#drawing on a black screen with bright colors IS fun

[felixstudios]

Notepad sketches I sent to "someone" because I was bored

Bumble doodles I sent back to someone after they kept sending me notepad sketches

[heauxvibez]

Dipsea 2

warning: smut (18+). I had to change my panties after typing this bad boi up..

You looked at your phone with a desperate whimper, the frustration of the sudden interruption running through you. You had just begun to sink into the sweet rhythm of it, and now, you were certain the app was worth every cent. There was no way you’d be left on a cliffhanger—not when the heat was already pooling deep in your pussy, and his words were making your body ache with need. No other free option would suffice. Joe had started this, and you were determined he’d be the one to finish it.

With a quick tap, you paid for the app, heart pounding, pussy throbbing as the screen shifted. You watched as all nine parts unlocked, the bright purple and orange hues of the app glowing softly against the darkened room. The colors pulsed much like the warmth building inside you, teasing you as you imagined what was coming next. You were ready to dive back into the sultry depths of Joe's voice, ready to be carried away again, this time with no interruptions.

With another quick tap, you clicked on part two of Watch, your excitement beaming as the screen transitioned to reveal a new silhouette of him. This time, the image was a stunning depiction of his back, his broad shoulders and sculpted muscles bathed in more hues of deep orange and violet that painted the app. The soft gradient colors traced the contours of his body, highlighting every curve and dip in his toned frame just as much as the last silhouette.

His hair and tattoo were the only contrast—bold, inky black curls outlined by thin, glowing lines of orange, the strands seeming to ripple with motion as if you could reach out and feel the soft waves between your fingers. The black tribal patterns were striking—precise and pristine. The lines were sharp, curves fluid, creating a seamless flow of ink that wrapped around the silhouette with an almost hypnotic grace. The design seemed alive, as if the artist had studied every inch of his form with care. Whoever had illustrated this masterpiece deserved a raise.

The silhouette cut off just above his lower back, but not before emphasizing the curve of his spine and the dimples that rested at the base, drawing your gaze down. The image lingered there, inviting you to the details and shadows that made him feel more magnetic. It was impossible to look away.

You pressed play and closed your eyes without hesitation, you were ready to fill your ears with his voice and your mind with his image.

"Now go ahead and play with that pussy for me, but take your time. I don't want our fun to end so soon," he commanded. It was the same line he had whispered at the end of part one, a teasing reminder that he knew exactly where you both had left off, pulling you right back into that state of arousal.

But this time, things were a bit different. Your panties, once tangled around your ankles, had now disappeared somewhere within the soft, silky sheets beneath you. Your fingers hovered above your clit, ready to obey him, knowing exactly where they were headed—into the same silky folds that ached for attention, craving the touch you’d been holding back from for too long.

You could already feel the tingling between your thighs, the way his voice alone had the power to make your body respond, your mind slipping into a haze of pleasure. Just as he’d asked, you were savoring every second, drawing out the pleasure because you both knew there was no rush. It was about indulgence—taking your time, sinking deeper into the sensations, and losing yourself completely.

Your middle finger drew light, teasing circles around your clit, barely grazing the sensitive nub. Despite the faint touch, you were already soaking wet, your juices slick against your skin, and you hadn’t even fully given in yet. A shaky breath escaped your lips as you imagined his eyes on you, the thought heating your skin even from a distance. You could picture the way he’d tilt his head back slightly, his eyes dark while lifting his hand to stroke his beard in that slow, menacing way he always did when he was gathering his thoughts. His fingers would glide over the coarse hairs, tracing the strong line of his jaw, and then move down toward his throat, his palm smoothing over his skin as if grooming himself in preparation.

You could hear the sound of him shifting in his seat, the sound of his body moving making your breath hitch. It was subtle, but you pretended as if it was an involuntary thrust, his horniness impossible to hide. You imagined his dick strained against the fabric of his tight bottoms, pressing insistently, desperate for relief.

"Just like that, sweetheart," he groaned. "Fuck, I can barely keep still over here," he chuckled, the sound rough and deep, making your body tingle in response.

"I can see you drippin' all the way from here," his voice purred through your earphones, carrying a teasing tone that vibrated in your ears.

"Those lips, glistening and glossy... all for me, right, baby?" you couldn’t stop the soft whimper that escaped your lips. Your body responded before you could think, the words slipping out in a breathless whisper.

"Yes, daddy..." you murmured into the air, your toes curling with the rush that came from answering him. You could practically hear the smirk in his voice as he spoke again,

"Good girl," he affirmed. "Now, can you slip those fingers inside for me? But tease yourself just like I would..." what he wanted from you, what he asked of you was so damn irresistible, and as your middle finger slid down your slick slit, you listened, teasing your entrance, tapping it lightly, just as he’d instructed. The teasing was unbearable, your body aching for more as your fingers played along your soaked folds.

"You're such a great listener, baby. Go ahead and slip those fingers in.."

"Whew, Jesus," you sighed, finally giving in as your middle and ring fingers slipped into you, the warm, tight sensation wrapping around your digits beautifully. Your palm brushed against your swollen clit, your body pulsing around your fingers. The friction was maddening, every stroke drawing you deeper.

You could hear his breath hitch in your ears, shaky and uneven, as he narrated your pleasure. "God damn if only you could see yourself right now," he groaned, "Your pussy taking in your fingers, going deep and curling against your g spot... Shit, you don’t know what you’re doing to me."

It was wild how his words were basically tailored to cater to your own pleasure. Every syllable felt like it was crafted just for you. His praise, the soft, commanding tone he used, was almost too much. You could hear every minor shift in his voice, the way he controlled each breath, making it deeper, huskier when the moment needed it. It wasn’t just the words—it was the way he wielded them, like a lover’s touch, knowing exactly when to soften, when to tease, when to push.

"Keep the pace slow,” he uttered, “I want you to enjoy and savor this. I want to enjoy and savor this. You know I love watching you fall apart in agony, knowing that you've been waiting to nut all night. Knowing that you're holding onto that nut just for me. Knowing you ain't gon nut until I say so."

“Fuck," you cursed as you slowed your movements, still doing as he says even though it felt torturous. Your finger slid in and out of you with agonizing slowness.

The contrast between the slow, teasing strokes and the need inside you made everything feel so much sweeter. It was as if his voice was in control of your body, holding your hand, pushing you just to the brink but never letting you tumble over. The slowness frustrated you, yet it pleased you so perfectly.

"Just like that, my love. In..." His voice purred as your fingers slipped deeply inside, "And out..." he continued, his words guiding you as you pulled them out slowly, feeling the slickness of your folds against your skin. "In..." You pushed your fingers back through your wet heat, your breath trembling. "And out..." you obeyed again, this time a soft moan escaping your lips as your fingers retreated, leaving you wanting more.

"Mmm, you hear that?" His voice was now getting lower, making your whole body shiver. You listened closely, the only sounds in the room now were his heavy, steady breathing in your ear and the unmistakable sound of your juices being pushed in and out of you. The wet, slick noise echoed throughout the room which did nothing but tighten the knot deep in your belly.

Your fingers moved with purpose, matching the slow, teasing pace he had set, the wetness coating your fingers making the motion smoother. You were getting closer to the edge.

"You ain't ever been this wet baby. I just know them fingers are drowning in that nectar of yours.." he murmured, with his words being slightly interrupted by throaty moans. The sounds of fabric rubbing made you think that he might be stroking himself through the barrier of his clothes, fueling the fantasy and pure delusion of him watching you.

"Aht, remember what I said? Keep that pace slow; I know you can take it..." His voice urges you to follow his demands despite the desperate need to cum.

"I can’t..." you whimpered, your voice breaking as your back arched in a sad attempt to increase the friction against your palm. The struggle to maintain the slowness was killing you. You were doing your best to follow his instructions, but he was too damn good at this erotic audio shit. It felt impossible to hold out much longer—his voice was relentless.

His breaths seemed to grow louder, more insistent, and his moans were becoming deeper and more profound. "Wrap your left hand around your throat, mhm," he instructed, "Make sure you grip it well. Just like I would when I'm holding you in place, keepin' you from runnin.'"

Your left hand moved slowly, trembling slightly as it glided up your body, feeling every shift in your skin. The vulnerability of the touch made you acutely aware of how fragile you were. Even the gentlest of touches at this moment felt like they would do you in.

"Just like that. Fuck, you're gonna come, ain’t you?" He questioned seductively, his voice was filled with a knowing confidence as if he could read your mind.

He laughly breathlessly, a sound of cockiness that made you want to reach through the phone and give him a light slap on the wrist for being such a know it all.

"Your breaths are gettin' shorter, your pussy’s gettin' wetter, and I can see those legs trembling, trying to stay open." You were stunned by how right he was, it was a perfect reflection of the torment yet pleasurable moment he was talking you through.

"Cum for me baby, cum for daddy," he whispered compelling your fingers to delve deep inside and your palm to press the perfect amount of pressure onto your clit. Your body quivered as your orgasm radiated from the top of your head to the tip of your toes and back up again like waves. Pure waves of euphoria that is. Waves that nearly shatter you into pure bliss.

Your back arched with each breathy word he spoke to you, “Keep going, sweetheart. Don’t stop. Don’t stop moving those fucking fingers,” he growled, his words were rough and delicious. Your fingers continued their relentless rhythm, pumping deep and steady. Your thighs tightened around your wrist, pulling you closer, your juices flowing freely into your palm, glistening with every stroke. Your pussy clung to your fingers with a needy grip, pulling them in as you withdrew, a constant dance between your walls and your digits.

Tears streamed freely from your eyes as your left hand stayed firm against your throat, the sensation of the choke making you lose your mind, while also serving as a grounding anchor. You couldn't quite tell if it was your own grip or his that held you captive. Physically, you knew it was your hand, but emotionally, this man had an undeniable hold on you, wrapping around your mind with his words, and his energy.

Your body gradually relaxed, the tension melting away after the breathtaking orgasm that had left you well…breathless. You had been holding air in your lungs, caught in the throes of pleasure, until his soothing voice gently pulled you back to reality.

“Breathe, baby,” he murmured, his sultry voice and slow, deep breaths filled your ears. You matched his rhythm, each inhale and exhale guiding you back to yourself. When you finally opened your eyes, which had felt closed for hours, you found yourself staring at the ceiling, still reeling from your release. You could hardly believe how powerful it had been. “That was good,” he chuckled, and the sound made you crack a small, satisfied smile.

“Mmm, now that I’ve watched, come over here so I can listen to you moan in daddy's ear.”

Click here to play "Listen" narrated by Joe, voiced by Roman Reigns.

--------------------------

I feel absolutely DELUSIONAL after writing this. Only because I feel like something like this could actually happen LOL.

Tags: @harmshake @southerngirl41 @sortudademais @empressdede @alichesmi

@msbigredmachine @theninthwonder @blacst4r @sassginamillls @wrestlingprincess80

@headoftheetable @trashbin-nie @sheyaish @saintmagx @mzv11

@venusesworld @tshepisho @cyberdejos2

Let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist! I tend to forget to tag sometimes, so just direct message me. It'll be easier for me to keep up lol!

[kk095]

Alexa’s Arrhythmia

*hello everyone! I know it's been awhile since my last story, so I apologize about the delay. I hope you all enjoy this one!*

Alexa was a 22 year old girl of Asian descent, standing at a compact 5 foot 1, having a more petite build. She had wavy, medium length hair with a middle part that was dyed platinum blonde. The young lady was heavily tattooed, with bright, colorful sleeves on both arms, tattoos up and down both legs, a few small pieces on the tops of her hands and fingers, along with a handful of other tattoos scattered elsewhere around her body. There were piercings in both her nipples, as well as a nose ring. Alexa’s style was always more revealing, showing off her tattoos and her cute, dainty figure. She took care of her appearance, always making sure her hair, nails, and makeup were on point.

Looks weren’t the only thing going for Alexa. She was very bubbly, outgoing, and a ton of fun to be around. However, that fun regularly crossed the line. Alexa was the life of the party and a total wild child. It seemed like her and her friends were always up to some sort of shenanigans. But last night, Alexa’s reckless, carefree partying had major consequences for the first time, resulting in her night ending in our emergency department.

It was discovered Alexa had used a large dose of an unknown, synthetic party drug that just hit the streets. The substance was in the form of a black, octagon shaped pill that was half the size of a dime with no markings, stamps, or engravings whatsoever. Alexa wrongly assumed the pills she acquired were molly (MDMA), a substance she had used casually. This misjudgment would prove to be a dire mistake for the tatted up party girl.

When Alexa arrived at our emergency department, she was completely inconsolable, crying hysterically. She was thrashing and flailing around quite dramatically on the trauma room table. Her heart was absolutely racing at 185bpm, on the verge of ventricular tachycardia. She felt a pinching sensation inside her chest, combined with severe heart palpitations.

She was sitting on the trauma room table in the upright position, stripped down to just her black bra and matching underwear. There were EKG electrodes stuck onto her chest, IVs set up in each arm, and a nasal cannula in her nostrils. Due to her dangerously high heart rate and unstable vital signs, the monitors beeped and chirped loudly, creating a tense and ominous tone in the room.

Alexa was absolutely terrified. This wasn’t her first rodeo with party drugs, but she knew something was seriously wrong this time. “HELP ME! PLEASE…” She sobbed, flailing around on the table. “we’re here to help you. I just need you to stay still so the nurses can take a look.” Lindsay calmly reassured. “HELP ME! PLEASE!!!” Repeated Alexa. “and we will sweetie! Just stay still for us, ok?” Nurse Nancy chimed in, trying to console the visibly upset young lady. “MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!” Alexa sobbed, squirming around feverishly. “Nancy, let’s try to calm her down. I wanna run some labs and get a stat tox screen on her. We need to know what she took.” Lindsay explained. Nurse Nancy nodded in acknowledgement to the doctor, and went to draw the blood samples required. “NO! NO NEEDLES! NO NEEDLES!!!” Alexa screamed since she always had a phobia of needles. “it’s just gonna be a quick stick hunny. It’ll be fast, I promise.” Reassured Nancy. “NO! THEY ALREADY GAVE ME ONE IN THE AMBULANCE!” Protested Alexa, referring to the IVs that the medics had set up. “I know you already got a needle in the ambulance, but we have to do this so you can feel better. Understand?” Nancy reasoned. “NO MORE NEEDLES! JUST MAKE IT STOP!” Alexa continued to resist, leaning back, shaking her back and forth dramatically indicating ‘no’. “well, if you don’t want us to draw the blood we need, then you have to tell us what you took.” Nancy’s tone getting more firm that time. “I don’t know…. It was just a couple of pills!” Alexa replied, her voice wobbly, tears streaming down her face. “a couple pills? Have you taken these before? What did it look like?” probed Nancy, hoping to get any bit of information she could work with. “I DON’T KNOW! I thought it was just molly or something…” the girl sobbed in response. “Well, was it molly? We’re not here to judge you hun. We just need to know what you took so we can help you.” Explained Nancy. “I DON’T KNOW! JUST MAKE IT STOP!” yelled Alexa, in hysterics.

Nancy sighed, starting to feel frustrated. It seemed like Alexa was just being uncooperative and unwilling to tell the team what she took. Since Alexa was also a fast, erratically moving target, nobody wanted to risk a needle stick injury while trying to draw labs. As far as chemical restraints went, nobody felt comfortable giving her any sedatives or benzos, fearing an adverse reaction with whatever was already in her system. The team was at a standstill to some extent, contemplating their next steps. Alexa’s heart rate was also through the roof, and her EKG was abnormal, so the team had to get her calm enough to run labs and start chemical cardioversion to try and stabilize her.

Before the team could decide what exactly their next move would be, Alexa’s symptoms worsened. She let out a loud, high pitched yelp, clenching her chest in pain with one hand, her eyes slamming shut for a few seconds. “Alexa? What’s the matter sweetie?” Nurse Nancy asked, concerned about the sudden change. “My heart! My heart’s getting pinched!” Answered Alexa. “I’m scared… I’m so scared…” She went on, crying her eyes out. “I know it’s scary, but we’re gonna take great care of you.” Soothed Nancy. “now, can you tell us what you took? We aren’t gonna get you in trouble. We aren’t gonna judge you. We just want to help.” Continued Nancy, feeling it was a good opportunity to pry for information again. “I DON’T KNOW! I TOLD YOU I DON’T KNOW! IT WAS JUST A COUPLE PILLS, I SWEAR!” Alexa bawled.

