forum the brainworms have taken over

Started July 15, 2023 by @larcenistarsonist group

tune

i have several brain projects that like to float around in my empty mind space like the dvd idle screen. whenever they hit a perfect corner, i get a key plot point idea. whenever they hit a wall, i change the character im thinking about.

i have roughly 120 characters across these 7 projects so please!! ask me about them!!!

1. SixVerse War, Apocalypse, Superhumans, Action, Adventure

• WWIV - the first instillation of the series, but it acts as a prequel to the main storyline. WWIV follows six soldiers from various backgrounds as they're tasked to deliver a thumb drive from Western Mongolia all the way to Almaty, Kazakhstan. very much a darker war story featuring human superweapons.
• The Six Initiative - where the story really kicks off. Follows six assassins known as the Six (crazy creative, right). Assassin Number Four, or Hysteria as her boss calls her, desperately wants to know about her past she was forced to forget. Goes on a world-trotting adventure trying to locate her family and stop her former boss from achieving world domination. Oh yeah, she's also being chased by the other five assassins and it is personal. kind of a post-apocalyptic action adventure with more superhumans.
• In Between - follows Assassin Number Two–Asbestos–as they try to cope with loss and refinding themself after the catastrophic end of The Six Initiative. kind of a psychological journey and one big character study.
• The Twelve Initiative - oh no! twelve children are kidnapped and are about to be trained to become assassins! not if the original six (or those who remain from the ogs) have anything to say about it!
• Aftermath - yay, we're back with assassin 2 and they're now hanging with their new stepsister and trying to revolutionize a small country just for the fun of it
• note: in between, twelve initiative, and aftermath all make a lot more sense if you know the context to TSI and WWIV

2. Thad and Co Fantasy, Magic, Adventure

Just one story (so far) split into a few different arcs/novels. This follows one Thaddeus Godchallenger, a man who was rumored to be dead after he tried and failed to kill the god-like conqueror of his world. Twenty years after his supposed death, Thaddeus is found by one far-too-happy girl, Sparrow, and she refuses to leave him alone. She begs Thad to train her how to kill god and since this seems like the only way to get her to go away, Thad obliges. Oh yeah, they also have to find components to a very powerful spell to resurrect six minor gods that the big god killed so Thad and Sparrow can kill the big god. kind of funny fantasy-esque adventure with magic and an unwilling father figure

3. The Last Sixty Sunsets Modern, End of the World, Friendship, Emotions :''')

dont judge me i love the number six.
ANYWAYS! this is my cry-myself-to-sleep end of the world story :') in this we follow sixteen year olds Jesi and Liam, who were perfect strangers before the news hit that the world would be ending in sixty days. desperate to get one last adventure in, Jesi and Liam band together and travel around the US in Liam's rickety old pick-up. along the way they bond, watch the sky together, and they learn exactly what it means to be human. (they are also my platonic pairing otp i love them so much! soulmates aren't always lovers!!!)

4. sleepy horrors Retro, Comedy, Horror, Mystery

Yay! My 90s comedy-extraterrestrial-horror! follow Vaughn, an undiagnosed adhd/autism wombo combo teenager as he and his ragtag scooby-doo type friends go around the small rural town of Sleepy, Oregon decoding the hints that Vaughn's murdered father left behind. there are also things called Horrors! they kill people and impersonate them! yay!

5. Hawthorne Ridge Gilded Age, Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Supernatural

every author needs a funny, funky, messed up circus story and this is mine! the circus troupe known as Hawthorne Ridge has been framed for murders of the upper class! they have to work together and find a way to clear their name before the douchebag police commissioner can arrest them and put them away for life. oh yeah, the real murderer is an eldritch horror slowly taking over the soul of a man + the man's unhinged wife. they are my goth couple who kill rich people <3 also! the circus troupe all have very subtle, mild supernatural abilities!

6. Alabaster Crooks Modern, Comedy, Crime, Parody, Allegory

I love this story so much. Follow Midge Larsony, a criminal without a single braincell, as they cause problems in Alabaster City for no reason at all. Midge also has a funny little gang that include their stoner best friend getaway driver, a high schooler that works at Midge's favorite diner, Midge's angry neighbor, Midge's angry neighbor's partner, an ex-model turned drag queen, and a rich scumbag who is married to the model turned drag queen. the mafia is also there and eternally indebted to Midge Larsony. this is also a complex allegory to the cruel judicial and justice system the United States currently houses and is also a parody of Batman.

7. forgotten Western, Mystery, Supernatural

this is my newest brain project so i dont have a lot of details! but i just know something a little uncanny is going on in the wild west and the MC doesn't like it. it has cowboys, animal skeletons, a little bit of the supernatural, and the hottest gunslinger milf you've ever seen and that's about it.

ok so wow thanks for reading!! ask me questions and stuff!!! i am shaking the bars to my cage, i desperately want to talk about my funny lil characters and stories

hello MJ's brainworms nice to meet you

I know a lot about the six initiative but not about the twelve initiative!! what new characters have we got?? what are their abilities? who the hell is responsible for this I need to know

Members of Hawthorne Ridge? Assuming we've got acrobats, clowns, sideshow stuff, animal tamers maybe?

I have a couple members, but my brain is in the process of potentially adding more! so far we have-

• Tania Zerreta she/her
  the ringleader of this whole shitshow. she's an Egyptian immigrant who is using a false name to avoid those who want her dead. she's somewhere in her mid-forties with a head of untamed dark hair and a dangerous smile. it is unclear what happened to her husband, and to most of the troupe from her last circus, but they're missing now and Tania isn't concerned in the slightest. right now, she's the ringleader and a firebreather, but I am toying with the idea of her also being an animal tamer. She is somehow immune to burns, but if anybody has ever noticed anything, they certainly haven't mentioned it.

• Dominic Zerreta he/him
  Tania's son, her baby boy, her world, her entire heart–despite being nineteen, Dominic still very much loves his mother and depends on her for a lot of his emotional wellbeing. She is his rock, the person he always knows will be there at the end of the day. Dominic, having grown up in several circuses before Tania founded Hawthorne, is a skilled trapeze artist and aerialist. He's shy and in desperate need of some glasses, but somehow his impaired vision does not effect his art. Sometimes he questions if he wants to look into the deaths that surround him, but then he looks at his mother and decides he does not want to know. 

