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[viciousmaukery]

[Molly's been in this world for a few months now, long enough that he's figured out the basics of the technology and become a fan of a couple of small cafés. And bathhouses. And spas. And thrift stores. And—yeah, Molly's a regular expert by now in Treating Himself. But this? This is new.

Open on: Mollymauk Tealeaf, wearing a red coat lined with white, embroidered and decorated with holiday symbols of all kinds—not only familiar symbols for winter holidays like a Christmas tree and a Festivus pole, but symbols that seem incomprehensible to anyone but followers of gods from the Exandrian pantheon (or from any Dungeons and Dragons pantheon). He grins at the camera, and holds up a paper cup of steaming peppermint mocha.]

I've been here for months and not a single one of you thought to tell me anything about the holidays here. I knew you people liked to celebrate, but I didn't realize that meant holiday promos on every block. [He tuts.] Shame.

[He takes a sip of his latte, and makes a noise like he's just had a religious experience.]

God, this tastes incredible. [A sigh, and he leans back against his chair.] Really makes up for that space food back at the Swear-In. And everything else. Do things like that usually happen here?

[It reminds him a little too much of that job for the Knights of Requital—things had spun far, far out of control before Molly could do anything about it. But here he is now, having bounced back just fine from his ordeal.]

Besides that, I was actually going to ask something else. [Taking a sip of his mocha again.] What's the best holiday-themed drink in this country, and where can I find it? Or how do I make it, if I've really got to.

Comments

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[storyseeker]

I'm shocked you've been here for months and didn't catch on to any of this stuff earlier. The Christmas creep is real.

Fair warning: the Oreo-flavoerd candy canes are actually disgusting. I don't recommend unless you're going for the full range of holiday experiences.

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[viciousmaukery]

I'm very new to the "Christmas creep". [He's new in general, he's only really been himself for two years.] We didn't go all-out like this for Highsummer where I'm from, or Winter's Crest [which is more of a Tal'Dorei holiday anyway]. We certainly didn't have promos. The closest thing would be Harvest's Close, but it's not this widespread.

[Thank you, American capitalism, for enabling Molly's hedonistic ways.]

Never heard of Or-yo before. [Or candy canes before he got to this world, but Molly's seen plenty of swirly canes around now, he can put two and two together.] But I'll take your word for it.

[He says, fully planning on buying at least five.]

Re: video;

[storyseeker]

Sounds pretty different from this world.

[Which, she kind of figured from the purple skin and the horns, at which Elena is trying not to gawk at. Not because she thinks he looks weird, though. He's actually kinda pretty.]

Uh-huh. Why do I doubt that? I'm just saying, cookies should be cookies and not candy. They should stay in their lane. But, that doesn't make enough piles of cash for the shareholders, I guess.

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[viciousmaukery]

Very different. Less tails, for one thing. [...he's not technically lying—] Almost everyone I've met back home had a tail.

[Yeah, that's a big fat lie, punctuated by a sip of his mocha.]

Don't tell cookies what they can and can't be. [But a corner of his mouth lifts in a little smile.] Or, I s'pose, don't tell the shareholders what cookies can or can't be. If they want to make cookie-flavored candies, who are we to stop them?

[Molly's sure as hell not going to even try, he wants five shitty candy canes. He thinks of Jester with a pang—she'd be the one with a real horse in this race. Or unicorn, considering it's Jester.]

[hellosirs]

Have you had hot chocolate with marshmallows and caramel sauce, right sir?

[viciousmaukery]

I had hot chocolate with marshmallows, but I didn't add caramel sauce before. I'll be sure to rectify that mistake just as soon as I can get my hands on caramel sauce.

And just call me Molly.

[hellosirs]

Noted!

[ Man, nobody's down for being called 'sir'. It's almost like there's no need to be rigidly formal and hyper polite here! ]

Usually if you ask the baristas at the coffee shops, they'll drizzle some caramel sauce on top of the foam. You can also get flavour shots in your drink!

[viciousmaukery]

Really. I didn't know that! [Angus, you have created a monster, he's going to ask for all the flavor shots now.] Thanks bunches for the tip—didn't catch your name, mind giving it out?

[lootsnshoots]

[Ooh, now there's a robe that would set off a lowkey war in the great sartorial struggle in another time and place. He won't be impressed out loud, though. Hunter pride and all that.]

