#i was gonna draw blood but I forgot and I didn't have time

[eyezthecampcounselor]

He is our prophet

He is our savior

Follow him

(This is Elijah volkov, I know, I drew him really strange but I hope y'all like it)

[suncoved]

SALTWATER BLUES ! 𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𓇼 ࣪ 𓈒ㅤׂ𓆡 ⭒ㅤ𓈒ㅤׂ

the prologue — rafe cameron

pairing; childhoodbestfriend!rafe cameron x fem!reader

summary: she left him. in that house. in that town. alone. and he's never gonna let her forget it.

series masterlist!

The sun shone through the passenger seat window of your dad's driver, Al's, pristine black Porsche, burning your ear and face while you sat there allowing the pain to simmer.

You made no effort to move as the perfect houses of Figure 8 blended together to make one as your head span with the constant turning of the car. You hummed quietly as Al seemed to be saying many words, none of which made any sense in your current state.

As soon as you got off the plane to the mainland, boarded the ferry to Kildare, and met Al at the dock, it all seemed like a fever dream. A saltwater haze glossed itself over your eyes and mind as if nothing made sense to you anymore.

It was like it was only yesterday that your mom decided she had enough of having the responsibility of taking care of her daughter and was going to ship you off to your dad who hadn't seen you since you were 13, because well it was.

It was only yesterday.

6 years. It had been 6 years since you had been to The Outerbanks. 6 years since you had been to your hometown. 6 years since a certain dirty blonde-haired boy had watched his word slip through his hands like grains of sand through his fingertips.

Rafe Cameron wasn't Rafe Cameron without you. He had simply never known life without you. He hadn't even remembered anything of his life before you, albeit it was less than a year, but he knew. He knew that without you, he was simply a shell of a human being, soulless almost.

Ever since that fateful day that thirteen-year-old rafe had slammed the door to Tannyhill and ran the 20 or so meters to your neighbouring house.

He knocked on the door with the sequence of the secret passcode you both made up when you were six, even though you would never tell him you forgot it the day you made it up. Rafe pulled his balled fist back as the white door opened suddenly like someone was waiting for him.

He didn't understand why your father was at the door, he knew Rafe would also come to your house at this time every day in summer to come play.

"She's not here Rafe" Sincerity was laced in your father's tone as he looked down at the confused boy. "Where is she? I don't understand."

"Gone, kid. I'm sorry."

You were snapped back into consciousness as you heard the crunching of the gravel under the car, your father's home coming into full view in front of you. You knew you were about to draw blood from your bottom lip that you had been gnawing at ever since you arrived.

"Welcome home!"

You stood in the middle of your childhood home's doorframe, slightly jumping when your father popped out from the hallways that led to the lobby, enthusiastically yelling. You glanced around the foyer, bright words written on a banner etching 'Welcome Home!", with balloons and confetti scattered across the floor.

For a split second, you felt peace wash over you, though it was soon to be replaced by worry and anxiety.

"I missed you Bee" your father spoke, his arms engulfing your body as waves of memories were brought back from the childhood nickname. She was quick to hug back "I missed you too Dad" You couldn't help your mouth curling into a smile as you let go.

"Can I go up to my room and put my things away?" Your father waved his hand in reply, pointing towards the stairs before smiling and following Al out to the car to help with some of your stuff.

Being back in your room felt weird, though the balcony flashed in your eyes, an addition you had completely forgotten about. Dropping your bags in anticipation, you rushed to the glass doors, sliding them open. You had always loved the view of the outer banks, the glistening of the ocean and the sun that set upon the sky.

Your eyes locked on the large windows of the house in front of yours, a room that was far too familiar staring back at you. A messy bedroom was fully in your line of sight, the curtains not even slightly drawn.

Your eyes widened when you remembered who actually lived there, three boys walking into the space who you identified to be the trio that you had spent nearly all of your childhood with, Topper, Kelce and Rafe Cameron.

You quickly began to turn and walk back inside of your room, falling straight on your bed. Pulling one of your pillows to your face, you let out a loud groan into the fabric.

"Suck it up" you whispered to yourself, wiping away the salty tears that were now rolling down your face, as the memories flooded back.

You returned your gaze back to the balcony, standing up and walking over to the door. pausing for a moment, you contemplated whether or not it was worth it if Rafe saw you. You leaned your head against the door, sliding down the glass.

Though after everything, you were back in the obx, and there was nothing you could do about it. You just hoped you hadn't left too much damage on the teary-eyed dirty blonde you had left behind.

[nemesis-writer]

Five Minutes (Chapter 3)

Masterlist Let the Games Begin TW: mentions of blood, mental illness

The Waynes were waiting in agony for their first game. They were prepared to battle it together. But what they didn't know is that they each of them have to go through it alone.

In the Base...

I'm only known as Eurus in the underground world but my name shall always be (Y/N). I have built myself up all the way just to taste the blood in my hands. I was never gonna be the next Robin nor Batman, so why not create a name for my own.

I was able to send the letter for the first test for them, and have it sent anonymously. Now, I need to sleep as well.

I maybe a concierge of crime, but I also need to be with my baby.

At the Waynes'...

Everyone had to keep their eyes peeled and remain unflinching. Whenever there is a delivery or a package, there is always an inspection with x-rays in order to make sure that it's harmless.

They had to take extra precautions in order to prevent the exploitation of their identities, along with the ramifications of their 'stainless' reputation.

Until it was finally there...

The first game.

It had 'DAMIAN.' Written in capital letters, and in the notorious green color designed. Thanks Riddler.

The letter...

There's a child's life on the line Little Demon. If you try to pull anything, so here's a little riddle.

Here's a riddle based on Squid Game, Saw, and a basement:

'In shadows deep, where fear does grow, A game begins, you do not know. With each step forward, the danger nears, The stakes are high, and so are fears.

Twisted minds, with plans so sly, Trapped in a place where you can't ask why. A room cold, with echoes loud, Walls closing in, no escape allowed.

Through chains and locks, you struggle, fight, But only the brave can see the light. The clock is ticking, time is tight, Where are you now? What’s out of sight?'

"Bruce, what does this mean?", Damian wonders.

"Walls closing in? Trapped in a- Oh shit." Bruce cursed. It was an unusual sight for Bruce to curse since he was usually informed how barbaric it was by Alfred.

"It's a basement of an abandoned factory." Bruce stated.

"A bit more specific since there's like a hundred of them especially in Gotham." Jason says.

"Alright so I need everyone to split up and go through every abandoned factory and if anyone sees any sign of life or a clue then speak in the comms." Bruce commanded.

They all spread out one by one looking for the kid or at least a clue. Factory to factory, street to street, they searched high and low and even the most minute details weren't left out.

Until they finally found it.

The first clue.

"Guys I found the first clue, I'm in Bludhaven Street."yelled Dick.

Everyone rushed and reached the basement. It also showed an old, probably made in the 1900's, telephone. They were too eager to even notice the hidden security cameras.

Damian eagerly opened it and read:

'In a room so small, the walls feel tight, A game is set, but not of delight. No choice, no chance to run away, You must stay sharp and make your play.

The door is locked, the air is cold, Silent whispers of the truth untold. A puzzle waits, a test of mind, With every step, danger you’ll find.

Ticking sounds, a faint warning near, What’s hidden here is crystal clear. Almost there, the end in sight— But tread carefully, or face the night.'

'Room, ticking, no chance, locked door.' Bruce tries to think of it.

"A bomb in an apartment." Jason figured out and yelled. All the the sudden the phone starts to ring.

"Someone answer the phone," Cassandra yelled.

"You answer the fucking phone," Damian replied.

"This is your test Demon Spawn there is a kid on the line and more people with the kid." Jason retorts.

Damian reluctantly answered the phone and heard:

'Congratulations for the first game, Where blood will spill and none’s to blame. A twisted start, a sinister plot, A place where hope is soon forgot.

The faces cold, their eyes wide with fear, For every step, a fate draws near. No room for mercy, no chance to flee, In this cruel game, there’s no decree.

As the doors close, the lights grow dim, The air grows thick with a haunting hymn. A moment's silence, a final breath, The line between life and certain death.

Congratulations for the first game, But it’s too late now to place the blame. Tick-tock, tick-tock, it’s time to spin, Let the games begin.'

Taglist

@lunayaps, @not-aya, @iluvcatzz, @vanessa-boo, @ivyrose9194,@thesehandsarerated-e, @eyeless-kun, @errorunfound1, @gwyneveire, @alishii, @cxcillia

[lari-the-dragon]

RTV Tour: The Endgame

(Blood writting, -No drawings sadly- , also a lot of swears-)

Lari started to enter into another crisis, despite trying to maintain control of the situation and calm herself down, which didn’t seem to be working very well. After all, her current concern was enormous, since here was "His head, his rules". She remembers when Mr.Crystal put her in the TV Dimension for the first time as a form of "Time-Out" and she literally broke her way out of his head...But could she do the same with RTV??? He had the power of the five stars, and to make matters even worse, she didn’t have the same strength or power she had back at her place-! WHAT A BULLSH-!

Suddenly, she feels something gently bumping against her shoulder and snaps back to reality, looking at the Razorwhip who was looking right back at her. She gazes her for a moment, and all of a sudden, that irritating intrusive voice starts talking again. "CUTE! MUST- P E T! PEEET THE DRAGON!!!" The eyes of her mask seemed to be in between one of confusion and one of cuteness...Urgh...At this point, she considers it a curse to want to pet anything she finds adorable...Anyway, why Marie was...Oh- heh..."Ya comforting me Marie?" she thought, a slight smile appearing behind her mask as the dragon seemed to do the same.

Then his voice echoed in the place, making her immediately tense up and look up in his direction.

“Why Hello my not-so-dear tour participants...Glad to see you all here! Whether you came through willingly...and some...Who needed a push...to come through."

“Excuse me to interrupt you Mr.Puzzles, what if I told you I had something revolutionary,would you be interested in any chances traveling to unknown universes?”

Out of nowhere a blonde woman floated towards him, did she have a death wish or what?? Not even she would have the courage to have so much nerve-

“Let me present to you my gizmos or stars.”

The woman continued now taking out of her pocket a blue star...Wait- she won't do what she think she's gonna do...right?

 “I promise I’m not here to scam anyone, I do indeed know my ‘name’ may cause some suspicions. But it is just a direct translation of my family name ‘De La Escroquerie'.Actually my family were scammed by those filthy scammers but that's just an unimportant detail. ”

While the woman was making her presentation, the eyes of her mask seemed a little confused and even a bit perplexed by this, the pupils of her mask eyes slowly looking at RTV screen that seemed to be giving more of a warning with that smile that he didn't give two fucks to that.

“As you can see the interdimensional portal has indeed worked. Huh, it looks just like you,what are the odds? Sadly I can’t sell you mine since you know, you  have to be linked to it and I forgot how to create them, but there are the instructions at my base on my computer,and the only possible way to go there at the moment is by my very own VESPA that is parked outside of your STUDIO...Do we have a deal?”

Her mask eyes widened now, how could someone-? THAT WOMAN REALLY WANTED TO MAKE A DEAL??? WITH HIM??? Oh for the love of-

“Cute. But that’s a NO.”

And with that he flicked the woman, sending her flying to the side, Lari just slapped her mask at the scene.

“Oh, and for your INFORMATION: I can already reach other universes just fine MYSELF. Maybe remember that before placing portals in MY studio...”

...She thought everyone here knew that...Looks like she was wrong...

Then he leaned down towards the little squirrel she saw going with the other group to the Health Department, and by the looks of it, she seemed...Worried...Well how could she not be? Everyone here was basically about to tear each other apart if he decided to attack or vice versa. Soon after he started to say something softly...HOLD UP- THIS SMELL LIKE TROUBLE-

Lari narrowed her eyes at the two, and in the next second she saw the squirrel eyes go static...Oh...Oh no...The pupils on her mask got a bit empty again...One more for his collection...Afterwards she saw the same small creature turning around, before taking place on one of the TVs, observing them...That was bad.

“Now, as I said, Nobody here is leaving. Not before we made some things CLEAR. Some of you chose to side with SMG4, complicated everything! And guess what happened. One tour-”

He was interrupted by crying and sniffing sounds, she quickly tried to find the source and saw...A cookie? Well not exactly a walking cookie, but a familiar looking one being held by the ribbon girl...Bruh- she needed to know her name, because that wasn't exactly a good nickname to call someone all the tim-

A huge *CR a cK* of chewing was heard, the pupils of her mask eyes returned to normal again as she stared at the cookie that now had a huge bite on its head, making her hold back a laugh..."Don't laugh please that would be very rude, please don't laugh-" Her mask eyes twitched a little before closing for a moment...Please that Marie don't give her a tail whip to keep her in line because it will definitely hurt-

“YOUR GODBOX-FORSAKEN AI KILLED MY FRIEND, YOU A**HOLE!”

Her eyes snapped open again, her hair fluffing up for a moment at the sudden loud voice-

At that moment she swung at him and punched his face, sending him staggering back.

“WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF, HUH?!”

The girl screamed at him, her anger definitely bubbling out as she looked like she wanted to kill him right there, sad for her that the punch didn't have the same effect as out of the TV dimension, looking at RTV again she saw that unsympathetic grimace of a smile as he suddenly dashed forward, grabbing her by the neck.

“Your friend killed HIMSELF by putting his nose in things that don’t concern him.”

“You bastard-! YOU TAKE THAT BACK- “

Then he proceeded to yeet her at full force back, making her fly into the depths of the tunnel...Damn bro-

"Anyone else?"

