LC's Sidetrack: How Calypso Saved Krampmus
Art by Crosshot: Ho ho ho.
Skara tells Nina the story of how her mom encounters the Krampmus Krinch.
Tropes that appear in this chapter:
- Abusive Parents: Calypso and Scandalyn's parents are implied to have been these, treating them horribly especially on Krampmus. It's the reason Calypso stopped talking to them.
- Affectionate Nickname: Calypso calls her sister "Scandy".
- Amazon Brigade: The song performed in the non-canon epilogue is performed by several bad girls (and Edric): Luz, Boscha, Emira, Emily, Nina and Mel.
- Animated Actors: The non-canon ending features the entire cast up to Chapter 81 (characters from The Owl House, crossover characters from other Disney shows, and all the OC's) appear at a celebration party together, completely civil with one another. The villains are treated with no animosity, Nina acts like a Nice Girl, and the Inner Demon is said to wear make-up that gave him his old appearance in the story.
- Bait-and-Switch: It looks like the Krinch is ready to celebrate Krampmus with someone for the first time in ages, his heart growing three sizes to show his change of heart. Soon after, he's revealed to have died from a heart attack as a result of his heart growing.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Krinch ended up getting a heart attack after learning the true meaning of Krampmus, but is said to spread holiday cheer as a spirit. Rather than spending Krampmus alone, Calypso learned from the Krinch's example and celebrated the holiday with Scandy and Lilith, though in present day she doesn't seem to know what became of her sister. Nina realizes how much she actually loves her family after hearing the story but ends up crying in her room seeing that her actions may have led to her being permanently separated from them, and Odalia makes amends with Geist and asks for his help in doing the same with her family, which he agrees to do.
- The Cameo:
- Eyepatch and Rubert appear during Calypso's visit to the compound of the Beast Keeping Coven.
- A younger Eberwolf attacks the Krinch while he is robbing their home.
- The Slitherbeast appears, but as a smaller Slitherpuppy.
- In the non-canon epilogue, Dr. Doofensmirtz makes an appearance after everyone finishes their song.
- On another note, Jerbo, Soos, and Spud all have one spoken line during the epilogue.
- Christmas Episode: The Framing Device is still set in summer, but the A-plot takes place on Krampmus years prior to the series.
- A Day in the Limelight: For the first time ever, Calypso is the central protagonist as the A-plot delves into her younger years as the Red Hood Huntress. Nina and Skara are also featured prominently in the framing device.
- Framing Device: The story begins with Skara and Nina having to clean out the Brookes' storage shed. Nina soon finds the Krinch's stuffed body and Skara proceeds to tell the story of how her mom fought the creature.
- The Ghost:
- Calypso and Scandalyn's unnamed parents, who Calypso has actively avoided because they were abusive to her and her sister.
- Donna is mentioned by Skara, who questions if Nina would rather talk about her than hear about the Krinch.
- Belos, Terra, the Inner Demon, and Baba Yaga are mentioned during the Song Parody.
- The Blight family is mentioned by Odalia along with Amity, who's indirectly mentioned.
- The Grinch: The Krinch, an expy of the Trope Namer who sets out to ruin Krampmus.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Calypso utters this after the Krinch dies, only she didn't say "freaking".
- Killed Off for Real: Max is murdered by Calypso injecting a mix of lethal venoms into him while the Krinch has a heart attack moments after having a change of heart.
- Meaningful Name: Head Witch Oso's name is Spanish for "bear", which is the type of animal he is.
- Out of Focus: Ignoring the non-canon epilogue, the only Clawthorne to appear in the main story is a younger Lilith: Eda gets mentioned, while Luz doesn't even get that. Skara's the only other main character to appear at all: everyone else is indirectly mentioned in the epilogue save Luz, Eda, Amity (who's indirectly mentioned by Odalia in the main story), and Boscha.
- The Reveal:
- Calypso has a younger sister named Scandalyn and she stopped going by "Woodemon" during her Red Hood Huntress days because of her Abusive Parents.
- At one point the Head Witch of the Beast-Keeping Coven was a demon bear named Oso the Breaker.
- Max was previously a henchman working for the Krinch prior to being killed by Calypso and reanimated by Dr. Bride.
- Eberwolf is shown to have siblings.
- Sequel Hook:
- Odalia asks Geist to help her apologize to her family and he agrees.
- As a gag not meant to be taken seriously, Luz mentions there's a chance Doofenshmirtz (and possibly the rest of the cast of Phineas and Ferb) might appear in Book 3.
- Shout-Out:
Word of God confirmed that the rooftop fight between Calypso and the Krinch is based off the retconned reason Joe Swanson was paralyzed in the early seasons of Family Guy. - Synchronous Episodes: The present day parts are set during the second half of "Let's Dip Into the Time Pool Again!"
- What Could Have Been: An In-Universe example. In the epilogue, Doof storms in after the song and asks why his appearance in Chapter 81 was cut: Eda tells him that with all the content that was already included, JP and Buck had to cut him out. Since the epilogue is non-canon, it's not meant to be taken seriously.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Most of the chapter is set many years in the past, following a younger Calypso during her Red Hood Huntress days.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The story is basically one to How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, with the Krinch as a stand-in for the Grinch, and Maxwell as a stand-in for Max.
