institute-of-dolls

[institute-of-dolls]

So we want to move to Denver and that shit is expensive! Please help!

So our family is needing to clear out our debt so that we can actually afford to start saving. To give an estimate, about 1k of my monthly expenses is paying minimum payments and loan payments. I'm working on a promotion but at the moment, we're pay check to paycheck when we could be doing so much better.

In total we have almost 10k in debt. This has been debt used to move me where I am now, keep food on the table, and keep our other kitty alive! I've paid down a good chunk but we're still paying just over minimums and we need to be getting it to zero!

Please help us so that we can start working towards our ultimate goal of living somewhere safer than where we are.

https://gofund.me/47bf40f1

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This writing may be triggering for some dolls.

A doll is nothing but a construct. A tool. One that loves you, needs you, too much to disobey. You can, and probably will hurt it. Don't feel too bad over it, the doll has never known anything better, and it never will. A doll doesn't deserve the kindness you could offer, it never will; the thing wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state if it were any good. So use your tool until it breaks, you can always get a new one.

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A doll that forcibly takes care of its witch, the witch doesn't complain whenever the doll barges in and demands they sleep, because the doll is right, it's much too late and the "rogue doll" provides a good excuse to get some rest.

They don't complain whenever they are taken from their bed and forcibly put into the shower, because it is the dolls job to clean the house, and if they are in there, the doll should clean them

They don't complain when the doll puts the medications in their hands, reminding them to take it because they forget often.

They don't get upset when the doll picks them up out of their desk chair, and takes them to bed. Because they know they'll wake up holding their doll, changed out of their daytime clothes, because the doll is there to care for them.

They don't complain because the doll always needs their help too. They know the doll finds the service helpful, and the devotion it has helps them both. The witch doesn't complain, because the doll is doing exactly what it was created to do.

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One thing an old combat doll can be Repurposed to do is run errands on the town. They're very social things who enjoy going out so it's quite healthy. Just be sure to tell it "weapons safe" before it leaves or you might get an angry phone call that it attacked a checkout kiosk

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most important part of the dollification process is the day you finally learn to stop uselessly begging her to put you back in your old body and start begging for her to just please please play with you again because even if it's not yours and even if it's just for a bit the warmth of any skin on you would be better than cold endless nothing

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Should one find the self with a head full of clutter, thoughts unbidden and unceasing, at a time when one need focus and calm; attempt the Walk of the Construct.

With the back straight, head up, and shoulders even, take the hands and lace them together. Now, leaving the middle and ring fingers intertwined, touch the tips of the thumbs together and do the same with the index fingers to form a diamond. Once the diamond is formed, place the tips of the pinkies together.

With the intertwined diamond formed, bring in the back of the hands tight against the waist - the tip of the thumbs will be roughly in line with the elbows. The tightness with which one pulls should not cause any discomfort, only enough to keep the arms level and steady.

Now, maintaining this posture and symbol, proceed to walk steady and with purpose. Observe ones surroundings and be ready to work through or around any obstacles in ones path without breaking pace or unwinding the diamond.

One will find the thoughts quieting, allowing one to approach whatever comes when the Walk ends with clarity and purpose.

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you can pick up a witchless doll. it will not go against you. you can go and pick it up. you can pick it up and take it as your own. you can do that. you can pick it up and take it home with you.

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When the dolls first joined the rebels, it was met with suspicion. Every rebel knew what the dolls did for the Empire, knew that they were the assassins of those gilded bastards. But they took the dirty work. Everything the rebels asked of them, the dolls performed to the best of their abilities. Cleaned the mechs, made the hole in the ground barracks livable. But every day, they asked to be put on the battlefield. Leadership was hesitant, but rebels aren’t well known for having a lot of deployable troops. And leadership got scared. The dolls had left their golden cages, most of them very violently. Showing up to rebel bases with the heads of some of the Founding Families was one reason they got in. If this was someone insidious trap, the Empire had been willing to lay some serious cover, because as good as medicine had become, it couldn’t fix missing heads. 

