sooo i posted something but it needed a ton more editing so here's the actual thing!! a bit of it's stolen from the actual book oops (it's my own book i wrote it i'm not plagiarizign). anyway. the new arrival is here. for reference, the part where Reshinerr freaks out a bit is like a half meltdown. which is basically like a panic attack but you also kind of lose control of yourself. i'm probably slightly toning down meltdowns for the CB but that's very much just a mini one since it got cut short (for Reshinerr, other people might have milder ones)  and if i don't specify whose POV it is it's almost certainly Reshinerr's. also the better picture of Reshinerr is actually the same picture with saturation and brightness turned up a bit, but it looks more like the actual picture than the other did. oh and if you don't get anything just ask!

also i'll probably getting around to drawing all the characters at some point. I want to draw Onyx in this outfit... 

and thanks everyone who commented!! Silver, glad you find my writing whimsical, that's definitely one of my intentions.  

more chaos next post, whenever that happens! i sincerely hope it's not just me who finds this fun/funny O_o

~Part 2~ (Reshinerr)

I pause outside the door to the bookish part of the library. It’s like the biggest, grandest home. Bookshelves rise from the midnight blue carpet, all the way up to the ceiling so high it’s draped with clouds and stars like fluttering moss. Platforms of solid nebulae ease up and down the shelves across the room. They’re for you to step on. without them, most of the books would be unreachable, unless you’re a giant or a mayfly. 

And once you get inside, an open doorway reveals more and more rooms that have just as many books or even more. I still don’t know how whoever made this place got enough books to fill it.  But then, I’m not sure anyone did make this place. I’m not even sure I’m not stuck in a year-long dream. But hey. it’s a refuge from the nightmare i used to be stuck in, so i’ll take it. Just don’t let me wake up any time soon. 

(was it a nightmare? I don’t remember, not really, and it can’t be that bad and i shouldn’t complain and…)

Not that I know what happened, of course. I’ve thought of looking into it: falling down a wishing well, wasting a nickel to see if my past’s inside. But at the bottom, where algae snakes up the walls and every heartbeat echoes in the dark, there’s only frigid water and pennies that click with every step and air full more with panic than oxygen. A dungeon of everything I wish could be, of everything that actually did happen.

I just push the thoughts away, when I can.

So I open the door to the library. And the first thing I hear is arguing.

I almost choke. One of the voices is completely unfamiliar.  “But like - why did you throw your bag into the fire? Like seriously, that’s just -”

“I say again: I promise I can throw yours in too.” That’s Hideto. My heart sinks.

“How?”

“Oh, so you really want to know, do you  -”

Something thuds, someone says “ouch”, and there are more thuds and the whoosh of something catching on fire. 

“WHAT I HATE YOU -”

I step in slowly until I can see. Hideto is standing by the fire, arms crossed, eyebrows raised, a smirk on his face. The person I’ve never seen before gestures wildly as they sputter like a deflating balloon. A large leather suitcase smolders in the fire.

Hideto darts over to the bookshelves, then back to the fire, then back and forth again. “Yours isn’t coming back! Yes! I love this place!”

“What the heck? Yours came back. Why isn’t mine? I’m gonna - I’m gonna -” More sputtering, more gestures with sharper corners.

I’ve never seen the fire go out. It’s always burning, releasing clouds of smoke shaped like planets or stars instead of sparks. The logs the Library uses are swirls of nebulae and stars caught in deep black charcoal, but I’m starting to think it’s less magic and more the neverending bag supply. Hideto has thrown his own bag into the fire at least four times, and that’s just the times I’ve seen. 

The suitcase flickers in the flames. Suddenly it vanishes, appearing in the newcomer’s arms the way it must have been before it caught aflame. But they’re still gesturing. The suitcase falls on their toes.

The newcomer yelps, hopping around and holding their foot and whimpering. Hideto sighs, shaking his head. “Alas. It’s back.’”

The newcomer pauses hopping to cross their arms over their chest and scowl. “What do you mean?! All my clothes are in here!” Then they glance down at their foot. “Oh. Oh yeah.” They resume their hopping and whimpering.

Hideto snorts. “Well, too bad - Reshinerr! Good timing!” 

I’m frozen. Hideto saw me. And now the other person did. I collapse to the floor, rock back and forth against the wall. Who is this person? Why are they here? They’re not supposed to be here! Hideto isn’t supposed to be here! Whimpers escape me, loud enough Hideto must be able to hear them, and I can’t stop them and my arms throw my stuffed cat Speckle across the room and now I don’t have her and I don’t want to have another meltdown and -

Hideto clears his throat, holding Speckle out for me to grab. “Your cat. What’s their name?”

I look up, mind frozen. I’m frozen for a long time, just staring. Hideto just waits.

I fumble several times before finally managing to grab her. “S-Speckle?”

“Speckle?” Hideto repeats, tilting his head. “That’s a nice name.”

I freeze. I hadn’t realized he’d been asking me a question. I nod regardless. Should I have nodded? does it even matter?

I stand up and step to the side, trying to stare at the new arrival while still keeping Hideto in view. The newcomer’s hair is impeccably styled - half of it black, half white, styled into an intricate quiff dotted with glittery stars. They’re wearing a midnight blue cardigan with yellow star pockets that I wish I had and black pants with galaxy fabric sewn in a ruffle on the bottom. Their sneakers are covered in dirt. 

The new arrival stares back intently. I duck under a table, shoving a chair out of the way.

