With November 30 being on a Saturday, the following Sunday was the first of December, so the countdown to Christmas 2024 began.
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One of the most popular things, in a manner of speaking, was Claw Coliseum's Turkey Trot and Gobble Wobble, as the post-Thanksgiving weight loss classes were officially known. While the original purpose was to make people laugh, it was becoming more of a legitimate label due to the big bellies of Animalia's newest members.
While the group of goths that got herm anglerfish and deep-sea lizardfish had been originally disappointed that their old goth tattoos had faded, what was even more galling (to them) was the fact that they had overindulged to an extreme level at Thanksgiving dinner. While the weight loss would be significantly easier, the way they all still jiggled with their exercises was still enough of a burn that they'd be more careful with their appetites next year, hopefully.
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While not everyone celebrates Christmas the same way in different places (or at all), those with Animalia colonies were able to adapt the holiday in various ways. For instance, Heiya Island/Prefecture was putting their own spin on Santa Claus, with "Santa" being played/replaced by Budai/Qieci; his "eight tiny reindeer" being played/replaced by the Eight Immortals of Taoism; and the "sleigh" being replaced by a magic boat the Eight Immortals had built.
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Speaking of Heiya Prefecture, with the weather being different in different places in the world, China and Japan were having their first snowfall of the season. With it came the beginning of Ao Guang's Winter Weight Watchers party. While this was the victim of either internet rumors or trolls, one of the things confirmed by it was that none of the men or women (whether Chinese, Japanese, or Korean) were under 200 lbs., with some of them pushing four or five hundred, and at least one woman pushing six hundred (which could only result from deliberate actions).
Fortunately, nobody was judgmental of anyone, and North Korea was having its own problems from helping Russia out with its war against Ukraine, so the party was able to be plenty of fun. One of the big cases was Hatsane Mako's opening concert, not only because of her popularity, but also because her outfit helped show off her muscles and curves to the women, which helped fuel anticipation for them.
One unexpected thing was the result of the Bald Bull and Mable's arrival on Heiya Island before they traveled on to Ao Guang. Understandably, it was another "fangirl feeding frenzy" as girls were almost immediately drawn to the Bald Bull, but a few were also drawn to Mable, leading to a rather amusing scene.
Fortunately, the authorities and organizers remembered the lessons from Shun's "herm conversion" during the Retreat to Beat the Heat, and there were a few new regulations in place to prevent such a thing from happening accidentally again.
Though, right now, what was holding the most attention was a 3-on-3, all girls (newly converted/double-dosed) Beach Volleyball pick-up game (no doubt a reference to the Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball series), both in real time, and on the website, though the website was focusing more on other things that were bouncing, rather than the ball.
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If there was one thing that could annoy anyone about the start of December, it was the arrival of Layla's friends for conversion, partly due to Layla's reputation, though Dr. Jones had a theory (at most) about why this was.
"It seems that she's been suppressing a lot of her feelings under a heavy layer of self-dependence." he said, though he was obviously confused about this as well. "And, as I've often said, if you try to completely suppress all your undesirable feelings, those feelings will build, and build, and eventually explode. And my guess is that Layla was just about to hit the 'eventually explode' stage when she had her conversion."
While this didn't explain much about Layla's behavior, it did help in understanding Layla's friends in case they went through a similar phase, which they clearly would be, from their first impressions.