#Flik the ant

[whaleiumsharkspeare]

Not me getting all excited over the How Not to Draw episode about Flik because I think A Bug’s Life is a highly underrated Pixar movie and also because I love Flik he’s so quirky and positive. We love a genuinely optimistic and helpful character

[dymitre]

Dude, Flik is charmingly cute 💙💜

[thedawner]

Small Hopper x Flik animation

A Bug’s life fanart

[adhd-merlin]

merlin S1 rewatch: episode 10 ⚔

how could I not love the tale of the weird misfit who returns home one day, bringing with him an even weirder assortment of friends, to teach everyone how to fight back against the oppressors who have been stealing their resources?

but enough about a bug’s life. let's talk about the episode.

• I see Hunith throwing herself at a bandit and I immediately go “oh that’s where he gets it from”. I love you Hunith, you mad gal <3

• Hunith’s audience with the king is interesting – not just because she’s pleading with the man who would kill her son without a second thought if he knew about his magic, and she goes so far as to call him “a good king” and “a caring man” while doing so, but also because Uther seems genuinely sympathetic, even if unwilling to intervene. I think that says something about Uther – I think in the eyes of the people who don’t care much about sorcerers and their ilk, Uther is a decent, perhaps even a good, king. Certainly not the tyrant that Merlin and Morgana consider him to be (justifiably so).

• “I wish that Camelot was able to help people regardless of how far away they lived”, Arthur says, almost as if there were a prophecy about a united Albion under his reign

• “I want to make him pay for what he did to you” -> when Merlin sees Kanen is ON SIGHT. I love protective Merlin.

• I love this so much you. “Most powerful sorcerer on Earth” well to his mama he’s just a little boy. have you considered that

• Merlin almost decapitating Arthur lol. It’s a good thing Arthur has good reflexes or this would’ve have been a much shorter story

• YAY! A NEW KILL

• When Arthur ruins Merlin and Will’s little reunion and Will is immediately unimpressed

• “Am I the only one wondering who the hell this is?” > Will really interrupted Arthur’s speech to loudly ask “excuse you who the fuck are you??” and I love him for it

• The fact that Merlin just straight up slept on the floor. Like I get it, they are poor, but you’re telling me he had nothing all the years he lived there? not even a straw mattress, nothing?? because that sounds kind of weird. I mean alright, I’ll accept it, but I think it’s weird. I think if you had to sleep on the ground every night for years you’d try to make yourself a bit comfortable even if you never “knew any different”

• Anyway, I guess that explains why Merlin was reluctant to part with his bed when Alice moved in with him and Gaius. “I’m not going back to sleeping on the floor thank you! I love beds now”

• MERLIN: “Life’s simple out here (...)” / ARTHUR: “Sounds… nice” / MERLIN: “You’d hate it” -> I like that Arthur was trying really hard not to say anything rude about Merlin’s old life, and that Merlin was like “it’s alright you can say it sucks”, because really he wasn’t cut out for that kind of life either. It’s also funny that Arthur later tells Gwen he fantasies about being a farmer, like SIR BE REAL. You'd hate it.

• Arthur pretending to eat Hunith’s food. Making fake noises like a toddler. Spoiled brat behaviour

• WILL: Why did you leave? / MERLIN: It wasn't what I wanted. My mother was worried. When she found out you knew, she was so angry. → it sounds like Will actually didn’t know about Merlin’s secret for very long before Merlin had to leave. And the fact that Will has to ask Merlin why he left implies Merlin did it without even a goodbye or a made-up excuse. Merlin’s departure being apparently so rushed because Hunith feared for his safety means that the attitude towards magic in Ealdor isn't actually very different from Camelot’s, despite it not being officially outlawed.

• Arthur is a good leader!! and in this episode he shows it in big ways, like in his “Battle of St. Crispin speech” moment, but also in more subtle ways, like when he notices during training that Matthew is a hopeless fighter, and instead of dismissing him he takes him aside and goes “Matthew my friend I have a special task for you :)”, as a way of keeping him away from the fight while still making him feel useful, and without hurting his pride. (Sadly, this backfires later.) I know the fandom likes to joke about Arthur being a dumbass but he can be very perceptive (at times). And he is good at strategic thinking.

