[image id: a four-page comic. it is titled “do not stand at my grave and weep” after the poem by mary elizabeth frye. the first page shows paleontologists digging up fossils at a dig. it reads, “do not stand at my grave and weep. i am not there. i do not sleep.” page two features several prehistoric creatures living in the wild. not featured but notable, each have modern descendants: horses, cetaceans, horsetail plants, and crocodilians. it reads, “i am a thousand winds that blow. i am the diamond glints on snow. i am the sunlight on ripened grain. i am the gentle autumn rain.” the third page shows archaeopteryx in the treetops and the skies, then a modern museum-goer reading the placard on a fossil display. it reads, “when you awaken in the morning’s hush, i am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circled flight. i am the soft stars that shine at night. do not stand at my grave and cry.” the fourth page shows a chicken in a field. it reads, “i am not there. i did not die” / end id]
a comic i made in about 15 hours for my school’s comic anthology. the theme was “evolution”
Summary: Sometimes, when things go very wrong, the Chosen One gets a wish. That’s where Danielle comes in. (Tagged with Blood, violence, child death)
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Danielle is cursed.
This battlefield is nice. It’s early afternoon and the
breeze that comes from the forest to the east is sweet. The fighting has only
just begun and the scent of blood is still hovering at the edge of her senses.
It hasn’t erased the taste of the dead girl’s last meal – bread sweetened with
honey – yet. She’s used to storm clouds the size of mountains roiling overhead,
the electric sting of lightning against her skin, the crash of blades against
armor and arrows against shields. The sun is warm and honey-sweet against her
cheek and there’s no fighting going on right now. There’s only the low murmur
of voices from all around and some muffled sobbing.
If she weren’t waking up in the body of a dead girl, she’d
call it picnic weather.
Time to pay attention.
“—Chosen One is dead,” a man says. His voice matches the weather
more than the situation. Calm. Even. Gentle. A wave lapping at the shore before
the tsunami. She can feel his aura undulating through the ground, dark and
demanding. Demon King? Mad Emperor? Dark Lord? One of those types. He
projects his words over the renewed sobbing. “Do you see your folly now,
honorable knights? The wasted months of defiance? You were never going to
defeat my army even with years and seven fabled soldiers at your mercy
rather than the one. Here, the day of your final rebellion, your Hero lies dead
after only one volley.”
Hero. Danielle is cursed, she shouldn’t be feeling
pity for anyone but herself. But there it is, the familiar bile in the back of
her throat, the prickling of her eyes, the tightening in her chest. This dead
girl was their Hero. They made her their Chosen One. From the feel of it, they
didn’t school in her magic or train her in swordsmanship. Her muscles are
burning from death, yes, but also from overexertion.
What do you want? Danielle asks. All of the right
systems are under her control now. The ground is cold against her back, the
girl’s tiny curls a tickle against her face. The air is sweet underneath the
scent of a dying blow and she can hear the conversations around her clearly.
The Dark Lord is still gloating, giving the knights their time to mourn and his
own forces time to ready the next attack. Sweetheart, what do you want?
Because this post has exploded recently, and I’m seeing lots of questions/surprise in the tags, some info on Guinea Pigs:
Yes, they are born eyes open and fully furred and capable of running which is very much unlike the rodents most people are used to. These babies were literally born the night before, so they’re a little over 15 hours old in these photos.
This is in part due to their unusually long gestation period (~60 to 70 days as compared to about 20-23 days for a mouse or rat.)
They can fully wean just after 2 or 3 weeks.
When they’re little like this and they become excited or playful, they will popcorn around. I’m sure you can all imagine what that looks like, and how ridiculously cute these things are when doing it.
While these guys are about 90% head, almost the entire remainder is legs. They are very disproportionate babies. When you see them run you begin to wonder just where exactly their body is as there’s nothing but head and startlingly long legs.
@talesfromtreatment - are they born already able to VWEEP like the adults, or is that a later systems update?
The vocal cords are able to function at full volume from the get go. Piglets did not like being taken out of their carrier and let me know that they Had Opinions.
I can finally post the art I did back in August, with some newer stuff mixed in. Chen 100% knows Emery is Heartbreak. Ricardo might have his suspicions but not enough. Either way, Emery is going into the next book rough.
