Christmas Story - Tumblr Posts

José y María by Everett Patterson:

This was our Christmas card for 2014, depicting Jesus’s parents in a modern setting. I was inspired by a number of evocative “imagine what it would have been like”-type sermons I heard earlier this year, and also (as usual) by the work of Will Eisner, who so often depicted, with religious reverence, noble individuals enduring the many minor discomforts and petty indignities of urban America.

The main goal of this illustration was to pack as many clever biblical references into the scene as possible. I won’t list every one (there are at least a dozen), but a few that I’m proudest of are: the verse from the prophet Ezekiel in the graffiti on the phone kiosk, the way the “Save More!” behind Mary’s head looks kinda like “Ave Maria!,” and the two ads for “Glad” and “Tide” on the newspaper (get it?).

A word on perspective: for this image, I chose very, very wide vanishing points. The result is what I occasionally call “middle-class white people perspective.” Rather than feeling immersed in the scene, the viewer is looking at it as if from across the street or from the warmth and safety of his or her passing car. I have a small hope that this Christmas image will come to mind when we see other “down and out” people huddling outside of gas stations, reminding us that our Savior’s parents (and indeed, Jesus himself) were at one time similarly troubled.

No Plans - Billy Hargrove (3/3)

Part #3 (3/3)

Billy x Fem!Reader Harrington

Steve x Fel!Sister!Reader

Warnings: Stranger Things, none

Word count: 1,787

Summary: Now that the Christmas Eve at the Mayfield/Hargrove home obligation was fulfilled, it’s time for Billy to experience Christmas at the Harringtons. 

Authors Note: Finale part 3! Here it is everyone! Enjoy! Merry Christmas & Happy Holiday’s!

Masterlist

Stranger Things Masterlist

Holiday Masterlist

Part 1 (2021)  ~ Part 2 (2022)

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“What are you doing?” Y/n asked Billy as he took a pillow and blanket off of her bed and set them up on the floor in a makeshift bed.

“Anyone could walk in-” Billy started to answer, gesturing to the door. Billy normally would sleep in the bed with Y/n. But with how many people were staying in the house he didn’t want to set a bad example for himself to her family. But Y/n stopped him.

“Stop, Billy. You are sleeping in my bed with me. That's finale. Just keep your clothes on and if someone comes in we’ll be good.” Y/n stated picking up the blanket and pillow off the floor shaking them out and placing them back on the bed, before she got undressed to put on her pj’s.

“Just don’t want to make a bad impression.” Billy told her, watching the door apprehensively.

“Billy, why do you care what my family thinks of you so much?” Y/n asked him sitting on her bed watching him change into his own pj’s. Great view Y/n thought in her head.

“I don’t plan on letting you go so it’d be nice if your family liked me.” Billy stated moving onto the bed sitting next to her. He never cared about what parent’s thought of him before now. There was more at stake with y/n in Billys mind.

Y/n hated how he felt the need to get her parents approval. She means sure if he were to act like the Billy around town then they’d probably hate him, but she hated how he felt he needed to be not himself to impress her family.

Y/n sighed reaching out to hold his hands in hers before explaining something she felt was very important for him to hear. “Oh Billy. You don’t have to do that. I don’t care if they like you, because I don't care what they think. I’m glad you're here because it’ll make this holiday bearable. My parents like you Billy and it drives my brother nut’s. Normally our parents are always gone so we celebrate by ourselves Steve and me. Sometimes we invite friends over to celebrate with us. Like the kids Max hangs out with, Nancy, Robin, Johnathan, I could go on. That’s honestly the way I prefer it. Just Steve, me and the people we consider family. Like you.”

The only person Y/n wished liked Billy was her brother, but she knew there were a lot of reasons on both sides why they didn’t get along.

“Why are they here hosting them?” He asked her with an inquisitive look. He was confused if they were never really around. Why were they hosting all their family this christmas?