• No comment. Just Gwen and Morgana sharing blankets. They are very good pals.

• Merlin telling Arthur: “We're going to make Kanen rue the day he ever came to this village” hits different when I remember he said he wanted to make Kanen pay for striking his mother

• “In this circle, we're all equals” → a circle is very much like a round table in this way

• I love moments like Arthur’s Rousing Speech™ – because they show why he is the one destined to unite Albion. He’s capable of inspiring people and gaining the support of those who initially disliked him (Merlin, Gwaine, Will himself, to name a few), because he is noble of heart, and brave, and caring, etc. And yeah, he’s also a brat at times, but to be fair to him he’s 21. And he has a shit father.

• “Food is scarce for these people, you shouldn't turn your nose up at it!” → Gwen is no shrinking violet okay!! She will lecture the prince, if the prince is being a brat. I’m thinking about Arthur telling Agravaine “I don't want a queen who spends her days floating around the castle agreeing with my every word” in ep 4x09. He loves Gwen because she’s not afraid of calling him out! (same goes for Merlin)

• GWEN: “I have faith in you. I mean. We all do” / ARTHUR:

• Arthur helping Merlin with his armour is a very sweet moment. I can’t believe Merlin was about to tell Arthur he had magic here. HE LITERALLY WAS ABOUT TO TELL HIM I'LL NEVER BE OVER IT

• Battle. Battle. Another kill for baby Merlin (!).

• IT FUCKEN WIMDY

• I’m not entirely sure what the windstorm did to be honest, it didn’t seem to kill anyone it just… scared the bandits away? Anyway, that doesn’t matter. Willing suspension of disbelief and all that.

• Arthur’s face when he marched up to Merlin and Will like “THAT WAS MAGIC WHO DID THAT?? IT WAS ONE OF YOU TWO”. This man is NOT ready for the truth (and yet Merlin was prepared to confess AGAIN. He was literally about to do it I HATE THIS SHOW)

• (sigh) well how convenient

• LISTEN I know Will was pretty much dead anyway but I can’t get over how NOBODY tried to do anything for him like?? They just put him on a table? And stared at him? Not even trying to do anything or. I don’t know, offer a word of comfort. If I were Will I’d be offended to be honest.

• Will’s last words being “Merlin, I’m scared.” EVIL

Merlin: *watching his best friend’s body burn on the pyre* Arthur: well when were you going to tell me he was a sorcerer

• Hunith: POWERFUL WARLOCK? NO HE IS BABY

• "When the time is right, the truth will be known. Until then, you must keep your talents hidden. It's better for everyone.” → kind of funny how Hunith went from "you should tell Arthur, he'll understand, he cares about you :)" to "never mind, BACK IN THE CLOSET!!" And by funny I mean tragic.

↳ prev commentaries

[quietrobots]

I shouldn't be allowed to draw whatever I want

[bricktoygrapher]

Adventure Time 🐜 🍃

[abugeatbugworld]

A Dumb Question: Part Four

Part One Part Two Part Three

“Flik?”

She waves a hand in front of his eyes, which have been staring down at the wrench in his hand for the last twenty seconds.

Flik closes his eyes and shakes his head as though he’s trying to dislodge something from his brain. When he opens his eyes again, they find Dot.

Her stomach twists at the way he’s looking at her. There’s a bead of white like a tiny pearl in the corners of his eyes, a reflection of the light on his tears.

She didn’t mean to make him cry. She just wanted to know the truth.

“Never mind,” she says hurriedly, pushing herself off the bench and taking a step towards the tunnel that leads out of Flik’s lab. “I think I heard my mom calli—”

“Dot.”

Flik’s hand catches one of hers, rooting her in place. Against Dot’s will, her lower lip begins to wobble. The room’s colors bleed together in front of her, swirls of dark blue and fluorescent green.

“Please look at me.”

Dot shakes her head hard and squeezes her eyes shut as tightly as she can. When she opens them, her sight is clear.

Her cheeks are also wet.

