[There's a good shot of fingers playing over a sitar, and it sounds like the melody to Silent Night, because it's December, and look this is his job.]

Hey everyone!

[Demyx sounds somewhat less enthusiastic than usual, but still polite enough.]

Are you having a party this holiday season? I know all the Christmas songs - and if I don't know yours, I can learn it by ear!

Book me now for parties, gatherings, whatever!

[He hates Christmas so much, but hey, have to make a living.]

[There's also no mention as to why Demyx has been laying low as of late.]

[Honestly, waking up in what was obviously, totally, clearly the roiling pits of Hell was, to put it lightly... a bit jarring.

First of all angels don't sleep, that's silly.

Second of all

HELL.

So one might forgive him for the dire and explosive need to escape said Hell. One might even applaud him for how he got out, because honestly four billion years of living will perfect anyone's ability at making Irish Goodbyes.

Though while his sudden exit from Hell (scenic Gluttony in the fortress) was subtle and no one seemed to notice it, such could not be said for the explosion of light and sound that momentarily just enveloped part of Genessia City.

Now, nothing was destroyed, this appearance was certainly not a violent one. LOUD AND BRILLIANT but not violent.

It came as if it were a strike of lightning, gold, orange, yellow, red, fading to brilliant reds and pinks and purples.

For one moment, the entity at its epicenter could be seen, without hiding, without the use of any illusions to make the appearance any more understandable.

A towering creature, all six sunset colored wings flared like a sunburst, a multitude of smooth, seemingly resin ebony colored arms flickering in and out around folds of cloudy nebula, eight blazing eyes blinking in and out of existence rapidly on an otherwise smooth and featureless face.

And then, in the blink of an eye, it all imploded, the light sharply shooting back towards the blazing creature-

And leaving... Well.

A six winged, highly anxious looking, somewhat disheveled young man, who couldn't, or perhaps wouldn't quite seem to get all human aspects right, as several tendrils of hair continued to hazily drift about his head as if immersed in water.

At least people can fuckin' look at him now though, he's still a bit busy making sure nothing followed him and all his parts are here and weren't chewed off, a few glass-like feathers shedding here and there.]

[[ooc: I'M GONNA BE BUSYISH this weekend so here's an AU'd Szel! Here is a look at what he looks like right now, and here is a brief summary of how he'll be less of a dick until the 9th. Have fun!]]

A lot of people from Remnant have fairy tale counterparts, and it's been a hobby of mine to try to figure out who I think each person's counterpart is as I read more tales from other worlds.

For example, mine is easy given the meaning of my name- Snow White. Sun is Sun Wukong from the Journey to the West, Jaune is Joan of Arc, and I think Nora might be Thor, God of Thunder? [ Valkyrie brought her to the right culture and then absorbing lightning/god of thunder. She too a leap. ] Yang I.. still haven't figured out but I'm working on it. Mercury is the Messenger God of Trade and Profit. Ruby is Little Red Riding Hood, and Pyrrha... [ Well. She'll just trail off, let's not get into what Pyrrhic Victory is. Which isn't the right answer, but it's what she thinks Pyrrha refers to. ] Winter might be the Snow Queen. There are a lot I haven't figured out still, too.

[ But on topic to why this is even on her mind. ]

I... think my grandfather was Santa Claus. [ Her tone sounds like she's a little uncertain, but it's the only thing she can see fitting. It also makes sense why it came up now. ] His name was Nicholas Schnee, our whole family is from the northernmost continent and is always covered in snow, and he traveled the world to mine and bring Dust to people across the world-- which, Dust may not be presents, but it is one of the most important substances in our world that can mean the difference between a happy life and a dead city. Grandfather always went on expeditions himself, he was really reliable and people trusted him to always make sure that they were protected. He was a really good person, and he didn't price things to make a profit over peoples' safety. I remember him being pretty jolly when I was little, too, and he always wore a big red scarf. He cared about people more than about turning a profit, and he's one of the reasons I want to be a huntress.

