#Luxa& Aurora

[originalwinnercheesecake]

I wish we could have gotten more on the bat's and their interpersonal relationships

okay we know which bat's are bonded to which humans, what each bat looks like, and basic descriptions of their personalities

Ex. Ares: large black bat. Had two bonds: Henry and the Gregor. Was very strong, a known risk taker, broody/emo, unpopular with others, still a very good guy.

Aurora: Bright gold bat. Bonded to Queen Luxa. Patient, quiet most of the time. Soft/gentle spoken the rest. Is very brave. Can fly in a series of complicated acrobatics to where a rider has to be very skilled to stay on her. Her and Ares are very close friends.

Nike: Silver and black stripped bat. Daughter to Queen Athena, and the second bond of Howard. Cheerful and helpful. Notably more talkative then other bat's. Boot's is the only one whom she allows to call her "Pincess Nike."

But that is really kinda all we know. Those couple facts about Nike's patentage and Ares&Aroura's friendship, plus maybe that the bats technically need Queen Athena's permission to join the humans for missions, is all we know about their relationships outside of the ones they have outside of their bonds

I do not think Nike is Queen Athena's oldest child. Her being allowed to go on the quest for the plague was explained as the prophacy specifically stating bat's needed to send a representative, and Nike also being a "back up princess incase Boot's role has been misinterpreted". So letting her go off into danger then checks out. The Marks of Secret quest checks out too as it was completely unsanctioned and none of the group had permission to be out searching for the nibbles. All of them knew and said they would be put on house arrest once the returned home.

But still if Nike is next in line for the throne why does the title "Princess" mean so little to her that she only allows a baby who is laughing at an inside joke address that way, She specifically asks others not to "hold it against me" when they try to call her "Princess Nike". Additionally after she and Howard become close and decide they want to eventually bond she starts spending a lot of time with him in the human land. Again there is nothing outright strange about that, plenty of bat's hang out in the humans land with their bonds. But Queen Athena can be noted to mostly stay in her land. The only time she came to the humans land was for the meeting in Curse of the Warmblood. If "overseeing her kingdom" and "preparing to one day rule" were part of Nikes daily life the way they are Luxa's, wouldn't it make more sense for Nike to stay in the fliers land with her mother and Howard to go visit her? Not the other way around? The humans are welcome in the fliers land just like the bat's are in there's. Howard has family connections, medical skills, and is the nicest guy ever. I would be very surprised if he was not allowed to go to any safe land anytime he wants. Nikes disregard of the "Princess" title and seeming freedom to leave her land for adventures as well as casual trips leads me to belive she has unamed older sibling in the bat's land who is on deck to rule befor her.

Gonna move on in a second, but while we are talking about unamed members of Nike's family let's talk about her father. He is not in the books and Queen Athena seemingly rules the Bat's by herself. Does the fandom believe he is dead and Athena was not required to take a second mate/King afterwards, or is he alive and the flyers are a monolithic kingdom (one ruler). Because of Athena's royal status I personally belive the monolithic kingdom. Secondly since Queen Athena is a white bat and Nike is zebra stripped, is her father a dark colored bat, or would that not be how bat genetics work? This is a question I do not know the answer to.

Now let's move on from Nike and talk about our boy Ares. Again even before bonding with Henry he was known to be reckless, disobedient, and a risk taker. While in our safer society this might make Ares seem really cool to kids/teens he was never popular in the underland. Since the underlanders are always at war, or trying to live through or recover from a crisis this possibly made Ares seem like he was kinda crazy/dangerous to be around (You all judged him wrong). After Henry betrayed everybody and Ares broke his bond to save Gregor Ares was then completly shunned by every bat and human, save Luxa and Aurora. Okay to give minor credit: Nerissa still cared about Ares, and the reason he didn't know that was he was avoiding her. While Andromeda and (I guess) Nike did not originally trust Ares after the events of the first book, they got over it and became friends with him. Gregor started visiting more, and Howard is friendly to everybody. But still for like six months Ares had no one in his life but Luxa and Aurora. When they got lost on the second quest he referred to them as his only two reasons to live. He gave up going to the doctor for medical treatment for his mite bites and made a desperate venture into enemy lands alone to search for them, only going back to his cave when he was to sick to keep going.

