We're gonna run out of cake at this rate

Oh my god. *collapses* Christmas shopping is now done. I have spent so much money. /0\

Well, okay, it's not that much, and I bought a fuckload of stuff, but it was kind of all at the same time, and it seems outrageous. I do this every year; I set aside one day in early December and just spend like three hours at the mall and go to all the shops and cobble together a few gifts each for mum, dad and sister (and this year, baby Nicky). I HAVE BOUGHT ALL THE BOOKS. Seriously, there were these gorgeous picture books, and Neil Gaiman's illustrated issue of Instructions, and a Winnie the Poo collection (Nicky adores them), and I bought my mum one of them large travel books, and a CD of Anna Netrebko performing live (she loves her), and I got Robbie Williams' Swing when you're winning for my dad, been meaning to give him this for years, and I got GNeil's Fragile Things for myself (I consider this tattoo research, okay, my next tattoo is going to be a quote from the selfsame story), and a silly paranorma romancel book that has nothing to recomment it but the fact that it's set in Oxford, and I just couldn't resist. I remember faffing around Broad Street and thinking up something remarkably similar to this plot in my head (only mine was so much more complicated in terms of mythology, Jesus, I am a nerd).

And all the while, I was thinking of the Phil Son of Canton theory, which, WHAT EVEN. /0\ And also about Phil Vs Christmas. I can't decide whether Phil effin' hates it, or he secretly loves it and only pretends to hate it because people expect him to (and Clint somehow finds out, because he is one observant bastard whatever his other personal failings, and IDK, starts secretly smuggling gingerbread men into Phil's office and leaving the plate on his desk, and Phil's face when he sees it), or he just as unflappably and calmly as always decorates his office with mistletoe and pine branches and ornaments and shit, and gives everyone a heart attack when they see it and think the Avengers have finally driven him round the bend. #happy place

And now I'm sat at Starbucks, recuperating; I've straight out inhales my gigantic toffee nut latte and am as I type trying to talk myself out of having another. In other news, my cousin is dragging me to see Breaking Dawn tonight, fucking hell. It's a good thing I love her. /0\

So there. That was my day so far; the only thing to make it more bearable apart from mentally constructing Phil's origins story was this awesome Clint/Phil fic, Jesus, what is it about this pairing that makes me all hot and bothered yet strangely mushy-hearted? IDEK.

Right. I'll be putting up the Christmas Trope Fest post in a bit, while trying to talk myself out of writing either of those two fics out in full. /0\ It is not being a good day about my self-control.