#and other michevious beings..........

[ofpine]

good morning to fairies elves gnomes sprites and other mischievous beings

[hayakawalove]

A Man In Love

A/N: I wrote a version of how Suguru shows his love as well, that one was called "Love". This one will be about Gojo! I can't get enough of poly satosugu. It's just the best to me.

Summary: Satoru Gojo wants to love and to be loved. It's a good thing he has you and Suguru.

TW: Fem reader, a couple of dirty jokes

W/C: 2,873

Golden rays pour in through the parted blinds, heating up a sliver of Satoru’s exposed tummy. He had been awake for the past hour, but he dreaded the idea of leaving the warmth of your shared bed. If he cracked his eyes open he could see his two lovers tangled together, limbs crossing over limbs. Your light snores filled the room, making Satoru’s lips split into a soft grin. He teased that you sounded like an old man when you slept, your snores could wake the whole neighborhood! 

He actually loved the sound though. It reminded him that you were here, right beside him. 

Satoru carefully pulls himself from the sheets, being attentive to not wake you or Suguru. Both of you had a late night, not that that was anything new. You two were night owls compared to Satoru. He much preferred to get an early start to his day while both of you could stay up all night if given the chance. He stretches his long arms above his head, his shirt riding up slightly. There was a list of things he wanted to get done before waking the two of you, so he better get started. 

He exits the bedroom and strides into the living room, noticing the remnants of your love strewn across the room. A blanket Suguru had gotten you tossed haphazardly across the couch, candy that Satoru had gotten Suguru lay on the coffee table, and pants you ordered Satoru sat folded on the bar. He was sure Suguru folded them, he was like that. 

Satoru pads around sleepily, getting dishes out of the way first. He moves around the kitchen doing a multitude of tasks, feeling energy begin to spread across his body. He was super excited for the day he had planned ahead of you three. No one would be caught up in work so it was perfect. He could hardly contain the excitement, images of your and Suguru’s happy faces filling his brain. Satoru briefly cleans the coffee maker and remembers how you refused to let him indulge in it. 

Coffee? Satoru, we don’t need you caffeinated, that would be a nightmare. 

He supposed you were right, not that he needed it today. 

After getting all tasks out of the way he crept back into the room and saw you and Suguru cuddled in together. You pressed yourself against his torso, his strong arm wrapped around you. 

“Come on sleepy heads.” Satoru tries to keep his voice soft. 

Suguru’s brows furrow, tugging you closer to his body. You turn your head and bury it into Suguru’s chest, trying to block out Satoru. 

“I know you guys are up.” Satoru murmurs and walks over to the edge of the bed, reaching out to grab your foot. 

You inhale sharply, yanking your foot up, tucking it against you. 

“Keep your cold grubby paws to yourself.” You mumble against Suguru. 

Satoru thinks he catches a glint of a smile on Suguru.

Had Suguru always been so ethereal? Of course he had. Satoru was just amazed by it every single time.  

“How mean!” Satoru sighs loudly, and flops onto the bed. 

He wriggles his way up in between you two, forcing himself in. 

“And on our anniversary too, no less.” 

Not even a second later you're scrambling away, reaching for your phone to check the date. Satoru looks up at Suguru and sees his lids open slightly, a peek of caramel gracing Satoru.  

Satoru looks micheviously at the other man, waiting for your reaction. 

“It’s not our anniversary!” You groan, falling back into bed. 

“Is too! Anniversary of our first date.” Satoru snides back, and wraps his arms around Suguru. 

Suguru breathes through his nose and closes his eyes again, a finger strumming against Satoru’s arm. He was used to his antics by now, and knew the one thing Satoru craved was a reaction. He refused to give in that easily. 

You murmur under your breath while wiping the tiredness from your eyes. Satoru soaks up the feeling of contentment seeping in the air. 

There was nowhere he’d rather be than right here in this bed with you. 

“Plus I have a day planned. So you need to get up and get ready to go, I’ll time you.”

“Satoru.” Suguru chides. 

You slide back down and reach a hand up across Satoru, patting around until you reach Suguru’s mouth. You keep it clamped over him while situating yourself. 

“Don’t talk to him, maybe he’ll leave us alone if we pretend we're asleep.” 

Satoru clicks his tongue and jostles you. 

“Come on! I promise it’ll be fun!” He rolls away from Suguru and crawls on top of you, pressing kisses against your neck. 

You try to shove him back unsuccessfully, wanting sweet sleep to over take you once more. Suguru slides out of the bed once he realizes Satoru won’t let up. He stretches and watches Satoru’s onslaught against you, sleepy gaze trained on you two. 

You eventually start to giggle underneath Satoru. 

His heart may burst if you laugh like that. 

You never could resist him. Suguru reaches out and grabs the back of Satoru’s shirt. 

“Come on, we might as well entertain him for a little bit.” 

It takes you both far too long to get ready, Satoru decides. He’s about to crawl out of his skin at your slow pace. You and Suguru move in sync getting ready for the day. Satoru can hardly keep his hands to himself, the peak of it showing through once he offered to help you shower. You slammed the door in his face, leaving him to pout. 

Once you finish showering, without his help, you exit the bathroom with hints of your soap filling the air. 

Satoru watches you, with his brain fogging up. 

Fuck, he loves you two. 

And he knows you both love him as well. Your love never failing to strike him. There was never a time in his life when he felt such love from other people. Admired, sure, but never love. 

There were many things about him that changed once you came into his life. For instance, Satoru had never been so selfish before, not until you. Now he found himself wanting more, all the time, unabashedly. Maybe that was something he liked about you two. You allowed him to want. He was never granted that privilege before. Then again there were many things he liked about you. 

Satoru knew for a fact that there were less stars in the sky than things he liked about you. 

He liked how Suguru’s hair hung in curtains around his broad shoulders. 

He liked how your eyebrows shot up everytime he spoke. 

He liked how Suguru had endless bouts of love. 

He liked how your fingers tugged his a little tighter when the world outside was silent and no one existed but you three. 

Warmth drips from his fingertips, if he had the option he would never let go of either of you.

Funny, that was. Satoru didn’t remember being filled with such warmth before you and Suguru. Had he just been an iceberg floating through life before you? 

Satoru looks up and catches your eyes, watching a small smile grace your lips. The sight sent his mind reeling. 

Did you know how deep his fingers were dug into you now that he had you? Did you know not even the gods would be able to keep him away from you two? 

He watches the way you and Suguru weave between each other, getting ready for the day. 

How mundane. 

He’s amazed at how you love him in the mundanity of life. 

So many people want him for things. And he gets it, he really does. He has a role to play. He enjoys helping. But he wants to be loved without being needed. 

Love me when I have nothing to offer. Love me despite it. 

Love me when I bring nothing to the table besides a gaping wound in my chest, my heart in my hands, trembling and tender for you. 

“Ready, handsome?” Suguru asks, a finger underneath Satoru’s chin, tilting his head up. 

Satoru blinks several times, snapping out of his amatory thoughts. 

“Huh?” He whispers. 

“You forgot already?” You say. 

Satoru clears his throat and stands up, taking you two in. 

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. 

“How could I forget!”

Satoru grabs onto you both, dragging you outside. 

“What’re we doing today?” You ask from the front seat in the car. 

Suguru’s always the designated driver, his hand resting against the wheel while his other strums against your thigh. 

Satoru shuffles in the back seat, peeking his face in between you two. 

“We’re going to the mall today! I’m gonna spoil you both, so buy whatever you want.” He grins. 

“We got ourselves a sugar daddy don’t we Suguru?” You turn your head, looking at Suguru.

“It appears so.” He says with a smile. 

His face was set in a serene look, the idea of spending the day with you both making his heart soar. 

“Aw, you wanna call me daddy?” Satoru teases, reaching his hand forward to pinch your cheeks. 

You swat him away while his laughter fills the car. 

“There’s no room back here!” He pouts and gives up, leaning back. 

His long legs try to spread out only to be blocked by the seats. 

“Poor baby. Maybe you can buy us a bigger car?” Your eyes flick up to meet his in the rear view mirror. 

“Careful darling, maybe I will.” 

His eyes wrinkle in amusement, a rush of heat spreading through your cheeks. You tear your eyes away and look out the window. 

“We could just strap you to the roof of the car and call it good.” You say, although your words have no mirth. 

“People would think I’m being kidnapped!” 

“Who would kidnap you?” Suguru teases, a hearty laugh falling past his lips. 

The mall comes into view shortly after, you and Satoru continuing to tease each other the whole time. He stands in between you both so he can hold both your hands, swinging them back and forth. Satoru decides it’s your turn first, dragging you to the nearest clothing store. 

Suguru and you take your time striding through the store while Satoru seems to make a beeline to the dresses. The idea of buying you something and seeing your smile from it made his heart strum in his ears. 

How grateful he felt to be able to spoil you. 

Once you and Suguru catch up to him, you idly flip through dresses, not finding anything particularly good. 

Suguru watches you point out several and nods, making idle comments. Satoru pulls a dress from the rack and holds it up, showing you. 

“You should get this! White, to show how pure you are.” 

He holds up a velvet white dress, his eyes bright. 

Suguru snickers beside you, pushing dresses aside to find something. 

“Good one Satoru.” 

Satoru clears his throat. Suguru had no idea the effect he had on him. Satoru loved the way his name tasted on Suguru’s lips. It always sounded a little more sweet when he was the one saying it.  

You're at a loss for words, eyes widening. You grab the dress away from Satoru. 

“You just want me to wear this cause it matches your hair!” You accuse. 

Satoru smiles and leans against the rack. You roll your eyes. 

“What about this one?” Suguru asks, pulling out a dark purple dress. 

It’s mid thigh length, with a cinched waist. It looked perfect. 

“Oh that looks so cute Suguru, how much is it?” You ask and reach for the tag. 

“Don’t worry about it!” Satoru interrupts, plucking the dress from Suguru’s hands. 

You bite your cheek and follow him to the check out line, watching as he hums to himself. Early on in your relationship you learned to never question his spending habits. Everytime you told him he didn’t have to spend money on you, he’d laugh and brush you off. 

“Will this be all sir?” The worker asks, scanning your dress. 

“Yeah!” Satoru responds happily, fishing out his credit card and passing it over. 

“That’ll be 5050.” 

“$50.50? That seems a bit expensive. Or is it? I guess I’m not sure.” You murmur to yourself. 

“My bad, I should have said it better. $5,050.” She exclaims.  

“Huh?!” You squeak out, lurching forward. 

Satoru slides behind you, throwing his arms over your shoulders to pull you back against his toned chest. 

“Hush now bunny, you’ll make a scene.” He cooes at you, waiting for the worker to insert his card. 

“As if you care about making scenes.” Suguru says incredulously. 

“Why didn’t you say anything Suguru? I'm sure you saw how expensive it was!” You fumble. 

Suguru turns his head and looks away, purposefully not making eye contact. 

He enjoyed spoiling you too, you know. 

Satoru hears you grumble to yourself while you look around the store, noticing details you hadn’t picked up on initially. There was a crystal chandelier, sleek floors, and expensive brand names plastered on the walls. You must’ve been too distracted if you were only noticing now. How cute. 

Satoru’s cotton lashes flutter down, taking your beauty in as you gaze around. 

He could stare at you all day if you let him. 

“Alright, next up Suguru!” Satoru cheers, grabbing the bag and heading towards the door. 

“He’s out of his mind, he must be.” 

Suguru links hands with you and pulls you out. 

“Yes he is.” Suguru agrees. 

You all debate over where to go for Suguru, but ultimately decide on a jewelry store. The two men lag behind, taking their time. 

Satoru watches you stroll through the store, noticing how you linger by the wedding rings. 

Soon, soon. 

He and Suguru had already known they would marry you a month into you joining their couple. They just wanted to wait a bit longer, not wanting to jump the gun. He notices how your eyes look curiously at the ornate jewelry, wondering what thoughts were going on in that pretty head of yours. 

You had nothing to fret over, he would buy you the perfect ring. And if you didn’t like it, he would buy you ten others. And if those didn’t suit your taste either, he would buy the whole damn store. Money wasn’t a concern when it came to you. It never was. 

“Hey Suguru, maybe we can get some new jewelry for your belly or your n-“ Satoru teases. 

Suguru shoves a hand up to cover his mouth, not allowing him to continue. 

“This isn’t that kind of store!” Suguru flusters. 

“It could be, maybe they have a special glass case for that.” 

You stop in front of the necklace section. 

“Satoru!” Suguru begins to lecture. 

“Excuse me, can we see this one?” You ask the attendant. 

He nods and slides the case open, pulling out a delicate silver chain. You turn around and motion for Suguru to come over. 

“Bend over.” You ask and grab the chain. 

Satoru snickers causing you to glare at him. Suguru bends over beside you in front of a mirror, lowering himself enough for you to reach around his neck. 

“What do you think?” You ask, making eye contact through the mirror. 

“It looks really nice.” Suguru says softly, slightly taken aback by how much he likes it. 

Satoru knew Suguru never really cared for jewelry before, but if you insisted on it, Satoru knew Suguru’s resolve would crumble. You had that effect. 

Did you know just how tight you held their chains? That one word from you would have them falling to their knees? 

Oftentimes Satoru wondered if you invented love. There was no other explanation. 

“We’ll take it!” Satoru says, talking to the worker. 

“I don’t even wanna know how much it is.” Suguru sighs out, watching Satoru happily pay for it. 

The drive home was much more calm, Satoru’s antsy energy from earlier seemingly contained now that he got it out of his system. 

Satoru sat behind Suguru on the bed, thumbing over the clasp on the necklace. 

“Why do they make these things so small?!” Satoru complains. 

You stand in front of them, admiring your new, expensive, dress. 

Satoru grumbles out loudly. 

“Scooch.” You murmur, sliding behind Suguru.

Satoru stubbornly allows you to take over, watching your fingers grasp on. 

Soft fingers graze over Suguru’s exposed neck, if Satoru looks closely enough he could see a thin trail of goosebumps break out over Suguru’s neck. 

He finds himself jealous at the gesture. 

Touch me too. 

“Needs the nimble fingers of femininity.” You tease. 

“What would you oafs do without me?” 

Don’t even say that, Satoru had no clue what he would do without you. 

The necklace easily latches on, a sight Satoru complains about. 

“Thank you for today Satoru.” You say, planting a light kiss on his lips. 

More, more, more. 

Satoru was like a man starved, craving your touch. 

“Of course.” Satoru’s face melts into pure joy. 

Suguru slides his hand around the back of Satoru’s neck, pulling him in for a kiss. 

“Thank you.” He breathes. 

Not even the gods could take you away.

[slaymybreathaway]

WASTELAND BABY! (Chapter Three)

Chapter List Masterlist 📼

Word Count: 1k

Content: sexual innuendo, friendly banter, Neville being all cute and flustered

September 5th ○ Gryffindor Dorms

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

"Ron get up" Harry shook the sleeping figure of his best friend and watched as his one of his eyes opened, his long red hair still splayed across the pillow.

The rest of the boys were already up, having been woken by the bell rining in the corridoor fifteen minutes prior.

"Lemmesleeparry," Ron mumbled before turning onto his other side. Harry rolled his eyes, though he had grown used to this over years.

"Tell him that he'll miss breakfast," Dean laughed from where he was making his bed on the other side of the room. "That should get him up quick enough,"

"Or..." Seamus buttoned up his shirt before grabbing his pillow and holding it up, a michevious smirk on his face.

The other three boys realised what he was getting at and picked up their pillows, quietly walking over to Ron's bed. Seamus counted down from three on his fingers before they all jumped on the bed, bashing the sleeping boy with their pillows.

Ron covered his head with his hands, in a futile attempt to protect himself from the suprise attack. Feathers flew around the room as laughter erupted from the attackers, only stopping once Ron held up his hand in surrender. "Alright alright! I'm up, I'm up!"

