#even as someone who chooses not to celebrate these holidays in the first place

[theharrowing]

giving the most tender smiles and head pats and hugs to anyone who does not "go home" for holidays, who does not have a family to visit with, who abstains from these holidays and sees celebration all over their feeds.

this time of year can be very isolating. take time to relax, disconnect, eat your favorite snacks, watch something that brings you comfort. read or write something that feels like a hug.

you may feel lonely, but you are not alone.💜

[thatdeadaquarius]

I have a random idea for some sagau crack loosely based on my dynamic with my friend so Im giving it to you because I have been enjoying your sagau language stuff :D

Imagine there are two readers that are two different people. Like, not as in clones they are just two separate people that are rlly good friends on earth. They both really like genshin and play the game, and they both have self aware teyvat citizens. Reader 1 is a whale. They invest a l o t of money on the game, have all the characters, and all the characters have five star weapons. They are like the usual sagau reader you see. They have used up so much money on getting all of the characters, and I mean A L L of them, best weapons, constellations and put a lot of care into it. The place where they really get to show off is their knowledge and love for the lore, and are really invested into it and read all of the artifact descriptions and books. They know about primordial one, the four shining shades, random useless facts about items and often rant to reader 2 about their theories. Their quest bar is always empty because they did them to check out the lore of the game, and are always searching for more lore. They basically play everyday and are always reacting and talking to the characters out loud, unaware that they can hear them.

Meanwhile, Reader 2 is a f2p who is only interested in the archon quest lore and the lore of their fav characters. Because they are f2p, their options are limited so there is some blatant favoritism. They choose their fav character to save up for, and then pull for them. After they get the character they want, they will no longer pull and save up from there. Because of this, they only have like 5 five stars and only have zero five star weapon. Their favourite character is their main(*cough* wanderer *cough*), and unlike reader 1 who uses all of their characters regularly, reader 2 sticks to this character for most of their gameplay unless they need to use someone else. However, reader 2 takes almost an entire month to finish building a character, because they go overboard with the artifact stats. You would expect to normally have a 50 180 crit ratio, but reader 2’s dps characters always, and I mean ALWAYS have 50 200 crit ratio or more. Like, their main (it doesnt have to be wanderer but Im putting him here anyways) has 70 and 200 crit ratio, is crowned, full 4 pc best in slot, and is even crowned and faruzan only needs like 200 er but reader 2 gave them 300. (Im totally not putting this here because this is what I did/j) Reader 2 is also the type to never speak while gaming, so the first time they spoke everyone turned it into a national holiday to be celebrated. They also play a lot less than player 1. Player 1 plays everyday while player 2 plays for a month straight and then takes a long break to wait for the content to pile up.

So these two gremlin besties are always speaking with each other, and are always on coop. Whenever player 1 needs help making team comps or building characters, they just ask player 2 for help. And whenever player 2 needs help understanding the lore of the game, they ask player 1. But all I can think abt is the first time they cooped. Imagine player 1 was using childe and then when the coop starts, both childe and wanderer are very confused as to wtf is going on. Like, childe is confused because he sensed a strange aura coming form them like whenever someone gets controlled by reader 1, and wanderer is confused because reader 2 seemed so excited that they were talking, but its just childe? Reader 2 always skips childe’s banners.

Thats it lol, hope this wasnt too long.

Not long at all! Or more like, I like long asks so feel free to share! :D

IM SO SORRY ITS LIKE MONTHS LATER TO GET TO YOU I PROMISE I LOVE UR STUFF AND AM SUPER EXCITED TO SEE IT,

IM JUST SLOW AND GOOFY 😭😭

Said friends in genshin like: ^^^

this kinda inspires me/reminds me of @mists-reading-nook soldier/poet/king post, you should check xe stuff!! Gave me brainrot to this day tbh, like im imaging how that “3rd King style of worship” would look like even now lmao ive been down bad 😭

☆

Sun: 2 Readers! (as desc. above), (you/they/them)

Orbit: Headcanons-ish

Stars: wanderer/childe, mentions of others i forgot to focus on any one character or nation :/

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: mild cussing language, & Trigger Warnings: none known.

Please comment if I missed any. /gen

dual symbolism everywhere, obv you both thought “for the twins” but it just kept getting out of hand the more the game updated over the months lol

like shrines/temples/churches showing up more often in new countries/areas and always identifying the same 2 gods

obv the for-the-lore player picked up on it first, and by the time the trickle-down effect happened, where characters/NPCs were outright talking about these gods, the 2nd was asking the lore knower to explain lol

the 2 gods kept getting referred to by a few names, like “The Soldier and the Scholar” or “The Sage and the Warrior” or “The Keeper and the Pursuer” etc.

after awhile of comparing both of your games, you realize that some vision users/gods tend to use the soldier/warrior/pursuer titles more often when talking about one of you, and the other gets the sage/scholar/keeper more often

u both get excited, maybe its bc you chose diff travelers or some other reason, but when u try and post abt it or otherwise ask other players u get a lot of negatives/”hasnt happened for me”s??

u both just think the games glitched or some dev is playing a prank on you two maybe,

it gets weirder when u both realize the lore player be over here getting random gifts from all the characters in the mail all the time

and just as grinding players like “ :’( my favs don't like me?? but they have the best artifacts and maxed friendship levels..”

they get flooded with multiple gifts from their main characters, most of which benefit the grind tbh lmao (like a bunch of cheaper materials or crystals to level up artifacts/weapons or to ascend that character = no more slaughtering every samurai on sight for their handguards or collected a fuckton of those blue layered mushrooms for wanderer)

god u were both grateful to this glitch ngl, it saved a lot of dumb misc tasks and was just a nice touch

no but the amount of confusion inside the game from when u first started playing together, like each of ur games began with stuff abt 1 god, then as u co-oped moved onto 2 gods (like said at the beginning)

the lore player is blabbing away like you do, which begins to be heard by the other player’s game world

like it starts as whispers in battle, then all the time, then a quiet convo in the background all the time, until they can just hear u out of earshot esp word for word when they focus!! at first the vision-users/gods got all excited bc their god was speaking!! finally!!! until I'm sure they heard narration that didn't fit/it was there sometimes even when their god’s presence wasn't?/voice sounded “off” to them/didnt fit their god…??

ok ik u were joking abt the national holiday,,, but I’m not. 😈

THE FIRST WORDS 2ND SPOKE BEING IN A PROPHECY, REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT IS THEY SAY.

Player 1, playing as Childe, steals a singular (1) sweet flower from Player 2, who has Wanderer out:

P2: “I seriously hate you. Listen to what I’m saying, I can’t stand you.”

(Wanderer panicking that its abt him- Childe freezing bc he managed to piss off a god that feels as powerful as his own- the PROPHECY LMAO- )

P1: “… you miss me.”

(everyone else: 💥vine boom sound 💥😦😨😰???)

P2: “I hate you.”

P1: “You miss me and you love me, why must we fight??”

(everyone else: 💥vine boom again💥🤨🫠??…)

P2: “I hate you-”

P1: “-we gotta good thing going on, you and I, why must we tussle??”

(everyone else: 💥yet another vine boom💥 💀💀)

(the absolute deep anxiety/pure confusion as the two harbingers heads just ping pong back and forth towards the voices lmao)

u two scare the shit out of any characters u do this with lol

they do get used to it as u talk, and the characters even manage to interact (thru hacking magical shenanigans and discord)

to send thank you gifts to player 1 for getting player 2 to talk more lol

along with sending copies of any lore books that player 2 has gotten that player 1 hasn't!

and it becomes common/tradition to exchange gifts like this to thank or appreciate the other god, like player 1 characters sending thank you gift copies of rare materials or ascension stuff that player 1 had that player 2 didn't (esp making sure to send during resinless hours lmao)

overall, 10/10, whats better than 1 god that plays one way? 2 gods that compensate for each other and now u have 2x the worshippers

(i wonder how meeting alternate versions of themselves would go, bc id like to headcanon that each of ur behavior towards them/ur unique influence has changed them a bit comparing, like they arent carbon copies anymore, not like they used to be…)

☆

hey sorry for slowing down guys!!

i just feel bad its taken me forever to get to these asks, so i wanted to take what time i could lately and charge thru them so i could spam post lol

I've also been working on fics! so that's delayed things by a lot, bc fics take longer to “respond to” than short asks or replies

my poor bsd fic

Anyway thank you so much for sending this in!!! I'm so sorry i took forever to get to it, and i hope u enjoyed response/my brain shitting this out lol

have a good weekend!! :D

Safe Travels Anon!!

💀♒

If you wanna join a taglist, DM me what for! "Pspspsss, please tag me for [All SAGAU posts, Only SAGAU Language AUs, diff fandom, etc.]!"

(If you ever wanna drop, just DM me! "No more taglists/[specifically this AU/fandom] please!")

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @chocogi / @fallen-starr / @areaderofbooks / @devilangel657 / @esthelily / @justinsomniachild / @nanithefuck / @questionotmystopit

@kiyomi-uchiha777

[goosita]

Do you have any headcanons or blurb thoughts about if Secretary!reader got him a Christmas present? I feel like would be so cute. Happy Holidays if you celebrate!!❤️

oh i’m so soft ❄️

(this takes place between parts 3 and 4)

what do you get for a man who could buy anything he wants?

you’d been thinking all week about what to get for coriolanus for christmas. you’re sure that he’s used to expensive gifts and presents from all sorts of people. but you weren’t particularly wealthy, even for a capitol citizen.

you remembered once that he had a sweet tooth, and you smiled to yourself as you realized what you could do for him.

you spend all evening before your last day at the office for the break rolling out dough, covered in flour and sticky sugar. you used a little cutter to punch out the shape, baking them to a perfect golden brown and then icing them neatly with a piping bag. then, you packaged them up in a nice little red box with a big silver bow atop of it.

two dozen homemade sugar cookies in the shape of snowflakes, for coriolanus snow.

you hoped he would like them, biting your lip as you stepped into the building’s entry hall with a small smile.

“mr. snow?” you called softly, looking around. coriolanus stepped out of his office and smiled softly.

“yes, miss y/n?”

you fidgeted with the bow for a moment, grinning sheepishly. “merry christmas,” you said, handing the box to him.

coriolanus lifted his brow curiously, taking it from you and lifting the lid open. he blinked down at the neatly packaged cookies, his mouth open in a small little “o” shape.

“sweet snow for a sweet snow,” you joked, knowing it was a cheesy remark. coriolanus eyes lifted to you, tears just barely brimming at his lash line.

oh. had you upset him?

“coryo…?” you tried softly, taking a step forward towards him. you wondered if you’d overstepped somehow. if you’d read this little thing between you two wrong.

instead of opening his mouth to shout at you, perhaps tell you this was ridiculous, coriolanus set the box aside as gingerly as possible. then his arms were suddenly wrapped around you, pulling you into a tight hug. you were startled for a moment before completely melting into his embrace, your own arms fitting easily around his middle.

“thank you,” he breathed softly. “you don’t know what it means to me. that you took time to make these for me.”

of course you’d never know how deeply the gesture struck his heart. he’d never told a soul about his childhood and teenage years, not since his first year at the Capitol University. there was no way you could know that the sweet treats would take him back to a time when his stomach lurched painfully at all hours of the night, a time when he would have openly weeped at the gift of any sort of food.

it had been so long since someone had baked something just for him. ma plinth had passed some years ago, the last person to choose to spend her time making treats for coriolanus. it was more than the memory of the years he spent starving that moved him. to know that you had thought of him, had spent your own free time to do something kind like this for him, had his heart softening more than you’d ever realize.

“you’re welcome,” you whispered back, tentatively stroking his back with your fingertips. after a long moment, coriolanus seemed to gather himself and let you go with a small grin.

his hand gently held your chin for just a moment. “merry christmas, miss y/n.”

[macsimagines]

Hello again dearest! I hope you’ve been doing well and that life has been treating you kindly ♡

With my second and third Uni midterms looming over me, I would like to request Yan! Izana, Ran, & Shin with a foreign darling~ One who is an international university student in Japan on a student visa

And if it’s not too long, I’d like a follow up of their darling taking them to visit their home country for the holidays since the Yan’s can’t bear to be apart from their darling especially when they would be overseas alone without them ♡♡

I've actually had foreign japanese students at my old school and uni though we weren't' close wish i couldve interacted more and maybe learned something from them hah

TW: YANDERE BEHAVIOR, MINORS DNI, BABY TRAPPING, SCUM BAG BEHAVIOR

Yandere! Izana Kurokawa

He was attracted to you right away, not even romantically or physically, just having been of mixed decent and then seeing someone who might relate to his own experiences interested him.

Became very romantically interested after a few interactions however, you had such a fresh perspective as a foreigner and some of the things he's had to live through seemed to resonate with you.

"Your step-mom was straightup evil. No kid should have to go through that, and I hope your kingdom is as beautiful as you make it out to be."

Hooked for life right away. And also distraught at the thought of you leaving, would constantly try to convince you to get a citizenship and just live here forever with him.

"Why even go back if I'm here?" Is one thousand percent serious, you've become such a huge part of his entire being so it must be the same for you right?

When you convince him to come with you on holiday home to meet your family though, something changes. You don't have to stay in Japan, you just have to stay with him.

As long as you're together than everything will work out. It wasn't like you could so much as leave his place without him being glued to your hip, good luck getting out of the country without him tagging along.

Yandere! Ran Haitani

He is sooo enamored by you. Fetishizing people because of their race is so goddamn gross but the fact that you're foreign definitely is what attracts him to you to begin with.

Ran is so toxic with it to. Calls you exotic like its some kind of compliment, tells you you're accent is soooo cute when you're doing your best to sound natural, makes fun of you for every mispronunciation.

But you don't know anyone in Japan and he's 6'1 so you put up with it. He's just so tall and pretty and he knows all the best spots in roppongi so of course you choose to suck it up.

