SunFlowers Are Best

Grox had left twenty-four minutes ago. He’d probably be gone for quite a while, as was routine for the formal wither skeleton. There were villagers who needed to be tormented and a player who needed to be entertained. The yellow smiling ball sat on an oak wood block in front of a large window. He watched the clouds, blocky, puffy things drifting lazily above. In the distance, he could hear cows, pigs, and sheep going about their meaningless lives. Verity chuckled to themselves at that, their jaw clenched in a painfully taut smile. Who were they to judge a supposed “meaningless existence”? Not being sentient seemed more and more like a blessing every decade.

Maybe it was envy talking.

Grox wouldn’t be back for a while, especially if he was “playing” with the villagers. Why not use this time to go home for at least a few hours? He would know when Grox was making their way back home anyway. The more the thought persisted, the more Verity couldn’t get it out of his mind; now he needed to go back. He didn’t even have the luxury of lying to himself about the reason. He knew everything.

A blink; all it takes is a simple blink. Passing through this world, code like he has done a dozen times before. Then he was there again. In the facility’s hall, his bouncy-ball-like vessel left behind in favor of his more emaciated, elongated form. Truth be told, he couldn’t decide which form he liked best; each had its purpose. One was for introductions and disarming, while the latter hunted and satisfied that painful hunger. Of course, he could choose his more charming form, humanoid yet strong with subtle claws, but lately he hadn’t been in the headspace to do so.

Using their long limbs, they moved almost like a spider crawling on all fours. The long strides were among the very few sounds filling the space, the buzzing of unseen machinery one of them.

 He wanted to do something while he had the alone time.

As he moved to his desired spot, he took care not to let any of his limbs touch the brown splatter on the floor. He also took care not to look at it. 

He was in that room again, his…homage to his former friends…

Or were they more like his victims?

Verity responded to the sudden thought with a resounding “NO!” The shout echoed off the wall of the facility. “They were my friends…they were mine.” Who was he even justifying himself to? He was alone. What was the point, to fill the silence?

Truth be told, they were his victims. But only when they would try to leave him. Before that, they were friends.

All of them were, just like Mob had been. The only difference was that Mob had come back.

He stepped over the signs with practiced ease. His eyes fell on his name, ThatMob, now with an underscore and an X. Verity stared at the sign; he was never truly sure whether he should’ve put that X there. The X was meant to mark players as his in the most efficient way possible, but he never got to do that to Mob; he never got to taste the Ender hybrid. When he devoured players, he gained their data. Once he sank his teeth into their wonderful, often colorful flesh, he could taste the difference in each one. Like others, but never the same. It was almost like some sort of forbidden signature; one you were never supposed to learn.

But he hadn’t gotten to do that with Mob. Mob wouldn’t give him the privilege.

The thought sent a pang to his chest; that was where a heart was supposed to be, yes? As he slipped his long, dim yellow fingers behind the sign, taking it off the wall, he thought about how he never got to taste the signature of Mob, the one who came back, the ONLY one who has ever come back to him. He stared hard at the wooden sign, its black, blocky letters staring right back. “What would you have tasted like, Mob?” He walked back into the hallway with the sign in tow and looked to his right. A new room had been placed there. Instead of the iron-and-glass security doors common in the lab, a wooden oak door stood there; to say it looked out of place would be an understatement. So, unlike the others, which made sense. Mob had been so different from the rest. Because of this, Verity found it fitting to give Mob their own memorial, as opposed to the mass grave he kept.

He had to bend down quite a bit to fit inside the room. Once he stepped inside, he shut the door behind him. In space, it was a small attempt to recreate the home he had shared with Mob. The walls and ceiling were all oak. There was a mini version of that fireplace Mob had been so proud to build. It was nice to watch him do so, even with the small mishap that came along with it. But the most important thing to Verity was the sleeping corner, the one with a bed, a chest at the foot of it, and a crafting table on the right side. There was a jukebox three blocks to the left of the bed as well. He didn’t have the disc Mob had played. He couldn’t grab too much before he was transported again to a different world. There was only time to grab the one thing he wanted to take for his inventory.

Speaking of…

The creak of its hinges joined the crackling fire as Verity reached inside, grabbing the shining Ender Pearl. Verity went to the bed, not to sit on it, but to sit beside it. He placed the sign on the red covers, gently. As if there were any risk of hurting it. With even more gentle caution. He cradled the Ender Pearl in his hands, its cool surface resting pleasantly in his palms. The light from the fire shone off the Ender Pearl, and Verity was mesmerized. As he stared at it, he began to reminisce.

His voice.

His building.

His sass.

How he snored in his sleep.