Seamus, Dean, Harry and Neville retreased back to their own beds, still chuckling to themselves as a loud knock sounded on the door.

"Shay, you in there?" The sound of an Irish accent made Neville turn his head towards the door quicker than a racing broom.

"Yeah, come in Y/n" Seamus called out from where he was digging through his trunk.

The door opened and in walked y/n, carrying a small pile of clothes. She put them on Seamus' bed, not noticing Neville trying to fix his hair as much as he could.

It had been a few days since their dance on the top of the astronomy tower that had made his affections for her stronger than ever.

"Ma put these in with my stuff before we left. She leave anything with you?" She asked, peering over her brothers shoulder into his trunk. It was often that their mother got their clothes mixed up while doing the laundry.

"I don't understand why there's a charm on the stairs to the girl's dorms but not the boy's. What if we weren't decent or something?" Ron muttered grumpily as he sat on the edge of his bed, pulling on a pair of grey socks.

Y/n turned to face him. "Dumbledore trusts us more than you bunch of perverts I suppose," she let out a laugh, crossing her arms.  "Besides, if you weren't decent, Ron, I doubt there'd be much for me to look at anyways,"

A smirk climbed onto the girl's face as a chorus of "oooh" sounded across the room. A red blush started to connect the freckles on Ron's cheeks as he stuttered trying to defend himself.

Inbetween fits of laughter, Harry handed Ron the glass of water from his nightstand. "You'll need this, mate"

"For what?" He looked up at his friend in confusion.

"To cool down that burn!!" Dean called out, both of his hands cupped around his mouth to project his voice, the room erupted into laughter once more.

"Oh shut up," Ron rolled his eyes and walked straight to bathroom.

Laughter died down as everyone went back to what they were doing. Seamus pulled a couple of t-shirts out of his trunk and set them down on the bed. "Here, these are yours... and, em," he spoke embarrasedly "so is this,"

Y/n watched as Seamus picked a black bra out of his trunk like it was a contaminated object and flung it towards her. Her face immediatley went red with embarrasment as she tucked the bra away under her jumper in an attempt to hide it.

It was poinless though, because Dean let out a whistle from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. "C'mon y/n/n, show and tell," he joked.

"Piss off Deano," she cracked into a laugh before picking up her other clothes from the bed and started to leave. "Hey Nev, I need to drop these back to my dorm. Will you save a seat in the Great Hall for me?"

Neville looked up from where he was studying his timetable for the year and gave y/n a smile. "Yeah of course,"

Seamus' eyes glanced between all of his friends' faces in suspicion. He waited till his sister had left the room and was out of earshot before turning back to his mates. "You guys better have had a good look because that's it," he spoke just as Ron walked back into the dorm, toothbrush in hand.

"That's what?" Harry asked, confused.

All of the boys turned their heads to Seamus for an answer.

Seamus crossed his arms before speaking "Y/n's off limits, starting now,"  he nodded decidedly.

Neville looked at Seamus with confusion. What did he mean off limits?

"What? That's crazy! we wouldn't go after your sister," Dean shot back, a look of shock on his face.

"Speak for yourself, Thomas." Ron scoffed, a smirk on his face. Seamus, who's face was turning quite red, was about to speak up before Harry interrupted him.

"Do you think if I asked her out she'd say yes. You know, because I'm The Chosen One and all," he grinned, sharing a look with Ron. Of course neither of them was serious, they were just trying to get on Seamus' nerves... and it was working.

Once Dean realised what they were doing, he chimed in too. "On second thought, she does give me the look sometimes"

Seamus almost had smoke almost blowing out of his ears at this stage, but before he exploded he turned to Neville. "I suppose you wanna get in on this aswell, Longbottom?" He asked.

A state of panic came over Neville and he could feel the colour drain from his face. "What? I don't wanna say anything!" He held his hands up.

Seamus' anger was halted as he flung one of his arms around Neville's shoulders. "See! Longbottom's the only one with the decency to not want to snog my sister!" He smiled, pointing at Neville between every word.

Nevilles face went from white as a ghost to red as a tomato in a matter of seconds and he felt his heart racing in his chest.

Only if he knew...

[mysteriesmuse]

oh my gawd Shoto is definitely one that’s super into superstitions!!!

Like he insists on these small intimate —maybe silly, rituals that he believes contributes to your combined success and wellbeing. It’s one of your first encounters with him that you tell him this: “Well you know red hair is considered lucky.” And Shoto, with his small tight lipped princely smile shakes his head and shrugs, “Maybe so . . .” All the while you’re on your tiptoes gently picking bits of concrete and rubble out of his hair on the left side. Your nimble short manicure fingers gently teasing around the edge of a giant welting knot from where he’d pulled you out of harms way. The other hand placed on his shoulder as you pulled yourself up to inspect the injury. Elegant hands floating around every curve and inch as he tried to pull your attention away from his own check up. ProHero Shoto’s dual-colored eyes practically going cross eyes as he tried to do his due diligence and you looked him over for any injures. Now Shoto thinks his little bit of supposed “luck” had little say in this chance meeting with you, but his luck has certainly changed since then.

And you think that the old superstition on red hair must be true after having what would be your future boyfriend save your life. And at Shoto’s insistence — more than your own he makes sure you get every single ounce of love, support, and any luck he can possibly give you.

Always ducking his head down with michevious gleaming eyes as his gaze meets yours gazing up at you with mismatched eyes. All for you - the love of his life - to cup his cheek and ruffle your hand through the dark auburn hair of his left side affectionately. For every single big event in your life; an interview, a test, a presentation, a dentist appointment, a girl’s night, a rivalry game, anything your heart could possibly desire. And, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but Shoto insists that you his good luck charm, should borrow whatever luck the genetic gods have placed on him. Which, in the Japanese public’s opinion is a lot.

Shoto thinks he’s just the luckiest man on the planet when he’s with you. Never hesitates to follow you around the house like a cat and ask you for a good luck kiss before he leaves for hero work; a big mission or a regular shift. Not that you’d ever deny him one anyway, but the way he asks is so mind-numbing, so toe-curling, and so so Shoto.

In the stairwell, as you’re just making your way downstairs to both start your days. Shoto always going down in front just to turn around, spread his arms, and prompt you for that good luck kiss with his smooth silky tenor voice. And who are you to deny? Stopping on the step or two above him as you lean down from the waist to kiss him. Your hands coming up to cup either side of his face and plant a kiss on that gorgeous face of his. And as you pull away you’re never sure if the way he places both hands on the wall is to cage you in for another one, or to catch himself as the tall man visibly melts an inch or two; his arms bracing himself. Because, from Shoto’s point of view, it’s like he’s being kissed by an angel. Which naturally happens when you place somehow framed in the pendant light above you. He does so intentionally, he thinks it’s only the natural way to see you in your full natural beauty.

Other times it’s standing at the doorframe, big sleek eyelashes blinking slowly at you, a shiny pouty bottom lip, and his hands pressed in prayer under his chin. The whole while he’s dressed in his hero costume waiting to cross the threshold of the door with his lean broad shoulders nearly squeezed by the frame until you finally stop pretending to think about it and nodded leaning in. With his gorgeous elegant fingers sneaking behind the curtain of hair at the base of your neck once you consent; rolling your eyes and giggling.

And sometimes it’s as he’s running about at work when he realized he forgot one and he races back to your place, school, work, etc. Having rushed over, skidding on a path of ice, and not stopping until he’s right in front of you. His breath casting a little puffy cloud from the icy cold he used to get there. His hair all mused as he takes in your hands and bewildered expression before giving you the most passionate chaste kiss he can manage in your workplace. Absolutely drinking in your breath as you part — before he dashes away like Jack Frost.

And he’s never one to question magical powers, or your own secret quirk. (a conspiracy he’ll animatedly reveal when you’re ready for it. IT being his incredibly detailed series of notes dedicated to his findings) And the record shows he’s always made it back home safe to you when you’ve kissed him with luck — and Shoto intends to fight with the goal to return into your embrace each and every time he has to leave it.

[lailoken]

hello,

this may sound like a silly question, but is it possible for someone who is not Irish, scottish, or British to be contacted by the Fae?

thank you!

Hello there.

This isn't a silly question, but it's one I will have to expound on a bit, as opposed to just giving a yes or no answer. I'll also preface this by saying that my personal beliefs will likely be contentious to some, and I encourage readers to take what they find useful and leave the rest if it conflicts with their own paradigm. Most of this comes from a mixture of personal gnosis and theory, and I am not attempting to assert authority on the subject or claim academic accuracy, so please keep that in mind.

To put it very simply, I believe that the Fae are present in every region of the world, and I have highly syncretic beliefs about the nature of the Fae and other spirits in general. For me, the folkloric specifics come down to cultural lenses and the ways that long-term worship and perception shape the expectations and manifestations of the Gloaming Folk. So, no, I don't think one has to be Gaelic or Brythonic in order to cultivate a relationship with the Fae.

For instance, when looking at the Faerie Faith, many people think primarily—if not only—of the insular Celts. The Fair Folk of the English; the Aos Sidhe of the Irish; the Daoine Sìth of the Scottish; the Sheeaghan of the Manx; the Twlwyth Teg of the Welsh; the Spyrysyon of the Cornish; and the Korrigan of the Breton. But in the larger context of Germanic and Scandinavian folklore, there is copious evidence of entities that are undeniably similar to the Fae as they are understood in the Insular Celtic Isles. In fact, the Germanic word Elf is so closely aligned with the term Faery that many people don't even realize or think about the fact that they derive from different cultures. That being said, the Germanic/Scandinavian "lens" of Faerie Lore is probably the other best known by the wider public.

Likewise, there are multiple beings that show up in Slavic mythology and folklore—such as the Vila, the Rusalke, or the Vodyanoy—which are pretty readily accepted as Faeries. I don't know of an overarching term that would necessarily be equivalent, but the folkloric link is still there.

Now, moving into a more controversial aspect of my beliefs, I also happen to think of Angels, Demons, and Djinn in terms of Gloaming Spirits. While I readily admit that millenia of regionally specific belief and veneration form unique "identies" that Spirits of a given culture may align more closely with, I believe that they are all part of one larger "family" of beings who have been interacting with humanity for many thousands of years. I realize that this will likely be considered an egregious oversimplication for some, or possibly even an erasure of the individuality these cultures possess; but for me, the things that make a tradition sacred and unique are not invalidated or snuffed out by by the fact that other cultures may find recognition in them. So, while I do think beings like Angels, Demons, and Djinn are inexorably interrelated, I also fully accept that they are unique and culturally specific. And frankly, I find it hard to believe that others who have engaged in intensive personal gnosis haven't come across similar threads of paradoxical interconnection.

Beyond these, though, I've also pinpointed other entities over the years that I think represent reasonable approximations of the Fae. These include things like:

The Peris of Persian Mythology (Beautiful aerial spirits sometimes known to work with humans called Peri-Kahn, who gained skills and abilities from the relationship. They are generally described as humanoid figures with beautiful wings, who are known for their michevious behavior, though at least one work references them as divine beings denied entry into paradise until such a times as they have atoned—a folkloric motif some will recognize in connection to certain folk-beliefs regarding the Angels and the Fae.)

The Yakshas of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism (Spirits of nature often connected with water, fertility, plants, treasures, and the wilderness. While some are considered benign or benevolent, others are considered more mischevious or sinister, though most are considered capricious. Sometimes associated with ecological forces, and at other times, with the spirits of the dead. )

The Yōkai of Shintō (A diverse array of spirits—often explicitly equivacated with fairies, demons, and/or sprites—known to interact with humans in both benevolent and malevolent capacities. While many of these spirits are quite singular in their uniqueness, others are more recognizable within a broader archetypal folkloric context—such as the Zashiki-warashi, which are described as diminutive domestic sprites known for both their ability to bestow good fortune, and their tendency to perform mischevious pranks.)

The Korpokkur of Ainu Mythology (A race of little folk, associated with the Butterbur plant, who were said to leave gifts under cover of night—as they did not like being seen. They were believed to be the original inhabitants of Japan before the Ainu—which also echoes aspects of Celtic Faerie Lore.)

The Aziza of Dahomean Mythology (A race of supernatural little folk who are said to live in the Wilds—often beneath Anthills or within silk-cotton trees— and use their magic to help humans, as well as providing people with practical knowledge and spiritual wisdom.)

The Yumboes of Wolof Mythology (Spirits of the dead described as little folk with pearly white skin and silver hair who lived beneath hills and come out to dance beneath the Moonlight. They are known to hold great feasts, which humans are sometimes invited to.)

The Hellenic Nymphs, Sirens, and Kobaloi (As many know, Nymphs are animistic spirits of nature, considered beautiful, and known to interact with humans. Likewise, most will have heard of Sirens as beautiful, seductive, and dangerous spirits of the water who are known to entice and drown men. The Kobaloi, in turn, are described as a mischievous race of small goblin-like folk who are fond of playing tricks on human kind.)

The Basque Iratxoak, Laminak, and Mairuak (An Iraxto is a type of domestic Imp or Goblin known to help with human labors in the night, if properly propitiated. A Lamina, on the other hand, is a Water Maiden described similarly to Sirens or Nereids. They are generally understood to have webbed duck feet and long beautiful hair, which they are fond of combing by the waterside. They are known for both their tendency to offer aid to those who show them respect and propitiation, and their tendency to seduce and ensnare men. Some traditions speak of male giants called Mairuak, who are closely associated with Laminak, and are linked by some with the construction of megalithic structures.)

The Duende of Iberian mythology (A term quite similar to 'Faery' in its usage, which encompasses a diverse array of spiritual entities who are generally said to appear as humanoid, though frequently capable of shapeshifting. They are often associated with nature and are known for their involvement with humans—be it helpful, romantic, michevious, or vicious. They include goblin-esque folk known as Trasgu, Water Maidens known as Xana or Anjana, and supernatural beings called Mouros who take refuge beneath the earth and rarely emerge near sites like barrows. The most common conception of a Duende, however, describes them as a mischevious sort of domestic imp or goblin known for their dealings with the human world. )

The Aztec Chaneque (A sprite-like race of little folk who are associated with Elemental forces and are often conceived as guardians of nature. These beings were once propotiated by the Nàhuatl peoples in exchange for protection from blight, intruders, and evil forces. However, they could also inflict harm, and they were known to sometimes kidnap humans and take them to their home in the Underworld of of Mictlàn to be seduced. On an interesting sidenote, one folk-method of protecting against them when traveling in the forest was for a person to turn their clothing inside out—a charm many will recognize from Celtic Faerie Folklore.)

The Mayan Aluxo'ob (Spirits recognized in the mythological traditions of certain Maya peoples, who are generally associated with particular features of nature. They are described as small and humanoid, and they usually remain invisible, though they can assume physical form for the sake of interacting with humans. Sometimes, wandering Aluxo'ob are said to ask for offerings from farmers or travelers and may respond with wrath if refused. If its conditions are respectfully met, however, it is said that an Alux will provide protection, luck, and aid. In fact, some traditions hold that a farmer can erect a specialized form of Spirit House in order to welcome in an Alux that will aid them for a contracted period of time with tending crops, summoning favorable weather, and guarding property. What's more, there exist naming taboos that reflect themes of Celtic Faerie Lore.)

The Guarani Pombero (A spirit particularly important in Paraguay, though it appears in multiple mythological traditions from the surrounding area. The Pombero is generally conceived as a small hairy man who lives in forested areas and abandoned sites, and is known to cause mischief for humans. It is said that the Pombero can become invisible, change shape, and perfectly mimick the sounds of the wild. Usually, he is considered harmless, if mischevious—known for antics like food theft, the loosing of cattle, and the scattering of household objects. Though, he is also known also known to occasionally abduct and/or impregnate women, resulting in the births of hairy children. The Pombero is capable of being appeased, however, through offerings such as cigars, liquor, and honey. It is even said that, if these propitiations are observed consistently for long enough, the Pombero will take a liking to a person or persons and provide protection for their home and posessions, as well as leaving gifts of their own in return.)

