#they can do something unique like they did with Bee but they can't do something unique with the succubus and incubus? like

[sallieraptor]

can I say something .. the idea that all Asmodeus demons that are women are succubus and all men are incubus is just so boring ,, and ALL of them being pan too like lol?? what the fuck, you know??

[numberonetribble]

That night, Piston snuck out to follow Breakdown home, unfortunately, there were Seekers in the woods and Nova Storm found them first.

Inspired by Depeche Mode: Policy of Truth

You had something to hide

Should have hidden it, shouldn't you?

Now you're not satisfied

With what you're being put through

It's just time to pay the price

For not listening to advice

And deciding in your youth

On the policy of truth

Things could be so different now

It used to be so civilized

You will always wonder how

It could have been if you'd only lied

It's too late to change events

It's time to face the consequence

For delivering the proof

In the policy of truth

My first long form comic!!!! This is canon to Earthspark and how Piston loses their T-Cog. (They live!) Bumblebee loses his voice from crying. Breakdown is resolved to get back to Cybertron for a new T-Cog. There will be a part two! And I also would like to do the Breakdown version that's canon to my Last Mile Marker AU. It's completely different but same vibes.

But this is why I make Piston so goofy, baby isn't even a Cycle old and doesn't know any better. They are my funny little lamb who is happy to be alive. I have alot of things I want to say but I'm really proud of this, I did it over a 3 day weekend so I'm sorry if anything is wonky. (Did you know that the Seekers have hooves?)

Also, I always worry that Bee comes off like he dislikes Piston in my work but I feel like it's more complicated and he doesn't have anyone he can talk to about it. Bee is very much a "I just want to hold my baby" parent but he can't, as Piston is so large and how do you express that out loud? Bumblebee is acutely aware that Piston would've been a child-solider if they were born during the war and it keeps him up at night. He is adamant that Piston never knows what suffering is, and in turn Piston ends up a little too sheltered. Bumblebee and Breakdown argue a lot over raising them. A particularly bad one is when Breakdown wanted to encourage Piston to discover if they had a built-in Stinger like Bumblebee and Bumblebee lost his mind over the suggestion. It doesn't help that Piston wants to be exactly like Breakdown.

In part two I want to draw a poem/musing Ratchet has to himself while repairing Piston's arm. Nova Storm lore in the undercut!

Nova Storm is the Big Bad in The Last Mile Marker AU. She has beef with Bumblebee and takes any opportunity to hurt him. She's a massive hater. Why Nova Storm? I hear you ask. Great question! She's yellow :) With damaged optics and low light, Piston confuses her for Bee at the worst possible moment. But honestly, I wanted a Seeker and I have Megatron and Starscream off doing their own self-reflections and working for the greater good. I wanted someone different with unique motivations and Skywarp is on the Bee-Team. Why does she have beef with Bumblebee? Another great question! During the war, Bumblebee was in charge of a team and one member offlined Nova Storm's conjux. She blames Bumblebee and is out for revenge.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I haven't seen the London special—and I don't want to—but I've read the plot and something just occurred to me.

Why did Bunnyx need Ladybug's help? Why couldn't Bunnyx have figured things out and fixed the timeline herself? I know only the 14-year-old Bunnyx was left, but that gives her ample time to do SOMETHING.

According to Marinette, she believes that the Rabbit Miraculous is actually the most powerful of all the miraculouses. That means a whole lot of responsibility, which she gave to Alix when she let her keep the Rabbit Miraculous PERMANENTLY.

So, why didn't Alix just fix the timelines herself? She was the Present Alix, which means nothing has happened to her at the moment. She could've brainstormed her way into figuring out what happened, who it is, and stopped them herself.

I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like if you give someone a miraculous that YOU YOURSELF BELIEVE IS THE MOST POWERFUL MIRACULOUS, YOU'D GIVE IT TO SOMEONE WHO CAN ACTUALLY WORK BY THEMSELVES???

And it's not like I'm saying Alix can't ask for help, but it just feels like her first thought was: "I gotta get Ladybug!" And not "Oh my God, the timelines are changing, I have to figure out who it is!"

If Alix is going to run to Ladybug every time the timeline changes, why give her the responsibility of making sure nothing happens to the timeline in the first place??? If it's going to be like that, Ladybug might as well have just kept the Rabbit Miraculous herself, since it seems like she'll be the one shouldering the job anyway.

The show's obsession with making Marinette do everything herself has created massive flaws in the narrative and makes a ton of characters look bad - or at least poorly suited to their hero role - because they generally default to only doing what Marinette tells them to do. The show will even go out of its way to punish characters when they take initiative. If your name isn't Marinette, then initiative is always, always punished. And if your name is Marinette? Then it depends on the writers' mercurial whims and not anything even remotely resembling logic.

Alya suffers the the initiative = bad curse all the time like in Optigami where she decides to take the turtle to the day's fight even though she was only told to take the fox and the bee:

Rena Rouge: Mirage! (an illusion of Ladybug is created) And voila! A cool little Ladybug illusion to keep Style Queen busy while I'll… (Rena Rouge looks at the Turtle Miraculous container on the Miracle Box and takes the Miraculous) Longg: Did the guardian ask you to do that? Rena Rouge: Just a precaution.

This should have been Alya's moment to shine. A moment where she took initiative and it paid off, showing Marinette that she could trust others to make their own calls. Instead, this choice is painted as Alya being blinded by her love for Nino and leads to Shadow Moth almost getting the turtle because he just so happened to make a perfect clone of Nino and Alya unknowingly gave the clone the turtle. (Why does this show love evil twins so much? This is basically a the same plot as the season four final. Get a new gimmick! This one is just dumb.)

Even more annoyingly, the one who unmasks sentiNino isn't his girlfriend, it's Ladybug even though the thing that exposes sentiNino is something unique to Nino and Alya:

Ladybug: I guess it was only here to help repair everything. (looks confused when she sees her compact mirror) (Sentinino gives Alya a simple hi-five) (Ladybug remembers Alya and Nino's special hi-five in a flashback) Ladybug: (looks at both of them with curious look) We're gonna have to be a lot more careful now. Shadow Moth knows the identities of some of the people I have given a miraculous and apparently he's decided to use this information. (looks at Sentinino) Isn't that right, Shadow Moth? (Alya becomes shocked, and Sentinino panicks as he got exposed) Ladybug: I'm sorry Alya, you better move away from him. This isn't Nino, it's a Sentimonster. Alya: Huh? (gasps)

It's Alya and Nino's special handshake!!! Alya should be the one to figure it out, not Ladybug!!! Writers, stop this! Let Marinette have competent allies! She's not suddenly less cool if other people are useful! Also, stop making love a bad thing! Alya and Marinette both suffer every time they're open with their love interest and I hate it. Whatever happened to romantic love being a good thing?

Anyway, all of the Optigami nonsense leads to an ending that makes zero sense:

Alya: Shadow Moth almost unmasked you because of me. I should have never taken the Turtle Miraculous. Marinette: It's true, you did make a mistake, and that's why I'm gonna have to make a difficult decision. The most important thing is to learn from our mistakes. And today, I learned that I need an ally who can replace me in case something happens to me one day. (hands Alya the Fox Miraculous) From now on, you will keep the Miraculous of the Fox with you, and I'm gonna tell you everything I know.

This ending does not fit the episode in the slightest. Why does Alya's failure make her promotion material? How was the turtle even a failure when it would have been fine if that was really Nino? How was anyone supposed to tell that wasn't Nino when the peacock is so stupidly overpowered? It's so dumb!

This episode should have been Alya earning her promotion by being awesome, taking initiative, and noticing things Marinette didn't. What is the point of having a reporter who never notices things? Why does Marinette decide to give Alya secret knowledge and a full-time miraculous in an episode that was all about Shadow Moth almost winning because he knows the temp heroes' identities? Why does nothing about this show make sense? Writers, what are you doing???

