#tnbk

[wickedwonder]

@sararaasch

I HallowClaus-ed the new couple meme. Coal has his priorities sorted right.

[ma-lark-ey]

I’m plagued by thoughts so; royals & romance headcanons

— Hex is really into researching disasters both manmade and natural. anything from the joplin tornadoes to the sampoong department mall.

— Coal is really into listening to Hex talk about said disasters. Podcast while he folds laundry? no. “hey, babe, what was that storm documentary you were watching?”

— Kris has a spreadsheet for anything.

— I already posted this one but I’ll say it again. Kris is allergic to cats & Coal DESPERATELY wants a cat.

— Loch & Coal have an elaborate prank war. I’m talking month long con level prank war.

— One time Iris wore a baby blue dress to something & Coal was very dramatic about it and pretended he had no idea who she was for like a solid thirty minutes.

— Loch & Hex’s text history is exclusively links to music or weird video essays.

— Loch has a minimum of 5000 liked songs on whatever streaming platform he uses. He also has an absurdly large CD collection & refuses to get a new car because newer models don’t have CD players.

— Hex is Carpenter and has been a Carpenter since Eyes Wide Open. He’s taking this to his GRAVE.

— Kris is left-handed. He told me himself.

— Hex & Kris hate-read books they know they will both loathe JUST to bitch about them to each other. Coal calls this their enrichment time.

— The Hallows are a board game family. Coal is deeply confused when he discovers this. He quickly gets crash coursed in the art of family game night. He is a menace in Ticket to Ride.

— Loch has made a fun game of seeing how dirty his jokes can get before one of the Claus brothers shut him down. It’s an even split on which one stops him first.

— There is a running tally of who’s gotten Hex to curse the most. Kris is in the lead.

— Kris and Iris were Warrior Cats kids.

— Coal was more nervous about meeting Hex’s siblings than his parents.

— Kris learned everything he knows about spreadsheets from Coal. Coal is ALSO a big spreadsheets guy.

— Hex went to Dashcon 2. I saw him there. Trust me on this. Coal was with him but Coal has no idea what Dashcon is.

— When Kris gets overstimulated Loch tells him to go lay under his weighted blanket for ten minutes. Kris will always grumble & then always be even more annoyed when it works.

This has been my tedtalk.

[the-bastard-king]

An ad worked on me? An ad worked on me? An ad actually WORKED on me?

I couldn't help it, The Nightmare Before Kissmas just looked too silly to pass up? I'm not familiar with the author's work and I don't typically stray outside of my circle too often so I wasn't sure if it would be good or bad or even my cup of tea at all but I read the sample and then got sucked the fuck in? It's so charming with what it is and what it's trying—no, what it IS doing, that I can't put it down? It caught me so off guard with pure charm? The last published book that sucked me in this hard was Not Even Bones (and, considering I will never recover from Kovit-fever and is to this day one of my favorite books I've ever read up there with Vicious and Six of Crows, that is intended to be the BIGGEST compliment.)

I'm dyslexic as fuck, and multiple concussions have destroyed my already iffy ability to focus, so being able to read and read FAST is no longer my strong suit and it has been honestly very hard on me. But this book? This book kept me locked in. When I wasn't reading it? I was thinking about it. I can't even begin to express how much I am enjoying it and what it means to be able to inhale something and enjoy it this much.

I need to word-vomit an unhinged rant about this silly, wonderful, endearing as fuck book now.

It's made me laugh A LOT, it almost got me to tears (and I'm not done yet so jury's still out, I might yet cry), and it has swerved so many expectations that I am honestly downright giddy about it.

Coal? I love Coal. He has the makings of being a huge, immature, grade-A asshole, but he's NOT, because he cares SO MUCH about his Holiday and his friends (and even his dad, who probably doesn't deserve it). He's funny as hell and retrospective enough that I often times for get he's a little (a lot) horny, which I don't see very often in YA books. I love his humor, his self-deprecative tendencies, I love his growth, and his empathy. He makes me feel so sad and happy all at the same time and I LOVE him for it.

Iris? Oh god where to begin, I totally understand why Kris is captivated with her. (And as much as I love her and Coal's friendship, sometimes I'm just like, dude, how can you NOT be in love with her? Lmao.) She's kind, strong, gentle, and wonderful in so many ways. She's gorgeous as fuck and I want her to be able to spend as much time in a meadow lounging as she desires. I'm also obsessed with her relationship with her dad and the boys. Even in the year fucking 2024, it's hard to find girl-guy friendships that feel believable. Coal wordlessly giving her his hand so she can paint his nails is going to live rent-free in my head forever.

