#going to win a contest against a character I actually appreciate

[musical-chick-13]

The problem is. That there ARE some characters that I just simply do not like. But then I see people disliking them for. Bad™ reasons (as in: the character is a woman and/or poc it's obvious that there's a misogynistic and/or racist component here, there's some unchecked ableism or unchecked fatphobia going on, or this person truly no-nuance believes that enjoying a character who does bad things means that you are a bad person, etc. etc.), and then I am put in the terrible and unfortunate position of having to defend. Said character(s).

[total-drama-brainrot]

hi idk if this has been said but . pls hear my vision… lindsay and noah platonic duo. brains and the beauty. noahs the brains. lindsays the beauty. noahs like “jeez this girl is dumb i cn manipulate her or smth” but then he starts warming up to her and they like paint eachothers nails and talk about boys or somthing idk please theyre besties trust 🤞

(also noah finally gets a makeover courtesy of lindsay)

I think I might've mentioned this exact duo before, though I may be wrong about that. Regardless, I've had Many A Thought about the potential dynamic between Lindsay "reclaiming bimbo as a term of empowerment" and Noah "could be god's biggest hater but was nerfed with an inability to GAF", to the point where I have a few drafts exploring this exact concept.

Through the lens of my eyes (blurry as it would be, my prescription fairly strong), I don't think Noah would ever consider manipulating Lindsay- at least, not in a similar manner to the likes of Heather or Alejandro. He's shown in canon to be pretty adverse to the idea. Why else would he make those comments about Alejandro in "I See London..."?

Not that he doesn't think about how easy it would be to use her. But his morality wins out over his scheming thoughts pretty quickly- no one wants to be New Heather, after all.

However, he's also shown a capacity to explore sneakier options of deception and trickery; pretending to pass out during the 20k run in The Big Sleep, trying to excuse his comment about Alejandro under the guise of it "being a compliment where he's from", tricking the Sasquatch with his fake ball throwing, getting himself eliminated on purpose in Dodgebrawl. I'm trying to think of other examples In Canon off the top of my head, but I'm coming up short since most of his actual speaking lines in the show are 'zingers' and 'witty one-liners' instead of actual character moments.

And we also know, from the way he treats Owen, that he's a lot more patient and indulgent towards the... 'slower' or 'simpler' contestants. He very rarely gets mad at Owen's mistakes- see how he gently chastises him in "Super Happy Crazy Fun Time Japan" when he's disturbing their set, he'd pretty much gentle parenting him, or how he doesn't even raise his voice against Owen after being blasted by nose-shake in "I See London...". You could argue that Owen just has best friend privileges, but given the way he also talks about his dog I think Noah just has a soft spot for happy-go-lucky, heart-of-gold, kind of stupid people (and blondes). Sound familiar?

Lindsay would fall under this umbrella of 'treat with kindness' because of this, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't try to subtly nudge her in the 'right direction'- out of Heather's and/or Alejandro's influence and into his own. For her own safety, of course.

Not that I think he'd even like Lindsay at first. The two of them are opposite ends of the social spectrum; I'd take a while for Lindsay to break through his snarky exterior, but I think eventually Noah would realise that she isn't the 'two-faced airhead popular girl' he'd assumed her to be and quickly warm up to her (she's airheaded, sure, but there's nothing two-faced or nefarious/mean-spirited about Lindsay). It's a classic case of "extrovert adopts introvert".

Meanwhile, Lindsay would be dead-set on breaking Noah out of his sour little shell. Either because she overhears Owen/Izzy/Eva explaining how Noah struggles to make friends because he's "very shy" and "mixes up his insults and his compliments", thus she assumes that, hey, Noah's made fun of her a few times, maybe that was just him trying to be friendly? So she makes it her mission to reciprocate his efforts and befriend him (much to Noah's initial suspicion, and begrudging appreciation).

Or she gets the concept of a 'gay best friend' stuck in her head (an impressive feat, getting anything stuck in such a vacant space /j) probably from watching too many high school teen dramas, and sees Noah as the ideal candidate since he pretty much embodies most of the stereotypical GBF traits; a sassy twink who's defining characteristic is making snarky comments. If Noah ever caught wind of this, he'd either be mortified by the concept and avoid Lindsay like the plague until she'd eventually hunt him down, or he'd think the whole concept is too funny to pass up and gladly play the part- if only for his own amusement. (Personally I headcanon him as bi, but he's so canonically queer coded that he fits the stereotype anyway.)

Which is all just a long-winded way of me saying I think Lindsay would kindle the friendship without giving Noah much of a choice (again, extrovert adopting introvert) and Noah would just go along with it, being the lazy guy he is, and quickly grow fond/protective over her.

If he and Owen are the golden retriever and black cat dynamic, Noah and Lindsay are an afghan hound and a black cat; Noah has a lot of black cat energy (that's just a given) and you cannot tell me that Lindsay isn't an afghan hound- they're pretty, gentle-natured and renown for their low intelligence.

Plus, Lindsay's capacity for meanness (as unintentional as it may be) would be comedy gold to Noah. He'd encourage her to keep that sharp tongue and steel spine, if not for his own entertainment, then to ensure she doesn't become someone else's doormat again. In return, Lindsay would bring out a softer side of Noah, likely a result of her reminding him of his several older sisters.

She'd absolutely abuse her 'soft Noah' privileges too by roping him in on sleepovers where the two of them gossip and paint each other's nails (Noah's against the idea at first but Lindsay hits him with the puppy eyes and he folds like a lawn chair), eventually leading to Lindsay giving Noah a much needed glow up. He finds himself enjoying the pampering- though he'd never admit it- and Lindsay's just ecstatic that she has someone to use as a dress-up doll (Tyler wouldn't let her give him another makeover after Paris).

[rottenraccoons]

How do you go about writing witty characters or funny banter, for example between Vesper and Keir? I find comedy to be very hard to nail, and I'd like to hear dear raccoons' advice!

Aw, thank you! This got a touch lengthy so the rest is under a readmore.

I've been sitting on this for a while to think about it, and I think the short answer is that we write banter as an extension of the characters' personal feelings and relationships, and Vesper is a banter-friendly character. They're talkative, they're a fast thinker, and they enjoy being sarcastic. Those are useful traits for writing fun dialogues, in my opinion.

My mindset when writing a dialogue exchange that's supposed to be especially fun or engaging is to treat it as a fight for power. For Vesper and Keir, particularly at the end of the chapter, that fight is play-fighting, but it's still a contest or a sport they want to "win". Sometimes they escalate their rhetoric against each other, sometimes they shift the topic of discussion a bit to get an edge, but they're fighting to win the conversation. And because Keir and Vesper don't actually hate each other they're not fighting to hurt each other, which keeps the atmosphere light and fun. (And bonus! If one of them did hurt the other in their banter, it comes across as more shocking and dramatic, highlighting the hurt.)

There's a lot of things a writer can do to make dialogue and banter more fun and engaging, though, and honestly I think the best way to learn is just to actively watch/listen to media that does it well, and when you find something that hits so good, think about why it hits so good. Pick it apart, find the rhythm of the dialogue, look at how characters choose their words (especially repeating specific words in a dialogue, or from a previous dialogue), when do the power dynamics shift, how do the characters enter and leave an exchange, what is it about this joke that's so funny. It can take away a touch of the ~magic~ to examine a piece of dialogue mechanically like this, but I think there's a second kind of appreciation that comes from seeing the mechanics behind something and seeing how well they fit together.

For me, that thing was the radio programme Cabin Pressure by John Finnemore (who also co-wrote season 2 of Good Omens), so I can highly recommend listening to that. Here's a short clip of two characters meeting up for a date, as a taster. And here's me analysing a very short bit of it like I'm back in high school doing line-by-line readings of the Odyssey again:

(dog enters scene, barking) Carolyn: Hello, darling! Did you hear the silly late man? [Carolyn is continuing a previous argument, asserting her dominance by emphasising Herc is late.] Herc: Oh, hello. What a ridiculous dog. [Herc knows he can't win on the late argument, so shifts the point of discussion. By calling the dog ridiculous, he is poking at Carolyn's pride while staying within acceptable boundaries.] Carolyn: I'm sorry? [Daring Herc to repeat his statement, attempting the intimidation she uses when insulted in other circumstances.] Herc: I said you have a ridiculous dog. [Herc will not be intimidated, repeats his point plainly to assert it as fact. Not "I think the dog is ridiculous" but "The dog is ridiculous".] Carolyn: My dog is not ridiculous. [Continuing to push back on Herc, emphasis on "my dog" to tie the dog to her and she's not ridiculous, is she?] Herc: Then whose dog is this? [Big laugh line, Herc has clearly won the point in this volley. He continues the conversation about the dog (who is, in fairness, delightful but quite a silly creature) because he is winning the "Carolyn's dog is ridiculous" fight, but shifts to the dog's breed for new ground to compete over.]

You definitely don't have to write things out like this (I don't recommend it unless you already find it fun), but being able to look at lines of dialogue and see what they're for in an exchange, both in-character and out of character as a structural element, can help when writing to know exactly what each line is for, and for me it helps me keep power dynamics and rhythm in mind. I hope that helps, nonny!

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 6

THIS EPISODE WAS SO GOOD!!! the fact that it was a musical episode is totally the cherry on top; i love it when series come with their own music (cough cough me @ project sekai). but overall it was also really funny, and had some great character moments, too.

i'll save my thoughts on strategy and where the season might be headed for my next power ranking post (whenever that is :,( ), but were some of my other thoughts/highlights.

specifically the phrase "fuck my life" and Yul saying it made me cackle. seems like Emily ISN'T Yul's manager, but she might still kinda take on that role this season? we'll see. the lack of phones is really having an effect on the plot.

they hate her so fucking bad

okay, i guess i forgot to consider this angle when i was saying it would've made more sense for them to vote out Fiore. however, having started with 18 participants, the merge will probably happen at, what, 10 people? (modern Survivor describes the merge as "at least 11," but obviously this isn't survivor.) sure, Hunter is a bit of a challenge beast, but he can't protect all three of them every episode. if this trio is only 3/10 of the votes, you could literally split the votes on Ally and Tess in a 3-3-4 if you can get everyone else to unite against them. you know what you should be worried about? THE VILLAINS ALLIANCE HAVING 6/"10" VOTES AT THE MERGE!!! sigh. why am i relying on Jake to be smart (/j)

i'm more impressed that there was hot water in the first place. this thing is in the middle of a field, no?

i'm finally starting to see how Yul can be a hilarious "love to hate him" kind of villain. he had some of the best lines this episode hands down.

TREVEK BECOME CANON???

there was absolutely no reason to put the apple on the stick other than to fit in. love this for her.

idk if this is a winner's cut moment or not. glad that the money would go towards schools and NOT the police force, though.

man, now i want to go back and check the other episodes to see if Tess has had the "Cyan Team narrator" role the whole time. in Survivor, that's indicative of a deep run. ...i really need to stop applying Survivor logic to everything.

and why are you thinking about what would make Oliver laugh, Kristal? ',:)

i appreciate the s1 callback, but Trevor doing this dance move gives me so much second hand embarrassment that i keep inadvertently closing my eyes every time i have to "see" it again. anyways, given how most of the episode songs had lyrics related to the Team's emotional state, it's interesting to see that Trevor is singing a romance song. trevek become canon pt 2?

this was an interesting parallel. with Kristal laughing at Derek's joke, it seems like they were trying to show how she's growing closer to Derek, in a way which Trevor might fear is romantic. were there supposed to be romantic undertones to Alec being the only one to laugh at Connor's joke? and, if there were, was that just a fun nod to the aleconnor shippers, or will it actually be canon/relevant to later in the season?

NOT a surprise. i need to see the "i want you died" poetry he wrote about Fiore after last season.

of course you were, you fucking fruit (affectionate)

the anguish: i love my gf :D let's frolick through a field together

"trust me dude i'm the divorce man"

GABBY?????

mood but also damn is Ellie really leaning into the villain thing this season. this doesn't even help her win the season, she JUST wants to see him suffer.

i forgot that the s1 contestants didn't know that Nina was her own separate being yet

they were NOT lying, Aiden's VA is a great singer! Tom's backing vocals and Ellie and Gabby's harmonies(?) were also really nice too, though. this was probably my favorite song of the episode just bc i think Cyan had the strongest singers. all of the rocking, shoulder-moving dances are also impossible not to imitate.

well, there's the thumbnail. their choice of thumbnail made me laugh bc i remember, back when i was watching s1, seeing all the thumbnails of Aiden kissing both James and Hunter and thinking that Aiden was going to be some sort of troublemaking flirty antagonistic character only to be blindsided by his actual characterization. i'm sure the s1 watching me would have only added this to her arsenal of evidence, although hilariously idk if i would have been able to tell the other character was Tom at the time. anyways, i was pretty certain from the start that this must be part of the performance. although, while i'm happy that Aiden seems to think that James will be okay with the performance, i wish we could have cut to James somehow just to confirm that that was true. i don't want the next time we see James, whether in the finale or some other time, to show that he was actually really jealous and upset at Aiden for kissing another man while in a committed relationship. also gabbielle(?) super cute in the bg :D

he's so fucking stupid... (/pos)

bold of you to say this to Ashley, who has been in a two year relationship with the guy who went home in episode 2.

i also really liked this song :D i understand why they made Jake and Ally the main singers, because they best encompassed what the theme of the song was about, but i think i actually liked Ashley's vocals the best. i wish she'd gotten to sing more. also for a moment i thought Marcus had a trans flag on his hat. it's still close enough. trans Marcus canon.

this was probably my least favorite performance of the episode, although idk how much of that was just how much i hate Alec's outfit. glassesless Alec scares me so bad... no hate to the VAs, obviously, i think they have nice voices! it's actually the way that they didn't sound like they had confidence in their singing abilities that made the performance feel a little shakier to me. i do think that this song had the best lyrics in terms of encapsulating each member of their team, though. i really like how Yul and Riya are the ones to sing "i'm going to chase it" as a duo, because they're the ones chasing fame and the limelight, and then Grett sings that she can't ignore it, because eventually she's going to have to realize that her entire relationship with Yul was a result of him clout chasing. Connor only singing "live in the moment until i die" is also very fitting given his placement... in both seasons. L.

really surprised that Riya (or anyone else) didn't even mention Yul's foot injury as part of this equation. Riya just said that she didn't want to lose any more challenges, and Yul's bad foot could totally lead to a loss. maybe i'm just overestimating the extent to which that foot injury will stick around, though.

season 2 characters are REALLY suffering out here.

HELP??????

love to see Alec and Fiore's kinda sorta dual redemptions. i have high hopes for them.

and those were my initial thoughts, which got way longer than i expected. thanks if you wound up reading towards all the way down here. i have no idea who the leakers are, obviously, but i really hope that they stop acting up soon so that the series can continue. i would hate to have the artists have to take a pay hit and/or stop making the series just because of some people's impatience and delusions of power, or have the honest patrons lose out on being able to watch the episodes early to protect from others' immaturity. see ya!

[chaserainbows]

Week 4

(3 comedy challenges in a row if you're not funny it's so over)

Will continues to collect the mini challenge money and I'm trying to figure out which previous contestant he's doing a photoshoot with because Will himself was a contestant on season 3 (he placed 6th and won Miss Congeniality)

Maybe that's why he won the mini challenge

And the challenge of this episode is the ICONIC Snatch Game where everyone chooses a celebrity to impersonate and clown around with

Most of the impersonations that the simulator comes up with are references I don't know but I do appreciate Will doing Bob Ross it's very on brand for him

And apparently Will does GREAT as Bob Ross the role really was made for him

Shauntal also does a good job as whoever that was, in my fantasy her Snatch Game character was Velma

Meanwhile these 4 don't do super well, Lucian would probably fall for the common trap of doing a character you can't really make any jokes about and Aaron has a pretty juvenile sense of humor so his Snatch Game (as I dunno Wednesday Addams or something) must've been a cringefest

LYNN YOU'RE IN DANGER

The runway category is zodiac signs and Sidney (a Cancer) does a really badass crab-themed look while Aaron finally brings a good runway as a scorpion

Grusha manages to save himself with a good runway (I think he's a Capricorn so you could say that he's the GOAT) and Shauntal and Candice break into the top 3 which is especially good for Candice since she's been almost there the entire time

But look at the question right at the end we have DRAMA

Lynn says that Aaron should go home for his runways which is pretty valid since this is his best runway week so far and he was still one of the worst and LITERALLY EVERYONE ELSE SAYS LYNN

Shauntal and Candice are especially harsh at her like oof but then again Lucian and Aaron are their friends

Will gets his first win after completely crushing this challenge and Shauntal and Candice are high I'm trying to think of a good Snatch Game character for Candice

The bottom 3 is Lynn Aaron and Lucian but Lynn's safe again (because she really wasn't as bad as Aaron or Lucian) and so she survives yet again for another week you CANNOT get rid of Lynn

Meanwhile we have a Sinnoh Elite 4 faceoff this one will be FOR THE AGES

We're not doing a Rupaul song that's for when there's no budget

much better

It's actually not much of a battle which makes sense since Lucian would probably be very overwhelmed by having to perform a lipsync in front of an audience especially against Aaron so he's VERY far from his comfort zone

We've seen Aaron do better than this but in my fantasy he's holding back out of concern for Lucian

And with that Aaron wins and Lucian's the second eliminated as well as the first out of the Lucian Squad to be eliminated which is kinda ironic

You know he'll get a group hug from Shauntal Will and Aaron before he leaves though (but a very brief one because he doesn't like to be touched)

Meanwhile in Untucked Shauntal's drowning her sorrows apparently and Garreth clocks Aaron for having bad runways while Grusha's grumpy over almost landing in the bottom 3 and Sidney rolls his eyes at it because there's no way Grusha would be in the bottom 2 this episode

Candice and Grusha are besties now I don't know when this happened but I stan

Will and Shauntal's best episode so far being when Aaron and Lucian land in the bottom is so cursed but also we have another storyline

[epicspheal]

(Same anon) I apologize in advance for this 8-part word vomit, didn't mean for it to get this long. xD I guess that's what happens when you have a lot of thoughts for your favorite characters; especially when this could be the last time we see him. :P If any parts didn't make it, let me know.

Hi there anon!

First off apologies for the late reply! Hopefully I can answer this within the character limit (apparently asks have character limits both for the asker and the answerer). This was definitely a challenging ask to do with formatting because of length so hopefully my thoughts come across okay. I really appreciate your enthusiasm for Gary it’s really heartwarming to see!

While it's true that Project Mew wasn't in the works initially, I'm not sure it's conclusive that they were planning a battle rivalry for Gary and Goh (although if anyone has any sources saying otherwise please let me know). With how they were barely showing Goh do more than throw Pokeballs at Pokemon it's hard for me to see where they were going to include a battle rivalry with Gary and Goh.

As far as a battle rivalry distracting from the PWC, I can see that but personally I think people would've been just really upset that Gary wasn't in the PWC instead finding it more suitable of a challenge

I disagree that a research rivalry wouldn't be believable, since that's basically what Project Mew is. Research in real life is full of rivalries and it produces so much drama in academic institutions. I think it would be more accurate to say it wouldn't be interesting because I'm not sure how children would care about academic drama with how it's portrayed in real life LOL. They kind of actually touched on that back in the Johto arc with Professor Elm getting really heated at times when talking about research but I'm sure went over most kid's head (I know it did for me, but now after having done academic research for almost a decade I can appreciate it a lot more). Which is why Project Mew as a concept is interesting as it makes a research rivalry in a way that isn't boring to the target audience

The anime does not get a lot of credit for how it builds upon the world of Pokemon especially with giving creative on things for kids to do outside of Battling, Contests, and Showcases. Again this is why as a concept I actually really love Project Mew although the execution left a lot to be desired

However, I strongly disagree that the game universe just having 8 badges means its easy. Much of the game text and game-accurate adaptations mention that it's not easy to get 8 badges at all and that many of the trainers you meet on Victory road had been at this for years. Which is why they don't typically have tournaments because in most regions bar Galar there is too few people getting 8 badges and going through victory road to warrant it. Generations mentions that for a long time only 2 trainers had gotten 8 badges, Red and Blue being the last and only people to defeat Giovanni. SV even states that half of gym challengers drop out by the 3rd to 4th badge and most don't even get to 6 badges. In SwSh Raihan makes a note that not even 10 people got to him and of that, only 4 even made it to the challenger's cup.

So it's not easier at all any adaption, but gamewise as the players since we're forced to go through the badge route each game it makes it feel easier than what is.

I don't think anyone thinks he'd be steamrolled by a regular trainer. Everyone knows he's capable. It's about whether or not a win against Ash would be seen as believable, and at the moment it's hard to say. It's true it's hard to judge exactly where he is right now...but I think it's safe to say its "not as strong as he could be". Again he's dividing his time between research (very time-consuming and mentally draining) and training (also very time-consuming and mentally draining). That's going to realistically put a damper on how good he can get with dividing his priorities compared to focusing fully (or majority on one side). Him going against someone who has focused on battling, getting badges and completing trials over 7 regions and having 4 Grand Prize wins (Orange Islands, Battle Frontier, Alola Champion and now World Champion) needs to have some substantial reasoning. Paul is training to be a gym leader so him keeping up with his battling and thus keeping up with Ash makes sense. Misty is a gym leader and has been constantly training as a water type trainer so again her keeping up with Ash (and being able to take out one of his mons this past episode) makes sense. And then of course you have the actual champions in Alain and Iris. For Gary it's not a matter about Project Mew battles against legendaries (because as you mentioned legendary battles vary), but moreso how are they going to frame his off-screen training to make it believable that he even with his time divided he can still keep up with Ash. And for me that means revealing something more than just "I've been training". Maybe mentioning he got offered to be a gym leader but turned it down, saying he challenged the battle frontier, or even getting a mega. And I'm saying this as a Gary fan, but that's just the opinion of one Gary fan.

[Image Description: Screen shot of ask. It reads: “ (Part 8) of Gary's Pokemon. For a final battle to close out Ash's story, Gary is agreed to be one of the top contenders for this. But this is AFTER he just became World Champ, where a loss of any caliber is doomed to be ridiculed. League defeats still leaves a sour taste to this day, what would this one leave. For that, I think they have to be very careful on what they choose to do; especially if it's not a 1v1. “/End ID]  (apologies the alt text did not save for this last screenshot)

After this most recent episode, I agree it would likely be more of a "show me what you got" battle maybe with a little bit of closure for Gary. Like how he wants to move forward with his research career or if he wants to switch and do something else (and part of me kind of hopes he goes back to battling more). And a win or even a tie might rub many the wrong way. I think the best way to go about it would be

A.) Make it a 3 vs 3 like you mentioned B.) Pikachu needs to be in it and get at least one win because he hasn't gotten a chance to do so C.) Be very intentional on how they frame his off-screen training, with something a bit more measurable than just saying "I've been training"

[spicyicymeloncat]

For the doodle/rant thing, Cole

Cole!!! (Sorry this took a while)

God I love Cole so freaking much man! He’s my closely second favourite after Zane. He’s just a good guy, with a side of silly and an edge of trauma. I think his writing is the best in terms of the main characters, (although I think Nya has the most interesting), which is probably bc his backstory is the most realistic and easy to write. But I think Cole is really under-appreciated when it comes to his writing and stuff. But at the same time I’m probably gonna be biased because I just love this character.

