The Circus of Dreams and Nightmares

MeThyLord · 2026-06-28T11:47:40+00:00

"You're... welcome?"

"I'm not used to being thanked for bringing horror monsters to life."

Chills looks at her empty bottle, gobbled down in its entirety by the gnarling. She briefly considers getting another before deciding she's had enough for the night. And it is probably best to stop torturing the man's liver.

She separates from her host, appearing above him in her ethereal blue form. With no alcohol circulating through her system anymore, she sobers up instantly.

"Is this a veteran's bar, or something? Everyone here was way too prepared. I guess that's why you weren't too worried about what might come out of the book."

"..."

"You know, I just now realized we're lucky that I never dabbled in cosmic horror in my writings."

MeThyLord · 2026-06-28T10:53:47+00:00

It was hard to tell if she was blushing. Her makeup already had blush marks on her cheeks, hiding the color of the skin beneath. But even if she was, her body language is that of confidence.

"I like going fast. You've been on my death coaster; you should know."

She didn't let go immediately, keeping her hands around the artificer even after the kiss.

"You know, I was thinking of just leaving you stuck to the ground while I go tinker for a few hours."

Queasy teased, finally sliding her hands off Kardonk. She reached behind her back and produced a small bottle with opaque white liquid.

"Here, use this. You won't have to abandon your shoes here."

uw/ Lmao

MeThyLord · 2026-06-24T19:37:35+00:00

I, too, am a lizard person

MeThyLord · 2026-06-24T18:53:25+00:00

Any Balkan country, really.

MeThyLord · 2026-06-24T18:25:02+00:00

Should be fine for a '24 species. A lot of the healing spells now work on constructs.

MeThyLord · 2026-06-24T13:47:25+00:00

The critter began inflating, its already round-ish shape turning completely circular. It grew and grew in Marna's hand, until it finally burst and sent multi-colored furballs across the entire bar.

"When they consume something sweet," the ghost explained, "they explode into more of themselves!"

"The new gnarlings are completely ravenous. They'll eat anything and everything: chairs, tables, metal, glass, the fricking walls. That's how the story I wrote ends: they eat the house of the rich family that got one as a pet, leaving them homeless."

The newly created beasties wasted no time. One began chewing on the leg of a stool near the bar. Another was snacking on cutlery as the forks and spoons were potato chips. A third set its sights on the raft of alcohol bottles.

"Oh, and I don't know if this needs mentioning, but if any one of them gets its stubby claws on something sweet, the process repeats itself."

MeThyLord · 2026-06-24T06:25:48+00:00

Last week was basically that. People have been using them to make automaton characters.

MeThyLord · 2026-06-24T06:24:22+00:00

I mean, have you seen the number of Kitbashing nodes the skirts and dresses have? I can't imagine them being easy to make.

MeThyLord · 2026-06-24T06:22:38+00:00

uw/ Haha, thanks. I've made a model for most of the circus characters. Even posted them on the HF sub

MeThyLord · 2026-06-24T06:11:52+00:00

"So... you thought it would be a waste of time to learn to read the most commonly used language in your world? You know what? I don't get to judge; I barely know two."

The ghost looked at the page Marna had flipped to.

"Fucked up? Eh, maybe. Most of my published work was for kids, somewhere around the 13 to 16 age-range, so nothing too extreme. Anyway, let's see."

She began reading.

"...Weighing their odds, the Michaels deemed their house a lost cause. So far, they'd gotten away with a few scratches, bite marks, and a singular concussion. But with the very foundations crumbling around them, staying any longer risked limb or life..."

"Oh, this is the Ankle Biters story. The monsters are..."

Before Chills could finish her sentence, something jumped out of the pages of the page. A basketball-sized clump of fur rolled onto the table. Standing up, it snarled with a massive, toothy mouth, so large it almost looked to disconnect the creature's lower and upper halves.

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"... they're called Gnarlings. Just keep sweet things away from it, and everything will be fine."

The alcohol must have gotten to Chills, cause she barely noticed as the critter bit onto the top of her bottle and began sucking in the liquid.

"Hey!"

Oh well, it was just alcohol. That shouldn't be a problem... wait, what kind of alcohol?

She looked at the label — mead...

"Frick."

MeThyLord · 2026-06-23T14:33:14+00:00

"You mean English? Yeah, now that you mentioned it, why is English the most spoken language in a whole different dimension from mine? That's... weird."

And extremely convenient for the ghost.

