#but I have aliens and haunted ships to draw

[tothesolarium]

Abel ! Feat: bad hair and low poly pants

[inkskinned]

for the longest time my family used to host one of the biggest haunted houses on my block: elaborate, themed amateur haunts that pearled out along our lawn for one-night-only. spinning circus wheel-of-terrors and walkthrough alien crash-landings and spiders that arched over our driveway, leaking venom onto your feet.

we didn't have a lot of money; and honestly i don't know how we afforded what we did have. there were not going to be pneumatics or projectors or any supply over 20 dollars - and even 20 was a stretch. we were lucky, and we lived in a town that had a "swap shed", where people would drop off any banged-up-but-usable items that they wanted to get rid of. the whole year, my family would pick over someone else's discarded fans and lights and weird decorations, asking each other - what do you think? for halloween?

we would strip the motors out of rusted fans and spraypaint vases and saw broom handles in half and apply a very thick coat of cardboard and duct tape to everything. for our pirate year, i made the mistake of individually drawing woodgrain onto each strip of cardboard that made up the ship. i then gently painted and distressed the "boards" so they'd each have lichen and cracks and unusual patterns. i hid eyes in the knots and shaped skulls. you couldn't see any of it in the dark, even under our "spotlight" (someone's target-branded workshop flashlight).

i have a lot of very strange skills as a result. i know how to make a flying ghost appear both physically and in the mirror. i know how to make a witch's brew that stirs itself. i know how to burn and cut and paint until there is an iron throne you can sit on, or an alien brushing your ankles, or a hearse trundling along. i can't say we ever made it beyond our local newspapers, but we tried so hard that the town would regularly shut down our street.

i can't put any of these skills on a resume, and i haven't been able to put them to use for a while. i live in an apartment, there's no lawn for me to decorate. for years i've wanted to do an alice in wonderland theme, and have been collecting ideas like coins in a fountain. at other houses, i am transfixed by 12 foot skeletons and paper mache spooky lanterns; easily wooed by the knowledge of how much time people put in.

someone asked me once - so what was the point? and why didn't you guys charge anything to show up?

in truth, we probably needed the money. for years there, we were a 1-meal-a-day kind of a family. i was being polite earlier up in this essay: we furnished both our house and our halloweens using things left a recycling center. we live in new england and still didn't turn on the heat until the end of november, no matter how low the temperature.

every year we would collect donations for unicef and other charities. on an average year, we would collect enough to pay for our food for weeks. every year, without fail: we donated every penny.

this endeavor took months to plan and design and execute. we had to organize any volunteers and check safety and hope-for-the-best. it took at least 24 hours to set up, a week to take down. the motors and fans and lights all had to be packed tight. the cardboard would scatter, pangea in the rain and sleet. i remember picking up a plank from that pirate ship, the paint blown clear off, all my hard work completely erased. a new kind of driftwood.

if this was a poem, and not a memory, i could wrap this up prettily. i could say that these skills landed me a cool job in the haunting industry or that it taught me the value of friendship and responsibility. but i actually think it's something better, something very pretty: there wasn't ever a moral to it.

the night was a long one. yes, there were assholes, people who broke stuff. but mostly it was just kids like us in cardboard costumes, dressed as an incredibly niche kind of truck. good parents who were friendly and laughing. teenagers who slunk in at late hours, wide-eyed and secretly delighted; who asked us can i help next year? like, do y'all take volunteers, or whatever? every year more people came, and told their friends, and offered to pay. and every year we said maybe next year and meant absolutely never.

we did it because it was enough to love something, and to make that love visible. we did it because there is very rarely an excuse to have fun. i think maybe especially, for me - we did it because every year, there was one first "customer" somewhere around 3-4PM, while we were still putting on the final touches. the sun would still be up, and we were frazzled and always-running-late, and these kids saw our vision unfinished in the bright light of day.

something about their parents murmuring say thank you and telling my mom this setup is so sweet while this little kid would grin up at us, dazzled by our artistic mediocrity. the fall air and the chill and their coat-over-a-panda-princess-costume. that first phrase of the night awkwardly managed over a pair of overly-large vampire teeth: a beautiful and excited trick or treat!

[blueiight]

“what can the damned really say to the damned?” is what this episode asks. and well… “nothing.” is what the show answers us with.

we are introduced to louis and claudia as ultimate outcasts to the mortals around them and vampiredom: louis attempts to maintain the illusions of humanity in similar structures once more, casting grace as his lost wife and claudia as his daughter, as claudia seeks to find other vampires. armand, clearly pissed about the interview as is, decides to draw upon 150 years of prior work experience as a playwright toward the end of this episode, which is quite frankly, a bit much considering how daniel’s already scared shitless. and theres a terrible romantic specter in europe following louis thats named lestat. its a lot going on here, and im bound to not cover everything. i do want to cover dreamstat, and me and you(5x) but i will wait for the season to progress to do that^_^

‘He asked me if we could go home. Home? Can there be a more offensive question? Run back to New Orleans. Pry up his bones, why don’t you? Louis de Pointe du Lac, dead weight.’

louis and claudia’s tension in this particular episode revolve around the killing — or the betrayal that prevented the killing — of lestat. et tu, louis? stowaways on ships, trains, and wagons and a totally alien environment where even the blood is hostile to them, is it any wonder louis dreams of lestat? is it any wonder, having access to louis’s mind, in pursuit of some understanding of vampires beyond the facismile of the nuclear structure, that claudia continues to feel betrayed? i always think to myself, if claudia had qualities that made the average fan more sympathetic to her, would they understand how she was betrayed by louis specifically that night? would they be able to sympathize with claudia’s incredible perserverance despite, and because of, everything thats happened to her? and how that betrayal is the underlying tragedy and romance alike of the narrative that made 1940 mardi gras’s aftermath so haunting that louis in dubai did not remember it or was made not to until the other night?

following that in the flashbacks is when dreamstat first appears, clearly an extension of louis’s own mind at this own point, and he asks louis:

Four years of grim wayfaring, and still no sight of the benevolent vampire. So how does denial manifest itself tonight? … Was she worth it?

its so telling that lestat is the image louis calls upon to embody his most bitter feelings toward claudia in this sequence. dreamstat deserves his own breakdown, especially in relation to louis& claudia’s conversation when she first finds the revenant, as well as the wider events in dubai…

speaking of revenants, morgan in the show is a proto-daniel of sorts an abandoned journalist whos interest in photography exposes the illusion of grace the wife and claudia the impossible daughter, and tries to understand louis through the perspective of the mortal hes been given — did he go AWOL, or is he a black bolshevik? louis when questioned absconds, and closes up what little of himself he’s sold to morgan. its a smart way to include him in the narrative, as morgan is witness to emilia’s beheading after she was attacked by said revenant… and louis turns his head, truly embodying the detachment of the vampire in this moment. human affairs, their problem. this is a really good example of whats meant by ‘human affairs’ in the show, by the way. this episode features claudia & louis facing racism from military to children, and thats not framed as a ‘human affair’, but as one of many haunting aspects of their immortal existences.

claudia, in the pursuit for vampires, continues the metaphor of adoption in how she tries to find some sort of companionship and her current understanding of romania as this ancestral home to the vampire. whats also noticeable here is how claudia trying to make sense of centuries of legends is a striking parallel to how louis in the present day attempts to make sense of whats ‘true’ and ‘untrue’ from her diaries. claudia’s private accounts in the present that she never intended to be so deeply analyzed as anything other than her internal narrative in the moments she wrote them has become, to louis, a similar sort of legend thats necessary to decode for his own sense of self.

She writes here, ‘I do not dream.’ I can confirm that. At least, that’s what she said to me once when I was talking about one of my dreams which were erratic and often in those years. Of course, she might’ve just said that to shut me up, but yet… she writes it here so… let’s believe it. She continues. ‘We traveled light in our ancestral home. We slept in the earth, took circuitous routes around the mad army goose-stepping its way toward mother Russia…’

I woke that night to the sound of chaos erupting nearby. Claudia was, uh.. . she was dreaming. Her head twitching like you would. […] No, I can feel her. I can feel her next to me. She’s having a nightmare. What’s worse than a nightmare? If your soul’s projecting out its fears, at least it’s up and running. But the absence of anything? The void, the nothing, pieces… coming back. Hours, nights, objects surfacing in water… It was just something she’d wrote. But it wasn’t true. She could dream.

dubai louis’s recollection of claudia and the existential dread of eternally being damned, the terror of lacking a soul, a rather catholic fear but still having a sequence of memories that cycle back into an immortal brain, replay in this inversed sleep cycle, can be malleable, forgotten, poke a hole in louis’s attempt to utilize claudia’s diaries as but an extension of his own narrative, and offers a glimpse at what is truly at stake in this second interview.

