deercountry | there's a monster in my closet

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there's a monster in my closet

MAY 2022 EVENT

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Half man, half goat gazing through the sky in front of mountain.]
[Image Two: Deer-like skeletal creature talking in a forest.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Bees crawling out of and over a calm man's cheek.]
[Image Two: Humanoid figure with honeycomb skin.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Skull beside dried flowers.]
[Image Two: Red wilting flowers. ]

[NAVIGATION]

Prompt 1 • Prompt 2 • Prompt 3 • Plotting • Newsletter

[JUMP TO COMMENTS]

SELF EVALUATION

WHEN: May
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Body horror, heavy themes of dysphoria and body dysmorphia, acceptance of self, forced physical transformations.

An excerpt from Book of Bausphomette:

"They say you should walk a mile in someone's shoes before casting judgment. The true rhetoric can be applied to Bausphomette's version of 'self-evaluation.' It shouldn't come as a surprise that a Pthumerian would have a very different idea of self-evaluation than the typical person, but here we are and I'm going to give you a heads up: don't freak out about the fur.

Or scales. Really, it could be anything, but when your body starts to change into something you can't recognize, you're not going crazy and you're not turning into a Beast. Or okay, you're turning into a beast but not a Beast with a capital B. You will be yourself, have your normal personality, your normal thoughts, your normal habits...You just...Won't exactly look like yourself. People have been known to turn into minotaurs or sprout ten wings or become half-goat on top and all fish on the bottom. Either way, you're not going to be physically recognizable.

But you will be yourself. You will just have new vocal cords or have to learn a new means of communication. Telling your loved ones about your sudden transformation might be a bit alarming, but I think that's kind of the point. Bausphomette seems to believe the monstrous transformation will allow people to consider different parts of themselves that are usually hindered by social judgments. Are you really happy with yourself enough to not mind being a beast? How does this impact your relationship with your body? Does your body matter to you as much as you believed? Can you adapt to this new body and come to love it?

Granted, not everyone has hated this process. It has made some parts of life especially exciting...If you know what I mean. Thankfully the process doesn't last! The general idea is that once you have accepted something about yourself you will begin to turn back to your usual body! Of course, for more stubborn folks, this has been known to take a few months...Try not to be too stubborn or resistant to the new change! ...It will only make it worse."

QUICK FACTS 1. Your character can have various monstery attributes during May. They should be monsterous - not cute little ears or a non-distracting tail.

2. The lesson the characters learn can vary greatly and depend on what players choose to explore.

3. Feel free to go as heavy-handed with the body horror. Your character can magically just wake up with the body or go through some painful transformation.

4. Characters should NOT have mental alteration during this period. The point is that they are still themselves regardless of their new appearance.

5. Have the size of the beast be appropriate to the setting's size.

6. Temporary powers can be gained through the beast's body for the month. Do not break the setting.

HUMMING IN THE SKIN

WHEN: May
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Increased bouts of mindless violence, optional insect-based horror, insects in skin, honeycomb in skin, bodies as hives for insects, extreme body horror.

An old article clipping was gathered from a newspaper that used to run in Trench. It seems like the rest of the article is missing except for the end:

"And, he said, "They will say that I have shed innocent blood. What's blood for, if not for shedding?"

We do not know what this Sleeper's intent was, but we do know the impact lasted. Reports of symptoms include feeling as though your skin is humming, that there's itchiness you can't quite get rid of like something is always crawling over your skin and around inside of you. Some people claim that this remains a mental only terror that keeps them up at night. Some have been known to scratch open holes in their skin and pull themselves apart just to make sure they aren't filled with bugs. We wish we could say that it was only a paranoid curse, but it seems there is some foundation to the concern.

Some who have gotten cuts or other injuries at this time will discover various insects, but especially bees crawling out from exposed wounds. Once you have gotten an injury, the humming seems to get worse. A descent to madness happens swiftly, but all at once, you become calm and content with the situation. Your skin slowly becomes honeycombed, bees moving in and out of you freely. You become a walking, talking hive.