Dr Lindsay was looking at the monitors the whole time Nancy and Alexa were talking, and didn’t like what she was seeing. The doctor saw a narrow QRS complex and a short RP interval. Given these findings, combined with the 185bpm heart rate, Lindsay determined Alexa was experiencing something known as junctional ectopic tachycardia- a form of v-tach that needs to be electrically cardioverted in order to restore normal cardiac activity. Lindsay got Nancy’s attention. “hey Nance. We’re gonna have to cardiovert her. Let’s get the pads on her.” Lindsay commanded. Nancy then started to get the defib pads set up. While that was going on, Lindsay tried to explain what was going on. “Alexa? Your heart is beating in a very dangerous rhythm right now. In order to fix it, we have to give you a quick shock from the defibrillator pads. It’ll feel a little uncomfortable, but it’ll be over with before you know it.” Lindsay explained. “WHAT? NO. NO WAY. NO SHOCK.” Resisted Alexa. “I’m sorry. If there was a more comfortable way, believe me, we’d do that. But unfortunately this is the only way to go here.” Doctor Lindsay reasoned. Alexa didn’t respond to Lindsay. All she did was cry for a moment. “I’m so scared… what’s happening to me?...” She finally asked. “We’re trying to get to the bottom of that. I just need you to stay still and stay calm for me.” Lindsay calmly answered.

Nurse Nancy stuck the defib pads onto Alexa’s chest. “Ok Nancy, let’s charge to 100.” Lindsay ordered. The electric whirring of the defibs charging could be heard. “No… no…no…” the patient uttered under her breath, knowing the shock was about to come. Finally the defibs were ready. “Alexa? We’re gonna shock you now, ok?” Lindsay told the patient. “no! Don’t shock me… nonono!” She begged, her eyes wide with fear. But Lindsay, Nancy, and the rest of the team had a job to do. The shock button was hit, and the shock was delivered. “AHHH!” Alexa screamed, one hand clenching her chest. The team paused for a moment, studying the monitors, hoping the desired change had taken place. Even after a good 30 seconds, the arrhythmia failed to dissipate, so Alexa had to be shocked again. “Alexa? We’re gonna have to shock you again.” The doctor informed Alexa, which was responded to with the same crying and protests as before. The defibs were recharged to 100j, and shock #2 was delivered. “ohhh….” Alexa moaned. Again, the team waited post-shock, and again, there was no change. Because of that, Lindsay decided to shock Alexa at a slightly stronger intensity to hopefully achieve better results. The defib pads were readied, and a 150j shock was delivered. Alexa’s body tensed up in response. She winced in pain, continuing to cry. The third shock didn’t do the trick, but perhaps the fourth time’s the charm? Alexa could hear the pads charging up again, and it freaked her out. “No more! No more!” she begged, wanting the nightmare to end. “AHHH!” she let out a loud, blood curdling scream in response to the fourth shock.

Even after the fourth shock, the arrhythmia was the clear winner of the battle up to that point. Lindsay stepped up her game, administering a 200j shock. “OWW!” Alexa yelled, tears streaming down her face. “NO MORE! NO MORE SHOCKS!” Alexa begged, hearing the defibs recharging. Another 200j shock followed. Alexa’s torso shot forward, and her arms tensed up for a moment, her hands moving towards the middle of her body. With no change whatsoever, the process was repeated, except the ensuing shock was 250j. Alexa moaned and cried in response, but the arrhythmia was stubborn, appearing to be there for the long haul. The defib pads were readied another go of it, but that time at 300j- triple the strength of the very first shock Alexa received. “AHHH!” Screamed the cute, tatted up patient. “NO MORE. NO MORE… I’M SO SCARED…” Alexa pleaded with her caretakers, who seemed almost like torturers in that moment. Another 300j shock was subsequently delivered, the patient bawling and hyperventilating in response. “I DON’T WANNA DIE… I DON’T WANNA DIE…” A terrified Alexa stated post-shock to anyone within earshot. But once again, the deadly arrhythmia hadn’t gone anywhere. The team recharged the defibs to 360 to combat the form of tachycardia, promptly delivering the next shock. The agony of the shock caused Alexa’s toes to scrunch up hard at the end of the table, showing off the bright white nail polish on her toes, along with the deep, wavy, silky wrinkles throughout the soles of her tiny size 5.5 feet. “PLEASE… NO MORE… NO MORE… I DON’T WANNA DIE…” She sobbed loudly, practically begging for her life. Even the maximum strength of the defibrillator shock couldn’t correct the problem. The defibs were yet again charged to 360j, and the next shock was delivered, everyone hoping for a change. “Oh….” Alexa moaned softly, wincing in pain, her body tensing up and shivering for a moment.

Following the second 360j shock, Alexa’s condition changed. Her eyes opened wide. She gasped for air. She clenched her chest, the palms of her hands feeling her heart race. At the far end of the table, she was fidgeting around with her feet, moving them side to side a bit. “Alexa? Sweetie?” Asked Nancy, alarmed by the noticeable change. Suddenly, Alexa’s hands dropped from her chest, falling limp to her sides. Her cries stopped. Her yelling and moaning stopped. Her gasping stopped. Her fidgeting stopped. But most importantly, her heart stopped.

Alexa laid there completely motionless, her eyes still wide open, her mouth agape. A look of absolute terror still etched on her face. Nancy knew what she was seeing- it wasn’t the veteran ER nurse’s first death stare. “Alexa? Hunny?” Nancy asked, doing a firm sternal rub on the 22 year old. Alexa laid there, her limp body barely reacting to the hearty sternal rub. “ALEXA?” Shouted Nancy, her level of concern growing exponentially. Again, Alexa just laid there, taking the hard sternal rub like it was nothing.

Dr Lindsay stood a short distance away, two of the fingers from her gloved hand were on the side of Alexa’s neck, hoping and praying to feel something. Lindsay pinched her lips for a second. “nothing.” The doctor remarked. Nancy and Lindsay’s eyes shifted over to the monitors, trying to see what they were up against. “Crap. Looks like v-fib. Lower the bed and start compressions, Nance.” Lindsay ordered.

The bed was lowered, and Nancy snipped off Alexa’s black bra, tossing it to the side, her hard, pierced nipples now exposed to the room full of strangers. Nancy placed the heel of her gloved hand on the middle of Alexa’s chest. She took her other hand, placed it on top of the other, and interlocked her fingers. Nancy kept her elbows straight, and began pushing down hard and fast. At the head of the bed, Dr Lindsay made the decisive move to intubate the young, tatted up patient for the sake of airway management. A 7.0 ET tube was carefully navigated into Alexa’s airway. Once at the correct depth and location, Lindsay began securing the tube with a blue tube holder. The holder occupied a good portion of Alexa’s lower face and mouth area. Alexa’s eyes were still wide open, staring helplessly above, almost appearing as if she was watching Dr Lindsay intubate her.

After Lindsay completed the intubation, nurse Heather swapped into Lindsay’s place to ambu bag. Heather gently squeezed the light blue bag every few seconds or so, providing much needed air to the poor soul laid out on the table. A short distance away, Nancy was finishing up a cycle of chest compressions. Alexa’s chest caved in deep. Her belly rippled outwards. One arm dangled off the side of the table, tapping along with the rhythm of the chest compressions being received. Alexa’s head bobbed and lolled in sync with each individual compression, while her feet swayed gently at the opposite end of the table. When Nancy finished the cycle of CPR, the team had decided to shock Alexa again.

The defib pads were once again put to use. A 300j shock was then sent into the poor girl. Alexa’s chest shot up dramatically, her back arching, her upper body plopping back down ungracefully within a few seconds. The shock did absolutely nothing, so it was time to deliver a 360j shock. Alexa let out a gasp, her body twitching violently for just a moment as the electricity darted through her body. V-fib persevered, so Alexa was zapped again. She gasped once more, her torso and upper extremities shivering. No change was noted afterwards, and the process was repeated. The next shock tossed Alexa’s petite body around on the table effortlessly. No time was wasted, so she was hit with the pads again. The next shock caused Alexa’s feet to leap up above the table and crash back down hard, showcasing her pretty, wrinkly soles once more. Like all the other shocks prior, nothing changed.

More and more time passed by the trio of caretakers, each minute seemingly passing by faster than the last. The team struggled to achieve what they had hoped, but kept fighting on for a bit, reluctant to give up on the beautiful young patient. They opted to shock Alexa again. And again. And again. AND AGAIN. They followed that up with numerous cycles of CPR. They pushed various medications into her IV line. But even after everything, v-fib stood victorious. At the 28 minute mark of the code, it was noted that Alexa’s pupils were fixed and dilated.

Given the prolonged downtime, blown pupils, maximum dose of drugs, and many failed defib shocks, our crew appeared to have exhausted all possible efforts. “Hold compressions.” Dr Lindsay barked. Nancy stopped CPR, then took a few steps back away from the table. Heather knew what was coming next, and detached the ambu bag from the breathing tube. Lindsay peeled her gloves off and looked at the clock on the back left wall of the room. “Time of death, 12 midnight exactly. Way to start off the day…” Lindsay huffed, feeling defeated. “what a shame...” Nancy shook her head.

Just like that, everyone had to shift gears. The chirping, beeping, alarming monitors that still showed v-fib were switched off. The EKG electrodes were disconnected from the girl’s chest. The IV lines were taken out. The defib pads were peeled off. While basic postmortem care was going on, Alexa just laid there, her eyes still wide open. The detached ET tube and blue holder remained in place, a horrified gaze still on her face. At the opposite end of the table, a toe tag was filled out and placed. The tag hung from the big toe of her left foot, dangling against the soft, undulated wrinkles that seemed to pop out from the soles of her small feet. Lastly, a cover was placed over Alexa’s body, covering up her bruised, battered chest, concealing the hauntingly beautiful gaze on her face.

What was supposed to be another fun night for Alexa turned out to be her last. The poor girl clearly didn’t know her own limits, and came across the wrong substance. Now Alexa laid toe tagged and under a sheet in our ER, becoming one of far too many drug casualties, showing just how fast it could all come to an end.

[springypaws]

Oh no the archivist is archiving (more versions & ID’s under the cut)

ID: It’s a drawing of Johnathan Sims from the Magnus Archives, sat legs-crossed, with one arm loosely held on his legs and loosely holding his glasses, and the other propped onto an invisible surface. The propped arm’s hand is raised to Jon’s eye, stretched out, but with his index finger creating an opening with the rest to display his overshadowed eye, still easily visible due to it being outlined by bright green lines. The style the eye is drawn is similar to the style of the bright green eyes haloed to the side of his head, and the large, less opaque, large one in the background of the drawing. The middle finger of this hand is lightly pulling down his bottom lid, making the eye more visible. Jon is colored in a grey-scale manner, the dull color ever-so-slightly hinted blue. He is half outlined in the same bright green as the eyes, half outlined in a bright red. This bright red is also present as cartoonish exclamation symbols around him, and in the pupil of his bright-green eye. His other eye’s pupil is also colored brightly, but with the green, rather than the red, interrupting the greyscale of the rest of the area. Jon’s expression is neutral, although he looks exhausted, with deep dark circles under his eyes and a slightly furrowed brow. He is wearing a dark overcoat with lighter patches on the elbows and shoulders, and, under this, is wearing a lighter vest. Under the vest is yet another layer, being a semi-visible white button-up shirt. He is wearing darker dress pants and black, professional, and simple shoes. His hair is long and unkept, decorated with white streaks and put back into a loose half-bun.

Plus some filter-playing fun:

ID’s: The first filter makes the drawing look almost like it’s behind the screen of an old electrical device, more similar to that of an older model of computer. The colors are dulled ever-so-slightly, and the edges of the drawing are darkened with shadow.

The second filter has made the image completely greyscale, muting the bright and dull colors both.

The last filter has made the colors all a bit more blue, giving the drawing more color than it had originally.

And the sketch too cause I think I might like it better (as always)

ID: A colored and shaded sketch of the drawing. It looks very similar to the final product, except less cleaned-up and covered in guidance lines and coloring that goes out of the lines.

[sorenphelps]

All the artwork I made for the fanfic Crazy Ex-Boyfriend by @amethystheart2421 for this year's @rsbigbang!

It was a wild run, we got paired up quite late due to our original pairs dropping out of the Bang, and even though it was already December and time was running thin, I decided to make this whole deal a way bigger challenge than it supposed to be... So I ended up drawing all 7 fantasy sequences, trying to mimic a different style for all of them, and finishing both versions of the banners I had in mind. I know, I know, but I swear even I wasn't aware that I am such an overachiever either!

Also, I usually like to hide little details as easter eggs on all of my artwork, so naturally this was the case with these too. I'm gonna list them one by one, also share a little story about each piece, sort of like a "directors cut werk", just so we stick to the screenplay motif. The numbers in brackets lists the order in which I drew the pictures.

The banners (1.,9.): I haven't watched Crazy Ex-Girlfriend the show, so I really had no idea about this whole thing, hence my initial idea of re-drawing one of the official promo posters of the show as the banner. But then Nicole shared the first scene with me when we got paired up, and also told me that her original artist wanted to draw the stargazing scene, which I also really liked. I sketched out both versions to see which one would look better, and also to warm up a bit for this version of the characters. (Nicole also shared some faceclaims, so except Sirius' and Lily's design, I tried to stick to her vision as much as I could.) The Netflix poster was considered the final one for quite a while. The stargazing banner was the last piece of artwork I finished, which I also edited to be used as Chapter dividers. I liked the idea so much I actually referenced the starry sky on the other pictures too. On the Netflix banner, Remus' socks and Sirius' suit handkerchief (how do you call those things in English, gahh) both have the starry pattern.

The western (3.): By this time it was decided that I'd do all fantasy sequences in a different art style, but I couldn't really come up with any specific style which could have fit the western vibes, so the characters are drawn in my own usual style, only the colouring is different. I tried to go for a sepia effect, without using a filter, I think I could pull it off well enough. I was considering to draw Sirius as a Native American for this, because I just don't see him as Caucasian in general, and also, Black Dog sounds like a badly translated indigenous name... But I discarded this idea for the sake of "historical accuracy" (and to save time, haha), as I think they wouldn't visit a saloon this way. I added the starry sky pattern to Sirius' handkerchief and... scarf? (I really should learn how certain textil items are called in English...) There is a wanted poster in the background with Voldy. And I swear I didn't mean to draw Remus looking this horny, it just kinda happened by accident! He is sure VERY fascinated by Sirius'... pistol.😜

The Star Trek (6.): My original idea was to draw like usual and just add so many lensflares to the picture that it's not visible if I copied another style or not. But in the meantime I started to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds with my bf and also found out that there is a new cartoon too, so it was then settled. This style is very different from my own, but it was so much fun! It was weird not to draw every single strand of hair in excruciating detail, actually that was the hardest part, haha! I struggled a bit with the placement of the lensflares too, the first version had too many and too bright, it had a disco vibe rather than a spaceship. I wanted to add easter eggs to the background screen, but I was running out of time, so there's only one light blue star similar on the screen! Also now I know that the uniform colors are not really consistent in Star Trek, and Remus’ might have had to be gold as Captain…🤷🏻‍♀️

The Disney (2.): This one sparked the first idea in my head after I read all fantasy scenes Nicole kindly shared with me. When I first sketched this, I still had no idea that I will end up drawing for every chapter and the style copying was not settled either. It started with this piece, I had the vision of the wolf chasing scene from Beauty and the Beast, and we were discussing whether it's plausible to collect berries during the winter or not... I've tried to make the final piece look as classic Disney as I can, and since I could pull it off, it was not a question anymore whether I'd try to do this with other styles for the other scenes. Retrospectively, this one was the easiest to make, apparently my usual style is not that far from Disney (I grew up watching those movies, so it's not a surprise), but I had to really focus on drawing the animals, it's been ages since I last drew any! (The trick is to give them eyebrows, and bam, it's Disney style!) Sirius' armour, clothes and sword has the star, and I also designed his own "crest" with the black dog and a star on his shoulder plate. The whole concept of the picture is Sirius' side being very bright coloured, while Remus' with the scary wolves in the background being very dark. This might have worked better if it was not set in the winter, but I wanted to stick to the Beauty and the Beast vision I had.

