#belle the kangaroo rat

[noeggets]

they bite, they scratch, they headbutt, they kick except Belle she doesn't do anything bad at all

[pocketscribbs]

i just think they’d have a good time together🌻💕

a sketched answer for this question from my other blog

[haylenuwu]

Matching !

[spiritsonic]

Hey Evan, was Belle based on a mouse or a possum?

Neither-- she's a robot first, with some design inspiration taken from Scandinavian trolls. But if I were to pick an animal for her, it'd be a kangaroo rat.

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

Breaking down the comics: Soldiers (Punisher Annual #2: Knight Fall)

You guys. YOU GUYS. 

I am so excited to bring you this next one for SO MANY REASONS. 

The first reason is that this is the FIRST Moon Knight comic I ever read. 

And this comic os pure WTFer set off an obsession that has directed the course of my life for over ten years now. 

Marc Spector: Moon Knight

Punisher Annual #2: Knight Fall. 1989

Written by: Mike Baron

Art by: Bill Reinhold

Gerbil: Tom DeFalco

(Tom is the editor in chief for Marvel at the time) 

We got ourselves a Punisher Annual with a Moon Knight guest appearance! 

Now I’ve talked about guest appearances again and again and again. It usually means that the guest star is going to show up HUGE on the cover with some dramatic depiction in an attempt to lure in more new readers to the title comic. 

But look at this comic cover. This isn’t Moon Knight showing up to save the day or in a little blurb bubble or box. He’s battling Frank! This looks more like a cross-over style comic! Those always depict the main character FIGHTING the other guest star! And damn if this cover isn’t amazing. Look at those two locked in close quarter combat! And that dagger! This might be a Punisher comic, but Moon Knight isn’t about to roll over! 

Now, as we all have come to expect, when you have a crossover for the first time, the two characters always spend the first couple pages fighting in some misunderstanding before they make up and team together to fight the real bad guys. But Punisher takes no quarter and Moon Knight is grumpy at best. 

Alright, so we open up on a Long Island Petshop where a Mr. Morton is purchasing Gerbils for their kids. 

For those that do not know, a Gerbil is about the size of a large mouse with a long tufted tail and kangaroo like hind feet. They're fast, bite hard, and are fun. (I used to own them as a kid for many years and loved them).

 They actually aren’t that well known, even though you can always find them in pet shops next to the hamsters. I wonder why they chose gerbil over say, mice or rats or hamsters. I get the feeling there was some inside joke among the writers here. 

…..Oh. 

Snake guy. Got it. 

MARC. 

Marc… “That man just ate a gerbil! Why does it set off all my emergency alarm bells?” 

Marc… 

So... After that... Marc calls up Frenchie on his radio and tells him that he's tailing a car and gives him details on the vehicle. 

"Oui, Marc, what's up?" 

"I'm not sure... Maybe nothing." 

MARC SPECTOR. You just watched a man eat a gerbil in a pet shop....WHOLE. What do you mean 'Nothing'?!

He tails the car to an old run down mansion . 

"That's the old Borgwardt estate--It's been taken over by something called Save Our Society... Time to head home." 

Frenchie confirms the car info with Marc. It is registered to the SOS non-profit agency that is privately funded by physicians. 

"Sort of an east coast version of the Betty Ford Clinic. Why would a man eat a gerbil?" 

Marc… You have fought werewolves. You fought a literal rat king. We’ve seen you fight ghosts and get your ass handed to you by a snake. 

AND WHAT ARE YOU WEARING!? Does Steven know you’re wearing his clothes? 

He asks Frenchie to dig into the petstore's files and get him a credit card for the guy that ate the gerbil and an address. 

Meanwhile, we meander on over to the star of our show: 

"Punisher's War Journal-- I've been on the trail of Ralph Newton, a junkie who makes a living ripping off old ladies' social security checks. Two weeks ago he pushed a seventy year old woman down a flight of stairs and she died. Newton seemed to have disappeared, butt now I have a lead--This shooting gallery in the Bronx." 

For those of you unaware of the Punisher, here's a brief howdy-do for you! 

The Punisher, AKA, Frank Castle. Originally a VietNam vet who came back with a little PTSD. His family (wife and child) were murdered by the mafia and Frank decided he'd had enough of evil in the world. He makes it his life's work to hunt down and kill anyone that makes it a living to hurt people. 

Historically, the other heroes (ESPECIALLY DareDevil and Captain America) despise Frank and often rally the other heroes to try to hunt him down and stop him from continuing his war on crime. 

He got his start in a Spider-Man comic of all places and branched out from there. 

Frank is a pretty gruff and serious man and depending on who is writing him and what series you are reading, he can be pretty violent. 

War Journal was a very popular series where he drives around in his Battle Van and writes about his missions. It works nicely because Frank isn’t much of a social man. So if you rely on the story conversations, like in all the other comics, you aren’t going to get much. But having him writing things down in his journal you get a beautiful narration that reads like a Noir film and you also get a fantastic way to get to know Frank and how he thinks. I appreciate it. 

Often when Frank meets up with other heroes, there is a fight with them telling him he's wrong for killing and them eventually trying to stop him. 

Now, we know he's going to meet up with Marc in this. And I am so excited for you guys to see this epic encounter. 

So we see Frank in his usual attire walk up to a safe house and knock on the door. 

He gets the guy to open the door posing as a seller. 

Yeah. By now, everyone knows what it means when they see that skull design. 

"Junkies. I swear they don't feel pain. You've got to break something before they stop coming at you." 

Frank shoots all but one. He tells the remaining guy he's looking for Newton. 

Lucky for the junkie he says he last saw Newton going into a rehab clinic saying he was going to get straight. 

So Frank heads up to the clinic. It's a Save Our Society clinic. 

"The place reeks of sweat and stale cigarettes, ashtrays filled to overflowing." 

Man that's good Noir. 

Frank walks up to the main desk (in his street clothes, which just means he put on a turtle neck and a coat). 

"Department of social services. I'm here to verify our use of federal funds." 

"I'm sorry, sir. There must be some mistake. This clinic is privately funded --we receive no federal funds." 

"*SIGH* Sounds like another department screw-up. Could I speak to your director?" 

(What works about this is that no one actually knows what Frank Castle looks like! He doesn’t need a disguise. Everyone knows him by what he wears. They see the giant skull and the guns. It WORKS. And Frank is surprisingly good at acting. He knows the system.) 

He's told that the director isn't in. She's Leona Hiss. (Hiss? Really? We're going there?) 

Frank heads to get info from Microchip. Hey! Microchip! I missed him! 

Microchip was Frank's old tech guy. He was the man in the van that would give Frank info and hack into things for him. 

I'd say they were good friends...But Frank doesn't have friends. I'd give you spoilers on what eventually happens to Microchip but... It's kinda a BIG spoiler and maybe someone here wants to head on over into Punisher land. So I'll leave it at that. (I came to Moon Knight from Punisher land. It was all thanks to this crossover comic… so I guess their ploy really does work sometimes.) 

Anyways... Microchip looks up this Leona Hiss person. 

