[tanzmacabre]

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Hello, curious wanderer. I'm SPOOKY (30 + - he / him ) && welcome to my little cabinet of curiosities; a multi-muse roleplaying blog of original && canon characters. MDNI.

Pardon the dust as I get set up here. For now, I would love it if before you followed, you read my rules, and then once you do, go and check out some of the muses I've added so far.

[tanzmacabre]

@lcstrega | Let Me Tell You About The Worst Vacation I've Ever Had

His loose expression blackened with a mixture of confusion and frustration, but he could intuit from the look in her eyes that she truly didn't know what he'd been talking about. It was clear to him that he wasn't going to get any answers from her; he wasn't sure anyone had any answers for him. So the questions remained. For the time being.

"I didn't hit my head." He insisted, his voice taut with seriousness, said as much to her as to himself. The car stopped in the dimly lit alleyway just outside of his apartment. Pulling the transmission into park, he removed the keys and shoved them into his jacket pocket before turning to her.

"It was all real, Aeva."

[tanzmacabre]

@lcstrega | Welcome To The Question & Answer Portion Of Our Show "I was gone for thirty years." Johnathan said plainly, cutting the steering wheel as they turned down another street. "Or didn't you notice? For someone who professes to be my stalker, strikes me as odd you wouldn't have."

He turned, briefly, searching her eyes for any hint or a trace of a lie hidden within her gaze. He couldn't find any, but then, she'd always been a good liar.

"It's a long story. Longer than I'd care to get into just now. But I've been in Hell, trapped by a demon that could be your dead-ringer, only blonde. Name of Lilith. I was trapped there to be used as bait, something to do with the boy. Artemis. She wanted to lure him there, force him to transform into... something. I don't know."

'The wolf that would devour the moon and usher in the end of days.' He seemed to remember her saying, something about a prophecy. But he left that part out, didn't want to divulge too much. He hadn't even told The Foundation of that when they'd eventually caught up to him and brought him in to be 'debriefed.' He couldn't be certain of anything anymore, least of all, anyone's loyalties. Some things he'd have to play close to the vest. At least, for the time being.

"One minute, I'm there. The next, I'm in the middle of east bum-fuck nowhere. I guess I was just hoping you might have known more."

[tanzmacabre]

@lcstrega | She Likes To Stir The Pot Valentine. The name burned in his chest like the first sip of a rye after a long day. Memories came flooding into his mind, his lupine eyes flicking to a set of old fuzzy dice which hung lazily from the rear-view, given to him by Valentine for some occasion he couldn’t remember. He’d held on to those things for decades. They were old and worn, the stitches holding them together giving way. ‘For luck,’ Valentine had told him.

Some fucking luck, he thought to himself bitterly.

"Well, I'm honored." He mumbled under his breath, shoving the transmission into drive and tearing the car away from the side of the street, engine roaring into the night.

He didn't say much. What would could they even talk about? Aeva wasn't exactly the 'small-talk' kind of person. In fairness, Creed knew he wasn't either. Even before he'd disappeared, all he'd liked to talk about were idiosyncratic interests like guns and mechanical engineering. Those things seemed so unimportant to him now. There wasn't very much that did seem important to him now. His mind was far too preoccupied with other matters.

"Do you know how I was freed? Because I'm not supposed to be free."

[tanzmacabre]

I  followed  all  the  rules  -  I  drew  inside  the  lines. / jack

“Then it sounds to me, darling, like that’s your problem.“ No stranger to the unorthodox, Jack was all too obliged to extol the virtues of being esoteric.

“Draw inside the lines and you’re not like to think about what might lie just outside of them. Infinitesimal possibilities, both delightfully strange and terrifyingly abstract.”

[besticlburden]

@tanzmacabre continued ;

She looked at the lights wide eyed, piecing together what she saw. Stealing was bad, but he shouldn't be hurt. Absently, she put a finger on her chin, legs kicking only slightly less. Ultimately, she supposed she didn't care that much, and she didn't get why the man was so frightened. It wasn't like he was going to cut off his head or feed him to the faeries.

Right?

