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

[AceOfNothing]

Ah man. Cant blame people for being upset/uncomfortable with Caine, but I do feel bad for them. Kinda a strange situation to be in so don't know how I'd cope tbf. But that doesn't mean what it's doing isn't dangerous.
same hat for Conch it seems too. Not like they did anything but... uncanny stuff is still uncanny.

Also I feel bad Frost is "scared" of the Beau system but I also completely get it. His own comfort is important.

I guess I'm happy no one seems to be like "I don't like this person because they were a danger to me specifically" more just an uncomfy thing.

Let's see. Frost got any hobbies? Or anything he'd like to try sometime?
Got a like, favorite place?

[skinstealer]

yeah. caine is a good person whose ability to demonstrate and prove that is extremely hindered by the fact that he Really, Really hates himself and that manifests in legitimately dangerous ways to the people around him.

i'd say that for the most part the club operates on that- there's very few inter-system relationships that are outright "you hurt me terribly" but they do exist- it's just a lot more common for those kinds of hate-filled relationships to exist inside the systems themselves. this is something we've experienced a lot of both with our own system and with plural friends over time- it feels like it's a lot less likely for system members to lash out at external people than extreme internal conflict, and i'm speaking from experience.

uhh hobbies. frost doesn't really have a lot of interests, or at the very least, has left a lot of them by the wayside. i like to think he does enjoy a variety of TV shows and maybe some games, but the greenhouse system hasn'tt owned a game console/handheld in ages- that kind of stuff was more astro's territory, and it doesn't front that much anymore.

favorite place is one of the hiking trails that his system frequents, especially during the winter. it makes  the trek so much harder, but there's very few places he'd rather be, and it's not uncommon for him to get slammed into the front on the first day of snowfall and immediately high tail it out there.

[skinstealer]

i have now joined the moodboard club. this came out a lot more...golden? than i was expecting, but honestly that could be a cool color palette for him to work with if he ever stops wearing dark colors and neutrals. the wasp comber morph is supposed to also be a dragon, so that felt like important imagery to work in. the fact that he doesnt really have Interests aside from the outdoors is a bit tricky to work with, but honestly that stuff is so important to him that it's not a bad thing to include. (besides, i've been having emotions about that kind of thing today...)

[AceOfNothing]

I love the moodboard, sometimes those are great for learning secret things about the characters accidentally lol. Could always start with gold accents on the darker clothes and just evolve from there.

Here’s a silly question but kinda thinking of it cause of pine trees: If Frost was decorating a Christmas tree, do you think he’d do a really organized one (Like all the ornaments have a color theme) or a really mix and matched one (“This ornament is from Ivory, I got this one at a weird gas station, we made this one when we were 7, this is just a toy tag I think is cute”) hopefully that makes sense.

Also anything he like to do in the snow? I get the feeling he wouldn’t wanna make a snowman, but maybe he likes catching snowflakes or making snow balls. Idk

[skinstealer]

christmas tree...i want to say he'd be really scattered about it, but try to group things up in nice ways, kind of like a weird patchwork of stylings. he gets very territorial around it as well and gets Very fussy about people interfering with it. hands off!

granted morbit does not have christmas trees but they probably do their own form of tree/plant decoration. could be fun to explore!

he actually does like building snowmen/snowforts, even if it hurts his body to do it for too long. he tends to get into a sort of meditative state while packing snow, and it's something people do enjoy watching him get to do, even if he doesn't get to often. sometimes if he does this in headspace, pecan joins in and they actually get along pretty well for a while.

[AceOfNothing]

Could be a fun idea, not likes it’s not an adaptable idea! And I like the patchwork idea, honestly kinda fits the kaleidoclub as a whole.

Oh so he kinda likes having a task like that? Wonder if he’d like something like lego sets, or maybe like making things with clay.

[skinstealer]

oooh yeah he would. he likes doing things with his hands, even if he thinks he isn't too good at them.

now i'm thinking about him getting into something like that...he'd probably think he's too mature for legos/construction blocks (toybox glaring in the distance) but i could see him getting into clay that doesn't get too badly affected by cold temperatures... is that a thing? i dunno!

frost making little figures for ivory based on ivory's personal familiars arc. making clay figures of ivory's goofy kitties. god that's cute

[AceOfNothing]

Maybe he’d be into wood models then, those are usually considered more “mature”. Make like model planes and animals and paint them

Theres probably a clay with less water in it to make it better for the cold, but arguably Morbit could have its own clay for that. You know, fantasy rules

Also adore him making gifts for Ivory, just super sweet.

