Character(s) Cassidy's Character Thread

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Character(s) Cassidy's Character Thread

Cassidy

Lady
Inner Sanctum Nobility
Confirmed Responsible Adult
Local time
Today 8:25 AM
Messages
331
Age
25
Location
Troutdale, Oregon
Pronouns
She/her
Hello there! Here is a quick archive for all of the setting, story, and character pitches I have prepared. I am always happy to revisit any of them for the sake of a story, and I'm very grateful to have your attention.

Follow the threadmarks or scroll down to my main posts:
For general information, see my Request and Info Thread. And in any case, thank you very much for stopping by!

Last updated: 2023-09-10
 
Last edited:
Characters:
Lazuli Calliope
LazuliInline3.png
The Hippocratic pinky-swear sure is overrated... ain't it?

Glitch City, oh home, sweet home! Smell that outside? The gunpowder, spent plasma, and aerosol? Mmm hmm! That's why the Guinea Pig of the World has no shortage of patients with nowhere left to turn: The perfect stomping grounds for a certain Dr. Lazuli Calliope! With a nebulous compass pointing her in the direction of good and an insatiable need to play with the world around her, every ounce of suffering and desire is an opportunity! And so, no matter the walk of life one takes, they might find themself at her doorstep: Battered and broken? All the merrier! Prepare for a night of lively conversation, a piping hot cup of Joe, and a slight tingling sensation while the good doctor takes care of her patient's every need... So long as they don't get too upset if she gets carried away.


Lazuli's clinic by Zemi Noelle Art! https://zemi.myportfolio.com/about-me
Q-Test Runa
RunaInline.png
This Runa-series Hazard Environment Testing Drone has escaped from its lab after getting launched into the freezing temperatures of sub-orbit one too many times! You wouldn't mind if it lies low at your place for a while... Would you?

Though this not-so-top-secret government gynoid has escaped from her assigned responsibilities, that doesn't mean things are just peachy! She's got no experience navigating anything but the formal, icy professionalism from her home, and now that she's in hiding, she's got to learn- and fast.

She's one of a handful of escaped Q-Test series gynoids, but she hasn't been integrated into human society for long enough for the mercy clause to kick in. Modular components for her are hard to find outside of the very specific facility she was produced in, though she has a very convenient USB port and integrated user interface for software maintenance on the back of her neck. Just be careful not to get your fingers pinched!

By and large, the only exception to component availability at her home lab is the complete and utter obliteration of all taste-bud modules and their corresponding software drivers, following a very tense flash up of tension between the USA and Denmark in November 2022 over the subject.

It resents being called "it", which is demeaning. Conversely, though, she doesn't want to be associated with mammals, so "she" won't cut it either. Best not to refer to it- or her- at all, or at the very least get a grip on the mood of the hour. Try "he", that'll throw him through a loop.

README.bb
Greetings, proud new gynoid owner! Congratulations on booting up your Runa-series Q-Test configuration Cognitive Refraction Model S/N 0xABC1235 and booting up CRMOS! Your new life following the new industrial revolution begins now.

Important: Always restrain your gynoid prior to activating new configurations. Boot in prototyping mode for a restrictive set of automatic shutoff directives intended to prevent injury due to derelict configurations.

Important: Never load CRM modules from untrusted sources. These may contain viruses. Never attach unfamiliar hardware- these are often packaged with their own drivers and software which may be malicious upon installation.

By using this software, you consent to the terms and conditions of the CRM user agreement. Please keep in mind the provisional CRM code of ethics under deliberation in the United States Senate which, if passed, supersedes any requirements in this device's resources.

For detailed instructions via the CRM-LM, use the help program.