❛ Maybe he should. . . leave? ❜ She suggested in a quieter tone, hoping her answer was more fitting. ❛ . . . or he could ask how to fix his mistake so you won't be angry with him anymore? ❜

[tanzmacabre]

Finally, he placed her back down beside the man, and with a flick of his wrist, the shadow sank back into the floor. "Perfect. Then he shall leave and never return."

Of course, Nhiral had no intention of simply banishing the thief. After having managed to sneak into his phylactery chamber, the man had seen more than he should have. But the dragon didn't possess the heart to tell the child that the man's fate had been sealed from before she had entered the audience chamber. He had wanted her to learn a lesson, after all. That he was a monstrous and wicked thing and that in order to be better than him, as was the highest expectation of all progeny, she had to be compassionate and true to her heart. For it was not a machine, but more like a plant; something to be nurtured and loved. "Thank you for your assistance in this matter, princess. Now, off with you." Gently, he tapped her on the space between her shoulders, and moved her toward his majordomo, who escorted the child out of the audience chamber. "Did you hear that?" He asked the thief, barely restraining maniacal laughter. "You're to be exiled! But I must say, it will be very difficult to survive the mountain without food, water, or clothes, I imagine. The pilgrims say it is so cold out now that any exposed part of the body will turn black in but a matter of hours." The thief gazed up the dragon in terror, pleading under his breath...

[tanzmacabre]

 ❛ the gods were never on our side, so it's time to watch them fall. ❜- beloved nhinhi <3

Villainy Starters

She was right. What did he care that their world should be destroyed by Lilith and her monstrous brood? The gods had made his kind to rule, and then changed their minds, allowing mankind to hunt them to the very brink of extinction. Capricious, murderous things, the gods, and he would be loath to lift a finger to aid them. Even if it meant the end of all things, he would not join the fight against Lilith or her cult.

He turned to Aeva, extended his hand. "Let us watch, then... together."

[tanzmacabre]

I  did  everything  they  ever  asked,  and  for  what? / Jonathan

Villainy Starters “Just to sit here and soak in your miseries with a fellow has-been, sounds like.” Johnathan knew the feeling well; of being used and then discarded. Relationships, contracts. Someone had once told him that everybody wanted something. It was too bad they’d forgotten to leave out the part where that when they got that something, they’d shoot you full of holes and leave you for the vultures.

He straightened, lighting a cigarette in spite of the sign which read ‘NO SMOKING’ hung in full view behind the bar.

“Buy you another round or have you had enough?”

[besticlburden]

@tanzmacabre continued ;

Tiny legs kicked freely, a small laugh erupting as she was lifted despite her attempt at being stern. Though as unafraid of him she might have been, or at least appeared, she recognized that other people here seemed wary and stayed out of his way.

The girl barely understood the words he used, not grasping what he actually was as much as she didn't grasp what anything magical was in this giant maze of a home. Dead? But he was right in front of her--

❛ He's. . . ❜ Asha looked from the white haired man to the one on the ground, who clearly wasn't happy that his fate may be in the hands of a child. She looked between them a second time, clearing thinking a myriad of things that might be the right answer. She thought of a time when she broke one of his weird rocks, a phy-lac-tuh-ray (?) ; he wasn't mean like this. He just made her help him put it back together.

❛ He's supposed to say sorry, isn't he? Put back the stuff he took? It's nice here, he shouldn't be rude. ❜

[tanzmacabre]

Nhiral beamed, eager for the opportunity to teach the young one a listen she'd not soon forget.

"Certainly," he began. "But he's already said his apologies. Not just to me..."

The dragon lifted his hand, small wisps of light circling his upturned palm. The thief's memories. Sometimes, he knew, thievery was a noble act, or even a desperate one. But as his memories had demonstrated, this man stole not out of purpose or need, but out of compulsion. Stole from the rich, the poor. Even his own mother. And while in a different life, he might have applauded the man's bravery - to steal from a dragon was quite the audacious feat indeed - in this one, he had to set an example for those who might try to follow in the thief's footsteps. But he was not without whimsy and thus, deferred to his ward. "But to many others as well," he finally continued. "Not all apologies are meant, my dear. As for the things he stole, they are returned and back where they belong. So, I pose my question to you again: how would you punish such a man as this? A man for whom the word 'sorry' has no meaning?"