The Comicbook (4.): I was very excited for this one, I really like the looks of the old Batman the animated series, and the way some of his comics are drawn. It's such a unique style, I really like the simple shapes and bold contrasts. Well, it turned out I am very bad at this! I struggled quite a bit trying to capture what I had in mind, but I couldn't even come close to it... So I kinda cheated a bit because I just traced the lineart directly from the reference pictures of Batman comic books I found online. I tried to make Remus less buff, but it looked very weird, so I let him keep his muscular Batman body instead. I drew the wolf mask and the whole Sirius panel, and the coloring went smoothly after I finalized the lineart, even though I only realized that I switched the colour schemes of Remus' superhero outfit when I looked up the quotes for the comic panels, oops. Overall I like how it looks, but I am not that proud of it as I had to "cheat".

The Hobbit (5.): I've probably spent the most time with this one! I actually really like Martin Freeman as an older Remus FC, so I was quite excited to do this piece. My original idea was to mimic John Howe's style, as he is the Tolkien illustrator god, but his level of skill and mine are very very far from each other... and as I struggled a lot with the Batman piece, I felt like going for a smaller challenge. That's why I decided to have a go at Alphonse Mucha's art nouveau style. Turned out it was the worst possible idea! 🤣 The whole point of art nouveau is depicting attractive ladies in an ethereal way... But if you switch the ladies with a fat hobbit, the vibe def won't be the same! The first version just looks so extremely absurd, it's both awful and hilarious. By the time I could fix the pose so it wouldn't look as ridiculous, the final style looked nothing like art nouveau... I still have no idea what style it is now, not my own or any of the ones I tried to capture, that's for sure. I considered adding the star pattern to that tablecloth, but I decided that the lupin flowers in the foreground and the whomping willow-like tree are enough reference for this pic! I like how it turned out in the end tho, I think I could do justice for the watercolor-looking coloring technique, and the end result looks a bit like a fancier version of old children's book illustrations... Which is essentially what The Hobbit is, so it all sorted itself out by the end.

The Anime (7.): I like anime (I'm a little picky about them tho), so it was not a question that I would give this style a try! I am a huge fan of cyberpunk (the genre), so initially wanted to do that, I'm such a slut for Ghost in the Shell and I really like the aesthetics of the Akira posters, but after reading the actual scene, it was not really fitting. So I saved the cyberpunk AU for later, and went for the post-apocalyptic vibe instead. Obviously anime had a great influence on my art style, so similar to the Disney one, it was not that much of a challenge to mimic it. However I'm not that good at drawing backgrounds, and oh boy, I really made myself get over this obstacle with this series of pictures! Also as I was more comfortable with this piece, I actually added the starry sky pattern from the beginning to the scarf/blanket Remus has on this picture!

The Sitcom (8.): The original idea was to copy Hanna Barbera's old family cartoons' style, but as my deadline was very close and after reading the scene I realized that it will have a shitton of characters, I quickly abandoned my original plan. So this one is drawn in my own style, sort of, the designs of the characters are more aligned with Nicole's vision (sans Sirius, Lily, and partly Peter). The hardest part was definitely to figure out how I could fit 10 characters into one picture, let alone sitting in a living room! Also, I had to actually draw the living room too, considering perspective and scaling... Something I am not that good at. In the end the coffee table is maybe a little too big, but I needed that to hide the legs of the characters sitting on the sofa, haha! Also, the sofa is the Millennial Dark Green Velvet Sofa, because I also want to have one and it really emphasizes the general existential dread! (Just kidding.) Also also, I just realized that I have no idea how to eat tacos without making a mess (they are not that popular where I live). I added the starry sky pattern to Sirius' shirt, and gave a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt to Peter, as he is talking about that in the scene. I wanted to squeeze in further references to the newspaper Remus is holding, but it was too tiny. The star from Knight Sirius' armour is in the background on the bookshelf. Also that globe just makes no sense but I had no better idea how to fill the empty space 😅. Molly is holding a mug with "BEST MOM" written on it, and I intentionally made Marlene's eye colour the same as Remus', who btw should have worn a bathrobe according to the original scene, but it was too late to fix that by the time I realized it. All in all, I am quite satisfied with how it turned out, it has the necessary sitcom vibes. And it is kinda a record for me in terms of number of characters drawn (the most was 12, but that one has no background, so I'd call it a tie!)!! I am very proud of myself for pulling this piece off, it really is the achievement of the year!

TLDR; (I mean really, my rambling is just too long!) I am happy that I was paired up with Nicole, working with her was such a creative process! My absolute favourite thing to do is work on AUs, and she has provided me with the opportunity to do so, I am grateful! It was truly a pleasure to participate in this (even if it's not that clear from all the complaining I just had above, haha)! If you ask me nicely I might show you the cursed first version of the hobbit picture!

[queenofthelanternfish]

Oh yes, and can you also teach me how to make the drawing less flat?

hey there! so, i finally have time to do this, hopefully it's helpful but idk i'm honestly terrible at giving art advice because i'm like, a very trial and error person. however hopefully this step by step on my process is helpful. keep in mind, i only use paint tool SAI to draw, so i'll be showing what i do on SAI and nothing else. reallt sorry but that is simply all i have! any way:

i start off with a simple sketch, i try to add some form of movement in my gestures to keep it less stiff- arms, legs, posture, they don't all need to be doing something, but you can't have them all do nothing. expressions are important too, you want a baseline of how you want your character's mood to be conveyed. usually with Odessa here, her expressions typically exude confidence to the point of looking smug and self assured. how a character expresses emotions in a drawing tells a person a lot about their personality, so varied expressions are very important!

next is lineart. this is where i solidify a character's pose, expression, and general anatomy. lineart can be kind of a pain and i rely on a stabilizer tool being at level 15 to keep my lines smooth and straight. you can also use a clipping tool to color your lineart to make it look less bland. black lineart is only good for a more stylized drawings like i did here, but almost every single one of my drawings has colored lineart.

now it's time for flats! in order to make your art pop more it's good to use colors that are bright but not eye burning bright. i put each color in a separate layer, hair for one layer, skin, etc.. you need a good base to work with in the beginning and you can tinker with hues and lighting in the end stages of a drawing to make it pop more or be more muted to your liking. flat colors give you a general idea of how the character's color palette will look.

now, here's the most important part- shading! i always have my shading layers over my lineart to keep it from interfering with my other layers and take higher priority, the only thing above shading is strong highlights like eye shines and jewelry shines. you want to shade with a NOT gray base, this will make your art look bland and flat. i used a darker muted purple and used the multiply tool to put over the drawing's colors. you want to make sure the color you pick is dark enough to be seen, but not too dark that is contrasts too much with your base colors. i also use two different layers for shading, one for general shading and one for shading darker areas like the inner ears, parts of the hair, or under the head. after that, you can clip onto individual color layers to add a more airbrushed/watercolored shading to add a little value over the cel shading. you can also use this to add different hues to the skin, since skin is not one color, human or monster/alien/cryptid!

next is highlights! and highlights are important to make your art "pop." honestly, i always feel my art is terrible until i add the highlights. i don't know why, it just changes it for me. with highlights, you choose your color layer, and highlight with the same color on that layer in a clipped layer (set to screen, like you do with multiply) to keep color consistency. i probably made it sound complicated but it's not! i love highlighting hair and skin, it gives it that shine to keep your art from being dull. you can also airbrush/watercolor highlights but keep it very well blended in to keep it from looking choppy and clunky. i also want to add that for extra shiny highlights, like for eyes or jewelry, i like to use the luminosity feature to make it extra bright.

at this point the drawing is more or less done! after this, i like to fiddle with colors, hues, saturation, etc., to make it stand out even more and keep it from being sterile. this is where you can have fun playing around with colors. you can merge all your layers together, and clip a new layer to your drawing, and add extra colors with filters to see what feels good. i used a combination of purple and red to make Odessa look more flamboyant and interesting. this is a little addition that can change the whole vibe of your drawing, adding extra colors, lights, shading, are all great to make your art stand out better.

any way, this is what i do on SAI to make my art look like how it always does! hopefully this was helpful, again i can only show examples with SAI since i don't have any other art program, but hopefully this at least gives an idea of what you want to convey in your art. if you have more questions, let me know because i'm sure i've missed some finer details because i'm bad at detailing my drawing process orz

[wilwywaylan]

Just because there's no Poetry Smash week this year won't stop me from drawing some Poetry Smash !

It's been quite rainy here lately, so of course, they are spending a rainy day the best way they know.

Thank everything in the world for modesty curtains.

Also cold colors are both very fun and the worst thing on Earth. Agh.

[image ID : Jehan and Bahorel are sitting at a bow window. Jehan, a tall, lanky white man with long copper hair in a braid, mismatched eyes (green and brown) and a lot of freckles, is laying on his back on the blue cushions. He's holding a notebook on his stomach and waving the other hand in the air, smiling widely. His head is resting on a Blahaj plush. He's naked except for socks with green tentacles on them. Bahorel, who's seating on the floor, is providing some modesty. He's a tall, burly man with tan skin, long black hair gathered in a ponytail, black eyes and a beard. He's wearing a bright pink shirt and black shorts. His arms are covered with intricate tattoos. He's playing a game on his Switch. A small white cat is sitting on his lap, poking at the screen. Another cat, very large, with brown shaggy fur and a white nose, paws and tail, is trying to catch the raindrops on the window. There are small white curtains hanged at the bottom of the window, and a large purple one on the side of the window. The colors are muted and cold. end ID]

[huffle-dork]

Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 15: Outer Space AU

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

SBTCV Masterpost

Glitching feels electric and tingling under the skin, making the others feel a bit jittery afterwards. But it was probably a big boost to Anti. They reappear in an awkward sort of place, a small alcove with a door behind them. In front of them is Layer Four of the Zypso Station. It looks a lot like the previous layer Bro was on, with the tall buildings and the walkways and railways. But there are fewer bright signs here, and fewer booths set up on the side for small street vendors. The buildings are in a slightly different style of architecture, more utilitarian, though they do at least have fun colored lights along the edges. Through these towering structures, the tallest building can be seen. The IRIS building.

Alt shakes himself off as they appear- and then his jaw drops as he sees Layer Four, “holy shit…!” 

Bro grins, “pretty cool isn’t it?” He then squints at the IRIS building and looks towards Anti, “Why’d you make us appear so far away, dude?”

"This layer is covered in camera systems," Anti explains. "Even more so than Layer Three, where commerce takes place. This is one of the few spots where they are blind." 

"Don't worry, we should be able to take a railcar there really fast," Chase says. He looks around. "There." He points. There's a sign hanging on a nearby wall, with a drawing of a rectangular trolley-car-like object, and then an arrow. There were a lot of those on the last layer too, though they were often overshadowed by the other signs. "That direction." 

"Let's hurry, then," Marvin says. 

Bro blinks then shrugs, grinning. “Okay sweet! Get to take some future transportation!” 

Alt blinks and takes out his phone to nod at Anti with a smile. “Thanks, dude.”

Alt's phone lets out a squawk of white noise. "I'll help with the cameras as much as I can," Anti says from the phone.

"Not a problem." Anti gives a thumbs up on the screen. 

The rest of the group leads the way, doing their best to look casual about it. Anti lingered in the back, head turning around. His expression is still that neutral one, but the rest of his body language says that he's nervous, on guard. 

They reach a railway and find a platform that looks a lot like a train platform back home. The design is smoother, with rounded edges and a lot of silver and white, but it's still clear what it is. Chase walks up to a kiosk and taps around on its touchscreen, purchasing tickets. He almost swipes his card, but then hesitates and pays in cash instead, sliding some of those square metal pieces into a gap that looks perfectly fit for them. 

"Looks like we're just in time," Jackie says, reading the train arrival times on a hanging sign. "One's coming in literally one minute." 

"Okay, everyone, get your hands stamped," Chase says. There's a cylindrical device coming out the side of the kiosk, a small red light coming from the bottom. As Chase puts the back of his hand into the light--it's perfectly positioned to be at hand level--the red light scans his hand and a small stamp appears in black, that same trolley logo from the signs directing them here. 

“Oooh neat! Very streamlined!” Bro says excitedly as he goes to put his hand under the stamp. Alt looks hesitant but he goes to let himself be stamped too.

The mark just appears, without any sort of feeling that it did. The others get stamped as well. The ink sticks to Jackie and Anti's metal hands just fine, as well as Marvin's furry one. 

Almost as soon as they're all done, the railcar approaches, heading down the rail without much sound at all, only a slight hsss as it approaches. "Now approaching: Blue Line Railcars," says a robotic voice. The railcar is sleek and rounded. Its cabin is made of metal, but the rest of it is all glass--or at the very least some see-through material--showing benches and handrails inside. A door slides open on the side.

“Oohh it’s so quiet!!” Bro whispers as he hurries after the others. Alt also looks impressed- and tries to keep his glitches down as he eyes the people around.

The railcar is mildly crowded. This is Alt's first time seeing other aliens besides Schneep and Marvin. He spots a couple who seem to be the same reptilian species as Schneep--kritzeins--and a handful that are hovering in midair, insectile wings buzzing. There's one that looks like a pile of green slime with two lighter-green eyes. And a few scattered about who are really tall and have big eyes and pinkish hair.

Alt stares wide eyed at the aliens but tries to keep his composure. Thank god for his mask… even though he doesn’t like crowds he sticks close to Bro’s side. Bro chuckles and pats Alt’s shoulder.

Luckily, they don't have to stay in the railcar for long. The thing is really fast, even as it stops at three locations on the way. The IRIS building gets closer and closer... Until it looms overhead. The railcar stops at the end of its line, at the base of the IRIS building. 

There's a big empty square around this area, decorated with curving, alien plants in planters. Crowds mill about. Anti did say that this area was a tourist attraction. Pretty much all the remaining passengers get out of the railcar here. Others wait on the platform to get on.

Alt shrinks in more, “god there’s so many people…” 

“Tourist attraction-“ Bro mumbles and starts to shuffle out with the crowd, holding onto Alt’s hand.

"Not a fan of crowds either," Marvin whispers. 

JJ tilts his head. "Is that a felorr thing?" 

"No. Just a me thing." 

“Maybe I’m a felorr in another life,” Alt mumbles. 

They make their way towards the building. There's a low fence surrounding it, waist-high and made of metal. There are a couple locations where the fence is broken up by an archway. People are filing through those arches to get into the building. 

"Scanners," Anti says, nodding towards them. "If something strange appears as they scan, they start beeping." 

"What's an example of something strange?" Jackie asks. "Weaponry or strange devices. Or, in a more extreme example, a robotic being."

Alt looks at the scanners, humming in thought, “… I might be able to disable the scanners from here… but I don’t think I can do it discreetly…. I might need to be able to touch them.”

Anti nods slowly. "Discreet would be better." 

"What if... you go through first, and you touch the scanner as you do?" Jackie suggests. "That should keep it disabled for the rest of us."

“Oh! Good idea- I’m not hiding anything…” Alt mumbles. He takes a deep breath then starts to walk through the scanners. He briefly touches the arch wall and sends a discreet jolt of electricity as he passes through.

The interior of the gateway is lined with blue lights. As Alt sends electricity through it, the lights suddenly go out. The others quickly hurry through--Anti and JJ first, then the four others. A few other tourists manage to slip through as well. There's a short path leading up to a set of sliding glass double doors. 

As they walk along it, Schneep asks, "Any new, ah... information?"

Alt looks back at Schneep then checks the tracker by holding it in his pocket, out of sight. “Lemme see…” Bro tries to scan around for any sign of trouble.The tracker tells him that it's on the twentieth floor. 

Alt looks to Schneep, “It’s somewhere on the 20th floor.”

They head into the IRIS building. Everything in here is sleek whites and silvers, and there are holograms hovering in midair with information plaques about the history of IRIS, of the building, of Zypso Station. In the center is a big, rotating hologram of the IRIS logo. There seem to be a couple doors into this room, but most of them have signs that say "Staff" on them in varying languages. The one that doesn't reads "Stairs." There is also a set of elevator doors, which there seems to be a line for.

Bro looks at the elevator line and groans, “does that mean we gotta go up 20 flights of stairs??”

"Uh... I think the stairs only go up to floor ten or so?" Chase says. "So... no." 

