#Fun Festive Melon Gifts

[noisycowboyglitter]

"10 Playful 'Tis The Sea Sun Summer' Designs for Your Next Vacation"

"Tis The Sea Sun Summer" is a playful phrase that cleverly combines the holiday-inspired "Tis the Season" with beachy summer elements. This catchy slogan encapsulates the essence of carefree summer

days spent by the ocean, under the warm sun.

Buy now:19.95$

The phrase evokes images of golden sand beaches, crystal-clear waters, and cloudless blue skies. It speaks to the joy of seaside activities like swimming, surfing, building sandcastles, and lounging under colorful umbrellas. The "Sea Sun" wordplay emphasizes the two key elements of a perfect beach day: the refreshing sea and the radiant sun.

This slogan could be used for various summer-related products or services, such as beach apparel, sunscreen, tropical vacations, or seaside restaurants. It's perfect for marketing campaigns, t-shirt designs, or social media hashtags aimed at beach lovers and summer enthusiasts.

"Tis The Sea Sun Summer" captures the laid-back, cheerful attitude associated with summer breaks. It reminds people to embrace the season, soak up the sun, enjoy the ocean, and make the most of the warm weather. The phrase serves as a celebration of summer's simple pleasures and the joyful, relaxed lifestyle that comes with seaside living.

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"Melon Christmas In July" is a quirky concept that blends the festive spirit of Christmas with the refreshing essence of summer melons. This unique celebration flips traditional holiday notions on their head, creating a fun, tropical twist on yuletide cheer.

Instead of snowflakes and hot cocoa, picture watermelon slices and chilled melon balls. Christmas trees might be adorned with miniature melon ornaments or strings of cantaloupe-shaped lights. Santa could trade his heavy red suit for a Hawaiian shirt, delivering gifts in a surfboard-sleigh pulled by flamingos.

This theme is perfect for summer parties, especially in the Southern Hemisphere where December is actually hot. It could inspire creative cocktails, like watermelon mojitos garnished with mint "holly", or melon-based desserts shaped like Christmas puddings.

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"Melon Christmas In July" embodies a playful spirit, encouraging people to embrace joy and celebration regardless of the season, while savoring the sweet, juicy flavors of summer.

Small Christmas gift ideas focus on thoughtful presents that pack a big impact in a compact package. These gifts are perfect for stockings, office exchanges, or as add-ons to larger presents.

Popular options include scented candles, gourmet chocolates, artisanal soaps, or miniature succulents. Tech enthusiasts might appreciate portable chargers or wireless earbuds. For book lovers, consider pocket-sized editions of classics or gift cards to bookstores.

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Personalized items like engraved keychains or custom ornaments add a special touch. Practical gifts such as stylish socks, compact tools, or travel-sized skincare sets are always appreciated.

Small gifts can also be experiential, like movie tickets or gift certificates for local cafes. The key is choosing items that reflect the recipient's interests while fitting in a small package.

[sugarwyns]

Just a fun idea

   If Nova was a romanceable npc in mtas then what dialogues would she have ( like one for each relationship level (Acquaintance, Buddy, Good Friend, romance), you can skip levels or add more lines if you want )

Introduction:

Hiya! I haven't seen you around yet, so I'm assuming you're new - I'm Nova, one of your fellow builders! Come find me if you need a buddy to go ruin diving with.

Birthday:

My birthday's on Summer 15. When I lived in Seesai, I spent every single birthday at the beach. I can't really do that anymore here, so my new thing is just sitting by the oasis.

Acquaintance:

If you ever need to get ahold of me, ask Kor or Daphne where I am, they'll probably know! Oh, wait, but...what if you don't know where they are...hmm. I'll get back to you on that!

Kor told me you're from Highwind! That's cool, I've always wanted to visit. You think I'd be...blown away?...Sorry, that was bad. Ignore that!

Uh oh! I forgot my pass to the salvage yard expires today...you think Rocky will let me extend it for, like, a discount...?

Buddy:

Moving to Sandrock gave me a bit of culture shock. I do miss Seesai a lot, but I really think I'm better off here than I was there.

There you are! Daphne stopped by earlier to give me a few melons from the Moisture Farm...care to share some with me?

I love collecting minerals and whatnot from the desert, but I am so intimidated by the Boxing Jacks there. Every time I see them coming from the corner of my eye, I can't help but yell!

Good Friend:

My brother lives in Walnut Groove. He's a real successful Builder there. To be honest, I don't care for building that much, but...it's a stable job, at least. Don't know if I'll live up to the expectations he's set, though.

I used to be the apprentice of a well-known Builder in Seesai. She was really kind to me, even when I made mistakes all day. I was so sad when my apprenticeship ended! In fact, she made me my bandana and pickhammer as a parting gift. I try to write to her every few weeks.

I have a really small collection of Old World stories and movies. It gets boring watching and reading the same things over and over again, though, so I hope I'll find more stuff in Sandrock to mix up the collection!

Romance

Confession Accepted:

Oh? I can't believe it, you beat me to it! Of course I accept.

Confession Rejected:

I'm...really flattered, I promise, but...I'm so sorry, I just don't think we're at that level with each other...

General Lines:

I made you this bracelet the other day. You don't have to wear it, if it's not your style! Buuut...I do have a matching one, sooo...

I've wanted to visit Seesai for a while, but I was always too nervous to go through with it. I think if you're by my side, though, I'll be able to manage.

Hey! What are you doing today? You wanna go eat at the saloon? I'll pay, don't worry!

Honey?...mmm, no. Sweetie? Hmm...Oh! Sorry! Just trying out nicknames for you...baby?

When I first got here, I felt like I had something to prove. I don't even know who I was trying to prove something to! But now that you're here, I feel like the last of that pressure came off of my shoulders.

Festivals

Day of the Bright Sun:

• I put in a few accessories I made over the last couple of weeks. I hope whichever person ends up with them likes them!

Showdown at High Noon:

Wow, the atmosphere is amazing! Everyone is so amped up for this. I didn't participate in anything like this back in Seesai, so I can't wait to see who comes out on top!

Day of Memories:

This festival has different ways of being celebrated in other cities, but they all have one thing in common - they're all so beautiful.

Tour de Rock:

I'm so bad at sandrunning. Maybe I'll just...watch and cheer everyone on!

Running of the Yakmel:

Can I tell you a little secret? I'm kind of scared of Yakmel! They're cute, but they're huge! I try to avoid the ones around the outskirts of town when I can.

Winter Solstice:

I've been looking forward to eating some skewers all day! What better way to kick off the start of a new year?

[theblueskyofthedawn]

A little otome-like adventure for @ayato-kisser in the frame of @favonius-library gift exchange event ;3.

Sakura petals danced around you, cheering along with your team to the success of the last book. Your watercolors and pencils skillfully peppered the pages, and you preened under Lady Yae's proud gaze, who waved you all off, to rest and have fun.

O-hanami in full swing whirled in Hanamizaka, and you were quite eager to finally have a taste of the festival. Where do you want to go first?

1) Check the food stall 🍡.

"Isn't it the person of the hour!" your childhood friend's, Heizou's, voice greeted you among fried shrimps, candied melons, and dango of all colors. "Enjoying your freedom from the spotlight?" he chuckled.

He nodded toward the improvised scene, where the writer kept bowing and thanking the seemingly endless stream of fans.

"You could certainly say so!" you laughed, joyous. "And you aren't on a case either. Rare!"

"Oh, could I not afford a tiny bit of rest?" Heizou raised his hand to his forehead, picking up on your dramatics. "You wound me, merciless, merciless companion..."

You exchanged glances and burst into laughter, so needed after tense days of work.

"Seriously, though," he continued a few minutes later, after you picked up a small arrangement of treats, "I just have a lead that I wanted some help about," you noticed how the strain returned to his smile, "and I heard he should be nearby. But that doesn't mean," Heizou nudged you before you could comment anything, "that I can't divulge some time to you! Bet I'm still better at catching fair's fish?"

What would you do?

2) Take Heizou up on his challenge 🎯.

"Bet I'm still better at hoops?" you quipped right back.

Giggling and lightly pushing each other, you made your way to the game corner...

Where, of course, a dart game caught your eye. It had no reason to be so colorful!

And require good aim as much as hoops did.

"What do you want me to win?" you winked at Heizou, confident in your abilities.

"Hm..." he tapped his chin, smirking. Two could play this game. "A plushie of your choice," his gaze laughed, as between the pair of you you were the one to favor those, "and I have something in mind for later".

"Later, you say?" you narrowed your eyes at him. "I better give my all, then!"

Now determined, you focused your efforts on striking as many balloons as you physically could, not noticing how Heizou's gaze wandered around the fair, searching.

But you did feel his arms snaking around you just as the shout of triumph left your throat.

"Nice job," he whispered in your shoulder. You felt how he forced trembles down, and the smile didn't reach his voice. A soft deer plushie the stall owner pushed at you awkwardly hang on your forearm. "Mind if I step away for a bit? I think I saw..."

And he needed a breath, you understood.

"Feel free to do whatever, 'kay?" he reluctantly let you go, his smile in place but not fooling you one bit. Yet, you knew that he'll be alright.

What are you going to do?

4) Keep Heizou company 🌊.

You whirled around and caught his hand, intertwining your fingers together.

Seeing him mope made your own uncertain sadness, held at bay by the fair's liveliness, rise, and who wanted that?

Not you, that's who.

His evident surprise warmed your heart, and you winked:

"Did you think your favorite companion would leave you?"

You tugged him to the shadow beyond colorful tents, hoping that your blush will become less noticeable there.

Repetition of the ocean waves soothed both of your fraying nerves, and Heizou leaned into you, laying his head on your shoulder once more.

"Eh, I am a mood downer today, am I not?" he mirthlessly chuckled.

You pinched his forearm, threateningly raising a hard-won plushie in a smacking gesture:

"Nu-uh, mister I-will-unearth-decade-long-mysteries, you are not getting such titles from me. Everyone needs a break once in a while. Besides," you lightly pushed him with your hip, "the moon over the sea is the most delightful".

A spark returned to his eyes:

"You are the most delightful".

"Flattery won't get you anywhere," you bit back, nonetheless confident you are as red as a tomato by now. And Heizou, no doubt, saw that clearly.

"Won't it?" he teased, grinning.

"Brat," you muttered with a flustered smile, returning your gaze to the waves.

Heizou let you, squeezing your side closer to himself, whispers of water the only sound between you now...

After some time, Heizou tapped your nose:

"Hey, sleepyhead, didn't you want to find trinkets for the folks back home?"

Mindreader, you thought to yourself.

What do you want to do?

4) Relish in nature 🌊.

"E-e-eh, they'll survive," you whined, "stars are far more attractive right now".

Heizou chortled:

"You would regret that decision tomorrow, dummy. Wait here, then".

And was it the atmosphere of the holiday or your sweet pouty look, but Heizou leaned into you to leave a small, but unmistakable kiss on your lips - only to disappear in the people's sea a mere second later, your dazed gaze following his steps.

You didn't notice how a tall figure in resplendent white froze on the edge of the crowd and quietly retreated back.

Left alone, you turned your eyes to the sky, winking at you through twinkling stars' dots.

Would've you thought even a year back that a brat you smacked with naku weed stems would grow into someone you would love?

Oh, love, such a fickle thing.

...didn't Lady Yae comment on how inspired you lately were? And you could swear it was always the places that reminded you of him.

You mushed your face in the plushie.

However embarrassed, you could not wait for tomorrow, and the day after that, and the whole life before you.

"Didn't make you wait for long, did I?" his breathy chuckle tickled your ear.

You both, together.

