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monitorsscrawlings · 6 years

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St. Nick, Krampus & The Longest Night

Things work a little differently in the Otherverse Series, what with magic, gods, demons and the like being real, and with a great deal of the magical, the fantastical and strange being a known if not always fully accepted or tolerated facet of life.

The following are just scraps and notes and pertain to my fictional universe.

Saint Nick: Also known as Santa Claus, Klaus, Chris Kringle, Saint Nicholas, Father Winter, Old Man Sooty Claws, and Old Man December. Santa Claus is the case of old gods learning new tricks, and given all the legends attributed to him, St. Nick is a veritable matryoshka doll of different aspects folded in to one another, and an old and powerful winter fae in his own right besides. In one of his most well-known and powerful aspects, that of Santa Claus he appears as an elderly yet hefty and robust old black man, human in appearance, though the fine details of his suit, face and voice will differ subtly from person to person. With his workshops of brownies, pixies, snow elves and frost trolls hidden safely away in the Neverlands somewhere within the ice-caps of the North Pole, Mr and Mrs. Claus, alongside their employees and magical servants help give the people of the world not what they want, but what they need. Hope, mercy, innervation of the soul, food, shelter, clothes, money, and simply toys and trinkets designed and fabricated by the wild fae in their employee. Few but the most powerful sorcerers can conceal themselves from his sight, and none can hide their true disposition or deeds from his gaze. Alas not even Old St. Nick can produce such fripperies as diamonds or fancy electronic toys, but their gifts often have a little holiday magic all their own worked in to every handmade package, each hand-written letter and every hand-stitched pair of woolly socks and home-cooked meal.

Even the brightest cheeriest holiday needs a little humbuggery, a bit of fear and darkness, and the old and somewhat reformed demon turned right-hand monster known as the Krampus serves more than adequately in that respect. The Krampus reaches out to those who St. Nicks merry winter cheer can’t or won’t reach: the truly wicked are terrorized and punished appropriately, where as the merely naughty are given a bit of a fright, scoldings and much tamer punishments to ensure they learn their lessons. While the old beast can be both cruel and forbidding, that isn’t to say he isn’t willing to lend a sympathetic ear to those who truly need it. Neither the old elf nor the demon are entirely unsympathetic however, and while some mischief is made and harsh but necessary lessons are doled out, their intent is all for the good.

As a note: Those who make the nice list get presents, those who make the naughty list get reprimanded, with both the truly wicked and the unusually naughty receiving visits from Krampus. Those unfortunate souls who make neither list get nothing at all.

In the Netherworld, that strange and darkly fantastical place inhabited almost entirely by boogey-monsters, their customs and legends are similar and yet also rather different from that of their human neighbors in the adjoining world colloquially known among boogey-monster-kind as ‘The Topside’, as the two worlds have ever been linked and entwined together. In the Netherworld Krampus is a celebrated folk-hero and a being out of legend, beloved by young boogey-monsters the world over. Tales tell of how long ago Krampus haunted and terrified even the most stubbornly stalwart and blearily mundane of humans right out of their pants. Of how he would frighten away demon, dragons and ogres of yore, punish and scare naughty children, and even subdued the dreaded winter-demon known as Old Man December with cunning, ferocity, and guile.

In this St. Nick and Krampus pull double duty even while exchanging roles somewhat: Krampus brings presents and toys to young monsters and ensures the gift-sacks hung in their caves, burrows and crumbling castles and old cottages are filled with the sort of things that would delight: spiders and worms and all manner of things creepy and crawly, slimy, smelly and frightful. Toys that ooze and belch, snap and growl, and candies and snacks that go crunch, fizz and pop.

Father Christmas assumes a decidedly less kindly and festive form: the cruel, cold-hearted and harsh Old Man December. A towering and nasty brute of half-frost giant and half ice-demon decent with eyes like chips of eyes, teeth like river-stones and a wild and prickly beard like hoarfrost. The air chills unmercifully with his passage, mirrors fog, vegetation withers and dies and even the hardiest wild-life strickens and dies should his icy-breath wash over them. Should he catch any unwary or naughty young monsters outside their homes during The Longest Night while the moon climes high and Krampus is busy galloping from town to town and visiting each burrow and cave in turn, the old winter-demon will chain them up and march them through the cold, to force them to slave away in his stead in the frigid ice-caves underneath his hidden winter castle to work blocks of ice and making glittering trinkets to repent for their misdeeds, at least until Krampus comes to liberate them and whisk them home.

(Authors Note: A little long-winded and I haven’t gotten in to how holidays in the Netherworld differ from holidays up Topside, but I think this is pretty good for now. Hopefully I’ll get around to writing more later?)

#Otherverse Odds & Ends #Just some drabbles and stray thoughts that I thought were worth putting down for later

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half-man-half-lime · 3 years

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SBURB in the Pact/Pale/Otherverse

There’s a series of Reddit threads where people come up with versions of story characters, settings, elements, etc. that fit into the mechanics and style of the Otherverse from Wildbow’s Pact and Pale web serials and Pactdice game. In the last thread someone posted an idea of Sburb as a ritual, and while I was stewing on my own ideas for that, I didn’t want to hijack the comment. I was waiting for another thread to pop up but for now I’ll post it here. Sorry if some of the stuff doesn’t fit the tone or style of Pact and Pale. This is what I’ve come up with:

Nobody remembers the name of the small European colony on the Pacific Ocean where the war between Angels and Demons took place. It was literally wiped off the map, from most people’s memories, and from most records. It’s quite possible that if the humans, Angels, and Demons involved hadn’t taken part in this war, their cooperation would have sustained better relationships between the human and celestial forces, which are distant and oppositional to this day.

By some unknown series of events, only a few hundred years ago, a war sparked between many Greater Angels and Demons. Many Others and practitioners were roped into fighting for both sides. Evangelists, Diabolists, Greater and Lesser Angels and Demons, and greater gods and non-Angelic architects of Space and Time, standing on the same level as the most powerful Angels and Demons. Old grudges and rivalries had come to a head here, and the battle was bloody.

