#Maxine Black One Shot

[redcoralpot]

Tougher Than Nails - Mike Schmidt X M!Reader

Warnings/Details: NSFW content, implied substance abuse, alcohol, cowboy!reader, hankie/cowboy hat code.

Summary: Mike goes to a bar downtown in hopes of getting his mind off of court, but instead finds something much healthier.

A/N: Everyone should thank my boyfriend for this idea; he's always the one that reminds me that I am technically a 'cowboy'. He saves a horse very often.

Word Count: 1.8K

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Bars weren’t really Mike’s thing. Any alcohol he’s ever had tasted like crap, and becoming an alcoholic would just be another check on Aunt Jane’s list to prove to the court that he wasn’t suitable for custody. Hell, he swore her perfume was still clinging onto his nose hairs, and all he wanted to do was escape her. Escape reality, too. Mike remembered when his father used to do just that after Garret disappeared, drowning himself in the bitter liquid at night, his speech slurred. That’s why he was here, at a bar in downtown Afton, while Maxine stayed with Abby. He was desperate.

The building was crowded, delightful chatter and jazz music filling the air. Lights were strung along the wooden walls, narrowly dodging the black and white photos hanging by themselves. More customers squeezed in behind him; Mike frantically searched for any open spot in the room. Hallelujah– a single stool was left vacant near the serving counter, and Mike shuffled into it, shoulders tense. The bartender seemed to notice his presence, as she leaned towards the man, still shaking another person’s drink. 

“You’re a new face,” she rattled, “may I see your license?”

Mike fumbled with his wallet, sliding the card for her to see, “Uh, sure.”

“Right, you’re all clear; would you like to open a tab?”

A man cut in before he could answer, and for the first time, Mike got a good look at the person sitting beside him, “Just add whatever he orders to mine, Molly.” 

She shrugged, the key hanging from her left pocket jingling, “Easier for me.”

You chuckled, the brim of your hat covering your eyes. It was decorated with embroidery and leather, complimenting your purple button up shirt, though that was partially hidden by a black vest. Two hankies hung out of your back, left pocket, similar to Molly’s keychain. One was rust colored, but the other was a complimentary gray; Mike thought it was an interesting stylistic choice. 

“I’ll just have a beer, thanks.”

As the bartender turned, scribbling in a notebook, you inquired, “So, what’s a fine boy like you doing ‘round these parts?”

Mike grabbed the foaming beer that was placed in front of him, “I live nearby.”

“That’s not the only reason, is it?”

He hesitated to answer, instead choosing to take a long sip of the beverage. It burned down his throat, the flavor making his lips curl and his head a little more dizzy. Somehow, it loosened his will, and he found his lips moving without his permission. Your energy was just hypnotizing; he felt himself being pulled in.

“Needed a break from stress,” Mike admitted, picking at the glass’ label.

You cocked your head to the side, your hat tipping upward, “Just ‘cause you’re in a hole, doesn’t mean you gotta keep digging. Alcohol isn’t the cure to what you’re feelin’.”

“What am I supposed to do? Not even my medicine works anymore.”

“I go here for stress relief too,” you assured, downing a shot, “but not necessarily for the drinks.”

Your hand hovered over the small of his back, looking at him for consent. When he didn’t move away, you settled your fingers there, feeling a shiver run through Mike’s body. Some of the previous tension released from his shoulders, and he almost leaned back in relief. Many of the customers in this bar were paired with the same sex, unlike most of the movies he’d seen that included the subject. So, he supposed it wouldn’t look too weird if he did.

You elaborated, “People can be cruel, can’t they, sweetheart? Comin’ to a place like this, where everyone’s like me in some way or another, is a damn good bonus.”

“Like you?”

“Y’know,” you gestured to your handkerchiefs, “queer and such.”

He paused, “Ah.”

“You didn’t know this was a boy bar?”

Mike replied, “I kinda just looked up the closest bar to my house.”

…

“Good to know.” Your hand fell away from his back.

He almost chased it. Mike liked the feeling, the weight of your fingers pressing into such an intimate spot. However, he wasn’t tipsy enough for that, and controlled himself. He watched as you spoke to Molly, the lady’s eyes flicking towards him and back, and you slipped her the money needed to cover the tab. You tipped your hat towards Mike, a respectful way to put distance between you, before disappearing into the suffocating crowd. Molly side eyed him, sweeping away his bottle, before leaving as well. Mike swallowed, pulling loose skin from his bottom lip with his teeth. It was now, or never– perhaps alcohol wasn’t the only way, after all. You were right. 

Mike could still see the very top of your hat swerving above the crowd, and he trailed after it to the best of his ability. A random girl almost elbowed him in the face, and he was sure his shins would be bruised after tonight. Your shadow was reflecting in the glass door, growing fainter and fainter as you walked further away, your hips swaying. Mike pushed it open, the vision dissolving, and cold air stung his cheeks. The moon reflected off of car hoods, the only way he was able to see where he was running. His hand reached out and grabbed your arm, as you flinched.

Mike’s ears were red, probably from the alcohol, and you stared at him, “What’re you doing?”

“I don’t know,” was the only answer you got before your collar was jerked forward.

Your lips crashed violently with his; your teeth clicking as he struggled to pull you closer. Mike was still fisting your shirt as you brought your hands to cup his jaw and the back of his neck, trying to gentle the kiss. 

You mumbled against his mouth, “Better not be some experiment of yours, pretty boy.”

“Nope,” he whispered, the aftertaste of whiskey on his tongue.

His back hit the side of your car, and his hands moved from your collar to swinging his arms around your neck. Your knee found its way in between Mike’s thighs, pressing against his crotch, and his groan was swallowed by your lips. Mike whined when you trailed down, aiming instead for his neck. Dark marks and bites soon decorated the pale flesh, his blood dripping a contrasting splash of color. 

Tugging on his earlobe, you challenged, “Gonna come back to my place?”

Mike doubted he ever agreed to something so quickly.

The drive was long, too long in his opinion. Though, it was most likely only fifteen minutes, at most. Mike didn’t even have to walk up the driveway to your cabin; his legs were locked around your hips as you carried him through the door and up the stairs. He ground his groin against you, searching for any possible friction. You tossed him onto your bed, unbuckling your belt, holding it taut. The man in front of you wiggled back and spread his legs to make room for you. You snickered at how willing Mike was, considering his hesitation when you first met.

You regularly kept lube on the bedside table, just to be prepared for when you brought men home from the bar. However, this one was different in a way you had trouble putting into words, other than positive. His thighs shook as you massaged the liquid into his hole, a hand covering his mouth to prevent you from hearing his noises. Ah, now that wouldn’t do, would it?

In response, you tugged his hand off of his mouth, “Lemme hear you.”

Such pretty sounds from a pretty mouth, it was truly a shame. When Mike immediately went back to covering them up, you slid your fingers out of him, instead reaching for your abandoned belt. His eyes trailed after your hands as they bound his wrists together in front of him, almost akin to handcuffs. Mike couldn’t see much of your expression after your head dipped down, only the shit-eating grin playing on your lips. Of course, that was before you took your hat off by the crown and placed it firmly on his head, though it was a tad too big for him.

“Why don’t you keep that safe for me, sweetheart?”

For a second, Mike was confused. Keep it safe? Just what were you planning on doing? He felt a grip on his waist, right before his world spun around him, and the positions were practically reversed. The guard was now sitting on top of you, or more so your crotch, his thighs caging in your hips. Mike’s hair was disheveled and the light on the ceiling created a sort of halo around him, and fuck, did you think he was pretty. Only a few select people had ever gotten to wear your hat, and you could confidently say that he was the most beautiful in it.

You unbuttoned your jeans, letting your cock slip through the opening, “You ready?”

“I’ve never done this before.”

You had a grip on his waist again, slowly guiding him down. You didn’t thrust, didn’t force him to go fast, and allowed him his proper time to adjust, “How’s that feelin’?”

“G-good,” he shuddered, precum leaking from his tip, “think ‘m ready.”

“You haven’t seen the brunt of it yet, boy!” You grunt, thrusting the rest of you inside, brushing against Mike’s prostate. 

The man on top of you moaned, and the sound was so uncharacteristically loud that even he seemed surprised by it. Mike leaned down, resting his tied fists on your chest in order to keep his balance. His sweat dampened your collarbones, his drool smearing on your neck, and the pathetic excuse of a guard tried leaving kisses over the areas he could reach. You soon found a rhythm to your thrusts; groans were punched out of your throat on their own.

Mike could feel heat rushing through his brain, bringing tears that stuck to his eyelashes, covering any thoughts or hesitance he may have had before. That wasn’t enough for it– it spread like wildfire down his body, down to where your fingers were leaving bruises, and down to his red, leaking dick. Something deep was brewing inside of him, nothing he’s felt since his hormonal teenage years. Hell, he didn’t even have time to process it when you kissed his cheek, whispering in his ear that he’s such a needy slut; it exploded.

When he finally came to, he could feel his thighs twitching and your heaving, sticky abs below him. His eyelids felt heavy, and all he wanted to do was stay there with you. You were rubbing circles into his back, attempting to pull out, but a grumble from Mike made you stop. In fact, you were saying things, but it sounded muffled and far away. He took great comfort in your voice, no matter what you were talking about. It was getting farther and farther away, yet still managed to follow him into his dreams. For the first time since the incident with Garret, he did not have a nightmare. 

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Taglist: @cannabrisano @kai_beanz @fandomz-brainrot @slimemakermas

[o3o-aya]

Part four of this fic series please!! https://www.tumblr.com/o3o-aya/683165183281152000/can-we-please-get-a-part-3-of-the-yoriichi-x

:) lol I forgot about this one but yes!!!

All of my one shots are gonna be series now I swear to the gods but with my new laptop we're back in business >:)

TW- blood

“He’s dead.”

The words you so dreaded to hear…

Your husband… He was dead… It had been years… Years…

So long since you had laid your eyes onto his face…

“Don’t be so sad mother.” Your son said with a grin on his face. “Now this means you can give all your thoughts and love to me!” The boy said happily.

He was turned into a demon at a young age… He was stuck in that mentality…

“Don’t.” Muzan said to your son as his narrowed his eyes. “Go finish off the boy.” He said as he waved him off.

“Akao…” you called out to him, but he was already gone.

Wincing as Muzan harshly grabbed your face.

“Congratulations… You’re a widow now.” Maxine said, a smirk reaching his face… In an almost mocking tone.

“You know what that means…”

~~~~~~

Centuries… It had been centuries…

What was his name again…?

You couldn’t remember… You could barely remember his face…

“Mother!~” Akao called out as he placed a plate of guts in front of you.

“You should eat!” He said as he stroked your hair.

“Not now…” You said to him.

“Lord Muzan wouldn’t be pleased to see you starving yourself…” Your son responded with a grin.

“My boy…” You said softly. “Don’t concern yourself with such business.” You said as you patted his cheek.

“But…” he said before you cut him off.

“Go…” You said before sighing softly, trying to think of that man that you supposedly loved so much…

Watching him go before your eyes widened, sharp nails digging into your cheeks.

“What did I say… About thinking about that man?” Muzan asked harshly, a vein popping out of his forehead.

All you could do was look up at him as you slowly shook your head. "No... No I didn't... I swear.." You whispered as his nails dug more into your cheeks, blood dripping onto the floor.

"Go... Get out of my sight." Muzan said as he threw you onto floor.

You winced as you looked down before scrambling away, hearing the sound of the biwa transport you somewhere.

Looking around the forest before you looked up at the sky. "Oh..." You said softly. "The stars..." It had been so long since you had seen the stars... You had almost forgotten what they looked like...

But your attention turned to the boy inches away from you... His checkered green and black haori caught your attention first... Moving your gaze up as your eyes widened.

Those earrings... They were... No... Impossible...

Slowly reaching your hand out before the boy went to strike you.

It was like a flash... Memories coming back to you as you thought about him...

Him...

"Yorichii..." That's right... that was his name... His name was Yorichii...

Moving past the boy's blade as you hugged him close to you...

"My Yorichii..." You whispered, it felt as if Muzan's grip had slipped away from him.. Slowly but surely...

~~~~

"She's been following you around?" The boy asked his friend. "That's... Weird..." He muttered as he turned to look at you, his e/c eyes meeting your own.

"She hasn't hurt anyone so far... But she's just been following me... Even on my missions she's just been watching me..." Tanjiro said with a nervous smile.

You just quietly watched them as you hummed and fiddled with the sleeves of your robe.

"As far as i know she hasn't killed anyone... I just found her in a forest..." Tanjiro said.

"Hey that kanji in her eye means wife right?" The boy asked, looking back at you again.

"Maybe she'll have some answers for you Kamado..."

[cardiolove]

A shock

Max and Chris had known eachother for a little while, enough for max to discover the fact that Chris could do some weird stuff on command. Those said things included being able to raise his heart rate exponentially and heat his body up to a fever.

What they also had figured out about eachother is that they're both cardiophiles.

Max, short for maxine, was about 5'4, a bit on the curvier side and had blue hair. She also had an interest in medicine apart from cardiophilia.

Chris was about 5'9, tanner skinned and his hair was about as long as Max's but it was black. He was neither skinny to the point of bone but not obese either, somewhere along skinny fat.

They had planned a meeting at Max's house, not for their usual coffee and chit chat, but for a little medical fun. Truth is, they found eachother attractive and were close enough in age so that it wouldn't be weird. They had loosely made up a scenario they would role-play to and how it would eventually end, at least that's what Chris thought. What he didn't know was that Maxine had prepared a surprise for him.

Maxine sat in her kitchen, sipping a coffee and excitedly awaiting the doorbell. She was wearing scrubs, the type that doctors wear while working in the emergency room, and a Littman stethoscope draped around her neck.

After about 15 minutes and half a coffee later, the long awaited ring sounded and Max shot out of her chair like she had been electrocuted, spilling a bit of her coffee on the table.

At the door stood Chris, slightly winded from the stairs he had to walk up. He was wearing a loose black tank top and a pair of black sweatpants. His hands were carrying a skateboard and his hair was lightly stuck to his forehead as the heat of outside had caused him to sweat a bit.

"Hii!! Come on in" she excitedly says, jittery from the coffee and the thought of finally being able to enact a long lasting fantasy of hers.

"Hey, sorry for being late I had to pick something up" he says as he sets his skateboard down next to the door. He takes off his sneakers and then pulls out a small bag with 2 brightly coloured candies. "Had to pick these up from my friend Molly" he continues with a wink.

"Oh" she says, a smirk growing on her face as she sees his actions. "Do you want something to drink? A coffee or something?" She offers as Chris puts the bag back into his pocket.

"No coffee, wouldn't want my heart to actually explode now. Just some water for those 2" he said, chuckling. As she went to fetch the two of them some glasses of water, he oriented himself to the nearest mirror, angled his head up, and admired how his pulse was visibly beating already, excitement driving his naturally elevated heart rate even higher.

"Should we take these now or later?" Maxine asks, coming back with two glasses of water. She didn't even try to hide the fact that she was eyeing him, she traced her eyes up and down his arms, torso, legs, neck, shamelessly.

"Now's the best time, you have to wait a few minutes for them to take effect" he said, passing her a piece, grabbing a glass and swallowing the candy piece. "You don't have to if you don't feel comfortable" he reassures Maxine, seeing her looking intensely at the candy. She tells him it's fine and immediately swallows it, this being one of the last few times she's going to do what he tells her.

"Go ahead and get comfortable in the other room, the doctor will be with you shortly" Maxine tells, tearing a hard inhale from Chris as he nods and heads off to the bedroom. When the brunette enters the room his eyes glisten when he sees and ekg machine and a defibrillator, even if they won't truly be used he could still already feel himself stiffening and his heart thud against his sternum harder.

As he sits on the bed and takes a few breaths, their scenario not starting with full on panic level tachycardia, the door opens and Maxine walks in, her stethoscope swaying around her neck.

"Hello Mr. Gutierrez, I see here that you've been having some trouble breathing, is that correct?" She said, looking at a chart. Chris quickly got into character and started breathing heavier.

"Yes, it's been happening for a few days so I figured I should come here and get it checked" he said, resting a hand on top of his chest, feeling his heartbeat.

She extended her hand resting two fingers upon his carotid to feel his quickening pulse before moving behind him. "Lift your shirt up, i'm going to listen to your lungs, the stethoscope might be a bit cold" she orders him.

He reaches behind him and pulls the back of his shirt up. He fakes a faint wheeze when asked to breathe deeply, as they had talked prior.

"You have slight abnormalities in your respiratory sounds and your pulse is a bit fast for just resting, I will have to proceed to further investigations." She says, writing in his chart.

"My... chest h-hurts" he chokes, using his abilities he raises his heart rate into tachycardia, up in the high 140's as his chest starts heaving.

"Lay on the bed i need to listen" She quickly says but not before he grabs her palm and presses it to his chest to feel his heart fluttering. After he lays down she takes off his tank top, gaining better access to his heart while also running her hands up and down his body.

"He-help me" Chris pleads, enjoying the feeling of his heart slamming against his sternum, the Molly they took earlier starting to kick in. Max quickly puts her stethoscope against his chest and listens to his heart rate soar over the 150's, his heart thudding almost three times every second. Maxine listens closely, pressing her hand against his chest. Watching as her hand is moving to the rapid staccato of his heart, he throws a skip... a few seconds later another one. The mauve headed doctor is impressed by Chris' control over his heart. They had a safe word if anything went wrong so they knew to stop.

Thud thud thud thud thud-DUN

"Wow..."she whispered unconsciously, which only made Chris more turned on and made his heart gain even more speed. His dick was now almost fully erect, yet they were only at the halfway mark of their scenario. His mind was starting to numb and he basked in the feeling. After she finished listening, she started putting the ekg leads on him. Quickly, the room filled with rapid tempo beeping with the monitor showing irregularities here and there.

"I- I can't breathe" he said, this sentence being a signal for the next part of their scenario. After Chris said the key words, he rolled his eyes to the back of his head and he started shaking, no... not shaking, seizing. Maxine pressed a button on the ekg machine and the rhythm changed to a preset one she had set. The ekg line becoming erratic as he keeps seizing.

"I need some help here!" She said to the empty room. Maxine now secretly turned on the defibrillator, as the next step was flatline and fibrillation. What Chris didn't know is that the defibrillator was real and could actually administer shocks. Just as she set the voltage on the defibrillator Chris stopped seizing.

She pressed another button on the ekg that showed Chris was in ventricular fibrillation. "He's fibbing, charge the defibrillator at 150" she said, putting gel on the defib paddles. Not shocking him quite yet, just miming it like they had planned. He pushed his chest up against the paddles and then back down when she pressed them.

"Shit, flatline" she verbalizes, only exciting Chris more, his erection now uncomfortable against his boxers. Maxine placed the stethoscope against his heart, hearing it thrash around his chest. His heart was now visible on the left side of his chest, hard to notice but there. His whole body was throbbing in time with his thrumming pulse.

"Starting compressions" she announces, lightly pressing on his chest, not deep enough to cause true damage like real compressions would, but enough to feel amazing for both him and her, especially him. She could feel his pump battering at her palm. She finished a set of thirty and went to give him rescue breathes which he gladly took but also turned into kissing. Hungry kisses, so hungry.

"I need a better angle" she says seductively. Saying that she moves from his lateral and climbs on the bed, straddles his lap right on top of his metal grade erection and resumes compressions. His body Is burning and his heat is radiant. She finishes the second round of compressions and in between rescue breaths "come on" she pleads.

