#chimeraquest

[chimeride]

Entries for the #chimeraquest (prompts here) from @titouanlequerec, a mutual on instagram. I’m so glad he managed to go through the whole challenge and he accepted that I post his entries here :) I love his work, please follow him on instagram !!

[pleb-the-original]

Day 10: Bird

(a bit shorter than usual so apologies in advance. I had a bit of trouble coming up with a good premise, I know I wanted to do something around Sirens but I was stuck there. Then I had petunia in my head but no clue what to do with her. Then I finally landed on something incredibly bird like with dance and it flowed from there)

Hello everyone! My name is Petunia and I’ll be your instructor for today. Before you ask, I always felt more feminine than masculine, despite my illustrious plumage. Anywho, if you’re new here this class is meant to help you get those chicks and wow then with your moves. Of course, being sirens, singing ain’t gonna cut it to woo us. We’re all naturally gifted so what’s the point? Instead you gotta appeal to another thing our animal counterparts are known for: dance. Movement and showboating is key to any good bird's courtship, from birds of paradise to waterfowl, every bird knows how to move. Even peacocks like me need to shake the old tail feathers in order for the eyes to mesmerize, and other birds too that usually only fall for song tend to be head over heels for a good showcase. Granted, with our higher intelligence as monsters and our forms being what they are, we can be a lot more creative then our smaller selves. I for example incorporate ribbons in my dance, either tied to the tail or just held in my wings. The sense of flow really brings the attention together. The humans got it right when they say that dance is an art form. Then again, you never know what your partner will be attracted to. Why else do you think the dance is what codifies your partnership? And don’t worry, dance attracts all genders. I mean my ribbons landed me a wonderful cock of the rock with a wonderful boy plumage named Crystal. She had me hooked with her dress. Now then, shall we begin our lesson?

[bread-into-toast]

Chimera Quest Day 1 - Shitty Cryptid

"Mothman, but he's the size of a regular moth" via @shittycryptids

[chimeride]

LA QUÊTE DES CHIMÈRES

An art challenge to celebrate the 4th anniversary of this project !

You can do one a day or spread it over months, you can use any style or media you want, you can interpret each word as you want or follow the precisions below, it can be just silly sketches if you want, make this challenge yours and the only true rule is to have fun !

Make sure to tag your work #chimeraquest so I can find them easily, you can send them to me or tag me too if you want to :)

Shitty cryptid : creature submitted on @shittycryptids​ (shittycryptids.tumblr.com).

Pseudophyta : chimeras that looks like a plant.

Shell : full of surprise.

Dragon : show us what a dragon is.

Pun : chimera based on a pun.

Ghost : flotting creatures with disturbing faces, patterns, teeth and tentacles.

Cephalopod : limbs directly connected to the head.

Centaur : hexapedal creatures with two or three distincts torsos.

Pseudofauna : chimeras that looks like another animal.

Bird : they are really cool if you look closely.

Merfolk : swimming creatures, front mammalian (not always) and rear sea creature.

Music : chimeras based on a music, or produce sound.

Vampire : blood-drinking chimera (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematophagy).

Bug : mostly based on arthropods.

Fae : flying insectoid, probably small.

The Known Ones : tribute to a creature design you like.

Pseudoartifact : chimera based on an object.

Reverse : classic chimera, but upside-down.

Goblinoid : mostly quadrupedal and mammalian, probably small, and considered “ugly”.

Metachimera : fuse two different prompts of the list (except 16 and 31).

Unicorn : creatures with one horn on the forehead.

Zooanthrop : humanoid with animal features.

Demon : can range from classical art and occultism to pop culture.

Pseudopaleo : chimera based on an extinct animal.

Homonculus : humans fused with humans.

Sea creature : seems more adapted to live underwater.

Suggestion : take a suggestion from somebody (a friend, your followers, your mother, that guy you see everyday at the bus stop, etc.)

Gryphon : winged hexapedal creature, front avian and rear mammal.

Sponge people : body horror from the seabeds.

Hellpig : twisted pigs and boars.

The Unknown : original creatures, unknown chimeras of our world until then.

Art challenges have been very important in the Éphéméride des Chimères, they helped me to find inspiration and to give me motivation to draw even more, I hope mine will help you too.

[bread-into-toast]

Chimera Quest Day 2 -- Pseudophyta

Sloth-jumping-spider chimera with moss in its fur to look innocuous!

