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

"Well, here you have me," Kyle says. "I don't know if I'm properly extroverted, but I'm friendly." He certainly likes his time alone, but he's not a hermit.

He cackles, sounding a lot like Ed the hyena. "Yeah, point. I like pretty much any contest show, even if it's stupid."

"You are. It's cool. I'm always too afraid of tripping over my words that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy." But Kyle, she feels comfortable with.

And she kind of came out to...offhand acceptance? Cool. "Then, tell me, when did Project Runway permanently jump the shark?"

"Yeah, never worry about that with me. I say dumb shit all the time."

Kyle snickers. "Okay, you're going to like, find this so stupid, but... it took me a long time to watch that show because I was scared of Carson Kressley. I had an experience as a child. So I'm probably the worst person to ask. I do know there were a bunch that seemed pretty boring the last few years? What do you think?"

He examines his arms, noting that he seems flower free.

"Also I think we got them all."

"I guess that's part of being human? The very real risk of saying dumb shit at any moment."

"Really? Like, what kind of experience? And everything after it was moved from Bravo to Lifetime was crap. Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn leaving was the final nail in the coffin."

Yay, no flowers?

"Great! Here's hoping that next month's weird isn't as weird as this month's weird."

"Ain't that the truth."

Kyle slaps his forehead, then winces because he's bonked the eye in the middle of it. "Oh, fuck, I got them confused. I'm so fucking bad at being queer... I meant the drag queen one. The Tim Gunn one, that's the fashion one, right? I only saw a bit of that. I'm not fashionable. Obviously." He smiles. "But, uhm, yeah. I got kidnapped by the original Queer Eye guys? But they were actually Crab People." Said with a straight face.

He moves to drain the tub. "I'll rinse off so I don't feel like a margarita. And yeah. I hope we catch a fucking break."

Bad words to say.

Ow. That looked like it would hurt. "Nah, it's fine. There's no one way to be queer, or at least that's what our school guidance counselor told us." And she paused as though thinking something over. "Just so long as you love Margaret Cho. And that counts for everyone on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.

And, kidnapped? Really? Had they been Crab People all along or did Crab People take over their bodies? Because both sound like a kind of horrifying thing."

Mostly because she hates crab. The legs remind her way too much of spider legs.

"All right. So do I. It's...well, is it always this crazy around here?"

Famous semi-last words.

It definitely stung, but the embarrassment is worse.

"I have absolutely no problems with Margaret Cho," he confirms.

"They were always Crab People wearing human disguises. They love underground and try to take over the world, but their plans are really dumb. I think the last I heard they were running mobile phone kiosks." Because Kyle's reality is stupid.

He nods. "Yup. Oh, try not to die. It sucks."

Transformations happen. At least that's what Lexi has heard. She simply hopes that she's never a beast transformation.

"Perfect! Then we're both fine, upstanding members of the LGBTQIA+ citizenry."

"Okay, that's both hilarious and horrifying and makes way too much sense. Wait, those were three things."

"I am doing all I can to avoid that. Because that's what I've heard, that it's still painful and awful, but then you turn into a squid again somehow?"

Kyle has come close to Beasthood. Very close.

He grins. "I guess we are. Which is nice to say. I admit I'm not a really super out person, I guess? Like I don't hide it but I'm not the guy in a speedo at Pride or whatever. Is that homophobic? I probably have internalized shit, I dunno."

He snickers as he gets out of the tub, his wings covering himself modestly as he gets a towel. She doesn't need to see his Barbie crotch.

"Yeah, you do. You wash up like you did when you first got here. I was pretty out of it for a few days after."

"Neither am I. I'm not out at all back home. Mom either wouldn't make a big deal about it or she'd make way too big of a deal about it. And insist on watching, I don't know. 'Blue is the Warmest Color' with me or something like that. And then I'd die of humiliation. Do you want me to die of humiliation, Kyle? And I don't think that's homophobic, it's just. They're them and you're you."

Honestly, she'd probably have flashbacks to watching "Dogma" as a kid and start calling him Alan Rickman.

"That sounds both annoying and anticlimactic. But...mind if I ask what happened?"

Kyle nods eagerly. "Oh god, yes. I felt the EXACT same way about my mom. Like either I'd be disowned, or it'd be as big a deal as my fucking bar mitzvah. I was terrified. So, no, I wouldn't wish that on you. Your sister didn't know?"

He should be so lucky to be as funny as Rickman.

Kyle chews his lip as he dries off. "There were these cultists. They caught me and my boyfriend and took us to this place that was one half temple one half slaughterhouse. So we were trying to get out, and I wasn't fast enough and I got stabbed really badly. I was dying, so I let the cultists grab me so they'd be distracted enough that Karkat could get away. Which in retrospect was stupid because he's WAY tougher than me. Like he's am alien from a fucked up murder planet, he's designed for killing.