Lari slowly looked between him and the now very far away participant, then to the others, and Marie. She kept doing that with a unsure gaze for a while, until her eyes landed on SMG4, the man seemed very...Very pissed.

“Tsk Tsk, Now? As I was SAYING, because of the fault of some of you supporting SMG4, everyone will Pay. And I'll repeat, because of his intrusion, One tour participant less in the group from the original 57... Although...”

She saw him growing into a giant and looked at the...UH- Twins? Doubles?? It was a girl- I MEAN girls- foxes? They seemed to have mechanical parts- other bots in between them maybe?

"Not sure what I missed while I was out, but I suppose that covers the 57th participant. Must've overlooked, but oh well."

He shrugged before mumbling something and looking back at the group...She tensed up again, gosh, she hated that feeling of being so vulnerable, she still had her magic sure, but it probably wouldn't be enough to actually cause serious damage to him..."I guess it's better for me to just stay on the defensive and-"

She got out of her thoughts when she saw RTV quickly shift his gaze, she looked to where he was focusing and saw SMG4 and Animsay...With no TV on her head? Huh- I hope this isn't causing any side effects on her, hmm, why she took it off after all? I wonder-

And suddenly the meme guardian lunged forward with the help of Animsay who gave him an additional push... She almost screamed a loud "NO!" when she saw this, taking a quick step forward as she saw their "grand" plan.

“Tsk.”

RTV raised an arm, blocking the hit with little difficulty, before pushing SMG4 back, sending him flying with a bloody nose, and thankfully for him, Animsay managed to grab him in time by his hoodie to avoid he going to the unknown.

Lari stared at SMG4 for a moment, his bloody nose sparkling something inside of her that she couldn't explain, her hands slowly turned into fists as the pupils of her mask got a sharp appearence, so making a loud huff that seemed to release a bit of smoke from the sides of her mask, she turns towards RTV.

"no one...and when i say...NO ONE...Will hurt this version of SMG4- ON. MY. WATCH!"

She hissed, increasing her voice while summoning her crystals and preparing to fight...The Razorwhip seemed to prepare the spikes of her tail already, making her give a quick glance at her, she still couldn't believe she ended up along side Marie. So giving another smile, she glanced back towards RTV.

“Morons…”

Lari quickly moved a bit away from Marie and took the chance he was occupied with Smiley to aim the crystals towards his chest, but sadly for her, he sized down and even managed to dodge two of the crystals, 3 of them tho- managed to make crystal like holes in his coat.

She felt his gaze locking on her and freezed for a moment before shaking her head and dashing at full speed in his direction, but something catch the attention of the upper eyes of her mask as they looked to the side and saw....T H E L E V I A T H A N ? NO- not the time for that...The upper eyes turned they attetion back to RTV.

He managed to dodge Sci attack, grabbing her by the collar soon after, and then tossing her to the side. Lari made a high jump ignoring the laws of physics as usual and prepared to give him a powerfull kick in his TV head, just to same TV quick switch around to avoid her attack...Sneaky bastard.

When she missed the hit she didn't hesitated to summon more crystals behind her in a attempt to hit his head this time...Is not like this would be enough to kill him anyway, but at least it will keep him away for a while...She stared at him furiously while preparing herself.

“It looks like we are simply MEANT to cross paths...Allow me to get RID of that though.”

He snapped his fingers and the moment she was going to aim the crystals on him...They disintegrated...She looked back and saw they quickly turning into dust and disappearing...oh...OH FUCK-

Her hair fluffed up at the now realization that her magic could no longer be used... She quickly moved away from him and got into a defensive position, only to see the ribbon girl- MAN SHE HAD TO KNOW HER NAME URGENTLY- anyway, it seemed like she wouldn't have to worry about RTV now since the girl took her place and attacked him with her sick tentacles, making him retreat, and now that he was away she could start panicking.

She began to desperately try to summon them, but nothing, she even began to snap her fingers again and again…But the result was the same, she looked at the purple crystal she was carrying in her neck, taking a better look at it…It had a static color…He really blocked her magic, now if she already didn't stand a chance against him before, NOW SHE DEFINITELY DOESN'T!

The pupils of her mask eyes started to get a little frantic, almost not noticing RTV growing again and Marie attacking him, that until she heard "NIRA!" out loud and finally came back to reality again, she needed to stop doing this at times like this-

Another finger snap echoed, she started hearing bone cracking sounds and quickly looked at the TVs, seeing mini versions of the oversized idiot appearing now…"THIS IS BAD, REALLY BAD-" She started desperately using all the eyes of her mask to locate the position of each of them…But she failed to see Nira approaching Sci and touching her face with her little black hands beside her, why she was-

Another second later the fish body went slack, eyes rolling back as she lost consciousness and her previous movement turned into an uncontrolled spin-

"Shit-"

She attempted to dodge but Sci was to close, hitting Lari and sending her floating back. Her mask eyes closed for a moment from the impact just to open again and look at her side and see...

A finger pointing right at her...Her eyes narrowed a bit at the bright electric light as she unconsciously moved a arm towards her chest, to protect it...And then it hit.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

The power of the electricity was so strong that despite her regeneration, several red lines appeared on her arm up to her neck in a matter of milliseconds. The eyes of her mask glowed a bright white, making her roll her eyes behind it as she screamed at a volume that echoed slightly... Her body trembled as she felt she was being burned from the inside out, that is until she felt something holding her from behind, she could barely see what or who it was…

Her body was almost paralyzed, even though now she was in motion. She could barely breathe properly, damn, if he had hit her heart, maybe the damage would have been a thousand times worse... Her ears were making an unbearable ringing inside her head, her breathing was fast as if she were searching for oxygen that wasn’t even there. But then she seemed to catch something reflecting in the corner of her vision, making her stop and focus on what she was seeing...It looked like metal under the sun... Wait a-

Her regeneration started to take effect, allowing her to slightly turn back, noticing she was being held in the mouth of a Razorwhip, who seemed quite worried about the condition of her small ally, her wings gliding in the air while her tail was already ready to attack the now countless clones of the TV head…Sigh- Looks like Marie was officially her live savior at this point… She really didn't want to cause this much trouble to her-

Her breathing began to stabilize as she continued being carried by Marie, who landed a little ahead where it seemed safer despite the numerous clones that had appeared around, then placing her on the ground, already preparing to defend her despite barely knowing her. Lari noticed this and immediately forced herself to stand up, to Marie’s surprise, there was no way she would let Marie face this alone after everything that had happened.

Lari slowly stood up, staggering a bit in the process, the dragon responded with a worried sound as Lari quickly managed to raise a hand up to try and reassure her.

"Calm down- arGh- Everything is alright ok? I'm fine- see?"

She lowered her hand and looked at her arm, slightly null with marks of electricity, which seemed to quickly disappear and return to how it was before, even Lari herself raised her arm and analyzed it for a moment before giving a relieved sigh and looking back at the dragon.

"I'll live don't worry, it takes more than a shock to kill me!"

Lari spoke with a somewhat proud tone despite the near-death situation she had just been through...Marie seemed to look at her from head to toe, not buying that at all... Lari herself was confused by this and decided to take a second look at her own condition and... Now she understood that look...The sleeve of one of her arms, the one she used to defend herself against RTV, was completely wrecked, not to mention a few holes here and there in her vest, aside from the bullet hole in the back of her shoulder. How did she not noticed all of this? Good thing at least she was wearing a shirt underneath this vest, that was quite resistant to damage...Quality stuff really makes all the difference-

She noticed movement of a few clones approaching them, making Marie immediately get alarmed and ready herself for battle...Lari gave a quick glance at her own hand, opening and closing her palm until long black claws appeared...Transformation...Seems like this is the only thing she could use right now to fight...Time to be good for once.

So giving a quick turn towards Marie, she spoke in a loud enough voice for her to hear despite the growls she was giving at the clones.

"MARIE!- Take care of the others! I'll try to create a passage for yall-"

Lari said, preparing to transform and destroy as many of these things as she could, but Marie didn’t like that plan at all, since she lowered her head towards Lari, making the same take a small step back as she watched the dragon let out a loud growl.

"Wha- COME ON! You are literally one of the only people here, that I saw, who have all the capacity to protect the others easily, you already saved my ass in a beat 2 times now! Let me be the tank for you now will ya?"

The dragon responded by giving her a strong smack with her tail on the back of her head, a piece of metal hitting your head definitely hurt.

"OuCH- okay OKAY FINE-!"

Lari grunted as she prepared for battle, shifting her form to something close to RTV’s original height, though still a bit shorter by around 1–2 feet. She grew crossed horns and long deer-like ears, huge claws, and a long snake-like tail with a crystal stinger at the end… She quickly shook her hair a bit, making it stand up before relaxing again. Marie seemed somewhat perplexed by what she had just witnessed.

"So...Are you ready?"

She said while raising both her hands close to her chest, her tail giving a strong slap on the floor as she smiled at Marie...The Razorwhip let out an amused huff while staying in a fighting position...The clones preparing to attack them.

"That the best BEAST WINS!"

Lari slammed her knuckles together forcefully three times for effect, while Marie spread her wings and raised the spikes on her tail, preparing to cut down those damn grinning foes just like she had done with Wr3n’s bots... And then, they prepared their fingers...Time for the dragons to shine.

Both let out a roar and charged to their respective sides, Lari going one way while Marie went another, dodging some of the shots fired at them by the Mini RTVs… Lari sprinted toward them with everything and then leaped forward, landing on all fours, suddenly increasing her speed. She locked onto one target and slammed into his stomach with her head, then stomped firmly on the ground and lifted her head upward with full force while he was still on top of her, leading him to orbit.

GAME!

Refocusing on the other clones, she quickly positioned her mask to take a shot that hit it directly, but instead of damaging her, it energized her mask, making her hair stand on as the tips lifted slightly, just for a moment, she resembled a porcupine. She then took advantage of the electricity in her mask and dashed toward the clone, attempting to transfer the electricity to it and knock him out. However, the clone dodged her charge, only to see her quickly spin and whip it with her tail, striking its side and knocking him down.

He didn’t die, and was already getting back up, and as Lari was preparing to finish him off, she suddenly felt something grabbing her from behind in a chokehold and forcefully stepping on her tail, making her let out a loud yelp. She struggled, placing her hands on the arm that was around her neck, but then she quickly dropped down and repositioned her body, throwing her attacker forward. He tried to grasp onto her side, but ended up falling instead, giving her the perfect opportunity to stomp on its screen, finishing him once and for all.

Only to receive a harsh uppercut straight to her chin, making her stagger backward, lifting her head up as blood dripped from her mouth due to the impact, her tail tried to stabilize her so she wouldn’t fall or be sent flying, and as she turned her head forward, she then received a jab right on her mask, making her be thrown back. "Dammit, those things actually knows how to fight!-" She grunted, trying to take control of the situation, managing to support herself back onto the ground… Then, the clone dashed forward, preparing another punch, just to her caught it with her palm, struggling slightly as she smiled at him. He didn’t hesitate to try hitting her with his other hand, only for her to catch it too with her free hand. Lari arms trembled slightly as she clenched her fists and abruptly yanked the clone toward her, raising her head, then bringing it down with full force, slamming it into the top of its head. The sound of cracking glass echoed as she followed through with a frontal kick, sending it flying backward…Seems like that one wouldn’t be getting up anymore.

She breathed heavily, struggling a bit as she wiped the blood from her mouth, her body quickly regenerating from the blows she had just received. Turning toward Marie to check if she had better luck, she noticed her focused on a group of clones in front and to one side of her. Marie didn’t seem to see one of them trying to sneak up behind her, preparing a shot… Lari eyes widened, and she huffed- "OH NO YOU DON'T!"

Lari began running like a beast toward the clone that was nearly ready to fire, shouting loudly to gets his attention and distract him from his target.

"HERE I COME!"

The clone looked in her direction with a grin, only for that same grin quickly vanish and turn into worry one as it seemed to attempt redirecting the shot toward her, but it was already too late.

(Puts gift cutely, and yes Lari did exactly that :3)

She jumped towards him, mouth open, biting into his TV head, causing both to roll several meters ahead. He missed the shot, and Lari took advantage of that, clenching her teeth into his screen and back head, the easiest part for her to bite, and tightened her grip, shards of glass entered her mouth as she managed to rip his head off… erGH- she spat out some of the glass and ran her tongue over the back of her teeth to check if it was all gone. Then, she quickly turned her attention back to the fight, grabbing the clone carcass with both hands and lifting it up as a shield while electric sounds crackled… His body trembled as if trying to come back to life, bizarre.

Looking behind her, she noticed she was now taking care of Marie back, who had already taken care of the other clones surrounding her before jumpscaring the other one. That made Lari grin with excitement as she shifted her mask eyes back to the clones still firing at the corpse she was using as a shield… Combo time!

With that, she threw the clone body upward and whipped it hard with her tail, sending it flying towards the two clones shooting at her. Lari heard a strong metal sound cutting something off and then saw debris floating through the air. "Oh-" she blinked before quickly dropping to all fours to dodge a tail strike that sent sharp spikes at the trapped clones, effortlessly impaling them.

"OOOoOO nice!"

She turned to Marie, watching her give a powerful wing strike that sliced some of the clones in half. Their bodies floated as pieces of metal scattered through the air, their fingers losing the electrical charge they'd been preparing, Lari took the opportunity of Marie still partially open wing to leap onto it.

"TOSS ME!"

Thanks to Marie powerfull wings and Lari relatively light weight despite her new form, the Razorwhip swiftly lifted her wing upward, launching Lari high into the air. Taking advantage of the space-like gravity, she simply adjusted her stance, preparing to propel herself, just like she did back at the Void when she needed to float to attack or escape.

