This is the art/writing blog of BabyCharmander/The Fanfiction Core. I am a Christian, a writer, and an artist. You'll find both fanworks and original works here. Tumblr is annoying about blog descs, so check out the pinned post for more info. (icon by @cryptarts)
Hiya folks. I’m @babycharmander and this is my art/writing blog!
I am not currently open for free writing or art requests.
I am open for commissions! 3 slots open!
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I can't believe I have to even say this but please do not repost my artwork, and please do not use my artwork without my permission. THIS INCLUDES REPOSTING TO SITES LIKE PINTEREST, IFUNNY, INSTAGRAM, AND IMGUR, OR USING THEM FOR YOUR WATTPAD COVERS OR YOUTUBE VIDEOS. I WILL DMCA takedown the art, and if I can, I WILL copyright strike you.
You also NEVER have permission to use my art in datasets, EVER.
However, if you want to dub my comics, that is fine! Just link back to me in the video and let me know so I can see it! But PLEASE DO NOT ALTER THE COMIC. Keep the title, panels, and dialogue in tact and unaltered, please, and do not skip or add any panels! (Unless you’re changing the language of the dialogue for an alt language dub—that’s perfectly fine.)
Also, my “please reblog, don’t repost” note I leave on my art isn’t begging for reblogs—it’s worded that way to clarify the difference between reblogs and reposts, because when some folks see “don’t repost” they think reblogs are considered a type of reposting. (Not the case! Reblogs help artists—reposts do not.) I do like reblogs, but you’re not obligated to reblog stuff from me.
Please don’t tag reblogs of my stuff with non-canon ships unless I state it’s ship art/fic in the post itself.
(Please reblog, don't repost! Do not post to Pinterest!)
[ID: An Inanimate Insanity fanfic chapter banner. Microphone, Test Tube, and Fan are each in small, separate cells that seem bare other than a cot, a drain, and a light. Mic is covering her face with her hands as what little is visible of her face seems pinched in distress. Test Tube is holding out her hands in front of her, as though she's been looking down at them. She has bags under her eyes, and some of her liquid is missing. Fan is holding up a hand to a cut on the top left (the top right for the viewer) of his paper, and a tear is forming in his left eye. The chapter title is beneath the cells, reading, "Chapter 2: Employee Housing." /end ID]
New chapter of my fic, Critical Thermal Maximum, is up!
Cobs introduces Test Tube, Fan, and Mic to their new home... and things don't go so smoothly.
[ID: An Inanimate Insanity fanfic cover. Test Tube is trapped in a giant thermometer, sitting atop the mercury, which is pushing her up against the top of the glass. She is frantically pressing all of her limbs against the glass, which is beginning to crack from the heat and pressure. The title, shown on the measurement marks of the thermometer, reads, "Critical Thermal Maximum." The thermometer is set against a dark background with the Meeple logo looming in the darkness. /end ID]
Fandom: Inanimate Insanity
Rating: T
Genre: Angst, Friendship
Characters: Test Tube, Fan, Microphone, Steve Cobs
Warnings: [Will be stated at a later date.]
Fic Description:
After Test Tube's elimination, she and Fan step through the portal... and find themselves (along with Microphone) in the clutches of Steve Cobs. While he's missed his opportunity to steal the egg, he knows how to take an opportunity when it presents itself.
Specifically, the fact that Test Tube happens to be very smart, very skilled, and very afraid of her friends getting hurt... friends that Cobs now has control over.
Test Tube doesn't know what Cobs is planning, but she'll find a way out of here. She has to.
But it's not going to be easy... if it's possible at all.
Beta Readers: @livemedown and @valencrime
Notes: I've been working on this for forever and I'm tired of its not being posted, so here it is. More chapters coming whenever I get around to posting them.
(Please reblog if you want to, don't repost! Do not post to pinterest!)
[ID: A traditional crayon drawing of the Inanimate Insanity character MePhone4 jumping and pointing upward with a determined, open-mouthed smile. Three stylized yellow marks emphasize the pointing finger. Stylized green text (in the same font as the Inanimate Insanity title logo) around him says “Greetings and salutations!” in all caps. /end ID]
Oh wow, has it really been *multiple months* since I've last posted something?? I promise I've been working on things--just need to... post them.
Currently though I'm battling art/writing block. I've heard that experimenting with different mediums can be helpful, so I did a crayon drawing of MePhone. It's interesting to work with, though a bit frustrating when it comes to finer details. Still, pretty happy with the result all things considered.
[ID: An Inanimate Insanity fic cover, showing a grassy field at sunset, where pieces of shattered porcelain, gleaming in warm colors, are scattered. Water pools on a few spots of the ground and drips off some of the shards. A few blue flowers dot the distance. The fic's title, Paved Paradise, is next to the largest piece of porcelain. /end ID]
Fandom: Inanimate Insanity
Rating: T
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Tragedy
Characters: Toilet, MePhone4, and Steve Cobs (with Bow and Dough appearing briefly)
Warnings: DEATH, OBJECT GORE.
Fic Description: Toilet wanted to help more.
Notes: Based on an AU started by @soupevil. Not beta-read.
(Please reblog if you want to; don't repost! Do not post to pinterest. DO NOT TAG AS SHIP.)
[ID: An Inanimate Insanity illustration, depicting a heavily injured Fan in a hospital bed, with Test Tube sitting on a stool by his side and laying her face on the bed, shivering. Salt, expression tired and sad, is standing behind Test Tube, covering her in a blanket. The lighting is very dark, with a dim yellow light shining overhead, implying it is night and only minimal lights are on. /end ID]
The scene with Fan in the hospital made me think of when my mom was in the emergency room, and my dad almost never left her side, except when visiting hours ended.
I wonder if Salt and Dr. Fizz would let Test Tube stay overnight.
(Please reblog if you want to, do not repost! Do not post to Pinterest!)
So Lightbulb and Paintbrush are going to feature in the next part of my Inanimate Insanity comic, which means I had to learn to draw them. Lightbulb was harder than I expected, but not too bad once I got the hang of her.
