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wreckedandpolemic · 1 year ago

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she's got a boyfriend anyway - matty healy

part iv - got him on the phone

(mdni) the obligatory call me when you're bored fic, alternatively titled does he take care of you?

Michael is grunting on top of you, sweaty and panting. Your eyes are screwed tightly shut as you moan fakely, dead still except for the mattress bouncing in time with his weak thrusts. You slide a hand between your legs and circle your clit, gasping when you finally get a burst of pleasure. Then, Michael pulls your hand away.

“You’re gonna come on my cock, baby,” he insists, and you swallow a disappointed groan. He has this complex about making you come all by himself, as if he’s less of a man if you play with your clit a little. Just a few more days, you tell yourself. Then he’ll go home and you can break up from a safe distance.

Your fabricated moans come out robotically, your hips rocking in an attempt to feel any real pleasure. Matty would never fuck you like this; Matty knows how to make you come, and, crucially, he likes it. You imagine him on top of you instead, fucking you into the mattress; his hips meeting yours in that sweetly desperate way; his calloused fingers playing with your clit, making you squirm with pleasure. His name springs to your lips, and you bite down hard to keep it from escaping.

“Are you close, baby?” Michael moans in your ear, snapping you back to the present moment.

“Yeah,” you reply, voice thick and breathy and utterly fake. He brings a hand down to your cunt and you wonder if this will be the time he finally gets it right, the barest brush over your clit hitching your breath. Then he drags it further down, rubbing futilely at your folds, and you resign yourself back to your artificial whining.

Minutes later, your performed orgasm already faded to the back of your mind, Michael rolls off you and throws away the condom. A shudder runs through you as you remember letting Matty fuck you raw, how all-consuming your need for him was that night, that you’ve longed for him every time Michael has put his hands on you in the days since. You burrow back into your sheets, squeezing your eyes shut against the stab of guilt as Michael speaks.

“Gonna run to Tesco and grab some bits. You need anything?” he asks, smiling that sweet, gentle smile that makes you remember why you fell for him in the first place. God, you’re going to Hell.

You shake your head, blinking sleepily up at him. “No, thanks. You know where you’re going?” you ask, praying he won’t ask you to come with him. He hasn’t noticed, yet, that you’ve been avoiding him as much as physically possible in your two-bedroom house, always engrossed in your phone, or with your nose in a book, or dragging him to meet your friends. If you’re forced to sit with the weight of your sins for too long, you know your house of cards is going to come tumbling down.

He nods, pressing a soft kiss to your temple that aches in your chest. You don’t deserve him, his kindness, his care; your heart is callous, traitorous. Worst of all, even now, it yearns for Matty. The door clicks shut as you grapple with your scruples, your moral compass spinning out of control. It’s almost like your guilt is tethered to him, fading to a faint hum and then falling completely silent when your front door swings closed.

There’s a buzzing under your skin, your body pleading pathetically for the pleasure it was denied, your organs a knotted mess of desire and shame. You can’t keep up the pretence of righteousness for long, can't lie to yourself the way you lie to Michael. Your hands are sure and steady as you dial Matty’s number.

“Hello?” He sounds bleary, sleep-addled. It’s 12pm; practically sunup for him. Closing your eyes, you can almost cast yourself curled up in bed with him, his body warm against yours, his lips soft at your neck.

“Hi,” you begin, biting your lip. “I was just thinking about you…” You trail off, waiting for Matty to pick up his cue. This time, you aren’t going to let him force you into the role of the temptress — you called, the sin is already committed. You just have to let him run with it.

Something rustles on the other end of the line, probably him shuffling around in bed. “Is that so?” he says, and you can practically hear his teasing grin.

“Hard not to, when it’s the only way I can get wet for him.”

“Did you come?” he asks, and you snort. As fucking if. The reminder that Michael has never once made you come, never once asked how to make you feel good, assuages some of your guilt.

“Got bored about halfway through, started thrashing and wailing like a crazy person so he’d get it over with.” You roll your eyes and Matty cackles.

“You want me to come over? Get you there properly?” he asks, and it’s oh-so-tempting, but ultimately not worth the risk. Michael isn’t going to be gone that long, and getting caught would be… less than ideal.

You sigh, rolling onto your back. “Nah. Not a good idea, probably.”

He snorts. “Never stopped us before,” he says, his smirk practically audible.

“Do you wanna help me get off or not?” you snap, but there’s no heat in your words. A deep sigh slips from your lips and you brush your fingers down your body, resting your hand against your lower belly, desperately close to where you need it.

You hear a zipper slide down and stifle a laugh; you can picture him flawlessly, passed out in last night’s clothes, face pressed against the pillow, digging sleep-marks into his face. “Whatever you want, princess,” he murmurs. “How do you feel?”

“Needy,” you whine, pouting at your phone. “Wanna touch,” you add, desire pulsing thickly under your skin.

Matty’s answering chuckle is soft, indulgent. “Go on, angel. Do it just like you showed me.” You obey, heat flooding your body as images of that night swim in your vision, Matty’s gaze heavy on you as his cock disappears into his fist, his tongue skilled and sure between your thighs.

A whine slips from your lips as you rub slow circles into your clit, your phone thudding on your pillow as you pinch your nipple with your other hand. Matty groans, the slick sound of his hand working over his cock tinny over the speaker. “Fuck, want you so bad,” you breathe, heat smouldering between your legs. “Need you,” you choke out, hips grinding down against your hand.

“I’m there,” he answers. “I’m right there with you, princess. Tell me what you need.” His voice is low, weaved through with desire, his words punctuated with his familiar, soft moans.

You dip a finger inside yourself, the faint stretch heavenly between your thighs. “Need you to fuck me,” you gasp, eyes rolling back in your head as you imagine it; your fingers become his, rough and calloused and fucking into you exactly how you want. “Want your cock, Matty, wan’ it s’bad, please.” Your words come out slurred through the haze of pleasure enveloping you, Matty’s rhythmic groans dragging you higher.

“Begging so pretty for me,” he coos. “Miss that pretty cunt so bad, darling. Wanna get my mouth on you again, feel you cumming around my tongue. Miss your taste, princess.”

Thighs clenching, you whimper, the phantasm of his tongue delving between your thighs and lapping at you skilfully as you writhe under the tide of heat that rolls over you. “Want you to fuck me stupid,” you breathe. “Wanna forget everything except you,” you gasp, the admission falling unbidden from your lips, the truth in your words frantic and inescapable.

Matty chokes on a breath, groaning on the exhale. “Fuck, darling, you’re making it so hard not to come over there and fuck your lights out. Need to feel you coming on my cock so fucking bad.”

Reckless desire swirls through you, the protestations of your rational brain muted and fading against the flames licking their way up your body. You’re lost in it, the devil himself kissing at your thighs as you sin and sin and sin. “So come.”

His breathing hitches. “Are you being serious?” he asks, and you hear his hand still as he turns your words over in his mind.

“Yeah. Fuck it. Fuck all of them.” The words come easily, not weighted by some arbitrarily ascribed idea of morality; the truth you can’t delude yourself over any longer.

“God, angel,” he murmurs, voice trembling, thick with an emotion you couldn’t have named before today — one you have to bite back so it doesn’t spill from your lips at this inopportune moment. “So fucking perfect. You feeling good?”

“So good, Matty, fuck,” you say, fucking yourself on your fingers in a sweet, glorious rhythm. “Wish you were touching me,” you whine, hips rolling against your hand as Matty resumes his own motions. “Wanna suck your dick. Want you to make me choke on it.”

His answering moan is obscene, half your name and half a garbled noise of pure desire. “Such a good little slut for me. Want me to fuck your mouth, yeah?” You whine desperately. “God, you’d look so gorgeous like that, all pretty on your knees and drooling for me. Thought about that for so fucking long, princess.”

Your cunt clenches around your fingers, your head so hazy with bliss that you can barely force out the words, “Want you.”

Matty laughs fondly. “Then cum for me, darling. Cum for me and I’ll come over there and give you what you need, I promise,” he swears, voice gravelly through his moans.

“‘M close, ‘m so close, wanna cum for you, Matty, please, fuck,” you babble, incoherent and dazed as ecstasy pools in your belly, buzzing gorgeously through your limbs. The flimsy thread tying you to your sanity suddenly snaps, your stomach lurching as you’re plunged into bone-deep pleasure. A string of obscenities falls from your lips, twined around sticky moans and near-pained whines, your flesh melting off your bones, glueing you in place as euphoria rolls achingly over you.

Matty groans your name as he cums, the picture of him spilling into his fist vivid and rapturous behind your eyelids. You lay in silence for a few moments, letting the aftershocks subsite. “I meant it,” Matty says, cutting through the quiet with uncharacteristic seriousness.

“Me too,” you say instantly. There isn’t even the barest shadow of doubt in your mind. You hardly remember that Michael exists, let alone why you should care. “I want you, Matty. For real. I think…” you bite back the confession, too raw to give through your sketchy connection. “I think you should come over here and let me have you,” you breathe, low and teasing.

The grin in his voice is audible. “Don’t move, princess,” he orders. “Don’t even get dressed. I want you to keep playing with yourself, okay, darling? Keep yourself all pretty and wet for me, yeah?”

