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crescentblossom66 · 9 days

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Bond of the Beasts Chapter 15

Now, where did she leave her coat? Cookie asked herself that question repeatedly, she wasn't normally so scatterbrained, but her white faux-fur coat seemed to have left this plane of existence. She had looked everywhere for it, but couldn't find it. She heard the door opening after she scanned her room's wardrobe for what felt like the thousandth time. Considering the time, she expected the kids to be the ones that had returned, but when she entered the hallway, the first thing she spotted was a black suit. “Conductor? You're home early.”

The man in question closed the door behind him, holding a very familiar looking piece of clothing in his hands. “A rock slide covered parts o' the rails in rocks, had ta turn back. Ye left this outside.” So that's where the accursed thing had been! She must have left it outside the previous day when she had misjudged the weather and put it off due to getting to warm while wearing it.

Cookie went over and grabbed the coat from him. “Thanks, sweetie.” She could see that he was questioning where she was going, and it seemed that he had a good idea as to where she was headed if his furrowed brow, narrowed eyes and frown were any indication. She heard him inhale sharply as she walked passed him to exit the building.

When he actually spoke up, the disapproval of her actions were more than noticeable by his rather loud tone and the subtle hint of worry he tried to hide, but failed at miserably. “Donnae tell me that yer goin' back there. It's way ta dangerous! What if they find out that yer nae a normal human?!” He spun around to face her, balling his hands to fists.

Cookie stopped dead in her tracks, not turning back to face him. She was well aware that the place she worked at was basically the enemy's HQ. “I'm aware that it's dangerous, but it's the only way for us to keep tracks of the hunters' movements. If we get ambushed by them, we might...-” Cookie shook her head trying not to imagine the worst case scenario. “-we have children with us, Conductor. I want to make sure that they're safe.”

She could hear him step a bit closer, so she turned to face him, just about missing the motion of his arm falling back to his side which he had contemplated putting on her shoulder to get her attention. “Who's going to make sure that YER safe though?” Up close, Cookie noticed the worry even clearer, it was sweet of him to worry so much about her, but this was something she had to do.

“It's gonna be fine, sweetie, those men maybe dangerous with rifles on hand, but those are the same men that manage to burn a salad and put ice cream in a stove. Besides, I never use my magic at work.” With a reassuring smile that she hoped would calm his down, she left the house. The man clad in black that was left behind could only watch as her back got smaller and smaller as she walked down the narrow path through the woods to town. He prayed that his worries were unfounded,, that she'd be back just like she had always been.

Bow left the school, a bit anxious due to being completely alone for the first time. Normally either Hattie or Mu would accompany her back home, but today Hattie had cleaning duty and had to stay at school longer, while Mu had promised to play soccer with a few of their classmates. She contemplated waiting for Hat Kid, but ultimately decided against it as Cookie had asked her to pick up some vegetables for a stew she was going to make the following day. The young changeling made her way to the convenience store nearby, hoping that the potion she had taken earlier that morning wouldn't wear off.

She entered the store without drawing unwanted attention to herself, so far so good. Finding the carrots, cabbage, and celery, the required ingredients that Cookie had written down neatly on a small sticky note for her, had been easy enough as well. Now, however, she felt uneasy. Nothing in particular was wrong when she looked around, a woman was picking out fruits from the display opposite of hers, a middle aged man seemed to contemplate which kind of meat to buy, and an elderly woman a bit further away walked into the liquor aisle. None of these people were looking at her, yet she still felt watched.

Bow shrugged the feeling off, simply heading to checkout and placing the groceries on the line. She fumbled a bit with the money as she tried to leave as quickly as possible, nearly dropping the coins on the floor. After getting out of the store without alerting the other customers or the staff, she found it best to hurry through a back alley to get home faster. Unfortunately that seemed to be exactly what her pursuer wanted as she heard footsteps getting louder behind her. It caused her to break into a sprint, yet she was too late, as she felt a strong grip on her arm and she got yanked back. As she was about ot scream for help, the other hand of clearly malicious person covered her mouth. “If I were you, I wouldn't scream, child, it might determine whether you get to go free or die here.” Even if the voice of the woman behind her was rather calm, her words implied ruthlessness. Bow started to panic and struggled to free her mouth at least to be able to scream for help, yet the woman was a lot stronger than her, even clawing at her hand did nothing. “Calm yourself, as long as you cooperate, you'll be able to get home with all your limbs still attached to your body.” At this point, Bow was starting to cry and hyperventilate, her fear overriding the fact that she couldn't reveal what she was. Her hands that had tried to pry the other pair of hands away from her mouth in vain, suddenly shifted to sharp claws and her cat tail appeared, rigid and bristled. “Huh?” Bow felt the grip of the woman loosen for a moment, before it tightened yet again. This time, however, the grip wasn't nearly as crushing. “You're a changeling...” The potion had worn off by now, switching Bow's skin from brown to a deep purple. “You're one of us...How?”

Bow Kid still fought to free herself, but calmed down after the hostility left the unknown woman's voice entirely. The young girl nearly gasped in shock when the woman revealed a tail and ears of her own, not dissimilar to hers, after looking around for observers. A moment later, her arm was released. “Are you...like me?” Bow had hardly seen other changelings before at the lab, and when she did come across one, they didn't sport cat-like features.

The older changeling nodded and let go off her. “Hm...you haven't been around others of our kind often.” She concluded, likely based on the fact that Bow had no idea how to control her ability at all, her skin color always matching her current mood.

“...No.” The curly-haired girl shook her head while still looking at the tall woman opposite of her, transfixed in awe. The fear from earlier was slowly being replaced by curiosity as a thousand questions flooded her mind. Who was that changeling woman? Were there more like them? Was she a friend or a foe? If she was a friend, would she be willing to help her control her abilities?

