I’ve thought a lot about their relationships with each other, but I haven’t made any ancients yet, so the ancients won’t be appearing in this post.
The iterators I’ve made (aside from my sona) are all in one group.
The oldest of the group are Fading Embers of Stars and Rumbles Into Rain. Embers came first and then Rumbles came afterwards. They were very close when Rumbles was first made, with Embers acting as its mentor for a time. Unfortunately, due to their relationships with their ancients, and a few incidents including the creation of the next iterator, they had a huge fight and stopped speaking with each other.
Intrinsic Harmony came after Embers and Rumbles, acting as a support for the two to keep the peace between them. Their job was to ensure that the iterators around them kept working on the great problem and to prevent any fights before they happen. Embers and Rumbles didn’t like them at first, with their constant nagging at them to keep working, but they both begrudgingly helped mentor Intrinsic. Embers eventually grew to care for them, but Rumbles’ resentment only grew over time.
The newest iterators are Two Lost Fangs and Ships Above The Horizon, and they were made at around the same time as each other. Because of this, they see each other as twins. Fangs, Ships, and Intrinsic grew very close to each other, talking to each other whenever they weren’t working. When the ancients all ascended, they comforted and supported each other. Rumbles and Embers helped with training the new iterators, but didn’t form as much of a connection as the three.
One Without Name is a special case among the group. Despite technically being the oldest iterator in the group, they were unconscious for the entire time the other iterators were being made, due to collapsing not long after being built. Because of this, they never got a chance to form any relationships with the other iterators. When they were awoken later on, their relationship with Rumbles Into Rain began very rockily. Rumbles already had a grudge against OWN due to being built as a replacement for them, but it also became upset when OWN started stealing its neurons to replace their own.
I was listening to Karma (VocaCircus) and I was thinking about a sort of animatic type-thing. But not the meme part, just the rest of the song. And so this was born! I'm just so excited about this I just threw out a playlist for it! I've never been able to properly turn an animatic into writing let alone a storyboard so this is a major achievement for me!
TW: character death
---
The air, as always, was cold. Far too cold. Four figures stood amongst opposite ruins of the battlefield, a lost fisherman's village which once held life by the dozens and a frozen peak of ice eroded by time.
Two on one end, two on the other. It would be a fair fight.
"Kaloshta, I can't-" the young beetle shook out. His breath was ragged from the blizzard and his haemolymph frozen as a glacier. A spark of flame amongst the blues and whites of the icy tundra.
"We can, just hold on!" hissed the elder, clutching his staff like a lifeline. He couldn't see anymore, blindly following his other senses despite barely any of them functioning. He picked up his only remaining child's bow, edging it over to the dying youth.
A fair fight but they were quickly losing. Or perhaps, they've already lost.
"Now you've used up all your luck," a voice rang out through the icy plain, like shooting stars in an endless void. The bearer, well-fought yet barely touched, raised her glowing purple hand, aiming it at Zhask. A glow of energy coursed through her palm, forming a cube of explosive power.
"It's time you get what you deserve," came a steady voice accompanying her. A body of ice and snow, so was her voice, sharp as the sword she held tight to her bosom. Her eyes, fixiated on the blue beetle before her with a vengeful fury, hell hath no other.
The elder looked towards his son with shaken eyes, with grief and remorse and worry. All intuitions which had come far too late. What he had provided, what he had sworn to provide, all gone in the blink of an eye. All his fault.
But the younger still stood. "I'm holding out for karma," said he, pointing an accusatory finger at the Astrowarden he so dreaded. A little boy facing the monster under his bed for the first and what may be the last time.
His mandibles clicked. The icicles spread through his body were like lead in his veins and he knew he couldn't get far. But he possessed the heart of his father, a warrior who laughs in the face of death, a conqueror who brought home all his love to be shared. To be kept for safekeeping as odd little trinkets and soft bedtime kisses.
And he stood.
Haemolymph dripped onto the snow.
A bitter taste flooded Zhask's mouth as he looked upon his son's condition. Unsalvageable. Unsaveable. But if this is how they'll go down...
"I'm holding out to watch you burn."
Zhask handed his son the bow and the young Kastiyan notched an arrow. They'll go down together. As father and son. The last remaining Kastiyans forevermore.
It was the Astrowarden who struck first. Her barrier could only last so long, but they struck the space between the two hearts, shattering all bond and chain between them. Zhask was swept aside, as Kastiya deftly dodged and loosened his arrow.
