#i wish the customization options were a little *more*? if that makes sense?

[mbat]

thinking about the eredar and how they couldve so easily just been like 'fuck off' about them and let them be mindless soulless irredeemable monsters who have hurt and killed countless people across the galaxy for centuries

but they chose to redeem them. to make them work toward redemption, even if they never achieve it in the eyes of most... or anyone, even. to make them people just like the other characters, and rejoin their people that had to separate from them a long time ago.

and how you can play as one now, technically. you can gain customization options to become an eredar and play as one. and thats wild to me, but in a good way. its just neat

[ginovasims]

GI'S DISNEY PRINCESS CHALLENGE

A twelve generation legacy challenge based on the current thirteen Disney Princesses. Each generation will have a different set of goals and requirements before the new heir takes over.  Disclosure: I know there are other Disney Princess Challenges out there, but I wanted to create my own which I feel fit the films more and flowed nicely between each princess and generation. I've tried my best to add as many game features as I can to match their stories, but a lot of it may be down to your own storytelling. Some details have been left out because I don't want the challenge to be too strict, or all our games would be the exact same! Feel free to adjust any rules as you see fit for your stories, it's supposed to be fun. Tell your own stories and add your own elements, but my rules should hopefully help guide you. 

As you may know with a lot of the older princess films, the mothers often die when the princess is quite young. I know a lot of people hate the idea of their sims dying, so if you would like to forgo this rule, that is fine! I would instead recommend moving the mother out of the household and having no contact with them again.

Every generation has a prologue and then a set of rules. The prologues are there to establish the generations, and typically require more storytelling and gameplay with family members. You can use the prologues in any way you would like to set up your princesses' stories. The requirements are for when the main part of their stories would begin.

Rules:

Aging must be turned on, but you can have it at any length you wish.

Each goal must be met before the new heir takes over, unless specified in the rules.

Despite being 'princesses', the heirs don't have to be female. You can have any gender follow the requirements. Same goes for sexuality and romantic partners. You don't have to strictly follow the films in this sense unless you want to.

The Princesses can look as much or as little like their film-selves as you would like. Same for their names.

Mods and custom content can be used to help the story and gameplay.

The generations will offer three traits, you do not need the heir to have all three traits, but they MUST have at least TWO of them.

If you do not have all of the packs required to complete the requirements for each generation, either find a similar alternative or skip that rule.

If you do this challenge, please credit me (@ginovasims).

(OPTIONAL) Use the hashtag #GiPrincessChallenge on tweets, posts, and videos.

Thank yous:

Once again there are some lovely simmers I would like to thank for helping me with this challenge!

@SimBexBlue - you inspired me to start writing my own version of the challenge after I started watching your LP on YouTube! You have been there in DMs from the start and giving me feedback and ideas, and you’ve always been so enthusiastic and keen.

@Jackiester626 - your notes and feedback for each generation were so detailed and helpful and honestly really inspiring! You put in a lot of effort to help me out and it’s very appreciated.

@nicolesulsul - you sent me some excellent additions for the challenge which helped pad out the generations and make them more like the films. Your interest in the challenge has always been so encouraging! WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/-jSmoQYqHZk I posted a video talking about this new challenge and created all thirteen princesses based on their original animation film-selves! You can also download my versions of the Disney Princesses for FREE on my patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/sims-4-disney-84319256

THE GENERATIONS

Generation 1 - Snow White

Optional Prologue (child):

Snow's mother dies when Snow is a child. Her father should remarry a jealous/evil woman. When Snow becomes a teenager, her father must die so that Snow is left with only her stepmother to raise her.

Requirements:

Have an awful relationship with your stepmother who makes you do all the cooking and housework.

Never leave your home neighbourhood. 

Meet a teen sim in your neighbourhood who you build a friendship and romance with, but never kiss/woohoo.

Move into a cottage as a YA, and have no social interaction with anyone (including no contact with stepmother or boyfriend/girlfriend). This includes never answering the door to strangers.

Adopt seven toddlers (dwarves) in one go.

Give the children traits that match their dwarf persona (i.e. happy = cheerful, sleepy = lazy etc.).

Never eat apples or anything to do with apples.

When the dwarves are teens, you can finally meet your partner again. (If you would like, you can have them rescue you from your stepmother who visited your cottage)

Get married and move into your lover's castle.

Have one daughter (Cinderella).

Master parenting and baking skills.

Complete Big Happy Family aspiration.

Traits: Cheerful, Loves Outdoors, Good Aspiration: Big Happy Family

Generation 2 - Cinderella

Optional Prologue (child):

Snow White dies when Cinderella is a child. Cinderella's father should remarry an older lady who already has two daughters. Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters hate her and are always mean to her when her father isn't around. As if history repeats itself, Cinderella's father must die when she is a teenager, leaving Cinderella to be raised by her stepmother who hates her.

Requirements: 

Must live in the attic and do all the housework and care for the animals.

Have completely negative relationships with your stepmother and stepsisters.

Knit and wear your own clothes.

Never leave the home lot.

As a YA, you must sneak off to the magic realm in the middle of the night and meet all the sages and another powerful (but evil) spellcaster.

Befriend all four spellcasters - this is important for the next generation.

Attend a party off your home lot, disguised so your family doesn't recognise you - they must also be guests.

Meet and fall in love with someone at the party, but you must be home before midnight.

You must wait for the person you met at the party to knock on your door at home before you can run away from your family.

Get married and have one daughter (Aurora).

Master cooking, knitting and cross-stitch skills before being rescued by your lover.

Complete Soulmate aspiration.

Traits: Romantic, Neat, Animal Enthusiast  Aspiration: Soulmate

Generation 3 - Aurora

Optional Prologue (infant): Cinderella must throw a baby shower when Aurora is born, inviting the three sages, but not the fourth 'evil' spellcaster. Cinderella and the spellcaster must lose all relationship. Cinderella must send infant Aurora to live with the three sages in Glimmerbrook to protect her from the other spellcaster.

Requirements: 

Have no contact or relationship with anyone except the three sages. This includes your parents.

Meet a mersim as a teen in the Glimmerbrook forest. Fall in love with them but never kiss/woohoo, and they can never visit your home.

Never leave Glimmerbrook until your YA birthday.

As a YA, meet with the 'evil' spellcaster. She drains you of all energy and traps you in the attic of your family home. (Aurora is now unplayable until the curse is lifted)

Each spellcaster must defeat the spellcaster in a duel, and at least two of them must win.

Sages must find your lover naturally and they are the only one who can break the curse. Aurora is playable again. (The lover must either be found by searching the worlds/neighbourhoods, or they can arrive without being invited. You cannot call them over, or directly visit their home lot)

Marry your lover and move to Sulani.

Become a mermaid.

Have seven mermaid daughters, close in age, the last one being Ariel. (You may need to live separately from your lover as the household limit will be maxed with seven children)

Master singing and dancing skills.

Complete Beach Life aspiration, but you can only start working on it when you become a mermaid.

Traits: Loner, Family-oriented, Lazy Aspiration: Beach Life

Generation 4 - Ariel

Optional Prologue (infant): Aurora must die when Ariel becomes an infant, leaving Ariel's father to raise his daughters alone. He must befriend another mermaid who will help with all the children. When Ariel becomes a child, her father must cut ties with this mermaid and not allow the children any contact with her.

  Requirements:

Live on the small island in Sulani.

Only have friendships with mermaids on your island.

Befriend a dolphin.

As a teen, sneak out every night to visit the mainland and mingle with regular sims.

Meet a regular teen sim who you introduce yourself to, but do not build any friendship or relationship. Leave immediately after you meet them.

Return home and lose friendship with your father - don't enter the red, but have no green left.

Runaway from home and meet the mermaid from your childhood.

This mermaid will help you become a regular sim and find the teen you met before.

Only use romantic interactions with your crush, no friendly/funny interactions.

Discover the mermaid who helped you flirting with your love interest. Lose all friendship with them.

When you have a full romance bar with your love interest, only then can you kiss them, and after this, you can start using friendly interactions. 

Rebuild a relationship with your father.

Stay human, get married and have one daughter (Belle).

Complete at least two collections - ideally at least one from Island Living.

Master singing skill while still a mermaid.

Master fitness skill but only ever by swimming.

Complete The Curator aspiration.

Traits: Socially Awkward, Child of the Ocean, Clumsy Aspiration: The Curator

Generation 5 - Belle

Optional Prologue (child): Ariel must die when Belle is a child. Belle and her father move to a small town and he must focus on robotics. Belle mustn't have any friends growing up. She should spend her time with her father and reading books. There is an attractive teen, Gaston, in the small town who has a crush on Belle, but she has no interest in him and she always rejects his advances.

  Requirements: 

On your YA birthday, your father unintentionally runs into a rampaging werewolf.

You must move in with the werewolf in their castle, leaving your father alone.

Have a fully negative (-100) relationship with the werewolf.

You can never leave the castle.

Befriend the maid and butler, and have no friendships outside of the castle.

Slowly build a friendship with the werewolf.

Only when the friendship bar is in the green can you start looking for a cure for the werewolf.

Start romancing when you are friends, but do not kiss or woohoo.

When you and the werewolf are lovebirds, Gaston visits and he must fight the werewolf.

Only after the werewolf beats Gaston in a fight can they take the cure and become a regular sim.

Have your first kiss with your lover now they aren't a werewolf anymore.

Marry your lover, have one daughter (Jasmine), and have your father move into the castle with you all.

Have a perfect quality rose bush.

Write books either as a freelance author or as a hobby, but do not join the writer career.

Master writing and research and debate skills.

Complete Bestselling Author aspiration.

Traits: Bookworm, Loyal, Genius Aspiration: Bestselling Author

Generation 6 - Jasmine

Optional Prologue (child):  Belle must die when Jasmine is a child. Jasmine's father is still scared of the outside world because of his past, so should keep Jasmine locked in the castle for her safety. When Jasmine's elderly grandfather dies, Jasmine's father is left alone to raise her. He must enlist the help of an adult spellcaster, Jafar, to help him look after Jasmine.

Requirements:

Have no friendships outside of your family. Your best friend is your ginger tabby cat.

Go on blind dates that your father arranges, and always end them by making the other sim angry.

Sneak out in a disguise to a community lot and befriend a poor sim with the kleptomaniac trait.

Go on a date with them the next day, who is now dressed entirely differently in fancy clothes.

End the date with a kiss.

Jafar finds you the next day and traps you in a room with your father. (Jasmine is now temporarily unplayable)

Your lover arrives with a friend who is a spellcaster, who must duel and defeat Jafar. (When Jafar is defeated, Jasmine is playable again)

Marry your lover as a YA and stop living as royalty. Move to the forest and live off the grid with at least two other YAs who have one baby.

Have one daughter (Pocahontas).

Master charisma and mischief skills.

Complete Chief of Mischief aspiration.

Traits: Hot-Headed, Self-Assured, High Maintenance Aspiration: Chief of Mischief 

Generation 7 - Pocahontas

Optional Prologue (infant): Jasmine must die when Pocahontas is an infant. Pocahontas should be raised by her father and the tribe they all live with. There is a young boy who is a similar age to Pocahontas. The two must grow up as best friends.  

Requirements:

As a teen, get engaged to your childhood best friend, but never kiss or woohoo them, and have zero romance - you can cheat this up to get engaged, but then remove all romance after.

Befriend a stranger in the forest who is completely opposite to you, in  both appearance and personality.

Quickly build a friendship and romance with the stranger, but do not kiss or woohoo.

Your tribe must hate the stranger's family, so continue your relationship in secret.

Get caught with the stranger, so your fiance fights them.

End your romantic relationship with the stranger and never have contact with them again.

Break off your engagement with your childhood friend

As a YA, fall in love with an adult sim who is a retired soldier.

Move in with them and their mother.

Get married and have one daughter (Mulan).

Live off the grid your whole life until you move out and get married.

Master painting, gardening and fishing skills.

Complete Angling Ace aspiration.

Traits: Love the Outdoors, Ambitious, Green Fiend Aspiration: Angling Ace

Generation 8 - Mulan

Optional Prologue (child): Mulan never has any interest in tradition or expectations. She grows up very active and playful, and never has any romantic relationships as a teen. Mulan has a strict relationship with her mother, who wants her to be more 'normal', but has a stronger and closer relationship with her father.

Requirements: 

As a YA, completely change your appearance and move out of your family world.

Move in with a group of men, who are all in the military, and join the military yourself.

Befriend all of the men, and develop a crush on the leader of the group.

Constantly try and prove yourself by pushing the limits and becoming the strongest soldier in your household.

Fight your enemy who is in a rival household and win. After this fight, you must change your appearance back to how it was before.

Have an argument with the leader, who kicks you out of the household. You must return home to your family.

Sneak out one night to see your friends, and find them with the rival group. Fight and defeat all of the rivals, ending with your enemy.

Move back into the household with your soldier friends, who have accepted you back for saving them.

Fall in love with the leader and both quit your jobs in the military.

Marry your lover and have one daughter (Tiana).

Max your body muscles using the training bot machine.

Master fitness and wellness skills.

Complete Bodybuilder aspiration.

Traits: Active, Loyal, Bro Aspiration: Bodybuilder

Generation 9 - Tiana

Optional Prologue (child): Tiana should have a very close relationship with her father growing up. After leaving the military, he wants to pursue his dream of opening a restaurant, so he should join the culinary career. Before he can reach level 5 of this career, he must quit and instead join the military again and die. Tiana should be left to be raised by her mother, Mulan, who is poor since she and her husband left the military.

Requirements:

Cook with your father as often as possible before he dies.

As a teen, join the barista part-time career.

Have a childhood best friend who is rich and very different to you, but stay close your whole life.

At a costume party dressed as a princess, meet a royal sim who has been cursed with the curse of repulsiveness. You are now also cursed.

Befriend an old female spellcaster and a musician in a bayou/forest.

Befriend and romance the other cursed sim.

Visit Selvadorada with the cursed sim and explore the jungle.

Only when your romance and friendship is full can both of your curses be lifted.

The spellcaster officiates your wedding.

Open a restaurant using your new partner's wealth.

Have your restaurant reach at least four stars.

Become royal and move into your partner's castle and have one daughter (Rapunzel).

Master cooking and gourmet cooking skills.

Complete Master Chef aspiration.

Traits: Foodie, Ambitious, Overachiever Aspiration: Master Chef

Generation 10 - Rapunzel 

Optional Prologue (infant): Because of her parents' curse and connection to magic, Rapunzel is born with powers and long golden hair. An old lady kidnaps Rapunzel when she is an infant, running away to a locked tower, hidden away from Tiana's castle. The old lady, Gothel, is immediately young again, and will always stay this way when she is around Rapunzel.

Requirements:

Never go to school or work, and never leave the confines of the tower.

Have no relationships with anyone except Gothel, and this must be negative.

Have long blonde hair your whole life.

Spend your time playing guitar, painting, baking, singing, gardening, playing chess - anything to pass the time!

On your YA birthday, when Gothel is at work, a stranger makes their way into your tower. Quickly befriend the stranger and escape with them to the woods and eventually the town.

Make lots of friends along the way, and slowly build a romance with the stranger, but not kissing or woohooing.

Get found by Gothel, and both of you are trapped back in the tower.

Gothel kills your lover, but you are able to bring them back with a death flower which you have grown.

When your lover is brought back to life, you must immediately change your appearance to have short brown hair.

Gothel instantly becomes an elder and dies of old age - you will probably want to cheat this!

Move back to your family castle with your lover, meeting your parents again for the first time.

Marry your lover and have two daughters, close in age (Elsa and Anna).

Master guitar, painting, baking and singing skills.

Complete Renaissance Sim aspiration.

