Luz Clawthorne: Krampmus Shenanigans

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Art by Crash X Fusion: Look who's dropping in this Christmas!

Realizing that the Clawthorne family's annual Christmas-Krampmus tradition isn't what she thought it was, Luz ropes Eda, King, Willow and Gus into making things right in the name of the holiday.

Tropes that appear in this Chapter:

Accidental Misnaming: Eda refers to Boscha as "Butch".
Adaptation Personality Change: Luz doesn't have as much knowledge of the human realm as she later shows in the main story, plus she's not as actively antagonistic against Amity, being just as affectionate towards her as in canon.
Alternate Universe: The one-shot serves as one for the main story since it's set at Christmastime in December, contrasting the main story being set in Summer.
An Aesop:
- Presents don't matter during the holidays; the time spent together with family does.
- Just because you do bad things because you've had a rough life doesn't mean you're a bad person. Your actions define who you are.
Animate Inanimate Object: Krampmus trees are living sentient plants.
Beware of Vicious Dog: One of the houses the Clawthornes robbed had a rottweiler puppy trained to attack burglars. Now he's full grown and it doesn't take kindly to finding the kids and King in its home after Luz accidentally steps on a talking toy unicorn.
Big Damn Heroes: Krampus and Santa Claus arrive to save the Clawthornes from the Richingtons.
Big Damn Kiss: Downplayed. After receiving her "alleged" present from Amity, Luz gives her a peck on the cheek.
Brick Joke: Seeing Boscha's Penstagram post mocking Luz for being in the line to see Krampus, Amity notes she's so getting taken by Krampus. Guess what happens at the end of the one-shot?
Calling the Old Woman Out: Luz chews Eda out for allowing her and King to steal kids' Christmas presents, believing Eda took them to the human realm to avoid Krampus herself.
The Cameo:
- Tiny Nose, Braxas and Boscha's posse are among the shoppers at the bazaar.
- Emperor Belos appears in Luz's Imagine Spot.
- Mattholomule is one of the kids working for Krampus at the end of the one-shot.
Christmas Elves: Parodied. To disguse everybody, Eda dresses Luz, Willow and Gus as elves.
Christmas Episode: Not just Christmas but the Boiling Isles equivalent, Krampmus.
Comedic Underwear Exposure: Discussed. In response to Edric and Emira teasing her about her crush on Luz, Amity threatens to burn off their clothes forcing them to run around their parents' party in their underwear.
Connected All Along: As everyone learns later on, Krampus knows Santa Claus.
Continuity Nod: Krampus mentions Luz destroying Hexside's detention pit, which was mentioned in "Won't Get Away".
Crush Blush: Amity has one when Luz pulls her into a hug after opening her present, and it intensifies when Luz kisses her on the cheek.
Death Glare: Fired by Amity at Hooty for destroying her gift to Luz.
Deep South: Krampus is said to have a country accent.
Disproportionate Retribution:
- Everyone at the bazaar riots and burns it to the ground after learning the Krampus there isn't real, one family going as far as to stomp on said Mall Krampus.
- Being cultists who worship Santa and take Christmas very seriously, the Richingtons didn't take it well when Eda allowed Luz and King to take their presents 10 years ago and attempt to punish them by dropping them in boiling eggnog.
Dope Slap: Luz flicks King's nose when he warns her not to invoke Krampus's wrath. Mrs. Richington later does it to Luz when she says she's only returning presents to be free of her guilt.
The Dreaded: Krampus, who's known not just for putting naughty children in his sack but also having them do groundswork on his farm.
Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Like in "Here Comes the Tutor", Emira is called Elmira.
- Doubling as Adaptation Personality Change, Luz isn't as hostile towards Amity as she is in the early chapters of Book 1, leaning a bit more towards her canon self by being affectionate towards her.
Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: In the home movie of Luz's 4th Krampmus, she shouts "This iz the best Kwampmus ever!" after receiving her present in the human world.
Evil Twin: Between the Blight twins, it's Emira given how much she messes with her siblings.
Face Palm: Eda does it when she realizes the Richington family are Christmas cultists her family robbed.
Eda: Why can't it ever be pagans?!
Felony Misdemeanor: Because of eyewitness claims, the Emperor's Coven blames Eda for the riot at the bazaar.
Freak Out:
- The moment she realizes their tradition is a sham, Luz becomes hysterical and announces the family's going to return all their stolen presents.
- After Hooty unintentionally destroys Amity's gift to Luz, she starts to have a panic attack. Hooty calls Willow and Gus for help, and Krampus tells him to have her breathe into a paper bag.
Heel–Face Turn: Kenny and Darla, the Richington kids, stop the Clawthornes' execution agter hearing their family moment and come to see that their family would be no better than other people they don't think highly of if they kill them.
Hiding Behind Your Bangs: At age 4, Luz's hair was so long and messy it covered her eyes.
High-Pressure Emotion: After Luz kisses Amity, the poor Blight's face completely turns red as steam comes out of her head and her eyes go blank.
Hope Spot: It seems that Amity's finally accepted Hooty as a friend for giving his gift to Luz in her name only for him to ruin the moment by loudly repeating the lesson everyone's learned.