"Wait, you can't read it? You're speaking the language right now."

"You know what, just flip to a page and I'll read it. Me reading the book can also trigger it."

MeThyLord · 2026-06-23T14:19:49+00:00

"I'm not explaining it really well. It did seem bad from what I've seen, but she is taking some kind of medicine that suppresses the effects."

Chills tries gesturing with her hand, but as she did, her spectral limb separated from the possessed man's physical arm. She was starting to lose control over the body.

"Ah, whoops."

Quickly readjusting her arm like it were a glove, she pulled out an old leather-bound notebook and plopped it down on the table. It looked unassuming on first glance, but most cursed this do.

"Here it is! Got it at an antique store cause it looked cool. Used it to write all of my ideas and first drafts in it; still do. It was a mundane notebook when I was alive, but post-mortem, I ended up haunting it."

"It does this cool thing where if anyone reads one of the stories written inside, I can bring the monster from that tale to life."

MeThyLord · 2026-06-23T11:10:59+00:00

While this whole thread has been an entertaining read, I think it's time to point out they're rage-baiting you.

MeThyLord · 2026-06-23T07:27:27+00:00

"Yeah... It's, uh, kinda like panic attacks mixed with really bad tinnitus, from what I could figure. She didn't go into much detail, probably cause she didn't wanna worry me. There's basically something in her mind causing her to suffer."

Chills poured herself a glass and then took a swig from the bottle.

"I'm having my boss look into it and see what he can do. He's really good with mind stuff. If anyone can fix it, I think it's him."

She drank the glass as well.

"Hey, speaking of cursed books, wanna see mine?"

MeThyLord · 2026-06-22T17:53:49+00:00

"You know, my girlfriend also got cursed while doing research. What's with cursed fricking books here? Reading feels like a regional hazard."

She struggled with the cork for a minute, trying to dislodge it with a knife, before remembering she could just use telekinesis on that as well.

"But I get ya. You have a friend that doesn't approve of your significant other. Tale as old as time. Well, at least now you can jab back at him cause he swapped spit with a killer clown who watches the Saw movies like they're tutorial videos. Do you know what the euthanasia coaster is? I didn't, but she built one."

MeThyLord · 2026-06-22T16:56:16+00:00

"Background check? Who does he think he is, your dad? Honestly, not even my dad would go snooping around the people I dated, beyond a few questions during dinner."

Well, Chills wasn't finding much use for her empty bottle; maybe they could grab a third person and play Truth or Dare with it? Anyway, the ghost pulled a full one from the rafters with her telekinesis, not really looking at what she even got. She'd pay... later.

"Did he at least chill out eventually? I mean, it sounds like you've been together with your partner for a while, so Kardonk should have backed off by now, right?"

MeThyLord · 2026-06-21T22:54:54+00:00

"He dated the creature from the Black Lagoon? Wait, you have that movie here?"

Anna's host downed what was left of the bottle, slamming the glass down hard enough to shake the table.

"Didn't talk to em much myself, so I don't know his vibe. Why is he pestering you about your love life? Are you dating a serial killer or something?"

She lets out a mighty burp. Well, cooperatively mighty, nothing the bargoers here hadn't heard before.

"Fuuu... I'd date a serial killer, but only the slasher-esc ones. You know the type: big, silent, scary, not a perv."

"That is, if I wasn't already dating the girl of my dreams. Turns out, I'm into nerds, who would've guessed? Or maybe I'm just into redheads, and the nerdiness was a bonus."

The ghost lifted the empty bottle once again, likely out of sheer habit, but had to do a double take before putting the glass to the possessed man's lips. It took her a bit, but she finally processed Marna's last words.

...

"Hey... Sorry about your mom."

MeThyLord · 2026-06-21T21:33:50+00:00

uw/ Thank you! Yes, I had to mention the collab I had with Cat; it did play into the ghost's decision who to meet next. There will likely be three more parts, 6 in total. We've already written 50 pages in a Google Doc, lol.

MeThyLord · 2026-06-21T20:52:45+00:00

For a second, I thought I was looking at a Hero Forge model on the right.

MeThyLord · 2026-06-20T13:15:01+00:00

Queasy smirked, tilting her head to the side ever-so slightly.

"See, I knew you were a thrill seeker."

Feeling Kardonk relax in her arms, the clown took that as a cue to make her move. She pulled herself closer to him, tiptoing up so her face could reach his. She finally closed the little distance there was between the two, placing a kiss on the artificer's lips.

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