The Tupi-Guarani Curupira (A spirit described in the folklore of Paraguay, Amazonia, Brasil, and Argentina as a little man with bright red hair and feet turned backwards, which it uses to obfuscate the trajectory of its footprints. They are said to live in the wild, and will prey on hunters who take more than they need, or who harm animals while they care for their Offspring. They are also said to ocassionally abduct and/or impregnate women, resulting in strange or unexplained births.)

The Iroquois Jogah (A race of magical little folk spoken of in Iroquois lore. They are said to be largely invisible, and an array of phenomena are associated with them, such as mysterious drumming noises, rings of bare earth, disembodied lights, and "bowls" found in stones. Offerings such as tobacco and fingernail parings could be left within these stone bowls, as propitiation to the Jogah. They are fond of mischief and games, though they can also be dangerous if disrespected. It is said, for example, that they will cause illness in homes constructed upon sites that they favor. The Jogah are also known for the variety of sub-groups into which they can be divided, generally associated with particular aspects or features of the natural world.)

& the Māori Patupaiarehe (Beings described in Māori mythology as a pale folk with red or golden hair. They are said to live in the mountains, hills, and deep forests in communities unseen by human eyes. They are known to influence the mist and clouds, to play music sweeter than that of any human hand, and were said to sometimes act with hostility towards humans who encroach or intrude upon their land. Despite this, however, most traditions state that Māori are able to converse with them at times.)

These are only a selection of traditional beliefs, though there are many more I won't attempt to list, and who knows how many more I've never heard. These are merely ones that have particularly caught my notice over time, and which seemed worth mentioning here. However, I am far from an anthropological expert, and I encourage others to ammend, contextualize, and add onto this information as they see fit—especially if they come from a culture I reference here. My goal is not to imply that all of these traditions are somehow directly connected to the Anglo-Celtic traditions, or that Anglo-Celtic mythology should be the cornerstone by which all folklore is considered; it's just the cultural background I have the most personal connection to/understanding of, and so I aim to speak mainly from a place of my own experience (though, I am actually half Paraguayan as well.)

So, in conclusion, while I do think that one's own cultural and regional context generally plays an important role in how one is likely to encounter the Gloaming Folk, I believe that people from virtually every culture have the capacity for working with them. I think that, when attempting to approach the Fae, it's a good idea for one to come at it from the perspective of their own heritage and regional lore, but at the same time, one can't always help the way spirits end up cultivating relationships with them (and, honestly, I think it is better for one to wait for the Fae to approach them whenever possible.)

[lxmiko]

Hello! Can I request a Luxiem hcs where they are streaming horror games together with reader? I just followed you and I really like your writing styles, hope to see more of it! :)

streaming horror games with luxiem . . .

— ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ—

THIS IS ACTUALLY KIND OF A FUNNY REQUEST CAUSE IM SO BAD AT HANDLING HORROR SO IM SORRY IF YOU SEE A LITTLE PROJECTION IN SOME OF THE HCS ;;

i assumed that the reader would also be some sort of streamer or vtuber, and i hope you don’t mind, but i chose a horror game/genre to write about for each member !!

characters: luxiem (separately)

— *✧･ﾟ: * —

vox akuma

he’s making you play five nights at freddy’s and there’s no stopping him ;; but don’t worry, he won’t backseat you :>. since fnaf doesn’t have any multiplayer games, he watches you play!!

vox probably pesters you into putting his model close to yours, whether it be one of his chibi pngs or his actual character model. he says it’s to take care of you in case you get scared, but everyone knows he just wants to be close to you, even if it’s virtual

“oh, it’s okay, darling,” he reassures you sweetly, though if you listen carefully, there’s a hint of mirth in his voice. “it’s just a jump scare, you’re okay, you’re still in the game.”

he’s very understanding when you get frustrated and gives little tips along the way if you ask, but it doesn’t stop him from being a tease >:c, he laughs when you scream at a jumpscare or freak out when the game gets chaotic toward the end of the night

when you’re concentrating and consequently quiet, he hums to fill the silence, his voice low and slow as to not bother you as you focus, and it’s calming despite the stress of the game

in the case that you’re good with horror, vox is going to be even more of a prick >:c. since he knows you won’t get scared, he’ll laugh a lot louder and tease you a lot more, but don’t worry, he still helps you when you ask cause even if he pokes fun at you, he wants you to enjoy yourself since he was the one who suggested the collab

if you’re really afraid, he’ll switch between cracking jokes about the animatronics and soothing you with encouraging words (and maybe a little backseating if you’re panicking a lot), “there’s only an hour left, dear. remember to keep an eye on freddy before he moves through the whole circuit.”

when you finish all five nights, he congratulates you with a loud celebratory shout, “you did it! i’m so proud of you, my love,” yes, it’s just a game that you played, but vox doesn’t care, he’s proud and happy that you took time to play a game he likes very much anyway >:cc

but of course, with a michevious smirk stretching across his lips, he has to ask, “so, how do you feel about playing the second game next stream?”

— *✧･ﾟ: * —

mysta rias

he definitely asked you rather hesitantly (“it’s okay if you don’t want to collab..!”) if you wanted to play a horror game with him

it’s the type of game where you’re constantly running, hiding, and actively trying to defeat the enemy you’re facing, and it’s most likely fast paced and filled with jumpscares (ex: outlast, devour, etc)

but either way, no matter what game you guys play, it’s going to be a chaotic mess. half of the time he’s making fun of you for being scared (even if he screamed louder than you did) and the other half he’s trying to make you go into the next area of the game first cause he’s too scared to go in himself

even before the game, he’s nervous, whether it’s because he’s collabing with you or the scary music of the start screen for the game (maybe it’s both)

you’re more likely to get afraid from mysta’s screams than the actual game

“it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay!” his voice raises in volume with every repeat of the very untrue affirmation. “it’s going to be fi—” he cuts himself off with another scream, probably shocking you as well

“babe, babe, babe, babe—” he cries for you every few seconds, getting scared by any suspenseful scenes that he swears will lead to jumpscares

“babe, please,” he whimpers as his character hides behind you, and you slowly open a door at the end of the hallway. “we’re going to die!”

at times where you’re more afraid than him, he’s very comforting, “it’s okay, i’ll do it for you,” he carefully completes a task and gestures back at you. “see? we’re fine,” even if he’s also afraid, he always makes sure you’re okay first (then he’ll go scream his head off later)

please humor his attempts at making the game seem funny. he’s most definitely got his eyes almost closed so he can squeeze his eyes shut in case of a jumpscare, and if you laugh at the way his model’s eyes are closed, he’ll bicker with you and it’ll distract him even if it’s only for a little while

after you two finish the game and end stream, he texts and perhaps calls you for a few hours to keep his mind off the game (and also because he hopes that talking to you will stop him from getting nightmares)

— *✧･ﾟ: * —

luca kaneshiro

poor, poor you ;; luca's going to be scaring you more than the game for sure ;;;

he's having the two of you play games similar to what mysta would have you play: fast-paced and filled with jumpscares

he pulls pranks on you, making sounds worthy of being in the game itself and gaslighting you into falling to your demise

he runs with key objects he knows you need to move on the next stage, and the two of you will have your own little chase

and if you guys are playing a buggy game, he definitely looks for every single part of the map to either clip through it himself and make objects disappear

you can try to avoid and not listen to him, but he’ll still somehow unintentionally get you killed and claim it was all according to plan afterward

even if he dies right after you, he bursts into a fit of loud laughter, and you’re obligated to forgive him no matter how mad you might act because his laugh is so contagious and adorable ;;

speaking of when he dies, he always calls for you to save him, even if he was the reason you died just a while ago. “come, come on, darling, you’ve got to save me here!”

everytime he dies, he cries out for you in one of his silly voices. “honey! pl—please!” and then he ends with his dramatic death with an equally dramatic shout of pain

but that’s not the end of it. he continues to trail after you and sulk, complaining that you didn’t save him >:cc. “that was, that was so unpog of you, you know that?” you don’t need to see him to know he’s pouting ^^;;

if you’re really afraid, he immediately becomes your knight in shining armor, even if it’s done a little humorously. “don’t worry, honey, i’ll protect you, okay?” .///. (though don’t expect him to be any quieter. he’ll still enter rooms with a yell and taunt to whatever enemy you’re facing)

despite all this, luca is a completionist at heart, and he pulls through with parts that are tougher for you in the game and jokes about being the carry til the end of it

“yay, we did it!” he cheers when the two of you finish the game, “you see that chat? you see that? we did it, darling!” he boasts about you and your good plays during the game (while still making it seem like he did all the work)

— *✧･ﾟ: * —

ike eveland

you’d be streaming and ike would have his cute lil png set right next to your model! you would be streaming an rpg horror game (omori, ao oni, etc)

the two of you take turns voicing the character lines (bonus points if the characters you guys voice end up together in the end (extra bonus points if you get ivy to voice characters too))

“got your drink with you, sweetheart?” he reminds you before stream. he also frequently has the two of you take short breaks to hydrate (even if he’s chugging an energy drink on his side) so your throats don’t give out from all the voice acting.

he’s so invested in the storyline and likes to go on little tangents with you about topics that come up in the game. they can range from very serious to stupidly humorous and relating to random memes the two of you know of

feel free to react any way you’d like, cause ike reacts right alongside you !! he’s expressive at every scene and always has something to say and gush over (cute animals and characters hehe :D). no matter if you cry at the sad parts or scream at the terrifying parts of the storyline, he’s right there with you :>

if the game features romance, the both of you definitely coo over them as chat coo over you being so adorable for being giggly about the romance (chat’s just spammed with “them <3 ;;;”)

the two of you discuss every choice together throughly, jumping down rabbit holes and deviating from the plot entirely, you can trust that as a novelist, his mind goes in every single direction when you ask him a simple question :>

he asks you a lot what you think might happen later in the game and pitches in theories of his own :oo

ike says he’s thought about making a horror rpg, and if you bring it up to him while streaming, he’ll, with a hint of amusement, say you already have a secured position as co-creator ;D

since the two of you are playing an rpg, it’ll probably take two or so streams to complete, and as the first steam comes to an end, he humbly accepts your invitation to join you the next time you stream the game. “if you’ll have me,” you can’t see it, but he shyly smiles at your immediate and affirmative response (along with chat’s spam) :>>

— *✧･ﾟ: * —

shu yamino

shu would have the two of you play some type of horror game heavily based on solving puzzles and choosing right choices!! he likes using his brain (and he won’t admit it, but he secretly likes to flaunt a lil bit of his intelligence)

whatever thoughts and ideas you might have toward solving puzzles are listened to intently, and he hums in acknowledge to show you he’s listening :>>

“let’s go!!!” he cheers softly when you or the both of you together complete a puzzle. it’s a small but adorable celebration considering the nature of the game the two of you are playing

he’ll find a way to slip a sugma joke, even if it makes no sense, and especially if you’re in a tense situation in the game. it’s his little way of lightening the mood and cheering you up :>

he’s always willing to go in front, though he’ll lightly bicker with you before he does. “huh? why do i have to go first? why can’t you go first?” he asks even if he’s already halfway through a slightly ajar door

he unknowingly comforts you, calling out your name when you’re in a panic and trying to look for him in games that use proximity chat, beelining toward you cluelessly with another piece of the puzzle. “i think we’re almost done, right? we should be almost there.”

he often makes little sounds of confusion at the harder puzzles in the game, mostly quiet aside from the stretched out “eh?” you hear him murmur under his breath

you get to hear his lemon voice, his voice raising in volume and pitch as an enemy chases him away and separates the two of you www

he doesn’t really scream much however, it’s more of a slight shout, and he often apologizes for it afterward if it scares you

if you’re the type to repeatedly call for help or scream when an enemy is nearby, he tends to laugh softly at you, but he’s not making fun of you!! he kinda finds it endearing that he gets to come to your rescue despite not being the best there is out there with horror

don’t worry about being alone after stream if you’re scared!! he’ll text you, “doing okay, baby?” and if you reply with even the slightest bit of fear, shu’ll stay up with you for as long as you want :>>

— ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ—

gaaah this was so hard to write cause i don’t actually watch their horror streams ;;; i hope it still turned out to be an okay read for yall though !!

[zstargalaxy]

TWISTED WONDERLAND X POKEMON

Cheka × Litleo MC (Ft. Kingscholar family)

It definetly baffled everyone when you suddenly arrived during the ceremony.

First, despite being a 5 year old little girl, the mirror somehow sorted you to the Savannaclaw dorm where not that many students there are very....positive towards kids (*Cough* Leona *Cough*)

And when there are already two lions in one territory....

Lets just say Leona wasnt thrilled.

It was already enough with he's nephew and now he's got to take card of a small tyke.

An energetic and active one, unfortunately.

Though, he cant deny that he was shock like everyone else when you had let out a roar on him when you two suddenly gotten abit rowdy.

But not just any roar.

It was your kind's signature move, Noble roar.

Many Savannaclaw students watch in utter shock at how strong your roar is and how it had weaken Leona's magic.

Children usually start off with weak or standard magic during their youth so it was really shocking to everyone in NRC that you can use such powerful "magic".

Second, you wouldnt be a Litleo if you werent kinda hot blooded. Yes, you are a smart and a kind Litleo gijinka where you even help Ruggie with some of the dorm's chores but when it comes to battle.

You always love watching your big sibling fought in battles against other trainers. It always excites and motivates you to becoming a trainer when your older.

Oh boy.

You really show some Savannaclaw spirit.

Though there are limits due to your age, many of the students who had decided to give you a small battle to heed with your need had known better than to underestimate you.

Vargas loves your spirit in battling (Even though some of the staff scolded him for supporting such dangerous behavior)

I have feeling that he would also give in to have a small fight with ya.

And ultimately lost due to him underestimating you.

Gain great respect from him.

Now the third and final problem starts at the end of Chapter 2...

When you had meet Cheka.

The occupants in NRC were glad that Cheka only visits than staying for the two of you, when togather, are menaces.

Atleast to some people.

When Cheka had suddenly visited Leona in the infirmary, much to he's dismay, the young prince had spotted you and saw you had lion ears aswell.

Yeah! A new friend!

Two of you hit it off and quickly became friends due to seeing another one similar to themselves.

Though he reminded you of your kind due to he's ears and red hair, not literally a Litleo but only looks wise.

Whenever he visits he's dear Unca, he would always make sure to ask where you are so that the three of you could play!

Leona kinda appreciates you since you distracted Cheka from him for a decent amount of time.

Yet you both still are pains in the butt.

As kids, michevious ones at that, the two of you always wander off onto other territories of the school to explore in your own little journey, where Leona had to chase (hunt) you both down immediately.

Cheka loves your "magic".

He is amazed at how strong you are with it than he is with he's own magic.

The way how strong you are immediately excites him.

Though he's facorita part when you used your magic was when you used it to cook some meat!

Especially barbecue!

Nice, hot and crispy.

Thats how the two of you like your meat.

And dont get me started with he's parents.

Falena and he's wife discovered your "magic" when you used ember on some barbecue.

The king and queen wefe confused at first when Cheka had asked for uncooked barbecue but after seeing you used ember, it kinda now makes sense.

The parents even thought that you were some kind of prodigy at the display of "magic" that you had showcased from what they had seen when you had used some of your moves.

But overall, Cheka's parents approve of your friendship between one another.

Yet they cant deny the feeling that soon, the two of you might be something else....