“It’s their turn this year. Trust me they weren’t happy about it.” Y/n let out a sarcastic laugh remembering how upset her parents were to have to cancel their vacation plans. Y/n snuggled up into Billys side as they repositioned themselves to lay down under her covers getting ready to sleep. “I’m just glad you're here. I couldn’t imagine doing this without you.”

Billy pulled her as close as she could possibly be to him, kissing the top of her head. “I’m not leaving. Promise.”

^     ^     ^

“Y/n! Y/n! Y/n!” The kids came barging into her bedroom screaming her name. Effectively waking her and Billy out of their peaceful sleep.

“Hmmmm, what?” Y/n asked in a very tired, sleepy voice opening her eyes to look at them.

“Come on, get up! Santa came!” They grabbed her shoulder, shaking her whole body.

“Well, how about you go wake your parent’s up and we’ll meet you there.” Y/n suggested and the kids left to do as Y/n said.

“Are they always that loud?” Billy groaned, turning on his side facing her.

“No, they're just excited.” She shook her head smiling at him.

“Where are you going?” Billy pulled her back down to the bed before she could get up, wrapping her arms tightly around her pulling her back into his chest.

“If we don’t get up they’ll come back.” Y/n laughed, smiling at how sweet his actions were, loving how clingy he always was in the morning.

“They wake you to?” Steve asked from the doorway rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“Yup.” Y/n smiled over at her brother, craning her neck to do so.

“Hey, can I have a moment with Hargrove here?” Steve asked once Y/n and Billy had gotten up and were heading out of Y/n’s room. “Uh, sure. I’ll go downstairs. Start helping with breakfast.” Y/n looked between her brother and boyfriend unsure if this was a good idea to leave them alone. But Billy gave her a nod singling it would be okay.

“What do you want, Harrington?” Billy asked once Y/n’s footsteps could be heard going down the stairs.

“Just wanted to say thanks. For taking care of my sister yesterday. Max says that Neil is an ass so. . .” Steve looked to Billy hoping he didn’t want to fight Steve was done fighting with him. And he never won anyways. But he really just wanted to talk.

“I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.” Billy clenched and unclenched his fist resisting the urge to punch him for even insinuating that he would let his father lay a hand on Y/n.

“I appreciate that. Look, can we just call a truce? At least for today if not for good. For Y/n.” Steve nodded with an appreciative look, he could see it in the dirty blonde. He truly cared about his sister and that took awhile to sink in. But it had now and Steve didn’t want to cause an eventual rift between him and his sister.

“For Y/n.” Billy agreed to Steve’s idea, it was time they got along for Y/n. BIlly didn’t plan on leaving her so he and Steve needed to bury the hatchet. “I’m sorry. For everything.”

“Did you just-’

“Not happening ever again so take it and move on.” Billy didn’t apologize often. So Steve needed to just leave it and move on. Take the apology and never mention it again.

The two nodded and headed down stairs to join everyone else.

“Hey, breakfast is ready.” Y/n greeted the boy’s as they entered the kitchen. Y/n had put some bacon on her’s and their plates along with cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls were Steve and y/n’s tradition for breakfast on holiday’s.

“Thanks, sis.” Steve took his plate from her outstretched hand.

“Thanks.” Billy grabbed the other plate from her.

“Everything okay?” Y/n asked as surprisingly of what they could have talked about as they went to sit down.

“Everything's fine. More than.” Billy leaned over and kissed her on the lips before digging into his plate.

After breakfast everyone opened presents after opening present’s everyone slowly got dressed. Y/n and Billy headed up to her room to get dressed themselves.

“Hey, I still have that gift for you.” Billy spoke up once the door was shut to Y/n’s room.

“Billy-”

“You got me gifts. I’m allowed to give you them as well.” Billy really loved the gifts she had gotten and he was excited to see her open his gift.