...And then for some reason the whole page devolved into Baxter-stealing-people's-wallets shenanigans. So uh, yeah.
[ID: Traditional Inanimate Insanity sketch page featuring Paintbrush, Lightbulb, and Baxter. The top two sketches are of Paintbrush flexing and Lightbulb waving (both drawn directly referencing official S2 art), and a sketch of Baxter based on his S4 design. The captions near them read, "Drawn from ref" and "she [Lightbulb] is way harder to draw than you'd expect?!"
On the middle left is a sketch of Paintbrush sitting on the floor, a very stunned and confused expression on their face as their bristles are splayed out every which way due to Lightbulb's reclining on their head. Lightbulb has their right foot rested on their left knee as they hold up a can of Dr. Fizz with their pointer finger pointing outward, their eyes closed, and empty dialogue bubbles indicating that they are rambling. Baxter sits atop Lightbulb's head, holding a wallet in one claw and pulling out a ten dollar bill with the other claw. A caption pointing at Paintbrush reads, "is not sure how this wound up happening."
On the middle right is a sketch of Paintbrush holding Baxter in one hand and struggling to pull away a $200 bill with their other hand. Their expression is cartoonishly enraged, with their eyes wide and brow furrowed, their mouth open wide and full of fangs as they yell, and their bristles appearing as flames. Baxter is holding onto the $200 bill with both claws and pulling as Paintbrush yells, "STOP STEALING PEOPLE'S WALLETS!!"
The bottom two sketches are of Lightbulb holding Baxter. In the first, she is reprimanding him, saying, "Now, how many times do I have to tell you not to steal random people's wallets?" Baxter is drooping in response. In the next sketch, Baxter perks up and Lightbulb brightens as she goes on, "Only steal CEOs' wallets! That's where the good stuff is." /end ID]
(Please reblog if you want to, do not repost! Do not post to Pinterest!)
Tune Up
Pages 9-10
Previous | Current | Next (coming soon!)
Here's the next couple pages of this silly comic. I had originally wanted to wait until I had more pages done, but these two pages wrap up the section in Test Tube's lab, so I figure they're good to post for now.
I had started drawing this comic before Season 4 premiered, and I realize now that it doesn't quite fit with the new season, where Toilet is significantly more bitter and the others don't seem to interact with him much. So I suppose this has now moved into a the territory of... a slight AU, I suppose? Ah well. I want to finish this regardless.
(IMAGE DESCRIPTIONS UNDER CUT)
[ID: Two Inanimate Insanity comic pages. The first panel on the first page shows Test Tube sleeping while holding a folded Fan, who starts wiggling in her grasp.
In the second panel, Fan springs open with a big grin on his face, startling Test Tube, who jolts back.
The third panel shows the results of this, with Test Tube knocking over Toilet, who falls atop Goo and Bot (with Goo getting crushed), while Cabby starts to tip over. Everyone is startled, except Fan, who looks on awkwardly.
The fourth panel shows Goo puffing himself up to knock everyone back upright, except for Cabby, who slams face-first onto the floor with a WHAM.
In the final panel, Fan waves with an awkward grin, saying, "Gooood... morning?" while Test Tube looks on in irritation. Toilet is dazed, Goo and Bot are shaken, and Cabby is irritated as she pushes herself up on her hands.
The first panel on the second page shows Toilet, who is looking upward in anxiety as Test Tube dumps a bucket full of water into his tank, saying "Aaaand..."
The second panel shows Test Tube, standing atop a folding stool, placing Toilet's tank lid back on with a CLUNK, Toilet wincing slightly. Test Tube, a confident look on her face, says, "OKAY! Now give it a try!"
In the third panel, Toilet opens his (seat) lid and looks down as he successfully flushes the water in his bowl.
The fourth and fifth panels are split diagonally. Test Tube grins widely and fist-pumps, crying "YES! SUCCESS!" before the view zooms out, showing her with a hand to her mouth in thought as an entire wall of dialogue is seen behind her. Much of it cannot be read, but she is rambling about how happy she is for her success, and wondering if she should test the Blue Ray on Toilet.
In the sixth panel, Toilet abruptly rushes up to Test Tube's face, screaming, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH MISS TESTY-TUUUUUBE!!" while Test Tube, VERY startled, is knocked backward off her stool.
The final panel shows Test Tube having crashed on the ground behind her stool, holding a finger shakily in the air as she very shakily replies, "You're... welcome...?" /end ID]
(Please reblog, do not repost! Do not post to Pinterest!)
[ID: An Inanimate Insanity traditional sketch, featuring Toilet and MePad. They are both sitting on a bed, the back of which has been raised so that MePad can sit upright. MePad is visibly startled, his eyes wide and mouth jagged, as his feet wrap around Toilet's base. Toilet is also visibly startled, his eyes both wide and wincing and his "mouth" wobbly. A caption reads "illustration of a scene from ch 2 of Close to Me," while a note by MePad reads "experiencing hypervigilance due to PTSD" and a note by Toilet reads "inadvertently being strangled." /end ID]
Haven't posted in a minute, so here's a sketch I did a while back from @valencrime's fic, Close to Me.
For some context, Toilet and MePad are resting in Test Tube's lab, and MePad hears a noise that startles him, and he winds up inadvertently strangling poor Toilet, haha. It's a good fic--definitely worth checking out!
Since I do strive to put IDs on my artwork, and I want them to be useful, please let me know if my IDs are NOT helpful in particular ways! If I can improve how I write my IDs, let me know!
[ID: An Inanimate Insanity fic cover portraying OJ standing in a dark void. He is attempting to walk away from the viewer, but is turning back, an alarmed expression on his face, as Salt reaches forward to grab his wrist. His movement is so fast that his juice is splashing, some droplets flying out of his glass. The view is from Salt's perspective so only her arm and hand are visible, but we can see her reflection in OJ's glass, where she bares a crazed grin, somewhat similar to the expression she gives OJ in S1E14. The title of the fic, Salt in the Wound, is shown above OJ in white, skewed text. OJ's juice is splashing onto the "n" and "d" of "Wound," while the bottom of the letters of "Salt" seems to be dissolving, with salt-like flakes falling down from it. /end ID]
Fandom: Inanimate Insanity
Rating: T
Genre: Angst, Gen
Characters: OJ, Paper, Nickel, Bomb, Salt, and Toilet
Warnings: Sexual Harassment (albeit nothing worse than what we see in the show)
Fic Description:
During the construction of their new society, OJ finds himself waking, shaken, from a nightmare about Salt. Even after OJ established his relationship with Paper, Salt still hasn't stopped bothering him.