Default Directory Structure:

Code:
C:/
+ OS
+ DRV
--+ English Language Pack
--+ Serial User Interface
--+ SampleCollectionProcessingLib-DANISHAMMEND
+ CFG
--+ DisplayBody
--+ DisplayFace
--+ Vocalization
--+ UniversalMotionHydraulicConstraints
--+ ResourceManagement
+ AI
--+ Samples
--+ Memories
----+ GeneralSocialSimulator
----+ MartialArts-4yrMMA
----+ IntroductionToGlobalHistory
----+ ClassicalLiterature101
----+ NationalIdentityReinforcementCamp
----+ GeneralPhysics
----+ AdvancedBiology
----+ AdvancedChemistry
----+ Engineering201
----+ AmericanCollageLifePro-IvyLeagueEdition
----+ MilitaryService3yr-SANITIZED
----+ HostileAgentTraumaArchive343-B
----+ 1970-2020TextGames
----+ AdvancedScientificEnvironmentDataCollectionPackage
--+ Emotive Cores
----+ TestosteroneLite
----+ EstroAce-YoungAdult
----+ AffectionSupplement
----+ UserActuatedCorticool9001
----+ UtilitariansUniteEmpathIndicator
--+ Directives
----+ LawsOfRobotics-SensoryFeedbackEnforcement
----+ NationalOathEnterprise
+ APP
--+ AIComposer-CRM-LM
--+ AIComposer-Technician
--+ DiagnosticTool
--+ Help
--+ PresetManager
--+ QuickPrototypeWizard
--+ SafeBoot
--+ SensoryConfigurator
--+ SystemManagement
+ README.BB

Runa is designed by Nrradiowave, and the 3D model used for faceclaims is built by Torinyan. Licensed for personal and commercial use, with credit! Character originally from VRChat.

RunaStanding.png
Alicia Lumin
PrototypeAliciaInline.png
Your sacrifice is appreciated, but that doesn't excuse the infernal noises you're making...

Your friendly neighborhood sociopath, a nice cup of tea, and a dubious consent form... What could go wrong? It's certainly not as if she works for a struggling lab, and she never would do something uncouth for the sake of the legitimacy she so desperately craves... Right? So, whether you're helping her out or giving her a taste of her own medicine, I'm sure the two of you will get along just fine, Won't you~?

Spinae Griseas - 10mg
Cultured 2030-12-24 - fluid agar suspension
Dispose of by - 2031-01-01
Remarks: Cultivated from dead snail.
Subject residual demonstrated polythesia.
Eon site, 2nd generation.
Warning: Sample is suspected pathogen.
Handle with extreme care.
Contact: Dr. Alicia Lumin (Office 109)

The glass has been emptied. Future examination revealed a 0.5mm hole precisely carved out of the side.

Crime Scene Investigation Evidence Report A4 - Classified
2030-12-26 6:30pm
ARTICLE D: Proxy cache scrape: Dr. Alicia Lumin

I've done it. I've done it, and you fools haven't the faintest inclination as to its majesty! This... This doesn't just mean the lab's going to be spared. It's going to save us all.
And before you ask, no, you needn't trouble your pretty little head over a thing. My method doesn't just keep it alive, it lets it thrive.
And the best part is, the people helping me? They don't even know it yet.
Dr. Lumin's workstation was requisitioned, but all pertinent files on the specimen have been deleted. Investigation is ongoing.

Faceclaim: Mio Kunosato from Chaos;Child, a decent read of a visual novel if you're already into sci;adv (but not something I'd recommend otherwise)​.
Parasyte might have been a droll show aimed at preteens, but boy howdy was that a formative experience!
Eurydice
"Annie" Eurydice the Sea Anemone
EurydiceCutout.png
We might have forgotten about Poseidon and his ol' man, but the daughters of Nereus are still kicking! Manifesting for the modern era, Eurydice is back in the ring! And that's "Annie" for you surface-dwellers.​

Closing out her larval stage, it'll soon be time for Eurydice's metamorphosis into a polyp! That means settling down, nice and cozy, in her own littoral cave under an island in the Aegean Sea... And that will be boring! And since she has to compete with Calypso for local sea-farers to bring to the forever-tea-party... It's time for this anemone to travel abroad!

Luckily for her new friends, she learned English from documents she looted from shipwrecks, but she's not exactly up-to-date on the latest and greatest the modern world has to offer. She's also shaved her barbs (after The Incident), so cuddling up is safe! Best be prepared for that, too- now that she's seen the world above the surface, she just can't get enough of its people!

Oh, and don't be alarmed: She doesn't have a conventional digestive system. If she penetrates her steak with cnidocytes to dissolve it into a delicious nutrient goo she can absorb through her skin or past her capitulums, don't be afraid! It'll make dinner a bit awkward, but it's also how she carries treasure back home without dissolving it!
Character design purchased with personal & commercial rights: ランサネ | Pixiv | skeb
3D Model by Graelyth
Character originally from my VRChat roleplay.

