I'm adding a new tag section to my Substack called Sketch Pitch, as I have a tendency to create random stories around my sketches or illustrations—it's something I can't resist doing.
What's meant to be a quick sketching session sometimes evolves into a full-blown story concept or pitch idea. It's almost ridiculous how I have to keep going until I've released all my creative steam. I also plan to share some old sketch pitches I've created in the past.
Below is a summary written with a middle-grade audience in mind (okay, most of my stories are childish, so please get used to that). It's a fun, comedic twist on Beauty and the Beast, featuring anachronistic elements, sibling dynamics, a quixotic heroine, and mysterious hero.
Enjoy!
The Beauty, the Beast, and the Bratty Little Brother
A forgetful but ridiculously brave sister charges into a crumbling dungeon to rescue her little brother who has a special talent for finding trouble. His latest mischief? He wandered straight into the ruins of Icarus Dungeon, a place so empty that even ghosts packed up and left, leaving one-star reviews.
UserReview_DeadBored: "Not a single human to haunt and showcase my frightening skills. How I miss the screams, the frantic scurrying as they run for their lives. Don't bother coming to this lifeless dungeon, my fellow ghosties—it will bore you to death!"
Star Rating: 1 ★
Our heroine comes "prepared," of course. She's got her father's sword (totally borrowed, not stolen) and a magic lantern so blinding that it's more of a liability than a help. But that doesn't stop our fearless sister from marching in there, ready to drag her wayward sibling out by the ear.
Just one tiny detail she might have forgotten in her rush to play hero. You know, that super important ancestral warning:
"For the love of all things sacred, do NOT wake the beast."
...Too late.
Because, as it turns out, the massive dungeon monster beneath the ruins does not appreciate being rudely woken up from his century-long nap—especially not by a lost little boy struck by hunger, who's currently in the middle of a heated debate with the beast about—of all things—snack privileges!
So now she's standing there, watching a 50-foot monster glare daggers at them while her little brother thinks all this is hilarious (until he realizes that HE was to become the intended snack). It's time to put those big sister skills to the ultimate test: getting them both out… alive.
The sketches that inspired the tale:
(I mean, who doesn't want to know how that snack debate turns out? 😄)
Love this - well done!
I wanna see the continuation! And wait, did her brother who initiated the snack privileges or the bird? Did the bird say those and the boy thought they were talking about snacks, not eating the boy 😆???