Two things I am proud of doing this year: I met my Get Your Words Out habit goal of writing (or doing something writing-related, like editing or brainstorming) for 120 days out of the year. Also, I have fostered 8 dogs for a local rescue. A good thing that happened to me: I went shopping with two of my aunts last week. I love them both and I don't get to see either of them very often, so it was lovely to spend some time with them over the holidays.
TLT fandom moment: the Big Resurrection Event! Even though it was stressful, it was a lot of fun and I’m still catching up on reading stories from it!
YAYYYYYY YEAH the BRE was so fun!!! congrats on finishing, it is such a huge acomplishment!! I'm still catching up on fics from the BRE as well, I love that there is now a treasure trove of longfics whenever a rainy day strikes ❤️
🎉 “Which one of you assholes brought confetti?” - requested by @onthepageoftears
“CHRISTINE, GET IN HERE! YOU’RE GONNA MISS IT! CHRISTINE!”
“Dustin, calm down. The house is not that big. I can hear you.”
Christine hurried back into the living room, where the entire party was waiting for her. The kids had wanted to celebrate New Year’s Eve together, now that everyone knew Eleven was officially back from the dead. It had been a hard sell for Hopper, but even he couldn’t withstand the constant pestering of six middle schoolers and four high schoolers. Even Steve, Nancy and Jonathan had gotten in on it, hounding Hopper whenever they bumped into each other in town, calling the station with various excuses to talk to him, and even visiting his cabin directly. Eventually, he gave in just to shut them up.
It would have been safer to get together at the cabin, but Hopper didn’t want the other kids to know where it was just yet. He was going to enjoy what little privacy he could for the time being. So the adults had all gotten together at the Byers’ house, and Christine was hosting the kids at her own.
“You have less than a hundred seconds!” Dustin barked again. He was kneeling on the carpet in front of the TV, bouncing up and down as the clock ticked closer to midnight. “Move it!”
Christine ruffled his curls as she passed him, carefully picked her way through the field of children. Lovingly as she could, she said, “Shut up, Dustin.”
He gave her a small salute and glued his eyes back to the screen.
“Alright, coming through, losers!” Steve shouted as he emerged from the kitchen. It was times like these that his past as a party boy came in handy. He was somehow carrying six plastic glasses of sparkling cider at the same time. “Come and get it! Chop, chop!”
The kids leapt up from their places around the living room. Dustin pushed past Mike and Eleven so he and Lucas could fight over the fullest cups. Max promptly shoved both of them out of the way and took the biggest one for herself. Will hovered at the back of the group, patiently waiting his turn and assuring an astonished Eleven that this was entirely normal.
“Here you go, Chris.”
Nancy appeared at her side, offering her a glass. Christine took it gratefully, stealing a sip before midnight. Steve had spiked all of the teens drinks with ritzy liquor from his parents’ stash—not that Christine was going to mention that to the kids. The last thing she needed was Dustin strong-arming them into letting him try alcohol in a controlled setting. Things were already hectic enough.
“It’s starting!” Mike shouted, pointing back to the television.
Everyone crowded around to watch the grainy news footage from NYC, the ball dropping in Times Square amidst hundreds of people. The clock ticked down, and Christine took a moment to look around the room at the other people there—all the kids, armed with their drinks and horns and party hats, Nancy and Jonathan, both flushed pink with an arm around each other, Steve, who had both hands on Dustin’s shoulders as they shouted.
“THREE, TWO, ONE—HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
The room was filled with screaming and party horns. Christine cheered and clapped with the rest of them, then shot her drink down in one go. She turned to hug Eleven, only to feel an arm wrap around her waist and pull her in the opposite direction. Before she knew it, Steve’s lips were on her own.
Christine melted; she always did around Steve. It was several seconds before she remembered that she was not supposed to be kissing him, and pushed him back.
“Steve,” she said, in her best attempt at stern disapproval.
“It’s New Year’s,” he said before she could argue. “You have to kiss at midnight. Everyone knows that.”
“We said we were gonna wait—”
“New Year’s kisses don’t count.”
