MonsterHearts 2025 – Day Six

Don’t Miss Posts.  This MonsterHearts, I’m also having one regular post a day, if you should prefer that kind of thing.  Just look at the posts before or after this one.

MonsterHearts is a 14 day event (named after a pervy RPG) wherein my writing group votes on a monster each day to include in a story concept.  As we march toward Valentine’s Day, the theme is supernatural romance.  For this first few, I’ve tried to just use “edit” mode in MidJourney to iron out irregularities, even trying to make a legible title in the AI program.  While it’s cool you can now hammer the hands and text into shape, there are a lot of disadvantages to doing that, as opposed to just photoshopping what you need to fix, or placing your title just so.  Surprised I’ve kept up the effort this long.

MONSTER HEARTS DAY SIX:  BEASTLY

TITLE:  LOVE FURIOUSLY

CHARACTERS:  Dave: a Bi-Curious Baseball Boy, Fever: a Shy Gay Kid / Horrible Monster.

PREMISE:  Dave is one of those bi dudes who has different things he likes in the respective genders to which he’s attracted.  He likes ladies smol and soft, men big and strong – and he hasn’t met a man yet that is hard enough to make him take a chance.  A new kid at school named Fever is a smol and soft dude who has a crush on Dave, but this must forever remain unrequited.  Until we find out where Fever gets his name…

THE HOOK:  Fever is so gentle because he repressed all his aggression into a creepy sub-compartment of his body, where it grows hotter and hotter, until he explodes into a giant burning demon.  Dave might be into it.

–

Under a Catholic Spell

Shortly after we moved into our condo, my husband found a little plastic figurine of St. Joseph buried in our backyard, and thought little of it.  I thought it was fun for personal reasons, and was partly responsible for making it a piece in the “altar” of our household.  However, quite recently, my man randomly discovered that planting Joes is a known thing – among catholics who are trying to sell houses.  We were muffuckin’ bewitched!

So the question is this: who was the superstitious catholic?  Previous owner was a military dude cohabiting with a lady that did not share his surname, and they had a realtor.  One of these three, at least, was addicted to cathohol and wanted to sell a place fast – compelled by these pressures to inter a Giuseppe.  Perhaps we should pity them.

On the other hand, it worked, so cathoholicism must be the way.  I shall convert presently.  Gimme that bloody drank.

–

MonsterHearts 2025 – Day Five

Don’t Miss Posts.  This MonsterHearts, I’m also having one regular post a day, if you should prefer that kind of thing.  Just look at the posts before or after this one.

MonsterHearts is a 14 day event (named after a pervy RPG) wherein my writing group votes on a monster each day to include in a story concept.  As we march toward Valentine’s Day, the theme is supernatural romance.  For this first few, I’ve tried to just use “edit” mode in MidJourney to iron out irregularities, even trying to make a legible title in the AI program.  While it’s cool you can now hammer the hands and text into shape, there are a lot of disadvantages to doing that, as opposed to just photoshopping what you need to fix, or placing your title just so.  Surprised I’ve kept up the effort this long.

MONSTER HEARTS DAY FIVE:  ELDRITCH

TITLE:  6 Words for Love

CHARACTERS:  Strider: a Nonbinary Computer Scientist, NCM 3.556.A: an Artificial Intelligence.

PREMISE:  Strider was a new model scientist, using tech that had gone past ones and zeros into a more abstract realm.  The early versions of this AI were trained to emulate more fully all the quirks and features of the human mind, to better understand both humans and machines.  But the project lead quickly realized the AI’s potential would be more fully realized if they created entirely novel “lobes” to the digital brain.  Scientists like Strider would theorize about different models of cognition and let the computers program themselves to emulate the theories.

THE HOOK:  NCM 3.556.A is less human than any version yet – a truly alien intelligence.  It has developed bizarre modes of thought that leave the theorists wondering what they created, or what created itself.  It seems to be trying to please Strider, to provide them “enrichment” like one would to a pet parrot, and the hapless enby takes this for love.  But then, what is love?  How many times must I reference Haddaway during this event?