[skinstealer]

oh honestly i could really see wood carving. models too, but just...making whittled pieces, i think he'd be really into that. can't decide on whether his stuff would be more angular or organic-looking, though...such a hard choice.

and yeah, i feel like even though their relationship isnt currently romantic, he'd still want to thank ivory for all of the kindness and help that he gives. ivory is the first friend he's been able to make in a long ass time and he appreciates that, especially the fact that he's helping frost come out of his shell and expand his personal social circle more. while i'm not sure what the extent of a romance side of things will be for frost and ivory, i do think that it very quickly becomes a majorly important relationship in frost's life, and one he would fight to protect and maintain....the first thing he's really been able to actively give a shit about in years. it's a life changing experience for him.

[AceOfNothing]

Love the wood carving idea ooh!! Anyone else in kaleidoclub he could maybe ask for advice on carving in general? Good reason to make a friend
Also wonder if he'd be into carving other things. Like soap or ice... idk not a lot of things people carve I guess. 

I'm sure Ivory is supportive. Wonder if making little gifts would also be like... good way to mend relationships or something. Could carve an owl statue to protect the garden from critters, that sort of deal

[skinstealer]

hmm let me think...probably runic would be able to help but uh. that is. you know that's kind of a tricky thing

maybe him and arrow used to do things when they were both younger? that could be cool....a hobby he takes back up once he realizes he wants to be able to give ivory something as a thank you gift that isn't just a box of squash. the box of squash is cool and all, but it doesn't feel like a gift from him, not when he's not really able to handle a lot of the produce himself until it's actually picked, and even then he has to be careful.

projecting a bit from our childhood days but he could also get into soapstone carving i think- perhaps it's where he and arrow started...

i think that getting into this would definitely also help him mend relationships with other people. he's not great with his words and is kind of a trainwreck when it comes to actually getting out personal sentiments, so being able to make something and have it be a kind gesture that actually shows he's paying attention to someone's interests and personality would mean a lot to the people around him.

[AceOfNothing]

Honestly Frost wanting a gift that's more personal to him seems p natural. Especially since the plant part also just seems like the systems job to him (not saying he or the other system members don't enjoy it or aren't passionate, just that I get the feeling he really tends plants out of obligation more so.)

What kinds of things would he carve for himself? Especially while learning/practicing? Would he leave carvings natural or want to paint them (even minimally, like painting eyes)?

Also I am keeping this "take back a hobby" thing in mind for prompts. Wonder if the Runic system/ Arrow would feel weird about it or be encouraging.

[skinstealer]

he definitely sees the plant thing as something he doesn't want to get super involved with, yeah. while part of him misses being able to do some things as easily as he did back when working on his family's farm as a child, the amount of hard labor involved and subsequent chastising when his motif would damage plants post-metamorphosis put him off of getting much enjoyment out of any of it by the time he's in the artist's colony.

i'd say he'd do some minor painting to his carvings, mainly just eyes and decals. he likes natural wood grain and the different colors it comes in- and you can probably get some super wild wood colors in calliope, it's a weird zone. i like to think he'd go for animals...which makes me wonder more about morbit creatures he would like. more inspiration to draw fauna, i guess? animals kind of spook him in person due to his body's fragility, but he really likes them from afar, more than he'd probably initially let on. he gets used to ivory's many living plush cats, though, and i can picture him letting them crawl all over him (up until they start kneading and poking holes).

arrow would probably feel a little weird about it. it doesn't have a lot of connections to back when it was a child- possibly due to another system member merging with it, or something? we're rotating arrow in our mind as we make these posts, tbh. perhaps it would make arrow feel a bit of nostalgia, but in a way that makes it uncomfortable...



i'm hanging out with remora tonight, and we realized that i've been working on frost so much with pecan and lore that i completely forgot about the other system members, including remora's character, nibbles. so we're going to go over the deal with everyone. no images right now, i just want to ramble.


starting with the character at hand: nibbles. nibbles is a whale shark gummi catfish that lives in the beach/ocean biodome in headspace, specifically in a large cave under the waters themselves. sometimes people scuba dive deep down there to visit her, but it's more likely that they use an inner tube while she paddles around the surface. at first i didn't think much of what frost would think about nibbles, but then after talking with remora and realizing we have a lot of personal history stuff we want to address with each other, it feels right to make them interact more. they won't be a parallel exactly, seeing as remora has a different character, shane, that addresses things that are more directly her deal, but there's going to be some interesting stuff there.

