2021 was just around the corner, and everyone was relatively hopeful about it. But there were a number of reasons why.
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2021 was going to be the Year of the Ox Mr. and Ms. Zodiac competition, and a lot of cattle Animalian in general were doubling down on their physical and mental training. While the final challenge was more horizontal than it was at the Year of the Rat, it was still going to be a challenge since it was planning to have that race as an obstacle course. While it was going to be "physically challenging", there were some crazy people on the website who were requesting swinging pendulums, etc., that were downright dangerous and so got a firm 'no' from the moderators.
In any case, the training was generating a lot of mixed results, if the videos taken of said training was anything to go by. On the website, Nate was being voted as the competitions "underdog", though whether or not the term would apply to cattle was a bit of confusion.
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Probably the biggest thing that was going on in Animalia wasn't really tied to any event, but involved the skyrocketing cost of carob. When it was discovered that carob could be safely consumed by Animalians, food and candy corporations had been buying up all the carob they could find. While this was causing annoyance to some people, there were those who were doing the best with the opportunity. Farmers in Southern California whose lands/orchards had been ravaged by wildfires had bought up enough carob seeds to begin growing trees and while it would be a while before the first crop would be ready for harvest, it was considered a good thing after a lot of misfortune.
But not only was carob skyrocketing in price, it was also skyrocketing on the global stock market, much to the surprise of seasoned investors. The surprise not only involved the price of carob, but also seemingly novice traders making big bucks off of carob. One positive effect of this was that it was doing a good deal of contributing toward economic recovery, even if it did come out of nowhere, metaphorically speaking.
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Another big thing was when Ollie and Leslie were able to arrive at Vilcabamba for their winter vacation with little to no problem. While flight usually involved planes, them flying there solely by wing power was something to take note of. While there were some who were understandably skeptical of the claim, Ollie and Leslie were able to back it up no problem with aerial cameras and GPS systems. There were, of course, those internet idiots who accused them of using stock/doctored images for their "proof", internet detectives were able to soundly debunk their claims, and expose those idiots for who they were.
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Another amusing thing that happened around this time was when Solomon was introduced to Arsinoe. While he did have a heads-up that she was a bit of a "prima" as such were known in Animalia, it was still a big blow to his male ego. Fortunately, that blow helped him open up to her, and it was a good start into his mandatory "Homosexual Anonymous" classes. The clumsy attempts at flirting that both were using were generating a lot of laughs from witnesses, even though they did their best to keep quiet about it in their presence.
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While the parties that celebrated new years were considerably quieter, many Animalian children were excited since this would be the first time that many of them would get to stay up late, though there were those who fell asleep before the critical moment when 2021 began. Fortunately there were no stigma attached to this, so they were able to enjoy New Years.