Author: kye

You’re Hired! (commission)

A commission for a friend!

As far as Ollie knew, the old Bucky’s Starcade arcade had been abandoned for decades. At least as far back as his dad’s childhood, the empty space on Coral Street had stood stark, and abandoned – slowly decaying away as the town around it moved on, bright and growing.

Maybe it was the faded announcements of 70s retro-games and the promise of unexplored urban space that drew the dog in – or maybe, just maybe, Ollie wanted to be the first to step inside for who knew how long. Maybe they’d always been curious what lay behind the boarded up windows and fogged over front door, permanently affixed with a “Sorry, We’re Closed” sign that stood in stark contrast to the building with its bright reds and whites.

So, it was with a frankly brave amount of courage that the dog pushed open the front door one sunny afternoon, tugging their phone free of their pocket and clicking on the flashlight. The lock had rusted through, revealing a room full of dusty arcade games in various states of disrepair… but, oddly, nowhere near as bad as nearly fifty years of neglect would have suggested. It looked almost… new?

Bewilderingly so, as Ollie realized the place was less of an arcade and more of a play… center? Nothing outside had suggested this – maybe an owner or the company that’d run the place had kept it clean, inside?

As the dog’s eyes adjusted to the dark, they realized a few things. First, the place apparently still had power – red exit signs glowing in the dark, a little faded but definitely intact.

Second, the arcade had a few oddly out-of-place items scattered around, like an old ball pit and a plastic play place. Still, as Ollie wandered around, snapping a few photos to show his friends later, the place felt… homey. Nostalgic, in a way the dog couldn’t really quite place. It must’ve been quite the hangout spot in its heyday, all wood grain and old posters. Oddly enough, most of the posters included a yellow bunny – clearly the place’s mascot – drifting around cartoon stars, or dressed in almost Flash Gordon-esque spacesuits. There’d even been a statue of it near the entrance, tall and oddly… shiny.

The dog was in the middle of photographing an old Space Ace machine when, to his incredible surprise (and slight horror) the lights turned on. First a bright white, then… yellowing?

Bright, clearly relatively new – and a sign that this place wasn’t quite abandoned, yet. Ollie’s thoughts shot to it having a security guard, the dog spinning around to explain how he’d definitely just gotten lost and wanted to go home…

…and coming face to face with one of the strangest sights he’d ever seen. A big, slightly see-through tummy, multicolored shapes scattered around inside. Ollie’s gaze drifted up, across squeaky paws and arms, to the huge, grinning face of a bunny.

An enormous, ten foot tall inflatable bunny, yellowing the fluorescent lights shining down through it. The mascot statue hadn’t been a statue at all?!

“UH?”

“A new hire?! And I wasn’t TOLD?”

“YOU TALK?”

Ollie was so taken aback, in fact, that he froze in place – just in time for the huge bunny to heft him up under the arms, lifting the bewildered dog to eye-level.

“Where’s your outfit? You’re not in uniform!”

“I don’t work here-!” He protested, confused.

The bunny clearly wasn’t listening – as, with a wink, it opened wide, stuffing the puppy in with all the care of someone taking a bite out of their lunch.

The slick plastic was about impossible for Ollie to find a grip on, pushing against the stretchy vinyl and only managing to deform it slightly. It also didn’t help, unfortunately, that the phone slipped out of his pocket, sliding away onto the carpeted floor of the arcade as its owner was swallowed with a loud, greedy squirk.

Ollie didn’t fall far, landing with a thud in the huge toy’s tummy amidst a veritable sea of plastic balls.

“LET ME OUT,” he shouted, pressing his paws into the interior of its tummy, but… to no avail. In fact, the act of doing so made his paws feel odd.

Weird. Sticky?

With a huff, Ollie plopped down on the “floor”, kicking a few balls away. Surely somebody would see him in here?

He thought about calling for help, but… the phone laying in view outside of the toy rabbit crossed that off the list. Maybe he could…

Could.

Ollie frowned. His thoughts, for some reason, kept returning to toys. Toy rabbits. Toy dogs?

It confused him, enough that he rubbed his chin-

Squirk.

Ollie blinked, glancing down – and blanched, as much as a white-furred dog could. His tummy, before his very eyes, had begun to swell. A new bump had appeared in the middle, tenting his shirt outwards, and with shaky hands he tugged the fabric back to reveal a very soft and slightly pink inflatable valve, quietly hissing as air began to fill the dog’s midsection.

T-The toy had to be doing this, right? He had to… to…!

Squeaking, Ollie stood up – legs almost giving out as he realized they, too, had begun to become simple plastic and air, filling out his shorts as the waistband began to force pressure into his tail.

Climbing was out of the question, it was far too steep and slick – and the bunny toy hadn’t moved in a little while.

It seemed content to watch.

“Let me out!”

No reply came, aside from a big, bucktoothed grin.

The changes climbed downwards, Ollie’s toes sticking together as his footpaws inflated into big, toyish paws with painted-on pawpads, tummy riding his shirt up as a brand new barcode faded in on their see-through side.

“P-Please?”

Higher it climbed, spreading down his arms in a cascade of squeaks and hissing as it met the already-changed paws from the dog’s earlier contact with the tummy, rendering their paws largely entertainment use only.

Their clothes, too, seemed to have begun to succumb – shorts tearing down the sides as his air-filled thighs simply proved too full to hold, shirt flattening out as it slowly shifted from real, red fabric to a new printed-on red-and-white striped pattern on the inflatable toy dog Ollie was becoming!

Ollie’s neck was next, gaining a printed-on big blue collar as his mouth began to taste ever so faintly of vinyl – and, as the changes reached his head, the puppy was stricken with the worst case of lightheadedness he’d ever felt.

In… fact, all he seemed to be able to think of was how nice it was to be a toy. Right?

He’d been hired today as one, after all. Can’t reopen an entertainment business without entertainers…?

Ollie’s paws slowly raised to his face, cupping his snout as it swelled and stretched and reshaped into a cartoonish vinyl recreation of itself, glasses molding themselves perfectly into place with only the faintest of painted-on reflections, and, after a few moments, it was finished.

