#cherry lane challenge

[daisy-punk-enterprises]

Scenes from a Hat July Challenge 2: Tiffany + Stoney Clover Lane + Cherries

[twistedberri3z]

☀️Sims 4 : Fruity Days Challenge☀️

Welcome to the Sims 4 Fruity Days Challenge!

If you can’t guess. This challenge is about fruit. 

They don’t need to be red, green, blue etc.

The inspiration for this challenge actually came when my sim Iris’ mum Peach died hence the fact she lost her mum at a very young age. I don’t really know what came to me it was just a spark of inspiration 

You can use the gallery for items (When stated) 

You start out on 20000 simoleons

Please use #fruitydayschallenge when you play this challenge so I can see your sims!!

Generation 1 : Blueberry

You lost your mother at a very young age and you continue to mourn the loss of her. Your loved to sky gaze with your mother and you have always liked the color blue since. Your love for astronomy comes from your mother’s career and you want to follow in her footsteps and decide to follow on. You also have a weird loving for sad music and violins. 

Base Game Traits : Gloomy, Loner, Creative

DLC Traits : Gloomy, Socially Awkward, Creative

Career : Astronaut

Aspiration: Nerd Brain

Note : If you start in a legacy you are already doing it and not starting a new save. Move your Blueberry sim out as a teen! (It’s fine if you can’t!)

Rules : 

•Master Astronaut Career

•Complete Nerd Brain Aspiration 

•Build a rocket and woohoo your partner in it

•Visit Sixam if you have get to work

•Visit Geekcon (Requires City Living)

•Master Rocket Science, Handiness and Logic Skill

•Open up secret hatch in Oasis Springs

Places you can live

Base Game : Willow Creek - Live anywhere in courtyard lane

Get Together : Windenburg - Live anywhere in world

Generation 2 : Watermelon

Part 1 :

You loved to write, you had many journals as a kid and would always wake up around 2 am and moon gaze just to see what your parent was really interested in. When you became a teenager you wrote a book about your parent and all of her achievements in her career. You just love writing and another interest that comes in another part down below…

Part 2 : 

(REQUIRES GET FAMOUS EXPANSION PACK!!!) 

Nothing other than that and acting! Acting sure is a wonderful thing, to stand up to an audience and act! Except one problem... Your audience is a mirror… You didn’t really have time for your kid since you were so hooked into doing your writing you basically forgot about them and just hired a nanny or just relied on your mother. 

Part 2 : 

Base Game :

 Nothing other than Charisma. It’s an alright thing except your just talking to a mirror all the time… You didn’t really have time for your kid since you were so hooked into doing your writing you basically forgot about them and just hired a nanny or just relied on your parent.

Part 3 : 

(REQUIRES CITY LIVING EXPANSION PACK!!!) 

Just for the cherry on top, your a hopeless romantic. Everything for you just goes wrong in terms of love. You know that you hate romance but you know you have to get somewhere in life so you marry your love later on in life as an elder.

Part 3 : 

Base Game :

You never had good love lives. You had so many failed relationships, you began to loose hope on ever finding love again until you find someone who you truly love…

Part 4 :

(REQUIRES MY WEDDING STORIES GAME PACK)

You have always dreamed of going to Tartosa on vacation… You fall in love with someone on the beach and you marry happily as an elder… Happily Ever After? Hell no. You’ve got a rebellious person to look after. It’s called regrets of having a child.

NO BASE GAME PART 4

(No, you do not break the rules because of this it just means that you can’t do it.)

DLC Traits : Unflirty, Ambitious, Materialistic

Base Game Traits : Loner, Ambitious, Materialistic

Career : Writer

Aspiration : Best-Selling Author

Rules :

PART 1 RULES

•Have only one child

•Master Writer Career

•Complete Best-Selling Author Aspiration

•Master the Writing Skill

PART 2  (GET FAMOUS VER)

Master Acting Skill

PART 2 (BASE GAME VER)

Master Charisma Skill

PART 3 (CITY LIVING VER)

•Have 2 unsuccessful relationships before you settle in and marry as an elder!

PART 3 (BASE GAME VER) 

•Have 4 unsuccessful relationships before you settle in and marry as an elder!

PART 4 (MY WEDDING STORIES VER)

•Find and marry someone in Tartosa

•Marry in La Coppia Serena

Extra Rule : Wake up at 2am everyday and stargaze

Generation 3 : Plum

You were never cared for as a kid which gave you as much freedom as you needed to mess around with computers! You discovered around the age of 13 how to program and around 15 learnt how to steal money and hack. Your parent never found out as you always locked your door and they never came in anyway due to them being so hooked into their writing. You also never really did much and either lied in your bed or just hacked or played games that you were obsessed, not to mention you loved doing mischief so much you liked to break into people’s houses to clog stuff.

Traits : Lazy, Mean, Evil

Career : Tech Guru (start up-entrepreneur) Aspiration : Chief of Mischief

Rules : 

•Master Tech Guru Career

•Complete Chief of Mischief Aspiration 

•Master Programming, Mischief & Video Gaming Skill

Generation 4 : Pineapple

You grew around an environment that made people suffer and mean things and you just grew up to me that personified. You love to see misery and for some random reason you hate the colour red. You love breaking people’s hearts and love to have affection so your literally a human version of a devil.

You love stealing things, especially money…

Traits : Evil, Kleptomaniac, Romantic

Career : Criminal (Boss)

Aspiration: Public Enemy

Rules :

•Master Criminal Career

•Master Charisma, Mischief 

•Go to every outing you can in opportunity to meet new people

•Romance every single person you know (except your family because that’s just gross or people who say “I’m flattered but I’d rather we just be friends”)

Generation 5 : Pomegranate

Ok look, your mother doesn’t like pomegranate’s or the color red so she doesn’t like you, basically for context of this, the person in the video is your mother : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6oN5p5opst8 Other than your crazy mother you love art and cooking more than anything in the world (apart from your lover of course!!!) You also had a random thing to swim.

Traits : Art Lover, Foodie, Creative

Career : Painter (Master of the real)

Aspiration : Painter Extraordinaire

Rules : 

• Master Painter Career

• Master Painting, Cooking Skill

• Reach Fitness Level 3

• Master Painter Extraordinaire 

Generation 6 : Kiwi

PART 1 : 

DLC VER : 

(REQUIRES DISCOVER UNIVERSITY EXPANSION PACK)

You always seem to have the giggles and are just generally silly. You have always considered taking the career path of a teacher so you can be as silly as the kids are! You love alternative teaching methods to help your kids! Your dreams are to become a comedian but you can’t because your a teacher. You quit your career to become a comedian (mid-life crisis much so??)

PART 1 : 

Base Game : 

You always seem to have the giggles and are just generally silly. You have always considered taking the career path of a social media star so you can see what the kids are doing and want to become a social star! Your dreams are to become a comedian but you can’t because your a teacher. You quit your career to become a comedian (mid-life crisis much so??)

MC COMMAND CENTER : PART 2

It’s too bad your end was miserable though… You cracked up a bit too much at one of your jokes and die of hysteria. 

NO PART 2 FOR DLC AND BASE GAME

Traits : Childish, Cheerful, Goofball

Career : Education / Social Media / Entertainer

Aspiration : Joke Star

Rules :

PART 1 DLC : 

• Become a teacher and quit to become an entertainer 5 days into the adult lifespan.

• Complete Joke Star Aspiration

• Master Comedy, Acting, Charisma Skill

PART 1 Base Game :

• Become a social media star and quit to become an entertainer 5 days into the adult lifespan.

• Complete Joke Star Aspiration

• Master Comedy, Charisma Skill

PART 2 MCCC :

• Kill your sim of hysteria with the following down below

Maintain Sim / Kill Sim / Death by Laughter

ONLY DO THIS AFTER YOU HAVE FINISHED ALL THE REQUIREMENTS!!

Extra Rule : Your spouse must be cooking level 7.

SPOUSE RULE : Marry someone a life stage over your sim

Generation 7 : Peach

After you lost your parent things haven’t been the same. You had the most perfect life you could ever ask for, but your parent just tipped you over the edge and you decided to stay away from anything that your hysteric parent to avoid an unfortunate demise, because it terrified you. You like ghosts and like to speak to them, so much you decided to bring one of your ancestors into your home and invite them to live with you! Of course it would be weird but you decided to go along with it and mix it with your passion of cooking that you had picked up from your other parent who you loved to cook with because they are no longer here as well. One day you randomly decided to being your ancestor back to life, that would be cool right??? right… You decided you wanted to become a master chef (alright mini gordon ramsey?)

Traits : Foodie, Loves Outdoors

Trait Rule : Have your trait as cheerful and when Kiwi Generation heir dies use “cas.fulleditmode” to change it to gloomy.

Career : Culinary

Aspiration : Master Chef 

DLC RULE

• Master the median skill

Normal Rules :

• Complete Master Chef Aspiration

• Master Culinary Career (Chef) 

• Master Cooking & Gourmet Cooking Skill

• Buy the mentor reward

AMBROSIA RULE :

• Bring back a ghost from the dead

YOU CAN USE THE GALLERY TO GET ANGELFISH, DEATH FLOWER!

• Buy a potion of youth from the rewards store 

GHOST : Your sim that was brought back to life your peach generation must mentor the sim to cook and reach level 6

Generation 8 : Lime

You had a stressful time growing up so you always went out on jogs and danced! You don’t like cooking. You always distanced yourself from your family and you had basically no relationship you like romance but you prefer to do athletic things. You had 2 kids and you looked after them, moderately…

Traits : Neat, Active, Loves Outdoors

Career : Athlete

Aspiration: Bodybuilder 

Rules : 

• Master the athletic skill

• Master Athletic Career

•Master bodybuilder aspiration

• Order takeout every time you need it (after previous generation dies)

• Have 1 failed relationship before settling in

• Have 2 kids

Generation 9 : Tangerine

You never really cared about your parent’s career you rather cared about working a boring 9 to 5 business job like your teachers told you that you would end up as and you took that on board a little bit to seriously and you have many friends and enemies in your lifetime!

You have always been clumsy since you were a little kid but you try to fail at things less.

