"The Creeping Tar is a strange substance that has been slowly seeping across the world. It consumes individuals from the inside out, degrading their body and soul alike. Anyone touched by it is stained, at risk of it chewing through parts of them. Even the sun itself has felt colder since it's begun. Two Eevee, siblings once joined at the hip, have VERY different ideas on how to fix things."
13 chapters total. This story is themed after horror and tragedy, please heed its content warnings.
something i've been curious for a while about people writing nonbinary characters! what went into the decision to explicitly state morgue and zephyr's agabs?
Oh hey, this is a really fun one! And- funny enough- Zephyr specifically is actually intersex, but outside of a comic setting, thaaaat ends up staying rather ambiguous. I think I added a line about their tail pattern being erratic, but it definitely could have been written A LOT clearer...
I think a lot of it comes from my past times writing these characters. Both have always used they/them pronouns over (now 6, but at the TIME) 5 years, with the AGAB being not even under consideration. Initially, neither had any sexual dimorphism whatsoever! AND OH MY GODDDD the amount of comments gendering them. It killed me. I died. To death. The millisecond I draw a character people are trying to she/her a fucking stick I swear to god
Part of the decision was made with that in mind- not only to say the characters are nonbinary, but to make it so explicitly clear that no one can look away. It's something that is of note to the characters, in this case. In fact, they're the only two with a clear AGAB if this is the only material you've seen. Five or six (depending on how Flicker IDs) of the explicitly named characters are acrually trans here- but those two are the only ones that feel the need to note it!
Another part is, well, my own trans experience. Even the trans community itself is SO full of this insistance that you cannot have any link to your assigned gender at birth whatsoever, when... that is not my personal experience? I am transmasc, but I WAS a little girl, that HAD been a part of me. That isn't a detail that can, or should, be erased for the sake of someone else. I decided to extend this particularly to Morgue- because the gender at birth was a factor for them, it did exist, and should still be treated with the same kindness that they deserved back then.
Morgue, even outside of this context, tries to be as visibly feminine as possible to distance themself from this assigned gender that they attempt to fully reject and discard. And so, initially, Morgue is jealous of what Zephyr has- an assumed feminimity that is just that, assumed. It sets up a lot for their character very quickly, too- they care a lot about their appearance to others, they are prone to jealousy, and they are not comfortable in their body- none of which are flaws but instead are traits to set up the rest of the story. Their need to seem strong driving them well beyond their body's limits vs their discomfort with being treated differently over their blessing/curse, their kinda-uncomfortable and kinda-weird attraction toward both Muenos and Lo vs acknowledging their jealousy but loving enough to let Muenos and co go, their itch to evolve that leaves them feeling frustrated and stagnant...
and then on the other paw theres zephyr, whose reaction is moreso leaning toward, "i literally could not care less what i was assigned or how people see me but i WILL murder everyone in this room if my bestie is not respected ^-^" which leads to a really funny vice-versa pov to me. "i am JEALOUS of what YOU have NATURALLY" vs "all our family sucks except you. id kill for this you. ask me to kill for you"
I have stolen @jeramiahsental2 's voice and I am using it for evil. I have no plans of giving it back and will, in fact, be keeping it. Goodbye
Eevee model is from Cobblemon, edited and animated by me :]c
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
God's End (Or Lack Thereof) by EnderWolf513
God's End Chapter 5: "Full Sails and No Anchor in Sight" is now up!!!
I know it's been a LONG time since the last update and I'm sorry abt that I've been busy with a lotta other stuff including String_Scale_Theory and so I've been chipping away at this for like. Months now lol
But yes, I had been working on it behind the scenes because I really wanted to continue the piece and I've been sharing bits and pieces with @neoncityrain since he wrote the piece it's based off of-
Duuude don't question my version of events I'm such a reliable narrator. I'm literally the protagonist and the main character. You can literally read some of my internal thoughts, that clearly means you have complete access to an objective view of my thoughts and feelings and a correct impression of my characterization and the events unfolding around me. I'm not omitting any information from the audience. Nevermind that timeskip just now
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
WARNING - Some early parts of this story contain depictions of an abusive relationship (And teeter on the edge of dirty writing, please don't read if you're a kid!). Later chapters will likely depict Blood/Gore, a bit of psychological horror, and is in an apocalyptic setting. If you are not comfortable with these, don't read it.
