#very interesting critter regardless

[bugsinmyard]

I'm sorry the image quality is so bad I was far too frightened of this bug to get any closer. What is this? Does anybody know what kind of bug could look like this?

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Characters with Bothersome Traits

Debut: Tetris Blast

I am the kind of person who is delighted by, among other things, a certain pairing of words that many (sad) people may never think to consider in their lives. This pair of words is "Tetris Characters". I have already told you about some of those in the form of personified blocks, but there are even more, and this will certainly not be my last time mentioning the topic!

Tetris Blast is a Tetris spinoff, in particular, a version of the Bombliss game mode made for the Game Boy. It is like Tetris, but each Tetri- or Tri- or Domino has at least one Mino that is a bomb! The standard completed row does not automatically disappear, but if it contains a bomb, that bomb will detonate, destroying blocks around it. And this is what I was doing, playing the standard mode, when every five stages, I was greeted by a new little critter dancing on a stage! What a lovely surprise! But who were these creatures?

It turns out this game also has a Fight Mode! Where you Fight some guys! The manual refers to them as characters with bothersome traits, so that's as close to a band name for them as we'll get. Let's meet them all RIGHT NOW!

Cubit Cubit is a bit spunchlike, but if our favorite sponge was a grumpy nudist! It is the most basic of all these creatures, and just wanders around. I like its round armless hands. A very easy guy to obliterate.

Scraptor No offense to Cubit, but Scraptor is already way more interesting! It's a very geometric creature, a square "diamond" whose body is split into two halves. It is actually one big mouth, and the halves detach on a tiny hinge to open and eat bombs! This was the very first of these creatures I saw, because it is the first one that dances in the intermission scenes. What an incredible first impression!

Gloop Gloop is a little cutie! It is like a drop a dollop a squeezing. It also looks like an extremely simplified cartoon whale! You know how there is a whale emoji and also a cartoon whale emoji? Gloop could be the next stage of evolution. I also really love the way it laughs. It looks so innocent, but then laughs in a way that looks SO mocking, it feels like the cuteness is a facade!

Creepa Creepa is another little cutie, which there are bound to be many of when looking at little guys exclusive to a Game Boy game. I like that it is cylinder-shaped, like it came out of a can, or is a can! Though it looks cylindrical, its bothersome trait is to make extra blocks. And I also like its shoes. If it didn't have the shoes, it would be as basic as Cubit, probably. But basic isn't bad!

Squidly Squidly is my favorite of these guys! Look at it!!! It is like they distilled everything cute about Creepa into an even cuter form! Its smile is smaller, more gentle. Its eyes are bigger and bulge from the sides of its head, like its namesake, a squid! It has no arms to make it feel even more like a Video Game Creature, and yet still wears those excellent shoes. I guess the shape isn't necessarily an upgrade from Creepa, but this would be precious regardless of shape, and I am neutral about the change. Actually, it reminds me of a well-used eraser, and now that I thought of that, I like the shape even more! If this wasn't enough, Squidly has the ability to make entire rows of blocks, and after it does this, it dances happily, like it knows you can't get it now. This would typically be rude, but it's so cute that it can't be rude. I think it is truly just delighted!

Dug Grub Dug Grub probably has the best name in the game! Any name related to larvae is a winning name to me! If my name was Maggie I would always specify "like maggot" when telling it to people. Dug Grub is like a blob with a frog's head, and its eyes bulge SO much that they sometimes even appear to be floating! It has the bothersome trait of eating Mega Bombs, which is one of the most bothersome traits of all, because those things are precious resources. But if anything has to have an Eating Something Large Special Attack, it would be a Frog Blob.

Shadow Shadow is a cheeky little potato of a cyclops creature. Oh so cheeky, but also seems to be a bit of a sore loser! Get over it, am I right? It's just Bombs. It has Squidly's row creation ability in addition to probably the coolest ability in the game: it is able to enlarge its eye and envelop the playing field in darkness, which momentarily freezes the player's actions! I guess that is how it gets its name. I also must assume that the reason the screen goes dark is that its eye gets so big and effective that it is Seeing all that light before any of us gets a chance to. Save some for me! *Shadow's pupil burps*

B-Boy Finally we have B-Boy. Probably short for Ball-Boy. But there are so many possibilities... Buddy-Boy? Buckaroo-Boy? Boisterous-Boy? Maybe his real name is Baby-Boy and his parents dote on him so much, and he changed it out of embarrassment. He also adopted a new persona. Smug. Mischievous. Don't worry, he'll probably grow out of it after middle school. But for now, he is a real Bothersome-Boy! He ALSO has stolen Squidly's row creation ability! Squidly is such a trailblazer and I think would be justified in suing. Worst of all, though, B-Boy has a Bomb Attack that can actually regenerate his own health! Not an orb to be underestimated! Indeed, this is an orb to restart the level multiple times as a result of. A real Bad-Boy!

[alexa-fika]

Hello got another idea 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Okay so Dad Mihawk struggling to make blind reader (his son ) wear shoes and it is because like Toph he can't see when he's wearing them

I got this idea after bribing my niece with candy to wear her shoes 😂

🐼💕~

Fruitless Negotiations (Mihawk x male!blind!child!reader)

A/ I'm sorry 🐼 💕 I sold here, it is not very dura dura as the kids would say, What do you think? Also were you the one who originally asked for the blind!reader? I had to delete the original so im not sure? Regardless… here you go 🙏🏼 I ‘ll do better

Dividers by @/saradika

“Reader, you have to wear shoes; we are going into town, and you will injure your feet once again.” Mihawk says sternly.

The swordsman had been trying to put shoes on his young child for over thirty minutes, and he was growing frustrated

“I don't want to!”

Mihawk took a deep breath and tried another approach.

"I understand that you won't be able to utilize your ability to its full extent, but the town is closed to eradicated, there is debris all around, and you will hurt yourself

“But I can’t see with them on.”

“I know that, but you also can’t perceive your surroundings if you were to injure them... I am aware of your conundrum, but for your safety, I have to insist that you wear shoes.”

He sighs as he watches the child, still apprehensive about his request

“Will you be disposed to put the shoes on when we enter the town? I will sanction you to walk barefoot on the way, but once we near the village, we must wear them.

“Will you hold my hand when we get to the town?”

“I promise… As long as you are willing to wear shoes once we get to the town, I will hold your hand… Do we have a deal?”

“Yeah!”

Mihawk sighs as he finally makes some headway in getting the boy to comply,

As he is leaving, he gives one last reassurance to his child.

“I want to make this absolutely clear: once we reach the town, you will wear your shoes... Understand?”

“Okay!”

With that last exchange, Mihawk was confident that this time, the child would wear his shoes.

“Very well... We shall be going into town now... Let us go.”

Reader laughs, jumping and running on the grass, occasionally stopping to ‘see’ any interesting critters or objects lying in the way, all the way to the town

Mihawk sighed and followed behind the child; he was impressed with how he navigated with his devil fruit and even enjoyed observing the child marvel at every little bug or insect he encountered.

The day was calm and pleasant, with a light breeze passing occasionally, along with birds chirping. It was an unusually serene time for the swordsman, but one that was also welcome.