The dazed toy plopped down on the ruins of his shorts, swaying slightly.

“Well, someone’s ready for their first shift,” The big toybunny giggled, giving its tummy a pat.

“Welcome aboard!”

Salvage Trouble (commission)

A commission for @vanillayote on twitter!

“Delivery for… uh, Ran?”

The coyote blinked, looking up from their desk at the newcomer who was hanging around the entrance to the salvage shop, a hovering dolly loaded with a crate or two of miscellaneous junk drifting behind him like a lost duckling.

“…Rain?”

“…Sure,” The delivery man shrugged, holding the pad out as the coyote crossed the shop and placed a palm against it. It dinged a confirmation chime, lighting up bright green as the dolly hovered inside – and, unceremoniously, dumped the boxes on the floor.

“Have a good day!” The delivery man said cheerily, turning on a heel and wandering back out into the busy exterior of the station’s dock district – leaving the confused coyote and the two mystery boxes in the middle of his shop, standing out starkly as clean and white against the shelves upon shelves of random starship parts and scrap they’d managed to accrue over the last year and a half, mostly from the various scrappers and salvagers who frequented the docks.

Maybe that was who’d left these for them?

Rain hefted one of the crates, peeking at the label – merely listing where it was to be delivered and to who, but… little else. Their contents were marked as scrap, so, at the very least, he had new inventory… but…

After a few moments, Rain simply shrugged. Oh, well. A good samaritan sending leftovers to be resold wasn’t exactly a bad thing, was it?

They did have to at the very least sort through it, though – which was where their own dolly came into play, scooping the two crates up and carrying them into the back for proper inventory and sorting.

The first few pieces they’d gone through were standard fare – burnt out control circuits, a valve for a MKXIV plasma conduit on an old backup reactor, a few old couplings – but, as they made it to the second crate and sent their few helper drones away to place the first crate’s new inventory in its proper places, something caught their eye.

Sitting atop the contents of the second crate was a curious square object – brassy and rectangular, inset with three sets of vertical blue lines. It reminded them vaguely of some sort of datapad, but… seemed off, somehow. 

Curious, Rain plucked the object from the pile. It was surprisingly heavy, given its size – but lighter than the materials would’ve implied, already giving the junk dealer some ideas about composition – and possible sale prices. 

At least, they were; their paw suddenly exploding outwards into a couch cushion sized inflatable paw slightly ruined that train of thought.

“WHAT.”

The tiny object was catapulted into the front of the store, landing in a pile of junk with a clatter – as Rain’s predicament, naturally, began to worsen. Their outfit began to tighten as his body underneath began to expand, fur flattening out into soft, pliable plastic – their attempts to tug at it with his still-unchanged paw eliciting enough squeaks to give the confused coyote enough clues to piece together what exactly might’ve been happening.

“OH THIS SUCKS,” Rain shouted to nobody in particular as their pant legs shredded, new inflatable thighs expanding outwards until they were practically the size of chairs themselves, the coyote managing to stumble and squeeze their way back out into the front of the store just in time for their tail to knock over a few shelves, expanding out into a ridiculous size and gaining a brand new valve of its own.

They tried to scramble for the pile of junk they’d seen the little device land inside, only to suddenly feel their midsection wedge against the ceiling – the loud hiss of expanding plastic playing about the coyote’s ears as they scrambled against the floor, squeaking and squirking without moving an inch. Then, suddenly, their other paw followed suit – rocketing outwards into a shelf to their left, knocking the shelf over with a loud clatter before it began expanding outwards and upwards, overshadowing the coyote’s still normal-sized chest and head! At least, until the hissing suddenly grew louder.

And closer.

Uh-oh.

With a loud FWOOMP, Rain’s muzzle suddenly shot outwards – printing itself on as a huge expanse of softly rounded plastic, cheeks falling victim a moment later! 

“MMPH?” The coyote squeaked in protest – but, as expected, it wasn’t of much help. Their ears followed a moment later, and as the hissing grew even louder, Rain found that they’d become an enormous inflatable coyote – and at the rate they were expanding, there wouldn’t be an inch left in the already cramped and mostly-filled store that they hadn’t covered…!

A few hours later, a rabbit stepped off of the station’s lift – squinting at their little wristpad for the map the dockmaster had given them. A few turns, a trip down the stars, and some walking later, and they felt as if they should have arrived… right? Wasn’t the salvage shop supposed to be… 

They skidded to a stop, glancing first at the store in front of them – and then through the glass, a huge slightly-see-through mass of… something, squishing up against it.

A huge black nose and a pair of worried eyes were pressed up to the front doors of the shop, bulging out into the station’s walkway ever so slightly.

“…I think I’ll come back later?” The rabbit managed, blinking a few times.

“You, uh, seem… busy.”

Can You Handle It (commission)

It was a chilly Spring day in the local park, as far as Chaotic was concerned. Normally, he’d have been at home bundled up – a warm cup of hot chocolate, a movie, perhaps – but, duty called – and so, he was out wandering along the old concrete paths rounding the lake, daydreaming as his wares bounced and bumped and shimmied in the bright sunshine and wind overhead.

Chaotic, of course, was a balloon vendor – a dream job, as far as he was concerned. Set your own hours, stop when your day’s merchandise is gone… and, well, balloons.

Who didn’t like balloons?

Chaotic definitely did. In fact, he was so lost in daydreaming about balloons that he’d almost entirely missed the rabbit sleepily wandering down the path ahead, almost tripping over them!

“S-Sorry!” Chaotic managed, catching his balance and breath as the bunny glanced between his waist, where the many, many strings were tied – and the raccoon himself.

“S’okay?” The rabbit offered – though, now that Chaotic really looked – it wasn’t your standard fluff-and-fur affair. This rabbit was soft, little tag sticking out of its tail – a plushie rabbit?

Oh, well. He’d met weirder, around here. 

Still, as the wind picked up, the strings began to tug slightly on Chaotic’s belt, the raccoon having to struggle a little just to manage to keep his footing – to say nothing of how blushy it might’ve made him if he hadn’t just barely managed to keep it under wraps.

