#muze bug fables

[vioyume]

The Eclipse is here!

Thought it would be fun to draw all of the moths in the game, and by all I mean 80% of them because thinking about how to draw M.M. and the Zomoth as well as Kali already makes me tired.

But undercut is very rough sketches of Kali I did for reference for the Kabbu fight drawing I did a bit ago. (She would've been the tallest out of everyone.)

I'm going to briefly go over their designs now.

I thought Neolith was just a generic moth, though after looking up "striped moth" he could be some sort of hawk moth, or its just a design choice. Either way I think I want to change his wing patterns later.

Not very seen well, I think Mothiva would have fake lashes. She has a cute design though.

I don't have much to say on Yin, she looks polite and I think I achieved that here.

I think I referenced the wrong hawk moth for Hawk, but the red accents really does make him look cooler. Gave him a honeycomb pin too.

Screw you all, Tod has gynandromorphism now. Realistically, the change in speices will be defined by a clear line, but I decided to be dotty with so I can still be true the original design.

Wanted to give Muze a more kind motherly vibe in contrast in what I have in mind for Muse.

I don't know how to draw old people, let alone old bugs. Gave grandpa some loose hairs here and there.

Was aiming for Muse to look more like a fighter, and she's leaning for towards the magenta side than pink. Overall wanted to differentiate her from Muze while still looking similar to each other.

[flame-shadow]

bug fables requests

[id in alt]

[cordycepsbian]

should we tell her the truth...?

[ratatosk777]

A firefly and moths

[abombihoney]

[aquilamage]

[Image Description: a set of five edited bug fables screenshots from the pre-battle zommoth encounter. The first is the same as in-game, Kabbu saying "W-What is that!? Something's coming!" The second is of zommoth appearing on screen with its sprite edited to be various shades of pink and yellow, wings the same pattern as Leif's (but still with the purple blight magic stuff in the chest area.) The next three images have the sprite edited in the same way.. The third image is of Leif's saying "...Wh, Rkejrm-m-Muse!? Kjdrira, mebsrgr...!!!" The next is Kabbu saying "Muse!? Leif, that's..." The final is Vi saying "T-That doesn't make any sense!" End ID]

I thought about one of my fucked up and evil au ideas for five minutes again, so I decided to spend like fifty hours making a thing about it. Basically what if Muse went back into Snakemouth later to try to rescue Leif or at least bring back his body and got caught by the roaches.

Putting just the edited sprites under the cut if you wanna see those without the lab mood lighting:

[hustlecandy]

Part 1 of my doodles for @/crisbeedonut's art prompts! Under the cut because long:

Day 1: Honey

"For one, seeing honey being produced sounds delicious."

"Leif, you are not to eat any of it!"

"(Aww...)"

Day 2: Ice

"By the great antcestors... what kind of sorcery is that!?"

"We, uh, are unsure? This is new. "

Day 3: Caves

"Time to unearth this place's secrets."

Day 4: Queen

"...Thank you, Elizant. You raised a fine successor."

Minigame

(I don't have any witty comments, I just really love Spy Cards. Also how do you draw the Boss Card wtf)

Day 6: Good Deed

Day 7: Wild

"The Rangers inspired me to explore, yes. But...I don't need them anymore. Think of all we've been through. The Spider, the machines and bandits...the Beast. We did that all together, and they were real adventures. We've...we've surpassed the Bug Rangers. So it's time to hand this down, so that a new child may dream of exploring!"

"No! This beast...this beast ate my friends! ...You vile, wretched scum. You will rue the day you let me live!"

"Kabbu, we get you're angry! But this is too risky!"

"We've beat way stronger foes! We will destroy it!"

"K-Kabbu…"

Day 8: Original Character

(This is my silly little guy Dr. Boulder, he's a sweet upbeat therapist with a tragic backstory. He's a Chiron/Neptune Beetle hybrid :>)

Day 9: Flame

"To command! To possess! To enjoy! That is the privilege of royalty! And it shall all be mine!"

Day 10: Moth

"It's such a joy to welcome you to our family! When Muze's husband stops working at the lab so much, maybe you'll get to meet him!"

[axolinaaxolotl]

muse and leif :)))

[flecks-of-stardust]

bug fables fic writers, how do you look at the absolute shitshow of the worldbuilding of this game and not start foaming at the mouth

[mantisgodsdomain]

you. ❤️. for the evil bug woman.

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

(for this ask meme)

Well, uhh, we've already answered this! We can easily pull up another one, though. Marigold's got no shortage of them. Since the last one was fairly job-focused, maybe...

The emergence day of her cousin was a notable bright spot in her life. Though Marigold's quite dedicated to her job, she still tries to keep enough tabs on family to keep in connection, and Hawk's the sort of workaholic who's prone to too much work with no vacation days. It was a surprise to learn he'd managed to net a partner, let alone a spouse - and one in her area, at that.

The time from eggs being laid to the first emergence of a bug is quite a stressful period, and though Marigold herself wasn't allowed to check in on the caterpillars, she was around for when the grubs split their cocoons - and when all was said and done, though one moth is an unusually small number to result from a clutch, she was still given the privilege of helping watch the newly-emerged moth for about a month after he split the cocoon.

Todd was an incredibly cute wriggler, and as far as Marigold's concerned, he hasn't lost any of the cute factor since. She is, admittedly, a bit disappointed that she can't check in on her baby cousin as much, but her work can be quite dangerous - she doesn't resent Muze for being cautious with her only child. From what she knows, the family tends to have some issues with wrigglers surviving to adulthood - a genetic condition, from what she's been told. She's content simply making sure he doesn't jump off a cliff when she's set to the task, for now.

