#2020 VC Secret Santa

[bvartsy]

A bit of art from the archive of the super talented and always real. Pkettles~

( Some secret santa's, vc doodles, shitposts, and bdays mostly )

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Honestly have to credit them back in late 2020 / 2022 for really giving me a second wind for the NG community, and just being an all around really positive and motivating force, not just for me, but a lot of my close friends and mutuals at the time and still to this day. I think they've really become a beacon for this community as a whole, and really prove where talent, gumption, and morals can get you. To anyone who's ever been inspired by a real one, or who had a positive influence from PK, this post is for you.

Never stop growing. Never stop improving. and always stay humble. This site is where greats are made.

And if you ever need a reminder of if modern artists hold a torch to the past legends, just keep an eye out for what Kettles is cookin, and you'll have your answer.

[vcsecretgifts]

To: @sweetasambrosia

From: @superhiki

The prompt I received was for Louis and Lestat coming to terms with romantic feelings towards one another. It’s a complicated, messy, and deeply individual concept, so I tried to imagine what that reconciliation within each character would look like during a peaceful wintery evening. 

It’s cold out, they’re embracing in a way where Louis has anchored himself to Lestat and is feeling grounded and comfortable.. Reconciliation is peace and warmth to Louis. 

Lestat, on the other hand, is bright eyed and day dreaming, he can feel Louis there and is so certain that Louis will stay that he ironically feels freer than ever. He’s imagining the things they can do together and is full of excitement. 

[i-want-my-iwtv]

Hello! I'm late with this, but this VC Secret Santa seems to be such a nice idea and would have been curious to know more about it, what is the idea in it. I'm living again the fandom and it has been so great to see everything related to it in here, fan arts and fan fiction. Thanks and all the best! - Carolus

Hello! I'm late with this, but this VC Secret Santa seems to be such a nice idea...  I'm living again the fandom and it has been so great to see everything related to it in here, fan arts and fan fiction. Thanks and all the best! - Carolus

Welcome Carolus, what a lovely thing to say ^______^

and would have been curious to know more about it, what is the idea in it.

We have a tab about the history and the process, basically, the Vampire Chronicles Secret Gift Exchange started as a Secret Santa exchange during the holiday season of 2014 run by one of the fandom’s favorite Louis role players, @merciful-death. They needed help, and I joined them as a co-mod, and in the time since, we have held several exchanges outside of the holiday season–Valentine’s, spring, and summer exchanges. Our largest exchange has always been during the holidays as a Secret Santa. As merciful-death has eased out of VC fandom in the past few years, with their blessing I kept the exchange going with my frequent writing collaborator @wicked-felina co-modding it, and the two of us currently run the VCSG. Sometimes we have a volunteer deputy elf to help remind the Santas of deadlines and help answer questions!

The first VCSG exchange’s idea was pretty much the same as it is 6 years later: mainly to generate fanworks, since that’s the lifeblood of a fandom, in our opinion. And when it’s set up like a Secret Santa, ppl can ask for a gift based on a prompt, like: “Marius and Daniel, playing with new holiday gadgets from Hammacher Schlemmer in the ‘00s!” and we assign someone who seems to be the best match in terms of the prompts they said they’d be willing to fill for. It can take the form of fanart, fic, moodboards, playlists, etc. 

As we say in our Keep in Mind tab, the exchange is open to everyone of all skill levels, and you may be paired with someone lower/higher than your own, all gifts are made with care and to the best of the gifter’s abilities in the time allowed ^____^ We match gifters/receivers primarily by character/pairing/prompt, and type of gift. Skill level is not a deciding factor in the matches. 

Having an assignment and a limited time to fill it is also motivational to get creating those fanworks; after all, there’s someone eagerly awaiting what you’re making! But Real Life comes first, and art/writer’s blocks are very real things, so we have been very grateful for substitute Santas in the past, I’m sure we’ll need them this year, so you can feel free to volunteer for that, if you would like to do so! 

And then when the gifts are posted on or after Christmas Eve, in a real sense, the gifts are for the whole fandom, bc we all enjoy them. Especially for characters we rarely see fanworks of, or pairings we didn’t get in canon at all (like old fandom favorite Jesse/Gabrielle). 

