The lovable mascot of Jolly’s toy store, Jolly here loves to play in every which way! But every now and then, grownups will stumble into Jolly’s Junction, the happy home of Jolly and his pals! In Jolly’s Junction, there’s no homework or chores or bedtimes, just kids and toys… oh, you’re not a kid? Well then you must be a toy, just like Jolly! At least, that’s what’s Jolly thinks. unfortunately for the adults who end up playing with Jolly, he doesn’t seem to grasp that human beings are not at all like toys, in that their joints can only bend so far, or that they don’t bounce when dropped from thirty feet in the air, or they need to eat actual food instead of candy, plastic, or Play-Doh, or that you can’t fix a severed limb with a glue stick and a sewing machine, or that they need to breathe… but even when his new toy friends end up breaking and don’t want to play anymore, there will always be new friends to play with eventually! And Jolly will be there to greet them with a big smile and open suction-cup hooves.
How people end up in Jolly’s Junction is unclear- sometimes its as simple as making the wrong turn from a certain aisle in the store, or an employee will lock the place up for tonight only to find the exit leads somewhere totally different, or someone stumbles and falls into the ball pit but doesn’t come back up… whatever the case, the number of disappearances around Jolly’s toy store locations has been noted by local authorities, but investigations turn up nothing… though employees of Jolly’s toy store have noted that every now and then in the storeroom, they momentarily catch a whiff of what smells like rotten flesh.
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After listening to The Stupendium’s latest song “Toybox”, I was hit with a sudden rush of inspiration and came up with this new horror character, Jolly Giraffe. I’ve always like the horror concept of taking something innocent and child-friendly and twisting it into something horrifying, such as Five Nights at Freddy’s,Bendy and the Ink Machine, or indeed, Poppy’s Playtime. Although, I wanted to take a different approach to it- my biggest issue with a lot of “childhood horror” creatures is that too often they seem like they were deliberately made to be creepy and unsettling, when in real life, while we may find old dolls, clowns, or animatronics creepy or unsettling, they weren’t made to be that way intentionally. They were made to be appealing to children, but because something about them is just a little “off”, their unreal nature becomes all the more obvious.
“Well howdy-doody there friend! I’m Jolly, and welcome to Jolly Junction, the bestest and most funnest place in the whole wide world! We got games and toys and candy and rides and everything else that’s fun to play with! There’s no homework, no chores, and no naptimes, just fun, fun, FUN! It’s been so long since I’ve met another toy like me, you’re gonna LOVE it here! Huh? Whatcha mean you’re not a toy? Of COURSE you’re a toy! Only kids and toys live in Jolly Junction, and you’re not a kid, sooooooo… you must be a toy, like me! Ha ha ha, you’re funny!”
“Come on, let’s go play! We got the biggest and deepest ball pit in the world over here! I’ll bet you can’t beat the diving record! The last toy who went in is still down there, and she went in a whole month ago! Oooh, or we could ride the roller coaster! The best part is where it goes up super-duper fast and you fly off into the air! Just be sure to bounce when you hit the ground- a lotta toys forget to do that and end up breaking n’ making a big mess. They musta eaten a lotta cherry pie before they got on, cuz they were full of a lotta red gooey stuff! Oh, speaking of which, you want some snacks? We got cotton candy n’ ice cream n’ soda pop n’ milkshakes n’ chocolate bars n’ lotsa lotsa jellybeans! Huh? Well of course we don’t ONLY eat sweets here, silly billy! They make the bestest burgers n’ pizza n’ spaghetti over there, all made from fresh n’ tasty Play-Doh!”
“Oh wait- where are my manners? I got so excited meeting you that I forgot to give you one of my world-famous welcome hugs! Aww, don’t be shy, c'mere! I’ll wrap ya up all nice n’ tight in my legs so’s you can get the biggest, bestest, tightest hug ever! Just please don’t spit up any fruit punch when I squeeze ya- the last toy who did that got it all over me and it took for-EVER to wash out!”