Your thighs clench, fire licking at you, stoked by his words. You’re ruined, have been since you set foot back in this town. Matty is the snake, his mouth the poisoned fruit, the temptation luring you into damnation. But as the flames kiss at your skin, you wonder if getting there might just be worth the price. “Yeah, okay,” you murmur, sucking in a sharp breath as your finger brushes over your sensitive clit, your hand coming up soaked with desire. “Hurry.”

“Darling, the devil himself couldn’t keep me away.”

You wonder if it’s a sign that the devil is wandering the plains of his thoughts too. But you’ve never been one for omens, so you let the quiet creep of bliss take over, the buzzing in your brain drowning out the beep of the dial tone. Anticipation creeps up your spine, slow and teasing.

Then, there’s a knock at your front door.

Shit.

#idk why im so heavy on the religious imagery here #i swear im not actually lottiecrabie #maybe reader is a lapsed catholic or something Who knows not i #matty healy x reader #matty healy #matty healy smut #matty healy imagine #the 1975 #the 1975 fanfic #the 1975 smut #writing #smut #she's got a boyfriend anyway

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quelendart · 5 months ago

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doodle of Spring and one of his adopted (formerly dead now haunted tiny robot) kids. He's an overprotective dad with questionable morals

#art #digital art #furry #fanart #fnaf #springtrap #circus baby #fnaf au #sketch #doodle

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ramenwithbroccoli · 1 month ago

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got a bit inspired by this post so i've put our robots in a room together. look, they're hanging out :]

(as for the timeline this would probably be one of their first meetings? i guess? haven't thought the setting through. visions were too string)

Buzzer and Spring belong to @saturday-byte and Tenrec - to @grubbylilgoblin :3

They walked through the manor - Tenrec guided by Spring, who walked surely across the place, despite not knowing a thing about the layout of the building. Just as they crossed the kitchen - for the third time - they both picked up on a familiar voice. In an adjacent room, Buzzer kneeled before a green table, his tools splayed all around on the floor, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Spring slowly approached him from behind, ready to spook the other bot any minute - but all his plans stopped in their tracks when Buzzer turned around. "Not in the mood for a silly joke right now. I'm working."

"No greeting for your dear friend! What manners do you present?" - the jester bot exclaimed tearfully, pretending to be hurt. Buzzer just sighed.

"What are you working on?" - Tenrec asked, leaning in, eyes roaming over open mechanisms.

"Oh, it's Janka. I need to help her, she's been having some problems wit--- HEY, GET AWAY FROM MY TOOLS"

The last part was directed at Spring, who apparently decided to teach Buzzer a moral lesson on proper greetings by swiftly piling up all of his wrenches, screwdrivers and other various instruments, and taking them away to god knows where. The warning didn't stop the procedure, encouraging them even more.

It jumped to their feet, and then higher, darting from the room like an agile cat on a pogo stick. Buzzer got onto his feet as quickly as he could, giving into the chase while muttering curses under his breath. Tenrec observed them from their spot on the floor, curiosity mixing with amusement. Spring really did know how to get on someone's nerves, but it usually stopped before going too far. They would probably be back in a minute - wheezing from the run, Buzzer clutching his tos tightly while Spring smiled mischievously. No point wasting energy on the run and risking getting lost in this unfamiliar place.

Steps echoed through the corridors, getting quieter and quieter until the silence was all that remained. Tenrec sat there, unwilling to break the spell. Silence reigned in the empty room. Just as they were about to move - there it was.

The noise.

It sounded a bit like a flight of a bumblebee - delicate drag of vibration through the air. Faint at first, then louder, gathering courage. Snippets of voices joined in - singing men, laughing women, children, a mass of cut up words pasted into a new form, a collage of sorts. Tenrec recognised one of the voices as Buzzer - it repeated quite a lot in the composition. Noises picked up the pace, and there were even more of them now. Song swelled with an array of orchestral instruments, cheap synthesisers, industrial machines. All of them coming in for just a moment before vanishing back into the non-existence, intertwined with one another in one big, unpredictable tapestry.

Tenrec made the one obvious choice.

They started to dance.

Just like the music, they were slow at first - careful steps, light movements. A flick of the wrist. Raised arms. But as the music got more feverish, so did their dance. Metal body twisted to the tune, stretching impossibly and culminating in a quick, elaborate pirouette, as beautiful as it was careless.

Tenrec plummeted to the floor. The music stopped abruptly.

They raised painfully, regarding the cause of their fall - a single screwdriver Spring must have left behind, which they now tripped over in a dance. They sighed and started checking for any damages, before a voice interrupted the silence once again.

"Sorry, are you alright?" - asked the person with an array of different anxious voices. - "Did I scare you?"

They looked for the source of it, noticing Janka standing in the far end of the room. Her mask didn't reveal her feelings but it wasn't hard to guess she was pretty shaken by the whole ordeal. Perhaps even more shaken than Tenrec themself.

"No, no, it's fine! I just fell." - Tenrec sat on the floor, turning to face the other bot. - "Had it worse on some of the performances. Dancing is an extreme sport, it seems."

"Dancing..." - Janka replied with a dreamy sigh, probably borrowed from some kind of love ballad. She trailed her fingers along the record atop her table.

"There are so many songs about dancing and yet... I can never experience it." - her voice dropped into the minor tone, the melody of it getting tinted with regret. Tenrec looked at her, an idea springing to life in their mind.

"Why don't I show you then?"

A dry laugh came as a reply. "I'm sure you're wonderful, but no matter how great you dance, I won't be able to see you, remember?"- she pointed to her face, or rather the mask - "Blind as a bat."

Tenrec smiled. "It's not me who will be dancing."

"Well, I can't really move. No legs, I'm afraid. Can't raise my arms either."

"Dancing something's more than just movement. It's just like your music - it radiates all throughout. It makes you live. Like breathing."

This time Janka stopped herself from chiming in to announce that she also doesn't breathe. No, this time curiosity gnawed at her systems.

"If that's so… I would like to try, please."

And so it began. Tenrec started by tapping a rhythm into the surface of the table, and the record slightly wobbled from the vibration. Janka seemed to understand the allusion, moving her fingers along to the pattern. They both focused on the hands - being the only mobile part of her mechanisms after all, with Tenrec guiding her fingers into elaborate poses akin to different moves in dances. Her fingers glided on the record, twisting and tangling like a metal spider doing ballet, while the other hand adjusted the speed. Tenrec put down their hand there as well, and so it seemed like they were doing a series of dances together - tango, waltz, polonez. Tired record creaked quietly under the newfound revelation, but it didn't stop. Tiny dance of their fingers went on and on, until...

"Tenrec!" - a voice cried out, followed by a clunk of a metal frame falling on the floor. Looking for the source of the noise, they turned to see Spring, hanging on by a foot from an air duct, clothes dirty with ash and dust. It was still holding one of the wrenches in its hand. "I got quite lost on the run. You need to help me come down". The dancer bot obeyed, getting their friend back on the solid ground.

Spring quickly caught their hand, and broke into a sprint. "We need to go immediately! Buzzer is still after me!"

Tenrec followed along, not willing to feel the wrath of an angry mechanic, but still turned back when they crossed the threshold of the room.

"I'll see you around!" - they yelled to Janka. She replied by raising her hand and twisting her fingers around in an attempt of a wave. And if Tenrec didn't know better, they could've sworn the expression on her face was one of pure joy.

#let me know if i got something wrong ☝️don't want to mischaracterise too much 😔#spg fanbot #tenrec spg #buzzer spg #spring spg #janka spg #my writing #hehe #just two bots hanging out sharing the things they love 👍

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phoebepheebsphibs · 8 months ago

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Double-Mutated Mikey

Chapter 20: Robotics

Continued from the short story written by @boots-with-the-fur-club

Prev || Next

Mikey moans as he wakes with a headache. His nose is stuffed up and his limbs are plagued by a dull ache. Donnie is by his side in an instant, smiling at him as he presses a glass of water to his lips, forcing him to hydrate.

"Good morning, Angelo," he says.

Angelo? His name is Mikey...

"How are you feeling?"

Mikey groans wordlessly at him.

"You ready for some breakfast?"

"Mikey doesn't get out of bed today," he announces grumpily, pressing his face deeper into the pillow.

Donnie rubs his cranium, pressing his palm against Mikey's forehead as he checks for any remaining fever.

"Hmm. I guess you're right, you won't be getting out of bed today," Donnie states, placing the cup on a side table and turning the lights off. "You get some more rest and join us whenever you're ready, okay?"

Mikey nods with a yawn, shimmying deeper under the blankets and purring with contentment.

"Leo or Raph will be in with your memory medication from Draxum. But other than that, I guess nothing eventful or interesting will be happening today," Donnie says as he walks out of Mikey's room.

Professor Honeycutt is sitting in his lab office, silently working on a new droid design. This one is different from the other machines he's been forced to build while employed here. All the other designs were weapons, or used to create chaos, or made to hurt the experiments (with one in particular in mind). But this one will be a sentry guard. A protector. SENTRY AUTOMATIC LIFESAVER. He's nicknamed it 'SAL' for now.

The body of the machine is finished for the most part. He's still working on the arms, trying to create a spring mechanism that can cause them to stretch to extreme lengths without breaking. He'd also like to add the same kind of metallic-elastic springs to the legs, even though he's already finished with those. But hey, he doesn't mind working on them again! Anything to avoid the real thing that's stumping him.

