[The Void Project] BACK FROM THE DARKNESS

[CainWolf]

So, I have finally set up the chat.
http://www.quicktopic.com/50/H/TPmjJ9pqEWYPJ
Enjoy~!

- - - Post Merge - - -


That would be me you should talk to~! I would probably sell it, The Ice set does go for a lot as its summer, and the mush set is very popular. I Pam'd you.

Okay then, do you want to arrange a time and day to come over? I'm available anytime past 3:30 p.m. (Eastern time) on weekdays unless something comes up and weekends I'm available whenever I happen to wake up.

I can gather up all the things I want to get rid and leave them outside my train station and you can pick what you want at your leisure. Anything you don't pick up I'll just sell to retail so if you want anything, even a little, even if it's something you want personally and wouldn't sell for the contest, don't hesitate to take it. In addition to my many valuables I also have a ton of pitfall seeds, they probably aren't worth much but if you have use for them yourself then take them, I fall into my own pitfalls whenever I try to use them so I stopped using them and now I have a surplus. Seriously it's like "Muahaha, they shall never see this pitfall from behind my flowers, I am so clever with the way I... Just fell in again..." *facepalm*

But seriously anything I have on the ground is free to you. You can even hang out for a bit afterwards and check out the shops (my shopping district has Katrina).

I tried to keep the stuff organized to the best of my abilities while still keeping it close to the train station for easy locker access but there is a lot of stuff. Still I did what I could and kept the complete ice set to the left and the incomplete one that's missing just the lamp to the far right.

My friend code is 3540-0598-2546 and I'll add the friend code you have posted in your info. My town's name is Crystal.

All futher communications can be through just private messages but I wanted to make sure you got this so I posted here and pm'd.

 

[CainWolf]

I have created a new void story, featuring Bam! On a related note can someone add Bam to the void list? I know I should really stop voiding the popular deer villagers that everyone loves but I was in a hurry because someone had Sterling for me and nobody was offering anything from my wishlist. Anyway, enjoy the story.

Spoiler: Hardcore Training

'This was even more intense than I expected, perfect' Bam's thoughts echoed in his head as his swift hoofsteps echoed through the void. In the dark it was hard to make out the dark creature chasing Bam but Bam's blue fur was quite easy to make out at any time of day.

The previous week.

Bam had been worried that the perfect peaceful town of Crystal was making him soft, every jock worried about that at some point or another but few were stupid enough to pursue the rumors of a place that robs you of your sanity and shakes the strongest animals to their core...

"A place like that could really help me work my core, Boosh!"

"Did you say something Bam?" Inquired Lopez. The two of them had been having coffee at Brewster's when Bam's sudden outburst caught the attention of his friend.

"It's nothing... Actually I was just thinking that maybe I should move elsewhere, This town is quiet and peaceful, maybe I should move someplace a little more tough before I go soft."

Lopez goes quiet, clearly debating something with himself. "Well... If that's what makes you happy, I guess..." Lopez seems to struggle to finish his sentence when Bam pats Lopez on the back.

"Thanks for understanding man, you've been a good friend. I'm gonna get things settled for my big move, catch you later!" Bam walks away oblivious while Lopez is still stuck on what to say.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! You blew it Lopez why couldn't you just say something? Anything?" Lopez gripes at himself the moment Bam is out of earshot.

Bam continues into town and finds the mayor. "Hey Aidan! Can we talk?" Without waiting for a response Bam continues. "I think this town has had it's fill of my awesome muscles, I feel I could do a lot of good elsewhere! What do you think?"

Aidan pauses, for a long while, uncomfortably long. Just as Bam is about to say something Aidan chimes in with three words. "Go for it!"

"Thanks man, you better not slack off in your training while I'm gone! Ha!"

Bam continues to his house and passes the tent of Lila.

Lila is a bit of an enigma, she almost never talks to anyone more than once and they often move soon after. Her hair is a mess, she wears a HHA jacket despite not even having an actual home and she keeps disapearing and coming back. This led to a lot of rumors but Bam dismissed them, he was the only one she talked to regularly and she never seemed off to him. Lila comes out of her tent with her usual bedhead and jacket.

"Hey Lila! I was thinking of moving, I need to continue my training elsewhere."

Lila paused in that odd way humans seem to do when you tell them you want to move, 'seriously are they having an out of body experience? These pauses are so weird!' Finally Lila snaps out of it and replies. "I understand, good luck!"

"Say, Lila... You wouldn't happen to know anything about The Void would you?"

Lila's eyes widen almost impercibly. "Why would I know anything about The Void that's crazy you're crazy! Ahem, what I mean is that The Void is just a campfire story to scare kids and someone as popular as you wouldn't go there anyway so don't ask me about it why would you ask me about it?"

'Jeez her mouth is running faster than my legs!'

"Ease up Lila I wasn't accusing you of anything, I was just wondering because I kind of want to go."

Lila's expression goes blank, well blanker than the usual pokerface she seems to have. "You... Want to go to The Void? Why?"

"I want to toughen up and I can't do that in another peaceful town like this so I need something intense."

"...I see, excuse me I have something I need to do." And with that, Lila went back into her tent.

"Well that was odd."

Present.

There was a broken-down bridge ahead, Bam picks up his speed and clears it with an awesome leap. 'Hah, that big brute can possibly be agile enough to-and the river didn't slow him down, I think he's an aligator or something...'

