#foggy dystopia

[pahanfr]

[henrypf]

Cyberpunk Dystopia thumbnail 2

[dystopiasdarling]

f o g g y c i t y

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[ photos all belong to me, please give proper credit ]

[deckofaces]

Choose: Love or Heartbreak

(A Secret Santa Snippet)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Once again this year I chose to participate in Secret Santa snippet exchange! This year I coincidentally got my girlfriend @justalittletoocorrupted! I really hope you like it <333

Prompt: Villain x Hero (who is a sidekick to superhero!) and Superhero finds out Hero was dating Villain (or just fell in love with them) and kidnaps them to try and help them understand that's a bad thing and the Villain could save them!

(I ended up doing more villain x civilian (I checked if it would be okay))

Note! As we are really close I decided to use ocs, this is an au where Dystopia from Dystopian Reflections is a civilian, via the name Cain. Vortex/Blank-Slate is @justalittletoocorrupted’s oc and it uses it/its and he/him pronouns

Tw: kidnapping, arguing, mentions of violence, swearing

“Cain Harlow.”

Cain’s head was foggy. He blinked a couple times, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. He glanced down at his hands, silvery looking threads were slowly unwrapping from his wrists and making their way back to their creator. His eyes followed and they made their way back to a woman, a superhero more specifically. 

Looking around, the room almost appeared to be an interrogation room. He was not cuffed, but he sat in a closed room at a table across from the hero. 

Nothing was making sense, he last remembered being at the grocery store! He was just shopping! His boyfriend and him were going to have a nice dinner that night and he went to get a few things they would need.. he has no memory of leaving there and ending up with this superhero in front of him!

“…Who are you?”

“The media refers to me as the Porcelain Woman,” the superhero replied simply. 

That makes sense he supposed until suddenly the name clicked in his head and Cain realized exactly who she was. And the alias quickly seemed obvious too. Looking at her, she didn’t look like a normal person, well, because she wasn’t. Her body appeared very doll-like with long, curly black hair and perfect makeup. All exemplified by the apparent cracks across her face, just like what can happen to porcelain.

However, even though she looked like a doll, she wasn’t one. He’s heard his fair share of news stories criticizing her for being a hero. And that is the result of many considering her less than human. She is a powerful spirit inhabiting the life size doll. But the spirit, or a “Reflector,” is a reflection of a real life person, given their name. They are typically chaotic entities. …Not heroes. But he shouldn’t make assumptions about their character..

…But it explains how he got there. From what he’s heard, she has some form of mind control ability in the form of a literal puppet on strings. The doll shell she uses is apparently quite fitting. His face morphed into disgust at the thought of how he got there. 

Cain took a deep breath. “Why am I here?”

She stared at him for a few seconds before answering. Her fake, glassy, and yellow eyes were a bit unnerving. “You should know why you are here, do you not?”

Ah.

He could only be there for one reason, and if a superhero of all people is involved, he definitely knew. But he also wasn’t foolish enough to give himself away without her stating why he’s there first. “I’m afraid I do not understand why I am here. Considering I was taken out of a grocery store, pardon my confusion on the matter.”

The Porcelain Woman drummed her fingers on the table. “It was necessary at the time, it was for your safety,” she stated, brushing off his comment. “You’re here, Mr. Harlow, because of your boyfriend. Are you aware that your partner goes by the alias of Blank-Slate?”

There it is. 

“I do not see why that matters,” Cain answered, trying his hardest to keep his face schooled into a neutral expression.

She stared again, almost as if in surprise. “Your boyfriend has hurt and killed many people, have you no remorse for them, their families, or future victims? It is not a good thing for you to be dating it. Does it not hurt knowing its career and choices?” 

He let out a sigh. He knows what Vortex does is wrong, horrible even, but it has never made him feel unsafe.. rather it has made him feel so loved and cared for. Maybe it’s selfish that that is all he cared to think about in this situation but he didn’t care. And it likely makes him a horrible person too, but if it ever asked him to join it in what it does, he’s sure he’d say yes in a heartbeat..