Okay to start off, Cole is actually one of the more moral characters, like Zane, he loves by a motto given to him by his departed parent: “to always stand up to those who are cruel and unjust”. In the show, he proves that he cares so much for others, such as with Karlof in Chen’s noodle factory where he decided he was going to get everyone to escape. And trying to befriend Yang’s students and Yang himself. And befriending Krag. And the entirety of MotM. Cole is also one of the strongest ninja, physically, he was introduced climbing a mountain and he introduced himself to Kai as being fearless (mostly). In the first episode of s1, Cole nearly one the skill contest between the ninja, having beat Zane ( I think?), and nearly beating Kai before Kai set everything on fire. Jay acknowledges Cole would’ve and should’ve won their duel in the tournament in s4, had he not have let Jay win.

But in contrast to Cole generally being and kind, strong guy, he seems to have a lower esteem than what you’d expect. His reaction to grief and difficulty is to run and hide himself away from the world, as seen in s4 when he became a lumberjack after Zane died and when we know Cole became a mountain climber after running away from home and his grief over his mother. His most prominent arcs involve him losing faith in himself: in s5 he thought being a ghost made him less of a ninja, in DotD he thought he was gonna disappear without anyone remembering him, in s11 Cole blames himself for losing the tea, and s13 is about Cole feeling like he can’t measure up to his mother. I’m literally gonna start crying. Cole is an unspoken treasure, unable to see his own worth, like a geode with the crystals on the inside.

And we can fault a lot of it to his backstory. Cole’s parents were a successful musician and performer: Lou, and the dearly missed elemental master of earth: Lilly. It’s unknown if Lou knew Lilly was a ninja because he seemed so against ninjas as a whole in s1, (although I think Lilly being a ninja is a retcon that took effect in s4) but either Lilly abandoned the life of a ninja when she started a family, kept it a secret from Lou, or Lou knew but hid it from Cole, who didn’t seem to know about it when he joined the ninja. Either way, both make sense and fit with Cole’s theme of hiding away. Both Lou and Lilly had given Cole expectations to live up to: Lou with his strict expectations of being a performer, and Lilly asking Cole to promise to be a good person. In the one scene we see Cole and Lilly interacting, Cole is scared that he’s disappointed her by getting into a fight, but it turns out she’s proud of him for being who he is and defending children from bullies. With Cole losing Lilly, he carries this harsh standard that he needs to live in a way that makes her proud, and Lou also feels like he needs to raise Cole to be the best he can be, which is why Lou is harsh in training Cole to be a performer, because that’s all Lou knows. The pressure of everything was too much for Cole and he ended up running away from it all, and climbing a mountain. In his own way he’s still trying to climb to the top and prove himself, but at the same time he’s trying to bury his grief and trauma under other things, such as how Lou is burying his grief with performance. Joining the ninja, Cole starts to heal, he has a way of self improvement that is monitored so that it’s safer, and more importantly he has a family, a safety net that can support him. He’s a ninja and he takes pride in it, but this life comes right into conflict with the life he was hiding from, his father’s. In Cole’s true potential, his disconnect from his father held him back, forcing him to first shun who he was in front of his dad, and lead him to nearly committing crimes because he had no faith in himself winning and he didn’t even want to try. But he decides to anyways, and he does actually succeed. And he’s not proving himself to his father but he’s proving himself to himself. His true potential isn’t just about his daddy issues but also his self esteem in general. Whilst his true potential was achieved this episode, Cole’s inclination to run still resurfaces in other arcs. He associates attention with negativity, as seen when he gets unwanted attention from Nya costing his friendship with Jay and pushing him to run into the woods and be a lumberjack. And he always ends up giving up something in order to help someone else, like giving jay the Jade blade, or grabbing the scroll in Yang’s temple, nearly not making it through the rift because of Yang, falling off of the bounty, helping people in s10 etc etc.

Cole imo has really balanced writing that gives him just enough spotlight to answer our questions about him, and when he isn’t the main focus, he usually has a good b-plot where he receives really good character or he gets good comedy bits which are just enjoyable to watch (like rocky danger buff). It’s easier to actually develop Cole bc as I mentioned, his backstory is the least outlandish. He has kinda a high pressure childhood and his mother died. Unlike every other ninja who’s parents have been missing at some point, Cole knows everything about his parents, his expectations of their status don’t change during the show so he has the most time to develop his current mental state (unlike for example Zane, who’s father kept flip flopping his mortality in a way that doesn’t give Zane enough time to showcase his emotions at each stage of that process, at least not to the extent Cole has). Also because Cole usually gets plots that are not usually connected to the main storyline, his plots always focus mainly on his character development. In a way, being a less important character actually gives characters more of a spotlight. Also they never shove Cole into any romance which is a bonus bc Ninjago romances are honestly horrendously set up. I mean… other than that one time.

Which is how I’ll segue into talking about my few criticisms with Cole’s writing. Bc every character can be improved. First of all, as I mentioned, I can’t talk about Cole without the love triangle. I actually don’t hate about it as much as I used to, since the love triangle did end up setting up the cool development we got in s4. And if you read behind the lines you can almost pretend it was in character, I just tell myself that Cole was only taking part in the drama because he was pissed at Jay assuming he was straight. But the canon is that Nya suddenly had a crush on Cole bc a buzzfeed quiz told her to, and Cole suddenly reciprocated bc that’s apparently what you do. Istg none of the romantic feelings make sense or are justified in the show outside of “that woman looks like she’d be a good gf” which is cringe. So like I just squint when it comes to that and say that Cole and Nya are suffering from peer pressure and allonormativity/compulsive heterosexuality.

Another specific nitpick of Cole’s character is the complete fake out death he had in s10. Like writer’s set up stakes that make the death dramatic but then didn’t stick to their rules which just kinda invalidate the stakes of the season in general. Like we see the cloud immediately turn citizens to stone but for some reason Cole can nap through it fine. The writers put no effort in justifying Cole’s survival of not just the Oni cloud but like surviving falling from that height. I mean ig legos are built different, but if they are, then why is everyone so worried yknow? And it could’ve been simple, we could’ve been shown that Cole somehow saved himself with his powers, maybe being an earth elemental means he doesn’t take damage when he hits the earth? Idk. It was just a cheap death and it didn’t have any impact other than make Nya sad for 1.5 seconds and loosely set up survivalshipping. Yeah

Other than that, I don’t think I have any other specific Cole criticisms. His dad could be involved more ig. Idk.

All in all Cole is a top tier character

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Season 4, Episode 3: An Extremely Chaotic and Incoherent Review

The Good:

DEMETRI AND MIGUEL STANDING NEXT TO EACH OTHER DEMETRI AND MIGUEL STANDING NEXT TO EACH OTHER DEMETRI AND MIGUEL STANDING NEXT TO EACH OTH--

devours BroTP scraps like a starved hyena

HAWK DOING DEFENSE!!! DEMETRI DOING OFFENSE!!! CINEMA!!!

Something something lookit my boys finding balance, hopefully this will bring them closer to realizing they should date

My GOD I was NOT prepared for how adorable Johnny and Daniel sharing food is

I never expect Lawrusso to catch me in a death grip and then it does anyway

Are you fucking KIDDING me Carmen and Amanda looking at each other and giggling like that was NOT straight

Take it from an almost full-time lesbian

This show really expects me to believe Johnny, Carmen, Daniel, and Amanda shouldn't be in a polycure and I say that's some BULLSHIT

AWWWWW MIGUEL BBY NO, HE'S WORRIED HE'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR SAM

I thought the class/wealth difference between them might come up at some point but I didn't expect to break my heart this much D:

"And that was BEFORE he sicced a rabid dog on Eli" love overprotective boyfriend Demetri

Whether Dem found out through Miguel or Aisha or Eli told him directly it's funny because like. No attack against his mans escapes this fucker's notice.

It's nice to see Hawk and Miguel being wholesome bros again, even if I admittedly like the dynamic best when Demetri's there too

The relationship developing between Daniel and Miguel has my entire heart actually. This is what I came here for and the show is DELIVERING

Measuring in Nates is the only valid way to measure

Yesssss Johnny and Sam getting into it, give me the DRAMA

Love that they both have valid points tbh

"I get to do what I love every damn day" HELL YEAH JOHNNY, love that he genuinely has a passion for helping all these kids out

I love how I was just kind of lukewarmish about Shawbby in S3, like...it was cute, and I was a fan, but I wasn't super into it. But now you're telling me??? They stayed in TOUCH??? And Robby is mentoring his little brother??? Yeah, I'm boarding this ship right the fuck now. SHAWBBY SUPREMACY.

Also adore that we got some backstory for Shawn, and what he was doing in juvie!!! Just protecting little Kenny, aw my heart ;__; Like ngl I was kind of worried Shawn was gonna end up being this weird "scary black guy in juvie" stereotype, and that would've felt pretty icky to me

Have I mentioned that I love Shawbby now

Miguel and Daniel bonding over growing up poor is SO WHOLESOME

MIGUEL'S FACE WHEN DANIEL SAYS HE BLEW HIS MONEY ON A BONSAI STORE

*Van Halen voice* SO GO AHEAD AND JUMP, SAM

Fuck YEAH Samantha LaRusso, release your inner chaos gremlin!

Really love how Demetri nods super seriously when Johnny says that when you're in a scary situation, don't back down. Like lowkey he actually respects Johnny now and is more open to embracing all of Eagle Fang's chaotic insanity, and I think that's pretty neat.

Also Demetri has grown so much braver over the course of this show, to the point where he's chill with potentially doing life-threatening nonsense to train if needed, and I think that's also pretty neat.

Gotta appreciate how proud Hawk was of Miguel for winning the fishing contest!!! They're good buddies and I love them!

The Bad:

This show will never let Daniel, Amanda, Carmen, and Johnny be in a polycule and this is the crime of the century

I wanted Demetri to jump!!! Would it be out of character? Yes! Did I want it to happen anyways, so that he could gloat to Hawk about it and Hawk could look at him with huge heart eyes? Absolutely!

I just really want to see Demetri go full feral, I think he deserves it

I want Johnny to be a terrible influence on him

I'm sure I'll get flayed again but still a bit more Kreese and Silver stuff then I felt was needed? Like we got a lot of backstory on them last season with the war flashbacks, not sure how much more we need to establish that they're evil divorced karate husbands XD The snake tattoo flashback WAS fun though!

I don't know whether to be amused or annoyed over Daniel and Johnny fighting over who gets to be Miguel's dad, like...it's very funny, especially considering how they fought over Robby too, but like...can't you fuckers BOTH be his dad???

STAY TUNED FOR MORE

[viola-stars]

do you have your own story for the pokemon verse? who are the ships :eye emojis:

Hello!! Thank you for sending an ask ;v; I really appreciate it!

I don’t really have a whole verse? At most I have a future version of Johto! It isn’t much, really, but I do have some thoughts to share! They’re mostly things about Johto League + Other Characters!

GYM LEADERS

-Falker currently has Lugia and he’s still a gym leader! However, he is still trying to catch every bird Pokemon so he tends to have some breaks from gyms here and there, but he makes sure he keeps his schedule the same so he can still be able to do his gym tasks! He has travelled to different regions, having a Corviknight from Galar that he caught on his own! He has several new ones but I think that’s the most notable one because it’s the Pokemon that argues with his Skarmory. He also has a Staraptor, but it was given to him from Whitney when she travelled to Sinnoh once! It used to be a Starly, but it evolved.

-Bugsy is also currently a gym leader, but he also is an assistant professor of Professor Oak! In Pokemon Masters, it reveals he looks up to Professor Oak so I like thinking he’s having a step further into becoming a Pokemon professor! He sometimes has breaks as well, but it isn’t too much since Kanto is just a train away, so it isn’t too hard on Bugsy. He rarely goes to other regions, but when he does, he obviously gets new bug type pokemon!

-Whitney is still a gym leader, and she’s a bit more used to Pokemon battling! In my headcanons, the Nurse Joy in Goldernrod is her mom and she used to dream to be a Nurse Joy, but after getting used to Pokemon battling and wanting to be as great as her mentor [who I believe is Norman], she’s continuing her life as a gym leader! She doesn’t take too much breaks, but she likes hopping in her friends’ plans! She is also one of the main people who sponsors Pokeathlon, and her favorite region to visit is Galar, which she goes to with DJ Mary!

-Morty is still a gym leader as well, and he focuses more on Ecruteak city as a whole, wanting the city to be in good shape and he also goes around Johto sometimes with his best friend Eusine so they can look for Suicune. He also likes knowing more about ghost types, but he asks some information from other ghost gym leaders! I like thinking Morty is Somewhat friends with every ghost-type league member, most notably would be Fantina. He has yet to find where Ho-Oh went.

-Chuck is a gym leader and happily married to his wife and he’s being a great father to his kids! Now that he’s getting older, he probably gives more time to his family, but he also balances it with gym and training. He gets to also talk to several fighting league members, but I like thinking he’s the one closest to his “same-type league member” squad! He acts like a father figure to both Maylene and Bea, while the other fighting gym league members are basically like homies to each other!

-Jasmine may still be a gym leader, but she also wants to focus on contests now too! She actually plans on asking the current champion of the league to have a contest area in Johto and it has yet to be built, the area it will be built will most likely be Goldenrod, and Whitney is very happy about that! On the meantime, she takes breaks to go to different regions to win all the ribbons in contests! She sometimes goes to places with her friends so they can cheer her on while she does.

-Pryce is a gym leader, but he plans on retiring soon because he believes he’s getting old, but he also wants to stay to see how the league grows. I like thinking that he treats Will and Karen as his kids [bc of the Pokemon Adventures manga,,]! He’s actually the gym leader who stays the most in his area, but also he wants time to reflect over what he has done to Johto that one time, even if he was forgiven for what he did.

-Claire is still a gym leader as well, but she’s getting stronger and she can probably compete against Lance after a few years. She’s getting there! She is very proud of being that gym leader who can be measured next to an Elite Four and she is also the next clan head of her family. She’s actually really hardworking, and she likes showing how great of a dragon trainer she is sometimes, but she deserves to be praised for what she has done.

ELITE FOUR + CHAMPION

-Will is an Elite four member until now and he’s doing great at his job! People barely pass him because of how great he is, of course! What do you expect? He’s part of the Elite Four for a reason. He actually loves getting to know about more league members who are psychic, but he doesn’t really like going out too much. Currently, I like thinking he works as an actor as a sideline, but no one knows it’s him except Karen.

-Koga is still a great Elite Four member AND a great father to Janine. He barely has anyone even reach him in terms of Elite Four member duties. He’s very responsible and he also meets Janine frequently now too, wanting to see how his daughter is doing as a gym leader. Currently, he has no second job, but he does like getting called so he could test security system- and well, Janine joins sometimes too so stealing things, or well testing out security systems, sounds like a fun way to bond.

-Bruno is still an Elite Four member of Johto but it’s funny because he’s also in Kanto, and he has to run to the challenge area sometimes. He’s a professional martial artist and he is also a teacher in a dojo! He teaches people how to fight AND how to use fighting Pokemon! He’s a very well known person to martial artists world-wide, actually! He and Chuck vibe together, and also he joins the Fighting League meetings a lot!

-Karen is still a badass woman who is part of the Elite Four, and I like thinking that she’s really close to Will until now [i refer you to Pokemon Adventures again]! She barely gets any challenges, but she’s quite known because of how strong she is. I like thinking she works in the fashion industry as a second job, but I’m still unsure whether I am set in stone about her being a model. People do know she’s pretty popular and honestly- how can she not be?

-Lance is no longer champion after a few years from HGSS, but I’ll go into details about that one soon. He’s currently still in the Kanto league, though! He still buys capes and it’s funny that he has SO many and buys them in bulks. I think he travels around the different regions, but he stays a lot in Kanto/Johto since he is an Elite Four member but also he wants to make sure the place is safe. He was actually quite surprised by how the Johto league members was more open to try new things lately.

MAIN CHARACTERS + RIVALS

I will base this in Pokemon Adventures!

-Gold currently has a Day Care going on and he hatches a lot of eggs! He also takes care of several baby Pokemon- trust me, his house is FILLED with them. He just does his job as a hatcher and he’s very happy with how his life is. He’s currently taking care of the place of the Day Care couple since they moved elsewhere, so yeah! He has connections with them and he updates them about Johto a lot!

-Silver is the one who replaced Lance [see above he’s no longer champion in my verse ghdfgdfhg] but I think I wanted it to happen because Lance was sort of his mentor for years, and added to that, in game, it sorta hints?? Lance continued to mentor him. If someone wants to prove to Lance that he was wrong, it’s Silver [or Claire]! Also, I want Silver to go to the opposite side of Giovanni! He isn’t with Team Rocket, not following his footsteps, and as a Champion, he could fix the things his father did in the past. So yeah, that’s why!

-Crystal is the assistant of Professor Elm! The reason why she’s under Elm and not Oak now is because she’s actually going to be the next Professor of Johto! She’s caught a lot of Pokemon, and she travels a lot to perfect her Pokedex, but she’s also close to becoming a Professor! However, her side job is being a teacher in Violet City! She’s a teacher in Pokeschool!

OTHERS

-Eusine is a researcher on Legendary Pokemon lore! He’s the most well known researchers across the region, and he is highly wanted in different regions but he’s still focused on Johto for now, as he wants to figure everything out and get all the details before moving to another region. Also he will get to find Suicune much later, so that’s neat!

-DJ Mary is,, still a DJ ghfdgdfhg however! I like to think she’s a singer now because Gold called her idol of Goldenrod City in HGSS arc. She probably got too stressed over the idol life and balancing it with the radio was a bit too hard for her, so she’s now just a singer and a radio host! She’s very popular now, and Gold likes saying he was the biggest fan because he was there even before she became famous, but of course, Whitney wins best fan award.

SHIPS

SO SHIP,,, i have,,, only a few established ships ghdfghdfg because im a multishipper for a lot so only a few is smth im set on stone with orz

RollingWindShipping - Falkner & Whitney

JohtoShipping - Gold, Silver & Crystal

I have explanations i swear, but will only go into details if asked gdfgdfg and if there are ships with other characters you wanna know about,,, you can ask bc i can tell you what my thoughts are HDGDFGDFG

[forevercloudnine]

new 52 riddler origin/timeline

I noticed an older 2017 post by @batriddler​ about Edward’s possible New 52 origin story was going around again, so I thought I’d make a timeline adding what we’ve learned about his origins since then through The Riddler: Year of the Villain (2019).

Childhood

So Year of the Villain brings back several elements of Edward’s original backstory. The first was that, as a child, he won a puzzle contest and became fixated on that moment of victory for the rest of his life.

Unlike previous iterations of the character, however, there’s no obvious indication that Edward cheated in order to win it (other than the looming shadow of his future careers). Whether he won it fairly or not, winning the trophy was a turning point for him because it was the first time he was given undiluted positive attention, something he wasn’t getting at home.

Edward’s mother is heavily, HEAVILY implied to be an alcoholic (like there are even more bottles lying around in this panel, I cut them out for the screenshot), and he himself implies in the narration that she was neglectful to the point that he pretty much had to raise himself. Interestingly, there’s no mention of an abusive father, which is the bog standard for Riddler backstories in previous continuities. There’s nothing contradicting the existence of an abusive father in addition, so obviously there’s room for headcanons here (though I’m enjoying that Jonathan’s New 52 daddy issues replacing his retconned Post-Crisis mommy issues was finally mirrored by Edward’s Post-Crisis daddy issues being retconned and replaced with New 52 mommy issues. It’s equality).

[Side note: apparently his actual birth name in the New 52 IS Edward “Nygma,” which is also a return to form to his first origin. Personally I’m much fonder of him being born “Nashton” and changing his name as an adult, but that’s just me.]

He says that winning the trophy was the first time he “felt like [he] meant something,” which would seem to indicate that before this he’d internalized his mother’s neglect into a low sense of self worth. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the high of winning it lasted very long, since his classmates weren’t very appreciative of his victory (which is also very in line with Edward’s previous origins, especially Chuck Dixon’s take in Questions Multiple the Mystery).

There’s not much other information about his childhood available, though Batman Annual #4 does seem to indicate that unlike many of Batman’s other villains, he did grow up in Gotham.

This is just based on him telling Bruce that “all of Gotham City” watched him grow up, and that Edward in particular read and watched a lot of tabloid news about Bruce when they were adolescents (is this a Batman Forever reference??? It’s probably not a Batman Forever reference).

Teenage Years

Assuming we’re supposed to take Bruce’s heat-of-the-moment psychoanalysis in Zero Year seriously (Edward is clearly irritated by it, so... confirmation?), Edward’s desire for attention in childhood results in him breaking into corporate data banks and government safe-blocks as a teenager.

Given what Edward is capable of in Zero Year, this definitely doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility, but it’s deeply hilarious in the context of what Year of the Villain confirmed he was (also?) doing as a teenager, which is working as a carnie.

I cannot tell you how hilarious I would find it if THIS is the “questionable past” that Bruce’s Uncle Phillip was talking about during Zero Year, but presumably he’s referring to the same kind of high profile crimes that Bruce was.

But seriously, how funny would it be if he was just talking about how Edward literally ran away from home to join the circus as a teenager...

Adulthood

The 2017 post theorizes that Edward started working for Phillip at Wayne Enterprises in his early twenties, and started earning the various degrees you can see stacked up in a corner in the image above during his employment there. That would seem to fit with this timeline, since I’m not willing to add “earned six different university degrees” to teenage years that are apparently already packed full of ripping off carnival goers AND corporate espionage.

In Batman Annual #4 there is the BAREST indication that Edward might have started working at Wayne Enterprises early into Bruce’s sabbatical abroad, since he talked about how “for months” there were nightly vigils at Wayne Tower where there were so many flowers people would have to cross the street not to step on them. Presumably this would have only been in the first year of Bruce’s disappearance, when Bruce was 18; at the very least this indicates that Edward still lived in Gotham when Bruce left, though it would make more sense for him to be visiting Wayne Tower as Phillip’s strategist than as a hacker/carnie.

In general though, Edward’s Zero Year plan is so ridiculously complex that I think it’s reasonable to assume that he took as long to prepare for his debut as Riddler as it took Bruce to train to be Batman.

[Another side note: Not to accuse Edward of projecting or anything (God forbid), but I think it’s interesting that Edward puts so much emphasis on criticizing Bruce for “disappearing for years” and “making everyone think he’s dead” in combination with the COMPLETE absence of his father from his origin story as presented in Year of the Villain.]

I do think it’s fascinating that Edward’s New 52 origin veers away from the whole “cheating” thing that’s so central to his character in previous continuities - not that he DOESN’T cheat when he feels like it (the whole carnie thing), but it’s not presented as an insecurity of his, and here he’s genuinely intelligent enough to mastermind crimes without needing to move the goalposts at the last second (cough Arkhamverse Riddler COUGH).

One final thing from Edward’s adult life that I think could relate back to his origin comes from Batman #23.2, “Solitaire.”

The issue starts with a flashback of Edward having a deck of playing cards confiscated from him in Arkham because he was playing Solitaire (like, genuinely playing Solitaire; he actually wasn’t plotting anything, it was just for stress relief). The comic is his quest for violent revenge against the Arkham guard who took his cards, which initially seems like a pretty average example of Riddler Brand Pettiness, but the story goes out of its way to highlight how much this really bothered him.

The Arkham Guard has moved on to become the head of security at Wayne Enterprises, so to get revenge Edward has to break into his old place of employment. An unexpected altercation with one of the executives leads Edward to totally freak out over her “touching” him, and afterwards he goes to meditate in her old office in order to calm down. His attempt to relax is interrupted by his old Arkham tormentor, who gets in a couple shots at him before Edward takes his revenge...

...which is BLOWING UP THE ARM that the guard used to take away the “small comfort” Edward had in Arkham. Afterwards, he goes up to the roof to play Solitaire, seeming to finally relax from his agitation earlier.

Given Edward’s isolation and neglect in childhood, it would make sense for him to have ended up playing Solitaire a lot: it’s a game that doesn’t require involvement from friends or family, but still requires a player to use strategy and skill despite the lack of an opponent.

