#turned out to have a lot more to say about the squid thing than i expected

[disasterlesbianeldritchhorrors]

took me longer than i expected because uni, but i’ve finished part 3 of that regeneration-except-the-doctor-is-an-extradimensional-insectoid-timesquid-who-literally-moults-off-their-old-body fic! this one’s much less painful than last time, there’s no battles for their companions’ lives or nightmarish political needle-threading, just waking up nice and safe in the tardis with their friends just outside, the walls covered in moulting acid, unit on high alert, everyone on the verge of panic because they exploded into a big ol’ squid... nothing to worry about

today’s deleted scene: there was originally a bit in the doctor’s conversation with sarah jane where she mentioned that when they were flailing through the unit hallways they didn’t seem to know where they were going and they kept bashing into walls and they wouldn’t stop screaming, and it was... honestly about as terrifying as discovering they were secretly an eldritch abomination this whole time. the doctor managed to reassure her through a mix of white lies and sincere thanks, and then they hugged. it didn’t really fit the direction i ended up taking the scene, though - resolved it a bit too neatly - so i cut it. they probably do have a conversation to that effect later in the tardis though

[saphronethaleph]

Literary Illusions

“It’s ironic,” Palpatine said, shaking his head. “He could save others from death, but not himself.”

Anakin frowned.

“And this is something the Jedi wouldn’t have told me?” he asked.

“Of course not,” Palpatine replied. “Is it a story you’ve heard?”

“Well, yes,” Anakin said. “Just now, from you. But not before then… and that surprises me, Chancellor.”

Palpatine shrugged. “I think you’ll find, Anakin, that the Jedi have not been telling you everything.”

“Maybe not, but… honestly, that sounds like exactly the kind of thing they’d tell me,” Anakin said.

Palpatine frowned.

“...what?” he asked.

“You know,” Anakin said. “Some Sith Lord works out how to bring people back to life from the dead, but his apprentice kills him and doesn’t bring him back to life because the Sith are inherently self destructive. If the two of them had worked together and been able to trust one another, they’d have been immortal.”

He shrugged. “It’s a good illustration of the inherently self destructive nature of the Dark Side, and it’s the dichotomy of how the Dark Side leads you to seek power in order to achieve goals that you then discard as irrelevant, because they’re not directly related to gaining power… hold on a second.”

Palpatine was a little distracted by trying to avoid mentally kicking himself, so it took him somewhat more than a second to notice what Anakin was doing.

“...Anakin?” he said. “Are you getting your comlink out?”

“Yeah,” Anakin replied. “Going to text Obi-Wan, ask him what he thinks of the story. Maybe there’s some kind of detail I missed which makes it less of a good illustration of the different worldviews and mindsets of the Jedi and the Sith.”

The Knight shrugged, his thumbs tapping away at his comlink. “He probably knows it, he knows all of the old stories.”

Palpatine blinked several times.

“...don’t,” he said, then very discreetly scrambled for a reason why. “It’s the middle of a performance. We don’t want to interrupt them.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s on silent,” Anakin replied, with a shrug. “Or vibrate. Did I put it on vibrate… hang on, Chancellor, I’ll make sure it’s on silent…”

He turned the comlink over, then a loud bwing sounded.

“Oh, right, I forgot to set it to do not disturb mode,” Anakin said. “Hang on… uh… yeah, there we go, I forgot I added all these custom modes. I’ve been missing a lot of sleep lately.”

“Perhaps-” Palpatine began, but Anakin spoke over him.

“Huh,” he said. “He says he’s never heard of it either. Wants to know where I heard about it, it looks like he’s really interested… or maybe he’s trying to tell me about a death stick vendor, he’s terrible with multiglyphs and he thinks he’s good at them.”

Anakin glanced at the Chancellor, hoping for some solidarity, then visibly noticed that the Chancellor was several decades older than him and abandoned that.

“Is there a book I can get the whole story from?” he asked, instead. “Obi-Wan is better at nuances, like I say.”

“That is not the point,” Palpatine said, trying not to get visibly angry. “The point is that there is a way to save your loved ones!”

“Maybe there used to be, but not any more,” Anakin shrugged. “Like you said, this was a Sith thing and the Sith are all dead. Well, unless General Grievous is a Sith who knows how to heal people, but I doubt it given how much he got hurt, and I’m not sure Dooku knew it either… hey, if this story needs to be publicized more then maybe we could have them do a play of that instead?”

Palpatine blinked several times, as he tried to keep up with a Jedi with possible undiagnosed ADHD and found himself discovering a lack of talent for podracing.

“What?” he asked.

“You know, a play,” Anakin explained. “Dramatic betrayals, lost loved ones, it would probably do numbers. It’d be better than this, anyway.”

He waved his hand at the ongoing performance of Squid Lake.

“...what is wrong with Squid Lake?” Palpatine said, before reflecting that that had really been a stupid question for him to ask and that he should have asked a much better one.

“Well, uh,” Anakin began, looking a bit abashed. “Actually now I say it out loud this might be really culturally insensitive of me, but to me this play might as well be eighty minutes of people boasting about having enough water to swim in.”

“It’s a ballet,” Palpatine told him, now completely having lost control of the conversation.

“It’s just a less scary version of Sarlacc Pit,” Anakin went on. “Someone tried to drown me in a lake once, because they thought I couldn’t swim, but floating on sand is much harder, you barely have to do anything to escape a lake. You just float.”

Very belatedly, Anakin caught sight of Palpatine’s look of total befuddlement, and shrugged.

“Watto was a lot of things,” he said. “But he had culture.”

Palpatine’s hands twitched, as he very seriously considered the idea of abandoning literal centuries of Sith planning and decades of personal political advancement in favour of stabbing Anakin somewhere it would hurt.

It was extraordinarily tempting.

“...hold on,” Anakin said, slowly. “I guess… the thing I’d like most at the moment is for… and that means… this is literally one of those times when I could fall to the Dark Side because of it, like Darth Plagueis.”

He bestowed a grateful smile on Palpatine. “Thanks, Chancellor! I need to make a call, I guess the ballet won’t mind.”

Palpatine was so thrown by the swerve that he couldn’t think of a way to stop Anakin in the few seconds he had.

“Love?” Anakin said, into his commlink. “I… think we need to come clean, because otherwise I’ll fall to the Dark Side.”

Palpatine’s eye twitched.

[hermitscratch]

Joel & Etho - 21, for the writing ? :3

Send me a pairing + a number! || Accepting

21. A kiss to shut them up, Joel/Etho, 957 words

[ Inspired in part by this lovely artwork by @plumadot ! ]

"So I've got a theory," Joel started.

It was a nice day; temperate in a way that heralded the approaching warm season. A lot of hermits were taking advantage of it to check the things off their to-do lists that weren't easily done in cold or wet weather. Etho had broken off from the others for just that purpose, but as soon as he mentioned needing coral, Joel invited himself along.

Which meant a return to form in the shape of them, once again, sharing a boat.

"Do I have to listen to your theory?" Etho asked. The answer didn't matter much when he was a captive audience, but their conversations up until this point had been general, casual nonsense. How they spent their morning, how they liked their steak cooked, what ore they'd most be willing to eat. Time killers at worst, amusement at best.

Joel scoffed. "Don't act like you don't want to know what I'm thinking," Etho felt an elbow land against his ribs without any real force. It might have been rougher, if they weren't currently faced away from each other. Joel liked watching the wake the boat left behind, so they were pressed back-to-back. "It's about your obsession."

"My obsession? Don't you mean yours?" He retorted. Joel snorted, and Etho could imagine the smug grin that'd be accompanying it.

"This projection is getting embarrassing, Etho," Joel said with thinly veiled glee.

Etho rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Just tell me about your theory," He said through a chuckle.

From behind him, Joel wiggled like he was trying to look over his shoulder. The boat rocked hard to the left, and Joel stilled before crowing, "I knew you wanted to know!"

Etho stopped rowing to peer over the boat's edge. The ocean here was deep, illuminated only faintly by magma pockets and the occasional rogue glow squid. They'd made a lot of headway, but there was still a ways to go to reach an untouched reef. "I wonder if I could swim back to shore from here..."

"I'll push you overboard myself if you don't let me get a blummin' word out," Joel griped, even as he fisted a hand in the back of Etho's shirt. It wouldn't do much if Etho decided to move, but the idea that Joel might want him to stay was more than enough for Etho to do so.

Not that Etho would ever tell him that; his ex-soulmate's ego was big enough.

"You're the one stopping, though?" Etho answered, rebalancing the boat and adjusting the oars to continue rowing. Joel's inhale was audible, and before he could argue, Etho urged, "Let's hear your theory."

Joel crossed his arms with a huff. Etho grinned. Joel was probably pouting and everything. "D'you remember what Gem said this morning?"

