#a little bit worried about the red + white mode

[dravidious]

You're more amazing than flooding

Big fat combat trick to pump all your excess mana into!

Cards used as example for balancing the modes:

[shiny-kaibernyte]

Hey idk if you write for Grusha, but I really like the way you write! Could I ask for some relationship headcanons for Grusha with a Galarian s/o (who confessed to Grusha in true Galarian fashion, giving him an Applin.)? Its okay if not though :>

Are you kidding me! I love this so much! I have been WAITING for someone to request Grusha, so i thank you for this adorable request! To add an extra little bit of cuteness i am giving you a shiny Applin because he deserves it! I also sprinkled in some general head cannons in there.

No Warnings just fluff

Grusha Relationship Headcannons | Galarian Reader

Let’s get the Applin thing out the way first: When you presented the Applin to him, he was EXTREMELY confused, why are you giving him a grass/dragon Pokemon? But when he sees your flushed face looking away from him with your arms extended out to him with the little green Applin - The gears start turning.

Then it clicks, you are confessing to him! Finally remembering you are from Galar and not Paldea dude turns bright red. He’d read up on some of the Galarian customs to make you feel more at home in this new region and he did find out about the Applin confession. Though usually the Applin was red. Did you find a shiny one just for him?

This man is speechless, he literally cannot utter a word over his own shaking breath, But he will take the Applin once he’s back down on earth again. And he is not letting the lil guy go.

He is cold all of the time. Even when away from his gym, he is cold. It could be the middle of summer on a beach and he’s there in a winter coat, fuzzy hat and gloves. And yes, he has bought you both matching scarfs, even if you don’t wear it, if you just have it that's enough for him.

Speaking of matching scarfs, you also have matching gloves, hats, warmers, anything. For some reason he just loves matching with you. That reason? Because I said so. That being said he’s also an opposite kinda guy too. If he’s wearing white, you’re in black and vice versa. Essentially its: Colours = Matching, Shades = Opposites.

Will not take you snowboarding unless you practically beg him to take you, or you already did snowboarding or any other winter sports before meeting him. You getting hurt is the last thing he ever wants to happen, so expect him to dot on you alot.

Grusha worries about you ALL OF THE TIME. If you are not in the same room as him, he worries. He is by no means possessive of you, he just cares so much about you that he tends to come off as clingy.

PDA is a no to him. He does not like being touched in public, he can’t explain it, he will rub your arms if you get too cold or give you his scarf though so don’t worry about any cute form of affection like that. 

In private though, kisses, hugs, cuddles, dancing, laughing you name it. Privacy is his thing.

Speaking on privacy, your relationship didn’t get announced until you were closing in on your 1 year anniversary. Thanks to his fame as a gym leader and a snowboarder, his personal life is something he doesn’t get to have.

You are the only thing he has left to keep him grounded so please let him keep you to himself whilst he still can. Before the Media gets they’re grubby paws on you.

The first time he visits your home region is when your relationship goes public. Raihan ain’t about to let this go unposted!

Jealousy is a difficult thing for him. Not because it makes him difficult but because he doesn’t exactly… experience it. When Grusha sees you uncomfortable or someone invading your personal space, he doesn’t go into jealous boyfriend mode, he goes to protective boyfriend mode. Asking if you are okay, if you need anything, if you want to go somewhere, if you want him to leave ect ect. He may not even register that the other party is even there at all.

When he met Leon it was an… interesting experience to say the least. Leon legit spent the first hour of your meeting walking into everything because he was so busy asking Grusha questions about Paldea. Surprisingly enough, Leon is one of the few people from Galar he keeps in contact with. The others being Piers, Melony and Milo.

The only time he ever showed visible irritation was to Raihan. Leon’s questioning didn’t bother him at all, Raihan’s constant social presents however? That got under his skin.

If it wasn’t for the fact you were with him; when Raihan announced your relationship on live he almost punched him. Dude just revealed the most important detail of his personal life to most of the Galar region and new spreads FAST! Things are gonna boil up in him but, instead Grusha just gives him the cold shoulder for the rest of the trip's duration. They have made up since but he still won’t talk to Raihan unless he absolutely has to.

Sleep. He sleeps all the time. If he isn’t training, talking to the media, battling, or spending time with you. This man can be found sprawled out on his stomach, one arm under his head, the other dangling of the bed, legs in some kind of cross pose on the bed, hair a mess

He is an indoor person when it comes to personal time. Grusha spends so much of it outside; being able to lay back on the sofa with you encased in his arms, warming up by the fire is his ideal pass time. 

Cannot cook for anything. He will set the oven on fire and most likely burn his hands trying to put it out. Baking on the other hand now THAT is something he can do. Rika still hasn’t forgiven him for beating her at a gingerbread contest.

He didn’t confess first but he did say I love you first. This man didn;t even realise he had even said it, he was so in the zone just admiring what was happening and boom he said it and now he matches a cherish ball. 

Sleep schedule, what's that? Grusha sleep is completely random. He could be up at 4am and asleep at 12am: Or he's asleep by 10am and awake at 3am the next morning. Sometimes he sleeps for 3 hours, sometimes 15 hours. It's honestly a game trying to guess how long he’ll be out for.

With that said however, he is NEVER late to anything important. Whether that be a day out with you, a gym challenge, a meeting. Sometimes though, if he’s in a bad mood that day he will be late on purpose. 

Sour food is his enemy, his sour tolerance is in the negatives, he might actually die if you gave him toxic wastes so for your sake and his stomach please don’t. 

Hand kisser, that is how he greets you, says goodbye, randomly shows affection. Grusha will lift your hand up, lower his scarf if he’s wearing it and gently kiss the back of your hand then won’t say anything after.

Not a note leaver. If you are asleep and he needs to go, he is waking you up to tell you he is going and that he loves you. “No piece of paper is worthy of his love for you.” At least that's how Tulip put it.

Athletic as hell, he snowboards for Arceus sake! He’s gotta have some athletic ability. Grusha’s climbing ability is honestly scary. This man could give Sneasler a run for its money

[jaybleu25]

My Take On Mario Odyssey's Main Ending

I've wanted to write something related to Mario Odyssey for a while, especially related to the bros and their POVs during all this. With Mario's POV after just getting rejected by Peach on the moon, and Luigi's POV of his brother being missing and finally coming back home. I finally got an idea for how it would have gone in my AU, so I hope you all enjoy(?).

--------------------------------------------------

…

Luigi was running as fast as he could.

Mario had been missing for about a week. Before the adventure had occurred, Luigi had alerted Mario that there were airships in the sky after looking through the window of the house. Seeing that, Mario immediately sprung into action, telling his brother to stay in the house as he ran off to deal with it. Luigi watched from the window as his brother reached the airship, but he couldn't quite make out what had happened.

All he could see was a speck of red fly off of the ship, going off far into the distance.

Ever since then, Luigi had been stuck at home alone, worried for where Mario was. He didn't know if it was safe to leave, and he sure didn't want to go against Mario's word. It was hard for Luigi to function due to the endless worry, and he had a hard time doing basic tasks around the house. Almost everything in the house reminded him of his brother, mainly with the matching red and green furniture spread around the house.

Now, after a week, there was a knock on the door; a Toad had come to notify Luigi that there was a red object floating towards Peach's Castle. Hopeful of something, any news of his brother and his whereabouts, Luigi dropped everything and ran out of the house, running straight to the castle.

Running up a hill, the 'red object' came into the distance. Not only that, but familiar figures were there as well. Princess Peach was there, in a beautiful white dress, talking to two spirits of some kind. She was a little bit away from the red object, which upon closer inspection seemed to be some sort of ship or mode of transport.

However, the main thing that caught Luigi's eye was his brother, dressed in white just like Peach, without his hat. Immediately, Luigi ran over to him, panic and relief in his eyes. The moment he reached Mario, he put his hands on his shoulders.

"Mario, where were you?!" Luigi cried. "What happened?! I was worried sick..!"

Despite Luigi's cries and questions, Mario didn't respond. Now that Luigi was able to get a better look at him, he was broken and bruised. His eyes looked sad and dull, almost as if all the life had been sucked out of them. He was covered in bruises from head to toe, all from the various foes he had to fight on his journey to save Peach.

Too overwhelmed by what had happened, instead of a spoken response, Mario clung to Luigi, putting his forehead against Luigi's chest. He had started to quietly cry. Luigi, not sure of what to do due to not knowing what happened, just simply embraced his brother back.

"Why did I do that..?" Mario cried under his breath.

"What..?" Luigi asked timidly.

"She had to deal with him for so long, and I just made it worse..." Mario muttered. "She just wanted to go home..."

"'She'..? Do you mean Peach?" Luigi asked. "What happened, bro..??"

As the two brothers talked, Peach looked at the two of them solemnly in the distance. She was tired. The two Bonneters looked at her with concern, worried for her well-being. She felt bad for Mario, for causing him such pain, but she didn't really know what to do. Everything was happening so fast, it was too much for her. Unable to see Mario in such a way anymore, she started to make her way back to her castle, her head down as the ghosts followed her. One of them, Cappy, stopped for a moment to look back at Mario. However, seeing the moment he was having with his brother, he didn't want to interrupt. So, he continued to follow the princess.

"Peach, she...Bowser took her again..." Mario explained painfully. "I kept looking for her, and I finally got her away from him. But then Bowser tried to confess, and I...I messed up...I-I just got scared, I don't know what I was doing...we both overwhelmed her. She just wanted to go home..."

While Mario didn't directly explain what he did himself, Luigi understood. He knew how his brother felt about Peach, for a long time in fact. He could feel his brother's pain and sorrow the more Mario explained. He knew Mario would never do something like that on purpose. He wouldn't hurt Peach on purpose.

"Mario..." Luigi said sadly.

"I don't know what to do..." Mario muttered, his grip on Luigi's shoulders getting tighter. "She probably doesn't even want to talk to me anymore...I-I wouldn't talk to me either after that. I was stupid."

"Hey, hey, don't say that..!" Luigi exclaimed. "You're not stupid, Mario. Don't ever think like that. It was just a mistake. She was overwhelmed, but so were you most likely. You've been gone looking for her for a week..! You know Peach, bro...she'd never hate you for that. We've known her since we were kids. She'd never hate you, no matter what you do."

"But what if she does..?" Mario whimpered. "What if I just ruined everything..?"

"Big bro, look at me," Luigi said firmly.

Mario finally, yet slowly, lifted up his injured head to look up at his brother. His eyes looked desperate, tears still falling down his face. Despite how many were falling, he barely made any noise.

"You didn't ruin everything," said Luigi. "And she doesn't hate you. You really think she would hate you for just a single mistake? No. That's not the kind of person Peach is. And this...you aren't a bad person, Mario. You never have been. You were just scared. That's what you said."

As Luigi tried to talk sense into Mario, he put both of his hands on the sides of Mario's face.

"You meant well, you always have," Luigi continued. "I think the princess just...needs a few days to herself. A bit of space. But that doesn't mean she hates you. She just needs a bit of time to figure things out, and to relax."

"And...I think you need a break too."

As Luigi said that, he moved one of his hands onto a bruise on Mario's face, which made him flinch in pain. He normally had a pretty high pain tolerance, but now that everything was over and he was feeling everything at once...the pain started to become overwhelming.

"How about we go home and just...relax for a while, okay bro..?" Luigi asked. "I'll help with bandages when we get there, and then you should try and get some rest. You look like you haven't slept in days."

"I...haven't," Mario admitted.

Luigi wasn't surprised by that response. Mario had done similar things in the past with past adventures. Whenever there was someone in danger, Mario always had a habit of just going and going, nonstop. Never resting. How could he rest if he knew someone he cared about was in danger?

If anything, Mario saying that just made Luigi want to bring Mario back home sooner.

"Come on."

As Luigi said that, he kneeled down, indirectly asking Mario to get onto his back. Mario gave in, climbing onto Luigi's back as Luigi stood back up and started walking home. Mario wrapped his arms around Luigi, laying his head on his brother's shoulder. He was exhausted.

"What am I even going to say to her..?" Mario muttered.

"Maybe just start off slow," Luigi responded. "Did you try to apologize..?"

"Yeah..." Mario answered. "A few times, but...it probably didn't help, heh..."

"Maybe wait until she wants to talk," said Luigi. "Just give her some time."

"Okay..." Mario said sadly.

It would be silent for a moment.

"When was the last time you ate?" Luigi asked.

"I don't even know..." Mario answered tiredly. "When did you..?"

Luigi hesitated for a moment. He hadn't said anything about how he himself was doing, and yet somehow Mario was able to figure it out. Maybe it was big brother intuition.

"I don't know either..." Luigi responded.

"Have you slept at all?" Mario asked.

"Hey, I'm taking care of you right now," Luigi joked. "Worry about that later. You need rest."

It would go silent again.

"...But...no. Not really."

Mario hugged his brother a bit tighter while still on his back.

"How about we both get some rest after we eat, okay Lu..?" Mario asked.

Luigi smiled a little.

"Yeah...we can do that."

-END-

[avatarmerida]

My hobby is imagining that the huntlow interactions we got in For the Future are parallels to moments we would’ve gotten of them in a full season of human realm stuff.

Like the pinky hold™ is just so specific that I feel like it was Willow’s subtle way of reassuring him when tensions got high during countless failed portal attempts or when they’d be walking around town and didn’t want to get separated when he was still getting used to physical touch. And him pressing back has an even deeper meaning and it make me feral.

But also like the iconic catch I feel could be such a cute parallel because I imagine Willow in her attempt to be the strong, dependable one is extra confident around Hunter because that’s just one way of her concealing her developing feelings for him. Like nothing bothers her, nothing gets to her especially not this silly, bubbly feeling she gets around him. Like she flirts with him, of course, but she never lets herself get flustered, ya know? She is always in total control.

Until she’s not.

So one day they’re outside hanging lights or something to plan a surprise for Camila and Willow is standing on the ladder trying to make everything even. Amity has paired them up for nearly everything (part of her attempt to show Willow her support and that she’s a supportive friend) and Willow has been having a blast making him blush at every turn. She’s complimenting his hand made decorations, his organization, just every little thing. And this loser doesn’t know what to make of it. He just know he likes impressing Willow and he’s spending the whole day trying to find a non loser way to communicate that.

But our girl is unstoppable, she’s adding vines to the string of lights, flowers here and there to make it extra stunning and Hunter’s holding the ladder below her in total awe. She’s completely aware of his eyes on her and so maaaybe she overdoes it a bit showing off and twists her ankle and falls off the ladder. Hunter quickly leaps to her rescue and catches her like it’s nothing.

But she’s not hurt. She’s not embarrassed. She’s not worried. She’s entranced.

Hunter is asking her a million questions but it’s like she can’t hear anything over how much she’s just focused on him. On the way he’s figured out how to style his hair so you could see his face better. The way his eyes looked brighter in this light. The way his nose and jaw were just so sharp and defined and demanded to be seen. It’s like all the times she didn’t let herself think too long about how cute he was were adding up now. Her brain is pure white noise and she just knows her face is bright red.

But Hunter is to concerned to follow suit as he would normally being so close and he thinks he red face is a sign that she’s hurt. And then she’s not responding? Never mind that this is definitely not the highest height Willow has fallen from nor is it one that could do much damage, Hunter is in full protector mode. So he rushes off inside to Camila and when he runs his hair blows back gently in the wind and he scrunches his face all determined and she’s like woah, okay. He tells her to hold on and she gladly tightens her hold around his neck like you don’t have to tell me twice.

She’s speechless and he’s not even trying. He’s just thinking about her and being so gentle and sweet and… handsome.

And then they get inside and he’s telling Camila what happened and Willow is not helpful because she’s in full loser mode. Camila is trying not to laugh at the contrasting expressions because she herself was once a loser and knows the signs. But then her mom/doctor mode activates and she asks Willow if she’s hurt and Willow’s response?

“Who’s Willow?”