Afterall, its not like it's forever. He's just your heavy and hot fling that you can go home and brag to your friends about, right? Wrong. He's sprung bitch and you're stuck with him.

"Hey, when are we going to your neck of the woods for this holiday?" "...We?" "Ya, I gotta pack and get my ticket soon, right?"

Hope you're ready to disappoint your folks now that you're bringing home this freak show. Don't forget his dream is to become a foreign celebrity so he wants to experience it all when he visits with you.

"Man, this trip is so much fun. I can't wait for next year."

Yandere!Shinichiro Sano

Worships you. He can't spit game for shit, but thankfully you don't understand him too well to begin with. It's a match made in heaven!

He doesn't make fun of you when you get your words wrong or fumble a sentence, but he does think its so cute. Shinichiro doesn't try to infantilize you but it does come off like that.

God the fact that you want him and you stick with him even though he's such a dork makes him love you so much, he doesn't even think he deserves you.

Hates it when you go home the first time. He can't even talk to you on the phone because of service issues, and trust me this dude was ready to take out loans for collect call just to hear your voice.

Bombards you with all kinds of questions like "Who did you see? Who were you with? Are you going back!?"

So my big headcanon is that he's a baby trapper. So when you talk about going next season he's already trying to figure out how knock you up.

Ends up fucking you with busted condoms (he poked holes) a few weeks before your trip because he needed to give you a VERY good reason to come back.

Just tells you "It's cause I'm going to miss you so much baby, I gotta get as much of you as I can. :)"

You end up surprising him with a ticket for him to come with you. He honestly could cry tears of joy, but he'll save it for when you discover his own little surprise.

[delopsia]

Thinking about Rhett inviting you to come celebrate the 4th of July with his family.

They don't typically do very much; ranch work doesn't stop for a holiday, but it's one of the rare occasions where Royal breaks out the grill with meat from a cow that they raised themselves. Cecelia's plants have yielded just enough to allow her to make those infamous berry parfaits, and Perry has once again gone to ridiculous lengths to get the most absurd fireworks that he can find.

Rhett is the guy who holds everything together. Bugging Royal to get back to the grill before he burns the damn brisket again, helping Perry haul out the outdoor dining table. He takes Amy to pick up her two little friends for their holiday sleepover, hides the lighter from Perry, hunts down those sparkling glass cups that his momma has once again misplaced.

He even finds the time to haul you out behind the barn, kissing you until his lips are bruised, only interrupted by Royal calling out to ask if he's found the spare bag of charcoal yet.

Usually, Rhett's the one to go out into the pasture and pick the perfect spot to light the fireworks, but this year, he's letting you pick it. And so what if you come back with your shirt slightly out of place an hour later? It's hard work choosing the perfect spot to light fireworks!

It's only after dinner that you truly realize how many fireworks Perry has gathered. Sparkles of color booming above your head, tiny things crackling, wailing, and spinning, hardly living up to the power of their predecessors. Perry keeps bugging Rhett to come light one, but Rhett's too lazy to move out from your side, his head resting on your shoulder, playing with a sparkler.

And as soon as you think it's all over, the Tillersons begin to light their own. A sea of color paints the night sky, thousands of dollars worth of fireworks, all coming together to create a dazzling portrait. Perry mutters that one day, he'll make it big and outdo them. Rhett just kisses your cheek and compliments you on the spot you've chosen.

It's around this time that Perry happens to walk past Rhett's truck and realizes that he's got a small stash of his own fireworks. The ridiculously powerful ones that aren't sold anywhere near Wabang and are certainly not legal.

"You fucker!" Perry's grinning from ear to ear, lifting one in the air for all to see. "When were you gonna say anything?"

Rhett hums, all too focused on smacking your sparkler with his. It's a battle for the ages, and you're not sure who's winning. "When mom left."

It's Royal who surprises you the most. You've never seen that old man scramble around so fast, hauling those giant fireworks down the hill with his sons, before their fun can be cut short.

When the first one goes off, Rhett's big hands settle over your ears. They hardly do a thing to muffle the heart-stopping boom, but it's the effort that counts. One after the other, so strong that you can feel the ground jump with it, and oh, Cecelia does not think it's funny when three officers show up at the front door, saying that someone reported bombs going off.

Royal hides in the barn. Perry uses an old trick to climb up into his second-story window. Rhett? Well, his old truck is roaring down the driveway, with you giggling in the passenger seat, and not even the devil himself can stop you 🧨

[scaredcrab]

Macaque x Reader - Silly Vallentine

Promotional Disclaimer: This chapter is being posted here to promote the whole work on AO3! To read more chapters, go to the AO3 link, in fact, the new chapters will be posted there first!

✐ 1 Chapter summary: Overcome by boredom, Macaque goes for a walk on Valentine's Day and finds you. An event that turns out to be more amusing than expected.

✐ Category: Fluff; Hurt/Comfort; Cute; Slow Burn; Slow Romance; Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence; Reader-Insert; Touch-Starved; Cuddling & Snuggling; Foreign Reader; Gender-Neutral Pronouns; Humor; Mythology References; Not Beta Read.

Trigger Warning (for the whole work, not this chapter in particular): Angst; Blood and Violence; Trust Issues; Self-Esteem Issues; Self-Worth Issues; lots of issues; Xenophobia; Trauma; Swearing; Emotional Baggage; Emotional Hurt.

-✐-☾-✐-☾-✐-☾-✐-☾-✐-☾-✐-☾-✐-☾-

Chapter 1 - Valentine

This kind of celebration usually doesn't matter much to warriors dedicated only to fighting and revenge, there's no time to meet new people and to love if you're busy going after a hated acquaintance.

But that doesn't mean boredom can't knock on these people's doors.

A powerful monkey demon walks through a large city disguised as an ordinary human. The monotony of his hiding place had ended up irritating him, resulting in a stroll during "lovers day".

The tedium was enormous to make someone so reclusive go out on a day like this. Streets are full of commemorative decorations, mainly pink heart-shaped ornaments, and serenades with sweet music can be heard everywhere, even the sky looked rosier than usual, however what occupies the surroundings more than the color pink are couples laughing. 

Couples that make you want to throw up for being so clingy, many of them look like exaggerated caricatures of what a happy pair would look like. The demon even rolled his eyes when he heard some phrases from the loose lovebirds, sometimes having a good hearing is a nightmare.

"I'm scared, honey, what if I don't like the people at the party?" - A short girl passes by the monkey.

"Calm down, if you get nervous, we'll just get out of there. Trust me, we're in this together." - The other girl takes one of her partner's shoulders and speaks in a sweet, calm voice.

He stops in place, for a brief moment.

... Yeah, even though the concept of clingy couples was a little annoying, there was a part of him that held a certain... Interest. 

The idea of having someone who cares about your emotional and physical state, the idea of being appreciated, someone to give you attention and affection, someone to trust, all of this was somehow pleasant to imagine. A part of him really craved someone he could actually count on, someone that would actually choose to stay with him.

The warrior shook his head to get that unimportant feeling out of there. Is the holiday making him emotional? This is so pathetic. Like, come on, he had more fun things to do than that!

The biggest fun of being on the streets today is watching couples break up. Or to see people rejecting each other. Dramatic love situations filled with people with broken hearts, looking like over-the-top soap operas in real life. That was pure entertainment.

A rattling bell and the sound of hard material hitting the wall shows that someone has opened a door not far away with incredible brute force, the door in question being the door of a luxuriant restaurant.

"Wait! Come back! What did I do wrong, my little pudding?!" - A man cried while trying to reach a woman in a fancy dress.

"I've already made it clear to you that I hate it when you call me that. What were you thinking, showing up dressed like that in front of my entire family?" - She pointed with her index finger at the clown nose the man had on his face.

"I-I wanted to make your family have fun."

"You made everyone laugh at me! Laugh at us. You made me look like an idiot!"

Ooh, this was a good drama, an argument for a ridiculous reason. This gives a bunch of inspiration to an artist, stupid story scenarios becomes the perfect reference to fun scenes. The beauty and the clown, yeah, this could be the theme of a shadow play, a funny one. A few laughs escaped the demon's lips, so much suffering for such a stupid reason was a special comedy to watch.

Unfortunately for him, the pairing didn't take long to reconcile, returning to the restaurant's interior happily and holding hands.

He rolled his eyes at the scene, boredom returned and, so did his quest for entertainment. Maybe looking for fun outside the hideout wasn't such a good idea at all.

He looked at the restaurant through the front window, taking off his hood of his head, so it wouldn't get in the way of the view, inside there were several couples eating fancy dishes that looked delicious...

Ah yes, the second reason to go out today, the food.

The dishes had too many heart decorations for the Six Eared Macaque's taste, however, that didn't change how tasty they looked. Main courses full of meats and spices, a big variety of drinks and sugary desserts filled the space in every busy table.

If he sneaks into the shadows the right way, it won't be hard to get some good meals.

His belly growled.

"AaaAh! That was loud!" - He looked to the side and saw... You. - "Gosh, you scared me!"

Macaque jumped startled, he hadn't seen that a human had approached to look in the window too. A loud noise came from your belly almost as if it was competing with his stomach.

"Oh... You must be hungry. You also don't have a partner to eat a Valentine's Day food?" - Your hunger had reminded you of that scary noise that came from his tummy.

Macaque was starting to consider fleeing away from there, all he needs less now is boring small talk in the midst of invasion plans.

"Today there are various places offering special dishes for couples, but only for couples." - You keep talking even without hearing an answer from him. - "I'm alone too, so I understand the feeling of walking around without a partner, it makes us think about all the good food we're missing. I only left my house today to see everything decorated and pink, you know. I wanted to see the city transformed." 

/ Does this human get chatty when hungry, or are they just naturally annoying? /

After that thought, the belly of the two rumbled together, a synchronized noise, it sounded like a were a rehearsed trick.

"Argh! Those foods look so delicious! I would even pay someone to accompany me, pretending to be my partner."

/ Wait a minute, what did they just say? /

"Would you really pay someone to do something like that?" - An interest appeared behind the question.

"Of course, I really want the couples discounts and stuff." - You answered honestly without even thinking twice, it's a habit of yours that ends up putting you in complicated situations all the time.

A mischievous grin broke out on his face. 

He turned around and put a hand on your shoulder to have your attention just for him, you look into the eyes of the man who was holding you. - "Well, today is your lucky day! I am completely willing to cooperate with you in exchange for a good payment."

Now the human eyes stared at the man, the owner of those eyes carrying a certain nervousness within them. We all know that you shouldn't make deals with strangers, you know that very well yourself, but this is an opportunity to eat the exclusive foods that will only be available for today...

You took a good look at his figure to study his details, checking out the sparkle in his eyes, the charming smile, the beard that added the final touch to his attractive face. He wears clothes in nice colors that match each other, specifically dark red and black, his dark hair wasn't super tidy but wasn't tossed around either. The strands look very soft too, a strange urge to stroke the locks of hair haunted your head, but you held back. A man full of charisma stood before you.

You had to admit, he is hot. He is really hot, and he probably knows that (right?), so how expensive would that service be?

"... And how much would be a good payment in your opinion?"

He moved closer to your ear (a thing that made your whole body heat up and shiver) and using a seductive, soft voice, he whispered the value. Your brain melted hearing the voice while collapsed, listening to the number being said. God. The company of pretty men really was expensive.

He seemed to be delighted to see you shudder, to see you making such a shocked expression at the answer, a smug and satisfied smile graced his face. And honestly, this attitude only made you feel more silly feelings in your chest.

"My lord! This much just because you're handsome?!"

"Nice try, but flattering me isn't going to make me change the price I set."

"W-Wait! Let's talk a few things before accepting any price! Like, what places do you allow us to go? What couple things I can do with you? What are your personal boundaries? It wouldn't be fair to charge a specific amount without considering certain things."

The man stares at you intently for a few seconds like someone trying to see through dark glass, arms crossed defensively as he "scans" you up and down. He seemed to be searching for lies through the aura of your soul, or something like this.

"... Like a spoken contract? A kind of sacred agreement between us?" - You nodded with your head.

After thinking some more, Macaque started to say his limitations: No kisses. No hugs. No pet names. You're only allowed to walk holding hands (so you don't end up getting lost). 

On your turn to speak, you negotiate the places to visit: an elegant restaurant, a chocolate fondue stand and a cute cafe. These places had great deals for couples and unique Valentine's Day dishes.

/ Isn't that too much food for just one person? /

He had no idea how much food would fit in your stomach, but he could eat a lot himself, so he was getting a big prize. Caring for you was the least of his worries, so your final state at the end of the tour doesn't matter as long as he's well paid and well-fed. 

Being so demanding and limiting turned out to affect the final price of the deal, you would have to pay less to the fake boyfriend, but it was still a hefty price.

With everything settled, it was time to pay.

You looked in your wallet with a sad expression. - "Goodbye sweet money, I will never forget you."

When you were about to hand over the payment, you remembered a basic socialization step.

"Wait a minute! I don't know your name." - You held your money close to your chest, hesitating.

The monkey blinked in disbelief, processing the moment, of all suspicious things was it the lack of name that made you hesitate?

A light chuckle escaped from him. - "You can call me Mac. What about you?"

After revealing your name, you glared at the man as you slowly handed over the money, taking your time to say goodbye to the lost fortune. When he took the money from your hands, you made a thin little noise of suffering. Honestly, you're so exaggerated.

We can say that you're dumb too! Knowing each other's names isn't going to stop one from running off with the payment. Lucky for you, Macaque was starting to be entertained by the human innocence. Or would it be better to say stupidity instead of innocence?

Well, it doesn't matter, a fake date has begun.

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

Fun little Radiodust idea

For Sinsmas, normally something the Hellborn celebrate and not so much Sinners because the passing of eternity could get monotonous or distressing depending on where you landed in the afterlife...