[Yet another side note related to the previous side note: Batman is ACTUALLY dead during Solitaire, which takes place after Joker’s Endgame arc. Bruce and Joker are of course later resurrected through shenanigans, so Edward is right to think he’ll be seeing Batman again. But Riddler sitting on the Wayne Enterprises rooftop, indulging in a self-described “small comfort,” waiting for a man who’s disappeared to miraculously show up again is really interesting. Again, not to accuse him of projecting or anything, but... where’s your dad, Edward...]

His affection for Solitaire is also interesting, in the sense that one could argue that’s what he’s doing in Zero Year: playing a game with himself. He’s challenging other people to play with him through his “riddle” game, and he’s clearly prepared for the possibility of having an opponent (given that he has a whole rainbow disco death trap room set up at the end of Zero Year, which he seems DELIGHTED to have a chance to use), but he’s not expecting to have one. Whether this is a perspective rooted in his childhood or not, it seems to have changed after Zero Year, based on his riddle for Batman in “Alone.”

[twinkiplier]

This is gonna run a little long, but please bear with me as I am really excited to host this raffle. For those only interested in the money, the top prize is a $100 Visa gift card that the grand prize winner will receive the code for privately. Disclaimer: This is NOT an art contest, I will NOT be judging people's art against eachother. This is a RAFFLE, where you draw something and it's given a random number which will be generated at the conclusion of the raffle. You do not have to put your full talent into this drawing, but I would honestly appreciate it if you did because I absolutely love seeing what people create.

Rules: - Play nice, and don't complain if you don't win. It's completely random and says nothing about your art or effort. I appreciate each and every entry regardless of artistic talent or perceived quality. - Digital, traditional, and all other types of artists are all allowed. If you want to do a physical craft, I will pay for you to ship it to me, no questions asked. - There are two prompts, and you can enter the raffle up to two times, one for each prompt. - Each entry MUST follow the basic rules of the prompt, if it doesn't I will contact you immeditely to let you know so that you can edit it and resubmit. If you choose not to resubmit, your entry will not be counted. - The raffle will end on May 1st, 2022, and winners will be drawn the same day. - Usually I do a tier system depending on the amount of entries, but I feel like that makes people walk away from the raffle without entering, so I won't be doing that. Instead, the prizes will scale with the amount of entries. - No gore or NSFW is allowed due to me not being comfortable with Tummy being drawn that way. He also MUST be wearing clothes.

Prompt 1: I have gone to huge lengths to fill Tummy's wardrobe with a lot of of my actual clothing, and would love to see him drawn in something I would wear rather than his default outfit. You can use the functioning wardrobe on his ToyHouse account, but please put effort into the accuracy and quality. - This prompt MUST be fullbody and fully colored. Shading is not necessary, but allowed. Chibi is okay but please don't simplify the clothing, as that is the focus of the art.

Prompt 2: Tummy has two boyfriends, Markus and Hamlet. I absolutely love drawings of them being together and doing something cute or fun. If you want, you can ask me and I'll describe a date or activity my boyfriend and I have done for you to draw, as I would LOVE to see that. There are three different ways you can go about this prompt: - Tummy with Markus OR Hamlet, both fullbody, with background, shading optional. - Tummy with Markus OR Hamlet, both halfbody, with background, shading required. - Tummy with Markus AND Hamlet, all at least halfbody, with background, shading optional.

Prizes: - The grand prize is, of course, a $100 Visa gift card. - 5 runner-ups will each receive $20 via PayPal OR a fullbody drawing/custom if they cannot accept PayPal. - Every non-winning entry will receive a complementary headshot/bust of the character provided in their entry form.

How to Enter: Fill out this form: https://forms.gle/AZNZ6jDSQYtHysMD7 You can fill it out a maximum of two times, one for each prompt!

ToyHouse Information: https://toyhou.se/8158758.tummy https://toyhou.se/5867679.markus https://toyhou.se/9958737.hamlet

[mahou-furbies]

Meguca tournament wrap-up

Alright, the tournament is now finally over (or the comment posts have been scheduled)! I did say that there would be an “elongated closing ceremony”, but I didn’t quite expect it to take over three months to finish everything but here we are. The reason for the delay is that when the tournament finished I really wanted to draw botw which took all attention, and after that it was difficult to get back on track. But I’m glad everything is now wrapped up because this was really blocking a lot of other content here on mahou-furbies, since I tried to avoid getting sidetracked by even more projects (and ended up finishing very little over the autumn).

The open comments are always my favourites and it’s great you left so many of them. And it’s nice that many of you told you had fun with the event, comments like that really make it fun to host these too.

Some general comments 

This bonus round made me find out you can buy actual magia record cards so uh. That?

Awesome! Sometimes I was voting for design while sometimes I was voting for character though which probably created some conflict. Also occasionally when there were two characters I both like and I know I want one to win but I’m pretty sure they’re gonna win anyways I voted for the other one because I wanted to show some support (like in the final round oops-)

My relationship with the Puella Magi franchise is awkward. The original anime gave me nightmares. However, I believe the girls’ outfits are cute and well-designed. If there is one thing I appreciate, it’s clothing.

I imagined the characters walking down a catwalk as if they’re having a fashion show and each round some contestants are sent home.

One really good comment was about the length of the tournament, i.e. that it got tedious to check back every day for a month and it could potentially cause burnout. With which I agree, and it was some trouble even for me to be present to close the poll, open the next one and post the results daily for so long. I think the issue is that there’s just so many Megucas... I could have eliminated more in the first round, but there were some comments against the 3-way matches. And I don’t like the idea of one voting batch having too many matches at once because I feel that it would take attention away from the individual matches and would just cause people to skim over the list if it’s too long. But maybe that’s just me. Comments on this are welcome! Right now the simplest solution probably is just not to have so many participants in the first place.

I’d like to have more tournaments in the future too, though there aren’t that many franchises with enough characters. Magical Girl Raising Project maybe, but I don’t think it’s popular enough to warrant a full tournament on its own. And a multi-series tournament sounds like it’d be really skewed in favour of the popular series, like who do you think is going to win, Sailor Moon or some rando from a show nobody saw? Ideas on this are welcome too.

There will be another Precure tournament though, this time on just who your favourite character is (instead of being asked to vote for the best outfit). But I’ll wait until the 2022 Cures can be included too. And another idea I had is like a miss Cure beauty pageant thing, where there’s some pre-selected characters and each round you’d vote who of them has the best winter look, or pyjamas, and so on, and then in the end the points are tallied to pick the winner. How’s that sound? 

[sunmoonandsandsoundtracks]

holly jolly christmas

okay, here comes my attempt at a monthly challenge. i didn't get to do smut back in october, so let's see if i can do it now.

this is another surprise x reader, but the actual person is not ever named. i may or may not do a part 2 to this. i might just leave it open ended. if you want a second part, comment and tell me who you want it to be! i have someone in mind, but i might be swayed.

bring on the holiday.

disclaimer: the plot and unnamed character only are mine to own, so if you feel inclined to sue me, fuck off and leave me alone.

spotify/youtube

word count: 1001

enjoy! putting a read more line here because even though it's not all that long, i don't want it hogging up your screen.

The party was in full swing with music and liveliness, but you were too busy pouting as you looked out the window, wishing you saw snow on the ground, or at least falling. Sure, it was still early in the month, but you wanted your white Christmas, damn it.

“Hey! Come on!” a familiar, rough voice called to you. “Why aren’t you having fun?”

“I am having fun,” you said, facing Naruto as he approached you, carrying two cups of punch. With a slight smirk, you took the cup he offered you and added, “I’m having fun speculating who’s going to win the ugly sweater contest. You’re in first place, hands down.”

Leave it to Naruto to find an ugly orange Christmas sweater.

“Some friend you are!” He griped.

You just laughed. “Hey, that’s a good thing. I don’t even know what the prize is. It might be free coupons for ramen.”

“That would be so cool!”

You gave him a little nod and sipped your punch. The two of you chatted a bit longer, and you promised him to join the party. So you made your way to the refreshments table, snagged some of your favorite cookies, then worked your way through the crowd, exchanging pleasantries with familiar faces.

“Oh, good, you’re here!” Ino said when she saw you. “Look, I need you to be chill for five minutes, and work with me.”

You sent her a bemused look. “I was feeling pretty chill, but now I’m really concerned.”

“Just go along with it. It’ll be over faster if you do,” Sakura said, standing beside the bubbly woman. “I promise, it’s nothing huge.”

“Okay, but why me?”

“Can’t tell you, now come here!” Ino chirped, grabbing your arm and dragging you away from the throng.

“Right this second?” You grumbled as you stumbled along.

She led you to an empty hallway, where you noticed a sprig of mistletoe hanging above.

“Ino, are you-?”

“Someone here really wants to kiss you, but they’re a little nervous about how you’ll react. If you agree, I’m going to blindfold you, then get them. You can’t take the blindfold off until I come back and tell you they’re gone, okay?”

“So I’m just supposed to kiss someone who could be a total stranger-”

“No, you know them pretty well!” She insisted.

“-and then we just go on our merry way? I don’t get to know?”

“They’ll tell you on Christmas day, and with any luck, you’ll want to kiss them again. Trust me, it’s completely safe, and I know this person would never hurt you in a million years.”

Once more, you were befuddled. “Against my better judgment, fine. I need something to liven up my holiday.”

A little squeak of excitement came from her as she produced a thick, wide red ribbon and tied it around your head, making sure it was secure, and that you couldn’t see through it.

“Okay, they’ll be here soon!”

Once you were pretty sure she was gone, you sighed and leaned against the wall. “I have no one to blame but myself if I wind up dead and stuffed in one of the closets here.”

It didn’t seem like very long before you sensed another presence. “Hello?”

No response. “Alright, I can appreciate a good mystery. I think I trust you enough just based on the fact that you got Ino to help you. We’ll just see how this goes, and if it doesn’t go well, you can maintain your anonymity. Fair?”

Their answer was to abruptly press their lips to yours. Your mind immediately tried to determine who it could be by using your senses. Their lips were soft. Soft like a girl who regularly used lip balm or gloss, you weren’t sure. Your own lips were a bit chapped, so you didn’t think you were getting an accurate read. They must have passed through the crowd at some point, because you could detect a variety of scents on them, making it impossible to go by that.

Their hands went to your waist, and while you could have tried to feel those, you opted to focus on the kiss itself. It was tender, and you could tell they were treading lightly. Your hands rested on their arms- they wore a thick enough coat that you couldn’t even gauge those- and you deepened it just slightly, giving them permission to take it further.

They did, and there was no question about your eagerness to find out who they were.

It evolved into a hungry liplock where moans were exchanged, leaving you wondering if it was going to go even further than just a kiss on the lips. Just as the heat between you reached its peak, they pulled away. Disappointed, you resisted the urge to pull them back, while they brushed a gloved hand over your cheek, then took your hand and placed a folded note in it before fleeing. You obediently waited for Ino to return and uncover your eyes.

“So, how was it?” She questioned, sending you a sly look that told you she knew. “You might want to go fix yourself in the bathroom before going back. Do you have any idea who it might be?”

“No,” you scoffed. “It could have been you for all I know.”

“Guess they covered their bases. Well, it gives you another reason to look forward to Christmas.”

You nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

She left you to go straighten up like she suggested, and as soon as you got to the restroom, you read the note your potential soon-to-be significant other left you. They didn’t even give you a hint with their handwriting, writing it out in what must have been painstakingly careful script that could have been typed.

Have a holly jolly Christmas, and I’ll find you under the mistletoe the day of to finish what we started.

To say the very least, you weren’t so hung up anymore on whether or not there’d be snow.

[ask-them-bois]

Ancient Sounds 3/5

AS.pt.1 AS.pt.2

TW: Major Character Death

“Bluegill? You a’ight?” Rufuss called softly, knocking on the door gently.

Bluegill coughed again and cleared his throat, then wiped his bloody hands on a tissue. He dropped it down the side of the bed, out of sight, as Rufuss opened the door.

“Yessir, I’m alright.” He rumbled, forcing a smile. Rufuss blinked at him, the younger indigo’s earfins drooping.

“You ain’t lookin’ too good, partner.” Rufuss murmured, walking over to Bluegill’s bed and sitting on the edge beside him. Lil’ Lady, who lay at Bluegill’s feet, grumbled at the bed dipping.

“Prolly not, but I never intended ta win beauty contests wit’ this mug.” Bluegill chuckled, before he sighed. “I’m an ol’ troll, Rufuss. I think my body’s just ‘bout had enough.”

“You’re not that old!” Rufuss protested.

Bluegill gave him a pointed look. “I’m nearin’ forty-six sweeps, kiddo. That’s ‘bout average fer our blood, even with the seadweller part.” His fins twitched as he lay back against the mountain of pillows behind him.

Rufuss blinked at him, before he nodded, reaching up and pulling his hat off. “I ain’t wantin’ you to go.” He said quietly, running a hand through his own hair. Bluegill smiled softly, a wrinkled hand patting Rufuss’ broad shoulder.

“I know, partner, but you’ll do fine without me. You were doin’ great b’fore. You did somethin’ real special here, ya know? Thanks fer takin’ care o’ the old ranch fer me.”

Rufuss blinked at him and sniffled, nodding. “Thank ya kindly, sir. Do ya- do ya want me to… get someone? One o’ them purples, for… for last rites or somethin’?”

Bluegill laughed. “No, Mister Rufuss, I think I’ll be just fine. There’s only one purple I give a damn ‘bout.” He dug in the pocket of his long johns and pulled out an old, tattered photograph. He smiled at softly, the wrinkles on his face doubling, before he held it out to Rufuss. “Looksee.”

Rufuss took the photo and turned it over. The picture was old, faded, and yellow on the edges. It was a photo of a young Hounding, somewhere around six sweeps, his teeth bared and his eyes scrunched up as he tried to smile. His face and overalls were covered in dirt, his hair cut very short. He was leaning on the pasture fence, his head turned towards the camera.

“… Do ya want me ta get Mr. Hounding?” Rufuss asked, passing the photo back.

“No, sir. I don’t think it’d do much good. He ain’t wantin’ nothing ta do with me anyhow.” Bluegill tucked the photo back into his pocket and pat his chest gently. He looked down at Lil’ Lady. “All I wantcha ta do is take care o’ my ol’ gal when I’m gone. Her an’ Sweetpea.”

Rufuss looked down at the ancient basset hound, who raised her head and gazed at her master with big, sorrowful eyes, before she heaved herself to her feet. She waddled over to Bluegill’s side and flopped against him. “I don’ think she wants ya to go, either.” Rufuss frowned.

“Ah… prolly not, but she’ll join me ‘gain eventually.” Bluegill smiled softly, patting the fat bark-beast’s belly. His smile faltered after a moment. “There is, actually, one more thing I’d like you ta do fer me.” He said quietly. Rufuss looked up.

“What is it?”

“Bury me in the pasture, will ya? On the hill. ‘S where I was buried last time, an’ I quite liked it. Had a nice view o’ the sea and the sunset.”

Rufuss felt a lump rise in his throat. “Don’ be talkin’ like that.” He croaked.

“Mm. It’s all I got ta talk about now. Promise me, Ru. On th’ hill near the stables.”

Rufuss shook his head, reaching up to rub his eyes. “I- I promise, sir.” He rasped between his fingers.

Bluegill regarded his descendant fondly. “Don’ cry fer me, cowboy. Not yet. This is how I wanted ta go the first time ‘round. I ain’t got no regrets, an’ I know my ranch is in good hands.”

“I… I won’t-” Rufuss paused, wiping his eyes again, “I won’t letcha down, sir.”

“I know, kiddo.” Bluegill murmured, snuggling deeper into his blankets “You ain’t ever done it before. A man couldn’ ask fer a better descendant, ya know that? I’m plum-dumb proud o’ ya.”

Rufuss choked back a sob, forcing a smile. “Thank ya, sir.”

Bluegill turned his head to look at him, a tired smile on his face. “There it is. That ol’ Rufuss Wacoba smile. Don’t you ever stop smilin’, Ru, you hear me? This planet is pretty shit sometimes; all ya can do is keep on smiling, an’ look forward ta the next sunset.”

“Yes, sir.” Rufuss nodded, swallowing thickly. Bluegill huffed, pleased, and turned to look up at the ceiling before he closed his eyes. There was a moment’s silence before he spoke again.

“Could I ask one more thing of ya?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Go get my guitar, will ya? I wanna hear one more song. Ain’t right fer a man ta go in silence.”

Rufuss choked on a hiccup as he got up and left the room. Bluegill opened his eyes and looked over when he heard his footsteps retreat. He saw the younger indigo’s hat, left on the side, and picked it up. He slid it over his own brow, to cover his face.

“Mm. Don’t be tellin’ on me now, Lil’ Lady, but wasn’t all that truthful wit’ that boy. I got one regret left, after all. I ain’t gonna get ta see where this all ends. But I think I’m okay wit’ that. I’m tired.” He sighed. “I know Ru’s gonna be just fine. … Arrach, too. Make that another regret. Wish I coulda seen my kid one more time.” Lil’ Lady whined softly, pressing her snout into his arm. He pet her head again, before knitting his fingers over his chest.

The door opened again and Rufuss entered once more, a black and blue guitar in hand. His face was blue, eyes puffy from holding everything in. “What song do ya want ta hear?” He asked quietly.

“Hm… “Devil Child, Come Home.” That was always my favorite.” Bluegill replied, his voice very quiet now. His hand trembled as he tugged on the hat in salute. “See ya at the next sunset, Rufuss. Don’t you ever change fer no troll.”

Rufuss sat on the edge of the bed, eyes watering, and plucked a few chords. “It was an honor ta meet you, sir.”

Taking a deep breath, he pulled a pick out of his breast pocket and began to strum. After a few seconds, he began to sing.

His voice, by some miracle, didn’t crack or waver, and he sang. He sang his blood-pumper out, sang one of the most soulful songs Bluegill had ever composed. He sang about the moons, about the ranch, about the night an old rancher’s life changed. He sang of a demon with pitchforks for horns and bloody knuckles, and how that demon saved the rancher’s life. He sang of how that demon grew up, how that demon exchanged his fists for an ax, and how he left, leaving the old rancher alone. He sang of the rancher’s plea, for the demon to come home.

He sang of the rancher’s final words, of the rancher knowing the demon would take his soul when they saw each other again. Still, the rancher prayed for the demon to come back. Finally, he sang of the smile the rancher wore as he saw the demon appear on the horizon, and he sang of the rancher walking into the night to meet him, to welcome the demon home.

Rufuss strummed the last few cords, and let them fade into silence. He peeled open his eyes, his freckled cheeks wet and sticky, and turned to look.

He didn’t need to see it to know Bluegill’s chest no longer rose and fell. Lil’ Lady had her head on the old troll’s shoulder, eyes closed as she rested with her master for the last time. Rufuss set the guitar aside and smiled weakly.

“See ya at the next sunset, Mr. Bluegill.” He croaked.

Rising to his feet, he stumbled out of the respiteblock, and down the hall to his own. He sat heavily on his own bed, and finally let himself have a good, long, cowboy cry. His grief pooled in his hands and dripped through his fingers, splattering his already mud-splattered jeans.

Hours later, when his throat was raw and eyes were dry, he wiped his face and got back up. He wandered downstairs, to the mealblock, and got a glass of sweet tea. Sweetpea, Bluegill’s bark-beast grub, was on the couch, methodically gnawing a chew bone.

Rufuss pat her head, then wandered out onto the porch and sat in the rocking chair, staring out over the pasture. Part of him wanted to slink back inside, into his coon, to hide. But the other part of him knew there was still work to be done.

“Bluegill said cowfolk don’t leave jobs half finished.” He said to himself, bouncing his toes slowly to rock back and forth. Sniffling, he looked out over the ranch that was, once more, all his.

He could see the hill Bluegill had requested; it stood a few yards from the break, where the ground sloped down onto the beach. It’d do just fine, he thought.

Lost in his lapse of grief, the beeping of his palmhusk made him jump. He fumbled and pulled it out, to see a message from Gehero.

-GardeningWarrior began trolling OceanicBuckaroo!-

GW: 8. Hi, Rufuss. Is h3…? .8

OB: YeAh. A few hOurS AgO.

GW: 8. I’m so sorry. At l3ast you kn3w it was coming. .8

OB: ThAt dOn’t mAke it hurt LeSS.

GW: 8. I know. I’m sorry. Do you want m3 to com3 ov3r? .8

OB: NAh, it’S ALright, G. I’LL be OkAy. I’m juSt… thinkin’ mAybe I ShOuLd teLL Mr. UrfAth. BLuegiLL didn’ wAnt me tA teLL him he wAS gOin’, but I StiLL think he ShOuLd knOw he’S gOne.

GW: 8. I could go with you, if you want. .8

OB: I thOught he hAted yOu, thOugh?

GW: 8. Y3s, but you’r3 my fri3nd, Rufuss. I’m willing to fac3 him for you. .8

OB: YOu’re tOO kind, G. I’d AppreciAte it highLy if yOu’d AccOmpAny me.

GW: 8. Th3n it’s s3ttl3d. I can m33t you th3r3 now, if you’r3… r3ady. .8

Rufuss took a deep breath and drained his glass of tea, before he set it aside and stood up.

OB: Lemme fetch my hAt An’ bOOtS, An’ I’ll heAd yer wAy.

-OceanicBuckaroo ceased trolling GardeningWarrior!-

An hour later, Rufuss spotted Gehero standing by the gates to Hounding’s hive, twisting his claws through his hair anxiously. Rufuss sped up his pace, reaching up to tip his hat.

“Howdy, partner.” He called. Gehero looked up and smiled softly.

“Howdy, my friend.” He said, bowing slightly. The boys stepped forward and embraced one another, before pulling back. “How… how are you?” Gehero asked softly.

Rufuss smiled softly. “I’m hurtin’, G, but I’ll be alright.” He said honestly. Gehero nodded in understanding.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“At the moment, nah, but thank ya kindly fer askin’.” He said, before turning to the gate. “Let’s…” he took a deep breath, “Let’s go see Mr. Urfath.” He said, ready to get it over with. He tried the gate, and it pushed open easily for him.

“They’re not locked.” Gehero noted, sounding puzzled.

“Maybe he forgot. I left th’ paddock gates open a few weeks ago, plum forgot ‘bout it until one o’ the kelpies was standin’ on the porch.” Rufuss shrugged with a weak chuckle.

“Hounding doesn’t forget these kinds of things.” Gehero frowned. Shaking his head, though, he followed Rufuss up the marble steps of the large, dark hive. Lights shone through the windows, spilling onto the lawnring.

Rufuss swallowed thickly and walked up to the door, rapping his knuckles loudly against the black wood. There was a moment’s pause, before the giant door opened.

To both boys’ surprise, it was Ashhur who answered, the mutant red seadweller looking just as surprised as them.

“Why you here?” He asked, tipping his head.

“We need to see Houndin’.” Rufuss explained, tipping his hat in greeting.

“Master Urfath is business.” Ashhur informed him, before he frowned. He made several clicks and hums to himself. “Busy.” He corrected himself.

“This is important, though. Please, Ashhur.” Gehero stepped up. Ashhur glanced at him, all four eyes searching the purpleblood’s face, before he relented.

“Okay.” He stepped aside and motioned them in.

Thanking the redblood, Rufuss stepped inside and looked around; the mansion hive was decked in black and purple hues, with the barest splashes of red to give the place a gothic feel. The foyer alone was unnerving, the walls covered in mounted troll horns, skulls, and weapons.

Ashhur motioned for them to follow as he shut the door and headed towards the living block, his golden tattoos glimmering in the chandelier light; he was dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts, his multitude of fins on display.

“Master!” The seadweller called, “More visitors!”