Traits : Outgoing, Snob, Clumsy

Career : Business

Aspiration : Friend of the world

Rules :

• Make 30 friends and 13 enemies 

• Master Business Career

• Complete Friend of the world aspiration

Generation 10 : Cherry

You make friends with your parent’s enemies and you are the complete opposite of your parent. Your parent hated you for doing that and you argued very often over it. You live a very busy life and you accomplish a lot making this the longest generation possible because you wanted to make your mark much more than your ancestors did and mark your history with them! 

DLC TRAITS : Over-Achiever, Ambitious, Self-Assured

Base Game Traits : Perfectionist, Ambitious, Self-Assured 

Career : Freelancer

Aspiration : Big Happy Family

RULES 

•Master Charisma, Cooking, Gardening, Handiness, Logic, Mischief, Piano, Violin, Guitar Skill

•Complete Big Happy Family Aspiration

•Have a secret affair and have 2 kids with them without your spouse noticing

•Have 6 kids (including affairs kids)

•Have 6 failed relationships

•Become best friends with Peach Generation and bring them back into the household as a ghost and give her a gift of a death flower and bring them back to life and get the other ghosts of your ancestors and get peach to bring them ALL back to life!

•Have all the generations work to help raise your kids and grandkids

• Have atleast 3 grandkids before you die

You can use 3 potions of youth MAX for this generation (on the adult stage only,  only FROM THE REWARD STORE!)

•You get angelfish and potions of youth (not for your own use) from the gallery 

•Grow 9 death flower’s for your generations

[gacmediadaily]

We’ve got an early Christmas present for Candace Cameron Bure fans.

TVLine can exclusively reveal the title, premise and first photo from Bure’s annual Great American Family Christmas movie. Premiering in November as part of the network’s “Great American Christmas” slate, A Christmas Less Traveled stars Bure and Eric Johnson (Rookie Blue, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin) and centers on a down-on-her-luck proprietor who embarks on a life-changing road trip. The official logline reads as follows:

The Dine and Dash Diner has a stack of mounting unpaid bills, forcing its owner, Desi (Bure), to sell her beloved, mint condition, cherry red 1964 Ford F-100, a gift from her deceased father. As Desi visits the vintage truck one last time, she discovers a recorded message from her dad on an old audio cassette. Desi’s dad’s voice sends her and ‘Old Red’ out to retrace her family’s most memorable moments one last time. Just as the journey begins, Desi meets Greyson (Johnson) who offers her a generous payment in exchange for a ride to ‘close the most important deal’ of his life. Little do Desi and Greyson realize the less traveled road will reveal more about each of them than they could have ever known.

Bure serves as an executive producer on A Christmas Less Traveled — a Syrup Studios production in association with Bure’s CandyRock Entertainment.

“A Christmas Less Traveled gently challenges us to truly embrace every moment we share with our families, friends and loved ones,” Bure says in an exclusive statement to TVLine. “It reminds us that forgiving ourselves and others is the pathway to set ourselves free.”

Adds Great American Media president/CEO Bill Abbott: “Filmmakers have been inspired by road trips for as long as movies have been made. In A Christmas Less Traveled, viewers will go on a scenic journey with our characters to celebrate Christmas in communities and with acquaintances, treasuring every heartfelt moment of discovery or remembrance in a vintage vehicle that seems to magically know all the right places to stop.”

Bure previously executive-produced and starred in a pair of Great American Family Christmas movies: 2022’s A Christmas… Present and 2023’s My Christmas Hero. She also served as an EP on 2022’s Christmas on Candy Cane Lane (starring Full House’s Andrea Barber) and 2023’s A Christmas for the Ages (starring Natasha Bure).

Before A Christmas Less Traveled debuts in November, Bure will return to the network to headline another movie: The Ainsley McGregor Mysteries: A Case for the Winemaker, which is slated to premiere in September.

[bittermause]

End of Year Review 2023

It is currently Christmas Eve-Eve at the time of this writing, which can mean only one thing; The End of Year Review for 2023. These past three years held a lot of significant changes and growth for me, most of which I likely wouldn't have experienced had I remained in that horrible part of the mid-west. Despite the mass 'rona pandemic and the constant mental health battles/challenges, 2020-2022 were very good to me and I consider them the best years of my life.

2023 is a welcoming addition to that train.

The first major reason were the goals I set at the end of 2022, all of which were achieved without fail (to a point);

I continued making animated shorts, but only produced 2. However, this was a good glow up year for The Boris Blobinski Show! I got to manage a smaller production team, consisting of my talented friends, and together we banged out a beautifully animated episode!

I got my contact lenses! However I haven't really worn them since I left the optometrist's office. I still intend on using these for when I go swimming or to the spa, but I can see why some people aren't crazy about this option.

I finally got my hair dyed, and it wound up being a vibrant cherry red. Had it done back in March, and most of my hair is still pretty red despite the roots coming in.

Been losing a small chunk of weight still, which means I was able to convert to smaller shirt and pants sizes.

I did a lot more exploring this year! I finally secured my Californian rite of passage by visiting In-N-Out burger, discovered a couple awesome local bakeries, and went to the movies for the first time in years. First major achievement was going to Universal for the first time ever and visiting Nintendo Land! The second biggest crowning achievement was the daytrip to The Ventura Harbor in April, where I got to board a small wildlife sea cruise and witness dolphins, whales, sea lions and seals.

I got back to working on comics again, and produced two short stories for a larger collective that is still in production. Second major reason were the events that weren't planned out of the gate, but were absolutely welcomed;

I saved enough money to get a new desktop PC built. My friend from Colorado flew down and spent the week with me, partially to help get the PC built to proper standards and to also spend some quality time together in person.

I started freeway driving practice mid-year; taking smaller steps to feel more comfortable driving in the faster/wider lanes without having my PTSD invoked. I have a long way to go, but even driving within a 5 mile radius is still worth celebrating, especially since I've actively avoided freeway driving for most of my life.

My best friend is finally coming to visit me at the end of December! I have not seen them in person since 2016, and it will be their first time visiting my apartment space as well.

As far as plans for 2024 go, here's what I have on the docket;

I will be going to an actual jury duty selection at the end of January for the first time. (Exciting, I know!) I'm curious to see what the process is like, but I hope I can dismiss myself from the proceedings. (Respectfully, of course.)

I plan on hosting another friend visit me around the Spring/Summer.

I will be working on a very ambitious episode of The Boris Blobinski show that will take up most of the first quarter of my year.

I will continue my weight loss regimen as I have started back in 2021. As of this writing I am now down to 186 lbs. This is actually pretty close to my first goal, but I want to continue this trend until I hit between 135-140.

I still want to do more local travel and discover new venues. I'm eyeballing Downtown Ventura and will likely add a few more intended places to my list.

Attend activity based events like Life Drawing and other art related functions. As an artist, it's important I find different means to shake the rust off of my skills, and as a human I need to start making efforts in social connections again.

Continue freeway driving practice to the point where I can actually go beyond 5 miles comfortably.

Continue working on my one shot comics, see if I can at least produce two more stories before building a website/platform to host them all.

Outside of Boris Blobinski, I want to be more active in the animation space again and make a few more originals outside of that project.

Lastly, I want to look into Toon Boom Harmony official Certification. I've worked with the program for over 10 years, both for traditional hand-drawn animation and character rigging, and I would love to have that piece of recognition. Hell, I am not against the idea of applying as an instructor if I can get that far!

Of course I don't think I'll be able to jump into everything as intended. I know 2024 will also be met with some unexpected surprises, but I'll gladly welcome them all the same. And lastly, before we pull the plug on this, I want to thank everyone involved in my life that has made 2023 a fantastic experience. You know who you are.

[cienie-isengardu]

I feel like Titan Shang was actually watching Shang for a while so he could swoop in and recruit him and I wouldn't be surprised if he made Tarkat to cause instability and play the long game.

I feel like that moment in the game Shang is all sad could've actually been a moment of realization but Titan Shang interfered and fucked it all up. Maybe Liu Kang wrote that part in the blueprints of his timeline, ideally hoping that Shang would turn himself around.

I feel like Liu Kang was crossing his fingers hoping Shang would see the error his ways in being an snake oil salesman and that Shang wasn't this inherently evil to the core person but then Titan Shang completely destroyed the foundation of the plan as when it seemed like when Shang was actually at the lowest point and could've reflected, Titan Shang swoops in to undo this as if Shang tries turning his life around, he can't manipulate him for his goals.

It's kind of suspect the moment it looks like Shang could be having a moment of realization, Titan Shang is already on the scene mere seconds later.

We literally see a good version of Shang fighting Titan Shang Tsung so it's likely Liu Kang was hoping for something similar but then Titan Shang ruined the plan and threw everything off course and caused everything to veer into the wrong lane.

My general feeling about Titan Shang Tsung is that he did what he did not solely out of spite for Liu Kang but because after so many eons he was bored out of his mind. As a Titan, Shang Tsung achieved everything he could ever aim at and with no real challenge to keep him busy, I feel like he would jump at the chance to mess and conquer any timeline, just for the thrill of new challenge and proving himself to be superior. The fact it was Liu Kang’s era is just a cherry on top. Like he said himself:

It was eons before I discovered this. Once I did, I knew the path forward.

And really, why else Shang Tsung would discover there is a second timeline happening at the same time as his own, if he didn’t start to probe the time fabric in the first place?  I’m here for Shang Tsung messing everyone’s life because he was simply bored and you all will need to pry that idea out of my cold hands.

That said, I too feel like Titan Shang Tsung prepared himself well before he even reached out to his younger-self rather than jump on the first occasion to recruit him. Thinking about it more, we could even theorize it was Titan Shang Tsung that actually influenced events to push more and more MK1!Shang Tsung’s into misery, desperation and depression, so the man was easier to manipulate, as we know from story mode Titan Shang Tsung considered his counterpart to be “a poor facsimile [...]  made lesser by Liu Kang's meddling” and to be “pawn, no partner” he would sacrifice for his plans without blinking an eye. Frankly, maybe the whole dispute if Liu Kang was responsible for MK1!Shang Tsung’s poverty or not, should really turn into how much Titan Shang Tsung secretly influenced the events around his counterpart to shape him into someone more susceptible to corruption than he would be otherwise?

