over and over i keep going over

"i'd rather be dead"

--

it's hard to look at her directly. your vision blurs and doubles whenever you try. you're not even looking at the Real her, not really. you don't know it, but you're standing upon her surface right now. she sees you.

"I've gotten revenge for my mother. But my heart doesn't feel any lighter."

war has no need for the parts of you that are soft

"beware the friendly stranger. beware the hostile stranger. beware the child stranger. beware the elderly stranger. beware anyone that isn't you, for everyone is the enemy."

Neuro Maculo

once, there was a man who spent so long stooped in front of the television, in front of the mirror. whenever anyone told him to be afraid, and whatever they told him to be afraid of, he would believe them. this happened for so long and so often that he began to fear anyone except himself. in fact, he began to think of ways he could pacify people. the more he thought, the more venom filled his tentacles. it's a numbing, quieting venom, that only hurts for a moment before the victim loses itself into endless bliss, never moving, never eating, never drinking, just lying there and wasting away, the only brain activity being the same droning old music over and over and over again. the man would keep them locked in a little room. they would be safe that way. they won't hurt each other that way. they would fall silent and he would be happy.

"but what do i do with my old ████?"

--

Drosselmeyer, a maker of monsters, featuring his wife. You don't see her you say? How rude.

Here's a riddle for you: She is much the same type of creature as any other on Earth, but one of constructed make. Her skin is glued to her body in massive strips in vintage colors. Her bones are taken from plants and dirt and mostly covered, with some exposed instances polished to a shine. Her arteries are passageways your subconscious knows quite well. Her eyes are shiny and light up from within. She has a great many mouths, left to open and close at anyone's discretion including her own. When there are many people around and she is well taken care of, she is at her most happiest.

"YOU DROVE ME INTO THE GROUND"

(tails from sonic adventure real time fandub voice) can yall like stop having relationship issues while i'm on the phone with my dentist

"you talk as if you knew me"

"my weapon wonders where my rage went. it should know it never left, but i can't use it anymore. i'm not allowed."

"do you think anyone's bothered to ask a fairy why they always want to take children away? i already know the answer they would give! they would say It's not our fault that our world is better than yours."

the Moon is not an arbiter of justice. they are a hungry antlion with particular tastes.

where do we go from here?

---

everything Florence feels is amplified. because of this, she is left frightened and confused by what she feels for Eliza. surely, the normal way to feel love feels nothing like what she feels. surely not. there's no way that's normal. it is only a thing to repress. repress until it goes away. repress until the need to be held so tight your circuitry becomes one and your wires and chips and machinery become indistinguishable from each other goes away.

nobody laughs anymore, nobody laughs anymore, nobody laughs anymore

---

"where we are going, you will be happy! everyone will be happy! why wouldn't you want to go. give me an answer."

The Last Exit of the Asphodel Express, a new oc universe i've begun developing. still very much in its early stages, but i'll say what i have so far

after a manmade rapture-esque event known as The Last Exit has caused every human on earth to disappear, living numerous creations behind, every robot left on earth wakes up from sleep mode to emotions. Slowly gathering in an AI-operated bullet train, they are left to navigate the world their creators left behind. Florence, the train operator whose prime directive is to gather as many robots as possible. Showroom, a stoic display mannequin in command of many others of his kind. Eliza, a robotic lounge singer repressing her grief. Joel, a childlike educator bot who woke up alone.

All of them, despite everything, have people they want to see again. But that's okay.

Once, there was an ancient, insurmountable being. Older than any sentient race could account for, it sought a place to die. But try as it might, it couldn't die. Its body was too old, too aged. The only way it could get solace from continued existence was sleep.

And it did sleep. It slept for so long its consciousness began to slough off and its dreams began to think for themselves.

But every once in a while, it still wakes up. It hears its own children, it hears the loud blue planet near it, and it feels a corroding disdain.

In all its existence, it has only granted one wish. Someone will live, just long enough to realize their wrongdoing.

"Just long enough" only works if the woman ever realizes her wrongdoing. She won't. She never will.

It doesn't really care how that ended up. It just wants to sleep, to disappear, to die.

--

who's the brightest star you see?

it's me!

a human animal that stood on two legs and held video conferences but regardless was a beast that used to sit in the field and gather to others for comfort and sympathy

"it was small. a grain of sand. insignificant, some might claim. but it was ours. ours always. you do not get to hurt it."

"LOOK AROUND YOU AND SEE THE NOTHING. LOOK AROUND YOU AND KNOW YOUR OWN HUBRIS. YOU ARE BUT A GRAIN OF SAND, BUT WE WOULD'VE LOVED YOU REGARDLESS."

"and yet"

"AND YET"

"i think i saw Radi in my dream last night. i was trying so hard to be happy to see her. but she didn't look right. nothing about her looked right. it made me afraid, and i did not want to be afraid. because that's Radi. that's my Radi. she's back. i knew nothing happened. i knew it. yet i was afraid, but i couldn't scream. instead, when i silently watched her crumple to the ground with a sound like bones crunching, i just laughed bitterly. stupid thing. why can't you be like her?