But of course, that's just the worst-case scenario. For the most part, people who are itching mindlessly seem to be driven to bouts of violence, wanting to get rid of the feeling by randomly attacking those nearby. Strangely enough, the bloodshed during these attacks does not seem to contribute to blood pollution.

Instead, blood shed during this time of month seems to be instantaneously soaked up by your immediate surroundings. The bees from these people have been seen flying everywhere, and instead of collecting pollen, they seem to be collecting blood magic. Either to bring it back to their walking hives or using it for other deeds..."

IMPOSTERS

WHEN: May-June
WHERE: Outside where flowers can be found
CONTENT WARNINGS: Demonic, violent, blood thirsty flowers?? Parasite style monsters.

From Plantlife and You: Trench Edition:

"This is a tricky subject as it does not technically have to do with actual plantlife but rather the nefarious imitation of plantlife.

As spring begins be cautious of the plants around you. It might be lovely to see tulips popping open and other spring delights coming to light. We all like to see the splashes of color pop up around Trench, especially after such cold, long months...But be wary.

Among these flowers are insidious imposters. Telling them apart from the original flowers is almost impossible. You can only do your best to be careful around any plantlife you interact with. They look like flowers, but these creatures are demonic beasts who have perfectly cultivated a flawless mimic. Instead of sunlight and water, they soak in the blood of Trench up through their roots. If you pick the wrong flower, blood will squirt out from the roots and vines.

The bees from Sleeper bodies seem intent on pollinating these exact flowers with blood, leaving little bloody streaks in their wake, but the bees jump between normal flowers and the imposters, making it difficult to properly figure out which is which.

I know what you're thinking: okay, so what? They eat blood, big deal, they are just flowers...

Ha! Did you really think it would be that simple? No, no, these imposters will invade your gardens and your homes. Their little vines will wrap around your foot when you're in the garden or taking a walk. It's not evident at first, but it doesn't take much for a flower to grow on your body. Harmless, painless, but they will suck your blood dry. They have been known as silent killers, parasitic, draining you of life and energy and magic slowly but surely.

And the catch is once you have one flower growing on you, more will come, and it can distort your personality and make you feel or act as though you are drunk. Things won't make sense and you won't exactly know how to ask for help. Your only luck is that someone else will notice. Taking the flowers off requires an icy bath or shower and some serious salt scrub. To prevent this in general, you will want to keep your skin covered thoroughly and not allow pollen to brush against you since that's all it takes. Good luck!"

CODING

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They are at a comfortable enough place again in their relationship that Karkat is fine with letting himself into Kyle's place one evening. He has some food and is bitching about how many people were at the market when he sees--

Whatever the fuck he sees. The bag is dropped and so is his jaw because um?!

"What the actual fuck?" His hands absently wave around in the air. If Kyle wasn't studying some book in a relatively calm state, he might have assumed that Kyle had accidentally gone beast again, but this...was way too zen. Way too normal. Which meant...

Oh, God damn it. Body fuckery again. Karkat looks down at his own, as though expecting to see some abomination, but he's (currently) still in his usual body. Thank fuck. But then...His eyes snap back to Kyle.

"...Kyle...? Bro? You...good?"

Kyle looks up (which is still a little disorienting for him because of all the extra eyes) and at Karkat's question he groans. His many wings close in on himself a little, like they might wrap around him and hide him from view.

"No," he says. He sounds more or less the same, at least, which actually serves to make it weirder.

"Look at this shit!" He stands up and gestures at his... everything. "I woke up like this! Like I didn't even DO anything this time!" Corruption and Beasthood were one thing - he could claim responsibility, in a way. Even when he'd been Kyley-B or his older self, that was still familiar and also total enough that he didn't feel he'd changed. But this? This was against his will, and that upsets him deeply.

"Like, what the fuck, dude?!"

That...does make it weirder, actually? It would be easier if his voice was elevated in some way as well.

Though his empathetic blood pusher clenches hard at the sight of Kyle starting to freak the absolute hell out. The wings are kinda cute, admittedly, but trolls had a bias towards wings. The rest is just...weird. So fucking weird. He moves forward and awkwardly hovers over Kyle, hands wobbling about in the air, uncertain if he should try and touch him.