During all these times there is no mention of Ares having parents, siblings, or relatives of any kind. So was he an orphan who had no one? Or did he originally have family, who after the events of the first book, hated and shunned him with all the rest? And if so were they ever sorry?

Lastly let's talk about Thailiah. Poor, brave, little Thailiah who was such a young bat when she died so tragically. Her friends all tried so hard to take care of her on the quest, and when she still died they all cried and promised to hold her in their hearts forever. Did she have a mother and father back home? What did they think/feel when the "picnic crew" went missing? When Gregor brought the other pups back did her patents believe Thailiah would be with them? Who had to tell them she was never coming home?

[aldoodles]

I hope they got to play ball again sometime

[ares-protector]

GUYS! I have learned crucial information about bats I think everyone should know. Especially pertaining to Underland fliers.

Bats can purr!

They vibrate and they sound like engines, it's adorable. There is a great video of one on the Maid of Bats Instagram page. And I am also immediately adding it to my headcanon that fliers purr unconsciously under certain circumstances of happiness, and that they can do it at will. Just a deep rumble while they vibrate. Just-

Gregor: *does something*

Ares: *finds it endearing and starts purring unconsciously*

Everyone else: 0_0 WTF, I didn't think Ares could do that anymore.

Or also,

Luxa: *extremely stressed out about something that happened or about being queen and goes to Aurora*

Aurora: *wordlessly wraps her wings around Luxa and starts purring to help Luxa relax*

[tangents-within-tangents]

Recently reread the Underland Chronicles so I decided to dig through and find the old fanart I did when I first read the series like 11 years ago (wow i’m old) so please enjoy

Featuring my Mark Crilley manga phase, my terrible handwriting lol, ✨copic markers✨, random details I latched on to for some reason, FEELs wtf bro, and me somehow missing the fact that Luxa got a haircut in book one, and spoilers (fr go read these books if you haven't they are so good)

Luxa and Henry (and questionable armor choices??)

The weave texture was meant to show that their clothes are made of spider silk (Idk what the random thigh pouch is supposed to be tho)

Hamnet and Hazard (and long arms so they can hold hands lol)

Queen Luxa

Yeah 13 year old me really latched on to Luxa and tried to make her my personality lolll

And for some reason the fish-shape crystal thing really stood out to me I guess

And the turtle trapdoor, I remembered that bit specifically during my reread bc I pictured this drawing I did of it. (I also vaguely remember writing (like by hand in my notebook) a mini missing scene fanfic about Luxa using the turtle trapdoor when she snuck out to join the quest in PoB XD)

(Don't ask about that size difference lol)

Okay here come the scenes/spoilers (and FEELS)

(and apparently I thought that holding Ares' claw meant his foot instead of his wing)

There you have it lol

I also distinctly remember making like a montage of Lapblood moments (the dart frog jumping near her face, strangled in the vines, sinking in quicksand (all near death experiences apparently, rip she had it rough), and Gregor brushing her fur) bc those were the moments I remembered and kept picturing during my reread. But unfortunately I could not for the LIFE of me find it!

Anyway, looking at your old art is cringeyyyy but it's still kinda fun too. This really is not how I picture the characters or clothing and stuff anymore, I might do some redraws if I ever find the time/motivation (lol as if) 

[anxiousdragoncollector]

Gregor absolutely would've learned how to bat-surf on Ares

[xarva]

the underland chronicles fanart? the underland chronicles fanart!

[m00nboys]

doodles from my 5th or so re-reading of The Underland Chronicles

[haveihitanerve]

Gregor: I’m fine.

Ripred: Lol, no you’re not. But lucky for you, I don’t care. Wanna go fight other rats?

—

Ares: I’m fine.

Luxa: Okay, I thought you were fine, but now I’m worried.

—

Gregor: I’m fine.

Howard: Is no one going to mention the fact that he’s bleeding from a stab wound?

—

Luxa: I’m fine.

Aurora: Going by historical precedent, I have the feeling I should’ve called Howard an hour ago.