Not a panicked inquiry like her disaster friend Amity, but dreamy and light as though she’s having an out of body experience. She’s hypnotized, she’s delirious, she’s delusional. Hunter panics, thinking she’s somehow concussed.

But Camila assures him she’s not, not explaining how she knows as she examines her ankle. Camila touches it just enough to break Willow’s trance and she lets out a small wince of pain. It’s not broken, just sprained but she shouldn’t walk on it for a few days.

Hunter says without hesitation that he’ll happily carry her should she need to go anywhere and Willow definitely does not hate the sound of that. Camila says it’s not necessary and Willow nearly tells her to shut up, but she would never talk to her that way. She says she has some crutches in the basement somewhere and Hunter makes it his mission to find them. He carries her down to the basement and places her gently on the couch as he looks through all the old things.

Willow just watches him, trying to catch her breath. She didn’t realize that by trying to moderate her feelings that they would burst to the surface with such force eventually. She thought she had a handle on them but every so often Hunter did something that was just so Hunter that she just stopped working. Usually she could excuse herself to another room to sort through them and compose herself when she was locked safety in his arms and she forgot the ground even existed. And now he was playing nurse, telling her all the thing he could help her with so she would heal as soon as possible. He wasn’t even trying to be charming, she can’t imagine how she would function if he was aware of what he was doing.

He brings out the crutches and adjusts them to her height without her even having to say anything. He tells her how they can add something to the bottom so they won’t get stuck in the mud when she gardens and how he was sure Camila wouldn’t mind Clover flying her up the stairs in the meantime and if not he could carry her upstairs no problem.

He talks so much when he worries, she thinks. His mind moves so quickly when he needs to plan something, when he’s certain about what to do. When he cares.

And yes they have the crutches and yes she has Clover and magic and infinite ways to work around her barely present injury but when Hunter insists on carrying her she turns to mush and just doesn’t have it in her to object. And he doesn’t always put her down right away and she doesn’t remind him to. Like they’ll come downstairs for breakfast and he’ll walk around the house before bringing her to the kitchen. It becomes a harmless habit. Gus joins in eventually, jumping on Hunter’s back and Willow is only more enamored. But Hunter sees it another way to help his friends and being helpful makes him focused and when he’s focused Willow’s heart beats like a beehive.

And it’s just a sprain so the need disappears quickly since Willow heals within a week. But it confirms what she had been contemplating for awhile now. She was so gone for this loser.

[thanksjro]

Transformers Holiday Special (2015) — Wishing You and Yours a Delightfully Secular Wintertime, Containing Absolutely Zero References to the Birth of Christ

Despite what some might like to think, Christmas isn’t for everyone; even with all the commercialization, at its heart, it’s still about the Baby Jesus. You can tell that we haven’t shaken the Christian connection, because the cover for this special issue has the father, the son, and the holy spirit, which is hidden behind the company logo.

And if Rodimus doesn’t stop screwing around, his resurrection’s gonna have to happen a lot sooner than Easter.

Because this is a comic special, things are going to be a little different. Instead of one standard-size issue, we’re getting three mini-stories, each with their own writer (from each of the comic runs that were publishing at the time) and artist. Our stories are listed here:

Don’t worry about what Ultra Magnus is up to behind that text.

Now, you may ask, why on earth am I covering this issue, which is a specifically Christmassy one, now, when it’s not currently Christmas? Well, according to Roberts, the story “Silent Light” takes place after MTMTE #49, and #50 is when the crew manifest for the Lost Light gets shaved down some, so realistically, this is when “Silent Light” happens in continuity. So I want you to keep in mind that Getaway’s Christmas isn’t going so great.

I won’t be going back to catch up on the other runs’ plots, as the Christmas stories are stand-alone.

Getting into it, our first story is:

Penned by Mairghread Scott and drawn by Corin Howell. We open up on a cityscape featuring a happy sun and some eye-searing narration boxes.

I went to Howell’s Twitter to see what her deal was, and was greeted with a banner consisting of a sexy succubus lady with her boobies out, so I’m going to assume she simplified her style for this issue, since mecha are hella difficult to draw.

Also, I hope you like the structure of How The Grinch Stole Christmas!, because that’s what we’re getting for the next little while, complete with chunky, white text on painful-to-view red.

Our story opens with all the transformers from the colonies visiting Cybertron and making friends with each other. Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts, which pisses off President-King Starscream to no end. Being the drama queen that he is, Starscream feels that everyone should be paying attention to him 24/7 and feed him grapes as he reclines on a sofa, because hasn’t he done enough for all these sorry sacks of shit? He hasn’t even caused a war, unlike the last guy who was in charge. Bumblebee (who is a ghost) tells him to just be fucking nice for once in his miserable life, but Starscream wouldn’t be Starscream if he could settle down like that.

Our god-king of the planet calls for his aide, Rattrap, who is going to be in his alt mode for the entirety of this story, to help him set up for a public broadcast addressing his need for attention and adoration.

He sends Rattrap off to deliver the tape to the news, which seems to consist of two very sleep-deprived individuals. Because they’re apparently the only two robots stupid enough to attempt to cover the nightmare hellscape that is Cybertronian current events, the last bit of Starscream’s tape is cut off when one of them falls asleep on the switchboard. This turns Starscream’s personal worship holiday into “For the Love of God Be Nice to Each Other” Day. Everyone takes to it beautifully, getting BFF tattoos, going on vacation with their husbands, hugging in the straightest gay way possible, holding parades, giving each other bombs, and getting absolutely shitfaced.

Starscream, distraught that nobody is giving him the emperor treatment like he had wanted, sulks in his twin bed, then moves to his dinky little throne as the night wears on, making the most miserable faces he can the whole time. Eventually, Chosen One Day ends, and he’s been completely ignored. Very sad.

Then, there’s a knock on his door, and Starscream creeps over to the peephole just in time to be smashed flat by Wheeljack slamming the door open. Last time we saw Wheeljack he was assumed dead by most, and floating in a tank at Starscream’s behest. He’s gotten better since then, clearly.

Wheeljack came with friends— the entirety of the main cast for Windblade/Til All Are One, to be exact— and they’re here to make sure that Starscream isn’t completely alone on this friendship holiday he accidentally invented. Everyone toasts to his good, totally intentional idea, and Starscream decides against killing all of them for at least the next 24 hours.

Now pay attention to this next story, because it’s actually canon-relevant, because of course Roberts would write a holiday special mini-comic that ties into his overarching plot. Fucking nerd.

Our artist for “Silent Light” is Kotteri (or Kotteri!, as it’s been written on some of their other publications) the pen name for Ikumi Fukuda. Kotteri is primarily a manga artist, having created their own works and well as working on other projects. I admittedly can’t find much on this person, not even their preferred pronouns, TFWiki itself using “they”, which I will default to. All of the info they’ve provided themself is, of course, written in Japanese, but even running things through a translator only proves that information to be purely professional. Their personal Twitter is protected, and my follow request was never answered, as far as I know. There’s a fan Twitter account for their art that claims “she”, but I have no way to verify, and I don’t want to assume anything based on art style, because that’s sort of shitty. Let it never be said that I didn’t do my due diligence here— I fucking hate using Twitter.

We open with Rodimus having just returned from Meteorfest, a festival where you surf on meteors and avoid your co-captain and SIC’s calls like the putz you are. He’s greeted by said co-captain and SIC decorating assembling a Christmas tree cloaking machine and finishing each other’s sentences like an old married couple. Rodimus tries to deny the existence of Minimegs, then we get our heavy-handed and lampshaded explanation for the crux of the issue. Megatron handles Minimus like a baby doll as the two of them explain that the Lost Light is about to hit Mauler territory.

Maulers are notorious for wanting the Cybertronians dead, but Megatron is too much of a macho man to pussy out and go around them. So instead, the crew will be hiding in special sleeping pods that will mask their spark signatures, and pray to their pantheon of gods that no one notices the ship the size of Manhattan. Brainstorm has like fifteen new inventions, despite being on house arrest from his lab. Megatron’s autobot badge is wearing a hat. Merry fucking Christmas.

Over at Swerve’s, it would appear that everyone’s favorite television junkie is closed for business, as it’s just him, Nautica, and Whirl, sitting on the floor getting absolutely shit-faced on subspace-filtered engex. This might’ve been an issue, as folks are supposed to be bedding down in their B.E.D.s for the next leg of the trip, but Swerve slipped Magnus some Bing Crosby earlier so they’re cool right now.

There’s a banging at the door, and Whirl decides to answer, even though it’s not his bar, because if it’s trouble come a-knocking, it was probably looking for Whirl anyhow.

When Whirl answers, however, it’s not Magnus having caught wind of Nautica disrespecting the Autobot code, but an entirely different flavor of problem.

Now, I know that thing Whirl’s holding looks like a fucked up Hitachi Wand, but it is, in fact, an entire-ass baby robot. It seems that when Cerebros (Fortress Maximus’s friend, if you’ll recall) sent the engex through the subspace, this infant Cybertronian (Luna One-ian?) got mixed in with the other supplies.

We learn a bit about how baby Cybertronians work before we remember, oh right, this kid is gonna get everyone killed if they catch wind of her spark, since there isn’t a B.E.D. for her. Yes, it’s a girl! Congrats to our three idiots on their Cybertronian gender non-conforming little princess.

They gang decides to shunt her back through the subspace hatch, so they head over to where it’s currently being housed— the office of Ultra Magnus. Nautica, using her wits and all the tools in her arsenal, smashes the window to the office and they break in. The empty Magnus Armor sits in the dark like a grim monument to being married to your job. Whirl informs Nautica how to comfort the baby that he super for-sure doesn’t care about, handing her off while he uses his titty glass to replace the window in the door. Swerve tries to bite through iron chains holding the subspace hatch hostage, only to be stopped by the sound of justice coming down the hall.

The gang, of course, looks suspicious as hell standing stock straight immediately in front of Magnus’s office, but Minimus rather likes the change of pace out of these goofy morons, and is maybe also trying to deflect his embarrassment at being caught performing his own personal karaoke. He sends them off to their B.E.D.s, and it looks like all’s well that ends well until Whirl asks where Sparky is.

Yes, he named the baby.

Don’t worry though, he’s totally not attached or whatever.

Nautica, in her panic to not be caught stealing/vandalizing/using equipment she doesn’t have the clearance for, stuffed Sparky in the Magnus Armor. And also put the helmet portion back on the body, for some reason. Anyway, it looks like our little princess is gonna be a load-bearer when she grows up, because Magnus is up and looking for hugs. Nautica, a paragon of level-headed thinking in times of crisis, handles this in the best way she can.

And that’s a wrap on Minimus Ambus! Let’s give him a hand, folks! And let’s also give a hand to the new Ultra Magnus, Miss Sparky Whirldòttir! Where did that little scamp get to, anyhow?

Swerve nominates himself to be the one to drag Minimus to a B.E.D. to sleep off his concussion, leaving Whirl and Nautica to track down the baby.

The scene changes to Megatron announcing a last call for beddy-bye time on the intercom, just as Ultra Sparky enters the room. She looms over Megatron, putting him in a very compromising position as he hits the intercom button with his arm. Rodimus, climbing into his own B.E.D., wishes that his co-captain and SIC would stop being gay for, like, five minutes, or at least wouldn’t do it where it can be broadcasted throughout the whole ship in audio format.

Whirl and Nautica come save Megatron from the onslaught of physical affection, stating that “Magnus” has had a bit too much to drink. Megatron orders them to bed from his fetal position on the countertop.

It’s bedtime, but we still haven’t figured out how to get the kid back to Luna 1 so the Maulers don’t super-murder the whole crew. Nautica leaves Whirl to figure it out, getting into B.E.D. and wondering who the fuck knocked on the door in the first place. Whirl tells her not to worry about it and to go to sleep, so he can be the one to deal with this mess.

Whirl, notorious for doing all the nastiest jobs— former Wrecker, intended bullet sponge for the time travel situation, attempting suicide via Megatron— is going to add another tally to the list labeled “Reasons My Peers Don’t Really Like Me All That Much”, by throwing an entire baby out the air lock.

However, Whirl is being written by Roberts, who would never allow the number of robot babies to go down, so Sparky’s adorable assimilation of Whirl’s signature physical features gets him right in the soft underbelly he swears doesn’t exist.

Wow, Roberts put a baby in that robot. Surely this is as overt as we’re going to get with this imagery, since we’re in a major publication and not some fan-fiction!

ANYWAY

Whirl wakes up in the Medibay, emptied of infant and freaked the hell out about it. Velocity— who I will remind you is basically the only medical doctor on the Lost Light, since everyone else is too busy getting railed by weeaboos and joining unethical polycules to do their actual jobs—informs him that his daughter is, in actuality, a massive colony of scraplets that combined to look like a newborn.

It turns out that Nautica is a bit of a snitch, having spilled the beans after she woke up. Whether or not she thought Whirl had thrown the baby out the air lock isn’t really addressed, but thank god he didn’t, because then we would have had to send everyone’s favorite gun-addled dipshit to jail for the rest of forever. Checking security footage revealed who the mystery knocker was— it was the scraplets, forming the shape of an arm.

When Nautica asks how the hell they all survived this, seeing as Whirl kept the murder baby, Whirl informs her that he cut off power to his own spark to allow everyone else to live, including his sweet baby princess, winning him a #1 Dad mug, and also several emails from Rung to please make an appointment with him.

Whirl’s miracle Christmas baby lied and stole with the intent to murder everyone on board, and that makes her the ultimate daddy’s girl.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this canon-important holiday special story about Whirl becoming a father.

In our third and final story, it appears we’ve been transported to Whoville, by the talent of our MTMTE Season 1 colorist, Josh Burcham. Within Whoville resides Anna Log, a human woman who owns two turbofoxes and sleeps in full military body armor on her couch. The wall in her living room suddenly explodes, revealing a late-night visitor.

Motherfucker, you are supposed to be on the ship right now.

Mega-Claus fusion-cannons Anna Log, and we cut to a film noir office where none other than Thundercracker has his feet up on the desk. The art grayscales for this section, as he narrates that he’s a detective. He’s wearing a fedora. It’s January 7th. He has a mysterious past and probably thinks that makes him very sexy.

The phone rings, cueing Buster, Thundercracker’s puggle, to put on her own fedora, and the two go to see the crime scene, where Thundercracker is the same size as a normal human man and wears a trench coat.

It turns out that Anna Log is the director of security for the entirety of planet Earth, which is sort of a big deal. When Thundercracker and the cops look at the security footage, they see who did it— Santa Claus, played by Megatron himself. Fucked up.

Sure, pal.

Thundercracker must now fly to the North Pole and kill Santa, because that’s how the law works. He transforms, flies by Club Penguin and a Coke commercial, reflects on his job, and then gets ready for a fight with Santa’s security measures, as Busters glowing nose warns him of incoming danger. She’s very talented, Buster.

Thundercracker makes quick work of the cybernetic security reindeer with his twin energy katanas and Buster’s jetpack. He kicks down Santa’s door to find the jolly elf himself standing in the dark, potentially rabid. The two start kung-fu beating the shit out of each other. It should be noted that this Santa isn’t the Megatron Santa, who shows up behind the two as they brawl, but rather original-flavor fat man Santa. How Thundercracker didn’t notice this isn’t addressed.

Thundercracker demands to know why Megatron dressed up as Santa Claus to commit a murder— the murder part made sense, Director Log and Megatron would be diametrically opposed— and Megatron reveals the greatest slight against himself he’s ever known.

Framing Santa for murder ain’t exactly gonna turn that coal into a diamond, Meggy baby.

Thundercracker clocks Megatron, he becomes besties with Santa Claus, and they ride a flying tank into the sunset. Thus ends Thundercracker’s most brilliant writing project yet, which he was reading to Marissa Faireborn this entire time.