Charlie, who Very Much has always celebrated it, decides that everyone should do a gift exchange!

To avoid everyone rushing out for multiple gifts, she chooses to have people draw names from a hat and made it clear that she would really hope that everyone tried their best to find or make something for their intended giftee that they actually thought the other would like.

'So', she cautions, 'that means nobody goes handing around anything that might be upsetting or tempt people to regress on their progress, or... uh, well...'

'Don't bring anything dead, decaying or dying.' Vaggie finishes, staring right at the oh so innocent Niffty/Alastor combo at the end of a nearby couch. Niffty pouts immediately and crosses her arms, sitting harshly on Alastor's lap.

"Come now Niffty, I am certain you can find a non-bug related item to provide your giftee in this..." the man can barely contain his derisive chuckle, but he clearly makes an attempt here even if only to show 'support' while the King is here. '...oh so charming little activity of dear Charlotte's, hmm? Why, you're a dab hand at sewing, remember? Why not make them a poppet of someone your giftee wants to torture? That could be QUITE the gift!"

"NO! NOPE! Noooooooooooooo not that, uh, please." Charlie interjects, not liking the excited sparkle thrumming through Niffty's eye. It dies immediately, and the little Sinner huffs in a way that pulls at several heartstrings.

"Fine."

"...maybe you can give us a list of ideas, princess?" Husk interjects, uncharacteristically, watching Niffty's fit of pique with a frown. "Avoid things getting..." he waves his hand around the room at various sinners. Explicit? Violent? Bloody? Uncomfortable? It encompasses them all.

"Oh, that's a great i-de-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Charlie squeal-sings, and Vaggie barely has time to brace before a full song about the dos and don't of gifting is shared to the captive audience. Lucifer excitedly (and Vaggie reluctantly) join in after the first verse, enthusiastic about sharing a fun holiday with the others.

Husker was generally unimpressed, but enjoying the way that everpresent grin drooped on boss's face as he was bombarded by merriment.

"...and that's how to share the joy of Sinsmas!" crashes the final line as confetti seemingly bursts from a number of locations, including mid-air, and coats them all.

Niffty immediately launching around to skewer pieces individually on her needles and gather them into her apron pocket. It has to have some sort of pocket dimension or something in there, or it would be overflowing by now.

"Oh, we made a uh, a mess Char-Char, let me just-..." Lucifer starts, raising his fingers to snap it away, before snarling as they are ensnared in a red tipped hand.

"Majesty, would you mind leaving it this once? It brings her joy to clean up intricate messes." Alastor says, not even attempting to antagonise the King, and it seemed the fact that it was a genuine request, that stopped Lucifer from setting the Sinner on fire.

Angel Dust, half-awake, couldn't help but grin as he saw the slight softening to that sharp grin and those blood-red eyes as they followed Niffty's frenetic movements across the room. He liked the tiny dame, of course, and sometimes it was nice to see that she had others in her corner... can't be easy being so small in a place like Hell.

Not that he ain't dead certain Smiles or Husk would eviscerate anyone who tried something with Niffty, if she didn't tear them apart first. Angel knew that she'd stopped more than a few Exorcists from getting a bead on him in that last extermination. Always someone thinking they could end one last sinner before they died; well, jokes on them, 'cause Angel was still here and Cannibal Town was hostin' a big angel wing bbq soon. So, Hell 1: Heaven 0.

The little dragon thing that followed Charlie everywhere, Razzle he thinks, hovers nearby and hands over a slip of paper. Well, okay then.

Hmmm, fuck... what do you even get the King'a Hell? The man can straight up snap anything he wanted into existence, right? He sizes the guy up, wondering if a coupon for one night with The Angel Dust would be good enough for his Majesty... and then has a momentary moment of panic wondering if he would even be good enough for an ex-angel. Which was stupid because really, he was amazing and could fake it anyway anyone wanted... but, could he compare to the Queen?

Nah, okay, what if he got the guy like... something a little fun and discreet? One of Lust's toys. Angel had connections, after all, and it's not like someone could order the Tentacular Spectacular 4.3 with vibrating actions under 'Lucifer', or to the Palace, without at least one of the succubi getting nosy. Heh, or that Sin guy, Asmodeus...

Using his tertiary eyes to check about the room, it took little deduction to work out who had who.

Husk was drinking out of a bottle but subtly using the motion to side-eye Vaggie, clearly wondering what he could even offer the ex-orcist. The lilac woman looking tense as she gazed over at Niffty, a thousand yard stare building as she imagined the bloody things she might have to provide.

Lucifer looked like he'd won the jackpot, and also like a man on the verge of a panic attack. So, he's just guessing but... the guy probably got Charlie.

The Princess was still smiling but appeared uncertain as she looked at her paper, eyes flickering to Alastor and back to the paper. Alright then, she's stumped but doesn't want to say anything because it might hurt the Strawberry Pimp's feelings. Angel's pretty sure the guy ain't gottem to start with...

Well, no, that wasn't right. More like, Smiles tried real hard to pretend he didn't, but they were there. If the overlord felt like breaking into acting, or Angel's kind of Acting, he might just be a natural given how well he plastered over his real feelings all the time. But when your life depnded on watching for the small tells in your bigger, more powerful opponent or scene partner to work out how to get away without too many bruises... you noticed this sort of shit.

There was a brief moment of considering what the Radio Demon would look like on one of Val's sets, before he physically shook the thought out, perturbed. For one, that was kinda hot... and on the other hand, really disturbing... might save that for later, though.

Anyways, he can't really tell what Al was thinking, he wasn't really looking at anyone specific. Maybe he hadn't bothered to look at his paper yet?

Niffty's sudden burst of near hysterical laughter sent chills up his spine, as she sat on Husk's lap, petting him excitedly. If she wasn't careful, Niffty was going to build up a sharp little shock of static.

In anycase, based on the whole... everything, it was clear that the maid had received the bartender. Good Luck to Husk on that front, because it was going to be freaky whatever she did.

She bounced on Husk's overly-patient leg once more before crawling across the room to climb atop Al's head, whispering directly into his hair tuft... wait, was that an ear? Had Angel not realised those were fuckin' fluffy goddamn ears this whole time?

Unholy shit, they were! The one Niffty giggled into twitched!

That was fuckin' adorable, that's what that was!

"Of course, my deer, as you wish." Alastor grinned, a flash of radio dial eyes as his stitches flared, manifesting a spool of fine green thread for the maid. "I'm certain that whatever you deem necessary will be fine."

Husk suddenly looked exceptionally nervous.

"Alright then, remember, you have the next few days to find or make something for your giftee and we'll hand them out out on Sinsmas. If anyone gets reaaaaaally stuck, let me or Vaggie know, okay? We can brainstorm together!" Charlie enthuses, injecting false cheer through the room.

Vaggie narrows her eye. "And again, nothing fucked up... or fuckable." The last nnit was aimed right at Angel, who good-naturedly rolled his eyes, struck a pose and purred at her.

"Aw baby, you know you want all this... I'll even give ya a discount coupon for Sinsmas, if ya want..."

"I can't. I just... can't." Vaggie growls, storming out. Under that swathe of hair, she's trying so hard not to grin at their banter. Took a whole ass extermination to find their dynamic, but the pair had manged to act like bickering siblings.

As Alastor dissolved into shadows, Lucifer poofed into red sparkles, and Husk sauntered back to the bar with a contemplative expression on his face, Angel approached Charlie.

"Heya toots, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Oh, Angel... are you okay? If you're stuck, I can give you a hand to-..."

"Oh, I'd love ya to-... wait, sorry, that one just came out. The wordplay was Right There, but it's not what I wanted to say." he halts himself, seeing her good natured grin grow strained at the innunedo. "I was gonna say, that I wanted to trade names with you."

"Is there... something wrong with who you got? Oh gosh, I forgot to check if anyone had anybody they didn't feel comfortable gifting! Oh noooooo..." it trails off in a soft moan of self-disgust as the Princess tugs her own hair. Angel immediately puts a stop to that mess by gently untangling her hands and taking them in his own primary pair.

"Nah, it ain't like that. It's just... I worked out who you got, and that you're kinda not sure how to go about gifting the guy, which is fine he's hard to read. But, I pulled your Dad..." he pauses, seeing her brace, "which ain't an innuendo, promise. Although..." he waggles his eyebrows so ludicrously she can't help but burst into laughter.

"Right? So anyways, I think that given how hard the Short King has been trying to show you he cares for ya, then perhaps it might be the best Sinsmas gift of all if maybe you surprised him with something. He fought adam and fixed the hotel, all because he wants to see you happy, Toots, that's the kind of dad any of us here in the pit would've killed for... and let's be real, he's a mess. The guy is the most powerful thing around here and he's terrified to even put a frown on your face," Angel's grin is soft and knowing. "So like I said, maybe you take my slip and I take yours, and you give your old man a big surprise he ain't expecting."

There's a pause as Charlie grabs him for a bone-crunching hug.

"Please don't say the thing you're thinking right now..." Charlie whispers in his ear.

"Oh Charlie," he whispers back, squeezing her tight. "You know I can't help myself. Cause if you say no I'm gonna give him my Big Surprise on Smismas eve... you guys don't do the mistletoe thing do you? Cause I can find some places to hang it that- oof!"

Laughing, the Princess had playfully hurled him across the room onto the sofa. Giggling through an admonishment about Never Saying that about her dad again.

"Okay, okay, stop waggling your eyebrows like that, I can't breathe!" she wheezes, holding out her giftee slip to transfer it to Angel. Looking up at the now furiously waggling eyebrows before losing it again, and having to sit down, turning bright pink with glee.

It makes Angel nostalgic, with a sudden pang, for his twin sister and the hours they'd spent making terrible jokes and puns up just to send the other into fits of laughter. Ending up messy with happy tears as they wheezed for breath.

He glances down to the slip in his hand.

Okay then, Smiles... what can I get you that you ain't got already?

----------

It took a few days of persistent observation to find something he could use. Angel was really starting to think about using a handmade One Night Deluxe Package coupon for his services, before he noticed a few little peculiarities that he might be able to make work.

The most obvious one was that the Radio Demon enjoyed cooking.

It became apparent how many of the more elaborate dinners that the hotel residents had were actually secretly made by Alastor. Or at least, under his direction.

Huh. How hadn't he cottoned on to that little number before? Maybe because he was always crawling through the door at who the fuck knows what hour and heading for the bar, where Husk'd have something set out for him if it was too late for the cat.

Soemtimes it was a shot of something strong, a bottle of water and a sandwich; other times he find a brief note about something in the fridge they'd saved for him. Always felt good to be wanted somewhere, you know?

No matter what Val did to him or had done to Angel, he could at least think about the fact that someone was waiting for him. Someone cared that he came 'home' of an evening... and that, if he needed it, he could have help from almost anyone in the weird fucked up little family at the hotel.

If he yelled, or smashed a glass, someone would be there to check in.

Niffty was always in the walls somewhere, and Spooky Lite (Alastor's Shade) tended to wander around the foyer at night when he was returning, keeping an eye on the place Angel assumed. Husk sometimes fell asleep at the bar waiting on him to get back...

And he knew sometimes Vaggie had to sit on Charlie to stop the bleeding heart of hers from keeping her rigidly upright in a chair in the foyer all night until Angel returned. It was... pretty awesome, really.

Actually, his mind skipped back to Spooky Lite, and he wondered how it was always around about that time. Until the night before when Angel had slipped into his room with the thing following, and then crept back out, to find that Alastor had materialised in the kitchen for some late-night cooking.

Music threading out quietly as dishes were done by overenthusiastic moppets. At one point, he'd seen Niffty come in, stumbling and shaken, only to be picked up wordlessly and curled into one of Alastor's arms as the music lulled her back to sleep. Poppets returning her to her room when he was certain she was deeply settled once more.

There was a pained, pinched expression on the Radio Demon's face as he watched Niffty go. It sent a shock through Angel, and he's not sure how to describe it, not really. Just, an awareness of real emotion, even behind the too-bright smile that never seemed to stop.

If the guy even could drop it, which Angel wasn't so sure given those stitches he'd seen, or maybe Al was just real committed to the bit. But the eyes said more than the mouth ever could.

The next morning, Charlie had found a well-cooked and marinated meal in the fridge with instructions on reheating. Vaggie was loudly sceptical about the origins of the meat, but Husk took a bite and said it was beef (or the closest Hell equivalent) not Sinner.

Vaggie side-eyed Husk for the rest of the day after that one. The bartender shrugging. "You could try it, what's the worst that could happen? We're already in hell."

She'd rolled her eye.

Behind all the dramatics around him, Angel was forming a plan that he hoped might lead to the best possible gift for the picky red Overlord. He had an idea, but... really hoped it wouldn't be seen as trying to scrimp on gifts.

Although, perhaps if the Overlord could scent the amount of fuckin' blood drops this thing was costing him, that alone would be enough of a gift. He swore so frequently while reusing old skills with new limbs, that Husk came in to check on him... and put a pair of ear mufflers on Fat Nuggets.

Hells, he was even taking to doing the needlework between shifts at the studio. What else was there to do when the scenes were hours apart, and Val was busy fucking another ten people in some side room somewhere, after all?

Just hoped it came together in time.

----

Talk about a fucking buzzer beater.

Angel's fingers were stiffer than that time he shot that bukkake gangbang film with those echidna and shark-based sinners. Lotta cocks in that film and Val wanted it all in one take.

He'd needed a scalding shower and several massages to get his hands settled again after that little lot. Vaggie had helpfully hosed him off out front with a minimally disgusted expression on her face, thankfully, that day.