Traits: Creative, Paranoid, Cheerful Aspiration: Renaissance Sim

Generation 11 - Elsa and Anna

Optional Prologue (children):

Elsa inherits her mother's magical abilities and is born a spellcaster. Anna has no abilities, but the girls still have a strong relationship. The girls' parents are worried about Elsa's abilities after Anna gets hurt one day. They lock Elsa in her bedroom and Anna isn't allowed in. When the girls are teenagers, their parents both die.

Requirements: 

Elsa (E) and Anna (A) must never have any friends or relationships growing up. They have zero relationship with each other. Neither girl can attend school.

(A) when you become a YA, meet a stranger and instantly become friends and start romancing. Get engaged on the same day.

(E) throw a party honouring your new job and invite Anna's new fiance.

(E) argue with Anna about her engagement and run away to the mountains in Mt. Komorebi.

(A) befriend a stranger in Mt. Komorebi while looking for your sister.

(E) freeze your sister when she finds you (chillio spell). While Anna is frozen, her fiance arrives and argues with Elsa. Elsa is trapped in a basement by Anna's fiance.

(A) return home after thawing and let Elsa out. Rebuild your friendship and become best friends.

(A) breakup and fight with your fiance. Start romancing the stranger from Mt. Komorebi.

(E) stay living in the castle and make friends with people in the world.

(A) marry your new lover and move in with their elderly mother and family in Sulani.

(A) have one daughter (Moana).

(E) master singing skill and learn all the untamed spells.

(E) complete Inner Peace aspiration, but only after becoming best friends with your sister.

(A) master charisma and comedy skills.

(A) complete Friend of the World aspiration.

Traits (Elsa): Loner, Proper, Erratic Aspiration (Elsa): Inner Peace Traits (Anna): Goofball, Outgoing, Family-Oriented Aspiration (Anna): Friend of the World

Generation 12 - Moana

Optional Prologue (toddler):  Moana grows up in Sulani with her whole family. She loves the water and is closest to her grandmother, more than her own parents. The island is filthy and destroyed by environmental changes. Moana vows to make a change when she is older, but her parents think she should focus on the family and the land they live on. Moana's grandmother agrees that she should go off and follow her dream, but she dies when Moana is a teen.

Requirements: 

As a teen, leave your family to clean Sulani. Have no contact with them until the island is saved.

Meet a YA man on the island, but have a negative relationship to begin with. 

Work together with the man to clean Sulani, and turn your negative relationship into a completely positive one.

Join the conservationist career.

Become best friends with the man.

Find The Heart of Sulani (treasure collectible).

When the island is clean and you are at level 5 of your career, return home to your family and live off the grid.

When you reach level 5 of the conservationist career, quit and join the civil designer career (green tech branch).

Influence your neighbours to always vote and live in a green neighbourhood.

Master logic and fitness skills.

Complete Eco Innovator aspiration.

Traits: Child of the Islands, Child of the Ocean, Adventurous Aspiration: Eco Innovator

[chronicangel]

lavender moon: Act 1 Chapter 5

Link to this fic on AO3. Words: 3967 Date posted: December 24, 2024 Summary:

The Dersite royal family are famed for their powerful magic, but Prince Dave does not have any. Prospit is an insular nation who believes magic to be inherently corrupting and wicked, and yet Princess Jade has magic flowing through her veins. When their marriage is arranged to end a centuries-long war, they have a lot to figure out.

Okay, I'm making a definitive decision that I'll cross-post to Tumblr on Wednesdays so I can plug it into my calendar. Updates will still go up on AO3 on Tuesdays at 5PM Eastern!

For the next several weeks, it feels progressively more and more like Jade and Dave have swapped places. When he first came to the castle, she was so hesitant to get close to him, absolutely petrified of what falling in love with the Dersite prince could mean. She wanted so badly for this to be a marriage of convenience, to ignore the spark of curiosity she had felt the moment she laid eyes on him. And he, in turn, had pushed so hard to spend whatever time with her he could find. He would follow her after she dismissed herself from dinner to talk in the halls, find her in the gardens to ask questions about Prospit and the castle that anyone else could have answered just as easily. He gave the knights a full day off of training just to go on a silly trip into the village with her.

But since the night in the library, she’s seen less and less of him, even as she’s intentionally sought out his presence. More than once, as she’s passed by the war room to go to the library, she’s heard him speaking in hushed voices with John and Karkat, but she can’t make out any of what they’re talking about. She can’t help a sense of terror that she has done something wrong. Perhaps she crossed a boundary that night. But she wishes he would just talk to her about it rather than running away. Of course, she’s one to talk.

When nobles from Golgotha and the South of Prospit start to arrive a week before their wedding, she almost never sees him at all anymore. She supposes it must be overwhelming, being surrounded by so many people he doesn’t know. It’s certainly overwhelming for her.

Guests meant isolation when she was young, days locked in her room until they were gone or it had been long enough that there was no more risk of illness—and the latter case was rare. Some of her cousins would come visit for the summer when they were young, but once they were married off, they stopped coming, until eventually the pool of people Jade saw dwindled to only the occupants of the castle. Now, there are relatives she has only ever known from stories in spare bedrooms that have been empty as long as she can remember and nobles coming from too long a distance to stay for only a day, and she’s not sure she’s ever seen so many people.

And now, it’s her responsibility to greet them.

It was Grandpa’s job when she was little, and became John’s job after he died. But now John is too busy preparing for his coronation to greet guests personally, and ironically, Dad is too sick to do it. The custom is for a member of the royal family to greet noble guests, and so that leaves her as the only option.

Jane is the latest to arrive, and if Jade is being honest, she doesn’t remember the exact mechanism through which they’re related. She was one of the cousins who visited during the summer, but Jade isn’t sure which side she’s from or how many steps removed she is or anything. Jane greets her with a big grin and a hug anyway. “Jade, you’re so big!”

Jade laughs into her shoulder, and as she pulls away says, “I’m not thirteen anymore.”

“No, you’re not,” Jane agrees. “I can’t believe that you’re getting married. It seems like just yesterday you were being chased off back to that room. You haven’t even seen the world yet and now they’re just marrying you off for some military alliance.” Jade can’t help but notice the way Jane’s tone shifts from nostalgic to judgmental. 

“It is a little strange,” she agrees, keeping her tone cautious. “I don’t think I was ever going to be able to see the world, though.” 

Jane waves a dismissive hand. “Oh please. You can ask Jake, I’ve been saying I was going to storm this castle and pull you out of it for years now.” But you didn’t, Jade can’t help but note bitterly in the back of her mind. 

“How is Jake?” she asks instead. Jane’s marriage to Jake had been arranged when they were born (and was he the one who was related to her? Or perhaps they both were?), and Jade is used to thinking of them as a package deal. Jane beams, sliding her hands down to her stomach. 

“Well, he’s about as happy as can be with the baby on the way,” she coos, and Jade’s eyes widen a little bit. 

“That’s great news!” She throws her arms around Jane in another hug while her cousin laughs into her shoulder. 

“Oh, it’s just such a shame they’re shipping you off to Derse before you have the opportunity to meet him,” Jane mumbles against the top of her head, and she feels her stomach sink. The idea that people think of her going to Derse as a bad thing is still one that makes her stomach twist into knots, even if she’s getting over some of her own fears about it. Jane pulls away and looks Jade up and down, and the smile falls from her face. “I should smack John for forcing you to marry that man. I know it wouldn’t change anything, but I just can’t stand the idea of it.” 

The pit in Jade’s stomach grows wider, and she tries not to let her face fall. She’d always remembered Jane being more staunchly anti-Derse than the few other people she’d been allowed to speak to. Maybe it doesn’t have to reflect on anything. “You probably shouldn’t talk about the future king that way,” she says with a half-hearted laugh.

Sympathy paints itself on Jane’s face, and she offers Jade another small smile and squeezes her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be saying this stuff to you, I’m probably just making you feel worse about all of it.” 

Jake finally saves her with a brief greeting and an even briefer hug before he takes Jane to unpack their things in their room. Jade stays rooted in place to keep greeting guests, but her smile feels much tighter and she feels overwhelmingly nauseous. As people arrive and make passively congratulatory statements, none of which seem entirely sincere, she can’t help but wonder if this is how they all feel. How many of them think she’s making a remarkably stupid choice? How many of them think she has no choice at all? How many of them are going to push John to declare war again over her?

She is pulled out of this train of thought by a hand on her shoulder, and she almost jumps before she looks up and sees Karkat. His eyebrows are knitted together in concern, and if Dave looks odd outside of his armor, Karkat looks completely alien. His clothes are not especially nice, but they’re distinctly formalwear. The only thing that disrupts the carefully curated image of just another noble staying in the castle is the sword on his hip, and she supposes he probably fought Kanaya (the only person who could stuff him into these clothes) to keep it on him. “Are you alright?” he asks, and she shouldn’t be surprised that he sees through her. 

“I’m just a little overwhelmed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people before,” she lies, and she thinks it is at least a believable lie. If he doesn’t believe her, at least, he has the courtesy not to call her on it. 

“If you want to go to your room, I can take over greeting guests for a while,” he says, and she shoots him a coy smile. 

“Lady Serket and her lady-in-waiting are arriving tonight, aren’t they?” He doesn’t answer her with words, but she can tell from the flush to his cheeks that she’s right. “I suppose I could be persuaded to abandon my station.”

Jade doesn’t fully understand Karkat’s relationship with Vriska Serket’s lady-in-waiting. Captain Mindfang is a close friend to Kanaya’s mother (though from what she’s heard, she’s not entirely sure how). For only one week a year, Karkat and Kanaya are allowed to return home to the capital city for the holidays. It’s one of the loneliest weeks of the year for Jade, but she knows how important it is to them. She guesses they must spend it with the Serkets and the Pyropes in addition to Kanaya’s family, because it’s all Karkat can talk about for weeks after. 

She doesn’t go to her room. There’s only one person in the world who can quiet the sort of anxious thoughts clouding her mind now—only one who’s still alive, anyway.

She creeps as quietly as she can down the long hallway to her father’s bedroom, and she can’t help but notice that guards usually posted to keep anyone from disturbing him are nowhere to be seen. She guesses they must be busy monitoring the guests. His door is just barely cracked open, and she can catch a glimpse of him in bed. He’s not laying there pathetically like she might have expected. Instead he’s sitting up, hunched over some papers in his lap. 

“Are you going to come in or not?” he says without looking up, and she pauses for a moment. Somehow with Dad’s illness she forgot how eerily aware he always was of his surroundings, and she guesses if he’s having a lucid moment, it only makes sense that he’d be paying attention to who comes in and out of his room. She also guesses that if he’s having a lucid moment, this is the ideal time to come to him for advice. She pushes through the doorway, and he brightens up when he sees her, setting whatever paper he was holding down and then moving the disorganized stack aside to give her his undivided attention. “I wasn’t expecting to see you before John’s coronation.” 

She doesn’t know if he knows that she wasn’t allowed to come in here, and she can’t think of the right way to tell him if he doesn’t. John sees him at least once a week to discuss whatever kingly matters they have to figure out before he ascends to the throne, but when she tries to come in, the guards usher her away before she can even reach the door handle. It makes something bitter and painful rise to the back of her throat, and she digs her teeth into the inside of her cheek so she doesn’t say anything she shouldn’t. 

He seems to see the emotion flash across her face regardless, because his expression grows more serious and he reaches out to take one of her hands. His hands had always seemed so big to her when she was little, and now they’re more like John’s, thin and bony with long fingers. “Why don’t you tell your dad what’s troubling you?” 

She takes a deep breath and holds it for a second, but then it’s like a dam breaks. “I’m worried that war is still on the horizon. The Prospitian people don’t approve of the prince, and even our relatives who have been arriving the last few days don’t seem to have any interest in getting to know him. They’ve drawn their own conclusions about the type of person that he is, and I’m trying to do everything that I can to make this work and do my duty to my people and be a good bride, but if it’s all just going to make things worse, then maybe we should just call the whole thing off while there’s still time.” She says it all in one breath.

For a long time, Dad just stares at her. Finally, he says, “It’s difficult to imagine that relations with Derse could get much worse—whether that’s because our people think they’ve kidnapped you or because we cancel a wedding at the last moment.”

This thought doesn’t do much to comfort Jade. The only thing that she wants is to spare her people from a war that she’s not confident they can win. It’s not like she expected Prospitians and Dersites to magically get along just because of a wedding, but much like her father, she didn’t think things could really get worse. Now, though, it seems like things are on the brink of boiling over. “What do you think I should do?” 

Dad hesitates for a moment, his eyes flicking over her face while he thinks. Then he turns away from her to grab his stack of papers again, and she feels a flash of irritation. He’s just going to ignore her? The irritation gives way to confusion when he spreads them out in the small space between them. “These are the letters your mother and I wrote to each other when we were first courting.” Her breath catches, and she stares at them with wide eyes. Gingerly picking one up, she looks over the loopy handwriting she guesses must be her mother’s. Her parents had been the first royals in Prospit’s history to marry for love.

Her mother’s letters are filled with an anxiety that almost mirrors her own. Seventh in line for the throne, it wasn’t as if her mother was being clawed over for political gain, but it was still expected that she would marry some Golgothan noble and have children representing the dignity of the royal family. The heir apparent of a foreign country was not anyone’s idea for her ideal husband, but they were in love. Shouldn’t that have mattered more than expectation?

“I have always been so incredibly proud of you for the burdens you’ve borne without complaint. I made a lot of choices as your father in the attempt to keep you safe, and I’ve been thinking about those choices a lot since I got sick. It’s time for you to make your own decisions about your future, Jade. I’m sorry that I didn’t give you the opportunity to do so earlier.” Her eyes feel wet, and she squeezes them shut as she wraps her arms tight around her father in a bear hug that might actually threaten to squeeze the life out of him. That doesn’t stop him from squeezing her back just as hard. 

They peel away from each other, staring for a moment, before, with another deep breath, she stands to leave. Dinner will be soon, and she’ll need to make an appearance. As she approaches the door, he adds, “For what it’s worth, I never wanted you to be trapped in a loveless marriage.” 

She can’t help but think about the comment as she trails through the empty halls in the castle, staring at ancient paintings that haven’t been maintained in far too long. Will it be a loveless marriage? Granted, she doesn’t know Dave very well yet, but she likes the person that she’s seen snippets of—might even love that person, given enough time. She thinks of the night in the library, his head cradled in her lap after they’d just confessed some of their deepest traumas to each other. He had looked so serene in the privacy of that back room with her. And she thinks of how badly she’d wanted to kiss him. She stares at his mouth almost every time that she sees him now. It would be unbearable if it were more frequent.

She doesn’t expect to see Dave at dinner, but he sits at the long table alongside several of the other guests in the castle. On one side of the table, Jane sits next to Jake, murmuring something to him that the rest of the table can’t hear. Kanaya is on her other side, and Jade on the other side of Kanaya. Across the table from her is Dave, with Karkat sandwiched between him and Terezi. Next is Vriska, and then, oddly, Tavros, which Jade will inquire about later (though who she can ask about it, she’s not sure). She can’t help but notice that John has been forced to take the head of the table simply by how many people are sitting at it. 

Dave looks uncomfortable just being here, and she can only imagine what the experience must be like for him. She guesses she’ll be in his same position in a matter of days, but she’s not sure how she would deal with all of those strangers staring at her with contempt.

“So,” Jane starts at a level that is finally audible to the rest of them, and if she’s bothered by the way that everyone turns to stare at her, she doesn’t show it. She’s staring at Dave with a polite but obviously forced smile, and Jade hasn’t seen him so visibly tense since their marriage arrangement. “You’re the prince of Derse that everybody’s heard so much about.” He doesn’t say anything, just sort of stares at her like a cat who’s debating whether or not to run away from something. When it’s clear that he’s not going to respond to her passive aggression, she jokes, “And he’s talkative, too,” earning a snort from Terezi. 