“I figured as much...” The adult changeling paused, scrutinizing Bow in a way that made the young girl fidget under her gaze. It took another minute until she spoke again. “Do you have a name, child?”

“Uh...it's Bow.”

“Rule one, Bow, never give a stranger your real name, it's dangerous for our kin.” Bow wondered how she even knew that the name she had given was in fact her real name. “Now, Ribbon, do you want to learn how to stop your skin from changing and how to blend in with your surroundings more?”

It took Bow a moment to catch onto why she was being referred to as 'Ribbon', but considering what she had informed her about prior, it was likely to keep her identity safe. “Yes, ma'am! Uh...how can I call you?”

She felt the same hand that had gripped her arm rather harshly earlier. now gently pushing her back to make her move forward. “You may refer to me as Empress.”

*ding*

The soft ringing of the bell used for customer orders nearly caused her too flinch and spill the Gulash soup that she was pouring into a bowl. “One plate of lobster in special sauce!” The burly man told her and placed the note for the order down with the other two that were already on the counter. Sometimes she wished that her coworkers were less incompetent, preparing all the food herself was stressful. An escalope chasseur and a steak cooked medium rare both with french fries, both of these, and now this too! Yet she couldn't let the other 'Chefs' handle this or she feared that someone would drop dead.

Cookie sighed and went back to work. She had been keeping eyes and ears open the whole time since the attack of the hunters, even if Conductor protested against it heavily, and Grooves had his misgivings about her doing so, even Snatcher showed concern, labeling that plan stupid. However, she was certain that the hunters weren't just going to leave them alone any time soon. Cookie felt like it was the easiest way to make sure that they wouldn't get harmed. They were fighting an uphill battle to begin with, avoiding further conflict was the best solution.

After flipping the steak and sending out the escalope chasseur, she could hear a few men outside talk again. It was hard to hear thanks to the sizzling of the meat on the frying pan, but moving from her position to get closer would only arouse suspicion.

“...Boss was acting really absentminded, didn't yell at Hunter the whole way to forest.”

“Maybe he felt calm yesterday, Boss does care for Hunters...somewhat.”

“Hunter don't think so, Boss didn't look happy, more depressed, not smiling, frowning.”

Interesting. It appeared that the hunters were still searching for them, and that the boss of the hunters had been with them in the search. It was quite worrisome.

“But Boss smiled after finding dead boar, animal showed clear evidence of young werebeast attack. Boss even happier now after new equipment arrived from labs.”

Cookie had to stifle a gasp with her hands as she overheard that piece of information and recalled that Mu had been bragging about having fended off a boar, she did mention that she bit the animal. What if it died and it was the same one that the hunters found? It would mean that they were very close to finding their new location! Whatever that new piece of equipment was, and she doubted that it were mere cooking utensils, they boded ill.

She tried to act natural, putting the nearly overcooked steak on a plate as the men came and entered the kitchen. Cookie stood stiff as a board as they suddenly entered and panic overcame her. Had she acted to suspiciously? Did they know somehow? “Boss need to see small chef lady in office. It very important, chef lady should hurry.”

With effort, Cookie swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. “Alright.” She walked past the burly men, only now realizing just how awfully outmatched she was physically. She could use her magic if pushes came to shove, but with the amount of enemies that were just buzzing around the restaurant, it wouldn't be easy to get away. The witch didn't look up to meet the rather stoic gaze of the men and slowly made her way to the office of the owner of the restaurant, praying that no one was picking up on her trembling in fear. She tried to calm down, thinking that she may be overthinking things and maybe it was just a work evaluation, nothing she had to worry about if that was the case.

She knocked on the door to the office with a slightly shaky hand and opened it when she heard a gruff 'enter' from the other side. The moment she looked into the room that had never really been pleasant to enter the few times she had, an overwhelming amount of unease hit her. She contemplated turning on her heel and running, but...where to? If she headed home, they'd follow her there and she'd get the others in danger.

“Come in, I just need to have a little chat.” The way the man's eyes narrowed at her made her skin crawl and increased the urge to simply run that she was still trying hard to suppress. “I need your opinion on something. Do you think we should amp up the security here due to the recent increase in werecreature attacks?”

Cookie took a small breath to compose herself again. So he was concerned for werebeast attacks. Given that werebeast attacks were more common, especially now that the next full moon was around the corner, it made sense for him as a businessman to consider getting proper equipment. Maybe that was what men had talked about earlier. She needed to stay on guard, but there was a chance that he didn't associate her with the other magical creatures. “I-I think it would be smart to set up a few cameras and maybe get something to fend them off. I heard that they hate silver, the news mentioned something like that.” She talked in a calm and collected voice, trying her best not to show her nervousness.

“Interesting that you think that way-” He made a waving motion with one hand, the two men out of around six that were in the room with them, moved to the door to block the only exit. “-given that you're one of them!” The red-haired woman got grabbed quite harshly by her arms.

“What's this about?! I'm not one of them, I'm a human, just like you!” Cookie tried to free herself, but it was futile to struggle against their grip. The leader of the hunters produced a small device out of his red jacket. It looked akin to a calculator, just a bit bigger. The strange device blared a high pitched electronic noise as the he pointed it in her direction and it dawned on her just what it was.

The man's sinister smile got wider upon noticing that she realized just what he held in his hands. “When why is it that the magic detector I'm holding is going off? It had done so the second I switched it on.” As Cookie tried desperately to think of an explanation and was about to open her mouth to retort, he interrupted her, “Don't think you can talk yourself out of this one, I know all the workers in this establishment here personally, it is none of them.” He stepped a bit closer to her seeing that she was trembling in fear. “Where are they?” Cookies eyes widened at the question.

“I don't know who you're talking about?” The boss of the hunters chuckled at her defiance and blatant lie.

