Great Master, Are You Afraid?

“Great Master, are you afraid?”

“Yes.”

GUESS WHO FINISHED THE MAIN STORY OF LOTM!!! 1394 chapters, WOOHOO!!! What. A. Ride. I was speeding through the past three hundred chapters and besides rambling about Merlin on tumblr I didn’t write much reaction posts haha. Oh, man, what an amazingly constructed world, plot and story. Isn’t it funny that the moment I finish reading is just about the time Klein is nearly about to make a return in COI, from what I’ve heard? Also cuttlefish didn’t have to wring my heart out with that last chapter AHHHHHH [sobbing]

PRAISE THE FOOL!!!!!!

Ink Demonth Day 10 : Exhibit

A strange archives hidden within the halls of Archgate. An exhibit displaying the brief history of Joey Drew Studios.

Wilson scrunched his brows, his hand still holding on tight to the broom in his grip. He kept pondering the particular nature of this archives. It seemed to be akin to a museum, immortalizing the legacy of a bygone studio, yet, it was also a hassle to access, having to get through halls of the building before one could see it. It seemed illogical, as if it wasn’t meant for the public. Of course, it could be that Nathan wanted to let the outside world see Archgate’s work environment as well, but wouldn’t it be too risky? A well disguised thief could easily sneak in and learn the insides. Wilson’s expression turned strange as he considered his father’s slacking of being wary. Usually, that man would keep his trade secrets to himself..

Or was it because he was indeed hiding these items from someone? Wilson knew a person or two who would match that description. 

Or..

The fake janitor carefully placed away his broom, examining the items on each shelf casually. He had seen them one too many times, but this would be the first he could examine them up close. Back when he was hiding in Gent, Alan would always switch the location of certain objects periodically, making them hard to track.

He was curious as to how the wonders of that ink machine truly worked.

Wilson had a brief understanding, but that was it, just a brief understanding. It was nothing to brag about against people like Thomas Connor or Joey Drew.

He wanted to investigate deeper into the potency of such a machine.

He tried to see if any of the items was having a strange reaction, but he couldn’t notice any. Failing to gain anything, he went to the far back of the archives to access a locked room.

The room containing the ink machine.

Wilson stared at the particular machination for some time. It wasn’t the first time he came here, but every single time, the machine remained quiet. The gears didn’t turn, nor any weird liquid seeped out of the main tube. It was no different to a big metal box at the moment.

He knew Alan had used various methods and elaborate techniques to activate it all the time, but besides a few loose water pipes and electrical wires, there was nothing that could be of help to Wilson.

Aside from that, the room had three pillars scattered on both sides of the hall. It had pictures to resemble what item should be placed on top, but none of those items existed within the exhibition. Wilson questioned why Nathan would order these pillars to be erected if they had no correlation to the machine. 

That simply meant those pillars were the key to the machine.

Wilson slumped against a nearby wall, sighing out of exasperation.

It seemed a certain janitor would be treasure hunting for a while.

Bendy : The Untrsuted AU - Intermission (Part 3.5/5)

Ink Demonth 2024 Day 15 : Draft

It was already after hours, and Alan had begun to turn off the lights in the building. Gent corp wasn’t massive, at least not yet— he definitely had plans for expansions, but for now, it was more like a standard office building.

“Good night boss!” A group of youngsters approaching the exit called out to him in a gleeful tone. Alan waved back casually, causing the keys in his hands to jingle. “Don’t forget to flush the toilet tomorrow, Darryl.” He gave a light warning. 

“I- what do you mean?” One of the young men exclaimed, before his face turned red. “Right- ah, right..”

Alan watched quietly as the last group of workers left the building for the night, smiling to himself. He was just about to lock up the building when he suddenly stopped at the door’s threshold.

Thump! Thump! Thump! 

He glared up at the ceiling above.

……..

Thomas sat down at his desk again, heaving a sigh of relief. In every aspect, he was an adult. But he couldn’t help but intentionally lower his noises when Alan is about to lock the building, like a little child hiding from their father. 

He liked having some quiet time to himself in the Gent corp building. Besides, he was the one putting in the money to buy candles and matchsticks for a light source. It wasn’t like he was using the electricity or anything. As for water amenities, he often held it in until he got home, which was just a few blocks away.

He looked down at the large piece of paper covered in notes, sketches and ideas in front of him.

The corners of his lips curved up a little.

Jingle..

“Knock knock.”

Thomas jolted slightly at the noise. He turned back to see Alan Gray standing in the doorway, playing with the keys in his hands that didn’t make any noise until now.

His small smirk froze on his face.

“As usual.” Alan caught the keys in his palm, laughing exasperatedly. “You really don’t change in this part.”

Thomas didn’t need to give him an explanation nor excuse. It was something he had been doing for years. His eyes simply twitched at the sight of Alan’s mischievous face.

Every time Alan had caught him, so Thomas subconsciously made it a personal goal to not get caught by Alan, even for a single night.

Regardless, it still wasn’t successful.

“Are you still working on that commission?” Alan asked, approaching Thomas’ desk to a certain distance. “Wow, you got a lot done today!”

Thomas looked down at what was a blank paper in the morning, now a comprehensive draft of a certain contraption. He felt rather proud of himself, even though the client was infuriating.

It was something unlike anything he’d ever designed before, nor had he ever seen before. It wasn’t exactly perfect, but it should satisfy the client’s wishes.

To be honest, when he wasn’t truly focused, he sometimes even hated this project. It was something extremely demanding, but a part of him also yearns for the thrill of a challenge, and something new.

It was something crazy.

Alan waited for Thomas to show some pieces of the draft to him, casually inspecting it.

