THE PRINCE.

[johannescena]

42 character development questions!

[beastologist-deactivated2017050]

PHYSICAL PRESENCE AND GESTURE. 1. How do they move and carry themselves? Pace, rhythm, gestures, energy? 2. How much physical space do they use, active and at rest? 3. How do they position themselves in a group? Do they like to be the center of attention, or do they hang back at the edges of a crowd? 4. What is their size and build? How does it influence how they use their body, if it does? 5. How do they dress? What styles, colors, accessories, and other possessions do they favor? Why? 6. What are they like in motion–in different environments, and in different activities? What causes the differences between these? 7. How do they physically engage with other people, inanimate objects, and their environment? What causes the differences between these? 8. Where and when do they seem most and least at ease? Why? How can you tell? 9. How do they manifest energy, exhaustion, tension, or other strong emotions? 10. What energizes and drains them most? 11. How are they vocally expressive? What kind of voice, accent, tones, inflections, volume, phrases and slang, and manner of speaking do they use? 12. How are they bodily expressive? How do they use nonverbal cues such as their posture, stance, eyes, eyebrows, mouths, and hands? DISPOSITION AND TEMPERAMENT. 13. How do they greet the world — what is their typical attitude towards life? How does it differ in different circumstances, or towards different subjects? Why do they take these attitudes, and why do they change? How do these tend to be expressed? 14. What do they care deeply about? What kind of loyalties, commitments, moral codes, life philosophies, passions, callings, or spirituality and faith do they have? How do these tend to be expressed? 15. What kind of inner life do they have — rich and imaginative? Calculating and practical? Full of doubts and fears? Does it find any sort of outlet in their lives? 16. Do they dream? What are those dreams like? 17. Are they more shaped by nature or nurture — who they are, or what has happened to them? How have these shaped who they’ve become as a person? 18. What kind of person could they become in the future? What are some developmental paths that they could take, (best, worst, most likely?) what would cause them to come to pass, and what consequences might they have? What paths would you especially like to see, and why? CONNECTIONS WITH OTHERS. 19. How do they behave within a group? What role(s) do they take? Does this differ if they know and trust the group, versus finding themselves in a group of strangers? Why? 20. What kind of individual relationships do they have with others, and how do they behave in them? How are they different between intimate relationships like friends, family, and lovers versus more impersonal relationships? 21. What kind of relationships do they tend to intentionally seek out versus actually cultivate? What kind of social contact do they prefer, and why? 22. How do people respond to them, and why might these responses differ? 23. How do they respond to difficult social moments? What makes them consider a social situation difficult? 24. How do they present themselves socially? What distinguishes their “persona” from their “true self”, and what causes that difference? 25. What do they need and want out of relationships, and how do they go about getting it? 26. How do they view and feel about relationships, and how might this manifest in how they handle them, if it does? ACTIVITIES AND PREFERENCES. 27. What do they strongly like and dislike, in any category? Why? 28. What are they likely to do if they have the opportunity, resources, and time to accomplish it? Why? 29. What kind of activities, interests, and hobbies do they have? What significance and impact do these have in their lives, both positive and negative? 30. What is their preferred level of activity and stimulation? How do they cope if they get either too little or too much? 31. Is there anything that counts as a “dealbreaker” for them, positively or negatively? What makes things go smoothly, and what spoils an activity or ruins their day? Why? 32. Do they have any “props” that are a significant part of their life, identity, activities, or self-presentation somehow? What are they, how are they used, and why are they so significant? How would these props’ absence impact them, how would they compensate, and why? THINKING AND LEARNING. 33. How do they learn about the world–what is their preferred learning style? Hands-on learning with trial and error? Research, reading, and note-taking? Observation or rote memorization? Inductive or deductive reasoning? Seeking patterns and organization? Taking things apart and putting them back together? Creative processing via discussing, writing about, or dramatizing things? 34. How do they understand the world–what kind of worldview and thought processes do they have? Why? 35. How and why do they internalize knowledge? What effect has that had on them? 36. How much do they rely on their minds and intellect, versus other approaches like relying on instinct, intuition, faith and spirituality, or emotions? What is their opinion on this? 37. Have they had any special education or training that colors their means of learning about or understanding the world? Conversely, do they lack some kind of education considered essential in their world? What kind of impact has this addition or lack had on them? 38. Is there anything they wish they could change about their worldview or thought processes? What, and why? 39. What sort of questions or thoughts recur in their lives, either specifically or as a theme? Why are these never answered, or answered permanently to their satisfaction? 40. What do they wonder about? What sparks their curiosity and imagination, and why? How is this expressed, if it is? FREE FOR ALL. 41. What associations do they bring to mind? Words or phrases, images, metaphors or motifs? Why? 42. I have a question of my own!