The three of them entered the humongous living block, and both Rufuss and Gehero came to a stop.

Sat across from one another were Hounding and Oliver. Hounding sat in a throne-sized lounge chair, a faygo in hand and an amused expression on his face. Oliver sat snuggly on the lounge plank, his legs ankles crossed and cane laying across his lap, a soda of his own clasped in his claws.

Hounding looked up as they entered, his expression immediately darkening. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He snarled, setting his soda down.

Oliver turned her head in their direction, sniffing the air. “Purple and indigo… Oh! You two must be Gehero and Rufuss. Hello, darlings.” She purred, wiggling her fingers at them.

“Uh… Howdy.” Rufuss greeted her, tipping his hat. He swallowed nervously and stepped forward, looking up at Hounding. “Mr. Urfath, sir, I… I know you ain’t too fond o’ me, or- or Gehero fer that matter, but I got somethin’ ta tell ya.”

“Spit it out, then.” Hounding rumbled, scowling.

Rufuss took a shaky breath and hung his head. “Bluegill is dead.”

The silence that dropped was nearly deafening. Rufuss dared himself to raise his eyes, and saw Hounding staring at him, the purpleblood’s face suddenly blank, betraying his surprise.

“… How.”

“Just… age, sir.”

“When.”

“A few hours ago, sir.”

Hounding was silent for a long moment, before he took a deep breath and sat up. “Fine. Get out.” He said shortly.

“I- sir-?”

“I said,” Hounding spoke over him loudly, lips peeling back to bare his tusks, “get. Out.”

Rufuss opened his mouth to speak again, but thought better of it. He nodded and tipped his hat.

“Yes, sir. Have- have a good evenin’. Sorry fer your loss.” He turned away, taking Gehero’s hand and leading him out of the hive in silence. Rufuss only looked back when they were at the gate, and was surprised to see Ashhur and Oliver had followed them.

“Well, that was… anti-climactic.” Oliver hummed, looking both bored and disappointed.

“What were you doing with Hounding?” Gehero asked the olive, running his claws through his hair again.

“Oh, I just popped in for a hive visit, is all. He’s a friend of a friend of my morail. I just had a few questions for him.” Oliver shrugged, waving a hand dismissively.

Gehero frowned at that, working his jaw back and forth, before he turned to Rufuss. “What do we do now?”

Rufuss looked around, then up at the hive, then adjusted his pants and sighed. “I’m goin’ home. I got a body ta bury and critters who need dinner.” He said.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Gehero offered. Rufuss shook his head.

“No, it’s okay. You got critters o’ your own who probably want dinner. I… wanna be alone fer a while anyway.” He said, forcing a smile.

“… Alright. Troll me if you need anything.” Gehero told him. Rufuss nodded, tipping his hat to the three of them.

“Will do. See ya at the next sunset, folks.” He smiled, turned on his heel, and moseyed away.

Gehero watched him go, before he turned to Ashhur and Oliver. “… What about you, Ashhur?” He asked.

The mutant shrugged, the fins on his shoulders rippling. “I go back eventually. Master Urfath kicks me out… lots of times. I can go back later.”

“Well… it’s not safe for you to be out here uncovered.” Gehero reached down and undid his robe, slipping it off and holding it out. “Here. You can come stay at my hive for a while, if you’d like.”

Ashhur’s eyes all blinked at different intervals, and he nodded. He took the robe and slipped it on. “Okay.”

Beside them, Oliver hummed. “I suppose I should head home, too… Although, Gehero, darling, I was hoping to talk to you.”

Gehero turned to the oliveblood. “About what?”

“Well, word is that you… recently left your dear church.”

“I… I did, yes.”

“You must be feeling a little lost right now, right?”

“Um.”

“In need of a support system? Looking for a community to support you?” Oliver pressed, stepping forward.

Gehero stepped back, unnerved. “I- I have my meow-beasts-” He began.

“Yes, yes, your precious meow-beasts, I know. I’m more of a feather-beast person myself. Anyways, I know a community that can help you.”

Gehero perked up slightly. “You- you do?”

“I do, darling! A fun little club I host; a lovely group of trolls from all sides of the spectrum, many of which are going through their own hard times. We even have a silly name and we all get matching tattoos, and oh, it’s just a lovely, fun time.” Oliver purred.

Gehero’s face fell. “Oh. You mean the Black Hand.”

“Oh! You’ve heard of us, then?” Oliver beamed.

“Yes, Musrio warned me about you. I’m sorry, but I’m not looking into joining cults at the moment.” He said flatly. Oliver’s lips twitched in the faintest frown, before she was once again smiling.

“Ah, well, the offer still stands, my love.” She turned away, waving over her shoulder. “Good evening, my dears!”

Over her shoulder, she heard Gehero say, “Come with me, Ashhur.” She waited until the sounds of their footsteps faded away, before she let her smile drop. Digging in his purse, Oliver pulled out his palmhusk and earbuds, pulling up Trollian.

-SightlessFirebird began Trolling HeavymetalMeowbeast!-

SF: BB~. I have news~.

HM: OH??? ABOUT HIEROPHANT????

SF: Yes, my love~. I was just at the Hounding’s hive, when none other than Ru7uss and Gehero came in, and announced Bluegill had died~! Tragic thing, that~. Ah well, I suppose that’s just another number down on Musrio’s side, though~. Old troll passed in his own bed~.

HM: OH DAMN. WHAT ABOUT HOUNDING, THOUGH??? DID HE GIVE YOU ANYTHING USEFUL???

SF: He did~! An old trinket of Hierophant’s I think will come in handy~. I think it’s about time we had another meeting, BB~.

SF: It’s time 7or you to come home~.

HM: !!!!!!!

-SightlessFirebird ceased Trolling HeavymetalMeowbeast!-

[marvella15]

Astaire & Rogers Rewatch Part 8: Carefree

• Ah Carefree. Another film with a lot of weird, extraneous crap in it that detracts from what we’re all actually here for: Astaire and Rogers together and dancing. 

• Surprisingly, this odd movie has a song and dance I especially like, “Change Partners.” It also has the first on-screen romantic kiss between Astaire and Rogers. But we’ll get to that. 

• Our character/actors: Dr. Tony Flagg (Fred Astaire), Amanda (Ginger Rogers), Stephen (Ralph Bellamy), Cora (Luella Gear)

• I’m not up on Ralph Bellamy’s filmography but in every movie I’ve ever seen him in, he’s the guy who loses the girl to the bigger male star. 

• Now I’m no expert but it seems like if your fiancé breaks off your engagement three times, there might be some actual issues in your relationship. And I don’t think those issues boil down to just “the girl I like won’t marry me.”

• For the first time in one of these films, Astaire’s character isn’t a dancer or musician by profession. He’s a psychiatrist… who used to be a dancer. Gotta have some reason why he’s so dang elegant and talented. 

Not a fan of his notes on a patient that indicate she’s a “typical pampered female” who doesn’t need a doctor but rather “a good spanking.” 

Right after this, he describes Amanda, whom he hasn’t met, in very unflattering terms, including that she probably doesn’t have a brain. Here’s a diagnosis, Dr. Flagg. You’re a misogynist. 

Already we can see some issues with Carefree. 1938 may have been a different time but nothing about Astaire’s character is charming, kind, or anything we’d want Rogers to be paired with.

• I do like that as usual Rogers’ character doesn’t stand for any crap. She doesn’t give one single eff about his questions or his attempts to chat with her and then she storms out. 

• Astaire spent two weeks rehearsing the golf solo (aka "Since They Turned 'Loch Lomond' into Swing"), during which he did a thousand swings. The actual number took two and a half days to film. 

Surely it helped that he was an avid golfer already. In addition to horse racing, it was one of his favorites hobbies. 

It goes without saying that he hits a golf ball better in the midst of a dance than I could on a driving range. 

It also probably goes without saying that the only reason Tony does this number is because his ego is insulted by Amanda. 

• Rogers looks particularly fab in her shorts during the bicycle scenes. 

• Amanda begins to warm up to Tony after seeing he has talents besides psychoanalysis and insulting women he hasn’t met. But she only truly starts to like him after he makes an idiot of himself by crashing his bike into a bush. 

• Cora thinks that Tony sent her a gigolo?? And she’s totally on board with it?? And she drinks something this random man (who we know is Tony’s assistant) hands her???

• “I Used to be Color Blind” has a lot of potential that it doesn’t live up to imo. As you might guess by the song and the way the scene is filmed, this sequence was supposed to be in color. But, depending on who you ask, either the studio felt it was too expensive or the color tests looked horrible so it was scrapped. Either way, it’s a shame. Audiences had to wait over ten years to see Astaire and Rogers dancing in color.

• I’m also not wild about the slow motion, which seems a bit goofy. However, it does let us better appreciate the talent and mastery of Astaire and Rogers. For example, when he lifts her in a spin, her feet don’t touch the ground again for a while and they both make it seem effortless. 

• Soooo the Kiss. I know I’ve been banging the kiss kiss kiss drum for a few movies now. But this almost isn’t that satisfying? Now, I would say that this could’ve been intentional on Astaire’s part since he (and maybe his wife?) was the one opposed to any on-screen clinches and preferred the romance and intimacy to be in the dances. But, Astaire wasn’t comfortable with even this finished product, according to both his account and Rogers’. The slow-motion made what was really just a peck on the lips seem like much more, which he felt made up for all of the kisses he hadn’t given her in their previous films. So it seems unlikely he had any hand in intentionally making it unsatisfying. 

More likely, it’s that of all of the scenes, songs, dances, and movies for a kiss to happen, this isn’t the one I would’ve picked. A peck on the lips during “The Continental” would’ve been perfect, or a delicate kiss after “Cheek to Cheek” or a passionate one after “Never Gonna Dance.” Just a few places I wish we’d seen a kiss rather than (or in addition to) here.

All of that said, I will say that there’s something very fitting that in the scene Rogers is the one to lean up and kiss him rather than him being the proactive one. That’s very fitting for their off-screen dynamic too where he was far more shy and reserved. And I do like that it’s clearly an intimate kiss, as evidenced by the way she wraps her arms around his back. 

• Two years before she would win her historic Oscar, Hattie McDaniel appears in Carefree in an uncredited role as a maid.

• When Amanda next meets with Tony, she is conflicted about telling him about her dream where she was very clearly in love with him and not boring old Steve. Her sweater conveys her struggle. It has arrows piercing an embroidered heart over her actual heart. 

• Amanda’s invented dream is insane but who hasn’t made up ridiculous excuses to stay around their crush? But kids, don’t go so far as being put under anesthesia. 

• The whole period where Amanda is still drugged and acting weird is absolutely something I typically skip, even though Rogers does a good job with the slapstick.

• “The Yam” harkens back to previous numbers like “The Piccolino” or “The Continental.” Even though it feels almost a bit outdated at this point, it’s a fun, upbeat number in an otherwise somewhat dull film. 

• I like that Astaire drops the acting after a few seconds. He’s just himself for most of this dance and looks like he’s having the most fun he has at any point in this movie. Rogers is also all smiles and looks marvelous. 

• I also like that they dance around so much of the lodge and use much of the scenery as part of the number. 

• Some fun lyrics:

“I didn’t come to do the Charleston” - Rogers got her start in entertainment by winning a Charleston contest when she was 14.

“I didn’t come to ball the jack” - Five years later, Judy Garland will perform a superb number called “Ballin’ the Jack” in For Me and My Gal with a promising new musical star: Gene Kelly. 

• Gotta give it up for the EIGHT times they do the move where his leg is up on the table and she leaps over it. 

• She is undoubtedly whispering something to him when they start to slow dance. 

• Rogers is a really wonderful actress. She does a stellar job when Amanda tells Tony she’s actually in love with him.

• Look, I get that Tony’s trying to find a way out of a situation wherein his friend’s fiancé has fallen in love with him and plans to break it off with his friend, but telling Amanda she’s imagining her feelings is pretty crappy of him. Hypnotizing her so she’ll hate him and marry Steve instead is pretty stupid. 

But once again, Rogers does a fab job in this scene. Hypnotized or not, she’s obviously devastated and cries even while pretending to be in a trance. 

• “Kiss her, you dope!” is what I’ve been saying for seven movies. 

• Some light gun violence humor here in 1938.

• I assume it’s an in-joke that the judge’s last name is Travers, which was the last name of Astaire’s character in Gay Divorcee.

• We already knew Steve was hapless trash but refusing to allow Amanda to choose her own future and instead leaving her hypnotized and getting a restraining order against his friend to prevent Tony and Amanda from ever getting together is a new low.

• Unsurprisingly, the most enduring song from this film is “Change Partners,” which was nominated for an Oscar. It’s also one of my favorites and frequently gets stuck in my head. 

• At least Steve’s stupidity is used against him. Tony literally sings exactly what he’s going to do (“I’ll tell the waiter to tell him he’s wanted on the telephone”) and yet Steve still falls for it. 

• For the third(?) time in this film, Rogers must pretend to be in a trance, this time dancing to Astaire’s hypnotic hands. But not long in, she clearly breaks through a bit because she becomes more of a participant. She grabs his hand when it’s on her waist and melts into his arms when they embrace. 

• “Change Partners” as a dance is incredibly intimate. That’s not so unusual for Astaire and Rogers’ romantic duets but it’s a tad unusual in this particular film where, despite that kiss, they’ve hardly had any romantic interactions. And yet in this dance, they are frequently very close together, his lips hover near hers more than once, and it’s all very slow. In fact, they very nearly kiss a few times. To me it’s further proof that as long-awaited as the earlier kiss was, there were and are better places for it, such as right here.

• Amanda really gets a raw deal. Sure she gets to marry the man she actually loves. But in the process, she nearly shoots him and others, gets arrested, is subjected to a variety of psychological experiments, and then gets punched in the face on her wedding day. 

• During this rewatch I’ve been surprised how much I’ve enjoyed certain films I don’t watch as much, like Gay Divorcee, but Carefree is pretty much how I remember it. Very little worth rewatching, except “The Yam” and “Change Partners.”

• Up next is the last RKO production Astaire and Rogers made and the end of their partnership… for now. It’s The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle.

[thdorkmagnet]

Light of the Sun and Stars Chapter 42: Cooking With Kelly

Summary: His whole life Marco Diaz has been raised by monsters, living under the cruel rule of their leader, Toffee. But one day Marco escapes into Mewni where he meets a magical princess and Mewman like himself, who begins teaching him all about her world. Together they will learn about life, love, and the lights within each of them, as they change their world forever.

Chapter Synopsis: The annual Mewni Bake-Off is about to begin and Kelly is excited and nervous to be representing her restaurant this year. Needing help she asks Star and Marco for assistance in the competition and Tom comes to help out too, much to Kelly’s dismay. And to make matters worse one of the other competitors seemed determined to ruin Kelly’s chances at winning, no matter the cost.

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Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters are owned by Daron Nefcy and Disney. All rights go to them.

Kelly sucked in a deep breath, trying to rid herself of the nervous energy she felt building up in her chest. Her fingers tapped impatiently against her leg as she scanned the crowded streets, looking for any signs of her friends. Today was the big day. The Annual Mewni Bake-Off was about to begin and so far Star and Marco were no shows, Kelly unsure if they were just running late or possibly had forgotten, although that last one seemed unlikely. Come on guys, this is not what I need today, Kelly thought glumly, feeling her anxiety spike again. She really needed some support right now. Although she had felt calm and ready during the time leading up to the bake-off now that the day had actually arrived, doubt had started creeping into her mind, her nerves making it incredibly difficult for her to relax.

She cast a quick glance over to Tad from the stands, her boyfriend sadly having to sit out the competition since he wasn't a chef and he gave her an encouraging smile, yelling something to her that sadly was drowned out in the noisy crowd around him. Kelly put a hand to her chest, trying to relax her nerves to no avail. It was bad enough she was struggling with self-doubt but not having Tad with her made her feel incomplete, like a part of her was missing and that only made her feel more stressed and anxious.

And to top it all off, Roy had made it very clear to her what would happen should she fail this competition, his horrifying use of the terms “dish maid and underpaid waitress” enough to give Kelly nightmares. She had to win this competition or her dreams of being a world-famous chef would be all but impossible. Kelly tried not to let those thoughts crush her, reminding herself of her resolve.

She was going to show Roy exactly what she was made of, she was going to help Fang Tangs reach new heights of popularity even if it killed her. Fang Tangs had never won the competition before, mostly going unnoticed to the bigger and better bakers on the roster, but Kelly was not gonna let that stand. Now was her chance to prove what she was made of!

But those dreams would be all but dashed if her sous-chefs didn't get there soon.

Right on cue, she heard the familiar voice of Marco call behind her, “Hey Kelly!”

The green-haired girl turned with a relieved grin as she saw Marco and Star approaching, the two dressed in cute chef outfits. “Thank goodness you two made it!” Kelly exclaimed, her tone slightly panic-filled. “I was starting to worry you wouldn't show.”

“Sorry,” Marco said, rubbing sheepishly at the back of his neck, Star giving the girl an apologetic grin. “Hope we didn't worry you too bad.”

Kelly shook her head. “Nah, so long as you're here, that's all I care about,” the Woolett told her friends with a bright grin.

“Well you can count on us, Kelly,” Star said, doing a little salute, Marco doing the same. “We're here to help!”

“Thanks, I really appreciate the support,” Kelly replied, before letting out a soothing breath. “To be honest, I've been feeling a little freaked out about this. Roy said if I fail I can kiss my role as chef goodbye.”

“That's not gonna happen, Kelly,” Marco said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. “Because so long as the four of us work together we're gonna win this thing!”

The girl felt a flood of relief wash over her at that, Marco’s confidence helping to restore some of her own. “Thanks, Marco, I-” Kelly began, only to stop mid-sentence as she processed what Marco had said. “Wait, what did you mean by four?” the green-haired girl asked, a suspicious eyebrow slowly raising.

“Oh we invited Tom to help out, too,” Star explained.

“You did what?!” Kelly exclaimed.

The two flinched at the raised tone, Marco saying in a soft, unsure tone, “We, uhh, just thought maybe he could help.”

“How?” Kelly asked, in disbelief.

“Well it is a really complicated recipe, Kelly,” Star tried. “We just thought an extra pair of hands could be useful.”

“Yeah, but you could've at least told me about it,” Kelly muttered bitterly, crossing her hands in front of her chest.

“Sorry, we didn't think you'd mind,” Marco said with an apologetic look.

“Plus, it just kinda happened,” Star added. “We mentioned the competition to him this morning and Tom offered to lend us all a hand, so we said yes.”

“Well, where is he then?” Kelly asked, with a skeptical frown.

“Tom's usually late for stuff,” Star explained. “He'll be here.”

“Does he even know how to cook?” the Woolett questioned, an eyebrow slowly raising.

“Oh, totally!” Marco said with a confident smile. “He said he's been baking since he was a little kid.”

Kelly looked back and forth between the two for a moment, seeing their eager and begging faces and knew there was no point in arguing. It was impossible to resist those two's charms. “Okay, fine. He can help,” the Woolett declared and Star and Marco cheered, high-fiving in victory. “But he better not get in the way and he has to follow orders, got it.”

Star and Marco nodded. “Thank Kelly!” Marco exclaimed, giving the girl a quick hug, Star joining in, too. “I promise you won't regret it.”

Kelly gave a small grunt in reply. She really hoped that was true and that she wasn't making a terrible mistake. But she supposed for once, she'd just have to trust her friends. They were helping her out of the kindness of their own hearts, after all. The least she could do was hear them out. She pushed the two away before saying in a commanding tone, “Now, let's go get our area set up, the competition starts soon.”

“Yes, ma'am!” Star and Marco said simultaneously, saluting their chef with goofy but enduring looks and Kelly couldn't help but giggle.

“At ease, soldiers,” she joked with the smallest hint of a smirk on her face, her friends succeeding in crushing the fears and doubts within her.

…

The center of town was a hectic mess of people, rows of seats now surrounded the square, Mewmans and creatures from many dimensions all sitting to watch the competition take place. In the middle were little miniature kitchens for the designated contestants, complete with all the essentials needed to prepare each dish, made to perfectly suit each chef's unique style. Although most contestants were Mewmans, Marco could spot many different species present, some he didn't even recognize. He couldn't help but gawk at every new face he saw as well as admire the cooking utensils which were completely unknown to him, the red clad teen left to guess what they could possibly be used for, pointing them out to Star whenever he could.

Star as well seemed curious about the other contestants, sometimes even staring in wonder along with her boyfriend, the two letting out quiet and simultaneous “oohs”. Kelly, on the other hand, didn't seem as impressed, her face set in a firm line as she led her two helpers over to their spot.

“Wow, can't believe how many people showed up this year,” Star commented, her hands behind her back, an almost skip in her step.

“Is it not like this usually?” Marco asked, his interest clearly piqued.

“Normally, no. But since the war ended, this year my parents thought it would be a good idea to allow contestants from other dimensions to compete instead of just from around Mewni,” Star explained to her boyfriend.

“Oh neat,” Marco said, a bright grin on his face.

“Not really,” Kelly spoke up, her voice devoid of emotion. “That just means we have all the more competition to beat.”

Star and Marco shared a look. “Well I mean, I hadn't thought of that,” the hooded teen mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Geez, Kelly. I know you wanna win but don't you think you're taking this a bit too far,” Star spoke up, putting a hand on her hip. “I mean everyone else just looks like they're having fun.”

Kelly stopped in her tracks, turning on her heels with a grim look. She leaned in close to the teens and whispered, “This is not a fun game. This is survival of the fittest. Don't let everyone's happy appearance fool you, none of these guys are our friends. You can't trust anyone, got it.”

Star and Marco both nodded dumbly, their eyes wide with fright. They had never seen Kelly so intense before and the couple could feel a shudder jumping up their spines. “Good, then stop admiring the competition, we gotta look professional.” With that, Kelly continued on ahead, Star and Marco following reluctantly after.

“Do you think any of that was true?” Marco asked his girlfriend, his voice shaking some in fear.

“It's okay, Marco. I'm sure Kelly's just exaggerating,” Star replied with a comforting smile.

“Yeah, you're probably right,” Marco said in relief.

“Oh hey Kelly,” a friendly boy said, a bright smile on his face as he approached the Woolett. “Long time no see.”

“Out of my way, Gustav!” Kelly shouted and Gustav jumped, quickly moving out of the way of the rampaging girl, keeping his hands raised in fright. The girl paused only long enough to shoot him a warning glare. “I'm watching you.” She did a quick gesture pointing two fingers to her eyes then in Gustav's direction before storming on.

Gustav watched her go, still frozen stiff, his eyes wide with shock and terror, saying more to himself than anyone else, “Uhh, see you later then, I guess.”

Star and Marco both cringed at their friend's unjustified behavior, their eyes slowly meeting. “Or maybe she's completely lost her marbles,” Star corrected herself and Marco nodded in agreement.

The two quickly approached the still-troubled Gustav, Marco greeting in a friendly tone, “Sorry about our friend, she's just... really determined.”

“Oh no, I get it,” Gustav said in a thick accent neither teen recognized. “Kelly's always been the competitive type.”

“Yeah, we kinda picked up on that,” Star replied.

“You know, Kelly?” Marco asked, cocking his head curiously to the side.

“Sorta. I worked at Fang Tang's for a few months,” Gustav explained, rubbing his neck shyly.

“Oh, so what restaurant are you representing this year?” Star asked.

“My own, actually. I own a modest meatball place back on Earth.”

“Wow! Your meatballs must be pretty good, then,” Marco said his eyes shining with wonder.

“I could let you try one if you'd like,” Gustav offered.

Marco gasped in joy, exclaiming, “That would be-”

“Marco! Star!” The two jumped as they heard their names, turning to see Kelly tapping a foot impatiently, her arms crossed in annoyance, clearly waiting on them to catch up.