The saddest thing about this Marinette-first approach is that it's not even making Marinette look good. This goes beyond the asinine "Marinette must always be wrong" rule. The problem here is that the narrative has made many of the secondary characters feel incredibly important. As a result, the audience naturally expects those characters to have important roles. When those character are then denied the roles that they should have, the audience gets angry and the anger usually gets directed at Marinette. For many viewers, it feels like she's hogging the spotlight and denying herself help even thought those things are poorly thought-out choices made by the writers and not intentional flaws that are meant to be part of Marinette's character.

I know one person whose favorite character is Alix, Alya is one of mine, and a huge portion of the fandom loves Adrien. All characters who should have been allowed to shine, but who got shoved to the side in favor of Marinette. The casual watcher is not going to blame the writing for that. They're going to get mad at Marinette because she's basically the avatar of the bad writing, forced to do the most asinine things so that she maintains the spotlight even if it's slowly killing her character while making every other character look pathetic and/or ineffectual.

[moonlight-tmd]

Whenever I listen to Hooked On A Feeling by Björn Skifs I imagine a scenario of Blitzwing just being totally smitten by the little yellow autobot he just met and he's trying his best to court him.

He doesn't even hide it, he will just straight up ditch the entire fight to go talk and compliment the yellow mini and either the Autobots or Lugnut has to chase/drag him away.

The worst part is Bee is totally into it. He doesn't see why the heck this would be a bad idea, the big goofy weirdo(affectionate) just wants his attention and love. Said goofy weirdo is also not that bad-looking and strong. All of his oddities are just more of a lure to capture Bee's curiosity and interest.

Blitz would go and draw attention of citizen so the Autobots come and he'd sing and dance on a makeshift disco ring to flirt with Bee. When that fails he'd carve a giant ice statue of Bumblebee and present it to him and Bee will be so amazed. And when that fails due to the other Autobots dragging Bee away (as always) he'd show up to the emergency at the bridge Bee is at with Ratchet, stand nearby and hold up a sign saying "Please go on a date with me! <3" while blasting some love song he heard that the lyrics literally describe his feelings. Bee did jump off the bridge to get to him that time... unfortunately Ratchet had caught him and lifted him back up with the magnets before Blitzwing could catch him and run off.

Bee's teammates have to keep an eye on him at all times so he won't sneak out and go do something he'll regret. Bee is not happy that his friends don't want him to go and try be happy with another mech, he's very pouty whenever they tell him no he can't do that. So what if it's a 'con? He's never truly taken a side and only wears an insignia for the sake of having some leeway with other Autobots. All of them could be organics, monoformers, 'bots, 'cons or other-faction for all he cares. He just wants to have friends, doesn't matter what or who they are.

I imagine at one point in time on earth Bee took off the window in his room and has it on a latch or something so it opens like a hatch so he can sneak out via his room. He has a big trash container with a lid on the other side and few crates so he can climb down from the window. One time he manages to fool whoever is on the nightly watch over him so he won't sneak out (aka they check if he's still in his berth, this time he waited until the check pretending to recharge and then snuck out). He got out and drove to places he usually saw Blitz hanging out on patrols. He wasn't in any of those places but Bee waited some in one of them and sure enough Blitz did happen to come to that location that night. They were so happy to finally talk with each other properly without anyone hearing anything and interrupting every 3 minutes.

They hit it off near instantly. Bee is so curious and amazed by a unique mech like Blitzwing and Blitz is so enamored with Bee's personality and cute appearance. They dance, sing and laugh under the stars and it's like a love story come real. Of course, they meet few times in secret after that. Bee thinks about how to make others allow him to meet with Blitz... but just as he does that they hear a knock at the shutter and wouldn't you know, Blitzwing is standing there with big boquet of flowers and some small packages. Somehow he learned the location of where Bee lives by himself. Of course Bee grabbed his servo and led him in to play games together despite the others being very much startled by what the heck a 'con is doing in their house on a tuesday morning.

By that point they just give up all efforts to try to keep those two apart. It's pointless... At least Blitz doesn't seem as bad as they thought he was- he did bring them gifts to come into their favor after all.

So Blitz is a regular guest at the Autobot base. Bee is happy, Blitz is happy, and the others still keep an eye on them just in case. But they definitelly stopped being so paranoid over Bee.

[nb-octopus-writes]

once you’re in the hive, the other bees assume you’re supposed to be there

[Masterpost]

