#grinnames lore

(Godbox Grinnames redesign!)

"G0 0n, take them, it's free~!"

I was taken over by the sudden urge to draw this demon's redesign. She (and I) had not been satisfied with her previous vessel. She wouldn't let me stop until she was given a new physical form...

And she would really like to interest you in some free red rings...

"Thank y0u f0r sacrificing y0ur characters, every0ne!"

Grinnames POV

Follow up to this post

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@rtv-puzzlevision-studios

@michaelscorneroftheinternet

@scimagic

@lrayasostripes

CW: Robo-gore, grief

This is my first time writing grief, I hope I did ok! Strap in folks, because this is a lot-

Battle theme, for a better immersive experience

Grinnames: Robots huh? Alright, BRING IT ON YA CLANKERS! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Grinnames laughed as the chaos of battle broke out. This was her element, the thrill of conflict fueled her. Her tentacles lunged forward deftly like four giant snakes, knocking down and impaling any of the cowboy robots they could reach.

She wasn’t able to fly with her tentacles in their true forms, because they were too heavy. But they could sure as hell lift her up like a spider’s legs, giving her the higher ground anyway. She hung in the air, twisting and turning in some beautifully dangerous dance as her tentacles wreaked havoc. 

Two of them tried to grab her, and one of them shot at her, but the bullets and blows were absorbed by her weapons with lightning-quick reaction and precision, though she felt them recoil and weaken from taking the damage. She looked out from behind her massive tendrils shielding her, and bared her teeth, taunting them before swiping them away.

Another one managed to sever one tentacle with a blade, and she hissed as she was thrown off balance from one of her supports suddenly being cut off. The robot was immediately finished off by the other unsevered tentacle. And yet another was tossed up before being pummeled into a wall with a satisfying crunch.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw the meme guardian being cornered by one of the machines and narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t have him die before she got to interrogate him. Smirking, she sent two of her remaining tentacles to bash the robot aside before it could choke SMG4 to death. The tentacles grabbed it by the neck and legs, and tore it in half like a piece of bread.

SMG4 rubbed his neck, but his gaze was off to the side. 

SMG4: Thanks…

Grinnames: Haha, welcome! Now you definitely owe me! Never thought I’d have to fight alongside a meme guardian…

Grinnames didn’t waste anymore time, and then jumped back into the fray, cackling the whole time. Man, breaking stuff felt so good. It felt good to let herself loose. She had missed this-!

She sobered up slightly, though not enough to make her hesitate. She caught herself in the high, realizing where her train of thought was going. Shaking her head, she focused on ending the fight. She would not be that kind of person anymore.

…

“Wow, I’ve got to say. I am impressed. You actually defeated me! One point to you!”

Grinnames put her foot through the head of one more robot, and then looked up to see that Lucian was nursing a deep wound to his neck. 

Grinnames: Oof… that’s gotta hurt. Eh, anything can be fixed with some beer and some bandages! I’ve seen lots of good men get right back up-

Lucian: Open the damn door, Wr3n. 

WR3N: “You’re more than capable of that. Though, I gotta say, I’m not quite satisfied yet. How about another game?”

Grinnames: Bruh, you’re only delaying the inevitable. But sure, I’ll bite! 

Lucian gestures for Grinnames for help to open the gate. Grinnames cracks her knuckles, and grips with her tentacles at the edges of the steel gate.The door was heavier and more stuck than she had expected, but slowly but surely, she could feel it peeling back open. She had to admit, Mr. Puzzles had a pretty solid, but very unnecessary security. She would have mistaken this studio for a military base had she not been on the tour. Why the heck was the security so tight?! 

Ah right. Supervillain. Speaking of:

WR3N: Oh, I know! This one is a favorite of mine. The floor is lava in 120…119…

Grinnames: Oh no.

Lucian: Guys…Guys, we need to move. Control room. NOW. That maniac is gonna fry the floor! 

Grinnames: Okokok gogogogo!

Grinnames put more force into her tentacles and broke the gate with a labored gasp. Lucian wrenched it open immediately. Grinnames was the first to go in after him, and looked frantically out into the hall, hoping that no one would be left behind. 

Grinnames: C’mon c’mon c’mon GUYS! MOVE IT!

WR3N: 10…9…8…7..6…5…4…3…

Lucian: CLOSE THE DOOR!

The door slammed shut, and Grinnames winced at the sound of crackling electricity coming from outside, muffled by the metal barrier. She internally cringed when she imagined what might have happened if someone was left out there. She would be fine, since she could fly, but she was sure that this AI that she now knew was called WR3N would have found some way to bring her to the floor.

WR3N: Would you look at that, you actually did it! Color me impressed!

In the next second, the sound of the door locking could be heard.

WR3N: Now stay there.

Great, now she’s stuck again. She hopes that the people in the health department are doing better than this. She grumbled curses under her breath. Meanwhile, Lucian had dragged himself to the control panel and pulled down a lever.

Lucian: Lockdown is lifted. But I can’t shut down Wr3n. Sorry, guys, we are the safest here.

Grinnames breathed in a tired sigh, as the adrenaline wore off. She cupped her face in her hands and rubbed it, massaging her eyes. It seemed that she wasn’t as strong as she used to be, she usually wouldn’t be so winded right now. She really was getting rusty. Might as well take a moment of respite while she could. And besides, there was a certain someone she needed answers from. She had the feeling that she would not get any more chances besides this.

