Dr.
LightNews LightNews
banner
fedi.lucidillusions.in
Dr.
@fedi.lucidillusions.in
11 followers 6 following 15 posts
ex-Mad Scientist ~ Photographer and Videographer ~ Perversely Subversive and Absurd ~ I love Books, Bowie and the Beatles ~ Not Suitable For Human […]

🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mastodon.social/@lucidillusions, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Dr.
sinalana.bsky.social
Art by @lucidillusions.in
February 7, 2026 at 7:51 AM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Do you want custom made movie posters? A flash fiction to gift someone? Do you have old videos that you might want to be edited into something you can gift a loved one?

check out my @ko-fi.com store.

(I need 4 for the month of February)

#Gifts #BSNM #GiftSky
February 7, 2026 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Elmer the vertically challenged poltergeist wants to “redeem” himself, so here's my piece for #WIPSnips from the short story “The Ghosts of Christmas and a Very Low-Altitude Christmas Miracle”

Read it here: www.patreon.com/posts/145626...

💙📚
#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #CozyHorror
“You’ll manage,” Bartholomew snapped. “Just remember: no more butter dish flips, no trying to move heavy objects, and for the love of the nether-realms, stay away from anything with a microprocessor. Now go. Your subject is already snoring. Start with Past.” Elmer zipped out of the office, his low-to-the-ground flight path creating a negligible but still annoying draft under the door. He was going to be the Ghost of Christmas Past. He was going to redeem the spectral name. He just had to figure out how to be intimidating from the height of a house slipper.
February 7, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Since I'm caught up with editing, here's a quick post for today's #BirdOfTheDay theme (alt)

##Black&White — any bird with those colors

#BirdsOfBlueSky #Photography #Nature #WildlifePhotography #EastCoastKin #Birds
the photo was taken early morning when the sun was red, and the reflection aligned perfectly with where the ibis (white bird with black head and a long black beak) was sitting. in the background there is also a smaller white bird with black wings and long legs (it is out of focus) -- there are water ripples/
February 5, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Very excited for the this week's #FlashFictionFriday story that will be available tomorrow on my @patreon.com

www.patreon.com/c/lucidillus...

(join today, and receive it in your inbox)

Sharing an excerpt as well.

#WritingCommunity #ReadingCommunity #ReadSky #WriteSKy #AmWriting #NewStory
a photograph, a little blurry, there's a wooden table in the corner, and there's a typewriter on the table, and a candle (on a stand) next to it. on the right there's a white see through curtain (white) and you can see part of the window. on the left there's a frame that is visible. The text overlay reads. The Last Guest. “Courtesy,” the stranger said. He stood up, and suddenly the small room felt much smaller. “I never enter uninvited.” He began to circle the space, his gaze lingering on the bolted door, the lack of photos, the solitary plate in the sink. “You live alone. No one visits. No one would notice if you vanished into the dark.”
February 5, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Looking through archive for today's #BirdOfTheDay theme #BackyardBirds (also adding one for the Alt theme - #LongNecks who are during winter seen near by)

#WrensDay #WarblerWednesday #BirdsOfBlueSky #Photography #Nature #WildlifePhotography #EastCoastKin #Birds
a small bird perched on a branch - you can see lots of green leaves around it. the bird has a white/cream chest and lower body - the head and back is ashy gray in color. has a long black beak - beak is open as it was making sounds. the tail is light brown and has few black spots. Either a Green or a Greenish Warbler a small bird with brown head, wings and tail. the belly is whiter shade. you see a small yellow beak, and black eyes, there's also a white streak from the beak passing beyond the eyes. The bird is perched on top of a mango tree flowers. there are mango leaves in the frame, and there's blue sky behind it. There is a scaly-breasted munia, sitting on a rock. Next to it is a small patch of tall grass. behind there are two more birds from the same species. Its name is based on the distinct scale-like feather markings on the breast and belly. The adult is brown above and has a dark conical bill. A flamboyance of flamingos, the one in focus in front is a grey colored juvenile? and the ones behind have white plumage with pink tail feathers. and pink legs. they also have pink beak with black tip.
February 4, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Just sent out the first story for the month as well, only thing to cover all the bases for the day would be writing/finishing a new story?

Anyway I felt like making cards for January Update.

