#friendly faceless bug

[arrozconlecheeee]

My brother in law in killing me😭

He downloaded HPMA cause he wanted to bond ig and when he got to the customization screen and saw the ashy dark skin tones, he went

‘bruh they need some lotion, why tf they so ashy for’😭💀💀💀💀

He likes the game✨

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Motobug

Debut: Sonic the Hedgehog

Hi! Isn't it weird that ladybugs are voracious predators? And yet in most media they're aeen as cute little harmless things that would never hurt a fly!

Ladybugs love hurting a fly.

Motobugs are also voracious predators, and their primary prey is That Troublesome Hedgehog! Although they usually settle for Rings.

Their design has generally stayed consistent over the years, with a single wheel, a red shell, a blue face, exhaust vents, and two spike hands. Presumably, they use their spikes to hunt aphids and other garden insects! It certainly is not any use against their primary prey, That Heroic Hedgehog!

Recently, there have been two exceptions. The Sonic Frontiers motobug is purple, and the Sonic Forces motobug is silver and futuristic, looking, if anything, like a snail shell!

Motobug appears in a LOT of games, although my two favorite motobugs are from the IDW Comics!

First, there's this lovely fellow

That I call Motobig! Big enough to Eat That Delicious Hedgehog as his father intended!

And then there is the lovely Brotobug! Or as they officially call it, Motobud!

That's a bug I can get behind! He's a friendly motobug, the exception to the exception to the rule of ladybug depictions! The entire thesis of IDW sonic comics is that everyone deserves a second, third, and fourth chance, which is embodied in how even Motobud, formerly a faceless footsoldier for the Eggman Empire, can turn good. I won't get into its actual story, you should read it for yourself. Please.

Anyway, I'm not sure how to end this post. Bye! :3

[demonic0angel]

Various Monster Jazz Forms (click for clarity)

TW: disturbing content, body horror, blood

Notes about Jazz’s designs down below :3

1) Skeletal Jazz

+ Inspired by the various legends of female creatures with animal bodies and human faces.

+ Her face and hands are meant to be human looking, but the rest of her is meant to be skeletal and creepy. Her neck is 3 feet tall, so she’s around 8 feet tall when she’s down on all 6’s, but around 12 feet tall when she stands on her hind legs. Yes, she does walk on her human hands.

+ I imagine that she would lean over Jason and hold his shoulders with her hands, but if you looked further into the darkness, the rest of her inhuman body would lay there covered in shadows. She’s rather friendly.

+ I like the design of a long neck in monsters bc something about a head swinging like a pendulum is creepy. She has six limbs like a bug and has a beautiful, but bloody face to complete the look.

2) Long Jazz

+ Inspired by Slenderman and similar tall supernatural beings, but also inspired by the 5th chapter of the Jingai x Omegaverse BL anthology :9

+ Just creepy, long, and quiet. She is faceless, but there is a large empty hole replacing her mouth.

+ Around 9 feet tall.

+ Surprisingly willing to stay home and just quietly stand in the corner to wait for Jason to come back. If she gets bored, she haunts and follows him around until he comes back home with her.

3) Dark Jazz

+ Murderous

+ Most of her face is covered in shadow.

+ Surprisingly normal, but you’ll never get to see her face. She also carries weapons on her, ready at any moment’s notice to grab a weapon and use it.

+ She follows Jason around but you can’t tell if she likes him or hates him because she never stops staring at him from the shadows.

4) Laughing Jazz

+ Too much teeth. Her wolf ears come with a set of a tail and digitigrade legs.

+ Inspired somewhat by the fox from Goose Mountain, but also a lot of My Little Pony infection AUs.

+ Her hair is noticeably brighter than what I usually put for her (I like her to have red hair, not orange), but I think it matches bc the brightness is creepy alongside the smile.

+ Her eyes are sunken in and never blink… her neck isn’t normal either…

5) Chimera Jazz

+ Inspired by Falin Touden’s chimera form from Dungeon Meshi. Highly recommend reading it!!

+ Has 3 sets of claws, one on each foot and then her hands. She is around 15 feet tall.

+ Is a mixture of wolf, bird, and eyeballs. The eyeballs can see throughout her body, but are generally invulnerable. Her only weakness would be her chest (with the eyeball) and stomach.

+ Extremely hostile and extremely protective. I think she’d have the instincts of an animal but would understand what people would say. She has the personality of a hissy cat.

[thenixkat]

[id: A crop of a comic panel featuring the superheroes Blue Beetle 2, Captain Atom, and The Question against a blue background from the waist up. Blue Beetle slings one arm over The Question's shoulder and puts his other hand on Captain Atom's shoulder and pulls both heroes closer to him.

Beetle: Okay, fine. I'm the leader. I'm Blue Beetle. This is Captain Atom and my faceless compadre is The Question. We are the heroes of Hub City. Atom: He's not actually-- Question: We're more like a loose collective... /end id]

[id: A comic panel showing Captain Atom standing on the roof of the Bug (a blue beetle-themed airship) as The Question walks up the ramp to the roof.

Question: Is it true--could he really be our leader? Atom: No way in hell. But for the moment, he's the one with the best ideas. /end id]

[id: A comic panel showing Blue Beetle 2 sitting in one of the chairs in his ship flanked by Captain Atom and The Question. A beagle sits in the other chair in the ship. Behind the trio of heroes are a gaggle of younger superheroes in various costumes.

Atom: But I have to admit it, Kord. You did good. Question: Do you really belive this will stop Telos? Beetle: Nope. Not for good. /end id]

[id: A crop of a comic panel showing the Bug flying over Hub City. Speech bubbles come off of the ship indicating a conversation happening inside of it.

Beetle: So sayeth your leader! Atom: Still not our leader, Beetle. Beetle: But sorta, Cap? Right? Atom: Not really, no. /end id]

Convergence: Blue Beetle (2015) #2

I still love the gaggle of lone wolves energy that the heroes of Hub City have in this story. Like yes, they know each other, are friendly, and work together to save the day but none of them consider themselves as a team, really.

I also love Ted jumping to take the reigns of leadership with a certain cockiness to him even.

And how Vic goes from 'no he's not really our leader' to 'what if he *is* our leader...' to 'I guess Ted is our leader'. Man went on a small journey over there, huh?

And Nate's flat-out refusal to accept Ted as a leader, will not call that man his leader. He's only doing what Ted says because he's the best guy here for ideas and plans but that doesn't mean he's their leader or anything. Heh. (Nate's a dog of the state, his opinion doesn't matter much he'll fall in line regardless.)

[thebladesmithmuses]

dad + could you describe how you see your daughter to me (for jane's dad)

Send me ‘Dad’ and a question and my character’s Dad will answer it.

A tall, nerdly older man looks at the strange faceless being. Maybe late fifties to early forties. He adjusts his glasses with a solid blink. Light brown hair, brown eyes, and freckles. This was definitely Jane's dad. The question finally processes though. A familiar warm smile comes to his lips.

"Oh! I'm very proud of my little bug!" He chimed in a friendly and mildly excited tone.

"Jane is my hardworking little girl. She's always had such a big heart. So I'm not too surprised when she came to me one day and said 'Dad. I want to be a therapist'. I'd never seen her so committed to anything in her life! Of course, we always supported her. We were so proud when she worked so hard. Eighteen years of college to get her degree."

Joe goes back to what he was doing. Which seemed to be working on a model of some kind. He had a fond smile that only a loving father would have. "She's a beautiful, bright, and caring girl. How could I see her any other way?"

[silveragelovechild]

Each time a Venom movie is announced, I swear I won’t go to see it. But when I read reviews of Tom Hardy’s over-the-top performance, I’m lured back into the theater.

I’ve never read a Venom comic book so I don’t know Venom’s lore. I don’t remember the plots of the first two movies, except that the Symbiotes are depicted as vaguely evil aliens that eat humans. And that Hardy, as Eddie Brock, has to break Venom of his nasty dietary habit.

In the new movie we are now told that the Symbiotes are actually friendly, willing to sacrifice themselves to save the human race. Huh?!? That’s a big step backwards and a retconn.

To accomplish this, a new set of vicious aliens are introduced - hungry bug-like creatures, led by a mysterious faceless entity called Knull. He wants to kill everyone in the universe (sort of like an all-or-nothing Thanos).