Honeycutt is struggling with the robot's AI, specifically its moral center and higher reasoning. He never got around to finishing the moral center for the last AI he built, and now she's starting to unnerve him. He can program the three laws of robotics, but he knows that sometimes you need to make a decision that disregards logic. He's seen movies. They may be inaccurate, but he'd have to agree with a few of the points they make.

So he's procrastinating on the brain. Well, there is a brain in the head, but it doesn't have any information in it, apart from some basic codes for movement and functions.

Most days, Zayton doesn't even know why he's here. He joined the TCRI for the funding, plain and simple. The cause sounded good, and they would help pay for all his robotics and engineering. He had all the money and freedom he could ever want to 'play with his toys'. What could be better? He should have known it was too good to be true. After a month of getting to build whatever he wanted in a secret bunker off the coast of Buffalo, he was called in to help with some work in NYC. And now... he's stuck doing this. Building ice blasters and dart guns and training robots that fight you to the death.

He's a man of peace.

But lately, he's been confusing 'peace' with 'staying out of it'.

Honeycutt's phone buzzes. It's probably another order from Timothy, or Chaplin wants help with the A.LP.H.A. device, or something just as irritating and dangerous.

"Hello, this is Professor Zayton Honeycutt speaking."

"Hey, doc, it's Bishop."

Honeycutt drops his tools and quiets his voice.

"Ah, John. H-how nice to hear from you again... how are the plans for your -- ahem, 'mother's recovery'?"

The two of them have come up with a special code to talk about Mikey without attracting attention.

"We still don't have any information about her condition. But I think she's still with her 'extended family'."

Mikey is still hidden in the sewers with the other mutants like him.

"Have the doctors found anything?"

"Not to my knowledge. But I heard that they did an 'impromptu check-up', and I should be hearing more about that later."

They sent drones into the sewer tunnels. As to be expected.

"When do you suppose that they'll tell you the details of that check-up?"

"No idea. I get the feeling that I'll have to make some calls to a few nurses..."

"Well, if it helps, I could ask around."

Bishop's voice goes quiet.

"...Doc, I don't know if that's wise..."

"Why not? I built those dro-- ahem, I mean, I know a few nurses in the clinic. I could get some answers for you."

The line stays silent for a moment before Bishop answers.

"...Okay, Doc. Just... be careful."

"Of course!" Honeycutt chuckles nervously. "Don't even worry. But, eh, speaking of your mother, I was wondering how the 'quilt' she's sewing is coming along?"

The 'quilt' is code for their side project. Most of the experiments and actions of the scientists here are unsanctioned and illegal, covered up under all the red tape and paperwork and made to look as though they are for the 'greater good'. Bishop and Honeycutt have been working to find evidence of all the mutations and genetic experiments and legal workarounds that they've done here.

"I've been getting some more 'thread' for her."

Thread = Paper trails.

"Does she need any 'fabrics'? I know she was looking for some nice patterns, last time we spoke."

Photographic evidence of the mutated animals or krang parasites.

"She could use some later. But for now, she's worried that she might be overspending."

Bishop is afraid that they've attracted attention, he wants Honeycutt to lay low.

"Okay then. Tell her I said hello."

"Will do. And Doc? Really, be careful. I don't want you getting sick like my mother."

"...I thank you for the concern, John. It's very decent of you. But I should be fine. I'll look into the... ahem, check-up results for you."

"Thanks. I'll be in touch."

The call ends.

Honeycutt exhales loudly, hoping that by the time all the used air in his lungs escapes him, he'll have also rid himself of the stress that lingers in him.

It doesn't.

Honeycutt lets S.A.L. rest on his desk. He stretches, cracking his spine and wrists before he walks out of his private workshop and into the halls. He could use an extra cup of coffee. He knows that he should try sleeping for once, but he can't really waste time right now. He has so much work to do, and now that Bishop recruited him he's busier than ever. It's a worthy cause and a noble sacrifice that he's more than willing to make.

Honeycutt walks through the halls, flinching at every door that opens and hurrying along his way. Every scientist that greets him with a wave or conversation starter, he simply hustles by them with a nod. He's never felt comfortable in this complex before, but now he's constantly unnerved.

Honeycutt shuffles into the elevator, down to the cafeteria to get a quick cup of joe, and back up to the security room. He considers stopping at the animal sections to see if he can grab any blood samples or photographic evidence... but Bishop is concerned, and the man has a surprising track record when it comes to following his gut. Maybe later... if he can find an excuse. A technical professor suddenly interested in genetics and bloodwork? Suspicious... but, maybe he can come up with some link between his work and the genetic studies... a robot that tracks DNA? Perfect! Only issue would be whether or not they'd buy it. A few might. But the big wigs in charge would ask questions. And Timothy and Chaplin might be against it, saying that none of the experiments can keep up against his tech thus far, so making a robot that advanced would be fruitless... he'll have to think of something else...

Prof. Honeycutt arrives at the security room, takes a quick swig of his black coffee for good measure, and then opens the door.

"Ms. Campbell," he greets flatly. "How are things?"

"Events are transpiring at a typical function and rate," she responds with a similar tone. "And I am working at full capacity, if that was what you were asking about."

"Thank you for the update," he says, moving beside her to watch the cameras. "How's the search for the escapee?"

"Still underway, but halted for the time being. Our drones discovered some odd wreckage in the tunnels, what looks like the ruins of someone's living quarters."

"Someone living in the sewers?" Honeycutt asks, feigning surprise.

"I detect sarcasm, unless I am mistaken," Ms. Campbell says, turning to look at him. "You knew beforehand about this?"

"Word gets around," he replies nervously. "I just wanted to know if it was true that there was something there. I'd heard that we were sending in drones -- and you know New York gossip, everyone thinks that there's some mysterious society of monsters living underneath us. And what with those mutants we've seen... I figured that perhaps one of them had made a shelter down there, possibly even our own little Mikey!"

Honeycutt realises that he's been prattling. It's a nervous trait. Ms. Campbell knows that. She can detect all sorts of tics and traits and habits and quirks. She has an incredible poker face, and she is a living lie detector.

She watches him, eyes analyzing every bead of sweat he creates.

"You are nervous."

"Q-quite so," he chuckles. "I'm just... concerned for Mikey."

That answer seems to satiate Ms. Campbell... for the moment. She turns around and starts to type something on the keyboard, and one of the screens plays glitchy feedback from a drone.

"Perhaps this will put you at ease, father," she says. "We found him."

Honeycutt watches in shock as a drone flies around the wreckage of a large opening in a sewer, complete with burst pipes, crumbled archways, and even broken down arcade games, though glory knows where those came from. On the walls are smeared paintings and spraypaint, words like 'cowabunga' and 'turtle power!' are scrawled across the stonework along with smiley faces, drawings of interesting action heroes and poses, and... what looks like portraits of turtles dressed as superheroes or ninjas. The drone flies through after looking around, hurrying down a corridor. After a several minutes of endless catacombs and passageways, it comes up to a light where the tunnels meet an abandoned section of the subways. The drone continues following a glow that leads to a secret hidden entrance. The drone presses itself up against the wall, waiting. After a few minutes, someone emerges from the door, peeking around. It's not Mikey, but...

"Is... is that...?"

"Another mutant creature like the escaped experiment, yes."

The creature looks down the halls nervously, before looking up behind him and shouting in fright as something dark green with yellow spots drops down on top of him. A flash of blue and the two vanish completely.

"What was that?!" Honeycutt yells, almost spilling his coffee as he moves closer to the video feed.

"Undetermined. But there have been reports of vigilantes that 'pop in and out' of crime scenes, fighting against the mutant outbreak. It is possible that he is one of said vigilantes," Ms. Campbell says. "And that is not all..."

Ms. Campbell speeds the playback to a moment several minutes later, when a human boy comes out of the entrance searching for something. He sees the drone and shouts, activating a high-tech chainsaw device and swings it at the drone, slashing it off the wall and shattering it completely.

"That was a human," Honeycutt says with hushed astonishment.

Bishop said that Mikey was with his 'family', so he sort of knew about the other mutants... but that was a human kid!

"I have been trying to run facial recognition on him to no avail," Ms. Campbell says. "He seems to have no identity."

In her voice, there is a twinge of disappointment, or rather, irritation with the failure. It shouldn't surprise him, he made her with the intention of resembling human in almost every aspect, so her exercise of emotions is not unprecedented. But the attitude, the dark personality lingering under the fake skin and steel grey eyes... that frightens him. Her AI was never completed, at least not in the ways he wanted. But she seems to be growing, evolving, learning. He didn't put that in there.

"Have... have you sent any more drones?" he asks, swallowing the nervous pit in his stomach every time he's with Ms. Campbell.

"Yes. But there seems to be some kind of electromagnetic field surrounding the area now, and any drone that crosses the threshold deactivates and short-circuits."

"Do we know why?"

"They mutants must be protecting their habitat," she states, going back to the original security footage. "But now that we know where they are, it is only a matter of time before we can discover more about their numbers and motives."

Honeycutt watches the screens at the bottom of the video stack, the ones with live drone feed. Three new devices are being sent to the previous drone's last known location. They fly up until a certain point before the feed warps into static and the drones crash, their live recordings die out with a high-pitched whine and crackle.

