Oct-Dec 2024 Art Dump · 4:39am Dec 28th, 2024
October
Creeptober 1 - Locked In
Cover for the Sunset Archives 2 chapter 2 - Survival
Statement of Raspberry Lilac, regarding a bomb shelter in her backyard.
"The bunker has been in my backyard for longer than I’ve been alive. My granddad built it back in the ‘60s, back when nuclear annihilation was the hot new existential terror on the block. He passed it onto my dad, along with all of his apocalyptic anxieties. It’s been his obsession since before I was born, and he’s got it stocked full of everything our family might conceivably need to survive down there for the next decade. Canned food, water purifiers, radio, camping gear, generator, weapons -- lots of weapons -- and more.
Mom tolerates it, although she usually argues that where we live, floods or tropical storms are way more likely to happen than the apocalypse, and then his little underground haven is the last thing we’d need. He usually counters by saying that it’s a great defense against tornadoes and has its own power supply if the neighborhood suffers a blackout.
I always thought it was creepy. It’s always cramped down there, and it hasn’t been redecorated since it was built, which basically means that what isn’t covered with rows of shelves features Cold War propaganda from the Johnson administration. Plus, even with the generator on, the exposed bulbs are dim, and cast weird shadows around the room. So I always just thought of it as Dad’s man cave and kept as far away from it as I could.
A few days ago, though, I didn’t have much other choice..."
Creeptober 2 - Whereabouts Unknown
MAG 85: Upon the Stair
As I was going up the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there!
He wasn’t there again today,
Oh how I wish he’d go away!
When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door…
Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn’t there,
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away…
Creeptober 3 - Fear Itself
Illustration of the story 'The Fear' from the Doctor Who Short Trips collection A Universe of Terrors
"Looking down at his now restored body, the Doctor discovers that he is clothed in nothing except white pyjamas. He stands up and looks around. There does not seem to be any sign of a door or window. Even the bright, cold light source seems entirely hidden to him. He walks clockwise about the cell before retracing his steps; he does not, after all, want to get lost. This exercise over, he sits down and waits.
After about an hour, he has begun to guess that this new state is in some way meant to be permanent. The walls seem almost to frown with the effort of just being immutable.
'La' The Doctor sings out the single note. 'La, la, la.' These three follow the first, and all are of the same duration and pitch. There is now a significant pause before the Doctor repeats the four identical notes again. By the third repetition of the notes it becomes clear that the significance of the pause is that it consists of four rests, equal in length to the notes."
Creeptober 4 - Phone Call
Cover for the Sunset Archives chapter 23 - Self-Improvement
Statement of Vignette Valencia, regarding how she discovered her patron and the events surrounding her subsequent transformation.
"At age thirteen, Vignette Valencia was born. Mother was so very insistent that I not use my full, real name, and as it happened, I agreed. Valencia Orange was such a boring little name, and I wanted something that would catch everyone's attention. That name was the compromise we reached. Even at the beginning of my rise to fame, I had the strength of will to get whatever I wanted, whatever I needed. I charmed my parents into letting me start my video career, strung along some audio-visual nerds with promises of popularity until I had enough skill that I could afford to drop them back from the dredges I had pulled them out of, even managed to finagle appearances from a few minor celebrities. Brick by brick, I built my facade.
That’s the first rule of the internet, you know. You can be anyone there, anybody at all, so long as it isn’t your boring little self."
Creeptober 5 - Doors
The Fool: MAG 101 - Another Twist
"Even being what I am, I have rarely seen anyone so adept at distorting the truth as Gertrude Robinson. Michael was protective of the frail old woman he believed her to be. So… so delicate, so forgetful, yet gently wise. He cared for her. He trusted her. And she fed him to me. She made him me to destroy our transcendence. And she did not hesitate."
Creeptober 6 - Static
(Animated; click through to see)
Alicorn horns can pick up radio signals. If you boost them properly, they can transmit as well.