It hit Aurora square on the shoulder, a chilling scream erupting from her lips as the venom took its hold. She fell, clutching her shoulder as Yve came to her aid. It wasn't potent, but it was a terrible pain to endure for a long while yet.
A sharp icicle shot out of her palm. It bounced off cliff and crag, but it wasn't half noticed before it met its mark.
It was intended for only one, the forlorn beast. But it missed, shattering the void wall carved by Yve and plunging itself deep into the wrong Kastiyan. And before the smooth shiny purple shards, before the cold of the Northern Vale, before the mercy of fate, was the poor young boy who'd lost his dear father at such a young age.
A faint whistle and a fulfilling life flashed before Kastiya's eyes.
He couldn't hear, couldn't see or feel. All he could was taste, and he tasted the fresh flowers of spring. He tasted the geraniums in his garden, the smooth black pebbles of the nearby beach. He tasted blood, his blood, and the snow he drifted into.
For illusory hours he must have watched the visions play out through his taste and taste alone. The soft woodwork of Rista's travelling coach, the tender kisses from Dylan every night, the night markets and sunrises. One by one playing, reminding him of things he wouldn't remember in eternity.
As he dreamt, the walls around him shattered. Footfalls treaded through the snow in a desperate attempt to reach the only thing they'll ever care for. Sharp broken claws grasp the back of the young beetle's head, lifting it up from the cold into a much warmer touch.
Knees crashed onto the snow, bloodied and cold. Disbelieving breaths choked the fire out of its bearer, as he gazed upon the one thing he swore to protect forever, now immortalised in eternal sleep. The cold numbed all emotion but desperation, desperation to keep this final fledgeling of love aflight.
A glittering flash caught his eye and his mandibles clicked. No. Not his son. Not the little boy he raised a prince of gold and glory. Not the little boy of arrows of flame. Not his little boy, no.
Not his little boy, no.
Please, not his little boy, his only boy, please no.
Instinct took over and his shoulder covered to block the oncoming ice spike.
The projectile makes contact. Ice seeps quickly through both their bodies, freezing the duo in an eternal embrace of protection and love. The ice covers spiracles and antennae alike, breath was nonexistent.
But if the last thing he sees is the only love his life will permit him, then it's a worthy death.
---
A father and son, immortalised in an eternal sculpture of ice and crystal. A memoriam of the horrors of war. Two tombstones, carved of obsidian and sapphire.
All this bought by a wealthy male of antiquities from a royal kingdom beneath the waves, grieving a lost love. Perhaps this is a way for him to cope, to grieve. Perhaps this is obsession. Perhaps this is respect. Aurora had no use for them, thus he took them to the only place they'd ever called home.
His hand grasps the eternally cold claws of the only true love he's ever had in the shadow of the dark oak clearing. He tries not to weep, for this was long foreseen. Zhask would lose, and he'd take down everything with him.
He just wishes it wasn't his Kastiya too.
He lights a simple match. The glow reminds him of the bright orange his love used to flaunt. The red reminds him of the father figure he saw in the king. The matchstick, the dark oak.
With a short breath, he recites the last of his cremation rites.
He tosses the match into the trees, the dry grass quickly set ablaze by the mere kindle. The bark and leaves set alight as the ice sculpture melts. Little by little their bodies are uncovered, colour faded from the sun and the shine. But to Dylan, all is perfect.
Within the burning embers, he picks the bodies from the ice and carefully lays them in their joined grave. But not before he gives one final kiss to his long-dead love. He swears those cold lips never have changed, but deep down he knows they have.
Eyes brimming with tears, mainly from grief and partly from smoke, he buries the duo side by side. Simple tombstones were set up as he sits down amongst the dried grass.
The Sleepy Boys and Dream Team as situations that have happened to me while working both day and night shifts in a grocery store:
Sapnap: *organizing a display all pretty*
Dream: *takes something off the display*
Sapnap: You come into my house, and you piss on my bed
-
Techno: *showing Tommy how to properly cut meat*
Tommy: How fast should I do this?
Techno: Slowly, the knife is pretty sharp
Wilbur: If you don’t care about your fingers, as fast as you want!
Techno: I mean, he’s not wrong-
Philza: *from across the room* NO
-
Techno: I do have feelings, you know
Tommy: See, that’s where we disagree
-
Philza: How many energy drinks have you had today??