[Achievement unlocked: In intuition’s sphere]

...Kazuha caught up to the two of you once you were leaving the fair, and you cheerfully waved at him with your intertwined hands, getting a raised brow and amused chuckle in response.

...rumors said, Yashiro Commissioner became even more elusive lately...

...winds of the faraway lands ruffled your hair, passing, unbothered.

As for you two, Heizou and you continued as you always were...

If now a bit more entangled.

"Five more minutes," you muttered into his shoulder, burrowing deeper into the blankets.

"I should charge you for derailing the investigation," he teased, pressing a kiss to your knuckles.

A little plushie deer proudly sat at your nightstand.

[merotwst]

ELLIE MY LOVE HOW HAVE YOU BEEN??!!!! I HOPE THAT YOU HAD A HAPPY NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATION!!

I AM HERE TO ANNOUNCE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SMOOCH JAMIL ON THE CHEEK SO BAD !!

I WANT TO HOLD HIS HAND AND WALK THROUGH THAT ONE SCALDING SANDS FESTIVAL EVENT THAT I FORGOT THE NAME OF

LIKE,,, JUST IMAGINE WALKING THROUGH THE STALLS AND HOLDING HANDS WITH OUR BABYGIRL WHILE BUYING GIFTS FOR OUR NRC BESTIES!!!

AND IMAGE HOW PICTURESQUE IT WOULD BE TO KISS WHILE THE FIREWORKS GO OFF RAAAHHHHHH ITD BE SOOOO PRETTY TO SEE HIM IN HIS SPECIAL OUTFIT WITH THE LIGHT OF THE FIREWORKS REFLECTING ON HIS FACE AGAHSGHGSHSGSJ SCREAMING CRYING ROLLING AROUND AND KICKING MY FEET RN I LOVE HIM !!!

OMFG ALSO HANGING OUT WITH NAJMA AT THE FESTIVAL WOULD BE SO FUN TOO !! I LITERALLY LOVE HER SO MUCH 😭💖💖 the way she teases him is adorableeee ASHNDGDHS THEYRE SO PRECIOUS TO ONE ANOTHER

THE BABYGIRL JAMIL BRAINROT IS INSANE RIGHT NOW 😭😭

QUUUUU I MISSED U SO MUCHH IM SORRY I TOOK A WHILE TO RESPOND TO THIS I DIDNT HAVE THE MOTIVATION TO ANSWER ASKS BUT I DEFINITELY SQUEALED WHEN I SAW U IN MY INBOX AGAIN AAAAAHH

i actually had al'ab nariya brainrot like last month ueueueu but yes exactly!!! the thought of walking through the winding streets of the bazaar navigating the crowds while holding each others hands as to not get lost.

you and him go and share the melon that's told to bless friendships, families and relationships to stay together for longer. he would roll his eyes and say it's just a myth but he'd been so eager to share one with you. after all, it wouldn't hurt to try.

he loved his middle school days and he mentioned his middle school friends a couple of times during the event. imagine he introduces u to his old friends and they all just talk in arabic. he's saying how wonderful u are and his friends are all talking about how jealous they are he got THE catch while u just stand there confused. he's smile and squeeze ur hand and you'd be reassured that they're all just good things.

he'd take you to dance under the fireworks and if you don't know how, take his hands. he'll show you how. just let your body move along with his and feel the music sink into your bones and—woah! there you go! you're a natural. maybe a little teasing in arabic here and there and as he gives the signal for the biggest firework to light up the sky, he wastes no time immediately wrapping his arms around you and sharing the sweetest kiss under the sky bursting with colors.

he wants to spend next al'ab nariya with you.

and the one after that.

and the next one after that.

promise him you'll spend your life with him and he'll never let you go.

[acepalindrome]

I’ve spent much of 2021 thus far playing Stardew Valley in the hopes of distracting myself from the horrors of reality, and I keep meaning to make a list of mods I recommend! Because I am running a truly embarrassing number of mods and there are some really great ones that really improve the gameplay or add fun content or just make everything look really pretty! So without further ado, here are some of my favorite mods:

- Lookup Anything: This is probably my favorite mod. It basically eliminates the need to have to keep consulting the Stardew Valley wiki while you play. The title says it all: this mod lets you look up anything. Need to know what’s a good present for Shane? You can pull up a list of all his loved and liked gifts, with items you have on hand highlighted for ease, plus his birthday, how many hearts he has with you and how many points you need to get to the next heart. Need to know if you should hoard that pine sap or sell it? You can pull up all the uses for it, items that can be crafted with it, anyone who might like it, community center bundles it’s used for, and how much you make by selling. How many days until your melons are ready to harvest? What items can drop from that stone in the mines? What are all the items you can make with the furnace? It’s such a fantastically handy mod and I refuse to play without it!

- NPC Map Locations: One of the most frustrating things in the game is trying to remember everyone’s schedule and then not being able to find someone to give them a birthday present or turn in a quest item. This mod shows exactly where everyone is on your map and solves that problem for good!

- Automate: This mod automatically pulls items from nearby chests into machines, so you don’t have to keep running back and forth to your furnace to pick up the finished metal bars and toss more ore in there...it just spits the finished item back into the nearby chest, pulls in whatever available items you’ve got in the chest and starts running again without you having to do a thing! Just be careful of where you place your chests and machines or you might end up processing items you didn’t want to. Luckily, you can set individual chests to not have items pulled from them.

- Fishing Made Easy Suite: I suck at fishing. I almost never bother with fishing if I don’t have a mod to make it bearable. I like this one because it has different levels of easy-ness, so you can make fishing just 25% easier, or 50%, or 75%, or 99%! And there are some other fun perks too. You want to catch all fish regardless of weather or season? Want to catch legendary fish multiple times? Want to catch prismatic shards? Go nuts.

- Stardew Valley Expanded: This mod is absurdly huge and adds SO MUCH CONTENT. New areas! New characters! New events! I was a little hesitant to start it just because I knew there was so much to the mod and was a little concerned of how well it would mesh with the rest of the game, but the characters and story and style fit in perfectly with the vanilla content. I could almost forget Andy and Sophia weren’t there all along! The purpose of the mod was to make the game feel fresh and new for people who had already played the game and that’s exactly what it does. I love it.

- Artisan Valley/Project Populate JsonAssets/Starbrew Valley: I’m lumping these together but this is a collection of mods that add a TON of new items, crops, trees, flowers, machines and recipes to the game. You don’t have to download them all! You can pick and choose the ones you want, or download the PPJA content pack to get the bulk of these mods all in one go! I personally really love Artisan Valley because it lets me make floral candles and soaps. And an espresso machine so I can make fancy coffee. And Starbrew Valley so there’s actually a fun variety of alcohol in the game.

I’m putting the rest under a cut because this is getting too long.

- Chests Anywhere: Lets you access all of your chests from the menu! You can add some limitations, like only being able to access chests in the same location you’re in, but I’m dumb and constantly forget that I was supposed to bring a present for a villager with me today, or that I wanted to upgrade one of my tools but left all my metal bars at home. So instead of having to run all the way back to my farm, I can just open my menu and switch through the chests until I find the item I need! Labeling the chests also makes this a lot easier for organization.

- Seasonal Villager Outfits: Finally, the villagers have more than one set of clothes! This mod gives them different outfits in different seasons, different weather and special outfits for holidays! It’s cute and really improves the immersion to see the villagers wearing tshirts in the summer and bundling up in the winter, and dressing up for special events! Some characters will change their hairstyle too, which I love.

- Canon-Friendly Dialogue Expansion: Gives all characters more stuff to say so they won’t just repeat the same lines over and over! Also gives them varied dialogue for festivals starting in year 2, so they don’t say the same thing every year at the Egg Festival or Spirit’s Eve.

- Immersive Elliott: Add more dialogue! Lots more dialogue! I downloaded the Elliott version of this mod because that’s who I plan to marry but I recommend looking up dialogue mods for whoever your favorite characters are (I think there’s one for almost all the marriageable candidates.) You’ll probably be chatting a lot with whoever you’re trying to woo and it’s nice to get lots of new lines!

- Stardew Foliage Redone: There are tons of mods that change the colors and style of trees and buildings and stuff but this one is my favorite. It’s very soft and earthy and pretty without being overkill.

- The Love of Cooking: Actually makes cooking fun in Stardew Valley! It adds a cooking skill, an upgradable cooking tool that lets you cook with more ingredients (at the start you can only make one ingredient dishes), a cooking community center bundle, star levels to cooked items, an animation when you cook...cooking was very bland in the base game, and this mod really spruces the whole system up.

- Medieval Buildings/Medieval craftables: Again, there are so many mods that change up the look of your farm buildings and stuff but these are really pretty and cool and absolutely my style. There’s a mod to make all the town buildings have this style too, but I kind of like keeping the town normal and just living on my mysterious and beautiful farm apart from the rest of the world. My sprinklers are magic moss covered rocks now!

- Elle’s Dog/Cat/Horse/Barn/Coop/etc animals: Super cute animal skins. They look so huggable and soft. Also one of the dog options looks like my real life dog and that’s very important to me.

- Adopt ‘n’ Skin: Pairs well with the mods above, this mod lets you have multiple dogs/cats/horses and lets you use as many different skins as you like. I’ve got four cows and they’ve all got different patterns and colors. I love it. Also Marnie starts taking in stray animals and you can adopt them from her, which is a really cute way of letting you have more pets.

- Seasonal Garden Farmhouse: Its a pinch overkill especially in the early game, but I really like this farmhouse layout. It gives you a small kitchen from the start, a bathroom you can use to restore stamina, big open windows that change with the seasons and time of day...it’s a luxury house and it’s very nice to live in!

- Industrial Kitchen and Interior/Industrial Furniture/Rustic Country Town Interiors: These mods give the interiors and furniture a more rustic style, and the last one changes the town interiors to match. There are many furniture/interior mods, so if this style doesn’t do it for you, check out some of the others! There are lots of very pretty mods!

And I’m going to stop there but that’s only the tip of the iceberg and I highly recommend looking around NexusMods or ModDrop and seeing what kind of stuff is available!

[lasquadranights]

Shopping and Pranks

Christmas Countdown: Formaggio x Reader

Content Warnings: References to Polygamy

***

Most locations were awfully busy but you found a quiet spot amongst the chaos where you could browse without interruption. You chose several pieces as gifts but the shopping trip had devolved a little into finding things for yourself.

Better yet, items were continuously appearing in your basket as if from nowhere.

You put a horribly ugly pair of candy cane printed pants back on their shelf when they popped into existence. Beyond their appearance, they looked like they were several sizes too small.

“Aw, c’mon,” Formaggio complained. “Those would have suited you.”

“They have faux fur on the cuffs,” you pointed out. You didn’t feel you needed to say anymore because the fact alone said everything it needed to.

You were becoming convinced Formaggio was on a mission to see what the weirdest thing he could get you to buy was. From the brash laugh he gave (loud enough to echo across the store) whenever he found something he wanted to put in your basket – you had little doubt about it actually.

“Why did you want to come shopping with me anyway?” you asked, picking up a silk-like shirt to examine.

He shrugged, leaning against one of the pillars and scanning around the store with an expression bordering on dangerous. “It’s fun.”

You laughed and put the shirt in your basket, deciding it would be a great gift for Prosciutto. Formaggio had gotten some actual gifts of his own for the group but had evidently grown bored of that.

He looped his arm through yours unexpectedly, dragging you through the store to find the perfect shop.

“Here we go,” he said. “I say we get everything here.”

You rolled your eyes at the expansive lingerie section. It would have been on your route either way because the newer pieces were always a treat to look at. Some of the things were beautifully soft and almost all of them ended up in your basket at one point or another.

“Okay, tell me,” Formaggio said. “Does this colour suit me?”