The final escalation happened when the Angelic forces were losing, and the Demonic side elected to deal the finishing blow. One of the Greater Demons called the stars to fall from the sky and crush the enemy. Others and Practitioners mounted defenses, and the arbiters of Time and Space tried to displace some of the stars, but weren’t strong enough to prevent the entirety of the damage, and so a Greater Angel elected to make sure the enemy didn’t survive to advance their agenda, pulling down more stars to destroy the Diabolical forces.

What resulted was a destruction so thorough that most of the island was wiped out, leaving a small sliver of volcanic island in its place. Nobody remembered what happened there, as the destruction was thorough, and brought on by Demons. However, nobody disappeared exactly. The whole country was pulled down, as the stars burned holes in reality, past the known homes of the forgotten, including the Abyss and the Paths. They were pulled down to the void beneath the void beneath the void, far beyond any realms known to Practitioner or Other.

Those pulled into this realm were shredded apart into simple and complex spirits, and larger fragments of beings still not whole enough to live on their own. Spirits and fragments were attracted to things similar to themselves as if by some gravitational pull, and slowly coalesced into whole beings. These beings were massive and godlike, eschewing conventional bodies, becoming a patchwork of flesh and mouths and eyes and tentacles.

The architects of Time and Space re-formed, merging with the remained of what temporal and spatial elements once made up the island colony. The Angels and the ideas they embodied tried to reform, embodying forces of knowledge, fortune, and Light, as well as creation, faith, and Hope. The Demons re-formed as amalgamations of darkness, emptiness, and the Void they found themselves in, and the sin, destruction, and Rage against the flawed structures and conventions of the world they once sought to destroy.

Most people and Others were broken down to their base elements. Their capacity for thought, and the forces of Karma and the laws of the Seal of Solomon, as well as choices, promises, and words, came together and took on a Mind of their own. The Selves of these beings, their feelings and identities grew their own Heart. The cycle of birth and death, and the beings who sought to take the dead to their final resting places, became the overseers of Life and enactors of Doom in this strange new world. The old relationships, connections both natural and Practiced, they came together to embody the ties of Blood between those who lived in this realm.

And, lastly, the one force that had no hand in this war was the air spirits, who only ever sought freedom. When the stars fell from the sky and burned a hole in the ground, sucking everything in, it was the air spirits that coalesced of their own accord, seeking to escape the horrible fate that befell the island, but sadly they weren’t strong enough to escape. The complex air spirits were torn apart, but became whole again long after they drew their last Breath.

These new Horrorterrors who ruled this realm remembered the echoes of their old war, and their old desires to tear down the old world as Demons, and the Angels’ original role as creators, long before they fell into their role as caretakers of the world the humans inherited. As such, the seed of purpose was planted here, to become the seed for the old world to be torn down, and a new universe to be created.

The problem was, this place was empty. There were spirits, fragments of animals, humans, and others, and the broken landmass of the forgotten country, but this wasn’t enough. This place was like the Paths, needing context and ideas in order to become solid. Guided by its new gods, it became hungry for definition and ideas it could use to build its new world, a bare canvas to be painted, a Medium for creation.

It reached out to the world, searching for anything to give it definition. It couldn’t bring in much at first; stories of heroes and adventure, of war and conquest. Games of cards and chess. Study of planets and stars. These things were reminiscent of the war that echoed through the memories of the Horrorterrors, and so the Medium sculpted two new kingdoms, Prospit and Derse, to wage a war like the one it remembered. The kingdoms’ citizens didn’t have enough definition taken from humans, and so they took on bodies more like chess pieces, and organized themselves like card suits. If the Battlefield could ever become ready, they could wage a new war, build a new world. But for now it was just a chessboard, with two kings narrowly avoiding one-another, never ceasing.

This didn’t become a full-fledged Ritual Incarnate for several hundred years. A group of technomancers and programmers in the nineties found the remains of that small volcanic island in the pacific, tended to by an elderly practitioner who had retired from traveling the world, retiring to this place with his young daughter. He showed the technomancers how this place harbored some faint, distant connection to the Medium, and they all worked together to find ways to channel it, and use its hunger for definition in constructive ways. They created a language of new symbols connected to this place to use in diagrams, choosing spirographs, as circles distorted by circles distorted by circles, to signify the circular, self-fulfilling loop of space and time in a void beneath the void beneath the void. These symbols were inextricably tied to Paradox Space.

These practitioners, now calling their group Skaianet, tried to bind the Medium to punch cards, to record the spirits making up an object or being within the Medium, and retrieve or create those objects from anywhere using an associated Hexadecimal code. These Captchalogue Cards were a success.

However, the connection to these technomancers was a potential foothold for the Medium to pull in more ideas from the world. The practitioners became Harbingers for the Horrorterrors without even realizing it, and the horrorterrors used their incredible powers to rewrite these practitioners’ lives, little by little. At first the members of Skaianet were only creating Captchalogue Cards and other associated odds and ends for their own gain. Then, suddenly, they had always been studying the ruins on this island, which had always been there. Then they had always been working on using their experience with text adventure games to build a ritual around the Medium. And then they had always been translating the code in the ruins into a video game that could be mass-produced.

And finally, these practitioners and their children had always been born in the Medium, destined to play the game and create themselves.

The Medium and the Horrorterrors finally had access to enough spirits to build new worlds. Other practitioners were beginning to use Captchalogue Cards to store items and build new ones out of the composite spirits by punching the cards a certain way and writing down the codes. Some could gather information on how a piece of technomancy could grow this powerful this quickly, but few could do anything about it in time for the game’s release. Skaianet’s members communicated through the internet via a chat program, and so the internet and the chat program became more footholds for the Horrorterrors. The game’s beta would go public, and people everywhere would be consigning themselves to doom in sacrifice to the Medium.

