The Pygmalion Syndrome - Other Stuff

Taral Wayne
Solid State (new scan)
Art © Taral Wayne.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.


See note below picture
Taral Wayne - Solid State
Note by Leem: I previously posted a line art version of this picture that Taral posted on FurAffinity a couple of years ago. More recently Taral posted this improved version on FurAffinity (log on to view adult content), noting: I think the line art version was scanned from a fanzine cover, and I laboriously removed traces of the shading with Photoshop (because it hadn’t been reproduced well on the fanzine). This was scanned from the original art and is an amost exact reproduction.

I’ve taken the liberty of editing together the relevant bits from Taral’s comments on both versions:

The piece was inspired, I think, by a short story of Larry Niven’s, about an astronaut in a pickle on a moon of Saturn (I think). (Pluto, actually, as one of the FurAffinity correspondents pointed out - Leem.) If he let his air run out, he was a goner. So he took a desparate chance and opened his faceplate, allowing himself to freeze instantly. In a frozen state, he might last until rescue was possible, and maybe someday he could be unfrozen. What he hadn’t expected is that when he became so cold his brain cells became superconductive, he was semi-conscious again.

This astronaut took the idea a little further, you see.

This isn’t just anyone who, with rhyme or reason, decided to doff their space suit amid ancient ruins on a cryogenic planet. It’s a portrait of a British female rock singer who was briefly popular in the late ’70s. Anyone guess who?

Hint, before she cut her first album, she sometimes earned money by recording terrified screams for horror movies. I can give other obscure clues if necessary...












Leem here. Just as an aside, it happens that I’ve written a 1,000-word story loosely based on the same idea, but with a fully conscious nude male subject. However, he didn’t get there voluntarily and doesn’t have much hope of rescue... well, actually he doesn’t have any hope at all. He’s doomed to remain trapped and frozen for eternity. That’s just the kind of sadist I am, I guess.

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