"Happy Sinsmas everyone! Ooooh, I'm so pleased you all went out of your way to find a gift for your giftee!!!!" Charlie beamed, far too cheerful for 5am in the damned morning. However, she had woken them all with enthusiastic song, and well... when Charlie was Up the hotel was Up.

"Yaaay..." croaked a clearly half-awake Vaggie.

"It means so much to me that you're all here with us, celebrating like a real family this Sinsmas! I couldn't do this without you, any of you, so I hope you enjoy this part and then we'll get onto the Sinsmas breakfast, and the games, and watch some movies... or not... you don't have to Al. Promise!" Charlie adds, conceding as rather stilted static plays.

Alastor looks overtired, and clearly unimpressed at the early start to the day. Still, he pulls together some form of charade when the Princess glances at him and nods.

"So, how're we doing this Char-Char?" Lucifer asks, infuriatingly chipper as well. Ah, seems like the morning person power must be genetic... the lucky bastards.

"So, I was thinking we can all hand them out simultaneously to our giftee, so no one is trapped in the spotlight... if that's okay?"

"Sounds good to me." Husk shrugs and hauls himself off the couch, tail flicking as he moves to hand a pair of oddly shaped gifts to Vaggie. "Happy or Merry or whatever Sinsmas, chickadee, this one's for you. "

"Oh, uh, thanks Husk!" Vaggie says, taken aback by the gifts, and for a split second he wonders if exorcists were allowed to get gifts in Heaven, because she looks close to tears.

As Vaggie unwraps her gifts, Niffty tugs at the cat's claws, "Husk, I got you and I made you something! I-... I know I couldn't get anything as fancy as the things the others might have, but I made it special. Promise."

She bundles something into his arms that had been carefully wrapped in what appeared to be salvaged wallpaper from the previous hotel.

"Thanks Niff, appreciate it." Husk rumbles, moving back to the couch and pulling open the package with care and a small amount of trepidation. It very well might explode, after all.

"Oh, Niffty, before you run away, this is for you." Vaggie says, handing over a pretty box in a familiar dusk rose.

Niffty squealed and placed it on the ground, pulling it open with speed to reveal a brand new dress in a scintillating spill of red, white and yellow to match her favourite colours. There's even a petticoat.

"It's made by Overlord Rosie herself... she put a charm on the petticoat that'll keep it from getting any dirt on it, because I know you don't like that." Vaggie explained, not sure how to read the sudden statue Niffty's turned into... and then backing up as the maid begins to vibrate at great speed. She's slammed into by the maid, nearly being taken out at the knees with the force. "Ooof, I take that means you like it?"

"YES YES YES YES YES!"

"Cool, good, nice to know. There's one other thing but now I think about it, it's kind of silly..."

Niffty launches back to the box and reverently lifts out the second item. A feather duster with an extendable handle... made of Vaggie's discarded feathers. She screams in delight and launches over to pepper kiss on Vaggie's cheek, then hurls herself towards a cobweb on the ceiling.

"Nailed it, kid." Husk said, and Charlie's eyes are round and wet where they stare at Vaggie.

Blinking, the Exorcist realises she needs to open her own gifts, turning to do so. With care, she peels back the lavender wrapping to reveal a carefully framed and still covered in golden ichor... knife. An angelic blade, to be exact.

The one that killed Adam. Beside it, a smaller photo of Niffty plunging the dagger into the guy, clearly shot from HD drone footage, likely Voxtech. Her eye goes WIDE as she stares at the cat.

"How did-...? You-...! This is the best thing but how...?" she tries.

"I'd tell you, but I think Al will kill me if I mention what I had to trade for Vox to hand that picture over..." the bartender muttered. Vaggie glances at the Radio Demon, watching his ears twitch.

Angel cringes. Vox has it Down Bad, so whatever it took... was likely personal, like a bowtie or even a pair of panties. The sudden mental image of Al in fancy panties made him snort, and try to pass it off as a dry throat cough. Lucifer snaps him up a glass of water without even appearing to think about it.

"...Husker, if you did what I assume you did, then the idiot box is going to be Insufferable at the next Overlord meeting." Al sighs, dramatically.

"Sure, but on the other hand it's kinda funny when you think about how far he'll go just to pretend he could get your attention, right boss?" Husk counters, pulling out a crisp looking shirt and jacket combo from his own gift. Eyes going wide in surprise.

It was well-tailored, and if you looked at the right angle, there were impossibly small symbols adorning both garments. Sigils, familiar ones, that seemed to spell out some sort of protection...

"Niff, you made these on yer own?" the grizzled bartender huffs, genuinely touched. "That's amazing, is what it is."

"Well, Sir helped a little with some of the symbols, because I can't always get them to line up stright in my head... but we got the charm right!" Niffty said brightly, hovering over his shoulder. She just seemed to Appear in the most unnerving way. "Oooh, open the other bit!"

At first, Husk wasn't sure what he was looking at, until Angel Dust gasped and covered his grin with two hands. "No way."

"Niff, is this... Valnetino's collar fluff? The stuff you snagged at the club?"

"Yep, he was a not good bad boy and I didn't like him. I know you don't like him either, so you can have some of my trophy so we can not like him together!" She trills, delighted.

"Would it sweeten the pot if I told you it ain't grown back yet and he does this weird comb-over shit to hide the bald spot?" Angel Dust adds, not able to hold it in any longer.

Husk barks out a laugh, "Oh that's the best news I've had all day, Legs. Might get this framed, even. Put it over the bar so that nearsighted motherfucker can see it if he ever dares put a foot into this place... without one of us tearing it right off his body, that is."

Vaggie gasps in the background, opening her second gift, more cumbersome than the first. It's an ornate cherry-red picnic basket, with a red and yellow blanket atop, and clearly heavy with cutlery and crockery.

"You need to relax more, Vags... you and Charlie. That thing has a little zap from his Majesty that keeps anything inside at the right temperature, and stops it spoiling. You can go anywhere and it'll keep." Husk shrugs. Those two were wound so tight he was surprised neither had combusted yet... a prod in the right direction, from the friendly bartender, was hopefully the thing to change that.

Vaggie came over and awkwardly put her arms out, before deciding to just go for the hug. He grumbled, but allowed it for a few seconds before pulling back.

"O-Okay, who's next?" Vaggie stammers, turning to find that Lucifer and Charlie were in a world of their own.

Charlie was a sobbing mess of delight as she held a small dragon-duck-winged thing in a little dress. It was like, yet unlike, Razzle and Dazzle... same concept but more... duck. There was no better descriptor than that, really.

"Her name is Ella-Kazam, un-unless you wanted to make it something else... she's still new enough you can change it over." Lucifer shrugged, looking hopeful and awkward, stroking the creature's head as Razzle flew over to meet this new friend.

Not a replacement for Dazzle, never in a million aeons. but, a new friend and possibility.

"No, no she's perfect Dad!" Charlie sobs, rubbing her cheek against Ella-Kazam, and delighting in the squeaky quacks. She startles when the little protector drops a golden item in her palm. "Oh, what's this?"

"It's, um something I was holding onto for you until the right time..." Lucifer adds, wondering if perhaps he should have switched the order of the gifts.

Charlie rights the items, surveying the family crest on the necklace before something goes 'click' very quietly, opening to reveal it is a locket inside. Light rises up and shows a stately photos of the royal family, Charlie as a young child in their midst.

Charlie begins sobbing in delighted earnest, clearly frightening the king. Vaggie intervenes, having gotten quite good at this sort of thing. Alastor's shadow pokes at Lucifer's pocket until the ex-angel recalls that he has a handkerchief in there, which is swiftly offered to Charlie.

It takes several moments to settle the Princess, as she hands over a strangely wrapped thing, half as tall as the king and about the width of KeeKee. It has circus-themed wrapping paper, which he would assume was an insult from anyone else, but Charlie seems to be trembling with anxiety, as desperate for his approval as he was for hers.

The King of Hell cautiously opens the package, eyes widening to discover an ornate musical carousel inside, themed towards those at LuLu World. Small differently coloured and styled ducks took the spaces of the trasitional horses, and when he looked closer... he found himself, Charlie and Lillith were some of the riders.

"Oh Charlie, it's lovely, did you conjure this yourself...?"

"I... I had some help, I had an idea but I couldn't quite get it to do what I was hoping it would, so I asked... for assistance." She evades, pointing to two small toggles on the base of the carousel. "If you wind the key it will play until it's unwound itself, but if you click the yellow switch it will play on its own and-..."

She pauses as a different song begins, this one feels less tangible, and reaches inwards. Everyone in the room is flooded with a sense of overwhelming calm, of tranquility and safety as a pleasant memory is stirred from deep within and replayed against their mind's eye.

"...it will play a tune that brings up good memories, to help you sleep or feel better or... just make you happy." Charlie sighs softly. She then clicks that feature off and presses the Black switch.

Another not-sound fills the air, this one is like a hand reaching out to someone in the ocean, a spool of thread that leads out of a maze, a feeling of being found and drawn out of somewhere deep.

"And this one is to help when you get lost in your head or whatever you want to call it. It's a homing beacon. It took a few days to work out how to make it work, but Al helped me... he twisted some of the radiowaves and made them do... that." Charlie explained. She then paused to ad, "It can read your emotions... the switches are able to turn on by themselves if they sense someone needs it."

"Char-Char, this is amazing, honey. How did I ever make such a wonderful, thoughtful child?" Lucifer smiles, glowing with pride at his daughter, eyes filled with delighted tears. Lucifer gathers his not so little girl up in a big hug, swooping them up in the air and twirling to show his joy.

Alastor hummed in agreement, getting him a side-eye. Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Alright, this once I suppose you can also claim good parenting of 'our' daughter... that's a neat trick with the carousel and I have some questions around how, for later."

Quietly, because nothing he'd done held a candle to that of the other gifts, Angel moves to sit a tad close to Alastor and passes over his small package. Green wrapping paper carefully tied about them, as he'd noticed the sinner's preference for the colour, despite his red attire.

Alastor snaps his fingers and a pink sack landed on his legs, not heavy, but full of something. He flipped open the sack to find a smaller item wrapped atop the area, and decided to look into it first as Alastor carefulyl pulled free the green paper.

Angel's brows creased in confusion when he first looked at the item, it seemed like a choker but not oriented right and, well, a bit large for him...

Side-eying Alastor, the Radio Demon rolled his eyes and let out a low whistle that seemed to summon an unexpected party. Fat Nuggets trotted in happily, and suddenly it clicked for Angel.

"This is for Nuggsy? A collar that matches my choker?" he asks, surprised.

"Yes, and no. The fabric is imbued with a few different charms, my effeminate fellow... you will find that it can adjust size as your little friend grows, shift to match any choker you deign to wear, and..." he pauses, eyes widening at the item he unwrapped. "...and has a location tracking spell in it that can activate by thinking about your hellpig. Did you embroider this yourself?"

"Hmm? Uh, yeah... my fingers sure know about all the times I slipped with the damn needles. Haven't had to embroider since I was alive." Angel laughs, feeling kind of silly now, to gift something so tacky and homemade.

"Well, I must say it is a delightful gift, thank you Angel, I see you spent extra time getting the notes and antlers of the creatures embroidered with such detail. I can always make use of a new apron. Tell me... are you aware that the notes are-..."

"That one fuckin' tune you play when you're cooking at like ass o'clock in the morning when I get back? Yeah. Took me a bit to work it out, then put it down right, but between Charlie and I we got it."

Radio dials flashed, more out of panic than anything. "Ah, you were spying on my cooking hour, hmmm?"

"What? N-... well yeah, I was coming home late anyway, course I was curious who else was up." Angel shrugged. "Besides, that's not the only thing there, keep going."

"Likewise."

Alastor uncovers a thick stack of hand-written notes next.

He automatically discards the Coupon for One Night with Angel Dust, in a dramatic way that was expected of him, but it wasn't incinerated so that was positive. Underneath it, once the excess glitter was carefully brushed off... was pile of painstakingly recreated recipes.

"So, those were things my nonna and my ma liked to make at home. Loved cooking wth them but I think they held back some secrets for only my sister... you know how it is. Thought you might like trying something new when you were doing your cooking thing." Angel adds, not looking, worried he'd made a fool of himself. What kind of gift was a bunch of recipes to a Radio Demon anyway?

"What a remarkably apt and personal gift, Angel... here I was bracing for you to provide something as tall as you and vibrating hard enough to dent the floors. Colour me surprised..." Alastor's light hearted nonsense brushes his tension away as the arachnid begins to laugh.

"You want that sort of thing? I got connections to Ozzie's, through Fizzy, he can get us the tentacular spectacula-..."

A tendril slams about his mouth. "No, thank you, that will be quite enough with such a delightful gift as you have provided. If you are someone intrigued in cooking, I may be persuaded to share some of my own maman's recipes, particularly those for jambalaya. Though if I catch you seasoning with only half-spice, you will be turned INTO appropriately seasoned Jambalaya. Do you understand me?" Alastor grinned, and somehow Angel could tell this was playful banter, and not a threat.

"The spicy stew thing? Fuck yeah I'd love to know how to make that, oh and the powdered doughnuts things. Cherri loves them, and after Pentious died she's been real flat lately..."

"They do not take long, I will show you later in the morning if you are free. After all, your bombastic friend did help in the battle, it is the least we can offer in her time of distress." Alastor says, seemingly distracted by something, as if weighing up the pros and cons of something.

"Oh, do continue."

Angel cautiously opens the sack and pulls out skein after skein of dyed wool, all slight variations of his preferred pinks, with some other basic colour groups in there. He touches it, not daring to believe it but...

"This is sheep demon wool, isn't it?" he chokes, then narrows his eyes.

Alastor laughs, "Willingly given, why she has collected it for some time and twists it into yarn herself before overseeing the dying with several other sinners in her employ. I merely requested to have some for your gift, as I have seen you take an interest in knitting of late."

"When you say 'requested'..."

