#What is this?! a bit of plot and worldbuilding?!

[sfth-battle-of-the-longforms]

VOTE BUS!!!!!! people saying "it's not that bad", i posit that not only is it not that bad, it's REALLY GOOD!!! bus is a shining example of coherence and emotional depth in an early play. of course the *terms* are weird, the major players, but the plot itself is very well-put-together with meaningful beats and moments of connection!!

a vote for bus is a vote for a genuinely very sweet story about a hopeful author who knows what she wants, helps a flawed and burnt-out retiree find himself again, and makes a place for herself and her work in the process. the main antagonist is the ONLY canonical user of multiple pronouns in a longform (butch is word-of-god confirmed to not be cis in the future, but magnus is the only canon presently-genderqueer character we have!) and not only is she one of the most iconic antagonists of all times, he's also at least 60 years old and a communist!!!!! what more could you POSSIBLY want. also aj plays a leading woman in a very heartfelt and endearing way, sam's mentor character is beautifully off-the-wall, there are so many bits and one-liners and places where a beam of mysterious worldbuilding breaks through. bus my absolute beloved, they could never make me hate you.

anyways, vote bus!!! vote bus for transgenders and erotica authors and weird freaks everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it’s crazy how well written the propaganda is.

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - July 13 - Favorite Series

Happy weekend, friends! Today I’m sharing some of my favorite Stevetony series. I really love a story that follows along one continuum and lets us get to know that particular version of Steve and Tony over a course of several stories, really dig deep and live in their world. It takes a lot of plotting and worldbuilding from the author and investment from the reader and I just--love it. So here’s some favorite series. 

Pieces of Echoes by geekymoviemom

When weapons designer and SHIELD consultant Tony Stark and his son are kidnapped following a routine weapons demonstration, newly defrosted World War II hero Steve Rogers is sent to find them.

But what begins as just another mission, a way for Captain America to reintegrate back into society, quickly warps into something more as betrayals are discovered, harsh, long-buried truths are finally brought to light, and Tony and Steve come to realise that their biggest allies are each other.

This series is a bit of 800k in total, and focuses on if Tony were a parent before and throughout his journey as Ironman, if Steve had been part of his life in those early years--how would that play out. It’s delightful for family feels and long immersive reads. 

A Furious Vexation by Annie D (scaramouche)

Tony gets an intruder. A post-apocalypse AU.

This three-part series is so full of worldbuilding I ate it up with a fucking spoon. It’s a post-apocalyptic AU and Tony is extremely distrustful of Steve at first, and watching them work that out and Steve earn Tony’s trust and acceptance is just--so GOOOD! And bonus, there’s excellent Rhodey content! 

Papa Don't Preach by FestiveFerret, SirSapling

"Whoever did this has a reason, and Stark needs to be with someone who can protect him. He won’t exactly be able to protect himself like this.” Fury looked at the baby consideringly. “No, it’s you, Steve. Besides, he likes you. Suck it up, soldier, you’re stuck with him.”

Starting with In Trouble Deep, this is an amazing little series about Ults Steve taking care of Tony who has been turned into a baby and what happens when Tony reverts to his adult age and Steve loses his child. It’s sweet and heartbreaking and I can’t stand how much I love it. 

there are still beautiful things by meidui 

The day Tony takes Steve home from the New York Army National Guard is the best day of his life.

This is a tidy little three fic series featuring a young military Steve and an older, besotted Tony who just wants so damn bad to take care of Steve. Happily, Steve wants to be taken care of. I think I’ve read this series like. An embarrassing number of times. It’s delightful. 

Tiny Spy Assassin Steve by copperbadge

An AU in which Steve Rogers was born into the modern day and never received the Serum, but managed to make it into SHIELD as a handpicked protege of senior field agent Abraham Erskine. Along with Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Peggy Carter, and eventually Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, Steve still tries to make a difference.

Particularly in the life of Tony Stark, who picked up what he thought was an art student in a bar, and ended up dating one of SHIELD's top agents…

This series of six fics is exactly what it says on the tin. Steve being a badass and brilliant even without the serum and Tony being Tony. I’m extremely picky about what pre-serum Steve fic I read and enjoy and this is honestly, my personal favorite. 

The Foodieverse by copperbadge, scifigrl47

It's an AU where everyone works in the food industry. That makes total sense and is definitely not wildly irrational on any axis.