[secondheir]

❛    I DON’T OWE HER ANYTHING!    ❜      o childish youth,   diminished prematurely when violet eyes elicit a spark of sorrow fused with rage  ;    tone defiant and bellowing from the chest beneath the armor.  no longer a boy  --  but a man.  STAND TALL  ----   DO YOU FEEL POWERFUL?   not quite a king,  though starved for the crown.  there are tales of princes who became corrupted by greed, who shrank beneath cloaked arrogance.  the anger is not directed to her specifically, although the course of this river has spun violently out of control.  it had escalated when her hand connected with his cheek, a lashing for his unruly &  unthinkable address to one of his mothers. 

           ❛    AND I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE!   ❜     o  valiant fool, fighting a noble and lost cause.   your family disintegrated years earlier.  all that remains is ash & dust.  end this nonsense now  --  YOU WANT TO BE A MAN, YET YOU POUT LIKE A CHILD. 

┊ ˚˖↷  @weaponexpert

[secondheir]

     BEWILDERMENT ETCHED IN A VIOLET GAZE.  mere moments, seconds almost too late  --  time counting against him ; his head turned. arms crossed. posture straightened and stiff, conscious and on guard even in solitude and sanctuary  (  that which feels temporary, that which he won’t say )   but distracted by nonexistent dangers. is it imaginative or a faraway thought when he thinks of echoing thunders, of rumbling ominous storms above his head somewhere in this compound. or is he truly hearing things? he happens to turn when the bone chilling gasp escapes her, as though an otherworldly force snatched her breath. and she’s halfway to the floor as he, instinctively but rather clumsily, dives after to break the fall.  

         ❛  mia?   ❜   a rather unorthodox nickname that had yet to gain her approval. it’s better than swears or panicking when his hands fumble, shaking ever so lightly. not dead not dead but what  ----  ?  he should be screaming for a med droid, he should be screaming. yet his voice is constraint, limited to only her hearing. if she is still listening, that is. his voice, utterly lost and rather childish sounding makes a hapless plea  -- practically the first words that come to mind, stumbling about.     ❛   mia? mia ... mia. wake up. wake up. please.   ❜

┊ ˚˖↷  @firstchosen

[firstchosen]

"if we live through this, i'll follow you anywhere woman." - secondheir

❝  when.  ❞  the word is short  &  clipped, but full of nothing but pure confidence. she doesn’t smile, doesn’t let her expression waver beyond the mask of indifference that she’s perfected for strenuous situations. her gaze is adoring, fixed upon him as if he hung all of the suns  &  moons in all the galaxies, known  &  unknown. one corner of her mouth does twitch, briefly  (  mostly unnoticeable, but it happens all the same  ).  ❝  when we live through this, mi corazón. that is what you meant to say. when we live through this, i’ll let you follow me anywhere.  ❞

[secondheir]

█ █ firstchosen.   

and just like that, any trace of a smile drops. he doesn’t know, he can’t know, but it hits all too close to home  ———  she should have seen it, should have known ( she’d been only a child when he’d come for her the first time: whispers in her nightmares and a shadow on the wall; she’d cried to her mother  &  father, and they had listened  —  they had listened, and she was left alone  ).  she steps back, distancing herself from him  ——  he hadn’t hit her, but he may as well have; mental scars tear themselves open, and hand automatically goes to the lightsaber at her hip before she stops herself  (  he isn’t an enemy, he isn’t going to try and hurt her ).

❝  and how do you know i didn’t ? ❞  she asks when she finds her voice, hiss more evident now as she steps back in, hand outstretching to use the force to haul him to his feet.  ❝  how do you know i didn’t see every terrible thing ?  how do you know i haven’t seen what happens to you, to your mothers, to your sister ?  ❞  her hand is still stretched, but fingers curl in, and she closes an invisible grip around his throat  (  not intended to hurt, but rather to scare ).

❝  i did see it, your highness.  ❞  she releases her hold, lets her arm drop by her side.  ❝  had it not been for the watchful eye of my parents, i would have been part of it.  ❞  it isn’t his business, and he doesn’t need to know. but if he wants to throw the blow, she’ll take away the power behind it.  ❝  is that answer to your satisfaction ?  ❞

 and in that instance, pandora’s box had been unleashed. and all the horrors kept locked away, abound by repressed memories, resurface at once at unwitting foolishness. she looks upon him as though he struck her; he hadn’t meant to, in hindsight. those words had been poorly chosen venom. he’d just been so angry... for anyone to speak ill of his sister... he had fury. unkept, reckless fury lingering and it was not a gift bestowed from his queen mother either.

  like an otherworldly force ( a literal one ) he’s ripped from the floor and on his feet. the sensation frightens him and it feels as though he were in whiplash, all his organs thrown backwards. the unnatural gravity leaves him shaken and before he can take his next breath and fix his stance, his throat encloses on itself. it starts like a pinch, uncomfortable but tolerable, but escalating into unbearable. gloved fingers paw at the collar of his armor which seems to contribute to the issue, but it does not distract him from hearing every word.

  as if smiles laced with sweetness amidst savagery or pearl-like daggers weren’t enough to frighten him, now she enchants him by dangling him like a child’s toy -- helpless at bay, the centered direction her anger can be tossed towards. she’s seen things, she tells him. she’s seen fires. his mothers, and a fallen kingdom perhaps? his sister, taken and all his efforts in vain. and him -- ruined prince, hapless fool -- a corpse on display. she does not say these words. these are the images of his worst fears that he has felt since he recognized the weight of his title.

    the addition of highness is the icing atop the wounds, the sweetened blow. her words are vague when she recalls a prophecy  --  when she reflects on the monster she could have been. strangely, he finds that saddening as opposed to frightening to hear because surely she’s no older than he? who would craft a monster from a child?  