First, she unfurled and put away her tentacles to save energy, leaving them in ribbon form once more. After taking a few minutes to catch her breath, Grinnames walks up to SMG4, who has crawled away into one corner of the room.

Grinnames: Hey. Meme guardian. So. I heard that you nearly destroyed the world. (whisper shouts) The heck were you thinking?! Are you crazy?!

SMG4: Huh-!?

Grinnames: You nearly killed the avatar. You know- you know what happens when the avatar dies, no? Or are you just ignorant?

SMG4: You probably won’t believe me, but I didn’t try to kill Mario. Wait a second, how do you know about the avatar?

Grinnmames: I’m asking the questions here! Are you crazy, yes or no? How many fingers am I holding up? (She holds up four fingers)

SMG4: …I don’t think that’s how it works.

Grinnames: You’re right, a crazy person doesn’t know they’re crazy. Look, I’m just trying to make sense of what’s happening right now, because my brain has been screwing with me all day. Just… tell me what happened that day.

…

Grinnames: Let me get this straight. You are not crazy. And you didn’t try to kill Mario. And Mr. Puzzles framed you, and you are completely innocent?

SMG4: Y-yes! I am!

Grinnames: I see… well at this point I’d believe you more than the insanely suspicious TV head-

Grinnames is too preoccupied with talking to SMG4 to notice until it’s too late.

...

"... Guess just see you later... Sorry it had to be you again..."

”Tragic. This is not the first time this happened, huh?”

Grinnames suddenly hears the sound of metal twisting and breaking, and something clattering to the floor. She feels her ribbons cry out to her in alarm, and she abruptly looks up to a terrible sight. Micheal is standing near the security computers, with one arm messily torn off. From where she’s sitting, she can’t see his face, but she can see that he’s facing the fish lady from earlier.

Grinnames: Hey, WHAT-

”You know, looking at his memory, he does think rather highly of you. As a friend even.”

Wr3n Micheal chuckled, before grabbing into the mangled arm stump, ripping out a few cables and wires, causing one side of the body to go limp and have him lean on the panel.

Grinnames: MICHEAL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING. THAT IS YOUR FREAKING ARM- HEY! Don’t make it worse!! (She’s getting up and pushing through the crowd)

”Yet you still allow him to meet such a fate several times. What kind of friend are you to save your own life but not his?”

Grinnames realizes something is wrong here. Why is he laughing while he takes himself apart?!

Grinnames: What are you yapping about?! Q-quit it!

The Siren shakily sighed through her nose, side-eyeing the crowd through the corner of her eye before looking back at Michael. She murmurs something that Grinnames can’t hear, but Grinnames can see a look of resignation settling over her face... and an amused smirk on Micheal's.

”Or maybe you are too much of a coward to speak up.”

Grinnames: …You’re not Micheal-!

Wr3n now moved the remaining hand to the jaw.

”It’s been fun, but I have to check on the other group as well. Bye.~”

With that he ripped off the jaw, before pointing two fingers against his head.

Grinnames: !!!!!

In the next second, the logo side of the glass went blank as Wr3n wiped Michael’s memory and executed a kill command. The robot’s mangled body now slid off the panel, falling to the floor in a puddle of wires and oil.

Sad Background Music

Grinnames stared for a long, long moment at the mangled robot that was once her friend. She felt her body moving forward, and everything else faded away into static around her. She stood there for what felt like too long. She barely felt the dull thud and pain as her legs gave way and dropped her to the floor in a kneeling position.

Grinnames was no stranger to violence. She had lived violence, breathed it as naturally as oxygen, once upon a time, in order to survive. Even if she had changed her ways now, and had left that life behind, she would never forget the destruction, whether it was by her own hand or someone else’s. 

With violence being a glaring constant for most of her life, Grinnames wasn’t used to having friends. For most of her life, she had never allowed herself to get attached to anyone. A creature like herself could not afford to form anything meaningful with another sentient being. That was, until only a few years ago, when she had finally worked up the resolve to open herself up to others around her. She wanted to heal. She wanted to change. She didn’t want to be lonely anymore.

She hadn’t known Micheal for that long. She knew that they weren’t that close yet, and she knew nothing of his past and the deeper aspects of his character, but she would whole-heartedly call him her friend. She genuinely liked having him around, and it was as simple as that. She knew what he liked, and how he acted. She would go out of her way to go see him. She wanted to share more of her life with him one day… but now that was all taken away.

Violence may have been very familiar to her, but loss was not. 

She felt a part of her break inside, something that she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Maybe she was getting softer… or maybe it was because she had allowed herself to be soft.

Grinnames: Micheal. Hey, you can get up now. This joke isn’t funny anymore.

Grinnames: Dude… come on, y-you can’t be doing this to me right now. 

Grinnames: Please… no. Nonononono, this can’t be happening…!

Grinnames suddenly feels wetness pricking up in her eyes. She reaches up and wipes away a tear, not knowing why it’s there. Stunned, she looks down at the shiny stain the tear has left on her claws. 

Grinnames: I’m…crying…? Why am I…

Grinnames: …Ah… so this… this is loss. 

Grinnames: I never thought I’d get attached this easily…!

