#Cryptid sightings chapter 12

[itsillchangethislater]

These took me far longer than they should have, but finally!! Chapter 12 illustrations done! I went the charcoal and graphite route on these. I’m a bit burnt out on inks atm and switching it up helped me get back to it!

I love the scenery and setting of chapter 12-13. The misty lake forest always is so clear in my mind. I’ve always pictured it being in the mountains? Think the Rockies or Vermont. Which they then cross over to reach the desert. BUT, when I attempted to draw mountains…It….Didnt go so well! So we got a lake centric view instead!

The Sun picture was actually a last minute addition to the picture line up I have. I’ve got everything sketched out at this point but realized I had no scenes inside the airstream, which was a big letdown! I love the airstream home they have and really felt like I needed at least ONE shot inside of it, showing a cozier scene.

Also!! Here’s some fun trivia for the 2nd picture with Sun…so while my family and I were traveling, we passed an airstream dealership. I practically tipped the car with my lunge of desperation. Quite probably the only chance I would ever get for really good reference images of the inside of an airstream….! We ended up stopping on our way back and I took about a million pictures. Yeah sure I might have all the other images sketched already and this is the only one that was in the inside of the airstream BUT!!! They’re there if I need them and that’s the important part! Special thanks to my sister and her leg for posing for y/n’s pose for me!

Cryptid sightings of course belongs to the lovely @naffeclipse

[lavenoon]

Secrets, Trust, and Distance

Inspired by the dichotomy of these two bits from @naffeclipse's newest chapter:

[ladykailitha]

Well By Moonlight Part 15

Sorry for this being so late, I thought I set it up last night but hasn't been kind to me the last couple of days with the move.

This week we get all our old favorites back as I work through my backlog. The final chapter of Sweet Surrender will be out on Saturday.

This is another Nancy centric chapter as she tries to track down the wisp of her memories.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

~

Nancy’s first stop was the library. Because as much as Steve’s comments galled her, she knew in his goofy, big-hearted way was right. She needed to find out about what happened fifteen years ago. Maybe even further than that. But fifteen years was a good place to start.

She drove into town. As strange as that was to think of, most of the pack had cars of some sort. Steve just preferred to travel in wolf form when he could and now she knew why.

She had met a couple of conspiracy nut jobs in her time as a reporter for their school newspaper, but there was something about this that felt bigger than it looked on the outside.

Nancy walked into the library and flashed her pack ID to the librarian. She was going to a specific part of the library, one only available to Domini, alphas, and Wayne Munson. The records of supernatural entities.

She strolled to a secure door that librarian unlocked from a button under her desk, and waited until the door swung open. It revealed a dark and winding stairway that with her enhanced vision she was able to traverse without issue.

She reached the bottom of the stair and smiled at the sight before her. Perched on a table like a gargoyle was Eddie, who was watching his uncle read. She cleared her throat.

Both men looked up at her in surprise.

“Nancy!” Eddie cried. “What brings you to the coolest place in the library?”

She raised her eyebrow at Wayne. “Is he supposed to be here?”

“Family. It’s allowed,” he smiled.

She neared the table to peer over Wayne’s shoulder. “What are you guys looking up?”

Eddie and Wayne shared a look.

“Steve told me everything,” Nancy said primly. “About Tommy, the attack on Patrick. His past. His fears about where all this is coming from.”

“Oh.” Eddie blinked at her a moment. “Wayne and I are trying to find which supe is scentless or as near to as a supe can get. Why are you here?”

Nancy thought about it for a moment and had to concede that if Steve trusted them, she had no reason to not to as well.

“I’m looking into the circumstances of Steve’s fostering and the events leading up to that,” she said, coming over to sit down across from Wayne. “There is something that I only vaguely remember about that time that sticks in my mind and I’m hoping that by going through the records I can find something that sparks that memory.”

Wayne scratched his chin. “I’m working on the angle that whatever it was that attacked Patrick was the same one that killed Steve’s parents.”

Nancy blinked at him a moment and then pulled the book over to her so she could see what they were looking at more clearly.

“I could smell it,” she murmured. “So it’s something that werewolves can scent, but harder for vampires to do the same.”

She turned the book around as Eddie and Wayne shared a glance. She went flipping through the pages.

“There are a few supernatural beings that it could be,” she continued. “We tend to forget about the ones that don’t transform in someway. We think of werewolves, sirens, gwyllgi, selkie and the like. Even vampires have a higher form that they transform into. But there are creatures like the cat sìth and djinn that don’t transform. What you see is what you get.”

“You’re thinking that whatever this beastie is, is a cryptid?” Wayne asked, watching her flip the through the pages faster than his slow, methodic research.

Nancy spun the book around. On the page there were three such creatures. The sphinx, the chimera, and the manticore.

“My bet is on one of these,” she said curtly, standing up. “Now that you know what you’re looking for, if you’ll excuse me, I have my own research to do.”

Eddie and Wayne just exchanged eye rolls before Eddie got up and pulled out books on the beasts, splitting the pile in half and handing a stack to Wayne.

Nancy pulled out this huge portfolio and it landed on the table with a horrid thud, sending up a cloud of dust.

Eddie waved the air in front of his face, not that it would make him cough or irritate his eyes since becoming a vampire, but it was annoyance nonetheless.

“Don’t they have those things on microfiche?” he asked with a glare. They were there first and she was acting like they were bothering her.

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Yes, but I want to see the originals.”

It took everything in Eddie’s power not to roll his eyes back at her and just buried his head into the research he was doing. He began jotting down things about the chimera that might fit the beast they were looking for.

Wayne had only gotten through two chapters of the sphinx when he shook his head.

“Not a sphinx,” he said gruffly. “They have far too many rules to want to ally with at cat sìth for anything short of an all out war between the fae.”

Eddie nodded, he had ruled them out based on DND rules, but didn’t want to say anything in front of Miss Snooty. He handed Wayne all the books he had on the manticore, his mind on the task in front of him.

Tat, tat, tat...

His pen flicked back and forth in his fingers as read about chimeras. There were different kinds but always a serpent tail, a feline body, and a capra head. The freaky thing breathed honest to god fire.

He thought about the beast that attacked Patrick, the one that Steve had apparently fought off by himself.

Neither of the two men had any indication that they had burn marks on them. Granted it was harder to tell with Steve. The transformation healed most wounds, going either direction. From wolf to human and vice versa.

Tat, tat, tat...

He looked up to see an exchange between Nancy and Wayne. She looked murderous, but Wayne’s steely glare kept her mouth shut. His glance darted back and forth between the two of them in confusion.

“His tapping is driving me crazy,” she finally hissed.

Wayne licked his lips nice and slow and leveled her with a look that could have curdled three generations cows’ of milk.

“And we were here first,” he said coldly. “You are here on a hunch. And probably a damn good one, but if we don’t find out what is stalking the streets of Hawkins, one of the pups could be next, so you will show him the respect you would give me.”

Her jaw that had been hanging open slammed shut.

Eddie snorted and tapped again just to annoy her. Nancy glared at him.

“She doesn’t respect you is the problem, Uncle Wayne. It’s why she wouldn’t let you watch their moon night. Something that if had been allowed wouldn’t have resulted in a brand new werewolf, the ire of the coven, and rampaging beast on the loose, because you would have been there to help Steve take it out.”

Wayne’s glare turned to ice. “Is that so?”

Nancy gulped. Hard. For all Wayne Munson’s down to earth looks and speech she had forgotten that he was a centuries old being with more experience in his left pinkie than she did in all her days on this earth.

She knew she didn’t have a real leg to stand on when she threatened Steve about either of these two vampires watching over her pack, but knew that he would go along with her because he didn’t understand pack pecking order.

But she held her chin high. “I have no reason to trust any vampire, but especially not a Bitten.”

“Do you know what happens when a vampire is turned?” Wayne asked her darkly.

“I know the technical aspects of it,” she replied haughtily. “But as I am not a vampire, I can only speak metaphorically.”

Again Eddie snorted, rolling his eyes. “You’re not bitten anything. You’ve got werewolf blood in you going back generations on both sides. Your privilege is showing, princess.”

“It’s not like werewolf biting either,” Wayne said ignoring them both. “Steve asked Patrick permission to bite him. It didn’t always used to be that way, but it’s so ingrained in werewolf society that they aren’t aware that they can turn a person into a wolf, provided that person is an alpha. But it’s a soft process. A healing one.”

Nancy frowned, chewing on her lip. “And vampire turning isn’t? I thought Steve asked Billy why he didn’t heal Patrick.”

Wayne nodded. “Because vampire turning requires blood to be exchanged. To just heal Patrick all it would have taken is for Billy to drink his blood. The venom in their saliva has healing properties so that their victims don’t go tattling to everyone and anyone they’d been bit.”

“So even if Billy had merely tried to heal Patrick and get his allegiance in exchange for his life, he still would have sprang the trap set for him?” she asked.

Eddie nodded. “Whoever is pulling the strings on this whole thing knows a lot about vampires, just not enough about Billy.”

Wayne hummed his agreement. “This person is wily and cunning, but their plans keep getting foiled by Steve, so unless you want your alpha dead, you’ll let us work in peace.”

Nancy looked down at the folio in front of her a moment before speaking. “What’s so different about a vampire turning over a werewolf one?”

Wayne turned to Eddie. “You’ve gone through it more recently than I have. You can tell her if you want, but I won’t make you.”

Eddie set his jaw. “It’s like a fire consuming you. Burning out your very blood, your very breath. It literally kills you. That’s why born vampires look down on us, because we’re not living. We will never live again. But unlike Wayne, I chose this willingly. Not because I was going to die anyway. Which is how it usually goes. They turn you and then turn you loose.”

She blanched and her eyes went wide. “Why would they do that?”

“Because, Miss Wheeler,” Wayne said fiercely, “because they got too careless and needed to make a quick getaway. Turn a person into a vampire, send the poor crazed bastard out on the populous, and watch the destruction from afar.”

“‘Cause, if the town’s folk are chasing a rampaging beast,” Eddie sneered, “then they won’t look too closely at the lord who left in the middle of the night.”

Nancy could barely breathe. “That’s awful. Why would anyone willing chose to go through all that pain and torment?”

“Because I would rather die,” Eddie said solemnly, “and going through the agonies of undeath than lose the one person in my life who gave a damn for longer than my use to them.”

She looked between them both and then nodded. She went back to her work without further comment or complaint.

Eddie waited a few more moments to make sure she wasn’t going to say anything else. Then he turned to Wayne. “It’s not a chimera, either. It’s got to be a manticore.”

Wayne looked down at his pile of books, his expression ashen.

“May god save us all.”

~

Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @goodolefashionedloverboi

3- @fullpoetrybread @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @bookworm0690 @littlewildflowerkitten @just-a-tiny-void @potato-of-the-lord @thelittleclare

5- @goosesister @tinyplanet95 @she-collects-smut @irregular-child @y4r3luv

6- @fairytalesreality @anaibis @papergrenade @ravenfrog @blondie1006 @dreamercec

7- @thedragonsaunt @sadisticaltarts

[mythyk-art]

The fact that this is technically fanart of a FNAF SB au... It’s based on a scene from chapter 12 of Cryptid Sightings by @naffeclipse​ - and yet it’s literally just the rake. Nothing FNAF there!

But yeah the scene stuck with me and I wanted to dedicate some time to making it look really good.

Also of note, I don’t think I’ve properly seen images of the rake, so I was working on text description alone. I had fun :>

Bonus image of the art without the colour filter layers below the cut

[naffeclipse]

My friend. I just recently came across your Sleuth Jesters fic. And holy shit. It’s amazing. I can’t. I’m finally leveling into chapter 12. And I don’t want the story to end. The arch of the story brought me to the edge of my seat. The temptations of each scene. Breathtaking.

It was, and still is, a beautiful piece of literature.

