Challenge 013: Creature of the night!

[strangetomato]

Hey, I totally did this challenge! :D I even did it ahead of the deadline. Now, you should all go and do the same. It's fun. Creatures, people, creatures! (I layered my creatures... so do I get bonus points for that?)

Challenge 013: Creature of the night! (I still have no idea where Madame "stole" this idea from.)
Prompt: Creature of the night (or day).
Word/Pic count: NONE (W00t! I didn't even count...)
Expiration: 10/28/08

Johnny Smith had always been a light, efficient sleeper, and for that reason he didn't dream often. When he did dream, he didn't think too much of it, and the dreams were completely forgotten by the time he had finished washing his hair and had moved on to his exfoliating facial scrub.

Lately, however, this was not the case. He dreamt a lot, about all sorts of things. Well, mostly just the same thing, but he dreamt about it frequently, and in many different variations.

He dreamt about them, and he dreamt about himself, and he dreamt about what they were doing.

He tried to figure out what they were doing even while he slept.




Sometimes the dreams weren't even particularly original.

Like the most recent one, where he was the woodcutter, out to save Little Red Riding Hood from the Big Bad Wolf.




He was even wearing a goofy wool cap, like the drawing in the children's book his mom used to read to him as a child. Not exactly creative.

He entered grandmother's house, which had the interior layout of the Specter Estate, even though it was also a log cabin. He knew exactly where he was going... up the stairs, which were now there for some reason, and into the bedroom.

The wolf was always hiding in the bed, right?






This wolf was definitely no exception to that rule.




But he wasn't eating her.

Or was he?

He was.

He was just about devouring her.




But no... he wasn't going to harm her. Not this wolf. This wolf was more like a puppy: devoted and eager to please.

But he was still a wolf. How could Johnny be sure she wouldn't get eaten up?

He had to save her. That's why he was there. He had a plot to follow.






So they fought.








He lost.

That wasn't the way it was supposed to happen.




Then he realized that he'd been bitten.

He was transforming.

There was nothing he could do about it, so he let it happen.








What had he become?

He was a monster.




But he didn't feel like a monster. He felt renewed, and everyone was happy and cheering him on.

He leaned back and let out a long, loud howl from deep down in his core. It felt good... freeing.

He was a wolf too, and he could do as he pleased.




He looked at himself, since it was a dream and he was now somehow watching himself instead of inhabitiing his own body. He thought it looked pretty good on him.

He'd always wondered what it would be like to have body hair, and he figured he was already an alien, so what was one more layer of weirdness to add to the mix?

What was one more strange dream in his increasingly strange life?








 

Comments

[music-simbol.livejournal.com]

Cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool. Being a werewolf does look good on him!

That was Ripp, right? Can't really tell too well under all the hair. :P

And crap, you reminded me I have to do this! :P

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

Wer-aliens are so cool. But I don't remember mine having that bit of green still showing on their faces/ears!! I love it!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was Ripp. (I just added a little image banner, which makes it more obvious.)

I love how the alien werewolves have black eyes, with just the green irises. It's cool.

You should do it. :D It's fun.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

No? Hmmm... that's odd.

I love how the eyes are sort of dark and alien too. For Johnny, it makes his eyes more alien than they were (which, of course, is not at all).

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

When he did dream, he didn't think too much of it, and the dreams were completely forgotten by the time he had finished washing his hair and had moved on to his exfoliating facial scrub.

Johnny, marry me. YOU ARE MY EVERYTHING.

I love the parallel to reality and Johnny's need to protect Phi, despite the fact that she might not need it, but he's just trying to follow what he's supposed to do. And then he gets changed into someone just as dirty and animalistic as Ripp and he LOVES it.

Really, this is a lot deeper than just a silly story and I love it.

[showercapfrog.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I wondered where you were going with it.

He's the most awesome werewolf though. And their clothes! Squee!

[ownsimscorner.livejournal.com]

Absolutely brilliant.

[sadieg79.livejournal.com]

Haha, the minute you mentioned "This wolf was like a puppy" I knew it was Ripp, since you used that analogy before - definitely suits him :D

I love the parallel to reality and Johnny's need to protect Phi, despite the fact that she might not need it, but he's just trying to follow what he's supposed to do. And then he gets changed into someone just as dirty and animalistic as Ripp and he LOVES it.