“Blank-Slate treats me with much more love and care than anyone else ever has. What it does may not be considered right, but it has never subjected me to its lifestyle, rather it does its best to protect me from it,” Cain replied calmly, crossing his arms over his chest. 

The Porcelain Woman scoffed at his comment. “Do you really believe it loves you? It is a villain, Mr. Harlow, one that seeks to draw any sort of horrible reaction it can get out of someone. That means it will eventually revel in the heartbreak it will inevitably cause you.”

Cain shook his head. “You do not understand the nature of our relationship. You believe that to be true when in reality I am an exception to that idea.”

“No, you are failing to understand. I want to help you, this agency wants to help you. Being in that relationship is only going to bring you a lot of pain. We want to help you and stop that from happening. Loving Blank-Slate will hurt you. It is not someone you should love.” Her tone held a bit of concern, but for him it was difficult to distinguish if it was genuine or fake. 

Despite that, this situation was ridiculous, he wanted to go home! He spun a ring on his finger that Vortex gave him to try and calm himself and his anxieties. He hoped to get out of there soon, or maybe Vortex already realized he hadn't come home when he said he would…

Cain supposed he could understand some of her points, he knew it enjoys getting a reaction out of people, but that’s not how it is in regards to him. The amount of times it has seen him vulnerable and treated him with so much love and compassion and respect.. The amount of times he’s seen it so vulnerable.. if it wanted to hurt him, it would have done so many months ago. He’s never loved anyone quite like Vortex and this superhero will not sway him from that. 

“I get what you are trying to convey, but I do not want help from you or your agency. Rather, I wish you would have let me just go about my day,” he said more firmly. He was tired of being there now. He hasn’t been there very long, but being in that room quickly aggravated him. Everything just was wrong about this. 

“Mr. Harlow,” the superhero interjected, “your safety is at risk here! I am merely trying to offer you a way out of your situation but you are only showing me disrespect for my efforts!”

Cain gritted his teeth before raising his voice. Not only was this aggravating, but he was also talking to a wall. How lovely. “That is because you fail to show me respect! I do not want your efforts!! Let me spell it out, I. Do. Not. Want. Your. Help.” He sucked in a breath before trying to continue, his voice returning to a normal volume. “I’ll get ‘hurt’ in your words for all I damn care. It is not your responsibility to look after me.”

“I understand that it’s not my responsibility, but I don’t want you to be added to its list of victims! Blank-Slate-“

“Blank-Slate,” Cain snapped, “Is the love of my life whether you like it or not. Quite frankly, it has treated me far better than you have, and I have only known you for less than a day.”

“You don’t make it easy to get into contact with you,” The Porcelain Woman sneered. “Your career as a doctor makes you busy and most other times you are spotted with the villain. Bringing you here today in the way I had may have been unethical, but I had no choice. You were free and it was the only opportunity I had to get you here. If you would hear me out, you would understand it was for the better!”

“Oh so you and your band of heroes have been keeping tabs on me? You can’t, you know, send me an email or message that your heroes need to talk to me? You resorted to kidnapping me?” Cain threw his hands up in exasperation. “I’m going to repeat myself one more time, leave me alone. I am happy with my boyfriend. I do not care about your concerns about my supposed safety.”

“That was only a result of trying to keep tabs on Blank-Slate, which is actually incredibly difficult to do. We only very recently discovered you are its partner,” she retorted.

Cain has had enough of all of this. There seemed to be no convincing this woman that he feels safe and loved in his relationship. And really it should be none of her business at all! She’s entirely convinced that Vortex will just suddenly start hurting him one day just because it can. They’ve been dating for quite awhile and it hasn’t done so. 

And what’s more, he’s been able to see a side of Vortex that it doesn’t show anyone else. To others it very easily can seem cruel! But to him it has only ever been caring and affectionate and so so loving. But even when he has accidentally caught it doing its villain work, he can’t help but be a bit fascinated by it. And strangely enough, after seeing what it does and seeing it hasn’t done anything to him, it only has made him feel more safe and secure in their relationship.

Cain stood up from his chair. “I appreciate you trying to ‘warn me’ about my boyfriend, but I really do not need your assistance and I would like to get going home.” 