ID: Dark blue-green background, leaves and tree branches. Sitting on the branches is a four-armed green-furred sloth-thing with a jumping spider’s face.

[chimeride]

Entries for the #chimeraquest (prompts here) from @titouanlequerec, a mutual on instagram. I’m so glad he managed to go through the whole challenge and he accepted that I post his entries here :) I love his work, please follow him on instagram !! (part 1  I  part 2)

[chimeride]

Entries for the #chimeraquest (prompts here) from @titouanlequerec, a mutual on instagram. I’m so glad he managed to go through the whole challenge and he accepted that I post his entries here :) I love his work, please follow him on instagram !! (part 1)

[bread-into-toast]

Chimeraquest Day 7: Cephalopod

I decided to draw something with heads for feet, and wanted a vertebrate - so, Singapore's mousedeer, but weird. I imagine it absorbed its siblings in the womb.

[pleb-the-original]

Day 4: Dragon

(this time I went for a nature documentary segment. in order to get the intended experience read this in david attenborough's voice) Argentina. A natural marvel of our world teeming with unique flora and fauna. One very interesting specimen has taken up residence near Lake Colhué Huapí. A creature that for years was seen as nothing but a myth like many others of its kind. But the world is changing at a rate we could have never expected and in a direction we could not have predicted. There it is now, an Iemisch. A rare specimen of dragon as they remain obscure even in this age, but their population has reportedly been growing. It is rare to see any kind of dragon in the surface world but this area is seen as obscure enough to hide away in. This Iemisch appears to be a younger specimen, likely trying to get a feel for the mortal realm. Although it does not need to, it decides to hunt the perch native to the lake. It is learning hunting techniques through trial and error, and error, and error. Although its teeth would be sufficient enough to be able to catch copious amounts of prey, it stubbornly tries to hunt using the technique this species of dragon is famous for, the constrictor. Despite its otter-like body the Iemisch is most famous for its scaled serpentine tail that it uses to hunt like a boa constrictor. Crushing its prey in the tail until all circulation has halted. It was originally believed dragons hunted prey animals due to an inherent desire to kill, but recent research has discovered that dragons carry an instinct to hunt as hunting would lead to the food they actually desire: negative emotions. Another loss, another disappointment. It surfaces for a brief moment on the bank to rest after another unsuccessful hunt. It dove back into the water again, where it never resurfaced. We can only hypothesize that it returned back to its native home in the underworld. 

[pleb-the-original]

Day 24: Pseudopaleo

(So this one took a while not because of the idea, but because of college finals. Hopefully with the year over I can finally finish this prompt list. Anyways, I know I just did one about demons but I couldn’t resist writing about the demon made dino paradise in Africa that I made up to explain all the dino cryptids there. And I mean come on, dino demons? That’s sick as hell.) Alrighty everyone! Welcome to Prehistoric Paradise! I’ll be your tour guide for today, call me Veli. Now, does anyone have any questions before we begin our walking tour? You sir, in the back? Oh right, the suits. Well you see, Prehistoric Paradise as a dimensional space is supposed to emulate the conditions of Earth of the past. This includes higher levels of oxygen in order to support our larger insect species as well as the plants around. As a human, you would get oxygen poisoning so our team has devised these suits in order for you to breathe properly. This is always why my demon fire is stronger than usual here, as well as some of the other demons that I see in this crowd. Just try not to breathe too closely to the plants, guys. You there, what about you? Yes, I am indeed a velociraptor Eden Demon. If you’re wondering about the height thing, it’s because of Jurassic Park. I mean I’m always gonna appreciate my fellow raptors and rag on how much the humans messed them up, I mean come on guys, you couldn’t keep just a little bit of our plumage? But I do appreciate the extra height. Being turkey sized is not fun when you’re on your own. So Lord Taxternal granted me this change. Although once again, I refuse to give up my plumage. Next question? Oh right, yeah that figures. We’re not AS bad as that place in the movies, but I do admit we’ve had our escapees. Considering these dinosaurs are magical in nature and way more intelligent, sometimes our fellow workers here take them out of this pocket dimension into the real world. Normally we keep them confined in isolated areas, but we’ve had our misses. These guys just wanna explore and hunt, and I can’t blame them. They’re intelligent enough to recognize they live in an eternal paradise, but they still wish to know of the outside world. As for dino cryptids in other places, after we realized that Africa was a bust we tried taking the dinos out to other places. That ended up not working either as now people are searching for them in South America and New Zealand. That’s why we enacted this tour program, so they can get a taste of the outside world from the comfort of the home we built for them. Alright, this will be my final question. Why did we make this place? Simple. Every Eden demon feels a connection to their given species. So when us dino demons realized that some of our dinos were being born with magic, we wanted to keep them. Animals have always had a chance to be born with magic, but the dinos learned how to channel it towards immortality. Yes, this does include the Megalord but we claim no responsibility for his actions. We rounded up all these magical dinos and sent them to a safe sanctuary in this pocket dimension we all reside in now. We put the entrance in Africa since we figured it was a perfect environment for everyone. Wild and untamed, even until the modern day. Now then, we shall begin our journey into the past! Just remember to stay close by and try not to aggravate anyone. Especially asking why they have feathers, we all have feathers. No you cannot pet them. Ok maybe the pterosaurs, they like getting their pycnofibres scratched. 

