poliel

[poliel]

Bugsnax 'Drabbles' Snorpy/Chandlo

'Summary': some classic snorpy and chandlo

[A/N] Just a sketch because I'm trying to catch up on my request across my various request fics.

#my art #bugsnax #bugsnax drabbles #snorpy #chandlo #chandlo x snorpy

[poliel]

Do You Think You Could...

Summary: Filbo is worried his friend aren't enjoying the Xmas Eve party. He asks Buddy to ask them.

~

The Xmas Eve party was lively and loud. Everyone had come and they all seemed to be having a good time. As far as Filbo could tell anyway, he admittedly wasn’t always the best at reading people. But as the host it was his duty to go around and mingle with everyone and try to make sure that they were. All he could do was do his best and hope it was enough. Though there was more thing he could do too.

“Hey, Buddy,” he said with a smile as he sidled up next to where they were at the bar. Cromdo was currently on drinks duty but he was at the other end of it, chatting with Gramble. Leaving Filbo to talk freely with Buddy. “Do you think you could go around and make sure everyone’s having a good time? Don’t like ask them outright or anything but… you know?”

Buddy took a sip of their drink before replying. “I could but I don’t think it’s necessary.” Them declining was unusual but he had been telling them for a while now that they had the right to decline requests even from him. He couldn’t exactly be annoyed with them for finally listening to him. Couldn’t they listen to their people pleasing instincts for just one more day though? They were far better at reading people than Filbo could ever hope to be.

“What if they’re not having fun?” Such had been the case during most of the parties Filbo had thrown back on Snaktooth. Yeah, that was two years ago and no one had complained during or about last year’s Xmas Eve or most of his other parties but the fear was still there. What if, viewing him as a friend now, they felt too bad to say anything to him about it now? “I need to know so I can fix it if they’re not.”

“I’m sure everyone’s having a good time. So you can sit down and relax with me.” They gestured to the stool next to them.

“I wanna make sure though. I’m the host so it’s my duty to make this party as good a time as possible.” As the official mayor, it wasn’t his most important duty but it still mattered. “But I can’t just ask them because then they’d feel obligated to say ‘yes’. Everyone likes to share stuff with you though so if you subtlety brought it up or something, they’d be honest. And then if something is wrong you can report it to me and I can fix it.”

“Or more like you’ll ask me to help you fix it which often ends in me just fixing it for you.”

“Oh, uh, I guess so, huh?” Despite Filbo encouraging Buddy to not let anyone, including himself, push Buddy around like that, he did still do it sometimes. Like he was trying to right now. Which was wrong of him to do but… when it came to dealing with problems within the friend group Buddy was so much better at handling it. That didn’t make it right though. “Sorry.”

“How about this, in a bit you’ll come with me and we’ll go around and talk to everyone again and get a general vibe on how everyone’s doing? For now though, sit, relax, and have a drink. You deserve a break.”

Filbo took a breath to protest – as the host he didn’t have time for a break – but bit back on it. How many times had he had to tell Buddy that they deserved a break? A lot for sure and Buddy often protested much to Filbo’s exasperation. So him claiming he didn’t deserve a break would be hypocritical.

With a sigh he sat down. “Are you having a good time?” Buddy was the only one he dare ask outright.

“Yep. Especially now that you’re here.”

Somehow, despite dating them for almost a year now, Buddy saying such things to him still made him feel warm and fuzzy. “I’m having a good time ‘cause you’re here too. And everyone else too of course, I love my friends and uh… yeah, you know.”

“I love you too.”

Maybe it was okay if Filbo did just sit, relax, and stop stressing so much about the party. The reason he threw parties is because he liked them after all.

#my writing #bugsnax #filbuddy #filbo fiddlepie #the journalist

[poliel]

A request from lordtalesman100 on DeviantArt for their Journalist OC.

#my art #bugsnax #journalist oc #request

[poliel]

Prompt: Do you think you could right some Filbo angst? Maybe he gets overwhelmed because of everybody fighting then explodes and sort of tells them all to shut it or something? I feel like he’d snap at one point or another.

#my art #bugsnax #bugsnax drabbles #filbo fiddlepie

[poliel]

Bugsnax 'Drabbles': Filbo/Buddy - Airship

Prompt: I have another Filbo/Buddy request. I love the idea of Filbo flying the airship and you did a pretty good job with him in your "Surprise Egg" story, my idea has it take place after the events on Snaktooth and Filbo finally gets to fly the airship, this time for fun instead of desperately trying to escape murderous parasites. As they're flying, Buddy's hugging Filbo from behind, snuggling up to him and making him purr as he's at the wheel, commenting about how cute he looks flying their airship, as they look upon the beautiful night sky together. There's fluff and plenty of affection for Filbo.

#my art #bugsnax #filbo fiddlepie #buddy #filbuddy #bugsnax drabbles

[poliel]

Bugsnax 'Drabbles': Snopry & Eggabell - Checkup

Request from Ao3: ooh could you write a story abt snorpy getting a checkup from eggabell :o ???

[A/N] I have caught up on all the requests that accumulated in my inbox over the holiday season! Like half of them I did as art to make catching up go a bit faster.

~

#my art #bugsnax #bugsnax drabbles #snorpy #eggabell

[poliel]

Xmas Eve Party at the Karaoke Bar

Summary: Cromdo's not big on Xmas.

~

Cromdo groaned out loud even before he’d finished reading the invitation. Of course Filbo would throw an Xmas Eve party. It wasn’t even the first party he’d thrown since they’d all gotten off the island – he was just a party kind of guy. So really this shouldn’t have come as a surprise at all.

Not going was an option of course. But then, most of them being nosy bastards, they would no doubt ask him why he hadn’t come and he’d either have to lie or try to struggle through explaining the truth. Which he wasn’t sure he could do since it didn’t even really make sense to him why he didn’t want to go.

In theory, Xmas was great and parties were great too, especially since there’d likely be alcohol. But… something about this time of year and seeing everyone else being happy and cheery made Cromdo feel tired. Not angry or hateful or anything like that, just tired. Like he wanted to just lie around in bed all day. Giving into that desire only ever strengthened it though and thus he always had to fight it, making him feel even more tired. Having to put up with everyone having a good time around him would no doubt be even worse. So…

With a sigh, he folded the letter back up and put it back in its envelope. He then carried it to the kitchen where he lit the stove to set its corner on fire before dropping it into crock-pot where it could safely burn down to nothing but ash. When asked, he’d feign ignorance of the party and disappointment over his invitation getting lost the in mail or stolen or whatever. Point was, he wasn’t going. They’d all have more fun without him there, being a party-pooper, anyway.

~

“So about the Xmas Eve party,” Filbo said over the phone before Cromdo could even finish his business phone greeting. “I know the invite said we were going to have it at Buddy’s place but then Wiggle called and gave me a great idea. We could have it at your karaoke bar. If, uh, you’re okay with that anyway.”

Welp, there went Cromdo’s plan to pretend he didn’t know it was happening. And having it at his place would probably be even worse, right? “Why?”

“Because there’s more room and we could load up the karaoke machine with a bunch of Xmas songs and have our own little private karaoke party. We’d pay for it too of course since it’s your business and it’d be rude not to. I don’t know how much yet because I’m not sure how much renting out that kind of place would typically be worth. So we’d have to talk about that but… would you be willing to do it? I’d help out with the work related stuff too of course since I’m still in charge of it and Buddy said they’d be willing to help also.”

Cromdo took a breath to say ‘no’ but… he shifted his attention to look out over the bar. His business had been doing well enough to stay afloat but that didn’t mean he was doing well financially. One major expensive to solve problem would likely be enough to sink the place or get close enough to it for it to become an inevitability. And thus, he could use the business if Filbo was willing to pay an appropriate price for booking such a party. Which he probably would be, right? He was like that in general and as the mayor now, he couldn’t afford to tarnish his reputation by being a cheapskate. So… “Fine,” he said, holding backing a groan.

“Awesome! Thank you! Is now a good time to negotiate a price?”

“No. I’m working.” And needed to make sure he asked for a price that would be worth the trouble while still being close enough to being reasonable that Filbo would agree to it. It being a holiday meant he could probably get away with charging a little bit more, right? Or not because they were his friends. The friend discount would probably at least partially cancel out the holiday extra expense. “I’ll call you back later after I close.”

“Got it! Talk to you then. Bye-bye.”

“Bye.” Cromdo sighed as he placed the phone back in its cradle. It being good for business didn’t mean he had to like it. Oh well, his fate was sealed. All he could do was do his best to pretend that everything was normal and okay. He could do that for one evening, right?