"Hmm," Etho had to think the question through. They'd been hanging out with Gem, Impulse, and Scar that morning, a lot of things were said. "Mmmmaybe?"

After a few minutes of fruitless sifting through snippets of conversation that Joel might have found noteworthy, he threw Etho a bone. "When we were arguing about who built a better cherry tree, still me by the way, she said-"

Ah. "'Just kiss already', or something?" Etho offered.

Joel clapped once, "Exactly."

Etho laughed, pitching his voice up in a mockery of Joel's, "Oh no, I'm not obsessed, I'm just chasing him making smoochy sounds and thinking a lot about Gem telling us to kiss-"

"That first thing was literally your fault!" Joel argued, "And I'm not thinking about it, alright? There's nothing to think about, it's just a thing that is!"

"What is?"

Joel seemed to shrink, curling forward so their backs were no longer touching. "If we kissed, the world would sorta collapse, wouldn't it?"

Etho stopped so abruptly that he almost dropped an oar. What? "Uh. No?"

"Of course you'd say so, it's stupid how bad you wanna kiss me," Joel scoffed. The turn in conversation was so jarring that Etho didn't even argue the point about wanting to kiss Joel. "But the stir it'd cause would be massive. Gem would explode. Bdubs would probably explode, maybe Grian? Scar and Skizz, definitely, we'd never hear the end of it."

Etho locked the oars and turned around in his seat. If Joel noticed, he gave no indication, plowing relentlessly forward as if he'd realized there was no going back now that he'd started. Etho recognized that habit from their time together in Double Life- an anxious Joel with no other outlet would ramble himself breathless.

"Your mask as well," Joel continued, "Nobody's seen you without it-"

Etho tugged his mask down.

"-that's probably grounds for server obliteration in itself-"

He put a hand on Joel's shoulder.

"-if the first time anybody saw your face was for a kiss like that, then-"

He turned Joel to face him.

And before Joel could say another word, Etho kissed him.

Silence. Bliss. Etho's lips were dry from the mask, and he kept the press of them soft until he felt Joel's stiff body melt, meeting Etho's lean halfway. He tilted his head, and he could feel the flutter of long lashes against his face as Joel's eyes shut. The world kept turning, and Etho let it, stealing a moment just for them.

It only ended when Etho pulled away, leaving a dazed Joel to process what had just happened. Etho didn't bother putting his mask back up when he grinned. "Still alive?"

"Wh- y-?" Joel floundered. Etho chuckled, and Joel scowled, even as a dusty blush painted his cheeks pink. Even as he turned to face Etho properly, dropping his head against Etho's shoulder. Even as Etho felt lips against his racing pulse.

"Oh, shut up, Etho."

[marlynnofmany]

Walkway Aesthetics

The door opened from the spaceport to the city proper, and I couldn’t help saying, “Oh wow.” I’d expected a regular walkway, maybe with a moving sidewalk or hovercarts, probably with ads and decorations. The last few big cities we’d visited had all been pretty bland in terms of entrance-way style.

This one was an aquarium. The long tunnel curved away under a domed ceiling with vast sea creatures undulating by overhead, and others darting about in flashes of scales. Subtle blue-and-purple lighting lit up both the benches alongside and the water above. Specks of phosphorescence danced everywhere like fairies under a starry sky. The effect was breathtaking.

I ventured out into the purple-blue wonderland. “Wow, this is amazing.”

Three of my coworkers followed, and were less impressed.

“Eh, it’s not very original,” Kavlae said with a flip of her frills. Under the lighting, her sky-blue skin was a shifting purple. “Water scenes are pretty tiresome, honestly.”

“You said it,” agreed Mur down from floor level. He tentacle-walked along like the opinionated squid alien he was, blending with the bluish shadows. “Once you’ve seen things swimming past, you’ve seen them all.”

I asked, “Are you serious? This is beautiful.”

Paint huddled close beside me, her orange scales turned an indistinct brown. “I think it’s scary.”

“What? Why?” I asked.

She clasped her hands, shaking her head. “That’s a lot of water, and a lot of creatures. What if the barrier broke?”

“Well yeah, that would be bad,” I admitted. “But it’s not going to.”

Paint walked faster. “Still scary. Look at that one! It’s so big!”

The alien whale or whatever that coasted past had bioluminescent swirls along its underside, and a cloud of the glowing water-pixies flitting along after it. Beautiful, and awe-inspiringly close.

“Ah, that’s so cool!” I said, turning in place as I walked to keep it in sight.

Paint just squeaked and scampered ahead, followed by Kavlae and Mur.

“C’mon, we’re leaving you behind,” Mur told me.

“I’m coming,” I said. There were glowing eels or something up ahead, and I jogged to get a look. The other three continued turning up their various noses the whole way down.

When we finally reached the other end, a family of humans were just entering the tunnel. Their awestruck expressions were vindicating.

“Ohhh, wow!”

“This is lovely!”

“Look at the size of that one! I can almost touch it!”

“Don’t smudge the glass, honey.”

“But it’s so cool!”

I joined my coworkers at the exit with no small amount of smugness. “See? They get it.”

Mur waved a tentacle. “That just shows that your entire species has poor taste in decor.”

Paint shuddered, stepping into the brighter light of the station. “I would feel much safer with solid ground on all sides instead of all that water.”

I laughed. “See, that would make me worry that it was about to fall down on me.”

“A proper burrow would never!”

Kavlae walked past us both. “You planet-born folk have the silliest ideas about these things. I’ll stick with my windows into space.”