"Sam is reminding me of the diagram earlier," Anti reports. "There are thirty floors in the building. Thirty-one, if the roof counts. Sixteen through thirty are closed to the public. The visitor stairs go up to floor fifteen." 

"Either way, we'll have to find some other way," Jackie mutters. "We could try to get through one of these Staff doors. Or we could... go up the stairs? See if there's a way from there? Or uh... wait in line for the elevator to see if there's a way from the roof? I mean, we could also take the elevator to floor fifteen, I think... still means we'd have to wait a lot."

“If we can find another blind spot- I can try to glitch us up there,” Alt says quietly, “they cause a flash of green light so… I can’t just do it now on my own and not be discovered.”

Alt's phone glitches. "I think there are blind spots on the staircase landings," Anti reports from the screen. "You just need to get to one that's absent of people." 

Schneep sighs. "Climbing the stairs it is, then."

Bro sighs too, “Alright gents- stairs it is.” He heads towards them, grumbling, “you’d think the future would have abolished stairs by now…!” 

Alt rolls his eyes with a chuckle and follows after him.

"Stairs are good for your health!" Schneep says defensively. 

"Doesn't mean they don't suck," Marvin says. "I'm surprised they don't have more elevators." 

Turns out, there are regular stairs and also an escalator running parallel to them as they spiral up. At each landing, the escalator becomes a moving walkway, seamlessly merging into the ground so that the escalator rider doesn't even have to step to transition to the walkway.

Bro blinks in surprise at the escalator, “oohh woah! Neat!” Bro climbs onto it. 

Alt laughs, following him, “you’re complaining a lot for a superhero who can probably climb these stairs faster than all of us.” 

“I can fly dude- you think I actually take the stairs? Fuck those things man!”

"I'm surprised that more are not flying, actually," Schneep says, looking around. There are a couple aliens with wings on the escalator, mostly smaller insectoid ones and those draconic-looking fellows. 

"I suppose it would not be worth the energy?" 

Bro hums, “Yeah- it can be kinda tiring sometimes. I like doing it as much as I can though.” He shrugs. 

Jackie leans closer to Alt and mutters, "Where are the blind spots?" 

"Always in the left corners, looks like," Anti reports from the phone. "You just need to wait for a landing empty of people." 

More and more people get off as the stairs go higher. Apparently the more fun exhibits are lower in the building.

“Left corners… okay-“ Alt mumbles, eyeing the crowds of people as they get thinner and thinner.

Looks like the landing for floor fourteen is empty of people. There are more on floor fifteen though--maybe people curious about what's on the highest possible story. 

"I don't think it will get better than this," Chase mutters, and steps off the escalator. 

"Just need to wait for a moment when no one is in sight," Anti adds, also stepping off. 

Alt nods and steps off, anxiously playing with his necklace. 

Bro hops off and hums, “Wonder what’s in all these floors that everyone goes to see-“

"There was a directory on the ground floor," Marvin recalls. "They're a lot of exhibits. Mostly old inventions and belongings to historical figures. The place is basically a museum." 

"Oh, I remember there was this one floor that was a recreation of old office buildings, that was so interesting," Chase says. 

“Ohhh damn that's kinda cool-“ Bro hums. 

“I never thought office buildings would be a museum exhibit someday,” Alt chuckles. 

"You'll want to huddle up really close," Anti says from the phone. "The blind spot is small." 

"We're about to look really suspicious," Jackie comments.

Alt goes to squeeze the best he can into the corner.

It's more than a little awkward as everyone presses into the corner. Fortunately, it's not long before a moment comes when the stairs are free of people. "Now!" Anti says, and everyone quickly links up. 

Alt quickly closes his eyes and tries to focus on getting to the 20th floor.

They disappear in a flash of light and reappear in the middle of a white hallway, the light reflecting off its walls so bright that it's almost blinding. Everything in this hallway is that same color--though there isn't much in this hallway at all. Just white sliding doors, white plaques with the names of rooms, and... the one thing that isn't the white color. Some sort of... metal mannequin with a blank, featureless head. It stands next to one of the doors, completely still.

Bro blinks at the mannequin and points, “…don’t like that thing-“ he whispers. 

“Chase, focus-“ Alt hisses as he checks the tracker again.The tracker tells them that the piece is in the Large Testing Room. 

Alt pales a bit, “…it’s in a testing room,” he mumbles. 

As Alt looks up from the tracker, his gaze lands on the mannequin again. And... that's strange, isn't it? For a moment, he thought he was looking at Anti. But that doesn't make sense.... does it? Now that he's looking closer, Anti's metal body is... a lot like the mannequin's. Except for the head, of course, but everything else... it's eerily similar to Anti's design.He blinks and then slowly looks between Anti and the mannequin. “…Anti… that- that mannequin…”

"It's a robot," Anti says quickly. "Don't worry about it. It cannot do anything without orders." Anti has trouble with expressions. He'd only been programmed with so many. So it's hard to tell how he's feeling. But it seems like he's deliberately not looking towards the robot. 

"A... testing room, I see," Schneep says haltingly, noticing the same thing Alt did. "Ah... maybe there are... directions that way?" 

"Let's just start looking," Jackie says. "Uhhh... I don't see directions, so let's just go this way." He turns in the opposite direction of the robot and heads down the hallway, forcing the others to follow.

Alt spares one last look at the mannequin before following. “It says it’s in the large one- maybe there’s only one of those.” Alt suggests. 

“…it seems strangely empty up here,” Bro comments under his breath.

Just as Bro says that, someone turns a corner up ahead, appearing suddenly. It's a human woman with dark skin and frizzy hair pulled back by a headband. She's wearing a white coat. "Oh!" She sees the group and stops walking. "Um... sorry, I think you've got lost. This area is closed to the public."

Bro freezes and Alt elbows him with a murderous expression. Bro grins nervously, “Oh uh yeah! Must have gotten really lost! What… floor is this??”

"This is the twentieth floor." The woman laughs a bit nervously. "Um... here, let's get you all back to where you were heading. This way." She walks past the group, indicating they should follow her. 

"Uh... we can find our way back where we came from," Jackie says quickly. "You're probably really busy. We'd hate to interrupt you."

“Yeah don’t worry!” Bro waves his hand, “hate to give you more work for a bunch of tourists!” 

As Bro talks, Alt looks around at the rooms and tries to inch farther ahead.

The woman frowns. "I really shouldn't leave you all alone in here..." 

"It will be fine," Schneep says. "It is not like we can get in any of these doors. They probably need keys, yes?" 

"Well, yeah, I suppose so." The woman still looks reluctant. "But you might get lost." 

"We're capable of retracing our steps, you know," Jackie laughs. 

 “Such a shame no one can come up here though! I bet you could tell us a lot of really interesting things!!” Bro laughs.

"Well, uh, not really," the woman says, laughing awkwardly. "It's all boring really..." 

As the others distract her, Alt sneaks around the woman and peers around the corner she'd come from. There's a large set of sliding double-doors down the corridor. Those seem important.

Alt doesn’t hesitate- he glitches down the hall and then tries to go through the doors.

Alt's glitching is accompanied by a flash of light, and she frowns and turns towards it. "What was--hey!" 

Unlike the doors in the bunker, these doors don't open as Alt gets close. But the plaque next to this set of double doors reads "Large Testing Room." This is the right place.

Bro’s stomach drops and he tries to grab the lady, “Hey no maybe we need directions after all!” 

Alt immediately goes to glitch through the doors, going as fast as possible.

"Whoa, hey, no grabbing!" She shakes her arm free, turning back to Bro with wide eyes. "I-I can call security!" 

Bro let’s go, holding up his hands, “sorry! …that’s usually okay on my … planet?” He says nervously. 

Her eyes dart to the translator in Bro's ear. "Well... you get one warning. Now please, let me show you the way out." 

“Alright sure-“ Bro says, eyes darting back to the door. 

Alt glitches through the door easily, ending up in a large room, made of the same white material as the hallway. There are a handful of people in white coats--all human except for one kritzein. They're all gathered around some sort of instrument in the center of the room, dangling from the ceiling and reaching down towards a circular platform in the center. It's hard to know what the instrument is, but it looks kind of like GLaDoS from portal but without the face. 

"Hey! How did you get in here?!" One of the scientists demands.

Alt ignores the scientists and checks the tracker, eyes darting around the room.The tracker tells him it's on the circular platform in the center. 

“Fucking- of course it is,” Alt grumbles. 

"We're going to call security!" Another one of the scientists shouts.

Then, Alt glitches towards the platform and tries to grab whatever is on it.The scientists all cry out in surprise as he suddenly glitches over. The item on the platform is a long, L-shaped bit of metal with a tiny microchip on the corner. As Alt scoops it up, one of the scientists reaches into their pocket-- And yellow alarm lights start flashing in both the Testing Room and the hallway. 

"Intruder Alert. Intruder Alert." 

Alt quickly puts it in his pocket then curses and glitches back out into the hallway.

"Shit!" Anti curses outside. "The plan was to be subtle!" 

The woman blinks at his voice. "...wait a second. Are you--Septic?" She glances around. "Y-you're all with him, aren't you?!" Then she turns and runs down the hallway away from them. 

“I’m not sure Alt had a choice!” Bro says to Anti. Then, he blinks at the woman’s reaction. “Woah-“ 

"I'm sure there were other ways!" Chase shouts. 

“Link up!!” Alt shouts as he sprints down the hall towards the others.

As Alt appears, the others rush towards him, reaching out-- But then, behind them, the robot from the hallway appears, raising an arm. Part of its arm slides out and out shoot several blue bolts of light.

One of the bolts hits Chase and he immediately stiffens up, then goes limp, falling to the floor. Another hits Anti, and while he doesn't stop moving like Chase did, the blue light turns into electricity that crackles along his body, causing spasms.

Bro’s eyes widen as the robot starts to shoot and quickly ducks out of the way, rolling across the ground. 

Alt gets hit and stiffens up, a reaction halfway between Chase’s and Anti’s as his muscles lock up but also crackle with electricity that has him crying out in pain and spasming. He soon enough falls limp too. 

“Alt!” Bro cries out.

Schneep helps Chase up--or tries to, at least. He's gone completely boneless, eyes wide above the mask hiding his face. Jackie hurries over and the two of them support Chase between them. 

The robot continues to shoot. JJ starts pushing the others around the corner, blocking its aim. A bolt skims him as he does so, causing him to stiffen, but he doesn't go limp like Chase and Alt did. But there are more robots showing up, identical to the first one, raising their arms in a similar way. 

Bro rushes to Alt and scoops him up and Alt is just as boneless as Chase is- eyes wide and hands twitching with electricity. “Shit shit shit shit!!” Bro curses quietly as he backs up, holding Alt to his chest. He’s desperately looks around for some kind of idea- if there was a window maybe they could all- break out?? But it’s the 20th floor- the others might not survive!

"Attention intruders," a voice says over an intercom. Feminine-sounding with a slight British accents. "Our security bots are quite persistent. If you do not wish to be stunned, surrender the IRIS property you have and give yourselves up. We will escort you from the building."

Bro looks up at the voice and then growls, “The thing we took was ours anyways! So f-fuck off!”

"Our scans are reporting a bot that is IRIS property with you," the woman's voice says calmly. "Regardless of modifications you have made, it was built from IRIS technology and therefore must be returned for reprog--" Anti's head suddenly snaps up. 

"I am not a robot!" he shouts. "I am not a robot!" He punches the wall, causing a crack, and the woman's voice cuts off. 

JJ looks around wildly. He rushes to the nearest door. It doesn't open, of course. "Bro, your belt!" he says, typing quickly. "Hurry!" 

His belt? Right! The devices!

Bro jumps at Anti’s anger, backing up and looking stunned. His attention is quickly turned back to JJ though as he scrambles to grab the deactivator and hands it to JJ.

JJ takes the hacker. It's a bit like a gun, if instead of a barrel it had a large bit of rectangular metal. He presses the flat part against the door and pulls the trigger mechanism. After a second, during which the robots get closer, the door slides open. He rushes in the room and gestures for the others to follow. The room beyond is filled with shelves full of boxes, some clear, some metal. As soon as everyone is inside Marvin hits a button on the inside, closing it. 

"That won't delay them for long," Jackie says. "Wh-what do we do? Do we need to check Alt and Chase over?" 

"Th-the stun will we-wear off in a few--few minutes," Anti says, his voice glitching slightly.

Bro hurries in and tries to shake Alt but Alt still doesn’t respond. Bro looks to Anti with wide scared eyes, “W-We don’t have a few minutes! Is there any way to speed it up?? Or c-cure this?! Something!!”

"I d-d-do not know of one," Anti says. "My--my call with Sam was dropped when the st-stun hit me. I can--cannot ask them." 

"Great, now we've closed ourselves into some supply room and they're going to get us at any moment!" Jackie's head darts around. "Um--is there an air vent or something?" 

Marvin points at a spot above a set of shelves. There's a square grate up there. "I don't know if you all could fit in there though."

“Damnit!” Bro curses, blinking back frustrated tears. “I-If Alt wasn’t hit we’d probably be back in the b-base by now! I-I can’t fly all of us out of here-“ He’s trying not to panic.

"Okay, okay." Jackie is trying to take deep breaths. "We--we have to try the vent, it's the only way out of here." 

Anti backs into the corner of the room, crouching down and putting his hands over his head. His expression is stuck on fear as his irises flicker. "I can--I c-cannot get stuck here," he says in a quiet voice. "I cannot--there is s-so much more to do--I cannot leave S-Sam--they cannot c-continue his work on th-their own--"

Bro seems to shake out of his panic by hearing Anti’s. He takes a shaky breath then tries to sit Alt up against the wall. Then, he looks for heavy things he can start to push against the doors. “We’re not gonna let them get you Anti-“ he says, determination bright in his eyes. “…w-we just need to stall until Alt recovers. You guys try to get into the vent-“ 

"I do not think I can climb up there," Schneep says, looking at the vent. 

"We can use the shelves as a ladder, we just need to get the stuff off," Marvin says, starting to move the boxes off the shelves. 

Anti watches him do this. Then he takes a deep breath--or, well, imitates taking a deep breath--and stands up, walking over to help move the items. The heaviest things in the room are the shelves and the boxes. And wouldn't you know? Some of the shelves have ball-like things on their feet, like wheels. There are also small switches near each sphere, with the words "locked" and "unlocked" written on them. They're currently in the "locked" position.

Bro hums as he sees this and unlocks them, going to move the heaviest feeling ones in front of the door and locking them back in place. “…I-if they try to break through- I can probably hold them back… super strength, you know?” He laughs nervously.

"IIIII don't think you mentioned the super strength earlier, actually," Jackie says.

“Oh- well… yeah!! I got that and super Speed- flying… can sometimes shoot some electricity but Alt is wayyy better at that.” Bro says, pushing more stuff in the way. 

Chase, lying on Schneep's shoulder, mumbles something indecipherable. 

"Uh--that's cool, though!" Jackie continues. Once the shelves are clear, 

Marvin quickly scrambles up to the vent and pulls at the vent. "JJ, will that unlocking thing work on this?" 

JJ frowns. "It disrupts electronic locks. Do you think that has one?" 

"...not suuuuure."

Bro looks back at Marvin and then hovers a bit to look, “…want me to try?” He asks. “Maybe I can pry it open.”

Marvin nods. "Might as well." He climbs back down so Bro can have access. Bro curls his fingers around the vent and tries to pry it open, bracing his feet against the wall for better leverage. 

"Attention intruders," the intercom turns on again, the same feminine voice speaking. "This will be your final appeal to surrender. If you do not surrender now, we will have to use force to reclaim our property and have you vacate the premises."

Brolooks up at the announcement then looks back at Anti, “H-How much longer do you think they’ll be stunned??”

"Average amount of time to recover from a stun bolt is five minutes," Anti says. "It has been about two." 

Chase groans. His fingers twitch a little. "'m... f'nn..." 

"If you are saying you're fine, you most certainly are not," Schneep says. 

Alt’s arm twitches a bit and he tries to move, “mm- ngh…” but nothing is responding. Even though he feels himself panicking and his heart pounding so hard against his chest. 

The vent really seems to be stuck on there, but little by little, it gives way, until it suddenly pops off. “I got it!” Bro exclaims as he gets the vent open. “Marvin you wanna give it a try?”