“It’ll truly be something new.” Alan remarked. “Although, you forgot..” Alan pointed to a section and explained Thomas’ mistakes in this part.

“Ah, right.” Thomas acknowledged, turning back towards the desk to figure out a way around it. 

Alan simply watched as the man tinkered on, like a determined child trying to complete a difficult assignment.

“I thought you’d drop out of the commission already.” Alan chuckled dryly. “I mean, like I always said, you don’t have to take it if you can’t stand it anymore.”

Thomas paused for a second, looking at the draft in front of him.

On top of it wrote “The Ink Machine”.

He stared blankly outside for a few moments.

“It’s.. something I gotta do, I guess.”

Alan laughed lightly, acknowledging Thomas’ stubbornness.

“It’ll be a wonderful machine.”

Bendy : The Untrusted AU

one of these days I’m gonna be heaving over all the short stories I’m writing for Ink Demonth into tumblr all at once and my blog is gonna be overflowing with Untrusted AU short stories lmao

Ink Demonth 2024 Day 14 : Steam

A cup of steaming tea was placed in front of a young lady with soft, reddish-brown hair.

Her breath trembled as she tried to calm herself down.

Rose carefully picked it up, taking a sip of the slightly sweet tea.

It had been a long time since the incident involving the bizarre ink machine, and that wretched man named Joey Drew. Even though a period of time had passed, her family still suffers from hallucinations often. 

It has gotten better since a while ago, but suddenly, everything seemed to worsen tenfold. The hallucinations now weren’t limited to visual, extending to auditory, and sometimes, Rose swears she could even touch them.

She looked up at her brother sitting opposite to her, fidgeting with his mug of tea absentmindedly.

“I don’t-“ Ollie stopped mid-sentence. “I really don’t understand why..”

That was what they’d say out loud often, to keep themselves glued to reality.

“Don’t understand what?” Rose casually asked. This was a response to begin solving any irregularities in their senses.

“Why.. why it’s suddenly gotten worse.” Ollie concluded.

Rose’s gentle smile froze. It was a question she didn’t really feel like bringing up.

“That’s..” Rose tried to answer, her eyes trying to focus on the tea in front of her.

Suddenly, the color of the tea seemed to darken, until it looked like ink.

Rose turned her face away, focusing her sight on the fridge. Ollie quickly pushed away his mug as well, indicating he was seeing the same thing Rose was.

Rose’s gaze was glued to the fridge.

She watched as it slowly creaked open on its own, a mound of goopy, black liquid seeping out from the edges.

She quickly retracted her gaze, looking at Ollie instead. His fearful expression matched hers completely.

“It’s okay.” Rose, out of habit, quickly denied her sights. “Remember, it’s not real.”

“Exactly because it isn’t real that it could be rewritten.”

Rose and Ollie jerked their heads towards the direction of the voice. Even though they’d come to the agreement to ignore all voices, this voice was new. Usually, they’d hear the same voices over and over again. Some Rose would recognize as Joey Drew, some as Archie, some as Evan…

This was a new voice, a bright, upbeat voice with a tinge of madness.

More importantly, this voice was crystal clear, as if the owner of the voice was speaking to them.

All the other noises they’ve heard so far are always muddled and distorted, like a broken radio.

The two of them landed their eyes on the big window over the kitchen counter, overlooking the streets.

The sky outside seemed to have darkened.

They walked over carefully, drawing the curtains. 

A strange, dark gray fog wafted through the streets, the pedestrians making confused expressions, implying that their eyes weren’t lying to them.

“What is..” Ollie trailed off, covering his nose and mouth out of habit.

Rose slowly backed off from the windows, glancing towards the stairs.

“I’ll go get a better view. You stay here and make sure all the windows are locked.”

Ollie wanted to argue that his sister always threw herself into dangerous situations first, but being given a responsibility, he quickly shut up.  

“Okay.” He replied dryly.

Rose rushed up the stairs, going up to Ollie’s bedroom, which faced the streets. She made sure they were locked, before focusing her sight outside.

The ground suddenly rumbled.

A tall building in the distance, near where Kismet was, appeared to distort in shape. It seemed to bulge and grow, turning into a gigantic mausoleum of some sort. The chutes on top of the roof also extended up into the darkening sky, appearing more like spires which spat out steam and gas, turning it into fog that permeated the streets earlier. 

The steam smelled like ink.

Rose rubbed her eyes.

Screams began to emerge from the streets. Rose couldn’t tell what danger they had encountered.

As she retracted her hands, she saw that it was stained with ink.

Ink began to seep from the edges of her eyes, like tears flowing down her cheeks after being exposed to the strange steam.

Without another moment to waste, she grabbed the pillows and blankets in the room, wetting them with tap water and using them to block the edges of the windows to prevent any more from leaking inside. Rose could feel the uncomfortable sensation in her decrease as she did that.

“Rose, ROSE!!!” Ollie screamed, rushing up the stairs and into the room. “Don’t stay near the windows!!” 

“I know, don’t worry.” She tried her best to reassure herself and her brother. “I will-“

As she turned away from the windows, she heard a loud splat as something collided with the glass.

A frightened expression slowly grew on Ollie’s face. 

As Rose’s expression froze, she took a deep breath, turning back to face the window in a careful stance.

A dove had hit the window, its wings dripping with ink, its body tainted by the dark smoke, turning its usual white color dark.

The dove helplessly slid off the pane of glass, leaving a nasty black trail behind as it fell to its eternal slumber.

Rose and Ollie turned to face each other, knowing well their senses are no longer lying.

“What..?”

Bendy : The Untrusted AU - Epilogue (Part 4/5)

The greatest babysitter, Medici