“Well what’s he going to talk about?” Vriska butts in, earning everyone’s stares now. She seems to actively enjoy the attention, leaning just a little bit closer to Dave with her elbows on the table and her fingers laced together under her chin. Jade has always thought the rules of table etiquette were a little silly, but she wants to say something about it now just so she’ll stop sitting like that. “How in love he is with the princess? It’s not like either of them had any choice in the matter.” 

“It’s been three months,” Kanaya practically hisses, and Karkat’s got his eyes narrowed into a glare now, which Jade thinks might have as much to do with his personal dislike of Vriska as it does with how she’s acting. 

“Three months is plenty of time,” Jane says, still in that saccharine sweet and deeply fake way that’s got Jade’s gears grinding. “I knew that I was in love with Jake the moment I saw him.” Jade wants to point out that their marriage was arranged before they ever saw each other, but she grits her teeth instead. “If he doesn’t have anything to say now, he’s never going to. But that’s Dersites for you—they don’t know how to feel anything with all that magic twisting their minds up. All that just goes away, I guess.” Jade would point out the irony that Dave doesn’t even have magic if it wouldn’t feel like a betrayal in front of all these people.

“Maybe he’s shy,” Vriska says in a way that sounds more mocking than defensive. “Three months is hardly any time at all to get to know someone if you can’t even spit words out.” Jade thinks she sees her eyes slide over to Tavros, and she would take the opportunity to cut in and change the subject if she didn’t feel some amount of sympathy for him.

“Or maybe this whole wedding is just a sham,” Terezi says with a shrug, and Karkat elbows her with a stern look (like that will accomplish anything). That’s not enough to stop Jade from shoving herself to her feet, her hands slamming down on the table.

“Enough!” she yells, and now everyone stares at her and the only thing that stops her from shrinking into herself is the rage rushing like ice through her veins. “Dave is one of the kindest and most honest people I’ve ever met. He’s earned the respect of everyone who’s bothered giving getting to know him a chance, not that any of you could say anything about that. None of you have made a single comment about him that was true—you’ve just drawn a bunch of conclusions based on rumors and stereotypes. Even having this conversation should be considered treason. Do you not trust John’s judgment? Or my judgment? The future of Prospit has never looked so secure, and you would all be lucky to see us ruling side by side.” 

She thinks she’s said too much. None of them had voiced doubt about the future of the kingdom, and while she stands by what she said absolutely, she can feel everyone’s eyes on her now that her anger is starting to ebb away into exhaustion from the rant. Her cheeks flush and she swallows. “Excuse me,” she murmurs before she all but runs away from the table. 

She’s such an idiot. If people didn’t approve of the marriage arrangement before, they’re certainly not going to now just because she’s caused a scene at dinner. And does it even matter to any of them if he’s kind or respectable if he’s still the prince of Derse? She’s trying to solve their innate biases against him because of his heritage by bringing up the fact that he’s a nice guy. As if that means anything to a group of people searching for a reason to tear him down and criticize the marriage arrangement. 

She’s halfway through the winding halls to her bedroom before she feels a hand on her wrist, and she wrenches it away from whoever grabbed her as she turns to snap at them before she sees Dave. Her heart stutters in her chest. She wonders how long he’s been following her, and if he’s been trying to get her attention and she just didn’t hear him because she was so lost in thought. “I’m sorry,” she starts, and he looks confused. “I spoke out of turn. I probably embarrassed you. I shouldn’t have—” 

He cuts her off with a laugh, and it cuts straight into her chest and makes her cheeks heat up with shame. “Are you kidding?” he says, and it’s her turn to be confused, her eyebrows furrowing as she stares up at him. “You were incredible. No one’s ever stood up for me like that in my life.” This strikes her as sad even as he doesn’t seem sad when he says it. She hates the idea that he’s faced criticism like that before, and she hates even more that no one has ever cared about him enough to stand up for him. She’s glad that she did, suddenly. 

“I just didn’t like hearing them say all that stuff about you,” she manages to mutter. He may not be upset with her, but this is still likely to cause more problems than it’s going to help. 

“I don’t care what some stuffy nobles from Prospit think about me,” he dismisses. His whole demeanor softens as he adds, “I’m just glad to hear you speak so highly of me.” 

“Well I think of you very highly,” she says, and his face actually splits with a smile—a full, real one, not the barely-there upturn at the corners of his lips that still manages to make her stomach twist and her heart flutter. She realizes after a moment that she’s staring at his mouth, and she forces her eyes down to the floor, her cheeks burning. “I should go to bed…” 

“Will I still see you tomorrow, or should I expect you to hide in your room until the coronation?”

She huffs a laugh. “You’ll see me,” she promises, and he gives her a thumbs up that she barely sees with her eyes glued to the floor. She turns on her heels and manages to walk the rest of the way to her room instead of scurrying, but still practically slams the door behind her with the way she sinks her whole weight against it to close it. She thinks back to her conversation with her father. I don’t feel very trapped. She hopes he can tell, somehow. 

[adelle-ein]

i keep meaning to write down my thoughts about fashion dreamer and just not feeling like it

But anyway: It's fun, I enjoy it, I have an embarrassingly high number of hours in it. There's something to be said for the "sandbox" nature of it all, and I really do like making outfits for and being dressed up by real people, as well as being able to download and use others' clothes. You're not limited by stock/inventory/customer requests a la Style Savvy. I can't even count how many fucking times I had to do that toothpaste hairstyle request in Fashion Forward, so many white side ponytails wandering my town... I also really like that you can have and save four muses.

That said, there's downsides. The gameplay ends up being limited without any of those options, and it's a shame that you can't change others' hair/makeup. I'm glad that the NPCs are still very silly, although I don't think they quite capture that just...slightly unnerving bizarreness of Style Savvy ones lol, maybe because they're more like cartoon characters. I'm okay with all this, since it's a different game with a different goal -- the thing that bugs me is that aspects of the dressup have become limited. Way fewer options for layering tops compared to SS, no separate neckwear/bracelets, no bags, no nails. In a sandbox game, you feel those changes. Fewer clothing items in exchange for full customization makes sense to me, but taking out entire categories feels super limiting and it's really a shame. I also, as always, wish the clothes were unisex and that there were more body type options -- both of these are improved from SS but still nowhere near what I would like. There's lots of gorgeous clothes and outfits, but it feels harder to put together something that's your own, even with the customization.

And of course, idk how much longevity the game has, since one day the servers will be gone and then there won't be much game left. Finally, it's buggy/laggy/crashy...which is true of almost every switch game I've gotten in the last three years or so, but I'm still not happy about it.

I do think the updates have significantly improved if not totally fixed the game. Gacha sucks less, color sorting, other little tweaks that make things a lot smoother. The fairs and their completely over-the-top outfits are fun too, and I've seen datamined clothes that I can't wait to have from the last few updates.

Anyway yeah, it's not really style savvy 5, but it's a good dress-up game option for switch and I'm happy about that.

[talesfromthebacklog]

Tales From The Backlog: Cult Of The Lamb

7/10

I bought this a few months back after I saw Mashed's very cute (and a little morbid) "Cult Of The Lamb" animation.

Cult Of The Lamb is an interesting franchise. It's so cute and yet has a great sense of crass humor. I put about 22 hours into this title and finished the game. (As well as got the DLC and finished some of the small side missions offered in game.)

It's a short romp but a good one nonetheless. Your own character motivation is very murky. You've been wronged, but have an opportunity to do a great deal of hurt in return. You're able to choose how benevolent (or malevolent) your cult becomes. I mostly stuck with the positive options because the villagers were ultimately so cute. (Though design wise I think the lamb is the cutest.)

The game is good but is financially broken quickly. Once you unlock the fishing ritual; kiss your money troubles goodbye. For a majority of my playthrough I wanted for nothing. This made the cult management part of the game a breeze which is a double edged sword. As I'm the kind of player where once I've started achieving things with too much ease I start to get bored. I don't want to struggle the whole game but I also broke it too quickly. (I picked up Rune Factory 3 Special in September which had a similar problem. I was 2/3rds through the game with $400,000 and had just finished year 1 summer in a few days. Not all games have to be long. I don't want this to be a long experience nor do I appreciate extending the game through empty grinding. I simply want the resources to be a touch more balanced.)

Don't get that complaint twisted, the cult management is fun. Though if they make any more of this game in the future I'd like to see some mechanics swapped for others. And maybe one or two more things to do. The villagers are great. I love how they defect, I like that they're dumb as rocks, it's cute you can customize each one. I kinda wish my marriage spouse had a special outfit to match you though. I want to see my spouse wear a special fleece or flower crown.

While it has good presentation I found the game likes to crash (and lag) a lot. Especially in-between transitions and loading screens. While those things aren't necessarily a game ruiner for me, I am surprised those problems haven't been patched out in the year-ish its been out. Its saving grace is its rigorous auto-save. Which does help make the problem more ignorable. But it is scary going through dungeons sometimes when that load screen takes jussssst a little too long and you're so close to the end with a bunch of good loot.

Okay? But what about the rogue-like portion of the game?:

You see a lot of bones of other games in Cult of The Lamb. Some I like. Some I don't. It mostly reminds me of The Binding of Isaac in terms of themes and gameplay. (A game I like aesthetically but don't like to play. Which in contrast I prefer Cult of The Lamb as it gives a break from its dungeon crawling and provides the dungeon crawling in shorter bursts. Binding is built well, but too long winded for my taste.) Also Stardew Valley. That fishing game was awfully familiar! Lol.

My main complaint is how I constantly seem to ONLY get my least favorite weapon of the game, the hammer. As a speedy player it's atrocious to play. Exiting/dying/finishing the dungeon and then coming back doesn't seem to fix my problem either. I keep getting the slow hammers. And I can play with them effectively... But they aren't fucking fun. Weapons just don't seem to have even distribution. I like the axe and the dagger damn it. It'd be less of a headache if weapon replacements appeared more frequently but the game seems to prefer ONLY giving me multiple curse/relic choices over multiple weapon choices. I've only ever seen the gloves appear two or three times in my playthrough and I was in the dungeons constantly.

I love how in a Cult of The Lamb dungeon romp the game gives you an option to play a dungeon as long or short as you like (Once you've beaten an area). The resource collecting is also fun and I like destroying the environments. And while I didn't use it, it was a nice touch that it allows players to turn off time progression in dungeons.

Other than that it's pretty standard fare. If you're good at these games you darn near don't need the curses and relics. Especially after you've racked up your tarot card deck. The tarot cards are arguably my favorite part of the dungeon sequences. They are small, decently substantial rewards for thoroughly exploring dungeons that give you some pretty fun boosts. Especially once you get multiple cards those boosts really start to add up and make you feel powerful. This paired with the "fleece" you choose to wear makes for a good time. The golden fleece was solidly my favorite of the lot.

The enemy variety is small but fun. I like the bosses. The fourth boss in particular I actually felt bad for to some degree. Learning more of the limited lore that is provided is satisfying. It's paced nicely too. And it is not lost on the game how hypocritical your own crusade is in your quest for freedom.

Overall this was a good experience and one I might come back to in a few years.

...

I am definitely getting some of their merch though the lamb is so stinking CUTE.

[sieglinde-freud]

Hiii for the fire emblem ask game I was wondering what you would respond to 35 :>

omg hiiii !!! this ended up longer than i thought im so sorry you only asked one thing and yet

35. What’s something you wish Intsys would just stop doing?

i said avatars in the last ask but theres a lot of things i cant stand about fire emblem, as much as i like these games. trying to pick just one is hard but i think im gonna go with revamping the reclass system. i have no idea if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but i think fates class system is perfect. it’s got a good selection of options for each character, ways to customize it to your liking, while still limiting you to a general set. you have options you can change, like marriage and friendship, but ultimately youre still restricted heavily (aside from corrin, but giving you ONE freebie has very little draw backs. plus, you do have to work a LOT for that, so…) this keeps the gameplay of the game interesting because you cannot just class every single character into one broken class (and if you tried, the game is designed well enough to still give you a challenge). there is no turn everything into wyverns meta. not a thing. you have to consciously make your class choices and it adds into fire emblems emphasis on every choice matters!

ok so when what happened after that?

echoes gets a pass because its a remake of an old game, and for what its worth, the pitchfork isnt bad. the games not designed around class customization and skill collecting, so it makes sense they dont give you much. the genderlock sucks, but thats my only fault with it. the REAL evil is in three houses and engage. in games like this, there is such thing as a little too much freedom! i dont really think of myself as a gameplay elitist kind of person but when it starts cutting into the map design and how the game is perceived its just!! three houses is the bigger offender i think, with the game being designed Like That and thus the maps have to all revolve around not knowing what units youll have and thus are much more bland. engage is a lot better about this, pretty much saying if you reclass your units thats just a risk you’ll have to take. only problem is is that class balance in that game is so dumb. ah yes, nerf cavalry so bad theyre a mere shell of what they once were. fliers though? oh theyre fine. they wont break the game again— oh too late already happened. damn that was fast.

if the way three houses or engage handled skills was more similar to fates, i could see how this might encourage more reclassing and thus going in and out of classes which i can see the appeal of. but three houses has way less of an emphasis on skills (with a couple of exceptions) and engage doesnt even let you keep your class skills so. just pick an endgame class and go.

[groovy-crossing]

ACTUALLY!!! While I'm thinking about it, here's some stuff I would greatly appreciate in the next animal crossing

- Overlapping rugs (just think it'd be cute tbh)

- Villager gossiping (about me, about each other, about anything)

- Celeste museum exhibit

- More diverse dialogue, if we can't have villager stories or more in-depth personalities.

- I want Harv to live in my little town so bad PLEASE!!!!! I NEED HIM!!!!!!!!

- Special characters that weren't in New Horizons! I didn't get the chance to play any older games unfortunately, so there's a lot that I missed that I wish I had access to. Like the pelican trio!

- Mini games!! Solo mini games! Group mini games! Play with villager mini games! Play with amiibo mini games!

- I'm fine with tools breaking, and I love crafting, but it's a bit silly to me that golden tools break, so if we could take that one part away that'd be fantastic.

- Perfect fruit! More fruit! Tropical fruit!

- I heard that Tortimers island was a lot of fun! It'd be cool to experience that.

- More game references instead of just Mario. (please add waluigi to the Mario stuff too... please)

- This one needs a bit of explaining, but customizable warp pipes. If two pieces of the same color link together, then you could have a set of green pipes, yellow pipes, red pipes and so on for more options to explore the town or island or whatever it is.

- What if we appeared in an abandoned town and we had to restore it? That could be fun!!

- Caves. The children yearn for the mines.

- Please keep crafting, I really like it

- I think in pocket camp there's a thing to change the color of your camper or something. If we could have something like that for what is the equivalent to the airport, that'd be awesome.

- It would be SOOOOOOO fun to customize resident services or the shops or the museum to fit whatever vibe people are going with for the islands.

- I feel bad that Mr Nook is getting bugged all the time while Isabelle is getting super ignored.. What if she were in charge of bridges and inclines and stuff while Mr Nook just had housing stuff. That way their responsibilities were more evened out. I never talk to Isabelle anymore..

- I'm gonna be honest, I like the slow terraforming because it gives me time to think. But everyone else wants the fast easy terraforming and decorating of HHP, so if we could have a mode for that, that'd be sick.

- Oh!!! For some reason, I REALLY want a 360 camera option. I want to see the town how the villagers do. Live there how my character does. Explore it like everyone does. That'd be awesome if there was a first person 360 cam. Pleeeeeeease

- I know this is gonna funk with gameplay, but. I want the museum and resident services to be able to close. My poor Blathers, Dodo brothers, Mr Nook, and Isabelle are horribly overworked. Give them a break! (This is fully just a me thing, I've been pretending it closes and just not going in at certain hours of the day. Yes, it makes my life harder, but it makes my imagination happy.)

- For the tool ring tools to LIVE on the tool ring, rather than my inventory. A whole row of my inventory does not need to be filled with this nonsense if a tool ring actively exists. It doesn't make sense to me.