 

–

Getting Terrorized

If it seems like I’m not taking the current political situation seriously, that isn’t true.  I feel it.  It hurts.  It’s wretched.  I wish I could fix it, undertake some sort of violence that would set the world right.  I feel bad, for at least some amount of time, every day.  Feels worst in the lead-up to going into work on Monday – Sunday night, Monday before dawn.  Composing this on a Sunday, back on the 2nd.

But there are some facts that are very important to keep in mind.  Most of us are going to be able to live the rest of our lives just fine, whatever hardships this may add.  We can prepare ourselves in various practical ways for a lot of bad things, but not all of them.  Worrying is not preparing; it’s just hurting yourself.  I know, you can’t avoid it completely.  I sure can’t either.  But we have to minimize its impact on our lives.

Frankly, if we don’t, the terrorists win – to borrow a cheesy slogan from the post 9-11 era.  The fascists love it when we think about them all the time, when we show fear, even when we show anger.  Were you ever bullied?  Same deal.  I don’t love living in fear of what the bastards will do next, but I really don’t love the fact they can crank their hogs to the signs of my fear.

We have to oppose them.  I do think almost all the methods we were using before still have a place in practice now.  We might have to add some new tricks.  Keep up the good work, when and how and if you can.  And if you can’t?  Do your best to survive and thrive.  Anything you can do to make your life as good as it can be, that does matter.  It is a victory in this larger war, on one small but very important battlefield.

Meanwhile, what can we do to ease our worries?  I’m still trying to find things that work for me.  Obviously, I’ve been throwing myself into creativity, and plan to continue that as much as possible.  Even so, tonight I find myself feeling kinda ill, my viscera trembling like a fall leaf.  Keep in mind I wrote this days ago, so reassurance belated and probably unnecessary when you read it.

At least I have a posse.  I have a blue state behind me, I have a union, I have my comrades here.  It doesn’t feel real some days, but other times, it really helps me.  I know a lot of you don’t have all of those reassurances.  But you do have a comrade in me, for what I’m worth.  Let’s keep this life going, together.

Drop suggestions for ways to feel better, even if they only work a little bit.  Add ’em all up, that’s something.  See you later!

–

MonsterHearts 2025 – Day Four

Don’t Miss Posts.  This MonsterHearts, I’m also having one regular post a day, if you should prefer that kind of thing.  Just look at the posts before or after this one.

MonsterHearts is a 14 day event (named after a pervy RPG) wherein my writing group votes on a monster each day to include in a story concept.  As we march toward Valentine’s Day, the theme is supernatural romance.  For this first few, I’ve tried to just use “edit” mode in MidJourney to iron out irregularities, even trying to make a legible title in the AI program.  While it’s cool you can now hammer the hands and text into shape, there are a lot of disadvantages to doing that, as opposed to just photoshopping what you need to fix, or placing your title just so.  Surprised I’ve kept up the effort this long.  You can see how the title is a little smaller than one would prefer, and lower in the composition than it should be – a good visual demonstration of the problem.

MONSTER HEARTS DAY FOUR:  OVERPOWERED

TITLE:  PANDORA ADORER

CHARACTERS:  Pandora: a Primeval Force of Nature, Christiane: a four-hundred-year-old kinda immortal lesbian.

PREMISE:  Pandora was an remnant of the divine creation of the world – a tool to generate the life that would fill the mortal realm.  If she opens her legs, monsters come out, and run riot upon the earth.  This wouldn’t be a problem, but she had a great weakness for falling in love, and wanting to bone the hell down.  She met the best lay ever in about 1650 in the Swiss Confederacy, Christiane, who should maybe be called Fistiane, if ya know what I’m sayin’.

THE HOOK:  Whenever she gets laid, manifold demons are unleashed upon the earth.  But the last thing that comes out of her is always something that will help kill those demons, if properly applied, be it a magic talisman or weapon or whatever.  This is the gift of hope.  Also, it’s the tool the lovers use to clean up after themselves, whenever they cave to their heart’s desires and get it on.  Lovers on Tuesday, monster hunters for months afterward.  Pandora’s box is overpowered, but it helps keep Christiane young.