—

Ripred: I’m fine.

Vikus: Perhaps I should invest in a dictionary. It seems that this entire family lacks an understanding of basic English vocabulary.

[rin-solo]

Cartoon Series Pt. 4 | Gregor and the Marks of Secret

Now here is the actual part 4 in my cartoon art series for TUC! I am doing one wallpaper for every book/quest. Are you interested in seeing more of these? You can find the previous parts on my profile.

Yes, the style is close to Phineas and Ferb; Idk why but, for some reason, I fell in love with the way the characters look in this style.

Disclaimer: the bg is a stock image; the rest is drawn by me!

[mentalmeles]

Completely forgot to post this doodle of Luxa and Aurora I did at work last night, whoops.

Also this is my first time ever drawing a bat so please be kind 🙏

[brokenfork]

Got to the scene at the end of book 1 where Gregor is sewing up Aurora's wing because he's the only one who has hands, isn't ill or in shock, and isn't a literal toddler. And like. The things I would do for a late series conversation between Aurora and Gregor. He was always trying so hard to protect the two people she loved the most, especially in book 5. I can't believe she wasn't at least a little bit fond of him. What did she think about him telling the adults that Luxa was lying? Did she appreciate him for protecting Luxa? Did she hate him for inadvertently keeping her from the battle as well? Did she ever see the letter? I just have to know.

[aldoodles]

Happy cousins!

[overandunderland]

Petitioning The Underland fans to start a mass Donation campaign to @emieclat.

Suzanne. For Sandwiches sakes your children are starving, you're gonna make us turn book one into a webtoon by the time I'm 40.

Happy TUC Week!! I’ve had these backlogged for a while now and just totally forgot to post them 😬

These fall under DARKNESS and BLOOD respectively! I’ll be posting something on FREE DAY as well ;)

-

instagram ⋆ youtube⋆ ko-fi

[originalwinnercheesecake]

Assigning Names to Characters from The Underland Chronicles who's names were 'never disclosed"

written because names and their meanings interest me, as does Greek mythology, history, and plays, and I had a couple Saturdays where I had no plans and writing this was a fun way to pass the time.

Character from Luxa's Paternal Family... basically everybody except Nerissa and Henry

Luxa's father the former King of Regalia, Judith's husband. So Luxa's name means "Light", which in the underland goes hand and hand with "Life". I have heard the fan theory that, because of how closely associated the two are then it is possible that all of the first born heirs have names that mean light. So I googled male names that mean light and I picked Lucius or King Lucius because it has a Latin root just like his daughters.

King Lucius and Queen Judith's bonds. Yes I know it is never stated that either characters had bonds. But humans having bonded relationships with the bats seem more common for them than marrying other humans. Even Suzanna Collins herself admitted that you have to be close with a bat to survive long in the underland. Anyway I always assumed that the pair had bonds, who died with them during their final battle. i have also always head cannoned that the King's bond was named Zeus for obvious reasons, and that the Queens bond was named Venus, because Aurora surely cannot be the only bat in the underland to have a Roman deity name instead of a Greek one.

Luxa's paternal uncle, Nerissa & Henry's father: The younger royal brother. At first I was going to give him a name that meant light like his brother. But since Nerissa's name means "Sea Nymph" and Henry's name means "House Ruler" I do not think that "spares" have the same naming tradition as the first borns. So I considered other words that have important enough symbolic meaning to name a prince after: Darkness, Torch, sword. when I looked up names that mean sword I discovered that the name 'Owen" has two meanings. It means both "noble/ well born" and 'young warrior". So I would say Prince Owen is a very fitting name for the Prince of a military based society.

His Bond: a female bat named Styx a minor goddess/river in the underworld. My reasoning is, again, that Nerissa's name means "Sea nymph" and it does not really fit with Henry "House Ruler" and Luxa "Light" name scheme. But if one of her parents had a bond who was named after a mythical body of water then they could have lead to a touch of inspiration. I picked "Styx" because while it does not sound anything like "Nerissa" as far as pronunciation, it being the river that runs through the underworld does give it a sense of mischief and tradgety, that envelops Nerissa & Henry's branch of the royal family.