Chapter 5: The Most Accidental of Thefts

Wordcount: 2.4K

~~~~

The rest of Virgil’s shift is about average, which means he's tired at the end but not ready to drop dead of exhaustion, and he catches the bus home like usual. He'd charged his phone at work, so he's able to put his travel earbuds in and drown out the various noises of mass transit with the dulcet tones of MCR.

Soon enough, he's home. He drops his apron in the hamper—he'd gotten splashed with coffee, so he's gonna need to do laundry tonight—and flops into bed.

The pool noodles are still there from this morning, which makes the flop considerably less pleasant than usual. Virgil tugs them out from underneath himself and drops them on the floor, settling back again. Man, he's tired. In a bit, he'll have to get up and do something about dinner, and start that load of laundry, but for now, he's just gonna be flopped for a bit.

Virgil lies there for a few minutes.

One of the springs is poking into his back. Virgil shifts, trying to find a more comfortable position. He may not have wanted to stay for so long, but his back sure hadn't protested sleeping on a softer surface for a few nights.

The spring is persistent, and Virgil slides a hand under his back to see if he can adjust it.

It's not a spring.

Virgil sits up and looks. Lying innocently on the bed behind him is a phone. It isn't Virgil’s phone. Virgil’s phone has a black and purple case, and it's still in his pocket anyway. This phone is red and gold and sparkly. 

It's Roman's phone.

Well, fuck.

Virgil is a thief. He's a damn thief! Roman took time out of his own morning to drive him to work, and Virgil repaid him by stealing his phone! How could he!?

Virgil is going to die of shame. He really is. He's the worst houseguest ever. He didn't bother to learn their names beforehand—hell, he still only knows one name out of three even after being there for days, he showed up in an inappropriate costume that he's lucky didn't trigger Calico's arachnophobia, he stayed way longer than he was supposed to, he inconvenienced Roman and used him as a private chauffeur, and then, to top it all off, Virgil stole his phone.

How is he supposed to get Roman's phone back to him!? He can't text him, he doesn't know Roman's number and anyway Roman doesn't have his phone with which to receive a text.

He could text Remus. Remus would probably find the accidental theft hilarious. He also might just respond LOL and not help him return it nor inform Princey of its location.

Virgil’s out of ideas. He frowns at the stolen phone.

Well.

Maybe he has one more idea.

He can't text Princey, but maybe he can text Nerdbot or Calico.

Surely Princey has their numbers. Virgil can text them from his phone, and explain the situation. Mentally trying to compose the text, Virgil picks up the sparkly phone.

It's locked.

Part of Virgil wants to give up. He tried, he failed, time for bed.

He needs a number combination. Maybe Princey did the smart thing and came up with something unique, but maybe…

Virgil tries Remus's birthday, which is, after all, also Princey's birthday. The lock screen cuts him off after just four digits and says that nope, that wasn't it. Virgil tries just the year.

The phone unlocks.

“That is not a very secure passcode,” Virgil tells it. “Anyone could guess that, all they need to know is how old you are.”

Princey's phone is still open to the map app, and the route they'd taken from his house to Virgil’s apartment is still up. It had been a pretty quick trip, only a few miles.

Virgil has another idea.

Five minutes later, Virgil is on his bike, following the route in reverse. He doesn't dare touch any buttons and risk losing the starting position, so he can't ask for a route intended for bikes instead of cars, but he has the blue dot of his current location, and when he has to detour around a too-busy road with no bike lane or sidewalks, he's able to navigate back to the route without undue difficulty.

Soon, Virgil is pedaling up the driveway. He parks his bike in front of the porch, takes a steadying breath, and knocks on the door.

Nerdbot answers the door. “Virgil, hi,” he greets, looking mildly surprised to see him. Which, fair, they just got rid of him this morning.

“Hi,” Virgil says, trying to look past him without being obvious and rude about it. “Uh, is Roman home?”

Nerdbot raises an eyebrow at him, but nods and gestures for Virgil to step into the foyer. “Roman?” he calls into the rest of the house.

“Whaat?” Roman calls back from another room. He pops round the doorframe, and Nerdbot gestures to Virgil. “Scaramour!” Roman says, sounding genuinely pleased to see him. “What brings you here?”

“My bike,” Virgil quips. He holds up the accidentally stolen phone, and Roman lights up.

“You found it!” he cries, bounding over and snatching his phone out of Virgil’s hand. “Oh, I have been looking for this, where was it?”

“At my place,” Virgil admits.

“Huh,” says Princey, and, “Oops.”

Virgil’s about to apologize for accidentally stealing Roman's phone, when thunder rolls and the sky, which had gotten increasingly cloudy on the way over, opens up.

Roman shoves his phone back at Virgil, who only doesn't drop it due to luck and reflexes, and dashes out into the sudden rain. Before Virgil can process what's happening, Roman grabs Virgil’s bicycle and hauls it bodily up the porch steps and through the front door.

“...What,” Virgil says.

“You are my dark and stormy knight on shining bicycle,” Princey proclaims. “You have done me a great service by locating and returning my phone, and it would be dishonorable to send you home in such weather. Nor shall I allow your noble steed to rust!” He slicks his dampened hair back from his face. “I must insist that you grace us with your company until the storm passes.”

Virgil looks to Nerdbot for help. Nerdbot looks out the door at the rain. “I agree, this certainly isn't biking weather,” he says. “Have you had dinner?”

“Um,” says Virgil, feeling quite off-balance. “No?”

Nerdbot nods decisively and closes the door. “We were just sitting down to eat. I insist you join us.” He ushers Virgil into the dining room and says to Calico, “Please set another place, Patton. We have a guest.”

“Oh!” Calico—Patton?—says, smiling at Virgil. “Welcome back!”

“Hi,” Virgil says, and lets Nerdbot seat him, and lets Calico put a plate in front of him.

The rain doesn't let up all through dinner. In fact, it's pouring harder at the end of the meal than it had been at the start.

Nerdbot pulls up a weather forecast and frowns. “It looks like we're going to continue having heavy rain all night,” he says. “We currently have a flash flood warning until five in the morning tomorrow. ‘Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing a flooded area.’” He looks up at Virgil. “I'm sorry for the abrupt change in plans, but it looks like you're going to have to stay the night again.”

“Oh,” Virgil says. “Sorry.” He'd just meant to return the phone and apologize, but because of the rain they had to feed him again and now they have to put up with him for a whole nother night!

“It's no imposition,” Nerdbot reassures. “I'll prepare a guest room for you, and Patton can find you a spare set of pajamas.”

“Thanks,” says Virgil weakly. They're much better hosts than he deserves. He could have just slept on the couch again.

Nerdbot smiles at him. “You are welcome,” he says. “Roman, will you clear the table?”

Roman pouts, and Virgil offers, “I'll help.” It's the least he can do.

“Do you have work in the morning?” Roman asks while he puts away the leftovers and Virgil does the dishes.

“Yeah.”

“I'll drive you. Do you wanna stop by your place again, or wash your clothes here so you can wear them tomorrow?”

Fuck. Virgil winces. “I was going to do laundry tonight,” he remembers aloud. “My uniform is dirty, so I was going to wash it!”

“Oh no!” Roman says. “Do you have a spare?”

“I… I guess there's one at work I can borrow,” Virgil says, relaxing slightly. Yeah. He can do that, and then he can do laundry tomorrow.

Calico comes back with an armful of pajamas. “I think these should fit you,” he says, handing them to Virgil. “They might be a little loose.”

“I like loose,” Virgil reassures him. He hesitates. “Is… do you think I could take a shower?” He hasn't had one in days, and honestly he's feeling pretty gross.

“Probably?” Calico says. He starts back the way he'd come. “Logan?” he calls.

There's a muffled reply, and Patton leads Virgil up the stairs. “Logan?” he calls again as they reach the top.

Nerdbot steps out of one of the several doorways lining the long upstairs hallway. “What?” he asks.

“Is it safe to take a shower?”

“It's not ideal,” Nerdbot says, “but as the thunderstorm appears to have given way to just rain, we're unlikely to have a lightning strike. Go ahead.”

Patton smiles up at Virgil. “I'll get you a towel!” He opens one of the other doors, which leads to a stuffed linen closet, and hands Virgil a fluffy blue towel. “The bathroom's at the end of the hall,” he says, pointing. “Take as long as you need, we've got a big water heater.”

“Thanks,” Virgil says, and absconds into the bathroom. He locks the door behind him and sets his pile of borrowed clothes on the floor. Then he strips and enjoys a nice hot shower.

Their water pressure is great. Virgil stays under the spray far longer than is necessary to scrub the grime from his skin. When he steps out, Virgil is squeaky clean, and the most relaxed he's been all day.

Time to see what kind of pajamas Calico picked out for him.

Long pajama pants the same style as Logan's nerdy ones, but plaid this time, both a long-sleeved and a short-sleeved shirt, and a pair of boxer briefs. Virgil debates, but eventually decides that someone else's clean underwear is better than his own dirty underwear, and puts them on. He wonders for a moment whose boxers they are, but shuts that thought down. He doesn't need to know. He doesn't want to know.

There's also a rolled pair of ankle socks, a stocking cap, and a hairband. Patton really wanted to cover all his bases, huh?

Virgil puts on the pants and the long-sleeved shirt, but leaves the rest. They are loose, but not too much more than his own pajamas.

Virgil hangs his damp towel on the open hook beside the other towels, gathers everything else up, and slips out.

Logan had said he would prepare a guest room for him. Virgil figures his best guess would be the room he'd seen Logan come out of. It is indeed a bedroom, with the bed made and the covers turned down invitingly, and there's an unopened water bottle on the nightstand.

This is probably the right room. There's not really any personal stuff in it, so it's really unlikely this is someone else's bedroom.

If it's not the right room, they can tell him later that he was wrong and fucked it up. Virgil puts his dirty clothes on the floor, then cracks open the water bottle and sits down on the bed to have a sip.

What is this mattress made of, cotton candy!? It's soft and he sinks right in. He can't feel the springs at all. Virgil puts his water back on the nightstand and lies down.

He is in heaven.

Objectively, Virgil is in heaven right now. He is lying on a cloud, and it is the most comfortable surface he has ever laid upon. He is never getting up. He's not even near ready to go to sleep yet, but he's never getting up. They'll have to pry him out of this bed with a crowbar. This might be a problem for Future Virgil, when he has to get up for work or, like, to pee, but Future Virgil can suck a dick.

Around an hour later, there's a soft knock and Patton peeks in through the open door. Seeing that Virgil is still up and on his phone, he tiptoes exaggeratedly across the floor. “Sneak, sneak, I'm not here,” he whispers. “I'm just gonna steal your clothes to wash them so they're ready for you tomorrow, okay? I'll empty the pockets first so I don't accidentally destroy anything important.”

“’Kay,” Virgil says.

Patton empties Virgil’s pockets onto the nightstand, and then bundles up the clothes. “Thievery!” he declares softly, scampering away with Virgil’s dirty laundry. Virgil’s lips twitch and he holds back a giggle. Patton pauses at the doorway and asks in a perfectly normal tone, “Do you want me to turn off the light?”

��Sure,” Virgil says. Might as well, and it'll save him the trip. Or the falling asleep with the light on, rather, since he's never leaving this bed.

Patton turns the light off. “Goodnight,” he says, silhouetted by the hall light. “Sleep well. I love you.”

It's probably just a reflex. He probably didn't mean to say that, not to Virgil. He barely knows him. He probably says it to Logan and Roman all the time, and it just slipped out. Virgil bites the reflexive ‘love you too’ back from the tip of his tongue, then thinks maybe he should have said it back anyway, make Patton feel less awkward about his own reflexive slip. But then it's been too long, and it wouldn't sound natural, and Virgil just says,

“Goodnight.”

Patton pulls the door to, and leaves Virgil alone in the dark.

He plays a game on his phone for a few more hours, and then sinks back into the wonderfully soft bed and sleeps.

