It was funny how quickly you could get used to something. Like… going for a stroll with your horse on the island, only to find yourself staring up at the high towers of Pirkstein Castle with your feet in the mud and the chattering of a familiar bathmaid nearby.

The sun on his face, as if winter had never come.

“Well, Pebbles,” Henry said, as he turned to his horse. ( I suppose that's just the way of break weeks for us, then. )

[[ nfb, nfi! taken from Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018) as always. ]]

It was the second-to-last Sunday of the year, and likely the last Sunday night date night of the year. Maybe that could've called for something special, in a fancy kind of way, but Octavia had felt like it called for something comfortable. Soft clothes and easy food. The island appeared the agree with the former, what with the freely provided snuggies - not that Octavia was currently wearing hers, but she was definitely going to keep it, likely much to the delight of her partners.

As for the food, she'd ordered in from a Greek restaurant and bakery on the mainland. It was a little heavy on the pita and the dips and spreads, and also various little pastries that were more on the dessert side of things - but what was more comfortable than finger food? Especially when you had a good coffee table to spread it all out on while lounging on the couch.

Well, lounging mostly on the couch, slightly on Lucifer's lap. As you do. "I'm not getting in your way, right?" Octavia rasped, as she leaned lazily (by Octavia standards) towards the table to pick up another bit of pita.

[ooc: For the one, duh.]

The reasons for the disguise were somewhat muddied at this point, but Gregorith still normally felt more comfortable when out and about with it on. Today he was amused by the notion of a big scary demon wearing a snuggie so he decided to forgo the disguise.

Though he was wearing it backwards because he just found it easier to do things that way.

There was cocoa and coffee in case people needed help warming up if/when they came in.

Seasonal greetings, Fandom, and happy holidays! For your final days before and into Christmas, here's advent:

Monday, December 22nd: It's raining tinsel, everybody.
Tuesday, December 23rd: Gremlins go door to door, singing carols!
Wednesday, December 24th: Commence the snow! Also, the air is made up of about 7% cinnamon - just enough to make everything smell nice.
Thursday, December 25th: Everyone wakes up to a small present! Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, just that one little thing you've been thinking you should get but haven't because you forget or it's never quite cheap enough to buy in the moment when you see it in the store...

Kitty expected things to get quiet over the next week or so, so she made a point of getting everything printed up early so she could post flyers around town before then. She loved this party, people needed to know that they should attend.

Even if she had a group of caroling snowmen following her. You know what

NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY
@ Caritas
@ Wednesday, December 31

Come ring in the new year with friends and drinks and considerably less glitter than previous years!

Dressing up is encouraged but not mandatory!

And honestly she was sort of impressed that the snowmen knew "jingle bells, Ratman smells."

[Open if you want to catch her!]

No, you see--yes, it is Saturday, but I did this yesterday, and so I thought I might be allowed to sleep in today...ah, well. No rest for the wicked, I suppose.

Good morning, dearest listeners, and welcome to another day's news courtesy of our drunken squirrel friends! I remain Miss Lydia Bennet, here to share with you all of yesterday's happenings that the squirrels bothered to notice. Let's crack on with it, shall we?

At the school, Driver's Education drove sleighs and Weather and Storms discussed what they'd learned over the semester. I've nothing from the dormitory, sad porg is sad, on to the town, where Mr. Henry of Skalitz was hard at work at the forge, whilst at Needful Things Dr. Quinn made the most of her temporary antlers by decorating them--oh, brilliant idea, I wish I had thought of doing that--and was joined by Dr. Isley for luncheon. Miss Skywalker was hard at work in her warehouse, whilst Mr. Rand stopped by to visit the Perk, and finally, things at The Devil's Nest were appropriately festive, with Mr. Morningstar playing holiday tunes upon the piano. How lovely! Until next week, dear listeners--and do try to provide me with some gossip by then, hmm? Farewell!

We haven't done this since April 2023 and I have one I'm particularly proud of, so show us your journals-in-waiting or -in-maybe! Or even journals that you made and have no plans to play, but the name was too good (don't lie, you've been there). All the journals!

Pop in your potential future journals and show everyone you might play off! Encourage and enable those characters that you see and you want others to app! Have fun!

There weren't any cars for this final class. Oh no, that'd be too easy! Instead there was just a big sleigh. Because holidays.

Because holidays.

And Jane was looking deeply put out by the reindeer antlers sprouting from her temples as she looked over at it. "Well, today's our last class of the year."

Cara was doing her best to pretend she wasn't sprouting a (second) magnificent rack of her own. "We'll be teaching something a bit less fast paced next semester."

"And, despite all attempts to the contrary, the island has decided our final will be pulling a sleigh." Of course it did. "I'm sure it's not too hard."

Said the woman with superpowers.

"We have a volunteer to demonstrate." Despite being completely artificial, NPCakin did not look happy to be here.

Jane looked dubious about that one. "Try your best, okay?"

Honestly, Cara didn't look that much more confident. "And remember, at least you're not also wearing bells."

Rey had been spared the Fandom weirdness for once, which was good for her because she thought that after months, she'd finally figured out how to deal with the popups on the obstacle course and it was easier to do that without hooves.