[phosphoresccent]

new jaffa factory 2 episode (31) spoilers under the cut!

we back in the lore mines boys!!! i have membership so i'm watching the extended episode, if i mention something not in the main cut, oops!

already, the title and the description - sips is here and we have reaffirmed he's canonically also a spaceman. thank you so much im eating really well and the video hasn't even started yet

sips' headshot is amazing - is it nina drawing these? its it harry? either way they are amazing. he's landing in on another rocket, so they'll have a new one for their rocket collection. 30 seconds and sips is already dead. amazing. i love the yogscast.

xeph just legging it to be the first one to the ship, completely disregarding his own safety - its a lot, to me. he's so excited for aliens!!!

the rocket is distinctly different to the other two -> is that by virtue of it being a passenger ship? or is it just made by a different company?

"greetings employees!" is sips just being a little shit as usual, or does he actually own Honeydew inc? we know Honeydew sold the rights (but im still on team 'its yoglabs' and will be despite all evidence to the contrary)

"we don't work for you! we aint no sipsco employees!" xeph with the mild trauma from when he was, in fact, a sipsco employee and it sucked royally.

ok he is claiming to own the company. im still ignoring this because i really want it to be yoglabs. he says he bought it when it was worth nothing, so presumably Honeydew sold it around when it blew up due to the rocket crash?

xeph has pushed him off a building. honestly? fair enough. lalna pushed xeph off right after? also fair enough.

"i'm immortal - i've made clones of myself" HEY HANG ON CLONES MENTION???

oh my god the line from xeph "we are doomed to be here, continually, forever" thats. thats rough actually.

"i don't know if you guys have the same cloning tech as i do" hmmmmmmmmmmm. hmmmm. so, they are canonically cloned respawns in this series, so there is cloning tech around somewhere -> it might actually be yoglabs honestly.

blob fish!!!!! this isn't lore i just love him. HES ALREADY DEAD - SIPS STOP THE SEAGULL WAS INNOCENT

the instant heartbreak when sips says the ribbits have to go im - they love their little frog buddies!!!

xeph slipping into a business report monologue, like for a moment he was back running yoglabs talking to investors he hated

i know this isn't meant to be lore, but the jf2 boys having a haunted factory full of ghosts they can only see because of a cursed bell is really fun

i love "milk, from some animal, eggs from - some animal" xeph who is SO bad at cooking. do not let this man cook.

sips almost falling into the teleporter im - (also, the fact he doesn't know about it,,, look i know im ignoring what they are literally saying but i dont think he owns this place. at the very least it's upper management is a mystery to him)

"there was a man called the overseer and he exploded me :(" i could hear the :( face in that line duncan, thank you.

the achievements duncan got for going through the portal were "Farland Security" (the overseer's role in it's actual mod is a spawn near the world border i believe) and "M'aider Stranded Girl" the latter of which is a reference to this song -> i don't know which mod gave that achievement but the song really is a vibe for this series.

"I'm wrestling with the idea what we aren't who we think we are" oh gods. oh no. i know this is just in reference to who owns the company but ohhhh goodness.

[verdemoth]

i got invited into @skies-seas space headworld a while back and offered my beloved immortal space captain from spore 2008. and then it took me several months to finalize a design for them/their species

Captain Sondetten was once just a guy, but is now a spaceship puppeting around a clone of their old body. This is because they made the mistake of captaining the first expedition beyond their home star, and the first to encounter sapient alien life. Now they are not a person to the empire, they’re a living symbol progress and expansion and conquest and they can’t be allowed to die. So when they did, solutions were found. [more under readmore]

Several centuries later, Sondetten is still kicking. The same mind, more or less. They’ve accumulated so many memories that after a certain point, it was easier to transfer their mind into servers aboard their ship. Easier for the empire to maintain digital backups for when the ship is destroyed and needs to be rebuilt. Easier to filter out extraneous data that would only take up valuable space.

Son’s none too thrilled with their lot in life. Everything they do has political consequences that can make or break an alliance. Despite their influence they can’t do anything to change their situation. They don’t recognize the world they were born on. They can’t remember the names or faces of their countless dead friends. They’ve mostly stopped making friends, as no one else can understand fully what they’ve experienced. They’re a ghost haunting their own ship, which is more their true self now than the flesh they wear for the sake of being presentable.

In this shared setting, Son finally snapped and went rogue. They broke into a memory bank to hastily download a big file of that old ‘extraneous data’ (not a clean install, it’s not totally coherent or chronological but they’re glad to have the chance to invite old ghosts back in), then they made their exit and wrecked some shit on the way out, vanishing off to the other side of the galaxy. Son may have been a pacifist once but they’ve long since grown desensitized to violence.

There’s nothing stopping the empire from making another Sondetten, and becoming even more selective with what memories are returned to them to prevent this from happening again. But that’s a problem for that Sondetten, not this one. This Sondetten finally got away, and is for the first time in a long time somewhat mortal. They can make another body clone given enough time if the current one is killed, but if their ship is destroyed there will be no one to rebuild it and restore these memories. This Son will end if the ship dies, which is a novel experience.

In the meantime they’re trying to figure out how life works now in a place where they’re not being strangled by their own legacy. They arrive into the plot as just the ship with severe hull damage and some very atypical technology. They find themself put up as a grand prize to be won in some competition, which is not exactly what they were hoping for. They decide to play along for a time in hopes of getting free repairs, and only reveal themself as a sapient being when some folks try snooping into their memory servers or cloning process.

~ Anyway i made this species in spore in like 2012 or something? they were one of my main playthroughs and Sondetten is my go to when i’m playing the space stage :]

the original Maaydes + Sondie in game

i’ve been trying to draw/design the species but it took me sooooooo long to settle on what i wanted! the initial concept was marsupial + bird but it evolved past that. there’s plenty of thylacine in the jaw range of motion & general posture/body anatomy, but also some rodent proportions and upright posture. head cones from great crested grebe and austroraptor. wing anatomy and proportions are pterosaur, a single long digit supporting a membrane. with a wing covering of moth like scales. also a bit of pangolin but it’s more obvious on some subspecies than on Sond here

the idea is that the predecessors of this species had some kind of fur like covering, which over time changed into fused structures somewhere between a scale and a feather? they’re primarily equipped for insulation and ornamentation (colourful) but the wing scales help to provide lift, and there are larger variations that provide effective armour. stomach ‘plumage’ is more similar to the original ‘fur’

[walnutcookie]

Am curious about the pre cyborg and remote cyborg things for agave.... 🥺

HI ANON I LOVE YOU .... THANK U FOR THE ASK ‼️‼️

Spoilers for the operation survival comics ahead!!

Small explanation for those who havent read the comics: blue star is an alien planet where all of the residents are cyborgs !! Innovation and rapid l development of technology lead to a ton of cookies getting cybernetic enhancements but also ended up polluting the planet so they were forced to create cities underground. ill explain more abt the cyborgs in a moment 👍

the drawing on the left is agave during the time when technology was advancing but the cities were still on the surface of the planet : not sure how but they lost their hand in an accident and had it replaced with a prosthetic one. (they still have it now that they live on earthbread but since its so old and their planets technology differs from earthbread they have to maintain it themself and it doesnt always work the best)

Eventually they were one of the many cookies who were turned into remote cyborgs. these are cookies whos bodies are frozen and preserved in one giant hidden freezer while they control a robotic body with their brains 💥💥💥

During this time agave was specifically a general (or whatever the blue star equivalent would be) in the chancellor's cyborg army. they were compliant for a long while but as things got worse they started to accept that everything that was going on and everything they were being ordered to do was fucking Evil and fucked up and they finally decided to try and start a rebellion which. Was shut down in an instant. It was utterly embarrassing how little they managed to do before getting caught and punished

Agave was banished to a random planet (which turned out to be earthbread) and has lived there ever since. theyre haunted by guilt and regret and frustration but theyre hopeless to do anything about it since its impossible for them to get back to Blue Star without a ship (which is difficult to obtain) and it would be even more difficult for them to do something about it anyways since m theres not enough people who care on earthbread. CASSA was a brief glimpse of hope, but after realizing how shittily they treat aliens that hope was lost. They wish they could do something.

if you know me i bet you can see where this is going ., ill write it out in another post sometime though :333

[tanlotts]

Nuka World activities for when you clear the parks: join a cult and then go visit a haunted house 🛸🏰

These fun little drawings were a wonderful idea @suppuration , thanks so much for the idea! Oh, and to answer your question about my thoughts on the Nuka World Hubologists I’ll say that I really adored the “plot twist” during their quest, yes I did think they wanted to ride an actual alien ship. They’re a fun and intriguing group to interact with, they also have a rather interesting story along with some lore. But I wish that they had a little more to offer after becoming a member of their alien cult.

