Nuclearzeon2

As I've said many times in my previous statuses, I just cannot get used to Eclipse. Every time I try to use it, not only do I have trouble finding advantages over the old deviantART, but I find a NEW problem each time.

Will I stop coming to DA completely? Probably not. I'll come and visit every now and then, and I definitely won't deactivate my account. I may also post statuses if I find something super important to say to my watchers. But don't expect me to be as active as I used to, and I may unfortunately have to find a different place to post my creative writing projects. The only way I'll make a complete DA comeback is if someone makes a plugin that reverts it back to old DA.

Here are some sites I'm currently active on:

Tumblr: cartoon-and-animal-lover.tumbl…
Reddit: old.reddit.com/user/SummerAndT…
Discord: Cartoon-And-Animal-Lover#6817

I also heard Wattpad is a good place to post creative writing projects, though I don't know if they allow synopses like I often write here on DA. If I do go there, I'll probably repost a lot of my old synopses there with proper edits. (Don't know if I'll move my scripts there as well, since I'm not as proud of them as I used to be.)

Of course, I can also post synopses as Google Docs and link to them on Discord, but I don't know how many people are going to notice them there. I also definitely want to join ArtSpacious when that site launches, however long it takes. (Though moving a lot of my stuff there is going to be difficult.) 

So yeah, leaving this site is not going to be an easy decision, but it's practically mandatory for me with how difficult DA Eclipse is to use. And I don't want to hear any of you stans trying to invalidate my opinion on Eclipse. If you like it, more power to you, but not everyone can adapt to it.

Happy trails. And to any of my DA friends who decide to stay here (like Duckyworth), will you post your stuff on Discord as well so I can still see it even when I leave?

First of all, I know it's not even close to Christmas, but I've been looking forward to sharing this idea for the past couple days.

Some may think it's redundant for me to do another Christmas story since I already have Boris and Chloe, but this is basically intended as an affectionate parody of a lot of the classic Christmas specials, like from Rankin-Bass and what not. I've come up with a whole bunch of individual ideas, each parodying a different element of Christmas specials, and hope to tie them together as best I can.

So, we've all seen that trope of cartoon reindeer who look more like white-tailed deer, and I've been wanting to reference that for a while. Here, we have a white-tailed doe who lives with Santa's reindeer and believes herself to be a reindeer despite the fact that she's the only one who doesn't have antlers. Maybe part of the story has her hoping she's just a late-bloomer and she'll grow antlers eventually.

I was thinking of a way to parody the Christmas elves, with the idea of them being slaves being an obvious one. Then I thought it would be funny if one of the elves was a tall Tolkien-style elf who resembles Legolas in appearance and behavior. Maybe he's tired of this toy-making bullshit and wants to go out and do real elf things with his bow and arrow.

I also want to throw in a talking snowman as another character. I was wondering what kind of black comedy jokes I could tell with him, but a lot of existential snowman jokes I can think of have already been done by Frozen. I remembered how in Frosty the Snowman, the titular character was all surprised about his new sentience and assumed it was a joke, as if he was aware he was a thing that should not be, so maybe I can do something similar with this snowman (maybe also stealing from Forky in Toy Story 4 as well), where he's all like "Why am I moving? Why am I talking? I'm not supposed to be sentient! I'm an abomination!" I could also throw in references to Calvin's snowmen in Calvin and Hobbes (including the infamous snow goons story), and maybe as a reference to Frosty saying "Happy birthday!" whenever he comes to life, I could have this snowman say "Happy deathday!" when he melts.

I was also thinking of that trope where there's penguins in the North Pole, and wanted to reference that as well. My first idea was a penguin who is lost (similar to Topper from Santa Claus is Comin' to Town), but then I thought it would be interesting if this character was a great auk who was annoyed that so many people were mistaking them for a penguin. (Which is especially funny since the term "penguin" was originally used for the great auk before being used for real penguins, despite the fact that the two birds aren't related and only look similar due to convergent evolution). To top it off, maybe this character wears a hat and scarf like so many cartoon penguins wear.