as such, frost and nibbles are...budding friends. both of them kind of avoided each other for a long time, especially once frost's thoughts of sexuality and desires for intimacy resurfaced after spending a good few years outside of a relationship. while it's hard for either of them to articulate Why this bothered either of them, it mainly comes down to two things: nibbles is Very, Very interested in having at the very least, a romantic relationship with someone, internal or external, and frost feels like his interests are inherently kind of too much to push on anyone. nibbles can sense frost's insecurity with it and doesn't want to push anything, and frost knows that she would possibly be interested in sharing intimate moments but goes "nope i dont want to go there". nibbles is also very impulsive and easily speaks her mind, even if it's overwhelming to others- something she tries to avoid by just being shy around him and not super talkative to.

once ivory helps, though...frost ends up talking with her, and while it's clear frost hasn't really come to terms with the idea of a relationship with Anyone, she's very happy to listen to his stories about doing stuff with ivory, be it sexual or otherwise. in return, she tells frost about some of the dreams and fantasies she keeps to herself, and the two have nice talks while floating in the sea.

also, looking back at notes- lore and frost did a lot of fronting during childhood, which probably explains a lot of why they're comfortable being bratty at each other. they're basically childhood....Something. not siblings, and definitely not the standard definition of friends, but they went through things together that tie them to each other, whether they like it or not.

back to other guys, though.

prickle is the primary fronter of the system, played by echer. he's a kangaroo snuglin who is endlessly devoted to his work, full of a deep and powerful love for plants and farming. he loves nothing more than getting his hands dirty and spending time outdoors, and can usually be found shirtless and covered in soil. people generally regard him as a cool guy, even if he doesn't really talk much to people outside of work and his online friends. he and frost get along fine, with prickle giving him a lot of respect due to frost's history of taking care of the system during rough times. prickle knows that he's been dealt a hard hand in life, and tries to cheer him up whenever their paths cross- though it doesn't often work. frost respects prickle in turn, but not enough to actually talk with him.

seaview is another common fronter, and is a seagull corvice. they live in a small beach shack by nibbles' cave, and are a sweet, giggly kind of person. they're probably one of the people who has the most casual friends out of the system, along with pecan- though neither of them have a lot. seaview thinks that frost should lighten up a bit, but not out of malice or misunderstanding- they just see how much everything seems to weigh on him. frost thinks seaview should step off, either way.

as mentioned before, stras is one of the few people frost Has been able to talk to for any significant amount of time since childhood. stras was also a childhood split and while his memories of their childhood are a lot fonder than the ones that frost or lore had, he's not ignorant to the kind of backbreaking labor the rest of the system was put through, and is able to sympathize with frost heavily. frost feels comfortable around him enough to probably talk about the ivory friends with benefits situation after it happens, to which stras is overcome with pride at frost stepping out of his comfort zone and trying something so huge.

and now, the primarily internal guys...

pluto and vein are interesting cases, being space-themed dragons that reside in the moon biodome (in their own little moon base). pluto controls the headspace's weather and environments, so frost always goes to them to badger about changing the seasons On Time (if you are late with winter he WILL complain). they don't have much of a relationship beyond that, though pluto takes extra care to make sure that things are handled to frost's preferences during the winter. vein is kind of always around when this happens due to living in the space biodome with pluto and not venturing out much, but she likes to poke fun at him to the point where frost is easily irritated by her.

astro also lives in the moon base, as the name would imply, but it's often too busy exploring to really interact with frost. it has a lot of dissociation and psychosis issues and is kind of hard to talk to as a result, so frost kind of just steers clear out of fear of screwing up with it.

ovie is a near-completely internal system member aside from cofronting and a cool, huge fire elemental, and sometimes frost calls it over to help get bonfires going by his cabin. the two are respectful of each other, even if not super talkative. frost knows that ovie will take care of things to the best of its ability, and ovie knows that frost has done the same for many years, albeit in different ways.

[skinstealer]

bonus: nibbles moodboard

[Shifter55]

Hm... ripe hardened squash seems like an idea practice material for woodcarving at least, given how forgiving it is grain-wise. Maybe not the best material as it just, isn't durable or really like other woods though.

[skinstealer]

oh that could be fun actually, good idea

also i will return in a bit with more character stuff. rhapsody also might show up to talk about tallow, or maybe even rin + ransom to discuss delaney and caine...we have a lot going on right now!

[AceOfNothing]

Really excited to see who it ends up being next!!

