owhc2022 :: day nineteen
↳ with you under the mistletoe
phoebe & aaron (insp)
tag list: @yelenabolevas @chrissymunson @richitozier @endless-oc-creations @arrthurpendragon @raith-way @claryxjackson @hiddenqveendom @decennia @lovehermioneforever @kendelias @waterloou @multifandom-oc-hell @come-along-pond @alimas @maddies-buckley @cas-verse @foxesandmagic @issytrix @nejires-hado @reirvival (let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!)
Tis the damn season, people! This year at oc-challenges, we’re doing a winter holidays challenge! Challenges are Hanukkah,The Winter Solstice, Christmas, and New Years inspired. @aliverse and @elmunson have teamed up with @victoriapedrcttis and @maddies-buckley to come up with 32 prompts to hopefully inspire and delight you!
RULES
Be respectful and accepting, most holidays have their roots in religion and it’s important to both treat people of any religion with kindness and be sure any depictions of a religion you are not a part of is researched well and done respectfully.
You know the usual, don’t steal edits. If you feel an edit of yours or someone else’s has been stolen and would like to report it, follow these guidelines.
For any crossovers, make sure the other person is okay with crossovers.
Feel free to ask questions, all prompts are open to interpretation!
In order for your post to be included in this blog, it must be tagged with #owhc2022.
And last but certainly not least, have fun!
Challenges under the cut...
EIGHT DAYS OF HANUKKAH
For the first eight days, we will be celebrating Hanukkah!
Day One: Soon So Shall It Be By You (December 1st)
In the spirit of OC Challenges, our first challenge is dedicated to Jewish OCs; an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah. Create to your heart's content, and if you don’t have one of your own then feel free to make a new one inspired by this prompt or make something for someone else’s Jewish OC!
Day Two: All of The Honor (December 2nd)
Most winter holidays are about the appreciation of life, family, and friends. Today we’re making something to show an appreciation for someone else. Make something for a Jewish OC creator, let them know that they're loved and cherished.
Day Three: Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah (December 3rd)
Day three is all about the holiday itself! Make or write something nice about your Jewish OC celebrating Hanukkah by themselves, their friends, or family, or even an non Jewish OC celebrating with their Jewish friends or family!
Day Four: A Game of Dreidel (December 4th)
Much like the teetotum, the dreidel is a four sided spinning top toy that bears letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The game has become a famous tradition during Hanukkah, created as a way to help those study the Torah. Show us what your OC’s dreidel would look like or write about your OC playing the game with friends and family!
Day Five: Light The Candles, Count Your Blessings
On the first night of Hanukkah when you light the first candle with the shamash, you recite three blessings. For this day, take a look at what your OC values and the things and people they are thankful then make an edit or write something to highlight those things.
Day Six: In Honor of The Maccabees (December 6th)
The Maccabees were a priestly family of Jews who organized a successful rebellion against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV and reconsecrated the defiled Temple of Jerusalem. What is something that your oc would die / risk their life for? Have they done it already? Have they lead a rebellion or campaigned for change?
Day Seven: A Great Miracle Happened Here (December 7th)
In the holy temple in Jerusalem, a menorah burned for eight days. It became known as a miracle, giving Jews time to purify and rededicate sacred space. Where did your OCs miracles happen? Is there a place they consider sacred or special? A place that brings them great comfort?
Day Eight: Miracle of Eight Days (December 8th)
A small vial of oil to keep the flames burning for one night somehow miraculously burned the Temple's menorah for eight days during a time of war and prosecution. In that span of time, they were able to make more oil and keep the eternal flame lit. Has your OC ever experienced a miracle, figurative or literal? Has something they needed or loved but expected to abandon them lasted through their worries? Write or edit something about your OC’s personal miracles.
WINTER SOLSTICE
Challenges inspired by The Winter Solstice!
Day Nine: Blessed Be (December 9th)
Blessed be our capacity for creativity, creating ocs has made us friends and brightened our darkest days. Today, create something to celebrate a pagan oc.
Day Ten: Brightest Blessings (December 10th)
A good person wishes others only the brightest blessings, and today we are going to give our own blessings. Create something for a pagan oc creator!