[nblynera]

Bugtober Day 6 - Spy

What if we kissed (and I was a spy trying to steal files from your job at the hive but your strange little man charms enthralled me and I end up marrying you after looting half your workplace and committing at least one major crime in front of you)

[vioyume]

I guess these needs some context, they were both done half jokingly and seriously.

I would assume Muse will want to be buried next to her late husband once she passes on, and since there was no body to be buried they made a grave anyway out of respect and such. And so this scenario arrived.

Bad end Zommoth fight, but you know the Pokemon Creepy Pasta buried alive? Yeah I based the pose off of that lose screen. But I also wanted to draw the Zommoth.

Fun for the whole family. :)

[merbis]

Vi: He said I reminded him of his wife!

Jaune: 😐

Vi: I'm confident and outgoing, like her! Though, I wonder if my legs are as good too...

Jaune: 😐

Vi: Man, it must be hard being a widow. With how young he acts I forget that he's old enough to be my-

Rest in peace Leif...

-

Jaune hasn't grasped the whole "Saving the world" stuff yet, so right now she has other priorities.

[cordycepsbian]

the collective noun for a group of moths is an eclipse

[loupy-mongoose]

*Ahem*

Happy Halloween!! ^w^

Bug Fables.

It's my current favorite video game, and actually, you can thank it for Linden Roots existing~

I'll explain, but in order to do so I have to dive into spoilers for one of my absolute favorite plots for one of my absolute favorite characters, so I need to slap on a;

MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING!

In my opinion, this game is best experienced SPOILER FREE, so if you haven't played it and want to some day, I recommend skipping my info dump below. (This info can be acquired before beating the main game though. :>)

You're okay with spoilers? Yes? Okay, carry on.

So.

Those who are familiar with Leif's story will probably see how Bug Fables influenced the creation of Linden Roots.

A long while ago, I mentioned Randy being inspired by my favorite fictional character.

That's Leif.

Leif is a moth who is ancient.

And dead.

Loooooong before the game takes place (I can't find an exact timeframe; it's like a generation or two), Leif went with a team of bugs to explore a cave, but ended up dying in there. In that same cave, a group of scientists later experimented on cordyceps. Now, as soon as they became relevant to the story I was HOOKED.

I learned about cordyceps as a kid, and they scared the crap out of me. But it also was one of those morbidly fascinating things I'd look into once in a while. (Before anyone tells me, yes, I know that's what's in The Last of Us.)

If you don't know, IRL cordyceps basically turn bugs into zombies.

Anyway, the scientists were trying to find a way to create eternal life (what else is new lol), and did this through cordyceps. Which, as one could guess when dealing with zombie fungus, ended up going badly for the scientists.

One of the "failed" experimental fungi was thrown out, and found its way to the deceased Leif, and brought him back to life. It took on his memories, and Leif woke up without knowing what happened, until you dig into his story during the game. So the "Leif" we know in the game isn't truly Leif, but is the fungus living as him.

Now... I'm sure that sounds a bit familiar...

This idea of a character being dead-but-not struck a chord with me. It fascinated me to no end.

But there's more to it.

As one might expect, Leif has some tragedy surrounding him.

While playing the game, you can stumble upon his decedents.

This here is Muze. With a 'z'

This is Leif's great great however-many-greats grand-daughter, who you meet in the game's present day.

When he was alive, he had a wife.

His wife was Muse. With an 's'.

We never get to see what Muse looked like, but he says in-game that Muze is a spitting image of her. Hence why Akoya is dressed as she is in my pic. She's dressed as Muse.

Now, according to the developers, Muse was pregnant when Leif went into the cave where he died.

And he didn't know.

There are several moments in the game that show Leif's potential as a father, but one in particular stood out to me.

(Note for the images; Leif refers to himself as "We/Us".)

Oops, I forgot one. Vi finishes by shouting "I said it's not happening!"

The text in the last shot bounces/wiggles in-game, indicating playfulness or joking.

If you're familiar with Goombario and Goombella in the Paper Mario games, this dialogue is this game's version of that. You can have the main characters give flavor text on any area and most characters in the game. (And I recommend doing it often, as it adds SOOO much to the game! ^v^)

This bit takes place in the first room after Kabbu and Vi meet Leif. And at the end of the room, an event happens to change what's said for the rest of the game. Meaning, the only time you see it is RIGHT after they meet; He was getting playful with these two bugs he'd met only moments ago.

I'm sure it can just be seen as sarcasm, but having found this dialogue after learning about Leif missing out on raising a child, I saw it as a clue that he would've been a great dad. And it shattered me. ;w;

Randy and Akoya are wish-fulfillment. They're my version of Leif and Muse. They're my way of giving Leif and Muse what I'm sad they missed out on, while also keeping some of the angst, lol. Thankfully, they've evolved into their own separate characters that I feel I can be proud of, but Leif's story and tragedy still has a deep, well-protected place in my heart.

Anyway, thanks for checking out my ramble. I accept no blame for any potential spoiler you might've seen against your will. XD

[abombihoney]

What's the deal with Leif in the Venom AU? Is he a modern bug or did he get time travelled some other way?

(also what color is he)

He's a modern bug! He was raised by his grandparents which is why he talks like he's a hundred million years old.

He's married to muse and is a researcher! He studies languages and knows quite a few! He actually knows quite a bit of roach, while not fluent, he is the foremost expert in bugaria.

When Kabbu and Vi go to snakemouth den, instead of getting trapped, they get chased out by the spider. Kabbu knows Leif, and that he's interested in roach stuff and mentioned what they discovered. Leif of course, like any sane person with a special interest, immediately demands that he come on their next incredibly dangerous excursion.

Which of course, is how he gets venomed lol. And yeah, he's red btw. If i made him blue then I'd have to make all of team snakemouth blue.