Infection - Tumblr Posts
Forgiveness (Sketchtember 2024 - Day 3)
[Sweet Nightmares]
Ismaire: Remember that Sketchtember Day 4 drawing Choi did last year? It's in our gallery (Sweet Nightmares tag) if you want to peek real quick. This is the same woman from that pic, a little expanded as we've developed the story over the last year.
She's involved with Felix the beast-slayer, but how? What does he know about how she got this way? Was he involved? Why try to save a soul most would consider past recovery?
Those answers are for later. What you should know is that Felix wishes - desperately wishes - it hadn't turned out this way.
It should have been him, not her. They all should have had her, not him. Jun should have had a mother, not a ghost and a poor, poor excuse for a stand-in father.
Update: it's gotten worse after I thought it left but it obviously hasn't if it's causing headaches and discomfort when I blink.
Yesterday, I got a terrible headache behind the eye with the stye (that rhymes) and, now, it hurts like hell whenever something goes near it or I blink so š¤· can't do much about it
I have a stye on my eye and it is SO ITCHY
Alien infection
WARRIOR CATS INFECTED AU!!
I always had a morbid curiosity about these type of stories and after the MLP infection aus have been getting comically popular I felt it was the best time to throw my hat into the ring!
In this post I will detail the different phases of the infection, I will say the art is kinda unfinished so a updated version of the art may be made later on
I will be putting a warning before stages 2-4, and written down versions of the descriptions will be in the alt text
Story details will be provided in a separate post!!
HEALTHY
STAGE 1
BELOW ARE DRAWN DEPICTIONS OF INCREASINGLY WORSENING ILLNESS, INCLUDING SCRATCHES, BLOOD, FOAMING AT THE MOUTH, ETC. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
STAGE 4
ID above the cut this time! I took up a good amount of space talking about the inspiration and process for this one, and wanted to make the ID easier to get to, so no one needs to scroll through it if they don't want to.
[ID: A portrait of a moon elf, from Dungeons and Dragons, shown from the shoulders up, facing forward. Instead of having hair, five mushrooms of various sizes have sprouted from their skin, and a couple on their neck. They wear silver earrings, and their left ear has a small notch carved into it. Small beads of a dark, red liquid are scattered across their cheeks and right shoulder, and are concentrated on areas where red blotches have started to darken the pale skin. Their eyes are completely red, with the left eye containing a thin webbing that is also starting to form on the right. End ID]
CW for a discussion focused around mushrooms, fungal infections, death to said fungal infection, and undeath. There's also mention of tree parasites, starvation (after death), and colonization.
Really, anything under the cut is extra; you don't need to read it if you're not comfortable. Please stay safe! (:
Hi! Get ready for an essay, because while I was taking a break from drawing, I wasn't taking a break from thinking about drawing, and I have a lot of unorganized thoughts about this piece, not just about the design, but the fictional fugal infection that its depicting.
I got my Spotify wrapped playlist, and wasn't surprised when Lord Huron's "Not Dead Yet" was my most played song. After all, it's one of my favorites, often getting me in the mood to create, and the inspiration behind a concept I have for another new OC, an undead-ish ranch hand. (It's a work-in-progress.) So over the past few days I've been listening to that song on loop even more than usual, and it put me in the mood to look into some different zombie video games that I have no intention of ever playing. I noticed that the zombie apocalypses I was looking at were all focused on humans turning, and I couldn't remember anything about a zombie plague for any fantasy races. Thus, I decided to create a concept for one that effects the moon elves from Dungeons and Dragons.
I decided that the condition would be caused by a fungal infection. Partially inspired by how European colonizers brought illnesses to the Americas, I decided moon elves would first encounter it when trying to colonize land originally inhabited by wood elves. I know that is the opposite of how it happened with the colonizers, but I wanted to change it up a bit. The fungus wouldn't be a concern to the wood elves, as they already had time to adapt and build up a resistance. However, once brought back to moon elf settlements it would be able to run rampant.
As many already know, elves live for a long time. In this universe that I am apparently creating now, part of the reason for that is that all of them, not just wood elves, are similar to trees, slow growing, and able to survive even when most of its body has been damaged. In the case of trees, it means that when a parasite such as Dwarf Mistletoe* decides to use a tree as its host, a slow race begins. The tree needs to keep growing in order to have enough branches to obtain enough oxygen, while the mistletoe tries to use that oxygen for itself as it tries to take over the entire tree. In some cases, the parasite remains inside the host for a long stretch of time before sprouting to release seeds.
