- Location
- MN
[X] - The Larva
Empathy and Ink (a DC OC Quest)
- Thread starter Z488411
- Start date
Ave Anathema
Ave Imperator
- Location
- Jacksonville Illinois
Inserted tally
Ave Anathema
Ave Imperator
- Location
- Jacksonville Illinois
its officially three HoursI'll give this two or three more hours, then post the tally here. Glad to have so many people interested
2. The Serpent
Z488411
Scatterbrained
- Location
- Europa
2. The Serpent
You had no idea, why you were so certain. It was just stuck in your still aching brain.
Which, on second thought, was unsettling all on its own.
Whatever had happened, it must have done more than just giving you a tattoo. The feeling at the back of your brain was still there. Like an itch or something warm pressed against your body that you weren't looking at but still knew where it was and that it was there at all. It wasn't even uncomfortable, just very strange.
Which naturally made you uncomfortable all on its own.
Surreal was an understatement.
You couldn't believe how stupid you had been. Getting caught up in the excitement and all of the demands until you had no idea what you were doing anymore and completely forgot about safety protocols. And now you had to hope you hadn't accidentally cursed yourself. Just because it didn't feel like a curse that didn't mean it wasn't one after all and you had paid attention in your lectures on magical history. More than enough to do well on your exams and class work in fact, but that only drove home just how screwed you might be.
If it weren't for the tender bump on your head and the headache, you would probably have gone back to sleep and assumed everything would be fine in the morning. As it was, sunlight was streaming through your window, you had the exact injury you remembered, your bag wasn't where you usually put it and pinching yourself hadn't helped.
One part of you might be completely convinced this was harmless, but that in and on itself was suspicious. Mind altering effects existed after all. You were lucky you still looked almost normal and nothing had obviously gone wrong, but that didn't mean you were off the hook.
But surely five more minutes in bed would be fine.
Needless to say, the next time you woke, it was still there. You could feel it before you had even opened your eyes, slithering across your shoulder. You could even direct it, making the feeling of 'The Serpent' move ono your back, over your neck, onto your cheek, even under your hair and across your ear. If it were a tingling or ticklish sensation you probably would have stopped, but it was just so strange and oddly comfortable.
By the time you opened your eyes, you had that feeling winding itself around your fingers and weren't even surprised to see that sense reflected on your skin.
The only problem was that it also moved on its own, without your prompting. Not necessarily quickly or all the time, but your new tattoo seemed to feel no obligation to stay where you had put it. And you didn't think you could get away with long sleeves, gloves and a mask. You couldn't even do that in winter, never mind summer. Although a scarf and very large sunglasses might, in theory, make for a half decent substitute.
Maybe you could tell it to stay on your back. It was at least worth trying before you went through scenarios.
For the time being, you pushed it right there, got out of bed and peeked your head out of the door to your room.
Five minutes later, you had tea, cereal, and were back in the peace and quiet of your own room, trying to decide what to do.
Two of the others were away to visit family, but Malaya should in theory be in and you had no idea what to tell her. You were usually the one rolling your eyes and being disappointed when she had no idea when to stop drinking or baffled at her various relationships. And family dynamics, don't forget about those. Not that she wasn't nice and helpful enough, but you had absolutely no idea how she didn't lose track and how she didn't just collapse every day keeping up with it all. You were learning of course and you could see some facets of it just fine. It was the rest that tripped you up.
Even if it made for great entertainment and you still asked about it whenever you could. You were starting to make sense of it after all.
All of those things put aside though, you had the day off. No work to do, nothing but sleeping off your headache and, the cynical part of you added, enough opportunity for your madness to manifest and to make sure your coworkers could kick you out if you became a Batman Problem
Although considering the lack of murderous urges of any kind, you didn't think you would. You really, really hoped you wouldn't in fact. You would have loved to see Batman in action at some point, but that was probably not the way to do it. But would making a mental note to think twice about any murderous plans or elaborate, themed plans and costumes really be any help? At least some of the people locked up at Arkham Asylum must have asked themselves what they were doing at some point. And had apparently promptly decided to continue on anyway.
