#c: khalid abandonato

[fortunatetragedy]

wip excerpt time

Poking Khalid with reminders he's a literal child in this arc is funny to me and I have to get it out of my system bc next chapter the setting-appropriate violence kicks in.

Today Tumblr I have for you 600 first draft words where Khalid is getting ready to go on an assignment with his new cabal/research team in "A Living Machine" and straight up not having a good time.

Also Cayden accidentally foreshadowed "Among the Elements" and I howled.

I want to look over everyone's shoulders at their wips so I'm tagging. Give me however much you want. If you're out of words, send giraffe pictures. Khalid likes giraffes.

@aintgonnatakethis @autism-purgatory @byronicbi @cowboybrunch

@deanwax @minamaybe @noblebs @words-after-midnight

The storage facility was independently owned, and had been, according to Thiago's information retrieval, since the early 2030s. If an actual human being still ran the establishment, their name wouldn't be available without digging deep enough to risk a Technocratic Union daemon catching them. Anything they did, they had to do with purpose, and they had to do with speed. "We don't have time to fuck around," Luz said, tying her duo-toned hair back into a bun. "Thiago, I want you to stay with the van and make sure nobody tries to come in after us." "No problem," said Thiago. He unwrapped a lollipop as he spoke. "You know I don't want to be out here any longer than I have to be." "None of us do," Marisa grumbled. "These masks will filter out any particulate matter in the air but it isn't going to do anything about the radiation. If your counters start to go off, I don't want to hear any arguing." Khalid must have had about twenty pounds of equipment on his eighty-five-pound frame. He did not complain, but his face registered the effort of remaining upright under the weight of what they asked him to carry. "I don't need all this stuff," he said, "I have my own equipment." "We need some of that stuff," Luz said. "And unless you have combat training I'm unaware of--" "I have a forcefield." They couldn't help it. At least, Luz couldn't. Luz burst into laughter that she cut back before she could get rolling. Cayden looked uncomfortable, Marisa was bored, and Khalid wasn't able to discern the expression on Thiago's face. Sat cross-legged in the back of the vehicle, its innards emptied of seats so they could fit more equipment inside, the laptop's command console reflected in Thiago's glasses. He had stopped paying attention to what was happening inside the van. "Khalid," Marisa said, patient, because she could tell he was about ready to leave the van and complete the damned assignment himself, "honey, you need a resonance dampener. If they're able to detect recent Experimentation, you are..." "You're practically glowing," Cayden said with a laugh. Not unkindly. "Ah," Khalid said. Great. Much like the others, Khalid had been quite busy this evening. Unlike the others, he had been alone when the Storyteller came to collect him. Deep in study, thinking about the future. Must have forgotten to run himself through the scrubber before he left again. He didn't leave the dormitory very often. He remained quiet for long enough that even Luz noticed. "What's wrong, Khalid?" she asked. "Did I hurt your feelings?" "No," he said, frowning, "I have finals next week, and instead of studying for them, I'm out here helping you. And you're belittling me." "Finals?" Marisa interrupted. "I thought you were working on your dissertation." "Yes, well, I am, but the Chair of Etheric Biology offered me the opportunity to complete a second degree prior to commencement of the fall semester. As of right now, I only have the one." "You're twelve." "I know that." "What could you possibly need to study? You know everything." "No, I'm able to augment my own neurocognitive capacity with Noetic Science, which allows me to condense how much I absorb at once. All I know is that I don't know enough. I have to keep studying. That's why this is such a pain in the ass." Swearing wasn't particularly gratifying. It only seemed to make the adults want to laugh again. "Either way," Luz said, overtop her ex-wife, "Khalid, I am sorry that I belittled you. Alright? We'll make leaving your cave worthwhile." He nodded, chewing on his actual response a little longer to make sure he really had it broken down. Then he swallowed. "Alright," he agreed. "Let's go."

#wip: a living machine #c: khalid abandonato #wip excerpt

[fortunatetragedy]

OC questionnaire time!