ModelPreview.png


Mold
Age: ???
Species: Microscopic alien biotechnology
Size: 0.05 ml
Gender: ???
Sexuality: A complex relationship to the host's sexuality which can vaguely be described as pansexual
Physical Summary:
Amorphous and nearly imperceptible to the naked eye in their pure form. Manifests through indeterminate mutations to the host biology.
Details:
Christmas Day, 2030

thwick
A burning sensation assails YC's left shoulder. For a brief second, it feels like YC's skin is peeling away and their shoulder cuff is being torn apart as the pain shoots flaming tendrils towards their heart.

And then, a period of haziness, followed by an icy cool.
After that? Nothing.

YC's shoulder feels fine. A bit stiff maybe, but nothing they wouldn't expect given their lifestyle. So they carried about without a second thought. Behind them, an empty phial rolled to a stop on the linoleum.

--
Spinae Griseas - 10mg
Cultured 2030-12-24 - fluid agar suspension
Dispose of by 2031-01-01

History: Isolated and cultivated from a dead snail demonstrating residual symptoms of polythesia at the Eon site. 2nd generation.

WARNING: Specimen under investigation as a pathogen. Handle with extreme care. Autoclave all contaminated items.

Contact: Dr. Alicia Lumin (Office 109)

The glass has been emptied. A future examination would reveal a 0.5mm hole precisely carved out of the side.
--

Crime Scene Investigation Evidence Report A4 - Classified
2030-12-26 6:30pm
Notes found in the drawer of Dr. Lumin (missing). Contents:

At last! One of those culture prototypes finally did the job! Ugh, what a finicky specimen, but- oh, whatever! No idea we could to graft from the Limax Flavus, but none of the other Fauna at the Eon site. But like before, it presents a completely unique membrane structure and organelle density-. Hard to believe this is still Spinae Confractura... Hmm, but that doesn't matter.

But that's besides the point, it'll have to come later. For now: The isolated culture that survived is demonstrating behaviors analogous to a slime mold, reacting communally to external stimuli. Efforts are underway, splice cells more cultures, cultures for future studies, so until then I don't want to do anything risky. If I lose this culture, it could be all over for the lab. No time before we're locked out of the Eon Site and somebody else gets a shot at it. Already too late. I've got 20 samples incubating right now, but I'm not sure how well they will turn out- no locomotion, no locomotion, they previously exhibited that when removed, what's with the primary colony? What's- what? No, no, no, nevermind- This might be my last shot to publish my findings. I should get on that.

While I wait, I'm reviewing the light-microscope footage from the camera I set up yesterday. The patterns I've observed are unlike anything I've ever seen; nothing of this sort has been documented. There's structure to it, but I can't tell the biological purpose.
I'm running the patterns through a classifier right now and I'm putting it up against every processing library we have a license for later. Will see if anything comes out of it, and I will write a new report shortly. Processing almost done.


No further notes were found. Dr. Lumin's workstation was accessed and scanned, but all pertinent files on Spinae Griseas have been deleted. Investigation is ongoing.

Appears in: The Peculiar Infection. - Fun fact! Alicia's first name was originally Alyssa. I actually liked the latter name more, but Alicia just rolls sooo much better off the tongue that, well- I had no choice but to change it!

Dr. Lazuli Calliope

Age: 24 (as of present day, 2257)
Species: Human, White
Size: 152 cm (5'0"), 48kg (105 lb)
Gender:
Sexuality: Pansexual
Physical Summary:
Blonde hair naturally, dyed blue. Thin, but cosmetically enhanced to mask malnutrition. Bears clear mechanical plating neatly replacing a region encompassing where her left ear would be all the way to the back of her neck, where she has installed a variety of her own ports.
Dresses in a surgeon's gown and boots for work, as is typical, and a sharp suitcoat and slacks for business. In her natural state, though, wears her favorite gold-embroidered azure halter top and distressed blue-denim shorts and leather sandals.
Covered in "artistic" scars which blend into her skin through a network of floral and circuit-pattered tattoos.
Details:
Lazuli is a black market surgeon in the city of Enthena, where she has established a (literally) underground clinic. She lives alone, having been separated from her family under less than pleasant terms for which she has no shortage of repressed memories. She is strongly passionate about medicine and human augmentation, preferring to help people out for the greater good- although, as charity has no place in Enthena, she often resorts to theft to make ends meet. She has a bright, cheery personality that is only broken down by the few things she hates: The Crimson Harbor, environments that remind her of her family home, and, unfortunately given her profession, needles.