“Please sit, we are not done talking, Mr. Harlow. Going back to your boyfriend would be a bad idea,” the hero advised, her glassy eyes watching him stand.

“No, ma’am, I am heading home. Excuse me,” he said while trying to move past her to the door. 

“We aren’t done,” she stated, more harshly this time. Silvery threads shot from her hands towards his legs. He yelled a curse before quickly stumbling backwards, narrowly avoiding them. 

“Are you fucking delusional??” Cain cried out. “I acknowledge why you may be upset with my decision but that is unacceptable! For a hero especially! Contrary to what you think, my love for Blank-Slate will not lead to something completely horrific!”

“I’m not allowed to let you walk out so easily. I apologize that you don’t get it, but Blank-Slate is incredibly dangerous. I need you to stay awhile longer, I wasn’t even close to finishing on this matter.” 

Throughout this whole argument, the woman’s face has been just about completely neutral the entire time minus her tone, and it honestly was becoming infuriating. In the right state of mind he would realize that her being so doll-like didn’t allow for a great range of physical emotion, but in the moment it only ticked him off more. To him it only seemed like she concerned herself with breaking the two apart rather than how he felt. 

“No no! I’m done with this!” Cain argued, “You keep talking about me hearing you out but you have not been listening to me. You kidnapped me to talk to me, then you started preaching about how my boyfriend’s and I’s love is invalid, and then you refuse to let me leave!”

“Mr. Harlow—“

A knock sounded at the door. 

They both fell silent and turned to look at the sound. The Porcelain Woman answered the door, only to find another superhero he’s never seen before on the other side. 

“Mr. Harlow is needed by another hero for questioning, it is required that this continues later,” the stranger at the door said to the superhero.

“Fine, bring him back as soon as they are done.” She shot a glare over to Cain, but stepped out of the way to let him pass.

A wave of relief washed over him to finally get away from her as he stepped past her next to the stranger. He didn’t know where he was going but hopefully it would be better. If it entailed questioning, maybe not.. but here’s to hoping.

The two walked through the corridors of the unfamiliar agency. After a minute or two, the stranger spoke to him. And as soon as he did, it practically made him want to fall into its arms on the spot. 

Ensuring no one was around, the stranger shifted into a different person, returning to the form of his boyfriend. Telepathically it spoke gently to him, “Are you okay baby..? I’m going to get you out of here, just play along and act as if I’m one of the heroes.”

“I’m okay..” Cain mumbled, watching as Vortex shapeshifted back into the hero, “Thank you for finding me.”

It telepathically reassured him that it would always find him. It noticed that he never came home on time and wasn’t answering any of its messages alerting it that something was wrong.

Being fully disguised as a hero, Vortex escorted Cain safely out of the building without alarm. The pair headed home where they could have a relaxing evening like they originally had planned. 

[best-movie-ever-tournament]

Some like it hot:

These two musicians accidentally get involved with the mafia, I think they witness a murder but my memory is foggy, they then need to escape but the only way they can do so is by joining a women's orchestra. So they dress up like women. One forms a relationship with a girl played by Marilyn Monroe whilst technically still in disguise as a girl and the other forms a relationship with a man who is intent on marrying him. The film ends with the latter man taking off his disguise in a bid to convince the man that fell in love with him that their relationship won't work (despite having feelings for him), it essentially goes "you can't marry me because I'm a man!" To which the other responded "nobody's perfect'. Its just a really sweet movie especially for the subject matter and time period, it makes me very happy.

Metropolis:

A pioneering science fiction film, this German Expressionist film follows the lives of people living in a futuristic urban dystopia. It is still astonishing the sheer size of this film, how it set out to create a brand-new type of world for film (the sci-fi city) and 100% succeeded. An absolutely gorgeous looking film.