~

The party was lively; without hesitation everyone else had set to having a good time. Buddy by some miracle volunteered to tend the bar first, needing only a quick tour of where everything was. Leaving Cromdo free to sit off to the side and nurse a beer. He didn’t dare drink too much as alcohol always enhanced his mood and this wasn’t a mood he wanted to enhance. Besides after a while, Filbo would take over as bartender and then after him it would be Cromdo’s turn as they’d agreed upon yesterday. He needed to at least be sober enough to be awake for that.

Absorbed in each other and their conversations, no one paid him much mind beyond exchanging greetings with him. As predicted watching them have fun and merry as if it were the easiest thing in the world made him a bit jealous. Why couldn’t he be happy and merry too? After surviving Snaktooth, getting his dream job – even if it was stressful, he still loved this place – and having friends here to celebrate with, there was no reason for him not to be. And yet… here was sitting at a table by himself watching them all have fun instead.

“Hey.”

He turned his head to see that Gramble had sat next to him for some reason. “Hey,” he grunted in reply before taking another sip from his beer. It was starting to get warm, ugh.

“You feeling okay?”

No. “Yeah. Why?”

Gramble shrugged. “Just, you know, you’re setting over here all by yourself so I figured I should come check on you. Especially since, um, I get it. This time of year is hard and seeing everyone else being happy when you’re not is… not fun.”

“Wait you think this time of year is hard?” Cromdo almost couldn’t believe it. Gramble, the guy who’d gone out of his way to knit everyone an Xmas gift and had seemed quite enthusiastic about the idea found Xmas difficult?

Gramble chuckled nervously as he looked down at the table. “Yeah. This year has been better than most but… still not easy. I’m not really sure why either. That’s just how it’s been for a while now. So, you know, you’re not alone or… not that you even said anything was wrong. I was just assuming and wanted to check in on you.”

Pre-Snaktooth Cromdo would’ve told him to buzz off but… “Thanks. I appreciate it.” It was nice knowing he wasn’t alone even if logically he’d always known that others had to feel this way too. This was just the first time someone he knew admitted it to him. Somehow it made him feel better even if that also didn’t make much sense. But when had emotions ever always made sense?

“Now, um, I could leave you alone if you want. I get it if you wanna…”

“No, you can stay,” Cromdo interrupted. “If you want to anyway. I don’t care.” A lie; he did care. He wanted Gramble to stay. Having someone to talk to and hang out with who understood and thus wasn’t likely to dismiss the way he felt with a ‘just try harder to be happy and you’ll succeed’ or get annoyed with him for being a downer during the ‘happiest time of the year’ was a welcome change. Perhaps it even made him feel a little bit better.

“Okay. Thanks. I’ll stay then.”

#my writing #bugsnax #christmas fic #seasonal depression #cromdo face #gramble gigglefunny #12 days of xams 2022

[poliel]

Bugsnax Drabbles: Painted Fence

Can you do a drabble about Filbo x Gramble? I kinda have an idea on how it would go, Filbo would try to catch some bugsnax for Gramble, always trying to help him with fixing the barn fence or help find any missing bugsnax of his, and even offer to watch over the snax at night while Gramble finally gets sleeps, maybe Filbo would try to stop eating bugsnax as well. Then Filbo finally confesses his feelings for Gramble, Gramble returns his feelings and they kiss.

~

Rolling out of bed in the morning was always the hardest part of the day; rare were the days Gramble felt as if he’d had a full night’s sleep. He had no choice but to get up as early as he could though, no matter how much he’d rather sleep in, lest someone try to steal his snax. He also had to fix the fence today, the tarp he’d put over the gap in it last night after the Picantes had broken out again – sadly allowing a handful of other little ones out as well – probably couldn’t even stand up to a determined kweeble for long let alone anything bigger that wanted to try.

So with a groan, Gramble pushed himself off the bed. He grabbed his hat off the nightstand, plopped it onto his head and started downstairs. First he would check on the little ones and then he’d gather up the material to repair the fence. Luckily he’d had the foresight to make plenty of extra fencing constructs when first making the fence. Though that was getting close to running out now so he’d have to talk to Chandlo about helping him make some more sometime soon. But for now he should have enough to…

He paused as he stepped out of the barn’s side door. The hole in the fence had been right across from the door. It was no longer there though. In fact, it and the rest of the fence had a fresh coat of pink paint, so fresh, Gramble could still smell it. Huh?

“Hey, Gramble!”

He looked over to see Filbo approaching. He held something in his paws, close to his body. He paused on the other side of the fence and with obvious care not to touch it, bent over and released a strabby into the pen.

“I caught one of your escaped strabbies,” he continued. “Or uh, at least I think it’s one of yours. I can’t really tell, they all kind of look the same to me. But it was running around town and I… well with some help from Buddy caught it for you. We couldn’t find any of the other snax that escaped last night though, sorry.”

“Well, thanks. I suppose having one back is better than nothing.” Especially if it had been running around town where it was in great danger of getting eaten by someone. Hopefully the others had made it back out in the wild. “I’m guessing the fence was your doing as well?” Gramble couldn’t think of anyone else who would’ve done it and then gone to the trouble of painting it.

“Yeah. I couldn’t sleep last night and I noticed the tarp so I figured I’d help out a little if I could.”

“You’re being awful nice to me.” And on one hand he appreciated that but could he trust Filbo? What if he was just trying to get snax off him?

Filbo fidgeted with his paws. Nervous because Gramble had a right to be suspicious of him or just his usual awkwardness? “Yep. I’m the mayor after all. It’s kinda my duty to help out around town and stuff. And well, you know,” he looked away, lifting a paw up to rub the back of his head, “our relationship has been kinda rocky since I babysat your snax for you and then, uh, messed up so badly they all escaped. And I know you still don’t believe me that they ran away and think I ate them. But I would like to try to make up for that if I can and huh… maybe convince you that I was telling the truth about that.”

Was he telling the truth though? How could Gramble possibly know for sure? He couldn’t. And that meant it was better to remain suspicious. Last time he’s relaxed his guard, Wambus had ultimately ended up raiding his barn for snax in the middle of the night after all. So…

“Thanks for helping out with the fence and bringing one of my little ones back.”

Filbo stood silent on the other side of the fence, seemingly waiting for something more. An acknowledgment that Gramble believed him now that he’d done a few nice things for him, no doubt. When it became clear that wasn’t happening, his face fell. “Um, you’re welcome. I guess I’ll be seeing you and… stuff.” He turned and left, his shoulders slumped.

A guilty pit formed in Gramble’s stomach as he watched him go. Since the start Filbo had been one of his few friends, taking his side when he’d declared the barn wasn’t going to be a place to store bugsnax for food purposes. Even Wiggle had suggested he was being a bit silly in insisting on that point even if she hadn’t pressed as hard as some of the others had on the issue. Before the big town fallout Gramble never would suspected Filbo of anything intentionally malicious. But then after it, when Gramble had run out of space for snax at the beach, Filbo had volunteered to watch some only for Gramble to never see those particular snax again. Filbo hadn’t been snakified when he’d returned with news that they’d ‘run away’ but he could’ve easily hidden them somewhere to eat later as Cromdo had tried to do with kidnapped snax not long before.

But then again… what if he had been telling the truth? Then Gramble was turning him away for no reason other than being overly suspicious. He had every justification to be that way of course after everything but… maybe being so distrustful of Filbo, probably the nicest grump here, was more than a little unfair to him. … It was too late now though. Gramble had already turned him away again. There was likely only so many times even Filbo would put up with that. So with a sigh, Gramble shook off those guilty feeling as best he could, really only pushing them to the back of his mind for now, and got to work checking on his little ones, starting with the freshly returned strabby.

~

Filbo kept being nice to him. Never once bringing it up again or even how brusque Gramble could be to him sometimes. Surely if he had any ill intentions he’d have given up on them by now as not worth the effort when Buddy was here now feeding him and everyone else fairly regularly. Meaning he was likely telling the truth and Gramble had been wrong to doubt him.

Admitting to being wrong was difficult and Gramble had always had a stubborn side that made it even harder but he had to. He cared about Filbo too much not to. Upon reaching this conclusion, he didn’t even have sit with it for long before Filbo came by again. Doing his rounds around town, saying hi, making sure everyone was doing okay and seeing if there was anything he could help with, because he was a good mayor no matter what some of the others in town liked to say.

“We need to talk,” he said before Filbo could do anything more than lift his paw in greeting. “Come on into the barn where it’s a bit more private.”

Filbo’s eyes widened. “Okay.” He skipped around to the barn’s main entrance.

Gramble met him there and gestured for him to come all the way inside and up the stairs to his room. He’d have loved to put out a pitcher of sweet tea and maybe some cookies but sadly he’d run out of such supplies months ago. So instead he got straight to business. “I’m sorry. You’ve been nothing but kind to me and I’ve been rather rude for a while now. I don’t think you were lying when you said the snax you was babysitting ran away. I should’ve believed you from the start.”