The four players (children and grandchildren of three of the members of Skaianet, and one practitioner related to the old man) would enter the game and complete the ritual.

The new structure of the game, a new Ritual Incarnate, would be as follows: The four chosen players would enter the game using the game disc and captchalogue cards. Like other Practitioners who became Harbingers, they were each chosen by Horrorterrors in charge of one of the Twelve Aspects, taking on a Class, a relationship to that aspect based on their personality and the archetypes of old stories and new games. The sacrificed players, their homes, and the objects they deposited into the Kernelsprite, all destroyed by meteors, would provide some definition to the new universe the players would create, and to the Lands they would adventure in.

The players, meanwhile, would deposit objects or beings into the Kernelsprite, and the spirits making up these things would provide definition to the warring kingdoms and their battlefield, allowing the war to properly begin. The pseudo-Lost Others of this realm took on roles as Imps, Ogres, and other, greater enemies, to challenge the players, once there were enough things prototyped to make them whole again. The children would set out on their adventure on their personal lands, completing quests and fighting the emissaries of the Horrorterrors hidden as Denizens deep within this land.

The quests would lead each player, playing out their own coming of age story, to save their Land, fight their Denizen, and assist the Kingdom of Prospit in defeating the Kingdom of Derse, completing the war that had never been fully won by either side in the old war. They would create themselves, fulfilling the time loop the game created, breed frogs (frog breeding was another bit of information the Medium found relatable for some reason) and create a new universe to rule. Everything would tie into itself using the portals utilized in the Reckoning, both protecting Skaia from the summoned meteors, and sending the meteors through time to Earth to fulfill each time loop.

#Pact Web Serial #Pale Web Serial #Wildbow #Parahumans #homestuck #Sorry I didn't have a way to include the Trolls or Lord English etc. etc.#Pact Spoilers #Pale Spoilers #Pactdice Spoilers #Whoops lol this ended up ridiculously long

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monitorsscrawlings · 7 years

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Jonathan’s Hair-Raising Halloween Adventure - Outline

Rough-up under the cut. Contains crazy-spoilers and a lot of notes and other jazz. Broken up into parts to keep things flowing and to help stay on track. Enjoy!

1.) In the midst of the October flurry of pumpkins, autumn leaves and the excited stirring of all manner of things dark and dreadful, the Sloan’s resident monsters are busy subtly helping get the house and grounds readied and properly decorated for Halloween, and eagerly spooking, scaring, haunting and playing with Jonathan, now seven (seven and three-quarters, as the little boy would excitedly insist).

2.) Grunk and Krolli overhear Jonathan’s parents debating–among other things–who will be setting aside time to be taking Jonathan trick-or-treating this year. Decidedly unimpressed by Mr. and Mrs. Sloans lack of holiday spirit, they decide right then and there that its time for them to have a turn! Skulking away the monsters soon gather together to make plans and pass the word along: attic to basement, in Jonathan’s closet and under his bed they gather and confer, eager to partake in a trick and treating, spooking n’ scaring spree with their human! And such a hair-raising monster-jamboree sounds likes just the thing! This years Halloween is one the people of this town will be talking about for years to come! Perhaps even the demons and spirits of the holiday will take notice and confer their favor? Oh, how delightfully gruesome! After all, who better than young Jonathan to celebrate the season with than his monsters? Because really, why should little JonJon’s mum and dad have all the fun?

3. ) Naturally it’s Grunk who approaches Jonathan, Drool in tow, as he lies awake in bed, scared, excited and restless, the underside of his bed and his closet particularly lively with monsters tonight, tentacles and claws creeping over his bed-covers, a host of familiar spooks and monsters keeping him company even as they ensure he doesn’t sneak out of bed and spend his night wandering about outside his room, getting into no end of mischief. Sparking their humans imagination, they growl and hiss, claws curled and teeth bared as they reveal their plans and entice Jonathan to spend his Halloween with them, teasing and tempting him with the prospect of all the candy they’d rake in, all the ghoulish fun they’d have to together, all the people they’d scare and all the pranks they’d pull! It doesn’t take much to win their human over, the child’s eyes alight with excitement as they wriggle under the covers and hug the pair close. They promise to make this October a fun-filled fright-fest, just for him. Jonathan giggles as Grunk gently boops him on the nose and ruffles his hair, while Drool gives him several slobbery lickery-kisses and snuggles up to him, before his high spirits damper as he recalls his parents with a guilty start: they did promise to take him trick-or-treating again this year, he can’t be in two places at once, and really, he doesn’t think his parents are ready to meet Grunk or the others, not really, so they can’t all go together! Adults have some weird notions about monsters after all, it would never work! Grunk let’s out a deep growling chuckle, eyes blazing as he displays a wide grin full of teeth, full of creepish glee as he gives his human a few lickery kisses of his own and tickles their feet, assuring them that they’ve got everything covered, just wait and see~!

4.) Practically vibrating with excitement, Jonathan is eventually persuaded to fall asleep, and over the next few evenings the boys monsters finally relent and reveal their plans, with a little pleading and prodding from Jonathan. They’re going to play a little Halloween trick on his parents: one of the monsters will dress up and switch with him, his double taking his place and trick-or-treating with his parents, while he spends this Halloween with them! A smallish-monster just his size, Horus Boogart, eagerly volunteers themselves, and proves their worth by giving a downright uncanny imitation of little JonJon’s voice. Course decided, the monsters help Jonathan choose costumes for himself and his double. Their boy stoutly insists that he wants to be something good and scary!

Ghoul? Vampire? Warlock? Zombie? Demon? Ghost? Werewolf? Banshee? Devil? Ogre? Mummy? Nope, none of these will do, not for him. Instead the boy eagerly proclaims he wants to be a scary boogey-monster, like Grunk and the others. Absolutely chuffed with their humans choice, and tickled by the idea, the monsters help put together a truly frightful costume for their human: lovingly assembled from old bits of fabric and odds and ends, spider-thread, and discarded horns, teeth, claws, scales, hair and fur.