You would like to avoid that fate if at all possible. Maybe you were lucky and all you had gotten was a weird tattoo...
But you didn't think so. Or at least it would certainly be worth it to prepare for the chance that it wasn't.
Which meant you had to at least try and figure out more.
You could move it around already. The feeling at the back of your mind told you its name, but not what it was or what it did, but it might be some sort of link, which you could investigate.
Taking the back of your spoon and prodding it with that did absolutely nothing though, not that you had really expected it to, but it was worth trying. Using a sewing needle to pierce the skin the snake was occupying had a little more of an effect, but only in as much as it immediately moved away from that spot and was otherwise unchanged. So it could only occupy intact skin? Interesting. Maybe you could cut through it and that would have an effect... All you would have to do was to cut up your own body someplace and hold it in place.
Needless to say, you were somewhat hesitant to try that.
But there were only so many other things you could do. Stretching and scrunching the skin did nothing. The body part you had it on didn't really feel different, or if it did, it wasn't enough for you to verify. Looking at it didn't do anything either, obviously.
Pushing at the feeling at the back of your mind did.
It agitated The Serpent. The creature moved faster if you did that, you could feel it more intently, but it also left you just a bit more drained, with no other obvious effect. Just that it was doing something and you had no idea what it was, but you should definitely find out before anything could happen to you. If it was draining your energy or something, you had better get it off before it was too late.
Still... you didn't feel like it was. And you sort of liked the thing.
If you showed anyone, you had no idea what they would do. At the Museum they would be suspicious, but you might be able to play it off as just getting a shock, but the piece being too broken to have done anything to you...
Should you:
[X] Try meditation. You have watched enough anime and read enough books to know this should work. Not to mention it was something you could do inside your own room, with no one around to ask questions and well before anyone else got into this.
[ ] Ask for help at the museum. Maybe there actually was some information they had on what you had come into contact with and could tell you what exactly you were dealing with. It wasn't as if this sort of thing was illegal and you would end up arrested, although they might insist you get cleansed.
[ ] Go to a church, touch some holy water and see if it does anything. Just to make sure.
[ ] Go looking for an expert on magic. Either the people at the Museum or the Library or the internet would hopefully allow you to find someone to ask for help with this.
[ ] write in.
The Serpent: Growth Points + 1
You can still access the other choices later for this one.
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- Location
- Canada
[X] Try meditation. You had watched enough anime and read enough books to know this should work. Not to mention it was something you could do inside your own room, with no one around to ask questions and well before anyone else got into this.
Rossum
Not a Cyberman
- Location
- Earth
[x] Go to a church, touch some holy water and see if it does anything. Just to make sure.
-[x] Bring bottles of purified drinking water and politely ask the priest to bless them. If asked, mention that you've heard reports of holy water fonts containing bacteria due to the water being stagnant. Most biblical baptisms took place in rivers with flowing water.
-[x] Bring bottles of purified drinking water and politely ask the priest to bless them. If asked, mention that you've heard reports of holy water fonts containing bacteria due to the water being stagnant. Most biblical baptisms took place in rivers with flowing water.
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[X] Try meditation. You had watched enough anime and read enough books to know this should work. Not to mention it was something you could do inside your own room, with no one around to ask questions and well before anyone else got into this.
- Location
- Home
[X] Try meditation. You have watched enough anime and read enough books to know this should work. Not to mention it was something you could do inside your own room, with no one around to ask questions and well before anyone else got into this.
As much as I hate the cliche, it is a good idea to try and find out on our own before we seek any help.
As much as I hate the cliche, it is a good idea to try and find out on our own before we seek any help.
- Location
- sweden
[X] Try meditation. You have watched enough anime and read enough books to know this should work. Not to mention it was something you could do inside your own room, with no one around to ask questions and well before anyone else got into this.