Creeptober 7 - Mirror
Bloody Marey
They tried saying 'Candymare' next, but that just got them a lecture from the town dentist.
Creeptober 8 - Sleep No More
2 of Discs - MAG 74: Fatigue
"I don’t know when I last slept. It’s not that I can’t remember, it’s just that I can’t really tell. When I manage to steal an hour or so, if that’s even happened, my dreams seem so vivid and my waking so disjointed, that they blur together. Like all I have are scenes and images, devoid of context, and no true way to tell what is real and what is not."
Creeptober 9 - Memory
Time is memory. Memory is time.
Creeptober 10 - Graveyard Shift
TMAGP 001 - First Shift pt. 1
Creeptober 11 - Poetry
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!”
Creeptober 12 - Maniacal Laughter
TMA Furry AU - Flamingo Michael & Zebra Helen (with bonus Squirrel Gerry Keay)
Creeptober 13 - ...Deer?
The trailcam picked something up last night. I can't shake the feeling that it's watching me back.
Creeptober 14 - Overwhelming Sensation
Cover for the Sunset Archives 2 chapter 19 - Pink
Statement of Pinkie Pie, regarding the Pink and her surrender to it.
"I slept fitfully that night. My fingers wouldn’t stop twitch-a-twitch-a-twitchin’ on air, like they were trying to find something that wasn’t there. When I woke up the next morning, I found that I’d tied my sheets into a knot.
I managed to untangle them, and then I went to have breakfast. Sometime between starting the pancakes and finishing them, the ball of putty made its way back into my hand, which really isn’t very sanitary for cooking, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I couldn’t help but notice, though, that the color of the batter was a little bit off, and when I ate them, the pancakes tasted like roses."
Creeptober 15 - Trapped
Ace of Swords - MAG 183: Monument
"The doctor that lies on the floor has recovered just enough to laugh.
‘You’re still working on mineral theory? How painfully outdated.’
A flash of genuine fear crosses the face of the professor at this dismissal, before he picks up his chunk of granite, and begins to smash the doctor’s head in yet again."
Creeptober 16 - Behind the Mask
Cover for the Sunset Archives chapter 22 - Identity Theft
Statement of Fleur de Lis, regarding an encounter with Vignette Valencia.
"In among the array of event notices and missing pet posters, there was one image that repeated over and over again. My face smiled out at me from a dozen or more posters. “Have you seen me?” they asked. “Fleur de Lis: Have you seen me? Now you have. I am found. I am found. I am found.”
Beneath all of that was a list of my social media links. I felt queasy. The thought of my face, my name, my identity being shared for everyone to see in the public park was horrifying. I yanked the posters down one by one, my own airbrushed face smiling down at me all the while. I scrunched them into a ball and hurried to the public bathroom, where I deposited them in the trash. I stumbled over to the sink to steady myself. I splashed myself with cold water to snap out of my strange turn.
Once I had composed myself, I straightened up and glanced at my reflection -- and nearly screamed. Behind me stood another me, smooth-faced and smiling at nothing, eyes empty. I spun around, but there was nobody there. I didn’t look back at the mirror. I just ran back out into the cold, face still dripping wet."
Creeptober 17 - Strange Geometry
Time Ram - Two Flat Ladies
It's episode 69, baby! You know what that means; Turlough's getting frothy, Tegan's getting bolshy, and the TARDIS is getting smaller on the outside. That's right, the Time Ram has swapped Peters, taking Capaldi's dimensionally transcendental Flatline and transposing it into the Davison era. The TARDIS has gotten into a sticky situation, and I don't just mean from the incessant pineapple snacking; the Doctor and Turlough are trapped inside a shrunken, dying TARDIS, leaving Tegan to contend with Chromakeyed outlines, Helen Mirren's Thatcher analogue, and her Jeyes Fluid-covered granddad. It could always be worse, though; at least Tom Baker's not getting chased around by a graffiti'd cock and balls.