“Oh, Billy. It’s beautiful.” Y/n was stunned at the gift. It was a matching necklace and ring. On the back of the necklace and inside the ring were her’s and Billy’s entails.

“I figured if you couldn’t wear one you could wear the other.” He explained to her, he knew she didn’t always wear necklaces but she always had a ring on or one or the other.

“I love them. Thank you.” Y/n smiled up at him before turning around to have him help her put on the necklace as she slid the ring on.

“I was hoping you would.” Billy grinned happily and relieved that she loved them.

“Can I ask you something?” Y/n turned to face him.

“Yeah.” He nodded.

“Why are you and my brother getting along? Hell your acting like friends. I’m not upset by it, I’m actually kind of happy about it, but it’s also kind of freaking me out. You hated each other just yesterday.” Y/n moved to sit back on her bed hoping to get an answer about earlier. It’s making Y/n feel a little crazy watching them get along. She loved it but it was odd.

“We called a truce.” Billy told her with a shrug.

“Why?” Y/n tilted her head confused.

“Why do you think?” He teased asking her with a knowing look in his eyes.

“Me?” She furrowed her brows and her eyes widened. Y/n was confused at their timing if that was the case. “Why now?”

“I think he might have realized I’m not going anywhere and I’m not using you.” Billy told her moving to stand between her legs. He hated that at first y/n and Steve thought he was trying to use her. Sure he flirted with her just to piss Steve off. But he never planned on using Y/n. This was the longest relationship Billy has ever had.

“Thank you.” Y/n smiled at him gratefully knowing it couldn’t have been easy to do that for her.

“Anything for you.” He whispered against her lips before pulling her into a kiss which in the process ended up with them falling back onto her bed, with Billy hovering over her.

“Let’s get dressed and head back down.” Y/n suggest once they broke apart as she ran her hand’s up and down his biceps.

After they got dressed and went back down stairs the day continued and they played games and just hung out with the family. Steve and Billy acted like friends the rest of the day, but if you asked Y/n she watched them actually get along and share things in common. Y/n didn’t think they were doing much acting at all.

The day went by fast and everyone sat down in the family room to eat dinner. After that Billy and Y/n headed up to her room for some quiet time.

“Did you have fun?” Y/n questioned hoping he did, it seemed like he  had.

“Yeah, I did.” Billy smiled a guinea smile at her he reached up to run a hand through her hair.

“It was a fun first Christmas together.’ Y/n hinted hoping he got that she wanted to spend more Christmas’ together.

“One one many to come.” BIlly smirked, enjoying the thought of her words.

Taglist:

@padawancat97 @gruffle1 @starkleila @fandom-princess-forevermore @cherriebat @shadowmoonlight0604

𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ chapter three

Butter. A spicy, creamy, soft, and sweet aroma filled up the kitchen. Karen Page was making her famous red cookies for christmas eve. Which was a strawberry-cheesecake flavored cookie. Now, Karen was a proud self-taught baker, who loved to bake even if her skills were way off.

click bold to read more — A03 wattpad

Since it’s Christmas, I had this fic floating around in my mind for sometime. So here’s [Redacted]’s Christmas Miracle. A little Christmas present for my fellow 14 days with you enthusiasts ^^

(This wonderful visual novel and characters belong to -@14dayswithyou )

[Redacted] x GN Reader

Word count- 1541 words

[Redacted]’s Christmas Miracle

It was Christmas Eve. The chilling air danced around [Redacted’s] form, biting and nipping at his exposed nose and ears. All his piercings felt cold on his face, numbing it in a way he liked.

He trudged towards the downtown bar, inconspicuously following a raucous group of friends from a safe distance. He didn’t have a hard time blending with the shadows, for he believed he had quite a forgettable appearance.

Sighing, he dumped a paper bag filled with contact lenses, hair extensions, and bar equipment into his black bag. He had lost count of the numerous personalities he had perfected and put on in the past few months.