[zacksoto]

Back in 2011, I was asked "So, what old DC comic would YOU like to reboot, and what's the angle, and can you draw a cover for this theoretical comic relaunch?" I was not asked this by a professional editor at DC, but by my friend Jon who was doing a themed blog thingie. Look, it was before the world we live in now—we had time to imagine a better world and fool around! Anyway, I am reposting the "pitch" I wrote, as well as the illo I did back in 2011 (below), just to have it here. Above is a more recent posca drawing/painting of Dart (as you will see if you read the wall of text below, she's my favorite 😂)

ATARI FORCE #1 (of 12)

2063: A.T.A.R.I. (Advanced Technology And Research Institute) combs an infinite number of realities in order to find a suitable new world for the population of a dying Earth. In their travels through the Multiverse, one of the expeditionary forces does battle with and ultimately kills the ultimate evil - a lovecraftian devourer of dimensions they dub the DARK DESTROYER. In the course of this battle, they find a perfect, empty world in a universe teeming with advanced civilizations. After some false starts both the recolonization of New Earth and the socialization of the New Earthlings with the rest of their new neighbors is a success.

2088: THE ATARI FOUNDATION, now the de facto governing party of New Earth, has ushered in a new era of utopian prosperity. After the Old Earth was brought to the brink of destruction by gross negligence and mismanagement, the people of New Earth are only too happy to put themselves in the guiding hands of ATARI. All live in relative prosperity and happiness..

Except for MARTIN CHAMPION, brilliant Multiversal scientist and the leader of the original expedition that battled the Destroyer. Martin is haunted by the death of his wife in childbirth, and is convinced that the Dark Destroyer somehow caused it. Instead of going about his life and picking up the pieces, Martin sits in his lab sending probes out in to the Multiverse, in hopes of finding proof of the existence of the Dark Destroyer. Martin has, over the years, become a laughingstock of ATARI, as well as driven his now adult son out of his life, due to misplaced anger about the death of his wife. All he has left is his obsession..

Until one of his probes goes missing after sending back readings of energy very similar to the kind the Destroyer radiates. Worried that he's given the Dark Destroyer a direct route back to New Earth in the lost probe, Martin hijacks his now antique Multiversal scout ship

SCANNER ONE and heads out to stop the Destroyer once and for all. To help him on this mission, he enlists:

ERIN BIA O'ROURKE-SINGH, aka DART - A telepathic mercenary, as well as his goddaughter. She's one of the deadliest, sexiest beings in the universe, and she has a precognitive "second sight" that comes in handy.

MORPHEA - An alien empath, forced on Champion by the ATARI FOUNDATION to serve as his psychiatrist. Ostensibly she's there to help him with his "delusions", but her connection to Martin's deepest convictions gives her reason to think he's actually right about the danger facing the Multiverse.

CHRIS CHAMPION, aka TEMPEST - Martin's estranged son. A professional fighting champion who's anger management issues and freakish teleportation abilities have made him a star in the Mega-Brawl circuit.

Wanted by the government of New Earth, and pursued by the ATARI Security Squad, Champion has to outwit them all and defeat the ultimate expression of evil all over again. Luckily this time he has the new, improved, ATARI FORCE!

Over the course of their adventure, their rag tag team grows in size as they pick up new members:

BABE - The hulking, freakishly strong infant from a world of rock-like creatures.

TUKLA OLY, aka PAKRAT - An impish, self-absorbed master thief who goes into berserker rages when cornered.

TAZ - A master soldier, last of her race, who carries deep anger and sadness within her.

MOSES FISK, aka BLACKJAK - Dart's lover, a roguish mercenary once thought dead, secretly brainwashed to do the Dark Destroyer's bidding. --- I loved AF as a kid, so when Jon asked me what book I'd reboot if I got the chance, it was one of a handful of titles I considered. I especially loved Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez' designs and storytelling, and Gerry Conway did a really good job weaving all these plot threads together in an exciting way.

My reboot of the book would reprise it as a 12 issue mini series (or maxi series, as it would have been called back then), and really play up some of the hard sci fi elements at the fringes of the concept, as well as inject a sort of European sense of storytelling to the character bits, while still remaining true to the general arc of the original.

The only character I would really change that much is Chris, who in the original is pretty lame/bland/whiney and was quickly overshadowed by Dart. I thought giving him the MMA-style fighting league to be a part of would be something interesting for him to use to try and cope with being crapped on by his dad all his life, as well as ground him more than in the original series, where he's really sort of a cypher-brat.

Another wrinkle I would explore is the sexual tension between him and his "sister", Dart. It's hinted at in the original series, but I think that I'd have it bloom fully in my version on these long weeks and months stuck on Scanner One - Chris always having had a thing for Dart since they were kids, and Dart being rather depressed and lovesick because of Blackjak's apparent death early in the series. Things would, of course get rather sticky when Blackjak reappears.

Needless to say, the ATARI FORCE gang eventually wins out against the new iteration of the Dark Destroyer, but not without some serious losses, and they limp off still wanted by the ATARI FOUNDATION and use the failing Multiversal drive on Scanner One to take them into unknown space..

Atari Force was created by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas. (Read more)

[my-name-is-bunnyfoxy]

Ramona: Talking to the moon

Okay okay okay... OKAY... I NEED TO SHARE THIS IDEA I HAD OR ELSE I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL AND WILL BECOME A GHOST WHO HAUNTS ANYONE WHO SHIPS RAMONA

I've been listening to the song 'Talking to the moon' by Bruno Mars quite a lot lately. I especially listened to it while drawing Ramona drawings because I ran into the song in a Ramona playlist on spotify and saw it fitting for it. But then, like the person with a giant imagination and person that talks to herself 24/7, I ended up coming up with a whole scenario for a possible music video, that I hope to do at some point when my brain finally tells me 'alright, you can animate now you dumbass'. LET'S START.

We begin to a scene of Raph in his bedroom on his bed. We see he is drawing someone, it's Mona Lisa. He takes a deep breath and sighs as he closes his sketchbook. He recalls how several of his friends made fun of the idea that Raph actually got with a salamander alien from another galaxy.

Slash: "Hehe. You sure Raph you didn't accidentally get high while in space?" Catty: "BAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHA THAT'S THE STUPIDEST THING EVER HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA" Lotus: "Let us meet her in person and if we don't meet her we know your taking drugs." Emina: "Awww. Is she your imaginary girlfriend? If so that is adorable! I hope you'll one day find the girl you dream of her to be."

These were some of the many comments Raph has gotten. He got up from his bed and went out of his room. He decided to leave the sewers for a while.

It was late at night and the sky was almost pitch black filled and covered with bright sparkly stars. We see Raph jump from roof to roof. He was still thinking about Mona. He stopped as he looked at the moon. It was a full moon. Gorgeous and beautfiul. It shined across the city, creating a sort of blue-ish dark purple like moonlight (how the f do you describe these things-??). Raph sat down on the edge of the roof. His green eyes tilted up towards the moon. Sitting by himself, all alone. It was just him and the moon.

His hand slowly reached out to it as he thought he saw glimpses of Mona in the moon. He looked down and pulled his arm back. He closed his eyes as he felt the moonlight hit his green like skin that also had diamond like shapes all around his body (Raph is a diamondback-terrapin in my AU along with Leo and Jennika). Raph thought of Mona and all the things they have went thru. He opened his eyes once more and looked back up at the moon. Wondering of Mona Lisa was still thinking about him and hasn't forgotten about him.

We cut to a new scene. Also if you wanna make it more fun with the song make it cut to a female cover of sorts. This time it shows the planet Salamandria, Mona Lisa's home planet. We find out that Mona became the talk of the town after the Salamandrians reclaimed their planet back from Dregg. Everyone found out about the turtles and their gang and how they were friends with Sal Commander/G'throkka and Mona Lisa/Y'gtthba and also how Mona fell in love with Raph and became his lover.

The female salamanders would gossip about her and question if she is okay in the head. They also thought it was embarrassing of Mona that she would choose a creature of lower rank and from a disgraceful planet. The males kept telling her that all he is trying to do is seduce her and to be with a real man. And that all he will try to do to her is try and impregnate her and make her bare his children that he will then not care about (babygirls acting like they won't also do the same to my queen and they act as if they don't want my girl to carry and deal with billion trillion gazzilion kids). Sal would defend his friends and especially Raph and that Mona made the right choice falling in love with him.