I come to ask, has this story ended at 13 chapters? Or will it continue to rot the minds of the masses? (You gotta love the Fnaf fic brain rots. ;3)

Aww, thank you so much! It means so much to me ♥

That is all I have planned, but who knows about the future! I still need to finish Cryptid Sightings and then tackle my MerMay fic, then we'll see what happens after that.

[claire-starsword]

The Guardiana Magic School Run - Part 12

We begin Chapter 4 with more cryptid sightings.

And now some more promotion whining. Khris is up for promotion now, however, like Lowe, I can delay her until level 16 to get Heal 3 faster, at the expense of delaying Heal 4 until level 21 promoted. I already said I prefer doing that.

But Khris has another thing to consider, which is Aura. She learns Aura 1 at level 20, which means I could get it earlier by delaying her promotion even more, however that super delays both the aforementioned Heal 4 and Aura 2, which is all the way at level 28. I'm okay with that because I doubt I'd be getting to that level anyway

My actual worry is that she doesn't get to that level quickly enough and misses promotion only weapons. So while the initial plan is to promote her at 20, I might change my mind if I decide I need her attack more.

Whining done, let's explore my favorite town of Pao. We find a Long Sword, which Max still can equip despite being unpromoted, so I'll just carry on with him like this I guess. I could buy the Mermanbuster from the deals now and promote Max, but he's being super busted for now so let's maybe save money, I don't remember what things we might want to buy later on.

There are no new deals. The regular Weapon Shop offers us the Power Lance, which is stronger than the Power Spear, but weaker than the Elf Slayer so it doesn't matter for us. And then there's the Paralyzer… which is already a Vicar-only weapon. Uh oh. I forgot about this. Maybe this means the healers are already behind in attack but, I again don't think I want to risk them attacking in the next battle. Actually I'm very afraid of the next battle, I'm expecting it to end to current deathless streak.

To put some more pressure in, this shop will leave before the battle, so I have to make a decision now. I'm sticking to my plan of delaying the priests' promotion then, but I might reevaluate depending on how things go.

And that's it. The Pao train has moved on and so must we. We get to say hi to Kokichi and Vankar but can't even sell their weapons for profit right now.

The Raging Drum is an anti-artillery axe. We don't have axe users in this playthrough so that means nothing to us.

Anri is right. Look at all those enemies. They don't advance at once, they come in waves, but still gather faster than you'd expect, especially with us having only eight characters to attack. The terrain is also completely plain and wide, so it's hard to protect the squishy characters. If you don't recall, six out of my eight characters are squishy. There's a reason I expect to die.

We're also at a ridiculous distance from then so there's not much to do for now. I do wonder if I can try sticking a bit to the north or south and approach one side of his army first. I never tried before because I don't really think when playing Shining Force casually.

Okay so I goofed up and picked to go north, but there's barely any space to move around them here, there's more space to the south but i don't think i have the time to correct course when the wave of knights is coming behind them. I'm also unsure if these guys can be baited at all, since they're lining up in a pretty formation.

More importantly, remember when I said it sucks to not be able to see enemy stats before attacking them once? This battle is why. One of the lizardmen, the middle one i think, has the heat axe equipped, and deals way more damage. I would love to wipe that one first, but that means throwing myself in the very middle of their formation.

This battle sucks man I have no clue what to do here.

The lizardmen indeed do not advance easily, and the pegasus knights are basically already here. I wonder if they advance easily due to their movement, or if they'll stop somewhere as well. I'm honestly so clueless as to how to approach them that i might as well observe a little.

hell

The Silver Knights are also already coming and I have definitely messed up at this point.

Somehow I've managed to bait only a few enemies, but the lizardmen are dealing 2 damage each (without the heat axe!!), and baby, I'm deeply missing when that number was always 1.

and this is just horrifying

But if I'm horrified, Max is PISSED OFF about it. Please keep this energy man.

Tao gets in the range of enemies doing this but Gong will be able to cover her before any of them move. Will he survive? That's the question.

All I can say is that no one will survive her. Sadly this thing is 8 MP so she has like, three uses of it. Definitely won't be able to save them for Elliot, I have no clue how I'm gonna deal with Elliot actually, I don't trust anyone escept Max to approach him, I'm starting to think I REALLY should have bought the mermanbuster.

Okay it does seem like I hit a sweet spot in this field by accident. Max and Gong defeat the remaining lizardman, and only a Silver Knight advances, and they're weaker than everything else here. A Dark Priest also comes to heal Max's counterattack on the knight, and I sure would love to wipe these guys out before they heal something stronger. I'll also save Tao's MP for stronger enemies.

Max defeats the priest, Gong attacks the Silver Knight, but I'm too scared to advance anyone else! And I was right, because the Heat Axe guy finally comes:

If they did a second attack, we would have been toast.

There has to be a smarter way to do this fight but man, I don't know it.

At least Tao gets to solve the problem.

As seen by another patented Arthur Level Up, everyone gathers to defeat the previous wave of enemies, even though Anri is at reach of enemies now and I hate it, thankfully they are obsessed with Max as usual.

Now that the Super Heat Lizard is gone, the pegasus knights are by far the bigger threat (28 attack against 22 and 20 from the lizardmen and silver knights). Unfortunately there's two of them while Tao only has one more Blaze 3, but I'll use anyway, I suspect Elliot is resistant to magic. Most bosses are.

I legit don't know what I'm gonna do about Elliot :')

Next turn. We're alive! Somehow! Even though I risked Anri in front of the Silver Knight and Arthur did The Exact amount of damage to finish them off, nothing more, nothing less. The final enemies refuse to advance, so I finally have some attempt at positioning.

And by that I mean let's just send Max as usual.

After two turns in which Max and the knights decide to be the spiciest lads and trade a bunch of counters and double attacks, we wipe out everyone at the center. Hurray. Now I cannot avoid dealing with Elliot any longer.

I'm hoping to bait the enemies without Elliot, bosses don't move much.

I cannot complain, enemies are obedient in this game.

Also, check out this sweet attack boost from Gong!

Will he advance if I do this? I considered doing it with Max before the classic issue of "oh no what if I lose the whole battle" popped up, so yeah, sorry Gong as usual.

He survives with more than half HP!

He counters!

Alright this should mean Max also survives, so screw strategy, throw everything in this man.

I'm worried about counters though, bosses do A LOT of that in this game, so let's start with Supernova.

It might also be doing more damage.

So yeah, it turns out he only has 10% magic res, so saving Tao could have been useful, but things still work out despite Arthur missing a hit. Anri even gets the kill, which is exp she needs.

And then we get something even better. Narsha. Who you don't get to see because I hit image limit, my bad.

And I just realized our team members don't end there. There's Domingo!

We're ridiculously close to have a full team, we're at 9/12 characters.

My power is also dangerously close to going out rn, so I'm saving for today.

___

Note: the above was played a few weeks ago. The power indeed went out in the next minutes due to a storm, but thankfully it was all fine on our side.

I do need to add something now that the threat of power outage isn't dangling over me, though. This has been a way easier challenge than i initially expected, which is kinda nice as it means i've learned to play the game better, but also kinda boring for a challenge run. And I don't see this changing for now, the next battles in Chapter 4 and 5 tend to be easy for me even on casual play, with a difficulty spike only in Chapter 6.

I've even been feeling a bit unmotivated to continue because of that, so I might make simpler posts for those battles compared to how I've done things so far. Obviously that'll change if something exciting does happen, but I figured I'd give a heads up for this possibility.

Losses: 0 Deaths: 2. Somehow.

[real-time-twilight]

New Moon in Real Time

January 16th, 2006 (Monday)

A Note on Today's Entry: I have mentioned this before, but there is a glaring error in the text of New Moon regarding this date. Bella states that this day (the 19th) marks one day after the one-year anniversary of her first day at Forks High School. However, we also know from the text that this is a Monday. As Bella came to Forks in 2005, according to the official guide, and based on the fact that all the calendar dates in Twilight match up to the 2005 calendar, New Moon takes place in 2006. January 19th, 2006, was in fact, not a Monday, but a Thursday. I therefore had little choice but to flatly ignore the text on this particular, regardless of the anniversary being a focal point of the chapter. It is, however, interesting to note, that January 19th, 2004, was a Monday. Given that Twilight was originally written in 2003, it seems possible that Meyer wrote New Moon to be set in 2004, with the 2006 date being a later retcon.

On this Day

Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous 🌖

🌄 Sunrise: 7:59 AM

🌅 Sunset: 4:55 PM

New Moon, Ch. 6 ("Friends") from pg. 151, line 26--Ch. 7 ("Repetition") to pg. 165, line 12

7:30 AM (Approx.) - Bella wakes from a new version of her usual nightmare involving Sam Uley

8:15 AM (Approx.) - Charlie monitors Bella during breakfast

9:00-9:50 AM - Bella realizes how absent she's been at school

10:00 AM - Bella tries to talk to Jessica in Calculus; Jess is cold to her, still upset with Bella's disconcerting behavior in Port Angeles.

12:10-12:50 PM (Approx.) - Bella is late to lunch, breaks her months-long silence to defend Angela's story of her and a Ben's cryptid sighting near the Sol Duc trailhead, Mike strikes up conversation with Bella

12:50 PM (Approx.) - Angela thanks Bella for sticking up for her; Bella asks the date and realizes that a year has passed since she first started at Forks High School

3:45 PM (Approx.) - Bella goes to the Cullen House

4:25 PM (Approx.) - Bella arrives at La Push to watch Jake work on the bikes

6:30 PM (Approx.) - Bella returns home and is greeted by Charlie and pizza; Bella reads an email from an enthusiastic Renée

New Moon in Real Time Masterpost

[lost-at-534]

Chapter 12 of @naffeclipse "Cryptid Sightings" has me going ABSOLUTELY INSANE.

Anyway I was listening to this song on repeat while reading it and it kinda just

Fits really well

Ok bye while I go read the rest

[platypanthewriter]

Hook Possum 2/4

Art by @monsdasarah​ for Harringrove Big Bang!

CHAPTER ONE

After dinner, Jonathan Byers got out his guitar, and started teaching them camp songs.  Steve resigned himself to weeks of Kum-ba-ya stuck in his head, but they heard a weird grinding, crunching noise in the distance, and Robin whispered “I think that came from the cemetery,” just to freak everyone out.

“The cemetery?!” a boy yelped, and Jonathan started playing The Bell Witch, because he was just as awful as Robin was.

 “Little Betsy, the age of 12/Living in a dream, the first one to scream,” he sang, and Steve groaned into his hands.

“Invisible hands/Leaving their mark in the dark

Night after night/The Bell Witch attacked and attacked

Torturing Betsy/Until a circle was held in candle light.”

 The littlest kids started climbing right up on Hook Possum.  The air filled with stories of the Bell Witch, and how she could travel, she could be anywhere, and how the bathrooms at Camp Butternut Springs were always cold.  

“They’re haunted,” Robin said, and Steve elbowed her, growling.

The bathrooms were always cold, because they were poured cement set in the hill, and the cabins warmer, because they were up the hill where they got some sun, and built of wood.  Steve tried to explain it every year, but every year the kids all started running around and shrieking about the goddamn Bell Witch.  The littlest kids asked Hook Possum to go with them to the toilets as it got dark.

Even Robin ‘Oh, that’s haunted’ Buckley took mercy, and didn’t tell them the local ghost stories.  Yet, anyway, Steve thought.  A small mercy. 

When Steve found a kid crying outside the bathrooms after playing the mirror game—they stared in and said I hate the Bell Witch, over and over, watching until their faces looked creepy and distorted in the low, flickering light—Steve sat down on the ground and patted his little sobbing shoulder, and sighed.

“Look,” he said, “—there’s only one ghost around here, Hook Possum.  Hook Possum is the ghost of possums who get hit by reckless drivers.  The Bell Witch isn’t here, because of Hook Possum, okay?”

