(Merry Christmas from the Manns and the Brody Bros! I wish I had time to write the others but Christmas is almost over! And these guys were easier to write tbh merry Christmas if you celebrate or otherwise happy holidays!)
SwapBoys Masterpost
It was a bright day at the Mann household as the children excitedly opened their presents. Their parents watched with warm smiles, Jackie holding Zara’s hand while she laid her head on his shoulder.
Ollie laughed as he zoomed around the room with his new Bro Fantastic figure- going up to the Christmas tree to try to fight the ornaments. He even made the punching sounds- but he was careful to only touch the plastic ones.
Penny laughed and clapped as she played with her new set of tiny dolls, ohhing at the colors and then knocking them into each other. It was great fun!
Kelsie squealed as she opened a new cat backpack she’d been wanting and was ready to show it off. But then her face fell as she looked around the room.
Jackie knit his eyebrows together, “what’s the matter sunshine?” The father asked.
“Where’s Uncle Chase and Alt?” She asked back, looking at her parents. “Uncle Chase always comes over for Christmas to see our presents!”
“Oh yeah! I gotta show uncle bro my new action figure!!” Ollie added with excitement.
“And I wanted to see Alt…” Kelsie sighed dejectedly.
Jackie sighed with a tight smile then got up to go bend down by his daughter and rub her shoulder.
“Hey Kels… remember how I said this was Alt’s first Christmas in a long time? Well- that means a big Christmas with lots of screaming and loud noises could be… too much you know? And well… I’m sure Uncle Chase would love to be here. But now… he doesn’t have to have Christmas alone anymore…”
Kelsie bites her lip and nods, “okay… I guess that makes sense…” she gripped her kitty backpack to her chest and tried not to pout.
Jackie laughed, “chin up, starfish! They’ll be by later with all your other uncles! You can all show off your awesome presents then, okay? But today… they need a little Christmas with just them.”
Kelsie does seem way more excited that she’ll see her favorite uncles soon. She perks up and then hugs her dad, “Okay Daddy! I can’t wait to show them everything! Do you think Alt will bring glitches?”
“I dunno sweetie~ that depends…” Jackie says ominously before he dove to grab the girl and throw her over his shoulder as he spun her around and jumped around with her. “Have you been naughty or nice?”
Kelsie shrieks with joy and laughs, “nice!! I’ve been so nice!!”
“Jackie please be careful!” Zara called but she looked amused.
“I dunnooo little missy-! Can you prove it?” Jackie grins, going to flip Kelsie upside down. “Cuz I could have sworn there was a cookie missing last night from what we made for Santa!”
“Dadddd! That was you! I saw you!” Ollie accused.
Jackie blinked and then gave a long drawn out, “ooooh! Yeah you’re right- thanks for keeping me accountable, Ol~!”
“Daddy’s been naughty! Mama! Take his Christmas presents!” Kelsie shrieks. Zara looks at the pile of Jackie’s presents next to her and gives him a shit-eating grin as she tries to lunge for them.
Jackie grabs Kelsie back up like a football under his arm and charges at his wife, playfully holding her down with Kelsie in the middle. “Ohhh no you don’t!”
The living room filled with laughter and insanity as the Mann’s crazy Christmas continued.
Meanwhile- in a flat a couple blocks down, a quieter more mellow Christmas was taking place.
Chase blew on his cup of coffee and took a sip before he set his cup down on the coffee table. He gave Glitches some pets on her head from where she was curled up on the couch before going to rouse the glitch also sleeping on it.
He lightly shook his shoulder and then threw a jumper at his face.
Alt cried out in surprise and shot up in a flurry of glitches, fumbling blindly for a second before pulling the sweater off. He blinks in confusion up at Chase and then looks a bit grumpy.
“Mornin’! You’re not hungover are you?” Chase asked with a smile.
Alt rolled his eyes and then stretched, “nah- Hen and I didn’t drink too heavily. Thanks for letting me crash here…”
“Alt, you’re welcome anytime…” Chase tried to push again, but Alt waved him off.
“Yeah yeah- I know- just…” He sighed and then looked down at the jumper. “What is this?”
“A Christmas jumper, bro!” Chase grinned. “Got ya one special~!”
It was a black sweater that had a white Christmas sweater design on it- except there was a robot and the words ‘ERROR 404: Christmas Sweater not found.’
Alt rolled his eyes, “ha ha very clever Chase…” He got ready to toss it back, “but I’m not wearing-“
“Ya gotta wear it if you want your other presents~” Chase added smugly.
Alt froze and then gapped at Chase, “what? But I- I couldn’t get you-!”
Chase waves him off and then shoves him towards the bathroom, “no arguing! Now go get changed!”
