#Mangle and Pixie

[moonlight-1108]

(Ay por DIOS!!este dibujo me llevo bastante tiempo y mi app decidió que iba a hacérmela más complicado :,,D).

-Bienvenido a Tierra creativa-

Lugar donde la creatividad está en el aire…literalmente.En este planeta,encontraras lugares donde entretenerte y explorar mientras conoces a los Creadores-curadores. Este planeta no se encuentra muy lejos de Mundo artesano. Tierra Creativa se divide en unos muy peculiares lugares pintorescos:

-Tiki Wonderland-

Un lugar con temática Tiki en una isla bastante paradisíaca y pacifica donde cualquiera querría darse unas vacaciones.En el lugar hay habitantes bastante pacíficos y amables con los cuales platicarías pero con la invasión se han puesto un poco a la defensiva y un poco agresivos con los invasores,no es su culpa…algunos de sus habitantes fueron secuestrados por Félix(Paper .B Head)para su plan. Su Creador-curador es Mangle junto a su ave Pixie.

-Circus Party World-

Un lugar divertido en el cual te quedarías horas.El lugar está repleto de bromas,diversión,risas,etc.La gente es muy feliz en ese lugar,divirtiéndose y siendo divertidos pero…los habitantes últimamente se ven muy tristes,con chistes malos y grises después de la invasión de Félix(Paper.B Head). Se robo toda la diversión y el buen humor del lugar,haciendo que ahora se vea gris y poco colorido. Su Creadora-Curadora es Circus Fluffy y su hermano Ping.

-Paper City-

Es la ciudad increíble del planeta,siendo bastante maravillosa y espectacular.Los habitantes de ahí son bastante agradables,carismáticos y amables.No dudes en que recibirán de buena forma,tal vez dándote un recuerdo,pero…como el problemas de los demás lugares,los habitantes se han puesto de mal humor por la invasión,poniéndose en contra del propio gobernador-presidente del lugar. Su Creador-Curador es Steve Papercraft(acompañado de sus hermanos Lisa y Alex Papercraft).

-Luxury Button-

El lugar es uno muy elegante.lleno de botones por doquier y con un estilo un poco 1930.Los habitantes de ahí son muy elegantes,sofisticados y amables(como todos en el planeta)pero han sufrido las consecuencias de perder la creatividad,mal humor,tristeza y han perdido sus trajes elegantes por culpa de Félix. Su creador-Curador es el Sr.Wooden Buttom(Hace bastantes años con ayuda de su hijo adoptivo "Félix).

-Corazón de Tierra Creativa-

Es el centro del planeta,es de donde sale la creatividad del planeta,manteniendo al cuerpo celeste en paz,creatividad y felicidad todo el tiempo.Pero también a recibido los daños de Félix,haciendo que el corazón se detenga ligeramente,bombeando poca creatividad.

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

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

(Oh my GOD!! This drawing took me a long time and my app decided that it was going to make it more complicated for me :,,D).

-Welcome to Creative Earth-

Place where creativity is in the air…literally. On this planet, you will find places to entertain and explore while you meet the Creators-curators. This planet is not far from craftworld. Creative World is divided into some very peculiar picturesque places:

-Tiki Wonderland-

A place with a Tiki theme on a very peaceful and peaceful island where anyone would want to take a vacation. There are quite peaceful and friendly inhabitants with whom you would talk, but with the invasion they have become a little defensive and a little aggressive with the invaders, it's not their fault… some of its inhabitants were kidnapped by Félix (Paper .B Head) for his plan. Its Creator-curator is Mangle with his bird Pixie.

-Circus Party World-

A fun place where you would spend hours. The place is full of jokes, fun, laughter, etc. People are very happy in that place, having fun and being funny but… lately the inhabitants look very sad, with jokes bad and gray after Felix's invasion (Paper.B Head). He stole all the fun and good humor from the place, making it now look gray and not very colorful. Its Creator-Curator is Circus Fluffy and her brother Ping.

-Paper City-

It is the incredible city on the planet, being quite wonderful and spectacular. The inhabitants there are quite nice, charismatic and friendly. Do not doubt that they will receive you in a good way, perhaps giving you a souvenir, but… like the problems of others places, the inhabitants have been put in a bad mood by the invasion, turning against the governor-president of the place himself. Its Creator-Curator is Steve Papercraft (accompanied by his siblings Lisa and Alex Papercraft).

-Luxury Button-

The place is very elegant, full of buttons everywhere and with a slightly 1930's style. The inhabitants there are very elegant, sophisticated and friendly (like everyone on the planet) but they have suffered the consequences of losing creativity, bad mood They are sad and have lost their elegant suits because of Felix. Its creator-Curator is Mr. Wooden Buttom (many years ago with the help of his adopted son "Félix).

-Heart of Creative Earth-

It is the center of the planet, it is where the creativity of the planet comes from, keeping the celestial body in peace, creativity and happiness all the time. But it has also received damage from Felix, causing the heart to stop slightly, pumping little creativity.

[lbp-4]

Altura de los personajes (Cabe aclarar que mejore el dibujo,las alturas se quedan)y un dibujo de Steve porque he notado que es su favorito.

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

Height of the characters (It should be noted that the drawing will be improved, the heights are maintained)and a drawing of Steve because I have noticed that it is his favorite.

[etherealperrie]

The Chart (pt. 2)

"...she is not a mirror in which you reflect, she is of material substance..."

Shane Mccutcheon x OC (Original Character) | The L Word

Word Count: 2.3k

Contains: Queer OC | Reader is a PhD Student in LA | playboy era Shane Mccutcheon | "Solid" by MUNA inspired | Mentions of secondary L Word characters |

Warnings: explicit language, references to drinking/alcohol, and explicit sexual activity

...

There’s nothing worse than a hangover. Jules has handled dozens in her time, but all when she was much younger, more agile to bounce back. Nothing could’ve stopped her the morning after a night out in college – hell, she’d taken one of the most important finals of her life hungover and damn near aced it. But now, not even Tylenol is touching the pounding in her skull. 

Sighing, she drops her head into the cradle of her hands, running her fingers through her hair. Her ‘free for the weekend’ motto hadn’t considered that her more productive self made an appointment in the library archives at seven the next morning. She mumbles some half-hearted words of encouragement to herself before shifting in her seat and taking a deep breath. On the exhale she swipes the hair from her neck up into a mangled mess away from her eyes. There’s no one else here – everyone else is home properly recovering, or, maybe waking up with that stranger from the night before in their bed. 

Jules would much prefer that to this. On the circumstance that it might be Shane. She can’t quite shake the vision of her from her mind, having tossed and turned over her all night. Not to say Jules regrets leaving her at the bar, but she can’t stop imagining what it would have been like to stay. The heat of Shane’s fingerprints are burned into the skin around her hip, the taste of Marlboro reds somehow still on her lips. 

“Juliana?” A voice interrupts her daydreams. “Did you want me to get the next box down for you?”

An older woman from the archives stands in front of Jules, her hands perched on the desk for support. Jules shakes her head, clearing her throat. Right, the research. The whole reason she’s here in the first place. The project that quite literally drove her to drinking over the weekend. 

“Please.” 

The woman nods and turns on her heel back down to the front of the room, her skirt swishing with each step. Jules looks back to the papers sprawled across her desk. There are a few photos scattered about, one catching her attention. Picking it up carefully – by the edges as she was instructed prior to entering the archives – she squints to make out the image. 

There’s a blonde woman standing in front of what looks to be a whiteboard full of markings she can’t quite make out. The woman is smiling, obnoxiously big, her pixie cut sticking up in various directions. Jules chuckles, flipping the photo over, a caption scrawled in blue ink on the back. 

Alice Piezecki showcasing ‘The Chart’. Color. 2004.

She can’t stop herself from wondering about the context of the photo. More importantly, how did something this recent make it into the archives so quickly? It’s less than five years old. And into the box she specifically requested, labeled, “A Queer History of Los Angeles County”?. Though, most importantly, how did she not recognize this woman or whatever this chart was? Jules taps her fingers against the desk. It’s maybe not surprising, though, one could study queer history all their lives and never fully experience all its aspects. And Jules’ life has, quite literally, been here – in the California University School of Arts library – since she started her program four years ago. 

Jules flips the photo back over. She stares at the glossy paper, the unintelligible writing on the whiteboard coming to life. It’s a list of names. Well, not a list but a chart, all of the names connected to one another by lines of varying color. Some of the names are emphasized, bolded or circled, somehow noting their significance over others. Most of the names are unfamiliar to her, but Jules jots them all down in her notebook, underlining where appropriate. All of these women, tied together somehow. 

She continues down the line, her handwriting devolving to scrawl, the list impossibly long. Francesca, Marina, Max, Jenny…

Shane. 

Jules stops, her eyes lifting from the paper. A name she recognizes. A name both bolded, underlined, and circled. Her heart pounds in her chest although she’s sitting firmly in her chair. For a second she swears the library has transformed into the club, Shane’s dark eyes staring directly at her. The Chart. The women outside the bathroom. 

“Tell Shane to fuck you in the men’s room next time.” 

Jules laughs to herself. She was so drunk she thought those women were genuinely upset about her and Shane preventing their access to the bathroom. She turns her attention back to the chart, shaking her head with disbelief as she follows the myriad of lines connecting Shane’s name to what appeared to be hundreds of others. She may as well add her own now. She jots it down in her notebook. 

Jules. 

Part of her is angry, her face red with embarrassment. The other part of her can’t believe the discovery she’s just made. Something like this – the chart – would be integral to her dissertation. Before she’s able to make up her mind on her true feelings, the woman from the archives is calling her name from across the room, lifting the next box. Jules listens to the swooshing of her skirt as she approaches, breathing through her cacophony of emotions. 

“Here you go, dear,” she says, setting the box down onto the desk with a thud. “Can I do anything else for ya?” 