[pleb-the-original]

Day 23: Demon

(Now this one was fun, I mean my initial problem was having too much opportunities. Then I was listening to Red Moon by Will Wood again and I got my idea. I’ve had the premise in my head for a long time that the Grinning Man was just a collective identity the high demons use for fun, so why not have one of them explain how it started? It works especially well since I’ve had an ongoing project where I take goetic and adjacent demons and interpret them my own way, so I had a nice catalogue to reference. Organim is original however. Also just to clarify, the one telling the story is Flauros) Oh great summoner, what is it that you wish to ask of me? I am in your control and cannot tell you anything untruthful. Who is the Grinning Man? Oh that’s an easy question! Ok so it all started a while ago. Andras was getting up to his usual antics by causing a brawl to break out back home, you know how he is. Then he got bored of that and decided to turn his attention to the mortal plane. Now, technically humans aren't supposed to know about this but us Elders cause a lot of the sightings that end up becoming cryptids. I’ve personally had my hand in a lot of Alien Big Cat sightings, not gonna tell you which ones though. Why ruin the fun? But anyways, Andras wanted to try his hand at one of these. He actually put a lot of thought into this, which is rare for him. I mean most of the time he sees something and just does it. We’re just lucky he didn’t decide to release Jangle onto the world again. His idea was to pull off an alien kinda hoax. Now aliens unnerve even us so it was a perfect idea for him. He managed to get Organim to create a disguise spell for him that fit the alien idea and he got Vapula to create a spacecraft for him. Although I think Vapula was forced into it. We could all see Clash at his throat. Anyways, to flash forward to when everything was complete. He did his thing to a few people and suddenly everyone was talking about old Indrid Cold. I know you asked about Grinning Man, I’ll get there. So anyways, Indrid was a success, a story to be told for years to come, yada yada. So like all of Andras’ plans, he hung up the disguise and moved on to something else. But we all saw how easily the disguise fooled people and we wanted in on that so we started using the disguise and sharing it around. The craft was destroyed though, Vapula had the dragons melt it into slag for usage later. Now we used to just take the disguise out to cool off steam and monitor the outside world away from human view. Yes, even Elders like us need breaks sometimes. Besides, what kind of ruler doesn’t keep a good eye on their subjects. But then one day Amdusias took it out for a spin. He was out late at night, dancing to a song that was apparently stuck in his head. Then he met a normal person on the road and just danced towards them, still keeping up that big smile. Once the guy ran away, Amdusias had his fun and decided to head back home. Then we found out the human had actually posted about the encounter to the internet and we smelled an opportunity. The Grinning Man had been born. Now we take the disguise out all the time and just see who we might run into. We’ve had a ton of fun just seeing how you all react to our antics. And yes, it is all of us that have done it, almost every Elder. I’ve even seen some of the big leaguers take it out for a spin, although we almost lost the original disguise when Asmodeus tried using it to flirt with an undercover Lilith. Luckily Organim made it truly hellfire proof after that incident. I think that covers it. Now then, great summoner, what else do you require of my services? Wait, that was it. Really? You brute force your way into finding my true sigil and only ask one question? Oh well, this is probably just your trial run. You’ll come back to me for more substantial services. I just know it. 