Imagine Spot: Thinking of the potential outcome to Krampus learning about the Clawthornes' misdeeds, Luz pictures him taking her and King at night, Eda knocked out from fighting to protect her, with the two forced to work in his farm's fields while he drinks unsweet tea with Emperor Belos.
Instant Costume Change: To help everyone blend in in the human world, Eda uses a clothes changing spell to dress herself up as Santa while dressing Luz, Willow and Gus as elves. Luz is not amused.
Luz: Every time! You have the worst fashion sense!
The Krampus: He's real and he's the Boiling Isles counterpart of Santa.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: Santa wipes the Richingtons of the memory of seeing him, Krampus and the Clawthornes so they'll remain a secret.
Laser-Guided Karma:
- After finally getting the chance to meet Santa, the Richingtons (at least the parents, Brad and Janet) are chastised by him and the whole family gets mind wiped to prevent his existence from getting out.
- Boscha and Emira are both taken to work on Krampus' farm for their past naughty actions.
Laughing Mad: The Richingtons, several times and emphasis on mad.
Mall Santa: Mall Krampus, actually, which Tibbles works as a seasonal job.
Medium Awareness: Santa actually cuts the author off while he's describing his appearance.
Monster of the Week: The Richingtons, who attempt to murder the Clawthornes for the misery they went through after they stole their presents.
My God, What Have I Done?: Hearing Willow and Gus explain how the Clawthornes have been stealing Christmas presents from human kids for years, Luz soon has a moment which makes her realize their annual holiday tradition of getting presents humans leave for them was just them breaking and entering.
Must Make Amends:
- After realizing Eda's been allowing Luz and King to steal other kids' Christmas presents for 13 years, Luz convinces them to return said presents, kicking off the plot.
- To make up for destroying Amity's gift to Luz by accident, Hooty leaves his gift to Luz and signs it from Amity.
Never My Fault: The Richingtons blame the Clawthornes for their lives being ruined just for taking their children's presents, which includes the parents cheating and going to marriage counseling.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Literally! Hooty throws Amity's gift to Luz after retriving it and it lands on the floor, breaking the glass cube frame within. This sends Amity into a panic attack from both the present and her being out late meaning she'll get in trouble with her parents.
Noodle Incident:
- The "kiosk monopoly" incident.
- Whatever happened to King at a sorority house.
Old Shame: In-Universe, Luz is highly embarrassed by the huge, mushroom-shaped afro her hair was in when she was four, going as far as to tell Willow and Gus not to laugh when Eda shows them the home movie and hiding her face after it ends.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Surprisingly averted regarding Edric's illusion clones of his sisters but played straight with the Blight parents. While Odalia and Alador are suspicious of "Amity" being more lively at the party while "Emira" is reserved, they show concern more than anything.
Parents as People: Before facing their fate at the Richingtons' hands, Eda apologizes to Luz and King for letting them steal all their presents, explaining that she didn't have enough money back then to get them many presents and was just trying to give them a good Krampmus, which the two forgive her for.
Pet the Dog:
- Willow and Gus offer to help the Clawthornes return the presents as they know Luz isn't a bad person, just misguided.
- As their Krampmus present to Amity, Edric and Emira make an illusion of her as a cover so she can sneak out and get a present for Luz and not get bored at their parents' party.
Pyromaniac: Emira's illusion double is shown to be one as it stares into fire all night and later declares she wants to burn everything.
Santa Claus: The man in red appears as a Chekhov's Gunman, helping the Clawthornes out of the bind they're in.
Saving Christmas: Invoked. The reason Luz wants to return all the Christmas presents her family stole is to avoid Krampus's wrath.
Sexy Santa Dress: Eda's Santa disguise.
Shout-Out:
- The scene at the bazaar and the following conversation is based off what happened in the Christmas special, "Billy and Mandy Save Christmas".
- Some of King's stolen presents include a chewed up Mr. Potato Head (which acts as a nod to Toy Story), a set of BABBA stuffed dolls and a pair of Nike sneakers.
- The montage is played to "Merry Christmas" by The Ramones.
- When Luz and Eda look at King after he mentions the sorority house Noodle Incident, he says he'd rather not talk about it.
- The way Santa wipes the Richingtons' memories is the same method as in Men in Black, right down to the glasses.
Talk to the Fist: Amity slugs Hooty when he attempts to hack up his present to Luz, the noise he makes irritating her.
Touché: Eda says this when Luz says she isn't any better at not causing chaos than the kids are.
Twitchy Eye:
- Tibbles gets this as he listens to King listing off what presents he wants for Krampmus.
- Amity gets this when Hooty's presence gets to be too much, punching him so he'll leave her alone.
Villain Has a Point: Mrs. Richington's not far off when she accuses Luz of returning all the presents her family stole to alleviate herself from the guilt that came with it.
Villain Over for Dinner: In Luz's Imagine Spot, Emperor Belos has tea with Krampus as they oversee her and King working on Krampus' farm.
What the Hell, Hero?:
- Luz does not mince words after realizing Eda's encouraged breaking and entering into people's homes every year and robbing kids of their Christmas presents.
- Santa lays into Mr. and Mrs. Richington for trying to kill a family, even slapping Brad.