Jules smiles, lifting the photo up. “Yeah, could I get a copy of this?” 

…

Sunday morning. Sun streams in through the window, bathing the bedroom in a wash of yellow light. Cars honk on the street outside as dozens of locals make their morning commutes. Shane wakes to the light, crossing an arm over her eyes as she yawns. It’s bright. Too bright. She flips over onto back, knocking into something – no, someone – in her bed as she adjusts to her surroundings. 

The room is familiar, her own. 

“Fuck,” she groans. She made a rule a few months ago to go anywhere but back to her own place. It made things easier, much less messy – figuratively and literally. Shane wouldn’t have to worry about women getting attached and she could disappear without consequence. She’s always been good at that. 

“Well good morning,” the woman mumbles, turning to face Shane. She’s pretty, they always are. Her eyes are brown, doe-like, her chin-length red hair splayed out on the pillows, her bangs hanging just above her long, fluttering lashes. 

Shane smiles briefly before pushing herself up and out of the bed. She can’t linger here with this woman even if she might want to. Anyway, she couldn’t really remember where they met – The Planet? No, that was Thursday night. The club, maybe? A memory washes over her, being left in the bathroom stall by that nameless blonde. She needed to get off, to soothe her bruised ego? Maybe, but Shane wouldn’t admit that to anyone out loud. Rejection is uncomfortable, it doesn’t happen to her often. 

“Yeah, good morning,” Shane replies, crossing the room to slip on a t-shirt. She checks herself in the mirror, ruffling her hair until it settles in a way she likes. She turns back to the woman, whose name she couldn’t remember, who’s now sitting up in her bed, the covers slipping down her nude chest. God, Shane could easily give it all up and dive right back into those sheets. She bites the inside of her lip, holding herself to where she stands near the window. “I, uh, forgot I have a couple of clients to get to today.” It’s a lie. She plans on keeping the shop closed today, one of the perks to owning her own salon. In all honesty Shane doesn’t have any plans. 

“Oh.” The woman sighs, nodding. She’s clearly disappointed. Shane looks away when she rolls out from under the covers, fully nude, quickly dressing in her outfit from last night. When she sees the ‘Kit Porter’ branded t-shirt, it all comes flooding back. The alluring eyes that met her as she left the bathroom, the beckoning finger she gave this woman, and the way she could barely make out the road on the drive home, what with this woman all over her. Shane was shameless, she’d have fucked this woman right in the middle of the club, but she’d already been turned down once. Which is how they ended up here, in Shane’s room. 

“Do you need a ride?” Shane asks, raising an eyebrow. 

The woman shakes her head. “No, I’m good. I just, uh, here –” she bends over to pick her bag up off the floor, pulling out a pen. She pulls the cap off and closes the space between her and Shane in a few small steps. Shane chuckles, shaking her head, women never cease to amaze her. She loves them, loves this game of push and pull. I want you, but I’m going to hope you chase me. But Shane doesn’t chase, she doesn’t need to. 

She doesn’t object when the woman takes her hand and flips it over, writing a string of numbers on her palm. The woman smirks, rolling Shane’s hand into a fist and kissing it when she’s finished. “Call me, okay?” 

“Okay,” Shane replies, swerving when the woman comes in for a kiss. The woman laughs and pulls away. Shane watches as she saunters out of the room and out the front door. 

She wonders where she’ll go and if they’ll ever see each other again. Los Angeles, despite its size, is somehow incredibly small. She’d see her again, Shane knows it, and she hopes the woman won’t be upset when they run into one another months from now, when she realizes that Shane never called. 

It’s not her fault, it’s just the way Shane’s wired. 

She yawns, shrugging her shoulders, and swipes her phone from the dresser dialing a familiar number. 

“I can’t believe it!” Alice laughs, tossing her head back. 

Tina slides into the booth, her hands wrapped around a tall cappuccino. She raises an eyebrow, looking between Alice and Shane. 

“Believe what?” she asks. 

Helena leans in, reaching for an almond croissant sitting on the plate in the center of the table. The Planet is where the girls ‘break bread’, debriefing their nights and latest escapades. Though, sometimes, Shane would prefer to keep things a bit closer to her chest, especially the way they’ve blown up the incident of the night prior back at the club. 

“Shane was left high and dry at SheBar last night,” Helena says between bites.

Tina laughs. “Losing your power, Shane?” 

Shane shakes her head. “We were interrupted, she got spooked, no big deal.” She shrugs and sits back against the booth, sinking down into the leather seat. 

“Just admit it, Shane,” Alice pokes. “This girl had a moment of clarity and didn’t want to fuck you!” 

“What does it matter?” Bette interjects, lifting her arm from around Tina’s shoulders to interrupt. “It’s not like she went home alone.” A smile creeps onto Bette’s lips, feeling smug as she picks at the crumbs of a muffin. 

Shane shoots her a look. She was certain no one saw her leave with her redhead accomplice. Shane should’ve known nothing gets past Bette. She’s always been hyper observant. 

Alice scoffs, rolling her eyes in disbelief. “I’d say I’m surprised, but I should learn to expect nothing less from you, Shane.” 

Max looks up from his computer for the first time since they all gathered at the table. “Fuck, Shane, I just finished updating the site.” 

This elicits a confused look from the entire group, the taunts towards Shane finally ceasing. 

“The site?” Shane asks, thankful for the attention off of her for a few seconds. 

Alice and Max share a look. 

“I’m having Max put the chart online, you know, make it more…interactive.” 

“The chart?” Tina repeats. “The chart from your apartment?” 

“Our Chart,” Max clarifies. He flips his laptop around to showcase the website to the table. There’s a spindling web of lines connecting various names together. Everyone at the table recognizes their own names, following their own little universes of connection. Max taps on his own name to demonstrate, his cosmo filled with two lines, one to Jenny and another to a name Shane didn’t recognize. 

“Alice, this is ridiculous,” Bette says, directing Max back to the mainpage. “These are the intimate details of people’s sex lives.” 

“And they love it!” Alice defends. 

Shane leans back in her seat. It didn’t matter to her. She couldn’t really understand the obsession with the chart in the first place, when Alice first drafted it. She remembers being in her apartment the day Alice created it, snapping a photo of her. She remembers seeing her own name circled in red ink, her web taking up near half of the whiteboard. She didn’t care. Shane never makes it a point to keep track of her sexual conquests, she simply enjoys getting off when and where she can, with who she can. The human connection. The body of a woman – the way it feels, the way they taste, the warmth of skin against skin. 

“Listen, all I know is that we’ve got just over a thousand hits and the site has only been up for a couple of days.” 

“A thousand?” Helena echoes Max’s statement. He nods. 

“Well shit, Al,” Shane chuckles, taking a sip of her coffee. “To Our Chart.” She raises her glass and Alice smiles proudly, knocking their mugs together.

[chancerei]

Checkpoint 1: Headwear Complete!

I've decided it might be nice to document my progress as I work on CC projects, just to keep you all updated, and give you a glance into what I'm working on at any given moment. It also gives me a chance to give some minor updates as to decisions I've made if I think that's important. Feel free to tune these posts out if you're not into them, I've tagged all CC as #chanceReiCC if that's all you're here for!

Now on to the update:

I've spent the day working on re/demaking the Wild Wild Pussycats headgear, as well as Pixie-bob's visor and all of the makeup options for this pack. This post is mostly going to focus on the de-making and final product for the headgear.

As I've talked about openly before, much of my earlier work has been in repackaging the models from the official MHA games, and originally, this pack would've been mostly in keeping with that. For example, the old Mandalay hair model I posted a picture of the other day was a stretched and mangled recolor of Todoroki's hair from One's Justice 2. In the same game, there's a large selection of accessories, a few of which could be ported directly if I wanted to.

As I've expanded my modeling knowledge and skillset, I'm also trying to move away from relying on other people's work, not only because it puts me in a potentially weird position legally, but also because it really hampers my growth. If I'm repackaging other people's work to release as my own, I'd feel strange about it, sure, but I also wouldn't be learning and improving my own workflows.

As much as the effort behind learning blender has always been about creating CAS items for you all to use, I'd like to continue growing my skills to ensure I can keep making things as far into the future as I want and continue to provide high-quality CC as long as there are people who use it.

That said, I think I've done a pretty good job with this one!

Current Progress:

[a-hermit-pining]

ur ship event seems so cool so im sending a small description of myself ^^ im a student in my final year of hs, prefect, 18 y.o. and 166cm tall. my personality is kinda a combination of xavier and rafayel i think! i’m the oldest daughter, can play 5 instruments, can speak 4 languages (eng, canto, jap, kor), love drawing and creating things with my hands (origami, charms, clay models, etc). have adhd (my current hyperfixation is lads lol). if u met me for the first time you would think I am quiet (maybe rude 😭) and always sleepy (bc im only loud with my friends).

sorry not sure what else to add!! i hope it isn’t too much, thank you :D

You sound so familiar (I too am always sleepy because I refuse to take my iron supplements and resiliently suffer constant fatigue)

Considering your over achieving, astronomically talented, colorful personality I ship you with one and only- personal brand of Elsa of LADS community- Zayne.

You both are a competent power couple. You can be the manic pixie girl of his dreams and he will be your broody (but secretly goofy) s/o.

You sit next to him, snug against his chest, fingers absently fiddling with the origami frog he has somehow butchered beyond recognition.

It has been an hour. Sixty full minutes of trying to decipher the physics-defying tragedy in your hands, attempting to understand how a man capable of intricate heart surgeries has managed to fold a simple piece of paper into what now resembles a mangled bat in its final moments.

Meanwhile, Zayne is doing his best to pretend the crime scene doesn’t exist, flipping through his medical reports with a painfully forced sense of nonchalance.

You sigh, holding the paper abomination up to the light like it might somehow reveal its secrets. "No wonder I mistook your seals for balls…" you mumble, frowning as you gently fight the urge to rip it in half.

