More Color Palette Challenges, This Time With The Dreamers! Once Again, The Palettes Are From @color-palettes

Man I love my sassy, fluffy, winged blue boys with yellow accents who are technically dead and associated with the cold

I've been celebrating OC Love month in my Discord and we've gotta celebrate the antagonists as much as the protagonists! So here we go, introducing another Bug Fables OC: Monarch, the Summer Azure Butterfly!

Admidst the war-torn Western lands, a bug appeared among them whose strength quickly became something to fear: A Summer Azure Butterfly by the name Monarch. A bug who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, Monarch began single-handedly leveling villages one by one using all sorts of wild magic. His reputation was quick to spread around, that an insect had somehow managed to master multiple types of magic and was using it to destroy everything in his path. Fire, electricity, poison, ice... He could control it all! With that incredible power, it seemed that conquest was easily within his grasps. When one city was leveled, he was already plotting to take down the next. Many bugs who have heard the tale wonder what drives him to such extremes. Is it powerlust? Greed? Vengence? But one theory prevailed among all of the rumors: That whatever it was, it was likely related to the crystals emerging from his shell and the large scar across his chest. What happened to this bug to cause him to turn out like this? Was he born a monster, or was he created to be one? But most importantly... When would his reign of terror end?

Some fun facts about Monarch:

Monarch is mentally incapable of sympathizing with his victims because he does not see them as being as human (bug??) as he is.

He believes that those who possess magic are above those who don't, though he still sees other magic-wielding bugs as beneath him.

Monarch is usually very level-headed and doesn't let emotions get in his way. The only time his emotions will ever overcome him is when faced with tightly-confining spaces, as Monarch has extreme claustrophobia.

There is only one bug who knows about his past. Monarch believes them to be alive, but has not seen them nor has any physical proof that they are still around.

The White Lady - The Goddess of Fertility

Aight, so this might be just a random midnight headcanon that crossed my mind, but I had to share it because the White Lady is refusing to leave my mind:

The White Lady was the Goddess of Fertility within Hallownest. While yes, bugs have been able to reproduce long before she appeared, her presence had an influence not on bugs' capabilities to reproduce, but she inadvertently also had an influence on societal norms surrounding romance/intimacy.

Before the White Lady had appeared, it was an unspoken societal rule that bugs did not mingle with other species. Though it had initially sprung up as a "you can't reproduce with someone outside of your species" mindset, it evolved into bugs being ostracized if they were to fall in love with one outside of their species. Those who did intermingle were oftentimes alienated by other bugs as a result. This also left many interspecies couples to struggle with starting families, as many would not allow them to adopt as it would "damage the mental health of the child."

When the White Lady appeared, she was saddened by all of these societal rules. As the goddess of fertility, she wanted everyone to know the joy that offspring could bring. So, as her gift to Hallownest, she blessed the kingdom's denizens by giving bugs the ability to bear children with others outside of their species.

However, her gift was not accepted as swiftly as she hoped. Many were still convinced that those interspecies children would grow up damaged, and those that had interspecies families felt as though they had to hide their families to avoid scrutiny as well as potential physical and mental danger that coming out would cause.

Because of this (and with the Pale King's permission) she made it very public about the children that they bore. She hoped that she could lead by example and help to change the mindset of the bugs of Hallownest. However, the bugs saw these two as an exception, as the Pale King and her were both higher beings, and as a result were exempt from the rules of society.

It wasn't until Hornet was born that the true shift began. While the bargain between the Pale King and Herrah was merely for political reasons, those outside who did not know of the deal began believing that the Pale King had bore a child with the Spider Queen because so many were rejecting his wife's gift. They believed he wanted to show the world that it was no longer taboo, and because he was so revered by people, the shift in mentality began happening much quicker. They were even more convinced after Hornet grew up, as she had grown up to be a normal girl--or as normal as she could being a princess and daughter of the Pale King.

(side note: It was also because of the White Lady that the Pale King and Herrah were able to bear a child together. She hoped that the child born between them would help bugs to accept one another no matter who they loved.)

As time passed, it became much more common to see interspecies couples. By the present time, it became a cultural norm in Hallownest, though many had forgotten by then that it was the White Lady's influence that allowed such things (as they'd forgotten about her and the Pale King by that time).

By the time the Kingdom began to crumble at the hands of the Radiance, the dwindling population made the White Lady start to lose control and become overcome by her more basic instincts. As the Goddess of Fertility, her body began to respond to the dwindling population by an uncontrollable urge to repopulate herself. However, knowing that she would not be able to care for those offspring and that they would become more fodder for the Radiance, she bound herself within her gardens. She prays that soon her urges will subside and that she may one day be able to return to the Kingdom she once knew...

They’re hereeee!! My plushies from @forrksie came today~! Mono-mom with the babbus~! They’re so incredibly soft and WAY too precious 🥹 💕

One day I will get Herrah to join, but for now, Monomon gets to babysit until she comes home XD

Thank you so much forrksie!! You did such an amazing job!!

"Wherever you lead, I will surely follow."

A parody song by theanonymousmystery based on the shenanigans of @knucklesamwich87 

*Plops down a human Conductor for your enjoyment*

Magia Record just announced end of service. It’s sad to see it go, but I had been expecting it for a while. Thank you for all the awesome memories, and thank you for helping me get through some really tough times during the pandemic. You helped me to connect with a community that loved the same anime as me and had some very interesting concepts for expanding on the Madoka Magica world.

You will never be forgotten, Magia Record 💕

Thank ya! I do have some answers to these!

I have actually juggled around some ideas for what mortal Radiance would look like, though I haven’t quite settled on one specific one. I’ve been digging around Tumblr looking at other people’s interpretations of her tho and trying to come up with my own.

I had always thought the mossy vagabonds were already infected by the time you first reach them. So their praise of the Radiance was more due to the infection’s influence than anything having to do with their own devotion.

As for my interpretation of the Seer giving the Dream Nail to the knight, I’d thought of it as her attempt to either a) see if the knight could quell her rage and bring her back to the deity she once was, or b) stop her rampage, as the Seer is well aware of the damage her goddess has caused (at least, that was my interpretation for her last line before she disappears, about atoning for her clan’s mistakes). She still believes in the Radiance, but she is not following merely on blind faith. She is aware of what her Goddess has become, but she still hopes that things can be made right, whatever that may be.

I.. actually totally forgot about that line, tbh xD I might have to rethink on that headcanon then, lol. Perhaps some kind of argument between them, or her trying to reinstate her reign by being like “NO NIGHTMARES, ONLY DREAMS”

Could anyone share their opinions/theories/headcanons about the Pale King, the Radiance, and their feud?

Sick burns all over the place