Reader ran along with no shoes on, and Mihawk just watched the child explore, his sharp eyes never leaving him.

After some time, Mihawk could see the outskirts of town approaching, and he could also see the child was beginning to slow down.

“Are you beginning to get tired, Reader?”

“No!”

His body betrayed him, however, as the boy yawned after his declaration

Mihawk's eyebrow raised at his actions, shaking his head and beckoning closer, scooping him

up in his hands

“Not tired,” he grumbled, lying his head on Mihawk’s shoulder

Mihawk chuckled and carried the boy,

“Your actions beg to differ; I think a nap is imminent, isn’t it?”

His grumbles eventually settle down, his breath evening out

Mihawk smiles to himself at the child’s sleeping state.

The swordsman was quite enjoying this moment; years of fighting, climbing his way to the top, and dealing with incompetent challengers made moments like this most welcome in his life.

“All that hassle, only to fall asleep before even stepping foot on the town,” he rumbles with a small, rare smile on his face

Yeah, I’ve got a few ideas on my mind that I think I can cook on but any requests are welcomed, including requests for other fandoms 👀 Want to challenge myself and expand

Taglist:

@imaginarydreams

@amethystviolin

[bangchansbackohmygod]

Hello, how are you doing?💗🌸

So I don't know if your requests are open or if you take any requests at all so feel free to delete this.

I was wondering if you could do a headcanon for yandere stray kids where they aren't just friends with the reader but not dating yet? Not fwb, just really crossing the line of friends and lovers.

Also sorry for any mistakes it's just that English is not my first language. And I hope you have a nice day!!🤗✨️

This lovely request came in a very long time ago, so I don't know if the anon is still following, but I still want to answer it because I just adore a pining yandere!

Just the Hyung Line for now, I'll post the Maknaes if y'all are interested!

Chan: The name of the game is isolation. He won't get rid of all your other friends, oh no, he's far too smart for that. Plus, as twisted as his love is, there's enough pureness in there that at least part of him wants you to live a happy normal life. He just wants you to live that happy normal life with him. So he builds your trust with a thousand little favors. Dropping off a snack for you when you have a long work shift, seconding your choice of film during group movie nights, and even picking up the phone when you need to rant regardless of his schedule. He's your rock, and your other friends trust him too just by seeing how sweet he is to you. So when he puts on a fake sad expression and says "I just don't understand *****, no matter how nice I am to him he's so rude back", you don't hesitate to start leaving that person on read. He's careful with the timing, only one or two per year. Sometimes he even plants the seed of doubt in one of your unknowing friends instead. They tell you about this "bully", and how Chan was "trying to brave through it so you wouldn't be hurt", following his composition like the notes he plucks out on his piano. Without your noticing, you're slowing being locked into a cage of dependency, where the only person in your life who is without question is Chan. He hasn't confessed yet, but he'll take a decade if he needs to so that when he does you'll have no reason to think twice.

Lee Know: Cat-sitting for Minho was something he asked for at least once a month, using his tours and schedules as an excuse. True, they lived with his parents, but he'd put on an effortless show of filial piety, taking his parents with him to foreign countries or paying for weekend getaways "just because he wants to repay them for raising him". The truth is, his parents' house and the three fluffy critters are the perfect recipe to get your guard down. You bring along your softest jammies and your favorite sleepytime tea, building yourself a little nest to snuggle into once you've finished checking the litter and filling the food and water bowls. Minho can't help but light up whenever he sees you giggling at a kdrama in his living room, half asleep and surrounded by his fur babies. How can he see you right now? The cameras. The tiny cameras he's installed all over the house just for your visits. By the tv, in the ceramic figurine in the kitchen, even in some of the kitties' more elaborate scratching posts. Your babysitting adventures are his favorite streaming channel, his ray of light when he has to be away from you. You may just be his friend now, but he likes to think of your little unknowing dates as practice for when you're his pretty little housewife. One day he'll come home to you waiting for him like that, his cold phone screen today replaced with the softness of your lips tomorrow.

Changbin: It's the Pretend Boyfriend trope taken just a step too far. It started with him warding off some creep at a party who kept trying to hand you drinks. A thick bicep around your shoulder and a "yo man, she's taken" got the unwanted attention off your back and earned him a smile and a thank you. Then he offered up a selfie that you could send to an ex that kept asking to get back together, saying that once he knew you'd moved on you'd finally be rid of him. Changbin even told you to give his number to the jerk, that he'd "act" like a protective lover if your ex didn't buy the bluff. The charade worked, and this time he got a thank you, a hug, and a bowl of ramen on you next time he had time to grab lunch. He was hooked. More and more, whenever the two of you were in public, he'd suddenly pull you in by the waist or plant his hand on the wall next to your head. He'd whisper that a guy across from you in the arcade was looking at you funny, and "it's probably better if he doesn't think he has a chance with you". The dim lights hide the blush on his cheeks and the giddiness in his eyes. You avert your own gaze and thank him as always, too flustered by his closeness to bother looking past him at the offender. It's a good thing you don't, actually. He'd rather you didn't know that over half the time there isn't anyone there.

Hyunjin: What else? You're his muse. He loves to paint, and he loves to paint you, and despite your own insecurities you can't deny that the you he translates through his art is nothing short of beautiful. It started as a portrait he requested you sit for, your insistence he find a better model shooed away with promises that he was painting all the members and some of the staff, too, for variety's sake (he's lying). He finishes the piece in record time, but since you can't see the canvas from your stool he fusses about and pretends to add lines when in truth his brush has long gone dry and his long gazes at your form aren't to get the curve of your nose right but simply for his delight. After the first painting he insists on another, and flattery tempts you to accept. You get more comfortable with each painting, and he gets bolder in turn. He begins picking out your clothes, styling your hair, even applying your makeup. The fingertips adjusting your pose before he begins slowly transition from a feather-light touch to something heavy and lingering. But he's in no hurry to break the tension he hopes you feel. As long as he has this time with you, he's content. With a shuddering breath, he dips his brush into the paint and etches his love for you into the canvas once again.

(Part 2 with the Maknae Line?)

[nunalastor]

Lucifer's noticed a certain pest in the halls of the hotel. It's silent and immaterial; not the sort of critter that Nifty has any interest in hunting. Unbothersome to most, yet so very maddening to him.

It's distracting, impeding, and generally a nuisance.

And it follows Alastor everywhere.

He's long wondered what exactly it is; a familiar, an offshoot of Alastor's soul, a shade- But it doesn't really matter. The problem is that it keeps getting in the way.

Every time they're talking, every time they're remotely near each other, it's always there. Watching, pointing, nudging, and tearing Alastor's focus away. It whispers things that only its owner can hear, pulls laughs and reactions from him that Lucifer's only had minimal success in accomplishing himself. It knows him.

It's infuriating. To be so helplessly aware that some other being, so much closer to Alastor than he could ever be, shares so much history that Lucifer could only hope would one day be shared with him as well. It's a revolting feeling that makes him want to tear his hair out, it burns something inside him that screams to just get rid of it.

Lucifer wants it gone.