Marissa isn’t terribly impressed, poking holes in all the little nonsense bits, while also not feeling thrilled about having been killed off in the first two pages of Thundercracker’s book. While the two argue, Buster and Ayana Jones make a Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown! reference together, and the issue closes out with a big ol’ Autobot symbol, even though Thundercracker was a Decepticon, Ayana and Marissa are humans, and Buster is a goddamned dog.

Thus ends the Holiday Special. Up next, more direct story progression!

[mayasaurusss]

Chapter one: Old tales.

Warnings: midly detailed description of wounds, not totally proof-read, gramamtical errors.

A/n: I'm really really scared to publish this (I'm shttng myself). The title is not really for my liking, maybe I will change it. English is not my native language so there may be some errors. Words: 4k and 500

"...will replace number eleven, Allie, after her accidental injury due to breaking her leg during practice" you heard coach Ben's words, but didn't fully register them yet.

Mere days have passed since Allie broke her leg, or to be exact, her leg was broken by Taissa.

When Allie broke her leg, you were on the bench, having had to swap with her during practice. You were relaxing, enjoying the sun when Misty walked over to you and started rambling about the most random things she could say, something about a philosopher, Misty was Misty after all. You weren’t really sure on how to even talk to her, so you just stayed silent, nodding sometimes while she talked, but your mind didn’t register anything of what she said. Misty-trance was so strong that, at first, you didn’t hear Allie screaming in agony. Your mind went into panic mode only when Misty bolted from her seat next to you to the green field: from your position on the bench you couldn’t see it but as you got closer to the scene, you saw Allie clenching her leg, her bone sticking out, pure white contrasting with the deep red of her flesh.

"... did you hear me?" you hear your name begin called, you peered at coach Ben.

"...What?"

"I asked if you'd like to replace Allie as the winger for the Nationals," coach repeated himself.

"Sure..." your voice was small, truth to be told, you weren't sure of this decision.

You weren't that brilliant as a player, certainly not that better than Allie, but at least you could fulfill your duty pretty well, you just weren't that certain you could perform well in such a big game. And, you weren’t exactly the most loved player of the team.

When you looked up, you could see all your teammates look at you weirdly, judging you and your absent demeanor.

"Despite what happened to Allie, we're gonna go to the Nationals, we're going to go and we're going to win, all right?" Ben said to the team, not receiving a response.

"All right?"

"Yes coach" the team responded in unison.

You gathered your things, heading out of the changing room when Shauna approached.

"Hey, are you all right? You seemed a bit shaken up before" Shuna Shipman was one of the few people in the team that talked to you, you used to be more of a loner but she and Jackie too, sometimes involved you in their conversation, you didn’t know if they did it out of pity or real interest.

"I am ok, I think. I'm just scared that I'm not gonna live up to the team's expectations, that's all".

Shauna smiled at you, "You're going to be great, don't worry, you'll just have to think you're playing during one of our practices".

"Thanks Shauna" she could always be kind, though her eyes were so deep and dark you felt lost looking at them, making you feel little and scared.

"The team will go to a party today to celebrate our success, are you going to come?" she asked.

"I don't know, I think I'm going to go back home tonight so I can spend the last night with my parents" you answered Shauna, you knew from deep down that as soon as you said that, you doomed yourself to 'unsocial girl' of the group.

“I see…” Shauna’s gaze felt heavy on you.

“Well, I’m gonna go” you slumped your bag over your shoulder and bid goodbye to Shauna, getting out of the changing room.

Rain pours heavily, pooling at your feet and wetting every inch of you, your shoes sink in cold puddles and your skin feels uncomfortably damp. 

You had been walking for half an hour, being that your home was in the outskirts of Wiskayok and the bus hadn’t yet come, your best chance was walking to another bus stop and waiting there; walking under the rain had proved to be more challenging than you thought, especially when the wet asphalt made you slip. 

At last you arrived at the bus stop and shielded yourself from the heavy rain. You sat on the bench, waiting for the bus which  had to come in a few minutes now, so preoccupied with trying not to slip and break a bone you had almost lost track of time and missed the bus.

You hold your face in yout hands, retaking in the events of the day and wishing Allie wouldn’t have broken her leg: you couldn’t perform well under pressure at all, you remeber once when you had to perform a penalty shoot during pratice and failed miserably, while all of the team watched you. The thought of people watching, watching you inevitably fail made you recoil in fear. 

A sudden noise interrupted your thoughts, something moved just inches away from you, hiding in the corner of the bus stop. You couldn’t make it out in the darkness, but your ears picked up on the fact that whatever it was small or certainly small enough for you to defend yourself. You jolted up, arms at your side tightening and muscles moving under the skin, ready to flight at any second. 

A ruff of red puffed out from the shadows, followed by a movement, whatever it was was now turning on you, having heard your noises. Two pairs of golden eyes peered at you from under the dark, studying your form and stance; maybe it was scared of you too. Slowly, ever so slowly, from the dark corner a fox appeared: it was bigger than you imagined, it was as tall as half of your leg, red and orange and white shades coloured its fur. It looked soft, the kind of fur that shielded from the cold winds of winter, a thin layer of what seemed to look like snow heaved on the tip of its coat and nose, tinting it white. Golden eyes reflected the dim street lights, giving it an eerie human look. It didn’t seem malicious, but there certainly was something unnerving in its presence.

“There shouldn't be any snow on you, it’s raining…” your voice was small, almost muffled, like sound and time stopped right here, under the roof of the bus stop. 

It continued to watch you, you, you, you in the eyes, your face, how you were. For a small second, you felt tightly connected with it.

Something talked, you didn’t know if it was your brain, your subconscious or the fox magically knew how to telepathically communicate with you but you heard thousand of tree whispers and thousand of voices reunited and combined to talk to you, to say “Come”.

Your skin freezed, blood running cold in your veins and feeling like it dripped from your fingers onto the floor. Goosebumps fell down your spine and in your mouth flooded the taste of blood, you had bit your tongue in fear.  

The fox watched you, puffing its chest and with hurry, ran behind the bus stop into the dark woods. You didn't know what compelled you to do it, but you followed it, cornering around the stop expecting to see it waiting for you at the line of the trees, but you found nothing staring at you beside the darkness. 

Lights shined through the rain, finally the bus had come. With newfound energy, you sprinted in it and almost tumbled over, making the driver eye you in confusion. You searched for a seat, finding it in the middle of the bus. You were still shaken up, not by the fact that you encountered a possibly dangerous wild animal, but at the fact that something talked clearly at you. Arms wrapping themselves you didn't fail to notice a small pair of golden eyes watching you from the darkness and as the bus moved, you lost sight of them.

“Come”.

“Mhm…no”

Shauna moves back to the clothes, changing once again her dress.

"You know, there’s Randy tonight at the party”. 

Huh? Why did she brought up Randy? I don't care about him.

“...ok” Shauna once again changed, once again she received the same response from her best friend.

“He asked Jeff to ask me if you’re gonna be there”

“Randy? Really?”

“What? I just thought you wanted to know if someone asked about you”

Wow, ok.

“Shauna, just put on the red dress I gave you”

Am I your dress-up doll Jackie?

“Maybe I don’t want to wear the red dress, and I’m sure as hell I don’t want to hook up with Randy -fucking- Walsh!”

Why can’t you see me? I don’t want to be with Randy, I want…

Jackie was taken back from Shauna's sudden outburst “Jeez, what crawled up your ass? Just put on whatever you want…”

“Thanks, I will”

The room filled with uncomfortable silence. Jackie felt like she just managed to ruin the night for both her and Shauna.

“...You’re probably right about Randy, you know? I once saw him having trouble with an escalator” 

Shauna cracked a smile, even in the most dire situations Jackie never failed to make her laugh “I once heard him ask who invented the Pope”.

Around 9 a.m, most of the soccer team arrived. There was a faint smell of earth in the air, covered by the smell of booze and fire. 

Shauna had followed after Jackie, just like the shadow Jackie wanted her to be -or did she want to be Jackie’s shadow?- she stood out among the other girl friends, she knew she didn’t belong here. 

Shauna stopped Jackie from dancing with her, her stomach clenching “Wait, l need a second” without waiting for a response, she walked away and Jackie did not bother following her. 

Shauna leaned against a pickup, watching Jackie in the distance.

To her, in that instant, while she was enjoying her night with her friends she looked ethereal. Shauna could not understand if she wanted to be with Jackie, if she wanted to be Jackie or if she wanted to consume her. Shauna can’t understand if what she’s feeling is longing, loneliness or anger, anger towards Jackie, for not spending time with her, for not begin with her. Shauna chugged down the alcohol burning her throat. Her emotions were too much, she had to go away, to get away from Jackie,  it didn’t help that behind her Randy fucking Walsh was drunk off his ass and bothering her. 

She had to release her pent up energy, -she had to get Jackie’s attention- , so she walked to where Taissa was, willing to start a fight.

“I admire your resilience Tai” Shauna’s voice was bitter, deliberately trying to get Tai angry and argue with her.  “It can’t be easy, knowing you fucking crippled someone today”

“Cool, good talk”. A vein in Shauna’s head pulsed “Just admit you did it on purpose” she yelled, “Excuse me?”

Away from her, Laura Lee recognized her teammates voices, she saw Taissa and Shauna talk to each other.

“Woah, calm down”

“No, listen you guys, we don't have to worry about the ‘Allie problem’ anymore because Taissa fixed it for us!”

Laura Lee walked over to the scene, leaning near Natalie “What is she talking about?” she asked. 

“She’s talking about Taissa having a plan”

Taissa visibly rolled her eyes at their exchange “Oh please, since when do you give a shit anyway? Don’t you have a bong to hit or a dick to suck?”

“Don’t talk to her that way”

“Fuck off Shauna! I don’t need you to defend me! Last time I checked you were fine with ‘freezing her out’”

“Ok, seriously, what are you guys talking about?”

“Shut the fuck up, Laura Lee!”

The atmosphere got heated, both Taissa and Shuna were too stubborn to let the other one ‘win the fight’ .

“Somebody needs to take her wasted ass home”

“Say that again you bitch!”. A fight broke between the group, everyone screaming their asses off.

“Enough!” Jackie screamed, the others hushed.  Everyone was watching the group, all the eyes of the party on them.

“Yellowjackets, with me!” Jackie said, leading the group to a secluded space.

“I don’t know what the fuck that was, but I do know it’s over”  Shauna shifted uncomfortably under Jackie’s gaze.

“We are about to go to Nationals, and based on what I’m looking at right now, we might not even bother getting on that plane” the underlying message wasn’t missed by the team: they weren’t close enough, they weren’t ready enough.

“Alright, everybody line up. I’m fucking serious, line up, come on!” The girls lined up one near the other, waiting for Jackie’ orders “I wan’t each of you to go down this line and say one nice, true thing about every other girl on this team”

“What is this, fucking girl scout?” Taissa's annoyed voice whispered to Van. “Who wants to go first?” Jackie asked. Laura Lee smiled “I’ll go Jackie”

She walked over to Taissa, looked her in the eyes and took her hands in hers, “Taissa, you’re beautiful in the eyes of our Lord” making Taissa smile -maybe more like trying to hold her laugh-. Laura Lee moved to Van, repeating herself when she was interrupted, everyone laughing. Everyone in the group moved, going to ‘say something nice and true’ to their teammates.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier” Shauna said to Tai, dark eyes burning a hole in Tai’s skin. Taissa looked at Shauna, voice unsure and laced with regret “I didn’t -you know- mean to…hurt her” 

“...ok” 

Laura Lee walked to Lottie, her hands rubbing nervously: sometimes Lottie made her tense. She didn’t know if it was out of fear or respect for the girl, or if it was some sort of other emotion plaguing her heart.  With a bit of uncertainty, Laura Lee looked up at her teammate, “Lottie, you’re really tall, you are one of the best players in the team, and I  admire your strength. And, you're beautiful in our Lord's eyes”. Lottie just smiled, that smile that reassured Laura Lee that everything would be fine “Laura Lee, you have a beautiful soul and you are a great friend. I admire your devotion” Lottie said.

“Thanks, really. Wouldn’t you want to spend some words for Y/n?”

Suddenly, Lottie’s voice got sour, her brown knitted together  “Why would I want that? It’s not like she’s here, no?”

Laura Lee knew that by how Lottie reacted, she had unknowingly pushed something inside her: Lottie had tried and failed to be friends with the other girl, but the -Operation: become friends- had failed on both ends because of Lottie stubbornness (and secret shyness) and the other girl not knowing how to relate herself with others.

“I know it’s just that she’s not really part of our group and I feel bad for her...”

“If she wanted to be part of our group, she would’ve come” Lottie wanted to go away, the air seemed thick now and a faint headache was starting to form. She started to walk away when Laura Lee stopped her, grabbing her arm.

“I understand why you would think so, but I think she's just shy or lonley. Maybe she requires a bit more of work to get her to open up her shell”.  She took Lottie’s hands in hers, rubbing at the skin to soothe the other girl's tension.

“You should aske her to sit next to you on the flight” .

“...alright”.

You stumbled into your home, leaving a wet trail behind you. The house was dark, dark and cold, shadows looming over the corners of the room.

I hope no foxes magically get out of them and make me shit myself, you thought with a bitter smile, still not feeling completly safe.

You called out for your parents but no one answered. Taking your phone out you saw a missed called and a message from your father

“Hey kid, just a heads up, me and your mother are going on a date, we will be home late tonight, in the fridge there’s a leftover pizza. Be safe”.

You sighed, you couldn’t blame this on them really, you knew they had a date and they still didn’t know that you’d be gone to the Nationals soon, besides you still had a few days to spend with them. 

After dinner, you went upstairs to your bedroom. It’s dimly lit, shadows creep in the high corners, making your skin crawl. On the nightstand, an old copy of ‘Grimm’s Tales’ sat, the one that your grandfather gave to you some weeks before passing, when you were just eight. It was meant for children apparently, but it was more like pages of pages of inducing nightmares stories: young women envied by queens, of children in woods being chased by wolves or finding an evil witch house. You were still reading when you fell asleep.

That night you dreamt. You dreamt of thousands of trees, branches tangling with each other so much that you couldn’t see the dark night sky. The woods were silent, fog embraced them and not giving you enough space to see. In the distance a howl echoed out, something that sounded angry, angry and hungry. Your skin crawled, cold shivers running down your spine and without thinking, you ran. 

You ran not knowing where to go, without guidance while the howl got closer and closer, branches scratching at your skin staining it of red. The howl multiplied, as if whatever was chasing you had called its companions. Skin bloodied, lungs burning in pain, eyes watering, sky crashing on you. 

Finally your energies gave out, mouth tasting the dirt beneath you. Something grasped at your body, hands prying you up, someone was holding you to their front, brushing your hair out of their way to your neck. You felt someone biting at your jugular, blood oozing from the open wound. Hands, so many hands touched your skin, clawed at it, brushed your blood away from bruises into the dark surrounding you. Teeth, thousands of teeth clenching your skin, grounding on it, ripping it open, eating like the prey you were, like a fox caught between the jaws of a bear.

You woke up from your nightmare, sweaty and with a heart beating irregularly. 2:02 am. You looked at your book still open in your hands, fingers keeping it open on the middle of 'Red Riding Hood'. Your body fell back on the bed, sleep overcoming once again.  “I really shouldn’t keep on reading these books…” 

On the other side of town, Lottie dreamt too. But hers was a good dream unlike the ones she had the previous weeks. Lottie wouldn't wish anyone to know but she too was scared of playing in the Nationals; the tension is what to her the the woods looked more alive than ever now, she did so much to keep them alive, offered so much of herself to the woods that now they thanked her in return. The voice spoke to her, whispering through the trees, animals and wind and leaves all swirled togheter to create It. 

She wouldn’t give this gift to any one, the times she tried talking about it, talking with her parents, her father got mad and screamed at her mother - “Lottie doesn’t see the future, she’s not normal. We’re taking her to a child psychiatrist”-.