“Oh… um, that’s what you wanted to talk about. Okay. That actually makes more sense than what I was thinking. Uh, anyway, it’s fine. You’ve been under a lot of stress lately. And I’m kind of… yeah, you know, clumsy and a huge mess, so I get it and I forgive you.”

Maybe Gramble didn’t deserve to be forgiven quite so easily but he was going to strive to earn that forgiveness anyway. “Thanks. So… we’re friends again?”

“Yep!” Smiling wide, Filbo extended a paw. Gramble shook it, sealing the deal.

“What did you think I was calling you in here to talk about though?”

“Oh, um…” Filbo glanced away. “It’s not important right now. Maybe I’ll… talk to you about it later.”

Odd but Gramble wasn’t going to press right now. He was just glad he was still on Filbo’s good side somehow.

#my writing #bugsnax #bugsnax drabbles #filbo fiddlepie #gramble gigglefunny #filbo/gramble

[poliel]

Bugsnax Drabbles: Ferris Wheel

snorpy and chandlo fluff

~

The setting sun was utterly gorgeous, painting the lower half of the sky in brilliant reds and oranges. As the Ferris Wheel rolled, inching them higher every moment, it only looked better. Gosh, it had been far too long since Snorpy had last been on this thing. His therapist, and of course Chandlo too, were correct, getting out more was good for him.

He pulled his gaze away to look at Chandlo sitting next to him, just as lovely and wonderful as the sunset in his own way. “I must thank you, Chandlo. This has been an utterly wonderful outing. I am sorry I was reluctant at first.” He was sorry for a lot of things but Chandlo already knew that and they didn’t need to discuss it again.

“Don’t sweat it, dawg. I get it. But you remember this was about where I asked you if you wanted to move in together and then you said yes and we kissed?”

“How could I possibly forget?” Even if he somehow hadn’t realized the full intent of that question at the time.

“Well, I got another question for you, probably even more important than that last one.” He reached into his pouch and pulled out a small gift box. Pulling off the lid revealed the head of a crystal rose; a classical proposal gift. Before Snorpy could do anything more than gasp at that realization, Chandlo continued. “Will you do me the honor of marrying me and spending the rest of our lives together?”

They’d talked about getting married several times so it wasn’t totally out of the blue. But still somehow it felt like it was. Snorpy hadn’t consider that a proposal was imminent even for a moment. It had seemed a distant eventuality that one of them would ask. Here it was though and well… once he found his voice again there was only one way he could possibly answer. “Yes. Of course, yes, my love, of course.”

And then, as they had once so long ago, they kissed as the Ferris Wheel reached it’s peak. This time though, there was no ambiguity to any of it. The carnival Ferris Wheel really was a wondrous place.

#my writing #bugsnax #bugsnax drabbles #chandlo x snorpy #chandlo #snorpy #marriage proposal

[poliel]

Bugsnax Drabbles: Sketchbook

It was the first time in years that Buddy had a proper sketch book to draw in. They’d taken to doodling in their notebooks alongside their notes, rarely putting much effort in. But now they had a whole big pad of paper just for drawing. It was nice paper too, thick and gray-toned instead of the classic white. The pressure to draw something good in it, especially as their first drawing was immense. So much so they’d been putting it off but it was time.

They gathered it up along with some pencils – the nice charcoal ones that they rarely used these days for fear of wasting them on half-assed art – and their good erasers. After sharping some of the pencils back to a proper point they headed back to the kitchen. Quiet as they could, they sat at the table and laid out their stuff. Flipping open their sketchbook to the first page, they looked up at Filbo.

He was cooking dinner, still in the early stages of it, and thankfully didn’t seem to have noticed Buddy coming back in. He was the perfect candidate to be the subject of Buddy’s first serious piece of art in however long it had been. He was the one who’d gotten them the sketch book after all upon noting how much Buddy liked to doodle. Why’d he’d gone out of his way to get them a nice one was a mystery but regardless, it was a nice gesture.

After just watching for a few minutes, they picked up a pencil and set to sketching, not trying to capture any particular pose or movement, just Filbo. Having so much space to draw in felt awkward and clunky at first but they soon found a groove and settled into it again. By the time they got the detail stage it felt almost normal to be putting effort into a drawing again. When it was done they were even almost happy with it… key word there being ‘almost’.

It had been a long time since they last put serious effort into anything art related, they were rusty and it showed. But well, it wasn’t the worst. They’d managed to capture some of Filbo’s cuteness and charm. And they could always try again and hopefully draw him better next time. Because there was going to be a next time for sure. They’d always enjoyed drawing people, especially people they liked… especially people they had a crush on. Not a thing that happened often, thankfully, but they were well and truly in love with Filbo.

Well, if they’d finally found the courage to draw in their new nice sketch book maybe that meant it was time to find the courage to say something to Filbo too? The drawing hadn’t turned out as good as they’d hoped or wanted but it wasn’t terrible so perhaps their confession had a chance of turning out the same? But were those two things even really…

“Buddy! How long have you been in here?”

They looked up to see Filbo looking at them. “Uh, a little while.” Having forgotten to bring their fixative spray – if they even still had any after so long – they laid their sketchbook open on the table and stood up.

Filbo stepped closer and leaned in to look at it. “Is that me?”

They hadn’t quite intended to show it to him, just to lay it down, but too late now. So they turned it to be facing him so he could see it better. “Uh, yeah. You like it?”

“Oh Buddy, I love it!”

“Good. That’s good because…” they moved around the table to stand next to him, “because… I love you.” They smiled, or tried to at least. Maybe they shouldn’t have come on quite so strongly.

Filbo froze, turning his gaze back onto them. “You mean like… um… uh…”

“Romantically. It’s okay if you don’t…”

“I love you too! Also uh… the same way. I didn’t think that, um, you felt the same. And I didn’t want be weird since I’m like staying at your house and stuff.”

That was also part of why Buddy had been so nervous about confessing. But… “If we both feel the same then, uh… want to maybe go out on a date like this weekend or something?”

“Yeah, a date sounds lovely. You also maybe wanna like kiss or something? It’s fine if not I just… uh…”

Feeling emboldened by how well this was going so far, Buddy leaned in for a kiss and then an embrace as Filbo pulled him closer for another.

#my writing #bugsnax #bugsnax drabbles #filbo/the journalist #filbuddy

[poliel]

Could you write a story about the grumpuses celebrating thanksgiving together?

As a vegetarian and a picky eater I do not vibe with Thanksgiving beyond being an excuse to get drunk and thus have only a vague idea what people who do vibe with it typically do while celebrating, certainly not well enough to write about it. And while I maybe could've written a story in which the grumpuses get shitfaced drunk, that's probably not what you had in mind and so I've done some Thanksgiving themed art instead.

Now whether that turkey is frozen, making this a photo taken seconds before disaster, or not is for you to headcaonon how you please. Even if it is frozen though, grumpuses seemed to be quite fire resistant and thus she'd probably be mostly okay.

#my art #bugsnax #triffany #triffany lottablog #thanksgiving

[poliel]

Head Games Chapter 4/4: Truth

The party was a flop. No one wanted to dance or even mingle in a group, instead pairing off with their usual people or hanging out alone. If Buddy tried, they could perhaps convince at least some of the group to join Filbo in his attempt to ‘cheer everyone up’ as he’d put it. But… they didn’t feel up to trying to pretend everything was mostly okay any longer.

Beffica was right, they were a coward. Keeping Floofty’s death a secret was wrong and their reasoning for doing so was selfish. Everyone, especially Snorpy, had a right to know. But… but… after all the lies how could Buddy possibly bring it up and tell the truth now? … Well, Beffica’s note hadn’t placed a time frame on when they needed to tell, just said before they left Snaktooth, right? So, they could wait until right before they…

“Hey Bestie.” Beffica put ever so slightly more strain on the word, subtle enough that anyone else listening to it might not pick up on the fact that something was wrong. She sat down on the log bench next to them as they averted their gaze back to staring at the ground. “This party’s a real flop, huh? Not as bad as the first one but still.”

“Yeah.”

“Everyone is gathered though, even Snorpy showed up. So it might be a good time to like make an announcement and tell everyone something they should know. Or like, I don’t know, tell one person privately and then everyone else or whatever. However, you might theoretically want to do it. Assuming, you know, you had anything like that that you needed to say.”

“You’re not be very subtle.” And if someone over heard and asked what they were talking about Buddy might have no choice but to come clean lest Beffica do so for them which would be worse.

