#botfly design

[botflydesign]

WORKING ON SOMETHING...

[yaelibex]

briar and mim (pc) skribbl dump (｡ﾉω＼｡) i miss briar. . .

sammiched in between (｡ﾉω＼｡) . . . chest . . .

ref pic under the cut :33

head empty only chest (｡ﾉω＼｡)

[aeolids-zenith]

*experiencing a confused set of emotions underpinned by loneliness* will anyone ever love me like i love All Night Laundry......

[lilybug-02]

are there any bugs you think are "bastards"? (ie, genuinely rude for no reason?)

"design wise" i dont like earwigs + silverfish, and im the person who asked if you'd tag moths so my opinions on moths are contradictory to my desire to be a conservation biologist LOL. other than that, i don't really have any bugs i dont like.

but people think wasps/hornets are bastards and i just... don't agree? like, yes, if i can avoid walking past one i'd prefer to, but one time i was at a place for a week that had a LOT of wasp nests and it felt like me and the wasps had an understanding that i didnt want to bother them and that they just happened to be in an area where they were. i never stopped to bother them, i just kept my head low and if i saw one? id leave the area.

centipedes freak me out because why does that guy get different colored legs!? but there arent any in my area and i absolutely adore millipedes so its kinda like fearing a bigfoot for me lol

im mildly arachnophobic but if the spider is outside i just. turn around and go somewhere the spider isnt.

Pff. Sure! Mosquitos, botflies, kissing bugs, every kind of bug that carries diseases and bites you. But I think the Camel Spider is the one that scares me the most while being harmless.

Buuuuut. The thing is, no bugs have an actual vendetta against humans (that we know of). They're just animals.

[bogleech]

i keep wanting to draw anthro maggots but they end up looking like beetle larvae instead- any ideas on how one might stylize a maggot person to make it a little more distinctly A Maggot? it's especially hard to me bc maggots are like THE MOST featureless insect larvae.... which i suppose counts as a defining feature in and of itself- but i dunno. im mostly just curious to hear your approach!!!

Yeah beetle grubs, caterpillars and a lot of other insect larvae have armored heads with complete jaws structures as well as six little legs, plus they often have a defined looking "top" and "bottom" with ridged and wrinkles almost like they got soft armored down their back

But maggots are weird! They streamlined EVERYTHING down to where they have no legs at all, not even vestigial ones, and their body segments almost evolved towards something like radial symmetry by being the same all the way around!

Then there's the fact that they sort of lost most of a "head." Not only is there no exoskeletal cranial case (bug skull) to protect it but there are no jaws and never any eyes; there's just a little hole for drinking liquefied food, a pair of tusk-like hooks for gripping surfaces, and a pair of eye-like knobs that are actually chemosensory (noses)

The weird, tiny walrus-face is totally unique! They don't have any chewing mouthparts because they only need to "drink" the particles of rotting matter they live on, and like adult flies, they help this along by secreting digestive enzymes!

Maggots also have these very distinct, furry looking bands at every segment, which help them grip surfaces like a tire tread or the sole of a shoe. If you compare this photo with the one above you'll also notice how the segments can retract in and out like a telescope!

The last special thing about common maggot anatomy is that they are technically semi-aquatic animals, because maggots evolved to be buried head-first completely in their own food as much as possible and rotten corpses are WET. In order to breathe, maggots have a pair of breathing spiracles on their rear ends, which they try to keep exposed to the air!

There are exceptions to all of this, though; there are species that can be fully aquatic, fully terrestrial, herbivorous, parasitic or predatory, and some ancient fly groups (including mosquitoes!) whose larvae still have fully armored heads and even eyes. Everything above is universal to the maggots you find in rotten stuff though, so what most people think of when they hear the term :) When I designed a hybrid human and blowfly maggot for the Mortasheen setting I deliberately made it look like a doofy cartoon Walrus, and I gave its segments large spines that can be seen in some parasitic maggots, including botflies:

And when I made a maggot character for my webcomic Awful Hospital I designed her like a little spacesuit or a parka (the resemblance to Kenny was an accident)

Actually I don't think I ever shared this most recent "main artwork" of Maggie. I don't know what idea inspiration any of this might provide but basically a maggot is a prickly living sock with fangs. Or I guess from a design and engineering perspective, a maggot is a biological drill. The tiny end starts a hole, the rest of the body is just a flaring cone perfectly equipped to keep making the hole deeper.