She never understood if he did it out of love or disinterest to have her around. It favored her, this secret is just for her. Before coming to have an audience with it, she had positioned small wooden dolls in a circle, one for each of them.  But they were sad. She couldn’t understand why,

Why are you crying? Yes, it began snowing and it's cold but can’t you hear It? 

Why? Can’t you hear Its voice? 

Can’t you hear the woods?

Finally it was the morning of your flight. You got up at five am, too nervous to go back to sleep and started to recap if you got everything for the trip. At seven am you had eaten breakfast with your parents and bid goodbye to your mom, kissing her on the cheek “Be safe”. 

Your father drew you to the airport, “Are you sure you don’t want me to drop you near the plane? Your bags are heavy”; bless your mother, even if you did pack enough, she just had to help you pack, inevitably heaving you down “Take this sweater if it’s cold, you never know, and these pants, and this shirt, and these…” you had to physically stop her to pack more.

“I think I’m capable of carrying them on my own, I don’t want the other girls to see me as a ‘daddy’s-girl’”.

You got out of the car, grabbed all your bags and walked to the driver seat “Alright then, have you packed enough?” you looked at your father with a look that said ‘seriously?’.

“Fair enough…”

Your dad ruffled your hair, “Call when you get there, ok? Become a champion”. You gave him a corny smile, “Sure dad”.

“Have a safe flight!”, he drove away, you watched as the small car disappeared from your sight then walked to where your teammates were.  When you got there, all the team saw was a make-shift Santa Claus coming to them.

“Heyyy, forgot to pack something? Mommy helped you?” Tai said to you sarcastically. 

“Tai, enough” Van answered, making her friend scoff. The bags hit the floor, you let out a heavy sigh at the action finally free from the weight. “Don't mind her, she's just a bitter asshole”, Taissa scoffed at her friend “Oh fuck off”.

Lottie and Laura Lee were close, watching the exchange between you and Van “Lottie! Come on, go!” she wisphered to her taller friend. Lottie shifted uncomfortably on her legs, hands rubbing together behind her back, she walked to where you were, followed by Laura Lee “Hey…” her called, small and unsure “Hi”.

Lottie wasn’t one to be awkward, most of the time, but confronting you one on one made her feel less confident in herself and

“So, uhm… how are you today?” she cringed at herself. 

"You should ask her to sit next to you on the trip" Laura Lee voice chimed in her head

“Huh…good, I think? How are you?”

“I see, uh, yeah yeah, I’m good too”

Silence fell over you, both not making an effort in trying to make small talk. 

The staff announced that they were ready to leave.

Van chimed near you, draggin you with her “Hey, you want to sit next to me? We should be friends” she playfully said to you.  Laura Lee sighed, “Oh... We'll get to know her once we land” she patted her teammate on the shoulder.

The inside of the plane was modern, everyone was mouth agape.

Van laughed “I’ can’t believe your dad paid for a private plane”

“It’s pretty much his only form of parenting. I guess I’ll take it”

“Well, thank you, Mr Matthews!”

Every girl in the team sat, Van tugged you with her near her seat, you fell between her and the window. 

“So, what do you like?” Van asked, a smile forming on her lips

“W-What?”

“What do you like? As in movies, games, magazines? Is there something you even like?” 

Oh, did she want to sit with me to make fun of me? 

“Uhm… The last movie I got to see in theaters was 'Intervew with the Vampire'...but that was sometime ago ”.

“No way! Really?! Did you go alone?”.

“Yes…”

Her mouth was agape with shock, “Wow, I wouldn’t have your courage, you know? I like those movies -well, I like slashers more- but if I’d see one alone, I have nightmares for weeks” . You smiled and laughed with her, she was trying to make you feel less lonley “The last movies I have seen were ‘Halloween' and ‘Braveheart’”.

“What’s that last one about?”

“A drag queen fights the English army”.

“What?!” you laughed wholeheartedly with Van, she was holding your arm in a subtle effort to include you more and more into this conversation.  “You know, there’s this movie that's supposed to come out in december, it’s called ‘Scream’ and it’s supposedly a slasher, I can’t wait to see it. I’m gonna need someone to keep me company though, I'm not really that brave”.

You looked at her “Whit who?” asked, “Maybe you, maybe Taissa”.

“Ohhhh, I see”

She playfully shoved you, “What do you ‘see’, moron?”.

After a while of talking, your eyelids started to get heavier, begging you to take just a tiny nap.  “I think I’m going to sleep for a bit, I’ve woken up so early today…”

“Sure, I’ll wake you up when we got there”. You closed your eyes, sleep overcame you faster than you expected.

You were hungry, you finally managed to catch dinner after a while of running and biting and howling in the woods, she fell so dumbly into the trap, you wouldn’t ever die like this if you were in her position.  Blood runs down to earth, tinting the snow red.  She was so stupid to get caught.  The queen had made you wait, telling you that a meal is far more filling when you are patient. But you had been patient for oh so long, always grumbling and biting at your own flesh to keep your hunger at bay. 

When the queen nodded, all moved to the dinner plate like hawks, bit and ripped and grounded the meat under their teeth, surrounded by the flickering lights of the torches. If one doesn't think too much of it, this was just like the holidays you used to have once, food and lights. After all, a family's most intimate moment is at the dinner table. None was left of her.  It was still watching you. 

Scream erupted from the deep woods, you looked at the trees, your hair disheveld, face dirty , a trail of blood running down on the right side and dripping from the chin. 

You woke up from your haze, screaming filled the plane. “Van?! Van, what’s happening?!” Van is desperately trying to get out something from the ceiling above you , punching and screaming while everyone around you was either hugging each other, passed out or panicking. You felt your fingers weakening, trying to help Van and failing to get out the oxygen masks, dizziness overcame your senses, breathing erratic, goosebumps on your skin, eyelids heavy.

Lottie took your hand, ushering you gently to follow her, “Come on”.

You felt something hot travel up on your arm.

“It’s time to go”.

What’s happening?

Green trees are getting closer, your eyes roll to the back of your head and you lose yourself.

“We have to hunt”.

Am I going to die?

“We have to eat”

I don’t want to die!

“Is the meat cooked well enough, dear?” 

Mom?

The plane is crashing.

“Did you liked dinner?”

L-Lottie?

You can't breathe.

Help me!

A voice called out to you in thousands of whispers. 

“Come”. 

[trashpandato]

Game

It’s dark. Lena has to squint to try and make sense of where she is, but the squinting also makes her very aware of how swollen and sore the left side of her face is. She tries to take stock: there are zip ties around her wrists and ankles, but other than that, she can move around. Her face hurts, and her thoughts are a bit foggy, so she assumes someone drugged her or hit her hard enough to cause a small concussion — or both. 

To Lena’s relief, the rest of her body feels fine, and she decides to get a better look at the room she’s in so she can plan her escape, but just as she manages to push herself up onto her knees, a door opens behind her and the room is suddenly bathed in harsh white light. She turns toward a set of footsteps coming towards her.

“Hello sis.”

Lena sighs. She should have known that her brother was behind it all.

“Lex. What is it this time? Am I your bait to get to Supergirl? Part of your plot to get closer to eternal power? Or is this about trying to get back into Mother’s good graces?”

Lex steps closer to her and smirks.

“Lena, Lena, Lena. For all the talk about how brilliant you are, you sure rely a lot on me to tell you what’s going on.”

Lena tries to keep her features as impassive as possible. She knows that media coverage about Lena’s IQ and smart business decisions have gotten under Lex’s skin before, knows that he always feels the need to reassert himself as the smarter heir to Lionel’s business empire.

“So then tell me. What are you trying to achieve here?”

In a flash, Lex moves in. His face is so close to hers now that she can see the pores on his nose, can smell the coffee on his breath.

“You’ll see.”

This time, Lena can’t stop herself from rolling her eyes. 

“Can we move this along? I have dinner reservations at that new fancy Italian restaurant tonight.”

It’s their usual back and forth, a dynamic that’s been well established between them and Lena often uses it to buy herself some time, so she can figure out a way to get out of the interaction. But this time, for whatever reason, Lena’s nonchalant behaviour sets Lex off. His eyes turn almost black.

“This isn’t a game, Lena!” He yells, and the quick flip of the switch into unbridled rage catches Lena off guard.

She blinks. It’s the only physical reaction she allows herself to have, the rest of her body locking up.

Lex continues to yell at her, flecks of spit hitting Lena’s face as he loses his composure. Lena’s not paying attention to the content of his tirade anymore. All of her focus has shifted into survival mode. She’s not sure what Lex has in store for her, but she knows she’s going to try and resist for as long as possible.

But then, three things happen all at once: a loud bang, a flash of blue and red and then Lex is no longer in front of her but on his back, subdued and handcuffed. And then, Kara is there, right in front of her, with a worried expression on her face. Her lips are moving, like she’s saying something, but it takes a few more moments before the words register for Lena.

“...safe now. You’re okay.”

All at once, Lena’s rigid muscles let go and she sags forward. Kara catches her easily.

“Whoa. Okay. Let’s maybe sit down for a minute.”

Lena shakes her head. She doesn’t really want to sit down; she wants to get out of this place. Kara must sense her inner turmoil. She gives Lena’s arms a quick squeeze.

“Let me take you home, okay?”

As soon as Lena nods, she’s scooped into strong arms and cradled against the cool fabric of Kara’s suit. She must close her eyes and dissociate for a bit, because the next time she looks around, she’s on Kara’s couch, an ice pack in her hands and Kara sitting next to her, just giving her space and a moment to come back to herself.

“Thank you,” Lena manages to croak out. She shifts a little closer to Kara and leans into the warmth radiating off her body. “For finding me.”

A gentle arm settles around Lena, holding her.

“I’ll always find you.”

[koorinokujira]

Logs from the OC Database: Sunrise ( TF IDW1)

(Finally decided to make a little introduction post for my main Transformers OC, Sunrise. This will most likely get updated often as I keep reading the IDW comics and learn new information).

The lovely art below is made by the amazing @the-prince-of-vos, aka Akkalis! Thank you again for bringing him to life!

"No matter how far I travel from it, Earth will always be my first and only home. After all, home is where the spark is, eh?"

Bright, loud, cheerful, and so energetic that it causes concern; those are just a few ways that the Autobots have described one of their newest additions to the faction. This friendly, large mech is sure to steal your attention with his cheeky personality, unapologetic love for the things and people he's fond of, along with the desire to do good, no matter how impossible it gets. A skilled fighter with a fondness for learning new things, Sunrise is definitely someone you call when you need a helping hand, or just a friend to talk to.

Names, Nicknames, Designations...

"Sunrise is the name, and brightening up your day is my game!"

Sunrise was a name chosen by himself, shortly after his unceremonious crashlanding to Earth. While it was mostly the natural phenomenon itself along with the color of his frame that inspired the designation, it is also a reference to his late predecessor and doctor, Sunset, and the small sliver of hope he felt that he refused to lose. It holds great significance to him, and he is more than determined to live up to it.

In the past, he was referred to as Aeroflare, or simply "Patient Zero", as he was the first (and only) documented case of a condition simply referred to as an "Acute Partial Spark Disconnect". While he doesn't actively use either of these (the second one for very obvious reasons), some Cybertronians know him as such thanks to the aformentioned Sunset and his Conjunx, Cloudwave, who took care of the unresponsive Sunrise. The name "Aeroflare" was created so they'd have a better way of referring to him.

As for nicknames, those tend to be either shortened or slightly altered versions of his name (Sun, Sunny, etc.). However, some humans have also likened his appearance to that of a moth because of his headshape, finials and the way he folds his wings. Variations of nicknames that include the insect aren't too uncommon thanks to that.

Important Physical Attributes

"You know... I worry about the humans sometimes. I'm pretty good at moving around them, but... what if I step on one on accident?"

Discounting his finials, Sunrise is around 36 feet (10.97 meters) tall. While his exact weight is unknown, he seems to be on the heavier side, despite being a jet. His bulkier, sturdier build easily supports his weight. The main color of his frame is a warm orange, with red, black, and sometimes even yellow/gold as his secondary colors. His face is mainly a lighter, metallic grey, with the sides being a grey-ish white. His optics seem to have a color somewhere between yellow and orange, and are particularly bright in comparison to some other Cybertronians.

Sunrise's alternate mode is based on a Canadair CL-415 plane, which is designed for aerial firefighting. Of course, his altmode is quite a bit smaller than the regular plane (which has the length of rougly 65 ft/19.81 m and a wingspan of rougly 94 ft/28.65 m), so the length of his altmode is almost 36 feet with a wingspan of around 52 ft (15.84 m). So, not as big, but forest fires still cower before him!

As for his weaponry, he prefers to get up close and personal, which tends to mean a blade or two. He eventually gets an inset blade in his right arm. But his firepower is nothing to scoff at, either, as his most used weapons are two massive energy cannons. Those are separate from his body unless he is in his altmode, however. In that case, they tend to take up some space in the compartment where the plane stores water. More often than not, his servos are also an effective weapon because of his large size.

Sunrise's spark is of a bright orange color, which occasionally seems to fade into red or blue.

His holoform is that of a young, tall man with freckled skin and wavy, fiery red hair. His eyes have a very light brown, almost orange color. His physique is nothing short of impressive, and even appears to have some tattoos and scars. Sunglasses are an often used accesorry.

Oddities and Anomalies

"Me? Oh, c'mon! I'm just a regular guy. Or mech? Ah, doesn't matter. Just don't treat me like I'm something special or awesome. Others deserve that more than me."

While Sunrise seems like a fairly regular (albeit tall) mech, many of his fellow Autobots very quickly found out that he's anything but ordinary. After some time of debating, Ratchet eventually classified him as an outlier. Everyone, including Sunrise himself, is still struggling to make sense of how his abilities make sense and come together. Most of them seem to have to do something with the spark itself. These are anomalies that have been verified to happen at least once:

Extreme stamina: While he is not that much stronger than his comrades, everyone will tell you that he can do everything for much longer than anyone else. He does need to refuel more often, but his body seems to distribute it with almost concerning effectiveness. His recharges are short and rare. And as any medic in his vicinity quickly finds out, he doesn't seem to realize when he's tired, either, which tends to result in him collapsing every few days (and sometimes even longer than that) in the middle of whatever he's doing. It has been debated whether this is an actual outlier ability, or some strange side effect of the Acute Spark Disconnect, or the current lack thereof.

Spark-hearing: Sunrise's hearing is already extremely good (purely through meddling with his audials and processors), but this ability is something completely different. It is a type of hearing focused purely on sparks; as he himself puts it, every spark has its own unique rhythm that can tell you a few things about its owner, and he insists he can hear it even without the use of any external tools. This was already a bit strange, but it got all the stranger when he admitted that from Optimus' Prime he not only hears a beat, but a melody as well. A short experiment proved that even when he was deprived of regular hearing, he could still hear sparkbeats of others around him with incredible accuracy. He never really divulges what exactly the rhythm tells him, but he has been known to be more perceptive to the moods of others, and many internal ailments have also been discovered when he noticed that someone's spark beats "wrong".

Spark-meld: So far, there has (luckily) only been one instance of this happening. An occassion where Sunrise's spark completely melded with two others despite a ridiculous distance between them. This essentially allowed him to "be" those other two mechs, as he heard, saw and felt all they did, and he even had access to their memories. It was, of course, an overwhelming and traumatizing affair that he had zero control over, and whenever he speaks about it, he insists that he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy.

Faction and Role

"Mhm, I'm a proud Autobot! Whatever that means..."

Sunrise is an Autobot, though he could have been counted as neutral for a few years. He takes loyalty to his allies incredibly seriously, but he doesn't mind extending a friendly hand to a Decepticon that wishes to redeem themselves. He's quite disconnected from the entire conflict, and has been known to abide by a certain moral and honor code (such as not killing an opponent who cannot fight back).