Bam keeps running until he comes across a crumbling town hall next to a dead tree, he pulls himself up the low branch and climbs onto the roof. As the creature closes in Bam looks at the spots where the speakers should be. It's just a few wires on the left side, Bam looks at the right side to find the other speaker is still there. Bam rips it off and chucks it at the creature's head and it connects with it's skull, emmitting a loud sceech of feedback as it does.

"Whoo, in your face, don't mess with the Bam!"

"And people tell me blue is lousy camoflage. Still, it's nice to have a new distraction around here." A voice calls out.

"Who's there, does someone else want a piece of me?" Bam calls out.

"Shearly you jest, it's just me." Curlos steps out of the tree and onto the roof, his scarf fluttering in the breeze.

"How did you not see me? I was in the same tree you just climbed up, not to mention my periwinkle scarf everyone tells me is too obvious."

"Curlos? By god, I heard that The void changes people into twisted unholy abominations, but I could have never imagined this..."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You've become a hipster! Oh the horror!"

"I hate you..."

A few side notes on the story:

When the human characters pause awkwardly it refers to people who go on chatrooms/forums and say 'Hey this villager just asked me to move and I didn't accept yet, does anyone want them or should I say no?' I can just imagine a villager standing there waiting for a response while this person asks around for people who want them.

That scene at the cafe with Lopez trying to say something but not getting it out refers to the bisexual vibe smug villagers have coupled with the fact that my Bam and Lopez are always doing something together. I went to Lopez's house once when Bam was visiting and Lopez is all "Don't tell anyone Bam was here, OK?" I have other examples that add to my personal headcannon of Lopez having a crush on Bam but I'm not gonna put them all here.

Lila is a character I use for getting rid of villagers via this method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jIuEm8Bq9I at 5:20 so I consider her an agent of the void (I used her to get rid of Curlos) and sometimes I delete and recreate her but she didn't get rid of Bam with this method, she's actually friendly with him but outside of that she's intended as a sociopath.

Earlier in the void forum I posted a picture I made on paint depicting a basic town hall that was half normal and half in The Void and I wasn't sure how to draw the speakers so I skipped them since they were subtle enough that you'd barely notice them. In this story I decided to give a reason for why at least one of them was missing (the other is still a mystery if anyone wants to implement it in a story). I know a broken speaker probably wouldn't make a feedback screech but I don't care, animal crossing logic is a little off anyway (Puts fridge in pocket).

I borrowed a little dialog from the game, for those who don't know 'Boosh' is Bam's original catchphrase and 'Shearly' is Curlos's. Not to mention Jock villagers usually say that they want to move because of training, although I think Cranky villagers are the ones who express concern over 'growing soft' so I thought that little homage would be cool.

My Bam was wearing a custom shirt when he left, a black jacket on a dark grey shirt with white dots on the left shoulder to look like studs. It wasn't relevant to the story so I didn't put it in but if you need to know what my version of Bam looks like then there it is.

I spent a while trying to think of a good title, I'm still not happy with it. My creativity fails me randomly at the small things (A new greeting? How about...'Hi').

 

[CainWolf]

I have returned from my several-month-long Animal Crossing hiatus and getting back into the game with the most enthusiasm I've had since I started, it's a little disappointing that my favorite forum is still pretty dead but if even one person wants to continue the Void Project then I'm right here. It would be nice if I wasn't the last person to post though, if only to confirm that someone read that last story and I'm not just talking to myself.

By the way Bangle the peppy tiger is in the void now, I doubt that will provide the creative spark needed to bring this place back to life but if someone wants to add her to the void list then I think that she'd be the first tiger on that list.

 

[starlark]

Spoiler: The story of why I reset

It was a cold, dark, dreary day with the grey sky looming high in the sky. I sighed as I trudged out of my house in my snow boots, an inappropriate choice for a day like this.
The rain drizzled onto my fringe as I attempted to open my mailbox. It was painted a bright, cheery, garish red, a contrasting colour to the news I had yet to know I received.
I shoved my hand into the compartment, and found a single notecard right at the back.
I pulled it out, bending my head over the notecard to read what it said.
And there I saw them. The words that broke my heart.
I couldn't even move my eyes across the words, fragments of memories, of times I had with my dear friend. I could only realise what happened when I read the last words:
"I hope I see you again soon, Ruff.
-Julian."
I was in utter shock. He never told me anything about this!
But suddenly I realised. My reckless time travelling was the cause of all of this. My best friend had waited patiently in his house, for me to come and talk with him like old times, in the midst of our town gaining weeds and our beautiful town turning into a wasteland.
And one day, he decided I wasn't going to come back. I lost him.
Shattered, I made my way to the campsite. A tent was pitched there. I didn't want to talk to any of my villagers, even when they looked at me solemnly as I made my way past.
I opened the tent, and right there greeted a small, white face, with eyes slanted downwards and a grumpy look about him. His fringe was the colour of peanut butter, and as he saw me, it swung.
I rushed up to him. Was this real?
"Hello! I'm Marshal."
He said.
Was this fate? My only other smug dreamie had come to fill the place of the one that had deserted me?
Eagerly, we chatted. I could barely contain my excitement. He seemed excited to move in, and I heartily agreed.
Marshal and I became fast friends. The town returned to normal, though I still glanced at the empty, barren grass beside the town hall where my dear unicorn's residence once stood.
I was still in the middle of my 16-villager cycle, and so, most of my dreamies had to watch villagers move in, stay for a while, then pack up and go to another town.
I was determined not to let Marshal go. Colton had already moved out in the same fashion as Julian, but I crafted a bench beside the area where his house used to be and I always found my squirrel friend taking a breather, sitting there and watching the world go by. It was almost as if he knew why I invited him in.
I stopped by Marshal whenever I saw his chimney coming out in little puffs of smoke, whether he was outside or taking a stroll around the shops. My days brightened once more, and I felt happy, though there was still an aching hole in my heart where Julian once was.
Julian was a special unicorn. His whole house, the clothes he wore, the air about him, resembled the night sky and its magic. I knew I couldn't have a town with a 'Star' in the name without him.
But now, Marshal gave me the same happiness. Even if most of the other villagers shunned him, even if he stood in the rain alone while the others wandered by, even if it was just me and him, he understood me.
But one day...I got the worst news.
I opened my mailbox, though I was in a rush, eager to see my friend. I skimmed through my mail, not paying it much attention. But then I came to a single notecard, a beautiful one with my favourite design on it. I could only read the end of it as I burst into tears as soon as I saw the greeting.
"I hope I see you again soon, Ruff.
-Marshal."
I don't know where my Marshal is. I have long restarted that town, and gained another Marshal in his place. But this Marshal isn't the same: although he says the same things, acts the same, he isn't my Marshal. The Marshal that came in through the campsite. The Marshal that healed my broken heart.