Armed and forewarned with the knowledge of what his monsters are up to, Jonathan insists to his parents that he wants to make his own costume this year, and after a bit of wrangling they go shopping to pick up basic supplies and decorations; craft-paper and glue-sticks, candy and pumpkins. The clock ticks down to the big day in a flurry of excitement, school, decorations, and holiday cheer.

5.) Before long Halloween arrives, and at the crack of dusk Jonathan gets himself ready as he and his double dress up like mummies, before rushing to show off his handy-work to his parents. Sneaking up on his father he gives them a momentary unexpected fright before rushing off to grab his pumpkin pale and ducking into the bathroom with a hasty excuse, making a last minute switch with his double. His double takes his place, taking pictures, trick-or-treating with his dad dressed as a mummy and going door to door, all while pretending to be him.

Jonathan meanwhile quickly rejoins the rest of his monsters, and eagerly slips into his real Halloween costume with some help, bouncing about, waving his claws and letting out several practice growls, to Grunks pleasure and amusement. With the hood up and the costume zipped up and secured, the boy makes for quite a sight. Why, even his own mum wouldn’t recognize him, Krolli proclaims with delight. After a bit of clowning around the monsters gather their supplies and slip out of the house with their boy in tow, eager for a night of tricks, treats, and a wee bit of mayhem too.

6.) They make good time as they prowl through their neighbors pumpkin patch, romp and stomp through the woods while making a beastly ruckus and sending owls and bats into flight. Stopping at the crest of a hill overlooking one of the towns oldest and largest cemeteries Jonathan joins his monsters at howling at the moon together in celebration as he rides atop Grunks head, waking zombies, ghosts, ghouls from their naps and rousing them from their graves. Chortling and growling the monsters are soon on the prowl as they gambol into town to dole out plenty of tricks and treats.

7.) Doling out a few friendly scares here and there, Jonathan and his monster mix and mingle with other trick-or-treaters, chatting amongst themselves and showing off a little for their human, collecting plenty of candy and playing tricks on those few who are unprepared for the holiday season. Occasionally playing tricks on orscaring adults and trick-or-treaters alike for the fun of it, they hit neighborhood after neighborhood, their boy carried or hitching rides as he’s rotated from one monster to the next so everyone can spend some time with their lad. Sack after sack is filled and loaded into a little red wagon one of the boogey-monsters requisitions after a particularly successful scare sends a flock of older children running and shrieking in fright. Letting out a contented sigh as he scampers along, one hand holding Drools claws, the other resting in Grunk’s beastly mitt as they stroll through the crisp autumn night air and crunching through the autumn leaves, Jonathan wishes to himself that Halloween could last forever.

8.) It’s when they mingle with a larger group of children in one of the busier neighborhoods and the hour begins to turn late, when they begin contemplating whether they should retire early or press onward, that disaster strikes. A group of masked teenagers armed with heavy-duty flashlights, eggs, stink-bombs, toilet-paper, firecrackers, and water-balloons crashes the party and sends trick-or-treaters running left and right shrieking and hollering in panic and terror in a most unsporting fashion as candy-pales are snatched and people are pelted with rotten eggs and water-balloons, paper-toilet and stink-bombs being thrown about freely. The flashing lights and loud-noises leaving the monsters disoriented in the confusion as they try to shield their child while chasing and scaring the bullies away. The pandemonium only increases.

9.) In the general chaos Jonathan gets separated from his monsters, his hood eschew and his ears ringing as he hastily clears away the toilet-paper and silly-string from his person and ends up mistaking someone else for Drool from a distance, rushing to catch up. It’s only too late that he realizes his mistake and tries to play it off, quickly ducking away and reluctantly joining another group of trick-or-treaters as he tries to make the best of the situation and hopes he runs into his monsters again soon. Unfortunately this particular neighborhoods rubbish: the most interesting thing he acquires is a nice long rope of sausages from an old, eccentric and quite probably senile old man who moonlights as a butcher, which he reluctantly accepts. From there it’s down hill as he receives stale marshmallows out of the package, circus peanuts, toothbrushes, a feeble smattering of actual candy, and the worst insult of all: a good-sized rock dressed up in wrapping paper depicting grinning jack-o-lanterns from some masked weirdo.

Angry and disappointed by such a poor showing, Jonathan brightens up considerably at the prospect of what manner of ghoulish trickery awaits this neighborhood when he tells Grunk and the others all about this and shows them such a shameful collection of ‘treats’. Buoyed by the very thought, Jonathan continues on with a bit more pep in his step and nearly crashes into his dad and body-double.

10.) Jonathan hastily ducks away and escapes down an alley before ducking back into the graveyard on the edge of the woods they’d passed earlier that night to avoid being spotted by the gang of older kids, who he can hear uncomfortably close by as they continue sowing mayhem and making a ruckus. Stumbling across a severed zombie’s head bouncing along in desperate search for its body, he reluctantly agrees to help. Grunk always told him never to trust dead things, but he didn’t say anything about undead things, and while the few skeletons and ghosts hanging about seem surprised at his boldness, they’ve been perfectly nice! Eventually they find its body aimlessly wandering in circles around a headstone. The zombie promises it owes him one after it thanks him. Jonathan waves goodby and delves deeper into the graveyard, more afraid of ransacking teenagers than ghosts, monsters and ghoulies as he tries to find another way out.

11.) Stumbling on more trouble in the form of three teenagers in animal masks playing keep-away with one of his school-yard chums from school, Jonathan decides to emulate Grunk and climbs up to stand on a headstone. He does his best to scare the trio away. While initially the three are startled into dropping the sack of candy and letting their victim scramble away, they don’t exactly run screaming in terror into the night. In deep trouble now, the leader tries to grab a hold of the little meddler. A scuffle ensues, and in his desperation he starts screaming his head off, kicking one of the trio in the shin, punches the other in the jewels, and finally bites the leader wearing a tiger mask in the fleshy place between thumb and forefinger as hard as he can when they grab him and try to cover his mouth to shut him up. Hard enough to leave a serious indentation and make them shout and cry a bit as they quickly let him go and push him away.