And she was trying to ignore the noise as she considered the course, because the woodchucks had not been spared the weirdness and they were fighting with their antlers like actual reindeer so that was gonna be a thing today.


[Open!]

No, I--you seem to be confused; today is Friday, not--oh, just give me the notes. There's no use arguing with you; I have certainly learned that.

Good morning, everyone, and it is I, Miss Lydia Bennet, here with all the squirrelly news of yesterday to report. My request for gossip does not seem to have been indulged, but we shall muddle through regardless, starting with the school, where Food Adventures explored India and its many spices and baking class made biscuits, which you Americans insist upon calling 'cookies.' At the library, Miss Belle had quite a lot of latkes, which seemed to be a common occurrence yesterday, I must say.

I've nothing from the dormitory, but in town Lord Thor advised...someone to pass all of their students at the Devil's Nest, and further abroad the Supper Club visited a Christmas market in Baltimore. You do know you're all welcome to join us any Thursday on one of our little adventures, I do hope! That brings me to the end of my notes, so I shall bid you farewell until--well, probably until tomorrow. We shall see.

Thor thought he was pulling off the antlers, really. The hooves were another matter. It was perhaps for the best that Blake was not the one present in reality today; combined with his existing issues the outcome might have been poor, especially on the steps.

"This is our last class together," Thor told his students. "You have all been exemplary. Please tell the class something you have learned about the weather this semester, and then you may go." As finals went, it was not strenuous, but he was hardly an accredited teacher.

There wasn't much of note going on at the Nest today, truly. Lucifer was seated behind the piano, playing some Christmas classics and singing along. Lights had been strung along the ceiling to create an ambiance. And Tiny...

Well, Tiny, and his antlers, and his hooves, was standing by the bar, a red nose firmly affixed to his face that blinked every-so-often, for effect.

[[ I have been able to do nothing all day creatively but stare at DC solicits and mutter 'Mayor Pamela Isley' over and over again to myself, hi. open! ]]

So, Harley had sprouted reindeer antlers on her pretty little head. Majestic ones, to boot! Which, sure, had been kind of a pain in the ass for maneuvering around her apartment with, at first, but she'd made it work! 'Cause, look, she even eventually made it down into her store!

Where she then got to work on stealing some of the store's more Christmas-y wares to see which worked best as antler accessories. Maybe a festive garland, and a couple of nice glittery ornaments...?

Bruce, lounging on an antique couch, watched on with some level of wariness.

(open!)

The clopping at the Perk was kind of distracting, in that fuzzy, familiar way that let Jack know immediately that he was--

Well, not home. But somewhere he'd lived for a very long time.

He didn't have any particular goal in coming here - unless you counted the big sugary coffee that he picked up at the counter - but it felt like... a healthy thing to do? A way to stretch his limbs, after months confined to the same place? He sat down at a seat by the window, mainly just to people watch. See how many people had gotten hit by this particular brand of Fandom whimsy.

He'd probably be heading home again in a couple of hours. But for now, he was here, and his head was strangely, comfortably quiet.

[[ open ]]

Henry had almost not come into the forge that morning. All the other madness, he'd largely been trying to take in stride, but growing hooves was the sort of thing that made a man wonder if he'd been to church enough in his life.

In the end, he opted for a small detour to said church, which was empty but at least-- churchy.

And now he was back here, attempting to ignore the clomping sound his feet made every time he moved around. He was just... just going to focus on the fire.

(Oh Lord, would he have to make himself horseshoes?)

[[ open ]]

Latkes were delicious. And it turned out that opening doors to cupboards and cabinets resulted in fried potatoes just as well as opening large doors did.

Belle, subsequently, had a lot of latkes.

Not as many as the gremlins did, of course. She was certain under some of them had found previously non-existent doors to open. How else could they have amassed so many.

At least they shared their sour cream and applesauce.

Did the class look a little like the inside of a gingerbread house?

Yes.

Were the teachers thrilled about it? Also yes.

"It's nice when the holiday weirdness links up with things," Tony said cheerfully. "Welcome to your last class with us this year. Today we're just making cookies."

"And not s'mores." Paul Hollywood had dented Captain America's optimism. Which, honestly, felt like a declaration of war or something.

"So, let's get baking," Tony suggested. "You can use the cookies as gifts, maybe."

"You've all really improved," Steve said, nodding.

Reds and blues and yellows drifted across the cab windows, filtering in and out of Jack’s vision like splotches of paint on an empty canvas. It had been weeks since the show, longer still since he and Dane had figured out their poodoo in this latest round of jam-your-trauma-edges together.

And life, well, life had a way of fading in and out of focus. One minute everything was acute, a crisis. Then, for days, it blended together in a soup of gigs, odd jobs, recording studios, prep for community Christmas parties and Sunday morning coffees on a ratty sofa and light-hearted arguments about whether to cut vegetables.

Then, before you knew it, you were here: in the back of a cab, speeding back to your crappy apartment in the middle of the night, your partner sprawled in the back seat with you with his eyes set hazily on the pavement and your eardrums muffled by the loud bass of a party you'd already left.