• Jack Woodrow he/they
  Jack is an all-smiles, friendly sort of guy who has a love for the dramatic. He's always the one to coordinate their costumes, to ensure that the audience gets the biggest thrill possible while watching them perform. He's just turned twenty and decided that the trapeze bar is where he belongs, locking hands with Dominic and staring straight into his dark eyes. Jack loves to make soup, and whenever he's asked of his backstory, he clams up. I haven't quite decided what his subtle supernatural ability is, but I think it will have something to do with an audience–like he can make somebody's heart race for no reason.

• Elias Sameulsson he/they
  Elias my unhinged clown <3 Even without his favorite pair of stilts, Elias is 6'7" and nearly nine feet tall with them. He has silvery blonde hair that reaches his hips and a wide smile that can put anyone at unease. Elias escaped his boring fishing town in Norway when he was fourteen, stowawaying on a ship until it arrived at Ellis Island and he made his move. He was found by Tania when he was a boy, and let her take him to her current circus: Cirque Spectaculaire. And then the ringmaster was found dead and Tania had Elias join her own circus–Hawthorne Ridge–when he turned twenty. Elias, despite his freaky exterior and knack for the uncanny, is actually quite good with children and a comforting presence to have lurking in the shadows. He is also a contortionist, able to spin his joints in ways that defy science.

• Dorothea Ellsworth she/her
  Thea is the youngest member of the troupe at only eight years old. Dominic and Elias were out for a fun night when they encountered her, standing alone at a crosswalk. She is very small with ringlets of blonde hair. She's always holding her favorite china doll and trailing closely behind her favorite member of the troupe, Elias. She loves the color pink and she loves her frilly parasol. She is the highwire act, walking carefully on a thin line dozens of feet above the ground. Thea is also deaf, but nobody knows it because the girl is a telepath and able to understand the conversation by reading people's minds.

• Blaire Ortega she/they
  Blaire is… god, how old is Blaire? She was born in the late 17th century to a noble family in Spain, and then she just, never aged and she never died. Now the year is roughly 1889 and Blaire is still alive and working for the circus. She works as an escape artist, thrown into vats of water and had knives thrown right at her chest. Somehow, she always makes it out alive. Or is she even alive? I don't know, and it's likely I'll never answer that question when I write it just for fun :)

• Mister Kane Arachnid he/him
  I think Kane Arachnid is my favorite character in the troupe–he's so funny. Kane Arachnid is an elderly man somewhere in his late-sixties. He has dark skin, sparkling eyes, and a smile that says that he always knows something you don't. He walks with a limp and a cane, telling the masses that he got shot when they ask what happened. Nobody knows if that's the truth. Nobody knows if Kane Arachnid is his real name. Kane Arachnid is the fortune teller at the circus, able to read fate with palms, cards, crystal balls, and dice. His fortunes are often simple, lighthearted and fun, but they have never been wrong. Does he control fate, or does he just read it? Kane Arachnid has also been able to see far into the future, able to interpret cataclysmic events, but he never shares what he sees. That would just ruin all the fun.

And then I have a few characters that aren't a part of the troupe, but I love them anyways:

• Emily Sheridan she/her
  The secretary for the local police department who desperately whishes to be a detective, but knows that society is against her. She takes the responsibility upon herself to prove that the troupe is innocent and not the "freaks" that have been killing off the upper class. She's determined and underestimated and desperate to prove the troupe innocent and find the real killer that almost murdered her sister.

• Molly Sheridan she/her
  The younger sister of Emily and nearly one of the victims of the upper class killer. Her and her fiance were at his house, about ready to celebrate the announcement of their marriage when disaster struck. Her fiance sacrificed himself to ensure Molly survived, but the event caused such an event on Molly's psyche (PTSD but they didn't know it at the time) she was emitted into the mental hospital. The only things she can clearly remember from that night are a gun and a weapon made of shadows.

• Giles Brindleton he/him
  He's just the awkward real estate agent that is head over heels in love with Tania <3

• Bram Woodrow he/it
  One half of the epic villain in this story! And yes, he is Jack's older brother! Bram was just an ordinary boy, alone after his parents died and his younger brother disappeared without a word. It was the coldest winter in the books, and Bram was twenty-three, living on the streets, inching closer and closer to death. When he was about to take his last breath, Bram was visited by a cloaked figure. If he sold his body and soul, he would live to see another day. And who was Bram to refuse such an offer? Slowly, Bram began to feel himself change. For nearly a week after he accepted the offer, he felt human. He felt ordinary, healthy, alive–but then he started to feel it. He started to lose feeling in his fingertips and found that he could just walk through objects with no issue. He could turn into shadow, could make himself intangible. Bram decided that he wanted to do something with his newfound powers, something that everyone would remember him by: killing off the class that spared him and his family no mercy when they were at their lowest. Oh yeah, Bram is also very in love with his wife and would do literally anything for her!

• Celia Bethany Creston-Woodrow she/her
  Bram's wife and girlboss! she is a little unhinged but that is okay, we love unhinged women. Celia came from a very high class family, but then her father was exposed by a business partner and everything they owned became bank property. They lost everything and, in his grief, her father killed himself. Her mother was emitted into a hospital for her declining state, but since they had no money to afford treatment, she also died. Celia, alone and without a single penny to her name, decided that she also wanted to start picking off the cruel aristocrats that caused this. She met Bram on the street, literally walking straight through him. Fascinated by his situation and captivated by his poor victorian orphan looks, Celia decided to become partners in crime, and then partners in life. Celia loves wearing big, poofy dresses that are out of style but she desperately tries to keep them nice. Oh yeah, she also holds loaded pistols in the folds of her skirt.