Marvin nods and quickly climbs up the shelves again. He slips into the air vent easily, tail waving and feet kicking until he disappears out of sight. "No room to turn around," he reports. "And I don't think the bulkier ones of you will be comfortable. But it will probably work for an emergency. I think it slopes instead of drops." 

“Okay… hopefully we won’t have to use it…” Bro mumbles as he nervously looks towards the door. 

The intercom turns on again. "Attention intruders. You have not surrendered, and thus, we will begin using force. We waive all responsibility for any injuries you gain while resisting."

Alt grunts as he tries to get himself to move again- but all that moves is his fingers. He makes a frustrated noise. 

Bro glares up at the ceiling and flips it off, “Fuck off ya IRIS pricks!!”

Marvin scrambles back out of the vent backwards. But he slips on the edge of the shelf and tumbles down with flailing limbs and a loud "MRRAAH!" He lands on the floor and quickly gets to his feet, brushing himself off and looking around embarrassed. 

Jackie bursts into laughter. "What the fuck? I thought felorrs always landed on their feet, comp!" 

"I'm not literally a cat," Marvin mutters. "Cats don't even land on their feet."

Bro jumps in surprise then blinks in confusion, “What?!! Cats landing on their feet isn’t true?!” Alt makes an exasperated noise.

"Yeah, what?" Jackie says. 

Marvin sighs. "Do you really think any animal can defy gravity like that so expertly?" 

"Where does the rumor come from, then?" Jackie says in rebuttal. 

"I believe it's because Terran cats are quite flexible and were often--but not always--seen correcting themselves in midair," Anti says.

“I swear Glitches always lands on her feet…” Bro mumbles, crossing his arms. 

“Nnnnr-“ Alt grunts. 

“…are you okay though, Marv?” Bro asks.

"Yes, are you okay?" JJ asks as well. 

"I'm fine, more surprising than anything," Marvin says. "Even if I don't always land on my feet, I can recover fast." 

The relatively light-hearted moment is interrupted by a banging on the door to the room. It then slides open--but thankfully whatever's on the other side is blocked by the shelves. 

"Surrender," says a robotic voice. 

Bro startles then curses, “Damn future doors! I forgot it could just slide open!” He holds out his arm protectively and steps in front of the others. “Take cover guys!” He quickly looks around for something he can use as a shield.

"Cover?! Where?!" Schneep asks, eyes darting around. 

"Here, we'll move some of the shelves!" Jackie hurries over and pushes a shelf away from the wall, sliding into the space behind it. 

Schneep hesitates, then gently puts Chase down and moves over, helping to move the shelf. JJ joins them as well, and together the three of them manage to get a couple shelves away from the wall. Marvin scrambles back up the shelves and into the vent again. There's not much that can be a shield. But some of these boxes are big, maybe their lids could work? 

Anti stares at the door intently. Waiting. "They will push the shelves over," he says in a quiet voice. "Then they will fire directly ahead of them. Get out of the line of fire." He moves to the left of the door, pressing against the wall and picking up a smaller box, gripping it so tightly in his hands that the metal warps slightly. 

Bro grabs a lid off a large metal box and holds it. He then blinks at Anti in confusion. “H-How do you-?” He doesn’t question this for long though. He ducks out of the way to the right. 

Though… Alt is still stuck up against the wall in front of the door, staring at the robots with wide scared eyes.

"Shit!" Jackie curses from behind the shelf. "Alt and Chase--!" 

"They were already stunned, we can protect them," Anti says. "Now get--" 

The shelves tip forward and the robots fire their stun bolts into the room. They were aiming at chest-height for the average person, so luckily the bolts don't hit Chase or Alt sitting on the floor. Chase flinches and manages to slowly move an arm, grasping vaguely at the floor to try and pull himself out of the way. Alt vaguely glitches around his shoulder and hands but it’s not enough to do anything. He tries to move his feet or legs- something! 

The robots start walking into the room-- And Anti yells out, smashing one in the head with the box. Bro quickly follows Anti’s lead and sends a super charged punch right into another robot’s head. 

Bro's punch goes straight into the robot's jaw area, sending its head snapping to the side with the sound of something snapping. Anti's blow manages to dent the head of the bot he attacked. Both of them fall backwards into the two bots behind them, knocking them over. 

But then the second pair of bots get up again and aim their stun bolts again. Anti swings for a second time. Bro yells and sends another punch. This time, he smacks the robot in the shoulder and manages to push its aim off course, but it doesn't break like the last one. "Aim for joints or the head!" Anti shouts, bringing the box down on the other bot's arm and disrupting its aim in the same way. 

Chase's head slowly turns to Alt and he tries to pull himself towards him.

Alt jerkily looks at Chase, his hands starting to grip better and sparking with some of his magic. …he’s been able to dismantle stuff by just barely moving before- maybe he can do that now. He looks towards one of the robots and twitches his head to the side as his eyes flash bright blue-green, trying to take apart its stun gun.

The one Bro hit raises its stun arm again, aiming directly at him—but instead there's a flicker of blue-green lightning as it doesn't fire. Not exactly collapsing like Alt wanted, but momentarily jamming it.

Bro nods and his eyes widen as he recognizes the sight of the magic. He grins then grabs the robot by the arm- on its joint- and then tries to flip it to crush it against the ground. The robot flies through the air, landing hard on the ground. Something snaps again and it goes limp. Bro whoops and gives the downed robot the finger, “Yeah take that, bitch!” He quickly moves to try to take out another one.

Alt’s eyes widen too and he slowly squeezes his hand in determination. He flares open his eyes to try to jam or take apart more of the guns.

Anti can't help but wince—he can't help but see himself in these bots—and almost misses another bot running forward to take the fallen one's place, aiming its stun arm. But then... its arm falls apart, pieces falling to the ground. Anti looks back, expression shifting to surprise, and then a smile. Alt also seems surprised. But he smiles a bit at Anti- but slowly. Anti grips his box weapon tightly and smacks it to the side. 

"Alt..." Chase manages to say. "Wh'n... c'n y... gl'sh?" He's asking 'when can you glitch?'

Alt turns to Chase and grunts, squeezing and releasing his hand with a lot of effort, “ne’d t’b… a-ab’l t’m’ve..!” ‘Need to be able to move’. His hand glitches a bit- but not to the degree he was able to earlier.

"...sucks," Chase says. Alt lets out a choked chuckle. 

If there's one good thing about this situation, it's that the doorway forms a bit of a bottleneck, only allowing two robots at a time to get through. Anti grabs one as it passes through, wrestling it to the ground.

Bro misses as the robot moves- making him strike its torso. He growls a bit then tries to kick the robot back into the others.The robot staggers backwards from the unexpected super strength of Bro's kick, falling into the others outside and knocking them down in turn. 

“Yeah! Strike!!” Bro laughs as he jumps up and punches the air.

"Nice!" Jackie shouts, leaning around the shelf to watch. JJ grabs him and pulls him back. 

Meanwhile, Anti manages to take out the bot he'd been fighting on the ground. These things were ordered to swarm in and subdue the group. They're not good at thinking beyond that goal. Not with their actions being limited by the priority of the orders. 

Even so— "They will keep coming," Anti says. "IRIS has many of these models. Even the ones not designed for combat will be thrown at us."

“We can handle them,” Bro says cockily, adjusting his hat. “Just until Alt can glitch. You doin’ okay, baby bro?” 

“M’ f’nn!” Alt tries to call. Feeling is slowly, slowly coming back. Still… there’s gotta be more he can do. His eyes wander to the door button. …if he destroyed it- could it keep the door shut? He narrows his eyes then jerks his head to the side- trying to short circuit it before the next wave of robots recover.

Two more robots surge into the room. Anti smacks one in the head. Bro throws another powered punch to the other’s head. 

That green lightning flickers around the door button... but nothing happens. "...you?" Chase whispers. "K-keep... try'n...!"

Alt grits his teeth and tries to push more power out, magic sparking around him a bit more. He tries to short circuit the door again. Green lightning sparks around the door button, and for a second, he feels connected to it. He somehow knows that if he short circuits the door it will stay in the state it's in, so he manages to trigger the close state before the short circuit fully goes through. 

Shortly after, Anti and Bro knock down the two bots they were fighting, denting their featureless heads in the process.

Bro pants as he backs away from the last robot he downed and looks at the door shutting. He grins back at Alt, “Hey!! Good idea dude!! Hopefully that’ll keep the rest of them out!” 

Alt attempts to smile.

Jackie leans out from behind the shelf again. “That. Was. So. COOL!” He says, grinning. “I mean—it was scary and life-threatening but it was cool! Man, I bet I could have helped. With these metal fists of mine.” 

Bro grins wide, “Maybe bro! But fighting is hard if you’re not used to it!” 

Jackie, Schneep, and JJ all come out from behind the shelf. Marvin also appears, carefully backing out of the vent and making sure that he has secure footing this time. 

“How are you both feeling, Chase, Alt?” JJ asks. 

Chase tries to sit up. He fails, but he manages to get about halfway before he falls back, groaning. “Sucks.” 

“Right, I should’ve expected that,” JJ says, embarrassed.

Bro knocks a friendly fist against Anti’s shoulder, “you did great dude!” 

Alt also tries to pull himself up, glitching a bit but soon slips back down with a groan. “Hate… this…” he grumbles.

“Stunning is very inconvenient,” Anti agrees. “But it is painless and leaves no side effects after it wears off, so it is the preferred way of subduing someone in most places in the galaxy.” 

“How do you know all that?” Marvin asks. “You’re a ro—an android!” 

“That doesn’t mean I cannot read and learn,” Anti says. “And it doesn’t mean I don’t know something similar.” His eyes dart down to the disabled robots for a moment. 

“…because you… ah..” Schneep hesitates. “You are…?” He trails off.

Bro furrows his eyebrows and looks down, and it dawns on him. “…because you’re like these guys…!” He looks back at Anti with wide eyes, “…did you like- go rogue? Like a deviant in that… one robot game-? Detroit… something- …wait that’s like ancient now-“ 

“Chase…!” Alt groans in exasperation.

"Detroit: Become Human, developed by Quantic Dream, released in 2018." Anti shakes his head, puhing away the robotic response. "It is not exactly like that. I was..." He hesitates. For a moment, that same fear expression crosses his face. Then he makes a sighing sound. "IRIS likely already knows all this. And I suppose I owe an explanation--to Alt and JJ, at least." He folds his arms, leaning against the wall, not looking directly at anyone. "I was... repurposed." 

"By the human who lived with you and Sam?" JJ asks. 

Anti looks at him in surprise. "How do you know that?" 

"You have a room in your bunker with a bed and facilities for a human," JJ says. "But neither you or Sam need that. They were there before you found me. It's not hard to put together." 

Anti laughs, then looks down again. "There was... a man named Jack," he continues in a soft voice. "He broke into an IRIS facility and took one of their robots. One that had been fully built and programmed, but not activated. He would feel bad about deleting any memories. He took it home, and switched out some parts--notably the head--and reworked the programming using the IRIS protocols as a base. Keeping simple code that allows for movement and language formation and such, but taking out other code, such as the orders protocol, and... adding a lot, lot more to it. That was... how I was made." He pauses. "In the early days, I was... there was conflict. I thought I was an experiment, or a servant. I didn't want to be either of those things. But that's not what Jack intended. He asked me what I wanted. He... always asked me what I wanted."

Bro’s safe softens, “… Jack helped make you into a person. Not just a machine…” he smiles. “I think he did a great job too.” 

Alt tries to sit up more, looking at Anti. “…where’s… Jack…?”

Anti pauses, and his expression becomes sad. "He's disappeared. It's likely that he's either been arrested or... died. But Sam doesn't want to think about that possibility. In either case... he asked us that if anything ever happened to him, that the two of us continue his plan." 

Alt looks sad too, eyebrows knitting together in worry.

Suddenly, Schneep gasps. "You--was Jack--was he Se--" Then he stops himself. "R-right, there are probably cameras watching us." 

"I can only assume what you assumed," Anti says. "But... yes."

Bro looks between the two of them in confusion. “…you’ll have to catch us up when we get out of here I guess…”

"Right, I actually forgot you guys weren't from here for a second," Jackie says. "Uh--I think we brought him up at the table in the restaurant? Before your screen assistant friend appeared." 

Bro scrambles his brain, “Ohhh! …I’m not sure I get it but I think I remember-“

"Alt wouldn't know, though," Marvin points out. Seems like all the guys have come to the same realization as Schneep. 

Chase tries getting up again. He manages to hold himself up for a bit this time before collapsing. 

Alt tries to pull himself up too, glitches collecting around him- and he manages to glitch to his feet. Then he braces himself against the wall for a second before his arm gives out and he falls too. 

“J-Jesus!” Bro exclaims and comes over to help the two of them. “Don’t push yourselves too hard guys- I think we’re safe for now!”

"'s fine," Chase grunts.

 Schneep hurries over as well, giving them both a cursory examination. "Can either of you move your legs? That will be the important part." 

Chase tries, jerking one leg into the air. 

"Even if they can move it, doesn't mean they can support their weight." Anti walks over to the door, tilting his head to listen through it. "I hear no movement outside. I suppose they know their doors are quite sturdy and are not going to bother to brute force it down."

Alt also tries to move his leg, but it’s shaky and jerky in its movement. 

Bro sighs in relief, “Okay… so we have time again- how much longer till the stunning wears off do you think?”

"Perhaps about two more minutes," Anti says. "It varies depending on species and body weight." 

"I don't think they'd be able to get in here in two minutes," Marvin says slowly. 

"Yeah, big organization like this?" Jackie nods. "They're probably debating what to do."

“Hate… waiting…” Alt mutters. Bro pats his shoulder. The hero looks back towards the door and hums, “…I wonder if… they’re more worried about the TRVLR piece or… getting Anti back. …maybe both. Technically… the TRVLR was made by IRIS- just… from another universe.” He shudders, “…I hope they didn’t get too much info from it..”

JJ raises his eyebrows. "The IRIS from another universe was able to make a multiverse travel device? But ours hasn't?" 

"I wouldn't be surprised if they tried," Anti says. "But such a device would likely take a great deal of power."

“To be fair- we found ours in an abandoned lot. It was defective but we found out Alt’s magic is enough to work it. We thought it was just cuz of his electricity…but it’s cuz he’s also a Glitch.” Bro says, “which… I kinda get but also don’t. Somehow… Alt broke through some barrier of our world and… that’s how he can glitch and do this kinda stuff, apparently.” 

Alt’s body glitches a bit in place as he nods.

Anti tilts his head. "Interesting. Very interesting." 

"Do you think something like that could happen in our world?" Jackie wonders. 

"Maybe!" Marvin says, eyes dilating wide. "Well--we don't have magic here--or not magic like you all do. But I do think there's something more to the world. Maybe that could be called magic."

“Magic… is… a-anywhere-“ Alt says quietly. 

“But we’ve met glitches in several other places! Ones that didn’t have magic too I think- so it’s totally possible!” Bro says, “But I’m one of those people that believes anything is possible sooo”

"Hell yeah, anything is possible!" Jackie says excitedly. 

"Well." Schneep's brows lower as he looks thoughtful. "I would not say anything is possible. If your planet has a blue sky, it will not suddenly become, for example, green." 

"Killjoy," Chase comments.

Bro bursts into giggles. “I dunno man- I’ve seen some pretty impossible things. …this place is definitely one of them.” He smiles.

Schneep blinks. "Well if it happened then it is clearly possible--" 

"Schneep. Think about it." Jackie says, grinning a bit. "Look at yourself and remember they've never seen other planets." 

He looks down at his hands with their scales and claws. "...ah."

Chase laughs a little. Alt and Bro laugh too. Chasetries to sit up again. His head lolls but he's able to keep his balance.

Alt sees Chase able to get up and shakily tries himself. Bro helps to support him. Alt grits his teeth then shakily reaches out his hand. “I-I… think I can- glitch!”

"You can?!" Marvin's eyes widen. "W-well then we should probably get out of here then!" 

Anti puts his head near the door again. "I can hear movement outside there. It is probably for the best." 

Jackie grabs onto Chase and Alt. "Okay, let's link up to try!"