Should I do a part 2??? ;)

[xiaojianggshi]

enhypen members as classical pieces

hello!! this isnt a request but i thought it would be fun to do as i really like classical/instrumental music!! this is through shufflemancy, sorry if it is a little long compared to my other posts!! i will also give an explanation to each piece for personal interpretation.

for heeseung, i got tchaikovsky's swan lake (act 2, scene 10). if you are unfamiliar with swan lake, in summary a princess is turned into a white swan. the only way to break the spell upon her is for her to find true love which she finds in a prince. however, her evil twin, the black swan seduces the prince, leading to the death of the white swan.

jay's piece is shostakovich's festive overture!! i really like this piece and i have played it before! in an interview, shostakovich described this piece as "the state of mind of a man who has undergone the ordeals of war, who has defeated the enemies of the homeland, and now seeks to rebuild his country."

jake's piece is mozart's symphony no. 25, specifically the allegro con brio!! mozart was rather rebellious throughout his life, as he lost his childhood due to him being a renowned musical prodigy at a young age. this piece in particular was created in the classical era, where music was light and airy. this piece however was heavily emotional and has extreme dynamics!!

sunghoon also has a mozart piece! though, this one is less energetic and lively. during this part of his life, mozart's mother passed away. this largely reflects in the piece, causing it to be more somber. this sonata is the only one of mozart's to be written in the the key of e minor, causing it to be unique, even amongst his 800 or so compositions.

sunoo as gounod's ave maria!! this arrangement of the famous prayer actually uses bach's prelude no. 1, which i would say is one of the most famous classical melodies to this day! gounod incorporated this melody in his arrangement of ave maria. essentially, he used an already famous piece and managed to make something even more impactful with it.

jungwon's piece is liebesleid, or translated as "love's sorrow". this piece is originally part of a trio, with two other pieces called love's joy and lovely rosemary. this piece is very emotional as inferred by the name alone. the composer, kreisler, was not very liked during his life, though we now see him as one of the most skilled violinists of all time, most of his work was mistaken to be from other composers.

finally, for niki i got bazzini's dance of the goblins. this piece is rather infamous for its difficulty. the technique is unforgiving and as someone who has attempted this piece, i would even say it is so hard that if you are not skilled or experienced enough to play it, it hurtsd overall, the tone of this piece is very lively and energetic, michevious even!!

[snortlaughs]

pops

fandom: the owl house

pairing: none! please don’t tag as ship (that would be so weird please do not do that)

characters included: ler!darius, lee!hunter

word count: 1,491

genre: fluff! SO MUCH FLUFF

warnings: none

author’s note: this one was so fun pls pls pls enjoy and let me know what u think... this is a bit different from my usual writing~!

darius and hunter sit together in the living room of the owl house, where they have been living for a few months.

they both escaped from the emperor’s coven and were now honorary parts of the owl family.

surprisingly, everyone welcomed them with open arms.

since luz had told the family about who belos really is, the ex-members of the emperors coven were kindly encouraged to reside there.

the owl house has a basement, anyways, so there was plenty of extra room.

anyways, darius held open a book with a red cover called “ruler’s reach” in his left hand, while his right arm was wrapped tightly around hunter’s shoulders.

he read out loud to the scarred, wavy-haired boy — who was happily nuzzled into the man’s chest as he listened.

hunter had previously mentioned that this was his favorite book, so darius liked to read it to him; however, hunter doesn’t allow him to do this when anyone else is at home.

he says that it’s because “it’s embarrassing”.

but, tonight was one of those nights where everyone in the house went off to the night market.

—

“hey, darius…?” hunter murmured, peeping around the doorframe that connected the hallway to the living room. he was holding something behind his back.

darius looked up from his scroll that he was using to tap through penstagram stories, raising his eyebrows with curiosity.

“what is it, little prince?” he asked, his voice gentle.

the blonde looked down sheepishly and showed the man what he was holding.

“…can you read to me?”

darius’ eyes lit up, pleasantly surprised.

“yeah, sure.”

he put his scroll down and patted the area next to him on the sofa, gesturing for hunter to sit down.

when they did this, they huddled together; hunter being held close to darius’ side.

hunter swears that it’s just because he “wants to be able to read along”, but darius knows that he just likes being cuddled.

“good job on asking me, kiddo!” darius said as hunter shuffled over to him. “i usually have to beg you to let me read to you.”

he lifted up his right arm so that the young boy could get into his usual position.

hunter scoffed with a smile as he descended into darius’ warm embrace and handed the book over to him.

“don’t praise me, old man.”

darius rolled his eyes and couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

“hey! what was that for?! i was just saying that you did a good job! you barely ever ask me to—”

“just read alreadyyyy!” hunter whined, cutting off darius’ retort and resting his head on the man’s chest.

“fine, fine.”

a few minutes of softy-spoken reading passed, and hunter was starting to get drowsy. not quite asleep, but his guard was definitely down. his eyes were closed.

darius took a moment to look down at him.

he smiled and petted the top of his head, before a — frankly, evil — thought entered his mind.

his previously soft smile turned into a michevious smirk as he moved his hand from hunter’s head to his ribs and started to lightly scratch through the fabric of his t-shirt.

he quietly set the book down on the floor by the couch in order to free up his other hand.

hunter groggily opened his eyes, his quiet giggles beginning.

“he—hehehey…” he said through his light laughter. “whahahat are you dohohohoing?”

he fruitlessly tried to push darius’ hand away, but he was too weak from his tiredness.

“what do you mean~?” darius said teasingly, acting aloof. “i am reading you your book, like you asked me to!”

the speed of his wiggling fingers increased.

hunter, at this point, started to actually wake up; his laughter becoming louder and more untamed.

“yo—yohohohou literally puhuhut the book down, you lihihihiar!”

darius looked down at the book that was sitting on the floor as he began using his other hand to tickle hunter’s belly.

“hmmm. i didn’t even notice,” he said with a nonchalant shrug.

“YEHEHES YOU DIHIHIHID!”

hunter was quickly becoming hysterical, attempting to escape from darius’ grasp — but there was no use.

darius’ right arm was around the back of his neck and was attacking his ribs from there, and his other hand was scribbling into his belly.

if he was to try to move at all, it would just tickle more.

darius began to use a bit more pressure and alternated his quick fingers all over hunter’s torso and under his arms.

screeching, snorting, wheezing, and hiccuping filled the room.

“THIHIHIS IS SOHOHOHO BAD!” hunter pleaded, unable to control his volume. “THAHAHAT TIHIHIHICKLES SO BAAAAD!”

darius couldn’t help but giggle along with his victim. hunter’s laugh was hilariously contagious — it was legitimately just… ridiculous. his snort made him sound like a pig.

“NOHOHOHO! DAHAHAHAD!”

the moment hunter realized what he said, his eyes widened comically and he slapped a hand over his mouth.

his laughter quickly ceased and he was now, seemingly, wide awake.

darius immediately stopped moving his hands, and removed them from hunter’s body — however, not removing his right arm from around hunter’s shoulders.

all that he could do was stare down at hunter, who was getting increasingly nervous. 

“i—i—” hunter stammered, feeling entirely lost on what to say.

“i—i’m really sorry. i didn’t mean to say that. that slipped ou—”

hunter gasped when he looked into darius’ green eyes and saw that tears were forming in the corners of them. 

he was unable to speak. 

“n—no! darius, i didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, i—”

before hunter could even finish his statement, darius pulled him into a humongous hug; a hug so tight that it actually took the breath out of hunter a little bit.

“urgh—!”

darius immediately let go and clamped his arms to his sides when he heard that slightly-pained sound. it was as if he believed that, if his arms were anywhere except glued to his body, he might crush hunter with how much he was... feeling in that moment. 

“ah! u—um, i’m sorry. i just... i got overwhelmed.” he said stiffly, his tears streaming down his cheeks. he looked at hunter, recognizing the terrified look on his face. he quickly reassured: “not overwhelmed in a bad way! i—i just didn’t think that you looked at me... like a dad.”

hunter had started crying now — it seemed as if he was completely, utterly surprised at himself that he said what he said. 

“yeah, i mean...” hunter sniffled, wiping his face. “of course i see you that way. you’ve known me for a really long time, and you teach me new things, and you guide me and support me and love me through difficult times. isn’t that what dads do...?” 

darius shook his head in happy disbelief, partially feeling like he was dreaming.

“yeah, i suppose it is, little prince.” 

he prepared himself for what he was about to say, and took a deep breath.

“i see you like a son.”

the happiness on hunter’s face was like nothing darius had ever seen. 

more tears welled up in his magenta eyes, and eventually dripped down his face. it was like he was unable to stop them. 

the gap between his teeth was on show from his uncontrollably wide grin. 

his cheeks and ears were a bright red; probably a mix of embarrassment, the crying, and the tickling he had endured minutes ago. 

“oh, my titan. no way. no way. darius, no WAY!”

darius nodded his head, completely lost in all of the emotions that he has felt in the last couple of minutes. 

“yes, way. i mean it.”

hunter lunged himself at darius without a care in the demon realm, wrapping his arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. he wiped his tear-streaked face on the man’s shoulder. 

he hiccuped through a sob, but it wasn’t an upset sob. 

it was a loving, happy sob. a fulfilled sob.

darius threw his arms around hunter’s waist and embraced him warmly. 

“i won’t let go for as long as you want me to,” darius said, placing a hand on the back of his head and stroking his hair. 

“not for a while, at least,” hunter said, breathing out a sigh of relief.

“not for a while, huh~?” darius said, lightly wiggling his fingers into hunter’s sides; still holding him in the tight hug that they shared. 

darius heard a little “pff— hehehehe!” from behind his back, and felt hunter’s fists clutching at the back of his shirt.

“that was a very emotional moment, little prince... i wanna hear you laugh again~! how does that sound?” 

hunter, in a stroke of genius, poked darius’ sides from behind; which immediately dislodged him from darius’ tickle hug with a squeak. 

hunter took a second to breathe, and then responded:

“only if it’s a fair game. you know good and well that you’re just as ticklish as me, pops.”

[slasher-male-wife]

EEEEEEEEEE

Hella Excited That You're Writing For Carrie And Herbert! No Joke I Have A Lil Elephant Plushie I Named After Him Becuase I Love The Glowstick Juice Boiii :-D

Can I Request Herbert, Carrie, And Mayhaps Eddie Munson Slow Dancing With Gn/Male Reader And Reader Gets A Little Giggly And Michevious Toward The End Of The Song And Dips Their Lil Sweet Heart And Gives Them A Big Ol Smooch! 👈🧸👈

Of course you can Teddy. You're like one of my followers I like see the most and I always enjoy hearing from you. Ngl Carrie is a comfort character of mine so I'm surprised I haven't started writing for her sooner. Also Tommy is like really hot and super gender sorry not sorry. Anyway I hope this fulfills your needs. Reader is male. Also Carrie's is set at the prom and we're going to pretend the blood dump never happened and that she lived happily after that night.

Slow Dancing with Slashers and Eddie Munson

Includes: Herbert West, Carrie White and Eddie Munson

Warnings: Strong language

Herbert West

It's not often you see Herbert get so soft with you. Even in tender moments he always seems to keep some form of composure with him. You and Herbert are at Dan's wedding, you love seeing him more dressed up, he loves seeing you in a suit too. You're sitting at a table talking with him about your dream wedding. "Well for mine I'd love irises to be the flowers involved. I love the dark purple ones the most. Oh and having it be in the fall when the weather is getting a bit cooler and the leaves are changing color would be so wonderful."

"Well to be honest I've never really thought about marriage before. I never really dated anyone before I met you to be honest. But I'm quite glad I did met you." You smile and grab his hand, making sure to hold it lightly so he can pull away at any time. You know he's not the biggest fan of physical affection.

"Should we go dance?" You ask. Herbert seems a bit caught off guard by your question. He looks out at everyone else dancing together, "Do you want to dance with me?" You ask. He looks back to you.

"I haven't really danced in a long time. But everyone else is doing it I suppose." You smile and stand up, dragging him a little to the dance floor. He's not the tallest man, standing at 5'7 but it's not too big of a difference to make it feel awkward for you two to be dancing together. You put his arm around your waist and grab his other hand. You put your arm around his waist and slowly start to move with him. He's very stiff. Not used to being this close with someone.

"Loosen up a little you look as pale as a ghost." You tease drawing the slightest smile from his lips.

"It's just odd doing this. It's not often I go out and do social things."

"I know honey. But I'm glad you're doing this with me now." You feel his palms begin to get slick with sweat, but you don't mind at all. You love feeling this close with him. Feeling this inimate with him. He's like a cat in this way. He doesn't often show physical affection, but when he does it's very sweet. As you look deeper into his eyes all you can focus on is how beautiful they are. Your eyes can't help but wander down to his lips. You lean in and press a soft kiss onto them, catching him a bit off guard. But when you pull away he goes in for another light and short, but loving kiss.

Carrie White

You're the lucky guy who got to take the most beautiful girl to prom. Carrie is stunning in her home made pink dress, her hair slightly curled and her lovely face exentuated with makeup. You have to admit you knew she would be shy here. But you're determined to get at least one dance in with her before the end of the night. She's looking off at the crowed dance floor while you admire her soft, round features. When she looks back at you she can't help but blush and look away. No matter how long the two of you have been dating she always gets flustered at the simplist affection. "Carrie would you like to dance?" You ask.

"Oh I don't know about that. I'm not very good at dancing." You put a hand on her thigh.

"Carrie I would love to dance with you. I would love to show everyone here how beautiful my girlfriend is and how much I love her. Just one quick dance and we'll be done." She thinks for a moment before she nods.

"Alright I'll do it." Your smile grows and so does hers. You lead her to an open spot on the dance floor and put your arms around her waist, she puts her arms around your neck. You slowly start to move to the music together. You get a few odd stares from others but you ignore them. Carrie however looks a bit more worried than you.

"Carrie," You say pulling her attention to you, "Don't worry about them. You look so beautiful tonight darling," She gives her usual sheepish smile before resting her head on your chest. You look down at her. She looks so beautiful in this light. You sigh happily and kiss the top of her head. She looks up at you now. Moving her head away from your chest a bit. "Can I kiss you?" You ask. She nods.

"I'd love you to." You lean down and give her a slow, tender kiss. When you pull away her face is red and she's got on a big dopey smile. "I love you Y/n." She says.

"I love you too Carrie."

Eddie Munson

Tonight is the prom. And there's no way in hell you're going there with Eddie. Instead the two of you are hanging out at his trailer. You still got a bit dressed up for this. More formal pants and a nice dress shirt. Eddie's dressed up in his own little way too. His "nice" jeans and a band shirt with a flannel. You two are in his room listening to the radio, tossing popcorn into each others mouths. "You know Eddie," You say tossing another piece into his mouth, "I do kind of wish I got to dance with you." Eddie nods and grabs a few pieces of popcorn.

"We still can. Flip over the radio to channel 87.am. They're always playing some kid of dancing music." He says putting the popcorn in his mouth. You go to his bedside table and flip over the radio to the channel playing some slow song. You pick up the popcorn bowl and set it aside. You help Eddie up and keep your hand in his. You put his other on your waist and yours on his.

"Oh so hold like this then we just kind of slowly move around like this," You lead him into the movements of the slow dance, pushing his hair our of his face. You look into his big brown doe eyes. His face is soft in the light of his room. "Yeah you've got it."

"When do you have to run off before your carraige turns into a pumpkin?" He teases. You roll your eyes.

"Just shut up Eddie I'm trying to have a sweet moment right now." He chuckles and kisses your cheek.

"I'm teasing you handsome. Or should I call you prince since you want to act so fancy?"

"You're lucky you're a pretty boy Eddie. You get really annoying sometimes."

"You know you love me."

"No I actually hate you. I was planning on taking you to prom to do a Carrie style blood dump on you." You say sarcasticly.

"Well I'm sorry you hate me because I guess it's gonna make this really awkward," Eddie leans down and presses a soft kiss onto your lips. He pulls away for a few seconds before you go back in for another kiss, "I love you Y/n." He says resting his forehead on yours.