Spanning 23 fics and almost 170k, this is my comfort food. When I’m in a particularly bad mood, I come back to this series because it’s low stakes and high emotional return. I love how in character everyone is, despite the world they inhabit being the food service industry. It’s flawless. Go devour it. 

brooklyn's baby by Areiton 

Steve broke time for one reason--the beautiful bratty boy who stared at him with forever in his eyes.

This and it’s companion series, new americana, follows Steve Rogers who goes back in time after Endgame and marries Peggy--and then falls in love with college aged Tony. It’s a series where there are no good people making good choices, but there is a deep, almost obsessive love and I am shamelessly fond of it. In the companion series, new americana, Steve’s past collides with their future when Captain America is recovered from the ice and throws everything into a tizzy. 

[prodigalpages]

To add a bit more onto this, I have started each session with first off thanking Him for giving me a creative mind and a heart for writing, and then asking Him to not only inspire creativity in me, but that He would keep the story alive in my mind, so that I wouldn’t burn out on it (I have ADHD and tend to bounce from idea to idea to chase the dopamine high of new ideas, which isn’t helpful if you really wanna lock down and start something that will be published one day.)

After each session, on the drive home (because coffee shops and writing my beloveds), I go through the list of things that the story entails and pray over them: “Lord, please direct the plot with Your hand. Help me to keep in step with You through this.” “Help keep my characters alive, and for the good ones, help me to round them out so that they are not flat.” My favorite has been, “God, do not spark my interest towards these evil characters anymore beyond writing. They are meant to portray evil beings, and I do not want my heart to be captivated by fascination by them. Keep my heart in the light, Lord.”

Most importantly, I ramble my ideas to Him and bounce them off of Him. It may seem silly, but the God I know is a masterful storyteller, creative, and artist, and after a long period in my life where I have been distant from Him, all I want to do is spend time with Him— even in the daily things. Especially since I am writing a heavily allegorical story that points ultimately towards Him, I want to be in step with God throughout all of this (and I get the feeling that He won’t get tired of my excited jumble of ideas and plot points and worldbuilding). Sending up not even what could be qualified as a prayer, but just a “oh my goodness Lord, what if I went with this idea???” is such a surreal experience that has made me feel closer to Him is such a wonderfully silly way.

Writing has become a holy thing as I’ve began writing this story, and what a wonderful thing it is to partner with the Creator of the freaking Universe to do something as small in comparison as writing a story. God is amazing, y’all.

Turns out, beginning and ending writing sessions with prayer is actually awesome. God is really cool guys, it’s almost like He’s creative or something.

[ancha-aus]

RealAgeAU Drabble - Market

I am back again! Are you guys ready for more domestic fluff? I hope you are!

First Drabble (with original prompt by @spotaus ) Prev Drabble Next Drabble

Ready for the guys to be trying to settle more and get used to things? I hope you are!

*---------------*

Horror leans back to look at the new gate with the newly made attached sign. The name Haven proudly displayed on it. Horror nods. All stable and ready.

A honk of a truck and Horror looks over his shoulder. Seeing the familiar truck of Crop and Straw. Horror raises a hand and leans against the post. Waiting.

They stop the truck nearby and Straw grins widely "Looks amazing! you guys made quick work of it."

Horror shrugs "Aside from Dust we are all jobless. We had free time." he snorts at the looked both brothers wear as he turns back to their house. It is still very empty with only a few necessities but that didn't matter to them.

Crop coughs before grinning "Either way. We had a bit of a question for you guys regarding that and Dust's job situation."

Horror stops and shoots them a look "What about it?" he still leads them back. Even so today is suposed to be a relax day and Dust had taken the time to pull Nightmare close and read with him. Horror would feel terrible about ruining that.

Crop follows along "You guys probably don't know but this week is kinda a festive thing going on in town. All the farms collect some goods to have a big sale and trade and everything. Some people set up games and competitions. We may be a small community but we are far spread and it brings people."

Horror nods slowly "So... why need Dust?" it does not sound like a place Dust would enjoy. At all.

Crop rubs his neck "the cooler broke. The big big cooler in the big barn we use to meet up. the city service is being difficult about coming to fix it and is asking for extra for the short notice and some excuse about some unknown holiday."