[if-childrenofiona]

who or what is hexma?

hexma is the largest kingdom in the land of xieven. it's also the place where mc was raised most of their life before the story takes place.

a nation known for their mighty militant forces and their hunger for power. hexma is infamous for their ruthless battle tactics, often annihilating entire peoples to gain what they want.

despite their powerful army, this country has little natural resources. depending on the surrounding countries for basic necessities.

in terms of setting, i'd say think of an overgrown dystopia.

lots of forests, all made of pine trees to the point the smell is nauseating. also, the land has many lakes.

has more of a winter-coded climate; foggy, rainy, scarcely any sunlight, and thick blizzards.

it's very rocky in terrain, full of jagged mountains and steep hills. there's also a lot of gothic architecture as well.

animals you're most likely encountered are ravens, black wolves, and the occasional mourning dove.

BONUS FACTS

hexmians are considered unholy people for worshiping xihnir; a demonized deity who's known for his selfish nature and sadistic torment of the gods.

unlike gilhanna, glory is only acquired through battle, so taking up a militant position on or off the battlefield is very honorable.

[kingdomstims]

→ Dystopia Jahan stimboard

[ID: A 3x3 stimboard of 8 GIFs depicting nighttime scenes surrounding a central image. GIF 1: A first person view slowly moving down a path lined by flowering bushes and paper lanterns. GIF 2: A view showing cherry blossom trees over a park as a train slowly passes by in the background. GIF 3: A closeup of water dripping off a branch covered in pine needles. GIF 4: Rain falling on a lake and gently swaying tree branches. Image: A scene of Jahan from Kingdom in the dystopia music video, standing under an overhang covered in cherry blossoms and gazing up while resting a sword on his shoulder. GIF 5: A full moon with sparse clouds passing in front of it lighting a gently moving ocean. GIF 6: Gently swaying tree branches silhouetted by a full moon with sparse clouds passing in front of it. GIF 7: Fireflies flying through leaves and bushes. GIF 8: A pan-over of dim, foggy woods. End ID]

[indigosabyss]

GPiDDS2 Excerpt

Foggy had somehow managed to sneak Matt down from the building, all the way across Hell's Kitchen to his apartment, with three possibly insane teenagers. Or, well, semi-adults. With superpowers.

And now they were all staring at each other in Matt's radioactive dystopia of a living room.

The girl - Gwen, he reminded himself - had stopped talking now. She didn't seem to have any filter, spilling secrets left and right. Matt could use some lessons from her.

Unfortunately, she had now taken up excitedly bouncing her leg, and grinning like a loon with-

"Holy shit, what is that above your head?" He tentatively reached out to poke one of the yellow diamond things floating above her head. They glowed, and were shaking slightly. And also looked like drawings on scraps of paper somehow in real life.

"Sparkles." Gwen explained, "Happens when I'm excited!"

"Get used to this, Councilor." Quire - the rude one - sat back, "Trust me, when she starts playing music to highlight scenes, you're going to miss this."

[bootstrapparadoxed]

Writeblr Introduction

[image description: a somewhat foggy/blurry photo of a green valley with a thin strip of a village in the middle and a cloudy, lightly blue sky above]

Author name: Mattie Bukowski, he/him

Country of residence: Poland

Preferred genres: horror, sci-fi, fantasy (in that order) – all preferably mixed with literary, plus literary on its own

Preferred mediums: novel, short story, video essay

Occupation: PhD student (evolutionary biology)

Age: mid-twenties

Hi, my name is Mattie, I write unhinged fiction inspired by my various existential crises and make video essays about whatever I am hyperfixated on in that moment. I’m queer, autistic, and disabled. English is not my native language but at this point I use it more than my native. My debut novel will hopefully come out late this year from a small press.

I want this side-blog to be mostly about writeblr, so my updates on my stories (both WIP and published), interaction with other people, tag games, etc etc - but I will also talk occasionally about video essays (both mine and other people’s), books I’m reading (will mostly be reblogs from my personal blog or links to a website – coming soon) and other random things I think are important.

If you feel like I would be interested in your stories, please feel free to reply to this post or tag me!