~~~~

Chapter 6: Baiting the Trap

[humanradiojmp]

Pomni the Human (redesign)

Pomni is one of the few remaining humans in the remnant of… whatever this place was before it got destroyed. She spends most days gathering whatever resources and supplies are available from the land and the few standing factions. But with the world essentially dying, there’s only so much available for anyone. Regardless, she and the head wizard she resides with make do with what they have. Despite the growing tension amongst the remaining people and the steady increase of monsters and the forgotten, Pomni still tries to keep her spirits up and help anyone she can. A little kindness and decency can go a long way in a time like this. It at least can't make things worse than it already is...

So… I redesigned Pomni a little bit. it might not look that different from the original, but if you were to compare the two side by side, you’d see the difference. The main reason I redesigned her is to fit with this idea I had where parts of the world are based/inspired by the 1970s to the 90s (because clothing design for characters is not my strong suit and I like older style clothing, alright?). Pomni has been redesigned to be loosely based on the 70s, with the research giving me some interesting trivia of the past. Did you know they had a bodysuit version of every kind of top in the 70s? Every. Kind? I do now.

You probably guessed by the character blurb, but this is going to have some fantasy elements. Expect some unique creatures making up the residency here as well as magic and monsters. Not to mention the lore I'm going to fluctuate between sprinkling in here and there and dumping onto your laps. And don’t forget that there’s some sort of cosmic being that watching and waiting for the right things to consume and leave no trace of anything behind.

One more thing. Something I wanted to do with anything I made for a while is have music that goes with it. Whether it’s a song or a track, something that adds a little extra bit to the art and stories I post. This post, other character posts, as well as some lore bits will have music that matches to some degree. I’ll have both the Spotify link and a YouTube link for whichever is more convenient.

For Pomni, Stayin’ Alive by TheBeeGees. Totally not because it’s what she and everyone else is doing in the post-apocalypse world they live in. I admit this one is more of a joke, but everything else is accurate and serious (mostly).

YouTube link here

[honeybeewhereartthee]

PINK KKOMAS 186

MC: because I have nothing better to do. We shall held cooking contest!!

Bee, clap his hand: yey. (⁠*⁠˘⁠︶⁠˘⁠*⁠)⁠.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡

Doll, mumble: seriously, can't we have peace an quite...

MC: are contestants are—

The spotlight went to Grey who wave at everyone.

MC: grey from twist au...!

Reaper, ask bee: is that why were here in the mansion garden...

Bee: yes. Since grey can't go out of the mansion. Can but probably very rarely. Or something.

MC: and then we have the other one!!

A system screen appear that shows sheep who's wearing a cute apron.

Sheep, smiles: I don't really do this but since I get paid. I will do my best to get more money out of you Mr. Vip.

Bee:... I think I just heard you say something just now.

Sheep, shameless: that's good, since it mean your not deaf after all. Make sure you double it if you guys eat all day up. 🤭

Bee who have lost sense of proper spending of wealth: that's fine.

MC: yippee. Hanii so cool.♡⁠˖⁠꒰⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠⑅⁠꒱

Bee: omae....(⁠✿⁠^⁠‿⁠^⁠) You just want to eat nice dish today huh.

MC: yup.(⁠人⁠ ⁠•͈⁠ᴗ⁠•͈⁠)also it been while since you call me that. Eheh

Bee: fine.

Bee, stare at sheep: then make a good dish specifically for omae then.

Sheep, ever smiling: of course.😊🫶

Grey: [ this is quite exciting]

Bee, give a look at grey: don't add any weird thing in the dish ok.

Grey: [ I won't dream off doing so]

Bee:.... Ok. I believe you.

.

.

.

Sheep prepared three dish for the crowd. Through he did have his fun in it too. The dish is transported to pink KKOMAS as he finish them up.

Dish one: bunny shortcake

Sheep: made for the so called core fae. I hope you enjoy it. Remember to give me donation if you ask for seconds, ok.😊

judgment (MC):

MC: IS THAT MINI BLOB AND HEARTS. WHAT A CUTE DISH!!

MC takes a photo before they slurp it all up.

MC: .... DELICIOUS. NOM. NOM NOM. I want seconds!! 10 out 10

Doll mumble: isn't it weird to eat dish of your (child)...

MC, lick the plate clean: did you say something just now?

Doll: morning. 💀

Bee, smile and give 10000 mv to sheep channel since omae like it.

Dish two: choco, pineapple, sakura jam bread

Sheep: this is for pinkies since you guys like some common Japanese sweet. But the flavor is different from normal melon bread.

Reaper who eaten the chocolate bread : it's good. Through I can't say anything since I can't based this on previous bread I eat. Probably 5 out 10. Sorry. The Niki han of soul mate au made some very tasty bread. They are kinda expensive through. Agh....😞

Doll who eaten the Sakura jam bread:... Lucky you, I cannot afford bread from that vender ( ‾́ ◡ ‾́ ). So I give you 8 out 10. Since there's a bit lacking into it.

Helter who eat haft of the pineapple one: 0 out 10. Grey better. ( Totally not biased)

Sheep, who want to tell a child off but decide not too: 😊💢💢 is that so...

Hallow, who eat the other haft of the pineapple bread: it's good. I give it 9.5 out 10. Since it's unique taste of pineapple. 🥺 I would want to order more too.

Addie: you shouldn't eat too much sweet, hallow or that so called master of yours will tell you off for cavities.

Hallow: I'll brush my teeth later.🫡

Dish three: bun bun dumplings

Sheep: I hope you'll enjoy this surprised. Especially you little boy. (⁠✿⁠^⁠‿⁠^⁠)

Sheep Stare at Helter in such a sinister smile but it looks like a prince charming smile to others who's effected by his skill like Helter.

Helter, felt chill even through sheep looks very harmless to his eyes: GREY THAT SHEEP PUT POISON ON MA' FOOD.

grey, comfort Helter by carrying him: [ it's ok it's ok. Your immune to poison and Venomous substances ]

Helter, point his pink gun at the system screen: ya can't threaten me, ya sheep! I'm stwong!!

He tried to act tough, his speech become child like, grey chuckle as he try to calm down his young lord. Before giving little Helter a flower to eat to calm down.

.

Doll( who eat spicy) : GHAAAAAHHH SPICYYYYYY.

Reaper( safe dumpling): it's good. 8 out 10.

Sea, give 10 points outs as he too eat the safe bun.

Hallow ( who eat extreme spicy dumpling) : ah, my tongue felt tingling and my eyes is watering... Hmm... I guess it's good. ...haa.... H....hot.... *Faints.

Addie: ... That's impressive.

...

Addie message someone on his phone and suddenly there's a donation on sheep side.

The Doctor donated 3,333,333

The doctor become High tier VIP

The doctor now become #1 Member

Sheep:...

The protagonist who's beside sheep and waiting for their own dumpling: where's my share. 😗

Sheep: I'll treat you some restaurants later. We're rich.

The protagonist: oh. But I want your food. 😞

Sheep: hmm... Fine. Since I'm in good mode. I'll make one after this.

Riku who heard sheep making dinner: I want failed dilguna candy. (⁠*⁠´⁠ω⁠｀⁠*⁠)

Sheep: that's not dinner.

Riku: I want blood of my enemies.

Sheep: ok, one cheese burger.

Riku: I don't like it when you make good food. That's why I ask for failed dilguna candy

Sheep: ask them then.

The protagonist: WHATS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?

[lostinvasileios]

im sorry if i sound insecure or something but have you ever been in a place where you couldnt explain your relationship or practice to people that much because you dont have the words for it? like i want to tell someone about how much i love my deities but i cant really describe anything about why i do or something without feeling sort of stupid because i cant phrase it right, does that make sense? im sorry if thats hard to understand

Greetings, love bee!! ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. Thank you for sending in your ask. 💛🌷

So, yes, actually. I have. I actually still feel that way. In my own journey, that's been a feeling I've had pretty much the entire time. My emotions always felt so much more profound than my vocabulary could keep up with. No matter how many big and beautiful words I found, they never truly could capture the essence of it and I hated that for so long when I was beginning. Having urges to share the beauty you've gone through or whatever is normal during practicing.