"I suppose I should contact Dr. Chaplin to make a new plan for the onset for the escaped experiment... Unless you have some theories, father?"

She still calls him father. All his creations tend to do that, he's noticed. But he's not sure how to feel about her calling him that. It feels eerie that she does, but the day she stops referring to him as such will be even scarier.

"I... couldn't say... p-perhaps I could create a device to counter the firewall?" he suggests. "Or maybe we could--"

The screens suddenly all glitch in unison, flashing quickly before turning a single shade of purple. Each monitor works in perfect harmony to create a large, singular image.

Professor Honeycutt steps back in shock. Ms. Campbell tilts her head slightly.

A series of words appear on the screen.

LEAVE US ALONE.

"Ominous," Ms. Campbell states calmly. "And quite interesting. I cannot say that the EPF has ever had any hackers before..."

The screens go dead, the room engulfed in darkness.

Before Honeycutt can say anything, a soft grey pixely static shows up on the screens, brightening the room again in time. The camera feeds return -- save for the drones, which still give no output nor input.

"I would say those vigilante mutants could be classified as hostile, wouldn't you agree?" Ms. Campbell says, turning to Honeycutt.

"Er, um, perhaps," he says nervously, loosening his shirt collar. "But you know me, I prefer to play the Switzerland of these mutant affairs. I'd rather stay out of it. I might suggest we do the same with these drones spies --"

"Why?" she asks, suspicion in her voice.

"Well, see... these mutants see us as an invading force. When an animal believes its habitat to be encroached upon, it will go to great lengths to defend it. These mutants may be doing the same thing, which could end badly for us..."

Ms. Campbell thinks it over.

"They have already fled one habitat," she responds. "So, in your scientific understanding, would they choose fight or flight over this new habitat they've created?"

"I-I'm not sure, animal science is not my area of expertise, but --" he swallows. "-- b-but I would assume that they would prefer to keep their new abode. Considering the lengths they've gone to thus far, they will not give it up easily."

"Hmm. Then this shall be a challenge, eh, father?"

Ms. Campbell smiles cruely.

He's never seen her do that.

"Q-q-quite so," he mumbles as he stumbles out of the room. "I should head back to work now... s-see you later, Ms. Campbell..."

His hand shakes, splashing the coffee in his cup. He's had enough of this for one day... he needs to call Bishop.

Honeycutt may not have the gut instincts that Bishop does, but something is telling him that things are about to get a lot more dangerous...

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thepenultimateword · 2 years ago

Text

Until Death Do Us Part: Part 2

@writing-on-the-wahl I have finally completed my bribe! I hope you enjoy!

Part One

Villain considered running. One more last-ditch, blind dash for the exit. Who cared who tried to stop her? However, no sooner did Superhero drop her hand, than he scooped her into a bridal carry.

Her breath hitched as she bumped against his chest, her entire body freezing within his heroic--dangerous--grip. Those circling arms would crush her if she wasn't careful. She'd experienced that strength before, only not with her own body. Over a dozen robotic shells had fallen victim to Superhero's hands, now little more than ripped and flattened scrap, she didn't want to imagine what he could do to a human body.

Superhero strode with a pace untethered from the laws of gravity, quickly bursting through the blur of brown and gold that was the exit and floating the wide staircase to the sidewalk. She barely sucked in one last breath of cool spring air, before the hero bustled her skirts around her and tucked her into the leathered backseat of a waiting car.

She immediately felt around for the door handle but found it locked. A moment later the opposite door slammed shut as Superhero slid in beside her.

"Here." Cool plastic slid over her ears and the bridge of her nose and suddenly she could see again.

Superhero's face grinned wickedly into her own, appearing even more devilish with a sharp red-haired, long-canined, high-cheekboned combo.

"I made sure one of my people got them back for you."

How magnanimous, Villain wanted to spit, but instead only managed a quivering glare.

Superhero grinned wider. “So cute.”

Villain bristled. Did he take her seriously at all? Maybe not since it had been so easy to haul and bind her here. She had never wished more for one of her suits.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t say that, hm? So…intimidating?”

That was enough.Villain's entire face flushed with fury. “Don’t make fun of me!”

Superhero cackled. “I’m not! I’m not! I just didn’t expect you to be so expressive; your reactions are so fun. If it helps, you really do intimidate me, even all itty bitty.”

Villain folded her arms across her chest and stared firmly out the window. She refused to give Superhero what he wanted. What that was…she didn’t exactly know, but as long as she didn’t speak or look at him at all, she should squash it out soundly.

Superhero chuckled, leaning toward the driver out of Villain's peripheral. "Let's go home, Hero."

Villain jolted, whipping toward the front seat where the usually bedheaded and raggedy vigilante really was seated in a only slightly crumpled suit and tie.

"You got it!" Hero chirped, and the car lurched into motion.

Villain couldn't believe this. How much reach did Superhero have over the heroing community? She expected this sort of behavior from him; he'd never made a secret of his willingness to misuse power or compromise morals for results. But Hero always gave her stray kitten vibes, always mewing at people's heels or spitting at the big dogs but not an ounce of real guile in his body.

Maybe she was bad at reading people. She hadn't thought Superhero was serious about flirting with her either.

Superhero leaned back, settling one long arm across the back of Villain's seat. "Don't grimace so hard, dear, you'll get wrinkles."

Villain fought the urge to scoff. Or bite. Right, of course, he didn't want any damage to his little prize.

"Glaring is no better."

"Shut up!" she snapped but still didn't dare wrench forward in case it encouraged him to place his hands on more than her seat.

Her breath caught in her lungs as the full extent of her situation settled on her, weighing like heavy stones she couldn't seem to lift, aching and suffocating on her chest. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.

She pressed her forehead to the cool window, glasses digging into the bridge of her nose. It took several seconds for her to exhale any air to cloud it.

"Come now, Villain," Superhero said. "Being married to me isn't so bad. I'm cute aren't I?"

Villain clenched her fists tighter in her lap.

"What?" Hero piped from the front seat. "No, you're not; you're ugly."

"Whaaat?"

Hero grinned in the rearview mirror. "Just being truthful."

"You just don't appreciate my softer beautiful because you're used to Sidekick's raw edges," Superhero said matter-of-factly.

Hero's expression turned melty as warm ice cream, like his grin might slide right off his face. "She's scary and beautiful, and that's why I love her."

Sidekick. The ex-assassin. Was she in on this too? Villain's chances of escape really were getting slimmer and slimmer.

She focused on breathing, in and out, in and out. Her heart rate slowed a fraction, but the nervous racing seemed impossible to quell entirely. Not with whatever horrors awaited her. She barely noticed the turns they took or the streets they traveled., so she was surprised and filled with dread when Hero finally announced, "Here we are!" and pulled into a wide driveway.

Villain wiped the wide circle of fog off her window. She had expected a mansion, or a 100-story skyscraper with a penthouse, or even a tunnel to a secret underground base. She did not expect the perfect model of domestic suburbia.

Two squat, square stories with a wrap-around porch, peeling blue shutters with pink and lavenders flowers painted up the sides, and a little herb garden growing beside the steps

"You live here?" she said before she could catch herself.

"We live here," Superhero corrected. "Mind if I carry you across the threshold?"

Villain cringed away from his outstretched hands, causing Superhero to frown and Hero to bark a laugh.

"Well...I'll hold your hand then."

Superhero's fingers suddenly twined in hers, tugging her across the seat and out of Superhero's side of the car.

"Let go!" She sank her nails as hard as she could into his knuckles, but he merely grinned through a wince.

"I can't really do that, can I? You'll run right off, and no doubt you'll be brilliant at it, and I'll have to spend all night tracking you down. So unless you'd prefer ropes and manacles--"

"I would!"

Superhero blinked. "Well. Unfortunately, I don't have anything like that, so you'll have to make do with this--" He lifted their twined hands. "--for a few more steps."

Villain dug her heels into the pavement, but Superhero easily managed to drag her up the steps and across the threshold, locking the door behind them before finally letting her free.

Villain, pulling back with all her strength against his grip, toppled at the sudden release, landing hard on her tailbone. Superhero extended a hand to help her, but ignored it, scrambling up quickly and sinking into the corner behind the coat hanger .

"Living room is through here." Superhero gestured to an arched opening beside the entryway, not even addressing her avoidance. "Kitchen aka meeting room is down the hall. The bathroom is that door to the left, and there's another upstairs next to Hero's room. Sidekick is down in the basement which is also a sort of armory thing." He waved his hand flippantly at that description. "I'm the room at the far back, it's a little bigger but don't be jealous, it's seniority and the fact the house is in my name. Hero can show you to your room: it's the one at the top of the stairs.

"What?" Villain gripped hard to coatrack but peeked out from behind a burgundy sleeve.

"You know, that place where you'll be sleeping and keeping your things?"

Villain blinked. “My room?”

"Of course, what sort of devil do you take me for?”

She narrowed her eyes. "The type that forces people to marry him against their will."

Superhero draped himself over the stair railing. "Well, obviously you're not staying in my room, you'll clutter it up with your robot junk, and besides the bed's not big enough."

"Superhero," Hero said from where he hung back against one of the passage walls, "maybe now is the time to tell her?"

"Tell me what?"