Personally I don’t think that in the prologue scene, Shang Tsung was even close to changing his ways. If anything, he sounded to me too bitter, depressed and too resigned to try a new, more honest approach to life. He himself described his life as “barely survival.” and I think he was already at the low enough point to be an ideal recruit which is why Titan Shang Tsung decided to act on. I don’t have a reason to not believe Liu Kang wanted this version of Shang Tsung to reform, but he did not have an idea about alternative timelines and the possible outcomes for other characters (and the good Titan Shang Tsung probably was the biggest surprise to anyone involved), so I understand why he still put safeguards around Shang Tsung’s life. Liu Kang may hope as much as he wants for the best, but without any evidence Shang Tsung could be by his own choice good, I too would be wary of his existence and the danger of giving him any magical powers.

As for Tarkat, that is for sure an interesting theory about Titan Shang Tsung’s involvement, however as the intro dialogue says, the sickness preceded MK1!Shang Tsung’s life:

Baraka: How do we know *you* didn't create Tarkat? Shang Tsung: It has been around far longer than I have. 

which in that case would imply Titan Shang Tsung was influencing Liu Kang’s New Era for a much longer period of time. Personally, I like that past timelines affect the current one and it is like a timeline on its own is trying to “fix” itself. Both theories have their strong and weak points, but maybe future tie-in material will explain more from where the sickness came.

[discodeviant]

Not Duke, Not Prince - Part 5

(POV Hopper) Billy | Teen | 2.6k Alternate Canon/Divergence

And this is where the initial cracky silly plotline went awry and turned into something that I will be elaborating on down the line lol. Please enjoy <3

Made for @billyhargrovebingo!

Prev. | Part 1

Hopper sat in his van with a blanket over his shoulders, clinging to the police radio that crackled in and out since before sunrise. He’d gone through three coffees and a whole pack of Camels waiting for a sign, a sound, a rumble in the earth. Nothing. Nothing yet, at least, so he waited a little longer.

Two weeks prior, a man arrived in the hospital’s intensive care unit after showcasing severe, presumed, stab wounds and bruising over his chest. One Neil Hargrove, one Hopper knew of because his son was in the hospital only days before that with similar injuries, though much less severe. Much less deliberate, if Hopper were to think so, which made him queasy to consider.

Once he was conscious again, Hargrove Senior claimed that his son had done that to him. Jumped on, scratched, bitten; “Stabbed?” asked Officer Phil Callahan, the regrettable choice sent along to question him, but Hargrove shook his head. “He didn’t have a weapon on him?” And again.

“Teeth… he—he wasn’t—wasn’t human.”

It came out on the very same day that there had been reports of an earthquake from neighbors, thunder or explosions or God-knew-what. Commies, yelled one old woman, or winter fireworks. Her husband said it was like a herd of angry buffalo. None of that helped, obviously, because neither buffalo nor such violent political expressionists existed in the quaint town of Hawkins. Neither of those things were what shook the town just further than its outskirts, a few miles in each direction from the Hargrove household on Cherry Lane. One neighbor reported unusual rustling in his bushes, but even that wasn’t very useful.

Despite the odds favoring against him, Hopper had instincts that very seldom disappointed when it mattered. Callahan said something about a cougar, and then it finally made sense—maybe, if Hopper was right.

And he had been right once before, one night when he went to his cabin for a weekend getaway on the anniversary of his first daughter’s death. Whiskey, cigars, the cheapest pizza Hawkins could offer—that was his plan, and it was underway. On his day of mourning, he sat on the porch in an old rocking chair, beer in his hand, air in his gut that refused to escape, a cigar in his shirt pocket that he didn’t get a chance to light before tiny headlights caught his attention. Only for a moment, a split second in time, and then they disappeared.

So, maybe they weren’t headlights. A trick of the eye, perhaps. He was drunk and fuzzy anyway, distrusting of himself to see anything clearly, so he pretended to forget about it. Finished his beer, smoked his cigar, stood up to go back inside and sleep the pain off until morning. Before he could, however, there was a disturbance in the trees just ahead of him, something running and hiding from him until he threatened arrest. Had it been some delinquent teenager, it would have run away. It would have listened. Instead, it waltzed up to him with a long, red tail swishing behind a lean body, dark eyes that glimmered in the light of the new moon.

It was a fox.

Moments later, a little girl stood before him, naked and trembling, patches of auburn hair all over her body until they shed away later into the night. Hopper thought he was hallucinating, that his cigars were laced with something more illegal than they already were. The girl challenged more than feared him. She needed to get inside.

Three years later, she remained with him. A tattoo behind her ear read 011, and she called herself Eleven—or, the bad people did. Hopper started calling her El, which she took to quickly. When, one day, Hopper asked if the bad people turned her into a fox, she said no, she had always been that way, and she may have been a fox first. She didn’t know or care. Papa was long gone, the doctor was dead, and her stories only ever got more grim.

So Hopper waited for another earthquake, and then his radio crackled again.

“Come in, Jim, do you copy?” It was Callahan.

“Loud and clear, Phil. Over.”

“There’s a guy here harassing me for you… Says his name is—what’s your name again?” There was a garbled answer before Callahan repeated it: “Murray Bauman—Over.”

Hopper’s eyebrows turned in. “That Chicago prick?” he asked, having read an article written about said Chicago prick and the outlandish conspiracies he journaled about. “He’s here? In Hawkins. Over.”

“Unfortunately. Over.”

“What the hell’s he doing here?” Silence. “Phil!”

“You didn’t say, ‘Over!’” Hopper rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. He won’t tell me. He’s requesting you directly.” He could hear the inattentive look on Callahan’s face even from the middle of an open field. “And he’s not leaving until you talk to him. Over.”

“Christ,” Hopper said, muttering to himself. Then into the radio, “Fine. I’ll be there in twenty. And I’m giving him five. Over and out.”

“All I’m saying is, I don’t think it’s a coincidence, and before you cut me off again, there is historical evidence of house pets turning feral and morphing into other biological orders entirely—“

“So you’re saying the kid’s a cat with a tummy ache. Okay.”

Murray huffed and rolled his jaw, having gone through similar conversations with Hopper before because Hawkins was a strange little town, and he liked to keep tabs on it. They sat in the chief’s office, Hopper with his boots kicked up on the desk, Murray with his hands folded in his lap and a flat line across his lips. The combover was looking extra sharp that afternoon.

“If you’d let me finish, you’d be hearing that there are cases in the last thirty-odd years of this happening as a result of chemical mishandling during the war, and said chemicals causing permanent and significant damage to the animal kingdom. Three years ago, a woman in Memphis reported a possum sneaking into her hamster’s cage and eating it”—Hopper laughed—“but she inspected it more closely herself and determined that it was, in fact, her hamster that had transformed, based on behavioral evidence and markings on its skin that Mister Cheesy had as well.”

Smoke plumed from a cigarette resting on Hopper’s ash tray. “Those are a lot of words for a small man,” he said, maintaining an expert pokerface so as not to give away the returning curiosity of his own daughter.

“It’s not just cute, fuzzy little animals, okay, it’s wolves—“

“Werewolves?” He couldn’t help himself now.

Murray continued without missing a beat: “—and coyotes, cattle, chickens, ducks, toads, foxes, humans—“ But the buzz of Hopper’s alarm clock went off right when he said it would, five minutes after his ass met the chair. Murray stopped, stood up, straightened his jacket and said, “Well, I’m afraid my five minutes is up.” That smile made Hopper want to punch him. “Call me if you change your mind—“

“Wait.” He stood from his own chair and walked around the desk, closed the office door, drew the curtains. “Sit the hell down.”

Four days later, Murray joined Hopper in his van to drive to the clearing a mile out from Brimborn Steel Works. Max was in the back seat after having a long conversation with Hopper some days before, wearing his blanket over her legs. Neil was in no position to stop her going along for the ride, not that he knew. Susan didn’t particularly care. She clutched onto her skateboard as Murray asked Hopper, “And you’re sure this is the exact location he was attacked?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Okay.” He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door, pointed a stiff finger in Hopper’s face and said, “You stay here. You”—he looked at Max—“come with me.”

“Christ, she’s a kid, Murray. What the hell are you doing?”

“Let me handle this,” he said, and Max didn’t argue getting out of the car. Either she was eager, or her hair jumped up just enough to make her look it. That stiff grin on Murray’s face shut Hopper right up, and he pulled the blanket from the back seat to drape over himself.

From the van, he watched Billy’s little sister stomp over to the tree line and face the darkened wood with Murray. He looked so small, and Max looked even smaller. So clueless even though, by then, Hopper knew Murray was far from it. He had proved that he knew exactly what he was doing, but Hopper had trouble believing him anyway. After all, it was a lion they were looking for, and they were in its territory.

Both Max and Hopper laughed when the first roar came, more of a purr from Murray’s throat than something to fear or be threatened by. He did it again, pursing his lips, taking deep breaths in between each long, thick propeller-like mimicry. A few minutes of that, and Murray was off to the next sound: a raspy huff, complete with strained neck motions. It was primal, Hopper thought. And then Murray howled, and he rolled his eyes and got out of the van too.

“We’re not hunting werewolves, Murray!”

“Real lions don’t roar like the movies, Jim!” he said with outstretched arms and started up again, making faces towards Max like this wouldn’t have been embarrassing if he were anyone else.

They were breathy roars, not unlike Hopper’s groans when he sat in his lazyboy after a long day. It continued for a while, Murray adding heavy stomps into the mix that hardly made any noise at all—but he was the expert, as reluctant as Hopper was to entertain it, so there weren’t any more interruptions. Max crossed her arms and stood back; Hopper leaned against the roof of the van, blanket over him like a cape, and waited.

And waited.

And then it happened, the earthquake, the rumbling at the surface of his skin that made his hair stand up and his heart retreat into his chest. “What the hell…” He looked around, and everything rumbled again. Max’s eyes found his, frantic, excited, scared and confused all at once. Murray kept up the charade, and the real roaring got louder every few seconds, sending bass-heavy waves straight to Hopper’s bones and nearly knocking the girl to the ground.

From the trees, there were the headlights again, only now he knew immediately that they weren’t headlights at all. Trees rustled far in the distance, the light flickering as a heavy stampede started towards them, right in Murray’s path, but even that didn’t stop him. The lights shone brighter, earthquake growing more powerful with every leap over roots and creepers and bushes, and—

Silence.