The rest of us immediately jumped in to agree that the risk of a hatch blowout was scarier than any cave-in. But the view of stars and galaxies could be pretty dang beautiful, so it was worth it.

~~~

Inspired by this art by @ellohcee.

These are the ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come! And I am currently drafting a sequel!

[utilitycaster]

Sean's general self-loathing is well established, but I think the exact nature of it is something I haven't talked about at length or seen discussed in full elsewhere.

At first glance it may seem as though "just fighting squid dogs until I'm dead" and Sean's willingness to go down swinging, throwing himself at most threats, stem from him wishing for a heroic death, but I don't think this is the case. He'd like it - it would give Bee a good thing to tell his mother, for whatever that's worth - but the truth is something he says elsewhere: "No shit. I'm a monster too."

Sean is not terribly worried about harm to himself. It is tempting to assume that his decision to throw the gun down the drain is about wishing to stop himself from using it for suicidal impulses; but I don't think it is. He's worried about using it on others. He throws it away immediately after he envisions the letter in which his mother accuses him of killing innocents and flashes back; later, he acknowledges that had he had a gun, he might have shot Lucas: "I'm not holding a weapon right now, so when my right index finger twitches, nothing happens."

It's helpful to understand Sean in terms of two of the people who come closest to understanding him: Bee and Nathaniel.

Bee, on the surface, has a lot in common with him: both lost their entire family, one way or another, other than each other, Marion, and Peggy (who they did, in a way, lose) and their homes in the war. Bee understands Sean's past - him as a boy, before all of this - in a way no one else can, since Marion was also himself quite young. The difference, however, is that Bee wants to return to that past - and, to be honest, that would fix the majority of her problems. Were Bee's husband to still be alive? Were she to have her home again? That's what she wants! That would be life-changing! And so she thinks about happier times, and urges Sean to go back to a more innocent time, and blames Nathaniel as a figurehead for the war that took this from them.

The problem is that Sean's problem, in the end, is that he went to war and found out he was the kind of person who'd kill things that look like children. He doesn't think they were real children, maybe, but some days he's not sure. His worst fear is that his mother would know precisely what he did with NoMAD, in Ghost company, and he believes she'd hate him for it. If Sean had an apartment? If Sean's mother were out and living in her tenement? Hell, if his brothers were alive? This would not change. It certainly doesn't help, that there's immense loss and poverty on top of all that, but in the end, Sean does not trust himself to make choices, believes it to be only a matter of time before he hurts someone again (to the point that I wonder if this is why he's avoiding his mother, or if it's because that if he spends more time with her she might realize who he is now), and now sees himself, in a way, as, well, kind of like a squid dog - can be tasked to be a protector, but corruptible, easy to turn, and liable to bite those on the same side.

Sean explicitly equates death as freedom from having to make decisions - because he believes he will make wrong ones.

Nathaniel, on the other hand, is much more ignorant of Sean's material losses - he is unaware Sean is living at the chapter house nor does he know about his mother - but what Nathaniel does share, and Bee does not, is that sense of identity shaped by a specific action (or in Nathaniel's case, inaction). Nathaniel thinks himself a coward because he did not save his older brother from drowning; it defines him perhaps even more profoundly than the war (though his response to his officer's pistol indicates the war left plenty of marks on him as well).

Nathaniel might not know the details of Sean's connection to baseball in the same way Bee does (though, notably, they are the only two to engage with it; Jean and Marion haven't). It's not clear if Nathaniel knows quite what happened in Ghost Company either - it's not even stated if Sean came to Echo Company before, or after, though it really only makes sense after. However, he does understand someone who doesn't think they will make the correct choices; he understands guilt and self-loathing in a way Bee does not. He understands being the surviving child and believing your parents got the worse deal out of that. And so it's Nathaniel who understands the importance of giving Sean orders, and the (temporary and false) absolution even an imperfect institution and the identities it confers provides.

Nathaniel's issues with himself are not on the same level as Sean's - he seems to have come to a place of "I'm a coward, and would prefer not to be, but at least I'm attempting to use what skills I have" [ignore whether or not he's actually a coward, that doesn't ultimately matter in this discussion, the same way that it doesn't matter that Sean bought his sick brother a hat with his paltry spending money] whereas Sean is actively opposing any indication that he isn't a monster, or at best a weapon. But he does understand that Sean's issues come from a similar place and how to live with them - which is something Sean does not yet see as a possibility.

[quibbs126]

Abyss Monarch/Octopus x electric eel

Got another one done today, this is Firefly Squid Cookie

I was gonna say that this one was the first to have a “new” character at the time, aka one that only existed after I started, but no, apparently that honor goes to the request for Scorpion/Prune Juice

Though interestingly enough you can tell that this was from the beginning of the Wandercrab update because the anon isn’t sure whether the name is Abyss Monarch or Octopus, since we weren’t really sure the name situation until the second half. I also vaguely recall saying this anon had foresight since this was before abysseel blew up

Anyways sorry, let’s get into Firefly Squid herself now

So Firefly here works as the lighthouse keeper in Wandercrab, as well as generally just checking to make sure the lights work. She has a particular affinity for light, possibly due to her own bioluminescence

She’s generally a very chill lady, someone you can just talk to about your struggles while she patiently listens and gives you advice. Plenty of residents go up to her while on the job (since that’s what she’s usually doing) to do just that. She’s not one of particular high energy though, choosing to spend her off time either relaxing over a drink or taking naps

However, you should never try to approach her when there’s a particular absence of light. You may see something you’d rather wish you hadn’t…

Anyways, now let’s discuss design

So Firefly Squid’s name comes from the firefly squid itself, which I got as a suggestion. It’s a cephalopod like Abyss Monarch, and it glows like Electric Eel (or at least the Cookie himself). I also learned today that it’s apparently edible, so I guess it fits in even more with being living food

The original name I was going to use was Blue Ring, named after the blue ringed octopus, because octopus, as well as yellow and being incredibly venomous. But I got the suggestion Firefly Squid and I ended up really liking it, so I switched over

Firefly squid:

I’m especially noticing now, she looks a LOT like Abyss Monarch and not much like Electric Eel. My bad I guess. If I ever make a second one (though I don’t know how likely that is since Electric Eel fankids tend to have a VERY limited available list), I’ll make that one look a lot like Eel

She originally had hair that was more zigzaggy, but it didn’t look right to me and I eventually changed it, and now it’s almost entirely Abyss Monarch. I did at least try to make the gradient lighter at the bottom more like EE and have the yellow of the tentacles be from his yellow, but it’s not that noticeable

Her hair was also red for most of the coloring process, since that was the color I could find firefly squids

I did eventually decide to change the colors, since Abyss Monarch and Electric Eel don’t necessarily adhere to the colors of their respective animals, but I still ended up going mostly blue. I did try to hue shift it to a more purplish blue though

I was kind of just messing around with her design. I’m not really even sure what that pattern on her pants is. Yeah it looks like just a pants design, but I only decided that at the end and the shape is on the same layer as the rest of the lineart, so that was a lot of fun trying to color so it doesn’t look like that

I also feel like relatively, she looks pretty normal compared to her parents. Other than her glowing rings on her hair she doesn’t really have much going on in her design, or at least nothing out of the ordinary. She just looks normal. That’s kind of why I added the eye thing on the sketch, to maybe imply that there’s more going on with her, but that’s probably more like an in post fix

I know I spent most of this design section complaining, and while on some level, her design has issues, when I look at it without thinking about them, I really do like how she turned out

And that’s it for Firefly Squid, I hope you like her!

[qhazomb]

so i got two different versions of the "leviathan au." one where it's a whole different situation from regular (not-a-game) HLVRAI, in which gordon and benry first meet when gordon is test driving an experimental exploration sub for black mesa... and another one where it follows along with the regular not-a-game AUs, and the leviathan is benry's true form. this second version also follows my headcanon that benry really was 'born' in 1994 (and is just a year younger than gordon).

benry hatched from an egg that had crashed down onto earth over a hundred years ago, and the crator its impact made turned into a small lake over time.

(the entity that laid that egg had been... dealt with by the overly territorial mr. coolatta, along with the rest of the clutch. unfortunately for mr. coolatta, he missed one egg. and said egg would prove to be a major headache source for him yeaaaars in the future.)

in the early morning of january 1st, 1994, the egg finally hatched, and a little larval space squid dragon crawled out. he remained in that lake for five years, curious about the world and other creatures beyond its shore, but always too nervous to leave the safety of his cradle.

until one day, when a smaller version of some of the beings benry had sometimes seen hanging around the lake finally spotted him. and gave him a candy bar.

this version of the AU uses the whole 'gordon and benry really DID know each other as kids' idea, and in this case, they knew each other over the course of one summer. lil six-year-old gordon and his family were spending the summer at a relative's lakeside home, and while exploring the lake beach, gordon encounters and soon befriends a 'lake monster'. (all the adults of course write the kid's tales of his new lake monster friend as a child's wild imagination, naturally.)

communication between the two of them is at first pretty one-sided, which doesn't bug gordon much cause he's pretty sure his new friend 'Sparkly' is just an animal (monsters are a kind of animal, duh) so he's not expecting sparkly to understand him. gordon is at least able to understand how 'sparkly' is feeling, though, as the weird rainbow bubbles he sings out make gordon feel things that don't feel like his feelings. which he thinks is really weird but also kinda cool and he wishes his cat missy could do that.

benry is eventually able to finally really understand what gordon's saying, once he's able to briefly make a mental connection with the human. VERY briefly. just long enough to get an understanding of the following things:

the english language (at a six-year-old's level at least).