It was the skimpiest pair of men’s underwear that you had ever seen – neon green and with a Santa flying across the crotch piece. A snowflake had been gaudily stuck onto the front as though it could somehow make it look better.

Formaggio was barely managing to contain his laughter and so, you met his eyes directly as you said yes.

He practically brayed as you agreed and tossed it into the basket. You already knew he would be wearing it around for days afterwards and chuckled in anticipation.

“Okay, now let’s find something for Melone,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye. “I haven’t gotten a present for him yet.”

You chose your own set before leaving the lingerie section with Formaggio going through what had to be the reject pile. He had been the hardest to shop for so far but you’d spotted something earlier that you could grab now that he had been sufficiently distracted. With that tucked beneath your pile of clothing, you turned to have a pair of hot pants shoved into your face.

Their mismatched blue looked just fine from the front but Formaggio was cackling and so you turned it over.

“Really?” you asked.

Put A Snow Baby In Me.

It was written across the ass in a ridiculously festive font as though it were the name of some new movie. You handed it back to Formaggio with a roll of your eyes but he put it into your basket.

“I’m not buying that Mag.”

“Please. It will be perfect.”

“For what?”

His eyes glinted in excitement as he gestured back to them. “They don’t have my size so you’d have to wear them but can you imagine Blue’s face when he sees them? It would be hilarious!”

It would be pretty funny to see Ghiaccio’s expression but he had been in a bit more of a modo lately so you didn’t know if you should. He wasn’t a very festive person and the continuous mistletoe pranks had been getting him very worked up.

“Should we?” you asked. “We’ve been terrorizing him a bit too much.”

“There’s nothing bad about this,” Formaggio urged. “It’s just a pair of pants. Not another snowball to the face.”

Formaggio was honestly the person who was enjoying your festivities the most. Whenever he saw something new around the house or while out walking, he would make sure everybody appreciated it. He told you the best time of the year had always been the holiday season and he was glad that hadn’t changed when working with Passione.

The only thing you’d seen get him down so far was when he’d found out that a large portion of a holiday village, you’d walked past had been set aside for children over. He offered to shrink you in order to get in but the people had already seen you both as adults.

No need to make them fear that they were going insane or anything like that.

Even knowing that he would be working on a tough mission soon didn’t dissuade Formaggio’s joy and it was one of the most contagious things out there. The others could deny it all they wanted but you saw the small smiles they tried to hide.

“Fine,” you sighed. “But you’re taking responsibility for this.”

He grinned and pulled you into a slightly sloppy kiss, cradling your cheek with one while the other snuck around your back. You responded in kind and parted his lips to make the kiss deeper while taking out the item he’d just tried to sneak into your basket.

Later that day when you arrived back at the house, the first thing Formaggio did was don his new purchase and strut around.

You were mildly hesitant about putting on the hot pants but he appeared at your door with a grin and you couldn’t say no to his expression.

“Wait, put this on over,” he said, grabbing an oversized sweatshirt you’d taken from Risotto a while back. “Then he’ll complain about you not wearing pants and you can pull it up to prove that you are.”

It was often surprising how well Formaggio could pull a plan off when it came to teasing a member of the team.

He littered kisses across your cheeks and tickled your sides, making more than enough noise to taunt Ghiaccio into marching into the kitchen to yell at you both to keep it down. When he did, Formaggio claimed your lips once more before turning to shrug and laugh about how he couldn’t help himself.

You slipped out from behind him to pretend to do something until Ghiaccio barked at you to put on pants and you pulled your sweatshirt up to reveal that you were.

Formaggio burst into laughter loud enough to echo around the base and you turned to see Ghiaccio turning a shade of red bright enough to match the decorations. He seemed to be staring at nothing until you joined in the laughing.

You may have both gotten thoroughly yelled at for it but Formaggio was right. His expression was well worth it.

[looz-y]

so last night i decided to put more depth into jezebel and lulu so i wrote down quickly some stuff about their likes/dislikes & other stuff AND IT WAS PRETTY FUN. i might add more stuff onto this with other ocs i develop but for now, These Lesbians

here’s They if u wanna read~

Jezebel Birthday, Fall 27 (Oct 31) | Lesbian | Marriage, No Friends: Lulu, Krobus

a dark witch that lives in a secret level in the mines of pelican town. she befriends lulu during her first festival in spring (the egg festival) and has stuck by her side since. jezebel has a complex strained relationship with her mother, who lives in a secret level in the mines but deeper. she is a non-romancable npc.

"Amazing! I'll take that from your hands~" loves: star shards, obsidian, strange bun, wild plum, void egg, midnight carp, wine, dragon tooth

"Not so bad. I'll add this to my collection." likes: ruby, midnight squid, prismatic shard, poppy, rabbit's foot, void mayonnaise

"This is useful, I'll take it." neutral: iridium bar, golden egg, daffodil, dandelion, purple mushroom

"Oh...you really shouldn't have...I mean it." dislike: crystal fruit, coconut, strawberry, melon, starfruit, solar essence, super cucumber, quartz

"...is this some kind of joke to you?!" hates: void essence, bug steak, sap, golden pumpkin, pearl, duck feathers

Lulu 24 | Birthday, Fall (Nov) 9 | Lesbian | Marriage, Yes Friends: Jezebel, Seb, Sam, Abby, Maru, Penny, Sandy, Marnie, Emily Family: Grandpa, Welwick (Aunt) Lover: Haley

the new farmer of Sapphos Farm, she's the granddaughter of Pelican Town's beloved old farmer and writer. after her grandmother's passing, she decides to open her grandfather's letter which prompts her to move to Stardew Valley.

"Oh! I didn't expect this, thank you! I love this so much!" loves: fairy rose, strawberry, pomegranate, fairy stone, lucky lunch, starfruit, mead

"Ah? A gift to me? Thank you very much." likes: daffodil, dandelion, rhubarb pie, parsnip, pumpkin soup, bread, sweet pea, rainbow shell

"Thank you, it's appreciated." neutral: truffle, squid ink, fairy dust, golden coconut, rhubarb, pearl

"Ah...I don't understand this." dislikes: ancient fruit, coffee, corn, caviar, monster musk, oil of garlic

"...No." hates: all trash, monster loot, all fish, petrified slime, pickles, void mayonnaise

[rainyday-deer]

I’ve been playing Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town and I have..... Thoughts™

Some light spoilers.

I can’t call it a bad game, I’m having fun, but it’s not.... Good, either.

The character customization is FANTASTIC, imo. I really like a lot of the options, and the ability to change the color of your individual eyes is pretty neat! I’ve really enjoyed the addition of being able to customize the MC in the newer games, and I’m glad it’s something they’ve kept around (even if the default MCs are rly cute too)

The addition of a moped is neat, though I’ll admit it seems... Superfluous. The horse in previous games was primarily used as a way to get around faster. I understand you have to unlock your moped, but the same goes for the horse, and with the way the game mechanics work, I have my moped back before I have the stable rebuilt, which kind of...Renders the horse moot. Why would I bother to build the stable now and waste fodder/stamina on an animal when I have a moped again?

In terms of the villagers, I can’t say I’m very attached to any of them. I’ve got a small handful that I guess I like but I’m just generally not invested in any of them or their lives.The dialogue is all very samey, and I feel like there’s little variation in what they say to me-- Which is generally a problem in most of the games, but it seems more noticeable here, and almost makes me ache for Save the Homeland’s dialogue style instead.

The voice clips are a nice touch, remind me vaguely of Magical Melody, and I’ll admit it’s a nice little touch. To be frank, the lack of visible talksprites and heart meters being hidden in notes VERY much reminds me of StH or MM, and isn’t necessarily something that bothers me (even if the camera angles get a lil wonky.)

As for how the farm works... I absolutely hate that the makers can only make one item at a time. I hate hate hate that I have several of these damn things lined up on my farm, taking up space, just so I can have the materials I need, and even then I only get ONE AT A TIME! And I need SEVERAL of these items to do anything from upgrading my tools, to expanding my house, to making clothes. In previous games, YES, you had to have certain items to do these things as well, but you (usually) didn’t need to turn ores into ingots first. Lumber was straight up logs that you cut down, and stones were actually useful. But here? HERE?

Cut the tree down. Save the logs. Put 3 logs into a maker. Get one (1) piece of lumber. Repeat ad nauseam.

By the way, there’s at least 5 different types of lumber. And grass. And you need them all for different things! And you need a lot of them for the different things!

There’s 3 mines, which are, frankly, kind of disappointing. The 3rd and largest mine is only 50 floors, and while the addition of the moles make for an... Interesting angle (and fighting off enemies isn’t new at all in certain games) it’s just... Boring. Part of the reason I enjoyed the mines so much in previous games was part of the challenge! It zapped your stamina so easily, and the further down you got, the more exciting it was! But it (personally) feels like there’s no challenge to these mines, and their low variety makes them boring. In reality, you’re only down there to get ores to shove into the ingot makers, so you can progress. (Because remember, these take more than one ore, to make just one (1) ingot!)

Your farm also has various trees and grasses growing over its 3 levels, which is all well and good. However, they crop up and grow VERY fast, including in places you don’t want them to. You have to cover spaces with flooring to stop them from popping up somewhere inconvenient, and even then, they’ll appear where you weren’t ALLOWED to place the flooring. You can’t just sickle the saplings, either. You have to mash those down with a hammer.

Your sickle is ONLY used for cutting the grass, which makes it almost useless in terms of upgrading. You cannot use it on crops, weeds, etc. Just the grass.

There’s also these blue stepping stones across your farm in various places. To my knowledge they cannot be moved or broken, and you cannot till them away, or place anything over them, resulting in wasted space, frankly.

As for the animals, it’s very... Strange? In my opinion. I’m unsure if it’s because of the mode I selected, but the livestock does not NEED to be brushed every day. Rather, when you go to take care of them, the animal will have a small speech bubble over them, indicating what they want at the moment. Your cows and goats will often have a milk icon over their head most days, and only OCCASIONALLY (in my experience) will they want to be brushed. Strangely, you don’t need to buy any tools to do so, either. You interact, they’re milked. You interact, they’re brushed. It’s all very quick, as well.

Also strangely, you have to purchase the ability to breed your chickens, rather than just putting an egg into the incubator.

As for the animal variety... I like it! The goats and the rabbits are very fun additions! And simply finding your animals (and the new varieties) randomly on your farm and then ‘taming’ them is kind of fun, but it does feel like you don’t particularly get a say in if you want to have the new animals in the first place, even if you CAN release animals via the Earth Sprites.

Which, by the way, make me miss the Harvest Sprites, very much. They’re sort of cute, I guess, but ultimately a little boring, if not helpful. Even the Spirit is... Interesting, and beautiful as she is, she’s so. Bland. You can’t really befriend her, just sort of talk to her, but it doesn’t really seem to do much.

I miss you, Harvest Goddess.........

There’s an added museum feature, very similar to animal crossing, but save for the small statues being built of animals you take photos of, it’s just another way to pad out the game, and is very unimpressive to look at.

Crop, meanwhile, are very... Eh, to me. Crops that previously used to be able to be harvested from all season, last 1-3 harvests before disappearing, and then need to be replanted--Including things like tea bushes. Thankfully, the seed makers are a maker that give you 2 seeds out of 1 item-- Though the seed bags only cover 1 tilled square, rather than 9, like in a few previous games.

Your rucksack is also limited in space-- Once again, nothing new, but very frustrating for a game that requires you to have a variety of materials on hold to make XYZ thing. The shipping bin ALSO only holds so many items, and to my knowledge cannot be upgraded. Got 25 items to ship? Sorry! You can only ship 24! Guess you have to wait until tomorrow :)

There’s also only 2 festivals per season, one of which is a mini game, while the other... Is not. It’s kind of a bummer, actually, and I don’t find myself looking forward to them at all.