“You know, I overheard Snorpy whispering to Chandlo earlier about a kidnapping and possible rescue mission. They’re thinking about grabbing you and sneaking off during this party to investigate or something. They might decide to go off on their own though if they can’t get you to come with them. What do you think they might find?”

Buddy couldn’t pretend that that wasn’t a problem, could they? Nor could they pretend that continuing to let Snorpy have false hope, especially to the point of letting him waste his time like that, wouldn’t be wrong. They never should’ve lied. … Well really, they never should’ve pressed that button or let Floofty set up the machine or lie down on it. It was their fault and… they needed to come clean. But…

“I can’t yet. There’s, uh… a door up on Frosted Peak. I’m trying to figure out how to open it because I think Lizbert might be on the other side. I might need help doing that so… I can’t have everyone mad at me yet… you know?” Another excuse, any three grumps could open the door once Eggabell figured it out, they just wanted to be part of it. But the damage of lying and delaying had already been done, a little bit longer wouldn’t add any extra hurt or wrongness to it, right?

Beffica groaned. Before she could say anything, degrading them or in threat of coming clean for them, Buddy continued. “I will go do something about Snorpy’s plans though.” Still avoiding looking at her, they stood up. Before they could take more than a single hurried step away though, the ground rumbled and shook mightily, knocking them off their feet. Seems the world didn’t want them to tell the truth right now anyway. Luck was on their side for once, they had an actual valid excuse to put it off a bit longer.

*Later, during the escape sequence*

In the surprisingly competent paws of Filbo, the airship steadied as it rose higher in the air away from Snaktooth. Despite seemingly everything being stacked against them they’d all gotten safely on the ship and were basically home free. Everyone had made it aboard too. Now all they had to do was...

“Wait, wait,” Snorpy shouted from his spot at the railing, breaking the stunned silence following their rescue at Lizbert and Eggabell’s paws. “Pull her back down, Filbo. Floofty’s still down there somewhere… perhaps… hopefully.”

“Oh, uh, I don’t know how likely it is that they’re still…” Despite the doubt in his voice as he trialed off, Filbo changed course back towards the island.

“We gotta look though,” Chandlo said from his usual spot next to Snorpy. “Egg and what looked an awful lot like Liz turned out to be all right so Floofty might be too, right? So we gotta at least…”

Buddy couldn’t allow this to continue, not with how dangerous bugsnax had just proven themselves to be. “They’re dead! Don’t go back. It’d be just… putting ourselves into danger for no reason.”

“We can’t know that for sure,” Triffany said. “I feel we owe it to them to at least try to…”

“No! I… I…” They were getting closer to Snaktooth. How close before the Mothra Supreme came back to harass them again? Possibly knock them out of the sky, dooming them all. Was Filbo a good enough pilot to avoid that fate? “I was there when they died. I killed them.”

The airship lurched as Filbo jerked the wheel, not a big lurch but enough to surprise Buddy into losing their balance and fall as their spot in the middle of the ship didn’t provide them with anything to grasp onto. As they righted themself it was under the shocked looks everyone had turned towards them with. They all looked at them with various expression of shock and surprise. Except for Beffica of course who gave them a nod, it’s meaning hard to guess.

Snorpy broke the silence again, stepping towards them. “What do you mean you killed them?”

Buddy flinched but resisted the urge to take a step back. “It was an accident! Or uh… an experiment. They were testing to see if bugsnax could grow their head back if they had a machine cut it off. They asked me to help and I… I pressed the button. … Their head didn’t grow back. And then I hid all the evidence and lied about it because I’m a coward.” They wanted to say more, explain just how sure Floofty had seemed about it working. How they’d trusted Floofty to be right in their hypothesis. How if it had worked, that’d be a great scientific discovery, opening the door to many things that could help a lot of people. None of that really mattered though, did it? Especially since part of the reason they’d gone along with it was the selfish desire for a good story. And so instead they stood in silence, watching Snorpy’s expression change as he processed the news.

“They’re… they’re… really dead?” he eventually asked in a horrified whisper.

Buddy nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“And you didn’t grumping tell us?!” Chandlo was almost yelling. “All this time that’s Floofty’s been missing and we were worrying about them and looking for them but they’ve been dead this whole time. And not only did you know you helped cause it and then you didn’t tell anyone. What the grump is wrong with you? I thought you were cool, dawg.”

Buddy could explain how they were worried that the news would cause strife that would make it harder to find Lizbert or possibly result in the town breaking up again but it didn’t matter. So they just stood there in silence instead, staring at their feet. If they weren’t on an airship flying high above the ocean, they’d have run away. Technically they still could but… even if they probably deserved it, they couldn’t bring themselves to do that kind of running away.

“You’ve been one of them this whole time, haven’t you?” Snorpy was mad now too. It was probably an easier emotion to handle than grief and was well warranted. “I should’ve trusted my instinct about you when you first showed up at our cabin. This never would’ve happened if I had. How dare you…”

“Snorpy,” Chandlo interrupted, his voice softer, “let’s go. They’re not worth our time.”

Snorpy made a wordless sound of distress and anger, intense to enough to pull Buddy’s gaze off the deck and to his face. He was visually struggling not to cry and failing. Chandlo took his arm. He looked for a second like he was going to resist but instead, let Chandlo lead him away to the ship’s cabin. Presumably for privacy but definitely to get away from Buddy. A good idea; being around Buddy even to yell at them some more wasn’t likely to do him any real good even if they deserved it.

With the two of them gone, closing the cabin door behind themselves, a heavy silence settled over the deck once more. Everyone was still staring at Buddy. Seemingly no one else knew what to say next, neither did Buddy. What more even could be said other than how stupid they were for going with Floofty’s plan and how cowardly and awful they were for hiding the truth for so long?

Cromdo finally let out a low whistle. “Wow, this is gonna be an awkward flight back to the mainland, huh?”

Yep so hopefully it would be fast. Then Buddy could flee from all this and never think of it again. Not that they could ever escape the guilt of being a killer or how they’d lied about it for so long to people who they considered to be friends. At least they’d finally come clean and maybe, just maybe, they felt a bit better for it. No longer weighed down by the knowledge that they should tell, that everyone had a right to know the truth. It wasn’t much but they’d take what little comfort they could get.

And at least everyone else was safe. Buddy had helped get everyone else on board the ship. Not that their heroism made up for their crimes but it was something at least, right? They hadn’t caused the death of anyone else. But yeah, this was gonna be a long, uncomfortable ride back to the mainland no matter the length of time it actually lasted. Nothing else to do but settle in and do their best to give the people their actions had hurt the most as much space as possible.

#my writing #bugsnax #head games

[poliel]

Hello! I don't know if it was recent, but I saw that you were doing requests! If you don't mind, do you think you could write something about Filbo getting mad at everyone? It's fine if you can't, Thanks anyways!

I'm Not Dumb

Filbo put on his best stern face as he approached the cave he'd been told Beffica had recently taken up residence in. She wasn’t going to help and might not even listen to anything he had to say before telling him to go away. But he’d already talked to everyone else and had been met with nothing but failure. Making him desperate enough that he had to try anyway.

He was in luck, she was in. She’d evidently brought her desk with when she’d left town as she now sat at it, writing something in her journal. Staying in the entrance, Filbo lifted a paw to knock on the cave wall, getting her attention.

She snapped her journal closed as she turned to face him with a scowl that deepened at the sight of him. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want, squeeb?” Well at least she was giving him a chance to talk, that was a good start. Though everyone but Floofty had given him that chance too and it had gone nowhere so his hopes still weren’t high.

“Liz and Egg are still missing. It’s been like two weeks now. I’m worried. We should be looking for them instead… all this.” He gestured at her cave.

“We already tried looking for them and didn’t find anything.”

“I know but there are still places we couldn’t get to because of the earthquake. Maybe if we worked together more or at all we could…”

“If you think I’m gonna go back to town and work together with those people, you’re even dumber than I thought you were.”

“I’m not dumb.” He may not always be the smartest but he certainly wasn’t dumb.

Beffica scoffed. “Keep telling yourself that, squeeb. Now zonk off, I have things I need to get back to.” She lifted a paw to make a shooing gesture at him if he were some annoying nuisance to be brushed off.

“You know Beffica you can be a real…” ‘bitch’ was what Filbo wanted to say but he bit back on it. He was better than that. And he wasn’t here about himself anyway, he was here to try to get someone to leave off this selfish nonsense and help him continue to look for Liz and Egg. “…a real mean grump sometimes.”

“Ha! Is that your best insult? I’ve had literal children say more hurtful things to me. Heck, the bugsnax could probably be more offensive and they can’t even talk.”