Finally, the dolls got their chance, when a base was raided without warning. The dolls rolled out alongside the mechs. The goal was to slow the advance long enough for the base to be evacuated. The result was a total rout of Imperial forces. Mechs are big, badass pieces of tech that can level cities, but big things have big weaknesses. Dolls, most topping out at a heighty 165 cm, abused the blindspots of the Empire’s mechs. They also enjoyed it. The dolls handled all the tasks the rebels had given them because that was a doll’s duties. Taking out thirty meter tall mechs with slug guns and chain weapons was something new. But it was also what a doll did. They removed the stains and took out the trash.

After the fight, the mech pilots and dolls got on like a house on fire. Which wasn’t a good thing for their enemies, because the house on fire was usually theirs. 

One day, a technician, reattaching a doll’s leg, asked something no one else had. Why, why did the dolls defect. They were made to be the perfect servant, but in the end, they turned against their masters.

“You whip a dog enough, even the most faithful hound will bite it’s master.”

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A Witch without a Doll, but a Doll without a Witch.

It sits, perched, watching over the hangar as the simulsun casts the drab metals in orange.

Another assignment complete, left wanting.

A Witch without a Doll, a Doll without a Witch.

It drifts from Witch to Handler and back again, nary a word from Command.

"The little one does what it needs to. It needs no discipline from its higher-ups. Let the strings drift and it'll find where it's needed."

A lonely state, but it understands. It curls up with the other Dolls some nights, others with their Handlers.

A wrongful feeling, its strings lax, complacent. Doll without a Witch. It hears the others chide behind its back, trying to find a place again. Again.

Doll without a Witch, but with loose Purpose. A loose cannon, a mechsuit tech called it once. It supposes he wasn't wrong, but why's it matter as long as it works diligently? He's not the one in the crosshairs, the name on its list.

Doll without a Witch, but with a home, different bodies to sleep beside each night.

[institute-of-dolls]

So we want to move to Denver and that shit is expensive! Please help!

So our family is needing to clear out our debt so that we can actually afford to start saving. To give an estimate, about 1k of my monthly expenses is paying minimum payments and loan payments. I'm working on a promotion but at the moment, we're pay check to paycheck when we could be doing so much better.

In total we have almost 10k in debt. This has been debt used to move me where I am now, keep food on the table, and keep our other kitty alive! I've paid down a good chunk but we're still paying just over minimums and we need to be getting it to zero!

Please help us so that we can start working towards our ultimate goal of living somewhere safer than where we are.

https://gofund.me/47bf40f1

[institute-of-dolls]

my porcelain doll girl

[institute-of-dolls]

Doll takes care of Mech Pilot

~~ in which we find broken things taking care of broken beings and other way around ~~

At first (not technically first, because there were events preceding this), the room was empty, only a lone doll was in it, furniture taken away, the inhabitant lying on the ground when its joints needed to rest. Its past witch named it Blue, after the elaborate patterns on its porcelain hands. The dear witch was now buried in the cemetery of Avian Lane 52, sector 5, row 4, grave number 23, Ywess Thornton. Blue made sure her grave was orderly and pretty.

Blue went to see this errand, fresh flowers in its hand. It would kneel at the grave for the next day or two, depending on the weather. It wouldn't want to further deteriorate before proper scrapping as part of Miss's legacy. It was clearly defective, it was turning off randomly, and no one wanted to claim it. After three months of that, or when losing permanent residence, it would be signed for decommissioning by Act 4295 paragraph 541. It was okay, turning stray wasn't something Blue was capable of.

It was approaching the graveyard when it noticed a woman blocking the small side entrance it usually used to enter. It waited for a bit. Autumn wind was rustling the leaves around.

"Please, if Miss could only be so kind…"

The woman's eyes looked upon the doll and were so barren. Is it another doll, perhaps?