His tendency to get lost.

The way he would dance to his music.

His taste in music, and how he wanted to share it.

“I placed you next to twixxel, mob.” His voice broke the peace, but he kept going. “I know you would have wanted that. Even if I…don’t.” He pulled Pearl close; his eyes fixed on the smear of blood. “I’m sorry about the blood. I think it stained you. I-I tried to wipe it off, honest. But I didn’t want to risk scratching you.” He wanted that smear to be the one and only blemish on his pearl. It was another reminder of the past; it’d dropped in mob’s blood, and Verity had been cradling mob’s body, rocking back and forth, begging for him to just come back, reminding them of their promise. It had sat in that puddle for a few hours. “Do you want to hear that song again? I remember how much you liked it.” He got no answer, of course, so he decided to take it upon himself to play it.

His jaw dropped, pouring song from his throat. As the familiar melody floated through the air, Verity fell into his memories again. He could almost see him, moving to the beat. Carefree, happy, Verity’s. Then Twixxel came along. Could anyone fault him for getting rid of such an annoying threat? He was taking attention from Verity. Mob’s attention. He had said it before. There was no need for other people. So, he did what he felt was best. Perhaps he should’ve cleaned up the mess he made. But a part of him, one he wasn’t sure he completely understood, wanted Mob to see just how fragile and useless Twixxel truly was. To teach a lesson he wouldn’t forget anytime soon. But after that, he knew things could never be the same between them. Mob had come back from that little hut. He hadn’t even said anything. There was no anger on his face, or fear, for that matter. Just teary-eyed silence. That slept, tightly curled into a ball, on their bed. They didn’t look at him for the rest of the night, or most of the next day.

He knew he had hurt Mob in an irreversible way; he knew everything. But he knew how to lie to himself, too, telling himself that things would stabilize, that they would go back to normal, their normal. Then Mob decided to take their own life, choosing death over him.

Looking down at the pearl, Verity whispered, “Did you really hate me that much?” He stared as if it could answer; he wished it could. “Was I that unbearable, hmm?” His voice wavered. He held the precious gem at eye level; the more he stared, the more the ugly head of anger began to rear. “You just HAD to invite Twixxel, didn’t you?! You HAD to find a way to get rid of ME! And when you learned it wasn’t possible, you just HAD to go and FUCKING SHOOT YOURSELF!” He was clenching the pearl now, hoping to convey the anger. Betrayal and all-consuming sadness. “I was your best friend! You were supposed to be mine! Not anyone else's! You just had to keep your promise, but you didn’t, you BASTARD!” Then, somehow through Verity’s chaotic window of emotions, he heard a “scrrch” sound. It was noticeable enough to make the being pause and see through their haze. Their index finger. The claw had left a rough line on the Ender Pearl. Verity choked on a breath.

“No. NO NO NO NO NO!” He brought the gem closer to his face, breathing raggedly as he stared at the damage he had caused. A sob rose in his throat before he quickly swallowed it. “I'm sorry, Mob!” He held the pearl to his chest, as if he could console it for the scratch. “I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean it! I SWEAR I DIDN’T MEAN IT!” Fat tears rolled down his face, droplets plopping onto the Ender pearl before rolling down either the floor or his skin. “I want to take it back! Please just let me take it back. I’ll be better! I can be better! I can-” His cries echoed off the walls of the facility. Monstrous screeching, pleas for the impossible, and mocking hunger were his only companions until he had to return.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Grox was back. He was talking about something villager-related while Verity just stared ahead, answering occasional questions. Eyes tired, smile tight, teeth clenched. His mind replayed what he had done over and over, like a scratched disc. To think that even in death, he was still somehow hurting Mob. On top of that, it was getting closer to his feeding time; it wouldn’t be long before he had to warn the talkative being. Something inside him growled as the thought of crunching those bones between his molars arose. He was nearly salivating at the idea when Grox interrupted the fantasy. “Ayo, Verity, I forgot to ask you something. Are green-eyed ender men a thing?”

The question caught him so off guard he almost didn’t respond in time. “No, it isn’t….”

“Huh, I didn’t install anything. It seemed friendly too. It stays to the west of the village. I'm gonna go back and try and give it something. Maybe it'll trade me something. Or maybe I can tame it?”

Verity’s mind was running a mile a minute. He blurted out, “Hey, I can come with you.” He hopped off his seat, now in his more humanoid form, and stood in front of Grox. “It's pretty boring by myself, and if this is something entirely new, then I'll be able to learn about it for the future!” Verity added. “I can also help you if things go bad.” His hands were clasped together, his teeth on full display as he nearly towered over the wither skeleton.