"Fibrillation again, charge to 200" this time, she presses the button to charge, the defibrillator set at 50 joules, enough to affect him but not kill him.

"CLEAR!" She announces, stops touching him, and shocks him. He shoots up, caught in an adrenaline high, he presses his hand to his heart and laughs.

"WOOO THAT FEELS INCREDIBLE" He shouts. Chris grabs the stethoscope and puts it in his own ears and presses it to his chest. With a mesmerized look, he hands the earpieces to Max. As she puts them in her ears he grabs her hand and puts it on his chest.

"Oh my God... are you okay" she says, almost drooling. She chuckles at the question she just asked, Chris' heart is beating around 200 times every single minute, that's more than 3 times per second. There's moments where he slips into atrial fibrillation and skips back to pulse. As incredible as this sounds to Maxine, the better it feels to Chris.

"Oh... it feels so good" the tanner says, grabbing Maxine and starting a make-our session with her, and Oh was it heated, in mere seconds they were creating friction and were moaning messes. Chris took off the top of Max's scrubs only to find nothing underneath but hot flushed skin. With the steth still on his chest, Maxine moves down from his lips and onto his neck where she sucks and bites like a vampire, leaving marks all over Chris' neck, she especially pays attention to his distended carotid, tracing it with her tongue before attacking it, feeling his pulse incredibly fast against her mouth.

Chris grabbed onto Max's hair and started bucking his hips forward, his body flooding with pleasure. The pain of her teeth, the thudding in his chest, the pressure on his dick. It was driving him feral.

"Your turn now" Chris said.

Shall be continued? Tell me what you guys think because this has been gathering dust in my drafts for almost a year. Also, not proofread so tell me if it's incoherent.

[finleycannotdraw]

yo, hi,

please rant about the use of colours/shots in dead boy detectives (if you want to), that would be amazing to read!

omg hell yeah i would love to. <3 buckle up everybody!

(there were some other people in the comments who wanted to hear more as well. for convenience's sake i'm going to keep it all in one post.)

I'm not going to talk about every single frame in the last post, because there are a lot, but I'll be sure to touch on all of the ones that have a good amount of depth beyond the dramatic lighting. (sorry, Angie shot.)

...this is going to get long.

so first, this one:

With Edwin's brown coat, Niko's green coat, the brown bushes in between them, and the trees behind Edwin, this shot is cohesive and satisfying. I drew the orange lines to sort of illustrate how your eye moves across the frame; the line of eye contact, the tree branch (dashed lines) almost parallel to that, the sidewalk/grass line, and the lapels/shadows/folds of their jackets all form a general diagonal streamlined snapshot. Then the black post behind Niko, the tree between them, and the tree trunk behind Edwin continue to divide the frame vertically and add to the additional invisible "line" created by their height difference. Finally, the sky behind Niko, as well as her hair, contrast heavily and very well with the darker colors of the tree behind Edwin, though there is still white on his side (the building) and brown on hers (tree branches). If you were to take a single diagonal line from the bottom left corner to the top right, you would get two incredibly distinctly colored sections, but they complement each other so well.

This whole scene is gorgeous because of the pale sky and water up against Niko's hair and the brown tree trunks with Edwin's jacket, but I also love it because it's so simply colored. We have the classic blue+orange color dynamic, but diluted down to very pale blue and very dark brown. This shot specifically features Edwin focused at the center (the blue lines show that he is standing mostly straight up, while the trees on the borders of the frame are all leaning inwards), with Niko crouched down to fit with the shape of the hillside (orange) AND the silhouetted rocks in the foreground. Then the hillside, the shadow on the water, the general cutoff of the tree branches, and the island in the distance (purple) frame the two of them in the middle without making a Point of it. It looks very natural, especially with the dark shadows around the border of the frame. (personally sort of brings to mind Wanderer Above The Sea of Fog).

I don't think I need to add any annotations to this one. The lighting is sharp and so are the shadows. The fog and the shine on the water, his hair, and the collar of his coat are starkly lit, while everything else, including his face, is deeply shadowed. Plus it's all an ominous, murky green. It's almost the opposite of Lilith coming out of her blood-red ocean. 10/10 frame, I have no words.

I gasped the first time I saw this shot. There are so many vertical lines (orange), which make the space feel thinner: the spike, the bulletin board(?) on the far left, both doorframes, the edges of the table and boxes, the tile on the wall on the right, Maxine herself... and then there are the diagonal lines, all sort of spreading out from Maxine, which includes the table edge, the shadows, and the wall tiles again. Then there's the fact that it's all so dark, but not quite pitch black. Once again we have a green/orange combo, and the light behind Maxine being so small in the whole frame makes it very effectively claustrophobic. We also never saw her enter this room from behind, which elevates her as threatening, because the camera work makes it seem as though we, the audience, are backing away from her as she enters, and then hiding from her as well. While I am devastated by the lack of a sapphic romance arc, I have to say I was blown away by the production of this scene.

I love this one because they're arranged so neatly around the book. I didn't draw a curve over their heads, but it's easy to visualize by following Monty's hairline up to Edwin's, and then Edwin's down to Charles' down to Crystal's. The height order is perfect. Then there's the black-brown-black-brown of Monty's jacket, Edwin's jacket, Charles' jacket, and Crystal's hair. The book itself helps frame their faces (diagonal blue lines), and their clothes fall into uniform with the vertical trees behind them, creating a satisfying, natural, unobtrusive background. This is definitely more visually appealing than a shot of them leaning over and looking down at the book/camera. It's also broken up very nicely by the greenery. Plus, none of their faces are shown from the same angle! Refreshing!

Poor Monty :( but hey, he gets a really awesome shot here! We're back to orange+blue, and the angle of this shot makes it look like the vertical trees behind him are positioned diagonally (orange) to follow the dark blue shadow behind his head. We also get two light sources: one of them is the moon, and the other one comes from the same place as the music. The moonlight (blue) sort of encircles his head and cuts off at the line of trees about halfway across the frame. Both the back of his hair and the far side of his face are illuminated, which is very effective in terms of bringing him into the foreground and making him the focus of the shot even though he's not in the middle of the frame. It's also balanced nicely by having background detail on the left, with the orange trees, but not on the right, where there's nothing but dark blue behind Monty. This is also a great shot when it comes to his hair and jacket, because the jacket is used to add to the framing of his face with the dark blue background, and his dark brown hair is lit sparingly, which ties in the left side of the frame.

Like the frame with Maxine, this one has a lot of shadow and a little bit of light, and again works with an orange/blue (or teal, really) color scheme, but this one is much friendlier. The windows are larger than the doorframe and Charles isn't actually blocking the light the way Maxine did. Instead, he's illuminated from the right by Edwin's orange lantern, and the shot is balanced by highlights (blue) that stop it from becoming cramped and stressful. There are stable vertical lines (purple) and rafters and shadows spreading out from the center (orange). Charles, though he is blocking the window, is wearing a white tank top, and his skin takes on the warmth from the lantern, so he's not in silhouette and he blends very nicely with the scene. I love that he's not at the center of the shot, but instead framed almost perfectly in the right window. (Another thing I love about this show is that the characters almost always interrupt the continuity of the background even when they're positioned to be framed by it. It makes the scenes feel much more natural even while they continue to be gorgeously directed from an artistic/stylistic point of view.)

This is one of the simpler ones, but it's perfect. The Night Nurse's hair and vest are the same brownish orange, and her shirt is the same as the walls, sticking with our tried and true brown/green (easy variation on orange/blue) color scheme. She is framed in the blackness of the doorway, but once again interrupts the white doorframe on the left side. Even the lamp and the board (?) on either side of the frame fill the negative space in a natural way. Also, the vertical lines of the board, doorframe, door, and lamp aren't perfectly spaced apart, which makes the whole shot feel more down-to-earth.

There is so much going on in this shot. The beams of light (orange) are emanating from behind Edwin in a shape sort of reminiscent of wings. The angles of light/shadow and the immediately obvious position of some of the mirrors (blue) also spreads out from behind him, reinforcing the wing imagery and focus. The background is lighter than the floor, and Edwin's clothes blend in with the floor and the reflecting highlights (green) in the mirrors. It's all balanced by shadows (purple), which aren't so much shadows as they are dark-colored mirrors and the blood on Edwin's face. This shot is an unsettling combination of chaos and order, increased by the strange phenomena of mirrors endlessly reflecting into each other, especially since Edwin doesn't show up in any of them. You'd expect him to look out of place, and he mostly does, but there's just enough immediate immersion with the color scheme and light angles to make him fit perfectly. And he wouldn't fit in this shot nearly as well if he were wearing his usual clothes. It's such a good way to introduce Despair. I love this scene.

Now I needed to include these two next to each other, because they're. They're the same scene. Maren is on the porch looking down at Crystal and the boys, but the color schemes and blocking are so starkly different. Maren is wearing black, and the house is washed-out yellow and maroon, both unfriendly colors in this scene. The windows all show the gray reflections of the dead tree instead of even a glimpse inside the house, immediately showing that Maren is hiding something. Then in the shot with Crystal and the boys, they're positioned behind her on the path. Edwin is next to the brown gate and gray stones, and Charles is sort of shadowing Crystal and framed by the green bushes. Crystal's shirt is flower-patterned to match the pink petals on the ground, and her red hair and purple jacket make the whole shot more vibrant and friendly-looking than Maren's, even though Maren is supposedly the one being helpful/friendly/hospitable. The first time I watched this episode I knew I couldn't trust Maren as soon as I saw her standing on her front porch. This scene is, as Charles would say, brills.

Okay, last one, I have to stop somewhere. (I have so many more. I have. SO many more. that i could talk about. but this post is so long already). There are three windows, evenly spaced, white light and curtains framed in them. Charles is in nearly full silhouette as he opens that chest; his head and the lid of the chest intersect with the vertical window frame, and his arm runs parallel to the middle bar. He also blocks a good portion of the leftmost window, while Edwin stands in front of the one on the right. He's fully framed by the window and standing farther back than Charles, not quite silhouetted but still very dark compared to the background. When he ducks down to inspect the cabinet, his head ends up in front of the wall between the two windows. This whole scene is an excellent display of blocking/framing/lighting, just in terms of where they end up holding any given position while they talk. Once again, there's nothing artificial or manufactured about their blocking. These aren't statement shots (all film projects have a few Really Good Shots, but they're often at extremely important, pivotal, or emotional times, instead of spread out through the storyline.), which makes them even better.

I might have to make another post and include shots with Jenny, the sprites, the Cat King, Esther, and more landscape shots. There is no shortage of stunning frames and scenes, and there's no reason not to dive into the production and hidden meanings.

TL;DR: this show is an ARTISTIC MASTERPIECE. Please watch it. :)

[ultrameganicolaokay]

Book of Cutter (one-shot) by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera and Miquel Muerto. Cover by Dan Mora. Variant cover by Dell’Edera. Out in December.

"As it crosses its 5th anniversary, the Slaughterverse unveils one of its darkest chapters yet in this oversized one-shot exploring a brand new facet to the mythos of monsters… and the ones who hunt them. Maxine Slaughter, a former pack hunter who renounced her White Mask to take up the Black for the Order of St. George, journeys to Europe to seek out House Cutter and their mysterious ways. The Eisner Award-winning team of iconic writer James Tynion IV, legendary artist Werther Dell'Edera, and acclaimed colorist Miquel Muerto close out 5 years of nightmares with this pivotal entry in the blockbuster horror saga."

[nine-one-wanton]

@typicalopposite Mobile has completely garbled your ask. It does not show your entire message. There is no “Answer” button for me. So forgive my answering in this format! 💜 (Your other garbled ask is forthcoming!)

Buck reached his foot under the table, his ankle finding Tommy’s and locking them together.

“What’s going on with you?” Tommy asked softly.

Buck sighed, “I’m feeling kinda left out here. Or, like, I don’t completely belong here?”

Tommy frowned. “You don’t like this place?”

Well, that wasn’t true. “I do like it, I just don’t know how to be here. And..” His eyes shot to Émile, who was standing back, with a neutral-to-smug look on his handsome, chiseled face.

Tommy looked confused, his eyes followed Buck’s eyeline to their waiter. And then his eyes widened, returning to Buck’s.

“Seriously, Evan?”

“I mean, it’s fine,” Buck lied. “You’re in a relationship. But you’re not dead.”

“True..” Tommy said cautiously.

“Y-y-you have eyes.”

“Are you.. attracted to our server, Evan?”

“What?!” Buck whispered.

Tommy grinned playfully.

“You’re the one that’s been flirting with him this whole meal,” Buck said, doing his best impression of a ventriloquist, not wanting anyone to read his lips to see what they were talking about. And regretting how intimate the seating was down here. He thought he saw one of the Canadians rolling their eyes.

“Do you know how deliberately you have to flirt with a server around here to get even your water refilled?” Tommy deadpanned.

Buck felt the tips of his ears turn pink, and he.. kinda felt like he might be being gaslit.

Maxine’s clipped voice interrupted, and Buck was able to make out enough words, and apply context to understand that she was asking if people were ready for the final dessert course.

Maxine’s eyes coolly shifted to Émile. And Émile had the audacity to ask Tommy something directly. Something that sounded to Buck’s barely trained ear like, ”Êtes-vous sûr, Monsieur Kinard?” And then Émile’s eyes flicked skeptically to Buck and then back to Tommy.

Buck felt heat pooling in his core again, and he unlocked their ankles, pulling back into a closed off posture.

Tommy nodded, a barely perceptible gesture. And his shoulders shook a little - and Buck thought he might actually be.. laughing?

Tommy took a deep breath, swallowed a large gulp of wine, and then let his breath out slowly as Émile sat the most beautiful plate of macarons down before Buck. A combination of rich chocolate and raspberry macarons were artfully, delicately trailed across a thin rectangular plate. And on top of one of the dainty cookies sat a rose gold wedding band, with a black and red opal inlay.

Buck felt like he couldn’t breathe.

He looked at Tommy with disbelief. As he began to reframe the evening.

Tommy laughed softly. “I love you, Evan Buckley. Every ridiculous, wonderful bit of you. Would you marry me?”

“I’m.. an idiot.”

“And what kind of idiot would I be, if I didn’t love you anyway?”

Buck put the ring on his finger. And couldn’t help shooting a pointed look at Émile, who had faded into the background after he and Maxine had served the guests their desserts.

“You’re wearing the ring, Evan. Is that a yes?”

Buck gasped. “Oh, right. Yes. Of course, it-it’s a yes. Hey.. am-am I supposed to wear this right away? Like an engagement ring? Or wait until we’re married, like. Since it’s a wedding band?”

“That’s the great thing about being queer, Evan. We get to make up our own rules.”

“I want to wear it,” Buck said, decisively. “And I want you to have one, too. So, people know.”

“Know what?”

“You’re mine.”

Buck saw Tommy’s breath hitch slightly. A sharp little hiccup of an inhale. Then he asked, “Should we, uh.. finish up here? Get back to the hotel?”

“Need me to remind you?” Evan asked in a low voice. “Since I don’t have a ring for you yet?”

“Evan..” Tommy breathed. And Buck could hear the mix of Yes, please and Not here weaving through that one breathlessly whispered word.

They took the macarons in a small paper bag to go, and began the short walk back to their hotel room.

[lolahaurisfw]

✎ Introduction ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Reqs are always open like usual too, and you can request as much as you want and as detailed as you want! i just get to things when i can/want to.

Anon's: None Yet

Other Accounts: @lolas-favfics @lolamultifandom @lolahauri @chowderpop 🔞

AO3: Here

BlueSky: Here

-> MASTERLIST <-

DNI: Map, Zoo, Pro-Para, Pro-Ana, TERF, Zionist, Bigots, Discourse Blogs. Block me if you don't agree. ❤️🖤🤍💚

What I Won't Write:

Smut. (Go to my other blog)

What I'm Willing To Write:

Reader Who Is: Tall, Short, Fat, Chubby, Curvy, Buff. Trans/NB.

Reader Who Has: Depression, Anxiety, DPDR, ADD.

Fluff, angst, platonic, hurt/comfort.

HC's, one shots, short multi-chapter fics, imagines/drabbles.

Canon-friendly, AU's, Canon Divergence, Out of Character.

Ch x Ch / Ch x Reader / Ch x OC / Poly Ships of any kind.

F/F, M/M, F/M, GN/F, GN/M, Poly Ships of any kind.

Now that that's out of the way, here's the list of fandoms and characters i'm familiar with and will happily take requests on!

Adventure Time/Fiona & Cake: PB, Marceline, Marshall Lee, Winter King, Candy Queen, Simon, Ice King, Fiona.

Attack On Titan: Armin, Eren, Mikasa, Sasha, Levi, Hanji, Annie, Historia, Reiner, Erwin, Ymir. 

Avatar: Jake, Neytiri.

Batman Begins Trilogy: Batman, Catwoman, Bane, Joker, Scarecrow.

Beauty & The Beast: Belle, Beast/Adam, Gaston.

Bee & Puppycat: Bee, Deckard, Cass, Toast.

BigBang Theory: Raj, Leonard, Penny, Amy.

Bistro Huddy: All Staff Members.

Black Dynamite: Honeybee, Black Dynamite.

BNA: Michiru, Shirou.

Bob’s Burgers: Bob, Linda.

Breaking Bad: Jesse, Skylar.

Call of Duty: Konig, Ghost, Mace, Keegan, Krueger, Valeria, Farah.

Creepypasta: Jeff, Jane, Ben, Toby, EJ, LJ, Slenderman, Splendorman, Clockwork, Kate, Masky, Hoodie,

Desperate Housewives: Bree, Gabi, Edie, Lynette, Carlos, John.

Dirty Dancing: Johnny, Baby.

Earth Girls Are Easy: Mac, Zeebo, Wiploc, Valerie.

Elemental: Wade, Ember.

Encanto: Isabela, Bruno, Dolores, Julieta.

FNAF Movie: Vanessa, Mike, William/Steve.

Frozen: Elsa, Anna, Kristoff.

Futurama: Leela, Fry, Amy, Bender.

Good Pizza, Great Pizza: Alicante, Octavia, Dr. Keh, Nasir, Flash, Cicero, Kimmy Slice, Dr. Price.

Grandma's Boy: J.P, Samantha.

Gravity Falls: Ford, Stan, Soos, Melody, Giffany, Bill.

Jane The Virgin: Jane, Michael, Petra, Luisa, Rose, Rogelio, Xiomara.

Jurassic Park (1993): Ian Malcolm, Ellie Sattler.

Jujutsu Kaisen: Gojo, Choso, Nanami, Sukuna, Toji, Shoko, Geto, Yaga Masamichi, Utahime, Uraume.

King of the Hill: Hank, Peggy, Luane, Nancy, Dale, Khan, Min, John Redcorn.

Life Is Strange (2015): Maxine, Chloe.

Lisa Frankenstein: Lisa, Creature, Taffy.

Little Mermaid (2022): Ariel, Eric.

MHA: Dabi, Hawks, Aizawa, Shigaraki.

Miller's Girl: Cairo, Johnathon.

Moon Knight: Moon System, Layla, Khonshu.

Mulan: Mulan, Li Shang.

National Treasure: Benjamin, Riley.

Nintendo: Link, Zelda, Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, Luigi, Bowser, Waluigi.

Norbit: Rasputia, Norbit.