“I don’t know why I’m so exhausted,” Jack said, watching red drift into blue; the back of his head tickled with the sensation of a thousand lives whizzing past, hidden behind old brownstones. New York’s blood pressure was up, he thought distantly. ( A moment in liminal space. )

[[ establishy. nfb due to distance ]]

I feel like I'm forgetting something.

"It is probably nothing."

Or like the universe mixed something up or...something.

"Everyone feels like that this time of year."

Everyone feels like that in the week between Christmas and New Year. It's not then yet.

"Still, my point sta--"

Shit, my final!

Oh. Well. Yes, that was a significant thing to forget. "Give them all As and be done with it," Thor proposed.

Specials
Mulled Wine
Poinsettia

The Devil's Nest is open!

(This post brought to you by my somehow posting Raiden's class yesterday instead of Don's. Whoopsie.)

The Supper Club would be doing something a bit different this week: visiting a local Christmas market! Lydia thought it sounded quite fun, with all sorts of interesting shopping and delicious treats. She hoped everyone would enjoy it, and weren't too stuffed from the island's latkes.

Welcome to Supper Club, everyone!

I know this is a place where food just falls from the sky, but have you considered not eating the closet pancakes?

*chittering*

I don't know why I even asked. just...notes.

Finals week continued up at the School, with Space Pirates, Pirates In Spacebeing attacked by 'enemies', while in the Library Arden had to deal with pryomaniac gremlins and Gray telling her about Raiden's missing meat.

The Dorms were quiet, while in Town, Gray was anti-candle at Over Easy, while Adrian was pro-candle and pro-cookie at Pick Your Posion. Rey and Pam both got cookies, though only one of them also got kisses.

It was a good thing the candles didn't seem to be able to burn anything, because Gray had had...a few close encounters with them already. It did turn out they could drop wax on your face, though, but that peeled off.

Although it did take hair with it.

He and that bit of his left eyebrow didn't want to talk about it.

Also, he couldn't believe Christmas was barely a week away! He so wasn't ready for it to be over! This was stupid Thanksgiving's fault for being so late this year, ugh.

Will It Waffle? Wednesday Specials
Peppermint Waffles
Hot Cocoa Waffles
Gingerbread Waffles

Over Easy is open!

"Sorry about last week," Raiden told his students. "I was a dog." It was none of you's first day in Fandom, so he didn't feel like he needed to expand on that. "This week is our last week together! The semester really flew by, huh? There's so much more food out there...but we'll save that for another semester. Next semester, if you're a kitchen disaster or you just need to brush up on your skills, I'm teaching a cooking class! It'll be fun! I hope.

"Last time I taught this class, we went to India for our last class, and when I thought about all the great food we haven't tried yet, I decided, why not repeat a banger? So we're going to Delhi, the capitol of India, home to over twenty-eight million people and the second-largest metropolitan area in the world after Tokyo.

"Now, Delhi has a strong Punjabi influence, but because it's the capitol people from all over India have come here, so there are other influences from all over the country, which means you can find all different kinds of Indian food here--and yes, there are different kinds of food, because India actually has a lot of different cultures and languages. A lot of the food in India is vegetarian, due to strong local religious influences, but we'll also be trying various meats today, and most of the food will be full of spices, because they're plentifully available in this region--and they happily adopted ones that came from abroad, like the chili pepper--and they make things taste good. So, uh, I hope you're down with the chili pepper. Today we're gonna go on a food tour to experience as much as we can in as short an amount of time as we can, so let's go!"

Class was in the Danger Shop, and your teachers were actually there. Isabela stood at the wheel of the increasingly improbable star ship, and Aphra was making a show of looking though a pair of electrobinoculars.

"It's our last class today, and we've trained you well for our maiden voyage through the stars." Had you Isabela? Had you? "Luckily, it should be easy sailing."

As if very subtly prompted Aphra waved her hands and yelled "Enemy fleet to starboard!"

Was she going to elaborate on which enemy it was? No, Aphra had far too many to pick one.

"To stations, crew," Isabela declared. "They'll never take us."

Welcome to another Wednesday. Hopefully nothing is on fire. There are so many candles. So many. And so many squirrel tails in here with so many candles…

Right. Let’s start with the notes from the school. There was a snowball fight for Reclaming Your Childhood. Diplomacy had to deal with a fake and terrible party thrown by Anakin. I would expect a party from Anakin to be terrible. And then we had a meal open to everyone in my Dealing With Other People’s Trauma class. I have leftovers if anyone is hungry. Maybe I should ask Raiden…

And I have nothing from the dorms and the porg is not on fire yet and neither are any squirrels. Somehow.

And now, the notes from the town. Erasmus was judging the flamingos in the park. That seems fair. Arden was also judging them for being bullies. And Henry was taking his horse for a walk and Erasmus met the horse. Who is named Pebbles and did not bite. Kitty looked at the tiny town on Selkie Peak before heading to Caritas and dealing with Tino who was decorating the bull. Oh dear.

That seems to be all. Enjoy the candles. Try not to set anything on fire.