abyssembraced

[abyssembraced]

"𝚄𝚐𝚑, 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚢. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚖 𝙸 '𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍' 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙿𝚎𝚋𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗? 𝚃𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚛𝚋𝚜? 𝚃𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜?"

@moonlitmanor

[abyssembraced]

what bouncing booty? you're flatter than steamrolled pancakes

Referenced ask

"HOW DAREDSTETH THOU!? I HAVETH THE PLUMPESTE, MOST JUICIESTE BUTTOCKSE INST ALL OF CASTLE TOWNE!!!"

He does a little wiggle. Like a worm. The non-existent clap of his asscheeks alerts no one.

He can't see it beneath the lampshade on his head, but Queen is still not looking at him.

[abyssembraced]

rouxls gets a little post it note that says

rouxls kaard drouxls haard

He plucks off the post-it note that was just stuck to his (verye fashioneable) coat, pulling it beneath his lampshade to get a better look at it.

"Aha, no no, thou art very mistaken, worm. 'Tis not I who drouxls haard."

"THATTE is for the otheres to do. Over Me."

"And mine Bouncinest Bootye."

Queen would notice any second now. Definitely(e).

[abyssembraced]

Vee's public floor had been her pride and joy, once. Kids loved it! They loved the trivia quizzes, the prizes they'd win, and even for the visitors who weren't confident enough to put their knowledge to the test, the arcade sections were always bustling with activity. As far as she was concerned, it was the best place Gardenview had to offer. She'd always poured countless hours into making it that way.

But now? It was empty. Lifeless.

The lights were permanently dimmed. Puddles of ichor littered the ground. The only "guests" left to pay a visit were the unwelcome Twisted husks that shambled about, wandering aimlessly in search of living Toons to chase and hunt.

This wasn't the first time she'd been back to her floor since the start of the Ichor Operation, and all things considered, the place was actually in decent shape compared to some of the other abandoned locations in the Center. But... All the Twisteds were away from her right now. She had a moment of peace. Some time to take in just how far the place had fallen from its former glory.

...A moment of peace, but not quiet. Familiar, grainy voices crackled from a television above her, and Vee couldn't help but draw her gaze to the animation it displayed.

"𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗!"

"𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘?"

"Mmmhh...... Six!"

"DING-DING-DING!"

Ugh.

She looked away with a grimace.

Sure, Winning Big wasn't the worst episode she starred in. Hell, the promotion poster for an even worse one was plastered all over the walls of this very floor. (She never had been able to convince anyone to take those down.)

But still, did this scene really have to be part of the only show footage to survive the shutdown?

[abyssembraced]

"...𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎."

Sure, she couldn't control the cord, but why did that have to matter?

[abyssembraced]

@gardenviewgalavants asked:

"...Hey... Vee...?"

It's Riley's voice, gone soft, that sounds out. The former human staggering over and slumping against a nearby wall. The fatigue of being on the verge of a clarity breakdown getting to her, once again.

"Can you show me our journal again...? Please...? Everyone else is busy and I need someone... something to focus on..."

Ah...

Vee was silent for a moment.

It wasn't that the request annoyed her or was a bother—genuinely, it wasn't. Riley was a friend, and if she needed help, then Vee wanted to do what she could for her. It wasn't like this was an abnormal occurrence, either.

It was just...

"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕'𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖." That shouldn't come as a surprise, really. The journal rarely ever left her room. Always tucked safely away in her drawer, in the same spot every time, to prevent it from getting lost or damaged. It was too sentimental, too important not to protect in that manner.

However, seeing as they were currently in the Gardenview Center's entrance lobby, it meant that they had some distance to cover before they could get to it. Which was no issue to Vee, obviously, but Riley..?

"𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚘, 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗?"

She was already slumped against the wall. Should she... Try to help her walk..?

Vee started to reach an arm out toward the sculpture, as if moving to hold her, only to hesitate and draw it back toward herself.

...Hm.

In the end, Vee simply stood next to her, close enough for the other to easily latch onto her for support if she so pleased. Her microphone snaked over to Riley's other side as well, floating between her and the wall, though it had yet to actually touch her.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘."