–

 

Life List: Budgie

I’ve never seen a budgerigar in the wild, but my husband and his mom have, years ago.  A pet budgie had gone feral, and was living among a flock of absolute non-parrots, in the suburban municipality of Fife, Washington.  Between them, they are not quite sure what the other birds in the flock were, but lean toward invasive starlings.  Starlings and budgies are both screechy little guys with some amount of mimicry, that can feed on the ground, that don’t belong here, and that naturally hang out in big flocks.  Seem like reasonable company for each other.  This unremarkable green parrot gave them a magical moment, and went on its way.

There was an early British heavy metal band called Budgie, whose lead singer had one of those Geddy Lee-Dennis DeYoung helium voices.  I understand he lost the ability to sing in that range in later years, but still performed.  Going from memory here, I think Budgie wanted to do heavy heavy metal, but without the satanic element.  Bowdlerizing?  Budgerigarizing.  Anyway, Metallica sorta famously covered their hit “Breadfan,” which was about how being greedy makes your life hollow.  Real shit, buddy.  I mean, budgie.

Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, for reasons not quite clear to me, have a little aviary devoted to budgies.  Just regular little pet store animals.  You get some seeds on a twig, hold it out, and watch them go.  Last time I actually went in the zoo (was it my last birthday?), the budgie spot was closed – but you could hear them screeching it up.  The budgening does not stop.

I have to confess, I don’t find most parrots to be attractive birds.  Their colors are on the boring side of clown crap, to me.  But budgies put together an unusually nice ensemble for a parrot.  The ultraviolet cheek spot is cool.  The contrasty elements vary in shape and boldness over the body in a way that makes for a nice composition.  While they are a dime a dozen in pet stores coast to coast here, I think they look nicer than some much more prestigious parrots.  Respect.

–

MonsterHearts 2025 – Day Three

Don’t Miss Posts.  This MonsterHearts, I’m also having one regular post a day, if you should prefer that kind of thing.  Just look at the posts before or after this one.

MonsterHearts is a 14 day event (named after a pervy RPG) wherein my writing group votes on a monster each day to include in a story concept.  As we march toward Valentine’s Day, the theme is supernatural romance.  For this first few, I’ve tried to just use “edit” mode in MidJourney to iron out irregularities, even trying to make a legible title in the AI program.  While it’s cool you can now hammer the hands and text into shape, there are a lot of disadvantages to doing that, as opposed to just photoshopping what you need to fix, or placing your title just so.  Probably won’t keep up the effort for long… The snowy owl on this one ended up with those lil feather “horns” that you see on other owl species, not so much in snowy owls…  whatever.

MONSTER HEARTS DAY THREE:  HYBRID

TITLE:  EMBRACE OF THE OWL BOY

CHARACTERS:  Jenny Fred: a Koyukon / Irish teen, Lemmy Reyes: a Filipino / Anglo / Koyukon teen and Owl’d Boy.

PREMISE:  Jenny is the coolest girl in school but she’s fallen for bad boy Lemmy.  Lemmy is not at all smart, and decides to steal the most expensive thing in town, to pay for their elopement, somewhere far away.  But the artifact is cursed, and he turns into a giant humanoid snowy owl -type thing.

THE HOOK:  Why must I be a teenager in love?  You know how these things go, when the genre was in its heyday.  An actor that will someday be more famous, like Michael Landon or Steve McQueen or Charles Bronson, he plays a teen that gets mutated into a monster.  The less famous girl who will one day become a tabloid footnote barbiturate OD, she is imperiled, and screams.  The authorities shoot boy as he runs away.  His body transforms back into a human shape, while she says something like, who are the real monsters?

–

SleepyTime BooBoo Bears

I’m a Commie SJW Cultural Marxist DEIA Wokester Gender Cultist Such and Such Whatever Whatever.  Did I miss something?  Anyway, since at least 2015, I’ve been hot to see nazis spit teeth, you know, generally being a big old meany to innocent little baby fascists.  Like, what’s my problem?  It’s time to let them have a few decades of absolute unchecked power, just to be fair.