WHEW that was a lot of writing asldfkjas

I love them all so much MJ your brain is amazing and enormous <3

P.T. Barnum core 😍

hello MJ's brainworms nice to meet you

I know a lot about the six initiative but not about the twelve initiative!! what new characters have we got?? what are their abilities? who the hell is responsible for this I need to know

HELLO SQUID I DID NOT MEAN TO LEAVE YOU HANGING FOR SO LONG (especially in my other writing hell chat YIKES so sorry it's been a month and a half of you knowing absolutely nothing about the twelve initiative)

okay so the Twelve Initiative takes place about four and a half years after the Six Initiative. At the end of the the Six Initiative (TSI) it is confirmed that Shea, Rhyda, Pazia, and Donovan had died in the Collapse. Grace, Drew, and Felix left together, believing that everybody else had died in the Collapse. Abel survived, mindless, murderous and meandering, but alive. Months after the Collapse, Abel was found in the Ghost City of Santa Fe by their father, Haru, and was taken all the way to Evangeline Base in Vienna to undergo surgery to repair their damaged mind. Cagney Donovan, the thirteen-year-old daughter of Angel Donovan, also survived. She was pulled from the rubble by a handful of the remaining loyalists to Donovan and she was taken away. Concordian authorities were already on the scene with grieving Bianca Wong and Jeb Romero. Cagney was taken away to a place where she would be safe. While hidden away, she began to scheme. Her father never trusted her, never wanted her to take up the mantle of CEO. Donovan loved Drew more, and it infuriated Cagney.

Only thirteen, orphaned and alone, Cagney was entrusted with Donovan's files and plans by his head scientist: Mercedes Riley. Dr. Riley has two sons, Asher and Milo, twins the age of Cagney. They became close and her only friends during her angry teenage years.After the Collapse signaling the end of TSI, Grace, Felix and Drew found Grace and Felix's families. Grace stayed with hers in New Orleans, Felix didn't want to stay in Southern Mexico with estranged members and decided to move near Chicago where his youngest (and favorite) sister was attending college for criminology. Drew and Felix moved in together and decided that they were going to make an effort to be better, to move past their respective addictions together and move on from their troublesome past. Bianca quits her job as President's Assistant and buys herself a small house in a small town within Concordia. Jeb goes to his comatose mother's side and holds her hand.

Four years pass.

Drew and Felix are still happily living together. Grace is back on her feet in New Orleans. Abel is nearing a full recovery. Bianca shuts herself away from the world in her grief. Jeb distances himself from his closest friend out of respect for her. (After all, Jeb was the one who detonated the damn building that killed Shea–the only person Bianca has ever truly opened her stone heart to.)It all goes to hell after Cagney Donovan turns eighteen and all assets from her late father are officially transferred to her. She finds a plan, one meant to go into action as soon as the Six turned twenty-five. The Twelve Initiative. The Six would be moving out of their prime and Donovan needed a new batch to train. By the time the Six turned thirty, the new Twelve would be fully trained and Donovan could exterminate the original six in favor of a younger, improved set of assassins.

Cagney decided this would be the perfect way to impress her father–a man dead for four years. She could finally get him to see that she's worthy of leading, worthy of holding the Donovan name. But she needs muscle.

And so she goes to Vienna.

And she finds the most dangerous machine she can. Asbestos. Number Two. Abel Nakamura.

Cagney takes herself and a handful of goons to Vienna, where she infiltrates Evangeline Base and locates Abel on one of the underground floors. Abel's with their father, both of them staring at Cagney with wide eyes. She calls him by saying "Two, Asbestos." and everything Abel had been trying to expel from their mind for the past four years is thrown out the window with just those two words. Cagney calls Abel to her side with a smile. Haru tries to stop Abel, but they vaporize away. Cagney closes the emergency doors, locking Haru in the hallway. The next thing Haru hears is the screaming of his comrades upstairs.

Abel killed forty-three people in the cafeteria after Cagney said that they were too rusty. And then, like he was on a leash, Cagney took Abel to her hideaway and locked them in a below freezing room that prevents them from vaporizing.

Abel eventually snapped from their stupor and realized what they had done. Abel screams their voice raw. "I am not a machine–" he would scream to the plain white walls and one-way window.

The event, known around the world as the Evangeline Massacre, reaches the US, to Chicago and New Orleans. Grace is the one who finds Felix and Drew first and they take one look at each other and they all know: Abel is alive. The Massacre was undoubtedly their work, but why would they wait four and half years before resurfacing? Drew manages to deduce that it was his sister's work. Who else would know where Abel was and how to "activate" him? Not only is their friend alive, but so is the girl that even Angel Donovan feared obtaining power of the company.

Knowing they can't go at it alone, Grace, Felix, and Drew take a trip down to Concordia and find Bianca, where she's living alone and stuck in her mind in the suburbs of a small town. Bianca slaps Felix (he had tried to kill her in TSI) and wonders why the hell the three of them would have the audacity to show their faces in front of her, but then Drew says that his sister has obtained all of his father's power and it's likely that she's going to finish what his father couldn't. He confesses that he knew of the Twelve Initiative, something his father told him to initiate as soon as Drew became CEO. He admits that it's likely Cagney is going after twelve new children to turn and manipulate into assassins. This manages to ignite something in Bianca. She knew what family, past, and belonging meant to Shea. What permanently stopping Donovan meant to her. Bianca begrudgingly agrees to go with them. When asked of Jeb, she grits her teeth and shakes her head. And so the hunt begins!

This is the big beginning I have planned, but the rest is kind of uhhhh foggy. I know how it ends and what a few different events are in the middle, but here are some new characters going to be introduced!!!

Sidney Spokes: he/they

• Sid is an eleven year old from Australia who knows more curse words than countries. When he was little, there was an earthquake that killed both his parents, and from the ripe age of eight, he became an independent scavenger in the Ghost City of Syndey–his namesake. He wields a crowbar and is unafraid to use it. Sid was intercepted by Felix, Drew, Grace, and Bianca when he was being transported to one of Cagney's temporary bases. By the time the gang found out where Sid was going to be taken, Cagney had already fled without a trace. Sid is also the first person to ever get a full hit on Abel!

