What A Lovely Permit Office…

Cracked open

Queen Jellie's successors!!!!

source: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9dm8ZTOVAK/?igsh=OXN2cmFxcWs4cTJ4 ©cubangla

Lady with a Bee, 2023

Paint Tool Sai

-The aftermath of the curse and self-care-

After Etho failed his boogieman course task, he comes back to the base alone. He still can feel remains of the bloodlust under his skin, curse still clouding his vision. The vicious death by Scar, the hunt of Joel, the no hesitation in Gem’s eyes about killing him after he let Cleo and Grian go.

The firm hand on Etho’s shoulder snaps him out. It’s Cleo. And Grian. Both ready to welcome him no matter what.

One of my favorite cards for HC TCG S2, Beef’s regular rare!

sometimes i think about how absolutely BANGER Gem's villain aesthetic was in Secret Life. Like, she's got this whole vibe of infection and disease around her and it slaps so hard. First you got the End portal stuff with her arm and eye when she goes Yellow (alongside the implication of her ripping out her own eye to use for the End Portal) and later you have her as Patient Zero for the boogeyman/zombie outbreak. And she kills just as indiscriminately as an epidemic would, including her own allies when they offer themselves to her. Hell, she kills Scott TWICE and technically kills Impulse twice too, once by her own hands and once when Bdubs kills him right in front of her to continue the spread of the curse.

And then you combine all this with the idea of her being a deer and it just gets better. Not only are deer prone to uncanny valley vibes, but they're also extremely susceptible to Chronic Wasting Disease, aka Zombie Deer Disease. Which is scary as shit, like all prion diseases. It literally eats away at the brain and leaves the animal a husk. And it's completely incurable, 100% fatal, and spreads easily (not to humans though, thank fuck.)

Now imagine this diseased horned prey creature hunting and killing whatever gets in its way while infections far beyond its ability to comprehend ravage its body and mind. And everything it kills comes back just as screwed up and terrifying. Very few can fight back against it, let alone slay it. No one is safe, the ones who survive either do so because they're Something Not Human (Grian the Watcher), Already Biologically Dead (ZOMBIECleo) or just got lucky and never got caught (Scott). However, there is one last piece of horror unaccounted for. The carrier, no matter how thin, no matter how much drool leaks from her mouth, no matter how erratic and unholy her behavior, is still aware. Still in control.

There's an independent will behind the spread.