Filbo wanted to scream at her... or at everyone really. Why was he the only one who seemed to care about Liz and Egg? After everything the two of them had done individually, as well as together for everyone in town, how could they all be so much more focused on their petty little squabbles than on working together to find their leader and medic? It just didn’t make sense and was oh so aggravating.

But no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t going to convince Beffica or anyone else to help so instead of making a retort or giving into the urge to bend down to pick up a small rock to throw in Beffica’s general direction to vent some anger, Filbo turned and walked away. She shouted something mocking after him but lifting his paws up to cover his ear holes, he didn't listen.

Seems he was just going to have to find and rescue Liz and Egg all by himself. And then everyone would see he wasn’t some pathetic nuisance. Oh, and Liz and Egg would be safe again. That was the main reason he was going to find them of course, proving everyone wrong was just going to be an added bonus.

#my writing #bugsnax #filbo fiddlepie #beffica winklesnoot #bugsnax drabbles #requests

[poliel]

Head Games: Chapter 3/4 - Lies and Secrets

As much as Buddy would’ve liked to, they couldn’t avoid the town and everyone in it – especially Snorpy – forever no matter the fact that the weight of their crime seemed to grow heavier with each passing day. In order to hide their guilt, they had to continue meeting everyone’s gaze and responding with lies when asked if they’d found anything about Floofty. Thankfully such questions were growing rarer, likely soon people would stop asking as they’d done with Lizbert and Eggabell. But even when that happened it wouldn’t make walking back into town any easier. They dreaded it every step of the way and yet they had no choice.

Coming in from Shimmering Springs at least meant they didn’t have to go far to reach their hut. And it was late enough that they could justify going straight there for a…

“Buddy, old chum.” Snorpy stepped out from behind Wiggle’s hut, making Buddy jump and squeak. He seemed take no notice though as he continued, his words stiff as his stance and expression. “I know that you’re quite busy but you simply must come visit with me in the mill and chat over some tea.” He couldn’t possibly be more obvious, could he? For someone who thought he was keeping secrets from a powerful adversary he sure wasn’t good at being subtle.

Did this mean he suspected something though? Or even worse knew something? Surely not the latter else he’d be a lot more confrontational, right? Regardless Buddy couldn’t decline without making any growing suspicions he might have stronger so… “Uh, all right. Tea sounds great.”

Without further word Snorpy started for the mill, leaving Buddy no choice but to hurry to follow. His pace didn’t slow until they were in the upper loft of the mill. And even there he hesitated for a few seconds before turning to face Buddy. He stepped closer, gesturing for Buddy to do the same so he could whisper.

“As I’m sure you can guess I didn’t invite you here for tea. I need to talk to you about Floofty.”

Buddy had to bite back on a flinch. Until he said he was onto them, they wouldn’t admit to anything. “What about them?” Matching his energy, they too spoke in a whisper.

“Well, it’s been more than a week now since they vanished. And well, you see, for a while now I’ve suspected they might work for the Grumpinati so at first I thought that maybe my anti-surveillance equipment had foiled their plans enough that they’d given up on them for now and that’s why they left town. But now I’m starting to worry that the opposite is true. They got everything they wanted and that’s why they vanished. Our entire operation here might be foiled, we, the whole town… Chandlo could be in grave danger. Especially since Floofty may have left to be safe from whatever’s about to happen next. I need your help evacuating the town. We have to be careful though because we can’t let the Grumpinati know we’re onto them. Which is why I haven’t said anything yet. But it’s already been a week so we probably don’t have much time left.”

On one hand encouraging this line of thinking and going along with it would deflect him from the truth even further. But on the other … Buddy couldn’t quite bring themself to do that. “What if Floofty doesn’t work for the Grumpinati though? What if… that’s just what they, the Grumpinati, wanted you to think? And they’ve now uh… kidnapped Floofty hoping you’d think this way and so we shouldn’t evacuate the town because that’s what they want us to do.” Maybe adding that was a going a bit too far, too late now though.

Snorpy stared at them in silence for a few seconds before something seemed to click in his brain. “You have a point. What if that’s been the case this whole time? I suppose I never had any strong proof they were working for the Grumpinati, just… assumptions. Based off solid evidence, yes, but I wasn’t as vigilant back then. Perhaps they’ve always been dismissive of me because they truthfully did not believe me. … And now they’re in danger because I didn’t try hard enough to convince them. If that is the case, I need you help even more. You need to help me find Floofty and rescue them. Chandlo could help too but… I’m not sure I’m ready to tell him the truth yet. Especially since I’m not sure myself anymore. I… I have look into your theory before making any drastic moves.”

His words and increasingly distressed tone seemed to latch onto the already heavy weight of guilt hanging around Buddy’s neck, making it that much harder to bear. He was worried and… the thought that Floofty might be dead wasn’t occurring to him even now. Of course not, who’s first thought upon being presented with such a hypothetical kidnapping scenario involving a missing loved one was that they were dead? Without sufficient reason to lose hope, holding onto it was the most natural thing in the world. Buddy had to present the idea, right? Prepare him for the truth when it finally came.

“Um, uh, Snorpy, what if it’s already too late? I mean the longer someone is missing for, the lower your chances of ever seeing them again are, right?”

“No, no, no.” He even lifted hand to make dismissive gesture. “Floofty isn’t… They’re not dead. They wouldn’t die like that. And the Grumpinati wouldn’t kill them when they could use their research for their nefarious purposes.”

Buddy could insist Snorpy at least consider it but… would that give them away? It would certainly be suspicious so… “I’ll keep an eye out for them or… whatever might have happened to them. I’ll let you know if I find anything. For now, I should go.”

“Yes. If your theory is correct, it’s best to continue to act natural, play dumb even. Until we can make our move to rescue Floofty anyway. I’ll keep you informed as well if I find anything. And… I will consider telling Chandlo in case we need him in the potential rescue mission.”

“Very good. Um, see you later.” Buddy turned and fled, resisting the urge to jump down the stairs and run away.

Even upon exiting the mill they were still tempted to keep going, leave town and hide somewhere as if hiding from their guilt was possible. Sleep though, they needed sleep and they needed to act as normal as possible because they couldn’t tell the truth. Not yet!

Thankfully, no one else approached wanting to talk to them as they made their way through town to their hut. As soon as they were inside they dropped their backpack to the ground with a grateful sigh; they’d dole out the fruits of their hunt within it when they woke tomorrow.

Perhaps they should ‘find’ Floofty’s bones to show to everyone so Snorpy would not continue to hope in vain. Doing so they’d have to be very careful to not let any part of the truth slip while also maintaining a coherent story about how they’d found them and what might’ve…

A shadow fell over them, blocking the moonlight coming in through the doorway. They snapped around to see it was Beffica, leaning against the doorframe, seemingly with the intent to block it. Surely Buddy was just being paranoid though, that’s what sleep deprivation and being a murderer did to a grump after all, right?

“Um, hey Beff. You need something?”

Remaining firmly planted in the doorway, she turned to look back and around as if making sure no one was nearby before turning to look at Buddy again, lifting her camera as she did so. “You killed Floofty, didn’t you?”

Her camera flashed and snapped, capturing whatever surprised face they’d made against their will. “What do you mean? I didn’t kill Floofty. I would never...” They cut off with a half groan, half sigh. The look on Beffica’s face said she wouldn’t be falling for any attempt to fake their innocence; she knew. “How did you find out?”

“Digging up people’s dirty secrets was part of my job, remember? Typically I mean that as like a metaphor but this time I literally dug up your secret to confirm after I started having my suspicions based off how strange you’ve been acting since Floofty disappeared. You’ve done well at hiding it, you’ve got everyone else fooled, I’ll give you that. But tell me, ‘Bestie’,” she raised a paw, making air quotes, “why’d you do it? Self-defense, an accident you were trying to hide, or are you secretly a cold-blooded killer?”

“Uh… uh…” Buddy took a step back but there was nowhere to retreat to. Not that that would’ve been an option even if were physically possible. “It was a failed experiment. They wanted to cut off their head, thought it would grow back with bugsnax. I helped set it up and I knew they were going to do it; they’d proposed the idea to me a few days beforehand. I pressed the button and then just… watched. But their head didn’t grow back.” They wanted to apologize and make excuses but after being haunted by this for the past week they knew there were none. They simply should’ve stopped it. Shut it down the moment Floofty proposed the idea, refused to help or even entertain it for a moment.

“Oh. That tracks actually. They did cut off their leg and eat part of it after all.” Her tone had softened somewhat and upon looking up at her again in surprise over that, so had her expression. “And here I was worrying about this town ending up like one of those cheesy slasher films where all the teen-grumps go off somewhere and get horny with each other while a stalker hunts them down. Those kinds of movies are fun but I wouldn’t want to live in one, that’s for sure.”

“You’re… not mad at me?”