Nerissa & Henry's mother, Luxa's paternal aunt by marriage. She is an interesting one. I had to remember that, like Judith, she married into the royal family instead of being born into it. I also do not think that her and her husband's marriage was arranged at birth (Luxa, Nerissa, and Henry do not have fiances). This means that while she probably did not have a name meaning "Princess" she could theoretically be named anything. I want to name her " Cleo," later "Princess Cleo"partly after Cleopatra who was a very historical women, and also because it means 'to praise or acclaim". That is fitting for a women who married into royalty and became a princess.

Her Bond: Achilles a brave and powerful soldier, who slipped up in battle once and died tragically. Another name that fits both the power and the tragedy of this team and this family. Also feel free to imagine this character as Nerissa and Henry's goofy gay uncle.

Characters from Gregor's family

Gregors Dad. Lee Campbell. Despite being heavily explored/featured in the books he is famously never given a name. I have seen fans in posts and fanfics give him names like Andrew, Steve, and Lee. While I am partial to the name Steve, I went with Lee. The Campbell kids physical descriptions are vague at best, but when you look add up what we do get (they have brown eyes and light brown skin, Boots hair is a mess of dark curls, Lizzie wears her hair in braids) most fans agree on the interpretation that they are biracial kids. Their dad's race is never specified (his face is near identical to Gregor's , and while he used to have dark hair its been gray since his time with the rats) and Lee is a name that works with multiple races you want to imagine him as

Gregor's Grandmother: Dorothy Campbell. Her family and friends shorten her name to either Dora or Dottie. Another member of Gregor's family who is never actually given a name in the books. There is one scene in CotWB, when Gregor and his parents are getting everyone up to evacuate the apartment because the rats are in the walls, where Gregor's dad is talking to grandma and he calls her "Mama" so she is likely the kids paternal grandmother, and their dad's mama. I am really glad that the dad being missing for 2.5 years did not cause a rift between her and Grace then. You know that these two women needed each other during that time, and the kids needed both of them.

I am naming her Dorothy after Dorothy from the wizard of Oz. Both are women who grew up on a country farm, then move to a strange and wondrous land that they enjoy parts of, but ultimately they never quite take to it.

Greogr's bonus grandmother, Mrs. Cormaci. We know her last name but not her first name. According to Google Cormaci as a surname is most likely either Scottish or Irish. Awesome because Morgan is a Welsh and Irish name. It also is the name of many magicians throughout literature. While Mrs.Cormaci is not specifically mentioned to have psychic powers but she has an almost magical talent for knowing what Gregor will need in the future. So as far as I am concerned her name is Mrs. Morgan Cormaci

Names for Characters from Luxa's Maternal family.... a couple bats and her uncle's lover

Names for Bats bonded to York and Susanna

York mentioned having a bond in GatCoC, who since childhood I have headcannoned was named Hercules. York is described as being a muscular giant, and so anybody who carries him in battle has to be very strong. Since he is not bonded to Ares he can be bonded to Hercules

With Susanna I never thought about her having a bond as a kid, but I guess she would have one. She is a doctor and an older sister, so let's say she has a bond named Apollo.

Hamnet's first bond. @deliver-the-light already did a poll on what her name should have been, and Eurydice was the name that won the poll. I like that myth, so I will honor the poll and keep that name.

Hamnet's lover, Hazards mother, and the women who maybe could have been an aunt to Luxa and Howard, had she ever gotten to meet them: Well first lets talk about this women. It was from her that Hazard inherited his two overland traits: curly black hair, and lime green eyes. Black hair and green eyes are actually a rare combination. Most people with black hair have either blue or brown eyes. According to google she would most likely be Irish or Scottish. Another notable thing about her, she once lived in New York City, or at least she had parents who lived there. She also wanted to take Hazard to visit at some point, which implies that there was a chance she could get back to the overland, and chose to stay in the jungles of the underland. Now New York is a difficult place to live with its over population, high cost of living, high crime and pollution rates. But the Underland jungles are also a difficult place to live. There was something about Life in the overland vs life in the underland that led to her choosing to stay in the Underland jungles. She didn't just love Hamnet, but also this wild world he lived in. Or her life above ground was so wild that she felt more secure in the underland? Because of all of this I looked up a female scottish or Irish name that means "Wild'. Her name is Fia.