“We better get going,” Star said, not wanting to make Kelly any more stressed than she already was.

“Good luck in the competition!” Marco added with a quick wave, the two racing to join their friend.

Gustav waved back, calling after them, “You too!”

When Marco and Star reached Kelly, however, they were greeted by a much less friendly sight, the girl glaring long and hard at them. “Hey, Kelly,” Marco began, feeling slightly nervous. “Is something wrong?”

“What did I literally just tell you two?” the girl hissed in exasperation. “Don't trust anyone!”

“Oh come on, Gustav is harmless,” Star shot back, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “You're being paranoid, Kelly.”

“Yeah, he seemed friendly,” Marco added a smile on his face.

Kelly rubbed her forehead with her hands, feeling a headache start to form. “They always do, right before they stab you in the back,” the Woolett muttered. But seeing the worried looks on Star and Marco's faces she quickly added in a much more reasonable tone, “Look, just try and not talk to anyone else unless you have to, okay.”

“Okay,” Star and Marco agreed as one.

Satisfied her friends wouldn't be putting themselves at further risk, turned to her designated area for the competition. The smooth metal counters shone in the mid-afternoon light, cleaned and polished to perfection. The top-of-the-line oven and stove top both looked brand new and Kelly smiled in anticipation for getting some good use out of them. All the cookware they would need was stacked neatly and organized just to Kelly's liking and the ingredients needed for her recipe were all on a cart next to the small cooking area, a blanket draped across them to try and prevent the competition from catching on to her chosen dish. The area was small but just big enough for three (or now four) people to work and move about freely.

“Wow, looks to me like we're already ready to go!” Marco exclaimed, a bright grin on his face as he admired the miniature kitchen.

Kelly nodded her head in approval. “Yeah, looks that way. Guess whoever Roy hired actually did their job right,” the green-haired girl complimented, running her finger along the smooth metal, not a speck of dust to be found.

“Guess that means, we're just waiting for the competition to actually start,” Star commented.

“And on Tom,” Marco added.

“If he shows,” Kelly said doubtfully.

“He will,” Marco reassured her. “He promised.”

“Well, let's hope he does, then,” was all the Woolett said in response. “In the meantime, though, do you guys remember your jobs?”

Star and Marco nodded. “Oh yeah, we are so ready!” the hooded teen exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. “I've been hyped for this all week!”

“Oh, he has,” Star agreed, putting a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder shooting him a loving look. “I haven't seen Marco this excited in forever.”

“Yep, I even stayed up all night last night making a list of everything each of us has to do!”

Marco pulled out said list, letting it unfold so the two girls could read it. Kelly looked over the tiny lettering in surprise, saying in the nicest tone she could, “Wow, Marco this is... very detailed.”

“Thanks, I even color coded it,” the boy said, puffing out his chest with pride.

“So what about Tom?” Kelly asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh well, I had to rearrange a few things,” Marco explained sheepishly.

“That's what took us so long getting here, actually,” Star pitched in.

“I see,” Kelly said, her eyes scanning the page again without really reading it. At least they are prepared, the hairy teen thought.

“Well, well, well,” a cynical voice said behind them and the group of teens turned to see a tall lanky man in a chef's uniform standing over them. He was a strange looking man to behold, everything about him screamed that something was not quite right, from the eyepatch over his right eye, to the hook hand on his left arm, to the large metal spatula that operated as a sort of peg leg, something about this man left Marco and Star feeling uncomfortable. On top of that he had a crooked smile that screamed trouble, framed by a thin, curled mustache and goatee, and his cheek marks were spatulas.

He leered down at the three with a single, judging eye, his gaze seeming to be sizing them up and Star and Marco felt a chill jump up their spines. “It would seem Roy decided to hire a few amateur chefs to represent his restaurant this year, how interesting. Seems like he's finally given up,” the man said, his voice dripping with superiority, polishing his gleaming hook with a fancy handkerchief.

Kelly's eyes narrowed at the insult, saying through gritted teeth, “We are not amateurs. And for the record, we are more than ready to wipe the floor with you, Pie King.”

“Pie King?” Marco whispered in confusion and Star just shrugged.

Pie King paused for a moment at the challenge before bursting out into laughter, only causing Kelly's anger to grow. “Oh that's a good joke. Roy's pathetic restaurant has never won once, not against the superior might of the Pie Folk.” The pompous man stood a little taller as he spoke of his people.

“Well before Roy didn't have us,” Kelly responded confidently, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Pie King rolled his singular eye, before saying in a sly tone, “Right, then I suppose we'll just see who is better, won't we.”

“Yes, we will,” Kelly spat out, the two glaring at each other for a moment, a spark of animosity passing between the two competitors.

“Well, good luck with that, I look forward to beating you,” Pie King said before turning and walking over to his own station which was three times bigger than their tiny set up, at least a dozen chefs all waiting to follow his orders. The Pie King turned to them with a superior grin, giving them a patronizing wave that caused Kelly's blood to boil.

The Woolett let out a groan of annoyance, doing her best to not let her anger show (not wanting to give Pie King the satisfaction of seeing he had an effect on her) and she turned away, propping herself up on the tabletop as she took slow breaths to try and calm down.

“Who was that guy?” Marco asked curiously, eying the strange man out of the corner of his eye.

“That would be the esteemed Pie King of Pie Island,” Kelly said in a mocking tone, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, so that's the Pie King, huh?” Star questioned, her interest peaked. She had never actually met any of the Pie Folk in person before, but their reputation spoke for themselves, well known for being as untrustworthy as they were excellent cooks. Their pies are some of the most delicious things in the world but the cost of getting one could prove too great since the Pie Folk were dirty cheaters and thieves at heart.

“Yep, that's him in the flesh,” Kelly replied with a deep sigh. “Watch yourself around him. He's as sneaky as they come.”

Star and Marco nodded. “What does he have against Roy anyways?” Marco asked nervously, shifting uncomfortably on his feet as he felt the Pie King's lingering gaze land on him.

“Oh those two have hated each other for forever,” the girl-haired girl said. “And he would do anything to make sure we don’t win because of it.”

Star and Marco shared nervous looks at that. If what Kelly said was true then this guy really was bad news and the two wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.

The teens quickly brushed this off though, having more important things in mind than the tricky Pie King, as the announcer declared the competition would soon begin. Star, Marco and Kelly quickly got into their positions, checking over everything to make sure it was all in perfect working order. Once the Woolett was satisfied, it simply became a matter of waiting. The time seemed to drag on at an agonizing rate as the three stood around in boredom, watching the other chefs rush around to get everything ready. Kelly drummed her fingers impatiently against the countertop, searching the crowded area for any signs of their fourth member, growing more and more frustrated with every minute that passed. Every few seconds, Marco would check his phone for both the time and to see if maybe he got a call from Tom, but with no luck.

After three minutes of waiting Marco tried calling him, Kelly watching closely as the hooded teen's face flooded with disappointment before hanging up the phone without a word. “Seriously?” the Woolett huffed. “I'm starting to think he isn't going to show.”

“He'll be here,” Star reassured her friend, giving her a confident smile. But she was starting to have her doubts herself. Tom was usually a little late but this was getting ridiculous, even for him.

After nearly ten minutes though, the gang was starting to worry he wasn't coming, Marco keeping a close eye on his phone for any sign of ringing and Star and Kelly looking around frantically for any sign of him. Finally, the blond leaned heavily on the tabletop. “Where the heck is he?!” Star snapped, starting to get frustrated with her friend's tardiness. “I swear if he doesn't show, he's gonna get an earful.”

“Maybe he forgot,” Marco suggested with a shrug.

“Typical,” Kelly muttered bitterly. But she quickly took charge once again, saying to her fellow cooks, “Well if he doesn't get her soon, we'll just have to go back to the original plan. Star, you'll be in charge of-”

“That won't be necessary,” a voice said behind the girl and the three looked over to see Tom standing just a few feet away, a smug grin on his face.

“Tom!” the three said as one.

“You made it,” Marco added happily, his eyes twinkling in joy.

But Kelly and Star were less than enthusiastic, the hairy girl snapping, “Where were you?!”

“And why weren't you answering your phone?!” Star added, with a scolding glare.

“Whoa, whoa, relax,” Tom said smoothly, raising his hands in surrender. “Look sorry for making you wait, but I'm here now, aren't I?”

“Yeah but barely, you cut it way too close, Tom,” Kelly responded immediately, her voice full of authority as she addressed her final baker.

Tom shrugged. “I just like to wait for the best possible moment to show,” the boy explained, giving her an innocent grin.

But Kelly wasn't budging as she said in a firm tone, “Well, on time would have been the best possible moment and if you are gonna be baking for me, you need to follow my commands exactly, got it?”

Tom seemed a little annoyed by this, his cheekmarks simmering just a bit but he quickly gained control of himself, nodding and giving a salute. “Aye, aye, ma'am,” he said with a cool smirk.

“Good,” Kelly said, satisfied with the boy's obedience. She held out a hand in offering and Tom shook it without a second thought, the Woolett adding in a semi-pleasant tone, “Then welcome aboard the team.” 

“Happy to be here,” Tom replied, smiling smoothly back.

“Hey, Tom!” Marco shouted over to the pair, a bright grin on his face as usual, his cheekmarks glowing bright red from his excitement. “Come stand over by me, I saved you a spot!”

“Sure thing, Marco,” Tom called back, giving his friend a warm smile as he moved over to Marco's side, now standing between him and Star. The hooded teen practically bounced with excitement now that Tom had arrived, happy to have his best guy friend there to help out.

“Glad you could make it,” Star said to her friend, before giving him a knowing look, “Finally.”

Tom smiled guiltily, saying, “Yeah, sorry.”

Star laughed, giving Tom a light shove. “Tom, I'm just kidding. I know how you are. I'm just glad you made it.”

Tom grinned over at the blond. “Thanks.”

“So Tom, are you ready to help us make the most delicious meal ever!” Marco exclaimed, unable to hold in his enthusiasm.

Tom, however, kept up his cool and collected attitude as he just shrugged, his hands buried deep in his pockets as he replied smoothly, “Sure, what are we waiting for? Let's do it.”

“Well we gotta wait for the time to officially start,” Star explained to her hot-headed friend.

“Luckily we only got about a minute or so,” Kelly spoke up, returning to her own spot as she waited tensely for the competition to officially begin, her heart beginning to pound in anticipation.

Star turned to Tom and whispered softly over to him, keeping her voice low enough that neither Kelly or Marco could hear. “Are you sure you are up for this? I've never heard of you cooking anything in your life.”

Tom scoffed, not bothering to match Star's quiet tone as he replied confidently, “Oh yeah, I've got this. I've been cooking with my mom for years. I can handle anything you guys can dish out.”

“Well if you're sure,” Star said reluctantly, not quite believing her friend was as ready as he let on. Tom seemed to pick up on this though, his eyes flashing with hurt and annoyance for a second and Star quickly added, “It's just this whole thing means a lot to Kelly and she needs all of us at the top of our game to pull this off.”

“Star, relax,” Tom replied, giving her a smooth grin. “I got this.”

Star still wasn't quite sure if that was true or not but not wanting to upset her friend, didn't argue any further, simply nodding her head and giving him a small smile.

“What are we whispering about?” Marco asked in his own soft tone, leaning in closer so he could hear what his friends were discussing without him.

Star and Tom shared a grin before the blond explained with a giggle, “Nothing important, Marco. Don't worry.”

“Okay,” the boy said with bright enthusiasm.

Tom decided it best to change the subject as he asked the group. “So what are we making anyways?”

Kelly whipped her head over in their direction, saying in a disbelieving tone, “You didn't tell him what we were making?!”

Star and Marco's faces flushed with embarrassment, Marco beginning to tap his pointer fingers together as he muttered sheepishly, “Well it kinda slipped our minds.”

Seeing Kelly's growing worry and frustration, Star quickly added, “But hey, it's okay. I'm sure Tom'll be able to learn as he goes, right Tom?” She gave him a knowing look and the flaming teen nodded.

“Oh yeah, sure, I've got this,” Tom replied awkwardly, the hesitancy and nervousness in his tone giving him away in a second.

Kelly sucked in a calming breath, doing her best to remain cool and level-headed despite the creeping anxiety she could feel building up inside her. “It's fine,” she muttered, more to herself than the others. “We can handle this.” She turned to the hooded teen. “Marco, please fill Tom in on what we're making today and what his part is going to be.”

Marco nodded and pulled out his color-coded list and Kelly almost laughed at the irony. Looks like I misjudged that thing. Who would've thought that actually had a use?

“Ok, so we're making a very special recipe that Kelly came up with all by herself. It's called the Multiverse Multi Layered Rainbow Cake,” Marco explained, his voice shaking some with excitement, his eyes shimmering with pure joy as he thought of the genius recipe his friend had come up with, his stomach rumbling some and his mouth beginning to water just thinking about the delectable treat.

But before the hooded teen could explain anymore to his friend, the announcer from before loudly declared to the crowd and competitors alike, “And now friends it's time for Queen Comet’s Annual Mewni Bake-Off to officially begin!” A loud cheer rang out through the crowd and the Mewman man smiled brightly. He cleared his throat, before his megaphone cheekmarks glowed brightly, activating his Trait as he shouted loud enough for all to hear, “Good luck to all our chefs this year and may the best baker win!”

With that a whistle was blown behind him, officially beginning the baking competition.

Kelly immediately took charge, yelling to the rest of her bakers, “Nevermind, we don't have time for that, Tom you're just gonna have to learn on the go!”

Tom's eyes widened and he let out a nervous chuckle, saying in a skittish tone, “Uhh, can't we just go over the recipe like one time or-”

“Nope” Kelly shouted, flicking the sheet off the cart, revealing her ingredients to the world and letting the sheet flutter to the group forgotten. Tom nearly gasped in shock as he stared at a collection of ingredients from all over the multiverse, some of which even he didn't recognize. “What is all that?”

“Our ingredients, duh,” Kelly responded, quickly grabbing a few of them off the cart and handing them over to Star and Marco.

“This stuff looks like it came from every dimension possible!” Tom exclaimed, his mind still reeling in shock.

“Yeah, that's the whole point,” Star spoke up, her and Marco huddled together as they worked on peeling open some odd-looking purple fruit. “Kelly had the genius idea of mixing food from different dimensions together into one dish.”

“I've actually had the idea for a while now,” Kelly said modestly, but there was a confident gleam in her eye. “It just took a while to figure out which ingredients to use. But I think I got the recipe down.”

“Oh man, do you!” Marco exclaimed, looking up from his task long enough to shoot his friend a smile. “Me and Star loved it! Right, Star?”

Star nodded. “Yeah it was delicious,” the blonde agreed, still working hard on peeling the remaining bits off the fruit, before passing it to Kelly.

The green-haired girl whipped out a sharp knife, twirling it expertly in her hand before quickly dicing up the fruit in only a few seconds, her hand moving at speeds Tom didn't even know was possible. 

“So what do I do?” Tom asked, feeling suddenly left out of the group.

“Well while we're working on getting the purpleblurp berries ready, you can start on mixing up the rest of the ingredients,” Kelly directed him, never taking her eyes off the sharp knife as she cut through the purple fruit like it was nothing.

“Right, sure,” Tom said with a quick nod, looking around the small kitchen for any signs of a bowl of some sort. “Uhhh just need a-”

“Below you and to your left,” Marco helpfully supplied and Tom was able to locate the mixing bowl he needed.

“Alright, where do I start?” Tom asked, looking over to his friends for his next direction.

“Four scoops of fluff flower,” Kelly said, Tom quickly scooping the mix into the bowl.

“Two griffon eggs,” Star added and Tom quickly cracked them open and added them to his mixture.

“Two scoops of sapphire sugar,” Marco directed, a bright smile on his face, clearly enjoying himself.

“A whole thing of banana butter,” Star added, looking over to make sure her friend followed the direction.

“A pinch of aquamarine salt,” Kelly finished. She turned to Tom with a serious expression, pointing her knife in his direction as she added, “But not too much. It could ruin the whole mixture.”

Tom nodded, sprinkling in only a few grains of the blue powder.

“Now just keep mixing okay,” Kelly said, the smile returning to her face as she continued to cut up fruit. Tom did just that, whisking the spatula around the bowl at the fastest speed he could, his eyes beginning to glow red from the pure intensity he was putting into the task, causing some of the mixture to splatter out of the bowl.

“Relax, Tom,” Marco said, noticing his friend's tense demeanor. “You don't have to be so aggressive. Just have fun, okay.”

“Yeah, you're mixing the batter, not declaring war on it,” Star jokingly added, giggling a bit to herself.

Tom slowed down his assault on the batter, giving his friend an embarrassed grin, his cheeks slightly flushed. “Right, sorry, guess I just got carried away.”

“Well next time, try not to spill it everywhere,” Kelly commented as she stepped over to where Tom was, depositing the chopped up bits of fruit into the bowl, Tom mixing them in with the rest of the ingredients. “We want the mixture to go in the cake, not on the floor.”

The hot-headed teen frowned but kept his comments to himself as he finished stirring.

Kelly nodded her head in approval as she looked into the bowl, before saying, “Okay, that should do it for the first layer, now get it into the oven to cook.”

Tom nodded, quickly moving over to the oven and beginning to fiddle with the buttons and knobs, trying to figure out how to activate the heat, while Kelly poured the mixture into a pan. The boy growled some in frustration as he pressed buttons at random hoping that would somehow work. Dang, stupid machines! Why did they all have to be so complicated! This was exactly why the Underworld had Firebrand Fairies instead. All they had to do was breathe a little bit of fire and your meal was ready to go. Why didn't everyone switch to this much easier method instead of insisting on using dumb technology for everything?!

The others could see their friend struggling and Marco helpfully asked, “Hey, Tom you need a hand?”

“No, no, I got it,” Tom replied stubbornly, though the venom in his tone was clear. There was no way he was gonna let a stupid oven beat him! He was the Prince of the Underworld for crying out loud! He would get this thing working even if it killed him!

Kelly just rolled her eyes and hit the start button out of the boy's view, causing the machine to instantly come to life and Tom grinned in victory. “See, told you I'd get it,” he said smugly in Star and Marco's direction. The two had to turn away to hide their laughter, giggling to themselves over their friend's naivety in the kitchen. It was obvious Tom wasn't the master baker he had said he was.

Tom proudly slid the pan into the oven and slammed the lid, clapping his hands together to dust off the remaining powder from his messy mixing. “There, done and done. That wasn't so bad,” the boy declared, gloaling to himself at his impressive skills. Sure, he had been a little lost at first but he was really starting to get the hang of this whole cooking thing. You couldn't even tell this was his first time.

Just then, though, Star and Marco  gasped in surprise, the former exclaiming brightly, “Oh hey look Kelly, Jackie and Janna came to cheer us on!”

Tom followed the blonde royal's pointing finger, before feeling his heart stop as he spotted the beanie-wearing girl in the crowd. The girl's playful brown eyes rested on him and him alone, clearly watching him from her vantage point. She was leaned back in her seat, her lip showing the slightest hint of a grin, causing her bright white fang to be just barely visible in the blinding sunlight. Tom felt his heart skip a beat, his cheeks heating up in a blush and making his flames become roaring bonfires.

A second later, the oven lit on fire, flames bursting from within the metal device and Marco and Star screamed as one, “Tom, your fire!”

The hot-headed teen screamed in surprise as he looked down and saw the damage from his power. Kelly's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she yelled at the top of her lungs, “No, my cake!” The group began panicking as they tried to put the fire out, Marco rushing over to the sink and filling a glass of water to pour on the flame, Star running to go get her wand, and Tom simply tried to think calming thoughts and slow his racing heartbeat. Kelly, however, kept her cool as she reached into her large mass of hair and pulled out a red fire extinguisher. In a matter of seconds, Kelly had the fire under control, blasting the ruined pan with a wash of the foamy, retardant substance.

But the incident hadn't gone unnoticed, gaining a crowd of onlookers both audience and participants alike, all of them watching flabbergasted as the teens struggled to save their spot in the competition. One of these viewers was none other than the Pie King himself, who had been keeping a close eye on the kids since the contest began. He smiled smugly to himself as he watched the four scramble to repair the damage done, his one eye hovering on that of the demon boy. It was clear to the sneaky chef that this boy was out of his element, looking uncomfortable and awkward as he attempted to help cook. But it was clear he had never been in a kitchen in his life and that made him an easy target.

The Pie King let out a shrill whistle and held a banana up in his good hand. A second later a squealing white monkey hopped onto his shoulder, snatching up the banana and devouring it instantly. The Pie King barely acknowledged the animal, his eye remaining on the group of teens. Specifically on the young, awkward half-demon. A twisted smirk formed on his face as he said to his small pet, “Go take care of our competition. And please try and be discreet about it.”

The monkey nodded it's furry head before hopping off his shoulder, readying to go do his master's bidding, the Pie King watching giddily. 

Once Kelly got the fire out, the group of teens were finally able to breathe easy again as they stared at the oven in disbelief. Tom cringed in guilt, looking shamefully at the damage he had done to the metal monstrosity. He hadn't meant to cause so much damage, maybe agreeing to help had been a bad idea after all.

Kelly was silent as she slipped on a pair of oven mitts and pulled out the smoking, burnt mess that was once cake batter. She set it on the counter and frowned in despair. She wafted a hand over it a few times to try and dissolve the thick smoke that poured off it but she knew it was a lost cause. There was no salvaging this, they would just have to start again. She checked the watch on her wrist, not wanting to see just how behind they were and let out a groan of annoyance from how much time they had lost. They would have to work extra fast to make it up.

“Uhh sorry, Kelly,” Tom finally managed to mutter, his voice tight with remorse for his actions.

Kelly let out a long sigh, before pushing down all her anxiety and stress. They didn't have time to dwell on it. “It's fine,” she said to the boy, her voice sharp but thankfully not resentful. “We'll just have to remake it.”

Tom nodded, still feeling bad for causing so much trouble. Marco and Star finally stepped in, each putting a soothing hand on Tom's shoulders and giving him an understanding smile. “Don't worry, Kelly,” Marco said, his voice full of positivity and belief. “I'm sure we can make up for lost time if we work hard enough. Right, Star?”

The blonde nodded. “Yeah, Marco's right! As long as we work together I'm sure we can finish the cake before the deadline.”

“Well, we gotta move fast then,” Kelly muttered, dumping the ruined food into a nearby trashcan before setting the bowl back down. She didn't sound quite convinced but at least she wasn't dwelling on the mistake. Instead, she got right back to work, barking out orders to her helpers who rushed to obey her commands. “Alright, we're gonna have to work fast then, Marco, Star, start peeling more fruit. Tom get the ingredients in that bowl asap! Let's move people, we don't have a lot of time to do this!”

In a matter of a few short minutes, the group had completely remade the first batch of cake batter, this time without any incidents and it was in the oven cooking, Kelly setting the timer instead of Tom, which the boy was thankful for.

But there was no time to celebrate, Kelly not wasting a second as she turned to her friends and said, “Alright, here's the plan, Tom and I are gonna work on the next batch. Marco and Star, you get to work on making the frosting. You remember how, don't you?” The two Mewmans nodded, doing cute little salutes.

“Yes, ma'am!” Marco exclaimed.

“We're on it,” Star added, equally as enthusiastic.

The two scrambled over to their station, ready and eager to get to work on the frosting.

Kelly watched them for about two seconds before whipping her head in Tom's direction who flinched.

“Alright, Tom. Ready to put those mixing skills to good use?” she asked, the smallest hint of a smile on her face.

Tom nodded, though he looked a bit unsure of himself. “Uhh, yeah, I guess. But out of curiosity, how many layers is this cake going to be?”

