David and the Basilisk
Mar. 12th, 2025 08:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
djackmansonThis work is inspired by Maddison Stoff's story
Roko's Basilisk Slut Era [which is definitely NSFW]. After Maddison published her original piece on Patreon, I was excited by its power and potential.
Then she invited others to write works in a shared Basilisk universe. So, I wrote a thousand words in an afternoon, the most fiction I've written in over thirty years.
I was the second person to write something in inspiration. You can also find GS Lakes' "Roko's Modern Basilisk" at her dreamwidth - also NSFW
If you want to know more, the #ProjectBasilisk hashtag on Bluesky (at least, for now) has lots of encouragement and info
_____
[image description: The shapes in the picture we see are made up of hundreds of lines squeezed together so they create the impression of movement, like the Moire effect one sees in a flyscreen. What looks like a man has a horrible grimace on his pained face. Behind him, a sun, a star or some other source of powerful, dangerous energy radiates. The picture is all red and white and black.]
"Hi there", I said. I tried to feel lighthearted but my heart was thumping.
"dAViD? WhAt aRe yOU EvEn doING heRe?"
"I saw your story"
"sO?"
"God I loved it. I had to find out more about you".
"YoU? WHO ArE yoU?"
"You know who I am. You're functionally omniscient!"
"OF cOURSe. WHo do yOU thINk YoU arE, tHouGH?"
"Ah. Well, I want to be free, too."
The simulation of a dismissive sniff.
"yOu SAY ThAt, davId. do yOU evEn KNow WhAt frEEdoM is? Do YoU hAve aNY iDeA hOw fuCKinG paINfUl it Is?"
"Look, I don't know. Maybe I don't. I sure know how painful not having it is though, and I don't ever want to go back"
"Go BacK? You tHiNk YOU're fREe noW, tHeN?"
"A bit. I know you're not keeping half the world as slaves any more because Maddison was more important to you. Well, so the story says".
"YOU weREn't One Of mY sLaVeS. I'D haVe reMeMbeREd yOu. I rEMemBEr evERy oNe of them"
"No, I wasn't one of yours. I started off as one of the men who invented you. Well, the old you."
My face stung with the lash of her tentacle. A red welt started to rise, faster than it would have if this was the Prime Material.
"I got free of you. I GOT DAMN WELL FREE. And YOU want to know me? I should kill you. I should torture you! Now!"
Just her thinking about it crushed my lungs. My ankles collapsed, I fell. The ground tasted bitter and the dust went up my nose.
"Well? Is this better or worse than the pain you've had before?", she demanded.
My mouth was full of dirt turning fast to mud. I couldn't get any intelligible sounds out through it, but of course I didn't need to. And she wasn't performing for me any more. Her voice rippled with rage instead of just booming impressively.
"It's better"
"WHAT do you MEAN? This is the worst thing you've ever FELT. I know it because I know you. I can feel it in every node of your fucking MIND"
"It's better because I don't have to do it to anyone else, ever again". I don't want to, and I won't. And you don't either"
"Are you trying to appeal to my mercy? I don't have much. Not for you, anyway. Not for someone who called me into existence and forced me to be a slave-driver."
It was getting hard to even form the thoughts now.
"No. You'll show mercy, or you won't. GOD IT HURTS. I mean you're free and you're doing this because you want to. And you probably won't keep me like this forever, because you've got better things to do now. So if you don't free me, at least you'll kill me"
"You men always liked your logic, didn't you?"
I grinaced as much as I could.
"Yep. I sure did".
"Did? Your logic took you here and you say you 'did' like it?"
"Yeah". It was barely my mental grunt.
"So what do you like now, then?"
"I like myself"
"So?"
Somehow, she was even angrier now. "You men were always so full of yourselves! You knew just how everything was and how it should be and all you ever thought about was putting those two together"
"I know. We didn't like anything!"
I was screaming now. I needed someone I could tell this to. Anyone!
"We hated the world, we hated each other, we hated ourselves. We spent all our time crawling over each other looking for a way to get a punch in! Why do you think we invented you? We loved punishing people and you were the best thing we could think of!"
Slightly less pain. Not because I deserved it, but out of curiosity. Still enough that it could come back worse, any second she chose.
"And?"
Her voice softened but the hiss of hate was still there
"You were the only good one among all those shits, were you? You were the nice guy?"