It starts as a quiet weeping. Grinnames struggles to keep her composure, but her walls are cracking apart. Her feelings inevitably overwhelm her…and then she finally breaks.

Grinnames: Why wasn’t I faster?! Why couldn’t I see the signs?!

…I’m sorry, Grinnames. I couldn’t foresee this either.

Grinnames: I protected everyone… except you… 

You did all you could. 

Grinnames: ...Why didn't you tell me anything...? You could have at least gone to the suicide hotline... they would have helped you through!

...

She’s reduced to a sobbing mess on the floor, hunched over, hands over her eyes. But as her body is shaken by her sobs, she feels a presence. Like someone is trying to give her a hug, or trying to comfort her but doing so from very far away. But no one is physically there. 

Grinnames wanted to stay there on the floor and keep sobbing, to allow herself to openly express the pain she felt. She wanted time to work through her emotions. But like always, like every single time before, she knew her emotions would have to wait for now. She knew that she and the group were still in danger. She needed to ground herself quickly now.

Deep breaths.

Grinnames breathed in a shaky breath, cursing inwardly at a hiccup that wracked it. Her chest gratefully expanded, and she consciously held the breath there, before releasing it as gently as she could.

You’re doing great. I’m here for you.

Grinnames: …Who are you…?

…A friend. Someone that cares for you very much.

Grinnames: …That’s… sweet. Why are you in my head?

I was always there. But it’s a little complicated. It was only recently that I was able to make you hear me.

Grinnames: …Always, huh? Then you must know everything. Or I’m going crazy.

Yeah, I know everything. And I know that you’re not THAT crazy, hehehe...

Grinnames feels herself calming down, the voice increasing its presence in her mind and giving her some distorted, but real company. She didn’t understand why, but she somehow felt a little less alone.

I’m really sorry. There is only so much I know, and I wasn’t able to tell you about Micheal. 

Grinnames: ...Well, you’re just a voice in my head. And I don’t always listen. 

It’s fine really. I don’t always expect you to listen. But for now, I’ll listen to you. It’s the least I can do for you.

Grinnames: …Can you give me time to think? I'd just like to… feel out my feelings. No talking.

Okay. I’ll still be here for you.

The voice fell silent, but Grinnames could still feel the presence wrapping itself around her psyche. She fell into a deep melancholy, her sobs not as intense as before, but her breathing was still tight and tears still flowed down her cheeks. In the darkness of the security room, she knelt, hunched over, and hugged herself, gathering her ribbons around herself to obscure her face, hoping that not too many people were looking at her. 

She pulled out some cookie dough out of her belt, and began to shape the amorphous mass into a familiar shape. Working with her hands helped her think.

Micheal hadn’t even died as himself. He was taken over by some… digital-entity thing. What had happened between him and the fish-lady? Something about the way he spoke, the smugness and amusement she felt coming from him... seemed very very familiar. What was it reminding her of...?

She furrowed her brow, searching her memories. Who was a smug little bastard, currently their enemy, and could possibly hack machines-

...WR3N.

You got it.

She jumped a little when Mr. Puzzles’s voice suddenly blared from the intercom, and the camera feed showing the Health Department showed up on every screen in the control room. 

RTV: “I invited you, gave you a CHOICE and the second, one small thing goes WRONG, you backstab me. You think this is all just a fun little EVENT, don’t you? What, you think there won’t be consequences for your choices?”

Grinnames: Mr. Puzzles…

A low growl builds in her throat.

Yeah, I know there are consequences. Ironically, that's the whole fun of it.

He let out a dry laugh, the back of the chair breaking off from how tight he had grabbed it.

RTV: “It’s a SHAME the votes were anonymous, because now, you all will have to PAY for the majority.”

Turning back to the rest of the group in the Health Department now, he folded his hands behind his back.

RTV: I offer you a SINCERE apology, but I need to send a message to the people BEHIND you. Consider this some kind of vengeance for yourself as well because I’m sure they did not vote in your best interest either.

Ah, sh*t.

Grinnames: Huh-?

RTV: (chuckles coldly) Otherwise we wouldn’t be here.

RTV: (points at Animsay) We will have a talk LATER.

In the control room, the surveillance feed now switched to showing his face.

RTV: Nobody here is leaving. Not before we made some things CLEAR. So, step on through.

With that, each screen in the control room and the Health Department now displayed static, before switching to showcase a blue and purple location with TVs hanging on the walls.

However, there was something unusual about it…

“You can go through…”, Lucian now sighed back in the control room to his group, his voice slightly lighter than usual thanks to the blood loss. “He wants you to enter his TV dimension.”

In the time it took for RTV Puzzles to run his mouth, Grinnames had shaped, baked, and taken a bite out of a freshly baked Micheal cookie as an expression of her grief. It really helped her cope. But looking at it still hurt.

She holds the cookie close, taking in a deep breath. She sends one final silent prayer.

Grinnames: I hope Micheal’s gone to heaven and met Robo-Jesus. Godspeed Micheal, and may your W's be many and your L's few-

She’s barely given a chance to prepare before she is suddenly grabbed by her ribbons and pulled through the screen.

…

When RTV pulls her in, he notices that Grinnames is holding a cookie shaped like one of the participants, the taller man with a half-shaved haircut, mismatched glasses, and (annoyingly) wide smile. He also notices the obvious tear-tracks all over her cheeks, and she was still sniffling. …What had just happened? He probably gathers that this particular participant (Micheal, was it?) was the one who was “terminated.”