Princess & The Frog: Tiana, Lottie, Naveen, Shadow Man.

Ratatouille: Colette, Linguini. 

Regular Show: Mordecai, Margret, Eileen, CJ, Benson.

Resident Evil: Karl Heisenberg, Carlos Oiliveria, Lady Dimitrescu.

Rick and Morty: Rick, Jerry, Beth, Doofus Rick.

Riverdale: FP Jones, Hiram.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: Kim, Ramona, Gideon, Wallace.

Scream 5: Amber, Tara, Sam.

Serial Mom: Chip, Beverly.

Silverado: Slick, Rae, Mal, Paden.

Shallow Hal: Rosemary, Hal.

Shameless: Lip, Fiona, Kev, V.

SheRa (2018): All Adults.

Sherlock (2010): Sherlock, John Watson.

Slashers & DBD: Brahms, Ghostface, Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees, Pyramid Head, The Spirit, Huntress, Trapper, Wraith, Trickster, Pearl, Jennifer Check, Stu Matcher, Billy Loomis, Tiffany Valentine, Patrick Batmeman, Thomas Hewitt, Vincent Sinclair, Eric Draven, The Artist, Amanda Young.

Spiderverse: Miguel, Jessica Drew.

Spongebob: Dennis, Man Ray.

Squid Games: Gi-Hun, Sae-Byeok, Ali, Sang Woo.

Stardew Valley: All Adult Humans (Except George & Evelyn)

Steven Universe: Garnet, Amethyst, Peridot, Lapis, Jasper, Blue Diamond, Rose, Greg.

Stranger Things: Robin, Billy Eddie, Chrissy, Hopper.

Supernatural: Sam, Dean, Castiel.

Super Store: Amy, Jonah, Dina, Garrett, Cheyenne.

Tangled: Flynn, Rapunzel, Mother Gothell.

The Batman (2022): Batman, Riddler.

The Breakfast Club: John Bender, Allison Reynolds.

The Nanny: C.C, Fran, Maxwell.

Total Drama Island: S1 Contestants, Chris, Chef, Blainley.

Triple Frontier: Frankie, Santiago.

Turning Red: Ming Lee, Jin Lee.

Twilight: Edward, Carlisle, Alice, Charlie.

YOU: Beck, Joe, Peach, Love.

Young Sheldon: Mary, Connie.

~

Abel Morales (A Most Violent Year)

Astarion (Baulder’s Gate 3)

Babbo Natale (Violent Night)

Barbie (Barbie 2023)

Basil Stitt (Lightning Face)

Beverly Goldberg (The Goldbergs)

Bruce (Beyond Therapy)

Charles Ingalls (Little House on the Praire)

Charlie Dompler (Smiling Friends)

Chel (Road to El Dorado)

Dale Kobble (Longlegs)

Dan Conner (Rosanne)

David Levinson (Independence Day)

Din Djarin (The Mandalorian)

Doug Remer (Baseketball)

Duke Leto Atreides (Dune)

Fezzik (Princess Bride)

Francine (American Dad)

Fujimoto (Ponyo)

Georgia Miller (Ginny & Georgia)

Jack Harrison (Translyvania 6-5000)

Jackson Rippner (Red Eye)

Jon Arbuckle (Garfield 2024)

John Doe (John Doe Game)

Jonathan Levy (Scenes from a Marriage)

John Wick (John Wick 4)

King Baldwin (Kingdom of Heaven)

Kitten (Breakfast on Pluto)

Laurent LeClaire (In Secret)

Linda Gunderson (Rio)

Llewyn Davis (Inside Lleywn Davis)

Master Chief (Halo)

Mike (5lbs of Pressure)

Moe Doodle (Doodle Bops)

Nani Palekai (Lilo & Stitch)

Nathan Bateman (Ex Machina)

Outcome-3 (The Bourne Legacy)

Orestes (Agora)

Paul Blart (Paul Blart: Mall Cop)

Paul Cable (Last Stand at Saber River)

Peggy Bundy (Married With Children)

Peter Mitchell (3 Men & A Baby)

Poe Dameron (Star Wars)

Prince John (Robin Hood 2010)

Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd (Top Gun: Maverick)

Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)

Shiv (Pu-239)

Stanley Ipkiss (The Mask)

Star-Lord (Guardians of the Galaxy)

Summer Field (Time Cut)

Tate Langdon (AHS: Murder House)

The Janitor (Willy’s Wonderland)

Thomas Magnum (Magnum, P.I 1980)

William Tell (The Card Counter)

[bigdumbbambieyes]

happy birthday to our favourite Billy boy 🤍🎂

————

California, March 29th, 1989.

Early in the morning, just before seven, Max wakes up to bake her brother a special cake for his birthday.

She’s temporarily staying with him and Steve in their cozy little one-bedroom apartment until Lucas can make the drive over to the coast, where they’ll find a place of their own - ideally near her brother and Steve.

It’s nice. Peaceful. She and Billy get along and Steve is Steve, dorky and bitchy and doting. She makes the three of them coffee while the box cake bakes in the oven and she mixes red food dye into the icing.

Smirking down at the cake once she’s done, she carefully takes it over to the bedroom and kicks the door open, yelling, “HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAY!” and watching in sadistic glee as the two men startle awake and groan once they realize it’s just her.

“Fuckin’ shitbird—” Billy grunts with a sleepy expression as he pulls the blanket over himself while Steve half-heartedly glares at her as she sits down on the edge of the bed.

“Morning, sleeping beauties,” she grins, setting the cake in her lap to poke at her brother, “Billy—look.”

He huffs from under the blanket and pushes it down, sits up while rubbing his eyes so he can clearly see what’s perched in her lap.

Once his blue eyes are cleared of sleep and he’s staring down at the cake with a furrowed brow, he reads the red icing on it and snorts so loudly in amusement that it makes them both laugh.

“Let’s see,” Steve mumbles with a sleepy soft smile, leaning up onto his elbow to look at the cake she made, and then he’s laughing, too.

“You’re such a little shit,” Billy grins before he’s ruffling her hair, which she grimaces at but she knows she deserves it.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she hums, giving him a softer smile, “Happy birthday, asshole.”

“Thanks, Maxine,” he smirks, because she glares at him for it but doesn’t say anything.

It’s his birthday, after all.

“Did you make coffee?” Steve asks as Billy curls around him and she watches the way her brother softens for him, the way Steve holds him close, pressing a kiss to Billy’s temple.

It’s grossly sweet, she supposes.

“Yeah, I did,” she hums before standing abruptly, “But you two gotta get outta bed and have some cake for breakfast with me, c’mon!” And she bounces out of the room with the cake, ready for a slice.

Left alone in the bedroom, Steve glances down at his boyfriend and leans down to mumble his own birthday greeting into Billy’s neck, “Happy birthday, baby,” while inhaling the scent of sleep there as Billy all but purrs like a content cat, happily eating up all of the kisses and affection before Max is yelling for them to hurry up.

Billy gets out of bed first with a grunt, calling, “You better have a new pack for me!” as he pulls his black robe on and shoves his feet into slippers, disappearing into the hallway as Steve pulls on a pair of sweatpants from their dresser.

“Way ahead of you!” Steve hears her say before the sound of the sliding door to the balcony is opened, the two of them disappearing out there together for a morning cigarette.

Steve shakes his head in amusement as he grabs the polaroid camera from Billy’s desk in the corner, running a hand through his hair as he walks into the kitchen to take another look at the cake. It’s so…them. So like Max and Billy, and it makes his heart want to burst out of his chest.

Because he knows how much work they’ve done to get to this point. If she’d done this a few years ago, Billy would’ve exploded and she would’ve thrown the cake at him. And they still fight because they’re siblings, but it’s better now. It’s less often and there’s more playful banter, more smiles, more understanding.

It’s something worth remembering.

Lifting the camera, Steve peeks through the little window and centres the cake before snapping a shot, carefully pulling out the picture once it prints. He smiles at it and lets it develop on the countertop as he searches for a pen, pulling one from Billy’s jacket when he finds it. In his messy handwriting, he makes note of the place, month, and year - so no one will forget. Especially Billy.

Because while not all of his birthdays have been filled with love and gentle spoiling, he deserves to remember the ones that are.

[joggerfive]

Sorry

A little post-S1 M1 fic about Five getting to know Sam (and Maxine) after their arrival at Abel. Featuring a bag of frozen peas.

Link to the fic on AO3 if you prefer to read on there!

Enjoy! :)

-----

“Do you think that’s who they’ve assigned for Project Greenshoot?”

Five whipped their head around behind them to see who had said that, remembering how the Mullins pilot had mentioned the same codeword earlier before all hell broke loose. 

The two women didn’t react at all when the new arrival stared directly at them, standing close together, both with their arms crossed. Though they didn’t match in their physical appearance - one tall, one small. One with pale skin, one with darker skin. One with her hair down and brushing her shoulders, one with a tight bun. - they were wearing similar outfits, akin to army generals, covered in khaki green and deep browns and matte blacks.

Before Five could approach them, the boy that had been talking to them over the headset spoke again, voice still slightly tinged with unease.

“You should go to the hospital.”

The runner looked at him quizzically, then followed his gaze down to their right arm, which was covered in dark blood. They wanted to argue that it wasn’t theirs, but knew that seeing a medic was probably a good port of call anyway.

They nodded, waiting for instruction.

Sam was still for a moment, then the realisation dawned on him, “Oh! Right. I need to show you where that is. Come with me!”

He spun on his heel and began walking further into the township, not checking if Five was following.

Five gave another quick glance to the two women, both of them still regarding them with caution, curiosity, and something else that Five couldn’t quite identify. 

Tearing their gaze away, they followed Sam, easily spotted even as he was many paces away, his orange hoodie bright against the drab environment around him.

—

Five fought to stay still as they sat on the hospital bed, mostly because they weren’t sure that the rusted rickety frame could handle their fidgeting without buckling beneath them.

Sam sat on an equally precarious looking chair at their side, giving them an awkward smile as his leg bounced nervously, seemingly unsure of what to say. Luckily, someone else entered the large tent before he needed to think of a conversation starter.

She looked slightly frazzled, strands of her tightly coiled hair escaping from the scarlet red hair wrap. She hurried over to the bed, left hand swiping a worn pair of gloves from a wooden desk as she went past.

“Hi-”

As soon as she spoke, Five recognised the voice as the doctor that spoke to them when they’d been running towards the township. The one that said she would refuse them entry if they didn’t bring the medical kits. 

She had seemed strict over the microphone, but it was hard to associate that voice with the person in front of them now, graced by her soft face and kind eyes. Five could tell that she would’ve been a good doctor before all of this. The sort that put her patients at ease and asked for permission before doing anything.

“I need you to strip so I can search for bites.”

Five supposed that the apocalypse had changed most people.

Sam looked sheepish at their side, pulling his sleeves down over his hands, “I’ll, uh, leave you with the doc. Don’t want to-”

He stood, and before Five could even realise what they were doing or why, their hand shot out to grasp Sam’s forearm tightly. It took him by as much surprise as it did them, his brown eyes looking down at the hand, then back up to Five’s face. Only seconds later, Five let go as if they had been burned, face aflame. 

Maxine glanced between the two of them for a few moments, then seemed to settle on a compromise.

“I’ll just do a quick check here.”

Five let out a breath they hadn’t known they were holding as Sam sat back down.

Maxine continued, watching their face, “Am I alright to roll your clothing up to look?”

They nodded mutely, trying to relax their muscles as the doctor’s covered hands moved across their body, gently prying sweaty clothing from their skin. Five simply stared up at the tent’s dark green ceiling, watching as the thick fabric moved with the wind. 

“This used to be an ex-army tent, apparently,” Sam supplied, following their line of sight, “It was good that we found it. Though, it was a real ball-ache to bring it here. Three and Four saw it first, and thought they could bring it by themselves-”

Five listened to the story, grateful to have their attention taken away from the doctor’s wandering hands and eyes. 

Suddenly, the voice talking changed.

“Does your knee hurt?”

Five looked towards Maxine, tilting their head in question. She had her hands bracketed on either side of their right knee, the fabric of their trousers now rolled up just above the joint. 

It was only when Five looked at the other knee beside it that they could tell it was rather swollen in comparison.

Still, they shook their head, genuinely not feeling any pain in it even as Maxine pressed harder in multiple places around it.

Maxine pulled her lips to the side in thought, then nodded to herself, “I’ll put an ice pack on it anyway. One moment.”

She removed herself from the bedside, bowing as she moved the tent flap and left. Five saw a glimpse of the outside, now dark. They couldn’t even calculate how long they’d been there, time seeming to halt and propel forward too fast all at once. 

The two remaining people stayed silent, the only sound around them being the rustling of the tent fabric and a few muffled voices from outside, no words recognizable. Five fiddled with their hands in their lap, rubbing at the dried blood on their fingertips. They didn’t even know where it had come from. The pilot? A zom? Themselves? Maybe even Alice-

“You’ll be alright now.”

Five looked over at Sam at the statement. He gave a small smile, moving his arm ever so slightly, then freezing it in the space between the two of them. He seemed to make up his mind, placing his hand on Five’s forearm, mirroring what they had done before.

Five didn’t know why, but the contact seemed to loosen something in their chest that had been tight ever since the missile made contact with the helicopter, a choked sob escaping before they could contain it. They clamped their mouth shut, but their body still shook with silent sobs, even as they tried their hardest to stop, feeling self conscious about being seen like this by someone they’d just met. 

Maxine entered the tent once more, holding a half opened bag of frozen peas with a blue elastic band wrapped around it.

“I didn’t do anything!” Sam exclaimed as he held his hands up, looking like a young child in trouble with a parent.

Maxine seemed slightly amused at the panicked words as she wrapped the bag of peas in a worn shirt then put it on Five’s injured knee.

“It’ll be the adrenaline wearing off,” she explained to both of them, a calmness in her tone, “it’s alright. I expect the pain might kick in as well soon.”

Five didn’t seem to hear the words as they tried to focus on breathing steadily to calm themselves down. Their chest still felt painful even as they knew there was nothing wrong, heart thudding heavily. They moved a closed fist over it in circles, reminding themselves to take deep breaths, but also-

“You don’t need to be sorry.”

Five looked at him in alarm, the motion halting.

“What?” Maxine asked, brows furrowed as she tried to understand what she’d missed.

Five looked just as confused, hand still in place.

Sam’s eyes darted between the two, “Was that… You were signing, right?”

They hadn’t really considered that they had been doing it, let alone that someone would understand them. 

“You know sign?” They asked, moving their hands in three quick motions.

“Uh,” Sam’s mouth opened and closed as he considered his words, “Not like… officially or anything. But my sister’s hard of hearing, so I tried to learn with her growing up. It was like our secret language that Mum and Dad didn’t know.”

There was a look on his face that Five didn’t know how to interpret. A smile, but tinged with wistfulness and sadness too. They didn’t know what happened to his sister, but they could definitely guess based on the status quo. 

A voice broke the silence, even as she spoke quietly, “I’m going to put this bag back in the kitchen, it’s already getting warm.”

“Huh?” Sam looked at Maxine as if he’d completely forgotten she was there, “Oh, yeah, sure.” He said, even though she was already through the door.

The silence came again, but this time it felt more welcoming somehow. Five simply watched as Sam’s thoughts came across his face, waiting it out.

“Maxine was right,” he said finally, “it’s what she would’ve wanted. Alice, I mean.”

Five smiled solemnly, putting a hand on his forearm, repeating their earlier gesture. They gave it a friendly squeeze, making sure it was not too tight as they felt the bone beneath his slender arm, even though the thick hoodie material.

Sam took an extra second to compose himself, then breathed in sharply, as if resetting.

“Anyway! Good to have someone new.” He grinned at them, all traces of sadness pushed away. “Don’t remember the last time we had a new person! I hope you’ll come to like it here.”

Five mirrored his expression, feeling relaxed for the first time in a while. 

They hoped so too.

[horrorvillaintourney]

watched maxxxine the other day. Thoughts (and spoilers!) below the cut.

It’s definitely not as good as the first two movies. It felt tacked on as an afterthought to an already complete and cohesive narrative formed by the first two movies. The themes felt as if they were still embryos, not yet fully formed. I think the somewhat incestuous undertones of Maxine’s relationship with her father were probably the best-done thing in the movie, but they made a mistake in not elaborating on some other things that they just hinted at, like how violence and trauma have affected Maxine’s sexuality or how they’ve affected her dreams of stardom and her sense of safety in that stardom. For example, there’s a really great scene early in the movie where a man attempts to mug Maxine in an alley, and she forces him to strip and suck on the gun she’s carrying, and then crushes his balls under her high heel. It’s a horrifying and very well-done scene, and it’s shot to make you see the gun as Maxine’s dick, and then just - never brought up again. This physically harmed me.

In the same way X is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Pearl is The Wizard of Oz, Maxxxine is Psycho, but it’s so obviously Psycho with absolutely no subtlety. X wasn’t subtle either, but at least it didn’t have the exact TEXAS CHAINSAW HOUSE for Maxine to hide in while Kevin Bacon was in hot pursuit. I think the Psycho themes could have been well done if they ran through the movie as a sort of constant thread instead of just showing up overwhelmingly in certain scenes.

also my lovely friend who I saw the movie with called the twist forty-five minutes into this overlong affair, AND despite all of Ti West’s more progressive, reimagined takes on slasher tropes, they fell back on possibly the worst horror habit of all time, which is of the first three kills, two were the film’s only Black characters. Speaking of one of said characters, whatever accent they had Halsey doing was abominable and unnecessary.

In short, I liked it and was disappointed by it. I’m used to the X films feeling like extremely detailed masterpieces, and I am merely left with a decent slasher.

[scrambledsun]

this thing i made but havent finished. not sure what to do with it yet. have a read anyway!

Two months. It had been two months after he had done what needed to be done. And now he teaches the two students he had perfected. The girls sat at their respective desks and dutifully took notes.

Maddie, now known as Maudine, had black yarn hair with a low puffball tail and brown perfected eyes. no more silly glasses. After all, everyone knows a perfect doll doesn’t need glasses. Wearing glasses would suggest something was wrong with their eyes, it would suggest they didn’t have proper vision, that they were broken in some way.

What child in the big world wanted a broken toy out of the box?

Moxy, or now Maxine, was a doll with sugar pink yarn hair, styled in a short cut that curled upwards at the ends. She now had the body he felt was more suited for a proper doll. no more ugly doll felt, her body was now made from the same fabric as her fellow pretty dolls were. No more of that obnoxiously loud hot pink skin color. It was replaced with tan skin; the only downside was her face.

She had pesky freckles sprinkled on her nose and cheeks now. Damn it. Oh well, he had given her that pocket concealer for a reason. He remembered how happy she was with it, how he had to remind her to stay still and calm her giggle fits as he helped her apply it for the first time. Every now and again he would have to remind her that those freckles were showing. After all, it was his job to point out awful imperfections like that.

Really, he had done them a favor.

He found himself often having to remind himself of that.

He gave them the kind of chance he would never be able to have. They, with a little more time, could soon be able to go to the big world. Their grades and performance were part of the higher grades. He was thinking about assigning them as tutors for dolls with less-than-stellar performances. It wasn’t like he couldn’t use the help.

 Try as he might he was only one doll at the end of the day, a bitter pill he had to swallow a long, long time ago. He oversaw hundreds of dolls a day. So there came times when he had to rely on other dolls that had proved to be borderline near perfect, to help the dolls that had trouble keeping up.