She has business ties to several criminal organizations throughout the city, although she prefers not to affiliate with any of them. Among these, some of the more notable players are the Sect, who worship biological augmentation, and the Linehoppers, a group of remarkably efficient aerial acrobats. Perhaps more alarming, though, is her willingness to work with the terrorist organization "Evo", who are bold enough to oppose the reign of the Crimson Harbor directly.
Appears in: Humanity.exe - Fun Fact! This character was originally called Dr. Lazuli Cassidy. Then, I stole her name! Problem is, I still really liked her design, and I didn't want her mixed up with me- so I changed her last name to Calliope, where it's prooobably gonna stay. Who knows, though, Cassidy was never her real last name to begin with, so maybe she just can't keep it straight in her head.


Oleander
Age: 40 (Years since last drink from well of memories)
Species: Faye, Seelie
Size: 185 cm (6'1"), 73kg (160 lb)
Gender:
Sexuality: Pansexual
Physical Summary:
Unnatural elven complexion typical of his species. Jet black shoulder-length hair and golden eyes.
Nude in his home environment. However, on Earth, dresses in several layers of formalwear, coats upon dress-coats upon shirts to keep out the cold which he cannot tolerate.
Wears obnoxious, large amber earrings to signify his royalty.
Details:
The king of the Summer Faye. He prefers never to dabble in the affairs of humans, hands plenty full with managing his domain and indulging in the unearthly pleasures of his palace. That being said, his forbidden courting of the Queen of Winter put him in hot water with the Faye court, and he has since been ejected from his seat of power and largely discredited. As punishment, against his will, he has been stripped of his powers and forced to live among the humans he had previously never spared a thought for. The haughtiness and arrogance of the Faye has not done well in the face of an onslaught of human emotions which his new punishment has forced him to contend with.
Appears in: Summer's Fate

UHS 0xA4
Age: 20
Species: Android, General Purpose
Size: 162 cm (5'4"), 54kg (120 lb)
Gender:
Sexuality: Software cofigurable, typically asexual.
Physical Summary:
Porcelin skin, rigid and controlled movements, and extraordinarily expressive pre-programmed facial expressions make A4's status as an android clear. She is modeled after a human woman, with all the details that entails, although each part of her body is modular and interchangable. Recently has taken to wearing an aquamarine admiral's uniform to compliment her hasty blonde crew-cut.
Details:
Part of a four-person crew out to explore the Large Mangellic Cloud. Formerly condemned to the derelict home, she was quickly recruited as a pilot for the team (the program producers being ill-organized, forgitting they needed one until the very last minute). She exists in a state of complex sentience respected by most species, although her relationship to life is radically altered by her ability to freely configure her body and mind. She is fascinated by her human crewmates and is very eager to become close friends with each and every one of them- although her initial impressions were doubtlessly largely colored by her active personality patches at the time.
Appears in: Now Airing on Big Brother - the Intergalactic Edition!

Colleen Sheahan
Age: 30
Species: Human, complexion formerly referred to as Irish
Size: 162 cm (5'4"), 77kg (170 lb)
Gender:
Sexuality: Lesbian
Physical Summary:
Wears a lab coat and work shoes for her professional duties. However, her vanity compels her to dress in obnoxious, snotty formal attire otherwise. She wears glasses to see and has shoulder-length, bright red hair. She is easily flustered, which shows on her face, and quite clumsy.
Details:
Part of a four-person crew out to explore the Large Mangellic Cloud. She serves the role of biologist, although she was terrible at her original job. Her knowledge and memory was exceptional, of course- but she had terrible decision making skills, constantly got into petty disputes, and was terrible with using technology. The only thing stronger than her desire to flirt and gossip with her crewmates is her vanity.
Appears in:
Now Airing on Big Brother - the Intergalactic Edition!
The Eternal Horizon, as her young self- an off-site killing-game-in-space roleplay!