“Three,” Kelly replied as she set out the next set of ingredients needed. “The bottom layer is going to be purpleblurp, which we just finished, the middle layer is going to be Mewberries, for obvious reasons, and the top layer is going to be chocolate, cause who doesn't like chocolate.”

“I like it!” Marco pitched in, raising a hand and flashing them an innocent grin before returning his focus on his work.

“Exactly!” Kelly exclaimed, looking confident and in control again, any signs of nervousness gone. She was in her element, after all, and it was time for her to shine.

The Woolett flew into action, chopping up the delicious looking Mewberries into small little pieces, while directing Tom on the next set of cake mix. The boy worked delicately and precisely now, not wanting to make another mistake like before, being extra careful to not spill any of the contents on the counter, gritting his teeth and pinching his eyebrows together in concentration as he swirled the large spoon around the bowl. He wanted to prove to Kelly and the others that he was of valuable use to them. At first he had only agreed to help out of wanting to spend some time with Star and Marco but now he needed to prove he could do this. That he could fit in and do his part, otherwise he might not have a place in their group and he didn't want to be left out for such an easily avoidable reason.

As he mixed though, he kept his eyes on the bowl, barely looking over to acknowledge the ingredients as he picked them up off the table. Because of this, he didn't notice a small, furry hand reaching up from under the table and picking up the box of sugar, switching it with the box of salt. Then the hand slowly disappeared beneath the table once again.

“Now for the sugar,” Kelly said and Tom nodded, lifting up the box beside him without reading the label. He poured in the amount Kelly told him before setting it down and continuing with the baking process.

Star and Marco, meanwhile, were hard at work making frosting. They had set out the correct ingredients in front of them and Marco was eagerly stirring the smooth mixture into the bowl, his movements reminding Star of a master chef. The boy was humming a tune as he steadily mixed, clearly having a blast and Star couldn't help but hum along with him despite not recognizing the tune. Star was immensely happy she had agreed to help out Marco and Kelly, any time spent with her amazing boyfriend was sure to be a good one and having some time away from trying to literally fix the world was a relief. They had been working really hard lately, it was nice to have some time off. Even a princess needed to rest from time to time and after the Baby incident she had needed it more than ever.

Star was pulled from her thoughts as Marco suddenly said, “Okay Star, time to add in the food coloring.”

“Right,” Star agreed with a nod. This was the most important ingredient, Kelly’s own secret ingredient that she had worked tirelessly to make and the two teen’s both knew all too well it’s importance in the dish. Star scanned the countertop for the small vial of rainbow-colored liquid. But her smile switched to a frown when she didn't see the bottle anywhere. “Marco, you did grab it from the cart, right?” she asked, giving him a questioning look.

Marco nodded, his eyes widening in surprise. “Uh, yeah,” the boy in red replied, his eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. “I remember getting it. I put it right there.” He pointed to the spot only to gasp in shock as he stared at an empty space where the secret ingredient had once been.

“What?” Marco put down the bowl to lean over the spot, examining the smooth metal surface like the bottle might miraculously appear there. “But I know I put it there.” He frowned, his head spinning with questions.

Star tapped a finger to her chin looking around the tiny kitchen space for any sign of the missing ingredient. “Hmmmmm...” she mumbled. Her eyes landed on Kelly and she cringed, not wanting to trouble the girl with any more problems. She already seemed stressed enough and telling they had lost her secret ingredient just seemed like a bad idea. So she softly whispered to Marco in a low tone, “We better find it quick before Kelly notices.”

Marco nodded and the two quietly began a search around the kitchen, trying to go unnoticed by Kelly and Tom who were too focused on finishing up their batch of batter. Star checked all the cabinets and shelves for any signs of the missing vile with no luck, growing more and more agitated with each passing second. Marco was on his hands and knees looking around the table just in case it had fallen off somehow and rolled away. Although the hooded teen didn't locate the missing bottle, he did come across a trail of suspicious looking pawprints leading away from their table.

Marco stared at them in surprise for a second, examining them closely. They looked like they came from some kind of animal, though Marco couldn't tell which one. Whatever it was it had stepped in some flour, leaving white, powdery footprints behind. He was far from an expert on these things but something told Marco that if he followed this trail he would find out where the missing bottle of food coloring had gone. So without a word, he stood and began following the messy footprints around the courtyard.

He passed by a few stands but barely looked up to notice the rush of chefs scrambling to finish their meals on time. His focus was only on following the footprints, his head still filled with questions, wondering what could possibly be waiting for him on the other end. He did notice though that the footprints seemed to be fading, whatever creature had stepped in the incriminating flour had had a long way to go it seemed and the trail begun to vanish from its paws with every step. Marco began to fear he'd lose the trail and picked up his pace, jogging forward while keeping his gaze down at the prints. Just as the prints faded fully, Marco found himself standing in front of one of the many baking stations, staring down at the table in confusion.

He looked up and was shocked to be staring into the smirking face of the Pie King, who just stared back at him with a look that Marco found instantly off-putting. The boy stumbled back in his surprise, feeling his cheeks heat up against his will. Marco felt a rush of awkwardness and found it difficult to meet the Pie King's intense gaze, especially since there seemed to be something malevolent hidden behind his dark eyes. “Can I help you with something?” the Pie King asked, his voice ringing with annoyance and Marco felt even more uncomfortable than before.

“Sorry, I was just looking for something,” Marco responded in a tiny whisper. He turned to leave when a squealing drew his attention back. He turned to see a creature (a monkey if he remembered from his books) sitting on the Mewman's shoulder, staring at him with what looked like an evil grin... and clutched in its small hand was the rainbow-colored bottle that Marco had been looking for.

“Hey, that's ours!” Marco exclaimed, reaching over to grab it, only to receive a smack from the Pie King's hooked hand. The boy cringed, holding his aching palm to his chest, while giving the man a confused frown.

“What do you think you are doing, trying to steal from our table like that?!” the crooked king exclaimed, anger flashing across his face.

“I'm not stealing from your table!” Marco shouted, completely flabbergasted at the accusation. He stabbed a finger at the pet still perched on the Pie King's shoulder. “That monkey stole that from us!”

“And do you have any proof of that?” the Pie King asked, his eyebrows slowly raising.

“Uhhh, well, he left footprints leading all the way-” Marco's voice cut off as he turned to look back at him, the trail now completely gone, swept clean by one of the Pie King's many minions, who smirked at him still holding the incriminating  broom.

The Pie King and his monkey shared a knowing look, before the man exclaimed, “It seems to me you are completely delusional. That or you're a thief and I don't tolerate either, so you can either leave my stand peacefully or I can call one of the judges over and have you and your little team disqualified.”

Marco's mouth dropped open in complete disbelief. Was this guy for real? Was he seriously accusing Marco when his pet had so obviously stolen from their table like that? Did he seriously think he was gonna get away with it? “Are you serious?! You stole that from us!” Marco pointed to the vile, once again, in a last ditch effort, but the Pie King merely shook his head, in complete control of the whole situation. 

“I will not ask you again to leave. Or would you like to fail your friend on such a spectacular level as to get her disqualified?” The Mewman gave him a warning look and Marco took a step back out of instinct. He felt utterly lost and alone, his cheeks burning with failure and his stomach doing little flips in despair. Still, he knew there was no winning this and so simply shook his heavy head and headed back the way he came.

The feeling of defeat was made all the worse by the fact that he could swear he heard the Pie King laughing at him behind his back.

When the boy got back to Kelly's station he was quickly greeted by Star, who's eyes shined with concern, running over and giving him a tight hug. Marco felt his stomach twist in guilt, knowing he had made Star worry for wandering off without a word. Ever since the Mewberty incident, Star didn't like not knowing where Marco was, keeping him under an even closer watch than usual... and that was saying something. Star was already pretty protective.

“Where were you?” she asked as she pulled away.

Marco gave her a sheepish grin, replying apologetically, “Sorry, I didn't mean to wander off.” But his throat tightened as he added, “But I found out who took the rainbow dye.”

“Who?” Star asked, the fear leaving her eyes, instead replaced with burning curiosity.

“The Pie King. He had his pet monkey thing snatch it up while we weren't looking.”

Star gasped, her mouth dropping open in surprise before she scowled angrily, gritting her teeth in frustration. “That jerk! I can't believe he would just take it like that, especially in the middle of the competition!”

Marco nodded, an angry frown on his own face. It seemed Kelly had been right all along about the sneaky Pie King and the hooded teen couldn't help but feel resentment towards the man. He was about to ruin his friend's only chance to achieve her dream for no real reason. And even if he had a reason it was still wrong!

“I tried to get it back but he said he'd have us disqualified if I did,” Marco explained, his eyes now filling with panic. “What do we tell Kelly?”

Star shook her head, looking as lost as Marco felt. “I have no idea. This is gonna crush her.”

Just then, the Woolett let out an annoyed shout, the frustration and nervousness clear in her tone as she yelled, “Tom! You mixed it in wrong! You put in way too much salt!”

“What?!” Tom exclaimed, looking down at the dough in disbelief. “No way, I followed the recipe exactly like you told me to, I swear!”

Kelly quickly picked up two boxes off the table, shoving them in the hot-headed teen’s face. “You mixed up the salt and sugar! You ruined it!”

Star and Marco shared a knowing look, both thinking the exact same thing. Looks like the Pie King had sabotaged them once again.

“N-No,” Tom muttered weakly, looking lost and confused as he stared at the two boxes in growing despair. “I-I couldn't have. I mean, I thought I had it right.”

“Kelly-” Star spoke up, trying to gain the Woolett's attention but she was too busy reprimanding the hot-headed teen to notice.

“Ugh, I knew this was gonna happen!” Kelly groaned, slamming the boxes down on the table in a huff, her anger and frustration close to bursting. “I knew you couldn't handle this! I never should have let you help!”

“Wait, what?!” Tom exclaimed, a dark glare spreading across his face as his cheekmarks burned with growing anger.

“Kelly, wait,” Marco tried, moving between the two, Star right beside him, needing to stop the two before a full-blown argument broke out. “It's not what you think.”

“Oh I think it's exactly what I think!” Kelly shouted. “Tom ruined any chance I had at winning this thing and just cost me my dream job!”

“How is this my fault?!” Tom yelled, his anger now boiling over as his eyes began to turn a dark shade of red. “I did everything you told me! If anything this is your fault!”

Kelly let out a fake laugh at that, giving him an incredulous look. “Me? You said you knew how to cook but clearly you were lying!”

Tom's eyes flashed with guilt at that, rubbing subconsciously at his arm.

“ENOUGH!” Star shouted at the top of her lungs, finally gaining both arguing teens' attention. The two stared at her with looks ranging from confusion to annoyance and she shot them both a scolding glare. “That is enough out of both of you! Arguing is not going to fix anything!” the blonde exclaimed in a reprimanding tone.

“Besides it's not Tom's fault,” Marco added. “The Pie King is trying to sabotage us. He stole the rainbow food coloring too and he probably mixed up the sugar and salt to make it look like Tom mess up.”

Kelly stared at the two in disbelief for a second, before saying loudly, “What?! Are you serious?! He just ruined everything and we didn’t even notice! How did I not see that coming?! I mean, sure I knew he was sneaky, but that is just downright criminal! I can't believe we fell for that, ugh!” The girl buried her face in her hands, letting out a long groan.

Tom, meanwhile, just stared at his feet, his heart aching from the Woolett's harsh words. Marco seemed to notice this as he asked pointedly, “So don't you think you owe someone an apology?”

Kelly finally met Marco's eye and then Tom's seeing the hurt she had caused him and felt her stomach churn with guilt. “Tom, I'm sorry. I-”

“No, no, you were right,” Tom muttered weakly. “I did lie. I don't know what I'm doing. I just wanted to be included.” He sucked in a deep breath before adding softly, “I know how important this whole competition is to you, so I'll just let you guys handle the rest without me.”

“Tom,” Star spoke up soothingly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “This isn't your fault. The Pie King is messing with us. This is exactly what he wants. To divide us. But we don't have time to feel bad or be at each other's throats, not if we want to win this.” She turned to Kelly with a questioning expression. “We do still want to win this, right?”

Kelly sighed, defeat and exhaustion shining in her eyes. “I don't really see how we can. We've lost so much time and we don't even have a way to finish the recipe. I think this year Fang Tangs is out.” She leaned against the tabletop, her head lolling forward in shame and regret. She was practically shaking with despair, her fingers clutching so hard at the countertop they were turning white.

Star, Marco, and Tom all shared a look, unable to bear seeing their friend so emotionally devastated. Even Tom looked determined to cheer their friend up, his eyes glowing with compassion, even if he had no clue what to do to help. Star looked to be at a loss, as well, looking around sadly at the competition, all hard at work and nearly done with their dishes. It would take a miracle to catch up now.

But Marco refused to give up, something about this situation filling him with ambition and determination. That’s when the idea came to him. “No,” the boy said firmly and all eyes turned to him. “We're not out of this yet.”

Kelly looked confused at his words, before arguing, “But Marco. Look around.” She gestured to the other competitors. “We'll never catch up at this rate.”

“Yes, we will,” Marco said, a smile spreading across his face. “We just need a different method. And I think I have one in mind.” There was a knowing glint in his eye that caught Kelly’s attention instantly.

“And what is that?” Kelly asked, an eyebrow slowly raising.

Marco shook his head, knowing they didn't have time for him to explain it. “Don't worry about it. You just focus on getting the frosting ready. We'll handle the rest.”

“Wait, seriously?” the green-haired girl muttered in disbelief.

“Yep, leave everything else to us,” Marco said with a nod, ignoring the questioning looks from his other friends.

“But what am I supposed to do without the food coloring?” Kelly questioned, looking lost once again.

Marco shrugged. “Improvise. I'm sure you'll think of something.”

Kelly took a moment to contemplate that, her eyes flashing with determination and new drive. Marco was right. She couldn't just sit around moping, not when there was still time. She was a Woolett, a warrior by blood and her people didn't give up without a fight. She began to search their small kitchen space for anything to inspire her, needing an idea fast. That's when her gaze caught on the box of cereal Marco had brought with him. It was Captain Blanches Sugar Seeds, Marco's favorite apparently and he had insisted she use it somewhere in the cake. She had been planning on using it as some slight décor to top off the cake. But maybe...

A smile spread across Kelly's face now as she formed a new plan to get her in first place. “Alright, I think I'm on to something,” she said proudly, grabbing the box off the counter and running over to the other workstation, eager to get started, excitement bubbling in her chest.

“Great!” Marco exclaimed happily. “Then if you've got that, the rest of us will take of the cakes.”

“And how are we gonna do that?” Tom asked, giving Marco a doubting look.

“By doing what we do best... sticking together,” the hooded teen answered. He held a hand out before asking, “You two in?”

“I'm in,” Star said, immediately placing a hand on top of her boyfriend’s, the couple sharing a short smile.

Tom looked hesitant, asking softly, “You sure you want me to help?”

Marco nodded, giving him an uplifting smile. “I'm positive. We can't do this without you, Tom.”

Tom's eyes shined joy at the acceptance, feeling like an equal in their group once again. And with his confidence restored, he proudly placed a hand over Star and Marco's own before exclaiming in a cool, collected tone, “Then count me in!”

“Alright, then let's win this thing!” Marco shouted and the other cheered their agreement, throwing their linked hands into the air in excitement and unity. The boy immediately turned to Star though and added cryptically, “First things first, Star you're gonna need your wand.”

…

Jackie and Janna watched from their seats  as their friends seemed to be struggling with something. It was hard to tell because they were so far away but the four teens had completely stopped working, looking like they were talking amongst each other and based on their sorrowful expressions, it didn't seem like they were talking about anything pleasant. Clearly something had gone wrong, although neither Jackie nor Janna could piece together what that was. Things had seemed like they were going well from the two girls’ perspective, after a bit of a rough start in which Tom almost set the kitchen on fire (which Janna had seemed quite proud of for some reason) they had managed to more than make up for lost time. Only now, the group looked close to giving up, Kelly hanging her head in defeat for reasons Jackie and Janna didn't understand.

“What are they doing?” the skater girl asked, leaning forward in her seat in a vain attempt to hear them somehow.

“No idea,” Janna said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “But if they don't get back to work soon, they're gonna run out of time.”

“I know,” Jackie agreed, nodding her head. “I wonder what's wrong?”

“Wrong!” Tad exclaimed, both girls jumping in their seats. They had completely forgotten the tiny Woolett was even there, perched atop of Janna's brown beanie. For some reason, he seemed to have a distaste for chairs, much to the creepy teen's annoyance. “Something's wrong! Oh no, Kellllyyy!” he whined pitifully, his eyes shining with worrying tears.

But Janna seemed unaffected by his distress, asking in an annoyed tone, “Do you have to sit up there?”

“What, I can't see anything sitting in a chair,” Tad replied quickly.

“He has a point,” Jackie spoke up in defense of the pile of hair.

“Then why don't you move to Jackie's head?” the girl asked.

“I like yours better,” Tad replied, before the annoying whine returned to his voice. “Besides, who cares about that when my babe is struggling!”

“I don't know if they're struggling,” Jackie pointed out, frowning in the direction of the four teens.

“No, they definitely are!” Tad exclaimed, his small body beginning to shake. “I've never seen Kelly so depressed before, she looks like she's about to give up.”

“Why would she give up when they are so close to winning?” Janna asked, an eyebrow slowly raising. “Based on the rest of the dishes I'm seeing, they don't even come close to what Kelly and the others are cooking up.”

“Something must have gone wrong,” Tad replied, his body beginning to rise off of Janna's head. “I need to go over there. She needs me!” He started to float off in the direction of his girlfriend, feeling a pressing need to comfort her.

“Whoa, hold up there, Romeo!” Janna shouted, grabbing the hair out of mid-air and squishing him to her chest, holding him in an effective ‘hairlock’. “You can't go over there. She'll be disqualified if you do.”

“But Kelly...” Tad muttered in a nervous whimper, his voice trembling so much he couldn't even bring himself to finish the sentence.

“Will be fine,” Jackie reassured him, patting him gently on what she assumed to be his head. “She's not alone, after all. She's got Star, Marco, and Tom on her team. And if I know anything about those three it's that they don't give up without a fight.”

“Yeah, they are pretty stubborn,” Janna added in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Oh as opposed to you,” Jackie slyly added, giving her roommate a knowing look.

Janna shrugged. “That's fair,” she agreed.

Tad still seemed unsure, groaning under his breath but Jackie gave him another comforting pat. “Hey, no worries, Tad. They'll pull through, you'll see.”

“And wouldn't you know it,” Janna spoke up in a mystified tone, drawing both teens' attention onto her, while she was busy staring in disbelief in the direction of Kelly's table. “It looks like they're already doing just that.”

Jackie and Tad both gasped in shock as they finally noticed what Janna was seeing. It took both Woolett and human a few seconds to process the bizarre sight and a few more for the skater to be able to form functional words as she asked no one in particular, “What are they doing?”

…

Marco was moving at a speed he hadn't even known existed, his hands flying through the motions as he prepared Kelly’s signature dish. It was a wonder he was able to keep up with his own insane speed but for some reason, he felt totally in control, like this was what he was always meant to do and he couldn't help but wonder if it was because of his Trait that was giving him the speed and precision at which to do his job. He was throwing ingredients into the bowl left and right, not even bothering to measure things out (he didn't have time for that) just doing his best to guess the amount for each serving. He cracked open eggs, chopped, sliced, peeled, and poured in the span of mere seconds for each task. At some points even he didn't even know how he was keeping up, his hands moving faster than his brain could. But somehow he was pulling this off.

He risked a quick glance at Star, a smile of wonder spreading across his face as he watched the blonde royal spinning the wand confidently in front of her. The whole thing was glowing with pink energy and Star's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, her tongue sticking out in the cutest way as she focused intently on her spell. In front of her, was a large glowing whisk, completely pink, much like Star's wand, and covered in little diamonds and star patterns all over it. It spun around the bowl in a circular pattern, stirring the mixture into a delicious looking pile of dough, everything blending together perfectly thanks to the magical utensil.

Once Star was done with stirring she pushed the bowl over to Tom who would pour the batter into a pan. He set the pan on the stovetop and cracked his knuckles, ready to do his own part and prove himself to the group. He sucked in a deep breath, before allowing the flames within him to take control. He could feel his cheeks growing hot enough to melt lead and knew they had to be burning torches by now, while his vision went completely red. 

He took slow, even breaths, picturing the fire he needed to summon deep within his core. Then focusing only on the pan in front of him, he blocked out all distractions, all three of his eyes trained on the metal dish. Slowly he saw a flame forming underneath it, burning a dim yellow, and he smiled. He was doing it. He was really doing it. 

“Wooowww,” he heard Marco’s awe-filled whisper and he felt his pride grow, making the small flame burn just a little hotter. But he knew he needed to speed things up, concentrating now on making the flame grow, watching as it slowly grew from a tiny spark to a burning, hot fire that completely consumed the bottom of the pan. 

Tom heard Marco’s gasp and he held his head a little higher, proudly showing off his skills to his best friend. “How are you doing that with your mind?” Marco asked in disbelief.

Tom was too busy concentrating to answer but luckily Star pitched in for him, still keeping her eyes on the magical whisk, “It’s Tom’s Trait. He’s always been able to do that.”

“Tom has a Trait, too!” Marco exclaimed, slamming his hands down on the table in shock.

Star nodded. “Yep, he’s half-Mewman so he gets a Trait same as us.”

“That’s so cool!” Marco shouted in joy. “I can’t believe you can light things on fire with your mind, Tom!”

“It’s not easy,” Tom finally said, letting the flames around the pan diminish, leaving behind a steaming hot pan, the delicious aroma wafting off it enough to make Tom's stomach growl. “I think it’s called like pyrokenesis or something like that, I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I heard a few egghead physicians my parents would take me to call it that.” He shrugged, as he poked the cake, making sure it was cooked all the way through and smiled in satisfaction. 

“Anyways,” he continued. “Most people in the Underworld can light themselves on fire and stuff but my ability is one of the rarest among demons and sometimes the hardest to control.”

“Why’s that?” Marco asked.

Tom cringed at the question, answering hesitantly, “Uh well, there are a few things that can affect it… like your emotions for example.”

“Ohhhhh,” the hooded teen said, finally understanding. He gave his friend a sympathetic look and the hot-headed boy hung his head in shame.

“Well if you ask me, I think you’ve been doing a great job, Tom,” Star spoke up, pushing the final bowl of cake mix over to Tom. 

Tom poured the batter into a new pan, casting a hopeful look over at his friend. “You think?” he asked nervously.

Star nodded. “Of course. You’ve really been working on getting that temper of yours under control, your emotions are way more in check than they used to be. I hardly ever see you set things on fire at random like you used to. I mean, used to my parents would have to put fire-proof coverings on all the furniture when your family came to visit.” She gave him a teasing wink. 

Tom grinned, the flame coming even easier than before as fire once again burned at the bottom of the pan, the batter slowly rising into a usable shape. “Well I don’t know what it is but lately controlling my Trait has been a lot easier.”

“Maybe it’s because you’re happier,” Marco suggested. 

Tom paused at that, thinking it over for a second. He was happier. Ever since he and Star had made up, his anger had been so much more manageable. He loved being a part of the Commission, feeling like he belonged to something and wasn’t shamed for his emotional outbursts. Even as a prince, he could tell people were afraid of him and it made getting close to people hard. But now, he belonged to something and that gave him comfort, because he would never have to try and belong again. Now the only time he ever lost control was around Janna, his twisted knot of emotions for her impossible to understand.

“Yeah, maybe,” he whispered, his cheeks flushing slightly as he tried to keep his thoughts off of the creepy beanie-wearing girl no doubt watching him.