And with that she began to spin, transforming herself a little into a ball (Sonic style) and going with everything back to the ground, right where the clone was… Marie released another fire blow but ended up missing, making the Mini RTV prepare to shoot her, but the Razorwhip took a quick look up and noticed the black ball quickly approaching and gave a quick dash back, keeping her body sideways to the clone, who didn't seem to understand why and continued charging his attack, only for Lari to uncurl and give him a strong tail slam, breaking him in half.

She landed with a loud THUD her tail positioned like a scorpion’s, eyes locking onto Marie, who scanned the area, it seemed they had got rid of all the clones in that area.

"HAHA! GG! Ya know, this actually IS a bit fun! Ignoring the parts where I get beated up of course...Cough cough."

Lari said in an amused tone, before lowering her voice at the last part and letting out a fake cough, covering her mouth while taking another glance at the destruction they had caused. Until more of them appeared, circling them…

"Are you kidding me...Just HOW MANY CLONES DOES THIS BASTARD HAVE?!?!"

She shouted, raising both hands slightly in frustration, looks like RTV have an automatic farm somewhere here in the TV dimension…That until RTV voice echoed so loudly that even the deafest person would hear it.

"ENOUGH!!! Now, ALL OF YOU! You had all your fun here enough. CONGRATS! You and your abilities, resourcefulness, teamwork and... sneaky...unheard talents...I'm impressed... well, half, Impressed."

She glanced between RTV and his clones for a moment, unwilling to let them catch her and Marie off guard, then she started hissing loudly at them, hearing the metal spikes on Marie’s tail preparing for more strikes.

"H-Hey, leave them all alone...It's me you want!"

Wait, after everything, NOW YOU ARE!- urgh, she wasn't about to let this happen after all that.

"Hm… perhaps a little too late, dear SMG4. The fault of one is the fault of all of them. Besides, THIS kind of behavior is exactly why I'm not letting you go."

Lari eyed the clones again as they closed in, her hissing growing louder, while her hair fluffled up like a snake.

"Again... as for... you two...Do you think that little stunt was to show me up?" 

What did they did? She was to busy fighting with Marie to notice her surroudings- then she heard Marie growling at the clones too, ready to attack-

"Hm... not much of a talker? And even after back at the Film Department? Now... people as high as I, have their secrets, and you two are the first in line to hear it...Well... My secret?"

She curiously stopped hissing to tilt her head a bit in curiosity, her ears tilting a bit, man she really needed to work in that-

"Sometimes... QUIET PEOPLE PISS ME OFF!"

Welp i'm dammed then-

however one of them started growing up, breaking free from his grip.

"W-What. Are. YOU???"

The big one took advantage of his surprise to grab her other version out of his grip and run away…Marie also got this chance to attack the RTVs with her spikes, making Lari go for it and run towards them, grabbing one of the spikes from the ground and piercing into the clone chest, fighting time!

Holding the clone with the spike lodged in its chest, she threw it upwards only for Marie to jump, flapping her wings to make her higher while taking advantage of the lack of gravity, and with a powerful whip strike, Marie sent it crashing into the others, some of them dodged. Lari quickly glanced at Marie’s tail and had a funny idea, jumping and suddenly holding her tail, causing Marie to look at her mid-flight.

"BERSEKER STYLE!"

Marie understood what she meant and spun around while she was still flying, throwing her with full-force towards the clones, one of them widened his eyes as she turned into a ball and detonated him, Marie took the chance and flew quickly downwards, opening her wings and cutting through the middle of the nearby clones, landing right next to her...Unfortunately for both of them, there were still many others.

Suddenly, a loud gunshot echoed, a sound she knew all too well in this case...Then one of a shattering TV, what just happened?

"No... 'REAL MEEEE'!!!!!!!”

Lari turned to witness the larger version of that mechanical fox taking a massive shot to the chest, red blood pouring out, however it was slowly shifting to blue as it floated alongside what appeared to be cards, the mini version of herself approached, crying.

"56 now...,”

“I-It's been nice... meeting you all. T-thanks, for the tour....O-Other... you,... You better return home in my place, yes?," 

Then she seemed to go limp, releasing a umbrella she had been holding…RTV crossed his arms, and then people around started crying, once again in shock.

"'Real'... 'REAL'?! Real... No... Please... What am I going to do?"

Lari just watched the scene with a neutral look, she was never the type to cry over the death of someone she didn't know or had no connection with, and… Death… wasn’t exactly unfamiliar to her...So she just focused on everyone's reactions, glancing at Marie who also seemed in shock.

"This feels wrong… Replacing the original? This… has to be a dream? It has to…”

Hmm…Was she too indifferent for not reacting? She continued observing the crowd, keeping track of the clones and the massive RTV.

“Do you realize... how she was enjoying the tour?”

"Something feels off." Lari muttered only for herself to hear, narrowing her mask eyes at the robotic fox...Why did this all seem so strange? She swore she had heard that tone somewhere before…

"Seeing her memories... So many good things... How....."

She sniffled, crying a bit more...UhH- Somethings tells her that this seemed forced and genuine at the same time...Was she pretending?

“How she learned to grow, how it took her a long time to adjust and make friends, despite being on the spectrum…”

The fox placed a blanket on her now dead self, holding her close..."I- SUPPOSE- i'm a bit soulless." Lari thought, not really getting emotional as she was probably supposed too, maybe because is wasn't to her or anyone she knew? Or because despite the fact that now 2 people died she somehow didn't considered herself in great danger? EVEN AFTER MANAGING TO DEFEND HERSELF IN THE LAST SECOND FROM RTV SHOT???? Maybe that's a reason of her acting like this right now...Maybe shielding that attack boosted a bit of her non existent ego-

"She enjoyed all the departments... getting a compliment for how she looked... how she interacted with the SMG3 Gang... Oh. The last time she saw the latter,... was that they were a lot... happier than before she met them. Did... did  she do something more special?... Like the green drink, the peculiar game, or the anime she was given the honors to pick? Was she …like a second Axol, to them?" 

"What is she talking about-" Lari said in mind, the pupils of her mask getting confused, she glanced at Marie again, noticing her empathetic about this all...Had [Redacted] affected her that deeply?

“She... she...She even cleaned your clothes when you were down..., and not even once, attacked you physically. She never had the intention to, b-because-...S-she was just a visitor, wanting to enjoy it all. Have a good time. And she did... Now she's gone... all that is left is a carbon copy... Knowing her, do you know what she would say... after what happened? Since I'm her...Mr Puzzles, I forgive you."

Lari noticed a subtle movement in RTV, she noticed he balling his fist...She then looked up at his face, he had that calm expression, but he seemed to hold himself back.

“It was her great day... It was a great day…”

It was a great day until i came here to see RTV face, and i'm greatly regretting not being on my bed sleeping right now.

​​“It was indeed a GREAT day…until someone had to mess it up. Shame.”

He spoke, his voice apathetic...Lari started couting the seconds for him to snap "3...2...1-"

“ENOUGH OF THIS SOB STORY!”

Lari blinked each of her eye mask lazily, until they widened up when RTV started to seized up, looming over everyone, hand grabbing TV’s on the side with such force that dents were left behind.

“You think you can BEAT me here? In MY world?!”

"Yes." Lari said boldly as always while raising one hand, Marie looked at her and seemed to cluckle a bit at her sudden declaration.

He now pointed a finger at the dead Rayas.

“THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU!”

"Hopefully not-" Lari voice at this point was like a hater in the back of the crown giving critics or responding like that was a question and not a real estantment...Then he let out a crackle that slowly turned lower and lower until his screen switched to a cold sneer.

“You’re right. Why TALK it out when you can FIGHT it out?”

A small smile now was settled on his face, as he slightly bowed down, hand on his chest.

“Well, it appears you’ve made your decision and I’ve made MINE...56 participants to go...Sorry, but I’m not hiring for a movie sequel. This ends here and NOW.”

Both Lari and Marie got surprised when the clones decided to attack them recklessly...And sadly for Lari, she got a huge hit on the stomach that send her flying backward, crashing into Marie and then into a massive TV that immediately began pulling both of them in with intense force as Lari begins to panic.

"NONONONONONO-"

And just like that, she entered the TV, static filling everything in sight…Her head started aching, forcing her back into her original form, the pupils of her mask vanishing as voices echoed in her mind, a conversation from a long-buried memory.

...

"Where- where am I??"

"Your new home."

"W-why am i-I gLi TcHiN g?? Why does it h U R T!- WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!?!"

...

"...What had to be done."

The memory ended as she landed on what felt like grass, her mask eyes shutting completely while she quickly got up, shaking her head slightly and placing a hand over her mask, trying to process what she had just remembered. "Dammit, why remembering this now?" she thought, before realizing that it was probably triggered by the static that reminded her of the Forgotten Zone.

Lari started piecing the situation together and then realized something- EXTREMELY important: she had hit Marie.

That made her quickly turn toward the dragon, who was partially lying down, lifting herself up slightly and shaking off from the impact. In a flash, Lari rushed toward her, waving her hands in an embarrassed manner.

"I'M SO SORRY!- I DIDN'T MEAN TO HIT YA-"

Marie responded by giving a reassuring sound, but suddenly stopped and stepped forward quickly…Huh? Lari looked up, almost blinded by the brightness, but not completely, thanks to her mask protecting her real eyes, then she realized they were surrounded by…Vikings?

There were other people with them, like the little ghost with wing-shaped earrings and a tail with a blue line from earlier, and pausing to notice this one more closely, she seemed to resemble a dragon, making Lari subtly narrow her real eyes behind her mask at her, almost as if examining her. However, her focus soon shifted to other individuals, like a one-eyed creature, the guy with the hat and pinkish hair, the smiley maniac, and a…What the- Is that a ball of hair?- oh wait- it’s a person-

More people started gathering, including the meme guardian itself...She then noticed the Vikings taking a combat stance, prompting her to quickly reopen her mask eyes to give her better visibility in case of another fight.

“We…come in peace?”

SMG4 tried to reason with the scared and angry Vikings, she gave a little peek at the Razorwhip, who seemed quite wary of her surroundings.

“In peace, you have a dragon with you!”

Stoick the Vast...This one would be hard to convince, she looked where he pointed and was got a bit more alert when it was towards Marie and the little ghost, already preparing to change form if necessary.

“Well…”

While SMG4 searched for words, she heard something unusual and glanced back at Marie, only to see her transforming into another dragon within seconds…A Whispering Death, thin and long body with enormous spikes and a mouth full of rotating mandibles. Seeing one up close was both cool and slightly terrifying…She took a few steps back, watching as Marie swiftly dug a tunnel with impressive speed.

“Quick!”

He yelled to the group before jumping into the hole, sliding rapidly down into the darkness. Lari simply shrugged and leaped in after him, falling into the shadows, her mask pupils glowed in the dim environment as she followed the meme guardian, hearing the distant echoes of digging…A few lights flickered behind her, probably from flashlights, good thing she was used to the dark and could see just fine.

She took a moment to glance at the others again, putting both hands into her vest pockets, some of them seemed uncertain, even a little scared, not that she could blame them. Noticing the grinning one, he looked…Uhh- she wasn’t sure how to describe it, but something about him felt off, despite the massive smile he was giving. Should she thank him for saving her earlier?- hmm…Nah…

...

Maybe? She’d figure that out when she gets home-

Eventually the tunnel led upwards until sunlight could be seen lighting through, showing Marie made the breakthrough. Lari gived some quick steps now climbing back up to the surface, realizing they were now surrounded by the woods…"Wait- where is-"

She glanced back, spotting the Whispering Death hiding from the brightness. "Ah…Almost forgot-" She moved closer to the hole, ready to provide cover if needed…Others began gathering.

“Alright, everyone here? Let’s find a portal and move on to the next channel. If we are lucky, we aren’t too far from 999…”

A deep growl made her instantly alert, looking the source of the sound was…Toothless? "Oh yeah, of course." he started showing off row of teeth.

“Ah great…Hey, we don’t want any trouble. In fact, we will be right out of your scales-”

Lari saw Marie peeking from the tunnel, causing the Night Fury growls to intensify..."Oh fu--" She remembered that in the series, those two were rivals-

In the next second both of them started to grow more agitated with toothless now instantly changing into a attack position, maw opening...Lari braced herself to step in-

“Toothless, wait!”

A boy now came skipping from the side to the night fury’s side, quickly turning his head in the other direction...Lari narrowed her mask eyes, then widened them, Hiccup had entered the scene.

“What are you doing?!”

Then he turned his gaze to them...Now that's a bit awkward.

“You have one too…?”

Marie showed no sign of easing down, nor did the smaller black dragon too.

“Yeah…No worries though, she’s 100% harmless...Listen, we can’t exactly stay here and I don’t think the majority wants us here anyway…You don’t happen to have seen a black and white square?”

I don't think this is gonna work out SMG4-

“Oh! Yeah, me and Toothless saw it some time ago, but didn’t get very close.”

Nevermind-

“What is it exactly?”

Hiccup curiously asked, Lari just slowly started shaking her head like she was saying "buddy you don't wanna know."

“Our way home...Where is it located?”

“I can show you!”

“...or that.”

They watched Hiccup jump in Toothless back that didn't seemed very fond of the idea and began to take flight.

“Hey! We can’t all fly!”

“Oh, right…”

After following Hiccup and Toothless for a while, they spotted the portal located at a cliff along the coast...Taking a look at her back she saw the ground rising, proof of Marie moving through the ground due to the sunlight.

“That’s it...I actually had so many more questions to ask. Like how did you meet your dragon? And who are these other people? You know, the…not human looking ones.”