But... shouldn't he be used to this by now? And why is this what's bothering him, when he's dealt with far, far worse things in the past?
(Please reblog if you want to! Do not repost! Do not post to Pinterest.)
[ID: A two-panel scribbled traditional comic of Bot and Toilet, with Bot wearing their bandages. In the first panel, Bot is approaching Toilet and running their right wrist anxiously, while Toilet looks away bitterly.
Bot: Hey… Toilet?
Toilet: Oh. Sorry for hitting you.
Bot: It’s not that.
In the second panel, Bot is looking away anxiously while Toilet looks shocked and saddened, his eyes wide and empty and his mouth bearing a wobbling frown.
Bot: I was just wondering… what was MePad like?
/end ID]
Tiny scribble I made in my tiny sketchbook before I went to bed last night.
I had this thought of Bot, who felt a connection with MePhone, wondering about MePad, whom they’d never met. They ask Test Tube first, but Test Tube misunderstands and excitedly rambles about his technical specs, which she learned from raiding Meeple HQ. Bot asks Fan next, but Fan effectively gives them a summary of MePad’s involvement in every episode of the show, speaking of him more like a character than a person.
So… Bot decides to talk to Toilet instead.
(I’m sure he’d happily answer their question once he stops crying.)
Thanks for writing the story! This is what would've made the Meat Circus level perfect in my opinion, Oly helped Raz and confronting his own fears actively, both boys fighting together. I played the Psychonauts steam version about two years back and I really liked the final stage and boss, thanks for letting me relive it :)
NP! I'm sorry it took me ages to get it posted.
Thank you so much! I wish Meat Circus could've had something like this too, though I know back then they were still figuring stuff out, haha. I'm really happy with what I managed to write for this. Thank you for giving me the idea for it. :D
As you can see, I'm once again going to be making an effort to go through my backlog of stuff I need to post.
To the II fans following me: I'm still working on II stuff. I have some completed fics I still need to post, and I'm still working on that comic. Also working on more oneshots as well as a longfic.
To the Psychonauts fans following me: I still have several Psychonauts fics to post and I'm going to be trying to get them posted soon, because I'm tired of them just sitting around unposted.
I also still have a Mario fic and a Mouthwashing fic that I need to post. Both are finished and just need covers drawn.
I am currently hyperfixated on Inanimate Insanity but I still love all my other fandoms and I want to post the stuff I have sitting around.
By the way, you're welcome to ask me questions about any of the fics I've mentioned. Or even any of the fics I've already posted. I'm always happy to talk about my projects!
[ID: The first image Psychonauts fanfic banner on a black-to-gray gradient background. On the left in white text it says “Prompt #8: Go Through Me” On the right is a bright pink animated figment of the Butcher's hat with Mr. Bun (as he appears in Meat Circus) poking out of the top with a frown.
The second image is a Bad Things Happen Bingo card. Various prompts are marked with a half-brain (prompt requested but not filled) or full-brain (prompt requested and finished) symbol, while the “Go Through Me” prompt specifically is marked with a full brain symbol. /end ID]
So uhhhh... I haven't posted any of this stuff for a while, but uh, finally I have the next fic in my @badthingshappenbingo challenge!
I am currently NO LONGER OPEN FOR REQUESTS. I have enough to work on to get a bingo! I MAY decide to reopen prompts later if I want to keep going after finishing these fics, but for now, requests are closed!
This prompt requested by @lumalaise, who wanted a rewrite of Meat Circus with a more active Oly! Thanks to @jaywings for beta-reading, and uh... ??? I... legitimately can't remember if anyone else beta read this because it's been sitting around for so long. OH GOSH I'M SO SORRY. (Also thanks to @mechmolar who's been animating my gif frames since Photoshop stopped working for me.)
Prompt: Go Through Me
Characters: Morceau Oleander, Mr. Bun, Razputin Aquato, Augustus Aquato, Butch Oleander
Warnings: Animal abuse; Meat Circus-typical violence
---~~~---
Oly had lost track of Mr. Bun again.
His knees knocked together as he ran around the tent, searching for the sight of white fur that wasn't attached to some kind of living nightmare. But this tent was different—it was weirdly empty, though the smell of blood and raw meat still assaulted his nose.
This was a bad place for bunnies.
A whimper escaped Oly's throat as he looked around, and he realized with a jolt that the other kid was gone, too. Oh no, what if—?!
He glimpsed white fur by a corner of the tent, and bolted after it. "M-Mr. Bun!" he cried. "Wait!"
H-have to... get away... came the rabbit's thoughts as he disappeared beneath the thick tent cover.
"But what if he's there?!" Oly hurried over to the spot where the rabbit had crawled away, and found himself wishing he knew that cool trick the other kid used to grab Mr. Bun before. As it was, he looked over his shoulder to make sure he wouldn't be followed before crawling under the tent cover.
Once on the other side, he immediately raised his head to find he was in yet another circus tent, and Mr. Bun was huddled against the cover on the opposite side. "Mr. Bun!" he called. "Stay right there!"
"Don't worry, Oly!" called a familiar voice, and Oly's shoulders sagged with relief when he saw the other kid who had helped him earlier. The kid was slowly approaching the rabbit, holding something green in his hand. "I'll catch him, just give me a—"
Without warning, something dropped from the ceiling—a tall, spindly man, who landed skillfully on his feet directly next to the kid. Before either of them could react, the man grabbed the kid by the front of his shirt and yanked him off his feet.