The lovely @the-golden-comet tagged me thank you <3

These questions will get the best answers out of Khalid Abandonato, from "A Living Machine." He's twelve until the next chapter drops, so that's the energy I'm hitting you with.

1) Do you own any pets?

No. "Animals are a distraction." I "don't have time for a pet." "You'd have to clean the turtle tank, Khalid, wait, it generates too much Paradox to make an entirely self-cleaning aquarium, oh you mean you came up with a design that doesn't require Science well that's a waste of time you should be studying Etheric Chemistry, Khalid." [huff] Reptiles are cool. [pause] They're literally cool. I'd have to print a heat lamp. ... it makes sense why the dorm super won't let me have a turtle. They thought I would use Energetic Physics to negate the cost of the electricity. Adults are dumb. That's what solar power is for. Did you know you can still store solar power even if it's cloudy? A lot of people still think you can't.

2) What is your favorite season, and why?

This answer is going to be foreshadowing, isn't it? I can tell by the way the Storyteller is looking at me. I… prefer… winter. There's less sunlight, and it's cold, so the other students don't look at me like I have two heads when I say I didn't go outside all day. Nobody's going outside. In the summertime I have to close my blinds a lot more. I like being able to look out the window when I'm working. It's like I'm not alone, seeing other people's lights on. And then when all the lights go out, I stop looking, and it doesn't matter if I'm alone or not. Yeah, winter's my favorite.

3) Have you committed a crime?

One time I broke into a storage facility. And then I broke into a couple storage units and took a couple things that didn't belong to me. I'm sure I commit little crimes all the time. My department Chair says I think the rules don't apply to me, which isn't true. I'm bound by the same laws of Reality as everyone else. I can't negate Paradox yet. I do something super illegal when I'm older, but I'm not sure what that is. I don't get to retain temporal orientation unless I'm talking to the Storyteller for some reason. Oh. Right. They say it's a condition of the Board letting me keep my free will. Well, I know I break a lot of rules when I'm an adult. That's going to be awesome.

//

tag! @astramachina @autism-purgatory @borisyvain @cowboybrunch @deanwax

@finickyfelix @leahnardo-da-veggie @noblebs @taranorma @touloserlautrec

Khalid wants to know:

1) What is something you want to do more than anything else in the world, but can't, and why?

2) Say you have to move to another planet. Which one are you moving to and why?(Note: It can be fictional. He likes fictional planets.)

3) How do you make grilled cheese?

#oc questionnaire #tag game #c: khalid abandonato

[fortunatetragedy]

writing share tag!

Rules: Share a snippet of writing, no matter how long.

Tagged by the talented @the-golden-comet and @deanwax thank you lads <3

Dean tagged me at like the same time Chapter 6 of "Cycle's End" dropped. I read Chapter 6 first and now I'm taking it out on y'all.

tag! @aintgonnatakethis @autism-purgatory @byronicbi @cowboybrunch @leahnardo-da-veggie

@noblebs @sentfromwolves @taranorma @wolgerrswraith + open!

This is ~200 words from chapter 4 of "A Living Machine." I think the Storyteller lays out the situation well enough that I don't need to provide context.

Khalid, you've taken eight Bashing damage total. Uh huh... Six from unmaking the forcefield earlier, two from retrieving the key. Yeah... That converts to Lethal damage at 7. Which means you have 7 Bashing, 1 Lethal right now. ... that checks. How are you feeling? ... hey did you hit me in the kidney? I didn't do anything. You know Paradox Backlash can cause catastrophic personal injury, and you did it anyway. But they got the key? Yes. And you're down to 1 Willpower Point. Worth? You tell me. You're incapacitated for the rest of the scene. You're going to be on bedrest for several days after this. Cayden is the only one who can carry you out of here. Oh. You did inspire them to deal with the wall in a more... creative manner than previous. But the scrubber is overloaded and you're leaking resonance everywhere. ... We can talk about the consequences of that later. I'm not the only Scientist with Voltaic Resonance. [tries to think] Am I? Where are we? Do you have any other questions before we return to the others? Yeah, is there anything else in the storage unit? Khalid, you can't take any actions, especially not thinking about your surroundings. You're incapacitated. [sigh] I suppose consequences are their own reward. I learned a lot today. You might not, actually. The amount of damage you took gives -5 to your dice pool. It's wiped out your Intelligence score. You may as well be comatose right now. ... ah. That's unideal. I think I have something for you, actually. Is it going to fix my head? It hurts. No, but there's a first aid kit in the van. Upgrading from Unideal to Sucks.