Links:

Main WIP

My existing works

Hyper-specific genres and tropes I love

Personal blog

YouTube channel

Full WIP list under the cut:

FrankensteinWIP – novel, working title “Offspring of Unhappy Days”: a literary horror with dark academia vibes and a dark m/m romance; tag line: “When two scientists discover a horrifying truth about consciousness and death, their obsessive devotion to each other pushes them to do the unthinkable.” Comps: “Babel”, “Leech”, “These Violent Delights”, “Call Me By Your Name”

30% drafted, fully outlined, want to finish the full draft and edit this year

Disability and Horror – video essay; explores the relationship between disability portrayal in horror, the ableism of the horror genre, and the way horror media/fiction can reflect or portray experiences of disabled people, albeit accidentally

Fully drafted, partially edited script, planning to release it this year

Hitchhiker's Guide is an Existentialist Masterpiece – video essay; starts off talking about how the works of Douglas Adams can be deeply philosophical and existential and goes into a lot of things, including chance, luck, and free will.

Partially outlined, planning to have it released this year, hopefully around August/September.

Ideas for novels or novellas that are spinning around in my head 24/7:

“eulogy”, a literary dystopia about a woman trying to document the full scope of humanity before the last human dies of old age; started drafting ages ago and dropped

a space horror novella about a space colony living on a planet that wants them dead, and an outcast accidentally stuck on it, with inspiration from one of my most obscure fears – ball lightning

a “soft-boiled, sybir-punk” novel – set in a future dystopian Russia and follows a bizarre conspiracy; comps: “The Author of My Immortal Emailed Me…” video by Sarah Z and Dirk Gently novels

rewrite of my first novel, “before the stardust” – an anti-capitalist space opera about five young people trying to find their place in the universe; started re-drafting a year ago and dropped

[best-ghoul]

GIANT ROBOT DOGPILE: //MASTERPOST

Hey Boss, Operator here, and I want to tell a story with you. About robots.

And feelings.

Feelings about robots.

IT'S GIANT ROBOT DOGPILE

This is a Choose-your-own adventure type game where you (and I) play the fates. We compile a setting, protagonist, and mech through polls, and then I write it, with you guys hedging the circumstances.

I want to make more stuff and I want it to be something you guys wanna hear. Hop in.

//Synopsis:

Our protagonist is an Incredibly Dense Girl, hired as a GOD-RIDER, a pilot of a giant Anomaly Powered robot.

She was hired in error by the Invoker Institute, a group dedicated to containing and harnessing the power of a Anomalies, most prominently a singular, Anomaly-powered mechanical defender.

They're located on a Botched Colony, which is in orbit around a planet awash with mysteries and unknowns, decay and vigor.

Other named characters include HR, the mysterious Operator, and the idealistic Boss, who's no friend of the system and operates the Institute in the foggy edges of the law.

Prose:

>Aside: Hot Choccy

>World

//Polls:

//SETTING: >Planet

>Framework

>Tech Level?

>Dystopia Flavor (NEXT)

//PROTAGONIST:

>ProTAG Skills:

>Protagonist's Last Job

>Protagonist's favorite animal.

//MECH:

>A Giant Robot Is...

>Power Source

>How do we understand this power?

>Signature Weapon (RUNNING)

//Bonus:

>The Top Card

>Get Ops a drink?

(if these links look wrong, it's probably an old reblog. This links to the current masterpost)

What's this?: A kinda-sorta choose-your-own-adventure-game I'm running. I present three questions a day to you guys every, you vote for 24 hours, building a setting over 3 weeks, at 3 questions a day, and I have to composite a conclusion from the results when the polls close. Think of me like a GM, but I'm writing fiction.

What's it For?: Funsies. It's not that serious, but I do wanna get better about communicating concise ideas and talk about art via art. I've got a lot of free time on my hands because of health stuff, so I wanna write.

Is it a game?: I mean, technically. If you mean the kind with buttons, I'll see about jamming something simple together like a text adventure at the end if there's a interest for it.

What kinda story is it: Prose, right now. It'll be a 3rd person narrative in plain text.

Is it Scientific? Fuck no. Post your commentary in the tags, rig the polls, whatever. Chaos reigns and the deck's stacked anyway (by me). Massive sweeps may even have critical consequences.

Can I contribute/collaborate? Yes! Yes! Yes! Like, send me an ask, I can drabble.