Murray held a hand up in front of him, cautious but not afraid. Max was stiff as a board. Hopper’s eyes locked onto the animal, locked onto Max, hand tight on the door in case they had to haul ass out of there, but the lion was still as a statue. Striking eyes, white and blue and glimmering in the sun, only saw him for a time, and then they found Hopper standing far in the background.

“No sudden movements, Jim,” said Murray, still unafraid, still smart. The lion growled in his direction, huffed, roared something small and nonthreatening but… displeased, maybe. Like it had been tricked.

Hopper nearly had a heart attack when it kicked its feet up again to charge at Max, who Murray had stepped away from when she wasn’t looking. Hopper wanted to strangle him, immediately jumping to try and do anything to keep it from killing her, but then it roared at him, fully bared teeth, standing in front of her like a guard dog. Which, he supposed, it was. Maybe. If it was really Billy Hargrove under all that golden mane and fur, behind a sharp face with eyes just as determined as the kid he’d seen in the hospital.

“Billy, it’s okay,” Max said then, softly, like she still wasn’t certain that this was her brother. The lion huffed, roars shrinking back to the Volkswagen growl only Neil had heard before. Defensive, protective, like stay away from my sister. “They’re—they don’t wanna hurt you.” She reached a hand out to touch its back, which made it flinch but not enough to deter its attention from potential threat. Max continued with long, gentle strokes down its back, then up to the base of its mane which curled in loose, messy ringlets like Billy’s hair. It turned its head, sniffed Max’s own mane, rubbed a wet nose against her shoulder, and she burst into tears. “Shit, it is you.”

“Careful,” Murray said, warning. “He could still snap like he did to your dad—“

“Jesus, I don’t care!” She dried her eyes in Billy’s fur, then looked at Murray with a fury Hopper hadn’t seen on anybody since the war. “And don’t you ever call him my dad again, weirdo, do you hear me!” Small, nimble fingers gripped tightly to the mane, and Murray offered a quiet apology.

“Guess it’s a good thing we brought you along, huh…” Hopper said. Max just cried and cried and cried, and eventually they left her alone with him.

She sat with Billy on the grass for a long time, talking as if he could answer, curling into his side like she was his cub. In a way, maybe she was. In a way, she was all he had left.

Hours later, they remained. Hopper sent numerous radios back to the station that Max was safe, that he would keep them updated with any news—which he didn’t, because he needed a story that wouldn’t get picked up by the bad men. He knew they were out there somewhere, closer than he may have thought. So he and Murray got to talking, and Max was still oblivious as she held Billy close, assuring him more than herself that she was safe and still with him.

Then he exhaled, and kept exhaling for far too long, so she sat up from her position on his side and saw that he was changing back.

“Hopper!” she yelled, and it was hard for the chief to look as fur shed, muscle mass all but disappeared, bones returned to a human structure, and Billy was himself again. He blinked, stirring himself awake with a heavy groan, and slipped away from Max’s touch. “Billy, are—“ Their eyes met for the briefest of moments, and the question fizzled off of her tongue because the answer might have been obvious. It might have encompassed everything running amok in her head, every thought and worry and regret in thinking that she’d lost him forever.

Billy looked exhausted and worn dry. He leaned back on one arm, not bothering to cover himself up. “Why the hell am I naked?” he asked, grumbling, taking the blanket from around Hopper’s shoulders and shivering underneath it.

“Growth spurt,” Hopper said, which made Billy laugh.

“Shit.” He scratched his nose with a handful of blanket and yawned, then looked over at Max, already having forgotten about Murray’s presence. “Do we gotta go home?” She shrugged and looked up at Hopper for an answer. There was something dark in Billy’s eyes, then, that he recognized vaguely. Something akin to the way children pleaded for forgiveness after breaking something fragile; a scared, broken kid running from bad men in bad places.

Billy sounded like a kid too when he said, “Please don’t make me go home.”

Part 6

[revivemyreverie]

Chapter 6

Zackery: Mom, what’s happening? Why is there a police officer here? 

Roostia: It’s nothing, you three. Hurry and bring the children inside, I don’t want them seeing this. 

Zackery: I will, but can’t I know what’s going on first?

Officer: What’s going on is that the station got a call about someone breaking into the old townhouse down by Cherry Tree Lane, and your buddy happened to be right in the middle of breaking down the door. 

Pat: For the last time, I have the key! My friend asked me to go in there to grab something! 

Officer: Well, until this “friend” appears, you’re going on house arrest. The station will be contacting your parents too.

Winston: W-wait! Don’t call his parents! We can get our friend on the phone!

?: Ho? And what's to say this friend isn’t a fake?

From the foggy street, two men walk towards the orphanage. An elderly man with a gold cane, and a younger one with blonde hair.

Roostia: Mayor Kappel… What are you and your son doing here? 

Mayor Kappel: Shouldn’t it be every mayor’s concern when an outside vagrant has been caught breaking into our homes? Not only that, but I come to greet your son back home only to find him carrying some old junk like a hooligan.

Gale: Hey! That’s not junk! That’s for the Spring Fair my big brother is building!

The mayor’s son bursts into laughter.

Cane: You’ve got to be stupid if you think some janky merry-go-round could even bring a crowd. Not to mention, the fair’s place is being used. 

Grim: What?!

Cane: Didn’t you hear? My bank is finally cementing a place in this trashy town. 

That’s totally unfair!

Is that even possible?

Zackery: B-but you can’t do that! That’s community space!

Cane: Actually, I can. I was just in town to finalize some paperwork giving me the rights. It’s not like anyone would want to challenge me for it either, they’re all too busy trying to make a living. 

Zackery: You..!

Before Zackery would let his anger get the better of him, a loud clap startled everyone. 

Roostia: Children, inside! That includes Pat, Winston, and you two! Mayor Kappel, I don’t know why you decided to come on such a day, but your son’s presence is clearly upsetting my child. And Officer, I’ll clear up things as quickly as I can.

Roostia: Now, I bid you all a good night, so get off my porch! 

And with that, you all scurry in as to not incur further wrath of the matriarch of the building. Madam Roostia slams the front door and whirls her head towards everyone. 

Roostia: Hurry up and get ready for bed. I expect the troublemakers of today to explain themselves by morning. 

TBC

[devianttxrts]

yo ho hello. under the cut is a little explanation of my absence from here and what's been going on with me (fun times)

my mental health hit a downward spiral mid/late last year and it hit it hard. it's the worst my depression has been in a long, long time. it got to the point where i couldn't feel things properly, the only thing i could feel is sadness and the only thing i could do is cry even when i didn't know why. but over the last month or so it's slowly been getting better, music has been helping again and i can actually laugh now. if that's not progress i don't know what is.

last november i was in a car accident, it wasn't super bad. the car was a write off but no one was seriously hurt. i had a wicked concussion for two weeks, and i'm still dealing with anxiety whenever i'm in a car (to be expected after you've been hit by an asshole who was in your lane instead of theirs, and hidden by one of the many corners on the way home).

there's been a lot of ups and downs over the last few months, or year really. i've had to say goodbye to a few relationships i never thought i would, and one that should've been a strong one but never really existed at all. i'm still dealing with ongoing neighbour drama too, which has been the cherry on top. i'm also trying to find a new job because shit has nonstop been hitting the fan in the hell hole i work at for months now, i've been there over eight and a half years and while it's definitely been a rollercoaster over that time, this is the worst it's ever been (if you live in nz/aus... try not to shop at cuntdown/woolworth$ challenge).

i'm hoping to slowly get back into writing, most likely this week. it might be a little slow because i'm in the long process of doing my house up (i've still got two bedrooms and the laundry to paint before i can get the flooring and bathroom done). slow and steady wins the race, so i'll be balancing that/general life and writing.

in saying that, if i reply to a thread we have and you aren't feeling it anymore, absolutely feel free not to reply! it's been a long time so it's more than fair enough tbh, i get it!

here's to a year of better activity, i'm looking forward to being on the dash again 🌈

[momental]

Comic Jacqueline Novak is known for wearing the same outfit for her solo show 'Get on Your Knees.' The outfit consists of a loose gray T-shirt, jeans, and white-and-gray sneakers, which provide her with anonymity, neutrality, and comfort. While the show is part standup act, part coming-of-age story, and part philosophy lecture, it is also an athletic feat, leading Novak to often wear a sports bra. However, she has grappled with the belief that she shouldn't wear a sports bra because it is too athletic.

The forty-one-year-old Novak has a youthful appearance and a fascination with elaborate skin-care rituals. 'Get on Your Knees' is a ninety-minute show about fellatio, but it goes beyond raunch comedy and explores the limitations of language when it comes to discussing sex. Novak aims to transform the mundane act into a cosmic experience.

According to John Early, the comic who directed the live version of the show, Novak takes something crude and elevates it into a cosmic frenzy. Fred Armisen, another comic and actor, describes the show as good-spirited and suitable for all audiences, including his own mother. Novak's parents have seen the show multiple times, and her boyfriend, Chris Laker, finds it comfortable and has never been asked if it makes him uncomfortable.

Comedian Jacqueline Novak took a unique approach to developing her stand-up show, 'Get on Your Knees.' Rather than piecing together jokes over time, she wrote the entire set in 2017 and asked her Instagram followers if she could perform it for them. She debuted the show at a party in Brooklyn and went on to perform in bigger venues in Los Angeles and New York. The show gained attention from celebrities like Lucas Hedges, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Emma Stone, and even pop-music producer Mark Ronson saw it five times. Novak takes pride in managing every aspect of her show, from publicity to coordinating performances. She even coded a contactless digital program for the show herself. As she prepares for the release of a special on Netflix, Novak is involved in every step of the process, from editing to closed captioning.

Netflix comedian Jacqueline Novak recently discussed her experience creating her comedy special 'Get on Your Knees.' The postproduction process for Netflix specials is typically completed in less than a month, but Novak's special took five months. Novak expressed her gratitude for the support she received from actress Natasha Lyonne, who directed the special. Lyonne looked out for Novak's creative interests and helped her navigate the pressure of being a good student. Despite suggestions to shorten the special, Novak insisted on keeping its ninety-minute length. Novak meticulously worked on the show for years, even stitching together audio from every performance to determine the best version. Novak's attention to detail extends beyond her comedy, as she even seeks the best deals online with high personal stakes. Corresponding with Novak can be challenging due to her meticulous nature. Novak canceled a tour for 'Get on Your Knees' during the lockdown and has eagerly awaited the opportunity to perform it live.