Something similar occurred with the infected moon elves.
After the moon elves' failure to take the land from the wood elves, they returned home, not knowing they were carrying the fungus. It took around fifty years before anyone noticed something was amiss. Infected elves began to die from an illness that weakened them over time and reddened their skin and clouded their eyes. From there, it becomes a standard zombie story: they start to rise from their graves, mindless and seeking out living targets.
The zombies themselves are fairly passive, only attacking if one around them is attacked first. In most cases, they simply wandered around they areas they had risen from, then following living elves. They did not go out of their way to feed, so many would eventually collapse once their bodies finally gave out, either due to starvation or decay.
The main threat comes from the mushrooms that sprout from their bodies. As the mushrooms matured, they released their spores, which then in turn infected the living around them.
The main design inspiration for this was the Bleeding Tooth Fungus, a type of mushroom that, as its name suggests, looks like a tooth with drops of blood on it. I decided that moon elves, with their pale, blue skin, would match the fungus the most after the infection sets in and red blotches start to form. The mushrooms sprouting from the body are not based on any particular species, just slightly inspired by the mushrooms on my Animate Dead sticker. The disk shapes are fun to shade and detail.
A large portion of the line art on the face and neck were done with the symmetry tool. To hopefully keep the piece from looking too balanced, and to distract from the mirrored lines, I purposefully shifted the mushrooms and details in the coloring to different heights on the face.
For the red markings, I experimented with a different combination of brushes that usual. In most cases, I use a simple opaque brush and add details with the flat marker, thin gouache, and g-pen brushes, but I decided to use one of the airbrushes to add some finer speckling.
The eyebrows are only there because I liked the shape I had made them, and I thought the cool color would add some contrast to the area around the eyes.
Thank you for reading this far! I normally don't post lots of writing like this, but if you're interested in reading some more of my world building ideas, check out my side blog, @tired-spider. I'm more active on this blog, but I a lot of my art and world building ideas there, along side some DnD stuff and headcannons for different media I'm invested in.
Critique is always welcome, and I hope you have a nice day!
* It should be noted that I first learned about this on a hike a few months ago. So while I think that this is the type of mistletoe I was told about originally, I'm not entirely sure.
But dear strawberry...I AM KAUFMO. (Yarg this is cringe chat. But me and Kaufmo are cringe so deal with it) WE. ARe KAuFMo. Hm...Maybe you seem like a good target... *Take strawberry aswell* We will all be universially together soon my dears. Soon. WE WILL BE ONE. {EVIL ADHD had woken up earlier than usual and ready for a 1-3 hour angst} @ask-abstracted-kaufmo @pomni-xddcc
[this person will be right back! They have religious things to attend to IRL will be back around 1 pm ish. The angst will continue soon!]
Oh Pomni~! You don't know me that well, but in the course of a couple hours me and trusted partner @ask-abstracted-kaufmo have come to terms on ONE thing. We. Want. You. *Snatches Pomni and takes her to me and Kaufmo's cage cellar* And don't you DARE resist dear. It's not gonna be a fun ride if you do~
-EVIL ADHD
WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WHERE ARE THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS WAIT LETS TALK THIS OUT I BEG.
Sure! Just take these pills right here! *hands Strawberry the pills*
@thattransdudeee, hey, I know Iām likeā¦ your prisonerā¦ but can I PLEASE have my cat to stop this damn glitching?! It hurts.
THATS IT MISTER *Throws three corn cobs in his cage* KEEP THIS UP AND YOU'LL BE IN THE MY LITTLE PONY ROOM WITH STRAWBERRY!!
Hey Jax since I need to take care of you while our master Kaufmo rests, I need you to take these. It's...Maditory. *Hands him a pill bottle that looks like the label has been ripped of and in sharpie says HELPING PILLS* And you better take em rabbit!! Because if you don't...*Hold out a cob of corn* -EVIL ADHD
haha suuuure... give me those pills.... (<- malicious intent)
I'm aware your glitching. So take these pills! They help! Promise! And who is Zee exactly?
@thattransdudeee, hey, I know Iām likeā¦ your prisonerā¦ but can I PLEASE have my cat to stop this damn glitching?! It hurts.
I see...Well. Just more the reason to take pills! They help you know... But I won't force you.