"RAZ!" Oly screamed. It didn't occur to him in that moment that he'd never spoken nor even heard the other boy's name before.
"What's going on here?!" the man hissed. To Oly's horror, the man's jaw appeared to be broken, jerking around awkwardly as he spoke and hanging open when he was silent. "What have you done to our circus?! This looks like the work of mentalissssts!"
"Dad!" Raz exclaimed, struggling in the man's grasp. "It's not like that!"
Oly gasped. This scary guy was Raz's dad?
Raz's dad held him up higher. "Have you been associating with psssychics?! You know what psychics have done to us! They killed your grandfather! They cursed our entire family to die in water!"
"I know, but—"
"Including you!"
Oly had been sneaking around the walls of the tent, inching toward Mr. Bun, but he jumped when the man suddenly threw Raz. Rather than crashing to the ground, however, the kid rolled into a cartwheel before spinning back around, stopping on both legs and holding himself up by one arm.
"Run, Raz!" Oly called, cupping his hands around his mouth, but Raz only shook his head.
"No, Oly, I'm not backing down." Raz stood upright, staring right into his father's scarred face.
"Ah, so you think you've still got some skills as an acrobat, even though you tried to throw it all away?" Raz's dad taunted.
Raz winced, but held his ground. "I didn't throw everything away! I'm just not letting you kill me with this circus work!'
By this point Oly had reached Mr. Bun and lifted him up into his arms. "I've got you, Mr. Bun," he whispered, but his eyes were locked onto Raz. He knew he should get out of here, but...
"Really?" Raz's father said, putting his hands on his hips. "We'll see about that!"
The man suddenly sprang up into the air, flipping backwards and landing on a ladder that neither of them had noticed until now. He climbed up it, cartwheeling up onto a tightrope and swinging from a trapeze, higher and higher up the tent. Had all of that always been there?
Before either of them had time to process that, the sound of splashing water caught their attention. At the bottom of the ladder—actually a high dive—was a pool, which was rapidly filling with water from no apparent source. The water continued to rise until it began overflowing, quickly flooding the tent. Raz yelped, jumping for the ladder, while Oly cried out, lifting one foot, then the other. When the rising water rose up around his ankles and showed no signs of stopping, he shut his eyes, concentrating.
"Wait—Oly!" Raz exclaimed, looking back, only to blink when Oly flew up to his height. The propeller on his beanie spun, keeping him aloft.
Oly was still holding Mr. Bun in both hands, so instead of waving, he nodded at Raz. "I'm okay! But what about you?"
Raz resumed climbing the ladder, glaring upwards. "I gotta prove something to my dad!"
Following Raz's gaze, Oly gasped at just how tall the tent was. It seemed to go up forever, with big supports braced against the fabric that looked suspiciously like a giant rib cage. In fact, he was pretty sure it... His stomach churned, and he turned his gaze back to Raz. The kid was still climbing his way up the ladder, crossing the tightrope, and swinging across multiple flying trapezes, just as his father had. He must've been doing that before, Oly realized, when they were trying to catch Mr. Bun in the other tent, but Oly hadn't really been paying attention.
"Wow," Oly whispered. "He's so fast!"
As he continued to fly above the rising water, he watched Raz move further and further up the tent. His father occasionally threw stuff at him, but Raz only tossed up a shield to block the fiery juggling pins, or outright disappeared at times. All the while his gaze never left his father's face, staring him down with a look of utter defiance.
"He's brave, too..." Staring down at Mr. Bun, something unpleasant nagged at the edge of his memory, and he hugged his rabbit closer. "I wish I could be fast, and... and brave."
A cry from Raz made him lift his head, and Oly gasped when he saw one of the flaming juggling pins sail past him, having successfully struck Raz in the head.
"You used to like to play catch with me!" the kid's dad taunted with a sneer.
Raz put a hand to his head, stumbling on the tightrope.
"Careful, Raz!" Oly cried. "Don't fall!"
Shaking his head, Raz charged down the tightrope, successfully dodging the rest of the pins and making it across. Meanwhile, Oly looked up, finding that they'd nearly reached the top of the tent. When he looked down at Raz, though, worry tugged at his chest—the other kid looked like he was getting tired, gasping for air between each obstacle.
Finally Raz reached another ladder, this one twisting left and right and upward, and the kid slid up it impossibly, gripping onto the sides of it for dear life. Oly followed him, landing on the last squishy slab of meat at the top of the tent. Raz dropped down next to him, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. Even so, the kid raised his head, glaring at his father.
"Th... there!" he declared. "I made it!"
"Youuuuu chhhheated!" his father hissed, the teeth in his broken jaw grinding against each other.
"No I didn't!" Raz cried, holding out his hands in exasperation. "I made it up here using all the tricks you taught me! Isn't that what you wanted?!"
"Liar!" The man swiped his hand. "You disgusting mentalists always lie!" His eyes narrowed as he stared Raz down. "You're no son of mine!"
Raz stumbled back as though struck, and tears stung at the corners of his eyes.
Oly looked between the two, frowning. "H-hey! That's not fair!" he exclaimed, heaving Mr. Bun up in his grasp, even as the rabbit struggled. "I watched him! He didn't cheat at all!"
Immediately he wished he hadn't spoken as the man's gaze abruptly turned to him. "Oh, you think so, pipsqueak?" With a couple strides of his long legs, the man peered down at Oly, making him feel smaller than he already was. Oly's legs nearly buckled. "You're probably a mentalist yourself, aren't you?"
Oly's heart leaped up into his throat. "N-no! No! I-I'm not a—"
The man bent over double to glare down at him. "I've seen you around, talking to that little bunny!"
Mr. Bun flinched. Oly...!
"Too bad for you, his act is up nexxxxt!" With a flash of his hand, the man snatched Mr. Bun away from Oly.
"NO!"
Raz's head snapped up. "Dad, no—!"
