Jax Devora (is writing)

@jaxdevora.bsky.social

4037 Followers 1211 Following

Any pronoun + ace/bi. Fantasy writer toying with worlds. Nerds out about FFXIV, media history, lost media, and bees. Owner of @beenjaminatlarge.bsky.social, writing partner and bee at large. Free stories and monthly updates: https://jaxdevora.beehiiv.com

Inside the hall, Daisy and Peony were waiting. As soon as Honeysuckle followed Leiha inside, Peony jumped off her chair and dashed straight for Honeysuckle. She danced before her, shaking her tail and signing quickly and emitting plumes of lemon perfume. Welcome home, it all said. We are happy to see you safe. Honeysuckle refused to look at her, and Peony stopped. With slow, cautious movements now, Peony reached out with all four hands and took one of Honeysuckle’s. “Honeysuckle?” she said. “Did you find her?” She nodded slowly. Peony’s antennae drooped. “She is not here,” she said. Honeysuckle shook her head.
Beenjamin (a plush bee) reading The Lord of the Wood by EM Anderson.
Beenjamin (a plush bee) reads a copy of Dungeon Crawler Carl to a rabbit plush, a smaller bee plush, and a Clefairy plush.
A sea of antennae twitched backwards at his words, and then, simultaneously, without any heart magic needed from Doc McQueen himself, the crowd turned around and began marching back into the shanty town. Honeysuckle moved with them, but as she walked, as she let Peony guide her away, she looked over her shoulder to eye Doc McQueen. At first, he maintained that jovial smile as he sat on his saddle and watched the zizzun leave. Then, that smile vanished, and all that was left was a blankness, a stoniness, something that radiated cold, even in the desert sun. And then, at last, he kicked at his horse, and he rode off, with his men jogging behind him. That entire time, Doc McQueen was too far away from Honeysuckle for her to tell who she was looking at, but she couldn’t help but feel like it was right at her. And when he left, it felt like a great weight lifted off her, so much so that when she was finally within the line of shacks, her knees buckled, and she almost toppled over, had it not been for Peony and Miri, the latter of whom appeared from behind one of the shacks to swoop in and help.
Miri: “Yeah, what Jane said. Anyway, do you have any idea how things would work with a zizzun queen? They’re sort of like bees down there, you know.” Jo: “Listen, she’s got four hands and a set of mandibles, and pain means nothing to me. We’ll figure it out.”
A close-up of Beenjamin (a bee plush) gazing down at the viewer.
“But please understand,” she continued. “So long as Doc McQueen lives, our swarm will never be safe, no matter where we go. If I were to go with you now, Doc McQueen will come for us all, and there will be no telling what he will do to you. But if I stay, he will have his pawn, and you will be safe.” She kissed Honeysuckle on the forehead. It wasn’t like the kiss she dreamed of giving Peony one day. It was like . . . Honeysuckle didn’t have the words for it. It reminded her of the summers she spent as a hatchling on the road, the way the sun gently caressed her carapace and the the way the wind smelled of flowers and grass. “Go,” Queen Juniper whispered. “Find a way to stop him, and then we will all be free. I will go with you then. Understand?” Honeysuckle buzzed sadly, but she understood. And as much as she didn’t want to, she pulled away from her queen, and she flew to the window.
A green, red, and cream graphic featuring a typewriter in the center. Graphic reads: #FaveLineFriday Share your fave line that you wrote or edited this week! Don't forget to: Tag your posts with #FaveLineFriday. Use ALT text for graphics. Support your fellow authors! hosted by jaxdevora.bsky.social
Beenjamin (a plush bee) lies on his back with his six legs flopped open, as if he is very tired of this heat already. He's on a pillow bext to an AlphaSmart typewriter.