Horror frowns and turns "That sounds like active sabotage."

Straw waves his hands "we know we know we all know but that isn't the issue. wihtout that working we are either going to have to cut things short as produce kept there won't be kept fresh long enough."

Crop nods "Not to forget the actual fire hazard it makes. We were setting up there when we heard about what was going on and were wondering if Dust could come fix it."

Straw nods and looks hopeful "And it will be great for you all to partake too!"

Cross joins them looking confused "partake in what?" he looks messy and covered in mud. Which is fair as he and Killer have been trying to figure out their terrain and make it safe. They haven't had much progress so far.

Straw gives the same explanation to Cross and Cross looks troubled as he glances at the house "I mean... he and Nightmare were kind of having a break day..." Cross must have made the same conclusion horror had in mind.

Cross frowns "on the other hand... that place may be a good place to get more information on the whole farm thing and see more options for us..." he shoots him a look.

horror thinks before shrugging "I will ask Dust and Nightmare. Can you ask Killer?"

Cross nods and just shouts for the other down the terrain. Knowing Killer will come then. Horror goes inside the house.

The house is still rather empty and aside from a very large comfortable nest by the downstairs fireplace they really have hardly anything. It was to be expected as it was their first week even living in here. Maybe they can even see some stuff for their house at this market thing?

Horror pauses and smiles as he watches Nightmare just lean fully against Dust, clearly looking half asleep as Dust slowly reads a story out loud. Holdign Nightmare against him as he lounges in the nest with their babybones.

Horror feels terrible for breaking the peaceful scene as he quietly joins them and tells them the situation.

Dust thinks it over and looks at Nightmare. Ngihtmare shrugs and mutters that it is fine. They don't need to stay there long.

Dust thinks it over before agreeing. Just to quickly fix stuff and then he will come back as soon as possible.

Horror shakes his skull "We can all go together. We will look around and look for usefull things for the house while you fix it." with someone watching his back. Horror does not like the timing of which this thing broke and how difficult those people in the city are being. better stay alert.

Dust mutters stuff about it being fine but easily enough agrees to make it a group outing.

They meet up with the farm brothers and get all get in the truck.

They get to the town and the whole main road has been filled with stalls and people getting ready.

Cross agrees to stay and help Dust fix the things that need fixing while Horror takes the hold on Nightmare over. He can see the anxious look Dust shoots Nightmare before looking at him "don't put him down."

So Nightmare had been feeling a bit sore when he woke up. easy enough. Horror nods and makes sure to have a secure hold on Nightmare and that his spine stays fully supported.

Straw grins and quickly leads Dust and Cross towards where the electrics are being set up for the big market.

Killer looks around as he stretches "Well... guess we can walk around and ask people about farm stuff?"

Crop is nice enough to help and show them around. They introduce themselves and people keep looking excited when they realise they are the new group of people. Killer grins and seems to like the excitement until people glance in Nightmare's way.

Either way they talk with people and learn about what each farm specialises in. And how the introduction of magic make it possible for a lot of small farmers to survive and really keep producing without a lot of the complicated mechanism.

All around it is interesting. The meet up wiht Gerson and confirm that he can come visit one of these days to see how the house ended up looking and wave at Ellie and Dani who are clearly hard at work with trading some logs with others already. Clearly most of their work will be early in the event.

They end up playing some of the games. They find an axe throwing ring and Killer grins madly at him.

Horror sighs "No Killer."

Killer whines "Come on H! You cna win this easy peacy!"

the person manning the stand laughs "That is what everyone thinks! But the axe is a lot harder to throw and aim than people think. But! If you hit the bullseye you get to pick a prize from the highest plank!"

Killer looks at Horror "Come on H! looks at those plushies!"

Horror sighs as he shoots Killer a look before looking up. They are big and soft alright. He notices Nightmare staring at them with slightly shiny eye lights. But he just turns around to snuggle closer.

mmh.

Horror looks at Killer "Do not put him down."

Killer immediantly understands and nods as he takes Nightmare over and coos and nuzzles his tiny skull.

Horror walks over and pays enough for one game. It is expensive and normally a scam. luckily Horror has some very unfair advantage.

The man grins widely clearly thinking he won this. "Okay! You get three chances to get as many points as possible or one chance to hit the bullseye for the large prize!"

