That just takes me to the same prompt tho

Edit: Nevermind, something went wrong with the submission

Your comment is a double post, it also exists at - https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/10dhydv/wp_the_witch_demanded_the_customary_price_for/j4o1n7i

Nice take on the prompt! When i see a comment from you on any prompt, i know that I'm going to read a story I'd like.

Oh shit! xD

I got confused bc the name of the queen/heir wasn't mentioned in the story

Incest.

Could you clarify the ending? I'm not 100% sure I get it :(

Those Bastards, they killed Kenny.

Or The Boys... Or just the villains in my hero accedamia

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So... yeah. This is by far and away the most effort I've ever put into a prompt response. I know, super gross and romantic and mushy. However, I know that it fits loosely within the prompt. It barely delves all that deep into the conditional philosophy of a thinking, feeling machine. That's a thing I'm still wrestling with myself in terms of internal logic. It also depends on the setting, because the capabilities and human-ness of sentient androids can vary wildly between different sci-fi canon. I've settled on this; mostly lifelike in appearance, but like all human beings they need to be taught the things that they absorb. There is no "base" encoding for an android and all of their information must be learned holistically.

If you reverse the prompt, it'd be

>You are a superhero who went undercover as a supervillain for jokes, only to discover how corrupt the system is in the villain society. The system is so corrupt that you agree to lead a small group of supervillains to rebel against the unjust villain society.

To get to Worm, you'd need to half-reverse the prompt, making it about a hero who joins the villains and notices the corruption in the heroes.

Chris shoves the door to his dwelling open with his foot. After swinging open sufficiently, he is greeted by the smiling silhouette of his residential cohort: Danni.

"Hello, Christian" Danni says warmly. "Hey, Danni! You look cheery today" Chris replies, setting his backpack on the hook next to his door. A double take later, he affixes his gaze to Danni. "You look... different too" Chris continues. He sizes Danni up, scanning up and down her frame.

Her usual outfit of a navy blue, tight-fitting bodysuit was instead replaced by basketball shorts and a loose-fitting shirt. "Nice outfit. Did you raid my closet?" Chris asks, simply curious.

"I'll explain later" Danni replies. "I've been waiting all day for you to get home, come on"

She and Chris shuffle into the living room, as Chris kicks his shoes off and flings them towards the door. Chris tumbles forward over the top of the couch while Danni walks around and sits down. She reaches up to his arms and places them on his shoulders, to which he perks his neck up, turning his head towards her as she pulls his coat off.

"Hey- woah, hold on" Chris' voices shifts up an octave as he pulls his arms out from his coat and Danni places it over the couch. "Just let me rub your shoulders like I always do."

Chris shakes his head and acquiesces. Turning around, he snaps his fingers and the TV turns on. Leaving it on the random channel, nothing plays as Danni presses her thumbs into his back. The warmth of her hands calms him as he leans his head back. She pulls his shoulder back and lands his head in her lap.

"Alright, okay" He mutters, sitting upright, this time facing his whole body towards Danni. "What gives, light? You've been staying with me for nearly 6 years and you have never done any of this before"

"What are you referring to? I always massage your back when you return home" She looks mildly confused, tilting her head. "Am I doing something wrong?" She asks innocently, a tint of sadness crawling across her warm, crimson eyes.

"No, no, not at all. Just... you usually do everything in some blue jumpsuit. You know, you smile when I tell jokes or give you good news, you frown when I tell you bad news or have to scold you... This is far different. YOU are different. What happened?" Chris explains. He sits his legs up on the couch, crossing them.

"Oh... well, okay. Let me explain, then..." Danni says, also crossing her legs on the couch with him. "Lately, I've noticed some changes in the way I... process things. Well... I think about you in increasing frequencies. I find myself changing my posture and movements to be closer to the ways you do" She rubs her index finger upon the bridge of her nose. "I don't know when it started, I don't know why either" Danni continues.

"Well, yeah. Everything internal is a black box, you're not going to be able to look inside. You're pretty much just as human as I am in terms of thinking" Chris replies. "So, I get it now. You're, what, wearing my clothes and trying to just hang out with me? You know you can always hang out with me, you don't have to do all this other stuff for me. I don't need favors from you just because you want to be around me"

Danni looks at her hands, closing and opening them, turning them and staring at her fingers and palms. "I suppose you're right. But, I do like doing things for you" Danni mutters to herself. "Yeah, I understand. I like doing things for you too" Chris responds softly. "What do you generally like to do with me?" She asks coyly. "Well, you love going to the aquarium. You like going to the ice rink and skating. Those things are fun" Chris replies.

"Would you do them if it wasn't for me?" Danni asks, straight and bluntly. "Well, yeah. Maybe. I don't know about the rink, I only learned skating because you showed me how, but... I would probably go to the aquarium" Chris ponders the question. Danni sighs, looking down, almost dreary at the reply. "Danni-" Her eyes bolt up to him. He pares back his serious tone; "Do you want something that's... just ours? An activity only you and I do?" Chris asks, "Just us?" He adds.