What's the deal with the color system? My take is it increases readability and accessibility in pure text. Something I'm saying as a GM is probably true, and blue questions ask for the Truth. Green are new facts you guys have voted on, and Orange is for keywords. It's based off of Phoenix Wright and other VNs. Also, yeah yeah, Homestuck.

[therealmanuelcolon]

My 12/12 images that I choosed for my 3 proposal

dystopia

In this series of images, I will be showcasing how the world would look if it turned dark and the sky had an impending storm. The images will depict a dystopia world with a range of dark colors, and they will build up to a dark, foggy, and colorless atmosphere. The images will tell a story of the end of the world, which no one saw coming. 

[mthofferings2023]

kimmycup

See kimmycup’s existing works here and here.

Preferred contact methods: Discord: kimmycup

Preferred organizations: - ALA "Unite Against Book Bans" Campaign - Assistance Dogs International - Médecins San Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) (See the list of approved organizations here)

Will create works that contain: Fic: At longer wordcounts I am predominantly good with plotty stuff. Preferably canon divergence but some AUs work too - coffeeshop or other fluffy ones I'm better at - I weave angst into that rather than using angsty setting. I can do whump, I can do action. I am weirdly specialized in angsty kidfic, apparently, as I realized.

Will not create works that contain: For fic: zombies, infidelity, dark settings (slavery, dystopia etc), supernatural AUs, omegaverse, overly explicit stuff (i can throw in a sex scene in a whole fic but not write a smut only fic). For candles: Overly elaborate desigs in wax, basically anything with too many pieces forming the shape. Like Tony's arc reactor.

  -- Fic or Other Writing --

Auction ID: 1127

Will create works for the following relationships: Frank Castle/Foggy Nelson - MCU Frank Castle/Matt Murdock - MCU Matt Murdock/Foggy Nelson - MCU Layla El-Faouly/Marc Spector - MCU James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark - MCU Harry Osborn/Peter Parker - MCU, Spider-Man (Raimi trilogy), TASM Layla El-Faouly/Jake Lockley - 616, MCU Frank Castle/Matt Murdock/Foggy Nelson - MCU Matt Murdock/Foggy Nelson/Marci Stahl - MCU Jean-Paul DuChamp/Steven Grant - 616, MCU

Work Description: This is the insane auction you've been looking for. I'm offering a fic without top wordcount limit. Every 10 dollars is 1k words. Yes, that means 500 dollars is 50k. That means a thousand is 100k. I don't predict more but you can do more! Go wild! Ruin me! Set me a challenge like I never had before! Due to wordcount, I would like to ask anyone bidding over 20/30k words to contact me if I am for sure happy with the prompt. I can't write long fic for stuff I don't like. Due to the nature of a fic being a long form, your prompt should reflect that. Canon rewrites (or crossovers and fusions, as long as I'm familiar and okay with the other piece of media) or plotty stuff preferred. If you don't want something too long you can also break the auction wordcount into up to three separate fics. I am also happy to do other ships, especially poly related to the people already listed, like Layla/system or Frenchie/system, Frenchie/Jake, Marci with either of the avocados instead of together, or even gen fic. Once again please ask first if you're unsure if I will write what you want.

Ratings: Gen, Teen, Mature, Explicit

Can pods bid on this auction? Yes - Podbids welcome!

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

-- Craft or Merchandise --

Auction ID: 2063

Will create works for the following relationships: Jeff the Land Shark-centric - 616

Work Description: This auction will be a figurine in polymer clay of Jeff the land shark. The size is customizable (up to 10cm), and so are the colors. We can discuss potential positioning him into a different pose than standing or adding accessories if auction hits 50 dollars. Winner pays shipping.

Ratings: Gen

Can pods bid on this auction? No - I'd rather not be bid on by pods

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

-- Craft or Merchandise --

Auction ID: 3023

Will create works for the following relationships: Tony Stark-centric - Any Universe Bruce Banner-centric - Any Universe Natasha Romanov-centric - Any Universe Clint Barton-centric - Any Universe Bucky Barnes-centric - Any Universe Avengers fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe X-Men fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Defenders fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe Moon Knight fandom any gen and ship - Any Universe

Work Description: This work is for a custom candle. It's up to you what it will look like. I can do shapes in the wax, I can do layers, inbeds, a lot of different ways to incorporate characters. See images for examples (the Hawkeye logo could also be a free standing candle on its own). What I cannot do is elaborate designs like arc reactor - it's too many pieces to center. Ideally contact me if you have an idea that seems more complicated or about specific characters from the "any" section. Winner pays shipping.