[pleb-the-original]

Day 20: Metachimera (Suggestion+Sea Creature)

(So my initial first roll was Suggestion and Shitty Cryptid but when I got the suggestion of “Biblically Accurate Angel” I couldn’t find a way to make Shitty Cryptid fit. Since I interpret that as a funny cryptid and other than the Nightcrawler all I could think of was the cyborg monkeys from California. So I rerolled and got Sea Creature instead. Then I figured I might as well go back and flesh out some history stuff. As for the format, I felt doing a book excerpt would be fun) Although the life of Tidus post-transformation can be described as anything but enigmatic, there is one moment in his history that has frustratingly gone unrecorded and all details are lost to time. That would of course be that first encounter with the angel post-transformation. The first few days post-transformation have been documented as turbulent ones for the poor newly crowned Leviathan. The situation was completely unprecedented and even now nothing too comparable has happened since barring the death of Reaper. Which is ironic considering the part he played in this mess. But once the dust was settled and the realizations had set in, one question still remained: what to do about the angels? This event completely messed with the supposed divine prophecy now that the sea beast that was supposed to be destroyed at the end of the world was now stuck in a coma with only a fraction of her power left in the hands of a very unlucky Freezie. To have verifiable proof that the supposed divine plan could be messed with in any way was intensely gratifying to us demons. So it was decided to basically gloat to the angels about how we had supplanted their power (despite the event being a complete accident). But Tidus had other plans. After a while of planning and self-aggrandizing, the day came. Tidus and a collection of other demons gathered on the beach waiting for the moment an angel would come down and witness their triumph. A ball of light came down from the heavens, but it did not come close. It lingered over the horizon, almost beckoning the demons gathered to come closer. Of course, one thing remains true across all of demonic history. We will always be terrified of confronting angels. Yet Tidus, despite all his stress and fear swam all the way out to that light. It was said that he and whoever lurked in the light talked for only a few hours. No one quite knows what was said as Tidus refused to discuss afterwards and no one else there dared to come closer. We still do not even know which angel it was that came down. Some argue that it was a random angel, others say they were of great importance like Micheal. Personally, I subscribe to the theory of that angel being a messenger, akin to a human encounter with one. What is known is that somehow, Tidus managed to convince the angel to let him stay on Earth in order to tame the growing threat of water based monsters in the oceans, who we now classify as the first recorded belief formed monsters in history. And so Leviathans have been the only kind of demon tolerated by angels ever since. Of course, ignoring Razorfin but that is for a later chapter. (Excerpt from Leviathans: A History. From She-Monster of the Seas to Kings of the Waters.)

[bread-into-toast]

Chimera Quest Day 3 -- Shell

A giant clam as a shèn (蜃), a Chinese clam monster that releases mirages.

Image description: MS paint drawing of a brown and gold giant clam on a reef. It has dark blue lips and a siphon. The lips are striped with yellow, and the clam releases a dark blue and yellow mirage of a city and a flying plane from both sides of its shell into the dull olive water around it.

[pleb-the-original]

Day 3: Shell

(tried to go for a college lecture here. let me know how it came out) Is everyone present and accounted for? Does everyone have proper note taking mediums? Remember, if you can’t follow along with the lecture here I’ll post a video lecture later on. Now then, today we discuss the historical and impact of the orichalcum snail. If you all remember from the text, orichalcum was described as a metal meant to be mined from the earth and only useful as currency. Of course like many things, when our society was transferred from literary allegory to a physical location, orichalcum was one of the things the Lord Poseidon had to reinterpret in a sense. After the Great Vision was granted to the original Atlanteans, Poseidon used a bit of knowledge gleaned from the vision to mold the concept of orichalcum to the malleable organic metal we know it as today. Yes Diane? Well you see, one of the most important things that was inferred from the Vision was the importance of metal. Specifically the metal the humans would come to know as steel. So we figured that we would also require a malleable metal as well, but we also needed a metal that could coexist with nature and would be easy to work with. That’s why we petitioned Poseidon to grant it those traits when he decided to create the first snails. You see Lord Poseidon picked snails as he figured they were unobtrusive, easy to farm, and be able to produce orichalcum at a fast rate without undue stress to the animal. That is why orichalcum is first produced as a mucous substance that has to be worked into the metal additive we know it as today. That is also why orichalcum works so well with organic means and is so easily usable as a magical substance. Igúaros? Well actually the policing of orichalcum snails is a more recent phenomena. It’s been noticed recently that some snails are being stolen and are showing up in the possession of, shall we say, unscrupulous characters. They’ve begun trying to push the limits of orichalcum and using it to cause undue harm to others. Many have been recovered but sadly we have had to restrict access to the snails due to these events. Now then, any further questions before we move on? Talia? Yes the snails are accessible if you provide proper identification to the authorities, we’re not locking them up in a dark cage. They’re still raised with the same standards we’ve always had, we’ve just upped the guard count. Now then, please let me know if anyone missed any information.