For a second, he imagined himself being carried off – drifting away above the trees, held up by the strings and wind and sky.

“…Hello?”

Chaotic blinked, feeling how warm his cheeks had gotten. Oops.

“U-Uh, yes?”

“I said, are you selling those or just walking around with them?”

The bunny thumped one of their little paws, one ear drooping a little as they tilted their head at him. 

“I, uh, yeah? I sell them, dollar apiece.”

“…Hm!”

The rabbit brought a paw to their chin, tapping it twice. “I’ll take one, sure?”

“Okay, which one would you like?”

Chaotic shuffled slightly. He hadn’t had as much variety as he’d have liked in his stock this morning, but… oh well. Balloons were balloons, after all? He had huge yellow ones, a few red ones, and a lot of hearts for nearby Valentine’s day – surely the rabbit would be able to pick something?

Finally, after a moment, the rabbit pointed. “That one!”

…Except, they hadn’t pointed up at the bundle at all. Following their finger, Chaotic realized it was… about level with his tummy, more or less.

“Wha-“

The instant he began to ask what that even meant, a loud hiss reached his ears – and, as he glanced down in surprise and bewilderment, his tummy began to expand right out of his shirt! Fluffy at first, it soon sprouted a little plastic valve as the fur around it began to mat down into soft, raccoon patterned vinyl, leaving the flustered raccoon to sputter and stammer as the plushie bunny giggled away.

“S-Stop this!” Chaotic finally managed, just as his pants began to tighten as his legs swelled out, shoes giving up the ghost as his footpaws sprung outwards due to the air pressure within – painting themselves on as rough inflatable approximations of the real thing. His tail, too, didn’t escape the changes – inflating from base to tip as the fur softened and melted away into just more vinyl, seams popping up where the raccoon’s legs and tail met his increasingly rounded and hollow midsection.

“I mean, you did ask,” The rabbit offered, watching curiously as the wind began to gust again – this time, catching the raccoon off guard as it dragged him a few feet backwards, the lifting power of the balloons growing with each passing second as yet more of him turned to simple plastic and air!

Thinking quickly, he decided he’d simply untie the bundle before it was too late – and, glancing backwards to gauge where they were, realized two things.

The first being that the balloons were no longer tied to his belt – but instead neatly tied around both of the little plastic handles now sprouting from his lower back, soft and plasticine like an increasing amount of him now was.

The second, was that he had handles. Inflatable pooltoy handles, and, try as he might, he just couldn’t reach them.

“U-Uh, can you… help?” Chaotic managed to squeak out, watching his handpaws begin to swell into bappy inflatable mitts just as his footpaws had, arms swelling up until his shirt felt like it was held on by threads.

“With what?” The rabbit asked, amused.

“…Untie these?”

“Hmm.”

The bunny wandered around to peek at the handles, just as the changes began to creep up to Chaotic’s neck – and, as his snout flattened out into a smiling, painted-on grin, the bunny giggled.

“…Nah, I think it suits you!”

Chaotic started to protest, but just as he began to grumble – the wind, once again, picked up.

This time, Chaotic’s paws skidded along the soft grass as the raccoon struggled to find purchase, eyes darting between the bunny and the sky in an attempt to communicate the problem – but if the plushie noticed, they didn’t say anything.

The helium in the balloons tugged and tugged as the wind blew, until, finally, Chaotic felt his paws leave the ground completely. An inch at first, then two – then six, a few feet!

For a moment, he almost got caught in the trees overhead – holding onto the branches for dear life, even as his paws squeaked and squirked against the branches without any dexterity or grip – until, with a mighty tug, the wind yanked him free.

“MMPH!” He called out, cheeks burning red even through vinyl – but he was simply too high up, too light.

Up into the early afternoon air he drifted, buffeted about by the wind as he listened to the bumps and squeaks of balloons and vibrations of strings, watching the green park below slowly recede as the sky opened up around him.

Far down below, watching the raccoon recede into the wild blue until there was little more than a dot, the bunny giggled – cupping their paws around their own snout.

“Have a nice flight!”

Thinking to themselves, they dug around in a pocket – and dropped a dollar on the spot the raccoon had been standing a few moments earlier.After all, they had gotten a balloon, right?

Hula, Me? (commission)

A commission I wrote for @AlkaliGnoll on twitter!

“…Wow.”

Alkali blinked, glancing into the closet they’d just managed to wrench open – and taking a step back as several years worth of box contents and decorations spilled forth, coating the floor in a fine layer of christmas cheer – and halloween cheer, and… easter decorations?

When had they even decorated for Easter?

Shrugging to themself, the deer stepped inside; if they didn’t manage to clean even a little of this up today, it’d bug them for weeks – why not get a head start while they were thinking about it?

So, it began – dusting, sorting, unpacking of old boxes and general reorganization, not even the shelves above escaped the deer’s mood for cleaning, being thoroughly reordered and scrubbed until they looked practically brand new!

It took them almost all afternoon, but soon enough the closet was nearly spotless, clutter reduced to a rough memory and a few stray spots of piled-up items with nowhere to go!

“Phew!” Alkali chuckled to themself, tugging their shirt down from its spot as an impromptu dust mask and glancing around. Perfect! Not a thing out of order, aside from…

The deer frowned, taking a step deeper into the closet. Leaned up against the far wall of the walk-in closet was a curiously bright and out of place… hula hoop, winged with contrasting stripes of yellow and white. It didn’t fit in with the surrounding items at all, standing out among scattered decorative stocking holders and a small inflatable porch santa like a sore thumb!

Tugging it free of the pile of items it had been largely submerged within, the deer made their way out of the closet to take a closer look – it was… well. A hula hoop?

An adult sized, unfamiliar hula hoop they didn’t remember buying in the slightest. In fact, Alkali couldn’t even remember the last time they’d used one – maybe it’d been a gift they’d forgotten about?

But, then again, who’d gift them a hula hoop?

