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rubilykskoye mods ([personal profile] rubimods) wrote in [community profile] rubimemes2024-06-18 01:02 pm
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SUMMER TEST DRIVE MEME

⚰︎ ⍢ ⌲ ⍚ TEST DRIVE MEME:
Welcome to RUBILYKSKOYE — a dark, horror-smut game where player choices will drive a mod-run storyline about the world and its NPCs. This test drive meme provides a medley of prompts evoking the game's general tone.

THESE THREADS CAN BE GAME CANON if both players are accepted into the game and agree to it. However, if players who'd prefer to start fresh are welcome to reuse these prompts in their own personal logs upon acceptance into the communities. Note: the universal test drive arrival prompt will not be repeated on the coming event log, but players are welcome to reuse the prompt.

CONTENT WARNINGS for this game include: monsters, body horror, dub-con, non-con, religion, blood/violence, and marking/branding, loss of autonomy/self, and mental influences. This log additionally has warnings for: nudity, D/S mechanics, public sex, aphro, death, missing persons.

If you have QUESTIONS about the test drive prompts, please ask HERE. Questions about the game itself or the general setting should be directed to the FAQ.

FAQSETTINGCALENDARRESERVESAPPLICATIONS



IN THE WOODS SOMEWHERE

The chirping of partridges in the treetops rouses you. Light barely filters through the canopy, just enough to suggest daylight. By the time it reaches the forest floor, the light has taken on a sickly green. You lie amongst the frost-covered mosses and ferns, the frozen soil cold and just a little damp on your bare skin.

Wherever you were before this moment, whatever you were doing or wearing, when you awaken in this forest, you find yourself naked and helpless as the day you were born. As you sit up and get your bearings, aside from a brief wave of disoriented nausea, you seem to be no worse for wear than you last remember.

You seem to be alone. The gnarled oaks and moss suggest no sign of civilization or sentient life. Just flickers of movement from curious squirrels or brave lizards emerging from a temporary retreat from the wintry weather. With your feet under you, and you'll find the wood is filled with berry bushes and nut trees, though much of the fruit has been picked clean. The freshwater stream that runs north-south, populated by both poisonous toads and delicious crawdads, is running actively again as the weather warms back up from the recent snowstorm.

As you explore, you may run into others with stories just like yours. Some may have already formed clumsy nudist groups, others may still be processing their confusion, with no memory of how they got here. Now is a good time to overcome any hang-ups you have about modesty; it's going to be a long hike, and the weather isn't quite amenable to your lack of.

Turn your back to the darker, shadowy parts of the forest and eventually the glow of manmade lights and the curve of a dirt road may come into view. At the edge of the wood, you'll find a town surrounded by a fifty-foot wall of beige stone. The only entrance is an iron gate positioned on the southern edge. When you arrive, the gate is already open, welcoming people inside.

This quaint, historic town of five-thousand has cobbled street and signs lit by gas lamp. Wooden shutters protect otherwise open-air windows on the buildings, which are all under three stories with gabled roofs. A number of businesses hug the main street — a clockmaker, a cobbler, a grocer — while residential homes sprawl outwards towards the wall. At the far end of the main street, visible about a mile to the north now that the trees and the enormous wall is out of the way, sits a castle with three towers.

When you enter, the streets are full of people, but despite any efforts on your part to hide or make excuses, they don't seem offended by your nakedness. Even families with children don't gawk or look twice. Those determined to find proper clothing regardless will find that modern clothing stores aren't available — the closest this town has is a tailor's shop and a stand in the central marketplace selling scarves and blankets.

breaking and entering
If you intend to have your character break into someone's house or yard to steal some of their clean laundry, please review the info about game laws on the FAQ and give the mods a heads up HERE.