“I s-saw s-something,” the kid wailed, clinging to Steve’s arm, and Steve pulled his sobbing hanger-on back to the fire.

“Hook Possum’s our local cryptid,” Dustin was saying, and then he had to explain to the younger kids what a cryptid was.  “Like Bigfoot,” he said, “—or the Loch Ness Monster.  Or the Pope Lick Goat Man.”

“...the what?!” Hook Possum asked, startled, and Dustin’s chest swelled with excitement as his grin widened.  

“The Pope Lick Goat Man,” Dustin breathed, “—was originally a farmer, who sacrificed his goats and who knows what else to Satan.”

“Dustin,” Steve sighed, as the story brought more kids around the fire.  

“He was reborn as a twisted goat man,” Dustin said over him, because Dustin wouldn’t have any frantic children banging on the door of his cabin at two am.  Dustin continued with relish.  “He lives under the train trestles of Pope Lick Creek, mimicking the voices of dead loved ones to lure people into the path of the train.  There have been so many deaths it’s illegal to go near there,” Dustin whispered, to his rapt audience of a bunch of children who were definitely gonna be too scared to go to the toilets that night, and they’d probably wet their beds.

“Dustin, come on,” Steve groaned.

“The trestle is over 750 feet long, and it’s a 90 foot drop,” Will Byers added, and Steve smacked his face into his hands, because he hadn’t expected that epic betrayal.  

“When the train comes, there’s nowhere to go,” Dustin continued, with relish.  “It’s said he’s so terrifying people leap to their deaths at the sight of him, even if there’s no oncoming train.  Ninety feet down into Pope Lick Creek.  That’s like jumping off an eight-story building.”

The kids gasped, and Steve pinched the bridge of his nose as Robin stepped in, grinning evilly.

“He’s been known to jump down from the trestle himself, to attack cars underneath with an axe,” she said.

“Augh!” squeaked one little boy, and the kid Steve had rescued from the Bell Witch mirror game clung tighter to Hook Possum, sniffling.

“Hook Possum has a hook,” Robin told the squeaking kid, once Steve elbowed her hard in the gut, again.  The kid did not look reassured.  “—and the Goat Man lives in Kentucky, over a hundred miles away.”

“Hook Possum jumps on cars too,” Dustin said cheerfully, and Hook Possum said “Wait, what,” again, as Dustin climbed up on one of the logs around the fire, holding his finger like a hook.

“Hook Possum is the vengeful spirit of possums killed by reckless drivers,” Robin explained—far from helping—and started telling tales of drivers stopping to pick up hitchhikers that turned into massive, man-sized hissing possums in the passenger seat of their car.

“One account is weirder, because the guy was super drunk,” she whispered, leaning in, and the kids listened, riveted.  “He picked up a hitchhiker, but when he looked in the backseat, it was just a coat around a fleet of possums,” she said with relish.  “They climbed all over him, scratching and biting—”

“I’m a ghost story?” asked Hook Possum, and Steve spun in place to see him half-shadowed in the light of the fire, the flames glinting off his molded teeth, his empty mesh eyes skull-like.

“Uh,” he said, giving an involuntary shudder.  “Yeah.  Didn’t you know?”

“Don’t let anything get me,” the kid Steve had rescued from the bathroom sobbed, throwing both arms around Hook Possum, and Hook Possum patted their hair.  

“I want real ghost stories,” said one of the kids around the fire, and Hook Possum breathed “You don’t think I’m real, kid?” with a little possum-y hiss in his voice, his silvery plastic hook reflecting the firelight, and the kid yelped.  “I’m scarier than anything else out there,” he growled, and Steve, in all honesty, had to agree.  The kid blinked huge eyes, and Hook Possum patted their head again, clumsily, nearly poking them in the eye as they giggled.  

Steve groaned, smiling, and wondered if Hook Possum knew what he was letting himself in for.  

That night, he patrolled by a cabin of boys talking about two travellers whose car was attacked by metallic thumps, and sure enough, the kids who’d been playing the mirror game and scaring the shit out of themselves all came and banged on the counsellor cabin door shrieking that they’d seen red lights in the woods, and demanded Hook Possum, who ended up costuming back up in the dark.  

Steve helped tie the costume at the back of his neck, and Hook Possum lurched by him to listen to them wail.  Steve could hear his confused growling from inside, and wandered out after a while to help.  

They spent a weird three-quarters of an hour standing in the humid night heat, making up stories about Hook Possum, and Steve maybe, sleepily, told everyone his limited stock of possum facts three or four times.  They eat ticks, the kids started reciting along with him.  Their body temperature is too high to carry fleas.  Steve could feel Hook Possum laughing against his shoulder.  

“Can you sleep hanging from your tail?” one asked, and Hook Possum shook his creepy paper-mache head, shoulders slumped like maybe he really wanted to.  

Steve patted his back.  “Possums can’t actually do that,” he said, grateful to be reminded of a possum fact he’d forgotten.  “They can use it to climb, though.”

“You are not helping,” Hook Possum hissed, as the kids started clamoring for him to climb a tree.  

“Sorry,” Steve whispered back, thinking fast.  “Uh, possums carry their young on their backs—” he started, and stopped, because that was obviously the wrong thing to say, and Hook Possum yelled as he got dog-piled to the ground.  

“Harrington,” he hissed from the ground, and for a second it sounded so familiar Steve paused, frowning vaguely at the lake, until Hook Possum’s yells threatened to wake the whole camp, and Steve had to pick up the top-most flailing child and threaten to throw them all in the water.  

“Go back to bed, all of you,” Hook Possum growled, and one of them hugged him.  

“Will you walk me to the cabin?” she asked softly, and he sighed, staring—maybe—at Steve.  

“Come on, might as well,” Steve told him, and Hook Possum snarled, but let the little girl grab his hook.  He then stumbled off the step edge of the boardwalk around the cabin, flailing his arms, and Steve grabbed him by one gross fursuited paw, clicking his flashlight on.  Since the little girl had the other one, and the whole horde of them trotted along surrounding Hook Possum, which made it slightly less weird to hold hands with him.

On the way back, Hook Possum was still unsteady, even without a kid yanking on him.  Steve tried to keep the flashlight pointed squarely where the guy could see it, but he kept tripping over stuff he couldn’t see in the mask, so Steve kept holding his hand, leaning close to whisper ‘there’s a root in the path,’ and ‘step up here,’ and feeling like he was escorting a drunk date home from a party.  

“...didn’t know you were into possums, Harrington,” Hook Possum muttered, laughing a little, and Steve snickered, thinking of the lines he and Robin had decided on if any kids wanted to talk about—about awkward things, like girls kissing girls.  He hoped they didn’t—he hoped they all talked to Robin, who seemed much more qualified, but he’d practiced saying ‘I’m honored you trusted me’ in the mirror.

“I’m trusting you with my secret possum...thing,” he said, snorting a laugh.  “Aren’t you honored.”

“More nervous,” Hook Possum whispered back, stumbling again.  “Don’t take advantage of me out here, Harrington.  I’ll play dead, I swear to god.  I’ll hiss and bite you.”

“I’d treat you right,” Steve told him, grinning.  “Get you ticks to eat or whatever.  And carrion.”

“Oh, okay then.  Gee.  Thanks, man,” Hook Possum laughed, making a gagging noise.

“Eat your ticks, they’re good for you,” Steve commanded, and felt Hook Possum laughing harder.

When they got back to the cabin—finally—everybody else was trying to sleep, so Steve turned Hook Possum around by the shoulders in the dark, taking the hook, and feeling along under the awful mask to untie the suit.  He helped lift the creepy mask—the face of it felt warm and damp with breath, and Steve shuddered—and then he tugged on the paws as Hook Possum struggled to extricate himself.

“...you don’t have to help,” he said, but he sounded tired, and Steve squeezed his warm naked shoulder.  

“I don’t mind,” he said, and one of the other guys hucked a pillow at them, groaning.

“Get a room,” he mumbled sleepily.

“G’night, Possum,” Steve whispered, snickering again, and Hook Possum shoved him, but Steve was sure he heard a muffled laugh.

 The next morning, everybody was kinda subdued, as usual—the kids that weren’t scared were more homesick than they’d realized, the excited kids hadn’t gotten very much sleep, and the kids that believed in ghosts hadn’t gotten any sleep at all, which was about three-quarters of the camp, thanks to Steve’s best friend Robin “That toilet seat is also haunted” Buckley.  

It was the first really hot day of the summer, so Robin and Steve took everyone canoeing, and the shallows filled with splashing, giggling, and shrieks. Steve trailed his hands in the water, climbing in and out of the canoe at every opportunity to pick kids up so they wouldn’t overturn the boat.  In the middle of the chaos that afternoon, when the kids were mostly too exhausted to row and too full of lunch to swim, but it was too damn hot to want to get out of the water, Hook Possum stalked by, wading straight into the lake, twenty, thirty feet out up to his chin, and just stood there, staring, smoke wafting from his mesh eyes.  

After a few minutes of watching the floating, smoking possum head, Steve stuck his paddle in the water to bring himself to a splashing halt—the kids in the canoe yelped and squealed—and then he shouted paddling orders until they came up alongside the creepy apparition sticking out of the water like a malevolent buoy.

“Ho there,” Steve said, responsibly, “—non-invasive, helpful local wildlife!  Are you in need of assistance?”

Hook Possum coughed, choking, and then growled, shaking his long papier-mache snout.  “Temporary insanity,” he groaned.  “Jesus.  Even the water is warm.”

“Better than sitting in your own sweat,” Steve said cheerfully, having worn the damn thing.  He remembered feeling like a dripping-wet half-rotten kitchen sponge, sitting in a sauna.  

“Kill me,” Hook Possum muttered, sighing, and one of the kids leaned out of the boat and put a baseball cap on him.  

“The shade helps,” she reported, and he sighed, looking even more ridiculous as a bedraggled, haunted possum head, smoke wafting from its empty eye sockets, with a baseball hat over one ear.

“...thanks,” he said, and she nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear, and digging out a tube of sunscreen.  She proceeded to rub it on her ears, nose, and all over the boy next to her, who sighed.

“Uh, just...wave if you...start to drown,” Steve told Hook Possum, wanting to be encouraging, but uncertain how to help someone dying of heatstroke in a horrible old possum mascot costume who was presently up to their neck in a lake.  He couldn’t see any expression on Hook Possum’s face, but he was pretty sure it was the face of someone with nothing to live for.  “Uh.  S’mores tonight?  I think?”

“...I can’t eat in this thing,” Hook Possum groaned, with a plume of eye smoke.

“We can hide in one of the cabins,” Steve told him.  “You can, um, transform.  In there.”

“...like Cinderella?” Hook Possum asked, snorting a laugh, and Steve grimaced.  

“I was thinking more like a werewolf at the full moon,” he said, and Hook Possum’s mask shook with laughter.  “Don’t drown,” Steve told him.  “I mean, if you die, you won’t get the money anyway, so you might as well take the damn thing off.  And I’ll bring you s’mores.  With extra chocolate.  Chocolate is worth it, right?  How d’you like your marshmallows?”

The creepy, lumpy mask turned to him, its mesh eye holes more alarming than ever with the way the sun hit the smoke.  “...you giving me something to live for, Harrington?”

“Don’t die in a possum suit, man, you don’t want that on your gravestone,” Steve said fervently.  “And think about the funeral.  Everybody trying to say nice things and you in that thing.  Have a heart—”

“I think the funeral parlor would probably take it off my body,” said Hook Possum, genuinely laughing, and Steve blinked.

“Oh.  Oh, yeah, they probably would,” he said, nodding.

“Anyway, nobody’d come to my funeral,” Hook Possum said, snickering, and Steve leaned over and smacked his snout.  The water around the canoe splashed a little, and the kids yelped, watching them in exhausted, overheated fascination.