Beside you, he stiffens. There’s a beat of silence before he clears his throat, a very pointed, defensive sound.

"Those were clearly seals," he mutters, turning the page with a little too much intentional focus.

Your brow arches, amusement curling in your chest as a small chuckle bubbles from your throat. "Clearly?"

He still refuses to look at you.

Shaking your head, you glance down at his shameful excuse of origami, fondness creeping into your smile. It had been days of teaching him simple paper folds for the pediatrics ward’s big event, and, safe to say, Zayne was nowhere near ready to be unleashing his paper monsters upon innocent children.

And then, just as you open your mouth to tease him again, his voice drops to a quiet murmur.

"Can’t you come with me? Please?"

You glance up, only to be met with the most exhausted, sleep-deprived puppy eyes a man with chronic late-night shifts and permanent eye bags could possibly manage.

And damn it, even when he’s terrible at origami, he’s unfairly good at this.

[imagionary]

if you're open to talking about them (unless it's more of like a 'reveal information about them over time' type of thing) do you maybe have any information on dave's hollywoods? they're super interesting to me, and i love the fact that imps in your au apparently gain a sort of resemblance to the people they consider to be their boss. i really love the unique design they have too...guys with weirdo eyes just like their boss... also I'M REALLY SORRY if this is like worded weirdly or whatever! this ask was actually originally a lot longer (and it honestly is still pretty long for an ask...) until i realized i should probably shorten it...

totally unrelated as well, but i would love to learn more about this au and stuff, even if it isn't through art! i really liked the sort of writing post you made about the whole 'buck and dave and their connection with high roller in your au' thing and i would definitely love to see more sort of writing posts like that (if you want!)

Golly,, you have no idea how much I loved getting this ask, this is very kind to me, thank you! I'm shy when it comes to talking about our AU, but it means a lot to me that you're so interested in it, and that you'd like to read my silly ramblings! ^v^ 💚

Dave has his three Hollywoods: Left Suit, Middle Suit, and Right Suit. They are his posse, his guys, his main men, his trio, his henchmen sorta, etc, etc.

The three of them are all supposed to look exactly the same, and they did for an extremely long time, however, the first week that Evils and I were telling story, there was a mass layoff happening in COGS.Inc, and Left Suit happened to get fired; Dave was FURIOUS about this, because his Hollywoods were supposed to have special protection against that sort of thing, but he did his best to keep his cool during his time without Left Suit,, the whole situation seemed bogus and fishy to him, but there was nothing he could do about it, so life went on; I think it was around a year since Left Suit had been fired, but it was revealed that it was an inside job; Doctor Googlemuffin and Brian were so incredibly interested in how High Roller had come into being, that they wanted to see if they could make any clone fusions using extracted soul essence from one of Dave's Hollywoods (so, they decided to have Left Suit fired without notifying Dave or anyone else of the reasoning, and slipped his name on the list last second)

Doctor Googlemuffin and Brian's plans worked, albeit better than they had planned; almost every clone fusion they had conceptualized had finished itself just like how High Roller had; except the Aggregator, Top Dog, and Bulldozer all seemed to have a strangeness to them that the two scientists couldn't foresee:

The Aggregator and Top Dog were highly aware that they were created in the lab, and that they were fusions of two peoples blueprints (created using two people's blueprints as basis? Idk how to explain it) (the Aggregator being a secret project that Doctor Googlemuffin was creating to spite Brian; she used Brian and Graham's blueprints as a basis) (Top Dog was created using Graham and Zak's blueprints as basis); both were created with Graham's strangely advanced blueprints, so Brian and Doctor Googlemuffin chock off their peculiarities to being side effects of being created with them in mind;

However, Bulldozer is different. He doesn't have Graham's strange blueprints to blame. He was created with Mr. Wilde and Winnie's blueprints as basis, and he survived the destruction of the conglomerate extension.. well, came back to life after his body put itself back together (he had been mangled and shot through the core multiple times by Spruce to finish him off).

The reason I'm rambling about all of this is because Winnie's pixie dust magic, and Wilde's tough material, blended with Left Suit's soul essence in a peculiar way and it gave Bulldozer near indestructibility and rejuvenation powers like a Hollywood. So, this is why, when Left Suit was alive again, he had gone out and sweet talked Bulldozer and gave him a kiss; he was taking his soul essence back. Being near indestructible and with the power of rejuvenation had left Bulldozer unable to comprehend that the way he was treating the molemen, maintenance crew, and the skelecogs that were building the conglomerate extension (before it exploded) wasn't good. If he could withstand as much as he could, everyone else surely could to, is what he ignorantly believed; so Left Suit took his soul essence back to knock him down a peg; Bulldozer is still incredibly resilient, but he doesn't have his rejuvenation abilities anymore; Bulldozer doesn't know this yet, but once he gets hurt real bad again (hopefully he wont) he'll understand what he was doing to his subordinates.

Golly,, I got side tracked, oops,, so, after Dave had found out about why Left Suit had been fired, and what he was being used for, Doctor Googlemuffin made sure to get Left Suit finished up so she could return him to Dave. Dave was furious about this, he knew that Left Suit wouldn't have all of his soul essence back, but he would take what he could get,, he missed Left Suit so so much,,

However, once Left Suit was finished, he appeared within the darkness in High Roller's office, because, according to his contractual existence, he belonged to Dave,, but High Roller was made with Dave's scrap, so there was a paradoxical issue with the contract,, Left Suit now has feathery fur like High Roller (albeit, his is still white and black and not green like High Roller); Left Suit was there to serve High Roller, but Dave wanted Left Suit back, so he made some contractual changes with High Roller (having High Roller sign that he wouldn't be in charge of any of Dave's Hollywoods) amd they shook signed on it with a cold Inky electric flame entering High Roller's body through their handshake. And thus the deal was made and Dave could keep Left Suit as his own (Left Suit still has feathers that he tries to pluck out, but they always come back, so he hides them so he can look like Middle and Right)

Left, Middle, and Right all have the same voice and think and act relatively the same; however, if someone were to get to know them long enough, it's possible to get to know their differences:

Left Suit happens to talk smoother and can come off as the most friendly and calm of the three; he's got a playful sass to him; he's the weakest of the three now (powers wise), since parts of his essence has been stolen; he's the least likely to get angry

Middle Suit happens to be the most stern of the three, and is normally in charge of trying to calm Dave down when the time arises; he happens to be the most protective of Dave and his wishes; despite Right being more likely to get into trouble, Middle is more likely to get upset (still a rare occurrence that he'd show it though)

Right Suit happens to be the more tricky of the three and can come off as a bit sassy and the most likely to break Dave's rules, however he is also the most trusted when it comes to handling dirty work; out of the three Hollywood's, Right is most likely to "break character" and have his expression change

All of the Hollywoods have little horns that they hide from their appearance, as to appear more normal, like how Dave hides his more monstrous parts

The Hollywoods all have gloves and white cores like Dave, to show that they are under Dave's control; their plug tails can be used to control people like how Dave can with his, however, their abilities to erase or eat people's memories aren't as powerful as Dave's, so if you ever have your memories of an event wiped by a Hollywood, it'll seem like you had a lucid nightmare, but you'll think it wasn't real

The Hollywoods, like Dave, can disappear and appear within the dark; Dave can also use his Hollywoods as extra eyes for him; whatever they see, Dave can see, if he has his thoughts set on knowing (Dave can also give his Hollywoods knowledge of things they're not supposed to know either)

Sorry if this got rambly,, I get shy when talking about our AU, so I hope this answers your question! You're more than welcome to ask questions if you have any

[tabitha42]

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 47

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

The group was unusually quiet as they made their way through the cursed lands. Even Karlach shivered in the cold, the heat of her infernal engine not enough to ward off the curse’s effects. Tara lamented how this place was even more ghastly than the Underdark, and rather than flying off on her own from time to time as she had done before, she now stayed firmly rooted to Gale’s shoulders. Shadowheart was the only one who seemed unbothered by it - if anything, she even seemed happy as they crossed the twisted landscape. The reason for this became apparent as she slowly realised this curse was the work of Shar, and despite insisting that the horror here didn’t sway her allegiance from the Lady of Loss, Saff couldn’t help but think there might be the slightest hint of hesitancy creeping into her speech.

They stopped to rest under the shelter of an ancient tree, even though there was no sun to shelter from. As Gale began to prepare lunch, he looked at the pot in concern. 

“We’re going to struggle to find food here even more than we did in the Underdark,” he muttered, glancing round at the deformed remains of the plant life around them. 

“Good thing we have someone to go do our shopping for us then, isn’t it?” Astarion said, nodding to the Bag of Holding slung over Saff’s shoulder, clearly amused by the idea of making Malitas their courier. Saff sighed - she wasn’t sure Malitas would appreciate constantly doing supply runs for them, but she knew they may have no choice but to ask that of him. 

As they continued on after lunch, Gale spoke about the Moonlantern they’d found Nere’s corpse, wondering how pixie dust was involved in warding off the curse. That was when they heard voices in the distance. 

“Stay together! Keep to the light!” 

Halsin paused from where he was leading them and turned back to the others. “Careful - they may sound like allies, but the shadows can play tricks on the mind,” he warned them. “Let me do the talking.”

Saff stayed back with the others as Halsin carefully approached and revealed himself to the group. Much to her relief it seemed these people truly were allies and she approached with the others at Halsin’s call, but the relief was short-lived. 

“Yonas!”

The harper was barely able to cry out her friend’s name before he was suddenly dragged, screaming, into the shadows. 

The noises they heard next turned Saff’s stomach and left her clinging to Gale’s arm with her free hand. The group watched in horror as the mangled remains of Yonas’s corpse came stumbling out of the shadows, eyes glowing a sickly green, beckoning them to join him in a rasping, unnatural voice…

Shadows descended around them, darkness so thick it had taken form, and so began a fight unlike anything they’d faced before. 