Fortunately, the people of the town are very generous! Anyone who ask the locals will be directed to the boarding house for both clothes and a place to stay. Accessible through an embellished iron garden gate and obscured by hanging plants, trees, and vines, beyond an overgrown yard in the residential sprawl of the town is a bright-red door, which opens to a spacious cottage of several stories. Parts of the house still bear the dust of disuse, gathered on various furnishings — bedding, sofas, curtains, wooden tables. However, it's already full of people! Anyone who's already appeared in the village just as you did today lives here. Once inside, you may notice patchwork repairs have been made, and some scorch marks still linger from a recent fire, and some furniture is still lying around in splinters.

Tonight, a few of the townspeople will help out with the new arrivals. They stock the kitchen and prepare a communal dinner of parsnips, pheasant, and squash. During dinner, they (and those outsiders who've already begun to settle) sit down at the enormous wooden dining room table and help orient the newcomers and answer their questions.

finding roommates
Don't spend too much time in the dining room going for seconds, though. You'll want to claim a bedroom quickly because each one only has two full-size beds, and there aren't enough spaces for everyone. The last people upstairs will need to double up to squeeze in. Roommates will not be mod-assigned; players should coordinate directly with one another to determine their living arrangements.


Get a good night's rest. By the light of day, locals will help get the new arrivals set up on the coal stove with breakfast. You may notice they're dressed in a way you would almost call normal — at least, in a manner befitting 19th century Eastern Europe. As you find your way around town to get your bearings, folks are eager to help you find a place to apply your skills so you can contribute to your new home.


writer's block?
If you're struggling to pick a way to engage the prompts, try: naked hiking, acquiring clothing or other inventory items, asking questions at dinner/orientation, or staking your claim on a bedroom!



THE FESTIVAL OF SUMMERTIDE

Summer is in full swing, which means it's time to take advantage of the warm weather! Around the town, various games are being played, some sport-based and some more concerned with creativity, problem-solving, sex, or 'fun'. Each round begins with a prayer to the Duchess. Not bowing your head in prayer may get you a few stares from locals, or worse-- opponents may be extra motivated to defeat someone so disrespectful to her Grace.

Each Thursday, buildings are festooned with wreathes of wildflowers, tables are laden with food and drink, and everyone is given colored sashes to wear over their clothes. Festival goers are not allowed to enter the main events unless they wear a sash, and to get a sash they must reveal their curse marks. Those marked with the curse of Wilk receive blue sashes, Diabel get red, Skala receive green and Niez are as ever adorned with grey.



Summertide, the locals are eager to explain, is a festival about adapting to the needs of others, and accepting things as they are. What perhaps isn't explained nearly so well is the expectations placed upon festival goers. Each event has a goal to be achieved, balanced on the point of competition or participation.

Tables overflow with refreshments, especially drinks and chilled fruit to cool the summer heat. Rubeans traditionally spice their foods with aphrodisiacs, something that is so culturally normal to them that they don't feel the need to mention it.

  • An outdoor feast starts the festivities, with commanders, who are expected to give orders, and followers, who must follow the whims of commanders, whatever they decree. Who commands and who follows is decided by the curse-marked sash participants wear. But there's a twist-- every three hours, a horn blows, and the roles switch at random; commanders become followers and vice versa. Many festival-goers, now in a position of command, are eager to get petty revenge on the followers now at their mercy.


  • Fencing! For health reasons, any cut must be properly cleaned, and kept free of contaminants; for this reason, fencers are expected to compete fully naked. Otherwise, you might get some cloth in your cuts!


  • Wrestling! Wrestlers are well-oiled for the matches, making it hard to keep your grip on a slippery opponent. The winner of the match is declared when they have their opponent pinned... and at that point, the winner can do anything they like to the loser until they can get away, if they even want to.


  • A game going on throughout the town, regardless of whether someone consents to participation, is something the locals call Lock and Key. The rules are explained after you are grabbed and tied by your wrist (or ankle, whatever was available) to someone else: the locked binding tying you two together is blessed to be unbreakable until you each draw one another's blood... or find the key, stashed somewhere in the town. Good luck!


