Time: Post-"Secundus 2," kids' teenage years Notes: A drabble on good old Touched Lorina -- and yes, it pretty much is just one big "Little Shop of Horrors" joke. I've only seen part of that film on TV, but naming Lorina's pet Venus flytrap Audrey just had to be done.
“Here you are, Audrey. . .” Lorina placed the dead fly into the jaws of the Venus flytrap. The leaves obligingly sprang shut. “There, you liked that, didn’t you?” The plant happily wiggled its leaves. Vincent, standing over her shoulder, shook his head. “I still think that’s a little creepy.” “She needs to eat insects to thrive,” Lorina told him, frowning. “It’s not like I feed her Father’s butterflies. She gets the pests that get into the house.” “I know, I know. I just worry one day you’re going to cut yourself over her and she’ll get a taste for human blood.”
67) Four children around a campfiresecundus_castJune 17 2012, 20:40:48 UTC
Time: Post-"Secundus 2," kids' younger years Notes: I just had to do Alice telling a story to her family for this one. What she's describing is the opening cutscene to the second Jabberwock boss fight in "American McGee's Alice."
“And then, the Jabberwock knocked the Gryphon out of the sky with one sweep of his mighty claws!” The children and Victor gasped. Alice reveled in the looks on their faces. “Was Gryphon okay?” Lorina whispered. Alice shook her head sadly. “He smashed into a rock on the island. I ran to help him, but there was nothing I could do. So it was up to me to defeat the Jabberwock.” “You should write a book, Alice,” Victor murmured. “You’re so good at this.” Alice smiled. “Maybe one day.” She returned to the story. “‘How typical, how foolish you were. . . .’”
85) Author's choice: lettersecundus_castJune 25 2012, 00:19:15 UTC
Time: "Secundus," pre-Chapter 6 (the parents' arrival) Notes: Dunno what prompted this one -- I guess I just wanted to show a bit of what William and Nell were thinking and doing during the first few chapters of "Secundus."
The first letter that came, Nell and William immediately dismissed as a prank. Their son Victor in the Mad Science Capital of the World? Claiming to have gotten a job there? The very idea was ludicrous. But then the second letter came. And the third. All in Victor’s handwriting. All postmarked from Secundus. All talking about how happy he was there. The idea of writing back crossed their minds, but was rejected. Obviously their son was writing these under some sort of duress. A written reply would do no good. And so plans were made to take a little trip. . . .
65) A cat licking a snowcone, with a tongue colored by the conesecundus_castJune 25 2012, 00:28:47 UTC
Time: Post-"Secundus 2" Notes: I wanted to feature a bit more of Victor's riding butterfly, Ferdinand, and this seemed like a nice, silly prompt to do it. You could consider it a sort of sequel to one of last year's prompts, 71) girl, puppy, and ice cream picture. Looks like Victor's finally learned to say no.
“Daddy! Ferdy’s trying to steal my ice cream!” “Ferdinand,” Victor said sternly. The butterfly’s feelers drooped as Lorina curled protectively around her treat. “Don’t pull that with me,” Victor continued. “You get plenty of sugar water. You don’t need to steal the children’s ice cream on top of that.” “I’ve always been amazed by that creature’s ability to pout,” Alice said, watching Ferdinand’s feelers droop even lower. “You wouldn’t think you could get such expressions out of something without a real mouth.” “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Victor agreed, then frowned. “Vincent, don’t offer him your ice cream, it’ll only encourage him.”
Time: Post-"Secundus" Notes: More Ferdy! This one's just a bit of silliness, based on the fact that butterflies can be tasty snacks to certain bigger creatures.
Victor lifted his head, enjoying the slight breeze in his face as Ferdinand flapped above the trees of Wonderland Park. “Ahhh. It’s such a wonderful - AAAAHH!” Out of nowhere, Ferdinand suddenly started darting and weaving wildly, wings flapping like mad. Victor clung tight to the saddle to avoid being thrown off. “Ferdinand?! What’s the matter?” Moments later, he spotted the source of the trouble himself. “Ooh - Ferdy, you are ten times as big as that bird! You don’t need to panic! I swear it cannot eat you!” Ferdinand still didn’t really calm down until they were a few yards away.
