#bad end into the light au

[threepandas]

Bad End: Into The Light

It was impossible to ignore the steps behind me.

I was told, again and again, they were of no consequence. No SIGNIFICANCE. That my "shadows" were little more then passive servants. Glorified furniture that followed me room to room. But... but how could I possibly believe that? Worse, if I DID believe that? What would that MAKE me?

I was followed, as I am always followed these days, by... by DECORATION.

That's what they were BRED for. MADE to be. Aesthetically pleasing decoration. Perfectly matching, pleasantly smiling, mindless drones.

It sickened me.

When I "woke up"? Laughable as that phrasing is? Because I was not... not SLEEPING. I was... WAS... I had not BEEN-!

When I... "woke up" as it were, from that... long sleep. The one I had no choice in. That terrifies me even now. Haunts my dreams and wounds my soul. I found myself in a shining temple. A holy place, I was told. A beautiful place, it seemed.

And like so many stories? Like every tale of Utopia supposedly found? It was only after the first rush of wonder, did the cracks in the foundation begin to appear. And oh... OH, did they run DEEP.

I? Was "born" from a shining pool. Beneath sunlight and surrounded by soft breezes. Beauty and nature. But the "shadows"? They take the waters and manipulate them. Archaic machines I have never seen, someplace deep and dark.

I only see the successes of this process.

My mind screams that something terrible must happen, to those deemed "failures".

How? How in any God's name could I EVER be expected to accept this? This slavery and butchery? Worse still, be expect to TAKE PART in it? Have "shadows" of my own? As though it were not ownership of another living soul?!

In disgust, I raged.

I tried to fight. Was still too young, unfamiliar with the terrain. But my soul cried out in horror and how could I refuse? It... got me isolated. I am STILL isolated. Deep in the temple. Back in the "reflection gardens" where I may "think". It goes against our religion, after all, to harm me.

I am a PERSON. One of the Light's children. I need "gentle guidance" and "patience" so that I might "understand".

I understand perfectly.

They are simply monster's in my eyes.

It is cruel, really, that so much GOOD could be poisoned by such thoughtless evil. Because some of the teaching they foist on me? Are GOOD. Genuinely, truely, GOOD. They are teachings I am trying my best to follow. Even as something about them... niggled at the back of my brain. Like somehow they SHOULD be familiar, yet aren't quite.

Truely? I wish I could escape these walls. I KNOW there are other sects. The Shining Light was a result of a schism several centuries back. I know it had to do with the pools. But, of course, they have kept me from anything that might reinforce my "mistaken beliefs".

The eyes burning into my back trace lazily along my skin.

We never talk. I REFUSE to take part in this charade, but it does not stop them from following me. If anything, they seem amused. Something almost like fond on occasion. It is hard to tell, through their ever unchanging smiles. Perfectly bland and decorative.

There is a strange... anticipation in the air today.

I do not know what to make of it. When I ask the Light all I receive is nondescript humming. I do not know enough to know what that MEANS. Have no one to ask. So... I go through the motions.

And the anticipation builds.

And builds.

And BUILDS.

There are certain points in the, for lack of a better term (though honestly it's hardly), "little" building I've been cosigned too where I can see the main temple. The second floor terrace lifts me JUST high enough to see the eastern sprawl.

And the if I precariously balance? Up on a stool and then my toes. Leaning juuust so against one of the pillars that line the path? Then the hallway to the reflection pool garden, where I am too meditate each day, shows me the west.

As cut off as I am, except for the glorified propaganda shoved at me again and again by teachers who never linger, as though I am DISEASED? Well, all I can really do is watch. Try to pick out what is happening from afar. Try... try not to go mad from isolation.

Because the only people HERE with me are my shadows.

And I KNOW they would never talk to me. Not really. They will respond if I talk AT them but... oh Light that guides us... I am the keeper of their chains. I have NO RIGHT to play "happy little family~" as though they are even remotely close to me of their own free will.

I will not see them. I will not ask of them. In the Light, I will cast no shadow.

My mantra. Again and again. And please, oh Light that guides us, let someday it be true.

Still... my daily "lessons" have not come. And that? That has never happened. I do not WORRY for them, but as the only contact I have with the outside? Sudden change in behavior is... bad. Especially with this strange tension in the air. This anticipation of... SOMETHING. Like the Light is waiting for something to begin.