It’s not all bad, though!

I do enjoy the ability to build sprinklers and let THOSE water your crops for you. It’s very time and stamina saving, and I thoroughly enjoy it.

The variety of crops and wild flowers is nice as well! You can get some crops grown wild, pop those into a seed maker, and then BOOM! You just got strawberries, or melons, or pineapples for free! Nice!

I DO like that your farm has 3 different levels, and unlocking them by fixing bridges is pretty cool, and genuinely feels like it’s been earned when you DO save up enough money (or materials) to unlock them.

The character models look pretty nice, if not a little strange at times. I feel like they can move stiffly in cutscenes, and they have very limited expressions, but they’re still nice to look at. I thoroughly enjoy the happy dance villagers do when you give them a gift they particularly like.

But...

I won’t lie to you guys, but EVERY time I pick up to play (which I’ll admit is a lot, despite my complaints), I find myself wanting to play the older games instead. Now I’ll admit a lot of the newer games could be lacking in particular areas, but there was ALWAYS a lot of enjoyment for me while playing them, so to have this absolute ACHE to dig out my ps2 or my gamecube to play Save the Homeland or Magical Melody INSTEAD is.... Kind of astounding to me.

It’s a fun game to turn your brain off and play, but I don’t think it’s deserving of the price tag-- Even with the new downloadable content on the way (that also costs money, even if you can save some with the expansion pass.). It feels oddly hollow and very... Mobile-game like to me, and while it’s not the WORST game I’ve ever played, it feels like it’s missing a lot of the charm that previous titles have had.

[stardew-requests]

im really stressed rn so can you give me some haley/emily hcs? they're always my fav bachelorettes!

These are stressful times and it can be hard to find the sunshine sometimes. I'm so sorry you're having a hard time! I hope these HCs bring a little sunshine to your day!

Emily:

- When she finds something pretty or interesting, she will always show it to the farmer. She loves to share the things she likes with who she loves.

- She is the queen of homemade gifts. Some of her favourite things to make are homemade beads, jewelry, and of course, clothing.

- On rainy afternoons, her and the farmer sit inside and just make jewelry together. It's a fun, creative thing to pass the time together.

- She's an incredibly fast reader. She doesn't often like to read (she prefers to do creative projects instead), but when she does, she can zip through books faster than the library can supply them.

- When they were younger, her and Haley wanted to be in a band together. They would sing ABBA covers outside of their house hoping that passersby would stop and listen.

- Now Emily isn't much of a performer, but she likes to sing when she's cooking or cleaning.

Haley:

- She likes to throw parties, especially themed parties. Some of her best ones have been a meteor shower viewing party (with help from Maru), a traditional tea party, and an elegant ball.

- Her favourite at home activity is baking. Of course, pink cake is her go to recipe, but she likes to try other fun things like fruit tarts and macaroons. It's infinitely more fun when she has the farmer to bake with.

- She smells like bubblegum and melon. It's easy to associate her with things that are sweet.

- She loves playing board games. Her favourites are Sorry, Battleship, and Pay Day.

- She's currently in the process of convincing Lewis to add a costume contest to the Spirit's Eve festival.

- When it's nice outside, she'll convince the farmer to go out the the secret forest with her for a mystical, summery photoshoot.

[akiris]

A day at the Summer festival

Finally finished my (self-indulgent) Zuko x Reader fanfiction. It’s fluff with some making out at the end.  Feel free to sent me request if you have some. I currently only write for ATLA, maybe LOK in the future. 

Words: 1771

Taglist (feel free to lmk if you want to be added): @fromthewatertribe @astroninaaa

Ever since Zuko joined the Gaang you couldn’t look at him without a tingle in your stomach. I mean, you always thought he was attractive, but lately you feel different about him, but you have never given it too much thought and you tried to distract yourself from thinking about the Prince as much as possible. A good distraction from the thoughts has been the practice of waterbending with Katara, you were a waterbender from the Northern Water Tribe after all and had pretty much nothing else to do on Ember Island. While you were practicing waterbending with Katara, Zuko and Aang were practicing firebending. You noticed them with a quick glance and blushed slightly at the sight of Zuko being shirtless. You prayed that Zuko didn’t notice you, but he did and the tint of your cheeks intensified. You only thought to yourself “God dammit, why must it happen to me?” Passing this encounter, Katara spotted that you were quite distracted , “What’s the matter?” You couldn’t look her into her eyes, but your blushed cheeks already gave the answer to Katara. She let out a smirk and nodded, “Let’s take a break for now.” You agreed and took a seat at the nearest stone. You closed your eyes, but a loud voice dragged you out of the trance. It was Sokka, who was screaming, “Hey, guys! There is a summer festival this evening, do you want to go?” Your eyes widened in excitement and you quickly jumped to Sokka, “It sounds like so much fun! We should definitely go there!” Zuko, who conveniently also finished training with Aang, looked at you shyly and smiled slightly seeing you so electrified.

Toph noticed that his heartbeat has also increased, so she punched the firebender in his arm. “Ow, what was that for?”, Zuko cried out. “You know exactly what it was for,” Toph smirked. “Ask her out to go with you to that festival!” “I don’t know, Toph. I’m not sure if she feels the same way about me…” Zuko almost whispered while looking at his feet. Toph punched the prince again: “Let me tell you a secret, her heartbeat also increases when she looks at you” The eyes of the fire prince enlarged in shock. “I’m pretty sure, she will say yes”, Toph continued. Luckily, you didn’t hear the conversation Zuko and Toph were having, so it surprised you even more when the fire bender approached you. “Hey, Y/N! You look so excited and happy about the summer festival. Would you like to go with me there?”, Zuko shyly scratched the back of his back, while trying to hold his blush back.  You carefully backed up for a short moment being unsure about what the prince was saying to you. “You don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to,” Zuko pouted while turning to the right. You came closer to the prince and smiled brightly “I would love to go to the festival with you.” Seeing you so happy made Zuko smile as well. “It’s a date then,” Zuko replied. That’s when you realized what had happened and your whole face turned into a big red color. You rushed away as fast as possible to the nearest bush. Zuko couldn’t grasp what just happened, so he just stood there with a confused look on his face. “Did I do something wrong?” “She did say that she would like to go with you, Y/N/N is probably just processing what happened,” Toph came to Zuko. While in the bush, Katara found you, curled into a ball of a flustered mess “Is everything alright?” “Why did I even agree to go with him in the first place?”, your eyes were filled with tears. Katara’s concerned expression turned into a small smile, “probably because you like him. It will be alright, Y/N” Katara placed her hand on your back and stroked it lovingly. You stayed in that position for a couple of minutes until you stopped crying and built up the courage to apologize to Zuko. In the meantime he took a seat on the nearest bench with Toph next to him. You approached him shyly and Toph feeling you coming closer took that as a clue to leave. “Sorry about my reaction and turning into a mess. If I didn’t scare you off, we could still go to the festival,” you said. Zuko came closer to you and smiled “I will pick you up then.” You kissed Zuko’s cheek and left the same shy way as you came up to him. The prince blushed more than ever. 

Later in the evening…

You couldn't sit still, because of your excitement for your date with Zuko. "Y/N/N, you are making me crazy with that heart rate." Toph complained. Katara shot an angry look at the blind girl,”Toph, please be a little bit more considerate, of course is Y/N nervous”. Toph just pouted. You couldn’t say anything while Katara was dressing you up in the yukata she found on the market, and did your hair. Your mind was going everywhere, reflecting on the evolution of your relationship with Zuko. When you first met him in the Northern Water Tribe, just like everyone else in the Gaang you could only feel hatred towards the banished prince. This feeling was manifested within yourself until you saw Zuko in Ba Sing Se as Lee. He seemed much more happier, maybe this is what made you slowly fall for the prince. Remembering the memories you made a small shy smile. Katara decided not to tease you anymore and just smiled back as a response. She fixed the last hair piece and said with a proud undertone “We are done! You look beautiful!” You looked in the mirror right in front of you and made the biggest eyes ever. “Is that really me? Wow!” “I can’t see you, but I bet Sparky will get cardinal arrest when he will see you”, Toph teased you. 

Meanwhile Sokka was coaching Zuko how to flirt and “get the lady”. Zuko didn’t pay any attention to Sokka’s blabbering as he was getting ready himself. “...And in the end you kiss her,” Zuko turned his attention to Sokka and visibly turned redder. “But honestly, I think you will do great, bro,” Sokka fist bumped the shoulder of the prince. “Thanks”, Zuko dryly said to his friend. The firebender was done getting ready and put on his shoes. Zuko was wearing a dark red yukata, which complimented his complexion perfectly. The heart of the prince started to beat quicker as he approached your tent. Toph felt his footsteps and warned you and Katara: “Oh my god, it’s happening!” You grabbed your bag, which came as a gift to the yukata, and stepped forwards.  Zuko opened your tent and you glanced at him standing in front of you. The fire bender looked incredible and you visibly flushed. Zuko probably thought the same about you as he nervously grabbed the back of his neck and mumbled “Y/N...you look amazing! So...shall we go?” He reached out his hand to you. You nodded and took his hand. You looked over your shoulder, Katara and Toph were waving their hands as a goodbye. “Have fun!”, Katara smiled brightly. You smiled in return and turned to face Zuko, whose cheeks turned into a light red tint. On the way to the festival, Zuko tried to be less awkward and more funny, it didn’t work that well as he anticipated, but fortunately, you were giggling and smiling anyways. Zuko noticed how you glowed when you were smiling. This made the fire bender smile as well. Both of you smiling and holding hands, you approached the festival. The entrance to the festival was very intricately decorated.  Your eyes enlarged as you looked around, “Wow, it’s even better than I imagined it to be”. Once you saw an ice cream stand you quickly grabbed Zuko’s wrist, catching him off guard, and rushed towards the stand. Even though Zuko was still slightly shocked, he didn’t mind being dragged by you. You stared at the sign with all the different ice cream flavours above, thinking about which one you would like to try. “Excuse me, can I have the melon ice cream?”, you say to the lady sitting behind the counter. “Sure, does your boyfriend also want one?”, the lady replied looking at the fire bender, causing him to blush. “Eh...I will take chocolate.”, Zuko squeezed out of him. You giggled quietly. “That will be 20 copper pieces.”, the lady continued. While fiddling in your bag, Zuko already placed 20 copper pieces on the counter. You look at him surprised, he smiles and says “It’s on me.” You brightly smile back. Seconds later, another lady comes out of the back of the stand and gives you both your ice cream. You both nodded in gratitude to the lady and walked away. You were happily eating your melon ice cream and then asked Zuko, “Wait, you didn’t correct that lady, when she said you were my boyfriend, you aren’t my boyfriend.” Zuko replied shyly, “Yet…”. Hearing his answer, you blushed. “Do you want to change that?”, you replied, while trying to contain the heat on your cheeks. Zuko, who could easily cosplay a tomato, nodded slightly and almost whispered, “Yes, if you don’t mind.” The corners of your lips curled into a smile and you stepped closer to the fire bender. You looked up to his warm golden eyes and could see that Zuko wanted it too. Zuko’s blush didn’t stop growing, you smirked and said “Let’s finish our ice creams first.” The fire bender laughed and continued to eat his ice cream. After you were done eating, you grabbed Zuko’s hand and led him to a bench near the cliff. Both of you took a seat and you instantly came closer to Zuko until your faces were mere inches away. Zuko intertwined his finger into your hair and pulled you closer to him. Your lips touched his. They were very warm, just as you would expect from a firebender. You pulled in passionately and placed your hands behind Zuko’s neck. You two continued to make out until something overcame you and you pushed Zuko towards you, causing him to fall on top of you. He didn’t look like he was against it. The fire bender released his lips from yours to get some air. You looked at him, Zuko did the same and smiled. “I guess, it’s official now.” You nodded and kissed Zuko again. 