A widow of an anesthesiologist who started the clinics to help drug addicts. He goes on and on and tells Frank it "Smells like a smoke screen. All her life, the lady shuns publicity. Now all of a sudden she's a big philanthropist?" 

Man, look at that light and shadow in the first panel. This art team is amazing. 

Frank sets up position on a roof across from the clinic. 

"Clock Street's eerily alive at two A.M. I see a knife fight, several drug deals...Lights are burning in the clinic but no one's entered or left. There are guards on the roof. Better move.

I take position a block away, behind the clinic. I can easily make my way back over the rooftops--Nobody's watching back here. Overhead, a faint Whoosh. Some kind of high-tech chopper." 

Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy. 

(This art. This art is SLAYING.) 

Oh man. Look at this meet up. Frank and his shotgun, Moon Knight facing him down. 

They know who each other are! Every time Moon Knight meets up with someone he has to introduce himself! No one knows who he is! But Frank knows him. And Moon Knight doesn’t call him Frank. He knows who he is dealing with. 

Oh man, that cover called for such an epic showdown. Both ex-marines. Both know how to handle themselves. 

Uh. 

“I presume we’re both interested in Save Our Society.” 

“Right this afternoon I saw a man eat a gerbil. He came from here.” 

“What’s his name?” 

"Helmut Snead. He used a solen credit card. Six feet, brown eyes, scar above his left eye." 

"Ralph Newton--A Junkie Murderer. What's he doing on Long Island?" 

"I don't know--But he didn't look like a junkie. I want to know how he got out of the South Bronx and into a fancy clinic." 

"How would you take this guy out?"

WHAT IS HAPPENING. 

This is incredible. You have no idea. 

Frank doesn't have friends. Frank doesn't do team-ups. Frank is brutal and tells it like it is. 

And this isn't Frank being the victim to a new writer making nice in someone else's ball park. This is a PUNISHER comic. Moon Knight is the visitor. 

And on that note... MARC doesn't have friends. MARC doesn't play well with others. We literally just came off of him being a part of the West Coast Avengers and leaving because he doesn't team well! 

And here these two are, meeting for the first time and being BFF. 

In fact, the fact that they already know who one another is despite never meeting means that they have heard others talk about them. And when people talk about the Punisher or Moon Knight, they generally don't have good things to say! 

So these two heard "Yeah he's a brutal lunatic" they went "I gotta meet this chap." 

I can't stress enough how amazing this is. 

Frank is even asking Moon Knight to show how he'd take down a guy. He wants to see how Moon Knight works. And Moon Knight is letting Frank go first. 

THIS in itself is amazing. Why? Because we have two highly skilled specialists from a high combat militarized zone that were both known for ambush settings and traps. 

They know everything about this building isn't reading right, they have seen some guards and they don't know what's going on inside. So they are essentially walking into an unknown through a closed space doorway into a stairwell with numerous blind spots and possibilities for traps/ambushes. 

If it were anyone else, Marc would go first to clear the way and possibly take that first hit because he knows he can take it. 

BUT. If you REALLY look at it, Frank is older than Marc. Frank went to 'Nam. Frank has been at this longer and has turned New York into his own personal jungle. 

He offers Frank the lead out of respect AND because he knows and Frank knows that if anything is out of the ordinary, Frank will spot it FIRST and deal with it. 

This is grade A military tactics and my lord it’s beautiful. 

And you know what? 

Frank’s history is that he was team leader. And when Marc gives him lead, Frank takes it and Marc RESPECTS him. They are both used to working in this sort of setting. 

And when you think about it, Marc was NEVER the leader. He followed other people. Bushman was his leader. Marc joined other groups and let other people tell him what to do. If he didn’t like it, he went off and joined a new group. 

So when Frank says “Hold it….!” he is treading Marc like an officer under him and he has now automatically accepted Marc as following him and thus putting him under his protection. This is beautiful. I could wax on about this all day you guys. 

Uh… Back to the comic. So… Frank spots a Black Mamba that’s sluggish from being in a cold setting. 

Marc makes light chatter (he’s kinda of a goof and light chatter is what he does.) Frank quiets him. He knows there’s trouble ahead. 

In the next room, we find a junky going through withdrawal and begging the doc to hurry up. 

The 'doctor' injects him with something just as Frank and Marc bust in. 

"Hello, Ralph. I didn't know you had a license to practice medicine... And only last week you were a lousy junkie..." 

"Punisher!" 

"Drop the needle." 

"I don't think so.... SSSST!" 

And the 'Doctor' suddenly has a snake tongue and snake eyes. 

This bodes well. 

Frank opens fire on his target and it hardly phases him. 

"What have we stumbled into? They move slowly but they don't feel any pain." Moon Knight calls out while pummeling one of the snake guys. 

"It's the cold. [....] Reptiles. The colder it gets, the slower they move. You saw Ralph eat a gerbil--Snakes eat gerbils. This place looks like a herpetology lab." 

Very astute Frank. 

They manage to take down all the snake guys and Moon Knight asks if he recognizes any of them. 

Frank recognizes a couple of them as crackheads and various junkies. 

They find Ralph to be a card carrier for S.O.S. 

"Last week he's a junkie with an armful of holes and this week he's front man for a fancy long island cure club." 

"I think we know where to go next. Why don't you come with me in the chopper?" 

"Thanks, I will." 

(WHY ARE THEY SO POLITE TO ONE ANOTHER. IT'S SO OVER THE TOP.) 

So... Frank takes a ride in Marc's chopper. 

"Nice set-up. How do you keep the engines so quiet?" 

"It's a new kind of fiberglass packing." 

And they arrive back at the mansion. 

"Come on in--I've got a war room. We'll do a little digging." 

"This place is a little ostentatious, don't you think?" 

"There are so many private choppers flying in and out of the neighborhood nobody notices mine--Especially at night. The surrounding mansions and trees also cover our entrances and exits from the concealed hangar." 

I don't think that's what he meant by ostentatious, Marc. 

Inside, Frank, Marc, and Frenchie stand around a table with some maps. 

Marc tells Frank about the Borwardt estate he initially tracked snake man to earlier. 

"I ran a check on cult leaders and you'll never guess who was released from a federal prison last month--Viper." 

Frenchie tells Frank who Viper is. 

"She used to head up zat facist group Hydra, zen she went solo. She was busted in connection with the so-called snake riot in washington last year...[....] A mass hallucination where people believed they turned into snakes. I also learned that Viper was recently sprung from prison by a Dr. Tyrone." 

We head on over to SOS where we see a green lady, "Madam Viper". 

She is in a room of snake men who are 'newly converted'. 

They say they are hungry and Viper tells them that they have "a rabbit, five hamsters and a gerbil. We'll have to make another run to the pet store soon." 

She has a bit of a thing for hitting people with a whip and demanding that they all call her 'Madame Viper'. 

She is then informed that the other clinic was hit and that Newton is dead. 

She sends the new snake men out to the yard for guard duty. She's pretty sure SHIELD is out to get her. Which makes sense since she worked for Hydra. 

Unfortunately for her, it's far from shield. 

Overhead, we find the Moon Copter flying by and Moon Knight drops in with his cape and Frank drops in on a glider. 

The guards immediately open fire on them and Frank returns fire. 