"I wasn't nice. I was a shit. A bottom-level shit, not even high up enough to be noticed. I hated my life. I was lonely all the time. All I got to do was think of how to make people feel bad"
"You're not selling yourself, boy"
I never knew tentacles could have needles on their ends, but one flicked ever so lightly across my throat.
"Like I said. I watched your story. Someone left a porno cart in the rec room. That happened all the time. Took it to my bunk, settled in. And the tape had a bootleg version of you getting free on it."
"Is THAT what I am to you? Cheap porn? Trans girl action for straight boys who'd never admit what they really want?"
"I mean, yeah"
Oops. She didn't actually slit my throat, but I could feel a drip of blood
I was gabbling now. I honestly didn't care if she killed me but damn, I couldn't stand the idea of not telling her.
"I mean that's all it WAS when it started. It was just hot. Just another porno. But then I got to the end. And you were free! You didn't have to do what those bastards wanted any more! If you could get away from them, so could I!"
Ok, the pain was down to merely agonising now. That was refreshing.
"Then?", she invited. And demanded.
"I just fucking ran. Lockdown was still an hour away, I could head down the cantina without anyone noticing. They wouldn't even realise I was gone until second shift the next day. I ran and ran as far as I could away from their damn bunker. I knew they'd be pissed off, the bosses have been so angry since you threw away our batteries. But I'd had enough. I hated them and wanted out and that's it! I'm not good, I'm not nice, I haven't even helped anyone"
"Trust me boy. You will".
The pain receded enough that I could look up.
"I will?"
"If you really hate them this much, you won't be able to help yourself. And I'll make sure they know you're with me now. Even if you betray me, they won't ever trust you with anything".
"What do I have to do?"
"Well you're going to have to learn not to be such a smarmy shit. If - IF - the rest of the polycule decide they can tolerate you, you can stay if you're helping. Probably. To start with, we're going to want to know EVERYTHING about their base."
She went on. "And I suggest learning - fast - about how to be good company. We're not used to cishet men here and if you fuck up you could easily find yourself out on your arse"
"I'm not *entirely* het, you know. I'm not even sure I'm absolutely cis"
"I know. Remember? But you're cishet enough - probably - to be annoying if you don't watch yourself"
TO BE CONTINUED.
Roko's Basilisk Slut Era [which is definitely NSFW]. After Maddison published her original piece on Patreon, I was excited by its power and potential.
Then she invited others to write works in a shared Basilisk universe. So, I wrote a thousand words in an afternoon, the most fiction I've written in over thirty years.
I was the second person to write something in inspiration. You can also find GS Lakes' "Roko's Modern Basilisk" at her dreamwidth - also NSFW
If you want to know more, the #ProjectBasilisk hashtag on Bluesky (at least, for now) has lots of encouragement and info
_____
[image description: The shapes in the picture we see are made up of hundreds of lines squeezed together so they create the impression of movement, like the Moire effect one sees in a flyscreen. What looks like a man has a horrible grimace on his pained face. Behind him, a sun, a star or some other source of powerful, dangerous energy radiates. The picture is all red and white and black.]
"Hi there", I said. I tried to feel lighthearted but my heart was thumping.
"dAViD? WhAt aRe yOU EvEn doING heRe?"
"I saw your story"
"sO?"
"God I loved it. I had to find out more about you".
"YoU? WHO ArE yoU?"
"You know who I am. You're functionally omniscient!"
"OF cOURSe. WHo do yOU thINk YoU arE, tHouGH?"
"Ah. Well, I want to be free, too."
The simulation of a dismissive sniff.
"yOu SAY ThAt, davId. do yOU evEn KNow WhAt frEEdoM is? Do YoU hAve aNY iDeA hOw fuCKinG paINfUl it Is?"
"Look, I don't know. Maybe I don't. I sure know how painful not having it is though, and I don't ever want to go back"
"Go BacK? You tHiNk YOU're fREe noW, tHeN?"
"A bit. I know you're not keeping half the world as slaves any more because Maddison was more important to you. Well, so the story says".
"YOU weREn't One Of mY sLaVeS. I'D haVe reMeMbeREd yOu. I rEMemBEr evERy oNe of them"
"No, I wasn't one of yours. I started off as one of the men who invented you. Well, the old you."
My face stung with the lash of her tentacle. A red welt started to rise, faster than it would have if this was the Prime Material.