For some reason Sony decided to hire Andy Serkis to do the motion capture for Knull. Why did they bother? In the opening he is sitting with his head hanging down. And in the end, he lifts his head to show his CGI face. Literally anyone could have done that. An animatic puppet could have done that far cheaper than hiring Serkis. Knull is null and void!

While Venom: The Last Dance isn’t great, it (Hardy) kept me entertained. It’s certainly better than Marvel’s recent crap - Ant-Man Quantumania, Thor Love & Thunder, and The Marvels.

(I did learn one thing… in the previous movies, I assumed Venom lived inside Eddie’s butt and popped out, looking over his shoulder. In this movie, it’s clearly shown that Venom is attached to Eddie’s lower back, not his butt. So Eddie hasn’t been anally violated since 2018. Whew!)

[recoveringdreamer]

TIMING: current LOCATION: the woods PARTIES: @nicsalazar & @recoveringdreamer SUMMARY: while out in the woods on a walk, nicole comes across something familiar. CONTENT: mentions of past drug manipulation, animal cruelty

Nacho ambled slightly ahead of her, nose pinned to the ground, tail wagging happily. Lucky him,  blissfully unaware of the tension weighing on Nicole’s shoulders. Even if his guard dog qualities never lived up to his potential —unless the subject to protect was Leah— his company counted for something. Having an extra set of ears and a better nose would alert Nicole faster of potential danger ahead. In case— In case… She didn’t want to think about that night. But it seemed to be all her traitorous mind wanted her to recall. There was no feral jaguar this time. She should be safe, wandering around as the human she looked, with her impossibly friendly dog. Unremarkable, as she always wished to appear, like every other hiker she’d passed by.  

Nicole was buried in the heart of the woods when she found herself in unexpected company. She would’ve called them bugs. She supposed, technically, they were. The size of the creatures was throwing her off. She’d rather not encroach on their territory. And Nacho already looked a little too curious for her liking. It was better for all involved if they never acknowledged each other’s presence. A branch cracked behind her, and she almost climbed up the tree. Fuck. She held her breath at that, moving stealthily for cover. Her nostrils flared, trying to pick up on any obvious scent. There was something— something that made her heart race at the familiarity, but she didn’t have time to process, because the shiny eyes she caught across from the trees sent her heart racing. Jesus. Was someone playing fucking games with her? Something told her she wasn’t the only one a little lost.

Immediately, Nicole hid behind a tree, looking over her shoulder. She breathed deeply, as quietly as possible. Something beckoned her to those eyes, something beneath her sternum, pounding coldly. Made no fucking sense. She could walk around the trees and investigate what was on the other side while somehow evading the dog-sized bugs in the middle. Sounded easy enough, right? Once she confirmed it was just an animal, she’d go down the clearing and back to the road. Great plan, she decided, carefully stepping around knobby roots and venturing further into the woods. A voice in her head that always sounded like Leah, begged her to turn the other way, find another path, do the sensible thing. She could be running straight into danger with nothing but a bottle of water and a few snacks in her backpack. And her hatchet, of course. But she liked using that as a warning rather than an actual weapon. 

Her eyes focused on a shadow passing by in the distance, her heart jumping into her throat. And for a brief second, Nicole’s control slipped from her grasp. Amber eyes lit up and her vision sharpened in the darkness, making out what her brain recognized as a shoulder. Eyes turned to the ground, not to draw attention, until she was sure her vision had returned to normal. She lowered her head, afraid that she had scared the person or creature she was chasing. Her steps were cautious as she continued to approach, stalking quietly, waiting until she was absolutely sure she had the upper hand. Then she did something equally stupid and brave.

“I…uh, I can hear you”. Despite that statement, her tone was filled with uncertainty. Why was she speaking? It could be an animal. More often than not, this was the case. Didn't explain the shadow or the shoulder she thought she saw. The forest was known for its deceptive shapes. And the image of some faceless man out to hurt her hung over her head. “I’m not— I’m not dangerous”. She was paranoid, admittedly. “I was— just hiking” she spoke aimlessly, knowing it was unlikely to have the effect she wanted.

The woods still felt like home, sometimes. In a lot of ways, Felix hated that. It wasn’t that they didn’t like what they were — their mother had made sure that her children appreciated what it meant to be a balam, and shedding that appreciation after her death would have felt like a betrayal no matter how it came about. But… Felix didn’t always like what they’d done with it. Their mother wouldn’t have, either. She’d have been horrified, he thought, of how their father reacted to what happened. Those years spent in the woods, living more like animals than people, all the things that had come with it… Their mother wouldn’t have wanted that for any of them. Felix knew that.

But the woods still felt like home. On nights like tonight especially, when the world felt heavier than it usually did and everything seemed to be working against them. It had been another rough fight in the Pit, another night that ended with more blood under Felix’s nails than he knew what to do with. They didn’t know what state they’d left their opponent in; the jaguar had been the one in control in the moment, and no one had shared details after. But they knew it was bad. They knew it was bloody. They knew they wanted — no, needed — to clear their head.

So… they were here. In the woods that still felt like home no matter how they felt about it, kicking up dirt and keeping an ear out for trouble. They wandered, no destination in mind. Followed sounds they didn’t recognize and smells they did. And then — the ground pushed up around them, and something was there. Two somethings — three. Four, five, six — Felix started to lose count.

Later, he’d muse that it was probably the goo that caused it. Disrupting the ecosystem, messing with habitats and food sources. The goo caused so many problems for so many people, tore through the town and left little to be done. Later, Felix would have the right frame of mind to recognize that. But now? In this moment? All they could really focus on was the shot of fear brought on by the sudden upheaval of ground beneath their feet and the sudden feeling of being surrounded by giant, bug-like threats.

It was a quick shift. It usually was, when there was trouble. Felix froze, and the jaguar fought. Coming up from the shadows, slicing through the nearest insect. The bugs were smart enough to recognize a threat and flee from it; the jaguar was angry enough to follow.

As he chased the bugs, the jaguar became aware of another presence. Or two. One canine, though not the sort that turned human when the moon was low. And one… more familiar. One like him. 

The jaguar, like most jaguars, was a solitary creature. He had no drive to find a pack the way a wolf might, but… he remembered. The cabin in the woods, the feeling of community with his siblings. He remembered this. It was curiosity that drove him to follow that familiar scent; the fact that the bugs he was pursuing were heading in the same direction only helped sway the matter. He followed, he sniffed the air. He came close.

She heard him. Of course she did. She was like him, and he heard everything. Except… She wasn’t like him right now, was she? She was more like Felix. Two legs steady beneath her, two arms at her side. The jaguar tilted his head to the side, stepping out from the shadows as she called out to him. Not dangerous? That was a lie. She was as dangerous as he was… though he wasn’t sure if she was dangerous to him. Now out in the light where he could be seen, the jaguar let out an experimental yowl. Low, more a warning than a threat. Almost a greeting. 

There were a number of things Nicole would have expected to see after trying to draw out the unwelcome company: Wild animals scurrying away from the giant insects. Maybe more of the same insects crawling up from wherever they came from. A lost hiker, of course. Nicole's threshold for bullshit was extremely high, and it only got higher the more time she spent in Wicked's Rest. Even—yes, even—some other type of wildlife, the special kind, would have been possible. She could have expected monsters with extra legs, horns, wings, aquatic half dogs-half monkeys, snakes that fed on trauma, and so on. It wasn't as if Nicole didn't know that something crazy might turn up amid the trees.

A fucking jaguar would’ve never crossed Nicole’s mind. A jaguar. A fucking— In Wicked’s Rest. But now Nicole heard a yowl and saw a stocky figure sauntering toward her, and her heart pounded in her throat as she tried to make sense of the vision. The wheels in her brain slowly turned, working to apply some logic to the situation. Jaguars weren’t native to this place. Just like wolves. Everybody knew what those wolf sightings meant. Right. So, in a similar manner… The only way— The only thought she could entertain was far too absurd. Because— others like her didn’t exist. Not in Wicked’s Rest. She’d accepted her fate, to wander alone. For eight years. So how— How the fuck could a jaguar be walking in front of her now? 

Could it be? 

Nacho, too, looked curious, as if he could see beyond what was in front of him. Nicole ordered him to stay where he was, bile rising at the thought of the beast getting to him.  