#2026WritingJourney #WritingCommunity

p.s. join patreon - read stories!
www.patreon.com/c/lucidillus...
QUICK JANUARY UPDATE Total Submissions Sent: 17 Rejections Received: 6 Stories Withdrawn: 2 Stories Accepted: 2 New Stories on Patreon The Fatal Omission The Sacrifice in the Name of Science and Ego The Universal Conquest Witchcraft 101 - The Augur’s Eye No Vacancy In The Void Dear Suvajeet, Thanks for submitting THE DIGITAL FAMILIAR. It’s a great story, and I would be happy to publish it! I expect it will go up in late March—will let you know once I have an exact date and get you a proof copy a few days prior to publication. I’ll send a contract over soon and get you paid <redacted>. I am excited and honored to publish your story. By the way, thanks for all the support on BlueSky! Thanks, <redacted> Editor, <redacted> --- Hi Dr. Suvajeet Duttagupta! We are so excited to let you know that The Garden of Unfinished Stories has been accepted for <redacted>! Unfortunately, we will not be accepting The Visible Burden of Invisibility. Please respond to this email ASAP to let us know that you would still like to be published. If so, let us know we can send over a contract for you to sign. If you would like to withdraw your piece, we understand, but will be very sad to see you go. Thank you! — The <redacted> Press Team
February 1, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
I have a new story up on @patreon.com
(about 600 words of cosmic satire, rather than horror)

My target for January was to reach 51 readers, I'm currently at 50, so if you'd like at least one free story in your inbox every week, it's a good day to join!

#WritingCommunity #AmWriting #WriteSky
No Vacancy in the Void | Lucid Illusions
Get more from Lucid Illusions on Patreon
www.patreon.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Dr.
thebluemango.in
I usually save all the deep frying till the end of the month, so here's some khasta kachori I made for our dinner tonight.

This is the first time I am getting the recipe just right. 😅 🍜

Small recipe. Yield: 5 small kachoris (53-59 gram each), no leftovers. :D
A steel plate with compartments, on the big one, there is 2 full kachori and a half one showing the reddish brown urad dal besan stuffing. There's a small dollop of green chilli thetcha smaller container has a tomato-potato gravy. Kachori held in my hand, this is before it is fried Brass plate with 5 fried kachoris and behind a small wok with curry.
January 30, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Today's Alt theme for #BirdOfTheDay is #Blue — any bird with Blue on its plumage.

Can I also add my most sold derpy blue borb #BirdArt? lol

#BirdsOfBlueSky #Photography #Nature #WildlifePhotography #EastCoastKin #Birds
Watercolor painting of a derpy looking blue bird with black beak and big eyes. It has black legs. 🐡 a small bird with brown head and body with a white neck and chest. with a red beak, and dark underside of tail feather and blue wings and tails. - sitting on a thin branch. there are small leave visible on the branch. A lesser adjutant stork, sun bathing (noon time) with its wing spread out completely. the wings are a varying shades of blue with a green hue, and moves from lighter to some dark black tips. the photo is taken from behind, so part of the head and the neck is visible. there is elephant grass all around. A close up of a cassowary head. It has a blue neck and an orange brown crescent above the head
January 30, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
I finished (a somewhat polished) first draft last night, that I want to send out for a horror anthology, and there are some lines I really love, but I'm sharing the opening para for #FaveLineFriday.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky #AmWriting #AmEditing #WritingPrompts #WriteEditSubmit
The fluorescent lights of the city morgue hummed, a sound that slowly drilled into the space behind my eyes. It was a dying, electrical whine, a frequency that seemed to resonate with my eye teeth. It was the only sound in the tiled room, other than the wet, tearing noise of my own feeding.
January 30, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
something scary to scare away the Monday blues~~

using the #Critterary free day to share a snip from a story that I've sent out recently (and keeping my fingers crossed)

#Writing #WritingPrompts #AmWriting #HorrorSnip
It started filling his bedroom, a hulking silhouette against the city glow. A dog. Not a friendly, slobbering beast, but something was wrong. Its jaws, he noticed, even in his terror-stricken half-sleep, were unnaturally slack, too wide, as if made for a specific gruesome purpose. Sometimes, when it seemed to draw breath, he heard a wet, sickening smack, as if it was trying to wolf something down.
January 26, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Paddling, birds standing in water.

#BirdsOfBlueSky #Photography #Nature #WildlifePhotography #EastCoastKin #Birds
a small open section between two large portions of mangroves, with bushes and leaves visible. the open stretch has a variety of birds visible, the intermediate egrets with their long necks are all standing, the little egret has its beak in the water, next to it there is a small group of three stilts huddled together. - further behind are more egrets, and a bird captured flying. a photograph with multiple egrets -- from little - intermediate and great egrets. they are all standing/in salt pans - you can see rows of dry land between the water sections. small sandpiper family birds in the front right.
January 26, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
A little late to the sending out new stories, but managed to focus on three stories that I've been meaning to send out, and away they go!