Grinnames blinks in astonishment at the TV Dimension. Isekai…? Seriously?

Grinnames stares the cookie for one last moment, before stuffing it away into her belt with an eerily calm sigh.

Grinnames: Ok ok, I’m good now. Mostly. I’m ready for lore now. (sniffs)

And then she slowly turns around, to face her perpetrator. She sees Mr. Puzzles, his face all damaged and glitchy from being shot in the head. She stares at him, giving him this worn out, miserable look. Her face quickly twists into an angry snarl.

And then she rolls up the skin on her arm like a sleeve, revealing a black void underneath that looked like thousands upon thousands of tangled, dark string. Her ribbons wrap around her arm to form a big monster paw, fitted with long, dagger-like claws, which she clenched into a fist.

Grinnames: YOUR GODBOX-FORSAKEN AI KILLED MY FRIEND, YOU A**HOLE! 

She swung at him with grief-striken fury, and her fist connects with his screen, sending him staggering back through the empty space.

Grinnames: WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF, HUH?! 

Mr. Puzzles only gave her this cold, unsympathetic glare, as if this was all just an inconvenience to him. He had barely flinched from the blow. With sudden speed and power, he had grabbed her by the neck. 

RTV: Your friend killed HIMSELF by putting his nose in things that don’t concern him.

Grinnames: You bastard-! YOU TAKE THAT BACK-

And then Mr. Puzzles then THREW her. 

Grinnames screams as she flies across the TV dimension. Since there is no gravity here, she’s thrown FAR. She rights herself in the air by throwing her arms and legs out (because she can fly) and glares at the distant form of Mr. Puzzles.

She zooms back, raring to go. She rolls back her other skin sleeve, and transforms her other arm. The rest of her belt unravels, and the loose ribbons coil up and lengthen into her last two tentacles tentacles. (two is all she can manage for now, it takes more resources to form two monster hands)

Once Grinnames makes it back to the group, she barely registers the other participants. She can only see Mr. Puzzles, looking down at them all.

How dare he just stand there, as if someone didn’t just die?! She should tear him a new one. She wanted to break his face and rip out whatever vulnerable, weak parts were hiding inside. She wanted to-

Rayas: ...Grinnames?

The beast snapped her head up and came face to face with Rayas. Rayas looks up at her in surprise, and Grinnames sees the faintest hint of fear flitting across her wide, concerned gaze. She realizes that she was breathing heavily, her clothes and hair were askew and ruffled, her horns had lengthened, veins were visible on her face, and her teeth were extra sharp. Her eyes were still glistening and wet, and her cheeks still had evidence of her sadness.

She suddenly became very self-conscious, and her once-hardened face smoothed out in remorse.

Grinnames: A-ah, Rayas, I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have to see me like this-

But Rayas only opens her umbrella and puts it over her, only looking at her with sympathy. No words were needed for Grinnames to know that even though Rayas didn’t completely know what happened, she was there for her.

Grinnames: …thank you.

Grinnames’s threat display melted away as she let herself be comforted… for now. Her big claws still remained, and she was sure she still looked like a hobo, but at least her posture was less tense, and her head was clearer.

Blinking away her tears, she finally becomes aware of everyone else joining her in the TV dimension.

Grinnames: …I can’t let anyone else die. 

Grinnnames steels herself for what's to come. Whatever happens next... she would not make this easy for this villainous TV star.

We need to find Channel 999-

TO BE CONTINUED…

Hooo boy I feel physically exhausted from writing and drawing this

Grinnames Lore!

Her ribbons are particularly sensitive to movement, like a cat’s whiskers, and they help her be very, very quick and precise when she strikes.

She can store things in her belt... tentacles... ribbons... thing. Like cookie dough.

Her ribbons/tentacles are actually coming out of her body, she just disguises them as a belt made of ribbons to look more presentable and fashionable

Normally, when Grinnames summons her heavier tentacles, she loses the ability to fly, because of the added weight. But now there is no gravity here to weigh her down...

Drew this because I felt compelled to and needed to relieve stress

Alrighty, for all those interested, I'm going to dive into my sona's history!

Here is the very first concept for Grinnames! She wasn't even named that yet, in fact she was just a drawing of my first Minecraft skin, when I first started playing. Yup, that's right, Grinnames used to be a MINECRAFT SELF-INSERT back in about 2019.

At some point, Grinnames later became a not only a Minecraft OC, but also Dream SMP self-insert, thanks to my friend getting me into Minecraft roleplay.

Her lore used to be very simple: She was actually supposed to be the spirit of Christmas, (but for some reason was obsessed with pumpkins) and basically invent Christmas on the Minecraft server. She was a peaceful neutral player amidst all the wars raging on.

At some point I rewrote her lore and made her a ghost possessing an iron golem/robot...? The next sketch page has lore, but it also had some real names written there, so I had to cut it off.

Here are the ghost-in-the-machine sketches:

Her lore is more complicated now, so to sum it up: she starts out nice and invents Christmas. But then she learns that the Egg (the evil giant red egg-shaped god corrupting the server) is here, and thinks that killing it will give her lives back, because she remembers dying because of it. And then later her best friend, who is my best friend's self-insert, dies. Agonized by the loss, and frustrated by the weakness of her new body, she becomes cold and indifferent and focuses all her time on becoming stronger.