“It’s not important,” she whispers, tugging weakly at the hand holding hers. It doesn’t let go.

“It is to me,” Flik says softly.

A second goes by. Then another. Finally Dot brushes her arm across her face and slowly turns around, determined to keep her gaze trained on the floor until she can stop crying. Flik releases her hand, and it drops to her side. Then she feels a gentle pressure beneath her chin.

Dot reluctantly allows Flik to tilt her head upwards until their eyes meet again. Those pearls are still there, but at least he’s smiling. A sad smile is better than none at all.

“You were right,” he says. “I was scared when Hopper told me to take you. But…”

He looks away for a moment. The pearls grow slightly bigger.

“It wasn’t me I was scared for.”

Before she can respond, the pressure on her chin moves to her armpits. Flik picks her up and carries her back to the bench they’d both been sitting on a moment ago. He lowers himself on it before settling Dot into his lap, positioning her legs so they spill over the side of his thighs.

She crosses her arms over her chest and sits there stiffly for a moment, a stubborn part of her refusing to get comfortable. The part of her that — if she’s honest with herself — is still the tiniest bit angry with her friend.

The part that doesn’t want to hear his reason for leaving her in a monster’s hands.

Flik either doesn’t notice or he doesn’t mind, because he keeps talking.

“Okay, maybe a little part of me was scared for me. I mean, Hopper’s a big guy. He could probably squish me with one foot if he wanted to.”

A giggle bubbles up through Dot’s chest and comes out like a hiccup. She claps a hand over her mouth, then folds her arms again and resumes looking indifferent. She peeks up to see if he noticed.

Flik is smiling, but after a moment the grin on his face fades and his eyes go far away again.

“The truth is, Dot…in that moment, I wasn’t thinking much about me at all. I was terrified for you.”

Her heart stutters.

“You couldn’t see him, but the look in Hopper’s eyes…he was so angry with me for stopping him, for challenging him in front of everyone. And the way he had his hand around your head—”

She winces. The hooks.

“—it was so big, and you were just so small.”

Dot’s gaze drops to her lap, warmth flooding her cheeks. She reflexively clenches her hands into fists. I’m too little, she thinks bitterly. Even Flik knows so.

Suddenly Flik’s hand cups her cheek. Dot takes a shaky breath and slowly lifts her head to look at him. The fierceness in his eyes surprises her.

“There is nothing wrong with being small, Dot. Nothing at all.”

Her vision is blurring again, but this time she doesn’t look away. The fire in his eyes burns brighter as he goes on.

“What is wrong is when you use your size to hurt others. That’s what Hopper does, and that’s what I was afraid he was going to do to you if I tried to take you away from him. He knew I cared about you, and he wanted to see how far I would go to protect you. And I was afraid to take the bait.”

Flik grows quiet again, munching on his bottom lip as though deep in thought. When he speaks again, his voice sounds broken.

“But I still should have tried. And I’m sorry.”

Whatever was left of Dot’s resolve crumbles, and she finally lets herself melt into Flik’s chest the way she’s wanted to do all along. She slides into place like a puzzle piece, her antennae brushing along the bottom of his chin. His heart thrums fast against her cheek and she wonders if this is what it sounded like when he was looking at Hopper, deciding whether or not to take her. Worrying what would happen if he did.

After a moment Dot presses a hand to Flik’s chest, her fingers curling against his skin. The rise and fall of his ribcage begins to slow, and she suddenly realizes that the space beneath his chin is damp.

The pearls have finally fallen.

Dot listens to her friend cry for a few minutes, a lump rising in her own throat. She’d been so hurt by Flik’s choice not to take her when he was given the chance, it had never occurred to her how hard that choice must have been.

How it must have hurt him, too.

Flik’s sniffles are briefly muffled by the rumble of Dot’s stomach. Somewhere in the distance her mom calls her name for real this time, reminding her that she has somewhere to be. The colony is hosting a big banquet for the warrior bugs tonight, and Dot is supposed to help escort the guest of honor — a ladybug named Miss Francis who helped save Dot from the bird — to her seat at the table.