But the man held Mr. Bun's squirming form high above their heads. "It's time for the sleight-of-hand trick! We're gonna pull this rabbit out of a hat... and make him disappear!" With a wicked, broken-mouthed grin and an even more unhinged laugh, Raz's father spun around, flinging one of his flaming juggling pins at the wall of the tent, ripping a massive hole into it. Raz and Oly charged forward, the former reaching out with a transparent hand, but it was too late—the man leapt through the hole in the wall.
"MR. BUN!" Oly screamed as he ran. But Raz was faster, jumping up onto a transparent orange ball and snagging Oly by the back of his shirt, lifting him up as he barreled after his father.
"Hang on...!" Raz said, gritting his teeth as he bounced on the ball up through the hole in the tent, sending them both sailing downward. With one quick motion he grabbed the ball out from underneath himself and used it like a balloon, floating down into the tent that Oly had been in earlier. It had been empty, then, but now, Oly cried out in horror at the sight below them:
Raz's dad was standing on the ground, hands on his hips as he watched them descend. And, just behind him, was a giant of a man that was shrouded in shadow, the sight chilling Oly's blood.
Raz landed, dropping Oly roughly to the ground and panting. "H... hey," he demanded. "What did you do with the bunny?"
"Weren't you paying attention, boy?" Raz's dad hissed. "It's time for the sleight-of-hand trick!"
With a flourish, Raz's dad indicated the figure behind him, who chuckled darkly. A spotlight burst to life over the man's head, revealing a huge, muscular person carrying a bloody meat cleaver in his equally bloody claws.
Oly's stomach dropped. "Papa...!"
His papa lifted his hat off his head and showed the inside of it to Raz and Oly—there was nothing inside. Then, after setting it on the ground, he lifted it quickly to reveal Mr. Bun sitting on the floor beneath it.
Oly...? Mr. Bun whimpered, huddling in on himself.
"Mr. Bun!" Oly ran for the rabbit, arms outstretched, only to be blocked by a flaming juggling pin from Raz's dad. Raz reached out with a glowing orange hand, trying to pull the pin away, but to no avail.
"Ssssstand back! The act's not over yet!" he said, and Oly could only watch as Mr. Bun looked up at him in horror.
Oly, help me!
"It's time to make this rabbit..."
His papa raised the cleaver.
"...disappear!"
The cleaver came down.
Raz turned away, shielding his face with his hands, but Oly saw the gore, smelled the blood, heard the last terrified squeal tear from the rabbit's throat before it was gone.
...But... something stirred deep within him, connecting to a part of himself, and he realized... this wasn't the first time this had happened—the first time he'd tried and failed to save Mr. Bun. Nor even the second. He'd seen this very scene—perhaps with some details changing—many, many times in his nightmares.
"Remember, son," his papa gloated, "that's what you do with little bunnies—you kill them and feed them to the pigs!"
"I'm sorry, Oly," Raz said, placing a hand on Oly's back. "I couldn't—"
"SORRY?!" Raz's dad cried, reeling back. "The only one here who's going to be sorry is you, for fraternizing with that mentalist!"
At once Oly's papa lifted his cleaver and picked up a second, while Raz's dad pulled out several flaming pins that he began to juggle. Raz gulped, stepping back, while Oly took several steps back as well. His eyes fell on the fresh blood dripping from the cleavers before he turned to Raz, so much smaller than the enormous form of his papa...
Something stirred within him, and before anyone else could act, Oly charged forward, stepping between Raz and their two dads. Though his body trembled, he spread his arms out, glaring at the adults defiantly.
"If... if you wanna fight him, you gotta go through me first!"
"Oly?" Raz murmured in amazement. "What are you...?"
The dads, meanwhile, reared back in surprise. Raz's father began to laugh, while his own papa stared at him in consternation. "What?!" the butcher roared. "You can't do that! Get out of the way!"
To his alarm, his papa swung a cleaver at him, but Oly concentrated, and leaped.
It was harder to keep aloft without Mr. Bun, for some reason, but Oly let the propeller on his hat spin, pulling him high up into the air, above his papa's head. "You gotta catch me, first!"
His papa let out a snarl, swinging a cleaver at him again. Oly's heart pounded as the blade barely missed, but he grinned when he saw that his plan had worked—his papa was completely ignoring Raz, now! Raz's dad was still fighting him, but at least Raz wasn't fighting both of them.
"Little bunny!" his papa snarled, swinging both cleavers at once, just barely cutting the tip of one of Oly's shoelaces. "You're just a runt—good for nothing!"
"I'm good at helping my friends!" Oly cried. "I'm not gonna ever let you hurt them ever again!"
The butcher let out a booming laugh that nearly knocked Oly out of his hover. "I'd like to see you try!" He stomped closer, his enormous legs carrying him a greater distance than Oly could fly. With another swing, one of the cleavers caught part of Oly's leg, leaving a nasty slice on his exposed calf.
"AAGH!" Oly screamed, looking back at his injured leg, only to face forward again. Tears burned at his eyes, but he strained to keep away, tugging on his hat and hoping he could dodge the next swing. "Y-you can fight me... if you want... but you're not gonna get—"
His papa swung his cleavers again, he was too close, too close—
"Oly!" Raz called, only for his voice to be drowned out by a startled cry from his papa.
"Woah—" The cleavers missed Oly by a hair as they swung downward before flailing wildly.
Looking back, Oly realized his papa had tripped on one of the juggling pins that Raz's dad was throwing at him. His papa righted himself and let out a groan, but Raz and Oly exchanged glances with a nod before Oly began flying away again. Maybe if he could knock his papa down, he'd leave them alone!
Now with a more determined look, Oly kept his eyes on the ground, watching where Raz's dad was throwing the flaming pins. Occasionally he looked over his shoulder to make sure his papa was still following him, and made a face just to taunt him.
"Grrrr... Don't run, or daddy's gonna kill ya!"
Oly shuddered, but kept flying anyway, aiming for one of the fallen juggling pins. Sure enough, the toe of his papa's boot caught against it. "Gotcha!" Oly exclaimed, turning around to see if his papa would fall.
The butcher had been swinging his knives back when he hit the pin, which sent him wildly off-balance, falling backward.