 

[CainWolf]

That was a very cool story starlark, I certainly get where you're coming from when you say one Marshal isn't the same as another Marshal. It seems that once you have a villager for a while all the little personal touches really makes them your own doesn't it? The changes in furniture, the catchphrases, the experiences, the little friendships they seem to form with other villagers. My Curlos is one that can never be duplicated, the blue scarf I depict him with that he got from Rory and that time he sold me a fake painting really cemented this odd persona that I use in my own stories and any other Curlos is just a whole other guy.

 

[starlark]

That was a very cool story starlark, I certainly get where you're coming from when you say one Marshal isn't the same as another Marshal. It seems that once you have a villager for a while all the little personal touches really makes them your own doesn't it? The changes in furniture, the catchphrases, the experiences, the little friendships they seem to form with other villagers. My Curlos is one that can never be duplicated, the blue scarf I depict him with that he got from Rory and that time he sold me a fake painting really cemented this odd persona that I use in my own stories and any other Curlos is just a whole other guy.

Indeed! My Marshal never seemed to form any friendships apart from with Deirdre, but now he still has his house at the end of the town, away from all the others, like he knows he can't have a relationship with any of the other villagers.
He also popped up in my cycling town, as the 6th villager to move in, and he was the last of my starting villagers to leave.

 

[CainWolf]

This could be a fun idea for The Void, just having multiple versions of the same character, although that could lead to the void being filled with a clone army of the least popular villager. What would that be, Tabby? I don't know if a Tabby clone army is hilarious or terrifying. Still, having my Curlos face off with a different version of himself could be interesting, especially considering his transition from Lazy villager in previous games to his current Smug personality which could allow for two very different Curloses (or whatever the plural of Curlos is) squaring off.

 

[Nanobyte]

Freckles' void: Chapter 1 - The Move

"Sugar A! Sugar A!" I quacked, knocking excitedly on the door. "Sugar A! Come out and play with me! I haven't seen you all day!" She didn't answer this time, maybe she wasn't home? Was she on vacation? She hadn't written a letter, surely she'd let me know! I frowned in dismay, and went back home.

I stepped back inside my house and undressed, stepping into my bathtub. Every so often, I'd stick my head up and look through the window, wondering if Sugar A was in Re-Tail, selling her garbage. I glanced at the balloon chair she had given me. It wasn't garbage. Sighing, I plopped back into the bath tub, my pink feathers soaking wet once again.

After about 30 minutes, I heard a ka-chunk. Thinking nothing of it, I slipped deeper into the water. Flapflapflap.
I then realized that I must have mail! I hastily wrapped a towel around myself, and went out to get my letter.
Maybe it's from Sugar A! I tore open the letter, and took out the contents.

Dear Freckles,
Hello, my dear duckling. Your father and I have made a rather important decision. You may not agree with it, but we have our reasons. We need you to move out of Acadiana. We've read your letters about this "Sugar A" person, and only recently did we found out that she is a human. We cannot have you near this beast, she is sure to stab you in the back when you least expect it. She's a human. A savage. And she will kill you when your guard is down. You will come back to the house for a while, and we will then let you move to a town that is not under the control of a murderous beast.
-Mother

Tears fell onto the page, my wings were shaking with rage. How could she?! Sugar A is my bestest friend! My mother is just a meanie who thinks everything will eat me! She wants me to move away, but I'm going to stay... or not. She'd take me the hard way. I guess it's best to just go back to the house.

I had packed up all my things, and had gotten on the train with all my letters from Sugar A. When I got home, I would strangle mom... I'd make sure she got a piece of Freckles!
Bump bump bump.

The seat under me rattled as we went over a particularly bumpy road.
SCREEEEEEEE!
The train swerved, I hit my head on the wall, hard.

"...I don't remember much after that."

The strange horse lifted an eyebrow.
"Very well. In any case, we welcome you to the void."

DUN DUN DUN! This is just part 1 of my story about Freckles. I'll continue it later. I hope you enjoy it!

