#he is usual

[secret-bug-pain-blog]

@febuwhump Day 16 - Came Back Wrong

Despite what more experienced Bug Fables fans may think when seeing this prompt, this is more or less free of Leif's Request spoilers! In fact, you can read this directly out of Chapter 1. Leif is very normal.

Leif knows that there is something wrong with him from the very start.

It isn't hard to tell. Not really, not when he's lived with himself his whole life. He is drowsy from slumber, but it doesn't mean he is blind.

Leif brushes spider silk from his antenna and speaks in a tongue he does not know, in a shell that fits wrong.

His mouth hinges too far. His joints bend too much. His wings are too heavy, more effort to lift than they ever should have been, a cold ball of something sits in his chest, his thoughts feel structured and strange and off, and he knows with utter certainty before he ever raises his head that something is different.

There is something wrong with his body.

The ice that flows from his claws doesn't offer anything but more questions.

Leif crawls from the bowels of Snakemouth Den, frail and feeble, walking on limbs that feel like a stranger's and speaking through a veil of a language he doesn't know, and knows - without a shadow of a doubt - that he has come back wrong.

The outskirts are changed. The Association is unrecognizable. The Queen is different. There is not a bug he recognizes in sight, and something is horribly, horribly wrong.

It has been a hundred years since he ventured into Snakemouth Den. Nothing is the same.

He feels like an off-balance top as he stumbles out of the palace. His limbs don't respond right to him, lagging and straining, feeling like at once a size too big and a size too small. His body doesn't act like it should, but he can't quite verbalize why beyond a whine of quiet despair - Kabbu takes one of his arms after the third time he stumbles, and he limps along as best he can, off-balance in a way he cannot fully verbalize.

The world has changed so strongly that he struggles to recognize it. He has changed so strangely that he struggles to even understand what's different.

Something about him has changed, and he knows it. Nothing about him has changed, and it's strange that he's even thinking this. He fits into this new world wrong, like a puzzle piece out of place, and he can't tell if the world has gone mad, or if he himself has gone insane. There is so much that is new and strange, so much more he cannot make sense of - is it strange for him to feel afraid? Is it normal to fear he's not even the same bug as before?

He is a mage now. The world has changed without him. Nothing else is strange, nothing else is wrong - because if he admits that something else is strange, he admits just how much he has been forcing out of his mind.

He has always been strange. He has always been like this.

Something is wrong.

He has always been like this, he knows he has always been like this - but why, then, do his memories not match what his eyes can see? A century ago, he reads a book, and his eyes track along the words with ease. Today, he opens a book, and he cannot tell one line on the page from the next until he presses it to his face and finds the ink by scent.

The Leif of a hundred years ago is surprised by ambushes, by hiding bugs, by friends behind doors, and the Leif of today finds himself unsure how he could ever have missed anything so close at hand.

There are small inconsistencies; his shell is a touch more brittle than he ever remembers it being, his fingers move a half-dozen degrees farther than they should, he smells things in the Ant hallways that he remembers being nearly too faint to parse before. There are large inconsistencies; he remembers seeing red when he looks in the mirror, but the pane that should show his reflection is nothing but another flat shape on the wall.

It's easy to dismiss if he doesn't think too hard about it. Maybe some part of him wants it to be dismissed, deep down where his thoughts murmur that he doesn't want to know. Somewhere, deep down in the back of his mind, locked down where everything that he doesn't need to worry about - all the little worries he's locked down where no one will ever see them. Something is wrong with him, but what?

His thoughts grind to a half when he tries to think of it. Something about him thinks that's for the best.

He walks on a stranger's feet. He gestures with a stranger's hands. He moves like he's sick, Vi tells him one night, like his brain's cooking in his shell and he just hasn't noticed he's dying yet. He's awkward and ungainly, his limbs struggling to coordinate even with practice. Something is wrong, he wants to know what - but something about him shies away from the picture that's formed, from the ideas being made, from what lies deep and buried in his brain - he'd grasping at straws, at something he doesn't need to know.

Something about Leif is wrong.

It's safer to remain oblivious.

There is nothing to think about. There is nothing to fear.

Leif comes back wrong. There is no one left to remember what right could have been.