[pleb-the-original]

Day 1: Shitty Cryptid

(so before I go on, every day is gonna have a different setting and possibly writing format but I'm gonna be writing them in the same setting)

Status Report #18: Project FN

Status: Captured

Additional Notes: Apologies in advance for the longer than usual report but this case has been unusual to say the least. When we first got this project we were of course excited. To be able to bear witness to the live redevelopment of a cryptid via human belief would of course be an incredible opportunity to study. Problem is, tracking human trends and the recent behavior of the Nightcrawler I bear bad news. The humans have managed to turn the Nightcrawlers into a meme. As an expert in language yourself, you do not need an explanation as to why this project has been, in less professional words, a trainwreck. We first noticed the problem when our normal “humane” trapping methods did not work. Even after we got past the initial disappointment that these things were made to have their favorite food being California rolls, they would just phase out of any trap we set. It appears like most things the internet falls in love with, they have turned the Nightcrawlers into portents of chaos. They are completely unable to be captured and humiliate anyone who tries. Sadly, it took too much time to come to that realization that we’ve been engaging in “Looney Tunes sketches” as one of my friends called the situation. I am happy to report we finally befriended one long enough to bring it down to the lab for study. It has been placated by my partner and she has been developing a tepid bond with the Nightcrawler. I’ve already devised experiment plans. Now to wrap up this report, I must depart. My partner has informed me that the Nightcrawler has started speaking Norwegian.

Research Team 1

[pleb-the-original]

Day 8: Centaur

(I had like 0 motivation for a long time as I could not come up with anything, but then I remember that fish centaurs exist and soon enough I finally got that burst. I'm kinda proud of the storytelling on this one, I hope y'all like it) My name was and still is Cohort. That is what I have always been, what I thought I never would be again, and what I have become once again. I was given this name when I was created. I was naught but small salmon, not knowing of the world I do now. The humans called me coho salmon but my compatriots called me Cohort. They plucked me from the rivers and saved me from a life of survival and made me into something more. We were in an age of piracy, they wanted anyone willing to follow them. I know now they picked me because I was unknowing, vulnerable to their ideas as I became what I was. We sailed the seas, some sharing a home in a place I would never see despite how it should have been my home. Others were like me, chosen from the waters to become higher in thinking and form. But we all shared the desire to hunt, for riches and for the thrill of the pillage. For the longest time, I was one with the horde. We stole many treasures and frightened humans like many would in that age; sometimes even joining with other crews. But over time, I do not know how but I began to see things differently. Treasure became stolen nothings, humans became victims, and my crew became nothing but the monsters that they would call us. One day, I had nothing. It was another raid, a regular seaside village. I remember everything, the scent of the salted sea and the blood mixing in a familiar way, the streets marked with sights of red from both sides. I was supposed to scout around looking for valuables. That’s when I saw him, a man. He cowered at the sight of me, but still he held steady, readying a pitchfork to my side to stab if I even made the smallest move. That was when I saw what we were doing. My friends said they saved me from a life of survival and peril, but we were causing that exact same misery onto people who did not deserve it. So, I tried to tell him I was sorry, I tried to tell him where we hid everything and why we did what we did. The last thing I remember before everything went away was the chill of the blade and the only word I ever understood from a human language: “monster”. Yet, I opened my eyes. I saw him, and despite never having known his name or what he was before I knew exactly who was in front of me. The great king Swift said that he had judged me to be a soul worthy of a great rebirth. I asked him how, as I was nothing more than a monster and a beast. He told me about how the greatest thing a warrior can do is realize when he has done wrong and atone. So he granted me a warrior’s afterlife. I was to serve in his court as an ichthyocentaur, the greatest kind of warrior. Others among the court would tell me about the great things my kind had done, we slayed the Mad King Razorfin, we protected that home I never knew in its infancy, we saved lives of all kinds. Sometimes I wonder if I am truly worthy of such a rebirth, every time I gaze back and see my still salmon tail. But then my new friends tell me their stories, some even coming from the same roots as I did. They still call me Cohort. But now it is a name I can be proud of, as I serve my eternal afterlife to the new great king Finley. My name was and will forever be Cohort.