 

[CainWolf]

I'm wondering about that mysterious horse, is he anyone specific or just a vague horse that's only there to ominously welcome Freckles to The Void? I look forward to the next part in any case.

 

[Nanobyte]

I'm wondering about that mysterious horse, is he anyone specific or just a vague horse that's only there to ominously welcome Freckles to The Void? I look forward to the next part in any case.

He's pretty specific. His identity will be revealed soon enough. >:3

 

[Nanobyte]

Freckles' Void - Chapter 2: The Void


"Void?" I repeated back at him. What was the void anyhow? He slowly nodded his head, his long, dirty mane falling over his eyes.

"The Void is where you go when you are unable to go anywhere else, or that's what we all say at the very least." Nowhere to go? That didn't make any sense to me... I did have a place to go! "Yes, you did. And that place is here." He said gruffly.

"You...you're a mind reader?!" I quacked, shocked. He chuckled, and shook his head.

"They all think the same thing. But I was moving to blablabla! But I was returning from camping!" He said, much more lighthearted than usual. His smile then faded, and his face grew dark. "Well, they didn't. They were led to believe that they could go home, safe and sound. Do you know why you stop getting letters from that sheep? From that bear? From that cat? They've been taken to the void, stuck there for eternity." He looked at me darkly, expecting an answer.

"Stuck for... eternity?" I wouldn't be able to go home to Acadiana, I wouldn't see my friends again, I'd be stuck in this sad place!

"Well... there are two ways to get out." He looked to the side. My heart soared. I can get out? I can see all my friends again! I can go back home! "You can slowly become nothing here..." Please let the next option not be death, please, please! "...Or you can escape."

"How?!" I almost screamed at him. He snorted and looked at me as if I were a small child.

"It's near impossible. We've had a few make it back to the Overworld, but they were some of the strongest out there, and half of them suffered fatal injuries." He glanced towards the distant, unwelcoming looking mountains. After staring at them for a good minute or two, he turned back to me, placing his hooves on my shoulders.

"Freckles, promise me to never go to those mountains." His voice cracked, as if he were about to cry. "Please, never go to those mountains, ever." He shook me hard a few times, and then walked away.

"H-hey wait!" He stopped in his tracks, then slowly turned around, looking at me. "What's your name?"

He smiled at me weakly.

"My name is Julian." He continued walking away, into the gloomy gray mist of The Void.

 

[Jesusfreakette]

You guys are amazing! I couldn't tell you how happy I am to see y'all building beautiful stories here again Those were fantastic! And sad, but you know, mostly fantastic.

 

[CainWolf]

It's good to see you again Jesusfreakette, it looks like this forum is starting to become moderately active again. By the way if you're still updating the voided villager list then can you put Bangle on there? She was one of my founding villagers, the first one I saw coming off the train to my town for the first time, and she just moved out a few days ago. I have no idea what I would do with her in terms of a void story but if people need a character like her for their own story then I'd like her to be available.

Nice job on chapter two Nanobyte, I liked that "Please let the next option not be death" part, it seems that death is always option B for these situations isn't it? I continue looking forward to the next part.

 

[Nanobyte]

Freckles' Void - Chapter 3 - Showdown
I chased after the blue horse, cutting through the fog. I had too many questions to ask him! I lost my breath and fell to the ground. I looked up, and couldn't see Julian anymore. I lifted myself to my feet, and squinted through the heavy gray mist, looking for any signs of life. I decided to keep going, in hope that I'd make it out of the fog, and find others. After walking for at least 20 minutes, the fog started to grow thinner... and thinner... and thinner... until I could make out shadows of people and animals.

I burst out of the heavy cloud, taking a deep breath of fresh air. I never noticed that there wasn't a lot of air in there! In front of me were battered up and tired looking animals, all were a little intimidating...

A large white rhino stepped towards me, gray dirt and mud smeared on her cheeks and forehead. There were various scratches and bruises all over her body, and her indigo hair that had once been beautiful was ragged and tangled. She had once been beautiful. but this Void place had taken that from her.

"...Freckles?" Her voice was raspy and rough, unlike the singsong voice I had heard so long ago.

"Rhonda? You're here too, ducky?!" It had been a while since saying that. It was as if I was back at... Acadiana. "But-but, why are you here, anyways, ducky?" Her face grew dark, and any last shine of life that was in her eyes was now long gone.

"I was kicked out by order of Mayor Audrey." Her voice was filled with hate. Hate for Sugar A?!

"Well, she had a good reason! Sugar A would never do that without a good reason!" I puffed up my chest and put my wings on my hips, trying my best to look as big and intimidating as she was.

"She said she wouldn't have someone picking on and harassing her friends." She snarled. "Pompous little brat she is. All I thought was that Rod was a little stupid in the head, that's all." She snorted and crossed her arms. I snarled right back at the rhino that used to be one of my bestie pals.

"Well... well...! She was right to kick you out! With Sugar A at it's command, A-Acadiana will be free from the likes of y-you!" My fists trembled, my whole body trembled. I knew Sugar A would agree if she was here. Her eyes widened, her arms uncrossed. I probably knocked her sense right back into her! She stayed shocked for a moment, then glared at me again. The shine in her eye was back, but it was not life or beauty, it was anger. It was hatred. It was jealously. It was ugliness.