The larva would have been cute also cutting boxes on our skin and the closeing it by a soft cut like a kind of 2d cage if it gets too noticable is atleast a idea
The larva would have been cute also cutting boxes on our skin and the closeing it by a soft cut like a kind of 2d cage if it gets too noticable is atleast a idea
Silvereagle21
Soaring through the Sky
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] Try meditation. You had watched enough anime and read enough books to know this should work. Not to mention it was something you could do inside your own room, with no one around to ask questions and well before anyone else got into this.
- Location
- MN
[X] Try meditation. You had watched enough anime and read enough books to know this should work. Not to mention it was something you could do inside your own room, with no one around to ask questions and well before anyone else got into this.
- Location
- Louisville
[X] Try meditation. You had watched enough anime and read enough books to know this should work. Not to mention it was something you could do inside your own room, with no one around to ask questions and well before anyone else got into this.
lockingbane
If you're crazy and you know it clap your hands!
- Location
- Waxahachie tx
Hey, by any chance is this related to bendy and the ink machine? Because some of the abilities shown in there are pretty crazy. Ink Control, Teleportation through ink pools, Modifying living and non living matter into minions under the user's control, cartoon physics (Ex: Get crushed under something heavy and you are just flat until you re inflate yourself.), and, depending on the character, super strength, voice based hypnotism, or turning into ink.
If we can evolve our "tattoo" to reach those levels or it can gain powers like that... well, it would be pretty damn epic.
If we can evolve our "tattoo" to reach those levels or it can gain powers like that... well, it would be pretty damn epic.
Z488411
Scatterbrained
- Location
- Europa
@shlok Haha I was fine with any option. They would all have been interesting, even (or especially?) the pangolin, but we can definitely get more exotic stuff later.
@the swarm we could, but right now self mutulation seems a little extreme.
@Rossum mind if I borrow that idea if it doesn't get picked?
All of the options do something or other.
@lockingbane It's not bendy and the ink machine, although I am following that one too. It's a much slower burn and no literal ink control is involved, just tattoos. That said, growth is a thing and her powers will increase over time, with potentially some pretty crazy stuff too.
@the swarm we could, but right now self mutulation seems a little extreme.
@Rossum mind if I borrow that idea if it doesn't get picked?
All of the options do something or other.
@lockingbane It's not bendy and the ink machine, although I am following that one too. It's a much slower burn and no literal ink control is involved, just tattoos. That said, growth is a thing and her powers will increase over time, with potentially some pretty crazy stuff too.
lockingbane
If you're crazy and you know it clap your hands!
- Location
- Waxahachie tx
okay then. thanks for answering.
[X] Try meditation. You had watched enough anime and read enough books to know this should work. Not to mention it was something you could do inside your own room, with no one around to ask questions and well before anyone else got into this.
According to the Snake personality this should have good work
According to the Snake personality this should have good work
Rossum
Not a Cyberman
- Location
- Earth
Go right ahead! I did a quick search on holy water and it's literally water that has been blessed by a priest. Most biblical baptisms took place in a river and I imagine the water there would be just as effective (if not more so) than having a little tub or basin of water in a church. Basically, I see no reason why a vampire hunter or priest couldn't wade into a body of water and make every drop around him into holy water. The effect might dilute or wear off after he leaves, but it's not like the water itself is important, it's the blessing.
So... actually, it could be that mentions of witches, undead, or other forces of darkness being weak against water could be tied to the idea that water is a good conduit for holy magic. A holy man can potentially turn any glass, bucket, or river of water into holy water. Stagnant bodies of water might hold the blessing longer, but rivers and streams have volume.
Edit: Oh, and the thing about holy water fonts containing bacteria is true. People dip their hands into the water to get blessed, but germs and dirt wash off. It's not suitable for drinking and even dipping your hands in it is iffy if the font isn't emptied and cleaned regularly. Or just have something like an ornate water cooler where the priest blesses the jug the water comes from.
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Z488411
Scatterbrained
- Location
- Europa
Yep. I figured as much and it actually matches her personality to think of something like this. And with what we might end up dealing with, some holy water could come in handy.
And also the bacteria thing makes perfect sense.
