The Infinite PUN-tential Of Nature

20260602

Prompt from “pridemonthprompts” 2025 list.

Benji looked around his sister’s room and tried to brace subtly. “Ok, let’s see this ‘amazing poster’ for the Pride Meet.”
“Right here!” Beth beamed and whipped off the duvet which had been acting as improvised shroud. “TADA!”
The contemplative silence stretched out just a little too long.
“The rainbow lion is cute…”
Implying the others weren’t, which was objectively wrong. Beth managed to fight her indignant interjection down to a furious pout.
“And then… you’ve put the gay flag on a penguin?”
“Uh, duh!” Beth rolled her eyes at her brother’s ignorance. “Penguins are totes the gayest animals. Don’t you remember that picture book?”
“Mm. Sure. And then that’s a…?”
“A monitor LIZ-bian!” Beth beamed, her glee only growing at Benji’s forbearing groan. “Because I’m pretty sure monitor lizards are one of those species that, like, the ladies mount each other to have virgin births and stuff?”
“Pretty sure?” Benji folded his arms and sighed. “You didn’t stop to look it up?”
“Tsk. Such a plebeian! If you were an artist-” Beth did a twirl “-you’d understand the importance of Trusting Your Muse.”
“I’d rather trust the encyclopaedia…”
“Ugh what did I do in a past life to get stuck with the worst twin ever??”
“No idea, but we’ll just have to trust the universe’s punishment for you was appropriate.” Benji gave a sly smirk as she huffed, then his expression became serious again as his attention returned to the poster. “And this is…?”
“A BI-nobo!”
“Uh-huh.” Benji didn’t even humour her with a groan this time. “Firstly, swapping ‘bi’ for ‘bo’ is a stretch-”
“Truly you are the worst twin ever…”
“-and more importantly, aren’t bonobos famous for, um,” Benji blushed, “having sex constantly with no, um, criteria? Doesn’t that play into negative stereotypes about bisexuals?”
“Go ahead and come up with a better idea!” Beth grumbled, her shoulders hunching defensively.
“I’ll put it to the group chat.”
“Ugggh, see what I mean?? Art by committee is such a plebeian move.”
“Well, I think everyone who’s helping run the event this is representing should get a say!”
“…Fiiiine.”
“And on the end, is that an asexual sea anemone?”
“Yeah.”
“Because they’re, like, biologically asexual?”
Beth smirked. “That, and if you touch ‘em when they don’t want you to, you deserve what happens to you!”
“Ok, sure. Cute. Let me take a picture and send it to everyone, and see what suggestions they have.”
Beth sighed and scuffed at the carpet with one foot as Benji fussed about getting a good shot. Silently fretting, as subtly as she could, about what everyone else would think of her work.
“…The art itself’s really good, though.” Benji shot her a reassuring smile. Maybe she hadn’t been subtle enough. Or maybe they just knew each other too well. “And using watercolour to add the pride flags gives it a lovely kinda… classy? Look.”
“Oh, well,” Beth puffed up, her grin returning, “it’s because our identities don’t, like, define us, y’know?? So I wanted the flags to be obvious because I mean it’s pride and all but I also didn’t want them overriding the animal it’s all about the sum total, y’know??”
“Yeah. Being a whole person who happens to have that flag.”
“Exactly!” Beth grabbed her sketchbook. “That reminds me - when I was trying to think of an animal to represent trans peeps all I could come up with was TRANS-tula but you’re gonna tell me that’s a stretch-”
“It really is.”
“And also, like, lots of people find spiders scary, right?? And I don’t want to make it seem like trans people are scary!”
“Another question for the committee.”
“Tsh. Fine. But if they start getting super picky about details I’m out! Artistic vision or bust, baby!!”
Benji rolled his eyes. “I’ll be sure to warn all our close friends who signed up to help us with this event about that. They’ll be shocked. I mean, you’re usually so gracious about handling people nit-picking your art.”
“I’m as gracious as that behaviour calls for.” Beth informed him with great dignity.
Which was somewhat wasted, as he was looking at his phone. “Ooh. Ok, we’ve had the first suggestion - two of them, actually. Jim says you missed the obvious pun with ‘BI-son’, but then Paloma came up with ‘BI-chon’, which would let you get super cute with it…”
“What’s a bichon…?” Beth peered over her brother’s shoulder, and promptly lit up when she saw the photo Paloma had dropped in the chat. “OH MY GOSH THOSE ARE ALL ADORABLE!!”
“Annnnd RM says we should use ‘suma-TRANS elephant’ and is making messed up jokes about going extinct.”
“Okaaay. Well, they get to make those jokes, and I totes get the dark humour as survival thing, but I don’t wanna put that on a pride poster.” Beth frowned. “I guess we could say it’s, like, fighting back against going extinct? Poor things aren’t extinct yet, right?”
“Let me check. Hmm… says they’re ‘critically endangered’, which…”
“Sadly works.”
They heaved a joint sigh.
“Fine, I’ll pencil that in.” Beth muttered, scribbling in her sketchbook. “See if we can come up with a, like, happier one, though?”
“Oh, and…” Benji pulled a face. “Everyone agrees with you about penguins being the gayest animal.”
“HA! Told you!”
“I think you’re all just the same kind of crazy.”
“Well duuuh.” Beth wrapped him in a one-armed hug, grinning right in his face. “That’s why we all clumped together!”

Prompt was “Design”.