  • Anyone who refuses to play along will be ejected from the festivities, and made to run through the crowd while being whipped with thin wooden sticks.


  • Throughout all of this, some of the implementation of these games may occasionally come across as either overly cruel or overly kind. The common people of Rubilykskoye are of two minds when it comes to the treatment of newcomers: some think you are beneficent, sent to fix their problems and free them of your woes. These people, called Blackguards, will do their best to make sure your participation in the games is not marred by cheating, excessive violence, or pain. But others, called the Zlatniki, think little of the outsiders coming into their lands, and will do their best to twist their native traditions toward cruelty and vindictive unfairness when it comes to the Void-touched.

    writer's block?
    If you're struggling to pick a way to engage the prompts, try participating in events, having your characters go against opponents, be drafted into the games against their will, or watching others perform!


    NIGHT OF THE HUNTSMEN

    Rumor moves through town quickly: two nights ago, a hunting party went out into the wood, and no one has seen them since. Anyone who wants to prove their worth to the community is encouraged to join the search parties going out to look for them; in Rubilykskoye, those who provide food for the community are highly prized, especially when they brave the woods to do so.

    You see, the woods aren't entirely safe. Near the town, it's nothing to be alarmed by, and of course the search parties find nothing there. They must delve deeper, and that's where you end up. At the outer edges of the forest, shadows grow long and the air grows thick. Though the sun never grows warm red-gold with sunset, the wood darkens. Birdsong is replaced by the click of mandibles and the skitter of many legs. Anyone who ventures out this way will soon find it difficult to see before them, even in the middle of the day — eventually, even the brightest magical light source or darkvision cannot stretch further than a few inches.


    Many peel off, going back to the town proper. The searchers become fewer and fewer. Maybe some of them are going back home, but maybe they're getting lost. Eventually, you walk around a large tree, and you're alone. It's just you and the Void.

    The air feels heavy, as if it were not air at all but some more solid mass. Almost like liquid-smoke, it presses down upon you. Slowing your movements. Characters who push too far into the void may stop being able to move at all, and find themselves given over to insanity if they collapse, unable to draw themselves out. This is just one of many dangers.

    Monsters thrive this far out. Huge, blood-red spiders the size of hunting dogs drop from the treetops. In addition to their venomous bite, which contains a fast-acting paralytic, these creatures are clever: they attempt to use their webbing to entangle any trespassers, binding limbs together or to trees. If you're unfortunate to become fully cocooned, you don't have long before this forest will be the last thing you see.



    Those who seem lucky enough not to run afoul of the monsters here are in for a worse fate. The void can play tricks on your senses. As madness sets in and you lose all sense of direction, you may also lose control of your body — what is that steers your hands to turn against your friends? Why does it sound like your own voice whispering?

    Yet the further you go, the more convinced you become that the missing hunters are near by. You're sure you can hear them on the wind, their voices calling out between the trees. Did you just see something out of the corner of your eye? You have to find them. You have to make all this darkness worth it.

    writer's block?
    If you're struggling to pick a way to engage the prompts, try fighting a monster, hallucinating your worst nightmares, and/or attacking a friend or stranger! Feel free to find the bodies of the missing hunting party-- or hallucinate that you did.


    RELEASE YOUR INNER BEAST

    Something's wrong here.

    The marks worn by all residents of Rubilykskoye aren't just cool body art, as it turns out. The town is full of rumors, whispered in shadows and over candles of a starving creature hiding in the dark corners of your chest. Feed your inner beast, they say, before it finds a way to feed itself.


    Alas, its emergence is inevitable — sooner or later, the horrible things that happen here pile up and make someone repulsed by the idea of human contact. Someone holds themselves back, bites their tongue, or simply does not believe the stories. Today, for one reason or another, that creature is coming out. Someone hasn't been keeping it sated.