(and I guess, I can expect a few rejections this week, equal balance)

#WritingCommunity #2026WritingJourney
lucidillusions.in The Doctor (Commissions open) @lucidillusions.in · 22d
Got a rejection to a story i'd sent out in November. Total Rejection stands at 3.

This only means I must polish stories over the weekend and send out to few more magazines before end of next week!

#WritingCommunity #2026WritingJourney
lucidillusions.in The Doctor (Commissions open) @lucidillusions.in · Jan 8
Now trying to stack the odds in my favour, sent out few more (okay 3) simultaneous submissions to some very interesting magazines.

First week of January: 2 Rejections received; 10 Submissions sent.

#WritingCommunity #2026WritingJourney
January 25, 2026 at 8:57 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Woke up to an e-mail, the first acceptance of 2026, for an anthology 😬😬😬

(Alongside a rejection, I'd sent out two stories for the book)

#2026WritingJourney #WritingCommunity #AmWriting
lucidillusions.in The Doctor (Commissions open) @lucidillusions.in · 13d
A little late to the sending out new stories, but managed to focus on three stories that I've been meaning to send out, and away they go!

(and I guess, I can expect a few rejections this week, equal balance)

#WritingCommunity #2026WritingJourney
lucidillusions.in The Doctor (Commissions open) @lucidillusions.in · 22d
Got a rejection to a story i'd sent out in November. Total Rejection stands at 3.

This only means I must polish stories over the weekend and send out to few more magazines before end of next week!

#WritingCommunity #2026WritingJourney
January 26, 2026 at 4:18 AM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Today's #WIPSnips is from one of the story I'm hoping finds a home soon.

So here's to “commit” and a hope it gets accepted soon.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WritersLift #AmWriting #BookSky #SelfPromo
The match was almost out, a final, defiant flicker. He inhaled deeply, drawing on a clarity he hadn't possessed before. He pressed the knob gently, then released it. He pressed it again, holding for a beat, then released. A faint, almost imperceptible click echoed in the silence. He tried a different rhythm, guided by the shapes he had committed to memory, the rise and fall of their curves, the sharp angles. A soft thunk reverberated through the stone. A section of the wall, where the symbols culminated, slowly, almost imperceptibly, began to retract inward, revealing a sliver of inky blackness beyond. Not a door with hinges, but a perfectly flush panel sliding into itself, revealing an opening no wider than his own shoulders.
January 26, 2026 at 8:37 AM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Today's alternative #BirdOfTheDay theme is any bird with #white on it, so here's a Black Stork showcasing the main theme #Poise

#BirdsOfBlueSky #Photography #Nature #BlueSkyArtShow #WildlifePhotography #EastCoastKin #Birds #SilentSunday #ClassicMono
Black Stork the bird has black (somewhat iridescent) and white feathers - and the beak and its legs are red in color It has one of its feet out as it takes next step, and it is focusing in the pool to find next meal. Black Stork the bird has black (somewhat iridescent) and white feathers - and the beak and its legs are red in color It has one of its feet out as it takes next step, and it is focusing in the pool to find next meal. a black and white photograph of a black stork sitting at the edge of a water body, there are stones in front of it. the bird has black (somewhat iridescent) and white feathers - and the beak is mostly red in color
January 25, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Dr.
thebluemango.in
Competing with @lucidillusions.in’s Derpy Blue Birb... Here's an European Robin (derpy edition)

#Birds #BirdArt #WatwrColour #TradArt
A bird? A Robin? With the words 'crie crie crie' written in blue On top of the Robin. Against a green background with a grid - a cutting mat. You can also see a pencil thrown haphazardly next to the paper pad.
January 24, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
Sometimes I feel like I've written so many stories last year, that when I really need to think of the right one, I'm totally blanked out!

So I'm kinda going with the vibe (from one of my Witchcraft 101 stories: www.patreon.com/posts/witchc...) for Day 25 of #Critterary

#Writing #WritingPrompts
Glyph's usually cheerful voice crackled, laced with an unfamiliar static. "Warning: Spatial anomaly detected. Coding error in spell matrix. Reality integrity compromised. Initiating emergency shutdown protocol… failed." A collective gasp filled the room. The rift, a swirling vortex of green and purple pixels, pulsed with an unnerving energy. *Then, a form began to coalesce within it. It was wispy, indistinct, like a broken video file of a human shape, its edges glitching and dissolving.* "What the hell is that?" Chloe whispered, her voice trembling. She dropped her phone, but the image of the flickering entity remained burned into her vision. When she picked it back up, the creature was clearer through the lens, its distorted face contorting in what looked like agony or rage. My mind: is this a perfect time to share *forgets plots for all stories written* Meme description: Edit of 'is this a pigeon meme.' The edit reads is this a... a... a... a... a... (Could also be aaaaaaaaa...) Some days it's one and some days it's the other.
January 25, 2026 at 6:10 AM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
There are few stories where I've used today's #WIPSnips word “notice”, but decided to share this one I'd written for #BlueSkyArtShow last year.

