#lotsa words there...

[hexsie]

Cut the Dotted Line

Hexsy Lore | Hex3

6.0k words

WARNING: This fanfiction contains themes of body horror, gore, and violence.

Darkness. Everlasting, embracing darkness. That's all that SMG3 could see. Above, below, forward, back, the lack of light followed his gaze eagerly as he found himself lying on the ground. 

His head buzzed with a lingering static, attempting to recall his memories only to stumble back to the moment the television in the castle started to act strange. His brain throbbed against his skull in protest as he got up to his hands and knees, slowly shuffling across the room.

His gloved hands moved across the ground, trying to find something, anything that wasn't just the flat surface his hands kept finding. He knew he couldn't have been in just a small, compact room. He hoped he wasn't just trapped in a tiny space with nothing but him and his thoughts kept within.

“Give me something…” He whispered harshly, his Australian accent thick from the fact he'd snapped out of his hypnotized state and the feeling of unease crawling up his spine. And that's when he felt it.

Grass. Thick blades of grass with what felt like twigs and weeds. And smooth plastic laid right in the middle of the patch. He wasted no time gripping the object, feeling across it, and realizing it was a flashlight. He stood up, bringing the object close to his face to try and see if he could find the switch for it. It took a moment to hit it, but his thumb did the job and now he had a light source.

“That's better, now where am I?” He spoke aloud, casting the light to the ground. As if it were a stage light, it brightened the ground devoid of light to a dirt path covered in foliage and bits of grass. SMG3 suddenly shone the light to the sides of him, trees of a tropical nature revealing themselves.

This looked like the Internet Graveyard. He almost lost his grip entirely on the light before clinging onto it. Nostalgia hit him like a grenade. He hadn't been here in a while, not ever since he had built his café on the Showgrounds.

His feet moved forward without his command, dragging him through the area with a muscle memory he couldn't quite shake off. He turned off his flashlight as the area brightened and revealed itself as he journeyed ahead. The feeling of the Internet Graveyard slowly took hold as well, the humidity of the jungle rolling over him in waves, causing him to roll up the sleeves of his royal purple sweater up to his elbows.

“Damn, I forgot how hot this place is… was it ever this hot?” He rubbed his forearm, chuckling weakly as he finally managed to navigate fully through the forest, popping out to where his old Starbucks was. It looked just as he left it, except for a feeling that was rooted in his gut.

It was uncomfortable, it squirmed, and it dug into every inch of his skin. The air felt heavy with something he couldn't name like he knew something was amiss but couldn't figure out what. He knew he was alone, but that didn't feel correct.

He was snapped out of his train of thought by a loud bang in the back of the café. He jolted, tensing up before he gained his courage back and grew gruff. “Oi! Get out of there! That's for employees only!” He barked, running into the back and catching a glimpse of something white before it disappeared out of the back door.

SMG3 didn't hesitate to pursue, going into a full-on sprint as he chased after the pathway he saw the glint of white go. “Don’t think running is gonna do you any better! You’re not escaping that easily!” As he disappeared into the tree line, his environment changed once more.

He was still in a green area, but it somehow felt more different. The humidity had nulled and the area felt much more domesticated. He emerged from a tree line, his eyes meeting with a bridge made up of white bricks that bridged across a medium-sized stream of water. He felt compelled to move forward, slowly walking across with that uncomfortable feeling weighing down more in his gut.

Once he crossed, he felt his throat tighten. He knew where this was. Peach's Castle. Or, well, what was left of it, anyway. His breath shuddered as he met his gaze on the gnawing pit of teeth and eyes. A physical embodiment of personal demons that was never satisfied, a lingering reminder of a perfectionist.

SMG3 felt like he should know how this happened, and who did this, but it seemed his mind was intentionally blocking it out. The name was on the tip of his tongue. Yet, he couldn't speak it. Before he could dwell too long and spiral, he heard a voice beside him.

“She's here, you know.” It murmured, startling Three and making him turn, only to find nothing there from where the voice originated.

“What? Who? Who is she?” SMG3 darted his head from side to side, only to feel a hand on his shoulder from behind. He quickly turned, meeting the gaze of someone for just a moment before they disappeared from his vision.

“More importantly, why am I moving locations so quickly? First, I wake up in what literally could be described as a cube of darkness, then I find myself in the Internet Graveyard, and now I’m back at Peach’s Castle? What does it all mean?” He threw his arms up in the air, obviously frustrated from the lack of communication.

“She's fighting herself. She has nobody to depend on to break herself free. You must find her and set her free.” The voice declared once more with a sense of urgency, contributing nothing to his queries and instead continuing to talk in rhymes. 

He placed a hand on his nose, rubbing the bridge of it as it scrunched up in frustration at the lack of information. “Look, I have no clue what you're talking about. So you better fess up and stop acting cryptic or I'll—I’ll blow you to bits!” He threatened, standing up on his tippy toes to try and act like he was in charge.

A hand formed in the thin air, making quick work to move towards him and press hard against his chest. Without so much as a warning, Three felt himself getting shoved into the pit. He screamed a high-pitched yell, curling into himself and bracing to meet the hard ground.

Plop.

Three felt a cold surface surrounding him as he sinks into it, evenly distributing the shockwave of impact. Fluffy, fresh snow blanketed him in his fall. He groaned as he rolled over onto his back, pushing the sleeves back down as the cold nipped at his skin.

