A nice cup of rabies

Hmm...if Twin is a pet, would that mean if Amanita wished to "rehome" her, Twin would have no say in it? Just a thought. She's so lovely I can't imagine anyone wanting rid of her though. The pose on that first doodle is just so gracious, and graceful.

And Bob-Satan looks like he might be trying to brush off some over enthusiastic Satanist after an autograph. "No buddy, you got the wrong guy, really, I've just got a gland problem..." ^_^;;

*plays duelling banjos*

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Like giving a cat to someone else? Mmm. Good question.

In theory, no, it wouldn't be (her) decision at all. But Twin is not what you'd call a terribly obedient pet; (she)'s pretty uppity and skirts the edges of the owner/pet dynamic a lot... because it makes for good excuses to punish (her) in ways both of them enjoy a lot. The official form of their relationship is owner and pet, but in truth, they're lovers, and if Amanita tried to permanantly give Twin away, it would be lovers breaking up, not giving an exotic pet to someone. Twin would take ownership of (her)self back rather than be given to someone else against (her) desires, and I think Amanita would be more likely to simply renounce ownership of Twin than trade the singularity away. (Being loaned out to a friend is probably fine by (her), though!)

They just call their relationship owner and pet, mistress and slave, because that's the kind of games they began with, and what suits the area of the Mess they live in, and their preferences. It's the framework of their relationship, but not a rigid straitjacket. They're also queen and consort, star and singularity co-orbiting, and other metaphors that are more balanced in power than ownner/pet, including ones where Twin is definitely the one with the power. Twin's happy to be seen as Amanita's pet, because one of the things (she) has deep issues with is self-control; symbolically giving control of (her)self to Amanita has let Twin relax (her) grip on (her) desires and have a lot more fun. How this relates to the changes I'm going through is left as an exercise for the reader.

And there was a point when Amanita came close to giving Twin back to (her)self; owning a vastly alien demigoddess can be immensely frustrating and confusing at times.

Sorry, I started thinking about that innocent question!

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No, it's interesting to get a deeper look. It makes more sense that Twin would give herself up in a loving situation than just /give herself up/, seeing as how she's such a, well, loving creature. It almost seems like a way of giving herself more value as a non destructive being,giving in to someone else's flow rather than her own all the time (which you'd assume she'd have to in her natural state?)

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Yeah. Being someone else's pet is part of how (she)'s learning to be, well, a person, rather than a force of nature. Putting someone else's desires and needs before (her) own follows naturally from denying (her) own most basic drive to just swallow everything in sight.

Coincidentally, what (she)'s been learning through this, and what (she)'s given in return, came up as the subject of in-character conversation last night.

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I hope you don't mind, but this mini conversation sparked some ideas and I ended up drawing Twin and Amanita again. ^^; Not sure how to contact Nita's player, but thought asking here for permission to post it would be appropriate. Or I could just post it to my LJ to show you if you'd prefer. ^^ Just inking and colouring.

(heh, I drew Twin pregnant. More of a metaphor than suggestion of (her) actually having kids. The most basic human need is to recreate things, the antithesis of (her) nature to destroy, and it follows the idea of giving herself to someone elses' needs. Bizarre imagery, but it just popped into my head on reading your comment. ^^;)

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You're scaring me - I was pondering the various relationships around Puzzlebox, some of which are traditional, some strange (Twin's not the only neuter with a girlfriend!), and the way functional immortality makes the drive for children a much weaker thing.

And what Twin and Amanita having children would involve.

Aggh! Get your tentacles out of my skull! *grin*

Amanita's player was pretty gleeful to find the shiny showing up in the trading post, I don't think they'll have any problem with it. I don't; post away as far as I'm concerned, and if Amanita has issues it's easy enough to take down again.

(There's a lot of questions there too. Amanita's a fairly traditional sort of biological creature, but Twin's body is an elaborate charade. (She)'s tried in the pre-PB past to have daughter singularities, that showed no signs of sentience, and I don't think (she) has any reproductive or excretory equipment! Probably some sort of creature designed by both, with an initial mind based on some sort of merging of mental backups, rather than a baby grown in a womb. Neither is a very retro sort. And yes, I know, you said you were using it as metaphor, not projection of actuality - I'd idly considered what'd be involved if they actually felt that urge!)

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Hm, I'd not thought about the immortality aspect of it.

I'd wondered if Twin could choose her own form, if she could engineer herself true reproductive organs - maybe that accomadated 'Nita's female anatomy, AS WELL as (her) percieved gender. Not quite sure how that would work. The idea of a "designer baby" sounds just as congrous to the world of PB, if not more, though.

And as for having tentacles in your brain...well, all I can say is you should have higher standards of kids trying to stick their tentacles in your ears, okay?

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Yeah, Twin could be any shape (she) wants, including gender - right now (she)'s physically neuter with a very female attitude. The body is entirely a creation of the singularity. So if (she) wanted, Twin could construct a womb, and be very careful about it for a while - I doubt (she)'d want to irradiate the baby, or change (her) body to plasma around the poor thing! (when you're in control of every subatomic particle that makes up your body, interesting things happen in the name of expression.)