Anyway, this story could probably be a big satire of how commercialized Christmas has become in later years (complete with a jab at those awful Poopsie toys), where Santa himself has become so disillusioned to the true meaning of Christmas that he makes toys entirely for profit. I knew I had to throw Krampus into this, and I could've had him as the main villain, but I think enough Americans are familiar with Krampus nowadays due to the horror movie of the same name that having him as a good guy would be an interesting subversion. 

Anyway, I imagine Krampus leaving is the reason Christmas became so commercialized, since there's no one to punish the spoiled kids, and the demands of the spoiled kids is what caused commercialism to fester. It's also the reason most people don't believe in Santa either, and the few who do just see him as a guy who just gives away toys to anyone regardless of whether or not they earned it. Also, instead of going into houses like he used to, he just delivers the toys directly to toy companies. (This is a way to rectify how in Christmas movies, adults don't believe in Santa despite toys mysteriously showing up during the night, as well as acknowledging how in older folklore, Krampus directly interacts with children even though you're not supposed to see Santa.)

Anyway, I'm thinking the conflict of the story is kicked off when the Legolas-like elf is tired of commercialism, and after hearing of Krampus, decides to go and bring him back to remind Santa of his original goal, which was to reward the good kids and punish the bad kids, which will bring the original meaning of Christmas back. The white-tailed doe accompanies him, and maybe the snowman and auk join him as well. I'm thinking Krampus is built up throughout the story as a horrifying demon, only to turn out to be a pretty nice guy when off-duty. 

I'm thinking one scene will have the doe encounter a moose and a wapiti who are arguing over which of them is a real elk (since the term "elk" was originally used for moose before being used for wapiti), before the doe tells them they can both be elk, which is what tells her she can still be a reindeer despite not being a caribou.

Oh! And I have to have an abominable snow man at one point. I could reference the Looney Tunes yeti by having him constantly pick up and cuddle any small animal he sees. ("Just what I always wanted, my own little penguin!" "I AIN'T NO PENGUIN!") Maybe that could be one way Krampus threatens the bad kids in the end. And yes, of COURSE his name will be George.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions? Should I add this to my Google Doc of upcoming story ideas, along with Hominids?

As tedious as the Sounds of Silence movement was, it did allow me to think out my Hominids story a bit more.
Should I revive my Hominids story?This was a story idea I had a long time ago, and I've talked about a few times here on DA in the past. For those who don't know or remember, Hominids started out as an attempt to explain why in so many talking animal stories, animals can seemingly communicate with every animal species except humans. 
So, this story is set in Africa during the Pliocene, and our main character is a young Australopithecus-like hominid named Spark. (I thought it would be funny if his parents were named Flint and Steel.) His kind is at that sweet halfway point in human evolution where the ancestors have a mixture of human and ape traits. (I know humans are apes, but who's splitting hairs?) If I revive the idea, the main theme will probably be the differences between humans and animals.
I know the hominids' ability to make fire would be a big plot point, with the hominids being special for being the only animal to create and control it, and the other animals fearing it. In my first id

Here's what I've figured out so far.

