Lounging With Nocturna Hollygloom!

Short Stories: Tales From The Christmas Event and Beyond!

Sometimes, I don’t mind it when my biggest responsibility of the day is decorating a room. It’s in my blood, after all. It’s funny how people just assume we Christmas Elves only make wooden toys. We’re far more sophisticated than that, and anyway, almost no children play with wooden toys any more. Even if you give them a really good one, they’ll just toss it aside whilst hoping (probably in vain) for a new Animal Crossing update. Sure, if you sat me down at a work bench, I could hammer out a jointed wooden horse of something, but what would be the point of that? I’d rather create spaces, set moods, provide people with the perfect Christmas cookie, freshen up their cocoa, if that makes sense.

Having a place to curl up that’s not in the middle of things is, I think, a very important thing during holiday time, when so many of us are in bigger crowds than we are used to, whether they be friends, strangers, or that weird in between work thing. And this one has the added bonus of being near to the back door, should you need to make a quick getaway! Books and a hot kettle within easy reach—I’d spend the whole holiday in a space like this, if I could. Good art and a reminder of our pagan and folkloric pasts make the whole space come alive. And you can’t go wrong with a decorative horn on a throw rug, amirite?

Now, you’ve already seen the dining area, and even though I did break down and put some more art on the walls, it looks pretty much the same. So here’s what I did with my living area. I tried to strike a balance between my own sensibilities and whatever Pixie wants me to do. She’ll be by later to inspect, so I had better get into some proper holiday duds, but more on that later.

Putting this part of the room together was a lot of work! So much moving of furniture. I had to get a couple of apprentice elves to help me out, and they were much more interested in drinking cocoa than moving furniture, so the whole thing took longer than it should have, but at least I have my tree up and some comfy places to sit, plus another beautiful shelf where I can keep important things, like books and my gorgeous Cthulhu candles.

This side of the room is for those folks who just want to sit down be comfortable, and watch everybody else enjoy themselves. It’s not a bad place to be. Love Everlasting’s comfortable holiday furniture suite coupled with more of Dreamscapes lovely art makes this part of the room exactly that.

My gorgeous Skellington tree was created by Imagine Nation, and wherever I put it up, it never fails to get a reaction. I can never resist a big gothic bookshelf, and this one from Studio Craft has room for more beautiful Cthulhu candles and a smaller version of my garden wreath. And of course there’s a puzzle on the floor, in case people want to get down and play on the rug!

Pixie came by and inspected it all. She even approved of my hairstyle. So I settled down onto that nice, red couch to take a bit of a rest.

Just as I was getting comfortable, this amazing thing happened! The air moved, and I nearly looked back to see if Pixie was coming in to have a go at me about something—but no; it was a very small-for-his-species raven. He jumped from the top of this pillow right onto my arm. The first thing he said to me was, ‘Hey! Let’s go dumpster diving’! I was in love. His name is Draum.

I told him all about the Elder Gods, and how they are waiting for us in the deeps. He said he liked that story, and could he see the big one, please? So of course I took him out into my garden.

I explained that placed thusly over my door, the Great Cthulhu is always watching over me and protecting me from anything more terrifying than himself. I went on to explain that there’s a large tree and a tree for fae to hide in if they are pursued or just need a little nap.

As the light faded over my beautiful Linden Home, I decided to take Draum up on the idea of going dumpster diving, so we spent the next several hours going through all kinds of places! Maybe I’ll tell you about them sometime. Or maybe we’ll keep them all to ourselves. We’re a twosome now, Draum and me.