“You’re not a possum,” Steve reminded the guy, who turned his head towards Steve again, probably to stare.  Steve grabbed his painted snout, holding his attention.  “You’re not a real possum.  People would come.  Max would come, and me—”

“...you think?” Hook Possum laughed, and Steve glared.  “Okay, okay, sorry,” he said, sounding like he was grinning.  “I won’t drown.  Hook Possum says no drowning, kids.”

“I used to think Smokey the Bear did that,” said the boy dripping with sunscreen.  “You know, just walked up to you and said ‘don’t start forest fires,’ like that.  This huge bear.  I was terrified.”

“I could just walk up to boaters and say ‘don’t drown,’” Hook Possum snickered.  “Alongside the boats.  Hiss at them.”

“Holy shit,” Steve cackled, letting go of the mask.  “You should.  Do it.  Do it to Robin—her, look, over there—”

Hook Possum turned to look, and then moved silently through the water, his head floating along the surface like a duck gone wrong.  Steve and the kids floated in the water, holding their breaths, until the other boat erupted in shrieks and overturned.

“Oh, he is so getting s’mores,” Steve wheezed, laughing until he could hardly breathe.

 When the kids started to wander towards dinner, Steve found Hook Possum again, hanging onto the dock.  

“You okay, man?” he asked, and Hook Possum nodded silently, so Steve crouched down to have a look.  “You coming in?  It’s cooled off some,” he said, and Hook Possum nodded again, but didn’t move.  “...you need help?” Steve asked, and Hook Possum paused for a second before shaking his head.  

Steve waited, and finally, Hook Possum cleared his throat.  “Fuck off, I can do it, I’m fine.”

He obviously wasn’t.  “You feel sick?” Steve asked, used to the first aid questions after so many summers helping around camp.  “Tired?  Shaky?”

“...just getting...cooled off,” Hook Possum muttered, but he didn’t move.  The lake water was pretty warm, too, and Steve considered it, wondering whether it was even helping.  

“Don’t be an asshole.  You need a shower, some water, and a nap,” he told the stubborn six-foot tall possum clinging to the dock, and it hissed like it was born in the woods.  

“...don’t need a nap,” Hook Possum growled, and Steve laughed.  

“Well, lie down, at least.  You’ve got heatstroke, dude.”

Hook Possum shook his head, so finally Steve jumped in the water next to him, put an arm around him, and pulled him towards shore.  

“What are you doing,” he mumbled, but when he tried to push away he almost fell, so Steve grabbed him tighter.  

“I told you,” Steve sighed.  Hook Possum was staggering, leaning heavily against Steve’s shoulder, and vibrating with tension.  “You’re gonna die in that thing.  You can’t do this all summer.”

“Fuck you,” Hook Possum muttered, tripping as soon as they hit dry ground.

“I’ve got you,” Steve told him, grimacing, because it was probably ungodly humid in the wet fur suit, and he was pretty sure Hook Possum hadn’t taken his mask off to drink any water.  The chatter and occasional yells from the food tent washed over them as Steve took him through camp to the showers.

As soon as they were inside, Hook Possum’s head jerked up.  “Oh fuck no,” he mumbled, pulling away, but Steve held on.  

“You need to get cleaned up and cooled off, and rest up,” he told the scary possum mask.  “Seriously.  You can’t mess with this shit.”

“‘M’fine,” Hook Possum slurred, and Steve shoved him around to untie the suit.  

“I won’t look, jesus, I promise, I’ll close my eyes, okay?  Just lemme help you get this off, and get in the damn shower.”

“...fuck you,” Hook Possum muttered, his shoulders wet and shivery against Steve’s hands.  

With his eyes closed, Steve couldn’t tell whether Hook Possum had the grayish pallor, but he grabbed the moron by the back of the neck and held a hand to his forehead, which was feverishly hot.  

“Get off me,” Hook Possum squeaked, staggering back, and Steve stepped back too, listening to the sounds of sodden fur paws stumbling around.  

“You need me to stay with you?” Steve asked, knowing what the answer would be, but also wary of leaving someone who’d obviously never had heat stroke before.

“I don’t need a fucking babysitter,” Hook Possum snarled, in a deeper register than usual, and it pinged Steve’s brain.  He frowned, standing there trying to think of anyone he knew who was awkward and grouchy but good with kids, and called him Harrington.  “Get out,” Hook Possum said, sounding exhausted.

“I’ll get you some water,” Steve told him.  “Gimme the Hook Possum stuff, I’ll wash it.”

“...it can go in the wash?”  Hook Possum asked, sounding aggrieved, and Steve snorted a laugh.  

“It can go in the washtub,” he said.  “I’ll throw it in and let it dry overnight.”

“Oh,” Hook Possum said weakly, then rallied.  “Thought you were holding out on me.  Secret washing machine in your bunk.  ‘Cause you’re the owner’s son.”

“Yep, just me and the washer, holding each other close,” Steve agreed, rolling his eyes under their lids.  

“You’re into some kinky shit, Harrington,” Hook Possum told him, and Steve felt the gross muddy Hook Possum costume shoved against his arms.  

“Eugh,” he sighed, gathering up the paws and hook.  “You know it.”

“That’s not gonna be dry by tomorrow, is it,” Hook Possum said, woodenly, and Steve wanted to shake him.  

“Look, I can write you an excuse.  Take a sick day.  You can’t get right back in this thing.  It’s fine.”

“...I’ll make it up,” Hook Possum said, in a rush, after a long pause.  “And I’ll find something I can do, so I’m not fucking everybody over wearing this thing—”

“Dude,” Steve sighed.  It felt weird not knowing the guy’s name, but equally weird calling him Hook Possum.  “Relax.  Take a chill pill.  Nobody’s on your ass about this.”  He turned to leave, but Hook Possum started talking again.

“...they make you do all the first aid, or what?” Hook Possum asked, and Steve snorted a laugh at his wariness.

“They teach us all basic first aid,” he said patiently.  “You sure you don’t want me to stay?  Because you sure don’t seem like you want me to leave.”

“Fuck you!” Hook Possum growled, again, rattling at the door of the shower stall like he’d stumbled into it.  

“I’m going, don’t make me explain to Max how you fell and broke your face after I left you in here,” Steve called, heading out, gross stinking wet fur suit in hand.  He dumped the whole thing—except the mask, which he thought might melt, even though it was tempting—into the big wash basin where the kids washed their own clothes, added a ton of soap, and poked it a few times to get the water through the fur.  He found some apples and grapes in the fridge, added some cheese and crackers, and got a plastic cup of water.  He sat it all in his bunk—in case Hook Possum just collapsed in his own—and grabbed the bathrobe he always brought just in case, and Hook Possum’s towel.  

When he knocked at the showers, Hook Possum was silent, so Steve leaned in.  It was dark, but the shower was still running.  “...you alive in there?” he called, and heard Hook Possum laugh.  

“Told you I was fine,” he muttered, burbling with the water hitting his face, and Steve went to lean against the stall door.  

“Oh, sorry, should I put you back in the suit and dump you in the lake?” he asked.  “Or just leave you here to get back to your bunk naked?”  

In the darkness, Hook Possum was just a vague shape, but Steve squinted, trying to make out a face, or something.  “Fuck you,” he said, laughing.  “The hell are you gonna do, carry me in your arms?”

“I could,” Steve told him, always ready for a challenge.  

“Oh, fuck you,” Hook Possum said, laughing harder, and Steve grinned, a little confused.  

“I am the first aid officer, actually,” he bragged, having put himself on the schedule earlier.  “You need me to sweep you across the threshold, I guess that’s what I gotta do.”  There was a muffled grunt and a splashing thud in the stall, and before Steve could think, he had kicked the bottom of the door and jiggled the latch so it popped open, the way he had a zillion times before, when kids crawled under locked stall doors as a prank.  He crouched next to the dark shape in the dim stall as Hook Possum scrambled back.  “You okay?”

“Jesus fuck,” Hook Possum panted in a high voice.  “What in the goddamn are you doing in here.”

“You fell, dipshit,” Steve told him, rolling his eyes.  “Are you okay?”

“Yes!  I am okay!” Hook Possum hissed, wedged in the corner.  “Get the hell out of my shower!”

“Jesus, sorry, didn’t know you were a blushing maiden possum,” Steve told him, holding out a hand to help the guy up, but Hook Possum just groaned into his hands, so Steve shrugged, and left.  The door slammed shut after him and latched.

“Go away,” Hook Possum growled, and Steve snickered.  

“I brought you a towel, and my robe,” he said, and Hook Possum sighed.  “And some water.”

“I’m fine, christ,” Hook Possum muttered.  

“And I got you some grapes and stuff,” Steve told him, halfway out the door.  “In the cabin.  Lot of water in grapes.”

“...I’m okay,” Hook Possum said, after a pause so quiet Steve was wondering if he’d passed out in there.  “Jesus.  I’m not one of your...second graders.”

“No, because then you wouldn’t’ve been wearing that thing, or going without water,” Steve said crisply.  “And I would carry you to your bunk, like a goddamn bride.”

Hook Possum choked on the shower water, somehow, coughing.  

“You’re getting off easy,” Steve told him, his vindication lessened by Hook Possum choking like he was about to die.

“Holy crap,” he panted.

“You’re welcome,” Steve told him.  “I guess.  I hung your gross fur bag out to dry where it’ll get sun.”

“...didn’t even get the full service,” Hook Possum muttered.  It sounded like he was still laughing, exhaustedly.

“What, you want the bridal carry?  Because I’ll do it,” Steve threatened, and Hook Possum said something muffled, like he had his face in his hands.  “I’ll just wait right here, ready to cradle you to my chest,” Steve told him, and Hook Possum groaned, laughing harder.  It was hard to stay mad at him, because he was kind of giggling, in the tired way kids did when they couldn’t stop.  

 He wandered back into the cabin as everybody was singing camp songs, to see a big bony foot sticking out from under the flag covering Hook Possum’s bunk.  It withdrew.

“You awake in there?” Steve asked, grinning.

“...no,” Hook Possum groaned.  “What are you doing here?”

“Brought you some more water,” Steve told him, and after a minute, Hook Possum said “...just set it on the floor.  I’ll drink it, I promise, jesus.”

Steve nodded, and wandered back to the fire. 

PART ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

Pairings: Romantic Romile (Roman x Emile), Romantic Prandy (Andy x Pryce), Romantic Anxtober (October x Virgil), Romantic Intrulosleepceit (Remus x Logan x Remy x Deceit)

Word Count: 2,170 Words

Summary: Flirting with Social Anxiety, kitten updates, the kids talk functions, an elusive cryptid sighting, and the video call feature is figured out.

Warnings: Caps, Food Mention, Insomnia Mention, Depression Mention, Demon Mention, Body Horror Mention, Cursing, Death Mention, Sick Character, Immunocompromised Character, let me know if I should tag anything else.

Note: Bolded and blockquoted are actions in their chatroom, not a message. Italic and blockquoted are transcripts of video calls.

Usernames, a quick translation guide: Andy: Raccoon Man (the trashiest hero), Belladonna: hazelnut, Castor: schrodingersdumbass, Dayd: carniverousroomba, Dice: Dr. Bitch, Emile: Thera-pissed, Eve: wall-e, Halley: aspermylastemail, Janus: SnekBoi, Logan: Momgan, Noah: nope, October: eatpavementido, Orion: birdgeoisie, Patton: Papa Bear, Pollux: satantakemehome, Pryce: SwEeTvErUcA, Remus: Octopussy, Remy: Coffee Bandit, Roman: waaahluigi, Sirius: literalsunshine, Teal: uwu, Thomas: shrexy, Virgil: spipples, Vita: þiccness

A Very Sanders Group Chat: Chapter 12

3:07 PM

shrexy: You know guys, it'd be nice if you quit for a bit.

spipples: We're right next to you, dammit. Just talk to us.

waaahluigi: Guys, he's looking at Thomas.