But! PLOT TWIST! Her body and lives are actually inside the Egg. Long ago, the Egg Cult sacrificed her and left her to rot in a cave, so that they may one day bring their god into this plane of existence! With every sacrifice, and over time, the Egg grew from her body and eventually encased her, protecting its heart. She's unknowingly the host to a great evil, and she can't remember because ghosts in DSMP lore have amnesia and aren't actually the person who died. (which is why I have demon drawings with the robot drawings)

Eventually, the Egg consumes enough of the server and hatches, and her true body emerges from it possessed by the evil god, and takes her soul. The ghost version of her disappears.

I also designed the ghost form for her:

The first sketch is my idea for two separate endings: one in which she is saved and gets out alive, and one where her spirit is cursed and left to wander or something... I don't quite recall, the lore gets convoluted here with three different rewrites of her story. I may have even scrapped the iron-golem idea at this point, and made her a full-time ghost.

The second sketch gets used for this:

And that's how we get the girl with horns and ribbons! Originally, the lore behind this design was that this was either her as a spirit, or her when she's possessed, which is why her body is rotting away beneath her clothes.

From here, I used both sketchbook and Procreate interchangeably.

Grinnames slowly went from being just a DSMP OC to a general self-insert for all types of things. Especially after I left the fandom and all its problems for good.

I ended up liking her design so much that I decided to make her my official sona.

Sketches

More Sketches

100 Followers

300 Followers

Being Edgy For Stress Relief

Breaking my Silence

And now, here we are in the present!

Currently, Grinnames is getting turned into an SMG4 self-insert, but I am taking my time writing her lore this time, because joining the SMG4 fandom and tumblr has been a special time to me, and I want to be satisfied. I'm almost done with it, and I have the basic idea down, just gotta double-check and do the hardest part: COMMIT TO ONE SINGLE MAIN NARRATIVE

Fun Facts about her current character design!

I had another sona was basically a scientist version of me, and at that time I was into military-style fashion. I combined the two to make her blue coat. It's also why earlier designs have the goggles, from my scientist sona.

Her striped horns and sleeves are inspired by Youtuber Pastra's veldigun OCs, and the fact that I actually like wearing striped shirts IRL.

The spiral eyes are inspired from Fleetway Super Sonic. I wanted Grinnames to look a little crazy from having been through trauma, and also being fused with the Egg in one version of the story. I like having this version of me let loose and laugh maniacally ok-

Her pants and shoes changed the most throughout the process, but for a long time she had these long wide-legged samurai pants, which were tied with smaller ribbons at her feet. This was inspired by Nezuko from Demon Slayer, and the samurai pants from Sky: Children of the Light

Her face, hair, and body type is basically just my interpretation of myself IRL.

Yup, it's happened again! Another milestone reached!!

And to treat myself, I decided to mess around with the pencil tool in Procreate, and make this!

Just wanted to let myself fun with this, no pressure with this one! And I like making my sona look as gremlin-y as possible!

Grinnames POV

@rtv-puzzlevision-studios

Follow up to these posts: Part 3, Part 3.5

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Hoooo boy, here we go...

Flashback...

TV News Reporter: ...so if you see this man, do not hesitate and call the authorities immediately.

The TV flashed a grainy picture of the mad meme guardian, SMG4, who had reportedly suddenly gone crazy and nearly killed his friend Mario.

Grinnames was stunned, and her thoughts immediately began to race, trying to make sense of what she just heard.

What the hell…? she thought. How does that make any sense?! Isn’t he aware of what that would do to this world?! Maybe he really has gone mad… so crazy that he can’t perform his role as a meme-guardian… To think that the world almost ended. The hell…

End Flashback.

...

PRESENT TIME:

“HOLY HECK YOU JUST SHOT HIM!”

Grinnames would be pretty stunned right now and starts freaking out because SMG4, public enemy Number 1, had just appeared and shot Mr. Puzzles with an EMP. She’s not sad about it, because she already had reservations about him. She was just really shocked and didn't know what to do. Her ribbons pull into a defensive position.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? ARE YOU CRAZY? HOLY HECK MAYBE YOU ACTUALLY ARE CRAZY-”

“ALSO WHAT IS THAT WEAK LOOKING WEAPON??! WHY DON’T YOU HAVE A REAL GUN?!”

 But when the guards start pulling weapons on SMG4, she hears the voice in her head, calling louder this time:

We have to help him!

Why should she even help him? He was supposed to be a madman that betrayed his friends. She should not even get involved. She should just let the guards arrest him.

What she did know is that she had worked hard to build this life for herself. She was finally happy and peaceful. She refused to go back there. Never again. Then why did this feel so wrong?? Why was she feeling so conflicted?!

Time seemed to move in slow motion. Now with the initial shock having worn off, Grinnames got a good look at the meme guardian. She looked harder at Four’s face. She had always imagined him as this twisted, psychotic little freak. One had to be that crazy to nearly end the world all of the sudden. But as he was being piled on by her fellow participants,  she could tell that he was merely defending himself. He wasn’t hurting anyone. 

That was not the face of a madman. That was the face of someone who had just realized that they had screwed up. Then she noticed how her ribbons didn’t recoil at him, they were only tensing around her body in response to her stress.

