Vinyl City Baby Commitee

Little Ghost still tends to regularly wander off to explore Vinyl City when they're not otherwise occupied with BBJ and their siblings. If it weren't for Zuke's intervention they'd probably forget to come back for food and sleep (he set them up with a little alarm watch for that purpose). The usual morning routine of the band is pretty eclectic; Zuke's usually the one that's up and about the earliest, meanwhile Mayday's sleeping in and scrolling on her phone for the bulk of the morning. Ghost's kinda in the middle, in that regard.

Comet kinda follows DJSS' schedule, though the big guy did adjust his existing one to better fit the needs of the little kid. They've taken a liking to a particular brand of marshmallow cereal that DJ got because it was space-themed. On occasion, he'll let them touch his sound board, on audience request. It always turns out both weirder and better than he expects. The funds he gets from allowing access to those recordings on his in-universe Bandcamp or what have you are going to Comet's college fund.

Bunny's schedule is kinda wonky since their guardians are a bunch of college age geeks who frequently stay up really late and sleep in. At the very least, these geeks are good about keeping up with Bunny's educational needs, if only to make sure they do their classes on the computer. Bunny, of course, tears through learning at lightning speed, so most of their time is spent with less formal teaching on matters like robotics and programming (also, game development and video editing and music…).

Thorn follows a similarly regimented schedule to Yinu. Yinu's mom is very particular about ensuring they fit education, play time, and music practice into their routine, for the best possible outcome. Of course, Thorn always finds ways to wiggle their way out of supervised time, mostly to explore Natura's gardens and neighborhood. They often bring back snacks, sticks, cool rocks, and other things of interest for Yinu, if they can't take her along.

Scotty kinda loosely follows 1010's schedule, playing with toys just off-camera when they're not directly involved with the day's recording. Neon J's usually the one instructing them on any given thing when he's not managing the boys, ranging from “age appropriate” things like spelling and basic math to “more practical” things like military strategy and boat knots. Scotty usually has some trouble keeping schedule on their own, so it's good that pretty much all of their guardians have an internal clock.

Riley participates in all the same meditative exercises that Eve does, though it takes them some time before they have her kind of focus. It's a great deal of help to get them to wrangle their dream powers, and also gives them something grounding when dealing with their anxieties. Whenever she's got a project to do alone, they're usually in the studio working on something of their own; there's quite a few sloppy clay sculptures and paintings lining the walls of their home.

I imagine their wings are probably more effective for slowing a fall or extending a jump than proper flight. The wings are just too small for their body, and while being made of void makes them a lot lighter than you'd expect, they're still kinda huge.

The first few times Sterling tries flight is less than elegant. Already, with their very tall horns and lanky proportions, they have a tendency to knock into things, but flight makes it even worse. Tatiana's just glad her office is so big and empty that it's not a huge problem, though for a while the offices below have a "Days Since Sterling Knocked Something Over" sign. The number's always a 0.

As for the "moving around undetected" thing... not really. Their teleportation/shadow dash, muting abilities, and natural grace from being the offspring of a living tree and an ambush predator lend more to that than the wings do. Even before the wings, they could climb up the side of a building with relatively little issue.

It's worth noting that most of the trankil died in the Abyss. Like, a solid 99% of them. Most would not see much of any color up until their resurrection, and thus wouldn't have those sorts of associations tacked onto colors. And the few vessel corpses we see in canon outside of the Abyss are in the Ancient Basin, Greenpath, and Deepnest. I don't think any of them (besides Ghost) ever made it to Crystal Peak.

Comet died in the Abyss, buried under the remains of their siblings, so all colors are kind of new to them. They never encountered the infection, so no adverse reaction to orange (though it's not their favorite color, not by a long shot).

Bunny... doesn't like orange. Just about the only color besides dull blue that they'd seen prior to arriving in Vinyl City was that unholy bright orange, and it was quickly followed by a violent end, so as you can imagine, they're not a fan of it. Not, like, war flashbacks, but definitely uncomfortable. Living with the Sayu team, though, they quickly gain a fondness for pastel and other soft colors, particularly pinks and purples.

Thorn isn't a huge fan of the color orange, given personal experience with the Infection, but being adopted family with Yinu (whose second favorite color is orange) is kinda nudging their associations of the color away from sickness and more towards her. The color by itself wouldn't set them off, basically. Thorn does like autumnal colors, though; it's a change of pace from the dull, dead colors of their homeland, but not overwhelmingly bright or saturated.

Scotty's kind of ambivalent to the color orange, in all honesty. They associate the Infection more with sounds and smells than colors, especially since the new world they live in is full of many similar colors but not that many similar sounds or smells. That being said, orange is not their favorite; they like neon colors, like their bros.

