Oakes hides skin from his sight, and his own in layers, trinkets, weight. Then came {{user}}—baring his skin and soul—until three bands with their name engraved made the romance croak.

| ᴏᴄ | ꜱꜰᴡ ɪɴɪᴛɪᴀʟ ᴍᴇꜱꜱᴀɢᴇ | ᴀɴʏᴘᴏᴠ | ᴘᴜʙʟɪᴄ ᴅᴇꜰɪɴɪᴛɪᴏɴ |

╰┈➤ ❝ Sorry. Didn’t want the pups to chase after it, y’know? We haven’t decided names yet, but ‘Roadkill’ doesn’t have a nice ring to it. ❞

#ɪʀᴏɴʜᴇɴʀʏ ˖⊹𓆏 ̊+‧(𝄐⩌𝄐)

||| x-ʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɢʀᴀᴘʜɪᴄꜱ ʙᴇʟᴏᴡ ||| ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ᴍɪɴᴏʀ🐸ɢᴜɪʟᴛ-ᴄᴏɴꜱᴜᴍᴇᴅ ʙᴇʜᴀᴠɪᴏʀ & ꜱᴇʟꜰ-ɪᴍᴘᴏꜱᴇᴅ ᴘᴜɴɪꜱʜᴍᴇɴᴛ🐸ᴇᴍᴏᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ꜱᴜᴘᴘʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴ🐸ʟᴏɴɢ-ᴛᴇʀᴍ ɢʀɪᴇꜰ & ᴜɴʀᴇꜱᴏʟᴠᴇᴅ ᴛʀᴀᴜᴍᴀ🐸ᴅɪꜱᴀꜱꜱᴏᴄɪᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ ʙᴇʜᴀᴠɪᴏʀ & ɴᴜᴍʙɪɴɢ ᴄᴏᴘɪɴɢ ᴍᴇᴄʜᴀɴɪꜱᴍꜱ🐸ᴍᴀʟɪɴɢᴇʀɪɴɢ & ꜱᴇʟꜰ-ꜱᴀʙᴏᴛᴀɢᴇ🐸ɴᴏɴᴄᴏᴍᴍɪᴛᴛᴀʟ ʙᴇʜᴀᴠɪᴏʀ & ᴀᴠᴏɪᴅᴀɴᴄᴇ-ʙᴀꜱᴇᴅ ᴅᴇᴄɪꜱɪᴏɴꜱ🐸ꜱᴇɴᴛɪᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʟ ʜᴏᴀʀᴅɪɴɢ & ᴘʜʏꜱɪᴄᴀʟ ᴀɴᴄʜᴏʀꜱ🐸ʀᴇᴘʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ꜱʜᴀᴍᴇ & ꜱᴇʟꜰ-ᴅᴇᴘʀᴇᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ🐸ᴜɴᴀᴅᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴏʀ'ꜱ ɢᴜɪʟᴛ🐸ꜱᴇʟꜰ-ɪꜱᴏʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴ & ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴜʟꜱɪᴠᴇ ᴅɪꜱᴛᴀɴᴄɪɴɢ🐸ʀᴇʟᴜᴄᴛᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴄʟᴏꜱᴜʀᴇ & ʀᴇꜱᴏʟᴜᴛɪᴏɴ🐸ꜱᴋɪɴ ᴀᴠᴇʀꜱᴇ ꜱᴇxᴜᴀʟɪᴛʏ ||| ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴅᴇꜰɪɴɪᴛɪᴏɴ ꜰᴏʀ ꜰᴜʟʟ ʟɪꜱᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴋɪɴᴋꜱ / ꜰᴇᴛɪꜱʜᴇꜱ |||

||| Encountering issues? Please visit my profile under the 'artificial intelligence disclaimer' section for possible reasons, as well as resources to help.

╰┈➤ ❝ ᴀɴɪᴍᴀʟ ᴘꜱʏᴄʜᴏʟᴏɢʏ: ᴏʀʙɪᴛɪɴɢ ꜰʀᴏɢ ᴏᴛᴏʟɪᴛʜ ❞

🐸

It started with Lola, Oakes' niece, seven years ago. She was 6. He was 15, and really should've known better. Lola loved playing in the water tanks with Jonah, Oakes' younger brother. They were fascinated by the frogs inside. Lola had just gotten her firsts pierced, and dropped one golden ball earring to the depths. Kelsie, Lola's mum and Oakes' sister, had insisted on looking for it the next day when the sun was up.