"She abandoned you. She hated you for what you were. You were always ugly in her eyes, never her "Besty pal," never a duck worthy of anything other than sitting inside a trash heap, waiting to be thrown away." She snorted, a grin crawling up her face. Who did she think I was? Tears welled in my eyes, a shook my head. No, Freckles. Don't show her you're weak. Show her you're strong! At that moment, I was in the air, my foot colliding with Rhonda's face. Hard. Spit flew all over the place, and I felt a wave of satisfaction as she hit the ground.

"T-Tr-Trash-sh..." She muttered as much as her wounded, now swollen, mouth could utter. She got back up to her feet, with the help of Peewee, and an orange dog with blue striped ears that I didn't recognize. She stomped her feet on the ground, and ran towards me with her nose pointed down, and her horn pointed straight at my heart. My heart! She was trying to send me upstairs!

I ran to the left, tripping and sliding a few inches on my bottom. Rhonda had a near miss, and was now flipped over on her back. She struggled to lift her bulky body up, but I was already on my feet, ready for the next blow. I'll fight you if you're gonna talk about Sugar A like that! She was finally up again, and, more quickly than I expected, came at me with both her fists. She hit me hard, all over, until I grew tired. I fell down onto my back, my eyes fluttering. I couldn't keep them open anymore. I drifted off into a deep sleep.


Story Notes
Okay, first of all, it's very quite obvious that I've been watching too much Fairy Tail.

Next, Rhonda, Peewee, and Biskit (The orange dog) were all purposely voided from my town. I didn't like them for one reason or another. I'll be introducing another one that got voided for the same reason as Freckles in the next chapter.

And yes, I know Rhonda is a normal villager, and normal villagers aren't really complete jerks, but she was talking trash about Rod, and she's been in the void for much longer than Freckles. Those are my excuses for jerky Rhonda. i needed a good bad guy so why not the person who talked trash about rod ​

 

[CainWolf]

It seems so random when villagers hate on each other. There have been times when my Whitney said bad things about Beau but then she warmed up to him or something because I saw her visiting his house and she later said something nice about him. She seemed pretty consistently spiteful towards Bam though and I think she wasn't too fond of Fuchsia so maybe she just had a prejudice against deer or something rather than personally hating Beau. I haven't seen normal villagers be mean to other villagers before though, that is rather interesting.
By the way if you need extra characters then I have a few interesting ones in The Void if you want to borrow some, my Curlos is quite insane but for sympathetic reasons so he can work as a good guy or a bad guy.

Very cool story, it's fine for you to make a normal character a jerk here, The Void is all about being a dark twisted place that can have some negative effects on sanity. Curlos is a smug villager but my version is a psycho due to constant abandonment to the Void caused by his status as a bottom tier villager (I've seen lots of people void the poor guy because they couldn't give him away). Also I have a personal dislike of him that started with him selling me a fake painting and ending with him being assimilated into Rory's periwinkle tee right in front of me, over half my town was wearing Rory's stupid shirt in just a few days and it drove me nuts, if I didn't get Rory to move out then I'm certain he would have taken over the entire town. Even though I hate Rory I think he would've been a great antagonist to write about if I voided him, but on Rory's moving day someone was looking for the last few lions they didn't have for their all-lion town and Rory was one they were looking for so I decided to let him have Rory. Perhaps I can use Rory anyway, I imagine him as a cult leader of sorts due to his contagious shirt of doom so maybe I can have his influence reach the void, after all that's why Curlos has that blue scarf in the first place, it's Rory's periwinkle tee, but converted into a scarf because sheep wear scarfs instead of shirts.

 

[Nanobyte]

Freckle's Void: Chapter 4 - Old Friends

"Oi, wake up. ...Oi! You! Wake up!" My eyes fluttered open. I was laying flat on my back in a pile of black leaves. I had several crudely made bandages all over my body. There was a wispy white cloth on the tip of my beak. Standing above me was a large, tired looking gray bear. "You shoulda never picked a fight with Rhonda. She near killed ya' out there!" He crossed his arms and glared at me. There was a bandage on his own forehead, as well as many others on his cheeks and near his eyes. There was something familiar about him.

"Curt!" A shrill voice called from outside. Curt! I never got to know him very well, but I had talked to him a few times. "Rhonda's gone now. Prolly' went to the sister village to pick on some poor animal." The voice grew nearer, and a large red, yellow, and orange bird stepped into the hut. Phoebe! By instinct, I smiled widely, which hurt my beak. She stopped in her tracks and looked at me for a few seconds. He beak opened wide, which then turned into a wide smile. "FRECKLES!" She screeched. She ran towards me, then stopped, frowning. Did she not like me anymore? "S-sorry. I'd give you a death hug, but, you know..." She laughed nervously. She gestured towards me. "You're kinda...um...hurt." The lump in my throat quickly disappeared.

"I don't care if I'm hurt more, I wanna death hug!" Curt walked speedily to my side.

"No." He said firmly.

"But-"

"No." I sighed. Who was he to tell me what to do?! ...Well, he did save my life. "I can tell you want to disobey. Let me tell you why." He paused, and, as if on cue, a fuzzy-looking silhouette ran in circles outside the hut, laughing maniacally before running into a thick, dense forest of black and gray trees. "Did you see that guy? He ain't right in the head. Almost nobody here is right in the head. You know what The Void does to you? It diminishes every part of you, making you nothing but an empty husk, containing the spirit of a beast."