[thunderheadfred]

Hiya! I just started playing Stardew Valley and am still trying to figure things out. Do you have any tips for new players? (Lovely mod!)

*cracks knuckles*

Okay, so.

It depends on if you want to play an absolutely vanilla game your first time, or if you don’t mind modding things. There are a number of quality-of-life mods that made the game a lot more enjoyable for me personally because I no longer had to micro-manage every tiny itty bitty little thing, plus… omg… I could walk faster?

That’s a matter of personal opinion, however, and the decision is ultimately yours. You can play Stardew however you want!

In no particular order, here are my own personal tips for vanilla and modded gameplay!

Vanilla tips:

General:

The Wiki is your best friend. Do not fear the Wiki.

Build chests. Organize your chests. Stay sane.

CUT DOWN EVERY TREE YOU SEE

no seriously, Robin demands sacrifices

Focus on the type of farm you want. Animals and Artisan goods tend to make the most money, but you don’t have to do that! There are lots of things to do in this game, and you should focus on whatever activity is the most satisfying for YOU. 

The Community Center has certain requirements and perks you may want to pay attention to, (the Wiki can help!), but don’t feel like you HAVE to get this all done immediately. It’s a good idea to plan for what you can do that season, to get the perks, but don’t like, sacrifice your fun to try and get all the Community Center bundles in year one (it’s not even possible)

It might seem counter-intuitive, but the Forest Map is generally agreed to be a better map than the “default” farm, at least for beginner players. There’s a ton of foraging areas and lots of other perks to having the forest farm, like renewable hardwood and random seed-spawning weeds, especially year one when you are struggling to farm large amounts of anything. Plus, if you ask me…… it’s prettier. And that’s VERY important.

It’s annoying, but get yourself to fishing level 4, even if you hate fishing like me. Once you have the recipe for the recycling machine and crab pots, you can print your own money. (Or, well, your own resources, at least)

Spring, Year 1

Forage. Sell everything you find on the ground, and try to farm only what you can water without eating to restore energy.

Your ideal watering energy budget for this first season is half an energy bar. 

You can’t really afford to eat your foraged items in Spring year 1, you need every scrap of money you can earn, so don’t overexert yourself too often.

More foraging: cut down some trees, learn to make those nasty seed bars that give you energy, then shake the trees until they get scared and give you their lunch money (seeds) so you can make more energy bars. For free.

Still rambling about foraging: You can make and grow wild seeds for free, and then use those foraged items to 

A) boost your energy - hey, free food! B) Make some extra cash to support your “money” crops and C) Be a goddamn hippy like God intended. 

Dandelions are particularly good for free energy in year one, and Daffodils make good gifts for most people.

DON’T SKIP THE SALMONBERRIES. It’s annoying to collect them, and they don’t sell for much, so don’t sell them. Save them and either use them for cheap energy when you go into the mines, or stick them in a preserves jar and make jelly that you can give as a gift or sell at a much better rate than the original berries.

Upgrade your tools ASAP. Especially the watering can, axe, and pickaxe, in that order. 

Give your watering can to Clint when you know it’s going to rain (check the weather report on your TV) so that your crops don’t lose a day of progress.

Save up as much money as you can for the egg festival, and likewise, save space on your farm. Pierre will be selling strawberry seeds, and this is the only time you can buy them. They’re expensive but extremely profitable, and they will produce more than one crop.

If you can swing it, try to complete the Community Center spring crops bundle before you get the strawberries. Completing the bundle will net you some speed grow fertilizer which can get you your strawberries even FASTER, yay!

ORE. You’re gon need a lot of it. Go into the mines and crack open geodes when the fortune teller tells you it’s a lucky day. You’ll find better shit and won’t waste your time.

When it rains, go cut wood or mine. Fishing won’t get you much this first season. But you’re gonna NEED ore and wood.

Other random tips:

Once it opens in Summer year 1, chill out in the spa after watering your crops. It’s free and replenishes your energy. If you think it looks nasty in there, then download the gorgeous Japanese-inspired onsen replacement mod like I did. Now you’ll actually WANT to go there.

The first few museum perks are premium seeds like cauliflower and melons, so bring Gunther lots of stuff. 

Don’t sell wood. Save every scrap. You’re going to need it. 

Get a coop/barn as soon as you can. Them animals poop easy money.

In terms of skill level ups, I personally recommend: Tiller to Artisan, Miner to Blacksmith, Gatherer to Botanist, Fighter to Brute, and whatever with fishing I never level up fishing very far tbh 

Mod tips:

Disclaimer: Stardew Valley is designed to be played slowly, at a leisurely pace. There’s no in-game rush to complete anything. But if you, like me, have no fucking patience whatsoever and don’t CARE what the game creator (or God Himself) intended, these mods may make the experience more fun for you:

AutoSpeed. It lets you walk/run at a more reasonable rate. I don’t know why the game makes you walk so slowly, but it makes my skin crawl. This saved my sanity.

On that same token of getting more shit done each day, if you don’t mind cheating a little more, install TimeSpeed. This lets you vary the time depending on location (by default it is slower indoors, and I always make the mine levels extra slow)

You can even PAUSE the time if you are like, ten minutes from Clint’s closing time and you KNOW you can’t make it but you NEED to give him your watering can cuz it’s going to rain tomorrow AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH.

 If you’re a completionist like me and HAVE TO FINISH THE COMMUNITY CENTER or you’ll DIE, then it helps to have the UI Info Suite and Lookup Anything mods. 

UI Info Suite in particular is a mod I don’t think I could live without at this point. It lets you see at a glance if that fish you just caught needs to go in a community center bundle, your daily luck, whose birthday it is, if there is anything good on TV, and like, so much more. 

That said, Sometimes the amount of info they give you can be cluttered and overwhelming, but you can toggle the hover options off or on at any time.

If you’re a capitalist who HAS TO MAKE AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE, you’re gonna want Automate. This mod is a godsend. This mod is everything. I want to divorce my husband and marry this mod.

I can’t think of anything else.

[headoverjojo]

Aaaaaah I hope I'm not to late! Since it's almost that time of the year, I'd like to request hcs for what presents La Squadra would buy for each other if they did the secret Santa thing. Thanks~

Hiiiii honey!! You’re absolutely in time and aaaaaa a Christmas request, I’m soft :,) Ok so! I apologize if they’re short, but they were a looot! And I hope you’ll like it :3

Secret Santa: Squadra di Esecuzione edition

(Under the cut for length!)

Risotto is a person who values more practice over beauty, so he’d make practical and useful gifts!

To Prosciutto he’d give a pair of elegant cufflinks. Prosciutto uses them a lot, so Risotto is sure he’s going to use them. Plus, Prosciutto is weak for fancy ornaments, so he’d immensely appreciate the gift!

He’d buy for Pesci a set to repair and clean his fishing rod. He knows, as Prosciutto, that Pesci’s secret hobby is to fish, and he’d be prone to encourage him with this activity, as not only it helps Pesci to relax, but it also helps him to better his precision!

He’d give Formaggio a beautiful agenda. It’s mostly a silent warning, as Formaggio is almost always late to meetings, to start to arrive at the right time! Now he has no more excuses: he can write down his duties on his new agenda!

For Melone, he’d buy the most recent biology dictionary. He knows that Melone is fond of biology and medicine and that he also loves to learn new specific terms, so what’s better than a biology dictionary? Melone will love it!

He knows that Illuso likes thrillers -and that he dies of boredom in the mirror world-, so Risotto would buy him a collection of novels that Illuso can keep safe in the mirror world and pick up in case of extreme boredom. Capo’s saved the day!

Finally, he’d get Ghiaccio a new coat. Even if his stand power allows him to freeze things, Ghiaccio is really sensible to cold! In winter he always ends up catching a cold ‘cause he’s too cold. So, nothing better than a new, super warm coat!

Prosciutto is more for classy gifts! Simple but elegant gifts are his trademark and he’s careful to every detail!

For Risotto, he’d buy an elegant fountain pen. A pen with a simple but sharp and elegant design, perfect for a man who has to check and fill in many documents. Risotto’s gonna do it with style!

Knowing Pesci’s passion for ocean creatures, Prosciutto would not buy him anything, instead taking him to the wonderful Genoa’s aquarium. It’s such a wonderful and unforgettable experience for Pesci!

He’d give Formaggio a new gilet, as he firmly thinks that the one he has is too ruined. The new one is basically like the one Formaggio already has, but, of course, new, softer and more beautiful. Assassins, but stylish!

For Melone, he’d buy a sweater, as he always cringes when he sees the skinny man with basically his whole torso exposed even when it gets cold. Even Risotto covers himself when it’s cold! Melone’s going to cover himself as well, and he’ll do with an elegant and warm sweater!

Illuso’s going to get a bag with fancy shampoo, balsamo, and whatever he may need to take care of his hair. Prosciutto knows that hair is important to Illuso, so he’s going to give him the best products!

Finally, for Ghiaccio, he’d buy a new pair of sneakers, Ferrari red as Ghiaccio likes. The ones he has, even if Ghiaccio takes good care of them, are pretty ruined, by now! No better occasion to buy him a new pair of shoes!

Pesci has a kind heart, and his gifts would show his sweetness in the simplicity and the great care he put in them!

He’s buy rock candies for Risotto, or, better, for Metallica beans. He knows the little ones love rock candies and happy beans mean a happier Risotto, and a happy Capo means a better day for everyone!

For Prosciutto, he’d buy something classic: a mug with printed on it “best big brother”. Even if Prosciutto just mutters a barely audible “thanks”, he loves it!! And it shows when, the day after and all the following ones, he goes around with his new mug full of tea or water. He loves it!

He’d give Formaggio a little stock of toys for his cats. He knows that, even if Formaggio calls them “demons with fur”, he dearly loves his cats and wants just the best for them, so what’s better than few new and beautiful toys for them? Happy cats mean happy Formaggio!

Knowing how Melone teach Babyface’s spawns, he’d give him new and educative illustrated children books to use with Babyface’s spawns. He may not approve how his stand works, but this doesn’t mean that he condemns him for this!

Pesci knows that Illuso is from Venezia and, also, that he has, in the mirror world -he has seen it once, when Illuso hosted him for few hours in the mirror world- a small collection of Murano glass figurines. And this is Pesci’s gift! A new, beautiful Murano glass figurine for his collection!

For Ghiaccio, he’d not buy anything, but he’d cook White Album’s favourite dessert: tiramisù. And not a simple tiramisù, but one that follows the recipe Ghiaccio likes the most! For once, Ghiaccio’s not grumbling, but he’s almost… touched. He’d not miss to share it with Pesci too!

Formaggio is one who likes to bring fun also in his gifts. Incredibly, his gifts, even if he likes to think they’re just the shitposting of gifts, are actually appreciated!

For Risotto, he’d buy a plate which says “Boss of the Year”, chuckling to himself while giving him it. Jokes on Formaggio, Risotto actually puts it on his desk and he doesn’t even bat an eyelash when someone asks him about it. He’s pretty content to have it!

He’d give Prosciutto a sleeping mask with golden decorations on it, to mock Prosciutto’s fancy tastes. Prosciutto actually likes it for real and, since he’s really sensible to light when he sleeps, he regularly uses it!