He can't take it. He can't stand the bile at the back of his throat when he sees them together. He can't handle the feeling of his muscles tightening in on themselves as he wonders why he isn't good enough to be in its place. He can't handle the burning hatred of this lesser than being that's managed to put itself in between what he so desperately wants.

He learned very quickly that it was rather communicative with Alastor. The first and only attempt to 'accidentally' blast it with holy light ended with a very, very angry Radio Demon.

Every other more discreet attempt has ended in failure. Deals and negotiations didn't work; it seemed to not understand him- or at least pretended not to. Even when he cycled through every ancient language in his knowledge, it would simply tilt its head in the same cute manner as Alastor.

A sickening reminder of what he was doing this for.

He tries and tries to distract it, keep it occupied, keep Alastor's attention on him-

And he finally realizes the obvious solution.

He doesn't know what language this thing speaks, or if it's even open to communication with him. But a smaller facet of him might be more amiable. And, more importantly, more able to interact with it.

Regardless of where this creature comes from, it takes the form of a shadow. As a being of light, he's perfectly capable of creating the absence of it. Imbuing just a small part of his consciousness into his own shadow is easy, and after that, it's free to roam without him.

When he first walks into the parlor with his new companion, Alastor seems... confused. And then irritated. Which is fine, because this is just a means to an end. Most importantly, Alastor's shadow is very intrigued. It doesn't take long for it to venture over and meet its soon-to-be friend, circling around cautiously before beginning to prod at it. His own shadow prods back, and it practically jumps.

Lucifer can feel the connection, though very distantly. Easily ignorable; and so he does, in favor of moving closer to Alastor, temporarily free of the shadowy nuisance getting in his way.

"What is that?" Alastor asks the moment he reaches him.

"Hm? Oh! I thought your friend could use a buddy. Doesn't seem like he has any good company to talk to."

Alastor simply sneers at that, though any follow up questions on Lucifer's intentions are easily brushed off or eluded. The pest's attention is successfully enraptured by its new playmate, and Lucifer finally gets a moment of peace, and Alastor's full, undivided attention.

👀

[bigolbard]

I haven't seen anyone else mention this (though I'm sure someone out there has), so I will be the one to do it:

Keyleth's dialogue with Vax in S3 E3 makes a pretty overt and explicit reference to Scanlan's original Bard's Lament monologue from C1. Like, so much so that not only did I clock it in the moment, but I went, "hm, that's interesting." Here's the breakdown:

Keyleth (LoVM S3, E3): "As a team we take risks all the time -- we're going to goddamn hell for a piece of armor -- but, you won't risk anything for me."

Scanlan (CR C1, E85): "We travelled into the fucking Nine Hells to get Pike a suit of armor... but you've never done anything for me. Ever! You've never risked anything..."

I find this to be very very interesting, because in my mind it means one of two things:

A) They're setting this up as a parallel to Bard's Lament, specifically as a gut punch to Vax -- who was very involved in Scanlan's original monologue -- as he'll hear essentially the same thing from two separate party members in two different contexts.

or B) They're changing Bard's Lament significantly enough that they want to ensure pieces of it still show up in the show, even if they're in different locations. I can kinda see this being the case to an extent, especially because in the show they don't go after the armor specifically for Pike, so it might not make as much sense for Scanlan to say as such.

But regardless of any potential storytelling implications, I just find it very very interesting that this is a parallel I've mostly seen go unnoticed by the wider Critter community (though granted 1) I stay out of a lot of fandom circles intentionally and 2) this happened at the exact same type that Percy and Vex were fucking nasty so we were all understandably a little distracted, I get it)

[sorry-not-feeling-it-right-now]

Do you have any headcanons for the Smiling Critters?

Oh I do actually! Many of which that I was planning on making a comic on, but never really had the motivation to draw them ^^;

I will talk about them here as a post of all my HCs for them, however (that’s all for now, anyway)

Bobby Bearhug

-Has a collection of plush toys that she likes to cuddle with

-Has a hobby on photography. Loves taking photos of her friends smiling and having fun together

-Has a photo book created by Crafty as a gift. Keeps her collection of photos in there and would flip through it whenever she feels nostalgic or misses her friends

-Has a honey farm

-Because of this she’s also a pretty good gardener. Has a beautiful garden in her backyard

-Can’t cook for sh!t, but she’s good at brewing tea with her signature honey mixed into it

-Haven’t really decided on whether I want this, but despite being a bear she is vegan

-Touch is her love language, so whenever she wants to reassure her friends when they’re in distress she’d squeeze their hand slightly and be as close to them as possible

-Sometimes gets involved in things that she really shouldn’t be involved in

-Really strong

Dogday

-Dangerously selfless. Would die protecting his friends

-Has an ego on being “the leader” of the group, and is hesitant on giving that role to someone else due to his insecurity on him not having a specific specialty that makes him unique from the others (his friends loves him regardless, but he doesn’t know that until it was explicitly told to him)

-Later grew to have an interest on rock music

-Despite wearing a smile on his face, he hides his emotions deep deep down in order to not worry anyone

-A fast runner rivalling Hoppy

-Doesn’t really like sitting alone with his thoughts. Often seen doing something

-Has an older brother whom he looks up to. He’s the only family member he knows of

-Has a strong moral compass

-Can be really intimidating if he has to be

-Doesn’t bark often, his bite can really hurt though

-Self care? What self care?

Kickin Chicken

-Fashion king

-Can sew

-Has two sisters. One younger one older

-Because of this he knows how to braid and take care of longer hair

-Actually looks up to Bubba and thinks he’s cool due to how knowledgeable he is

-He is slow, but not an idiot. He is insecure about this

-Unspoken mutual rivalry with Hoppy

-Street smart

-Saves money due to his home environment

-Does skateboarding. Has repaired his skateboard many times

Hoppy Hopscotch

-Very self-critical

-Can be really competitive

-One of the early birds alongside Dogday and Picky

-Often use that energy in the early mornings for morning runs. Sometimes accompanied with Picky

-When she’s really excited she’d be too excited too sleep that day

-Same goes with stress

-Has an interest towards space, only amplified by Bubba being supportive of her interest

-Star gazes with Bubba and Catnap

-Stargazing is pretty much one of the only quiet activities she enjoys

CraftyCorn

-Often seen being in her own little world of imagination

-Has a bug collection

-Has a book club with Bubba sharing their favourite books

-Often gives her unfinished beta writings to Bubba to prove read

-Keeps a diary to collect her thoughts on that day

-Looks up to Dogday

-Plays dress up with Bobby (Sometimes the rest would join in)

-Wasn’t able to do magic with her horn

-Collects trash from the other critters and turns it into something beautiful

-Struggles academically

Bubba Bubbaphant

-Keeps Dogday and his friends from doing something stupid and killing themself

-Has a book club with Crafty sharing their favourite books

-Discusses different theories with Crafty

-Loves loves LOVES info dumping. He’s like that excited kid telling you about all the things he has learned that day

-Keeps a journal of all the things he has learned about the world

-Loves learning about his friends and keeping notes of it

-Made a calendar for Hoppy and Kickin when they had requested a billboard for their achievements

-Has a deep fear of not being heard, something he relates with Crafty (and eventually Kickin)