“But please understand,” she continued. “So long as Doc McQueen lives, our swarm will never be safe, no matter where we go. If I were to go with you now, Doc McQueen will come for us all, and there will be no telling what he will do to you. But if I stay, he will have his pawn, and you will be safe.” She kissed Honeysuckle on the forehead. It wasn’t like the kiss she dreamed of giving Peony one day. It was like . . . Honeysuckle didn’t have the words for it. It reminded her of the summers she spent as a hatchling on the road, the way the sun gently caressed her carapace and the the way the wind smelled of flowers and grass. “Go,” Queen Juniper whispered. “Find a way to stop him, and then we will all be free. I will go with you then. Understand?”
Arthur: “Zizzun are only considered secret-keepers because every other sort of luminite has the unfortunate habit of never learning our language. You will quickly learn, the longer you work with us, that if you share news with one zizzun, that zizzun’s entire colony will know within an hour.” Sophie: “Ah.” Arthur: “But rest assured that not many would share information with neighboring colonies. We’re families, but we’re not gossips. But that having been said, all three colonies know, and we are very eager to support you.”
A moodboard consisting of several images in/around a line of honeycomb. Top: The sun sets over the buttes of Monument Valley. In the honeycomb grid, from left to right: - A figure in a long coat and cowboy hat stands, feet apart, with a gun at their side. - A cowgirl sits on a white horse as she tips her hat. - A bee gathers pollen from a pink flower. - A woman in thick, blue fog holds up an orange, diamond-shaped lantern. - A group of four bees exchange nectar with each other as they stand on honeycomb. - A woman surrounded by mining equipment sits cross-legged as she tilts her head up. She's wearing a pair of large goggles. Bottom: A row of wooden buildings from the Old West stand below a clear, blue sky.
A collage consisting of various cut out images: - An illustration of Sherlock Holmes in his classic deerstalker cap and cloak smokes his pipe in the bottom left - A honey bee gathers nectar from a flower in the bottom middle. - Four macarons sit stacked in the bottom right corner. - Up the right side is a stalk of purple foxgloves. - The background is split between a pile of old newspapers and a dark alley lit by lamps and neon signs. - Red stage curtains frame the entire piece. - Five bee cut-outs (from two images of honey bees, flipped and rotated to various angles) fly around the top of the image.
A moodboard consisting of several images in/around a line of honeycomb. Top: The sun sets over the buttes of Monument Valley. In the honeycomb grid, from left to right: - A figure in a long coat and cowboy hat stands, feet apart, with a gun at their side. - A cowgirl sits on a white horse as she tips her hat. - A bee gathers pollen from a pink flower. - A woman in thick, blue fog holds up an orange, diamond-shaped lantern. - A group of four bees exchange nectar with each other as they stand on honeycomb. - A woman surrounded by mining equipment sits cross-legged as she tilts her head up. She's wearing a pair of large goggles. Bottom: A row of wooden buildings from the Old West stand below a clear, blue sky.
Moodboard of four images, all of which comes from various paintings by Alphonse Mucha: Left: Salon des Cent. A woman conceals her mouth with a hand, her index finger curled down. She's glaring intensely at the viewer. Middle top: The Moon. A woman wearing nothing but a navy blanket covered in stars stands against a backdrop consisting of the night sky and a crescent moon. She covers her smile with one hand. Middle bottom: Emerald. A serpent snarls at the viewer from amidst green lilies. Right: Poster for the 6th Sokol Festival. A woman in red, wearing a crown, sits as she clutches flower rings in her right hand and up her right arm. A ghostly, green image of a woman glares behind her.
A moodboard consisting of several images in/around a line of honeycomb. Top: The sun sets over the buttes of Monument Valley. In the honeycomb grid, from left to right: - A figure in a long coat and cowboy hat stands, feet apart, with a gun at their side. - A cowgirl sits on a white horse as she tips her hat. - A bee gathers pollen from a pink flower. - A woman in thick, blue fog holds up an orange, diamond-shaped lantern. - A group of four bees exchange nectar with each other as they stand on honeycomb. - A woman surrounded by mining equipment sits cross-legged as she tilts her head up. She's wearing a pair of large goggles. Bottom: A row of wooden buildings from the Old West stand below a clear, blue sky.