Pesci would get a pineapple themed pijama. He doesn’t expect Pesci to like it nor to actually wear it, but, again jokes on him, the pijama is incredibly comfortable and soft, and the pattern is not even that bad? In the end Pesci likes it!

He’d give Melone a set of various hair dyes, from a forest green to amethyst purple. For once he thinks it’s a really unusable gift, but he has to eat back his words when he sees Melone coming at the following meeting with his hair dyed in a vibrant forest green. Melone loves to change his style!

For Illuso, he’d bought a Michael Jackson figurine, referencing to Illuso’s stand and appearance. He hopes that this could be intendended as a prank, but again, the curse of the well-accepted gift follows him; Illuso likes it a lot!

Finally, Ghiaccio would receive a Carolina Kostner’s biography as gift. He doesn’t know Ghiaccio would react to it, as it’s a clear joke based on his skating stand, but in the end he finds out that Ghiaccio is a sincere Carolina Kostner’s fan and so he appreciates a lot the gift!

Melone, even if everyone’s terrified of the possibility to get a gift from him, actually makes pretty gifts!

For Risotto, he’d buy a new hat. Simple, practical, useful: Risotto uses just one type of hats and god knows how much his hats end up ruined due to too much use. So he gets a new, customized hat with jingle balls and everything else, all for his Capo!

For Prosciutto, he’d buy a fancy necktie. He knows that Prosciutto always wants to look at his best, and what’s better than a perfect necktie to match his elegant suit? Prosciutto doesn’t have a lot of ties, so another one is good!

Pesci is kinda worried when he finds out that he was Melone’s Secret Santa, but he has to eat back his worries when he sees that Melone gave him a wonderful book about sea life, a book he truly wanted to buy since long time. One of the best gifts of the last years!

Formaggio gets a book too: one about cats’ breeds! It’s full of beautiful photos of cats and the various breeds’ descriptions; it’s actually one of Formaggio’s dearest books, as it also contains many advices and suggestions for every specific breed!

Melone wasn’t so creative with Illuso, as he bought him a fancy pocket mirror. It can be useful, however, as Illuso can slide it in his targets’ pockets, by fakingly bumping on them, and then using the mirror to attack them when they expect it the less. Useful and practical!

He’d also go on a safe path for Ghiaccio’s gift too; in the beginning he had thought to buy him a fake gift just for the lolz, but in the end he actually bought him a scarf, as he too knows that Ghiaccio is really prone to get colds and flu and so a scarf is always good for these cold winters!

Illuso loves music, and this reflects also on his gifts, mostly music themed ones!

He’d give Risotto a ticket for a Metallica’s concert during a metal festival. Risotto would be so baffled! How the hell did Illuso manage to get it?! They were basically unobtainable!! Illuso just gives one of his half smiles, saying that someone was in debt with him. If this is true or not, Illuso would never say it.

Prosciutto receives a ticket for a wonderful opera night! This time too Illuso doesn’t explain how and where he got this ticket, saying, again, that someone had to pay a debt and that Illuso asked for a ticket for that exclusive opera night instead of money. Is it true or not? Just Illuso knows.

Pesci gets a beautiful audiobook of sea related novels! Pesci absolutely adores it, it’s so soothing and the novels are so well-written and wonderful! He loves to listen to it before sleeping; it helps him to fall asleep faster and to not have nightmares!

Formaggio loves to listen to music in his own flat, but, alas, his stereo is broken! So there’s no better occasion to buy him a new and cooler one! Formaggio is ecstatic: that stereo is so cool, he can’t be happier!

Melone gets an invitation for a seminary about how music can positively influence children’s learning abilities. Melone is always curious to learn new things about biology and pedagogy, so he’s absolutely enthusiast to have the chance to go to this seminary!

And, finally, Ghiaccio gets a music themed gift too! It’s a vintage record player. Ghiaccio likes music, but he’s a bit fussy about the device used; he’s one of those who prefers vinyls over CDs. Now that he has a good record player, he can listen to music in the right way!

Ghiaccio is not for poetic or metaphorical gifts; his gifts are extremely practical!

For Risotto, he’d buy a new set of razors. He doesn’t care about how Capo’s gonna use them, if to actually shave or to use as “secret weapon” to carry around and to launch with Metallica. What matters is that Risotto’s gonna use them!

Prosciutto’s going to get fancy Cuban cigars. It’s not the healthiest gift, but hey, Prosciutto likes them, so he’s going to certainly use them, which is Ghiaccio’s primary goal. It’s a win-win situation, in the end!

Pesci gets a new fishing rod. The one he has is pretty consumed, by now, so a new one would be better. It’s more efficient, more beautiful and lighter, so Pesci can actually train more comfortably. He’s going to use it a lot, for sure!

For Formaggio he’d buy a cat tower that looks really good in Formaggio’s living room. Maybe, this time, Formaggio is not going to use it, but his cats for sure, so it’s fine anyway! In the end, what matters is that the gift doesn’t go wasted!

Melone gets a new mask. It may not seem such a great gift, but for Melone it is, in fact! He’s really fussy about his clothes, especially the mask, and the one Ghiaccio gave him is soft and comfortable, it’s perfect for him!

Illuso, finally, gets a new big file cabinet to place in the mirror world. Illuso has tons of files, about targets, allies, enemy gangs, he has almost more files than the Squadra Informazioni itself! So, new file cabinets are always well accepted!

[kenkamishiro]

Ishida’s Q&A comments from YJ compilation, Part 1

For anyone who doesn’t know about the relevant Questions to Ishida contest, please read here.

In the Table of Contents of every Young Jump issue, there’s a comment section where YJ asks their mangakas questions and the mangakas give their responses. In this case, this is a full compilation of the 330 questions that YJ has asked Ishida over the 7 years of his serialization, and Ishida’s responses to them. The compilation also comes with Ishida’s comments on the Q&A’s in the present.

The format will go something like this:

Question from YJ magazine

Ishida’s answer to the question at the time the question was asked.

Ishida’s comment about the Q&A in 2019.

Each part will be about 20-30 questions long so it’s more manageable to read. Enjoy and hopefully you’ll find inspiration for a question to ask Ishida!

2011

(Editor’s note: The Table of Contents (ToC) comments from 2011-12 consist of the answer to the question plus a brief statement of what’s happening in their lives.

No. 41

What is one UNESCO World Heritage Site you’d like to visit?

Yakushima, because I like Princess Mononoke...this is my very first series. Pleased to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

No. 42

Fall sports! What’s something fun you want to do outdoors?

I’d rather draw manga at home than do outdoor activities. I was glad to hear that an acquaintance of mine was happy for me when I told them about my serialization.

I don’t remember who I told it to.

No. 43

If you could visit the grave of a historical figure or a famous person, who would you visit?

I would visit Yamamoto Shuugorou because I like literature. There was a family of cats in the parking lot at work and they were cute.

I have no interest in visiting graves.

No. 44

Please share with us any words or phrases you often say without thinking!

I use words like “kinda” and “amazing” a lot. The bar I went to with my editor and editor-in-chief was amazing...I wanna go there by myself too.

Kinda amazing, yup I still use them. I haven’t been to that bar since.

No. 45

What is a souvenir or gift that has left the biggest impression on you!?

A boomerang that my father got for me as a souvenir from Hawaii. It didn’t come back when I threw it. I’m currently reading “Kenkaku Shoubai” by Ikenami Shoutarou.

I wonder where it went. Somewhere in my parents’ home probably?

No. 46

Fall sports. Any non-competitive sports that you like?

Kendo. I want to whack the head. I gave a melon to my family as a present.

I gave them a melon huh.

No. 47

The end of the year is always so costly...what kind of small luxury do you want for yourself before then?

I kinda want to eat something delicious. I was deeply touched when I received Star Wars merch from both my editor and staff.

I don’t really need Star Wars merch anymore.

No. 48

What big decisions have you made recently?

Recruiting for an assistant. I bought 3 loaves of bread from some old man while I was eating out. I bought too much.

I remember I said, “I can do without an assistant.” Idiot. I don’t recall much about what happened with the bread.

No. 49

Please share with us any memories you have of your culture festivals.

I skipped it and slept in my room instead. I bought a pen tablet. My first Intuos, it’s super cool.

It’s because I hate events.

No. 50

Share with us your most awful horror story!

[On break.]

Probably when I was piss drunk and occupied with the toilet, I won’t say any more than that.

No. 51

What TV/radio programs do you watch/listen to every time without missing a single episode?

[On break.]

I was addicted to Terrace House for a while.

No. 52

What do you find eye-opening about its progression!?

[On break.]

What it’ll evolve to, I guess...(I can’t think of anything)

[T/N: I think No. 52 is referring to last week’s question? Not really sure tbh.]

2012

No. 1

What do you think was the most interesting thing that happened to you recently?

Thinking back to the Miracle Jump oneshot, these 10 chapters have been fun for me to draw. My series will be resuming from its break. Please look forward to it.

This was the only time that Tokyo Ghoul was on break, ever. But I wasn’t really on break since I was working on the oneshot.*

[T/N: Most likely referring to the Rize side story.]

No. 2

It’s not too late! What did you still have left to do in 2011?

I learned how to use Painter from an illustrator friend of mine. Thanks so much! So I would like to begin practicing this year.

Thank you, Ririnra-san.

No. 3

Which Japanese person has left the greatest impression on you this year?

Himura-san of Bananaman. The tooth goes in the good-looking guy! The Xavier sweets from Oita were delicious.

Congratulations on his marriage. Time sure flies by.

[T/N: Ishida’s drawn art of Himura before. I’m not sure what Ishida means by the 2nd line besides reminding me of Furuta, maybe a punchline from Himura? And Xavier is a Japanese confectionary specialty from Oita that’s filled with bean paste.]

No. 4-5

December is finally coming to an end...who do you consider your master?

I was only ever a bother to him, but Hara-sensei of Kingdom. The ramen my editor bought for me as a present was delicious.

I wasn’t planning on ever mentioning that fact, but guess I already said it in the ToC comments.

No. 6-7

2012, start! What are your plans for this year!?

I’d be happy if my series continues to do well...I hope you will continue to support me this year.

Yeah no, that was a lie.

No. 8

What event are you looking most forward to in 2012?

I’m looking forward to Kooza. The Darth Maul figure I received for my birthday is super cool. But its legs broke.

Kooza was pretty interesting. If only I could get a ticket to see it one more time, I misread the start time and by the time I got there it was already half over...

No. 9

Share with us a sci-fi gimmick or tool you’d like to use at work if it became a product!

A robot that draws for me. The manga “Hitsuji no Ki” is interesting. The story and Igarashi Mikio-sensei’s art are both great.

If something like that existed I think I’d lose sight of my worth.

No. 10

Please tell us about your preferred style when it comes to fashion and attire!

Recently, comfortable clothes all the time. My father sent me a picture of a Taiwanese star (?) who looks a lot like me.

It was because I couldn’t go out at all. We really did look alike.

next

[carameloveskook]

festivals

pairing: kimtaehyung x reader

warnings: fluff (?) , angst if you squint 

a Daegu farm boy captures the heart of a tourist.

notes: I had to research so much about Daegu and it’s countryside since it’s the 3rd largest city in Korea. After researching some stuff it looks like I have to book a ticket to see it myself. Also, I was listening to a 1-hour loop of Scenery while writing this and I REALLY SUGGEST LISTENING TO IT WHILE READING!! V saying “I want to make you mine” just made me uwu towards the end. T~T

———————————————————————

“Daegu, originally known as Taegu is the third largest city in South Korea to date. Our nickname is ‘Apple City’ due to the high quality of our apples and melons throughout the….”