[skinstealer]

hmmm i was gonna say "no rambles yet today" but honestly we kind of want to do what we did for tonic and frost and go through who characters would be friends/"enemies" with in the kaleidoclub for the two characters we're working on right now, chokechain and tallow. now featuring moodboards!



chokechain is my member of the beau system. he's not very well liked to say the least, and is generally regarded as The Problem Member of the bunch by his own system. the rest of the kaleidoclub ranges from somewhat nervous around him to outright hostile, generally depending on their own relationship with helping + handling uncooperative system members. in more commonplace system community terms (that we personally dislike, but there's a point to this), choke would definitely be referred to as a "persecutor". he's seen as someone here to punish the rest of the system and cause problems, and spends most of his days locked up in the system's headspace, not allowed to front- until he gets slapped into force front anyway.

as such, hmm...friends...

from the stylized figures, we could see him having somewhat positive relationship with slasher, though the two do get on each other's nerves sometimes. ballpoint actually Has a story planned with choke, which is part of why we're working on him right now.

wyatt from glowstick is a fellow edgeboy and similarly regarded at times. i can picture the two of them hanging out pretty easily. bonding over their in-system unlikeability....edgy guys with rough histories have to stick together, after all. 

i genuinely don't know if he'd have any friends in katt, looking at the roster. a lot of the local edgelords in that system don't really seem like they'd vibe with him, but on second look...maybe sorbet. sorbet hasn't gotten a lot of attention development-wise yet but with everything they've got going on, i think that they'd be willing to listen to choke get his worries out and be there to provide a nice outlet for venting- and positive emotions, as well. possibly an advocate to let him out of his cage more, if not entirely?

probably scruffy from momentum. we need to start an edgeboy club.

no outright friends in toothache, i think. no one really goes his speed there.

friends with lore in greenhouse, that's pretty much it.

sort of friends with athame in runic system, which makes EVERYBODY nervous. not much going on there aside from that, though sidewinder is probably happy that athame has a buddy. sort of.

chewtoy from the decomposystem wants to hang out with him more, even if choke brushes the guy off.

might, Maybe, Maaaaybe get along ok with hitch from tuner. at the very least, hitch doesn't see him as a threat.

as for the systems he lives with...

probably decent terms with ritual from comorbid and That's It. maybe aniseed, but not gonna assume too much there.

his own system? no one. he gets along with literally no one, except maybe getting some concern from tibby every so often.

no friends in toybox, either. generally, he spends his time out in front feeling isolated. he'd probably be cool with joan if he ever got the chance to meet her, but...joan is pretty much solely internal, and he avoids dreamsharing if he can.
 

---

and enemies...

penny from the stylized figures is probably a little scared of him. snug probably has complex feelings...we'll figure those out later.

sine from the glowstick system is not a huge fan. he's very business-like and doesn't take well to someone willing to make a mess if provoked being around. choke and wyatt probably complain about this guy together.

not on good terms with "nameless" from katt, finds it uncanny and distressing to be around. not a fan of trashtalk, breakout, boil and bubble for being horny roleplay character introjects either- they remind him too much of the people he's around on a daily basis in his own head.

as for momentum, probably has gotten into arguments with gently. and oswald, Definitely oswald.

no real enemies in toothache either- i think he just doesn't interact with them much. might have hurt coldcut's feelings at one point.

no enemies in greenhouse, though he's gotten on seaview's nerves before (an impressive feat)

restraint from runic would Not like choke. the two do not get along. has probably hurt bappy's feelings as well. RIP to bappy.

while ICU has no issues with choke, choke has BIG issues with ICU. he finds her absolutely smothering and uncomfortable to be around.

no enemies from tuner, though display is probably antsy around him. locket and jekyl also make him a bit uncomfortable, but to the point where he just avoids them and he's fine.


and then....The People He Lives With

does not get along with tonic, we've established this. tonic wants to be sympathetic but can't help but see someone who causes Even More Problems for the system than they already have to deal with- even if most of those stories about how terrible he is are secondhand, from the rest of the beaus.  aside from being a dick attitude wise, he hasn't actually....Done Anything to the other members of the club. as for other comorbid members...any of the more sexually outspoken people are a no go. choke is VERY fucking judgmental in that department.  

no friends in his own system, but would especially butt heads with princess, desire and rhinestone. wake is also distinctly Not A Fan.

as mentioned, no friends in toybox...but not a lot of outright enemies, either. he would not get along with cordelia, rocky, or alcove, though.


that was more than i thought it'd be. we'll go into tallow later!

[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 Content

CW: 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.]

[Shifter55]

If he has ambitions for headspace control, has he investigated the system's areas much in the quest for that?
Also I am wondering if the polyfill motif extends to his feathers, giving a down feather-esque feel.