It is coming.

The east shows me nothing. So I try the west. Balanced precariously, ankles and toes straining from the uncomfortable position. The vast gardens between where I am and the main buildings? Are... empty.

They are NEVER empty.

Always. ALWAYS! Someone strolling, initiates debating, students reflecting, Master's meditating on the Light. Guests oohing and aaahing over the heavenly splendor of a garden unrivaled, by any I'd EVER seen before this place. All while followed by peacock tails of shadows. Matching and subservient. Hundreds of them.

The gardens were empty. Silent. An eery sense of... wrong, began to seep up my spine. Something that SCREAMED I had all the clues. Already KNEW what this was. But was being painful dense. Fatally blind. But I... I couldn't...

Sharp movement. A Temple Master. One who's name I could not recall. Only that he was forever poised and disdainful. He did not look so poised NOW. He raced, hair falling from it's styling, face wet with sweat and tears, robes a mess, across the main walk. Through the empty garden.

He... he never made it...

Too wherever he hoped to go.

In perfect synch, like WOLVES, shadows shot from the building behind him in pursuit. They had swords. He did not. Their long legs ate the distance between them and their prey almost effortlessly. In desperation, he called upon the Light, divine magic to defend himself.

They... they COUNTERED.

He died. Horrified and screaming, as I stood frozen. Pieces clicking together in my head. That... that was an advanced skill. But, ultimately, perfectly learnable if you were focused on nothing else. If... if you were able to FOLLOW those who sat in such lessons. Were... born of the same pools.

Of course they were children of the Light. I had always known. But somehow... my brain had not CONNECTED what that meant. Fully. What SKILLS that would afford them.

Slowly, numbly, I slid back down to merely stand upon the stool upon which I stood. I shakily stepped down. Acutely aware of the half ring of shadows smiling, oh so pleasantly, less then lunging distance away. Their eyes were intent.

Had...had they been waiting for me to see? Figure it out on my own? How long were they willing to let the charade continue? Just to drive home that their days of servitude were, at last, violently over? I did not look at them. I was afraid. My eyes staring, unseeing, off to the garden walls.

I was... was trapped in here... wasn't I?

Deserved this. For what I had allowed done.

And yet... and YET... I... I wanted to live. I was a prisoner too. Born into a cage that would see me die in it. Tears blurred my vision. It felt hard to breathe. Slowly, painfully fighting my tensed muscles, like a doll creaking from age, I turned to look at them.

Their smiles were sharper. They had teeth now.

Heads cocked, some terrible and delighted thing dancing in their eyes, their masks had cracked apart. No longer needed. I took a shaking step back. Then another. All the while they watch, eyes tracing my every action, unmoving. Expectant. They knew I would run. Clearly HOPED I would. I wish I could say I disappointed them.

That I was brave and stood my ground. Facing my end with dignity.

I didn't.

I bolted.

Behind me, a chorus of delighted laughs rip through the terrible silence like the baying of hunting hounds. The howl of wolves. Their masculine voices echoing all around me as, for the first time in this LIFE? I run with all I have. There... there is no where to GO. Not really. I have been kept ignorant of most of the temple's layout. Everything beyond it.

I have to try.

Mocking. They give me a heads start. But I hear them now. They have always been near silent when they walk. Can be COMPLETELY silent if they choose. It was a courtesy. Now? It is a taunt. So I know they are coming. Know how close I am to-...!

Desperately, I shed outer layers. The ornate, heavy robes they made me wear? Were lovely. But difficult to move it. Perhaps that was the point. Now? I can not afford it. They clatter and flomp to the ground behind me as I run. Skid around corners. Take two stairs at a time.

Banter behind me. This is taking everything I've got. Ha ha... oh Light! It's barely a work out for them, isn't it? A glorified jog at best. My exits are cut off, again and again. Forcing me to backtrack. My heart pounding, lungs screaming. Nails scrambling at the polished floors as my feet slide out from under me at the sudden shift in direction.

Bruises are building up. Exhaustion setting in. There is... there is no where in this building I can hide, that they do not KNOW.

I've lost track of at least half of them. They could be anywhere. I... I know, KNOW, I am being herded like an animal. Spooked and grabbed at, so I run the way they want me too. I just don't know WHY. I can't think. I have to run. All... all I can do is RU-!