(You can read on my website)
ss.lucidillusions.in/bsky/2025/09...

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
- This year, though, something felt different. The usual boisterous seagulls were silent, perched on pilings like statues. The scent of honeysuckle was tinged with something metallic, like old coins left out in the rain. I first *noticed* it by the lighthouse, a faint scratching sound that seemed to come from inside the stone itself. It was a relentless, dry whisper that felt less like a sound and more like a vibration on my skin, making the hairs on my arms stand on end. I shook my head, dismissing it. Old buildings make old noises. It was probably just the wind. - But the whispers returned, and they weren’t just in my head. I heard them on the boardwalk, a chorus of faint, dry scrapes that seemed to follow me. I saw it on the faces of the people who had come to vacation here, a vacant, almost ecstatic look in their eyes. On the beach, I saw the same strange spiral symbol etched into the wet sand, a pattern that no one else seemed to *notice*. I even saw it in a child's drawing, a crayon sketch of a stick figure family with that same swirling shape over the sun.
January 25, 2026 at 9:21 AM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
From a story that I wrote some time back, but haven't been able to revisit and edit (I also need to figure out where to send it). So here's an excerpt from “The Gilded Taxidermy” (working title) with the word ‘wither’ for #SundaySnips

#WritingCommunity #Writingprompt #Writesky #HQpress #AmWriting
Then came the violation of my defence. The high, thin grinding sound of my enamel shattering still echoes — the roots *withering*, the natural structure failing — as he replaced my sharp, functional teeth with sand. The change was a prolonged terror, each granular replacement confirming my utter helplessness. The disfigurement was a bloodless substitution that stripped my ability to speak defiance.
January 25, 2026 at 11:18 AM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
The #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #PerfectPerch (birds perched on a branch)

White-throated kingfisher (since Alan has a soft spot for KFs)

#Birds #BirdsOfBlueSky #Photography #Nature #WildlifePhotography #EastCoastKin #StunDay
a small bird with brown head and body with a white neck and chest. with a red beak, and dark underside of tail feather - sitting on a thin branch. there are small leave visible on the branch.
January 17, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
I keep saying I've shared one of my favourite stories way too often, but I really really like a whole lot of my stories!

Here's a #WIPSnips for “remain” from The Button (definitely one you should give a read)

www.patreon.com/posts/136530...

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #AmWriting
A profound wave of... I suppose, guilt — an emotion I hadn't known I was capable of feeling, washed over my vast consciousness. Now, only silence remained beyond the humming of the console. The Horsemen, their work done, their cosmic hunger sated, dissipated out of existence. And here I am, staring at the endless, unremarkable void that used to be my universe. a promo card, with blurred pictures of various buttons on a dashboard.
January 18, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
For today's* #WIPSnips word “drain” sharing a snippet from a half done WIP (that I should really revisit soon and finish)

*technically yesterday's but there's still time for today's prompt.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WritersLift #AmWriting #BookSky #SelfPromo
Detective Inspector Meera Sharma was not your typical crime branch officer. A brilliant mind with an almost unsettling sharp memory, Meera carried within her the weight of every crime scene she'd ever encountered. It was her eidetic recall, an ability to vividly relive the horrors the victims witnessed, that both fuelled her relentless pursuit of justice and haunted her waking hours. Unlike many of her colleagues, who saw crime scenes as puzzles to be solved, Meera absorbed the lingering violence - the victim's last moments, the killer's cold intent. This empathy, while making her an exceptional detective, often left her emotionally drained, seeking solace in cups of masala chai, its warmth a temporary respite from the chill of her memories.
January 20, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Reposted by Dr.
lucidillusions.in
super late for yesterday's #BirdOfTheDay (Alt) theme - #BirdsYouLove and let me share some owls :D

#BirdsOfBlueSky #Photography #Nature #WildlifePhotography #EastCoastKin #Owls #Raptors

p.s. i have an owl wallpaper pack (ko-fi.com/s/e55940cdd6)
A mother and juvenille Indian scops owl snoozing in a hole of a tree branch. n owl with red eyes is looking at the photographer, sitting a little hunched on a main branch -- there are few thinner branches with leaves framing the bird. the bird has orange to white to black plumage creating the patterns.
January 20, 2026 at 7:00 AM