{for evil adhd} hey, you might want to go check on the dragon (lurker) i thimk they are chewing on the bars of thier cage (i am 100% requesting for an interaction between @lurker-lurking and u, no pressure tho you dont have to if you dont want to :) )
EVIL ADHD IS A BIT BUSY RN PEOPLE ARE BREAKING OUT OF THE CAGES BUT!!! IF YOU'D LIKE I WILL GLADLY KIDNAP THEM TOO!!!
Local girlthing bleeds profusely and is covered in mushrooms. Woohoo!
Goretober Day 28: Brain Parasite
Bug lady
The Infection. Original characters and history. #drawing #draw #ink #blackandwhite #black #dark #gas #infection #biohazard #men #mask #girl #child #enigma #shadow https://www.instagram.com/p/BrleNxyF3PE/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=uotp0zr3f3yn
Turns out I'm not a pussy after all, I actually have a really bad infection and have to go to the hospital in a few days, yippee!!
But, hey, at least I didn't waste the doctor's time.
cold compress / infection / I don't feel so good (it comes and it goes like the strength in your bones)
He wondered how long she could have made it if he hadn't thought to check in on her.
Her casual and typically unannounced departures had made the others accustomed to not seeing her for days without feeling a shred of concern. He had tried to portray the same insouciance but there was something telling about the half-smirk Jet sometimes wore and the amused cackle that Ed made when she'd catch his eyes absentmindedly following Faye's movements on the ship.
Usually it was every man or woman or dog for themselves on the Bebop except whenever a top dollar bounty was in the mix. Everyone came and went at their own pace and without answering to anyone else since no one bothered to make inquiries anyway.
But the Brain Scratch incident was fresh in his mind. Seeing her sprawled insensate on the cold ground of the abandoned building, a precarious tower of defunct televisions looming large over her small form. It was odd seeing Faye so helpless, so completely vulnerable. It had made his skin prickle and had made him irritable when talking with the figure on the screens. Even hearing that she was merely asleep was no comfort since Londes confided to having killed the other bounty hunters in the room by putting them into a never ending slumber.
The relief he'd felt when she began to stir and then sat up as if nothing had happened... He couldn't keep the smile off his face. And her own timid smile in response, the bashful way her gaze had dipped away from his own... It made his heart skip a beat. She'd run hot and cold with him lately, ever since getting back from Callisto - or possibly before even?
Her skittish behavior had doused the flame of arousal he'd felt for her - the attraction he'd finally begun to feel like he was justified in feeling. The insatiable desire to find answers about Julia had been extinguished by the hard truths he'd come to accept after facing Vicious again, and he was just beginning to think that perhaps he could love again. Perhaps he was at last free to pursue someone else, someone more willing to stand at his side against the odds and who'd have his back in life-or-death situations. Giving in to the chemistry that had existed between Faye and himself since originally meeting her across the card table had felt like the first step in taking back control of his own future.
But while he had been ready to tentatively move forward... she apparently was taking two steps back.
Curiosity burned in his mind. What had happened to her on Callisto to change her flirtatious ways? What made her stop teasing him and start to regard him as just another lost soul on a ship of fools?
Here, now was a chance to find out her reasoning.
He replaced the damp washcloth on her forehead and adjusted the cold compress he was holding to the shallow slash across her right hip. It wasn't a deep cut, thankfully, though stitches and an antibiotic would have been a wise move days ago. Too late now to avoid an infection. Jet had come running when Spike had called out to him, alarmed, when he'd gone to bang on the shower room door after Faye had taken far more time than even she normally did.
Her skin had been flushed with color, her eyes shining with a feverish light, and her entire body quaked as she answered the door in her robe. Steam had billowed out from the room and at first he'd attributed the pinkness of her face to the heat and humidity of the bathroom, but then she'd stumbled backwards and he'd moved instinctively to catch her.
Faye had hissed in pain when he brushed against her hip. Had lain resignedly in his embrace as if the effort of trying to regain her own footing was beyond her.
In a small voice, one that reminded him strongly of the young Faye in the betamax video, she spoke... not to him, but to the world. A child's helpless plea.
"I don't feel so good."
And then she'd become dead weight in his arms as her eyes fluttered shut. And then Jet had been there in answer to Spike's shout of summons.
Together they'd trundled her out to the living room and had Ed fetch one of her pajama tank tops and shorts to dress her in since they couldn't protect her modesty and also treat her wound if she was just wearing a robe.
Jet had pronounced the wound clean but infected and had liberally applied a healing ointment designed to reduce scarring as well as inflammation before he carefully stitched her up and then told Spike to take her to her room. While he himself tended to spend his convalescence periods laid up on the couch, it seemed likely that Faye would prefer the calm and darkness of her sleeping space.