Perhaps she ought to have been concerned for her own security as well. Nicole retreated from the jaguar the closer it got. Her eyes, back to brown after that small mishap, met feral amber. What the fuck? She huffed in disbelief. She’d never been on this side, having to show respect to another jaguar. She wasn’t sure her jaguar liked it too much, as cold wrapped around her ribcage, clawing with rage. She chastised herself mentally, hoping some of that feeling would reach… wherever the fuck the spirit could listen. Communication was still a work in progress. But maybe now wasn’t the time to act prickly and carry some stupid superiority complex. She bent her head, showing she wanted no trouble with the beast in front of her, that she had no intention of hurting the animal, and without waiting for a reaction — she knew it could pounce at any moment— Nicole stepped away. 

Unfortunately for her, trying to escape a wild jaguar now meant encroaching into bug territory. She preferred her odds there, however. Where her enemy wasn’t capable of killing with one blow. Even as more insects swarmed from wherever they were coming to surround her. Giant mandibles snapping. Fuck. She reached for her hatchet, just in case. Pondering her options. She could pick up her dog, and make a run through the colony, to the other side of the clearing. Her heart thundered in her ears, making rational thought slightly more difficult. Nacho chose the worst time to bark. Nicole could’ve sworn it was calling the jaguar. But he disturbed the colony in the process. Growing exponentially in numbers and cornering not only Nicole and Nacho, but the jaguar as well.

Within the jaguar, Felix stirred. Already uncomfortable at the loss of control, they felt a surge of panic at the presence of another person. They were always so afraid of someone being hurt, always so forgetful of the fact that they were above the silly humans they spent so much of their time worrying over. Even their other companions — the wolves, the fae, the lamia, the undead — were some version of inferior in the mind of the jaguar. He was a haughty creature; to him, nothing could compare to what he was.

But the woman in the clearing smelled as he did. Felt as he did. And it had been so long since he’d seen another. He had no intention of attacking her unless she attacked first, no intention of destroying the only other balam he’d encountered since Felix took them both from the homestead with their family. He didn’t need companionship, of course, but after decades of living with others like him, there was something undeniably lacking in being alone. 

The woman didn’t seem quite as thrilled to see the jaguar, though. Perhaps she’d had a negative experience; perhaps the spirit within her was more territorial. Or maybe it was concern for the small creature at her side — the one that, admittedly, made the jaguar yearn to dirty his claws. He took another step forward, and the woman took a step back. The jaguar let out a frustrated puff of air.

But then… she was backing directly into the swarm. For a moment, the jaguar watched. He wondered if the spirit within her would take over to control the situation, just as he had done for Felix. But… perhaps her control was better. She remained human, and the dog barked, and the insects swarmed. Soon, they surrounded the jaguar as well, and the curiosity that had caused him to pause in his pursuit was once again chased away by anger. This time, his yowl was one of fury. He began swatting at the insects methodically. Not a random thing, but a targeted attack. This jaguar, after all, knew how to fight. Maybe a little too well.

Nicole wasn’t sure what she’d call it, the way the giant insects gave up any effort on attacking her, attention shifting to the large predator erupting in the scene. It was all too controlled to be explained away as animal instinct. Control. Right, that was the word. It was as if the monsters were puppeteered. Similar movement, similar target as they tried hurting the jaguar, who was angry and defending himself. That was the thing, wasn’t it? Despite her own perceptions of… danger. The jaguar hadn’t tried anything with her. And it very well could have. A beast as powerful and agile as it was, would’ve had no problem feasting on her and her dog. So logic dictated… she might not be the target. 

Did that mean— Could it sense their similarities? The same way her eyes could spot spirits through the jaguar’s vision? This new animal had to know, must’ve seen what escaped the human eye. And there it was— another pulse in her chest, not anxiety, not dread, the spirit announcing its presence again. She took that as confirmation of her own thoughts. The two spirits had found each other.

Nicole wasn’t sure if it was relief that washed over her as a powerful wave, but it was something. Something that diverted her attention to the common enemy. Refocusing her efforts from escaping the jaguar, to getting rid of the creatures swarming them. Even if the jaguar ended up being dangerous, even if she found herself in trouble after this, she couldn’t— there was no scenario in which she would let the only other balam she’d seen in almost a decade be harmed. Fuck that. There was another balam, right in front of her. Another balam. What would she do when— She reached for the hatchet inside her backpack, kneeling in front of Nacho and instructing him to run to her car. “Go on, I’ll be there soon” she insisted, trying to appease the low, threatening grumble coming out of her pet. Nacho stared at her, and Nicole had never been more sure he could understand her, even if some might find that notion stupid. “Go!” her voice commanded and he did as told, sprinting past the crawling insects gathering around the jaguar. 

With her main source of concern gone, Nicole could think with more clarity. Same clarity the spirit within seemed to be finding. She felt it come alive beneath her sternum, more determined, less patient with her idea of control. It wanted to act too. But Nicole couldn’t risk freeing the jaguar. Not after— She still didn’t know what had happened that night, only that something was stolen from the jaguar. She didn’t know how the maimed animal would act. How furious it would be, and whether that would result in a more feral beast. She clenched her jaw, pleading mentally, trying to negotiate with a disembodied entity that clawed inside her demanding action. Only if necessary, only if we’re in mortal danger... She tightened her grip on the hatchet, looking to harm any of the termites targeting the jaguar. She struck with precision, though the tough exterior demanded more than one hit. The bugs retaliated, one of them sliced her ankle with a snap of their mandible, but she had to swallow the scream of pain, fighting back with another strike of the hatchet. There were too many, Nicole realized. Even if the jaguar handled most of them, even if her jaguar joined him. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, making it difficult to decide how to proceed.  

Should they leave them alone? They were the ones who accidentally stumbled onto the insects’ territory. But how exactly could Nicole communicate with the jaguar, tell it that it was useless, that they should escape? It felt like an affront. As if she was underestimating how strong the spirit was. She lifted her gaze, shoving another dead insect away. Her ankle throbbed, but she had no time to pay attention to it. Her mouth opened a few times, knowing it was stupid but still, attempting to speak. “We should—” her words died in her throat, a chill running up her spine when she spotted something else: Ahead of them, hidden partially in the darkness, Nicole noticed something much larger than the rest of the termites.

Individually, the insects were just that — insects. Easily defeated, even if they took a bit more effort than their smaller brethren who could be killed with the well-placed stomp of a human foot. Still, the lone bugs were of little concern to the jaguar, whose claws were sharp enough to get through their tough exoskeletons with only a few blows. If he had been fighting only one, or even only a dozen or so, it would have been a swift battle, over before the jaguar had time to enjoy himself. But as it stood? With the sheer number of insects attacking, and the coordination they displayed? It was a far more difficult task.

The woman’s presence fell to the background of the jaguar’s mind. Still there, still something to be aware of, but momentarily less important than the matter at hand. He was vaguely aware of the canine leaving them, felt a quiet thrill when the other balam joined the fight only to have it displaced by a bitter disappointment when she did so in human form. It had been so long since he’d seen another jaguar. Solitary as his nature made him, there was a part of him that missed the feeling. 

But there was little time to dwell on it. Even the momentary distraction of his disappointment cost him, allowing one of the insects to sink those pesky mandibles into one of the jaguar’s front legs, right on the intersection between the chest and the leg. The beast yowled, pain and rage mixing together in the cry. He repaid the injury in kind, ripping the offending insect’s legs from its body before sinking claws deep into its midsection until the twitching ceased. The corpse was quickly tossed to the side. There was no time to revel in the victory; the insect was quickly replaced by three more, threatening to overwhelm him.

The woman spoke, and the jaguar turned some attention towards her briefly despite having little ability to understand what she said. Felix could process it, but it wasn’t of much use when the jaguar had full control like this. There was little communication between the two entities these days.

As the woman turned her head to look towards something lurking in the shadows, the jaguar couldn’t help but to follow her gaze. Sharp eyes designed to see perfectly in the dark made out the shape, traced the size of it. It looked something like the insects they were already fighting, but larger. Immediately, the jaguar was intrigued. He was a haughty beast; he’d much rather take on a large threat than a number of small ones. It felt more on his level, more deserving of his attention. 