"Whoa." He steps back as Kyle stands up and his ears dip low.

"Okay. Hey, man. It's okay," he says, reaching a hand out to grab one of Kyle's. "It'll be fine. We'll figure this out, okay? At least you're still yourself mentally, right?"

The fact that Karkat hesitates to touch him, and that he retreats, makes Kyle feel absolutely terrible. He clings to the hand that's offered, misery practically oozing out of his pores.

"I'm still me," he says. "I just look like this... this thing. I'm not going to hurt you or anything."

"I didn't want to hurt you." New bodies could be...freakish. Once Kyle makes that contact, Karkat is gingerly moving into his space to try and put his arms around him the best he could with those wings.

"I know you won't hurt me." Or, at the very least, not when they were having a relatively red moment. This wasn't the time for black romance at all. Now that he's against Kyle's chest, he reaches up with his hands, standing up onto his toes.

"Lemme see your face."

Kyle nods, unable to help the fact that his wings wrap ever so slightly around them both.

He looks down at Karkat with his many eyes. The ones on his face watch Karkat's expression carefully.

"I'm beautiful, aren't I?" he asks softly.

That was...actually kind of nice. It gave a sense of comfort and protection despite the situation.

Karkat stares back at him, gaze unwavering. The multiple eyes don't really put him off considering some trolls had that sort of thing going for them anyway. He's not expecting that question though at all.

His brows quirk and a look of genuine confusion cross his face.

"I mean..." Awkward pause. "I wouldn't exactly use the word beautiful...You're not ugly! Or anything. You could never be ugly to me. This is just uh..."

His nose crinkles up and he tips his head to the side. "You don't really look like you either. So..."

Kyle watches, not sure if he should be relieved. The wings on his head flutter a little, agitated.

"No, I don't look like me at ALL. I look like some ethereal fucking being."

He sighs and squeezes Karkat's hands.

"You hate it."

"I mean, yeah." That's a given. But like.

Wait-.

"What? No!" Karkat scrambles a bit and then just ...reaches up and smacks Kyle right on the nose. "Get that dumb shit out of your head! Seriously? I mean, yes, I hate you, obviously, but I don't hate this." Stupid human concepts of hatred are stupid.

"It's just different. You in your usual body is what's beautiful to me because that's the version of you I fell in love with and have the closest connection to because it's familiar, okay? This version of you is pretty too but only because it's you." Is he making any sense? He has no idea.

"But like, I wouldn't say I'd notice you more in this form or whatever. Just like if you were suddenly a girl I'd be like, wow, okay this is fucking different...Still pretty 'cause it's you but it's not. You know." He fidgets. He knew Kyle well enough to kind of...have a hunch here of why he even said that beautiful thing to begin with.

"It's not like this is a better version of you or whatever."

Edited 2022-05-18 04:33 (UTC)

Kyle can't help but smile when Karkat smacks him like a bad puppy. "Okay, okay," he grumbles. "Sorry." He forces himself to not argue for once, and to just listen. As he does so his wings relax a little.

"So you don't think this is an upgrade." He thinks, then laughs softly and kisses Karkat's forehead.

"I mean, the wings are. They're cool. I can take you flying."

"No, dipshit. Why would I?" He gives Kyle the most unamused look of his life. He loved his human boyfriends, truly, he did, but human insecurity pissed him off. For their sake, admittedly, but some tiny little part of his genocidal heart tells him that the erasure of humanity maybe wasn't the worst thing ever. Was internalized homophobia and self-esteem issues over beauty really worth it? Karkat thinks not.

But also he had two human boyfriends so he was personally obligated to say that it was probably for the best that humans kept existing.

"You're literally the stupidest smart person I know sometimes," he grumbles, pleased to be kissed all the same - beautiful monster or not.

"Yeah. Of fucking course you have wings. Everyone gets to fly but me. Yeah, I get it, universe. Sick fuck..." Sorry, Kyle, he's having one of his tangent-to-nowhere moments. Give him a second of mindless bitching in Alternian and then his clicks and purrs smooth out back into English.

"Seriously though. Are you feeling okay? Like. Emotionally, I mean?"