“Fucking weirdo.” He muttered harshly under his breath, brushing off his black overalls as he bad-mouthed the mysterious voice. Snow fell to the ground with ease, feeling almost tranquil as it added to the winter wonderland.

SMG3 suddenly felt a thought emerge, no reason behind it or the urgency that plagued it. Go west. The thought made him take pause and turn, his amber eyes greeted with dead, black trees that arched into an entrance. The coincidence of it made him shiver from the cold and his unease. That uncomfortable sinking feeling that wrestled in his gut turned more profound, feeling like he had swallowed a dumbbell and it was throwing him off balance.

His legs wobbled, needing to brace himself on one of the dead trees to the archway. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and his heart started to pound in his chest. Horror, fear, determination, and worry all began clambering up into a ball into his chest, making it feel like it was hard to breathe.

He pushed onward after a long moment of debate, shivering as he clutched his arms tightly into himself. The tranquil of the snowflakes faded into a harder, pounding storm. The cold bit at his cheeks, his neck, any place where it could find exposed skin and sink into it. His eyes kept to the ground, trying to protect themselves from getting frozen over.

The snow crunched under his feet, his breath freezing over until he felt the desire to look up. The snow clinged to his eyelashes, coating them in white before he blinked and saw it. A woman with a ring light tail, her back facing him.

Like a train, it hit him. His memories came rushing back like they were held back by a floodgate. Hexsy. The name purred in his head, sending warmth through his body and numbing the cold for now.

“Hexsy?” His hand reached out, her name leaving his lips slowly, waiting for her reaction.

Hexsy flinched at the call of her name, like she was in a witness protection program and he had said her old name before she had switched her identity. She turned, and to the surprise of SMG3, he saw the carvings of pink scars on the right side of her face.

“Three?” She asked softly, her eyes soft before they seemed to harden with panic, pushing him away from her. Her body language became guarded, curling into herself. “W-what are you doing here? You have to get away from me!” She yelled, fearful of what would follow if he continued to stay around her.

“Are you crazy? I’m not leaving you that easily! I’ve been trapped here alone for who knows how long, and you think I’m just gonna walk away because you said so?” He stepped forward, grasping her hands in his and squeezing them. ”No. Give me a reason, give me one good reason to leave.”

At the stubborn remark, her face dropped. She realized Three wasn’t truly going anywhere. Because she had no reason to push him away beside a feeling. “Three, I…” She muttered, feeling the fear slowly melt away, for just a moment. Right until she felt her skin shift under her sleeveless turtleneck.

Her eyes widened as she stepped back subconsciously. Her bones shifted in her back and poked out incorrectly, making room for what wanted to grow in. “SMG3…” She spoke desperately, coughing out a substance textured in grey static before she doubled over. “Run, run while you still have the chance!”

Suddenly, a sickening crack broke through the gush of wind. The air went quiet, as if observing the undesired transformation, silently delighting in her agony. Hexsy fell to her elbows and knees, coughing harder as her body trembled in pain, her ring light flashing a bright red.

“Hexsy!” SMG3 yelled, dashing over to her and kneeling down, placing a hand over her back. At closer observation, he noticed the pink cracks in her face spread. They deepened and widened, snapping into the skin like they were always there in the first place. ��Hexsy, come on, speak to me.”

“Bad move.”

Before he could react, an eldritch tendril had sprouted from Hexsy’s back with a squelch, covered in moving muscles and eyes that pierced into him. The mouth gnawed against itself, the teeth clicking.

“Fuck!” SMG3 grunted as he slammed into a tree, going limp against the surface as he tried desperately to get back up. Hexsy had sprouted a handful of the tendrils out of her back, each one equally unnerving as the last one until she could use them to lift herself up. Two of them landed on each side of him, the landscape around them starting to glitch out until a circle of dead, tall trees surrounded them in the wintery landscape.

She leaned down, a grin splitting her face in two as she seemed manic about the endeavor. “Or maybe a brave one, who am I to judge? Make it dramatic, make it last! All the more entertaining for me, Three.” Two voices erupted from Hexsy, one belonging to her, and the other sounding enthusiastic and familiar, but unplaceable.

His breath caught in his throat, taking in the change of demeanor and realizing that this wasn’t Hexsy standing in front of him, it was something much more malevolent. It was using Hexsy as a puppet, and Three realized he had to fight back.

He rolled out of the way as the tendril to his left lunged for his chest, standing up and scrambling to find the pistol he kept on him. “Come on, come on. Where is it? I had it on me just a second ago…” He cursed quietly.

In the moment of scrambling, Hexsy lunged for him again. He almost struggled to duck out of the way, but managed a clean side step. Hexsy rolled on the ground, briskly getting back up. Her tail wagged behind her in a similar fashion to an excited dog. “I can see why starshine likes ya. You’re quick on your feet.”

The tendrils raised behind her, the teeth on them parting like she was getting ready to let them eat. “I’ll be sure to revise that in the script.” Her fangs glinted in the snow. Her stance remained tense as she noticed he had finally found his gun.

“I’d like to see you try.” SMG3 snarkily remarked, cocking the gun and keeping his finger off the trigger. He kept his gaze locked on her ring light tail, watching for a color change carefully. Once it flickered yellow, his hand was on the trigger as she made a move for him once more.

