Thanks for the prompt @flashfictionfridayofficial !
Warning: minor science and bugs. Picture has mutated body parts displayed in the background.
Word Count: 395
Story: original snippet, apocalyptic
Cells danced across the lit slide, quickly overtaking the benign tissue and effortlessly mutating the sample. Carl attempted to focus in on the process for any notable variation in its pattern, but after sixteen hours, his dancing vision was persistant enough that he probably wouldn’t catch anything of note even if it bit his face anyway.
“Sleep, or I’m gonna break that piece of junk.” Pulling away instinctivly, Carl clutched his microscope protectively.
“Touch it and we all go up in smoke.” His baby-sitter shrugged and picked up the pile of papers that he’d haphazardly arranged for collection. These brutes had their uses but they were far too blunt for his purpouses most days.
“See anything interesting today?” He shrugged.
“Nothing significant, the infection has been resistant to everything I’ve thrown at it.” Feeling less insecure about the safety of his equipment, Carl leaned back a bit in his chair and raised his coffee to take a drink before he caught sight of something floating along the surface. Pulling it away from his mouth, he set the ceramic mug onto the table and eyed the strange insect floating belly up on the surface. It was obviously infected, nothing that would cause significant damage by itself, but how had a dead infected bug gotten in his cup?
“You okay?” Carl’s guard was already by his side, checking him for any signs of injury. He knew he wasn’t turning, He’d run enough test to know what turning felt like, at least what people documented it feeling like. Pushing past her, he grabbed a pair of forceps from a loose pile of tools and picked up the bug quickly dragging it over to his work station. Despite his earlier exhaustion a sence of urgency had driven the sleep from his eyes. Quickly preparing a tray, he slid the pieces into place and engaged the magnification.
Silence settled over the room as he watched the aggressive cells shrivel up and flake apart when contacting the coffee residue. After all this time… Shaking his head, Carl pulled away to grab another sample, he’d have to isolate the cause, figure out what exactly was triggering the reaction. His fingers shook with excitement forcing him to slow down his work for the sake of accuracy. Every moment crawled by in agonizing silence, but If he was right… humanity could finally be saved.
Character Profile Tag: Billy
Thanks for the tag @creatrackers I had a lot of fun with this one. Sorry I'm so late getting it finished.
Full name: Billy, Shepard of the Blue Moon
Age: 4045 yrs
Gender: male
Species: Forest Guardian
Appearance: Standing at around 5'10 when fully upright, Billy is a mass of foliage and wood in the shape of a man, he appears to have a large beard made of ferns and wears a bone mask over the top of his face showing a pair of deep purple eyes.
Occupation: (Formerly) Shepard of the Blue Moon Valley. (Current) An initially reluctant member of a certain rogue squad of misfits.
Family: Forest guardian's are formed when a prior guardian is about to die or reaches their 4th millennia. In the first and much rarer case, when a forest guardian is about to die through unnatural means, they can split their core and send it into the ground for a 100 years to preserve the natural power. After the time elapses another forest guardian is formed from the core which has by this point re-fused. In Billy's case his predecessors' core did not fuze back and formed two separate Forest Guardian's. So he has one sibling named Jade, but they had their own paths and did not meet often after reaching adulthood. As for found family he has been adopted into the main squad by MA who isn't one to take no for an answer when it comes to strays.
Best friend: He gets along with most of the main squad fairly well (baring Ember), but he has a stronger connection to Hati since the mechanic was instrumental in making his more effective means of re-vitalizing nature. In turn he helps to keep Hati's unstable inventions from falling apart.
Pets: He has no pets and he prefers the company of plants.
Describe their room: (Former) A thick forest with lush foliage and a balanced echo system, it was his pride and joy. (Current) The back of a 6 passenger roofless (Stollen) military vehicle that is one bump away from falling to pieces, the one perk being a flood light that he can use to help get some 'sun' on the smog covered battlefields.
Items in their bag/purse: Assorted seeds and a copy of a half burned political thriller that he picked up somewhere along the road.