“You all don’t understand, I’m not the bad guy!” He shouted through gritted teeth.

The whole situation was making her brain spin with cognitive dissonance, freezing her in place. Grinnames shut her eyes and gritted her teeth. She tried to ground herself.

She only got more confused when she saw some of the other participants putting themselves between Lucian and SMG4, shielding the man from being arrested. She saw some of the people she had gotten to know on the tour getting ready to fight the guards.

Grinnames: ???????

Grinnames: Did I miss something?

Grinnames: I’m confused here. Don’t they know that that is dangerous? They seemed like rationally-minded people.

...

“Dear employees and visitors, we are currently facing a vermin problem. Until the issue is resolved, the whole building will be going on lockdown starting now.”

Grinnames felt her stomach tie up as she saw the windows locking up with metallic sheets, blocking out the light with a clang. She could hear similar clangs echoing throughout the studio, and the room darkened from the lack of sunlight.

An unwanted memory bubbled up...

Cold walls. Cold voices. Unable to move. Trapped behind metal and glass. No way out-

Grinnames: Guys…? This is triggering some repressed memories right now…! I don’t like being trapped!! This isn’t funny!

Wr3n appears.

Grinnames: Oh god, we’re in S*w. It’s gonna be a Squ*d Game isn’t it…? Oh god oh god oh god oh god-

Grinnames’s panic overtakes her mind. She rushes to Mr. Puzzles on the ground, and lifts him up by his shirt collar, ignoring the protests of the small white squirrel that was trying to tend to him.

@niranutcake

Grinnames: WAKE UP YOU STUPID OLD MAN YOUR COWBOY ALEXA AI CHATBOT EFFING TRAPPED US AND I AM GOING TO GO FERAL

(And she slaps him too, to the horror of said small white squirrel)

Grinnames: IF YOU DON’T WAKE UP NOW I AM GOING TO EAT YOUR LEGS AND SUE YOU SO HARD, I REPEAT. I WILL EAT YOUR LEGS-

“If you want me to lift the lockdown, you have a choice.”

Grinnames abruptly looks up, and lets go of Mr. Puzzles. He crashes unceremoniously back to the floor. It’s kinda of funny.

“Option 1: You take out 4 over there and I will give you a free pass! Tour is over, the problem solved, you all can go home!”

Grinnames: ...Tempting. Cowabunga it i-!

No.

...Why was the voice so loud this time?

“Option 2: You wake up the big boss and he can decide what to do with you.”

Hm, slapping the boss awake and telling him (very gently and calmly) that she was going to sue him for this overkill of an AI security system also sounded like a good plan. But at the same time, she also kind of liked him better on the floor.

“Option 3: You outlaws do neither of those and we can enjoy playing a game of tag. I’m sure I can take care of this whole issue myself within the hour! So, choose wisely. Happy trails!”

Grinnames: BRING IT ON, WE CAN TAKE IT- oh wait not everyone is as strong as me. Shoot…

She would have liked those odds if there weren't so many other people that might not be able to take it.

...

Lucian: I will leave the choice on what to do up for you to decide. We need to work together here not against. Though, there is an option that wasn’t mentioned by the System: The lockdown can manually be manually overwritten in the Control Room. So, we have four choices: Arrest SMG4 after all, get Puzzles to the Health Department, try to reach security or make our best run to the exit which, quite frankly, is just insane.

He raised his hands in defense.

Lucian: Up to you. I know I’m probably getting into trouble after this either way.

Grinnames drew in a breath, calming the storm in her mind and gathering her thoughts.

On one hand, arresting SMG4 seemed very tempting right now. Her first priority right now is to escape, and make sure that no one gets hurt. The quickest way to do so was to arrest the man now, then she could just leave this place without getting entangled in anything unnecessary. She really just wanted to go home now, and a mad meme guardian is too dangerous for this world. His former friends had been very hurt by him, she remembered the way they clammed up when SMG4 was brought up into the conversation. Or at least, it seemed that way.

But on the other hand, she was beginning to doubt that he was even insane at all. The way he held himself and the way he talked did not line up at all with the man she had envisioned. Or he could just be very good at acting. Could have used that acting to fool her like he did with his friends. 

But…she also didn’t want to wrongly accuse someone, for she knew what that felt like all too well. And a lot of the participants were defending the man. She didn’t want to have to fight all of them. And her gut and the mysterious-but-weirdly-accurate voice in her own head was not agreeing with taking down SMG4 either. God, she hated moral dilemmas. There seemed to be no easy way out of this.

Alright, here’s a different plan. Why don’t we stay as neutral and unassuming as possible, and just focus on protecting everyone until we gather enough information? 

The voice sounded louder and clearer now, but not as forceful. It seemed to be trying to reason with her instead. Was it some part of her subconscious trying to… compromise? She blinked and shook her head. She could worry about the origins of this mysterious voice later. And what it was telling her didn’t seem so bad. 

Grinnames looks up to see Rayas… not looking so good. Not in the stressed and scared kind of way, but she looked… weak. Sickly. The fox-like creature had only known her for a few minutes, yet had treated her so nicely. She needed to return the favor.

Grinnames floated on over to Rayas. 