The longer the deer held it, the more the urge to at the very least try it out grew – after all, that’s what hoops were for, right? Hula hooping?

Quickly, the deer peeked out into the hallway – first left, then right, just in case.

Assured that the coast was clear, they let the hula hoop drop to the floor and stepped inside – and, instantly, were struck by the strangest sensation they’d ever felt. It was as if the bottoms of their hooves had fallen asleep – though, just as easily, it could’ve been the carpet. Right? Right.

Bending down, Alkali grabbed the sides of the hula hoop and tugged it upwards towards their waist – and instantly regretted it, dizziness striking them out of nowhere as their height quite literally halved!

The hoop fell to the floor as they let go of it, Alkali blinking away the dizziness and glancing down at themself – and seeing their usual deer self, and the hoop denting the soft carpet below.

“…Huh?” They wondered aloud, before, cautiously, grabbing the hula hoop and tugging it slowly upwards, wondering if maybe skipping lunch to keep cleaning had been a bad idea.

To their chagrin, the higher the hoop traveled the worse the odd falling-asleep sensation grew – finally drawing their gaze downwards as the hoop reached their waist. Below the hoop’s plastic boundary, was… someone else.

Alkali blinked, wondering for a moment if he’d fallen asleep.

Two little yellow and white paws were denting the carpet – clearly made of felt and stuffed, stitching running up the sides of the two proportionally tiny legs to a waist the ring hadn’t revealed – and back, to a small, un-cervine like tail, a little plush tag with a star on it jutting out from one of their thighs.

“…UH.”

Normally, they would’ve dropped the ring right then and there – but, something about it was captivating. After all, when they’d passed back through it before they’d changed back, right?

Surely they would this time, too?

Gripping the hula hoop’s sides, Alkali tugged upwards – the ring passing over their tummy, their chest, and up their arms – until, with a little clack, it wedged against the deer’s antlers, brand new plush rabbit ears flopping free of the ring as the transformation passed above them. Their clothes collapsed to the floor, many sizes too large and not even close to the right shape, anymore.

“Oh, come on!” Alkali complained in a voice that wasn’t theirs, brand new inklings of a lisp tickling at their voice as they began to adjust to the little plastic bucktooth now cutely wedged into their soft, felt muzzle.

They rattled the hoop, trying to push it just an inch higher – before, with a rather unsatisfying pop, it came free – and the plushie rabbit plopped to the floor, barely three and a half feet tall and oh so soft.

“W-Wow!” Alkali exclaimed in delight, feeling themself over with brand new soft plushie paws – and brushing their new mop of bright blond hair out of their eyes, squinting down at the tag.

In a tiny, looping bright blue font, it read the name “Cai” – along with, naturally, “machine washable”, and “100% cotton”.

“H-Hi!” Alkali practiced, bringing themself up to their full height and puffing their tiny plushie chest out.

“I’m…” They squinted at the tag.

“Cai!”

New Merchandise Wanted (commission)

A commission for @snouttalk on twitter!

“Help Wanted.”

…What kind of pool supply store hired in January, anyway? Was there a demand for pool stuff in the off season?

Arno frowned, crossing their arms. Heated pools, maybe. Who knew.

Shrugging to themselves, the poodle pushed open the door – intent on, at the very least, asking. Couldn’t hurt, right?

The problem was, the store appeared… closed. Completely closed, as if it had been abandoned over the past year entirely – empty shelves aside from a few dusty boxes, a cobweb here and there. It definitely didn’t fit with the “We’re Open!” sign cheerfully plastered to the front door, which had, apparently, been much dustier on the inside than out.

“Uh. Hello?”

There’s no reply, beyond the jingling of the bells as the door shut behind them.

This store clearly had been closed for months, at least – half-packed boxes of pool supplies and various cleaning chemicals scattered about in haphazard piles, various toys and floats neatly packed in plastic and stacked for boxes they’d never been placed inside of.

A fine layer of dust coated everything they could see, meaning… there was almost certainly nobody here to stop them from taking a look around, right?

There were aisle after aisle of empty or mostly empty shelves as the poodle wandered around, hoping maybe to find something worth keeping – after all, the place had clearly been left unlocked for a reason. Maybe they were hoping someone would take the stock they couldn’t?

Finally, after almost an hour of exploring, Arno was bored, and they had plenty of other things to get done before the day was over.

They crossed the store for the last time, stepping over a few discarded yellow pieces of folded-up vinyl, before pressing a paw to the door’s handle and pushing.

It… didn’t budge.

Arno tried again, giving it a little more force – but, despite the added elbow grease, the door was… locked?

How could it have locked?!

Grumbling, the poodle turned to look for a rear entrance in the back, stomping back across the store’s floor towards the employees only door – only to almost immediately trip over a discarded box.

Down the poodle went, falling to the floor with a loud, shelf-shaking thud – where they lay for a moment, dazed.

When Arno finally sat back up, they noticed two things almost immediately. The first being that the lights, somehow, had come on – and the second being that something soft and plastic was under their shirt on their tummy, tenting it slightly.

Confused, the poodle lifted their shirt to peek – spotting, to their immense surprise, a small, plastic valve sprouting from where their belly button was just a few moments earlier – fur around it matted down and… shiny?

A cautious poke yielded a shocking sqrrk of poodle pawpad against vinyl plastic, which, before their very eyes, began to spread!

“U-Uh, what? Hello?”

Arno’s first instinct was to try and tug the valve off – but all that did was introduce them to the strange sensation of their newly plasticized skin tugging along with it, stretching and protesting as the skin around it began to change even faster! It swept down below their waistline in just moments, the cool, creeping sensation of vinyl crawling up their chest and around to their back as the poodle scrambled to their feet!

Immediately their balance was thrown off as one of their paws practically exploded outwards into a puffy inflatable poodle footpaw, the legs of their shorts starting to tighten as seams worked their way down the poodle’s legs, the hissing of air filling the dog’s ears as they swelled outwards uniformly, becoming more toyishly proportioned!

The other footpaw followed suit quickly after, along with Arno’s tail – swelling from base to tip like a balloon as, unseen, Arno’s thigh gained a brand new safety warning label.