Oly grinned at the sight, only for the blood to drain from his face when he realized what was directly behind his papa: the floor in the center of the tent had opened to reveal a gigantic meat grinder. "W-wait, no—!"
It was too late.
With a dazed groan, his papa tumbled backwards and fell directly into the rotating blades.
Oly covered his face with a scream, and his propeller immediately stopped twirling, sending him plummeting to the ground. Before he hit the floor, something caught him and set him on his feet. His injured leg hurt, but the pain was far away. His head was spinning with memories of letters and phonecalls and horrible, horrible nightmares of something he hadn’t seen with his own eyes—eye?—but previous butcher shop experience knew enough to fill in the gaps.
"Oly," came Raz's soft voice as he put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
It wasn't until Oly pulled his hands away and he noticed the world around him was blurry that he realized he'd started to cry. "I-I didn't mean to..." he choked out, scrubbing at his eyes. "I—"
"RAAAAZPUTIN!" a ghostly voice wailed, right as a familiar figure seemed to appear out of thin air. It tumbled to the ground. Recognizing it as Raz's dad, Oly yelped and limped away.
Watching fearfully from a short distance off, however, he realized it... wasn't Raz's dad. Or, not the same one that had been terrorizing them moments ago. This one wasn't green, for one, and his jaw wasn't broken. To Oly's amazement, Raz eagerly ran toward this version of his father, who was checking him over and asking him worried questions.
Now certain that this man was not a threat, Oly limped closer. "H-hey, Raz, what's going on? I thought your dad was..." He noticed the man's stare, and looked away. "...mean," he mumbled.
"Mean?" Raz's dad repeated, looking at his son in concern. "What is this boy talking about?"
Raz winced. "Well... we kinda ran into the version of you in my head—"
"So this is... your real dad?" Oly asked.
"Yeah, so—"
"BOY DO I HATE PSSSSYCHICS!" came a hiss nearby, and they turned around to see Raz's other dad juggling flaming pins nearby. "And seeing my son happy!"
Raz's real dad looked down at him, pain creasing his face. "Is that really... is that really how I look in your mind?"
Wow, Oly thought. Raz's real dad is a whole lot nicer than...
Something struck him, and he looked around, a hopeful smile crossing his face. If Raz's real dad was here now, and he was so much nicer, then maybe...
But his papa did not appear. Slowly he looked down at the meat grinder, and something stirred in his memory. No... his real papa wouldn't be coming back.
Lip wobbling, Oly scrubbed at his face, only to yelp when the evil version of Raz's dad was abruptly blasted into the grinder. He turned away from the sight, but some morbid curiosity drew him closer. He covered his face, but peeked at the grinder from between his fingers.
Something was climbing out.
Gasping, Oly staggered back, and screamed at the sight of another one of those awful, awful mutant bunnies crawling out of the pit. "NO! NO!"
The bunny opened its maw wide, and he covered his face, sobbing.
But rather than biting, the bunny coughed loudly, and something soft touched him. Immediately the wound on his leg sealed and stopped hurting, and he blinked.
Oly...!
Oly paused, realizing that this monster had a pink-and-blue collar that looked awfully familiar, and its face looked so much sadder than those of the other scary bunnies he'd seen. It was holding itself low to the ground as though to make itself smaller, and was staring at him pleadingly.
Oly... it's me.
In spite of the creature's chilling appearance, Oly ran at it, throwing his arms around its stitched-together body. "MR. BUN!" he cried, rubbing his face into the rabbit's dirty, stained fur. Awkwardly the rabbit drew its unnatural arms over him in return. Looking up from the creature's embrace, he spotted Raz giving him a smile before he turned back to his father, who was saying something about detangling brains.
As if on cue, the grinder let out an unholy groaning noise before several giant chunks of meat and fat spewed out. Mr. Bun immediately shielded Oly with his warped body, for all the good it would do. Luckily the chunks of meat missed them, but nearly hit Raz and his dad, though the former put up a shield at the last moment.
Meanwhile, an enormous monstrosity leaped out of the grinder, its size dwarfing his papa.
...In fact, Oly realized, it was his papa.
It was his papa, but... wrong—stitched together all wrong like Mr. Bun, and stitched up with Raz's bad dad.
"Detangle?!" one of the heads cried. "I like it this way!"
"I think I can juggle now!"
Shivering, Oly clung to Mr. Bun. "Oh, no...!" he whimpered. "What do we do now, Mr. Bun?"
But the rabbit was focused on Raz and his father, who were talking quickly and quietly. Just as he was wondering what they were saying, Raz's dad put his hands on his head, and a light came out of his forehead and touched down on Raz. As his father transferred this light—this power—Raz grew to a giant height, rivaling the two-headed dad monster. Immediately Raz charged to throw a punch at the monster, but Oly's gaze turned to Raz's dad, who was kneeling down in exhaustion.
While Raz and the monster fought, Oly crept out from under Mr. Bun, grabbing one of his mangled paws and hurrying over to the man. "H-hey! Mr... Raz's dad!"
"A... gus..." the man gasped out between breaths.
"Mr. Gus! What happened?"
The man huffed out a laugh before his expression turned more serious. He still struggled to regain his breath, until Mr. Bun opened his mouth again and spat up something—a glowing blue energy that looked a little like a cross. When it touched Mr. Gus, it disappeared, and he held himself up straighter, suddenly catching his second wind. His eyes widened, but he shook his head, turning serious again. "This is Razputin's fight. I gave him all of my strength, and now it's up to him."
Frowning, Oly looked back at the monster. "But... part of that's my papa, too."
Mr. Gus looked up at him in surprise. "Your father?"
"Yeah. Well, not the real one, 'cuz he's..." Oly trailed off and swallowed. Before Mr. Gus could say anything, he went on: "It's my fight, too! I gotta do something! But... I-I'm too small to fight..." Even when he'd distracted his papa for Raz earlier, that hadn't been enough. Tears sprang to his eyes. "My papa's right—I'm too small, and small people aren't good for anything...!"
"I don't know your father," Mr. Gus admitted, "but I have a son about your height, and he's one of the strongest people I know! There might be something you can do as well."