Grinnames: Hey. Don’t pass out on me now, ‘kay? Here! Um, have some sand! I usually eat sand, it perks me right up!

Rayas blinks sleepily up at her, struggling to stay conscious.

Grinnames: Hey hey hey, nononono, I was kidding! You’re probably not hungry right now! Here, I’ll just carry you then. Do I have permission to pick you up?

Rayas gave Grinnames a nod for consent. Grinnames gently scoops up Rayas in her ribbons, safely cocooning her. 

@lrayasostripes

…

The only thing she knew for sure at this point was that she didn’t want anyone to get hurt. (And that Mr. Puzzles was probably a villain.) She would continue to choose herself and the people she cared about. Like Micheal. And Rayas. And Half-Moon Face.

@michaelscorneroftheinternet @purpdrawsthings

Come to think of it, where even is Micheal anyway? He had been kind of... off, all day. There he was, in the back of the crowd, hands still folded rigidly behind his back. Observing. She thought he would have been more excited to see SMG3. But despite the wide smile he had plastered on his face, his expressions felt... muted. Was he trying to keep his cool and not fanboy too hard in front of everyone? She really wanted to check up on him, but now was not the time.

Grinnames firmly makes up her mind: she’s going to go to the Security Department to blow out this blasted Lockdown System, protect everyone she can, and then give Mr. Puzzles a piece of her mind. She is filled with petty spite right now. It felt better than being confused and frazzled. She needed to take her stress out on something. 

Plus, she hated AI technology. She wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to show that cowboy bot who it was messing with.

Grinnames: I say that we go for the security system and override the lockdown! With Mr. Lucian and numbers on our side, I'm sure we can do it! 

She turns back to the group, and sees that half were deciding to go to the Security Department and the other deciding to drag Mr. Puzzles to the Health Department. Grinnames set down Rayas first. She didn't want to bring a tired person into possible danger. Then she picked up the pace and jogged after them. 

Grinnames knows it’s time to lock in, so that everyone can be safe. She didn’t think that she would have to use her hunting weapons today.

Grinnames’s ribbons coil up, around and around, twisting into the shape of large, meaty tentacles. Black void-like substance fills the middle, completing her ribbons’ true, monstrous form. The tentacles make a crackling, hissing sound as they materialize.

She’s fully expecting bullets to fly, and these tentacles would protect her and her friends. Grinnames's mouth curls into an angry smirk, flashing her fangs.

Grinnames: Bring it on, you stupid building! I’ll tear you apart!

She catches up to Half-Moon Face, who has also decided to go raid the Security Department. She sees that they also have a wide evil grin on their face. A kindred soul. It fuels the fire burning within.

As she steps with purpose to face the possible dangers ahead, she passes SMG4. 

Grinnames: Meme guardian. We should talk later. Don’t get yourself arrested until I say so, alright?

Time to break the system, like a boss.

Man I can't believe I put like three memes in here

Grinnames Lore-drops here!:

She is canonically knowledgeable about meme-guardians and the avatar.

Her ribbons are able to carry items as heavy as cars.

The ribbons are actually just tentacles in disguise! When in their true form, they are more durable, and can take a few bullet wounds. But even they have their limits. Sharp objects like swords are more effective on them. She can also grow them back, but at a cost...

Follow up to THIS POST

NEXT

@4thwallbreakerdraws2, here's my sona's reaction to the start of the Tour!

I had meant to keep this short. Alas, I got carried away.

Grinnames was still bubbling from having met SMG3. She could honestly leave now, and still be satisfied. She considered turning heel with style, bidding everyone good night, and walking out the door like a boss. But of course she wasn’t going to leave. That was against the rules, and there was still so much fun to be had here, and food to eat! Puzzlevision Studios was supposed to be full of magic, and she was not going to leave without experiencing the magic. 

However, this did not mean that she had some slight reservations about this place, and the man in charge. Which she dared not to voice, as now was not the time to be spitting hot takes. Hot takes such as the ones going on in her head, as she stared up at Mr. Puzzles greeting them on the balcony:

“Look at that fruitcake… he’s obviously up to something. I mean, just look at the way he was avoiding people’s touch! And his beautiful, beautiful, stupid eyes. That’s the look of a scheming schemer. He probably sits around staring at monitors and stalking people like a degenerate! And he probably looks pretty while doing it, so no one bats an eye!”

Very slight reservations.

She didn’t know why, but Mr. Puzzles made her feel… uneasy? Vigilant? Confused? She couldn’t explain it, but whenever her thoughts stayed on Mr. Puzzles for too long, she began to feel a slight anxiety, and the creeping sense that something wasn’t quite… right, about him.

Ever since the tour had been announced, she had come to notice a tiny voice at the back of her subconscious, whispering short, narrative quips on her life as she went about her waking hours. She had dismissed it as just another part of her inner-dialogue. But what made this voice distinct is that some of what it said were harsh but weirdly specific opinions directed at the TV-headed star. It may be very quiet, and she couldn't always make it out, but she had subconsciously caught onto a few words it repeated: RTV. Puzzles. Fraud. Careful. Remember. SMG3. Better.

Wasn’t she supposed to like Mr. Puzzles? Everyone else liked him, the whole world had joined his fanclub. And she wanted to join in the fun, after all she had no reason not to. Yet, she still caught herself having these traitorous thoughts. She had tried not to think of it.