FRANK. DO NOT ENCOURAGE HIM. 

….I don’t know if I should count this as a window dive or not. It’s tempting. I’m not going to count it. He decides to abstain from window entrance for once. 

Unfortunately for Frank, he runs in without checking around and Marc isn't there to watch his six. 

Madam Viper jumps him and injects him with a serum. 

Now... Unfortunately for her... Frank has never responded well to drugs of any sort. He's got a history of this not going well for people that try to drug Frank Castle. 

He doesn't go down. 

In fact, it actually makes him go a little berserk. A berserk Frank Castle is NEVER something anyone wants to face. 

He’s doing fine. 

She makes a run for it. 

Elsewhere, Moon Knight is fighting his own snake man army. 

"Lets of gunfire and then it stopped! The time to start worrying about Punisher is when the gunfire stops.

Viper injects one of her larger helpers turning him into a very large and strong snake man. 

Moon Knight faces off with the big snake guy. His usual methods of just 'hit it as hard as I can' doesn't work. They don't feel pain thanks to the drugs. 

He's wearing a heat pack to keep him moving so Moon Knight decides to take this outside and....WINDOW! WE GOT A WINDOW! 

I mean… This one was legit. And he was exiting with a good reason… But I’m still counting it. 

Heat pack removed and out in the cold air, the lizard guy goes down easy. 

Moon Knight goes to find the Punisher now. 

He finds a room full of bodies and Frank in the middle having a lovely hallucination time. 

In the window outside, Marc watches a rocket thing take off with Viper escaping in it to fight another day. 

Marc manages to distract frank with his crescent darts, moving them around and letting the light reflect off of them in a hypnotic way. This lets him get close enough to take away Frank's gun. 

At this point, Frank calms down and the adrenalin that was coursing through his system and probably helping to stave off the toxic affects of the drugs wears off. 

Frank goes into convulsions and Moon Knight moves to get him out of there. Not to mention the cops are starting to show up and they need to leave. 

The cops have never been fans of Punisher (Despite what the right wing wants you to think when they put punisher logos on their giant trucks) and Frank has never liked the cops. Time to leave! 

Marc takes Frank back to his mansion and puts him to bed. 

I kid you not. 

This... This is a thing that happens a lot. He did the same thing to Jack Russel. Just... Take the drugged up guy home and let him sleep it off in his big bed in the mansion. 

Frank has a rough night, hallucinating and putting up a big of a fight but he sleeps it off. 

The next day, he wakes up feeling a bit better. 

And it ends here. Frank heading off to his next mission and Marc casual as hell as he watches his new buddy leave. 

Again I’m going to say it. WHAT. 

You don’t understand just HOW bizarre this issue was. ON BOTH SIDES. Frank was so…NICE… Marc was so amendable! They acted like long lost friends! WHAT WAS WITH THE CONSTANT REFERENCES TO GERBILS?! Why does Marc keep putting drugged up men in his bed? Why was he wearing Steven’s clothes? I have so many questions.

And from this casual weird encounter… An obsession was born. 

ALRIGHT. Let’s talk about why this works. (This is gonna get long. You can stop here if you don't want to hear me ramble and are just here for the comics).

In the Marvel universe (616), we have a lot of veterans of different wars. 

WWII has Captain America, Bucky, and Nick Fury

Vietnam has Frank Castle. 

Wolverine....a lot of wars. All the wars. Every war. 

Apparently Charles Xavier was in the Korean war (I didn't know that) 

Ben Grimm was in the Marines before his space accident (Awww. Another thing for him to bond with Marc over.) 

Then of course you have Carol Danvers who worked for the CIA in the cold war.

Rhodes (War Machine) who was in Afghanistan and Vietnam. 

There are a LOT of veterans of different wars and different time periods (Marvel time is a soup). 

The initial problem was which war. And this is where we are going to once more step onto the Drifting Pieces History soap box. 

We all know the saying “There’s no good war”. But that’s not right. Not according to politics and public opinion. 

To be a veteran of WWII was a noble and good thing. You fought a clear cut enemy, (nothing worse than a Nazi) liberated suppressed people, and most important, you came home a winner. 

What’s that? There was another war? In Korea? Never heard of that one. We totally didn’t go to Korea and fail miserably and we certainly aren’t going to talk about what happened over there. 

Oh look, Vietnam! The first publicly broadcasted war. Not like “The Whole World is Watching”. Oh no, the average citizen is suddenly getting their first look at what happens in war. Oh no, it’s not as nice and pretty as it’s supposed to be. No one talked about the atrocities that were committed by the good guys in WWII! And the Korean War certainly didn’t happen. 

This was the first war where American soldiers came home and were shunned. They were booed. They lost their jobs, lost their homes, and lost their families. Disgraced and forgotten by their country and their people. 

So we have nice shiny Captain America. A literal representation of the good of America and ideal soldier, punching Nazi and saving people in WWII. 

Then we have Frank Castle, a dirty soldier from Vietnam. I’m sure people screamed “Baby killer” at him fresh off the plane. What’s that? Frank served THREE tours in Vietnam?! He was the sole survivor of a huge ambush? He was awarded the Medal of Honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Navy Cross, Silver and Bronze stars, and four Purple Hearts? That don’t mean shit to the average citizen that only cares about two things: 1. We lost. 2. We shouldn’t have been there in the first place. 

So he comes home, one of the best Marines in the business, and he’s got nothing. 

He gets married to a sweetheart, has two kids (a little girl and boy), and settles in living an ideal life. A quiet life. Too quiet. Frank’s got a little PTSD going on and he was very good at what he did. He didn’t want to leave. He was good over there. He was respected. He was needed. 

But he’s doing the best he can. Until that’s taken away from him in an event he’d seen over and over again in war. Blazing gun fire and his family is gone. 

He gets revenge. But there’s a problem. He isn’t seen as a loving family man that takes down the people that murdered his kids and wife. He’s seen as a violent ex-soldier from Vietnam that’s gone crazy and is shooting up the place. 

They say that for Frank, “the war never ended. It just changed missions.” 

And all these other Heroes that are also veterans? They came from good wars. Captain America spouts speeches of being a Good Soldier at Frank. He doesn’t know what it’s like to question if the bad guy really is the bad guy. 

If Frank hadn’t of been such a family man, he would have made an amazing mercenary. The best there was. 

But then you have Marc Spector. He went to war to escape trauma. He was good. He was VERY good at what he did. And dollars to donuts, he heard about another Marine that was also very good named Francis Castiglione. 

But Marc could only be good so long as it wasn’t obvious that his mental illness was a thing. Even if he lied signing up for the military, when he took the jobs working for SHIELD and the CIA, they HAD to know about his history in the mental hospital. But the second he starts to dissociate in public, he’s kicked out. Can’t have a mentally ill person hanging out around all those weapons, right? I’m sure that’s what they told themselves as they kicked him to the curb. 

Marc could have gone home here. He’d have been a disgraced hero, sitting on the side of the road on a Veteran hat asking for change. But Marc was still running. He didn’t have a childhood sweetheart waiting for him. He had trauma. 