This is a story based in the world of @neoncityrain's "Tar Reflections (Or Lack Thereof)", and towards the end will be a bit of my own... spin on the end of the story.
Life was simple for Serix.
He spent most of his days gathering food for the Alpha of the pack- Berries and Herbs and Roots, as well as small prey he could manage to get his hands on, that sort of thing. Today was no different; He had caught a nicely plump Wurmple, held proudly in his jaws. The flatly rich, oily flavor of its blood had coated his tongue in a soothing slickness. He had actually caught one this time, and she would be so proud- Livideae would be proud.
The half-Salandit trotted its way through the tall grass around it, making its way back towards civilization. The bustle of the town became louder over time. People paid him no mind- Though some still gave odd stares in his direction. A hybrid was a rarity, given few Pokemon ever tried to create life outside of their own kin, and even fewer succeeded in such an unusual way- But the stares Serix received only bolstered his own pride.
He had the best of both worlds- The dripping venom of a Salandit, and the hardy armor of a Sandshrew.
Serix made his way back to the den where his pack lived- A sturdy, clay brick home. Other not-kin Pokemon made their way in and out- Which was usual, since Livideae ran a shop out of it; Nevertheless, he gave them a contemptuous glare. Even from his short height, they were deserving of it. After all, he was the helper to a big name in the town. He and Liv’s many other suitors all worked together to make their ends meet at luxury.
Ducking into the back room was quieter, and he sighed through his nostrils as the sounds from outside were muffled by the curtain and walls that separated the storefront from the rest of the living space. He heard, not a moment later, the Salazzle wrap up her business out front, turning his head expectantly for her to push the curtain aside.
“I see you’ve been busy, Serix~” He could barely stifle his giggle behind the body in his mouth. “Let me put that away.” She stooped down as Serix relinquished the Wurmple. “Mm, looks like it’ll be delicious- Might be the best out of everyone’s!”
Serix felt the fluttering feeling fill his lungs, but a distraction amply provided itself as a body tackled him to the side, tumbling over the stone floor. “Best, eh?!” Garex’s voice taunted, pressing the hybrid’s head into the floor. “Dirty little half-breed trying to take my spot, huh?”
The assaulted little Pokemon pulled his legs in between them and kicked Garex off, and both of them scrambled to a pouncing position. Serix leapt for his opponent, baring his fangs to bite into Garex’s neck before-
“Now, now, calm down, you two.” The tension of the room dissipated immediately as the Salazzle cooed. “You both know I don’t pick favorites, there’s no need to fight over my preference.”
Serix and Garex both parted, with dagger-wielding glares between them. Livideae strode off with the prey in hand, with her same gracious smile, to put the food in the fridge for later. “She might pretend for you that she has no favorites, but we all know I’m the best. So know your place.”
He wanted to nip the tail that twisted away. Take a little chunk out and stuff it in the fridge for later. He thought better of it, otherwise he’d be in heaps of trouble. Instead, Serix simply sulked back to the alcove dug out for him from the hardened dirt wall of the bunk room.
==========================================
Later that night, he felt the urge to check on Livideae. He had been summoned- He felt it in his heart and mind, by the gentle lullaby she made to pull him from his rest- and so he unfurled from his little hole in the wall, and, in quiet awareness of his sleeping kin, snuck his way deeper into the house, into Liv’s personal room.
“There you are~” Her head rose to look at him as Serix crept into the luxurious room. “Oh, my dear little Serix~” Her voice flowed with ecstasy, as he made his way to the blanket-draped bed in the center of the room. “You’ve been really out-doing yourself the past few weeks, haven’t you~?” Her twin tails made waves behind her, shifting in the bed.
“Ahaha…” Aflutter with embarrassment, his mind failed to form a word. A smile forced its way onto his face, and his face felt warm. He waited for a moment for her to gesture to the bed before hopping up to it. Livideae took a deep breath, and with a sigh, reached out to drag a finger from where Serix’s neck met the bottom of his head, all the way to the tip of his chin.
The Salandit-Sandshrew swayed forward, drinking in the familiar, alluring scent of iris and orchid. As he did, Livideae’s claw circled around to the nape of his neck, drawing a line of touch through one of the cracks in his shell just over his spine, spreading a shiver in its wake. Serix drew in a shaky breath and let out a purr, walking forward to push the sensation further down his back.