Alt nods and closes his eyes once everyone is linked up. It takes a second- like a program loading. Magic and glitches zing and zip around Alt as he struggles to get his glitches to work. Then finally, they manage to glitch out of the closet and zip back down to Anti’s base.

It's a big jump, but they make it, landing in the middle of the intersection beneath the exit. 

Chase yelps in surprise and starts to topple over, but Schneep quickly catches him. 

Alt’s eyes roll up a bit from the jump and starts to topple but Bro is quick to catch him. Alt mumbles incoherently, pressing up against him. 

Sam flies out of a room at the end, some sort of long metal pole wrapped in their tail, the end crackling with electricity--then they drop it and the electricity goes out. "It's you!" they type. "You're back!" Then they fly over to Anti, bumping against him and wrapping their tail around his arm in a big hug. He looks surprised, then smiles.

Bro blinks at Sam’s reaction then smiles at Anti too, “Aww! They missed you!”

Sam pulls away again. "I was so worried when our call got cut off! Are you okay? Is everyone okay?" 

"We are all fine," Anti says. "Relatively. Chase and Alt were stunned but they should be recovering."

"Are you okay, Alt?" Schneep asks worriedly. "Do you need something?" He glances at Bro. "That did not happen the last times we teleported." 

"It's probably the stun bolt," Marvin suggests. 

“I think it was just a big jump when he’s still recovering- so… can’t reach all his magic and it drained what he got back.” Bro says, lightly tapping Alt’s face to keep him awake. 

Alt blinks blearily out, “‘m fine- mmmm good…” he mumbles. He half collapses against Bro, the adrenaline from being trapped wearing off now that he knows eveyone is safe.

JJ looks at him worriedly. "Let's get him to lay down," he says, and walks back towards his room. 

"What about Chase?" Marvin asks. 

"I'm fine," Chase says, raising a hand. "I'm... getting there. Alt just... used magic. More important."

Bro nods and goes to scoop Alt up. The younger Brody tries to protest but doesn’t get far- Bro follows after JJ.

Back in the room, JJ presses a hand against a metal section of the wall and part of the wooden paneling slides up, revealing a bed in an alcove. The blankets and pillows are a pale, cheery yellow. "Sorry it's not made," JJ says, despite the bed looking pretty 'made' already. 

Bro chuckles, “Don’t sweat it, bro.” 

JJ blinks. "Don't sweat it? What a strange expression." 

“Huh? …I guess it is kinda weird-“ Bro laughs, setting down Alt on the bed and Alt sighs, showing his exhaustion. Hopefully once all the stunning effects go away he’ll get his energy back. He hadn’t even use much magic…Bro sits down to him on the bed. 

The others file in. Schneep puts Chase in one of the chairs at the table and he slumps forward. 

"Do you all need anything?" Sam asks. "We have an old medkit." 

"I think everyone is fine, besides the stunning," Schneep says. 

"So..." Jackie looks at Sam and Anti. "You guys knew Septic, huh?" 

Sam's eye widens. They spin on Anti. "You told them?!" 

"There were a lot of those IRIS bots, they noticed the similarities," Anti says. "I told them about Jack, but they figured out who he was on their own."

Bro blinks out at the others, “Oh yeah what’s the deal with that? Jack was… Septic? I thought that was Anti!”

"I suppose technically, Septic is all three of us," Sam says thoughtfully. "But Jack is the face." 

Anti picks up the holo projector. His eyes become loading circles for a moment. "Uploading." And then they stop. Anti presses a couple buttons and the holo projector flips on, projecting a video into midair. It's of that same man Jackie had shown Bro a video of. The man with one mechanical green eye and metal plates on his face. 

"Are we rolling?" he says, messing with his hair. 

"Rolling," Anti's voice comes from out of sight. 

"Great. Why do we say that, anyway? You ever wondered?" 

"Perhaps it is linked to film rolls." 

"Ah, right." The man shakes his head. "Okay, from the top." 

Anti pauses the video. His sad expression is back. 

Alt and Bro watch the hologram with wide eyes. Bro looks back at Anti and his expression turns sympathetic. “…you really miss him, huh?”

Anti nods. 

"We both do," Sam says. "It's... strange how he disappeared. He went out, and never came back, and we haven't heard anything about him since. You would think the Station Security would announce if they arrested him."

“Hmm.. yeah… you guys- mentioned a plan of his, right?” Bro asks, “What was that? I know you said Septic was like… an anarchist?”

"Yeah, he disrupts a lot of stuff on the station," Jackie agrees. 

"He disrutps things that are run by IRIS," Anti states. "Which is quite a lot, given how the Zypso Station was built by them. But he always said that the Station could run on its own, without depending on them." He pauses. "The goal was always to cause enough chaos to force them out." 

"Um..." Marvin raises his hand. "I understand why you'd have a personal flyer to shoot with IRIS, but... they seem alright otherwise?" 

"They run the station well enough, I suppose," Anti acknowledges. "But that is not all they do. Jack was convinced for years that there was something behind their mask. And he was right. Even if they are not actively malicious, they are, at the very least, very negligent and willing to bend rules."

Bro’s expression darkens, “Just from what we saw today- IRIS is bad news. They were willing to forcibly reprogram Anti- something they saw themselves has sentience and emotions. That’s… that’s evil. But… we have our own bias with them.” 

Alt shakily sits up and nods, “…in other worlds… IRIS has kidnapped our friends… t-treated people like experiments… if we had g-gotten caught… they might have d-done the same to us.”

"...well. That doesn't speak well to their character," Schneep says slowly. 

"They would not even do a good job at reprogramming," Anti says quietly. Sam pats his shoulder with their tail. 

"We... all live on... the station, though," Chase says slowly. "That's... is that... bad?" 

"It is not the station that is the problem," Anti says. "There are plenty of businesses here that could sustain the place." He nods at Bro and Alt. "From the information Jack has discovered, there's a chance that might have happened." 

Jackie shivers. "You guys should probably get out of here soon, then."

“Probably…” Bro sighs, but he looks out at the others, knitting his eyebrows in worry. “…will you all be okay? I hate to leave if we just got you all into… deep shit. Just for helping us…”

"They didn't see our faces," Marvin says. "We'll... probably be fine. There are a lot of humans, kritzeins, and felorrs on the station." 

"If worst comes to worst, you can stay with us," Sam says. "We can expand the bunker. I've been thinking about doing that for a while, actually." 

"Heh. Thanks." Jackie grins. 

"The masks should have scrubbed your appearance details from most camera systems, including what species and gender you are," Anti says. "You will simply appear as spot of white noise."

Bro sighs in relief, “That’s good then…” He looks down at Alt. “Well, lil bro? …you ready to head to the next one?” 

Alt tries to shake himself out, flexing his hands and shaking off the numbness. “I… I think so…?”

Alt's phone turns on. "Actually, there isn't a next one," Anti says. "Not really. We have all the parts together. Now we just have to head back to the world where you first got the TRVLR, since they're likely the most well-equipped to repair it--" 

"Is̢ t̡h̕at ̀s͟o?" The familiar voice echoes from every corner of the room.

Alt and Bro both freeze- their faces going pale. 

“No-“ Alt whispers in fear. 

XD Bro springs to his feet, “Anti! Sam! Get the others out of here! Now!” He shouts with authority.

Anti and Sam immediately spring into action. Anti grabs Chase, still slightly stunned, and pulls him out, while Sam flies around and starts pushing the others out. 

"Are you going to be okay?!" Jackie shouts, resisting being pushed. 

"I-if we don't see you again--goodbye!" Marvin says. 

"It was nice to meet you!" JJ gives one last smile before grabbing Jackie and pulling him out. 

“We’ll… we’ll be okay-“ Bro tries to smile at them reassuringly but there’s that tension in his body- he’s scared. Alt tries to look back at them and smile but his falls short as his eyes snap to the locked door and the red Anti.

As soon as they're all gone, the door shuts, and a light by its doorway turns red--locking it. An image forms in front of it as several of the light squares go out. It's that same red Anti who had been stalking them the whole time, his smile wide beneath static-filled eyes. "My business isn't with them, anyway," his voice says, though his mouth doesn't move.

Bro gets into a fighting stance and bares his teeth at Anti. “If you think we’re just gonna hand you over the pieces, bitch, you’re wrong! You might as well just give up!” 

Alt backs up, holding the bag and the newest piece still inside his hoodie pocket. He tries not to show how much his heart is pounding- how much his hands are shaking.

His laugh echoes throughout the room. "You're not going to? Well, alright." Suddenly his image is right in front of them--two, one for each. "Let me ask you two a question. Or, maybe let me ask you three a question. Why... why haven't I been able to delete anything?"

Alt staggers back but Bro stands firm, glaring down the image of him. Alt’s eyes glow as he growls, “You don’t have enough power- no body does. You’ve been chasing a false goal this whole time!”

"Nobody does? No... no, that can't be right. These worlds are infinite." His voice lowers. "Do you know what it means? To see infinity? To see infinite pain? Do you know what it means to be a copy of a copy of a copy?...no, you don't. None of you understand." 

Alt glares more at the red Anti and bares his teeth. “Even if that’s your pain… it’s not enough to destroy infinite lives…!”

There's a bit of static, and suddenly, Alt is not alone. Someone is next to him--it's Anti, the same Anti who's been with them the whole time. Out of the phone and glaring at this red other version of him. "It's you who doesn't understand anything. You're the one who thinks you can destroy infinity." 

Alt blinks and looks back at Anti before nodding at him and looking back. 

“Listen, Anti-“ Bro tries to say, “If you’re… feeling jealous or angry… this isn’t the way to go about it! Revenge hurts everyone- but especially yourself! You don’t have to do this…” he says sympathetically. This guy… he’s evil but.., deep down he’s still Anti right? Somewhere… there has to be a part in there that’s like his brother. 

Anti stares at Bro with wide static eyes. He blinks. And then he laughs. "Like I said. None of you understand. 

“C’mon man-!” Bro tries to say, reaching out. 

“Chase what are you-?!” Alt shouts. 

“Hey... lơo͞k d̀o̢w̛n͡." 

The ground beneath them is tearing open, a crack forming in the fabric of the world, a black rift. Suddenly, there is no support beneath their feet.

The brothers gasp as they look down and before Alt can even think of glitching- they both scream and fall straight into the rift.

Anti looks at them and dives down, slipping back into Alt's phone before they disappear into the space between worlds. 

The other Anti, the red Anti, grins. "There must be someone who can do it," he says to himself. "We have to go back far. Where it all started." And then his image disappears as he also goes through.

[yikes-em]

Blush Sands

For @astrangersummer week 1: nail polish

steddie | 1154 words | gen/no warnings | post s4 everyone lives

Read also on ao3

Below cut formatted for ao3

When Steve had asked Eddie about his fingernails, nothing could have prepared him for what it would set off. Eddie’s eyes lit up in the middle of Family Video and he gripped harder onto Steve’s hand that had pulled his painted nails into the light in the first place.

The explanation had come with Max at his trailer a few nights ago, her mom long asleep after a grueling work day had apologetically canceled on their ‘girls night’. So she’d slipped from her window with a few bottles of polish and knocked on his screen door. Eddie, at first a little aback at being her first choice and then fully clocked when she mentioned seeing Eddie doing his eyeliner in his van before scrambling off to see a concert in Indy, agreed. If Max was going to walk around with yellow fingernails they’d be the cleanest damn paint job ever.

So now here’s Steve, sitting in the middle of another ‘girls night’ at Eddie’s trailer. Said host is in the kitchen stirring Shirley Temples for Max and El with one hand and a large pot of mac n’ cheese with the other. Robin, having drank half and promptly forgotten her own very spiked Shirley, is crouched in front of El on the couch and painting little purple squiggles over pale blue. Max is leaning out of Wayne’s recliner with her fingers dug into Robin’s hair, deftly trying to tuck it into little braids. Her nails are yet to be done but she’s chosen the color. Bright pink this time.

Steve has three bottles in his hand. A deep maroon that reminds him of his car, a fleshy yet shiny pink tone, and a teal blue the color his pool was growing up in the summer. He’s staring so hard at them that he doesn’t have time to prepare for Eddie bumping hips with him as he settles back on the couch between Steve and El. He’s got a bowl big with enough mac n’ cheese for them both with two spoons precariously balanced on his lap while offering out a beer.

“Drink?”

“Thanks,” Steve hums, dumping the little bottles on his lap to accept the beer.

“Hungry?” Eddie’s speaking so low that the girls don’t even seem to acknowledge them. Steve nods and hefts a spoonful into his mouth and washes it down in one breath. Eddie makes another noise, something like casual, genuine awe. Steve can feel it where their bodies touch.

“Very,” Steve says around another mouthful of pasta.

“Mm,” Eddie hums as his gaze drifts down Steve’s face, his neck and chest, and finally rests in Steve’s lap. Steve has half a mind to let his face flush when he remembers the nail polish “Need help deciding?”

“Yeah, I uh… I’ve never had a choice on something like this. I know it’s not permanent but it feels like something that matters more than just putting on a shirt for the day.”

“No, you’re right,” Eddie says, leaning into Steve a little more. He grabs gently at the bottles and turns them so he can read the shades. “Merlot is very date night. Mysterious but sexy. A solid choice.”

Steve enjoys the thought of Eddie painting his nails for a date, wonders what color Eddie would paint them if it were a date that Steve asked him on.

“Ah, blush sands, a classic. Casual, doesn’t draw much attention. It’s more for you to know and feel pretty in,” Eddie continues. Steve hadn’t thought about which color his eyes would be drawn to while checking in returns at work, or potentially ringing up customers.

“Lagoon.” Steve can sense the unsaid creature-from-the-black prefix and snorts out a laugh. “Summery, bright, attention seeking, fun.”

“Doesn’t really narrow it down, huh?” Steve groans and shifts his hips so not only do the little bottles brush together and make cute clinking noises but so do his and Eddie’s thighs. It’s a solid touch and Steve feels his mouth water for something. He satiates with a beer.

“Are you asking me to decide for you?”

Robin cackles at something Max says and the fond smile it brings to Steve’s face hurts. Seeing his people happy, after everything they’ve been through, is all he could ever want in the world. El is waving her hands in the air to dry her new designs and leans over Eddie to show them both.

“Look! Like the roller rink’s floor!” She beams. “Robin made them perfect!”

“I don’t know about perfect-” Robin scratches at her nose sheepishly but Steve can see the pride in her eyes.

“Damn perfect!” Eddie shouts, bouncing in his spot. “I call after Max! I want flowers Rob- ones with little yellow dots in the middle!”

“Jesus christ, who do you take me for?”

“A goddamn artist,” Eddie grins and blows her a kiss. It’s hard to tell if the red in Robin’s cheeks is from how hard she’s laughing or from the alcohol. Max and El swap spots, El simply twisting bits of Robin’s hair in on itself until she winces or it pops free. Eddie turns his full attention back to Steve and it sends a shiver down his knees.

“I’ll pick two, you take it from there?”

Steve nods, spoon in mouth again.

“I think Lagoon is a little daring for your first time. Could give you some weird feelings.”

“Okay.” Steve doesn’t even think to ask what might constitute weird feelings. “Okay, then I think blush sands. It’s not too far off what my nails look like anyway- in case I hate it.”

“Good job,” Eddie beams, snatching up the two unchosen bottles and stashing them away in the shoe box on the table. “You’ll definitely look cute in that one.”

“Thanks,” Steve mumbles and ducks his chin to his chest. “Uh… how do I… how do I start?”

“Oh shit, Stevie, yeah, here let me!” Eddie transplants his beer and the mac n’ cheese to the coffee table and pivots his whole body so they’re facing. “Gimme.”

Eddie takes the bottle of blush sands and cracks it open, gesturing for Steve to hold out his hand. It probably only takes about ten minutes maximum for Eddie to get two coats on each of Steve’s blunt nails but it’s long enough for Steve to finish both their beers and get pleasantly buzzed on the liquor and the smell of Eddie’s cologne.

“Pretty,” Eddie hums when he’s done, holding Steve’s hand up in the dingy lighting. His gaze drifts over his hand, up along his arm where Steve knows he has visible bat scars pulling taught over his muscles, resting finally on his face- his eyes. Steve blinks a few times and wets his lips. Eddie imitates the action. “Yeah, pretty.”

In that moment, Steve decides that he’d do anything asked of him for the rest of his life if Eddie would call him pretty.