'By the time we spoke, we’d had so many interactions that I felt we had developed a form of intimacy. 'Waking up in the morning, I was almost, like, I don’t know how to be profiled,' she said on the phone to me one afternoon. 'There is no constitution there. I’m dissolute, or something. I was waiting for myself to come into focus enough.'

Backstage at the Cherry Lane in 2021, Novak applied a light layer of makeup and flat-ironed her hair, which is naturally curly. She and her assistant reviewed the guest list. Every night, Novak pored over the list of ticket holders to see who might show up. 'My awareness of who’s in the audience has a profound effect on my internal experience,' she told me. 'I found out this guy from my high school came last night.'

Much of the show centers on Novak’s fraught quest to successfully perform a blow job in high school. She tells the audience about how her field-hockey teammates encouraged the endeavor. At one performance, three women who had played on the team sat in the second row. This added a new layer of prospective humiliation for Novak. 'Even though I reference things that are my own life and literal, I’m, like, ‘How crass if someone from my town or my high school treats it as if I’m just talking about my life. Excuse you? This is art,' she said. 'Of course, it’s not their job to be exactly what I think they should be.'

Shame is the root of most comedy, but Novak prefers to grapple with shame’s more free-spirited and familiar cousin: embarrassment. Her mother, Naomi Novak, told me that one of her daughter’s first words was 'embarrassing.' 'It’s so ’barrassin’,' she would say. In 'How to Weep in Public,' a memoir-slash-self-help book that Novak published in 2016, she wrote, 'Even as a newborn in the hospital, I tended to turn away and bury my face.'

Novak has two older siblings, and she developed an early analytical streak by observing them at home, in Westchester County, New York. Her mother recalls watching Novak’s nursery-school class through a window and noting that her daughter was completely silent; when she got home, however, she recounted every detail she’d seen. One day, Novak’s teachers called Naomi in to discuss a conversation they’d overheard. A boy had asked Novak, 'Does your mother have a penis?' She’d replied in the same blunt but lyrical way that she talks about sex in 'Get on Your Knees': 'No, she has a vagina. But hers has feathers.'

Naomi’s father was a rabbi, and Novak’s paternal grandparents came from Christian families. The clan delights in mashing up the customs of both cultures. 'We’re a family of analyzers,' her father, Greg, said.

As a child, Novak sought attention through performing, even appearing on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' in second grade. However, as a teenager, she became more scholarly and self-conscious.

Novak's father's reading of 'Think and Grow Rich' inspired him to start his own business and introduced Novak to self-help tools like Tony Robbins tapes. Novak even helped her father start a podcast about Hegel.

Novak's time in college at Georgetown was marked by her involvement in an improv troupe, but she felt self-conscious and found a sense of belonging in her creative-writing courses.

After college, Novak moved to New York and pursued standup comedy while working in advertising. She struggled with depression, which was exacerbated by her job.

After being fired from her advertising agency, Novak moved back into her childhood bedroom and entered what she now calls her 'depression years.' This period has greatly influenced her life and she now prioritizes her physical and emotional energy. Novak tries various products and rituals to combat her depression, such as following a low-carb diet, using a 'vitality swing' for restless-leg syndrome, and experimenting with supplements, THC gummies, past-life-regression therapy, astral projection, energy-healing workshops, and Kundalini-yoga. She also has a unique exercise routine, seeking workouts with a guiding principle or philosophy. However, in the summer of 2022, depression caught up with her again and she even considered signing up for virtual therapy. Novak suspects a connection between her depression and her glucose levels, particularly blaming blueberries for spiking her glucose. This realization leads her to feel humiliated by her efforts to avoid bread. Despite these struggles, Novak's early jokes often revolved around food, with one of her popular bits being about shared appetizers, specifically nachos, and the comedic scenarios that unfold when they arrive at the table.

In 2014, Jacqueline Novak released a comedy album called 'Quality Notions' that would later become the foundation for her show 'Get on Your Knees.' She also wrote a humorous guide called 'How to Weep in Public,' which offered feeble offerings on depression from someone who understood. In the book, Novak encouraged people with depression to fully embrace their feelings. She described it as 'merely a cigarette in the trenches' compared to other books on the topic.

After college, Novak found solace in antidepressants and moved back to the city to pursue stand-up comedy in New York. She became part of the flourishing alternative-comedy scene and formed close relationships with comedians like John Early and Kate Berlant. It was during a benefit show that Fred Armisen saw Novak perform and considered her as a potential opening act. Armisen was drawn to Novak's ability to share observations in a personal and relatable way.

However, Novak faced challenges in breaking through in the comedy scene. Many of her performances were for drunk audiences in small bars who didn't fully appreciate her talent. Despite the obstacles, Novak remained committed to her craft, while her boyfriend, Laker, pursued a more social lifestyle.

In 2017, Novak had a realization that success didn't come from slowly working her way up. Instead, she decided to focus her energy on creating one exceptional piece of work. She discussed this plan with Laker while walking near their apartment on the Upper West Side. Laker recalled Novak's realization that she needed to make one great thing and concentrate on it.

Novak revisited essays she had written in high school and realized that she had always been a writer at heart. She had a deep awareness that her experiences could one day be chronicled. Novak often questioned if she was living enough in the present moment, which she now finds embarrassing. She believed that she should be fully immersed in her experiences rather than nostalgic for them as they were happening.

In college, Novak and Liz Phang bonded over visiting Peter the Great’s cabinet of curiosities in St. Petersburg, Russia, filled with gruesome objects. Phang recalls Novak impersonating fetuses with birth defects stored in jars, showing her creativity. Novak was known for diving into discomfort in her writing, even exploring topics like having sex with someone who disgusted her. Back at Georgetown, Novak continued to write about sex and her experiences. Her essay about blow jobs in high school became the inspiration for her show 'Get on Your Knees.' Novak used clever tactics to draw attention to the show, including involving her friend Early in the performance. The challenge for Novak and Early was finding the right tone for the show, avoiding moralizing or trauma narratives. They didn't want the audience to pat themselves on the back, but rather to engage with the storytelling. One pivotal moment in the show is when Novak is on the brink of her first blow job and she imagines herself as a character in a Vladimir Nabokov story, hoping to make the experience more literary and less daunting.

In 2019, comedian Jacqueline Novak performed at the Cherry Lane theater and caught the attention of scouts from major streaming platforms. Although Netflix initially passed on her, Novak and her agent didn't give up. They invited Netflix's vice-president of comedy, Robbie Praw, to a performance in Los Angeles, which impressed him and led to a deal with Netflix. Novak felt empowered by this success but didn't like being praised for 'finding her voice,' as she believed it was more about finding confidence and tricking people into liking her comedy.

In 2019, Novak and her partner, John Early, moved to Los Angeles and considered their time in New York as a 'rough draft.' During this time, Novak and her friend, Kate Berlant, frequently visited Korean spas in L.A. and discussed wellness and self-care. Despite their initial aversion to podcasting, the two came up with the idea for a show called 'Poog,' which would offer a unique perspective on wellness as a pastime rather than a serious pursuit. The podcast debuted in November 2020.

'Poog' was pitched to various platforms, including Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network, and ultimately signed with Ferrell's company just before the pandemic hit.

Descriptions of the podcast 'Poog' may seem nonsensical, but it quickly gained popularity and earned the loyalty of fans like Amy Schumer and Miranda July. The show's creators, Kate Berlant and Jacqueline Novak, even had unrecorded weekly Zoom conversations with July during the pandemic. One frequent topic on 'Poog' is the experience of dining in restaurants, which Novak considers the pinnacle of social interaction. Novak, who has a tree-nut allergy, carefully navigates restaurant menus and engages in conversations with servers about food options. During a dinner with Novak, she discussed her allergies and allowed the waiter to select dishes for her, creating an entertaining and empathetic dining experience.

Getting Novak to stay on topic is a challenge, so I gathered most of her biographical information from her family and her book, rather than asking her directly. During our conversation, a comment I made about a recent 'Poog' episode triggered a series of tangents. Novak talked about everything from Tracy Anderson to the death of Guru Jagat, bringing pets to restaurants, chia seeds, a cocktail with pistachios, and even the scariness of waiters.

We eventually discussed Novak's Netflix taping, a topic she had been avoiding since signing the contract. She pondered why she got into comedy and what she hoped to achieve. She had been performing her show in both traditional theaters and standup clubs, but couldn't decide which was better. The Cherry Lane theater seemed 'too precious' to her as a creative-writing major. She then expressed her excitement about upsetting expectations in the lowbrow world of comedy.

During a celebration for the taping of 'Get on Your Knees,' Novak appeared a bit dazed after a conversation with Brie Larson. I asked her what made her feel ready to film the special after years of tinkering. Was it pressure from Netflix? Financial stakes? Exhaustion from workshopping the show? Finally achieving perfection?

Comedian Jacqueline Novak recently filmed her one-woman show, 'Get on Your Knees,' for a special on HBO. Novak described the pressure she felt leading up to the taping, comparing it to the pressure of competing in the Olympics. She had to let go of her fantasies of perfection and embrace the improvisation that comes with live performance.

Before the taping, Novak went shopping for a new pair of jeans because her old ones had deteriorated. She ended up buying so many pairs that she had to transport them in a rolling suitcase. Actress Natasha Lyonne, who directed the special, helped Novak select a pair of jeans to wear for the performance.

During the show, Novak had a moment of improvisation when she absentmindedly tucked her shirt into her waistband. Lyonne, who was monitoring for continuity issues, asked her to untuck it. The crowd laughed as Novak jokingly asked where to start from. The performance took on a new element of improvisation.

Despite the unexpected moments, Novak remained confident and thanked the crowd for their support. She reflected on the nature of theater and how it involves everyone facing one direction while she faces the other.

Source Link: The Anxious Precision of Jacqueline Novak’s Comedy

[writeblrsummerfest]

Lemon Tree Lane

BREAKING NEWS

It has come to our attention that the missing minkie, Samantha Kot, might have been involved with a hit and run last summer. It appears as though her vehicle, a cherry red corvette, was spotted moving away from the scene of an accident in the early hours of the morning.

