Pathologic Prompt Meme!

[maximumhusky]

Hello, welcome to the Pathologic Prompt Meme!

Please make anonymous prompts for things you would like to see, or anonymously fulfill prompts by creating stories, poetry, drawn art, music, or anything! I just want to say that this prompt meme is open to people of all skill levels, so have fun!

Some basic rules that were recommended to help out before we get started:

- This is the Pathologic Prompt Meme, and it's SFW! Please post any NSFW prompts or fills into the NSFW Pathologic Kink Meme. A good rule of thumb is whether or not you'd be comfortable with your boss at work looking over your shoulder and reading what you have on screen.

- If you're worried about anything being a little too gore-heavy (e.g. certain medical procedures can be), or etc., please post it in the NSFW Pathologic Kink Meme. This decision is for folks who have limits in regard to certain explicit things. Speaking of explicit things...

- Please use tags and content warnings, especially for things that people might be triggered over. For prompt fillers, please put those tags in the beginning of the post so that way people can skip over them if need be. Tags can also attract people to your art if it has content that they're interested in, so it can be a helpful tool for content creators as well.

- No writers of incest (kains which does include aglaya and her relatives, stamatins, olgimskys, etc), underage/adult ships (which DOES include Clara,) or rape. Please don't make anything gross happen to underage characters!

- Multiple fills to a single prompt is not only accepted, but wonderful! It's a win-win for everybody!

- In the case of a filler of a prompt going inactive for a long time in the middle of a story, it's okay for a different person to continue where they left off. Please make it obvious that you're not the original author, and then feel free to write.

And that's as much as I have in regards to rules! Hopefully these answered answer any questions you might have! Feel free to recommend any rules of your own, or ask me for clarification on the current ones.

AND THAT'S IT! Have fun! :D

LINKS:

Pathologic Prompt Meme: https://pathologicroundrobin.dreamwidth.org/825.html
Pathologic Round-Robin: https://pathologicroundrobin.dreamwidth.org/654.html
Pathologic Kink Meme (nsfw): https://pathologicroundrobin.dreamwidth.org/1201.html
Contact me here if you have any questions!: https://pathologicroundrobin.dreamwidth.org/1347.html

Newest Activity!

Latest Prompt: Peter and Andrey, working out their codependency (link)
Latest Fill: [fill] (Mod note: This is Peter coping after Andrey's death, but I'm having a hard time finding the corresponding prompt post for this for some reason. It's well-written, but for some reason Dreamwidth glitched out on making this post visible. Please give this author some love! (link)
Latest Comment: Re: Someone is a killer. On god I will write this. Saw this prompt a month ago before I even stepped foot into the game and was stricken. This will. . . this will happen. . ." (link)

Comments

[hands you a flower daniil]

[(Anonymous)]

TW: Mild self harm (pricking oneself with a blade to get blood)

Artemy always seems to find the strangest things out in the steppe. More often than not, those things were plants. Having studied herbs for his entire life, Artemy was sure that he had seen them all. But in front of him sits a flower he had never seen before.

It looks like a rose, almost. The curling of the petals and the sharp thorns on its stem certainly evoked the image of a rose. But the colors were all wrong. Its stem is black like the night, and the petals themselves are red like blood. More so than a rose would be. Where a rose was poetic in its crimson, this flower is macabre. The red in these petals come from what appears to be veins running through pale flesh. They pulse like a heartbeat, filled with some red ichor. Its stem snaked around a thicker stalk of grasses, as if clinging to it for support.

He had never heard this plant before either. Where others had noises that came from the Earth—the swish of wind through grass (or knives through the air), the rattle of grains in a cup, or even the buzz of insects—this plant had a strange noise. It was almost like a hiss paired with some other thing. Artemy had no idea if it was a hiss of a snake or not, but the second noise fascinated him. It was like a soft squeak of some material being moved.

The flower is in poor shape, Artemy has to strain to hear it. The strange plant is wilted, drooping. Despite its alien appearance, Artemy's heart pangs with pity.

"You're lucky I found you, little guy," Artemy murmurs as he bends to get closer to the plant. He searches his pockets for something that might be of use. Water? Though, if this plant makes a hiss, which could be like a swish, maybe it could use more iron.

"You're very lucky I found you," Artemy sighs, pulling out a small knife he uses to cut thicker stems.

He takes a breath and pricks his finger, enough to draw blood. He squeezes a few droplets onto the ground beside the strange flower. The hissing quiets, and Artemy feels a pit in his stomach as he worries he's killed this poor flower. The worry abates, however, as the blood seeps into the ground, sucked by the hungry roots of the flower. The second sound, the one that Artemy cannot name, becomes a bit louder.

Artemy takes that as a good sign.

"Hm… Would it be alright if I moved you? I have a place where you can grow without having to worry about getting eaten," Artemy says to the plant. "I'll be right back with a pot."

Artemy hurries to his Lair, where he can properly grab a shovel and a pot to move the plant into the garden that he has been cultivating. He tells Sticky to prepare a spot for a new plant, and returns out into the steppe. He listens for the strange sound, and soon finds the strange plant again.

Artemy blinks. Has it moved? He could have sworn it looked more droopy moments ago than it did now.

Regardless, Artemy sets out to gently move the flower from the ground here to the pot he carries. Surprisingly, the roots are shallow, and it hardly takes any digging to move the plant from the soil into the pot.
Holding it close to his chest, Artemy returns to the Lair once more.