A wanted poster featuring a bee-like person. She stands with two hands folded in front of her while the other two are held at her sides, before her open wings. She's wearing a headscarf and a long-sleeved dress with a pinafore over it. Text above/below the pic of this bee person reads: WANTED for being too dang cute (and assault on our beloved mayor) HONEYSUCKLE the ROGUE zizzun REWARD: BOOK (eventually)
A while lotta bees on a stalk of white flowers. Mostly honey bees, but there's one audacious bumble.
Beenjamin (a plush bee) perches on top of an open notebook. Surrounding him are an open sketchbook with sketches of bee people on its pages, three pens, a bumblebee-themed journal, a copy of The Mind of a Bee, and a copy of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel.
As the zizzun gathered around the adventurers and Honeysuckle, Peony appeared from the door of the hall, trailing behind the elders. Her hands were clasped over the skirts of her brown dress and apron, still stained white with the flour used in that morning’s bread. When she saw Honeysuckle, her antennae lifted, and her large, brown-black eyes glittered. It took all of Honeysuckle’s willpower not to run to her, but she didn’t have to. Peony did instead, so fast her long, brown twintail braids bounced high off her back as she threw all four arms around Honeysuckle. The cloud of sweet-smelling pheromones she trailed told Honeysuckle everything she needed to hear. “You’re back safe,” this said. “I am relieved.”
A green, red, and cream graphic featuring a typewriter in the center. Graphic reads: #FaveLineFriday Share your fave line that you wrote or edited this week! Don't forget to: Tag your posts with #FaveLineFriday. Use ALT text for graphics. Support your fellow authors! hosted by jaxdevora.bsky.social
A bee-like person stands with two arms folded in front of her, the other two hanging at her sides, and her wings slightly spread behind her, above her striped bee's tail. She's wearing a headscarf, a dress with a pinafore over it, and a pair of boots. Text above her reads: "Aww, look at how cute she is!"
“You know the punishment for defiance, and for hiding someone else’s crimes from my all-seeing eyes,” Doc told them, his voice sweet and smooth as buttercream. He nodded down to Alistair, who lifted his eyes to the swarm. He did not elaborate further. He didn’t need to. “So if you know anything about what that little bee of yours was doing, flying off to the east, it would be best if you tell me,” he said. “If it was just one little deserter who has nothing to do with you, then that’s fine! Nobody will be punished. But if any of you helped that little one escape . . .” His eyes moved over the crowd and settled on the back. Honeysuckle did not move. She did not straighten or even twitch her antennae. She remained perfectly, resolutely still.
A poster styled like an Old West wanted poster. In the center is a bee person wearing a headscarf, an apron, and a dress. She's folding two arms in front of her; the other two are hanging at her sides, beneath extended wings. Text around this picture reads: WANTED for being too dang cute (and assault on our beloved mayor) HONEYSUCKLE the ROGUE zizzun REWARD: BOOK (eventually)
As the zizzun gathered around the adventurers and Honeysuckle, Peony appeared from the door of the hall, trailing behind the elders. Her hands were clasped over the skirts of her brown dress and apron, still stained white with the flour used in that morning’s bread. When she saw Honeysuckle, her antennae lifted, and her large, brown-black eyes glittered. It took all of Honeysuckle’s willpower not to run to her, but she didn’t have to. Peony did instead, long, brown twintail braids bouncing off her back and wings as she threw all four arms around Honeysuckle. The cloud of sweet-smelling pheromones she trailed told Honeysuckle everything she needed to hear. “You’re back safe,” this said. “I am relieved.”
A honey bee investigates a clover. Both are so small on a sea of green.
Beenjamin gazes at one of two plates. Both have crepes on them, but one has two human-sized ones, and the other has one, smaller one.
Beenjamin flies in from the corner of the frame, arms spread in excitement. Behind him is a computer screen with several tabs of Ellipsus and one of Trackbear open.