Creeptober 18 - It Takes You Away
MAG 146: Threshold
"A small amount of light leaked from around the edges of the door through to my parents room behind me. But it didn’t reach very far at all, and beyond the threshold, it was completely dark.
That was when I started to feel scared.
I could see the wooden handle of my skipping rope lying in the corridor, its heavy green cord stretching out and into the door, until it disappeared in the darkness."
Creeptober 19 - Hometown Secrets
Cover for the Sunset Archives 2 chapter 1 - Tied to the Land
Statement of Applejack Apple, regarding her family traditions.
"At first, I thought that somehow I was back at the farmhouse, but the length of the stairs put paid to that idea pretty quick. We only got the two floors and the basement, and when I looked ‘round I couldn’t see the top of the staircase. When I turned forward again, though, I found I could see the bottom just fine, only a few steps away. What’s more, I could hear noises, the sound of hushed voices and the soft clatter of kitchenware. The smell of fresh apple pie wafted through the air, strong enough to make my mouth water.
I wasn’t about to be an idiot, you understand. I knew well enough that I’d been a damn fool to come down here all by my lonesome, especially seein’ what had nearly happened to poor Bloom. But I also guessed that the stairs that had led me down here weren’t gonna let me go up again so easily. Lo and behold, when I checked over my shoulder again, I could see that the stairs only went as far as the landing on the next floor.
So, I squared my shoulders and walked down those last few steps right into the front hall.
It looked… different than it should’ve. Not in a bad way, not necessarily, but it just felt a little bit… warped? That’s as good a word for it as any. Dark, too, with hardly any light from the ceiling and none at all from out the windows. ‘Course, I didn’t have too much time to think about it, ‘cause just then a man walked out into the hall, grinnin’ fit to split his face in two. “Well, well! Look who finally came on down to visit!” he said, spreading his arms wide.
“...Pa?” I whispered."
Creeptober 20 - Warped Perceptions
7 of Cups - MAG 20: Desecrated Host
"Finally, I stood before the altar and began the mass. I was surprised as I spoke, and the holy names slipped from my mouth without hesitation, but the congregation I addressed were quiet, and each pause for a response was met with only that oppressive, wide-mouthed silence, a jarring void that tightened the fear I felt gripping my soul. When the Liturgy of the Word began, I watched in silent dread as the altar server stepped to the pulpit to deliver the first reading. He stood there, dark eyes scanning the open bible, before he raised his head and looked up as though to speak, but all that came from his throat was the single tolling sound of that bell, and my head pulsed in pain. The same thing happened for the second reading, that long, drawn out chime."
Creeptober 21 - Weird Archtecture
Time Ram - Zero (Pr)Escher
It's the first episode of the Paul McGann era, that thrilling tale of lost fathers, treacherous brothers, and McGann's glistening abs. And what better way to kick off this action-filled American series than Castrovalva? Almost anything? Tough! The Ram says that's what we've got! So tune in for Chang Lee counting cards, dragons soaring over MC Escher cathedrals, Zero Hats, Time Lord fork lifts, and the musical stylings of Hanson. Will this be the story that gets Fox to greenlight a full series? Yeah, apparently, because there have already been six other McGann stories! Time Ram!
Creeptober 22 - Evil Twin
The Not-Things from Wild Blue Yonder
"The notion of shape... is strange."
"It limits. It is limiting."
"We came from nothing. We are not-things."
"But you... you are not nothing."
Creeptober 23 - The Late Late Late Late Show
Creeptober 24 - Just Around the Corner
The Hounds of Tindalos
Creeptober 25 - Distance
Cover for the Sunset Archives chapter 9 - Speed
Statement of Rainbow Dash, regarding the disappearance of Zephyr Breeze.
Well, I figured out a way I can microdose on fear, and when I tell you, you’re gonna kick yourself for not figuring it out. I race people. Not running, people know by now that I can outstrip cars on foot. Nah, I started drag racing.