[ She has many reasons-- her freedom, righting the wrongs that Jacques had done to their family name, but the fact that her grandfather was a good person helped her to know that the apple doesn't have to fall far from the tree. Jacques's fairy tale equivalent wasn't hard to figure out either- his real name was a dead giveaway for Jack Frost, but she doesn't want to talk about him. ]

The holiday season always makes me think of him.

But- [ People probably don't care to talk about her grandpa as much as she does. So she'll open the floor!! ]

What are some fairy tales from your worlds? Maybe we can figure more of them out. Obviously I haven't read every tale from every world.

[This is how Ted spends his evenings in boot camp: farting around on the phone. This time it's seasonal.]

Last year around this yuletide time, many were in the dark as to who Santa Claus, that mysterious, nigh-omnipresent gift giver, really was. Allow me to illuminate.

A little under 1700 years ago, the true faith wasn't as organized as it ought to have been. Emperor Constantine set to fix that, summoning bishops to his First Ecunemical Council to see what was and was not orthodox.

Saint Nicholas, from whom the name "Santa Claus" comes, was one such, having under his belt a variety of saintly good deeds. Raising the dead, baptizing his own jailer, rescuing slaves from captivity, and yes, the anonymous gift-giving he's so well known for. It started out as leaving bits of gold in shoes for unmarried daughters; you needed a good dowry for that in those times.

But back to the council. The primary controversy centered around whether the Son of God was equivalent to God Himself. The answer is "yes", by the way, but they hadn't reached such an accord just then. A fierce debate raged, with St. Nick on the side of the affirmative, while the ones impugning Christ's divinity were headed up by the heresiarch Arius.

Most of us, at one time or another, have had the misfortune of weathering nonsense about a subject we like. Given that the subject was God and that, being a bishop, Saint Nicholas loved Him very much, it grew to be profoundly intolerable.

[There's a dramatic pause as Ted's voice turns to a more excited pitch.]

So he smote that heretic with his fist! Knocked him down flatter than a pine tree, hahaha!

[You can hear the rustling of leaves as Ted sat back down, recovering from his own enthusiasm.]

As you might expect, that's not very seemly behavior for a bishop, so they put him in jail. No jail could hold him for long, of course; Christ himself had a hand in his release. If that's not vindication, I don't know what is. Once the dust settled, the council saw the light and accepted the truth. A happy ending if ever there was one. Unless you're an Arian, of course. You'd better not be!

St. Nicholas, in addition to his holiday rounds, continues to be the patron saint of children and those who brave the dangers of the sea; thank God for him.

So, if you find any heretics who aggressively won't give Christ His due, be sure to "deck their halls". It's what Santa would want.

[Was that the moral of the story, Ted?]

Oh, and uh, be of good cheer, of course. It's very early, but merry Christmas!

Who: Sarah Jane Smith and You!
What: A little Holiday decor shopping and decorating at home!
When: Friday Evening (12/1)
Where: Hamete Strip Mall, later Holly Ridge Apartment #301
Warnings: None as yet

( Can't have a proper Christmas without a few essentials. [OTA] )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

( Hanging up the Holly [Closed to CR] )

[Something about the face that has just appeared on this frequency in particular isn't right.

Something isn't connecting the dots here.

This is definitely Mordecai's frequency, but that is certainly not Mordecai.

... Is it?]

I forgot to mention in my instructional video yesterday: this place has an obscene tendency to violate the laws of reality whenever it pleases, for no reason.

Don't complain about it, because it won't change, and as usual, no one cares.

That should be it.

[And then click! Feed terminated.

At any point in time during the day though, this finely dressed young man can be found in Attleton or Genessia City, apparently doing pretty average errands. Buying food, getting things for the house, inspecting stores for clothes that approach his aesthetic because he will be dipped in fuck before he wears a tee shirt and jeans]

[[Literally nothing else has changed about good old Mordecai except his appearance. As far as he is concerned he has always been human and he's been here for months as a human. Have fun!]]