Horror takes the axe "one throw." and goes to the right spot. He feels the weight of the axe and throws it up and down a few times in his hand. Not as balanced as his own axe and the blade looks dull. So even if you aim right there is a large chance the axe won't even stick to the bullseye.

Crop looks uncertain "Guys? It is fine. We can look around first more." Crop obviously know they are still low and money "These kinda games are often scams-"

the man manning the stand huffs "They already paid for it. just be quiet." Crop glares as he huffs.

Horror nods and listens to the intructions where he is allowed to stand. Then he takes aim and throws the axe, just using pure strenght.

The axe hits the bullseye and plinters the wood as it sinks in. and it sticks.

horror slowly pulls his arm back and looks at the man "Hit the bullseye and the axe stuck. just like you explained in the rules." he takes Nightmare back and nudges him gently to look up "Which one do you want?"

Nightmare looks at the plushies and ends up picking a very large and round plush bat.

the man stammers but takes the prize down for them. Nightmare hugs the plushy and purrs softly in his hold. Horror smiles. very much worth the money. Horror is sure that Dust will agree.

Moments later they see the lights on the big barn, an old barn that got remodelled into a community center, lights up with fairy lights all along the roof, windows and large open door.

Killer grins "Seems like Dusty pulled off a miracly fix again!"

Crop grins widely "I know! lets go see and share the great news!"

They meet up with Dust and Cross and see Dust cleaning his phalanges as he speaks. something about salt and sugar in the engines of the generators and while a mess it was an easy fix once eh figured it out.

Horror nods. So it is what he thought. clear sabotage. Fitting if some large corperation wants to buy these farms out it is fitting they try to ruin one of the few large markets they have. especially as there are used to trade and show off goods and probably get more customers.

Straw rushes off to no doubt share the great news that everything can continue as planned as Horror hands Nightmare back to Dust. Dust sees the large plush bat and shoots them a look. Horror rubs his cheek sheepishly "Killer really wanted me to play the game..."

killer grins widely and speaks about the axe throwing and everything.

Dust snorts and nods as cross looks more anxious "Guys! those things are always scams!"

Killer grins widely "we scammed the scammer! Wlel not scam as Horror won fair and square but still!"

Cross groans "It was probably so expensive..."

Dust shrugs "Just money." he just looks at Nightmare as Nightmare holds part of the large bat, that Horror is still holding for him, as he leans against Dust.

Cross blinks but nods "okay i guess... and the market?"

horror half listens as Killer gives Cross and Dust an update on what they saw and what type of farms are around. Dust however seems more interested in a group of people speaking on their phones after shooting the barn shocked looks. Seems like Dust located the saboteurs.

Luckily after a quick check with the mayor the area gets locked off. The mayor gives their deep thanks to Dust and reassures him something about payment coming their way. Dust shrugs but Killer catching on and quickly explains they are from the new farm Haven and that they can be generally found there.

The mayor thanks them againa nd goes about his way.

Cross tilts his skul as he crosses his arms "Who knew that they way to get people to like you is just to fix all their stuff."

Dust shrugs before looking around "We staying or looking?"

They end up taking the time to look around and meet some more people as they are there anyway. Also get a general idea how expensive phones are in this universe and what their own options for a farm are.

Before they know it is it time to eat and they eat out at the market before gettin Crop and STraw to drive them home.

The day had been busier than they had all expected but all in all not bad.

*---------------*

First Drabble Prev Drabble Next Drabble

[cloudbends]

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH WONDERFUL PRECURE

[adriartts]

been busy Not Drawing but allow me to rough design the Sirens' Song finally

[pagesofkenna]

fantasy novel wip has officially crossed the 10k mark since i started the new draft with the new outline last month. gotten less writing done than i would have wished but when i am able to sit down to write i'm getting a lot more done than i had previously.

[july-19th-club]

forced myself to finish this book even though by the last hundred pages or so all i was doing was picking apart the post-catholicism of it all. bc i feel like it's important to read shit you don't gel with . just because. even though the whole way through i was like they HAVE to prove it's not real. they HAVE to. so not the point of any of it but i was desperate for them to Find The Body etc. and of course instead they have mystical time travel experiences and all that because that is the kind of book the actual star is but i was desperate for them to realize that the star you see is the actual star. and then it wasn't

[ficatasnailspace]

started writing raughy bdsm au blurbs on my break yesterday in case anyone is wondering how i’m doing

[mantisgodsdomain]

3,4,15 for any member of team snakemouth!