♥♥♥

[rakibahameed01]

Hello, Are you looking for a logo for work? If you want create a logo design for your company, you can contact me. If your business has an old logo, you can create a new one. The types of work I do are : 1. Logo design, 2. Real estate. I can give you better service than all other vendors.

[bucksbisexual]

well, well, well. it’s the end of 2020.

kinda weird, isn’t it? the year has flown by and it’s already the end of the last month. it’s been..... strange to say the least, but this year i’ve found a place, and most specifically, people who have made this year a little bit better and brighter with either their presence or their content, and for that, i want to send some love to all of you who have made an impact on me this year with our interactions or your content on my dashboard 💖💖

i feel like i should start with everyone who has added me in their follow forevers (i still can’t believe i was even part of a single one??? i- 🥺) so let me do just that hehe

@yihwas​ soph!! we haven’t interacted much but every time we did u have been nothing but the sweetest and kindest person ever and that made such a great impact on me, thank u for being so amazing 🥰💛

@planthusbands​ cass!!! even though our age gap is 10 whole years you have been nothing but welcoming and lovely to me and u truly feel like an older sister to me 🥺💚 the cover u did for our secret santa hugs me tightly whenever i feel down 💖

@petekaos​ rahul!!!! (or should i say rhaul kjsjfhsfj my fingers h*te u for no reason i swear) u are such a lovely person and i’m so glad to be able to have gotten to know u better this year. you’re so amazing and u already know from before we even interacted that i Love ur fics so please never let anything stop u from writing!! 💙

@wjmild​ kylie!!! we have been talking more lately because of both of us (well, now only me) watching guardian and it’s so much fun!! i love hearing ur thoughts and opinions on things even if they differ from mine because i find u really interesting!!! also u’ve probably heard this from everyone from the gc but i love ur voice jhfkjsf love u lotsss 🧡

@toptaps​ zey!! we haven’t interacted much and have barely spoken on dms but u’re so lovely and kind 💛 ur love for things makes me want to love them as well (see: guardian) and i would love to get to know u better this year that’s just around the corner 🥰

okay and now.. to everyone else!!

@brightwin​ jelly!!! i miss u tons :-( but thank u for being so lovely whenever we interacted, you’re so nice to everyone and so so so talented when it comes to giffing, you’re pretty much the person who made me want to start giffing so thank u for creating such masterpieces 💛

@gunatps​ vee!!! are u feeling better love? i hope you’re recovering well <3 i loved getting to know u this year and loved all the weird conversations in the gc when it was alexa, u and me or sometimes just u and me, i miss bicis but hopefully bicis can come back as soon as u recover. ur korn apologist agenda was strong but u ended up being right... truly The Monarch skjfhsj love u lots 🧡 (i will join ur next chanonpom breakdown on vc okay? just tell me when and i’ll be there <3)

@kimmonv​ violet!!! we haven’t talked much but u seem like such an interesting and funny person, i would love to talk more with u this next year 🥰 i loved being ur secret santa (even if i sucked at it) and i felt rlly happy when u said u liked it!! i hope 2021 treats u well 💚

@lee-thanat​ ke!!! i loved getting to know u a little this year and i definitely loved trying to read ur nonsensical messages that were supposed to mean something KHSFJSHF i also loved playing with u on among us that one time even if i killed u once (sorry about that btw... ily), i hope everything’s going well and that we can talk more next year 💜

@soulmatelines​ jo!!! my twin sjkfjksfh i loooved getting to know u this year!! you’re so funny and so smart even if ur artistic skills are... Not The Best skfjhjfhks (neither are mine so it’s okay, no need to feel bad) i loved being on vc with u and just talking with u on discord whenever u were online, i hope we can continue doing that next year!!! love u lots 💛

@pvrrish​ eleni!! we’ve talked so little this year that i can barely remember if there was any conversation at all :-(( but i would love to get to know u better this next year!! u seem like such an interesting person and u and angel are friends so i’m sure u’re amazing!! hope 2021 treats u well 💚

@class2clown​ angel!!! it’s been such a pleasure to get to know u this year and i can’t believe that it’s already been months since we first spoke :’)) all of ur creations are soooo good and i love all of them!!! i hope nothing ever stops u from creating more because they’re all so amazing!!! 🧡