Halsin threw his arms up and above them an orb of light flashed into existence, fending off the immediate darkness. But even an orb of sunlight couldn’t compete with the shadows here, and the light barely covered the group before being swallowed by darkness once more. 

Saff stayed by Gale’s side as the two of them threw fire and lightning into the darkness, repelling the shadows that clawed at them from the edges of Halsin’s spell. The group backed up together in a circle, defending each other’s backs… til a particularly brutal hit on Halsin left the orb of light flickering til it winked out of existence, and they were plunged into darkness. 

With only the dim light of their torches now for protection, the shadows swarmed them. The group frantically battled for their lives, struggling in the darkness against enemies that seemed to shift and disappear right in front of them. Flashes of spells illuminated the battlefield, a burst of flame from Karlach’s rage washed a brief wave of warmth over them, Shadowheart’s spirit guardians tore through the darkness, but still the shadows kept coming… til Saff felt a sudden heat against her, burning even through her clothes. She didn’t realise what was happening til she heard Karlach’s voice, her words lost to the chaos, and realised she was reaching into the Bag of Holding.

A moment later, an almost blinding light shone above them. Saff looked up to see Karlach brandishing a mace, light pouring from the bright golden spikes. The shadows screamed as the light ripped through them, banishing them. Once the group realised what was happening, it took only a few final attacks to finish off the last ones, and finally quiet fell over them once more. 

Karlach looked over at Astarion and grinned. 

“Told you it was worth it,” she said smugly, nodding to the mace. Astarion glared at her. 

“Just don’t get that thing too close to me,” he warned, holding up a hand to shield his eyes from the light. 

The group set about healing after the battle, and were relieved to hear from the harpers of a safe haven nearby. They agreed to return there with them once everyone was healed up and the harpers had given the last rites to their fallen friend. 

Saff knelt down next to one of the vestiges of the shadows they’d fought. A small orb, wisps of darkness floating up from its crevices. She reached out, curiosity getting the better of her as she lay the tips of her fingers on its mottled surface, then gasped as a vision filled her mind. 

A little girl, laughing as she played with her friends. The sunlight sparkled on the water and the long grass swayed in the breeze as the children played a game to see who could climb the nearby tree the fastest. She cheered from the top branch as she looked down at her friends. She was always the best at climbing. 

Suddenly darkness fell again as she pulled her hand away, the last echoes of the children’s laughter fading from her mind. 

“Saff?” 

She jumped at the sound of her name and looked over as Gale knelt down next to her. 

“Are you alright?” 

She looked back down again, her eyes fixated on the ball in front of her. 

“She was a child,” she whispered shakily. “She used to climb trees with her friends…” 

“What?” Gale asked, frowning. When Saff looked back at him, there were tears in her eyes.

“They were all people. The people who used to live here, before the curse.” 

Gale looked at her in confusion. She nodded down to the orb. 

“Touch it. You’ll see.” 

Somewhat hesitantly he reached out and placed his fingers on the orb. The vision flooded his mind, children playing, laughter and sunshine, before the darkness returned as he pulled his hand back. 

“By the gods…” he whispered. They sat in silence for a moment, before Saff stood up and made her way to the next one. One by one she knelt next to them, closing her eyes and watching what each one had to show her. Gale watched, seeing her struggle more with each one, til she stood up from one and couldn’t bring herself to move. He walked over to her and gently put a hand on her shoulder. 

“He was a cobbler,” she whispered, nodding to one of the orbs. “He took great pride in his work.” She nodded to another one. “She was a healer, she tried to help the harpers that battled here a hundred years ago. She thought they had a chance… but there were so many enemies. And that one…” her voice wavered as she looked to the one by her feet. “He watched as his neighbours were hanged for refusing to renounce Selûne…” 

Tears welled in her eyes as her voice finally cracked. Gale pulled her into a hug, gently rubbing her back. She leant into him, accepting his comfort for a long moment, before pulling away and heading for the next orb.  

“You don’t have to watch all of them,” he said to her, seeing how difficult this was for her. 

“They died here. And we just killed them again. The least we can do is hear their stories,” she said as she knelt down to the next one and reached out for it. 

By the time the group was ready to go, Saff had listened to every orb. She was quiet as they followed the Harpers into the darkness, wordlessly taking Gale’s hand. She didn’t speak again til they saw the glow of bright light in the distance. 

“That light…” she whispered, eyes widening as it became clear now through the trees. 

“What a welcome sight,” Gale remarked. “A beacon of hope in the darkness.”

They didn’t receive quite as warm a welcome as they’d been hoping for, but after Mol vouched for them, Jaheira finally released her vines from them and allowed them to enter. Gale groaned as he rubbed his side and turned to check if Saff was alright, then was rather surprised to see both her and Karlach practically vibrating with excitement. 

“I can’t believe it,” Karlach gasped, staring ahead of them to where Jaheira was talking with Halsin. “It’s Jaheira. The Jaheira!” 

“We’re going to work with her,” Saff whispered in disbelief. “Gods, we’re actually going to work with her!” 

Gale and Wyll glanced at each other, then back to the girls. 

“A hero of yours, then?” Wyll asked. 

“Only one of my biggest heroes!” Karlach gushed. “My mum used to tell me stories about her and how she saved the city!” 

“I read the stories about her so many times when I was a kid!” Saff added excitedly. “Aren’t you both excited to meet her??”

“Of course, but not as excited as you both, it seems,” Wyll said with a chuckle. 

“Let’s not waste any more time and go introduce ourselves, shall we?” Gale suggested. 

The two of them managed to retain at least a semblance of dignity as they introduced themselves, though didn’t get much of a chance to talk to her properly yet as she went off with Halsin to discuss their plans. Part of Saff was disappointed not to get a chance to talk to her more, though part of her was relieved - she didn’t imagine Jaheira would be particularly impressed by an overly excited fangirl.

Reuniting with the tieflings proved to be a bittersweet moment, with the joy of finding some of them alive and safe soured by the discovery that many had been captured or killed, not to mention the situation Mol had got herself into with Raphael. But there was one tiefling in particular they were very happy to see. 

Saff, Gale and Wyll watched in hope as Dammon helped Karlach install the upgrade for her infernal engine. She took a few deep breaths once the installation was complete, letting herself get used to the new feeling. 

“I think it’s worked… I’m not sure,” she said, looking down at herself, then at the others. 

Wyll walked up to her, looked at where the flames used to simmer on her skin, and held his hand out. 

“Let’s find out, shall we?” 

Karlach’s heart skipped a beat as she looked at him, and she hesitantly reached out, ready to pull her hand away quickly if she still burned too hot. But as she rested her hand in his, there was no hissing of burning flesh, no yelp of pain. 

“I’d say that’s worked,” Wyll said softly, putting his other hand on hers. She could barely contain the tears of joy that welled in her eyes as she cried out in happiness and flung her arms round him. He laughed as she lifted him clear off his feet, trying to hug her back despite the unbreakable grip she had on him. 

“It worked! It actually worked!!” she gushed happily, practically jumping up and down, before she finally put him back on the ground. She looked at him with a big grin, holding his gaze for a moment.

“We’ll continue this later,” she said with a playful wink, then turned to Gale and Saff. 

“You two get over here!” she laughed, running up to them and sweeping them both into a big hug, one in each arm. Saff laughed happily, hugging her back as best she could, while Gale struggled to say Karlach’s name as the breath was squeezed out of him. Next was Dammon’s turn, who gasped in surprise as he too was swept off the ground in a bear hug. 

“Where are the others??” Karlach asked once she’d put him down. “Lae’zel, Astarion and Shadowheart are getting hugs too whether they like it or not!” 

“Uh, Karlach…” Dammon started, his tone noticeably less jubilant than hers. “There’s something else I really need to tell you…” 

“I gotta see the others first! They went upstairs, right?” she asked. 

“Halsin, Astarion and Lae’zel did,” Gale confirmed. “I think Shadowheart would have preferred to throw herself in the lake than talk to a cleric of Selûne.” 

Karlach laughed as she glanced over to the waters. 

“Do we need to check there first, then?” she joked. 

Before anyone could answer, a roar suddenly came from the upper windows of the inn, followed by screeches in the air. They looked up as winged creatures descended on them, swarming them, and the battle began. 

They fought alongside the harpers, fending off the dread creatures with spell and sword. Saff and Gale looked to the skies to fight those that soared above them, while Karlach and Wyll took care of the ones that landed. In the air they easily dodged the motes of fire Saff threw at them, so she took Gale’s tactic instead, switching to lightning that could flash through the air in an instant. It was a new sensation to her, but one that seemed to come naturally as sparks gathered at her fingertips and launched into the air. Her gaze fell on her next target as it swooped above her, her hands preparing her next spell, only for the creature to land on the balcony to the side of the building and dive into the doors. She was about to turn to find another target, when her eyes widened at the figure that emerged from the doors. 

A man, in the uniform of a Flaming Fist, but with malformed wings of black feathers at his back. In his arms lay a woman, injured and unconscious, clad in the grey and white robes of a Selûnite. Saff gasped as she realised this was the cleric Jaheira had spoken of - Isobel, who was keeping everyone in the inn alive.

He spread his wings, and as he did, she raised her hands, acting on an instinct she didn’t know she had. 

“Te curo!” 

Golden light bathed the cleric and her eyes snapped open with a gasp. The man looked down at her, momentarily distracted by the light. The next thing Saff heard was Isobel’s voice as she threw a Guiding Bolt at her captor, blasting them both apart. She was dropped to the floor, skidding into the stone walls of the balcony, while he was thrown back. He growled as he turned back to her, raising his hands to attack her where she lay injured on the ground… until he was thrown to the side by Halsin, in bear form, smashing through the door and bringing them both crashing through the balcony walls and down onto the roof below. Saff watched in shock as the two of them fell from the roof and hit the ground, knocking Halsin out of bear form. As the dust cleared, only one man was left standing. 