-Not the best artistically

-Loves a good mystery

-Not afraid of ghosts, but is afraid of mice

Catnap

-Also keeps Dogday from killing himself

-Appeared in the town one day and asserted himself. Lived there ever since

-He and Crafty have this kinship between them, being the two more introverted ones of the friend group

-Good listener

-Very clingy, especially towards Dogday

-Can literally fall asleep anywhere

-Despite not having much to say he emotes a lot

-He can speak, but he prefers not speaking at all. Often meows or uses sign language to communicate

-His friends learned to read sign because of this

-Loves and cares about his friends dearly and sees them as family. Will hurt others for them

-Keeps his fur tidy despite being lazy

Picky Piggy

-Bubbly, hardworking and can be really sassy

-Usually the one with common sense in the room alongside Bubba

-Owns a family farm

-Wakes up early to take care of the farm

-Sometimes have morning runs with Hoppy

-Despite having a farm she knows how to save money, often going for the cheaper option

-Would rather cook her own meals then to buy take ins

-Really big family. She’s one of the older middle kids

-Self-care girlie

-A generous soul

That’s all of them for now! I might add more of them if I remember any more of them or when more stuff comes out naturally

[sleeplesssmoll]

Do you think that the foundations staff considers vertin a bad omen (or like a omen for the storm) and do you think the foundation did it on purpose and she kinda is?

Like if you think about it how can they not? Vertin is the timekeeper, someone who can brave the storm and not be affected like at all, and every work place has gossip at least even a little and with vertin's kind of aloof or "emotionless" personality I can't imagine people who hasn't met her would have a good perception of her and even at the start of the game the female investigator says "your our timekeeper that means..." That means when vertin arrived that signals to the investors that the storm is near, and even the whole procedure of you can call for aid of the timekeeper within 24 hours of the storm honestly all of this kinda feels like it's designed to have the timekeeper synonymous with the storm because wherever she is the storm is always near, do you think Constantine did that on purpose to further isolate vertin? Honestly it feels like something she'd do

I don't think Constantine did it intentionally but it definitely works in her favor. Vertin is like an omen of death who shows up before the Storm. As an Investigator, she's the last person you want to see but it's also very important you recognize her.

Smoltin was a pain in the Foundation's butt, but Vertin is the respected Timekeeper who carries the highest authority during the Storm. Regardless of how they feel about her personally, they have to trust her or risk being Reversed if they are in the danger zone.

I can totally see unsavory rumors and gossip floating around because she started off at the bottom. She was he sole member of her department for so long which means people's imaginations have a chance to run wild.

Here's a fun game, what kind if rumors/gossip would be floating around? What are people saying behind her back?

1. "What the hell is the Foundation thinking letting her gather all these unhinged arcanists? She must have people the scenes."

2. "Why do people follow her? What is she offering them that the Foundation can't? She should be investigated. "

3. "I hear her Suitcase brainwashes anyone who steps inside to obey her."

4. "The only reason she's ranked above us is because she's immune to the Storm. She's lucky she even graduated! If she wasn't the Timekeeper, she'd probably be cleaning the Critter pens!"

5. "Does she even care?"

6. "I can't look at her. Everything I do I remember everyone else who didn't make it..."

7. "She's so touchy with all her people. Just saying, it's kinda weird. I think I saw her kiss her assistant's cheek! Isn't that an abuse of power?"

8. "The top student is following orders from the worst in the class. It's like a sick joke. If that's where hard work gets you, whats the point of trying?"

9. "I don’t even know what her face looks like because she always has that stupid hat on with that stuffy suit. She loves to show off, while we're stuck in black and white."

10. "The Timekeeper was originally a frog but she was transformed after the first Storm!"

11. "She took in Joshua? She must be facing hard times."

12. "I heard she joined Manus at one point. I don't think we should keep someone like that in charge of a literal army of arcanists."

13. "She met Arcana multiple times and lived! She could be secretly working for her."

14. "Her team of Arcanists survived the island but the human team didn't. We need to keep an eye on her."

15. "A face only a mother could love. Have I seen it? Well, no, but why else would she hide it. It's not like she's shy."

16. "What do you mean she? Isn't the Timekeeper a guy? But it's Sir Vertin, Lord Vertin, and so on! Vertin's not a girl name to begin with! Ugh these damn Arcanists always make everything complicated."

17. "I thought she was interested in me but it turns out she holds hands and gives gifts to everyone. What a weirdo! Thank goodness, I dodged a bullet–shut up, I'm not angry. Why would I be angry? She's not even my type!"

[chipmunkfanno1love]

Kismet/*NSYNC Trolls Headcanons

While I'm not sure if *NSYNC will ever reappear in the Trolls franchise as their Trolls equivalents, it's certainly not stopping me from thinking up theories of how the band formed and sharing headcanons I have about the characters themselves. I admit I've loosely based my headcanons about the characters based on what I've learnt about the actors themselves, but overall, I've tried to think the characters as original and not simply rip-offs of their actors.

How the band started:

Hype and Branch started as childhood friends, forming their friendship not long after Branch's brothers left the Troll Tree. I imagine they met in preschool/pre-k and/or Grandma Rosiepuff used to babysit for Hype (I give credit to glitterysparklystuffz from Instagram for that idea) and the two youngsters formed a friendship as result.

Sadly, their friendship became strained after Branch lost his grandma and turned grey. Branch stopped singing and became more interested in preparing for a potential Bergen attack, traumatised by the loss of his beloved grandmother and terrified at the thought of the Bergens finding them again. He spent more time preparing for a potential Bergen attack and spent less time with Hype. Fearing that Hype was only friends with him due to his singing abilities and that he would eventually leave him like his brothers did Branch pushed Hype away, leaving himself friendless and alone...until a certain pink princess began making attempts to win him over and to help him find happiness again. Eventually, we know from the True Colours moment of Trolls that it worked.

Eventually after regaining his colours and his confidence to sing again, Branch made amends with Hype, apologising for pushing him away. Hype also apologised for not being there for his friend during his time of need. Despite some rough moments between them, Branch and Hype managed to rekindle their friendship.

Hype introduced Branch to his new adult friends: Ablaze, Boom and Trickee. They immediately bonded over their love of performing and the band Brozone (which Hype knew Branch was formerly apart of). Eventually, the group formed their own band, *Kismet and even made a record. They were not quite as popular as Brozone but they still have a number of committed fans.

Regardless of their success, Branch insisted that they keep his name and face anonymous from the group as he wasn't ready to go public or reveal his boy band past to Poppy and the other trolls. Hype and the rest of the group respected Branch's wishes and agreed to respect his privacy.

Their performance in Trolls Band Together was their first live performance.

Character Profiles:

Hype:

He and Branch are the groups tenors. They're also the youngest members of the group.

He's known for his energy and hyper dance moves. This is the reason he was named Hype. He does the bands choreography.

Though he's considered charming and is very popular with his love-struck fans, Hype is actually very shy when it comes to love and dating. Though he hopes to find love someday, for now he's quite happily single.

He loves critters and has a pet much like the Troll version of a dog.