                ❛   ----  if you’re the angel of death who refuses to follow...   ❜   he struggles, semi-aware of his semantics being used at rather poor timing  (  even if, in a morbid sense, that is what she is. )  and he is potentially wasting his breath, he asks      ❛  --- why did you come then?   ❜

[secondheir]

█ █ firstchosen. 

❝  impressive.  ❞  and it is…  in a way.  ❝  so i suppose you’re proud of that. i suppose your mother is proud of that, that the prince of mandalore is a bounty hunter instead of preparing to take over the throne.  ❞  then again, she knows nothing of mandalorian culture & customs  ——  as far as she knows, his queen mother could be delighted at the idea of him continuing that part of the legacy. sabine wren had been a bounty hunter once  ——  her name was scribbled in the margins of more than one part of the galaxy.

her hand is still extended, her expression one of pure patience as she waits for him to take it. once he does take her hand, she has to wonder: is he stupid enough to believe that she’s never been taught a proper handshake? she’d believe it. her fingers curl around his hand, and then she gives a sharp jerk, not letting him finish the introduction before she’s flipping him, laying him flat on his back on the cold duracrete.  ❝  pleasure to meet you, your highness. tell me ——  was the choice to leave the throne your own, or did your mother’s advisers warn her that to have someone so stupid in power could pose a threat to mandalore’s existence ?  because i’m beginning to believe that it may be the latter.  ❞

    mockery, every word of hers is seeping in it. it is not the first time he has experienced the jeers of disbelief and taunts spewed with lingering envy  ----  although he supposes were she not the equivalent of an armed monk, it would not have anything to do with wealth regardless  ---- but the ridicule wounds him anyways. pain not equivalent to the physical one he experiences, a dull throbbing ebbed in the back of his head and spreading down spine the second he makes impact with the ground. it had been so sudden & without warning, and he was an idiot who should have seen it coming. ironic, the armor he parades it only worsens the matter as a sensation of pins and needles pricks at his arm that he tries to raise too quickly to pillow his skull. 

     ha ha. perhaps he should laugh, laugh along the choirs that belittled him for surrendering his title without being told the truth. or how his mother had fought for to righteously regain what had been taken from her, with admirable ferocity that even her enemies were humbled by, only for a son lacking wits to toss it away out of apparent boredom. yes, those are the stories shared on the tongue as of late it seems, a prince in all but duties  ----  spoiled selfish. 

    ❛   i don’t have to tell you a damn thing.   ❜    he snaps when he recovers and there are no longer dots dancing around the sight of her pretty ( but all too cruel ) face, his tone darkening. a sneer made towards him is, unconscious or not, directed towards his sister as well  --  and that is not something he takes lightly.   ❛  because then you’ll have to tell me, wise jedi, what’s the use in your freak powers if you couldn’t have foreseen the rise of the first order?  hm?    ❜

[secondheir]

█ █ firstchosen.  

❝  a waste of resources and time if she’s going to send a militia after you for forgetting to say you love her. surely she must know that her first born loves her.  ❞  tongue clicks, and she shakes her head. she isn’t a leader by any means, but she’ll pretend.  ❝  i know how my mother is. i imagine she’s very different from yours.  ❞  her own mother delights in her independence, delights in her living her life. it’s the same for her younger sister  —— there’s no need for i love you’s all the time: it’s simply the way of things, a common fact of life.   ❝  my sister and i rarely call home. then again, my sister tends to have other things to do.  ❞

she sees the wounded pride cross his features, and her own pride swells beneath her breast  ( her mother would be so proud of her  ——  she may have to make a call home after all ).   ❝  oh ?  maybe you should teach me how to give a proper handshake, then. i’ve never bothered to learn.  ❞  a lie, and a truth  ——  she knows how to shake hands ( she has a brain, after all !  ),  but she doesn’t bother with doing such  ——  there’s never any need for it, not when bowing seems to be the best way to greet someone.   ❝  valuable things to teach your child, i imagine. yet not the most important.  ❞

here, she steps back enough to comfortably extend her hand to him, teeth carefully tucked behind her lips as she smiles at him once again. he’s cute, in that dumb way  ——  she can tell that he’s intrigued, infatuated with her. but it doesn’t mean she can’t have fun with him, doesn’t mean that she can’t play with her food.  ❝  amaya.  ❞