Holden McClain: he/him

• Holden is another eleven year old kid from a small town in Britain. He's fairly polite, loves chocolate, and stays completely neutral on all conflict matters. He also loves scary stories but is terrified of ghosts so it's a never ending cycle of read scary story -> get scared shitless -> cry a little -> panic -> oh it's okay -> read another scary story. He becomes Sid's best friend and is determined to help the crew to try and get back to his family.

Miles Riley: he/him

• Miles is Cagney's best friend and he's hopelessly in love with her. he's very strong and has short pink dreadlocks. he's kind of stupid but he has the spirit <3 evil himbo if you will. He's the one in charge of keeping Abel in line–something he literally trained for years to be able to.

Asher Riley: he/him

• Miles's twin brother and child genius. Asher learned from his mother how to do all sorts of different medical procedures. Asher actually experimented on Cagney when she was sixteen and managed to give her the ability to manipulate trajectory. If an object is in motion, she can control where the motion is heading, but not at what speed or force. Asher gives off slightly deranged mad scientist vibes and I love him for that.

Ana-Luis Herrera: she/her

• Ana Luis is Felix's younger sister and the girl in the chair. Throughout their journey, Ana is feeding Felix and the gang intel on strange happenings or abductions that match Cagney's kind of MO. She's a punk, hates authority, and is thrilled to have her older brother back in her life. She was excommunicated from the Catholic church after a multitude of atrocities she committed in her brother's absense. 

Azalea Mande: she/her

• The daughter of Ray Hartford and potential step-sister of Abel Nakamura. Azalea is similar to Ana in the way she hates authority and the government, but she is much more physical and a lot less theoretical. For only being, like, sixteen, Azalea is a threat and she loves throwing bricks at asshats. I'm not entirely sure where she'll come in during this story, but I'd like to see her meet up with the gang to try and stop Cagney and her goons.

HOLY SHIT that was a ton of words asldkfja sorry for the wait and I hope that this was better than you expected Squid alskdjf

I love them all so much MJ your brain is amazing and enormous <3

thank you eva ur brain is also gigantic and epic <3

I love them all so much MJ your brain is amazing and enormous <3

thank you eva ur brain is also gigantic and epic <3

Omg brain buddies we are so epic

noooo don't be sorry that was a lot of words i don't expect you to instantly reply to everything!! i love the new characters especially ana and azalea. love that ana got excommunicated akjfjkllk,, also sid!! i wanna know how an eleven year old got a full hit on abel whaat

but also like what the hell my emotions can't take it. the plot sounds awesome though like just as epic as the first!! the whole scene at evangeline base literally takes me so many emotions man i get chills every time i read it. also i do love that cagney is the main antagonist like. it just gives it so much symmetry aaa

noooo don't be sorry that was a lot of words i don't expect you to instantly reply to everything!! i love the new characters especially ana and azalea. love that ana got excommunicated akjfjkllk,, also sid!! i wanna know how an eleven year old got a full hit on abel whaat

but also like what the hell my emotions can't take it. the plot sounds awesome though like just as epic as the first!! the whole scene at evangeline base literally takes me so many emotions man i get chills every time i read it. also i do love that cagney is the main antagonist like. it just gives it so much symmetry aaa

aklsdfja aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa thank youuuu!! (sorry for taking forever lol) Ana and Azalea are so goofy,,, just off the walls,, little anarchists… Sid is just a little guy!! a little menace!!! in a moment of Abel's weakness, when they managed to break through their "coding" and begged Grace for help, Sid just whacked them in the back of the head with a crowbar and straight up knocked Abel unconscious.

and Cagney!!!! she just!!! she wants to impress her father (he never let her have power bc he knew that she would abuse it [he was right]) even though he's long dead!! she just wants to be seen!! to be heard!!! to be feared and respected like her dad!!! the evangeline base scene is alskdjfasldkf i've been turning it over and over in my mind for a very long time heehe

I have two brainworm prompts:

• Tell me more about Iseul and Terbish
• The Sleepy Horrors teens!! Gimme info!!!

I have two brainworm prompts:

• Tell me more about Iseul and Terbish
• The Sleepy Horrors teens!! Gimme info!!!

eheh got it boss,,

the teens!!! the guys!!!

• Vaughn Johansson!! – he's the protagonist and the resident funny guy of this universe. he's the reason i changed the setting to be in the 90s instead of the 80s (I needed him to be a Nirvana fan). Vaughn has undiagnosed adhd/autism and a very bad case of rbf, but he's really just thinking about swords. he has a collection of blades in the bottom drawer of his dresser and he casually brings his collection up every time he gets. he wears sunglasses inside (light hurts his eyes) and likes to smoke cigarettes (he likes the smell) and wears only leather jackets and white t-shirts (he doesn't know what else to wear). Vaughn is also trying to solve the murder of his father, Cecil Johansson, using the clues Cecil left before he died around their hometown of Sleepy, Oregon. Vaughn is constantly thinking "???" and trying to string together the facts in his mental murderboard. He doesn't sleep and is trying to learn how to play the drums, but he keeps getting distracted. He has had only one best friend since the second grade, and that's been Selene Jimenez.

• Selene Jimenez!! she's a second generation American, her grandparents came over from Cuba right before the Missile Crisis. She's named after her grandmother (Selena) and that's something that's very important to Selene. She's very close to her grandfather and her little brothers, all of them loving to watch cheesy telenovelas and make tamales together. Selene is very family-oriented, even if they constantly tell her to give up her ridiculous hobbies of ghost hunting and alien searching. Selene is… kind of paranoid and convinced that humans aren't alone. She spends a lot of her time in her beat-up orange pickup driving to sites that are rumored to have connections to the inhuman. Her and Vaughn bond over solving random mysteries and finding new ones. she's very smart and often made fun of for it, but really she doesn't care what random bullies have to think. they'll all be crawling back to her as soon as she becomes the legendary scientist to actually discover ghosts and the extra-terrestrial. she is dressed like halloween all the time w orange sweaters and fishnets and gloves and pumpkins and safety pins. i love her

• Tobias Taylor!! my boy is vibing on the outside and crying on the inside. he works at an arcade and his wardrobe consists entirely of funny shaped sunglasses and colorblocked windbreakers. he's also the captain of the basketball team and trying so very hard to get his new stepdad to like him (his stepdad loves him, but Tobias does not know that <- internalized "nobody likes me :(" ) He is… like the king of the school and he says hullo to everyone in the hallways. so many fingerguns. Tobias is also trying to figure out what the hell killed his girlfriend. they were planning for prom and wanted to wear the most atrocious lime green outfits imaginable. he's the cool senior who is the shepherd for helping all of his socially awkward underlings (gang, teammates, friends?)