Day Eleven: Time of Reflection (December 11th)
One tradition in winter solstice celebrations is to reflect on your past and those in it, for day eleven we are going to look at an oc from long past. Maybe you want to look at your first oc and reflect on how they’ve changed from first draft to final product? Maybe there’s an oc you’ve decided to scrap or finished with that you would like to honor one last time with an edit or drabble?
Day Twelve: Bask in The Evergreens (December 12th)
Evergreens are famous and honored for the exact reason you’d think— they remain lush even in the harshest circumstances. Today is all about forevers. Perhaps you want to honor an oc that remains eternal in your heart or persistent in your mind, maybe even do something as simple as creating something for an immortal oc?
Day Thirteen: Back to Mother Nature (December 13th)
One winter solstice tradition is to give back to nature and the creatures it mothers, some do this by decorating a tree to highlight it’s beauty and some do this by decorating a tree with edible food for animals among other things. For today, honor an oc who loves the natural phenomenons of their world whether that be through a love of nature, nature powers, or care for the animals of the world.
Day Fourteen: All The Pretty Lights (December 14th)
The winter solstice is celebrated on the shortest day and longest night of the year, thus we must find light in different ways. For this day, honor an oc who finds or is the light in the darkest day. Perhaps they are a mirrorball, reflecting all the best parts of others. Perhaps they simply have a talent in keeping hope alive, continuing to show love and optimism through all hardships no matter how hard survival is?
Day Fifteen: May The Flame Warm Our Hearts and Light Our Way (December 15th)
Today is about dedication; to gods and goddesses, those we cherish, our places of worship. For today, perhaps show or tell us how your OC would decorate their Yule alter? Perhaps how they would choose to honor their deities? Maybe show or discuss what gifts they would give to those they cherish?
Day Sixteen: Merry Solstice (December 16th)
It’s time for another celebration, this day is all about the holiday itself! Tell us about how your oc celebrates yule! Do they bake gingerbread, craft wreaths? Do they sit around the bonfire and tell stories?
Day Seventeen: Time of New Beginnings (December 17th)
Besides reflection, winter solstice is also big on renewal and new discoveries or ideas. Today, it’s time to do something to represent newness and change! You could create a brand new oc, perhaps highlight an oc with qualities you’d like to emobody in the new year in attempts of changing your life for the better?
MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS
Some merry challenges for a merry christmas!
Day Eighteen: Baby’s First Christmas (December 18th)
Over the first year of a baby’s life, many people document a lot of the major moments—but when it comes to making memories, there’s nothing quite like Christmas Time. Recount your OC's first Christmas as an infant or as a recently new parent whose trying to make the holiday special with their little bundle of joy!
Day Nineteen: With Your Under The Mistletoe (December 19th)
In Norse culture, the Mistletoe plant was a sign of love and peace and Figg promised to kiss anyone who passed underneath it. For Celtic Druids, it was used to ward off evil spirits, provide good luck and even help to improve fertility. No matter what origins you prefer or have grown up knowing, both created the tradition of mistletoe hanging in the archway of a room where two rooms met to become one. Create something to celebrate two becoming one with an OC and their significant other under the mistletoe.
Day Twenty: For You and Me (December 20th)
The season is about giving and surprising those you care about with the perfect gift. Create a gif for your best friend who is in love with one or a few of your OCs! Make something inspired by your conversations that were based on an AU or a crossover with their very own OCs.
Day Twenty-One: Rocking Around The Christmas Tree (December 21st)
The Christmas tree, a symbol that represents permanence and immortality and decorated with lights, ornaments, and a star on top for the shining hope for humanity. For this challenge, write about and show how your OC(s), or send asks to your fellow creators about how their OC(s) would decorate their tree! Do they have a family tree that have homemade ornaments? Do they just have a personal pencil tree with peculiar theme? Do they get a fake tree or a real tree.
Day Twenty-Two: Jingle Bells Are Ringing, Everyone is Singing (December 22nd)
Other than gifts and decorating, Christmas music is a major part of the Holidays. From "All I Want for Christmas Is You" to "Last Christmas" which song best relates to your OC(s) this season? Do they enjoy Christmas Caroling around the neighbourhood? Do they sing a certain song every year that people automatically associate with them?