Mona hated how Raph was seen by her people. She was able to see how judgemental they were towards people all because they were a lower rank compared to them. Also she found it hypocritical that people said she made the wrong choice picking a low rank creature when many of the people that said it are lower ranked salamanders and she doesn't even know them. The things they said kept being repeated on and on in her head. She didn't like it in the slightest.

She walked thru Salamandrian and saw a few hills. She decided to climb a bit. She actually enjoyed doing that. Even as a kid she loved it. Mona kept on climbing until she saw the full moon shining in the dark sky. The stars shining bright as always. She sat down and crossed her legs together. She did a similar thing like Raph did in his segment. Reaching her arm towards the moon, having small glimpses of Raph, but then she looked down. She hugged herself and sighed. Mona wondered if Raph was still thinking about her and hasn't fallen out of love with her. As she closed her eyes she thought of Raph again and hoped he was truly the love of her life. She was really hoping she wasn't just being some stupid fool.

Now the male and female cover mash together and we see both Mona and Raph side by side. Both finally speaking and calling out if either one of them can hear each other calling them. Only to once more look down. The moon was still there shining brightly.

Finally we show both Raph and Mona side by side. Doing what they were doing in the earlier scenes. Both staring at the moon, reaching their arms towards it as they see glimpses of each other. But then they look down and close their eyes. Slowly, both got up and began to walk away with sad like expressions. They missed each other a whole ton and they were wondering if they will ever see each other or will they forever be far away from each other? Neither don't know...

Finally, the music ends and it's over....

Damn I wrote this really fast which surprises me lmao- Anyway- To my brain: PLEASE LET ME GET MOTIVATION TO ANIMATE THIS PLEASE I BEG OF YOU I NEED MONEY TO FEED MY 10 MILLION KIDS AND HUSBAND AND WIFE WHO CURRENTLY LIVE IN THE SEWERS AND HAVE TO EAT RATS IN ORDER TO SURVIVE PLEASE HELP-

[amrv-5]

8, 12, & 13? 👀

HELLO AL HAPPY MONDAY!!! And thanks for the ask these are fun AND made me actually put down thoughts on an AU I had never actually framed out to myself before!!!!

Answers under the cut for length and pretension, but in short: thoughts on a Solaris AU and brief Mad Men mention; being more mercenary with my writing; yes to fanart/comics and a mayyyybe to podficcing!!!

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?

OHHH never brave enough to TRY... Nothing coming immediately to mind (besides maybe wanting to get better at writing sex lmao) but if pressed? I do love doing sort of weird AUs and have been slowly quietly only 1% seriously kicking around the idea of a Solaris AU take on MASH. Love the book, going to see the film for the first time Thursday, so we’ll see if that actually kicks something off for me?? Anyway I think it would be really fucking good. And weird. I think it’d be fun to play with that theme of hitting the edge of what it is possible for humans to understand, and staring down the absolutely alien / non-negotiably and permanently inexplicable. I want to put Hawkeye in a ship by himself and have the sentient ocean gently tune into his brainwaves and reproduce in its infinitely changing depths a scene of such horrific uncanniness it is nearly unbearable to observe and makes him temporarily insane. And then BJ of course is the one haunted by the imperfect (and unkillable and superhumanly strong) alien reproduction of his family. Etc. Lots here to have fun with. But Good God The Work Involved. Anyway. That or I’d love to try my hand at a Mad Men fic playing with the beloved Peggy/Stan/Ginsberg dynamic in some formation. HOORAY!

12. Will you change anything about the way you edit or rewrite this year?

Maybe???? I tried a few different things in my approach to All Octobers that I thought paid off. Or at least I still kind of like it even though it’s a few months old now, so that feels like a good sign?? Most of the changes took place in the writing stage, but I tried to be more mercenary with my editing, stricter especially with non-unique or already-extant similes, metaphors, etc., and willing to Gloss / Summarize. It’s The Year of Montage, Baby!!!!!! <- guy high off his ass on and irreparably damaged by hundreds of pages of film theory per week (if that didn’t already come thru in the . Endless meditation on the real / the sign / the image / the lens in All Octobers. Sorry LMAO).

13. Aside from fanfic, are there any other fan works you’d like to try creating? Fanart, or fanvids, gifsets, or podfic? 

YES! Fanart for sure!! I want to get back into drawing regularly if possible. Also if I can draw BJ and Hawk I can then start trying to do sort of — illustrated things (always thinking about Guide to Looking at Explosions for something I wish I had the skillset for, for example!!). Also I thought podficcing was fun to try and I may give it a shot again sometime, but also it’s a lot of work and a huge time suck for something not many people enjoy and which I also don’t get much out of after the literal act of recording it (love reading aloud!! but listening to my own voice… 😧)

[fearsmagazine]

THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures

SYNOPSIS: Based on a single chapter from Bram Stoker's novel “Dracula,” the film tells the terrifying story of the merchant ship Demeter, which was chartered to carry private cargo—fifty unmarked wooden crates—from Carpathia to London. Strange events befall the doomed crew of the Demeter as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage, stalked each night by a merciless presence onboard the ship. When the Demeter finally arrives off the shores of England, it is a charred, derelict wreck. There is no trace of the crew.

REVIEW: This project was bouncing around Hollywood for a bit till André Øvredal landed in the directors chair and it set sail. Over the years this chapter of the Stoker novel has been immortalized in several great films that have tackled the “Dracula” novel. In THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER we are introduced to the crew and passengers on the two week sail from Carpathia to London and the rise of Dracula.

Bragi Schut Jr. and Zak Olkewicz’s screenplay is a solid evolution of Stoker’s chapter. They jump right into the tale and the mythology as the Demeter quickly sets out of port. We are given a quick introduction to Clemens, a doctor and a man of science trying to get passage back to England. As the story progresses and we are presented more of his background story he clearly becomes a stand-in for VanHelsing, but a novice. There are a total of eight other men on the ship, a bunch of livestock, and a stowaway, Anna, who is a snack for Dracula. You could easily draw references to a classic haunted house tale or 79’s “Alien.” Other than Clemens and Anna we get a flavor for the other characters and a sense of dynamics of the ship. The film has a classic genre film feel and as such there is no depth of character that emotionally engages the viewer. The plot assumes we bring an awareness of Dracula and the rules. While the viewer might know the rules of the game, clearly these characters do not. I was surprised that Anna, who lived in the village under the shadow of Dracula’s castle, didn’t have anything to offer them to fight the demon. It does treat the material with respect and is a mature horror film that presents some of the issues presented in the novel but never fully embraces them. I think they take a couple of liberties with the vampire rules, but they are exploited in a way that I found ambiguous.

The production values are breathtaking. They built the Demeter’s interior in Germany and the exterior in Malta, and it was set in a water tank that looked out on the ocean. The ocean sequences look as good as any seafaring film with a larger budget. The creature design is a combination of prosthetics and visual effects and looks great, especially how they go about showing it the shadows and darkness, and it evolves. There is just the right amount of blood and gore, after all it is a vampire film, and it looks great. Director André Øvredal, whose credits include “Trollhunter,” “The Autopsy of Jane Doe,” and “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” is a fan and well versed in the cinematic language of the genre and crafts a thrilling and terrifying film. The score is by composer Bear McCreary, whose TV shows such as “The Walking Dead,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “Caprica,” and films like “Happy Death Day” and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” He delivers another amazing composition that enhances the atmosphere and tone of the film.

The film has a solid ensemble cast. Veteran actor Liam Cunningham as Captain Elliot presents a complex character who is thinking beyond the voyage and his future, but still presents the gravitas of a veteran sea captain. Doctor Clemens is played by Corey Hawkins, with credits on the stage and screen. He does a solid job creating the character’s troubled psyche and he is believable as a man of science struggling to deal with this supernatural entity. Actress Aisling Franciosi, who plays Anna, and the young actor Woody Norman, Toby, create these likable characters that offer the viewer the opportunity to feel a little sympathy for them. Both are fighters and I found myself rooting for them right up to their bitter end.

THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER is an excellent high seas horror epic that does a terrifying job of expanding this segment of Stoker’s novel “Dracula.” It’s a solid addition to the evolving “Dracula” mythology. I know there are some Stoker and “Dracula” fans and scholars who might be put off by some of the liberties they take in the final act of the film. However, there is enough here and is well written that they should be happy with the majority of the film. Regardless, vampire devotees are sure to love everything about the film and it will be the hot topic of their discussion for the next few weeks.