Truth be told, he HATED recycling his dolls, he hated hearing them beg and plead. And their screams, dear doll their screams. Often broken and desperate. He knew how the recycling process worked too, it was part of his job to know the steps just in case it broke while a doll was still in there, and for whatever reason the robots couldn’t fix it, it would fall on him to fix the abomination.

 The first step is the most terrifying to him for a specific reason. When a doll goes into the recycling machine, it is his responsibility to personally oversee them and make sure they don’t escape. That means he must watch.

 Therefore, when a doll or more is put in and shot down the chute, he ensures no dolls are clinging to the inside. He goes to the surveillance room after. A place he hates just as much (if not more) than the recycling machine itself. This room is so he can make sure that the first step is done. It was the most important part because it was supposed to ensure the victims.

Ehm. The imperfections were rendered immobile, making the rest of the process much easier.

He had to watch dolls fall into the grinder room. If they were unlucky enough to fall and land on their legs or sides, they would have to endure the worst last few seconds of their life. Those few seconds always felt like hours to him. Watching their limbs flail about as their bodies were eaten alive by the gluttonous grinder teeth.

 And he could hear everything happening. Every cry every choke every plead. because for some fucked up reason when whatever doll-forsaken maker made this place, decided that they felt like a microphone was more than necessary.

Those moments would haunt him in his sleep for months on end, only letting up with time and distractions. He couldn't afford to fail other dolls because he was too busy thinking of the ones he failed.

His mind is wandering too often these days.

“And with that class is dismissed for the day, study hard now,” he said putting down the white chalk on his desk and then grabbing a tissue out of the blue cubed box that sat next to the pencil holder and began to wipe his hands clean of the white powdery substance.

The students stood up from their respective seats and the noise began. Notebooks are put away, friends grouped back together, and his dolls begin to filter out.

He watched as Maudine and Maxine talked while they put their things away. Maxine must have said something funny because the other doll covered her mouth to try and hide a laugh. Ever since they were perfected the two were borderline inseparable, not that that surprised him.

They were close in their shared end too.

Stop thinking about it.

“Maudine, Maxine, could you girls hang back a minute, I would like to chat about something.”

“Yes, Lou!” They both replied at the same time, looking at each other for a moment before giggling about it.

Lou didn't even bother to try to stop the smile on his lips. Chuckle nuts, the both of them.

Girls stood side by side in front of him. Maudine stood dutifully still and expectant hand at her sides, while Maxine subtly swayed back and forth, arms crossed behind her.

“you girls have been making quite the waves lately hmm,” he said making sure to use one of his trademark smiles that would have pretty dolls swooning.

Maudine had a bashful look while.  

[steddie-fanfic-recs]

Dissonance Theory

by colossalflea, teddywesworl

Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Characters: Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Billy Hargrove, Gareth (Stranger Things), Jeff (Stranger Things), Unnamed Freak (Stranger Things) Additional Tags: Androids, Cowboy Steve Harrington, Android Steve Harrington, Technician Eddie Munson, Alternate Universe - Westworld Fusion, Westworld Spoilers, Don't Have to Know Westworld Canon, Canon-Typical Violence, Existential Crisis, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Past Sexual Assault, Mild Gore, Eventual Happy Ending, Knifeplay, Blood Kink, Painplay, Masochism, Blow Jobs, Deepthroating, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Under-negotiated Kink, Light Dom/sub, Sub Eddie Munson, HBO canceled Westworld so it's my city now, Dom Steve Harrington Words: 29,769 Chapters: 4/4

Summary

In the most exclusive luxury attraction on Earth, Steve Harrington follows a scripted loop of violence and cruelty. He’s the spoiled son of a rancher. He’s a black hat villain for guests to feel good about killing, over and over again. He’s malfunctioning, and repair techs Eddie Munson and Robin Buckley have to figure out why he hesitates to fire his gun. OR: Steve is an android built to entertain rich shitheads in an Old West-themed amusement park, and Eddie is one of the techs who puts him back together after he gets shot. Did you really think teddywesworl wouldn’t write a Westworld AU?

[ticklish-touch]

Trapped in the Backrooms - Ch 7: Lunacy

(Group tickling, chasing, rubber/latex, mild furry tickling, macro, hypnosis)

You're thrown into an environment exuding with a different type of madness. All the bright colors, intricate places to explore, goofy music and reminders of childhood nostalgia are quite a stark contrast from all the dreary, foreboding Levels you've been experiencing. And it appears there are plenty of others who want to play along with you. Why not stay here and indulge in your silly side? Why not forget about your fear and your worries? You could have fun forever!!

(Chapter themes:

“A Friend Like Me” (Electroswing Remix): https://youtu.be/xqW-Hfk0FN0?t=8

"The title is TOO LONG to write here" - t+pazolite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmRjc9VscGs

Toon World (Metal Cover) - Maxine Solemn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEJn_SXeqlM )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

          “AAAAAAA-"

          To put it bluntly, you ended up with a faceful of balls. More specifically, you crash-landed into a ballpit. 

          Scrambling back up to the surface, you rubbed your head. "UGH- You JERK!!" You shouted back at the slide exit. You then turned to see that the pit stretched on and on into a pitch-black expanse. "Whoa..." You were hit with a sense of nostalgia, and wary caution. After all, anything could be lurking around under here. But for now, you pushed forward, sometimes 'swimming' your way through. Thankfully the plastic balls were so brightly-colored that you could see a few yards ahead.

          "Hey Rag-a-doodle!!" You called out after a few minutes. "Where the hell am I supposed to go?! You said this Level's supposed to be fun!!" 

          You were soon answered by the sound of plastic rustling just ahead. You jumped a little, but narrowed your gaze. "I hear you, you brat..." You tried to side-step away from the noise. But the rustling grew louder and you saw a huge lump making its way toward you.

          You backpedaled. Maybe you could catch him - or whatever this thing was - off-guard. You ducked down to hide under the plastic balls, trying to 'swim' in circles around the source of the rustling; Occasionally peeking up to see if you could spot anything.

          The next time you peeked, a massive hand suddenly shot up out of the ballpit, releasing a loud comical squeal, like a squeaky toy. It wasn't Rags' hand, or a Duller, or a Clump. It looked straight out of a rubberhose cartoon, a bright white three-fingered glove wiggling its digits at you.

          “OH jesus–!" You paddled and flailed your way through, trying to get a foothold on some of the balls below you to try and 'run'.

          But it was faster. With a long arm, it grabbed around your waist and torso, and yanked you downward. "WAAAH SHIIIT-!!" It pulled you down and down and down. How freaking deep was this pit?!

          Finally, you fell out through the bottom, landing with a soft thud on a padded blue mat. You took an exasperated breath, peering up at a colorful ceiling ten feet above - with zero sign of a hole or an entry. And no sign of the giant hand.

          "Looks like ya got pretty balls-deep into trouble down there, hehehehe~!" Ragaeli's voice laughed from some kind of overhead intercom system.

          "PFfff- Oh shut up!!" You shouted back. Rolling over to stand upright, you were met with an even more nostalgic sight: You now stood in a massive indoor play park, atop a jungle gym structure. The building was full of these structures, creating a labyrinth that stretched on seemingly endlessly, with blue padded mats on the floors below. Overhead, there was a soft, upbeat jingle, like one would hear in a daycare.

          You felt a big smile come to your face. Might as well have fun here while you could, right? 

          You climbed your way down rope ladders, you crossed wobbly plastic rainbow bridges, you monkey-crawled your way up spiraling steps. Partially to look for exits or portals, but moreso out of the need to explore.

          While you were monkeying around, the intercom system above rang out with a little feedback, before the music changed to the... Willy Wonka theme??

🎶 Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka

The amazing chocolatier

Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka

Everybody give a cheer!🎶

          "Pffff–!” You practically tripped over one of the plush wedges in front of you, laughing. “I know that's you, Rags!!"

          The volume increased.

🎶 He's modest, clever, and so smart

He barely can restrain it,

With so much generosity

There is no way to contain it,

To contain it

To contain, to contain, to contain! 🎶

          You were soon doubled over wheezing like an idiot. When the song stopped, Ragdoll gave a giddy laugh before the intercom cut out.

          Needing a bit of a break after a little while, you slid your way down one of the rainbow slides close to a nearby wall.

          And promptly got shocked by a couple of the round screws. "OUCH- Son of a-!!" That was pretty nostalgic too, for better or for worse.

          Exiting onto the plush, spongy floor, you started walking up to take a look at the walls. They were all painted with murals of cartoon characters. Some of them were old-timey black-and-white characters, others were colorful. A three-headed dragon, a mermaid, a knight, a pirate, a candy princess, a giant smiling flower, personified insects, animals, fruits and veggies, and more. All of them painted in rubberhose style. A couple of them had a sun and moon motif, with lanky characters clad in jester-like attire; orange and blue, respectively. Red and yellow striped pants on the sun figure, starry pants and a night cap on the moon-man.

          You headed over toward the center of the floor, where a ton of tiny tables and chairs were set up. Arts and crafts supplies were strewn about, along with stacks of jumbo-sized building blocks and knockoff legos. A good amount of small, colorful, paper-crafted snakes with googly eyes were draped over chairs and scattered across the floor. How cute! You went up to one to pick it up.

          Its big black pupils moved, looking right at you. "Oh-! Hey, little guy!" You slowly held out your hand. It flicked out its paper tongue at your fingers before slithering into your palm and curling up.

          Little by little, the other snakes came to life, turning their heads and googly eyes towards you, slithering up to the edge of the table and along the floor.

          The snake in your hand started biting your finger gently. Either it thought you were food, or it was just curious. Either way, it was adorable. You patted it on the head with a couple fingers, and it started flicking its tongue and nibbling against your palm. You flinched a little. "Hehey now!"

          The snakes on the floor started following suit, curiously nibbling and 'biting' at your ankles, wrapping up around your leg to start climbing you. It didn't tickle too much, but it was still enough to make you flinch. Some of the snakes on the table tried stretching out towards you, looking at you expectantly. You felt like you were going to get dogpiled by these things…

          And, sure enough, they started leaping onto you. Some of them slithered down your shirt collar, the one in your hands crept up your sleeve, the ones by your ankles nibbled with even more determination. You squealed and stumbled onto one of the tiny chairs, squirming and giggling and trying - carefully - to pick them off of you. Eventually they relented and slithered off.

          A cheery, light voice started giggling from behind you. "Well someone's having fun~!" 

          You spun around to see... A jester of some kind? She appeared to be animated. She had light pink skin, heart-shaped pink hair buns, poofy pants, a heart-shaped gem on her chest, and big pink cartoon gloves and shoes. You could’ve sworn she was one of the murals you’d seen earlier…           She bounced up and down idly on her bendy legs. "Playing by yourself isn't any fun!!" She pouted, folding her hands together and rocking back and forth on her heels shyly. “Don’t ya want a little company?” She had a noticeable accent; either New York or Trans-Atlantic.           You couldn't help but smile. Okay, she was pretty cute. Even despite her uncanny movements. "Awww, of course! What do you want to play?"

          She perked up and immediately ran out of sight for a minute, behind one of the nearby jungle gym cubicles. With a light bap, a large beach ball flew across the floor. The little jester came back out to bump it toward you.

          You humored her by kicking the ball back in her direction; she promptly bounded and frolicked to hit it back, giving excited giggles and claps. You kicked it back and forth for a few minutes, a big smile on your face as the girl pirouetted and pranced across the padded floor. She fascinated you. She was a living cartoon, a 2D-3D blend, not unlike something out of those movies where animated characters meshed with live-action. Her arms and legs could bend and stretch and carry her halfway across the floor if she wanted.

          But soon… The girl’s voice started to become drowned out by a much more sinister voice.

          "Plaaayyyy!!!"           “Awww geez, not now!!” She ran over to hide behind you. Out leapt a huge beast that was a stark contrast from the rest of the colorful environment. It stood over seven feet tall, with a pitch-black body that had a very prominent, latex-like sheen. It had long, spindly claws, a featureless face, visible hip-bones, and pawed feet. It whacked the ball toward you with excessive force, hitting you hard in the shins. "OW-" You stumbled forward on top of it.           “Hehhehehehe, fetch is fun... But time to throw YOU!" It started stalking toward you.

          You did the first thing you could think of: You picked up the ball and chucked it at the entity. It just barely blocked the ball in time with its arm, making impact with a BWAP.           The girl gasped, then burst into giggles. “Pfff-hahahaha!! POW, right in the kisser!” She gave you a high-five.           "Rude!!" it barked, and took the cue to start running at you.           "WaaAAH!!" You darted into the nearest playplace to hide.           The pink jester soon wormed her way into the structure with you. “Pssst, if ya wanna throw it off your trail, look for the bouncy-house!!” She patted your head. “And don’t worry, it won’t actually hurt ya! It can just, uhh… play a little rough,” she giggled nervously. “Now hurry before it catches ya!”           “Wait, are you going to come too?”           She shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll bump into each other again! I’m your new best friend after all!!” Her giggle became a little impish and she vanished out of sight.           You didn’t have time to look for her. You could hear the entity gaining on you, so you hurried through the jungle gym. It kept gaining fast, snaking through the tunnels and over the rope-stairs effortlessly. It managed to grab your shirt and yank your ankles a few times.

          After a few more hasty twists and turns and clambering up and down padded ramps, you finally spotted an entrance to the bounce-house. You weren’t sure if getting into an enclosed space with that thing was any safer, but it was either that, or chance a very complex-looking obstacle course of pylons, rope-swings and slanted walls.

          As soon as your feet hit the bouncy floor, you nearly stumbled forward. “Whoa–!!” It had been quite a while since you’d seen the inside of one of these; the sight immediately filled you with nostalgic, childlike joy. It was huge, with different directions and tunnels you could choose to take. You started to bounce your way forward.

          But the creature quickly followed suit. You heard the thud of its feet bounce up behind you. It effortlessly hoisted you up, and chucked you a good five feet clear into one of the nearby vertical pylons. "OOF-" It was springy enough to break the impact as you plopped face-down onto the bouncy floor. You couldn't help but snort back snickering.

          The entity broke into a wheezy laugh, clapping its hands. And then ran at you, presumably to do it again.           "Wha- HEY!!" You tried and failed to get your footing on the bouncy surface. "I'm not a toy to toss aroOOOUND-!!" 

          "Weeee!!" it cackled as it spun you and tossed you into the nearest wall. You bounced and collapsed like a dead weight. "Staaahahap already!!" At the very least, this thing wasn't trying to hurt you. It really wasn't even throwing you that hard; just enough to make contact with the bouncy interior. Your talisman wasn't even reacting, indicating that it wasn't trying to be malicious. But you weren't going to make it easy for them.           You were able to roll and spring to your feet before it grabbed you again. You saw the beast's claws puncture through the nylon walls to get a better grip and fling itself at you, but the holes closed themselves right up. Before it caught you again, you made a dive for one of the tunnels.

          The next time it caught you, it didn't try to chuck you. It wrapped its lanky arms around you, which shifted to become stretchy, able to wrap around you twice over. It pressed its rubbery body close...And snuck its long spindly fingers up your shirt to scribble its claws against you.

          “YEEE-HEHEHE!!” You immediately blushed and tried to wriggle free from its slippery grip. Those long claws were killer. “S-Staahahap-hahaha!!” You kicked your legs. It let out some kind of low purring sound by your ear.           “Giggly gigglyyy…happyyyy!!” It cooed.

          It wasn't long before the Nightmare finally joined the fray. “COWABUNGAAA!!” He exclaimed before emerging out of one of the nearby walls, back to wearing his signature black-and-red jester's outfit. He even had a Jester hat on!!           ...For all of about five seconds before he did a double-frontflip and took it to jam down on the creature's head.           "AH-!!" It exclaimed, uncoiling its arms from around you and flailing to take it off, with you and Rags laughing at the sight. …For just a moment, before Rags honed his gaze on you and bounced at you.           You yelped and started bouncing away again, with the brat giggling and following after you. “How ‘bout some more mood music?” He snapped his fingers, causing the intercoms to crackle before playing… The Hampster Dance??           You nearly fell over the next bump, wheezing again. “REALLY?!”           The chase became less of a chase and more of a dance party. Rags continued showing off with flips, cartwheels, springing off the walls, crawling up on the ceilings, the both of you bouncing along to the beat of the music. The beast even joined along, spinning in circles like a dog with the zoomies. Both of them would occasionally crash into you, sending you tumbling back against the wall, snorting and bursting into laughter. At one point the Nightmare grabbed the very confused entity to do a square-dance with it along to the music, making you break into hysterics all the more. When the beast caught up, the two of them tussled with each other while also trying to catch up to you. Rags ended up shoving the monster against the squishy bounce-house walls, tickling up and down its sides to make it screech and let out wheezy laughter, writhing back and forth; it turned the attention right back onto the Nightmare, long needly claws tickling up and down his sides and pushing him against the walls to tickle his belly, releasing his hyena screeches. Using their tickle-fight as a chance to escape, you managed to lose them by taking a tunnel off to the side that shot you down a plush, nylon slide.

          The bottom of the slide led down another bounce-house corridor with a series of archways that you would have to duck and crawl under. Hearing Rags and the monster on your tail, you carefully started sneaking your way underneath them…

          But without warning, one of the archways rapidly started to inflate itself and close over you from the shoulders down, causing you to fall onto your back. “WAH- WaitwaitNONO-!” You tried scrambling back, but soon it was too late; you were effectively trapped in place, head and feet exposed, the plush vinyl squeezing against you tightly - not too tight, but certainly leaving no space for wiggle room. Just in time for the Nightmare and the entity to come bouncing into view.           “Uh-ohhh, in a bit of a pinch there, aren’t ya~?” Rags giggled, bouncing over to yank your shoes off, before hopping over you to squat behind your head. The entity crawled forward on all fours, low, devious chuckles rumbling from its chest, making grabby-claws at your feet.           You gulped and tried curling your toes. “H-heyyy now, fellas, two against one isn’t fair, y’know!!”           Rags planted his big hands on the squishy vinyl, his glow becoming brighter… and sending a tickly wave resonating through the material, making the entire arch vibrate over you. You shrieked and your laughter just increased, barely able to squirm from the tickly sensations. “YEE-HEHEHEHE!!”           The entity clasped its hands. “Hehehe, so gigglyyy!! It raked its spindly claws up your soles, which just released another bout of higher-pitched yelps and whines from you, instinctively trying to tug your legs away. Those claws started to scribble faster, underneath the balls of your feet, experimentally tracing your toes and the sides of your heels, rendering you into a complete giggling, whining mess. “Tiiicklesss~ Tickle-toesiesss!!” It playfully taunted.           “Hehehe, your new buddy here was so excited to tickle you to pieces that it didn't even need my persuasion~” Rags snickered. “Let’s show ‘em just how loud you can really scream~” He cracked his knuckles, bringing his hands back down on the squishy nylon, ignoring your protesting and sending another ticklish shock through the material, vibrating and traveling through your belly, ribs, armpits, even wrapping around to create tickly buzzes against your back and hips. You laughed all the more hysterically, face burning brightly, smiling wide and trying - but failing - to escape.           “Hehehehe, coochiecoochiecoochieee~” The creature taunted, which just made you let out a flustered bark, shaking your head and squeezing your eyes shut so that you wouldn’t have to see the Nightmare looming overhead. Didn’t stop the asshole from continuing to toy with you. He skittered his claws over your ears and scalp, making you shiver and blush and glare up at him. He took a comically deep breath before blowing a raspberry onto your air-filled prison, which transferred right down through to your belly. “PPBBFRRRTTT!!”           Your shriek and foiled attempts to flail around were answered by the two of them cackling wildly. You knew they could tell how much you enjoyed this predicament; it felt like you were caught in a nice, tight hug, your mind buzzing with excitement and anticipation from being tickled and teased back and forth by your captors.