The rest of the ghouls fell quickly after their leader’s defeat. After some quick heals from Halsin, the group headed inside. They found the others with Jaheira and Isobel, who was sat hunched over in a chair by the bar with the rest of the survivors while Jaheira healed her injuries. She looked up and smiled with relief when she saw them. 

“Halsin! Thank Selûne you’re ok,” she said, standing to meet him. “When I saw you fall from that window, I wasn’t sure if you’d make it.”

“I had the same fears for you when Marcus knocked you out,” he said to her. 

“Yes, that was an awfully close call… but thanks to your healing, I’m ok,” she said with a nod, but was met with a confused look from Halsin. 

“My healing? I didn’t heal you, I can’t heal others in bear form.” 

“Oh, then who did?” she asked, glancing to Jaheira, who shook her head. 

“Um…” Saff started, almost doubting if she’d actually managed it. “I think that was me.” 

Isobel looked at her and gave her an appreciative smile. 

“Then you have my deepest thanks,” she said gratefully. She looked Saff up and down briefly, a slight flicker of confusion crossing her face. “Are you a cleric yourself?” 

“No, I’m a wizard,” she answered, which brought a more confused look to Isobel’s face. “But I’m also studying druidic magic. Halsin’s been giving me lessons,” she added quickly, gesturing to Halsin. 

“Ah, well the lessons have certainly paid off,” Isobel said, nodding her thanks to them both. 

“A wizard learning druidic magic?” Jaheira said curiously. “You’ll have to show me what you’re capable of.” 

Saff grew suddenly very flustered.

“Oh, I… well I’m not… I can’t do much yet, but… I… I’d love to,” she stuttered, managing a smile through her embarrassment. Jaheira chuckled softly. 

“Then I look forward to seeing what you can do.” 

Saff was buzzing with excitement as the group split up to help fix up any damage caused in the attack, though her excitement quickly faded when she overheard the tiefling children talking. 

“We can’t. We wouldn’t even know how to get to Moonrise!”

“We have to do something! Mol would do the same for any of us!” 

“But we can’t fight those shadow things ourselves…”

The kids suddenly went quiet when Saff approached, realising she’d heard what they were saying. 

“What’s happening?” she asked. Two of them hesitated, but Mattis was the one to answer. 

“Mol was taken by one of those ghouls, and these two want to go after her!” he answered, much to the others’ annoyance. 

“We can’t just stay here! We have to help her!” One of the others argued. 

“No!” Saff said quickly, before they could get into their argument again. “It’s too dangerous out there. We’re going to Moonrise, we’ll find her,” she promised them. She desperately hoped Mol would be ok by the time they found her…

Two of them looked unsure, til Mattis spoke. 

“Guys, if there’s anything that’ll make Mol angry, it’s us getting hurt. But look at her! She’s a proper adventurer! She saved Halsin and Isobel! She’ll get Mol back too, just watch!” 

Saff could hardly hide the look of surprise on her face to hear those words. A proper adventurer. 

She managed to regain her composure just enough to reassure the kids, content that they wouldn’t try to sneak out to rescue Mol once they were out of her sight, but as she watched them scurry away an emotional smile came to her lips. As a child she’d dreamed of being an adventurer. If she could see herself now, would she think the same as the tiefling kids? Would the little girl who’d spent her life lost in stories really believe that, one day, she’d become one of the heroes she read about? Did she even believe it now? She hadn’t up til that point, she’d just seen herself as tagging along with the others. But now, maybe, she dared to believe. And it wasn’t the monsters she’d fought that gave her that belief, it wasn’t the people she’d helped or the perils she’d overcome. 

It was a child’s hope.

[syscultureis]

Nonhuman plural culture is the urge to eat random inedible objects. Glow sticks would taste sort of like pixie-sticks I’m sure of it. -The Mangle

I'm a harpy in inner and I cannot express with words how often I want to eat shiny things because it makes bird brain go brr

[magpie-moon]

I was conceived without thought

In the last bitter moments of a fruitless marriage 

some say it was at the airport

a flight to somewhere without the other

but only the perpetrators know for sure

I am ashes and fire and rain

Air and water

And red-brown leaves barely hanging onto skeletal trees

I was born to rage and wrath

a mother screaming

a baby crying

funny how I never fit the mold

I am warm nights and early sunsets

I won’t go outside

But the sentiment is always nice

I am hidden objects in odd places

I am a puzzle missing half its pieces

I am ink smeared across desperate fingertips

Impossible to scrub away

I was born to a mother

who sometimes forgot her child

alcohol is a thorough distraction

I am pages of unread books

An encyclopedia of useless quotes

A library of disconnected and mangled memories

Thoughts litter the ceiling like stringless balloons 

I am a too vivid photograph

My contrast turned all the way up; 

I am ear numbing static 

I was born to stepdad number one 

though he was more babysitter than parent

but back then I couldn’t tell the difference

I am nothing if not perfect

I am nothing if not wrong

I am nothing if not nothing at all

I was born for eggshell floors and soft footfalls

for clothes brushing skin in the darkness of a closet

for yelled accusations drifting across a terrified house

I am sunshine that tastes like sky

I am dust motes that feel like pixie dust

I am a fallen feather

Just along for the ride

I was born for summers spent in sticky heat

and long plane rides to anticipated destinations

for layovers in Phoenix

I am an underling to all that is just enough to make you wonder

But never enough to do anything more

I am the end of a dream

That feels all too real

That holds you hostage like blankets wrapped around your sweat-dampened legs at midnight on a Monday morning

I am the burnt toast that you still have to eat

The stuff your mother tells you will polish your teeth

I was born for fearful plane rides

I was told this was vacation

I never got to say goodbye

I never went back

I am a breath held in too long

a lamp that flickers more often than it shines

A door that shuts all on its own

Don’t worry: I am just a ghost

I was born to stepdad number two

he was neither babysitter nor parent

even then I knew that

he drank and fought

she met him blow for blow

and I didn’t exist

I am the pennies

Thrown into a decrepit wishing well

I won’t do what you expect me to

I was born an adult

a child who knew the ways of the world

I knew to cook

I knew not to clean (I never did it right)

I knew, by instinct, when leaving my room was alright

I knew what time to walk to school

I knew when to come home

I was eight years old

I am thousands of sticky notes stuck to a mirror

full of the impossible 

I am a twinge of pain that you can’t quite feel

But I am always there 

I was born for shut off water

for unpaid electric bills

for dogs who bit you if you weren’t careful

I am a song that you can’t remember

Lyrics that fill your parents with fear

‘are you okay. this music doesn’t sound like you’re okay’

I am fine. I promise 

I was born for a road trip that wouldn’t end

for a backwater catholic school (it could have been worse)

for a different hotel every other night

I am the words that won’t come out

The thought you won’t speak

The stupid idea you’re glad you never voiced

I was born for forgetting the return

I assume it was a long arduous one

full of cats smuggled into pet-free hotels

I am wet, raw weather

I am unable to get warm

I am colder than you ever thought possible 

I was born to a townhouse

we lied about the address  

they found out eventually

I am that kid

Who won’t come out of their closet

I’d sleep in there if I could

I am a small, safe, dark place

The kind that feels like home

I was born to eviction

and if objects were memories

I’d have none

no one told me we weren’t coming back

‘just pack your bags; fill them with clothes’

I am an instrument that doesn’t sound right

Doesn’t matter how many times you take me to get fixed

I still don’t sound like you want me to

I was born again in a homeless shelter

a grandparent paid for private school

but no one knew how bad it was

not even me

I am thousands of blankets

Piled high on top of you on a cold night

I seem good in theory

But I will suffocate you 

I am sorry

I was born to be picked up one day

in the middle of fourth grade

by my grandparents

I am an old car 

That no one wants to drive

But everyone keeps around because I haven’t really broken down yet

When I get close

Someone comes and patches up my fatal wounds with band-aids 

And tells not to be sad

And tells me not to worry

I was born for it not to occur to me that would not see my mother again

until much later

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a relief

I am obsessive

Easy distracted

Oblivious and headless

I can’t see five feet in front of me

But I jump anyway

I was born once more, a couple weeks later in Vienna 

to a father who didn’t know me, or care to

a sister who knew better than me, in all things

a stepmother who liked the idea of mothering better than being a mother

I am not easily impressed

But somehow I am fascinated by everything 

I start millions of projects

I never finish 

Even when I want to

I was born for anxiety

it knots my stomach

makes me nauseous

and everyone thought I was bulimic 

but no

just anxious (I feel better now, really, I do)

I am a Christmas tree kept up a little too long

With cracked paper ornaments held together by glitter and glue

I look great from a distance

And then you see me up close

And I am falling apart

A fire waiting to happen

I was born again to move back to Texas

back to my grandparents

It hit like a train I heard from miles away

but refused to acknowledge 

I swear I saw it coming; the snide remarks made it apparent

It shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did

I am metamorphosis

Caught between one world and another

Tug of war

And no one’s winning

I was born once more in sixth grade

And everyone thought me sweet

I had no backbone and I didn’t know anything

I am blood and bone

A snake in need of shedding

I am too tight for my skin

I can’t make myself fit

I was born for seventh grade

when I discovered sarcasm

and when I learned that people who were too nice

lost themselves to others

I was tired of being lost

I still am

I am falling asleep at a desk at two am

And forcing yourself awake to work on one more thing

I am exhaustion 

The inability to keep your eyes open even though you sleep all day

I was born for eighth grade

I let myself fall without reserve

they had dimples and smiled like the sun

they blinded me and I couldn’t look away

I didn’t really want to

I am a vulture waiting for someone to push me off a cliff

Waiting for someone to make me fly 

I am stagnant now

Powerless and reckless

What I do won’t matter

So why not do everything

I was born again for ninth grade

and nothing turned out well this year 

I’ve forgotten the sky

and I’ve forgotten the people who live under it

I am overwhelmed

but I still feel nothing

funny how that works

I am grey and blue and black

The bruises that came from nowhere

That you only notice when a dull pain shoots through your limb

‘where did you come from’

But there’s no good answer

I am alive

And I suppose that’s all that matters

[samusings]

“why doesn’t anyone want to play with us?” slithering coils wriggle up to the pirate fox, ushered through the vent to get to him.