"But if you're an empty husk, you can't contain a-"

"Don't question it." He said, a little louder than usual. "This place isn't a joke. We've had animals become insane all over the place." He looked outside the door, where a loud screech was drawing nearer. "Poor Mathilda." A black kangaroo was being dragged away by two other animals. "We'd figured she's been off her rocker for a while. Jumpy, hallucinating... she'd lost her child shortly after coming to the void. It just was gone one day. Poof, not there. We never found it." He then turned back to me, his eyes full of fire.


"We built Village for a reason. You better not go endangering yourself and disrespect our hard work of protecting you and other animals. We've already had enough leaving the village and fending for themselves!" He said, his voice rising. Phoebe looked away.

"Where do the cray cray animals go?" I asked, off topic. I prepared myself for Curt to yell again, but suprisingly, he was calm.

"We have specialized, stronger animals that take them into the forest. They then run free. Some of the dangerous ones go to the mountains. Those ones have to intent to keep you alive. The ones in the forest are less dangerous, but still very dangerous, mind you."

"Jobs?" I echoed. "Animals have jobs? I want a job!" He whipped around to look at me.

"Not until you're better, you don't. But when you do, we'll have a village meeting. We'll decide your fate."

STORY NOTES
Okay, so the fuzzy animal running around in Village is Curlos. I probably portrayed him wrong, but eh, a sheep running around laughing is funny to me.

I've never actually had Mathilda, nor did I check and see if she was already in The Void. She's just a random animal I thought would fit the story well.

I hope you like it! It's going to get interesting soon.​

 

[CainWolf]

According to the Voided villager list on the first page Mathilda is in The Void, the list is sorted by animal types so it's easy enough to find out if a specific villager is already there or not. It's not a requirement or anything to use Voided villagers, it just helps make it more personal, besides with all the people who play Animal Crossing I'd bet that every villager in the game has been voided at least once, whether by accident or on purpose.

You portrayed Curlos just fine, he is definitely the type to run around like a maniac, usually he's being chased but due to his deteriorating mental state some of the things chasing him may or may not exist. He does have a softer side to him and I don't think he'd hurt anyone without reason but he has been known to carry an axe whenever he can get his hooves on one and he has been known to yell crazy things at times. If you want to know a bit more about him then page 24, 21, and 6 contain my stories where Curlos basically yells like a maniac or runs around like a maniac, page 17 has a brief comic and my story on 25 briefly includes Curlos in ways that confirm one particularly random thing about Curlos, he hangs around in trees, having him run off into trees is definitely a Curlos thing.

I don't think Curlos would hurt Freckles, I can understand why anyone would avoid the axe-wielding sheep who runs around like a maniac but he's more inclined to pick a fight with more threatening jerk villagers, like Rhonda. Speaking of which could I borrow her for a short story? A while back I wanted a big threatening antagonist for Curlos to headbutt but I didn't want to make anyone's beloved villager a jerk without permission and the only person who volunteered offered Peanut, the tiny pink squirrel. It would be amusing but I need a threatening villager to be a bully and threaten to stomp on Fauna's flowers and a Rhino would be better suited than a squirrel for that.

By the way if you ever decide to give Curlos a speaking role then can you make it comic sans? Curlos may be a little inconsistent at times but two things that stay with him is his comic sans dialog and blue scarf. You don't have to but it's been his thing since page 8 so if you check my previous short stories then you'll notice that all his dialog is in comic sans, those two things represent everything wrong with my version of Curlos and I try to keep it part of his character.

 

[Nanobyte]

According to the Voided villager list on the first page Mathilda is in The Void, the list is sorted by animal types so it's easy enough to find out if a specific villager is already there or not. It's not a requirement or anything to use Voided villagers, it just helps make it more personal, besides with all the people who play Animal Crossing I'd bet that every villager in the game has been voided at least once, whether by accident or on purpose.

You portrayed Curlos just fine, he is definitely the type to run around like a maniac, usually he's being chased but due to his deteriorating mental state some of the things chasing him may or may not exist. He does have a softer side to him and I don't think he'd hurt anyone without reason but he has been known to carry an axe whenever he can get his hooves on one and he has been known to yell crazy things at times. If you want to know a bit more about him then page 24, 21, and 6 contain my stories where Curlos basically yells like a maniac or runs around like a maniac, page 17 has a brief comic and my story on 25 briefly includes Curlos in ways that confirm one particularly random thing about Curlos, he hangs around in trees, having him run off into trees is definitely a Curlos thing.

I don't think Curlos would hurt Freckles, I can understand why anyone would avoid the axe-wielding sheep who runs around like a maniac but he's more inclined to pick a fight with more threatening jerk villagers, like Rhonda. Speaking of which could I borrow her for a short story? A while back I wanted a big threatening antagonist for Curlos to headbutt but I didn't want to make anyone's beloved villager a jerk without permission and the only person who volunteered offered Peanut, the tiny pink squirrel. It would be amusing but I need a threatening villager to be a bully and threaten to stomp on Fauna's flowers and a Rhino would be better suited than a squirrel for that.

By the way if you ever decide to give Curlos a speaking role then can you make it comic sans? Curlos may be a little inconsistent at times but two things that stay with him is his comic sans dialog and blue scarf. You don't have to but it's been his thing since page 8 so if you check my previous short stories then you'll notice that all his dialog is in comic sans, those two things represent everything wrong with my version of Curlos and I try to keep it part of his character.

kay, glad I portrayed him right! And for your question about Rhonda, I'm definitely open to people using her! After all, it was stated by Phoebe that she probably went to some other settlement, so the way you're using her would fit really well!