• Millicent "Millie" Yang!! Millie is the flustered, closeted, anxious lesbian icon we all deserve. she's highly intelligent and a clear engineering prodigy. she mostly just blends into the background of every environment and desperately tries to make herself invisible. occasionally someone will try and be nice and talk to her and she will shut down and scuttle away. despite this, she can go off on tangents when talking about something she really likes. she's desperately and hopelessly in love with her study partner Violet, but Millie cannot bring herself to admit her feelings for the life of her. Tobias and Eshaal are always trying to get her to go for it, but her own anxieties prevent her from doing anything. Millie's very sweet and tries to bake (she sucks at it) and eventually gets roped into building alien hunting machines with the group

• Eshaal Basha!! and the last one on the list is the very lovely Eshaal. Eshaal is literally only hanging out with these guys because she's bored. The theater program got shut down at Sleepy High and she was left with nothing to do after school. She overheard Vaughn and the gang plotting to find supernatural murder things and thought "yo, i want in on that". she's so silly and goofy and loves to wear all sorts of funny colored hijabs. she's very devout to her religion (she's Muslim!) and it's all very important to her. she also has a dog named Frog and she puts all sorts of funky hats and sunglasses on him. her and Tobias become besties and they like to be goofy and have fun. they also become Millie's wingmen and try desperately to get her to talk to Violet

those are the main five!! but i do have a few other teens that are in the side-cast!!

• Lukas Eskarzaga!! he dropped out of high school at sixteen, but still remained in contact with a lot of his former classmates. he's a guitar player in his own little garage band and is trying to get it off the ground, but he's kind of struggling. he fosters kittens before getting them off to good homes. he looks kind of rough with his messy hair, jewelry, tattoos and loose clothes, but he's a very nice guy. the education system wasn't for him. he and Selene have something going on, but it's just a shame that Lukas is killed off before he's even introduced, and he's impersonated by a Horror.

• Bruce Tallant!! oh nogh here comes the rough and angry guy who always draws conclusions before he has the full details. he works at his uncle's small comic shop and allows the gang to use it to conspire their plots to find the Horrors. Bruce also has a huge unrequited crush on Vaughn (an aro/ace), who he believes is in a thing with Selene. Bruce ends up lashing out at Selene and "Lukas" gets angry and goes to protect her. "Lukas" ends up brutally dismembering Bruce as Selene and Vaughn run away… yeah. yikes.

• Violet Hoffman!! Millie's crush! Violet is a studious and upbeat girl who loves the color blue. She enjoys reading trashy romances and making fun of them the entire time. She wants to become an English teacher eventually. she always wears her hair the exact same way (a large periwinkle headband pushing her blonde hair back) and loves plaid patterns. Millie is terrified of Violet potentially being the next victim for the Horrors, so she tries her damndest to keep Violet out of trouble. (Violet would be lying if she said that Millie's protectiveness isn't at least a little endearing.)

• Amelia Carlyle!! Amelia is Tobias's girlfriend and the captain of the cheerleading team. She's kind of the epitome of a dumb blonde, but she definitely has the spirit and energy to make up for it. Amelia is very sweet and well-liked by everybody, which is why her death came as such a shock to everyone. 

alksdfj that was a lot of words, so I'll get to Terbish and Iseul tomorrow or the next day or whenever i have energy next :)

stop they all sound so epic! i love selene and eshaal especially but the whole gang sound so goofy and silly and i'm just in love with the whole 90s slightly wrong and eerie-in-a-subtle way eldritch small town aesthetic you know??

I love them so much; filling out their adoption papers right now

I have two brainworm prompts:

• Tell me more about Iseul and Terbish
• The Sleepy Horrors teens!! Gimme info!!!

FINALLY GETTING TO THIS!!!
omg so to set their relationship up, let me give some context on both Iseul and Terbish:

- Iseul Lee, she/her
Iseul Lee was born and raised in Korea. Her parents were high-ranking officials in the government. They knew all of the events that were happening around them. They knew that wartime was coming. In the previous WWIII, there were superhuman weapons everywhere. They caused disaster–levelling cities, raising sea levels, killing millions. The New United Nations then went on to pass a law stating that superhumans can only be "manufactured" during times of war. Iseul's parents knew what was coming. She was issued into a very special academy for up and coming superhumans, one where only the top of the top got proper experimentation and abilities. (Think of it kind of like the Red Room but without a ton of murder.) Growing up, Iseul was always kind of violent, cocky, and never hesitated. She was easily determined as dangerous from a young age. At sixteen she graduated and went right into development. She was granted superhuman powers, one that accelerate her speed, strength, and cognitive function all while dulling her sense of pain and increasing her energy. She has to take specialized steroids' via injection to trigger these powers. 

The Eurasian Grey War began when Iseul was eighteen and a half. She was out on the front lines in a black jacket and facemask. She killed dozens and dozens until she was considered a threat by every other nation. When the US, followed by many other countries, entered the war, it became WWIV. Iseul was twenty-two, too well known. The Korean Government couldn't risk her out on the front lines, so they drew her back. They sent her on a small task force consisting of five other people from three different countries. 

- Terbish Ganbaatar, she/her
Terbish was born and raised in a rural town in Mongolia. She attended a small school and lived in a modest home. She wasn't set up to be anything successful… until she got bored. With nothing but an old computer and too much free time on her hands, Terbish began researching… and she began hacking. When she was fifteen, she managed to hack the Mongolian Government's encrypted files without leaving a single trace behind. She had no ill intentions. She didn't even know why she was doing it to be honest. Well, that hacking is how she found out that they were nearing a war. Terbish got nervous as the days slowly became more and more violent. She decided on her twentieth birthday that she wanted her family to be safe more than anything. While trying to get them to move to a Stable City, one where the war would hardly touch them, Terbish was contacted. She was drafted into the war efforts. What had been the Eurasian Grey War quickly escalated into WWIV.

