#catboy!kotlc

[bookwyrminspiration]

hey. *catboys your lost cities*

[bookwyrminspiration]

Saw you mention the alicroncatboys in some tags somewhere again. Good times.... I need to draw more kemonomimi....

still think bronte should get antlers and fintan should get ram horns tbh.

Every day I must continue on with the knowledge that for like a week there was a constant stream of asks and subsequent posts on this blog revolving around an underground catboy society in the elven world that had spread to the other species, including the non-intelligent ones. The new fandom members don't know. They don't know about the alicorncatboys and the elfcatboys and how Bronte was one of the leaders of the underground catboy society...

I say that like it was a burden of sorts, but it was quite entertaining to see what people came up with and how it developed! Good times, indeed. I don't think I have any strong opinions of further animal associations with each character, but perhaps I'd discover some if I thought about it further. Actually wait what am I talking about I have a whole au where I made animal associations with specific characters I'm a liar how did I forget that.

Ever thought about Linh and dragons? Fitz and eagles? Because I have. I'm curious what your reasoning is for Bronte and Fintan though, as I'm sure I'd never guess it

[bookwyrminspiration]

kotlc actually stands for keeper of the lost catboys, Shannon was just too embarrassed to admit it /j

[bookwyrminspiration]

Jolie was actually a cat boy (girl?) And going to the cat boy underground meetings was family bonding time for her and Grady. Her choker is by her wanderling, next to her charm bracelet. Every time Sophie goes to the wanderling woods, Grady and Edaline hide it. This is the real secret Vertina was keeping for Jolie, and why Brant fell in love with her, for he is a murcat boy.

we can call her a catgirl! I've just been using catboy broadly because there's no one to stop me, but catgirls are also a thing

Jolie and Grady bonded over being catboys is not the take I expected to see in my inbox this morning but it is catboy weekend (may even extended further as I have more catboy asks!) so I think it's fitting. I mentioned that I thought Grady would be a pink catboy, but Jolie doesn't feel like that kind of person. I'm getting silver vibes from her, just real light (in color and personality). But I do think she'd indulge herself in the bows! hair bows and bows on her clothes and all the like--she was said to have a lot of cosmetics and things, so it feels fitting.

but back to the family of catboys. Is Edaline also a catgirl or did Jolie just happen to inherit the catperson gene from her father? Because as much as I'd love a catgirl Edaline, I think the idea of her just being an animal lover in a family of catpeople would be hilarious. When Jolie finally tells her that she's a catgirl, she just nods sagely because she's been through it all with Grady.

I wonder if they'd hang the choker from the branches of her wanderling like they did with the charm bracelet or if they'd actually put it on a branch. honestly the idea of a tree wearing a choker sounds fantastic. I wonder where they hide the choker when Sophie comes to visit...

Now I'm just imagining Grady going to her wanderling by himself in his catboy outfit and curling up at the base of her tree, just remembering all the underground meetings they went to together and how much they bonded over something so unique to them.

Also Jolie keeping that a secret instead of the brant thing...that does upset some of the most intrinsic and essential parts of the plot of keeper, but we can excuse that for catboy purposes. Either Vertina thought that the mysterious diary Jolie wrote wasn't as important as her catgirl status, or someone had to fabricate Jolie knowing that in order to divert Sophie's attention away from the mirror. Which, like I said, will tear several holes in the universe but it's okay.

Brant as a murcatboy...there's something poetic there about being a creature of the water that's drawn to the burn of the sun, the glory of destruction. I wonder what it would've been like for him to discover his power, as I'm assuming he'd become a murcatboy before that. There's likely something there about how cats don't like water and murcats love it, yet despite this difference Jolie and Brant were still drawn to each other and fought for their ability to be together.

The hatred Brant could've developed for his ability after killing Jolie...this gift given to him that set himself at war with himself, water vs fire in unholy matrimony. Chaos incarnate within him. And then Jolie dying as a result of it as the final straw...there's potential there, I must admit

something some in fair Verona where we lay our scene, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean, never was there a tale of more woe, except make it Jolie and Brant

[bookwyrminspiration]

not only is alina a catboy, but so is the entire council except for liora, who is a murcatboy

wake up babe, the kotlc catboy universe just got it's largest expansion to date.

could you imagine...a whole world ruled by catboys. How would that impact their productivity? Their decisions? Does the council meeting room or wherever they get together when no one else is watching have cat toys? Emery is trying to hold a discussion and Terik is on the ground chasing a laser Liora is pointing at the walls.