@floralbfs​ augs!!!! god it’s been a while since we started talking but u’ve always been so lovely and have always been there to share ur ideas for the thousand unwritten/posted pangwave and khaithird fics on our dms... i’m so glad that u rbed one of my tgg posts asking for the drama’s name because otherwise i wouldn’t have gotten to know someone as amazing as u 🥰 i hope 2021 is easier for u, sending u lots of love 💛

@vihokratanas​ mel!!! we haven’t spoken much but i’ve noticed that we share our love for a few dramas so i’d love to get to know u better this next year!!! u and violet’s almost daily spam on the bops channel is dearly missed but i know u guys are busy so hopefully this 2021 will be a bit more relaxed 🧡

@doctorbahnjit​ alexa my love!!!!! what can i even tell u.... you’ve been nothing but kind since day 1 that we started talking on the gc and to get to know u this 2020 was such a delight. thank u for being who u are and thank u for watching dramas with me on vc even if u can’t (or i can’t) hear shit, i appreciate it sososososo much and i just love spending hours upon hours (well, until ur grandma ass has to go to sleep) chatting and watching debatably good dramas with u and dawn <3 i hope 2021 treats u better and that u still stay being as awesome as u are 🥰💖

@pangwave​ dawnnie my baby!!!!! hi bb how’s everything going?? i hope u’re okay, i miss u a lot :-(( getting to know u this year has been one of the best things that have come out of this hellhole of a year. thank u for making most of my nights so entertaining with both ur thoughts and ur dumb fights with alexa, they’ve been the highlight of my days from these past 2 months :’) the endless vc calls with u and alexa (and ur shitty internet cutting every single one of ur sentences)  have made my year so much better and i can’t thank u enough for that. u and ur crabsticks and ur opinions and ur incredibly good gifsets are truly some of the best things that have come out of this year. thank u sosososo much for being how u are, i love u so much dawnnie 🥰💖

here’s some other people who have been on my dash for a while and that i appreciate their content as well: @scoupslipgloss (i mostly rb u with my sideblog but i love ur acc!!!) @vocalunits @chaoticbiwuxian @drwcn @bimingjue​ (i wouldn’t be a gifmaker if it wasn’t for u sending me the ps download link so i owe u my Life) @aanau (i rb a lot of what u post and i’m sorry if i have ever spammed u skjfhjsf i just love ur blog even if we don’t really share any fandoms aaaa) @emisfritish @leoyunxi @1akorn @gunsatthaphan @asianmelodrama @fushiguroo @khaotungthanawat @mymycorrhizae @jaehwany​ and @coldties amongst the many blogs that i’ve seen all year on my dash!!!! everyone’s content and posts have gotten me through 2020 so thank u all so much for staying on tumblr 💗

i feel like i’ve forgotten people but please know that if u are not in this but we’ve interacted in any way then you’ve most definitely made some kind of impact to me!! these are just the people i talk with the most 💖

thank u all for being soooo amazing and i hope 2021 is good to everyone here and to everyone who reads this. happy holidays and happy new year to everyone 🥰💖✨

[gesteckt1]

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In short, the charger has changed my daily carry. The small size and weight make it easy enough to include in my cable pouch. I’ve also been able to trim some cables because of it. Now, I just need a USB-C to Lightning cable, my MacBook USB-C charger, and its USB-C to USB-C cable to power every Apple device I take with me, including AirPods.If you’d prefer something a tiny bit lighter and smaller, check out the 10k version. It will also save you $10. But, overall, I think the 5-Day Fast Portable Charger hits a very sweet spot as the far as ports, compact size, and cost are concerned. (If you really are interested in regularly charging a laptop with USB-C, you should look at the 20k version) Oh, and as an added bonus: Nimble’s portable chargers are made with recyclable aluminum and plant-based bioplastics. The packaging is intentional as well with recycled paper and no harmful inks, plastics, or dyes. To top it off, an envelope is included to ship other electronics back to them free, for responsible recycling.A big promise of USB-C was more device compatibility, including laptops, and now with Nimble’s 13k and the others in the line of portable chargers, I think we’re reaching that promise. At the very least, it will help keep you connected to the things that matter when no outlet is near.