Notes: A drabble on good old Touched Lorina -- and yes, it pretty much is just one big "Little Shop of Horrors" joke. I've only seen part of that film on TV, but naming Lorina's pet Venus flytrap Audrey just had to be done.
“Here you are, Audrey. . .” Lorina placed the dead fly into the jaws of the Venus flytrap. The leaves obligingly sprang shut. “There, you liked that, didn’t you?”
The plant happily wiggled its leaves. Vincent, standing over her shoulder, shook his head. “I still think that’s a little creepy.”
“She needs to eat insects to thrive,” Lorina told him, frowning. “It’s not like I feed her Father’s butterflies. She gets the pests that get into the house.”
“I know, I know. I just worry one day you’re going to cut yourself over her and she’ll get a taste for human blood.”
Reply
Notes: I just had to do Alice telling a story to her family for this one. What she's describing is the opening cutscene to the second Jabberwock boss fight in "American McGee's Alice."
“And then, the Jabberwock knocked the Gryphon out of the sky with one sweep of his mighty claws!”
The children and Victor gasped. Alice reveled in the looks on their faces. “Was Gryphon okay?” Lorina whispered.
Alice shook her head sadly. “He smashed into a rock on the island. I ran to help him, but there was nothing I could do. So it was up to me to defeat the Jabberwock.”
“You should write a book, Alice,” Victor murmured. “You’re so good at this.”
Alice smiled. “Maybe one day.” She returned to the story. “‘How typical, how foolish you were. . . .’”
Reply
Notes: Dunno what prompted this one -- I guess I just wanted to show a bit of what William and Nell were thinking and doing during the first few chapters of "Secundus."
The first letter that came, Nell and William immediately dismissed as a prank. Their son Victor in the Mad Science Capital of the World? Claiming to have gotten a job there? The very idea was ludicrous.
But then the second letter came. And the third. All in Victor’s handwriting. All postmarked from Secundus. All talking about how happy he was there.
The idea of writing back crossed their minds, but was rejected. Obviously their son was writing these under some sort of duress. A written reply would do no good.
And so plans were made to take a little trip. . . .
Reply
Notes: I wanted to feature a bit more of Victor's riding butterfly, Ferdinand, and this seemed like a nice, silly prompt to do it. You could consider it a sort of sequel to one of last year's prompts, 71) girl, puppy, and ice cream picture. Looks like Victor's finally learned to say no.
“Daddy! Ferdy’s trying to steal my ice cream!”
“Ferdinand,” Victor said sternly.
The butterfly’s feelers drooped as Lorina curled protectively around her treat. “Don’t pull that with me,” Victor continued. “You get plenty of sugar water. You don’t need to steal the children’s ice cream on top of that.”
“I’ve always been amazed by that creature’s ability to pout,” Alice said, watching Ferdinand’s feelers droop even lower. “You wouldn’t think you could get such expressions out of something without a real mouth.”
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Victor agreed, then frowned. “Vincent, don’t offer him your ice cream, it’ll only encourage him.”
Reply
Notes: More Ferdy! This one's just a bit of silliness, based on the fact that butterflies can be tasty snacks to certain bigger creatures.
Victor lifted his head, enjoying the slight breeze in his face as Ferdinand flapped above the trees of Wonderland Park. “Ahhh. It’s such a wonderful - AAAAHH!”
Out of nowhere, Ferdinand suddenly started darting and weaving wildly, wings flapping like mad. Victor clung tight to the saddle to avoid being thrown off. “Ferdinand?! What’s the matter?”
Moments later, he spotted the source of the trouble himself. “Ooh - Ferdy, you are ten times as big as that bird! You don’t need to panic! I swear it cannot eat you!”
Ferdinand still didn’t really calm down until they were a few yards away.
Reply
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