          Their team-attack lasted a few more minutes before Rags finally decided to let you go. He plunged his claws into the archway, puncturing it to release enough air to let you worm your way out. After it did, he pulled his fingers away and the holes closed themselves right up, as if the nylon had repaired itself.           The creature scooped you up and hugged you. A deep ‘purring’ rising from its chest again. “Byeeee new friend~ Have fuuun!”           You hugged back, but glanced up at it curiously. “Bye? What do you meeEEEAN-” It pushed you down another tube slide.

          After a brief fall, you plopped down onto a squishy beanbag chair, in the center floor of another jungle gym structure. Faint music was playing from the speakers overhead: Again, something that sounded straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon, with strings and brass and goofy sound effects. You hopped back up to your feet to stretch for a moment, before heading off to explore, curiosity throwing all caution out the window.

          You made some good headway on the current jungle gym, climbing up ramped paths… Then you thought you heard hurried scuttling footsteps in one of the cross-sections up ahead. It sounded four-legged. Impish snickering sounds soon followed.           "Hello?" You called out.

          When you didn’t get an answer, you cautiously snuck down the nearby slide, back at ground level to try and squint up into the clear windows of the tubing.           You were soon alerted by the sound of thuds and spring coils making its way around the corner of the play structure behind you, letting out a hearty cackle - sounding a bit like a stereotypical witch cackle.

          You rolled your eyes. "Okay Rags, very funn- Whaaat are you?!" You glanced back to see what you could only describe as a living jack-in-the-box: A huge, rotund jester with a hooked bird-beak and oversized yellow hands. It looked semi-animated, semi-realistic, in a similar manner to the pink jester. It hopped forward in its box, preparing to spring forward at you.

          "NOOO THANK YOU!!" You ran down to the other end and quickly climbed up a series of platforms inside of a large cylinder - too small for the creature to tail you.

          Not a few moments later, you heard more playful, exaggerated giggling, sending you hurrying over to the nearest transparent tube before you had the chance to scout out the different sections of the playplace. Making your way through it, you peered over at the wall in the near distance. It also had painted murals... And even from this distance you could see that they were almost identical to the ones from the first play area. The same rubberhose cartoon characters, just in different poses. All of them seemingly had their gaze locked on you.

          You swallowed, hurrying to the other end; not before turning yourself around to keep your gaze on the murals until they were out of sight.           You came across a set of doors, entering a large room with a ton of big, climbable sculptures. A pirate ship, some bright-colored dinosaurs, a mini fake merry-go-round, a green three-headed dragon, a spooky-looking town emerging from a large green book. There were more murals around the walls of cartoon animals, clowns, monsters and machines. They were similar in appearance to the jack-in-the-box: they all had very cutesy faces, yet they all looked sinister at the same time. Like before, you felt very strongly like they were watching you.

          And one of them was Ragman, striking a stereotypical Egyptian pose, tongue sticking out.           “Wha–” You snorted and walked over to him. “Having fun up there?”           He grinned wider and leapt out of the wall to land on top of one of the buildings in the Halloween town sculpture. “Heheh, it ain’t half bad here! Not like we can teleport anywhere until you find an exit anyways.”           “Wait, really?”           He nodded, pulling up a handful of portals. All of them still showed the same images as before: The jungle gyms with bouncehouses and ballpits. A couple of them even seemed to glitch with static.           “Ah damn…”           Rags shrugged. “We’ve found our way outta worse pickles. B’sides, I bet the other zany little fellas here might be willing to help us out if we play along with ‘em for a while~”           “What do you mean? There’s more creatures like that Bird-in-the-Box?”           He simply poofed away, his giggling echoing in the air. “Better keep your guard up~!”

          Okay, now you were even more suspicious of those paintings. Just as you started to leave, you could swear from the corner of your eye you saw one of them wave at you. Nothing happened when you did a double-take, so you snuck back out... Not seeing one of the characters climb out of the wall and start stalking down the hallway behind you.

          Something about the air of this place made you feel bouncy and energetic; you felt giggles bubbling up in your chest for no real reason. The moment you recalled a funny memory, you sputtered and barely held back laughter. You kind of wanted to go back to the sculpture room and climb around a bit. You wanted to run laps around the jungle gyms like you had the zoomies. Was there laughing gas or something in here?? Or maybe you'd just had such a blast back in the bounce house that you were riding through a spell of mania.

          Your giggling was echoed by another goofy, clownish cackle just ahead. Out peeked a very tall animated rabbit, with very dark purple fur. It had comically oversized hands and feet and a wide buck-toothed smile that made your neck hair stand on end. It tilted its head way over to the side, ears flopping over, giving you an enthusiastic wave, its piercing, crazed orange eyes locked on you.           You nervously waved back. In an instant, it bounded forward on spring-loaded legs - complete with an audible springy sound-effect - arms outstretched to grab at you. You squeaked and promptly ran the other direction. "NOOOHOHO!!" You laughed, to which the rabbit let out its own snickering. "Gonna getchaaa!!" It shouted after you in a deep, playful voice.

          You gasped and ducked into one of the cross-sections, navigating your way through hanging fabric cylinders. The rabbit barreled its way through the obstacles, still letting out that goofy, mischievous laugh. Jesus this thing was fast!! You eventually had no choice but to cross a precarious floor of black lattice strips. The gaps were just big enough that you could get your foot caught if you weren’t careful… Unfortunately you didn’t really have time to be cautious. You tried your best to quickly hop across - but one of your feet snagged inside the edge of a strap just as you’d landed on the platform ahead, making you fall face-forward. “OOF-”

          The dark rabbit took its chance to pounce, grabbing your free ankle and pressing its wiggling fingers into your toes and ball of your foot. A high-pitched tinkytinkytinkytinky sound effect could be heard, which just made you yelp and protest more. Its big, blunt fingers didn’t tickle that badly… Then it leaned in and blew a big, loud raspberry against your sole. “WAAAH-HAHAHA NNOO-HAHAHA!!” You buried your face into your arms. It answered your startled laughter with another silly chuckle. “Hyeehuehehe, gotchyaaaa~!”

          And then, you felt claws target your other foot. “YIEEEK-!” You yelled and instantly started trying to kick your legs and pull yourself forward. And heard the Nightmare’s shitty hyena giggles along with the rabbit’s. “RAAAHAHAHAGS STAAAHAHAHA–!” You turned yourself around to get a view of both of them; the dark rabbit’s legs were jutting out to its sides as it squatted down, and Rags was reaching down from below. “Man, you’re getting tripped up already~? You’re gonna get caught SO many times, methinks there’s a buncha these guys around~”           The rabbit was tall enough that it could lean right over the lattice and grab at your sides and belly with its large hands. “NooOOO-HEHEHE!!” The more you yelped and laughed and tried to push its hands off, the more it let out that stupid goofy laugh. Its face was crazed, unsettling to look at for too long; but still had a spark of playfulness that made you feel like you didn’t need to be afraid of it.                   After a few more moments of both of them playfully tickling and taunting you, the rabbit seemed to start taking interest in Rags. Without warning, it effortlessly ripped the latticework open, bounding downward to piledrive the nightmare, squeezing enthusiastically at his sides, belly and underarms.  “WHAAGH-!! YEEE-HEEHEHEHE WHY YOHOHOU!!” He smacked the padded floors below him, kicking his legs like he was riding a bike. The rabbit giggled mischievously, spinning around to grab and tickle his huge feet. To which the Nightmare responded with even louder shrieking laughter. "GYAAAH-AHAHAHA!!" He flailed for a moment, before retaliating and skittering his claws up and down the rabbit's own feet. It yowled and nearly jumped right off of him.           You watched their tickle fight for a moment before using the chance to escape again, monkeying your way down rainbow steps, and climbing into the caged entrance of another play structure. You probably should have used the chance to get out of the jungle gym and keep scanning the ground-level, but… That wouldn’t be any fun.

          Barely a minute passed after you’d caught your breath when you heard more unhinged giggling echoing up from inside one of the cylinder slides. You froze in your tracks when you saw a huge pair of eyes - almost resembling googly eyes - and another wide toothy smile peek into view, with the silhouetted form of a massive cartoon cat. It outstretched its noodly arms and used its huge paws to pull itself forward - only to reveal that its body kept going, like one huge stretchy tube.

          Before you had the chance to turn around, its elastic arms lunged forward with a rubber-band sound and wrapped around you, pulling you down into the slide. “WAAAH-” Again, you crashed into a ballpit, face-up this time, seeing the tube-cat slip itself into the pit just as you’d begun trying to swim through to get to the edge. It emerged with another SPROING, wrapping you up in its arms and tossing you straight up into the air, nearly touching the ceiling of the caged area, giving a loud “WHEEE~!” Just before you crashed back into the ballpit, it caught you in its arms, which bowed like the surface of a trampoline. It bounced you in the air a few more times before catching you… Occasionally tickling over your torso with its claws when it did, ears perking up at the sound of your yelps and giggling. It also poked at your talisman curiously a couple times, flinching its paw back when it let out a slight red spark.           After a few more tosses, its arms stretched out to place you at the top of a nearby platform. It hunched down, arms planted on either side of the bottom ledge, a long noodly tail popping up from behind it. It narrowed its gaze, body wiggling like it was about to pounce.

          You sat up to crouch down, a big smile on your own face. Instead of scooting back to run, you were tempted to pounce at the cat first. But then.. It started chucking plastic balls at you. One after another, in rapid succession, barely giving you time to block them. “AGH- Hey!! Cut it out!!” You laughed and fell back, hearing its shitty little giggle. “That does it-!!” You dove back into the ballpit and made a grab for the noodle-cat’s midsection, making it yowl in surprise and do a prat-fall backwards, laughing wildly when your hands went to work squeezing, poking and skittering your fingers. It felt so bizarre; furry and rubbery at the same time. It was as wiggly as a beached fish - and eventually pushed you away, with enough force to send you sliding through the plastic balls to the other side of the pit. It then made a motion like it was rolling up its sleeves, cracking its knuckles and wiggling its large paws, impossibly huge smile just growing wider.

          You gasped. “Nooo, bad kitty, don’t you dare-!!”           It pounced forward, those claws going right to work skittering quickly over your belly. They were blunt enough to not cause any harm, pointy enough that they sent tickly jolts through you. Again, that googly-eyed face and huge smile looming over you were unnerving, but not malicious. It traced your navel with one paw and jumped between each side of your torso with the other. A low rumbling could be heard emanating from it - it was purring.           The more it tickled you, the more you sank into the ballpit. You saw a flash of red below you, and in an instant, you were teleported from the bottom of the ballpit through the ceiling of a different section of the play structure, some of the plastic balls teleporting with you. “WHA–!!” You landed on a padded floor, looking onto a very narrow bridge, held up on either side by rope nets attaching it to the ceiling, forming a wedge for you to walk through.           And Rags waiting for you on the other end, hands gripping either side of the rope, smiling playfully. “Hehehe, those guys are a riot, aren’t they~?”

          “H-heh, yeah, they’re right up your alley... And they can get the jump on you pretty easily, I think you’re losing your touch,” you grinned up at him, starting to walk onto the bridge.

          Bad move. The Nightmare narrowed his gaze playfully and planted his foot on his end of the bridge, sending ticklish shockwaves down the plank, shooting directly into your feet. “AAH-!!” You yelped with laughter and nearly stumbled forward, grabbing the ropes for stability.           He giggled. “And you’re just as gullible as ever!” He leapt up onto the ceiling above the bridge, hands and toes gripping the netting like a spider monkey. The hand on his tail snapped its fingers. The rest of the bridge lit up red, and small slithery tendrils of his magic emerged from the plank’s surface. He snapped again, and in an instant, your shoes disappeared off your feet. “C’mon, better hurry across~! Either ya get caught by Grape-flavored Bugs Bunny or you get to play a game with me, what’ll it be~?”

          As if on cue, more loud cartoony commotion was heard off in the distance. You gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine, you’re on,” you stuck your tongue out at him, tentatively starting to cross… immediately feeling the tickly zaps all along your soles and toes. “G-GHhhh-hehehe!!” You stumbled forward again; causing your other foot to land on the plank, making the slithery tendrils send more ticklish jolts through you. You tried supporting yourself with the net, a blush rising to your cheeks.

          “Why’re ya so giggly~? It’s not that ticklish, is it?” Rags teased from above. You made an attempt to flip him off, which just made you stumble over onto the net. “AH-!!” The magic quickly jumped into the ropes, sending tickly buzzes up through your side, hip and ribs. “AAH-HEHEHEY!!” You tried getting your footing again, which just sent ticklish shocks through your feet again, which made you stumble again. Rinse and repeat. All while the bastard was giggling impishly above you, enjoying the show. “Whoa, you almost had it that time! Gonna hafta to do better than that if ya wanna be a Ninja Warrior!”

          “Sh-shuhuhut up, asshohohohole!!” You growled and jumped up to grab his tail… To which he promptly used its hand to shove you down onto your back. Your spine was immediately met with a ticklish shockwave; you gasped and yelped out in laughter from the feeling. “AAH-HAHAHAHA!!” You squirmed and tried to grab at the netting to stand upright… But the ropes suddenly jumped to life, entangling your wrists, and slipping over your ankles, trapping you in place. The entire bridge was alight with the Nightmare’s magic by this point, flooding your arms, legs, spine, neck and feet with maddening tickly pulses.           Rags jumped down to land in front of you - shaking the entire bridge in the process - grinning evilly and scribbling his fingers over your kneecaps, behind your knees and calves, making his way back up to tickle your hips. “Hehehehe; If you beg me enough, I might let you outta here before the Tune Squad catches up~”

          “NAAHAHEHEHEVEHEHER!!” You managed to retort even while your whole body was being bombarded by tickly vibrations.           He shrugged. “Weeelp, suit yourself then~!” He lunged his big hands forward to start squeezing in circles around your belly. “Tickletickletickletickletickletickle-!” Every ‘tickle’ was faster and higher-pitched than the last; the goofiness made you laugh more but every time the word was uttered it just made you shiver and blush more, soon yelling at him in protest. “SH-SHAHAHA!! SHUT UHUHUHAHAHAP!!” You whined, shaking your head back and forth, squeezing your eyes shut and causing the bridge to rattle under you. You were laughing and screeching and yelping nonstop - which only spiked louder when his hair tendrils slipped through the netting to slither and saw between your toes. “EEEE-HEHEHEHE!!” His tickling wasn’t as intense as it had been back in the lab; he kept it light and playful, but the full-body tickles were still maddening.

          The sounds of cartoon SFX were fast-approaching from further back in the play structures, followed by the unhinged giggles of some of the Toons. Rags smirked wide and scribbled his fingers up and down your sides. “Laaaast chance~!”           Glancing down between the ropes, you saw the strange jack-in-the-box from before, springing itself up higher and waving its big hand playfully at you. You heard the rabbit’s off-kilter laugh nearby. From behind Rags, there was a… Devil?? A fuzzy cartoon demon of some sort with a spaded tail and pitchfork. He rubbed his hands together like a Saturday morning villain. As tempted as you were to let them all catch up and team up on you, you didn’t want to make it that easy. “OKAAHAHAY!! P-PLEHEHEHEASE!! LEMME GOHOHOHO!!”           He grinned smugly and gave a wink, snapping his fingers to poof you away from the bridge into a different jungle gym.           You laid on the padded floors for a few moments to catch your breath, a dopey smile on your face and tingles swimming through your body. “Nnnhh…” You sat up and rubbed your head. Just how long were these shenanigans going to last?           Turning another corner, a little animated pearlescent dragon with a shiny, segmented body, silver claws and huge baby-blue eyes was sitting on a crossbeam overhead, scratching its neck like a dog. It perked up when it saw you, tilting its head and watching you closely.           "Awww!" You waved to it. "Hi, cutie!"

          It gave you a wide, happy smile full of razor-sharp teeth and waved back, before hopping down and scampering up to you. It chattered and let out baby-alligator sounds, wagging its tail. You couldn't resist petting its head. It didn't have regular scales; it was smooth and rubbery, a bit like a dolphin. For just a few moments, it had a perfectly innocent expression, enjoying the headpats.

          Until it didn't. In an instant, its gaze turned aggressive and it gave you an evil smile.           "Oh shit–"           "NOM–" It barked before trying to bite you on the leg.           "WAH–!" you jumped back in time. Hey!!”           It snickered wickedly, lunging out to try and bite you again.           "Agh-!! Quit it, you little shit!!" You backpedaled. You were sure it was just playing, so you humored it and got ready to run again. "Alright, you wanna play like that? Then come get me!!" You blew a raspberry at it, causing it to trill and chatter at you. You heard the rushing of air, as if it was taking a huge breath. You saw the vinyl walls light up with a blue light… And barely dodged the little dragon’s lightning-ball projectile in time. “WHOA-!!” You managed to make it lose your trail, hearing it cackling gleefully.

          Exploring a little further, you started to hear what sounded like muffled singing from above. Letting curiosity get the better of you, you were able to find platforms to climb up to the next level, finding the source of the voice: The jester girl from before…? Kind of? Her buns had become spiked pigtails, her overall color theme shifted to darker pinks, and her heart gem was upside-down. She was doing a little swing dance to herself. But she gasped when she saw you, smiling wide and stretching her arms out to scoop you up and twirl you. “FRIIIEND!! I told ya we’d meet again!!” She ruffled your hair.

          “H-Hehey!!” You laughed and playfully pushed her back.           “Why ya trying to run from us, chum? You’re havin’ fun, aren’t ya?” She pouted playfully. “I’m just here to be your friend, remember?” She formed a heart over her head with her stretchy arms. “It’s swell to meet that other friend of yours!! He’s a riot! You sure he’s not from here?? Don’t think I ever seen him in one of our wall paintings!” She bounced up and down excitedly again.           You snorted. “Nahhh, he’s not from here. He’s not from my world either, though, but …Since you’re the only one here who seems to have any sanity, maybe you could tell me where we are?”           She gave an exaggerated shrug. “Beats me!! I couldn’t tell ya how or when we got here. All I know is that we’re here to have fun!” She did a cartwheel around the small room, ducking and weaving through large hanging plastic hoops, landing back in front of you. “Whenever someone new comes along, we’re finally able to come out and play!! You Wanderin’ lot are always gettin’ lost in here, always so sad, afraid, and alone…” She frowned, for once looking genuinely concerned. “I… I know what it’s like to be alone.” She folded her hands. “Sometimes, waitin’ in those walls for new people to pass through feels like it takes weeks. Months. Years.” Her pigtails drooped. “No-one deserves to feel that way….”           You frowned and patted her on the shoulder, to which she perked up again and patted you on the head. “WELL no matter, that’s why Mistah Shiro looks out for us!! Like he tells us, if we help you folks feel happy, then he’ll make sure none of us will ever hafta be sad or alone ever again!” he took your hands and spun you. “Isn’t that swell?!”