Day Twenty-Three: From Mine to Yours (December 23rd)
Christmas Cards are a great way to share love to those who live miles away from you, especially if you have no idea what to give them and just insert a $50 gift card in the envelope. Create a card that your OC would gift to someone else to spread kindness and warmth this chilly season.
Day Twenty-Four: Christmas Special (December 24th)
Hallmark is known for their very cheesy romantic TV Christmas movies but we always sit and devour the plot no matter what. As for the mainstream blockbuster movies such as Love Actually, The Holiday, and A Bad Moms Christmas, these are the movies that follow a different formula by giving us individual looks into the holiday season for different people and families with their own troubles and personal goals. For this day, you'll be inserting your OC(s) into their very own Holiday Special AU or making something for the actual holiday special of their fandom!
Day Twenty-Five: Giving, Receiving, and Appreciating (December 25th)
For the day in question that inspired the last seven challenges, we're taking it easy. To complete Christmas Day's challenge, simply make sure you signed up for and submitted ocpotlucks gift exchange than watch out for your gift and be sure to compliment others ocs and creations you see on the blog.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Some challenges to prepare us for the New Year!
Day Twenty-Six: First of The Year (December 26th)
Before we enter a new year of new beginning, let’s reflect on this years beginnings. For day one of our New Years themed challenges, let’s honor the first oc you made *this* year with some writing or an edit.
Day Twenty-Seven: You Make My Year Better (December 27th)
Saying goodbye is hard, but the hello can sometimes make everything worth it. For this day, appreciate a fandom you said hello to this year by making something for an oc you made for said new fandom.
Day Twenty-Eight: A Toast To You (December 28th)
You’ve heard it from a million people in a million ways; Skam says people need people, Girl Meets World says the secret of life is that people change people. So this day is about those people in the oc community who made your year better, and more specifically the ocs they created that changed and inspired your own writing and creativity. That’s right, we’re making something for your favorite oc of the year by someone else.
Day Twenty-Nine: The Best Part Of My Year (December 29th)
We all need ways to get through life, sometimes those things are always the same and sometimes they are hyper-fixations that get you up in the morning to explore. So, what oc did you find yourself fixating on most this year? Was it a brand new one, perhaps an old one you haven’t thought about in a while? On the twenty-eighth, use your passion to create something for your MOTY… muse of the year.
Day Thirty: I Still Love You (December 30th)
Friends break up, friends get married, strangers get born and strangers get buried, trends change, rumors fly through new skies… But that doesn’t mean some things don’t stay with us even when they lose our focus. Today, we are showing some love to those we may have accidentally left behind by making something for an oc you love that you feel you may have neglected this year.
Day Thirty-One: Practice Makes Perfect (December 31st)
A lot can change in just seconds, and even more can change in 365 days. Over the year, we’ve all learned and grown in so many different ways, and it’s time to show off. Remake an edit or rewrite a draft from early this year to remind yourself and others how far you’ve come!
Day Thirty-Two: Resolution (January 1st)
One of the most well-known traditions of new year celebration is to make resolutions. A New Year’s resolution is when someone makes a promise or sets an expectation for the new year that they are determined to live up too. Although these resolutions don’t always stay resolute, let’s get a good start on our attempts by making something on the first day of the year for an oc you want to appreciate and work on more throughout 2023.
OC Winter Holidays Challenge — Day 6 — In Honor of The Maccabee
Alexandra D’Amore & The Doctor’s
Alexandra has one person/reason why she would risk everything for and it's The Doctor. Her Husband/Wife, the person she loves from all of her heart and the one being that the universe needs the most, she knows that without the Doctor many will die and if they were in peril she would save them whatever the cost.
Forever Tag: 💠@fiercefray 💠 @foxesandmagic 💠 @valdrinors 💠@ochub 💠@ocappreciationtag 💠 @oc-challenges 💠 @fanficanatic-tw 💠 @robertdowneyhiddlesbatch (wanna be on any of my taglist? ask me!)