As for his role in the faction, he is somewhat of a universal helper. He doesn't mind doing menial tasks if it means everything runs smoothly, and often goes around asking others whether they need help with something. He's an avid learner, so he slowly becomes a jack of all trades over the years, with a bit more focus on medical support as Ratchet teaches him how to help others. He's also unanimously considered to be a morale booster, as he's a great listener and his positivity is infectious to most.

Personality

"Well 'course I'm all happy and smiley! I'm not named after the Sun for nothing!"

On the outside, Sunrise is a bright, happy-go-lucky mech that often acts before he thinks. Boisterous and sometimes even a bit mischievous, he unapologetically goes through life doing whatever makes him the happiest. He's a friendly chatterbox, and every room is full of him once he enters. While he is a tad annoying to some, most don't say anything, as he's too endearing to interrupt while he speaks. However, this also often has the effect of some thinking he's a mech of the... simpler variety, and that he's very naive, which he most certainly isn't.

However, this bright exterior hides many complexeties, many of which aren't exactly happy ones. He often feels disconnected from his fellow Cybertronians and the entirety of their conflicts, leaving him feeling left out and lonely. Thanks to his previous ailments, he has missed much, and so he struggles to keep up with his peers. He rarely shows it, but his self-esteem is quite low and he tends to put others miles above himself. His ability to express negative emotions is also not the greatest, which he usually resolves by walking out of the conflict and losing himself in one physical activity or another. As more and more fellow Autobots come to him with their troubles, he feels trapped and a need to constantly appear strong, until he finally reaches a breaking point.

Some traumas have left him with some underlying feelings of paranoia, and he often needs guidance because he feels lost. Anger issues have been a problem in the past, not so much now.

Interests

"Did you know-"

If you ask Sunrise about what he likes the most, he'll probably pretend he's thinking for a few seconds, before he excitedly yells out "Earth!" or "Humans"! If it's related to our dear blue planet, he'll adore it, or at least be interested. He finds humans to be extremely adorable, even after years of living among them, and will talk your audial (or ear, if you have those) off about this or that human culture, or express his admiration for their inventiveness.

But his interests don't just stop with humans, as he's really into learning about nature, particularly animals. Nature documentaries are his favorite genre of film, and Sir David Attenborough may as well be a saint to him. His favorite books are sappy romances and he mostly likes upbeat, energetic music genres. The only exception are chansons, which have a calming effect on him.

He's also always interested in learning more about the home planet he never really got to know, and talking with older Cybertronians about what they've seen.

Tinkering with whatever he gets his hands on is therapeutic to him. It only becomes concerning when he learns more of Cybertronian anatomy and tries to give himself strange upgrades...

Relationships

"Hi there! No need to be scared, I'm harmless, just really big! Wanna be friends?"

The jet makes a point to always start out friendly and respectful when meeting someone, and to not judge a book by its cover. He considers all Autobots to be his friends, and tries to give a chance even to some Decepticons when they seem harmless.

He has a talent for awakening something akin to paternal instincts in most older mechs, which often causes humorous misunderstandings and someone always being there to try to teach him about this and that. This effect was always particularly strong with Ironhide, Kup, and even Ratchet to some extent, as he feels responsible for his wellbeing.

Sunrise is quite close with Optimus Prime and Ratchet and trusts them with everything. Hot Rod and Jazz are always welcome company to him, and he later also becomes good friends with Drift, with an extended friendliness and respect to the other Wreckers.

His relationship with Ultra Magnus is cordial, though it can't be said they're the best of friends considering Sunrise's ignorance of most laws and tendency for harmless mischief.

The only Autobot Sunrise has a fairly bad relationship with is Prowl. At the start, the both genuinely despise each other, until Sunrise lets it go and is satisfied with driving Prowl up to wall with his antics and witty banter. No one really knows where they stand in their relationship currently, and everyone is too afraid to ask.

An important part of Sunrise's inner circle is also a very unlikely friend; a troubled Decepticon seeker named Dustbite, with whom he forms an unlikely friendship based on them both sparing each other's lives. With mutual respect and understanding, their bond eventually becomes so deep that they become each other's Amica Endurae.

As for who he cares more than just a friend... well, only time will tell.

Other Fun Facts

When it comes to the chansons, Sunrise's favorite singer is Jacques Brel.

He himself is a fairly talented singer, though he mostly just hums to himself.

Sunrise's Cybertronian somehow has a vaguely Canadian accent.

He speaks Hand very fluently and uses it to express himself when speaking is difficult.

Even though he seems very innocent, the mech swears like a sailor when he can, even making horrible amalgamation of human and Cybertronian swear words and insults.

He dislikes Primus, blaming him for his previous illness.

Later on, he becomes a good friend and "calming agent" to Fortress Maximus.

He uses his (usual) enhanced hearing to check malfunctions in all sorts of machinery, including cables running through walls. However, he still struggles to find an appropriate way to announce it. "I hear it in the walls" is not something he should say to alert someone of a fried cable, he's been told.

His optics can get blindingly bright when he's very happy. On the other hand, they grow dim when he's feeling under the weather.

His voice claim is Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds.

Story/Story Involvement

(Empty for now... but some short scenes and chapters from his life will hopefully come soon).

[majimasleftasscheek]

Honestly if it’s ok I would like to hear your thoughts on Kazumi? I’m having brain rot at the idea of Kiryu being a drag queen or gender-fluid and there’s like no one talking about it and I just wanted to know how you’d picture it because your goromi headcanon is just so well thought out- if this is a weird question or a hard one to answer I’m sorry it’s my first time doing this-

no worries, I LOVE talking about good shit like this 👀

SO KAZUMI

I don't particularly see her as genderfluid like I do Goromi but!! I do see her as a drag identity, just not as bold as the former.

Kazumi in a sense is very much how I interpret Goromi - that being she's pretty much the same dude but now in a wig but with a few changes.

she'd for sure have a Kiryu-esque seriousness to dressing up as in treating it like some kind of mission than a more casual thing. she'd have to be reminded like yo this ain't a substory, you can put your lipstick on without the concentration of someone fighting for their life.

in a way being Kazumi is a sort of break for Kiryu. he HAS to chill out and it's rough at first but eventually he's like okay, this is okay, I can just be

she's even more quiet and reserved than Kiryu already is, preferring to be left alone. it's a mix of not exactly knowing how to feel in drag and general internalized embarrassment so she's not up to being social about it. there's certainly an uncharacteristic lack of confidence on her part and needs a bit of encouragement to really feel like she isn't looking ridiculous.

Kiryu seems like, a by the book type of guy, due to his upbringing and general way he carries himself, so putting on drag is very alien to him. like, he can certainly see other people doing it. but himself? wild. that said, he's bold and fairly immune to what people think of him but something about being Kazumi, for a good chunk of time, is very intimate, especially if he's around people he knows.

when she's with people she trusts, that's when she starts having a good time, maybe even being a lil bombastic then immediately covering her mouth when she laughs too loud. but if her present company comforts her, she'll be happy to let slip a more excitable version of herself. it helps knowing that, for the time, she's just someone else and that someone else can do whatever the fuck they want. it's even better that few people would recognize her, let alone even think a guy like Kiryu is Kazumi at first glance.

Kazumi is a bit of a tease, a bit more sensual. not flagrantly obvious but it's there, with the way she sways her hips and looks at you with those beautiful eyes™ that say everything and anything you wanna hear. Kiryu's a very reactive type of guy, doing this and that because of something else. Kazumi however takes the initiative in little ways as a measure of testing her own waters, as to do something Kiryu probably wouldn't unless provoked. Kazumi has no goals, she lives in the moment and wants to enjoy it on her own terms.

dresses in colors very much like her usual suit (red, gray, white). will be super self conscious about her ass hanging out in short dresses and if you come at her with the 'but you don't mind if you're wearing a fundoshi?' and you can literally see the gears turning in her head.

not super great at fighting in heels (compared to Goromi) so she's not pulling crazy moves or running around. she prefers beast mode and the graceful art of blunt force trauma to play keep-away

KAZUMAJI TIME I'm unwell

so the way Kiryu interacts with Goromi is SO important to me and it's equally just as important for my thoughts on Kazumi so you'll see a lot of parallels here.

Majima is MAD horny for Kazumi it's unreal. impressively brainrotted even by goblin standards. partly because it's very exciting to see Kiryu prettied up and partly because he can just see the ✨ gender ✨ radiating off of Kazumi even if it's not as much of a gender thing for her as it is for Majima. he gets that chest tight sort of happy seeing Kiryu try something so important to him.

definitely shows his love via gift giving and physical affection. Kazumi's not big on gifts in general because it's embarrassing so she has to often convince him to just take her out for a good time and that's fine enough. for her, the affection is more important than anything and she'll admit, she likes to be wooed

I have to include Haruka cuz how can I not 🥺 she definitely helps out with makeup and hair. it's not perfect but she's the only person Kazumi will not squirm around for. Kazumi will sit still a little for Majima/Goromi to help out but she's gonna complain about it the whole time.

every minute Majima's not hanging onto Kazumi like she's his trophy wife is another minute he dies inside. he makes it an event to let everyone know he's got the hottest girl in town and it makes Kazumi feel pretty damn good.

Kiryu knows he's hot as hell so that extends to Kazumi as well—small crowds preferably though. despite enjoying a bit of attention, she still prefers plenty of alone time. there is significant anxiety for her to be the center of attention either because someone might recognize her or because things going to shit is just how Kiryu's life tends to go.

she lovesss getting a rise out of Majima, especially if they're in a place he has to behave. since he's her biggest fan, she does like a good bit of ordering him around, often to the point he's actually irritated but that's just part of the game for them, being smug heathens @ each other. I'm a goblin for possessiveness and jealously so throw in a bit of that for flavor 😏

I have a Kazumi x Majima fic where she's very dommy mommy and he's a meek lil worm and I think that's a sign of nature healing.

BIG fluffy Goromi interactions, they're very affectionate together and Goromi's just so giddy to have Kazumi go out with her. she will however bite people's fingers if they so much as wave in Kazumi's direction. the excitement from Goromi does help stave off Kazumi's own insecurities.

being with Goromi does give Kazumi a bit of perspective she otherwise wouldn't really understand as Kiryu. I can see her having one of her typical "wow, people sure do live differently than I do and I've gained more respect for such things" sorta deal lol. basic stuff but significant to those around her.

[askthe-r-m-au]

Yall know what time it is...

Back at it again at Krispy Kreme uh I mean Ring-Misstress AU fic

I've been thinking about themmmmmmm

[Ring-Misstress Chapter 4: A "Grand" opening]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Pomni walked back to the center of the Circus, cane in hand, and Hat on her head. This was the last night before The Amazing Digital Circus virtual game would be shown to the public in at least a few years! According to Caine, at least. He suggested they work late into the night before anyone could show up. That way, they'd have almost everything ready by the morning. Caine noticed his Co-host walking into the room.

☆Ah, you're back! The little guy's asleep?☆

Pomni twirled the cane in her hand like a baton.

♧Yeah, wasn't much trouble. Easier than I thought it'd be!

Caine chuckled proudly. The tension from the deadline always left when she walked in.

☆See? I knew you'd be great for this job!☆

♧Heh, yeah... hey... Are you sure you wanna do this the whole night??♧

Caine had dazed off until he heard her question.

☆Hm? Oh- well, of course! You don't require sleep, so we'll have plenty of time!☆

♧Well, sure, I don't need to sleep... but... what about you? Voz needs to sleep, don't you?♧

He paused for a second.

☆Well, we don't sleep, we recharge. But it does give of the sensation of sleep and its symptoms. At least, I believe it does...☆

It didn't make much sense to Pomni, but she learned not to question these sorts of things a long time ago.

♧Huh. Wait... where do you- uhm- "sleep" anyway?♧

☆Oh. Well, uh, I usually just find some secluded area, out of bounds...☆

Caine was beginning to feel drousy just talking about it. But, not wanting to leave so soon, he perked himself up.

☆Now is not the time to worry about that though, my dear! We have work to do!!☆

♧Well you do look pretty ti-♧

☆Me? Tired? Nonsense!! Now, let's get back work!☆

The conversation was cut short. They silently continued fixing up the place. But Caine looked like he was getting progressively slower with each glance Pomni took.

♧Are... you sure you don't wanna... leave now?♧

☆And... leave you alone?? Like I would do that!☆

♧What? You don't trust me?? I can do things by myself.♧

☆N-no! It's not that at all, my dear! You are absolutely great at what you do! It's just that I think if I left you to do all this yourself then that... would be terribly... rude... of me...☆

Caine was barely hovering in the air by now.

♧... You wouldn't wanna be in this state tomorrow morning, would you??♧

☆...Ok... just for a few minutes...☆

Caine was still hesitant to leave His friends side. He fought with every last bit of energy in him to stay awake.

☆ before i go... Wh-why don't we discuss some ideas for adventures?? Anything sound good to you??☆

♧Hm... how about... "Count the sheep?"♧

☆Great idea!! Let's test that. One... ...two... ...☆

Caine stopped responding.

He floated idly in place, nearly touching the ground.

♧Welp. That's two times I'm putting someone to bed.♧

Pomni smiled as she walked down the hallway, dragging an unconscious Caine into her room, and walking back out, hat on her head, cane in her hand.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[ENTERING "R.E.M." MODE...]

Caine opened his eyes to find himself in a darkly lit monochrome room. His vision was a bit fuzzy. The only things he could make out were a big red door and a misshapen box sitting atop a desk.

He hunched over the desk, looking at the strange box. One side looked different from the rest. It was pitch black.

Then it flashed white. It had a strangely similar look to the void. He leaned in closer. Then, a familiar sphere shaped character appeared in the center. Green strands of 1's and 0's growing around him...

_-°○You did this to yourself.○°-_

Oooookay, maybe he shouldn't be here.

Having no other option, he went through the big red door.

It led him back to the main area of the circus. Finally, a place he firmly recognized! Then he heard the sound of glitches rising from around him.

Maybe he would've been better off in the box room...

He looked up to see everyone had abstracted. Even the abstracts from the cellar somehow got out. Wait... everyone...?

♧C-cai-ªi-N-ne?♧

Caine immediately turned his head.

☆POMNI!☆

Her entire avatar was covered in glitches. She was holding on with her last bit of strength. She barely managed to speak.

♧It-t's... Iṭ'§...♧

He desperately tried to hold her head upright.

☆W-whats wrong, dear? Just tell me. I-I can fix it, I promise!☆

♧I-Tt-§...♧

_-♧ITS ALL YOUR FAULT.♧-_

The glitching code morphed into glowing eyes. Her body contorted until it was completely unrecognizable...

.

.

.

[FULLY CHARGED]

The ringmaster jumped from shock, only to quickly realize that he had been lying down the entire time. Of all the times he's entered a "dream state" as they call it, he had never experienced such a negative one. Nothing has ever made him feel like-

His train of thought immediately stopped. He heard a thumping noise. Actually, he didn't just hear it...

He felt it...

He placed his hand to his chest, presumably where a human heart would be. And sure enough...

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

How was this possible? He couldn't truly be... unless-

[PAPAA!! GETUPGETUPGETUPGETUPGETUP!!]

The door slammed open, and little Voz barged into the room. Shaking the end of the bed violently until Caine finally rose from his sitting position.

☆Alright, okay, I am! Now, what's the r- OH...☆

He looked around, recalling the events from the previous night.

[Mama had sent me to wake you...]

☆Has anyone already-☆

[Yup...]

Oh, how foolish of the ringmaster to be late to his very own show, leaving his bel- CO-HOST, yes, to do everything by herself...

☆Welp, time is really crunching, kiddo! We better hurry back!☆

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Pomni and the main cast sat around. Along with a few players. All of them took the appearance of mannequins, but each with distinct accessories. One with purple butterfly wings, one with a chicken's beak, a party hat, and a plauge doctor mask.

The player's each had names displayed over their heads, and they showed up whenever they would speak.

Osa: Man, it's been forever since they announced this game!! Can't believe we finally get to play this together!!

Aki: Yeah! This is gonna be fun, huh Zari?