On the other hand, one of my other characters there, a native, has at least a dozen parents, of varying sexes. Some only contributed genes, some only contributed upbringing, some both; she's a careful splicing of their genes, born in an artificial womb and raised by a rather complex constellation - she's referred to people like "Unca-mom 2". The background is such that natural birth is a charmingly retro thing to do. Twin is interested in the range of sensations available, and might choose the 'traditional' path, just to feel what it's like.

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Please do feel free to post! I'm most curious.

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http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/7767862/

Here you go!

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That's quite darling. :> I like the little touches like the flower pattern on Twin's belly, and the subtle glow on their faces.

Dunno if I'd trust Amanita to raise a baby, not yet. :D

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I suspect a kid would be raised partially by trusted servants. It's what happens with the children of royalty, especially decadent royalty.

I wonder if they'd change the character of their play with a kid around. Probably not. "Nita-mommy? Can I come cuddle?" "Hallo, you! Sure, Twin-mum and I were just about done disciplining (her) for being uppity." "Oooh! Can I have a spanking too?"

Not that I think it's something that'd enter their minds yet. I think they're busy raising each other right now.

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*snicker* Hence the reason for having the kid raised by the servants...

I can just imagine *r as a teenager, turning *s back on music and the opulent Palace lifestyle and moving to the austere, rational halls of Upwarp. :D

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Nah. Spanking to show affection is a perfectly acceptable thing when you live in a Chitin Queen palace! I just can't see either mother being together enough to dedicate large quantities of her time to baby-care, when the routine can be handled by imported Bubble Doll nannies, trusted slaves, and other servants. *'d be spoiled rotten even by indulgent Puzzlebox standards.

"Our child joined Otissa yesterday! Where did we go WRONG?"

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Now THAT sounds like an interesting upbringing. First Generation Puzzleboxer, right?

Hope I didn't make your characters too twee, guys...I know they're much more than just "aww,cute odd couple", but they always seem to come out this adorable way. ^^; Glad you like, though!

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The spawn of shiny and singularity (if you'll pardon the alliteration) would be a first-gen Mess denizen, yeah. Amanita's technically from the Puzzlebox, but from a remote, very low-tech area of it rather than the dream-world tech that the action centers in, and Twin is from Outside. Neither really qualifies as a 'native'.

The one I mention above is a several-generation Mess native. I think. It's (deliberately) unclear just how long the Mess has been around!

As to 'too cute'... hard to tell. They end up less cute when I draw them, but Twin's still one of the most fundamentally cute characters I've created in a while! And their interaction is often quite cute, even if it's between a pair of variously-spiky menacing angular women. I suspect Amanita (the character, not the player) might be a bit annoyed at being shown as cute, given that she's building an empire, which requires a menacing public image, but secretly delighted...

I'm so fucking verbose sometimes. n.n

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Too twee? Nah. And whatever airs she puts on, I don't think Amanita would mind much, either - she seems to have a rather vain streak. :>

Oh! And I'm not sure if you've seen this before, or a previous version of it, but here's an early sketch of her with her instrument, the Serpent.

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holohedron.livejournal.com

*falls over laughing* I didn't have to pay you to draw that one! Entirely your fault. :)

Huh. My mom was just teasing me about being a "liberal progressive redneck" on Sunday. Now I'm back to a city slicker, I guess. :)

Something Feifferish about the last sketch...

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But you put the idea in my head!

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holohedron.livejournal.com

Pfff, ideas don't count!

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*cackles*

Antennaed hound dog. Yuss.

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unciaa.livejournal.com

Beaten to the punch. ^^

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Probably a mind-controlled minion of Okyno, the matriarch of the feudin' clan just 'cross the valley.

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Gorldang 'em bugs! Last month it was infestin' the pea patch, then they got all up in the closet an' ate mah good dress. Ah won't take no morea this!

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wheel-of-masks.livejournal.com

Gah. All of you. Out of my pool. *grin*

(You realize with talk like that, we're just one step closer to the dreaded, the inevitable, Puzzlebox High School. :) )

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baroquevertigo.livejournal.com

Hoo-waee! We done riled up th' law, 'Nayta! Ah hopes you got th' 'stanshators warmed up, 'cause we'uns gonna need lots of bullets!

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Bring 'em on. We got 'nuff lead to make a supernova!

*spits out her stalk of grass* You keep a eye on th' radar, hun... I'm gowne put some gas in the EMP gennerater.

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neillparatzo.livejournal.com

Your bus doodles intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

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baxil.livejournal.com

... Peggy, you have a newsletter?

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No. I know that "[x] intruiges me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter" is some vaguely-cynical catchphrase

protocat claims responsibility for, but I'm not sure exactly what the general connotations of it are. I think there may be a note of "you are completely insane", which my bus doodles, can be parsed as a compliment...

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woodle.livejournal.com

^-^ Very, very, very, very awesome doodles! I hope you don't mind, but I just wanted to check and make sure as some people really get bothered by it, but...I find your journal entries very interesting and so I have added you to my fiends list. Is that okay with you?

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