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callum-librrry · 8 months

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Got an interesting take on eldritch horror for all you writers out there. It's a bit of a roundabout schlep to reach the actual idea, but writers tend to be readers so I hold you'll stick with me til we get there.

So, consider a 2D creature. Little flat dude, living on the ground. No concept of "up" or "down." He's 2D, he just doesn't parse the concepts and can't perceive them anyways.

He sees you. What he actually sees is just the 2D cross section of you where you intersect with his 2D world, which is probably your footprints. So, as far as he can tell, you are a pair of footprints that are.... apparently one being? He doesn't get how it works exactly, but it's not too far out there, so he just kind of accepts that, yes, humans are The Two That Are One. Spooky. They always seem to use the singular to refer to the pair of themselves, and only differentiate between themselves as Left or Right. But other paired instances of The Two That Are One are, in fact, separate entities. So they're only in sets of two, unless accompanied by a companion called "Cane," which they are sometimes, or even a pair of companions called "Crutches." When Crutches are present, sometimes one of The Two That Are One will be missing entirely. It's a little confusing.

But wait, what now? They disappear and reappear in sequence, teleporting in turns. He never sees them just move like a 2D being, always the stop-start teleporting. Apparently this strange power is called "walking," and its accomplished by The Two That Are One moving through an unseen dimension called "Up," through a process called "lifting" themselves and re-entering the real world farther away in the direction they wanted to go. He can accept the idea of unseen dimensions, and he vaguely gets the idea that one of The Two That Are One must remain anchored in the real world to prevent something called "falling," which is some kind of uncontrolled movement through the unperceivable dimension of "Down." Which is the same dimension as "Up," but...... backwards? Reversed? He's not really clear, but "Falling Down" is presumably bad, so The Two That Are One keep one of themselves here in the real world to prevent it.

Except if they do something called "jumping." Which consists of gathering up their power to hurl themselves through the Up dimension together to reappear together somewhere else in the real world. He isn't sure why they Walk instead of Jump, since it seems better to take both of The Two That Are One together at the same time, but okay.

Okay, what the hell, they can Walk through impenetrable barriers like the great wall of Sidewalk Chalk? How do they go through that? What? They went "Over?" The hell is "Over?" Like 'around' but through the unseen dimension of Up? But they couldn't Walk through the barrier of Wall. Why could they go "Over" Sidewalk Chalk but not Wall?

And they can't go between the four small obstacles of Refrigerator Feet. The area between them is safe from The Two That Are One, for the four Refrigerator Feet are connected to each other in the strange and eldritch dimension of Up. The barriers are too powerful to be moved by The Two That Are One, and it (they?) cannot enter the real world where it is blocked by such powerful forces.

Got all that?

Okay, now consider a 4 dimensional elder god and how we 3D entities would perceive them.

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callum-librrry · 8 months

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Uncanny Valley

Tom and Hazai were exploring a planet recently added to the intergalactic database. Navis was tasked with bringing supply packages to the sentient species there. It was all, of course, an effort to have the planet be knowledgeable of the wider community of space while attempting to keep their technological influence to a minimum. They did something similar to Earth way back when the lightwaves finally made it to the council and Humans were confirmed to be sentient themselves. Unfortunately, any attempts made were quickly swept under the rug known as secret government agencies.

This planet seemed to be doing much better environmentally than Earth was. Lifeforms here evolved somewhat eerily. Most flora was found underground where liquid water was in constant supply. Tom had also seen a large plant with what looked suspiciously like bones in various odd places. After some confirmation with various off-world researchers, it was noted that the plants here were carnivorous. This made sense in Tom’s mind, considering there were multiple examples of such behaviour in the plant life on his home planet. This information spooked Hazai quite a bit more. She was nervous around anything with roots for the entire rest of the mission.

They had been wandering with a vague sense of purpose for quite some time and they were yet to come across any sort of sentient life. This fact did not help the ever-increasing complaining of Tom’s muscles under the weight of the supplies. Gravity here was slightly stronger here than it was in standard conditions, which did not help the ache in Tom’s back in the slightest.

“Hey, Hazai,” he said at last, “I think we should take a break. I can’t carry this pack any longer.”

Hazai reluctantly agreed. She was itching to get out of the underground tunnels and back into the starlight. Nevertheless, they sat down beside a large woody plant that smelt vaguely of honey and laid down some sleeping bags. Well, Tom did in any case. Hazai liked to rest sitting upright with her feathers ruffled in a way the Human found incredibly endearing.