Grox, oblivious to the others' near-desperate begging, nodded. “A-ight, bet.”

Inside, Verity was practically screaming; if Mob was in this world, even as a full-bred Ender man, he could have a chance to see them alive. And when he did, he would make sure they’d never leave him again.

I've really wanted to make my own gaming creepy pasta for a while now, but I feel like I may be missing something with this one, is it truly creepy?

I remember when I first experienced Animal Crossing. It was New Leaf, and I had asked for it for my birthday. I remember loving it from the start. Then, a few years later, when I could afford it, I bought Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I had played it for a while, picking it up and putting it down again. I went into college, and I ended up neglecting it for at least six months.

Then winter break hit, and I was at my apartment bored out of my mind and unable to sleep. All the silence from not being able to visit for the break had left me in a loop of relief and loneliness.  For some reason, I began thinking about my island; I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t see the harm in checking in after all this time.

That’s how I ended up digging into my dresser drawer and pulling out the old console. It wasn’t hard to find; I see it every time I open the top drawer. It lit up my face as I winced at the only light source in my room. Should really have turned on a light in here.

Nothing had changed much; I wasn’t expecting anything to. I got the usual greeting from Isabel, and all my villagers were asleep. Nothing new. I did feel bad that I couldn’t say hi to my favorite villager, Nana. But not bad enough to alter the time in my settings.

Instead, I busied myself in other ways. Cleaned up some weeds. Collected bells from a rock. Planted a bells tree. I didn’t feel like fishing, so I went back home instead. After squashing all the roaches, I started rearranging things in my bedroom. I rotated the camera as I continued to move a plushie around in the middle of the room, trying to determine the best placement. That was the only reason why I saw it. It was a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but I saw it. Something dark, a type of figure, moving left to right in the left side window. At first, I thought I had imagined it. After all, it was late, and I could feel the heaviness in my eyelids and head.

But then it happened again, this time from right to left.

Not only did I see it, but my villager also seemed to react to it. She had moved her head towards the window, my camera behind her, facing her back and the back of the room. Because of the camera placement, I could only see parts of their face. Their eyes were the same, but now they had a slight frown, as if they were confused. I also noticed they were not doing the usual idle animations. They didn’t move their head or sway their arms. They blinked, but that was it.

I wondered if this was some type of Easter egg I hadn’t heard about yet. The game had been recently updated after all.

Then my villager, without any input from the thumb stick, went over to the record player. I saw the music select screen pop up; I watched as, presumably, my villager stopped the disc I had chosen and left the music screen.

Now it was nearly complete silence, the only sound being the consistent ticking of a clock in the game.

My villager was standing silently near the record player, their head turning slowly from left to right, then back the other way.

My volume had involuntarily turned to max volume, filling my room with the rhythmic ticking of the in-game clock. I was in disbelief, wondering if my character had really just turned up my volume without my consent.   

It was as if they were listening out for something, and they wanted me to listen out with her. And for some reason, I did.

A minute passed with nothing happening, no new sounds other than the ticking and my breathing. I decided to try to move her, just to see if I could.

I was able to get her to face the camera, but when I tried to make her move toward the exit, she looked at the camera head-on and shook her head. My throat went dry. Her eyes were wide open the entire time. The same eyes whose pupils had shrunk some, making her appear almost frightened.

My chest began to feel tight as my heart picked up a pace. Something wasn’t right, and I had an idea why. Someone was outside, and they did not mean well.

I was trying again to move her out of her room once more when the abrupt sound of glass shattering made me and her jolt, nearly dropping my console in the process.          

My villager had her arms tucked close to her. She was shaking, her mouth was agape, as things became eerily silent again. Then, the sound of crunching glass filled my ears. As if someone were stepping on glass, the footsteps were heavy, slow, and measured. Soon there was only the sound of floorboards creaking. And with each creak, they became louder.

My villager began to look around the room, movements frantic. I was unsure of what she was looking for; then she moved, and I understood. She ran to the opposite side of a large dark brown wardrobe situated right beside the exit. My camera moved, without any input, to where I could only see her from the left side. But because of the placement of the wardrobe and the placement of the camera, I couldn’t see the whole doorway.   

The lights switched off.

And all I could hear was the steady creaking footsteps of the intruder. They kept getting closer, and with each passing step, my villager shook harder. My heart was speeding up as I began to wonder why I hadn’t just put the damn switch down. Why I had yet to just hold down the power button and leave the nightmare that I had not asked for.

Truth be told, I couldn’t leave my villager like this even if I tried. I couldn’t let go of my Switch; it was as if my hands were glued to it, with only my thumbs able to move.   

