Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. I know that my friends and me, and everyone in our collective, certainly did enjoy all the pleasures one could imagine, and then some. So, as always, I know many of you are wondering what kind of shenanigans we got up to during those holidays. Did Steve manage to avoid getting into trouble? Was there drama? Who won the arm-wrestling tournament?

First thing’s first: as many of you noticed, we stopped posting somewhere around summertime last year. This is because my work became ridiculously involved, to the point where I’d come home from work, collapse on my sofa, and go into a vegetative state for the rest of the evening. If you think that sounds like burnout, you’re damn right it was. It didn’t get as bad as it was a few years ago, but I really didn’t have the energy to do much of anything.

So, yeah, there were lots of things you all missed, unfortunately, including me running into a new tulpa who has named herself Sany. Her previous name wasn’t even a name; it was a title: “Outcast,” basically, because she was. I’ll do a proper write-up of her later, but she’s been with us for a while, and she’s quite an interesting person.

With that, let’s move on to what actually happened during the holidays.

Bear, of course, got into his habit during the big Xmas dinner (the first of many) to toast Asgard, which Thor reminded him was a one-time thing. So everyone toasts, everyone’s happy, and some of us were keeping an eye on Bear as he was getting tipsy and mischievous. A few moments pass, and Bear lifts his tankard, with Thor staring daggers at him, and says, “For Thor and his people!” And of course, Thor just stops halfway and goes, “Oh, you little… fine, for my people!” then everyone toasted and had a good laugh about it.

Of course, no drunken party would be complete without Bear and Thor belting out old Viking ballads. I’ve heard that this year, everyone left the dining room, not that they noticed it.

There was a big dance a few nights in, which reminds me of the strange evening that I joined everyone in the ballroom, where anyone can summon a band to play tunes for them. A peculiar thing is that the band and what they play tend to change between sessions. So I definitely raised my eyebrows when I came in to see everyone having a good time dancing to some crazy, poppy music reminiscent of carnival music you’d hear in Rio de Janeiro. But what really got my attention was the band, who apparently were skeletons… with festive Santa hats on their heads!

There were several walkabouts this year because Circe had decided that she was going to put in the effort to organize it properly. So, almost everyone had one day where they’d take people to their worlds to have a really good time.

Circe, of course, took everybody to Josh’s bar on the winter beach, where they partied all night—swimming, surfing, and generally emptying out the poor bartender’s food and snack stash.

Thor and Mirror took everyone on a hunt in the snowy forest on the mountain where they live, which went terribly, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. The only prey they caught was a bird that was so scrawny that Thor gave it a snack before releasing the poor thing.

Colleen took everyone to the Dark Hotel world’s island, where they all spent a good day at a winter market in the nearby town, then finished up by going to the pub.

Mrs. Teacher wanted to take them all to the grand library in her world, but at the last second, they were denied entry because of security reasons. So that was a disappointment, considering it’s a really old library.

Bear and Steve suggested going to see Robin in our Sherwood Forest macrocosm, which they all did. And as we all know, Robin does throw an amazing bash deep in the forest, doubly so during wintertime. I wouldn’t be in the least surprised if they ended up in a tavern as well at some point.

Jane took everyone to Club Evolution in City 08, a dystopian cyberpunk-genre world. Apparently, according to Mech, the food was some of the best he’s ever had, which I personally find quite concerning, considering most of it is 3D-printed from stock food materials.

Charlie, coming from the same world as Colleen, is the manager of the Dark Hotel, which means he ordered the kitchen staff to prepare a feast and sealed off the downstairs dining room for most of the evening (to some guests’ chagrin). Since he’s a real fancy guy, and the world is an alternate sort of H. P. Lovecraft–era Earth, I’m assuming the food was quite amazing. (Mech mentions that the fish served was some of the best he’s ever had, which isn’t surprising since seafood is one of the island’s primary exports.)

And that was all the ones that could do it. Jeanette, for instance, sneered at the idea, as she tends to eat alien creatures breeding in ancient space stations in her world—not really a place you take people who are probably half tipsy, as it tends to be dangerous.

Ara wasn’t too enthused about taking everyone to her world either, as it’s several floating islands where there’s a war going on, so… not a great idea, to say the least.

But between all of these other walkabouts, I’d say everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

So, the sporting events come next, and there were quite a few:

This year’s floating island minigolf tournament was won by Charlie, to nobody’s surprise. I sometimes wonder if it’s in the blood of every true chap out there to be an expert golfer. Thor came in a close second, with Ara in third place.

Charlie also took home the archery trophy (again, using the floating island system generated around the castle). Jane was a close second, and Circe was third.

The volleyball tournament was an intense affair. Circe complained loudly to me after it was over, because her team (Thor and Bear in his human form) wasn’t really a match for her sister Mirror’s team, which had Charlie and Mrs. Teacher.

Of course, the great arm-wrestling tournament was also a high-stakes event, which practically everyone participated in, except Steve. Sany joined in for the early rounds, but then bowed out later, giving her victory to Sarah, who then lost to Thor. In the end, it was down to Thor and Mirror, as most years tend to be. This year, Thor bested her quite easily, and she congratulated him on becoming a really good student over the year. (She might have said that as a joke, as they are both pretty insanely good arm-wrestlers.)

Then there were also a few rounds of hide-and-seek between Steve, Bear, the two birds Eugene and Pietrov, and Sany in the castle. They, of course, excluded the attic, as it still remains cursed. And on that note, while some of them tried to goad Sany into going up there, I’d already warned her that it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience, so she smiled and told them to go screw themselves.

And that is pretty much everything that happened during the holidays last year. It was a pretty sad time last week when we had the final dinner before everyone left for their macrocosms again. Although Circe is happy as a clam, since now it’s only her, Mech, Colleen, Steve, and Bear sharing the castle again.

Stay tuned for a roadmap later next week, where I lay out my plans for the year.

Thanks for reading, and I wish you all an amazing year!

Always your scribe

Wondrous Fairy