“Don't play dumb, woman. I know that you're with them, those pungent werebeasts! They noticed us and managed to flee way too quickly, no, they KNEW that we were about to attack them!-” He yelled straight at her face, forcing her to look at him. “YOU warned them! You left work just before we left and told those monsters that we were coming, because you're one of them! The detector dispelled all doubt about that!-” He grabbed her chin, pulling her face up to meet his. The demented look in his blue eyes was one she recognized...albeit in a different circumstance, it was clear obsession, obsession with a goal that would lead the person to ruin, to lose their humanity. Her trembling got worse. “TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!” The man was heaving, his hands had closed around her neck, but he wasn't applying pressure. The fear that overcame her in that moment caused her to lose her focus on her magic. Noticing this, Riccardo took out a syringe filled with a strange grayish liquid which he proceeded to inject into Cookie's arm.

“No matter what you do, I'm not going to tell you where they are.” She felt strange, not tired or woozy, but like something was missing. The liquid must have suppressed her magic energy, she recalled the labs experimenting with such measures.

Riccardo stopped for a moment. “Oh, I just had an even better idea. How about we see if that little group of abominations will come to your rescue. If not...I'll find ways to make you talk. Lock her away in one fo the storage rooms.” He ordered his goons who nodded and brought her into one of the back room, shoving her into the small room, locking her away in darkness.

Cookie shuddered as she sat in the pitch black room, no matter how she looked at it, she messed up. She had underestimated the threat and was about to pay the price for her foolishness. If only she had listened to DJ Grooves and Conductor...now all she could do was hope that they wouldn't try to save her, that they'd take the kids and move again. “I'm so sorry.” No one could see her tears fall and no one heard her sobs. She was afraid to die, but even more afraid that her stupidity could cost the lives of her dear friends.

#ahit bond of the beasts #ahit monster au #ahit fanfic #ahit cooking cat #ahit conductor #ahit empress #ahit bow kid #ahit mafia boss #@r3d1ke

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crescentblossom66 · 10 days

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Quick loose conductor doodle

#ahit #cool art

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crescentblossom66 · 13 days

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ermm what the sigma

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crescentblossom66 · 14 days

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Mafia Party!

The second of the two fics that I submitted to @anachronism-ahitzine Check out the other artists and their amazing pieces.

The gentle noise of waves drifting to shore and the squawking of seagulls that were normally so prevalent among the hardly busy port of Mafia Town, were now being drowned out by the loud honking of three incoming cargo ships, a rarity, as the small port usually only await one ship per day. The Mafia aboard all looked merry, as they slowly docked the ships and unloaded their cargo, working a lot harder than they normally would. The burly men were even humming a song, which would have been ear grating to others due to them being notoriously off-key, but none of them seemed to be bothered by that as they lifted the heavy crates and brought them over to the marketplace. One Mafia Goon seemed to be confused by the word “Kidney” being on the crate that he was carrying and started to make his way toward the black market with it, only to be stopped by his fellow Mafia. “Fellow Mafia is going the wrong way, we bring crates to marketplace.”

“Label says 'Kidney', we don't need kidney at festival.” Another of the men pointed at the other side of the crate.

“Label reads 'Beans', beans need to be brought to kitchen.” With confusion, the Mafia Goon that carried the rather vexing crate turned the wooden box and held the crate with one hand, scratching his bald head with the other.

“Mafia confused. What is crate containing, bean or kidney?” A more active and impatient goon decided to enforce a simple rule that their boss made up 'When in doubt or confused, simply punch the problem', so he did just that and punched a hole into the top of the crate revealing kidney beans, which resulted in a collective “Oh!” from the confused men.

When the group reached the marketplace, the preparations were well on their way. A few Mafia were standing on very puny-looking stools to hang up garlands, others were preparing a pyramid of wooden barrels for one of the main attractions of the festival, which was adequately yet plainly named 'Mafia Arrival Day', which was held every year in commemoration of the day they overtook what was formerly known as the City of Calcite and Adventure, or simply Calcite City for short. A group of them were straining to put up the golden statue of their leader, they had tied ropes to it, and were trying to make it stand upright. Due to their high strength it was fairly easy for them...but what they had in brawn they certainly lacked in brain, as the statue was now upside down, it's feet in the air.

“What is this?! Can't you do anything right?!” The boss of the Mafia arrived to inspect the preparations and was furious to see that they had somehow flipped his statue-self. “Put it upright, now!” He stomped his foot in anger at the incompetence that he had to deal with every single day, not even the jolly atmosphere or the beautiful, sunny day, brought him into a better mood. The Mafia men hurried to fix their error, when the statue landed on its side with a loud clang, he grit his teeth and let out a screech that made the blood in the bald men's veins run cold.

“Sorry boss, Mafia couldn't read instructions because of other Mafia dropped it in water. Ink got very messy, make everything look like chicken-scratches.” One of them explained, but their boss had none of it. Even if their boss was a lot smaller than the other Mafia, he had glare that was piercing their souls. “Don't glare at Mafia, please, Mafia want to keep soul. Mafia not want to end up like victims of eerie ghost in Subcon.”

The boss of the Mafia raised an eye brow in confusion, not really sure what his subordinate was talking about, but whatever it was seemed to have greatly disturbed not only him, as he could see some of the other Mafia Goons shaking. “Pull yourselves together, men! We won't be afraid of some apparition! I- I mean, we, will soon rule the whole planet!” The smaller man flashed a smile and stood rather proudly, his cockiness almost became his downfall as he barely dodged a huge meat one a bone that came barreling down the road and nearly flattened him on its way. “Concentrate, you morons! You'll ruin the whole festival!”