…Are you kicking yourself? Are you?
Oh. You aren’t. Don’t look at me like that, it’s perfectly safe. Well, for me it is, and nobody else has gotten hurt yet.
I just go up to a crowd of people who seem like they might be interested and I ask a few of ‘em to race me. If they say yes, great. If not, move onto somebody else. There’s a lot of people in this world, and any one of ‘em is as good as another for my purposes. Bonus, the person who said ‘no’ now realizes that too, and the wave of insignificance they get is a nice little consolation snack for me.
So, I get a group of schmucks together. Sometimes it’s in Canterlot, but people around here are starting to get wise to me, so I tend to go to nearby towns more and more often. Sometimes we put some money on the line, sometimes not. I don’t bother picking up my winnings, though. It adds another level of insignificance, that ‘I don’t care about you or your money’ kinda deal. We all line up at a traffic light, and peel right out of town. I let ‘em think they’ve got a chance at first, let one get close to passing me every now and again, but once we’re out of Canterlot and into the countryside, I zip ahead of them, away, away into the night. They’re all left eating my dust, boggling at how I was just toying with them all along.
Creeptober 26 - Creative
Page of Wands - MAG 126: Sculptor's Tool
"I remember one of our earlier projects was just to do a fish, just a rough shape of a fish, nice and simple. Ray had even pre-made some armatures for us. I mean, I still struggled, and Mary and Bill had a good ol’ go at it, but over in the corner Gabriel just began grabbing and molding and… twisting into a shape that was… well it certainly wasn’t a fish. It sort of – almost started out like a fish. But it just kept going and going, looping back and into itself, as if it was swimming through its own body. After a half hour, I had almost completely forgotten my own work, instead just staring at this serpentine structure that the dreadful man was building."
Creeptober 27 - Loving the Monster
Yeah, We Gay
Creeptober 28 - Passion Project
Cover for the Sunset Archives 2 chapter 8 - Stitched Up
Statement of Rarity Belle, regarding a shipment of fabrics.
"No, the fabrics began it.
They arrived on November 8th, along with a rather exacting commission for a gown, black with red crinoline and embroidered with intricate designs in silver, intricate enough that machine stitches simply wouldn’t do. Ordinarily, we would have simply refused the commission and suggested they try a more upscale store, had it not been for two things.
First, the client -- a Mrs. Penelope Gate -- did not commission the store. They named me, specifically. There was a paragraph spent lauding my skills, implying that this project could be the making of my career. It was odd, but I am scarcely immune to flattery, and the idea of someone noticing my skill -- well! I kept a copy of the letter in my bedroom. I had plans to frame it, once the project was completed; now… now I look forward to burning the thing.
Secondly, and not to sound crass, but the price they offered to pay for the project was eye-popping. So, after some deliberation, I accepted. Pride and greed, the downfall of entire empires…"
Creeptober 29 - Antique
MAG 38: Lost and Found
"And then came the moment when everything had been disgorged. I saw all the things that I had lost, and I thought it must be over. It must be done. What else could possibly come of there? And I saw the pale shapes of long, thin fingertips begin to creep above the lip of the pot. I remember thinking that it couldn’t be a normal person living in that pot, because the fingernails were too dirty. Isn’t that an odd thing to think at a time like that?"