“So,” the person says, hands on their hips, scowling. “You’ve met him, as I take it. Me, though? I’m Onyx. Trust me, I’m the one you want on your side.” 

just so people see it :D

AHHHH LIZARDS (and amphibians of course. it's not all about the komodo dragons and garter snakes, what about the valiant salamanders?) i just drew Izar and i think it's the best thing i've ever drawn -? okay probably not but HE'S ADORABLEEEE!! i'll post zir tomorrow :D if Hex doesn't like his character design i'll steal it for one of my own characters XD i honestly think it's the drawing more than the design though... frankly it's not that good i don't know why i'm this excited

also i really should not be getting this far into the actual writing before it's all planned out... why do i feel like this ski lodge is going to be a huge mess ToT 

whoa i think my CAPTCHA says rpppp. on... a ski lodge... okay???? i am going to try to do some mildly interactive parts though maybe 

i am going to look back at this thread in a few years and cringe so hard aren't i

anyway. i will introduce everyone's characters eventually, but I want to give each character enough time so i can't introduce them all at once :D 

anyway Celine - thank you so much!! To be honest i think the whole drawing is pretty cute heh. I don’t usually do the shaded nose bridge thing but i like it for him.

Also now that i’ve actually looked at the Izar picture again i actually like it… idk i still don’t know if i can post it after my late-night comment heh. I forgot his glasses anyway though so i need to add them. 

But anyway have a picture of Hideto in the meantime! Ignore the pencil lines. Also add him to the list of queer Asians heh (he’s trans and gay and greyromantic, and probably fully Japanese). Idk if it’s going to post well we’ll see   

this one isn't the best on its own but *shrugs* and wow that Hideto picture is like 3 times bigger than it is in real life XD anyway onto the actual writing - autistic people not getting insults until they wake up in the middle of the night panicking like 3 years later squad >:D also i didn’t actually introduce pronouns but we’ll just skip over that. 

~

I stare, getting out from under the table. Onyx is the one I want on my side? “But he just knocked you over. And he burned your bag. And -”

“Never mind that. Look at him. ‘What’s your cat’s name?’ are you a babysitter, Hideto?” Onyx grins. He's staring at me, though. Not Hideto. 

Hideto freezes for a second before feeling in his bag and stepping towards Onyx. “I would suggest you shut up.”

Onyx steps back. “Why?”

Hideto straightens. “Because if you don’t I will get a ton of chartreuse dye and i will cover all your clothes in it and i will put it in all your food and it’ll just be chartreuse forever. Oh, how about I also make you some chicken noodle soup or an orange cake, only when you bite into it it’s actually mint flavored. Mint and pepper and orange. And chartruese flavored of course, because that’s a thing that definitely exists.”

I burst into laughter.

Onyx stares at me, rolls his eyes, and looks back at Hideto. “Like i care. Are you actually going to do that anyway?”

Hideto shrugs. “How about I take scissors to your hair then?”

Onyx’s hands fly to his head. “What scissors? You don’t even have any.”

Hideto’s hand flies out of his bag holding a bright orange pair of kid-sized scissors, and his other makes a thumbs up. “Ta-da!”

Onyx yelps, jumping backwards. “What is wrong with you? Get away from me!”

“What if I didn’t?”

“Come on -”

“But you see.” Hideto steps forward. “What if I didn’t?”

“You’re impossible -”

“You don’t know I’m going to cut your hair. Maybe this star place did the real magic and gave me impulse control!”

“Oh great. That makes me feel so sure my hair isn’t going to get cut by some babysitter with no fashion sense -”

“Shut up!”

Something thuds, and a vase shatters.

Onyx flinches, gesturing again. “What the heck! Don’t throw scissors! What did you break? Are we in trouble? Should we get out of here?”

Hideto groans. “Why did I throw them when I could have cut your hair?”

Onyx holds his head like it hurts. “What is wrong with you?”

Should I grab the scissors so no one else can? I can’t let anyone to get hurt. But - but maybe I don’t care and i shouldn’t intervene so they don’t hate me. But if i don’t then they’ll have scissors and i won’t have anything to protect myself with… 

I can’t breathe. I need to get out of here. If I do it’ll just draw more attention to me.

Hideto stares boredly at the shattered vase. “Oh look. It’s back.” 

The shattered pieces flicker out of existence, and Hideto races towards the reformed vase and slams it onto the ground. The sound of flying bits of ceramic reverberates in my head, and I can't breathe. Hideto just flinches, holding up his hand. A drop of blood rolls off.

Onyx sighs. “You’re not just a babysitter, you’re like - evil or something.”

“Sure, fine. Why would I care?”

“Who wants to be evil?”

“Who cares?”

Onyx scoffs. “How are you both too evil and too sensitive?”

At that Hideto flinches. “Says the person who was in so much pain because a suitcase -”

“It was heavy! And let me go. I’m tired of you.”

“What if I didn’t?”

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

Hideto shrugs, letting Onyx pass and boredly picking at his hand. “You realize that wouldn’t have been hard to get out of.”

“Oh be quiet. I’m going to my room.”

Hideto yelps and darts in front of faer. “Wait!”

Onyx blinks. “Why?”

Hideto freezes, then hops from foot to foot. “Because I’m boreddddd.”

Onyx is silent. Then they start laughing so hard fae doubles over. “You’re bored? That’s what this is about? Why don’t you terrorize him instead?” He points to me. My stomach flips.

Hideto shrugs. “I guess I just hate you more.” 

And after that, Onyx is gone, and we’re alone.