Star glanced at the pan and said, “Okay, I think that’s enough, Tom.”

The boy didn’t need to be told twice, the flames instantly dying, leaving only a thin layer of steam rising off of the cooked surface of the cake.

“Good work, Tom,” Marco said, slipping on oven mitts and moving the pan next to a fan to cool. “It looks perfect.”

Tom put his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest proudly as he declared, “Well, what can I say, I am the Prince of the Underworld for a reason.”

Star and Marco giggled, before the blonde royal said teasingly, “And so modest, too.”

Tom just gave her a playful grin back, happy to feel included once more. 

Marco pulled the last pan from the oven and set it next to the other two. Now all the teens could do was wait till they were cool enough to frost, still the three couldn't help but sniff the air greedily, their stomachs growling in want. But they knew better than to indulge their empty stomachs, not after all the hard work that had gone into making the rich dessert. So ignoring their hunger pains, Star, Marco, and Tom turned to Kelly, who was hard at work mixing something.

“Okay, Kelly, all three layers are baked and ready to be frosted,” Marco exclaimed, standing at attention as he waited to hear the Woolett's next order.

The girl turned to them in surprise, her hands still mixing as she stared at them in disbelief. “Already,” she muttered. But it wasn't hard to hear the hopefulness hidden in her voice, her gaze softening. “You actually pulled it off.”

“You say that like you doubted we could,” Tom spoke up smugly.

“Well, I-” Kelly began, fidgeting as remorse flooded her features and her cheeks burning in shame.

But Marco shook his head not allowing his friend to continue, instead saying brightly, “Well, we handled it, just like I said we would and now we have a fighting chance again.”

“Yeah, we actually do!” Kelly exclaimed, her eyes burning with passion once again. “And honestly I think the change I made to the recipe is gonna be even better than before.”

“Seriously?” Star gasped. She couldn't imagine the amazing cake she and Marco had tried before could get any better. It had taken all her will-power not to stuff the delicious dessert down her throat and she had still ended up eating three slices in one go, Marco outdoing even that with four slices (which he had immediately regretted).

“What did you do anyways?” Marco asked, cocking his head to the side, clearly burning with curiosity.

“See for yourself,” Kelly said, tipping the bowl so the three could look inside it. The teens gasped but smiled at the delicious and wonderful sight in front of them. Marco was especially overjoyed by the contents of the bowl, his eyes lighting up in the cutest way. The frosting was now pink and purple and had small bits of sugar crushed up in it which sparkled in the sunlight, making it glitter like tiny crushed up jewels.

Marco couldn't believe what he was seeing, recognizing the ingredient in a heartbeat. “That's sugar seeds, isn't it!? You used Captain Blanches Sugar Seeds as your secret ingredient!”

Kelly nodded, a sly smile spreading across her face. “Yep, sure did. I'm glad you insisted on adding it to the cake, otherwise I might not have even thought to do this.”

Marco grinned brightly, practically shaking in excitement. “I can't believe you used my favorite cereal for your recipe!”

“Didn't have much of a choice,” Kelly replied, before adding quickly, “Now help me get this thing frosted before the time is up.”

“Attention all competitors! There is only five minutes remaining of this year's Annual Mewni Bake-Off so hurry and finish your dishes before it's too late!” A voice announced and the four teens shared a look, before they flew into their work with new vigor.

The next five minutes flew by in a haze of chaotic cooking, Star, Marco, Tom, and Kelly frosting and stacking and smoothing out the spread over the baked layers of cake like there was no tomorrow. There was no time for precision, only panic, as they rushed to get everything done in time. Honestly, if asked afterwards not a single one of the four novice bakers could say what they did during those five minutes. Except maybe Kelly, who was used to working under a time limit but even she gave in to her stressful mind once or twice and lost track of time.

Kelly was nervously trying to smooth out the frosting on the cake, making sure it was all even and neat but she could feel the time ticking away from her. At this rate, they were just barely going to make it since they had to have it on the cart ready to go before the time ran out. She took a moment to observe the cake, trying to decide on if they should try and make it look a little nicer or call it done.

But when the announcer loudly shouted they were on the final minute she knew they had to stop and just hope it was good enough. “Guys, we need to get it on the cart!”

“But the frosting isn't-” Marco started and Kelly grabbed onto his arms, cutting him off.

“There's no time!” she screamed, shaking him back and forth. “We need to move it, now!”

Marco gave a small nod, clearly confused and disoriented by the Woolett's action but quickly got into position to help lift the massive plate the three-layered cake was sitting on.

Kelly got into her own spot and waited until the others were ready before shouting, “Ready? Lift!” The four grunted as they managed to hoist the heavy dessert off the tabletop with their combined strength. Kelly waited a second to make sure everyone had a solid grip, the hooded teen seeming to struggle for a second, before she ordered them to move.

The group started the slow, steady process of carrying the cake over to the cart, every step pure agony to Kelly who became intensely aware of every second that passed and she cursed herself for not having thought to bring the cart closer to them beforehand. But the teens actually seemed to be making decent time, the cake remaining steady on the plate as they walked. The Woolett smiled as the cart drew closer and closer. This was it. They were actually going to make it!

The announcer's voice called out again, proclaiming in his loud but professional tone, “Only ten seconds remain! 9... 8..”

Marco felt something wedge underneath his foot mid-step and was powerless to stop himself as he felt his knee buckling and he lost his grip on the cake as he began to fall.

“7...”

Kelly saw Marco trip and felt the weight shift but could do nothing but scream in terror as the plate flew from her hand.

“6... 5...”

Star and Tom turned when they felt the plate slip from their grip and gasped in surprise as they watched the cake falling down towards their fallen friend and Star's instincts took over as she held out her wand.

“4...”

Star managed to catch the cake with her magic just before it splattered on Marco, who could only stare forward dumbly, watching as his girlfriend lifted the cake high into the air with her spell.

“3... 2...”

Star set the cake gently down on the cart, making sure to move slowly enough that the cake wouldn't be messed up in any way, but luckily it all stayed in one piece, the spell she had used keeping it suspended in a moment in time as well as in the air. She only had time to set the dessert down before a loud bell was rang, signaling the end of the competition.

“Time!” the announcer declared. “All bakers, lower your utensils!”

The four teens let out long breaths of relief and exhaustion, Star, Kelly, and Tom nearly collapsing to the ground like Marco as the stressful competition was finally over. “Oh man!” Kelly exclaimed, still in complete disbelief. “That was too close!”

“See, I told you we could make it in time!” Marco spoke up as Star helped pull him to his feet, brushing him off in a caring manner and checking him over for any injuries.

“You okay, dude?” Tom asked in concern, moving over to his friend. “That was a pretty bad fall.”

“Yeah, sorry I guess I just tripped over something,” the hooded teen muttered sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. He quickly met the Star's eye and the two blushed against their will. “Thankfully Star was here to save the day.”

“Aww, I didn't do anything special,” Star said modestly, waving a dismissive hand in the air.

“You saved the cake and my career,” Kelly pointed out, giving her a kind smile. “Thank you for that, Star.” She then turned her gaze to Marco and Tom. “And thanks everyone for keeping me going even when I felt like giving up, I really couldn't have done this without you.” Her eyes lingered on Tom for a second as she added sweetly, “All of you.”

Now Tom was blushing and he quickly hid his embarrassment with a cough, saying, “Soooo, we should probably get this cake over to the judges before anything else goes wrong, huh?”

Kelly nodded her agreement and said in an enthusiastic tone, “Yeah, let's do that.”

She began to wheel the cart away, Tom following along behind her as they headed over to the judges stand. Star started to follow when she noticed Marco standing in the same spot as before, staring at the ground, and she immediately asked, “What's wrong, Marco?”

The boy frowned and gave his shoulders a little shrug. “I just can't figure out what I tripped on. I mean, I know Higgs said I was clumsy but there was nothing for me to trip on.” He thought it over for a second, before meeting Star's eye with a nervous expression. “Do you think there's something wrong with my feet?”

Star couldn't help but giggle at her boyfriend's childish worry and he gave her a confused look at the sudden burst of laughter. “No, Marco, I don't think it has anything to do with your feet,” Star replied, trying to hide her smile. “You probably just lost your balance, it happens sometimes.”

Marco gave a slow nod, his eyebrows still pinched together, telling Star he didn't quite believe her theory. “Yeah, I guess you're right.”

“Now, c'mon, let's go catch up with the others,” Star said, snaking an arm around him and leading him away from the small cooking station. Marco didn't fight the blonde as she pulled him away but taking one last look back he could swear he saw a small furry white tail poking out from under one of the tables. He frowned to himself, suddenly having a pretty good idea what had tripped him up earlier.

But then Star said something to him and he returned his focus onto his girlfriend, responding to her question while inwardly hoping that the Pie King didn't have any more tricks up his sleeve. He wasn't sure Kelly (or him for that matter) could take much more of this.

…

When the gang finally reached the judge's table, they encountered a large crowd blocking their way, their competitors beating them there it would seem. Kelly looked around for a moment, trying to find a way through the thick wall of people in front of her before sighing in defeat. “It's no use. Guess we'll just have to wait till they call us.”

“Well hopefully we won't have to wait too long then,” Marco spoke up, his voice as positive as ever.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Tom added, already starting to look bored. “I mean how long does it take to try some food, anyways? Just stuff it in your mouth and move on.” He rolled his eyes and Kelly had to bite her lip to keep from lecturing him on the incredibly important and intricate process of critiquing fine cuisine. But it wasn't worth the effort, besides she'd probably only end up putting the flaming teen to sleep.

“Y'know Tom, if you don't feel like waiting you could always go and join our other friends in the stands,” Star pointed out, shooting him with a playful smirk and wink.

Tom blushed as he remembered just who was waiting for him in the stands and quickly blurted out in a nervous squeak, “Uh no, that's okay.” He cleared his throat, before adding in a much more collected tone, “I'd like to see how this thing plays out. After all, I am part of the team.”

“I just hope we don't run into any more trouble before the judges can taste the cake,” Marco said nervously.

“Well just keep your eyes peeled, trouble could lurk around every corner,” Kelly replied in an unnerving tone.

“Hello friends!” Gustav yelled behind them and the group all let out screams, Kelly instinctively grabbing the boy's arm and flipping him over her shoulder. The young chef was left coughing and groaning on the floor as the group stared down at him dumbfounded. “Ouch,” he murmured in a strained tone.

“Gustav! What the heck, dude! You know better than to sneak up on a Woolett!” Kelly exclaimed, letting out an annoyed huff.

“Right, that was my bad,” the boy said, blinking away tears of pain.

“Sorry, Gustav,” Star quickly apologized, giving him a sheepish grin as she helped pull him to his feet. “We didn't know it was you.”

“Yeah we thought it was the Pie King,” Marco explained. “He's been trying to sabotage us this whole time.”

“Marco,” Kelly hissed, giving him a warning glare. Had he seriously already forgotten her rule about not talking to the competition unless it was absolutely necessary.

But Gustav didn't seem to notice this letting out a loud gasp, his eyes widening as he said, “No wonder you all are on edge! Being on the Pie King's bad side can only bring trouble.”

“Yeah, tell us about it,” Tom scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“I wouldn't want to be you right now, that's for sure,” Gustav added, giving them all sympathetic looks.

“Next up, Gustav's Meatballs,” the announcer suddenly called and the young human let out a squeal of delight, adjusting his baker hat on his head as he exclaimed. “Guess that's me! Wish me luck!”

He strolled away with an unnaturally wide grin on his face, wheeling his cart over to the judge's stand.

“Good luck!” Marco yelled after him, waving to the boy.

Kelly nearly groaned in embarrassment, muttering out sharply, “Marco, don't wish him luck! This is still a competition, remember?”

“Well, yeah but that doesn't mean I can't be friendly,” Marco argued, his eyes shining with innocence.

“Yeah, Kelly what's the big deal? So far the only one who has it out for us is the Pie King and I don't see him anywhere around,” Tom retorted, his voice full of doubt and arrogance.

“Look you guys still clearly have a lot to learn about the Mewni Bake-off,” Kelly said simply.

“But isn't this your first year entering, too?” Star pointed out, raising a knowing eyebrow.

Kelly felt her cheeks flush some as she quickly argued, “Well yeah but I just know these things, okay!”

“Okay whatever you say, boss,” Tom replied sarcastically, the smirk visible on his face.

Kelly simmered in place for a moment, doing her very best to hide the annoyance she felt but her impatience and anxiety was starting to get the better of her already. She knew she was overreacting but she couldn't help it. She was once again a walking ball of stress, her fingers twitching in place and her shoulders tensed up to the point she felt like she had pulled a muscle out of place. Her body seemed incapable of holding still with the massive amount of nerves building inside her. She did her best to hide her irrational fears from the common eye but on the inside she was screaming in both worry and excitement. The outcome of this bake-off would make or break her career, after all, it was hard to stay calm with knowledge like that.

And as if she wasn't already stressed enough, Roy decided now of all times to make his presence known, sauntering up to them with the same dorky, over-the-top grin as always but instead of just humiliation at the sight, she now felt genuine fear from the look, knowing underneath the layer of goofy bravado was a power-hungry and spiteful creature. “Well hey there, Kelly. How's my favorite chef doing today?” Roy greeted cheerfully enough, before it hardened into a much more sinister question. “Feeling confident in us crushing the Pie King in his smug face, hmm?”

“Uhh, hey Roy,” Kelly managed to nervously muster. “Good to see you here. Right before the judges taste our cake. That's not stressful at all.” She let out an awkward chuckle and the others could see their friend was in desperate need of saving.

“We managed to get the cake done, Roy,” Star spoke up, hoping to distract the goblin's attention off of her friend.

“Yeah and I think the judges are gonna like what they taste,” Marco added with a confident grin.

“Oh thank you princess for coming to help out my little restaurant, it really means a lot to me,” Roy said in an overly sweet tone, shaking the girl's hand vigorously.

“Uhh, what about Kelly?” Tom asked suspiciously.

Roy seemed to have completely forgotten about his chef for a moment as he mumbled halfheartedly, “Hmm, oh yes, yes. It means a lot to Kelly, too.”

Tom gave the goblin an incredulous look while the Woolett's eyes just narrowed in annoyance, gritting her teeth to keep from commenting.

“Well it was no problem,” Star said modestly, her regal tone picking up at just the right moment. “I'm always happy to help out a friend.” The blonde put extra emphasis on the last word, hoping to gain Kelly a little recognition for her own work.

But again, Roy seemed oblivious to his worker's existence as he squealed in delight, “Oh my, I can't believe it! The princess of Mewni is calling me one of her friends!” His eyes shimmered with joy and it took all of Star's willpower not to grimace.

“Actually I think Star was talking about Kelly,” Marco pointed out.

“Oh,” Roy said in obvious disappointment. But he quickly directed his attention onto the Woolett asking in excitement, “Sooo did everything go well? I know after tasting that amazing recipe you came up with we'd finally have something to one-up my greatest rival and his island of thieves.” The goblin gave his chef an eager look as he waited for her answer and Kelly felt her stomach twist with nerves once again.

“Well there were a few hiccups,” Kelly said awkwardly.

“Like what?! Did you manage to finish the cake or not?” Roy asked, clearly panicking.

“We did,” Kelly reassured him, before sucking in a deep breath. Here goes nothing. She closed her eyes as she hesitantly added, “But I did have to modify the recipe in a few places.”

“What?!” Roy screamed, drawing many onlookers to the scene the goblin was beginning to make. “You modified the recipe during the competition! Do you realize how risky that is?! What if the judges don't like it! I could lose... again! I can't take another year of gloating from that villainous king!” Roy was starting to go into a full-blown panic attack, hyperventilating as he rubbed his clawed hands together in nervousness.

“Relax, Roy. I made the cake even better than before. We're still gonna win this for sure,” Kelly said smoothly with all the confidence she did not have.

“You better or you won't have a job!” Roy shouted, giving her a firm look and Kelly's hands clenched into tight fists to avoid losing her cool. So now he was threatening to fire her! Demoting her was bad enough but being forced to leave in shame like that… it was unthinkable.

“I got it, okay. Just let me do my job already,” Kelly said in a huff.

“Uhh, Kelly,” Marco spoke up nervously, flinching as all eyes fell on him. He gave them a sheepish grin as he said apologetically, “I know this might not be the best time but I think we're next up.”

“Good, we're done here anyways,” Kelly said immediately, turning her back on her goblin boss, her long hair whipping him in the face slightly. To her friends she added, “Now let's go guys, we got a competition to win.”

The others gave a quick glance to Roy before following after their friend, leaving the small goblin to mutter under his breath about the insubordination amongst his staff and how he really needed to stop hiring a bunch of disrespectful teenagers.

“Wow, I've never seen Roy acting like that before,” Marco mentioned, once they were out of earshot.

“That's because you've never seen him competitive before,” Kelly hissed, her blood boiling with rage towards her boss. “He becomes a whole different goblin. One year he nearly mauled a teenage street vendor for trying to sell hot dogs too close to Fang Tang's.”

“Yikes,” Star and Marco said as one.

“Yeah, yikes is right,” Kelly agreed, rolling her eyes.

“Sounds like you need a better job,” Tom commented.

“Well if this doesn't work out I might be in need of one,” Kelly whispered, her eyes flooding with worry.

“Don't worry, Kelly. You're gonna be great,” Star reassured the girl, putting a steadying hand on her back.

“Yeah, Kells, you're totally gonna blow them away!” Marco exclaimed brightly.

“Prepare to be blown away!” a loud and familiar voice called from up ahead and the group all turned to the judge's stand in surprise. The Pie King stood in front of the table where the three judges sat, giving them what could almost pass for a friendly smile if not for the sinister gleam in his eye. He had his hands behind his back, two Pie Folk ready and waiting at the cart behind him, watching their boss closely for his order. “For today I unveil to you a dessert so delicious, so unbelievable, so amazing that I guarantee you have never seen anything like it before!”

“Let me guess... it's a pie,” once of the judges said gruffly, looking bored and unimpressed with the long-winded speech.

“That's Emilio,” Kelly explained to the others, looking at the judge in total awe. “He's one of the most famous chefs on Earth and one of the most stubborn judges ever! He's incredibly picky. Getting him to like one of your dishes is close to impossible.”

“Well sounds like we don't have anything to worry about then,” Tom commented, a sly smirk growing on his face. “What are the odds he would like something that sneaky chef makes?”

“It is much more than just a simple pie,” the Pie King explained, unfazed by Emilio's cold demeanor. “I have spent weeks perfecting this recipe and now present to you my piece de resistance...:

Pie King snapped his fingers and his two lackeys ripped the fabric off of the tray, revealing the food that lay beneath it. It was indeed a pie, a very delicious looking one in fact, its crust cooked to perfection, just the perfect color of brown, with a layer of steam gently rising off of it and decorated on top with a few strawberries which looked like they had just been picked from the vine. But the part that caught Kelly and the others attention was the rainbow-colored filling that was inside it, some of it oozing out of the holes in the top. “The very first rainbow pie!”

The crowd of onlookers all 'ooed' and 'awed' at the sight, some even licking their lips in hunger, but Kelly and the gang could only stare at the dessert slack-jawed. “That's not their recipe!” Marco exclaimed in complete disbelief. “They stole your recipe, Kelly!”

“Yeah I can see that,” Kelly commented numbly.

“I cannot believe they are actually trying to pass that off as their own after all the hard work you put in,” Star hissed, her eyes narrowing in anger and she began to storm over to the judges stand. “I'm gonna put a stop to this right now!”

Kelly put up an arm, stopping the fuming princess from passing and the blonde turned to her with surprise. “Don't. It won't change anything. It'll only make things worse.”

“What but Kelly-” Star began to argue, only to be cut off by the Woolett.

“I know, it sucks,” Kelly said through gritted teeth, her voice tight with barely suppressed anger. She sounded like it was taking everything in her power to hold herself back. “But the Pie King is crafty, he'll just turn it around against us. Better to just let him have this.”

“Are you serious?!” Tom growled, his anger beginning to boil over. “So what, we just let him get away with this!”

“We don't have much choice, Tom,” Kelly responded, watching as the Pie King passed out slices of the pie to the eager judges. Of course she wanted to fight and take back what was hers. It was her recipe, after all, something she had worked tirelessly on and had been so proud to of made. But she had been careless and allowed it to end up in the hands of the greedy Pie Folk. She should have taken better care in safeguarding her secret recipe and now she just had to face facts and accept that her precious recipe was no longer hers. She just had to hope what she had made to replace it was somehow better.

But to her dismay the judges reactions were far from uplifting. They all seemed enamored with the pie, chewing the food greedily and nodding their heads as they wrote down their thoughts on the slips of paper before them. Even Emilio seemed impressed, his gaze softening as he took extra care and time to chew the treat, clearly in deep thought over the taste. When he did finally swallow, his face was totally unreadable. He scribbled something down on the paper, before saying in a businesslike tone, “Thank you, now move along.”

The Pie King bowed low before sauntering away from the table with a victorious grin, his minions following along behind them. He stopped right besides Kelly and he didn't even hide the shrewd smirk on his face as he said to the green-haired girl, “Good luck topping that.”

Kelly glared back and said through gritted teeth, “Just watch me.”

The Pie King made an indistinguishable noise that seemed to be a combination of a chuckle and a snort. “Sure you don't wanna drop out and save yourself the embarrassment.” He gave her a cheshire grin, his crooked teeth gleaming in the sunlight.

“Yeah right, like we'd even listen to anything you have to say,” Star snapped, speaking up for her friend while giving the Pie King a hate-filled glare.

“Especially since all you did was steal the secret ingredient from us,” Marco added, with an angry scowl. “Kelly worked way harder than you! She deserves to win, not you!”

The Pie King rolled his eyes, clearly growing bored of the conversation. “Well, we'll just have to see what the judges have to say about that, won't we?”

“Next!” Emilio shouted, his critical gaze landing on Kelly and she felt a chill jump up her spine. She gulped, feeling her stomach bubble with nerves, any semblance of control she once had leaving her the moment she was called on. She felt like the pressure was crushing her, the weight of all her responsibilities and dreams piling on her at once, making it difficult to breathe or move. She felt like she would crumble if a strong gust of wind hit her and as all eyes now fell on her, both onlookers and judges alike, she found her body had completely given up on her, movement an impossible feat.

But then she felt a hand on her comforting hand on her back, followed by a friendly hand on her shoulder and then a third hand on her arm, reminding her she wasn't in this alone. She was surrounded by friends who would help her face this challenge, who would stand with her pass or fail and she felt courage rise in her again. Kelly was able to turn her head in the direction of her friends and they all gave her a confident nod, silently telling her they could do this and Kelly smiled back at them, her drive restored.

And so, the Woolett held her head high and approached the judges stand, each step carrying her to her future but she welcomed it openly. Once she was in front of the three judges she cleared her throat, before speaking in the calmest, most controlled tone she had ever used, “Ladies and gentlemen, creatures of every dimension, me and my friends are here today on behalf of Roy's Fang Tangs-”

“Ah yes, wasn't that the same restaurant that tried to present discount Goblin Dogs last year,” one of the judges commented, her voice none too friendly.

But Kelly ignored the harsh comment, instead declaring, “Well this year I made my own original recipe.”

“Yes, yes and it's probably unlike anything we've seen before,” Emilio muttered, rolling his eyes.

Kelly, seeing words were not going to sway the judges' minds any, gave a small nod to Tom who pulled off the cover over the cake. Once exposed to sunlight the cake began to shine and shimmer, the thousands of grains of sugar lighting up and causing the whole courtyard to be covered in tiny spots of light. The crowd again was enchanted by the beauty of the cake, soft murmurs filling the air around Kelly. Star, Marco, and Tom all gave her thumbs up, happy this was going well so far. The judges remained stone-faced but the Woolett was sure their eyes had a hint of sparkle and wonder to them. Taking advantage of the hype, Kelly did a dramatic flourish towards her creation saying in a dramatic tone, “I present to you all the multiverse triple layer crystal cake! Each and every ingredient used comes from a different dimension blending together into one treat to celebrate our unity and companionship.”