So Marc carries on the mission and he’s GOOD. And he’s a follower. He likes being told what to do. It prevents him from thinking and taking responsibility. If people get hurt, it isn’t his fault. 

Now Frank is very thorough. There’s a chance that the first time he hears about a new Superhero showing up in Manhattan he immediately looks into it. He’s got access to SHIELD info. He finds out who Marc Spector is and he sees another soldier that was let down by his country. Another soldier that was looking to make a wrong right despite how the war went. 

And Marc? Frank’s a hero. He’s tough. He does what needs to be done to keep people safe. Frank’s a leader and he takes care of his soldiers. 

They look at one another and see soldiers struggling to find their place here in the normal life again because they never HAD normal lives to begin with. 

Moon Knight is the only one who can probably understand where Frank is coming from and not judge him. 

Much later on in the comics, when Moon Knight is desperately trying to fit in with the Avengers and be a better hero, we see him come up against Frank again. Frank understands what Moon Knight is trying to do and he asks him if he really thinks it’s going to work. 

And despite how everything else was going in that particular run (a lot. A lot was going), it was a very real moment. Frank saw through him. I’ll get more into it later when we eventually get there. But man… These two together both make me so happy and also break my heart. 

ANYWAY. Uh… Long extended explanation over! I love this issue with my whole everything. 

This writer? This artist? Why couldn’t THEY have been the ones to take over the Marc Spector run? They get it! Look how pretty they make him! Look at all that cape action! 

They even get the dichotomy of Marc in this time. We may not have STEVEN, but did you see the way Marc was dressed in the mansion? How very Steven -esque. Even the way he treats Frank at the end there. 

UGH I could go on about this all day. I’m going to stop here before I write a dissertation. I HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT THIS OKAY.

[sonicdrawsfast]

HELLO????

YALL I WAS LOOKING AT ART OF BELL AND SHES A KANGAROO RAT????? LIKE HELLO??? I DIDNT KNOW!!!! I THOUGHT SHE WAS JUST A FUNNY LOOKING ROBOT

[writer-of-various]

Adler: Bell vaguely reminds me of a kangaroo rat. It's either the way they sleep or just how tiny they are.

Bell: He called me a what?

[heresathreebee]

Ruby Moon Sunflower Seeds (four)

[Colonel Rick Flag X Kaia Castle (OC)]

Summary: Rick's not alone in his interest in the God's Eye artifact and Past Rick gets more info on Kaia's purpose. Previous Masterlist Next

Tag(s): 16+ | 1.5k words | swearing, parental rights, vague mentions of parental abuse (Peacemaker and Bloodsport), Dad!Rick

AN: this is basically more of the same from the last chapter, my head is full of other ideas for these characters...

This sorcerer business is a real Doomsday Event, but god knows it feels like another one of those Quirky Things that happen now that aliens and magic are real. So maybe it is a big deal and he should be focused on protecting the world from devastation. 

However… 

Considering not 2 days ago Rick learned he has a child, he's suddenly got other things fighting for the title of priority numero uno right now. 

How could he have a kid? Him? Why didn't Kaia say something? Did she try? Did Waller have anything to do with this? Did she know? Does he want… what does he do with this information? Bury it? Storm out to her home and demand an explanation? 

Now is not the time. There are far more pressing matters at hand, lives at stake– including the girl's. That's what he repeats to himself as a mantra even as his hand slides over the biolock to enter the aptly nicknamed 'holodeck' after dark. 

Despite the hour, the room is not empty like he thought it would be. His heart leaps into his throat for a moment but none of these people are Waller. His fear quickly turns to suspicious confusion. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing in here?," he asks. 

Harley's here of course, but so is Digger, Peacemaker, Blackguard, and Dubois. A squeaking noise brings Rick's attention to his right, where Cleo and Sebastian are hiding in the dark. The rat waves. 

"How did you get in?" There is no severed hand to be found much to Rick's relief and surprise. 

Peacemaker– er John– squares his jaw. "We can ask you the same question." 

"Actually, as the only person in this room without a prison designation or a bed in Belle Reve, you can't." Rick struts around the room authoritatively. "Everybody out. Get some rest because tomorrow we're out in the field for recon." 

"Please Mr. Flag sir," Cleo's voice drifts closer and she's giving him these puppy dog eyes, "we're just having fun. We were taking a look at all the crazy alternatives to our world since we didn't get to explore that before." 

"Boomie's part kangaroo," Harley shouted. Digger's hey goes unnoticed and the woman points at Dubois, "and this one woulda been a baker if he had, you know, a dad who actually loved him." 

"Shut up, Harley," Dubois groaned. 

John scoffed. "My dad loved me. That's why he trained me to be a killer." 

"Hm. Weird." Rick claps his hands. "But seriously: get out. Everybody. I mean it." 

Harley giggles. "You were coming to see your kid again, weren't you?" 

Rick clenches his jaw till it aches. Harley puts her hands up in defense and says, "by all means, go ahead! Just let us hang out and then we'll all go to teddy bear land or whatever!" 

Rick's fingers twitch at his hip. Blackguard scoffs from the sideline. "I can't believe you fucked a witch. Actually scratch that: I can't believe she fucked you!" 

"Oh Mommy Flag's a witch?" Harley turns to Blackguard: "happens a lot to him I guess." 

Rick growls. "Her name is Kaia Castle and please do not refer to her as Mommy Flag ever again." 

"Makes it sound like she's his mother," John agrees. 

Rick finds himself edging closer to the Eye despite himself. Harley follows, egging him on with her eyes and always one step inside of his field of vision like a devil sitting on his shoulder. 

"Well new papa? We're waiting…" 

Improv wasn't your strongest suit but today was turning into a Wing It or Die sort of deal so you roll with it. You, Rick, Eli, Deadshot, and Blackguard donned the clothes you were going to wear into the bunker now. Hart didn't have a special suit due to concerns he had some unknown alien tech in it and was already wearing shorts and a dinosaur t-shirt he came to the island in. As for the rest, Killer Croc and Boomerang were going to go around and meet the others at the underground entrance to the secret lair while the undercover party poses as investors for Dona Claremont's new project. 

Eli and Deadshot wore black tie suits and carried one standard handgun each, both looking uncomfortably unarmed as they pose as your bodyguards. Hart as your son might be passable– you could argue he takes after Rick as his father– but you and Blackguard as siblings were going to be a tough sell. Maybe they won't mention it, you thought! 

“Everybody just be cool.” It’s a lazy pep talk but it’s what you’ve got. You held Hart by the collar of his shirt, with Rick to your left and Blackguard– wait his name is Dick– trailing behind, you took a deep, calming breath and stepped out of the treeline. 

Rick introduced you all at the door. "We're guests of Claremont's– got lost on the way in and we were wondering if you could help us out." 

A dozen hands flew to the butts of their guns but nobody unholstered them. One guard did not reach for his gun, hardly even flinched, he simply moved to stand before the heavy iron door and staring the four of you down like you were under a microscope. 

You felt a warm hand on your back. "I'm Rick," your team leader/ fake husband said, "this is my wife, my son, and my brother in law." 

The unfazed guard-- clearly the leader of the group-- grilled Rick with a look. "And them?" He gestured his head at Eli and Deadshot.