"Dearest Angel Dust, I assure you that if I had not stopped the woman she would have provided me every skein on the floor and refused payment if I was not firm with her. A persistent sinner, that one."

"Oh? Why's a sinner so generous then? You own her?" Angel tensed, surprised by the wrinkling of Alastor's nose in distaste.

"No, she does have a deal, primarily for protection, and that was at her insistance."

"Wait, sheep demon sinner? Yeah, Ange, don't worry about it. She's been hurling her soul at Alastor in thanks since he stopped... something pretty fucking bad happening at a butcher shop down the bad side of Pentagram city. It don't do business anymore, the boar that owned it went... missing." Husk interjects, side-eying Alastor.

"Hah, and the big bad Radio Demon is what, freaked out by someone throwing themselves at him? Smiles, ya hot, that kind of thing happens you need t'get used to it. S'why I always got a taser in one of my other-other arms, y'know?" He laughed, enjoying how one of those ears twitched down. "I do love the gift though, knitting helps me unwind and I 've never had anything but the fake acrylic stuff that gets weird and itchy after a bit. So, thanks... it's the best gift."

"What about the Other one, boss?" Husk needles, grinning and catching everyone's attention.

Alastor rolls his eyes, and snaps his fingers. "Spoilsport, I was leaving the best until last..."

The bloody, barely shuddering form of Valentino appeared on the rug before them, making Angel's eyes buldge in shock. The moth's wings looked to have been shredded methodically.

Alastor prodded the sack of flesh with his staff. "Well, the good news is that he was conscious enough to hand over this delightful little piece of paper..."

Angel's heart nearly falls out of his throat when his contract appears, sealed with a green band instead of deep pink, falling into his now-trembling hands.

"Tear it up as you wish, I have no need to possess the soul of one of our guests. I merely assumed you'd want to do it in the prescence of the one who trapped you in it, for closure... before I put him in the broadcast."

"How did-...?"

"For the price Vox asked, I negotiated the right to kill his little toy and take at least one of the contracts." Alastor said sharply, clearly not wanting to discuss it further. "Still, it does remove one nuisance..."

"Alastor, this wasn't what I meant..." Charlie sighs, trying to be disappointed but so pleased for Angel at the same time.

"Was this not a thoughtful, personalised gift of something that the giftee might cherish? Ownership of their own soul?" Alastor replied, gentling his approach. "I don't suppose you or your father would like to... have a word about the time he licked your arm?"

"He WHAT?!"

"Dad, it's fine!"

"Angel, do let me know if you would like to join me when I integrate this... creature... into my broadcast. If I dislike the man and his antics, I can only assume your feelings towards him are far stronger and of greater import. I plan to braodcast at 8pm sharp, don't be late and wear something that you aren't attached to, it gets... Messy."

Alastor prods Valentino until the moth looks up, scowling, and then passes out.

Angel's trembling fingers grasp the contract, heart thundering like it was some sort of sick game and he'd wake up any moment, and tears it in two. Immediately, his collar shatters and Valentino twitches in his stupor.

"...okay, I gotta know, what did he do that ticked you off so bad?" Angel asked, elbowing Alastor, who rolled his eyes.

"Numerous things, I always meant to get around to killing him for his treatment of his thralls... and free you, as Charlotte has always hoped to do. However, I believe I have hated the man from our first meeting, he is so exceptionally odious after all."

"Why, he lick your arm too?" Lucifer growls, looking like he was still contemplating immolating the beaten overlord for touching his Charlie.

"Hah no. Well, you could say our first meeting went rather badly as I bite off his tongue... he's still angry about that, but I feel quite justified in the action for you see, it ended up in my mouth without any warning. He's lucky Vox, who we were both accuainted with at the time, asked for mercy... in hindsight, I should have turned him into mincemeat."

Angel scowled as well. "Yeah... the bastard ain't one for consent."

There was a heavy moment marring the day, before Alastor snapped the Overlord away to who knows where and added cheerfully, "Well, no need to concern ourselves about that anymore... he'll be beyond deceased this evening, and I understand there is quite the day of festivities ahead. If everyone has unwrapped their gifts and found them satisfactory?"

Different statements of assent echoed from around the room as people tried on, tested out or played with their gifts. The Radio Demon was about to speak further when he was hugged to within an inch of his afterlife by a very tall arachnid who was half sobbing, half laughing in joy.

"Ya fucking nuts, Smiles, I like that in a man. This was the best Sinsmas gift ever!" He crowed enthusiastically, and the emotion flowed across the others in the room like a tide of joy. He dropepd his voice under the clamour to whisper, "You just keep hold'a that coupon and I'm going to give you the best night ever... even if that amounts to like, a neck massage and talking about baking tips, all the way to breaking the bed and eating sauteed pieces of Valentino. Whatever you want... I feel almost alive again, Smiles."

Patting the spider sinner gently on the arm and being relieved at the release with most bones still intact, Alastor grins. "I'm quite pleased that I seem to have found an acceptable gift. Now, if nobody minds, I think we could all do with some breakfast... I might even be convinced to try some of those deplorable sugary discus you call pancakes little Majesty."

"Why, ran out of juice after banging that television guy?" Lucifer snipes back, playfully.

"Hah, no, he's no challenge. Now, your wife on the other hand..." Alastor fades into shadow with a cackle as Charlie covers her face with her hands, deep breaths taken to fortify her for the rest of the day.

"Oh you fucker-..." The King exhales, throwing his hands up... and begins to laugh. "Get back here and help cook breakfast, deer, or I'm taking sole custody in the divorce."

With a dramatic gasp, Alastor fades back into view. "How dare you! No judge would side with such a scoundrel..."

Rolling their eyes at the back and forth, the hotel residents head for the kitchen to start off Sinsmas with good food, warm bellies and pleasant conversation. With a hint of competitive dadding in there.

Angel carried Fat Nuggets, in her new little collar, to the kitchen with them. His eyes firmly on Alastor's back, the gaze making those fluffy ears twitch as they sought out the observer.

"Hey Nuggsy... I might be going made from post-contract delirium, but I gotta ask... how would you feel about having a new daddy?"

For her part, Nuggsy just snuffled contentedly in his arms and fell asleep.

--------------

The end

Will write it better when its not 3fuckingam

this was meant to be a funny throwaway post and now look at it

I'll have to fix and format it so it makes sense and put it on AO3.

[stumbling-towards-the-light]

Free Folk & Their Adaptive Strategy

Adaptive strategy was a term first coined in 1974 by anthropologist Yehudi Cohen to describe a society's means of economic production. Cohen also further postulated that certain means of economic production adopted by a society also led said society to adopt certain social features, by which I mean shared political organization, and similar ways of choosing leadership, if they had any.

Now, in most anthropological circles, it's generally agreed there are five adaptive strategies to be linked to five types of political organization. This is a general pattern across a majority of human societies, but not a written-in-stone rule; some societies do not land in these neat, categorized boxes. However, this is a fictional culture, so for the sake of mine and the dear reader's sanity, we are going to assume the Free Folk fall into these categories.

It is largely implied that the Free Folk's main adaptive strategy is foraging, employing “traditional” hunter-gatherer means of survival. Now we see some Free Folk use pastoralist means of survival, with mentions of sheepfolds and pigstys found in various Free Folk villages, as well as a mention of a reindeer herding, however, baseline the Free Folk are foragers. Usually, in forager societies, the main type of political organization are bands, relatively small groups of people all tied together by some form of kinship. This seems to be supported in the text itself, where Jon refers to Rattleshirts’ group as a “band” several times.

This type of society does not lend itself well to permanent homes, usually moving seasonally in accordance with where herds of wild animals have moved. The idea of private property is virtually nonexistent. However, there are reports of forager societies all coming together in one place, usually when there is a surplus of food. This occasion is usually treated like a holiday, with lots of celebrating, dancing, singing, and trading being done.

Leadership: Fascinatingly enough, forager leadership structure is usually based around who can give the most, rather than who is the strongest or the toughest. This is due to the tendency of forager societies to develop social mores involving hospitality and shared social responsibility. 

Social Values: We already know the Free Folk hold proper hospitality to be absolutely sacred, with even Crastor, the worst of the worst, following it like gospel. (He is not the one to break hospitality during the Night’s Watch coup, after all.) The shared social responsibility part is simply an expansion of this core idea. If you can’t even take care of your own, why should your hospitality, your word be trusted? Societies like this one, also will ostracize any hoarders who take more than they need. We see this pattern with Crastor, with every other Free Folk we meet despising him. Granted, this is probably due to his practice of marrying his daughters, but he is also the only Free Folk to have a designated “keep”, where his family lives, with it’s own pigsty and sheepfold. Every other pigsty and/or sheepfold we see north of the Wall, appears to be shared. Some of that disgust could also be due to his hoarding tendencies.  

Gender Roles: White there is the traditional idea of men doing the hunting and fishing and women doing the majority of the foraging, these roles are not set in stone by any means. Again, this is supported by the text, where both men and women are raiders and accepted leaders of their groups. This is even supported in the Free Folks’ concept of marriage, which doesn’t seem to be set in stone. They do have a concept of one man and one woman being tied together, but it doesn;t seem that the two are bound by marriage; there is no expectation of fidelity for either party, or at least there are no social consequences for sleeping with someone who isn’t your spouse. This kind of openness is usually found in societies that give their women a lot more freedom.

Religion: Due to their heavy reliance on the land, almost all foraging societies are animistic, worshiping the spirits found in and around nature, rather than a specific, titled entity. Again seen in the Free Folk, who worship the Old Gods, nameless spirits inhabiting the world around them. 

Inheritance Customs: As there is no concept of private property, there is no concept of someone inheriting that private property. Further support the Free Folks’ lax gender roles. When there is nothing to inherit, why should there be a huge fuss over whose child is whose child? Why should a husband need to control who his wife sleeps with, when he has nothing to pass down? 

Descent Customs: Forager societies are often bilineal, children are considered to be descended from both parents and thus kin to both parents’ extended families. This is a way to ensure that there will always be someone to rely on in hard times. I see no reason why the Free Folk would not adopt a similar strategy. 

This is just some of the things, affected by the Free Folks’ larger adaptive strategy, there are probably a hundred more different ways this idea could be expressed. But anyway, let me know what you think!

[soulsisterif]

Progress Update 18/12/2024

First of all, Merry Christmas to all of you celebrating, and Happy Holidays for those just enjoying the season.

Wow, I look back at this past year and I wish I'd had more time to write because I have certainly not achieved as much as I had hoped.

I've been scrolling through the blog and, girl, so many things have changed as I developed the idea... When I first started writing this game I thought I would release the demo in, like, a month tops, and that it would be about 5k or 10k words.

And yet, here we are in December, 80k words in just counting Chapter One's file. To be fair, I could probably have released the demo as a teaser many months ago, but at that point the only character you would have interacted with is Dawn, and there would be no romance in sight, so it felt kind of better to just wait. Still, I'm kind of disappointed in myself that I haven't managed to finish Chapter One.

The demo has changed a lot since May, particularly in the last three months. Most of the changes revolve about how I wrote Abbie into the story, and I must say that I personally like it better now.

I've played games that give you your bestie as an RO before, and some of them left me a little indifferent. Even when the routes were well written and interesting, they didn't feel any different from the others. That made me see that I had to do a rewrite because I realized that there was no point in offering a best friend to romance if the character was presented the same way other ROs were. I had to give you snippets of Abbie's shared past with MC during the interview with Dawn, and more interactions with her during the process of signing up to enter the show, all of that before meeting the rest of the cast. If their bond rings hollow, what's the appeal in a friends-to-lovers route, right?

Unfortunately, this also meant taking some scenes out altogether, and changing the way I introduced stats, since I needed to know your MC's personality early on so that I could write her behaviour in flashbacks accordingly. Basically, the way I first structured Chapter One was unusable.

Some of the scenes I added are short, and others, considering all variables and flavour text, are like 4k words. You can even unlock special interactions or references, later on. Unique tattoos, inside jokes, specific gestures, fond memories, special places... The kind of thing that you would share with someone who's been close to you your whole life.

With that out of the way...

What's new:

• Some choices will block romance. You can choose to be shown which ones they are and they'll be marked with an x. As an example, the first one you'll encounter very soon into the game. If your MC is in her 40s, Vega's romance will be blocked.

• You can pick some family background for the MC.

• There were initially unique scenes for each pre-set names and the custom name. They now share the same scene that gives you another glimpse of Abbie and MC's past, as well as Abbie's relationship with her mother. The deleted scenes will be used later on in the story. I like them too much to let them go completely LOL

• I've added two new stats: Empathetic/Clueless & Easygoing/Hardass. Stats have changed, if slightly, since the first posts I made about them. Right now, things are:

• Since she has a nickname for your MC, MC will now be able to give one to Abbie, too.

• Abbie and MC can be roommates.

And that's it. I'm so sorry that it's taking me sooooo long to write this game. Thank you all for sticking with me, despite my lack of posting!

I'll also try to answer some of the asks that have been sitting in my inbox for a while. I might not answer all of them but they always mean a lot, so thanks for sending them in :D

[darkhymns-fic]

Trick or Treat?

Colette knew Lloyd usually preferred tricks over treats instead—but as he leaned in close, she realized she wasn't prepared for whatever trick he had up his sleeve this time.

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters/Pairing: Lloyd Irving/Colette Brunel Rating: T Word Count: 2499 Mirror: AO3 Notes: A short fic inspired by a colloyd doujin by Moritagumi. Happy Halloween! (slightly spicy because of kissing!)

-

The candy was arranged in such bright foil; in shades of black and orange, their material catching the lamplight of the room. Colette had been so tempted to take some of the candy, even going so far as to pluck out a piece from the basket she was given, and twirl it about in her fingers. But, this wasn’t for her! This was for the trick-or-treaters! Or at least, that was what Zelos had told her.