But there’s something more important she needs to do first.

Dot climbs out of Flik’s lap and stands up on the bench beside him, waiting for him to look at her. When he does, she reaches out to wipe her thumb across the corner of his left eye.

Then she wraps her arms around his neck and plants the smallest kiss on his cheek.

“I’m really glad Hopper didn’t squish you.”

[coleopterabyte]

ABP 2023

[englishsuffix]

Worried, Sick

A/N: I could be writing Sole Memorial (formulating the chapter while I’m at work does not make good production) or any other backlog fic I got, but instead I wanted to write out this ABL headcanon. So... enjoy!

Atta had thought her pacing days were over, at least those ones where she would act like the sky was falling. But things just couldn’t be so easy for her, could they?

No, they couldn’t, and that was why she was pacing to and fro in front of her bedroom, waiting anxiously for word from inside. “I should be in there,” Atta muttered, pausing to touch the leaves, and then go right back to pacing. “But can I really… No, no, I should. What kind of message am I sending by being out here?”

“Trust, for one thing,” Mother piped up, petting Aphie as she could any ordinary day. “Besides, Dr. Flora will need all the concentration she can get.”

Atta stopped and tried to force her wings still, but they still quivered. “But what if something happens and I’m not there?” she asked. “I should be there for my—”

“Trust me, you’ll be the first to know if anything changes.” Mother grasped her hands—Atta hadn’t even noticed her put Aphie down—and squeezed. “Now follow my lead. Breathe in… and out…” She herself took deep breaths to demonstrate, and the familiar guidance began to calm Atta’s nerves. “There we go, that’s my girl. Everything will be fine, I know, and do you know why?”

“Because Dr. Flora’s on the case?” Atta answered almost absently.

“Yes, and what else?”

After a little more consideration, Atta gave her a sheepish smile. “I guess Flik has gotten out of worse scrapes than this.”

“Well, that, but what I’m trying to say is this happens all the time”—Mother affixed her with a firm look—“and you still see plenty of fathers in the colony, don’t you?”

“Right, right.” Another smile, this time nostalgic. “It’s our lot in life.”

“Well, maybe not our lot, but it’s our life,” Mother chuckled.

No one knew why nor how, but there was a strange phenomenon among most bug species that males would fall ill after trying for a child. It varied from bug to bug, some mild and some severe; but it happened without fail. Every couple knew to expect the telltale symptoms of exhaustion that fell in the morning. Even Flik, it seemed, had no choice but to follow that rule.

Exhaustion just might have been an understatement, however. “He just looked so…”

As Atta recalled what happened earlier that morning, what peace she gained began to melt away. She'd woken up to find Flik awfully pale and unmoving, much like he’d been after the night of the colony’s revolution. It was because she’d seen him like this before that she thought she was just having a nightmare, only becoming horrified once she realized she wasn’t dreaming. How else was she supposed to feel, seeing such a jarring change when her consort had been so lively merely hours before?

After that, no amount of fact could phase her. It didn’t matter that this was something almost every ant parent went through at some point. It didn’t matter that there existed fathers in the colony, healthy as could be. It didn’t even matter that Flik had startled awake (though it was hard to tell) at her panicking. All she cared about was getting someone to help, please help, don’t let her lose him!

“I should have known this would happen. Something always happens, it’s Flik,” she muttered, and then she sighed wistfully. “But he’s so good with Dot and the other children, and I wanted—and he also—he said he’d be okay and like an idiot I believed him.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Mother began softly, understanding, “your father was much the same way when we agreed to have you, and didn’t he turn out fine?”

Atta bit back a retort.

But it seemed her message still rang clear. “I know you’re worried, and don’t you think I don’t understand.” Mother squeezed her hands again, this time a little tighter. “Just follow the doctor’s orders, and that boy will be up and running in no time. In the meantime”—she sent a knowing glance down—“you can go tell the colony the good news.”

“The colony! That’s right, I have to make an announcement!” Then Atta pulled away and groaned when she realized just what she had to explain. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if they already know. I must have woken everyone up.”