Oly looked away, petting Mr. Bun's paw. "But... what can I—"
"DAD!" The cry from a distance away cut him off, and he looked up to see that Raz had shrunken down again. Now he was fleeing from the two-headed dad monster who stomped after him and slashed at him with its claws.
"Hang on, Razputin!" Mr. Gus called, rushing closer to his son and focusing his energy on him again. Meanwhile, one of the monster's claws caught Raz's foot and sent him spinning to the ground.
"We gotta do something, Mr. Bun! But what..." He gripped his bunny's fur as he thought, then perked up.
Moments later, he was riding atop the mutated bunny, who galloped closer to Raz. When they were still a distance away, Mr. Bun opened his mouth wide. "Here, Raz!" Oly called, and Mr. Bun spat the blue glowy energy at Raz, who was then able to pull himself to his feet.
"Thanks, Oly!" Raz flashed him a smile before putting up a shield to avoid being hit by the monster's claws again. After that, he began to grow, and was ready to fight once more.
Now that Raz seemed okay, Oly urged Mr. Bun to approach Mr. Gus, who was kneeling on the ground again, gasping. Go ahead, Mr. Bun!
The rabbit nodded, spitting the blue glow onto Mr. Gus, who rose to his feet. "Thank you," he wheezed.
"Am... am I doing it, Mr. Gus? Am I... being helpful?"
"Of course!" But Mr. Gus wasn't looking at Oly—his gaze was fixed on Raz.
Oly wilted, and Mr. Bun sagged beneath him. "I... I wish my papa was here... so he could see..."
A hand touched his shoulder, and he looked up to see Mr. Gus was staring at him. "Well... I'm not your father, but I'm proud of you, for what it's worth."
Oly went still, his vision blurring.
By the time he rubbed the tears from his eyes, Raz had gone back to normal again, and Mr.Gus was hurrying to power him up. Oly urged Mr. Bun closer, who spat out more energy for Raz while he recovered his strength.
"C'mon, Raz!" Oly called as the other kid grew to a giant height once again. "You can do it!"
This time, he sat back and watched the fight. To his surprise, the two-headed dad monster was cowering as Raz swung his punches at it. Part of him almost thought about how nice it would be to be big enough that people would be scared of him, but... He looked back at Mr. Gus, who looked exhausted, but was staring up at his son with pride.
He wished he could have that instead.
A loud groan yanked him out of his thoughts, and Oly looked up to find the monster toppling over into a great heap.
Whooping, Oly hopped off Mr. Bun and followed Mr. Gus over to Raz, who was already shrinking back to normal size, grinning all the while. "I did it, dad!" he exclaimed. "Did you see that?"
"I did!" Mr. Gus replied.
Just when everything felt like it was calming down, the world began to shake, nearly knocking everyone off their feet. They stumbled as the world around them began to shatter. The circus tent was ripping to shreds—or, rather, shreds of meat and bone were being ripped from the tent—and the floor was beginning to crack.
"Wh-what's going on?!" Oly cried, grabbing onto Mr. Bun's leg for dear life.
"The minds must be separating!" Mr. Gus answered, taking a few steps back as he looked around.
Before anything more could be said, the world gave another violent shake, knocking Oly to the ground, just as a massive fissure erupted between him and Raz. It immediately began to grow wider.
"RAZ!" Oly screamed, scrambling to the edge to reach out for his friend.
"It's gonna be okay, Oly!" Raz called back in return, even as he backed away from the fissure warily. "I think..."
"No—!" Oly crept closer, reaching out across the gap, only for the floor to crumble beneath him. "AAAAH!"
Mr. Bun caught him in one of his mangled paws, but this only afforded them a brief moment of relief before the ground crumbled beneath him, too, sending them both plummeting into the abyss.
Oly screamed, and Mr. Bun gave a terrible, garbled cry as they fell. He covered his eyes, terrified of what he might see—the Meat Circus itself had been bad enough! After some time of screaming and falling, however, he eventually realized that Mr. Bun had gone silent, and he was no longer falling. Instead, he was seated firmly on some soft grass, as though he'd always been there. Cautiously he uncovered his eyes and gave a jolt when he realized where he was.
The green grass was laid out across a small hill, which was surrounded by several rabbit hutches.
"...My happy meadow?" Oly said, looking around. Something—or rather, someone—was missing. "But wh-where's Mr. Bun?!"
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
The scream made him spring to his feet, and he saw, a distance off, Raz and Mr. Gus sitting by a caravan. Mr. Bun was standing over a terrified Raz and sniffing him. Good, he's okay, the bunny said before turning around and beginning to crawl back to Oly. As he did so, his legs began to shorten, and his body grew smaller—smaller than the great, round, fluffy form it had been before. Eventually the tattered tutu sloughed from his shrinking frame as a small, white bunny hopped up to Oly.
"Mr. Bun...?" Curiously Oly reached out to the little rabbit, and it hit him. That's right... he'd been a runt.
Just like him.
His hands caressed the rabbit's dirty fur, only to pull away when he felt stitches still there. But Mr. Bun leaned into his touch, and he resumed petting him, scars and all.
After a moment he looked up, staring at Raz in the distance. "Thanks for helping me with my dad," he said, smiling. "I'm glad you get to spend more time with yours."
Raz looked up at Mr. Gus, surprised, then back at Oly. "No problem, Oly."
Somehow the caravan—and Raz and his dad with it—was moving farther away, and Oly waved goodbye, eventually stopping to hold up Mr. Bun and wave his little paw, too, as the others disappeared from sight.
Then, holding his rabbit close to himself, Oly turned away. "C'mon, Mr. Bun. Let's go home."
(Please reblog if you want to; don't repost! Do not post to Pinterest!)
I haven't been able to draw a lot in the past few days but I have been doing scribbles in my teeny tiny sketchbook occasionally. This is one of them, and I figured I'd post it here.
I... had the thought of Toilet doing this occasionally when no one else is in the theater.
