Bookworm

Welcome to the Hive Mind 	Welcome to the Hive Mind 	Welcome to the Hive Mind 	Welcome to the Hive Mind 	Welcome to the Hive Mind 	Welcome to the Hive Mind
jk it's just the library 	jk it's just the library 	jk it's just the library 	jk it's just the library 	jk it's just the library 	jk it's just the library
 	 	 	 	 	
Eater—I mean reader! Reader of Books!	Eater—I mean reader! Reader of Books!	Eater—I mean reader! Reader of Books!	Eater—I mean reader! Reader of Books! 	Eater—I mean reader! Reader of Books!	Eater—I mean reader! Reader of Books!
Creator 	type here 	Image Artist 	type here 	Code Base 	Himmalerin
Age 	Six and a Half Dragon Years 	Gender 	Non-binary 	Orientation 	Demisexual
Tribe 	HiveWings 	Residence 	Mantis Hive 	Occupation 	Student, Reader
Relatives 	Mother, Father 	Allies 	Mother, Father, Their Fictional Worlds	Enemies 	oh boy
<noinclude>
Bookworm 	Bookworm
 	
Character 	Character
Infobox Artist	text
Code Base 	Himmalerin!
Theme Animal 	The leedle Bookworm
Theme Colours 	Warm Browns and Golds
Theme Music 	Lofi. Just, Lofi.
Aesthetic 	Libraries, Vellichor, Comfy Seats, Hot Tea or Coffee, a Plate of Pastries, Well-lit Rooms, Stacks of Books, Reading Glasses
Prologue
Heads-up, this isn't a fanfic! I just called the headers chapters because this kid like books and reading yknow :thumbs_up:
Anyhoo, Bookworm is a HiveWing dragonet and a consumer of literature, hence their name. A bookworm is also any of the various insect species that literally consumes books. Rest assured, Bookworm does not actually eat books. ordotheywiggleseyebrowsominously 
Chapter: Introduction, or "Call me Bookworm"
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that an illiterate dragonet in possession of a book must be in want of a story."
Bookworm was, in the words of their more gracious teachers, a problematic student. 
Admittedly, it was not a difficult feat to be labelled a problematic student in Mantis Hive, where intelligence and learning were so often valued above anything and everything else. Even the slightest resistance exhibited towards attending school or completing a homework assignment was cause to label a student as problematic, and the highly competitive environment was enough to make even the most resilient of dragons stressed.
So Bookworm became known as the "problematic student" because of how clearly they disliked school. They did not like the building, or the dragonets there, or the work that was given to them, or the food. They did not like having to gain permission to use the lavatory from an irascible adult, and they did not like the adults. 
(Bookworm had some beef with the teachers. They would square up and throw some talons if they didn't think that doing so would severely disappoint their parents)
A problematic student, the kinder teachers would say. The more forthright of the lot declared Bookworm to be a failure of student, and a disgrace to Mantis Hive. The dragonet's parents would sit there, talons clasped before them, faces a mixture of solemn concern, polite disagreement, and at times, even some slight animosity. They would sit there, quietly listening to the teachers. Then they would thank the teachers for the conference, leave the room, and return home to their child.
Their child, of course, would be curled up in a cozy corner with a hot drink and a book. 
"It was a pleasure to read."
Chapter: Beginning, or "In a house in the Mantis Hive there lived a dragonet"
"Mr. and Mrs. Bookworm, of Jewel and Mantis Hive, were proud to say that they were very snazzy, thank you very much"
Bookworm is the quiet kid at school, who sits in a corner and always reads. They read so much that their parents punish them by revoking their access to the library. They read so much that their teachers have to take away their books at school, citing that the tomes present a distraction to their learning. 
"The sun had not yet risen."
"All dragonets, except one, grow up."
"How does one describe Bookworm? Various psychiatrists have tried and failed."
"There was no possibility of taking a flight that day."
"It was love at first sight."
"My suffering left me sad and gloomy."
"There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a book."
Chapter: Middle, or "Bookworm had two problems: the moon and their eyesight."
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."
Chapter: End, or "All this happened, more or less"
"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."
"In the land of Pantala, where such things as insect-dragons and communication with plants really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born a SilkWing. Everyone knows you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortunes."
Epilogue
== notes ==
i have no hivewings so this kid exists now 
* named after the actual bookworms!! of which there are many.
** bookworm is just a generic name thats applied to any insect that eats through books
** most of them don't EAT-eat books; they'll only eat the bindings, or the glue in the bindings, or fungi growing inside of the book
*** if your book is in such disrepair that it has fungi growing inside of it my opinion is that you are a horrible person
*** some bookworms do actually eat the pages and they make funky lil patterns when they do it
**** in accordance with this, bookworm eats boo—jk no. but they're a picky eater
**** also a picky reader! as in, they'll pick up a book and read through parts of it, skipping over parts that they don't like!
**** and then when they realize they missed a part that was important to the plot, they'll be like "oh" and go back to read it
* okay their appearance is just a mess inspired from all the different insects that are called bookworms