Every toy has to be safety compliant, after all.

With a loud ripping sound the poodle’s shorts finally gave up the ghost, Arno’s chest soon putting their shirt to the test soon after as seams began to crawl down the poodle’s arms as they waddled about, trying their best to find some way of stopping the changes or to remove the valve behind it all – in vain, much to their chagrin.

Pushing open the door to the employee area, Arno stumbled about as their neck began to swell, fingers mitting together into large pooltoy paws as they finished changing. Maybe if they got out of the store they’d stop changing?

They picked the first exit-looking door they saw as their ears began to swell, hissing loudly as they filled with air – only to discover it was a bathroom.

Grabbing the sink, they stared into the mirror just in time to watch their muzzle plastic over, the corners of their mouth tugging themselves first into a smirk – and then a wide, cartoony grin, which immediately froze into place!

It was over in an instant – and soon enough an inflatable poodle was staring at themselves in an old dusty mirror, a grinning, static face staring back.

“MMph?!”

They tried one last time to tug the valve free, a last-ditch effort to maybe, just maybe, change back – but only managed to uncap it, the worrying hiss of escaping air reaching their ears just as one of their footpaws began to crumple.

Uh-oh.

Shuffling out into the hallway, the inflatable poodle managed to make it back out into the store, going flatter with each step…

…only to collapse completely just by the other discarded toys, a flat pile of black and gold plastic, grinning up at the ceiling.

Werecritter? Therecritter (commission)

A commission for my pal @Galuade on twitter!

The server hadn’t been listed – in fact, what few logs she could pull showed it was last active nearly a decade ago. 

As the sendaen wandered out of the world spawn, though, she could definitely see why – this place was creepy. It had evidently been a Halloween world at some point, consisting mostly of sprawling, dimly lit and cobweb-scattered hallways and darkened parlors. Odd portraits hung here and there, reminiscent of past visitors and server admins long gone; it was a curiously epitaphic display, even as Lazuli peeked into the practically antiquated code holding this place together.

It was a miracle it was still even online after how long it’d spent dormant – someone really must’ve wanted to keep the server space up.

Still, as she browsed, she spotted a curious entry ahead on the server map.

A… costume room?

Costumes? The sendaen wondered to herself, already imagining tacky halloween ghosts and pumpkins. Maybe even some cute ones?

Oh, well. Might as well take a look, right?

It didn’t take long to find the proper node to pass through – and soon enough she was gently pushing open an old banded iron door more befitting a castle than a mansion, blinking a little at the sheer difference in brightness this room held from the rest of the place.

Rows upon rows of avatar costumes and the occasional counter and register littered the place, complete with phoned-in musak from a speaker high above, rendering the room in a sort of oddly retail-esque dreamy sense. Was this an asset dropped in from a previous world? It certainly didn’t mesh very well.

Figuring she had nothing better to do, Lazuli began wandering the aisles, running a paw along the rows of costumes and clothing. There were ghosts, zombie masks, the occasional old pop culture reference or movie costume – nothing particularly eye-catching or intriguing, much like an actual halloween costume store tended to be. Rows upon rows of hokey costumes and odd party favors, glamors for avatars and the occasional odd effect or fake weapon.

Points for authenticity, if nothing else.

Finally, as she reached the rear of the room and the exit into the rest of the world, something caught her eye.

A… werewolf mask?

No, there was no wolf involved – it simply read “were”, flickering subtly as if the item hadn’t been properly rendered and was suffering from slight corruption after so many years alone, here.

The documentation didn’t shed much light on the function at all, either; it merely stated it was, quote, “monster fun.”

Whatever that meant.

Gingerly, Lazuli plucked the mask from its resting place – and, immediately, felt… odd.

Very, very odd – even as the mask’s code disintegrated into veritable gibberish, her own felt… corrupted, somehow. Changed. Changing.

She panted, bracing herself against one of the many abandoned countertops as a chill ran up her spine – and then down it.

Her tail, usually fluffy, adorned with a pair of floating digital rings, exploded outwards – growing wilder, less well-kempt. The usually fairly low-poly and relatively simple rings grew jagged, crystalline holography cracking and jutting out into strange new shapes.

Her claws, too, suffered a curious shift – growing longer, sharper, scraping against the tile as she struggled to catch her breath. Something was definitely broken with that mask, but as her proportions began to shift even further – she realized that the changes felt… nice.

She felt more powerful, her senses sharper. It felt awesome.

Her legs grew less fluffy, scales growing both more numerous and more jagged as the changes swept upwards, new musculature filling in! It reminded her vaguely of a werewolf, but without the species change – growing more fluffy here, less fluffy and more monstrous there.

Her hands changed next, Lazuli’s claws cracking slightly as they grew longer, sharper, more intimidating. She flexed her fingers, enjoying the raw strength that flowed through them – but, feeling… off.

An urge to growl came over the sendaen as her neck and shoulder fluff began to grow wild and unruly, fluffing out like a scarf.

[USER_STATE UPDATED TO ENTITY_MONSTER_WEREPLAYER], the console helpfully displayed in the corner of her vision.

Lazuli brought her claws to her face as it, too, began to change – teeth growing sharper, snout stretching out slightly into something more befitting a werecreature – and her hair became unruly, hanging down more over her face! Her horns twisted and grew, looping back on themselves until, finally, with a heavy thud the changed sendaen dropped to all fours, panting against the sheer weight of the experience.

She sat there for a moment, mind whirring – before, with a growl, she knocked over one of the long racks of costumes.

It clattered to the floor with a loud crash, sending various items scattering this way and that – and something about it made her want to do it again!

Soon enough the entire place had been trashed – and, with a triumphant growl, she crossed the boundary back out into the mansion – receiving a brief server message from the ancient autolog for her trouble.

[Happy Halloween! – C]

Do (Not) Overinflate (commission)

A commission for @Firr on twitter, featuring @AuraPuffs!

“Ugh…”

Firr yawned, flipping over with the thwump of a big skunk tail slapping against a couch.

“BORED.”