   ❛   i wouldn’t call it a waste when the most recent offer on my head was two hundred thousand credits or so, and that’s regarding the core system credits. the outer rim has a different financial system  --  and they really, really don’t like me.    ❜   can they be faulted for that?  he tends to think it has less to do with hatred and more so with envy ; not his fault they were born with sand up their asses and wrinkles permanently ingrained from relentless sun exposure. in spite of the implications of harrowing peril, it seems like he’s trying to brag about his status. after all, it counts as fame. a dashing prince who renounces his title for reasons kept only to himself, known only by his mother and a few closest advisers, seemingly drawn to the reclusive life of a rogue filled with hardships at the mere chance of self made profit. 

   although tempting, he doesn’t ask about her mother. unlike that of jumping to hyperspace at inappropriate times for fun without a seat belt, that seems to tread into more dangerous territory. his brows jump at sister. that was not anticipated. ah, another one? and what was distinguishable about that one that he apparently failed to notice earlier? was she prettier? meaner? smaller?  

   he’s skeptical  when she claims she has never been taught an actual proper handshake. how can someone in all the galaxy possibly  . . .  ?  then he remembers the everlasting, unending range of stars and the broad horizons ; in this vivid day and age, anything goes. hesitant in movement, he gradually relaxes to bring forth his hand to meet her own once her smile seems less feral. amaya, noted. melodic and unusual, a dulcet tone that rolls off her tongue with superior grace as compared to her botched mando’a attempt.  and so, with a twinge of worry brushed off by relaxed confidence, he is elated to properly present himself;   ❛  prince jace, second heir of mandalore. delighted to -----    ❜

[secondheir]

  out  of  respect  for  the  memories  of  his  relatively  pleasant  and  normal  childhood,  he  refers  with  with  a  familial  tone  as  mothers.  even  though  they  have  been  separated  now  for  over  twenty  years.  even  though  the  bond  (  or lack thereof  )  with  ketsu  is  strained ;  at  best.  just  because.

[secondheir]

█ █ firstchosen. 

oh, so she’s scared him  ——  good. teeth are still exposed as she steps back in, her hand coming to wrap slender fingers ‘round his wrist.  ❝  oh, you don’t need to be in any hurry.  ❞  her smile is considerably softer now, the edge of it gone, tucked behind her lips as her suitable smile takes place.  ❝  your queen mother will still be there later, yes ? why rush to call her now ?  ❞

she steps in closer, once again gaining the closeness she’d had before.  ❝  i thought we were having a very nice chat, didn’t you ?  ❞  fingers tighten their grip on his wrist (  she notes the change in his pulse  —  it’s enough to bring another smile to the corners of her mouth ).  and she tips her head a fraction, now giving her attempt at the most innocent look she can manage.  ❝  i didn’t meant to scare you, um —  ❞  his name. she knows it, it’s been plastered all over the holonet since he was born: jace onyo-wren, mandalore’s golden boy, the light of his mothers’ lives  ——  when he’d renounced his title, the galaxy had been left shocked, her own parents included.

❝  jace.  ❞  his name is said as gently as she can manage it, but she can’t stop the hiss in the pronunciation. fingers loosen now, giving him the choice to leave, should he wish  (  she hopes he doesn’t  ——  she isn’t done playing with him yet ).   ❝  didn’t your mothers teach you manners ?  you shouldn’t leave a woman unsatisfied.  ❞

    with frozen feet bounded to the floor, the decision to step back comes seconds too late  ----  and now he’s wrapped around her finger. ensnared by claws pinched at his wrist, fingertips or the force or whatever mysticism at bay taking note of his pulse which has quickened considerably. he favors the notion being more magical based because well  ...  he has doubts she’s a licensed medical professional. true, there are passable mirialan qualities on her and those folks have some phenomenal healing skills but when they smile at their patients he gathers those poor, sick, delusional souls don’t stare into eyes of fire and pearl daggers for teeth.  on an unrelated note, she wouldn’t be the worst being he’s lain eyes on however.

        ❛   to remind her that i love her. y’know, it’s a mama’s boy’s duties. inconsistency could lead to an earful, or her sending an entire militia after me.  ❜    lies, somewhat.  she wouldn’t, but she could. and mom leading, the kinder of the two in spite of having a harsher face and crueler tactics. it dawns onto him that perhaps while joking, on her perspective it could appear a vague threat. and he has done enough to irritate her as is.   ❛  even if we’re having a lovely conversation, really. you know how mothers are.  ❜    she does, right? she’s not an orphan with a somber unspoken tale and here he is slashing at still-healing wounds  --  because he doesn’t want this remark to cost him a hand.

      in the instance her features soften, the facade of predators pretending to pity prey, he leans in favor for that earlier claim. her being the last object his vision focuses on before dwindling away doesn’t sound so bad   -----  except he’s not subscribing to the death option anytime soon.  ( though for one like him to make such broad claims and follow with bold, thoughtless actions ----  no one said he was perfect. he is consistent though. )   and then there’s the um.

    um  ------- ?  how could she not know him? with wounded pride he opens his mouth but she resolves her forgetfulness with a hiss, releasing him from her bounds. must she say it so unkindly? gloved fingertips rub small circles around his pinched wrist, akin to a creature licking its wounds.  by the way  ----- ouch.  