As the sun started to slowly set in the horizon, the marketplace of Mafia Town was finally ready, the garlands were all in place...albeit a little crooked, the barrels were organized, more or less, some somehow ended up on the floating platforms that none of them had access to, and the statue was placed the right way up this time. The majority of the Goons had decided to relax at the beach, one of them even brought a grill to serve grilled fish and hamburgers, he even managed to only burn himself twice this time! Other Mafia have turned in for the night while others were watching their favorite shows on TV. Everyone was relaxing after the hard day of work, but their leader was still out and about, making sure that faucets were all tightly closed, preventing the lava from flowing. It was the one job that he really didn't trust anyone with but himself, given the track record of his rather intellectually challenged men, it was likely a very smart move on his part.

As soon as the sun started to rise the next day, the normally rather relaxed and more or less easy going Mafia Goons rushed to the marketplace to light the torch on the hand of the statue of the Mafia Boss, which signaled the start of the holiday. The festivities were started off with the first of the three activities, the race! The starting point and end were different each year, but this year, the race would start in the back alleys and go all the way to the beach. The Mafia that were not participating watched their boss make his way to the white line to start off the race. If asked why he never participated, it was due to the fact that he would easily win, no question, so he deemed it unfair to his fellow Mafia. (The slightly smarter members of the Mafia knew however, that it was simply because he hated losing) As there wasn't really a requirement to how the participants needed to get from point A to point B, some found rather unconventional means of transportation. One stuck to the original way, opting to simply run to the goal, while the second was using a meat on the bone that he was balancing on top of, while the finally Mafia Goon was using...a rocket.

The Mafia Boss was nearly flattened once again, when he gave the signal to start, and the meat on the bone nearly crushed him. A 'Sorry, boss!' was heard when the Mafia realized his mistake and heard the growls of frustration that came from the short, red-clothed man. The Rocket Goon apparently had trouble starting his risky vehicle and jumped off of it kicking it once and recoiling as he came to realize that kicking solid steel was quite painful. “Stupid rocket, start!” He yelled at it, to no avail. The burly man scratched his scalp, contemplating what to do, meanwhile, the running Mafia and the balancing Mafia were a quarter and half way to the finish line respectively. “Wait Mafia forgot important item Mafia need fire to start rocket.” He checked all the pockets on his person, even his breast pocket which had a pink handkerchief in it, thankfully for the Rocket Mafia, none of onlookers seemed to have noticed this rather unmanly item. In a moment of brilliance, very uncharacteristic of the bald men, the Rocket Mafia realized that he could get a fire easily from the statue! The way to and from the marketplace took the risk-taker so long, that his competitors were already close to the finish line...one at least. Despite going at a moderate 3km/h (1.86 mph), the exhausted Mafia, that was using his own two legs, was still far ahead of the other that had an issue with getting his unconventional means of transportation past a bridge, as the huge piece of meat was way too big to fit on it.

With a loud bang and a cloud of black smoke that left the audience covered in soot and ashes, the man on the rocket indeed became the fastest man alive, gaining more and more speed as he made his way to the beach. 'Mafia fastest man alive, Mafia easily win race!' were the men's thoughts as he tried to smile while trying not to fall off what was clearly the most Mafia of all vehicles! His smile, however, quickly faded when he dashed way past his goal and out to sea. It was at that moment that he realized that his plan was very flawed.

Some of the Mafia at the beach were in awe, watching the Rocket Mafia get smaller and smaller on the horizon, while some of their fellow Goons were congratulating the Walking Mafia on his victory.

Between the first and second major activity was a time to just relax and enjoy the day, enjoying the island that they had forcefully taken away from the previous inhabitants. Some Goons were relaxing by the fountain in the marketplace, chatting while looking at the sloppily placed decorations. Others took the chance to enjoy some food in form of grilled fish, hotdogs, and steaks that had the face of their beloved leader carved into it. Miraculously, not a single man died of food poisoning that day.

The second contest of the day was the barrel throw. It was held on the marketplace and used the barrels from the pyramid they had prepared the day prior. The Goons from the casino had opened a stall, where the Mafia in the audience could place bets on their favored contestant. When the first contestant grabbed a barrel and barely managed to lift it, the audience erupted in laughter. “Come on, son, make Mafia proud!” One of the men shouted from the sidelines, trying to cheer the young Mafia on, before turning his head to the person next to him. “Mafia know son is too weak to win, never strong enough to punch even old lady, but Mafia is trying to be good father. Mafia told son that he has chance to succeed, but Mafia know son never succeeds, son must learn lesson, builds character.”

The young Mafia threw the barrel as far as he could...but only managed to toss the heavy wooden object a meter. (3.3 feet) far. He sighed and hung his head as he walked off, feeling like he had failed his father. Nobody doubted for a second that the second contestant, an average looking Mafia Goon, would easily throw the barrel further. He likely would have done so...if the general clumsiness, inherent to most Mafia, hadn't caused him to trip and drop the barrel right on his foot, which resulted in everyone breaking out into hysterical laughter yet again. A very muscular Mafia Goon, with a comically large torso and in comparison very stubby legs, had easily garnered the favor of everyone present, even the Mafia Boss had placed his bet on the man. He lifted the barrel as easily as one would pick up a small pebble, and readied himself to throw it way out of bounds of the contest. Victory was far from his grasp, however, when a flock of seagulls decided that it was payback time for one of their brethren, that the muscular Mafia had punched for trying to get a fish for their kid. He flailed around as the vindictive birds swarmed him and bit him, causing him to drop the barrel behind him, netting him negative points.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, in utter disbelief of what had just happened, until one burst out in laughter and the others joined...aside from their boss, who was raging and stomped on his hat repeatedly, because he had lost the bet. To his surprise, and even more so to the surprise of his father, the young Mafia was deemed the winner.

As the sun was starting to set, the arm wrestling contest started and Mafia Boss was once again the referee, which caused a lot of nervousness for the participants who were more afraid of his sharp gaze, rather than the brute strength of their opposition. In the end, nobody won as the Mafia started to flee after seeing a slimy space alien that crashed the party.