"I love you too Eddie."

[popculturebuffet]

The KaBlammiest KaBlam! Retrospective: Season 1 Review (Comission by Cory Bryant)

Assume the crash position, hold on tight, take a breath for a new kind of cartoon show review. It's The KaBlammiest KaBlam! Retrospective. And now to take you inside and turn the pages.. your host jake!

Thanks me. So for those less familiar, KaBlam was a mid 90's nickelodeon variety show. Framed as a cartoon comic book, hosts and 90's kids, the everyman henry and the michevious june, would get up to various shenanigans while introducing various shorts.

The show was unique in that unlike other variety cartoons like Tiny Toons or Animaniacs (both bangers I need to review more of), KaBlam's shorts were all from diffrent creators, pilots that had been shopped to the network and instead of picking them up for a full series, became their own series within this series. There were also various pilots that didn't get a full segment that still aired on the show along with music videos and for this season french experimental shorts. It was something unlike anything else before or since, and it was truly wonderful.

Speaking of wonderful this is also the first review comissioned by someone in my day to day life. One of my best friends since 8th grade, the guy I see most films with and one of the sweetest persons you'll ever meet, Cory Bryant. Cory asked out of the blue if I could review KaBlam, I said

And here we are, with him having already paid in advance for four seasons worth of content. As for why.. he just thought it was neat and would make a good reivew.. and he was right. Like I said, KaBlam really ISN'T like anything else i've covered: it's essentially 6 diffrent shows in one with a few one offs thrown in. So while iv'e done full season reviews before KaBlam! is going to take a diffrent approach, and has been a bit of a challenge. But it's a challenge i'm more than happy to have taken up, so keep your heiner in the recliner as I turn the page and introduce or reintroduce ya'll to one of nick's most creative, intresting and hilarious shows.

The Secret Origin of KaBlam!

KaBlam came about because future Nick President, Herb Scanell, naturally getting tons of cartoon shorts pitched for his cartoon channel, wanted to try live action shorts with a cartoon sensiblity. One of these was Action League NOW!, a short about action figure superheroes getting ran over or crushed a LOT, and it was picked up to be ran on All That!, saturday night live for cool kids. ALN creator Robert Mittenhall wanted to do more with the shorts. Mittenhall had worked at nick for a while now as a story editor for the adventures of Pete and Pete, creator of sitcom Welcome Freshman and Co-Creator of Double Dare, and with the help of Pete and Pete co creators Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, pitched a variety show to Nick: Various animated or semi live action shorts all done by diffrent studios

The only thing left was a wraparound, something to link them together, and with the team not having animation experince, they tapped artist Mark Marek. Marek wa sa long time animation fan, having gone to school for it after being insipired by Peanuts and Johnny Quest as a kid, and having done animation for Cindi Lauper and They Might Be Giants.

So while pitching ideas, he got the call back from Nick and thus KaBlam was fully formed, with Marek creating hosts Henry and June. Marek also kept the show allive by posting it and all in all is pretty damn awesome.

So with our main show in place, I can get to this reviews format: while I COULD go episode by episode and the shorts within, I decided instead to look at each major segment one at a time, as each short is essentially it's own show within KaBlam! with it's own creator/showrunner, art style and what have you, the Henry and June wraparounds included. There will also be an extra segment for one off or less seen segments.

So with that we have our first cartoon

Henry and June our are hosts.. and also our wraparound. For season 1 at least i'ts mostly unconnected nonsense. There's an episode or two with an ovearching plot, but for the most part it's just funny skits between each cartoon following two great characters: straight man henry and mischievous june. The segments as a whole aren't bad, though they do run into a problem: repetttion. There area LOT of skits that are just "June torments henry for little to no reason". A LOT, i'ts something I hope goes down as the series goes on and didn't really remember from both the first time I watched the show as a kid and binge watching a chunk of it with my niece a few years back, so hopefully it goes down. At the very least it looks like the first episode of season 2 directly adresses it, and while that dosen't guarantee the problem's gone it at least shows the creators recognize they might of leand on this joke too much

Otherwise it's just some fun nonsense, gets really weird with it and has a lot of fun with the format: our heroes are ostensibly in a comic book so we get fights over who turns the page, hanging on to panels and in probably my faviorite joke of the season, June deciding that if she never turns the page, the show never ends.. only to find out they just turn the lights out if they go over time. It's a good wraparound and outside of the Henry Torture Porn never really got old, and even some of that's funny it just depends on the bit. It's more ther'es SO DAMN MUCH OF IT. And so you see what I mean as we go thorugh the henry and june segments for the season, i'l lhave a Henry Abuse Count. Also I won't be going into each bit in detail as there are a LOT. I will for the other shows, but there's just so much here and so much of the show to cover as is.

The following are the titles for the episodes themselves.. or at least what fans use, using the slogan on the back of the comic each episode. Honestly I don't mind it as it's better than NO titles, especially on a show this loose and freeform. The titles aren't exactly descriptie, but they at least allow us to tell them apart. It's better than say, adapting an acclaimed manga and not giving us any titles or even a chapter 1. You didsapoitned me pluto.

Your Real Best Friend: Our heroes explain waht kablam is, June lets henry nearly get eaten by a spider, chuckimation is explained.. another day at the office really.

Henry Abuse Count: 1. June leaves Henry to nearly get eaten by a spider.

It's Flavorific: I remembered almost none of these bits. Only june creating a superhero with no weaknesses that beats up henry and June outright beating up henry for tricking her.

Henry Abuse Count: 3

Comics for Tomorrow Today: June wants to be a superheroine, and tries to leverage turning her eyes out and such. Henry gets jealous when she gets more marketable powers and we get a nice bit of her playing up his page turning prowess. Also the count dosen't go up one iota, so that's nice

Not Just For People Anymore: June gets lost trying to interview sniz and fondue, tasers henry for reasons I honestly forgot but it does not suprise me in the slightest, and they have the classic your side my side nonsense. June invites henry to join a party she throws. It's a nice ending

Henry Abuse Count: 4

All Purpose KaBlam!: June invents an automatic page turner that goes bonkers, tries to drop a tank on henry, and tries to cost him a golf game.

Henry Abuse Count: 7

What The Astronauts Drink: A rare one where all the shorts have a theme. SPACCCCEEEEEE. It's a fun one as our heroes get ready to journey into space. We also get June soiling herself because Gross Out

But thankfully only shows up twice this season.

KaBlam Gets Results!: This episode sure did happen. The only memorable part of this one is June pulling down henry's pants revealing he has boxers of richard nixon. She does this for every suprising shorts we're only going to count it once.

Henry Abuse Count: 8

You've Tried the Rest! Now Try the Best: A really fun set of wraparounds: Henry throws June down a volcano to cure her laughter.

June drops stuff on Henry she borrowed and naturally broke, and June ends the episode erasing everything including Henry's head. Huh so that's the secret origin of the headless body of agnew. All in all one of the best of the season

Henry Abuse Count: 10 June Abuse Count: 1

Untitled or Why June Refuses to Turn the Page: Another banger, with the opening and closing bits being the standouts: June hosts diffrent things other than the show she's doing like talk shows or beauty pagents, a beatufiully dumb gag, and then refuses to turn the page and gets blacked out as a result. A straight up classic

Henry Abuse Count: 11. She throws him a side to go ahead with her plan.

A Little Dab Will Do Ya: These bits really hti their stride towards the end, something I didn't realize till I started typing this. This one's also a classic, ending on my second faviorite bit of the season: June rips out a page, makes it into an airplane and we get a ride like the wind refrence deliveried by a Sasquatch. Pure magic.

Henry Abuse Count: 14. June makes henry into abstract art, has mr foot beat him up, and then Mr foot beats him up for accidently unclogging him. Mr Foot is a big foot or sasquatch and he's great.

Built for Speed; Other than a bit about the two's stunt doubles, I honestly forgot this set.

Comics of Champions: Our third of four wraparounds that have an overarching story. Thunder Girl from action league now is vistiing, Henry has a crush on her and June is a dick about it, making him swell up with embarassment.

Henry Abuse Count: 17, as June abuses Henry's blushing to make his head swell three times.

Resistance is Futile: We end the season on a fun award show spoof as they elect the Kablammiest cartoon. It has a lot of great bits including an overwrought music number and the payoff in which the winner, Flesh and Melt Man of Action League Now win a new car.. that as per the series standard, runs them over. An all timer to go out on.

So with that we can move on to something more groovy. Though if you liked the idea of the Kablammy awards stay tuned as i'll be having my own version at the end of the review. For now though...

Sniz and Fondue was created by indie comics creator Mike R. Brandon, who created the comic Puppy Action. A copy got into the hands of at the time Nick Head Linda Smesky who loved it and asked Brandon to make a pilot. The resulting short "Psyched for Snuppa" was well loved, but ultimately lost out to the better toon, Rocko's Modern Life pilot "Sucker for the Suck-0-Matic", creating a weird alternate reality where Rocko never made it to series and might of ended up on KaBlam! instead. Still Sniz and Fondue was super well loved, so it got picked up for KaBlam! instead.

The first season's animation was done at PitchiPoi animatoin.. which brandon hated for often being off model, and they switched companies for season 2. Me I think the animation looks good and if it looks this crisp off model, I can't wait to see how season 2 looks when we get there. Brandon also wanted to voice Fondue and have his best friend voice Snizz, but got vetoed on the latter and on the former at the time creators voicing things in their own tunes which execs were HEAVILY against it saying "you don't want to be that close to your own show"

Somehow they did, and while Brandon has nothing against the voice actors who played Sniz and Fondue, their simply not what he wanted. It's very clear both from a reddit ama I found with brandon (I was so happy to find something besides wikis and hopefully can find more as this goes on. ) It's very clear while he loves the project, kids animation just wasn't for him and despite being offered a full series order, left, with Spongebob Taking the spot he was offered. If I had a Nickle for every time Sniz and Fondue didn't become a recurring series so a key part of cartoons as a whole could, i'd have two nickles. Which isn't a lot but it's WEIRD it happened twice.

Sniz and Fondue follows Sniz, a hyperactive ferret with the accent of a 50's greaser and the impulse control of a hyperactive ferret and his best friend and roommate Fondue a mild tight ass who likes building models and wears a chefs hat because it looks neat. Their voiced by Rick Gomez, aka "endless' mike from Pete and Pete and Oscar Riba. The only two other recurring characters are Snuppa, played by John Andrew Walsh, a videographer and the chill dude in the apartment and the slightly more uptight Bianca, played by Monica Lee Bashforth, who gets annoyed at the two more often but is just as likely to enjoy the chaos.

The show is your pretty standard "Two guys hang out and get into shenanigans' sitcom, one of the first and certainly one of the first in animation, coming off as a 90s era regular show. Snuppa and Bianca show up as needed and from what i've read eventually get phased out as Brandon and crew realized they didn't really need them, though I think their fine.

What helps Sniz and Fondue work is while the two are oppisities to a point, Sniz being hyperactive and fairly stupid and Fondue being calmer and actually thinking things through, the show gets how to make a duo like this work: Fondue isn't immune to hyjinks and in seperate episodes becomes a fashion magnate or gets creepily obessed with the ventrioquist dummy Sniz made for him. There's never any of the real cliche conflcits you'd expect from the two, their just slightly diffrent, have enough intrests to bond them, enough diffrences to bring the laughs, and are on the same page more than not.

Sniz and Fondue is really charming and fun, while also, like most KaBlam! shorts being incredibly weird. It was one of my faviorites and kicks off the show more often than not, getting it started on the right track

Sniz and Fondue Season 1 episodes

A Toxic Tail: The first short and one of the weaker ones. This one is more on the usual end of this sort of squabble: Sniz keeps breaking into Fondue's room to jump on the bed, so Fondue buys a deadly scorpion to keep him out.

Yet while the plot is pretty bog standard there were hints at what i'd later love about these shorts: there's the weird Exotic Pets guy who sells Fondue the murder scorpion and the resolution: once the scorpion is scooped, Fondue decides to simply charge Sniz for jumping on his bed, complete with a velvet rope queue, and Sniz happily accepts. IT's one of the best things about these shorts: most endings are pretty positive and usually the two reconcile by the end, but in a way that's uniquely them.

Stuntbike Sniz: the short that sold me on these. Sniz buys a motorcycle and Fondue is against it as he dosen't want his best friend to get messed up. The short is mostly sniz doing hilaroiusly half assed ramp stunts that aren't much of a challenge but still result in him getting mildly injured, and Fondue shaking his head at it. Fondue would be grating.. if he wasn't trying to keep his best friend from horribly mangling himsef. That and even getting mangled, Sniz is happy with the attention. Also this has Sniz wax lyrical, saying the lyrics to "Your the inspiration".. and turns out this , to my delight wasn't a one off thing. This is still my faviorite of them but we get a LOT of random little musical refrence moments I love.

Mod Stylin: This one works for me in part because it's surprisingly down to earth: Sniz needs a LOT of hair gel to keep his mohawk up, so Snupa, to save money, buys him the cheap stuff instead. Problem is overdoing it makes his hair fall out. We also get a lot of fun stuff as Fondue tries to restore Sniz' hair, which itself is fun as it's the first time Fondue really gets to do weird shit and i'm here for it. My favorite hair restoration attempt is Fondue planting a flower on sniz's head and the seasons passing as we wait for it to grow. I love long time skip gags, so it's a personal thing. The ending, which has Fondue have his head sympathy shaved, is just adorable.

Fashionably Fondue: I love this one simply for taking a very common plot and making it feel unique. In this one Fondue decides to become a fashion mogul because most jeans can't fit sniz's tiny butt and stature, promising to make jeans that actually fit for him if he gets famous. Your probably expecting as I did that the episode would either have Fondue get self absorbed, go back on the promise but then fufill it in the end or fufilling it would end his career.

While it does go with option B, how it does it is neat. As is how Fondue becomes a fashion mogul in the first place as he throws one of his drawings in frustration, and it ping pongs hilariously via slapstick and bee gee's refrences till a fashion person gets it. Not only that but Fondue.. just does what he promised immeditely and rather than get laughed at or something for it, he fails.. but only because Sniz is GENUINELY the only customer.. and rather than be too bummed Fondue is happy Sniz has jeans that make his butt look good. You know, I try not to ship EVERYTHING that comes across my brain but the more I write on this series the more awesomely homoerotic it comes out, and i'm just fine with that.

Second Hand Sniz: This one honestly feels like a regular show script that got lost in time and wound up in 1996, toned down a bit as I could see this exact scenario happening with rigby. Sniz refuses to learn how to tell time, and so his roomates, fed up with his crap and him relying on them for the time (This was BEFORE everyone had 80 devices in their house that have a clock as a bonus feature, so you kinda had to back then). Does it make no sense they have no digital clocks in the mid 90's?

Even with a bunch of 20 somethings not having a lot of money they could still get one cheap.. or would just to shut Sniz up. But the antics that ensue from them writing "do not tell me the time" on his head, to Sniz deciding rather than learn to tell time to JUMP to the hot air balloon their in, ending up on a giant clock and learning the skill through trauma.. it's great. One of the best of season 1

Mr. Sniz's Wild Ride: Some aliens decide to take Sniz in as their mascot, and after some deliberation he accepts.. then regrets it when their annoyed they got exactly the hyperactive ferret they asked for. This one is okay but I do love the resolution that the aliens just shoot them out of the ship, as well as Fondue sneaking aboard to help Sniz. One of the weakest eps of season 1, but it's not TERRIBLE. It's just beige. Very beige.

Sneaky Clean: This is one of those episodes about GERMS kids shows did... and I GENUINELY had to check and make sure it wasn't just Hey Arnold that did this as that's the only one that came to mind, but it is a thing.