          You exclaimed when you were spun around. “AAH- I guess??”           She giggled and set you down. And suddenly, her big toothy smile looked a bit more mischievous. “But you didn’t tell me you were so ticklish! That’s a sure-fire way of gettin’ a big smile outta you~!!” She wiggled her digits, that damn sound-effect playing again.           “O-Ohh come on, not you too-!!” You felt a smile creep back onto your face. Instead of running, though, you decided to get the upper hand first, quickly squeezing the jester’s sides.           “YIEEK-HEEHEE!!” She squealed in surprise, stumbling back, her arms becoming squiggly before wrapping around herself. “Ooohoho, that’s how we’re gonna play~!!” she glared and smirked, swiftly wrapping one of her elastic arms around you a couple times over, and sitting back on one of the hanging hoops.  “You really think you can get the upper hand on us, do ya?” She instantly started squeezing up and down your sides, burying her hands into your armpits. “Hehehehe!! Awww you look so sweet gigglin’ like this! See, this is what makes it all worth it~ Laughter makes the worlds go round! Your friend sure gets it!!”           You did your best to try and wriggle out of the pink jester’s rubbery grip, unable to hold back your squeaks and yelps from her ticklish squeezes. “Y-Yeehehehe-!! I-I agreeheehee!! B-But we cahahaha-!! We cahahant s-stahahay here!!”           Her face dropped into a grumpy pout. “And why not? You’re happy, aren’tcha??” She doubled her efforts, sneaking a hand down to tickle over your knees, using her other hand to play piano over your ribs and give rapid pokes along your belly.           You exclaimed and wiggled all the more. “AH-Hehehehe w-well yehehehes, right nohohow!! But I gotta get back hohohohome!!”

          She perked up in realization. “Ohhhh, I see… You haven’t talked to Mistah Shiro yet!” She released her hold on you and steadied you to your feet. “Why didn’t ya say so?? Well keep lookin’ around for him then, I’m sure you’ll find him! Ya just gotta keep an eye out for the two big stars on the walls. You’ll find the doorway under the second star to the right!”           You caught your breath for a moment. “Will… Will he be able to help us?”           She nodded fast. “Of course, of course!! He’ll set ya straight for sure!” Something seemed… off about her big, wide smile this time. But you didn’t press further, and took her advice to keep looking.           A few other rubberhose rascals made their presence known before long. The mural of the giant orange flower emerged out of the floor as you were crossing over to another play structure, flashing a dastardly sharp-toothed smile before attempting to grab you up with its leafy hands. You found a small open area with bumper-cars, watching a red-and-blue clown riding around wildly, cackling as it crashed into other empty cars. Unable to resist the urge to play along, you hopped into one of the cars and started charging after them, much to their delight. A couple rounds of smashing into them, a huge figure peeked around one of the nearby tube slides: A red genie with a turquoise turban and vest. As you scrambled out of the cart, he reached down to try and grab you... before Ragman came flying out of a plastic wall to tackle and grip onto him like a monkey, allowing you the chance to escape while the genie yowled with laughter from the nightmare's attack.           Soon, you nearly ran right into the devil from before. He smirked cheekily down at you and gave a wiggly-finger wave. "Helloooo~" He greeted in a flamboyant voice. "You're quite the slippery little salmon, aren't you? There's no reason to run, I promise I won't bite... Yet," he chuckled slyly, jolting his pitchfork like he was going to poke you with it. "Why not just give me your soul now and save yourself the trouble of running about like a headless chicken?"           "Wha- NO, I'm not gonna do that!!"           "Ohh, you won't?" He tsk-ed. "Well then, I'll just have to take it for myself~" He whipped out his tail and wrapped it around your ankle, causing you to stumble back onto one of the foam cylinders behind you. He then started scribbling his claws over your sole and toes. "See? Handing over your sole is simple enough, isn't it??" He chuckled.           "NNhh-HAHAHA!! Oh vehehery funnyyhehehe!!" You grabbed your talisman, willing it to light up with magic and zip right down the devil's arm to 'zap' his body.           "YYYEEAHAHAHA!!" He howled and stumbled back. "Y-You sneaky little!!" he growled, trying to leap at you. You quickly ducked through rolling cylinders to try and lose him.

          You were soon ducking cutesy and creepy cartoon critters left and right. More of the murals started hopping out of the walls at any given turn, laughing and taunting and wiggling their fingers, making swift work of following you through the jungle gyms. A couple times, your pursuers tried to yank at your talisman's chain, which promptly let off warning ticklish bursts and made them recoil with laughter. You stumbled over rainbow steps, large padded cubes, rope mazes, occasionally slipping and falling face or ass-first. The other toons - as well as Rags - started doing the same when they were thrown off by your quick maneuvering. Crashing head-first into each other, prat-falling down steps, occasionally ripping off fabric decor or breaking off entire chunks of the play structures. In his haste to try and lunge at you, Rags did a backflip over a slide… promptly smacking his head on it with a loud BONK, tumbling down unceremoniously into the ballpit below. You were so busy wheezing your lungs out at the sight that you ended up getting scooped up by the purple rabbit again and had to escape his tickly grasp.

          All the while, Ragman continued to remotely mess with the intercoms to cycle through other goofy songs. Cotton-Eye Joe, Pink Elephants, Entry of the Gladiators, "Having A Wonderful Time," And a certain melody of mocking laughter. The silliness took away any anxiousness you had despite the monsters chasing you. It was pure unbridled fun. You couldn't tell if the loopiness was from the Level’s effects, or the building pandemonium that had begun back when Rags shoved you down that first slide, but you couldn’t stop giggling and laughing. You had all but forgotten your quest to try and escape the Level.

          Escape? Why would you want to escape?? There was no harm in hamming it up with all these guys to your heart’s content. This was the happiest and most carefree you’d felt since ending up here.

          At some point, the entities weren’t even chasing you, but instead got into it with each other: you watched their antics with each other from across another jungle gym like you were watching a cartoon in real-time. They seemed inspired by their games with you and started getting into tickle-fights with each other. They occasionally targeted Rags, who would very quickly remind them how easily his merciless methods could overpower them. But they would bounce right back, undeterred, their energy reserves seemingly infinite. A swarm of them even tried to pounce Rags and pull his tail, resulting in it coming clean off with a POP, and snaking around to try and smack, shove and tickle them of its own volition. The same happened to one of his arms. Once he’d pulled himself back together, he had them howling in laughter within moments.           The Tom-and-Jerry slapstick eventually came to a head when you saw two huge stars painted on a nearby wall. Under the left star was a steel-bolted door; under the right star was a huge, inflated slide, leading into the mouth of another bounce-house disappearing under the wall. This must be it!           Sliding down, you were met with the interior of a huge bounce-house, with high walls and no ceiling.           …And every single toony entity that you’d encountered was here. After initially feeling your heart jump into your throat, you saw that they weren’t trying to come after you. They were all just bouncing around wildly, off the walls, doing flips and midair tricks, having a dance party to Electroswing. You joined in the pandemonium, letting go of your inhibitions to dance, play-fight, chase some of them around and play tag.

          “GERONIMOOOOO!” The Nightmare eventually hollered from above, plummeting down into the middle of the bounce-house floor, creating such a shockwave that it rippled and distorted the flooring and sent the entities, along with yourself, exclaiming and flying backwards. You burst into laughter, unable to stop. Especially when Rags straddled either side of you to attack your tummy with tickles. “Hehehe, glad you’ve had fun here~! Guess it wasn’t such a bad trap after all~”

          “AH-Hahahaha, yeheheheah!!” You beamed up at him, laughing wildly even after the Nightmare had stopped tickling you.

          “Better wrap up this party though,” he gestured to the only visible exit: A big wooden door at the far end of the bouncehouse. “Methinks they’re fixing you to make yourself laugh to death. Or keep you around to use as target practice next time they shoot themselves outta cannons,” He snickered and ruffled your hair.

          Your giggling eventually started to die down, taking deep gasping breaths, attempting to calm yourself down. “Ahh-hahaha…Y-Yeheheah, maybe you’re rihihight…”

          But it was as if those words flipped a switch. All the entities snapped their attention toward both of you. And started menacingly stalking closer.

          “Leeeeave? Why would you wanna leave??”           “Stay with us, friend!!”          “You’re the ONLY wanderer we’ve had that’s lasted this long!!”          “We know juuuust how to make you wanna stay~”                     They started rolling up their - often invisible - sleeves, punching their fists in their palms, giving big wide menacing smiles as they wiggled fingers and claws in your direction. You swallowed hard. “O-Ohh fuck…”

          A pair of clawed hands gripped onto the sides of the bounce house. Out emerged an enormous, winged skeletal figure, not unlike a Lich or a Draug, with a crazed, sinister gaze and long tongue, letting out a manic, raspy laugh and pointing in your direction. The others seemed to take this as a command, charging after you.           “Aaaand that’s our cue!!” Rags scooped you up in his arms, growing himself to his full height, essentially carrying you like a football tucked under his arm as he charged and bounded forward. He ducked swinging arms, dragon-fire, rubber mallets, TNT, bursts of magic projectiles, and more. He yelped and jumped and let out ticklish giggles from every jab of a weapon or chomping of teeth. When the toons saw that their attacks were only tickling him, they doubled down and tried to take him down faster with more tickles. The Nightmare was soon swarmed by stretchy limbs and countless tickling fingers, nearly stumbling forward a few times. “GYEEE-HEHEHEEHEHE!! AHH-HAHAHA!!”           You felt him start to charge up his energy, his aura crackling. You gasped. Don’t you DARE let off a blast again!! You shouted at him in your thoughts. Remember the science lab?!           FINE!! he growled back. Suckin’ up the laughter of an army of lunatics might actually make me go off the deep end anyways!           The huge deity was eventually taken down by a bunch of the creatures working to trip him up with ropes. He fell into the bouncy floor with a resounding THUD, taking you in his hand and outstretching you toward the door. For a moment, you watched him get totally dogpiled, bursting into excited hysterics, tickled from head to toe by the only thing that could really contend with his mania: Raw nonsensical cartoon logic.           But soon, some of them turned their attention to you. “GEHEHEHET GOING!!” Rags barked. “I’LL CAHAHAHATCH UP!!”           Hastily swinging the door open, you were met with one final plastic slide. After jumping down, the wooden door slammed shut behind you.

          You landed flat on your back, on a plush, spongy floor. “Ugh..”

          Sitting up, you saw that you were in an environment almost identical to the labyrinth of jungle gyms. Except this time, the lights were very dim, and the music had totally stopped. There wasn't any sign of the creatures or Nightmare tailing after you.

          Your manic spell and brain-fog began to dissipate, but you still felt playful and giggle-drunk, nerves standing on end; ready for another silly little guy to cause mayhem with or get into a tickle-fight with. But you knew now you had to keep your senses about you. Rags had been right; Something was trying to trap you here.

          “Hellooo??” You tiptoed around the place, occasionally peeking into gaps in the jungle gyms. “Marco??” Interestingly, there were tall standing mirrors hanging from some of the play structures. As you passed them, you could've sworn you saw a dark figure move inside one of them. Doing a double-take, it had gone away.

          But soon, dead ahead of you, one of the mirrors wasn't showing your reflection. Instead, you were looking at a very tall, lanky silhouette of a man in a tailcoat and a top hat. He was completely greyscale, with the exception of the bowtie on his neck that shimmered with bright, colorful patterns. He hopped out of the mirror, his legs stretching like rubber. "Hello hel-lo my dear!!" He took a dramatic bow, tilting his hat to you with one of his noodly rubberhose arms. "It's so excellent to see you having such a good time!! I've not heard such joy, such laughter, such frivolity in ages!!" He spoke loudly and hurriedly, like some kind of hammy showman or salesman. Before you could reply, he bounded forward and wrapped an arm around your shoulder. Much like the previous entities, he felt as if he was made of latex. "T'would be wonderful if you could stay here and play forever and ever and ever, don't you thiiink~?" he gave you a boop on the nose.

          "Well I–"          He chuckled and playfully shoved you away. "Don't worry, I kid!! There's no need to stay here just to experience happiness. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you can feel unending joy! If, of course, you get rid of all those other pesky emotions. Sadness? Anger? Fear? Who NEEDS 'em?!" He gave a thumbs-down. "Wanderers always try and try to make sense of our world, they bemoan all the "scary" and "dangerous" and "deadly". As if that even matters!! EVERY world has its dangers, do they not?? If you confront them with a smile and a laugh and a head full of bliss, nothing can stand in your way."

         I mean... he had a point. But you squinted suspiciously. “What’re you saying? That you can take away emotions?”         “Yeeees indeedy!!” He puffed his chest out proudly. “I can cure the mortal mind of those terrible, hindering blemishes. ‘Tis a skill that even the Court Jester envies~! He’s the one who sent you here, you know!”

        “The… Court Jester?” The one from the painting back at the tavern? “Really?”         He nodded fast and took your hand, starting to swing you around as if performing an exaggerated formal dance. “He sent you to me and my dearest friends because of your positive outlook! You and your zappy-go-lucky Nightmare friend laugh in the face of death and you make Death laugh right back. What a couple o’ cards, I don’t meet nearly enough wanderers like you!!” He barked out a laugh.

          So the trap wasn’t this man’s doing. This so-called Jester had lured you here… “...Wait-” You blinked up at him. “You know he’s a Nightmare?”

         The man giggled into his hand. “The Jester knows many, many things, my friend~!” he gave you a playful shove. “He knows you have only the slightest sliver of a chance of leaving here, he knows your friend is doomed here. How unfortunate,” he tsk-ed and shook his head. “BUT he also knows you will forget all about misfortune in my hands~!” He placed a hand to his chest. “You showed quite some nerve, resisting the offer to spend the rest of your days playing away, returning to a time of innocence, but you really ought to reconsider throwing away such jubilation..” He gripped his bowtie, creating a strange sort of glowing static that emanated sounds of faint laughter, squeals, whooping and hollering.         …And what faintly sounded like agonized wails amongst the cacophony.         “You need only to make a pact with good ol' Mr. Shiro!" He then held his hand out to you, still ‘glowing’ with static, indicating a handshake. "Whaddya say?"

         You gulped and took a small step back. "Uhh... Listen, I appreciate you wanting to make me feel better, but I'm actually pretty happy already, all things considering," you shrugged. "I'm in good hands with my friend here."

         Instead of responding with disappointment, the empty void on his grey face slowly revealed a wide, Cheshire-like smile full of sharp teeth, taking a step closer to you. "Are you now? Ohh but ‘pretty' happy is simply not the same!" He waggled his finger. “Journeying onward will only risk throwing you into more danger!! That pesky fear will come back, again and again, no matter how much Mr. Monster Mash tries to make you laugh!!” He took another step forward, his legs stretching a bit to make him even taller. “I want to make sure that you laugh forever and ever!! That beautiful smile etched onto your lovely face, another fine addition to those who ever so willingly gave up their sorrows and worries to me!” He gestured a finger to his bowtie, then cracked his knuckles, wiggling his fingers at you, his smile growing wicked. “Now juuuust hold still~”

        You felt a blush light up your cheeks at the gesture. You swallowed and turned tail to make a break for it, eyeing one of the play structures to try and hide in.

         He cackled in amusement at your attempts to flee. "WHY ARE YOU RUNNING, FRIEND?? YOU'RE HAVING FUN HERE, AREN'T YOU?!" His voice sounded more manic than ever. Downright giddy at the chance to play with you. He whipped his arms forward attempting to grab at you again, but you managed to duck down and slide under the cage of one of the play structures like you were sliding into home-base, and crawled up the tubing.

         It wasn’t difficult to get a read on his location. His wild, way-too-jovial laughter never stopped. “Ohh how I LOVE a good game of hide-and-seek!! I NEVER lose~!!” He cackled. Just as he was getting too close for you to keep camping out, one of his rubbery arms shot right through the caging and grabbed at the floor near your legs. You gasped and barely stifled a scream, quickly climbing higher into the structure.         You found some clear tunnels to climb through, trying to peek out in the dark building below you. His laugh sounded like it was more distant… But when your eyes came back into focus on the plastic tubing, you saw his face in the reflective surface. You felt your heart jump into your throat and you started to back up… Just in time for his reflection to phase right out of the plastic and start crawling after you on his noodly limbs, cackling like a lunatic again.         “SHIT-!!” You hurried backwards and dove into one of the slides. You staggered to your feet, having to catch your breath. You barely had time to take a few more steps forward before you saw him again, hanging upside-down from nearby monkey-bars, waving one of his hands frantically at you. You laughed at the sight. This crazy bastard was giving you as much of a run for your money as the Nightmare. It didn’t help that you were pretty worn out from all your previous fun.         And Mr. Shiro used that to his advantage. He swung himself over from the monkey bars, flinging his rubbery arms forward and wrapping them around you.. And promptly burying his digits against your belly. “Heeheeheee, laugh for meeee~” His fingertips were soft and squishy, and very skilled.

        “YEEK-!” You whined, barely having the energy to fight back anymore, falling back against him and letting him tickle you.

        “Tiiickletickletickle! Ohh that’s the happiest laugh ever!! You really do enjoy this~!!” He let out a jolly laugh of his own. He unwrapped his arms, only to pull your arms above your head and hold your hands together. His other hand made quick work of tickling over your torso in unpredictable patterns. Pinching your sides, playing your ribs like a piano. Closely following each of your arching, bucking movements, never letting you escape contact with his hand for a moment. “Coochiecoochieeeheeheee!! Oh I could simply do this all day~! Such a shame you mortals need silly things like food, or water, or oxygen, I could tickle you into the next decade and never let you frown again~!”

        His hands buzzed with that strange static again. It wasn’t like Rags’ tickle magic. It filled your belly with butterflies, the light, airy feeling travelling through the rest of your body. Despite his manic personality, his hands were surprisingly gentle. The delicate fluttering drew out your gasps and squeaks; His arms wrapped around you felt like a secure hug. It made you feel…Comforted. You practically melted against him. “Awwww, so cuuuute!!” He teased. “No wonder all my silly little friends couldn’t resist having a go at you~!”

        You felt your body start to relax more in his grasp, and he took advantage of this to sling you over onto one of the nearby rope bridges a few feet off the ground, laying you out flat on your back. He stretched his body up through the bottom of the ropes, promptly yanking your shoes off, poking and tickling your toes and underneath them. “Tickletickle, little tootsies!!”         “NNnaah-hahahaha!! Stahahahap-hahaha!!” Your system was already on adrenaline and dopamine overload. You barely had the strength to fight back anymore, even if you wanted to. You wanted to let this entity tickle you, and play with you, and make you laugh with his army of cartoon friends as long as they wanted. You felt happy. So happy. As if there could never be a sad or angry thought in your mind ever again…

         The sound of the Nightmare’s voice hollering from above started to snap you out of it. "GERONIMOOOO!" He shouted yet again. He plummeted down from the ceiling, phasing right through the bridge and landing directly onto Mr. Shiro, pulling him off of you, tumbling with him onto the floor below and straddling his waist.

        "WAUFF–!!" The entity bounced off of the spongy floor, then instantly wheezed and burst into laughter. "BAHAHA!! Goodness, you sure caught me unawares!! You really are unpredictable!!"         “Hehehe, glad you’re a good sport about it, Mr. Giggles! Noww, whaddya say you laugh for us for a while~?” He smirked and wiggled his fingers at the entity's face.           You found the strength to roll over onto your stomach to watch the commotion below you.

