Rakshasa in a Top Hat

Because multiple series of mine, past and present, include or involve immortality.

In the Shadow Over Atlantis, immortality was hinted at but never actually approached. Rodney McKay as the Mother Hydra of the Heretic Nest of Deep Ones would be immortal. Visions of the future were invoked, surrounded by the Deep One children and grandchildren of his friends. Their deaths were both harder and easier, harder because those around him would remind him forever, easier because those descendants would be there to remind him forever.

In Lady of the Void, Lady Iaso was a nigh-immortal goa'uld who imprinted her memories upon Caldwell's brain before she was forcibly extracted. That series explored and would have continued to explore how a personality is little more than applied memories and how Caldwell slowly lost himself to the weight of five thousand years of memories. He would be alive but how much of that brain and its memories were truly him anymore? This became a blessing for him as he's not a... stable man. He didn't have much left to live for. Immortality wasn't worse than death, it was so much better than living.

In the Dragon Age Worldstate, spirits don't die. Nor do abominations, if they're allowed to live. There's little bits and bobs of immortality all over that worldstate. Justice is only the start.

And in the Eldritch Stardew series? Immortality is... It can be perfect, honestly. The series is those involved coming to realize that.

"Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" by Ray Bradbury

I was... in middle school I think? I didn't pick up the Martian Chronicles on my own, I admit. I picked it up after I read this story in class. It wasn't actually assigned in class, the story after it was assigned and the textbook was just a giant anthology of "approved" short stories printed in their entirety. But I was bored and I don't even remember the story I was supposed to be reading. I read this one instead.

This was the first story I ever read of transformation in fic, of full-body transformation so unlike the body horror of movies or the hand-waved werewolf and vampire stories. This was a full, total, welcomed loss of humanity into a long slow slide to something Else.

During my formative years.

You can find hints of martian sand and golden eyes in the Stargate AUs I wrote, all of them found On AO3. You can find hints of martian sand and golden eyes in my Star Wars stuff. And you can find hints of martian sand and golden eyes in my Dragon Age AU.