You know what I find interesting about that? Ripp changed Johnny - not the other way round. And that bit before, about following rules - like he feels tied and needs Ripp to help him break the chains, and when it happens his friends are happy for him.

... Damn, I could go on. I love the hidden depth to your stuff, ST :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Heheh. I actually though of you when I wrote that part. Johnny has a very intensive grooming routine. He doesn't mess around. ;)

Yes, it's very much about what's happening in his life, but it's mangled up in the way that dreams usually are. It says a lot about how he feels.

Oh, and speaking of animalistic and dirty:



Johnny: Ripp, why did you bite me? ... Ripp?

Ripp: So, Ophelia...

[showercapfrog.livejournal.com]

LOL. I actually giggled.

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

Really, I am hopelessly smitten with Johnny. I love his routine and his needing everything exactly right-ness. And I love that he is this woodcutter who is supposed to follow a path and he had always planned to follow this path, but something changed.

I mean, I liked Johnny for the longest time, but he wasn't my favorite. The moment he pulled Ripp into bed with him and Phi he became my most favorite ever. Because its not perfect and it's not all planned and meticulous and Johnny-like. He's kind of giving up some sort of control and why? BECAUSE HE LOVES RIPP AND PHI TOO MUCH TO BE THE PERFECT ONE. He made a really selfish choice and he hates that he's turning his back on his family's ideals, but he did it anyway. For Ripp and Phi.

*snugs him*

I would have probably written like a shit ton on all the little underlying connections in this that I adore, but there was too much Frances-love and I am so so tired. But, just know that you tell a damn good story. Even in these silly little side things.

Oh, Ripp. You are the worst, but I love you. Don't worry Johnny they still love you!

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

Oh and p.s. I am totally making a parody of the Coppertone ad with Frances.

http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/images/coppertone.jpg

I-I don't know WHY. I just am.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Imagine my reaction when it happened. *snicker* The second he transformed, they were like, "Okay, cool... OH, LOOK - here's a bed."

Giving them romantic autonomy has proven to be very amusing.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

I wonder if my "werewolf custom skin fix" hack might be interfering with how it's supposed to look. *shrugs* I've had that hack since the day after I first got Pets (with multiple reinstalls, of course, lol) so I really don't know what a wer-alien would look like without it in my game.

It was so incredibly idiotic, IMO, for Maxis to have made it so that custom skins wouldn't morph into werewolves, and as far as I know, they've never fixed that particular issus (I could be wrong about that, though.)

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

LMAO!!! And when it is done, I will sooooo put it on the cult's userinfo.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Nice.

Were-alien for the WIN. His nose is hilarious, with the little dog paint job all stretched over it's royal pointyness.

(crap, now I definitely have to do this challenge--I have a great idea I really like but I just can't bring myself to play on my home computer).

[hannahspring.livejournal.com]

This is really awesome! I love it!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Is it sort of like wondering where I might go with the actual relationship in the story? There are certain parelells here (and I used a set that I'll use again in the story proper too).

I love the way they coloured the alien werewolves. (And that plaid shirt really rocks, and I don't get to use it nearly enough. Maybe one day I'll get the right character...)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Wow... thank you so much.

[sadieg79.livejournal.com]

The custom skin fix makes it so every werewolf has the s3 skin when they change. It's a toss-up between green alien werewolves and hairy custom wolves, sadly *shrug* And yeah, Maxis really should have thought about that - but then, remembering who we're talking about here... ¬_¬

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Ripp gets compared to an overexcited puppy a lot, doesn't he? Well, at least where romance (and Phi specifically) is concerned, but for other things he more like a lazy, scruffy, old dog. :P

Hmmm, yes. Ripp changes for Johnny, but Johnny also changes for Ripp. I think this has been happening all along, as it does with many friends. Johnny does benefit from having Ripp's corrupting influence in his life. You can't be good and do the right thing all the time, or you'll go nuts.

Thank you. :) I really appreciate that you're interested enough to sift through it and find those things.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. A lot of those layered creatures have cool different features like that. I think vampire aliens are different too... a different colour. I should experiment.

The nose cracked me up too. Nice try, werewolf skin, but you can't compete with that nose. It's pointiness defies you.