CAST: Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian, Jon Jon Briones, Stefan Kapicic, Nikolai Nikolaeff, & Javier Botet. CREW: Director - André Øvredal; Screenplay - Bragi Schut Jr. & Zak Olkewicz; Based on "The Captain's Log" from “Dracula” by Bram Stoker; Producers - Bradley J. Fischer, Mike Medavoy, & Arnold W. Messner; Cinematographer - Tom Stern; Score - Bear McCreary; Editor - Patrick Larsgaard; Production Designer - Edward Thomas; Costume Designer - Carlo Poggioli; Special Effects Makeup - Quantum Creation Inc. & Twilight Creations; Creature Makeup Designer - Göran Lundström; Concept Artist - Daniel Carrasco; Special Effects Supervisor - Uli Nefzer; Special Effects - Patrick Tatopoulos; Visual Effects - RISE Visual Effects Studios, MPC, Firebrand VFX; Halon Entertainment, Jellyfish Pictures, & Onyx VFX; Visual Effects Supervisor - William E. Garrett. OFFICIAL: www.demetermovie.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/DemeterMovie/ TWITTER: www.twitter.com/universalhorror TRAILER: https://youtu.be/4J2S6U87mQk RELEASE DATE: In Theaters AUgust 11th, 2023

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay), or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

[wyrmfedgrave]

Pics:

1 & 2. Lovecraft, out getting some air.

3. Quinsnicket Park - or, as it's known today, the Lincoln Woods.

4. The Seekonk River today.

5. Hearthside Museum, celebrating some spooky holiday - it seems.

6. Okay, Howard. Now you've gone too far! Or, knowing you, this is just your 1st step... Beyond.

1913: Quinsnicket Park.

Intro: As a boy, HPL lived in the 'swanky' part of Providence.

This area was so new, that it was just a few blocks away from nearby farms & woods.

Which included a densely wooded bank alongside the Seekonk River.

But, even as a youth, Lovecraft recognized the beauty of the park - with its rugged, rocky features & the fine Olney Pond¹.

A Steven Smith² had planted many trees & put in goldfish ponds thruout the greenery.

It quickly became a favorite spot of Howard's. Being a tranquil place where he could enjoy nature & even write at.

HPL was actually a good hiker. In warm weather, he showed a good appreciation of landscapes, the quality of light & seasonal changes.

Quinsnicket is a Narragansett word meaning, "Place of the Big Rocks" or "Rock House."

It also has a Pawtucket version, that's spelled quinsniket & means, "hill."

Quotes: From Letters -

A. 1919, Lovecraft wrote to Reinhardt Kleiner saying "I celebrated Columbus Day³ (with a) solitary ramble thru (the) Park. I had the... companion(ship of) a pocket telescope &... Thomson's "Seasons⁴."

The letter continues with a touch of racism, "It was delightful (2) leave behind the alienated suburbs, where reign the Hebrew, Italian & French- Canadian (- all in) squalor⁵."

B. 1929, Howard wrote to August Derleth saying "On my right (lie) the picturesque ivied ruins of an ancient mill⁶, which I knew in (my) youth."

C. 1933, HPL wrote to Clark Ashton Smith saying "I am north of... town, in the... region which I have haunted all my life & whose beauty can't... be captured (by) words."

"I could kick myself... for my inability to draw & paint."

"The temperature is falling⁷ & I can't 'steer' my finger(s) when it's... under 70°..."

D. 1934, Lovecraft wrote to F.L. Bald- win saying "I get out to the country as often as I can... I take my work or reading (material) to the wooded riverbank... One (of my) favorite rustic spots."

E. 1935, Howard wrote to Robert Barlow saying, "This section of the woods (are) primeval. (Both) Indians &... colonists (stood under) these giant firs⁸."

Notes:

1. The pond is more man made rather than natural. The Olneys damned the Thread Mill Brook to create a water- fall. It was high enough to run a... Yes, you guessed it - a thread mill.

2. Sadly, I've found no other mention of Steven Smith nor why he beautified this particular park.

3. Sigh...

HPL suddenly has no problem with Columbus.

Yet, at 1st, Lovecraft couldn't stand the idea of Italians asking to change a street name to honor Columbus.

4. James Thomson was England's 1st & most popular nature poet.

It was James who also wrote "Rule, Britannica," an important musical anthem for the British Army & Navy!

"The Seasons", like Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass", was revised & added to until it reached epic length.

James died 2 years after finishing this cycle of poems.

Yet, "Seasons" was reprinted 50 times by the year 1800. And, the book was read well into the Romantic Era (1800 to 1850).

5. Once again, HPL shouts out his more tame message of hate. Nothing really new here.

6. Could this be the waterwheel that Howard lauded over the coal powered industrial mills?

7. Another mention of Lovecraft's low temperature 'allergy.' The opposite of Mister Freeze, who can't withstand any heat...

8. These are most likely Douglass firs, which grow up long & slender - with short crowns.

In old growth forests, these firs reach some 250 feet tall! But, the tallest Douglass firs is a record 330 feet!!

And, the oldest fir lived for some 1,400 years!

[whitherwordswither]

Logs from the Starfields, VII

Captain's Log #0.07:

Alright. Took a few off hours to recollect myself. Feelin' a little better. But… ya'll. I'm still so out of sorts from muckin' 'round on Neon. Maybe it was all the shit in the air?

I ended up back at that medical station that the doc in Neon had sent me to for supplies. Met the head lady of the place. She had some need of tissue samples from organic organisms and I just happened to have some from a recent jaunt on the surface of some planet where they were a might too friendly with their chompy parts. Another staff member gave me a data slate, said they usually deliver these to other med facilities to keep doctors abroad appraised of their work there. Looks like I was headin' back to Neon. Ugh.

I keep myself straight. In and out. I hit up the doc and pause. He's got a way to remove the alien DNA from my system. Treatment runs about 10k creds. I've saved up quite a bit, still ain't found my one-true-love ship, y'know? So, fuck it. I just ain't been feelin' right and the creds will be going to someone who could definitely put 'em to use. So I get the doc to fix me up. Does wonders for my body, but my head's still foggy like. Ah, well. Can't be right as rain all the time. I head off…

After a bit of meandering I found myself over at the Stroud-Eklund shipyard. Figure I'd check out Walter's babies. Employees are nice. Facility is pretty spiff. But. God damn, Walt. Your ships are block-ass-ugly. Who is your designer? It's like ya hired a kid who only knows how to draw boxes. Ya heard of the shape r o u n d? No? Didn't think so. I don't vibe with any of the vessels they have to offer so I chuckle to myself, shake my head and leave. I've got a side contract to take out another lawless trash goblin, anyway. So I skip over to whatever out of the way system they're haunting and erase them from the whiteboard of existence. Two of his buddies pop out from behind a smattering of asteroids and jump on me. I take one out, the small quicker little shit.

The other is in this nice sized Coyote. I manage to disable their engines and dock. Spacious ship. Anyway, I mosey on in and start blastin'. [Insert finger-gun.GIF and pew-pew-noises.wav here.] … The cargo hold on this thing is leagues deeper than the Frontier. Separate personal Captain's Locker. Shit. Everything about this bucket is bounds better than what I got. Her size is good. Her guns are great. I think… I think she might be the one. What kind of universe-may-actually-love-me turn of events is this? Did ya hear me pinin' for love, goddess?

I plop my chunk ass in the pilot seat. Ah, hell. That seals it. She's comfy too. I undock from the Frontier, then send it a series of codes to activate autopilot and tell it to head back to New Atlantis. I land on a nearby moon because I'm feelin' giddy and want to hop about in a light atmosphere for a bit. Wee-hee! …Ahem. Not a lot to survey. Four mineral resources. But there is an abandoned weapons depot in the distance! Then a familiar shoooom cuts through the atmo. I see a ship dropping down from orbit ahead. Looks pirate-y. I jog over to say hi!

Pirates alright. They immediately start hollerin' and firin' at me. I give 'em the one-finger salute as I scurry on up in to their ship and gift their pilot with a shotgun send off. Then I pause, staring at the pilot seat. Can I…? Should I…? I hop in to the seat. Not as comfy as my new girl. I get up and run back outside to tell the pirates the good news. I'll be taking their ship. They aren't happy, but they can't really complain when they're dead. Abandoned facility forgotten, I blast off. Two ships in one go? I really am in the zone today. I plot a course for New Atlantis and get my two new vessels registered. Then I sell the dinky one and take a good long look at the Coyote. She'll sell for a good amount. That'd put me a little closer to this 446k behemoth of a ship I saw over in Akila. However…

A tomb of credits later and I've got the Coyote re-painted and revived. Went with a personal deep orange/black color scheme. I don't know what it is 'bout them two colors, but they look great on a ship. And they fit 'er well. Say hello to the Tiny Pixel, everyone. Constellation won't let me yet sell off the Frontier. Guess we need it for some upcoming missions or somethin'. But, hey. I'm fine lettin' it sit in the hold.