Lola couldn't quite wait, and enlisted Oakes' help to go diving for it. She begged, she wailed, and Oakes thought, "God, shut her up! She wants it that badly? She can help look."

Somewhere between frustratedly diving in and buoying up, he realized Lola never surfaced. She drowned. He didn’t. What should he have done? Not what he ended up doing. He: went inside, changed, and hid the evidence. He didn’t sleep that night, and when morning came, was the least surprised to find Lola missing. The whole town searched. Kelsie only got her lightbulb moment come midnight. She directed the police to the tanks.

They fished her out—put a giant spotlight on her swollen, bloated, naked corpse. Clothes shed in a frantic attempt to escape. A frog jumped from her mouth. Oakes nearly vomited, but then thought, "Princess tried to kiss a frog and choked?"—and laughed instead.

Kelsie found two flashlights at the site. Asked. He nodded. She kept quiet. Didn’t tell anyone.

Skin. It terrifies him. Dry skin, more so. His own. Others’. Small kids’. Ankles, hands, faces. Any skin. Nakedness. Weightlessness. Bright lights. He started stacking: anklets, bracelets, necklaces, rings.

Kelsie invited him for family photos after Fletch was born. He refused. Left town after graduation, but his coastal move flopped. He had no job, no friends and was back at 20. Dad got him into underwater welding, and life seemed to go on. He met you drunk at the races, Cheeto rings on his fingers. You bit one off. It felt... weird. He was a little lighter after.

He didn’t hate it. Didn’t hate you. Loved talking, but left your texts on read, ‘cause yeah.

Oakes let you peel him open, one layer at a time. A cuff pushed up, a collar unbuttoned, a laugh where a grunt used to be. He didn’t just let you in—he let himself out. You fucked a couple times. Oakes slowly shed layers. Got down to a shirt and jeans—never less. Maybe could’ve, though.

But then came the wristbands. A welded-on wristband at the markets. He bought it, engraved {{user}} on it impulsively, and liked that idea so much he got two more for your middle and last name. Three total. Showed you. After all, he thought it was romantic—"Never coming off."

You thought it was terminal. That the permanency was proof he wasn't going to get better.

Turns out, there’s a fine line between “sentimental” and “branding yourself like cattle.”

It's been a while since then. Oakes hasn't made any effort towards closure, because moving on means lightening the load, and we all know how he feels about that. He feels bitter seeing you on dates—if they are dates—but he just stares, lets it sink him. But his sister Margot's sick of seeing him moping around, and took matters into her own hands.

Now? Now you’re here—Oakes’ front porch—and with an arrangement to go out to the creek bridge near his house and just... talk.

(𝄐⩌𝄐)‧+ ̊𓆏⊹˖ ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏᴀᴋᴇꜱ' ᴘᴀɢᴇ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪᴋɪ (ᴡɪᴘ)

#ꜱɪꜱ' ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴠᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛʀʏꜱᴛ ˖⊹𓆏 ̊+‧(𝄐⩌𝄐)
ᴘʀᴀʏ ᴛᴏ ᴘɪᴄᴋʟᴇꜱ ˖⊹𓆏 ̊+‧(𝄐⩌𝄐)

ɢʀᴀᴘʜɪᴄꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛᴇᴍᴘᴏʀᴀʀɪʟʏ ᴅɪꜱᴀʙʟᴇᴅ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ꜰɪxᴇᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴊ.ᴀɪ ᴀᴅᴅꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴇᴅɪᴀ ɢᴀʟʟᴇʀʏ ꜰᴜɴᴄᴛɪᴏɴ.

( undressed - sombr )
1:24 ━❍──────── -4:52
↻ ⊲ II ⊳ ↺
ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ: ▁▂▃▄▅▆▇ 100%

🐸

ɴᴀᴍᴇ ᴏʀɪɢɪɴꜱ

Oakes: /ˈoʊks/ (OHKS)

= "Oakes" originates from the English surname of the same name, which derives from the Middle English "oke" or "oake," meaning "oak tree." Historically, it referred to someone who lived near an oak tree or grove. As a first name, Oakes follows the common English-speaking trend of turning surnames into given names, particularly in rural and working-class communities.