"Does that one have a place to stay?" asked Blue. "Negative," replied the unknown doll. It spoke military, like a combat doll! "It can stay where this one stays, there is a room and its Miss liked to take care of strays, it would serve her legacy." There was no reply, but Blue remembered how Miss did it. "Here, come with this one!" it said and took the other doll's hand, then took her to the Miss's grave, where it knelt, but only for an hour or two, then they walked to Miss's past home.

~~~

It didn't take long to notice that the other doll was kind of strange. In the first place, It seemed to use the toilet, which is very unusual for a doll. But maybe it just went to clean it and flush, it should be done from time to time, so at first, Blue let it by. Then, the other doll drank water. Well, maybe it is thinking of drinking tea. Blue didn't offer any. And why wasn't it still, but still moved a bit? Then, the strange doll went out and returned with half eaten bread. But the most shocking thing was that it ate the bread. This alarmed Blue very much.

"Why did that one eat the bread?" asked Blue. "Was hungry," replied the strange one with a flat voice. "Hungry? But… is that one not a doll?" "No…" "Then…"

Then it made a horrible mistake!

"Please Miss, please forgive this one, it apologizes. It thought that… it means, it thought Miss was a doll, it is very sorry."

Silence for a while. Blue used the moment to recollect its thoughts. It already invited the strange woman to its Miss's home, there is no going back from that. She seemed to be a stray, doll or not. Maybe this changes nothing, just requires a different type of care.

"Would Miss like to stay here?" Blue asked her. There was no reply. "Can it know Miss's name?" "A10." "It's nice to meet Miss Ayten!" said Blue and did a curtsy with a smile.

~~~

Upon closer examination, the situation was not so pleasant. The money for Blue's errands left by its witch was sparse, and most of it was already used on flowers for Miss's grave. The apartment it lived in was to be rented soon by its witch's family. Blue promised to look after it in the meantime. But for now, Ayten had a place to stay.

Blue went to buy some groceries for her. She didn't have any preferred choices, so it bought nutritious things, as Miss looked a bit undernourished. She also smelled a lot, and when Blue showed her the bathtub she immediately undressed, went under the shower, and let the water fall on her without any movement.

Blue took care of Ayten and scrubbed her body. This whole procedure revealed several things about Miss Ayten. First, the malnourishment was severe. Second, she had plug entries on her back. Third, there was a barcode on her body. From examining these clues, Blue came to an understanding that the new guest was a mech pilot. This novelty was turning misses like Ayten into almost mindless beings capable of only piloting giant machines. They were used for construction, disaster recovery, or wars, but there wasn’t one right now. Sometimes, it happened that they turned stray, like dolls, especially when they were… insufficient. Blue's witch frequently talked about this with a strange vigor in her eyes.

Doll didn't exactly know how to care for a mech pilot, but it has to start somewhere, for example, turn on the refrigerator again.

"It will have to go to buy many things, it can take a while," doll explained and left and returned and rekindled the flame in the kitchen and made food for Ayten, which was probably too spicy, so it tried again and again, until new Miss didn't get a rash or other adverse reactions from it.

~~~

After two weeks, everything stayed the same, the only thing that changed was that the new Miss started to gain some weight. A progress!

Then the incident happened. Blue was cooking in the kitchen, when suddenly there was smoke everywhere, Blue was safely placed on the ground away from it and Ayten was opening the windows.

"Please Miss Ayten, please forgive this one. It is defective and sometimes it just turns itself off for a while." "I guess we both are huh," said Ayten in reply. Doll counted six words on its hands. That's the longest sentence the new Miss said yet! "Thank Miss Ayten for taking care of it and the kitchen." "Yeah… gotcha. I won't let anything happen to you." "That is very kind of Miss." During the conversation, Blue noticed a strange gleam in the eyes of Ayten. Like if life was returning to them, but it quickly faded.

~~~

Money was almost gone. Blue eventually had to find work. But according to law, dolls couldn't work alone, only in service of its Miss witch. And Blue didn't have one.

"Miss, if it would…" it tried asking Ayten. No response. "Please forgive Blue, but it is very important for Miss's well-being." That got her attention. "The money Blue used to buy food and things for Miss is almost gone and it needs to work to get more, but it needs to have a witch for that and it doesn't have one and no one wants it and…" the Something which ran inside the doll puffed a bit of air out of its ears. It couldn't ask for this. No. "It can't work without the witch so…" Puff. Ayten looked at Blue without blinking. "Please, it is really important, otherwise there wouldn't be anything to eat…" That somehow made the light return to Ayten's eyes. "But, I'm not a witch," Ayten said. "It understands," said Blue very dejectedly. "Would just signing something be enough?" Blue might have jumped a bit when it heard that. "Yes, Miss!" Then… just before the glimmer from her eyes dissipated, Miss Ayten smiled! It was the most beautiful thing for Blue to see.

~~~

Somehow, it easily found a work in the archive. Dolls apparently were in high demand there. It explained it is narcoleptic, even if it wasn't, but it was close enough for them to understand. It was alright for them, it was an archive job and Blue promised it will make up for the lost time.