You place your headphones in your ears in order to drown out the tour guide’s “fun facts” about Daegu and decided to enjoy the view on the bus ride. The landscape was gorgeous, the grass stretched all the way to the skyline, the mountains were draped with trees and the houses zoomed by the flicker of an eye. Moving away from the landscape you face your friend as she is attentively listening to the tour guide. You roll your eyes, of course, she would be interested in these things. You just wanted to get off this bus so you can take proper pictures of the countryside and interact with the people who live there. You find that being in the moment was so much better than listening to random facts that you can look up on the internet. Your friend looks at you with sparkles in her eyes, she’s moving her mouth but considering you have headphones on, you just pretend that you understand everything she is telling you. Eventually, she stops talking and looks at towards the tour guide once more. Taking off your headphones, your friend gestures towards the front of the bus as it stops at your exit. Sighing, you get up from the comfort of your chair and step off the bus into the dirt road below. The grassy fields reached up to your knees as you and your friend walk towards what looks like a market. As you follow her inside, you look around to see foreign products that you’ve never seen before. Suddenly, a civilian bumps into you as you look around the market. You give him a smile and proceed to have a conversation.

“Hey y/n, check this out! This market is so cool! I can’t wait to cook with these new ingredients. y/n? Are you even paying attention to me?”

You were too busy having a conversation with the local about the variety of kimchi presented in the market. The local was very handsome, he had sleek eyes and a sharp jawline as well as tan skin. He was carrying a crate of apples that were labeled “김 농장”, you assumed that he was a farmer since he told you that he was there to sell apples. He wasn’t fluent in English however he was able to keep up with your conversations with the use of gestures and key vocabulary words.

“Why you in Daegu?”

“My friend invited me to explore Korea with her! She likes K-pop and wanted to visit for a long time.”

“K-pop?”

“Yeah, it’s dumb I know haha…but for me, I wanted to see how pretty it is.”

“Daegu is pretty! Like you!”

Your face heats up from his sudden compliment and turn away in order to hide the redness growing on your face. The boy gives you a boxed smile as he hands the crate of apples to the owner of the market. Attention shifts from you to the owner as they discuss from what you assume, prices. Suddenly, you feel a tap on your shoulder. Looking towards that direction your face grows nervous as you see your friend with an angry look placed on her features.

“Really y/n? Don’t ditch me like that! I looked like I was crazy for talking to thin air.”

“Sorry. I just-”

“Oh no, no excuses from your mouth today! You fell asleep on the bus and didn’t talk to me during the bus ride! Now you ditched me in a market! Let’s go and have fun already!”

Before you could respond, your friend had dragged you out of the market by grabbing your wrist tightly. You looked back and see the farmer boy looking around in confusion before taking back an empty crate from the owner with a smile. A couple of hours have passed by as you and your friend walk around the town, Daegu was gorgeous. However, despite the sun setting upon the mountains coloring the sky with hues of pink, purple, orange and yellow, the only thing on your mind was that boy with the boxed smile. You only had a small interaction with him but the connection you had with was uncanny, strange and mysterious. He barely spoke English and you never learned Korean but you felt connected with him emotionally. His smile was unique, it was shaped like a rectangular box like a robot if you will. You laugh at the thought of him having a robotic smile catching the attention of your friend.

“What’s so funny y/n?”

“Oh nothing, haha!”

“Come on, spill it!”

Your friend stops walking and turns to face you with a frown on her face. Looking at her sudden action, you immediately stop laughing and tell her about the boy you met in the market a couple of hours ago. You explain his boxy smile and how it looked like a robot’s default mouth but also adding that it had a unique flair with a touch of mystery behind his cheeky grin. In addition, you add that he was local and probably a farmer. Your friend listens attentively as you both walk around the area and stop in front of a restaurant.

“Wanna grab a bite to eat before we head home?”

“Of course!”

“What’s this farmer’s name anyway?”

“…Well, I couldn’t get his name…”

“WHAT!? WHY?”

You glare at her as you enter the restaurant and wait for a waiter to sit you down. Seeing that she got the idea, she looks down and mumbles an apology which you laugh off. Why get mad at you friend when you probably won’t see that boy again? After being seated and tell the waiter what you would like to eat, you look around to see what the restaurant looked like. The lights were dimmed to match the night sky looming outside of the building, they were hanging from the ceiling and had a beautiful criss-cross pattern lamp shade covering them. People were talking to their friends, lovers or family around their table, over to the entrance of the restaurant there was a mini aquarium filled with colorful fishes. Next to the aquarium was a mini bar with a bartender taking orders from the people sitting on the bar stools. It was pretty, simple design, but pretty. After eating, you and your friend decided to walk around before heading to your place of stay to sleep for the rest of the night. As you were walking you spot a poster that was hanged on a pole by a civilian and your friend insisted on seeing what it was.

“Why would we read a poster that we couldn’t understand?”

“Oh hush y/n, I’ve been learning!”

“Through K-Dramas?”

“Shut up.”

You giggle at your friend’s comeback and stare at the sky while she attempts to decipher what the poster says. Hundreds no, billions of stars were placed before your eyes. It gave you a calming feeling, you can look at the bright stars shining before forever. And of course, the ‘forever’ you wanted was broken as your friend squeals in delight.

“I got it! I got it!”

“Solved the poster?”

“Duh! It says that there will be a lantern festival tomorrow night and we HAVE to go y/n!!!”

“But weren’t we gonna go shopping tomorrow night-”

“Well we were, but now we aren’t! Let’s just do it in the morning so we can find gorgeous outfits for the lantern festival!”

Before you knew it, your friend was dragging you to the festival in a cream colored dress. It was pretty you have to admit, it went all the way to your ankles and had lace trimmed at the end with buttons that climbed at the way from the bottom of the skirt to your chest. As soon as you got there, the sun was setting once more revealing the gorgeous color palette nature has gifted the world. Looking around the festival, you stop in awe at the variety of different lanterns that the vendors were selling by the minute, each vendor had different and unique colors they were selling.

“Hey y/n, how about these colors? They are gorgeous and not to mention, they are selling at a good price!”

“Oh yeah, they are gorgeous…”

“Stop looking at the sky dumbo, you’re gonna run into some-”

Before she could finish her sentence, you bumped In a local because you were too busy looking at the sky then your surroundings. Your friend rushes over to check on you as the local offers his hand to help you up. Before your friend could ask if you were okay, your eyes widen at the figure in front of you. It…it was that boy! That farmer boy who was selling apples to the owner and having a conversation with you before you were dragged away. He looks at you with the same expression on his face as he recognizes you. He was wearing a simple shirt with sleeves that reached his elbows and black jeans alongside with dark blue sneakers. Looking back at your friend, she simply stood there before realizing who that boy was and immediately smiles as she backs away into the crowd.

“Hey! You’re that apple boy from yesterday!”

“Apple…boy?”

“Oh…um well you were carrying apples at that time so I assumed that you farmed apples and-”

“Wow fast English, you good at it!”

You look at him sheepishly, forgetting that he wasn’t fluent like you were. Making gestures at the lanterns, you both head over to the variety of lanterns available before choosing a purple lantern that you both shared. Seeing that your friend was no longer around you decided to stick with the boy, whose name you had learned was Taehyung, for the rest of the festival. You explored the different types of sweets and street food with him as he laughed every time he made you eat something spicy. You smiled at his laughter even though you were mad at him for making you try foods without warning you. You were happy at the fact you were making him happy. As hours go by you learn more about each other through broken English and hand gestures, one particular story Taehyung had told you made you feel the need to comfort him. Apparently, he had auditioned in Seoul to become a K-pop star but didn’t get accepted to any of the companies. He was upset because he had worked his butt off to at least get into one company and saved up his money for a trip to Seoul. He explained he was so sure that he would get in that he only got enough money for a one-way ticket but was heartbroken when he had to call his grandmother to come and get him from the motel he was staying at for the night. That was the final story he told you before you sat down on a nearby bench.

“I feel so bad you had to go through that.”

“It’s ok, I like Daegu.”

“Well, I think you are really cool and talented still.”

“You never heard me sing yet.”

He looks at you with an amused grin causing you to look away in embarrassment because your attempt to comfort him had failed. He smiles at you and places his hands on your shoulders in order to make you look at him. He gestures at the lantern and towards the crowd, people were lighting their lanterns in order to get ready to release them to towards the sky. You grab your lantern as he gets the lighter and ignite it. You were still crestfallen at your failed attempt until Taehyung places his hand in yours.

“Thank you…for making me feel-”

People started to cheer on as they release their lanterns filling the sky with bright colors. You looked at Taehyung to let him finish his sentence but he was already gesturing for you to hold onto the lantern with him. At the same moment, you release the purple lantern together and watch it fly up to join the other thousands of lanterns making it way up to the sky. You stare in awe until a familiar hand reaches for yours. You look up at the boy who was already staring at you with a smile on his face. Blushing at his smile, you can’t help but hug the poor boy in last attempts to comfort him. He was caught by surprise at the sudden intimate action but returned your hug nevertheless. You both stay there, comfortable with the presence of each other. Despite only knowing each other for a day, you both felt connected with each other even though there was a language barrier. Moving away from his chest, hands still on each other’s waist you look around to see that the lanterns that were floating throughout the sky seemed to have come down and surrounded you both.

“You didn’t finish your sentence Taehyung.”

“Well, I want to say, thank you”

“Thank you for what?”

“For making me happy.”

[marsjapanaspenbloomfield]

Random facts about Japan

Vending machine ratio. To every person there is approximately 23 vending machines. You can get anything in a vending machine including cars, lettuce, hot ramen, and eggs.

Gambling is illegal. There are no gambling stations in Japan however there is one game called pachinko which isn't illegal because it is a popular game and is disguised, in the game the payer buys tiny meatballs which are slotted into the machine. the balled that win are exchanged for prizes or tokens which can be exchanged for money.

Fake Food. Outside of most restaurants, you will find fake replicas of the food that the restaurant serves!  You may also find ones that move!  Yes, animated food – only in Japan.There is a street which is unofficially known as kitchen street, but the formal name is Kappabashi Street.  It’s located between Asakusa and Ueno.  This is where restaurants purchase their kitchenware and fake food! It’s a street lined with shops selling beautiful Japanese kitchenware, from hand-painted bowls to every kitchen gadget you could think of, it’s a kitchen-lovers dream!

Japan has the third-highest life expectancy in the world. Japanese have the highest life expectancy in the world due to their diet and lifestyle.  They are very healthy people and exercise regularly.On average men will live until their 81 years old and women 87 years old.  This is causing a crisis in Japan because there’s a lack of childbirth also.  Now there are more seniors than children and this is causing a problem for the Japanese economy.Apparently, Japan sells more adult diapers than children’s

There are over 6800 islands. 

Oldest people in the world. One of the most beautiful islands that mirror paradise is called Okinawa.  On this island are the two oldest people in the world (116 & 117 years old)!

Honshu is one of the four main islands and where Tokyo is located.  The other 3 main islands are called Hokkaido, Shikoku and Kyushu.

Slurping your noodles is not considered rude. It’s considered polite to make slurping noises and means that you’re enjoying the food and you appreciate it.

Japan eat the most seafood in the world. The Japanese eat over 17 million tonnes of fish per year.  The Japanese are the largest importer of seafood.You will seafood as a staple food for the Japanese and included in most meals.  Over 20% of their protein is from seafood!

You’re allowed to take naps on the job. Yes, that right!  In fact, naps are encouraged on the job because this improves workflow and speed.It’s also considered a sign that you are dedicated to your job and have worked hard and long for your job!

They eat KFC for Christmas dinner. Apparently, over 3.6 million people in Japan celebrate their Christmas with a KFC dinner.So how did this come about in the first place? Well, it was just a good marketing campaign when the first store opened in 1970.  KFC started a ‘Party Barrell’ based on an American Christmas dinner but with chicken of course instead of turkey.  Somehow it caught on and the rest is history.Christmas is not considered a big event as less than 2% of Japan is Christian.

