Side-Write: Love the Strange

It's time for the first free-write on the side, a side-write! What is it? I'm still figuring that out as I go! But this month, I realized it could be neat to go over the other ideas I'd developed for what our upcoming alien creature friend could have been. I developed one a lot early on, then when I held the supporter vote for what kind of critter it should be, I had to do a lot of brainstorming before I landed on something I liked!

But rambling about a bunch of discarded ideas didn't quite suit me, so I've gone and turned it into something a little weird, expanding on some of the ideas a little more along the way. It was fairly fun to bash out, so hopefully it's fun to read!

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Would You Dance for Them?

Hail, readers! This week I'd like to share with you the details of several species connected by a common theme: they are all "Puppetmasters." Which is to say, sapient beings, usually intelligent, that can directly take control of other beings! Those among you with a weakness for hypnosis should pay especial attention. These creatures often tend to be parasitic in some fashion, so if it's to your tastes, you can easily find yourself in a mutually beneficial relationship! That said, for rather obvious reasons, you may find it more difficult than usual to cut ties once you've made such a commitment. Take care!

Indeed, these lovely mind massagers have been an absolute thrill to research, and while technically less dangerous than many potential lovers in this beautiful cosmos, I did find them especially difficult to extricate myself from once I'd learned all I needed. Can you guess which of these was responsible for my surprise month-long hiatus?

Come, let me tell you just a little about each of them. I've listed them here in order of discovery by the Greater Empire, so as to avoid any accusations of favoritism.


SO-389
A classic, often unkindly called the "squidslug" or other such unpleasant names. It's true that these beings do not meet most conventional standards of beauty among bipeds, but for the more adventurous, their touch is an inimitable experience. The 389 is an amphibious back-rider that wraps its many tentacles around its host to ride them throughout the day. It interfaces with most nervous systems easily using an array of very fine, almost hair-like hooks lining the underside of its core mass, which also serve to make it almost impossible to detach by force. You may be struck by the fact its eyes rest at the "bottom" or rear of its body-- but when on the back of a quadruped, this is a great advantage to allow full 360-degree vision!

They're fascinating creatures, very intelligent and proud, though sometimes sensitive about their appearance. When I gained the pleasure of one's company, he seemed to expect me to mostly engage with his host rather than him directly-- a common theme, I've found, among these Puppetmasters, but especially disgraceful in the presence of such a physical specimen!

The 389 is just slightly slick to the touch, allowing an easy, smooth caress, but with an underlying texture that allows a very firm grip indeed. Their tentacles actually serve many different purposes, including reproduction! If the gentlemen among you encounter a female of this species, I'm told they're very compatible with most average bipeds in this respect. A fact I've been working hard to verify first-hand, believe you me! But of course, regardless of gender, the true charm lies in their full embrace. If you're comfortable with having every inch of your body groped and kneaded, every part of you explored perhaps more deeply than ever before, then 389 offers an exquisitely invasive experience. And that's before they touch minds with you! Of course, with either gender, if you're an especially brave gentleman, you may be interested in the oral experience they can offer. They sustain themselves on the blood of their hosts, but I can assure you, their touch is quite gentle despite its appearance, and they'll only drain you of the fluids you won't miss.


SI-053
Possibly the most unusual entry on an already exotic list! In fact, I regret to report I've only been able to gather reports from those that have encountered them, rather than first-hand experience. The "Living Tattoos" do not actually have any physical form that we know of-- indeed, it's unclear if they actually reside on our plane of existence. Their names describe them well, though: all you'll ever see of the 053 is the myriad marks it makes on its host's tissues. These are most visible on the skin or fur, but actually permeate throughout flesh and bone as well. I found a fascinating study attempting to detect and map out the full three-dimensional images the 53 "draws" on its host's body, hoping to gain some greater understanding of their nature, but it seems they'll need more time and funding to truly crack this mystery.