          Mr. Shiro gasped loudly and instantly started squirming. "O-Oh heavehehens, now let's not get too hastyyhehehe!!" He burst into nervous giggles before the Nightmare had even made contact with him, attempting to shield himself by bending his noodly arms all over his torso.

          But Rags faked him out, instead sneaking his stretchy hair tendrils behind him to start tugging at his shoes.           The entity instantly yelped and burst into wild giggling and gasps. “GYEEE-HEHEHE!!”           “Ohh? You can feel that, huh? Or are ya being dramatic again~?” Rags snickered. But the more he tried to tug and find the lip of his boot, the more he realized something… “Ohhh, I see now. You don’t actually have shoes. You can feel this juuust fine~!” One of his tendrils morphed into a brush, scrubbing against the spongy, rubbery sole of his “shoe”.

          Mr. Shiro practically squawked and bucked under the Nightmare, pounding his fists and feet into the floor, smiling wider than ever. “WAAAIEEEE-HEEHEEE NAAHAHAHAT THE FEEHEEHEET!!” His elastic body flailed and snaked and warped under Rags. You smiled wide at the sight. Mind if I get a closer look? You asked Rags in your thoughts.           He smirked up at you and nodded, snapping his fingers, poofing you down to lay out on the floor close to them.           “HEEHEHEHELP!!” Mr. Shiro sprung one of his arms over to you, holding out a hand like someone needing rescued. You almost took it just to humor him, pausing when you saw it buzzing with that same strange fuzzy static as before. Rags noticed too, diving in to blow an enormous raspberry against his thin torso, at the same time burying his claws against his underarms. The entity shrieked and was forced to retract his arms to clamp them down over his sides, filling the high, empty building with his squawking, hysterical laughter.           “Nice try, Rubber-Band-Man~! But don’t you think you can go making soul-binding pacts when I’m around~” He chuckled meanly, sending a ticklish burst through him, practically turning him into a wacky-waving-tube-man.           You scooted yourself closer, not able to resist the urge to tickle one of his rubbery sides. He screeched and whined loudly. “NAAAH-HAHAHA NOT YOU TOOHOOHOO!!” He didn’t try to shove you or the Nightmare off of him, though; he simply hid his huge laughing smile under his hands.           You grinned. “I dunno, Rags, I think he likes this~”           Rags took notice too, smirking and raising an eyebrow. “You’re riiiight~ A shame I can’t keep you as my happy, laughing little ticklish pet forever and ever~!”          

           The entity whined and hid his face more. “B-But I muhuhust stay hehehere!! Spread my- AAH-HAHAHA JoyyeeEEHEHE to every lost sohohoul !!” He finally managed to worm his way out from under the Nightmare by stretching his body as thin as it could go, promptly springing up and doing a cartwheel backward, tidying off his bowtie and hat, catching his breath.           Rags slowly stood up, menacingly starting to stalk toward him, cracking his knuckles; the sight giving you secondhand chest-flutters.           “D-Don’t you want the same??” Mr. Shiro held his arms out, trying to bargain. “You take away sadness, you dampen fear, you drown out the bloodlust of our denizens, your entire being craves ceaselessly for laughter and jubilation!!"

          Rags chuckled, shrugging. The more he stepped forward, the more the other entity stepped back. “You’re not wrong~ But see, that’s where you and I are different. I know that other emotions are important.” He finally stood still.  “I’m not just made of laughter… I’m also made of…” He promptly grew himself a couple feet taller than the entity, looming in close. “FEEEAARRR~”

          The man gasped and balked and nearly stumbled back over his own feet.

          Rags giggled playfully. “See? That was exciting, wasn’t it? Fear ain’t so bad~! Not if you don’t let it put you in a bad mindset! Plenty of people enjoy a healthy dose of fear.”

          The entity quickly adjusted his hat. “I-I wasn’t afraid!! Simply startled, that’s all!!” He huffed. “Well fine then, what of sadness? What of anger? HOW are negative emotions anything but poison?!”

          “Because that’s what makes us human!!” You decided to speak up, slowly standing to your feet. “No-one likes being sad. No-one likes grief, or guilt, or being terrified for their life. But just because something causes us pain doesn’t mean we can’t work through it. People like venting their emotions through intense music, sad movies, therapeutic hobbies.” You tried offering a reassuring smile. “You can always remind people that there are reasons to still feel happy and hopeful even if they’re dealing with some really bad shit. But you can’t force people to be happy forever.”           "There ya have it," Rags gestured to you. "Took the words right outta my mouth."

          Mr. Shiro scoffed and stretched out the top half of his body to lean in close to you. “Well I disagree~” For once, his smile seemed…strained. Of course, pulling his eyes away from Rags was a mistake. He was a crumpled pile on the floor within moments when Rags started squeezing rapidly along his hips. “YEEE-HEE-HEHEHE!!”           “Heheheh, forget it, buddy. You’re not winning this one~” His tail-hand clamped down onto the man’s ankles and sent a tickly burst through him, making him flail and howl again. “I wanna meet this Jester of yours. Sounds to me like he’s been keepin’ an eye on us, is that right? He’s the one who trapped us here?”           “YYEE-HEEhhHESS!!” Mr. Shiro wailed into his arms.           Rags scoffed. “Betcha he stuck us here cause he's too piss-scared to take me on himself~ Well if he’s so smart, then he’ll know how to get my buddy outta here. If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll give me that answer willingly~!" his smile curled into an irritated sneer, voice lowering into a growl.           The entity rolled onto his back when Rags stopped his attack, catching his breath again, laying a hand on his stomach. “H-Heheh… Y-You’re… really proposing challenging him?”           “Damn right!! I’ve been chompin’ at the bit to go head-to-head with someone on par with me, if you even got anyone that strong here,” he gave a cocky smirk, lifting Mr. Shiro to his feet. “Not sayin’ that you and your Saturday Morning Gang here are weak, of course, a toon’s only weakness is paint thinner, heh~"           "Wha-" The man balked. "How do you know that?!"           Rags giggled. "I know many, many things~" he tapped a finger to his temple. "And I KNOW that Jester won't stand half of a chance against me while I have an overcharged battery to burn off!” He held out a bright glowing hand, letting off a burst of magic.. Which gave off a loud BANG and promptly jumped around to all the nearby jungle gym structures like lightning rods sucking up a thunderstorm. The entity squawked and ducked down, covering his ears.           Rags cackled at the entity's reaction, re-absorbing his magic again. “Heheheh, aren’t you curious to see what would happen if a god of laughter goes toe-to-toe with an expert entertainer~?”

          The man scratched his chin. “Hmmm…Y’knowww, you’ve piqued my interest! Whose joy is stronger? The stark-raving antics of a megalomaniac who defies his world of terror, or the refined performances of an entertainer who stands above Time and Space itself? I’ve a feeling he’ll have something to say about this sorry excuse of a Jester’s getup, in any case!” he gestured to Rags’ outfit.           Rags just giggled, holding out a massive hand, indicating a handshake. “So it’s a deal, then? You tell us how to get to him, I’ll make sure you get to peek in on the show~”           “Heh…” Mr. Shiro bowed his head. “Fiiine fine, very well~” He shook the Nightmare deity’s hand. “If you somehow manage to win, then by all means, flaunt your victory over all of us as much as you want! Not like it's going to last.” His wide smile returned. “But if you lose… Then I keep your silly, misguided little Wanderer with me. Forever~”

          “Deal!”           “Wha– RAGS!!” You glared up at him.

        He just grinned smugly. “You really think I’m gonna lose~?”           Mr. Shiro led you both to a red velvet curtain on one of the far walls, pulling it back dramatically to reveal a portal doorway leading out to a spooky-looking nighttime circus, the dim lights of various rides and attractions giving off a somewhat eerie, but inviting atmosphere. Your eyes lit up in excitement. “Oooh!! I haven’t been to a circus in forever!” You beamed up at Rags.           Mr. Shiro chuckled. “Well let’s get this show on the road then!!” He tied back the curtain with a golden cord on the wall. “Tell the Jester I did my part, but your sheer stubbornness was far too much even for my companions’ limitless stamina,” he chuckled.

          Before you headed through, he walked up to you. “You’re still making a mistaaa~aaaake!” He commented in a singsong voice,  waggling a finger in front of your face. “But… from one Connoisseur of Laughter to another, I say you both have plenty of reasons to keep smiling~!”           He took a dramatic bow, stepping back into the darkness and disappearing.

          Rags then took your hand. “A circus, huh? Seems pretty fitting~ Ready to go on some rides and kick ass?”           “Do you even need to ask??”

          You both hopped into the portal together, another step closer to finding someone who could help. Assuming he even wanted to. But you had no doubts that you and your Nightmare buddy had full power to "persuade" your way to victory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five  Chapter Six Chapter Seven (current) Chapter Eight

Footnotes:

Abandoned play park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pwi5OokwlU

Bounce house: https://sta.sh/01lapch2wbr

Ballpit: https://backrooms.fandom.com/wiki/Level_60 ( https://sta.sh/02e0h3zkgyq9 )

Playplace: https://sta.sh/01dl3xnsbp8n

Childhood nostalgia: https://sta.sh/0fwbqgx1rbx

Paper Snakes: https://sta.sh/0112pvtuai7n

Nightstalkers: https://sta.sh/0uir2qjx28 (Specifically used this one because of how they're described to have latex bodies. I wanted to include at least one entity that wasn't directly cartoon-related)

Mr. Shiro: https://sta.sh/01rrmb7z78vo

We’re officially at the halfway mark now!! And it's my longest chapter yet, holy shit

Sooo, I'm starting to notice a running theme of Levels and entities that are meant to be integral parts of my chapters getting yeeted from the Wiki. Half of the shit I intended to use from this chapter was deleted. Thankfully I was able to relocate them with the Wayback Machine. I just really don't want to take any credit for concepts that weren't mine in the first place.

In any case, I did take some creative liberties with the rest of this chapter. I wanted it to be a big homage to classic cartoons. The Toon monsters from Yu-Gi-Oh used to unsettle the hell out of me as a young teen - and kinda still give me the heebie-jeebies. And yet, they became a big influence for Rags' personality (along with Genie and Beetlejuice), and over time, I came to realize their potential as unhinged Lers. If I was a furry I’d probably be as weak for them as I am for clowns, lmao. And if any cartoony creatures belong in the Backrooms, it's those fuckers and the Cuphead bosses

[yeehawbvby]

Am I ~seducing~ you? | Ch. 1*

(Piers x OC Maxine)

Rating: Mature/Explicit

Summary: "Piers stopped in his tracks as he watched his friend smile at him while propping herself onto her elbows, and then drop that smile and widen her eyes as they raked up and down his body. 

Oh, does it look bad? he worried to himself.

Then, he noticed Max’s face grow pink. Her ears and what little of her neck he could see followed as her cheeks turned a deep red he wasn’t sure he’d seen on them before.

…That must be a good thing then, yeah? Probably?"

Author's Note: Wowee, what a surprise, another romantically and sexually tense MinMaxShip fic!! (said no one ever)

I had way too much fun writing this. I’ve been dealing with tons of health issues lately, which has made writing kinda hard, but it’s fun being able to whip up silly one-shots here and there when I can.

Hope y’all enjoy x

Check it out on ao3!

Next

With battling being so ingrained into Galar’s culture, it was common for the region’s gym leaders to keep their stadiums open on holidays. Why would passionate trainers sit at home with their friends and families on, let’s say Christmas Eve for example, when they could go take on gym leaders as a group activity instead? 

Piers, preferring to do his own thing, would pick and choose which holidays to keep the Dark venue open. He’d take it year-by-year, seeing how he was faring the week of the occasion, and would advertise a celebratory event only if he felt like it’d be worth it. Oftentimes he’d forgo battling entirely, putting on a show instead; but regardless of what he decided on, he never failed to sell the venue out.

The amount of people who showed up proved to be far too overwhelming for Max, so she simply didn’t work holidays. She’d had one incident in her early days as a gym trainer where she tried to push past her immense discomfort and be there for a New Year’s event, only to have to hide away backstage due to a panic attack. It was for the best that she just stayed home. 

She didn’t mind it, despite how isolating it could be. If anything, she found comfort in how quiet their apartment building would become with so many people at one gym or another. 

This day in particular was Halloween, and Piers was readying himself for a concert. He’d always encouraged everyone — his staff included — to show up in costume. The practice kept employee morale higher, attracted more attention from fans and trainers alike, and honestly, Piers just found it fun. The idea of being able to dress any way he wanted to once a year excited him. It made him feel less self conscious when he wanted to experiment with wearing dresses, or different types of makeup, or whatever, because if he was met with criticism he could just blame it on the holiday.

Piers had his fair share of silly costumes, such as pokemon kigurumis or maid outfits. He’d never been the type to use Halloween as an excuse to look sexy like so many people do.

For some reason, he felt bold enough to change that this year.

He was a little self conscious as he inspected his incubus getup in the mirror. His high ponytail was complemented by a headband with two black horns, which held his fringe away from his face; he swapped his black eyeshadow for a deep burgundy, creating a smokey look in unison with his smudged black eyeliner; and he toyed with some faux fangs, ultimately deciding to wear them at least until he got on stage.

His usual pendant adorned his neck, and below it, his torso was practically bare. He had on a black, long-sleeved, mock-neck shirt, but the fabric ended in an upside-down v-shape just above his chest. 

Raihan, being a master of the craft of Looking Slutty, suggested Piers spice it up with some fake tattoos somewhere on his lower torso. He reluctantly did just that, drawing a small black wing with some eyeliner between each hip bone, slightly below his navel. He thought it would be too much but wound up liking it, especially preferring it over sporting a set of wearing fake wings.

He wore tight, black, leather pants, and would slip on some high-heeled leather boots on his way out, as usual. Today, though, he added a whale tail with a burgundy thong beneath it all — a little accent to complement his eyeshadow — and a black leather garter on his upper left thigh.

It wasn’t out of character for Piers to be completely shirtless at some points during his shows just due to sweat, but something about today felt so much more scandalous than usual. Maybe it was the attention he drew to his hips, or maybe it was the fact that he was arriving at the venue already practically topless. Who could say?

He wanted a second opinion on the outfit. Most of Piers’ buddies were gym leaders and busy prepping for their own celebrations, though, so Piers didn’t want to bother any of them.

That only left… Max and Marnie, he supposed. And there was no way in hell he was showing his little sister this outfit.

He sighed, dragging his feet on the short walk between rooms. The star felt a bit nervous presenting himself to Max so scantily clad. She’d seen him topless, but like he’d been thinking, this felt different.  

He stood outside Max’s room and asked, “Oi, you decent?” through the door.

“Yup.”

She was hanging out on her bed. She laid belly-down, her head towards the foot of the mattress and her arms slightly dangling off, with her DS in hand. Not having Halloween plans herself, but wanting to do something, she opted to just wear a fuzzy white cat ear headband with her otherwise unfestive black hoodie and light pink joggers. 

She was in the middle of something, so when Piers entered, she hadn’t looked up. She did greet him, though. 

“What’s up?”

“Need your opinion on my costume.”

“‘Kay, ooone sec,” she murmured. 

Piers admired how Max’s brows furrowed when she was feeling determined. He grinned when he noticed her headband, too. Cute.

He huffed out a near-silent laugh in tandem when Max’s misdreavus made itself visible and floated over to Piers, greeting him with its own set of cat ears equipped. 

He patted its head between the accessory. “Hey, missy.”

It chirped happily before leaving the room to hang out somewhere else in the apartment. Probably the couch, he assumed. That fella really loved a good sofa… or any sofa for that matter. Theirs was pretty beaten up.

Piers shut the door behind the creature. Curious as to what Max was doing while he waited, he was about to make his way towards her with the intention to watch over her shoulder; but right when he took his first step, Max closed the device with a triumphant huff and looked towards him.

Piers stopped in his tracks as he watched his friend smile at him while propping herself onto her elbows, and then drop that smile and widen her eyes as they raked up and down his body. 

Oh, does it look bad? he worried to himself.

Then, he noticed Max’s face grow pink. Her ears and what little of her neck he could see followed as her cheeks turned a deep red he wasn’t sure he’d seen on them before.

…That must be a good thing then, yeah? Probably?

“Erm.” She cleared her throat, fixing the heightened pitch of her voice — which was already pretty high-pitched, normally — before averting her eyes. After a beat she shyly met Piers’. Her gaze started to lower, as if on its own volition, but she rapidly snapped it back up to his face.

…Definitely, Piers concluded.

He flustered her.

This wasn’t one of those common instances where someone did something sweet or embarrassing to her, or where she did something sweet or embarrassing.

He put her in this state purely by looking the way he did.

And that felt fucking incredible to him.

Initially the realization had made him giddy. Then, as he registered that it could be absurdly fun to tease her about this — to tease her right now — his smile widened into something more mischievous. 

Max’s following compliment came out strained. She was fighting for her life to make herself look unaffected. 

(She was failing.)

“Looks good!”

Piers’ brows raised slightly as he flashed his fangs. “Y’think so?” 

“Ye— oooh,” she cut herself off with a whisper, noticing the prosthetics. She could practically feel herself short-circuiting as she tried to figure out what to say. Please stop staring at his teeth, please be normal about this, she begged herself before settling on, “Can you sing in those?”

“Eh…”

Piers looked up a little, tilting his head to either side while he weighed out whether it would be doable or not. While doing so, he began fidgeting the tip of his tongue against one of his pointed teeth. The simple movements of his mouth made Max gulp.

“Probably, but I might take ‘em out anyway.” 

“Hm.” Max slowly nodded, diverting her attention to the floorboards. She crossed her outstretched legs behind her, too. Something about shutting her thighs eased the tension growing between them.

Her overall reaction was all he needed to be way more confident in his attire. Cocky, even, just because it was Max. He cared more about her opinions of him than most other people’s. So, while she seemed to zone out, Piers quietly approached her bed, leaning his palms down onto the corner of it.

He wanted her attention. Wanted to see how many of her buttons he could push like this. He’d accepted his infatuation towards her by now, and to take advantage of the moment to see what kinds of reactions he could pull from her fueled his desires even further.

It made him feel a bit perverted, in a way. 

Was it perverted?

Whatever, it didn’t matter. It’s not like he was hurting her by having a little fun. He knew she’d speak up if he made her uncomfortable at any point. There was very little risk in messing around, and a high reward to be had.

Timidly, Max side-eyed Piers’ exposed form, bringing the collar of her hoodie to her chin — a makeshift hiding spot — before letting her head fully turn. Her heart stuttered at the intense look in Piers’ eyes. He was amused, clearly, given the faint smile that played on his lips while he gnawed the lower one, only one of his fangs visible; but more than that, he watched over her like a predator would its prey. 

He asked lowly, “You like it, then?”

God, yes— “Mhm,” Max nodded.

Piers noted the slight quiver in her breath, and swelling with pride, he continued, “How much?”

As the words came out, he gravitated to the foot of Max’s bed, slowly sinking onto his knees to meet her at eye level, no more than a foot away.

“Oh, um…”

Max looked down in an attempt to escape eye contact, only to realize she was openly staring at his torso. She honed in on his decorated hips for a short moment before blinking a few times, as if to wipe away her racing thoughts. She plastered her view onto his right arm.

“I… I don’t know.” She dropped her hold on her hoodie, then answered, “It’s a good look on you,” pulling a small section of hair over her shoulder to fidget with. As she twirled the brown and pink strands between her fingers, Piers noticed that her feet were kicking in place the slightest little bit.