After his childhood friend, Branch, his favourite member of Brozone is Clay as he admires his dance moves, especially the famous Rusty Robot dance move, later the Well-Oiled robot. He also loves a good joke like Clay secretly still does.

He's pretty easy-going and loyal to his friends. Though he's also pretty sensitive and doesn't like conflict.

When Branch made amends with him, he didn't hesitate to forgive him for pushing him away. He secretly always missed his childhood friend during their years of estrangement, but felt it wasn't wise to invade his personal space as he feared he'd be rejected again.

Ablaze:

Ablaze is the baritone singer of *Kismet.

Ablaze is the loudest and most exuberant member of the group.

He's Boom's best friend and business partner in their fireworks business: Ablaze and Boom's Fantastic Fireworks. He runs the business and customer service side of the operation. Though he has the energy and charisma of a car salesman, he's always as honest as he is charming with customers. He won't give them anything but the best.

An incredibly loyal and supportive friend to Boom, whom he loves like a brother.

Though considered very handsome and charming to a lot of lady trolls, his heart belongs to his long-term girlfriend turned wife. They had an on-off relationship in their teenage years but are now fully committed to each other and are hoping to start a family.

His favourite member of Brozone is Spruce, now Bruce. When he was younger it was because of his status as the Heartthrob, but now in present day he respects him because he's a wonderful father and husband to Brandy. He hopes to get parenting tips from him.

He'll do anything to make others smile, and sometimes laugh.

Boom:

Boom is the bass-baritone singer of *Kismet.

Boom has a close brotherly friendship with Ablaze. Though quieter and more reserved than his best friend, both have a shared love of performing and bringing joy to others.

He's the creative and brainy pyrotechnic for his and Ablaze's fireworks business. He handles fireworks with the care and technical expertise of a mechanic or rocket scientist, yet also has a lot of flair for colour and shape when setting them up.

He's got a good eye for fashion and style. He feels it's the best way to express yourself.

Like Hype, he's a got a great love and respect for critters. I imagine he's a vegetarian or vegan.

In his spare time, he loves starwatching and studying their constellations.

He's rather slow at picking up on jokes and puns (as shown at the end of Trolls Band Together).

Boom's favourite member of Brozone is Floyd because he's so sweet, sensitive yet also so genuine and real. He loves Floyd's new emo hairstyle especially with frosted parts added to his magenta hair (it reminds him a bit of strawberries and cream soft serve ice-cream). Though he also feels bad for the torture Floyd went through that resulted in his hair bleaching and hopes he's doing okay.

Trickee:

Trickee is *Kismet's countenor singer.

Trickee's favourite member of Brozone is John Dory, both because they're the oldest member of their respective singing group and also because they're both considered the more underrated members as well. John Dory's respective googles inspired his own style choice of googles, but he did want to do his own personal spin on them.

He's great with children and often volunteers at the local children's section of the Trolls hospital. He'll often perform for them and does tricks for them like balloon animals. Anything to make them smile.

He has a great flair for hairstyles and fashion. He has a few younger sisters who love him doing their hair and giving them fashion tips.

He works as a hairstylist at Maddy's Hair Salon.

Both he and Boom were responsible for the groups personal style choices. They often worked one-on-one with Satin and Chenielle in making the groups outfits.

I'd love to hear your own *Kismet theories and headcanons. I encourage us all to be respectful to each other's opinions.

[pancake404]

Dance with the Moon

I don't normally draw this sort of thing but like I said before, I think it would be interesting with these two as a duo regardless of being friends or more.

In this case, you can consider this a more romantic view of it.

I see people point out about Hoppy's cardboard cutout voice lines and how it's moon related which has relation to Catnap. Some argue that this relation might prove that Catnap had involvement in her death(and so does Bobby as she too mentions the moon) which might very well be the case but the way Hoppy's voicelines seems to function is that she's not running away but trying to reach for the moon, trying to get to it.

It strikes me as interesting though about subtle connections the two characters might have for example the moon and Hoppy's desire to jump to it but ultimately dies failing to reach it. The moon could potentially represent Catnap as his charm is literary a crescent moon, it's what he specifically is associated with as well as sleep. Another thing about this is not only Hoppy is trying to reach for the moon but in the show itself(teacher/cartoon for Catnap and the Smiling Critters show), Catnap appears through a storm and what's Hoppy's charm? A lightning bolt. Then in Sleep Well, we see a Hoppy toy looking up at Catnap and Catnap reaches an arm out to help which is odd based on the chosen smiling critter that it could've been displayed(though they could've just randomly selected one). Lastly, although Catnap and Dogday are meant to be polar opposites with the sun and moon, Catnap and Hoppy are opposites in their own ways as well. Catnap represents sleep and rest while Hoppy represents energy and play.

Now back to the actual image instead of possibly(if not probably) overanalyzing certain details. I tried a different approach in drawing this with a more sketched line art for Catnap and Hoppy mixed with slight color alterations and low shading. For the background I did a mix of a cartoony yet vibrant night sky with a more "galaxy" look. For the dashes throughout the background, that sort of background was based off another artist with a cool background artstyle.

Overall, it was just fun to make though being different.

[biscuitdragonwithastick]

Parasite Kink, A Poorly Written Essay

I'm not sure how interested y'all are in an introspective essay of my parasite kink, but it's 12 AM and I got class tomorrow. I might as well.

Monsterfucker, as far as the word goes, is an umbrella term for sexual interest in non-human entities. In my opinion, the spectrum of Monterfuckery goes from nonhumanoids (tentacles, plants, insects, cosmic horrors, etc), (humanoids (werewolves, vampires, demons, robots, etc) and the very-humanoids (catboys, hucows, etc). All one needs to be a Monsterfucker is to have an interest in something distinctly nonhuman, whether that be through clear visual means or subtle mental and physical.

To that extent, parasites are a beloved monster of us fuckers, but rarely get the love they so deserve. Why is that? Well, across all monsters, parasites hold their own tropes that get covered just as well by others:

Want to be unknowingly corrupted against your will by a powerful foe that has no interest in your wellbeing? Demons, Cosmic horrors, Aliens, etc. got you covered.

Want to become a host to a growing population of critters within your womb? Any and all monsters can cover that front.

But what about carrying a disease that can be spread onto others, through sexual means with sexual side effects? Parasites are the only monsters that cover this within the Monsterfucker niche. (Though if you're willing to spread the Monsterfucker umbrella a little further, you got your Mad Scientist. But we're not talking about them here.) Regardless of prelude, you can have your Demons infect infect others with demonic STD's, an outbreak of tentacle monsters that can only survive within the innards of unsuspecting individuals, or even a lycanthropy parasite.

Though, that brings up the divide of the parasitism kink. On its own, it's a bit of an umbrella term as well. I personally count sex disease and parasites under the same niche (corruption and spread being the forefront of the appeal). Along with further division: its purpose.

Does it originate from a specific monster/place? A divine being looking to create worshipers regardless of consent? An asteroid some hapless individual happened to stumble upon? An insect species that only needs you for your body to grow its population?

Does it exist as a disease to take over the mind and body? Turn individuals into mooing cows that'll fuck themselves on the phallic object? Is it a demonic infestation to turn humans into proper cum factories?

