Beetleboy

[the-way-astray]

shannon jumpscared me. what do you mean she pronounces it ee-lee-see-yen. shannon what. shannon please

[beetleboy5767]

@dexter-alvin-dizznee1 here is your secret Santa! @kotlcsecretsanta

[kotlcsecretsanta]

kotlc secret santa 2025

ANDDD WE'RE BACK!!! hi hello welcome back (or welcome for the first time) to the FOURTH (wtf) annual kotlc secret santa!!!

some things are a little bit different this year (one of the biggest changes being that there is in fact an actual blog now. can i please get a hell yeah) but for the most part, the core of the event is the same and we are officially back in business! so without further ado...

so what even is kotlc secret santa? in short - exactly what it sounds like! it's a gift exchange that runs over the holidays (this year it will be the fourth week of december, dec 21-27). everyone will be someone else's secret santa, and you'll receive a prompt with guidelines from the person you're going to give a gift to, with about a month to complete either a fic or artwork as a little holiday gift to them! you'll post your gift to them during secret santa week: make sure to tag them so they see it, and tag me so i can reblog it, and use the tag #kotlc secret santa 2025 so all the posts are in one place. also during that week you'll also discover who your OWN secret santa was! it's always a fun surprise to see who it was and it's so much fun to see everything everyone makes :)

how do i sign up? glad you asked! all you have to do to sign up is fill out this google form. it just asks the basic stuff, like your name and tumblr url, and what kind of gift you want, and i'll use all the responses to assign secret santa pairings (IT'S SPREADSHEET SEASON BABY !!! for me, at least). the form will close in a few days, on thursday, nov 13, at 11:59 pm est, so make sure to fill it out before then! (HOWEVER. if you do miss the deadline, please dm me, and i'll try to fit you in - though sadly i can make no promises :/ i will try though!)

is there a word count? can i make anything? what are the guidelines? the guidelines are, for the most part, fair game. i would probably say keep it at most pg-13 - nothing nsfw or too graphic. and if you're writing fic, aiming for at least 1k is probably a good ballpark (though of COURSE you are so free to turn it into a 150k+ monster that you continue working on after secret santa week if you want). other than that, though, the guidelines are just whatever your giftee has told you! this gift is for them before anyone else, and so long as they're happy with it, and you're proud of what you've made, then go wild!!

what if i'm not great at writing/drawing? THAT IS PERFECTLY OKAY. part of the fun is having people of different skill levels involved in the exchange because then we get a variety of different gifts!! even if you're completely new to the fandom or new to writing/drawing in general, don't be afraid to sign up anyway - i'd like to think that this is a very welcoming community, and no one will judge you if your gift isn't one hundred percent perfect. hell, i think most people are just excited to receive anything at all! so seriously, i promise it's fine if you're brand new to this, and you should totally sign up :))

what happens if i sign up and then can't participate anymore? life happens!! if you can't get your gift done in time by secret santa week starts, it's totally cool if you want to post it a little late - just please let me know so that i can make sure your giftee is aware and they don't feel bad that they didn't get anything! however, if you don't think you're going to be able to get your gift done period and want to drop out of the secret santa, then please tell me as soon as possible so that i can see if anyone will be available as a pinch hitter so no one's left without a gift.

AND BIG REMINDER!! the entire point of secret santa is that it's a SECRET, so please do not spoil the surprise and reveal yourself before it's time!! however - vagueposting about your gift is totally fine as long as you don't give away too much and i personally think it's very funny to see secret santas talk about their gifts and watch giftees interact not knowing it's about them. you're also totally welcome to send your giftee an anon ask to clarify things, or you can reach out to me and i'll pass the message along to them if you have any questions. but tldr: keep it a secret!!!!!! we don't like blabbermouths!!!!!

and... i think that's everything! if anyone has any questions please feel free to shoot me an ask or a message (or even on my main @song-tam if that suits your fancy more). if there's any updates at all i'll post them on this blog and they'll also be under #kotlc secret santa 2025. anyway. just remember to sign up, and most importantly have fun!!!

[northern-punk-lad]

Everyone understands privacy until a disabled person doesn’t wanna disclose their disability

[savage-ivyy]

Firmly believe that if you somehow manage to put shoes on Kayne, he walks around doing the awkward little kicks that cats and dogs do when you manage to put booties on them

[raynilikescats]

Friendly reminder that Keefe canonically has stolen and kept Fitz's clothes.

[snakefashion]

the thing is depression was never destigmatized the narrative just switched from “no one has depression you’re just using it as an excuse” to “everyone has depression you’re just using it as an excuse”

[pharahsgf]

taylor swift's new album includes the lyric "did you girlboss too close to the sun" and rolling stone gave it a 5/5. post your bad art

[raynilikescats]

I find it really cool how no matter how many hyperfixations I've had over the years, KOTLC was the one that's stuck with me all this time. Like yeah, I have other interests, but none of them have my soul in as much of a chokehold as this fuckass series.

[laughter-loving-thalia]

The saddest part about the Dizznee triplets wanting to beat Keefe's detention record is that they don't realise yet how much privilege Keefe has compared to them.

The Great Gulon Incident? Everyone knows it's Keefe. Alina knows. Alina's mother knows. Bronte knows. Bronte's mother knows too. Everyone knows it's Keefe but he's protected by the fact that he's a Sencen, just like Fitz and Biana received lighter punishment in Neverseen because they were Vackers.