Zari: ...you brought me here against my will.

Plauge: Honestly, I agree. This is stupid...

♧Now, now, everyone! There's no need to be so impatient! I'm... I'm sure the ringmaster will be here very-♧

Caine and Voz appeared center stage with a loud SNAP.

☆Pomni! I'm so, very sorry I'm late. We'll have to talk later. Now who's ready to woo the-!☆

Caine looked up to see only 4 players in front of them.

☆Crowd. ... Well, this is anticlimactic.☆

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

HOLY SMOKES I TOOK A LIL BREAK FROM THIS I KNOW BUT ITS OUT NYEAOW YIPPEEEE-

*Disintegrates into dust*

Also, huge thanks to my buddies Angii and sushi/vintage radio for letting me use our old tadc OCs for this! :>

Uhmm anyways asks r opened and... That's all byeee

[argumentalist]

I think the newtype space-magic bullshit is by far the weakest part of Mobile Suit Gundam. And it taints the entirety of the Universal Century timeline.

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn absolutely revolves around newtypes - so, clearly, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn is not my favorite show.

But it's got some absolutely fantastic mobile suit designs. And this week I've built the Real Grade RX-0 Unicorn Gundam.

One of the many reasons I don't like buying gunpla on Amazon is that they don't seem to have any idea what appropriate shipping & handling is. They just slapped a label on the box and sent it on its way.

Needless to say - I exchanged it.

Right off the bat, this kit looks kind of weird. The A-runner is all a translucent pinkish-red ABS. The B-runner is also festooned with clear bits. It's all very striking even before building anything.

If you've spent any time on the /r/gunpla subreddit I'm sure you've seen the horror stories about broken Unicorn arms.

Well, I made sure to do my research. Made sure I was twisting in the right place. And I was able to successfully rotate those B8/B9 arm segments without issue.

Unfortunately they don't normally warn you that the G35 part in the chest is weak and that rotating the shoulders may break it.

I ordered some replacement G35 bits on AliExpress.

I also got some 80wt silicone shock oil to lubricate the arm joints. Just a tiny drop and some vigorous movement were enough to loosen everything up.

Like most Real Grades - this kit comes with a lot of sticker-style decals and an extensive marking guide.

I used the shiny green stickers for the eyes and cameras, but that's it.

I picked up some waterslide decals from Delpi Decal. The picture isn't great, but there's a neat holographic finish to these decals.

I also wound up painting the v-fin with a gold Gundam Marker. Nothing fancy, but it looks pretty decent. And I don't have to worry about a sticker peeling off.

I didn't love the accessories for this kit. The magazines for both the bazooka and the beam magnum are kind of loose. They were constantly falling out when I was posing the kit. And the shield feels very light and insubstantial.

At least it's got the solid, pre-posed hands.

The kit really looks pretty fantastic with decals and a matte topcoat. Obviously Unicorn mode is almost entirely white... But there's a good amount of surface detail. And it's got some subtle shades of white, grey, and off-white going on.

The transformation to Destroy mode is kind of a pain in the ass. Lots of fiddly little bits to deal with. And posing in Destroy mode is a challenge, too. It's hard to avoid closing up panels or yanking stuff off.

I've often seen people call this kit the first "good" real grade, and I think I have to disagree. This kit was a pain in the ass. It was far more fiddly than any of the real grades I've built previously. This is the first kit where I had to buy replacement parts or lube-up the joints. The first kit I'd really say needed more than just nippers to build. Definitely not beginner-friendly.

Still - it does look good now that it's up on my shelf.

I certainly won't be building any of the other Unicorn variants any time soon.

[sagethegaywitch]

Riddle's Birthday Bash

GN reader

TW: none

Genre: fluff

I love this little man so much!! I know it's almost midnight, but I still managed to do it on time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He's aware that it's his birthday, but he's not making a big deal about it.  He might wear a new accessory, but other than that he keeps things pretty simple.  Only Trey will see the extra pep in his step, but he'll just smile and goes to the fridge to get the extra special tart he made just for the birthday boy, only to find part of it eaten.

Trey goes into a full panic mode once he sees that his gift for Riddle has been devoured by someone else.  He knows it's rude to make assumptions, but he's already walking to Ace and Deuce’s shared room.  He was indeed correct that it was Ace, who had apparently not learned his lesson the first time.  Ace claims that it looked so good and he couldn't resist not taking a small sliver to taste.  Trey sighs like a disappointed parent and forces Ace to go find the ingredients to make another one.  Of course Ace drags Deuce and you into his endeavor, and the three of you scramble to find the exotic ingredients and even help Trey make the dessert.

On the other hand, Riddle is simply enjoying his day.  Cater is entertaining and distracting him to make sure he doesn't know that Trey and the two troublemakers are missing.  Most people in Heartslabyul will give Riddle small gifts, mostly desserts and treats since they all know he has a sweet-tooth.  He’ll accept the gifts, but he's not eating any of them cause he's looking forward to the tart that Trey makes him every year.

While Trey teaches Ace and Deuce how to make a tart again, you’re busy decorating the area that is usually reserved for unbirthday parties.  You keep the decorations colors similar to that of the dorm, but you take a little inspiration from Alice In Wonderland and add some physically impossible decorations like cups that pour never ending tea and platters of cookies that float up and down the table.

When Riddle finally starts worrying about Trey’s disappearance and Cater can’t distract him anymore, the birthday boy is storming to the kitchen to see Trey nervously blocking the troublesome duo from Riddle's gaze as they shove the tart into the fridge to chill.  Riddle will eye everyone suspiciously before apologizing for bursting in.  As he’s about to leave, you manage to intercept him and drag him over to the area you spent a few hours decorating.

Riddle is in awe when he sees the soft lights hanging from the hedges and covering the rose bushes.  Normally he’d punish those who tamper and vandalize his precious rose bushes, but he’ll make an exception because it looks so nice and you spent so much time preparing this surprise for him.  You pull out his seat at the head of the table as the rest of his close Heartslabyul friends come over and take the other available seats.  Instead of Trey presenting the tart, it’s Ace who places the tart in front of Riddle and cuts him a big slice.

The small party sings happy birthday to Riddle, the boy looking both embarrassed and proud at the same time.  After the singing, the tart is enjoyed by everyone, the flavors mingling perfectly and the sweetness was not too overpowering.  Since Trey already gave Riddle the tart as a gift, the others present theirs too, which probably involves small trinkets or tea varieties.  When it comes to you, you’re probably gifting him a rare rose variety, maybe one that is enchanted and can change color at will.  You tell him it's not much and the plant is a little high maintenance, but Riddle instantly gets protective and insists that he loves the gift.  After the party and everyone returns to their respective dorms and rooms, Riddle is placing the rose pot on his windowsill, right next to his bed.  He waters it a bit and smiles as he watches the colors shift from a white color to pink and then to a deep red.  He can’t believe you were so thoughtful about your present and he’ll be sure to remember that when your birthday comes around.

[the-meat-machine]

On page 5714 of Homestuck, when Jane is bopping a bunch of enemies with the lollipop juju, the cherub-looking dudes turn into Lil Cal looking guys, with the red blood ones looking just like him and the green blood ones having green lipstick and cheeks + white bowtie, instead of red and black respectively. And, Jake's Caliborn-esque symbol turns into a Lil Cal-esque symbol.

I feel like this means SOMETHING about Lil Cal, but I have no idea what. Sending this to you because I consider you the Lil Cal Expert. This is absolutely haunting me.

For those who don't remember, anon is referring to this:

Okay, so, before you sent this ask, I hadn't thought too much about this. I figured this was just reinforcing the conceptual link between cherubs and Lil Cal by implying that Trickster Mode cherubs look like Lil Cal.

But I think we can go deeper. Specifically, I'd like to think about what it would mean for Lil Cal to be a juju that's patterned after a trickster-mode cherub.

Bear with me - I'm not sure how much of this is obvious and how much isn't, so I'm just going to go through everything.

Cherubs are connected with Lil Cal

This one is fairly obvious. From a Doylist perspective, Lord English's design deliberately draws elements from Lil Cal's design, and therefore cherubs in general resemble Lil Cal. And of course, Caliborn's soul becomes entangled with Lil Cal's. Even the name Lil Cal is a clear connection.

Cherubs are connected with Trickster Mode

Again, fairly obvious. It's Calliope and Caliborn's combined jujus that cause Trickster mode. All of the Zillyweapons the tricksters create are tied with ridiculous cherub lore. Et cetera.

In addition… I'm going to quote from Hussie explaining Trickster Mode to Caliborn:

Furthermore, [Trickster Mode] could only be seen as a boon from an asocial species. You never have to deal with other people. So if you lick a magic lollipop that flips a switch in your brain that says "all my problems are solved," I guess maybe that's fine for cherubs, but if you're a human you haven't actually solved anything. By the same logic it's not much of a boon to a human's physical journey either. Using an item that lets them start maniacally powering from point A to point B isn't doing them any favors.

This seems to imply that Trickster Mode would be a better power-up for cherubs, who generally don't have to worry about petty things like "fucking up all your interpersonal relationships in a drug-induced mania". It also implies that cherubs may be physically more able to handle Trickster Mode than humans, who seem to be exhausted once it wears off. Like maybe this is a cherub power-up that isn't really meant to be used on humans.

There's also the matter of the energy that tricksters draw on to fuel their antics… but I'll get to that in a bit.

Lil Cal, specifically, is connected with Trickster Mode

As noted in the ask, Lil Cal motifs show up in several places during the Trickster Mode arc. The cherubs in that one flash turn into Lil Cal lookalikes, Jake's skull symbol turns into Lil Cal's head - plus Dirk's Trickster Mode outfit is based on Lil Cal's outfit.

The implication here is that Trickster Mode cherubs look like Lil Cal. Or to put it another way: Lil Cal looks like a Trickster Mode cherub.

And maybe we could stop there. Cherubs, Trickster Mode, and Lil Cal are all connected, so making the trickster cherubs look like Lil Cal could just be a fun visual way to reinforce those ties in the reader's head.

But on the other hand… Lil Cal could, in a way, be an embodiment of cherub Trickster Mode.

Here's where we get more speculative.

Lil Cal has trickster-like traits

What little we know about Lil Cal's "personality" reinforces the impression of him as somehow trickstery. As Calsprite, he literally does nothing but laugh, all the time, always. As a puppet, he shows up throughout the comic, appearing and disappearing in a way that's almost playful and yet also deeply unsettling. And "unsettling playfulness" is pretty much the essence of Trickster Mode.

So far, so good. This all feels like even more reason why Lil Cal makes sense as a representation of a trickster cherub.

Let's go deeper.

the enigmatic forces presiding over all that is eternal (or, what if ALL the rainbow glowy shit is connected)

Here we're going to take a bit of a detour. Ok, maybe it's more of a full-on dialectical road trip. It starts, as all the best things do, with cherub sex.

Here's a quote from Aranea's explanation of cherub reproduction (typing quirk removed for readability):

While dueling in such a monstrous form, their energy is inexhaustible. The transformation taps into the cherubs' latent connection with the enigmatic forces presiding over all that is eternal, and permeating all those endowed with immortality. Normally this power is only accessible to them during mating. In this form, they are only able to be injured by one another, and are otherwise indestructible.

The important part here is that cherubs have an innate connection to a power that imbues immortality, and this power is visually represented as a flashing rainbow energy.

This force is also almost certainly the power underlying both Caliborn/Lord English's immortality and god tier resurrections.

I'll start with the god tier resurrections, because it ties directly in with where Caliborn gets his immortality.

Here's a comparison between the god tier clock and the stock image that it was based on:

Of note here are two changes that Hussie made: 1) The angels (or should I say cherubs) on top have much larger wings. 2) The animals flanking the clock face have been changed to have crocodile heads that resemble the heads of cherubs when they're in their mating form.

All of this is to say that the god tier clock has very deliberate connections to cherubs. This, combined with its apparent function (resurrecting god tiers who have died, conditional on their death being neither heroic nor just) suggests that god tier resurrections are fueled by the same "enigmatic forces presiding over all that is eternal" as mating cherubs. We also get to see that flashing rainbow energy again when it activates:

Caliborn's reward for defeating Yaldabaoth appears to be the god tier clock itself. When Caliborn destroys it, he absorbs the (rainbow, flashing) energy it emits, rendering him unconditionally immortal. As a cherub, Caliborn is the perfect recipient for this boon - he already has an inherent affinity for this sort of power thanks to his species.

Ok, so what does this all have to do with Trickster Mode?

You know what else is associated with flashing rainbow energy? That's right: Trickster Mode.

I know, this may seem like a stretch, but also bear in mind that the exact pastel rainbow flashing colors that the tricksters talk in (and that show up when Jake, Roxy, and Dirk transform) are also seen both when one of the cherubs transforms into its mating form and when a cherub hatches from its egg (compare the text colors to the colors around the red cherub below). So, we've got more connections to cherub energy here.

My theory is that Trickster Mode taps into the same well of energy that powers cherubs' transformations during mating. In this case, the point is less the immortality and more the "inexhaustible energy" that mating cherubs have.

This would track with Trickster Mode being a power-up that's much better suited to cherubs than humans - cherubs are inherently connected to this energy and are built to withstand it. It also would give an added dimension to the tricksters' obsession with sex and babies - they're imbued with mating energy!

Under this view, Trickster Mode would be "intended" as a power-up that would grant a cherub all the power and energy they normally can only tap into while mating, presumably without needing to transform into a giant snake or waste all that energy on a years-long sex battle.

If this theory was correct, it might imply that someone in Trickster Mode would be unkillable for the duration of the transformation. There's no proof of this, which is the main reason I consider this theory to just be speculation rather than something I think was definitely intended in canon. Still, there's also no proof that tricksters aren't immortal, and would anyone really be surprised if you tried to kill a trickster and they just grinned at you and kept on going? It seems like it would be in keeping with the trickster power set, is all I'm saying.

Lord English as a perma-Trickster?

Now, as I mentioned above, as of the end of Homestuck Caliborn already has forged a permanent connection to "the enigmatic forces presiding over all that is eternal", making him unconditionally immortal and also giving him some really annoying-to-look-at eyeballs. But that in itself still doesn't grant him all the power Lord English has. He doesn't seem to, for example, have limitless energy or the ability to shoot rainbow laser beams out of his mouth.

So here's where my theorizing becomes even more improbable. I don't really think this next part is an "intended" reading, but I still think it's an interesting possibility to consider.

Lord English inherits traits from most of the souls inhabiting Lil Cal - Caliborn most obviously, but also Equius's muscles, Gamzee's honking, etc. But here's the thing: Lil Cal - as in, the juju itself - is also an ectobiological component of Lord English. It's not unthinkable that Lord English could inherit traits from Lil-Cal-the-juju - which, remember, is patterned off of a Trickster Mode cherub.

So my theory here is that Lord English is basically in a permanent Trickster Mode-like state, thanks to inheriting traits from Lil Cal. This state could be what grants him his absurdly massive amounts of power and the aforementioned rainbow-mouth-laser abilities.

After all, what does Trickster Mode do? It flips a switch in your brain that tells you that all your problems are solved and grants you huge amounts of energy to go do whatever your id desires most. And what would Caliborn do if he had unlimited energy and no obstacles left to stand in his way? I think the answer is obvious: Fuck. Shit. Up.

Lord English is basically Caliborn's id writ large and given limitless power to spend fucking shit up for all eternity. And really, what more could a cherub dream of?

[thirdlotusprince3]

How I designed my characters.

I decided to give my characters, brown eyes, and black hair with colored highlights, because I am Asian, and all Asians have the collectively same brown eyes and black hair. So, they have my genes of course.