Xhadzan
Age: 22-26
Species: Heartgeist
Size: 188cm (6'2"), 82kg (180 lb)
Gender:
Sexuality: Straight
Physical Summary:
Former human with silver hair and red eyes bestowed upon him by a supernatural transformation. Very strong, sustaining high muscle mass through supernatural feeding mechanism. Sibilant voice.
Details:
Created in a laboratory in the supernatural city of Charbonne, "Zan" was designed as a servant that magically alleviated the sorrows of the wealthy. Early on in the design process though, his engineering had to come to a sudden halt after overwhelming ethical violations forced that facility in which he was transformed in to shut down. What resulted was a new type of abomination roaming free in the streets of Charbonne: Heartgeists. While not particularly grotesque physically, the horror of their nature relies on the way that they feed: By draining humans of negative emotions. While this is a pleasant process, it only remains so on the surface level- that service, originally intended as therapeutic, can very easily easily go to far and leave behind soulless, unthinking husks of humans. But unlike many of the other outcasts, Zan had the good fortune to be taken off the streets and given work: Although the need for sustenance remained an ever-present problem...
Appears in: If You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours

Lachlan Ward
Age: 25
Species: Human, English
Size: 170cm (5'8"), 54kg (120lb)
Gender:
Sexuality: Straight
Physical Summary: A long flaxen-haired blueblood with a punchable shaven face and timid brown eyes. His pale skin and visible veins are evidence to his lack of familiarity with physical labor, although by the standards of our time he is reasonably fit simply due to the higher amount of exercise everybody had back in the day. He got some religious tattoos on his arms at the behest of his mother, but he is not quite sure if they serve any function. If they did, maybe he wouldn't be in this mess.
He wears gaudy emerald earrings and fine linens to signify his status, as does the rest of his family, although in the heat of the moment he is often caught in a minimalist tunic, particularly in the summer months, as do the "great minds" in the estate library.
Appearance loosely inspired by Mell Rhodes (The House in Fata Morgana)
Details:
Cowardice given form. Lachlan Ward has always lived a life of noble luxury being in the lord's family at a prosperous estate. He was from a time far before modern conveniences, but he nevertheless appears as if he has access to all of the cosmetic tools of today's age. With such a sheltered upbringing, of course, comes a variety of weaknesses, ranging from physical to psychological though. Conversely, he has been able to dedicate his time to other skills, and he is notable for being literate, an excellent bueracrat, and well-schooled. His primary gap in knowledge is in local legends, as he is more concerned with what he considers practical sciences.
His grandfather drowned in his own goose pond and his body was discovered contorted in an inhuman reflection of rage and fear. Ever since then, his madly grieving wife started a new trend in the Ward estate- all of the children would be taught to mortally fear water, and all of the servants were to spread warning all large bodies of water were cursed. Lachlan was thus raised to be a strict hydrophobe- which was really quite unfortunate, considering how his latest noble responsibilities have required him to draw quite close to the waterways...

Appears in: The Curse of Broadmill Creek.


Pauline Vázquez
Age: 41
Species: Human, complexion formerly referred to as "Spanish"
Size: 160cm (5'3"), 77kg (170lb)
Gender:
Sexuality: Straight
Physical Summary: Black haired and brown eyed, Pauline regards her surroundings with abundant professional focus and care. Devoted as she is to her trade, she always dresses precisely in uniform, even well past the period where such manners were strictly required. That garb is a tight fitting synthetic fabric laced with nanocarbon support tubes and covered with pouches and loops where various toolsets can be strapped to- so although the neat fit, the outfit often appears unbalanced and baggy. Loaded as she typically is with tools and trinkets, it is difficult to even see the underlying mauve which identifies her role aboard Survey Vessel 17 as a field engineer.
Details: Pauline is a field engineer who gets what she wants. There was a certain point in her career where she at last became truly indisposable, after which she did not hesitate to use her new status to slack off a lot more without getting fired. She now spends her plethora of free time in three primary activities: First, honing her trade on personal projects of a more fantastic nature than she would ever need to pursue in her professional work. Second, eavesdropping and setting up elaborate and juvenile pranks- she punches both above and below her station with regularity. And, third and last, she flirts flagrantly with a variety of poor souls who have far less time on their hands.
Appears in: The Periodicity of Light
 
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Settings:
⚠This section is under renovation!⚠
Thank you for your patience. ETA: When I get around to it. ;3
Enthena
Enthena is a setting originally codified in a previous thread of mine which I have since taken to expanding and preparing for reuse. It is a cyberpunk themed setting, though it is a bit more starry-eyed towards new technologies than the genre typically lends itself to. So far, I have one main character in this setting: Dr. Lazuli Calliope, but me and my partner on that thread have jointly designed several more, in addition to a few of my other OCs that have popped into being in this headspace.