It's not like there aren't cool VR experiences. One of the most popular right now is Beat Saber, a $20 rhythm game in which you slice through bricks to the beat of a song. It's become the top-selling VR game on the popular Valve Steam Store, and people who've filmed themselves playing have garnered millions of views on YouTube.But even with those successes, the money that might help fund developers, game studios and others working on those killer apps seems to be drying up.Venture funding for consumer VR software companies may drop by more than half this year, to $265 million from $576 million a year ago, SuperData says. It's even a third lower than funding levels in 2015, just after Facebook's Oculus acquisition.

VCs aren't the only ones cooling on VR. Industry executives and developers tell me that alternative sources are drying up, too. They say Hollywood marketing teams, which had tapped companies to build VR apps to hype hit movies such as 2016's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and TV shows including Game of Thrones, are paying less and appear to be more cautiously approaching projects.Even early VR boosters are tapping the brakes. Samsung, which was one of the first to market with its Gear VR mobile headset, didn't say anything about VR in its major headset announcements this year.That's sure to be on the minds of the more than 2,500 developers heading to San Jose for Facebook's fifth annual Oculus Connect developer conference, starting Wednesday. There, they'll brainstorm in talks like "the next generation of storytelling," "video that doesn't suck" and, tellingly, "building brand + community (on a budget)."

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"There has been a cool-down in general in terms of investment," said Tipatat Chennavasin, a general partner at the Venture Reality Fund. Companies are still getting funded, he notes, and new initiatives like VR arcades, where people can go to a mall or a warehouse and play VR games in a large room, are gaining traction.The wait for VR's eventual uptick has already been too long for Nicolás Alcalá, a film producer in LA who founded a well-regarded VR studio Future Lighthouse in 2015. At the beginning of this year, he had to shut down because he couldn't raise enough money to keep going.People need a reason to try VR and they don't have it yet, he said. "The industry is hoping people will embrace this new technology that isn't yet so useful, but it's cool."

The killer app isn't some mythical thing in tech. It's a proven, reliable way to get you and me to buy.Nintendo's Wii video game console took off in large part because of Wii Sports, a tennis, golf and bowling game that sold nearly 83 million copies after its 2006 debut, making it one of the most successful games ever. The Wii went on to sell more than 101 million units, becoming one of the best-selling consoles of all time. It was replaced by the less popular Wii U in 2012.Not so much with VR. After decades of development, billions of dollars of investment and so much hype Steven Spielberg made a movie about it earlier this year, there isn't anything that truly resonates beyond VR's current fan base.Industry executives say they still have hope, in particular because many of VR's nagging technological problems are being solved.One of the biggest complaints is that high-end headsets such as Facebook's Oculus Rift, HTC's $499 Vive and Sony's $299 PlayStation VR need a powerful computer or video game console to power them, adding hundreds of dollars of cost.

Oculus' upcoming "Santa Cruz" headset, which doesn't yet have a release date or price, won't need a computer to offer a high-end experience. That means it also gets rid of the annoying wire that connects headsets to computers."So many pain points are disappearing in VR, and it's being ignored at the worst possible time," said Denny Unger, creative director of Cloudhead Games, which makes the well-reviewed episodic VR puzzle solving series The Gallery.Those hundreds of millions of dollars dropping out of VR investment aren't disappearing. They're shifting to companies working on augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR), where computer information is laid on top of the real world. Think Pokemon Go, which dropped cartoon monsters around your neighborhood that you saw through your phone.It's not just in our smartphones. There are mixed-reality headsets like Microsoft's HoloLens, Magic Leap and even Apple's secret research project reportedly aimed at creating a headset in 2020 with better specs and capabilities than anything on the market today.

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Unlike VR, whose use beyond video games is still unrefined, mixed reality has already impressed Ed Moore, senior technology strategist for oil giant Chevron. After testing all sorts of tech, he's bought hundreds of Microsoft HoloLens devices and is offering them to people who work on oil rigs and gas refineries this month.The killer app for Moore was a feature called remote assist, through which an expert can connect with employees anywhere in the world over video. While talking, the expert can draw circles, arrows and diagrams around a pipe, engine or whatever else the employee is looking at.It can take days to fly experts to a remote location where they're needed, Moore says, and that doesn't include the costs and risks associated with globe trotting. With HoloLens, they can have "an expert in the field" immediately.