"Anyway. They bled me out and took out my organs while I was still alive." He shrugs, face carefully expressionless. "So. Yeah."

"Yeah, the fear is very real. And Cassie had no idea. She...kind of didn't pay much attention to anything other than whatever drama she had going on with whichever guy."

Gone, but never forgotten.

And Lexi's eyes grow increasingly wide and horrified as Kyle goes into detail about what he went through. It sounds worse than any horror movie she's ever seen because it was real and a possible threat in the future. "...holy fucking shit. I'm so sorry. That's awful.

"Huh," Kyle says, frowning. "My little brother, Ike, he was like 'yeah, I knew.' Which was sort of cool but sort of annoying."

Kyle smiles weakly. "Yeah," he says. "I don't intend to repeat the experience if I can. The actual death and coming back wasn't that bad, it was the torture."

"Yeah, I can get how it would be. It's like, built up to some big thing to just be out there, pun completely intended. 'Yeah, I knew' would kind of take the wind out of a person's sails."

She's doing her best to look reassuring. Or comforting. Or both. Preferably both. "I...can't even imagine. What it would be like to go through that and have all of the memories of it."

"You get it," he says, relieved. "It sounds so dumb to say out loud. I was like, 'what the fuck Ike, you never said anything' and then he called me a gaywad and I punched him in the arm." Because brothers.

He shrugs and manages a slightly stringer smile. "I hope you never find out. Which means if you get in trouble? Ask for help, dude. From me or anybody."

At that, Lexi has to laugh. "Ike sounds great. He really does. Unfortunately, though, I'm not sure how Cassie would take it. Like it might be a distraction for mom instead of her and her guy drama."

She really doesn't know what to say, other than 'are the cultists still out there.' Which seemed insensitive. But she assumes they have to still be out there because she's watched enough HBO and A&E documentaries to know that cults generally didn't die down on their own. "I will. I absolutely will. That sounds like the kind of situation where backup could mean the difference between getting out intact and. Not."

"He is." Said with infinite fondness. He shakes his head. "That sucks. Like, ideally, she should just support YOU. I'm sorry she's so selfish."

It's a lot worse than a normal cult, considering the members are all basically Cenobites. Kyle nods again. "Exactly. And for the record, I owe you one, so I'll come running if you ever need me."

"Maybe they'll have another thing like last month. Where we can see people from home. I'd like to meet him." And Lexi sighs. "It's not...entirely Cassie's fault. She's used to all of the attention being on her and she kind of has the self-awareness of plankton."

If he mentioned that particular fact, she'd have nightmares about Pinhead and cultists for weeks. As it is, she'll just have nightmares about cultists for weeks. And she looks both really touched and slightly self-conscious. "It's--well, thank you. I really appreciate it. And I'm glad you're doing better as far as, you know, the flower thing goes."

"Maybe!" He does worry that if he sees his family he'll want to return home. "And I guess, but... I dunno. You deserve attention too. That's all I'm gonna say."

He grins. "Yeah. Hopefully I'll go back to looking normal soon, too. I am not into this makeover. Way too pretty."

And she's worried that if she sees someone from home, she'll start wanting to stay. Permanently. Her life here is...full. Her life at home really wasn't. "I guess so. I get attention here?" It would be different if she thought she had a shot with Rue, but she's not about to break her and Jules up over stupid drama she should have admitted way back in Freshman year.

And that makes her chuckle. "What, not into the multiple eyes where eyes shouldn't be thing? You almost have literal eyes on the back of your head. Think of all of the movies you could watch or books you could read!"

Kyle nods, apparently satisfied with that idea. He for one has settled into life in Trench and he's always happy when others have done the same. It's as good a place as any to make a life.

He shakes his head. "I mean.... okay, the eyes are kinda cool, now that I'm used to them. But I don't wanna stay as something I'm not, you know? I'm not some ethereal being. I'm just a dorky guy."

But at the same time, Lexi wonders what she'd be giving up. Fez is her friend, but what future did she have with a drug dealer? None. At least none that she could see. She wouldn't miss high school, that was for damn sure, but college? That, she might miss.

"Ehh. I think I'm pretty dorky, so I guess we'll both be dorks. But I know of the one Ring to prove it all: what did you go as last Halloween?"

Kyle smiles, but it's a little more hollow. "No, but like... you're pretty. Oh, god. Uhm. I didn't go as anything. I didn't go out."

She tries to lighten the mood somewhat. Keyword being tries. "You're the second person this week to tell me that I'm pretty. And I went as Bob Ross."

That cracks him up. No matter what he looks like, his laugh remains stupid.

"You win at life. Okay, pants. Then I'll make you like, food. To say thanks."

there's a monster in my closet

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(CW: spiders)

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cw: violent death talk

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cw: violent death talk, disembowelment

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cw: homophobic language, cults

cults

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