Tom was almost asleep when he heard the sound of footsteps echoing off the tunnel walls. He jerked upright. Hazai had heard the sounds too but seemed less troubled by it.

The footsteps continued. They sounded odd to Tom. They were familiar. Concerningly so. He could hear that whatever it was was bipedal. Its footfalls were also heavy. Not much could echo in such a densely vegetated area. The sound seemed almost… human.

Almost.

Some primal instinct was crawling its way up Tom’s spine. Something was seriously wrong here. He just couldn’t pinpoint what.

He edged up from his sleeping bag, not taking his eyes off the slight bend in the tunnel where the footsteps grew steadily closer.

Hazai seemed to sense the tension now. Her feathers puffed up and she raised her arms in a way not dissimilar to a threatened owl. She did look bigger, but Tom found it difficult to see the Braal as any more intimidating.

Then, from around the bend a figure emerged. The dull light of the cave system made it difficult to make them out in any detail but Tom was still certain that there was something wrong with this alien.

"Oh look, Tom!" Chirped Hazai in relief, "It's a Human! Maybe they can help us find--"

Before she could finish, Tom cut her off with a warning whistle. His nerves made it a little off-key but the message came through nonetheless. Tom eyed up the approaching figure.

It did look Human, in every way it should. It had two plantigrade legs and stood upright in the same way a Human would. It had all the key features on its face. Every part of its anatomy was undeniably Human.

Except, for the fact that it wasn't Human.

There is an interesting thing amongst the species that isn't seen anywhere else in recorded databases. It's a unique sense known only to Humans. Something that has been dubbed the 'uncanny valley' effect. An ability derived from the insane capability of the Human mind to find a Human face. The mind is in fact, so good at finding faces of the same species that it can impeccably recognise when a face is not Human even though all key indicators show that it should be.

Notable comments made by various subjects in studies of the phenomenon say that they themselves cannot pinpoint what exactly causes the effect for them. Some guess it can be the way the Not-Human's mouth moves, or that its hands are ever so slightly out of proportion. Another key feature mentioned is the eyes.

The eyes are what tip Tom off.

"That's not a Human."

Hazai looks at him questioningly. She couldn't see any difference between the average Human and the one in front of her.

"I know you can't see it," Tom said as he grabbed the Braal's feathered shoulder, "but you have to trust me on this."

Hazai hesitated for a second but complied. She’d seen enough of Humans to know not to question their instincts. She eyed the alien in front of her. She looked desperately for what Tom saw in the being. She didn’t have much time though, because soon after Tom dragged her down the winding stone tunnels. A few plants followed them with their gaping traps. They weren’t running. At least, Tom wasn’t. Hazai managed to keep up with his speed walking by hopping forward occasionally.

The Not-Human was following them in strides slightly too long. It moved casually. It even spoke.

“Wait,” it said, “I only want to talk.”

Hazai had the impression they were speaking through a translator. She could hear the metallic drone behind each word. But she could hear desperation behind it. Something she’d heard from Tom multiple times before.

“Please,” she tugged at Tom’s sleeve, “Can’t we listen? They might stop once they know we know.”

Tom grimaced. He was thinking through all the possible ways attempting to negotiate with the alien might go wrong, but with one look into Hazai’s eyes, he complied.

“Fine,” he groaned, “we’ll talk.”

----

The alien sat in front of them on a mossy stone. Their limbs were splayed around them in a way that really shouldn’t be comfortable. They looked comfortable now though. The short conversation they had (which was more of a declaration that Tom saw through their disguise) allowed them to relax.

As it turns out the alien is from a species of ‘shapeshifters’. They explained that it is mainly used as a defence mechanism but as the species became more sentient they tended to use it more for fun.

“I didn’t mean to freak you out,” They explained, “I just thought you looked cool, and it’s always easier to make friends when you look like them.”

Tom didn’t make eye contact. He could barely still look at the alien. He understood them, to a certain extent, but the whole ordeal still had him on edge.

“I’m surprised you knew I wasn’t… uh Human. Generally, my disguises are pretty good”

Tom spluttered for a second as he tried to think of an answer.

“It’s– Um, it’s just something we’re good at? We just know when something isn’t actually human.”

The alien hummed.

“Don’t think I’ve heard of anything like that before…”

“You probably haven’t. We’re weird like that.”

The group fell into a mildly comfortable silence. Tom glanced at Hazai who also seemed to be mulling the new information over. She had a concerned look in her eyes.