The thing is, you and I aren't the target audience, at least not yet. HoloLens costs as much as $5,000 apiece, and it's intended for companies, though Microsoft has shown people using it to play things like the world-building game Minecraft as well. The $2,295 Magic Leap One is only meant for app creators and creatives for the next year or more, company co-founder Rony Abovitz said in August, as part of its strategy to get more apps in the market before he releases a lower-priced consumer version.Even so, money is already flowing into the technology. Investment in companies working on MR is expected to jump by nearly 50 percent this year to $427.1 million, according to SuperData. Next year, it'll jump again to $644.6 million.Sales of MR headsets are expected to explode to "tens of millions" of units by 2022, said Tim Merel, managing director of market watcher Digi-Capital. Part of the reason, he added, is that much of VR has been focused on gaming, while MR is already branching into the business world."Companies are seeing a return on investment right away," said Lorraine Bardeen, the general manager for MR efforts at Microsoft. "There are scenarios where VR is important, but the reason investment has been magnetically drawn to these use cases is they're proving themselves."

[vcsecretgifts]

To: @xxhellonursexx​

From: @good-evening-kiss​

The prompt: “(Character A) unwrapped his present and laughed with delight. “Thank you, (Character B)! I love it!”

I had some ideas for the prompt and it took a while to decide which one should I go ahead with. I chose this idea because I could imagine the reasons why Louis chose the gift for Lestat and why Lestat is happy with it. And I wanted to describe those in a comic...a 7 pages comic...even though I know I’m slow at drawing... I’m so sorry for being late to give you this gift. Hope you like it and have happy holidays!

[vcsecretgifts]

To: @good-evening-kiss​

From: @eliestela​

The promt: Louis and Lestat in a winter date.

Weeeeeeeeeell, I think you all already know I LOVE to make imaginary social media for our fav characters XD, so, now it’s The OTP’s turn! So, here are Louis and Lestat in a winter date double selfie.

Yes, several details all over the image! I could not stop myself!

Happy Christmas @good-evening-kiss​!

And of course, here’s the full illustration:

[vcsecretgifts]

♥ It’s that time of year again... the VC Secret Gift Exchange! This is the Vampire Chronicles annual fandom gift exchange. Yes I know I was going to try to do one this summer and it didn’t get to terminal velocity but THIS ONE WILL.

Signups are open, as we set the blog up for this year, signups tentatively close 11/22, giving the mods (myself and @wicked-felina) a few days to sort and assign by 11/26 so that ppl will have (almost) a full month to make their gifts ^_____^

Here is the Signups form, simply copy and paste it in our Submit, and respond to each item.