Alt was in too much shock to argue as he stumbles into the bathroom. He blinks at his reflection and stares for a second. He then sighs and pulls off his shirt from last night and pulls on the jumper. It’s soft… and it really does fit him. He smiles a bit. Then- he looks at his mask. He touches it thoughtfully and then, he slowly takes it off and shoves it in his pocket.
…he doesn’t need it today.
Alt then quietly slinks out of the bathroom and into the living room, feeling more exposed than normal. Which makes his cheeks and ears tint red.
Chase looks up and blinks a bit in surprise at seeing Alt’s neck. But he quickly shakes it off and smiles. “Looking good, baby bro!”
Alt flushes brighter red. “Shut up…”
He flops down onto the couch and crosses his arms. Chase goes to grab a pretty big box out from under the tree and sets it down in front of Alt on the coffee table. Alt looks at it with wide eyes as he glitches to the edge of his seat and looks at Chase with an expression close to guilt.
“C-Chase… i can’t- I couldn’t possibly…!”
“Alt please.” Chase interrupts, “just- open this one. I didn’t have a lot of money this year anyways but… I just had to get my brother a proper Christmas present… especially after we just got you back.”
Alt looks away and guiltily rubs his arm. He was still mentally healing from being Impulse. He still felt horrible for everything he did. That’s why… Chase has offered time and time again to let Alt stay here permanently. But he couldn’t bring himself to… he felt he had way too much to atone for.
But, if Chase really wanted this then… he sighs and goes to unwrap the box. It’s huge! And wrapped in a shiny green blue wrapping paper. Alt tears through the paper and goes to open the box and inside there’s…
It’s a giant comforter, black with green numbers on it. No- not just any numbers… It was binary. Alt opened the box more to find a pillow case too- and he recognized the string of letters in brighter green. It just said ‘pillow’. He chuckled a bit and felt the warm sting of unshed tears in his eyes. But, Alt tried his best to hide it as he looks back at Chase.
“…thanks, Chase. I… I love it- really.”
Chase smiled over his cup of coffee and then got up, gently grabbing his brother by the arm.
“There’s just a tiny bit more~!”
“What!? Chase-!” Alt tries to protest, but Chase dragged Alt down the small hallway next to the living room. He finally goes to open the door to a room that Alt really hadn’t noticed before.
Inside, is a simple bedroom with a bed pushed against the back wall, a closet, a small dresser and a small tv on top of it.
Alt blinks in confusion and looks over at Chase. The older brother looks down at him sheepishly and rubs the back of his head.
“It’s not much… used to be for like… exercise equipment and shit I didn’t know where to put… and I’m not trying to sway you one way or the other cuz clearly you need more time! But… the covers are for this bed… so… if you stay over you can at least sleep in a bed now…”
Alt feels tears in his eyes again but this time he can’t keep them back. He looks away as they start to drip down his face.
He did all of this… just for him. Despite everything- he wants Alt in his life again. So much that he’s moved his life around and made space for him… even if he doesn’t use it.
Alt suddenly turns and glitches to tackle Chase in a hug. Chase startles slightly but very quickly hugs Alt back with a small chuckle. Alt’s shoulders shake as he wets his older brother’s sweater with his tear streaked face.
After a few minutes, Alt finally croaks out.
“…okay.”
“…okay? …okay what?” Chase asks with a tilt of his head.
Alt finally let’s go of Chase and smiles timidly at him. “…I’ll move in.”
Chase’s eyes light up, his entire face soon following as he laughs joyously and goes to scoop Alt up in a huge bear hug. “Yes! Oh my god- yes! Alt!! I’m… im so happy!”
Alt laughs and lets his brother bounce him around for a few more seconds before he finally lets him go.
“…Merry Christmas, Chase.”
Chase smiled and wrapped an arm around Alt’s shoulder as they headed back towards the living room.
“Merry Christmas, Anti…”
Alt smiled, feeling warmth fill his whole body. He… he had a home again.
And one more poster for the road, this time a partial announcement for the people that follow me?
This is the concept/pilot poster for The Manns, a slice of life, supernatural webcomic that im in the process of writing.
Since making the poster a few changes have been made to the project, so this exact cast isnt entirely what's there, however, its mostly correct.
The project is based around my friends and i's characters, thrown into pretending to be a Normal Everyday Human Family without alerting the other people in their small (ish) town that they arent (entirely) Human. They were placed in this arrangement by a form of supernatural witness protection, and unless they want to be taken back into custody, they've gotta be successful.
The Characters from left to right are Harvey Frederick, Shadow, Crimson, Sunny (Squirrel), Fang, Hugh, Nyev, Quill, and Quinn.