Here’s a transcript of all the pages for those who either can’t or don’t want to look:
TRANSCRIPT
-First Page-
Image desc: Two images of Sweet Tooth peering at the viewer from around a corner, first illustration shows them growing several bony clawed arms. Text is written in black while Sweet Tooth’s comments are scrawled in red, scratchy letters.
Text:
“SWEET TOOTH”
(Not their true name; true name is unpronounceable)
-Resides in the realm of nightmares, hunting humans while they sleep
-Chases people until they wake up
-Enjoys toying with their prey, hunts for both food and pleasure
-Can take many forms, depending on the setting of the dream they are hunting in
-Highly malleable, can squeeze thru thin gaps and cracks, or increase/decrease in size and number of limbs
-Full shape is never seen
-Can mimic voices - they especially enjoy mimicking voices of dead loved ones.
ST: THE LOOK ON THEIR FACES IS PRICELESS!
NEVER TRUST THEM.
ST: I JUST WANT TO PLAY WITH YOU
-Second Page-
Image desc: Upper image depicts Sweet Tooth messily eating a severed human leg. Lower image depicts Sweet Tooth holding a severed head and pulling their jaw apart to pluck out their teeth. One of their hands holds a single tooth as Sweet Tooth stares at it hungrily.
Text:
(next to first image) ST: SUCH PATHETIC LITTLE LEGS! IT’S A WONDER ANY OF YOUR KIND MANAGES TO ESCAPE
-Exclusively feeds on humans’ “dream selves”, including bones and organs
-They refer to this meat, and humans in general, as “sweetbread”
-Typically snags a piece off of someone just before they awaken. This does not harm the person in the waking world, (ST: IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK?) nor does it linger into the next dream that person has, though it does give Sweet Tooth a “taste” that allows thrm to find you easier next time
-Extremely messy eater, loves to feel warm blood on their face and hands as much as they love the taste. They seem to take sick pride in how much blood they spill.
ST: WHAT CAN I SAY? YOUR KIND ARE SO DELIGHTFULLY JUICY.
-Teeth are their favorite part. They collect them and save them for later
(next to second image) ST: SO SMALL YET SO SWEET
-Third Page-
Image Desc: First image depicts Sweet Tooth sitting at a table, feasting on a naked and helpless human, whose left arm is severed and their belly torn open. Sweet Tooth has five arms- two are holding the human down, a third is pulling their intestines out with a giant fork, a fourth is holding the severed arm up to their mouth, and a fifth arm is holding up a goblet. Second image depicts Sweet Tooth opening their jaws fully, showing off their back rows of teeth while stretching out three long, slimy tongues saturated in saliva.
Text:
-If someone stumbles, stalls, or stops while running from Sweet Tooth in a dream, they are vulnerable to being caught.
-When Sweet Tooth captured someone, whole and alive, they don’t wake up. Instead, they are dragged back to Sweet Tooth’s lair to be devoured completely, bones and all.
-This is a rare treat for Sweet Tooth, so they take their time savoring and disemboweling their catch, who remains awake, aware, and in agony during the entire meal.
-Always saves the teeth for last, and finishes with a goblet of blood aged in their larder
ST:THEY SCREAM AND CRY TO THE VERY END, ALL THE WAY DOWN. SOMETIMES, I CAN STILL HEAR THEM.
-When someone is caught and devoured, they are erased from all history in the physical world, along with any and all evidence that they existed, including children.
ST: PARENTS ARE ESPECIALLY FILLING FOR THAT REASON!
-Are those caught and consumed by Sweet Tooth truly gone, or does some part of them still exist somewhere?
ST: WHY DON’T YOU COME CLOSER AND FIND OUT, LITTLE MORSEL? I WON’T BITE!
Dark Pit’s wing is injured from a fight, and he keeps to himself because of how badly it stings. Arlon sees how serious that wound is however and makes sure the young angel understands that he can’t leave injuries untreated. Then Dark Pit lets him treat it, putting aside his pride ^^
I just want more Arlon & Dark Pit interactions lol :)