Aura, currently occupied with bopping his zipper back and forth with his big plush paws, agreed. It was simply too hot to go out, too slow to stay inside; it was, naturally, a lazy, lazy summer day.

A boring summer day.

“Maybe you’ve got something in the garage?” Aura offered, gesturing towards the garage door. It would’ve been easier with thumbs, but it got the message across well enough. “Bikes or something?”

“Just bike pumps,” Firr replied off-handedly, waving a paw. “And what can you do with-“

He paused, and grinned. “Actually, yeah! Let’s go check the garage, huh?”

Aura, puzzled, pushed himself up to waddle after the suddenly-eager skunk, curious. Bike rides were fun, yeah, but… that exciting? Probably not.

Firr ducked through the door ahead of the plushie fox, giggling to himself, and there came the sound of boxes being rummaged through, a few clangs as things were thrown aside, and, curiously, a loud moo.

“C’mon in!” Firr said after a few further barnyard animal sounds, Aura’s curiosity piqued. A surprise?

“What’s the big mystery?” Aura asked, peeking through the door – just in time for a hose to be shoved directly into the plushie’s snout, a rubber band wrapping around it to secure it firmly to the fox!

“Big’s right!” Firr grinned, hefting a little black and green (it looked a bit like him, actually) bike pump, before hammering the handle down with the excitement of someone blowing up something big!

Immediately Aura’s cheeks puffed up as air rushed down the rubber hose, then… stopped, the air going somewhere else. His first thought was his tummy, but, suddenly, his footpaws comically sprung outwards, first doubling, then TRIPLING in size!

“HMPH?” The fox exclaimed in the way only someone with a hose in their mouth can, cheeks burning bright red as their handpaws quickly followed suit! They looked… different. Plastic? Not at all the usual felt and fluff the plushie was used to, as they began to feel lighter with each pump from the pump!

“What’s up, pillow-paws?” Firr teased, giving another pump to the handle. “Hose got your tongue?”

The plushfox didn’t reply, too busy focusing on their still-swelling paws and rounding tummy to pay attention. Squeaking and squirking, Aura tried to reach up towards their snout – failing, of course, as they began to grow too pressurized to bend their arms properly. Aura had almost doubled in height from those alone, wobbling as the hose started to lift past Firr’s head height, still tightly stuffed in Aura’s swelling snout!

This, of course, only compelled Firr to pump faster, a giggle escaping the skunk as Aura began to take up a good portion of the garage itself, rounding out as his arms and legs began to swell out just as his paws had.

“You’re right, the garage WAS more fun,” Firr grinned, giving the fox a few extra pumps as even their ears swelled up, zipper looking like a sprig of grass poking out of the squeaky expanse of white and orange plastic!

“MMPH!”

Aura’s back finally hit the ceiling, swelling larger, and larger, cheeks burning a bright, almost fluorescent red!

“Aaaand ta-da!” Firr proclaimed, giving the hose a tug as it popped free, rubber band unwinding itself as if it was nothing! A pressurized whoosh of air escaped from Aura’s overfilled squeaky snout for a moment, before it, too, sealed!

“I did a good job, if I say so myself,” Firr boasted, grabbing his vest with both paws and flaring it. “Now, where’s a tether…”

He spun on a heel, starting to walk deeper into the garage, and promptly planting a paw directly on a pipe.

It rolled, pitching the skunk forwards… and, perhaps in an act of karma, directly onto an air compressor’s hose.

“Mmph?” was all Firr had time to say before a nearby broom, precariously perched against a shelf, tipped over… landing directly on the “pressurize” button of the compressor.

The compressor roared to life, filling Firr’s cheeks to practically comical levels – and, completely unsurprisingly, his tummy.

It began to swell normally, as normally as the situation allowed, anyway – but, then began to bulge, the skunk’s legs being pushed aside as a new, squishy, inflatable pink mass pushed from his lower half!

Immediately blushy, Firr spared a look – now being held up by an inflatable udder!

Oh.

Oh dear.

Trying to reach for the hose, the skunk was stopped as his lower half began to swell outwards, tail shrinking down into a comically small (if still oversized) cow tail, new patterns filling in as the skunk’s usual black fur became simple black spots on white cow vinyl!

He could hear Aura snickering from across the garage as his midsection began to blow up much as his rear had, footpaws reshaping into huge, stompy rounded inflatable cow hooves, handpaws already starting to follow suit as he flailed for the hose. It was no use; he wasn’t going to reach it in time, as even his arms began to grow more rigid, legs now firmly quadrupedal.

He wasn’t even going to be an anthro parade cow?! LAME.

Trying to push himself up, he only managed to force more air out of the udder into the rest of him – shooting his usually soft and fluffy skunk snout out into a huge inflatable cow snout, hose still firmly stuck in it as little horns began to push out of his increasingly squeaky and air-filled head, ears stretching out and one gaining a nice, yellow, inflatable cow tag! (with a price, to boot)

By this point Firr was the size one would usually associate with a bounce house, taking up most of the garage Aura hadn’t already filled, the last little bits of fur falling free as his transformation finished, and popping the hose free as it became too pressurized to stay firmly in, flopping to the floor as the compressor turned off!

The parade-sized fox and cow made eye contact for a moment.

“FIRR.”

“SORRY.”

Geo’s Parade Problems (commission)

A silly post-tf commission I did for @GeoHolms!

The sun, warm, bright, came up over the mountains.

Birds chirped, lawnmowers buzzed, and, with the colossal creaking and squeaking something only the size and make of a parade balloon could make, Geo sat up from the field he’d been tethered in next to his house. It had been a weird, weird year – and, as the parade raccoon gently leaned down to wish his husband good morning, he wondered if today would get any weirder.

“Heading out?” Brighton asked, leaning against the windowsill. They looked… a little different today, for whatever reason. Shinier, maybe?

“Just into town!” The parade raccoon boomed, offering a little wave.

“Mind picking up some groceries? Oh, and helium?”

“Sure!” Geo replied, waving goodbye. “Be back later!”

The parade raccoon had already started to float away when the last request had processed. Helium?