SMG4 rubbed his neck, giving a glance to Marie.

“You could say we ran into each other and now are sticking together to survive...Alright, let’s go guys!”

Lari nodded and went with the others…Taking a long breath and entering the portal, and once again static, another memory coming… But a different voice this time.

"Does this all is just a game for you?!"

"A good history can't have just rainbows and butterflies in it all right? For it to have T A S T E, It needs a bit suffering and pain."

"YOU ARE [Redacted] PEOPLE!-"

"Oh don't be dramatic- what fun would it have if everything was easy?"

Memory ended as she crossed the portal, giving her head a light tap to return to normal…"This is weird…I don't usually remember these things." Lari noticed the place, the broad dark hallway. The pupils of her mask turned into spirals as she quickly closed her eyes again. Taking a quick look around she searched for the Whispering Death, only to realize that it was nowhere in sight, she took another quick look in all directions and then realized that Marie had returned to normal, she gave a relieved sigh when she saw her…She was probably dizzy.

“Oh hey, you’re alive as well.”

“Where did you end up?”

“How to train your dragon. You?

“Hell.”

PFFFFFFF- DAMN BRO- she almost laughed out loud at that, hopefully it wasn't the literal hell.

“If we are all together again we may as well continue.”

“Right…”

Everyone now continued through the black hallways much similar to that of a generic house...Then at the end of the hallway, a door, opening it revealed a kid's room. And a giant TV placed at the back of the wall, displaying static.

She honestly don't want to have more flashbacks...

But then SMG4 stepped through, soon the others following...She sighed and looked a bit around, giving a long breath in and out and entering.

"What is the meaning of this...?"

"Specify.."

"THIS [Redacted]!!!"

"Ah...This-...Well, I just got...a bit mad."

Another memory with another voice, but what the hell was going on huh? Was RTV playing with her now? No, no...There must be something here that is triggering them, not just the static from the portals...Right?...And speaking of portals, the one behind them disappeared.

“It’s a loop?”

“Only one way to find out.”

They walked to another portal, Lari hearing voices in her head again…But this time they were lower.

"Do you undestand what you're doing here?!"

"Yes i do, giving everyone here a reason to NOT mess with me."

Other voices, but besides them some muffled ones of two people fighting could be heard from one of the doors, Animsay decided to open it only to reveal an empty living room…Although the sounds were still coming out of there.

“Getting major horror flick vibes here…”

“The Conjuring maybe?”

Another portal into the kid's room, and there we go once more.

Everything repeated, but while the voices in her head began to fade, the sounds of the environment grew louder, something she was oddly grateful for. Yet this time, instead of the fighting, there was a door being slammed.

Another portal, and they repeated the same process again. Now, it was clear that a male voice was screaming, though the words were too muffled to understand.

Once more… She caught something from the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t quite make out what it was in the kid’s room.

Again, and this time, a clear image formed of a familiar silhouette of Puzzles leaving the room, walking straight through the crowd before vanishing into the shadows…That made her tense up a little, her mask eyes still shut.

One more time, and now an ominous trail of static liquid led to the room they kept entering again and again…SMG4 pushed open the door, and instead of a giant TV waiting for them…A much smaller one, stuffed into the body of a child.

The same static liquid was dripping from the screen, onto its shoulders and floor...

"So this is how you feel about your past, huh? How…Sad…You really had nothing good in your past, did you? For you to want to erase it and replace it with false memories. Yes… That would actually be wonderful, wouldn’t it? To erase all of yours mistakes." Lari slowly raised a hand, staring at it, while distant screams echoed inside her mind…Then she swiftly shook her head, making them stop.

"Meh, who wouldn’t want that, honestly-" Lari simply shrugged, speaking to herself inside her head. "I mean, I’m already sick of remembering the delicious slice of Red Velvet cake I dropped years ago because I turned around too fast…Aw, my poor cake- F for you." Her mask released a single black tear from one of her bottom eyes, which she dramatically wiped away with a finger.

Something tells you she's making that up...She stares at a wall for a moment.

"Hmmm…Now that I think about it, are we really that different? I mean…We both have our own rules in our respective dimensions. Our own thoughts about basically everything…And even…[Redacted]."

Hahahah…I can already imagine what you’d say if you knew "what I am." You would look at me with that annoying grin of yours and say, “You are nothing more than a HYPOCRITE.”

Lari glanced around…Observing everyone’s reactions. "After all this, will any of us try to stay in touch? I know I need to do something about that one." She turned toward the floating smile guy… Then let out a long sigh, briefly eyeing Marie. "…If she knows what I had done in my dimension… Would she still want to talk to me?" She stared for a while longer before shifting her focus back to the kid. "I doubt it…But i'm still owing her for everytime she saved me." She began counting on her fingers how many times Marie had defended her.

Suddenly, she snapped out of her thoughts, stopping mid-count when she saw the little Puzzles stir and back away…He was alive? In that state? Man, he had to be in so much pain right now.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay…I’m SMG4.”

SMG4 said, kneeling down infront of him and offering a hand, the kid seemed to be very scared of them, but eventually reached forward, giving his hand a small shake, before quickly letting go again...She just stared at this.

“Nice to meet you too, dude...Look, me and my friends are trying to find a way out. Do you happen to know the way to Channel 999?”

The kid gived a quick nod then suddenly walked past them, grabbing the hand of the first person that was standing to the side, the leviathan, so she simply watched him pulling her along...The same fish didn't seemed very sure of that but allowed her to led by the kid who was now walking back into the hallway and opened another door.

It seemed very small at first but the more people entered, the more it seemed to expand...It remembered a bit of her house in her dimension, but it worked waaay differently that this, making her curiously look around...Noticing a saw lying on the floor right in front of another portal...She looked at it for a while...More screams echoing in her head as she forced herself to look away...Entering yet...Another portal.

"Why do you give up so easily?"

"I just can't keep up..."

"Or maybe it's because you prefer to choose the easiest option."

URGH- That was louder this time, a flash of a dark and white figure lurking in the shadows…Shit even here she was chasing her? Hah...That's so her.

But she quickly turned her focus to the now massive RTV, his TV head leaning on his hand as he eyed them with barely hidden contempt…The small squirrel, who she now learned was named "Nira"was standing next to the portal, her eyes flickering with static, a clear sign she was definitely not to be trusted.

“It took you a while, maybe even LONGER than the crew.”

RTV now drawled, his gaze briefly landing on SMG4 before shifting to the little version of himself, who immediately noticed and tried to hide behind Sci. A chuckle escaped RTV, though it seemed more hysterical than usual.

“Ah and OF COURSE you once again couldn’t help to stay away from things that don’t CONCERN you.”

He now straightened, hands placed next to the portal as the colorful maniacal smile now popped up on his screen.

“So…who’s ready for the FINALE?”

Everything turned upside down when people started attacking, Lari instantly shifted into her previous form, scanning for ways to handle the maniac despite her obvious disadvantage…What was here that could be used against him? She couldn't transform into her biggest's forms because she wasn't in her dimension, and to make matters worse, her magic got blocked, making a second option of transforming into something big go straight down into the pit.

She blinks a bit and look at her sides..."Hang on"...Whe began scanning the area quickly despite all the chaos.

"Marie?"

She spoke in a low voice, starting to grow restless as she frantically scanned her surroundings- oh shit shit SHIT-

Out of nowhere, a massive leviathan emerged, charging straight at RTV… She watched the enormous being wield its trident against the grinning idiot…But after a moment of admiration, she snapped back to her mission: finding Marie!

After weaving through some participants, she heard a sound that was oddly familiar… Quickly dropping to all fours and picking up her pace, she rushed behind a rock and caught sight of a gigantic white tail spinning downward before vanishing in a tunnel.

"Was that…THE G O A T?" Lari faintly heard the sound of something being destroyed beneath her, almost like a mini earthquake…It clearly was the dragon she was thinking.

Lari swiftly climbed the rocks just in time to see the big Leviathan being knocked down by RTV, only for an enormous albino dragon resembling a Whispering Death to erupt from the ground and bite into his arm, spinning him around before launching him into a rock formation.

"OH MY GAAAAWD-"

She putted both hands on her head, impressed by the action. If this wasn’t a life-or-death situation, she’d have loved to grab a chair, pop some popcorn, and watch from the sidelines…HOWEVER! She had to do something, anything that could help them. She stared at her own hands for a moment. "Maybe this will work, but it won’t do much."

She altered her form even further, taking on a more draconic appearance while pressing both hands to her mask, which seemed to merge into her body before vanishing. When she looked again, she was slightly taller than before, four white eyes with black pupils, and a nose of a snake, her entire body darkened to pitch black, her hair turning white, along with the three iconic dots below one pair of eyes…She steadied herself on the rock, preparing for a jump...

"Yolo."

With that, she leaped extremely high, she wished she could fly now, but that would probably be more of a hindrance at this moment. Landing on the ground, she bolted across the rocky terrain, closing in on the battling titans ahead…The whole scenario was almost hilarious, there were three massive beings clashing, and suddenly, a lizard decided to join the brawl…She climbed one of the rocks, opened her mouth, and fired a blast at him, striking his screen. He glanced at her momentarily, and she prepared another blast, only for his screen to absorb it…Oh, come on- SERIOUSLY? She jumped back down, sprinting toward them.

At least she was fast, that was a win in all this, wait a- RIGHT! She turned invisible as she darted behind the rocks…Weaving her way through and dodging scattered debris, including white spikes, she managed to reach RTV, leaping onto his leg and swiftly climbing upward, her claws sinking into the fabric as she spiraled her way toward his torso. Upon reaching it, she jumped onto his functional arm, extending her sharp fangs outward and biting into the rigid metal…However, this instantly made her visible again, her body reappearing as she attempted to inflict some damage on him, her tail trying to coil around his arm. She didn’t notice his hand reaching in, and gripping her torso firmly before tearing her off his arm, some small teeth left lodged in it due to the speed… She quickly regenerated them while looking up at him.

"You SOMEHOW are more FOOLISH than the other one."

"HISSSSSSSSS!"

Lari showed her fangs at him as her stinger attempted to pierce his arm, making him glance at her with an expression of sheer disgust.

"Disgusting."

Then he began to squeeze her, bone cracking sounds were heard, causing her to scream and struggle as blood spilled from her mouth. Her head drooped for a moment, fighting to breathe and loosen herself from his grip…Until she slowly lifted her head again, speaking in a sharp, aggressive voice, staring him while blood still dripped from her mouth.

"Go...To hell."

"This isn’t the first time I hear that...Now do me a favor and PERISH!"

And with that his hand moved back just to throw her with everything towards the rocks… She flew for a while, not being able to look back until she heard another huge crack, colliding with a rock as she rolled to the ground…More blood falling from her mouth as her back was broken, shit… She tried to get up, only to tremble and fail miserably, her body struggling to regenerate, she was running out of power to be able to keep do it…

"Was...really that all I was able...to do?" She mumbled while coughing more blood..."Hah...How pathetic...I guess i really shouldn't have tried anything." Her eyes slowly started to close...filling her vision with nothing but the pitch black.

"Choosing the easiest path again?"

Lari opened her eyes again…Only to find a dark silhouette watching her, the countless white eyes with pupils that seemed to pierce through them, staring at her fixedly…She didn't seem to be in the void of the Puzzles dimension now, but in another void.

"I-....I- c-can't do much."

"This is not a excuse."

The creature hissed at her, Lari only looked at it defeated...Making it roll it's numberous eyes and said coldly.

"So this is it huh? What about Marie and SMG4 huh? Are you really willing to let them get hurt, after you was all proud and excited on the earliers fights? Are you willing to let them die because you wasn't strong enough to get up?"

That got a reaction on Lari, making her struggle a bit while slowly beginning to move her arms and legs to get up.

"no-"

"THEN GET UP AND FIGHT! USE ALL THAT POWER YOU STILL HAVE AND DO SOMETHING UNTIL YOU ARE NO LONGER CAPABLE OF DOING ANYTHING ELSE!!! AND IF YOU DIE- at least you will die as a fighter."

She gritted her teeth as her regeneration slowly worked to heal her. Gradually, she pushed herself up on all fours, wobbling slightly, her vision shifting from complete darkness back to the void of the TV dimension, her tail struggled to support her as she leaned against the rock beside her…Her breathing was heavy, every inhale requiring force to keep herself standing. Huffing, with caused to smoke come out of her various nostrils at once, she sharpened her gaze back at the silhouette before her, which gave a wide grin.

"Now we are talking! NOW GO THERE AND HELP THE OTHERS!"

"AYE AYE [Redacted]!"

Lari was now fully healed, though she realized she wouldn’t be able to keep doing this for much longer, it was draining too much of her energy. She then started walking toward the battling titans…But before she moved forward, she stopped and looked back. The creature was no longer there. She gave a soft smile and continued, determined to do something to stop the TV maniac…But what could she do? Most of her attacks were useless…UNLESS INSTEAD OF FIGHTING HIM, SHE ACTED AS A DISTRACTION!! THAT COULD WORK!

(Theme inside her head)

Lari sprinted forward like a wild creature toward them, but quickly changed her path to dart behind the rocks, turning invisible so he wouldn’t notice her, suddenly she halted when she spotted an oddly small stalagmite yet large enough for her to carry with her tail like a club. Opening her mouth, she fired at its base, breaking it free from the ground and coiling her tail around the thinner part. She then returned running, watching the giants battle as she maneuvered behind them, climbing a high rock formation and preparing for a jump…Reappearing from view.