[abyssembraced]

Working on icons for The Girl,, (finally gfgsdghf)

[abyssembraced]

For Pride Month, Vee incorporates some sort of white garment into her usual outfit so that she looks like a walking aromantic flag and calls it a day /silly

[abyssembraced]

Vee's public floor had been her pride and joy, once. Kids loved it! They loved the trivia quizzes, the prizes they'd win, and even for the visitors who weren't confident enough to put their knowledge to the test, the arcade sections were always bustling with activity. As far as she was concerned, it was the best place Gardenview had to offer. She'd always poured countless hours into making it that way.

But now? It was empty. Lifeless.

The lights were permanently dimmed. Puddles of ichor littered the ground. The only "guests" left to pay a visit were the unwelcome Twisted husks that shambled about, wandering aimlessly in search of living Toons to chase and hunt.

This wasn't the first time she'd been back to her floor since the start of the Ichor Operation, and all things considered, the place was actually in decent shape compared to some of the other abandoned locations in the Center. But... All the Twisteds were away from her right now. She had a moment of peace. Some time to take in just how far the place had fallen from its former glory.

...A moment of peace, but not quiet. Familiar, grainy voices crackled from a television above her, and Vee couldn't help but draw her gaze to the animation it displayed.

"𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗!"

"𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘?"

"Mmmhh...... Six!"

"DING-DING-DING!"

Ugh.

She looked away with a grimace.

Sure, Winning Big wasn't the worst episode she starred in. Hell, the promotion poster for an even worse one was plastered all over the walls of this very floor. (She never had been able to convince anyone to take those down.)

But still, did this scene really have to be part of the only show footage to survive the shutdown?

[abyssembraced]

"Aren'teth thou excited, worm?"

"In but one sleep, thoust will finallye get to see mine most beauteous face once againe!"

A 'most beauteous face' that may or may not betray Kris and their friends once again, too. But maybe not. Maybe he'll truly just be there for the snacks.

They're hacking kind of carelessly at a piece of wood. there is wood shreds all around the teen. No shape seems to be coming forth.

The neutral expression holds a note of tension.

Tomorrow is... something.

[abyssembraced]

a little thing I made for my friend and rp partner Maddie recently because we've discussed Glisten's hypothetical debut episode a good bit and I had the spoons to draw.

[abyssembraced]

Unprompted starter for @distrxst >:3c

On some level, the prior warning was nice. Even if it wasn't necessary and Vee thought that she had made that pretty clear, it did mean that she could clear her schedule for the day, at least. It gave her time to prepare, and ensure that the now-expected upcoming visit wouldn't interfere with any of her work.

It... Really didn't help cut down on the ever-growing mass of letters piling up in her drawers, though. Which had been. Part of the reason she'd made the invitation in the first place. (She'd considered throwing some of those out before, to make space for other belongings—she had them all memorized as files on one of her internal hard drives, anyway—but when she brought up the thought to Glisten once, he'd said that might be considered... Rude? So in the drawers they all stayed for now).

Regardless, the time specified in the (personally hand-delivered during their ichor run together yesterday) letter was quickly approaching. They'd likely be here any minute now...

And finally, a knock at the door.

Those had become a more frequent occurrence in recent times. In the past, it had been easy to guess who the surprise visitor to her room was; almost always being Veronica or Glisten, though occasionally instead a check-in from Sprout, Arthur, (ugh) Dandy, or even more rarely, Delilah.

Only two of those people still showed up now, for obvious reasons. But instead, other Toons had started coming to her more often, even outside of 'business hours' with the Ichor Operation. Astro, Brightney...

And of course, today, just as he'd promised:

"𝚁𝚊𝚣𝚣𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚊𝚣𝚣𝚕𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚢."

Vee stepped back to allow the twins entry to the room. They still may not have been able to see much of the interior just from the doorway. However, along with her shelves and desk, they could have potentially taken notice of a round, raised platform in the room that appeared as though it could act as a miniature, one-to-two Toon-sized practice stage.

A moment passed.

Then another.