Is the parasite mainly for spreading or corrupting? Is the victim unaware of their parasite? Do they care at all? Do they fight its corruption? Can they do it successfully?

Does the parasite want? Or is it as mindless as any virus in the real world?

All these questions. Because parasites are a rather vague monster. They can take on any origin and lore you could ever want. Though all monsters can have those similar qualities. However, monsters on their own don't take on the parasitism quality by default. But that's what makes monsters so lovely anyways. The ability to adapt them to your specific desires is what makes writing about them so fun. Why writing smut is so fun.

All this to say my enjoyment of parasites comes from my love of corruption of the self mixed with the corruption of others. A permanent change made against ones will by something using you for its own means while also focusing on changing others.

[galaxyostars]

The de Rolo kids are public schooled.

Preface

So I've been thinking. I don't believe Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third would (at least immediately) allow someone other than him, Vex, and perhaps the rest of Vox Machina, to privately tutor his kids. I'm using a combination of CR and TLOVM here, as the main campaign playthrough doesn't really linger much on Percy's relationship with Anders as the animation does, but the overall gist is that Anders betrayed the de Rolo family in favour of working for the Briarwoods (and in CR's case, Vecna).

You're the face I saw when murder entered my heart.

^ Percy, to his teacher, Professor Anders.

Home-tutoring

Is it impossible for Percy and Vex to teach their kids? Absolutely not. Is it impossible for them to teach their five kids, whilst also maintaining their own hobbies (and lives)? Eh... it's doable, but doing a Master's degree in Education myself, I cannot imagine the level of Percy's intended teaching and their kids' learning after Gwendolyn was born being left to just Percy and Vex as being remotely comfortable for them.

But then you have to consider what type of learning these kids are maintaining. I think Percy was initially within a factory model of education (based on what we saw in TLOVM) but broke out of it when he was on his own and started tinkering. I'm not well-versed with Vex's formal education -- I imagine she has one outside of her learned practical skills given she was in Syngorn for an amount of time with Syldor, but I imagine her idea of education is probably a little more "free" than Percy's. I like to think they had a conversation about what their kids' education would look like. Vex is not like Caleb and Beau in the Mighty Nein who constantly go to the library for additional information about anything and everything they don't know, but is instead already knowledgable, can deduce using logical reasoning, or goes and asks someone else (not to say Caleb and Beau can't do this either, but regardless). I think that indicates she's probably a little more world-wise than she is interested in classroom etiquette.

(Note: Taliesen Jaffe has joked that Percy probably took hits of pot now and then, delivered by Keyleth/Vax!Crow, to get through the day with his children around ("Do you see how many kids that is? Oh my god."))

I should also point out the interaction with Gwendolyn indicates she's at least accustomed to Percy's office/library where there are rules in place and it sounds like he might've said "Leave the book" because his kids have been taking them and not putting them back (which probably mortified him upon first incident).

Public Education

There is, however, an alternative I do like very much: this generation of de Rolo kids may actually be "public-schooled" (or at least, the Whitestone version of that).

Again, speaking as an Aussie pre-service teacher, it's a lot harder to be a good teacher while also planning to overthrow your government/be a cult leader at the same time when you've got a class of 20+ kids to look after and educate. Doable, but rather unlikely. Vex might've actually thought it safer and more to Percy's liking to put their kids' education into the system they have a direct gubernatorial say over, rather than allowing an educator direct access to his home, his family.

This would not only benefit the de Rolos, but also other lower/middle-class families in Whitestone, as there's no doubt they'd pump that education system with as much coin as would benefit their kids' learning.

Additionally, mentioning the pot joke again, it gets said five kids out of the home giving these parents some peace and quiet.

Obviously there'd be nobility etiquette teaching they'd have to undergo, but it's probably much, much easier to do that in-house than it is the entirety of their education.

I put it to you, fellow Critters: At what point, if any, would Percy relinquish the education of his kids to someone outside of Vox Machina? And, would that be in a regular school classroom with other kids?

[donutz]

Bubba Bubbaphant x reader Valentine's Day special[8♡8]

—☆You are a smiling critter in this, if u want to know which one(but don't know what animal or insect to pick) you could start out as a sheep!

What did they do in the morning on Valentines?

— He woke up at his usual time

— Not worrying about anything

— Not uhh.. Thinking about his gifts..

— Definitely! There's nothing to worry about!

— Nothing… To.. Worry About..

—...

— THERE IS A LOT TO WORRY ABOUT.

— ARE THEY PERFECT? MAYBE HE SHOULDN'T HAVE WENT TO SLEEP AT THE USUAL TIME

— WILL YOU LIKE THE GIFTS? HE THINKS SO!!!

— Basically he was hurriedly checking all of his gifts, hoping you'd wake up after he was done

— He went over your favorite things in his mind, making sure it was perfect.

— He can’t just give you unreasonable gifts! They need to make sense! And you need to like them!

— He was panicking, just a little!^_^

What did they do for you?

— Was the gentleman of the week

— Opened the door for you(he always does that), gave you a rose everyday, was extra loving, pulling out the chair for you

— Y’know, gentlemanly things

— It was funny seeing how proud he was of himself

— He shared facts about Valentine's Day to you

— He wanted to be a little nerd that day

What did they get you?

— A pretty blue themed bouquet

— A card..

— Uhm.. That’s what you’re supposed to give somebody right??

— On Valentine’s Day??

— RIGHT???

What did you give them?

— A pair of glasses, his vision is pretty bad

— A bouquet, along with a card that has many facts about different things that he can use whenever he wants to

— Lasagna.

— I would think that Bubba likes lasagna so you and Picky made that together to gift it to him

— If you’re an artistic person, that I’d recommend drawing him a picture of himself

— He’d love it and keep it inside a folder

— You didn’t give each other a lot of gifts, honestly he wasn’t even mad

— But a little bit of him was still sad(real??)

Did they do anything special? (Extra hugs, kisses, changing their routine etc.)

— He isn’t really good with physical affection

— But he tried to hug you more

— “Uhm.. Bubba, you alright?”

— While he’s visibly shaking just because he’s hugging you, it’s not because he’s hugging YOU but he’s just not used to it

— He can be alright with kisses though

— He’s good with quality time though, so he did actually hang out with you more!

— You told him you appreciate his efforts

— He smiled more brightly and scratched behind his head

— “... Really..?”

What activities did you both do?

— He attempted at studying Valentine’s Day(like facts) with you

— If you’re the type of person to not do that stuff.. PLEASE DO IT ANYWAYS

— MY BABY’S TRYING HIS BEST OKAY???

— Because you did, he was a lot more happier that he could let out his nerdy side

— Plus he could use those facts to share with the kids, and you could use those too!

— Actually! His tail was wagging when seeing you interested in the subject!

— Cutest thing you’ve (sneakily) ever seen

Did they seem brighter today?

— He seemed nervous and bright

— But he wasn’t feeling bright at all

— He was very bright when you were giving him his gifts though

— He loved them very much ^^

Anything new about their appearance?

— He actually wore a suit! Like the gentleman he is! With a little rose on the breast pocket

— If he had hair, he would try SO HARD to slick it back(I headcanon he’s black as a human and has very uncooperative hair)

— He was shaking, a little though, it was kind of subtle

— Lowkey was tapping his feet, waiting for you

How many times did they say I love you?