You must do this challenge. If we don't do them, who will? And what about your alien vampires? Huh? HUH?! *snicker*

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

So this will be a drawing? Awesome. It's going to be prettty funny, I can tell.

I've been thinking of doing a St. Francis of Assisi thing with him.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

There should be a gallery of Frances artworks there, for sure.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that is pretty lazy of them. If they're going to allow for cc, they should make everything work with it.

I hardly ever use custom skins, so I wouldn't have noticed. I guess you're talking about your hairy skins, right? *snicker* Aren't they beast-like enough for you? Now you're just being greedy for man-pelt.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It's too bad they couldn't they change the fix so it only reacts to cc... but I imagine it must be impossible, or they probably would have.

[leskuh.livejournal.com]

Yup. It should be awesome.

DO IT.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

*slaps self* I just noticed my typo. It's. . .ahhhh, damn apostrophe. . .

Anyway.

I *am* going to do this challenge. The pics *will* happen tonight. It's one of those things where I just need to go and START and then I'll be fin. I have starter apathy.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

This is too cool. Also, alien werewolves look awesome as heck. :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I did the same stupid thing! *snort* Was I just being lazy and copying you? Duhhh...

*pats on the back* Get get 'em, Tiger!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) They're pretty cool, aren't they? I love how the green ears stand out.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Heheh. Yeah, I'll sure I will one of these days.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm... man-pelt. :P

Yes those would be the ones I had to have the hack for, lol! They're not default replacements; I saved an unplayed N002 with suburbs attached on my desktop, then painstakingly and lovingly went into SimPE and altered every guy's skintone with Allen ABQ's skins that I felt deserved some body hair in Strangetown, Downtown, and Bluewater Village.

From then on, whenever I wanted a new N002, I just copied that one and used it. (Which is why my HBD will always be named George, because I always only use that file, lol)

But since they're not default replacements, then that messed up werewolf thing affected them. I guess I never really looked at enough aliens to see they were any different when they changed!

Johnny's a werewolf now in my game too. :D Ripp's a vampire though. ;)

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

Yeah! I've never sen one (an alien werewolf) but yours looks awesome.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

Ah... that makes perfect sense. It would have been interesting to see each sim's individual skin come through though. I never realized they did that! Darn it, Maxis!! :D

But yeah... choice between my manly men and green-tinged wer-aliens, I'll take my manly men. ;) But I wish I could have both, lol!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I didn't know they were different until Johnny transformed, actually. :D It was a cool surprise.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Heheh. Indeed. I enjoy a good pelt, myself (quite regularly too, LOL - I married a werewolf).

Wow. That really was lovingly and painstakingly done. I can see why you kept it. Don't you also have different options for levels of body hair that you wouldn't get with defaults?

See... I would have made Johnny the vampire, and Ripp the werewolf. Ripp is so wolf-like. He even has a personality much like the one the werewolves all eventually shift to.

(And yes, I think werewolves are sexier than vampires. WAY sexier.)

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

That would have been good, but aside from Ophelia and Jill, who I chose to be witches on purpose, I drew what everyone else was out of a hat and it was random werewolf/vampire/zombie/plantsim. So theoretically, I could have ended up with all zombies and nothing else (I think I would have re-done it in that case, lol.)

I will admit to keeping Zombie out of the draw for Ripp, Tank, and Johnny however... I wanted them to be able to procreate. ;) I was kind of hoping to make Johnny a plantsim like his mother, lol!

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

I'm already going to make a gallery of Frances secrets, so I should definitely make one of Frances artwork too!

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

(Shit, no Frances icon. PENANCE!!!!)

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

This was great. Such a fitting dream for what he's been going through in his life! And I'm glad at the end he accepted that this is how he was going to be from now on.

But still, I had to laugh at the way his skin still had a greenish tint to it.

[80sfiend.livejournal.com]

Wow. Being a werewolf looks good on Johnny! :D LOVE IT. :D

And Ripp looks pretty hot if I do say so myself :P

[catladymeow.livejournal.com]

This was very well done. I loved the peek into the lives of JRO, and Johnny's dream. Can't wait till your hiatus is done and you go back to writing them. Best Wishes are with you.

[simsbarbie.livejournal.com]

I have never made a werewolf..everything else but that. Ripp is so hot as a were. (fans self) Go one step further and make Johnny into a vampire too? LOL That would be tight!