A shot fired, hitting one of her tendrils. She scoffed, letting the hit tendril hang loosely behind her back. “Aw, well that’s not fantastical violence. This is highly inappropriate for an audience of impressionable youth.” Her gaze became cold as she locked eyes with the gun, spitting fragments of the bullet out of the tendril’s mouth and letting it sink back into her body. 

“Now drop it. We have an age rating, and I plan to stick to it.” She commanded, the second voice gaining more dominance and volume.

He gripped the gun tighter, his gaze defiant as he met Hexsy’s gaze. She hummed, folding her hands behind her back. “Suit yourself. I’ve always loved a good thriller.” She laughed, the sound glitchy before she pounced on him, pinning him to the ground with his hands pinned to his sides. The gun fell to the snow as he gasped.

He looked around in a panic for anyway to turn this around, spotting the tendril she was inching towards him. With a sigh of oncoming regret, he sank his teeth hard and quick into the muscular tendril, causing her to yelp and jump back.

“Ow! The fuck was that for?!” Her voice came through much more clearly, and he knew he was instantly onto something as he saw the scars on her face minimize to a more normal state. He scurried to get back up with his pistol in his hand. “Hexsy! Can you hear me? Tell me what’s happening!”

“SMG3, it’s—” Before Hexsy could continue, a loud static crackle emitted from her. Her pupils disappeared from her scleras for a moment as the scars quickly went back to their intensified state.

“None of your business.” The professional voice smoothly sunk back into her speech, cutting off her voice entirely for a few seconds as she brushed off her chest. “Dirty move. But I appreciate the raw emotion of you fighting for your life.” She giggled. “Please, keep giving it your all, I’m inviting you to. It’ll make it more enjoyable when I defeat you.”

SMG3 fired a warning shot that whizzed past Hexsy’s head, grazing her ear slightly. He was dead set on ending this fight, especially since he knew that she was still under this theatrical persona her possessor decided to puppet her under. “Cut the shit, you washed-up potential of an actor, and get out of Hexsy’s body.”

Her eyes moved from the direction the bullet went to him, that unsettling grin settling back onto her face. “Feisty. But I would rather not. She’s such a good puppet, very malleable for use. And she’s an amazing worker. Don’t you agree?” The second voice glitched out for a moment, sending a shiver up his spine and a sinking feeling down to his gut.

“You don’t get to talk about her like that.” He growled, suddenly diving for Hexsy. He pulled his fist back and slammed the barrel of his gun into her head. Her jaw snapped back with a pop, her tendril hitting him in a side swipe and to her right as she attempted to stabilize herself. He skidded in the snow, making a large pile of it by his head as he came to a stop.

Her gaze met him in a moment of hesitation. “You remember the first time you saw these scars?” She asked, actively fighting to keep her grasp on control for just a little longer. She didn’t wait for a response. “They show up only because of one person. I signed a contract, and—”

Once more, that static sound crackled through the frigid air, only louder and feeling like it boomed this time. “Stars, we can’t reveal the plot that early! Tsk, tsk. It’s about showing, not telling.” The voice huffed, adjusting an imaginary pair of straps before she dashed for him once more.

He didn’t hesitate to fire a shot, landing a hit. He saw it pierce into her chest, her expression turning to surprise for a moment. Three’s heart pounded in his ears as he saw her hand move to her chest, gripping the gaping wound.

“Hexsy..?” Three muttered, gently gripping Hexsy’s shoulder with his hand, trying to read her expression.

He saw the tendril closest to her left shoulder blade and to her heart sink back into her back. The fragments of the bullets were spat out by a new tendril with a soft clink. The blood that was originally gushing out of the wound glowed softly before repairing like no bodily injury had occurred.

“Sorry to cut the dramatics short,” She smirked, grasping his chin and forcing him to meet her gaze, reveling in how he tried to squirm away from her touch. “I know you’re just dying to figure out what’s causing your precious little ring light to glitch out, to whose causing her all the pain. But if I reveal all the plot, it won’t be fun anymore.” She pouted.

She suddenly gripped his wrist, wrestling the gun out of his hand and throwing it far away from him, not caring to see where it had landed in the snow. “That gun makes you so boring. You use it like a crutch. Nothing without a weapon, are you?” She mocked, trying to egg him on and get him to reach for it.

Her plan backfires on her as he swung his fist straight into her jaw. She fell back slightly, watching Three get up in the corner of her vision, scowling. In the back of her mind, she was proud he threw that punch, knowing with full certainty it was her SMG3.

She couldn’t suppress the small smile that quirked on the corners of her lips before it flattened. The two of them got back up into a standing position. Hexsy slowly began to circle around him, similar to a shark lurking around its prey, following him with her gaze.

“Not bad.” She said flatly, though SMG3 could tell her second voice was glitching and sharp, the words sarcastic and venomous in its tone. “I’ve underestimated you, it seems. Looks like you can hold up in a fight.” She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, looking him up and down.

For a moment, he could’ve sworn that look was downright playful and mischievous. His determination hardened. “Hexsy, I know you’re in there. You’re the smartest woman I know, and I’m here for you. You need to figure out a way to get control back.” He pleaded, taking a preemptive step back as he predicted a move from her.