Wilbur: What? None! I haven’t had one since Sunday!
Philza: Then why did I see you skipping down the frozen aisle at 4:30 in the morning? How did you have that much energy?
Wilbur: Oh, I just took 3 adderall today
-
Philza: You two kids really shouldn’t be working this late
Tommy: Hey! We’re not kids!
Tubbo: *from the other end of the aisle* *excited gasp* Did you guys know we sell curly straws?!
-
*Dream & Sapnap laughing hysterically at a disaster warning sign*
George: How long have you guys been here??
Dream: Not long, our shifts started at 1AM
George: It’s 3PM...
-
Philza: What the hell are you two doing?
Tommy: Uhhhhh
Wilbur: Racing u-boats? (Carts used to stock shelves)
*several seconds pass*
Philza: Well? What are you waiting for? Let’s see how fast you can go
-
*elevator door opens*
George:
George: Are you gonna get out?
Dream: Is it just you out there?
George: Yes?
Dream: Then no, come on in. I’m riding the elevator up and down so that I look like I’m being productive. Anytime it opens and there's a manager out there, I get out and walk like I’m in a hurry.
George: Oh hell yeah, I’m bored, I’m joining you
*ten minutes later*
*elevator door opens*
Sapnap: ... Oh! Are we riding the elevator again?! Move over, I’m coming in!
-
George: Ew, I hate walking past the seafood counter. It feels like the crabs are watching me with their cold, dead eyes
Sapnap: Pfft, like they'd watch you, I’m the eye candy here
Today I was thinking of writing more about Katie's history! She’s never had a concrete written backstory, but she still has a lot of history to her, due to being my favorite stuffed animal that I would carry around everywhere with me for a long time.
The oldest drawings I can find of her were from 2011, so she’s been named Katie for a long time.
This one is from 2012!
I used to draw her doing stuff that I would do every day, sort of like a diary, but I also would make little stories about her. They weren’t very consistent; I just wanted to have fun imagining her in different scenarios, along with the other stuffed animals I had.
At some point, I gave her a boyfriend named Spot, and she also had a brother named Peter, though I lost Peter somewhere along the line. I even came up with ideas for Katie and Spot’s children, and two of them (Mischief and Katie Jr.) are actual plushies. Her mom is a Webkinz yellow labrador name Buttermilk, and I never actually made a dad for her as far as I can remember.
I’ve drawn so many things of Katie and taken a lot of pictures of her over the years. I’m not doing as much with her now, but I still cherish her and all the things I’ve done with her.
(This was 100% inspired by @probably-a-plant-thing ‘s comic with Karl and Quackity, everyone go check that out!!)
Karl forgets more and more of himself every time he time travels, but in his mind, it’s his responsibility to make things right, so he can’t stop. So week by week, Karl comes home remembering less of himself and his loved ones.
At first, he can play it off as being overtired and forgetful, but eventually he starts forgetting bigger things. Sapnap and Quackity plan a big date, and they tell him to meet them at their own personal country, and Karl has no idea what they’re talking about. He searches and searches for as long as he can, but it gets to the point where he’s tearing up out of frustration, and he’s over an hour late, the sun has long since set, and he has to call them for directions
Then one day, the morning after a particularly long trip, he wakes up snuggled between Sapnap and Quackity, and he panics, because he has no idea who these two men in his bed are. He scrambles out of bed, making a lot of noise and taking the blanket with him, and he wakes them up. They think Karl’s just woken up from a bad dream, but as he looks between their worried faces, there’s zero recognition in his eyes, and he gets up and bolts
Karl doesn’t return until late afternoon, still in his pajamas, his feet now cut up and dirty because he hadn’t grabbed shoes as he ran out of the house. It had taken him several hours to remember who Sapnap and Quackity were, and he stayed out even after remembering, because he felt so guilty for causing them to worry about him
Karl being Karl, he won’t fess up to why his memory is getting so bad, why he’s remembering things that never happened in this timeline. So Sapnap and Quackity have to begin treating their fiancé like an Alzheimer’s patient
They lock all the windows and doors before going to bed each night, so they can be sure that Karl won’t run again if he wakes up not knowing where he is or who they are. They create a strict daily routine that each of them follow, so that it’s easier for Karl to remember what comes next. They speak much slower and clearer than they ever have before, trying to stick mostly to “yes” or “no” questions. They repeat things over and over and over again, trying to make sure that it sticks.