“Hey, Colette! You in here?”

“Oh, yes! Come in, Lloyd!”

Zelos’ mansion had many rooms, enough that she had (shamefully) gotten a little lost the first few times…and today. But, she had found the very room she needed where her costume waited for her; a long dark cloak that she could tie around her neck, along with a crooked, pointed hat. She even had a small broom that she could ride on if she wanted to! She really did look like a witch now, except… whoever heard of a witch that gave out treats to children? Yet the woven basket full of carefully-wrapped candy told her that this was part of her outfit.

That thought was forgotten the moment she went to open the door. They had all gone to Zelos’ home to celebrate the holiday, though she had no idea who would be wearing what. Maybe Lloyd was wearing something cute…

Within the garish hallways, bandaged hands raised up, fingers curled as Lloyd gave a loud, “Boo!”

“Ah!”

What she saw startled her so much that she dropped her very valuable basket full of candy! But in mid-scare, Lloyd quickly caught it, hands pressed with her own. He grinned wide, the ends of frayed bandages falling all around his shoulders and neck, as well as down his arms.

“Heh, sorry. Couldn’t resist.”

But Colette was looking at Lloyd with wide eyes, feeling ready to cry. “Lloyd…oh no. How much does it hurt?”

He blinked at her question, looking at the basket, then to her again. “Uh, what?”

“All those bandages! Did you get in an accident?” She gasped in sudden realization. “Did you fall off your Rheaird? I’m so sorry, I should have flown you instead…”

“Huh? No, no, I’m fine!” Lloyd gave her the basket fully to pull out what looked like rolls of those same white bandages from his pants pockets. “This is just part of my costume. Remember? I told you I was going to be a mummy!”

…Ohhh.

“Ah, that’s right!” Colette giggled, her previous panic already washed away. “Hehe. I forgot.”

“But I even told you about it this morning…”

Lloyd did indeed wear so many bandages, she noticed! Over his hands, he had wrapped it so well that barely any of the ends of it were loose. Though some of it started to unravel at other parts of his body, like his neck, and even over his chest. While he wore a black vest to serve as his shirt, its front was unbuttoned, showing off his handiwork with the bandages that criss crossed his torso. He really did look like a mummy come to life!

“Hey, is that candy?” he asked then. “That’s a lot of it!

Colette remembered then the basket she held, the one Lloyd rescued for her. It now hung around her wrist. “Zelos said I was to hand these out for the trick-or-treaters that are going to come by. At least for the ones that ask for a treat! Though I’m not sure why someone would choose a trick over a treat…”

“That’s easy. Because tricks are fun!” Though even as he said it, his eyes kept glancing to the candy. Maybe he would have reached for a piece himself if he wasn’t already holding a bunch of rolled-up bandages in his palms.

Which made her question then. “Why do you still have all these bandages left?”

Lloyd finally entered the room, taking a seat and then placing the bandages on a nearby desk. “Well… I was also going to wrap the bandages around my head. You know, like a real mummy! But I couldn’t do it very well. And when I used the Rheaird, all those bandages just flew off!” A pause. “I mean, I also couldn’t see out of them…”

“Aw, well, you still look like a mummy to me,” Colette said with a nod.

“No way! You thought I was just all hurt and wrapped up in bandages!”

“Only because I forgot!”

Lloyd sighed, placing an elbow on the desk, bringing up his hand to rest his chin in it. As he did so, he looked at her, and she could feel how his eyes traveled over her. The sight of it made her flush slightly—maybe she looked too silly to be in a witch’s getup, and she wasn’t even using the broom right now to fully look the part…

“Sorry, I don’t look like much of a witch either,” she confessed. “I think even this hat is too big…”

“Huh? That’s not what I was…” 

But his voice trailed off, still staring at her. Ah, did she say something wrong just now? Even so, Lloyd kept looking. And his face looked a little red too.

“Hey, uh,” Lloyd started. “Do you think you could help me with my outfit? Maybe if you wrap up the bandages for me?”

Well, that was sudden, but she was always glad to help! With a smile, she reached out for one of the bandages on the table to unroll. “Should I start around here then?” she said as she stepped forward. Her eyes then fixated on his ear. Maybe if she started wrapping from underneath…to his chin…but then she’d have to cover his mouth and…

Before she even got a chance, Lloyd then grabbed her wrist, making her drop the bandages to the plush carpets underneath their feet.

Ah.

And then his other hand, wrapped in white, reached to take hold of her chin.

Ahh?

“Hey, Colette.” Lloyd smiled again, eyelids lowered slightly as he brought her close. “You think I can have a treat too?”

The question caught her off guard, not to mention the fact she felt out of air suddenly. “Um…” 

“Or…should I play a trick on you instead?” He pulled her in closer, enough that her knees brushed against his own. “I might have to if I don’t get any candy…”

Candy…candy…Oh, Lloyd just wanted candy!

“Oh, I’m sorry!” she quickly apologized before she put both hands in her basket to take out fistfuls of candy—so much that several pieces of it fell to the floor. “Here you go, Lloyd!”

She promptly shoved all the still-wrapped up candy into his open mouth.

“Urkmf!”

And then, just as promptly, Lloyd fell to his knees to spit out all the candy to the floor.

Oops.

“C-Colette!” he called out in between coughs.

“I’m sorry!” she said again. “You said you wanted candy!”

“But not like twenty of them at once!” Lloyd coughed again, another brightly colored foil leaving his mouth. “Bleh…I didn’t even get to taste the actual candy either…”

Ah, she really messed up now. She fiddled with the handle of her basket—she still had plenty of candy left. So, she could fix this! Maybe?

“I can still give you candy?” she said. “Um, just one though! Sorry, we should probably save some for the kids…” And they definitely couldn’t use the ones Lloyd had just spit out.

Wiping his mouth, Lloyd got to his feet. But his eyes seemed to light up at the mention of the candy, a look that sent her heart racing a bit. “Yeah? Um, but without the foil this time though?”

“Of course!” she said, sticking out her tongue in a tease. “I’m not going to make the same mistake twice!”

“Well, knowing you…” Still, Lloyd smiled. “Okay. You want to feed it to me?”

That almost caught her off guard again, but she was already figuring out that Lloyd was teasing her. She wouldn’t be flustered so easily this time. With a nod, she reached for a candy piece in her basket, unwrapping the foil.

“Open up!” she said, holding up the candy. It was colored red, making her think of strawberries. Maybe it was strawberry-flavored? Now she wished she could have a piece for herself, too.

Lloyd grinned, then opened his mouth with a great, “Ahhh.” With a giggle, she deftly placed the candy just at his lips, letting him take it with his tongue.

And that was all it should have been. Instead, his tongue lingered. It lapped at her fingertips, made her pause, made her watch as Lloyd tasted her along with the candy.

He was looking at her again, like before. He then took one of her fingers into his mouth to suck on, slightly.

“L…Lloyd…” she stuttered, but didn’t move away. She didn’t want to. She could only remain still, her face feeling hot as she felt the swipe of his tongue, at how his soft lips wrapped around her finger. “But…the candy…”

And then, just as quickly, his mouth left her. But he hadn’t stopped staring at her, his tongue licking at his lips.

“Hm… it’s really sweet.”

Colette already felt out of breath. Even with her hand free, she could still remember the way he had sucked on her skin, the warmth of his tongue that made her legs shake slightly. And his gaze on her kept her feeling so warm and good, so much that she didn’t pull away when he stepped closer to her again, so close that the tips of their noses touched.

“Did you try the candy too?” he asked. His voice was low, almost a whisper.

Colette swallowed. “No, I’m…just supposed to hand it out…”

And Lloyd smiled again—that smile full of mischief, the kind of smile she recognized from when they were young and he had a fun idea to play, usually a small prank he’d pull on Genis, or on the priests that would insist that he leave the Chosen one alone.

He was pulling one on her right now, wasn’t he? He’d laugh soon, and then step away. Except, he just got closer and closer to her, until he was all she could see.

His hand, still bandaged, went to reach for her chin again. And she leaned into that touch easily, watching how the lamplight reflected off his eyes. “I want you to taste it too,” he said, before he pressed his mouth over hers.

“Ah—” she breathed, and in that small breath, Lloyd took advantage, opening her mouth up more with his tongue. He kissed her harder, taking in her sounds, her breaths. And she could feel the vibrations of his own sounds against her tongue. His wet, warm tongue, and so, so sweet…

She felt the smooth hardness of the candy against her tongue, pushed on by Lloyd’s. She tasted that sweetness, so sweet that it stung. She gasped again as Lloyd balanced that candy piece between their tongues, his own breath coming fast.

Soft sounds played around her, a groan from Lloyd, another moan from her own throat, and the wet sounds of his tongue on hers. As he kissed her, as he tasted her and the candy shared between them. It was so good and so sweet. Like strawberries , she thought. Her arms reached up to wrap around his neck to keep him close, and maybe she felt the turn of a smile against her mouth then. But it was hard to stop, so hard to stop.

She could hardly speak, but to do so might let the candy fall. And she couldn’t let that happen. She could only keep it perched between their tongues, then close her lips over his own. More, more, her mind chanted, kissing him still. They kissed harder, and with less finesse, enough that she felt their kisses become sloppier. But, Lloyd seemed to like that, his tongue sneaking out to lap at her lips and her chin, all while not letting the candy fall.

She felt his other hand grip her waist, fingers pressing against the witch’s costume, bringing her hips to his. She wanted to be closer. She wanted to feel his hands on her even more, and in her wanting, more desperate sounds left her throat. She could hardly breathe, but Lloyd gave her his own breath, so that she would never run out of air.

“Mn…” was what she heard from him, the sound so low that it sank into her chest in the warmest of tones. Heavy like honey, and leaving her body so lethargic she did all she could to not fall against his chest. Lloyd’s…never kissed me like this before… Usually small kisses, or pecks on the cheeks that left her blushing still. But not like this, where he seemed to try to taste her as much as he could, letting his tongue dance inside her mouth.

It almost felt too short when Lloyd finally separated from her, his lips lifting away. The candy had all but disappeared now during the kiss, its taste all over her mouth. But even when Lloyd moved, he lingered, just enough to let her breathe in the air again. A thin trail connected between their lips briefly, evidence of their passionate kissing.

“Oh…” Colette could only say, still catching her breath. Lloyd still held her chin, looking down at her with that intense gaze.

And when he grinned, it was with a small chuckle, the kind she was so used to hearing when something went his way. “You know, between you and the candy… I think Colette tasted sweeter!”

The words washed over her, awaking her from her daze. Colette’s face heated up even more. “Ah…you tricked me…”

Lloyd kept laughing, nuzzling her nose with his. “Not really! I did want to share the candy with you. And kiss you. So…why not two birds with one stone, right?”

“If you wanted to kiss me, you could have just said so…” But she couldn’t resist the smile that lifted her own mouth, staying close to him. “Mm, but is that all?”

Lloyd tilted his head. “What is?”

At that, Colette reached into her basket, unwrapping the candy piece before she plopped it into her mouth. She felt Lloyd watching her, knowing how his eyes followed the path of the candy onto her tongue. “You usually never stop at just eating one piece.”

It could be her turn to trick him now! Though, was it a trick if he knew what she wanted…?

Lloyd smirked, leaning in close until his lips brushed hers. “Yeah? Well, I think you just took mine…”

If she lost her breath again, if her stomach felt all fluttery as Lloyd’s tongue moved against her own, well, she wanted that still. And it was a fun game, to not let the candy piece fall…

[tryslora]

Support your favorite creative(s) this season!

So, it’s the holiday season (for values of holiday which can be anything you care to celebrate during the winter months) and you would like to support your favorite creative(s). What are some good ways to do that?

Tell the world about them

If someone is a favorite of yours, there’s a good chance that you know someone else who will enjoy their work. Signal boost the creative’s posts. Create your own post with links to their work. Showcase some of your favorite pieces of theirs with a snippet and a link to the original. Talk about why you love the work (trust me, your favorite creative will love to hear this just as much as your friends will appreciate finding out about something new).

Important side note which I know you know but it bears repeating: please reblog and link to your favorite creative’s posts; do not repost their material. Reposting might sound like a great way to show off what the creative does, but it doesn’t help anyone find them. Please be considerate.

Post reviews of their work

Instructions for this depends on what type of creative you are following. If they are a writer, leave a review on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, B&N, whatever platform you choose. Positive reviews are how writers get discovered.

If your creative is an artist and has a platform where they offer commissions, leave a review there if appropriate. Give them five stars. Help your creative climb the ranks from unknown to well-reviewed!

Follow them on social media

If your creative has a list of social media accounts, follow them! This gives you a better chance to help signal boost their cool stuff (as well as hearing about it when they post!). It also gives you a chance to interact, and to see what they’re like when they aren’t creating. If you like their creations, you might have other things in common. 

Does your creative have a newsletter? Subscribe! You can even forward copies to your friends if there’s something really cool you want to share. A Patreon? Check to see if they have free material posted. Many Patreons allow people to follow at a free level, and while there might be paywall-locked material, there might be unlocked material as well.

Social media is wide and varied these days, with everything from Bluesky and Mastodon, to old-school Facebook pages, to even older-school platforms like Dreamwidth. Don’t forget the little known Pillowfort, or the highly fannish Tumblr. Even better, be aware that your creative may present different faces in different spaces. They are just as human as the rest of us!

Talk to them

I’m serious! Being a creative is like shouting into the abyss… if the abyss happens to shout back, that’s emotional food that can sustain a creative for days. Most creatives have several places where they can be found, either for private communication (check to see if they accept messages/DMs/emails first, please) or for public conversation (social media can be wonderful!). 

Create a transformative work

This won’t work for all creatives. BUT. If your creative is a writer, I would place a bet that they would LOVE fanart of their work. Or maybe that’s just me.