Hexsy paused for a moment, like the words had strung a cord in her. She knew what she had to do. She gave him a look that said she was forming a plan. The seconds lingered until she went back to fighting him, starting to throw kicks. SMG3 yelped, trying to avoid being met with a mouth full of soles.

“Power source, you’ve gotta…” She quietly whispered as he retaliated by pulling her wrists and throwing her to the ground. “Disturb it.” She managed to squeeze out before her body swiftly rolled and stood like a rabid animal.

Her tail wagged wildly from side to side, the light pulsing a bright yellow as she faked him out with a left hook and landed a hit straight into his gut. He wheezed, doubling over as he attempted to catch his breath. She wasted no time in ramming her knee up into his chest.

Three collapsed into the snow, the frozen water crunching under his weight. Hexsy loomed over him, a smug and satisfied grin on her face. “Well, I must say, it almost looked like you were winning for a moment.” She paused intentionally, eyes narrowing. “Almost.”

He spotted her ring light tail in front, tilting his head up to face her as she reached for her own pistol, aiming it with no remorse directly for his head. “Any last words, Three?” She pressed her foot into his ribcage, keeping him against the ground.

He internally cringed as he realized what he was going to have to do. But if Hexsy had told him to, hopefully she'll forgive him for this. “Yeah. Yeah I do, actually.” He took a deep breath, unintentionally biting his bottom lip. “Forgive me for what I’m about to do.”

“What are you talking about?” She chuckled curiously before feeling it. Teeth sinking into the wire of her ring light tail, the sound of a spark and disturbed electricity crackled as she couldn’t help the noise of pain and shock that left her lips.

“Oh, fuck. You little clever bastard.” She gritted through her teeth, grimacing. “Well played, you’ll pay for… you’ll… ooh, my head…” The ring light flickered before she fell on top of him, fully awake in her subconsciousness. Three gripped her hips, pulling her into his chest as he breathed hard and fast.

“C’mon, Hex. You can do this…” He softly encouraged, his eyebrows furrowed as he worriedly stared down at her.

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

Hexsy’s hands met the black grounds of her mind, swiftly waking up to an alert state as she felt a tug on the golden string tied around her wrist. She looked to the direction of the tug, finding none other than the enthusiastic and dramatic man with a television for a head. Mr. Puzzles.

“No time for dwindling, Hexsy. Get back up. Keep fighting or I’ll do worse to him.” He threatened, Hexsy knowing very well Puzzles was serious on following through with the threat. In return, she tugged back at the string, digging her heels into the ground.

“I don’t want to work under you anymore. I’m my own person and I know better. You’re a villain.” She sneered, watching as Mr. Puzzles tugged again on the string, forcing her forward.

“You figured that out just now? Or were you just stupid enough to finally let the words leave your lips? Of course I’m a villain. And I’m not letting you go just because you said ‘please.’” He gripped the string with both hands, moving it to the side and slamming her into the ground with the amount of force used.

She grunted in surprise and from the pain that crawled up her nerves from being flung into the ground with such brute force, looking off to the side and spotting something in the middle of her mind.

On a porcelain podium floated a golden piece of parchment. She knew what it was, her contract. She instantly shifted her focus. She ran to the podium, Puzzles quickly catching onto what she was doing.

“Oh, no you don’t.” He growled, pulling at the string and getting her much closer to him than the first and second tug had. She stumbled from the sudden pressure and was thrown off her center of balance. “It’s not gonna be that easy.”

“It is that easy because you’re a moron.” She didn’t let it keep her down for long, rushing for the podium with increased desperation, getting closer every time until she was in front of it. She went to grab the paper, only to feel it pulse against her and send her back.

“Seriously, Hexsy. You didn’t think it was that easy and I was lying about it, did you? Taking the paper off of its podium? It’s almost humorous!” He laughed mockingly as he saw her land flat on her stomach, winding the rope and reeling her back towards him like a fisherman catching something and grasping the line back.

She went to say something sarcastic in return, only to hold her tongue. When he tugged on the string or when she pulled, the contract did the same, like it was deeply ingrained in the fibers of the string. Theoretically, if she broke the string apart…

A lightbulb went off in her mind. She didn’t hesitate to sink her teeth into the string, trying to use her fangs to cut a part of it and sever the connection between herself and Mr. Puzzles.

“Hey—stop!” Mr. Puzzles quickly realized what she was trying to do, scrambling over to her and trying to shove her head away from the string. She instead bit his hand in return, causing a black substance that was most likely oil to leak out of him, flashing the bright light of her ring light at him at full brightness. Like expected, he stepped back to regain his bearings, giving her an opportunity to put space between them and continue to chew down the string that connected them.

She sprinted as far as she could before she filed her teeth against the string, using both of her hands to push the string against the sharpest point in her teeth and continuing her attempts in breaking the connection.

She saw some of the fiber of the string fray, her hope increasing as she went faster in her attempts to cut the connection off fully. What she failed to observe is that he had charged for her and went to hand-to-hand combat.

Before she could finish the unnerving process of chewing off the side of her string, Puzzles had transformed into his television state and slammed head first into her gut. She wheezed, all of the air that circulated in her lungs leaving her with a cough of surprise.