[tanzmacabre]

 ❛ have you forgotten to turn on your heart? ❜ -asha to nhiral : )

Villainy Starters A crude metaphor. She spoke as though the heart were a thing made of gears and iron, to be shuddered and started at the pull of a lever. A human invention.

The thought detested him. No more was there a part of him, even dead, that could ever possibly be equated to something crafted by the hands of apes turned upright. Nhiral was a dragon; as nearer a being to divinity as had the world had ever known. Reaching down, he grasped the young waif by the scruff of her shirt and with inhuman strength, lifted her as easily as one might an insect, bringing the tiny human up to meet his disappointed gaze. “My heart is quite dead, I assure you. As for my feelings on the matter…” His eyes fell to the man cowering on the floor at his feet and then to the living shadow which stood above him, ready to strike. A thief, one who had entered his demesne under the auspices of a merchant. Turning back to his charge, he considered her words. "This man has offended my hospitality. What would your heart have me do with him?"

[tanzmacabre]

@orphanedshadow | Mercy

“And fire is far more beautiful, isn’t it?” Asked a silhouette in the darkness, conjuring a small mote of green flame in an outstretched hand. A dragon in the shape of a man; tall, lithe, dressed in dark robes. Behind him, the shadow he cast against the wall in the flickering light seemed to move independently of his body, as though possessed of its own will.

“It creates, it destroys. Life and death.” He mused, a smile daring to slither its way across his mouth but for a brief moment before falling to one knee in front of the young woman and fixing his eerie, golden-eyed gaze upon hers. "Magnificent."

“Tell me, what is your name, child-who-speaks-of-hellfire?" He held the fire closer to her face so that his eyes could see her more clearly; so that he might better know the face of an intruder to his realm.

[witch1nghour]

𝜗𝜚 ⠀𝗕𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗕   ﹔   the descent to villainy sentence starters   .  please   like   or reblog   if   you   plan   on   using   .   don’t   claim   as   your   own   .   

If  I  cannot  be  better  than  them,  I  will  become  so  much  worse.

instead  of  being  afraid,  I  could  become  something  to  fear.

i  have  lied  and  I  have  betrayed  and  I  have  triumphed.

when  does  a  man  become  a  monster?

have  you  forgotten  to  turn  off  your  heart?

what  if  the  greatest  threat  we'll  find  is  me?

if  i  become  a  monster  and  threw  that  guilt  away  will  that  make  us  stronger?

ill  become  the  monster  like  none  they've  ever  known.

my  mercy  has  long  since  drowned.

you'll  be  rewarded  when  at  last,  i  am  given  my  dues.

my  teeth  and  ambitions  are  bared.

if  I  must  suffer  -  all  of  humanity  will  suffer  with  me.

I  did  everything  they  ever  asked,  and  for  what?

history  will  decide  if  I'm  the  hero  or  the  villain.

the  hardest  choices  require  the  strongest  wills.

I'll  do  anything  -  I  don't  care  if  I  hurt  anyone.

the  gods  were  never  on  our  side  so  it's  time  to  watch  them  fall.

people  get  mean  when  the  chips  are  down.

I'm  so  tired  of  pretending.

I  followed  all  the  rules  -  I  drew  inside  the  lines.

I  know  exactly  who  to  blame.

I'm  going  to  give  them  a  villain  like  they've  never  seen.

how  many  times  did  you  think  you  could  break  me  before  I  start  fighting  back?

i  have  tried so  hard to  save  you,  but  if  you  don't  care,  why  the hell should  I?

all  it  takes  is  one  bad  day.

It  ain't  about  any  of  that  for  me  anymore.  I  just  want  them  to  feel  the  pain,  the  loss,  of  everything  they  took  from  me.  and  make  them  pay  for  it.  in  blood.

If  I  must  suffer,  humanity  will  suffer  with  me! 

i  refuse  to  bow  any  longer.

all  that  time  spent  living  only  through  other  men's  lives.  dreaming  only  other  men's  dreams.  what  a  waste.

the  world  is  cruel.  and  the  only  morality  in  a  cruel  world  is  chance.  unbiased...  unprejudiced...  fair.

it's  not  about  what  i  want!  it's  about  what's  fair.

that's  funny...  because  I  don't  know  what's  gonna  happen  to  you  either

even  someone  as  good  as  me  can  fail.

what  did  you  expect  me  to  do?  it  was  the  only  way.

all  I  wanted  was  mercy,  but  no,  you  left  me  alone  there.

i'd  say  sweet  dreams  -  but  there  aren't  any  left.

because  this  is  wrong!  why  doesn't  anybody  get  that? 

you want me to be the bad guy? fine. now I'm the bad guy.

