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Hi, hello, I am now Helnik trash. So here I am, needing some fluff to offset my pain. Thank you for your contribution to the cause.
I think my favorite thing about this whole thing is your end line. It just ends this in such a powerfully sweet way. The build to it is endearing beyond words. Matthias disclosing things that are traditional and dear to him, even if not largely in practice anymore, it had me all :pleading face: :swooning body: And Nina wanting to celebrate with him because its NEAR AND DEAR TO HIM.
:skull emoji: I have died. DIIIIED from the fluff. DIIIIED.
Also, I like that you did something a little different than just them gazing up at the stars. I thought that was very cool and clever.
<3 Courtney
lo!! :) here for the up the mountain event :)
so my knowledge of the grishaverse is confined to the tv show but nina and matthias had a very definite ~chemistry in that so this seemed super exciting to stop by :)
and look, i'm not sure whether fluff is something you usually write or you like writing it, but either way you should probably do some more of it because you're very very good at it :P i mean, this is just... super cute. like, super super cute. it's the way that they're sort of together and it's like a First Holiday Season Together type vibe and they're exploring all these new ways of celebrating - and learning about each other in the process. and none of it is super big or flashy or anything but it's still emotional and still meaningful and ahhh just very very cute :)
i love how you used nina's curiosity in this. because it's a part of her that i resonate with so much but it's also a bit of a different side to her normal witty, kickass kind of persona - and it allows her to be a bit softer and a bit more gentle i think. and ahhh the whole vibe of them walking around reminded me of going to christmas markets in germany and france, with the cold winds and the overcast skies and all the lights... ahh it was so good :)
and the ending!! with the snow coming even though they sort of bungled their way through the celebration haha, with the food being eaten and the lights not quite right - it was really cute and a really sweet end :)
laura xx
AHHHHH!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 You are going to make my heart grow three sizes reading this collection I can already tell! This was so fucking warm and precious and sweet and cuddly and lovey and just AHHHH!!! :ELMORE FIRE: The way they're just so comofortable with each other? That she knew he was missing his traditions and makes sure that he has them <3 Even if they weren't perfect or the same as his family would have done - the way that it's their tradition now <3 AHHHHHHH
AHHHHHHHHHHHH
v excited you are now posting this for the world to see, i will thoroughly enjoy screaming at all of it for a second time
Hello hello! Here for our swap. I was excited to come to this - I've read a lot of Leigh Bardugo and love her characters, but it was a while back now so I don't remember all the details very well, and I've never read any Grisha-verse fanfiction, so this is new for me.
I can imagine Nina loving the christmas lights. She's somebody that recognises and cares about beauty, and I like the idea of her enjoying the world all decorated and wintery. Also loved the little reference to Kaz <3
Tustarjna sounds gorgeous. I love seeing Matthias so comfortable with Nina, telling her about his upbringing and about his family traditions. It's so sweet seeing them getting the chance to be happy together and just go about life together.
"It was Fjerda, Nina, darling. There was always a snowfall" made me laugh.
And then Nina brings Matthias's traditions to Kerch for him! Such a sweet ending and definitely very fluffy and satisfying!
I really enjoyed reading this. Thank you for sharing! Jem xx
heyyy friend, i'm here for our swap!
so i'm a sucker for snow and for candles and for twinkling lights :elmofire: which means by default i would also like to celebrate tüstarjna :elmofire:
but joking aside, this was well and truly fluffy fluff fluffy and i love how nina is obviously so very into matthias that when he tells her about this old tradition from his homecountry (?) she's immediately all like, yes, i'm going to do this thing for this guy who owns my heart 1000% because it's cute and something that would make him happy and surprised in the best way :D
also i have no idea whether that's an actual tradition from the books but regardless of that, i love the way you used it together with the stargazing prompt, how it so fits together perfectly it's all just a+++ fluffy cute fluff
i am, of course, delighted that snow actually fell in ketterdam for the first time in decades because i love snow but also it was the perfect way to end this chapter *_*
kris
Hi Lo! Here for our review swap.
Okay so this was super cute and cozy and I loved it. I think you did an amazing job bringing in a whole bunch of different things into such a short piece and making it all cohesive and cute and adorable. I love how they went and celebrated Tustarjna after hearing Matthias talk about how his grandmother used to do it. I think it’s really cute that Nina picked up on the fact that you could really tell that Matthias was super reminiscent about his memories with his grandmother. I love that she decided to make a second set of memories with him, as an adult in an amazing relationship. Also, I think it’s absolutely adorable that it snowed at the end of the chapter, because what better way to make the holiday seem magical than have its effect occur?
I absolutely loved this and how soft and cute it was and I will be back for the next chapter of our swap tomorrow (short brain cells atm). Also "yeet" is one of the best author's notes I've ever seen.
~Olivia
Hi Lo, figured I'd get started with this for the flash review event!
Snow and Matthias and Nina <3 I love how snow came for them and made a little home for them in Kerch I love this cuteness so much <333 Nina is so cute and I just adore her so much.
AH
Hi Lo,
Here for our swap!