A-A-A-Aye. Was a cruel fate for the canid compadres, their bodies worn and mangled by time and eager hands pulling them apart and putting them back together again. Mangle was put through a mighty gauntlet, no other fox there to cast away the troublemakers who wished to hurt Mangle and see what happened if you put a hand where a tail should be or a face where a paw should be. While Foxy knew the kids meant no harm, he could often steer Mangle away from the storm and get her to harbor before any damage was caused that couldn't be fixed.

But back h-h-here? No. He was lost to time, lost to Davy Jones' Locker. But wasn't he a good fox? Wasn't he a greater captain? Wasn't he their best pirate? Why was he thrown away? Why was he...lost. He was so lost. There were no maps to guide him, no guiding light in the form of pixie dust like in stories the children liked to read. He wasn't allowed to say AHOY to the kids or even a I'LL MAKE YE WALK THE PLANK. He had to sit in silence, moving only around an empty building, no laughter, except for that of the little lad with his balloons.

But Mangle always visited. No matter the night, no matter the day, no matter the rules set in place. Mangle was wonderful, beyond compare. Mangle, simply, was Mangle. And that's the best thing Mangle could ever be.

"I-I-I." Mouth jittered, trying to move his mouth, but he couldn't. A voice simply filtered out of a mouth hung open with sharp teeth and exposed endoskeleton. "I think the lads 'n lassies nowadays like...other games more. Doesn't mean we're gone for good, First Mate Mangle! I just know it. One day, they're gonna dust us off, good as new, and we'll be back in the parties! Everyone will be askin' for us! For now, we just gotta lay low...like..."

There was a light in his plastic eyes. "Yarr! Like a good ol' fashion game of hide and seek! We're hiding, and they're seeking! When they find us, when they really do find us, we'll all have a good laugh and the wait'll be over!"

[moonlight-1108]

Mr.Wooden Buttom

Mangle and Pixie

[doitwrite]

From The 3 A.M. Epiphany

Exercise 7: "FAMILY CONSCIOUSNESS. In a short piece of prose, dip into the consciousness of a family. Rather than one or two distinct points of view, this fiction should allow us into the minds of a marriage with children—adult children or young children. This will be different than limited omniscience because a family can reasonably know a good deal about the goings-on of its various parts. You could also use the royal we as an occasional pronoun to make general pronouncements. 800 words"

Our Average Surreality

Redwood sighed and rolled over, curling into a fetal position in an attempt to stay warm in the freezing room. His wife, Laurencia, must have forgotten to turn the air conditioner off again. Not wanting to get up, he tossed and turned, trying to trick his body into thinking he could feel his fingers and toes before giving up the fight. He opened his eyes, then sat up. There was someone standing in the corner of the room. A shaft of moonlight from the window fell across the figure, revealing a decaying face, wrinkled and shriveled as a prune. In the watery white light, he saw something moving on the figure’s face, and realized that it was a maggot crawling out of its empty eye socket. The fat, wriggling grub squirmed before falling to the carpet with a nearly inaudible thump.

Redwood yawned, then sat up, rubbing his eyes. He reached out and jerked on an ornate metal chain that dangled from the ceiling within arm’s reach of his side of the bed.

The door to the bedroom opened, throwing a shaft of warm yellow light into the dark room, and a pristinely dressed woman stood at attention, as if she’d been waiting outside the door the entire time. She was dressed in a crisp blue suit that matched her blue pixie cut perfectly.

Redwood waved his arm wearily at the corpse still standing at the corner of the room.

“One of the bodies got in again.” He stifled another yawn. “Get rid of it, please.”

The woman stepped inside. The next second, both she, the corpse, and the maggot had vanished. The door closed, leaving the room in near-darkness again. Redwood made to lie down again, then sat up in frustration. He’d forgotten to ask Merry to turn off the air conditioner, too. Of course, all the servants were at their beck and call, but somehow asking a houseservant who had survived the training to come all the way up to the bedroom for Redwood to ask them to turn off the AC felt demeaning. He groaned, then slipped his feet into his blue bunny slippers and shuffled to the door, muttering in annoyance.

A bar of light illuminates his wife’s dozing face before disappearing again. Laurencia rolled over, an arm thrown across her eyes. She was in their garden having a tea party with a giant blue-eyed teddy bear and a strange man in a hat. Huge blue flowers adorned the center of the table, along with a variety of pastries and finger sandwiches. It was supremely difficult to hold a conversation with either one of her dining mates, as they talked in contradictions and riddles as they poured tea into teacups with no bottoms, then drank them noisily. There was something written at the non existing bottom of her own teacup, barely visible beneath the rich blue liquid. Laurencia swallowed the contents, which tasted like melted butter, and saw that the tiny gold letters spelled out “Leave.”

Redwood made his way down the darkened hallway, cursing softly as he tripped over something soft. Two glowing blue eyes blinked to life in the darkness. It’s Teen and Tawn’s “Kill-a-Bear,” and the mangled plushie shuffled away from him toward the twins’ room, dragging its miniature axe with it as he turned and made his way down the stairs, shivering at the cold air still blowing out of the vents.

Tawn blinks awake, then rolls over as a tiny axe buries itself into the pillow where her head had been a second before. Zeroing in on the glowing blue eyes at the end of her bed, she smiles in delight as she reaches for the child-friendly safety scissors stashed under the now-ripped pillow as quietly as she can, so as not to wake her slumbering sister and thus have to share. It was finally her turn with the bear! Both she and Tawn knew that Daddy only bought it for them as a way of making up for the increasingly violent arguments he’d been having with Mama over the past few weeks ever since that man showed up with a bouquet of blue roses, but then she saw in the dim glow of the nightlight that the bear had armed itself with a tiny set of throwing knives, and in her excitement she forgot about all about it.

Redwood smiled tiredly as he passed the sounds of things breaking in Teen and Tawn’s room. Looks like that bear had been a good purchase, even if it was an apology gift. He softly closed the bedroom door and lay down again, closing his eyes with a sigh. The room was already warmer.

He feels the mattress dip as his wife rolls over, and braces himself because he knows it was an annoyed roll.

“Did you turn off the air conditioner?” she asks, irritated.

[cantfightmoonlight]

She didn't know what time it was or even what day. She had told she had been slipping in and out of consciousness, but the only tell she had of knowing was the scream that would tear through her throat as she come to once more. Her bottom lip had been all chewed from her teeth digging into her skin in attempt to bite back the visceral sound of her pain that tackled her down wave after wave. But, she could only do so much to stop the strained and agonizing cries and she often was too out of it to even realize that she had been screaming until she had fully waken up to someone standing over her, blurry and out of focused. The dark shadow of a figure only sending her spiraling once more. The tiny little pixie was exhausted, drained of all of her light until she was left in a crumbled up frame on her side. Her wings unfurled and mangled on display for any visitor to see which is exactly how Aiyla found her. Curled up into a ball, her eyes were squeezed tightly shut. Her teeth grazing her bottom lip as if ready to bite down again in a moment's notice. She wouldn't have dared to move having learned the hard way what attempting to lean any which way or sit up would do. Even breathing in and out brought on a great deal of difficulty. But, when she felt a hand graze her forehead, she flinched. Her entire body shuddered away from the touch as her helpless eyes shot open as if pleading to whoever it was to not hurt her anymore. It was only after her eyes registered the little crocheted frog that she let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding. "W-wha-" Her frayed voice attempted to speak. Confusing creasing across her brows as she blinked over at her best friend, more than thankful that she was there and seemed in one piece. "W-what d-do you m-mean?"

@cantfightmoonlight LEYLA & AIYLA

Maybe part of Aiyla didn't want to know who would break the vote, but she wished she had figured it out. The sick game, she should have known. The sick mind games Hande was predisposed to, the Catalyst she knew better to trust their word and yet it was all they had. She told herself that again and again- it was all the had and yet she couldn't shake the image of Leyla's broken body from her mind. A glitch in her memories splicing the loss of Defne with the near miss with Leyla left her heavy in the chest. Guilt was a motivator when she paired it with her love and rage gliding into the hospital room, she wouldn't ask permission to see her best friend she would just be there as she had for her. Slipping in beside her bed Aiyla held up a small crocthed frog she'd made the night it all happened whens he couldn't sleep. "Hey," She whispered pushing a bit of hair from Leyla's face, her frown temporary and fleeting as she smoothed her face into brave regality that swam and fractured. "I'm so sorry, Leyla. I should have known."

[bajvanaparadicsomban]

[drbtinglecannon]

NEW OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR "FOR THE FUTURE"

(I haven't watched the leaked episode, if you did, please do not post any spoilers. You will be blocked if you do.)

King!!! King is back!!! Unfortunately it comes at the cost of him obviously being the Collector's servant basically. At least he still has François.

King also reads a book about the Collector, similar to how the end of S1 he read a book about Belos. It's an easy way to add lore to the show, and it calls back to another time he did so

Not only do we get curly redhead Lilith, but she has a pixie cut now too!!! Her glasses are gone tho :(

All of the Coven Heads (but Terra?) got turned to puppets ;___; as have most other citizens including Hooty, Principal Bump & the other Hexside teachers, and some of the other student body like the grudgby players

Also Eda does not seem to have a prosthetic like most people predicted, which makes me wonder what happened to Alador

ALSO ALSO SHORT HAIR EDA 💖

Mattholomule grew the worst facial hair lol (I am certain the 😑 expressions everyone made in that last promo image was at Mattholomule). Skara is there too!!!! And Barkus (maybe we'll get a gustholomule moment)

Eda can still lose control of the Owl Beast in Harpy mode -- and I can't blame her considering the circumstances. Her eyes turn fully black in that inky drop motion like back in s1

I wonder if her short hair affects the look

Huntlow moment 💚💛

Dana was right, sparkly is a good word to describe this episode.