[aquakat-draws]

Some underrated creatures you can use for character design inspo (with no specific order)

Earwigs

Crayfishes

Centipedes

Chameleons

Gharials

Dholes

Wolverines

Nautili (nautilus)

Pangolins

Fossas

Frilled sharks

Okapi

Platypuses

Vaquitas

Komodo dragons

Thrips

Whip spiders (AKA tailless whip scorpion)

Barn owls

Ostriches

Star nosed moles

Coral snakes

Anacondas

Red bellied black snakes

City doves (common pigeons)

Angler fishes

Mole crickets

Cobalt blue tarantulas

Arabian sand boa (look this one up, it's funny i promise)

Weasels/stoats

Cross fox

Termites (I'm for real, yes)

Falcons

Sparrowhawk (qarghi)

Antlions

Moray eels

Lancetfishes

Prawns/shrimps

Ethiopian wolves

Hyena

Honey badgers

Hornets

Bumblebees

Lice

True crabs

Tarantula wasps

Dumbo octopuses

Seals

Otters

Vampire squids

Jellyfishes

Sea cucumbers

Red eyed tree frogs

Common toads

Silverfishes

Common grasshopper

Cicadas

Bristletails

Botflies

Phasmids

Aphids

Red pandas

Lobsters

Yeti crabs

Damselflies

Death moths

Fenec foxes

Capybaras

Arctic hares

Pygmy shrew

Stag beetle

Aye-aye

Chimps

Gibbons

Mantis

Rats

Red wolves

Tasmanian tiger-wolves (it went extinct long ago but it counts)

Tasmanian devils

Dingos

Ravens

Azawakh

So many animals to choose from, leave grey wolves and domestic cats alone a bit please/hj

[funkylilworm]

Name: Scotty

Full name: Scotty Scout Dimmadome (Scotty being a Nickname from his actual name Dale gave him, that being "ScottMeister1000" )

Gender: Male (transmasc)

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Age: 13 yrs old

Voice claim: Gideon Gleeful from Gravity Falls

Race: White

Species: Human child (teenager)

Height: 5'3 ft tall (short for teenager)

School: Dimmadelphia high school

Occupation:

☆School rich kid, trouble maker, and/or class clown

☆Possibly a second clone of Dale Dimmadome's (Scotty knows and doesn't care)

☆ ScottMeister1000 (original name from his father)

☆SproutX-tremist (YT persona)

Loves:

Crazy stunts, parkour , rollerskating , vlogging , social media, web surfing , getting likes ,getting followers and/or subscribers, challenges , breaking records, chimichangas (favorite food), cotton candy (favorite food), mango slushies (favorite food) , oreos (favorite food), baking , cooking , himself , his younger brother (Dev), his dad (Dale) despite the way Dale treats him, sketching and/or doodling , Robotics, and video recording

Hates:

Wasps, Mosquitoes, Eggplant, Yo Gabba Gabba! 

,Sweat ,Botflies, The beach, Sand , politics, group projects ,hang nails , his crippling fear of rejection, abandonment (fears it), spoilers , idiots , long lines , New Jersey, loud chewing, know-it-alls , and people that fucks with his baby brother

Personality :

▪︎Positive-

Creative, passionate, protective, energetic, funny, hyperactive/ energetic, Happy-go-lucky, loyal (once he warms up to someone), competitive, compassionate, passionate, ambitious, and Cunning

▪︎Negative-

Greedy , short tempered ,jokes around way too much , cocky , arrogant, reserved, insecure, perfectionist , irresponsible, childish, rambunctious, defensive, and mischievous

▪︎Nuetral-

Loves to bother the shit out of / tease his younger brother (Dev), withdrawn , depressive (keeps it well hidden),he has one of those over-the-top challenge youtuber personas, skepticism, adaptable , empathetic, resourceful, easy going ,and sensitive

Hobbies:

Crazy stunts, parkour , rollerskating , vlogging , social media, web surfing , getting likes ,getting followers and/or subscribers, baking , cooking, scrapbooking, embroidery, sketching and/or doodling, robotics , and video recording

Homelife: His , Dale Dimmadome barely pays him or his younger brother ,Dev any attention and Dale would either often forget who Scotty is , blame Scotty for everything, or him and Dale would often get into a lot of arguments

Physical appearance:

5'3 ft tall, chubby, dark blue eyes, a few pimples , orange soft and curly orange hair that's in a mullet , white pasty skin, and freckles

Clothing appearance:

Golden bracs, gold chain, smart watch (created it himself by scratch) ,white and gold cargo capri overalls with a a few embroidery patches and pins , sleeveless dark blue hoodie underneath, golden fingerless gloves, gold and white backwards hate , and glow in the dark white and gold heelie shoes

Family Members :

☆Dale Dimmadome [Scotty's father]

Scotty and Dale's son and father relationship is rocky and extremely confusing, while similar to Dev, Scotty still loves his father and seeks for his love and approval ,he would often get into the most altercations with his father ,while Dale on the other hand would either forget who he is, completely ignore /not acknowledge him, or would straight up argue with him.