3. Self Experimentation
Z488411
Scatterbrained
- Location
- Europa
3. Self Experimentation
You would try meditation first. It wasn't as if you couldn't go out and ask for help later, but you wanted to at least try and find out more yourself first.
Meditation was supposed to be easy, right?
Moving your pillow onto the floor, you got into position. Crossing your legs, making sure you were sitting correctly, hands in position and eyes closed. And now you just had to... mediate.
Apparently, meditation was nowhere near as easy as advertised. How were you supposed to just not think anyway? It had something to do with breathing of course, but maybe you were missing something else too.
Before you spent half an hour or more just experimenting, you decided to just grab your phone and your trusty headphones (cord replaced twice already, but they still worked). The internet had to have some instructions, this was supposed to be popular after all and if you could find enough commonalities, you would just work from there. There were even videos to help you along.
Well, maybe not for your particular situation, but in general and in theory. You donned the headphones, made sure they sat comfortably and pressed play.
No matter how silly you might feel in the process.
You breathed.
You didn't know exactly how long you felt just breathing, letting the various sensations pass by.
It was nothing like what anime and literature had promised you. Nothing like some internal font of power or any such thing, just peaceful. Peaceful and difficult to maintain. You had to keep reminding yourself not to get distracted, to just let those thoughts pass by. Let the voice fade into the background. Se the musing to help yourself relax, no matter how tense you were.
But the feeling at the back of your mind didn't go away.
You couldn't stop being simultaneously apprehensive and at peace with it and what it might be doing to you. Did it mean anything if you didn't feel any different? Your thoughts felt slower somehow.
You didn't know how much time had passed, but the soft music helped somehow. The voice was silent and you had time. Time to look at this strange new sensation and feel it out slowly. Like a link at the back of your mind, you could feel the exact shape of The Serpent moving over your skin. Direct it like an extra limb that was both yours and different somehow. The Serpent was a part of you, but it wasn't like your hand or your foot.
Really, if it had felt like a hand or a foot, that would have been concerning all on its own. But it didn't. It was both distant and not. You could tug at it, carefully at first, just like you could push it. You could somehow move yourself towards it, but that was more difficult. You could move away without any resistance and yet it was linked to your mind, even if it didn't whisper to you like you would imagine being possessed or having some sort of weird passenger to be like.
There was no real mind behind it. No consciousness you could feel, just very vague urges. Feelings and sensations, flowing weakly from it to you. Calm and considering, without judgment.
You stepped closer.
You pushed into the space in between that you didn't understand and that seemed to push you back and tug at you at the same time, in all directions, until you suddenly shot through.
The Serpent engulfed you.
It swallowed you whole until every sensation had changed in a confusing instant and you could suddenly see again.
Your eyes wouldn't close, but everything was a little less distinct. You couldn't see colour as you had before and your stomach was directly resting on soft, warm fabric that seemed so much bigger than your pillow had been, even if you hadn't moved.
Flexing your muscles and scales against it, it was easy to push off the material and move yourself forwards, all without even needing to think about your arms and legs. You could lift your head and move it all around so easily, just as long as you compensated with the rest of your body and kept up your muscle tension. Maneuvering your head into all sorts of positions was easy.
It took you entirely too long to realise that you were supposed to have arms and legs and that the fabric under you didn't just grow.
But all you could see behind you was a long body covered in smooth scales, patterned in beige, green, brown and black. Long and slender instead of the bulk of a boa or python and you could move all of it as if you had always been able to. As if this was completely normal and nothing to be concerned about at all even if you had just lost your hands and your body used to look completely different.
You could even still hear the music coming from the headphones next to your head. Which was far, far too small now.
The distorted surface of your headphones' metal parts showed you a slender, blunt head merging seamlessly with the neck and relatively large, round eyes. You tasted it with your tongue with one swift flick. There were so many more flavors in the air than you could ever have guessed. Like what you had lost in visual acuity was being paid back many times in this different world of scents.