Also if you have read another post I made you will know that I am a fan of the theory that She was Mrs. Cormaci's daughter. Finding out that there are cannon reasons to suspect that the two have similar/the same heritage is adding to that. Let Mrs. Cormaci see Hazards face either in a picture from the party, that Gregor shares with her, or have him come up for a day visit, and meet her in person. Have her send/show Hazard a picture of her daughter with Fia Cormaci's name written on it and him get all excited because yes that is his mother. Then let Mrs.Cormaci and Hazard form a relationship and eventually complete the circle, by giving Hazard an actual chance to chose which world he wants to live his life in.

Last thing since I was thinking a lot about Hamnet's family I used that opportunity to look up alternate meaning to "Hazard" and try and find justification for why loving parents would name their son something that means "Danger" and "bad thing". Alternate meanings include "Venture, put forward, chance, risk" Hamnet is named "Home", I just named Fia "wild" and these definitions make Hazards name fit perfectly with his parents and their story.

[quohotos]

what's something you would want to see in an animated adaptation of the underland chronicles?

Oh BOY where to begin?

These are going to be in no particular order...

Each trailer should have the prophecy read out in a dramatic voice. The trailer for the first one will go "And eight will be left when we count up the dead" and then a quick montage of some pretty scary shit happening but the cuts are too fast to see what's actually happening. The only exception to this is the marks of secret where the fact that the song is a prophecy is a reveal (however the song plays in full in the trailer, it's just structured different from the others)

The animation should be a little edgy. Give things hard angles, stay away from the bulbous smooth (Modern) Disney look.

Really go nuts with the bat designs. Embrace the warrior cats OC-ness of it. Let all the background bats be just as vibrant and wacky as the main cast.

Everyone's bond should sorta look like them, kinda the way that dogs kinda look like their owners. Solovet's bond should look like a total villain. Euripides should look like Vikus. I mean, Aurora's got that gold thing going on which Luxa also has with the crown. The bonds gotta look like they belong together spiritually.

The nibblers need to have more of a role before the marks of secret. Have them in the background of other shots, have them actually get lines in the jungle, see if they can be more present at the council discussing the plague, write some new scenes for them, etc. I wouldn't even be against them inventing a new nibbler character and putting them on one of the earlier quests. The audience should already know and care about them before we see them being horribly brutalized in a reenactment of a real world genocide.

Ares, and all the other bats for that matter, need to have very expressive eyes. They don't always get a lot of lines so they should still have a way to have visible presence in the scene's that they're in.

Every time the bats do that thing where they detect rats and their ears shoot up it should play a musical sting

All the underland creatures/factions should have their own leitmotif. Ripred's lieitmotif should be this uncanny blending of both the rat's theme but also with hints of the Regalians and Gregor's. After Gregor think's that boots has died in the labyrinth there should be this super dramatic and gutwrenching theme, and then all the music just stops for the rest of the movie until they reunite and then the music can come back. The most you get is like a minimalist drum and base sequence, but nothing properly melodic until we know that boots is safe.

The sequence Gregor escaping with Ares and Pearlpelt from the labyrinth should be all in one take.

Every time Gregor slips into the Rager state it should be accompanied by a recognizable sound effect sting and have it's own sound effect and muscial sting. Something like glass shattering mixed with reverb and pitch shifted down. Rager sequences should be in first person and show just how much he's dissociated from the violence he's doing. The audience just sees that split vision with all the weak points highlighted and one by one they get crossed out.

I hope they cast someone appropriately nasally to play Ripred, I think he should be a little high pitched and scrungly. However, I would make an exception if they somehow got Kieth David to voice him. I would be very unsatisfied if they cast Ryan Reynolds

I hope they cast someone with a deep voice to play Ares. He needs to be big and imposing and scary. He needs to be like the big kid at the playground. The fact that there's a more pained sensitive side to him needs to be a revelation. He needs to be a bit monstrous so you can understand why everyone sees him that way, and why he's dying not to be seen that way but has basically given up and accepted how the world sees him. I would be very Unsatisfied if they cast Ryan Reynolds. It would be fucking hilarious if they cast Chris Pratt... I would hate it but it would probably work and that makes me very mad.