Eventually, Tom remembered the reason they were there in the first place. He handed over the supply pack.

“It’s mainly just some information about intergalactic culture. Dos and do nots and all that. I think there's some stuff about similar planets and how to survive basic space travel,” Tom picked up a few items as he spoke. “We’re not meant to interfere with ‘the natural technological progression of a planet’, so I can’t really help you out with the getting to space part.”

“Ah.” The alien was thinking. Tom noticed a certain pattern in the way their limbs moved when they were considering things.

“I guess I’ll have to get this back to the rest of us,” they said finally.

The conversation turned to goodbyes here. Tom was eager to leave the weird uncanny valley planet and Hazai just wanted to be able to see the sky without the fear of being eaten by an off-brand pitcher plant. The alien, though, seemed at home here. He explained how he hated to see the two travellers go.

“But I guess we’ll get more now that we’re registered with, whatever the space organisation is.”

Tom agreed and they parted ways.

----

Back on Navis Tom and Yongrae were eating together.

“I had the weirdest experience on that new planet we went to,” Tom said, “The sentient species there can shapeshift, it’s weird as hell.”

“Ah,” Yongrae smiled, “like a Not-Deer situation?”

“Worse. They looked Human.”

“Ohh…”

“Y’know I tried to explain it, but it’s just really weird. What even is that?”

Yongrae thought for a second.

“Uncanny Valley?” he said, “Like with that one guy in Rogue One?”

Tom nodded eagerly. It had been on his mind ever since they left the planet. Uncanny Valley. It had a nice sound to it. He’d have to do more research into exactly what it was.

“Thanks for that, man. It’s been bothering me.”

“No problem,” Yongrae hit his shoulder, “You know what we should do now? Binge some Star Wars.”

Tom laughed. While being an Earth classic, the movies really showed their age now. It was more like watching a documentary on what the past Humans thought about space, but it was fun nevertheless.

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.”

#writeblr #writing #haso #humans are space orcs #humans are weird #humans are deathworlders #uncanny valley #humans are space australians #humans are weird #humans are space fae #JANK 2 #more JANK 2 one shots because the main story is killing me #uncanny valley is freaky tho #why do we need to know when something isn't *quite* human?

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callum-librrry · 8 months

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its crazy how the moment you tell someone about the fic you're writing, you stop writing, its like a curse or something

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callum-librrry · 9 months

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Im just feeling a certain way rn

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callum-librrry · 9 months

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yes. but also, i'm scared to know what triggered this...

yes the feeling of, "oh-my-god-that-was-so-poignant-and-i-just-have-to-set-my-story-aside-and-breathe-because-HOLY-SHIT-" but also the screaming, table-slamming-with-fist and falling off chair bit because that isn't acknowledged enough

#what did you do #how sad is it

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callum-librrry · 9 months

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For all those who have read my good omens hungry games au, just know that I am *struggling* with the dialogue from Eden. I want to add it so bad because of course I do, but I am struggling to make it fit and not have them take 5 years to meet.

I might have to do something based off of them meeting in season 2, but I'll see what fits.

Chapter 4 *is* being written. I'm just swamped.

#fanficion #ao3 fanfic

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callum-librrry · 9 months

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I Think Therefore I Am

The governor looked down on him incredulously. His eyes narrowed down upon the officer. He stared at him for a while like that.

“You mean to tell me that you’ve been a man the whole time?” He asked after some time.

Gabriel nodded nervously. He’d been a part of the crew for a while, but he could never be certain how well those around him would take the news. His mother didn’t…

“Gabriel, you say?”

The blond jerked as he looked the governor in the eye.

“Yes, sir.” He said simply. He desperately hoped his nerves wouldn’t show in his quiet voice.

The older man hummed. He was looking to the side; towards the endless sea on their right. His stern face melted into something resembling understanding. Acceptance.

“I could get used to that I suppose.” It was as much approval as the man would give openly. “Why did you wait so long to tell me?”

“Well…” Gabriel trailed off as he searched for a good explanation. A mildly understandable one, instead of some disjointed ramble about trauma and acceptance. “Well, I was concerned about how you would take the news, sir. Some people don’t take it very well…”

The young man couldn’t help but remember that event 5 years ago. His newly cut hair; patchy and rough. The old suit he had managed to haggle off of some street venue, claiming it was for a non-existent brother. His mother’s cold eyes creased in disbelief, in sorrow, and finally, in rage.