Her eyes teared up as she curled into herself, shuddering as she couldn’t get any gasps of air in, clawing for her oxygen intake while Mr. Puzzles loomed over her. “Out of breath, starshine? You should give up while you’ve still got your head intact.”

She could only shake her head. She hurriedly checked her second belt pouch for anything that could help her, anything at all. And that’s when she felt it, the metallic handles of what felt like a closed box cutter. Her multitool!

She didn’t waste time pulling it out, looking at the multipurpose tool that had everything she needed. Her saving grace. She opened it up, watching the thing eagerly spring up, grooves and pieces of metal insistently waiting to be pressed and used for a job.

She pressed on the lower quarter of the tool, unlocking the small saw that was in the tool. She scooted away from him, moving her hand at an unruly and unnatural pace to serrate through the string.

“That is unfair! Hand those over now, Hexsy!” He tried to lunge for the tool, only for her to slice the blade against his forearm. He jumped back, clutching it as a black liquid stained the sleeves to the white button-up.

“Dirty little…” He muttered, watching as the string frayed more from the sharpness of the blade. Right before Hexsy could maneuver her hand a few more times to finish cutting into the rope, his hand twisted her wrist. He didn’t care for the sting of the blade piercing his palm, aiming the saw to her neck.

She gasped as her eyes formed a glistening layer of water over them, tears welling as her breath caught in her throat. “Not so tough now, are ya, starshine? You wanna play dirty? I’ll punish you. I’ll cut you open and replace every part of you until you’re nothing but an obedient technician.” He hissed with a sadistic glimmer in his eyes.

She squirmed against his gaze, grasping his wrist with one of hers, trying desperately to make sure he didn’t plunge the blade into her skin and follow through on his threat. Once she managed to get a firm hold, she took her other wrist that had the string on and grasped another side of it so it made a loop of where the frayed strings were.

“Hands off my work.” She growled. With a final cut, she jolted her hand upward, catching the string on the saw and finally breaking the connection apart. She saw him drop the weapon, skittering back before it could hit her. Once it touched the ground, she folded the saw back into the multitool and put it back in the pouch.

“No! You… you…” Mr. Puzzles gritted through his teeth, watching the parchment carefully. “Don’t think that this is over, brat. Just because you have sleight of hand doesn’t mean you’re defeating me that easily. You’ll forever be watching over your shoulder, even when the imminent threat of me diminishes. I will always have control over you.” He warned.

“Go to hell.” Hexsy stood up, fists clenched to her sides as she took a glance at the parchment on the podium, feeling her mind rumble before a clean, clear sound of paper ripping played through her mind.

────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──────

Hexsy stirred against SMG3’s chest, her surroundings leaking back into her. The bitter cold of the snow around them, the nipping of frostbite, the warmth of his body, all of it rushing in and sinking in so comfortably into her skin. The tendrils that had laid lump behind her had retracted into her skin, healing over the patch of skin in her back and snapping the bones back into place.

He watched with a brittle hope as he watched her ring light slowly illuminate a bright white. He held her face in his hands. “Hex! Hex, are you okay? Can you hear me?” He asked worriedly, turning her face over in his hands as he watched her eyes over. Those beautiful, mismatched eyes.

“Hexsy! Baby, I was so worried—” Before he could get another word in, she tackled him back into the snow, his back sinking into the white powder as her hands gripped his shoulders and shook him back and forth.

“What the hell, Three? What is wrong with you, biting my tail like that? You know how much that shit hurts?!” She yelled, her light going a bright red to express her frustration. “I could’ve hurt you! I could’ve bitten you really hard or done something that I didn’t mean to! I’ve told you I can feel stuff in the cord!” 

He instantly sank into the snow guiltily, obviously still feeling bad for hurting her like that because he couldn’t find another way. “I’m really, really sorry. I know I should’ve looked for another way, but I just panicked…”

Her eyes softened as she looked down at him, the anger that she had kept inside to lash out at him later melting away as she saw how his body language shrunk him. Her words died on her tongue, a warm smile forming on her lips as she leaned down and squeezed her arms around his waist.

“...Thank you.” She muttered into the curve of his neck, the light instead fading into a soft, pastel pink. He was surprised by the shift in mood, but it quickly changed into contentment and relief that Hexsy was back, lacking the possessed double voice and the pink scars.

“Does this mean I’m forgiven? I’m really sorry I bit you in such a sensitive area.” He wrapped his arms around her, feeling her hum against his skin as she thought about if he should be forgiven.

“I’ll think about it. Maybe.” She huffed, sitting up and crossing her arms over her chest. He laughed, sitting up on his knees and pulling her back towards his body, not quite letting go of the feeling of her in his arms.

“Good enough for me. I’ll make it up to you by cleaning the bathrooms for a week.” He grinned charismatically, causing her to scoff with a roll of her eyes. He knew while it seemed like she was annoyed with him, that spark in her eyes told him otherwise that she missed his company and was happy to be within it. “Does that improve my chances of an apology? Cause either way, I’ll do it.”

“Damn well it boosts your chances. If that’s your offer to make up for it, I guess I’ll have to forgive you.” She shook her head, leaning in close and capturing his lips in a slow and tender kiss, something they both needed after not having been with each other for weeks on end.