Dr. Bitch: You know what? I won't even ask.

4:57 PM

Coffee Bandit: I think they're trying to lie again or something.

Octopussy: Not Jan this time.

Momgan: We know, Remus.

Octopussy: Well, if I don't make note of it, who's going to prove that Jan wasn't involved?

Coffee Bandit: He's not wrong, Lo. Every time Thomas lies, Jan is implicated as the cause, even when he's not there.

Momgan: I hate that you aren't wrong.

7:12 PM

Thera-pissed: Sooooo. New boyfriend?

waaahluigi: THOMAS HAS A NEW BOYFRIEND!

spipples: We know, Roman. We're all a part of the same human. We all know this.

waaahluigi: I know but I'm just so happy about it!

spipples: And we all support you, Ro.

10:17 PM

þiccness: I have stolen the other girls, we're going to an underage club and coming back by 2am.

Thera-pissed: Just make sure you check Eve's glucose before you let her eat because she'll forget to check.

þiccness: will be done, Pops.

3:16 PM

shrexy: What ever happened to those kittens, Remus?

Octopussy: oh yeah. never updated anyone but Jan. they're all healthy again. all twenty six. Dice adopted one, it's name is Domino.

Octopussy: and we adopted five. Their names are Morticia, Elvira, Achilles, Patroclus, and Tootsie Pop.

shrexy: Who named the last one?

hazelnut: that would be me

Octopussy: Tootsie Pop is her cat. Morticia and Elvira are Jan's, Achilles and Patroclus are mine.

shrexy: So that's six. That still leaves twenty cats unaccounted for.

spipples: This would be where I come in and tell you I adopted ten of them, isn't it? Because I did I'm constantly swarmed with five month old kittens.

Raccoon Man (the trashiest hero): He gave them all dumb names.

spipples: Sir, those are my furry children you're insulting.

Raccoon Man (the trashiest hero): Ah yes, my fuzzy nieces and nephews with stupid names.

spipples: How dare you insult Toast, Meatball, Cheddar, Porkchop, Bagel, Bacon, Muffin, Twinkie, Tofu, and Tortilla.

shrexy: You really went with a food theme, huh?

spipples: To be fair, nobody stopped me.

shrexy: I'll be honest, the idea of naming a cat Bagel is hilarious.

spipples: To be fair, Bagel has no braincell so he's perfectly dumb and content in life.

waaahluigi: I also have three cats. Princess, Queen, and Duchess.

shrexy: So did the other seven get adopted?

Coffee Bandit: Yup, mine and Toby's. I have six, he has one. Remington, Remulus, Remy the Second, Rema, and Remingtina.

eatpavementido: Mine is named Pumpkin. I don't know what these guys are on.

8:45 PM

Momgan: Janus, Remus, I'm coming over for date night.

Coffee Bandit: Hold on, I'm omw.

Octopussy: It's poly cuddle pile time!

1:13 AM

hazelnut: So all of my parents are adorable.

hazelnut: polycuddlepile.jpg

hazelnut: I love my parents.

Papa Bear: They're so cute, kiddo! But you should get some sleep.

hazelnut: My function is Dreams I sleep during the day?

Papa Bear: Ah, carry on then, kiddo.

þiccness: Hi, I'm Nightmares.

shrexy: Wait, you kids have functions?

eatpavementido: more like fragments of a function.

satantakemehome: I'm Insomnia, Castor is Depression, Sirius is Insecurity, Halley is Courage, and Orion is Apathy.

wall-e: Me and Noah are the only figments that are also fragments. I act as Responsibility and Noah acts as Empathy.

shrexy: Huh. Never really thought about that but I guess I see it.

shrexy: shadowdemon.jpg

shrexy: angeltheshadowdemon.jpg

shrexy: virgilsnugglingme.jpg

shrexy: Help, I've been taken hostage as a cuddle victim.

eatpavementido: Perish.

9:58 AM

shrexy: virgilisstillhere.jpg

shrexy: Is it legal to move, fellas?

eatpavementido: I'll come help. Damn, my boyfriend's really choosing his human over his boyfriend.

shrexy: I promise I'm not stealing your man.

eatpavementido: Good, I'd punch you if you did.

shrexy: tobynowtrappedbyvirgil.jpg

shrexy: I'm free!

eatpavementido: I love being trapped by my boyfriend.

Thera-pissed: Don't worry, I get trapped by Roman a lot too.

waaahluigi: Hey!

Thera-pissed: Am I lying?

waaahluigi: No but you make it sound like I'm clingy.

Thera-pissed: Yes, but your clinginess is cute.

waaahluigi: Alright, you may continue.

eatpavementido: Ah yes, the triplets are stage 5 clingers. Gotta love it when all three idenntical idiots are touch starved.

SwEeTvErUcA: I will rip out your incisors.

waaahluigi: I will feed you your own teeth.

Octopussy: I will make you spit out your teeth one by one like a PEZ dispenser.

Dr. Bitch: Good to see the triplets getting along.

eatpavementido: You can't kill me! I have the power of my boyfriend and anime on my side!

Dr. Bitch: Did he just call Virgil god?

eatpavementido: Am I wrong? No.

Dr. Bitch: Alright, carry on.

9:14 AM

shrexy: Wow, y'all. Did anyone else realize you could make a chat-wide call?

shrexy has started a video call

shrexy has invited everyone to the video call

waaahluigi has accepted shrexy's invite

SnekBoi has declined shrexy's invite

Octopussy has declined shrexy's invite

Coffee Bandit has declined shrexy's invite

Momgan has accepted shrexy's invite

eatpavementido has accepted shrexy's invite

Papa Bear has accepted shexy's invite

Transcript

"Hey, guys!" - shrexy]

"Hey, Thomas." -eatpavementido

"Is Virgil asleep on you?" -shrexy

"Yes." - eatpavementido

"Aww. Guess we've gotta be quiet." - Papa Bear

"Nah. Legit, Pollux just busted in the room and yelled that Castor was chasing him and he's still sleeping." - eatpavementido

"Shit, shit, shit. He's up. I must have moved." - eatpavementido

"Toby, what the fuck? Are you recording me? I look like a mess. Quit it." - unknown

"It's a video call with the group chat." - eatpavementido

"Turn it off." - unknown

"It's okay, Virgil, you look cute." - Papa Bear

"Gimme that." - unknown

"Make me." - eatpavementido

"Alright." - unknown

eatpavementido has left the video call

shrexy has ended the video call

shrexy: RIP Toby.

Papa Bear: @spipples Kiddo, please don't kill your boyfriend?

spipples: Only a little bit?

Papa Bear: Not even a little bit.

spipples: Suck the fun out of life, why don't you?

eatpavementido: Don't make it sound like I wouldn't let him kill me if he chose.

waaahluigi: Live by the boyfriend. Die by the boyfriend.

eatpavementido: Precisely

shrexy: Anyone gonna make note of the fact that Janus, Remus, and Remy all declined the video call?

Momgan: They're busy. I figured at least one of us from our relationship should join so I actually went to a quieter bar in the imagination,

shrexy: Should I even ask what kind of busy?

Momgan: You can if you want.

shrexy: Though I feel like I'll regret this, what kind of busy?

Momgan: Janus is upstairs sleeping, Bela is practicing her crochet, Remus is grooming Boogeyman and Espresso, and Remy is taking care of his new piercing. I was planning out my week's schedule around theirs so I could visit.

shrexy: Sorry to interrupt you, bud.

Momgan: No, it's fine. I needed a break anyway.

waaahluigi: Was Deceit sleeping all day yesterday too?

Momgan: What are you implying?

waaahluigi: That he's avoiding me.

Momgan: Alright, you thickheaded, self-deluded bastard. I get that you two aren't getting along. I don't care, quite frankly. Hate each other's guts for all I care. You two having problems with one another isn't my problem. But Janus isn't avoiding you, he's finally receptive to the second part of his treatments and he's finally getting better.

SnekBoi: Logan, don't fight my fights.

Momgan: Sorry, sweetheart. I'm on my way back, I'll come up to you first and we can talk it over.

SnekBoi: It's okay.

SnekBoi: And you @waaahluigi, I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry that I lashed out at you and I'm sorry I compared you to Remus, it was wrong of me and you didn't deserve that.

waaahluigi: Oh look, everyone. After three months he finally apologizes!

SnekBoi: I haven't made effort to contact you in the last three months because I didn't contact anyone in the last three months other than Dice and a few nurses. I willingly gave my phone to hospital lock up so I could be just a little less stressed while going through the hardest parts of my treatment for the third time in six months and so that maybe, just maybe, I could get through the consolidation and I finally did it. So I'm sorry my apology to you is so late, oh great one, but I was a bit busy getting medically cleared with remission so I could finally go home.

waaahluigi: oh

SnekBoi: But, since I'm taking the moral high ground, you don't need to apologize and you don't need to feel bad about assuming things. I disappeared and I never talked it out with you because my admission was so sudden and the recommendation of detachment was a spur of the moment decision that only benefited me. I'm finally home and I actually was sleeping all of yesterday. I'm not about to get in fights right now because I'm too happy to be in my own bed again and getting to hold my own daughter and boyfriends again.

waaahluigi: I'm still sorry.

SnekBoi: Accepted.

spipples: Does this mean I have to stop being bitter about you two not getting along?

SnekBoi: No, but it would be appreciated.

spipples: Aight, bet. I'll forcefully make us three best friends.

shrexy: aren't all three of you mothers?

SnekBoi: Alright, this. I never really realized this. And, now that it's been brought to my attention, the first order of business is stealing you two, Bela, and your kids and going to the new tea place in Laurel for late Mother's day. I've been waiting to go since Sharon got herself fired from there and they have the best ginger and honey tea.

waaahluigi: Sharon?

SnekBoi: Yeah, she makes fun of me for being a teen mother every time I see her.

Octopussy: I've punched her once. didn't stop her.

waaahluigi:  I know, she did that to me too. I told her she shouldn't say rude things to someone who could and would unmake her.

spipples: Same here except she made fun of me the whole time I was pregnant with the triplets until I just straight up punched her.

shrexy: I guess being decked by a heavily pregnant 15 year old sets you off of making fun of them, huh?

spipples: Heavily pregnant 15 year old with the ability to conjure shadows.

shrexy: You scare me. Keep those shadows to yourself.

SnekBoi: I may need to wear a mask and book a table beforehand to make sure the room is private until I'm in the complete clear with the chemo still making my immune system absolute shit.

waaahluigi: Plus the fact that our kids make a solid soccer team so we'll need a bit of a biggger table.

SnekBoi: Yeah, that too.

spipples: Thanks for remembering my soccer team, guys.

SnekBoi: You're very welcome.

spipples: That was sarcastic.

SnekBoi: I know, I felt it.

spipples: You're insufferable, I love it.

12:45 PM

spipples: Hey, @SnekBoi, you guttertrash bitch, do you have a migraine yea or nay?

SnekBoi: Kind of. I'm working off one but I took my meds so it should be gone soon enough.

spipples: Noted, no doorbell or knocking.

SnekBoi: Wait, what??

spipples: Answer your fucking door then and find out.

SnekBoi: Gremlin.

1:05 PM

waaahluigi: So what'd he do?

SnekBoi: Brought over lunch for me since all my boyfriends are working and Bela is at school.

spipples: He cried.

SnekBoi: Shut up or I will end you.

Octopussy: Anything good?

spipples: Yes, I have the spare containers for you in the fridge when you come home and, yes, it's edible for you too if that's what you're asking.

Octopussy: ooooh, what is it?

spipples: spaghetti squash with tomato sauce, veggie curry, and ham and egg roll ups. There's also a few casseroles in disposable pans in the freezer that you can heat up in 45 minutes each.

Octopussy:  I love you.

SnekBoi: be real with him, V, you brought over like two weeks of casseroles. You're just lucky we have a really big freezer.

spipples: Yeah, a really big, empty freezer.