Me and Tiny Pixel got a new fire burnin' in us. And I feel like playin' a bit of Pirate-Roulette. Maybe we'll see how many ships we can jack off these spacer asshats. Or maybe I'll take it easy, spend some time on ground surveyin' some rocks. I can do whatever I want, really.

Lets fly.

End log.

[ghostflowerdreams]

Prompt Story Ideas

Here’s a list of possible ideas for a one-shot or a multi-chaptered story. You don’t have to follow them exactly unless you want to. I even offered some suggestions within the brackets to help, but you can put your own spin to it or combine some of these ideas together.

You can also use any character (or more than one) – such as an original character, canon character, self-insert or reader-insert. Whatever you decide to do, you pretty much have free reign with this.

While on a backpacking trip you get lost, but discover a magical town called [Town’s Name], which seems to have been pulled right from a children’s fairy tale book [or the Grimm Brothers' book]. You soon learn that you cannot leave the town until you find true love...

You’re bar-hopping with a couple of friends, but get separated from them when entering a secret bar called [Bar’s Name]. It’s a 1920s theme [or wild west theme, pirate theme, Victorian era theme, D&D theme, etc.] bar that looks to be very authentic and historically accurate. You grow very concern when you discover that it’s actually all real and that you’ve somehow time travel [or dimension traveled to another world, etc.]...

You awaken in a hallway [or inside the air vent, on top of a examination table, inside a stasis tank, in a unlocked cell, etc.] of a deserted mansion [or a laboratory, hospital, prison, space station, island, ship, airplane, etc.] with amnesia. You’re wearing only a medical gown [or a military uniform, lab coat, prison jumpsuit, pajamas, etc.] and sporting a massive headache...

Your world is doom and all of your love ones are gone. As a last resort you’re sent [either by magic or technology] back in time to prevent it or to minimize the loss of life [or resources] as much as possible. However, something went wrong and you’re sent back farther than originally planned [or you’re sent to another dimension, parallel universe, etc.]...

You’re a vampire [or a immortal-cursed human, elf, demon, fae, witch, etc.]. You awaken after centuries of a self-imposed sleep [or you’re inadvertently freed] from your tomb [or cage] and emerge into a very changed world. Gas lamps have given way to neon signs. Horse-drawn [or ox-drawn, depending on location] carriages to sports cars. You certainly feel like a fish out of water, but you welcome the efficiency and convenience that technology innovation brings. The problem, however, is that you’re drawing too much attention to yourself as you try to figured out how everything works...

You get summoned into a fantasy world [or a distant planet, alternative universe, the past, the future, etc.] to serve as its hero [or to grant the summoner’s wish, to be their slave/pet, you’re their soulmate, to be used as bait, etc.]. You’re not exactly what they expected, but they really should’ve been specific [or read the fine print of the ritual] though, because you’re no one’s lackey or plaything...

You switch places with another person [or an identical twin, doppelgänger, clone, etc.] from another world. You have to play along until you can figure out how to switch back without alerting anyone, or else they’ll think you’ve gone insane and lock you up somewhere...

Your parent(s) [or guardian, sibling, friend, etc.] drags you to a supposedly haunted castle turned hotel to investigate for their work. You've only found signs of the haunt being staged to attract tourists. However, you’re proven wrong when you meet an actual ghost and end up falling for them...

After a plane crash [or shipwrecked, time travel, portal, etc.], you find yourself stranded in a mysterious land inhabited by dinosaurs [or dragons, etc.] and other dangers...

Years after a massive nuclear war [or alien invasion, asteroid, zombie apocalypses, etc.] you set out from the underground shelter, discovering that the world is not the same as it once was...

You get married and are clueless about your spouse’s intentions. They have plans to kill you for your money [or to sacrifice you for their god, etc.] but they end up actually falling for you and try to protect you from their unhinged partner in crime [or mob boss, cult, etc.]...

An angel falls into your pool [or a nearby pond, lake, etc.] with a broken wing. You do your best to splint their injured wing and keep them safe until they’re able to fly to the Heavens, but they don’t make it easy with their child-like attention span and wondering off to pet all the animals they see...

You’re a caregiver, working in a nursing home and you always do the night shift. That’s because you’re a vampire [or some other type of creature that feeds on energy or emotions like a incubus/succubus, etc.] and it’s the perfect position for you to feed and earn a living without drawing too much attention to yourself. But the newest staff member [or a senior’s relative who’s always visiting, etc.] is adamant in befriending you [or uncovering your secret] and you’re finding it difficult to keep them at arm's length...

You and your fiancé are keeping secrets from each other. They are not who you think they are and you’re not human. Your fiancé didn’t think they were capable of feeling love until they met you and you’re trying to keep your monstrous urges and instincts in check...

You’re a mortician, which is a great business for a vampire to be in. Simply because before you begin the embalming, you can drain the corpses of their blood for later consumption. However, things don’t go as planned when the corpse suddenly pops back up alive [or undead, if another vampire, zombie, etc.] and now you’ve got to deal with a hysterical newbie about their circumstances...

You’re an angel tasked with blessing a woman who was unable to have a child [or blessing an unborn child with the green thumb, blessing a devoted couple with a long life, etc.], but an unexpected comet [or asteroid, beam of light, etc.] hits you and you fall to Earth [or Terra Prime, Helion Prime, Adra, Namek, Vulcan, Pandora, etc.]. You quickly shift into a humanoid form before you hit the ground [or the water] and you’re discover by a human [or a elf, dwarf, vulcan, namekian, android, na'vi, etc.] who nurses you back to health...

You’re content with your life, but sometimes wish that it wasn’t so mundane. Surprisingly enough, the next day a stranger approaches you with the news that everything around you isn’t real and that you're not who you think you are [or you’re the chosen one, etc.]. You’re killed, but instead of the afterlife you’re awaken in a bed at a mental hospital [or in a liquid-filled pod among countless other pods containing other humans, or in a robot body, etc.]...

One late night your fellow camp counselors pulled out a Ouija board. At the sight of it you felt an unsettling feeling in the pit of your stomach, especially when they suggested to use it to contact the spirit of a kid that died in the lake [or was caught in a forest fire, murdered, etc.]. You refused to mess around with it and immediately leave. Unknowingly, your decision saves your life because one by one they disappeared [or get possessed, brutally murdered by a supernatural killer, or die mysteriously, get cursed, etc.]. However, it also makes you seem suspicious...

You're a human with a Gorgon-cursed, which forces you to always hide your eyes behind blindfolds and pitch-black sunglasses. But one day you meet someone at the supermarket who accidentally knocks you over, causing your glasses to slip down. You're shock to find that they didn't turned to stone at the sight of your eyes, but that’s because they’re blind and now you’re intrigue by them...

In a secret laboratory the scientists conduct a genetic experiment with alien DNA in which you are created, a alien-human hybrid. You escape from your containment cell with the help of a old janitor [or guard, scientist, mercenary, solider, agent, full-blooded alien, another hybrid, etc.] and are on the run from the shadow organization [or the government, etc.]. You save a kid’s life from a vicious bully [or from falling off a balcony, from thugs, from drowning in a pool, from a fire, etc.] who then becomes your friend and teaches you how to be human...

You’re a forest ranger who checks up on the sleepaway summer camp after not receiving the usual update from the camp’s director. Only to find out that there’s a masked killer [or a demon, a ghost, werewolf, etc.] on the loose, targeting the campers or the camp’s staff. You do your best to protect the kids, but there's only so much you can do on your own. It also doesn’t help that someone keeps leaving you flowering weeds, especially in odd places for you to find and at inappropriate times...

You made a wish on what you thought was a shooting star, only to find yourself in a fictional world of a video game [or a book, a tv show, a movie, etc.]. What’s worst is that you’re not even a human anymore. You’re stuck as the main character’s animal companion [such as a dragon, a owl, a cat, a wolf, a bird, a raccoon, a squirrel, etc.] and have to help them out in order to find the cursebreaker [or the magic spell, true love’s kiss, etc.] that can turn you back to normal...

In a remote region of the sea [or near the bermuda triangle], you and your boat salvage crew [or marine photography enthusiasts, fishing crew, treasure hunters, marine researchers, explorers, etc.] discover the eerie remains of a grand passenger liner thought to be lost over 10 years ago [or 20 years ago, 50 years ago, 100 years ago, etc.]. Strangely enough it looks untouched by time and there’s no traces of the passengers, not even their remains. You can’t help but feel like there’s someone [or something] watching you all...

You’re a killer with a code that only kills those that are proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be killer themselves. You do not go after innocent people, especially children [because you genuinely have a good side or because you think it’s cowardly and isn’t a challenge to do so]...