She was behind RTV, now all she had to do was- JUMP- launching herself high and rolling slightly, still gripping the stalagmite with her tail while spinning to gain more speed, she started to descended rapidly and-

BONK!

She smacked him hard with the stalagmite, making him to turn quickly and see her falling infront of him, she gave a timid wave as he attempted to grab her, only for her to vanish, his grip missing her by an inch.

As soon as she hit the ground, she make way toward another tall formation… Reappearing and deciding to poke the bear with a short stick.

"HA! YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!~"

The weird little black and white lizard grinned with excitement while taunting RTV, who turned toward her, part of his screen glitched.

"Tch- like if I want to waste my time in capturing a vermin."

"Okay, he took the bait- time to annoy him a little." She thought.

"Uhum right...like you definitely didn’t wasted a LOT of that just attempting to capture a certain blue guy, a rat and even a kid- and still FAILED!!! What silly me to think you had any chances in catching me~"

She gived a little flick in her own head with one claw, while her tail started wagging to one side and another teasingly.

"Because obviously you can't do that even in your own dimension...do you really need yours guards for everything? Damn you're pathetic- have you considered training? It may help that lack of skills-"

RTV seemed to tilt his eyes and she almost sure she hitted a nerve, making her give him a long smug smile, however that same smile quickly dropped when RTV started running towards her.

"It was at this moment she knew...She fucked up."

Desperately she whipped around to run and nearly slipped off the rocks, hearing rapid footsteps closing in on her.

"NOW YOU COME HERE PEST!"

She quickly glanced back, realizing not only had he obliterated the rock she was standing on, but he was also showing that terrifying expression and closing the gap at an alarming speed…Making her let out a seagull meme scream before running even faster.

"fuck Fuck FUCK FUCK- I DIDN’T ACTUALLY EXPECTED HIM TO GET THAT MAD!-" She heard a massive stomp, momentarily lifting her off the ground before she barely managed to land again and barely dodged a kick.

Apparently, the more she dodged him, the angrier he gets, because she was almost sure his speed was increasing by the second.

"OK [Redacted] TIME TO LOCK IN, ONE MORE TIME!! PLEASE, THAT I HAVE ENOUGH ENERGY AND POWER TO DISTRACT HIM UNTIL THE OTHERS GET THEMSELVES READY!!" With that, she kept running, catching a glimpse with her back eyes that he was preparing up another strike…Instinctively, she turned invisible to avoid the hit, and he appeared to slow down, looking at his surroundings irritably…Time to play tag.

__________

@rtv-puzzlevision-studios

Ok that got WAAAAAAAAAAY too long lmao-

I was planning in making drawings, but sadly my laziness attacked and you know- (I'll prob draw them later in a better way)

@fenicearts420 ... Don't die Deadly noodle.

Victims: @leirom71000 @niranutcake @grinnames @lrayasostripes @purpdrawsthings @scimagic @alelathedragon @theclosetcreature @change-name-later @purplehairball

- She’s going to keep running in a direction away from the others, turning invisible every time he gets too close or prepares a hit.

- She surprisingly can keep up with RTV in terms of speed, but he’ll definitely outpace her eventually, because she’s smaller, meaning she has to dodge more obstacles while he charges straight through them, forcing her to stay invisible to avoid him.

- If someone else takes the lead and attacks him, she may climb or join in for a few strikes, but most will be fire blasts since claws, punches, kicks, bites, and tail strikes won’t deal any damage.

- If she realizes she’s not being much help, she’ll retreat back to SMG4 and the others…Staying on guard to protect them in case of danger.

(If you want feel free to use those lol)

Phrases she can say if he miss:

"MISS ME~"

"Are you even trying buddy?"

"DAMN! YOU REALLY SUCK!"

"Is this really all the power those 5 stars gives you? Jeez- what a wasted time."

Phrases she can say to get his attention if he loses sight of her:

"HEY LAMPPOST! I'M RIGHT HEREEE!"

"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!!! You know what i said? YOU SLOW AS F#CK!!!"

"SCREEEEEEEEEEE-" *Creature noises*

"Cough cough- Hiiii RTV!~"

[railwaymassacreau]

Sodor's Best Workaholic

Haha time to yap about my TTTE OC Rubie

Here's what she looks like typically (I forgot they don't sleep mb gang)

idk if the number 38 is already taken but if so that's my bad ig

as you can probably tell, she is related to Rosie

not the best at drawing beast engines but I couldn't help it LMAO. au belongs to @steam-beasts and uhh many others (ignore the visible ribcage she's FINE totally)

Unlike Rosie Rubie usually works the night shift so no one ever sees her except Henry or Percy on occasion. here's how to tell the difference between Rosie and Rubie

Rubie has one miscolored eye and almost never goes anywhere without her gloves or goggles. While Rosie is usually friendly Rubie will look at you like you disturbed her existence

My stupid ahh forgot to add the sharp teeth and fur so this can be interpreted as any virus ig

Not like Rubie would let themselves (she/they pronouns) get infected. Ya'll know Emily from sodor fallout? No? Yeah because she didn't exist. That's so gonna be Rubie in any AU featuring an infection

In all seriousness the image above of her as a monster engine has a very small possibility of happening still. Safe to say she would have far more resistance than her sister (hence why the blood is on her face and not her mouth indicating she would NEVER eat anyone ewww

Some extra info frfr

Sir Topham Hatt so frequently forgets Rubie exists that he sometimes doesn't even give them anything to do some nights

Rubie does not live with Rosie full time in fact she doesn't live with ANYONE she stole a fallout bunker and decided "its free real estate"

They do have a full government name but its embarrassing as hell so only Rosie knows it (Its Rubenesse)

Nah one time Rubie just stopped visiting Rosie for months which lead Rosie to believe she had been scrapped as Sir Topham Hatt wouldn't say where he put her (upon Rubie's request) Rosie nearly beat his ass until Rubie decided to pay her a visit one day

Rubie also has to avoid her sister like the plague because next thing she knows she's being shunted off to 'socialize' (ew)

Rosie's hands are coated in black from oil and being burned so that's why they wear the gloves.

Nah if Rosie was ever turned into a beast from any of the previously mentioned AU's Rubie will NOT fw her (she's not a coward she just wants to keep what little sanity she has left)

[tokiro07]

Toki Reads Shonen Jump 2025, Issue #27: Impending Doom Week

One Piece: Imu forcefully makes a satanic contract with the Giant Warrior Pirates, turning them into demons that can spread the condition through Othello-like positioning. / [Whether Imu has a Devil Fruit or is literally a devil remains to be seen, but the ability to turn people into loyal, immortal monsters against their will pretty starkly establishes Imu as the antithesis to Nika, the God of Liberation; fortunately, the Othello imagery strongly suggests that the all-white Luffy should be able to reverse the process, perhaps by teaming up with Bonney?]

Roboco: Through various absurd and completely inapt coincidences in the form of Jump references, Gorilla survives every single attempt on his life by the alternate Robocos; Gag Roboco explains that Gorilla is actually immortal, and one of the alternate Motsuos reveals that Gag Gorilla has in fact already died previously and come back, and therefore the conditions for the canon event have already been fulfilled. / [What'd I tell ya? Though admittedly I forgot that he died once, if I remembered I would have sad that; with all of the Jump references, I'm amazed they didn't draw an explicit parallel to EluSam's Takauji]

Sakamoto: Shin attempts to keep Takamura!Uzuki's attention away from bystanders, but a bunch of Slur henchmen show up with bloodlust directed at Shin - only for Uzuki to blindly slaughter them, filling up an exhibit tunnel with corpses and blood; Shin tries to hijack Uzuki, but seems to have been just too slow... / [I'm not worried about Shin, it's definitely gonna turn out that he made it in the nick of time, but damn if that's not a hair-raising panel - speech bubbles getting cut is always a great touch]

EluSam: Takauji receives word of Moronao's death and is hardly phased, and instead is relieved that his legacy will not be overtaken by the Kono clan; Tokiyuki goes to Takauji to deliver Moronao's final message, and though lacking divine protection, similarly manages to survive the ensuing onslaught of arrows; Shizuku discovers that the frustration Takauji feels when faced with Tokiyuki disrupts his divine power and makes him vulnerable, and devises a plan to take advantage of that weakness. / [I really enjoy the juxtaposition of how Takauji and Tokiyuki survive having arrows shot at them here - Takauji passively has everything go his way without lifting a finger, including arrows simply disintegrating as they approach him, while Tokiyuki has to actively dodge, block, or even catch the arrows himself in an amazing feat of dexterity; this comparison of Luck and Pluck makes for an excellent demonstration of EluSam's Effort]

Witch Watch: Kanshi asks Morihito to once again go on a double date with him and some girls that he had previously tried to impress with magic (to disastrous results); having failed to learn anything from the previous attempt, Kanshi once again enlists Nico's help, but accidentally offsets everything he says by one sentence and once again humiliating himself. / [As with many Witch Watch chapters, I skimmed through this one at lightning pace out of sheer secondhand embarrassment; better luck next time, Kanshi]

Akane: Akane's performance in the preliminary round of the Zuiun Prize begins, and though some members of the audience begin to nod off from the lack of laughs, her sheer stage presence snaps them back to attention; Akane has realized that in changing her once selfish style of Rakugo to be able to adapt to her audience, she actually lost the ability to tell stories how she wanted, but now has the skill to have her cake and eat it too. / [As I said recently in regards to Otr, I'm a big fan of overcorrecting character arcs - Akane learned everything she needed to know about Rakugo by denying her base nature, and in the process lost that part of herself; now that she's mastered doing it "the right way," she can bend the artform around her to fit "her way"]

Kill Blue: The Home-Ec Club and Student Council discover that there are better guns hidden through the arena, and the StuCo gets a better pickup that turns the tides in their favor; however, Noren comes up with a plan that turns them right back, demonstrating that she may have a hidden talent for assassination. / [Chalk another one up for the Adult Noren Theory, though I never anticipated she'd be a hitman - I always figured she was a scientist based on that picture they found on the island]

Nue: For the sake of Ishu's love, Suzaku's clone body threatens to execute not only Gakuro's harem, but everyone present at the festival; to protect everyone, Gakuro levels up once again, combining Yodama and Yokaku, and fends off her attack, but ends up with an icy timebomb implanted in his heart via a kiss - if he wants to remove it, he'll need to make a contract with the real Suzaku when she resurrects. / [I don't think I get what Yodama and Yokaku are or what they're actually capable of, which I think illustrates this series' main weakness for me - it doesn't convey the action in a way that's particularly easy to understand visually or explain it in a way that's easy to understand conceptually; meanwhile, the relationships of the characters are quite easy for me to understand and get invested in, so I get the feeling Kawae isn't actually interested in telling a battle story but didn't think that the romance would carry very well without it]

Kagurabachi: The Kamunabi realize that there are moles among them and order that all members stay away from Hakuri so as not to impede his escape; when some members fight over whether to protect or avoid Hakuri, some of the moles reveal themselves and begin killing everyone else; as the Hishaku descend upon Hakuri, an old friend reappears - Uruha, back from the dead!!! Though Hakuri assumes it's another trick at first, Uruha shares a codeword he heard Chihiro and Hakuri share in his first encounter with them, proving he's the real deal. / [Apparently there were folks in the fandom who had been theorizing that Samura healed Uruha after killing him the same way he did for Chihiro, but I'm not active in this fandom, so I never heard that theory; it makes enough sense, but I kind of figured at the time that Samura's motivation was to kill the Swordbearers because they were war criminals, so that's probably why I never considered the possibility]

Chojo: Rewinding a little bit to the stakeout chapter, a disguised Ippongi and Inukai discuss why Chojo was assigned to Chinjuku; Inukai reveals that Chojo had once read the mind of a drug addict and mistook his delusions of violence for a real threat, leading him to order Inukai to shoot an unarmed man; Inukai's obsession with Chojo comes not from missing their glory days, but from a desire to remind Chojo that he's not solely responsible for their downfall and in the hopes that someday he'll be punished for allowing Chojo to take the fall; Ippongi realizes that their goofy outfits detract from the weight of the conversation. / [Knowing that Chojo is ending with its next chapter, I can't help but wonder if maybe getting this chapter earlier might have established a stronger emotional core to resonate with its audience]

Kiyoshi: Thinking back on the day when Sakaki nominated him to become a Cross Paladin, Tsurugi finds the strength to use his greatest weapon, Arthur's Excalibur, allowing him to beat Tonjinchi, though seemingly at some great cost. / [This definitely fleshed out Tsurugi a bit, but not quite enough to really endear me to him; honestly I'm a lot more interested in his brother Utsugi, whose hair looks suspiciously similar to Asuta Roth's...]