- I want to be able to choose what rooms to add. I want my back and left side room and a basement. That is it. I do not want anything else. I want my house to look like the villager houses. It makes me sad when it doesn't look like them. And I want to be able to upgrade my storage without tacking on a new room.

- If a villager asks to go, and you say no. The next time they ask to go, they're telling you they're moving out instead. I like that they can't move out without the bubble consultation though.

- Can I have more clutter or smaller sizes for objects so I can put multiple in one square? And can I put objects on my bed? Can I post up pictures I take in my house? Can I give villagers my photo when they give me theirs? Can I give my friends my photo?

- More sizes for custom designs. Like two block tall designs for example.

- Can I decorate trees myself? I want to participate..

- Can the holidays be bigger? I heard that Toy Day in New Leaf was a lot of fun..

- Can I get a cuter title than "Resident Representative"? I don't think I want to be a mayor, but I don't want something that big and bulky.

- Can I change my character name later in the game? I had to reset my island for the first time because of my transition. I'm sorry Punchy.. You were such a good friend.. I'll get you back..

- Can we use wheelchairs and bikes to move around? They're already in the game. And what about other disability inclusive things. I want canes and hearing aids and walkers and such.

- Can I display backpacks without the mannequin thing? I don't like it. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't have arms. How is it staying up. Just let me put them on the floor!

- .... pride flags? perhaps?? maybe just a little??

- Can villagers actually do stuff? Like shake trees, catch bugs and fish, talk to Isabelle, post on the board, Anything! I want them to be able to live their little lives while I'm living mine..

- I feel like I already said this or something similar, but more villager drama.

- If I could have a way to make my island a certain season all year round, after I already experienced all of them, that would make me so very happy.

- More Harv. Just more Harv. He's my favorite please I need more Harv.

- Can I actually have a Harv figure amiibo? maybe with a little yellow bird or something?? Please..

- More wildlife! Like little real birds. Real squirrels. I don't know..

- There was someone on Tumblr who had a list of actually beneficial things for the museum and general game with proper examples. That too. That whole post. All the posts that I like but don't fully remember the ideas and / or don't want to blatantly steal those ideas. Look at them!

- Let me work for the special characters. Let me do errands for my villagers. Give me a job at the shop. At the cafe. At the museum. At resident services. At the airport or train station or post office or whatever. Let me do tasks for Harv. (Give. Me. More. Harv.) Let me complete little chores for villagers!

- I heard that you could get little tiny model dinosaurs through Reese or Cyrus, can I have that? Oh! And clothes customization!

- An in game catalog that shows you how far you've gotten or what you're missing.

- For the little photo idea for the walls I had earlier, if we could run them to Harv and have him print them out for us!! Maybe??? And can Harv come to the town or whatever for ceremonies and take a picture and give you the print afterwards? Can he have a general photo service as well as photopia? He's my favorite little man..

- More villager types! Like bats! They're a pretty popular request. Or more personality types? Oh! Or if villagers could actually form connections and friends with each other? (Although that might mess with a few headcanons people have for their animal friends..)

- More convenient friend finding, instead of having to return home in between people you meet. And an easier way to invite people to your town or travel to their town.

- Special character houses. Give Mr Nook a house. Give Blathers a house or a little museum apartment. Give Isabelle a house. It isn't fair that Blathers has to sleep in his museum!

- Can I please place things on partition walls? Or set more than one accent wall?

- Better animal tanks. Some of them just aren't healthy or realistic. I get that it's mainly to just hold until you get to Blathers, but what if I want a little Betta Fish pet? That tank is not sufficient! It does not have the proper enrichment a betta fish needs!

- More flower types! I want to put sunflowers by Goldie's house.

- What if I could change the placement of doors and windows inside my house? Just.. think of the possibilities. It's great.

- Please let me build a conversation pit in my house.. And please let me craft bridges.. and please let me make a little deck with tiny steps..

- Can we add sounds to custom designs? What if we could make them have the same sounds as the in game pathing? That way my deck path sounds like the wood or my tile path sounds like the brick or stone.

- Can.. can I put custom designs on my tool belt? Like a funky umbrella my friend made, can I put that in my little ring?

- More furniture throughout the decades. I want a cute little 70s, diner style fridge.

- Can I see people's passports in their dream address? Please..

I'm gonna stop here before I go on another ramble about Harv. I know most of this won't happen, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out there. PLEASE tell me your ideas or what you agree / disagree with. I'd love to hear.

[petnews55]

5 Best Cat Beds in 2024: Reviews and Prices, Pros and Cons,Places to Buy

In 2024, there are many competitors it turning out the Perfect cat bed for your cutie. Below is a guide to the five best cat beds, with prices and pros and cons also discussed.

1. MeowNest Ultra Soft Cat Bed

Price: $39.99

Where to Buy: Chewy.com

Overview:

MeowNest Ultra Soft Cat BedAmazonThis cat bed is perfect for kitties who love to curl up in snug, warm spots. The amount of padding and faux fur lining it has makes for the perfect soft bed to ensure that your cat is comfortable every time it lays down. Modern, sleek design; fits in many home décors

Pros:

The Faux Fur Lining Imitate Cat's Mother's Fur, which provides them confortable and familiar feeling.

Washable Cover: Machine washable, a denim cover and binding that is the new accent more of today.

Anti-Skid Bottom–Stays on place without skidding even with the most active cat.

Sizes Varieties: Buy it for your different breed or sized cat.

Cons:

VERDICT: NOT SUITABLE FOR BIGGER CATS : The largest version of this tent may still be too small for mega-large cats like Maine Coons.

Flattening: After some use, a few customers reported flattening of the padding in extended products.

Customer Reviews:

The bed has a 4.7/5 average rating from Chewy customers who report that it is comfortable and made of quality material. But getting picky one or two reviewers mentioned they wished the cushioning was a little bit thicker for durability.

2. K&H Pet Products Thermo-Kitty Heated Cat Bed $28.99 (Orig. $58, save 50%)

Price: $69.95

Where to Buy: Amazon.com

Overview:

The K&H Pet Products Thermo-Kitty Heated Bed Gives Your Feline Comfort and a Warm Refuge Warmer for Places with Cold Temps or Wishes More Heat_RELAXIFEST™ Powered by a 500 Watt heater, it offers the safe and energy-efficient operation. That feature heats up only when your cat is in the bed, so it never gets too hot.

Pros:

Super Warm: The bed generates mild heat, which is great for older cats with arthritis.

Low Power Usage – Only 4 watts, saving you money on power costs.

STURDY CONSTRUCTION — Constructed to last, this plush pet mattress elements a soft microfleece cover and firm orthopedic foam base.

Safety Certified: MET certified, safe for kids to use.

Cons:

Expensive: This model is priced at just under $70, which i more than you would pay for non-heated models.

Few Colors: In few color and style options may not complement all home decor.

Customer Reviews:

The Thermo-Kitty bed also scores a 4.6 perception on Amazon by owners of elderly cats, several whom report that their arthritic cat has welcomed this bed when other therapeutic options (oral medication or injections) have not helped. However, multiple reviewers have reported that the heating element may fail after a year or two.

3. Sheri OrthoComfort Deep Dish Cuddler by Best Friends

Price: $32.99

Where to Buy: Petco.com

Overview:

The Best Friends by Sheri OrthoComfort Deep Dish Cuddler is meant for cats who like to snuggle up in low, maintainable areas. The high back wall provides orthopedic support and is perfect for a cat who loves to rest her head while sleeping.

Pros:

Or-tho-de-pic De-sign: The tall back is perfect for senior cats with rhuemat-ism, or lazy baby cats that are just idling the days away.

Easy to clean: The entire bed is machine washable and dryerable.

Deep and Cozy: Cats can nap, hide or play in the high walled design for a sense of protection and security.

Affordable: This is one of the budget-friendlier orthopedic cat beds on the market.

Cons:

Best for Small-Medium Cats; Larger Breeds May Be Too Tight

On the flip side: Flimsy Material Over Time Some users comment that the sides may start to lose their shape after a few washes.

Customer Reviews:

Rated 4.8/5 on Petco, customers love how comfortable and affordable this bed is. Nevertheless, there were a few complaints from customers who said that their larger cats wouldn't fit properly.

4. Frisco Igloo Style Cat Bed

Price: $45.99

Where to Buy: Chewy.com

Overview:

Frisco Igloo Style Cat Bed — A stylish, warm bed for cats who like to sleep in tight spaces. The shape of an igloo naturally resembles a den, and a furry inner lining warms and nests each pet.

Pros:

Privacy and Security -Intended for timid or edgy cats that prefer to be covered all the way around their body when they sleep.

Elegant Design: The fresh and modern packaging suits most home interiors.

Washable Cushion: The removable cushion is washable so that you can always clean it up.

Strong Material: Constructed from scratch and knead resistant materials.

Cons:

However, with an enclosed design such as this, the bed can get too hot for cats in warm environments.

Price: A bit pricier than a straightforward design.

Customer Reviews:

Aesthetic: 5 stars | Comfort: 5 stars – Chewy Rating: 4.7/5 (see here) A few mention that cleaning the entire structure may be challenging, while others say washing the removable cushion is an easy task.

5. 2 The PetFusion Ultimate Cat Bed & LoungeSHOP NOW

Price: $79.95

Where to Buy: Amazon.com

Overview:

Another premium option, the PetFusion Ultimate Cat Bed & Lounge with Solid Scratching Surface Jugnaeting youPergname[s1]=[cat]END is made from memory foam to ensure maximum comfort for your cat. It has orthopedic support, good for use with senior cats or cat with health issues. This coupled with the modern, sleek design make it appealing and able to blend into most homes.

Pros:

Memory Foam: Ideal for older or injured cats, memory foam provides additional comfort and support.

Cover: The cover material is tear resistant and water repellent, making it extremely durable.

Sleek Minimalist design fits modern home interiors

Removable, machine-washable cover for easy cleaning

Cons:

Costs More: It's one of the pricier options, making it possibly not a good pick for budget-minded shoppers.

Only One Type of Color Option: The bed is sold in a few standard neutral colors and many people might not like this.

Customer Reviews:

We rate this 4.6/5 on Amazon with emphasis in how well it holds up over time and how comfortable for older cats. Although, Some customers believe the price is too high for something that is basically a basic memory foam design.

Conclusion

Five Top-Rated Beds For Cats Available in 2024 Here's a quick summary:

MeowNest Ultra Soft Cat Bed: This bed is great for a more snuggly, plush-intense setting but can flatten over time.

K&H Pet Products Thermo-Kitty Heated Bed: Best for older cats or cold climates; expensive

6) Best Friends by Sheri OrthoComfort Deep Dish Cuddler: Good orthopedic support but the bed can lose shape over washing

3) Frisco Igloo Style Cat Bed: It offers safety and privateness however could find yourself being too heat for a few cats.

PetFusion Ultimate Cat Bed & Lounge: This memory foam model provides extra comfort for cats of all ages, but it is fairly expensive.

These beds are available at major pet retailers, such as Chewy, Amazon, and Petco. The most obvious thing to keep in mind is the size of your cat, but don't stop there; take into account how your cat usually naps and whether or not it has any joint issues that could be helped by an orthopedic bed or comforted by a warmer option. The right cat bed will improve your cat's comfort level and overall quality of life!

[jjaybrown4-blog]

Disney Princess challenge by GinovaSims

A twelve generation legacy challenge based on the current thirteen Disney Princesses. Each generation will have a different set of goals and requirements before the new heir takes over.  Disclosure: I know there are other Disney Princess Challenges out there, but I wanted to create my own which I feel fit the films more and flowed nicely between each princess and generation. I’ve tried my best to add as many game features as I can to match their stories, but a lot of it may be down to your own storytelling. Some details have been left out because I don’t want the challenge to be too strict, or all our games would be the exact same! Feel free to adjust any rules as you see fit for your stories, it’s supposed to be fun. Tell your own stories and add your own elements, but my rules should hopefully help guide you. 

As you may know with a lot of the older princess films, the mothers often die when the princess is quite young. I know a lot of people hate the idea of their sims dying, so if you would like to forgo this rule, that is fine! I would instead recommend moving the mother out of the household and having no contact with them again.

Every generation has a prologue and then a set of rules. The prologues are there to establish the generations, and typically require more storytelling and gameplay with family members. You can use the prologues in any way you would like to set up your princesses’ stories. The requirements are for when the main part of their stories would begin.  

Rules:

Aging must be turned on, but you can have it at any length you wish.

Each goal must be met before the new heir takes over, unless specified in the rules.

Despite being ‘princesses’, the heirs don’t have to be female. You can have any gender follow the requirements. Same goes for sexuality and romantic partners. You don’t have to strictly follow the films in this sense unless you want to.

The Princesses can look as much or as little like their film-selves as you would like. Same for their names.

Mods and custom content can be used to help the story and gameplay.

The generations will offer three traits, you do not need the heir to have all three traits, but they MUST have at least TWO of them.

If you do not have all of the packs required to complete the requirements for each generation, either find a similar alternative or skip that rule.

If you do this challenge, please credit me (@ginovasims).

(OPTIONAL) Use the hashtag #GiPrincessChallenge on tweets, posts, and videos.

Thank yous:

Once again there are some lovely simmers I would like to thank for helping me with this challenge!

@SimBexBlue - you inspired me to start writing my own version of the challenge after I started watching your LP on YouTube! You have been there in DMs from the start and giving me feedback and ideas, and you’ve always been so enthusiastic and keen.

@Jackiester626 - your notes and feedback for each generation were so detailed and helpful and honestly really inspiring! You put in a lot of effort to help me out and it’s very appreciated.

@nicolesulsul - you sent me some excellent additions for the challenge which helped pad out the generations and make them more like the films. Your interest in the challenge has always been so encouraging! WATCH HERE I posted a video talking about this new challenge and created all thirteen princesses based on their original animation film-selves! You can also download my versions of the Disney Princesses for FREE on my patreon HERE.

——————————————————————————————————— THE GENERATIONS

Generation 1 - Snow White

Optional Prologue (child):

Snow’s mother dies when Snow is a child. Her father should remarry a jealous/evil woman. When Snow becomes a teenager, her father must die so that Snow is left with only her stepmother to raise her.

Requirements:

Have an awful relationship with your stepmother who makes you do all the cooking and housework.

Never leave your home neighbourhood. 

Meet a teen sim in your neighbourhood who you build a friendship and romance with, but never kiss/woohoo.

Move into a cottage as a YA, and have no social interaction with anyone (including no contact with stepmother or boyfriend/girlfriend). This includes never answering the door to strangers.

Adopt seven toddlers (dwarves) in one go.

Give the children traits that match their dwarf persona (i.e. happy = cheerful, sleepy = lazy etc.).

Never eat apples or anything to do with apples.

When the dwarves are teens, you can finally meet your partner again. (If you would like, you can have them rescue you from your stepmother who visited your cottage)

Get married and move into your lover’s castle.

Have one daughter (Cinderella).

Master parenting and baking skills.

Complete Big Happy Family aspiration.

Traits: Cheerful, Loves Outdoors, Good

Aspiration: Big Happy Family

Generation 2 - Cinderella

Optional Prologue (child):

Snow White dies when Cinderella is a child. Cinderella’s father should remarry an older lady who already has two daughters. Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters hate her and are always mean to her when her father isn’t around. As if history repeats itself, Cinderella’s father must die when she is a teenager, leaving Cinderella to be raised by her stepmother who hates her.

Requirements: 

Must live in the attic and do all the housework and care for the animals.

Have completely negative relationships with your stepmother and stepsisters.

Knit and wear your own clothes.

Never leave the home lot.

As a YA, you must sneak off to the magic realm in the middle of the night and meet all the sages and another powerful (but evil) spellcaster.

Befriend all four spellcasters - this is important for the next generation.

Attend a party off your home lot, disguised so your family doesn’t recognise you - they must also be guests.

Meet and fall in love with someone at the party, but you must be home before midnight.