Freckle's Void - Chapter 5 - Hired Fired
Days passed, and every day I felt better and better until I was... almost good as new. I was left with a small scar above my eye where I had been cut, and bandages still on my knees.

"Well." Curt sighed. "I've talked to Julian. He says the meeting should be soon." My heart skipped a beat. Julian was here?

"Julian? You mean that strange horse?"

"...Well, yes, we're not really sure he's an actual horse, though." He opened his mouth to talk again, but was cut off by what sounded like a bell. Animals came out of various huts, some coming out of the forests with handfuls of bitter looking gray fruits. They all formed a circle, which a figure stepped into the center of. After following Curt to the circle, I realized that it was Julian. I began running up to him, but was pulled back by Curt, who seemed unmoved, and continued to stare at Julian.

"We've had a new villager voided a few days ago." He announced to the crowd. The animals exchanged looks of pity, excitedness, and dislike, many whispering among themselves. "It is only today that she will become a member of Village. Freckles, step forward." My heart pounded as animals turned to stare at me, the ones in front of me making a path for me to walk through. I slowly walked towards Julian. We stared into eachother's eyes for a while.

"Freckles, you had shown great strength in that fight with your former friend." My heart pounded even harder. He was watching?! He then shook his head. "However, we do not believe in sacrificing our members. We will give you a job like any other. You will be a gatherer until we deem you worthy of higher ranks." I expected an applause, or even boos, but the animals were silent. "You are dismissed." With a flick of his hoof, the animals went back to their duties.

------
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After making a crude basket out of leaves scattered among the ground, I set off into the forest to find fruits to pick. As I walked deeper, I found a line of dirt, leaves and twigs, with inelligible writing scratched in the ground. I thought nothing of it, and lifted my foot to cross it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice came from above. From the trees?! I looked up, and saw the same animal that had been running through the village days before sitting on a branch. He then swung himself upside down, his scarf covering his nose. "You'd get hit with sticks and become dinner." He laughed hysterically, then flipped himself back up on the branch. "Have you even seen the blue lizard?" He raised an eyebrow, his expression growing grim. "She came to the void a few months ago. Some of the perfectly sane animals have been there longer. She went mad long before anyone else, and quickly became dangerous." Growling came from the distance, making me quake with fear, and step a good five feet from the line. "I have an axe!" The sheep yelled at the deep forest. The growling grew louder, then disappeared. He snorted firmly, then turned back to me, now smiling.

"W-well... you... you seem p-pretty not cray-c-cray to me! What a-are you doing out h-h-here?" My voice sounded as scared as I was when the growl was heard.

He snorted gleefully. "I got kicked out of my village. Can't imagine why!" He laughed maniacally, then threw a gray fruit at me, hitting me on the head. I rubbed my forehead where it had hit me, and glared at him. "Oops." he laughed nervously. "Well, uh, bye! Just remember, axes." He climbed higher up the tree, eventually concealed by the black leaves.

I sighed. "I best get back to Village."

Story Notes
I lied. These aren't really story notes. Just info about every villager that was voided from my town.

Freckles
Species - Duck
Gender - Female
Mental State - Intact
Personality - Peppy, but a little toned down due to The Void's conditions.
Currently works as a gatherer for Village
Was Voided when I didn't play for a while ;_;


Curt
Species - Bear
Gender - Male
Mental State - Intact
Personality - Grumpy, but extremely selfless due to the dangers of The Void.
Currently works as a medic for Village
Was Voided because I didn't stop him from moving


Phoebe
Species - Ostrich
Gender - Female
Mental State - Pretty intact
Personality - Sporty, but doesn't care much for anyone other than close friends.
Currently works as a scout for Village
Was voided because I had told her she could move. (She planted her house in front of my bridge that's only ok with Zucker)


Rhonda
Species - Rhino
Gender - Female
Mental State - Semi-intact
Personality - Complete buttface
Currently does her own thing, and is being considered to be kicked out.
Was voided because she was talkin' smack so I beat the crap outta her


Alli
Species - Alligator
Gender - Female
Mental State - Insane and dangerous
Personality - Extremely dangerous, and like a wild beast
Currently lives in the deep forest
I forgot why she was voided actually


Biskit
Species - Dog
Gender - Male
Mental State - Intact
Personality - Easily persuaded to do things, very naive
Currently travels as one of Rhonda's partners
Was voided because I beat him up for being ugly

Peewee
Species - Gorilla
Gender - Male
Mental State - A little crazy
Personality - Bipolar, loves to punch trees
Currently travels as one of Rhonda's partners
Was voided because I ignored Ugly Buns.

There's actually one more that will appear in the story later. Stay tuned!
​

 

[CainWolf]

Spoiler: Fauna's Flora

Hybrids are pretty rare in The Void due to most people being careful not to trample them, but there was one very small rose garden that stood out, these flowers were not trampled, they were a gift that one sweet and sensitive deer kept safe. There were three groups of roses that Fauna tended to outside her house; pink, gold, and black, each sent with a letter filled with kind words during the last three days spent in the small town of Crystal, and on her last day she sent a letter back with a picture of herself to say her own farewell to her old friend.