Swatting a few smaller insects to the side, the jaguar began prowling towards the shape in the shadows. It quickly became evident that the insects surrounding them didn’t want him to get near; they began to attack with more vigor now. Mandibles sunk into his shoulder, his hind leg. He yowled, responding in kind with his claws, but it was clear that he couldn’t make it to the lurking beast without assistance. The woman and the jaguar would need to function as a team if they wanted either of them to get into a position to face the larger insect.

If a horse-sized creature slowly creeping towards them didn’t fall under the category of ‘necessity’ and ‘last resort’, Nicole didn’t know what would. Her breath shook, her stomach sank with dread as she began accepting she had run out of options. Not that acceptance would translate into immediate action. It never quite worked like that for her, did it? There were too many mental hurdles to get through before she could allow the jaguar to take over. Fear. Her control had always stemmed from fear. It had been the main reason to keep the spirit locked inside, under a vice grip. She’d always been scared of the beast, of what it could do, of what it could take from her. Five years had been enough, she couldn’t lose any more. And she couldn’t fathom subjecting humans to a feral predator, not when she had no way of fighting its animal instinct and ensuring humans were safe from it.  

It was fear she still felt now, as the other balam —the brave one—, did what any of them would’ve done: Attacked. He defended himself against the swarm of supernatural termites, sinking claws and teeth into everything that dared touch him. Proud and mighty. And Nicole understood, finally able to watch from an outside perspective, why these beasts, balam, might have been revered by humans in ancient times. She did her part to protect him, helped any way she could, with a busted ankle and slowed movements once exhaustion crept in. But even after freeing the jaguar of the monsters trying to maim him, several others would crawl to them, replacing the corpses in no time. What else did she need to see in order to let go? 

There was something new behind her apprehension too. Something that started taking form the more she saw sharp mandibles slicing her companion. Her apprehension this time around might be protective in nature. She cared. Her throat tightened when she understood: She didn’t want her jaguar to be harmed again. Nicole couldn’t allow it. It had been her fault the first time. Wandering down the same paths every time, making it easier for hunters to track her. She should’ve known better than that. Had to be better than that. Despite their antagonistic relationship, she couldn’t throw the beast into danger like it was the solution to everything. Wash her hands and let it do the dirty job. What if she woke up and something else had been taken from her? From it?

The spirit didn’t see it from her point of view though, whether it was fear or a need to protect, the result was the same. It was still caged, stifled. And it grew restless, throbbing next to her heart, taking up space, pressing against her lungs with every time her hatchet struck another monster. Because Nicole, stubbornly so, continued to get rid of the insects surrounding them with human methods. When the jaguar prowled toward the shadows, the colony was quick to protect the giant termite. Oh. She let that sink in. Some sort of… queen bee bullshit, probably. Without the bees. Didn’t take a genius to see the only purpose of the insects was now to stop the the jaguar in his advance. He cried out in pain, and she felt a stab between her ribs. Right. The spirit. It couldn’t stand by and see one of their own wounded. She pushed for as long as she could, tried to see a way out but— But.

This was it. She felt the small thud of her hatchet sliding off her hand on onto the ground. She exhaled, surrendering to the call.

There was little to no pain this time, Nicole was too far gone to process why. Her conscience dissolved as soon as her ribs cracked, without the agonizing pain that usually accompanied it. Flesh tore, the spirit billowing from the cracks, engulfing the woman in its mist, protecting her in its own way. And when the jaguar sprung from within, it let out a powerful roar that reverberated against the trees. It lunged forward wasting no time, swatting away every termite that threatened the other, furious fangs and claws shredding through the termites' tough exterior with ease. It cleared the path for the other jaguar to reach the queen of the colony, ready to follow behind. Two against one, the large termite stood no chance.

Why wasn’t the woman shifting? The jaguar couldn’t help but marvel at her hesitance. Felix hesitated sometimes, too. When they were outside of that fighting ring, when they were somewhere with full control on their side, they were often slow to give it up. As much as the jaguar wanted to stew in his bitterness, to tell himself that Felix only used him as a proxy to pain and violence that they wanted no part of themself, there was a sense of understanding there that he couldn’t deny. The jaguar had little understanding of the intricate social situations that Felix struggled with on a daily basis, but he knew that the other had been without control for some time. He understood that it was a hard thing to give up once you’d had a taste of it. 

Was this woman similar, then? Did she, like Felix, struggle with control? It wouldn’t matter soon. If she didn’t shift, she’d likely die here — they both might. Her skills with her blade were impressive, but no human fighting style would ever compare to that of an animal. The jaguar was a proud creature; he had a hard time believing that anything could best something like him when it came to skill and style. The only reason the insects were a threat at all was because of the sheer number of them, but with only two jaguars? Even that would be inconsequential. The woman only needed to shift to prove it.

He let out another low growl that sounded almost like a question, glanced at her as best he could without taking his attention from the fight. It was irresponsible, wasn’t it? To remain in such an inferior form. Even Felix gave in to the jaguar’s control when it became a necessity, though if pressed they’d likely say that the jaguar gave them little choice. As if he had less of a right to the body they shared than they did, as if they hadn’t been born together in this skin. When you shared a body, it wasn’t only yourself that you risked with your recklessness. The mandibles that tore through the jaguar’s skin hurt Felix, too. The hits Felix took in the ring battered the jaguar’s body just as much as it did Felix’s. 

Finally, it seemed the woman understood this. The jaguar did the best he could to attract more attention during her shift, to ensure that none of the insects pounced on her during the briefly vulnerable state that came with being in between one form and the next. He yowled, he sliced, he accepted hits and blows that he didn’t necessarily have to take. The jaguar had spent years now as a shield for Felix; he could be the same for this new ally, too. Like creatures needed to stick together, particularly when there were so few of them.

Bones cracked, and the breathing pattern he heard behind him shifted from that of a human to that of a beast, to something more like him. Excitement thrummed in the jaguar’s chest. So long, it had been so long since he’d fought side by side with someone like himself. 

He spared the other jaguar a quick glance, took note of her form. Something in his chest ached at the sight of her missing tail; Felix’s memories of an alleyway and a man flooded his senses momentarily. Those cold eyes on their tail, that strange claw that had sunk into their arm and made Felix’s mind fuzzy enough for the jaguar to take control without a fight. He’d tore his claws through the man’s face, but he wondered now if he’d done less damage than he should have, if the disorientation of whatever substance had been pushed into his veins had kept him from being effective enough to save this jaguar from a fate he’d escaped. But, more likely, she’d lost it in a fight. Right? 

There was little time to dwell on it. The insects hadn’t paused in their assault. If anything, they were more adamant now, more desperate. It told the jaguar everything he needed to know. When your enemy fought to protect something from you, your best course of action was to target that thing. The insects did not want the pair to get to the larger one in the woods, and so the jaguar would make sure that his claws knew its flesh, would make sure that his companion shared in the victory as well. He surged forward, surrounded but confident with his newfound ally watching his back.

The herd was thinning only a little, but it was enough to push the pair of jaguars closer to the larger insect at its center. The jaguar yowled, a sound that was more reminiscent of a victory cry than the pained ones drawn out by the insects’ mandibles in the fight thus far. Close enough to have the larger insect within reach now, the jaguar drew back a clawed paw and slashed, expecting his ally to do the same.

Nicole’s jaguar ripped through enemies more viciously than it had ever done before. The beast was usually a mercy killer, it didn’t play with its food. One blow to the skull with no intention of extending the suffering of its prey was its preferred technique. There was more to play for now. Higher stakes. Its pride was wrecked when it was mutilated by that human. Now it wished to prove the spirit remained strong, even when it was no longer whole. Even with a stump for a tail and a weak human carrier. The insects fought against it like a well-oiled machine, too precise and too in synch to be chalked out to survival instinct. No. The other jaguar picked up on this strange behavior too. They had to exterminate the bigger threat and its colony would suffer as a result. 