So I really love some of the tropes of this pairing anyway. I've only read one book so not fully update but they're so brilliant in this. I know they're different people that have come together. I think you've shown really beautifully their differences but there totally willingness to share and learn for each other which honestly makes this piece as wonderfully fluffy as it is. I love how nina carries on the tradition which seems so important to matthias' family. ?
I really like how you've created such atmosphere in a piece as short as this. I really feel scenery and you've captured the weather and general festive feeling around. Like using the senses, the spiced wine and the like. I love how there is something so magical about it as well. It snows! Which is such a good cute ending but it really feels like it's the depths of their love which really make that happen which I love so much!! They're quite an angsty pairing but this was a little slice of heaven that they deserve. This is such is a *chefskiss* piece.
I also love the structure that you've used with the song having tones in each chapter which is really clever. Probably my fave album of hers. congratulations on gifting us this piece. I'm excited to read on more! Thank you so much for the swap darling!
Abbi xx
Hi!!! I'm here for some of this fluffy story!
I don't anything about these characters but there's enough emotion being emitted that I immediately felt drawn to them as a couple. The whole christmas vibe was so spot on and honestly felt like the perfect atmosphere for a couple to be lovey dovey with each other.
I loved that Nina is trying to learn and recreate the traditions that are important to Matthias. It just shows how much she cares about him and takes his customs seriously enough to make them a part of their current lives.
The fact that that it snows at the end is just so dreamy ::heart eyes:: It was the perfect imagery to finish this absolute fluff of a piece. Thank you for leaving me with all of the feels <3
Love, Quilly.
ummm hello i am SCREAMING at how cute this is. i love it so much, it has that absolute festive lover vibe while also still totally making sense for this pair and i adore it omg LOOO.
firstly the way she wants to make sure his holiday is celebrated and wants to keep matthias's traditions going is adorable. like come on she is so so cute. and the snow at the end i just want to roll around and be covered in it because the cuteness is overwhelming ! you've turned them into a chistmas card or snowglobe of actual facehurtingfromsmiling level fluff. i actually just need so much more of this... say a whole 29 more chapters for example... that would be great..............
i can't wait to read the next one ♥?
Hi, Lo! Here for our swap! <3
Aww... this was so, so cute! I have no idea who these characters are, but I love the atmosphere you've created with this little drabble! I love Christmas, the magic of the lights and decorations, all the old traditions... and I love how all this makes this lovely frame for Nina and Mathias and their sweet relationship. They'd stopped at a vendor's booth near their apartment that was selling warm spiced wine, and the alcohol, combined with Matthias's arm curled around her shoulders, pressing her into the side of his body, had kept the chill away from her bones. I loved this image so much, love the warmth and sweetness it evokes! <3
The Tustärjna tradition sounds so cool! I love that they decided to recreate it, even if in an unperfect way and with their own spin to it. It was so lovely and such a sweet thought on Nina's part to bring back a tradition of Matthias' childhood... I love the way you used the stargazing prompt, linking it to the holiday tradition. And the closing, with the first snowfall in decades, was so poetic and sweet, too!
Really, really loved this! Brilliant job! Thank you so much for the swap! <3
Snowball hug,
Chiara
hii lo here for our swap <3
i really need to continue reading the books haha but i love how you just also address that it isnt the same but that nina is still enjoying parts of it. also i totally feel her re the lights!
oooooooooof totally feel that, esp w living near the ocean myself. it can be brutal
that sounds gorgeous
i want to take in those sights
oooh i love that practise
hahah, valid
oooh, i love that she wants to pay homage to his traditions and that it doesnt exactly the way its meant to but its lovely that the effort is made
OH AND SNOW FELL
i absolutely love this. lovely drabble <3
looo hello! here for our swap, and i'm so excited to start reading your helnik fluff ♥
i absolutely love the almost whimsical feel of this piece. its so soft and light which is not really something i associate with ketterdam, but it works well with nina and matthias because of course nina would love all of the little holiday traditions and the magic associated with the season. and ketterdam is usually such a dreadful place, but i loved that you captured a side of the city that we don't get to see, and you did such a great job of pulling me in. it felt like i was wandering around with nina and matthias as they walked, learning about matthias' traditions. i love that he's so comfortable with her and that he's so willing to tell her about his old family traditions
and, of course, i love the way that you pulled the lyrics of the title into the first little fluff and into the tradition - it's so clever and wonderful, and it makes me even more excited to see what else you've come up with for these two
i love nina so much, and that of course, as soon as matthias tells her about a tradition, she immediately wants to try and learn and celebrate it. he seems all the happier to let her, and even though they don't get it perfectly, they still try, and it's so heartwarming and lovely and i just absolutely adore it. and i love the way you pulled the stargazing into the last bit of the prompt, of just the two of them curled together and enjoying each other's time
AND THE SNOW AT THE END, LO, OH MY GOD. FLUFFY CHILLS ALL AROUND
this was so light and fluffy and perfectly helnik and i'm so excited that these babies get to enjoy this time together (we're gonna ignore what happens in canon for our own sanity, okay) because they really deserve it. it's so fluffy and i love it so much, and 10/10 choice in songs because lover is definitely fluffy as hell
excited for more!! ♥
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