...how about all three?

(for this ask game)

3. Obscure headcanon

For Kabbu, though we may have noted this before, we think that the North is quite firmly considered a patch of Deadland - and its inhabitants, as a result, tend to be very, very strange from the perspective of the rest of the world. For Kabbu, specifically, this means a variety of things, both biologically and culturally - though Northern beetles are a lot more common in Bugaria, deadlands in general come with a very high rate of mutation and a very high rate of death, and that means a high rate of superstition both in things that actively impact survival and in things that do not - as well as the simple fact that a constantly-changing set of genetics means that what a northern beetle is like is often very, very open to change.

Kabbu is an example of a burrower - a subspecies of sorts primarily identified by claws designed, very specifically, for digging. His claws grow into a sort of broad shovel shape and tend to be much sturdier than an equivalent beetle's - getting underground in moments in soft ground isn't really an exaggeration! Though he can dig through harder ground, it takes time and effort, and he can't go at it with the sheer speed of softer soil - technically, he could burrow through solid rock given enough time, but it would be both hard and extremely painful. It's a trait that's heavily prized in the North for its ability to create shelter and safety - beetles dominate the North's underground, and there's nothing that can really pose a threat to them. Tunnels are safety, and it really surprises and disorients him when things underground attack him, because back home that just kind of doesn't happen unless it's Another Beetle specifically targeting you.

In terms of more social things, he has a lot of trouble getting used to the concept of mimics. This is mostly due to the fact that mimics as a whole don't really... exist in the north, at least not in the means of gaining benefit from mimicking anything else. If you can talk to them as any other awakened bug, they're usually exactly what they say they are, and species mimicking normal geological features and plants haven't found any success, unless you're willing to get extremely generous with describing the snow-bank camouflage of a Northern Silk Moth's topcoat.

Though sand wasps or "white bees" still exist, the thing they're mimicking no longer exists in the same area. Any Hive that once was in the North is long dead, overly-large groups of bugs tend to die out quickly thanks to the handful of large predators that may decide the benefits outweigh the consequences when enough tasty beetles gather in the same place, and when the enemy you're dealing with is both too heavily armoured to be really deterred by most weaponry and capable and intelligent enough to stalk your group through the snow until the cost outweighs the benefit of eating you... well, the sort of small groups generally sent to start a new colony of social bugs really don't stand a chance.

It is, occasionally, very hard to get used to the fact that southern silk moths only grow a few heads taller than him. He's used to them presenting a lot more of a threat.

For Leif... we think he's completely, 100% blind. His eyes are frozen over due to quirk of his biology - the thing about his integration that makes him a failure, specifically. With any of the Snakemouth cordyceps, they do not naturally transfer the immunity to their own magic that any other variety of mage would have, and so need to alter their hosts in order to get the appropriate biology across. With Leif, that protection is not sufficient to protect the host, much less to preserve valuable organs - eyes, especially, are fragile, after all. The cold he naturally generates exceeds the host adaptations he provides, resulting in, even beyond the blindness, unusually brittle chitin, extremely stiff and easy-to-damage tissue, organic food processing efficiency appropriate for a bug currently freezing to death...

Well, you get the idea. Functionally, if alive, a host body would be in a state of perpetual hypothermia, prone to breaking down over time and needing persistent repair that his strain of cordyceps cannot provide, as any repair he could offer that's not within his host's natural healing capabilities requires manually breaking down and reconstructing any parts, which... is inconvenient at best. As he is, he gets around most of these issues by simply replacing his host body's soft tissue with cordyceps, but that has its own issues, mainly in making him look and move incredibly uncanny. Injuries take a very long time to repair, relatively, though the less tissue damage is done the easier it is to fix - being cleanly sliced in two, for example, might be easier to handle than any sort of crushing damage. As far as his eyes go... eyes of any sort are delicate, and the slightest damage can permanently blind someone. Any of Snakemouth Den's cordyceps tend to go blind anyways as the fungus burrows into ocular nerves - if anything, this is better for hiding, since the frost over his eyeballs conceals any mycelium in the eyes themselves. In theory, it can be repaired... in practice, it would be far too much of a pain for work that will be undone the moment he overtaxes his ice magic again.