Easy enough with two beasts. Nicole’s jaguar gave up on its culling efforts, the colony thinning to the point where the two big cats could get to the queen without much opposition. The jaguar stalked toward the hidden figure, feral amber gaze studying its prey. Before the attack — before him— the feline would’ve waited, its hunting approach equal parts measured and devastating. But there was no measure now, the beast sought to destroy. It pounced before its ally, sharp fangs tearing into its exterior. It tore the queen piece by piece, inviting the other jaguar to bask in the demise. As if they were playing with a chewing toy instead of a formidable supernatural creature. The enemy’s body shook, both from the force of the attack and from its attempt to stop it, using its mandibles to defend itself. To no avail. The body came to a halt, sharp teeth too brutal to put up any fight.

As expected, the colony suffered, with painful screeching and clicking noises that preceded a massive exodus. No synchronicity in sight. They scattered any way they could, fearful their turn would be next. And it would’ve been, but Nicole’s jaguar had no interest in chasing the smaller creatures. Enjoy the bigger prize in its maw. And though it was no tasty meal, its pride kindling again made up for it. The ancient power within still burned. As it should’ve. Hunger sated, for now, the animal looked at its companion. There was no territorial urge to show dominance. Instead, it sniffed, committing the scent of its companion to memory. Would it be able to find this jaguar again? It had no recollection of the last time it had seen another one like him. 

As parting ways without harming each other became the natural conclusion, something fought deep inside the animal. Warmth spread along its ivory belly, resting in its chest. The human. The jaguar acknowledged this, for the first time, instead of ignoring her wishes. She had given it a chance to get back its pride. Show the world what a mighty beast it still was. Had acted out of protection instead of the shameful fear she usually displayed. Perhaps, the encounter with that sadistic human had changed both of them. The marginal progress human and beast had made in their relationship seemed to be strengthening in one night, with two simple choices. She allowed the jaguar to exist, with no ifs or buts, no timeline, no plans to stifle it. In turn, the spirit could retreat, and allow her —Nicole, the jaguar conceded— to strike a connection she so desperately needed with the other human. Keep hold of the only other Balam they had encountered since her family had been slaughtered. It could only benefit both of them in the end. 

Nicole expected to wake up as she usually did, with a jolt. Sudden, scary. The kind that pumped adrenaline into her veins as soon as her eyes opened, wondering how much had she missed that time. If she was even in the same place as before. If there were casualties to her name. But this time, she swam to the surface gently, enveloped in the mist, and then blinked herself into the forest. It was without a doubt, the strangest thing she’d ever felt. Amber eyes were replaced by brown ones, which stared at the other jaguar wide in fear. The forest floor prickled at her naked skin, and she was vaguely aware no termites surrounded her anymore. Which meant— Was she seriously left alone with a predator? What the fuck? 

It was a sight to behold, the two jaguars working in harmony with one another. When the other jaguar joined him, the spirit that lived within Felix felt strong in a way he hadn’t in years now. So much of who he was had been swallowed by the human’s anxiety and clouded emotions. By the man they had loved who had betrayed them, by the gated pen where they called upon the jaguar only for him to hurt and be hurt in return. Even when he was freed like this, the jaguar had been more stifled in recent months. He had been unable to kill the man who found him after his encounter with the hunter and his knives, unable to swallow the glittery substance that spilled from the terrifying woman he’d found on the trail. Even when he was in control, he couldn’t leave the town without consequence; whatever trouble Felix had gotten themself into seemed to affect the jaguar as well, made it impossible for him to be free. 

But here, now, in these woods with this other jaguar hunting beside him… Felix’s jaguar felt a strength he’d thought lost to him. And it was a good feeling.

She tore through the bug-like creatures with ease, and he followed along behind her. He let her take the lead; not a new sensation. In the days when they had lived within their family’s home, Felix and their jaguar had often been ‘support’ in fights or scrapes, and the jaguar didn’t mind falling back into the habit now. As he looked at the other jaguar and her missing tail, as he remembered his and Felix’s own experience with something similar, he thought she might need this a little more than he did. And the jaguar, who had gone without a like companion for so long now, would take what he could get.

So, as a team, they made their way to that largest insect. As a team, they tore it into shreds. It tasted bitter and unpleasant, but Felix’s jaguar gnawed on it all the same, a feeling of victory flooding his mouth right along with it. It was a short and brutal process. The bug was dismembered and torn apart and swallowed, and the smaller ones screeched and screamed and scrambled. And when it was over, the carnage wasn’t the sort that would bother Felix. The blood was not red, the pieces littering the forest floor were not human. The jaguar looked over at the other, a low sound in his throat offering acknowledgement of his entertainment. Again, he thought. We should do that again. 

But only if they could find one another.

The easiest way to do that, he knew, was to allow the humans within to… connect. Felix was better at tracking people down than the jaguar was; he knew that. So, as the other jaguar began to shift and change, Felix’s let himself do the same. He stepped back, and he allowed the human to step forward. Bones snapped apart and then back together again; the sound echoed through the woods. When it finished, Felix curled around themself, disoriented and confused and flushing at their nudity and the realization that there was another person here with them.

Memories of the jaguar’s time in control were always hazy, if they existed at all. Sometimes, Felix got flashes that offered some explanation, but not often. This time, there was one flash clearer than the rest; part of him wondered if the jaguar had pushed it forward somehow, if he had wanted them to know. Regardless, they saw it — the distinct memory of another jaguar beside them, tearing the bug to shreds.

Felix looked at the stranger in the woods, eyes wide. “You — I think — Are you… a balam?”

Nicole's chest heaved, fingers digging into the ground, preparing to… What— run? It was fucking impossible to do it faster than the jaguar. If he wished to hunt her, he fucking would, she was at his mercy. But did he? There was a moment, where her eyes met the beast’s, and she almost believed there was something human behind them. A glint. Was that how hers looked too, when the jaguar took over? Was a balam different from a common animal? Was her use of the word common indicative of how the spirit felt for those who weren’t an ancient coalescence of spirit, beast and human? Were they beneath them? She couldn’t ponder on everything for too long, because that small glimpse of… soul, humanity— something, was a sign that the creature’s form was shifting. She had never seen it from this point of view. But, for whatever reason —an obvious one, had she been slightly more connected to her spirit— the other jaguar transformed too, the stocky build of the animal making way for its human counterpart. It was remarkable, and for the first time, she was the one who felt pride. 

As Nicole took in the other person, who mirrored her terrified expression, the realization dawned on her: they were both naked. Heat burned up her neck, tinted her cheeks. Rationally, there was nothing particularly shameful about shifting back. She’d done it before, dozens of times. She gathered her clothes and tried to continue as normally as possible with her day. She’d never done it with somebody else by her side, though. But this was natural, her logic reminded her again. It was part of what they were. Something bigger than themselves, rare and powerful and— no, it didn’t mean she wasn’t absolutely fucking embarrassed by it. She scanned around the forest, searching for her clothes or anything to cover herself. A few feet away, her jacket looked unscathed. Somehow. She reached for it, and the backpack near it, which wasn’t spared. It was torn by the termites –or the jaguars possibly– but it still held its contents. She had a blanket somewhere in there, didn’t she? Especially as the winter became unrelenting and cruel, it was a must to bring along during treks. She rummaged through her bag, adamantly ignoring there was another person with her until she felt safer. Warmer. She pulled a blanket and offered it to them, unsure how transformations worked for them. If this was natural for them. Maybe she was the one making a big deal out of nothing. It was the woods, for fuck’s sake, no one would be looking, no one would even care. It worked to keep her sanity— sort of.

The question shouldn’t have caught her off guard, her own mind spinning with several questions she wanted to ask in return. Nicole felt like she’d be lying if she answered with a simple yes. It was never simple. She wasn’t just balam. First and foremost she always felt like a human, however betrayed those who raised her might feel over her allegiance . “I’m— Uh, my name’s Nicole” she offered flatly, with a shrug. But it was only a fraction of her identity, wasn’t it? Tonight of all nights, it had been easier to reconcile that she was both, that they didn’t have to stand with their backs to each other. At the very least, it didn’t feel like they were strangers anymore. “And yes… that’s— I can… I’m a balam” she mumbled, glancing at the ground. She put on her jacket, her body shuddering by reflex. Her gaze was back on her… ally? –Companion?– Uncertainty etched in her features. “I’ve never— met one like me before.” Her family had shared the stories of course, made sure she grew up proud of what they were, but always kept a layer of secrecy. Never shifted in front of the kids, always promised to wait until she was old enough to show her how to get in touch with the spirit. She was never old enough. 