—

Two weeks after he settles the strange plant into the garden, a stranger arrives in town. Artemy only learns of this fact a few days after the event occurred, overhearing the chatter of townsfolk about a doctor from the Capital taking residence in the Stillwater.

Artemy is curious, but he rarely finds himself on that side of town. Though, the Stillwater was directly open to the steppe. He eavesdrops more, and learns a few things about the mysterious newcomer: Firstly, the man's name was Daniil Dankovsky. Secondly, he was a Bachelor of Medicine. Thirdly, and most strangely, there was nothing else to be learned. Artemy knew the townsfolk like he knew the herbs in the steppe—it was highly unlikely that the only two pieces of information that they could gather was the man's name and his profession.

Curiosity continues to gnaw at him. But still, he would not go see the man. The doctor was likely minding his own business, and was likely already being flocked by curious townsfolk. Artemy didn't want to add to that. However, Artemy was not above using Sticky as an excuse to go see. After all, Sticky requested oh-so-politely to be introduced to the doctor, wanting to ask the newcomer many questions about medicine and the like. So of course, Artemy had to trek over and ask if the doctor was available to be interviewed.

So here he stands, in front of the Stillwater. Artemy feels awkward, standing and doing nothing. But there's something that makes his skin crawl and his steps still, something more than the general unease of the Stillwater. Artemy shakes his head, and raises a hand to knock.

The door opens, almost immediately. Artemy still has his fist in the air. In front of him stands the man that must be the doctor. The first thing Artemy notices about the man is that he is short. The second, he notices how the man is dressed. A big leather coat with snakeskin wrapped around it, a red vest over a white blouse. A blood red cravat tied around his neck.

"…You must be Artemy Burakh," the doctor says.

Artemy lowers his hand. "Um. Yes. You must be Daniil Dankovsky."

Daniil's lips quirk up in a small smile. "Ah, you already know my name. Good. I'm glad you finally came."

"You were expecting me?"

"Naturally. We have a lot to discuss."

Daniil moves aside, motioning Artemy into the house. Artemy follows, though he has no idea what's going on. What rumors did Daniil hear? If they were the normal ones, then the doctor should be running in fear.

Daniil closes the door and moves past Artemy. A smell hits the Haruspex—a faint licorice smell. Not enough to be overpowering, but enough to get one's attention. Artemy follows Daniil all the way up to the top floor, where the doctor must have made his room. It's cluttered, which Artemy wouldn't have guessed from looking at Daniil.

Daniil motions Artemy to take a seat by the window while he sits at his desk.

Artemy just stands. "Um, I'm actually here to ask if you would be willing to be interviewed by my… assistant? He's a young boy, very interested in medicine."

"Oh? Of course, I'd be willing to," Daniil says. "Now please, sit. As I said, we have a lot to discuss."

"What do we have to discuss?" It comes out a bit harsher than he intends.
Daniil pauses, frowning a little in confusion. He looks off into the distance, eyes darting over something Artemy cannot see. Thinking. He looks back to Artemy. "…Well. I suppose you're right. Sorry, I got ahead of myself."

"Are you really a doctor from the Capital?" Artemy asks. Surely doctors from the Capital aren't as bizarre as you, he thinks.

"Yes, I am."

"Why have you come here? This town doesn't seem your… style."

Daniil leans back in his seat a little. "You're right. The town isn't really my style. However, I've come here on sabbatical. This town is… fascinating, in its own way. And I've been here before."

Artemy blinks. "You have? I've never seen you… When were you here?"

"Oh, I come by every September," Daniil answers. "Though, this is the first time I've actually acquired housing. Say, Artemy, may I tell you something?"

"Uh, sure…?"

Daniil gives him a look so earnest that it catches Artemy off guard. "When I look at you, I get the feeling that nature is playing jokes on us. It's as if both the left and right hands have grabbed the head to realize for the first time that they are part of one single whole."

Artemy blinks, his mouth gaping a little. That was incredibly profound.

Daniil seems to realize the same thing, because he coughs and scoots back in his seat, looking away from Artemy. "Ahem. Yes, sorry. That was a bit much, wasn't it? Uh, regarding the boy—your assistant—I'll be happy to speak with him. I'll be at your place later this evening, if that works for you. It's behind the factories, right?"

"Y-yes," Artemy says, lamely. His mind is still on what the man said.

Daniil gives another small smile. "I'll see you then. Please close the door on your way out."

Artemy mumbles a 'goodbye' and heads back down the stairs. He pauses at the doorway, bending down to pick up a petal off the ground. Pale, with red veins in it. Artemy sighs, he must have brought some loose petals in here from his garden.

It isn't until he's halfway there that he realizes that there's no way that Daniil should have been able to know where his Lair is.

*tenderly receives a flower daniil* t-thank youuuu...!!! ;_;

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, I'm OP, and I want to say that I'm going absolutely feral over this! It's so good and I've read it multiple times now fsdjklfslaljdsalkadslk

I love the juxtaposition of Daniil's attempts to be liked with Artemy's mounting suspicion of the 'man' in front of him. Oh god, Daniil opening a door too soon was a fantastically eerie and cool move.

Also that last line hits like a truck and I love it.

Re: [hands you a flower daniil]

[(Anonymous)]

I hope you plan in continuing this, anon, it's great!