    Symptoms escalate over weeks, from monstrous irritability to full-blown body horror transformation, where people physically shed their human forms and evolve into the monsters this place made them. Once a person becomes something more (or less) than human there's only one way to go back — sate the beast.

    someone else transforms
    Early one morning, alarm bells are rung. The people of Rubilykskoye are quick to explain while boarding up their windows and locking their doors: The Szymanskiy brothers have all transformed! Their inner beasts - duchozweirz, the natives call it - take the form of creeping, skeletal horrors. The beasts hunt and to kill, ripping their prey apart, but that's not all they can do.

    Those who are lucky enough to escape one of the Szymanskiy triplets will leave feeling... changed. The psychic residue these monsters give off cause the afflicted to seek out danger with reckless abandon; they will run toward the monster, into fights, and refuse safety when offered. They must be restrained in a secure location to wait for the pheromones to wear off.

    (There are other monsters lurking in every townsperson — feel free to invent your own npc monsters and scenarios!)


    you waited too long
    At first, as you hide yourself from your darker impulses, a subtle itch develops under your skin. An irritability that makes you snap at the person who bumps into you on the stairs because all those fleeting emotions that you've been repressing bubble to the surface. Every dark thought you've had about being here, all the fears of never getting home, of being surrounded by ticking time bombs, the anxiety of wondering who you might hurt or what relationships you might betray by doing what you have to do. The anger. Oh, the anger.

    Maybe you shut yourself in your room or run into the woods to hide away, but there's only so much you can do to deny the itch that grows into hunger like a spark catching and growing to wildfire. Someone comes to check on you. That knock on the door or crunch of leaves in the wood that fills you with dread at what you might do and hope that you will be sated.

    As claws and fangs and scales and spines and fur grow and your body transforms with a sickening crunch of bones and peeling of skin, so do your appetites. If you won't sate them, you'll lose yourself to your beastly impulses sooner or later, mauling friends and taking your fill. Is it better or worse if only your claws get inside of them?
    wyldfire: (Default)

    Re: blue sash

    [personal profile] wyldfire 2024-06-27 02:24 am (UTC)(link)

    [There was no jolt or anything wren the message invaded her mind. Jordana was used to having others communicate to her in this manner, though there had only ever been one man with permission to do so. This was not that man. Discipline was the only reason her lips didn't even twitch when she suppressed the urge to pull them back in a silent snarl. Instinct. But she was the master of her rage, and this had been a question, not a demand.]

    ((Do you think I'm incapable of halting this myself? She means no harm.))

    marcas: n (009)

    [personal profile] marcas 2024-06-27 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
    Yes, fights are supposed to be intense, [ he agrees. People are quick to notice the tall man and the woman in his arms, and no, they don't seem to mind or even give them a double take. Noth prefers it that way, to be truthful.

    They make it to the open space soon enough, and there they are — the oiled up wrestlers, both men and women, fighting to end on top and claim the other's obedience once it happens. Salome can stay in his arms until she tells him to put her back down. He'll be distracted, frowning slightly at the fighters' technique. Or lack thereof. ]
    poorlittlesange: (it's all crumbling down now)

    [personal profile] poorlittlesange 2024-06-27 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
    Three years. Three years of seclusion in the Cloud Recesses. Had Lan Xichen gone to the gentian house, as his mother had before him? Jin Guangyao blanches, and does not immediately realize he's begun to list in his seat until his hand reaches out on reflex to catch himself against the bedside table. His fingers tremble a little, and a rush of light-headedness narrows the scope of his vision.

    ("It takes more than dead men to fool me," Lan Xichen had said. Lan Xichen had said--)

    "Don't." His whisper is little more than a breath of air. He shakes his head once, tight and controlled. "Don't tell me. Er-ge, your face tells me enough to be afraid of what I might hear."
    marcas: (079)

    [personal profile] marcas 2024-06-27 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
    [ By the end, Gabe has his full attention again. There it is. Words that could have been his own, had he known how to string them together.

    At least he thinks they are. Part of him believes he doesn't operate the same way real humans do, that some things are off, and that they will always be that way. ]


    Who is your voice?