Octopussy: I was gonna go shopping literally in two days on Wednesday when I'm off.

SnekBoi: loaded cauliflower, zucchini au gratin, loaded brussels sprouts, rice cheese and zucchini, green bean, eggplant lasagna, chicken cordon bleu, chicken broccoli cheese, cabbage rolls, chicken & mushroom, tofu caprese, crack chicken, brown rice cheese and tomatoes, and chicken bacon thyme.

Octopussy: hey Virge

spipples: yeah?

Octopussy: love ya

spipples: Thank you. I'm also babysitting your boyfriend until someone comes home because this weak bastard bruised his wrist and almost fell over opening the front door.

SnekBoi: I'm not a baby but I won't make you leave because I'm tired and I don't want Boogey to have to get me things or help me around.

Octopussy: stubborn bastard. love you. thanks V.

spipples: No problem.

Taglist: @glaxyjellyfish @chronophobica @fear-ze-queer @imma-potatoo

[aurodontdoit]

Wicked Desire

Alucard X GN Witch Reader

Chapter 2 Order of The Full Moon

12:00 am, Rye Sussex, the night is cool and lit by the pale glow of the moon and vicious cries of malevolent creatures rang through the chilled air of the late fall evening, as thunderous footsteps of bloodthirsty beasts, stampede through a small town, ripping through the flesh of its residents, the road stained with crimson as these howling beasts feasted on their warm meals, in the cold dark of night…

Screams of agony, sheer terror, and despair fell upon deaf ears.. or so it was thought.

"That has to be the second one this week… Why are there so many cryptids appearing out of thin air?" Integra asked herself while gazing at her monitor.

"There is a full moon tonight… the power of these beasts seem to increase on luminous nights like tonight…" Alucard informed with a smirk as he stared at the full moon, looming over the office window.

Seras sat with Y/n as they went through a book of cryptids and other beasts. Their sparkling orbs scanned every page, searching aimlessly for an answer.

"Werecreatures could be a possibility, but for two weeks? The moon is only full tonight…" Y/n hummed while scanning the pages of their large book. Seras read over their shoulder the entire time, eyes full of intrigue.

"What about hybrids? Those could be what were facing.." Seras added, causing Y/n to nod.

"The only way we can know for sure is if we go to the scene of the massacre, and look for clues…" Integra stated.

Alucards gaze shifted to his master, and a devious grin bloomed on his handsome features "what are your orders my master?"

Integra pulled a cigar out from a small silver box, placed it between her lips before lighting, taking a drag, and exhaling the smoke, filling the air with the faintest scent of tobacco wafting through the air.

"I give you one order, and one order only… Search and Destroy." Integra ordered, causing Alucard to laugh excitedly.

Y/n was taken aback by the vampires sudden burst of laughter, before nodding and standing upright before being dismissed to head to their chambers to gather their things. They could feel two glowing red eyes burning in the back of their head. Sighing, they didn't even need to turn around to know who was staring at them.

"Keep staring, I may do a trick….Alucard." They leered looking over their shoulder to see that the culprit was indeed, the crimson fucker himself. Nodding to him that he may come in, Alucard strode towards them.

Alucards mischievous grin only grew as he stepped closer to the young witch.

"And I was so looking forward to seeing those eyes grow wide with fear…" Alucard simpered.

Y/n turned to face Alucard with an small smirk on their face. "Don't take this the wrong way, Alucard, but, you don't scare me. I've seen my fair share of ghouls, werecreatures, and vampires… though it is to be said that you are different than the other vampires… your energy is more… striking." They looked up at him with intrigue.

Alucard let a deep chuckle rumble through him as he looked down at the shorter witch. "Well, rest assured I am indeed different than those other vampires you've seen…"

"I don't doubt that one bit, Alucard…" they agreed.

Alucard continued to watch Y/n as they got ready for the mission, packing weapons, loading their gun, and a few silver blades which they had made sure to carefully incase in a scabbard, not wanting to harm their allies.

"You truly are a sight…" Alucard purred teasingly.

Y/n's face flared up with a rosy hue dusting their cheeks. "I-I beg your pardon?!?" They snapped at the vampire who was more than amused by their flustered state.

"You're unlike any other human I had come to meet…" he smiled causing Y/n's face to flush more before they smirked at him.

"Well rest assured I am indeed different then those other humans you have seen…" they chuckled together before they finished packing.

"So… what exactly made you a witch? You do realize they have been hunted by us too, right?" Alucard inquired.

Y/n turned to him with a devious smirk "and I suppose you intend to execute me in the name of God?" They quirked a brow at him as they gazed into his eyes.

"I just hope you know I don't go down easy, big boy~" they husked.

Alucard also purred at this "oh I have a feeling you won't, but I'll enjoy it when you do~" he husked right back the two now only inches closer.

"Then why don't you make me?" Y/n challenged, this made Alucards crimson eyes glow with excitement.

"Oh? Are you feeling bold? Is this a challenge, little one?" Alucard snarked.

"I dunno, does a bear shit in the woods?" They glinted.

"I like your fire. It is such a shame I'll have to snuff it out during our match." Alucard replied.

"Bold of you to assume you'll beat me~"

"Oh I'll do more than that~"

"Oh yeah? Bring it on, tough guy."

"Gladly witchy." He husked

"Umm Master, Sir Integra wants to see you..." Seras piped up from the doorway before Alucard glared at his fledgling.

Y/n on the other hand, blushed a bright scarlet.

How long has she been standing there?!?!

Alucard gave the witch another smile before turning to walk away.

"I hope your bite is as good as your bark… witch." Alucard husked.

"Then you best be prepared to be my new chew toy, big boy~" Y/n mentally kicked herself for that one…

Their mental turmoil didn't go unnoticed by Seras who, once Alucard was away, gave Y/n a smirk.

"A chew toy, huh?" She chastised causing Y/n to blush.

"I'm not very good at banter…" Y/n admitted.

"No worries, it seems my master enjoyed it either way." Seras chuckled. "Be careful out there, Y/n…" she smiled at the witch before walking off.

"You as well, Seras." They nodded.

Once everyone was packed up, they made their way to the village of Rye where the attack took place.

@shadowywizardarcade

[abduct-me-helen]

Class 108's Apocalypse Field Trip | Chapter 1.

The world ended on a Tuesday. Quite suddenly, halfway through class. After the sky split open and green light bathed the earth, things changed. Some lived.

Some didn’t.

Class 108 stayed together, for the most part. They took up a base in the school, and boarded up the windows and doors.

Sydney was the one who first learned they didn’t need to eat. Other revelations of that sort followed. Sleep was not needed, nor was water. Air seemed to be, though, as they learned after Cal passed out from holding their breath.

The first one to die was Cú.

They don’t talk about Cú.

-

Of course, some things are unavoidable in the end. Logically, Sydney knew it was only a matter of time before something managed to slip under the cracks and they’d all get killed; god knows they’d narrowly scraped by enough times to be considered cosmically lucky. Tabitha had been spreading rumors, as was her nature, about the school itself being sentient, trapping them inside with false promises of safety.

On the worse days, Sydney believed it.

Sydney stepped into the classroom slowly, craning her head to where Tabitha and Rosie were explaining their theories. She didn’t know which theories, but she’d heard most of them by now.

“G’morning.” She said.

It was night.

No, she thought, the sky is dark, but that doesn’t mean it’s night.

Rosie gestures towards a desk, and she avoids the chair toppled over at her feet as she sits down on top of it. She takes not of who else had decided to attend this “session” of theirs today. There are 12 students left out of the thirty who had originally made up the class. Ten of them had disappeared after running away from the school in shock after the eye in the sky had first opened. They hadn’t been in homeroom during the “blink,” which is what they’d taken to call the eye opening, and hadn’t seen any teachers since that day.

She remembered it vividly.

Ms. Bruis had tensed, eyes wide in shock, before telling them to calm down and stay indoors. She immediately went outside the room to check on everyone else.

That was the last time they’d seen Ms. Bruis, but not the last time they’d seen her face.

Besides the initial chaos, there wasn’t anything attacking the school. It was just shouting and screaming and running. Sydney had stayed in the classroom, clumsily trying to close the blinds on the window.

People just, left. And they didn’t come back.

The first venture was when they lost Cú. She doesn’t like to talk about him, never mind think about him. Nonetheless, her mind often drifts towards his death.

It was about four hours after the chaos. People had been nearly sucked out of the building, teachers included. The only ones that remained were the thirty students of 108.

Sydney didn’t know why they were the only ones to remain. She still doesn’t now.

The students decided to have a short party go out and scout. Sydney, Katie, Cú, Tabitha and Rosie. Four survived, one did not.

Rosie was always the thinker of the group, and as such she took the front. Katie was chosen for her seemingly nonchalant disposition to going, and Tabitha for her mind, which was always going too fast and often arriving at far-out conclusions. Despite this, she was a quick-witted person and had been selected for her dexterity and speed. Cú was selected for his physicality. He was a teddy bear, but a strong teddy bear.

It didn’t save him in the end.

And Sydney, well, she was cautious. She wonders if she could’ve saved Cú if she’d been just a little bit wearier.

They wandered a few blocks before hearing the sound of skin and bone splitting. Tabitha immediately ran toward the sound, as was her nature. The rest, Rosie at the lead, followed, hiding behind a corner.

Katie didn’t make a face, but even she was visibly pale.

When the sound came again, louder, and a creature made of wet flesh and twisted muscle stepped out of the alleyway, she became practically white.

Sydney retched. She’s not ashamed to admit it, you would’ve too. Anyone would’ve retched if they saw that sight.

It got worse.

“Hello?! Someone! Help me, please!”

It was Ms. Bruis-no, it looked like Ms. Bruis.

Cú ran. He dodged the creature, running to Ms. Bruis and starting to try to pick her up off the ground, before he noticed she was rooted to the cement. His eyes widened as blood ran down her face

She smirked.

Sydney will always remember the flash of teeth before she plunged her hand-no, her claw-into his stomach. He made a choked sound before the creature bounded back over and ripped his jaw clean off.

They ran. They ran. They ran.

And then they came back to the classroom, and they wept.

There were more expeditions after that. They lost seven more after that, but in those ventures, they collected knowledge. This knowledge went on Rosie’s list, though it also doubled as a rulebook.

-

THE LIST

1. Some creatures can make copies of people you know in order to trick you. They don’t bleed, so your best shot at not meeting eyeball daddy up close is to yeet the fuck outta there//bold of you to assume I don’t want to meet eyeball daddy uwu//

2. Don’t trust meat. Ever. Meat comes alive. WE ARE VEGANS IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2018(?)

3. Don’t answer the door, even if you’re armed. No, Eric, we do not count your big muscles™ as a weapon.

4. If you MUST answer the door, don’t. You have been stopped.

5. A short section on the happenings of the places(?) known to us as “nightmares.”

Nightmares trap humans in these crazy places. We’ve only seen two, but they are extremely dangerous, and both encounters ended in casualties. They trap your mind and make you experience terrible things, and like the rest of the world (to our knowledge at least) don’t follow normal time or space rules. Basically, if you want to avoid a ,’ , |,’_’, you should not screw with that shit.

6. Always check with someone else before eating or drinking. Sometimes, your mind will play tricks on you and you won’t notice that you’re eating something…not good. Honor cal for their sacrifice regarding this matter (sorry cal)

7. Always shut the blinds. Eyeball daddy is watching you//YOU DID NOT NEED TO SAY THAT TABITHA

8. Don’t leave the building without consulting all of class 108.

9. Don’t read books that others haven’t read first, especially if it says it’s from the library of Jurgen LeitnerSTUPID IDIOT MOTHERFUCKING JURGEN LEITENER GOD DAMN FOOL BOOK COLLECTING DUST EATING RAT OLD BASTARD SHITHEAD IDIO//yes, Riko, we get it, but good point. Be Jared, 19.

