The monkey miraculous is already based on Sun Wukong, so I tried to figure out how to incorporate that in the design. Wukong’s iconic elements are the Jingu-Quan golden band (金箍圈) and the Ruyi-Jingu-Bang staff (如意金箍棒), however both of those are already parts of the miraculous; so it’d feel strange if the Kwami wore mini-replicas. I decided to style the hair strands like the Phoenix-Crown, and added the Fiery-Golden Gaze (火眼金睛) that sees truth.
I used Shenlong (神龍) as inspiration; a Celestial Dragon (usually dark blue/black) that can command winds, rainfall, and thunderstorms. The mystical pearl that Shenlong carries is a tool for controlling the weather— I colored it gold, as I thought it’d look better with the color palette. Something interesting I learned while researching, was the phrase “Shenlong falls into disgrace” (神龍失勢) which is a metaphor for a capable person losing status/power. Apparently this saying arose from a cultural shift after the fall of dynasties in China, and the focus shifted from appeasing nature to human resilience.
FIC: "That Time Xuppu Broke the Chair" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)
@lovebugs-and-snakecharmers is doing a Lukanette Month for September 2024, and we all just kinda tossed some prompts in the disco to compile a list? We ended up with 71 prompts, so I decided I’d roll some dice to pick a prompt, do a twenty minute (ish, bc we all know sometimes they run away from me) sprint, and try to get some short fics out this month?
Read on Ao3
02 September 2024
Prompt 11: Broken Chair
“I’m bored,” Xuppu whined from his spot in Marinette’s window. Tikki looked up from the desk, where she had been watching a video on Marinette’s computer with some of the other kwamis.
“Come watch with us, then,” she said. Xuppu huffed and rolled onto his back, throwing a paw over his eyes dramatically as his head lolled towards the desk.
“But I’m bored!” he whined again. “Mistress hasn’t let us out in forever! I miss my doofus!”
“Yeah,” Barkk sighed, nudging the ball with her nose to roll it back towards the wall. She sighed as it bounced back towards her. “Me, too.”
“I do miss Rose,” Daizzi piped up. Tikki frowned as she looked around at her fellow kwamis.
“You all know why we have to lay low,” she said. Beside her, Sass hissed out a sigh.
“Yesss, yesss,” he said. “We all know why. That does not make it any easier, Tikki.”
“Yeah,” Xuppu said. “At least you and egg-breath get out sometimes.”
“It’ssss not my fault my power is more ussseful than yours,” Sass bit. Xuppu sat up, ready for a fight, but Tikki called them to order before they could get out of hand.
“Enough, enough!” she called. “Xuppu, you know it’s not personal!”
“Feels personal,” he grumbled, thinking of how often Sass’s holder had been around lately. Of course he would get out more – their Guardian liked the musician. He never got to see Kim anymore.
“It is not,” Tikki huffed. “Just…find some way to entertain yourself, ok? You’ll be back in the field soon enough, I’m sure of it!”
Xuppu grumped and flopped back onto the windowsill, pouting as he looked around the room. Something shiny under Marinette’s chair caught his eye, and he grinned as he sat back up.
“Ok, Tikki,” he said, hopping up to float over to the desk. “I think I will.”
. : .
“It’s just up here – you don’t have to follow me up,” Marinette laughed, rolling her eyes as Luka stepped into the room behind her. “I’ll only be a minute. Promise.”
“It’s fine,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he looked around. She had a new dress partially completed on the dress form in the corner – something black, from the looks of it, but he wasn’t sure how far along in the process she was. The black fabric could always be a template or something. “I’d…rather avoid Tom’s interrogation, if its all the same.”
“…interrogation?” she laughed, looking back at him. “What interro…”
It all happened so fast.
One minute Marinette was sitting down on her chair, intent on rolling over to her desk to look for the folder she had forgotten that morning. The next thing she knew, the chair tilted and wobbled as the wheels went one way and the seat went another, and she was hit by the sudden feeling of weightlessness as she crashed to the floor. For his part, Luka realized what was happening the second her eyes widened and had reached for her hand, but it was already too late. He grabbed onto her wrist, trying to stop her, but all that managed to do was pull him down after her.
There was a loud crash, and a rattle from the desk, and maybe even a shout. The next thing she knew, Marinette was on her back on the floor, Luka sprawled on top of her and staring down into her wide eyes with his own. They were both panting and slightly rattled.
What the hell…?
“…are you ok?” he asked, his eyes searching her face. She swallowed, her mouth snapping shut, and nodded. He frowned, his brow pinching as his eyes darted down to her lips. “You sure?”
“Y-yeah,” she mumbled, her fingers twitching at her side. “Nothing. Um. Nothing feels broken. You?”
“Yeah,” he said absently, nodding. Her brow pinched, and he shook his head as he realized what he had said. “I-I mean no. Nothing…nothing broken.”
“…we should get up now,” she said.
“Probably should,” he agreed, nodding. She swallowed again, and his eyes dropped to her throat.
“Can’t…um. Can’t do that if you don’t,” she said, tapping her fingers again. “You know. Move. First.”
“…yeah,” he said, but he made no effort to actually get up. She lifted an eyebrow, and he shook his head. “Is it…ok if I kind of don’t want to?”
“Luka…” she said. His hand was by her face, and her eyes fluttered shut as he brushed his fingers against her temple. “I-if you thought the interrogation from just standing around downstairs was going to be bad, don’t you think Papa finding us like this will be worse?”
“Kind of don’t care,” he chuckled. He sounded dazed. She couldn’t blame him – she felt a little dazed, too. “Mari. Can I…”
“Can I?” she asked, and when had her hands lifted from the floor to his sides? Her fingers were still nervously tapping, and he chuckled again as he leaned in closer.
“We should probably pick you up a new chair when we go out,” he said, brushing his nose against hers. She liked how that sounded. Them. Going out – though staying in was starting to sound pretty good, too. “What even happened there, anyway?”
Marinette had her theories, but with a whole Luka on top of her and his face that close to hers…she didn’t really care. She probably owed someone a treat, though, if…
“It’s on old chair,” she said softly.
“It was a cool chair,” he said. Her fingers tapped against his sides again, and he smiled at her.
“Luka?” she asked, making him hum. “Shut up and kiss me.”
Xuppu ended up looking a lot more sweet and innocent in this drawing than I intended him to, but I think Xuppu would totally use this to his advantage. xD So... Xuppu, honestly I don't have too much to say about this guy, never been as attached to his character as I have been with the other kwamis. He gets a nose because let the kwamis have noses.
Xuppu and Kim do have the best transformation in the series, honestly Xuppu's and Kim's interactions in Party Crasher were all really good, those two are perfect for each other (perhaps a little too perfect, they're going to be nothing but trouble xD).