You must wait for the person you met at the party to knock on your door at home before you can run away from your family.

Get married and have one daughter (Aurora).

Master cooking, knitting and cross-stitch skills before being rescued by your lover.

Complete Soulmate aspiration.

Traits: Romantic, Neat, Animal Enthusiast  Aspiration: Soulmate

Generation 3 - Aurora

Optional Prologue (infant): Cinderella must throw a baby shower when Aurora is born, inviting the three sages, but not the fourth ‘evil’ spellcaster. Cinderella and the spellcaster must lose all relationship. Cinderella must send infant Aurora to live with the three sages in Glimmerbrook to protect her from the other spellcaster.

Requirements: 

Have no contact or relationship with anyone except the three sages. This includes your parents.

Meet a mersim as a teen in the Glimmerbrook forest. Fall in love with them but never kiss/woohoo, and they can never visit your home.

Never leave Glimmerbrook until your YA birthday.

As a YA, meet with the ‘evil’ spellcaster. She drains you of all energy and traps you in the attic of your family home. (Aurora is now unplayable until the curse is lifted)

Each spellcaster must defeat the spellcaster in a duel, and at least two of them must win.

Sages must find your lover naturally and they are the only one who can break the curse. Aurora is playable again. (The lover must either be found by searching the worlds/neighbourhoods, or they can arrive without being invited. You cannot call them over, or directly visit their home lot)

Marry your lover and move to Sulani.

Become a mermaid.

Have seven mermaid daughters, close in age, the last one being Ariel. (You may need to live separately from your lover as the household limit will be maxed with seven children)

Master singing and dancing skills.

Complete Beach Life aspiration, but you can only start working on it when you become a mermaid.

Traits: Loner, Family-oriented, Lazy Aspiration: Beach Life

Generation 4 - Ariel

Optional Prologue (infant): Aurora must die when Ariel becomes an infant, leaving Ariel’s father to raise his daughters alone. He must befriend another mermaid who will help with all the children. When Ariel becomes a child, her father must cut ties with this mermaid and not allow the children any contact with her.

  Requirements:

Live on the small island in Sulani.

Only have friendships with mermaids on your island.

Befriend a dolphin.

As a teen, sneak out every night to visit the mainland and mingle with regular sims.

Meet a regular teen sim who you introduce yourself to, but do not build any friendship or relationship. Leave immediately after you meet them.

Return home and lose friendship with your father - don’t enter the red, but have no green left.

Runaway from home and meet the mermaid from your childhood.

This mermaid will help you become a regular sim and find the teen you met before.

Only use romantic interactions with your crush, no friendly/funny interactions.

Discover the mermaid who helped you flirting with your love interest. Lose all friendship with them.

When you have a full romance bar with your love interest, only then can you kiss them, and after this, you can start using friendly interactions. 

Rebuild a relationship with your father.

Stay human, get married and have one daughter (Belle).

Complete at least two collections - ideally at least one from Island Living.

Master singing skill while still a mermaid.

Master fitness skill but only ever by swimming.

Complete The Curator aspiration.

Traits: Socially Awkward, Child of the Ocean, Clumsy

Aspiration: The Curator

Generation 5 - Belle

Optional Prologue (child): Ariel must die when Belle is a child. Belle and her father move to a small town and he must focus on robotics. Belle mustn’t have any friends growing up. She should spend her time with her father and reading books. There is an attractive teen, Gaston, in the small town who has a crush on Belle, but she has no interest in him and she always rejects his advances.

  Requirements: 

On your YA birthday, your father unintentionally runs into a rampaging werewolf.

You must move in with the werewolf in their castle, leaving your father alone.

Have a fully negative (-100) relationship with the werewolf.

You can never leave the castle.

Befriend the maid and butler, and have no friendships outside of the castle.

Slowly build a friendship with the werewolf.

Only when the friendship bar is in the green can you start looking for a cure for the werewolf.

Start romancing when you are friends, but do not kiss or woohoo.

When you and the werewolf are lovebirds, Gaston visits and he must fight the werewolf.

Only after the werewolf beats Gaston in a fight can they take the cure and become a regular sim.

Have your first kiss with your lover now they aren’t a werewolf anymore.

Marry your lover, have one daughter (Jasmine), and have your father move into the castle with you all.

Have a perfect quality rose bush.

Write books either as a freelance author or as a hobby, but do not join the writer career.

Master writing and research and debate skills.

Complete Bestselling Author aspiration.

Traits: Bookworm, Loyal, Genius

Aspiration: Bestselling Author

Generation 6 - Jasmine

Optional Prologue (child):  Belle must die when Jasmine is a child. Jasmine’s father is still scared of the outside world because of his past, so should keep Jasmine locked in the castle for her safety. When Jasmine’s elderly grandfather dies, Jasmine’s father is left alone to raise her. He must enlist the help of an adult spellcaster, Jafar, to help him look after Jasmine.  

Requirements:

Have no friendships outside of your family. Your best friend is your ginger tabby cat.

Go on blind dates that your father arranges, and always end them by making the other sim angry.

Sneak out in a disguise to a community lot and befriend a poor sim with the kleptomaniac trait.

Go on a date with them the next day, who is now dressed entirely differently in fancy clothes.

End the date with a kiss.

Jafar finds you the next day and traps you in a room with your father. (Jasmine is now temporarily unplayable)

Your lover arrives with a friend who is a spellcaster, who must duel and defeat Jafar. (When Jafar is defeated, Jasmine is playable again)

Marry your lover as a YA and stop living as royalty. Move to the forest and live off the grid with at least two other YAs who have one baby.

Have one daughter (Pocahontas).

Master charisma and mischief skills.

Complete Chief of Mischief aspiration.

Traits: Hot-Headed, Self-Assured, High Maintenance

Aspiration: Chief of Mischief 

Generation 7 - Pocahontas

Optional Prologue (infant): Jasmine must die when Pocahontas is an infant. Pocahontas should be raised by her father and the tribe they all live with. There is a young boy who is a similar age to Pocahontas. The two must grow up as best friends.  

Requirements:

As a teen, get engaged to your childhood best friend, but never kiss or woohoo them, and have zero romance - you can cheat this up to get engaged, but then remove all romance after.

Befriend a stranger in the forest who is completely opposite to you, in  both appearance and personality.

Quickly build a friendship and romance with the stranger, but do not kiss or woohoo.

Your tribe must hate the stranger’s family, so continue your relationship in secret.

Get caught with the stranger, so your fiance fights them.

End your romantic relationship with the stranger and never have contact with them again.

Break off your engagement with your childhood friend

As a YA, fall in love with an adult sim who is a retired soldier.

Move in with them and their mother.

Get married and have one daughter (Mulan).

Live off the grid your whole life until you move out and get married.

Master painting, gardening and fishing skills.

Complete Angling Ace aspiration.

Traits: Love the Outdoors, Ambitious, Green Fiend

Aspiration: Angling Ace

Generation 8 - Mulan

Optional Prologue (child): Mulan never has any interest in tradition or expectations. She grows up very active and playful, and never has any romantic relationships as a teen. Mulan has a strict relationship with her mother, who wants her to be more ‘normal’,  but has a stronger and closer relationship with her father.  

Requirements: 

As a YA, completely change your appearance and move out of your family world.

Move in with a group of men, who are all in the military, and join the military yourself.

Befriend all of the men, and develop a crush on the leader of the group.

Constantly try and prove yourself by pushing the limits and becoming the strongest soldier in your household.

Fight your enemy who is in a rival household and win. After this fight, you must change your appearance back to how it was before.

Have an argument with the leader, who kicks you out of the household. You must return home to your family.

Sneak out one night to see your friends, and find them with the rival group. Fight and defeat all of the rivals, ending with your enemy.

Move back into the household with your soldier friends, who have accepted you back for saving them.

Fall in love with the leader and both quit your jobs in the military.

Marry your lover and have one daughter (Tiana).

Max your body muscles using the training bot machine.

Master fitness and wellness skills.

Complete Bodybuilder aspiration.

Traits: Active, Loyal, BroAspiration: Bodybuilder

Generation 9 - Tiana

Optional Prologue (child): Tiana should have a very close relationship with her father growing up. After leaving the military, he wants to pursue his dream of opening a restaurant, so he should join the culinary career. Before he can reach level 5 of this career, he must quit and instead join the military again and die. Tiana should be left to be raised by her mother, Mulan, who is poor since she and her husband left the military.  

Requirements:

Cook with your father as often as possible before he dies.

As a teen, join the barista part-time career.

Have a childhood best friend who is rich and very different to you, but stay close your whole life.

At a costume party dressed as a princess, meet a royal sim who has been cursed with the curse of repulsiveness. You are now also cursed.

Befriend an old female spellcaster and a musician in a bayou/forest.

Befriend and romance the other cursed sim.

Visit Selvadorada with the cursed sim and explore the jungle.

Only when your romance and friendship is full can both of your curses be lifted.

The spellcaster officiates your wedding.

Open a restaurant using your new partner’s wealth.

Have your restaurant reach at least four stars.

Become royal and move into your partner’s castle and have one daughter (Rapunzel).

Master cooking and gourmet cooking skills.

Complete Master Chef aspiration.

Traits: Foodie, Ambitious, Overachiever

Aspiration: Master Chef

Generation 10 - Rapunzel 

Optional Prologue (infant): Because of her parents’ curse and connection to magic, Rapunzel is born with powers and long golden hair. An old lady kidnaps Rapunzel when she is an infant, running away to a locked tower, hidden away from Tiana’s castle. The old lady, Gothel, is immediately young again, and will always stay this way when she is around Rapunzel.  

Requirements:

Never go to school or work, and never leave the confines of the tower.

Have no relationships with anyone except Gothel, and this must be negative.

Have long blonde hair your whole life.

Spend your time playing guitar, painting, baking, singing, gardening, playing chess - anything to pass the time!

On your YA birthday, when Gothel is at work, a stranger makes their way into your tower. Quickly befriend the stranger and escape with them to the woods and eventually the town.

Make lots of friends along the way, and slowly build a romance with the stranger, but not kissing or woohooing.

Get found by Gothel, and both of you are trapped back in the tower.

Gothel kills your lover, but you are able to bring them back with a death flower which you have grown.

When your lover is brought back to life, you must immediately change your appearance to have short brown hair.

Gothel instantly becomes an elder and dies of old age - you will probably want to cheat this!

Move back to your family castle with your lover, meeting your parents again for the first time.

Marry your lover and have two daughters, close in age (Elsa and Anna).

Master guitar, painting, baking and singing skills.

Complete Renaissance Sim aspiration.

Traits: Creative, Paranoid, Cheerful

Aspiration: Renaissance Sim

Generation 11 - Elsa and Anna

Optional Prologue (children):

Elsa inherits her mother’s magical abilities and is born a spellcaster. Anna has no abilities, but the girls still have a strong relationship. The girls’ parents are worried about Elsa’s abilities after Anna gets hurt one day. They lock Elsa in her bedroom and Anna isn’t allowed in. When the girls are teenagers, their parents both die.   

Requirements: 

Elsa (E) and Anna (A) must never have any friends or relationships growing up. They have zero relationship with each other. Neither girl can attend school.

(A) when you become a YA, meet a stranger and instantly become friends and start romancing. Get engaged on the same day.

(E) throw a party honouring your new job and invite Anna’s new fiance.

(E) argue with Anna about her engagement and run away to the mountains in Mt. Komorebi.

(A) befriend a stranger in Mt. Komorebi while looking for your sister.

(E) freeze your sister when she finds you (chillio spell). While Anna is frozen, her fiance arrives and argues with Elsa. Elsa is trapped in a basement by Anna’s fiance.

(A) return home after thawing and let Elsa out. Rebuild your friendship and become best friends.

(A) breakup and fight with your fiance. Start romancing the stranger from Mt. Komorebi.

(E) stay living in the castle and make friends with people in the world.

(A) marry your new lover and move in with their elderly mother and family in Sulani.

(A) have one daughter (Moana).

(E) master singing skill and learn all the untamed spells.

(E) complete Inner Peace aspiration, but only after becoming best friends with your sister.

(A) master charisma and comedy skills.

(A) complete Friend of the World aspiration.

Traits (Elsa): Loner, Proper, Erratic

Aspiration (Elsa): Inner Peace

Traits (Anna): Goofball, Outgoing, Family-Oriented

Aspiration (Anna): Friend of the World

Generation 12 - Moana

Optional Prologue (toddler):  Moana grows up in Sulani with her whole family. She loves the water and is closest to her grandmother, more than her own parents. The island is filthy and destroyed by environmental changes. Moana vows to make a change when she is older, but her parents think she should focus on the family and the land they live on. Moana’s grandmother agrees that she should go off and follow her dream, but she dies when Moana is a teen.

Requirements: 

As a teen, leave your family to clean Sulani. Have no contact with them until the island is saved.

Meet a YA man on the island, but have a negative relationship to begin with. 

Work together with the man to clean Sulani, and turn your negative relationship into a completely positive one.

Join the conservationist career.

Become best friends with the man.

Find The Heart of Sulani (treasure collectible).

When the island is clean and you are at level 5 of your career, return home to your family and live off the grid.

When you reach level 5 of the conservationist career, quit and join the civil designer career (green tech branch).

Influence your neighbours to always vote and live in a green neighbourhood.

Master logic and fitness skills.

Complete Eco Innovator aspiration.

Traits: Child of the Islands, Child of the Ocean, Adventurous

Aspiration: Eco Innovator

[gplewis]

no profound need to communicate what feels like an emergency or a hibernation; no more gunning for recognition or being known; no more making facts of my having said something; no desire to be talked about tomorrow. a poetry of emptiness, of departure of...wanting to do this professionally, making a job of being a writer. i am choosing or being called to be a recluse instead, forgetting about having my voice heard; no desire to interact with anyone through writing; writing is not real communication--that is, unless it's a letter; nothing public makes sense anymore. perhaps that's a timeless line but the future never comes.

my anxiety isn't just about money; not even about love. i watched (binge-watched really, waking up on a day without work, did little but watch screens and eat snacks) Modern Love, an Amazon television series, and even the "successful" people were not happy; I mean to say, even living their life does not seem that happy. I remember ambition, flow, dissolving into the glory of presence; no, I don't mean to say this, I mean to say: even the successful life looks banal, as banal as mine (mine isn't; standing at the door of a bar which is my job currently, I am in full contact with my estrangement; ah, this is good journal, good diary, potent for a young reader to be impressed and gobsmacked by my endurance. luckily i'll forget i posted this; i post less these days; i get through the days, waiting i say for clarity, purpose, direction, a change, a new vision or story to pursue; Austin is a fine town, San Francisco is my hometown, New York is always a place to thrive if I know my hourly rate and what services I offer (my anxiety about not knowing this isn't so strong; I did meet a 48-year-old man at a bar the other night who wished, in his youth, he stayed a bum for longer, before becoming serious. "You can't go back from being serious," he said, and seemed to suggest it was always an option.

I haven't written anything in a while--maybe that's the beginning of poetry: rediscovering the blank, the eternity we all inherit with every heartbeat. My colleagues and customers aren't thinking about this stuff; it's 12:30am, they're storming the gates, stomping the police-closed streets drinking, talking, laughing, having a good time, I don't have a good time except in the pleasure of mopping, emptying trash, cranking out my duties--i don't wish i could be somewhere else, except home, doing just this: digesting avocado, watching the expanse of the clock given me before my next shift. oddly, this is the life that would work for me. this is a profession. a university professor is a profession if one can tolerate the red tape and politicking and the ceaseless capacity of middle-aged educated starlings to be self-interested and wryly defend their turf. i have judgments about certain professions; being an essayist would allow me to interview others and dispel my preconceived notions, if i wanted to live the life of the mind professionally - which i used to see myself as doing: rigorous, if not paid; athletic, if not recognized in title or remuneration. i write to discover what my anxiety really is, or i write to express love, admiration, gratitude; have i been an ingrate lately: perhaps. little emotion, no drama, accepting of the life which results from my choices. but i am aware, and i not only write but publish this, though it's been months since i was addicted and obsessed to the interchange of cognitive cogitations ~ expression is constant, and no statement will smother it; the news is reliable: companies, money, election cycles; Trump guilty on all charges, amusing and true, grand and probably inconsequential. See, I'm not a professional writer because I won't make this post right, won't revise, only dump like a child just wails and cries, no sense of recording or posterity, no sense of later. But I generate material, and perhaps it's genius to not try to make it into something it is not. You are listening to the dream, and you have your own dreams too; our inner monologues could meet, if the layers of pavement could be jackhammered through to the glowing orb of magma core.