...also, he doesn't really care. Sight is not the most important sense a moth has and his scent and ability to sense pheromones is fine, along with a general sensitivity to things like vibrations in the air. More than fine, even, since he's now kind of hybridized with both Ant and Bee and the number of pheromones he's sensitive enough to sense has shot through the roof. This on top of the "magic sense" he has means he has absolutely no trouble getting around, though reading books requires more or less sticking an antenna or fungal tendril over them and parsing out where the ink is by scent and texture. He full-on didn't notice he was blind until after the cordyceps reveal.

For Vi, while this might be one we've mentioned before, we headcanon that she's got a bit of minor mutation throwing her antenna... maybe 2% more towards a non-social relative, which gears her just slightly more towards being able to detect "foreign" scents - predators, prey, and any pollen or nectar in the area. Unfortunately, this slight shift in what scents she's made to pick up comes with a reduced sensitivity to pheromones and pheromone communication within the hive, along with loss of the general innate understanding that an average bee would have of how she's meant to "fit in" to a structure that utterly cripples her communication and social life in the hive.

It's minor enough of a mutation that she's never been flagged - she's a mutation of a social bee, not a normal variant of a solitary - but she smells weird, and she doesn't pick up on pheromones quite enough, and the variation in signals she puts off means that she both fails the communication to get across what she might need and fumbles the communication conveyed back to her about what she should do. Subtle things build up over time, and within the Hive, the negatives far outweigh the benefits - the Hive is only built with bees that fit to a standard in mind, and even minor deviations can get you dragged far, far behind.

This is getting very long so, uhh. Here's a cut. Everything else is below it. We enjoy getting very long-winded. There's a lot in here.

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done

Well, this one will depend on if it's "in general" or "by their standards". Putting any sort of objective moral judgement on just about anything is ridiculously difficult, especially with how values vary by culture or individual.

There is no such thing as objective worst, and we absolutely don't guarantee these would line up with your idea of worse, and so we'll offer two options here - what we believe they would think of first if posed with the question, and an alternative answer that would likely crop up.

For Kabbu, his own response would be easy - abandoning his teammates to The Beast. It haunts him to this day - really, what sort of beetle abandons their swarm to a fate like that? If he was a little faster, a little braver, a little less of a coward - but no. He abandoned those he was meant to care most for, and they died because of it.

For the other...

There are some things that are necessary, to survive somewhere as harsh as the Deadlands. Not everyone can be saved. Not everything can be helped. Not everyone can be taken in. Tradition and law is the heart and soul of the North - rules that everyone must comply to, if not for the sake of themselves, than for the sake of those they may interact with. To break a law, for any reason, is to be shunned by the community, most likely to your eventual death.

She broke a law. It could have been for understandable reasons, or not - it doesn't matter. She put the community at risk, and for that, she couldn't stay. She was put out in the cold, despite her pleading to the contrary. She was allowed to beg and plead and bang on the door, and yet, it meant nothing. The beast she would have lead to them caught up, eventually. He would still believe it was justified.

For Leif, his first response would be... exactly what you expect of him, really. The body he took without a care. The life he stole. He might vary on whether it's the action of stealing it or the lies he's told with that body, but the answer would be the same.

For the one he wouldn't think of... He could have spoken up. He didn't. He met their eye, slated for execution on crimes that he could parlay them on if he implicated himself, and he said nothing.

The look on their face still haunts him sometimes. It hurts more now that he's two, rather than one. It's what was needed to protect his family.

For Vi... a fault in a machine. The instructions were boring, and confusing, and hard to read. She tried to do whatever she thought might work, instead of following the manual. There was an injury. Then another one. It was her fault, really, for rigging it wrong, but she was tired and angry and she argued instead of just sucking it up and fixing it when confronted on it, and it went unfixed for days more. A minor fault can very well lead to deaths, and though this one didn't, it came close - one more inch, a slightly looser bolt, and it would have cracked a bug's shell clean open. It's a miracle it turned out as well as it did. It's a miracle that no one connected it to her enough, even when it was fixed. Someone else was punished, and she was old enough to know not to step forward - she's not stupid, after all.

The guilt still haunts her. The "what-if". The possibility of it. If someone died of her own stupid negligence, if she made someone else take the fall - she would let them, really, her sense of self-preservation isn't that bad, but she's not sure she could live with it after.

