#neonthebright

[rainyday-deer]

Ask time? I don't have a burning question so much as a thought exercise... remember the sparkledog trend? What about sparkledeer? 🤔

Also, it's been a while, so *hands you a strawbebby*

A sparkledeer sounds like a fun 80s toy and frankly I would be Here For That. That sounds fun as hell.

A BEBBI!!! 🍓

[nonbinary-octopus]

oh no!

How would Jacob and Bowman react to seeing a cat or another animal? (would bowman be scared?)

I'm not sure why I didn't get a notification for this one, but here we are.

I actually wrote a scene involving a cat in the planned sequel for Bowman of Wellwood, which has been on the back burner for a while after I had to rethink the outline a lot. So this is very old and unpolished writing from the way back days when I was still writing Bowman in first person, but I might as well share the snippet!

For context, in the sequel, Bowman and Rischa journeyed with Jacob to his home for an extended visit to see how humans live.

~~~~~

Movement caught Jacob’s eye. He glanced toward the fence nearest the house and his face immediately paled. He surged forward at the same time as the shadowy shape did, determined to reach it before it reached the unaware sprites. They’ve never even seen one before! he thought in a panic, even as he saw Bowman whirl around where he stood to see what bore down on him.

The cat closed the distance before Jacob could, but he ran on anyway.

~~~

I stopped talking to Rischa in mid sentence when I felt it. The rush of ice up my spine and the tingling in my fingertips that screamed at my instincts shifted my mind right into another mode. They were the instincts of one who knew in his core that he was hunted.

Wood sprites, pacifists as we are, drift near the bottom of the food chain. We are prey species, being so small and easily overpowered. Our wings and camouflage give us the best defense against something that might attempt to prey upon us. Hiding among the trees in Wellwood, we were safe from the wolves, foxes, and owls that also called the forest home.

It didn’t matter when we threw all our usual precautions away by standing on the ground. I should have realized my stupidity before I ever let my boots touch down in the soft earth near Jacob’s enormous dwelling.

I whirled around and shoved Rischa back with my wings at the same time, sending her stumbling further into the shadows under a tall plant with a bright yellow flower and a cup-shaped corona in the middle.

It wasn’t a moment too soon, because a predator had found us.

I stared with wide, bright green eyes at the beast, my entire body primed and filling rapidly with adrenaline. I had no blasted idea what this thing was. Sleek, dark grey fur covered its body, which was a little smaller than a fox’s, leaving it to stand a few times my height. It had triangular ears atop its head, and greenish yellow eyes bored into me as it stalked towards me with its belly slightly lowered.

I couldn’t even feel its light steps shaking in the ground at its graceful approach. Mostly, I just felt the assurance in that gaze that this thing, whatever it was, would rip me to pieces and gobble me down.

I flared my wings wide in the hopes that it would make me look too large to deal with. The animal paused for only a partial second before darting forward again, paws bigger than my torso pushing it forward silently. It opened its muzzle, revealing sharp fangs. Its slit-pupiled eyes squinted and its ears folded back and it hissed, giving it the sound and appearance of a snake.

It didn’t approve of my threat display. It definitely still wanted to eat me. That’s my luck.

[nonbinary-octopus]

hello gt people

do you have recommendations for gullivered type stories? i.e., someone who is used to being normal sized has ended up in a land full of very small people, who are also used to being normal sized but now they have to deal with a giant.

Examples: Chase in Lilliput by @neonthebright, Reese Got Gullivered by @horseyneigh2002

This is a kind of story that I very much like, and as such I want to read a billion more variations on the theme.

the two linked above do not include a language barrier, but I also enjoy that.

[torchmlp]

Thank you @ghostradiodylan and @cloudycaffeinatedcryptid for tagging me! I was gonna do this earlier but then got distracted and forgor ☹

Also, I'm doing this instead of working, because I'm sick and want to go home but I still have an hour left 😩

1. Three ships: Currently that would be rylan, Laura x Max, and Tododeku.

2. First ever ship: The first one I can remember wanting two people end up together would be Jake/Cassie from The Animorphs series

3. Last song: "Don't Leave (with Ellie Goulding)" by Seven Lions is what I listened to on the way to work this morning, but I've also been listening to a lot of Powerwolf lately.

4. Last film: "Heart of Stone" since my dad wanted to watch it with me, but I wasn't really a fan of it. The last movie I saw that I actually wanted to see and really enjoyed was "Across the Spiderverse" (1000/10, highly recommend, will absolutely watch again)

5. Currently reading: Work related stuff and internally screaming into the void because no one at this dumb company knows how to write things that make sense.