Kris? God I love Kris. I love him because he reminds me of myself—of my siblings—and he and Coal swap those roles so often it just makes me love them more. It's hard to talk about Kris without talking about his brother because so much of what I like about him is his relationship with Coal. They're such realistic siblings that they make me want to hug them both SO HARD for HOURS. Kris is brave, strong, funny, and every time Coal surges to defend him is potent as hell because I feel that way too. The urge to protect a little sibling is so strong I feel like I wanna reach through the page and put myself squarely between Kris and whatever ails him. (Even if he's probably taller and buffer than be by a long shot.)

ALSO HEX. God, I wasn't necessarily worried about him being a troubled/traumatized goth stereotype (mostly because I like those types of characters), but boy, am I SO GLAD he's not! He's dark, hot, spooky, but also so fucking soft and sweet that it makes me want to bundle him up and watch scary movies with him forever and a day. (Coal can join too, I guess. But this is just because Hex and I would be besties. [Jkjk lol.]) I love his love for his Holiday, for his culture, I adore the entire scene where they talk about ofrendas being his favorite tradition (and yes, this is the part that almost made me tear up). He's SO. MUCH. FUN. Sometimes when you read a romance, you just can't fucking understand why the MC is going for their love interest, but with Hex? I GET it. The writing and prose totally makes me understand why Coal is falling for him. Would I? Probably not, but that's what makes the fact that I understand where Coal is coming from SO IMPRESSIVE.

Speaking of impressive? The world building? Author... you did not have to go that hard, but you DID and I LOVE you for it. I wasn't quite prepped for the political romance to have THAT MUCH politics and I LOVE it. I love the thought put into the Holidays and how they work within the world, about how much the characters care about them. There's so much interesting stuff I would genuinely read a fucking textbook on it if the author wrote one. (And I... cannot read textbooks to save my life, so that is truly saying something.) Like, the author could have been lazy with it, done surface level world building, but there's so much MORE packed into a ~350 page book that I can't help but be in awe of it all. I love how cozy it all feels, I love how wonderful and nostalgic the feeling of the Holidays are. I love how the author makes me feel like I'm a child again any time the 'true meaning of Christmas' is talked about, or any time Halloween is delved into. I am six years old again with my nose pressed to a cold, car window, hot chocolate on my breath, as we drive around and look at the holiday lights. I am a child giggling with glee as the spooky lawn ornaments scream and cackle on a Halloween night. It is wonderful and I have enjoyed this experience so, so much.

And that isn't even getting into the group chat. I am Coal, Coal is me. We have one goal and one goal only: to cast as much psychic damage as possible upon all of our friends. I LOVE how much the group chats feel like actual chats between friends. It makes me smile because it reminds me of MY friends.

I'm just... sgduahdiahidhaifhiahfia AGHHHH!! I am so ungodly obsessed with this book and I don't want it to end.

[randomoranges]

The brainrot is real apparently lamaooo.

Finished rereading the book for the second time last night.

Inspired by the One Ghostie that appears in existence towards the end lol.

Have a chibi Christmas Prince cuddling said ghostie while his beau is busy elsewhere haha.

[wickedwonder]

I want someone to draw this (I still do! 👀) and I can’t draw but I have free will and an image super impose app so, say less, Sara, and here you go, Holigays squad. (P.S: they’re taking their first trip as a couple together and are not using teleportation magic because Hex wanted them to travel like a regular couple and have the ‘airport experience,’ where are they going? You decide!)

@sararaasch

[ma-lark-ey]

according to my calendar 🤓☝️ its Coal’s birthday. so legally I’m posting my favorite unposted Coal fake tweets. ft. one tweet I’m certain i posted but its not marked as posted as i can’t find it on my page so i guess i made that shit up

[ma-lark-ey]

road trips are boring as fuck. in other news i’m calling this post; a collection of fake tweets that past-me didnt deem funny enough to post & was in fact wrong in that judgement.

[wickedwonder]

I saw this scene while scrolling on TikTok and I had to do it with the Holi-gays squad.

——

Iris: So, who broke the coffee machine? I’m not mad. I just wanna know.

Kris: I did. I broke it. Iris-

Iris: No. No, you didn’t. Coal?

Coal: Don’t look at me. Look at Loch!

Loch: What?! I didn’t break it.

Coal: Huh. That’s weird. How'd you even know it was broken?

Loch: Because it’s sitting right in front of us and it’s broken!

Coal: Suspicious.

Loch: No, it’s not!

Finn: If it matters, probably not… Hex was the last one to use it.

Hex: Liar! I don’t even drink that crap!

Finn: Oh really? Then what were you doing by the coffee cart earlier?

Hex: I use the wooden stirrers to push back my cuticles! Everyone knows that!

Kris: All right, let’s not fight. I broke it, let me pay for it, Iris.

Iris: No. Who broke it?

Loch: Siobhán’s been awfully quiet…

Siobhán: Really, Lochy?!

Loch: Yeah, really!

—

Iris: I broke it. I burned my hand so I punched it. I predict ten minutes from now, they’ll be at each other’s throats with warpaint on their faces and a pig head on a stick.

Iris: Good. It was getting a little chummy around here.