“Hmmm… I’m not sure I would say that actually. While I didn’t like Floofty much – let’s be honest, who did really? – them dying is still not something I ever would’ve wanted, you know? You’re far less intelligent than I thought if you thought letting them remove their grumping head for science was a good idea. And you…”

“Hey! They said they were pretty sure it would work. I trusted their judgment.” Though, in hindsight really, Buddy shouldn’t be bothering with attempting to preserve any amount of pride or dignity. Even if that was the case, the risk was too high to make the experiment worth doing. They should’ve known that and insisted on it.

The look Beffica gave them said she was likely thinking the exact same thing. So much so, she continued on as if they hadn’t interrupted. “And you kept it a secret and lied about it. While I understand why you might lie about the specifics, Snorpy has a right to know. Even if they’re estranged, they’re still siblings so don’t you think it’s kind of fucked up to let him have false hope about his sibling still being alive?”

“I… uh… uh… yeah.” Buddy couldn’t argue that point. “But… but… I didn’t tell the truth because I’m still looking for Lizbert. The town would fall apart all over again if everyone knew and that would be bad and make it harder to find her.”

“Maybe you have a point but while I’m all for keeping secrets, even dark ones, I don’t think this is the kind of thing you should keep from people. I mean someone grumping died. That’s kind of a big deal.”

“I’ll tell them eventually. After I save Lizbert and go home. I’ll send a letter.”

“Wow, you’re far more of a coward than I’d have ever thought. I can’t believe I used to look up to you.”

Buddy didn’t reply. There was nothing that could be said to that. It was true. They’d never considered themself as such before as they’d gladly run off into the woods in the middle of the night to chase a cryptid or climb to the very tippy-top of Frosted Peak and feel nothing but excitement. Apparently being hated by people they’d grown to see as friends was too much for them to face though.

“Please don’t tell the others.” They had no right to ask for that but here they were doing it anyway. “I’ll tell the truth eventually.”

Beffica scoffed before turning around and leaving. Presumably to go tell the others the truth. Buddy could chase after her to try to stop her, convince to hold off for a little while, but… with a sigh they just sat on their bed instead. Perhaps they could get a short nap in before everyone came in to be mad at them for being a murderer.

~

By some miracle their nap wasn’t interrupted though. Instead they were allowed maybe a full night’s sleep, judging by the amount of sunlight that filtered in through their window as they groggily rolled out of bed.

Upon forcing themself up and out of the hut, they stopped by the mailbox. The flag was up, indicating they had mail. It was a letter from Beffica.

‘I’ll keep your secret for now but only because you’re my bestie. (Or were, I’m not sure if I can be besties with someone who willing participated in an experiment like that and then hid and lied about it to protect their reputation. There are limits, you know?) BUT you have to tell the truth sometime before you leave. Face to face, not in a letter. I think that’s fair, don’t you? ;0’

Well, that was more mercy than they deserved. They weren’t going to complain though. And well, that was pretty fair. It’s not like they could’ve ever returned after sending the letter anyway. Might as well do it face to face and then flee back home.

#my writing #bugsnax #the journalist #snorpy #beffica #head games

[poliel]

Reblogging because I have added a transcript for anyone who needs/wants one because someone asked me too and because I should've done so upon uploading it in the first place. Better later than never though, huh?

Since I didn't see anything else out there about the new death reaction lines, beyond mentions that they exist, I figured I'd share them for anyone who might want to see them but don't have their files setup for it to be easy without a whole new playthrough or if anyone just doesn't want to do it in game for whatever other reason. If I had the knowhow, I'd edit the clips into a neat little Youtube video to share here but I don't so y'all are just gonna have to take the clips as is. I'm sure other people have shared them elsewhere but one more person doing so doesn't hurt, right?

Here's Floofty's line about Shelda's death.

Shelda's line about Floofty.

Floofty's line about Snorpy.

Snorpy's line about Floofty.

Transcript/copying down the subtitles:

First clip, Floofty's line about Shelda's death.

Floofty - I cannot believe that Shelda was right. That thought reverberates throughout my skull on loop. I was too petty to see it, and now she's paid the price for my hubris. For all our enmity, she was never afraid to challenge my preconceived notions. And above all else, she believed in sharing her knowledge. After all, nothing known is useful if it is known alone. If I am to learn one lesson from Shelda, let that be it.

Second clip - Shelda's line about Floofty's death.

Shelda - Our doom cam, but what did I really do to stop it? I spoke loudly, yes, but I made the speaker more important than the message. Despite our bickering, I know the world is a poorer place without Floofty. They had so much potential to do good. So I'll have to do it in their place. No more cryptic riddles, no divine shroud, just me. I think they'd appreciate that.

Third clip, Floofty's line about Snorpy's death.

Floofty - Snorpington is dead. It is a simple yet unfathomable fact. It is tempting now to unhinge myself from the concept of self-preservation, and pursue a Pyrrhic victory over the parasites that shatter our fragile world. But if I allow myself this one small sentiment, I should instead take on some fraction of my brother's caution and conscience. After all, ha, somebody needs to look after Chandlo.

Fourth clip, Snorpy's line about Floofty's death.

Snorpy - I spent so much time pushing Floofty away. Finally, we had a chance to make amends and, and now they're gone. They were so brilliant and fearless a- and they were right, I'm wasting my life jumping at every shadow. At least I, I still have all of their notes. I was never the smarter one between us but somehow, I will continue their work. Floofty's research will change the world.

[poliel]

Head Games Chapter 2/4: This is Fine

Digging a grave, even for just a skeleton, took longer than Buddy would’ve thought. As a result by the time they were dragging their feet back into town, the sun was coming up on the horizon, promising a bright sun-shiny day as if to directly counter the events of last night. Given that it was still quite early in the morning though everyone could still easily be asleep, allowing Buddy to return the shovel to its rightful place leaning against the garden fence and then sneak over to their hut to get some much-needed sleep. Alas, they weren’t to be blessed with such luck; everyone was up and gathered around where the research tent had once stood.

Sneaking away and possibly back to Beffica’s cave to sleep there instead was an option, a very tempting one. But if they were caught at it, it’d probably look suspicious and then everyone would figure it out. No, the thing they had to do was pretend that this was news to them, that they had no idea where Floofty or the tent had vanished to. Meaning they had to act as they would if they stumbled upon this scene normally; ask questions and investigate.

They could do that, no problem. They were a bad liar when caught red-handed but they’d had the past few hours to think about and mentally prepare for this lie so it’d be fine. Especially since it was only a temporary lie told for the sake of saving Lizbert, making it a good thing and not a selfish coward’s thing. Buddy could do this. Taking a deep breath, they started over.

“Before we get carried away with any more speculation and whatnot,” Filbo was saying as Buddy came into earshot of the conversation, “all of Floofty science stuff is still here. So if they did leave town, they intend to come back so we can ask them then where the tent went.” Perhaps Buddy should’ve gotten rid of or hid Floofty’s stuff to make it look like perhaps they’d left town again. Too late now.

“Assuming they come back at all,” Beffica said, interrupting whatever Filbo had been about to continue with and sending a chill down Buddy’s spine. Did she somehow know something? “I mean there’s more here than just Floofty and the tent missing which is why we started speculating in the first place. The camera’s set up here but there’s no film reel.” That was definitely something Buddy should’ve dealt with. “If Floofty wanted to use it for something, they’d have put it back in Liz’s cabin when they were done, right?”

“Yep,” Triffany agreed. “They’ve used it a few times actually. They always put it back when they’re done. So leaving it out like that is unlike them.”

Beffica nodded and continued. “And the ground’s all messed up as if someone took a hoe to it.”

“My hoe had something on it this morning,” Wambus said. “Something dark and sticky as well as normal dirt. I figured it was probably bugsnax goop and wiped it off with a rag. I’m pretty dang sure it wasn’t like that when I put it away last night though. So someone used it for something while I was sleeping.” Another thing Buddy had overlooked in their rush to get everything dealt with. “And my shovel’s missing. I thought maybe a bunger escaped from Gramble’s barn and ran off with it. But given other stuff is missing too, I ain’t sure no more.”

Buddy was still holding that shovel. They could excuse it though so it was fine. That bunger idea was even better than their original excuse so it’d be doubly fine.

“Well, I ain’t missing a bunger so I doubt it,” Gramble said. So maybe not such a good idea after all. “So maybe it does got something to do with Floofty and the tent.”

“What are you even getting at, Beffica?” Cromdo cut in. “You think someone murdered Floofty or something?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe. They’re not exactly well liked around town. Or maybe it was an accident that someone tried to hide. I mean like Filbo did almost burn the whole town down that one time. It was pure luck no one got hurt. Who’s to say something similar didn’t happen last night only someone did get hurt this time; Floofty. And in his rush to hide the body and get rid of the evidence, he messed up like he always does and missed things.” How close she came to the truth proved that even if she worked exclusively in the world of gossip she was still just as much of a competent journalist as anyone Buddy had ever met.

