A Tempmas Carol
'Twas the night before Tempmas, and not a creature was stirring... no, fuck that. It really was the night before Tempmas though, and lo and behold, in the Magazine Staff room, Ryukouki was working, all alone, outlining his plans of articles for the new year. Ryukouki was a bit of a workaholic, spending almost all of his hours scrounging news from neighboring websites, preparing to steal and post information to the front page. He did not really have a ton of friends, and kept to himself a lot. All his staff colleagues were out celebrating the holidays, and their work done in tidy piles on their desks. The last staff out the door was his boss Costello that evening, waving and wishing Ryu a happy holidays, hours before. Even though Ryu was done with his end of the year materials, he still had so much work to do with the new year ahead of him. He still had to get on his supervisor p1ngpong's nice list, and avoid getting on the naughty staff list, not to mention his articles. He constantly worried and toiled that his work just was not enough to satisfy his employers.
After finishing as much work as he could, it was already ten on the night of Tempmas Eve. He went to his melancholy diner, ate his lonely meal, and headed back home. His home looked dark and gloomy, in comparison to the cheery Tempmas lights that adorned his neighbor's homes. He unlocked the door to his house, heaved a sigh, and walked inside, ignoring the loud cheers and happiness oozing from the neighboring homes of those celebrating the holiday season. His house was ominously dark, not a decoration in sight.
Ryu took a shower, rinsing all the troubles of the holiday season, and climbed into bed shortly thereafter. Falling asleep quickly he was awoken by a noise next to his bedstand, and to his surprise, he found a person standing by. This person seemed unlike a ghost, but not quite human at the same time, and oddly enough it was in the form of his old friend Tom Bombadildo. The ghost introduced himself, and declared in a loud booming voice that Ryu was not in a Tempmas mood, and that he would soon face an untimely demise should he not observe the spirt of Tempmas. The ghost of Tom Bombadildo dragged a reluctant Ryu around to different destinations of his Tempmas pasts, such as the scavenger hunt, the art contests for the new Top Toy DS flash chips. Ryu observed that everyone around him, including himself, was having fun, and the ghost noted to Ryu that he could still have hopes! Ryu was not convinced, however, and concluding that he may have been having a nightmare, proceeded to kick Tom out of his dreams by entertaining him with his memories about repeatedly dying in Dark Souls.
Tom, being angry about that, departed, but not before providing an ominous warning that his troubles were not close to ending.
Ryu woke up to darkness. He checked the clock. It was not even midnight yet, but he heard the sounds of a crackling fire. He lurched out of bed, and went to the dining room, where he found himself sitting by the fire, enjoying a hearty meal. This Ryu was more handsome and terrifying than the puzzled one who stood at the door. His features seemed chiseled in stone. The ghost identified himself, and invited Ryu over to eat with a rather menacing hand. Ryu hesitantly sat down, and the ghost began showing scenarios of Ryu enjoying himself with the community, helping those who had problems getting hardware to work, presenting him with accolades for being a good member. Ryu was not convinced, but thanked this ghost anyways and walked back to bed, falling asleep once more.
Awakening in a cold sweat, Ryu curled over in his bed, and shut his eyes. He awoke what felt like moments later to a bright light. This ghost took the form of pyromaniac123, and Ryu gave his best
face to pyro, and following that, the ghost dragged Ryu along into the distant future. He dragged Ryu before a computer screen, which had Ryu's GBAtemp profile loaded onto it. Alas, though, the picture of Ryu no longer existed, replaced by a gray and red picture spelling the word "Banned!" The ghost, a mute, pointed at the screen and at Ryu. Ryu, noticing the implied message, yelped in terror, understanding that the meaning of Tempmas was about spending it with his friends in the community and not worrying so much about his works. He pleaded with the ghost of pyro, who continued to smirk at Ryu, relishing in his misery. Ryu, frightened, covered his ears, shut his eyes, and wailed, only for him to wake up in his bed.
It was bright out! Ryu looked around his room, hugging his bed post, hugging the curtains, and danced around like a madman. He poked his head out the window, and to the nearest wandering person, exclaimed, "I seem to have lost the date, can you tell me what date it is?" The youth, incredulously, looked up at Ryu, and shouted, "Sir, it's Tempmas day!!" Ryu, excited, cried tears of happiness, thinking that he missed Tempmas day. He vowed, after witnessing the terrors that were the ghosts of Tom and pyro, to live a more cheerful and not-so-work-oriented life. Hastily decorating the house, he hurried onto the GBAtemp site, and posted his remaining works, and announcing to the Shoutbox that he was done for the remainder of the year.
Just two days after the holiday festivities, Ryu was back in the staff room, and everyone immediately noticed his cheerful demeanor. Costello even offered a raise to Ryu as he liked his new attitude. And thus, after witnessing the events of the Tempmas Past and Future, Ryukouki found the true meaning of the Tempmas holidays.
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And now, from me to every one of you guys, Happy Holidays!
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