“You sure? Seems like ya can’t even look at me while you say it,” he teased, lifting Max’s chin with his pointer and middle finger. 

She wanted to fucking die. To vanish from thin air and not have to deal with how pretty he was. How sexy he was. 

But there was no escape.

She could tell from his constant ghost of a smirk that he knew exactly what he was doing. Whether he simply enjoyed toying with her, or he knew he was absolutely melting her, she had no clue — whichever it was, though, it turned her on more than she could possibly begin to comprehend. 

Piers egged her on, her eyes widening a little as he leaned in closer, “I mean, I can tell you with full confidence that you make an adorable kitten.” He gestured his head towards her ears. 

Arc’s sake, please shut up, Max wanted to scold him, her heart threatening to beat its way out of her body. She wanted to close what little of a gap there was between them. To pounce on him. For him to do the same. Anything.  

“Well… I do mean it,” she answered once she was able to compose herself. “I’m just a little embarrassed, I guess,” Max admitted, with a breathy, nervous waver lingering in her voice.

Piers leaned forward again. “Why’s that?”

Max’s eyes flickered between Piers’ darkened eyes and his lips. “Don’t— erm, don’t you have to leave?”

He shook his head slightly. “I have plenty of time to grill ya if I want to.” His mouth formed into a toothy, meowth-like smile.

“Damn it,” she quietly laughed, looking down, now that Piers’ hold on her had slackened.

He promptly stole her back, tugging her view to his once more while he laughed with her. He thought she had such a pretty smile — especially when her face was so rosy. 

“Y’know, if I didn’t know any better…” he began to speculate as he nearly closed their gap. Their noses were just a few centimeters apart. Max seemed to be in a trance, her eyes following his mouth’s every move while it drew nearer. “I’d say it looks like you want me to kiss you or somethin’.”

Max’s eyes shot up to his while she nervously chewed the inside of her lip between her canines. She looked hopeful. Pleading. Desperate.  

Confident facade aside, Piers felt similarly. 

“…Do you want me to kiss you, Max?” Piers whispered. Despite the softness in its volume, his voice had an almost dangerous tone to it. 

It made Max gasp. She was putty in his hands.

Piers felt himself twitch in his pants at her barely-audible reaction. He wondered when else she’d ever make faces like these, when else she’d sigh such wistful little breaths. Simultaneously, she’d been wondering if this is the sort of demeanor he’d have in bed.

Unable to resist but feeling shy, she nodded the slightest bit. The motion would’ve been unnoticeable if you weren’t looking for it.

Piers was on her before she could even register that he’d obliged, eagerly holding her face and smashing his lips against hers. Her surprise manifested in a whimper and filled her with embarrassment while it drove Piers mad with lust.

Max rested a hand atop one of his while she struggled to pull herself up into a kneel. Her legs felt like jelly beneath her as she maneuvered herself to be sitting on the edge of her bed, her legs dangling on either side of Piers as she draped her arms around his neck. She rested one palm against the back of his head while the other gripped the fabric covering his opposite shoulder. 

Max wondered, as their lips and tongues ebbed and flowed, how such a simple costume could have made her so goddamn needy… and why did it seem to have the same effect on him? 

While Max was lost in thought and inebriated by Piers’ kisses, the man stood up, leaned his right palm onto the bed, and weaved his left fingers beneath Max’s loose mane to cup her nape. 

He encouraged her to lay back with nothing but the force of his lips, letting her decide whether or not to invite him closer. She subconsciously tightened her thighs against his hips as she complied, her body willing his to meet hers on its own volition; enticing his core towards hers as he hovered above her, his ponytail tickling her cheek and his breaths fanning her face each time their mouths unclasped. 

Max, knowing Piers could recreate his ponytail in an instant if he wanted to, tangled her fingers through the taught hair. She gripped onto it for dear life and leaned upward as if it would allow her to taste more of him, sighing into his mouth as he used his lips to pin her back down. 

Piers smiled against her, noting that she seemed to really like when he took control. It reminded him of a move he busted out during their first kiss, so he decided to recreate it. A little commemoration of sorts. He drifted his thumb to Max’s chin and — without warning, unlike last time — pulled her mouth open and held it there, leaving her powerless in terms of how long their tongues would be knotted together. 

Just like the first time, Max accidentally whined into his mouth. Just like the first time, Piers breathed out a laugh through his nose. He didn’t halt their connection this time, though, favoring twirling his tongue around hers over the prospect of teasing her. He did hum to express his satisfaction though.

If he heard correctly, Max whimpered again at his reaction, albeit near silently.

And he did hear correctly, but not for the reason he’d thought. Max definitely responded positively to his humming, but she was more so focused on the way he just took the reins and seemed to really enjoy it. She did too. Being teased, being bossed around a bit. Being at his will. All of it made her feel restless.

Max arched her back a little to be closer to Piers.

Piers gripped the curve of her hip and squeezed, firmly pressing his pelvis between her opened legs in tandem.

Max desperately tugged at Piers’ hair with one hand to pull him closer, and gently caressed his cheek with the other.

Piers bit Max’s lip, forgetting he had fangs equipped, and drew a little blood—

Oh. 

He pulled away and brought his hand to her cheek while he made sure she was okay.

She nodded. She kinda liked the pain. She didn’t tell him, but something about the hungry glint in her eye gave it away.

…Oooh!

Piers, with a smirk that met his eyes more than his lips, licked the blood away before stealing another open-mouthed kiss, and it was literally the hottest thing that had ever happened to Max.

This only lasted a few moments longer, both of them mourning the loss of each other’s lips the second they were apart. Still hovering over Max, Piers pulled his phone from his pocket to check the time. 

Their chests heaved as they stared at the rotom. They both knew he needed to leave, but Piers heavily considered canceling the show in favor of spending the night snogging Max’s face off. 

Fuck it… I can be late.

Piers gently tossed the device aside, letting it float down on its own, and dove back down. Max happily went along with it for a short while before feeling guilty. 

Damn it.  

“Mm–” she hummed against him, cupping his cheeks to gently nudge him away. “You’ve gotta go, no?”

Piers, while staring at Max’s swollen lips as if they were the most fascinating things he’d ever seen, sighed. “Don’t wanna.” He immediately dipped back down, a goofy grin curling his lips upward.

“What?” Max laughed, her nose scrunching up a bit as she stopped him from kissing her again. “I thought you loved Halloween shows specifically.” 

I love you more— “This is more fun.”

The sincerity in Piers’ voice, even if it was lighthearted and silly, had Max wanting him to cancel the show too. 

This was the perfect opportunity to poke fun at him, though. “Taking this whole incubus thing a bit seriously, no?” It wasn’t a complaint, but it had piqued her curiosity.

“Ha!” 

Max basked in Piers’ bright smile, feeling proud that she made him laugh, even if it wasn’t all that funny. Even if she always made him laugh.

Whatever. His laugh was cute and made her happy. That’s all that mattered.

Still grinning, Piers squinted at Max, readying an absolutely lethal blow. He nudged her nose with his, then let his lips ghost hers as he purred, “Why? Is it working?” 

Max, hypnotized, let her eyes drop to where their lips were nearly connected. She tilted her head up a tiny bit, but Piers pulled back, his smile widening. 

“Answer the question, love,” he taunted her before repeating the motions. “Am I seducing you?” He added a subtle nudge of his hips against her mid-sentence for emphasis. Max’s lip quivered as she swallowed back a moan before it could come out.

Max didn’t answer him. She didn’t want to lie, but there was no way in hell she was about to tell him how badly she yearned for him. 

Her silence spoke volumes. Piers, wanting to hit Max with one last razzle dazzle, kissed her again, letting his tongue lead the way after successfully propping her mouth open. It was sloppy, it was deep, it was so hot, and it snatched Max’s fucking soul out of her body — very in-character! — but it also ended way too soon for her liking.

Piers concluded darkly after a moment of silence, “Very good to know,” before standing upright. 

Half of him hoped his bulge wasn’t too noticeable.

Only half.

Max definitely saw something, but knew that if she lingered on it for too long, she’d be begging him to stay home, and to give up all restraint and rules and whatever, and to just fuck her senseless instead — so, she did her best to act like it wasn’t there.

“B-but I didn’t even answer you,” she weakly pointed out as Piers pulled out his messy ponytail, promptly fixing it back up into something tidier. 

“But you didn’t deny it,” he winked at her, “and that’s all the confirmation I need.” 

Satisfied with the havoc he’d wreaked, Piers grabbed his phone and made his way towards the door. 

“Huh?” Max squeaked.

Piers met her eyes over his shoulder. “Byeee,” he sang… And he decided on a whim to snipe her one last time. “Try not to have too much fun without me.”

Max was speechless at the implications there as Piers shut the door behind himself. The man was now grinning like a doofus, knowing that he affected Max so immensely, even if it was just this once — at least to his knowledge.

He went into her room initially expecting an honest opinion, then to either hang out a little, or to work on improving his look. Maybe both, if she wanted to help. 

Instead, he was handed some confidence on a silver platter in the form of Max blushing and whimpering for him. Fidgeting because of him. Visibly yearning for him. 

He felt like a million bucks — like he was unstoppable. He was about to put on the best show of his career. He could just feel it.

Max, on the other hand, was stuck staring at the door, completely dumbfounded.

…What the fuck just happened?

[bhvr]

hey hows it going i watched maxxxine here is my 1.4k SPOILER-FILLED review i typed up literally just as i got home from the theater

“im basically pearl but if i was a screenwriter from florida”

Before even watching the movie, I was INSANELY hyped for this. I love X and Pearl and have rambled on about why I love these movies (especially Pearl) so many times before. It was here! I was in the theater! Watching it! 

And then I finished the movie, went home, and typed this up. 

POSITIVES

MaXXXine feels like it’s set in the 80s without coming off as corny, fake, or inauthentic. It feels like you’re in the city and hanging around the dregs of underground show business. Maxine is a strong-willed, take-no-shit woman who you feel like isn’t just going to survive despite the fucked up people around her, but because of it. She’s rough, skilled, hot, and THAT BITCH. I love her confidence. She never doubts herself for even a second and wants everyone to know it. 

I really liked how the movie was not afraid to make her ruthless. She fought through X and now, years later, there is nothing that is going to stop her from becoming a star. Maxine straight up CRUSHES A GUY’S BALLS (which includes a pretty nasty shot) because he tried to attack her. I love the portrayal of a woman who will do absolutely anything to keep what she’s earned within her grasp, even if it means straight up murder. The scene where she punches the private investigator with her keys, yells, and kicks his car’s shit in? LOVED IT. She’s working and this guy won’t leave her the fuck alone, so fuck the threats of “well I work for a very dangerous guy”, get out of her life! 

Also! I love horror. Obviously. So I enjoyed the references that were scattered throughout the movie that felt pretty natural. Maybe I’m just crazy, but I swore that scene in act three where Maxine is attacked with the plastic bag was a Black Christmas (1974) reference. Also “Texas Porn Star Massacre” is just funny.  

The soundtrack rocks and so do the outfits and cinematography. There’s so many shots in this movie that I loved!! The lighting was fun and really took advantage of how scenes were set in locations like night clubs.

For the most part, the supporting cast is full of great actors. It’s clear Kevin Bacon had fun and thank GOD Giancarlo Esposito got to do a role that wasn’t “cold calculating CEO” or any of that. Lily Collins rocks.

CRITICISMS

However, I do have a number of criticisms about the movie. One thing that stuck out to me the most was how it felt like certain story threads ended up leading absolutely nowhere. No characters, from Maxine’s-seemingly-only-friend to the detectives following her, demonstrate any sort of interest in her past– I fully expected Maxine’s “Maybe she should save herself. I did.” line to provoke curiosity in the female detective, making her wonder what Maxine has gone through to give her such a vindictive “I owe nobody anything because nobody ever saved me” attitude, but it ended up going nowhere. Several lines, details, and scenes that made me think “oh! someone’s going to find out about the farm massacre/her trauma/literally anything!” went nowhere. As for the Night Stalker (which acts almost purely as one of the film’s handful of red herrings), I’m still conflicted on how I feel about it. 

[Side note: why… why was there a line where Maxine’s friend, Leon, sees an unknown guy, says something like “I don’t work in that business anymore, this is a video store”, and then… it’s never addressed. The only info ever shown about the guy is that he’s chill, a good friend, Maxine likes him because he “isn’t trying to fuck her”, he likes horror movies, and works in a video store. He gets murdered after that line and is never mentioned again. Cool.]

I also wish that there had been more scenes of Maxine actually BEING AN ACTRESS. We barely see her on set and from what I remember we never see her actually act in the big shot movie she’s been cast in. C’mon, man. It did not feel like she was struggling to balance work with the shit going on in her life. If anything, her work life felt almost like an afterthought, despite being the thing she’s been working towards her entire life. I know she’s willing to kill and maim without thinking twice for her dreams, but show me the pay-off! Show me her being passionate and glad to be doing her dream job that will launch her into fame!

Speaking of lack of things, I wish Mia Goth had more lines. Shocking, I know. She’s literally THE lead actress we never take our eyes off of and there were at least two scenes where I thought “Why doesn’t she have any dialogue? It’s just the other character talking to themselves and it feels awkward.” She asks her agent if anything she tells him will be legally confidential, and… her lines disappear. No, she does not tell him “back in ‘79 two old people murdered all my friends and tried to kill me so I had to kill them”, but she DOES enlist his help straight up killing a guy. We literally see there’s news evidence of, as the headline reads, “THE TEXAS PORN STAR MASSACRE”. The porno is police evidence. Maxine is known to have been there. It goes nowhere and doesn’t feel threatening in the slightest.

Overall, there are so many intriguing plot threads and storylines this movie could’ve focused on it, but all it did was jump around, unable to settle on one. As a result, all of them suffer.

This movie also suffers from feeling like we’ve gone from an incredibly long act 1 to act 3 in an instant. I LOVE horror movies. This did not feel like it had the rising tension needed in one. I found myself thinking halfway through what turned out to be act 2 “Wow, this is taking a bit to ramp up. I’m sure it’ll be worth it once we’re at the peak of the rising tension” aaaand then we’re in act 3 and catching The #1 Antagonist Of The Movie. Wait, what? Oh. We’re at the conclusion. Cool.

The reveal was lame and felt out of nowhere, to put it bluntly. Please just give me rising tension. Give me Maxine figuring out it’s been her dad all along (if that’s really what we want to go with…) and the drama of it all. Don’t just drop it on my head after throwing red herrings at me for over an hour. 

On another note, I want to circle back around and talk about the acting and the directing. I’m sorry, but the fucking male cop just talking perfectly normally before dying 1 second later took me out of the film. This is a guy who has been shot in the torso and is actively dying– why the fuck is he talking like he ran into Maxine at the grocery store? Further, Mia Goth is a PHENOMENAL actress. We’ve seen Pearl and X, that’s why we’re here, so it’s rather disappointing to see her not get the chance to show emotion. Yes, it has been years since the farm murders and she’s changed as a person, she’s jaded and cold and more cutthroat than ever, but I genuinely can’t tell if it was the intention for her to come off so blank for a chunk of scenes. What happened to her punching the private detective with keys in her fists and leaving him all fucked up and bloody and then kicking his car mirrors in? Show me more of that! Show me her emotion!! You’ve just discovered your father is the one who has been killing those around you and fucking up your life, you’re so shocked and vulnerable that you’re allowing him to take your gun from you without a fight, so WHY–

Anyway. The scenes where Maxine's PTSD is shown felt like they were written with the intention of showing her PTSD without it being intertwined with her character. Once the scenes are over, they're over.

I blame Ti West. A director’s job is to, y’know, direct the actors, so that’s that. But also I don’t think there was any saving Halsey’s performance– sorry, if I was Ti West I would’ve told her to cut the bad Jersey(?) accent before I cut her out of the film entirely. 

I’ll keep my thoughts on how I personally would have written scenes ranging from the death of Maxine’s father to the meeting with her agent to myself, but this felt very much like an early draft that should’ve been beta read by a few more people. There is so much potential in this film, but I genuinely wonder if some part of the production process was rushed and if that’s why the movie is Like This. 

gave it a 3.5/5 on letterboxd

[pkmn-spira]

Maxine Rosewood

Older sister of Argentum City Gym Leader Emile Rosewood, as well as the Spira Region's Pokemon Professor.

About

Age: 38

D.O.B: October 20

Height: 5'8"

Birthplace: Argentum City, Spira Region

Biography

Maxine Rosewood was born in Argentum City, the older sister to Emile Rosewood, the current Gym Leader of the same City. During her youth, Maxine has shown to possess wild curiosities not just toward the world, but towards Pokémon as well.

Hence, said curiosity has led to her eventually embarking on a journey to further understand them, their intricacies, and what makes each and every single individual Pokémon unique, even those that came from the same species, until eventually, she would then study to become a Pokémon Professor, which she did, and as soon as she had gotten enough funding, would establish Axel Research Facility, in which she would be able to further advance her research and study towards Pokemon, more specifically on the regional diversity and differences of one Pokémon toward another of the same species.

Notable Achievements:

-Established the Axel Research Facility in Axel City

-Published several research papers on Pokemon behavior and regional variations

-Contributed to the development of regional Pokedex entries within the Spira Region

-Is undergoing extensive research on the unique phenomena that occur within the Spira Region, as well as the unique Starlink Phenomenon

Pokémon Team

Like her younger brother, Maxine also has her own set of Pokemon, both to assist in her research, and to also defend herself, which was proven helpful during events two years ago.

Spiran Pidgeot (Electric/Flying)

Held Item: Weakness Policy

Ability: Speed Boost

Known Moves: Brave Bird, Wild Charge, Thunder Wave, Roost

Galarian Rapidash

Held Item: Leftovers

Ability: Pastel Veil

Known Moves: Swords Dance, Play Rough, High Horsepower, Psycho Cut

Alolan Muk

Held Item: Black Sludge

Ability: Poison Touch

Known Moves: Gunk Shot, Pursuit, Knock Off, Taunt

Reuniclus

Held Item: Life Orb

Ability: Magic Bounce

Known Moves: Calm Mind, Psychic, Focus Blast, Recover

Elektross

Held Item: Leftovers

Ability: Levitate

Known Moves: Thunder Punch, Drain Punch, Dragon Tail, Coil

Spiran Garchomp (Dragon/Electric)

Held Item: S-Garchompite

Ability: Voltic Current (Physical attacks from this Pokemon has a chance to inflict paralysis) / Galvanic Reactor (Mega Evolution Ability - Creates an Electric Terrain upon entry, also boosts speed and attack in Electric Terrain)

Known Moves: Swords Dance, Outrage, Wild Charge, Dragon Claw

Public vs Private Knowledge

Public:

-Spira's Pokémon Professor

-Older Sister to Emile Rosewood

-Established Axel Research Facility

-Assisted during the crisis caused by Team Andromeda two years ago

Private:

-Currently undergoing extensive research on the Starlink Phenomenon

-Is still somewhat shaken from the events two years ago, as her assistance against Team Andromeda almost cost her her life

-Made sure to keep several other regional Spira forms of other Pokémon a secret, as they changed unpredictably and drastically due to the anomalous properties of several areas in Spira, notably Meteoric Crash Site, Illusory Castle, the recent anomalous changes in Qliphoth Ruins' tree, and Cryptid Isle in its entirety.