But Peony turned her back around and placed a pair of hands on her face. Her claws gently caressed Honeysuckle’s fuzz-covered cheeks, stopping beneath her large, dark eyes, and Honeysuckle’s antennae stood tall. And then, Peony backed away once more, joining the other four zizzun, who all stared with wide eyes and clasped hands at Honeysuckle. Only Peony’s hands moved, again in signs. “Remember, you are not alone,” she said. “You are one of many. And we love you, and we believe in you, and you will do well.”
A green, red, and cream graphic featuring a typewriter in the center. Graphic reads: #FaveLineFriday Share your fave line that you wrote or edited this week! Don't forget to: Tag your posts with #FaveLineFriday. Use ALT text for graphics. Support your fellow authors! hosted by jaxdevora.bsky.social
Three panel comic featuring bee people. First Panel A bee person in a dress, green apron, and red headscarf holds up two dolls: one resembling a tall bee and the other a man in a tophat with a curly mustache. Speech bubbles next to her read: 1: "Yes . . . this is a fertile land, and we will thrive here. We will call it . . . This Land." 2: "I think we should call it . . . Your Grave!" Second Panel The same bee person looks down at the dolls. She's holding the man a little higher while using two of her other hands (out of four) to push the bee doll's hands into its face. 1: "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" 2: "Mine is an evil laugh! Bwahahaha!" Third Panel A pair of bee people, one in a red shirt and overalls and the other in a green shirt and overalls (both wearing red hardhats with lights attached to them), are conversing with each other. The one in the green shirt has a bucket of popcorn, from which he's plucking popcorn for snacking. Offscreen, the bee in the green dress: "Here come the lesbian cowgirls to save the day!" FX: [sounds of toys smacking together] Red shirt: "Is she really our best hope?*" Green shirt: "Let her cook.*" Footnote: *In zizzun (pheromones and intense buzzing)
Beenjamin gazes at a computer screen with several open windows: one for OBS, one for Waterfox (with tabs open to YT's creator studio and Ellipsus), and one for the YT chat window.
A bee person stands with two of her four hands in front of her (the other two are held at her sides). She's wearing a long-sleeved dress with a pinafore over it, boots, and a headscarf. A line of text above her reads: "Aww, look at how cute she is!"
A bee-like creature from Spirit City: Lofi Sessions floats above a table, its eyes closed. This is definitely not a hint to upcoming/surprise streams. Nope.
A bee-like creature with plug prongs for antennae floats with its eyes closed above a table.
“Eleanor? My violin, if you don’t mind,” he said. For a beat, she cocked her head at him. Then, her eyebrows rose in recognition, and without a question, she flipped open the endless bag still at her hip and plunged both hands inside. As she worked, Mick stepped forward, filling the silence before Miryam could think to do it herself. “My full name is Michael Josiah Martin,” he told Miryam. “When I decided to live my life as I wanted, I named myself after him. He’s why my family is what it is now; it just felt appropriate, I guess.” Miryam’s expression turned from shocked to . . . wholly unreadable. She wasn’t angry, that was for certain. But she looked like she was staring at a ghost. At the very least, she wasn’t about to interrupt. That much Mick knew, and with the confidence that came with that, he continued: “‘The Ballad of Josiah Martin’ is the story of my family.”
As it flew to one of Mylene’s open hands, Mick flicked his bow off his strings and slouched. His breath rattled down his sore throat and shook his ribs while his magic sank back into him like wet sand. His strength followed his magic, and soon, it took all his willpower to keep himself upright on legs made of gelatin. This was the problem with Mick. In the generations since Josiah Martin walked the Sunless Road, his curse, that exhaustion that came with channeling one’s lumina, had touched at least one person unlucky enough to share his blood. But with Mick, that curse gripped him by the throat. No one knew why Mick’s magic was weaker and left him weaker than any other Martin in those four hundred years. It just did, and right then, he thanked the gods that it didn’t matter what happened next. Today was his last day at the Bird & Bard; he didn’t need to be particularly good at his job.