SMG3 practically melted, sighing softly as he cupped her cheek, the world fading around them until it was just the two of them. He felt like he was kissing her for the first time all over again, not ever wanting to let her go again.

Hexsy was the one who broke the kiss, pressing their foreheads together as she felt like she was dying without having at least one part of them touching. “You’ve done so much for me, helped me out at my worst. I never want to attack you like that ever again.” 

Her expression turned solemn as she pulled her face back just enough to glance over his body. “You didn’t think I was intentionally attacking you, did you?” She probed, seeking for an answer that confirmed he knew she hadn’t hurt him deliberately.

“No, the voice gave it away. Voices? Nevermind, you sounded like you were two people speaking.” He didn’t waste a moment in answering, watching as she visibly relaxed. He held her hand, squeezing it and running circles into it with his thumb on the upper side of her palm.

“Hex, I’ve seen you at your low and your lowest. No matter what monster you claim to be or what scars form on your body, you’re stuck with me. I’ll always be in your corner to take the hits and be there for you, okay?” He smiled wryly, feeling Hexsy slump into him, hands loosely wrapped around him behind his back.

“You’re right.” She admitted, tail wagging softly from side-to-side. “We’re both stuck with each other.”

“That’s the spirit, sweetheart. Now come on, let’s see if we can find somewhere else to catch up. I’m freezing my nips off.” He shuddered with his teeth clattering together as she slid on her magenta jacket, raising an eyebrow.

“You didn’t think to say that sooner?” She shoved her hands into her pockets, following alongside him as the circle of trees that surrounded them from earlier morphed into an opening for them to walk through.

He shrugged, smirking with a wink. “I got caught up in the moment. You make a man forget about his body temperature, what can I say?” He ran his hands up and down his arms for a moment, trying to generate heat. “Also, the water from the snow finally melted in my clothes and onto my skin.”

She barked out a laugh, throwing her head back before she slid her hand under his hat and ruffled his long black hair.

“Dork. Let’s go.” She gave him a smile full of teeth, picking him up and wrapping him around her body, letting him put his hands in her pockets as she held them tenderly, feet crunching in the snow as she walked off and searched for a warmer place, SMG3 back in her arms.

[therantingsage]

Chapter!!! Four!!! Of Too Close!!!!!!! Cuz I forgot to mention it here yesterday!!!!!

[fr-thrice]

hold my hand fellow fat dragon enjoyers we'll get through this 🤝

[ramenwithbroccoli]

guess who finally made a fanbot after 2 years in the musical robot fandom

meet Janka!

above: Janka in to versions - a bare mechanism and a 'friendlier' folk attire

created in 1921 and commercialy released in 1936, named after a character in a famous song, Janka was intended to be the first fully inteligent record-playing machine for personal use. With her creator, Stanisław Lasota, basing its design on popular barrel organs, she was equipped with many different accesories to make her blend in with the enviroment. The most popular one was a folk-based look, inspired by traditional clothing of people of Łowicz, but many different options were available, with some owners even sewing it clothes of its own.

above: bare mechanisms, the mask sold to make Janka less 'intimidating', the most popular folk variant, a "night out" variant personally crafted by one of the owners

Although the company producing record players promised all of them would be able to change the songs by the voice command, it seems that only the original prototype of Janka retained that function. That's why, while the other copies went on to become just a fancy gimmick, Janka's value skyrocketed, providing Lasota with a great sum of money that allowed him to retire early and comfortably. After his death in 1937, the original designs were found. It seemed that there were no differences between the commercial versions and the prototype - except for the material that the top of the table was made of. In the original, an undefinable green matter has been used, that studies have not been able to replicate. It is suspected that the substance, mixed in with molten glass, was a gift Lasota brought back from one of his travels.

above: diagram of the functions of certain parts

Once an unique antique, original Janka lost value over time. The amazement over her ability to change music at request and memorising entire symphonies after playing them once disappeared, replaced with annoyance, and sometimes even horror, as it seemed the machine gained a mind of its own.

Owners reported music playing in the middle of the night, suspicious movement and the needle skipping over certain words in song, forming a new message altogether. After the last owner, Jerzy Sójka, claimed "the goddamn machine, [it] has a mind of its own, [it's] the devil! devil is speaking to me!", the fate of Janka had become unknown. Many suspect that it has been abandoned in a basement or an attic, with some even claiming they still hear her song being played at night.

[for-the-evulz]

(update. i got an answer. feel free to add on though !) hi alterhuman tumblr. ive gotsa question related to tagging posts if i were to make a post about a character than i am, and the post is Focused around me being that char and/or i explicitly refer to that char as myself ("drawing of me," "i love this scene of me," etc.) should i put fandom tags or no? ive seen other alterhumans do it, but i dont know if people looking under fandom tags are bothered by fictionkin/fictionlink/etc. posts

[ihatebrainstorm]

drawing ten in the corner of my assignment with my mouse to motivate me into finishing this thingy

[goat-and-a-pig]

favorite word?