From Unlocked, we learn that Alina has been harassed by Keefe's parents each time she would punish Keefe for something that he did, to the point that sometimes she would simply excuse him because she doesn't feel like arguing with his parents. (Seriously Alina is overhated, she was so fair in Unlocked I don't know who her character assassination was for).

The triplets don't have that. At their first "Great Gulon Incident" they'll be expelled on the spot and banished to Exilium. Probably judged "unworthy" to come back to the Lost Cities. Even if it was just one of them. Even if it was none of them but they were seen at the wrong place at the wrong time.

They don't have Keefe's privileges. The Council won't be as patient with them as they were with Keefe Sencen.

[wagon-is-on-fire]

Suzanne Collins will never know the way The Underland Chronicles physically altered my brain chemistry as a 10 year old

[lostwarllock]

I definitely DIDN’T forget keefe week and definitely did NOT rush this drawing 😎 so happy day one: legacy!!! @queefsencen @krisalyce @keefeweek2025

[l3m0nteeth]

Who’s your favorite villain?

Uhhh obviously bill cipher

THATS SUCH A BASIC BITCH ASS ANSWER

ALRIGHT YOU WANT A REAL ANSWER???

YES!

PEARLPELT AKA THE BANE FROM THE UNDERLAND CHRONICLES SERIES (WRITTEN BY SUZANE COLLIN BEFORE THE HUNGER GAMES) WHO IS OBVIOUSLY A HORRIBLY PERSON BUT WAS SO TRAUMATIZED AND KNEW NOTHING ELSE BUT HATERD AND KILLING AND WAS MADE INTO A VILLAIN BY EVERYONE AROUND HIM. THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY HE COULD HAVE TURNED OUT AND YET THERE ALSO WAS. HE HAD NO CHANCE FROM THE START, HE WAS DESTINED TO BECOME A KILLER, BUT STILL SEEING HIM ACTUAL BECOME ONE SEEMS SO WRONG. THIS WASN’T WHO HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AND YET THEIR WAS NO OTHER VERSION HE POSSIBLE COULD HAVE BEEN. FORCED TO BE A MONSTER AS MUCH AS GREGOR WAS FORCED TO BE A WARRIOR

…

LOOK IT UP

[underland-posting]

First Hot Take of the Blog

So cw for grooming and probably a massive hot take but let’s just talk about Pearlpelt and Twirltongue for a second

We don’t know the exact age of the Bane when he died, but considering his mannerisms and general unstable behavior, I have to assume that he was the gnawer equivalent of a teenager. He still basically sucked and bit his thumb when he got stressed, got super upset really easily and threw tantrums like a toddler, and was EXTREMELY easily swayed by the opinions and comments of others around him. All of this to say: the Bane may have also been a genocidal dictator, but he was also a kid. A giant, powerful, and unfortunately extremely important kid.

Now for the hot take: Pearlpelt was also a victim of the whims of the adults around him, the exact same way Gregor was. The biggest difference was that while Gregor had a vast support system that, while flawed, would and could remain with him, Pearlpelt did not. And Twirltongue in particular was a much bigger villain than Pearlpelt ever was.

All of the Bane’s actions post-Ripred were fueled by her manipulation and her own beliefs. Snare’s influence had been planted, for sure, but it was greatly exacerbated by Twirltongue. Pearlpelt was shaping up to be an okay kid (for the most part) underneath Ripred until she came along and started talking to him. Who knows what kind of stuff she told him besides the fact that he was going to be a king and that he was the strongest and smartest and best.

Pearlpelt was a teenager being turned into a tool for the people around him to kill every non-rat and take over their lands. It’s the dictionary definition of grooming. And, as Marks of Secret proved, the one who was putting all those ideas into his mind was Twirltongue. Ripred’s Merry Men weren’t the ones behind it; one of them even unofficially adopted Pearlpelt as his son. They didn’t want him to become some bloodthirsty demon out to kill the rest of the Underland. But once Twirltongue got her claws into him, that’s when he really started to change for the worse.

Being that attached to Twirltongue to where he allowed her to ride on his back everywhere he went, it seemed, where he challenges his mentor when he insults her, where it causes him to completely break after he kills her in a blind rage: not only was that attachment unhealthy but it was not natural. I wholeheartedly believe that Twirltongue had somewhat become a mother figure to Pearlpelt (a belief fueled by the idea that Goldshard and Twirltongue are foils of one another), and that her influence alone turned that baby into the monster he died as.

I’m on mobile and can’t quite write the eleven million thoughts I’m having about this topic, but I’ll go into Twirltongue and her bullshit another time.

TL;DR: Pearlpelt was also a victim of the adults around him, turning him from a traumatized child into a monster.

[gummybearsings]

I’ve been working on this off and on for weeks (thanks adhd) and I’ve gotten sick of it sitting in my art folder so have some assorted Ripred drawings ft. Gregor and Pearlpelt

[i-think-in-metaphors]

#GiveTheRatAGun

[quohotos]

Okay but it's actually crazy foreshadowing that Ripred goes to the overland. No one else in the series does (with the exception of the crawlers which is very interesting, put a pin in that). Sandwich said that any minute it would be unlivable on the surface, there would be some apocalypse. No one wants to be up there when it happens so no one dares take one step out of shelter...

... Except for Ripred who never believed any of this shit. It's interesting that the crawlers also went given that Vikus explicitly called them out as being apocalypse proof.

Idk it's a little thing that just called out to me.