• Spark is not only the only hominid that doesn't want to use fire, but he's also the only hominid who still talks to animals regularly, which is seen as taboo because the other hominids view themselves as above all other species. His best friend is a female jackal, and he also befriends a ground hornbill who likes taking advantage of grassland fires to catch prey. (I decided a ground hornbill would be appropriate since, as I said before, some experts have pointed out how much their evolution parallels hominids, in that they started out as arboreal forest-dwelling fruit-eaters before becoming terrestrial grassland-dwelling predators.)
• A major theme of this story will be the fact that humans are the only animals that have a sense of morality. Other animals don't really have a concept of right or wrong, hence why they commonly commit horrible acts like rape and infanticide. So maybe Spark's introduction scenes will have him encountering a mother and father secretary bird who are about to kill one of their three chicks since they can't afford to care for all of them, but Spark rescues the chick and gives it to a pair of male secretary birds who want a chick of their own. Then he encounters some sort of predator (either some hyenas or a Dinofelis) who are about to eat some sort of prey animal (like an antelope or some sort of large zebra-like equine) alive. Sparks kills the prey by smashing its head with a rock, then tells the predator that stressed meat doesn't taste as good, so it's better to wait for your prey to die before eating.
• As said before, the main villain will be a large Dinopithecus-like baboon. Not only does he want to learn to use fire for himself, but maybe he's also outraged by Sparks's sense of morality. His assistants will consist of a Megantereon-like saber-toothed cat and a crowned eagle (both animals are known to have preyed on hominids, and both could act as evil counterparts to Spark's friends). 
• As said before, there will also be some sort of large elephant-like proboscidean, perhaps a Stegodon. This proboscidean will be old and wise, and he will fondly remember the days when proboscideans were in charge instead of hominids. He won't be angry and jealous though; he'll probably be more supportive of Spark, and act as sort of a mentor figure to teach him how to rule the grasslands.
• Like I said in the previous journal, the plot will be kicked off by a drought in the grasslands, and Spark and his friends will head to the rainforest to find some water. While there, they encounter some gorillas (or apes resembling gorillas) who live in the jungle, and have gone the complete opposite direction of their cousins, being peaceful herbivores. Like real gorillas, they aren't very aggressive and prefer to solve problems diplomatically, and the silverback is willing to help Spark and his allies. I imagine it'll become a plot point when the baboon and his assistants end up threatening to kill one of the baby gorillas, which is what sends the silverback into a violent rage for the first time. 
• When they come to the river, it'll be infested by enormous hominid-eating crocodiles, which they'll have to figure out how to get around to access the water. Then the baboon and his assistants will appear, and the baboon will threaten to feed Spark to the crocs. The climax will have Spark finally making fire, which will spread throughout the jungle. As I said before, I haven't figured out whether it would be more satisfying if the baboon was killed in the fire or if he got eaten by the crocodiles. Maybe I could try to work both in?
• Spark will help extinguish the fire with the help of his proboscidean friend, then they will create a channel for the water to flow to the grasslands, which will represent how humans can change the environment for better or for worse. 

This was a story idea I had a long time ago, and I've talked about a few times here on DA in the past. For those who don't know or remember, Hominids started out as an attempt to explain why in so many talking animal stories, animals can seemingly communicate with every animal species except humans. 

So, this story is set in Africa during the Pliocene, and our main character is a young Australopithecus-like hominid named Spark. (I thought it would be funny if his parents were named Flint and Steel.) His kind is at that sweet halfway point in human evolution where the ancestors have a mixture of human and ape traits. (I know humans are apes, but who's splitting hairs?) If I revive the idea, the main theme will probably be the differences between humans and animals.

I know the hominids' ability to make fire would be a big plot point, with the hominids being special for being the only animal to create and control it, and the other animals fearing it. In my first idea, Spark was the only hominid who didn't know how to create fire, and eventually decided he preferred not to. But now I'm wondering if he's the first hominid who ends up discovering fire, and eventually regrets it as fire-making becomes more widespread. I dunno, I'm still figuring this out.

I know that Spark would be one of the few hominids who can still talk to animals. His best friend is a female jackal (kind of foreshadowing the future domestication of the dog) who acts as his hunting partner. The main villain would be an enormous Dinopithecus-like baboon who wants to master fire for himself. Maybe his sidekick would be some sort of saber-toothed cat, like a Megantereon (which we know preyed on hominids) who acts as an evil counterpart to the jackal.

Another animal character would be some sort of big elephant-like proboscidean, like a Stegodon. It would be another plot point that the proboscideans were the king of the savanna before the hominids arrived. Other obstacles would consist of a hungry crowned eagle (since we have evidence of eagles preying on hominids in the form of the Taung child) and gigantic crocodiles.