Embezzlement

[piosplayhouse]

should i play death mark. i trust you

Hmmm I would say it depends how much you like horror games. The fandom dicks around a lot of course but the game itself is actually pretty scary and some of the imagery and subject matter is genuinely very unsettling in part because of how great the art is. I'd say there's no shame in watching a playthrough of the first game if you want to get a feel for the vibes of the series, and if you enjoy that then buy the game (since it's eeeexpensive). It's also a visual novel and though there are some pretty unique and fun mechanics that it blends into its format, if you're just naturally more into games with more active gameplay you might find it a bit of a slog to get through. Like I've said before, it's not a flawless game, but I do feel it makes up for it in just being a great game with fantastic atmosphere, characters, and of course the most important part: fucked up horror ♥️

[grinnersmiler]

holding out my hand to you i too was a sky artist for a time until the game wore me out

it sucks because i really love the core gameplay loop a lot and then it became farming and cosmetics and micro transactions n shit

i wrote a whole custom ttrpg for the game that ill never really be able to publish because the mechanics are so intertwined with the game and i cant really legally sell fan products (i even went so far as to email their legal team)

i designed a whole character sheet and it was gorgeous and one of my favorite pieces ive wver done and she will never see the light of day…

sorry this is random just wanted to commiserate for a bit. followed u for sky but stuck around cause ur cool

uh yeah thabks bye

this has been in my drafts for more than a week already ( my own fault ive been really thinking of a response to this bc anything skycotl has been a tense subject to talk about ) but i am SO glad to hear you felt a similar way about it and sad that youve come to that point. Ive become increasingly disillusioned for the game as time passes but looking back on it depresses me. Especially since its one of THE games that have carried me here to where i am today and one that i used to hold very close to my heart along with journey and several of thatgamecompany games. Its a shame! The longer time goes, the more apparent how demoralised the company becomes to the core ideas that made the game special wither away into the very chasm of videogame greed they sought to repel from the start.

To be fair. I haven't played for a very long time and its going to be kept that way, so maybe my claims on here arent as true as they used to be back in its hayday. Because for some reason i still think this game can pull itself up and reclaim what it had lost long long ago but from what ive heard recently it hasn't been that way and unfortunately the influx of players coming out to complain about tgc gives me that impression.

And like i understand what that feels to have made something you were impassioned to do as a testament of love for the game only to come out with disdain. I can't divorce it from the media it came from because of how inextricable all the designs and concepts were to the world of sky that it'd be almost next to nothing if it were detached from it! Unless i just copy the entire lore ground up which in that case would just be plagiarism and something I just wouldn't like doing. Not all is lost though imo im on the belief that every thing you make you will learn from for future projects so if its not sky, the things you learned from creating it can be used to aid in the creation of your next thing!

So 🤝 shaking your hand anyways. What mightve happened to me when i was 16 might not be something that happened to you but i feel the frustration, hopefully you're on bigger ventures now from sky. It's done me alot of good and alot of bad and honestly glad to have experienced the good while it lasted.

Also sfgsg I've heard about the dreamweaving event where fans could submit fan designs for the team to choose from that quickly turned really sour when some of the contributions were stolen fanart and its like, lol. Ok. I have no idea how none of the devs thought that wasn't gonna happen but it's like i could really care less about their decisions at this point. SFSHSF

[ant1quar1an]

I swear Dustverse is going to be like 600k words because every single Dust is going to have 10-20 chapters before we go to another AU.

And I'm planning to keep the chapter wordcount around 2,500-5,000+ words so

[peppermintys]

i wanna make a scott pilgrim apocalypse au so bad. i’m resisting the urge. grrrrggggggggrraaaaaaaaaaAAAAARRRRRG

[wabitwithadot]

I really like pantufa the cat. Ft Chainsaw Tail!

I really like VAdaPEGA's work in general, not only their serious stuff, but also what im going to define as "serious shitposts". I unironically enjoy stuff like SIivagunner or Rave Story (a cave story mod) that start start off as a joke and never really loses the joke, but is so high effort and good that is suprising. Some might see it as a "waste of potential" but that kind of stuff really tickles a really specific part of my brain, maybe its because I watched SIivagunner when I didnt even know what Vinesauce was and just did it because of funy Flintstones theme and videogame OST mashups. Btw shoutouts to SIivagunner for showing me the existence of Vargskelethor Joel he is like one of my top streamers.

Btw Btw I also really love games that really selfish in the best way possible, maybe I should make a Huge Ass Post™ to explain what I mean by that, but to try and condense it, I enjoy the "Here's my OC that used/still represents me as the main character, btw here's a bunch of inside jokes, people you probably dont know and crystal clear inspirations from popular media, deal with it" I 100% explained that wrong and I should really gather my toughts about that kind of games, but the work of Unlimited Trees, VAdaPEGA and to some degree Patricia Taxxon are the only ones so far that that managed to hit that part of my brain and I REALLY love it.

Go and support VAdaPEGA's work you losers.

[cyberpunk-20xx]

about masc!V's VA

cw for general spoilers and mentions of typical-canon violence

I always find it strange that people find masc!V's VA emotionless, or even annoying or plain bad. I'm not gonna say anything about fem!V's VA because I don't pay attention at all to it cus if I do it gives me dysphoria.

I don't, on the other end, find it that strange that most people I've seen with this opinion are in fact cis men.

To me masc!V's VA is actually super emotional, but not in the conventional likeable, heroic way. Jaded and reserved at the same time. I like the VA a lot for doing what I consider great work at presenting us a character who has lived from 2050 to 2077 in a deeply fucked up world where hope is so sparse. A world that we have no idea how fucked up is, even reading about the ttrpg because to me Cyberpunk Red is much less fucked up even if it is already a dystopia.