12.) Thrown to the ground with a gasp, he accidentally rips their handkerchief free and automatically hangs on to it it for dear life as he scrambles to snatch up his sack of loot and make a run for it. The trio of trouble-makers give chase, shouting and cursing as the rabid little freak that attacked them ducks between headstones and under low-hanging tree-branches, before crawling through a trough under the fence and escaping into the neighboring farm as they duck through the pumpkin-patch, before vanishing into the forest. The bullies giving chase the entire way. The trio end up crashing into each other as the one wearing the owl mask missteps and ends with their foot jammed good into a rotten pumpkin, losing any chance of catching him.

13.) Stopping to catch his breath as he keep walking and tries to find his way back into town, daring to hope that the worst is behind him, little JonJon runs afoul of a rather dim-witted and near-sighted ogre in the woods. Chased up a tree by the hungry fiend, thinking quickly he manages to eventually convince them that he’s not a human even if he smells like one, but a monster, and that if they’ll leave him be he’ll give them the human entrails he’d been saving for later. Disguising the rock by wrapping it up in the sausages, he feeds the whole mess to the ogre, who shatters more than just a few of their rancid teeth in their greedy enthusiasm. Quickly scampering out of the tree while the ogre is distracted, Jonathan runs, the sounds of their agony and rage spurring him on.

14.) On the way out of the woods they stumble into a dreadfully ghoulish looking zombie, who after nearly scaring the piss out of them, gets them to settle down and escorts them out of the woods, thanking Jonathan for helping his brother get ahead back there in the graveyard, really kind of him, while also gently chiding him for wandering around alone like that: no telling what weirdos or creatures are stalking the shadows! A young human–or a young monster for that matter–could get into a lot of trouble!

Fervently agreeing, as he thinks he’s had quite enough excitement for one night, Jonathan is eventually led back into the familiar embrace of his monsters, who are overjoyed to see him, and have been looking absolutely everywhere for him! Between bites of candy and sips of water he tells Grunk, Drool, Krolli and the rest of the gang everything. Their relief in having their human back is only rivaled by their pride and delight as they listen to their human excitedly tell his tale, energy and high spirits restored!

15.) It’s only when it’s brought to his attention that he’s still has the grimy and damp handkerchief from the leader of the graveyard naer-do-wells mixed in with the rest of his junk that Jonathan realizes he didn’t lose it. Letting out a grisly series of laughs, the monsters have an absolutely fiendish idea, and propose once last hurrah to conclude the night, with a little well-deserved revenge mixed in, that is if of course if their boy’s up for it? Jonathan eagerly agrees with an evil laugh of his own as the handkerchief is passed around, the the monsters picking up the scent, with Krolli in the lead this time.

16.) After a few false starts they split up to track the scent. It doesn’t take long at all however for them to track the scent to an elicit Halloween-party in an abandoned haunted house on the very outskirts of town, flanked by the woods. Ah, and look, the parties in full swing! Perfect. The word is spread and the monsters gather together en masse: familiar boogey-monsters, ghoulies and beasties from basement to attic, closet to under-bed, with Grunk, and his human at the center as they plot and plan. They scope the place out before dispersing–this old place is just ripe with potential, with its dusty and disused rooms and and dark spider-web bedecked corners. And it would be such a shame to pass up on such a golden opportunity to show these upstarts how a good scare is really done, particularly since they recognize quite a few of the hoodlums that crashed their own trick-or-treating spree! Oooh yes, this is going to good.

17.) Jonathan is snuck inside and safely sequestered under one of the covered concession tables, with Sly there to keep him company and guard him as they sip on soda-pop, snack on popcorn, and sit back to watch the show.

18.) It smarts small enough. The lights gutter and flick, doors slam, the sound system starts acting strangely, playing a horribly distorted version of ‘This Is Halloween’ before dying out with a wet gurgling growl of static. Those small groups of party-goers who can be lured away, broken up or distracted are with subtle tricks. Just as the sound-system is plugged back in, the powers cut. The wind howls, shutters bang, the silence is deafening before people start raising a ruckus and start dispersing: a couple of people go down into the cellar to find the fuse-box. A few more hunt for candles or go off throughout the house armed with flashlights and start to explore with nothing better to do, or join the other kids up stairs for a snog or some cheesy party-games, bored with no music and little enough booze on hand. Worst Halloween Party Ever.

19.) Showtime! A series of scares unfold rapidly.

A quartet of teenagers wandering into the kitchen for snacks investigate the weird glowing and thumping noises emanating from the fridge, thinking its another of their friends shitty pranks only to receive the scare of their young lives as Krolli explodes out of the fridge with a dreadful snarl, teeth bared and face stretched into a grotesque leer, before with a nasty grin he belches forth a great shrieking flock of blood-eyed vampire bats that send them running while screaming bloody-murder out the back door and into the night, the bats chasing them for several blocks before they disperse, as Krolli moves on to his next victim.

Ah young love…A couple of teens close their eyes and lean in to kiss, silhouetted by the dim starlight coming through the unshuttered window in one of the upstairs bedrooms only to pause as they smell something funky. Quickly cracking open a window and assuming its just a dead skunk or the like, they resume where they left off, leaning in nervously, eyes closed, to kiss. Only for Drool to insert himself between the couple with a toothy grin, arms encircling his pair of victims as they jerk apart in horror and disgust after kissing him on the snout, eyes flaring open. He returns the favor with a thorough and slimy lickery-kiss of his own. With an evil braying laugh the scaring and the screaming starts.