“Maybe our younger members, sure,” chirped Dr. Flora, peeking through the leaf curtains. “But I recall when a certain queen before you screamed so loud we formed an army!”

“Flora,” Mother chided and sent her a halfhearted warning look, “I trust you have some words to ease your queen.”

“Oh, yes.” Dr. Flora stepped aside and allowed her nurses to leave. “You can come inside, now. We’ll be back later to check on him, but he’s stable.” She giggled knowingly. “I should go make sure Thorny hasn’t keeled over by now.” Another giggle, and then she was on her way. “Congratulations, Your Majesty!” Almost immediately after, nearby passing ants followed with their own greetings and congratulations—some had noticeably stiff edges to them.

Atta groaned again and would have hid her quickly heating face if not for her growing desire to return to Flik’s side. Straightening up, she marched through the leaves, ready to face whatever sight lay within.

And once she did, her anxiousness fell away.

Flik was nearly fully hidden under the petals save for his hands, which had bunched some of the petals against his face in a clear display of embarrassment. Sickly pale as he was, he was still very much alive. Even his groans were more akin to awkwardness than pain.

Atta sat at the edge of the flower, soon torn between taking a hand or crossing her arms. The first option won out. “You scared me to death, you know,” she scolded him.

Flik startled and lowered the petal hiding him. “A-Atta, hey!” He flashed her a smile; tired in his current state, but still oddly charming. “W-what brings you here?”

“To our room?” Atta said, raising a brow.

“Oh, of course! Ours. We’re…” He brought the petal back up a little, but he looked more thoughtful now. “So, we’re actually having a…”

“We are.” Atta gave Flik’s hand a small squeeze. “Hard to believe.”

“Yeah…” Oh, he’s got stars in his eyes now. “A little tyke of our own. Who’da thought?”

“You hadn’t?”

“It was more of a fantasy to me.”

It was certainly more than Atta ever thought, but she kept that to herself. “Tell me about this fantasy,” she said instead. “Maybe… any names?”

“I have, actually, though it’s been a while since I thought of them,” Flik confessed. “Let’s see… I guess, for our first girl, I’d always liked—”

Before he could finish, the leaves forcefully parted. The pair turned their eyes to see a buzzing and lilac blur making a beeline to the bed.

Thankfully, for all her obvious worry, Dot refrained from barreling into her brother-in-law. “Flik! You okay?!” she cried. “I heard you got really sick, but I was stuck in Blueberry Scouts and had to stay until we were done!”

“Aw, I’m fine, kiddo,” Flik chuckled and patted her head. “Just need a little rest, that’s all.”

“What happened? You were fine yesterday.”

“Uh—well…” Flik tried to laugh the awkwardness away. “Atta and I were working on a special project, and I may have overexerted myself?” He sent her an apologetic glance.

Dot glanced at her sister, frowned suspiciously, and set her attention back to Flik. “But how come Atta’s okay?”

The apologetic glance returned with a plea for help.

And thus began a long and hopefully friendly explanation for the coming of a new member of the family.

+++

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! And yes, my headcanon that I wanted to write out is that bug fathers get sick instead of outright dying. ( -v-)

This can go either two ways: a general sick story with no stakes, or something that leads Atta (and maybe also Dot) on a small quest to get some medicine that happened to run out.

P.S. If there’s interest, I may write more snips involving the likely OC that would come out of this. Got a name picked out and everything!

[hatboiiiii]

bootlegs

[110789angle]

Flik-A Bug's Life Moodboard

[antvnger]

((I'm glad you liked the movie! Back to the whole CGI casting thing. I was originally going to have Mr. Wolf as Dr. Strange, but Wolf just fits Tony more. I also thought that if I hadn't had Flik in the role of Scott, he'd be really good as Scott, but I'm sticking to having Flik as Scott.))

((Yeah I can see that. It’s too good a comparison to change it honestly.))

[dymitre]

ohh man

[thedawner]

Another Hopper x Flik animation.

A Bug’s Life fanart.

[bugotd]

bug of the day: flik from a bug’s life

[supernightboy08]

My Favorite Ants:

1. Ant Man

2. Flik

3. Princess Atta

4. Dot