Hobbies: horticulture, reading, and hunting down particularly noteworthy offenders to the natural order.
Favorite sport: shooting
Abilities/talents/powers: As a forest guardian he has the ability to accelerate the natural progression and evolution of plants and animals. He is also able to levi an amount of control over natural things even partially extending to the human body unlike most of his species that mainly have this power over plants or animals. He is a skilled marksmen, and amateur engineer thanks to his friendship with Hati.
Relationships: He isn't and has not been in a romantic relationship before. As a Forest Guardian he doesn't particularly have any dive for connection. He does enjoy his friendships with most of the squad more than he had expected he would, but never felt the need to pursue anything further.
Fears: burning alive, watching his forests burn, fire, not being a worthy predecessor, and his squad dying unnaturally.
Faults: He is Stubborn, and doesn't tell people about his problems usually leading to avoidable consequences.
Good points: He is loyal and considerate.
What they want more than anything else: To re-establish the forests that were devastated and to watch over his squad so that they can live full and happy lives (Even Ember).
No pressure tagging:
@renasdoodles @kuebiko-writing @davycoquette ,
@wyked-ao3 @somethingclevermahogony @boomiburst @lyutenw ,
+Open Tag
Questions to copy:
Full name: Age: Gender: Species: Appearance: Occupation: Family: Best friend: Pets: Describe their room: Items in their bag/purse: Hobbies: Favourite sport: Abilities/talents/powers: Relationships: Fears: Faults: Good points: What they want more than anything else:
Which character has the most symbolism surrounding them?
Thank you for the ask! Sorry, I'm so late with the response. This week has been something else 😅
Honestly, I might have to say that MA fits that bill the best. Without giving too much away, her story is mainly rooted in the idea of innocence vs. The worst of human depravity.
There's more to it, but it's hard for me to properly explain without giving away a plot point that I'm still debating on.
She is the heart and soul of the main group of misfits, and to slight her is to make an enemy of them all.
What can you tell me about Luis?
Thank you for the ask!
He’s definitely one of my favorites from this story, so I might have gone a bit overboard with the explanation...
Luis is one of the first blood mages to ever be made and serves as a kind of side antagonist in the (Bloodmage) story. His main power has to do with disrupting other blood mage’s control, but he is also able to manipulate blood into various explosive constructs as well.
Due to the unstable mental state of blood mages, he spent a good portion of his early days indiscriminately killing to try to feed the bottomless desire for blood and violence that plagues his species. After growing sick of the conflict but unable to stop himself, Luis resolved to end his suffering but found the task more difficult than he had anticipated. In his lowest point, he was confronted by a tree spirit named Jade, who he instinctively formed an attachment with, creating the first tether. A process by which a bloodmage is able to reign in their violent and bloodthirsty nature by grounding themselves with another living being. This tether does not have to be a romantic connection, but in their case, it certainly developed into one.
With his mind restored, Luis reigned in his race, instructing them on the proper methods to prevent rampant destruction and insanity. As their leader, he acts as the primary representative of blood mages on the cryptid council, a group founded to help regulate supernatural creatures. Of the other council members, he particularly dislikes the fairy king and will regularly keep a pair of brass knuckles made from high-quality iron for his inevitable clashes with the fairy king’s bodyguard (Alasdair).
After his wife is killed by tech witches, Luis informs the council of his intent to wipe out her killers. Refusing to attach himself to another tether, Luis has resolved to get his revenge by any means necessary, even if it is costing him his sanity.
Given her nature as a forest spirit, even if her body is dead, as long as part of her core remains intact there is a chance for her to be saved, but with the teck witches bent on expanding their power he is left wil little choice but to take a more aggressive stance on the matter.
They are a really cute couple, in my opinion, and I love getting to write/draw little blurbs of them being happy together, so thanks again for the ask 😊
Rose, after being cursed long ago, came to adapt to her unfortunate circumstances. While once completely wild, she has come to appreciate the finner things in life, mainly deserts.
I personally prefer her sketch design most, but the inked is a close second.
Writing share tag
Thanks for the tag, @aalinaaaaaa !