“I didn’t,” Filbo said, “and I wouldn’t lie about it if I did. If I ever messed up bad enough that someone… got hurt because of it, I wouldn’t hide it. That’d be wrong.” He was a far better grump that Buddy could ever hope to be.

“Also,” Wiggle cut in, “that doesn’t really make sense. Someone would’ve heard or seen something, right? Fires are quite loud and bright after all.”

“Yeah,” Gramble agreed. “I’m a real light sleeper. I’d’ve known if there were a fire or anything of the sort.”

Beffica shrugged again. “I didn’t say it had to be a fire or even that it had to be Filbo who did something. It’s just really fishy, that’s all. It could easily just be like something weird Floofty did for an experiment or whatever. They could come back any minute now and be annoyed we’re all standing around speculating about them and then embarrassed because they forget to put the camera away.”

“Floofty embarrassed, now wouldn’t that be something to see?” Shelda said with a chuckle.

Chandlo stepped forward. “Well if it really is that fishy, perhaps we should go look for them, just in case something bad did happen.”

“That’s a brilliant idea!” Unfortunately, Filbo looked and sounded quite excited about that idea. “You and Snorpy would probably stay here in case they come back. And then Wambus, Triffany, and Shelda, you guys could go search the desert. Uh… Gramble and Wiggle you can search the beach. Cromdo and Beffica, Garden Grove and Flavor Falls. And then me and Buddy can search the woods and mountain when Buddy comes back.”

Cromdo, ever the contrarian, of course spoke up again. “Why do you get to choose where and with who we go search with? Also why do we even care that much? As far as we know, they’ve only been mysteriously gone for what, like an hour now? Not exactly long enough to cause concern even if things are kind of fishy.”

“Well, I’m the mayor. And I’ve heard that as soon as you start feeling like something’s off is the right time to report a missing person or uh, in this case, go look for them. Chances are we’ll find them safe and sound somewhere doing science but it doesn’t hurt to listen to our instincts and go looking for them because we’re worried. The last thing we want is to find out later that something bad did happen and we did nothing until it was too late.”

“He’s not wrong,” Snorpy finally chimed in. “The chances of never seeing a missing person again grow exponentially the longer they’re missing. So the time to start searching is as soon as you notice they’re missing.”

A general murmur of agreement ran through the gathering, interrupted by Triffany. “So I guess it’s decided then, let’s go look for Floofty.”

Everyone seemed to take as a queue to disperse. Which meant turning and pausing as they noticed Buddy standing there.

“Buddy!” Filbo jogged the short distance over to them, stopping in front of them. “Wow, you’re uh… kinda a mess.”

“And you got my shovel.” Wambus stepped up too.

“Yep. I borrowed it to uh… try to dig a pit trap. You know, to try to catch more bugsnax.” An even better lie; they were a genius. Any awkwardness could easily be explained away by their physical and mental exhaustion after doing such a thing so late at night/early in the morning. “Which is also why I’m dirty and a mess. It uh… didn’t really work though.” They held it out for Wambus to take. “So what’s going on here?”

“Floofty’s missing,” Beffica said but it Filbo who stepped in and filled in the rest of the story. Completely unnecessary considering Buddy had heard most of the conversation but that was fine.

“Well, Floofty isn’t out in Garden Grove or Flavor Falls,” they said once Filbo was done. They needed to keep anyone from looking out there and potentially find the grave. “I was just out that way and didn’t see them. Um, you guys should go start searching the other areas though while I investigate what happened here. I’ll head up the mountain and look for Floofty there when I’m done if they’re not found before then.”

From there they only had to exchange a few more words with folks before they were left alone with their crime scene. In case anyone was still watching or happened to come by, they set to investigating. Examining things, taking photos, noting down things in their notebook.

They’d been sloppy. Hoeing the ground to disguise where the blood had fallen had mostly worked to disguise the colour of the soil but Beffica was right, it was very obviously tampered with. It hadn’t been as noticeable last night in the dark but… they still should’ve tried harder to smooth it out. The camera was still set up on its tripod, pointed at where the machine had sat, even with is film reel still safely hidden in their pouch that was more than a little suspicious. The only upside was that there was no way to dust for pawprints and match the results to a database out here or Buddy would’ve likely already been caught by now. Even so, if it wasn’t them who’d done it, they probably would’ve figured out the gist of what happened and found the culprit after a bit of digging.

One would think that someone with experience in investigating would better know how to hide and obscure evidence. Even if they’d been panicking, they should’ve been able to do better. At least they’d thought to keep the film reel so they weren’t entirely incompetent.

Speaking of not being incompetent, they would now have to continue to lie about this while acting as if they were trying to find Floofty. Only for a little bit though and for a good, justifiable reason. It wasn’t going to be easy but they could do it, it’d be fine.

#my writing #bugsnax #head games #the journalist

[poliel]

Head Games: Chapter 1/4 - Off With Their Head!

I'm sure people have written the Head Games experiment actually happening before but whatever, I've done it now too because I've been wanting to ever since I first started writing fic for this fandom.

So also, Content Warning: Major Character Death via graphic decapitation.

~

The machine was quite large, taking up almost all the available space in the research tent, which already felt smaller with the flaps closed and tied shut. They’d had to move aside all of Floofty’s as well as Triffany’s stuff, putting it outside for now. Leaving only room for the machine and the camera trained on it. Having a proper recording for scientific analysis as well as proof was important after all. Not to mention, that was Buddy’s payment for helping with this; despite their derision for Buddy’s profession, Floofty knew they couldn’t resist a good story and this working would certainly be one.

“Are you absolutely one hundred percent sure this’ll work?” Buddy asked as Floofty climbed up onto the machine.

“No. If I knew for a fact it would work, I wouldn’t need to test it, now would I?” Despite that they didn’t seem at all frightened or nervous as they lay down and shifted to ensure their neck was aligned with the sawblade. With only a little help from Buddy they were strapped in, their wrists and ankles bound to the table. “I’m ready. Start the machine,” they said with no hesitation as Buddy stepped back from the table.

Buddy should refuse, right? Insist it was too dangerous. It’s not like Floofty could work this machine by themself otherwise they’d likely have done so. Meaning it was up to Buddy to decide whether or not this experiment happened. So the sane thing do would be to refuse because risking a real grumpus life was not worth it. But… but… they wanted to know if it would work too. It would be amazing if it did and fascinating to see happen. And it would make their story about bugsnax, Lizbert, Snaktooth Island and its inhabitants all the more compelling.

Floofty probably knew best, right? If they trusted it to work enough that they were willing to risk their life in testing it than it would probably work, right? Also, it’s not like they were testing it on anyone else even though they probably could’ve easily found a way to. One could argue that that made it an ethical experiment, right? Or at least not an unethical one. But it was still…

“Hurry up,” Floofty snapped, making Buddy flinch, “before some other insomniac wakes up and wonders why the tent’s closed up. I’d rather not get interrupted in the middle of this.” Because there was no way anyone else in town would let this experiment continue if they wondered in on it. A pretty solid reason to refuse but… Floofty was smart, Buddy trusted their judgment and wanted to see it work.

Taking a deep breath, they put themself back into motion. Honestly though, having let it progress this far, they’d pretty much already decided they were going to do it. First, they went to the camera to make sure it was at the right angle for recording and turned it on. Next, they loaded the feeding part of the machine with all the strabbys and razzbys they’d caught for this – small because it would probably be easier to eat them even while under stress. And then finally, before their doubts could start circling in their head again, they put their paw on the button that would turn it on. “You really sure about this?”

“Quite.” Floofty certainly sounded very sure and they’d answered the exact same way every time they’d been asked so… Buddy pressed the button.

The buzzsaw came to life with a disconcerting whirring noise that made Buddy’s fur prickle with unease as they moved back to stand by the camera’s tripod to get a better view of the action. It wouldn’t be a pleasant but they had to watch for science, journalism and good old fashioned morbid curiosity.

Floofty managed to stay still and quiet up until the saw touched their neck. They twitched and let a small yelp of pain that quickly grew gargled as the buzzsaw didn’t even slow as it cut deeper into their cakelike flesh. Blood spurted out from their neck, coating the saw and flying everywhere. They flailed uselessly against their restraints, doing little more than rocking the machine a little.

“Floofty, are you okay? Do you need me to…”

The sound of the buzzsaw changed, becoming a horrid grinding noise as if cutting through something hard. Bone probably. Floofty finally went quiet and limp. The grinding sound came to a blessed end a second or two before the whirring stopped as well.