      ❛   my mothers taught me how to give proper handshakes and to check pulses on th’ neck, not the wrist. thank you very much miss  ------- ?    ❜    most unpacific jedi ever  ...  ? perhaps not a sith but matches all the qualities aside from the ugliness he’s read up about. he’s absolutely fascinated. 

[secondheir]

█ █ @firstchosen.   

she’s trying to keep up the facade  ——  the one of pure disinterest, and perhaps the one of intimidation. but he’s charming, in the annoying way  (  she knows that she can never, ever say that aloud  —— his ego is large enough as it is  ).  ❝  well, now you do know.  ❞  she doesn’t smile at him, doesn’t move. instead, she stays close, probably uncomfortably so.  ❝  you can thank him, if you like…  he and your mother haven’t spoken in some time. i’m sure he’d love to hear how she’s doing.  ❞

she presses her lips together as she thinks, and she brings herself back just enough to allow sufficient breathing room.  ❝  that was honesty, whether or not you think it’s hostility is up to you. it doesn’t make it any less of the truth. ❞  here, she does smile  ——  making certain her teeth (  sharp, never shown unless necessary ) are exposed.  ❝  i’m still choosing honesty. ❞ 

    unconsciously, his hands raise like weights slowly lifted from the ground as a weak means of defense.  she’s so close.  and she speaks so monotonously about burning kingdoms to ash and desecrating legacies ancestral branch by branch   -------  or that is a bit of an over assumption.  of course, he does not doubt her capabilities. he would not like to see these threats realized at all, in fact!  if anything, finding a way to exit from this conversation as soon as possible sounds so heavenly and nowhere within his grasp . . .   

    oh.  oh no.  teeth bared with a predatory gleam even in this dim light   ----   oh come on. how was he supposed to know? how’s he going sweet talk his way out of avoiding those lovely pearl daggers sinking into his carotid artery?  ( the obvious answer  --  to simply shut up!  --  is foreign for him. )  they complement the ferocity in her eyes as she probably contemplates cauterizing his limbs. has anyone ever mentioned that to her? perhaps he ought to return the favor of untold stories and say it. the consequences would undoubtedly be more painful and the humor lost on her end.  but hey, in fairness,  he intends to be here for a good time  --  not a long time.  

      ❛   and i’m  ----   ❜    he drawls, eyes drawn to her face  ( to her teeth )  out of terror and awe.   ❛  choosin’ to uh, just think on that. maybe mention it to my ma next time i call her or somethin’.  i should  --  i should do that right now in fact. so ... honestly, time for me to go.  ❜

[secondheir]

█ █ firstchosen.  

a brow arches  ——  genuine curiosity begins to seep in along the edges of her mind  —  and her smile softens into one that can almost pass for kind. until his next comment, then her smile drops completely. she rises to her feet then, taking a step in closer to him. her head tips, and she inspects him  (  curiously, akin to innocently  ).  ❝  you were created in a lab, then ? and then implanted ? that sounds just like a parasite. ❞

no real malice laces into her words now, but instead, it edges on teasing.  ❝  is it honesty you want ?  i can provide that. ❞  she steps in closer, where there’s less than an inch of space between them.  ❝  your queen mother  ——mandalore ? is that the title ?  ❞  the raw form of the title doesn’t roll on her tongue  —  she’ll have to settle. she presses in, less than centimeter between them now.  ❝  well. my father nearly killed her. nearly sliced her head clean off.  his hesitation is the very reason for your existence.  ❞  

         oh.  how very  . . .  frightening.  and yet, oddly enlightening. that is definitely one amongst many bedtime stories that his mother conveniently failed to mention  ( will he mention it later?  perhaps  ...  )  and he notices the lack of distance between them ;  not because he’s drawn to the fires of golden flecked, black eyes or the the venom seething in the words from her scowl.  for once in his short-lived life, he’s cautious. the saber resting ‘pon her hip is in his line of sight, hoping it stays right there, ignored.  

     funny, how words are scarier than flying fists. the melodious accent that butchers his mother’s title goes unnoticed. it would not be wise to give her a friendly lesson in correcting the term.   

      ❛   ----  well uh ... that was ...  that was something i was not aware of.  ❜     he finally manages, barely.   ❛   thanks for the fun fact. but i think yer mistaking honesty with hostility still, or pure instinctual terror. or whatever you’d call that.   ❜

[weaponexpert-deactivated2017120]

streams of excited kisses as a means of thanks for his first real blaster he's been gifted with this life day, somehow missing the 'it's not a toy!' part - secondheir c:

she enjoys the attention  ——  it’s so rarely given, especially from a son who  (  so boldly  )  claims that he’s too old to give or get kisses from his mother. apparently, all it took was a blaster for him to decide that maybe he’s still just young enough. arms are wrapped around him, and she presses her own kisses all over his cheeks  (  for once, he doesn’t squirm away from her affections  ), before finishing up with a final kiss to his forehead, this one with an audible mwah! ❝  i’m glad you like it, ad'ika.  ❞  her advisers suggested that she wait until his next life day, but ten is plenty old enough  (  she’d been gifted her first blaster when she was much younger than her son  )  and she trusts jace enough to believe that he won’t be entirely reckless  —— of course, he is her son  (  and ketsu’s, as a bonus  ), so she knows that her faith shouldn’t be so high.  ❝  but be careful. the safety isn’t on.  ❞

[cillianhelps-blog]

"firefly" starter prompts

“Here’s how it is…”

“If you’ve got a job for us, we can do it. Don’t much care what it is.”

