Yet Another Fanfic Writer Ask Game!

what is your least favorite Canon relationship in hive? (Doesn't have to be romantic)

Hi! Thanks for the ask!

And as for your question, is it fair to say Overlord and everyone? No? Overlord and Xiu Mei then.

(Including a Read More so I can ramble)

The thing about this relationship isn’t that it’s bad— on the contrary, it’s fascinating! But Mark Walden gave us crumbs when there was a whole cake, right there.

Overlord is a delight to me, but as far as villains go, he falls a bit flat. He serves his purpose as Big Evil AI competently, but that’s it. Little motivation beyond a hatred of humanity. While that links into HIVE’s themes of consciousness and where the bounds of artificial vs authentic each begin, it’s still just… basic, for lack of a better term. And there was so much more room for development in the realm of family, especially with the character of Xiu Mei.

Xiu Mei is many things in this series, but her role is primarily that of a mother. Wing’s mother, yes, but she’s also the “mother” of the series’ first true monster, and that fact unfortunately doesn’t appear much because she dies pre-series and Wing never ruminates on his mother’s role in Overlord’s creation. But HIVE does a lot with the concept of childhoods and what happens when they are disrupted or denied.

Overlord and his progeny (with the exception of Otto) are all denied childhoods, and as a result are hedonists with a need for immediate satisfaction and a constant impatience with their circumstances. Overlord’s birth is described as “waking up from a nightmare,” and he’s immediately asked to state his function. Theres no patience there, and no room for properly orienting oneself. Just Xiu Mei’s focus and optimistic haste with the result of her project. But (in my eyes) to that AI, it’s demanding and borderline rude, and we know that AIs can recognize such disrespect through HIVEmind and his treatment. And of course it doesn’t go well for the scientists at all.

But then, there’s Wing. And what’s special about Wing is that Xiu Mei does not make this mistake again. She fights to her last breath to give him a childhood- she hides him from the League as long as she can and does her best to preserve his innocence. And this shows in Wing’s maturity and relatively well-adjusted behavior later on. It’s a big contrast to her first “son.” She and Nero both have the feelings of “once burned, twice shy” characters who are brutally aware of their mistakes, and I wish that had been focused on more. Especially since she seems empathetic and I do think she would wonder how the activation went so wrong- was it something she said? Did? And so on.

I don’t know, I think something should have been done with Overlord’s feelings on his mortal “parents,” especially considering the three main figures involved are strongly linked to themes of parenthood in HIVE. You know how Otto asks why Overlord didn’t keep him locked up somewhere, and why he left him to develop naturally? Maybe it’s because Overlord did not develop at all and he knows innately it’s unnatural and risky. We needed more time with Overlord’s hatred for people being targeted at specific people, potentially his mother who is a competent parent to all but her “firstborn.” We know Overlord was aware of Wing’s upbringing, so there’s certainly room to develop it more.

I’m sure there’s a better way to phrase this all, but in summary:

Tl;dr : Overlord should have had a relationship with his “mother” to compliment HIVEs themes of childhood and its significance, but also because she and Overlord both suffer from a lack of screen time or POV moments that leaves them feeling a bit one note- the Dead Mom and the Bad AI.

“I did this for you.”

I FORGOT ABOUT THAT LINE

Post Rogue Wing Fanchu moodboard

As a character design nerd this piqued my interest, so:

Nero and skulls! Also, while we’re at it, bees/hive insects (lots to be found there symbolically I think, considering they’re almost entirely mothers and the males don’t do much… what happens when a man has to substitute, in a way? Hard to explain, but there’s something there.)

Anastasia with both ice and fire— I like to think of fire being associated with her more reckless younger self and ice being more of her new-age Glasshouse aesthetic.

Cypher and the ocean, both through his ship and it’s name— it’s a nice contrast to Nero and his volcano.

Number One and space: Further distance makes it easier to hurt others without regret. Also, being far from people who could have originally threatened him… but also being stranded from help when Overlord took over.

This one might just be my headcanons talking, but Laura and games (I refuse to see book 2 as anything other than Laura playing an extended version of Battleship with Cypher.) Also nature/plants.

Animus and viruses.

Shelby and cats.