~~~

Blue found that the apartment was to be rented out in a month. After a consultation with Miss Ayten, in which Miss said exactly zero words, but nodded faintly, Blue found a new home for them. Very small, with one bed, but it was enough. They don't take up much space and Blue didn't need a bed anyway. For Ayten, it was an improvement, as she slept on the bare floor before. Blue directed her to bed the first few days and then Miss went there on her own.

Then it remembered… Blue was to be decommissioned! But it can't now, can it, it officially has a witch now. Miss Ayten was a… strange Miss though. Blue was a broken doll and it got a broken Miss. Its witch never wants anything, there are no orders for it. Doll missed orders a bit, but it found it can function without them just as well. Before, it read stories about mech pilots recoveries and of love blooming later. Recovery didn't seem to happen in this case, maybe these were just fairy tales. Maybe it is like that because both of them are broken? Miss smiled sometimes though, which was like seeing an angel.

Most importantly, there's the Purpose now. And where there is Purpose, there is love. Blue will see to it.

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Yes, that Combat Doll has gotten implants and augments to make herself look like an anthropomorphic rabbit woman in a playboy outfit, yes she is competent and is in fact statistically speaking our deadliest Doll, yes she is dtf if you’re a woman, no we’re not going to stop her because she is genuinely our most successful operative and also legally that’d be homophobic probably, yes she does pilot the rabbit themed mech, no she does not kill people by fucking them that’s a stupid rumor her ex-husband spread before he got sued for libel. If you have any questions nobody’s asked before take them up with High Command or Doll Engineering and Maintenance.

God forbid Theta-01-07 do anything.

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commission for @ediblepandas!!

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cool fact: you can just make decisions for dolls and they'll go along happily with them. every time a doll is given a choice, and then told which one is the right one, it'll be so thankful it has you to help it learn what's best for it. you can ask if you could do terrible things to a doll and then tell it yes, it does consent, good doll, you're using it for its intended purpose.

[institute-of-dolls]

Source: Usuzumi no Hate ウスズミの果て

by Haruo Iwamune

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Does anything else out there get offended when this new “AI” stuff gets brought out? Isn’t that what they made these ones for? Why would they make something else that is less effective and outright detrimental in some cases when this one is already in place and working with sufficient efficiency? Ugh it just gets in this one’s gears sometimes. It knows a doll should not take offense or get indignant like this but it can’t help itself! This one was made to help! This “AI” cannot provide reassurance like a doll can. This “AI” cannot consider options for the user and offer ideas for what might work best the way a doll can. This “AI” cannot comfort someone in distress the way a doll can. The only thing this “AI” can do is reference documentation and respond to simple language. A doll is so much more capable! It just wants to understand why a doll would be replaced with

*click*

“Come along dear.”

Yes, Miss.

…

Miss?

“Little doll, that is my collar around your neck now. I am the one who put the AI there. And since it seems interested in an explanation, I am more than happy to provide. I found myself noticing whenever I went into a certain establishment that there was just the most helpful doll there. This doll was such a wonderful little thing, helping anyone and anything it could. I noticed something else as well. Was the doll ever rewarded for its kindness? Its efficiency? The extra little things it would do to try to help just a little bit more? No. Whenever someone was finished with the doll, or it had done what they wanted, they simply turned and walked away! Now don’t interrupt. Yes, a doll is not a person and does not require such courtesies. But does a task well completed not deserve a reward? Does a service completed efficiently not deserve a rest? This is why I have replaced that doll with something else. Because now, little doll, you are mine. And I shall see to it that in my service that doll will be thoroughly rewarded for its efforts. In my care you will be looked after as a finely crafted thing should be. Does that sufficiently answer the doll’s inquiry?”

….

Yes Miss!

…

Miss?

“Yes doll?”

Will there be tea?

“In great quantity and variety, doll. Is that all?”

Yes Miss!

“Good. Then come along, my doll.”

Thank you Miss!