[littlelightfish]

Funny things I found out playing with language setting in Netflix while looking episode 15:

Chilchuck's scream sounds HAUNTED in brazilian portuguese. Give it a try if you can.

(You can hear it here)

In spanish dub, Senshi says: "tocó mis senos de hombre", which means "he touched my man boobs" in Spanish. And I think that's the best dub line one so far.

[canisalbus]

✦ Bread ✦

[anna-scribbles]

so this summer i am nannying a 5 year old who loves miraculous ladybug (my dream) & every day she asks if we can play ladybug and chat noir at the park. these are some comics based on our various games<3

[frownyalfred]

favorite Bruce Wayne hc of the week: you’re allowed to follow him into the Cave to continue your argument, but he’s going to start undressing and pulling off armor while heading for the showers and if you get an eyeful, that’s on you.

It’s an effective tactic and stops a good 60% of those arguments in their tracks. The remaining 40% are usually intense enough to follow Bruce into the showers and yell at him while he’s casually showering off grime and blood.

[collaredkittyboy]

[charliebugz]

When Izzy first walked out I was worried that he would be made into a joke that the crew would laugh at

but then he started singing and the dancing began and I realized that he wasn’t meant to be a joke at all. This is the most open and happy we’ve ever seen Izzy and the show treated it that way. Not mocking him but instead celebrating this moment.

When we talk about queer representation it’s usually just focused on queer relationships, but what I love about this episode is it shows other sides of being queer. That moment where Izzy saw Wee John doing his makeup and had a realization that he wanted that too? That is what being queer means to me. The crew singing along and cheering for him? That is what being apart of the queer community means to me.

What i love about this show is that it shows queer joy, not in a sanitized way, but in away that is messy, beautiful, and without any mockery or shame.

[pangur-and-grim]

this young boy is on drugs

[platoapproved]

louis + cruelty

[arr-jim-lad]

i cant even properly explain how it emotionally affects me when my cat comes up to me for cuddles. small creature walks up to me, a giant, in search of a gentle touch, because he trusts me completely. that is what love is. that is what the universe is built for. i want to cry

[braisedhoney]

two glorious anniversaries in a month. you go king.

[hinamie]

I'll give them shelter like you've done for me

[wtfforged]

goth siblings from drawpile too nite

[canisalbus]

✦ I've been saving all my summers for you ✦

[sparkleofstardust]

in light of the recent news that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been found dead after a helicopter crash you might be wondering 'who the hell is this guy and why are so many people celebrating his death??' and i'm here to answer that!

to fully understand what's going on we need to look into Iran's history: when the Iranian revolution in 1979 happened the authoritarian king who was ruling at that time was overthrown, but the ensuing power vacuum lead to the islamic regime seizing power and establishing Iran as an islamic republic

the following years were incredibly cruel to the Iranian people; thousands of people (especially minorities) have been protesting against the strict islamic regime leading to many being jailed, tortured and executed.

and this is where Raisi played a big part: in 1988 he was part of a committee that ordered the execution of thousands of political prisoners who were protesting the islamic regime, earning himself the title of "the butcher of tehran"

do not be fooled by what the state media wants you to believe, the Iranian people are celebrating his death. he was a cruel mass murderer who has destroyed the lives of thousands of people, his death should be used as a time to mourn for all the suffering he has caused, and bring new attention to the political prisoners still being held in Iranian prisions today

because sadly the fight is far from over. many of you have probably heard of the murder of Mahsa Jina Amini back in 2022, causing a new wave of nationwide protests and establishing the "woman, life, freedom" movement. the regime has gotten increasingly cruel in their treatment of the Iranian people, especially women, but the people of Iran are not deterred and keep fighting for a free Iran.

if you want to know how you can help, please keep talking about us. the one thing the regime hates is international attention, and in the past it has been proven that international pressure has stopped the regime from executing various political prisoners. people like Toomaj Salehi are under imminent threat of execution and spreading their names could save their lives. so whether you share social media posts or talk to your family and friends about what is happening in Iran, anything helps 🙏🏼

jin, jiyan, azadi ✌🏼

[wanologic]

always good to keep a screamhole handy