She was originally a foot soldier in a small boot camp. She slept in bunks and ate sloppy cafeteria food and had limited access to the internet in their tiny computer lab. This is where she spent all of her free time. One of her superiors found her neck-deep in very sensitive information and expelled her… to a small task force made of five other people from three different countries. 

So there's a little context on them!!! Terbish is an awkward supergenius and Iseul is a dangerous superweapon!They met the first day their task force all got together. Iseul was considered the superpowered one. Terbish was the tech-savvy one. The others were Mischa Antonova (Russia, Medic), Nikola Antonov (Russia, Journalist), Tao Zhang (originally from China, immigrated to Japan when he was young, Survivalist), and Haru Nakamura (Japan, Strategist).

For Iseul, it was love at first sight. From the very first look Iseul got on Terbish, Iseul was smitten. Terbish wore oversized jackets, shitty glasses, and cotton gloves with numerous holes in the wrist. Terbish is some small-town nobody and Iseul is on the most wanted list in literally 38 countries. It took a little while for Terbish to come out of her shell, but with Iseul's efforts (and the rest of the team's) they managed to get her talking a lot and laughing with the group. Iseul was never shy with her intentions. She constantly waxed poetic around the campfire about Terbish's (entirely mundane, in her opinion) eyes and how her skin sparkles in the firelight. The group would constantly roll their eyes and Terbish would never admit how she actually took everything Iseul said very seriously, and how it began to slowly pull her out of the depression she fell into after being forced into the war without any family. Eventually, Terbish kissed Iseul on the forehead before turning in for the night. Iseul didn't sleep at all that night. She just sat and stared at Terbish with a red face and wide smile. (FYI this is slightly creepy, but Terbish does not mind.) When Terbish woke up, Iseul never detached herself from Terbish's side. From then on, they were never not touching. Always holding hands or draped over one another or resting heads on shoulders. It could be sweet if the rest of the gang weren't fed up with them already. (The gang means well, but PDA literally every second of every day is exhausting.)

Now, let me tell you: Iseul and Terbish are my Achilles and Patroclus. They are my tragic lovers. They are doomed by pride and the narrative from the very beginning of this whole damn story.

Iseul is the unkillable soldier. Terbish is the poor mortal soul who loves her. Their mission is a dangerous one. The taskforce is tasked with delivering a thumb drive with crucial information to the war from a small Russian base on the east side of Mongolia all the way across to Kazakstan and then to its capitol of Almaty. They face battles that they have to worm their way out of. They find themselves the subject of an ambush. They are caught in the middle of an air raid that ends up killing the youngest of the group–poor, sweet Nikola Antonov who was never drafted but refused to leave his sister. 

Iseul uses her steroids. It turns her veins black and her eyes an inky color. She loses her sense of humanity as she zips between bullets and crushes windpipes beneath her grasp. She spends hours after her high recovering at the well-trained hands of their medic, Mischa. Terbish watches with dread. She watches as it takes longer and longer for Iseul to regain her mind after each shot. She watches as the love of her life slowly succumbs to the very thing that made her so great and feared to begin with. And they argue about it one night.

Tao has just had half of his jaw shot clean off. Mischa is still grieving the death of her brother. Haru is in shambles trying to hold their brittle team together.

Iseul had been overkill. A threat that they could've dealt with without steroids and monstrous superpowers had been demolished within moments by Iseul Lee.It's cold that night and Terbish takes Iseul's jacket, hoping that it'll warm her on her walk to cool off. With her black hair and black jacket, Terbish is mistaken for someone she's not. She's shot. Clean through the heart.

Her body is found the next morning after she doesn't return to camp. Iseul goes into a blind rage.

Corpses litter the ground like sagebrush, their hearts slashed straight through. Tao, Mischa, and Haru can only watch in horror as Iseul screams from the very depths of her soul. She collapses beside Terbish, holding her close and kissing her hair and whispering sweet, sweet nothings into deaf ears. Haru's the only one close enough to hear Iseul ask to be buried together before her eyes glaze over. It's only after Mischa looks Iseul does the team realize that she had been shot six times.

AND SO YEAH THEY'RE MY ALSDKFJALKSDFJLAKSDJFALKSDFJLASKDJFLKAJ I HOPED YOU ENJOYED THIS FUN READ EVA!!

(and thank you both, squid and eva, for such kind words asdklfjalf)

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH OMG GHJKLHGJKL GOING INSANE OVER THEM

asjdklfja i am going insane over them as well

excuse me? I go camping and you drop the tragic doomed lovers while I'm not looking??

I gotta go lie down after reading that adhksjsjs I think that took more out of me than the song of achilles did 💀

Same lmao

alkdsjf omg thank youuuu <3333God, I love every single character from WWIV so much,,, they're all so tragic in their own way and all of them have their worst fears come true EXCEPT FOR NIKOLA AND I– aaaaa screaming crying dying
like,,

• Mischa: her worst fear is losing her brother, her rock, her best friend and companion in this cold, cruel world. She promised her parents that she would look after him when he vowed to never leave her side after she received the dreaded letter in the mail that had drafted her.

• Haru: he is the leader. he's the strategist, the soldier, the one with experience leading a team. he can't lose his soldiers–hell, his friends. if something happens to them, it's his fault. he led them. he's responsible for their casualties.

• Tao: losing himself. Tao is chatty, sociable, a storyteller in every aspect. he's the one who tells stories around the fire and cracks jokes in the rough time. he never stops talking, but that's just Tao for you. Without his words, he fears he's nothing.

• Terbish: she hadn't feared much before being assigned to the task force, but as soon as she met Iseul, she feared losing her love to the toxin that she injects into her veins. Terbish can only watch as Iseul loses herself in battle, unfeeling pain and unrelenting on attacks. Terbish knows it's only a matter of time and she dreads it.