Hima-Ten: Mikoto comes to the Culture Festival to support Kanna's feelings for Tenichi and to scope out the other girls she knows are interested in him; Kanna is informed that her part in the fashion show was accidentally listed as being part of the couples' division, so she asks Tenichi to be her partner. / [An extremely cute chapter for Kanna - seeing her pouting about Tenichi seemingly forgetting his promise to celebrate with her after winning her competition, then seeing her jumping at the chance to pretend to be a couple in the fashion show both gave her a big boost, though she was already my best girl]

Ichi: Raging against Bakugami's sorrow, Gokuraku's body breaks, revealing that the enhancements to his body went much further than we were originally led to believe; remembering his conversation with Ichi about leaning on family, Gokuraku manages to regain his senses and proudly declare himself as the prince of Kagami who will liberate his people from Bakugami. / [I like the idea that Gokuraku's interpretation of family isn't meant to be the be-all-end-all, and instead is presented as just one perspective of the theme; Ichi will likely internalize that perspective while still searching for his own]

Shinobi: The Ninja Arts Battle begins, and Squad 9 quickly takes the lead, though Squad 6 is right on their heels; to slow down the widening gap, Hayabusa decides to take the fight straight to Yodaka. / [Squad 9's early lead initially makes Squad 6 feel like less of a threat, but Hayabusa's casual response to it makes it clear that he has the power to make up the difference and shouldn't be underestimated...that said, I could've sworn they said other single digit squads would be here, but I guess not if only 6 and 9 are making any headway]

Syd Craft: We learn that when they were children, Syd helped Souffle's parents arrest Toby's parents for drug traficking, leading Toby to frame Elio for the murder of Souffle's parents and subsequently hypnotize Syd into forgetting that he solved both cases so he could make Syd feel the same sense of loss he did someday; back in the present, Souffle pieces together that she never actually committed any crimes and is being framed as Zero by Toby, though he insists that she is still responsible for stabbing Syd; Syd returns, however, revealing that Souffle had the will to resist the hypnotism; Lulu, Elio, Hakua and the police arrive to back Syd up, and the final confrontation begins. / [I can tell that I'd be really invested in this if it was paced as intended, probably across a handful of chapters or even drip-fed a few pages at a time here and there over the course of the series, it's really such a shame that it's certainly coming to an end so abruptly]

Embers: As Haitani gets fired up to overcome Nerima, Nerima mistakes his spirit for having resigned to "just have fun;" however, Haitani repeatedly surpasses Nerima's expectations, inspiring Takami to get his head back in the game and abandon "something" he's been clinging to. / [Haitani's ability to inspire both his teammates and his rivals into giving it their all makes him a great Effort protagonist, I really hope that this won't be the last game we see from him]

Beethoven: Yaso and Beethoven have a heart-to-heart about what playing piano means to them, and Yaso realizes that he wants to surpass Beethoven, a feat that no pianist can be said to have done in the last 200 years. / [...Why did Lexi and Marsha leave? Because they couldn't find the ring? Or maybe now that they know where Beethoven is, they know they can come get him whenever? That's clearly not what this is about, but it feels like the entire plotline just got dropped, which is as clear a sign of cancellation as any, I fear...]

Nice Prison: Nailro challenges Mitsuboshi to a game of tennis, if one can call it that; when Mitsuboshi wins, Nailro summons the Super Death Row Prisoner through...some seemingly magical means. / [Does it count as a return if you hit the ball with a Tetsuzanko? Whatever, at least that panel gave me something to smile about]

Otr: Seeing Otr setting himself on fire, Sixten concludes that Otr is the type to sacrifice himself for his goal, and refuses to teach him; Otr denies this interpretation, and insists that he has no intention of dying in his crusade - in reality, he set himself on fire instead of using Fylgja because he wanted her to set up a bath for Sixten to help warm him up and demonstrate that his flames aren't solely meant to be weapons; Sixten acknowledges Otr's resolve and offers to teach him to use Heroic Vigor. / [I figured we were doing a Life Energy power system after Alajoki claimed that one's breath carries a part of their soul with it, but outright using the term in the explanation puts a weird taste in my mouth; I do like that the name dictates the type of person who can harness the ability, I just hope that it's not just for generically "strengthening the body;" if it is, then I hope it has a better interplay with Spirits and Magic than Demon Slayer's Breath did with Demons]

Siiigh...I try not to point out when things are looking grim for a series, but with the writing on the wall for so many simultaneously? It's hard to ignore, especially when they're all ones that I'm enjoying. Honestly, I thought we had until September before the next round, so it's hitting me even harder. I thought we'd get a little bit more time to flesh out the conclusions, but nope, looks like we're jumping right off the deep end...I just hope they can stick their landings at least...

This Week's Top 3:

Ichi the Witch for Gokuraku's force of will and development of the Family theme

One Piece for establishing just how much of a threat Imu truly is

Otr of the Flame for developing its theme of Living for a Purpose

[a-smol-bean]

so uh

I forgot to post the art and lore...

This is gonna be a LONG post

Everything is under the cut

Sun! ft. Hands!

So about his rays because teehee

I'm pretty sure I mentioned this in an earlier chapter, but in case I didn't, they work like ears. They bend and flex to help him convey emotion, but the only ones that move are the large rays. I kind of wanted it to be like rays of light, because light bends and moves, but that was mostly just concept stuff.

I also have a singular Moon to present because his hat is annoying to draw

So his little silly quirky thing he can do is "waxing" and "waning." He is able to darken parts of his face to replicate the different stages of the moon. He typically stays in a "full moon" state, but sometimes when he's hunting or being sneaky, he'll go into "new moon" mode.

Now for a teensy bit of important-to-know lore for chapter 9!

When Sun and Moon's species gets super stressed or experience high negative emotions, not including anger/rage/fury/whatever other synonym you want to use, they start seeing in "scribbles." I'm not quite sure how to describe it, but everything gets a "quick sketch" sort of look, and colors don't go where they belong.

I drew this too to help visually

Uh if you wanna know

Sun: But why? What did I do wrong? Didn't you love me? I thought you loved me...

Moon: Shit... Where did it all go wrong? What is wrong with me..? I know you're angry... Just come out and say it.

Not gonna explain the dialogues because they'll make sense later in the story.

Another one that's on the same page:

Behind [reader] it says: "I WANT DEATH" THEY SING

And next to them: CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD

The little bubble is just saying what I did earlier about vision going weird.

I would say more but that would end up spoiling some stuff and building the world where I don't want it built yet.

But I CAN give you this little number I wrote in response to a comment:

So, the origin of the Corps, where you work. I stated so in an earlier reply, but Vampires are their own species. Much like other animals, they've coexisted with humans since the beginning of time. Because of this, every human knew of their existence, and there weren't any myths about them or anything. It was even common to be romantically and/or sexually involved with them, but Vampires hunger for blood and are strictly carnivorous. And what kind of blood and meat do they cherish and desire the most? Human. Because of this, when they would get with a human, the Vampires would request blood. There were no qualms except for the occasional human or Vampire that hated the other species.

But one day, a group of Vampires raided a village, killing every last human in it, some even turning on their own kind and killing them. The murders were brutal, and caused a stirrup within those humans who resented Vampires. They rallied together and decided to start a group of humans who hunted Vampires.

Eventually, humans and Vampires got to the point where they were always at each other's throats - sometimes literally. This caused human governments to unite to create the Humans Against Vampires for Human Safety and Preservation Corporation, which soon became known as the Hunter Corps.It is now seen as an honorable sacrifice to die to a Vampire as a Hunter, and this is part of the reason that the reader joined the Corps.

Another comment response because someone was confused about if Sun was a Vampire too or not:

They are both the same species of creature, but Moon is also Vampire. I guess you can think of it like if a cow became a vampire, it would be a vampire cow, not just a vampire.The Vampires in this universe work like your typical vampire, where they can turn people with their bites, but they were originally their own separate species.

Okay I'm done yapping I promise lol. If you aren't reading it yet and want to now that you have ✨lore✨and ✨official art✨ here's the link: Everyone Has Some Good In Them

[kittehbiscuits]

Old art that I didn't post here for whatever reason or I didn't have Tumblr yet (if I did actually post some of these already, my bad.)

I am doing this on my laptop which as far as I know doesn't let me group images together so every image will be its full size; this is a long post!!

(NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER!!!!!!!!)

Trigger warning: old art, blood, body horror, maggots, unfinished art, drug use, old art, gore, sandworms, corpses, nudity, self harm scars, etc.

MY FIRST DIGITAL DRAWING OF BEETLEJUICE this is when I knew the short hair wasn't going to work for me

^^I started a drawing of this weird au beej a long time ago and never finished it so I planned to post this sort of sequel after I finished it but as far as I'm aware I never posted it

I thought the shirt would be a funny thing for him to wear when he moves into the maitlaind's attic

First Bettyjuice drawing!

^^Featuring my ocs as Lydia and BJ

That one Ralsei image

^^ This one is in the tour's fanart binder!

Drew him with short hair for the (technically second) time

I forgot his beard. Inspired by the Haunting of Hill House (love that show)

I miss drawing his nail polish

^^art trade (design belongs to ohwowhumans)

^^Ok I probably have posted this one but it's my Donnie redesign and I think he needs more attention.

I think I drew this the night after seeing the final show

This one is also a celebration of the final performance

And this one

This is Beetlejuice from a really weird fucking dream I had (my mortician character was his coworker at a grocery store in the dream fun fact)

The premise was he caught her smoking weed in the back of the store and there was a big montage of them doing weed every day at work and then she said something that made him think she was gonna tell the boss and get him fired so he got a gun out but didn't end up shooting her and the dream ended (artstyle was vaguely south-park-esque??)

IT'S NOT LETTING ME UPLOAD ANYMORE WAHHHHHHHHH SCREW THIS.

[meanbossart]

Misc. Ask compilation

These aren't all of the asks I want to reply to, just some that I can answer relatively quickly to clean the ol' inbox out before things get out of hand. Thanks for your patience!

HAHAHA THANK YOU FOR PERUSING AROUND and for enjoying my work! I had a... Weird Gale experience my first playthrough which led to his characterization being what it is in my comics. Here's the beat-by-beat of all the shenanigans: https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/740827466716807168/alright-i-am-like-90-sure-there-is-one-line-in-a

And here's just some of my personal thoughts on him! https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/736193145686114305/can-you-tell-me-more-about-how-you-would-make-gale

I would be lying if I said I'm not conflicted to know my style still bears some remnants of my edgy teen roots (not your fault not noticing it though, you aren't the first and won't be the last) BUT... That comic did mean a lot to me as a youth, so I guess I should be proud 🤷 and honestly it is a little cool that such a thing would survive for so long in what I do, crazy how that works.

LMAO, re: the bottom/top debacle, I was honestly so surprised to see people react to it like it's something novel. If I ever expected to get any push back on the matter, I thought it would be from people assuming DU drow was the top and taking issue with how violent and big he is (and yknow, some people are weirdly protective of Astarion as if he isn't a sneaky murder machine rippling with lean muscle)

Very disheartening to see that mindset still so alive and well among young people, but I guess it just means I gotta draw DU drow throwing more back and Astarion drooling over more ass until the stereotype is forcefully banished out of people's minds!

(more asks below the cut)

"Sleeper agent activation phrase" absolutely took me out, Thank you so much LOL

YEAH I got it pretty late though, Astarion had already told my durge that he was a vampire of his own accord (and the response was, of course, "no duh") I forgot wheter this happened before or after the first romance scene triggered, but I think after.

Since this was after DU drow decided he was gonna fuck him out of pure contrarian spite and was shamelessly laying it extremely thick, He happilly let Astarion drink his blood. Hell, he was probably a little Too Eager - the guy likes pain and he likes letting people he trusts do with his body whatever they will, and while he didn't yet trust Astarion at that point, that event might've very well reminded him of something from his past that planted a seed which would eventually grow into his genuine affection for the guy.

Ah, he definitely got a half-chub as it happened too. I'm sure Astarion noticed it and just walked off rolling his eyes and thinking "eugh of course" lmao.

Hello!!!

Oh man, I grew up fascinated with horror things. I remember from a very young age just looking at the covers and backs of horror movies at the film-rental even though I wasn't allowed to watch them. I was also easily scared but I sought those things out anyway - I think i just enjoyed the visceral reactions it drew out of me and was always curious about most things taboo.

When I got access to the internet that just opened a (very unfortunate) door to all things vile and awful like it did for so many people at that age in time. Though my tastes have changed a lot since then (Less August Underground, more The Devils kind of guy nowadays) my stories and art are just always going to fall into a horror-y category because I just... Don't think there's many better ways to showcase the human experience and emotional range without many of the elements native to the genre, and I'm all about that.

Thank you for your question and your sweet words, have a good week yourself!

I did a little write-up about that over here! https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/742508493562593280/i-dont-have-a-particular-question-in-mind-sorry

That's the result of a scene that happens relatively early in the story I'm writing ("A Novel Experience" on Ao3).

{SPOILERS} DU drow accidentally passes out on a blade which puts a relatively deep gash on his hip. Meanwhile, Astarion is weakened and starved after certain events that transpired the prior night. They have a private exchange both in a somewhat hazy-state of mind and Astarion ends up prodding and prying at his wound while feeding, so it's a laceration and bite mark that just scarred over badly.