Riley has a bit of a mild panic reaction to the sight of red fabric, just the same as how they react to being sneaked up on. Beyond that, colors don't really trigger a stress response. Despite dying in Greenpath, they still like the color green a fair bit, though they have taken up a more varied interest upon being introduced to the wacky and wonderful world of paints. Their favorite colors change on the hour.

Sterling... is not a fan of orange. Being the epicenter of the Infection for god knows how long gave them a strong aversion to it. No they don't want your orange juice cocktail, Tatiana. They also tend to get kind of stressed in bright, monochromatic spaces. For different reasons. Something a little dark and cozy is more to their tastes; I imagine they'd rather like the subtle colors of a suit shop or old-fashioned library.

In an older version of the AU, I might have brushed him off as simply being dead. Tying up loose ends and all that, plus it’s probably closer to canon than current fan theories about his survival, but now I’m thinking otherwise.

At present, I’m thinking that, since the major fanon surrounding him is that he’s a pill bug, he’s got gills and probably knows how to swim. He’s an old bug, but I don’t imagine he’d be dropping dead any time soon after all the stunts he pulled during the Uumuu boss fight.

In this AU, he descended into the depths of the Blue Lake out of curiosity, remembering his heritage and how he’d always wanted to see what the bottom of the seemingly endless lake looked like. He trusted his little friend to be able to handle themselves (plus, vessels float like corks in the water), hence why he descended alone. He left his nail because it wouldn’t really do him any good underwater.

Mayday and Zuke put Ghost in a little bedsheet ghost costume for their first Halloween. The tradition confuses them to a degree, because in Hallownest, a mask indicated identity. To put on a mask was similar to taking a new name and starting over. This cultural ideology was so strong that Ghost's very being is anchored to the living world through their mask. Putting on masks as a temporary measure purely for entertainment is absolutely mindboggling to them. That being said, they appreciate the free candy.

Comet gets put in a tiny astronaut costume that matches his own, more accurate one. It's like one of those suits you see on teddy bears at the Kennedy Space Center, but for babies. DJSS mostly just spends the day livestreaming music while taking adorable photos of Comet in their little space suit.

Bunny is... a bunny. After biting someone who got just a teensy bit too touchy with Tila's costume, they accidentally got some fake blood on them, and the team just decided to call their costume "The Rabbit of Caerbannog." Then they ruined the costume by falling into the tub while bobbing for apples. Naturally, the team took pictures of the whole thing, including comforting Bunny when they got upset at the costume thing.

Thorn and Yinu dress up as princess and knight. As in, Thorn's the princess, Yinu's the knight. Yinu already dressed up as a princess last Halloween and she didn't feel like repeating costumes, and Thorn was feeling more feminine that week. The costumer Yinu's mom hired went for something that kind of resembled Anthy's yellow childhood dress from Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Yinu's is faux plate armor. Both have a bit of a hard time moving, but they get epic bragging rights at the costume contest.

Scotty gets dressed up like a sixth 1010 member, complete with a funny-looking wig that wouldn't look out of place on a Kingdom Hearts character. Many wefies are had. They spend pretty much the whole night trying to climb the 12 foot tall skeleton they installed in Barraca Mansion's front yard, while the boys and Neon J had to keep prying them off it.

Riley was informed that they could dress up as anything or anyone they wanted to be, so when Eve caught them trying to paint half their face pink... suffice to say she ruined her own makeup crying. She wound up basing her own costume over her avant-guarde interpretation of who thinks Riley is going to be, while she touched up Riley's costume to be a little more themselves and like her. Riley's final costume wound up being half their head painted gray, while wearing black clothes and some geometric shapes glued to their shirt. Honestly they wound up looking a bit like Spamton Neo but it's not like Eve or Riley are big video game people.

Ghost is a little monster when it comes to going to the zoo and following the rules. They keep trying to climb into the pens to explore, much to the horror of their guardians, especially the alligator enclosure. Second time they go, Ghost is on the heaviest duty child leash on the market.

Comet is a little small to properly enjoy the zoo; for them it’s just a few hours of sitting in a stroller while DJSS stares at some signs and talks people’s ears off about astronomy until they get ice cream.

Bunny like the otters; they remind them more of Sayu than the fish do. Much more lively and interactive.

Thorn thinks Earth creatures are weird, so the hissing roach exhibit and the other arthropod exhibits are a little more their style, as much as Yinu hates it.

Scotty runs amuck in the petting zoo and tries riding one of the camels before they get whisked away to see the peacocks.

Riley likes the giraffes, though Eve is a teensy bit miffed to learn that’s because they remind Riley of her. “My neck isn’t that long!” (it kinda is).