• Iseul: her possessiveness has fully taken over her mind. If anything happens to Terbish she will lose it. She would burn the entire world, innocents be damned, if one man harms Terbish.

And then Nikola's worst fear: Disappointing his sister.

Mischa watches her brother die beneath the weight of a falling building. Terbish loses the woman she loves to the steroids she's addicted to. Iseul goes out in a blaze of rage and glory after her love was ruthlessly murdered thinking it was Iseul. Tao gets shot in the jaw, blowing half of it off and preventing him from speaking ever again. Haru is forced to watch each of them break and wear down and down until there's nothing left but shells of humans.

Nikola, the first to go, running into a collapsing building to save a child's life. Echoing the words Mischa had told him at the beginning of the book in a heated moment: when are you going to bite the bullet and do something with your life? The last words he had told Mischa had been "I'm biting the bullet–" before sprinting away. Nikola succeeded in saving the child, but broke Mischa's spirit in the process.

ahfkdkdl you're making me feel emotions

so what's the story and end goal of WWIV? what are all the characters' backgrounds? how well do they all get along with each other?

So the whole premise of WWIV is to set up the world that the SixVerse is in.  TSI and all following stories take place in kind of a post-war, post-apocalyptic, post-disaster type of setting. WWIV is that disaster that caused the world to go all funky.

To set up WWIV, I first have to talk about WWIII–

• it happened in 2160 and lasted to 2165. 
• It was a brutal five years with superhuman warfare, chemical warfare, civilian warfare, guerilla warfare, etc… well, to say the least it was cruel and terrible and millions died. cities were demolished. countries were abolished. there were assassinations and bombings.
• out of WWIII emerged the N.U.N. (New United Nations, led by the Republic of Scotland). they were the group with representatives that banned the creation of superhumans outside of wartime. 

So WWIII got over in 2165 and then 33 years later, the Eurasian Grey War is started and the countries involved (I don't know all of them skjfd I just know that Korea, Japan, and Mongolia are involved bc it's important to some characters' backstory) begin to make their superhumans. The Grey War turned into WWIV three years later in 2196

There's the background, now here are the backstories for the six lil guys in the Taskforce:

• Haru Nakamura
  Haru was born and raised in Japan to an upper-middle class family with good military relations. Haru went to a very prestigious military school where he was top in his class with his grades. He wasn't the most physically athletic, but was still exponentially more fit than an average person. Pressure really began to mount on Haru when the Grey War broke out, for he had just graduated and had a low-ish military position. But Haru was smart. He had always been very smart. 
• Mischa and Nikola Antonov(a)
  Mischa and Nikola are twins, both born in a small town in Eastern Russia. Every since they were born, the duo had been inseparable. Nikola was always to go out and adventure while Mischa would trail quietly behind him. They graduated a regular high school together and went to the local community college to further their education, Mischa going to become a paramedic and Nikola trying to be a journalist. Their lives flipped upside down when Mischa was drafted for the newly launched WWIV as a combat medic due to her training in the medical field. Mischa was terrified. Nikola decided he would go to war with her. 
• Tao Zhang
  Tao's family could sense the growing tensions in China before the Grey War broke out. Before it got to be real bad, they moved to Japan when Tao was young, maybe around nine or ten. Trying not to think too much about the growing war on the horizon, Tao began to tell stories. He recited ones that he's already heard, ones that he makes up, ones that he invents as he goes. He's also found his niche in the wilderness, taking friends camping and rafting and showing them all of his survival skills. A true campfire man. 

And I've already kind of explained Terbish and Iseul so I'll skip them!!

The overall goal of the Taskforce is to deliver a crucial thumbdrive from a military base on the East Mongolia/Russia border all the way to Almaty, Kazakhstan through various modes of transportation (though mostly on foot) and through plenty of active warzones. There had originally only been five planned, but Nikola wormed his way into the group. Their superiors were impressed with his tenacity and allowed him to join. (A decision Mischa regrets them making for the rest of her life)

And for the most part, the group gets along pretty well!!

• Mischa and Haru find themselves in an early, shy romance. They kind of steal glances and brush hands and smile softly at each other and it's all very, very sweet. Haru is head over heels with her stubborn and snarky and kind of standoffish nature. Mischa loves her a shy guy who is actually smart and knows when to take charge when necessary. 
• Iseul and Terbish are inseparable (as explained earlier)
• Mischa and Nikola are incredibly close. (Nikola's death had been the first fracture in Mischa's mind that would lead to her eventual debilitating depression.)
• Haru and Tao are actually very very close good friends. They met in Japan because they went to rival schools and saw each other at competitions. They struck up a very good friendship of introvert/extrovert and Haru would always entertain Tao's love for storytelling with all sorts of questions and a good listening ear. Haru is the godfather to Tao's toddler :)
• Nikola and Tao are fun chaos besties. They love to play off of each other's jokes and launch into improv games. they also make it their mission to get Mischa and Haru together before this mission is all over. 
• Mischa and Tao are probably the most terse,,, Tao kind of speaks without really thinking sometimes and it can get on Mischa's nerves, but they do appreciate what each of them bring to the team. There is one point in the story were Tao calls Mischa the "Mom Friend" and she blows up saying that it's her damn job to keep them alive and she does not want to be reduced to just a "mother" among them. 
• Terbish and Haru are both the more quiet out of the group and they find themselves naturally drawn to each other, quietly talking about strategy and stuff with each other next to the campfire while Tao goes off and rambles about his latest mental adventure.
• Iseul and Tao are also very close,,, besties… they like to have scream offs in the middle of the night. Tao has also told Iseul repeatedly that he's absolutely terrified of her and she finds that hilarious 
• Haru and Nikola have a sense of comradery amongst each other,, kind of like a brotherhood almost. a "protect mischa at all costs" squad
• Nikola and Terbish get along just fine aldkjf they love to nerd out about computers together. Nikola is always joking around and asking to take her lovely picture.
• Nikola and Iseul are also friendly and VERY competitive. They have stupid little competitions to see who can drink their water the fastest or who can flick a pebble the farthest. Iseul definitely sees Nikola as a little brother figure
• Mischa and Iseul kind of have like a "whoops i got hurt again can you heal me" "i swear to fucking god i will let you die–" Mischa says wile patching Iseul's wounds
• Mischa and Terbish don't say much around each other but that's what they like. They have no expectation to say anything or try to entertain. they sit back and watch the tomfoolery with a smile
• Haru is one of the very few people Iseul completely respects. She will listen to his orders without question and Haru very much values how strong and powerful she is.
• Terbish and Tao don't really have much in common, but Tao is always cracking jokes and sitting next to her and trying to get a good laugh out of her. They both love to cook, so they tag team on meals for the squad