Oralie is playing with the bell on her choker, and Bronte has been stuck in his maid dress for the past three days and no one can figure out how to get it off.

One of them ends every single sentence with a nyah, I just know it.

I like to think there's a mix of more neko catboys and catboys who are just dressing up with the ears and outfits, and they're just coexisting. if you pet Oralie she'll purr, but if you so much as try to touch Noland he's hissing and shattering your eardrums. Casually trying to remember all the councilors from memory despite literally having Unlocked within arms reach in bed rn. I am touching the cover and still not opening it /srs. I think Clarette would go all out. She's the most catboy you've ever seen in your life--and she'd be the greatest threat to the secret, loving to wear the ears so much.

Also nice to see the murcatboy universe expanding! Tam might've gotten lonely after a while, so it's comforting to know he can go swimming with someone and bond.

not to return to the previous topic but I have to return to a previous topic. just how chaotic would council meetings get. All these catboys in one place tring to run a government together would be chaos. Especially if they have to hide their catboy-ness from the rest of society! When you become a councilor, is there an initiation ceremony where you formally become a catboy? And if you refuse is your memory wiped? there's so many possibilities here I don't even know which ones to discuss!!

just imagine you're a new councilor, freshly elected to the point you only accepted the position hours ago, giving your little speech and accepting a circlet. but then Bronte approaches you, and gracely informs you that the true initiation would begin, handing you a choker with a little bell to match the color of your circlet. and then everyone emerges in their various outfits--maid dresses and baggy outfits and everything inbetween, cat ears worn proundly, and one of them silently approaches you with several different boxes, within each a different colored cat ear headband so they can match it to your hair color.

I'm getting carried away oh no.

anyways! the council is all made of catboys now, we make the rules <33 /j. this makes the rebellions even funnier in my opinion. The betrayal Ruy would feel knowing he was banished for the very thing his rulers indulge in. I think it's be absolutely hilarious if the Black Swan collective didn't even know what catboys were, so when a reveal happens and it turns out the world is catboy (council) vs catboy (neverseen) vs just some guys (the black swan) the absolute confusion as they try and make social progress but are hindered by...cats.

villain art, initiate

[bookwyrminspiration]

Ruy is a cat boy and thats actually why he got banished from the cities

I'd probably believe it. An elf who doesn't act like an elf and instead dresses up like an animal? Banished. Immediately. He just went too deep into catboy culture and the council finally decided that was enough.

You know what? Lets just really lean into this for a moment. What if Ruy learned about catboys from Bronte, who has been a fandom catboy for quite some time now, which only adds to the drama of his banishment as Bronte is forced to banish Ruy to save himself the embarrassment and drama of being outed as a catboy serving on the council. That's just the kind of strange plot a catboy fic would have and I love it.

I propose that instead of the maid dress, he's a loose clothing kind of catboy. Like really oversized sweaters to make sweater paws and that kind of thing. He'd be like an angry catboy too, hissing and lashing out at people and having a pouty face.

What a world Shannon built, so deeply prejudice against their own people that they kicked a catboy out to live on his own in the wild. Who knows what kind of trouble he'll get into!! Actually we do know. The Neverseen. That's the trouble he'll get into. Does this mean the Neverseen is supportive of catboys? How many of them are catboys? Does this apply to Alvar by extension...

I have several questions, nonsie.

I'm assuming his tribunal would've been public, so now I'm imagining catboy!ruy standing in the center of like the entire elven population being insulted and ridicule for his catboy ways before being sentenced to Exillium. And his banishment was like permanent or something! His actions were irredeemable! Being a catboy is illegal in the Lost Cities /j

catboys are taking over! happy catboy day everyone!