Buy their stuff

Yes, this one requires money, and I am well aware that most of us don’t have the budget for monetary support. And that’s fine! As shown above, there are so many other ways to support your creative and help them grow. But if you do have the budget, picking up copies of their work means you can get great gifts for your friends (and help spread the word!). And if you’re up for it, monthly support via Patreon, or random tips are always nice and appreciated things.

Ask them what will help

In the end, every creative has their own list of things that will help them most, and almost every single one would be happy to tell anyone what would help Right Now.

I’m putting this next bit behind a cut/read-more/clicky-link — whatever is appropriate to the platform you’re reading this on. Because this is the personal bit where I add links to the places you can find me. 

And if you are a creative and you are reblogging this on a platform which allows reblogs, please add your own list of helpful information. If it’s a place with comments, please comment! I want to help by giving other creatives a way to get information out.

Where can you find me…?

TrisLawrence.com is my professional website, with blog posts, upcoming appearances, and links to where to find my Stuff.

I post blog entries on Tumblr, Pillowfort, and Dreamwidth (which mirrors on Livejournal and Insanejournal).

I babble randomly on Bluesky and Mastodon. While I exist on Twi-X, I no longer post there.

I have a professional Facebook page. I have an Instagram. I have a TikTok that I am trying to learn how to use.

I am also active in several Discord communities, if you happen to find me there.

Want to support me? -- Patreon | Ko-Fi | Reblog & Comment

Want to hear more from me? — Join my mailing list

[atthedugouts]

WEEKLY TAG WEDNESDAY

Thank you for the tag @sgtmickeyslaughter @burninface and @mickeym4ndy

Name: Sarah

Age: 34

Location: San Diego, CA

And now...

If you could hang out with any cartoon character, who would you choose and why? Can I just hang out with all 101 dalmatians?

If you could bring back any fashion trend, what would it be? I will echo everyone else and say good quality clothes. I can't even find good office clothes.

What sport would you compete in if you were in the Olympics? I always like the athletes in the smaller events that have normal 9 to 5 jobs. Like can you imagine?

"Where's Sarah I haven't seen her around the office."

"Oh she's in the olympics for the long jump, she'll be back next week."

Which actor would you want to play you in the movie about your life? I once did those apps that tell you what celebrity you look like and it said Gwyneth Paltrow (don't think it was accurate). But I need someone short, Lady Gaga or Reese Witherspoon? Maybe they can make my life a musical.

If you were the captain of a pirate ship, what would be the name of your ship? The Siren

If you could see one movie again for the first time, what would it be and why? It wasn't the first time I watched it but I have such fond memories of watching Galaxy Quest with my college roommates. You just can't recreate that, but if I could!

What’s one thing on your bucket list that you really want to do? I would like to go to Austria. I looks so beautiful there.

If you could have any animal, real or imaginary, as a pet, what would it be and why? When I was a kid I wanted a tiger so bad!

If you could invent a holiday, what would it be, and how would people celebrate it? Can we do rest day? Like can everyone just take a nap and not bug me?

What’s the most interesting place you’ve ever visited in your country? Yellowstone is like going to another planet.

tagging:

@em-harlsnow @especially-fuk-u @transsexual-dandelions @iansw0rld @iangallagherisadeadman

@thirstyvampyr @kiennilove @sleepyheadgallavich @ange1sang

[skatiet]

On Grief and Loneliness (Excerpts From My Journal Since My Dad Died)

content warning: grief, loneliness, family member death, family member illness, suicidal ideation, existential crisis, loss of childhood home, animal death (nothing particularly graphic; just being thorough)

December 26, 2022

One month later… I miss him. That’s all there is to it, really. The immediate trauma of it all–seeing his face every time I close my eyes, hearing myself call out to him–has passed for the most part. Now it just feels like there is this empty space in my life. I keep half expecting to see a text or missed call from him, keep wanting to check in, even though I know he’s not there. Going back home and having him not be there… I try not to think too long or hard about it. It’s been a lot of that lately, just choosing not to think too much about it.

Christmas was low-key. I didn’t feel much of the magic of the holidays. Part of that is just because of getting older, I think. Next year, I want to be more festive. I just want to live life to the fullest to the extent that I can. I know my dad would be proud of me no matter what, so now I just want to make a life that I can be proud of, too.

I’ve had a few moments (or days) of really bad anxiety/depression, feeling like nothing is going right and it’s not worth it to keep trying, but I keep going, still. I am trying to be present and feel things as deeply as I can, especially the good things, and hopefully, I can find a balance between burying my sadness and feeling it to the point where I feel hopeless.

January 14, 2023

Often, grief is found in the little things, just like joy or love. I drink his tea and remember making it for him when he couldn’t do it himself, when standing was too difficult, when I was desperate for him to have something in his stomach. A splash of milk and a spoonful of honey or sometimes sugar. How he said I made it extra sweet. How I was adding as much milk, honey, and sugar as I could get away with, trying to give him as much energy and strength as I could. How he would fall asleep waiting for it to cool. How I had to remind him to drink. Reheating it again and again. The desperation those mugs held. Now, it is warm and comforting.

March 17, 2023

My dad loved Ireland and Boston and the town we lived in (all the places he was from). He loved rock music. He loved hiking. He loved stamps and antiques and magic tricks. He loved pizza and sushi and steak, lobster rolls and burgers and desserts. (He really loved food. He even liked trying vegetarian options and eating them with me.) He loved cats and dogs and owls. He loved people; he saw the good in everyone. He loved my sister and me. And we love him.

March 24, 2023

The wind is loud, and everyone is safe inside their homes, and I am safe, too, but this doesn’t feel like home.

June 14, 2023

It hits me that I’ve lost so much all at once– a family member, a home, so many things that used to be mine. I’ve lived so many places that it feels impossible to settle in, to feel secure. So much of my life has been spent on the outside, always feeling like an afterthought, never a first choice, and I wonder if I’ve ever belonged anywhere.

June 15, 2023

I’m not a holiday person. At some point, I realized that assigning too much meaning to one particular day is a great way to end up disappointed. It doesn’t matter what I think, though. Every calendar will still tell me what I’m meant to be celebrating, or what someone is meant to be celebrating who believes in something I don’t. I don't believe in much, actually. That never felt more true than after my father died. I told my mom I don't believe anything happens to people when they die, that I think they are just gone, and she cried. I don't cry much, either, especially not when other people do. I cry because I’m frustrated, because I’m stressed, because I’m tired. I cried when my dad died, but not as often as I felt I should in the days that followed. I know grief is individual and no way of grieving is right or wrong or normal. That doesn’t make me feel any less alone when my grief isn’t crying, isn’t seeing signs of him or talking to him, because to me, he isn’t there. He is gone. My grief is anger. It’s frustration that I will never see him again. It’s missing him, and it’s aching, and it’s emptiness. It’s a hole in my life where he used to be. It's the time I spent on phone calls now allotted to something else. It’s one less text message to send, one less person to tell stories to. It's the unsettling feeling that my life has already been the best it will ever be, because he will never be in it again. It's listening to songs and looking at photos and feeling something that doesn’t feel like enough. It's wanting to comfort the other people who lost him because they are sadder than I am. It's having regrets about how it all happened and then realizing it’s pointless to feel that way because it’s over. There's no changing any of it, only learning from it. And feeling like nothing matters because everyone I know will die, and I will die, and what’s the point of anything anyway. I'm terrified to forget anything about him. I write down every memory that comes up so I won't lose it. I hold tightly to the things he gave me and the things I have of his. I am halfway waiting for it to hit me, to feel some overwhelming wave of sadness, too late for anyone to understand it, but I also think maybe it will never come.

July 13, 2023

Grief spirals outward. Hope spirals inward. But I don’t want the grief to lessen. It makes me feel real. It makes me feel human.

August 26, 2023

Buyer beware–I don’t believe in ghosts, but the last two owners died in this house, and I know a part of me will live here forever.

September 1, 2023

Four bedrooms. Four names in permanent marker on the workbench in the basement, four letters each. Four cats buried out back by the property line.

December 4, 2023

A year passes, and every change creates a new version of me that he’ll never know, and how different can I become before I’m no longer the person he knew at all?

May 15, 2024

I feel like I’m cursed to forever be running in this race where no matter how hard I try, how fast I move, I will always be in second place (if even that). Never the first choice, never the favorite. They think they know what loneliness is, but they are discussing it with each other while I watch from afar. I can grow and reach and try and try and try, but I will never be enough.

May 19, 2024

How am I supposed to be a grown adult but still have the same feelings as when I was a child? Is this just going to be my entire life, never feeling like anyone actually cares about me? I don’t want to give up on people, but I am so fucking tired of trying and never getting what I want in return.

July 2, 2024

I’ve tried to make it sound pretty, tried to make it sound wise, twisted and turned the words around in my head, but I can only come back to: the only person who ever made me their first choice is dead and gone forever. And I don’t know how to make that sound nice.

[momochiachan]

.｡.:*♡ Pop-Confetti Legacy ♡*.｡.:

As a millenial person, I love 90s-2000s aesthetic! Also, I needed a gameplay where I can do stuff that I never did on the sims 4 before, so why not combine them into a brand new legacy challenge? Pop-Confetti has a nostalgic sound to it, that’s the only reason why I chose this name lol, well, also it sounds cute i think~

.｡.:*♡ Let’s get started! first things first... ♡*.｡.:

Home decoration and outfit style of the sims should suit with the fashion of the decade.

There is nothing like “if you fail one rule, you fail the whole challenge” in the Pop-Confetti because I’m terrible at following rules and I understand if it’s too hard sometimes lol. These are rather like guidelines.

Yet, don’t use money cheat I’d say. It ruins the fun.

The decade specific guidelines:

1990s Challenge: Use only the worst computers or use typewriters (there are nice CCs). No social media, no selfies, no funny videos. Use the worst camera to take photos.

Optional Activities: Game at the arcade, go skating. Send postcards on holidays. You can also build a drive-in movie lot and watch films and eat popcorn (we don’t have cars in sims, but well, we can pretend).

2000s Challenge: Slightly better computers. No simstagram, no selfies, no social media profile. Use a camera to take photos.

Optional Activities: If this gen can see the winter and can get the chance to celebrate the new year, it should be perfect. Throw a huge party! If they can see summer only, create a new new year holiday in summer (like in the south pole) and throw a perfect party again. Send postcards on holidays. Also, spend hours on MSN (chat with friends via computer).

2010s Challenge: You can start using laptops. Selfies? Hell yes. You can create a social media profile. Get fast internet lot trait.

Optional Activities: Update your social media profile every day. Take selfies every day. If you see a street protest, attend. Also, you can use the Simda DatingApp mod and find dates online!

2020 Challenge: Well, the nightmare begins: Social distance. Avoid crowded places. When many people come and try to talk to you, use the mean interaction “go away.” Get the fear of crowded places if possible. Do not leave your neighborhood. Live in a lot with simple living and keep your fridge always full.

Optional Activities: Gain weight! The rates of divorce increased during the pandemic IRL, so you can also break up with your partner maybe. Choose your partner as someone totally different than your identity group (for example: if your sim is a white straight woman, marry a black bisexual man).

2025 Challenge: Environment suffers… You can live in the dirty neighborhoods of Sulani or Evergreen Harbor. If you live somewhere else, get some/one of these lot challenges: filthy, landfill lot, and wild foxes (my reasoning is that because wild animals lose their home in forests, they have to find food in urban areas ;-;)

Optional Activities: You can do environmental activities if your sim cares enough. Use gaming mats. And uh… maybe go to space! What else..? if you get an idea, let me know ^^

#1. 1990: Ripped Jeans

(TW: Child neglect)

Because you were a neglected baby, you were taken away by social services and grew up in an orphanage. The orphanage was no good in terms of education, you got no skills, and you didn’t even get the skill to gain skills! But who cares? You believe in yourself. Now you are a young adult, ready to build your life from scratch.

You hate bad parents. Just the idea of it drives you mad! You believe that life taught you how a good parent should be in a harsh way. Well, you aren’t a parent yourself, but, uhh… is that important? I mean, you have been a child…? Anyways, who would know it better than you do! You the best! So you dedicate yourself to informing people about good parenting. Well, you become a parent at some point anyway, but you are so busy criticizing other families that… you lose your baby to social services.

IMPORTANT!: So, normally, when your child gets rescued by social services, they disappear. This shouldn’t happen in this challenge (See Gen #2). You can use MCCC to prevent it and have them adopted by another family.

Scenario: No Skills, No Problem Aspiration of your choice (you don’t have to complete) Traits: hot-headed, self-absorbed, outgoing Career: Education

Start with the “No Skills, No Problem” Scenario on.

Argue about parenting with the other parents and whenever you can’t win the argument, write an article or book about the issue.

Write 3 books on how to make children happy and good parenthood (because you don’t have skills, you have to write in children’s books genre lol)

Have at least 2 kids

Lose 1 toddler or child to social services (the “die in accidents” option for the other households in the neighborhood stories settings should be off)

After losing your child, complete/cancel the scenario and start getting skills along with your 2nd child does.

Leave your career and be a perfect parent to the 2nd kid: Have them the top-notch toddler trait. Knit clothes for your children, cook healthy food for them, have a special activity with them every week (such as watching movies, reading books, eating out, or going on vacation), always assist with the projects, etc.

Max parenting skill.

#2. 1995: Postcards from the Past

You grew up under the wings of perfect care. You are kinda spoilt, your life is excellent, and the world revolves around you. Your parents gave you whatever you wanted until now (or you knew how to take it). Same for romantic relationships.

However, when you are a teen, you eavesdrop on your parents one day and learn that you have a sibling who got taken away years ago! You can’t believe that your perfect parent neglected a child in the past! You desperately want a reunion. No matter what, you are going to find your sibling. You can get whatever you want, right?