Joy

I decided to give her overalls over a red shirt with a Chinese dragon on the sleeve, the overalls over a red shirt give her a tomboyish and childish appearance. It also gives you sense, she is adventurous and does not care about being messy, like she could get paint on herself, and she would be fine. The colorful bracelets make her seem artistic. The yellow star sunglasses and sunflower hairband show she is cheerful and playful. She also has the sunflower because she likes flowers. And the dragon on her sleeve on a red shirt shows her fascination with fantasy, mythology and Chinese culture. A planet surrounded by black on her sleeve, because she like electronic music and space.

Sadness

I decided to give her a sad poet, artist vibe, and she likes indie music, motherly animals, mythology and history. She likes motherly animals which is why her sweater is designed with whales, and she likes mythology and Chinese culture which is why she has a whale yin and yang. She has plusses in her hair because she likes learning health and medicine so she can help people. She has a book design with blue roses behind her whale yin and yang design to give her sad poet, artist vibes.

Disgust

Disgust always must be fashionable. She has a cherry blossom in her hair because she loves cherry blossoms. She has a magenta Chinese silk scarf. She wears a qipao. She wears a white coat, because she likes how it makes her feel clean and stylish.

Anxiety.

I gave Anxiety doomer vibes. It’s always my anxiety that puts me in doomer mode. I often feel very alienated from people and worry about being different, and being an outcast will lead to worse things happening to me and then I exaggerate it. I worry too much about the outside world. So, she has the nuclear sign on her sweater and hazard sign on her sleeve with poison dripping from the hazard sign and orange sleeve collars referencing Riley’s anxiety. She has a tight turtleneck grey shirt under her sweater, her sweater has a zipper collar, so she can hide her face. She has lightning bolt hairclips, because of her speed. She wears wilderness survival boots, just because. Her sleeves are a little bit oversized to hide her hands.

Ennui.

She wears a green plaid chiffon shirt over a grey undershirt, I saw this shirt in Hollister I wanted, but my parents only allowed me to get one piece of clothing. The plaid shirt is to give her Seattle vibes, because I live near Seattle. Her black jacket and cargo pants go with the nighttime garage Seattle vibe. She has a moon necklace and pattern on her phone, she likes how quiet the night is.

Envy

She has the two buns like what Chinese children wear, in two red bows, and a qipao like in traditional Chinese culture, she also wears the qipao because she admires disgust, the fluff in her dress is to add cuteness. She wears a strawberry hair clip to be cute. and she likes fruit. The hairclip and buns and bows represent her childish admiration nature. The braids, denim jacket, necklace represent her desire to be cool, but also her more petty nature. Selena Gomez says her favorite shoes are red converse shoes, so Envy wants to copy her. She wears a silver snake necklace with a black crescent moon which Ennui gave her, she sort of wants some black to be cool, her necklace has silver snakes, because snakes represent desire and that’s fitting for Envy.

Anger

I gave her a leather jacket for her headstrong rebel personality. I decided to make her female because I love female rebel characters. She has long flowy hair, because long hair I think it goes with a flowy, adventurous, rebellious personality.

Embarrassment

The sweater with a hoodie for Embarrassment is too fitting, so I could not change that. But his sweater has a whale on it, because Sadness knitted and sewed the sweater for him. The sweater is also oversized, going over his legs, he has more room in his sweater to hide in, he can even hide his legs if he wants to.

Fear

I really could not think of anything. Most of my fear manifests as Anxiety. I just thought of the zipper collar, and added suspenders because I like suspenders, and a brooch because it looks nice.

Nostalgia

I made her look like an Asian grandma, her hair is still white because she is old. She wears a Chinese silk scarf over a Hanfu dress.

[archester-creations]

Rated: G

Pairing: Blades/Dani Burns

Word Count: ~1k

A/N: Day six of @heartsandsparksshipweek roleswap; they/them Blades, human Blades and transformer Dani

“Are you an alien?” is the first thing out of the human’s mouth when they saw her. There was a tricorn hat on their head that long brown hair spilled out of and a red-and-white striped scarf around their neck that didn’t quite feel like it matched with their orange shirt. Dirt stained their white pants and the ends of them are soaked. Dani didn’t quite know how to answer, because the question is yes, but she also knew she’s not technically supposed to reveal herself to anyone. Did it count if they’d already figured it out?

“Uh, yes,” Dani said anyway. The humans eyes lit up.

“I knew aliens were real! Can you come home with me? I owe Heatwave so many ‘I told you so’s,” the human said. Dani blinked.

"I… guess so?" Dani said. The human didn't seem like they'd do any of the things Graham was so worried about. Not that Dani thought most humans would. She’s pretty sure Graham overexaggerates in his worry. “So where is this Heatwave? I can fly us there!”

"Oh, I don't… fly," the human said.

"You don't fly?" Dani asked in disbelief.

"Nope. I stay firmly on the ground."

"Well you have to try it now," Dani said. She honestly couldn't understand how anyone stayed on the ground when there was a big, beautiful sky on this planet with shifting colours.

“I- I don’t know.” The human looks nervous, so Dani gives her most reassuring smile.

“Trust me, it’ll be fun. Just us and that big, beautiful, blue sky you have,” Dani said. “I’m Dani by the way.”

“I’m Blades,” the human said.

“Blades seems like a funny name for a human,” Dani said. It definitely didn’t quite match with the few human names she’s heard so far. Huxley. Luskey. There were a lot of -eys.

“Dani seems like a funny name for an alien,” Blades said and Dani laughed.

“Touché,” Dani said. “So?”

“I-” Blades jumped up and down a little, shifting between their feet. They ring their hands around the scarf. “Sure. But only to Heatwave! And not high, either!”

“Alright,” Dani said. She took a few steps back and transformed into her helicopter mode. Blades gasped at it.

“You can become a helicopter? That’s so cool! Even if I’m still not sure about the flying aspect of it,” Blades said.

“Yeah!” Dani said, and Blades looked even more excited at the prospect that she could still talk to them. “You should see my brothers and dad, they can transform, too, they their earth vehicles are different then mine.”

“Are they helicopters, too?” Blades asked.

“No, they’re ground vehicles.” Dani laughed. She opened her door and wiggled it a little. “Now get in!”

Blades hesitated a bit, bouncing back and forth again, before they shut their eyes and jumped in. Dani closed her door behind them.

“Ready?” Dani asked.

"Just remember not too high," Blades pleaded in a small voice, painted nails digging into her seats.

“Why are you dressed like that, anyway? People don’t dress like that on the few earth programs I’ve seen on tv,” Dani said to distract Blades during the takeoff.

“I’m an actor,” Blades said. They preened a bit, adjusting their tricorn hat with one hand. Dani jostled a little on accident and Blades' hand flew back to the seat. Their next words came out slightly strained. “I have a pirate role right now.”

“Oh, that’s cool!” Dani said. And then they were in the sky, past the buildings and trees and everything else so it was just horizon in the distance and clouds. It was the perfect time, too. The sky was beginning to change. The clouds were puffy and tinted with the oranges and pinks of a sun setting. It was darker under the cloud layer, deep blue like the ocean far from any land. Above the clouds it was bright. It was the pure, unfiltered version of ‘sky blue’ that she’d seen humans try to replicate but could never really truly get the essence of. The blue of a spark. This time when Dani jostled lightly, it was on purpose. “Open your eyes,” she said softly.

“No.” Blades shook their head.

“C’mon,” Dani said. “Don’t you trust me?”

Blades made a sound like they might be in pain, but Dani saw them open their eyes anyway. And she saw the moment their eyes met the sky. The blue outside might look like a spark, but the way it caught their blue eyes, they glow like optics. Bright, glowing blue. Their eyes are big and their lips are parted. The light outside continued to change; the sun lined the sky with gold, painting Blade’s cheeks pink and golden. The upper portions of the sky started to darken like layer below the clouds, twilight settling in so the stars could appear. She gently flew higher, just so Blades could be closer to them. Their hands were warm against her window, a contrast to the air’s chill.

“Do you like it?” Dani asked.

“It’s beautiful,” Blades said. They laughed. “I could never do this without you.”

“I could take you whenever you want,” Dani said.

“Maybe later,” Blades said. “I just want to enjoy this for now.”

“Alright.” Dani smiled. She flew slow, so Blades could watch the sky’s gradual change to night, and spent the flight switching between watching the sky and watching Blades. Maybe it was because they were her first real human, but she thought they might be her favourite human.

[cuppimagines]

A Jolly Odd Christmas, 004- The Ram

Merry Christmas! This wasn't the chapter I wanted to premiere on December 25th, but I still hope you guys are ready for this series to come to an end a few days from now! This chapter is less nsfw than the last one, but there will be something to make up for that in the final chapter! Hope you had a very great Christmas, and I hope you enjoy!

<- Previous Chapter | Next Chapter ->

“Mr. Claus!!! Mr. Claus!!!” Clack was waving his hands around, with you on top of his shoulders to get his attention. Not hard, not only were both him and Ruffle important guard figures, but they easily towered over all the other elves. You seemed a bit embarrassed, meeting the actual Santa that you figured was just fake all this time, and you weren’t sure what to do once he started approaching, gently nudging the crowd out the way.

For his age, Mr. Claus was extremely handsome. The way his beard perfectly framed his face, the very sleek well dressed way he presented himself. He both seemed extremely approachable yet extremely high class. 

“What are two guards doing out here, having a little break yeah?” Mr. Claus asked. 

“Hello sir! Sorta kinda,” Ruffle answered. “We’re so glad we ran into you. I dunno if the folks back at the factory gave you the news, but we have a bit of an issue that only you could help with.” He pointed up to you, who at this moment, was an elf with that hat on. 

“Is it okay if we talk somewhere private?” Clack asked. Mr. Claus looked at the crowd, and then back to the two guards with a nod.

“I’ll clear them out for you, sir,” Ruffle gave him a salute, before going back to work bot mode, face seeming a bit more stern as he gently ushered the elves away from Mr. Claus. 

“Everyone clear the way, give him some space,” he demanded of the crowd, and to that, they dispersed away from you all. Clack put you down, right in front of Mr. Claus. Oh wow…even at your current height, you could tell, this was a tall, tall man. You backed up a little, just so you could look him in the eye and you were actually…maybe just a little bit intimidating seeing him in the flesh.

“Oh you seem scared, don’t be buddy, I won’t bite,” Mr. Claus chuckled, leaning down to get a better look at you. “Now who is this one, boys?”

“Well sir, this is the uh…” Clack leaned in close to Mr. Claus to whisper in his ear. “This is the human that came here…we dunno how they did, but you’re the only person with the power to take them back…so we were going to your home to request that.” Mr. Claus raised an eyebrow, looking down at you incredulously.

“Doesn’t look too much like a human, too short, ears too pointy…”

“It’s the hat, it keeps them an elf,” Ruffle said, patting the top of your head. “Trust us, we came directly from the main office, and Mr. Cedar wouldn’t bother you with matters up there unless they were serious.”

“Please, it’s a pretty decent ways away from Christmas, people are probably worried sick about me,” you pleaded. “I wanna go home, I don’t want the people I love to be worried about me around the holidays.” Mr. Claus sighed, a soft smile appearing on his face, and he knelt down to get closer to your height. 

“Alrighty then, I have just what you need, we can’t have that after all,” he smiled. “I was just having a leisurely walk out there, so I can’t exactly get you back home quick, least not with a little bit of…” he snapped his fingers, and a lovely swirl of red and white appeared starting at his feet, before blowing slowly up his body and poofing away.

“Magical assistance.” He could see the sparkle in your eyes at that rather minor show of magic, and that made the old man’s grin even wider and sweeter. 

“You boys did a great job, I’ll take it from here, you go back to the factory, things are busy back there after all.”

“Yes sir!!” Clack and Ruffle both said in unison. “Buh bye! Good luck going back home!” Clack gave your head a pay, followed by Ruffle, and you couldn’t help but smile and blush. They were good fellas, pleasant if a little bit quirky. They both waved goodbye at you as they went back in the sled, and with that, you saw them vanish off into the city streets. While you waved a final goodbye once they vanished, you felt Mr. Claus’s large, warm arm wrap around your shoulders. You nearly jumped out of your skin, flinching in surprise, which only got a chuckle out of him.

“I hope you’ve been treated well so far,” he said. “I know these are less than ideal circumstances, but I’m nothing if not helpful.” Mr. Claus gently patted the small of your back to guide you down the block. 

“Tell me, how did you end up here in the first place?”

“Me?” you looked up at him. “From what Mr. Cedar told me, someone's wishlist, well actually, my boyfriend’s wishlist, sent me here. Since they can’t exactly clone a person, I guess some sorta glitchy Christmas magic brought me here. I dunno, but long story short, I dunno why my ex would even want me back, and I wanna go home.”

“This ex…why did he break up with you?”

“It’s…weird to be honest. He just said he didn’t feel very dominant in the relationship and wanted that feeling, and so he moved on to another person a month after we broke up. I’m not exactly broken up about it anymore, but I didn’t realize he was. It’s been a while…”

“Quite the reason, but I would be broken up too if I left someone as cute as you were.” You were in a bit of disbelief of what you just heard. Being called cute by Mr. Claus of all people…

“You think I’m…” you were so focused on talking your feelings out that you didn’t realize where you were. The lights of the city were a bit further away, and the two of you seemed to be walking through a park path, following stones that got smaller and more scattered, further away from many folks. 

“Is this really the path back? You told me you were going to uh…” you waved your fingers. “Magic us back to your place.”

“Oh I am…I most certainly am…” Mr. Claus chuckled. A less warm chuckle than before. Something more sinister. You felt something off about that…your eyebrow furrowed and you backed up away from Mr. Claus. 

“Um…sir…” you muttered. “Let’s take a path through the main city instead…I’d feel more comfortable like that…”

“No no no, This is the quickest way back,” Mr. Claus grabbed your hat, taking it off your head. At that, you poofed back to your normal size, and you saw the grin on Mr. Claus’s face widened even more with glee.

“Oh perfect…quite perfect…” he purred. Something definitely felt off now, and you immediately took off into a sprint. Before you could even go very far, you were tripped, falling flat on your face in the snow, and being dragged back by some twisted gnarled black vine. 

“I worked too bloody hard to bring you here just to run away again!” Mr. Claus’s voice sounded…much, much different. A more gravelly, deep cockney accent. “Since those idiots couldn’t get you back to me, I have no choice but to take you myself!” While trying to claw your way out of the grip of the vine, you saw a rock drag past you. Quickly, you grabbed it before it got too far away from your grasp, and with that, chucked the rock dead center at “Mr. Claus's” nose. You glanced up at him, and along with some blood, it was like a layer of makeup was peeled off, revealing ash gray skin underneath.

“Oh honey…” with a firm YANK, you were forced right up to this man, and lifted up by your shirt collar. “Naughty naughty naughty, throwing that stone at me! Think that’s about 3, maybe 4 whacks when we get back home!” As you struggled to get out of his grip, you saw the disguise that was Mr. Claus slowly fade away. He grew a foot in height, his skin completely turning gray, and long, goat-like horns sprouting from his head. The very sleek suit faded, instead there was an unkempt tank top, sweats, a gnarled looking straw basket, and a black fur coat that looked fancier than anything he was wearing. He was also incredibly hairy, with coarse black body hair all on his arms and poking out from his massive, burly chest. The large belly faded, and muscle only grew larger and more defined, leaving the physique of a bodybuilder, and the frightening yellow-eyed gaze of a demon. You glared at him in pure terror, and the more you saw of him the more you tried to struggle away, but he had a tough grip on you. 

“K…Krampus…?” you meekly whispered

“Oh, so you do recognize me~!” the large man purred. “I thought that old man had scrubbed everything about me from the public eye, but I guess not. You’re coming with me!” Hearing that, you tried your best to kick and thrash out of his powerful grip, and you even managed to land a firm kick right at the center of his chest, but that barely even made him flinch. All that got out of him was an amused chuckle. 

“No use trying to get free, I may be rusty, but I’ve been doing this sorta shit since the black plague was still a hot topic,” Krampus, like you weighed nothing, tossed you over his shoulder, and with an impressive precision, you landed in the basket. You thought you had a chance to crawl out, but the basket snapped shut, and try as you might, banging on what seemed to just be plain delicate straw did absolutely nothing. 