Huh! Weird, but not any weirder than anything else that’d happened.

It had taken a while to get used to being nearly three stories tall, but, really, once you got the hang of it, it wasn’t so bad. It made sightseeing easy, for example; it also made traveling across town even easier.

Being mostly plastic and helium, Geo merely floated most of the way, gently pushing off with car-sized paws as he drifted into town. Couldn’t beat it for speed, really!

Finally, as he settled in over his usual shopping spot, the parade raccoon waved down a very, very shocked bunny employee who first noticed the vast shadow then glanced up, gazing back up at him with wide, blue eyes.

“Good morning!” Geo boomed, his voice slightly echo-y from, well, being hollow.

“G-Good morning?” The employee balked, taking a few steps back. “Can I, uh, help… you?”

“Yes, actually!” Geo grinned down at the bunny, unfurling a list the size of a mid-size sedan.

The bunny sighed. Long day today, and the shift just started.

His first errand finished, the raccoon wandered across town, mentally checking it off his list; scaring the employees of a party supply store half to death by peeking in through their skylight and picking up his order of a pallet of helium tanks and balloons, for, uh, a party, of course! No other reasons, right?

“Thanks!” Geo called down, new purchases hanging from one of his parade tethers as he drifted back to the store just in time to catch the bunny wheeling the last cart of groceries out, who swiftly darted back down the stairs inside when they spotted him.

Huh. Wonder what their problem was!

Leaving a tip, Geo swept the groceries up into his grasp, second errand done!

“And not even a single thing bumped into!” Geo exclaimed happily, huge ringtail knocking a neon sign off of a nearby building.

There was just one last errand on the day’s list – being volunteered for the local parade today!

Wait, since when had he signed up for a parade? Geo squinted at the list written on the back of one of his paws, and shrugged. Oh, well. Might as well, right?

It was actually kind of fun, letting a handler team drag the parade raccoon around town, waving at people as he drifted by. He’d come close to getting stuck between buildings a few times when the wind had picked up, but for the most part he’d had a great time!

He’d even been thanked by the mayor, a little golden star sticker being added to his huge inflatable nose.

“You’re an honorary parade guest!” The mayor had promised, giving the huge raccoon a wink. “Come back any time!”

The trip home was largely uneventful, until he’d finally reached his house… and noticed the huge, tan tail filling much of the street.

Geo dropped their groceries gently on the lawn, peeking down at the massive, squishy coyote nose currently poked out of the front door.

“Brighton?!”

“Mmph.”

“What… happened?”

“MMph?”

Geo couldn’t exactly argue with that.

Plopping down on the yard, the raccoon sighed, listening to the groaning of his inflatable husband and the poor walls he’d filled.

“We’re going to need a bigger house.”

All That Glitters (commission)

A commission for @snouttalk on twitter!

“Oh… wow.”

Arno clicked on their headlamp as they crouched through the uncovered doorway, glancing up into the yawning expanse they’d uncovered at their latest dig site. The Professor was going to be blown away by this – they’d probably get an award!

It was a vast, football field sized room; lined with Roman mosaic tiles, columns long-broken cluttering the edges. How and when this palace had been buried was a mystery to everyone involved, but the interior seemed to have held up… incredibly well. Strikingly well! It wasn’t even musty, merely… dusty. Old.

Arno clicked on their video recorder, starting to go over the architecture and construction of the palace. Easily first century construction, with scattered painted pottery and the occasional piece of jewelry drawing the dog’s eye. Could those sell?

The curious thought of how they would look in one of the necklaces struck them, though, as they finally reached the far side of the room. A large, dusty throne commanded the space, what once must’ve been fine linens and a cushion occupying the seat. Something upon it glinted in the light of the lamp, though.

A… necklace?

Curious, Arno plucked the necklace from its resting place, turning it over in their palm. Solid gold, as far as they could tell, with a green gem pressed into the pendant. Tourmaline?

Glancing around to make sure none of the other members of the dig had wandered in, Arno grinned. Might as well take a souvenir, right? Who’d miss it?

They slipped the necklace over their head, letting it rest against the fabric of their shirt…

…and froze, solid. A shock went from the tip of their tail to the top of their head, standing the poodle ramrod-straight, and, as if from thin air, a figure resolved from the dust on the throne.

Electric blue eyes stared into Arno’s golden gaze, the golden laurel the figure wore commanding a surprising amount of obedience from the frozen dog. A… rabbit?

“Well, now.” The figure spoke, resting their chin on a palm, bracing themself on the arm of the throne. “Two millennia and this is the best that wanders in?”

“Huh?” Arno managed, feeling the necklace grow heavier – tugging their gaze downwards, towards golden braces on the floor. They sparkled in the lamplight, and seemingly on autopilot they, too, were put on.

The second they were clipped on, the poodle’s mind went foggy; face drooping slightly as the intelligent focus behind it waned. They needed more jewelry. It didn’t feel complete, a compulsion striking the poodle to wear as much as possible, to show off, to serve.

“My, how obedient!” The figure on the throne chuckled, snapping their fingers together. Arno snapped to attention, intently focused on the rabbit’s paw – and, with a gesture, retrieved a small, wooden chest from beside the throne.

Arno tried to put the box back down, recognizing this wasn’t exactly the best situation to be stuck in – but their paws wouldn’t obey, walking them back to the front of the throne and sitting the box down as the Emperor commanded it, sliding it open.

Inside, cupped in soft, ancient fabric, were a pair of golden piercings, glimmering softly in the light.

The poodle fought as their paws gently plucked the piercings from their resting places, sliding their coat and shirt off as the necklace began to shift and change, whatever magic it exerted over the dog now reshaping it into a collar of sorts! The piercings soon adorned the dazed dog’s chest, chained to the collar with elaborate, fine gold links.

Their mind swam, awash with the suggestive thoughts the jewelry layered over their usual thoughts, banishing the thought of leaving at all from their mind. After all, didn’t servants serve? Who better to serve than the Emperor themself?

“It has been a long time,” The rabbit intoned, shifting into a more comfortable pose. “Fetch me my wine, would you?”