More Below the cut
Harvey Frederick, The Ultimate Grandpa. The only actual human in the household, has no known relatives, but has broken from nursing home containment a minimum of five times, and refuses to go back. Harvey has a walker with not two, not four, but eight legs, as Harvey believes- or jokes? its not certain- that the more legs a walker has, the more powerful the grandparent. Its, never clear which grandparent he is meant to be, but he's either Hugh or Nyev's. Probably.
Shadow, the Ling. A possibly alien or eldritch bug-entity with the power of shapechanging, who acts as the resident guard dog. He may look cute, but he is in fact lethal. He also, very much likes muffins. Any in particular will do. He was brought in by Crimson and Fang Mann, similarly to Sunny, however it was less contested.
Crimson Mann. A weredolphin- similar to a werewolf, but instead takes the form of a dolphin every once in a while. While human he appears very much so, and is easier to blend in than most of the Manns. However, while changed, he takes different forms of transportation as fins dont work as well on land as they do at sea. In both forms, He's placed as the son of Hugh and Nyev Mann.
Sunny, The....Squirrel?. More commonly called Solleo or Sol by the rest of the house, He is a questionably eldritch entity, or wishes to be, though he takes the form of a sentient squirrel with a high intelligence but less knowledge in the ways of humans. He was brought in by Fang and Crimson Mann, and now holds a place in the home. Maybe one day he will ascend. Maybe.
Fang Mann. A vampire placed as the son of Hugh and Nyev Mann, and the brother of Crimson Mann, Fang is the third easiest to hide among human society. He remains weak to the sun, but a specialized sunscreen, an ancient piece of jewelry, and enough covering is, fine enough to let him move about. He takes interest in most things gothic and lovecraftian.
Hugh Mann. One-half of an ancient demon that takes the form of this spontaneously-combusting father, Hugh, Alternatively referred to as Bagel. He appears constantly nervous, his gender is hardly ever presented the same day to day, and he *will* catch fire. its not even a threat, it just happens.
Nyev Mann. Placed as the other parental guardian of the house, Nyev is a Dragon, a fluffy one at that. Nyev's name was misspelled on the form, and is actually meant to be the shortened form of Nevermore. They also accept Boss, Don, and Fluf.
Quill, The Thunderous. The other half of the prior-mentioned ancient demon, with more human skills than demonic. they take the place of Hugh's sibling, though they grew up in a human house and have more experience in appearing as such without issue. They are the best in the house at hiding among other people without seeming out of place. Though, they do practice magic, and that cane of theirs isn't normal, i wouldn't say.
Quinn. There always seems to be an endless number of Quinn, whichever number this one is is entirely up to gamble. Always found in a strikingly odd graphic tee and other house clothes when possible, he's caught the eye of one news reporter and photographer in town, but they can never seem to catch him to speak or get a clear picture. we dont know who or what Quinn is, or how he's related, but Hugh calls him son regardless. This son, however, seems to die almost weekly, only to come back the following morning with a breakfast burrito.
And unpictured, we have Cur, The Honored. He claims to be an emperor on a far off world, and the household simply accepts the title. He's placed as an uncle, though it still isn't clear on which side. He can appear mostly human, though acting is still in progress. He's still one of the Manns.
I know this was a long post, so ill stop talking soon, but if people would like to have their characters in the background/as big cameos, mutuals probably have first claim, but ill need a lot of them as i start drawing everything
for later eps ill probably open a patreon if it gets an audience of any kind, so, for now, if youve got a character that can appear human/has a human form, send me an ask or a dm!
Rich is strangely silent throughout most of Lana’s dinner. This cannot stand! But a little goading leads to Rich toeing the line of respectable conversation. Meanwhile, Junior just loves having everyone over for dinner.
Lana changes the subject, much to Junior’s chagrin.
“Well, If we’re changing the subject, let’s talk about when you’re bringing Candy Hart over for dinner. It’s absolutely criminal that we haven’t met yet. All I know about her is the little bit you and your father have told me from when you met in Crowborough all those months ago!”
“Mother, we’ve talked about this. Candy’s...busy.”
“Junior, a lovely family dinner would not only be the perfect atmosphere for our first meeting, but a romantic backdrop for a proposal-”
“Mother, I’m not asking her to marry me.”
Lana rubbed at her wedding ring. “You can’t blame your mother for hoping that one day you might finally have a little stability in your life that I can count on for when I’m gone. This isn’t still about that girl is it? The waitress from that diner? Darling, she’s long gone, but Candy isn’t.”
Junior sighed.
“Why don’t you call Candy over for dinner tonight. You can talk on the phone, get to know each other a little before she comes over. I’ll talk to her, tell her to expect your call.”
Lana clapped her hands in delight. “What a wonderful idea!”