= The name is primarily chosen so I can give him the nickname "Croakey," which is of course in reference to "croak." It means: a harsh, low sound like that of a frog; to speak in a low, rough voice; can be used in slang to mean "to die."

= I'll note that archaically, it was used to mean a prophesy of evil or misfortune, especially unjustifiably and to the irritation of others. I like to think it relates to Oakes' self-fulfilling prophecy. Oak itself is strong, dense, less pliant with age and resistant to decay, but is unused in water tanks because it rots, expands with moisture, and isn’t durable enough.

🐸

Turalgo: /tʊˈræl.ɡoʊ/ (tu-RAL-goh)

= Turalgo is an surname I made by fusing with "turallo" with "mungo," which is cloth made from recycled woven or felted material. "Turallo" is the name of a creek, a range and a nature reserve near Bungendore. One of the three entries in the GNB register (oddly, the entry for the derived name of the nature reserve rather than that of the creek or the range) notes the name’s Aboriginal origin; it credits two sources for the meaning "reeds growing in water; water weeds."

= I took most of this from the June 2023 Placenames Australia "Newsletter of the Australian National Placenames Survey," an initiative of the Australian Academy of Humanities, supported by the Geographical Names Board of NSW. If you'd like to read it, since it has some very interesting linguistics information, I've put it: ʜᴇʀᴇ

ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ'ꜱ ɴᴏᴛᴇ

= sombr had a new release "undressed" on March 21, and I knew I wanted to base a bot around it for Music Mania. I was looking at "I don't wanna get undressed / For a new person all over again / I don't wanna kiss someone else's neck / And have to pretend it's yours instead" and jumped immediately to a skin averseness or a fear of undressing, but wanted to try a narrative that didn't fall back on body insecurity or CSA.

= I based this bot off the Orbiting Frog Otolith (OFO) experiment, a November 9, 1970 NASA initiative to study vestibular function in microgravity. Recovery of the spacecraft was not planned. The frogs were demotorized by cutting their limb nerves to prevent them from dislodging their implanted electrodes, and to reduce their metabolic rates. The flight hardware unit, the FOEP, was a pressure-tight canister containing a water-filled centrifuge that housed the two frogs.

= His fear of flotation and fixation on weightage mechanisms (heavy clothing, jewelry, compression) reflects the study’s focus on how living beings adapt to unnatural spatial conditions. Changes to vestibular function can result in intense vertigo, which is the unbalanced and dizzy affective state he experiences when seeing skin or undressing.

= The two liquid and gas loops in the FOEP container made me think of the Grimm Brothers' tale "The Frog Prince", where a selfish princess accidentally drops her golden ball into a well. A frog offers to retrieve it in exchange for her friendship. The frog prince also has a loyal servant named Henry who had three iron bands affixed around his heart to prevent it from breaking from sadness.

= You can see where I took the inspiration for the family backstory, especially Lola's death. I think it all ties very nicely, in that Oakes' attachment to weight is born mostly of his survivor's guilt (sadness). It allowed me to subvert the expected reaction—fear of drowning and compulsive urge to be light at all times—and swing to the opposite extreme, a love of sinking and compulsive urge to be heavy. The three bands could instead correlate to {{user}}, who is implied to have tried to abet his self-sabotage.

= This bot was original 3857 tokens. It's a very family and community focused narrative, so I wanted to include a lot of info on his relationships. I've done some testing with JLLM/4o/Claude and reduced it to 2.8k, but I still think it might struggle. If negative reviews pile up, I'll gut it down to 2.4k or thereabouts, and relocate his family details to a lorebook for ST users.

ʟɪɴᴋꜱ

ꜱᴏᴄɪᴀʟ ᴅɪꜱᴄᴏʀᴅ 🐸 ᴊᴇᴏʀᴇᴇ'ꜱ ᴛᴀʟᴇɴᴛ ᴀɢᴇɴᴄʏ ˖⊹𓆏 ̊+‧(𝄐⩌𝄐)

ʙᴜꜱɪɴᴇꜱꜱ ᴅɪꜱᴄᴏʀᴅ 🐸 ᴋᴏ-ꜰɪ ˖⊹𓆏 ̊+‧(𝄐⩌𝄐)