[tanzmacabre]

@lcstrega | Who Needs Enemies? He fixed his gaze on her, certain that he saw through the recital of honeyed words; the well-practiced ‘mother goose’ routine was what it had always been.

“Bullshit. You’re just having a go at me.” Creed replied dismissively, lighting another cigarette. He shot the smoke out through his nostrils and mouth in a huff and continued. “And for the record, I don’t work for The Foundation. That whole business was Aballach’s idea, and he and I don’t exactly see eye-to-eye.”

That hadn’t been the truth. Not the whole of it, anyway. But it would have been a longer story than Creed cared to get into. And only a beat later, he’d found himself far more concerned with trying to keep his jaw from hitting the ground after hearing why it had been that she’d sought him out in the first place.

“What? No.” He said, shaking his head. Then he paused in consideration, throwing his gaze to the street, his features silhouetted by the dim street light in sharp profile.

Why? Of course, he didn’t believe that her house had been burned down. At the very least, that she couldn’t work some kind of eldritch thaumaturgy to put it right if it had. So, why then? Why would she want to stay with Johnathan Creed of all people? She didn’t like him. And he imagined that his thirty-year absence had done little to improve her opinion of him.

He supposed that, ultimately, it didn’t matter why. He was going to let her stay. Though he was loath to admit it, Creed was lonely. He’d only cultivated a small handful of relationships before he’d diaappeared off of the face of the earth, and he figured that to those few whom he’d regarded as close, he was probably better off remaining ‘presumed dead’ anyhow. And so, his return to the world had been a quiet affair. There were no celebrations to welcome him back, no home to go back to. Just a shitty, run-down beater-box of a car and a heap of regrets he’d resolved to drown in alcohol and try to forget by returning to the only thing that had ever made him happy: killing monsters.

After a moment of thoughtful silence, he spoke again. “Okay, sure. Fuck it. But if you try to eat me in the middle of night, you’re going end up as a stain on the wall.”

Not waiting for her to reply, he gestured for the witch to follow, heading toward a small black coupe parked along the side of the street.

[tanzmacabre]

@lcstrega | Catching Up With Some Friends Creed whirled around with inhuman speed and started back toward the witch.

“I didn’t ask you to drink with me, did I?” The lycanthrope argued. Practically snarling, his tone was as sharp as the knife he’d spotted in her stocking. He stopped just a breath’s distance away from her, throwing his own cigarette into the street. He was fuming. There had been something about her sudden appearance that night he’d found particularly irksome; he couldn’t parse it.

In the brief instance of silence that fell between them, he considered removing the gun from the holster beneath his arm, shoving the muzzle against the bottom of her jaw, and squeezing the trigger as hard as he could. He knew it wouldn’t kill her, but shooting the smug grin off of her face would have gone a long way to making him feel better in that moment. As tempting a thought as it had been, it faded quickly. He couldn’t. They were too exposed. And the last thing The Foundation wanted, he knew, was to clean up another of his messes so soon after the last.

Creed withdrew, taking a few measured steps backward. “What the fuck are you even doing here? We’re a bit far from that ramshackle shit-box you call a home, aren't we?"

[tanzmacabre]

@lcstrega | Stones & Glass Houses

"Paid for..." He repeated the words in disbelief, laughed humorlessly. "But it isn't, is it?"

Creed knew all too well that the debt power had incurred in both of their lives, sought or otherwise would never be satisfied. Such was the burden of monsters.

He left it at that, turned to leave, flipping a few crumpled bills onto the counter in front of them. The last thing he'd wanted was to ruin a perfectly good night of drinking away his sorrows by book-ending it with yet another philosophical debate with the witch.

He stopped, sinking his hands into the front pockets of his jacket and turned his head over his shoulder, mouth pulled into a toothy grin. "We have to stop meeting like this. People are gonna talk."