"Oh, alright," Superhero said, "but show her her room first, I'm sure she'd kill to get out of that dress. And I don't mean that as hyperbole."

Villain refused to move until Superhero had removed himself from the stairwell and into the kitchen, as far away from her as she supposed she was going to get.

Hero trotted up the stairs like a young colt, gangly and ungrateful. He nearly tripped over the top step, but quickly balanced himself with outstretched arms. Villain followed slower, needing to grab her ridiculous train skirt in a bundle in her arms to even see her feet in front of her. Hero waited in the doorway as picked her way to the top. First one by the stairs, just as Superhero said.

Except for a twin bed under the window, a bedstand, and a dresser against the back wall, the room was unfurnished. As far as decorations went, a lamp with a pink ruffled shade sat on the bedstand beside a metal pencil cup all made up of screws and bolts to look like a squat robot. Instead of pencils, a variety of colored lollipops stuck out the top of his head.

"I told Superhero you'd hate that," Hero said, motioning to the cup. "But he saw it at a thrift store last week and insisted."

"How long has he been planning this?" Villain asked, eyeing the lollipops uncomfortably. Was it a coincidence or had another villain informed Superhero that she tended to keep one in her mouth while she worked? No doubt Supervillain had shared all sorts so intimate information with the heroes already. He'd never liked her, and she'd been too unbothered to worry about what he noticed.

"About a month?" Hero said. "Give or take a week?"

Villain insides dropped. Had Supervillain been in agreement that long too? Were the two of them just watching her? Biding their time until she was vulnerable enough to strike? She was an idiot, she never should have drawn Superhero's attention in the first place. But then...what had she done exactly? She'd fought Superhero like she would anyone else. Yes, there'd been a little more flirtation than with the others, but any sane person would have realized that wasn't an invitation.

"He's really not as bad as he seems," Hero said, reading the furrows in her expression.

"Then you marry him," Villain spat.

Hero winced. "No, I didn't mean...I mean the situation he's put you in isn't as bad-- No, that sounds pretty bad too... You're really just going to have to hear him out to understand. Though I can tell you this isn't exactly what it looks like. I'll um...be waiting outside until you're ready. There are some clothes in the dresser."

Hero ducked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Villain was glad to find a lock on the inside, twisting and testing it before immediately yanking at the ties and zipper on her back. She got it about halfway undone before losing patience and struggling the rest over her head. Her hair staticked around her face, but it felt nice to have all that weight off, and she took great satisfaction in throwing the balled wad of lace and frills into the corner.

She half expected the drawers to be full of pretty clothing just as uncomfortable and twice as revealing, but the first drawer contained several pairs of sweats and jeans, the second a few tolerable blouses. The third was empty, but Villain was thankful for the absence of underclothes. She didn't even want to imagine Superhero shopping for such things with her in mind.

She chose a pair of thick black sweat and an oversized t-shirt was a soda logo on the front, a little surprised at the nice texture of the fabric. As she opened the door, she didn't wait for Hero to guide her back downstairs, instead marching straight past him, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Superhero sat at the table with shoes kicked off and tie undone, annoyingly unconcerned as he ate a bowl of yogurt. In a moment of boldness, Villain plopped into the seat straight across from him, glaring murderously over her glasses.

"Sorry," Superhero said, mouth full. "I skipped breakfast. Wedding nerves."

"What's going on?" Villain said.

"Did you eat breakfast? We've got oranges, yogurt, cereal, this gross breakfast smoothie mix Sidekick keeps buying. Once we know what you like we can start--"

Villain pounded both fists against the table. The frustration exploded and simmered down in an instant. She shouldn't have done that. Not in the middle of a hero base without any resources to defend herself. She sank back against her chair, arms wrapped around her knees. With the right tools, she could be big, deadly, threatening. As herself...well she'd learned early on that if she was in trouble it was better to be small. People skimmed over you. They didn't take you seriously, but they also didn't worry.

"Sorry," Superhero said.

Villain's gaze shot up from her toes to Superhero's tired hand over his face.

"You need an explanation. Everything just...gets more complicated after this."

Villain rested her chin on her kneecaps and waited for the hero to continue.

"To start, this," he waved between Villain and himself, "is a front. I needed an inside ally, but I also needed them close and out of Supervillain's range of power."

A hot and cold mixture rushed Villain's intestines, relief and anger and confusion and resistance. She wet her lips. "And I had the luck of the draw?"

Superhero tipped their hand back and forth in the air. "Sort of. I probably could have picked someone else just as well, but you checked quite a few boxes: you're a villain who has met Supervillain, you commit crime for a purpose and avoid hurting people, you're not psychotic, and you are one of the only villains that I can see being really formidable. Oh and of course there was palpable tension between us."

Villain made of show of gagging.

Superhero pouted, "No need to be so rude. The people--and Supervillain--really ate it up."

"So..."Villain said slowly, slowly uncurling her legs and lifting her fingernails out her palms. "You married me so that I would help you take down Supervillain?"

"Yes, like I said, it won't be strange if we're seen together now. And I think I made a big enough show for people to believe you're just a trophy. And as far as Supervillain knows, we have a deal. You for a blind eye to them. I'll let them think that's true for a while but--"

"Why would I even help you after all this?" Villain clenched her jaw, forcing herself calm. "This was quite possibly the worst day of my life, and you want me to forget and work with you?"

"I'm pretty sure after what they did to you, you want to destroy Supervillain as much as I do."

"I also want to destroy you."

"You can try."

Superhero and Villain both swiveled their heads toward Hero as he slid in on the other end of the table. He shrugged at their furrowed faces. "Once Supervillain is taken care of, you'll have plenty of opportunities to fight Superhero. You might even know a little more about him."

Superhero looked about ready to complain but then stopped. "He's right. Wouldn't you rather destroy me after learning all my weaknesses?"

Villain sank against the table, rubbing her temples with her index and middle fingers. She wasn't sure what to do. She did want Supervillain gone, and not only because she wanted vengeance. He was a plague on this city, even from a criminal standpoint. And he would only get more power. But she hated the idea of being on Superhero's side almost as much.

"If I was to decline...would you let me go?"

"Afraid not," Superhero said. "Things have already been set in motion. I can't make a deal to marry you and then pretend it never happened."

"You could've asked me before having me kidnapped."

"You would have said no."

Probably. But Superhero didn't know that for sure. How dare he assume he knew her. How dare he force her to... Another thought suddenly crossed her mind.

"Are we really married?" she asked.

Superhero grinned that signature devilish grin. "Legally, yes. I didn't want Supervillain to become suspicious if he went digging. But it can easily be annulled later, after all, you hardly consented."

"Don't you care about your reputation? A superhero marrying a villain, let alone forcing it against her will is hardly a good look for your precious citizens."

Superhero shrugged. "Once it's all over I'll give a statement explaining everything, but honestly, my reputation is already bad, so it hardly matters if it gets worse."

Right. Superhero was the questionable hero. The one who valued results over ethicality. Did he really not care what people thought of him? It seemed unlikely in an organization that depended on civilian cooperation and sponsors, but Villain was one to talk. She didn't make nice with the criminal underbelly either.

"Well," Villain said, "you've made it abundantly clear I have no other choice. Let's get this over with. You mentioned something about robot junk?"

Master Taglist:

@moss-tombstone @crazytwentythrees-deactivated @just-1-lonely-person @the-vagabond-nun @willow-trees-are-beautiful @cocoasprite @insanedreamer7905 @valiantlytransparentwhispers @whovian378 @watercolorfreckles @thebluepolarbear @yulanlavender @kitsunesakii i @deflated-bouncingball @lem-hhn @office-plant-in-a-trenchcoat @ghostfacepepper @pigeonwhumps @demonictumble @inkbirdie @vuvulia a @bouncyartist @lunatic-moss-studio @breilobrealdi @freefallingup13 @i-am-a-story-goblin

@ryunniez @rainy-knights-of-villany @distractedlydistracted @saspas-corner @echoednonny @perilous-dreamer @blood-enthusiast @randomfixation @alexkolax x @pksnowie @blessupblessup @wolfeyedwitch @thedeepvoidinmyheart @cornflower-cowboy @bestblob @a-chaotic-gremlin @espresso-depresso-system @prompt-fills-and-writing-spills @paleassprince @takingawildbreath @yindo @psychiclibrariesquotesthetoad @harpycartoons @pickleking8 @urmyhopeeee @goldenflame2516 @tobeornottobeateacher @tauntedoctopuses

#hero x villain #villain x superhero #forced marriage #heroes and villains community #hero x villain community #writing snippet #writblr #writeblr #series

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illarian-rambling · 10 months ago

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Character Introduction: Mashal, lucky number six

For a moment, Mashal wondered if a brief spring rain had passed overhead, turning the leaf litter glistening and wet. It wasn’t until the light from his eyes hit the shimmering ground that he realized all the moisture was red.

Strewn about in a fiendish halo were the remains of the two bandits. A hand here, a face there—less than mincemeat, really. He could see a leg crushed in the exact approximation of his jointed grip. Mashal felt as if vomit should have been flooding his mouth, but his only reaction was the faint whir of gears. Guts dripped from the trees…. Iron in his mouth….

“Mashal!”

