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dianthus

@dianthus

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Joined four months ago

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Show us your cosy gaming setup!

in Critter Café

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I am having SUCH A BLAST looking at everyone's little set-up, thank you so much for sharing! We all have such different ways of gaming, it's so nice to see.

Here's my little tour! Make sure to watch with the sound on, there's commentary~

Verified

I got really excited to show everything, this was really fun to do!

There's actually so much I forgot to cover in the video :D

Most importantly, the armchair and sofa are really light and easy to move, which means that if I'm more in the mood for handheld gaming (or, frankly, a much needed screen-free evening... or heavean forbids we have FRIENDS coming over?!) then in literally just five minutes the living room can look like this:

https://i.postimg.cc/XvwjhPTJ/20250218-164649.jpg

Also, the walls are a delicate green that looks really good and is very relaxing-- you need to picture it, but the outside has a very dark green forest and the wooden brown of the furniture, the green accent color, all go very well with the outside nature view. I'm not a minimalist by any means (I love my little things, as can be seen lol and if I could cover these walls with art I would!) but I love my restrained palette and that, even though we're living in my late grandparents' house with all of their things that we didn't choose, I was still able to create this green/brown/natural light atmosphere! That makes me feel super cozy & homey.

Oh! We have an A/C unit that's powered by an heat pump (it's that big white rectangle on the wall!) that we can control with a remote, and so it really helps getting the room to the right temperature. We're the sort of people who like to keep the room a little chill in the evening so that we can bundle up under plaids :D

Bonus night-time view:

https://i.postimg.cc/P5DygbKJ/20250218-180927.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/VvBr96FY/20250218-182249.jpg

While I love natural light, too much light can definitely be an issue! At night we almost always only use those two lamps. Isn't the little Totoro* lamp so cute?!

(*This was sold as an "orange cat" lamp at my local supermarket. XD Sorry, Ghibli Studio.)

So yeah! That's my little tour! I don't know if I managed to convey it in the video, but for me, cozyness is that homey, "I am safe and comfy at home with my little things" feelings, more than an aesthetic. Yet at the same time, I have carefully chosen (to the best of my means and abilities) and curated what's in my space and the way it's set up. Being able to live here, among things that were so loved by others before me, make me feel very happy too!

Curated

Fan-fiction contest! Two people meet in your café on New Year's Eve ...

in Critter Café

Closed

thinking of you!! -xoxo

With a smile, I double-tap on Jessica’s wintery wonderland holiday picture, select a blue heart emoji as a reaction, and pocket the phone again. My fingers are getting numb from the cold, and I bring Mogbert onto my lap, burying my hands in its fur.

“I guess she was right, Mog,” I say softly. “I kept the café opened for nothing. I guess nobody’s looking for a latte when they could enjoy New Year’s.”

Mogbert purrs softly. Plushpeck chirps and leans its fluffy head on my elbow. Starbii has been asleep against my thigh for a while, now. Above us, the heavenly vault spreads in all its glittering splendor. The silver winter stars shine brightly in the Gold Leaf night. On a clear day, one can see all the way to the Emerald Bay, over the vast expense of the sea. On a clear night such as this one, one can even see the city lights trying to outshine the stars.

It’s easier, since we’re sitting in the dark. All the café lights are off. The chairs are on the tables, the bar is empty, the floor is spotless. There’s a lump in my throat, a sort of lonely stillness that no critter cuddle can seem to shake off. My thoughts are so loud, they drown the song of the night, the little critter noises, the ruffles in the leaves, the footsteps--

Footsteps?

I look up from my pile of half-asleep critters onto the path that leads up to the café. Why, yes, there is someone walking up towards us. It’s a long way to Honeycrisp Grove, and it’s already late at night. Who could possibly… ?

“Excuse me!” a young voice calls out.

“Yes,” I call back, “good evening!”

I gently push the critters aside and get on my feet. How fortunate that I wasn’t done with tidying up the terrace. I switch on one of the outdoor lights, and the newcomer all but crumbles into my arms.

“Oh, I’m so glad-- I got lost-- I was so scared-- I remembered there was a café here, you know, but I wasn’t seeing any lights, and…”

Mogbert is purring with full strength, the sure sign of an upset human. Not that I need its guidance today: our new friend has a hiking backpack, a broken hiking shoe in one hand, and eyes full of tears.

“It’s okay,” I say, giving them a pat on the back. “Let’s get you inside. Why don’t we warm you up, and then you can tell me everything about it?”

* * *

“… And that’s how I found myself here.”

“What an unlucky way to end the year,” I say, pushing towards their side of the table another slice of my signature Catcus iced cake.

“Thank you…. Ah, this cake is really good.”

“Thank you, it’s our specialty.”

“Coffee, too. Really nice of you to open back for me like this.”

“Of course.” I wave away any concern. “I’m just glad you’re in the mood for latte and cream cheese.”