The alien repeated “Leave the island, or I'll curse you all!” multiple times as it attacked the Mafia, jumping on their heads while snickering. The only one who seemed mostly unfazed was their leader, who chased the alien away with his daggers after scolding his goons for running away in fear from a small and wimpy-looking mud monster. After that small foe was vanquished, the festivities resumed with just a little unease still present, it was visible the most in the Mafia that were lighting the rockets for the fireworks, who burned themselves on the fuse of the rockets each time they were lighting it.

“Alright, men, listen up!” The boss of the Mafia climbed onto a crate to give a speech like every year, his voice reaching even the Goofy Mafia that had been thinking about alien conspiracies up until that point and had been stuck in his thoughts. “It marks three years now since we made this island our new home. Thanks to the continues efforts of ME...and you, we're close to finishing up the improvements necessary to bring our families over here!” The goons cheered after that message.

“Mafia finally be able to see wife again, Mafia missed being nagged at for forgetting to take out trash.” One Mafia wiped away a tear and was consoled by the one next to him, who put a hand on his shoulder.

The boss rose his fist to the air. “Let's work hard on reaching that goal, no slacking this year!” Most Mafia cheered aside from one in the back.

“Mafia wasn't slacking, Mafia was working hard on repairing building while Boss was sleeping on throne.” Thankfully for that Mafia Goon, his boss didn't hear him.

All in all the festival was a big success and once again served it's purpose, bringing the Mafia together, even if it usually resulted in monumental chaos.

#anachronism zine #ahit #ahit fanfic #ahit mafia boss #ahit mafia goons

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crescentblossom66 · 14 days

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Yellow Bundles of (Pain) Joy

The first of the two fics that I submitted to @anachronism-ahitzine Please check out the other writers and artists.

It was seriously the last thing he needed right now, a brain-splitting headache that spread from the back all the way to the front of his cranium. It had been some time since he had to deal with such an annoyance, if the yellow bird's anger was high before, it was now on par with the force of a raging volcano, ready to erupt at any moment. At this rate his movie would never be finished in time.

His right ear-like feathers twitched before Conductor stood up from his director's chair, yelling 'cut' as he stormed over to the frantic Express Owl whose face was contorted in a mix of pain and panic, as he tried to free the tip of his wing from the jagged beak of a fluffy troublemaker. After the young bird realized that her grandfather was coming toward her, the little owlet let go, leaving a big bruise on the wing of the brown bird that handed the girl back to his boss with urgency.

The relief of the Express Owl was cut short when the Conductor glared and made a noise akin to a low growl “Cannae even take care o' a wee one. I'm surrounded by incompetent buffoons!” Even if the owls were already used to the temper and rage of their very irritable boss, it still caused them to shiver and scurry away in fear. His granddaughter buried her face in his chest, as the Conductor carried her back to the playpen that was kept in a room away from the set to avoid exactly the scenario that had just occurred. Why...Why did he have to watch over the little blighters now of all times? It was only a few more months until his movie had to be finished and that meant that he could hardly spare a minute, let alone days to watch over his grandkids!

When he got close to the door of the room the little owlets were kept in, he felt his anger flare up yet again, as he could already hear that something was wrong. He hoped that the commotion was only caused by the disappearance of his granddaughter that he was returning, but of course, luck wasn't on his side today. The moment he opened the door, his gaze immediately fell on an empty playpen. The owl that he snapped his head toward, looked like he wanted to be anywhere else just not right where he was. “Ye better tell me that ye took the wee ones out fer a stroll, laddie.”

Rather than deal with the apparent rage that the owl could not only see, but feel coming off the director like an oppressive, malicious aura, the other bird quickly stormed past him. “I have no idea how they got out!”, the fleeing bird informed as he sprinted down the hall faster than the Conductor had ever seen an Express Owl run...If only they could run this fast in his movies, maybe then they'd not get singed in explosions all the time.

The young owl in his arms started to twist and turn as if uncomfortable, which made the yellow bird realize that he was holding onto her too tightly in his angry state. “I'm sorry, lassie. I didn't mean ta scare ye.” He felt horrible, he had scared his granddaughter so much that she wanted to get away from him. The girl chirped happily when he cradled her in his arms and pet over her head...He could only hope that no one saw that. “Alright, let's go look fer yer siblings.”

He found the first one of the little troublemakers on the top of the huge barn on his set, just walking on the roof tiles with unsteady steps. Before the true gravity of the situation sunk in and he sprinted off to get the young owl, he briefly wondered how his grandson had even gotten up there in the first place, given that he could hardly walk without falling over backwards. The old bird nearly slipped off the roof himself as a loose tile shifted under him. The things he did to keep them safe...Breaking a bone would still have been less problematic than facing the ire of his beloved daughter though, of that he was certain.

“Ye cannae simply run away like that, laddie, ye worried yer grandpa sick.” He picked up the young boy whose feathers lowered as his grandfather lightly scolded him. Getting down with the fragile baby bird proved rather difficult, but thankfully his incompetent owls used their brains for once and brought over a ladder for him to descend safely.

The yellow bird only had time to thank his subordinates briefly as movement and yellow plumage caught his attention down the hallway, heading to his other set. He shoved his grandson into the arms of the Express Owl closest to him, the disapproval of this action was visible on both, as the brown owl stretched his wings out to keep the toddler as far away from him as possible, while the fluffy baby watched his family member leave while lightly sobbing. The director nearly recoiled when he noticed the state of his normally neatly organized dressing room which now looked like a hurricane had torn through it. All the costumes were mixed together on various piles instead of hanging from the clothes hangers that they had originally been placed upon. “Holy peck!” The Conductor balled his talons to fists, his sharp claws nearly digging into his palm as his eyes scanned the room for the little perpetrator that he found with ease, as a pile of clothes in the back moved and gave away the position of his second granddaughter. The little bird was revealed after he tossed neck scarfs, vest, and purposefully ripped and dirtied trousers behind him. Not noticing his presence yet, the young girl continued to put a ruby necklace on that was intended for a wealthy side character in his upcoming movie. She protested and chirped when he pulled the accessory off and carried her out of the room with a scowl on his face.