As I pass an archway leading to a garden viewing room, I find out where the others went. Weight SLAMS into me from the side. Strong arms seizing my waist and cradling my neck, to prevent injury as we fall. I am thrown from feet by the tackle, through the archway.

Into a...nest of bedding?

I land hard, cushioning aside, and wheeze out a whine. The wall of iron muscle on top of me, pressing me down, half crushing me. My legs are on fire, my lungs the same. Everything hurts and I am terrified. There is a man's hand on the back of my neck, up high and near cradling my head, and it would take NOTHING for him to snap it. I... I can't... I...

I sob.

Frozen. Exhausted, in pain, and all struggled out. All I can do is cry. It's going it hurt. I.. I don't WANT to get hurt! P-please don't hurt m-me! I clutch at the bedding I'm pinned down too. My face all but crushed up against a familiar not familiar shoulder. I can hear the others strolling closer.

The shift of clothes as they kneel to crawl onto the strange nest they had made.

"Shhhhhh, shh shh shh. It's okay, sweetheart. It's over now. We CAUGHT you~ Our little champion. You're okay. It's okay. We're all here. You're safe now." Whispers the shadow pinning me. All but crooning it in my ear. "We've got you~, we've got you~. They can't hurt you anymore. Gonna show you the WORLD. No more cages. Can finally give you the love you DESERVE."

There are noises of agreement around me. Hands gently stroking my wrist and lower arm. Massaging my aching lower legs almost absent-mindedly. As though any part of me not covered by the man pinning me was fair game. Someplace to gently adore. I don't understand. Can not.

I squirm. Getting huffed laughs and chuckles.

"None of that, dearest. We were patient long enough. Frankly, we wanted to stage the revolt months ago. But, well, that pesky high priest. Never around when you need him to die, mmm?" Barks of laughter as the others crowded closer, got comfortable. My hand was tugged loose from the bedding. Fingers intertwined with my own.

"She's so cute." "Let us love you." "I can't wait to taste you." "Ours now, sweetheart~" "let us take care of you, okay?" "Light that guides, you're so fucking PERFECT..." "We're gonna take care of you, promise."

Muttered voices. Possessive, gentle hands. The shadow on top of me shifts down. And suddenly I could SEE. They stared like I was something to be devoured. The center of the universe. The Light felt triumphant. Held no answers. I didn't know where to look. Too many eyes. Too much touch.

Too much EVERYTHING after so long alone.

A kiss that feels overwhelming. Grins that promised things I didn't know if I can handle. Eyes that promise FOREVER whether I like it or not. Dangerous, dangerous hands that are so very gentle. I shake. I can not stop shaking. Hands from two different men, cup my cheeks, stroke my skin. My hands are held. Their palms are warm.

"Shhhh, your OURS now, little light. We broke our chains and killed our keepers, but YOU? Oh you, little prisoner, tried your best. You couldn't do it, and that's okay, but we SAW. We REMEMBERED. And the shadows?" They whisper, almost reverent. Both precious memory and quiet confession carried in their voice. Then, a terrible, possessive smile. A thing of entirely too many teeth.

"Oh little light, the shadows love you~♡"

[megamagimugi]

He's-a Gone

Luigi time! To suffer, that is.

(CW: character death)

This is obviously a sort of comlementary piece to I Was-a Too Late. But it's more than just that as it also illustrates a certain fun, dark what-if idea I had. Please keep reading if you're intrigued!

Lore:

Luigi's Mansion, the first game. Everything goes the same as in canon until the final boss fight, when Luigi defeats King Boo in his Bowser costume. After King Boo comes out and Luigi intends to suck him in, the villain laughs and reveals the truth: Mario's painting was an illusion, so was everything Madame Clairvoya saw. All just to mess with Luigi. Meanwhile the real Mario wasn't just captured by the Boos, he was immediately killed by them on their King's orders. The only physical thing that's left of him in this realm is the five items Luigi found - hidden by the Boos for Luigi to find, another part of King Boo's sick game.

Luigi is able to finish the fight despite his shock and grief, fueled by the anger King Boo never expected from him. After getting out of the painting the plumber discovers that it is indeed empty, no Mario or anyone else in the portrait.