“We’re gonna die.”

“This landing may get interesting.”

“I remember talking the feds out of telling my father. Or… or paying the feds out of telling my father. I get fuzzy on the aspect…”

“The world was ours, you know?”

“I got stupid, the money was too good.”

“None of it means a damn thing.”

“I’m a big girl. Just tell me.”

“She understands. She doesn’t comprehend.”

“If I want a lot of medical jargon, I’ll talk to a doctor.”

“There were no feds… until I started singing.”

“I think I’ve been kidnapped.”

“Thank God you’re safe.”

“What are we gonna do, clone him?”

“They won’t be expecting it, ‘cause they ain’t insane.”

“If it moves, shoot it.”

“It’s okay to leave them to die.”

“No power in the ‘verse can stop me.”

“We’re still flying.”

“So… you guys have met.”

“You made me love you, and then you… I shaved off my beard for you, devil woman!”

“That’s not much.”

“Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!”

“We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty.”

“Ha ha ha! Mine is an evil laugh!”

“If everything were right, we’d be in jail.”

“Something ain’t right.”

“Everything I have is right here.”

“We are just too pretty for God to let us die.”

“Why are you so fascinated by him?”

“Didn’t she shoot you once?”

“You’re gonna come with us.”

“I’m standing right here.”

“That man is psychotic!”

“Mercy is the mark of a great man. …Guess I’m just a good man. …Well, I’m alright.”

“You’ve only got to scare him.”

“I had the perfect crime lined up.”

“This is all your fault, you know.”

“I might as well become a petty thief like you!”

“Anyone remember her comin’ at me with a butcher’s knife?”

“Girl knows things. Things she shouldn’t. Things she couldn’t.”

“Well, as a rule, I say, girlfolk ain’t to be trusted.”

“I’m not going to live there. There’s no place for me there any more than there is for you.”

“I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin.”

“I’m… trying to think of a way for you to be cruder. I just… it’s not coming.”

“She’s a liar.”

“Dear Buddha, please bring me a pony and a plastic rocket…”

“Pain is scary.”

“I don’t like the idea of someone hearin’ what I’m thinkin’.”

“She’s just a kid! And she just wants to be a… kid.”

“There’s… there’s nobody that can help me.”

“You ever been shot?”

“Nothing here is what it seems.”

“I don’t murder children.”

“I’m a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.”

“I call it Vera.”

“He’s really very… gentle, and fuzzy. We’re becoming fast friends.”

“What am I, your advocate?”

“I need this man to tear all my clothes off.”

“How come you didn’t turn on me?”

“Relax. I’m not going for a gun or anything.”

“You oughta be shot. Or stabbed. Lose a leg.

“You and lipstick are a dangerous combination, if I recall.”

“I’m trying to put this as delicately as I can… How do I know you won’t kill me in my sleep?”

“Drunks are so cute.”

“You will burn in a very special level of Hell. The level reserved for child molesters and people that talk at the theater.”

“Also? I can kill you with my brain…”

“I’m your wife.”

“Remember. If anything happens to me or if you don’t hear from me within the hour, you take this ship and you come and you rescue me.”

“You understand, I’m sort of on the clock here, it’s frustrating. “

“They make psychiatrists get psychoanalyzed before they can get certified, but they don’t make a surgeon get cut on. That seem right to you?”

“I can’t keep track of her when she’s not incorporeally possessing a spaceship; don’t look at me.”

“If you’re being a gentleman, I may die of shock.”

“Ready to get off this heap, back to civilized life?”

“I don’t think you’d be safe.”

“If you die can I have your share?”

“I think you’re having a problem with your brain being missing.”

“You paid money for this? On purpose?”

“I was aiming for his head.”

“How did your brain even learn human speech? I’m just so curious.”

“Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science fiction.”

“To hell with this, I’m gonna live!”

“We meant it for the best… to make people safer.”

“If you can’t do somethin’ smart… do somethin’ right.”

“Big damn heroes!”

“We’re not thieves… well, we are thieves, but the point is we’re not taking what’s his.”

“We’re robbing the place, not occupying it.”

“Goin’ on a year now I ain’t had nothin’ twixt my nethers weren’t run on batteries!”

“It’s a wonder you’re still alive.”

“Well, I appreciate your honesty. Not, you know, a lot, but…”

“I hate to bring up our imminent arrest during your crazy time, but we gotta go.”

“You must be loving this.”

“You willing to die for that belief?”