OC Winter Holidays Challenge 2022 | Day 16: Merry Solstice
OLD TRADITIONS — DARIA BREZIN in THREAD OF TWILIGHT | THE GRISHAVERSE
•
“What are you making?”
Daria stilled her hands, letting them hover above the half-shaped white block of wood in her lap. She looked up at David. Even bundled in his wool kefta, gloves, and fur hat, the cold air turned his nose pink.
“Nikolai wanted a centerpiece for the table tomorrow,” she answered. Her fingers skimmed the hard surface before resting lightly on it. She frowned at the look on David’s face. “It is a good idea, David. One night will not set everything back.”
“So Genya says.” David huffed a breath. “There’s still so much to be done, though, so much to repair—”
“It’s one night, David.” Genya came up beside him. Her auburn hair shone under the winter sun. “And before you say there have been days of preparation, I know that, but I also know people need this opportunity to forget about the last two years for a bit.” She slipped her gloved hand into his and smiled. Then she turned to Daria. “Is that a sleigh?”
Daria looked down at the wood. “It is.” She raised her hands, and the white surface beneath her gliding fingers began to shift. The rear half of the horse-drawn sleigh took its final form. A finely-detailed young woman in a fur hat and robes appeared in it, and a group of maidens followed behind, smiling and singing.
“I got nostalgic,” Daria continued, her lips curving upwards. “It is a pity Kolenda Night isn’t celebrated the way it used to be.”
“Oh?” David’s breath frosted in the air.
Daria looked over at the Grisha skating on the frozen lake. “It was more than simply hanging lanterns in the streets and outside houses and having a feast at the end of the day,” she said. “We would make wreaths from fir or pine, and children would have snowball fights and sing kolyadki dancing in circles. But this,” she tapped the wood she was shaping, “was the main event of the day.”
She smiled to herself, observing her work.
“Carving wood?” Genya lifted an elegant eyebrow.
Daria laughed. “Not carving wood — the maiden procession.” She gestured at the design she had fashioned on the white block. “Each year every town chose a young woman to represent the Sun. She was dressed in orange robes and drawn on a sleigh from house to house, accompanied by six others, singing kolyadki. The townspeople gave them gifts, and later those gifts would be used to help anyone in need. It was really a welcome to the longer days of the year ahead.”
“Were you ever chosen?” Genya asked.
“No,” Daria said simply. “We never stayed in one place long enough to become part of the community.”
Genya’s amber eye fixed on her. She didn’t speak. Snow began to fall, and Genya brushed a flake from Daria’s slate gray hair.
“Well, tomorrow you will wear lavender,” she said. “You are a teacher at the Little Palace now, and you should display that at our first formal function after the war.”
___
ToT Taglist: @arrthurpendragon, @raith-way, @noratilney, @foxesandmagic, @airwolf92, @kbeescreams, @stachedocs (let me know if you want to be added or removed!)
“you know, i’ll never understand your assumption that you’re the only one with mommy issues. just because no else wants to talk about it doesn’t mean we don’t understand. like, i shouldn’t have to reveal my trauma to get your attention for longer than two seconds.”
andrew hotchner’s first christmas: a scrapbook by his big brothers daniel kelly and jack hotchner (in/sp)
tag list: @yelenabolevas @chrissymunson @richitozier @endless-oc-creations @arrthurpendragon @raith-way @claryxjackson @hiddenqveendom @decennia @lovehermioneforever @kendelias @waterloou @multifandom-oc-hell @come-along-pond @alimas @maddies-buckley @cas-verse @foxesandmagic @issytrix @nejires-hado @reirvival (let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!)
phoebe accidentally finding out from morgan that amelia (@come-along-pond) is also a doctor, who doesn’t identify herself as such due to personal reasons.
tag list: @yelenabolevas @chrissymunson @richitozier @endless-oc-creations @arrthurpendragon @raith-way @claryxjackson @hiddenqveendom @decennia @lovehermioneforever @kendelias @waterloou @multifandom-oc-hell @come-along-pond @alimas @maddies-buckley @cas-verse @foxesandmagic @issytrix @nejires-hado @reirvival (let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!)