Grunk corners the ring-leader and his twin brother for this dreadful charade down in the basement, dragging his claws with a sinister rasp along the floor before slowly looming up behind them, green ooze salivating from between his teeth to dribble upon his pair of unsuspecting victims heads as his tail slithers to encircle their feet with a gentle rasp, hot billowing breath washing over the backs of their necks as he lets out a deep growling chuckle. It’s been a while since he visited the Jones brothers. It’s going to be so fun to catch up on old times, and remind them of why they’re still afraid of the dark, even after all these years.

It’s the same story throughout the house as the air is soon filled with shrieks and screams of terror, horror and revulsion. Monsters of all shapes and sizes strike with ghoulish glee, no expense spared and no mercy shown as they have the utmost fun with a house of fresh victims ripe for the scaring. Bursting from wardrobes and out of closets, hulking from under beds, and in one notable instance several monsters making their entrance from a dumbwaiter. The lights flicker and dim before returning, as the monsters gather together to mop up the stragglers in group scares. Things reach a crescendo of terror as people knock down the front door or desperately start climbing out of the windows to escape as the monsters send each and every single one of the party-goers running and screaming into the night, racing off pell-mell in their cars or dashing down the road, more than one pair of pants soaked through with fear-urine.

The teens party has been utterly trashed, and whatever they tell themselves or each other, Grunk and the others will be very surprised and disappointed if they don’t all remember this night for years to come.

20.) Feeling quite self-satisfied they gather together, congratulating each other on their fine work and fetching their human–who’s beside himself with glee and still full of vim and vigor in spite of the lateness of the hour–a product of all the sugar and excitement no doubt–as he recounts his favorite scares and makes more than one monster blush with pleasure and pride. Playing games and chatting amongst themselves they slink through the night and return home, stashing the nights loot away least their boys parents start asking awkward questions. Jonathan and Horus update each other on how their nights went, and though his parents gave him funny looks at the dinner table, no one objected to his monstrous stand-in keeping his costume on, or seemed to notice anything odd.

21.) Deciding to play one last Halloween trick on their boy, the monsters wait until Jonathan is ready for bed and lights are out as they gather thickly under his bed, before with many a toothy grin he’s grabbing by his ankles and dragged screaming underneath into the monster-infested shadows with a shriek of fright and indignant amusement. Chortling and making all manner of beastly noises, well satisfied, they spend until the wee hours of the morning together with their human. Reading horror-comics, teasing and playing with him, and snuggling together as they snack on candy and enjoy the remains of their Halloween together, until Jonathan eventually succumbs to exhaustion and conks out. He wakes up in his bed the next afternoon, having completely slept through wake-up call, physically queasy, tired and sore, but mentally exhilarated. His monsters were right: best Halloween ever.

Author Note: Way way too fatty to be a proper outline, and it feels like this needs some work still, even before I (maybe) turn it into a full-scale short-story or whatever? Need to clean this up and tighten the plot-points and include more monsters by name, but I think this isn’t too bad, even if it’s probably a labor to read as is.

Special thanks to @mickeyjunk for inspiring this whole thing and giving me the creative boost I needed to write all of this!

#Spoilers #Story Outline #Jonathan's Hair-Raising Halloween Adventure Story Outline #Monster #Monsters #Temp Post #Kooks & Spooks #Little JonJon #Otherverse Odds & Ends

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monitorsscrawlings · 6 years

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Boogie-Monster Dining & Diner Etiquette

Dining Area Set-Up:

== For most families and dining faculties, the dining area is set-up to seat the maximum number of monsters together comfortably while accommodating the broadest possible range of shapes and sizes, and is considered one of the main focal-points in many monster homes, given that this is where food and company are shared, and where family and friends most often meet to talk. With that in mind most dining tables are elongated oval-shapes, multi-tiered round-tables or wavy, meandering affairs with rounded edges, and many modern tables are designed to be adjustable. The dining area floor is usually heavily covered in a thick padding of multiple carpets, with an array of plush seat-cushions and pillows surrounding the table proper. Stools, bird-stands, bucket-chairs or wheeled tanks, as well as high-benches or high-stools designed with smaller monsters in mind are also fairly common, and usually made available as needed by the hosts or proprietor.

== Carved stone tables with stone slabs or tree-stumps for seating tend to be a more traditional seating arrangement--though they've fallen out of vogue in many places in recent times--often favored by smaller families or very small private gatherings and usually feature roast-spits and a shallow fire-pit built into the center of the table.

== Serving dishes are all designed to be picked up from the bottom or sides with ease, and often have handles or handhold's set in the sides or the top of the dish, and almost everything has a motif or design worked into it. Many of them tend to feature secure-able lids, particularly in the case of more fragrant, volatile, or lively dishes, and woven baskets or wire-cages are also common sights at the dinner table. Most serving-dishes and dinner-ware are made out of carved stone, wrought-iron, or dense porcelain, though copper or wooden cook-ware isn't too uncommon either.

Before The Meal:

Before the meal begins, all diners are expected to take part in the dinner-time hand-washing ceremony, wherein they wash their hands, claws, hooves, tentacles or other sundry appendages in small bowls of cold water, before dabbing them dry on the provided towels. Once done, diners give short personal thanks to both their hosts, the cooks, and those who have worked to bring this food to the table, before digging in. Most places don't stand on ceremony, and while waiting for everyone to be seated is considered good etiquette and a proper show of respect, it isn't strictly required.

A Helping Hand: In the case of non-boogie-monster dinner-guests, hatchlings or cubs, the invitation-giver, or a young monsters parents or guardain is responsible for seeing after their guest(s) or young, coaching them on the finer points of dinner-etiquette, helping them navigate the meal should it be required, and helping to make them feel more comfortable and at home. Their performance, good or bad, will reflect on not only themselves, but the monster or monsters who invited them, so it is quite important. Likewise, the hosts are responsible for properly accommodating their guests, friends and family alike, as well as providing appropriate seating arrangements. Outside of restaurants and public dinning-halls, or small informal meals, most everyone helps to provide, cook and set the meal, so that the burden does not rest solely on the hosts.