[bookwyrminspiration]

all this catboy talk just has me genuinely considering an au where all elves have animal characteristics. not just limited to cats, but all other kinds of animals as well.

i doubt they'd get huge differences (like, someone with bird traits wouldn't get wings) but maybe a few details here and there, like ears or scent or whatever.

maybe boobrie dude has a bunch of feathers on him. or maybe some elves would have claws, whatever those end up looking like.

there's much potential for body horror and yet i cant help but think of rule of cool and mostly fluffy scenarios (੭ु ´͈꒳​`͈)੭ु⁾⁾

- pyro

honestly that kind of seems like where the direction of these asks are going! starting with catboys, going into murcatboys, just expanding the world into animalistic traits. This reminds me of a thing, actually! Sometimes when I'm writing i just let my mind wander to come up with any ideas possible and pick and choose from the ones that fit best, but sometimes that means I have to exclude things that would otherwise be really cool--one of the recent ones was elves as shapeshifters, or of them having a designated animal form that they shift into. So your comment about different animal characteristics reminded me of that!

They don't need to have huge obvious animal traits, but just the little things that set them apart as other from the people around them. Some could be visible--like the cat ears--or they could be invisible--a heightened sense of smell or hearing, kinda like what you said!

this could take a turn into body horror, but that depends on what your definition of horror is and if you find the manipulation and distortion of the human form as comforting or uncomfortable. I personally think body horror in the form of being non-human and instead an animal/monster is fun! The less human the better! But in order to have more of an impact on the viewer a semblance of its original form is necessary.

I jokingly mentioned a catboy disease in that post about Grady, but we could make that more of a reality to lean into the body horror! Instead of being a fun pastime or whatever we should call it, it's something uncontrollable that distorts the elves bodies and turns them into less than human (hmm. this is like the wings au but more intense!)

but! I think a lot of us like animals, so associating characters we like with animals we like it like a double fun thing! a positive melded with a positive creates and extra positive! And that makes cute scenarios appealing, and fluff is always fun. Catboy cuddles and animal traits are fun!!

I've essentially done part of this au/idea already but focused on flying animals (obviously. it is a wings au), so i'd be curious what animals people would be assigned were a wider assortment available for selection! There are the Team Valiant animal assignments, but we don't necessarily have to stick with them.

it feels like this is almost elevating the elves to a more fae level, like more mystic and unknowable, and I love it!!

[bookwyrminspiration]

contrary to popular belief, Sophie is not immune to the charms of being a catboy — in fact, she is affected by it even more due to her love of cats (hence marty). the only reason she refuses to become a catboy(/girl) herself is because she despises the collar, until she realizes that anyone can be a catboy in whatever way they want, and no catboy is confined to any social norms whatsoever. and that’s her development throughout the series, shannon hire me to write ur series for u /j

hmm, this is an interesting take nonsie, contrasting the hatred other have surmised in previous catboy related asks. I love it!

I wonder if having Marty, a cat, was her way of expressing her buried buried/untapped/slumbering desire to be a catgirl, something she wasn't aware of. Having Marty kept it in check because she thought it was just a love of cats that was sated by having one, but when she had to leave Marty behind there was no longer that check on that desire.

I have a memory of Forkle saying he did something related to Marty, but I can't remember exactly what. It might've been just him saying that he was there when she found him, but unsure on that one. Maybe he ensured that Sophie had a cat of some kind in her childhood because she needed something to keep her catgirl desires dormant. This implies that catgirls, or maybe just Sophie being a catgirl, is something dangerous and to be avoided.

Once leaving the Forbidden Cities, her catgirl desires may grow and grow until they are nearly unmanageable. But perhaps this dislike for the collar that you've suggested holds her back, keeps her under control for just a little longer. That, and perhaps the second hand embarrassment she experiences just by being around her catboy friends. Maybe Keefe has been trying to convince her to become a catgirl and she said no and now she doesn't want to give in and say yes despite wanting to be a catgirl because she doesn't want him to think he's won. it's a battle of wills.

But! Back to the implies dangerous catgirl Sophie thing. If Forkle was truly trying to suppress that part of her, I wonder what the reasoning was. Would it be too obvious who her parents were if she gave in? Is her parent a catboy with such a distinct look Sophie would be instantly recognizable as their child? Does being a catgirl and giving into that desire tie into giving in to her powers and make her uncontrollable? is she truly uncontrollable or is she just out of Forkle's control...questions, nonsie, quesions.

I hope that her realizing she doesn't need to wear a collar enables her to follow her childhood dreams of being a catgirl. She deserves a win like that after everything she's been through. I don't know what Shannon would think but if she hires you to write catgirl Sophie into canon...good luck? idk the appropriate response but that seems fitting.