[y/n]’s tastes kept changing as they went through phases, and he went along with their every preference, trying to fit into their fantasies and become someone that Angel noticed. [Redacted] would go to the ends of the earth for his Angel but the last personality was sure a pain to master.

It was during one of the multiple video chats with Moth earlier this month when [y/n] mentioned that they had recently developed a taste for cool and mysterious bartenders who were specifically, ‘brown-eyed, had slightly long dark hair, and performed cool tricks with cocktail-shakers’

Hence the brown lenses and the hair extensions. But [Redacted] winced when he remembered the endless nights spent trying to master the cocktail shaker tricks. All that effort and his Angel didn’t even notice him, save for a small polite ‘thank you’ that he knew they reserved for strangers.

He felt a little disheartened that this personality failed too. Nothing lately had been enough to grab [y/n]’s attention and he was itching to get closer to his Angel. To somehow be a part of their perfect little circle that he was always a spectator of.

He continued his slow pace, training his eyes on the only person that mattered in that group of friends. Or ‘fiends’ as [Redacted] liked to call them. Although he loved [y/n] unconditionally, sometimes he cannot help but question their taste in the people they chose to surround themselves with.

[Redacted] cursed fluently under his breath, “Why that handsy little piece of…” and balled his fists at his sides when he saw Teo playfully slap [y/n]’s bum, suddenly regretting not having brought his trusty sledgehammer together.

As they walked further down the street, it gradually became crowded with last-minute shoppers. For a short moment, [Redacted] ran into a big family walking towards the diner across the street. He lost sight of Angel and their friends, but due to his tall height towering over all the people, he lost no time as he spotted them in the gaggle of people.

A cold and wet sensation fluttered on his eyelids. One of the kids yelled, annoyingly tugging at his father’s coat, “Look! Look! Dad it’s snowinggggg” the kid said in a sing-song voice. [Redacted] looked up at the dark sky in wonder, “Oh, it’s snowing alright!” he murmured as if noticing his surroundings for the first time.

The atmosphere put a damper on [Redacted]’s already souring mood. He was not a holiday person, and these joyous festivities felt increasingly nauseating as he walked further down the street.

[Redacted] turned a corner, tailing Angel and their friends. A man dressed as Santa intercepted his silent vigil, grating on his nerves. Dangling a tiny candy-cane keychain, he spoke in that phony signature Santa voice, “Ho Ho Ho boy here, take this keychain for a dollar and make a wish…your little donation will help several homeless children.” the man demanded, eyeing him expectantly.

[Redacted]’s azure eyes volleyed between Angel and this darned man who seemed like he would not leave anytime soon.

Exasperated, he reached into his pocket and placed a dollar on the man’s outstretched palm—with more force than necessary—snatching the keychain from his grasp. He stuffed it deep into his jeans pocket and began moving towards the bar.

“Make a wish boy. Believe in the Christmas Miracle !” The phony Santa called after him. [Redacted] rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Miracle…as if”

The fact [Redacted] did not believe in miracles would be the understatement of the century. But he didn't know why...he foolishly wanted to believe in them...If only for today. Especially when his ocean eyes longingly traced the outline of Angel with their friends through the glass window from outside. They were sitting cozily inside a booth in the dimly lit bar.

He rubbed his hands together and pulled the hood of his hoodie on his head as he stood there in cold weather. The gentle snow covered his broad shoulders the longer he spent time outside. [Redacted] watched Angel’s antics with amusement, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

The clock was soon approaching midnight. Everyone geared up to welcome Christmas. Angel’s antics became wilder by the second as they slowly went from tipsy to a more drunken state. [Redacted]’s insides itched with anxiety. His protective tendencies flared watching [y/n] twirl around the expanse of the bar. Their friends only laughed at the sight, and Teo even had the gall to record them calling Angel a "terrible lightweight"

'Note to self-corrupt Teo's phone later', he mused with a cold smirk.[Redacted] heaved a frustrated sigh and resignedly decided to go inside and keep a closer watch. But just as he stepped inside the bar, a zooming figure crashed forcefully into his chest, knocking all air out of him.