The crowd hung on every word, the murmurings growing louder and more vibrant as Kelly let the attention soak over her. She hadn't expected this kind of reaction for something she made but it made her heart swell with pride, finally feeling for the first time ever like a real chef.

“It is quite a sight,” the woman judge said, unable to keep the awe out of her voice.

“Yes but the taste is all that matters,” Emilio commented, still not giving away even a hint of emotion.

“Of course, what's the point of a cake if you can't eat it,” Kelly said, smiling ear to ear. Nothing could faze her in this moment, she was on top of the world. Star, Marco and Tom began cutting up slices of the cake without a word, making sure to get all three layers on the plates before handing them out to the judges with small smiles. The group then moved to Kelly's side watching with held breath as each judge stabbed a fork into the sugary treat. Time seemed to slow as the bite of food was lifted up to their mouth before disappearing inside, all four teens on edge as they watched the judges silently chew.

Kelly kept an eye on the judges' expressions hoping to see some kind of indication they were enjoying her creation and to her delight they all seemed to like it, savoring the bite for as long as they could. When they did finally swallow, two of them began to furiously scribble something down, while Emilio simply stared down at his plate, deep in thought. Then he too wrote something down and said to the girl in a dismissive tone, “Thank you, next!”

Kelly and the others quickly moved back to the crowd, Tom pushing the cart out of the way so the next contestant could go. Once they were out of eyesight from the judges, the group all let out long breaths of relief and took a moment to relax. Marco bent over on his knees, trying to will his racing heart down to a decent speed as he commented, “Wow, that was intense!”

“Yeah no kidding,” Tom agreed, though he seemed a bit more at ease compared to the hooded teen, leaning against the cart with a tense expression. “Can't believe people willingly put themselves through that. It's nerve-wracking.”

Star seemed much less affected, her stance and posture calm, having grown used to dealing with unhealthy amounts of stress during her time on the throne. “Uh guys, you do remember our job is literally fixing the entire world, right?” the blonde royal commented playfully.

Tom and Marco shared a look before the hooded teen responded simply, “Well yeah but that's totally different. If Kelly loses this she doesn't have a job.”

Star giggled, shaking her head before planting a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. “You are too cute sometimes,” she cooed, brushing his bangs out of his face. Marco blushed and looked away with an adorable little grin on his face. Star directed her attention onto Kelly who had yet to say a word so far and asked, “So, Kells, how do you feel?”

“Pretty good, actually,” the Woolett responded in an even tone, looking at peace. If she was stressing or worrying, it didn't show. “I think that went pretty well.”

“You think we're gonna win?” Tom asked with a competitive grin.

“I think we have a good shot at it,” Kelly replied with a confident nod. “But we'll just have to wait and see.”

“I bet they are gonna declare you the winner for sure!” Marco exclaimed, his eyes shining with naive brightness and Kelly couldn't help but smile at his innocent sureness.

“I hope you're right, Marco,” was all the Woolett could say in reply.

…

The next hour passed by at an unbearably slow rate, the four doing everything they could think of to keep their minds off the competition. They met up with Tad, Jackie, and Janna (who Tom did his very best to steer clear of) and luckily they were able to keep the gang sidetracked as the rest of the competition presented their cuisine to the picky judges. Kelly felt immediately more relaxed with Tad in her hair again, all the pieces of herself back together now that they were reunited. Still she had trouble focusing on a single word the others were saying as they talked and laughed in an effort to distract themselves. But Kelly couldn’t stop casting glances over at the judges table, shifting nervously in her seat. Tad seemed to notice this and reassured his girlfriend, saying, “Hey, no worries, babe. You got this in the bag.”

“I sure hope so, Tad, or I can say goodbye to my job,” Kelly muttered, crossing her arms in front of her chest, trying to hide her nerves as best she could.

“C’mon do you really think Roy is gonna fire you over some dumb competition?” Tad asked.

“It’s Roy, Tad,” Kelly hissed, leaning back heavily in her chair. 

“Oh… right,” Tad said sheepishly and Kelly let out a heavy breath of defeat. She buried her face in her palms, trying to massage her aching head, she was ready for this whole competition to be over, the sooner this was done the sooner she could relax, she had a three hour bubble bath in her future that much was certain.

“Hey Kelly, I think they’re about to announce the winners,” Jackie spoke up, snapping Kelly out of her thoughts and back into the moment. Kelly gave a quick glance in that direction and saw the judges whispering amongst each other, serious expressions on their faces. 

“Yep it looks that way,” Kelly muttered, rising up out of her chair, she felt her knees wobble a little but managed to keep her balance. Get ahold of yourself, Kelly, she mentally reprimanded herself. You’re a Woolett for corn’s sake! Act like one! The green-haired girl sucked in a breath forcing herself to relax (or at least appear to be) and made her way to the judge’s stand.

The others followed silently along behind her, not wanting to break her concentration. She seemed really focused. There was again a crowd of people that kept them from getting too close to the stage but they managed to find a free spot relatively close to where the judges had gathered. Emilio and the others seemed to have reached a decision, the serious expression they all shared tipping Kelly off and she felt her nerves spike. This was it. Moment of truth. 

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Emilio began, addressing the crowd and the moment he spoke a silence fell over the courtyard, all ears trained on his final decision. “The other judges and I have come to an agreement. This year's winner of Queen Comet’s Annual Mewni Bake-Off is…”

Kelly and the others all held their breaths, Marco crossing his fingers for good luck and squeezing his eyes shut, willing the judges to say his friend’s name. 

“The Pie King!” 

“WHAT?!” the group all exclaimed, their mouths dropping open in disbelief. Kelly was shell-shocked to say the least, the world around her almost fading to black, the applause of clapping hands fading to a dull roar, her own heartbeat pounding against her eardrum drowning out any other noise. It was as if her brain had completely shut down, watching numbly as the Pie King proudly received his golden trophy, flaunting it off to the crowd and sending Kelly snarky looks. But Kelly was barely aware of this. She was barely aware of anything. The only thing she could focus on was the simple and yet world shattering truth that she was faced with. She lost. All her dreams of being a professional chef… crushed. She felt tears form at the corners of her eyes but she blinked them away. She wouldn’t give the Pie King the satisfaction, since she was aware he was watching her closely. 

She could also feel her friends sympathetic stares burning into her back but she was too ashamed to face them. What was she supposed to say anyways? What words could possibly describe the soul-crushing despair she felt. She could feel Tad gently running a hand through her bangs, a gesture that would normally soothe her but right now....

“Kelly, I’m so sorry,” Marco said, placing a hand on her shoulder, his voice full of empathy and he was clearly suffering from his own despair at losing. 

“That is so unfair!” Tom exclaimed in a loud growl, his eyes flashing red with anger. “He stole Kelly’s secret ingredient and then still wins the whole thing! In the Underworld we would have ripped out his spine by now!”

The Pie King must have overheard them cause he gave them all a condescending smirk and even went as far as to wink at the teens. 

Tom’s cheekmarks were burning infernos at this point and it took all of his restraint not to light the thieving royal on fire. 

Star, however, had no such restraint. “That’s it!” she shouted, storming forward. “I’m putting a stop to this right now!”

“Guys, just forget it,” Kelly spoke up and the whole group froze, turning to her with surprise. “There’s no point,” she continued, her voice sounding pathetic even to her own ear. “I lost, he won and that’s that.”

“Only cause he cheated!” Star argued. 

“Want me to curse him?” Tom offered. “Cause I’ll do it.”

“Already on it,” Janna said, flipping through an old worn book with a black leather cover. Jackie quickly snatched it out of her hands, shooting her a warning glare. Until, the Pie King gave them another patronizing look and the skater handed the book back to her friend, glaring at the king in hate. “Fine, just don’t kill him,” she whispered to her friend. 

“Don’t you guys get it!” Kelly shouted, her hands clenched tightly at her sides and her body shaking in both rage and despair. “I lost because I wasn’t good enough! I thought I had the perfect recipe but I didn’t! And now I’ll never be a real chef!” Her voice cracked on the last word, the tears not threatening to spill. 

“Heck yeah you won’t,” Roy exclaimed, suddenly appearing beside her. He gave her a disapproving look, his arms crossed in front of his chest sternly. “I’m very disappointed in you Kelly. Thanks to you I get to face another year of that loser king taunting me!”

“Hey it wasn’t her fault,” Marco spoke up his friend’s defense, moving to her side. “The Pie King cheated and-”

“I don’t wanna hear any excuses!” Roy interrupted, his focus never leaving Kelly. “Maybe if you hadn’t changed the recipe without my permission this wouldn’t have happened.” 

Kelly said nothing, too numb to speak. She just waited for Roy to speak those dreadful words to her. 

“Kelly, I’m sorry to do this but you’re fired,” the small goblin said, no sympathy in his eyes. 

“Then I quit too!” Tad finally said, adding to the conversation for the first time. “And good luck replacing us! We’re two of your best workers.”

“Not anymore,” Roy replied, before turning his back on the group and storming away. 

Kelly nearly crumpled to the ground, hanging her head in shame as the weight of those words pressed down on her. She could barely breathe, it felt like all the air was being sucked right out of her lungs, like she was drowning in her despair. 

“Kelly, I’m so sorry,” Tom spoke up, his voice full of sympathy. “This never would have happened if I hadn’t lied. You, Star, and Marco would have won this thing if I hadn’t gotten in the way.”

“No, Tom,” Kelly spoke up, her voice tight but she gave him a friendly smile. “I’m glad you were part of the team. We never would have gotten the cake done at all if you hadn’t been there.” 

“It’s just so unfair,” Marco groaned. “We worked so hard and you deserved to win, Kelly.”

“Thanks, Marco,” Kelly muttered, looking tired and emotionally exhausted, heavy bags hanging under her eyes. “But I guess it wasn’t good enough. And now me and Tad are out of the job.”

“Maybe not,” Star said thoughtfully and Woolett turned to her with a startled expression. 

“What do you mean?” Kelly asked softly, barely daring to hope.

“Well Roy may not see your talent, Kelly. But I do,” Star said, flashing her an encouraging smile. “So how about you come work at the castle as our new head chef.” 

“Seriously?” Kelly exclaimed, a smile spreading across her face at the offer, all signs of fatigue gone as happiness filled her core. 

Star shrugged. “Sure. I mean, I already know we all love your food and you did say our current chefs could use some help.”

“Oh yeah, that’s a great idea, Star!” Marco shouted, pumping his arms in the air in joy. “That way we can see Kelly all the time!” the hooded teen gasped as an idea came to mind, squishing his cheeks with his hands. “Me and Kelly could be baking buddies!” The boy was squealing at the thought. 

“But what about Queen Moon?” Kelly asked, fear flashing across her face. “Aren’t you worried she might say no?”

Star waved a nonchalant hand in the air. “Oh that’ll be no problem. Mom trusts my judgement. Besides she was really impressed with the work you did with Baby. And once my parents get a taste of your food they’ll be begging you to stay.”

“That would be…” Kelly began but no words came to mind, she was too stunned, too ecstatic for words. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Uhhh, a yes seems appropriate,” Janna suggested.

Kelly smiled, swiping a hand across her face to free it from tears. “Yes. I’d love to come work for you, Star.”

“Then welcome aboard!” Star said, holding out a hand to shake. Kelly received it gratefully, her smile incapable of growing any wider. 

“Thank you, Star. I promise I won’t let you down,” the Woolett said in a confident tone. She gave a quick glance up at Tad, squealing in excitement, “Tad, do you hear that?! I’m a real chef!”

“That’s awesome, babe,” Tad spoke up, giving his girlfriend a quick pat. “I’m so happy for you!”

“And of courseTad will have to be with you,” Star added as she remembered Kelly’s boyfriend. “I’m thinking something like… Royal Food Taster.” 

“Awesome,” Tad replied, nodding his head in approval. 

“Congrats, Kells,” Tom said enthusiastically. “You deserve it.”

“Thanks Tom,” the Woolett replied, giving him the smallest of nods, which he returned, a mutual understanding passing between each other. 

“This is so exciting!” Marco shouted, unable to hold back his joy any longer as he quickly tackled Kelly in a tight hug, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. “This is the best day ever! One of my best friends gets to come work at the castle with us!” 

Star giggled at her boyfriend’s enthusiasm, finding his joyful outburst as adorable as he was. Then again, nothing about Marco wasn’t adorable. The blonde smiled softly to herself, knowing she had made the right choice. 

“Still a shame you didn’t win the contest though,” Jackie said, looking sadly over at the judge’s stand where the Pie King was still gloating over his victory. “That jerk really doesn’t deserve to win.” 

Kelly rolled her eyes. “Who cares? I still managed to impress the crowd and I’m a real chef. Winning some silly contest isn’t that important.”

“Does this mean you aren’t gonna compete next year?” Janna asked, giving her a knowing look.

“Oh no, I’m totally competing,” Kelly replied. “Only next time, I’m taking that trophy home with me.” 

“And we’ll be right there to help you,” Marco said, giving her a friendly grin. 

 “Never doubted that for a second,” Kelly replied, returning the gesture. 

The moment was interrupted though as a voice suddenly cut through the crowd, saying cryptically , “Everyone, I have an announcement to make!” All eyes turned to Emilio, the crowd hushing once more and the Pie King scowled as the attention was drawn away from himself. The chef had a serious look on his face as he explained, “Due to a recent discovery I’m afraid the Pie King is disqualified.”

The crowd all gasped and the Pie King’s face contorted in rage. 

“What?!” the greedy king shouted in outrage, storming over to the chef in a rage. “This is an outrage! How dare you take away my victory like that! Do you not know who I am?! I’m royalty! On what grounds do you have to disqualify me?!” The Pie King grabbed onto the man’s collar, bringing their faces so close together their faces were now mere inches apart, the greedy king narrowing his one eye in warning. 

Emilio didn’t back down though, keeping up a solid stance as he replied, “On the grounds that we discovered hypnoberries hidden in the pie you gave us. Meaning you forced us into making you the winner, Your Highness!” 

The Pie King’s face immediately flooded with guilt, his one eye widening in fear. Sweat began to drip from his face as he realized he was caught. He gave the disapproving chef a sheepish grin, releasing his collar and trying to smooth down the chef’s white coat. He let out a nervous chuckle, clearly trying to act innocent.  “Oops,” he muttered, trying to play off his crime like it was nothing. 

But it was clear Emilio wasn’t buying the act, ripping the trophy out of the Pie King’s hands and jabbing a finger off-stage, clearly indicating for him to leave. The Pie King grumbled in anger and stormed off the stage, crossing his arm in a childish manner. The Pie Folk quickly chased after their leader as he barreled his way through the crowd, pushing men, women and children out of his way without a care. 

The gang watched as the Pie King exited the scene before a loud chittering at their feet drew their attention downwards. The same monkey from before glared up at the teens, only to let loose a barrage of raspberries, spitting at them and then scampering away after his master. The teens could only watch stunned as their rivals in the competition left in a huff. Once they were out of sight, the group could only stand in silence, no words coming to any of them after the bizarre experience. 

“Well that was just embarrassing to watch,” Janna commented in her typical cryptic tone. 

The others nodded in response.

“Yeah, talk about your sore losers,” Tom scoffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

“Looks like that cheater finally got what he deserved,” Star added, a mischievous glint in her eye. 

“So, wait a second, does this mean there is no winner?” Marco asked quizzically.

As if to answer his question Emilio addressed the crowd once more, declaring, “Since our first place winner was forced to leave, that means this year’s new winner is Kelly of Fang Tangs!”

The crowd exploded into a barrage of applause and Kelly felt her mouth drop open in surprise. She could only stand there and gap, dumbfounded as the roar of cheers invaded her eardrums, making her heart swell. I won, she wondered to herself, the words not quite hitting her brain just yet. I actually won. It was a dream come true. More than she could have ever hoped for and there were no words to describe the pure elation she felt. Even Emilio gave her the tiniest of nods from on stage, recognizing her as a talented, worthy individual and Kelly didn’t think her life could get any better in that moment. 

“Kelly, you did it!” Marco exclaimed, hugging her tightly. “You won!”

“Congrats, babe!” Tad cheered.

“I’m so happy for you!” Star added, quickly hugging Kelly’s other side. Soon it was a group hug as the others joined in, even Tom somewhat reluctantly. They all couldn’t hold back their screams of delight at actually winning. 

“That’s my girl!” Roy said, hopping on stage and moving so he was standing right next to Emilio. He puffed out his chest in pride, a bright grin on his face. “I knew she could do it! I always believed in her!” He put his arm around Emilio’s leg, who gave the small goblin a warning glare and Roy immediately pulled away. 

Kelly’s eyes narrowed on the small goblin gloating and soaking in her victory and suddenly she knew what she had to do. She cleared her throat, before declaring, “Actually, I didn’t win.”

The cheering immediately stopped, all eyes turning to the Woolett in surprise. “What do you mean?” Star asked in confusion.

“Yeah, Kelly, they just said you won,” Marco explained to her, wondering if she had somehow not heard him. 

“No, they said, Kelly of Fang Tang’s won. And I don’t work for Fang Tang’s anymore so technically I didn’t win,” the Woolett replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Roy’s mouth dropped open, his eyes widening in fear. He quickly tried to wave it off saying, “Oh Kelly. You actually believed all that, haha. You silly goose. I was just messing around.” He quickly leaned in closer to the girl, whispering softly, “Look forget what I said, come back and work for me and I’ll double your pay, okay.”

But Kelly shook her head, staying firm. “Not happening..”

“Fine you drive a hard bargain. I’ll triple your pay and rehire Tad, too. I’ll even let you work in the kitchen more, promise,” the goblin said, rambling with nerves at this point, desperate to get her to agree. 

“Too little too late,” Tom said, moving to Kelly’s left and giving the goblin a smirking grin, crossing his arms slyly in front of his chest. 

“Yeah, Kelly’s with us now,” Marco added, from the Woolett’s other side, trying his best to mimic his cool friend’s demeanor but failing drastically. 

“What, no!” Roy exclaimed, panicking. Finally, he could think of no other option as he got down on his knees and begged the girl to change her mind. “Please, please, please! You can’t leave me! Not when I’m so close! Just think of all the good times we had together!”

Kelly shrugged. “Sorry, Roy. But I got a new job.” The girl gave a quick glance around at her friends, smiling sincerely at each of them before adding, “And I think I’m gonna stick with my real friends.” 

Roy deflated in defeat, giving his ex-employee a sorrowful look, his lip quivering against his will. But Kelly didn’t buy into the pity party, keeping a straight face as Roy sadly slumped away. Marco waited until the goblin was out of earshot before asking, “But Kelly I thought you wanted to win?”

“I do,” the Woolett said with no regrets in her face or tone. “But on my own terms, not Roy’s. He’d just spoil the victory for me.”

“Well then, I think you made the right choice, Kells,” Star said, giving her a proud grin. The others all nodded in agreement, some even voicing their support out loud. 

“Thanks, I do too,” Kelly replied, feeling confident in her decision.

Emilio, from on stage, cleared his throat to regain the attention, before asking the girl, “Sooo, you're saying you don’t want to win then?”

Kelly shook her head, before explaining, “That’s right. I’m dropping out of the competition.”

A murmur grew in the crowd, people in shock by the girl’s bizarre declaration. Emilio was stunned, his face showing uncharacteristic surprise as he stared at the girl, now at a loss for words. “Well then… I-I-” He stammered, unable to form coherent sentences. “I suppose, this year’s winner is our third place… which was…” He turned to the other judges for help. They quickly began skimming through the notes they wrote down, scrambling for the right name. They were not prepared for this and their haste caused them to struggle. Finally, though one of them seemed to have found the right name and sighed in relief. 

He quickly handed Emilio the slip of paper, the chef acknowledging his fellow judge with a simple, “Thank you, Gordon.” Emilio cleared his throat before, reading off the name on the paper, saying for the third time that day, “And so this year’s actual winner of Comet’s Annual Mewni Bake-Off is… Gustav of Gustav’s Bites!”

“Yay!” A voice cheered from the crowd, two skinny arms pumping into the air in joy. The crowd parted to let the boy through, watching as he ran towards the stage to receive his award. There was a scattered mix of claps this time, most people still confused by what was happening. But Gustav was too excited to care, letting out whoops and shouts of joy as he sprang up onto the stage, beaming ear to ear. Emilio held out the trophy for him to take and the boy eagerly accepted it before giving the gruff man a tight hug. Emilio’s body went stiff, once again at a complete loss of what to do. Finally he settled for awkwardly patting the boy’s back. Still, he looked beyond relieved when the young chef let him go. 

Gustav held the trophy up high into the air, tears of joy streaming down his face, as he yelled at the top of his lungs, “I woooooon!”

Kelly and the others clapped for the young teen, all of them smiling brightly in his direction. “Good for him,” Star said sweetly.

“Yeah, he deserved to win,” Marco agreed, nodding his head.

“Better him than that rotton king,” Tom grumbled in annoyance.

 Kelly placed her hands on her hips, giving Gustav a long look, her head cocking slightly to the side before she finally said, “Not bad.”

“So how about we get out of here and go get Kelly officially certified as our lead chef,” Star suggested.

“Finally,” Janna said, not needing to be told twice as she began to make her way out of the courtyard. “Seeing all this food and not being able to eat it is a fate worse than death.”

“Tell me about it, I’m starving,” Jackie agreed, putting a hand over her rumbling stomach. 

“Well, what do you say, Kelly?” Marco asked, giving his friend a hinting look. “Feel like teaming up to cook one more dish for the day?”

“Sure, it’ll give me a chance to show off my skills.”

“Tom, you in too?” Marco asked his friend.

The hot-headed teen gave them a long look before he shrugged and replied, “Sure, why not?”

Star and Marco cheered in victory, high-fiving each other. “Yeah! Team Stomco is back at it again!” the hooded teen yelled.

“We are not calling ourselves that,” Tom muttered dismissively. 

“So Kelly, got any big plans now that you’re the head chef of Butterfly Castle?” Jackie asked, giving her friend a curious look.

Kelly’s eyes twinkled mischievously as she rubbed her hands together in anticipation, an evil grin beginning to spread across her face. “Oh I’ve got a few ideas in mind,” she replied cryptically. 

Finally, Kelly felt more free than she had ever been. She was no longer forced to work under the goofy and eccentric Roy, she was free to pursue whatever. She could bake to her heart’s content and she could already imagine all the amazing dishes she would be able to make now that she was in charge of her own staff of chefs. And boy did she have plans for her new staff. She was gonna whip those guys into shape or die trying. She was determined to not only run the kitchen right, she was gonna be the best dang chef Butterfly Castle had ever seen! 

She had been dreaming of such things for so long for an opportunity like this to come along, a dream which until a few hours ago had been entirely out of her reach. But now, it was finally a reality. And it was all thanks to her friends.

The girl took a moment to look around at her group of chosen companions, listening to them in silence as they all talked and laughed and joked with each other. She watched as Star said something flirty and Marco blushed beet red, hiding his face under his bangs. She watched as Janna poked Tom in the arm, causing him to flare up in anger, only to be distuighed as she then booped his nose, his face growing hotter than the surface of the sun. She smiled as Jackie’s laughter filled the air, giggling at her roommates bizarre attempt at flirting. She felt Tad’s weight pressing down on her head, reminding her that no matter what she wasn’t alone and she was loved.

And in that moment, Kelly couldn’t help but think that contest or not she was the real winner of the day. And her friends were all the award she needed.