10. Don’t invite anyone in.

-

“What are we on today?” Sydney asked.

“Tabitha’s on about the categories again.” Cal said.

“I really think it could work!” she said loudly. “Look, there’s consistencies in every single encounter we’ve had. Think about it. Remember what happened at the theater?”

Katie grimaced silently. “How could we forget?”

Tabitha ignored her. “The webs. Spiders and the rest of those insects are different categories. The wriggly silver worms are more like, bugs and wriggly things and judging from the infestation we had they all work together.”

“Like a hive?” Cal asked.

Tabitha nodded. “Exactly like that. Spiders are different though; you saw how many were crawling about during the amphitheater incident. And that whole thing was about control. All those people who were laughing…they, they were there. They didn’t want to do it! They didn’t want to laugh, you saw their eyes. They were being controlled. And when,” she paused, gritting her teeth, “and when Marcy died she was being controlled too. Puppeted.”

That’s two. Then we come to the next one, guns and murder and war and shit like that. Simple enough. But I think it has to be humans killing humans, because the thing that killed, killed Cú wasn’t like that. It was, it was different. I don’t know. I’ll get back to that.

“Then we have the cover up, or the anonymous things. Things like those little creatures that hide in your plates that you can’t notice are there until someone tells you. That’s why I’m confused, because I think the weird fleshy creature we faced was aligned with that but also with those meat things that broke Rosie’s leg. I don’t know how to explain it, but, ah. Sorry. I think they’re the same category.”

“I’ll humor you; can a thing be two categories?” Katie questioned her dully.

“I think so. Maybe it’s like colors? Really angry colors. They’re all separate, but the same because they’re all made of the same stuff. And they all blur together sometimes?”

“Yeah,” Katie snorted, “we’re being killed by really angry colors.”

Tabitha flushed. “Hey! It was just an analogy.”

Rosie seemed to be considering what Tabitha had said, before she looked up. “I believe you.”

“Y-you do?” Tabitha blinked, taken back.

Rosie nodded. “It makes sense. Really angry colors.”

“Really angry colors.”

-

A few hours-well, time was weird, but Sydney supposed it was hours-later, the class was doing yoga. Well, not “yoga” per se. They were beating each other on the head with torn up yoga mats.

“Hey!” Riko shouted as Tabitha tripped over her mat while chasing Cal. “Watch it! This is where I sleep!”

Tabitha stuck her tongue out and Katie snorted, not looking up from her book. Sydney wondered how she did that; Katie always seemed to have an astounding amount of situational awareness at all times.

“Real mature.” Katie groused.

Tabitha grinned, and Rosie smiled softly.

“I’M GOING TO MAKE YOU MEET EYEBALL DADDY!” she shouted to Cal, who’s eyes widened in mock fear.

“Oh no! The horror! OwO!” They said dramatically.

“Did they just say “OwO”?” Sydney asked in a deadpan. Rosie nodded solemnly.

“You ever wonder…” Sydney trailed off, the muffled shouting of their peers drowned out into the background.

“Wonder what?” Rosie tilted her head in question.

“What happened to Mr. Sims.”

“He’s probably…not with us anymore.”

“Yeah. Still, could you imagine? He was a bloody cryptid. He’d probably take all this with no sweat.”

“Maybe he’d give us concerts too.”

“Good ole Jonny D’Ville.”

Rosie snickered.

“You know how he always drew eyes everywhere? During tests?”

“Oh god, don’t mention that to Tabitha, I don’t need her going on about another conspiracy.”

Sydney grinned to herself and Rosie groaned.

“Well, I was thinking, maybe it was an omen.”

“An omen?”

“Yeah. I’ve never been spiritual really, but the worlds gone to shit so who knows what’s real. Maybe the Mayans were just a few days off.”

“Ah, the apocalypse calendar.”

“Indeed.”

-

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

A noise rang out from the entrance to the school, loud and imposing. Sydney’s heart started to thump wildly in terror.

They all shot up, and Katie got her switchblade out from her pocket. She was lucky enough to have it on her at the blink, and it was their best weapon.

Cypress shot inside the classroom silently, eyes wide, red curls bouncing. He clicked the door shut quietly, pale. “The others sent me. They’re hiding in place. I think we should just stay put.”

Rosie nodded, gesturing him to come over. She placed a finger over her lips in order to get them to stay silent, then nodded to Katie. Katie had always been gifted with really good hearing, and it had saved their assess more than enough times for Rosie to know that letting her try to hear who was at the door was the best safe bet for situation and the time being.

Katie closed her eyes, but after a quarter of a minute shook her head.

That’s when they heard it.

“Hello!”

Sydney brought a hand to her mouth to clamp down a scream.

It was Cypress.

Eyes wide, she glanced over to Cypress, her Cypress, who’s expression was now glazed over. Was his skin always that waxy? Why was his hair so smooth? It looked like that of a dolls, curls made of softly bent plastic.

Katie saw the flicker of light before she saw the blade, and she lunged.

Her switchblade pierced his skin-no, his stuffing, with a sound akin to ripping a toy. It didn’t seem to stop this not-Cypress.

Oh god, Sydney thought, today is the day I die.

There was a sound like static now in the air, and the faint smell of burning. Sydney began to feel sick, almost lightheaded.

The door swung open, and Sydney whipped her head around to see Cypress, who was trailed by…Mr. Sims?

[anotherdndblog]

Fictober Day 12: 9- “will you look at this?” + Mall AU

Title: Coffee Beans and Silver Strings

Chapter Two: Laptop Stickers and Flirtatious Jitters

Words: 980

Fandom: TAZ Amnesty

Characters/Pairing: Sternclay

Rating: T

Tags: Canon divergence, mall au, coffee shop au, Barclay is still bigfoot, Stern is an enthusiast 

Summary: Barclay notices a sticker on Stern’s laptop

Author's note: I’m obsessed with Sternclay at the moment. I tweaked the prompt slightly to fit the dialogue I had planned better but it still counts (I think)

Link to AO3 

____________________________________

Stern was in on his day off. It was a rare sight to behold, but there he was, sitting in the ar left corner, typing away on his laptop. And Barclay couldn’t take his eyes off Stern. Not because of his pining--no, definitely not because of that--but because he had noticed something about Stern’s laptop. Something he couldn’t possibly ignore. 

There, clear as day, was an honest to got Bigfoot sticker on Stern’s laptop. One of those “I believe” ones. And not just Bigfoot--a bunch of other cryptids. Alien stickers, X-Files BS, Mothman, you name it. 

Stern was completely and totally obsessed with cryptids. 

Cryptids like Barclay. Like most of the people who worked and frequented the Amnesty Coffee House. Like Dani and Jake and so, so many others. 

Aubrey crossed her arms on the counter, staring at the laptop with a smirk. “Will you look at that? Looks like you got a fan, Barclay.” 

Barclay huffed and turned away from Aubrey, working on a couple of Americanos for no particular reason. “Not so loud. If he hears you--” 

“He’d be ecstatic! Imagine the look on his face.” Aubrey giggled. “I’m not going to say anything, so don’t give me that look. Obviously, I care just as much about the secret staying--well, secret.” She looked Barclay up and down and raised an eyebrow. “Am I right in assuming you’re about to take your lunch?” She pointed at the drinks Barclay held in his hands. 

Barclay shrugged, his cheeks warming slightly as he set down the drinks for a moment to free up his hands and take off his apron. “Can you hold down the fort?” 

Aubrey scoffed. “‘Can I hold down the fort?’ Of course, I can, you go get ‘im, tiger!” Aubrey gave Barclay a little pat on the back and sent him off. 

Yes, Barclay was still going to flirt with Stern. 

Was it a bad idea? Absolutely. Was he starting to get cold feet knowing Stern was into cryptozoology? One-thousand percent. But he liked Stern, and he figured if he could at least get to know the guy… well one of two things would happen: 1. He would start to lose interest, or 2. He would fall deeply, completely, and irreparably in love. Part of him hoped for the first option.

But there was always going to be a part that secretly hoped for the second. 

Barclay made it to Stern’s table and cleared his throat, holding out one of the drinks. “Uh, I noticed you were getting a little low, there. Care for a refill? On the house, of course.” 

Stern jumped a little at the sudden noise and looked up at Barclay. His face brightened, and he took the coffee gratefully. “Yes. Thank you, Barclay, I was just thinking about ordering another.” He sipped the coffee and smiled. “Are you on break,” he asked, motioning to Barclay’s lack of an apron. 

Barclay nodded. “Oh, yeah, just started. Are you… I mean... is that seat taken?” Barclay motioned to the seat across from Stern. 

Stern shook his head and set his coffee down, typing something on his laptop before closing it. “Nope, go ahead and sit! It would be nice to have some company. That’s why I came here, after all.” 

Barclay raised an eyebrow as he sat down in the seat. “You came here… for the company?” 

Stern shrugged. “Yeah, in a sense. I had some writing to do, and I didn’t want to be alone in my apartment, so I came here for some sense of… I don’t know, comradery?” 

“Comradery?” Barclay repeated, a smirk pulling on the corner of his lips. 

“Ok, wrong word,” Stern said with a laugh. “Really, it’s just nice to have the ambient background noise of people walking through the mall having little conversations. Makes you feel less alone.” 

Barclay sipped at his coffee. “I suppose that is true. What were you writing? Did I interrupt?” 

“Oh, no, not at all. It was just this little blog post I’m working on.” Stern averted his eyes, suddenly tensing up. 

Barclay weighed his options. On the one hand, it seemed like Stern was embarrassed. On the other, he had all those damn stickers on his laptop. It was pretty easy to guess what his blog was about. Still, Barclay decided to ask anyway, playing the fool. “Oh, you have a blog? That's cool.” 

Stern perked up slightly. “Uh, yeah, I do. I post weekly. It’s just a hobby of mine, and I have a small following, but it’s something to do.” 

“What’s it about?” Again, Barclay was fairly certain he already knew. He looked at the stickers. “Got anything to do with those fancy stickers on that laptop of yours?” 

Stern looked down at the stickers and back up at Barclay, smiling sheepishly. “Oh, you noticed those, huh?” 

“Kind of hard not to.” 

“Are you a believer, then?” 

Barclay suppressed a laugh. Kind of hard not to believe when the proof was sitting right there, hidden only by a hemp bracelet. He shrugged instead. “I can’t say I know a whole lot about that kind of stuff.” He wasn’t the biggest fan of lying, but it wasn’t like he was going to be like ‘actually, Bigfoot is right here congratulations.’ 

Stern nodded. “I see. Well, it’s kind of an interest of mine, if you can’t tell.” 

“What got you into this sort of stuff?” Barclay’s curiosity bubbled to the surface. 

“Well, it was a lot of things. But mainly, I’m just interested in the things we can’t explain. The things that go bump in the night and leave giant footprints in the woods. The things that defy science as we know it.” 

“Have you ever seen anything like that?” 

“I have. Once. No one believes me, though.” 

Barclay smiled, crossing his arms on the table. “Well, maybe we should change that.”

[ladyfl4me]

What does tcos stand for? I’ve scrolled through the tag and it looks hella cool!

Hell yeah, thank you!! I’m glad you’re interested in it! it’s an amnesty fic project i’ve been working on for a while. TCOS stands for The Children of Sylvain; the stuff in the TCOS tag is specifically related to the fic of that same title. I reblog stuff that reminds me of plot points, overall Vibes™, or characters. 

In terms of the series, it’s a series I started back in November 2018 with The Moth who Came In from the Cold, a novel-length indruck and danbrey-centric fic. In this fic universe, I basically ended up rewriting everything in Amnesty after episode 16, ish; TMWCIFTC is an alternate arc 4 where Indrid didn’t leave after arc 3, and TCOS is a full rewrite of arc 5, compliant with TMWCIFTC. 