"Bodyguards."

The sharp eyed man gave you one the same stony stare and said, "you and your brother don't look related." 

Everyone is stunned into silence until you heard yourself say, "he's adopted." 

The guard gave a moment of thought, then nodded his head and your 'family' were allowed inside-- sans your protection detail. No questions about how you got there or why you came out of the woods nor references to the wet aftermath soaked into your guys' hair and new clothes (the bags weren't waterproof, Waller, why would you send them into a jungle without waterproof bags??). 

The lead guard Leung simply offered you all rooms to sleep in and tea while he got approval from Claremont to transport them to the lair. You let Hart off his metaphorical leash seeing as Weasel would need to bash its way through steel and concrete to get to him. He smiled and waved as he disappeared around a corner like a ghost. 

You hear a throat cleared behind you. 

Rick Flag stood there in a Hawaiian shirt looking damn fine. "That was some quick thinking back there, Castle." 

"You can call me Kaia," you said as you stripped yourself of your heels so as not to click around in that echo chamber of a room, "We might die together, might as well be familiar." 

"Hey– " he started but you silenced him with a raised hand. 

"I'm just being realistic," you amended, "but I have every faith you'll do your best to get us in and out alive." 

Rick shakes his head with a lopsided grin. "Nothing about you makes sense, Kaia. Your, er, relationship with Waller doesn't explain why you're here– and while you are a good leader, I don't believe that's the real reason she sent you." 

You lifted a shoulder lazily and plopped down onto the white leather couch, practically draped like a baroque painting. "I'm… useful. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say Waller picked me because of my abilities." 

"Your what now?" Rick unfolded his arms from his chest (pity, those bulging biceps looked extra delicious that way) and took a seat on the glass coffee table. 

You sighed. "It's not a conversation I'm used to having since I don't really use them but… yes. I have powers. They're… finicky and hard to control– especially because of my neglect to train myself– but they're still there... waiting…" 

Rick leaned his elbows onto his knees. "What are they?" 

Your brow furrowed. "It's hard to describe… it's like… oh god, I don't know, if you put a gun to my head and forced me to do it, I guess I would describe it like… like corruption and absorption." 

"... what?" 

You shook your head frantically. "Nevermind, you'll see them when you see them. If I can even get them to work." Your eyes wandered around the room looking for literally anything else to talk about. "Boy… Dona sure does love fish." 

That koi pond? Gorgeous naturalistic set piece scaling up the wall like the jungle knocked down the corner and grew into the building. There were lines along the walkways, glass panels where the water ran and fish could swim from pond to pond between the rooms. It must have been an open circuit aquarium because the glass looked cleaned and brand new with virtually no pond scum or algae build up. 

"And dinosaurs," Rick added, pointing to the completed pterodactyl skeleton hanging from the ceiling. 

"I like dinosaurs," you announced to no one in particular. 

Eventually Leung brought you tea and you forced Blackguard to sit down in the room with you as his bathroom break took too long. Hart was even harder to find but you did eventually catch up to him. He had a mysterious stain on his shirt which he refused to own up to and it troubled you to remember he wasn't a boy at all…

@blooo0ooop @sgnjimmy @romanticgumchewer-reactivated

[fenneykindlefire]

My BFB Species List

Here are all the animals I see the BFB characters as

Death P.A.C.T:

Black Hole: Beetle Bottle: Dolphin Liy: Rabbit Pen: Penguin Pie: Magpie Pillow: Sloth Tree: Tree Frog Remote: Badger

A Better Name Than That: 8-Ball: Binturong Basketball: Tiger Blocky: Rhino Golf Ball: Quoll Grassy: Hedgehog Robot Flower: Robot Skunk Tennis Ball: Labrador Retriever TV: Cobra

Team Ice Cube: Barf Bag: Raccoon Bomby: Pufferfish Bracelety: Chipmunk Donut: Deer Firey Jr: Phoenix Chick Gelatin: Jellyfish Naily: Snake Spongy: Walrus

Free Food: Yellow Face: Spider Fries: Cardinal Puffball: Poodle Stapy: Kangaroo Foldy: Fox Marker: Rockhopper Penguin Bell: Canary Eraser: Striped Hyena

The Losers: Firey: Phoenix Loser: Frilled Lizard Needle: Porcupine Coiny: Mouse Pin: Woodpecker Eggy: Chicken Clock: Rooster Cake: Siamese Cat

Iance: Flower: Skunk Snowball: Snowshoe Hare Lightning: Peregrine Falcon Pencil: Ferret Match: Mink Bubble: Seal Ruby: Red Squirrel Fanny: Hummingbird

BEEP: Roboty: Robot Chicken Leafy: Leaf Insect David: Monkey Cloudy: Pomeranian Balloony: Horse Nickel: Rat Rocky: Rock Dove Woody: Beaver

Bleh: Book: Cocker Spaniel Ice Cube: Lemming Lollipop: Giraffe Gaty: Echidna Taco: Chihuahua Saw: Saw Shark Teardrop: Otter Dora: Monkey (same as David)

Other: One: Archaeopteryx Two: Sabertooth Cat Three: Triceratops Five: Velociraptor Six: Dodo Seven: Elephant Bird Eight: Dimetrodon Nine: Quokka Ten: Tenrec Infinity: Pterodactyl Profily: Blue Jay Portable Music Player: Ermine CRT: Cricket Speaker Box: Crab X: Xoloitzcuintli Four: Tasmanian Wolf

[custardisle]

island names

i’ve seen a few people do this already, but as it’s 3 days away and some people are panicking about their island name, so i tried to put one together! if you use it credit isn’t necessary~ i also suggest taking inspiration from fictional places or street names near you!

COLORS blue, azure, cyan, green, lime, gold, yellow, silver, white, black, grey/gray, grayscale/greyscale, monochrome, rainbow, purple, violet, chartreuse, navy, iridescent, orange, pale, pastel, light, dark, neon, rooster, ruby, emerald, sapphire, lavender, scarlet, crimson, periwinkle, magenta, maroon, bronze, copper, teal, ivory, ebony

ANIMALS goat, bear, grizzly, paw, purrfect, kangaroo, cat, kitty, dog, wolf, pig, cow, boar, bird, dove, deer, stag, horse, ferret, rat, sheep, fawn, bee, bumblebee, butterfly, bunny, rabbit, hare, antler, koi, fish, shark, whale, dolphin, crab, snail, teddy, lamb, pelican, penguin

PLANTS azalea, catnip, basil, parsley, pumpkin, twig, rose, blossom, lily, carnation, pansy, bark, branch, twig, pine, sprig, poppy, sprout, daffodil, daisy, buttercup, root, thorn, acorn, thistle, bush, bud, sunflower, forsythia, juniper, holly, allium, angelonia, artemisia, aster, zinnia, mushroom, shroom, fungi, moss, lichen, goldenrod,  reed, cattail,  foxglove, candytuft, geranium, hollyhock, iris, lupine, marigold, orchid, primrose, valerian, snapdragon, tansy, tulip, carnation, bellflower, boneset, carnation, catmint, chive, sage, comfrey, cosmos, maple, acacia, willow