He couldn’t see that in the governor’s face. He was currently looking out towards the rest of the crew as they hauled cargo onto the deck below. His face shifted as he seemed to settle on something. Gabriel was almost scared it was how best to get rid of him.

The older man placed his hand on the officer’s shoulder and gently led him into his quarters.

There was a surprising amount of light in the confined space. The windows were slightly ajar with their lace curtains rustling slightly in the breeze. It was not nearly the dark, imposing place that Gabriel imagined it to be.

“Listen here, officer,” the governor said, “I don’t want you to think for a second that we won’t accept you here. That I won't accept you.”

His hand, which had not left Gabriel’s shoulder, squeezed him comfortingly. The young man forced himself to look at its owner.

The governor continued.

“There’s that saying of ‘I think therefore I am’. I think that applies quite adequately in this situation. You said you’re a man, and you obviously believe it, so for all I care, you’re a man. Always have been.”

Tears pricked the corners of Gabriel’s eyes. He blinked them back ferociously.

“Thank you, governor,” he said, his voice wobbled slightly.

“Don’t thank me, son,” he replied sharply, “and between you and me, it’s Michael.”

The governor – Michael – took a breath before his face returned to its usual icy complexion.

“You’re dismissed. Get out there and do some work.”

Gabriel saluted shakily as he quickly turned to leave. The smile on his face was undeniable, even now as he went to work with the other crew members.

As they all welcomed him back, he thought back to Michael’s face before he left. He could have sworn that the governor’s usual harsh exterior held a deep layer of warmth.

He smiled again. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

#writeblr #writing #original story #pirates #pirate story #but not focusing on the pirates #oc story #lgbtq #lgbt #trans #trans character #love some good old found family

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callum-librrry · 10 months

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#writeblr #writing #wip #story quote #i just thought this was funny

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callum-librrry · 11 months

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Patterns.

[partially based on this post by @callum-librrry]

Dave The Human, female Tsin by happenstance, and professionally, a male human was dipping one of the Caffeteria's purple bread rolls in different sauces and taste testing.

With her was Garf, a large adult Atrix of the Atrix gender, her Little guy, Un-named Male who was not technically any more male or female than Garf, just smaller, and unusually no Dave the Human, an actual human, discounting the week he'd spent as an Atrix to annoy someone.

Garf was taking notes and Un-named was doing colour commentary.

Dave tried a dab of interspecies-recipe Teriyaki and considered the flavour profile. "Without a doubt, the most horrible thing I have ever tasted." she stated after a moment of consideration and swooshed her mouth with lightly salted elderberry cordial.

"Grak." said Un-Named, witty little guy that he was.Garf made a note. "OK that's the third most horrible thing you have ever eaten, two 'I regret my life choices' and three 'Would be great with Crottled Greebs' and that one where you tried to drink the bottle." she said.

From somewhere there was a crash as someone dropped a tray and everyone looked around.

"Who was it?" asked Dave.

"EVA 43." Garf told him after a quick glance.

"...Really?I thought 43 was Atrix!"

Un-named and garf took another look.

"No... Atrix don't have stripes like that." Garf said casually.

Un-Named said "Grak?" and she shrugged. "You get better distance vision when you get larger." she assured him, and looked up at Dave who was doing an expression she tentatively read as 'bemused' - Hard to tell without a proper patch of display skin on her face like an Atrix would have.

"What?"

Dave leaned back. "Stripes. Humans do not have stripes." she notes.

Garf and Un-named looked at each other and flickered colours and patterns with their faces.

"Uhh... Yeah, they do." she said. "Remind me... on the lights spectrum Tsin vision is...?"

Dave perked up her ears. "Oh? Ohhh! Yes, down near the Squeep! end. So humans stripes are visible in the Squeep!... Um, what do you call it, the super purples and other invisible colours section?"

Garf looked it up on the tablet. "Uh yeah. We call it something different but the humans, yes they call it Ultra-Violet."

"Grak?"

"No... I don't know either. But they do."

Then Dave the Human arrived with tea and a purple bread roll off his own. "'Sup, my social circulars?" he asked cheerily.

"Human stripes." said Tsin Dave. "I had no idea you had them."

"Oh don't worry about it," Dave the Human said, "We can't see them either. Uh I think they're Blascowicz Lines, or something."

There was a pause while Garf looked it up on Humanpedia.

"Blashko's Lines!"

"There you go. Yeah... oh so Tsin can see them?" Dave said.