“Stay in here, ye got that? I know ye want ta play, but I got a movie to record, I ain't got the time right now.” He informed the three young birds that he had found so far, after placing them back in the playpen.

He was about to head back outside the make-shift kids room, when he noticed a couple of Moon Penguins brusquely walking down the hallway, holding one of his grandsons. The way they held him didn't sit right with neither the owlet nor his disgruntled grandfather as they held the young boy by the scruff on his neck like they were taking out the trash, rather than carry an infant. “Don't leave your little terrors on our side of the studio, a'ight. We're not a daycare!” The penguin that was holding the unhappy toddler, dumped said owlet into his arms and dusted off their flippers. The Conductor would have snapped at them if wasn't for the fact that he needed to calm down his grandson first, who appeared glad that he was reunited with him.

“It's true that ye ain't daycare workers, yer a bunch o' talentless clowns who ain't got no idea how to handle a young owl.” The two birds that had started to walk back, turned around once more, their annoyance shifting to spite. Dealing with their leader's arch nemesis was trying their patience enough already, getting insulted over a problem that the yellow- feathered director had caused himself, only angered them more.

“Hey! We wouldn't even have to come over here if YOU had these mini terrors under control! This one nearly ruined the electricity on our set by playing with the cables!”

The Western director contemplated whether he should scold or praise his grandson for doing that, on one hand, he got himself in danger, on the other, he was sabotaging the set of his rival. Instead of admitting to failed supervision, he smirked at the angered penguin. “As if he could ruin that set, it's already held together with duct tape and glue. I wouldnae even call it a set, more like shabby dump!” The self-satisfied bird watched as the more agitated one of the two Moon Penguins gritted his beak and was pulled back by his slightly more calm coworker. It appeared that the more sensible one of the two tried to deescalate the situation by getting his enraged friend away from the director.

Now he had four of his five grandkids back together, he was only missing one, the one that he secretly liked the most...even if picking favorites was a bit of an awful thing to do. His favorite grandson was nowhere to be seen though, not on his sets, nor in the hallway or even the lobby. The Conductor was cursing under his breath when he reluctantly entered the one area that he hadn't looked yet, his rival's side of the studio. Given that the Moon Penguins had brought back one of the little blighters, it wasn't far-fetched to assume that the young boy was over there as well. He ignored the stares and the confusion on the penguins, that seemed to stop dead in their tracks and ceased what they were doing the moment they spotted the Western director just barge in and walk through the sets and down the hallway. When one brave penguin decided to try and stop the yellow owl, he was met with a death-glare and a low growl, which caused the poor bird to step back.

After reaching the end of the hallway, completely unopposed, the Conductor could hear the happy chirps of his missing grandson...and when he opened the door, he was greeted by a sight that he would never have expected. His grandson was smiling widely and made happy chirps and giggles while being lightly thrown into the air and when caught again by none other than his rival. “Come on, darling, up you go again.” The disco-loving bird tossed the boy, who flapped his tiny wings up and down, as if trying to catch the wind to fly, while seemingly having a lot of fun. Fun was the last thing that his grandpa had, however, as he stomped his way into the room.

“What do ye think yer doin' ta me grandson?!” The DJ seemed to not have heard him enter, being so focused on the baby bird, he gasped and visibly flinched while catching the boy again.

“I'm playing with him, darling, something you clearly neglected to do.” The way the young bird snuggled into the exposed feathers on his rival's chest made his blood boil even more, and caused the Conductor to reach out and grab his grandson, pulling him away from the tall penguin. Unsurprisingly, the tiny bird began to cry.

“Look at what you've done, Conductor, the little darling started to cry!” The owl was shocked to hear his grandson suddenly wail as he was being carried away by him.

“You kidnapper! You stole him from his playpen just to spite me, eh! Ye peck neck!” The penguin rolled his eyes at the accusation, his shades hiding the action from the other bird who tried to calm the little one down.

“I did no such thing, Conductor, he fell out of the vent and thankfully landed in my hair. I was going to return him.” The sci-fi director tried to reach out to the little owlet and the young bird rose his tiny wings out toward him in an attempt to wiggle out of the tight hold he found himself in.

The Conductor was about to just take the missing child back to the others that he had already gathered, but loud noises in the vent above, and the screaming of panicked Express Owls that were shut down by louder yelling from the Moon Penguins, caused him to stop dead in his tracks. When he focused, the yellow owl could make out “Conductor” and “Grandchildren” in the cacophony of voices. The kids must have escaped again!

Swallowing the harsh insults with which he wanted to express his anger and disappointment for the lack of competence his owls displayed, he took a look at the vent shaft that his grandson had supposedly used to get to the DJ's dressing room. Said DJ observed him for a moment and wanted to open his beak to ask what his rival was doing. The penguin couldn't help but laugh when his rival tried to look up the vent and was brought to the ground as four little owlets fell right on him. “Need some help there, darling?”

The ear-like feathers of the old owl twitched as he sat up again. “I donnae need yer help!-” He turned to look at the young birds with rage still present in his voice. “- Come here!” The owlets started to hide behind the flashy penguin, shaking with fear and whimpering. The yellow bird didn't need the disapproving glare from his rival to know that he had messed up badly...He had scared his grandkids. “I'm sorry, I...I should have taken some time off to play with ye.” His voice was uncharacteristically quiet, the confidence in it gone. They only wanted to be with him...and he had just shoved them away.