[cutegirlmayra]

Sonamy songfic prompt: Amy is trying to learn the piano and learn the parts to a song she likes Rewrite the Stars. Thing is it's a duet. Sonic sees Amy struggling and teaches her the basics. Over the course of the sing he starts to come to terms with his growing feelings for her. You can either keep the boy and girl parts the same or change it so the part matches the characters personality.

Forgive me, thou art grand, but tis noble to perhaps suggest I have a different--more dramatic--idea..?

Prompt:

Green data bits begin to fly up from a black canvas, before that canvas tilts to reveal the dimensions of a blank room as white glows and rises up as famous Sonamy Comments ranging from many different sources of Social Media that glaze up and fly out to then have their whites cover the three-walled space. The Zeros and ones suddenly fly back into view like a literal chain, shifting between being zeros and ones, forming the color purple that begins to shake… then tear each other apart to be blue and pink ones and zeros.

From these two, now distinct chains, they swirl and the white forms a figure inbetween the vortex… “You know I want you…” Sonic The Hedgehog forms with the blue chains now swirling down his arm as he looks over his shoulder, seeing Amy Rose get formed.

“It’s not a secret I try, to hide.” He looks as though he’s trying to defend himself slightly, his hand forming a fist, his eyes slightly narrowed, before turning away to look at the back wall of positive comments and famous Sonamy moments. “I know you want me…” He holds and sprawls out a hand to Episode 52, of Amy’s crying face on the back screen, which is clearly showing they are within a computer.

“So don’t keep saying our hands, are tied.” He turns back to her and holds his wrists out as though they are chained together as data strips of code snake around them quickly before he breaks the links by parting his hands and walking past her, looking serious in his declarations.

Amy holds a hand of cards to her chest, looking down as though contemplating his words, but then worriedly turns to continue to watch him.

“You claim it’s not in the cards!” He turns back and swipes a hand out, disarming Amy as the wind from his gesture scatters the Tarot cards she was holding–Looking like the official deck SEGA had released–past her as the wind makes her pull her bundled fists up to her face to block it out, her hair flying back from the action. “Fate is pulling you miles away-” She blinks her eyes open to see Sonic reaching for her but the wind was too strong, and it carries her up into the air as she flails, “And out of reach from me..!” He jumps up to catch her hand, and when he does, the background now reveals a bright white book opening up and the wind turning the pages, “But you’re here in my heart-” He pulls her into him as the book is sucking in all the strings of blue and pink code, Sonamy scenes, positive Sonamy comments, and seems to even be drawing Sonic and Amy closer to itself as well. “So who can stop me if I decide that you’re my destiny..?”

He embraces her as the Book looks as though it would slam it’s covers on them… but then, just before touching them, it twitches, flinches, wobbles, “What if we-” The two look as though their scrunching their bodies up, pulling their legs in, cuddled close together before the Book spontaneously shoots open again when Sonic pushes an arm out as though he had repelled the closing of their story, and thousands and thousands of purple stars flare out into the space around them.

“Rewrite the stars~” Sonic looks around as Amy gazes in awe as the stars encircle and spread out into patterns of shapes and fun patterns, some that symbolize the Sonic universe like checkerboards, rings, chao heads/fruits, loop-de-loops, and emeralds.

“Say you were made-” He gently brings her wandering chin back to him with the tips of his pointer and middle finger, as a Purple star flies by to show an image of the earliest known drawing of Rosy the Rascal. “To be mine?” then more Purple stars fly by with images of her transformation throughout the years with Sonic.

He pulls away to spread out, showing they are slightly falling back down but gently enough that they touch the ground together, “Nothing could keep us apart.” The Book now flaps its pages like multiple layers of wings, creating the wind that was keeping them up in the air before letting them glide or hover down.

“You’d be the one, I was meant, to find.” He’d hold her still and spin her around for a moment, then hold her hand with both his own before dramatically turning back to the book as it shows added scenes of their adventures together, through every Game ever made, even scenes that aren’t shown in the original stories but still show they were apart of those adventures together.

“It’s up to you, and it’s up to me. No one can say what we get to be,” He turns back to Amy, gesturing to himself and then to her, then gesturing to the stars as they sparkle and twinkle in the space above… However, they form into silhouettes of generic people, almost like Sonic is referencing those that control the game’s narrative and the characters.

“So why don’t we-” From those silhouettes of purple sprays out Black as night Game Wires with AV cables with their tips being yellow, red, and white. “Rewrite the stars~” They droop as Sonic catches one and gets pulled up a bit into the air, stretching a hand out to Amy. “Maybe the world~”

The Cables circle and corral the Purple stars into forming the Sonic Earth.

“Can be ours~” He smiles gently to Amy, as though to trust him, he now seems pretty confident.

Amy’s eyes look so endeared to him, wanting to reach… her hand starts to raise up… behind the rising hand is the Purple Earth picture… but one star goes black with a hateful comment reading a typical Anti-Sonamy message like a tweet or Tumblr post–This is very subtle but it’s what causes her hand to waver, the first sign of hesitancy of belief.

However, Sonic’s hand doesn’t wait any longer, grabbing hers by reaching down and making up the distance. “Tonight!”

Amy is lifted up off the ground, and it shows upon her face that it was sudden and she’s still somewhat unsure, but suddenly starts having fun as Sonic swings from Cable to Cable, their spinning at times as it sways them along, and Sonic looking tenderly and kindly to Amy in his arms as she watches the Stars break from the World image behind them and start swaying on the ‘vines’ of Cable cords as well…

But one attacks a Purple Star, plugging into it as another Black star is created, showing a glitching montage of different Sonic ships that oppose Amy and Sonic together.

It only happens for a moment… Amy notices it and her joy slowly begins to fade, Sonic is looking ahead, but she pushes away from him and jumps onto a cord as Sonic has to tug the cord and get swung back to where she’s hanging on, wondering what’s going on.

“You think it’s easy?” She looks up as though sadly having to glare at him, gripping the Cords tightly, looking somewhat afraid, “You think I don’t want to run, to you?” She beautifully slides down the Cable, spinning delicately and landing with grace as her arm flares out to show some elegance to her while Sonic reaches down to her–looking worried.

“But there are mountains…” Closing her eyes, as though she wished it wasn’t there, she turns to reveal a pile of hateful comments, images, and statements of rules made by SEGA prohibiting such things as Sonic was trying to promote…

In a way, she’s showing Sonic that they're not just fighting against SEGA… But the Audience of their community and fandom as well.

The weight and magnitude of the ‘mountain’ of comments expands as Sonic is still far back up on a cable, and realizes what she means, but grits his teeth and starts swinging down, trying to reach her again.

“And there are doors-” She walks towards what looks like a Book page folding open to create a black door, and inside, a purple silhouette of someone on the other side… “That we can’t-” He reaches out to grab the opened page from within the base of the mountains of Anti-material. “Walk through…” She reaches a hand out, to stop the man, but it slams the door shut and she immediately turns herself around to look pretty certain towards Sonic who is ready to fight this negative streak behind her, but she stands firmly where she is and holds out her hands to mimic her action of saving Gamma.

“I know you’re wondering why,” She’s defending the fans, but it pains her to do so… she doesn’t want this, and shakes her head to the side, as though ashamed to admit it but… maybe they’re right? “Because we’re able to be-” She puts her arms down to gently fold one back to her heart and use the other to try and reach out to Sonic, in hopes of calming him down as he seems bent on destroying the mountain… but she’s standing against him? In his way? Why?

“Just you, and me.” Pleading, she gestures to him and to her, mimicking what he did earlier in the song. “Within these walls,” She spreads out her arms in an arc towards the sky as the stars all fall from the space above, and the Book is revealed to still have its pages flapping like multiple wings… as though Fanfiction… are they truly to only exist in stories? “But when we go outside-!” She gestures passionately beyond the ‘walls of the book’s covers’ to the fourth wall that fizzles out like a TV screen… the Cables now slither and curl up like snake heads, as though about to attack Sonic and Amy within…

The screen turns into fuzzy grey and black… as though disconnected… “You’re gonna wake up and see~ That it was hopeless after all…”

The TV is then bombarded by hearts, as though every fans’ love is powering up the TV again, “No one can-” and the image zaps back to life as hearts zoom back to Sonic and Amy now entangled, trapped, and completely covered in wires trying to restrain them. “Rewrite the Stars~”

She reaches for him, pulling with her other hand a enstrangling Cable out from her mouth to speak, looking as though putting great effort into trying to escape. “How can you say-” Sonic is also trying to reach out through being tied back with Cables, both suspended in the air before his one, visible eye from the mass of tangled Cables widens and Amy is yanked away and up to be pinned into the Mountain of hate, the comments now black with white wording, and images now black and white, or grayscale shaded, as well. “You’ll be mine.”

The Cables, like sowing threads, pierce through the comments like paper and begin to literally embed her into the media by leaping over her body multiple times and piercing through paper like jumping lines of dolphins in the water. “Everything-” She has her arms out to her sides, as though crucified by the Fandom, and although her eyes long for Sonic, she hangs her head down as though defeated. “Keeps-” Above the mountain, Silhouettes of SEGA represented heads now look down at the trapped Amy. “Us-” She raises her head, looking helpless and miserable.

“Apart~” Sonic’s eyes twitches into a sharp angle, his pupils dilate on Amy’s image, and then he struggles for a moment but curls and spins himself into a ball to break the Cables containing him.

“And I’m not the one-” He then charges up blue light around him, before bursts into a Homing Attack towards the Mountain of Hating comments and images from Social Media, “You were meant-” Amy’s eyes widen at his blue streak suddenly taking over the white and black of the mountain and space. “To find~” She turns her head, bracing as Sonic makes impact.

The mountainous tower of comments breaks apart, falling like a tower of cards, as Amy begins to fall from the loosened Cables that had sown her to it as well. “It’s not up to you-” She is falling slowly through the empty space of where the ‘cards’ of comments once stood, blinking her eyes open. “It’s not up to me.” As she slow-motion falls, she looks up to see the silhouettes of the supposed SEGA Officials, watching her fall, “When everyone tells us what we can be.” Their heads enlargen and seem to almost follow her descent,...

“How can we-” She turns herself in the floating air, to turn her back to what makes her so sad and unhappy, and spreads herself out like a star towards the ground. “Rewrite the Stars?” The mountain becomes black and glitching stars of hate again… she’s falling through them… she can’t take much more of this… her eyes close and she brings her arms to her body’s sides and legs together gently as though accepting the abyssal beyond… “Say that the world-”

She softly turns to fall into her fate… “Can be ours…”

“Tonight.” She opens her eyes as she lands on something, startled, and looks to see that it’s in Sonic’s arms… Her hero’s arms… but not just that-

“All I want is to-” Sonic is flying! The Book has torn its pages, falling backwards, and Sonic now has the large multi-page wings to his body. “Flllllyyy~” Sonic looks behind him, the Cables are shooting out like harpooned missiles, but he takes off. “With you!”

Sonic weaves and dodges the Cables, as he passes by, Stars are shooting forward to race the wind and clash with the Cables, turning into Purple stars of familiar words and scenes again. “All I want is to fall with you.” Sonic spins downwards as the cables all intertwine to follow him, “So just give me-” spinning into one massive Cable Head! “All~ Of you!”

Sonic stops his plummet to look up, seeing the massive plug coming towards them, as Amy takes his head with one of her hands and pushes her face up against his forehead to speak directly into his eyes. “It feels impossible..!” Sonic shakes his head, “It’s not impossible,” He looks back up as the cable jerks it’s head back a second, a cobra to strike, “Is it impossible..?” but Sonic and Amy reach out their hands as one towards it.

“Say that it’s possible..!!!”

All the restored Purple Stars and Hearts from before shoot down and then curve to fly at lightning speeds from beneath Sonic and Amy and pummel into the Cable Plug Head, “How do we Rewrite the Stars..!!!” getting jammed into it as the colors fly up the cable and burst into the open space above as Green Codes of Zeroes and Ones… “Say you were made to be mine!”

But… What of Sonic and Amy below?

The Code is just lines that wave and spiral down… “Nothing can-” The Cable being torn in half… softly and gently destroyed as it turns into data… “Keep us apart!”

“Cause you are the One,”

Sonic and Amy are still alright, holding one another, suspended in hovering space within the air as the Book pages begin to fly off Sonic one layer at a time, falling backwards as Amy and Sonic slowly lower their hands from being stretched out towards the Cable… representing the world and its ‘rules and opinions’...

“I was meant, to find.”

Amy looks to Sonic first, gripping him with her hand in joy and waiting for him to realize, before he slowly tears his eyes away from the scene above, and looks to Amy with a grateful and relieved smile.

He winks to her, his signature cocky attitude.

“It’s up to you.”

She pulls him closer with all her strength,

“And it’s up to me.”

They both shake their heads as their nose nuzzle in sheer delight at their victory.

“No one can say what we get to be.”

Together, strong, and joined hand in hand, “And why don’t we-” They spread their legs as though trying to burst up, and the Data lines of code secure a footing arched web for them and they are brought back up.

“Rewrite the Stars!”

The images of the silhouetted men look as though their giant forms are falling, their massive heads dragging them down as Sonic and Amy are lifted past them. “Changing the world-!”

They turn to each other and hold both their hands now. “To be ours…” Their faces look so happy… to be in love.

Sonic’s head tilts first… then Amy just happily lets his hands go, flings her arms up, and dives into a kiss with him.

But…

When they reach the top, and are lowered back to the level of the three walls…

They walk off together… and the Tarot cards that were first scattered… shiver and shake… before forming black coded zeroes and ones…

They fly over to Amy…

She reaches a hand up to his face, “You know I want you…”

They circle her wrist, just like what the green code did to Sonic in the beginning… but these are deadly, and pull her hand down from his face.

Sonic looks shaken at them, as Amy steps back, also realizing…

She sees it circling her bracelets… and looks at her other wrist.

“It’s not a secret I try-”

She looks hopelessly up to Sonic… free… but what about her?

He looks at his own hands, nothing… the Green Codes are nowhere near him anymore.

He looks back up at her, heartbroken. “To hide.” Her eyes bend back as Game Console Controllers and their Black Wires slowly and softly start to constrict Amy… yet again…

 She can’t escape it, “But I can’t have you.” She speaks through them encircling and covering her body over…

The prejudice, the scorn, the canon-limitations…

“We’re bound to break-” Sonic rushes towards her.

He punches them and they turn to Green Code again…

But Amy looks down at her wrists…

“And my hands…”

She steps back daintly, and holds up her chained hands by one simple Line of Script.

“Are tied.”

The Chains of letters in black read out: [PROPERTY OF SEGA].

[miss-midnightt]

1, 2, and 3 for Tseng and Rufus?

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

This, uh, this could take a while. These are both characters I absolutely adore, for several reasons.

First: Character design. I am hugely into character design and all of Rufus' belts and stuff make my brain happy. Also, his color palette is absolutely stunning. It contrasts against the darkness of Midgar, makes him stand out (white is bright; purple is the color of royalty), matches neatly with Darkstar/Dark Nation, and also contrasts him against the black suits that the Turks wear. For Tseng, I love his character design because pretty men with long hair and intense eyes are fun to draw. He also parallels Rufus nicely in terms of looks; both are very neat and put together, but Tseng has dark hair, eyes, and clothes, while Rufus has a more light toned palette).

Second: Their roles in the plot. Both of them have interesting roles in the plot. They are not main antagonists, yet are both very important. I won't elaborate much further because I already have. A lot.

Lastly (though I could go on and on and on): their personalities. These are both incredibly multifaceted characters; they both do bad things, but they don't deny it. They acknowledge it. Tseng knowingly drops the plate. And he certainly feels guilty about it (cutscene with Reno and Rude back at Shinra HQ). Rufus states openly he will control the world with fear. In AC, it is shown that he has changed and has tried to fix the wrongs he created. Additionally, I love characters with a more stern or ambitious disposition; I find them fascinating to analyze. Why are they doing that? What does this mean?

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Rufus: I adored all of his lines in Remake. His VA got them just right, and damn were they JUICY. Another little thing; him sending off Darkstar when her/his health got low. And of course a billion other things (I'm a nerd).