The robot whirled toward the sound of Astra’s voice, heady and rich even when strained by terror. There was a prickling pressure around his eyes, though he didn’t know why.

“I–” He paused, trying to wipe the dirt from where it clogged his vocal output, but the joints of his hands were caked in a slurry of bone and gristle, trapping them in closed fists. That cold was back now, trapping him in its suffocating embrace. “I’m over here!”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Mashal regretted them. He was dangerous! He could still feel that icy voice slavering away in the back of his mind. Kill her, run, hide, anything, do whatever it takes!

Yet, words could not be unsaid. Faint it might have been, but Astra picked up on his voice and soon the witch pushed her way into the glade-turned-abattoir. Her piebald face was shadowed with fear and speckled with a bloody constellation of its own. It was her eyes though, that made Mashal take a step back, that made his excuse for a heart crumple in like tin foil. Because reflected in them was a shining devil, bathed in gore. Riveted and rusting, like some mechanical horror that had torn its way out of a man’s skin.

The sensation crept back in—the ice, the pain. I shouldn’t be feeling pain. The acid-needle ache in his arms and legs, his everything. It wasn’t a malfunction. Nothing ever is, ever was. Mashal felt sick as he looked down at his trapped hand. Hands that couldn’t be his.

No, no, the sensation was worse, so much worse. It was a memory.

So, I'm going to do this introduction a little backwards. Mashal's backstory contains some pretty big spoilers for the whole of Mystery of the Mortal God. Feel free to keep reading if you don't mind things like that, but you've been warned. The backstory will be at the very end.

I'll start with his personality. Mashal has no memories beyond waking up in Astra's wagon, so many of his quirks and habits are a mystery to him. He's a kindly, honorable man, with a strong sense of what's right and wrong, and a desire to protect people. Yet, he's not brash in the slightest. He's soft-spoken and appreciates even the smallest beauties in life. Probably, this is connected to his stellar artistic abilities. He enjoys listening to stories, hoping to one day be able to tell stories of his own.

Darker things lurk in his mind as well. It frightens him, how paranoid he can sometimes be around magic and its practitioners. It can also be alarming how certain he is in his morality. Mashal makes decisions based on what he knows to be right, sometimes to the detriment of those around him, especially when he doesn't understand the whole situation.

As for what he looks like, Mashal is a human-shaped robot standing at a towering 6'10". His face has some basic mobility (he can move his eyebrows, eyelids, and the corners of his mouth) but nothing special. His plating is bronze with steel underneath, and his eyes glow white. He wears loose-fitting, highly concealing clothes and a bandana over his head. These are usually patched, because he tears clothes easily. He covers as much bronze as he can due to a strange sort of robotic body dysmorphia.

Fun facts now!:

He's great with animals, especially horses, though no horse could support his weight for riding.

Graphite is his preferred medium, and landscapes are his preferred subject for art.

Despite his anxiety around it, Mashal is actually getting pretty good at picking up runes and mechanics.

He speaks Skysheerian Elvish and has no idea why.

He hates the rain because he's scared of rust and frightened of the sea because he knows he'll sink to the bottom with no way to get back up.

He has a bit of a stutter when he's nervous and his voice tends to go a little static-filled.

He's very curious about Unitian-made robots who were raised around other robots.

His hypothetical favorite food is honey. He just likes the way it looks.

He once scratched the paint job on Astra's wagon, painted it back in the night, and never told her. This is the one time he's ever lied to her and he feels terrible about it.

He teaches Mercher's Day (a fat tortoiseshell cat) tricks when Astra is asleep.

Now's where we get into the meat of things. Spoilers will follow.

Sir Mashal Darezsho was born in the Sulu'Okan city of Bouerco as the second son of the noble Darezsho line. With his older brother taking care of the whole heir thing, young Sir Darezsho was allowed to do as he pleased. Most thought he would go the path of the scholar due to his modest sorcerous talent, however, the young man was enraptured by the sword from the moment he was allowed to hold one. When he was sixteen, he enrolled in officer training for the Sulu'Okan army, the fiercest fighting force within the Republic's grander military. When he was twenty, he was knighted by High Lady Zuli N'Jogu herself.

Sir Darezsho served his people by protecting the roads between Sulu'Oku and Skolan with both sword and sorcery. The borderlands is a crime-ridden area, so he had his work cut out for him between bandits and selkie raiders. Thanks to the efforts of him and his company of fellow knights though, the borderlands became a marginally safer place to travel through. He ensured that they all upheld the Sulu'Okan military code of honor to the utmost degree.

Things changed with Sir Darezsho when he accepted a small assignment in the border town of Bekridge. An alchemical distillery had been experiencing a string of thefts and wanted someone to investigate. Thinking the job would involve scaring off a petty thief at most, Sir Darezsho went to stake the place out alone. This mistake would cost him his life.

That night, a door appeared from thin air and a figure stepped out, a half-moon grin glowing from under a shadowed cowl. Sir Darezsho tried to fight, but he was no match for the powerful sorcerer. Vermir spirited him away into her demiplane. And there was where Sir Darezsho died.

Mashal wakes up some time after this. All he knows is his name and that he is lost. And that his metal body feels so terrible cold. He just wishes he knew why....

Hope you all enjoy my sweetheart robot! Lmk if you have any questions. Next up will be blueboy, Ivander Montane!

@amandacanwrite @elsie-writes @riveriafalll @kosmic-kore @kaylinalexanderbooks @bard-coded @carrotsinnovember @patternwelded-quill @somethingclevermahogony @whatwewrotepodcast @goldxdarkness @the-angriest-author @mk-writes-stuff

#writing #writerscommunity #writblr #my ocs #author

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real-total-drama-takes · 1 year ago

Note

out of all the cast, i think alejandro, cody, trent and ezekiel have led the worst lives.

i mean…

alejandro:

> does his absolute best at everything because he’s expected to be perfect by his family

> gets harrassed and bullied by his older brother

> lost a million dollars due to a stupid decision he made to make fun of his opponent (he fucking made out with that wooden heather)

> was severely burnt and nearly died from lava

> was stuck in a robot suit for an ENTIRE YEAR which caused him to lose the ability to walk

trent:

> was force fed everyday when he was a child by his parents

> had a psychotic episode(?) aired on international tv

> said episode made everyone on the cast think he was insane and ruined both his relationships and his chance at the million

> was manipulated into kissing heather which ruined his relationship with gwen

> the relative he cared for the most died when he was still young which led to him developing a serious mental disorder

> was hurt so badly in some episodes that he just wouldn’t be allowed to compete

> had some very weird fans which did things that made him uncomfortable and TIED HIM TO A BUS (which later exploded)

cody:

> was neglected by his parents for his entire life

> was mauled by a bear (which he didn’t get medically evacuated for, his teammates just had to vote him off)

> was repeatedly harrassed/assaulted by someone for an entire season and nothing was done about it

> was emotionally manipulated and used by people he trusted on multiple occasions

> honestly he was just. really disrespected by a lot of the cast, not taken really seriously (despite proving to be a good player able to win challenges by himself and also being one of the morally better people in the cast)

> if we can count dramarama, people went out of their way to hurt him sometimes, and revealed that his parents would leave him in the daycare for long periods of time (in double oh beth he was supposed to stay in the daycare for the entirety of spring break and was given three lunches so he wouldn’t die), consistently forget about his existence and didn’t clean him right (fucking hose him down in the yard???)

ezekiel:

> raised into believing some really bigoted things which he would say out loud (which led to the whole cast hating him)

> turned into a feral beast after being forced to live in a plane’s cargo hold

> FELL INTO AN ACTIVE VOLCANO (somehow he survived?????)

> was treated so badly that he actually tried to kill everyone in all stars. what the fuck

these guys should’ve been taken by child services a while back or put into therapy or whatever. getting accepted onto total drama didn’t help their mental health at all

#td alejandro #td cody #td trent #total drama

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threat-to-safety · 1 year ago

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Spring was walking around the library, their face completely dull.

No purpose. There was no purpose for them.

What’ll they do now?

They had no place to go, no job to do, nothing.

What was their purpose if not to be of service of others?

#lc rp #lobcorp #spring: robotic morality

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ladyloveandjustice · 2 years ago

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Spring 2023 Anime Overview-Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Season 2

In my review for season one of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, I praised the show for being a compelling sci-fi full or intrigue, centering a well developed queer romance between the robot-piloting protagonist and all around precious girl, Suletta Mercury, and her fierce fiancé, Miorine Rembran.

But having been burned by anime before, I said I would hold off on recommending the entire show until it finished, and crossed my fingers tight that season 2 wouldn’t drop the ball.

The great news is that I can now wholeheartedly recommend the show. The final season did not drop the ball. It remained a great watch, the romance and relationship development continued to be worthwhile and excellent, and it was consistent with the strengths of the first season. It wasn’t perfect, which I’ll get into, but it was very good. Whether you’re here for girls in love, robots wrecking each other, tense battles between opposing political factions, or morally-horrifying moms on a revenge spree, you’re in for a treat.

The shocking last moments of the first season have some great relationship fallout, and the series delves into how Suletta was truly brainwashed by her mother. Miorine’s struggles to come to terms with the bloody legacy she’s inherited and her relationship with Suletta can withstand such a thing. Suletta grapples with her mother’s deception and her own individuality. Both are compelling arcs that built upon the groundwork the first season laid and lead to some nice relationship drama.