This one has a neat take as while it has the standard setup of "Character finds out germs are everywhere and takes it about as well as I took the cancelation of Close Enough", which is to say

Here Fondue just straight up builds a plastic germ free biosphere to live in. And spends it in his underwear because why not at this point. I haven't brought it up but under the characters skirts is tighty whiteys we see frequently because they did the research and kids think underwear is funny. Eventually Fondue realizes he's missing stuff, it's a heartwarming mostly naked ending.

The Borrowers: This one is okay but I do like the setup: Fondue borrows a quarter from what turns out to be a loan shark and our heroes try to escape the guy then try paying it off. I love how the loan sharks compound intrest is 300% a minute and how what sets off the plot, a call in radio contest, ends up solving it. I also like a bit abotu Fondue getting annoyed Sniz is stealing hotel towels. All in all it sure was average.

Dark Vator: At the Captain Sharpiro, the boys faviorite sci fi show, convention Sniz and Fondue get stuck in an elevator due to Sniz's hubris and Sniz of course thinks the best person to bring for help is the actor who plays captain sharpiro. You've seen this plot too. While Sniz and Fondue is fun, I didn't realize till reading it out how some plots are just.. things you've seen before. And would see again on Hey Arnold and done better because Hey Arnold is the best. Really gotta cover that show sometime. But i've still got a lot of kablam to cover so...

You Dummy: This one is just wholesome, then weird, then wholesome again: Fondue does some action figure theater for the roomies, and admits he wants to be a vintrioquist but dosen't have the bones for a puppet. Sniz makes him one in his unseen till now and possibly again workshop.

Then .. Fondue becomes obsessed with his puppet, despite being VERY bad at actually being a ventriloquist, Sniz feels bad and helps, and this causes fondue to spiral and Sniz to get jealous and nearly take a saw to the puppet. I do like how the climax is he just.. chips it slightly. And this still somehow makes it unusable. Once again I think of a show who did a similar plot slightly better, but for once i'ts not hey arnold but king of the hill. Granted in that one's case it both tapped into the hank bobby relationship well and had Dale Gribble obessed with murdering a dummy and put said dummy into a wood chipper while blindfolding it and mixing it in with two chairs and a tabogan before clorforming himself, so it's hard to compete. Still a great episode.

Making of a Supermodel: Okay THIS one is the weakest of season 1. It's the old "character wants to open toy, other character wants it mint in box, character opens thing anyway" thing. You've seen it before, they don't really do anything new or intresting with it here, and while Hey Arnold didn't do it better this time, Hey Arnold had higher standards than to do it at all.

Rage Against the Vending Machine: This one has a bit of a story. So for a good chunk of season 1, I used youtube since about a third of the season is missing from Parmount+ due to rights issues. I'll explain why later. So the thumbnail for this episode of KaBLam.. was what LOOKED like a naked Bianaca wearing a crown. So I was distracted not by the possibly naked woman, as while I am into many things the characters of this show aren't one of them, but more.. what the fuck was this episode about.

Turns out that wasn't bianca but a tiny naked man who makes novelties the guys go to complain to after not getting a plastic spider from one of those cool capsule things. Turns out, unsuprisingly, the very naked man is scamming people by not putting the spiders in and our heroes have to stop him from melting them all. THey also get bribed with their own vending machines full of nothing but spiders. Hopefullyt hey both took the bribe AND hauled his ass before the ftc. This one is fun though both for it's relatablity of wanting just ONE thing from one of those capusle machines and not getting it and the weird naked man. They just never adress that he's both tiny and naked and it makes it funny as a result.

War of the Super Geeks: Our finale and a really fun one. Sniz and Fondue fight over a prize inside a cereal box. Snuppa decides to turn this to his advantage by making them do a gauntlet that's doing chorse for him and bianca, making them brownies then doing their laundry, followed by a fight for their sick amusment. I not only like Snuppa turning this very stupid argument to his advantage, but also the fun of them: we have Fondue sabotaging snizz who has to scramble to buy store bought, Snizz and Fondue both giggling over Bianca's undies like the 12 year olds they are and the two deciding to share the toy and turn the whole mock trial thing Snuppa did to start this mess on the couple for their bs. A fun episode to close out a pretty solid season.

Action League Now! is probably the most famous of the KaBlam! shorts: It started on all that before here, got a burger king kids meal toy before eventually being repacakaged as it's own show after KaBlam! ended. If your not thinking of Henry and June when KaBlam! comes to mind, it's likely these guys. It's clear while Nick was Meh on KaBLam! after a while and kinda just.. gave up on it after the first season despite giving it three more, they LOVED Action League Now!

Action League Now! has a great setup: the characters are all action figures, whose world is integrated into ours: their soccer/football stadium is a game of fooseball, the couch is a canyon, and cars frequently run over our heroes as one of the most literal running gags i've ever seen. Action League Now! has a lot of clever world building and set design, using every part of the house and every household object possible to create it's world.. and mutilate it's characters.

Yeah Action League's other big hook is taking the hammer to it's main character.. and ceiling fan, rotating fan, waffle iron, lots of dropped objects, the same car over and over, and whatever else they can think up. How funny it is varies: when the show is being creative and using everything they can to attack our heroes, it's hilarious, comedy gold and great slapstick. But the show doe sfall back on "dropping things on them" or "running the characters over" at times , the same way. It just dosen't have the thrill of say, having Stinky Diver get eaten by a dog or melt man melted into a waffle. It's when the show puts some elbow grease into the slapstick and the world it's built that it's at it's best.

As for the in universe premise the setup is simple: The Action League are superheroes made up of random generic toys that a kid might have: The Flesh, a super strong, super naked and super dumb guy whose basically a stripped he man figure, Stinky Diver, an obnoxious asshole , diving expert and gi joe. Thunder Girl, she flies like thunder and is clearly a repurposed barbie style doll, and Meltman , a melted gi joe whose obnoxious as he is useless, and as a result gets most of the slapstick, which fills my heart with such joy. Suffer, suffer tiny melted man.

Helping them are the Chief, their boss and Bill, their lab guy. Well the Chief really just tells them to do stuff and berates them for being a cavelcade of Fuckups but someone has to.

The action leagues days are mostly spent opposing their arch enemy, the mayor, who has a unique weird raspy voice, kinda halfway to nixon, and is a delight as he comes up with various plans to kill our heroes and somehow hasn't been indicted.

Action League Now is not half bad. The animation style is unique, the cast, all from the radio show WDVE in Pittsburg is really dang good, my only real complaint is character wise the characters are mostly one gimmick. Stinky is an asshole who smells like one, The Flesh is stupid, Thunder Girl is constantly and rightfully shooting down melt man, and Melt Man sucks suprising no one. The show's creativity helps it along though ,as while most of the plots are stock, the sheer novelty keeps the show a humming and hopefully as we go we can see it evolve and really play with the brilliant setup it has here.

Road to Ruin: The Mayor drives around like an asshole and litters, fufilling his campaign promises but putting the world in jeapordy I guess Our heroes have to stop him and get hit by , run over by and generally futzed with by a car a lot. It was okay.

No Fly Zone: The Mayor squirts white Goo on thunder girl

This robs her of her powers just as the Mayor kidnaps some children to a bird house. This one was a lot of fun, from Thunder Girl trying to use ballons with Stinky naturally ruining it by harpooning her ballons, and the kids the mayor kidnaps because he has a quota of being an asshole to fufill by friday or his ass is on the line end up turning the tables.

The Wrath of Spotzilla: A two part adventure, and apparently the only two part short in Kablam! history. Granted every Action League Now! short is presented in two parts, but it's in the same episode. This is two diffrent shorts. Anyways an ancient moster, aka a cute doggo, is unleahsed and our heroes fail as usual. NOrmally if something has a dog in it it's automatically better and while Spotzilla dosen't hurt the episode they really dont 'do anything new in the "household animal is a threat to smaller creatures" concept. Or disaster movie parody. You wasted a dog Action League Now! Foreshame! Foreshame! Fore...

Nightmare on Memory Lane: This is a fun one: Meltman gets amnesia after he falls out a window, and needing a formula he stole from the mayor, the Action League tries to jog his memory.. by dropping things on top of him repeatedly while he reacts more bored than anything. IN other words this segment is pure comedy gold. Maybe it's the same reaction, maybe it's the carnage, maybe it's that I love to see meltman suffer.... we'll never know.

....

All of those things, it's all of those things.

Dog Day Afterschool: the mayor tries to shoot the Chiefs dog up into space.

So our heroes have to rescue him. As usual they fail kinda hard but he lands in the mayor's kitty pool hot tub so it's all good.. excep tfor the two women who were with him. I'm pretty sure they died as we never see them after the crash. People the Action League Have Murdered Somehow Count: 2

RoboFlesh: This is one of my faviorites of season 1, tied with one we'll get to soon. The Mayor decides to pull the old "evil clone" scheme, locking the flesh in a lunchbox with a deviled egg lure and debuting RoboFlesh... just as naked but with more bolts sticking out of his body, so .. sexier. And really RoboFlesh's deisgn is a major part of why I love this episode: jamming a bunch of screws into an action figure to make him an evil robot seems like something a kid would do, and as an added bonus NO ONE CAN TELL THEM APART. It's a classic evil twin joke sure, one is obvious.. but by making it THIS obvious, as well as having Robo Flesh have a robotic tin to his voice and you know, throw a cinderblock at the action league, it just ratchets it up. How they solve the dillema is also great.

Stinky Diver: I got this one. Hey stupid! The Flesh: Yes? Stinky Diver: That's him alright (Harpoons RoboFlesh into a blender)

IN the Belly of The Beast: The Mayor uses a vacum. This one dosen't suck, but it just may blow... it's average is what i'm saying. Good setup it just really doesn't use. It's also meltman centric. Though the rest of the team does mock him for trying ot be interim leader, so it at least has that.

Where Pidgeons Dare: My faviorite of the season, the premise is simple: the league has to guard the heirs to the queen of pidgeons. Instead of the mayor though the threat is our heroes are morons and the eggs keep getting destroyed. Also two kids steal one to throw it on the sidewalk while meltman tries to perform cpr. This one just has a LOT of good black comedy, and the ending twist, that they were somehow at the wrong nest, is great. As is meltman getting eaten by a snake.

Stink or Swim: Stinky has ptsd after his brother apparently drowned in a toilet. Everyone is a dick about him having ptsd. He manages to save everyone in the end. This one is alright.

Thunder and Lightning: The mayor dresses up as a new superheroine, lightning lady and upstages thunder girl. This one's okay, I do like how lightning lady uses various barbque related things to take out the boys, and how she smacks thunder girl with shrimp, but I have almost nothing else to say about this one. YOu've seen this plot before. Teen Titans did it better a decade later. Next.

Sinkhole of Doom; One of ALN's many pilots, Thundergirl has to rescue the mayor's hot son from a garbage disposal. Stinky Diver is a jealous douche. Thundergirl naturally chooses the mayor's son as unlike Meltman, his face is mangled but he still has a personality. And you know isn't meltman. A lot of great gags in this one, with both the use of the garbage disposal and most of our heroes getting caught on a ceiling fan.

Testimony of Terror: Another banger of a season finale, an obnoxious kid who was witness to the Mayor's crimes needs to be protected. Which crimes we don't know. Unfortunatley for our heroes the kid's abit of a monster and does creatively fucked up things from them, from putting stinky in a vcr which puts Stinky in the tv because science, to thunder girl getting bodied by a rotating fan, and of course my faviorite, meltman getting turned into a waffle. Naturally the kid also easily takes care of the mayor.. and then drops more shit on our heroes. Sounds like someone could easily win the recall election , eh kid. I mean it's clear the people of action league town lean right. Sociopathy is big in the party right now. not sure about 1993 but I like his chances. I don't really have a segue so...

Life With Loopy comes to us from Stephen Holman. Holman is an intensely weird and deeply fascinating man. Seriously I don't know what I was expecting on his KaBlam! wiki entry (Which by the by has been an invulable resource), but I wasn't expecting a performing artist who made short films, added live theater to them, and performed in venus across new york.

This does explain life with Loopy's unique style and blend of whatever styles holman could thrown in: Life with Loopy uses top motion puppets, but with flat magnetic heads to make expressions easier ot swap out. There's also live action charaters, hand puppets, and a general loose yet intreicatley built style I love about these shorts. They clearly took a lot of effort and Holman has my utter respect.

Life with Loopy came about because Holman pitched a diffrent short, meet the shrimpkins, to play between shows and during commericals, ala the adventures of pete and pete and ironically how Life with Loopy would be used later on Nicktoons. Nick wanted an animated segment with it and while Meet the Shrimpkins didn't go forward they loved said segment so much, Life with Loopy was added to KaBlam! and the rest is history.

Life With Loopy has a great setup: Larry, an 11 year old down to earth boy, relates the various misadventures of his sister Loopy, an energetic 7 year old. Each episode takes a problem a kid would have like not wanting to take a bath, loosing a goldfish or trying to get something from under the couch cushions and esclates it in glorious fashion: Loopy dosen't bathe for so long she grows a forest on her and becomes a national park, hearing the toilet leads to goldfish heaven leads to loopy traveling there, and the couch cushions lead to an underground world where various junk is smelted to power the earth's core. It's all insane, it's all insanely creative, and it's all wonderful. I dickered on if this was my faviorite or not.. but yeah, Life with Loopy is easily my favorite of the recurring segments, though Snizz and Fondue and the Off Beats both come close. But you just can't match this one for i'ts creatvitiy, unqiue style and heart. Loopy is endearing and relatable all at once and you can't help but root for her in whatever she's gotten into.

Hi-Fi Frankenstein: Larry is busy with a punk phase, calling people goobers while singing Beef Steak, great band name and as a nice touch the poster for Beefsteak is in the background of larry's room for the rest of the shorts, so Loopy does what any kid would do: she builds a robot out of an old stero. Robo-Larry is fine at first, but turns out to have gone all Ultron on the poor girl and wants to conquer the world for appliances. It's a great start for these shorts (not THE start but we'll get to that), a fun premise, and a sweet ending with Larry realizing how lonely his sister was and assuring her she's got him.

Trouble with Inflation: This one has another relatable premise: Loopy and Larry's easing going dad only gets mad at one thing. BILLS. BILLS BILLS BILLS. So Loopy wants to stop the mailman from delivering them. She tries being nice to the guy to stop delivering bills, then decides to just turn the house into a balloon. And in her defense while most mail carriers are just people trying to do thier job, this guy is a stone faced dick who just HAS to announce Loopy's dad got bills and creates a fucking sky bicycle.. which while impressive is still a dick move just to deliver a man bills.

The resolution is deeply sweet though: Loopy can't stop the bills, a fairly mature resolution.. so she just sends her dad a letter encouraging him and telling her she loves him instead.

Egghead: This one I remembered simply for it's unique puppet: Loopy is told, jokingly, that if she eats too many eggs, she'll become one. And sure enough this actually comes true and Larry, left babysitting loopy, has to keep a giant chicken from trying to hatch her. This one would be great enough for the egg puppet and utterly weird, even for this show, premise, but we also have a delightfully off exteriminator guy who can't help because there's a man sized giant mantis in his office he has to deal with.

Back To Nature: This one seemed pretty inocious for this show: Loopy refuses to bathe because "i'll just get dirty again" and in a rarity for this show her parents DO still try to get her to shower. Normally they just roll with whatever she's doing this week, which is adorable. They don't care if they end up in the sky, their daughter means well dang it. Her dad telling her she has to bathe as long as she's under his roof lead sto her camping outside and being declared a national park, easily my faviorite joke of this season of shorts. I had to pause for a moment because it's just.. so dang weird. And the fact THAT'S what gets her to bathe as the idea of tourists around her terrifies her? *chef's kiss*

Lunar Loopy: Another favorite of mine. Loopy wants to meet the man in the moon. We also get the first hint Larry has a scientific bent as he feels one isn't there due to science. Naturally he dosen't realize what show he's on and Loopy lassos luna to earth to prove her point. WE also get an utterly adorable moon dance party with the two. We also do have a man in the moon making shadowpuppets, a very weird man played byu the guy from the egghead short, now as an astronaut who got left behind by nasa and is greatful he can get off the moon, which loopy thankfully puts back before the earth is destroyed. A charming, wonderfully mellow short.

