Modemoiselle twirls her long black cigarette holder between her fingers. You dutifully produce a lighter, and she simply laughs. She gently wraps her lips around it, and the tip glows to life. The air fills with dancing swirls and spirals. The body itself lights up with green and pink circuit traces.
"For when I don't need the full parasol, this packs an illusion projector, a reservoir of mind-altering chemicals, and is nearly indestructible. Just one of these in the right places will send anything grinding to a halt."
now it's hypno horny
"Areosolized, the spray within is barely enough for a brief high, but it can do much more than that." She stands up, twirls it between her fingers, and jabs the end into your leg with a single smooth motion. It hurts for an instant, and then it feels very, very good~
now it's hypno horny
"Come along, dear." The tip flashes green to indicate a full injection, and Modemoiselle plucks the tube from your leg. She wipes it off on your shirt and takes your chin. "We've got a whole evening ahead of us."
Modemoiselle walking in, jamming her cigarette holder into the nearest exposed piece of computer equipment, and watching her circuit traces pulse up the wall and into the whole compound.
corvids
@BestGirlGrace oh no, wife material
@autistikai You haven't even heard me cackle.
@BestGirlGrace simple problem, simple solution
@autistikai And, if you ask nicely, I'll menace you with the tip of my parasol.
@BestGirlGrace okay but only if it's a proper weapon too. i will not settle for menacing by a parasol without at least one built-in means by which it could kill me
@BestGirlGrace oh, lovely. i do appreciate a touch of creative craftsmanship—bullets and blades are entertaining enough, but one so rarely sees anything else in a parasol. i'll look forward to this, shall i?
@autistikai Why, thank you! It's good to see someone who appreciates a little twist on a classic.
@BestGirlGrace someone with taste, you mean. a classic without a personal touch is just a gimmick—why do it at all if you're not gonna make it a part of you?
@autistikai Exactly! The whole fun of the villain thing is coming up with Your Style. Establishing the cohesive whole and letting things follow naturally from there feels so good, weaving a few things seamlessly in as they fit.
@BestGirlGrace yes indeed! and of course i'm always in support of giving young changelings a space to become themselves in—a home for the homeless, if you will. it's probably pretty neat for the humans too; that's not really my area of expertise
@autistikai Nobody gets it right the first time around, after all. Everyone needs some room to explore and find out what works for them. And maybe meat some cuties here and there.
@BestGirlGrace i'm not so sure "getting it right" is really a thing—it may be possible in the moment, but things change. what is you needs to be able to adapt to who you are, when you are. definitely the cuties is a very important part, though. wouldn't do without them
@autistikai Oh, of course. Some people find "locking in" a style comforting, but even those at least tweak and refine, if not try something totally different when the mood strikes. No matter what, things will drift and change, and you want the freedom to make sure you get what you need and say what's inside. Gotta keep those girls kissed, after all.
@BestGirlGrace aye, and that's what it really boils down to. freedom's a small word for how much it means. the freedom to be oneself is, of course, the obvious aspect, but one could also point out escape from pain or suffering, or the ability to actively do the things one cares about (or to do the people one cares about, of course), or, well, even the ability to choose not to. all of these are freedom. rather silly, to hang so much responsibility on such a little word, but it is what it is
@autistikai Sometimes I like the word "liberty" to mean much the same thing, though it's been stolen by libertarian types. It's hard to be truly free, and yet, here we are, trying to achieve it because it sure sounds like something worth doing.
@BestGirlGrace in the end, words are just words. we'd be doing these things all the same if there were no words for them. what matters is what we do, far more than it ever was what it's called. freedom seems like a thing worth doing, so we do our best to make it—just as we would any other thing worthwhile. for, in the end, what's in a name?
@autistikai Just something to talk to other people about, really. It'd be a lot harder to have the conversation if we didn't have a word like "freedom"- and harder to rally others around the same idea. But, of course, my freedom might be different from yours, and that's a whole other talk.
Unfortunately, dear, I must be off to bed. Follow your dreams and all that.
@BestGirlGrace true enough, on both counts. but there's often enough in common to work together
'ta and all! i wouldn't be here without dreams, but the advice is appreciated
@autistikai Naturally, dear. I spend enough time going blow-to-blow with the hero types that the hypnospray isn't enough. Not only is it nearly indestructible on its own, but a healthy gout of flame is enough to make any entrance or exit memorable.