Ratings: Gen

Can pods bid on this auction? No - I'd rather not be bid on by pods

CLICK HERE TO BID ON THIS WORK

The auction runs from October 22 (12 AM ET) to October 28 (11:59:59 PM ET). Visit marveltrumpshate.com during Auction Week to view all of our auctions and to place your bids!

[apothecaryassistant]

“In the day, sunlight filtered through the cables, the girders, the foggy panes of glass to illuminate the concrete halls.  At night, the moonlight towers forced their arklight beams through the same lattice, casting stark shadows on the promenades.  Only if one was tasked with maintaining the pulleys, so far above the city, did one manage to actually see light, pure and unfiltered...”

I dream of a late-stage Steampunk which I call Cablepunk.  It calls to the days of the Stockholm Telefontornet - the 1880s to the Great War.

Columbian Exposition and the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.  Greenhouses, cast iron, concrete, and pulleys.  Telephone lines, electric lights, late-generation steam engines running electric dynamos...  Mostly still steampunk, just less shiny brass baubles and far more Dickensonian industrial dystopia.  You know, proper steam punk.

[ashes4bones]

Foggy dystopia

In a historical world

We have theatrical ways -

Every individual seems to have

A role, dictated by past stereotypes...

One is cast quite randomly -

You don’t get to choose between poor or wealthy -

All you can do is try to stomach

What card you’ve been dealt, at least in public.

So I wonder when people confort me

How much of it is insincerity

And how much of it is an honest,

genuine friendship promise...

It’s hard to tell.

It’s like the whole world is a big poker game,

Where so many people cheat

That you begin to doubt your neighbors.

The worst is everyone has the same questions that go unanswered

The same misguided trust for the few hiding their chips

And if we could all agree to show our cards

We would be blessed with unwelcome knowledge -

For who wants to open their blind eyes

To truly see the unmasked faces of our supposéd allies?

It’s almost as if people prefer to see colorful masquerades

Instead of seeing the bare, scarce truth of the world.

They would rather live in a peaceful moquerie with their doubts of the honesty of others, busy holding up their own disguise,

Than unravel a world founded on the ashes of their dreams.

For when there’s smoke, there’s fire, or so the saying goes,

Yet we refuse to become our own firemen and extinguish the flames of a relentless, brazing lie, even when it consumes our children’s innocence...

Our fear of the scattered ashes of who we are is somehow greater than our fear of the very flames destroying that being, and so it spreads like wildfire, and we clutch on to the beautiful lies woven onto our hearts, while the reflection of dancing, festive flames come alive within our souls.

The fire engulfs our shadows, one’s most faithful follower, then proceeds to consume our soul, its most formidable rebel. Once this is done, it feasts on our conscience, until eventually, there isn’t much left behind the shell of our projections.

I look around and wonder who among my allies have been ravaged by lazy fumes

But all I can see are the ravenous smiles of murderously pampered façades.

I decide that if I cannot find other victims, I can at least try and save myself, and so I cough my way down the sewage of what should be my conscience and search, search for a person I wouldn’t know how to recognize.

And that’s when I wake up from a lugubrious nightmare, and by instinct look around, hunting for the glimpse of a shadow. In the lingering darkness of the night, I am unable to find the hint of the shadow I used to play with as a child. I would almost turn the light on - just to make sure - but it is late, and I must sleep. Besides, I can always look tomorrow...

“I am just an impulsive person who thinks to much”, I tell myself, and with that, I lay on my warm, sweaty mattress and sleepily close my eyes.

[visualwritingprompts2]

Visual Writing Prompt #547

[fhtagn-and-tentacles]

UCHRONIUM 

by Reza Afshar