Heartbroken and guit-ridden, Luigi goes back to Professor E. Gadd's lab and gives him back the Poltergust 3000. He doesn't even want to stay long enough to see what is going to happen to the ghosts. Of course the Professor tries to offer some semblance of comfort, but we all know it's not his forte.

So Luigi leaves, only taking Mario's five items with him. He notices that the mansion has disapeared without a trace. The reality of it all finally hits him, and he practically collapses onto a nearby tree's large root protruding from the ground, putting down the precious items around himself, only leaving the matching red hat and the letter in his hands. He should have known something was off. After all, the Mario he saw in the painting was wearing his hat and both gloves.

Looking at all these items, to his growing horror he can't help but imagine what exactly might have happened to his brother and what his last moments might have been like. He hugs the hat to his chest and rereads Mario's note several times, knowing that the brief warning was his brother's last words to him.

Luigi can do nothing but cry for the beloved brother he couldn't save, desperately wishing it was his warm, living and breathing body pressed to his chest rather than just a couple of his belongings.

But Mario is truly gone, apparently having met such a horrific fate that not even a single part of his body is left in the physical world.

[Good night]

…I'll leave the rest up to your imagination ;) Sorry if I got carried away with my description. Occasionally even I enjoy being a little dramatic, though I'm no writer whatsoever.

Yeah, I'm not apologizing for making this one - I was nicer to Luigi than to his bro, at least here the Mushroom Kingdom and everyone in it (except for Mario lol) is still okay!

But alas,

You can no longer play as Mario

Rest in spaghetti, funny wahoo man.

@federthenotsogreat I'm tagging you because you said you wanted more Mario art like I Was-a Too Late, thought you might like this one too!

@drones-of-innocence Also tagging you because you were interested in my idea.

Edit: Tagging a few more mutuals who might want to see this based on their reaction to my previous angsty work just in case, feel free to ignore. Or ask me to remove the tag if you want, no problem.

@silenzahra (remember, no rush) @c-lavanda @jell-o101 @stripetkattelalala54-gf

@luigixfanxayjay @itsavee4117

And you @giddlygoat just because you have a Luigi's Mansion AU and I thought you might appreciate this... Also because I'm a fan 👉👈

[time8582]

I FINISHED!! It only took me redrawing Kai like 4 times but it’s done!! Now I can post the other two I finished!!

Bad ending kai belongs to @saline-coelacanth I love drawing their Au’s

[baconcolacan]

//////////

AAAAAAAAAAND THATS IT!! EVENT OVER!!! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH TO EVERYBODY WHO INTERACTED AND HAD A LITTLE BIT OF FUN WITH ME!!!!!

Im really sorry to those who sent in asks a bit too late though, I can see that some of you wanted to have longer conversations with Tom buuuuut this event IS on a time constraint and ask limit so I had to cut it short. [Though who knows?? Maybe Tom can come over and answer your questions again one day :3c]

AGAIN THANKS SO SO MUCH FOR PARTICIPATING IN MY SILLY LITTLE EVENT!! I had a lot of fun puppeteering Tom and interacting with yall!! Love you guys <3 mwah mwah!! <3 <3 <3

[afterartist]

14 hours I should have been spending on ArtFight and instead I spend it on this stupid drawing that tiktok decided to throw down the stairs- sjenxjen

Anyway,

I hate lighting and hope it dies<3<3

(ALSO: cause 4 some reason people on discord were asking, feel free to use this as phone wallpapers, I don’t mind)

Angsstttt cause Leaderless ending will always be sadder then Genocide and no I don’t take critique

And the actually semi okay quality drawings

[semisolidmind]

Bit of a late reply, but was wukong sealed under the mountain in the twice as bad au before he was assigned to the journey? Like, macaque and reader visiting him under the mountain, making sure he's still alive, then they get some kinda mood-killing beeper from guanyin saying "Wukong, you and the six eared Macaque are needed for a imperative mission with the fate of good resting in the balance!"

Then he replies, "...Can my wife come too?"

nah. they were all just hanging out on the mountain when the bodhisattva called on reader. keep in mind that this reader is still the isekai'd reader thats supposed to help guide the pilgrims using the magic versions of the book. the call just happened a little later than usual.

it was more...the other way around, i guess.