Creeptober 30 - Library
Illustration of the story 'Losing Track of Time' from the Doctor Who Short Trips collection A Universe of Terrors
"Jo ran, seeking out the yellow line on the floor in the half light. She turned, left, right, right again and came up hard against a wall of black tomes as tall as the Brigadier's biggest atlas. Faint light shone on the gilded titles on the spine. Peterborough Echo, Jul-Dec, 1907 She looked down to see the yellow line disappear straight under the impenetrable shelving. Whirling round, she found more volumes of newspapers cutting off the path she'd just followed. Everything had been twisted around her. What was it the Doctor had been saying about time? That it was all the same as space or something? A chill shook Jo, freezing the sweat trickling down her spine. If these Tynakar creatures couldn't confuse her perceptions of time, it certainly looked as if they could mess with the space around her. The sound of stealthy feet and a breathy hiss somewhere off to her left drove all such thoughts out of her mind…"
Creeptober 31 - Slipped Through the Cracks
Cover for the Sunset Archives chapter 25 - Looking Back
Statement of Jonathan Sims-Blackwood, former Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, regarding his life, death, apotheosis, death, and subsequent misadventures.
"I wish I could say that the Web had puppeted me into it, but that would be a lie. No doubt it engineered the situation, at least in part, but my actions were all my own doing. I knew what had to be done, but I lacked the strength to do it. So I begged Martin to finish the plan."
November
Happy Shalkaween!
(I’ve had the idea of the Doctor dressed as a doctor and the Master as a robot for years, but I couldn’t decide on a costume for Alison. Sharing a name with Wolfman actor Lon Cheney was justification enough for me.)
Praxeus
Reimagining Doctor Who episodes as TMA pt. 5: Praxeus as the Extinction. I considered doing Orphan 55 instead, but 1. this had better imagery and 2. I didn’t want to rewatch Orphan 55. Honestly this episode was really good for Extinction aesthetics as well as content; deadly microplastics, gas masks, and moldering seagulls carrying an apocalyptic plague? Yes please!
Time Ram - River Song and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat
The cat walks by himself no longer as the Sixth Doctor, fresh from the loss of Peri Brown (presumably), finds himself unceremoniously driven by milk float into a daring adventure with his wife, River Song (as played by Linda Lusardi). The only trouble is, she’s got no idea who he is because he left his coat in the TARDIS!
The Doctor wants River to recognize him. River wants a massive diamond. Drathro’s body wants the Doctor’s extra-special head. Nardole wants to not get chased around by evil women. Tonker Travers REALLY wants his Hyperions to stop blowing up. And Ramone wants… well, who cares what Ramone wants? Maybe he wants Chistopher Biggin’s nice pouch, because it’s handy. There’s a course set for Darillium, so strap in and listen to Malcolm Clarke’s cover of Yakkety Sax. Merry Christmas!
Doctor Whooves in Aliens of London/World War Three
I’ve hidden one reference to every TV Ninth Doctor story in this image – how many can you spot?
TARDIS Tarot: 11 as the Sun
December
Redraw of that one scene from The Feast of Steven
The Runaway Bride
“I’m in my wedding dress!”
“Yes! You look lovely! Come on!”
Done for Arctic Fight 2024: My skunk Kelly Green in the Holly Berry palette for prompt Dazzle
Time Ram - The Jollity Patrol
It’s always Christmas on Terra Alpha. The overpowering stench of peppermint pervades the air, the Chuckle Brothers are armed with sniper rifles, and Humbugs will be shot on sight. So when that grumpy old Doctor arrives, it’s not for gingerbread and Christmas cheer, but Segway chases, tonic water, and Jazz Agents. It’s Theresa May, not Margaret Thatcher; Stycorax, not Sycorax; Percy Pig, not Bertie Basset*, as the Doctor and Nardole battle the Jollity Patrol.
*plus alt. versions with gingerbread man Kandyman, because I had a vision that wouldn’t leave me. He could even say “Run, run, fast as you can, you’ll never escape the Kandyman.” Or words to that effect.
-6&7
... Wait, is that Brian Blessed's head in "Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat"?
In any case, always good to see what you've been up to. It's a reminder that I really need to catch up on the Sunset Archives.
And I'm always a sucker for a good multi-pupiled eldritch Ditzy.
5823266
Yes! I'm so glad I managed to actually make him look recognizable. Also, in the other window, it's Benny Hill's head on top of the robot!