[????] Mortis Character Ramble Thread [18+ edition]

[skinstealer]

rhapsody here. i've been wanting to post for a bit, but i've only really just sat down tonight to get some stuff about tallow nailed down. writing his modern iteration and playlisting this past week has been an interesting experience, and while it's been a bit messy so far, i think i've really got it now, and am ready to share him with the community.


[id: a red and black teddy bear concept with his hair and tail made of white polyfill stuffing. he has vertical stripes on his limbs, a heart patch on his chest, and slit pupils with red irises.]

this is tallow- externally, anyhow. he's got a polyfill stuffing motif and is overall loosely stuffed, leading him to be kind of a pushover physically.


[id: two images of a velociraptor-inspired snuglin, also in a deep red + black color scheme. his head and neck fluff somewhat resemble a hoodie, and his torso has a patch with vertical stripes covering the front of it. he has modded-on claws and talons. clothed, he wears a big sweater and jeans in plain, muted colors.]

here he is in-headspace. he's not super huge on being a snuglin, but is trying (and failing) to come to terms with it.

here's tallow's bio, whipped up after some work with our "stats" system and putting some narrative puzzle pieces together.

Show ContentCW: kink mentions, toybox lore spoilers:

Tallow, a member of the Toybox system, is full of worry and insecurity about what those around him think of him. Formerly a system member who caused a lot of trouble for his fellow Toybox residents, he tends to either overcompensate by taking on too much work to help out, or keep to himself out of fear of being "bad" again. In the past, he'd lash out at people over being misunderstood or rejected- nowadays, he tries to hold that back, even if it means being steamrolled a bit in the moment.

Being a system member around for a very long time, Tallow had exposure to the realmic incident that ended up cursing Toybox and making them capable of involuntary magic. While like many of the older system members, said incident left negative marks behind on him, it also gave him an interest in transformation- both in terms of headspace mechanics and real world instances. If asked whether this is an interest that extends to sexual proclivities, he usually storms away. His desire for headspace control has proven wholly unsuccessful, though he continues to try and try.

Tallow's biggest wish in life is to have presence in the people around him's lives in a way that is kind, welcome, and appreciated- but not soft, and easily forgotten. He resents the fact that he feels torn between a world of being cute and approachable/"marketable" (seen both from his polyfill stuffing motif and modified snuglin form in-headspace) and the inner turmoil that guides his thoughts, and hopes that one day he can find a balance between these two things.

His biggest interests include toys and sewing, but he tries to keep both of these on the downlow, despite them being very obvious to everyone who's around him in the same space as toys or crafting supplies for more than ten minutes.  When it comes to the system's writing, he's often tasked with writing villain characters- something he does with great gusto, and usually involves getting his own feelings on paper, or past experiences with other people.

finally, here's his moodboard.



[id: a moodboard with an image of a glass bowl filled with polyfill stuffing, an image of red, swirled fabric, an image of a tomato-themed pincushion full of yellow pins, and an image of fossilized wood.]