Her father, Marshal Kot, a well-known local politician currently in throws of running for governor, has yet to make a statement.

Friends of the family have come forward, stating that while Samantha Kot was behind the wheel of the car, it was her father’s personal assistant, Bailey Witrow, who insisted that they leave.

Her whereabouts are still unknown.

When Lizzie wakes up, she’s on the couch and the news story is repeating itself. Breaking news, it says, followed by the jaunty, cheerful tone of the musical tagline. Duh-do-da!

It runs through twice before she’s able to crack open her eyes. Her head is killing her.

Sam is on the TV.

Well, Sam’s picture is on the TV, next to a reporter that Lizzie knows for a fact retired from the local news ages before Lizzie started caring about the news.

Her stomach drops. She can hear someone moving around upstairs, she can hear them behind her. She can hear them everywhere in the house.

Lizzie wants to leave.

She’s starting to think that maybe she won’t be able to.

_x_x_

Write your minky (or other character!) LEARNING A SECRET ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE. This will be an ongoing challenge! Every day, we’re going to see a little bit more of Lizzy’s story and get a new Lemon Tree Lane prompt. Let’s explore the haunted house together!

-*-

Welcome to the twenty second day of the Writeblr Summerfest! We have so many amazing things planned for this month, but first, I want to introduce Lizzy! She’s the driving force behind the community selected Haunted House theme for the festival this year!

Now, before we get started, I want you to take a look at Lizzy! She’s the mascot this year! She’s called a minky, and her character sheet was made by the lovely @mothersart! Now, Mother has volunteered her services to do what we’re calling grab bag commissions for anyone that wants their own minky explorer to take part in the events! She currently has THREE OPEN SLOTS.

Here’s a LINK to her commission sheet, but I’ll summarize it for you, too! She has two options.

$10 gets you a total grab-bag surprise minky explorer, you don’t get to customize it but you get to own the character forever onward!

$15 lets you pick a ‘theme’ for the explorer; do you love pastel goth? Cottagecore? Skateboarding? Let her know, and it will be the inspiration for your minky (ps, you still own them)!

While it’s not a requirement, I highly recommend you considering it if you’ve got the spare change laying around! Mother has been a huge help getting things together with the event this year, and her minkies are just absolutely amazing!

[multifandom-worlds]

The Summer Before

Genre: Fluff

Rating: SFW

Word count: 2K

Warnings: None

Author's note: This is the first part to the Highschool AU idea I had. It's going to be made into a slice of life style series with a basic plot. Let me know if you want to be tagged in the upcoming installments

Tags: @lia-jones @darling-dummy-blogs @little-butterfly-writes @otome-and-fanfiction

Victor lays on a blanket in the middle of a lush green field, watching the clouds listlessly drift across the light blue summer’s sky, his fingers entwined in cherry red curls. A soft breeze blows around him, rustling the nearby trees, bringing sound to the otherwise near quiet environment. This was his favourite place to be, Evolution Revolution, a summer camp for teenage and young adult Evolvers run by the Martin Family.

The girl under his arm shifts onto her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows to look at him. Feeling her move, he lifts his head slightly, catching her eye, asking a very simple question; "Hmm? Can I help you?"

She shook her head before explaining with a faint giggle "I just like looking at you, that's all"

“Well, what a coincidence…” A soft chuckle fell from his lips before he placed his thumb on the girl’s chin, index finger underneath, tilting her head down so he could get a better look at her “....I like looking at you too, doll”

In response to his response, her cheeks burned hot. They have been together for a year and he still gives her butterflies whenever he says or does things like that. In one swift, effortless motion, Victor sits up, gently pushing her onto her back and leans over her, an arm on either side of her head, looking down at her, now cast in his shadow.

“You know, Nicolette Martin” He began, his eyes never leaving her soft hazel ones, “I love you.” To punctuate his confession, he leans down, kissing Nicolette softly before pulling away to gently peck her nose. After a few moments of comfortable silence, gazing at each other, Victor asked; “do you remember the first time I told you I loved you?”

“I do…” she comments, looking around briefly before looking back up at Victor. “..wasn’t it around here? Or was it closer to that tree?” She points off to her left towards a large maple tree standing proud overlooking a small lake. Victor responds with a slight chuckle, shifting his weight onto one arm and carefully tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “The tree was where I kissed you first, in front of several other people”

Nicolette’s eyes widened at the memory, cheeks flushing. The summer before, she, Victor and a few other campers they were friends with were sitting around that tree, enjoying the shade it offered when the topic of relationships and dating came up. Victor and Nicolette weren’t officially “dating” yet but they had admitted to having feelings for each other earlier in the summer. One camper, Layla challenged the pair to share a kiss to make it official because the almost dating awkwardness was thick. Nicolette wasn’t given the chance to protest before his hand was just barely touching the skin of her cheek and his lips were on hers.

It had taken her a second to realize what was happening but as soon as her brain caught up with her body, she happily returned the kiss. Violet, another camper in the group squealed with joy as Victor and Nicolette parted and stared at each other for a brief moment before turning back to the group.

“Ahh, I see you’re remembering that moment, my dear.” Victor’s chuckle drew Nicolette out from memory lane. She shakes off the lingering, second-hand embarrassment she was feeling before answering him. “You didn’t have to do what Lay said, you know. You could have waited until we were alone, mister.”

He chuckles as he leans down to kiss her briefly before speaking, “you are correct, I could have waited but I had been wanting to do that since you told me you also liked me, I was not about to waste that opportunity.”

She rolls her eyes before a soft chuckle leaves her lips. Placing a hand on the back of his neck, Nicolette pulls him down into another kiss, lingering there for a few seconds longer before releasing him. The clock in the main square chimed once, indicating it was time for lunch.

Victor sits up, pulling his girlfriend up with him. Once they were both standing and fingers laced together, they started walking towards the dining hall, meeting up with Layla and Violet on the way. The girls talk about their plans after camp ends; how they’re going to stay in contact now that they’re going to be attending different schools.

Layla, Violet and Nicolette were attending the same secondary school but their school closed in June due to several unforeseen circumstances. The student body was transferred to different schools based on where they lived. Layla is going to attend Loveland Private School, and Nicolette is going to a different one; Loveland School for the Evolved. And Violet is attending a different school altogether. Thankfully for Nicolette, Victor will also be attending the same school she will be attending next week. He promised to keep her safe and show her around.

Layla turns to Victor beside her, her expression serious, uttering a vaguely threatening sentence “You keep her safe, Victor Li or so help me I will find you!”

"I will, ladies." Victor smiles but worries slowly fill his eyes. He needed to be careful about how often he's seen with her, especially how close he is with her in case his father found out about them because has a very strong distaste for people who have more of an alternative style.

Victor finds himself in a very difficult spot, looking at his girlfriend, laughing with her friends, making plans for the school year, and taking note of the lip and nose ring she wears. While he loves them, his father does not. He can't risk being disowned for his choice but he can't let her go.

The four campers join the rest of their peers in the lineup for lunch - the last lunch this group would share that summer. The last lunch some of the campers should share all before school started on Monday. Everyone sat at the tables, talking amongst themselves until the owner of the camp - Mr. and Mrs. Martin came in.

“Today is a bittersweet day” Mrs. Martin began her end-of-summer speech. To her, these young adults were her children, they were her family. She wanted what was best for them. “Today is the last day of our time together this year. Some of you will be back in July and I will have a hug ready when you return. Some of you will be going off to bigger and brighter things and, I wish you all the best! As for now, enjoy your lunch!”

Mrs. Martin finishes her speech before walking around to all the campers and greeting them, learning what their plans for the school are. It took around 20 minutes for her to make it to the table her daughter and her friends were eating. Walking up behind, Mrs. Martin lays her hands on Nicolette’s shoulders.

Nicolette looks at her with a smile. “Hi mama” Layla, Violet and Victor all greet her too with a smile.

“Hi, darling. Are you 4 enjoying lunch?”

Victor pulls the seat out beside him, offering it to his girlfriend's mother. "Join us, Mrs. Martin?"

Smiling, she walks around the table and sits beside Victor with a smile, effortlessly joining in the conversation with Nicolette, Layla and Violet. Victor watches his girlfriend talk and interacts with her friends and family as he plays with the honours ring on his finger.

Victor received the honours ring in a ceremony at his graduation back in the fall as a reward for being in the top percentile graduating that year. He and another woman, Seira Samson. He wore it all summer, proud of his achievements.

"Ladies.." Victor starts, changing the subject slightly, reaching his hand across the table, squeezing Nicolette's briefly. "I'll be back in a second. I need to get something from my cabin. Nikki, when you’re done here, can you meet me back at the tree, please? I got to talk with you about something.” Victor could see the fear and worry cross her face after he finished his sentence. He quickly reassures her; “It’s not a breakup, sweetheart, I promise.”

He releases her hand, standing up from the table before exiting the dining hall, leaving the other 4 alone. Mrs. Martin watches him leave, an expression of concern etched onto her features. Around the same time, Nicolette stands up to grab some more food, leaving her mother and two friends behind at the table. Mrs. Martin takes this opportunity to ask Layla and Violet their thoughts on Victor.

“Do you think he truly cares for her or is their relationship just a summer fling?” Her tone was severe, glancing up at her daughter to make sure she was not coming back anytime soon. Violet was the first one to answer; “I think it’s real. I’ve seen the way he looks and talks to her. I’ve seen how he talks about her when she’s not around.”

Layla was the next to answer; “I think it’s real, too but I’m not putting all my trust in him. We aren’t going to be there to see how he treats her at school. He could completely ignore her, pretending to his peers that they aren’t together.”

Mrs. Martin nods, taking into consideration what they were saying as Nicolette returns with dessert. She returns to her chair as the previous conversation starts up right where they left off when Victor left.

Campers start trickling out of the dining hall, off to whatever events they had planned for the afternoon. Nicolette, her mother, Violet and Layla parted ways, making plans to reconvene in a few hours for a painting class they 3 signed up for. After saying her goodbyes, Nicolette trekked across camp to the tree Victor mentioned wanting to meet her at. He was sitting at the base of the trunk, back pressed against the bark, playing with something in his hands when she approached.