And of course, your human scent was all over the room, but your pillow smelled of detergent and feathers too. The headphones tasted metallic, the leather was something else entirely, the wooden floors had their own taste and even each plank of wood was faintly distinct. You had moved off your warm pillow without even thinking. Flicking your tongue here and there, tasting your backpack, your jacket, your notes inside, your chair and your keys. You could even get back onto your bed even if it wasn't quite as easy.
You weren't exactly a long snake after all.
Which somewhat got back to the crux of the matter.
If your roommate found you, she would scream. You couldn't talk like this, you had no way of explaining at all and even if you theoretically knew how to do this, there was no guarantee you could just turn back the same way and forget this ever happened.
Maybe you should have found someone to help first. This was absolutely influencing the way you thought and you lived in Gotham. You knew what altered states of mind could do to people, even the natural forms, never mind something like this. You couldn't even make any noise but to hiss in alarm and to tap the ground with your body.
This had to be reversible. Right?
You could still feel something at the back of your mind, something else. But you couldn't focus. You were stuck as a snake!
What would you do if you couldn't fix this? This was exactly why you should have been more careful. No more experimentation unless you knew what you were doing or had help. You could use your mouth to write, maybe, but if something worse happen, you might be well and truly screwed.
But first, you had to try and fix this. You had to calm down. You were still alive, you could still think something vaguely resembling rationally at least. You had absolutely no desire to ut on a ridiculous costume and rob a bank. You could fix this, just as long as you breathed. There were ways out of this. You couldn't afford to panic, just calm down...
Breathe.
In and out.
You were fine. You couldn't close your eyes, but you were fine. You would find a way out, you just had to focus.
Nothing going on around you mattered. Just breathe. Not the chair, not the pillow, not the cool air or the feeling of wood on your scales or the many tastes in the air. Just let it go. Just focus on yourself. The Serpent was calm, you could be calm too. You could see it, you could feel it very differently. That connection you had made, pushing you back. The weird, fuzzy space in between pulling you in so many ways.
The sudden darkness as everything expanded and you felt yourself lying on the floor with something poking your hip and your toe being jammed against a bedpost.
But you could only roll over and stare at the ceiling.
You would never do this sort of thing again without someone to help or at least call help if you passed out. Or if you ended stuck in a way that wouldn't allow you to do so yourself.
That was way too close.
You weren't even doing anything illegal. There was nothing you could be charged with, apart from the danger of telling the government you were a meta. But between that and getting stuck, you might want to reconsider your priorities. But first, you just closed your eyes and rested.
It had to be about noon when you woke back up with a new set of aches and pains and extracted your headphones from underneath your hip.
But what now?
[ ] Tell your roommate Malaya. She should be in and just in case something like this happens again, she would be able to call for help. You had no guarantee you wouldn't do anything weird to yourself in your sleep.
[x] Go to a church and dip your hands in some holy water right now. Just to be sure. And then take a few water bottles with you just in case it doesn't do anything and you can convince a priest to bless them. They might come in handy later and it never hurts to be prepared. Especially since you had no idea if this might make you more attractive to magical threats.
[X] Go looking for an expert on magic. It's not just a weird tattoo. It might do all sorts of things and you should really get help before you manage to do something worse to yourself.
[ ] Ask for help at the museum. Maybe there actually was some information they had on what you had come into contact with and could tell you what exactly you were dealing with. It wasn't as if this sort of thing was illegal and you would end up arrested, although they might insist you get cleansed. And they might even have a point there too.
[ ] Write in
Parietal Eye unlock 1/?
Heat vision unlock 1/2
Partial transformation unlock started
The Serpent GP +3
The Serpent current GP: 4
Charissa has unlocked Full transformations. Transforms into her Mark.
Other Marks would have taken a bit longer to get to this point, but she's gotten a pretty good scare out of it too.
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[X] Go looking for an expert on magic. It's not just a weird tattoo./ It might do all sorts of things and you should really get help before you manage to do something worse to yourself.
Need an adult! ....doesn't Jason Blood live in Gotham in some continuities?
Need an adult! ....doesn't Jason Blood live in Gotham in some continuities?