But… That's not a bad thing, bee. As I've come to learn, that - only makes it more special. I get it can be annoying, but you don't owe anybody an explanation to anything about your path or things relating to it.

A thing I had to learn pretty quickly (like 6-7 months into my practice) was that... Your path isn't really... Meant to be understood by anybody else other than you. I mean, this is what mine is like at least. I can't truly immerse anyone into what my life is like or has been like with my deities, because they won't be able to remember it the way I can. They can't feel the exact, or most likely even similar, emotions I did - in the way I did - because... It didn't happen for them. My deities said that to me, they showed that to me, they did this and that for/to me. Just as, their deities did that for them and they got to experience things I did not and probably won't.

Now, there are of course times where I or you will find others who can relate on certain levels, swap stories and see the similarities, and so forth. However, you two can give each other as many details as you can muster and as basically humanly possible, but - at the end of the day... That experience is yours alone. Their experience, is theirs alone.

And that's - beautiful to me, honestly.

It really helps me realize just how - unique... How truly special this all is. There are details about my practice that nobody besides me and my deities will ever understand, and though I sometimes wish to share them with others - some things are simply meant to stay with the experiencer & those involved within the experience. Some things are just either not going to be well received, well understood, well liked, ect. Some things are just - safer with you and your deities. Which is why the saying "keep the personal details to yourself" exists within witchy communities.

Another thing is that languages as a whole can be very limiting even with all the beautiful words that you can find. Grammar rules too. Me and my deities often break things like language or grammar to better communicate, because - we understand each other. The meaning behind our made up words or complex grammar style, almost like our own language. You can try to mix up your own way of telling someone about your deities and the bond you have, the knowledge you've gained and the experiences or theories you have gotten over the time you've practiced, but, it might be confusing. And more than often, if someone is confused, they can get angry. They can begin to invalidate you. Ect.

But, at the same time, you're also entitled to speak about it even if little to nobody understands it. You're allowed to be confusing and make language whatever you need it to be to get your point across and satisfy those desires to share. If you want to, nobody's really stopping you. And, you might just meet someone who can understand certain extents, or be similar to you. That in itself is kind of why we even have religion or the knowledge of deities in the first place. Because someone went out and preached it, someone brave went and documented it for others to learn.

I think I yapped a bit here, sorry about that, bee, lol. Hopefully I made some form of sense here. Enjoy your path and may no evil follow you, loveling! 🤍🤍

[showtoonzfan]

Like Bee being an animal tamer makes no fucking sense and she definitely not gonna appear again to have another chance to lean into it.

Like what does she do that hints at animal shit

She definitely isn't dressed like one or have subtle references to it. She's literally dressed like Kesha and her performance in the animation reads more like early 2000s pop music video

Also does that mean Bee uses hellhounds for entertainment or something?

But Vivziepop not understanding her excuse of that Bee not resembling a fraction of her mythos makes no sense when she decided to reference Asmodeus and Lucifer's depictions. Like Asmodeus isn't even sexy but i can understand that. They also did something unique too.

Like you cant have both because you have set the expectation of accuracy. Like Asmodeus again is absolutely unsexy if I wanted to go with my original thing I'd go with a tradtional hot dude look.

She can't pull out of her ass saying she's doing her completely original take shut up haters routine.

Also neo pagans exist and your just bastardizing deities for no god damn reason.

The Helluva Boss fandom is stupid so they are going to assume these are accurate depictions and if a demonologist or neo pagan has issues or shows an accurate design the fandom is also insane enough to harass them.

The problem is just���.she said she wants to do something new, except her design isn’t new. It’s literally just another wolf, a character that looks like one of Vivziepop’s old OC’s, she did nothing new. And two, it looks nothing like her OWN goddamn interpretation. 💀

[citadelofthestars]

1-3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, and 20 for the Rocky Road asks, please?

Thanks so much! ❤️❤️

A book you regretted reading?

I test read some "potential collection" books for my librarian bestie this year and one of them was Night Hunt and it was total YA slop with nary a single redeeming quality. Boring, silly, over wrought, and a complete waste of my time.

A book you couldn’t finish?

The Bee Sting was disgusting, I could have slogged through the lack of speech markers (why tho???) and the other "stylistic choices", but there was too much explicit content so I just quit.

A concept or plot that you thought was squandered in a story?

I'm not sure - I think the Night Hunt had potential in the fantasy creatures/grim reapers but did not carry it off.

A character you want to rescue from the story they’re in?

Hmm..Jane Eyre is all that is coming to mind but I know there are others 😭

A book you thought you would hate but loved?

Well not so strongly as "hate" or "loved" but I didn't think I would like The Frugal Wizard's Guide to Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson (since I didn't like other things I had read by him) and I actually did like it!

A character type, plot, or element that you normally don’t like but did like because of the execution?

Hmm, there is a very popular trope (that I can't say bc it would be spoilers) and I don't like how it's usually done but it is excellent and unique and somehow fresh in Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries (a book I adored, probably the favorite of all the books I've read this year)

A book on hold that you do mean to finish?

There are so many unfortunately...one is the Interior Castle, by St. Teresa of Avila

A book that disappointed in a reread?

Honestly I rarely reread books, it's just not something I usually enjoy. If I'm rereading something it's because I love it.

A book that was better the second time around?

Absolutely the King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, I've reread it more times than I can count and it's an absolute joy every time.

A book where you like the adaptation or an element therein better than the book itself?

I'm not sure about this one, usually I like the original better than adaptions.

A book that you didn’t read when you wanted to?

The latest installment of the murderbot diaries, I didn't want it to end so I kept reading other things in between to make it stretch longer.

[the-other-art-blog]

Rock Collection II

I did it! Finally, I finished another one-shot.

Basically, Benedict opens up to Sophie about his rock collection. Hopefully, (circle of prayer) s4 will have something similar, where Ben gets vulnerable and shares deep feelings about Edmund's death with Sophie. Julia only mentioned it but I need more, I need an actual scene.

I talked about Benedict's grief and coping method in my latest post:

Benedict, grief, and bees (Benophie wish list s4)

You can click on the AO3 link or read the one-shot under the cut:

It was surprising how quickly Sophie got used to My Cottage. Granted, she had only been there for four days, but it already felt so natural. Benedict had welcomed her to his home as a guest. He insisted on having breakfast, lunch, and dinner with her, and seemed to enjoy her reading aloud while he sketched. Yet Sophie was no fool. After all, he didn’t recognize her, merely got a feeling of knowing her. If she had doubts of his feelings for her as the lady from the masquerade, she now was sure. He could barely see the sketches and studies she saw yesterday, which only reaffirmed her resolution to keep her identity a secret. She knew her place, she was not a grand lady but a fraud, and now she was only a forgettable maid. If Benedict was kind it was because he felt sorry for her and had a sense of responsibility towards a poor servant. 

She did her best to keep herself in check. Nevertheless, she could not ignore the jumps her heart made whenever Benedict smiled or laughed, looked at her, or simply stood nearby. At least in the previous days, Benedict was so weak, he stayed in bed all day. Now he had enough strength (or boredom) to walk around the house.

Sophie was being nosy. She knew it but she couldn’t help it. Her time with Benedict was limited and she wanted to make the most of it. She wanted to know him and learn as much as she could about him so that when they parted ways, she could have more to hold on to than their time of the masquerade. She was grateful for everything Benedict shared with her. 

Now as she looked again at his desk, she went back to Benedict’s rock collection. In the light of day, she could appreciate it better. There was no order or classification apparent, they were all mixed in a bowl. Sophie picked a few of them up in turn, rolling them lightly over her palm. They just looked like rocks to her, but she supposed that they might appear more interesting and unique to Benedict if they represented special memories for him. 