Her voice alerted him to her presence; “Sorry I’m late, Victor. I had to get myself dessert!”

She takes a seat beside him, looking at the thing in his hand. “So..what’s that?”

Looking from her back to the object in his hand, he gives it to her. “A necklace..” he mentions casually, watching her examine it. “More specifically, my honours ring on a chain.” She looks at him, curiously, not understanding what he was hinting at. He chuckles, shaking his head before taking the necklace back and putting it around her neck. “You dummy. I’m giving it to you. Take this as my promise. My promise is that I will be by your side. Even if we can’t be known at school, I’m still with you and I still belong to you and you alone.”

She looks down at the ring that once rested on her boyfriend’s finger, now sitting against her chest. The gravity of this small, seemingly meaningless action finally hit her. “A-are you sure? You earned this, are you sure you want to give it to me?”

Victor nods, sitting back. “If people need a simple ring to know I am an honours student, they aren’t very bright. To answer your question - yes I am sure I want to give this to you. Wear it below your shirt, a little piece of me wherever you go.”

Slipping her hand below the ring, she closes her fingers around it, feeling the metal in her palm. “Thank you, Victor. I will cherish this and make sure no one sees it. What are you going to say if someone asks you where it went?” She inquires, the question worrying her. He’s not going to tell them he gave it to her…right?

Victor leans over, encasing her hand in his, moving it up to his lips, kissing her fingertips gently. “I’m going to say I lost it at summer camp. If they really want me to have one, they'll give me a new one, my girl.”

With that, she tucks the necklace below her shirt and rises from the ground, the final hour drawing to a close. Hand in hand, Victor and Nicolette walk back to grab their belongings and start making their ways towards the parking lot. Some drove themselves home, some needed to wait for their parents.

With one final goodbye, Nicolette and Victor parted ways, their relationship as they knew it was about to change. For better or for worse, neither of them knew for sure but they knew things were going to change.

[s0merand0midi0t]

A few others shared their RWBY x FNF so I'm sharing my other idea (Yes it's gonna involve sonic.exe cause why not)

Friday night funkin': Team Rwby Tussle

General idea is this: Boyfriend and Girlfriend are in the kingdom of atlas *For safety reasons let's say Volume 7 ep 6-14 and the ENTIRETY of Volume 8 NEVER. HAPPENED. EVERRRRR....Okay? Okay. Okay? Okay. Back to the post* walking around casually looking for a place to eat , not really paying attention to their surroundings. As they're walking they just so happen to bump into team RWBY who was doing the exact same thing and then the dialogue starts.

*BGM*:

Dialogue *I know bf and gf don't have canonical names but for the sake of this. They will,alright?!*:

*Keith and Cherry are walking down town and talking to each other*

*cut to team RWBY who was also walking while ruby was talking*

R: So then I was like *Fake gunshot and fighting noise*

*The others laugh*

R: But that's not even the best of it! Then after that i-

*Ruby and Keith bump into each other*

R: Gah!

K: Ah!

*They both fall back*

Both: Ow!(Beep!)What the hell?!(Bop Beep Bo?!)

*Team WBY and Cherry look at the 2*

R: Yo! What-!

*Ruby looks up*

R: Oh geez. Sorry, I kinda got wrapped up in my stories again

C: Oh don't worry w-

C: Hang on...don't I recognize y'all?

*The team looked confused*

Blake: what do you mean?

*Keith got up and looked them*

K: Bee(Hey)...Beep Skedibo da bo!(Hey wait a second!)

K: *Clears throat* Aren't you 4...You're team RWBY right?!

*Everyone looked shocked*

Yang: You recognize us?!

C: Recognize?

C: We're big fans of you 4!

B: Really?

W: Huh...we have fans

*Keith Chuckles then gets an idea*

K: Hey since we've ran into each other.

K: Would you 4 be willing to do rap battle with me?

*they looked shocked*

W: Well

B: I dunno about that...

R: Oh come on guys! They're fans of ours!

R: Besides,this day's been booooriiiing! All we've been doing is walking around all day!

Y: Hmmm...she is right.

Y: Maybe a rap battle would liven things up a little!

W: Well I AM musically inclined

B: Ehhh...Alright you've convinced me.

*Ruby Smiles*

R: We accept your offer...uh..what's your name exactly?

K: The names "Keith .XML"!

R: Weird last name but alright *Ahem* We accept your offer Keith .XML!

R: Let's do this!

K: Yeah!

*End of dialogue*

Aaaand that's the dialogue!

I'd add more but I'm not typing out more scenes

MOD ITSELF NOW:

Week name:

RWBY Rumble

(Week 1)

Song list:

Ruby:

Red Rose

Petal burst

Weiss:

Reflection

Ice cold

Blake:

Shadows

Kitty claws

Yang:

(phase 1 Calm) Firecracker

(Phase 2 Angry) Solar flare

Gimmicks (Mod charts):

Ruby- Fast but predictable (Lane moves + SS and speeds up every time you miss and resets everytime you die)

Weiss- Summons can mess with your notes (Pull notes back or cover them)

Blake- Normal scroll speed but is unpredictable every time you lose (Can fake out her arrow placements)

Yang- (phase 1 calm) Double notes and some triple notes

(Phase 2 angry) either a note mechanic or dodge mechanic from ember celica

Cover songs:

Shotgun shell and Parasite (Entity/Agoti)- Yang

Worship and Prominade (MFM/Entity)- Weiss

HairBall and Headache (Kapi/Garcello)- Blake

TicTacFoe and Technicolor Tussle (Mangige matches/Indie Cross)- Ruby

Spectral and Ballistic(Vs Retrospecter/Whitty)- angry yang

Challenge-EDD (Fnf online)- Ruby feat. Cinder as Eduardo

Athazagoraphobia- Team RWBY V. Legion

AND MORE! (That I won't name)

Bonus songs:

Grimm- Salem

Bull horns- Adam

Sunbeam- Sun

NOW FOR THE SONIC.EXE PART!

Y'know how In FNFever they have 2 sections? One for normal songs and one for Halloween ones? It's that but it's a section for normal songs and a section for cover songs. The sonic.exe portion of the mod however is it's own separate mod.

I've got no new names for the specific songs, I've got some names for team rwby tho (Check out my Triple trouble team rwby post for info about that):

Blueflame yang- vol 5-6 Yang as fleetway

Miss B- vol 5-6 Blake as lord X

Yenk- Vol 1 yang as sanic

Fakerose- Vol 1 ruby as faker

Wess- vol 1 Weiss as sunky

Penny doll- vol 1-3 penny as tails doll

And more!

Mod references (in terms of remixes):

Arrowfunk

D-sides

B3

Neo

Corruption (not pibby)

Soft

Crystalized

Mad com

BG references:

Mods (like starlight mayhem, rising volume, madness combat)

Camp camp ref

RvB ref(which I've never seen)

Nomad of no where(Which I've also never seen)

There's more but let me know what y'all think.

[gracegrove]

the cherry lane challenge is so amazing you guys are all so talented!!!

[realtorjamier]

Things to Do in the DMV in February!

Love and patriotism are alive and well in the DMV this February, with events and festivities that warm the heart and feed the soul. 

Feb. 1 – 26

George Washington Birthday Celebration

Alexandria, VA

As the adopted hometown of George Washington, the City of Alexandria celebrates his birthday every year throughout the month of February with events like the Cherry Challenge Restaurant Contest where each participating restaurant creates its own cherry cocktail, appetizer, entree and/or dessert. Washington-themed tours, ceremonies, balls, and galas educate and entertain guests. The George Washington Birthday Parade marches a mile-long route through the streets of Alexandria on Monday, February 20 beginning at 1 p.m.

Feb. 1 – 11

Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience

Morven Park 41580 Sunday Morning Lane Leesburg, VA

Set in the beautiful woodland on the Morven Park grounds, this nighttime woodland trail experience is filled with wizarding wonders – all brought to life by award-winning theatrical designers. This 60-90 minute interactive walk through the woods allows guests of all ages to cast spells, meet magical creatures, and enjoy a selection of Harry Potter-inspired food and drinks.

Feb. 1 (ongoing exhibit)

Powerful Partnerships: Civil War-Era Couples

National Portrait Gallery 8th and G Streets, NW Washington, DC

This exhibit features five dynamic duos who made their mark on U.S. history during tumultuous times. Also on display and similarly themed, is “Family Ties: Daguerreotype Portraits,” which reflects familial relations documented by early cameras.

Feb. 3 – 5

Chocolate Lovers Festival

City of Fairfax, VA Check the event schedule for exact locations.

Search for the GOLDEN TICKET in historic downtown Fairfax City during the Chocolate Lovers Festival! Three of the limited-edition chocolate bars that are scattered throughout the city will include golden tickets for chocolate lovers gift baskets. But everyone who attends the festival will be a winner as they will be surrounded by the finest chocolate confections in the region: cakes, candies, brownies, fudge — so much sweetness!

Feb. 3 – 5

Spring Home Show

Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center 2371 Carl D. Silver Parkway Fredericksburg, VA

Get inspired for your upcoming landscaping projects, home improvements, updated decor, and more.

Feb. 4

Black Homesteaders of the South

National Museum of African American History & Culture Concourse, Oprah Winfrey Theater (and online streaming) 1400 Constitution Ave. NW Washington, DC

Genealogist Bernice A. Bennett tells the stories of African American families who became landowners through the Homestead Act of 1862. She explores how these families navigated the process and what this legacy means for their descendents. Make sure to catch the NMAAHC’s many February exhibitions including “Spirit in the Dark,” the story of religion in Black America, and “A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond,” which explores contemporary Black life.

Feb. 4

Fire in Ice

Downtown Frederick, MD

Experience a winter wonderland in Downtown Frederick. The city will be transformed by  hundreds of unique ice sculptures.  

Feb. 10

I Dream a World Selections from Brian Lander’s Portraits of Remarkable Black Women: Part II

National Portrait Gallery 8th and G Streets, NW Washington, DC

Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Brian Lanker’s subjects include women who have made significant contributions to the arts, activism, literature, politics, sports, and more. This installation includes Althea Gibson, Odetta, Cicely Tyson, and Oprah Winfrey.