I don't really care how Gregor is cast. Caleb McLaughlin would be a perfect Gregor, but he's all grown up now. He could probably still voice him but it wouldn't be the same. I do not care so long as it's not Ryan Reynolds.

Please don't have anyone call Gregor "Greg"... that just feels wrong. Well maybe Ripred would do it specifically to piss him off.

Henry needs to have a dumb haircut, like... it has to be stupid and ostentatious.

The audience should get to see Ripred from close to Gregor's perspective often. Have the camera right over his shoulder and tilted up to see just how tall this beast is.

Let us see more of the happy times that are alluded to at the start of the marks of secret. Even if it's just a montage, let us see them being normal. Let us see Gregor and Ares play that ball game and see the kids just hanging out. Please 😭

Make Gregor more talkative. There's great moments of internal monologue that could be lost in a screen adaptation, let him talk to Ares or Luxa or even temp about it.

In the code of claw Ares should go with him to the prophecy room to learn that he's going to die. Gregor should tell him about the stone knight and it can be something they share. You can even set it up with them doing the bond handshake there while laying on the floor so that it's a visual callback later (Fuck, I just thought of that and now I'm destroyed again).

I mentioned this in another post, but I think it would be cool to have Gregor get a walkman or other battery powered music player from the museum. They can have a few tunes to bond over, but eventually they have to take the batteries out to put them into flashlights.

A huge missed opportunity in the books is how basically every single human in the Underland we see is royalty or part of the military. I think it would be cool to let us see a bit more of how the regular people live. Maybe have one or two characters who aren't royal or soldiers.

Earlier entries should try to cut away from the violence, simply showing the character's reactions to the horrible things happening around them. Later entries should stop hiding it, paralleling the loss of innocence of the characters. By the code of claw Gregor and Ares, or at the very least Ripred, should be allowed to swear. There's no way you're getting that story on screen without at least a PG 13 rating, and these people just witnessed a genocide and are about to kill a bunch of people in a war. Gregor can say "Holy shit" instead of "aww Jeez" at least once. I also just think "What's your plaaaaaaan" is great but "What's your fucking plan?" lands pretty hard as well.

Don't make the underland too visible. Don't add global illumination. Let there be darkness, let there be long shadows, let us only barely see distant things. When Gregor finally gets echolocation then make the distant things visible through a strange shader... but cut out the bit where he can echolocate heat that makes no sense.

Ms. Cormaci needs to sound exactly like how she did in the audiobook, this isn't up for debate.

When the Bane calls Gregor and Ares to battle it needs to be one of the most disturbing, blood chilling things the audience has ever heard. It needs to be loud, and painful, and monstrous. You gotta see that the pup we all loved and coddled has fully lost it and become this fascist ball of hatred and murder and violence. It should cut through the audience's core and silence everything else in the scene. Just have it hold there after he's shouted, showing them locking eyes on each-other and cutting back in between the two. Yes, the Bane has completely been subsumed as a symbol of his side, but so has Gregor. He's in the black armor, he's the figurehead as well. There are parallels, y'all.

Let the Shiners be at least 20% less awful. They're funny, but let them have their hero moment where they're redeemed in the marks of secret rather than saving it for the end of code of claw.

Old Hamnet in the flashbacks to the flooding of the garden should be hot. Flashback Ripred who was there is of course also hot. He remains so in the present as well.

The narrative that Gregor is told in the first book, that the natives just let Sandwitch have the Underland because they weren't really using it... it's heavily implied that's a lie, especially after we learn about the Diggers and how they were genocided and basically expunged from history. I think there should be a direct callback to it, make this implication an explicit part of the story.

Give my girl Aurora some more lines. She goes on all these adventures and never gets to be more than "Luxa's bat".

Oh no I hit character limit for this post... uh... I have a lot of thoughts and I probably will have more in the future 😅. Probably way more than you asked for but you opened the floodgates and this was the result.

Thank you for the ask!