With mild surprise, [Redacted] realized that it was [y/n] who had bumped into him. Tensed and a little shocked, [Redacted] steadied his little Angel with strong arms, and to his utter disbelief, [y/n] peered up at him, craning their neck at [Redacted]’s towering form.

[Redacted] was dumbstruck. His mind went blank as [y/n], his little adorable Angel, gave him a rare genuine smile. Although [Redacted] knew that his Angel was drunk, his heart still beat a mile a minute as he gawked at that beautiful little smile. His mind zeroed in on the fact that this smile was directed towards him. Not some personality that he had put on, but it was HIM, that they looked at like this.

He hung his head a little, feeling a bit self-conscious. But then his heart almost stopped, his breath hitched in his throat when Angel leaned in closer and traced the snake-bite piercings adorning his face, “These are pretty" they slurred in a cute voice.

“So, do you want to do it?” Angel asked, breaking [Redacted] out of his trance.

“D-Do w-what?” [Redacted] stammered his throat suddenly very dry.

“Oh we’ll have to do it…or else we’ll get bad luck.” [y/n] hiccupped, then yanked [Redacted] by the strings of his hoodie, winding them around their fingers as they pulled him in, mere inches apart from their face.

Reading the slightly alarmed expression on [Redacted]’s face, [y/n] chuckled as they whispered, teasing him a little, “I’m talking about the mistletoe silly..” they winked. And [Redacted] finally noticed the mistletoe hanging above their heads.

“WHOOP DRUNK [y/n] IS THE BEST [y/n] !!!!” Teo cheered in the background as Jae and Leon created a loud ruckus.

“YESS DARL SNOG HIM SENSELESS” Leon yelled too, sloshing around his beer on the table as he egged [y/n] on.

Gaining sudden confidence from all the cheering, Angel smirked smugly before they stood on their tippy toes and leaned in, kissing [Redacted] square on the mouth.

‘Am I dead? Is this what heaven feels like?’ [Redacted] wondered as [y/n]’s breath enveloped his senses. He could taste pineapples and coconuts on their breath.

‘So they had Piñacoladas’ he smiled.

But then his eyes widened when he felt [y/n] slip their tongue into his mouth. It was as if all coherence fled him when he closed his eyes. Giving in to indulgence, he gripped Angel by their waist, pulling them closer. A palm splayed at their back protectively, supporting them as another hand snaked around the nape of their neck, gaining traction as he angled them into a deeper kiss.

A minute passed and Angel broke the kiss in need of air, earning a low whine from [Redacted]. Their chest heaved in tandem. Angel's flushed face smiled at him before they whispered, “Wow…that was my first"

Angel pecked on [Redacted]’s lips one last time and retracted themselves from him. [Redacted]'s hands lingered on their shoulders a beat too long. He balked at the information dropped on him. ‘So it was their first kiss too? But they have always been so popular…’ he thought, marveling at his Angel with a starstruck expression.

The slow din of voices gradually came back, jolting [Redacted] out of this little moment. Angel's friends approached them and whisked them away as [Redacted] swiftly pulled his hood down, shielding his face.

“See you around..” Angel trailed off, waving their fingers at [Redacted], stepping outside into the chilly night air.

For the first time in forever, a big goofy smile broke onto [Redacted]’s face as he stood in the afterglow of that first kiss. It was beautiful and nothing like he had ever imagined. He pushed his hands deep inside his jeans pockets and began following the group when his fingers curled around the candy-cane keychain resting inside.

A mysterious smile bloomed across his face as he wondered, ‘Sometimes miracles do exist’. Trudging along the snowy road, watching his Angel from afar, the atmosphere didn't feel so gloomy anymore