Whoever was outside was now in the bedroom. I couldn’t see them at first, but then they came further into the room. It was the height of another, larger species of villagers, but it had no discernible features. Instead, it was all black, and as it moved forward again, it had no walking animation. This was despite the sound of footsteps. It simply glided forward as if it was stuck.

I watched as it reached the back of the room and paused there. No type of idle animation to be seen, just complete stillness.

My villager, without warning or input, moved from her hiding place and ran out of the room. The loading in and out screen was normal, if a bit faster than usual. When she entered the living room, I heard muffled heavy steps in the bedroom. I watched as she reached the front door and ran out of the house.

I watched as she ran down the slope along the pathway in front of her house. She ran past houses of other villagers. And as my screen followed her, I could see it. It was following her, this time with a running animation, but its limbs stretched out at odd angles, and its footsteps were overwhelmingly loud as it did so.

And the worst part was that it was gaining on her. I could see her face was now tear-stained, and her mouth was open, growing big then shrinking over and over again, like she was screaming. I couldn’t do anything to help, nothing that I knew of. I felt sick, so sick as I watched it get closer and closer, stretching out a malformed arm towards.

Until she ducked inside town hall.

I watched as she made it inside. Isabelle and Tom Nook idling as if nothing was happening.

Before anything else could happen, the game froze on my villagers' back. I let out a choked gasp as I was taken back to the game select screen, accompanied by a notification. My game had crashed. I stared at it in disbelief. Should I try and open the game again, or put it down and never speak of this ever?

Chapters: 8/? Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Knuckles the Echidna/Rouge the Bat, Amy Rose & Knuckles the Echidna & Miles "Tails" Prower & Rouge the Bat & Sonic the Hedgehog Characters: Amy Rose (Sonic the Hedgehog), Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, Rouge the Bat, Miles "Tails" Prower, Original Characters Additional Tags: Slut Shaming, Sonic's chilling, Amy's simping, knuckles is disgusted, Rouge ain't having that shit, Tails is baby, Violence, Non-Consensual Touching, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Yandere, Yandere Amy Rose, Yandere Rouge The Bat, Sabotage Series: Part 2 of Red Frosting vs Red Petals Summary:

The rain had been falling for a while now. Officer Stone-seed stood outside in her dark brown leather coat. Umbrella closed and upside down by her foot in one hand as she smoked with the other. Her gaze stayed on the endless sea of rolling clouds above her. Normally, she would have been home by now, soaking in an Epsom salt bath as she mulled over the day. Of course, not everything goes as planned. Because of the weather, she had offered to take the rookie home. It was a safety hazard to fly in weather like this, and the kid didn’t have a car, so Wendelin felt it was her responsibility to take them home.

Plus, after today, it would be best to travel in numbers.

Spearmint rushed out the front door wearing a bright yellow raincoat, not noticing the woman standing near the door. The light-green bat searched for the wet, nearly empty parking lot. Wendelin cleared her throat, causing the bat mobian to snap their head to her. The bat blushed in embarrassment. “S-sorry about the hold up, Stone-seed. Had trouble finding my glasses case.”

Wendelin, after taking an extra-long drag of her cigarette, blew smoke from her nose and mouth as she spoke. “It's fine, minty, let's just get a move on. I'm dead tired.”

Spearmint gave a nod. Wendelin put out the cigarette on the heel of her shoe; it wasn’t her work boots, so she cared less about doing so. She threw the butt in a nearby trash can, walked over to a grey car, and hopped in.

It had been four minutes into the ride when Spearmint spoke.  “I um, thought you quit smoking?” the bat asked

Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog Characters: Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Original Sonic the Hedgehog Characters Additional Tags: Yandere, Sexual Tension, shadow's mind is dirty, Obsessive Behavior, Stalking, more tags may be added, Alternate Universe, Blood and Violence, Violent Thoughts, Yandere Shadow the Hedgehog, Minors DNI Series: Part 6 of Red Frosting vs Red Petals Summary:

At least I assume it did cuz you seem like a cool person who wouldn't try to hack me

What game made you rage quit the hardest?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog Characters: Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Original Sonic the Hedgehog Characters Additional Tags: Yandere, Sexual Tension, shadow's mind is dirty, Obsessive Behavior, Stalking, more tags may be added, Alternate Universe, Blood and Violence, Violent Thoughts, Yandere Shadow the Hedgehog, Minors DNI Series: Part 6 of Red Frosting vs Red Petals Summary:

Shadow, after being woken up by his annoying half sisters, figures it would be best to tail Sonic and see if any opportunities arrive. As he does, he learns more about his future husband, even if the other still doesn't know it yet.