[puckpocketed]

At @neonfretra ‘s request, a closer look at the stickers :

More ID and trivia under the cut!! :D

(1) ID: Sticker in the shape of an arched window. The design is a parody of Atlas holding the world on his shoulders. Instead of a globe he holds a sparkling disco ball. Text following the disco ball’s arch reads: “Make Disco…” and below Atlas, “Popular Again. We can dance all night long. Sancho’s Dirty Laundry.” On either side of Atlas text reads: “[Established] 2009.” /. End ID.

Sancho’s is a printmaker/spray paint/merch store that i love to frequent. Many of the stickers here are from Sancho’s. I have many more pasted into my notebooks. Sancho is one of those people who’s like… effortlessly cool and you wanna impress her sooo bad and she’s extremely out of your league. Does this make sense??

Anyways this sticker was a collaboration from a guest artist apparently!! She does these sometimes and sells the designs as stickers.

I wish i had my nice notebook on me because i cut out a stamped design from one of her paper bags she gives out to customers who buy things, it’s this giant rat-boy-man-guy dressed like a greaser?? God. She’s so cool. Did i mention that.

(2) ID: Die cut cartoon duck sticker looking rotund and angry and carrying a knife in its wing. Text over its head reads: “Peace was never an option.” /. End ID

Sticker from Sancho’s <3 She has this big fuck off box just sitting on the counter filled with stickers, a completely disorganised pile of them <3 each sticker is like?? $2-3??? $7 for 3 deal if memory serves.

I love this duckie sooo bad. It’s very Quentin-Musty-trade-request to me <3

(3) ID: Sticker of a cartoon dog DJ’ing, the art style is a pastiche of Keith Haring, with bold lines and simple representations of shapes and limited colours. /. End ID.

Sancho’s sticker!! I think I was with a friend the day I found this one + the other Haring-style sticker. That was a really good day. Not to be sappy but i really love being in community with artists and taking walks in the city and browsing for little treats and chattering away. I feel so warm thinking about days like those. <3

(4) ID: Sticker of a bathroom scene in a very simple cartoon art style. A person in floaties and a naval captain’s hat takes a bath with a flamingo and holds out a can of soda to the viewer. The soda can reads, “Vacation” in tiled, diagonal text. The shower curtain text reads “Isolation”. /. End ID.

Sancho’s!! Another guest artist print I believe.. man i love these… I should ask her about the lore behind them. I love hoarding stories.

I kept the ID short but there’s so much to say about this little sticker. I look at it and see something new every time. The little faces on the cactus and the sun. The cactus holding a tiny umbrella. MAN!!!! Just very aspirational for me as someone who overworks and overthinks their art. This kind of absurdist (???) stuff is soooo <333

(5) ID: Die cut sticker of a hand. The thumb and forefinger are almost touching, the pinky finger sticks out, curled away from the rest of the fingers. /. End ID.

This one is from a sticker book!! I loved this gesture sooo much.

Someone once said my hands resembled the kinds of hands they painted in fancy old portraits and I still think about that to this day

(6) ID: Die cut sticker of a rabbit playing cello. /. End ID.

(7) ID: Square sticker of a skull encircled by a wreath of vines and wands/rods in a triangle. It resembles a postage stamp. /. End ID.

(8) ID: Die cut sticker of a maple leaf. /. End ID.

(9) ID: Circle sticker depicting a tram coming towards the viewer. It has huge cartoon eyes and a smiling mouth. Text reads: “I rode the light rail.”

Not much to say about 6-8 except i thought they were cute… yes the skull included i think the eye holes shaped like that look like downturned brows. Like the skull is making pleading eyes at me <3 i think theyre all from a sticker book.

LIGHT RAIL STICKER MY BELOVED!!! My tiny little tram line… so happy she exists <3 I used to bike past it in blistering heat for the couple years it was being built…. I longed for a day i could dodge fares and escape the heat in air conditioned bliss <3

Our government has kinda been faffing about with promises of extending the line further and im mad about it !! Give my girl her 8x12M contract extension NEEOW

(10) ID: Die cut sticker of a black cat holding a knife in it’s mouth. Its ears and tail are up in excitement, it stares with big round eyes. /. End ID.

The animal + knife thing comes up twice, whatever they say about nickels !! <3

I think ?? This is a Sancho’s sticker? Not like, one of hers but one of the many loose stickers in the Sticker Lucky Dip Box <3 i like taking my very cultured friends there and rummaging around in the sticker box while i let them go at the imported Japanese clothes and the fuckoff-huge coffee table artbooks/fashion tomes/cocktail bibles

(11) ID: Die cut sticker of a branch of wattles, an Australian acacia characterised by its golden puff ball clusters. The sticker’s gold foil is faded slightly from wear. /. End ID.

Got this one as well as (15) from a Christmas bonbon a while back and unearthed the stickers in a desk clean out shortly after I started decorating this case!! :3

Not a Christmas guy tbh but that year i got together with some friends and played a couple card games.. it was a good day <3 my stickers are filled with memories waaaahhhh

(12) ID: Die cut sticker of a chick in a pink bonnet holding up an umbrella made out of an eggshell. /. End ID.

(13) ID: Die cut sticker of a corked medicine bottle labelled “Effervescent Brain Salt.” It claims, “Cures headaches and indigestion,” at the neck of the bottle. In finer print on the main label, “Brain troubles, headaches, sea sickness, nervous debility, sleeplessness, excessive study mania, over brainwork.” /. End ID.

What else is there to say about this… the jokes tell themselves… hilarious sticker no notes <3

(14) ID: Die cut sticker of a black pansy flower in bloom. /. End ID.

(15) ID: Die cut sticker of a red-flowering gum on a branch. It is an Australian eucalyptus tree characterised by bright red flowers. /. End ID.

(16) ID: Square sticker of two people dancing in a pastiche of Kieth Haring’s art style. Instead of separate heads, they are joined into one with a red heart at the center. /. End ID.

I knowww the commercialisation of his art is kinda shit and bad but i am NOT immune to it… sowwie… i think most queer merch is unbearably tacky PLEASE let me have these $3 stickers…. Wauhghhh…

As you can see the protective film is lifting </3 I gotta glue that shit down soon

(17) ID: Die cut sticker, a pastiche of Gosōtei Hirosada’s 1855 print Kasa Ippon-ashi. It depicts a kabuki actor dressed as the Japanese yokai Kasa-obake, which takes the form of a one-legged umbrella creature. The art is done in the style of a traditional tattoo. /. End ID.

I got this one digging through a bowl of stickers at a tattoo parlour while I was waiting for my artist!!

The tattoo i got that day was a huge trad dagger piercing through skin + a crescent moon. I chatted up the receptionist and she said she just prints them in her spare time and i could take one free <3 i love womun… <3

I take semi regular buses for day-trips to go trawling through the cafe scene in a city about 3 hours away im silly like that and also we dont have nice cross country trains </3 and I sat next to a guy who he remarked upon the sticker and we got to chatting about our tattoos

He was a tattoo artist travelling back home!! He gave me so many recommendations for places to try and i feel so bad i barely remember them all but it was just. Y’know. One of those wonderful experiences from out of a movie where the person you sat next to is cool as hell and human connection wins over zoning out for 3 hours to podcasts LMAO

I need to write about him in one of my artsy diary pieces… the memory is already a bit of a smudge i fearrr….

Anyway i dooo oscillate between lookin like an unassuming preppy uni student -> greasy gothdyke-fag depending on how long my shirt sleeves are… eughg long winded way of saying people make a lot of assumptions about my character . Anyways this sticker is a great icebreaker for letting people know they can talk to me about tattoos <3

Im really sad that there’s bits that have lifted and i was forced to cut them off for fear of further lifting… but it’s ok!! Theres some poetry to the impermanence of it.. if i squint and tilt my head…..

(18) ID: Die cut sticker of a ladybug. /. End ID.

(19) ID: Die cut sticker of a colourful feather. It is green, red, yellow, and off-white, and very fluffy. /. End ID.

IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR. HI. This took a fair bit longer than i thought it would <3 I love over-explaining and telling stories you will never catch me shutting up ever… i hope you enjoyed show-and-tell with puckpocketed… pastpocketed had no idea what he signed up for when he said an ID was comin LOL

QUITE late but. hockeyblr coffee playdate? working on transcripts today while scoreboard watching the habs game

[benkipo]

12/14 It’s getting SPICY in here!

Started off playing with the new Synchro feature. Pretty cool! Idk how much I’ll use it but I think it’s a nice bonus and great to have. Moving on Clodsire was especially fun since she’s so derpy and his spine pops out when she attacks sometimes.

Soon after that I met up with Carmine. Had a quick battle and then caught Kieran in his new look… I love the designs and fashion for the characters this game but evil Kieran’s is awful… that might be the point but I still wish he could’ve looked cooler. The tank top that the league club wears is just so ugly.

But anyway we then run into Drayton. Pretty cool looking dude with a funny personality. He’s quite random with intention if that makes sense. I love that Carmine hates/likes him. It’s cute.

He takes me to the club room and shows me what I can do with my BP. And the thing I’m most excited for is customized throws! It’s something I’ve always wanted so glad to finally have it! Always a fan of more customization! Also the doodles on the white boards are so cute!!

I decided to grind some BBQ’s since I wanted to collect more throw options. The quest are alright but they are a little annoying that they derail me so much. And the min/maxer in me gets a little crazy about it. Also took this pick of my team while we were picnicking since one of my quest was to make a 3 or more ingredient sandwich. Which I did 3 times but it didn’t work for some reason. Unsure what I’m doing wrong here…

Also saw this Pyroar on a cliff and what a good placement and shot. Love this spawn.

Now it was time to tackle one of the first Elite 4. I didn’t know who I should tackle first but went with Crispin since he’s in the Savanah biome which is the first one you’re introduced to.

He has a fun challenge where you have to bargain for ingredients to make a super spicy sandwich. It’s super silly but I really enjoyed it for some reason! I think the npc dialogue was just really good for it. So many funny moments!

Crispin was already a favorite character design of mine when I first saw him and his personality is perfect! Definitely one of my favs so far. If only his signature Pokemon wasn’t Magmortar… He has a fun team with a wild card Exeggutor in there but it makes sense to me. He also finished with Blaziken which was totally unexpected but I love when other trainers use starters since it’s pretty rare that you see it. Starters should be quite common assuming most people get their first Pokémon the way we do in most games.

[kookieswan]

Of Blooms & Bounties - Petunia

Pirate!Jungkook x Explorer!Reader

Word Count: 1.5k

Genre: Pirate!AU, Magic!AU, Semi-Historical!AU, slightly fluffy, very silly.

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, mentions of prostitution, nothing too serious though!

Summary: Namjoon had wanted the gold, Jimin had wanted the fun, and Jungkook had wanted to lay low. All in all, you’d say that two out of three were successful.

Notes: Here we go, another look into their shenanigans lmao

This is from the Of Blooms & Bounties Series. Find it here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s a super simple but very effective plan; Minnie is going to pretend to be Petunia while Tae, Hobi, Jin, and Yoon escort him back to the boat so we can take him home. _____, JK, and myself are going to stay here to make sure nothing tips them off. Pose as customers at the tavern and keep a lookout for Minnie…”

And lookout you do; both you and Joon sitting in the corner of the tavern, eyes scanning the area for the bandits that have purchased Petunias time. It wouldn’t have been as big of a quest to return him home if the man wasn’t expecting customers at almost every hour, but apparently his services are a hot commodity and his boss is… Demanding, which means your options are very slim. The poor man wants wants to to be home with his family again, and since they paid you nicely, it’s the least you can do to help.

“Everything’s going to go to plan, we have the perfect set up.” Namjoon’s dressed down a bit, lacking his usual hat and numerous layers of clothes for a more simple shirt and pants combo. You’re wearing something similar to blend into the background, not wanting to stand out all that much. You don’t think you’ll be found out anyway, not with how intense the partying is tonight.

“I know it will Joon, I’m not worried.” The tavern’s in full swing, a large crowed covering most of the floor space and seemingly very drunk. Other pirates mostly, some prostitutes, even a few performers. The bards play music over the roaring crowed, fun songs you wiggle in your seat to, wishing you could get up and dance.

Min sits idly at the bar, legs daintily crossed in his finest leather pants. He looks dangerous but in the best of ways, his charms drawing in a number of patrons around the shady tavern. He dones a billowy white shirt as well as high laced leather boots, coal around his eyes and red on his lips, the exact look Petunia told his customers he’d be wearing. A little scandalous, a little saucy, a perfect trap.

Kookie had excused himself to hit the toilet a while ago, and so you scan the room to try and spot him in the chaos. It’s a few seconds before he stumbles around the corner, eyes doe like and head swiveling to watch out for your target. It’s a passing thought that he looks pretty, the true flower in your group as he spots you and smiles with his pretty bunny smile as he speeds toward the table.

“Oh, I think this little daffodil is the company we purchased.” You’re so focused on him that you miss the new faces; Jungkook is almost back to the table as he’s stopped, a small hand wrapped around his wrist. He looks down at the small woman as her voice booms out over the patrons, two more women that aren’t much taller by her side. Kookie dwarfs them by quite a bit, tall defined muscles towering over them like a shaking tree. You and Joon both tense, ready to fight this out if things go south.

“I- Huh? Me!?” His voice is frantic but quiet enough you almost miss it. You suppose they’re wearing somewhat similar outfits, but Jungkook has certainly never worn skintight leather pants in his life like Jimin. Trying to hide your giggles as you settle a bit, you swig down your beer and pretend not to notice Namjoon’s bugging eyes. Min watches from across the tavern with wide eyes, lips twitching up and down, clearly not sensing any danger.

“Yes you beautiful, you’re exceptionally stunning. Look at that tiny little waist under that pretty little shirt, I could just eat you up.” Well, things certainly aren’t going as planned… They’re going better. The woman places her hand on Jungkook’s chest, slowly trailing a finger down until she reaches the low-cut collar. It’s humorous how far she has to stretch her arm up, but you remain mostly quite as Namjoon gently pokes your leg, a code for ‘shut up’. Jungkook looks like he’s about to pass out: from the implication of him being a prostitute or from being touched so boldly, you’re not sure.

“Um, yes. Yes that’s right, I-I’m Petunia.” Even with the taverns light being dim, you can still see the pink hue that lights up Jungkook’s cheeks as you glance at him, maybe a little shy but also a little flattered. It’s enough to make you coo to yourself, Namjoon’s slowly lowering his forehead till his face is planted firmly against the table. Your poor captains plans just don’t seem to be owning our recently, a true pity but also a secret blessing. Seeing JK flustered is always a little treat, it makes you wanna melt into a puddle.

“Give us a little dance sweetheart, I’ve heard the way your hips move casts shame on the sea herself.” It’s tense as Namjoon raises his head just enough to watch, Jimin staring with intensity from the bar now. Jungkook clears his throat noisily a few times, then slowly starts to sway his hips to the tune of the bards song.