Feb. 15 – 19

Romeo and Juliet

American Ballet Theatre John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 2700 F St. NW Washington, DC

Enjoy the beauty of Renaissance Italy as you experience the most iconic story of star-crossed lovers. The American Ballet Theatre’s and The Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra present this lavish production through Sergei Prokofiev’s music, Kenneth MacMillan’s choreography and Nicholas Georgiadis’ colossal sets and lavish costumes. 

Feb. 17 – 19

Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival

Hilton Hotel and Executive Meeting Center 1750 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD  

Enjoy three days of jazz on four different stages including concerts, master classes, interviews with artists, dancing, and jam sessions. 

Feb. 24 – 25

Virginia Black History Month Association Events

Hilton Alexandria Mark Center 5000 Seminary Road Alexandria, VA

Attend the free Black Health Fair and Relationship Seminar on Friday, Feb. 24 at 4 p.m. The Black Health Fair includes dozens of health organizations who will provide lifesaving information, perform on-the-spot prescreening, and/or set up health appointments. The Relationship Seminar features professional relationship experts to empower guests with information on how to keep their relationships healthy and positive.

The keynote speaker for the 2023 Virginia Black History Month Gala is veteran actor, singer, and producer Leon Robinson who played the lead role in the 2000 film “Little Richard.”

[tothemoonandback]

30 Days of Agere Speed Run!

I ended up not being able to do this challenge daily, so I made a masterpost with the rest of the unanswered prompts! 💞

4: I don’t have a coloring book, but I like the Bluey ones they sell at the shops!

5: My favorite colors are pink, yellow, green, and purple!

6: I love pastels and dark colors.

7: I collect stuffed animals and LPS!

8: I love naps, especially when I’m regressed.

9: My favorite snack currently is bread with butter and jam!

10: I don’t really have an all time favorite plushie, but my current favorite is my Pound Puppy plushie!

11: Any classical music out there will help me regress usually, especially Clare de Lune.

12: My favorite toy in my regression is probably any sort of doll. I never got to play with them as a kid so they’re very healing to play with.

13: I love to play outside! Going on walks, going to the park, playing with chalk, etc. I love all that stuff! I’m very much an outdoor kiddo.

14: My favorite game is either Animal Crossing or the “lining toys up in a row” game. I love lining stuff up/organizing as play.

15: I do not have a cg right now, and honestly I don’t think I want one at the moment. I’m pretty content by myself.

16: My bedtime is anytime before midnight. I try to get at least eight hours of sleep when I can though.

17: I don’t have a set age range in my regression, but I lean toward younger age groups I think. It really depends on the day.

18: I’m open about my regression on here, but that’s pretty much it.

19: Foxes are my favorite animal!

20: I do on occasion, but not often.

21: Christmas is my favorite holiday! It’s coming up too!

22: I do! Their name is @story-book-sillies on tumblr!

23: I love bubble baths! They’re one of my favorite regression activities.

24: I do have swim toys! I have a table, a squishy, and a slinky! I recently have become more accepting of my need to stim, which has felt great! I love having stim toys because they prevent me from doing stims that hurt, such as pulling at my hair.

25: If I could go anywhere, I would go to Cherry Tree Lane from the Mary Poppins books & movies! As for a real life place, I would go to Disneyworld Paris.

26: I love reading!

27: My favorite books right now come from the Inkworld trilogy by Cornelia Funke.

28: I don’t drink juice often, but when I do I love apple juice.

29: I sleep with a plushie every night! It makes sleeping cozier in my opinion.

30: The biggest change in my personality when I regress is that I get a lot quieter. I tend not to speak. I get cuddlier too, and very sleepy also.

Picture credit: @cottoncandyabc

[vikramkumar01]

Experiencing Udaipur's Elegance: The Definitive Guide to Luxury Tempo Traveler Rentals

Nestled within Rajasthan's heart, Udaipur beckons with its graceful allure, historical significance, and opulence. Known as both the "City of Lakes" and the "Venice of the East," Udaipur boasts a rich tapestry of majestic palaces, serene lakes, and vibrant markets. To truly savour the charm of this regal city, consider the epitome of travel sophistication: renting a luxury tempo traveller in Udaipur. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into Udaipur's taxi services, sightseeing tours, and how Sara Taxi, the premier Udaipur transport provider, can elevate your journey to unforgettable heights.

**Why Udaipur for Your Next Retreat?**

Before delving into the details of luxury tempo traveller rentals and Udaipur's top-notch taxi services, it's crucial to appreciate why Udaipur is a dreamy destination for every traveller. This picturesque city is steeped in history, tracing its origins back to 1553 when Maharana Udai Singh II founded it. Udaipur's royal lineage is vividly evident in its opulent palaces, including the iconic City Palace and the breathtaking Lake Palace, now a luxury hotel.

Furthermore, Udaipur is adorned with exquisite lakes such as Lake Pichola, Fateh Sagar Lake, and Udai Sagar Lake, which enhance the city's romantic ambiance. Udaipur's streets are adorned with vibrant bazaars where you can shop for traditional Rajasthani handicrafts, textiles, and jewellery. The city's culinary offerings are equally delightful, with local favourites like Dal Baati Churma and Gatte ki Sabzi to tantalise your taste buds.

**The Opulent Tempo Traveler Experience in Udaipur**

When you find yourself in Udaipur, exploring the city in style is a non-negotiable. This is where luxury tempo traveller rentals take centre stage. Picture yourself gliding through the city's enchanting streets, savouring the sights, and immersing yourself in the regal atmosphere, all while enjoying the comfort and convenience of a well-appointed tempo traveller.

**Key Advantages of Luxury Tempo Travelers in Udaipur:**

1. **Unparalleled Comfort:** Luxury tempo travellers are meticulously designed to provide the utmost comfort during your journey. Plush seating, spacious interiors, and climate control ensure that you travel in style, regardless of the weather.

2. **Convenience Redefined:** Udaipur's narrow lanes and bustling streets can prove challenging to navigate. With a tempo traveller at your disposal, you can leave the driving to a seasoned professional, enabling you to focus solely on absorbing the sights.

3. **Ideal for Group Travel:** If you're embarking on this adventure with family or a group of friends, tempo travellers offer ample space for everyone, making it both cost-effective and enjoyable.

4. **Tailored Tour Packages:** Many Udaipur tempo traveller rental services offer customizable tour packages. You can cherry-pick from a range of sightseeing options and craft an itinerary that aligns with your interests.

5. **Safety First:** Safety is paramount when exploring an unfamiliar city. Luxury tempo travellers are equipped with top-notch safety features, and the experienced drivers are well-acquainted with local roads and traffic.

**Udaipur Taxi Service: Your Gateway to the City**

To fully immerse yourself in the luxury tempo traveller experience in Udaipur, you require a dependable Udaipur Taxi Service. Sara Taxi, synonymous with excellence, stands as the premier Udaipur taxi service provider, catering to all your transportation needs. Whether you're arriving at the airport, train station, or need transport within the city, Sara Taxi is at your beck and call.

**Why Choose Sara Taxi in Udaipur?**

1. **Punctuality is Paramount:** Sara Taxi recognizes the importance of your time. Their drivers are renowned for their punctuality, ensuring you never miss a moment of your Udaipur adventure.

2. **Diverse Fleet Selection:** From luxurious cars to capacious tempo travellers, Sara Taxi offers a diverse fleet to cater precisely to your requirements. You can handpick the vehicle that perfectly complements your style and group size.

3. **Seasoned Drivers with Local Insight:** The drivers at Sara Taxi are not just adept at the wheel; they also possess in-depth knowledge of Udaipur's history and culture. They can serve as your local guide, regaling you with insights into the city's hidden gems.

4. **Unwavering Commitment to Safety:** Your safety is of paramount importance to Sara Taxi. Their vehicles undergo regular maintenance, and drivers adhere rigorously to stringent safety protocols.

5. **Round-the-Clock Availability:** Udaipur never sleeps, and neither does Sara Taxi. Their 24/7 service ensures that you have transportation readily available whenever the need arises.

**Udaipur Sightseeing Tours: Crafting Your Dream Itinerary**

Now that you've secured your luxury tempo traveller and engaged the reliable Udaipur Taxi Service from Sara Taxi, it's time to shape your Udaipur sightseeing tour. Udaipur unfurls a plethora of attractions, necessitating meticulous planning to maximise your visit.

**Must-Visit Destinations in Udaipur:**

1. **City Palace:** Commence your journey with a visit to the majestic City Palace. This sprawling palace complex treats you to awe-inspiring vistas of Lake Pichola, providing a captivating glimpse into Udaipur's royal history.

2. **Lake Pichola Boat Ride:** Embarking on a boat ride across Lake Pichola delivers a romantic and tranquil experience. Revel in the shimmering waters and the resplendent Lake Palace as you gracefully cruise along.

3. **Fateh Sagar Lake:** Explore Fateh Sagar Lake, celebrated for its serene environs and the captivating Nehru Island, accessible via boat.

4. **Jag Mandir Palace:** Situated on Lake Pichola, this island palace is an architectural marvel, often referred to as the "Lake Garden Palace."

5. **Saheliyon ki Bari:** Marvel at the exquisite gardens, enchanting fountains, and serene lotus pools of Saheliyon ki Bari, offering a peaceful respite from the city's hustle and bustle.

6. **Jagdish Temple:** Pay a visit to the intricately carved Jagdish Temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu, and immerse yourself in Udaipur's spiritual ambiance.

7. **Shilpgram:** For those intrigued by local crafts and culture, Shilpgram stands as a cultural complex hosting exhibitions and workshops.

8. **Local Bazaars:** No excursion is complete without a dose of retail therapy at Udaipur's bustling markets, including the vibrant Bapu Bazaar and Hathi Pol.

9. **Lakeview Dining:** Conclude your day with a culinary journey at one of the many lakeview restaurants, where you can relish authentic Rajasthani cuisine while enjoying mesmerising views.

Udaipur is a city that beckons to be explored with elegance and grace. With luxury tempo travellers at your disposal, backed by the dependable Udaipur Taxi Service from Sara Taxi, and an impeccably crafted sightseeing itinerary, your voyage through the "City of Lakes" promises to be nothing short of enchanting. Embrace the regal allure, immerse yourself in history's embrace.