#writing share tag #deanwax #the-golden-comet #c: khalid abandonato #wip: a living machine

[fortunatetragedy]

dr. khalid abandonato: character intro!

Because I should be doing other things, but I'm giving him his own novella.

I thought it would be fun to write a prelude for our friend the Scientist from "Among the Elements," a former Mage: the Ascension NPC who has broken containment and leveled up to OC status.

Meet Khalid Abandonato, Doctor of Physics!

Look at him with Arete 2 + hair over half his stupid face :3 + the white shock of hair of stress lol

Our timefluid friend will tell us about his backstory in the first chapter, but I've mentioned in other posts he had an early Awakening, was a child prodigy and a precocious learner, and became a father at 19. IDK what any of those tropes are or what tropes I'm going to mess with, other than the first cabal is one of my favorite sources of Mage character development.

Khalid's Intelligence score is maxed out and he has high Wits and Stamina; he is also, to start out--being as he's 10 or 12 years old (time isn't an arrow) and doesn't go outside unless he absolutely has to--low in Perception, Social stats, and Dexterity.

Without caffeine and sugar, he gets nothing done.

Since he's an NPC in his daughter's backstory the entire arc of the thing is already done for me, so that's kind of nice for everyone.

Things that might will happen:

aroace enemies-to-friends situation with a Technocratic New World Order Operative who falls in "I want to be friends with him" with him

cyberpunk shenanigans with a midpoint tragedy literally every midpoint

the author forgets words for things despite having written in this ttrpg system since the year 2006 & passes it off as "technobabble"

blatant fourth wall abuse

complete disregard for conventional plot structure

Uhhhh I guess a song? Yeah he has a song. Chapter 1 Khalid only has dots in Forces/Life/Matter this is appropriate.

That's him! That's my little lightning rod. Here to deflect my inability to shut up about my current wip~

#c: khalid abandonato #ocs #self indulgent mage the ascension nonsense #i know he looks adorable w/ glasses but they're for eye protection not his vision #safety first then science #Spotify

[fortunatetragedy]

oc interview

@deanwax tagged me for this yay! <33333

Last time I interviewed Royston and Sullivan from Doom Metal Love Story, the Weird Western trilogy I'm hoping to tradpub out of spite.

This time I'm interviewing Khalid from "A Living Machine," my ao3 wip.

Are you named after anyone? [thinks] Not to my knowledge. It's my understanding there was an adult male in the 7th century named Khālid ibn al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra al-Makhzūmī who was an important military commander. But that's all I know about him, is that he existed and we share a name.

When was the last time you cried? I don't cry. I'm not a baby.*

*He's twelve.

Do you have kids? Not yet. My daughter won't be born until I'm nineteen.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? I don't think so. I usually rely on science for my sick burns.

What’s the first thing you notice about people? That they're around. Hahaha. Um… the second thing I notice is they don't like when I stare at them. It causes shifty body language and an increase in respiration and heart rate.

What’s your eye colour? Brown. Hazel? They change color sometimes. But mostly they're brown. You know what, I'll ask Neil when I meet him, he spends more time looking at them the first week we know each other than I do my entire life.

Scary stories or happy endings? Oh, man, scary stories are the best! I don't like living the scary story, though. If I have to live the story I want a happy ending. The Storyteller keeps telling me my story has a happy ending, but it's going to be scary first. Here, I'll draw you a Punnett square to show you which combination maximizes my own personal enjoyment…

He's not crying green he has a leaf stuck on his face because he's a messy eater. And those are anti-gravity boots. In case his neck isn't long enough. He's not an adult giraffe.