“Uh, yeah they do.”
“They don’t!” he insisted earnestly. “Seriously, I’ll kiss Jonathan too if it makes you feel better.”
Christine rolled her eyes, but her face cracked into a wide smile. She was about to pull him in for a second kiss when there was a loud BANG that made her scream.
She whirled around, only to find the air filled with colorful confetti, fluttering down on all of them and coating every inch of the floor. A few of the kids looked delighted—until they saw Christine. Suddenly, everyone froze.
“Which one of you assholes brought confetti?” she demanded.
Everyone pointed at Lucas.
“Oh, come on,” he groaned. “You guys are supposed to have my back.”
“Sorry, dude,” said Dustin, shaking his head morosely. “It’s for the good of the party.”
“We’ll remember you,” added Mike, who clapped him on the shoulder. “Your sacrifice saved all our lives.”
Max laughed. “Told you she was gonna kill you.”
“Enough,” said Christine, waving a hand. “You better clean this up. If I find one piece of confetti tomorrow, I swear—”
She stopped abruptly, gaping at the floor. The confetti was shaking violently. Each piece trembled and crawled across the floor, collecting into a pile in front of the television. For a moment, everyone stood stunned. Then Eleven wiped the blood from her nose, and the party burst into cheers once more.
Christine pinched the bridge of her nose. She was not hosting again next year.
This year, I'm hoping to finish a Cam/Pal smutfic I started last year (anon so nobody can hold me accountable if I don't finish... again...)
also find a relationship because being single suuuuuuuuuucks, but that's not in anyone's control, and the world doesn't owe me a partner
GOOD LUCK FINISHING UR FIC!! some fics take longer to cook and even if it doesn't pan out, it's still valuble practice, no writing is wasted!! <- says me who has "unfinished tlt fics" (that i always SWEAR im going to finish) from 2021...
also it is so fair to acknowledge that it's hard being single ❤️ the dating world is so rough. stay strong soldier!!! keep your head up!!
Which OC is actually going to follow through on their fitness goals for next year?
Almost certainly Kat, though I’m type casting because...she owns a gym lol. She’s probably one of my few OCs that’s actually mindful about fitness. She goes on her runs and spars and works out if she’s not on a job. Whether its a new lifting goal or an endurance test, she’s the one who’s going to follow through on it haha.
Happy new year!! I’m currently spending it alone, so a shoulder pat would b much appreciated!! Got the fomo and just feelin lonely eaugh ;w; my goals for the new year are to make lots of art and apply for grad school! Is there a fav moment from 2023 that you’d like to share?
patting you!!! im sorry youre feeling lonely, but i hope youre doing alright otherwise! and those are good goals!!! wish you a lot of luck with school stuff especially
i had a ton of good moments this year actually... lots of small but really good moments! especially when my visit with my family went so well, i feel like im ending the year on a really good note :)
if i had to choose some specific moments tho, UM, id probably say one of my faves is when i almost made my roommate spew water all over his desktop because i was being dumb and then in a twisted ill-conceived effort to prevent this from happening, i actually made it about ten times worse, and then i simply had to leave him to choke on water. teehee OOPS... it was really funny
HI BANE! i want to get out more in 2024 and try new recipes, what are your wishes for the next year?
do it do it! i ALSO wanna try getting out more and making some local friends... we can only HOPE. holding your hand and sending you good vibes. we're in this together
i'd like to make some good progress with my developing health issues, do a bunch of boring adult shit i've been putting off (like getting a passport!), and on the more fun side, do more personal work, studies, stuff like that!!
#2: what was something I reread? Honestly, a lot. I have a lot of comfort reads that I come back to over and over again -- this past month it's been Sayers' Busman's Honeymoon, James Herriot's books, and Katherine Addison's Cemeteries of Amalo books (which are SO GOOD)
#16: I am part of a book club of local moms that seems to always read books that are overhyped, but the biggest one for me was The Christie Affair. It was just ... so weird. And didn't seem to understand Agatha Christie at all.