Perhaps he tends to be a little awkward, maybe a smidge outspoken, but he’s always been stunning. A captivating personality, a beautiful face, and now apparently hips that might be able to rival Jimin’s. The poet sways to the music almost sensually as the women cheer him on, rowdy as the sit at the table relatively close to yours, drinks in hand and eyes shining with glee. There’s a shout for him to “take it off”, and strangely enough, he starts to slip out of his shirt without a second though. Hm.

Glancing over at Jimin with a raised brow, he purses his lips and shrugs, clearly enjoying the show as Jungkook finally trips over his own feet. The crew of women don’t seem to mind though, cheering him on in their drunken state. Namjoon sighs noisily to your right, face defeated as he starts to stand up. It’s an unspoken rule; all damage control is in the hands of the captain.

“… I can’t believe it’s come to this, you all are very lucky I’m a nice captain. Slip out when you can _____, I’m sure Minnie will stick around as a watch out.” Apparently the charade has been going on much too long by Joonie’s standards when in reality, Jimin was supposed to lead them into the alleyway and knock them out. This, however, had been much more fun to watch. You continue to watch with an slightly open mouth as Namjoon swaggers up to Jungkook as he sways around with his shirt now mostly off, hands on his hips. He taps the younger man’s shoulder, Kookie turning and freezing like he’s been spotted by a walbear.

“Petunia! How COULD you!?!?” Namjoons voice is shrill over the music, some people turning to stare, others not caring at all. It takes everything in you not to cackle, and so you down the rest of your beer to keep quiet. If you thought Kookies acting was bad, well…

“W-what?” JK looks like he’s nearly about to cry, eyes big and watery as he stares up at Joonie. You can’t see the other man’s face, but something must silently cross between them because Kookie noticeably relaxes in the next few seconds.

“I can’t believe you’re dancing for other people again, you-you harlot! That’s it! I’m taking you home to our eight children!” … Eight? That’s quite a lot. Namjoon actually picks up poor Jungkook and runs out of the building with the smaller man over his shoulder, the three women who bought his time gaping like little fishies. Things could have went a lot worse if they weren’t such a lighthearted and very drunk crew…

Standing slowly from the table, you notice Jimin had departed from the bar at some point, now standing close to the entrance and watching you with expectant eyes. Grabbing your duster, you walk past the women and hide your grin as they mourn the loss of Petunia quite loudly. Jimin ushers you out of the tavern, leading you to the alleyway behind it where the two other men are waiting.

“Woooow JK, that was quite the performance love. Outshined me in every way.” Jungkook starts to sputter and hides his face as Jimin laughs at him, not cruelly but with clear intention to tease. Namjoon just sighs and pats the youngest man’s back, trying to comfort him as he attempts to get over the loss of his own dignity. You silently grab JKs hand, rubbing your thumb against his warm honey skin comfortingly as he glances at you with a shy smile.

“…The things I put up with for some gold. I’m about to walk my own planm”

[valorandheat]

eyes-for-justice​:

valorandheat​:

Jahthrek’s tail twitched the moment the tactician entered the room. Even before he saw her, he could…feel something different about whoever stepped in. There was something there, something…not exactly evil, but dark at the very least that he could sense. Perhaps it was something that lay underneath the surface, something that wasn’t immediately apparent. Once he turned to look at her, however, it became apparent why.

Robin was rather well-known to just about everyone around here, as well as what had happened to her and who she truly was. Of course, that blood and power that had been latent within her was no longer a threat, but there was still at least a trace of it left…a trace that was to never be awakened again, however. But by the Abyss, she was sexy. There was a certain kind of ‘business’ he’d just love to conduct with her…so long as she was interested, of course.

At the moment she’d approached him, he’d been talking with a couple other patrons, laughing along with them about something relatively unimportant until she spoke to him. He greeted her with a thin little smirk. “Well, unless you’re referring to that Anna lady- I met her the other day, by the way, charming woman, if a bit too blatantly avaricious for her own good sometimes- then that’s likely myself.” He held out a hand for her to shake, smirk turning into a seemingly pleasant smile. “Jahthrek Malor. Is there something I can help you with?” Probably a lot more civilized and well-mannered than she had expected, not that he knew that yet.

@eyes-for-justice

At first, there seemed to be no malicious intent from the mysterious entity as they extended his hand towards Robin. Still, she could not afford to lower her guard for a single second. “Yes, I met her…” She responded, then returned Jahthrek’s gesture of courtesy. He at least seemed to know how to make a potential customer at ease. “So you’re the one, huh? Pleased to meet you, Mr. Malor. I’m Daraen. I came looking for you because I sometimes find Anna’s articles to be somewhat overpriced, so I’m looking into other options…”

The more she could convince the entity to converse, the more she was able to glean information from his aura: her suspicions on his demonic nature were confirmed, and no spells or hexes seem to have been employed to mask his appearance or cause an attraction towards him. A certain side of the white-haired young woman did seem to be quite drawn to his strong, muscular appearance, however, but she could not let it show.

“Daraen, hm?” Jathrek seemed to muse upon her name for only the briefest of seconds, though internally, there was much more going on. It wasn’t the clumsiest or worst alias he’d ever come across, yet Robin had done nothing to disguise herself. She probably should have if she wished to remain incognito to some degree. It wasn’t as if even her appearance wasn’t well-known enough through most of this land. Not that she stuck out any more than he did, considering he wasn’t exactly a normal human, nor did he bother to disguise himself either. Business was business, and up-front honesty usually built good trust in customers...and led to returning shoppers as well as good word-of-mouth to encourage others to seek him out regardless of appearance. He’d generated enough goodwill that he could walk relatively freely, at least among this particular town.

“Well, I’ll see what I can do for you price-wise. What do you happen to be looking for in terms of wares? One snap of my fingers once you tell me what you’re after, and I can show you what’s in my possession.” He put three of his fingers on his right hand together as if to ready himself for he request...though truth be told, he was a lot more interested in her body right now than selling her something. But maybe, if she found he was just as trustworthy as he appeared to be (which he was), one thing might lead to another? 

As soon as reports about a wealthy and powerful merchant had spread all across Ylisse, a small contingent of Chrom's army was sent to ascertain the situation. Of that contingent, their tactician was the only one to enter the inn in which the target had been sighted. Had things gone awry, she would have signaled his comrades to intervene, so she was relaxed.

It didn't take long to find the objective, clearly standing out among other guests: his strong physique, his confident demeanor and his general appearance were not of a mere merchant, but... Was he a demon? Such a beast could not be let run amok, causing grief to the populace. She had to ascertain his intentions, first and foremost.

"Excuse me..." She spoke politely, trying to be as vague as possible as to not arouse suspicion. "I heard rumors of a wealthy merchant making the rounds in this area. Would you happen to know about him?"

Jahthrek's tail twitched the moment the tactician entered the room. Even before he saw her, he could...feel something different about whoever stepped in. There was something there, something...not exactly evil, but dark at the very least that he could sense. Perhaps it was something that lay underneath the surface, something that wasn't immediately apparent. Once he turned to look at her, however, it became apparent why.

Robin was rather well-known to just about everyone around here, as well as what had happened to her and who she truly was. Of course, that blood and power that had been latent within her was no longer a threat, but there was still at least a trace of it left...a trace that was to never be awakened again, however. But by the Abyss, she was sexy. There was a certain kind of 'business' he'd just love to conduct with her...so long as she was interested, of course.

At the moment she'd approached him, he'd been talking with a couple other patrons, laughing along with them about something relatively unimportant until she spoke to him. He greeted her with a thin little smirk. "Well, unless you're referring to that Anna lady- I met her the other day, by the way, charming woman, if a bit too blatantly avaricious for her own good sometimes- then that's likely myself." He held out a hand for her to shake, smirk turning into a seemingly pleasant smile. "Jahthrek Malor. Is there something I can help you with?" Probably a lot more civilized and well-mannered than she had expected, not that he knew that yet.

@eyes-for-justice

[i-cant-sing]

Yandere RE8: TRP Part 4

Part 1 is here.

Part 2 is here.

Part 3 is here.

Part 5 is here.

Check out my MASTERLIST for more!

"Uhh... hello?"

You looked at the woman standing in the stairs. She was wearing a dark veil that matched the rest of her outfit- oh shit, that's a funeral outfit.

I really did pick a bad time to come here, didn't I? She's in mourning, she sees an intruder, and her day went from bad to worst. Yep, she's gonna kill me.

You took one look at the woman and then at all the possible exits: the doors- no, they'd be too heavy to move and what if they're locked? The window- but I'd have to jump out and just because it looks cool in movies to jump through glass, doesn't mean it'll work, Y/n.

So, the only option was to eliminate the threat. Or maybe... defuse it.

"This is your doll, right?" You asked, pointing at the doll, judging by the lace designs on both of their dresses. The woman didn't reply. "It looks like its been... used a lot. To be honest, she's very different than most dolls I've seen, definitely a lot more spookier." You nervously giggled, hoping she didn't mind. "But... she looks like she's been loved. A lot. Despite being broken from a lot of places, someone still took their time to fix her." You smiled sadly, remembering your own doll that Mia had ripped. "Wish I had someone like that. To sew up the wounds and fix them."You mumbled, not really sure if you were talking about your doll or yourself.

"Your doll, she's- she's very pretty. My sister would've liked her." You began. "Which is why I'm here. My family, we were in an accident- I know it was wrong of me to come here without permission, but I need to find my sister, Rose and my father, Ethan." You took a step closer. "They both of have blonde hair. Rose, my sister, she's just 6 months old. She was dressed in a baby pink onesie, bundled up in a blanket. My father, Ethan, he's about this tall and has big blue eyes. I think he was wearing a jacket, with blue denim jeans. H-have you seen them?" You asked, eyes full of hope and voice laced with eagerness.

Please, please let her have seen them. God, please.

Unsurprisingly, the woman didn't reply, but she did turn her head towards the left window. You didn't know whether she was telling you to get out of her house or signalling that they are out there, but you knew you had to leave.

Nodding, you slowly walked towards the window, your heart beating faster as you prayed that this wasn't some sort of trap, hoping she wouldn't attack you from behind because that would be like... really shitty.

But you left the house unharmed, and without looking back at the window because you didn't want to jinx it, you walked towards the forrest once again, thankful that the sun had finally came out.

Where are you guys?

You had been walking for a couple of hours now, the sun had been a bit warmer today, which was good since you hated the snow that surrounded you now. You looked at the map, tracing the path to your new destination. The Salvatore reservoir. It seemed like it would take you a day's journey to get there, and you sure as hell weren't seeing any lake in sight.

God, when will this nightmare end?

You decided to sit on a stone and take some much needed rest. Your feet ached from all the walking, and your calves were cramping. You rolled your head, popping it from the side, before taking off the rifle that had been weighing down, stretching out your arms. Digging through the little back pack you bought from Duke, you pulled out a thermos of coffee and twinkie. You don't know how or where he got it, but Duke had filled your bag with a couple of snacks; saying its for his loyal customer.

So, here you sat, in the middle of the snowy woods, eating a twinkie and drinking a lukewarm coffee. Both didn't taste good, but they're gonna keep you alive so, no complaining.

After drinking the coffee, you rested your head against a tree, recalling last nights events as you waited for the caffeine to kick in.

You tried to make sense of what happened when you got... locked in the basement. You thought you had forgotten about her, Angel. Guess not.

Wait- didn't that lady lock me in the basement? Maybe, she didn't look very hostile, her creepy doll looked scarier than she did.

You laughed at the irony. You always made fun of the horror movies where the family would become so attached to the most horrifying doll, and you'd scream at their stupidity, And yet here you were, falling for the cliche as you found comfort in that creepy doll.

Man, I'm really losing it here.

You sighed, closing your eyes as you tried to come up with the next plan. But the warm coffee had lulled you right to sleep, which was dangerous but you were too tired to care.

Just for a couple of minutes...

You woke up to the sound of growling and heavy steps. And as soon as you opened your eyes, you knew you had definitely slept for far longer than a few minutes. But that was not of concern at the moment. No, it was the source of the growling that had woken you up.

Just about 40 feet away from you were lycans. Plural. Not one, not two, but 5 lycans, and one of them was a really big one.

You held your breath as you watched them wander around; they hadn't spotted you yet, and if you stayed quiet, you hoped they would just go away.

Stilling yourself as much as you could, you watched them with wide eyes. One of them started to walk in your direction, it wasn't looking at you, which meant that it hadn't seen you, but he would if he kept on walking this way.

God, I know we haven't been on good terms, but like c'mon, you gotta give me a break. Please, I love you? Come on, you know this is not how I want to go.

You sent a silent prayer, and perhaps it worked, since the lycan suddenly turned the other way, joining its pack as they started walking deeper into the woods.

Slowly, you began to gather up your things, silently shoving them in your bag, one eye on the lycans and the other one making sure that you don't accidentally drop something that'd cause noise.

Fortunately, you didn't. You swung the bag over your shoulder, and took a step forward, careful not to step on any twigs.

Maybe God did love me. All that time in church-

THWACK!

You jumped back as a huge sheet of snow fell from the trees in front of you. You whipped your head towards the monsters and they all had stopped dead in their tracks. Slowly, one of them turned and if they hadn't heard the snow fall, they'd definitely heard the way your heart was about to burst out of your chest. Then, it growled.

Motherfucker.

You pulled out your gun just as the two of them began running your way. With a quick jump to the side, you dodged them and shot them two times each. Hearing your gun fire, the other two began running your way too, while the larger one stayed behind as it watched. This time, as you shot one of them, the other managed to kick you in the chest hard, throwing you against the rock. Luckily, you didn't hit your head, as you rolled and shot it dead.

Spitting out the blood, you looked back at the last lycan who had already started running your way. You began loading up your gun with trembling hands, but just as you aimed, the lycan took a giant leap and knocked the gun out of your hand.

Fuck.

The giant grabbed you by your neck, lifting you up high before throwing you across the ground. You wheezed, scrambling up to your feet as you began running away from it, its heavy steps following you. It roared angrily behind you, and that only made you ignore the burning pain in your chest as you ran faster.

But of course, God had decided to make you live a cliche horror movie, because you tripped over a fucking branch, making you fall on your stomach. You flipped over instantly, and saw your nightmare come true as the lycan jumped on you.

On pure reflex, you punched it square in the face, which you doubted hurt it more than it hurt you, if anything, the monster was momentarily perplexed, but that was enough for you to slip from under it.

But you were only able to take a few steps away when it suddenly grabbed you by your neck and lifted you up again, snarling as it began opening its mouth, revealing its razor-sharp teeth at you.

God, if you're hearing this, I'm converting to atheism because I did not need this today.

Looking at the horrifying lycan, you prayed one last time before you were eaten by it. Surprisingly, your life did not flash before your eyes, which you were kinda grateful for because you did not need to relive that before your death.

But that moment didn't came. No, what came were familiar moans of pain, and then the sound of a drill, followed by blood splattering on your face as the lycan was sliced vertically from the head to the toe by the aforementioned drill.

The lycan fell to the ground, revealing the pair of soldats that killed them and behind them a smirking Heisenberg, who rested against a tree, tipping his hat at you.

You were far too shocked to say anything, and after a few seconds, the man walked over to you, blocking the view of his monstrous creations just mutilating the lycans.

"So... that was a bit traumatising." He started, chuckling at your stunned face. "You okay, kid?"

What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck-

"Yeah." You took his hand, and he helped you up. You groaned at the pain, touching the tender side around the chest where the lycan had hit you. Yeah, you probably broke a rib.

Heisenberg helped you sit down on a tree stump. "Hmm, that bastard kicked you hard didn't it." Wait- "But that was a phenomenal punch you threw at it. Nearly made me burst out laughing."

"You were watching? Why the fuck didn't you come in before!"

He shrugged. "I just wanted to see if you could really handle yourself- which you were pretty good at, but then you lost your gun and it was kinda an unfair match from there on." He pulled out some pills from his coat. "i was just passing by when I saw those lycans moving away. Thats when I pushed the tree which made snow sheet fall and you know the rest from there on."