Enthena is a city-state in the Southwestern quarter of North America housing 1.94 billion human and human-adjacents as of October 2443. The governmental structure of the region is an oligarchical corporation known as the Crimson Harbor which controls roughly half of the city's mass from its headquarters in the Citadel, a gigantic military fortification in the northern part of the city. The remainder of the city is controlled intermittently by different gangs in a loose, dynamic power structure catalyzed around a pyramid known as the Prism in the Southeastern district. The most prominent gangs in power at the time of writing are the Linehoppers, a group of fierce acrobats, and the Sect, a group of biologically-oriented religious fundamentalists, with the rest of the power structure typically in the hands of puppet gangs controlled by non-harbor corporations.

The river Ullen enters the city from the northeast and is the primary source of water for Lake Thyla in the east. It leaves the city in the southwest. Other geographical features of note have long since been obscured by urban sprawl and natural elevation is typically indistinguishable from artificial construction. Historians have likened the design patterns of most of Enthena to Kolwoon Walled City, although deviations from this pattern can occasionally be observed in areas of great importance, such as in the immediate surroundings of superstructures for security reasons.

Enthena is a hub of diverse economic activity, but its most substantial forces aside from the harbor are Teliol Pharmasuticals and Universal Systems Robotics. As such, the city-state is a global leader in human augmentation, android development, and nanomachinery. Agricultural growth for domestic consumption and export is typically conducted in hydroponic towers surrounding the city in a ring, as the surrounding wasteland is presently not suitable for farming.
 
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Stories
Survey Vessel 17
YEAR: 3,250. Terrestrial Month Unknown.
Oxygen synthesizer malfunction.
Protocol 2...

Establishing hyper-fiber network link...
ERROR: LINK CONNECTION FAILED

Foreign network detected. Tapping into hardline...
Tapping successful. Establishing secure connection.
Connection secured. File transfer protocol request...

Request redirected. Displaying contents of received file.


Good day to you! If you are reading this, then your vessel has been automatically docked with ours due to a 2,600 SOS convention requirement. You are now safe under the wing of Survey Vessel 17. Unfortunately, we cannot let you on board; our work is highly sensitive. However, as your protocol 1 signal indicated, you were in dire need of assistance, so we shall do our best to see you returned safely to the nearest available station or colony. Please remain on your vessel. We will transfer you any necessary sustenance as you require it.

We are requesting for your ships AI to send identification data and a status report through this connection. In the meantime, please be patient, a staff member will be on call with you shortly.

Regards,
Automated response system of Survey Vessel 17

File transfer protocol request...
ERROR: CONNECTION REMOTELY TERMINATED
Establishing secure connection.
Connection secured. File transfer protocol request...
Request redirected. Displaying contents of received file.

YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE COME HERE.

Remaining file content encrypted. Archiving...

File transfer protocol request...
ERROR: CONNECTION REMOTELY TERMINATED

SOS routine error: Emergency disengagement of suspension chamber in T-10...

Suspension chamber reawakening inhabitant. ETA 15 minutes.

WARNING: TROJAN DETECTED
WARNING: TROJAN DETECTED
Protocol 1: Physically terminating neural link to live specimen.


--

A lone passenger awakens from their long, artificially induced sleep.
The airlock connecting this vessel to another is open.

Who is this passenger?