The last thing I read outside of work and fanfiction was the internet deep dive I did about the history and epidemiology of syphilis (don't ask).

6. Currently watching: Some friends and I have been steadily going through the second season of That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime

7. Currently consuming: Grandma's Mini Sandwich Cremes

8. Currently craving: Chicken curry!

Tag 9 ppl: @airilymusing, @come-mist-eternal, @wolfie180g, @linesofreturninggeese, @itscomingupaces, @insertlovelyperson, @neonthebright, @nightmares06, @borrowedtimeandspace

Apologies to anyone who has already been tagged.

[brothersapart]

Are you gonna write more in The Lounge AU?? :0

There's going to be at least one more part! @neonthebright and @borrowedtimeandspace finished their dual part, and now I just need to finish up what's going on with my boys during all that. The AU lounge is always very interesting to write, with all of our different alternate characters, haha.

[nonbinary-octopus]

xD indeed

G/t Tropes

I love when tinys flip the switch on their giant counterpart. Like, the tiny who used to be horrified at the though of being picked up refuses to waste the time climbing up the stairs. The Giant is right there? Its not like they’re doing anything?? And like, with sass? 

Giant: Hold on a sec- I’m busy with some emails

Tiny: Yeah no, sounds great I’ll just scale the equivalent of a mountain side since you’re too busy to walk 15 feet. Much appreciated.

The hands that once made them feel so insignificant now make them feel like a king, being carried around. Just tactless and shameless demands that the giant begrudgingly yet lovingly complies with because… yeah, the got a point. 

[foxanonforneon]

honkmimimimimi honKMIMIMIMIMIMI

@neonthebright

@nightmares06

@spriteinthedark

[borrowedtimeandspace]

GT July Day 8 Bonus:

Slightly related to today's short story, my very dear and good friend @neonthebright shared a song with me recently that wasn't even on my radar. The second I heard it, my entire heart sank into Zepheera/Orrick feels. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out their love story in Zepheera's Origins, chapters 4 onwards specifically.

I'm a music lover first and foremost, and I've already associated certain songs with my star-crossed lovers. This one is less diegetic than ones I've put into the stories, but it still gave me big ol feelings. I figured I'd share if anyone else cares and is as masochistic as me.

The song was the re-imagining of "Just A Dream" by Nelly. Specifically, the recent re-recording.

Emotional flailing under the cut. Tl;dr:

From the get-go, it's an emotional song because this video is spliced with old footage of the original cover made almost 13 years ago. Footage of the late Christina Grimmie. The male singer Sam Tsui and the instrumentalist Kurt Hugo Schneider returned for the re-recording. The original cover is also outstanding, but the vibe from them both in this new version is much more somber and heavy with the loss of Christina. So that's already crying points.

Then there's the added dynamic of the male and female singers that immediately invoked in me the feeling of lovers who adore each other so much but cannot be together, which hits so much different than the single perspective of the original. Made it very easy for me to insert my most tragic M/F couple into their roles.

I want to preface my next statement by saying that I was not aware of Christina Grimmie or her death before this song was shown to me, and it is the farthest thing from my intention to disrespect her memory or her admirers with my words. That being said, the age difference between her 12-year-old footage and the others' re-recordings brings to my mind the entire reason Zepheera left Orrick to begin with. She was stuck in time, fated to be forever youthful, and was terrified by the notion of watching the person she loved age away while she stayed the same and had to deal with being left without him.

And don't even get me started on the lyrics! They're not always exact, but some of them just Hit Me in the Heart, guys. First there's the chorus, which they always sing together.

I was thinking about you Thinking about me Thinking about us What we gonna be Open my eyes It was only just a dream Travel back, down that road Will you come back? No one knows I realize It was only just a dream

Changing the gendered pronouns throughout (most) of the song to "you" adds a more personal touch in my opinion, not just relating this story to someone else but wishing that the subject themselves could hear them. Adds an emotional urgency to it for me.

Lots of Orrick feels in the first verse (skimming through the less relevant lyrics):

I was at the top and now it's like I'm in a basement Number one spot, now you find you a replacement I swear now that I can't take it (...) Now you ain't around, baby, I can't think (...) 'Cause I can still feel it in the air See your pretty face, run my fingers through your hair My lover, my life My baby, my wife You left me, I'm tied 'Cause I know that it just ain't right

I can vividly imagine things like this running through Orrick's mind, reeling after being left high and dry.