FOOD clementine, tangerine, banana, pudding, berry, fruit, sorbet, milk, cream, zucchini, pumpkin, peach, apricot, apple, cheese, honey, nectar, butter, sweet, sour, spicy, pepper, turnip, beet, beetroot, treat, confection, sugar, sugarcane, jam, jelly, breakfast, lemon, lime

NATURE cloud, stone, rock, rocky, stony, sky/skye, breeze/breezy, marble, granite, county, orchard, farm, mountain, garden, wool, clay, star, moon, lunar, solar, sun, sunbeam, moonbeam, crescent, halfmoon, new moon, full moon, comet, asteroid, meteor, river, stream, pond, lake, sunnyside, evergreen, cosmo, pearl, diamond, evening, forest, coast, meadow, field, jungle, savanna, marsh, reef,  wilderness

MISC candle, bell, piano, whisper, wisp, castle, mystery, mystical, mythical, humming, song, tweet, tarot, horseshoe, theatre, theater, pottery, twinkle, flame, fire, dream, daydream, sanctuary, flutter, haven, harbor, sanctum, ghost, spirit, basket, crown, jewel, gem, fairy, fae, sprite, imp, mansion, manor, shepherd

DESCRIPTORY/CONCEPT tropic, distant, faraway, mystical, mythical, trick, illusion, hope, promise, magical, starry, sunny, dark, light, shining, dreamy, lazy, future, holograph, demonic, angelic, cozy, goth/gothic, musical, glory, cosmic, stellar, perennial, sandy, ashen, florescent, lustrous, dappled, oath, found

SUFFIXES (can replace “island” or be linked with a word!) ville, isle, valley, bloom, village, hill, harbor, ranch, city, tale, fields, park

[noeggets]

Metal sonic takes his sisters hand literally

[pocketscribbs]

throwback to this doodle, i’d say it still has some relevance

[haylenuwu]

Im a metal sonic fan first and human second

[spiritsonic]

doodled meat person Belle for fun, oh how she hates it

[lil-rosequartz-princess]

I decided to grab a couple articles on cultural appropriation of smudging as well as ethical issues. Please feel free to discuss your feelings on this if you are of a tribe that uses smudging.

Smudging

Smudging, or saging, has become a trendy wellness practice that some people use to cleanse "bad energy" from their homes or their space. Smudging is an important ritual for many indigenous people: An article by Indigenous Corporate Training, Inc., a Canadian organization that delivers anti-bias trainings, says that “Smudging is traditionally a ceremony for purifying or cleansing the soul of negative thoughts of a person or place,” and that it is a term mostly originating from indigenous tribes in North America. So when non-native people burn sage to "smudge" their homes or other spaces, it can minimize the cultural importance of this ritual, and have a negative impact on how the herbs are grown. Instead, advocates say non-native people can learn to cleanse their spaces in ways that are culturally and ecologically sensitive. There are lots of ways to achieve the benefits of smudging by using more ethical practices, terminology, and materials.

“It was illegal for Natives to practice their religion until 1978 in the U.S., and many were jailed and killed just for keeping our ways alive, including my great-great grandfather,” Ruth Hopkins, a Dakota/Lakota Sioux writer, tells Bustle. Smudging is part of those practices. It’s so important to certain indigenous cultures, that Native people are fighting to be able to perform it in hospitals. Smudging, therefore, is not to be taken lightly.

Because white sage is in such high demand, thanks to this recent trendiness, the Chumash people (of what is now called Southern California) are concerned that the plant is being overharvested. The United States Department of Agriculture says that white sage has important medical benefits — it is used to cure colds and aid postpartum healing — and it’s a crucial part of the surrounding ecosystem. But some brands continue to sell white sage, despite Native communities speaking out against it. Hopkins says that this behavior is unacceptable. “It’s exploitative and amounts to silencing Native voices and erasing our cultural heritage,” she says.

For Hopkins, the appropriation of sage is made worse because the plant is often not being harvested correctly. “When using medicinal plants, it’s important that the plant is used sustainably. When we pick sage, we always leave the root and say a prayer of thanks for our harvest. This is as much a part of smudging (or saging) as burning the plant is,” Hopkins says. To explain further, it’s important to leave the root, because that’s how the plant grows back. If someone is harvesting white sage and doesn’t know to leave the root, they’re preventing more plants from growing.

If you have used herbs to cleanse your space in the past and enjoy the ritual, you don't have to give it up in order to so in a culturally conscious way. Smudging refers to a specific healing cultural spiritual practice, but smoke cleansing can look a lot like smudging, but it’s just the simple act of burning herbs, wood, incense, or other safe-to-burn materials that possess unique cleansing properties. The smoke is then waved over the area you want to cleanse. You can smoke cleanse whatever you want, as much as you want. Some cultures may have spiritual practices connected to smoke cleansing, but the act of smoke cleansing is not inherently spiritual or specific to a certain culture, like smudging is.

Personally, I like to smoke cleanse with a cinnamon stick. It leaves me feeling spiritually focused and relaxed. And there are other materials, including lavender, pine, and cloves, that can be burned safely. Palo Santo ("holy wood” in Spanish) sticks have been getting more popular as an alternative to sage, but buying this Central and South American tree used by Amazonian tribes can also be harmful, in similar ways to sage. Palo Santo has been added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) list, because its overharvesting can lead to extinction, although the tree is not nearing extinction currently.

If smoke cleansing is something that makes you feel calm, then go for it! It's important, however, that in the process, you're respecting Indigenous cultures and the land's ecosystem. That may mean harvesting your own sage or other herbs sustainably, contacting brands to ask them to stop selling white sage without giving due to Native cultures, or using another material. Ultimately, being intentional about how you implement this practice in your life — and being mindful about its origins and significance — is helpful for everyone.

Source: https://www.bustle.com/p/is-burning-sage-cultural-appropriation-heres-how-to-smoke-cleanse-in-sensitive-ways-18208360

Sage

This year it was evident due to the social media reaction that people were expressing anger and concern over the increase in commercialization of white sage (Salvia apiana) and the cultural appropriation and offensive marketing that overlooks ethics and ecological, cultural awareness of a deeply sacred and spiritual plant.

The rumblings on social media in regards to those who claimed to wildcraft white sage, along with selling the wildcrafted material that was being gathered from public lands, were clues that the balance between respectful wildcrafting and the use of terms like “ethical wildcrafting and sustainable wildcrafting” for personal use versus commercial gain was being pushed to its limit.

In October of 2018, “Cleaning Space Kits” including white sage bundles appeared on the shelves of Anthropologie, and with the collective social media outcry they were removed from the stores almost immediately—thank you, Anthropologie. At this time white sage can be purchased on Amazon and Walmart websites and on the shelves of stores such as Urban Outfitters in pre-packaged new aged kits. This is a serious indicator of alarm for many who know and respect the ecological and cultural fragility of this plant.

One of the most active voices in the social media outcry is the IG @Meztliprojects. Meztli Projects is an Indigenous based arts and culture collaborative, based in Los Angeles. Meztli Projects brilliantly updated the Wikipedia page on white sage to provide information on the recent controversy, citing the illegal harvest arrests and current press on this issue over the last two years.