“Why are these so special to you, I wonder?” she whispered, placing them carefully back in the bowl.

“The boys at Eton were all building collections.” He approached the desk, standing next to her, too close to be considered appropriate. “We were learning about Kunstkammer, that is-”

“Cabinet of curiosities.” Sophie finished his sentence, causing Benedict to look at her intently. 

“I…I learned about it with the girls of the house.” She quickly followed. Damn it , she needed to be more careful. 

Benedict decided to keep his doubts quiet. Something was not right. Sophie’s story did not fit with her accent, skills, and knowledge, but if he kept insisting she might retreat. 

“The other boys were collecting cards, shells, insects even.”

“I’m sure those didn’t cause any trouble.”

“They were no fun to the professors.” Sophie giggled at his cheeky tone and smirk. “Once there were grasshoppers all over the dining room.” He continued to make Sophie laugh, and he loved it. “I picked a less troublemaker object, only for my mother’s sake.” 

They shared a quiet laugh again.

"How do you choose them?"

"The one that feels right. I can't explain it. I just look at them and know that that's the right rock. They're all different. That's what I love about them. No matter if I find them in the same place, they're never identical."

"Every single one of them is unique. Like snowflakes."

"Exactly."

That's a beautiful thought. There's uniqueness in everything." Sophie's words sank in Benedict's mind. He had been looking for uniqueness for years, something that showed that he was unique, not just Bridgerton No. 2. Sophie would understand that.

"Can I ask...?" Sophie looked at the bowl curious to know more about it.

Benedict moved to grab one of the rocks at the bottom. 

“I picked it as we were leaving this house to move to Aubrey Hall, my family’s ancestral home. There’s a lake in the south of the property, I went there to pick up something to remember this place.” He held the rock in his palm for Sophie to look at. It was a green rock with white and gray stripes. 

“Was that the first one you got?”

“This one.” He picked one of the simplest rocks in the bowl. A common grey smooth rock. “The previous summer, my father took my brother and me to the lake and taught us how to throw rocks. It’s the first time I beat Anthony at something.”

“You gotta remember that.”

“I certainly have to!” Benedict smiled back at her before turning back to the rock. His expression got serious. “It was a beautiful day.” It broke Sophie’s heart. 

“You must miss him a lot.”

“I do. I try to remember as much as I can of him.” He put the lake rock back and grabbed the pink one with the ragged grey vein running straight through the middle. “I wasn’t with him when it happened. He took Anthony hunting and when they came back a bee stung him.”

“Oh.”

“I was in the stables, returning the horse. I rushed to the garden when I heard my brother and mother scream, but it was too late.”

Sophie listened to Benedict's story. Her heart broke for him as she remembered her own father’s death. Both of them died young, not even 40 years old. Quick deaths, unexpected deaths, that left their families in turmoil. Only one difference, there was love in the Bridgerton family. They didn’t just lose the head of the family, but a devoted husband and father. 

Forgetting all barriers between them, Sophie hugged his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder. 

“I should have been there.”

“How could you have known?”

Benedict hesitated even though Sophie looked at him with compassion. If he mentioned the tingling he felt, would she think him crazy? 

“Something wasn’t right that day. I came as fast as I could. Between the children and mother, the house was chaos. I could only say goodbye once he was in his room. My siblings were finally asleep and the laudanum let my mother rest, so I went out and grabbed this rock. I think he’d like it.”

They looked at the rock on Benedict’s hand for a few seconds in silence. 

“I know it’s weird.”

“It isn’t.”

“I need to remember that day. By keeping this rock, I know I’ll never forget. I don’t want to forget him. I wear bees and it makes me feel like he’s with me.”

Suddenly it hit Benedict, he was sharing incredibly deep and personal feelings with… Sophie, things he hadn’t even discussed with his mother or siblings. He should feel embarrassed, weakened, and vulnerable. Instead, he felt lightweight. He understood what Anthony felt now that he shared his burdens with Kate, or how Penelope now had Colin’s support. It was liberating and surprising in the best way. Surprising because he always thought the Lady in Silver would be that person for him, but Sophie was here, listening and comforting him. It only confused him more.

[goawaypopup]

Roddacember Day 18: Ripples

(A remastered rant from the depths of the Deltora Quest Discord server.)

There is a timeline out there where the quest failed because Queen Bee murdered the questers to death in her yard with her bees before they could explain.

She is a contact of the Resistance. Finding the Belt on Lief's body, complete with three gems in place, she'd pretty well know what was up. She doesn't strike me as the sort to cast off the task to anyone else, especially not with the burden of guilt for it.

The next-in-line is dead, but the resistance doesn't know that. The Belt has done what it never did in the series, swapping over to the next in line - Marilen? Or can it be anybody who shares Adin's line? Or does Marilen count as dead because she's currently a spooky ghost in the Valley of the Lost? Who knows. The resistance can figure that out and have their own Dain reveal on their own schedule after the Belt's complete.

The bees are very intelligent and very fast. They can follow directions and travel quickly and discreetly. Queen Bee may be more fragile than the previous heroes, but she doesn't even need to be there to get the last four gems. Luckily, Lief had a handy map to them too.

The Maze of the Beast would be pretty difficult to pull off, and might require some sort of human party. The hatch could be lifted by a human to let the bees in to search, and the Glus might not even sense them, let alone be able to take them out with its spit. If they could just have a way to actually locate the Amethyst, the stone is soft enough that they very well might be able to bore through it. There is a species of bee that does this with cliffsides!

The problem of finding it might call for some creative solutions. I guess there's no reason not to send a pack of bees down carrying the Belt? If they could lift Steven's cart they can certainly pull that off. Or, for a more fun route, capture a bunch of Grey Guards, tell them you'll pull them back up if they can find the Amethyst, and dump them in the Maze. Grey Guards are very self-serving, it'd work great. Probably fill the Glus up after a pod or two and leave the rest to tear the place up.

Gellick would probably require a strategy to actually kill him. The treasure cavern must have an opening to the air for him to breathe somewhere, and he probably can't spit poison quickly enough to take down an entire swarm of flying insects, but they couldn't really try to tear the gem from his forehead. He's probably at least somewhat poison-coated there, and no doubt he can reach there with his tongue.

Dreaming Spring water might work again here if Queen Bee learned of it, but my thought here is bees carrying Water Eaters - they're locally made, an easy size for a bee to carry, and will definitely cause immediate massive internal damage. And Lief could hold the emerald immediately after Gellick's death, suggesting bees could also.

The Shifting Sands are a bit of an unknown. They took a while to notice Lief, but the buzzing of a rival hive seems to me like something that would set them on guard immediately. And they're uniquely capable of wiping out swarms of small intruders.

I'm not entirely sure what would work best here - fortunately the bees are capable of trying multiple times. Perhaps the best strategy would simply be getting in and out as fast as possible, or doing a stealthy remove and replace like in the original, or something fun like dropping an entire carriage into the pyramid and escaping in the chaos.

There's also the opal's foresight to help out here, which I'm certain Queen Bee would be the sort to use frequently; being a Plains woman, and also just, the way she is.

I was going to delve into the plausibility of bees being able to open doors, but then I remembered the Valley of the Lost's animal-killing mist. That's pretty insurmountable. But this one is something that doesn't have an immediate physical risk.

We're finally going to have to send in the Resistance!

Doom did manage the test before, and even if he probably can't just play again, he can definitely tell others the answer. The question is whether he can be persuaded to help. To round off the theme, I'll propose bee torture for this.

And with that, we have a more or less clear path to Queen Bee of Deltora.

[imthepunchlord]

Speaking of your question about Plagg and Tikki, I feel like the kwamis aren't really... necessary? I mean, they work as sidekicks at times, but most of the time I feel like their role as actual gods is really null, they don't really advance the plot unless it's kwami related episode and their point as mentors suck.

It's why I prefer their PV selves, at least we can see how much they actually help. Plus, the whole reason they even enter the jewel makes me think "are all people who use Nooroo and Duusuu villains or something?"