[ID: A sketch of Toilet from Inanimate Insanity leaning against the prop of MePad from the play in S4E1. Toilet bears a wobbly frown, and his eyes are drooped and sad. /end ID]
(Please reblog if you want to; don't repost! Do not post to Pinterest!)
Oh yeah, I guess I should post these. I had the urge to draw some Inanimate Insanity characters as dragons! When redesigning characters as other species, I like to try to make them as recognizable as possible, keeping as many features as I can. So... here's Toilet, Fan, and Test Tube!
I designed Toilet first because he is my blorbo. I was able to keep him pretty close in shape to his original object--it's goofy enough that it works as a dragon, haha. Fan came next because I had a very clear idea of how I wanted him to look. Test Tube came after that because one of my friends was curious about how I would design her. I wound up basing her on some deep-sea fish with bioluminescence and transparent skin/scales!
I wanna draw more II characters as dragons sometime!
Image descriptions beneath the cut:
[ID: Three images featuring sketches of various Inanimate Insanity characters as dragons.
The first image is traditional sketches of Toilet from Inanimate Insanity drawn as a dragon. On the top left is a drawing of Toilet as he is in the show, standing at 3/4ths view in a neutral pose and with one eyebrow raised.
An arrow points down from him over to a dragon version of Toilet, which keeps roughly the same shape as the original design, but with a few additions. Dragon!Toilet has pale blue-white scales and a bright blue underbelly, with his horns, crest, and wings being a slightly warm light gray, and the tail is a slightly darker warm dark gray. The inside of his mouth is red, and his teeth are a natural light yellow.
Dragon!Toilet has at least four horns on the top of his head, small nostrils at the end of his snout, and tiny teeth lining his mouth (which is still shaped like a toilet bowl). Drool drips out of the side of his mouth. His body is short and stumpy, and his only limbs are a pair of comically tiny, feathery wings that wiggle as he flies. His belly has slightly thicker scales in segmented sections, and he has a gray tail that looks vaguely like a stylized pipe. In this sketch he is flying to the right at 3/4ths view, smiling with his mouth wide open. Above the first sketch of him reads "Toilet Dragon!" with notes around him reading "Amphitere (flies via magic)," "useless wings," "mouth perpetually full of drool," and "pipe-looking tail."
On the middle left is a sketch of dragon!Toilet sitting down and facing forward, expression neutral, tiny wings folded and barely visible.
To the right of that is a sketch of dragon!Toilet in profile, flying to the right with his body and tail stretched behind him, smiling. The notes "so graceful" and "so majestic" surround him.
On the bottom left is a sketch of him sitting at 3/4ths view, smiling with his mouth slightly open and drool dripping out, the phrase "silly little beastie" written above.
To the right of that is a more extreme pose, with his body curved back, both of his jaws wide open, showing his fangs, and his eyes are skewed as he yells "YAAAAH!" The notes read "upper jaw is only hinged when it makes his expression really funny" and "fangs not seen very often."
The bottom right shows him in profile leaning down to the left, glaring, and snarling.
The second image is a traditional sketch of Fan from Inanimate Insanity as a dragon. He has a slim body and slim limbs, with a triangular, frilled head resembling a fan. The corners of his mouth are sometimes visible. He has frills on either side of his body that can flare out into a fan shape. His tail is the shape of Fan's lower body. His hands and feet are simplified unless his claws need to show, resembling the simple limbs of the II characters. His hands, forearms, feet, lower legs, and neck are black. His body, head, and the webbing of the frills on his body and tail are all bright red with slightly darker red stripes. His neck, hands, forearms, feet, and lower legs are black, while his upper arms, thighs, and the ribs of the frills on his body and tail are golden yellow with slightly darker stripes. His underbelly is a lighter shade of red, and the underside of his neck is a dark gray. His teeth are naturally slightly yellow.
In the top left sketch he is standing at 3/4ths view, grinning, and holding a phone in his left hand. Notes around him read "frills on head" and "frills, not wings," and a couple other notes demonstrate that his claws can be visible if necessary.
To the right are two sketches of his head from the front: one with him smiling, and the other with him frowning, his head lowered and frills folded, giving his face a scrunched-up appearance.
Below and to the left is a sketch of him from above with all his frills extended as he glides, a determined grin on his face. A note above reads "can glide with frills!"
To the right is a tiny sketch of him standing upright shown from the front, body frills against his sides, and on the bottom left is a similar sketch with the body frills extended somewhat to demonstrate the fan shape.
On the bottom right are two sketches showing his head in profile view: one with his mouth closed (only the corner is visible), and one with his mouth open (the mouth is underneath the frills, and tiny fangs are visible). A note to the side reads, "mouth under the head frill--not often visible except corners."
The final image is a digitally colored traditional sketch of Test Tube from Inanimate Insanity as a dragon. She has a very long body with six limbs, a long head shaped like a test tube (with the horns curling around the back of the head to indicate a rim), and a long tail that looks like dripping, bubbling liquid. Her scales and skin are transparent, so her bones and organs can be seen (with her organs glowing green). Her head and tail glow green as well, with spots making it look as though she has bubbling liquid. Her limbs are black, looking like the simplified limbs of the II style. The top left sketch shows her head from the front; her mouth is not visible. The next sketch shows her head from behind, showing how her horns form a ring at the back of her head. The next sketch shows her in profile, lying on her back four limbs and sitting up in order to grab a beaker from a low counter. She is grinning as she looks down at it.
The next sketch shows her standing on two legs with her tail curled around her feet for balance as she works on a rocket. She's holding a blowtorch in her upper right hand, a hammer in her lower right hand, and a bundle of nails in her lower left hand. Her tongue is sticking out, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
In the final sketch, she is posed with the Fan dragon (from a previous drawing), both of them grinning, their hands clasped with their opposite arms stretched back as they jump into the air, mimicking the Inanimate Insanity Invitational intro pose. Notes around the sketches read, "Test Tube Dragon!" "horns curled around back of head," "skin/scales transparent," "organs glow green!," "six legs!," "tail is bioluminescent," "frills on bottom look like liquid spill" "can stand on two legs to use 4 limbs at once."