Tseng: His devotion to his colleagues. He may present a stern facade, but he cares. And that, to me, makes him so, so much more human.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Rufus: I wish we could have seen more of him, learned a bit more of how he was raised as a child. But I suppose that's a gripe about LACK of canon content, lol. Maybe about how he didn't seemingly react too upsetly when he was told that Tseng and Elena, two people he probably trusts/relies on most, were captured and tortured in AC? But it's a pretty flawed film, so...

Tseng: Almost total absence from Advent Children....It's hard to find dislikable canon things from him; I like him too much (and he didn't have a huge amount of screen time compared to other characters)!

[vincord]

3 5 and 7 for the ask game :33

no way kafur in my ask box hiii bestie I'm taking this rabbit with me. ___

3. your favorite piece(s)?

Already answered it here :3 ___

5. how would you describe your art style?

This… It's a pretty complicated question. Considering that more often I say extremely bad things about my art (as well as about myself), but I almost never say good things (as well as about myself).

I remember that people described my style with the words "melancholic", "old cartoons" and "warm". They're probably right about something. I also heard "chaotic, but neat. Everything is as it should be."

I myself would describe it with the word "tired". You know, when you turn down the brightness on your laptop or phone, because your eyes get tired and they need rest. There has been a message in my question box for about two years now, where a person writes that they forgot that I was drawing in muted tones, and therefore, at low screen brightness, they just looked at the black screen and thought that they had broken it. Still one of my favorite messages, you know. I keep it there carefully. I often turn down the brightness on my laptop screen myself, because I draw mostly at night. And bright colors quickly make my eyes hurt, so this is one of the reasons why I use muted colors (one of the reasons, but not the main one. Just a fun fact)

Also, the word "tired", I think, describes my style well, because it does not stand out with a variety of angles, poses, plots and other things, unlike what I had a few years ago. When you no longer have the strength to do something new or work on art for a longer time and you get what you get. Tired. You and your art. Even those artworks that are full of colors, details and ornaments for me feel somehow peaceful and tired.

To be honest, I can't find the words to describe it anymore ^^"

Tired, lonely, quiet. Like a bedtime story; like sit on the porch of a house with a kerosene lamp next to it; like look at old yellowed photos and realize that this is something you will never return to; like as an adult, to turn on an old show that you liked to watch in childhood. A random set of words? Maybe. I've never been able to describe things directly.

I don't know what else to say. Really. I'm one big nostalgia and longing for the past. Judging by other people's descriptions, my style screams about it. ___

7. easiest thing for you to draw?

Nothing. Everything is given to me with great difficulty and each sketch is a struggle with my own doubts and "I think I forgot how to draw this and how to color/shade this".

When the thirst for perfectionism consumes you from the inside, even simple things will seem hard.

[roetrolls]

tetris are you a limeblood?

"Olive."

> An easy mistake to make here, though. How about a quick glance behind the curtain?

-----------

SO FUN FACT when I make my colorful lil doodle sprites, I actually draw them all in black!!! It makes it easier to come back and add new expressions and things later. The way I color the lines is by using a layer on the "screen" blending mode

Without it, they can look a little different (or a lot depending on what color I make the background)

In Tetris' case, the difference is kinda subtle, BUT! I chose to add color beneath the screen layer, which has the effect of brightening the green. I knew it could be confusing when I did it, but bright colors are fun lol

Ta-daaaaa secrets you didn't even know were secrets!!!

[fromdevcom]

Lots of modern children spend much time on the Internet, phones, or tabs what causes concerns among their parents. But parents, as well as their kids, might take lots of advantages from that while different gadgets might help your kids develop really necessary skills for their future life, such as programming skills, for example. At the same time, children are able to play, learn, and develop thanks to different smart gadgets. And their parents can be sure kids play totally safe and smart toys. Below you will find the list of 10 gadgets and smart toys which could be a great interactive activity for your children. They will help your kid learn how to choose a programming language or develop his problem-solving skills. Such toys will become an integral part of your kids’ development and save your time significantly. Who knows, maybe your kid might become a new IT genius thanks to one of them? MiP the Toy Robot (By: WowWee ) Mip is created not so for learning, as just for fun. But it is a simply terrific toy for fun. Balancing robot which is controlled by your phone manually and in real-time. It can be controlled by Android or iOS phone. You can draw paths which the robot will move; it can race or dance even. The robot carries his own weight, and different stuff can be stacked onto his tray. It’s a great start to having your own robot. It is available in black and white colors. Pros: a great toy for fun which can be loved by any kid two colors available carries his own weight Cons: is more for fun than for learning expensive View-Master Virtual Reality Starter Pack (By: Mattel ) That’s a new version of a well-known View-Master. 360 degrees of virtual reality data are provided by Google Cardboard places. Pros: great for entertainment, not expensive Cons: is more for fun than for learning Moki ACCHPKSYB Kid Safe Volume Limited Headphones (By: Moki International ) If your kid adores listening to music or watching something in the headphones, then Moki Kid Safe Volume Limited Headphones would be a great choice while they are recommended even for the smallest ones, for kids above the age of 3 years. They have a restricted sensitivity and are totally safe for small children by preventing damage to their ears. They also flit greatly on the ear and don’t isolate kids from the noise surrounding him. So your kid will surely hear you if necessary. Pros: safe for kids recommended for 3+ affordable price soft bright colors Cons: might not be suitable for adults Jamstik (By: Guitars ) Jamstik is a digital guitar having real frets and strings. It is connected to your smartphone, tab, or laptop via a wireless connection. It works with different music apps both for pros and beginners. The screen shows the placement of fingers as you play. Even if your kid doesn’t really love music, he will really enjoy that toy. It’s cool even for the adults. Pros: helps develop creativity and love for music Cons: expensive Wall Climbing Remote Control Car (By: Force1 ) This toy will blow up your mind totally. It has the remote control and if your kids have enough remote control cars, this one will surprise them. It climbs the walls so easily and knows no gravity at all. It is very long-lasting and rechargeable. They can be raced on floors as well. Pros: Long-lasting Innovative Not expensive Lost-lasting Cons: Is more for fun Kano Computer Kit (By: Kano ) If you would love your kid to learn to programme, Kano could be perfect for that purpose. It is both for kids and adults, is powered by Raspberry Pi. It has a guide how to assemble it out of the box into a working computer. You will only need your own monitor for it. Pros: Kids and adults can learn how to code music, art, apps, games, and much more Not expensive Cons: Doesn’t contain the monitor, it’s necessary to bring your own Cozmo (By: Anki ) Cozmo would become a great friend for your kid. It has its own personality. There are some simple games your kid can be involved into. Cozmo recognizes faces, gets to know people, and develops its own personality.

That’s a great reason to switch off PlayStation. Pros: Includes USB charging platform Is very interesting for kids Cons: Requires compatible Android or iOS device and a free Cozmo app to download. Is pretty expensive DINO-LITE (By: DINOLITE ) Your kid will be excited to see the surrounding world with that microscope. It will make them collect samples and examine them. Children will be really surprised to see that. The microscope can be plugged into your laptop, PC, tablet, or phone and supports Mac, Android, Windows, and iOS. It’s possible to take photos and videos with it. Pros: Easy to use Can be helpful in studies even The price is affordable Cons: None DEERC D20 Mini Drone for Kids (By: DEERC D20 Mini Drone for Kids ) DEERC D20 Mini Drone is a great personal videographer. The gadget is possible to be programmed for following and recording you in any location depending on the location of your mobile device through WiFi connection. You can take 15 MP pictures and 1080p HD videos with its help. The photos and videos will be synchronized directly to your phone or any off-site device. Kinetic Sand (By: Kinetic Sand ) Kinetic Sand is a great alternative to traditional sand kids love so much. That’s the best way to make sandcastles directly at your home. The sand is very stretchy, soft; it melts and seems to be liquid. One of the benefits of that toy is that it doesn’t stick to fingers and doesn’t get anywhere as usual sand does. It is absolutely safe, non-toxic and is perfect for kids from 5 years old and older. It is really addictive, even for the adults. Both kids and parents will enjoy that activity for sure! Pros: very good for creativity and imagination safe not expensive Cons: none Christine Acosta is a dedicated author and contributor to https://app-reviews.org/ and other resources. She adores observing IT and their impact on life of mankind. Christine has graduated from Florida Institute of Technology. She has been interested in gadgets and IT since school. After graduation, she dedicated herself to people by writing reviews on different modern tools, gadgets, and devices and providing readers with helpful information about the updates in the digital world.

[celinedionswang]

novellette in progress pt 1

Prologue

The Night on Bay Street

It was 3 AM in the slums of New York City.

No woman should’ve been walking on the streets at this time, especially alone – but nevertheless, Mandy walked, mascara-streaked tears running down her face as her fake, cheap nails tapped frantically at the screen of her phone. Her client was somewhere behind her, abandoned on the third floor of the hotel with a knife stuck in his neck. When police arrived at the scene, they would find an empty gun, and a pack of unloaded bullets in the mobster’s pocket. But Mandy didn’t have time to think about all of that – she needed a way out, and she needed one fast. Her pimp wasn’t going to be happy, that’s for sure, but he didn’t need to know it went south until they were far, far away from the crime scene. She could take a beating. She knew she could. She could take anything, but the police? She shuddered at the thought, remembering how she’d gotten into this sick, fucked up prostitute chain in the first place. One accident. One call. And her life was ruined forever.

Again, didn’t have time to think about that. Walk faster, but not too fast, anyone will see you and think you’re running. Straighten shoulders, adjust clothing, make it look like you’ve just finished a job. Maybe some scumbag will pick you up for a good time. If he doesn’t get here, that’ll be our only way out of this. No sirens yet, so she allowed herself to breathe, her chest showing off an unhealthy piano of ribs as it moved up, and down, slowly. She was halfway into her purse looking for some powder when a commotion a few blocks down grabbed her attention. She frowned. Had she really already walked all the way to Main Street? As she tiptoed over (as quickly as she could in her sock-feet, stilettos long ago abandoned), she realized with dismay that she had arrived at Main Street, one dark alley away.

The crowd that had been screaming was just a bunch of girls, no older than college age. From their blushing, freckled skin to their carefree attitude, it was clear they were just towngirls in the city for a night of fun. They were staring at the billboards high above them, the bright, colorful flashing drawing Mandy’s curiosity until she stepped into the light as well, craning her neck to get a good view of the video screening. The man wore a suit, stark in contrast against the all-black background. He didn’t look happy (she could tell that much) as he began to speak. “INHABITANTS OF NEW YORK CITY,” his voice boomed, loud enough to wake even the dead, “WE ARE IN THE NINTH STAGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXTINCTION. IF YOU CARE AT ALL ABOUT YOUR PLANET, YOU WILL LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY. AS YOU NOW KNOW, WE ARE IN THE NINTH STAGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXTINCTION. THE TENTH COMES SOONER THAN YOU THINK. THERE IS ONLY ONE THING THAT CAN PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING. THROUGH A RECENT SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH, WE HAVE FOUND THAT BLOOD IS NOT ONLY A SUPERSTARTER IN THE PROCESS OF BIODEGRADATION, BUT AN AMAZING SOURCE OF PROTEIN FOR ALL FORMS OF LIVING LIFE, AS WELL AS BEING A FANTASTIC FERTILIZER.” The man paused, seemingly for dramatic effect. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN –  WHAT YOU ARE THINKING IS RIGHT. HUMAN SACRIFICE IS THE ONLY SOLUTION TO SAVING THIS PLANET.”

With that, the screen turned completely black, only to restart the same video after a couple seconds. Mandy watched it a few more times, confused. Was this real? Her vision began to burn at the edges as she finally tore her eyes away, looking around to see others doing the same. “Look!” Someone cried, pointing to a building further down on the street. “They’re all broadcasting it!” With horror, Mandy realized they were right – every screen in her sight played the same video, over and over without end, the man in the blue suit never growing tired, his speech never growing weak. Was this some crazy terrorist stunt? Or communist propaganda? Everything she’d been worrying about ten minutes ago seemed so small and trifle now. What was there to worry about guns or officers when some psychopath was telling everyone to kill themselves? Shakily, she took out a cigarette, unsure of what else to do. Everything is fine. This is just some foreign bullshit video that the government’ll all have explained by tomorrow. She started her lighter, about to burn when a man cleared his throat behind her. She turned around, relieved to see it wasn’t anyone she recognized. “Weird shit, huh?” He joked, eyes to the ground. “Yea,” she replied flatly, annoyed. She drew the cigarette to her lips and lit it quickly, slumping against the wall as she took a deep, much needed inhale. The smoke clouded her vision and she hoped when it cleared the man would be gone. He wasn’t. “What’s your name?” He asked. And it would’ve sounded genuinely curious if not for the nervous fidgeting, the hands in his pockets. All of this Mandy noticed. “Laura,” she lied, still staring straight ahead. That man stepped closer. “That’s a nice-” “I charge one-fifty an hour,” she interrupted him, finally turning her head. “More if you want perks.” She shook her pocket, highlighting the obvious sound of pills. The man swallowed. “And where – ?” With a sigh, she got up, stubbing her cigarette out on the brick wall. She nodded at the man. “Follow me.” Her ears had grown accustomed to the sound of the video now, now longer deafening as she walked the man down the same street she’d come from. Little bits interrupted their peace. “...NINTH STAGE…ONLY ONE…AMAZING SOURCE OF…” “Do you think it's real?” The man piped up, taking a few long strides to walk directly next to her. It took her a few seconds to respond. “Dunno,” she finally replied, taking a sharp turn. “Would it really matter anyways?” 

After this, the man was quiet. Mandy rode him well into the morning and left the hotel puffing yet another cigarette from her tired lips.

[kill0mtr]

hgghrnnghh. personaverse... drawing ideas... but im so tired to actually draw them... anyways character descriptions. bcuz theyre fun.

Pynk Annionemus: Main antagonist. 20 years old. An anthro cat with pink fur, white paws/feet/tip of tail, and a robotic screen for a face. Personality is 'happy even when its inappropriate, and never fearful of anything (except his dad)'. Takes being called a clown or freak as a compliment. The first successful robotic-organic being who lived through the experiment. Flirty with Ghoul and only Ghoul.

Ghoul Bhraed: Main protagonist. 22 years old. An anthro cat with grey fur, and an odd, white skull-shaped pattern on his face. Heterochromia, where the left eye is an icy blue and the right eye is a pale gold. Tail is tipped white. Personality is 'confused all the time but willing to go with the flow'. Can see ghosts, but it doesnt bother him too much. Thinks Pynk's flirting is mockery, and is annoyed by it.

Telli Vystion: Secondary antagonist. 21 years old. A TV-head robot with wires for hair, and a metal plated dress. Her screen is the same sort of screen as Pynk's except her 'face' is black and her 'eyes' and 'mouth' change color depending on her mood. She met Pynk through a bank robbery, and decided to stay. Her personality is 'can manhandle everyone in here into submission, but doesnt because shes too over everything to try'. Is worried about how Pynk came to be, but thinks it would be a bit rude to ask.

Blu Shiiep: Background character. An anthro ram with blue wool and deep green eyes. 21 years old. Telli's roommate from college. Not much to say about Blu, she doesnt appear much in the story. Her personality is 'quite kind, to the point where yelling at her is like kicking a puppy'. Secretly has a very big lesbian crush on Telli, though never expresses it.

Cole Noynaim: Secondary antagonist. An anthro cat with white fur, with his ears being black. 37 years old. His eyes are a piercing green, with glasses framing them. He took Sparkz's last name. He works as a CEO for Roborganic, a company that specilizes in robotic-organic relations. Married Sparkz for tax benefits (and to run away) but slowly fell in love with his husband over the last few years. His personality is 'if its not done right, ill do it myself'. He'd probably be someones "problematic fave!!!! X3" if this were a tv show.

Sparkz Noynaim: Secondary antagonist. A robot thats mostly metal, with wires peeking from beneath his torso. 36 years old. His 'hair' is wires that go upward, resembling a flame. His eyes are bright and big on the screen-face, with no 'mouth', though he still talks (albeit rarely) His body looks like a tree, with seemingly-rusting (its supposed to look rusted) metal climbing upwards and wires ('leaves') poking out from his torso. He created a tail for himself, made mostly of wires, so that he could hold Cole's tail in his. He's loved Cole romantically since before they got married. He holds some resentment for what happened with Cole's 'experiments' in the past, though feels as though its better to forgive and forget than fight.