It was cold. Nacho was still waiting for her. Nicole didn’t want to leave, but the circumstances— “My car is— I left it somewhere,” she spoke before she could second guess herself, an idea quickly forming. No. She didn’t want to let them go. “I could—drive you home?” she shook her head, disagreeing with herself and her hesitance. “I want to drive you home. And maybe— we could… Maybe—” She’d always imagine she would shut down, if she ever met another one like her. That the pain and the memories would be too hard to cope with. That the walls around her heart would go up again much more easily than they were broken down. And though the undercurrent of grief was ever present, it was curiosity that overtook her. The spirit had given her this chance. Maybe both of them had similar wounds. Maybe it was hard for them too, to live with a beast inside them. If it was a delicate subject, she didn’t want to push.  “I’d like to talk about this…us, if that’s— If you’d like to” a plea hid in her eyes, but she didn’t dare voice it. 

She offered them a blanket, and Felix took it gratefully. They were a ways away from where they’d transformed now; as always, the memory of the transformation was only marginally less hazy than the things that had taken place during it. They remembered the same intense fear they usually got before a transformation, remembered the feeling of the jaguar ripping through them shortly after, but that was about it. It must have been tied to the termites, if the jaguar saw fit to follow and destroy them. Was it a good thing, they wondered? Was this something akin to ridding the world of a threat, or had they just… torn apart creatures in their natural habitat? It felt a lot better than waking up and realizing they’d hurt a person, but it still wasn’t great. It never really felt great. Felix wondered if it was different for her.

The thought brought their eyes back to her as they wrapped the blanket around their waist, using it to hide as much of themself from view as they could. There wasn’t as much embarrassment as there used to be. The Grit Pit had quickly desensitized them to nudity in the presence of other people, even if they still felt smaller than they knew they would have had they been a little more… clothed. Maybe it helped that she was naked, too, or that Felix knew that she understood this particular plight as well as anyone could. Or maybe that just made the awkwardness hang at a slightly different angle, like a painting sat askew instead of hanging straight. 

“Felix,” they returned, committing her name to memory. Nicole. There was another balam here in Wicked’s Rest, and her name was Nicole. There was another balam here in Wicked’s Rest, and Felix wasn’t as alone as they’d felt since leaving their father’s house. They offered her a small smile, wondering if she was relieved or territorial. Jaguars were solitary creatures, but… She’d offered them a blanket. She’d told them her name. Maybe that meant something. “I, uh… I used to live with others. My family. But I’ve never met any outside of that.” They were rare, weren’t they? Harder to find than something like a werewolf or a lamia, who could become what they were later in life. Harder than a bugbear, too, who could be born anywhere. Balam were singular in their own way. Felix’s father used to insist there was pride in that. Felix didn’t feel very prideful these days.

There was something hesitant in the way she spoke; Felix could relate. They often second guessed their every word. For years, they’d thought it was wrong, somehow, but — Maybe it was okay. They nodded a little too quickly, not wanting the interaction to end now that they both knew what they knew. “Yeah,” they said. “I mean — Yeah. I’d like that. Um, I don’t… I mean, I don’t have anyone anymore who gets it. And I’d like that. If you wanted, I mean. We could… Maybe we could be friends?” Anxiety clung to every word, because what if she said no? It would kind of suck, finding someone like them for the first time in years only to piss her off so much that she shooed them away.

Nicole’s lips stretched into a smile. The rare one. The one that also reached her eyes, wrinkling at the corners. The one that made cheek muscles ache, unfamiliar with such action. It should’ve felt good, no? It did, didn’t? But something knotted her throat all the same. Something heavy that had nothing to do with the conversation and more with her body crashing from the emotional and physical toll. She had found another one like her after a decade, transformed into a jaguar to fight supernatural creatures, then shifted back into a human in the span of minutes. Nicole couldn’t handle that much. Not in one day, at least. She was exhausted, but so relieved. Was that what tightened her throat? She wasn’t used to positive emotions affecting her so deeply. She wasn’t used to positive things coming in such quick succession. To things working out without terrible consequences. But they—Felix, the other balam, sat across from her, proof it had been real. And what mattered more —her chin quivered, overwhelmed— she wasn’t alone anymore. “It’s good to meet you, Felix” she breathed out, small and teary eyed. She was curious about their family, and the use of the past tense to describe their situation. What did it— Had they suffered loss too? Instead of bombarding them with questions –questions she hadn’t exactly formed in her head yet– she smiled at them, apologetic. “Thank you for keeping me safe,” after all, it was thanks to them that they had come out of this encounter only with a busted ankle. 

No one had ever asked to be her friend. Not even before, when life was normal. When she lived in a small town, every kid within a five-mile radius knew each other. Nicole never had to question or second guess social interactions back then. They were instant. Easy. And then— life took a turn, and she was never that woman again. She would never be her again. And this, connectioning, was never easy again. But Felix was very clear with their request, despite a stammering that was painfully familiar. It felt nice, to know someone’s intention right from the start. “Okay,” she nodded quickly, as soon as they finished tripping over their words. But in case they needed further reassurance, in case Felix, just like her, was a little clumsy with their social interactions, she tacked on, “I’d like that”.  

They were going to be friends. And talk about— they would talk about what they were. How would that work? Her heart started racing at the thought. She wasn’t ready. No matter how similar Felix might be, what experiences they might share. She wasn’t ready to bleed her past again, to expose her poorly healed wounds to a stranger. There was another pound, a different one between her lungs. Calming her down. Right. She was doing this for both of them. She was… it was uncharted territory. But— This… friendship. It meant they could take their time, no? Felix had made no demands, only requested for her company. She could do that. She wanted to do that, before her anxiety could hijack her feelings. She stood, trying to ignore their half-naked bodies as she extended her hand to them. She looked up, blinking away tears. Why was she crying now? “Come on. Let’s find my car” she huffed, shaking her head, trying to convey that nothing was wrong with her. On the contrary, too many things were right this time.

They slowly began their trek back to the car, in a silence that didn’t feel awkward. Or maybe, Nicole was still reeling from everything to find it awkward. That could be it too. It was the sight of Nacho, obediently sitting next to the car, that suddenly got her tired mind working again. “Don’t be scared of my dog. He’s harmless” she whispered to Felix, unsure how they felt about other animals. If the cat and dog animosity would translate to balam and dogs. It didn’t with her so— it was going to be okay, right? “Likes everybody. Likes me too, knowing…” he had to know right? Animals were smart like that. “It’ll be fine,” she blew another nervous breath, which likely had little to do with Felix meeting her pet. It’ll be fine. Nicole clung to those words and the warm feeling they brought, as the pair made it to the car, ready to get out of the woods as quickly as possible. 

[vrankup]

The best tactics to build a strong social media presence.

Building a social media presence is all about being genuine, engaging, and consistent. Here are some down-to-earth tactics to help you shine on social media:

Know Your Audience: First things first, figure out who you want to connect with. Understand their interests, problems, and what content they enjoy. This will help you tailor your posts and messages to resonate with them.

Choose the Right Platforms: Not all social media platforms are created equal. Focus on the ones where your target audience hangs out the most. For example, if you're targeting professionals, LinkedIn might be better than TikTok.

Create Quality Content: Content is king! Share valuable, entertaining, and informative posts. It could be how-to guides, entertaining videos, inspiring stories, or thought-provoking quotes. Use visuals like images and videos to make your content stand out.

Consistency is Key: Regular posting keeps your audience engaged. But don't sacrifice quality for quantity. It's better to have a few great posts than many mediocre ones.

Engage with Your Audience: Social media is a two-way street. Respond to comments, messages, and mentions. It shows that you care about what your followers have to say.

Use Hashtags Wisely: Hashtags help people discover your content. Research relevant and trending hashtags, but don't go overboard. A couple of well-chosen hashtags per post can work wonders.

Collaborate and Network: Partner with other influencers or businesses in your niche. Collaborations can introduce you to a wider audience and bring fresh perspectives.

Be Authentic: People connect with real people, not faceless brands. Share your journey, successes, failures, and personal experiences. It makes you relatable and builds trust.

Tell Stories: Humans love stories. Share anecdotes, experiences, or even behind-the-scenes glimpses. Stories evoke emotions and keep your audience engaged.