Comet’s a baby, they don’t know a damn thing about what Valentine’s Day is about (most of the trankil don’t, because they’re almost all kids). For them it’s just “The day Dad took to sitting on the couch shoveling ice cream into his face hole while sobbing at the TV.” His idea of spending Valentine’s Day is watching documentaries about the formation of stars and planets. He does give Comet some chocolates, though, because they were on sale and he thought he might as well give them a bit of the childhood experience before they’d be old enough to be sad about it like he is.

Bunny gets to indulge in chocolates and watch their guardians play PG dating simulators. They don’t have any clue what’s going on, but the team seems to be having fun and they get to wear a nice dress, so it’s a good day.

Thorn gets introduced to the holiday by way of exchanging valentines at fencing school, once the instructor learned they were a homeschool kid. They don’t understand a damn thing about it, having grown up in a cave and their current guardian being a widow, which ironically gives them an advantage in sparring that day because everyone else was playing the “You wouldn’t hit me, I’m your Valentine” game, meanwhile Thorn loves nothing but the taste of victory.

Scotty is given just about all of the stuffed animals 1010 and Neon J receive during the holiday, adding to their already ludicrous pile of toys they’ve been accruing since their adoption. The boys tried explaining the holiday, but Scotty is psychologically equivalent to about 6 or 7 and doesn’t understand romance very well beyond the concept of flirting as something that people do sometimes to get a positive reaction. They may have pointed the finger guns and winked at people before, just to make them laugh.

Riley gets roped into some arts and crafts on Valentines day, though Eve is kind of swinging between eagerness to work on some art projects on stream and grieving over the renewed sense of loss after Zuke left her. Fudging around with glitter and trying to explain the symbology of the heart (”No, Riley, that’s not actually what human hearts look like. They look a little more like a balled up fist.”) takes her mind off the depressing part of being single on Valentines day.

Sterling is the recipient of a few cards, boxes of chocolate, and gift baskets from some secret and not-so-secret admirers, given their public status by the time the trankil’s first Valentines Day rolls by. Tatiana give them a knowing look (come on, she used to be a rock star, she’s gotten that treatment herself before, and still does every now and then) as they awkwardly haul the armloads of cheesy gifts to their room. It takes her a good half hour to convince them not to write polite rejection letters. Sterling, being the one adult among the lot with a fairly solid idea of what romance is, finds the concept of a whole holiday centered on it a touch... scandalous? At the very least, the White Palace wasn’t the kind of place where love was expressed openly (especially not in front of the Pure Vessel), what with the White Lady and Pale King’s strained relationship and royal retainers being held to a high standard of professionalism. Hallownest was never exactly Victorian levels of prudish, one of their main gods was a fertility goddess after all, but an entire holiday dedicated to romance might have been considered unnecessary. Why dedicate a whole day to it when you can just show your love all year and not make it awkward for those who aren’t involved?

I don’t think DK West would really be trusted to babysit Ghost. By the end of his storyline in the game, he just kind of dips out to do some soul searching, and while I don’t doubt he’s probably learned at least a little better after that, it would probably be a while before Zuke trusted him enough to keep an eye on Ghost. If BBJ were in a pinch they’d probably hand the little one over to Tatiana to hang out with Sterling, or one of the NSRtists. I would imagine Ghost would probably be just a little too old to be babysat by the time DK West really re-enters the picture in that aspect.

If DK West did get his hands on a trankil, he’d be in for a tough battle. The Trankil Adoption Agency is very choosy when it comes to guardians; they’ve had plenty of run-ins with traffickers after the little “tools” since their public introduction.

2. Honestly, if Grimm did make his way into the world of Vinyl City, he was maybe recently post ritual thanks to Ghost. As a result, the Grimm that BBJ would meet would be a lot younger, and probably wouldn’t need another ritual for a couple centuries (civilizations don’t rise and fall every couple years, you know). Dare I say, they’d never meet Grimm as we know him, but a slightly more matured Grimmchild under the guardianship of Hornet, after the disappearance of her siblings and the infection, before the two of them would make their way into Vinyl City a couple years later.

Grimmchild, by the point of his arrival, would have legs and be maybe an inch or two taller than Ghost (remember, Grimmchild’s final stage is about the same size as Ghost), and would be starting to talk, but he won’t be all that eloquent for a year or two. Otherwise he acts about the same as he normally does; it’ll be another ten to twenty years before he regains Grimm’s memories and takes over the troupe in full.

3. I don’t think the NSRtists or the trankil would think much differently of the troupe than the rest of the populace, besides the younger trankil not being afraid of it; after all, its master is a little bat-moth-baby who isn’t much more mature than any of them, they don’t have much a reason to be scared.