So, I'd much rather prefer if they were this holographic animals (since I never understand why each one is considered that) over tech suits. Especially since they can't even offer advice when transformed.

(That's my opinion though, can be wrong)

Oh they really aren't. For the show, kwamis are an after thought. They're really just there to be the "anime mascot" and sell toys. They aren't included to be actual characters and powerful beings that have been around longer than humanity. Biggest show of this is that, we hardly have anything on the kwami-holder relationship outside the lead duo, and they just quickly default to "I like/love this human", and when there's multiple kwamis together, they default to a hive mentality and act like little kids.

You cut them out, you don't miss much. At most, you'll miss out on kwamis adding chaos and stress to Marinette's life, and you'd miss out on Plagg being with Adrien, which Plagg makes the most fun in the Adrien focused scenes. Take Plagg out, and Adrien just sits in his room. Though, that could be a plus cause if they want Adrien to be engaging, he'd have to DO something since there's no kwami to work off of.

Tikki and Plagg, who have the most attention for kwamis, aren't true characters either as their views and personality and actions will all come down to the whims of the writers and what they need kwamis to do for this specific episode. Like, take Tikki and her involvement in romance; some eps she will push the LS agenda or get invested in the romance, some eps she doesn't get it, or say she can't be involved as "kwamis don't feel romantic love". You got Plagg in some eps resisting the transformation cause he doesn't want to power the ring and just wants to laze around, but in another ep he'll be trying to get Adrien into action and be a hero.

So with all that, kwamis don't warrant existing in the show as they don't bring anything in or progress anything; and the bit of focus they get is often clashing with anything prior. Like, take Barkk who has 2 different personalities; you got a dutiful Barkk who is serious and diligent in Furious Fu, but then you get high on puppy energy Barkk in Strikeback. So, what's the true Barkk? Is Barkk a diligent and dutiful kwami? Is Barkk playful, warm, and energetic? Is Barkk a mixture of the two, knowing there's a time to play and a time to work?

They just don't care or prioritize the kwamis enough to establish character (though this does extend to a lot of ML characters who will have clashing actions and personalities).

I do find it to be a shame, cause I think the kwamis could've been the most fascinating aspect of ML. Cause these are beings who've been there as humanity grew and developed, and they did live through much of history and clearly have traveled all over the world and got to be involved in a variety of cultures. They should all be incredibly wise and have unique experiences to share. And given the animal motif, there could've been fun basing their personalities around animal stereotypes, and working off their symbolism and mythology.

Like, instead of no thoughts head empty, eager to be a servant Pollen, she should have been as sweet as honey, open minded, have strong values in diligence, duty, teamwork, communication, and nurturing others and all life. And if you actually successfully piss her off, she's going to be one of the scariest kwamis to face. Cause hey, bees will sting back, and in Hindu mythology, through the goddess Bhrami, bees and wasps are associated terminated evil/chaos; also actual bees will terminate a bad queen bee. So Chloe getting the Bee should have gone very differently. Could've also worked off Pollen being the only kwami to have a gender preference to what humans can use her power.

There's also a lot of potential in kwami relationships, as in mythology and fairy tales, many animals have complex relationships; some would be close friends, and some would be rivals if not enemies. Plagg and Mullo should be tense with each other and have a rivalry; Plagg and Barkk could frenemies, as well as Longg and Roaar. Plagg and Roaar could be tight as a loose nod to pair of Guardian Lions, Barkk and Orikko should be rivals with Trixx with the latter enjoying messing with Barkk and Orikko. Sass and Wayzz should be best friends, ect..

Another thing that could've been interesting, especially post Guardian Marinette, is that the kwamis all should have different views and opinions on what to do. And the chaos Marinette should have experienced is more too many cooks in the kitchen than dealing with floating toddlers. Like, take Marinette struggling whether to stay connected with her friends or cut ties to fully focus on being a hero, Barkk, Pollen, and Kaalki think she should continue to be friends with them, let them in. Ziggy, Sass, and Stompp though think she should cut ties to focus on her duty, embrace the independence. Trixx and Tikki think Marinette should try to do both, cause you need your friends, but you should also prioritize your duty. And Marinette is torn on who to listen to cause there's no easy answer.

So, should kwamis have not be included? Given the writers, yes. They don't care enough to really focus on the kwamis, and clearly can't handle all 19 kwamis that exist. But I do think they're a big missed opportunity cause they easily could've been the best part of the show given that many animals have a lot of myths, stories, and lore tied to them that could've been incorporated into the show and really make each kwami unique and fascinating.

[creationofacentury]

(For anyone who's interested in interaction between X and Grumbot: Hello! This is a short fanfic about them.)

------

Grumbot has been working in the grocery store for a long time. He has seen a lot of strange people. People with gills, people with eye patches, people with wings, people with watermelon hats, people that looks like creeper...but the strangest person among them is the owner of the store.

X, is what the they asked Grumbot to call them. X wears their helmet all the time, Grumbot has never seen their face. (Grumbot assumes they have a face. Most people have it.) X never eats, which is very different from most people that Grumbot knows. X also talks in a really unique voice, it sounds like the asphalt surface when Grumbot drags his feet across the floor (X doesn't like it when he does that), and Grumbot likes how X's voice sounds similar to his own. Some times, though, X stares at him with an expression that Grumbot doesn't understand, but despite the strangeness, Grumbot likes X. X takes good care of him, and X is red- Grumbot loves red.

He tells X that.

Beneath the visor and armor, X stiffens. They slowly turn to look at Grumbot and frown.

"Yeah?" X sounds extra cheery today. Normally they just make noises at Grumbot that he has yet to understand and walk away. "Why is that?"

Do frowns go with cheery? Grumbot needs to update his database. "It makes me think of...bed, I guess. It makes me feel warm."

"..." The frown disappears, and now Grumbot can't read X's expression at all. It's all blank. "Your bed only has two colors, and it's yellow and black."

"Bee's color,"

"Yeah."

"I like bees,"

"I know."

"But I still don't know why I like red..." Grumbot sighs- a movement he learns from X, "...Oh, I know! Maybe it's because you are red, X!"

X visibly shakes.

Grumbot tilts his head in confusion.

"...Yeah?" X asks weakly after a few seconds.

"Yeah!"

"...That's great." They smile, and it looks wobbly. "Kid, isn't it almost your bed time?"

Grumbot checks the clock on the wall to be sure. "It's only seven, X, are you alright? You are acting unusual today!"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." X turns around to fiddle with the counter. "How about we close for the day early, and I'll let you count the diamonds?"

"CAN I?!"

"Yes, but! Just for today."

"Yay! You are the best, X!"

X turns away. "What are you waiting for? Go lock the door."

As Grumbot runs to lock the door, he hears X mumbles. It isn't unusual, X does that a lot, and it's always something about sooma and void, but Grumbot has never figured out what a sooma is. He has a feeling that X doesn't know he can hear them all.

This time though, there's a new word:

"Call me heartless one more time...who's the heartless ones? The simulation is over, it's been years- aren't they your children? I swear to Notch, Grian..."

Grian?

Grumbot collapses to the ground.

System rebooting...

Memory access blocked...

Overwrite?

Access denied...

System rebooting...

"...umbot? Grumbot! Wake up! Kid, come on, come on, come on-!"

"...X?"

"KID, YOU SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH!"

Grumbot realizes they are on the ground. X is cradling him like a human baby, and Grumbot kind of like it.

"X? What happened?"

X has their right hand on Grumbot's forehead, "You are shaking,"

Grumbot wants to say X's voice is shaking too, but he decides not to. He is shaking after all, and he doesn't know why.

"Why?"

"I don't know, you just collapsed- and-"

"Sorry, X..."

"DON'T." X yells and then immediately regrets it, "Sorry, I...don't be sorry for things you can't control, don't ever apologize for that, okay?"

Grumbot nods.

"I need verbal response, kid."

"...yes, X."

And X wraps their arms around Grumbot. Grumbot has seen customers do that. Once, a man with a watermelon hat came in with a yellow shirt child, and when the child cry, the man did this. X told him it was a hug, and finally Grumbot gets one as well.