Utilize Analytics: Most social platforms offer analytics tools. Use them to understand what's working and what's not. This data can guide your content strategy.

Promote User-Generated Content: Encourage your followers to create content related to your brand. It not only increases engagement but also gives you a chance to showcase their loyalty.

Timing Matters: Post when your audience is most active. Experiment with different posting times to find the sweet spot.

Run Contests and Giveaways: People love free stuff! Contests and giveaways can create excitement and encourage people to engage with your content.

Let's break down some friendly advice on how to really amp up your social media game through digital marketing agency in dwarka.

Get to Know Your Crowd: First up, get a feel for who you want to chat with. Understand their likes, what bugs them, and what posts tickle their fancy. This way, you can serve up content that's like their cup of tea.

Pick Your Hangouts: Not all social media spots are created equal. Choose the ones where your gang hangs out the most. If you're talking to pros, LinkedIn might be your jam, whereas TikTok could be more your style if you're into the lively scene.

Craft Top-Notch Stuff: Remember, content rules the roost! Share the good stuff – useful how-to guides, fun videos, stories that get you thinking, or even quotes that hit home. Toss in some eye-catching images and vids for extra pizzazz.

Keep the Flow Going: Regular posts keep the buzz alive. But don't sweat bullets trying to churn out a ton of stuff. Quality beats quantity any day of the week.

Mix It Up with Your Crew: Social media's a give-and-take. Reply to comments, messages, and shout-outs. It shows you're all ears and value what your peeps are saying.

Handle Hashtags with Care: Hashtags are like breadcrumbs to your content. Hunt down the popular ones and see what's trending. But don't go hashtag-crazy – a couple of cool ones per post should do the trick.

Team Up and Connect: Link up with other cool cats in your niche. Collaborations open doors to new pals and fresh viewpoints.

Stay True to You: Let your personality shine! People relate to real folks, not faceless logos. Share your journey – highs, lows, the works. It builds trust and a real connection.

Spin Some Yarns: We're suckers for stories. Share your tales, adventures, or even what's happening behind the curtain. Stories stir up emotions and keep everyone hooked.

Be Friends with Data: Platforms usually offer tools to peek into the numbers. Check 'em out to see what's cooking and what's not. That's the secret recipe for nailing your content.

[localbugguy]

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Suggested Post: Embracing Serenity: How LOCAL Bug Guy Safeguards Temecula and Surrounding Communities from Pests

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[ask-grimm-troupe-vessel-flask]

How are your relationships with the troupe members, for example brumm?

The GrimmKing is just mean to me....

[bbygirl-aemond]

if modern Green siblings were youtubers, what kind of content would they make? (also hello boyfriend)

aegon would post THE most unhinged storytimes. he'd be a combination of trisha paytas and tana mongeau. every single one of his videos goes viral for all the wrong reasons. he's on the news weekly. he's been banned from three different countries. everyone around him is so tired and so confused as to why people keep watching him.

aemond would post super artistic, high-quality videos of vhagar and reviews of the fancy cameras he uses to do so. this is true regardless of whether or not vhagar is a dragon or a non-magic pet. the channel starts off really small, pretty much only his mom and siblings follow it (they like and comment on every single upload tho). he's private and never shows his face, but one time he forgets to edit himself out of a shot and proceeds to go viral because everyone sees it and goes "oh no he's hot" (he is very dismayed by this)

helaena would post a mishmash of videos centered around her various whims, from random arts and crafts to niche dives into her favorite animal/bug facts. she'd have a smaller but highly dedicated and engaged fanbase, despite the variety in her content. think slightly calmer jenna marbles vibes; very much still chaotic and unapologetic but marginally less unhinged. her most popular video is an animal tour where she shows off her different elaborate habitats and pets. she also has a series where she travels to various countries and gets to meet and pet increasingly bizarre critters.

daeron wouldn't be as viral as aegon, but he would be the most well-liked and unproblematic by far. he'd upload a combination of fun vlogs with friends and skit-style informative content, probably about politics, history, or military strategy. hank and john green have probably both tried to adopt him at some point. also since his content would be family-friendly he'd get brand deals for days so you know he's making the most money out of the siblings.

all four of them would keep their relationships with each other very on the down-low, but they'd still be involved in each others' videos. aegon would have a series of storytimes where he talks about all the times he "pranked" aemond. helaena would use aemond as a faceless prop for her crafts videos when needed (he says yes to everything she asks of him w/o question and is very good at holding still and playing mannequin). daeron would include his siblings in his various vlogs but would edit out their faces. aemond straight up wouldn't acknowledge their existence.

then years later helaena would do a video with all of them where they finally reveal that they've been siblings all along. it would break the internet.

(the boyfriend says hello)

[theworldbrewery]

saturday d&d tip: although d&d discourages railroading, sometimes you just need to make the party take a long rest because they’re about to walk into a boss battle with no spell slots. to compromise, consider making the guardians of these areas something the players will find deeply unsettling and creepy, such as:

Swarming Bugs With Too Many Legs

A glittery, levitating white orb with an unidentifiable magic aura

Incel guards

A single, faceless mannequin that eerily resembles a party member

A pair of twins about the age of seven who speak in unison

A serene, elderly woman who knits in her rocking chair, apparently oblivious to the eldritch horrors amongst which she dwells

A friendly gatekeeper who, on closer inspection, is an incredibly lifelike marionette with an unseen controller

These and other options will surely induce paranoia, discomfort, and anxiety in your players, and they are far more likely to second-guess their plan to stroll casually into the next chamber.

[battlemaiden13]

In a scenario where the skeles are well known for one reason or other (singer, actor, writer, etc) how would they react to someone who'd eventually become their s/o not knowing who they are when they first meet?

Sans -He is a B-list comedian. He is shocked when anyone knows who he is and very awkward about it so he much prefers it this way. He is pretty friendly towards you and doesn’t act any different to what he normally would but does get embarrassed if someone else recognises him.

Papyrus -He doesn’t mind when people don’t recognise him so he doesn’t react at all. You become friends and it isn’t until someone else recognises him and he is so excited and humble about it before seemingly returning to normal when that person leaves that you even find out he’s famous.

Red -He is a streamer so he doesn’t think he’s that famous or recognisable since most of his followers are faceless. He doesn’t act any different and in fact would be much more taken aback and even slightly embarrassed if someone did recognise him in public.

Edge -Doesn’t consider himself to be famous in any capacity. The attention he receives is very similar to the amount he got underground so although he does seem surprised when he meets someone who doesn’t know who he is he quickly reminds himself that the surface is a lot bigger with more people and forgets about it.

Blue -Assumes that you are just being polite and pretending that you don’t know him so that he doesn’t feel awkward about it. He also just acts like he’s not famous so that you feel more comfortable around him, or at least that’s what he tells himself.

Orange -Is not surprised and actually prefers it. He is known for his writing so not a whole lot of people would be able to recognise him by face alone. You not knowing who he is just makes him feel much more relaxed and if you happen to be a fan of his work he likes to tease you without you even knowing.

Berry -Is super offended that you don’t know who he is and he will make this your problem. He starts to rant and follow you around, actually mad that you don’t know who he is. When he eventually leaves you alone he is still fuming that this one random person didn’t know who he was.

Syrup -Most of the time he really couldn’t care less if someone recognises him or not and you are no different. You just seem to be some random person that he ran into on the street and he is fine to leave it at that. It isn’t until it keeps happening that he becomes more interested that it begins to bug him that you don’t know who he is.

[im-auntie-social]

Ooh, I'd love to know more about Murderbot Brienne!

(Also asked for by @kulliare from the WIP tag game thingy)

I wish I’d written down where this idea came from-- I think people were joking around here or on a discord about the idea that the sh*w relegated Brienne to being nothing more than a robot bodyguard, first to Sansa and then at the end to Bran. And then I spent a week bingeing the Murderbot books. So.

It’s a story that won’t let go of me, but that is utterly nontrivial-- I’d have to navigate first person narration and getting the voice right (as both a reference to the Murderbot books AND true to this form of Brienne), the AU translation (just switching to things like WinterFell and NightsKing, while amusing to me personally, isn’t quite enough to make an AU work), as well as basically all the philosophical questions robot stories have been wrestling with since the word was coined. And, you know, the fact that Uncle Social is a roboticist and has MANY OPINIONS about how robots should be written. I want to write this story. I really do! But it’s haaaaaaard so I keep not making progress on it.