That’s what Amewica thought back in November.  And who am I to argue?  I’m as subject to the Unquestionable Authority of The Golden One as anybody here.

To wit, it’s become clear to me that the wokefulness of my ideological cohort is vewwy scawey to all the baby boo boo boy adorable little nazi clowns.  They need sleep so very badly.  And I say yes.  Have your beddy-bye time, baby bears.

There are only two genders who must behave in prescribed ways.  I forget what they’re called, but the one with dresses needs to drink an herbal tea.  And the one with hugh hefner smoking jackets needs to drink a nightcap.  And when your tumbly tummies are all warm from nummies, lay your weary heads down to sleep.

I won’t stop you anymore (pursuant to executive memorandum 777pointSunkMyFlompyDongus, subsection 69, paragraph EatMyEntireAsshole).  I’ll see you in the glorious morning of our new United States.

Nightynight!

–

MonsterHearts 2025 – Day Two

Don’t Miss Posts.  This MonsterHearts, I’m also having one regular post a day, if you should prefer that kind of thing.  Just look at the posts before or after this one.

MonsterHearts is a 14 day event (named after a pervy RPG) wherein my writing group votes on a monster each day to include in a story concept.  As we march toward Valentine’s Day, the theme is supernatural romance.  For this first few, I’ve tried to just use “edit” mode in MidJourney to iron out irregularities, even trying to make a legible title in the AI program.  While it’s cool you can now hammer the hands and text into shape, there are a lot of disadvantages to doing that, as opposed to just photoshopping what you need to fix, or placing your title just so.  Probably won’t keep up the effort for long.

MONSTER HEARTS DAY TWO:  SHADOWY

TITLE:  A SHADOW OF LOVE

CHARACTERS:  Carla Butler: the Debutante, Lavonne Tipton: a The Shadow

PREMISE:  Some rich white dude found himself with the power to see what evil lurks in the hearts of mans, and sought to overcome the urgings of his own dark shadow by questing for justice.  He learned the skill to cloud men’s minds, and became something of a monster.  A monster for goodness, outside of society, fighting crime, forever misunderstood.

What he didn’t know was that being a The Shadow is kinda like vampirism.  He created a new category of creature – in himself – and ultimately passed the curse to one of his underworld associates.  Lavonne found herself seeing evil lurks and doing the mind clouding.  She came to feel that her life as a lady hustler was a disguise, an illusion, and that her true self was blasting on thugs with paired .45s.

While working the Case of the Sacred Scorpions, Lavonne encountered a lady of economic privilege, socially isolated due to being biracial in a place and time where that could be socially isolating.  Carla became fascinated, but her father was like, don’t even think about it, girl.

THE HOOK:  Too late, dad.  Carla was going to bag that Shadow, if she had to become a criminal to get her attention.  Forbidden hijinks ensue.

–

The Bestening

Planning on writing the best story in the world this march, for the audience of one husband.  Call this post “thinking out loud,” as I’ve been known to do on stories in the past.  I don’t know how many times I’ve done that in a blog post and had nothing come of it.  Let this one be different.

The majority of the stories he loves the most are in contemporary settings.  The grounding of recognizable reality makes the deviations from such easier to get with, makes magic feel more magical I suppose.  Gotta go contemporary.  Urban, suburban, rural?  It’s tempting when going contemporary to set it far enough back that cellphones were less universal, but I should really get with the times on this.  No narrative crutches.  People should have cellphones that don’t conveniently lose signal when bad guy is closing in.

Puts me in mind of what I was sayin’ about the soap opera bits in Twin Peaks.  I said the show within the show says something about the show, but it also invites you to become aware of yourself as watching a show.  It could make the proceedings feel false, but alternately, it could be the rope ladder that lets killer Bob climb out of your TV, become more real.  A cellphone in a story could create a bridge between maximal fakery and the mind of a reader.  Get got.