Arno didn’t even respond, merely shuffling across the ruined throne room and somehow, despite never having seen this room before, knowing exactly where it was, fetching the bottle and a cup. Wine was poured, and the poodle stood there slack, like a marionette waiting for someone to tug their strings.

There was a quiet rumble of falling rocks outside of the throne room, along with distant footsteps.

“Arno?” Someone called, a flashlight being shone into the room as someone evidently came looking for them.

The voice seemed distantly familiar, but the dog didn’t care.

“More guests? Oh, wonderful,” The rabbit grinned, a cold, calculating grin. “Show them in, would you? A court of one is no court at all.”

Arno turned, heading for the entrance – but, before they passed the first column paused.

Reaching down into a discarded box, they tugged free a few more of the odd tourmaline necklaces; evidently, once the insignia of the imperial servants themselves.

The rest of the dig site crew would look nice in them, wouldn’t they?

Some Strings Attached (commission)

A commission for @Sqrlster on twitter!

Parade Day,  the flyer read in cheery, balloonish font. Celebrating sixty years of parades, downtown! Why, you might ask, would we hold a parade for parades? Why not?

Sqrl blinked at the flyer he’d been handed, slightly confused. A parade day for parades? What kind of event was…

His internal monologue trailed off as he noticed the large, underlined “FREE FOOD” at the bottom of the flyer, and shrugged. Free food was free food, who cares if the event was weird, right?

“Hm. I’ve got a few hours, why not?” Sqrl affirmed aloud, spinning on one of his big paws to head deeper into town, towards the music he could hear!

It was a huge, bustling affair; an entire city block had been filled to the brim with crowds and booths and live music, the smell of carnival food and hissing of distant floats being filled adding to the busy surroundings in wonderfully weird ways. Sqrl sampled a little bit of everything as he wandered along, humming to the music – before he began to feel a bit… odd. Lighter on his big paws. Must just be the fun I’m having!

“Say,” One of the event staffers called, waving the squirrel over. “You look like a trustworthy sort – care to help me get the floats ready?”

Sqrl nodded enthusiastically – who didn’t like blowing up balloons?

He followed the staff member into a back tent, walking along the rear of the event towards the adjacent street the parade balloons were being filled on – all the way not noticing his paws beginning to swell, his tail’s fur starting to mat over into plastic starting with the tail tip.

The staffer seemed to notice for a moment, before the bunny shrugged and kept walking, after all – what was one more parade balloon? 

It was barely any time at all before Sqrl had started to help out, unfurling big, cartoonish animal floats from their boxes and trucks they’d been stored in since last year’s parades – even if touching them made the squirrel feel a little more odd, their fingers tingling as they finally plopped down on a surprisingly softer rear to take a quick break.

“Whew!” He sighed happily, wiping his brow. Two hours of nothing but filling balloons? Ridiculous!

“Okay!” The rabbit finally said aloud, clapping his paws together. “Just one balloon left and we’re ready to start.”

“One?” Sqrl asked, glancing around. He certainly didn’t see any, aside from the ones already drifting overhead. “Where?”

“Where?” The rabbit asked, chuckling a little. “That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?”

As if on cue, the squirrel’s paws doubled in size.

Tripled, even!

“Huh?!”

The hissing he’d been hearing all day wasn’t far away – it was right under his nose!

Well, his belt line, too. Either way, the squirrel jumped up in surprise as his lower body suddenly began to rapidly expand, stretching his poor shorts to the breaking point as his increasingly parade-sized thighs began to strain and stretch past what they would hold – splitting down the legs and falling to the ground as the bunny staffer watched with a mixture of amusement and anticipation!

Was this why I felt so weird today?! Sqrl thought to himself, trying to press on his tummy with his handpaws as it, too, began to swell outwards – Sqrl’s big tail stretching and inflating into something more befitting a parade-sized critter than a normal squirrel, bumping into a few helium tanks he’d used earlier to fill a bunny float! They, promptly, fell to the ground hissing.

Sqrl, by now, was feeling… dizzy.

Floaty!

I… gotta get up, the squirrel lazily thought to himself, mind swimming as his shirt finally started to tear and rip, handpaws blowing up into massive, parade-sized versions of themselves as he watched, arms swelling from his armpits outwards into rounded, plastic tubes full of helium.

He didn’t want to get up, even as little hoops began to pop out of his big footpaws, ropes attaching themselves seemingly by magic! 

“How’s the last balloon coming, folks? The parade’s due to start in ten minutes!” A voice from somewhere out of view called, drawing the rabbit’s focus.

“Almost done!” The rabbit called, quickly tethering the brand new ropes to their spots on the tarmac as Sqrl began to grow larger, stretching both upwards and outwards as the curious sensation to flop over began to gnaw at their thoughts. Parade balloons didn’t stand up, did they? They were on all fours!

Dazed, Sqrl flopped over – starting to lift off of the pavement as two ropes dangled from their huge, rounded paws, quickly gathered up by the bunny and tied down, too. H-Huh… did I always have those?

The squirrel managed a glance downwards, feeling just how right it felt to drift there – and how familiar the tethers holding them down against the wind were. Of course I had those!

They looked silly; a massive, parade balloon squirrel body with a tiny, fluffy head topping it – though, as the changes crawled up their neck, even that began to shift. First to change was the squirrel’s snout, springing outwards with a loud fwoomp of filling plastic as his smile became simple detailing paint, followed by his nose! 

His eyes followed next, first freezing straight ahead, then flattening into simple, painted-on Sqrl eyes – and, finally, even his ears swelled up, his whole head filling and swelling until it, too, was parade-sized!

B-But… squeak?

Sqrl’s thoughts were scattered, bouncing around inside his empty helium-filled head – until, finally, they stopped as the tanks ran dry; just another parade balloon for the Parade Day festivities!

The bunny cheered, clapping his paws together as he called a handler crew over.

“C’mon, let’s get started!”

The bunny tugged on their cap, grinning up at the huge inflatable squirrel’s face. “It’s time for a parade!”