And another.

Uh.

"...𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 ���𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 '𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚢 𝚖𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖', 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?"

[abyssembraced]

"𝙻𝚎𝚜𝚜 '𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗' 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 '𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚎𝚍', 𝙸'𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢." Vee held up an index finger as she corrected him. "𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐. 𝙸 𝚛𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛." Fortunately, she hadn't needed to try to extract from a machine while half-blind (or to give one up to someone else, for that matter) last floor.

Still, the less time she had to spend like this, the better. She was indeed lucky that her assumption about Glisten carrying a cleaning cloth with him even into an ichor run had turned out to be correct.

...Though clearly, it was something that she should start doing, too. Glisten had been kind enough to gift the little cloth to her, so perhaps she'd start keeping it on hand for future runs. Just in case something like this ever happened again. She didn't plan on making a habit of getting her screen drenched in ichor, of course, but it was good to be prepared.

"...𝙱𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚛𝚢," She agreed with a nod. It was a little funny to think that their Gigi was potentially more of a threat to her in that sense. Unless the gachapon had just been joking when she'd talked about that, but... She wasn't sure. And didn't particularly want to risk anything.

But then Glisten suddenly closed the distance between them and she froze up in surprise, taking an instinctive half-step back. It wasn't that she minded the close contact, though, especially not when it was just him—it simply took her by surprise, was all—and she relaxed once she realized what he was trying to do.

And then he stepped back, and Vee looked around again, and...

"𝙷𝚞𝚑. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛." The darkened spots had been bearable before. She'd dealt with worse impairments in the past without saying a word and fully expected to have to do so again in the future. She had been fully prepared to just push through it all, as she always had. As if it was just another one of her optical malfunctions. But, it was... Nice, to not have to worry about that this time. There were still a couple tiny blotches left that Glisten hadn't tried to go after, but those really were nothing to be concerned about.. "...𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜."

He was just in time, too, it seemed, as their elevator ride finally came to a stop. Vee took the cleaning cloth back from her best friend and stored it away (it'd have to go with her scavenged items for now. That was the only place she had space), before focusing on what she could currently detect on the other side.

The heavy door that kept them all safe from aggressive Twisteds also weakened her connection to the machines, so she wouldn't be able to survey everything in full until they got onto the floor properly. From what she could tell based on her limited range, though...

Vee's voice rose in volume the next time she spoke, intended to be heard by everyone on the team.

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚢. 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚍."

But then she quieted down again, turning a confident grin toward Glisten directly.

"𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘?"

His smile slips even further at the lack of sureness in her movement. After another moment of watching her struggle, Glisten reaches out to clasp her hands in his and stuff the cloth into her grasp.

"Vee... you're not saying you were running about blind, are you? Lucky us that I did have a cloth ready—I wouldn't be able to stand it if my best friend in the whole world was throwing the competition for my sake!"

He wouldn't be able to handle seeing her stumble around a floor—worse yet if they had a blackout or found her twisted counterpart. It would have been little more than a death sentence. But yes, yes, crisis averted. She's unharmed, will stay unharmed for a while longer if all goes well. He can still laugh a little and poke some fun at her misfortune because as she said, she's fine.

"Definitely better than cracking your screen. And better the button than your circuitry, hm?"

And of course she teases him back. Just another little nothing, a jab at his ego and vanity. Another sign she's doing well.

That gets him to actually, properly laugh.

"Oh, you know me too well. I did plan on it! But you know how things are right now. I've just been far too busy to embroider anything on a silly little cleaning cloth."

But it's still a good little cleaning cloth, just like all the others he has. Can't leave a scratch, can't leave a blemish; they make sure of that. But Vee's screen is still smudged despite her efforts—not her best efforts, perhaps, but an effort nonetheless. He can't stand for that.

"But goodness, Vee! You're just as bad as Rodger. Let me just…"

He plucks the cleaning cloth from her to try his hand at a particularly obvious leftover ichor smudge. Glisten steps back to inspect his work, though not before folding the cloth just as Vee had and handing it back.

"Isn't that better?"

[abyssembraced]

can't forget the girl failure. rancid egg for vee too.