When the owlets hesitated, the sci-fi director put his contempt for the old owl behind and bent down to talk to the kids. “How about we get you some toys, darlings?” That got their attention easily. DJ Grooves sent his penguins to pick up some of the cheap plastic props from storage. The Conductor meanwhile, had an idea to get the affection of his grandkids back and had his owls set up the big trainset that he had shoved into a corner of his office and put it on his set. Maybe he should have looked at the measurements before buying it.

The young birds played with the small space shuttles that the DJ had brought for them...until they heard the high pitched sound of a train whistle on a smaller scale. The yellow owl watched as his grandkids admired the train and the three carts it pulled. He was a bit worried when they decided to climb onto the carts and ride around on them, but he smiled when he noticed their happy faces and cheerful chirps. Wondering where the kids had went, the penguin checked on his rival's set, finding the old bird in the middle of a small railroad, surrounded by ecstatic owlets. He rolled his eyes when the Conductor noticed him and gave his signature smug smile, the very same one he always had to endure whenever the Western director won the Award. “Did ye think ye could replace me, DJ peck neck? Nae, ye cannae have 'em, I love these wee blighters!”

#anachronism zine #ahit #ahit conductor #ahit dj grooves #ahit conductor's grandkids #ahit moon penguins #ahit fanfic

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crescentblossom66 · 14 days

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Zine live now! Google Drive [Link] Raw files [Link]

#ahit #a hat in time #My works can be found in the zine too #please check out the cool art

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crescentblossom66 · 15 days

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When your 90 year old grandma tells you that she cares about you and you burst into fucking tears, you know that your mentally fucked up.

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crescentblossom66 · 16 days

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A Hat In Time Version Analysis Part 2

Back with part 2 of the version comparison from the early PS4 version and the current PC version of A Hat in Time.

Barrel Battle

The first thing I noticed after getting back to the spaceship and entering the level was that the map wasn't showing the boss battle icon for Barrel Battle.

As you can see it shows the normal book icon in the PS4 version.

Upon entering Mafia Town again, I recalled something that I knew was in the PS4 version that is now gone, and that is the Mafia Goon that sells you a relic near the place where you first fight the Mafia to get the umbrella.

The battle itself was mostly the same, I think that the texture of the Hat Kid and the Mafia were updated when Hat Kid blows a raspberry at the Mafia Goon, but I didn't get a good picture. I also noticed that his stance changed going to him just looking at Hat Kid whereas he was pointing at her before.

The ending was the same too, a weird detail is that the friendship meter shows up in both versions, but the PS4 version doesn't show the meter go to enemies after act 4. I'll get to that when we reach that act.

When we get back to the ship, Mu teaches us about yarn and I only found a tiny change here

She came from Outer Space

Hat Kid's eyes don't glow when falling into mud in the PS4 version.

The Goofy Mafia is turned away from Hat Kid in the PS4 version, he's facing her in the PC version.

This is all for this installment, next is Down with the Mafia!

#ahit #ahit version analysis

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crescentblossom66 · 17 days

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A Hat in Time Version Analysis Part 1

So, this was an idea that basically haunted me since I recalled that I never updated the version of A Hat in Time on my PS4 that I acquired around December 2018. Considering that it got never updated, it is the console version that came before Gears for Breakfast updated the base game to match the version that made it to the switch in 2019 (That I also own as it was before I got Steam to run on my then potato PC) If you were to download the game now, you'd just get that version instead of the old one I have.

I thought that I would be fun to compare the two versions and find out the differences. I'm sure that I'll likely miss details and some chapters like Mafia Town for example. The layout of some maps and the size doesn't make it easy to spot differences, especially if you try to play the same game simultaneously by switching between the versions a lot. Nevertheless, I tried my best to spot a few key differences and am proud to show off the first installment of this series.

Miscellaneous things and Hat Kid's Spaceship

Of course we're going to kick it off with the title...which is the same in both versions, so nothing to report there. However the very next screen or lack there off in the PS4 version caught my eye

As you can see here, the early console version didn't have a proper file select screen yet, so all you'll see are the plain files with no Hat Kid just idling about.

The cut scene that happens where Hat Kid falls out of bed and you gain control is much the same, so nothing there, but something will catch your eye as soon as you open the pause menu

The menu UI is much more simple sporting black outlines instead of the more vibrant purple used in the current version. The hat menu is the same black.

With the menu out of the way, I went to explore the the spaceship a bit and found that most things are the same, expect for the multiplayer control panel thing.

Mafia Town Act 1

The scene with the Mafia Goon breaking the glass and Hat Kid's subsequent fall to the planet is the same an so is most of the intro to the game. I followed Mu and her route was the same as in the PC version, her dialogue too. The only change that I found was that when you obtain the the hourglass that completes this level, the icon doesn't spin, it was very hard to get a good picture of that. XD

I'm going to end it here due to the limit of pictures I can put in a tumblr post. The next installment has a couple of oddities I found for Chapter 2-4 of Mafia Town.

If there's something in particular, you'd like me to try out in the versions, please leave a comment. I'm slowly making my way throught the whole base game, so I'll appreciate it, if the questions for this would be about Mafia Town as I won't get to Subcon or Dead Bird all that quickly.

#Boosting it for those who haven seen it

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crescentblossom66 · 18 days

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A Hat in Time Version Analysis Part 1

Miscellaneous things and Hat Kid's Spaceship

Of course we're going to kick it off with the title...which is the same in both versions, so nothing to report there. However the very next screen or lack there off in the PS4 version caught my eye

As you can see here, the early console version didn't have a proper file select screen yet, so all you'll see are the plain files with no Hat Kid just idling about.