Suddenly a shadow loomed over Fauna, "Nice flowers" a voice said in a tone that was anything but nice. She turned to see a rhino looking down at her. "Th-thanks, a little gardening helps brighten things up around here don't you think Miss...?" Fauna said in a nervous tone. The rhino snorted derisively. "Rhonda, I'd bet that even in a dump like this those would be pretty valuable." Rhonda started to reach down for the gold roses. "No!" Fauna blurted while moving between her roses and Rhonda. "These roses are all I have, you can't take them!" Rhonda scowled at the deer who was desperately trying not to turn tail and run. "I can't have them? Who's gonna stop me? You?" Rhonda lowered her horn and looked ready to charge. Whether she found some courage or was just frozen like a deer in headlights Fauna stood her ground.

Rhonda started to charge but before she could take two steps a sheep came out of seemingly nowhere and rammed the side of her, veering her off course into a tree. "I'd say you should pick on someone your own size, but I don't know anyone who's size is XXXL! Heh, that was a good one-liner, are you still conscious or should I write that down for later?" Fauna cautiously approached the sheep. "Curlos?" The ram stopped patting himself on the back and looked up. "Oh hey Fauna, I didn't see you there, I was just headbutting angry rhinos for no particular reason and if you tell anyone I helped you I'll deny it." Fauna blinked with confusion plainly visible on her face. "What?" Curlos chuckled dryly. "Everyone is more likely to leave you alone and not mess with you when they think your crazy, try it sometime, you're already willing to die over some stupid flowers so I'd say you're already halfway there." Curlos cackled maniacally as Fauna pouted, "They aren't stupid, they were a gift from our old mayor, Aidan."

Curlos's laugh cut off suddenly and his mirth evaporated. He turned to Fauna with a cold look in his eyes as she took a nervous step back at his sudden change in demeanor. "Don't speak that name to me, I'm sure he was a sweetheart to you with those silly letters but I never got that treatment, he gets his panties in a twist because he hates my scarf and my prized painting I sold to him turns out to be a fake but most of all because I'm not cool enough for his elitist medieval fantasy town with its knights and whatnot." "But he wouldn't-" "He wouldn't what? I'm not the only one, he voided Bam in a heartbeat to get some stupid jock eagle in a knight helmet because he is a cold-hearted jerk! Like every other mayor who cursed me to this place before and every other mayor I'll have next time I escape. Aidan is nothing but a-oof!"

Curlos's rant was cut short as a shovel hit him in the stomach, knocking his breath out of him. Fauna wasn't gardening with her bare hooves after all and her shovel had been leaning against her house until she used it to shut Curlos up. "Don't you talk about him like that, I know you had some bad experiences her but that wasn't his fault Curlos!" Curlos painfully tried to stand up straight while clutching his stomach. "I know you wouldn't get it, being little-miss-tier-1 who rarely sets her dainty little hooves in The Void but he could've stopped you from coming here, I would have been difficult to give away but he had no excuse with you. You should hate him more than anyone but you are just too foolish to-whoa!" This time Curlos dodged the shovel but now Fauna was mad.

"Ooh my head, what..." Rhonda glanced up to see Fauna yelling angrily while swinging a shovel at a maniacally laughing sheep. "Whatever, I have better places to be..." Rhonda murmured quietly before slipping away.

"You are nothing but a bitter old psycho! If you think for a moment you're better than the rest of the bullies in The Void then-!" Curlos caught Fauna's shovel with his axe and chuckled quietly. "That's enough, Rhonda has already slunk off to whatever run-down hut she calls home." Fauna once again paused in confusion. "What?" Curlos chuckled once more. "Wailing on a psycho like me will give you a reputation, I don't think anyone will mess with your garden again once word gets out that you can handle yourself against Crazy Curlos." Curlos punctuates his statement with insane laughter as Fauna paused to let his words sink in. "You did this on purpose? You got me mad enough to fight you... To protect me?"

"Don't get me wrong, I still hate Aidan with a passion, and like I said if you tell anyone I helped you I'll deny it, but if you can use your anger without being consumed by it then you'll have no trouble. It isn't easy, I've already been mostly consumed by my own anger but you have something to hold onto, stay sane my friend." Curlos backed away into the shadows, apparently in an attempt to vanish dramatically but his periwinkle scarf stood out. "I can still see you Curlos." Fauna called out with mild exasperation. "No you can't!" Curlos replied as he darted off at a run, eventually vanishing into the dark.

I have wanted to write a Void story for Fauna for a while now and I think it came out better than I planned. Thank you Nanobyte for letting me use your Rhonda, she was perfect for this. Your own story portrayed her as a resentful jerk that hates her old mayor and Curlos could be described in the same way but his attitude turned out different, I couldn't have asked for a better foil for Curlos.

Almost forgot to comment on your latest chapter, it was amazing. Your portrayal of Curlos was perfect, from defending the innocent in his own crazy way to his vanishing into the dark. Couldn't have written him better myself.

 

[CainWolf]

When playing this game called pokedraw I found a fast way to draw some simplistic art so I spent roughly fifteen minutes drawing a minimalist group shot of my three favorite Void characters; Curlos, Bella, and Fauna.

Spoiler: Curlos Crew

The words are taken from the song Zero Visibility by Rise Against, it seems like a song that fits The Void pretty well.

If anyone wants their own Voided Villager drawn in this anthro line art style of mine then I'll do it for free, I could probably do it in five minutes so don't hesitate to ask.