Out of all the Puppetmasters, this by far is the one that relies most heavily on control itself: you will only interact with it through its host, or by volunteering to become a host for it. This is actually an intensely intimate experience: you must intertwine bodily with the current host and, over the course of at least an hour, the 53 will gradually migrate from one body to the other. I'm told it comes in a series of little jerks, your muscles flinching in unison, perhaps as the creature assumes control of them. Sharing a body with a 53 is a profoundly intimate experience, and surprisingly liberating compared to many Puppetmasters. Depending on their whim, you may even effectively lead tandem life, as though you had some sort of split personality, or, most excitingly, they may experiment with some kind of blending of the minds. It's absolutely killing me that I haven't had the chance to experiment with such an experience, but I'll admit, it would be quite risky to my career! One for the bucket list, perhaps.


SI-071
Now, if you'll believe it, the SI-71 is even harder to understand, in its own way. I did get about as "hands on" with this creature as is physically possible and I still barely understand what happened.

These enigmatic fellows are commonly nicknamed "Fleshwalkers," which I suppose is a more pleasant if less accurate name than "Fleshcrawlers." If you see a 71 on its own, you'll hardly know what you're looking at: it's mostly transparent and drifts sluggishly in the air, apparently at the mercy of a stray breeze. But the truth is, most matter, including air, actually passes through these beings easily, barely tugging it along. You could see one drifting like a stray cobweb through the walls and corridors of a starship-- but like a cobweb, it catches on any living thing quite abruptly.

I still remember that wonderful thrill of panic when I first tried to touch one of its many outstretched tentacles. Its flesh enmeshed with mine and was suddenly solid, inside my hand. I tried to jerk away, silly thing that I am, and it was yanked along-- quickly plastering to my body all over. It did not simply wrap around me-- no. It was inside me. I could feel the flesh of another being in my arm, in my chest, pulsating behind my eyes. The 71 is not a mate for the faint of heart, dear reader, and I myself had my mettle tested with this one, but after a moment's panic, it was able to reassure me... from within.

It's hard to describe the interactions that followed. It touched me, using my own hands, physically pulled by muscles that were not mine. This may be the most literal puppetmaster out of the lot, for it can control you directly, physically, without any sort of connection to your mind! Though it also proved capable in that respect, as it turns out. Further, as we grew comfortable together, it was able to move freely inside me, exploring and manipulating and stimulating my insides in ways not even the telekinetics could imitate. I discovered erogenous zones I never could have hoped for before, and I learned rather more about my own anatomy than my childhood education had ever managed to stick in my head. It was a fascinating experience, and if you feel you've tried it all and can't find anything new, I'd recommend the SI-71 in a heartbeat!


SI-075
Yes, we've all heard of the "Wisps," and I can hardly write such a list without including them. Their haunting appearance, glowing and formless, immaterial yet intensely present, summons intense feelings in most species, often including a sense of reverence. Unfortunately, sometimes these feelings turn to worship, but having encountered several Wisps myself, I can assure you: they are no more divine than the rest of us. I can't deny there's a wonderful rush when one enters you, but that's about all the good I can say about them, to be honest. Your memory blanks everything from that moment until they leave, so it's less an exciting experience and more a distressing concern about what they may have done while "driving you around."

I'm not saying that Wisps are more predisposed to unsavory or even criminal activity than any other race, but I will say that their capabilities are uniquely suited for such things, and doubly so when so many silly folks treat them like some kind of god's messengers. And, more importantly: they are completely immaterial and uninterested in any kind of sexual congress. The most famous, and also the most boring entry on this list.


SQ-1832
How reliant are you on sight? The aptly-nicknamed "Invisible Lizard" will quickly bring you to terms with just how much you trust your eyes to tell you the truth of this world. I've seen many creatures with exquisite systems of camouflage or bodies that are very nearly transparent, but these are one of the very few truly invisible lifeforms in the universe. Now, I'm told that it does still make a faint impression in ultraviolet, so some of you may yet breathe easy walking into a strange room, but for the rest of us, this is a unique hazard... and treat.