He had lain her down on top of the blankets since her skin was hot to the touch and he figured the cool air would help to soothe her fever. Then Ed had shown up at the door with the damp washcloth and cold compress, offering both to Spike without any of her usual nonsensical rhymes and cheer. Thanking her for the items, Spike told her not to worry because Faye would be okay. And Ed, after staring for a long minute at Faye's unconscious form on the bed, took in a deep breath and nodded, then flashed him a smile full of confidence in his words.
For a while Faye had been deeply unconscious and resting peacefully despite how her body radiated heat. All too soon, though, she began to thrash and mumble despite Spike's ministrations. Her babbling seesawed from random words that seemed disconnected from one another to entire rambling monologues that made him shiver. It was impossible to say whether her speeches were truth or fiction, but he hoped they stemmed from things she'd seen in movies rather than experienced personally in life. A growing sense of ill ease in the pit of his stomach proved how little he believed in his own hopes.
But on the other hand, he could question her about her change in attitude and possibly be rewarded with the logic or motivation behind it. If he wanted to take advantage of her defenselessness. To exploit her illness, even if she was too out of it to be aware of what was happening or to remember any of this... the idea did not sit well with him.
Faye whimpered, whipping her head back and forth on the sweat-soaked pillow, and tried to twist her body away from the gentle pressure of the compress.
"Shh, shh, you're okay... er, you'll be okay. Jet got you all stitched up. We got some antibiotics starting to work on ya. Just take it easy, Faye..." Spike tried to cajole her into relaxing with his softest, kindest voice.
Her brow pinched together in confusion as she struggled to open her eyes. "A stitch in time, no, a wrinkle in time." She mumbled. Her eyes gleamed as they caught the light of the betamax player - which, while not currently playing a tape was the only source of light Spike had bothered to maintain in the room. She eyed him without seeming to recognize him. "Strange dreams, turbulent things, what agony can waking bring?"
Spike didn't recognize the poetry - if that's what it was - of her words. "What's that now?"
"Smoothed out, out of time and place and luck." Sounding more like Ed than herself, it was obvious that, despite regaining a semblance of consciousness, Faye remained disoriented. Whatever she meant was incomprehensible to him.
Still, it was good to hear her voice. "You'd be surprised how lucky you are," He told her in response. "Hopefully we caught this infection in time. Jet thinks the salve will save you from a scar too."
"It comes and it goes," She murmured then. "Like the strength in your bones. What imbues a soul with courage? What inspires a heart to love? What jargon leaves lips when you speak from that little place inside your chest? Break open, break free."
Spike gave a sort of snorting sigh as he took the washcloth from the bed where it had been dislodged when she shook her head earlier. "Jargon indeed." He muttered as he dipped the cloth in the bowl of ice water and gave it a twist to get most of the water removed. He tenderly placed it back on her forehead with his left hand while using his right hand to hold her chin in place.
"Ohh, bliss." She said then, blinking as if to clear her sight. "Spike?"
"Yeah, Faye?"
"...are you real?"
He chuckled and pressed both hands to her cheeks as he leaned over her to stare down into her befuddled eyes.
"I'm as real as you."
"I... don't feel real right now." She admitted. "I feel... hazy... like if I close my eyes I could drift off forever."
Her words spooked him though he kept his reaction from showing on his face. "Let's avoid that, hey?" He knew it was just the fever talking, but then again people had died from fevers before. "You stay here with me, okay? And I'll stay here with you."
Trembling lips made a ghost of a smile before turning down into an expression of discomfort. "I'm so warm."
Spike could feel just how overheated she was through the heat of her cheeks beneath his palms. "You may not like this idea... but I think it's the only way to get your temperature down. Hold tight to me, okay? I'm gonna dump ya in the tub." He eased his arms under her shoulders and under her knees and hoisted her into his arms with only one outcry from Faye as her wounded hip was tweaked.
"I don't wanna drown," She whined as he brought her back to the shower room where he'd first discovered she was ailing.
Delirium was evidently setting back in.
"Not gonna drown you, Faye." He assured her. "Hell, I'll even climb in the damn tub with you if that'll make you feel better."
"Sailors at sea, drowning in an ocean of love..." She replied, laughing hysterically at her own words.
He sighed. "No one is gonna drown, Faye." But he was glad she was still awake, still talking even if it was ridiculous things.