I'm not sure how I feel by the idea that almost all adults got captured, it does feel specifically like The Collector (a child like God) did it on purpose, but it still is kinda :/ to know most of my fav supporting cast are puppets now to conveniently write them all out of the episode so as to keep the cast from bloating. Like I get why it was done but I'm still salty about it

The Coven Heads (again except maybe Terra?? Idk why she wasn't there? Did she pledge loyalty well enough to not need to be puppetfied? Did she escape? Die? Lol could you imagine) all have slight whimsical features added to their designs, as with everyone who got puppetfied, but for once they're all moving & working in tandem haha. Raine's close up not only killed me, but gave a good callback to when they got captured by Kikimora then "brainwashed" for weeks afterwards. The parallels of Raine pretending to be an enemy vs now they are but completely against their will. Bah. I'm dying, I'm afraid to see Eda's face in that scene. ;__; I'm really unhappy to have any Raeda fluff or bonding during this special (or suggested to have happened in between KT & FTF) robbed from us, but angst is classic Raeda vibes so I'm not surprised

I did also notice we didn't see any hints of Amity, Gus, or Willow's families at all. All we know is Eda & Lilith seem to have escaped puppetfication. I have a feeling Hooty took the puppetfication blast for Lilith in that moment

I'm stoked about Lilith having red hair again, and I was not expecting her & Eda to both cut their hair short! Everyone's getting hair style changes!

This will definitely be a Collector lore heavy episode, if only for the fact King was reading that book about them. I wonder if there used to be more children of the stars, and where the others went/are if there were

And lastly I'm at the photo cap but Belos is there too. He is using glyphs to burrow into some area, and he's killing the wildlife as he goes. Y'know, classic Belos behavior. I wonder if he's trying to get to where Caleb's mangled remains are, and if so what the plan is from there. I doubt Belos will play a large part in this episode as it seems very heavily focused on The Collector instead, which I'm fine with as I figured the final confrontation with Belos was gonna be the last special, what with him being the main villain of the show.

Despite any hangups I have I'm very excited to see the special! I know Dana & the crew worked hard on it

[kk095]

The Bachelorette Party

Bachelorette parties are supposed to be a fun get together in honor of a woman’s upcoming marriage, usually involving the bride and a few close friends and family members.

Becca was set to marry the man of her dreams, Ryan, after 3 and a half years of dating. Becca was a 27 year old brunette with brown eyes, was of average height and build, was fair skinned, always had her makeup on point, and had perky c cup breasts.

Becca and her fiancé had planned a smaller wedding, and wanted to keep their circle smaller for the wedding and related festivities to limit drama, which was exactly the case for both the bachelorette and bachelor party. For Becca’s bachelorette party, she was only inviting 3 other people for a night out at the local casino. The lineup included her younger sister Maddie, and her best friends Kate and Carly.

Maddie was a 22 year old who had had brown hair and brown eyes like her older sister, but had a taller, skinnier build, had a nose ring, a half tattoo sleeve on her left arm, and B cup breasts. Next up was Kate, a 27 year old conventionally attractive blonde with blue eyes, who had a skinny build, a tan complexion, didn’t wear much makeup, and had perky c cup breasts. Last but not least was Carly, a 26 year old brunette with a short pixie cut and green eyes. Carly had that cute, innocent, girl next door look and had a smaller, petite build, and sported C cup breasts as well.

As mentioned earlier, the 4 ladies had intended on going to the local casino for a night of drinking, gambling, and fun, but unfortunately, fate had other plans for the bachelorette party. The group has piled into one car- Carly’s car, since she was the group’s designated driver. While on their way over to the casino, a semi truck had taken a curve a little too hard and fast, striking the 4 ladies head on while frantically trying to avoid the truck.

The front of the car got crushed up, and the vehicle was forced backwards into a barrier, throwing all 4 ladies around violently inside the vehicle. The steering wheel slammed into Carly’s chest, with a cracking sound being heard instantly from her ribs and sternum taking the brunt of the impact. Over in the passenger seat was our to-he bride Becca. She was thrown around quite violently as well, striking her head on the ceiling, and the passenger door window, before falling unconscious. In the rear, passenger's side backseat, Maddie screamed in pain, feeling her left thigh get crushed while simultaneously being thrashed around. A loud snap was heard, and she saw bone penetrate her pants, sticking out in plain sight, causing her to scream loudly, terrified by what she just saw. Last but not least, Kate felt the armrest in between the two back seats slam into the upper right quadrant of her abdomen really hard, before being forced back, experiencing whiplash.

After this awful wreck, 911 was notified by multiple other onlookers in nearby vehicles. Emergency services began swarming the scene in the coming minutes. The police were securing the scene and directing traffic around the bachelorette party’s mangled vehicle, while the fire department and EMS began to get acclimated on scene. A firefighter came up to the driver’s side window and took a peek inside the vehicle. Carly was gasping for air and clenching her chest, Becca the bride was unconscious, Maddie was crying hysterically in pain, and Kate was groaning in pain, drifting in and out of consciousness. “please… help us…” Carly uttered in a weak, breathy voice to the firefighter as they approached the vehicle. Meanwhile off in the distance, the driver of the semi that hit the ladies head on stumbles out of his vehicle, not a scratch on him. The driver reeked of booze and weed, and kept mumbling things to himself. The accident was already his fault for taking that curve too fast and striking the ladies, but he exacerbated things by being intoxicated. He was subsequently handcuffed by one of the cops, and was sitting on the step of one of the ambulances, being examined by a medic. “oh my god, did I fuckin kill them?!” the truck driver shouted out loud, watching fire department and EMS personnel surround the crushed up car.

The medics began assessing all 4 ladies, but the bride to be was in the worst shape. A weak carotid pulse was felt on Becca, and her pupils were sluggish. A c-collar was immediately placed on Becca, and she was carefully navigated out of the vehicle and into a backboard. The medic and fire fighter set the backboard down on the ground for a moment and started setting up a portable heart monitor on Becca, placing IVs, and removing most of her clothes and her shoes. With Becca’s level of consciousness and unstable vital signs, it was decided that rapid sequence intubation was the next best step. The medic opened Becca’s mouth and blood started dribbling out. Her mouth and airway had to be suctioned out a few times, but her mouth and airway were sufficiently clear enough for the 7.0 ET tube to be inserted. The tube was quickly inserted, and held in place with a blue tube holder, and an ambu bag was attached. The firefighter began squeezing the ambu bag gently every few seconds while the medic began fluid resuscitation on Becca. But suddenly, Becca’s heart monitor began beeping loudly. “Shit, she’s in v-fib. Starting compressions!” the medic said, as they began pumping away on the bride’s chest. Another medic scurried over with a set of defib pads, and stuck them onto Becca’s chest. The pads were charged to 250 joules, and a shock was delivered in a moment’s notice. A horrified passer-by in a car saw Becca’s limp, battered body jolt around on the backboard as emergency services attempted to revive the beautiful bride-to-be. The shock failed to revive the beautiful brunette, so CPR was resumed. Becca’s chest was pummeled with deep, strong compressions while the electrical whirring sound of the defib pads recharging could be heard. Once the defibs were ready, a second shock was delivered. Becca’s lifeless body trembled and shook, but remained in v-fib. Her ET tube filled with blood, so chest compressions were resumed while her airway was suctioned out. The suction tube made a slurping sound while draining the blood from the flexible, plastic tube that protruded from the patient’s mouth. It took a few attempts at suctioning the airway out before Becca’s airway was secure again. The team then decided to shock Becca a 3rd time. The bride’s eyes opened up from the increased strength of this shock, and her body tensed up for a moment. Becca let out a grunt- this is called an agonal breath, before going limp and flatlining. Becca’s eyes were open, staring blankly up at the evening sky, with a detached ET tube+tube holder taking up half her face. The defib pads and EKG electrodes were still littered across her chest. One of the medics shined a pen light into Becca’s eyes, discovering her pupils were fixed and dilated. “no pulse, no respirations, fixed and dilated pupils, asystole on the monitor...” one of the medics called out, shaking their heads. The more senior of medics replied “she’s gone, what a shame… time of death, 7:46pm. Notify the coroner’s office please.” The emergency workers shut off the flatlined heart monitor and placed a cover over Becca’s body. Instead of having a blast at her bachelorette party, Becca was now laying dead on a backboard, under a sheet on the side of the road, with her cute, wrinkly, size 7 feet sticking out.

While Becca’s code took place on the side of the road, the other 3 ladies were extricated from the vehicle and transported to the local emergency department, completely unaware Becca had passed away.

The first to arrive at the hospital was the driver, Carly. Carly was awake, alert, and struggling to breathe. She was on a backboard with a c-collar and donned an o2 mask. Tears rolled down her face since she felt a sharp, tearing pain in her chest every time she inhaled. You could see her neck muscles flex as she tried to draw in air with absolutely everything she had. Carly’s blood pressure was hypotensive, with a reading of 70/39, was tachycardic with a heart rate of 142bpm, and had an oxygen saturation that had dropped all the way to 87%. Carly was handed off to the first trauma team, and she was whisked off to a nearby room to begin examination and treatment.

