It bears mention this project has drunk from many sources to sustain its inspiration, cannibalizing both our own past works and lifting concepts from other media — hopefully with meaningful innovation!
Some popular culture osmosis goes without saying: the xenomorphs from Alien and the changelings from My Little Pony are very distinct touchstones. Taylor’s swarm abilities in Worm, or the focus on silk and weavers in Hollow Knight: Silksong also undeniably left a mark on this creation.
More acutely, there were two niche stories we read last year and deeply enjoyed, and only in retrospect is it apparant how directly resonant they are with this setting’s concepts. Both are incomplete, and I eagerly await every update.
- Aberrant (47k+ words) is a science fiction story where humanity’s expansion to other star systems is plagued by a race of parasites. After her wife is transformed into one of them, the protagonist researches their genes to find a way to safely transform herself as part of her plan to rescue her from the carnivorous hivemind. There is some lovely depictions of feral violence in this one, and the text is unafraid to give its aliens a sexual allure. All of which is to say — it’s hot. A parasitic hive that transforms and brainwashes its victims into murderous monster women? It’s hard to think of any other story quite so kindred with Vermin Cathexis, for that I remain curious to see where it goes.
- Seeping through (57k+ words) is a grounded fantasy story involing a a flesh-eating mimic and a gun-toting infantrywoman. The deuterogonist is torn (pun intended) between two different blends of toxic yuri — but what impresses me the most about this one is how viscerally, anatomically vivid it is. The prose is very well-honed. Especially the opening chapters is one of the most satisfying portrayals of how it would feel to be a shape-shifting nightmare. Later chapters dive into the creature’s anatomy in a way that pleases the bug-lover in me, and there’s a unique pleasure to reading an it/its protagonist.
A more recent and invigorating well to sample from was Magic the Gathering’s New Phyrexia. I’m ignorant of much of the franchise’s broader lore, though the short story “A Hollow Body” very much impressed me — and it furnished a fascination with the character of Ixhel only satisfied by delving into fanfiction. “More than the Suns Might Rise” was a standout work, brought to my attention by another author, littjara_mirrorlake, who has a several other oneshots (and an in-progress adaptation of New Phyrexia to Dungeons and Dragons). For something longer than short stories, I quite enjoyed the Worm crossover, All Will Know Redemption (38k words).
Currently writing this late at night, so further media might be slipping from memory. We’ll make an effort to update this in the future with other connections — or perhaps this will split off into its own page?