The customer smiles and leans back in their chair. They still look a little red on the cheeks, but sugar and fat are doing wonders to bring them back to life. I’ve set them up in the nice plush sofa by the window, the one shaped like a critter paw, with its back to the front door.

The rest of the Café is still plunged in the dark of night, with the coffee cups drying on the rack and the critter toys put aside. The critters themselves have now spread out and gone to rest. The air whispers of their soft snoring and my late-night customer’s slowly chipping away at their cake.

I get to my feet, slide behind the bar, and reach out to my trusty instant cappuccino box at the back of the cupboard. It’s the terrible, commercial stuff. Add warm milk, and you’re set. I’ll never serve that to a customer, but it’s all I used to drink back when I lived in the city. There’s something familiar, and thus comforting, in its sickly-sweet sweetness. The convenience, too. I hid a yawn behind my hand, and gently stir the mixture with a spoon.

I bring the cup to my lips, and soon my taste buds are overcome with warm, sugary, artificial flavouring goodness. Even at my lowest, I must admit that anything Jessica taught me about brewmanship is better than this, and yet--

There’s a thud outside, muffled by the window. My customer hisses, stands up and points at the window.

“The fireworks!” they say.

“Oh yes! That’s what we were outside for,” I say, quickly coming over. “Let’s go, we’ll see them better from the terrace.”

Outside is just as cold as I’d left it, although now I have the warmth of the mug in my hands, and the wonder of pyrotechnics in my eyes. Emerald Bay is entering the new year in a flurry of red, green, blue, gold… silver, pink… red again… now gold…

Mogbert headbutts my ankle, purring, and I scoop it up along with Starbii and Glowli, who was ready to climb up my leg. With each new star exploding across the dark mirror of the sea, my shoulders get a little looser, and my heart a little lighter.

Next year… next year is this year, already, so new and fragile. So tender in the crisp winter night. Yet here all the same, full of possibilities, ready to be what I want it to be. The sky lights up one last time and cleanses my doubts away.

I was right to come here. I was right to keep the café open for New Year’s.

I’m going to be okay.

Winner

Imagine your perfect social media platform. What's different?

in Tech

Closed

My perfect social media was Cohost. I said 'was', because it had to close down due to lack of funds!

What I really liked about Cohost was that long-form content was encouraged! There was no character limit that I remember of, and if there was, it might have been several thousand words. It allowed for really in-depth conversations, I really enjoyed that part.

There were no ads, at all, although there were a marketplace where users were invited to post their own ads (like commission posts for artists). A fee on each marketplace "ad" and a subscription service was what was kept the site running.

Also, there was no algorithm. At all. Ever. People used tags a lot, and you could easy search tags or follow them. So you would just go from one person to the other, following them, and that would create your dashboard, and it would allow to discover so much I wouldn't have known before.

The pace was much slower. Because everything was long-form and there was no algorithm, if you didn't follow that many people, you could even go a couple of days without anything new,. It was great. No more mindless scrolling, but taking the time to think deeply instead.

I miss it so much, y'all!!

Curated

Have you used a Google competitor search engine? Was it any good?

in Tech

Closed

I use Sam's SearXNG!

Oh yes, I know, you've never heard of it. SearXNG is free and open-source, which means that anyone can go check its source code and make sure it only does what it says it does. Users aren't profiled or tracked at all, and you can use the same sorts of filters and syntax searchers as you would everywhere else.

In terms of results, they are sometimes... a little interesting, but I've never been, you know, unable to find what I'm looking for. And I value my online privacy very much, so it helps!

Winner

Share and celebrate your favourite cosy content creator!

in Critter Café

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I'd like to share Liziqi's channel with you all today! Okay, so, Liziqi isn't exactly a small time content creator who would benefit from the exposure, she's has more than 23 millions subscribers and is an absolute star in China. But her videos on countryside living, traditional crafts and the passing of seasons are... just... really... good. Even without the translation, there's something very relaxing about them. Just have a look! I put one of my favourite up there because I also grew up in the countryside, albeit not in China, and I remember fondly eating fruits with my own grandmother.

Curated

Suggest your own reward idea (we might even run it!)

in Critter Café

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There are already so many great ideas!! I'm very excited for some of those.

I have one Big Idea that I think would be really good: a fiber art creation contest!! This is directly inspired by something another game, Spirit City: Lofi Sessions, did recently. You can find the terms of their contest here for example, and the winners here. As you can see, people really went off with plushies, needlework, sweaters, and more! I was a little disappointed that they ended up only rewarding professional-looking efforts, as they had specifically made free patterns available and encouraged people to try their hands at crochet and such.

Two other, smaller ideas that I think would work well (and be less work to set up lol):

  • design a backpack or other accessory for the player character! I really love the customization in this game, and I want more!!

  • design a piece of food to serve to the clients in the memory mini-game! If there was a higher difficulty with a rotation of items, it would make the game more challenging! this item could also be used as a decoration (coughs Catcus cake anyone? coughs)