— When he gave you your gifts

— That’s all. He was really nervous to say it at all, it feels too… Intimate…

— But regardless, he does love you! So don’t doubt it one bit

Did they ask to be your Valentines, or did they ask if you could be their Valentines? There’s a difference!

— He asked if you could be his Valentine’s, the ‘right’ way!

— You wouldn’t even mind if he said it the other way around, you can visibly see how anxious he was even asking

— Of course you said yes, you also gave him a smooch on his cheek

— He might have started happily jumping from that

— Don’t mind him it’s how he is

What did they do the night before Valentine's Day?

— He was fine

— He completely forgot about his gifts, kind of

— He was about to go to sleep, then..

— OH MY GOD. YOUR GIFTS!!!

— He panicked and rushed over to them, seeing if anything was wrong, or if he should gift you anything else other than a bouquet with a card

— He actually woke up Hoppy because of his panicking

Were they shy asking to be your Valentines or when they asked if you could be their Valentines?

— He was anxious, but not shy, or confident

— He wasn’t blushing or anything, he was actually just very nervous

— Was very happy that you accepted his ask(because it isn't a request), I’ve said that already but I wanna say it again!!

Did they add anything extra to their areas(their little homes)? Or their activities?

— Over the days he remembered Valentine’s decorating was a thing, and wanted to do it

— But was too caught up on your gifts and just thinking about other things

— One time he did decorate, but that lasted a short amount of time

— He got easily distracted by something else(possibly real)

What did they do when it was time to sleep?

— He doesn’t honk shoo, I mean maybe a little.. But he doesn’t snore too loud or too much

— He did sleep though, forgetting about the fact tomorrow was Valentine’s Day

A/N|| I can't believe I'm still doing these, it's been almost 2 full weeks since Valentine's💀

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 12

Lore!

We're dealing with living pictures this chapter. Just like the zombies and ghosts, no explanation about how they exist is given. It's just a "They exist. It's magic. Don't worry about it" type of thing. Still, it appears that only the pictures of a person looking at you are aware of the outside world. And you have to actually look at the painting for it to attack you.

When Laios jumped into paintings of scenes, the people in the painting acted like he was supposed to be there (with one notable exception). If he'd jumped into the portrait painting, would the person have been aware he was from outside and attacked him? I think the threat of a living painting has more to do with being trapped in the painting rather than whatever might be inside it.

So now Laios decides to dive into various paintings to try eating the food in the paintings. If he lived in the real world, Laios would be one of those biologists who would eagerly volunteer to explore the most terrifying areas just because there might be new critters to discover. He would totally hop in a small submarine to observe deep-sea creatures. And he'd totally try catching and eating a hagfish.

I want to point out that the elf girl isn't part of the first painting. The king and queen are also dressed differently from what they were wearing in the actual scene Laios saw.

I'm going to guess the world in the painting is the exact event depicted in the painting regardless of what the painting shows. Laios witnessed the actual birth and naming of the future king Delgal exactly as it happened.

That lady mistaking Laios for a guard because of his sword reintroduces all my questions about Living Armor that I thought had been answered. If Kensuke looks exactly like a sword the guards would use, then the Living Armors all may have looked like the armor the kingdom guards wore. So I'm going to guess Living Armor colonies are mimicking human armor.

The lion-head Living Armor was probably mimicking a suit of armor for a prominent member of the kingdom's military, maybe it was the king's personal armor. If so, then the kingdom probably used something like a winged lion as either a guardian deity or a symbol of the kingdom.

When Laios jumped into the second portrait, he landed on the table right in front of future king Delgal.

That short interaction between Laios and Delgal instantly endeared me to the future king. He's a kindly person who doesn't anger easily. He's easygoing enough that he won't let Laios's shenanigans bother him. I can't say whether or not he'd be a competent king, but he's definitely a king the people can love.

There's a great dissonance between what the painting depicts and the event within it. The painting is a scene from prince Delgal's wedding and overall seems to be a merry occasion. But then it turns out that someone had attempted to assassinate him and successfully assassinated the king on that day. Whoever commissioned it may have just wanted to skip over the tragedy of that day.

Living Paintings cannot solve world hunger. You cannot take anything out of them.

The third painting depicts Delgal's coronation. I think it takes place in the very hallway the party was in during this chapter.

No one questioned why a guy in armor was sitting at the table. No one except the elf girl who Laios has seen in all the other portraits.

During Delgal's birth, there was a particular moment where she may or may not have been looking at Laios. However, she was far more interested in celebrating Delgal's birth than keeping an eye on the strange man in armor.

During the wedding, she was definitely watching Laios until the king was killed. She was also holding a flute.

Speculation time: I think she may be the magician who cursed the kingdom. Something probably happened to Delgal and she cast some spell that turned the kingdom into a dungeon. Since souls are trapped in the dungeon, maybe her goal is to resurrect Delgal to have him lead the Golden Kingdom once more. That line he said during the coronation gave me some shivers about how things may have led to the kingdom becoming what it is.

But then who was the person from chapter 1 who told the world about the situation? I kind of think he looks more like Delgal's father (probably because an old man looks more like a dried corpse), but if that was actually Delgal, then he understandably is against whatever the elf girl is doing.

Assuming Living Pictures can be made non-hostile and there's a way to pull people out of them, they could make for an effective way to learn about history or uncover various mysteries. Like I said earlier, it seems that the world in the painting is the actual events the painting represents rather than an artistic interpretation.

If someone wanted to experience a historical event, they could get a painting of the event made, cast whatever spell turns it into a living picture, then jump in and experience it firsthand.

And I think that might be something the elf girl is doing. If her actions are out of genuine love for the kingdom/Delgal, maybe she's using the living pictures to relive her cherished memories with Delgal, hence why she's aware of Laios traveling through the paintings.

Alternatively - and I am just throwing this out as an impossible crackpot idea that I want to share - Laios actually time traveled when he jumped into the paintings. So he was actually historically there during Delgal's birth, wedding, and coronation. And the elf girl can tell he's not supposed to be there, either because he's a stranger or she can tell he's traveling through time. And there's a non-zero chance she might think Laios was responsible for the king's assassination in that case.

She did correctly pin Laios as someone after the throne. If that is the magician speaking to him, then she wants to kill Laios because he will interfere with whatever she is doing to preserve the kingdom in its current state. If that is her from the moment Delgal was crowned king, then she has mistakenly concluded Laios is plotting to kill Delgal and destroy the kingdom before whatever ruination eventually befalls it.