Your eyes went wide. "You did that on purpose? What the shit, Heisenberg-?! Fuck." You doubled over in pain, clutching your ribs, heaving.

"Shh, stay still, kid. Here, take these. They'll help with the pain." You eyed the bottle before popping two in your mouth. Hey, if he wanted me dead, he wouldn't have saved me from the lycan. "I just wanted to see if you were worth the trouble, and as it turns out, you are."

"You didn't have to almost kill me to see that. And now I've lost my gun. And I don't have any money to buy a new one. I doubt Duke gives freebies." You huffed out.

Heisenberg rolled his eyes. "God, you sure do whine a lot. Here-" He dropped a tiny pouch in your lap. "There's some coins in there. That should be enough to buy you a new gun. And for fucks sake, get a gun with more rounds! You don't have time to be loading a gun mid battle." He huffed. "So, where are you going now?"

You rolled your head from side to side. "Well, I went to the Beneviento house. Didn't find Ethan or Rose there. Now, I'm going to the lake."

"The lake? Huh, well if you survived Donna, then Moreau should be a piece of cake. You got the map? Let me show you the short cut, it's not far from here." You gave him the map and he showed you the directions.

"Where are you going then?"

"Mother Miranda called. Don't worry, I'll keep our meeting a secret." He then nodded at you. "Alright, I'm off now."

"Wait!" Your voice stopped him. "I don't know when I'll see Duke again. And I don't have gun, so what if another pack of lycans come?"

Heisenberg slumped his shoulders as he let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine. I gotta do everything by myself." He dog whistled and one of the soldats stopped maiming the lycan and ran to Heisenberg. "From now on, you're gonna listen to her."The soldat looked at you and nodded. "If she tells you to kill, you kill. If she tells you to die, you die. Follow her around and keep her safe." The soldat nodded. Then Heisenberg turned to you. "He's already dead, so don't worry about throwing him in danger. Oh and also, just take him into the sun every once in a while so that his engine can recharge. You'll know when he needs the sun."

You were baffled. "Wait, Heisenberg- how the- what the hell am I supposed to do with him?"

"Figure it out, kid. Think of him as a guard dog."

You looked at the soldat then at Heisenberg's retreating form, then back at the soldat.

"So..." The soldat stared at you. "You got a name?"

"Handsome." You nodded to yourself as you trudged, using the soldat's arm to support yourself. "That's what I'm gonna call you. Handsome. What do you think?"

The soldat was wearing a metal contraption over its eyes, so you couldn't really tell what it was feeling.

"Well, you don't seem to have any complaints, so from now on, you'll respond to the name "Handsome". Do you understand?"

The soldat nodded.

You laughed. God, the pain meds were either making me stupid or everything else funnier.

You looked at the map again. Just a couple of more minutes and then a right turn. And then you should see the lake- god, this map was confusing as hell.

"So..." you wondered what you should ask the cyborg. Oh right. "You seen Ethan? Blonde man, crazy big eyes. Or a baby, Rose?" The man shook his head no.

Sigh. What else could I ask him? What about how did he die? No, what if that's triggering? I can't handle a Terminator right now. And I don't think I should ask him about his past or anything that'll cause him to have a existential crisis. Ah! I've got it!

"Hey, how do you see?"

The soldat looks down at you for a few seconds then points at his metal contraption.

Wait- is that sarcasm?

You scoff. "Of course, you see with your eyes! I meant, with the whole metal thingy covering them, how do you- oh, there's this vision specs in them."

You smiled. "Hey, you're kinda like Cyclops, yknow-" you were cut off as Handsome suddenly pushed you to the ground, turning on his drill.

"Wait, shit- you don't have to be Cyclops! We can talk this out-" but Handsome was focusing on something else, and that's when you saw it. Two lycans.

Handsome ran and easily maimed them to pieces, I mean, you had to look away from the horrific scene midway.

The soldat returned five minutes later, covered in blood. He extended his hand and you reluctantly took it, letting him support you as you began walking again, your heart still beating like crazy.

But you calmed down when you finally reached the lake, the setting sun gave serene feel to the entire reservoir. You inhaled deeply before looking at Handsome. "Lets go down there." You pointed at the lake.

You were both sitting at the wooden broadwalk, your legs hanging off the ledge. You looked at the water, it wasn't crystal clear, but you could see some fishes swimming around, so at least it wasn't dangerous to life. You looked at Handsome, then at his drill and you realised he was still covered in blood. "Lets get you cleaned up, hm?" You said, pulling out a rag from your bag and dipping it in the cold water below. You began with cleaning up his drill, then dipping the rag back in cold water and cleaning his chest and his other arm.

"Good job back there, Handsome."You smiled as Handsome nodded. "Heisenberg was right, you are kinda like a dog. Hmm, I wonder if..." You tested your theory as you petted him on the head. "Good job, Handsome!" But the soldat only tilted its head in confusion.

"Hmm, perhaps not." You cupped the cold water in your hands and washed your own face, You looked at your reflection in the water. "You wanna go for a swim? I don't mind." Handsome shook his head. "Yeah, I'm not a fan of swimming either."

Handsome stared at you. You scoffed. "Oh so you pretend you don't understand what I say, but you want to hear the story? Fine, but I'm only telling you because it might be important later."

You both stared at the water as you began your story. "Well, when I was 15, I had snuck out of the house to go to a party. It was at this rich girl's house and I knew she didn't like me, but I was surprised when she had invited me to her place. Yes, a red flag I should've seen from miles ago, but I was young and dumb and desperate to climb the highschool social hierarchy." You chuckled. "Anyways, long story short, one of the guys there pushed me into the pool because I don't know if they thought it was funny to see me drown? By some luck, I managed to grab onto the pool ledge and pull myself up. I immediately left the party, embarrassed and cold and on the verge of breaking down. Then on the way back home, there was this car following me and then some weirdo catcalled me and tried to get me in his car. Now, scared for my life because I watched a lot of Criminal Minds, I ran all the way home, praying that he leaves me alone. I think he stopped when he saw a Range Rover following him, but I don't know. I just rushed back home." You sighed. "You know what happened next? I bursted through the front door, slamming it shut and I turn around to see my dad in the living room, looking surprised to see me. He stood up and looked me up and down and then said, "Y/n? You're drenched completely. And you're messing up the floor. You know what? Mia's in the bathroom right now, why don't you go upstairs and I'll clean up here. You know how she gets when there's water on the wood." And I was just so shocked, that I didn't say anything and went back upstairs. Once I was in the shower, that's when I broke down crying. I almost drowned, almost got kidnapped and my father was worried about me messing up the wooden floor? Hell, he didn't even ask me why I was coming home at midnight." Your tears fell into the lake, making small ripples. You chuckled, "God, I always wondered how tired he must've been from work that day to ignore all these visible signs of distress. I always hated his job, you know? They made him work way too much." You looked at Handsome who was looking at the lake. "Anywho, now you know I can't swim so, save me if I fall into this lake, okay?" He nodded.

You guys sat in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before a question popped up in your mind. "Handsome?" He turned his head towards you, only to see a mischievous smile on your face. "Are you seeing someone?" The man turned his back to the lake, making you laugh. "Ahh, so you like someone. Tell me, is it someone from the village?" The man further turned his head away from you in embarrassment. "Oh come on, tell me! Is it a girl?" He nodded reluctantly, making you punch his arm. "You dog! Does she know?" Handsome shook his head, making you smile. "Tell you what? As a payback for saving me back there, I'll help you get her. I'll be your wingman, Handsome, hm?" He nodded a bit enthusiastically.

"We all deserve good things, Handsome. No matter how we look, or what we are, these things don't really define one's self worth. Its our intentions, you know?" Handsome didn't know, but he nodded anyways.

"Good. Now, lets go check out this place. Keep an eye out for Ethan and Rose, okay?" You told him, not knowing someone was already watching the two of you.

So... thought?

What did you guys think about Handsome? I'm gonna post a pic of him soon if you guys want.

Part 5 is here.

[baek-z]

Happy holiday exchange to @rymyanna! I really wish I finished this earlier, and I am very sorry for that… Maybe this little piece will bring you some happiness as we start New Year! I had a great time writing, even if I have never written a whole fic in English before so thank you for giving me that opportunity. All in all, a little bit late but I hope that every single one of your wishes comes true in the future!

The first idea was explaining to Mobei-jun what Christmas was but it sort of took a different turn.

❅❅❅

An abundance of snow was nothing unusual in the Northern Desert, and it was not the first time it snowed in the human realm nor on An Ding Peak. Mobei-jun was sure of that, as he himself witnessed such weather more than once since he’d made Shang Qinghua’s acquaintance… Therefore, it made little sense for said peak lord to be as excited about previous night’s snowfall as he was. What was even more unusual, were quiet words about regretting for the first time in his life that he couldn’t take part in something that he referred to as “Christmas”. That quiet wish was murmured in the early hours of the morning with a serene expression filled and gaze filled with unusual longing as Shang Qinghua gazed towards the white-covered ground outside… Before Mobei-jun could ask him about that, the man startled, realising the demon also awoke. The human pointedly acted as if he never opened his mouth in the first place, so his husband was unable to learn more.

At times it was frustrating, that the man still acted as if he couldn’t ask Mobei-jun for things, as if they weren’t together, as if it wasn’t given that the demon would at least try to make his wishes come true — whatever they were. Had he not shown Shang Qinghua with an endless supply of pulled noodles and indulgence in place of old-forgotten violence?

Mobei-jun knew that, if Shang Qinghua decided something, he wouldn’t change his mind easily. That, however, didn’t mean all his options were lost… asking seemed to be way below his status but so had been many things he’d done for his husband. That only left a question of whose help he ought to seek.

While humans and demons were surprisingly alike, their customs couldn’t be more different so asking anyone of his or Luo Binghe’s subjects seemed pointless. That left cultivators from Cang Qiong Mountain but amongst them, Shang Qinghua was easily the most eccentric one so, in the end, only one option remained — Shen Qingqiu was the only human who could truly be considered close to Shang Qinghua. They were even able to communicate in some weird language that sounded different to everything Mobei-jun’d ever heard…

Qing Jin Peak lord was well-versed when it came to understanding Shang Qinghua. It wouldn’t be the first (nor probably the last) time that Mobei-jun had to pay him a visit, but it didn’t stop him from feeling awkward. Still, if he wanted to get to the source of his husband's weird behaviour, the demon had no choice but to hurt his pride a little in the process.

❅

“He said ‘Christmas’?” Shen Qingqiu quickly schooled his expression into something impassive, but Mobei-jun knew him for long enough to recognise surprise and a little bit of embarrassment. Well, awkwardness aside, at least he seemed familiar with the name, so the journey wasn’t for nothing.

“Only that he wished to spend Christmas together,” Mobei-jun answered, cold and indifferent as always. A deep sigh coming from the peak lord was an answer on its own.

“Christmas is not…,” Shen Qingqiu stated after a moment of stunned silence. Even in his own home, he appeared to be out of his element, trying but clearly failing to find his way about Shang Qinghua’s wish. “Let’s just say… it’s almost like a festival for couples.”

Shen Qingqiu didn’t seem too interested or excited but Mobei-jun could never understand him all that well so this time he also didn’t know whether that reaction was a good or a bad one… One thing for sure — that festival had to happen, with how nostalgic Shang Qinghua sounded in the morning.

“Given everything, it’s probably best to spend it indoors, but you can still make the atmosphere fitting. You’ll also need something to gift him…”

And thus, over a pot of fragrant tea, a plan has been made and while human courting rituals were still confusing and preposterous, Mobei-jun was one step closer to making that small wish come true.

❅

Big festival was out of the question, both, because it would be too preposterous to explain Christmas to everyone and because it would take longer. On top of that, the less people knew, the less it was possible that they spoil the surprise for Shang Qinghua. Small celebration, however, did not mean that Mobei-jun hadn’t had a lot of things to prepare. The plan Shen Qingqiu helped him put together had three main steps that he had to follow before Shang Qinghua finished his duties for the day. Fortunately, Shen Qingqiu’d promised to keep him busy for as long as he could earlier, so the demon would have just enough to finish all the steps before his husband came home.

❅

Following a plan was always easier than acting without one. Especially, when it came to unknown customs and even more when you had to decorate a place with only a quickly drawn painting as your guide. Mobei-jun had not expected this Christmas thing to be easy to organise but even finding a proper pine tree had taken way more time than he would have liked. It had to be small enough so it could fit inside a house, yet big enough to be able to make an impact.

There had been countless trees covering the slopes of Tian Gong mountains, and yet, the task of finding one that fit all the requirements ended up spending almost all Mobei-jun’s patience. How much easier it was when he only knew how to communicate with Shang Qinghua with his fists! Beating up was natural… carrying a tree into his sitting room was not.

And that had only been the first step! Setting it up was not even the hardest part!

As much as it’d hurt his pride to ask Shen Qingqiu for help, he was glad to find a whole box of night pearls on a low table. Mobei-jun couldn’t help but grimance as he took one pearl out, only to put it back inside. Why on all realms did he have to decorate that ostentatious greenery that has overtaken half of the sitting room?!

He had never heard of a cut pine tree having any significance! Why couldn’t they just enjoy the scenery as everywhere around them were trees covered in a soft layer of white snow?

Shen Qingqiu had been quite adamant that they needed to have one inside and, as he was the one with knowledge about Christmas festival, Mobei-jun didn’t really have a choice other than to heed his words. The decorating part, however…

Squashing down frustration, Mobei-jun decided to leave the pearls as they were and only relied on his powers to frost the endings of evergreen foliage. If Shang Qinghua wanted that tree decorated, he would have to do so himself. The demon would not waste any more time!

Tapping into his powers easily allowed him to transform the interior into something more resembling of his palace in the north where walls were built out of solid ice. This house would only need a little layer of frost here and there, and maybe a few icicles glittering with sunrays or candleflames. It took mere seconds for ice to take over the sitting room. The temperature dropped drastically, but Shang Qinghua was an immortal cultivator… he should survive anyways!

❅

Fortunately, third item on Mobei-jun’s list was way more reasonable compared to the tree and decorations. Food was, after all, a big part of daily life and special celebrations as well. The only stressful moment was when Sheng Qingqiu started muttering something weird. Mobei-jun seriously worried he would be done with humans and their antics for at least a century. In the end, the human settled on way more acceptable dinner choice: pulled noodles. They were Shang Qinghua’s favourite since forever. Mobei-jun knew because his husband rarely asked for things and that one, timid request for food marked the beginning of their lives together, so he had made them many more times after.

Soon enough, the whole house filled with rich aroma. Two filled to the brim bowls were laid on the table, waiting for the moment Shang Qinghua came back home.  

❅

It didn’t take a long time for the An Ding’s peak lord to arrive. As he slid the door to his quarters open, he shouted out, a harshly sounding word in that weird language of his. His widened eyes and open mouth were not a very elegant expression, but Mobei-jun wouldn’t berate him for that. After all, that clear surprise soon turned into delighted squeak, as Shang Qinghua came inside, and it was a reward on its own.

“Did you… how did you…”

“Shen Qingqiu helped,” Mobei-jun answered the unspoken question. His tone flat and almost disinterested. As if he wasn’t holding a thick blanket, blue and silver in colour, ready to cover Shang Qinghua’s shoulders as soon as the man stepped closer.

Mobei-jun had to drop the material to the ground, because within seconds he had his arms full of a certain, teary-eyed cultivator.

“You didn’t have to…”

“You wanted it.”

After all, making Shang Qinghua happy was not all that difficult. And Mobei-jun could maybe, just maybe, understand what humans saw in the whole Christmas ordeal, as they ended up cuddled together, talking, and gazing at the room bathed in soft glow of Night Pearls.

(And yes, in the end the great and powerful demon lord was coerced into helping his husband to decorate a christmas tree.)

❅❅❅

The first idea was explaining to Mobei-jun what Christmas was but it sort of took a different turn.