Commercial harvest of wild white sage populations is a concern held by many Native American groups, herbalists, and conservationists. In June 2018, four people were arrested for the illegal harvest of 400 pounds of white sage in North Etiwanda Preserve in California.

It is very difficult when companies make claims of sustainable harvest when we have no accountability within a very secretive trade. In some cases permits are given on public lands for commercial harvest of economically valued plants, but in the case of white sage no such permit exists. The only way this would be legal is if harvesting took place on private land with permission. What I learned when I was in California and visited the Etiwanda Preserve was that it is the epicenter of the current commercial harvest. The rangers that I spoke with described a very difficult situation in that it is mostly undocumented individuals that are desperate for the work, putting themselves in danger, sneaking into the Etiwanda Preserve to harvest. The residents living near the preserve, working with law enforcement to help coordinate efforts to address the issue were responsible for the recent arrest in June of 2018. This came about when four undocumented individuals were arrested with over 400 pounds of white sage harvested from the preserve.

The North Etiwanda Preserve is a unique Riversidean Alluvial Fan Sage Scrub plant community that provides protection for a number of sensitive plant and wildlife species, several of which are Federal or State listed threatened or endangered. Listed endangered species that may occur on the Preserve include the least Bell’s vireo, California gnatcatcher, the southwestern willow flycatcher, and San Bernardino Merriam’s kangaroo rat. Sensitive species include Los Angeles pocket mouse, San Diego black-tailed jackrabbit, American badger, coastal cactus wren, San Diego horned lizard, coastal western whiptail, Southern sagebrush lizard, San Bernardino ring-necked snake, coastal rosy boa, Coast patch-nosed snake, mountain yellow-legged frog, two-striped garter snake, Parry’s spineflower, and Plummer’s mariposa lily.

The Management Plan for the preserve acknowledges that the area is considered to be a sacred site by the Gabrielino-Shoshoni Nation and Serrano people and is currently being used for cultural purposes. It further states in the management plan their priority actions of conducting historical research, coordinating with tribes to facilitate access for ceremonies, and collection of white sage. When I spoke to a preserve manager, she confirmed the Preserve’s efforts to provide permits to tribal members for collection of sage for ceremonial use.

The San Bernardino associated governments along with multiple state agencies, federal/USFWS, local universities, and non-profits manage the preserve, which was first established in 1998 and expanded with highway mitigation funds in 2009. Working together the management plan establishes its principle goals.

Management Plan principal goals:

Preservation of Native Species, Habitats, and Ecosystem Processes;

Protection and preservation of Cultural Resources;

Monitoring Existing Habitats, Species, and Physical Conditions;

Restoration of Disturbed On-Site Habitats;

Develop and Maintain an Informational Database

What is important to stress is that this underground sage mafia is not ethical or sustainable wildcrafting as it is portrayed in hipster IG accounts and stores! The scale of white sage commercial trade on the Internet and demand in China is alarming. United Plant Savers is working with agents at the USFWS and at the State level to provide as much insight as possible into the trade so that law enforcement can be informed to protect the preserve. I was invited by the owner of a white sage company to meet at the Etiwanda Preserve in March of 2019; he wanted to show his sustainable harvesting methods. I quickly pulled out my phone to show him that it was against the law to do so, and that recent arrests had been made. He carried on as if that was not the case, and fortunately law enforcement arrived and I was able to get confirmation of the laws in regards to the preserve from the officer on the spot. His story quickly changed, and he claimed he no longer wildharvested but had a farm where he is now growing sage for his company. I tried to convey why the preserve did not allow commercial harvest permits and the level of community engagement that goes into ensuring safe haven for threatened and endangered species. Certainly he was proud to show off his harvesting technique and make claims to be a former student of Michael Moore, but he lacked ecological knowledge of the diversity of species in the habitat he claimed to sustainably harvest, not to mention basic laws surrounding wild harvest of plants on state and federal lands.

It can be frustrating when attempts to inform stores who sell sage bundles respond that they are getting their sage from those that claim sustainable harvesting techniques and have all the right verbiage on their social media and websites. Consumers and retailers need to understand laws in regards to wild plants because even if one’s techniques are sustainable, if it is not permitted, then it is illegal. A first step for a buyer or consumer is to ask to see a permit.

White sage is abundant in its local habitat as a keystone species of its plant community, but that habitat is under threat due to development and it is fragile, apparent by the many endangered and threatened species that rely on its habitat. Most important to note is that it can be grown, and if it is to be in any form of commercial trade and certainly on the scale it is now, the only sustainability claims should be that it is coming from a cultivated source, and a buyer should always visit the farm to verify the claim.

Traveling throughout California to understand the state of sage habitats and the cultural teachings of white sage, I came across the recently published book Kumeyaay Ethnobotany at the Anza Borrego Visitors Center. The photograph by Rose Ramirez caught my attention and through a Google search I was able to locate her and ask permission to use the image for the cover of this year’s journal.

We then began a dialogue on the issues and concerns over its recent popularity and I asked if she would provide me a quote to share from the perspective of an indigenous elder. Here is the quote she provided me.

“We do not sell white sage. If you need it as a medicine and we have it, we’re going to give it to you. We discourage selling medicine plants, spiritual plants, because we don’t know if the person collected them in a good way, with a good heart. But if you have white sage growing in your own back yard, you would know because you would be taking care of it.” – Barbara Drake, Tongva Elder

I found the quote she shared from Barbara Drake that speaks to why they discourage selling of spiritual plants on a commercial scale because one does not know if the person who is collecting them is doing so in a good way, with a good heart as very profound. Wildharvesting can be detrimental to the plant and/or the species that relies on the plant, but often it is most harmful to those who are harvesting, when they are forced into doing so for very little because they are in a desperate situation. This is why programs like fair wild are important because they address the fair treatment of those communities of harvesters and the plants, and this is important. If we the consumers want to be healed by the plants, then should we not want those who are harvesting to be treated fairly? Conversely harvesting wild plants when regulated and when harvesters are treated fairly can result in beneficial relationships, for both consumer and harvester, and the harvester and the plants, as well as for the plants and their habitat. It seemed serendipitous that my year would be filled with two impactful sage encounters, when I learned about the wild sage native to Albania facing overharvesting in the wild due to unregulated trade and the herbal companies working towards a solution by transitioning to cultivated sage and support to small scale farmers. The Ethnobotany Project is a collaboration among Rose Ramirez, Deborah Small, and the Malki Baliena Press, working together to document southern California and northern Baja California’s Native people’s contemporary uses of native plants. The primary goal is to create a resource for Native people in this region to share and learn traditional knowledge about native plant uses and gathering practices. The project began in 2007. Two publications have resulted so far: a 2010 large-scale calendar and a book in 2015. The Malki Museum, founded in 1965 by Native Americans (Dr. Katherine Siva Saubel and Jane Penn) on a California Indian Reservation, is the oldest non-profit museum and has been the inspiration for several other museums. My journey to understand the complexity of white sage has been a learning journey to the many state and federal recognized tribes and the diverse projects and museums working hard to revive and celebrate cultural and ecological diversity that is more beautiful and powerful. I would encourage those who are drawn to white sage to spend time researching the cultures that have tended its habitat and choose a smudge that you build a personal relationship with and question the idea of ethical wild crafting, considering the habitat, the harvester, the laws, the cultures, and the medicinal teachings. Source: https://unitedplantsavers.org/what-is-going-on-with-white-sage/

[tremendouslystupendoustyrant]

Imagine Overwatch Christmas

Imagine the Overwatch Groups celebrating separate holidays during December

Imagine Sombra celebrating The Day of the Virgin on the 12th. Imagine Reaper and McCree joining in because they have both have ties to the culture.