Elves apparently don't grow body hair so never LOL guess they'll just have to slip&slide up on each other for heat

[drabbles-mc]

Maybe some W - Water from the dirty headcanon with Chibs and Bottles?

me opening my inbox and seeing this ask:

let's gooooo!! thoughts below the cut for: W - Water (pool sex? bath / shower sex?)

okayyyyy don't let my surprise and excitement about Bottles appearing in my inbox make you think that i forgot about Chibs. I promise you i did not 😏 while i don't picture Chibs as the kind of guy who has a problem with bathtub sex as a concept, i do think he is the kind of guy who understands that if you're taking the time to draw up a nice bath for yourself, the least he could do is leave you to enjoy it. he'll let you have your You Time until you get out and are wrapped in nothing but a towel and then it's gonna be Us Time.

i don't think that he lists shower sex as his first choice (let's be real a bed it just more comfortable and practical) i think that when he is in the mood for it he is all about it 110%. it's when he gets back from a long run/trip away, or at the end of a long day when he got too much blood on his hands than he really wants to these days. he jumps right in the shower with the intent of washing off the day, the week. then he hears the door creak as it opens and your typical, "want some company?" that you always ask. and instead of laughing or brushing you off he tells you to join him. there's something about the warmth of his body against yours, the steam and hot water, all of that in stark contrast with how cold the tiles feel against your back as he pins you against the wall. it's needy and desperate, somehow still a little messy despite where the two of you are. looking for a reprieve that he knows he can always find when he comes home to you.

but Bottles on the other hand???? my boy the light of my days??? that man won't allow you a moment's peace if he can help it and he's not gonna be sorry about it either. he will make your bathtub have room for two if it's the last thing he does. it starts off as something that's supposed to be sweet and innocent and cute. bubble bath together after a long week. "you can sit in front of me and i'll rub your shoulders." the whole nine. he knows what he's saying and he probably even believes it at first, too. but it doesn't take too long for his hands to start to wander. what started off as innocent and cute very quickly turns into everything but. he's at least kind enough to make sure that he dries the water off the floor afterwards since more of it splashed over the sides of the tub than he bargained for.

it takes about a week of the two of you living together before he realizes that he is now presented with the daily opportunity to slip into the shower with you. sometimes he'll ask. sometimes he knows you're already running late in the morning and he isn't looking to make your day more difficult. other times though, he's pulling the curtain back and slipping in behind you before you can even think to try and stop him. it's all giggles and soft touches until it's not. you weren't running late for work when you got into the shower, but you're cutting it extremely close by the time you get out. one time you didn't even get to finish washing your hair, but you didn't really have any room to complain as you stepped out of the tub on shaky legs to grab your towel.

the first time you and Bottles hooked up in a pool, you weren't even supposed to be in the pool in the first place. it was a little hotel in the middle of nowhere. the two of you stopped because you were too tired to keep going on your road trip, but then once you got into the hotel the last thing you wanted to do was sleep. the pool was technically closed but you were certain that if you were sneaky enough the two of you could get in without getting caught. and you did, not even bothering to turn any of the extra lights on since the small bulbs at the bottom of the pool cast up just enough light for you to be able to see and not hurt yourselves. and Bottles was so busy being amused by that, that he almost didn't know what to do when you plopped down and straddled his lap. he looked around, afraid to get caught right up until the point when you pulled your bathing suit bottoms to the side and slid down onto him. you only had to clamp your hand down over his mouth once when a staff person walked by the pool room.

the way that until i sat down and started typing out the answer to this, i never realized that i haven't actually ever written for Bottles. a shame and a crime. but now i will be. thinking about him. 😌

Dirty Headcanon Game

[theravenchilde]

Look, plot time for perrin!

At one point I forgot padan fain's name lol

Damn that's a fast barricade! How industrious

Give Loial his axe pls

IS THAT WIL ALSEEN

Bitch you know trollocs don't have wagons fool also they were like five feet away

Hi Ila! And aram I guess. RIP Raen.

Faile is still so tiny lmfao

I wonder if emonds field just gets the whole episode like rhuidean

Ila and Aram hit harder after Rhuidean too

Can Loial understand maiden hand talk?! They taught him! How sweet

Lmao bode and eldrin bragging about moiraine

LONGBOW CONTEST WOOHOO

WOLF BANNER

I'm so sorry I keep getting distracted picturing that one gif of a hamster eating a banana re perrin and faile

Why isn't bornhald in armor?

Ooo there's a pattern on Dain's.... It's not a gambeson but the outer cloth on his armor? It's very cool looking

GET SOME LOIAL

Get some Maksim! Hahahhahahahah but do figs taste good? I'm sure the haters are gonna bitch tho but they can fuck off.

Are they gonna 🍌

The cinnamon topography in their convo is a little weird tho

Hahaha the girls hate the horn too

There's some very dramatic music going on

How come perrin gets armor and no one else does. Where are ur scouts. I miss Tam. Glad the ladies get to fight this time tho.

No you idiots keep shooting

What's the handtalk for fuck

HAMMER TIME

daise congar rip you beast

Damn I was hoping Maksim wouldn't be able to draw a longbow but I guess that'd ruin the scene

That's a big fucking arrow

Seriously whitecloaks? Y'all didn't notice that shit?

I bet they have darkfriends just so they don't have to outfit so many trolloc costumes.

Fuck you commercial

I swear if anything happens to the kids I will cut a bitch. Aram watch out for shaken baby pls. Oops. Sword time too.

Oh are we actually killing valda? Well good.

Ooo the ropes is a good tactic.

I think they made a mistake costuming valda and padan fain so similarly. In the action the hair is just similar enough I have to do a double take.

HAMMER TIME

Um. EXCUSE ME. DID THEY JUST KILL THE PERSON WHO WRITES THE DAMN SERIES. WHAT THE FUCK.

Okay I forgot season one, did padan get all logothy?

Blood smooch but I'm still big mad rn. Did they cut him for his costume too???!! Did we fix Alanna yet? Stop killing black actors off! This has better be bc the actor left for another job and they had to write him out. I hate this.

Okay I don't actually hate it but I still think the two rivers arc was unnecessarily weakened.

[popiellart]

Hello!! I don’t know if you take OC asks but I keep thinking of your big dragon durge and thinking. Did he live outside of the temple like the canon suggests before coming to the temple as an adult? What was his life like before that? I remember seeing an art with Sceleritas Fel where he was an awkward teen, did he have a family and was he sweet once?

thank you, that's a fun question!! :D answer under the cut, cause long

yep, he had a foster family as a child, his foster father was a butcher (hehe. wink wink. etc.), somewhat impoverished, but generally loving. (he had another name than 'the dark urge' back then, but forgot what it was even before the lobotomy)

he was a surprisingly sweet child. giving off the 'well-socialized as a puppy' energy, you wouldn't pick him out of the gaggle of kids he was running around with, other than maybe visually (dragonborn are fairly rare, and he's noticeably pitch black from nose to tail, so he stood out a little)

the most violent thing he ever did was lightly nipping a half-orc girl when they got into an argument who's gonna be sarevok and who's gonna be jaheira when they played (he wanted to be jaheira!! and the girl looked nothing like jaheira either!!). didn't even draw blood

well, other than the wholesale slaughter of his foster family, of course. that's where his backstory diverges from canon - in canon, durge is left on their own until adulthood, but he was taken to temple immediately, hence the art you mentioned.

playing around with the 'why', but i'm thinking maybe this was malevolent on part of the other branch of the happy bhaalspawn family - sarevok telling orin to watch the pup, and to bring him in as soon as the first urge happens, hoping that the kid will just break down from the shock of murder and immediately meeting the cult of bhaal, and. well. the problem will hopefully remove itself

Which almost worked, words cannot describe how much the sweet, generally normal kid that he was, was utterly unprepared for the murder cult shit. he wasn't eating, he was scared shitless of his divine father, he was scared of the cultists, he felt sorry for all the victims, he was disgusted at all the rituals, Orin was tormenting him on the daily, he hated Sceleritas, and blamed himself for the murder of his parents, he prayed to Bahamut to send paladins to kill everyone and take him away or maybe kill him, too.

But since Bahamut couldn't be arsed and no legendary heroes dropped by the Temple, he ultimately came to a point where he had to make a yes-no type of choice, and he chose to survive. Knowing that he's destined to be the world-devouring antichrist, and his death would probably marginally improve the world, he still chose to live. Because, to be fair, what has the world done for him so far? His family is dead, and he's trapped in a sewer with a bunch of freaks. Maybe if gods didn't want the world destroyed, they should've done something back when he was still sweet, still redeemable, right?

(in that way, he's a parallel to gortash, who also has very little reason to feel fondness for the forces of good in the world - where were forces of good when a little boy was getting sold to a devil, yeah?)

Eventually, with time, he went from just surviving to living, slowly started getting a taste for the Bhaalist specials - hard not to, lots of positive reinforcement from murderous ecstasies, being constantly amongst the brainwashed cultits, it skews your view of the world.

Sceleritas was sorta helpful there, he hated the little thing so much he eventually snapped and killed it, and found out Sceleritas actually makes a great chew-toy, and with time his hatred twisted itself into sort of fondness.

By the time he was a full grown adult in the prime of his life, he basically forgot all about his childhood and even the early days in the Temple; he had the whole Dark Urge thing on lock, the victims were just meat, the cultists were in his sway, the previous cult leader was eaten, Orin was sat the fuck down, the only thing that lingered from those early day was the he never really stopped being scared shitless of Bhaal, although he long rationalized it away as simply part of worship and natural part of father-son relationship besides

[bella-rose29]

episode 5 commentary - Death Is Coming

the usual warnings of swearing and lack of context, as well as a lot of comments on hands and arms and obviously spoilers for both the series and the books

girl has stare down with a skull in a jar

omg it's been so long since I watched and I forgot how pretty lockwood is

OMG HE ASKS IF SHE WANTS JUICE

WHAT IF THE JUICE IS ORANGE AND HAS BITS IN

lolllll George is shipping already and the episode only just started

Georgie needs more sleep

lockwood takes the Mum Stance

I always think that the DEPRAC van is a lego van bc it's yellow

ohhh you can really see how big the coat is on lockwood :(((

ooo nice detail with the lavender pin that he has

'wILL yOu cAN iT pAm'

hands

ugh Lockwood's so pretty

Georgie noo

'bobby Vernon will have been at it since dawn'

'alarming how quickly you got into character' (code for: I am completely in love with you')

careful Georgie that's a lot of blood

ew dead body

'I know him' YOU CAN SEE HOW UPSET HE IS BUT HE'S GONNA HIDE IT BC HE FEELS THE NEED TO BE STRONG ALL THE TIME

I JUST WANNA GIVE HIM A HUG

CAMERON CHAPMAN THE MAN YOU ARE HOW DO YOU DO THE MICRO EXPRESSIONS SO WELL

ohhh lockwood is trying so hard to not be upset and it breaks my heart :((( poor boy

✨swagger✨

I want an epic breakfast

'I hardly knew him' BOY DON'T-

wow she's a bitch let my boy do research

get away from Georgie you bitch

eeeeeee

'when am I not nice' Luce I hate to break it to you

Lucy that is very clearly a ghost and not a real baby

silly goose behaviour

'I did' QUEEN

'who's the latest slapper?' ICONIC

'oh wow, a female serial killer? aspirational, why don't you stick it on a t-shirt'

I love lockwood bc he makes sure the remains go to a good home AND Flo gets her money

ohhhh I just had a Thought! what if one of the reasons they made Joplin a woman was to draw parallels between her and Mary dulac??? one of the headlines on the papers is 'mystery madwoman: Bickerstaff connection?' so maybe they wanted to repeat the past but this time make the crazy one go too far and die? idk if that even makes sense but oh well

Georgie noooo

no leave him alone

let him go clean the oven and I'll be there to make him a tea

WIFE BEHAVIOUR

he can't even slice toast without being Extra

JONATHAN BESTIEEEEE

'a suicide note' Lucy honey have you noticed that your bf has a tendency for suicidal things

I really wish the bisto was in the background bc that would be hilarious

'I thought you'd be dead by now' NO LETS TAKE A MOMENT TO TALK ABOUT THIS

BECAUSE HE GOES FROM QUIRKING A LIL SMILE, TO LOOKING DOWN AND THE SMILE DISAPPEARING, TO INHALING AND SMILING EVEN WIDER BECAUSE HE KNOWS LUCY IS WATCHING HIM

give that boy some therapy for free

aw two nerds talking about mythology (I wish I was the other one)

also can we talk about the STAGING OF THIS SCENE??? BECAUSE JOPLIN HAS A MIRROR OVER HER LEFT SHOULDER AND GEORGE HAS ONE OVER HIS RIGHT

also George has the city lights behind him and Joplin just has the beige walls and I love that for some reason, maybe to show that George's life is bright and he's got life left in him whereas Joplin can only gain brightness from George bc she needs him for the mirror? idk if I'm explaining that right but oh well! also Joplin's mirror reflects the light behind George which is funky

just you wait for my next analysis of the show which is almost certainly gonna be on the use of mirrors lol

THE STAGING AGAIN

FILMING THEM IN THE MIRRORS

I LOVE THIS GHOST SHOW

'how did you meet Flo?' 'can't remember. ages ago' LOL HE'S HIDING THE FACT HE GOT HIS ASS BEATEN

ohhh the green lighting

'I'm not worried. are you?' well not when you say it like that

while I do love this show I am very sad we didn't see more of lockwood using disguises

of course he knows how to pick locks

I don't like it either Lucy dw

I love how jarringly innocent the stuffed bear is compared to the fact that they're in the warehouse of a family with a significantly traumatised boy

lockwood and kids <3

sack of potatoes

I cannot stop thinking about the fact that she must be dragging the Actual Cameron Chapman out by his feet

Georgie noooooo

idk why he's looking around bc he doesn't have his glasses on so he can't see shit

I shouldn't feel the way I do about lockwood regaining consciousness but the expressions- I just- hmm

'I'm a burglar, you should call the police' honey not one of your better lies

no bc why when I first watched this did I think that winkman was the same actor as Pekka Rollins

winkman: 'shall I draw some pretty pictures on your pretty little face'

lockwood: 'omg you think I'm pretty?? 🤭🥰'

ohhh I'm getting inspiration for a fic I started planning 👀

I can't imagine having to pretend you're being electrocuted like how do you know how to act that

I feel like something can be said about Leopold wearing red and mrs winkman (I forgot her first name WAIT ADELAIDE) also wearing red but idk what

omg hedgehogwood

winkman is actually so funny *points at lockwood* *puts hand over heart* 'ohhh' he's literally us

aw lockwood pls don't say that she's got more to live for than you :(((

omg Lucy tells Leopold to get out the way <333 she'll regret that :D

this couple loves setting fires

Georgie seriously how are you without your glasses rn

green light green light green light

funny looking bird you got there george

'total psychos' dude-

'I prefer to call it a noble sacrifice' NO I COULD WRITE AN ESSAY ABOUT IT

greeeeeeen lightssssss

'what is going on with you' Cameron Chapman Acts his Fucking Face Off

omg lockwood saw the knife and then looked out the door to see what was there

that's such an awful angle to be lying down

omg poor lockwood

the way he's sat in that final frame breaks my heart bc he's literally just had someone else die in his home :(((

wow what a depressing note to end on

[oversphere-originals]

original: animelia

alright, so this wouldn't be an actual writing blog if i didn't start off by talking about the literal oldest world i have ever created on my own.

this thing goes all the way back to when i was like.... eight years old, and playing pretend with my younger brother in our backyard using sticks as swords. we made up stories and went on adventures (i usually played myself and also all the npcs we encountered, though we didn't call them that then because we were eight) in worlds like Camp Half-Blood, Hogwarts, and any other interesting story we'd both read recently, which was a lot because we both read a lot back then. but because we were two homeschooled kids with undiagnosed but heavily suspected ADHD and parents who encouraged Being Outside instead of playing computer games all the time, that was never enough - so we made up our own worlds.

and by we, i mostly mean me.

animelia was one of the very first worlds i ever created. i distinctly remember being maybe, what, twelve? and sitting under the swingset in the backyard, feet in the dirty sandbox below it, with my brother, and drawing out the "map of the world" we were playing in. it got its start there, and then i forgot it for years during high school because i thought it was cringe, and now in recent years i've re-embraced the cringe and started updating this to become an actual story once again.

so here's the deal with my animelia story!