I decided to fuck around and rewrite all of Griffin’s worldbuilding, based on speculation I did while arc 5 was coming out. In terms of vibes, the worldbuilding has turned into a hellish hybrid of Amnesty, Lord of the Rings, Fallout (allegedly), City of Ember (also allegedly), and - especially now that I’m caught up and loving Jonny’s writing style - The Magnus Archives.

Unfortunately - or maybe fortunately, if this is your thing - TCOS is a sequel fic, so you need to know what happens in TMWCIFTC and the other fics before it to understand some of the context. So if you’d like something to read, there are 3.5 ish fics in the TCOS series to pass the time with! TMWCIFTC was written between November 2018 and April 2019, so it’s a bit dated - for example, my Stern’s named Gary, because this was before his name was revealed, but the memetic potential of Garfield Kent Stern is too goddamn good for me to write out. 

Despite any dated elements - this was written while Amnesty was ongoing, after all - TMWCIFTC is still one of the things I’m most proud of writing, and the overall series keeps raising that bar. Selling points:

Ned doesn’t get fucking shot! The bar is at the Earth’s core.

Side characters get really developed - i literally spent 40k words on a 5 chapter Hollis character study, The Secret Garden, where a) pigeon’s their older sister, b) Victoria’s their great-aunt, and c) the two of them are descended from Sylphs.

Indrid and Agent Stern have a semi-connected backstory, so that’s fun.

Duck and Agent Stern have a REALLY connected backstory, which is also fun.

Folks like Dani, Alexandra and Boyd have more plot relevance than they already did. With Boyd, I basically just went “hey what if he was a sylph/famous cryptid this whole time and had a backstory with the lodge, before he met Ned? wouldn’t that be fucked up” and rolled with it, to the point where he’s a major character. The Devil Went Down to Georgia is an 8k-word fic where the concept of Sylph Boyd is introduced, and it informs a lot of his arc in TMWCIFTC and TCOS. (”This character was a sylph the whole time” is a favorite trope of mine, huh.)

In canon, Agent Stern and Boyd Mosche never met or interacted. This is not the case in TCOS. These motherfuckers meet and hate each other On Sight, even though they’re ultimately on the same side, and it’s hilarious.

Lore about Sylvain’s world and politics that influences the plot? in MY amnesty fic? it’s more likely than you think!

As of right now, TCOS the fic is 12 chapters and counting; I’m working on chapter 13 right now and hope to have it out before next Monday. Writing about Dani and Aubrey going on a gay hike through the woods has been really theraputic. If you decide to take a look at this series, I hope you enjoy it!!

[draconesmundi]

So the african cryptids were removed, but do you have the art/entries for them saved somewhere? It’d be interesting to see, and might work as a sort of “sneak peak” without revealing any actual book content

Art and bio entry were done on paper, but I do have the mythology entry recycled into the makara/grootslang chapter (as this animal has a range covering South Asia, West Asia and Africa) and it looks a little like this:

Cryptozoology in the Congo Basin:

The Congo Basin in Central Africa contains one of the largest areas of undisturbed rainforest in the world. It is home to both pygmy civilisations and tribes from the Bantu language groups. Europeans will often use the Congo rainforest as an imagined home for all sorts of monsters; the pseudoscience of cryptozoology (the study of ‘hidden animals’) places many terrifying reptiles in this area.

Many of these imagined creatures, or ‘cryptids’ have features of both elephants and reptiles, and therefore may be inspired by the makara, who has been known to live in that part of Africa.

The most famous of these cryptids is mokele-mbembe – a cryptid loosely based on local words of the Bangala people. The cryptid was first reported by Carl Hagenbeck in 1909 as a mysterious ‘half elephant half dragon’. In 1913  Ludwig Freiherr von Stein was the first to report the name Mokele Mbembe, and added that it was brownish grey in colour, the size of an elephant, a long neck, a single long tooth or horn. The animal was known to attack boats but leave its victims dead and uneaten. Since 1913 there have been 12 more expeditions into the Likouala swamp region specifically in search of the Mokele-Mbembe, with results ranging from rare sightings to just broken twigs.

German adventurer Lt Paul Gratz in 1911 reported a crocodile-like creature with scale-less skin and clawed toes in Lake Bangweulu, and named it Nsanga.

Alfred Aloysious Smith’s 1927 memoir about exploring the Congo mentions the discovery of a giant pan-sized footprint with three claws – he named the owner of this footprint Amali. He also mentions the Jago-Nini or ‘giant diver’, who was known to emerge from the water to eat people.

While many of these monsters can silently sneak up on people, the Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu is known for its loud ‘mbielu’ call, and is named for it. Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu is a large reptile with ‘planks’ or wedge-shaped plates coming out of its back in the Likouala region of the Republic of Congo, reported by the people living in the villages of Bounila and Ebolo.

Another creature, the Nguma-monene was sighted near the Dongu-Mataba river, with a low slung belly, and triangular dorsal plates similar in appearance but smaller than those found on the Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu; another large and dangerous reptilian animal first sighted by a European but barely mentioned in local mythology, reported by Joseph Ellis in 1961 and in 1971.

The Emela-ntouka (or ‘killer of elephants’, also called Aseka-moke or Ngamba-namae) is a large brown animal possessing a single horn or tusk, lacking dorsal plates or ridges (a common feature in many Congo lake monsters) and has the overall appearance of a reptilian rhinoceros with elephant ears. One of the earliest descriptions of this animal was in 1954 by Lucien Blancou – a game inspector for Likouala game reserve. Two expeditions were made in 1980 and 1981 by Dr Roy P Mackal.

The Badigui or Ngakoula-ngou is described as giant snakelike animal, while the Chipekwe is a giant lizard that preys on hippos, elephants and rhinos. The Irizima, said to live in Lake Edward, is black, larger than a hippopotamus, horned, and breathes so heavily it can cause large waves in the water.

All these creatures are reptilian, some are serpentine, and many have the ears of an elephant, suggesting there is some connection with them and the makara. The only other large reptiles in the Congo Basin are the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), the West African slender snouted crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus), the African rock python (Python sebae), none of which are so monstrously huge that they could tackle rhinos and elephants.

Some notes

As this was lifted from a list of notes I have on world mythology, the prose in itself is almost list-like. I know a few people who are better at sentence structure than I am, and will get notes from them in the next edit.

Also the ‘makara’ is a creature from Indian mythology. I have a dragon with elephantine features (which are always changing, so I’m not posting the biology bio yet until I have this down to a point!) and I am using the ‘elephant dragon’ chapter to talk about the Makara in Indian mythology, the Grootslang in South African and sometimes Benin mythology, a brief overview of cryptids in the Congo and some links to ‘Mesopotamian Chaos Serpents’ - these are huge aquatic serpents with vast ranges, and therefore dwell in a variety of locations. In my 2020 rewrite I might make the Indian, West Asian and African ‘elephant faced dragons’ into different species or subspecies, or I will keep them all as one very diverse species. Who knows?

Sharing My Work

Obviously I need to share more stuff, but for things with complete bios AND complete images, I need to go back to 2017, or I would need to show current works in progress - the former option shows outdated words and art, the latter option shows things which are in constant change.

When I complete a full 2020 rewrite of a chapter, should I put the 2018 version of the chapter somewhere on my blog for easy access? I was planning to have a gallery of 2017 artworks and maybe the 2018 artworks as well if I replace them all with new art, but would art+writing be appreciated?

[thenixkat]

Things I gotta figure out for my crossover/working on

So, this is a crossover b/w Animorphs (semihard/semisoft? scifi) and Ben 10 (soft sci-fantasy) and since Ben 10 shares a world with The Secret Saturdays (full sci-fantasy) also crossing over with that.

And for the purposes of things the city Animorphs takes place in is going to be made the same city as Bellwood. Both share plenty of features ie.

-A beach

-Lots of forests

-close to the Badlands/desert

-Not terribly far from a government base in the desert/Badlands that has rumors of alien stuff

that means that we have the Yeerks invading, Vilgax looking for the Omnitrix, Limax kidnapping the elderly, the Great One tries to devour the Earth, the mushroom people attempting to devour folks and spread their spores, Forever Knights being dicks, robo squids in the Bermuda Triangle, Ghostfreak (who’s real name I can’t spell) attempting to terraform the Earth, the Naga and VV Argost trying to take over the world, ‘cryptids’ around the world getting increasingly aggressive all to account for. Ans other things.

(plus all of my hcs)

So differences for the Animorphs side of things:

--There’s literally an underground secret town full of aliens, hybrids, mutants, and monsters near the city. Far enough that the yeerk pool stuff and facilities won’t run into it but still close to the city.

Theoretically, Ax (and any other aliens for that matter) could get a ride home. If he had money. Or something valuable enough to trade for either a ship or trip.

-- Undertown is staying out of things b/c the mayor and the majority of the inhabitants don’t really give a singular shit about what happens to the humans. Also wars are costly in lives and resources that they aren’t really willing to give without getting something in return. 

They also aren’t worried about being invaded or infiltrated by b/c the city has the magical equivalent of a gleet biofilter over it. As in a shield that keeps out uninvited yeerks and humans.

-- Monsters from cryptozology, folklore, folktales, and mythology/religion are generally real. They are descended from the god/dragon/eldrich abomination Kur. Kur has been reincarnated as a 12-13 yr old Black kid who’s a genuinely good person and also friends/friendly with Kevin.

‘Cryptids‘ are generally all sapient and somewhat immortal unless killed. This is more likely to be true the smaller a species population is given that the magic of the species is divided evenly between all members. ie. Zon has lit been around for several million years. 

Bigfoot is real. As are ghost deer. As are the giant dragons capable of swallowing the moon that sleep at the bottom of the ocean.

The mayor and the magical native inhabitants of Undertown aren’t worried about aliens b/c of the giant fucking dragons have fended off alien invasions before. Ya lasers don’t mean shit to giant snakes that can breathe in space and spit fire underwater.

Any space ships hanging out in the atmosphere will have to deal with atmospheric jellyfish that can shoot lightning. The sky jellies are absolutely capable of wreaking most ships if agitated.

-- There are human people who know about aliens on Earth. 

The Plumbers. Who are a military/police group that enforce the Galvan interplanetary treaties and agreed upon laws. They do not believe that Earth is ready to know about aliens and would try to keep things either on the down low or erase the evidence. Not terribly liked due to corruption and biases that plague most chapters.

The active Earth chapters are dying out b/c of low to no recruitment. ANd the majority of the human members either retired or headed there.

There are bases littering the US specifically with ships and weapons sitting in them.

The Secret Scientists and allies. WHo are a collection of fringe scientists and secret agents who are aware of aliens, magic, monsters, super tech, supervillians, and etc and are keeping this information hidden from the general public and certain governments for various reasons.

While they don’t have the numbers they do have ships and tech capable of fighting aliens.

Dr. Beeman’s specialty is aliens and he got Earth included in the Galvan Milky Way peace treaty. He may attempt to negotiate with the yeerks. (hc: he is immune to pretty much all forms of mind control)

-- Supervillains exist

There is a vampire zombie clown that robs towns with his circus and he also steals people to eat after the show.

Honestly, Peicemeal would def try to eat an andalite, hork-bajir, taxxon, or yeerk.  

VV Argost would probably be interested in the town with all the action and weird shit sightings.

--Andalites have a terrible reputation

Listen they’re tied to multiple genocides, are generally dicks to the more ‘primitive’ species, and are wannabe space cops. 

No one actually likes them.

--Every planet has more fucking biodiversity b/c fuck these half-assed worlds.

Wibbly things?

Combine Z Space with Ledgerdomain? Or make it associated?

What the fuck are the Animorphs doing b/c I’m def not paying attention to them?

The Pack and Animorph interactions? I have no idea b/c the Pack would pretty quickly decide that they don’t wanna work with them.

How long would the war actually last with free horks, taxxon rebels, yeerk rebels, and freed human hosts working together to take them down?