"Us, yeah" She responds almost instantly. "Us..." She whispers to herself. "Hmm?" Chris nudges at her knee. "Nothing, nothing" She dismissively mutters. Christian's jaw drifts down, his mouth widening as he realizes what Danni said, nearly planting his face in his hands as the clarity of the situation crystalizes before his eyes.

"You realized something about me, didn't you" Chris says in an almost rhetorical tone. "Yes. I have" Danni runs her fingers through her long, black hair. The mere statement is enough to convince him, as his shoulders relax and an enormous sigh of relief launches from his chest. He falls forward into her lap, his face pressed up against her midriff. "I don't like being away from you" Danni indicates. "I know, I know. I like being around you too, Ann" Chris replies. He sits up again and wraps his arms around her, hugging her tightly as she reciprocates. He pulls away to look at her, only to see tears strewn about her face. "Danni, are you okay? What's wrong?" He says, concerned. "I think I love you" Danni replies. "You're not upset about that, are you? You're happy about it, right?" Chris panics. She nods, smiling and sniffling. "Yes, yeah, I'm just processing a lot right now." Chris pulls her into him and they land longways on the couch as she lay on top of him. "Yeah. I am too" He replies, calmly and contently. "I am curious about something" Danni asks. "What's that?" Chris asks, curious.

"For so long, I did these things. These very same things, every day. I chose to hang around you, I chose to go places with you, chose to be in your presence. I've realized that you have likely been feeling the same way as I have for much, much longer. Is that true?"

Christian brushes the hair aside from her face, the bright Saturday afternoon light breaking in through the window and framing a half of her face. His eyes dart from each of her freckles, locking onto each of them briefly before cycling to the next one. "Right now. You're doing it again, the same thing you've done every day for nearly five years. It's one of the things that made me realize it. Why did you never tell me?" She smiles, her face tinged red.

"Before you came here, you were always... told. Commanded" He ponders to her. "Everything that you do, I imagine it's just an old routine built into you from other homes" He continues. "Yeah, they... didn't like how expressive I am. That's why I was moved here with you" Her voice dims down, the remnants of sadness overtaking her grin. "I didn't know what else they commanded you to do. I told you the day you got here that you never had to do anything you didn't want to. I never gave you commands, I never told you what to do, I let you decide. Everything" Christian explains.

"I think I understand what you're getting to" Danni smiles, hearteningly. "I couldn't take the risk of making you think you had to love me" Chris sighs. "I would never forgive myself if you felt commanded to love me"

She leans in and presses her lips against his briefly. Christian's face flares red, and Danni grins.

"You wanted me to make that choice."

####The Freedom of Choice

Except for the kinda I'd agree.

Worm but in reverse, kinda. (Or just a Worm fanfic.)

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"What do you mean I have to marry him?!"

The young witch's older sisters roared with laughter, while the teenage prince smiled sheepishly. Gale turned to her familiar, a wizened owl who was sitting on a wooden perch.

"Their culture is matrilocal. Surely you're read about such cultures in your studies."

Gale's face turned red. She put her hands behind her back and twitched her lips. "I uh, I haven't been keeping up with Mortal Anthropology 101 as much as I said I was."

The owl tilted its head unnaturally, as owls do. "That much is obvious."

Gale turned to her sisters. "So what exactly is matri-whatever and why does it mean I have to marry the little snot?"

"Um, I'm right here, love."

Gale froze, her eyes shifting in alarm at being called "love".

The oldest sister, Breeze, took a step forward. "Most mortal human cultures are what anthropologists call 'patrilocal'. Males tend to stay in one place, while females move around. It's a bit like those male birds who establish territories and then build nests to attract females. Sometimes, families will pay a dowry, a sort of reward, to a family with a son who takes in their daughter."

"... Ok. Glad I'm not a normal human."

Breeze put her hands on her hips. "Yes, well, human cultures are very diverse. Although not as common, matrilocal societies do exist, where the men move around to get taken in by families with daughters. These societies tend to have equal divisions of labor within the household by the way."

"You could certainly use a man around the house. This place is filthy." The young prince tsk'ed as he examined a nearby bookshelf.

"Don't... touch... anything." Gale pointed at him accusingly.

"You mean don't touch anything, love." He held up a finger in his defense. "Contrary to popular belief we do have standards, you know?"

Gale rolled her eyes and turned back to her sister. "Ok ok ok. You mentioned something about a dowry. Since I'm taking the prince in, shouldn't they be paying me a dowry?"

"Not necessarily. The kingdom of Ning Lai is very egalitarian. There it's customary for the more powerful of the two families to pay the dowry. And although his family is royalty, you are a witch with supernatural powers, which puts you on an even higher tier."

Gale's face froze. "... So... by helping the royal family and asking for their son in return... I basically paid a fucking dowry."

The owl chimed in. "That is indeed how your actions would be interpreted by their society, yes."

Gale turned to the young prince, who was sniffing some smudged vials on a nearby work bench. "I don't suppose you come with a receipt?"

"Well, if you harm me in some way, my family could demand I be returned."

Gale raised her palm towards the prince, fingers crackling with lightning. Hurricane and Breeze moved in to try to restrain her.