“‘Dirty little hybrid’... What do they know~?” Livideae hummed gently to Serix, “Pure blood is overrated. Look at you~” A light, tickling feeling wrapped around his ears- And his courtesan pinched one at the tip, softly, painlessly guiding him forwards. “A beautiful shell, and two, perfect ears.” The pinching fingers rubbed either side of the ear they pinched, and Serix leaned into the sensitive feeling, his breath drawing in, but not quite ready to exhale. “Such a cute little guy~ I’m sure everyone’s jealous that you’re mine, huh~?”
That’s right- He WAS special. The looks he got from the other Pokemon were meaningless glances, what mattered most was her opinion- She, who was closest to him. He drank in her appreciation like honeyed berry juice, and it gave him a light feeling, as though he could simply fly away at any moment. Their contempt was nothing to her praise, a light that drowned out the shadow.
Another hand cradled the other side of his head, and Serix was drawn into Livideae’s embrace, and was thus lost to the pleasure of the night.
hhhhhhh what. i sat down to read like two chapters. binging the whole thing was NOT the plan what do you MEAN these fuckass murderdogs live in my head rent free now help?????
i am going to rotate morgue in my head like a microwave for weeks dude i love them i love them
HEHEHEHEHHEHEEHEHEHEHAHAHAHA!!!!! we got another one lads
thank you for reading!! im absolutely blown away by the positive reception of this story. finally, the stupidass bitchass murderdogs can live in SOMEONE ELSES BRAIN for ONCE
Gu GG fxtcfxfx unhinged Leafeon Zephyr got me going 👀
Could you tell me a bit more about them???
i was gonna answer this earlier but stuff™️ happened 😔 didnt finish the doodles i was makin for it and ended up playing stardew, but i LIVED. have this instead
sO. first lemme re-explain the core of zephyrs personality, since this didnt translate well into pmdtog: theyre extremely passionate about something labelled as evil. in sky, the game i originally designed them and polaris around, this was simply referred to as "the darkness", which drove creatures to aggression and drained life from things that touched it. to zee, it was the one thing that they found not only interesting, but COMFORTING. whereas other people were easily overwhelming, the corrupting force was quiet, incredibly interesting, and sure others thought it was bad but others acted as if zephyr was bad, too.
so zephyr let the corruption in willingly and began to care for it.
this in and of itself isnt a bad thing! this would be zephyr as you know them, and still is- yannow- canon to everything. if anything im just rethinking the parts where i relied way too heavily on pokemon lore and not enough on my own lore. (also i think their eevee design could use a tweak or two lol their gloves have been weird legwarmers for too long)
for the next part, though, i have to also explain: with each passing year, ive been entertaining the idea of polaris as being older. in part because its interesting to see him grow and change, but also because its fun to have a character who grows up. he was designed as a twelve year old who sees life as hopeless. he will have existed for three years as of next month, and now im thinking about how he, after so so SO many stories and tales where he struggled to simply live and be alive, grows up to care for three children with a man who truly loves him. that means a lot to me, and feels natural- hes been shaped by irl years of storytelling.
...so why not do the same for zephyr?
but then, whos to say theyd get better?
see, part of pols thing is that he was negative, but learned to ease up and gain confidence in himself and the world through the help of others. but zephyr, ooooh zee has always been positive to the point of denial. and while polaris has had interactions with other characters to shape who he is...
zephyr has had two that were positive. polaris, a skittish sassy asshole who literally dies, and manta, who couldnt interact with zee directly but attempted to push them away to keep them from hurting themself.
so then, what would someone like that turn to over the years?
zephyr ends up becoming more and more the caretaker for some blooming, festering evil, and they deny more and more and more and more that doing so could EVER be wrong. they start denying that the corruption is even doing wrong in the first place. its just defending itself, maybe if you were nicer it wouldnt hurt you.
and i mean, whats wrong with helping the only thing thats been consistently with you through and through? sure it hurts, but everyone else is so mean. it must be lonely to be so hated, but zephyr is full of love and zephyr will protect it with all the love in their heart.
...even if this love ends up poisonous, they will adapt, now wont they <:]c