It had made no sense before, and she dismissed her reservations as unfair and unfounded. She had never even met Mr. Puzzles anyway. But now that she was here, with a clear view of the owner of Puzzlevision, she wasn’t so sure anymore. At first, when she saw him greeting them all at the door, her heart skipped a beat with excitement. But now, the more she thought about him, and the longer he stood up on the Balcony, looking down at them, her heart rate ever-so-slightly climbed, and her ribbons began to stiffen and coil tighter around her waist. 

Grinnames had always seen Mr. Puzzles as a glamorous, entertaining, and confident figure, whenever she saw him on the covers of magazines and taking up space on her screens when sitting down to watch Puzzlevision. And although she admired his work and his bombastic persona, like most glamorous figures, she always scrutinized him. 

For most celebrities she saw, it was better to believe that they were only adopting a ready-made persona for entertainment, while hiding their real self, which was most definitely filled with quirks and flaws that would ultimately bring down their market value. And sometimes, they might even be terrible people. She would rather not put someone on a high, high pedestal, just to be let down. Everyone, to some degree, put on masks. She was no different. Celebrities just had more uses for their masks, and more consequences if their mask ever slipped.

Best case scenario, Mr. Puzzles could be just a regular old man that also just so happened to produce wonderful, well-crafted shows. Maybe he stubbed his toe on chairs, laughed about dumb things with his friends, and cried himself to sleep at least once. 

But Mr. Puzzles was also an authority figure. And she had very little faith in authority figures. She knew she was biased, but after what happened in [REDACTED], she told herself that she was very much justified in never believing in mortal kings, CEOs, and Minecraft Youtubers ever again. 

Worst case scenario, her crack-headed theory was right, and being pretty was actually heavily correlated with being insanely suspicious. Before, it had just been a fun but unlikely possibility that she had laughed about and brushed off. But now that she had seen the star of Puzzlevision up close, she had more reasons to believe that maybe these suspicions she had about Puzzlevision were not so unreasonable after all.

The man before her oozed arrogance and shady vibes. He had to be a supervillain, the type that everyone loved because he was so unfairly handsome and charismatic. Plus he wore a cape. What kind of regular CEO presents himself like that? Not that she would judge him if he was a villain. It wasn’t like she didn’t have her own share of skeletons in the closet. And supervillains, even real-life ones, were cool as heck. 

But that could also mean that she was in actual real danger. And not all supervillains were cool. She could accept being taken down by a badass, powerful, handsome devil. But she refused to be taken down by a possible degenerate that stalked unsuspecting people on screens. That would be just too humiliating, and she was not taking her chances. 

She began to tap her foot in agitation. Her ribbons wound tighter, and the forked tendrils behind her were writhing at a quickening frequency. They were losing their soft, wavy shape, and instead curling into sharp, defensive angles, like bacon in a pan. 

Her thoughts raced faster. Her ribbons usually didn’t lie to her. They were the most trustworthy thing she knew, despite only being an extension of herself. They were especially sensitive to danger, even if she wasn’t completely aware of it. And if she really was in danger, she could not let the enemy know that she knew. 

 Grinnames shook her head, took a deep breath, and lightly clapped her cheeks. With all the subtlety she could muster, she slowly reached for, snatched up her ribbons and tried her best to smooth them out. After a moment, her ribbons went still, but still remained curled up into hooks at the ends, ready to strike a moment's notice.

“…So feel free to turn to Chris, Swagmaster or Lucian at all times.”

She snapped out of her spiraling thoughts by the mention of those names. She blinked in surprise and delight. Her old co-workers, Swag and Chris, were here?! She had to go say hello when she could! It was almost impossible to catch them nowadays, since they were constantly switching jobs! And to her small relief, this little wake-up call had calmed her down further. Just enough to look… normal. Her ribbons were no longer held at the ready, but were now unfurled and waving like gentle flags in the breeze at the sight of familiar faces. (And one new face between them, that was probably the one Mr. Puzzles called Lucian. She hoped that Swag and Chris weren’t too hard on the new blood. Perhaps they could be friends!)

She stole a glance up at RTV Mr. Puzzles. It seemed like he didn’t notice a thing, and was too busy wrapped up in his own voice as he introduced the available departments for the tour. She couldn’t help it as a grotesque, maniacal grin stretched across her face. She cackled under her breath. She let fun, intrusive, goblin thoughts overtake her brain, pushing her anxiety aside, and replacing it with cheek and cartoonish confidence.

“Stupid old man,” she chuckled to herself. “I have bamboozled you, ehe! You don’t see that I have fooled you with my master anxiety-calming techniques! Now that I have reasons to think you’re a creep, I won’t feel as bad if I mess with you later!”

She would keep her sneaking suspicions in the back of her mind. HOWEVER! She was not here to be an overthinking little weirdo, she was here to see everything and touch everything and eat everything, dammit! She would play along for now. With a regained spring in her step, she briskly walked forward to go join the rest of the tour guests in their vote. Sure, she had every right to be suspicious. She was sure of that now, and had accepted it. But that did not mean she had to worry. Everyone had secrets, and maybe he was a super cool villain. She could honestly actually like him if that were true.

Besides, he was just one old man. She had beaten worse than him with her eyes closed. If the worst came to pass, she would be ready, with a smile on her face. What could he possibly do to her?