Oh.

Gross.

Was this... Something leftover from those egg baskets Bassie had asked them all to collect? The Easter season had come and gone by now, and all its Holiday Toons' Twisteds had already retreated to whatever hidden corners of the Gardenview Center they originally crawled out of. The decorations that had been put up for the event (it was tradition, after all, even if they weren't getting visitors anymore. It always seemed to make the Holiday Toons happier, too) had all been put away a while ago as well. Did somebody forget to throw this out during the clean-up?

...No, that was unlikely, actually. It took eggs far longer than that to spoil, especially to the extent that this one seemed to have rotted. And she was pretty sure the decorative 'eggs' they used were all just plastic props anyway.

So where did this egg come from, then? The fridge? Did Sprout just find a carton of eggs from before the shutdown that he'd forgotten about, or something?

Vee could consider herself lucky that she hadn't been made with olfactory senses, since she could tell just by looking at it that this thing probably smelled awful. Unfortunately, she couldn't be spared from the horrible slimy texture that came from holding the thing, though. This goop had better not end up short-circuiting her.

"𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜?" She didn't work with food, she didn't host the Easter event, and she wasn't in charge of anything in general aside from her own game show-turned-trivia nights. "𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚊𝚕."

When Vee looked up, though, the strange figure who had handed her the egg had already vanished. Leaving her to figure out what to do with it.

Great.

Whatever.

Perhaps she'll just... Leave this sitting on Dandy's counter while he's out 'helping' a team on a run. A little anonymous gift from her to him.

[abyssembraced]

a will to break, or a voice to cry suffering ?

Make my muse choose...

No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.

All qualities that they—that Void—had been thought not to have.

But he was wrong.

Perhaps he wasn't at first—their memories of their early life, of however many ages they spent wandering the Wastes beyond Hallownest before receiving that inexplicable calling to return, were all impossibly vague. Did those memories even exist to begin with? They weren't sure. Though it hardly mattered to them, anyway.

And now?

They thought. They willed. They made choices, all their own. A choice to deny the destiny that had been planned for them, to challenge and snuff out the Light that threatened Hallownest. That threatened their friends. Their family. Their home.

And a choice to remain with those bugs when the deed was done.

They had a will. Though it had yet to be broken.

A voice, however? That they did indeed lack. But it didn't bother them. They knew no other way to be.

They found ways around their silence, when necessary. Gestures, drawings, the written word. And fellow creatures of Void did not need speech to understand their commands. But, more frequently than not, they found themself content to simply listen to their companions, rather than attempt to talk.

Would that change, if they had a voice of their own? They didn't think so.

So, a will that they already had, or a voice that they had no need of? The choice meant little to them.

A shrug.

They would not lose their will. But... If there was no cost, then a voice would be fine enough, they supposed.

[abyssembraced]

find out about your replacement as you did, vee, or remain clueless until the very last moment ? your time begins now !

Make my muse choose...

"𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎."

The response was nearly immediate. Information and knowledge was vital in all situations. And the more important the situation, the even stronger of a truth that was.

"𝙵𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝚃𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝." And to resist it.

To have been kept in the dark until it was too late to do anything? To not be allowed any input on the 'upgrades' being done to her own body? Vee grimaced, and though slight, her crossed arms seemed to stiffen, pulled even closer to her chest.

Veronica was only able to talk to Delilah and Arthur about canceling their plans because Vee had been able to express her discomfort with it. If she'd never gotten that chance, then...

...

She'd never actually heard back from Veronica about how that conversation went. Gardenview shut down not long after the initial news. And then she never heard anything from Veronica again.

But... She—her screen display cut out for a brief moment, flickering to a terminal, but flashed back to her face too quickly to make out any words—she had never received any system updates in that month before everything fell apart, even minor ones. For once, she didn't have to change. And she didn't get replaced, either.

Would she have been able to say the same had she remained clueless?

Information and knowledge was vital.

[abyssembraced]

Make Me Choose Between ______ & ______ ?

Note: Can be characters, ships, movies, places. Anything your little hearts can think of!