With the one she wouldn't think of personally... considering the background she's got, the journey to the Ant Kingdom, and the fact that it's already stated she took jobs before canon? We think there's a fairly good chance that Vi's off jobs got... shady. It's not like she has much in the way of morals when it comes to money, and "will do just about anything for enough cash" is a decent market. If you're willing to forsake your morals, you can get more money than your heart desires - at the cost of just a bit of risk, at that!

She doesn't think about it, really. It wasn't something she needed to think about. They were threatening her, they were a risk to her team, they were the price she had to pay to eat, the specifics of what happened don't matter much at this point. Put in the position again, would she choose their life, or hers? It doesn't matter. They're dead, anyways. She should know. She was the one to take the payment for it.

4. Favorite line?

We're copy-pasting these straight from the game! These Direct Quotes are all sourced from @aquilamage's Bug Fables Transcript project, which we highly recommend checking out! It's an excellent resource for double-checking dialogue without having to replay the game first, and a repository for just about all the dialogue in the game (provided it wasn't taken out by previous patches, of course).

We will be honest: there's a lot of dialogue in this game. This might not be our absolute favorites, as a result of a general poor memory as well as Too Much Game. Also, we have blatant favoritism towards Vi in all ways. Most of these are favorite interactions, rather than anything else, so...

For Leif:

Kabbu: Leif. If you need to take a break, let us know. Vi will carry you. Vi: That is not happening. Leif: Oh, the fatigue, it kicks in... Vi: I said it's not happening!

...and for Vi, we're fond of this dialogue, specifically because the first time we encountered it we misread "exploring" as "exploding".

Leif: Science looks like a lot of hard work. Vi: It's like uh...the thinking version of exploring!

But of course, our favorite Vi Dialogue as well as our personal favorite dialogue in the game in general would be the Bee Guard overworld spy.

Leif: Vi, you're the only Bee explorer, right? Vi: Huh? Uh, yeah! That I know of... Leif: We've been thinking it's a bit weird, to see so many Bee guards, but only one explorer... Vi: Look, they're not guards because they want to or anything, okay? Vi: They were born to be guards, so they guard. That's it. Kabbu: That's a bit somber... Vi: ...That's just how the Hive is sometimes.

"I'm allergic to bouncers" is a close second, of course. In terms of story implications, we pull on her Jaune interactions and especially the point just after getting kicked out of the studio for the first time during Jaune's request, but that's... it's less we "like" it, per se, and more that the implications are fun to toy with. In terms of the actual dialogue, it just... makes us feel sad. Sad, [], and maybe a bit angry on her behalf. We've been there more than we care to admit, after all.

We... wouldn't wish something similar on anyone. And no matter how good the good gets with Jaune, it still can't really outweigh the fact that the bad starts ticking boxes about emotional abuse in a way that makes relationships like Mothiva & Zasp that more people are willing to try and call out pale in comparison. We probably need to finish that essay some time...

Anyways, we like it when Kabbu gets mad enough to yell at people.

Kabbu: This is ridiculous! You realize you could be dooming us all!? Kabbu: What if the Termite King loses trust in the Queen!? Kabbu: What if you lose to the Wasp King without our help!? Kabbu: Have you gone completely, utterly insane!? Have you lost all intelligence! Mothiva: Yikes. You're overthinking this WAY too much. Mothiva: The Ant Kingdom's way better in our hands than with you LOSERS. Kabbu: We have SAVED YOUR LIFE BEFORE, you WITCH!

[gl1tchxr]

born to draw my ocs in a boring pose on a blank background over and over 💪

[purplewhiteandgold]

Losing my mind over the fact that I just experienced the pipeline of

"this isn't written as a ship but it can be read as one"

to

"this can be read as not-a-ship but it absolutely was written as one they're just refusing to accept that"

[treezxu]

nobody does plot holes quite like pokemon

[thepandalion]

devastating: the good fic that ends on a cliffhanger and will never update

[redrosydiaz]

book 5 of the year done!!!! im literally one book away from halfway to my goal and the first month of the year isn't even over yet fjsksk i am DEFINITELY going to hit it this year!

[vaciena]

I love these books so much but holy shit does carthak’s worldbuilding drive me crazy