Next up to arrive was Kate the blonde. She was also on a backboard and had a c-collar on, but did not have an oxygen mask on. Kate was awake and alert, groaning in pain with one hand on the upper right portion of her abdomen. One of the ER nurses moved Kate’s hand for a second and took a brief look, noticing a large, purplish bruise just below her ribs. The nurse palpated Kate’s belly, to which she winced in pain. The nurse was quickly able to determine that Kate had exhibited abdominal guarding. The young lady’s vital signs were: BP 83/42, pulse 136bpm, and o2 saturation 99%. Kate was then handed off to the 2nd group of ER personnel that waited in a nearby room.

Last but not least, the bride’s little sister Maddie arrived. She was awake and sitting up on a gurney, but her leg was in a splint, and the compound fracture/laceration was covered with some larger gauze pads. Since Maddie was in tremendous pain and had stable vitals, she was given intravenous oxycodone for pain management, and 5mg valium for anxiolytic purposes. Maddie was awake, but seemed a bit groggy from the pain+anxiety meds. She was taken into the last of the remaining trauma rooms where her examination commenced.

Over in trauma 1, the team started off by running trauma labs, doing a chest x ray, and performing an echocardiogram. The chest x ray displayed multiple rib fractures on both sides of the chest, and a left sided tension pneumothorax with right sided tracheal deviation. The echocardiogram displayed no signs of tamponade, but showed a major ventricular septal defect. Essentially, the muscular layer separating the 2 large, bottom chambers of Carly’s heart has been torn, creating an abnormal connection between both ventricles, and disrupting blood flow in and out of the heart. This particular injury is associated with a high mortality rate, and has to be treated urgently in order to increase the likelihood of a desirable outcome. With that in mind, the team opted to get Carly up to the OR ASAP and let the surgical team place the left sided chest tube during the surgery. The team placed a cover over Carly’s torso and began rushing her out of the room. “surgery? What’s going on?” Carly asked in a weak, breathy voice, to which nobody responded. Carly tried to reassure herself, thinking “it’s going to be ok! We’re all going to be ok! And we’ll have the bachelorette party once everyone’s better.”, completely unaware that Becca had already passed away on scene.

While the trauma team handed off Carly to the trauma surgery team, Kate was being examined in trauma room 2. Unfortunately, she was losing blood at a massive rate and had been started on the massive transfusion protocol. Kate also fell unconscious and was intubated by the ER team since arrival. Her tan complexion faded to something more pale and ghastly, and she became cool to the touch. She laid underneath the large overhead light, eyes gently shut, with a blue tube holder and ambu bag visible. Her chest had EKG electrodes scattered all around, and there was fresh ultrasound gel on her belly. An abdominal ultrasound displayed a massive retroperitoneal hemorrhage in the upper right quadrant of her abdomen, but it was unknown as to whether the liver, IVC, or other blood vessels were the source of such a bleed.

In the third trauma room, Maddie was being examined by the emergency physicians. They reset the compound fracture in her leg and ordered a follow up x ray to get the extent of the damage in her right leg. It was also noted that blood flow was also obstructed heading towards her right foot, so her right leg appeared discolored. This is a scenario known as compartment syndrome. Essentially, the  main artery which carries blood to the lower leg and foot was squeezed by the fractured bone and swelling in the area. Compartment syndrome is a surgical emergency, and needs to be dealt with urgently in order to restore blood flow to the affected area. With that in mind, the trauma team paged orthopedics and trauma surgery for consultation.

Speaking of surgery, Carly was now up in the operating room. The surgical team sedated and intubated her, and also placed a chest tube to alleviate the tension pneumothorax. Carly’s oxygen saturation improved somewhat, but her vital signs remained unstable overall, remaining hypotensive and tachycardic. The surgical team elected to perform a modified daggett procedure. This is an open heart surgery in which the heart is stopped, placed on cardiopulmonary bypass, the left ventricle is incised once the heart is stopped, and the tear in her ventricular septum is patched shut. Generally, this procedure is reserved for patients that have stable vital signs, but the team felt the risk was necessary in Carly’s case. Betadine was squirted across the middle of Carly’s chest in anticipation of a median sternotomy. A vertical scalpel cut was made beginning at the very top of the chest at the manubrium of the sternum, extended inferiorly several inches, continued past the xiphoid process, and ending a few centimeters below the diaphragm. The underlying fat and tissue was exposed after a 2nd incision with an 11 blade, and a sternal saw was procured. The saws blade was placed above the sternum, and the surgeon began breaking apart Carly’s sternum, working their way down slowly but surely. A high pitched grinding sound permeated the OR while the electric saw cut through one of the hardest bones in the body rather effortlessly. After the sternum was divided, a finochietto spreader was placed, and Carly’s chest was cracked open nice and wide, with her strong, young heart visible for all to see. With the chest cracked open, the next step was to begin setting up the equipment for cardiopulmonary bypass.

While the OR team was starting Carly’s surgery, Kate had deteriorated further and went into cardiac arrest. The first handful of minutes of Kate’s code were rather uneventful. She had converted to PEA, was given 2 doses of epi and atropine, and had a down time of 6 minutes. Kate’s chest was being pumped repeatedly by one of the ER nurses while one arm dangled off the side of the table, bobbing in sync with each individual compression. Her chest caved in and her belly bounced outwards from the force of the strong chest compressions she was receiving. It took another round of drugs and 3 minutes worth of efforts, but Kate finally converted to a shockable rhythm. The paddles were charged to 300 joules, gelled, and pressed up against Kate’s bare chest. Once everyone backed away, shock #1 was delivered. The blonde’s body flopped quickly on the table in response to the dose of electricity, but no change was present on the monitors. CPR and ambu bagging resumed for a few moments while the paddles were being readied for the next shock. This time, the paddles were recharged to 360 joules, and the next shock was delivered. The stronger shock caused Kate’s feet to kick up above the table and crash back down, showing off the cute, delicate wrinkles in the soles of her size 8 feet. This shock sent Kate back into PEA unfortunately, so aggressive resuscitation efforts were resumed.

While Kate was fighting for her life, Maddie was taken up to the operating room to fix her leg. The surgery entailed a fasciotomy in order to restore blood flow to her leg, and surgical reduction with internal fixation of her fractured femur. She was sedated and intubated on the table, ready to go. The first step of her procedure was the fasciotomy. A large, 20cm incision was made on her medial thigh away from where the laceration from the open fracture protruded. The underlying subcutaneous tissue was dissected in order to expose the underlying fascia of her thigh. The next step was a longitudinal incision in the fascia itself along the line of the initial skin incision in order to expose the compartment. A small, transverse incision was then made over the intramuscular septum, with the incision extending over the anterior and lateral compartments. Following this step, the superficial peroneal nerve was identified in order to be protected and avoided, as severing/injuring this nerve can cause irreversible damage and complicate the procedure. Next, the fascia lying on top of the anterior compartment was incised further via extending the transverse incision over the intramuscular septum. Once this was done, the compartment was released successfully, and blood flow was almost instantly restored. With the fasciotomy complete, the team’s next focus was the femur fracture.

While Maddie’s surgical team shifted their efforts to the next portion of the surgery, Carly was a few doors down in a neighboring operating suite. While setting up the heart-lung bypass machine for Carly’s surgery, her vital signs started decreasing at an alarming rate. The team had to stabilize her vitals sufficiently in order to start the heart-lung bypass portion of the procedure. The OR team administered vasopressors intravenously in an attempt to increase her blood pressure and heart rate, but all the drugs seemed to do was buy Carly time instead of fixing the problem. Ultimately, Carly became pulseless, converting to v-fib. Internal massage was started immediately. One of the surgeons wrapped their hands around Carly’s weakly fidgeting heart and started squeezing, desperately trying to bring the young lady back. One of the surgical nurses detached the ventilator and attached an ambu bag to the breathing tube and began artificial respiration. The internal paddles were charged to 20 joules, lowered into Carly’s chest, and a shock was delivered once everyone stood clear. A dull, wet thump was heard in the operating room, but the shock failed to convert the young lady out of v-fib. The large, spoon shaped paddles were recharged to 30 joules and lowered back into Carly’s exposed chest cavity, promptly delivering the next shock. Carly’s body jolted more sharply this time due to the increased strength of the shock. Carly’s heart twitched for a moment, then stopped, then restarted. “sinus bradycardia on the monitors. We got her back.” One of the OR nurses said, feeling a bit relieved. With a pulse restored, the team upped Carly’s vasopressor doses, kept up fluid resuscitation, and began prepping her for bypass.

Back in the ER, Kate was still being coded. Her total downtime was 23 minutes, and she looked white as a ghost on the table. Through the blue tube holder, you could see that Kate’s lips were turning a paleish shade, and there was a bruise forming on the center of her chest from the lengthy resuscitation efforts. The trauma team had shocked Kate unsuccessfully 6 times since they converted her back to v-fib for the 2nd time. The heart monitors still showed v-fib, so the team recharged the paddles to 360 joules, and delivered yet another shock into Kate’s lifeless body. Her body thrashed around on the table before going still, but no change was shown on the monitors. The team shocked Kate yet again, but this time, Kate became asystolic. One of the ER nurses also noted fixed and dilated pupils. At that point, the trauma team made the tough decision and terminated the code, calling time of death at 8:53pm. The ambu bag was detached and the monitors were shut off. The EKG electrodes were disconnected, and a toe tag was placed before Kate’s body was covered up.

In the few hours after Kate’s death, Maddie was moved to the surgical recovery area, appearing to start her long road to recovery while Carly was still in the operating room being worked on. Carly’s ventricular septal defect was closed via multilayered suturing, and the ventricle incision was closed with a patch and fibrin glue. The surgical team began weaning the young lady off the heart-lung bypass machine. Fortunately, Carly’s heart was able to be restarted, and her chest was closed via sternal wire, and the skin incision was closed with suturing. She was then moved to the ICU for observation.

Both Maddie and Carly survived this ordeal after many months of healing and physical therapy. The two were naturally devastated when they were informed of Becca and Kate’s passing. What was supposed to be a fun night unfortunately turned into a tragic, painful memory for the 2 ladies.