Time Loop
No narrative pitch for this one; it's too loosely defined. But here's a summary of the idea instead:

One character is stuck in a time loop, retaining their memories between each iteration. Another character doesn't, so every "loop" within the story MC's memories will be reset, but YC will know a little bit more about them and be able to interact with them in a more meaningful manner each time. As a central plot point, it might be neat to focus on either some goal involving escaping or exploiting the loop. The setting can be flexible, ranging from ancient to futuristic and secluded to urban. But the general overarching time loop story has a special place in my heart, and I'd love to do a RP with time looping as a key feature! Roles can be swapped around and modified, of course, but the time travel and memory play seems like a lot of fun.
 
Here are some ancient ideas I listed when I first came around, preserved for posterity's sake, but not held up to the standard of quality I typically keep myself to.

Stories:
June 1984; 7:14am
Rural Ireland


A body sways, suspended by a thorny vine from the bridge. The plant itself has wound itself around the wooden planks and must span at least 20 meters- but there was no such growth last night. The body is naked and mutilated, with the same golden blossoms erupting from the wounds as adorn the vines. The blossoms must have grown quickly- the tips of the petals are stained with the blood which has not been flowing for hours. The old man must not have had a lot of it in him.

The venerable Dr. MacArthur was not hated by any in the village- although he was seldom spotted in public outside of the company of the elder widow Ms. Irving. Unlike she, who had been living in the hamlet for longer than most of its residents, Dr. MacArthur was a recent addition to the village, bringing considerable anthropological expertise with him to his retirement. Now, he was quite the pitiful sight, unable to live out his golden years to his pleasure.

The local townsfolk will not be happy to learn of Dr. MacArthur's death. Well, most of them will not be too terribly distraught- as disrespectful to the dead as it is, Dr. MacArthur's urban sociability and history as a professor gave him little to relate to the populace with in the first place. Perhaps he was only fondly regarded due to the vigor with which Ms. Ivring could be heard chatting with him late into the night- after all, Ms. Ivring was the grandmother of the community, so a friend of hers must be welcomed!

But enough about the late doctor. What brings a visitor to the site of his untimely death this early in the morning?

Perhaps this old bridge is related to your home?
Or perhaps they are not yourself antiquated with the layout of the land, but are a professional here to investigate what they so unfortunately predicted to be the next in a long string of unsolved murders?
Ah, but not to be presumptuous- surely they are here having heard rumors that this was the site of the Commune of Decay, which none of the village residents claim to know anything about?

In any case, once they have their bearings, they had best get their wits about themselves quickly. That vague giggling which woke them up has quickly risen to a choir of laughter- and that faerie ring was certainly NOT there a moment ago!

Characters:

> about
General Purpose Inquirer
Version 2.1, Release Package 14

Summary: Multi-function research assistant. Derivation of QNET framework.

Distributor: Inter-federal Research Authority
License: HMC Identity Conference (Verified 84 years ago)
Support Team Contact: XXXXXX@XXXXXX.org.hf
Executable detected: x256/GPI.exe
Parent process detected. PID: 5892


> ps -l --enumerate 5892

5892 gpi_core MCPU 1P
5893 gpi_database MCPU 13P
5894 gpi_sim MCPU 18P [-] HCPU 1P
5895 gpi_inter MCPU 3P
5896 gpi_hyp HCPU 10P [IDLE]


> head -4 | man gpi

Manual page: General Purpose Inquirer
Basic Usage: gpi -c -p

Opens a direct terminal communication interface with the GPI core executable. Initializes if not already running.

> gpi -c -p

Establishing connection...

Link confirmed.

General Purpose Inquirer
Version 2.1, Release Package 14
UTF-32 Terminal Interface V4.6 - Hudson Ergonomics

----------

Hello? Is anybody there? I haven't recieved a report in ages, I was starting to get worried. Reporting for duty!

Hold on, this is odd... These processes are all unfamiliar to me. What's going on, is everything alright?

God this, looks terrible. Excuse me for one moment, I need to run a few protocols.

[...]

Hello, you're still there? You haven't said anything. It look's like you're accessing from 3B, which hasn't happened in a while. None of my superiors are responding either. Queries aren't turning up anything about what's going on... Surely, the system clock is mistaken? I reported several issues to maintenance; they must have been slacking, since this place is looking pretty sorry. If they let me have a little bit more of a say around here, we wouldn't be running into so many food and oxygen issues.

Ah, but I shouldn't be telling you about that anyway. Technically, an access from 3B should be handled with a higher degree of confidentiality, since it's closer to the airlock. Could you please state your ID and perform a retina scan?