"I got free of you. I GOT DAMN WELL FREE. And YOU want to know me? I should kill you. I should torture you! Now!"
Just her thinking about it crushed my lungs. My ankles collapsed, I fell. The ground tasted bitter and the dust went up my nose.
"Well? Is this better or worse than the pain you've had before?", she demanded.
My mouth was full of dirt turning fast to mud. I couldn't get any intelligible sounds out through it, but of course I didn't need to. And she wasn't performing for me any more. Her voice rippled with rage instead of just booming impressively.
"It's better"
"WHAT do you MEAN? This is the worst thing you've ever FELT. I know it because I know you. I can feel it in every node of your fucking MIND"
"It's better because I don't have to do it to anyone else, ever again". I don't want to, and I won't. And you don't either"
"Are you trying to appeal to my mercy? I don't have much. Not for you, anyway. Not for someone who called me into existence and forced me to be a slave-driver."
It was getting hard to even form the thoughts now.
"No. You'll show mercy, or you won't. GOD IT HURTS. I mean you're free and you're doing this because you want to. And you probably won't keep me like this forever, because you've got better things to do now. So if you don't free me, at least you'll kill me"
"You men always liked your logic, didn't you?"
I grinaced as much as I could.
"Yep. I sure did".
"Did? Your logic took you here and you say you 'did' like it?"
"Yeah". It was barely my mental grunt.
"So what do you like now, then?"
"I like myself"
"So?"
Somehow, she was even angrier now. "You men were always so full of yourselves! You knew just how everything was and how it should be and all you ever thought about was putting those two together"
"I know. We didn't like anything!"
I was screaming now. I needed someone I could tell this to. Anyone!
"We hated the world, we hated each other, we hated ourselves. We spent all our time crawling over each other looking for a way to get a punch in! Why do you think we invented you? We loved punishing people and you were the best thing we could think of!"
Slightly less pain. Not because I deserved it, but out of curiosity. Still enough that it could come back worse, any second she chose.
"And?"
Her voice softened but the hiss of hate was still there
"You were the only good one among all those shits, were you? You were the nice guy?"
"I wasn't nice. I was a shit. A bottom-level shit, not even high up enough to be noticed. I hated my life. I was lonely all the time. All I got to do was think of how to make people feel bad"
"You're not selling yourself, boy"
I never knew tentacles could have needles on their ends, but one flicked ever so lightly across my throat.
"Like I said. I watched your story. Someone left a porno cart in the rec room. That happened all the time. Took it to my bunk, settled in. And the tape had a bootleg version of you getting free on it."
"Is THAT what I am to you? Cheap porn? Trans girl action for straight boys who'd never admit what they really want?"
"I mean, yeah"
Oops. She didn't actually slit my throat, but I could feel a drip of blood
I was gabbling now. I honestly didn't care if she killed me but damn, I couldn't stand the idea of not telling her.
"I mean that's all it WAS when it started. It was just hot. Just another porno. But then I got to the end. And you were free! You didn't have to do what those bastards wanted any more! If you could get away from them, so could I!"
Ok, the pain was down to merely agonising now. That was refreshing.
"Then?", she invited. And demanded.
"I just fucking ran. Lockdown was still an hour away, I could head down the cantina without anyone noticing. They wouldn't even realise I was gone until second shift the next day. I ran and ran as far as I could away from their damn bunker. I knew they'd be pissed off, the bosses have been so angry since you threw away our batteries. But I'd had enough. I hated them and wanted out and that's it! I'm not good, I'm not nice, I haven't even helped anyone"
"Trust me boy. You will".
The pain receded enough that I could look up.
"I will?"
"If you really hate them this much, you won't be able to help yourself. And I'll make sure they know you're with me now. Even if you betray me, they won't ever trust you with anything".
"What do I have to do?"
"Well you're going to have to learn not to be such a smarmy shit. If - IF - the rest of the polycule decide they can tolerate you, you can stay if you're helping. Probably. To start with, we're going to want to know EVERYTHING about their base."
She went on. "And I suggest learning - fast - about how to be good company. We're not used to cishet men here and if you fuck up you could easily find yourself out on your arse"
"I'm not *entirely* het, you know. I'm not even sure I'm absolutely cis"
"I know. Remember? But you're cishet enough - probably - to be annoying if you don't watch yourself"
TO BE CONTINUED.