** scales are mostly a muddy gold! kinda got those hairs sticking out from between some of the scales on their legs, like the hair that insects will have?
** their body is smooth tho! and there's like a gradual change in colour, so their scales become a pale gold at their tail
** a mish-mash of black and dark brown accent scales!! 
** tan-coloured horns! 
** central heterochromia!! dark to light!
** kinda chubby but s t r o n k from carrying stacks of books around. giant stacks of books.
** glasses! like cricket!! 
** probably wouldve been friends with cricket, if they had ever met her? 
* they're really quiet around strangers. other dragons mistake this for shyness. it's not.
** shyness implies good intentions and like...a soft, sweet personality. bookworm is not that.
** they're S U S P I C I O U S of you. they D O N T T R U S T you.
*** if they hear you talking about a book they like tho they'll hear you from across the room and take note of you and like. try to find out more about you and be your friend
*** honestly has zero social skills and zero interest in socializing except when it concerns things they're interested in? they'll talk nonstop for hours about what they like to read
*** they did try to socialize more when they were younger but like. it was hard for other dragonets to vibe with them since there's only one topic that bookworm ever discusses
*** since they were always reading, their classmates were like "wow, bookworm must be like. super smart or smth"
*** bookworms not actually a sUpEr SmArT GeNiUs prOdiGy; they just have a subject that they know a lot about and completely devote themselves to
*** teachers will always get on their case about how they "don't apply themselves as much as they can! they have so much potential! they aren't using all of it!"
*** but the thing is....bookworm literally can't. focus? on things that they don't like? 
*** idk man its sorta weird and i hate it but i can read through a whole book and finish it in an hour or two but it takes me twice as long as that to finish ten math problems 
* parents from jewel and mantis hive!
*so they were destined from the start to be big-brained
**except that they're not (': 
**especially in mantis hive? ohhhh boy, they are DEFINITELY NOT considered smart
* they have a more lax attitude towards silkwings! they think that silkwings shouldn't be owned, as if they're objects
** but also like. they're still a hivewing growing up in a society that raises hivewings and not silkwings. so bookworm was born into that privilege, you know? and its so hard for the privileged to realize that they have it
** so bookworm is radical in that they dont think silkwings should be owned, but they're not calling for true equality between the two tribes. they still think that silkwings are just. inherently inferior to hivewings
*** this shall make for interesting character development
*** heck yeah redemption arc B) 
* things they like? reading, the smell of old books and the library, bay windows, window seats, the crispness of new pages, calligraphy, their parents, literature classes, baked goodies, hot coffee and tea, cloudy days, slightly drizzly days, sunrises, their parents, outdoor family picnics, lying in the grass and staring at the blue sky and the clouds drifting by, writing little stories and fanfics and self-inserts in their head, pretty or interesting bookmarks, piles of cushions, stuffed plush toys, scented candles, talking about books.
* things they don't like? school. When teachers tell them that they aren't "putting in their best" or whatever, and that one teacher who said "You can't say you're not a girl! Go read a biology book!" That other teacher who said using a plural pronoun was grammatically incorrect. School. Those teachers who say bookworm shouldn't be reading so many fiction books that aren't of "educational value or benefit." Kids who mutter about bookworm for acting, in their words, "stuck-up and witchy." School. Group work. Math. School. Being put in low-level math and science classes with kids who keep asking them for help, when the only reason they need help is because they are CLEARLY talking to each other and not paying attention when the teacher is talking! Like, they could at least PRETEND to be paying attention, but they don't even have the decency to do that! Also, the discrepancy between the environment in their low-level math and science classes and the environment in their high-level literature and language classes always feels so weird and disorienting. They don't like how competitive Mantis Hive is, either, or how their parents are looked down on because they chose to pursue career paths that weren't so intellectual.
* in their inventory of things stored in their brown leather satchel is: a wilderness survival guide that lists all the edible and medicinal plants on the savannah, a guide on social interaction, three fictional novels for when they get bored, four mini stuffed toys each about a talon tall, two quills, a notebook, a jar of water, a handkerchief, candy, several bread rolls or buns at any given time.
** never leaves home without their satchel. 
Caleb-woods-fulXJYIvRi8-unsplash.jpg|THEIR ONE TRUE LOVE (Also this place looks cool)
Julia-kicova-g827ZOCwt30-unsplash.jpg|Give Bookworm anything that's pictured here, and you have automatically become their friend.
Martipaan-NK7hXJXJiLM-unsplash.jpg|If you give Bookworm anything that's pictured here, they'll automatically consider you a friend
Mick-haupt-TiTeXAAnu k-unsplash.jpg|THEIR OTHER TRUE LOVE 
Category:Characters
Category:Dragonets
Category:Non-binary
Category:HiveWings
Category:Occupation (Student)
Category:Content (LivVirtual)
Category:Work in Progress
Category:LGBT+