that his new friend's species are called humans.

that humans don't think things like him exist, and would freak out if proven otherwise. this is why gordon won't let benry follow him when the bigger humans call him to come back to the big boxy shelter.

video games are a thing and apparently super fun. benry would like to try video games. pushing buttons to make a lil guy on a picture box do stuff, as if you were the little guy. sounds neat!

if benry wants to do anything outside of his lake without having to hide all the time, he needs to look less like himself and more like a human (looking like a human will also make talking like one easier. can't really form a lot of the sounds they make with just a beak.)

unfortunately, this didn't happen until like a day or two before gordon had to go back home. but gordon told benry that he'd be back next year! he'll think up a ton of new stuff for them to do until then!

...doubly unfortunately, sometime late fall of that year, black mesa finally finds benry and takes him down to their facility in new mexico. so the next year that gordon's family goes to visit at the lake in summer again, gordon gets no response when he calls out to 'sparkly,' no matter how many times he does. after a time he gives up, accepting that his lake monster friend is gone, and then eventually even forgets he ever existed, believing any memories to be imaginary friend stuff, like his mom and relatives always assumed.

benry didn't forget, though.

...but he did forget what he orginally looked like. not long after gordon's family left, benry got to work on practicing looking human. the hands were the easiest part, he already had hands like that, he just had to get rid of one finger (why humans only got five??). arms and torso were no biggie either, really. the hard part was the head and legs. legs weren't toooo hard to figure out, they were kind of like arms, sorta, but human heads and his head are SO different, like, wow. that took a while.

by the time black mesa had found him, he was looking mostly human. but not enough to trick anybody. especially not anybody with ways to detect the cosmic energy his body radiated.

black mesa never knew about benry's true form, as he never went back to it once during his captivity (and eventual employment for good behavior) at the facility, and eventually benry himself even forgot what he really looked like... which could possibly be blamed on some of the experiments conducted on him. his memory may be a bit wonk in some regards, but it's not THAT bad.

it's not until after the big beatdown in xen that he finally starts to remember... he respawns, but in that midform, rather than his usual human disguise form.

he's unable to try and shift further, as the 'containment' mr. coolatta mentioned turns out to be a whole new research facility that black mesa sold benry off to in order to secure extra funds for repairing and rebuilting their own labs.

this new place, Lancer Labs, seems to have gotten the same weird 'dampening field' that 'mesa had to keep benry's powers nerfed.

the scientists at lancer are also not as 'nice' as black mesa's, if you can believe that.

benry's stuck there for a year, being as uncooporative as he possibly can. lancer has been able to learn all they can from examining his body, but they have made like 0 progress with mental/behavioral studies, and they're starting to get real tired of benry's shit. so upon reviewing various files and reports they got from black mesa, including some recordings from during the rescas, the researchers at lancer labs get an idea for something that might finally get their prized specimen to stop being a stubborn ass.

in the middle of the night, gordon freeman is abducted from his own home.

they could tell from some of the rescas recordings, that benry seemed to be rather fond of the humans he was travelling with. lancer is going to use gordon as a barganing chip.

benry had become pretty listless and dejected during his new captivity, but seeing gordon get dragged into this shit was the kick in the pants his drive to escape needed. gordon may have been a big jerk, but he doesn't deserve being locked up in a lab for the simple crime of knowing benry.

benry just has to wait for the right moment to break outta here....

[sparklepocalypse]

Director's Cut: you must know I'm gonna ask about Octo!Henry. I am who I am.

MY BELOVED OCTOHENRY -- rambling about him is a fucking gift, @kiwiana-writes, and I thank you for this.

So, two decisions happened in pretty rapid succession at the end of last September -- first, I decided that I was going to participate in Kinktober, and second, that I was absolutely not going to waste the opportunity to use the "tentacles, consentacles" tag double-whammy on Ao3. From there, I very quickly connected with a friend on Discord who, as it turns out, knows a fuckton about octopi. With their assistance, I went down my first research rabbit hole about things like:

How octopi reproduce

Which species of octopi do not yeet their octopeens (hectocotyli) at their mates and flee the scene so they don't get eaten

Of these very few species that aren't prone to flinging their dicks like wiggly, suckered javelins, which were the prettiest/flashiest

And then a deep dive into the prettiest species of non-tentacock-lobbing octopi to narrow it down to one: the blue-ringed octopus (AKA the spiciest boi).

I had a couple assumptions right out of the gate: Alex would be just as clueless in this fic as he is in canon, for one. This allowed me to have Henry drop some really obvious hints that he's Not From Around Here while Alex is still just so awestruck by how pretty his new friend is that he completely sails past the hints. For two, once he figured it out, Alex was going to have his crisis about attraction to men and men with tentacles (or at least Hentacles?) faster than Usain Bolt can run the 100m dash. This second piece was a bit of a necessity since I was cranking out a new smut fic every day during that month, so there was no time for additional world building or angsting about Alex's new partner not having legs at the time.

While writing the smut, I read a lot of Actual Scientific Research on octopi in general and specifically on blue-ringed octopi to make sure I wasn't totally making shit up. In the process, I learned so many fun facts about the blue-ringed octopus, including:

Male/male mating is not uncommon -- several sources suggest that male blue-ringed octopi have no preference for the sex of their mating partners.

Their skin is soft and very slick; it's coated in a slippery substance that protects them from bacteria and also allows them to slip into narrow spaces easily. 😏

The blue rings only really show up boldly when they're aroused (horny, excited, or scared). Otherwise, depending on the subspecies of blue-ringed octopus, the rings are either faintly visible or look sort of brownish.

You really don't want to touch blue-ringed octopi IRL unless you're super into being poisoned to death. (This translated into Henry being really into spicy human foods. 🤣)

Sperm packets (spermatophores) are an Actual Thing that's common across a lot of invertebrates, including octopi and squids -- Alex saying “You didn’t mention that your cum had texture,” is because he wasn't expecting there to be any sort of structure to Henry's octojizz.

I also flagrantly ignored the thing where once a male blue-ringed octopus has successfully mated, he dies, because again -- octoHenry is my beloved.

I'll stop here, but I could literally talk about octoHenry for hours! I'm so excited to start working on the sequel this fall. 🥰🐙

Want to learn more about my methods for one of my fics? Ask me stuff in the fic director's cut meme!

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

How's about follower kallamar with a squid reader that is the head doctor and a former follower of his

On the day of your indoctrination...an ugly plague was currently infesting he entire cult. It definitely wasn't the best first impression.

You saw so many sick followers shuffling around, trying not to throw up (although some failed miserably) as they went about their daily tasks.

Lamb excuses themselves to go yell at the healthy followers who didn't bother cleaning all the puke lying around, before sending the sick to their beds and shoving thermometers in their mouths.

And of course, an elder decides to die right next to the goddamn shrine...resulting in those still hanging around to vomit at the sight.

Once everything's slightly under control, Lamb rushes back to officially welcome you into the cult, but you're not impressed at all.

"You promised me sanctuary, Lamb. But all I see is illness and death here...was I right to trust you?"

"....you can blame your "bishop" for all of this......I promise this is a safe haven."

You give them the benefit of the doubt, considering they did save you from being sacrificed to Kallamar.

But when asked why his followers chose you, you explained that you're actually a doctor who treated a lot of sicknesses back in Anchordeep. Sore throats, stomach bugs, flu, pox, etc. You were seen as sort of a miracle worker.

Unfortunately Kallamar saw your skills as a threat to his power, insisting only he can perform "miracles" and decide who's worthy of healing...and his fanatics were inclined to agree.

Luckily, your new leader allowed you to take on that role once again without fear of persecution, and you got the plague under control practically overnight.

You've implemented a system where every follower got a regular checkup. Even if they looked or felt fine, it's better to be safe than sorry.

When Lamb started bartering with ???, they gifted you a gold immortality necklace to ensure you didn't die of old age (seriously, they needed your medical expertise).

You already had a skull necklace, but were grateful nevertheless.

Ironically, Kallamar became the most troubling patient when he arrived into the cult, getting sick right off the bat just from his spiraling anxiety.

He hid behind a tree upon seeing you.....and Lamb found him, literally having to drag him over to your medbay (now a small building instead of a single shrub hut) and order you to treat him.

Great Ones forbid he caused a plague as both bishop and follower. They weren't going to tolerate that.

Ofc, he was hesitant to say anything to you, but after quietly treating his stomach ache and changing his bandages...he breaks down sobbing on the cot, begging for forgiveness.

"I-I was wrong. You do..s-so much good work. You were thriving, performing all these miracles, and....a-and I tried to take that all away....why heal me?"

"Kallamar, I'm not holding that against you anymore." You reassure him. "You're free of the Blue Crown's influence. I know you didn't really want me dead, did you?"

"..n-no, my...followers suggested it. Cult morale was low a-after what happened to Leshy and Heket so...I had to do something!"

Whether that revelation made you feel better or worse, you find it in your heart to forgive him, never denying him treatment even if others in the cult disagree.

You wanted to help him. One squid healing another.

To this day, he still feels bad visiting your medbay, but with time he becomes more comfortable approaching you whenever he gets sick.

Soon enough you find out one of the primary causes of his stomach pains.

It's cauliflower stew (while there's a 5% chance of sickness for everyone else who consumes it, his is always at 100% for some reason).

As it turns out he, ironically, has a severe cauliflower intolerance.

Poor guy never knew that was a thing.

[sailorsplatoon]

Wait i got another question for you

How are elite Octarians born ?

Elite Octarians are those Enemies who have a harder Ai than regular Octarians and have seaweed in their hair in the story mode

Like is it a some sort of mutation? cuz if I remember says that the seaweed is like implanted into their skulls i don't know I didn't look into splatoon lore back in the days