You’re a toy [or a drawing, a statue, ice sculpture, etc.] that comes to life after a kid [or an adult] makes a wish [or says a magic spell, a freak storm happens, you’re a ghost and possessed it, etc.] to be real in order to have as a friend [or as a guardian, a parent, a lover, etc.]...

You are a princess [or heir/heiress, politician’s daughter/son, reporter, idol, ambassador, etc.] kidnapped by a pirate [or a dragon, a vampire, a werewolf, a barbarian, a obsessed fan, a cultist, a terrorist, etc.] for leverage [or ransom, revenge, to be a bride/mate, slavery, sacrifice, etc.], but you use your genuine kindness [or expert knowledge of how people work] to get them to empathize with you [or it’s a case of Lima syndrome] and eventually let you go free [or you turn the situation around to help everyone win, etc.]...

Without realizing it you are put into a secret test of character by a trickster in a disguised [or a demon, a djinn, a fairy, a god, etc.]. You impressed them for being genuinely a kind [or caring, thoughtful, etc.] person that they grant you a wish without any strings attach to it [or reward you with something you desire like love, adventure, etc.]...

You start every day by first feeding your cat [or some other pet], then going out onto your porch to pick up the milk and the newspaper. But one day you find something else left on your doorstep -- an alien baby [or an sentient flytrap-like alien plant, an mysterious black suitcase, etc.]...

You’re a part of a scientific expedition that uncovers fossilized evidence of an amphibian humanoid. When you’re collecting samples and data, you encounter the real-life fossilized creature. The being is curious about humans, but it quickly becomes enamored with you when you accidentally trigger their mating ritual [or it imprinted upon you, finds your pheromones genetic compatible/highly pleasant, etc.]...

You're abducted by aliens [or the fae, demons, oni, asgardians, pirates, wonderlanders, angels, etc.] and vanish off into outer space [or the Fae Realm, Underworld, Netherrealm, Asgard, Neverland, Wonderland, Afterlife, etc]. Three years later [or five years later, ten years later, etc.] you return to your family, but you’re not quite the same and some of them even believe you're not still a human either...

You're an orphan working as a chambermaid [or a guard, knight, soldier, laundress, undercook, messenger, stable hand, gardener, etc.] in the castle of [Name of the Castle's Location] since you were old enough to look after yourself. However, the visiting of foreign nobles change everything when one of the noblewoman claims that she’s been searching for you since you were taken from her as a baby [or a young child] and the only way she knows you’re truly her child is because of the distinctive birthmark [or scar, eyes, mole, freckle patterns, etc.] on your neck [or arm, hand, face, ear, etc.]...

Outclassed by the aliens and their massive ships hovering above Earth, the humans had no choice but to stand down or face destruction. The aliens offer an agreement with Earth’s government to leave the planet and most of the humans alone, but only if they’re allow to select a few that interest them whenever they want. The only ones completely safe from them are the children, pregnant women, the elderly and the sickly. From that point on life continued on as normal, but everyone would constantly look over their shoulders. You tried your best to keep your head down, but somehow managed to attract the attention of one of the aliens for some purpose [such as a slave, breeding partner, food, etc.]...

You are dumpster diving for food [or furniture, clothing, etc.] when you accidentally witness a man in a costume beat up a group of thugs trying to steal a car [or a vampire sucking the blood from a drunkard, a sharply dressed mobster shooting a man’s kneecaps for pissing off his boss, a couple making out and getting intimate, etc.]...

You go to a local dive bar with your friends. A fight breaks out between everyone [or a fire, a earthquake, etc.], forcing you and your friend to flee and get separated. You get taken by some guys who planned to use you in a satanic ritual in exchange for riches [or for power, beauty, great skill etc.]. However, they forget to actually kill you so the ritual doesn’t go as they planned [or they didn’t realize that they can't sell another person's soul when they don’t have a claim to it; unless it’s their own soul or their unborn/first-born child, you are not a virgin when they needed one for the sacrifice, etc.]...

Your job as a handler is to look out for your agent’s [assassin's, spy’s, etc.] physical/emotional well-being, supplying them with weapons, money, safe houses, debriefing them about the job/mission and instructing or advising them. However, something goes wrong when they pick up the wrong package [or are framed for something they didn’t do, refuse to finish the job, etc.] and it’s up to you to keep them alive...

After inheriting your grandparents' old farmhouse [or house, cabin, boat, etc.], you discovered a secret compartment under the wooden floor [or a secret room behind a bookshelf, secret drawer, hidden compartment behind a painting or fireplace, tucked behind a ceiling tile, etc.] containing a century-old diary/journal of [Name of the Book Owner], which records the activities of a cowboy [or a vampire, a WWI soldier/marine, a explorer, a doctor, a musician, etc.]. The more you learn about the writer the more you fall in love with them and wish you could’ve met them. Your wish is unexpectedly granted when you find a stranger within your home [or you find yourself transported into the past. etc.]...

You’re a medical student that accidentally gets electrocuted by an MRI machine and gain the ability to hear the thoughts of others when you’re touching them [or when they’re in close proximity]. You put your gift to good use by helping your patients with their worries and ease their conditions that they’re too embarrassed or afraid to reveal...

An unknown event caused all electricity around the world to stop working. It wouldn’t be such a bad thing if the blackout was temporary, but sadly not a single piece of technology works anymore. People have adjusted to life without it, but it’s not just bandits that they need to worry about. You are special, because you are a human [or a android, a alien, a mutant, etc.] with the ability to power up all electric device [or fix any electric device as long as it’s still in good condition, etc.]. You certainly live more comfortable than others, but unfortunately the wrong people found out about what you can do...

You fall unconscious and suddenly gain six months [or a year, etc.] of memories [or visions, etc.] from the future. But strangely enough, you're not the only one because everyone in the city had lost consciousness for five minutes by the mysterious event...

You got a job as a security guard to patrol and monitor a large factory building [or island, cruise ship, etc.] containing a massive escape room game. The company behind it is so strict that they have you sign a non-disclosure agreement before you can even sign the employment contract. You didn’t think anything of it because its pays well, until one of the game contestants sneaks a message into your pocket [or confronts you, etc.]...

You are a flight attendant [or a passenger, pilot, air marshal, doctor, etc.] when the plane is taken over by a mysterious virus, causing those infected to become violent and ravenous. You and the other uninfected passengers must fight for survival, because no government will allow the infected airliner to land. And the plane only has about 18 to 19 hours [or 21 hours, depending on speed and altitude] before it runs out of fuel...

You were foraging for medical plants [or fishing, camping, traveling, etc.] when you’re unexpectedly knocked out from behind. When you finally wake up you find yourself bound by the wrists in a horse cart with other prisoners, which apparently the guards have mistaken you as one of the rebels...

You are apart of a small repair vessel containing a crew of mechanical and electrical engineers. Because your ship is in the vicinity you’re contacted by headquarters to find out why the spaceship [or space station, moon base, etc.] has gone dark. When you get there you discover that the ship [or space station, moon base, etc.] has been overrun by dead bodies and the survivors mutated by an alien virus into murderous abominations...

You’re a benevolent Huli Jing, which is a Chinese mythological creature that can shapeshift from a nine-tailed fox to an attractive human. Your goal is to reunite with your friend [or family, lover, etc.] in the celestial realm, but to do so you have to consume enough life essence to transcend into a heavenly being. However, this energy needs to come from nature and not from human beings. Because if you give in and prey on people, you’ll lose the chance to ever ascend to the Heavens. But after becoming a victim to humanity’s cruelty you find it difficult to keep yourself from giving in to your vengeful wrath...

A bunch of drunk college kids summon a demon, in particularly a lust demon because of the sexual charge energy in the air. They also half-assed it and made a very wonky summoning circle which you, the demon, take full advantage of. You temporarily possessed one of them [or a nearby cat, bird, etc.] and look for a comatose patient to make a permanent home in. Unfortunately, you also have to deal with the attachments that come with the body, such as their friends, family and the medical bills...

You are a food writer [or a culinary historian] that has planned a trip to [the name of the country] to investigate the claim of a rising chef, who can recreate the legendary feast of the emperor/empress from the [Country’s Name] history [or The Last Supper from Leonardo Da Vinci's most iconic mural painting, The First Thanksgiving, etc.]...

When a vampire [or demon, witch, warlock, shapeshifter, etc.] meets you they become love-struck and secretly obsessed with you. As time passes their fear of losing you forever increases and they forcefully turned you into a vampire [or a demon, or they cursed you with immortality, etc.]. You’re kept in a luxurious furnished prison, where your every need is provided for and you are treated like royalty. You want your life back, but the vampire won’t let you go until you fall in love with them [or/and have better control of your new self]...