A three-panel comic drawn crudely with mechanical pencil. Panel 1: A four-armed insectoid in a dress, pinafore, and head scarf (Honeysuckle) holds two dolls: one also insectoid and in a dress, and the other man-like and in a top hat. Honeysuckle, speech bubble 1: "Yes . . . this is a fertile land, and we will thrive here. We will call it . . . This Land." Honeysuckle, speech bubble 2: "I think we should call it . . . Your Grave!" Panel 2: Honeysuckle looks down at the dolls. She holds the man up with one hand while the other three push the insect's hands into its little face. Honeysuckle: "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" Honeysuckle: "Mine is an evil laugh! Bwahahaha!" Panel 3: Two bee-like figures chat on the right side of the panel. Both are dressed like miners, in overalls, shirts, and helmets with lights. The one on the right is holding a box of popcorn; in one of his hands, he has a kernel, which he's ready to pop into his mouth. Honeysuckle, from off-panel: "Here come the lesbian cowgirls to save the day!" FX: "[sounds of toys smacking together]" Miner 1: "Is she really our best hope?*" Miner 2: "Let her cook." Box at bottom: "In zizzun (pheromones and intense buzzing)"
A green, red, and cream graphic featuring a typewriter in the center. Graphic reads: #FaveLineFriday Share your fave line that you wrote or edited this week! Don't forget to: Tag your posts with #FaveLineFriday. Use ALT text for graphics. Support your fellow authors! hosted by jaxdevora.bsky.social
A bumblebee is flopping around inside the blossom of a white flower. Her tongue is out.
WHO WOULD WIN? The saints, chosen warriors of the Dawnlit Gods, whose patrons sang the universe into existence and authored magic itself OR a waiter with a violin, severe self-worth issues, and an unfortunate crush on his best friend
Honeycomb absolutely covered with bees. Completely unedited photo by City Church Christchurch on Unsplash.
A three-panel comic drawn crudely with mechanical pencil. Panel 1: A four-armed insectoid in a dress, pinafore, and head scarf (Honeysuckle) holds two dolls: one also insectoid and in a dress, and the other man-like and in a top hat. Honeysuckle, speech bubble 1: "Yes . . . this is a fertile land, and we will thrive here. We will call it . . . This Land." Honeysuckle, speech bubble 2: "I think we should call it . . . Your Grave!" Panel 2: Honeysuckle looks down at the dolls. She holds the man up with one hand while the other three push the insect's hands into its little face. Honeysuckle: "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" Honeysuckle: "Mine is an evil laugh! Bwahahaha!" Panel 3: Two bee-like figures chat on the right side of the panel. Both are dressed like miners, in overalls, shirts, and helmets with lights. The one on the right is holding a box of popcorn; in one of his hands, he has a kernel, which he's ready to pop into his mouth. Honeysuckle, from off-panel: "Here come the lesbian cowgirls to save the day!" FX: "[sounds of toys smacking together]" Miner 1: "Is she really our best hope?*" Miner 2: "Let her cook." Box at bottom: "In zizzun (pheromones and intense buzzing)"
A collage consisting of various cut out images: - An illustration of Sherlock Holmes in his classic deerstalker cap and cloak smokes his pipe in the bottom left - A honey bee gathers nectar from a flower in the bottom middle. - Four macarons sit stacked in the bottom right corner. - Up the right side is a stalk of purple foxgloves. - The background is split between a pile of old newspapers and a dark alley lit by lamps and neon signs. - Red stage curtains frame the entire piece. - Five bee cut-outs (from two images of honey bees, flipped and rotated to various angles) fly around the top of the image.