Meal Progression: Most meals consist of anywhere from three to seven courses on average, including dessert, which is usually considered the highest point of the meal. Breakfast is always informal, done with close, trusted friends and immediate family, and everything is served together in one massive course. Lunch and dinner tend to be a little more formal, and it's quite common for entire adjoining families to gather and dine together, as this is a prime time to socialize.

Lunches tend to be treated as a stop-gap between breakfast and dinner, with lighter fare, and an emphasis on protein, fat and sugar-rich foods. Snacking between meals isn't unusual, particularly with younger monsters.

Dinners are always the largest meal of the day by far, and where the most emphasis is put on gathering together as a larger group to eat and talk and be merry.

Boogie-Monster Dining Etiquette:

== Teeth-gnashing, openly drooling and slathering, licking ones chops, stomach-gurgling, emitting hungry growls or other such displays are acceptable, and considered good etiquette and signs of a healthy apatite and appropriate readiness for the coming meal. Roughly jostling the table, forcibly snatching serving platters away from others, eating directly out of or hogging the serving dishes, repeatedly banging on the table, setting the table or other diners on fire, or otherwise being overly disruptive is considered extremely bad etiquette and juvenile besides, however.

== Loudly slurping when eating soup, stew, long noodle-dishes, entrails, or things like worms, snakes or newts is considered good etiquette. Likewise, playing with ones prey/food in the case of fresh or animate foodstuffs is considered good etiquette. Envenomating ones prey before swallowing it whole or sucking out its entrails, eating it slowly one bite at a time, playfully dismembering it before eating it, lightly toasting it, dissolving it with venom or corrosive acid and slurping it up, or simply absorbing it are all also perfectly acceptable besides, and diners should feel free to enjoy their meals--live-prey included--in their preferred manner. Shriveled carcasses or other uneaten scraps should be placed next to ones dishes or left on the side of the plate, as this is good etiquette.

== Breathing fire, lightning, cold or more exotic effects, shooting streams or balls of slime, or regurgitating bones or other hard to digest bits is perfectly fine, provided one is circumspect and does so in moderation. And aiming away from the table is always preferable. Allowing projectiles to strike other diners, their food, or the serving dishes, or careen unchecked down the table is very bad etiquette.

== Belching and burping is always acceptable and approved, and the louder the better. Especially when done after a meal, where it is considered to be a high compliment and a show of both appreciation and satisfaction towards the food and the hospitality of the hosts.

== Complimenting the meal is naturally not only good etiquette, but a good idea. Whether one chooses to say the food was wonderful, or call it rancid garbage and disgusting, repulsive slop, both are considered equally good by boogie-monster standards.

== Eating-utensils are largely optional, excepting when serving certain foodstuffs, and most are made of wood or bone, and considered both disposable and perfectly edible and nicely crunchy, if a trifle bland. Using ones assorted appendages, like ones tail, tongue, wings, claws, talons or what have you to handle and eat food is perfectly acceptable, and often customary. Likewise so is picking at ones teeth after a meal, and utensils can double as tooth-picks quite nicely.

= Eating something off the floor, licking ones fingers, licking ones plate clean, or picking pieces of food off of ones self and eating them is acceptable, particularly in the case of insects or other live prey. Licking crumbs off of the table or floor is not, and is considered demeaning. Chewing with ones mouth(s) open, talking with ones mouth(s) full, snatching food from other diners plates, or plucking live-prey or morsels off of other diners and eating them without the other monsters permission is considered bad etiquette.

= Consuming ones own flesh during a meal is not only bad etiquette, in most circumstances it can be taken as a serious insult towards not only the food being served, but the hosts and their hospitality as well. Snacking, grooming, or performing self-care or personal maintenance such as sharpening ones fangs or claws should be done either well before or after a meal, and never at the dinner-table. Likewise, using the table or other guests as a back-scratcher or scratching post, even if intended in a friendly or playful manner is considered bad etiquette. Shedding, copious drooling or oozing is permissible, provided one isn't being especially disruptive.

== Intentionally eating or attempting to eat other diners or ones dinner-guests during a meal is considered unacceptable, no matter how good they look, smell, or taste, nor how small and succulent they appear. Likewise eating someone shortly before or after a meal is considered bad etiquette and exceedingly poor form, and can be taken as an insult towards the food, and a slap in the face towards the cooks and ones hosts. While not actually taboo, it is still incredibly rude.

After The Meal:

After dinner has been concluded and the dishes have been cleared away, it is quite common-place--though not required--for dinner-guests to continue relaxing in the dinning area as their meals settle, talking freely amongst themselves or forming small groups to partake in board and card games, or forming story-telling circles. Hatchlings and younger monsters are usually the first to be gently guided off to bed, though to be certain after so much food and activity, they're very rarely the only ones to begin nodding off in the after-dinner festivities.

Author Note: This was a short-piece I wrote up at the prompting of a friend on one occasion when I was asking around for prompts and things people would want to see my write about. I had a lot of fun when I originally wrote this, and while yes it is a bit silly it was also nice being able to cut loose a little.

I’m afraid that this is both just a re-hash of the version I had originally posted on my other blog, and a stand-alone piece, at least for now. I was going to write up a follow up piece on Boogey-Monster Taboos and culture, but I got stymied pretty badly. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to take this back in, write more, make a preface and cover more stuff on the Netherworlds history, geography and such, and different facets of boogey-monster society and such. For now I’ll wrap this segment up by saying: thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this short-piece!

#Otherverse Lore #Otherverse Odds & Ends #Kooks & Spooks #monochrome #Monsters #Boogey-Monsters #Silly and a little gross but I had a lot of fun writing this

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monitorsscrawlings · 6 years

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Loss Of Magical Ability Prompt Response - Second Draft

The following all apply to the Otherverse Series and how things work within that universe, so here goes.

Are there any natural circumstances in which a magic user can lose their magical abilities?

Q: Can magical abilities be lost as a person ages?