“You take care of me, [other character]. You’ve always taken care of me. My turn.”

“You won’t tell anyone about me breaking down.”

“Boy, sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don’t you think?!”

“You just may be the most gullible fool I ever marked.”

“Yep—it’s a cow fetus.”

“You are such a boob.”

“Scared her away again, did you?”

“My food is problematic.”

“I think it’s the sweetest hat ever.”

“What’d y’all order a dead guy for?”

“I didn’t know you were out there.”

“Stealth—you may have heard of it.”

“First rule of battle, little one… don’t ever let them know where you are.”

“A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he’s not afraid of anything.”

“Yes, I’ve read a poem. Try not to faint.”

“She’s our witch.”

“It sounds like the finest party I can imagine getting paid to go to.”

“If I’m gonna wear a dress, I want something with some slink.”

“I can hurt you.”

“Look at the fluffy one!”

“I can’t abide useless people.”

“Let’s be bad guys.”

“I aim to misbehave.”

“Do you know what your sin is?”

“I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.”

“We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then… explode.”

“Half of these men wish you were draped on their arm.”

“I must be losing my undeniable allure.”

“You think you’re better than other people!”

“These girls have the most beautiful dresses. And so do I! How ‘bout that?”

“Yes, sir, Cap’n Tightpants.”

“Don’t fall asleep now. Sleepiness is weakness of character, ask anyone.”

“I know him. And I think he’s a psychotic low-life.”

“Don’t you just love this party? Everything’s so fancy and they have some kind of hot cheese over there!”

“Call me if anyone interesting shows up.”

“I got stabbed! Right here!”

“You’ll have to rely on your winning personality to get women. God help you.”

“I’m a little appalled at her taste.”

“Don’t make faces.”

“The little man loved fire.”

“Don’t tell ‘em what I did.”

“Doesn’t the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?”

“Don’t care much for fancy parties. Too rough.”

“I will not have it in my house. But, since your mother’s already ordered you one, I guess I should give up the fantasy that this is my house!”

“Next time we smuggle stock, let’s make it something smaller.”

“Can I start getting sexed already?”

“Look, they got boy whores! Isn’t that thoughtful?”

“Were I unwed, I would take you in a manly fashion.”

“Tell me I’m pretty.”

“Well… my sister’s a ship. We had a complicated childhood.”

“Nothing worse than a monster who thinks he’s right with God.”

“Well, I’m not sure now is the best time to bring a tiny little helpless person into our lives.”

“I ain’t so afraid of losing something that I ain’t gonna try to have it.”

“You and I would make one beautiful baby. And I want to meet that child one day. Period.”

“How many babies have you actually delivered?”

“I’m just waiting to see if I pass out. Long story.”

“Gonna have to explain that to me someday.”

“I don’t care what you believe. Just believe it.”

“We’re lost. Lost in the woods.”

“Does that seem right to you?”

“Keep the money.”

“Get this man to the infirmary at once.”

“Seems like a lovely little community of kidnappers.”

“This isn’t our home.”

“This place gives me an uncomfortableness.”

“You folks are all insane.”

“Would you be killed in your sleep like an ailing pet?”

“You gave up everything you had…”

“I’ll get better. I’ll get better.”

“It’s been a big day, what with the abduction, and all.”

“WHOO-HOO! I’M RIGHT HERE! I’M RIGHT HERE! YOU WANT SOME O’ ME?! YEAH YOU DO! COME ON! COME ON! AAAAAH!”

“Someone’s carryin’ a bullet for you right now, doesn’t even know it. The trick is, die of old age before it finds you.”

“When you can’t run anymore, you crawl, and when you can’t do that, well… you find somebody to carry you.”

“They’d have to be insane to follow us through here.”

“Sorry! Didn’t mean to startle.”

“Have you completely lost your mind?”

“Well, you were busy trying to get yourself lit on fire. It happens.”

“Oh, sweetie, don’t feel bad. He makes everybody cry. He’s like a monster.”

“Someone ever tries to kill you, you try to kill ‘em right back!”

“You are no one’s property!”

“Remember that sex we were planning to have, ever again?”

“Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly comin’ to a middle.”

“Someone starts poking around, shoot ‘em. Y’know. Politely.”

“I realize certain words were exchanged. Also, certain… bullets.”

“What we need is a distraction.”

“Oh, I’m gonna go to the special hell.”

“…I think we’ve lied enough.”

“You’re amazing. Who are you?”

“Some people juggle geese!”

“Promise me you’re gonna kill me soon.”

“What’s your real name?”

“I knew you let her kiss you.”

“Enemies? You? No, how can it be?”

“No one comes through here that doesn’t have to.”

“My God. You’re like a trained ape… without the training!”

“This must be what going mad feels like.”

“I swear… when it’s appropriate.”

“What are we up to, sweetheart?”

“I’m fixing your Bible.”

“It’s broken. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Noah’s ark is a problem.”

“You guys had a riot… on account of me? My very own riot?”

