty sure one of the waiter is already done with me.” She arched an eyebrow in confusion. “… I came an hour earlier to make sure I was on time. Kept stalling the entire night.”

Claire giggled, the lights got brighter.

“James Lake Junior, are you for real?”

“Hey, I’m allowed to be nervous the night of Christmas for a dinner date, especially if my girlfriend is late!” She rolled her eyes but nodded nonetheless. “… maybe you wanna go home and change? Or we can just forget about dinner, if you’re not in the mood anymore.” The last thing he would had wanted was upset her, especially after knowing how much she had worked on this.

Claire gave him a look. She eyed her dress, smiled slyly and traced the outline of the spots with her fingers. She whispered something, her eyes turned purple for a moment, and the mud came out of the cloth falling on the snow.

“I like this dress, thank you. Also I’m starving, shall we?” She extended a hand towards him, smiling softly. Glowing as soon as he took the invitation. Right, no chivalry with this sorceress, Claire could be her own knight with no problem.

Getting back inside the restaurant proved to be a little less problematic than he expected, he wasn’t sure if it was his inerasable reservation, the present he left at the table kinda like a placeholder, or the beautiful lady by his side. They simply managed to avoid the waiter’s very obvious irritated expression and take place. The atmosphere was already different, as one of the musician started playing some Christmas song at the piano.

Jim was distractively playing with a toothpick between his fingers, without missing Claire’s worried glance at his present for her. He sighed.

“Look, how about we just get this over with? So you can relax a little.” She hummed slightly then nodded. He pushed the bag towards her. “Here. I hope you like it.” Claire smiled and started unwrapping, try to peak inside as soon as a hole appeared. When it was finally uncovered she gasped with glee, looking at the brand new edition of Romeo and Juliet in her hand. The cover was white with black roses at the edges, a single red bottle under the big title.

“Oh Jim, it’s beautiful!”

Jim grinned, keeping a sigh of relief for himself.

“I know you left your copy at Arcadia, so I thought why not?” He took his time to admire this theatre kid getting lost on her world. “There’s a little note inside.” And thinking about how much sleep he lost just thinking about those three lines almost made him yawn on the place. When she looked at his dedication, right next to the first chapter, he could almost hear her thoughts reading out loud.

Back there I was your Romeo, you were my Juliet

Today, together, we’re our own happy ending

I love you, Claire Nunez

JLJ

It didn’t rhyme and that sucked, it was the first conclusion he came to when he had finished the thirtieth draft. But when Claire’s lips gingerly touched his once again, with her standing up without caring for the attention, he couldn’t help but feel overly proud about himself.

Claire looked tearful again, and so happy.

“I love you too.” She went back to her seat, looking at the book with adoration. “Thank you, it’s perfect, this is just… perfect.” Her eyes went down again, as she warily gave him the present. This honor student had always took her most important assignments very seriously, going for a second option was probably painful.

Jim took the bag. It felt very light, and kinda soft. A sweater? A scarf?

“Claire you know if it’s coming from you I already love it, right? Like, it would be physically impossible for me to hate something that you bought for me.”

“Then there’s a problem, since I didn’t buy it.” She just gesture for him to get it over with.

Jim frowned, opening the bag. And there it was, red, white, fluffy. A big Santa hat made of wool, clearly handmade, with a precise texture even if a little loose. It had a little bell on the top that made him smile when he shook it.

“This is adorable, you made it yourself?”

“Well, yeah, but I did get some lessons from Lucy through webcam.”

“Who’s Lucy?”

“Aja and Krel’s adoptive mom or something, Toby told me about her as soon as I explained to him what I wanted to do.” Of course Tobes knew, that guy was everyone’s connection. “It’s just a little something, and it still came out a little amateurish… doesn’t really compare with this.” Her hands were still on the book, down but still so happy.

Jim smiled at her.

“What? You made this for me, this is the best! Let me try it… what…” He should had not notice probably, as his thumb slipped into a hole of the hat. “I-I probably shook it too hard, sorry!”

But Claire shook her head.

“It was there already. There are two holes actually. I put them.”

“Why would you…” As the second hole was revealed, and the realization of how perfectly placed the entrances were from each other, Jim gasped. “… oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, it’s a Christmas hat with holes for my horns. You made me a hat with space for my horns!” How he wished he could erase the expression of uncertainty from her face right this moment, but the joy was too much for him to do anything. Just imagining her careful fingers tracing the cloth and making sure to leave that little particularity was enough to leave him speechless.

Claire was worried. But she was also really, really smart, and Jim was most certain he was crying some happy tears while dealing with this bright shock of joy.

“… so you like it?”

“I love it!” He smiled at her. “Thank you.” He put it on, without caring how disproportional it looked over his human head – for the first time ever he couldn’t wait to go back to his troll appearance. He tried to reach her over the table, his hand met hers midway and their fingers intertwined.

Her eyes were so bright and full it was almost too much to look at.

“You deserve this and so much more. You know you do, right?”

Jim shrugged, tracing her knuckles.

“Well, I’m not asking for anything more but this.” How messy and chaotic were their lives to enjoy just a simple breath while holding each other’s hands like this? Little they cared. Jim might have been content with just being like this for a few hours… but he was also hungry. Troll hungry. “Now, this is a really nice place, but what do I eat exactly?”

Claire took the menu and smirked, like she was expecting that question.

“Puzzone di Moena.”

“Come again?” She giggled.

“It’s an Italian cheese, produced in a city of a specific region of the North. You can translate the name as ‘Moena’s Stinky’, very characteristic for its very strong smell of… feet.” She pointed at one of the main dishes. “Here they make the gnocchi with a sauce made of that cheese, I thought that you might like this one. Just so you can have a nice meal in a neat place with me.”

Jim didn’t even know how to deal with this. He just took her hand again, warm and soft, looking at her amazing girlfriend with the strongest wish to let her know how much it meant to him.

“I love you so much.”

Claire held back, smiling brightly, like she knew exactly how much.

“I love you too.” Because she felt exactly the same.

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