“No…no no no!!!” You cried out, continuing to bang and thrash to get out the basket. Great, this is the third time you were forced into a container, and this really might be your last time. You were so close…this was your chance to go back home, but now you weren’t sure if you’d ever be heard from again…! It seemed to be a weird hammerspace, you couldn’t hear anything or feel any movement, so you weren’t sure where you were going, so after several long, frustrating minutes of beating and thrashing at the basket, all you could do was eventually just…slump into the basket. And you could feel tears welling up in your eyes, struggling did nothing, pleading to be let go did nothing, so all you could really do now was just…cry. 

You weren’t sure how long it was, but as you burst into tears, suddenly the basket opened up, and you were yanked by your collar out of the basket. Krampus had pulled you out, an excited and happy grin on his face, but his expression immediately dropped when he saw you sobbing and hiccuping. You didn’t expect this but…he seemed nervous seeing you cry.

“Ah shit…I didn’t think this far…” he let go of you, and once he did, you grabbed him by the horns, drawing a fist back to punch him RIGHT in the nose, where you saw you scarred him. It didn’t seem to hurt him, but it caught him off guard, and he covered his face in shock.

“Let me go!! Let me out of this fuckin place right now!!” you yelled at him, pulling yourself out the straw basket. Krampus heard that, and the sympathy was replaced with rage as he went and grabbed you, tackling you to the ground with ease given his size.

“Absolutely fuckin not!! It took a lotta work to get you here!!” he roared. “If I let you go I can’t ever fuckin do this again!!” 

“I don’t wanna die here! I have people who love me, I don’t wanna be eaten!!” you yelled, thrashing and trying to grab onto anything you could to pull yourself out from under him. Krampus grabbed your wrists, pinning them to your side and looking down at you. He seemed exhausted, miffed, and you could feel him become damp with sweat. 

“I’m not gonna fucking eat you!! I ain’t killing ya!” he grunted. “I gave the specific request that you were sent to me alive and unharmed!!” You stopped struggling, and paused. You were baffled, looking back up at him with an expression of pure befuddlement. 

“Wha- well, why am I here?” you asked. “And can you get off of me?”

“Will you run or try to hit me if I do?”

“No, I will not, I promise.” Krampus looked a bit doubtful, but nonetheless, slowly let off of you. Looking around, you took the brief time to examine the room you were in. It was a smoking room…sort of. It looked…nicer than you had thought it would. Albeit, the couch nearby was covered with claw marks, and the coffee table had a few too many empty bottles of booze strewn about, but it was still a lot nicer than expected. 

“Now then…” you took a deep breath. “Tell me why you brought me here. Actually…tell me how you brought me here too!”

“That’s a lotta shit that’s gonna take a while for ya to hear, but if you want the short version-”

“I don’t.”

“-Is that…I miss humans, frankly, problem is to even interact with another human means I gotta agree with that stuffy old fuck’s new rules, and I refuse to just give out fuckin coal for the rest of my miserable existance.”

“Don’t you eat people?” you stood up, moving to sit on the couch. “Those two guys that almost kidnapped me were talking about seeing how I taste or some shit like that.”

“Yeah yeah, but I paid em so they WOULDN’T, those boys aunty would have you boiling in the cauldron before you even screamed, she’s quite the lady,” Krampus went to check one of the bottles on the coffee table, to see if any bottle had at least some liquid in it. 

“Alright then, you miss humans, big whoop, why am I here then?” you scooted away from Krampus once he sat down on the couch.

“I’m lonely, yes I am the boss of an entire gang of yuletide freaks like myself, but…” he took a sip of rum. “I wanted someone who wasn’t used to this life. Someone new who was impressed with the magic of this realm, cause frankly it has gotten boring around here in the past couple hundred years, and I miss a lotta the weirdness of Earth. I miss how cute humans were, cause I don’t just EAT people.” Krampus put the bottle down, leaning back on the couch and reaching his arm across it. 

“I remember all those fancy lil parades, being able to blend in amongst the folks in costumes who would scare people for fun, give me booze and meat, and hell, I remember a dame or two coming up to me all starry eyed and bubbly asking me for a night behind her father’s shed. Heh…the sex was always good…” He looked down at you, a coy grin on his face, and you just scowled and looked the other way.

“So what, I’m here just to help you remember the good ole days?” you asked. “I’m not some stray cat you found on the side of the road starving and sick. Did you really expect me to just be okay with abandoning everything I have back on earth just to what? Be your arm candy? No!” You were raising your voice, probably a mistake, but you didn’t care at this point. You were mad! This was all this guy’s fault after all!

“Oh c'mon baby, I’m not as big as ole Saint Nick over there, but I can show you a pretty decent life of luxury! We got some good stuff ‘round here after all! Way more exciting than that stuffy ole capital city!”

“I said NO!” you stood up, turning your back to Krampus. “I don’t wanna date you I don’t wanna be here I don’t wanna even look at you!” Krampus rubbed his temples, but let out a deep breath.

“Okay…I’ll play nice, I’ll play nice I promise,” he said. “The night’s still young…I still have a chance at this…” Krampus began to pace the room, and you just sighed and rolled your eyes. 

“Your patience is pretty short for a guy whose time I shouldn’t even bother to entertain,” you snapped. “This is ridiculous, just take me back-”

“You are NOT going back,” Krampus growled, approaching you with a snarl on his face. “If you do, that old fuck will find out and take you back! And then I’ll be in deeper shit than I have been the past…I don’t fucking know how long!” You looked curious at that. You sensed from what Jack said prior, something was up. And you were almost curious. Maybe if you got to the bottom of this, there was a slim, slim chance Krampus would let you go and you could head home. 

“Could you explain this so-called…deeper shit?” you asked. Krampus’s expression softened, and he let out an exhausted sigh. 

“Oh god…where do I even start? This’ll be a long story, so how about I ask for some refreshments while you’re here?” You just nodded with a shrug, and Krampus went to grab an old rotary phone nearby. He dialed a number, sitting there tapping his foot and waiting for a response. 

“Hey…my uh, my ‘guest’ is here, could you get me some things? Guess the usual is good for now, don’t keep me waiting, all that fuckin magic starved me, I’m practically skin and bones over here! Alrighty…see ya.” He hung up, turning to you with his clawed hands clasped together.

“While we wait, I can give a lil preamble,” he said. “I haven’t had a new face to complain about this in so long, maybe it’ll help let out a few more…frustrations.” Krampus sat back down on the sofa, and you reluctantly joined him. Alright, now that you were hearing him out, he seemed a bit softer. That was good…

“At the end of the day, we’re all just spirits of the winter and cold, what you humans might call fae even,” he started. “Play some of our little games, and if you don’t comply or fuck up, we take something of yours, but if you succeed, we give you something in return. In this case, or in the cases you’ve probably heard of, good behavior around the winter time rewards you with little gifts. Nothing big or fancy like the kids these days are getting. Usually it was dried fruit, a doll, some cream, maybe a scarf or two if they were good enough. Kiddies were happier with that stuff back then than now. I know for a fact if you were a kid and got a scarf, you’d be a grumpy little sunovabitch for the rest of that year.”

“I mean uh, not rea-”

“Don’t try to lie to me to look humble, baby, kids can be spoiled. Anyhow…” Krampus pulled out a cigar, grabbing a lighter from the messy coffee table to light it. 

“Lotta us made a name for ourselves. Ever heard of the Yule Lads? The Yule Cat? Hans Trapp?”

“Can’t really…say I have…”

“I mean, yeah that’s fair, you wouldn’t know our names unless you’re from the places we were a lot more popular in. And even then, in those places for most, we’re simply a fairytale, nothing like the Titans we once were. Back then we could freely hop between this realm and earth whenever we pleased…but to be honest, we greatly preferred coming around when the weather was cold in parts of the world. And ole Saint Nick wasn’t the boss he was today, he was just like us…just as much as a tricky, prank pullin’ sheep stealing motherfucker like the rest of us, if a li nicer…” There was a knock at the door, and Krampus waved his free hand over at it.

“Eh…come on in!” he called out. Coming in was an elf, just like many of the other elves you’ve seen in the city prior. This one just wasn’t dressed in the bright colorful reds, greens, and whites of the others, and he certainly didn’t look like one of those two weird dwarves who took you. He was wheeling in a tray of food…mostly two big plates of very rare steak, and a bottle of whiskey, as well as a glass of water.

“Here ya are boss,” the elf said, making room on the coffee table to place it all there. You looked down at the meal, nervous to even eat it while the elf left with the cart and empty booze bottles.

“Uh…what type of meat is this…?” you asked.

“Elk, what do you think, I go around eating just whatever type of meat?” Krampus stabbed through the entire steak and started tearing at it like a hyena tearing apart meat. 

“You do eat kid-”

“DID eat kids. Haven’t had one in a couple hundred years. And to be frank after that long without one I dunno if I’ll even go back. Too much hassle, which is how all this shirt started to begin with.”

“Yeah, that’s what I wanted to ask,” you took a sip of water. “What changed all this? What was the ultimate falling out?”

“Well…to be honest…” Krampus swallowed the entire steak in a few bites, and that made you cringe a little bit. “He’s always kept it vague these years. But…” Krampus leaned back, sighing a bit.

“Something makes me think he lost something. Dunno what, but I remember seeing him one December, poor fella was grieving nonstop for some reason, and he never, ever told me why. To be honest, that kinda fuckin hurt…we’ve bee friends for god knows how long, and now all of a sudden he’s keeping secrets from me, and next thing I know, folks can’t ever return to earth except for ONE day of the ENTIRE year and only to give presents to a buncha spoiled saps who throw tantrums if they don’t get a third game console.” You didn’t want to…you really didn’t want to feel pity for this man, but he was being honest with you. He was being rather vulnerable around someone he, for the most part, just met in person. Seems this has been on his mind for a long…long time.

“Man, I’m sorry, dunno what to say to that..” you mumbled. “But I’m sure he has a good reason. Other than uh…eating people is bad, but still.”

“I don’t need advice, you’re not some therapist or some shit,” he said. “But I hate that jolly red and white bastard, even though I don’t want to…but he overstepped things. He grew more and more powerful, and he became more and more popular than all of us, and he took advantage of that shit, and everyone who didn’t agree to his fuckin rule has just been on the fringe growing bitter and shit.” You sat there in silence, listening to him vent. You tried not to let any sympathy bubble up inside you, but now it was starting to get harder.

“When’s the last time you uh…talked to him? Face to face?”

“Pfft! Like I’m gonna do that!” he raised his arms in the air. “He’s the asshole who did a complete 180 without telling anybody!! He should come to ME to apologize! I want that big bellied bastard to grovel at my goddamn feet! And then…!” He stood up from the couch, chest puffed out. “Ohhhh and then I’d only forgive that fucking idiot if he let me give him several fuckin lashings across that way too big ass of his!” His back was turned to you, and seeing what you saw at your height, that last comment forced you to cover up a chuckle.

“Something, something stones at glass houses…” you muttered. 

“What was that?” he turned around. 

“Nothing-! I mean uh…well…don’t you guys live a long time? Isn’t just avoiding talking about the issue going to make things worse?”

“He should do it first so I don’t hafta,” Krampus took a big, big swig straight from the bottle of whiskey. “Stupid bastard getting famous just because he gives a buncha snot nose brats lil toys…lotta them would be better off as meat pies and winter stew…” You felt like you were talking in circles with this guy. You wanted to talk him up a bit more, but you weren’t here to give him advice, you were here to soften the deal so that maybe, just maybe he could let his guard down and you could find some time to get out of here…you noticed how much he was drinking, he might have a pretty high alcohol tolerance, but he seemed like he loved his booze…so…

“Hey big guy, you seem tense,” you pat his bicep. Not overly friendly, but to make it seem like you were more casual. Oh wow, he actually had some pretty hard arms. “Could we get a few more drinks? I know when I have a rough day at work, a nice sip or two from the weird stuff in my cabinet helps.”

“Cheers to that,” Krampus took the bottle from his lips, with it being about half empty already. “I might get a few more bottles, I’ve been working hard all day to get you back here, I’ve earned it!” He went back over to the phone, dialing that same elf.

“Bring me up a buncha bottles of booze! Don’t matter what kind, I’m taking care of myself for the night to make up for those bozos fucking things up!”

—

“And- and I’ll tell ya what- I fuckin- I think Gryla, that bitch, she’s- she’s a shit cook!” Krampus had his head in your lap, and all you could do was sit there, waiting for your moment while you forced yourself to listen to this guy’s rants. Oh when would this end…

“Bitch doesn’t season things, it’s all meat and water…!” he slurred. “And she has the gall to say I- that I’m a shit guest! Be a better fuckin chef then! 13 nephews- or 12 I think…and none…and none of them say shit to her…” You listened to him slowly drift off. He looked out of it, and you watched Krampus’s eyelids flutter close. 

“Well maybe they like her…uh…” you heard some REAL deep snoring. That fast huh. Even though you watched him down several bottles, it was only now that Krampus was hammered enough to fall asleep. Oh thank goodness, finally! You very, very, agonizingly slowly pushed his head out of your lap, letting it gently and slowly fall down on the couch. Yes! Freed! Just to be extra sure, you grabbed Krampus’s fur coat, and once you put it on, it was so big that it covered most of your features. Oh god, it had a bit of a musky odor to it. This thing might’ve needed a cleaning to get this man’s scent out…

Every step you took was a very careful, delicate path to getting out of here. You weren’t sure just how light or heavy a sleeper Krampus was, but messing around with that would mean you didn’t have time to leave. And this was your only way out. The door squeaky as all hell when you opened it, so you only opened it enough to squeeze your body through, and you didn’t bother to close it before silently walking down the hall. 

The looks of the hallways, it seemed like the den of some seedy 1920s mobsters. Everything was sleek, dark, and even the occasional scratch on the walls or floor seemed pretty fitting for this place. Looks like this guy lived in a manor, but it was seemingly smaller than Jack’s. And looking down the staircase, you saw the door right down there. This was easier than you thought. You had thought you’d see a servant or two walking by cleaning up, but so far nothing! 

You had a hunch, that this might’ve been way too easy, but you didn’t want to stay here a second longer, and this time you wanted to find a way out of this place. You were certain people were looking for you anyway. You had gotten down the staircase, trying to make as little noise as possible while going down the creaky staircase. It was so close, the exit was getting so, so close…!

You  had your hand on the door handle, prying it open, ready to sprint out of there, but then…

“You thought it’d be that easy, huh?”

Oh no…oh wait, he was awake?! You didn’t wanna turn around, you just grabbed the handle and tried to run out of there, but just as you were outside in the cold, snowy night air, you bumped into Krampus, who had materialized right in front of you as you were trying to leave. He yanked his coat off you, putting it back on, and glaring down at you, angry despite the wide grin on his face. 

“I was patient with you for long enough…!” he snarled. “I thought I was giving you a deal…! A nice comfy place to live, I could satisfy you as much as you want, and I ain’t that bad looking. But no…you’re being ungrateful, and I don’t wanna have to appease you! So if you’re not gonna accept my offer!” He grabbed you, picking you up off the ground. This time, you barely even struggled, as you were outright terrified as Krampus lost his patience. 

“I’ll take you to the boys and make you into a perfect little meat pie…!” Krampus was ready to pull you back inside, but both of you noticed the bright lights of someone riding up to the mansion. The gates opened, but it seemed more like they were forced opened from the way they SLAMMED. You saw a sled, pulled by several reindeer, and a man walked out of it. Krampus forced you to hide behind him, looking rather nervous as you saw Saint Nicholas…the REAL one hopefully, walk down the path of the mansion, with a stern, cold expression on his face. He looked to you behind Krampus, then he looked to Krampus, who had a much more nervous, sheepish grin on his face.

“Come with me,” he said. “Both of you. We need to have a talk.”