    [ Like Gabe ended up being Noth's. ]
    xue_yang: (You so funny)

    [personal profile] xue_yang 2024-06-27 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
    "Pretty sure you know that integrity is not something I'm strong in." Xue Yang is amused despite the cold reception of the other. He smirks as he waves his hand in the direction that he figures would be best to start their search.

    The appearance of this man does make for a very interesting turn of events. Besides Jin Guangyao and Nie Huaisang...he really hasn't encountered many from their world in his year in this place. He won't say that it feels good to see a familiar face...because there are other faces he would prefer to encounter if he had to...but it does make for a potentially amusing time at the moment.

    Especially considering it is going to be interesting to see if this man is from his past like Jin Guangyao...or perhaps his future.
    baiyueguang: (Pls stop)

    [personal profile] baiyueguang 2024-06-27 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
    As Jin Guangyao teeters in his chair, Xichen reflexively reaches out with one hand, gently righting him.

    His touch doesn't linger - he doesn't dare, he has no right to reach for the other man - but his fingers curl, as if to hold that precious warmth, the reminder that A-Yao is alive and well, in the palm of his hand.

    "This one will say nothing on the matter then, until A-yao asks him to."

    I missed you, he thinks desperately, and for a moment, Xichen looks ready to fall apart.

    And then, impossibly, he rallies the last of his strength and manages to muster some veneer of his usual serene dignity. His exhaustion is still apparent, but he will not lay this at Jin Guangyao's feet until the other man is ready.

    He finally takes a sip from the cup.

    "...It's good," he says shakily.
    boneblood: (3apa199)

    [personal profile] boneblood 2024-06-27 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
    Do you know where the library is?

    I can also meet you at the boarding house.
    baiyueguang: (the neutral face of displeasure)

    [personal profile] baiyueguang 2024-06-27 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
    "Take it as an opportunity to work on one of your weaknesses then," comes the terse reply.

    Xichen doesn't find this nearly so interesting.

    That, and he doesn't even know where to begin looking for a key. He's not remotely familiar with these customs, while Xue Yang seems quite comfortable with their current surroundings, so he lets the other take the lead.

    He could, of course, always ask, but what words can he trust from the mouth of Xue Yang? He'll be lucky to get out of this without the other man trying to stab him.
    ghostveins: (o.o)

    [personal profile] ghostveins 2024-06-27 07:41 am (UTC)(link)
    [ it's exciting and Noth's height ensures her a good view of the show. she grips his shoulder while leaning forward to see more of the brutal fighting, her eyes widening with fascination every time an especially nasty hit lands. this is considered entertainment here?

    when she notices Noth's frowning, she pats his cheek lightly to get his attention. ]


    What's the matter? You want to give it a go too?
    ragedagainst: (Persuasion)

    [personal profile] ragedagainst 2024-06-27 10:03 am (UTC)(link)
    "Shit. Me too."

    Ren sweeps straight past awkwardness and nods ardently. She holds back on word-vomiting a stream of consciousness about Alba. She can talk all day about her but it's probably not smart to do that.

    "Y'know, the usual shit--"

    At this point, she's gone with the assumption he's another daycare parent.

    "It's presidents day - send her in with a weird tall hat. It's pirate day - we need you to put a stripey shirt in her bag. We're makin' cupcakes - send up thirty bucks." Ren rolls her eyes. It seemed like a new thing every week. "Here's a picture of her eatin' sand. Please talk to her 'bout biting people. Like, she's eighteen months, man, she's a biter. Ain't nothin' me telling her not to bite is goin' to do t'stop her."
    ragedagainst: (Wolf - Watch)

    [personal profile] ragedagainst 2024-06-27 10:17 am (UTC)(link)
    [ Fucking Fera.

    Ren uncharitably noted in this moment that there was a very good reason they were Gaia's Chosen.