Goop on the Loose: Larry tries to figure out just the right goop for his hair while a can of mystery goop in the cabin turns into a gremlin. Loopy tries hunting it.. onlyf or the thing to abscond with her dad's wart. Also we get way too many shots of that wart. I do like the reveal the gremlin is made of wart remover.. and they got married in vegas. Good for them.

Goldfish Heaven: This one is the series actual pilot, with a slightly rougher style but I saw this one a lot as kid and love it dearly. So Loopy's goldfish dies and is flushe down the toilet. Being told this is goldfish heaven, she decides to travel there for closure, building an adorable goldfish suit. While a goldfish friend of her goldfish is a prick about it, her goldfish is fine with giving her closure and it's all very sweet. Also the design of goldfish heaven, essentially a giant fish tank is amazing as are the goldfish puppets. Great stuff.

Mother-Nature Bowl Off: Loopy's mom makes the mistake of telling her summer rain is just mother nature bowling, so Loopy goes ten rounds with her. I like the resolution: We know from the wraparound i'ts still raining so we assume Loopy looses.. but no she dosen't. Mother nature is just a sore looser. She's also kinda obnoxious making this my least favorite short of this batch, but it's still charming as usual. A meh life with loopy short is STILL a life with loopy short.

Mom's Mystery Casserole: Another faviorite of mine. Mom makes a weird cassarole every friday and after refusing to tell her kids what's in it, which I'm certain is against the Geneva Convention but whateves, Loopy sneaks into her moms cabinet and finds out it's fish sauce.. complete with a neat looking fish king inside. How she wins is also fun as the cans try to can her, only for Loopy to point out the fish sauce is terrible, the cans realize they have a bad rep and silence him

Revolutions Loopy Has Caused Count: 1

20,000 Leagues Under the Sofa: Larry looses his baseball in the cushions, and it turns out weird, cool looking molemen are smelting various things to power the earth's core. I just.. love the concept here.. as well as Loopy understandably shoving the ball in his face after he complains it's singed given she BARELY got it out from an incenerator. A solid end to a magical season

Promethus and Bob comes to us from Cote Zellers, who has a background in commericals, which tracks given P and B's short run times and simple premise: an alien came to earth in caveman times to teach a caveman how to do things from our modern society and presumibly his advaned one. He usually fails, often thanks to an asshole bastard butt monkey that's around. This is apparently his job.

Zellers pitched the idea to nick, though the original pitch was apparently much darker and involved Bob killing and eating promethus...

Yeah I didn't want to know that either but we're both stuck with that knoweldge. Nick liked the basic concept but asked him to tone it down.

Animation wise P and B is gorgeous, having beautiful claymation models with the two leads having just the best designs, Promethus having an emaciated, skinny look that feels utterly ailen while bob is more chonky and relatable. Like me. Monkey.. is a monkey.

P and B was amixed bag for me as the early shorts got pretty repettitive with only wheel standing out. However as I wrote this I found the later shorts.. are really damn funny. I enjoyed them at the time and it's clear Zellers realized they were getting sdamey and thus starts finding creative new ways to do the joke, with the presentation matching. This short went from a part of the episode I dreaded to a fun addition as anything else, and I look forward to seeing what these two doofuses have next.

Bowling: Okay admitely while i'm lukewarm on these shorts... even i'm not so stonehearted as to not love an alien teaching a caveman bowling. I'm not made of stone. I don't really remember this one but it gets a pass on the concept.

Wheel: This is a fun one as Prometheus instructs bob on the wheel and he naturally goofs on it. Clothes: Bob wears a vest.... it looks good on him and it's fun to see bob in a vest. That's all I got.

Music: Prometheus tries to teach Bob Music. This sure did happen.

Fishing: Prometheus teaches bob to fish. He eats for zero days.

Bridge: this is a fun one as it's less about "oh stupid caveman can't do people things", and more Prometheus simply mangles the lesson. He tries to teach Bob how to cross a bridge.. but uses a log, which isn't ideal for it and is less convent than bob just jumping to the other side. We also get a really fun bit of the two rolling on the long. Good stuff and what the series can be at it's best.

Shelter: This is another fun one as Promethus tries to teach bob to use a tent, wtih Bob trying to use shelter. Maybe I like these more than I thought. I love how both end up blowing away. The show really seems to work better when it's more character based, which yes both of them are silent but the puppets convey such energy and character.

Cooking: My second faviorite, Promethus tries to teach bob to cook.. and eventually gives up and just goofs around till his superior shows up and is an asshole about it. It's nice to both see WHY Prometheus is so uptight, he has to do this for work, and see him just.. have fun with bob instead of trying to force feed a lesson he's clearly not getting.

Kite: They fly a kite. That's about it.

Say it with me now They nervous, they nebbish, they small, and the Populars don't like 'em at all. But that's ok, life is sweet. They cool. They the Off-Beats...

The Off-Beats comes from Mo Willems who , out of the creators of these shorts is easily the most prollefic. He always loved animation, having drawn a cartoon a day while traveling the world, and making a successful name for himself on Seasame Street before making the Off-Beats for Nickelodeons. Starting out as "the Misfits" before the name was changed for legal reason, the Off-beats was originally a between commericals segment , something I remember as a kid, before becoming part of Ka-Blam!. Willems would go on to Cartoon Network making the short lived Sheep in the Big city, which I barely remember but do remember liking as a kid, and , to my shock, being the showrunner for Kids Next door's first four seasons. So yeah Mo was responsible for making one of my faviorite shows what it was, and then went on to do childrens books because he's a neat dude.

The Off Beats is essentially the early charlie brown specials mixed with some psychedelic minimalist backgrounds and some hope. It's not to say Peanuts lacks hope. As a huge fan of it, there's plenty of nice moments of kindness, camaraderie and snoopy's awkward teenage nephew

But the 60's era stuff Off-beats takes from had a nice heaping helping of

Charles Schultz did not pull punches at how cruel life, and especially kids would be: Charlie Brown rarely won, Linus was mocked for believing in the great pumpkin and patting birds on the head, Lucy once threw linus out for a period in the 70s, Peppermint Patty is deeply insecure. Even into the 90's there's a whole arc about Marcy's parents overly pressuring her. These kids went through it.

WIth the Off Beats while their still bullied by the populars, they have each other and have less brutal honesty with one another than the peanuts gang. Their just four pretty wholesome kids who happen to be kinda weird. WE have Betty Anne Bongo, a beatnik born thirty years too late (Played by Mischa Barton of all people), Tommy, a pretty mellow charlie brown looking kid who will snap at you at the drop of a hat. And he has a pretty sweet hat. Repunzil who has long hair, and the duo of August and September. August is a nerdy inventor kid who makes wacky inventions, and September is his dog, who replaces snoopy's whimsy and lack of awarness for anything going on with a dry wit and a desire to be left the hell alone, but a willigness to help in a pinch.

The Off Beats is a lot of fun. Granted as a peanuts fan, this is like catnip to me as it's a well done pastiche that gets what Schultz was going for but still makes it it's own, so i'm biased, but it's a well animated, charming mellow little piece unlike everything else. While the rest of the KaBlam! shorts are good, all of them have that manic 90's energy to them in some level. The Off-Beats is very much it's own weird thing and I wish it'd gotten it's own series, it's that good. it did get a valentine's special to add to my jumbly collection of KaBlam odds and ends I need to look at at some point after this retrosepctive, so that's nice.

The Robodog: September takes a day off so August decides to make hi m jealous with a robot dog that plays 4 ever. You can see where this is going

Okay not THAT far, but the dog does want to play and play an dplay, with August learning his lesson and September making the robot a ro-boy to play with. A charming if bizzare choice of start as it dosen't really.. introduce any other cast members of feature them.

Too Much Attention for September: This is a wholesome, fun little short. September just ants to take off a nap and blows off August to hang out in his flying machine. This ends up going badly as every other off beat gets getting in his face in teh way a kid would: betty anne wants him to "take it", Repunzil won't stop petting him and Tommy yells at him for not going bow wow. Thankfully his owner has a flying machine so we get a nice ending of September and August taking off into the sky.

Betty Anne's Glasses: The first one actually involving the populars. They cameo in Robodog but dont' really do anything there. Here their leader steals Betty Anne's glasses so we get hyjinks as they half assedly hide them. August also makes a device to find them but as it points out, is too chicken to actually confront the populars. Thankfully they all dress up like the president, easily my faviorite bit of the short as all September (making up the head) has to do is say he's from washington for them to buy it. The best of the best.

Surprising Shorts is any non main segment on KaBlam for season 1. I don't know if this holds for season 2 onward, but i'll likely be keeping the suprising shorts titlecard. These are the odds and ends, mostly pilots for shows. It's also one of the main reasons KaBlam is in copyright hell: see at least two shorts got picked up, one set, lava, was only leased out temproarily, and in general if an episode is missing from Paramount+ , it's usually due to one of these. Why they can't just edit the episode to remove the coming up things featuring them, I don't know.

Lava: A series of abstract shorts from french animator Fredrico Vitali. I.. don't have much to say about these. Their well animated but their also only 30 seconds and while this review has proven I love weird shit.. this is a bit much even for me with one short having a cat fly through space and then into the unvierse inside a dog's anus

Not bad, just not for me

Anemia and Iodine: My faviorite of these, it's a pilot for a story about two best friends: The chalky faced cat anemia and her.. whatever she is best friend iodine who along with Anemia's brother Dropsy go to an old house to find a cat ghost. Ther'es a really nice adam's family style quality with Anemia I love. The short oozes spooky charm, is fun and the twist ending of the cat they find being the ghost is all kinds of neat. The only thing I really don't like is Dropsy, who gets VERY grating despite the shorts runtime. Why Nick didn't pick this up, I really don't know.

Angela Anaconda: yes THAT angela anconda. This series getting picked up by Fox Kids is one of the main reasons you don't see it here. For those less familiar, Angela Anaconda is a slice of life sitcom using yearbook photos and clipart to tell the tales of her, angela and not nanette nanoir, Angela's smug arch enemy. I thought the series was fine as a kid, but these shorts ar ekinda rough> The art style isn't quite polished yet so it just looks offputting and it's mostly just Angela's habit of elaborate revnege fantasies on her enemies, from murdering nanette for getting her barred from the class picnic to fore marrying nanette to johnny abotti after Johnny picks nanette over her and gives her the valentine Angela made and okay maybe that last one's justifable homicide. Bobs Burgers would do this exact same plot better, but it's still not a bad pilot and gets the series across. Glad this one go tpicked up, not so glad nick apparently REALLY can't learn how to just edit these shorts out the way they did lava.

The Louie and Louie Show: This one has great leads, a chameleon named Louie (played by Jim Belushi) and Louie the hamster played by Billy West, who was nick's best boy at the time. It's a aweird duo but it works. the problem is the short.. just dosen't really work for me as the whole premise is the two want to be loved. That's it. The dog gets love but the family present just seems to neglect them and gets mad when , shockity shock, two neglected pets escape because they want attention. It's just way too mean spirited for me. Creator Gary Baseman WOULD go on to make Teachers Pet at least.. and also has a whole abstract art career so there's that.

So with that we've finally worked through the mountain of shorts for this season. But rather than leave it there i've decided in the spirit of the season finale for this season that for each of these reviews i'm proud to present

The Kablammy Awards

For these I'm picking the best short from each recurrnig series, the best of the various startling shorts, and the best short overall from the winners. It's just me.. which already makes it more reliable than the oscars. let's begin

Best Sniz and Fondue Short: Stuntbike Sniz. Second Hand Sniz was close, but this one just has so much goofy charm to it and that your the inspiration gag is an all timer.

Best Action League Now! Short: Testiomony of Terror just inches out Where Pidgeons dare. While I like WPD a lot.. Testimony of Terror just has so much clever carnage, a neat premise and a fun ending.

Best Life with Loopy Short: This was a hard one, with the Front Runners being Lunar Loopy, Mom's Mystery Cassarole and 20,000 Leagues under the sofa. But in the end I have to give it to Lunar Loopy for it's fun take on the " man in the moon, gorgeous visuals and wonderful little dance scene.

Prometheus and Bob: It's log , it's log it's big it's heavy it's wood. It's Log, it's Log it's better than bad it's good.

The Off-Beats: Betty-Ann's Glasses. All hail presdient September

Startling Shorts: Anemia and Iodine. It's not even close. None of the other shorts are horrible but none have this one's unique art style or charm.

Kablamiest Overall Short: It was down to Anemia and Iodine, Lunar Loopy and Betty Anne's glasses for this one but the winner issssss

Betty Anne's Glasses! Congrats. The president bit, as wellas how obviously bad the Populars are at hiding said glasses, wins this one the prize. Congrats off beats.

For now it's time to sign off kablmoids. There will be a look at season 2 next month, same kablam time, same kablam blog. Until next time, thanks for reading.

[poorks]

How about the Courts of the Fae? Those michevious magical beings love to fill the wombs of women with just about anything. Eggs? Fae children? Slime? If you can think of it a denizen of the faewilds has probably done it! Time is no factor either, some fae let something grow for months while others love to make women 9 months pregnant with a snap of their fingers!

What gets put in you and how it behaves once there largely depends on which Court the fae belongs to. The summer court, for instance, love for the occupant of the womb to be constantly shifting and moving, symbolic of the infinite heat and energy of the summer months.

The Winter Court would make you heavy and sluggish, at a slow waddle like wading through fresh powder snow.

The Spring Court would prefer you grow as the flowers bloom and ravenous of what the trees have to offer.

The Autumn Court grants a heavy breast with the harvest, promising bountiful milk.

[doesanyonehaveasparelightsaber]

Emma - Pt. 1

(Y/N) = Your name

Surfing. It’s your life. Everyday, your bones ache for the water and your board. Everyday, you soothe that ache with a fervor that matches that of a pro-surfer. Some people call you crazy, you call it passion.

And passion is what led you out here on the water so early, paddling the gentle ocean water as the sunrise turns the sky into a haze of oranges, reds, and pinks. It bleeds into the water, transforming the space around your drifting limbs into the same colors as the sky.

Singing was something that also set a fire in your soul, causing your soft saprano to leave your lips and hover over the water. You sing of the moon falling in love with the sun and the stars being their choir. The sky always seems to inspire your music.

You smile to yourself as you use your hands to paddle yourself a bit closer to the sun, away from the shore. Your song ends on a delicate note, singing that the sun and moon would meet again some other day.

In the height of your peace and happiness, something touches your leg. Something scaley.

Panic grips your chest as you snap your head downward to see what it is. There is only a flash of orange as a giant tail swims away from you. Your mouth drops open.

Zane Bennet was right.

- -

You wobble back onto shore. Your twin brother stands on the sands, waiting for you with his hands on his hips. It’s odd, he doesn’t usually wait for you. He’s more of a night surfer himself. Though you’re happy about it nonetheless, you need a friendly face after your scare.

“Woah there, (Y/N), you look like you’ve seen a ghost!” He reaches out and takes your board, setting a hand on your shoulder to steady you.

“Yeah, Byron, just,” you pause. If Zane Bennet wants this sea monster so bad but it saved his life, there was no reason to somehow make another scent trail for him to track for an animal that obviously had a good nature. You smile weakly at your brother. “Just saw a pretty big fish is all.”

“Dang, must’ve been real big to make you go white like that,” he says, slinging an arm over your shoulders as he walks you away from the beach, your board under his other arm.

Byron glances up to the sky, as if trying to find the words for something. “Uh, can I ask you a favor, (Y/N)?”