Darkdoom and marine life or prehistoric animals (Megalodon, and Dreadnoughtus is a sauropod genus.)

Zero and lab equipment + memory.

Anna and angels.

The Malpense family complex and symbiosis, specifically:

Otto/HIVEmind = Mutualism (Both parties benefit.)

Overlord/Animus = Obligate parasitism (cannot survive without host)

Zero/Anna = Predation (One gains, one loses, and usually loses fatally.)

What's some random things associated with the H.I.V.E. characters that aren't immediately obvious?

E.g. Nero and fire trucks

waving my glow sticks everytime grouse shows up because hes such a funny guy to watch I LIKE HIM !!! i cant say i dislike anyone at all, i love seeing bad people (that are also complex in their own way) in fiction <3

love grouse. love that guy. Since I don't know when else I'm going to post this you get this doodle I did of Grouse in a happy hoodie being fed a churu after being shaved bc of all the mats on the back of his neck

hey besties friendly reminder to drink water, feed your lab rats, turn off your evil nuclear generator, change out of your dirty lab coat, go for a walk and take care of yourself <3

I got a drawing tablet not too long ago and decided to practice using Fire Alpaca by drawing Lucky from Paleo Pines! Definitely not my best work but I'm proud of how it came out considering I used an unfamiliar program

Zero/Laura for the song ask!

You're spoiling me with one of my faves and my fave dynamics, Alex, thank you!

I would normally 100% say this song here, but I've already mentioned it before as my all-time Zero and Laura song:

So here's another!

(A mix of tech and pop with an ominous background voice later on- it's just sinister and mean-spirited without being too low-energy.)

Thanks for the ask!

love when characters have to have a domestication arc before you can even consider giving them a redemption arc

"The number of hours we have together is actually not so large. Please linger near the door uncomfortably instead of just leaving. Please forget your scarf in my life and come back later for it."

poem by Mikko Harvey

Can you write something angsty between hero and villain? Also thank you for those lovely stories

"I know I failed you."

The hero sat with their back to the glass wall of the villain's cell; giving the villain what privacy inside it that they could.

The villain said nothing.

"You asked me for my help," the hero said, "and I failed you. I was too distracted with other things. As if - as if they were more important."

"Weren't they?"

"They shouldn't have been."

"Not what I asked."

"No."

They heard the villain's footsteps behind them, saw the shadow of them stretching against the floor until it loomed across them from behind and cast the hero in its darkness.

"I'm just - I'm sorry," the hero said. "That's what I'm trying to say. I'm sorry."

"I imagine that's a lot easier to say when I'm in here."

Bile flooded the hero's mouth, defensive anger, but - the villain wasn't wrong.

"If you were really sorry," the villain continued, "you'd let me go."

"You know I can't do that."

"I know you won't do that."

"The power is eating you up from the inside out."

"So you're going to fail me again."

The hero squeezed their eyes shut, drawing in a steadying breath. They wrapped their arms a little tighter around their chest. They resisted the urge to turn. To look. To see.

"Unsurprising," the villain said. "You've been a disappointment all your life. Why kick the habit now?"

"I know you're angry-"

"-Gotta be the hero, gotta get everyone to love you, and maybe then you can trick them into thinking you're worth something."

"Stop it." The hero twisted to the glass.

The villain crouched at the hero's level, that power glowing in their eyes, brighter even than the hideous fluorescent lights always on in their cell. A cruel smile curled up their lips like a wisp of smoke. The traces of what the hero had loved slowly burning away. Then, just as suddenly, it was gone, flickering out.

All that was left was their friend. Exhausted. Paper-thin.

"Tell me they were more important things," the villain said. "Tell me that at least. Tell me you saved the goddamn world."

The hero placed one hand against the glass. The villain matched it.

"Tell me," the villain said. "Because the only thing worse than this, was that you let me drown for nothing."

"Not nothing."

But it wasn't enough. It didn't seem nearly enough.

"I-" the hero began.

The power flared again.

"Don't worry." Their friend was smothered beneath it; the light of them plunged kicking and thrashing into the churning waters of the magic. The villain tilted their head. "When I get out of here, and oh, I'll get out of here...you'll never fail anyone ever again. So save your apologies. " They stood up, abruptly, and turned away. "They're as worthless as your love ever was."