The cut scene that happens where Hat Kid falls out of bed and you gain control is much the same, so nothing there, but something will catch your eye as soon as you open the pause menu

The menu UI is much more simple sporting black outlines instead of the more vibrant purple used in the current version. The hat menu is the same black.

With the menu out of the way, I went to explore the the spaceship a bit and found that most things are the same, expect for the multiplayer control panel thing.

Mafia Town Act 1

I'm going to end it here due to the limit of pictures I can put in a tumblr post. The next installment has a couple of oddities I found for Chapter 2-4 of Mafia Town.

#ahit #ahit version analysis

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crescentblossom66 · 18 days

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Dead Bird Studio Discord Server

iiiiiiiii think it's about done! maybe some little tweaks here and there but here's a "Dead Bird Studio" discord server! anyone is allowed to join it's a server for everyone who loves ch2! ahit in general can be discussed here but this server is themed after chapter two of ahit!!! :D

#ahit #Yay!

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crescentblossom66 · 18 days

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dead bird studio server will probably open soon

#Awesome!#I hope I can join!

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crescentblossom66 · 20 days

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☕️Milky Coffee Discotrain AU🥛

The Conductor goes the movie vocational school on the moon and Grooves works at a cafe to raise money for his dream. They loves each other but they need to leave for their dreams.

☕️Both of them are not movie directors. They are not even a conductor or a DJ. In this AU, the two met before they succeeded.

☕️The Conductor goes the movie school on the moon to study movies. But his purpose is almost sightseeing. He doesn’t want to be a movie director. Because of it, there is a big differences in enthusiasm between the other students and him.

☕️He likes coffee with plenty of milk and sugar. He drinks it every day, every morning. It didn’t take long for him to find a cafe in the neighborhood of his new house.

☕️Grooves helps a master at the cafe. He has many other job, but he grinds beans there in the morning.

☕️His goal is to success as a musician, but he needs money first to do anything. He works busy here and there for his dream, go to the university and he writes a music with just a little free time. ……While fighting the anxiety of the future: when does this effort fruit?

☕️The Conductor and Grooves met there. Every time they went through the morning, they were falling in love. But they will soon know that not everything will work as well as in the movie.

☕️To begin with, why the Conductor went to the moon? Why he studies movies, not trains?

☕️He knows from the time he was born: he will be a conductor. No matter how much he loves movie, it is not allowed he becomes a movie director.

☕️Originally, he was supposed to study train all the time until he took over the job, but he exceeded his parents’ expectations. He was allowed to be free for only 4 years due to his great results related train.

☕️He loves his family and the Owl Express. He consented to devote himself to the train in exchange for 4 years of freedom.

☕️Once he becomes a conductor, he cannot go anywhere. He decided to go the place where the Owl Express can’t go: the moon. He goes to the school to enjoy movies from different perspectives, not to work.

☕️At this point, Grooves can choice his possibility but he has to make an effort to be what he wants. He ran away his home and came to a distant town after argued with his parents about his future.

☕️There is a piano isn’t used for a long time in the cafe. The master can’t play it, but Grooves can. He lives and works in the cafe on the condition of answering the customers’ requests and helping a little. If he works another four years, he can do everything he has to do for his goal.

☕️He works others places after school because the cafe is only open in the morning. No matter how busy it is, he is still happy. Because he believes it is more fun than living stable life at the mercy of his parents.

☕️They respect each other, but also deny each other to some extent. The Conductor thinks what Grooves is trying to do is reckless, and Grooves can't understand why the Conductor is only trying to run on a predetermined set of rails. However, neither of them will ever put that into words. If they have any complaints, they just shut up and drink their coffee with their words.

☕️After four years, they will be leaving in a big way. The Conductor will return to his hometown to run the train, and Grooves will leave the cafe to pursue his own dreams. They exchange engagement rings and then return to their respective lives.

☕️But fortunately, it was not an eternal goodbye. Besides, their meeting had meaning.

☕️The conductor, after consuming half his free time, would get a little serious about his supposedly unfulfilled dream. Maybe he was influenced by Grooves' aspirations. For example, were there more different possibilities for him that he just didn't know about? ...He gradually begins to develop an enthusiasm for "making" films.

☕️His love of trains and family is genuine. But he will find that his yearning for his films is stronger than he ever imagined. He had not even given up on his own life so easily that he couldn't easily let go of the clapperboard once he had a grip on it.

☕️Grooves would also be reminded of his distant family. Seeing the conductor miss his family, he may have realized that not all the time he shared with them was bad. For the first time in a decade, he would visit his own family home.

☕️There he would finally learn that it was not out of malice that his family had opposed his dream. The first embrace in a long time was enough to rewarm the family ties that had been frozen.

☕️They fulfill their dreams. Grooves was successful and was able to own a large nightclub, and the conductor was able to learn how to balance his dream with his job at home.

☕️Eventually they will resume in the spotlight. There will be none of the negativity they once had for each other. They will giggle and exchange engagement rings, then talk about the latest movies, hit songs, and new rings.

🥛The conductor likes sweet, pure white coffee. Ever since the day he had his first cup of coffee, he has followed that recipe. Grooves drinks it basically without anything in it, but sometimes he changes the seasoning to suit his mood.

🥛They cannot live in a house together, even after they are married. The conductor can't leave the train, and Grooves has his own nightclub. But they decide on one day a year to spend together. Until then, they sleep with a wedding ring.

🥛But the two of them would take the space shuttle as often as they could to celebrate their husband's success. There are plenty of opportunities to call their partners, such as film festivals and contests. Of course they don't do their work just for that, but it is among their motivations.

🥛Even during normal times they call quite frequently. What they talk about there is not much different from what they used to talk about at the counter of a cafe, though. If there is a difference, it is that neither of them talks about their fears for the future anymore.

The End! I wrote everything I wanted to write. I just wanted to publish one of my many notes. If there are any questions I will try to answer them.

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