To my understanding, these reptiles actually evolved their incredible defense mechanism first, but through a freak mutation, they gained a penchant for riding especially large prey around largely undetected, thanks to being both undetectable to the eye and interfering with the prey's nervous system to hide their presence even from them. Give this a few million years and they finally joined the ranks of the puppetmasters, having shrunk to less than a quarter of their original size. If you share one's company, take care not to step on them!

The 1832 I spent an evening with was a very mischievous sort, and she seemed to take great pleasure in making me question my senses before she finally allowed me a more honest appraisal of her. These creatures are indeed quadrupeds still, if just barely, and a little rough to the touch, but their mouths are quite welcoming indeed. If you're a gentleman of typical bipedal size, that will likely be your only avenue of approach for direct intimacy, but I'm told that for smaller folk, they're very interesting indeed to mate with. Either way, the sheer contrast in what you feel and what you see is fascinating on its own, and these little fellows are exceptionally sensitive even to a little light work with one's fingers once you've found the right spot. Just take care if you do let one bite you: you may never know for absolutely certain that it ever left.

SO-688
When I first saw this creature, I immediately understood that its nickname, "Bellyfish," is a reference to its similarity in appearance to the common jellyfish. Why it was tweaked became much more clear when we were behind closed doors. While it does have a physical main body, the myriad drifting tendrils trailing under this floating creature are largely immaterial and will easily pass through your body in a way not entirely dissimilar to the SI-071. Perhaps if I'd encountered this lovely lady first I would have handled the other with a little more grace, as this was a richly rewarding encounter for me.

The Bellyfish is every bit as luxuriously soft and slippery as you could possibly hope for, and just about any material being with a collection of sensitive nerves should find plenty to enjoy in the succulent embrace of these creatures. They're very hungry in a snuggly, sloppy way, and their tentacles let them caress your skin from the inside and outside at once, pulling you into their embrace relentlessly but always with such a gentle touch you don't doubt you could escape... if you ever wanted to. If you're the nervous type but you want to try something unusual, the 688 is a wonderfully relaxing experience. The young woman I had the pleasure of knowing insisted that they didn't survive largely on the pleasure of others, but I'm not entirely convinced.

As if their gentle touch wasn't enough, these talented lovers also seem to be especially gifted in direct stimulation of the mind-- rather, in doing so with a very light touch. I've found that it's very easy for these puppetmasters to "lean too hard" on your mind and practically shut you out of the experience in the process, but the 688 is just as gentle with your soft bits as with your hard bits, and I very nearly had to beg to get the "full experience" of being controlled. I won't say it's impossible I was just very lucky to encounter her in particular, but I do believe I can safely recommend the 688 as a wonderful starting point for anyone curious about the charms of lifeforms in other form categories.
SO-802
As I write this, I'm on the way to personally investigate this newly discovered species. If the rumors are to be believed, they do have physical bodies, but have no direct control over them-- normally, they would literally be sapient puddles of organic matter! But the psychic powers they exhibit are impressive, though dependent on proximity, including extensive telekinetic control. I've lost sleep pondering these creatures, dear reader, and if my hypotheses are correct, their sensual potential may be literally limited only by the imagination! I'm wildly excited to learn more, but my editor wouldn't let me stall any longer on this article, so I'm afraid I'll have to share my findings with you next time!


There are precious few true puppetmasters out there, but if you're aching to lose control of yourself, you might look into hypnotic pets. Putting your will in the hands of a non-sapient can arguably be much safer, as long as you take a few certain precautions. Still, nothing compares with the utter submission of feeling another mind layering over your own, so if any of these creatures tickle your fancy, I'd sincerely encourage you to seek them out! It's a lonely galaxy without someone to keep you warm at night, and even these fabulous creatures may be hoping for someone just like you to walk into their lives.

Until next time, remember: Dance because it's fun, and Love the Strange!
Zeppleid Dakldak