    Expending a slip of her rage, she shifted in the blink of an eye, moving from a tall muscular woman to a midnight black wolf. Standing at four foot tall and bulky with fur and primed muscle - there was little mistaking her for a dog. The bands of her tattoos showed on her forearm - they'd been inked with gnosis - and battlescars showed more keenly against the darkness of her fur. This was a wolf who had seen battle time and time again. But her coat was very glossy and well maintained.

    Ren snorted and lowered her nose to the forest floor to try and pick up the mess of scents. ]
    minuteofangle: (Default)

    [personal profile] minuteofangle 2024-06-27 12:07 pm (UTC)(link)
    The one that brings me back? [ Gabe sighs and finishes his drink, setting the mug aside. ] It's mine these days. But in the beginning, it was my friend Tommy. He was the one who taught me the trick.
    marcas: (039)

    [personal profile] marcas 2024-06-28 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
    I know where the library is.
    I can meet you where you prefer since you are the one offering.
    marcas: (080)

    [personal profile] marcas 2024-06-28 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
    Tommy.

    [ A name Noth would like to remember. He must be a good person. A good friend. ]

    Now I know what to do. If it happens to you again, I will try to be your voice.

    [ He's decided. It's up to Gabe to take the offer; it won't offend Noth if it's turned down. The point is to make himself available, to demonstrate his appreciation the only way he knows how. 'Thank you' isn't always enough. ]

    Do you want another beer?
    explosion: (pic#16690194)

    [personal profile] explosion 2024-06-28 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
    Then maybe you understand why I like living in the woods rather than in town. It's less lonely out here. There are birds and plants, and sometimes surprise neighbors, but less noise.

    [ Fewer thoughts, is what she doesn't say. ]
    poorlittlesange: (eyelashes for miles)

    [personal profile] poorlittlesange 2024-06-28 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
    (The warmth of Lan Xichen's touch lingers, and unthinkingly, Jin Guangyao moves his hand to cover that space on his arm.)

    "Thank you." That veneer of genteel serenity renders Lan Xichen beautiful in the same way a dead bloom preserved by a snap frost in the spring is beautiful. He looks like a ghost of himself, and Jin Guangyao finds it difficult to look at him. Or to look away from him.

    The compliment about the tea, at least, puts a faint smile at the corners of his lips. He dips his head slightly and says, "I will convey your compliments to Ningguang-guniang." It's as he's straightening his head that he remembers, that he realizes--

    Ah. He draws in a careful breath. "Er-ge, there are other important matters we must speak of. About the Void, about," and here he self-consciously flicks his gaze up to Lan Xichen's again, and then away, "about my time here."
    xue_yang: (Evil but Cute)

    [personal profile] xue_yang 2024-06-28 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
    "Having integrity seems to be the real weakness depending on the situation." Xue Yang is very familiar with the town and he might have paid very close attention to those that were setting up the games. One has to make sure they figure out how to have a clear advantage. And knowing the directions the game masters walked in, gives them an edge.

    "You should consider yourself lucky that you are attached to someone who is well versed in the games of this place." As well as the town itself. Xue Yang knows that a Lan would never consider being in the same vicinity as him as a lucky break, but he can't keep himself from teasing.
    minuteofangle: (013)

    [personal profile] minuteofangle 2024-06-28 03:08 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ It’s not a small thing to offer, is it? Gabe tilts his head, cycling his tech to watch Noth even though he can’t make eye contact anymore and it’s exhausting to always pretend. But that’s the game, in the end. You do what you have to. Otherwise, you just fucking die. He thinks about what Noth told him before, when Gabe was hungover and snippy. The things underneath that. Witches and their servants. Being kidnapped.

    Shit happens. Doesn’t make it right, just expected.

    He exhales. ]


    You’re too honest for this place. Yeah, I’ll take another beer.
    marcas: (052)

    [personal profile] marcas 2024-06-28 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ There was a scratch on his arm; fresh. He'd gotten it when a Rubean had touched him without permission, bound him to Fifty until they made each other bleed. Noth saw it as proof that people here never did anything meant to be enjoyable to others.