I get to bring out the artbooks on this one! I had a lot of fun flipping through them to find as much about the elite octolings as I can. From what I gathered it looks like the seaweed isn't implanted into their skulls, and is instead attatched to their goggles.

It likely functions as a symbol of rank to show that they are stronger than a typical octoling. However I don't think that this is solely strength in fighting as we can see in Marina's chat room that Marina herself was an elite octoling, hence the seaweed.

Marina's specialty wasn't in fighting, it was in tech. So chances are elite octos are simply defined as higher rakning octarians than most others.

However, I don't think that mutation theory is far off, I really like the idea and I think I can find some evidence to back it up.

Throughout all of the games elite octolings have black tentacles instead of red, like most octoling soldiers do. Even when fuzzy they're tentacles are significantly darker than others. However, when we look at a sanitized elite octoling we can see that the tips of their tentacles are a green color.

The fact that there are even elite sanitized octolings is strange. If sanitization is meant to make them perfect soldiers, then how are some better than others? Unless they have some sort of phycical difference like a mutation.

Back to the tentacle thing, we can see Marina's tentacles are similar, being a very dark brown color with only the tips being teal. Even in her side order outfit where her tips have a galaxy color, the main color of her tentacles doesn't change.

Of course this could just be cosmetic because idols like the Squid Sisters and Pearl have tentacle tips that change color while the rest of their tentacles don't. I think for those three that is the case, but for Marina it's different.

Why would a sanitized octoling need cosmetics? Why would they care about how they look if they can't care about anything? Maybe it's because they can't change them back.

Here's my theory: In order for an octoling to earn a high rank in the Octarian Army, they have to undergo a mutation process that makes them stronger in the aspect that they are working in. For a soldier it would be physical ability, for an engineer it would be mental ability, etc. This mutation process has side effects, one being staining the octoling's tentacles, which prevents them from changing their color anywhere but the tips. This staining is permantent, which is why it can still be seen in sanitized octolings. Luckily, in inkling society this is a common trend among idols, so it is widely accepted.

Boom, case closed.

But wait. What about Acht?

It is made very clear in Acht's portion of Marina's Dev Diaries that they did not care at all about advancing in the army. Even if they were offered a high ranking position, they would likely turn it down. So why are their tentacles discolored? And why are they more of a brown color than a black or dark brown?

Well I could just say that they wanted to look cool and leave it at that, but that's boring and kind of makes less sense. If discolored tentacles are associated with high ranking military leaders in the octarian army, why would Acht want to affiliate themself with them if they weren't one of them? And would they even be allowed to change the color of their tentacles?

We can clearly see that this color change is still present after their sanitization, but not fully. Their tentacles don't stay brown and instead shift to the purple at was on their tips. Now the tips of their tentacles are more of a red too.

So what gives? Why can Acht's tentacles change but the elite octolings' can't? Because Acht wasn't an elite octoling.

Their sanitization was only partial, which is why they didn't have to wear a uniform and didn't have to fight as a soldier with the other sanitized octolings. So what if that wasn't the only thing that was partial?

Acht wrote in Marina's Dev Diaries that they were "always slacking off and cutting class. I got to know the inside of the instructor's office pretty well." My theory is that, in an attempt to get Acht to pay more attention and care more about being in the Octarian Army, their instructor had them undergo part of an elite octoling mutation, resulting in similar discoloration, just not as extreme. Their insctructor hoped that they would see how much stronger they had become and would want to earn a full mutation. Their plan backfired horribly. Instead of making Acht stronger in something like strength or intellegence, it just made their ability to make muic stronger. This only led them to cutting more classes so that they could focus on making music. This, of course, didn't end too well for them since their devotion to music was what caused them to be sanitized.

Acht's tentacles keep their slight discoloration through the sanitization, but the color itself changes slightly. Sanitization made their skin green, so why wouldn't it change their tentacles too? The consistent pattern of the discoloration is that the main parts of their tentacles are darker than the tips.

Keep in mind that most of this isn't canon and is just my theories. I had a lot of fun with this one, I hadn't really considered the potential lore of elite octolings before. I really like the mutation idea!

Thank you so much for the ask! I've also concluded that I am incapaple of making a post without bringing up Acht in some way lol.

Now I would like to leave you all with this abomination that I found in the Splatoon 1 artbook.

[octomae]

Goggles and Rider with the prompt: "You can admit you're hurting, you know? It's okay to not be okay."

GORAI <3 as a note, i think the way i write goggles is... different than how people usually write him? mine is more down to earth so uh. lol, be aware of that.

-

He found Rider sitting on the railings outside the Squid Sisters' studio, up on the second floor viewing platform in the plaza.

It was overcast and hazy grey. It was supposed to rain, and most inkfish weren't willing to risk being caught outside. The few who remained outside walked around with umbrellas hooked over their arms. When Goggles stopped to look, Rider didn't have one.

"Hey Rider," Goggles greeted as he drew closer, offering a small smile. Without waiting for a response, he sat down on the platform, letting his legs hang freely off the side of it and resting his arms on the railings Rider was sitting on. "We missed you in turf today."

Rider grunted, but said nothing. He wasn't a talkative person by any means, but he always had at least something to say. The silence now felt wrong.

Goggles looked up at him, taking in the sight of him. Rider wouldn't even look at him, and wasn't even making any efforts to be his usual standoffish self. He just looked upset, in a way that only he could be.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Goggles asked.

Rider huffed out a deep sigh from his nose, and finally, turned his head to look down at Goggles.

"Nothing to talk about," he said, a terse edge in his voice.

Goggles stayed silent at that, looking out over Inkopolis plaza. He wouldn't hesitate to be his usual silly self if Rider wasn't so off. Somehow, he knew acting like everything was fine would serve to tip this delicate situation into something worse.

"That's okay," he said instead. "I can just... stay here with you."

"Do what you want," Rider grumbled, which was about as close to a yes as he was going to get.

Goggles smiled again, scooting a little closer and resting his chin on the fold of his arms. He let his feet swing idle and free over the edge of the platform and gazed down at the plaza. There was hardly an inkfish in sight by now, which probably meant it was going to rain soon. Sliding his phone out of his pocket, he checked the forecast.

"It's about to storm," he said, pocketing his phone and lifting his head. "Specs told me it would before I left home this morning but I forgot so I didn't bring an umbrella."

Rider grunted again, and said nothing.

"Hey," Goggles said, scooting closer again. Gently, he nudged his head against Rider's leg. "If something's hurting you, I won't judge. It's okay to not be okay."

Rider lifted his head to look down at Goggles again. The stoic expression on his face was cracking, but Goggles didn't point it out.

"Just... had a shitty morning," Rider finally said, his voice quiet. "Didn't feel like being around a lot of other people after that."

Goggles nodded, but didn't press for any more details. Instead, he let his head rest against Rider's leg, staring down at the plaza. "I get it. We all have bad days. But, I've always got my friends to get me through it, because I know they care more about me being okay than anything else."

"You suck at being subtle," Rider said, and Goggles shocked himself with a laugh. The yellow-green inkling huffed out a sound that might have been amused, shaking his head. "I'm surprised you even tried."

"Well, I thought you wouldn't like it if I just said stuff the way I normally do," Goggles protested, still giggling despite everything. "I can be blunt if you want."

"I thought being blunt was the only thing you knew how to do," Rider said dryly, and Goggles laughed harder.

"Sorry," the blue inkling wheezed, wiping at his eyes and grinning up at Rider. "I just care about you a lot."

Rider's face twisted up into something funny, and he quickly turned his face away. Goggles had already seen the yellow-green tint in his dark cheeks, though.

"I care about you," Goggles nearly sang, and watched the pointed tips of Rider's ears turn that same yellow-green color too. He nudged the other inkling with a grin and a giggle. "And I'm totally here for you if you're ever feeling not okay."

Rider sighed, lifting a hand to rub at his cheek. He still wasn't looking at Goggles, but Goggles could imagine the flustered expression on his face.

"Thanks," Rider murmured, the tension in his shoulders fading away. He didn't say anything else, but this time, the silence felt right.

Goggles pulled himself up to stand, offering a hand to Rider. "C'mon, we should probably get inside somewhere before it starts raining."

The yellow-green inkling looked at him, a tint of ink lingering in his cheeks. It made the hearts in Goggles' chest flutter.

Rider reached out.

[universeskies]

This is Pearl Solo Chapter for The story between @thejaytapes and I! OF Hooked on to You! Hope Y'all enjoy!

The sounds of the critters at night were always quite the melody for the kind of night that anyone much like Pearl Houziki, upcoming Idol and... as of now Solo Idol was seen walkiing around the city of Inkopolis. A few Inklings then and there were whispering. They could at least recognize Pearl Houziki, but deep down, she knew why. All those whispers, wondering and spreading gossip about what truly was supposed to be Pearl.

"And on the latest news, Upcoming Idol of the Calamary Country, Pearl Houziki, self-claimed MC Princess, had released the new hit single...uhhhh, can We even say that on live TV? Surely we can't... Anyways, thats definitely not important for now. Her hit solo with the song has been on quite the rise and a bit of controversy by some managers. Expressing quite unease at the bold decision with a title like that."

On the big screen of the entire city and Pearl's "TCH!" was louder than everything He could just express and keeping it civil around lots of folks that would turn around to face Her.

Taking a Cake break with some cookie crumbles and her favorite top glaze being just a strawberry-flavor one, He sits down to ease away Her worries. However, as per say Her dreams and goals be on teh way now, Pearl definitely was the topic and trend as of now, yet for not exactly what the MC Inkling had expected. Nonetheless, A step is a step, and Pearl was used to the many talks behind Her back. Deeply though, the Upcomer Inkling had yet to get used to being compared time and time again for the so famous Squid Sisters.

"Pop idols, and pop music and they expect me to do the same shit they do and then I'll be the copy catfish. Fuck that." Pearl groans and mumbles before putting away her phone and getting to enjoy the strawberry cake of His.