Kyle shrugs. His wings fluff up a bit when he does so. "Because some people would. Some people DO."

He cocks his head to one side, smiling when Karkat starts speaking Alternian. He can't help it, he thinks it sounds awesome.

"Honestly? I wasn't. It's been bothering me that I'm so... pretty. It's weird. And I really don't enjoy having things done to my body without my permission. This is different than when I was all Jersey, or old. I don't like it." He cuddles close to Karkat, wings enveloping them comepletely.

"I miss my old body."

"So?" He knew it was a big deal to Kyle, so he didn't want to be too insensitive on the subject.

"I don't," he says, a bit softer. Though he wonders if maybe that doesn't matter quite as much.

"Yeah, I get it. Cause this doesn't feel like some version you'd recognize about yourself." It had been the hardest being in his human body for that exact reason. It had felt terrifyingly foreign.

"It's okay. We'll get you back to it." He moves to wrap his arms around Kyle's neck, careful of his wings.

"Yeah. So." He hugs Karkat tightly. "You're absolutely right. So fucking what. YOU don't care. That mattes a lot to me."

He nods. "I knew you'd understand. I mean, even just waking up here with new blood was hard on you. And then being a whole other species... yeah. You get it."

The wings on his head lift to accommodate Karkat's arms more easily, the eyes rolling to look at him.

"Yeah. I sure hope so. And if not, I guess just... you'll be a monsterfucker. Again."

"I know I'm right. One day you'll just get that tattooed on your ass."

If he's being honest, his paleblood was still hard on him. Kyle had just helped him overcome the worst of it, at least.

"I always get it," he points out, grinning up at Kyle. They always managed to see eye to eye on things. Or, in this case, dozens of eyes. Thankfully, trolls are just weird as fuck and he's not remotely unsettled by Kyle's new ...eyes. He rests his cheek against Kyle's shoulder and tips his head, making eye contact with one of them.

"Do those see me like you do? How does this work?"

He raises a middle finger to the eye juuuust in case.

"Dude, we're always monsterfuckers. We aligned species once and I was too busy having a meltdown over my penis for us to hook up."

"Don't be silly, I'll get your name or something. In a heart." Said with a smirk.

Kyle snorts. "I saw that, you dick. Yeah. It's SUPER disorienting, although I've gotten more used to it. It's like how I guess bugs must see? It's not too bad if I keep them all looking in the same direction, but the wing ones are kinda offset. And they don't close. I had to put like, eye masks on them so I could sleep."

He cackles, feeling tension evaporate. "I'm sure it was a very nice penis," he says, giggling. "God. You were so upset. I felt terrible." He smooches Karkat's head, getting a mouthful of hair. "I wish I'd turned into a troll instead of this. With cute horns, and a nice butt, and beautiful eyes... oh wait, that's you."

"You're so fucking stupid." He's laughing though, so, clearly not enough of an idiot to put Karkat off. "You should only do that with a guy you love." It's probably the first time he's made a joke about their situation, and there's no underlying bite in his words either. Trolls loved their dark humor, okay. It's called Coping.

"Oops." Interesting...Huh.

"Can you even sleep in this form? Is this uh - this is the human version of ...angels, right?" His human lore kind of sucks sometimes, he'll admit.

"No! It wasn't! It just like...Hung there! You guys are so vulnerable to external damage." It was terrifying. He laughs though because now it was funny.

"Enjoy the protein, asswipe," he says, smirking when he could feel some of his hair getting shoved in Kyle's mouth.

"Oh my fucking glob. You're insufferable even as a stupid mothman." He tips his head back to look at him in the face. "You probably would make a cute troll. In speaking of alien genitals..."

He promptly looks down between their bodies. They know what matters here.

Kyle hums, pretending to think about it. "Yeah, well... I don't think that's gonna be a problem, to be honest, so we can book the appointment now."

Kyle nods. "Yeah. We have them in Judaism, but most of what I know I've learned here during my studies of magic shit. I guess I'm lucky since some of them have four heads or are just a bunch of spinning lights and shit."

He snickers. "We are, it's tragic. But visually I'm saying it was probably very attractive."

