do you have any musings about Baxter and the fly? Mainly with him adapting fly like behavior.
Does he get fly zoomies and climb on walls and ceilings? Does he get really distracted by vertical lines (because apparently houseflies like those) does he get paternal over maggots cause they are basically baby flies?
I just wanna here any silly tidbits you have about him and his inner critter :3
It's something that's still evolving as I write Baxter in the Chronicles of a Fly series, but here are some behavioral quirks.
First to answer some of your specific questions:
He can climb on walls and ceilings, but not without some effort and not without sliding down like a bad suction cup if he doesn't keep some momentum going. His hands and feet don't find nearly as much purchase onto surfaces as if he were smaller and more fly-like. When possible, he prefers to fly to any spot that he couldn't reach by normal human means. However, he will wall scale in a pinch, especially if he feels threatened and can't fly.
I just learned something new today! I would say he doesn't get distracted by them but maybe he develops a taste for pinstripe suits over time, haha.
Baxter reads like someone who wouldn't be very big on kids/young people to me (aside from Mona and the Neutrinos who essentially adopted him), so I don't see him having much of a soft spot for maggots any more than he would for a human baby. Not that he hates them, but feels fairly indifferent towards them. I think he's gained a little more respect for his dipteran brethren in general, but not to the point that he'd freak out if you swatted one of them. Heck, he gives mosquitos a strong warning buzz to back off if they even think about trying to have him or Mona for lunch.
Some other fun flyman facts (some of which are already mentioned in the first story):
He's sensitive to the feeling of grime building up on his body, especially his face and antennae and so washes them frequently to keep them clean.
He has a war within himself over anything yellow. While it's his favorite color, the fly finds it grating and would much prefer blue. So you can imagine there being some contention over his signature bowtie.
Baxter has a stomach of steel and can eat rotten food without getting sick most of the time, maybe a mild stomachache at most. It's not his preference, but it's a pragmatic back-up plan whenever they're low on money. He'd rather make sure Mona always has access to fresh food even if it means he secretly roots around in dumpsters behind restaurants to fill his stomach. The fly doesn't mind it in the least, obviously.
If you give him a basketful of citrus-flavored sweets, he'll wonder why you hate him so. As a full human he didn't mind them, but the fly cannot stand mint or citrus so the flavors are also unappealing to Baxter now, too. Mona is fine with them, but she prefers the red candies the most. Doesn't everyone?
Flying around at night is one of his favorite ways to de-stress even if it's a workout for him now. It's not as exhausting as jogging, but he no longer has a seemingly infinite amount of stamina as he did when he was more fly than man. This frustrates his fly half.
Dessert time with Mona is both Baxter and the fly's favorite time of day. It's when the two halves are most comfortable with each other and at peace in general.
There's more to discuss, but they'll be covered in the next story!