The day was just beginning yet for Himself, it was far from being told in what He needed to do rather than what She wants to do. Just like that, Pearl's cellphone makes it be known with a ding! As there was a New notification from one of Her bandmates.

"we need 2 talk. cmere asap"

Pearl sighs at the text. Does The text meant anything good or some more resistance? Who would know. Perhaps for The MC Princess, it could be something Good, She could Hope.

"WHAAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN, I'M OUT OF THE BAND?!?!"

The shout was louder than ever, and the clear yet furious tone on Pearl was the most calmest that the Punk Idol could do.

"Pearl, its either You or the band. You know well that We really didn't like that title and You STILL refuse to change it!"

"NONE OF YOU DECIDED ON THE NAME! I WAS THE ONE THAT WROTE IT TOO! I even made SURE to let y'all in WHATUVER Y'ALL WANT'O DO!!"

"Pearl thats exactly it. Listen, You can kick us and then do label it like that, but We can't. Just being in a band with You isn't really the best for Us."

Pearl couldn't believe Her eyes and or ears. Once again, he was faced with the same old difficulty. Same old situation. Same old circumstance.

Alone as The band once again disbanded.

She has tried it all. He has wrote and dedicated and yet not any kind of band can stick through. "Solo Idols aren't really a thing, there has to be at least a duo or a band. You have to have Simeone on with You, thats The freshest way, Pearl. You either are fresh or they won't take You seriously. The music world is harsh AND You would Just get kicked out, dearie. Don't worry though, Your spunk is something unmatched. I'm sure You will find that, but unless You find it, We can't do much for songs."

Her manager tried and tried again with every encourage, but for how long? How long must Pearl endure it? If anything, the Punk Inkling had just wondered how incredible patient must be to wait and still keep on going. And thats what would make Pearl keep on strolling, but once again... He was met with a Stalemate in this checkboard of the Singing world where the next move, will have to plan on according to what would be the World's move. Fate can say lots of many new things. And yet Pearl finds Herself once again boiling it all up. "FINE!! BE LIKE THAT!!" She shouts but yet Not everything was out. Pearl had more. There is only so much He can take yet despite having The freedom to do so, The chains of being put against a Splatana was SO MUCH, She only wants TO scream. Scream and Never stop.

Pearl found himself just relaxing and laying on the branch of a Tree at the noon. Not sure on what to do. Not sure what will be the next one. He just ponders at the moon. "Coddamnit...not again. not again with this shit."

Night came in at Mount Nantai and Pearl still kept on pondering on the tree. Crossed arms, and just looking at the only accompany of the almost sunlight eclipsed by the dark starry skies.

*"SERIOUSLY?! You settled on FOR THIS TITLE?!"*

*"ARGHHHH! MY EARS! This is a SINGING Competition! Not the SQUIDBEAK ARMY! NEXT!"*

*"Pearl Houziki is said to be this new upcoming idol, but I really don't see the vision with Her going all so punk and loud. Louder and screaming really isn't music. Maybe with directions by the Squid Sisters, She could triumph like them, but then again, its already hard to compete against really talented duo like them."*

*"Maybe one day, who knows? Pearl's music can turn around, but until She stops being that braddish and loud that doesn't know how to clam down, then I see no future. At least the Houziki Companies will be a good back up for Her just in case!"*

More and more and each thought getting louder and louder. Pacing around the Seemingly rocky path that Mt Nantai was well recognized for. A territory that yet any Inkling had yet to see more. A territory that the Houzikis had well sought for and trying on to buy a lot.

"HHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" With a really cursed and loud seething. It wasn't much that Pearl could just shout louder and louder.

"FUCK OOOOOOOOOFF!!!"

The more than obvious Scream made a HUGE ramble against the mountains and the grass. It was like an earthquake for anyone surrounding it. Some drops were seen from the chin of Her face. "I HAD ENOUGH. I COULD CARE LESS! I DON'T WANT BE ANYONE!! BUT...Me...." Her strong Killer-Wail like voice making a scene to ruckus and shaking of everything that the road was. Unbeknownst...the surface down there, seemingly seem to crumble more. Like something trying to punch it out from the inside.

"I could care less what the shell they think of Me. I'm not changing. I don't....huh?"

The shake got more than apparent and stronger. Making everything just crumble, and some bright-blue colored ink launching upwards.

"WHOA!! WHAT THE CLAM IS?!?!" Pearl barely dodged and tried to get Her Enperry Dualies from the belt He had, but he lost the footing. And the Punk Idol, couldn't grab at anything. He felt and just saw the sight of everything that was once the surface...fade and get further away.

Everything was black. There was a void of anything, but Pearl could make out something...

"S-SURRENDER! In-Inkling Invader!!" Pearl was barely conscious, but He could see now...something She didn't expect.

A beautiful curly tentacled hair...Octo? It didn't had the Squid mask, and the hair as well the eyes that could barely glow. A glow that made Her eyes return with full of color. Pearl could see that just like She was getting point at by what seemed a .52 gal, yet despite it...

"Wh-Whoa....what a beautiful angelfish." Its all She could make out before She fades into unconsciousness.

[kittythegengarmonarch]

15 questions for 15 mutuals

One of my close friends (as well as mutuals) @cadaver-moss tagged me in this! Gracias mi amigo! Now it's my turn! ^^

(There are some questions that reveal a bit too much for me, so I will try my best to alter them.)

Are you named after anyone. I'd say there are 3 answers. Legal name I will change: Yes Real name I use today: Depends. It's a noun that I would describe myself, but in a different language. Also turns out, I learned about a year after I got the name, that the word comes from the name of a spirit! Persona's name: A grandmother's dog (she's a sweetheart)

When was the last time you cried. The last time I actually cried was during a meltdown. The last time I almost cried was when another close friend said he would block me if I sent him a clip of Toad's voice, and because he said that I had a shutdown (he knew what he did was wrong though, and luckily, we made up).

Do you have kids? My sona does (in reality they're my Gengar plushies), but irl, no. I don't plan to have coitus with anyone else in any way, shape or form. (Adopting or fostering kids though, I would say otherwise).

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Depends on my mood, really.

What sports do you play/have you played? Have I played? Kick ball! I made a homerun (after I slid) and ended up getting filled with energy and pride! ^^

What's the first thing you notice about other people? I honestly don't know. I have social anxiety, especially with most other teens (a reason why high school is very stressful for me) and I often prefer to be alone.

Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings. Easy answer. The King's Game, SCP-5254, Squid Game and SCP-001(WTDB) are perfect examples of why I prefer happy endings, as they have caused me depression and sometimes paranoia. It wasn't pretty. (There is also more media like them that have caused me depression and/or paranoia.)

Any special talents? If drawing counts, yes. Other than that, if it counts, algebra, and most other academic activities.

Where were you born? My sona: Alola Me irl, an southeastern state in the US (Currently living somewhere else, and I will not say the name of either place)

What are your hobbies? Drawing, surfing the net, watching YouTube, napping, shaking the lamb sauce (don't ask. It's a secret), listening to music, car rides (at times), word searches, and other things that are out of my mind right now.

Do you have any pets? The namesake of my sona, Kitty, and Highly [Maybe Confused]. There are some pictures I took of them recently at the bottom of the post. Check out other videos on Tumblr to check them out. Update: We got another bulldog, and his name is Uhtred.

How tall are you? What's 3^4-36+9x2+0? That's your answer. (And no, it's not a _'_ deal)

Favorite subject in school? Art. Other than art, math.

Dream job? Character designer, like James Turner and Ken Sugimori, or an illustrator, like Anne Fitzgerald. Or a storyboard artist.

Eye color? Go outside, and stare at a tree trunk. If not, stare at my dog.

Highly is the tired one(left), and Kitty is the desperate one(right). Update: The puppy below is Uhtred.

I'll tag @liamthemarowak @ghos-tea @tiny-brain @destinylightsup-2006 @leothewtf @andythepurplebird2k5 @alter-ego-cole @boongusbongus and @artsymii

(As it's most likely required. Lmao)

[marlynnofmany]

A Worthy Sacrifice

Going on a food run for this spaceship usually didn’t end up in a debate over whose body parts are more expendable. Never, as a matter of fact. Today was the first. And it could have easily been our last.

The trip had such a peaceful start, too. Along with the usual supplies that we paid real money for, Captain Sunlight sent a handful of us to pick up a local delicacy: some plant. I honestly missed the name. I was more interested in the location — inside a vast cave complex with shafts of light filtering in from above, and multiple lakes of poison to make the perfect growing environment. Or maybe they were acid lakes. At any rate, extremely dangerous, and completely at odds with the lovely sun-dappled scenery and brightly colored plantlife.

I stood with some trepidation at the edge of the cave maze, holding an empty bag and wondering if there was maybe an entrance somewhere big enough for a hoverbike. Beside me, the hulking forms of the Frillian twins were similarly hesitant. You can’t punch an acid lake, after all, or lift weights at it.

Down closer to ground level, Mur just looked annoyed. “It’s fine,” he said, flipping a blue-black tentacle forward. “The locals pick these plants daily.” His own bag was on a dinky little hoversled that followed him like a flying puppy, leash and all. The sled also held a couple pairs of pruning shears in case the stems gave us trouble. Mur could have ridden on the sled himself, pushing off the ground like a squid-shaped kid on a snow disk, but that would have been undignified. Strongarms are proud of that tentacle-walking, after all.

And apparently they’re not phased by giant lakes of acid.

“If you say so,” I told him. “Lead the way.”

He did, grumbling. I followed, taking care not to trip over the sled, while Blip and Blop stood tall and brought up the rear.

The entrance tunnel was small, alongside many others, and a few turned out to lead to the same big cavern. My first impression was warmth. I regretted wearing a sweater, thin and utilitarian though it was. I took it off as we walked, tying it around my waist, glad that I at least had my hair tied back in its usual long braid. I didn’t need any extra sweat about my neck today.

Once the sweater was secure, I was free to appreciate the scenery. It really was pretty. The walls were a wash of reds and golds, with multiple types of greenery sprouting from every level surface and a few that weren’t. The lake far below was an evil purple, fading to the innocent blue of tropical seas at the edges. A solid fence lined the cliff edge, which I appreciated.

The wall behind us was awash in climbing vines with dangling blueberry-looking things that sure would be convenient if they were the plants we were here for.

No such luck. Those were on the far side. Lots of them. A vast jungle of treelike things, most of which were bent under the weight of head-sized yellow fruit. As I watched, one particularly spindly trunk lost its biggest fruit to gravity, and sprung upwards to fling the smaller ones away in a comical fashion. I could almost hear the splats against the cave wall.