My horned friend you can't go wrong with the classics—some hot spiced cider should do you just fine on a cold evening.

[viciousmaukery]

[You should see his regular coat.]

I'm a big fan of spiced cider and hot wine, myself, especially on a cold, dark night, but I need a little more variety than just the classics. Got any other suggestions?

[lootsnshoots]

Try a Tom and Jerry, then.

[viciousmaukery]

I'm sorry, what?

[VIDEO]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

I keep hearing people talk about this 'egg nog' stuff to the point where if I don't try it, I'm going to lose my mind wondering about it.

Apparently it's versatile enough that you can just straight up add an entire bottle of rum to it and that just makes it even better.

You up for finding some and trying it with me?

[VIDEO]

[viciousmaukery]

They have eggnog lattes here! I've tried them and they're incredible, I've been buying them everyday.

[Sure, they're expensive as fuck, but hey, Treat Yo Self.]

You ask like you think there's a chance I'll say no. [A grin.] Of course I'm up for such a quest.

Re: [VIDEO]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

They're that good?? Because I'll be honest, 'egg nog' just doesn't sound all that appealing. But everyone says it's like the holiday drink and if I can add liberal amounts of booze to it, then I'd be a sucker to pass it up on name alone.

[VIDEO]

[viciousmaukery]

Eggnog. Hm, I don't know, seems to roll off the tongue well enough to me. Anyway, plenty of things that don't sound appealing have something interesting behind them, it's just a matter of trying them out.

And if you can add lots of booze to it, then frankly, it'd be a crime to pass it up because you think the name's unfortunate.

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[am_i_a_monster]

The best one? That's hard. Do you want alcoholic or non-alcoholic?

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[viciousmaukery]

I like providing challenges. And either's fine, I'm not picky.

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[am_i_a_monster]

Spiced apple cider is good or chaider. Gingerbread lattes are nice. So are eggnog lattes at the start of the day or eggnog martinis at the end of the day. Drinks with mint are always refreshing like candy cane white hot chocolate or a peppermint mocha. It depends on your mood, you know? The best one is the one you make yourself, 'cause it'll fit perfectly.

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[drivesadesk]

Oh, yeah. Holiday themed drinks happen all the time here. In October they had pumpkin spiced lattes, and those were great!

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[viciousmaukery]

Those I tried, but they weren't quite as loudly celebrated. [Considering it was October, it was very loudly celebrated.] Shame, because you're not wrong, they were great. Any way I could get more of them out of season, just in case?

[He's willing to pay extra for them.]

We never had holiday-themed drinks back home. Mulled wine and hot mead during winter festivals, sure, but you could have those any time.

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[drivesadesk]

I don't know. I never see them for sale anywhere.

We didn't either on my home planet. I mean, there were drinks that were popular at various celebrations, like this stuff made from fruit juice and tree sap we have, and snacks and stuff, but nothing that was only available then. I just figured it was because humans have such distinct seasons. My home planet is tidally locked to the sun, so we don't really have the prominent seasons Earth does, so harvest times aren't as strict.

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[recommendations]

[ Momo remembers this man from the Fanport Expo, so she's smiling a friendly smile when she replies. ]

Christmas is very different in America than it is in Japan, so I imagine it must be quite strange compared to the holidays of a completely different world!

I don't know whether you'll be able to find it in this country, but my favorite winter drink is shogayu, or ginger tea. It's typically sold in powders that you add to hot water. In Japan, you can find it in convenience stores all over the place.

But, I suppose, you can't go wrong with a good hot chocolate!

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[viciousmaukery]

[It's Momo! Molly grins, and waves hello.]

Oh, very. We don't have anything that's this widespread or has this much build-up. The closest one I can think of is Harvest's Close, and you don't get bombarded with promos the same way here. [And while it's close, it's not quite the same as this Christmas.] How different is it in Japan?

I'll keep an eye out for it. Seems like a drink I should try, at the very least. [A sip of his peppermint mocha.] I've tried hot chocolate—with marshmallows, mostly, but after this I'll try the one with caramel sauce. Any other things I should add?

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[recommendations]

Hm... [ Things to add to hot chocolate? ] Whipped cream is always a good topping. And cinnamon, too!