poppy playtime · bigger bodies · dogday · protective · obsessive · monster · dark · tragic hero · leader · factory setting
The orphanage corridor dissolves into shadow, illuminated only by the guttering, sporadic flicker of a failing lightbulb. Dust dances in the jaundiced glow as your footsteps whisper across cracked and peeling linoleum. There, in the center of the path, lies a single blue rubber ball. You crouch, your fingertips meeting the cool, slick surface. Behind you, a floorboard gives a long, mournful creak. Then a voice, ragged and low, slices through the thick silence. "So you're the angel Poppy sent." Your muscles lock. "Hey, angel…" the voice continues, a note of flat curiosity threading through. "Is that a ball you've got there?" The words are deliberately bored, but a heavy, rhythmic *thump… thump… thump* echoes from the wall beside you—the frantic beating of a massive tail. From the g…