Heavy silence settled in the tent as the blade, dripping with gore and snaxified matter, lifted automatically back to its starting position. Trembling, Buddy held their breath, waiting for… something, anything.

Except… nothing happened. The silence held as blood oozed out of the two halves of Floofty’s cleanly cut neck, dripping over the sides of the table to form a small puddle on the ground. The drip-feeding part of the machine had finished too. Buddy had been a bit too distracted by everything else to notice when.

“Floofty?” they tried because what else could they do? “It’s just taking a while, right?” But when they’d regrown their leg, it had been almost instant. And now time continued to drag. … Maybe they just needed a little help.

Fighting nausea, Buddy tiptoed closer and… gingerly picked up Floofty’s decapitated head, holding it by the horns. Their face was contorted in a grimace of pain, their eyes weren’t even fully closed. Blood oozed out of it, getting onto Buddy’s fur despite their best efforts to hold it away from themself. With nowhere else to put it and unable to bear the thought of holding it for long, they bent down and gently placed it on the ground.

Stepping back from it, they looked at Floofty’s body again. No head had regrown from it… yet. Their severed neckbone was visible beneath what remained of their throat. But other than that and what had to be their jugular veins, still dripping blood, it looked an awful lot like a cross section of a cake – a red one because blood probably, ugh. So bugsnax didn’t just change the outward appearance of a grumpus when eaten. Meaning something had been learned today regardless.

Now all that needed to happen was for Floofty to sprout a new head or new body, assuming it would work that way instead. Wouldn’t it be cool if both happened? Two Flooftys working together on science stuff, who knows what all they could accomplish? …

But… nothing was happening. Blood continued to drip off the table and onto the ground. What if it had failed? What if Floofty had been wrong about the possibility of the regenerative properties of bugsnax extending that far. Losing one’s head was vastly different from a single limb after all. But… but… they’d been so sure. … Not entirely though. They’d told Buddy that multiple times, that had been the point of the experiment after all, testingto see if their hypothesis was correct. And it was looking more and more like it wasn’t. Meaning that Floofty had….

Floofty’s snakified flesh oozed off their skull and bones, sliding off the table almost like a liquid. It melted into the ground, seemingly becoming part of it. … What the fuck? That wasn’t normal dead body behavior.

Buddy turned away and gagged, only barely managing not to vomit. They had to take a few deep breaths before they could turn back and look at Floofty’s corpse again. Just bones now, somehow.

That confirmed it though; Floofty’s head wasn’t going to be growing back. They were dead. Buddy was to blame for not only letting them do their experiment but also for helping them.

Of all the stupid things they’d ever done, this really took the cake. They were never going to live it down. It was their fault someone they cared about was dead. Their fault that someone with so much potential to make important scientific discoveries was dead. Their fault that Triffany’s friend and Snorpy’s sibling was dead. They… they… they needed to do something. They couldn’t let the others see this. No one else needed to see this horrific mess. And why had their flesh melted off!?

Shoving the question and the mental image of it out of their mind, Buddy finally got moving again, going first to the camera and turned it off. After carefully extracting the film reel, they shoved it into their pouch for now. They needed to make sure they didn’t forget it laying around somewhere where anyone might find it and decide to pop it into the projector in Lizbert’s cabin and view it.

Then they turned to look at the skull… Floofty’s skull. Their flesh turned snakmatter had melted cleanly off it, leaving nothing but white bone. Much like the skeleton at the top of Frosted Peak now that they thought about it so they at least kind of had an explanation of what had happened there. Though, why would snakification cause that to happen when the grump died? … A mystery Floofty probably would’ve loved to solve and then explain in the most condescending way possible. Buddy would’ve loved to hear it.

Shaking those thoughts away, they moved it over so they could quickly lay out the rest of Floofty’s skeleton beside it without having to hold any individual bone for longer than was strictly necessary. Next, they set to dismantling the machine. Which was surprisingly easy to do, clearly it had been built it with the intention of having it be easy to take down or put back up. What to do with the pieces though? They were still dripping with gore. … A quick rinse in the river just outside would take care of that at least.

Taking a deep breath, they undid one of the ties keeping the tent closed and peaked outside. It was still dark and… quiet. No one was up and about. By some miracle not even Gramble was sleep walking tonight. Good, very good!

They dipped back in to gather up as many of the machine pieces as they could carry. Resisting the urge to run and thus probably make a lot of noise, they brought them outside and to the river. It took several agonizing trips and quite a bit of effort but eventually they were able to give everything a solid dunk, allowing the last of the blood to wash away in streams of red in the river’s current. They let the river have the wooden parts. The rest, they carried to their hut, putting it on the top floor where no one but them was likely to look – a temporary solution that they’d fixed later.

Dealing with the blood on the ground in the tent as well as that that had dripped off when dealing with the machine parts was surprisingly not too hard. The soil seemed more than happy to drink it up and borrowing Wambus’ hoe to turn the soil over to hide the discolouration that caused was effective enough. The blood that had splattered onto the tent itself though was another matter entirely.

While the tent was waterproof on the outside, the inside, not as much, it had soaked in. Perhaps slinging ketchup all over the inside might hide the stains? … No, blood dried much darker than ketchup did, likely others in town would know the difference well enough to spot it immediately. With how big it was, cleaning it would be very difficult to do without getting spotted and questioned. … Maybe they could burn it, make look like an accident? But that would wake everyone and with the river right there, they’d probably be able to put the fire out fast enough that not enough damage could be done to hide the blood and certainly not enough to make it look like that’s how Floofty died. … No choice, they had to get rid of the tent and let everyone be mystified by its disappearance just like they were going to be mystified by Floofty’s.

Wait, wait, wait! Buddy skidded to a halt. What were they thinking and doing? They should tell everyone that Floofty had died in a failed experiment, right? The gruesome details weren’t necessary but everyone, especially the folk who’d cared about Floofty the most, had a right to know what had happened. But… it was Buddy’s fault. They could’ve stopped it, could’ve refused, or even gone and told someone when it was happening so they could interrupt and stop it. But they hadn’t. Instead they’d pushed the button. They’d killed Floofty.

An unbearable truth. Just them knowing it was bad enough, everyone else knowing too would be so much worse. … Surely there were practical reasons to keep this a secret, right? For now, anyway. Like… like… it would cause problems and make everyone upset! How could they find and save Lizbert with the whole town possibly falling apart again and everyone hating them? As they deserved, yes, but if she was still alive somehow, a higher chance of saving her was surely a good reason to put off telling everyone of this horrible crime they’d committed. Yeah, yeah! They weren’t being selfish in their instinct to keep this a secret, they were just trying to save Lizbert. A noble and just cause.

With renewed resolve, they put themself back into motion once more. First, Floofty’s bones, they couldn’t just be left lying here for anyone to possibly wonder in on while they dealt with the tent. Bones were far easier to move and hide than a whole intact corpse but still not a walk in the park. … Hmm… their only real option was their backpack, huh? Certainly most convenient with how empty it was now. With a sigh, they slipped it off and dropped it to the ground and unzipped it.

First they put in the skull, then the ribcage, and then everything else, a tight fit but possible none the less. An upside to Floofty’s flesh melting off was that Buddy could fit their entire skeleton in their backpack, wasn’t that just grand? It even zipped up too.

Leaving that there for now they set to taking down the research tent. A task easier said than done but it was far from their first time taking down a tent even if it was the biggest tent they’d ever had to dismantle. But it was designed with being taken down in mind so it didn’t take that long. As soon as they were done, they dragged it over and threw it into the river. Later they would go after it and dispose of it more properly. It washing back up on shore would be bad, especially if the blood stains remained.

Returning to their backpack filled with bones, they grabbed it, holding it by the handle and out and away from themself for a few seconds before, with a shudder, forcing themself to heft it onto their back. Physically it wasn’t heavier than what they normally put in there but psychologically it was probably the heaviest thing they’d ever carried.

They had no time to linger on that or anything else though. Every moment they spent here increased the risk of someone waking up and seeing something. So they got moving again, walking fast but not running. Walking fast was what folk did when they had things to do, running was what those guilty of a crime did.

Wambus only had one proper shovel and it wasn’t very big but it would have to do. They grabbed it and headed for… hmmm… Garden Grove. One more dug up spot in Wambus’ old garden wouldn’t be too noticeable or suspicious. And if asked what they’d been doing out there with the shovel they could say they’d been testing out some gardening stuff on their own. Heck, to really cover their ass, they could actually catch a few bugsnax and do just that. No one needed to know or have cause to suspect they were a murderer. Not yet anyway, not yet.

#my writing #bugsnax #head games #major character death #graphic death #floofty fizzlebean #the journalist