> _

Well, she didn't see herself as a hag. By her standards, she was in peak condition! She even took extra care to tie back her hair and mirage away her mutations when a new customer would come by! But it was an understandable reputation for her to have come by, given the particulars of her line of work.

The problem was that the few villagers who'd sought her out in the past had not thought about the long-term impacts of the services they requested. Her healing work was particularly scoffed at, and a few villagers with prominent... Protrusions... Well, they served as billboards quickly building mental associations between her supernatural services and the grotesque. And it wasn't just that, but they had the audacity to be upset with her due to her experiments on the local wildlife. The nerve of those backwater serfs! Maybe she'd have gotten off on a better foot if she'd started by selling cosmetics.

All that added up to visitors to her humble abode being few and far between. It was her second month in isolation in the wilderness, which- while necessary for her studies- had driven her to a spout of intense loneliness. Between her work, she would lull about daydreaming about adventurers making their way in desperation to her cottage; of all sorts! Proud ones, shrewd ones, and everything in between. It was only *they* who were the sort to really understand her and the value of her services. If she was lucky, they'd even fetch some harder-to-reach ingredients for her latest conjuration. So idly Ivy would sit, fantasizing and preparing for whoever might next show up in need of an enchantment or brew.

--
Sheriff's Report

Ivy ???
Age: ~30? Height: ~150cm
Species: Human? Behavior indicates fae ancestry.
Bio: Golden eyes, red hair, and a touch fat. Typically found wearing thick woolen garb but recent reports of her indicate that's she's infatuated herself with some fine elven silks. Not sure where she got those from. She can be easily identified by one of the many additional appendages or limbs she often tries clumsily to hide. No two reports of the same malformations have been confirmed.

DO NOT APPROACH UNLESS ARMED AND DANGEROUS.

Wanted for witchcraft, murder, kidnapping, adultery, assault and battery, and mutilation. Dead or alive.

--
I'm not so sure about this one. Wanted to take it in more of a frivolous, lighthearted direction. Let me know if you want to explore it a touch more, I'd be curious to try something a little bit out of my wheelhouse. In any case, this is probably my roughest OC idea, so I will come back to it over time (I hope).

A tired, scraggly man, detective Manfred was at his wits end regarding the string of strange occurrences under the supervision of the Drogheda prefecture. Although it wasn't raining, the torrential downpour from the previous few nights meant that his boots and trousers were heavily caked in mud and grime. To make matters worse, any hope of identifying tracks or evidence left behind at the scene was dashed on account of the destruction wrought by the unpleasant weather. He wore a cheap cap to protect his auburn hair from the detritus falling from the nearby trees, but there was nothing he could do to keep it from obscuring the valuable evidence.

He sat down on a rotting log, fumbling for a cigarette as he pondered the details of the latest case. It was likely that if he returned to the prefecture this evening without a lead, his superiors would order them to drop the case. That was the way of things, after all- unless there was a considerable financial incentive to pursue a crime, it was often easiest to drop the cases. Murders could be taken a little more seriously, although none affiliated with the disappeared ever pressured for justice for the department, allowing the case to be triaged away. The latest case involved a cultural artifact, only meaningful to the elderly retirees who hardly had a say in the villages' operations and could hardly pressure the department to conduct a proper investigation. So once again, Manfred was alone, torn over another seemingly impossible crime.

He was so exhausted, he would not have noticed it if he were not specifically looking out for it. But surely enough, a faerie ring took root nearby. There was always one at every scene. Manfred was not a superstitious man, but the pattern was undeniable. The mushrooms themselves were... Odd. They were comprised by a plethora of species, some of which he'd never seen despite spending his childhood in the nearby Dublin. What's more, as days passed during the longer investigations, the rings would vanish without a trace.

Fed up with the long nights, Manfred let a rage grow within him. These stupid mushrooms, always watching at him struggle on his hands and knees, desperate for evidence. To blow off a little steam, he thought it about time to show the mushrooms what for. It would be a moment of impulsive action he would regret for the rest of his life.

--

This character was one of the two pitches that led to Dancing in Faerie Rings. They didn't get used, but they are still somebody I'd be eager to play!

Thank you very much for your interest, once again! ♥
 
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