A three-panel comic drawn crudely with mechanical pencil. Panel 1: A four-armed insectoid in a dress, pinafore, and head scarf (Honeysuckle) holds two dolls: one also insectoid and in a dress, and the other man-like and in a top hat. Honeysuckle, speech bubble 1: "Yes . . . this is a fertile land, and we will thrive here. We will call it . . . This Land." Honeysuckle, speech bubble 2: "I think we should call it . . . Your Grave!" Panel 2: Honeysuckle looks down at the dolls. She holds the man up with one hand while the other three push the insect's hands into its little face. Honeysuckle: "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" Honeysuckle: "Mine is an evil laugh! Bwahahaha!" Panel 3: Two bee-like figures chat on the right side of the panel. Both are dressed like miners, in overalls, shirts, and helmets with lights. The one on the right is holding a box of popcorn; in one of his hands, he has a kernel, which he's ready to pop into his mouth. Honeysuckle, from off-panel: "Here come the lesbian cowgirls to save the day!" FX: "[sounds of toys smacking together]" Miner 1: "Is she really our best hope?*" Miner 2: "Let her cook." Box at bottom: "In zizzun (pheromones and intense buzzing)"
The This Is Fine meme, in which a dog wearing a yellow hat sits in a room that is extremely on fire, with the second panel featuring the dog (in close-up) proclaiming: "This is fine." Labels are littered around both panels. First panel labels: Entire room: Mick's life for the past three weeks The dog himself: Mick Fire: - gods who want to kill Mick - a sapphic dragon who also wants to kill Mick - dragon politics - bee people Second panel labels: The dog himself: Mick (again) The coffee cup on the table next to him: Eleanor and her bullshit
An entire list of recommended job postings on LinkedIn, but they're all for Copy Editor/Editorial Associate - AI Trainers at DataAnnotation.
“Oh, yes, grand,” Lord Albert sighed. “What if he comes across a great mandrake? Or perhaps a highwood bear?” “He would shoot it, I’d imagine,” Eleanor said. “Yes, but would that be enough?” “Fine. He’d shoot it twice.”
Beenjamin, bee mascot and writing partner, gazes at a giant daisy sculpture in a flower garden.
A sweat bee sits on a yellow flower.
“Your Radiance! This is what they do!” he shouted as he held the zizzun by her collar. “They send one of their own in, and all of a sudden—” The zizzun twisted in the dragon’s grip and stuck her tail out at him, and a brown-black stinger the size of Mick’s forearm shot out of the tip of said tail and narrowly missed the dragon’s face. He howled and let her go, and she kicked off him and darted back up to the thorny cage. As she perched on top of its bars, the zizzun gathered beneath her and reached through to grip her legs and arms. Her tail arched up, stinger high in the air. Magic pulsed from the zizzun in the cage, through the scout’s body, up to the tip of her stinger, until a ball of light formed at the tip. A bang filled the throne room, and a crater yawned open at the feet of the dragon who had grabbed the scout. And both sides went wild.
A green, red, and cream graphic featuring a typewriter in the center. Graphic reads: #FaveLineFriday Share your fave line that you wrote or edited this week! Don't forget to: Tag your posts with #FaveLineFriday. Use ALT text for graphics. Support your fellow authors! hosted by jaxdevora.bsky.social
YouTube comment from user RhaegarTargaryen1st: 1. Whitbee Houston 2. Mariah Carbee 3. Sabeena Carpenter
A sweat bee clings to the center of a daisy.
A honey bee clings to a stalk of purple flowers. She's plunging her face into one blossom.
He’d never thought much about how magic actually worked. He never had to. But because of that, he’d never asked how pooling lumina worked—if it worked. Every other time he’d seen mages working together, from Marcie whipping up herbs with another cook to his mother and another blood mage reshaping flesh in her clinic, it was a bunch of smaller spells, not one person working magic with someone else’s. But that is exactly how familiars work, the Dead God told him. And you know of familiars, don’t you? He did, didn’t he? Chanticleer. The Ballad. Follow your instincts. Shoulder her burden. Work your magic together. Time began to lurch forward again, and Mick darted forward and hooked his arms around Eleanor. Her magic sputtered, and he felt her presence probe into his mind. What are you doing? she whispered. “Follow my lead,” he said. “I need you to shape the spell, but push it through me.”
Instagram ad for "The Black Mirror Experience" that invites the viewer to "step into the story." The ad features an older white man who looks happy to be here.
The ace flag recently proposed by aceingrace on Insta. Flag consists of equally wide stripes, in order: - Black - Light gray - White - Yellow - Pink - Purple/magenta