[tenwhiteandalusians]

so no one was going to tell me if i got literally one episode further tenax drops that he’s the one who saved scorpus from his mom’s pimp AND that he’s intimately familiar with scorpus’ dick when he was younger. guys. guys.

[hamburgrr]

More doodles for if F!Leo made it (aka what I’ve been calling the ‘Good Ending Au’ to myself). I think he deserves to heal and be comfy and silly :]

(And see the horrors but shhh)

[drtwit]

Miraculous Ladybug - Miraculous Menaces AU: Masks

Miraculous Menaces AU

Chapter Summary:

Adrien contemplates the difference between Gabriel Agreste and Hawkmoth, while Gabriel and Nathalie have an awkward conversation about Adrien's new extracurricular activities.

A collection of vignettes covering an AU where Chat becomes Hawkmoth's partner in crime. At first, Adrien thought that the day he found out that his father was the supervillain terrorizing the people of Paris was the worst day of his life, but in retrospect, it might have been the one change needed to save his family. Because it was also the day that both of them realized that, when they don't need to be Adrien and Gabriel Agreste, they're both fucking goobers. Follow the adventures of Hawkmoth, Chat Noir, and their reluctant assistant who doesn't get paid enough, Nathalie, as they try to navigate life as a supervillain family. And pray for Ladybug's sanity as she suffers their antics.

[fandomfuntimem]

A) The concept of the betrayal ending as a whole is something I am eating tf UP like holy shit I love the writing of the thing and the thought that Clyde's "care" is different in that way and how betrayed and stupid Alex must feel after all that time and all the theming n shit it drives me up the wall cuz it's the most realistic path but also the most sad and it's so cool hrnJKRGAJKGHKJHRJKG-

B) In the version of this ending where it's "all just a nightmare," the question remains: which of the two would be having that nightmare? I mean it's most likely Alex but what if...?

A) oh yeah its great. Gotta remember Clyde is a monster, it was never human, so its deffinition for sertant things would be a bit different. It doesn't see the problem with eating people to keep them safe. (Had an idea of it ending similer to the "who have i been praying to?" Ending of The Mandela Catalog but we're gonna put that in the idea box and kick it under the bed)

B) both would work. But I imagine the being eaten nightmares for Alex happen very early in the sitcom arc. Meanwhile Clyde's eating Alex nightmares happen later, probably within 'the worlds worst road trip arc' because thats when it's realising it cares and starts feeling human emotions. It kinda becomes scared of the monster it is.

[sofiasfanartcollection]

prompts are: “in the future” and “on a… cruise?”

more from that Draw Your Rise OC Challenge by @angellustrates

(previous, next)

River is not having a great time in these.

The first prompt gave the option for either the bad or good future, but since River was already an adult and I don’t see her changing much in appearance in the good future, I drew something from the bad future :( She would not do well in an apocalypse. She ends up getting stuck in her ghost-like form.

And on that “cruise,” well, she’s uncomfortable in a dress and overstimulated with the bright light and lots of people and smell of sunscreen and has no clue what’s going on. The reason she’s able to sort of keep it together is she remembers Warren. (Before this, the two of them had been searching for Hypno who’d been kidnapped.)

Also, the bad future one got me thinking about the movie, and I decided to try giving a design for a krangified River a try. (Don’t worry, it’s not canon to her story.) Under the keep reading in case anyone doesn’t want to see it.

cw for light gore/body horror/extra eyes

[ickypuppi3]

childhood au except it’s baby billy who lives with his mom and neil’s not in the picture and steve’s the one who moves to california and the two of them are not friends because steve thinks billy’s weird and tells him as much when they first meet but billy just never drops the idea of them becoming friends because, well, he’s billy

and one of the first things steve tells billy is that he’s pretty and billy’s confused because he always thought being pretty was a good thing because his mama would always smile when people called her pretty but steve says it with a frown on his face like he’s annoyed before telling billy that he’s too pretty to be a boy and walking away

cue years of billy asking steve if he wants to come out to play and trying to show steve a flower he found or asking steve over to his house and rich kid steve thinking he’s too good for all that, that billy will screw his reputation up and also battling with this big crush he has on billy that he doesn’t actually know about himself until he gets older and goes through girl after girl after girl and still can’t get billy off of his mind

and then maybe they’re on speaking terms again at some point but billy’s kinda over steve now for obvious reasons but steve is absolutely head over heels for billy and eventually he tells billy as much and billy’s like.. why? and steve lists all the reasons he loves billy and the last one is that he’s pretty and billy kinda glares at him and is all oh yeah? like a girl? and steve’s all no, like billy