The third floor of the dungeon lacks any living monsters. It is just a maze-like passageway. Maybe this floor held precious memories for the magician and she decided to seal everything away so neither monsters nor adventurers would defile those places. And the high number of undead is because of people getting lost in the maze, dying, and never being found.

back

[bluegekk0]

what sorts of cooking tech is around? like what kind of ovens, do people have to gut their own meat? most importantly, what kind of delicacies does each area have?

i'd imagine in greenpath there's a lot of farming, with the city having to trade goods... maybe the fungi of fungal wastes is meat and not plant? so the mantises live off that? does the white lady need to eat at all? and if so, do the traitor mantises cook for her? what do they cook?

soryy if this is a lot im just really curious

Cooking would happen either above an open fire using large pots and a chimney, or inside iron stoves. Regardless, wood is used to maintain the fire, as I don't think they figured out how to extract and use gas. Raw meat is part of the diet for many carnivorous or omnivorous bugs, such as Vyrm. In some cases they go and hunt for raw meat themselves, sometimes eating the meat raw on the spot without much preparation. That said, there are hunters which catch and gut animals to then sell the meat and body parts on the market, so that is an option for those not capable or not willing to hunt themselves. Plant-based foods are also an option, all kinds of vegetables and fruits are gathered and also sold on the markets. Dirtmouth in particular has a farm which grows wheat, grains and vegetables which are capable of withstanding the lower temperatures. They also keep various beasts, such as the Mamoths for their wool, as well as some other critters for meat, fats, eggs, milk and so on. I still need to design those, but I have a rough concept for a chicken-like critter.

As for specific dishes, I haven't done any worldbuilding on that, but I imagine all kinds of hot stews would be very popular, especially in Dirtmouth. In Greenpath, the cuisine would include a lot of foraged ingredients, the Moss Tribe in particular I imagine is known for their vegetarian diet, so I can absolutely see them engage in farming and gathering. Perhaps ingredients such as milk and eggs would also be included, so they likely keep some animals for that purpose (just without killing them for meat like in other places)

Something in particular that I was thinking about recently is using blood as a delicacy drink. Grimm is the primary example, aside from his activities in the City where he drinks blood from live bugs (as part of his agreement with Lurien to cull the criminal population), he would also drink animal blood to help maintain his physical body for a bit longer. Of course, he wouldn't do well hunting for beasts himself, so he would have to find other ways. The biggest issue with this idea was the way of storing the blood so that it doesn't clot. Considering many of the bugs are carnivores/omnivores, blood would be a very attractive drink, so I think they managed to figure it out. One idea I really like is them using some kind of animal saliva or venom that prevents clotting. In particular, the Hoppers from Kingdom's Edge are said to drink blood from other creatures, and since mosquito saliva is an anticoagulant, I think it would make perfect sense if they used something similar. The substance would be extracted from Hoppers and then mixed into the blood to store it for a longer time. This also introduces the idea of a Hopper farm somewhere in Kingdom's Edge on the neighboring areas, which would be quite interesting.

But to answer your other questions. The Mantises are definitely a carnivorous tribe, but since the Mushrooms are considered sapient they would definitely not be hunted for food, as eating other sapient creatures is frowned upon in the entirety of Hallownest. They are of course still beasts in that region which are considered animals, so perhaps they could be hunted for food? They would probably be considered a delicacy for those in other regions as well, though perhaps they would be more of an acquired taste (like blue cheeses of our world haha). I do think the Mantises organize hunting parties to hunt in other regions, too. Since Unn guards Greenpath, perhaps they have some kind of agreement with her that allows them to hunt in that region.

As for The White Lady, I think she feeds on soul found in living beings (mainly plants), but I do think she's capable of eating normal food. And I feel like she would enjoy it, so there's definitely a kitchen in her mansion. She has a whole court composed of some of the Mantis Traitors as well as other bugs she hired to work for her (Hallownest's population increased after the end of the infection so there would be many looking for all kinds of jobs). I do think the dishes would be primarily plant-based, except for those made for the Mantis Traitors that serve as guards.

As for some other regions, The City of Tears would import food and ingredients from other places, I don't think it's suitable for any farming or animal husbandry. Deepnest is an interesting case, the population there is mostly gone and moved to other places after the infection, but if anyone remains there I imagine they mostly eat raw meat, I can't see them having much cooking technology aside from maybe just using fire to cook it. Crystal Peak is kind of an extension of both Dirtmouth and the city, so I think they would get their ingredients from trading with both of those regions.

Hope this answers your questions! This part of the worldbuilding is really fun to come up with so thank you for the ask! I really enjoyed writing the response :)

[afvenvs3000f24]

Unit 1 Blog post:

My current relationship with nature is very therapeutic and spiritual; I find that whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, or even anxious, I can always rely on nature to ground me and put into perspective how minimal some of my worries are in the grand scheme of life, and what it has planned for me. Although this relationship hasn't been consistent throughout the past decade, I feel I needed a certain disconnection to learn and appreciate it from a different perspective, through a lens that now allows my inner child to live in the present while holding an immense amount of gratitude, thoughtfulness, and to connect with nature.

This is a photo I took while on a walk with my cousins in Milton, Ontario.

Growing up, I was always outside, and most of my happiest memories from childhood include whenever my family would take us on camping trips, have our birthday parties in provincial parks, and when we would go to our trailer every weekend during summers, having a blast with my cousins catching frogs. Throughout this, I didn't realize how much I truly enjoyed being outside and how it shaped my relationship with nature. In a way, I took it for granted at the moment, and it wasn't until quarantine, when the world took a pause, that I could be away from the whirlwind high school was sometimes and reconnect with my roots. Spending those warmer days outside playing board games or just having some quality time in our backyard with my family reminded me why I used to love being outside and how much it made me feel whole in life.

Picture of me at my 5th birthday party at a provincial park.

Also, during this time, I found an interest in discovering different isolated trails and hiking spots to take my dog Bruno along for walks. When I started this new hobby, the experience was fitness-related and just some time for Bruno and me to enjoy the peace and quietness those places offered. Eventually, on these walks, I began to notice and truly take in the nature around me and all the critters whose homes I was passing by. In the following years leading up to today, I slowly leaned into a more religious/spiritual view of the world through practicing meditation, journaling, being more observant, as well as taking a world religion class in grade 12 where one of the many things I learned was how different religions honour nature and our planet. This pushed me to make a more conscious effort to be mindful and grateful for the opportunity to have accessibility and be around such a beautiful and relaxing environment whenever.

Photo of Bruno while on our favourite daily walking route by my house.

As for who offered me a sense of place, in general, I would say, my family, being that they introduced me to all the outdoor activities I love to do; but more specifically someone who introduced me to a more psychological view of nature as my "safe place" would be my mom. My mom is a very Catholic woman who often sees nature and many other things in life as gifts from God. Throughout my upbringing, I would consistently hear her stories and adventures of when she lived in Venezuela and all the beauty and phenomena she witnessed within nature personally (the ones that always stuck with me were about the Relampago del Catatumbo (a never-ending lightning storm) and Angel Falls). Through her interpretation of the world of God giving us blessings and lessons to grow, she’s always told me to be grateful and mindful of everything around me in life, regardless if it was a specific moment, place, or person because you never know when one day you won't be able to experience it again. Although throughout all those years of hearing that, I never truly understood the value of appreciating or noticing the simple things in life that we can take for granted, such as a 30-minute walk along a trail, or even enjoying the beauty of the trees we walk by daily; but I can confidently say now, that my relationship with nature has grown more than I ever thought it could, and it remains as one of the most impactful and relaxing things in my life.

A picture of my mom and I at our trailer in Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario years ago.