X's soft, Grumbot decides. He can feel it through the armor. Maybe X have a face underneath the helmet after all, since faces are soft, too.

After three minutes, Grumbot thinks he still needs to ask, "...Can I still count the diamonds?"

X chuckles. It sounds choked, maybe X needs to drink water. Grumbot knows X has a pair of cups and a box of tea, but he has never seen X use them before. They just sit on the shelf in the back of the store, strangely not collecting dust at all.

"You don't sound great, X, are you sure you are okay?"

X stays silent.

It takes them a while to reply, "...Give me a night. I will be okay tomorrow, alright?"

"Okay."

"You can count the diamond on your own right? Don't fall asleep with them in your bed, I will know if you do."

"Okay, okay! I won't! Get better soon!"

With a final pat on the head, X walks him to his room and hands him the diamonds. Grumbot counts the diamond one by one, and he recounts just so he doesn't mess up. When he falls asleep, he dreams of a person in red and a person in black, smiling towards him. They seem nice. All in all, it's a good day. (And if he gets up before X, he can get away with sleeping with diamonds in his bed, then the day would be even better.)

[ugly-anastasia]

Thursday, November 16 – Character #Inspo: Find five existing fictional characters who remind you of your character (or who inspired your character). Post two pieces of inspiration from each character (A gif, a quote, a video clip, a screenshot) and write a little bit about how that character relates to your own.

someth wrong with her <3 an annie manifesto

(spoilers for Glass Onion, Such a Fun Age, Yellowjackets, Succession, and The White Lotus below)

It's no secret that I love unhinged women like this is barely scratching the surface of my favorite characters that inspire Annie but I tried to narrow it down for this.

Birdie Jay from Glass Onion

This is kind of a goofier one, but I loved this character in Glass Onion. I read something once about how Knives Out is about criticizing old money rich people and Glass Onion is about criticizing the new-money-hustle-culture-opportunist type of rich person. I think that's very true, and a lot of Glass Onion is about exposing the lie that these people have something very special and genius about them when in reality they are often employing a combination of luck, good looks, charisma, useful connections, and a willingness to screw people over at times.

Birdie is less sinister and more... kind of stupid. And while I do think Annie is very smart in her own way, she can be very ignorant about things that get her into a lot of trouble. I thought the "sweatshops" thing was hilarious and so Annie— a girlboss building an empire in the fashion space, but she doesn't even know what a sweatshop is. As for the header image, I thought that scene was very fitting as well! Like Annie, Birdie deals with criticism by telling herself this story that other people simply don't understand, that she's just misunderstood and someday they'll all see. I do think that Annie is misunderstood by her peers at times, but that doesn't excuse her behavior and it definitely doesn't make her a visionary lol.

2. Alix Chamberlain/Alex Murphy from Such a Fun Age

This is one of the characters who inspired Annie to begin with. (As a side note, I think it's wild that this book came out in 2019 and now in 2023 the influencer girlboss protagonist shares names with 2 Internet it girls of the 2020s lol). For those who haven't read it, the plot of this book is kind of complicated but it's basically about the misguided ways that white people often respond to racism and sometimes appropriate dialogues about race for their own ends which often undermines movements. It's also largely about hustle culture and liberal white feminism and so all of these things were percolating in my brain when I wrote Annie.

As you can see from the heading, the protagonist, Alix, who is the influencer girlboss in question, changes her name from Alex to Alix, and "Chamberlain" is her husband's last name when she gets married. This is part of what inspired me to have Annie go by Annie instead of Anastasia; Alix did this to try and seem more unique and sophisticated while Annie did it to try and sound more American.

I also wanted to address the quote I put in the header, which is more of a general thing about the character than a specific moment. Like Birdie, Alix is a character who tells herself a lot of stories to protect herself against criticism. In Alix's case, it's also about denying that she's harmed people, because even to herself she can't handle that guilt.

3. Misty Quigley from Yellowjackets

Misty <3 We're moving into real Unhinged Lady territory here. I actually got Jackie on that character quiz, which you would expect from a character who's kind of a queen bee, but I think what's important here is that Annie isn't a queen bee, she's just trying really hard to be. Misty is the prototypical nerd, but she fights her way into the spaces she wants to be in through sheer force of will. She doesn't play soccer, but she gets on the team by becoming the equipment manager. And in the wilderness, she makes herself indispensable through her medical knowledge.

I chose Misty's Citizen Detective moment because I thought it tied in with Annie's arc on the Squire, how both of them are nosy but it's mostly because they are lonely and want to be a part of something. I also wanted to highlight this moment because Annie can be quite aggressive and borderline violent sometimes lol and I think she gets a lot of joy out of "coaching" someone the way she sometimes gives Toby pep talks.

4. Siobhan "Shiv" Roy from Succession

Look you knew I was gonna talk about Shivvy didn't you? The scene I picked is from a really intense fight she's having with Tom, they're like literally on the verge of breaking up because due to complicated plot things Tom has betrayed Shiv and they just weren't talking about it but now they're finally airing all of it out there. And they get to the end and Shiv, who has been saying really horrible things to Tom, just breaks down and says, "Well, that's not a very nice thing to say, is it?" It's in response to Tom saying she wouldn't make a good mother.

And I think this moment is so Annie because she really does put on this tough girl energy, and once in a while she even fake cries to get what she wants, but deep down, she is just a sensitive, wounded person and if you hit her in the right place and at the right time she will break down. Which leads me also to point out episode 4.1 when she is scheduling breaks in her schedule to cry and insisting to her brothers that she is fine meanwhile her husband and father are conspiring against each other together to screw her over further if she goes through with divorcing Tom. Because she is that averse to show people her true feelings! And yet she cannot push them down forever!

5. Daphne Sullivan, The White Lotus

The thing I loved about the Sullivans is that when you meet them, you think they are just your typical vapid rich people, and then you realize they have an incredibly fucked-up relationship, and then you think maybe they're kind of onto something in a weird way (is that bad to say lol). Daphne continues this thread of the tough-girl-who's above-needing-love, and I think her weird little jealousy game with her husband is the perfect example of that.

But I also think, like the other examples, deep down under the surface of Daphne is a sad, romantic person who does want love, and I think in the iconic moment before she leads Will off to the cave where they ostensibly hook up, her heart does break to learn that her husband may have slept with Harper. Partially because Harper has betrayed her, but also partially because maybe she thought this time would be different. But she holds her tears in and gets her revenge, and that's kind of Annie's whole thing.

[skeleton-in-a-hoodie]

Relistening to TMA has got me thinking about the DDMG fam's fears.

Splinter: Anything to do with fire is guarenteed to freak him out, but something that can screw with his perception of events will also mess him up. First one is down to how he died, second is rooted in his worsening memory problems.

Leo: Heights, but water so deep he can't see the bottom will also do it. Not a fan of the ocean or tall buildings as a result.

Raph: His feelings towards most bugs are kill it with fire. Wasps and cockroaches get the honour of being the insects that frighten him the most. Bees are on thin ice, but he actually likes spiders.

Donnie: Storms make him nervous, but thunder freaks him out. He hates the sudden loud booming noise and not knowing when it'll end.

Mikey: I'm not really sure. I think he gets nervous around most unfamiliar adults (Splinter was an exception because he's not a normal adult), but I don't think he's afraid of them so much as wary. He does fear being seperated from his brothers, but that's not a fear unique to Mikey - all four of them are afraid that one day someone will just come along and decide to seperate them again. Maybe being helpless or claustrophobia, like there's nothing he can do/ he can't move? Hmm, will think it over.

April: vast areas that don't have much variation, so you can't get your bearings, like getting stuck in mazes. Also not a fan of deer.

Casey: rats. Had a bad experience when he was younger and later on met the Ratman, which did not help. Also would never admit it, but is pertrified of turning out like his dad.

Kirby: properly loosing April or his in-laws turning up. Actually those two are connected, and have a lot of little fears attached to them.

Not 100% sure what the rest of the DDMG family's worst fears are. Gonna think it over.