Just as a reminder, in CP77's NC society:

Amputation without actual health concern is highly encouraged all for the sake of pure performance. And nothing else. Your physical body is socially just disposable. The only way to keep up with the world that keeps eating itself is just to upgrade, and if you don't have the money for it? Fuck you, fuck your ideals, fuck your dreams.

You get suicide baited on the regular by the fucking street advertisements.

Violence against marginalised people is at an all-time all. Sex workers have it even worse than in the real world and that's saying something on how women and queer people are treated in general.

Acid rain is normal.

The majority of the animal population is extinct in the whole world. The cattle industry has collapsed and unless you're Kerry Eurodyne levels of rich, meat is either made of worms or insects and it's not even something hidden or taboo. In fact, it's shown explicitly in ads. Real vegetables and organic food in general is scarce as well. We might, irl 2023, start to be desensitized about it because we're on the brink of the ultraliberal hell that the game is portraying, but human's civilisation started with agriculture, and cattle culture was a big fucking part of that, regardless of one's ethics and morals about meat consumption (do not clown about veganism on this post, people are allowed to value animal life regardless of this video game blurb). In various quests, namely Panam's and River's, we can see firsthand how the collapse of that industry has rotten individuals and left the land in ruins.

Even a mondial star like Kerry or a fixer queen like Rogue are just, in the end, the bitches of the corps they sold out to, and unable to fight back. In fact, they've both given up entirely until V comes crashing into their life, with Johnny in tow. The fandom paints them as charismatic individuals but I really just think that's the rose-tinted glasses effect of us knowing what they used to be, when they tried, and them just being... Pretty conventionally attractive, quippy and sarcastic. But really even those two people who we are presented with as Succesful Individuals TM just... Man they just fucking suck, okay? They're miserable, they don't like themselves, they don't like who they are anymore, they don't have any speck of joy left in their lives, they're both estranged from their kids, alone, and just going on because death is scary. They're so human. They're at the top of the world and in the end they're still nothing in the face of it. Love them both so much but they're heartbreaking.

V always starts the game after having lost everything. Any other fucker in their place would have most likely finished just like a certain Heywood kid with spikey brunette hair. V is an exceptional individual for even having a chance at a second life.

V pretty much has brain cancer and is promised a painful, slow agonising death unless they basically kill themselves, and the less painful way to go is to gobble down medication but then that means giving the body up to Johnny. Johnny's first interaction with them is: violent physical assault and suicide baiting. It's hell. V is in hell. It could not be me if I were honest, I would not bother fighting it and I would not only alt+F4 from life, I would do as Johnny wishes at this point and erase us both at once.

V's so traumatized that when they lose Jackie, they're still able to function, but not enough to see a blatant trap coming. And when they have to carry Evelyn's corpse out of that tub, they don't have a breakdown, they just tank it. Which is not badass by the way, if you frame this as anything positive you need therapy yourself tbh boo you deserve better.

V's also a cold blooded murderer very easily if you want to take that path, and I'd even argue that the game makes it very hard for them to not be a killer honestly. Even the "non-lethal" optic mod doesn't work that well past a certain point. I've yet to try my hand at a pacifist run.

If you want V to be a good person, a hopeful person, someone who does not sound deeply suicidal and terribly fucked up, someone who's not used to death and treason as their daily lot, someone who's going to make you feel good about yourself when interacting with the world... I don't think you understood the game you were buying, nor that you were paying much attention while you were playing.

I'll be the first to admit have my own biases and gripes with the game's bleak looks on life, at its pretense at being "cyberpunk" when it truly only has the "cyber" part down, but at the same time I gotta give it to it, it's cohesive within its own universe and tone. V's canon, vanilla character makes perfect sense in the settings we are presented with. Masc!V's VA just does a good job of translating that.

But I guess that's not all of it, the difference between my interpretation and the one I made this post about makes sense because it is true that masc!V's VA does not act like the normal hero archetype at all, but like an anti-hero, except without the whole "charismatic leader" bullshit tone and bravado, unlike… Well, Johnny himself.

Masc!V's voice is not only not the voice of a good guy, it also fails to be the voice of a leader, of someone who's got it all figured out, of, well, the alpha male. It commits the crime of not being Good and not being Manly, at once! It even dares to be human and vulnerable at times! No wonder it gets haters lmao.

And the people I see bashing on masc!V's VA are always fucking kissing Johnny's ass for being who he is in the flashbacks, in the legends and at the beginning of the game. And that, to me, is pretty self-explanatory why I cannot relate with their opinion on masc!V's VA.

[yonker-tonker]

was Gone all weekend at a con!!

[llitchilitchi]

You can mute/blacklist certain words and tags. So when those people use certain tags you can mute it and you won't see it

I know, but unfortunately the way tumblr handles it is shit, plus it doesn't work if people don't tag this stuff.

plus, and I know this will sound petty, it does get really, really annoying when I'm scrolling through my dash and all the posts are just a grey square that just says 'POST CONTAINS TAGS YOU BLOCKED: DISCOURSE, QSMP' like that's nice but that's still 30 posts in a row that are greyed out and taking up space. I might as well just J past the posts after catching the first signs of it covering something I do not want to see