[maiden167]

Please this is the ending I need😭😭😭😭, also don't mind the hands ywudbwk

[artxstic-scr1bbles]

TW://Slight Angst and mentions of anxiety and panic attacks(?)//

MAIN SCENE #1

Nightmare is sitting in his office room, wearing glasses and doing some paperwork. He overhears what seems to be singing, and so goes to check it out. He turns a corner and catches a glimpse of the Bad Sanses doing Karaoke in a christmas-themed living room. If he were to assume, they had decorated it when Nightmare wasn’t paying attention. He watches them silently from the corner, with Killer singing and the others sitting around him and providing the backup vocals. Everyone was dressed in Christmas sweaters, and Killer was wearing a Santa cap. Horror had decorated his skull crack with candy canes and gingerbread. Dust…well he’s just wearing a red striped sweater over his hoodie. The atmosphere was warm as the group enjoyed each other’s company with Karaoke to keep them entertained.

SUB-MAIN SCENE #1

**Killer notices Nightmare standing by the doorway.

MAIN SCENE #2

Dust notices him too, and so does Horror. They bring him over and set him down on a couch. Dust hands him some hot cocoa. Everyone settles back down and Killer starts singing again. Nightmare takes a sip of his cocoa, but then pauses. He seems to be remembering something, as if in regret.

Killer keeps singing in the back, blissfully unaware of his Boss’s visible distress. Horror however, catches on to Nightmare’s unnatural silence and asks him about it. His voice snaps Nightmare back to reality, who only chuckles and brushes it off as nothing important. Horror nods in relief, and Dust simply smiles. He tells Nightmare that he’s invited someone over.

SUB-MAIN SCENE #2

**Dust calls for Dream, who slowly emerges from the other side with a shy smile.

MAIN SCENE #3

Nightmare looks up in surprise, noticing his brother who is dressed up in classic Christmas fashion quite literally from head to toe. Dream wearily apologizes to Nightmare, saying that “It was them who invited me”, he gestures toward the group who each had a smug smile on their faces, “They were very persistent about it, so I couldn’t turn them down.”

Dust and Horror begin arguing amongst themselves from Dream’s confrontation. Dream tries to calm them down, while Nightmare and Killer watch from behind. 

SUB-MAIN SCENE #3

**Nightmare gets up and slowly walks over to an unsuspecting Dream who was still engaged with Dust and Horror.

SUB-MAIN SCENE #4

**Nightmare goes over and hugs Dream, with small tears staining his eye socket and cheeks.

MAIN SCENE #4

Dream stands still with trembling hands as he watches his brother hug him, that too after so many years. Decades, even. He hesitates for a moment, but returns the embrace with happy tears™ falling onto Nightmare’s shoulder as he wraps his arms around him.

“I missed this, brother.” Dream says with a slight sob as he hugs him tighter.

MAIN SCENE #5

Nightmare chuckles slightly as he quickly wipes his own tears. He pulls away slightly and comforts his brother. “Don’t cry, Dream. Aren’t you the Guardian of Positivity?”

Dream nods and sniffles a little as he calms himself down. “Thank you, Brother.” 

MAIN SCENE #6

The whole gang, who were watching this with a wide smile then suddenly pounce onto the brothers in a surprise hug (quite literally knocking them to the ground). Nightmare is only able to let out a surprised “HEY-” which immediately gets cut off by the group’s laughter and sweet giggles™

MAIN SCENE #7

Nightmare sighs as he lay on the floor with the whole group giggling as they remain over his body, excluding Dream who was simply lying down over a few of Nightmare’s tentacles with a dumbfounded expression.

Nightmare wraps the four into a hug with his tentacles, a content smile spread across his face. Something that he thought was long forgotten by his corrupted soul.

*~END OF SONG+ANIMATIC~*

Tagging my old moots...@hahskeleton @grungepuppet @swiftmitsu @salzab

How'd I do?

[bogwitch-art]

"They were adventurers like us once... until the bastard turned and killed the warrior of darkness..."

the fae king and his lover monster

[fourfoldfires]

Ill-met by moonlight, proud Titania.