You tilt your head towards him, which is slightly hard to do with him dragging you along with his steady pace. So that’s why he was up so early, he needed to talk with you. “Yeah, sure, what is it?”

“I’ve got a lesson with Elliot Gilbert today but there also just so happens to be a beach cleanup that I really want to go to.” His voice dies out as he looks off into the distance. He doesn’t want to finish the thought unless you already know what he wants.

You smirk and give him a small hit on the shoulder. “I’ll take over for you.” You give a michevious shrug. “Sides, I’m better than you at surfing anyway.”

“Hey!” He exclaims, mock offense scrunching up his face. “I’ve won awards!”

“So have I, Goldilocks.”

He takes his arm from your shoulders and elbows you good-naturedly. “If I’m Goldilocks, then you’re one of the bears.”

“Very funny.” You roll your eyes and then stop walking. Byron looks back at you, confused.

“Gilbert…” A teasing smile bends your lips as it dawns on you. “Elliot Gilbert, as in Emma Gilbert’s younger brother?”

Byron’s cheeks flush at the mention of Emma’s name. “Uh, yeah, Emma’s his sister.”

You gasp and poke him antagonistically. “No wonder you’ve been doing these lessons for next to nothing! It’s your crush’s brother!”

His face turns a deeper red and he scratches the back of his neck. “I just, uh, didn’t wanna-”

You laugh and slap his back. “Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you. You’re too sweet for me to do that.”

Your feet hit the grass that indicates the end of the beach. Byron and you march foward to your beach home.

“Mom up yet?” You ask, kicking a rock with your bare feet. The image of the tail comes back to your mind. It still perplexes you, so you’re keeping your mind on your stomach. “I’m feeling some French toast.”

“She thought so, already cooking it.” Byron smiles and brings you under his arm once again. He is happy to have such an understanding sister as you even if your mind is somewhere else at the moment.

- -

You lean against a rock as Byron coaches you on what to teach Elliot. Apparently, he’s been bringing Elliot out on the water for the last few lessons and would like if you could paddle out a bit with him, just to keep getting the boy used to balancing on the water.

You nod intermitantly, paying close attention. You aren’t accustomed to teaching anyone surfing but you are very sure you can do it regardless.

“Okay, the beach cleanup starts in a few,” he says, glancing at the entrance of the beach for a second. “Elliot should be here soon enough, lessons usually start at two and it’s about,” he checks his watch, “one-forty-five right now.” His eyes travel back to the entrance.

You smirk. “Emma’s usually the one that brings him, isn’t she?”

His ears burn as he starts backtracking from you. “Alright, well, I’ve gotta get going!”

“Mmhm, see you later, Loverboy!” You shake your head and smile as he starts jogging away from you and down the beach.

You wait there for about five more minutes before Emma and Elliot arrive. You push off your rock and walk over to them, waving your arm.

“Hey, Elliot!” You smile at the young boy as he waves a little bit, almost shy like, and then look to his sister. “Hey, Emma, good to see you again!”

She appears both confused and slightly…scared at your presence? How odd.

You put a hand on your chest. “I’m sorry! Byron must not have told you. He had something come up so I’m taking over the lesson for him today. That okay?”

Her face shifts back into something more cordial and laid back. “Yeah, that’s fine! No worries!”

You can’t wipe the expression of fear in her eyes from her mind. That was just so strange .

“Well, come on, Elliot! Let’s get into the water!” You gesture to the water and he rushes past you towards the ocean.

“Don’t forget your ankle strap!” Emma yells after him. You smile at her care and go for your board, ready to hit the water.

- -

You’re completley worn out by the end of the lesson. Elliot may be a sweet kid but, gracious, he needed an explanation for every suggestion you gave him.

Emma had stayed through the entirety of the lesson and, to your slight discomfort, seemed to have been watching you very closely throughout it.

So, you were pooped.

“Well, Elliot, just keep whatever I’ve taught you in mind but remember that Byron’s your teacher teacher so, if I’ve said something that contradicts what he’s taught you, listen to him before me. Alright, Sweetheart?” You’re kneeling in front of him, talking with him eye to eye.

“Got it, thank you, (Y/N)!” Elliot looks up to Emma. “Are we ready to go, Emma?”

Emma glances at you and then back at her brother. “Actually, Elliot, I need to talk to (Y/N) really quick. Is that alright?” You cock an eyebrow and stand up, wondering if you had done something wrong somehow.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll just go in the water or something,” Elliot says, smiling brightly, glad for more time in the water.

After Elliot plods off to the water, Emma faces you. “Um, just so you know, I didn’t want to talk to you because of anything about Elliot’s lesson, you did great. I just have a…personal question.”

You try to suppress a smile as your mind immediately hopes that Emma wants to ask about Byron. “Oh, good. I thought I was in trouble.”

“No, no.” She shakes her head and grins amusedly. Her face grows serious again. “But, I was wondering, I have a personal project, uh, a thing where I look into surfing and surfers. And, I was wondering, what is the usual time for a surfer of your caliber going out on the water for, well, practice and if you, well,” she pauses, as if hesitant to ask her next question, “if you’ve seen anything while out on the water that’s kind of…odd?”

The orange tail from this morning flashes back to your mind’s eye. You’re immediately suspicious. “That depends on what you think is odd, Emma.” You lighten your tone to not seem accusatory of a girl that’s asking an innocent enough question. “Though, I do usually go out early morning to practice while the sun’s rising, but I have seen some pretty big fish at that time of day. Nothing completely crazy. Nothing like what Zane Bennet’s seen.” You let that last statement float in the air for a second as you, paying very close attention, see Emma’s face relax extensively.

How weird.

She claps her hands and smiles brightly. “Well, that’s all I really wanted to know! Thank you so much for answering!” She awkwardly starts walking towards the water. “C’mon, Elliot! We’ve gotta get going!”

They wave to you as they pass by you again and you politely wave back. Your suspicions keep growing.

What is that girl hiding?

[seldomscilence16]

Whumptober day 15: Emotional Damage

Fandom: Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons

Prompts;

Lies

New scars

Breathing through the pain

Alrighty, so this comes from someone who has not read any of the books, and whos head cannons for angst just scream over anything else. Also... like ignore every timeline ever and history has no place here.

Jacks been around awhile. Not as long as other spirits obviously, but far longer than any 14 year old would or should expect to live. And he certainly never asked for it, but its not like Jack ever got much say in his life.

The point of the matter was, he's been around awhile. Hanging out mostly with the Winds, and doing what was expected of him by the other winter spirits. And of course number one, never being seen... because why would anyone see him right?

Which he supposes is really where his point lays, that hes old and hasnt been seen in a verrry long time and yet here he is, in a situation that is making his brain go in loops, as a dragon growls at him. Now, he knows thay random magical things exist- he is one after all- but having one see him and looking very aggresive is a whole other thing. He's had to deal with a lot of angry magical beings thank you, a dragon is not one he'd like to add to the list.

"Whoa there Toothless, whats got you so angry bud?"

"He is far from toothless." Jack knows he cant be heard but the situation makes him nervous.

But this kid also gives him the perfect distraction, as the dragon- Toothless- turns his head just slightly. Jack is able to kick his staff up and with a quick call to the breeze, hes landing on a rock and out of reach. He can get a better look now, see the prosthetics on both the dragon and boy, how the two interact, how stressed the boy seems.

He frowns a bit before creating a snow flake and spinning it between his fingers a bit. Berk is used to snow, so this shouldnt be too out of the ordinary- not that Jack cares really- and sends the flake down. He watches for a bit, the goofy smile and the silly game that includes fish and drawing in the dirt. He smiles a bit, before it falls as the winds inform him of where hes needed.

As Jack flies off, to bring a cold front across Scotland, he fails to notice the green eyes that follow him.

...

He has an eventful week.

Meeting a dragon, helping 3 michevious triplets prank their sister, and made it snow inside a hidden tower.

It was a nice week, compared to others since his awakening or whatever. But he also didnt necessarily do his 'job' as well as he could have over that week. And was therefore being summoned by Winter itself.

Hes somewhere between Scotland and Germany. Some thick forest slowly being covered in snow, and a bunch of winter spirits lurking about. It puts him on edge, not that he'd let any of them know, but he continues to the meeting place anyway. This is the way things have always been done, there are rules and those that dont follow them...

Jack is a spirit of winter, so he has to follow these rule, even if they seem to become more abundant and stricter every time. Even if he doesnt see the others following those rules. Even if hes scared to (second) death every time hes summoned.

Winter stands in all their glory, he wears a long fluffy blue robe that almost seems to clash with his orangish skin. But Jack wouldnt be mentioning it again, not after the first time, when he couldnt do anything for a full season, trapped by Winters side the whole time.

He stops a few feet away, feeling almost naked without his staff- hidden somewhere safe, guarded by the winds- he curls his hands into his cloak to hide how they tremble.

"Lord Winter, you summoned?" The words feel wrong in his mouth.

"The cold front, if you could even call it cold, has delayed our first frost by weeks! What have you been doing thats more important than your job!" His voice always leaves a ringing in Jacks ears, the way it roars across the landscape for only spirits to hear, and mortals to feel like a wave.

"The winds brought what you sent, I I did my best to s-" he flinches back as Winter steps forward.

"You have a job as a spirit of winter, Frost. And instead of doing the work I assigned you, you mess around and throw the seasons out of balance. The blame lays on your shoulders boy, and you have to be punished for it. To appease the Mother. You understand dont you?"

The solomn look they give as they step ever closer, a familar blade appearing in their hand, has fear rising to clutch at Jacks heart. He was told it gets easier, but he fears it all the same, for it hasnt yet. His skin crawls as the lord stands behind him, bodies flush in a way he hates, places the knife in his weak grasp and wraps their own around Jacks smaller, paler hand.

Jack tries not to remember what happens next.

...

He takes deep even breaths as he staggers his way towards his staffs hiding place. The winds try their best to keep him upright, but he still feels ready to topple any minute.

The wounds already start to seal themselves, the power of a season lord, but the drain of them, the pain, still lingers. Absently he picks at scars, new and old, on his arms, staring blankly ahead as he tried to focus on breathing through every wave of pain his steps bring.

When he hears the crack of something in the distance he can only groan in grim acceptance of more punishment. The other spirits always get mad when he fails, says it fails them all, and that they must share their punishment with him too. He thought the stones would have been enough, but maybe he should stop thinking.

He leans against the nearest tree, awaiting the first spirits presence, but instead sees a familar dragon bounding closer. He curls into himself, eyes closed in the hopes of staving off the oncoming pain. Instead he feels a huff of hot breath but nothing else, opens his eyes to meet those of the Nightfury.

"Toothless, where'd you go bud?"

"Are ye sure ya trained dhe dragon?"

"You dont think he found any ruffians or thugs right?"

Three familair voices filter past the trees, and he wonders how his week of visits found eachother. The girl stuck in a doorless tower, the Princess under tight watch, and the Chiefs dragon riding son, it was definetely an interesting bunch.

As the three make it into the clearing, Jack isnt expecting much, hes glad its not spirits, but Toothless has yet to take his eyes off him.

"Alright my toothy watcher, your friends are here, and I got places to be far from here." Before Winter changed their mind and decided he needed to be held for another season.

"Oh my gods he is real."

Jack freezes, eyes roving over to the three mortals who stare right back. Not at the tree, not at the dragon, at Jack. They couldnt see him before, no one could except Toothless- and maybe the chamelion, Jack couldnt tell for sure though- so why could they see him now??

"Its really Jack Frost." The blonde breathes, a... frying pan(?) in her grasp.

She said his name...

"Jack Frost is real?" The red head mumbles with wide eyes.

He looks back to the dragon,

"They just said my name." Toothless nods, grinning at him without teeth- and now the name makes sense.

"I cant believe this." The viking runs his hands through his hair in disbelief.

"You literally ride a dragon." Jack comments dryly, pushing off the tree and wincing with a hiss of breath.

"You're hurt!" The blondes exclamation draws the others attention.

"Yer a spirit, howdidya get hurt??"

"Its nothing, I uh... messed up."

"Its not nothing! Let me see!"

"Thanks blondey, but its nothing new. Im more concerned that you guys can see me now and I have no idea how."

He starts making his way towards his original goal again, he was almost there, and with the wind on one side and Toothless on the other its easier than before, even with eyes on him.

"Well Toothless likes you, so I guess thats gotta be a good sign."

"Sure changed his tune from last time." Jack agrees, the wind blowing his staff into his hand.

"How... how long have you been bringing winter to Berk?" Viking asks

"Far longer than your lifetimes. Which is why I know I'll be fine."

"So wha yer sayin, is this happen'd before."

He narrows his eyes at the scot,

"Lord Winter is in charge under Mother Nature herself. Our mistakes effect the turning of the seasons, mistakes we cant afford."

"Well it sounds like hes putting everything on you. Its not like youre the only one in charge of winter." Viking points out.

"Shh!" Jack looks around, the winds quiet and still, setting him on edge, "hes coming, you guys gotta go!"

"What why?" Blonde looks around frantically, pan held up in defense.

Before he can respond, a wind lingering between hot and cold, blows through them, knocking the three mortals back. Jack is quick to form a wall of ice between them and the oncoming spirit made wind. Lord Winter in their orange glory is sweeping through the trees, and to put mortals in obvious peril like this, Jack doesnt understand.

"You talk as if they hear boy. You are just a winter spirit, nothing more. I think you need another lesson in that."

His injuries burn at the threat, cuts and stabs and bruises alike. Still he prepares himself, he will protect the mortals who are here because of him, even if he perishes and becomes one with the snow.

Hes not expecting the three mortals to come to his side, the dragon readying a fire in his throat as the humans draw their weapons. From their searching gazes he can tell they cant see the actual Lord, but their presence at least effects the nature around them, giving a general target that may or may not have harm brought to it by mortal means.

Hes not ready for a fight by any means but he'll protect them.

So a wall of green coming between the groups is the last thing he expects.

"A mere Miser minion growing too fond of the seasons I see." A voice smooth and sweet but underlyed with power. "Tormenting a dear child of winter, three fated mortals and a child of the sky. This will be no longer."

"Uh whats going on?" Viking whispers to him, staring at the wall of nature.

"Um... I think Mother Nature is mad?" Jack whispers back.

"Youre lies will no longer infect my seasons minion." The wall recedes and the 'Lord' is gone. "And you five, I believe I owe you all an apology."

A woman of beauty emerges from the scenery itself, regal and powerful and full of all of natures beauty.

"Let them haunt you no more young Frost. Im sure your new friends will turn your fate yet." Leaves fall from the trees, brushing over his company as a wave of warmth hits him. His pain bleeds away, though his scars remain, "have fun with your new friends Jack, and be well. Until next time."

She fades away, and when he looks back to the mortals he finds gaping mouths.

"I have to draw her."

"My dads never gonna believe any of this."

"Why is it always fate?"

[writingquestionsanswered]

So in a story I’m writing I have a trio(One member michevious & stoic, another member stubborn & friendly, and the third member bubbly & shy) that will be joined by 2 other members that are the main antagonist’s minions in disguise. Any advice on how I should write the 2 minions, would them secretly being traitors be a missed opportunity to change the team dynamic?

Antagonist Minions Secretly Join MC Group

The sky's the limit with these two characters, largely depending on who they are as individuals, why they're there, and the size of their role in the story. If you want to explore their impact on character dynamics, you certainly could, but I don't think it's a missed opportunity unless they play a really big role in the story and really get involved with the trio. In that case, I do think you'd probably want to look at the overall dynamics. But, I think you can also keep these characters in the background a bit. If the trio is together for any period before that, it probably makes sense that they're going to be on the fringes a bit. You might want to explore what the trio thinks about them and what impact they have from the fringes, but you don't have to do a deep dive in how these characters connect with the trio unless you really want to.

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