    He turned away more decisively now, embarrassed. 'She means no harm'. Noth had never seen it that way. Never felt it that way. No one touched him in good faith, but if that's how the scarred woman felt — ]


    ( I'm sorry. )
    wyldfire: (Default)

    [personal profile] wyldfire 2024-06-28 04:15 pm (UTC)(link)

    [It was everyone else in line that seemed to be taking issue. More shoving, more calling out to hurry up, one close enough to see even shouting for them to get a room. The redhead flushed and Jordana turned to look at that particular person with annoyance, addressingthe man in her head at the same time.]

    ((Do you have a reason for your concern?))

    [This lit up her mark and the way the Garou had turned put it in the line of sight for the redhead. Delighted to have found it, the redhead pulled Jordana's attention back to her, describing where the mark was, pulling her down so she could see the symbol through her hair. Jordana's eyes fluttered a little at the touch before she swallowed and pushed away the sensation.]

    Wilk? Alright.

    [Accepting the blue sash, Jordana thanked the woman, gathered her clothes to move out of the way so she could redress.]

    marcas: (074)

    [personal profile] marcas 2024-06-28 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ There's laughter and cheers from the crowd almost immediately after Salome's question, taking pleasure in how one of the fighters turns out to be more experienced than they'd led the other to believe. The loser goes down heavily, eyes barely open, blood gushing from their nose as the other straddles their body. Distress grows in Noth's expression, as does the effort to keep it to himself, heart beating fast. His fingers are pressing harder on her body without realizing it, looking at her with a hand on his cheek. ]

    —no. I don't.

    [ He wants to leave. ]

    I don't like this.
    marcas: (072)

    [personal profile] marcas 2024-06-28 04:33 pm (UTC)(link)
    He was only the parent of children he'd never meet, who'd see him dead or imprisoned if they ever found him. Noth wouldn't recognize him as his own, just like no man in the coven was ever deemed a father; the word was beneath them, let alone a Nithing's claim to a witch's lineage.

    It's that way of thinking that would spare him from looking at children and seeing anything beyond their behavior. Usually they just stared at Noth, fascinated with his height and how many of them could hypothetically hang onto his arms.

    The attempt to commit and engage with the flood of information wasn't successful. It was a thing parents from the daycare did sometimes, though, so much to say about human beings that hadn't been alive for very long. Had Louise ever been so passionate about his ventures?

    "I didn't know that eighteen month old children bit people. Does Alba bite her toys?"
    marcas: (067)

    [personal profile] marcas 2024-06-28 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ Just like people wouldn't bother him as much if he was in a small room, or had no bed to sleep in at all. Less questions, less of a constant need to make sure they couldn't see beyond his appearance. ]

    Yes I understand.
    Can I hear your voice please?
    marcas: (039)

    cw: references to gore

    [personal profile] marcas 2024-06-28 04:56 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ There are a few things he could say, 'I don't like to lie' among them. It'd be the same as saying he doesn't like to hurt people, though. So much blood has been shed because of him. He knows the texture, warmth, how many ways a body can bend wrong, the colors inside. This place has him dreading the inevitable day something worse than a cut on Gabe's arm has to happen. ]

    Wait here.

    [ Not that… Gabe has a reason to get up and leave, he doesn't think. Noth doesn't bring a second one for himself. ]

    Are you going to the woods today?
    Edited 2024-06-28 16:56 (UTC)
    baiyueguang: (that's a yikes)

    [personal profile] baiyueguang 2024-06-28 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
    The careful breathing and tone Jin Guangyao uses is all too familiar. He knows what's coming is bad news.

    He almost begs his friend to spare him a little longer if it can wait.

    But he stops himself because he has been spared too many painful truths before, and look how that all turned out.

    He can't be kept in the dark forever.

    About my time here.

    His head shoots up, a worried crease between his brow.

    "A-Yao? Has something happened? Are you alright?"