Context-turned-drabble for a wip I just thought of. Accidental baby acquisition, platonic Frank and Julie:
Iβm going to say rainbow monsters are made cabbage patch-style. All it takes is love, good soil, seeds, a partner(s), time, and a rainbow monster.
Now imagine Frank sets aside a small part of his garden just for Julie and him to work on. A joint effort just for fun! They spend some time there every day, even if only long enough to water the plants. Through their efforts they managed to make a flourishing little haven for anyone who might come by and visit, be it neighbor or bug.
Theyβre doing some weeding one mid-morning, chattering about this and that as they do, when a movement distracts them both. A bud, the strange giant one top of the yellow rose bush, was moving. The bush itself wasnβt too old, just barely big enough to sustain the weight of that bowling ball of a bud above it. Neither of them knew what to make of it. Not that the other plants were any help! Julie had tried asking them, but according to her, they all just gave the same βyouβll see!β and βin due time~β, or they plain just burst out into happy giggles. Seeing no reason to worry, both gray and pink puppets decided to take special care of the plant just to see what would come of it.
Back to the bud in active bloom.
Frank: [soft gasp, looking in awe] Julie! Look! [concerned] Why is it moving so quickly?? Is it saying anythingβ?!
Julie: [loudly whispering] shush! Shushushush ! Itβs not talking, but I hear something!
Both lean forward closer and closerβ theyβre hovering right over the bloom, it unfurls its last layer of petals andβ¦
Tiny yellow limbs curl and tuck inwards into a little ball. Even tinier fists rest under a pale yellow chin belonging to a head crowned with green fuzz, just small enough to fit into the palms of their hands. There, in the open rose, lied an infant, fresh as could be. But how!?
A beat passes where in Julie looks at Frank. Frank looks at Julie. They look at the baby, which could only be a rainbow monster, still sleeping peacefully in his or her floral cradle.
Well. There will be time to panic later! Right now there is a baby in Frankβs backyard to deal with! A second of decision later and Frank was picking up the now waking infant, Julie speeding to his house to fetch a soft towel to wrap the baby in. She knew his house well enough to know where they were. Precious cargo in hand, Frank quickly, and more careful than he needed to be, followed Julie inside where she was waiting for him anxiously, towel in hand. A bit of clumsy fumbling happened as they both tried to figure out how exactly one was supposed to swaddle an infant without disturbing them, but they got it eventually after several minutes of trial and error.
Frank understandably let Julie borrow his phone for the urgent call up to where the rest of the Joyful siblings lived. How could this have happened? How is it that Julie, of all people, didnβt notice? And most importantly, what were they going to do with the child?!
Hopefully Julieβs siblings would know how to help.
They're squeans I'm pretty sure! If they pop like that anyway. But the term for this kind of "symbol to refer to the general vibe of something in art" is called "Emanata" because it emanates from a person or object.
I was thinking of a bunch of stuff while making these, mostly inspired by @/ forgrtashes-blog 's horror stuff and newest animation (loved it!), and a whole lot of free time due to electrical maintenance in my building (trying to conserve battery).
I liked the little Julie I drew in the middle there, so I expanded on it a bit. Still not sure about the thorns. The thought of her, shambling about with her hands bound to her head by her mass of tangled hair, wearing only her bloomers or night clothes, sounds pretty creepy. It adds a certain vulnerability to the horror. She wasnβt ready for whatever happened to her to cause the state that sheβs in. (Plus I got to do some pen work!)
Also I was listening to a video essay about Darkwood, which helped :)
YOOO, LOVE THESE! Your Julie design is SO cool, I should try drawing it sometimeβThe thorns and her hair falling over her face like this remind me of a dying rose
AND BARNABY! An scenario I imagined once was him suddently looking like one of these old suits they probably used for the show back in the day, and then the hands start going through his neck from the inside, slowly pushing his head off til it justβfalls
Something like this!
Can't wait to see more of your stuff... About the other neighbors, mayhaps? /wink wink...
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