“Well, they sure look ripe,” I said.

Mur wasn’t interested. “Where’s the— Oh, there it is. We took the wrong door. C’mon.” He slapped away along the path beside that fence, over to where a single large hover platform waited like a ferry.

We were just getting on, with me trying to hide my misgivings and the Frillians doing the same, when a chorus of more slapping tentacle-steps approached at speed.

“Wait!” commanded the large reddish Strongarm in the lead, who was colored much like the cavern walls. She was also shaped more like an octopus than a squid, as was the green one behind her. The beige-gray one had a pointy squid head like Mur.

Mur waited. He’d already figured out the controls for the platform, and he stood there in silence while I clutched the railing with the Frillians, and the newcomers climbed on.

With nods all around, Mur pressed a button to close the gate. Then he removed the lid of the fancy pottery jar big enough for a child to hide inside — I’d assumed somebody had left it behind — and he scooped out a bunch of those blueberry things. As I watched in curiosity, he opened a different lid, this one over a part of the control console that stuck out, baring a dark tunnel like an ominous toilet bowl.

He threw the berries in. The platform’s engine started.

Mur steered us out over the deadly lake, engines humming happily, throwing clusters of berries in every so often. I exchanged looks with the Frillians. The other Strongarms didn’t look impressed.

“Are those fuel berries?” I asked.

“Only for this engine,” Mur said, tapping a sign. “It takes anything organic. Nice of the locals to make sure there’s always a full pot here. There is a note here to refill what we use if possible, and I think we definitely should, but I’m sure that not everyone does.”

The red Strongarm made a flapping noise that I recognized as the equivalent of a snort. Yeah, she probably wouldn’t stick around to do her part.

(And remember that bit about “anything organic”? If you recall how I started this little anecdote, this is where you’ll start to get concerned.)

There was only a moderate level of worry in the air at that point, though. We hadn’t fallen in yet and the rails seemed sturdy, if sparse, and the jungle was approaching at a reasonable pace. The slight breeze even made the temperature pleasant.

When Mur docked the platform headfirst and opened a gate on the other side, I was the first one off among the trees. Picking the yellow fruits turned out to be a great time, especially the way they kept accidentally flying through the air. They were about as heavy as cantaloupes, but with such rubbery outsides that it was like they were made for high-impact comedy. I did my best to pick each tree thoroughly, hanging onto the bent trunk with one hand before letting go. I’d started by taking a single fruit from each tree, but that had not worked.

Blip and Blop had the most efficient strategy: one held a bag and the other shook a tree like they were taking its lunch money. Mur just climbed the lowest trunks and plucked everything he found. One way or another, we filled our bags quickly and met back at the platform.

The strangers were a little slower, but again, we waited politely. Soon enough, we were on the way across the lake that lurked distantly below like malevolent grape jam.

I was just thinking that it had been a while since I’d had a proper PB&J when the trouble happened.

The Strongarms, standing on one side of the platform with their sacks of fruit, produced blasters and demanded ours.

(Yes, Strongarms keep things hidden among their tentacles. Yes, it’s just as gross as it sounds.)

Anyway, they must have taken our politeness and healthy fear of death for the signs of a bunch of pushovers, and wow they were wrong about that.

Blip and Blop swung their sacks of fruit in unison while I dove to one side and Mur took the other. You’d think we did this sort of thing all the time. In reality, there were only so many directions to go in a fenced-in battleground like this.

The would-be bandits were too busy dodging the sacks to aim their blasters properly, though they tried. One shot Blip’s bag of fruit, making her even more angry as yellow globes bounced everywhere. One nearly singed my ear, but didn’t get a second shot when I roundhouse kicked him in the squiddy head.

The other one, the leader, was wrestling Mur, and her shot went right through the center of the berry pot, shattering it and sending the platform’s fuel in every direction.

I mentioned that the railings weren’t exactly close together. And that these looked like blueberries: the little round things. My point is, they rolled. With great talent and speed. Right off the sides and down into that terrifying lake, leaving only a few behind.

“Look what you did!” Mur yelled, wrestling harder.

Blop made an undignified squeak of concern, then tried to find an angle he could help from. He ended up stepping firmly on a red tentacle and pinning the blaster to the floor.

His sister, meanwhile, was slamming an alien cantaloupe against the green guy, whose own weapon was stuck inside a different fruit, making its leisurely way down towards the lake.

The gray dude was out cold, which was a surprise to me. I guess Strongarms are easy to concuss, I thought as I made sure his blaster was safe on our side of the platform. I’d considered throwing it over the side as well, but figured we might want it to keep them in line once they woke up. I sure wasn’t planning on giving it back, though.

Crunch went the third blaster, Ow went the Strongarm holding it, and “Stay down, you arm-dragging limp grub!” went Mur. The red Strongarm stayed down.

So. We won the fight. But we only had a scattered few berries left to fuel the platform, and it had coasted to a stop in what looked to me like the exact stinkin’ center of this terrible, poisonous lake.

Blop looked worried. “Now what?” he asked Mur.

“These?” Blip suggested, holding a yellow fruit out toward the intake.

“No!” Mur shouted, startling everyone. He blocked her path. “Those break the engine. Didn’t you read the sign?”

I glanced at the defeated Strongarms. “I think only you read the sign,” I told him.

“Well, it’s very clear!” he exclaimed, waving dark tentacles like he wanted to tear out hair that he didn’t have. “Only other organics!”

Blip set the fruit down. “What do we have?” she asked, checking her pockets. “I’ve got two shrimp sticks and one of those seednuts that Paint likes.”

We all took stock, coming up with a whole lot of nothing. The unconscious Strongarms woke, and submitted to sitting in the corner with their leader, injured and embarrassed and also not in possession of any spare fuel.

“Let’s at least see how far the berries take us,” Mur said grimly, picking up the nearest.

We gathered all that we could find, and it took us a little way. Pocket snacks and whatnot took us a bit farther. We considered clothes (most were artificial), the fruit-carrying bags (same), and even treating the toilet-looking thing in appropriate but mortifying ways.

As we got increasingly desperate, we were still far from shore.

“Pretty sure this is real leather,” Mur said as he dropped in the leash for his tiny hoversled. “That will take us … not far enough.”

We were sort of close, kind of. Relatively speaking.

“The captain will come looking if we’re gone long enough,” Blop said.

“She doesn’t know which tunnel we took,” Mur reminded him. “Searching could take days.”

“Won’t the locals find us?” Blip asked.

The red Strongarm sneered. “They just finished a work cycle, and it’s a regular holiday. You think we’d try to rob you if they could come in at any moment?”

Both Frillians groaned.

Mur scowled. “Yes, very smart. See where that got you!” Moving slowly for added drama, he picked up a pair of shears from his sled. “Who wants to volunteer something organic?”

There were desperate pleas at that, and stonefaced silence from Mur that I hoped was acting.

“What about them?” the leader said, pointing wildly at the Frillians. “Surely they don’t need all those frills!”

Blip and Blop regarded her with identical shocked expressions. “Yes we do!”

“Well, we need our arms! You think that wouldn’t hurt to cut off?”

The yelling escalated while something very obvious occurred to me. I stepped over to Mur and flopped the braid over my shoulder. “Do you think this would be enough?”

The Strongarms shut up immediately. And they stayed silent while Mur calculated, so silent that I started to wonder.

They answered my question before I could ask it.

“You would volunteer that?” asked the red one quietly.

Ohhh, they think it’s a tentacle covered in hair, I realized. Have they not met a human before? Never mind; let’s see if Mur plays along.

“Yes,” I said solemnly, instead of going “Yeah” like I usually would. “If this is the only way to save all of us, then I will gladly make that sacrifice.” I looked over at Blip and Blop, who were elbowing each other but keeping mum. Good.

Mur ushered me toward the intake with all the grandeur of a high-society attendant. “If you would permit me to do the honors,” he said, “I will be quick.”

So I stood in front of the thing with my back to it so the wide-eyed bandits couldn’t see, told Mur to cut just below the hair tie, and held up my sweater ready to wrap it around my head like a bandage.

Yes, I did feel silly. But the bandits deserved a bit of shame and secondhand anguish. Besides, I’d been wanting to try a short haircut for ages, but never found the right time to chop it all off.

This is definitely the right time, I thought. “Go ahead.”

Mur snipped through the braid with one clean cut — hooray for sharp shears — and I collapsed with an anguished expression and some artful whimpers. Blip helped tie the sweater “bandage,” while Blop shielded us from view and stared down the Strongarms. I didn’t see Mur drop the braid into the intake, since my view was somewhat limited, but I felt the engine kick on with a most welcome hum.

I really hope that was enough, I thought as I lay there with my arms about my head. It’ll suck if we have to snip this down to a buzz cut. That’ll be hard to keep up the act through. And I really don’t want hair THAT short.

But when the engine finally went quiet, it was to a cheer from the Frillians. We were close enough to jump.

Or, more accurately, close enough for Blip to fling Mur across the gap with one of my socks to gather berries in. Mur was a terrible shot when he threw it back, but enough berries reached us that we were able to close the distance.

I pulled the blaster from my waistband and nudged it over the side before I forgot. It was too small for the Frillians to use anyway.

Plus, we didn’t need it. By the sound of her voice, the lead Strongarm had been so humbled by my sacrifice that she might have been considering a career change.

She even offered their collections of fruit, and the other two didn’t object.

Mur accepted graciously. I managed to turn my chuckling into pained noises as strong Frillian arms lifted me. I didn’t uncover my head to look. By the sounds of it, the many fruits were being balanced on Mur’s sled and the shoulders of whichever Frillian wasn’t carrying me.

“Farewell,” Mur said haughtily. “Make better choices in the future.”

We left the cavern to the sound of the ex-bandits promising to do so.

I have no idea if they’ll really go straight, but wouldn’t it be hilarious if they did?

Once we were out of sight, Blip put me down and took her share of the fruit bags. I claimed one too. I felt much lighter without the braid. And the threat of impending death.

I looked at my crewmates cheerfully. “Let’s never do that again.”

“Not without significant backup,” Mur agreed.

“Or more spare headfur!” Blop said.

“I’ve definitely spared enough for one day.” I freed a hand to pull out the hair tie, marveling at how simple a process it was now.

My crewmates all told me I looked incredibly strange with short hair about my face like that.

I told them to wait until I picked a final hairstyle, and I described hair gel to them.