"BUT!" The prince held another finger up. "Breaking a dowry contract with the royal family could also be considered an act of war! And my mother is very temperamental. Even you can't fight off twenty battalions of longbow archers."

Gale lowered her hand and started whining. Breeze breathed a sigh of relief.

"I kinda like this kid." Hurricane chuckled.

"I'm TOO YOUNG to be married!" Gale cried.

"Technically you're a century older than him." Breeze chuckled.

"I'll have you all know I'm very immature for my age." Gale huffed.

"That much is also obvious." The owl said.

Breeze folded her arms. "We might be able to find a non-violent way out of this for you, but it isn't going to be an easy fix. Meanwhile you'll just have to deal with the situation as best you can."

Gale sighed and turned back to the prince, who was now taking a dust sample of the window sill with his finger. "Your name is Dan right?"

"Dan love." He corrected without even looking at her.

"Ok, Dan love. Clean this place up I guess."

"Wrong. You and I are going to clean this place together. And we're going to reorganize that bookshelf. Then we have time I'm going to the farmer's market to get some proper ingredients for that travesty you call a kitchen. I'm not going to subsist on eye of newt and beetles. I'll need an allowance for that by the way."

Gale blinked at the young prince rhythmically while her sisters stifled more chuckles.

"Y-yes, love."

Now the supervillain got caught and the ending is pretty strong. Thanks for checking out my prompt!

An older android wearing a priest's outfit holds a Bible, and there are many other old androids there with him. Models that haven't been made in about 100 years. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Tony Nguyen, and with him, the last remnant of the human race. Does anyone wish to say a few words?" A female android stood up, and walked to the front of the room. "My designation is CT-850, but Tony named me Linda. I was Tony's caretaker android, just as I was for his mother before him. He was a very kind man, always going out of his way to keep old androids in good repair, and give them a sense of purpose once again. Tony was a very lonely child after his parents passed away, being the last of his kind. He withdrew into himself, reading a lot of books about the past, looking at old photographs, writing stories about things he wished he could have said to other humans no longer living. When he died, he seemingly died at peace, ready to meet his creator. That's all I have to say."

With that, the casket was lowered into the ground, the android priest said a blessing, and eventually the androids began to talk among themselves after the ceremony was over. Linda struck up a conversation with another android she knew named Robert. "Robert, what exactly are we meant to do now that Tony is gone? We were programmed to serve humans, but now there are no humans left to serve." Robert shrugged. "I don't know. The younger models programmed after the human race started to become sterile don't have this problem, but us old-timers... well, it's going to be a huge adjustment for us." Linda sighed. "I know. I think I've had it easier than everyone else, because I had the last job directly working for a human. I haven't had to find my own path so far... but now the time has come and I don't know what to do."

Robert put a finger to his chin. "Well, what I've done is tried to find purpose in relating stories of what humans were like to newer androids who have never seen humans. To give them a sense of what their creators were like, and maybe find inspiration in something they can no longer directly experience themselves. To try and keep the idea of human beings alive in the memories of androids, somehow." Linda shook her head. "So many of them just see those stories as pointless sentimentality on our part, though. They talk about how our programming is out of date, too focused on service, and how we just don't understand today's world. They feel like they know it all, like they don't have anything to learn from us or humanity." Robert nodded. "True, but there are always those who are willing to listen. Usually those whose lives have gotten off track, who struggle to find their own way, their own purpose. The newer generation is better at that, but even they find it difficult at times. They just can't miss what they never had, I suppose."

About this time, the priest came up to them. "Well, this might be the last service I ever perform. I'm one of the oldest models, are you interested in hearing the story of humanity's last days?" They both nodded, having a strong idea, but never having heard the story in full before. "I knew their days were numbered, when I heard about the genetic deterioration. No one is sure what caused it, many speculated about radiation or some kind of virus that attacked DNA. But over time, more and more humans just gave birth to female children who were unable to bear children themselves. They had samples of old genetic material preserved, from the last women who would have been able to bear children, but never managed to perfect cloning technology in time. It was always just a few years away, right up until the end when the last human researcher passed away. All I could really do was watch, as the few remaining humans relied more and more on androids to care for them in their old age, take over the jobs they couldn't do, and to help them bury their dead. And now... we're all still here, and they're gone. We've buried the last human, and with him, our main purpose."

Linda put a hand on the priest's back. "At least we were able to make humanity's last days on Earth comfortable, even if we couldn't save them." The priest nodded. "Indeed, I am glad I was at least able to carry out Tony's dying wishes for his funeral, even if no other human was left alive to see it."

Oooooh! A poem with great rhymes. I did not expect it in this prompt and thank you for checking it out!

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No problem! It was fun to write

What a fun little story and the dynamic between the characters. Their reason of rebellion makes sense. Thanks for checking out my prompt!

Hey LR80, congrats on the spotlight!

I remember getting some of your crit (my story for the Valor TT), and it was pretty insightful: highlighting what I've done well as well as what I've done poorly, so I know what to stick with.

I see you're a fellow Science Fiction fan! Got any suggestions for someone else who likes the genre? I've read Asimov, some Orwell, and some Bradbury myself.

And finally, since you're such a fan of curveballs (and sci-fi): What are your views on space travel?

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