cityarcade | Secret Santa Day Four

It's already the fourth day of Chrismukkah. W H A T.

Each day from now through Christmas, you'll find a post like this one waiting. Leave anonymous comments with your gift for your Secret Santee (make sure to put his or her name in the subject line so they can find it!). Remember, it's okay if you don't have something every day. We do, however, encourage you to leave a little note to let them know they haven't been forgotten. Christmas Day will be a free-for-all, where you can leave presents for anyone at all and, if you so desire, reveal your identity.

Let the gift-giving begin.

NOTES: Passwords for various uploading sites, galleries, the game anon account, etc., are available here. For those of you who'd like to play around with some Photoshop but don't have access, Pixlr is a fantastic online alternative that comes close. And remember, if you're posting pictures, they won't show up in an anonymous comment, so for those kinds of comments, it's better to use the

citysecrets account.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oops! Santa didn't mean to miss a day. (Trouble with the Elf Union. You know how it is.)

In your inbox, you should find a little something to spend on whatever your heart desires. Happy Festivus!

Santa is a failboat at anon posting. This lovely Festivus pole goes with the above.

Truly the only tree that survives a cat XD Thank you!

Dear Jess, on day four your Secret Santa is hungover and didn't make anything pretty ;-;

Please accept some paid time for this handsome fellow!

his stupid fucking winky face

THANK YOU :D

Dear Kat,

On the fourth day of Christmas Santa brings you a bunch of trash songs for a trash ship in a trash canon~

Santa ships it.

I'm not Kat but as the other half of the trash ship from the trash canon (SUCH A TRASH CANON), I love this playlist.

Dearest Faye,

Santa apologizes for being so busy, but Santa really should have expected the reindeer poop to hit the fan as it so often does this time of year. You have not been forgotten, but today's present will come late tonight. You may have to check this post again in the morning!

Always,
Stressed Santa

Things are stressful this time of year! I totally understand!! <333 I believe in you, Santa.

Dear dearest Faye,

It is currently two in the morning and Santa just got home from doing the job of many, many elves, so you will get two presents tomorrow! Santa apologizes most profusely for the delay!

Please forgive Santa Yoda, he had to go home to Dagobah for the family Christmas party. Wookiees, they know how to throw down. Also Santa is afraid that Yoda may have given away his identity. Oopsie.

Tomorrow there will be proper gifts but for now, please enjoy this cat and some well-earned kudos.

Your Santa has known you for quite a while, going back to a tropical island in fact! I've always admired the way you hang on with a character and really work to go long haul with them, to flesh out their day to day lives and relationships. You did it with River and I suspect we'll be hearing from Julie for a long time, watching her grow and change. I've enjoyed tagging with her and rather think I will continue to for a while!

Shhh, Santa. I'm pretending I didn't notice and you still have a secret identity.

Awww, Kaylee kitty. Mine would murder me if I tried to dress them up, so I will enjoy this one!

Thank you! I enjoy it, too.

Apologies, dear Julia, for the lateness of this gift. The elves got a few things mixed up, so this is a bit out of order, however Santa likes to take things in stride. Goes with the "jolly" thing. This just gives you more time for this present to be in season!

So for day 4, a more holiday themed mix.

All songs on here are from musicals, sung by actors in musicals, from one musical and sung by an actor in another musical...or in just one case, sung by actors from a musical that includes a different song with the same name as the song they're singing! (So no, that's not a mistake on the tracklist.)

Enjoy!

PS: Santa suggests that if you have any relatives who are by some horrible luck fans of Margaret Thatcher or morally opposed to wishing someone ill on Christmas, you skip #11 around them ;)

Edited 2016-12-24 05:44 (UTC)

Thank you, Santa! This is so lovely.

Santa has been very busy today and is a bit worn out from getting ready for the holidays, but didn’t want to leave you without something for day four! Since you have so many wonderful pups, some kudos for some more of them:

JESPER FAHEY
Jesper is another of yours whose canon I am unfamiliar with, but as with all of yours for whom that’s the case, he’s written so vividly that I feel like I know him anyway. Jesper in particular is written with such vivacity, so much warmth and energy, that he seems to come right off the page (or screen, as it were). At the same time, you don’t make him all fun and games, however much he may favor them himself. His flaws are as much a part of his character as anything else, and I remember being especially fascinated with what you did with him during the truth on your back plot earlier this year, and how he dealt with the fact of his addiction being on display. He’s such an interesting, well-rounded character, and I very much look forward to reading more of his threads and playing off him in the future.

TRIS PRIOR
Even in a slew of dystopian YA books, Tris is a heroine who stands out from the crowd, and that’s true in your writing of her, too. She’s been through a lot in her time in Darrow, and that development shows; at the same time, she’s still very recognizably the character from the book series, evident in both her fighting spirit and the way she has more recently grieved for lost friends. The very fact of what makes Tris divergent is on full display here, with traits more than just that of the faction she was born into and the one she chose for herself evident. In the wrong hands, it’s easy to see how a character like Tris could easily just become generic, another Strong Female Character dystopian protagonist, but yours never has been, and that’s always refreshing to read.

ADAM PARRISH
Obviously I’m behind on my reading, as I may be one of the few people left who doesn't know the Raven Cycle beyond the characters we have in game, but reading their threads always makes me want to give the books a try, and Adam is a big part of that. I’m especially struck by how well you handle some of the difficult subject matter surrounding his character. He isn’t defined by the trauma in his past, but neither is it an incidental piece of background, either — it informs who he is without being all of who he is, which seems very true to life, keeping him grounded while still being a character, of course, from a fantasy series and with all that entails. I haven’t threaded off him much myself, but that’s something I’m hoping to change going forward, and his tags, when I see them, always seem incredibly well-written. As with all of yours, though, that’s never a surprise.

On the fourth day of Christmas, your Secret Santa brings to you: points on your account / and some fancy new icons (times two!)

Santa is very sorry for being flaky this year, but the elves have unexpectedly gone on strike (something about fare wages? Santa wasn't really listening) and it's made things very hectic. Please accept the Dreamwidth points in your account in lieu of anything fancy.

One of this Santa's favorite things in game is when players are able to take what a character has done in canon and expand on it in a creative and unique way. So seeing what you've been able to do with Derek Hale in game has been a delight. He's become probably one of this game's oldest characters and a city staple at this point, and through losing canon members, finding new loves and careers, the way he's evolved in Darrow has been an absolute delight to read.

Another one of your pups who this Santa is always happy to see around is Rapunzel, who is written with a sweetness and light (and ferocity!) that always reminds me of her canon. I was so glad when you decided to bring her back to Darrow, Carly, because this game definitely needs more characters like her. In particular, her item post back in June was so great, and it was such a creative way to bring Rapunzel's lanterns to Darrow.

So KUDOS, Carly!

Thank you, Santa! Your kind words are much appreciated! I'm so glad to know that other people are enjoying the characters that I love so dearly. ♥

Secret Santa Day Four

Sarah V

Re: Sarah V

Re: Sarah V

Jess

Re: Jess

Kat

Re: Kat

FAYE

Re: FAYE

Re: FAYE

Sarah B

Re: Sarah B

for Julia

Re: for Julia

Ria

Angel

CARLY!

Re: CARLY!