(Also, if you don’t want to join the Exchange, but you want to give a gift to the fandom at large, you can submit anytime!)

~~~

JOIN THE 2020 EXCHANGE!

( If you would like to participate anonymously, please include that in your submission.)

1. Are you over 18?: Y/N

2. As a Receiver:

2. (A) What characters/pairings would you like in your gift? Choose 1-3. Any prompts?

2. (B) Are there any specific characters/pairings/mediums/situations you DON’T want?:

——————–

3. As a Gifter (Santa):

3. (A) Do you have specific characters/pairings you would prefer to fill for?: Choose 1-3.

3. (B) Is there a certain medium you would prefer to fill for (fanart, fanfiction, graphics, playlist, etc.)?:

3. (C.) Is there any other important limitation regarding your gift?:

4. BONUS POINTS: Would you be willing to make another gift if someone drops out?:

[vcsecretgifts]

From: @xxhellonursexx

To: @thevampchronicles

This is my submission for the exchange. Prompt was “Louis/Lestat” during “Prince Lestat” era. DESCRIPTION: On a snowy night in Paris, Louis and Lestat stop off at the Cafe Vert after seeing “L’ Fantome de l'Opera,” and Lestat can’t stop raving about the show, much to the amusement of everyone. 

[vcsecretgifts]

From: @markergraveyard​

To:  @rip1009​

rip1009 asked for armand & nicolas doing something seasonal, so i thought ice skating would be fun! i dont think i’ve drawn nicki before this but im definitely going to start drawing him more💕

[vcsecretgifts]

From: @the-apostates-martyr

To: @immortal-chronicler

happy holidays love!

I'm so obsessed with Marius' modern day clothing choices and want to draw all the beautiful robes. Hope you enjoy <3

[vcsecretgifts]

To: @amelthebravennian​

From: @eliestela​

Prompt: Amel during Christmas.

Which I interpreted as: Amel confused by modern Christmas traditions: from the big tree to the ugly sweater, adding my personal favourite christmas movie: Die Hard. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it!

“What is this?!

“Why is this big?!"

”How is McClane gonna make it?!"

He’s definitely asking the right questions.

[vcsecretgifts]

"I've missed you."

Merry Christmas/happy holidays to you, @auburnandamberangel ! I am your Secret Santa, and here is my gift to you! :)

In your list of prompts, you mentioned "domestic cute" as a situation that you would like to see - it was what I would be most comfortable drawing, and then I had this idea about Armand and Daniel cuddling near the fireplace in a cozy domestic atmosphere, so I thought I would go for it. I had lots of fun painting this, and I hope you like it too! :)

I wish you have a beautiful holiday season with your loved ones, and keep up the great RP - I've loved your blog since forever! <3

From: @peachofhighgarden​

[vcsecretgifts]

Summary: Daniel is planning an addition to his model train set, Marius offers him encouragement, buying him some accessories for the addition. They have lived together for some four years, and little interaction has been had under the weight of their pasts. The weight presses in...

To: @superhiki​

From: @i-want-my-iwtv​

Relationship: Armand/Daniel Molloy Characters: Daniel Molloy, Marius de Romanus, (Armand is mentioned) Additional Tags: Angst, Blood, Mentions of Death, Aftermath of Violence, model train sets, Scrabble

This takes place after the events of Queen of the Damned, and in response to the below prompt from @superhiki for the @vcsecretgifts​ exchange of 2020 on tumblr.

Sorry for the late delivery, I had only intended for this to be 3-4 pages, and it overflowed! I really enjoyed writing this, Daniel's voice is sassy and fun, under all the angst, he's so lovable. If you enjoy reading this half as much as I enjoyed writing it, then it'll be a win.

Credit is also due to my collaborator Rebness (@wicked-felina​), and for my cheer squad @lestvt​, @codenamecesare​, and @sanguinivora​ (this last person, certainly not least, who gave me the draft for the opening paragraph and concept!).

@superhiki​'s prompt: "I’m always a fan of Armand, Daniel Molloy, Pandora, or Marius.  

Personally, I love “”“mad”“” Daniel when he is crashing (held captive?) at Grandpa Vampire Marius’ ridiculous home in whatever frosty part of the planet he’s at in Blood & Gold. Daniels’ obsession with model trains, jokes about model trains, and all dopey train paraphernalia is 10000% hilarious to me and will be enjoyed. Especially if Marius is involved and overtly annoyed by Daniel’s fascination. Extra Bonus Points if there is a Christmas Village (WITH A TRAIN) involved. That is the best piece of canon material Anne Rice ever wrote about a single vampire and is tragically under exploited in this fandom. I’m laughing just thinking about it. As a grown man who has spent his entire life bouncing between niche obsessions (much to the chagrin of my entire family) this is up and away a home run, hilarious/endearing bit I cherish about VC."

~~~

Daniel had decided to add a zoo.

The southwest corner, he'd build a set of raised tiers, then the various enclosures, allowing plenty of room for the N gauge model trains, of course. He’d have to strip out the grass and dig into the area that had been the swell of a mountain to do it, but major surgery on the understructure had never bothered him.  Daniel was a “Measure once, cut twice," kind of architect.

Marius had known about this decision without a word passed between them, and about a month ago, silently came into his room and handed him a lunch-sized paper bag of a few animals to start with, those that needed outdoor enclosures. Daniel immediately thought about snakes. He probably hadn’t gotten snakes. No sense in buying snakes for a herpetarium, there would be no windows to see in! Did hobby stores even make snakes? Or spiders? Spiders would be too small for even a model Z set, Daniel scoffed at the very idea.

Read the rest on AO3!

[vcsecretgifts]

From:  @artbychristopherashley

I made this for @wicked-felina, based on the request for a Loustat scene at Christmas. This is my first time doing this & I really enjoyed it! I don't want to get too dark, but I've been having some issues this month that hindered my abilities to work on this, so it's slightly different than I had planned - & much later submitted as well. 

 But! I learned that mistletoe is actually a parasitic plant. It sucks nutrients from trees. What a happy accident for symbolism.