We've lost him. He's drawing another picture showing the evolutionary advantage giraffes have over other ruminants in an ecological reclamation situation. I can't convince him to come back to the interview.

I went tag happy last night so this one is open. If you decide to play along, under the cut are all of the interview questions, not just the ones Khalid answered before running off.

Are you named after anyone?

When was the last time you cried?

Do you have kids?

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

What’s the first thing you notice about people?

What’s your eye colour?

Scary stories or happy endings?

Any special talents?

Where were you born?

Do you have any pets?

What sort of sports do you play?

How tall are you?

What was your favourite subject in school?

What is your dream job?

#deanwax #tag game #c: khalid abandonato

[fortunatetragedy]

OC in Fifteen

I was tagged by @taranorma (thank you <3 I love William btw.)

Rules: share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!

I'm going for bonus points, Tumblr.

Consider this a liberally open tag. If this is on your dash, I have tagged you. I want to see OCs!

Today I have for you fifteen lines of dialogue from my Son of Ether/future Mad Scientist Khalid ("A Living Machine.")

Here's his little face so you get the full effect:

I didn't have to answer the door when You knocked.

Feels as if you're nerfing me.

She's as alive now as she ever will be.

I'd do it again, right now, if you'd care to start the story there.

You don't have to subject me to horrors beyond my comprehension in order for me to grasp the secrets of the universe.

I have finals next week.

Great. I love that.

… if I exhibit frustration they're just going to say it's "cute" when I'm "angry."

I have a forcefield.

No, I'm able to augment my own neurocognitive capacity with Noetic Science, which allows me to condense how much I absorb at once.

… are you SERIOUS?

Put the hole back.

I'm ready.

Can I melt the lock real quick?

Groovy.

#tag game #c: khalid abandonato

[fortunatetragedy]

💫 for the OC ask game?

💫 What is your favourite fact about this character and why?

I couldn't decide which character to answer this for so you get three fun facts about three fun dudes:

Sullivan: When he swears an oath, he will not break it. Example: the fact his (undiagnosed, 1800s) autism hamstringed his career gets lost in the sauce. The excuse his commanding officers have given is "You don't have the education or political connections to qualify for a commission" (why he never earned a field commission during the Civil War even though he's more than qualified based on competence and badassery) or "We need you out in the field there aren't enough competent first sergeants" (why he never earned his final promotion to Sergeant Major) even though he's been in for 22 years in 1872 when we meet him. The man takes vows seriously.

Royston: When he was in his late twenties/early thirties he went through his Knife Dueling era. He developed a reputation in the St. Louis area for only using a knife to fight and dudes started challenging him like he had nothing better to do. He's 46 in 1874 and has both never fired a gun and never lost a fight in his entire life. He thinks that means he's hot shit.

Khalid: His favorite thing to do during study breaks is download movies into his brain. His study breaks are only like five minutes long and his upload speed isn't very fast, so it takes him a while to digest an entire movie. He's on a noir kick rn and has decided he doesn't like downer endings. He's twelve, he doesn't know anything about anything.

#ask game #thank you <3 #c: cole sullivan #c: arthur royston #c: khalid abandonato

[fortunatetragedy]

I've decided Dr. Abandonato's NWO Operative enemy-to-friend is named Neil

My roommate and I have manifested Neil as a 5'5" fresh out of his psych program soft-hearted little geek who cannot even be the Good Cop in an interrogation. All he's good for at the start of his story is surveillance. He's assigned to keep an eye on Dr. Abandonato when our Etherite friend is 18-9 and growing his daughter in his kitchenette laboratory.

You're caught up.

Last night my roommate was listening to me ramble about who knew what and out of nowhere I said "You know what Neil and Khalid's queerplatonic love song is?"

Tumblr, she almost fell out of her chair laughing when I put it on the kitchen speaker.

#wip: a living machine #c: neil the nwo operative #c: khalid abandonato #like it's perfect i can't