(I haven't been getting much original writing done lately for reasons... this is a small snippet of a story I come back to every so often whenever inspiration strikes)
Warnings for: mild self harm and withdrawal.
Withdrawal
Scraping his nails against the cobblestones, 408 looked down at the pouch around his neck. The blood in his veins was like fire, burning his reason and making his will falter. He just needed to hold out for another couple of hours, just until the sun set. Looking up at the blinding light, 408 cursed the spirits, longing for time to start moving again. Illusions flickered past his vision, and spikes of pain stabbed his heart with every half breath that he took. The last thing he wanted was to go mad, but he would tow that line as closely as he needed to if it meant that he could feel something again.
The pouch around his neck weighed like lead against his skin, silently offering a cool release from the pain. He’d told himself that he would wait until this evening, but the temptation seemed to double with every second that passed. His fingers began to reach for the bag without his mind’s permission. One of the pills was pressed to his lips by the time he realized what he was doing. 408 slammed his hands to the ground more forcefully than the last time, digging his fingers further into the stone until he drew blood. He’d set out to change his fate, and he wouldn’t accomplish anything by backing down now.
No pressure tagging @renasdoodles @kuebiko-writing @wyked-ao3 @creatrackers @somethingclevermahogony , @laisley-writes +Open Tag
Heads Up, Seven Up
Share 7 lines from one of your WIPs
Thanks for the tag, @renasdoodles
I haven't reached the editing faze of my WIP yet, so you just get the unedited insanity that it is at the core.
Taking a deep breath, Owen released his hold. Maren had finally calmed down once he got her out of the water and rested.
Well calmed down in the fact that she was currently unconscious. He still had to go off into the woods to look for anything that could help fight the withdrawal symptoms.
This was fun. Thanks for the tag!
No pressure tagging: @kuebiko-writing @davycoquette +open tag
Margaret enjoys listening to people's problems; it helps to keep her grounded and reminded that she isn't the only person suffering in the world. She takes comfort in the fact that she isn't special and that her problems aren't anything new. That means that there are others like her and that even when things are hard for her, Margaret can always lend an ear. Sometimes, it's hard to bear, but in the end, Margaret still listens to people because she wishes someone had listened to her.
She has her vices, but she doesn't usually hate herself for them since she is human and trying the best that she can. When she was younger, Margaret hated her weakness, but as she grew, Margaret was able to learn to be kind to herself.
reblog to send your mutuals a hug. maybe just the thought is enough to cheer them up 🥺
Empty
Random writing??? Who knows where it came from.
How was it that when he looked into his memories, all that stared back at him were blurred fragments?
He felt that there should have been something concrete there, something to cement him down as whatever creature he happened to be. Shouldn't all creatures capable of thought at least have that much?
Gripping the side of his head in frustration, he stood from the cold ground and stumbled along in the darkness, his vision just as blurred as his memories. A part of him knew this was wrong, that he should know something specific, but like a shadow dancing at the very corner of one's vision, the thing seemed to fade whenever he tried to bring it into focus.
Did he even want to know what he was? The idea bored into his mind like a worm making him question the only purpose he had managed to latch onto. Like some cruel tyrant it seemed determined to smother his confidence in the matter, making him all the more egar to pursue what he was.
There was something in that he supposed, some drive that he hadn't been aware of the moment before. It appeared that for whatever else he might be, stubborn was a part of it.
Thanks for the tag, @renasdoodles !
Rules: Find three pictures that fit your OC! Remember to cite your sources and include image IDs to make your post more accessible to people with screen readers!
(Had to just draw my pictures because my phone decided it didn't want to cooperate with downloading images)
Kinda a botched execution, but I tried 🫠
This is for Billy, the snipper from the weird story I am working on.
Tagging: @kuebiko-writing , @davycoquette , @flurrysahin +open tag
(Just let me know if you want to be removed from the tags! Also, no pressure to use the prompt. )
I'm trying to get a bit more confident in my work. Organized and unorganized snippets of stories and drawings.
118 posts