The second verse related to Zepheera less than Orrick's, mostly because it was initially written from the perspective of a man who pushed a woman away. Even so, there are a few lines that really stuck out to me and stabbed me right in the heart:

Another riding, I swear see your face at every turn (...) And I just hope you know that you're the only one I yearn for No wonder I'll be missing when I learn (...) Hey, you were so easy to love But wait I guess our love wasn't enough Going through it every time that I'm alone (...) 'Cause I was wrong

She knows that leaving Orrick behind was a horrible thing. She knows that, and she did it anyway because she couldn't face losing him the long way around. Not when she couldn't carry the burden of aging alongside him like normal people and partners do.

And if that wasn't enough, they hit us with this bridge:

If you ever loved somebody, put your hands up If you ever loved somebody, put your hands up And now they're gone and you're wishing you could give them everything

The second time this repeats, and I say this without judgement on Christina's crystal clear talent, the way her diction comes across made me think the lyric was "If you ever lost somebody" and just made Everything Hurt.

I have no good way to end this other than to reiterate:

[foxanonforneon]

rip what's this giant catboy sad about now? TAT

I'm showing the sketch bc it's way funnier that way

He's just siting there, menacingly!! D:

Is he sad about the state of capitalism?? Him being lonely?? No potato chips his size?? We will never know.. :((

@neonthebright

[nonbinary-octopus]

:D

I said "sanic the hoojhaj" to my husband and he laughed and said he loves it, and when I said it's cause of how one of my friends on tumblr tags sonic posts, he said to please tell you that he loves it and therefore loves you now

Excellent. The word of the great blue hoojhooj is spreading.

[foxanonforneon]

I will not finish these, so can look at these lol

sleeby

@neonthebright

[nonbinary-octopus]

Painted a book cover yesterday for Bigfoot's a Hoax by @nightmares06 and @neonthebright!

progress pics under the cut, including the thumbnail and the first version in pencil

I think I unintentionally zoomed out a bit with each iteration... you can see more of Jacob each time, and he and the tree the Winchesters are in get further and further apart.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

I really love the latest update of the comic, I feel like we're getting such good plot/lore things here! I was like :0 when the roof pyramid thing turned out not to be part of the building at all, like wow, one of those *scrolls furiously to the top again* moments. I wanted to ask, when Moissanite offers her hand to Greg, was that meant to mirror Rose's pose from when she helped him up? Part of me wants to say no, it's just a similar pose because there's only so many ways to offer someone your hand, but another part knows you don't just throw details in for no reason. Hope it's not a silly question. Thanks for making the comic!

It was absolutely intentional! 

I originally wanted to recreate the panel directly from Story for Steven when she’s helping him up, but I couldn’t quite find a way to make it work while seamlessly going back into the background so I left it at that. But that’s 100% an intentional parallel! 

[creatorofuniverses]

#so... poob doesn't have it for me??? (@neonthebright)

[rainyday-deer]

Finished commission for @neonthebright! The idea was their OC Elias with Solaris, since they both have some ties to Apollo. Wonder what Elias seems so nervous about... 🤔

two versions, one with text and one without!

[clever-and-unique-name]

5, 6, and 7 for the ask meme! :)

ty for the asks~

5. what tools (shows, games, toys, app, journalling, etc) help you when you or another part are distressed?

since I already answered this more generally in another ask I’m gonna talk about me specifically I think

I like to watch anime with romantic subplots (or main plots, if they’re good enough.) ones I like are mahoutsukai no yome, akagami no shirayukihime, kobayashi-san chi no maid dragon and yuri on ice. there are more but the others will riot if I talk about the really really shitty ones lol.

something about watching people being nice and caring about each other calms me down, so I don’t like “drama” romance where people cheat or things like that if that makes sense.

honestly though when I’m distressed I usually just curl up in bed with one of our stuffed animals and cry so like. is that considered a tool? are tears a tool? is mayonnaise an instrument?

6. what are some grounding tools you like to use?

oops I think I answered this in another one too…so I guess I’ll talk about me again

I like to go for walks at night. like really late at night, preferably past midnight. I haven’t gotten to in a long time because the others say it’s “too dangerous” but I used to do it all the time when I was like 12 so idk. but that’s probably the most grounding thing for me. the way cold night air feels in my lungs just feels right, it like instantly grounds me

7. what are some hobbies/interests that you or another part picked up that was surprising to you?

it’s weird to me that scholar likes to make infographics so much. and she likes to read really stuffy academic books. that’s super weird to me.

-reki