Tokyo is the most densely populated city in the world. Around 38 million of Japans population live just in Tokyo.  Japan has a population of 127 million, so that’s a lot of people in a small space!You can see how busy Tokyo is during rush-hour easily by trying to hop on a train within the city or walking the busiest crossing in the world – Shibuya.

One of the safest countries in the world. Japan’s crime rate is so low is basically non-existent.  The Japanese are very honest people, reliable and law-abiding.The Japanese law is strict, so people tend to not go off the rails and on the wrong side of the law.

Don’t wear your shoes inside. Before entering a house, you will be asked to take off your shoes.  You will be given a pair of slippers usually.  It’s considered rude to wear your shoes inside.This Japanese custom was mainly a thing because back in the days the Japanese used to eat off the floor and obviously didn’t want dirty shoes ruining where they were about to eat.

They have a high suicide rate. Unfortunately, Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.  Last year Japan youth suicide’s hit a record high in 30 years.The suicide forest is the second most popular place to commit suicide after San Francisco golden gate bridge.  The forest is located at the base of Mt Fuji and is said to where most people enter and never come back.The rate of suicide is due to not enough access to therapists as well as work pressures.  Japan has announced that they are working on better programs, especially in schools to help cut the rate of suicide.

The toilets sing for you. This is probably the weirdest thing about Japan, the toilets!  They do just about anything, even sing.You can also press a button and the seat will warm up, so your bottom doesn’t get cold!  

Square melons are a thing. There is such a thing as square watermelons! Apparently, they are grown like this for decoration and cost as much as $100!

They have a penis festival. The Kanamara Matsuri festival is held every year.  It started in 1969 just outside of Tokyo and celebrates the penis and female fertility!

Eating raw meat is common. You will notice on your trip to Japan that eating various types of meat raw is totally the norm.  Raw fish is commonly found in sushi. Homemade sushi tastes best and you’re lucky if you can find a guesthouse with a welcoming host to serve you local food.One of the delicacies in Japan is raw horsemeat.  It’s called Bashari and is thinly sliced and eaten raw.

No 4’s please! It is common in Japanese culture to totally avoid the number four because the word sounds the same as the word death.  Buildings will commonly not have the 4th floor, cutlery is sold in sets of 3 or 4 and the number of guests invited to a tea ceremony will never be 4! 

The Japanese are some of the friendliest in the world.This is a cold hard fact!  The Japanese are awesome, to say the least.  They are incredibly friendly, gentle and conscious people.

Fruit is the best gift you can give. If you don’t know what to get your host, then gift them fruit.  You will notice the price of fruit is astronomically high.There’s a fruit gifting shop in Tokyo and fruit can be as expensive as $27,000!

The face mask is used by the sick. When I first visited Japan, I thought the face mask was worn because people don’t want to get sick and wanted to avoid other people’s germs.  But, it’s actually the other way around.If you are sick you wear the face mask, so you don’t get others sick.  Again, this shows how nice the Japanese are!  Always thinking of others!

You can rent a cuddle. Yes, you read that right.  There are businesses where you can go in and pay for a cuddle.  Turns out people are lonely and just want a good old-fashioned hug sometimes.

Maid café. In Japan, there are maid cafes where the staff dress up in maid costumes and treat you as their master.  Now, you may be thinking that it sounds sexual, well it’s not meant to be that way at all.  It’s just a café where the staff are dressed in cosplay.The cafe is strange, fun but maybe a little cringy all at the same time. It’s just basically a café where everyone dresses up!

About 1500 earthquakes a year. Tokyo lies on an active area where earthquakes are extremely common, and they have over 1500 of them a year. But really this is nothing for me because New Zealand has over 15,000 per year.

They take cleaning seriously. Cleaning is taught in school and is a serious part of Japanese culture.  Students and children clean their own school!

[hypmicreload]

chapter three

written by: Beenz

edited by: Miki

word count: 1593

previous part - next part

“Sorry we’re late!” Hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor, a few seconds later the two first-year high schoolers appeared at the bottom of the staircase in the hideout. The other three, Saikoro, Takeshi, and Hikari, had been sitting around speaking mindlessly on mundane topics. Their attention turned to the two. Nao was catching his breath, breathlessly scolding Ikumi for being too careless on the stairs once more—it was only a matter of time before she fell down them, he swore by it.

Both held two neatly pressed black dresses on hangers, along with white aprons and matching frilly headdresses. Their school bags were slung over one shoulder letting both students have one of their hands open, presumably because the girl of the pair was insistent they always held hands as they walked together.

“School held us in.” Nao explained with one final huff and set his things down in the corner.

“It’s no problem,” Saikoro waved his hand back and forth easily, eyeing up the matching dresses and raising an eyebrow. Then flashing a grin to his younger brother. “Can I ask?”

“No—!” He protested quickly, sticking his tongue out at his brother. “It’s none of your business!”

Unfortunately, he was interrupted by his usual overly excited friend.

“We’re running a maid cafe!” Ikumi held her dress up to show it off to the group. “Our class is doing it for the school festival! We’re gonna make cakes and stuff!”

Saikoro snickered, clapping his hands together. “Uwah! That’s so much fun! I’m surprised to see Nao so willing to participate...” He stood up, ready to taunt his sibling in every way possible.

“Didn’t you say before? ‘School festivals are stupid!’” Carelessly he threw his arm over his shoulder and messed up his soft brown hair.

“It’s for a girl, yeah? That's the only way you’d join! You’re tryna impress someone!”

“What!?” Nao almost choked as he gasped, however his eyes darted to the direction of someone, then back quickly to his brother. Nao broke away from Saikoro’s annoying hug and tried to cover his cheeks, which are now tinted the brightest shade of red.

“It’s not that at all! I-I don’t like anyone! I just wanted to wear the dress!”

As fate would have it, Nao was once more called out.

“Yukkun totally has a crush! I see him doodling hearts in his notebook all the time!” Ikumi doomed him with her comment, poking at his red face happily.

“He covers it up so I can never read the initials! But I’m gonna find out soon!”

“Oh, that's so sweet! You should tell us about her, Nao.” Hikari added with a soft giggle, laying her hand over her heart. “Young love is so precious.”

“It’s no one!” His voice threatened to break, the tone laced with begging. “Can we please drop this!?”

Hikari (his savior) stood up to intervene, thinking of a quick way to change the subject. “Alright, alright!” She paused for a moment, humming as she did so.

“What day is it? The festival? We should all go!”

The two teens looked to her, their expressions lighting up, Ikumi seemed to look the happiest about the comment. “You really wanna come, Hikarin?!”

“Of course! It sounds fun!”

Not even stopping to breathe, Ikumi rushed her words out, reciting all the details at once without a second thought.

“It’s in a month from today! It goes all day too, so you can come at any time! We’ll save a good cake for you. You two as well!” She turned to Saikoro and Takeshi, who both grinned and held a thumbs up.

“Sounds great!” Hikari mused, petting the now-out-of-breath girls back. “I promise we’ll all be there.”

“Then,” Saikoro clapped his hands. “With that settled, shall we start our meeting?”

In unison, everyone nodded, determined to start their usual training.

~

“That’ll hurt in the morning for sure...” Hikari grumbled, rubbing her arm as she flopped down on one of the couches along with everyone else.

As always, training was merciless.

Having been the only one with experience in rap, Ikumi was appointed the role of “coach” towards the others and though they had been together for a short time, she felt everyone was making stable progress. At least from what she had observed.

For beginners, they picked up on the concept of flow quickly and had begun to develop a style for themselves. It was impressive for starters, and further confirmed the idea that they really were the best—brought together only by fate!

However, they didn't come without faults, and for that reason, she had gotten into the habit of being stern in her training.

To her, sparing was the only way to get the results they wanted. The others agreed of course, it seemed like a good idea. Battling each other would give them a chance to get a feel for their own mics and to get used to the feeling of taking hits in a safe area… but none of them seemed to think that their self-appointed coach didn’t want to hold back.

And that was a mistake, really.

“You all did super good today.” Ikumi hummed, by this point, she was the only one who didn’t look completely exhausted. By some miracle, she was standing straight with barely a hair out of place.

Traditions formed fast in the group and as per tradition, to congratulate them, she reached into her bag and took out four packets of melon bread and tossed one to each of her friends.

“Koro is right, I think we’re ready!”

Nao tore into the bread quickly, taking a mouthful and swallowing it down within a matter of seconds.

He looked up towards her then to his brother and quirked an eyebrow. “Ready for what exactly?”

Saikoro was too focused on his own snack to respond, taking much smaller bites and covering his mouth with his hand delicately as he chewed in an attempt to always look cute.

“Oh! He asked me to get us a spot in the next underground battle.” Ikumi spoke up, setting herself down on the armrest next to Hikari.

“We’ll be fighting against this one team, I think they’re called Orizon? They’re pretty weak and they haven’t placed before so I think we can beat them easily—”

“W-Wait, we’re actually going to battle?” Hikari paled, looking at the microphone sitting in her lap, hesitation settling into the pit of her stomach.

“I-I mean I knew we were going to, but… now? Are we really ready for that?”

Nao nodded along as Hikari spoke. “Yeah… going against other people is great and all but we’ve only ever fought each other…”

With a reassuring smile, Saikoro put the worries of the other two at ease. “We can do it for sure! We have each other's backs! Plus, how can we know if we’re ready to fight other people unless we actually fight other people?”  

The proposal made sense to an extent and seemed to encourage the weary gang easily—all except Nao who still seemed hesitant. Saikoro bit into the bread he was gifted and tossed his arm over his brother.

“No need to be nervous! If we lose, it’s no big deal either.”

“Not that we’re gonna!” Ikumi insisted, grinning as wide as ever “Right, guys?”

The expression on Naos face turned more worried, but he nodded along with the others who began to chat happily amongst themselves. All anxieties transforming into excitement.

~

After the practice, Saikoro left with the two girls.

Being out past curfew was dangerous and he knew the backroads well enough so he could easily sneak them back into their own divisions.

As for Takeshi and Nao, they stayed behind.

Nao didn’t like being in the car with his brother (who would always swear to be a good driver) and Takeshi had decided their little hideaway was a good location to study, it was quiet and away from any distractions—aside from Nao’s nervous expression that remained as he looked through meaningless images on his phone.

“Is everything alright, Nao?” He looked up from his books, keeping his finger in the place he was reading so he wouldn’t lose his spot.

“Ah—” He looked up from his phone, nodding quickly. “Of course, yeah, everything’s fine… I’m just a bit…”

“Nervous? There's no need to be. In the battle, those who lose are just as gallant as those who succeed! In fact, being in battle in of itself is a triumph—”

“It’s not that.” Nao laughed, enjoying Takeshi’s idea of a pep talk nonetheless.

“I don’t mind if we win or lose, we’re new to this whole thing and we’re still learning, but…” He shook his head. “I just know that some of us aren’t as good at… dealing with failure.” Nao rubbed the back of his neck, looking towards the roof which had a small crack running along it. His eyes followed the path it created absentmindedly. “It’s nothing to worry about though, I’m sure, she’s probably grown out of it anyway.”

“If you insist.” Takeshi nodded and turned his attention back to his book, never the kind to pry or nag someone to talk.

“Yeah… she’ll be fine. Then,” Nao stood up, picking up his school bag and the black dress as he did so. He turned on his heels and made his way to the bottom of the staircase before glancing back at Takeshi, his expression shifting into a plain smile and a simple wave.

“See you later.”

“Mm.”