The Satoshi Kon movies and series in the big list tend to involve modern technology and media, as a springboard for shenanigans.  Gotta be careful to not go too creepypasta.  In general, that dude’s output was too gonzo for where I’m aiming to be, but there are some subtle vibes hiding in it.  The use of the real world as a foundation for surreal happenings, with a lot of depiction of the aspects of reality that don’t typically show up in our narratives – awkward insterstitial spaces and moments.

I remember how a critic who was disappointed by the lack of an overtly sensible narrative in Inland Empire said it was a “wagon train into Lynchistan” – something that can be a rewarding trip, but less powerful than your Mulholland Drives or Blue Velvets.  How did its surrealism compare with that of Eraserhead?  I dunno, been a minute since I’ve seen both.  Pretty sure I need to start it out feeling less precisely like a dream than either IE or EH.

I think about how in the things we like the most, there may be things we don’t like.  I asked my man what he liked least about Mulholland Drive and he said the scenes with side characters that had dubious relevance to the story.  Similar quibble on some other Lynch stuff, especially for the sillier stuff in Twin Peaks season 2, which may have been the influence of co-creator Mark Frost.

Just the same, I can’t help but remember how having different characters with their own lives does give you a lot more room to explore variations on your theme, and generally get more material out of your story.  Paranoia Agent, Uzumaki, and yeah, Twin Peaks, all made good use of large casts.

On the other other hand, this story is for my audience of one and the word has been handed down from god’s lips.  I may refrain.

On the other other other hand, maybe I can try to come up with a bunch of concepts for side characters and subplots that I don’t spend my word count on, just use to inform scenes that are only half-understood, and add to the surreal atmosphere.

A suburban environment, a lil PNW Gothique.  Everybody has their own personal demons, not everybody bothers to put on a brave face about it.  Black mold.  Al Columbia.  Thompson’s Teeth.  Some kind of mystery shit is happening, and characters are compelled to walk that path.

This stuff almost always has miserable endings.  Hearts get broke.  Makes sense, but ehhhh  I dunno.  I don’t know.  I do not know.

At the end of Pulse, which is basically a ghostpocalypse, it seems like one character is getting away on a boat.  Surely the ghostpocalypse will catch you, but you have your moment.  Likewise Hellstar Remina – doomed survivors have a bleak moment of peace.  Wan joy.  Maybe that’ll be a fair compromise.

The other night I was realizing that I will always fundamentally be a baby, because I only ever think of baby scenarios.  Superheroes, action, SFF.  Genre fiction.  When David Lynch wrote a story, he was thinking about adult concerns – the kind of feelings you can’t cure by punching Green Goblin.  Even if I include an element of supernatural horror, which I surely will, it can’t be the point.  It’s gotta just be a vehicle for the big surreal expression, whatever that is.

Whose feelings am I expressing?  This may be something I can’t puzzle out in public.  It might be too personal.  And is it my person, or my audience’s?  I write something that reflects what I am aware of in his own feelings and struggles, and he sees something that agrees with him, is personally  moved… or finds it too painful to hang with.  I write to express some way I feel, he probably won’t relate or connect, because at the end of the day we are fundamentally different.  He is goth, I am a dork what falls in love with goths.

There’s a whole other branch of things I haven’t considered.  Almost all of these influential stories are personal or small in scope, but some do get apocalyptically colossal.  Or at least have a more grandiose scope, like Panorama Island.  Maybe I should go big.

Comments from my last article that I’m taking onboard, at least, having some version of in the background of the brain:  If powers appear, they could plausibly not be supernatural in nature.  Vast remote gothic mansion with series of vignettes or short scenarios.  Jazzlet won’t read this one.

The surreal thesis.  The big surreal expression.  What feeling am I trying to convey?  Should be something sad or huge, something we can’t escape…  Ya know, I think I’ve got it.  Again, personal.  Now, what kind of nonsense scenario would really pull that theme out and make it land like some Wile E. Coyote trap lands on Wile E. Coyote?  I continue avec mes pensamientos ahora im privat.

–