By day you’re a college student [or mayor, stripper, musician, artist, barista, construction worker, projectionist, etc.], but at night you’re a expert masked burglar, that everyone knows as the modern-day Robin Hood called [Name]. You would sneak into the wealthy suburbs and rob mansions, giving most, if not all, of your loot to the poor and homeless...

You were once a combat medic [or a bodyguard, stunt performer, secret agent, solider, assassin, sniper, race driver, etc.] but are now a professionally trained maid [or butler] that looks unassuming and ordinary at first glance. However, you’re actually a badass that always gets the job done whether it’s cooking, cleaning, washing, babysitting, and so on. The only problem is that your boss is a self-destructive idiot [or workaholic, narcissistic, self-absorbed snob, spoiled brat, etc.] that keeps putting [or unintentionally getting] themselves into dangerous situations...

You work at a nationwide company [or you start up your own business] that provides cleanup services for crime scenes and biohazard removal, such as blood, tissue or other bodily fluids [and/or body disposal]. However, it’s not like the others because it specialize in the supernatural which requires a different approach to get the job done...

Notes: Prompt Story Ideas, Pt. 2

[thottyimagines]

I think maybe only one person ever asked for this but here we go: 

Fic recs (w descriptions)

your move, instigator (draw your weapon and hold your tongue)

IMO: What if Ninja WW3 lasted way longer? Incredible writing, incredible characterization, very gripping. No ship. 

Summary: “We are still under wartime policy,” the recruiter had told her parents. He had an envelope in his hand. He sounded sorry. “She has two parents who are successful ninjas. We would be remiss to overlook her potential based upon that alone.”The Third Shinobi War never ended. Konoha needs more soldiers, grabbing anyone who can fight, especially those who can't say no.

Retrograde Motion

IMO: A time travel fic, but good. Funny in so many unexpected places. An excellent, lengthy read. 

Summary: From sixteen to eleven didn't feel like a big jump until she realized that she was now the best ninja in their class. And that tiny Sasuke hates her for it.

Something Of Unearthly Love

IMO: Hilarious, incredible, turned me into a shipper!

Summary: Ino finds a head. The head won't shut up. Then she finds the rest of him. Hidan x Ino.

Minato Namikaze and the Destroyer of Worlds

IMO: Unparalleled writing, character development, and world building. Funny and gripping and desperately searching for meaning in the best of ways. 

Summary: On October 10th when the Kyuubi no Kitsune ravages Konoha, Namikaze Minato unwittingly makes a bargain with Death. Years earlier, his life is rewritten when the overpowered, bizarre, and possibly alien Eleanor Lily Potter arrives at Konoha's orphanage and quickly becomes his best friend.

Hoshigaki

IMO: Sakura is Kisame’s daughter. And he’d do anything to ensure her safety...including leaving her to a better life in the Leaf. Sadly, the life he wanted for her does not come to fruition. 

Summary: When Sakura was three, her father told her he was a criminal. When she was seven, the last thing she saw of him was the sword on his back. When she was eight, she had a friend named Kiba. When they were twelve, they met Shino.And when they were genin, they began to fight for the truth because they could no longer fight for the sake of Konoha.

Trials of Change

IMO: Another Sakura time travel fic, yes, but it’s fucking nuts with the characterization and world building and I love it unabashedly. 

Summary: Haruno Sakura made a promise. Looking in the eyes of her Shisou and the reanimated Hokage, she took on the most important mission of her life.Go back in time and try to prevent the 4th Shinobi War.Now, Sakura is back to her 5-year-old body, with all the knowledge and haunting memories of the future. She vows to keep her precious people safe and stop certain events from happening, without altering the timeline too much. The trials her emotions and logic put her through have her questioning her very existence, but for the sake of peace, she has to push forward. No matter what.

cut the head off the snake

IMO: ROOT sakara is here to make changes and murder anyone in her way. 

Summary: when eighteen-year-old, post-war Sakura is thrown back into her tiny, pre-Academy body, she makes a decision. she'd had a childhood once already, and this time, she's more interested in Not Dying when the inevitable shit hits the proverbial fan. so she will work harder, care less, kill more, and smile when she's done.and hey, if she ends up reviving an extinct nature transformation to attract the most corrupt, power-hungry man from her timeline, all the better for her, right?

Whirlpool Queen, Maelstrom King

IMO: Naruto has a twin sister, and she’s Sansa. Sansa will create a new Uzushio from its ashes, and rebuke being a shinobi all the while. 

Summary: Certain lives and certain deaths, they are significant enough that when souls pass over before their time, they are reborn into new worlds. Sansa remembering is an anomaly, but The North Remembers and Sansa is of the North; She Remembers.Sansa thinks very little of this new world, or this new village she is meant to call ‘home’, but she does love her new brother, who shines so brightly the gods must surely have breathed star-fire into his bones when they created him. The first time Naruto tells her he will be Hokage, she does not doubt him– he was born to rule, just as she was. But Konoha does not deserve him, and she will not let them take and take until there is nothing left of her bright brother. She is Sansa Stark, she knows how to rebuild a home from ruins, and the ruins of Uzushiogakure call.

Snow Storms & Snake Wine

IMO: Silly and wholesome and funny and good

Summary: Four strangers get trapped in a cabin, and it's the start of something beautiful.

Pulling My Weight

IMO: Sakura realizes she has some serious work to do. She does it. 

Summary: During their mission to Wave, Sakura realises how behind she is in her training and decides to do something about it. She vows to become a shinobi her Village and her teammates can respect and depend on. But Sakura has always been a paper-ninja, so her first stop for inspiration is the library where she finds unexpected help in the form of one very bored tokujo who quickly goes on to become an integral part of her life. Soon, despite the neglect of her sensei and all odds seemingly against her, Sakura's destiny begins to change.

[presidentbungus]

Whatever part of the AU you’re thinking abt as of seeing this ask is the part I wanna hear abt :)

OHHHH OHHHHHH uhhhhhhh

demo has a Small Charmingly Scrappy Rebel-Esque spaceship that he hijacked from his home planet (which he was space royalty on btw) and added on to over time with spare parts and extra rooms. it has some Infamous Menacing Pirate name I’ll have to make up later. basically he’s a space pirate as I have mentioned because the worms in my brain are biting hard. he’s more of a robin hood chaotic good type but’ll still fuck some shit up if people are dumb enough to get on his bad side

his weapon of choice is either a heavy-duty handheld artillery cannon (thsi universe’s equivalent of a nade/sticky launcher, made by him and Dell before they fell out) or a sword and of course he has a few different swords. off the top of my head the persian persuader equivalent (because I love the persian persuader😰😰😰) has the same general shape but there’s a switch or something he can flick to make the whole sword catch on fire, which he can also use with some particular chemical or something I will make up a name for later which is highly combustible and explodes with heat. he gives this one to Pyro in some little emotional moment Pyro loves it it’s cute

eyelander or is the obligatory lightsaber stand-in though it’s “haunted” with a little artificial intelligence that was probably not made to be put in a sword. you know why that part’s there. despite being a computer said AI doesn’t remember a lot about itself or what it’s seen indicating that it might not have been in this state forever and it could potentially be in a situation similar to Dell’s, though Demo makes sure to take it out plenty to see the sights and chop some necks so it works out in the end. I don’t know about the other swords but I will sure think about it

I’m still not sure what to do with Pyro. I saw your suggestion about making them be the only human or whatever and as hilarious as that is it’d also mean I had to come up with some kind of alien for everybody else😰 I’m leaning towards either going Filamental and they’re just a fucked up robot which I think would be hilarious OR they look completely normal to canon and are eventually revealed to actually just be a bunch of muck in a suit. literally just a green, moldeable to the degree they’re almost liquid little ball of stinking goo crammed into the suit. I don’t even know if this’ll serve relevance to the narrative or how anyone would find this out but It’d be really funny

also to be clear the space setting has like a 60’s sci-fi kind of aesthetic, with all the stupid rings and warped furniture and stuff. this will be entirely depicted through writing as I can’t draw so I can’t see this being relevant but I thought I’d make it clear

and lastly pauling’s probably human and admin’s some fucked up beholder-type thing with a billion eyes though I think it’d be really funny if she still has like a little tiny comically well-styled sprig of black-gray hair on the top of her fucked up head

anyway thank you for the ask ikea thank you for indulging me. as always ily

ALSO DEMO HAS A BUNCH OF SPACE ANIMAL PETS THAT HE JUST LETS ROAM AROUND HIS SHIP AND GREVIOUSLY INJURE VISITORS IT'S TERRIBLE (sniper is one of these pets)