Scenario: Well-Rounded Sim Aspiration: Serial Romantic Traits: Self-assured, family-oriented, one of the traits inherited from the previous heir’s partner Career: Interior Decorator/Police Officer (basically any job that enables you to visit random people’s homes) Gender Options: Can’t impregnate nor become pregnant

Complete the aspiration

Complete the Well-Rounded Scenario

Complete your career

Travel house by house and try to find your sibling

Complete postcards collection.

Once you find them, cheat the relationship to the -100 because they hate you and your parents at the moment. You need to gain their love!

At some point, move in with them, or you can also get them as roommates or live in a residential rental together. They will be the parent of the next-gen, and you will help to care for their child (you are not fertile. you can adopt a child if you want, but the heir will still be your sibling’s child. you are free to marry but you should still live with your sibling and their family).

#3. 2000: Shiny Face of the CD

You grew up in a crowded, happy family. You have an aunt/uncle with a serial romantic past; but your parents are nothing like them. They are way more conservative. Your parents are judgmental, especially about people’s love life. They want you to make an “appropriate” marriage within “moral” norms like no sexual relationship out of marriage, if you date someone they better be your spouse in a short while, and it has to be a heterosexual marriage. Will you able to give them what they want or will you follow your heart?

Scenario: Finding love after breakup Aspiration: One of the location aspirations Traits: Proper, Romantic, one of the traits inherited from the previous heir’s partner Career: Shopkeeper (you can additionally be freelancer or enter a job you can work at home)

As a teenager, you are invited to participate in an exchange program. Pick any other household in the save that has another teenager and swap them in manage worlds. Befriend the exchange student. You can have them stay as long as you want (This rule is actually one of the rolls written for the random legacy challenge which is full of amazing ideas! check them out!).

Complete the aspiration

Have a highschool sweetheart, preferably a bad boy/girl.

Have a very well-managed retail shop as a young adult.

Expect a baby with your highschool sweetheart! but they refuse to take care of it.

Make a marriage of convenience with one of your employees before your family notices that you will have a child soon.

Have an isolated room for the baby.

Die as an adult.

#4. 2005: Bankruptcy

You had a pretty interesting childhood... that pushed you to make interesting choices in life. You are definitely not the favorite of your family. You keep making mistakes, but you always laugh them away. You hate school, but also you couldn’t care less. You love eating and cooking even though you cause fires all the time and everybody hates it. You lost your parent so young and now you live with someone hating you and your half-sibling(s). You want to be independent and show everyone that you are actually full of capabilities! You are the star chef of the future!

Oh and also, you want to be rich in easy ways. You love gambling! Too bad that you will lose all the money your family hardly earned...

Scenario: Trouble Maker (optional); Unlucky Chef Aspiration: Fabulously Wealthy Traits: Lazy, Clumsy/Glutton, one of the traits inherited from the previous heir’s partner Career: Chef/Mixologist

Start playing cards as a teen and create a gambling club. Have club gatherings every week.

Once you are a young adult lose either family house or retail shop and then set household money to 0$.

Be kicked out of the household. You can get a tent and maybe 100$ with you while moving out. You can use freerealestate cheat but the lot should be empty. This will be a kind of rags to riches.

Enter the chef career while going on gambling by playing cards, don’t wake up llama, and the like games (I guess there is a gambling mod but you can also play it like +50$ when you win the game and -50$ when you lose the game).

Definitely buy the lottery tickets when you get the option.

Complete the career and unlucky chef scenario.

#5. 2010: Twilight

As a child, you loved being in the scouts: getting badges, camping, telling ghost stories, and all! Dark nights you spent in the forest while camping made you love every possibility of occults and mystery. You just would never guess that your story is going to be one of them as well.

Aspiration: The Curator / Outdoor Enthusiast Traits: Child of the islands, Geek, another trait inherited from the previous heir’s partner Career: Paranormal Investigator / Sell stuff you find

Join the scouts as a child & teen

Complete your aspiration

Move to the first gen’s house. Make the house haunted (if you don’t have the pack or you don’t want to play in a haunted house, give the house these lot traits: gremlins, spooky, quake zone). You can use freerealestate cheat if needed.

Live with a ghost. Don’t move out until the ghost achieves something big in their afterlife with your help (for instance get mentor trait and help them maxing 3 skills out, complete a scenario or complete a quest together; if the ghost is a child or teen help them to get 3 positive character values or be an A student; if the ghost is a toddler, max all skills).

Once the ghost is saved, remove them from family and make the house residential again.

After the ghost leaves, change one of your traits into erratic.

Max the medium skill and host a seance every week (if you don’t have the pack, max handiness).

Complete the sugar skull collection (optional)

#6. 2015: Selfie Stick

As a teenager, you hate how you look. You want to be one of those beautiful popular sims at school, you have cool friends but your body insecurity makes you less confident among them. You are obsessed with taking selfies, you want to capture your best look but you can’t find it. You have a bestie from your class and they find you very beautiful already, yet you can’t be convinced.

Despite everything they say, once you are a young adult, the first thing you do is having plastic surgeries. Now you are who you want to be! You start to work as a fashion photographer, meet famous attractive models, and your bestie works as your assistant though you doubt if they still like you as you are. Are they too judgmental? Aren’t you the same person, or did you change? Who does love you for your looks and who for who you are?

Scenario optional Aspiration: Party Animal Traits: Jealous, Art Lover, another trait inherited from the previous heir’s partner Career: Freelance photographer / Style Influencer

Complete the aspiration & career

Max photography skill

Have a photo studio in a public venue

There must be 3 different sims you are attracted to. Try to get out of this love square with the person you finally choose as a partner

Have at least two children and they should be science babies (because you don’t want a pregnant body)

Have very weak relationships with your children.

When you are an adult, you go through a midlife crisis. Do all or some of the following:

Secretly leave home one day and have a vacation alone

Choose a new hobby and max the skill

Change one of your traits

Meet new friends

Make big changes at home decoration

Cheat to get uncontrolled emotions or if you are famous, get emotional bomb quirk

Have some arguments with the family members

Change your fashion style

#7. 2020: Pandemic

You have a competitive, ambitious, career-focused life since your childhood including your relationship with your sibling. You have a very romantic side too, but you always wanted to ignore it. Your heart wants a cute, cozy, loyal marriage while your mind is, embarassed, seeing these feelings as the virus of your success plans. How will you manage your inner conflict?

Scenario: Engaged in Conflict Aspiration: Soulmate Traits: Ambitious, Materialist, another trait inherited from the previous heir’s partner Career: Business/Salaryperson/Law

Grow up as rivals with your sibling and have a competitive relationship with them

Become an A student at school

Complete a part-time job as teen

Study and finish university with honors

Join the Braniacs/Debate Guild and attend at least 3 events of them

Date someone from the guild and catch them cheating on you

Have a freelancer job as a university student

Complete the aspiration, career, and the scenario

After graduation, pandemic begins. Live in a lot with the simple living trait.

Gain weight to the max.

Live with your fiancé who is romantic.

Often have arguments with them about the wedding.

Don’t leave the neighborhood until you are an elder.

#8. 2025: Heat Wave (subjected to change)

Scenario: In the moodlet Aspiration of your choice Traits: Good, Gloomy, another trait inherited from the previous heir’s partner  Career of your choice

Move out as a teen and live in air-bnbs (which means other sims’ houses), rental lots & camping areas.

Learn at least 10 different local recipe (San Myshuno, Sulani, Selvadorado, etc.)

During your trips, meet/get closed with your love of life

As a young adult, live in a house made only by pre-made rooms of EA (you can make some changes but keep the general frame and style).

Start the scenario

Your love has a kind of disease that stems from environmental disasters and requires an organ transplant. Yours is compatible with their biology. They will die once they age up.

To be able to save them, you should get the never weary reward trait before they age up (for some reason lol). If you can’t, only choice left is to sacrificing yourself for them. Before doing that, set them up with someone else hoping that they can have their happily ever after.

If you die, play as the partner and organize funeral for your sim. Also name their child after your sim.

If you can save them, get married and move to a lot within a natural paradise. Adopt a child and name them after the first gen.

I hope you enjoy it! Please don’t forget tagging me if you play this challenge, I’d definitely love to see your posts and reblog them ^^

[thepixarau]

How do the Pixars celebrate Christmas?

And since Christmas is coming up, are you going to write anything for it?

Aaa I’m so glad someone finally asked this! I’ve been dying to talk about the Pixars’ Christmas traditions/routines for so long!

First of all we have the Secret Pixar, which is exactly like Secret Santa. All of their names are put into a hat and they each must pick a name and buy a present for whoever they choose. It helps reduce the amount of shopping they have to do, since it would literally be impossible for every one to buy gifts for every single person😬 Aside from the Pixar they chose, they also shop for the kids, their partners, or even close-close friends.

Then, there’s the long-running tradition where the new Pixar(s) get to paint their own special ornament for the Christmas tree!🎄 They’re free to decorate it however they like, though usually they go with a design that represents their movie.

They have several other ornaments as well. Their tree is fairly tall and wide, so there’s plenty of room for generic Christmas ornaments as well as Pixar-themed ones sold by Disney. The lights change from warm, yellow colors to multi-colored depending on the settings. Their tree topper is, of course, a sparkling Pixar ball that lights up with the rest of the tree✨

Baking is almost an everyday-thing during the month of December. Food doesn’t last very long in their household, so when there’s a fresh batch of cookies cooling off on the counter, you can bet it’ll be all gone within an hour. However, some of them do get clever and hide their desserts in certain places so that they have some saved for Christmas Day. As for the dinner, Remy and a few others who volunteer to help end up cooking and preparing the dishes. The main course is almost always a turkey, but every once in a while they mix it up with ham or even goose. The Pixars spend thanksgivings with the Disneys, so Christmas dinner is strictly all for them to handle…it gets stressful😅

Taking the kids to see Santa at the mall is priority. Every day starting with December 1st, they will repeatedly ask the adults “so when are we gonna see Santa?” “Can we see Santa today?” “Why haven’t you taken us to see Santa yet??” And it will repeat until they give in and bring them to see the jolly man himself. It’s typically the younger kids, though, like Dot and Nemo and even Dash. The older ones won’t bug them as much, but will still go with them because well, who doesn’t want to see Santa?🤷‍♀️

Christmas Eve is incredibly hectic in the morning. Making sure all the presents are wrapped and under the tree, having stocking-stuffers ready, preparing the ingredients for dinner, etc😆 It slowly progresses to a more calm, tranquil atmosphere as the sun goes down and everyone can finally relax and enjoy the holiday. The rest of the night is spent drinking hot cocoa by the fire, watching classic Christmas movies, singing carols together. But most important of all, is when they all put on their cozy Christmas pajamas/onesies and gather in the living room, along with the kids and pets, and listen as Woody or Mike read to them, “The Night Before Christmas”

As for your second question, I do intend to write a little one shot about Secret Pixar and the other traditions as well! However, I’m incredibly busy preparing for the holidays myself so it’s hard to find time to sit down and write😅 But I’ll do my best and if it’s not done before Christmas, I’ll try to post something before the year is over!✨

[lunarcovehq]

The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.

THE BLOSSOM FESTIVAL - SPRING EVENT

The blossoms are blooming and, with the start of Spring, Town Hall has decided to put on Lunar Cove’s very first Blossom Festival. The event will kick off on Friday, April 14th, strategically occurring outside of any National Holiday given how the Catalyst has a tendency to attack on them and plenty of security measures are being put into place to ensure the event kicks off without a hitch. But, we need your help!

CALLING ALL PLAYERS 

We will be having two different discord “chatzy style” IC parties as part of this event, so if you can vote in the Event Channel as to which days work best for you for both of them that would be great!

For the first discord event/plot drop, we will be having a Basket Auction which we need volunteers for! During this Discord event, characters will either submit baskets anonymously to be bid on or they can choose to wait until the Discord Event to compete in an all out bidding war in an attempt to win the basket/outing of their desires. We would love to have AT LEAST 19 CHARACTERS submit baskets so that everyone will have a chance to participate in a basket outing.

We hope this event will be a fun way to throw characters together who otherwise might not have interacting with one another, help spark some muse and be a fun and festive celebration of Spring. So, although it is completely optional as to whether you submit a basket or not, the charity auction and the pairing portion of this event will be mandatory. Also, IF YOU PLAY MULTIPLE CHARACTERS, at least ONE must submit a basket, and hopefully it will be a lot fun!

BASKET SUBMISSIONS

If you would like your character to submit a basket, please send a message to the main with which character will be participating and a short description of what the basket will include (examples of basket submissions can be found below). We will explain how voting works during the Discord Event, but the biding is half the fun, so if your basket is not chosen to be auctioned off, have no fear! There will still be plenty for you and your character to do when it comes down to the bidding wars. The basket submission form is as follows-

Name of Character:

Basket/Outing Description:

Accompanying Image (Optional):

BASKET DESCRIPTION EXAMPLES

A woven basket is filled with two vanilla milkshakes, fries, a Caesar salad, two cheese burgers and a homemade apple pie. On top sits a single red rose and a small radio with the song “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer playing the the background.

Oh bidder, bidder, wherefore art thou bidder? That’s right. This date is a Shakespeare-themed extravaganza. From starting the date off with a gift basket with your own wheel of gouda straight out of She’s the Man to going on a paddleboat and playing paint ball like in 10 Things I Hate About You, be prepared for cheesy puns and goofy costumes. The evening will conclude at a nearby pub for a Drunk Shakespeare reenactment.

A cardboard box sits taped together. Inside is a dented can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup, a cup of microwavable Easy Mac, a Twinkie and some other miscellaneous objects that were haphazardly thrown together such as a pack of batteries, some used birthday candles and a slinky that seems as if they came straight out of a junk drawn in someone’s house.