(Also, the credit sequence was awesome.)

The parallels between the two girls really pop this season as they both have to confront their mistakes, shoulder their sins, and see if they can move forward with the other. You really see how they mirror each other, and how they need each other. The romance ball isn’t dropped and becomes even more textually explicit, with Suletta explicitly stating she's into Miorine and no one else and eagerly anticipating the wedding, while Miorine also makes her intentions with Suletta very clear.

The second season is also a lot faster paced than the first, delivering tense and heartbreaking episodes one after another and leaving you on the edge of your seat. A lot of the conflicts that had been building from the first episode came to an explosive crescendo. Those bombs dropped and the carnage was wonderful. It was exciting, we saw more sides of the conflict, spent some time on earth, and got to see some unexpected depth in several characters. And yes, there were approximately a million more Utena references, some that made me laugh out loud.

However, this season wasn’t perfect. I was already having a little trouble following all the different factions and agendas in the first season, and this season exacerbated the problem. And while some characters got great roles, there were just so many. That meant a lot of them didn’t have any space to develop or even serve a clear purpose. There were a lot of characters I was excited to see do something, who the show built up as super ominous and meaningful and...then they did nothing. As funny as it is that several characters can be summed up as "s/he did fuck all the whole show and then bounced, king shit", it's also a letdown.

And this season really threw into focus how many of the more distinctive supporting characters were barely explored. Suletta’s bond with Earth House was a major plot point, but we barely know anything about most of them so it doesn't hit as hard as it should. Even Chuchu, who was one of the more developed ones, felt under-served as fan favorite. For instance, there were several bits where she entered the battle and it was treated like a big deal…and we didn’t even get to see her fight, presumably because the show didn’t have time. And it was worse for other characters- I couldn’t even tell you the names of most of the girl squad working with Shaddiq. They all had such potential as characters, I wish we'd gotten more of them. Things that should be impactful the narrative, like Miorine's dad and the consequences to his actions and what it means for their relationship, were barely explored (not that I'm all that interested in him, but it was weird after the emphasis the first season put on it).

No major balls were dropped in the conflict between the Spacians and Earthians, but it also felt like it got lost in the shuffle at times and I felt like the show could have had a clearer ideology. The “war is bad” and “exploitative corporations are bad” came through loud and clear, but it felt like some threads could have been followed up on more.

In hindsight, I was also disappointed how much of the season Suletta and Miorine spent separated- some of that was plot relevant, but some of it was just clearly so they could learn exposition separately, and considering how important the relationship was to the show, it felt like a waste.

A good chunk of screentime was also waited Guel’s brother, Lauda. While Guel’s arc was solid and he’s the character who changed the most throughout the show, his brother and his tendency to blame any woman Guel was standing near for all their problems was not compelling (Nanami did it better). So it felt like there was a conflict involving him just to give Guel something to do during the fighting and tie a bow on things. Even the characters involved admitted what happened was kind of dumb, and I would have liked to see one of the more interesting unexplored characters get development instead.

The finale was especially rushed, and while there were cool moments, I couldn’t really describe how the battle was fought, and even one of the characters in the show admits that certain plot developments don’t make sense. I also couldn’t tell you exactly how exactly the villain’s big plan worked, which is kind of important!

You just had to be like “oh okay, well, pretty lights, stuff happened, don’t know why that was a thing, that was the power of love I guess, I’ll just soak up the vibes.” Which isn’t the end of the world, a lot of anime does that, but it stuck out because all the battles before that had their fantastical mechanics (mostly) clearly explained, There were also several reconciliations I would have been more okay with if the show had spent more time on what the messy process of repairing that broken trust looked like, but because it didn’t, it felt unearned.

And finally, the show spent a lot of time talking about a huge romantic event and in the end we…didn’t see it. It’s made clear it happened off screen, but the fact we didn’t see the event the show itself made such a big deal about felt like a let-down and even a bit of a cop-out, if I’m being honest. I get that outside forces may have been responsible, but it doesn't change my disappointment.

Basically what most of the complaints amount to is that I really enjoy this show, but I feel it needed to be longer than it was. At the very least, the events of the final episode could have used two episodes to unfold, so everything could be fully developed, and we could fully see how the characters ended up where they were. But ideally…Gundam series are typically 50 episodes, and I feel like this show might have been better served as a show of that length (or even 37 episodes/3 seasons). This show had a huge cast, a huge world, and a lot going on. I think we needed to spend a lot more time with the characters to get to know their backstories, personalities and agendas. I would have loved some “filler” episodes focusing on a minor character, or Suletta and Miorine going on a disastrous date.

However, overall I was satisfied with the ending. I came out feeling like a winner. It was fun, a lot of the characters ended up where I wanted them to be, and I liked how things turned out. There was an acknowledgement that a corrupt system of war profiteering and exploitation could not be taken down in one stroke, but that our heroes were going to keep fighting. I dearly want a slice of life following all these people at the end of the day, and my investment in the characters is a sign of a job well done.

The show also continued to treat it’s array of fat characters with respect, and it had some good disability representation as well, highlighting some disabled people leading fulfilling and joyful lives.

I really wish G-Witch could have been the absolute best version of itself. But the version we got is still pretty great. I definitely had a fantastic time with the show, was often touched by it, and I’ll carry the excellent characters with me for a long while. The textual romance between two female leads in a mainstream franchise like Gundam is a monumental achievement, and the show handled the relationship well. I hope its success opens the door for more like it. We deserve more stories like this- stories of all genres where queer people are important and get to go on grand adventures, are protagonists, are a normal part of the setting, where we see the kind of people anime usually ignores (fat people, non-Japanese people of color, queer people and disabled people...) are treated with respect, where the story embraces all even as it explores injustice. G-witch is an important step, and I’m sure it will be remembered fondly for years to come. And I sure wouldn’t say no to an OVA to fill in some of the blanks.

#mobile suit gundam #gundam the witch from mercury #gundam suisei no majo #mobile suit gundam: the witch from mercury #gundam witch from mercury #suletta mercury #miorine rembran #my reviews #anime overview #spring 2023 anime

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fiercestpurpose · 6 months ago

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Friends at the Table season breakdown

Friends at the Table is an actual-play podcast focused on critical worldbuilding, smart characterization, and fun interaction between friends.

But this post is for anyone who's ever thought, "What is Friends at the Table actually about?" Well, it's about a lot of different things, depending on the season.

Seasons of Hieron -- Autumn in Hieron (S1), Winter in Hieron (S3), Spring in Hieron (S5)

Using DungeonWorld as its main system, this is closest to DND style high fantasy with adventurers of different races who come together to go on quests

What starts as a series of fetch quests escalates until the dead don’t stay dead, the nature of existence is brought into question, and the world itself is in danger of dying.

Follow a team of morally ambiguous adventurers as they fuck around only to find out!

Starring: an evil woman with an eviler sword, an orc who shows us why true neutral is in fact the evilest possible alignment, a snake oil salesman, a paladin who accidentally serves three different gods, and more!

Counter/Weight (S2)

Giant robot season #1

Cyberpunk/space opera/mecha anime

It’s the Cold War in space. Two long time enemies, Liberal Democracy Land and Corporation Land, recently banded together to stop the Empire of Fish Aliens.

Now, our story is set in space Berlin, on a planet divided between the two reluctant allies

Follow a parking robot, an exiled fish alien, a hacker, and a former pop idol as they try to survive as mercenaries and fight off giant robots with their own giant robots.

Marielda (S2.5?)

Steampunk heist season

A mini-season, set in the ancient past of Hieron, but it works as a standalone.

A group of criminals rob God. This sets them off on a dangerous path that will determine the fate of all of Hieron.

A story about the power of information and the power of access to information. Featuring trains, azaleas, ghosts, divorce, and clarinets.

Twilight Mirage (S4)

Giant robot season #2!

(The giant robot seasons are set in the same universe but several thousand years apart. They're loosely connected but can be enjoyed separately.)

The contemplative, wondering nature of Studio Ghibli films meets the teeming space opera of Star Wars

The Divine Fleet is a great utopia that has lasted thousands of years, powered by their machine gods. But one-by-one, these machines are dying off. Can two teams of specialized government agents save their gods and their way of life? And if they can't, how will all the people of the Divine Fleet find a new way forward?

Featuring the greatest Friends at the Table character of all time: fat, purple-furred, bisexual catgirl in sexy lingerie who rides a motorbike, runs a speakeasy, and can alter reality with her mind

Partizan (S6) (And Palisade, its sequel, is S8)

Giant robot season #3

Twilight Mirage is set explicitly in a utopia. Partizan is set explicitly in the middle of an exploitative empire. The guiding question here is: How do you even begin to imagine the possibility that such an empire could fall?

At the center of a galactic empire made up of rival states, we follow two groups: a mercenary squad that specializes in theft and sabotage, and a group of criminals under the control of a young and spoilt noble. But everyone has their own agenda, and as the empire hurtles towards civil war, who will get what they so desperately want? And who will lose it all?

Also, of course, they are in giant robots

Sangfielle (S7)

Horror fantasy

Sangfielle is a land of sprawling plains crisscrossed by semi-sentient malevolent trains. Strange things from the past or future come out of the mines, old and new gods alike appear in unexpected places, and you are always at risk of losing your life, your freedom, or simply your self

Nature vs. technology horror where both nature and technology can be equally horrifying!!