So yeah!!! there's kind of the squad dynamic!!! they're all so aldksjfalksdf they're so shaped and fun,,, I really need to make more drawings and incorrect quotes and stuff with them. thank you for all the questions!!!! i'll be way more than happy to answer any other sort of questions you might have for me!

aaa wow i can't believe how much detail you went in about all the squad dynamics! mischa and iseul's dynamic made me laugh. i love how much you know your characters and how well developed the world and background is, it's so immersing and fun to read :))

a;sldkfjaklsf whaaaaa!!! they're for real the only blorbos of my heart,,,, (i lie,,, I have like 100 other characters that also have special places in my heart)

WWIV is… well, it's my "no happy ending" story.

Terbish is killed with a single, measly shot through the head. Iseul loses herself to the steroids she injects herself with daily. Nikola, with a smile, dies where he should not have died. Tao has lost the one thing he feels makes him human. Mischa lost her other half. Haru failed not only his entire team but himself as well. 

And put the damn cherry on this sundae, the Taskforce was too late. By the time they reach Almaty, they're reduced by half, they're exhausted, they can't wait to go home and have this entire nightmare finally be over with–but they were too late. They couldn't deliver their thumb drive in time. The Kazakh military had launched their premature plan because they couldn't afford to wait another minute for the information on the thumb drive. Tao breaks into sobs. Haru disassociates. Mischa loses it. She yells and she cries and she asks if this entire mission was for nothing. Was Nikola's sacrifice in vain? Were Terbish and Iseul just another number on a casualty report? But no matter how much Mischa had screamed, there was no changing the fact that they had failed. 

Tao goes home to Japan, where his spouses and toddler daughter are waiting, as a shell of who he used to be. Haru's homeless, family refusing to speak with him, not wanting a failure for a son. Mischa can't bear to go back home and see her brother's face in her parents' tired expressions. Mischa and Haru agree to retire somewhere in Vostok Rossii, a new country that formed out of a third of Russia's previous land. They get a small apartment and try to rebuild themselves together. They pretend that it can work. They pretend that they're happy and the war can't hurt them any longer. 

But there are nightmares and flashbacks and hallucinations in the dining room. They've been pretending for nearly four years now. Mischa's expecting a child. Haru prays that his kid will finally be enough to cure him of the war. Mischa hopes it'll be the glue to fully hold her and Haru together. On February 6th, 2207, exactly eight years after the beginning of WWIV, Abel Nakamura is born with black hair and blue eyes and a scream that Mischa tries to soothe. For the first year, Haru actually forgets about the war. But then he's tucking his baby in one night, pressing a kiss to their sleeping forehead when he has another flashback. Abel takes the face of Nikola. Haru vomits into the toilet. The war hasn't left him. The war isn't over yet. He can't rest until it's finally over–everywhere. 

The next night, Haru leaves when the moon is at its peak. He has a flight for Vienna, a city still torn by WWIV where the citizens have not yet known peace. He leaves Mischa and Abel with only a note. It's never clear what's on it. Mischa eats the note during the breakdown that comes that morning. And then Mischa's left alone. And she tries so, so hard. She tries to be the mother that Abel deserves, but the war can't even be kind to her toddler. Mischa begins to grow worse, her depression morphing into a major bipolar disorder. Her PTSD disables her from doing even the most mundane of tasks. She holds Abel close at night as she cries into his black hair. Even as Abel grows older, to be eight, nine, and ten–Mischa refuses to sleep in an empty bed. 

It's ten years after Haru left when Mischa finally begins to get on the mend. Abel is taking care of both of them at the age of eleven, something absolutely no child should have to do. Mischa gets letters from her father, asking for her to visit one day. She actually begins to plan it. She won't be able to stomach a plane, but maybe she can take a train. That shouldn't be too bad. Mischa's waiting in her room with the curtains drawn. She's researching hotels near her father's house as she waits for her kid to get home from school. The front door to her apartment opens with more force than usual, instantly setting off the alarm bells constantly laying dormant in her brain. She then hears voices, unlike ones she has ever heard before. Mischa scrambles for the closest thing she can find–a shower rod she had taken down the day before with the intent of finally washing the grimey shower curtains. Her hands are shaking and her breath is coming in short breaths, but Mischa will not let her home just be invaded–

And then she hears them say "where's the kid–" and Mischa sees red. She storms into the living room swinging, but she's weak. She's been stuck to her bed for years. With hardly any real fight, Mischa's overpowered and she's shot through the head. She slumps onto the floor in a slick puddle of her own blood. One of the men laughs, placing a singular bullet between her lips before going to search the house for the kid that had been selected by one Angel Donovan for his brand new security program–The Six Initiative. Abel comes home from school and finds the body of their mother, still warm and slumped against the wall. Abel screams, begs, and tries so desperately to revive his mother–but it's all in vain. Abel just manages to pry the jacket from her limp form before a hand locks around his mouth. The next thing Abel knows, he's woken up in an all white room with no memories of how they had got there. They're holding a denim jacket with a sharp fur collar in their hands and Abel just knows that it's the most important possession they own.

SO YEAH KLASJDFKLAJSDF I AM GOING INSANE FOR THIS STORY I HOPE YOU ARE AS WELL

I shouldn't be crying over a notebook post at 8am in the morning but this one BROKE ME, it's the futility and tragedy,,, I'm reading this like NO THAT'S UNFAIR - the pointlessness of the whole mission, mischa dying just as she was maybe beginning to heal aaaargh