~~~

The ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come!

[hrodvitnon]

I headcanon Rodan is already lukewarm on the deep ocean. He's of the very reasonable mindset that shit gets weird down there and he wants nothing to do with whatever monstrosities the depths hide.

Jellyfish fall into a sweet spot of looking like aliens (lord knows he's dealt with those enough) and being a scientific grey area where not a whole lot is known about them (cue that famous video of the 26-foot squid-jelly-thing from the oil rig that was viral a few years ago) to where they really freak him out. He's also heard of the horrors that their stingers can inflict, and is especially paranoid of Sea Wasps.

Godzilla teases him about it to no end, but he's ultimately the only one who actually knows about his phobia (he learned about it when they were swimming off Infant Island and a lone box jellyfish drifted close to them. Goji was thrilled to see such a rare creature so close to the shallows. Rodan was not). He can't help but joke whenever he and Rodan end up in the ocean together.

Godzilla: Careful. It's jelly-bloom season.

Rodan: Oh fuck, why would you say that?! I just wanted a peaceful soak!

Godzilla: Don't worry, I'll protect you from the big bad stingy plastic bags...

Rodan: Screw you!

Godzilla: Oh shit! Rodan, there's something behind you!

Rodan: AH!

He quickly panics and flails up to Goji, wrapping his wings around his neck with a vise-grip and hoisting himself up his chest to stay out of the water. He looks back to where he just was and sees nothing.

Rodan: ...

Goji: Heh.

Rodan: I hate you.

Goji: Aw. Guess I'll just have to leave you to fend for yourself in the scary ocean...

Rodan: No! Please! Don't go! I mean-

Godzilla smirks at him. Rodan just turns away in embarrassment.

Godzilla: Oh come on, with how small they are compared to us, you wouldn't even feel the stingers.

Rodan: "Small," right. Like there aren't gargantuan versions of those nightmares lurking in the deepest depths of your underwater nightmare realm.

Godzilla: Of course there aren't. You're more likely to run into things like anglerfish, viperfish, hatchetfish. You'd hate seeing those from the front. They look like the souls of the damned.

Rodan: ...sounds horrifying, but at least I presume those have faces, unlike the jelly freaks... you're sure the jellies don't live in the deeps? And they don't get any bigger than twenty human feet?

Godzilla: None.

Rodan:

Godzilla: That I know of.

Rodan: Oh, you BASTARD!

[toothlespoggers]

GUYS I WAS LISTENING TO SUNROOF (the kidz bop version because I love how childish and vibey that specific song sounds in that version, don’t judge me) and I had a great idea.

so you know how I’ve been working on that character Razzle Dazzle for some time now? Getting his lore, comic and everything planned and worked out.

Image for those who aren’t familiar with Raz

Image description thingie: A small round octopus-like creature with a purple body and cyan splotches. One giant yellow eye with a red pupil.

my “fresh parasite” that’s actually just a species of monster native to waterfalls deep water named the Squimic

basically they’re creatures that have the intelligence of a regular small monster and an octopus, they have a mix of octopus and squid traits and can see perfectly in the dark but are sensitive to light. They’re semi aquatic meaning they can survive on land if they stay in a moist environment, they eat sugary foods primarily and survive by camouflaging themselves like a octopus, their natural colours blend right in with the marsh of waterfall and the bioluminescent spots make them look like a mushroom, which not only stops them from being spotted but also helps alert predators that they are in fact poisonous (about as deadly as a blue ring octopus but safe to handle just don’t eat it.)

anyway, in the story, raz’s classic world goes into a genocide and he survives by being so stealthy that the player never encounters him that’s my excuse for why he’s not in canon undertale jk

but basically in order to survive he has to mimic the abilities of a stronger monster, that’s how his species works they have no magic of their own they just copy others and imprint their own unique flare onto it. So the strongest monster happened to be sans, since he was going to fight the human and Alphys was saying he would probably succeed when the underground was evacuating. I was going to have him jump onto the sans, takeover the body and end up crashing the game sending the two of them into the void. But then I had a thought- what if he really is just a mimic? What if he never takes over the sans body, what if he just shapeshifts into a sans, yk because his whole species magic revolves around copying? What if that’s what happens.

then raz would just, have the same thing happen to him, but he’d just- be raz. The previous plot holes I had with the sans having sentience logically would vanish and the lore would match up perfectly.

it’d explain why his body changes when he meets fresh and decides to copy his appearance and behaviour. How he goes from round classic sans to a slightly different shape- skinnier and taller. He’s a shapeshifter, that’s why he never had eyelights, that’s why he bleeds rainbow. That’s how he’s able to turn from little squid man to skeleton. He’s a shapeshifter.

I shouldn’t technically be dumping a lot of my revelations on my au here since I’m kinda scared someone more popular than me will take my silly idea and no one will pay attention to me. But I’ve been working on this for a while and this just clicks into place so nicely I had to share it with the class. I mean, might as well let people see what I’ve actually been working on.

y’all are free to ask me questions and I can answer them if you want, I definitely don’t have many pieces of art to showcase the writing work I’ve been doing on this au yet. So most of it is just me explaining it until further notice. But hopefully everyone will think it’s cool!

I’ve been told by friends and stuff that my whole raz idea is a really unique fresh sans. Since he’s like his own thing ^^

I’m going to close tumblr immediately after posting this because I panic at the response I’ll get whenever I send something I’m excited about