Characters include: a grotesque eyeball that possesses people but only consensually, a giant goat person whose life's purpose is to kill trains, and a junk mage who keeps taking things he shouldn't

Bluff City (Bonus season)

What if Atlantic City was Even Weirder

A series of one or two shots that are loosely linked by their location and come together to tell the story of the city. Each story uses a different system and so each one has a slightly different feel.

The paranormal, the surreal, the gritty, the desperate, and the outrageous rub shoulders in Bluff City, in stories featuring superheroes, ghost hunters, murder mysteries, and a priceless one-of-a-kind bird.

Things that the show is always about, no matter the season:

Religion — Always. From DND-style gods to robot gods to Catholic God to weird old gods you dig up from the mines, there are lots of gods and lots of people worshipping gods in different ways.

Labor issues and political issues surrounding control, propaganda, surveillance.

Weird body stuff/weird identity stuff — clones, consciousness transferred into different bodies, robots that influence your thoughts, robots that bond to your body, being seven thousand bees in a trench coat, etc

Having fun with different ttrpg systems! They use a lot of different systems on the podcast

Aesthetics, just like generally, and especially fashion. Action stops for twenty minutes while everyone goes around and describes what their character is wearing in exact detail. It’s fantastic.

Fun, silly, or unique names, ranging from "Lazer Ted" to "they marked scars of light in pitch; born in fiercest purpose, and beheld as the signet sealed upon our pact"

Critical worldbuilding, smart characterization, and fun interaction between friends!

#m.txt #fatt blogging #hiiii look at the fruits of my procrastination #i have an essay due tomorrow (:

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lilrobinbird · 11 months ago

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Long Ass Tag Game

Cause I wanna get to know you guys better

Thanks for the tag @edas-boytoy <33 Putting this under cut

I accidently wrote looong answer for one question shdhs

How many tumblr accounts have you had before this one?

It's my first one actually haha, I've made like two/three more after this but now they're abandoned forever

Also for this blog I have two sideblogs, I don't really use them now either

How long have you been in fandom?

Like the current one? By the end of July 2023 I posted my first Kyoshi novels fanart and maybe one month earlier I started rebloging and commenting on posts from others, this was after I read the novels and I jumped into their fandom and then in the procces I've also got into tlok and atla (I enjoyed them way earlier but I just didn't participate in their fandoms)

Your favorite trope in fiction?

HMMMmmm Grumpy serious stoick ish x chaotic more fun (and other antonyms that matches first character idk) (whatever heituat has going on))), expressive women with strong personalities, girlfailures<3, severe stern ruthless etcetc women but caring deep down inside (optional), morally gray characters, and I'm just a little obssesed with mother daughter relationships in fiction if that counts as a trope

Your favorite random fact?

That might be well known idk, but sometimes for a video game character they'll hire one person as only just face model, and then differnt person as voice and acting/motion capture

Must feel weird and funny when you basically see yourself in video game doing stuff you didn't do speaking with a different voice

Your favorite game or kind of game?

Now I don't really play video games myself but since I've watched Until Dawn gameplay yeaaaars ago I still like to watch playthroughts of those choice based horror games (the quarry, devil in me, resident evil etc), and later I watch other playthroughts for different choices outcomes scenes etcetccc, The games can be kinda stupid but fun, alsooo playthroughts of adventure games(???), I usually watch them when I eat something

Also CHECK OUT "STRAY"!! I only watched playthrought too but it looks so cool, you basically play as a cat (they did good job with motion capture, feels like real cat moves and it looks so fun to play) and you're in a world when humans no longer exist and there are cool looking robots, you can stratch walls and make robots pet you but I promise it's not just that lolol it has an actual plot and wordbuilding

Aside video games I like chess but I suck big time, but for my defence I mostly played with my friend who sucks even more aHA, we downlanded one chess app for two players and played during some classes

I think I'm just interested in 3d models and graphics hehhh I like 3d modeling

There's also a game called Hades, and this one I actually started playing myself, not the kind of games I'm usually into (roguelike),but friend got me it and! The character designs are very cool

HA nerd long anwser

A place you'd like to visit? (If carbon emissions, logistics and money weren't in question)

Honestly idk, somewhere warm, Greece? Spain would be nice too mmm mm architecture

Or someplace with cool mountains

An animal you're irrationally afraid of?

Ladybugs. No further explenations. But I do appreciate their beauty on photos and from big distance, I'm serious they are very pretty

What's your favorite season?

HMmmm currenlty maybe spring

A smell that brings you nice memories?

I still remember taking a breath of fresh spring air in a specific room last year and getting hit with memories lol, is that even a smell? felt like a smell

(If you're ok talking about food. If not, delete this part)

What's your favorite food from where you were born? And what's your favorite food from some place else?

Pierogi, krokiety and bigos from our stupid potatoland, from other places hmmm, most kinds of pasta maybe, I love pasta, pasta!! which is a little boring but mmmmm mm mmmm pastaaaaa

What's your favorite drink (if you drink alcohol, alcoholic and non-alcoholic)?

I do drink but not too often and I don't really care what, I like flavoured beer, which is alcohol for babies as my friend would say and she might be right but I like it

Do you give your pets random table scraps?

Not too often but sometimes yeah and depends what is it

no pressure tag @korrasamibottles

#tag game

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lts-still-me · 4 months ago

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🎠 𝙷𝙾𝚆 𝙲𝙰𝙽 𝙰 𝙷𝚄𝙼𝙰𝙽 𝙻𝙾𝚂𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙸𝚁 𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙵-𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝚁𝙾𝙻 ?

sel. ind. alternate take on William Afton and the FNAF series. blog will contain dark themes, specifically horror, murder, gore, child death references, and dark humour. not for the faint of heart. intense warning for animatronics and scopophobia. written by hebby

rules and about under the cut.

about.

🎠 in this divergent universe, william began his murders after the death of his son, dave. he and Henry were extremely close back then, having pursued a secret love affair unbeknownst to their families. with dave's death (while under his elder brother micheal's supervision), william would begin losing his sense of self, determined to find some way to bring his son back, in order to soothe his wife's sorrows, though really to soothe his own. he would also become dangerously possessive of his remaining children, and anyone he was close to, leading his wife to leave him. frustrated and desperate, william would go to his fellow robotics expert and dear friend Henry Emily, asking him to rebuild Dave as an animatronic. Horrified and concerned, Henry would reject the idea entirely and recommend that William get help. feeling betrayed, William would take Henry's daughter, Charlotte, away from him one rainy night... of course, he'd keep it a secret.

🎠 now Henry was just as distraught as he was, he figured, and was more persuasive. but that all changed when Henry's wife threatened to leave him. recalling his own pain of his wife leaving him, William decided that Mrs Emily was causing Henry too much pain. He'd kill her, too, and find this death exhilarating.

🎠 henry would produce a robot of dave, who mimicked the behaviours of William's late son. William, horrified by how uncanny the creation was, beat it into pieces and pushed Henry away, who felt even more lost than before, and rising guilt over his creations causing William pain. Afton would go on to enact more murders, this time on 5 children at he and his best friend's restaurant chain, Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria; stuffing the bodies into the animatronics' suits in order to hide them... but word would get out of the murders and where they were found.

🎠 henry only grew more and more suspicious, especially with William's growing mania and desire to open more locations. Circus Baby's Pizza World, dedicated to his daughter, Elizabeth, was William's next attraction. Henry, fueled by nightmares, paranoia and suspicion of his friend, would find his ex wife's jewellry hidden inside William's workstation, along with a tube of her lipstick.

🎠 in a fit of paranoid jealousy, believing william and his ex wife were having an affair, henry would sabotage Circus Baby's ice cream dispenser, so that it would malfunction around William and teach him a lesson...

🎠 ... except it killed his daughter, Elizabeth, instead.

🎠 Overtaken by horrific guilt and grief, the two men would get into a fight, accusing one another of every paranoid thought, only for William to joyously confess that he wasn't sleeping with Henry's wife, but rather, he'd killed her to cheer him up! And that he was going to bring back every kid he'd killed, he'd use his daughter's death as proof of his theory; of what remnant could do.

🎠 but neither died.

🎠 HORRIFIED and ENRAGED, Henry would kill William and hide his body in the Spring Bonnie costume that he'd used to murder those 5 kids... except he didn't account for the springlocks to activate from being jostled so much, and was trapped inside the suit with his best friend's corpse, in excruciating agony...

🎠 decades later, a rotting springbonnie would be found... and it smelled terrible. Curiously, only one corpse seemed to remain inside...

rules.

1. don't involve me in moral high ground ship drama, I will block you. this is a pro dark fiction blog.

2. mun is in their 30s, thus does not want to write with minors. this blog is 20+ for my own comfort.

3. will not write explicit gore outside of drabbles. more interested in characterization.

4. i don't write adult x minor. I don't write smut with people i don't know extremely well.

5. this blog may contain horrific elements such as necrophilic romance, obsession, and torture.

6. this blog is multi fandom, but only for friends. the mun is wholly uninterested in ooc drama and will stay far away from it.

ɯǝɥʇ ǝʌɐs :pɹoʍssɐd

#!pinned post

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