Usually, no, though there are exceptions. Most magical abilities--whether a Talent or just a particular affinity to a particular kind of magic--grow stronger and more enduring as one ages, though a lot of that tends to be learned skill, finesse and control achieved over a persons lifetime. There are some cases of very specific abilities that are known to degrade as a person grows older, but actual full lose of ones magic or the ability to effectively use it just because of age is exceedingly rare.

So on the one hand you have for instance necromancy, which tends to grow stronger and deeper with age. Where as on the the other there are things like weather-shaping, travel-magic and shape-shifting, which are all known to degrade in fluidity, speed, and ease of use for many mages as they begin to age past their prime.

Q: Can magical abilities be lost as a result of an injury or illness?

Absolutely, yes. Ones magical abilities, whether learned or inherited can become warped, partially or fully blocked up or entirely lost on either a temporary or permanent basis by severe mental and emotional trauma or injury, being the victim of abuse or suffering a history of abuse, or exploitation, usually linked to ones abilities in some way. Being punished for showing signs of supernatural abilities, head injuries, near-death experiences or the death of friends and family brought on by untrained or explosive manifestations of such powers, for instance. There’s also the individual, their abilities or the type of magic involved to consider as well. A weather-witch or pyromancer getting accidentally electrocuted or contracting a wasting sickness probably isn’t going to effect them much at all, magically speaking. But trying to harness power from a thunder-storm or a forest-fire and having the magical backlash nearly killing you and doing serious physical and physiological damage, or self-induced injury because a spell got out of control, on the other hand…

Are there any unnatural circumstances in which a magic user can lose their abilities?

Q:Are there types of spells or curses that can render the target unable to use magic?

The laying down of a gaese: an adjuration that prevents the victim from using magic on pain of death or worse is usually quite effective, though not something to be slung around casually, and it does require power, skill, and very close proximity to the victim. There are also plenty of ways to muddy someone else up, or keep them contained. Binding circles will stop things from leaving or entering them depending on the design, which includes magic, at least until it becomes overloaded or destroyed. More elaborate ones made of sturdier materials will stop the casting of magic cold too, or isolate a person from external magical energy sources. Manacles made of cold iron, silver, or forged from magic seals and scripts will stop spell-casting cold, depending on the subject. Drugs that leave someone either unable to gather and shape magical energy, or in absolutely no state to even be thinking about magic, much less trying to actually do it aren’t too uncommon either.

Paralytic curses, or those that stifle the voice can also be quite effective, and there are myriad ways to warp someones mind or affect the senses to the point of being crippling.

For many, simply leaving them bound and gagged, with a burlap sack over their head to cut line of sight is distressingly effective, though getting the jump on someone in the first-place can be tricky indeed.

Q:Are there any permanent ones?

A few, but that’s not exactly the kind of hex-work you’re going to be able to pick-up from a back-alley dealer, or from your local Magick-Mart. That’s deep magic, and the cost for laying something like that on someone is going to be steep indeed. Something that potent is likely to effect entire bloodlines, whole families, and that kind of magic cuts both ways, and deeply.

Can magic ability be lost as a result of magical burnout?

Q:How much magic does an average caster have to use before they experience burnout?

Magic tends to be fairly individualistic, even among groups with the same or very similar specilzations, so that’s a tricky question. Nearly all magic has a mental component, so it would be a case of how long a caster can hold out physically and mentally before they collapse from over-work and exhaustion. In which case anywhere from thirty minutes to a couple of hours, if they’re going non-stop but maintaining a controlled, maintainable pace. Less than thirty minutes if they’re burning through power as fast as they can draw it without taking time to bolster themselves or rest.

Q: Does it gradually build until the caster cannot take it anymore, or does it like a sudden shut-off of magical abilities?

The mental stress and fatigue tends to gradually accumulate without proper rest until they feel dreadfully fatigued and confused and have increasingly more trouble concentrating, or are supporting a raging headache. The recoil and physical stress from working with much energy than one can safely handle normally, or working non-stop without support can hit one all at once, causing collapse. Much like over-stressed muscles that have been pushed past their breaking point, a caster will likely find it exceedingly difficult to practically impossible to channel or shape magic or magical abilities in any meaningful way until they rest and heal.

How long are the magical abilities gone for when this happens?

Q:Can this cause permanent loss of magical abilities?

Over-stress or overwork by itself isn’t likely to. Carelessly handling magical energies, dangerously sloppy spell-work, or mucking up when drawing from an unstable power-source, like a lightening storm, or a tornado, is very much likely to cause damage, and mucking up ones magical abilities is the least of it.

Q:Are there types of magic that do not contribute toward magical burnout?

Anything that either supplies the spell-work and the energy to power it for a start, effectively removing a lot of the heavy-lifting, like magical artifacts, specialized pre-loaded spell-wands, amulets, charms, boons, that sort of thing. Many abilities that while magical or supernatural in nature are innate or inherited likewise tend to contribute little or nothing to magical burnout. Faerie magic, shape-shifting in beings already predisposed towards it, or the shaping and casting of dream-stuff, imagination, or ectoplasm.

Q:What is required to regain use of magical abilities?

Unless something or someone else is mucking about where they shouldn’t be, or there are environmental factors involved, like being surrounded by magic-sapping wards or loads of silver, the best solution is rest, sleep, food, and allowing ones self to recover physically and mentally from over-exertion. Q: Meditation?

Meditation is incredibly useful for diagnosing and fixing internal problems created by enemy action, magical recoil, trauma, illness, or other things that might be causing issues, as well as centering and girding ones self for bigger, more elaborate spell-craft, or drawing in large amounts of power quickly, but it can’t trump proper rest and good food.

Authors Notes: I’m afraid this is mostly just a re-post of an old writing-meme reply I did a while back, so here you go! Special thanks to @patootie--cutie for originally tagging me with the meme, it was a fun write up, even if I didn’t have terribly much to say on the matter.

#Otherverse Odds & Ends #Old Writing: Slated For Rewrite

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