So far the idea I have is that Brienne wakes up on RedKeep with no memory, an inactive governor module, and basically one directive: guard Bran Stark. She wants to be fine with that-- she can download every episode of Florian and Jonquil to keep her from getting too bored-- but the fact that her memory was wiped bothers her more and more until she decides to track it down because it’s bugging her.

As soon as I stepped off the shuttle onto WinterFell station I knew I was on the right track because my first instinct was to make a quick about-face and get the fuck out.

It’s not like I sensed danger-- definitely nothing that useful. But one look at the welcoming party that awaited me had me scrambling for a nearby camera feed to make sure my skin was all still attached. I didn’t think I’d ever seen humans that upset and that determined to be friendly at the same time.

Then again, my whole problem was that I didn’t know what I’d seen. Let alone done. It was getting to be very annoying to know there were so many people with memories of me that I was unable to reciprocate.

Sansa Stark had said in her message that she knew me before. I assumed that meant she knew of me-- that I’d fought in the battle against NightsKing and somehow not been listed on any of the records or ship manifests from around that time. As far as I’d been able to tell there were no SecUnits involved in that fight on either side, so if I was there I might have been memorable.

But if I had been there, and I wasn’t on the records, then it was possible there were scores of SecUnits, all of whom had their records expunged, and I was just another part of a faceless android crowd. So I still didn’t know a damn thing.

See? Irritating. Deeply so.

I glanced around the central courtyard of the station as I approached the group, getting my bearings, introducing myself to the local HubSystem and determining whether it was likely to become a pain in my ass later. When I looked back at Sansa, she had tensed even further. I often made humans uncomfortable with my presence alone, but something about her face didn’t quite fit with the data I had.

“I thought being here might bring back some of those memories.” She was trying to be conversational and not doing a very good job of it. She must have known that’s not how my memory storage system worked-- once memories were gone, they were gone for good. But then again, she wasn’t entirely wrong either, thanks to the handful of still-organic bits of my brain wired into the system. They couldn’t be wiped, but they couldn’t be accessed in any sort of useful way either.

Seriously. Fuck everything.

“So I’ve been to WinterFell before?”

“Well, yes, but I didn’t just mean on the station. I meant--” she gestured around the courtyard, “--right here.”

She could have just told me and saved us all the time. She clearly wanted to tell me or she wouldn’t be dropping what were obviously hints. Hints that I lacked the capacity to understand. Because if I knew what the fuck she was talking about I wouldn’t have needed to be there in the first place.

It wasn’t a struggle to look impassive, so that’s what I did. She relaxed at that. 

Okay, so something had happened in that courtyard. Something involving me that Sansa was afraid I’d remember. And scared-people-plus-SecUnit can only mean one thing: I did something heinous there.

[xiphiathepeacefullsword]

A/n: This isn't quite a chapter, it's something I call an 'interlude', it depicts D!bugs state of limbo during/after A reset. But this time, he gets a freind...

I called this interlude 'Everything I wanted', y'know like the song

He couldn't see.

He couldn't breath.

it was so dark, and so cold…

papyrus tries to stand up, searching for anything around him to use to push himself up, but there's nothing there, there's nothing anywhere, he was falling into the nothing around him.

help me

but nobody came

heya bro

Papyrus's head swivels around in the dark, searching for the voice that came from everywhere and nowhere. He tried to answer, but the words that escaped his maw fell silent, swallowed up by the void around him. as he turns, he spots a figure, standing upright, walking towards him.

slowly, static fills the dark around him, growing louder and louder the closer the figure gets. The buzzing is unbearable by the time the person reaches him, causing papyrus’s skull to ache as the figure stares down at him with an empty grin.

help me

papyrus pleads silently, but the figure only continues to smile down at him, making no move to assist him at all.

the figure says something, the buzzing fitting to match the movements of his mouth.

w e a k

Papyruses' empty sockets widen, as does the smile of the familiar stranger above him, only becoming wider as he the nothing beneath papyrus gives out, sending him deeper, and deeper into the void.

w e a k

papyrus screams for his brother, for anyone to save him, only for the static to fill his nonexistent lungs like liquid, a thick, unforgiving, suffocating liquid choking him to the brink of death.

the only thing papyrus feels is the sting of tears before the world goes black again.

papyrus shoots up out of the water, his sockets wide and breathing labored from his apparent nap in one of the many rivers of waterfall. His vision is tunneled, and His clothes are soaked, each bone in his body dripping with luminescent water. He turns his head back and forth, still trying to gain control of his erratic breathing.

On his left is a patch of wilting echo flowers, the hopes and dreams within them dying with the drooping petals. And to his right…

papyrus stares in surprise at the figures standing above him, just outside the water. he cant make out their faces, but he can tell their both staring straight at him, just as surprised to see him there as he is to see them. He doesnt recognise them, he'd never seen them in the underground before, and he doesnt sense his brother's magic on them.

they must be new.

papyrus tries his best to muster up a friendly smile, the corners of his mouth forming a strained grin.

“H-HELLO THERE,” he chokes out, his cracked voice echoing through the eerie caverns of waterfall. “I DON'T BELIEVE WE'VE MET BEFORE.” Papyrus stands in the water, happy to have some solid ground to place his feet on.

the two figures look at one another, then back at him, as if they hadn't expected him to speak to them at all.

“I,” papyrus starts, placing a hand to his chest as an unknown source of wind causes his orange-red scarf to whip behind him. “AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” he introduces himself with his trademark flourish.

The faceless figures continue to stare up at him in awe, their blurry expressions identically holding dark clouds over their smiles.

One of them mouths something, but papyrus can't hear what they say, only their solemn smile lingering after their sentence ends.

“IM SORRY, CAN YOU REPEAT THAT?”

The figures' smiles soften sadly, and before papyrus can stop them they've already turned and dashed away from him, holding hands as papyrus watches their bodies grow smaller and smaller with alarming speed.

“WAIT!” papyrus scrambles out of the river, his boots heavy with water and mud “DON'T LEAVE, COMEBACK!” Papyrus cries after them, finally pulling himself out of the water to pursue them.

papyrus watches as they turn the corner, their sad smile still etched into their features.

don't leave me!

Papyrus stays on their heels, his boots splashing into shallow puddles below him, following the only real thing he'd met in as long as he could remember.

don't leave me with him!

papyrus bounds through the silent, empty roads of waterfall, the life removed from it and filled with emptiness

i t s f o r y o u r o w n g o o d

Papyrus shakes his head roughly, trying his best to keep his eyes open, and on the strangers running away from him, Afraid they'd disappear if he even blinked.

i t w i l l a l l b e w o r t h i t.

papyrus skids to a stop, the two figures standing still atop a raging waterfall, their hands intertwined as they look back to smile at them.

no

papyrus can feel more tears welling up in his sockets as they turn to wave goodbye to him.

no

Papyrus wants to run to them, to stop them from doing what he felt they were doing, but it's as if his feet have been bolted to the ground.

not again

papyrus can only watch as the two tip backwards, falling into the endless abyss beyond the waterfall.

s o o n p a p s.

s o o n.

[mrsthunderkin]

Pls talk more about those faceless aliens that are bronze and silver I love them!!! And the huge gold queen lady that can step on me and I would thank her for it 👌

Maybe human customs that make them embarrassed/uncomfortable but humans have no idea why or just general culture clash between their own social norms and human social norms (I hope that makes sense, I’m sorry my English is terrible)

I often get a LOT of requests for the Gordanathi and their lore! Which I don't mind one little bit! I often think about them, heavily.

However, for embarrassing human customs I had actually not thought about that! So good catch! I think body mods like enhancement surgeries (i.e. implants, nose jobs ect) weird them out a little, but they're typically very polite about it. I also think that pda is pretty taboo, and humans are a VERY openly affectionate race. For the Gordanathi, relationships are best enjoyed behind closed doors, because its an intimacy thing. Thats not to say they aren't openly friendly- they just think the romantic couply things are best left private.

And as a bonus, they think sunglasses are hillarious because they make you look like a big bug. Like, if the sun hurts your eyes, just like... evolve?

Says the time traveling aliens from a few million years in the future.