"Sure... oh that's weird." said Garf.

"Not that weird. Hey, Dave, watch this." Dave the Human said. He held up the purple roll. "What colour is this?"

"Grak." said Un-Named, getting it in one. "Blue" said Garf, and then "ir-tk-tk-tss. Flesh coloured".

"Dave?"

Dave the human looked at the roll. "It's... uh, grey-ish red?"

Dave the Human grinned. "Both. I can see the red and the blue so I get a colour called Purple. It's a few shades off from how Atrix look.

"Atrix are _purple?!_" yelped Garf, startled, almost at the same time as Dave The Human, squeaked, "They're not dark red?"

"Oh hey is that Teriyaki?" said Dave, and dunked his breadroll in it.

#Dave the human #HASO #humans are space orcs #humans are weird #humans being weird little guys #atrix #station stories #tsin #YOO THIS IS COOL #I love how you explored how things that see different light frequencies experience colour differently #thanks for the tag btw i wouldn't've seen it otherwise #good story keep it up

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callum-librrry · 11 months

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Cover V2

Concept for a cover for JANK 2

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callum-librrry · 11 months

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Concept for a cover for JANK 2

#ive got a few more to do #i kinda like the vibe of this one #very retro space poster #my art #art #traditional art #book cover #concept art #JANK 2 #writeblr #JANK 2 rewrite

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callum-librrry · 11 months

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Good Omens hunger games AU chapter 3 is out!

Linky boi

#writeblr #writing #aziraphale #crowley #crowley x aziraphale #fanfic #fanfiction #good omens #good omens fanfiction #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #fanfics #fic writing #hunger games au

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callum-librrry · 1 year

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Stripes

Tom was sent to greet a new temporary crew member. Riggs provided him with a brief overview of the alien. They were a Chendro, some sort of insect-like species from a few systems away.

Tom greeted the alien in the same, boring, but safe way,

“Greetings. Welcome aboard the Starship Navis. My name is Tom, I am the human navigator sent to meet you and acquaint you with the ship before we leave.”

The alien let out a series of clicks which was translated moments later.

“Thank you, human Tom. I am quite pleased to be working with you for these next few cycles.” The alien followed with an intricate bow that Tom had no way of reciprocating. He settled for a respectful nod of the head.

The two wandered around the Navis, with Tom occasionally breaking the silence to point out a few key landmarks or an odd, obscure rule.

Eventually, Tom felt the Chendro’s gaze on him. In fact, he realised, he had felt it for quite a while now. He glanced over to see they’re mantis-like eyes locked on him.

“Hey man, I don’t want to sound rude or anything but staring is kinda considered rude to us,” Tom pointed out.

“Oh!” The alien quickly averted their gaze. “My apologies, I was simply admiring your wonderful patterning.”

“My... what?”

“Your stripes,” The Chendro clarified. “I think they’re quite stunning.”

Tom looked away, surprisingly flustered by the alien’s openness.

“Umm...Thanks...” He didn’t have the heart to ask the alien what they were talking about. Perhaps it was a human thing he wasn’t aware of. Having secret stripes wouldn’t be the weirdest thing he’d learnt about his species.

The rest of the tour went well after that. Tom noticed that the Chendro kept it’s eyes away from him; usually straight in front if them. He appreciated the alien’s willingness to adapt to what was probably to them, a weird social convention.

Later, once the tour was done and Tom was settled in his quarters he asked Constance the question that had been burning in his mind for a good portion of the cycle.

“Hey, Constance?”

“Yes Tom?”

“Do humans have stripes?”

“Humans do have what is called Blaschko's lines. They are only visible to humans in rare cases but are seen to those with vision in the ultraviolet range. Is that what you’d be referencing?”

“Huh. I guess...” Tom was surprised by the information. Why the hell had he never heard of humans having stripes? He felt like he would’ve picked up on that in biology. But yet again he could have been asleep for that particular lesson.

“Constance, are Chendro able to see UV?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, ok. That answers a lot actually. Thanks for the help.”

“It was my pleasure, Tom.”

Tom continued to sit there for a while contemplating this new information. He even found a few pictures of visible stripes. He could relate to the Chendro then. They were pretty cool. And to think that every human had patterns like that.

#HUMANS ARE WEIRD #humans are space orcs #humans are space australians #haso #haso writing #writing #writeblr #yet more JANK 2 universe not mentioned in the canon stroyline #alien names are hard #why is this getting so many notes

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