“You know, with the exception of one deadly and unpredictable midget, this girl is the smallest cargo I’ve ever had to transport, yet by far the most troublesome.”

“You are not the man I met a year ago!”

“That’s why I never kiss ‘em on the mouth…”

“But she was naked! And all… articulate!”

“I got a dumbass stick that sounds like it’s raining, how come you got a wife?”

“Oh, you stupid son of a…”

“I know your name, jackass!”

“He bothers me. I don’t know what it is.”

"If I wanted schooling, I’d have gone to school!”

"Hey, free soup!”

“I am a large, semi-muscular man!”

“I don’t belong… dangerous, like you.”

“He just has this idiotic sense of nobility, you know?”

“He can never just let things go.”

“You are very much lacking in imagination!”

“I threw up on your bed.”

“You have no idea! And you never will.”

“We’re dead in the water.”

“Don’t be afraid.”

“Sometimes a thing gets broke, can’t be fixed.”

“You don’t have to die alone.”

“He takes so much looking after.”

“You know I would never have tried to save [other character]’s life if I had known there was a dinner party at risk!”

“Let’s go back to the part where [other character] gets knocked out by a ninety-pound girl, ‘cause I don’t think that’s ever gonna get old.”

“Everybody dies alone.”

“You know, you ain’t quite right.”

“Not as deceiving as a low-down… dirty… deceiver.”

“At last, we can retire and give up this life of crime.”

“I’m a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.”

“We’re gonna explode!? I don’t wanna explode!”

“She is starting to damage my calm!”

“Hell, I’ll kill a man in a fair fight… or if I think he’s gonna start a fair fight. Or if he bothers me. Or if there’s a woman. Or if I’m gettin’ paid. Mostly only when I’m gettin’ paid.”

“You guys always bring me the very best violence.”

“You shut the hell up right now, or so help me, I will shut you up.”

“The next time you decide to stab me in the back, have the guts to do it to my face.”

“Can I come in?”

“It’s time to wake up.”

“Ah, the pitter-patter of tiny feet in huge combat boots…”

“One of you is gonna fall and die, and I’m not cleaning it up!”

“We just have to find the right treatment for you.”

“How do you feel now?”

“I think he’s gonna bring her flowers.”

“I’ll be in my bunk.”

“You are so lovely.”

“They look so glamorous together.”

“I swallowed a bug.”

“What was that?”

“People don’t like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think. Don’t run, don’t walk. We’re in their homes and in their heads and we haven’t the right. We’re meddlesome.”

“I aim to misbehave.”

“Well… here I am.”

[secondheir]

@weaponexpert said:

95% of your time pre-birth was spent IN THE WOMB.

and yet  . . .  i would not be here. were it not for the tube.

[secondheir]

will you stop telling people that you're a test-tube baby i literally carried you in my womb

no mother. my origins began in the tube, not in the womb.

[secondheir]

◦ ✶.◦.˚˖ firstchosen.   

meditation is private time  ———  a time where she can stop, reflect, focus on the things that she can control  &  forget the things that she can’t.  the environment is not appropriate for meditation  (  it’s loud, crowded  ——  there are children running about outside  ), yet she feels perfectly at peace. it’s rare, that feeling of peace,  and she’s relishing in it.

an eye cracks open as her meditation is disturbed  ——  she would rather it have been one of the children. a breath, frustrated, blows from her lips.  ❝  i might be.  ❞  she says, closing her eye again as a means to attempt to focus on her meditation once more, in a hope that he’ll go away. soon, though, her eyes open  &  she gives him the barest hint of a smile  (  there’s nothing necessarily kind about it, however  ). ❝  you some kind of parasite ? ❞    

     ah.   ferocity, hostility  --  all old friends come to greet him once more in yet another predicament. in his haste earlier  ( in hindsight )  making demands upfront with the resistance regarding price upgrades were handled in piss poor fashion ; atypical. it seems none of that has rubbed off. strange, at least for someone like him who  ----  in spite of stubborn characteristics  ----  can hold record champion grudges lasting about thirty seconds or so. she, on the other hand, punched him outright. rude.

     ❛   actually, i’m a test tube baby.    ❜     he replies ever so smugly  --  proud of those technically not incorrect origins  --  a thumb jabbing into his own chest haughtily.   ❛   product o’ science and royalty. neat, huh? being honest is cooler than being hostile after all.    ❜

[secondheir]

         ❛  so  ----   ❜    complacent tone is simply dripping in his voice  --  laced with pseudo charm, a completed frame with a grin etched on his face belonging to a woman who echoed his actions of this predicament once long ago  --  somewhat aware he’s being a bit of a nuisance. only ten percent or so by his calculations  ( surely the environment is enough of a distraction ; how does one concentrate so keenly as she? )   and he’s got a one in four chance of being struck yet again.

                                       if it does not cost him teeth, it’s a consequence he’s willing to take.

    arms crossed, violet eyes blatant studying her from where she is seated on the presumably cold floor.    ❛    you uh -- you some kinda jedi?    ❜

┊ ˚˖↷  @firstchosen