Animelia is essentially a world that runs in a separate but connected dimension to ours, which used to be connected closely to Earth by way of dimensional portals called goldstreaks; however, An Event happened several hundred-plus years ago and the goldstreaks that once were kept open for travel have now been shut down, and only the occasional natural goldstreak portal opens up due to the positioning of the stars and thinning of dimensional walls and such. This means that travel between the two worlds is now practically nonexistent.

(originally, when i was a kid with a pencil and notebook paper drawing this world, it was a galaxy with every fragmented planet its own biome - a jungle planet, a desert planet, and so on, with goldstreak portals between planets. that's long since changed for multiple reasons (including a lot of college courses on ecology haha) but it was a fun start, honestly. we always set the goldstreak transporters by the gate to our backyard when we were playing games, because where else are you going to put it?)

While Earth's sentient/sapient population is primarily made up of humans, Animelia's is made up of a race known as nyms, who are more or less anthropomorphic animals. The specific animal they're an anthro version of is known as a morph, so you can be a mockingbird morph, a deer morph, and so on. Nyms have an inborn amount of magic, and while not everyone is able to do a lot of magic, everyone at least has the ability to shift forms into a "full-animal" version of their morph, which is inevitably significantly larger (and sometimes more unusually colored) than the Earth equivalent. There are big cities, travel, commerce and trade, and all kinds of politics and magic and stuff that I'll elaborate on later (as I figure it out too, haha) but generally it's a pretty standard level of fantasy-world-technology and such. Just...more animals.

Oh, and humans are basically fairytales, that's an important note. It's been so long since the goldstreaks were regularly held open by mages that they're considered legends now, and nobody really thinks that "morphless" (humans) exist anymore in more than old stories.

And this is when we get to the plot of the book(s) here!

(damn, this is gonna be a long post. probably a good/bad sign for how the others are going to be, since this is the very first one, huh?)

The plot follows a trio of teenagers (this will probably be something around YA in age-level) who are in way over their heads, but they're still Doing Their Best. Their best involves running from the law, trying to blunt-force their way through language barriers with questionable success, a lot of hitchhiking, breaking so many laws I'm not even kidding, and a lot of found-family bonding through trying to basically smuggle a unicorn back to Fairyland in a world where unicorns are executed on sight for Not Supposed To Exist crimes.

Lussa is a spiny bush viper nym who's been more or less disowned from his (noble, military-focused, traditional) family for being so obsessed with tracking down "old stories and legends" of goldstreaks and morphless instead of "getting a real job"; he's currently working on trying to predict (and thus prove) the opening of natural goldstreak portals, using calculations based on notes he found in his late mother's journals. He's all intelligence and dexterity; he's very good at fighting because of his family but also hates fighting and avoids it when possible, and gets overly enthusiastic about anything relating to goldstreaks at any time.

Kyrren is his best friend, a snow leopard nym from a largely migratory tribe in the mountains, and while she's also very interested in the goldstreaks and morphless thanks to the oral stories that her tribe has passed down, she's currently more concerned with keeping her incredibly intelligent idiot of a best friend alive while he's slithering all over the continent chasing portals. She's more of a common-sense person, well used to traveling and dealing with bandits and weather and how they're going to get all this sensor equipment up the cliff when neither of them can fly, and she's a bit more deadpan but also does get excited about the goldstreak stuff.

Alina, on the other hand, is a human who trips and falls through a goldstreak in the forest behind her house, winds up at the peak of a snowy mountain, gets rescued by a snow leopard walking on two legs and a half-snake guy with glasses who's way too excited about everything, and then has to deal with the fact that she's now in a world where humans don't exist, she doesn't speak any of the local languages, and her only hope to get back home is to rely on these two fellow teenagers to get her all the way across the continent to a place where they think another portal might open up in a month's time.

It's basically a Road Trip From Hell sort of story, with extra language barriers, cultural shock, magical loopholes, found family, and figuring out that hey maybe those manufactured goldstreak portals hadn't actually been closed due to a completely natural disaster like everyone thought in the first place.

I have a ton of thoughts swirling on the matter of local cultural traditions, etiquette and honorifics, the magic system, and the geography, but this post is already long enough so we'll stop it here!

After a snippet of the pieces I do actually have, of course ;)

----------

Luckily, the morphless doesn’t get a chance to sneak away or attack them while they’re asleep.

Unluckily, it doesn’t get a chance because it wakes them up with a bloodcurling howl.

Kyrren leaps out of the makeshift nest with a yowl of her own half-caught in her throat, scrambling blindly for her collapsed spear with one hand and unsheathing claws with the other. Even before she’s fully awake she’s crouched in front of Lussa, who’s thrashing in a trap of his own making underneath all ten layers of blankets and hissing in a sleepy panic.

The morphless is moving—away from them?

Kyrren blinks sleep out of her eyes hard, even as she puffs herself up to make herself a bigger, more threatening opponent. But no, she hadn’t seen that wrong. It’s....moving away. Backing itself into a corner, actually, leaving all of the blankets behind and pressing its back into the cold stone wall. It stares at her with big, round eyes set high in its flat face, like an owl, but more focused on her and less through her.

Kyrren hesitates when it doesn’t attack. It also seems to stop once it’s there. Its chest heaves, moving rapidly for something that big, and its heartbeat seems to be even faster than her own.

Is it....scared? Surely not. It's not like it's the one being faced with a monster out of fireside stories and old dusty legends.

Lussa manages to slither his way out from the blanket pile and into a mostly upright position while they’re staring at each other. The morphless’s eyes flick down to him and it jerks back again, letting out another whimpering sound. It clutches at its belt as if looking for a weapon and finding none.

It does look scared. Of Lussa, of all nyms.

Kyrren had thought it was a predator, but maybe it’s more prey-oriented instead—Lussa is the exact opposite of intimidating. As evidenced by his sleepy squint at the morphless. “Whasssssit?”

“It’s awake,” Kyrren mutters.

“It’ssss... Oh. Oh!” Lussa jolts, then dives back into the blanket nest—making the morphless jump—before scrambling back upright with his glasses. “Oh!” he repeats, enthusiasm spiking. “You’re awake! Hello!”

He goes to move past Kyrren and she grabs his arm, stopping him. “We don’t know if it’s dangerous-”

“It’s not going to attack me!” Lussa protests, waving one hand at it. “Look at it, it’s terrified!”

It—does still look scared, frankly. Pressed as far back into the corner as it can get, its skin gone an even grayer shade of brown, and eyes wide behind its unruly long hair.

Kyrren pins her ears back, uneasy. She doesn’t really... like scaring people. Not people smaller and not threatening to her, at least. But. They don’t know how dangerous this thing is. “Cornered animals are the most dangerous,” she reminds him.

“But not cold ones,” Lussa argues. “Look, it’s shivering. Are you cold? You look cold,” he adds to it directly.

The morphless stares mutely at him.

Lussa deflates a bit. “Fine, you don’t have to...oh, let me just...” He pulls away, and this time Kyrren reluctantly lets him go.

She stands up straighter, then when the morphless only shrinks back, she sinks back down onto her haunches. It doesn’t look any less terrified, but it seems to relax again when she’s not towering over it. Really, it’s not any taller than Lussa when he’s pulling himself upright, and that’s barely the height of Kyrren’s chest. No wonder it’s scared, if it’s that small.

She flicks her tail out, balancing her weight, and wonders at the way the morphless’s eyes catch on it and widen before snapping back to Lussa.

[rose-vybe]

For the ask game pairing: SongXue aesthetic: modern AU, (mostly empty) underground garage, bloody knife, loud car alarm, someone coming down with the lift

Sometimes, he really hated his job.

The scent of death, the gruesome sights, the cold rationality of piecing little details together amidst all the resentful energy he could practically feel crackling in the air, unseen but still lingering there around the corpse. Endlessly angry for the life unjustly stolen. Poisonous.

Xue Yang sighed, throwing a glance around the deserted underground parking - barely a few cars scattered amongst the concrete pillars, no surveillance cams anywhere. Perfect place for a murder, really.

The team was still upstairs, fussing around the woman who had discovered the body and made the call, and he was grateful for this time alone, to observe things firsthand, quietly, before they'd swarm in.

He slapped on a pair of nitril gloves and squatted near the contorted corpse. He took in details, made several mental notes, poked carefully here and there. Spent a long minute staring at the drying pool of blood around the upper body, then another at the bloodied knife tossed nearby onto the oil-stained concrete, the thin blade glinting palely under the flickering neon.

Technically, he wasn't allowed to touch it; still he reached, his hand nearly hovering over it, ready to grab. It was like an evil spel or an obsessively insane thought, that if he held it even a little and felt the weight of the weapon in his hand, he could break into the killer's mind.

The sound of the descending elevator made him snap out of it just in time but he kept staring, taking in more, making more notes, engrossed in the spectacle of death which never failed to draw him in. One person, by the sound of approaching footsteps and he really hoped it wasn't some civilian the police hadn't noticed and warned because he hated to-

But then a car alarm went off somewhere close, the sound brusque and violent in the hollow space nearly making Xue Yang jump out of his skin as he jerked backwards, landing on his rump.

"A-Yang! Are you okay?"

A hand on his shoulder and Song Lan's voice coming from above, nearly drowned by the blaring sound.

Xue Yang nodded and scrambled back to his feet, hastily dusting off his uniform trousers, having forgotten he had the gloves on. Now they were contaminated.

"Fuck," he mumbled scowling and peeled them off with a snap.

"It looks bad, doesn't it," the other said, head tilted, but his voice his laced with concern.

He and Song Lan were closer than they should have been, and Song Lan knew more than he should have known about Xue Yang's work 'episodes'.

"It-... yeah. Gonna have my hands full with this one. 's gonna be a long night."

Xue Yang made an effort to meet his gaze, to work his mouth into a half-smile he hoped reassuring.

"You forgot, didn't you?"

Song Lan's expression softened, but he couldn't spy any actual disappointment. He had forgotten...? Oh. Their six months anniversary.

"I'm sorry, I-" Fuck. Fuck. FUCK! "I didn’t forget actually, I wanted to-... uh... I wanted to cook tonight." He fumbled awkwardly with the dirty gloves and stuffed them in his back pocket. "You like my cooking, don't you?"

Song Lan didn't answer. Instead, he just leaned in and kissed him on the mouth, soft and sweet, way softer and sweeter than Xue Yang deserved, considering.

"It's okay. We'll get some take-out whenever this is over. And lots of wine".

[askyogsundesirables]

update - september 10th, 2024

it's been about a good few months since the announcement I made to start this blog anew, so it's appropriate I give y'all an update and let y'all know I didn't abandon this again... (this entire project has consumed my thoughts since early may)

last I mentioned I've only begun brainstorming a new storyline, though now I have a pretty clear outline how the plot will unravel. at the moment there are a few in-betweens I need to add as well as rewriting/adding more content for an arc; I am not liking how lackluster it feels and it's a very important arc. well it should be. kinda note to self here, make sure to research that thing involving the arc rewrite

as you've seen recently, I started working on revising the banner with, surprisingly, an improved art style. I'm also testing the process of drawing asks and how it will look for the askblog on my art blog, here, feel free to leave me some asks there! answering those asks are gonna take some time since I have work and school started recently and I'm slightly behind atm, hah. the process and art style are basically what I've done before with a few tweaks and hopefully more expression/pose diversity; I mainly wanna get used to the process again

once all the background stuff is taken care of I need to work on the technical stuff, which is mainly tediously retagging all the old posts, yay... I'm also binge watching as many yogs complete series related to the undesirables as I can since I pretty much forgot everything lol. so far I'm just about half way through flux buddies and that's only the tip of the iceberg to the collection of series I need to rewatch. ALSO I've never seen blood and chaos so that will be fun

I project the rerelease of askyogsundesirables to be sometime in early 2025? which is ironic since the first post was made back in early 2020. wouldn't it be funny I start the blog back up at the exact same date. if the demi-gods permit, we'll see

is it normal to think about songs related to projects you're working on before it's even release? there's one song that I'm currently rotating in my brain