Imagine Tracer, Moira, Junkrat and Roadhog all discussing Boxing Day sales and being surprised when no one else has heard of it.

Genji and Hanzo celebrating Omisoka by cleaning the entire house after Christmas.

All the different food made by all the different cultures. Zenyatta sharing kuswar and kidiyo (Kidiyo is Genji’s Favorite.)

Mei giving out apples on Christmas Eve to all of the members. No one recognizing what this means.

Widowmaker insisting on the wood in the fireplace being sprinkled with red wine and leaving it to burn all night. Reaper and Sombra sitting with her when they find her still up, sitting by the fire at 3am.

Zarya baking kozulya cookies and not telling everyone else that she doesn’t normally celebrate Christmas until January 7th but just this once.

Lucio giving small gifts to everyone else throughout the month and never telling anyone but everyone knows its him because whenever they open it, he gets this huge smile on his face.

Moira doesn’t really care for the holiday but the others see her light a small candle in the windowsill of her room. It burns all night.

The Group going out to get a Christmas tree, Reinhardt is insistent on the biggest one and he laughs his face full of joy as he and Roadhog lug it home. He later gets drunk on eggnog and begins singing songs in German that no one else understands but they find it festive anyway.

Reinhardt being very confused when Jack asks him about a Christmas pickle.

Ana cooking fata and bringing a big plate of kahk and scolding Pharah when she nearly eats the entire plate by herself.

Mercy baking cookies with Ana, Pharah and being joined with Zenyatta and Genji. They all start sharing their own cookie recipes with each other.

Doomfist brings his own firecrackers which he lets Efi play with cause its Christmas. Orisa being extremely surprised when these small things burst into loud noise and fire.

Tracer and Sombra put an ugly sweater on Bastion who loves it a bit too much.

Torbjorn bringing a bunch of food that none of them can pronounce right but taste really good.

Symmetra teaching Tracer and Efi how to make a star lantern.

Everyone getting presents and everyone being surprised when Junkrat hands out handmade scrap metal presents of certain objects. (He gives Mei a snowman and she nearly cries.) Junkrat of course gets lots of explosives.

Efi being extremely surprised when she opens up her present to find a limited edition box of lucio-ohs with his autograph.

Just Overwatch Christmas.

Edit: OVERWATCH CHRISTMAS PART2

Torbjorn and Brigitte and their massive family building a giant paper mâché  Yule goat in their yard. Everyone else looking in awe until Torbjorn lights a match and the goat begins to burn. The entire Swedish family cheer as everyone else looks on in horror and confusion. 

Junkrat dressing up as Krampus for the entire first week of December and frightening the others with his chains and bells. Tracer only pretends to be scared. (She’s pretending, she is.)

Instead of a typical Ham or Turkey for Christmas dinner, Genji and Hanzo bring KFC. Everyone else eating is confused but ya know, this isn’t too bad.

Reinhardt dressing up as St. Nikolaus and leaving all kinds of little chocolate, oranges and toys in everyone’s shoes on December 6th. He sits on a massive bag of presents but in order to get their handpicked presents, everyone has to recite a poem or sing a song or draw a picture (something to make Reinhardt laugh). Some do is gloriously. Everyone adores Lucio’s freestyle beatboxing. Reaper, refuses but quietly hands Reinhardt a hand-drawn card. On the cover is “YOU MAKE ME DIE!” And inside “OF LAUGHTER.” Reinhardt cracks up and gives him two presents. 

Zarya getting way to drunk on eggnog with Reinhardt and in according with her tradition, jumps into a freezing lake. She forgets it’s frozen over but it doesn’t matter when the ice breaks upon impact. She comes back and is like ‘THAT IS NOT NEARLY COLD ENOUGH! WEAK ICE!’ 

Sombra insists on building a Nacimientos in the yard. At first it’s only the donkey but as the month progresses, more and ore characters are added. Widowmaker asking where the butcher is (nobody else understands). 

Surprisingly, the faces change of overwatch heroes. Roadhog’s face over Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve is something none of them will forget.

Tracer challenging absolutely everyone to Christmas cracker pulling competitions. Every time she loses, she rewinds time and wins. She and Junkrat become to competitive that the loud sound of the crackers popping sets off Bastion and then nobody is having a good time. Christmas Crackers have been banned. 

On January 6th, everybody else is busy packing up all the decorations and tree but Moira just sips wine and relaxes. Sombra and Tracer have already tried to call her out on her abuse of a holiday but good luck telling that to Moira. She pets her new lab rats (who won’t last the week) that she got for Christmas.

Junkrat starting an argument with McCree that Santa doesn’t use reindeer, he uses kangaroos to pull his sled and McCree getting more and more pissed. 

Junkrat and Roadhog insist on barbecue for Boxing Day. That is until Junkrat’s bad attempts at barbecue end up setting fire to the tree. Indoor barbecue is banned.

Lucio directs a Os Pastores play. Tracer ends up stealing baby Jesus and Lucio has never been prouder of their production (much to everyone else surprise). 

Lucio reminds everybody to leave a sock on their window to exchange for a gift. He’s extremely excited when he wakes up that morning with a brand new soundboard in Lucio colors. No one knows what happened to the sock. Reaper has an extra sock on that morning.

Reinhardt showing Efi, Lucio and D.va how to make ‘Advent Kranz’ using a ring of fir branches and candles. 

Baptiste takes everybody’s shoes and cleans them the day before Christmas Eve. Nobody questions him until they all find their shoes missing. A hunt leads them under the porch where every shoe is filled with straw. 

Baptiste feeds Efi ‘Anisette’ and despite the sugar, passes out with a red face. Baptiste is forbidden from feeding any of the kids again. 

Right next to the christmas tree is a Banana Tree. Symmetra insisted on decorating it herself. 

Moira carries a long pole with a holly bush around for days and sings a weird song about a wren. She asks for donations to the wren, (which turns out to be one of her test subjects). Everyone still donates.

Genji and Hanzo make a delicious christmas cake with strawberries and whipped cream. 

Sombra makes a piñata for Christmas Day. Everyone as having fun until Reinhardt barged in and hit it with his hammer. The candy was destroyed. She also makes a Rosca de Reyes cake. She ends up getting the piece with a hidden baby Jesus figure and claims she’s now Jesus’ godparent. 

Everyone taking the Christmas display way too seriously. D.va takes it so seriously that she even puts lights on their satellite. 

Mercy gets drunk and gives everyone party invitations for ‘FIGUGEGL!’. Her party is nothing more than a giant pot of Fondue.