I imagine the plot would be kicked off by some sort of drought occurring, so Spark and his jackal friend travel to the wet jungles to find water. Maybe the proboscidean would help out by using his tusks to plow a path for the water to flow to the savanna, representing how hominids are one of the few animals who can alter the landscape, for better or for worse.

I also realized that since some bird species will exploit grassland fires by catching fleeing prey, maybe some sort of predatory ground-dwelling bird, like a marabou stork, secretary bird, or ground hornbill, could be a character as well. (A ground hornbill would be interesting, since some scientists say their evolution parallels hominids in some ways.) Maybe this is what allows Spark to accept his firemaking abilities, since he learns fire can be helpful to animals as well as harmful.

What do you guys think? Should I revive the idea in this form? If you have any suggestions, let me know!

I think I'll take a break from DApocalypse to talk about an idea I teased before.

As I've talked about multiple times, I have an idea for a setting that's basically a typical Tolkien/DnD-style fantasy world, but set in the modern day, with modern technology, like a mixture of Shrek 2 and Onward. The main difference between this and Onward is that instead of getting rid of magic completely, they've simply repurposed it along with their technology. So they do stuff like use magic mirrors as television, computers, and smartphones. Maybe they would also use wands instead of guns.

I came up with a whole bunch of individual ideas for this story, and now I think a story may be emerging.

• The traditionally "evil" races like orcs, trolls, ogres, and goblins would be marginalized groups who live in ghettos. I definitely want to make orcs, trolls, and ogres distinct (for instance, trolls would have long hair, big noses, and pale skin to reflect their Norwegian origin, like a John Bauer painting; maybe orcs could have green skin and tusks, while ogres are gigantic and have gray skin). If that's the case, I could see one of the main characters being one of these creatures, but I haven't figured out which one. 
• Transportation would consist almost entirely of animals (though there could be some non-living transportation like magic carpets and witch's brooms). Dragons would probably be used by the highest class citizens, like the equivalent of a limousine or private jet, while other modes of transportation would consist of pegasi and Chocobo-like birds. Giant eagles would be used by the police, while wargs or dire wolves would mainly be used by the aforementioned marginalized races.
• Fairies are mafia-like gangsters, with their leader being a mafia boss leprechaun. Really fun idea, I should definitely make these characters into secondary antagonists. I could see them constantly threatening to steal people's babies if they're not paid money. But like fairies in mythology, their weaknesses would consist of salt and iron.
• You know how in most of these worlds, there's some evil sorcerer trying to conquer the world? And he's often some sort of undead lich who is skeletal and corpse-like? Well, there's one of them here...but he's retired, and has now taken up golf. He's not evil anymore, and is actually pretty nice when you get to know him. Maybe he can end up being a major helpful character.
• If there's necromancy magic in this world, maybe the main antagonist can be some sort of business person who is using necromancy to create a whole bunch of undead minions so they won't have to pay them. Maybe the conflict is kicked off when one of the main characters recognizes their deceased relative as one of their employees. At first, I was unsure of what this necromancer business person should be. They shouldn't be an undead lich like the retired overlord, but I want them to be SOMETHING to make them stand out. I also thought they should be female, since the greedy business person in fiction is usually male. Then I remembered a previous idea...
• One of my other ideas for this world was a pop singer who just so happens to be a siren (albeit half-bird instead of a mermaid, to be more accurate to mythology). She's this Beyonce/Katy Perry/Lady Gaga/Ke$ha type who sings pop songs and brainwashes people into enjoying them. Maybe one of the main characters is immune to her powers somehow, and wonders how anyone can enjoy her trash. Anyway, she's appropriated the retired liche's necromancy powers to create her own backup dancers and assistants, since her singing hypnosis can put people in a trance, but not necessarily make them do her bidding.