Kyle goes bright red. "Oh. Uhm. That. Well. It's not more eyes, I'll say that much."

"Wait, what?" He gapes up at Kyle. "What is that supposed to mean?" Nooo why is he flooded with raw panic and excitement at the exact same time?

"Wow...That could have been hot." Absolute sarcasm. Actually, no. It was Kyle, so he probably would have found it hot. These two were thirsty dipshits. He would probably fuck Kyle if Kyle turned into a spaceship.

If there's a will, there's always a way.

"That's disgusting." Except. Like. He frowns. "Your penis is pretty cute, I guess. It looks like a mushroom." Karkat...Literally no guy alive wants to hear the word 'mushroom' or 'cute' when it pertains to their penis. But he figures it sounds like a compliment. Plus it's true.

"A mushroom with a little shirt on." Karkat, stop. Penises were really cute on other people.

Oh...Oh? Oh???

"What is it? Oh my God. Do you have monster junk now?"

Edited 2022-05-18 06:18 (UTC)

Kyle leans down to kiss Karkat on the nose. "I mean I'm falling for you, Karkat Vantas," he says seriously.

They could both be turned into inanimate objects and they'd find a way to repeatedly roll into one another.

Kyle groans. "That's... thank you. Thanks. And thanks to Dave for drawing all the dicks ever, I guess, so you knew what to expect. Was Dave circumcised too? I probably asked you before."

Yeah, Kyle is about to combust. "We don't have to call it monster junk!" he hisses. "It's just... different."

Don't...just...say that?! He's turning bright red and his heart gives a lurching skip. "Wait, really?" Don't mind his voice going soft and small, quiet with wonder.

It was funny that they ever had a moment in time where they could pretend like this was going to be platonic.

"I think he drove circumcised dicks. Mostly for ease. Although now I'm trying to think..." Nope. "Yeah, no. He only drew skinned dicks."

Karkat, please don't call them that, what the fuck. "Yeah, he was. I think you did and I think we were talking about fries too or something."

Oooooh shit.

"So, it's monster junk, huh."

Kyle nods. "I kinda wanted to say something at a more romantic time, but... yeah. Yeah, dude."

Kyle snortlaughs. "When my baby brother got circumcised, I thought they were gonna cut it off. And I should probably be less curious about other people's dick status, it probably seems weird."

He covers his face with his hands. His wing!eyes keep watching Karkat, though.

"Not MONSTER, but... different. For me. I look like a Barbie, sort of."

"Anytime can be a romantic time with the right sincerity," Karkat says because of course this fucking dork would believe that. Plus? He's so fucking relieved right now? "It's a perfect time."

He has been waiting and hoping for this for ages now. Some part of him had wondered if - - but no. It didn't matter. Kyle was starting to love him again. A content purring begins to rumble at the back of his throat.

"I dunno. Genitalia is interesting."

Karkat looks at the wing!eyes mostly because it seemed to be the polite thing to do with Kyle's other face hidden.

"Is that the plastic bitch who is intelligent enough to dominate the entire universe but instead exists as a true good symbol of selflessness by indulging in material goods and the color pink?" He just wants to make sure he's thinking the right human reference, okay.

Relieved, he can only nod before smiling at the sound of Karkat purring. It just makes him so happy.

"Yeah, but it's not something people talk about much. Well. Okay, I guess they do, but... okay, maybe it's just me and my hangups."

Kyle peeks out between his fingers. "Yeah. Yeah, that's her. But like, I can go to the bathroom and there's SOMETHING up in there. I've been too freaked out to look much."

"Are you insecure about your penis, Kyle?" Karkat is probably the only person alive who could make a question like that sound completely reasonable and like it was without mockery.

Well then. He glances down again and then slowly back up.

"I mean. You do not have to feel pressured but do you want me to see what I can find out? Even if it's nonsexual."

self eval

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cw: nsfw conversation oops forgot this like two tags up oh well rip

Oh shit me too well NSFW every time these two interact

it's monsterfucker may anyway (cw: dick pic)

cw: dicks and monsterfucks

Re: cw: dicks and monsterfucks

Re: cw: dicks and monsterfucks

Re: cw: dicks and monsterfucks