And when Karl starts asking about where Dream went, and why they haven’t been hanging out with Wilbur as much recently, they have quick, go-to fibs that they use.
“Oh Wilbur’s been really busy lately, he just got a new pet”
“Dream just moved, so we won’t be able to see him until he settles in”
And then one day, the three of them go for a walk, and Sapnap and Quackity’s backs are turned only for a moment, but it’s enough time for Karl to slip away, recognizing a marker in the forest guiding the way to the room where he keeps his diaries and returns to when he time travels.
There, he sees one last task on his list of things he needs to fix, to right more wrongs, so he opens a new book and throws himself in.
Sapnap and Quackity spend weeks roaming that forest, screaming his name, but Karl never comes back.
Ok so Techno is the only American in the Sleepy Bois
So 1910 AU where Techno is a street kid in New York City and his parents just died of pneumonia or tuberculosis so he’s working as a child laborer in some factory with meat and stuff. Which is where he gets the pig skull mask, because it’s much easier to get away with stealing when they don’t see your face (don’t mind the anime-main-character pink hair)
And Philza has just immigrated from Britain with his two young sons, Tommy and Wilbur. And one day they’re in Central Park and Tommy and Wilbur are running around playing and Philza hears something behind him, so he turns around and catches Techno stealing from his bag.
And for whatever reason, Techno doesn’t run, he just freezes. So Philza is sat there looking at this scrawny kid who couldn’t be any older than Wilbur, wearing pants that are 3 inches too short and a shirt that’s 3 sizes too big and no shoes, with his hand in Philza’s bag. And Techno hadn’t been planning on stealing anything today so he wasn’t wearing his mask, so he’s just staring at Philza with these massive deer-in-the-headlights eyes. And Philza slowly relaxes and moves as gingerly as he can, like he was dealing with a wild animal, because Techno almost was a wild animal, skittish and terrified, his thoughts consumed with where his next meal is coming from.
And Philza speaks gently, telling Techno that it’s ok, that he has an extra sandwich if you’re hungry? (He doesn’t actually have an extra sandwich, but Philza would gladly go hungry to ensure that this little boy was able to eat). And somehow, Techno trusts him, and he nods his head slowly. So Techno sits on the edge of the bench, ready to jump up and run at a moments notice. But he takes the sandwich, and he starts out nibbling on it, but the more he eats it the faster he gets, scarfing down the last of it in no time.
This is about when Wilbur comes over with an annoyed Tommy in tow, mad that he’s been pulled away from his playing, but Wilbur saw a strange boy sitting with their dad and Tommy is too little to be left alone on the play equipment.
However Tommy isn’t annoyed for long, because he takes to Techno like a moth to a flame. He takes one look at Techno’s mess of bright pink hair and is scrambling onto the bench and trying to get his fingers in it. Philza catches him before he can get too close, but he’s not quick enough, and Techno’s flinch breaks Philza’s heart.
Philza decides there and then that doesn’t have two sons, but three. He knows nothing about this little boy except his name, spoken quiet but clearly around bites of the sandwich, but he can’t just leave him there.
So after a little while longer sat on the bench, Techno has warmed up to little Tommy, allowing him to touch his hair and smiling shyly at the toddler’s excited giggles and awe, not having seen hair that color before. And even Wilbur, hesitant at first of this strange boy, is chattering away about how cool and different America is, and every once and in a while Techno will ask a question about England that sends Wilbur into another ramble, explaining how much Techno would love London.
With the three boys all getting along splendidly, Philza manages to get Techno to agree to come home with them, “just for the night, it’s supposed to be freezing tonight,” and he just never leaves. It takes awhile for Techno to truly relax around them, the first week spent in Wilbur’s bed, the brothers sharing Tommy’s bed, he barely sleeps at all. But one night, Tommy won’t stop moving in his sleep, and he is taking up much more space than you would think possible of a three year old, so Wilbur climbs in with Techno, it is his bed after all. And Techno doesn’t move for hours, but Wilbur is like a living heater, and Techno is cold, so he slowly curls up to Wilbur’s side, and gets the best sleep he’s had since his parents died.
Philza wakes up the next morning and can’t tell where one boy starts and the other ends under the blanket, and the rest is history.