☆Devin "Dev" Dimmadome [Scotty's baby brother]

Scotty and Dev's relationship is the usual sibling dynamic which is playing, joking around , teasing ,and with a few arguments fights and altercations here and there, the only difference is that because of Dale's incompetence, Scotty is always left doing the parenting towards Dev.

Design Inspiration for Scotty Dimmadome:

(I thought it would be cool to make Scotty look more the say Dale did when he used to be a teenager)

[e-melanorhynchus]

Is it alright to request for the drawing of PM characters: Carmen, Ayin, and Benjamin? If it's too much, is it okay to request for Carmen please? She did end up surprising everyone with how she showed up recently.

I thank you in advance if you end up accepting this request. I hope you have a great day!

HELLO! so i decided to tackle this first because theres no clean way to say i have No idea how to draw her as a creature. because she already is a creature to me. so.

the giant red chest marking is inspired by a luzon bleeding-heart dove and the hair is similar to a rabbit botfly... In all reality its so hard to design a creature design for her because her whole existence hinges on her being human; its really, *really* hard to capture what she means for the narrative with my current design skills, at least. lol. I KNOW THAT SOUNDS REALLY SERIOUS when me designing creatures is very for fun and playing or whatever. but its just a giant roadblock for me.. so i hope you take this and enjoy it

[dr-octavio-kalev]

TW: Body deformation, self surgery, vermins

ANM №: ANM-590

Identification: Parasitic Gingival Larvae

Danger Level: Kali 🟠 | Contained ⭕️

Responsible Researcher: None

Anomaly Type: Parasitic, insectoid

Confinement: All instances of ANM-590 larvae are to be contained in a standard containment chamber at Department-05, equipped with a positive-pressure ventilation system to prevent the spread of eggs or larvae. The chamber is to be regularly monitored by Level 2 personnel, and entry is restricted to medical staff or researchers with Level 3 clearance or higher.

Any personnel exposed to ANM-590 are to undergo immediate decontamination and report to D-05's medical wing for examination. If signs of infestation are found, the affected individual is to be quarantined and treated with oral surgical removal procedures followed by a course of antiparasitic medication.

All captured instances of ANM-590 adult specimens are to be kept in an airtight containment chamber and destroyed by incineration. Under no circumstances are live adult specimens to be allowed to escape or reproduce outside of containment. Field agents are tasked with monitoring dental clinics, hospitals, and any locations with reported cases of unexplained gingival inflammation or infestations of unknown parasites.

Description: ANM-590 refers to an anomalous species of parasitic botfly (Diptera: Oestridae) that exclusively targets the gingival (gum) tissue of human hosts. Adult ANM-590 specimens are visually similar to non-anomalous botflies (Dermatobia hominis) but exhibit several key deviations. Most notably, ANM-590 demonstrates a unique parasitic reproductive cycle, wherein its larvae (designated ANM-590-1) develop within the soft tissues of the human oral cavity, specifically targeting the gums.

Life Cycle and Reproduction:

1. Adult Stage:

ANM-590 adults resemble a typical botfly in appearance, with iridescent green and black coloration and an approximate body length of 12-14 mm. Unlike common botflies, ANM-590 adults are active primarily during nighttime, seeking out human hosts through a combination of chemical signals, including pheromones produced by the human body and trace amounts of blood from gingival irritation or damage, or from bacteria likely to appear if the individual does not brush their teeth.

During oviposition, an adult ANM-590 will release a specialized neurotoxin via its ovipositor to numb the host's gums. Once the host is anesthetized, the fly deposits eggs directly beneath the gum line. This process is generally painless and often goes unnoticed by the victim.

2. Egg and Larval Stage (AMM-590-1):

After approximately 48 to 72 hours, ANM-590 eggs hatch into larvae (ANM-590-1). The larvae possess highly specialized mandibles, which allow them to burrow into the soft tissue of the gums. As they develop, ANM-590-1 larvae feed on both blood and gingival tissue, causing localized swelling, bleeding, and irritation. This stage lasts 10 to 14 days, during which time the larvae grow to a size of 8-10 mm in length.

Hosts report symptoms similar to periodontal disease, including:

Persistent itching or tingling sensation in the gums

Swollen or bleeding gums, especially when brushing teeth or eating

Unexplained tooth sensitivity

In rare cases, sensations of "crawling" or movement within the gums

Once mature, the larvae migrate toward the surface of the gums, often concentrating around the base of the teeth. At this stage, they secrete an enzyme that dissolves part of the gum tissue, creating small abscesses or lesions that allow the larvae to escape. In some cases, larvae can be manually expelled by squeezing the affected area, though this can lead to secondary infections.

3. Pupal Stage and Emergence:

Once the larvae emerge, they fall to the ground and burrow into the nearest soft substrate, where they enter the pupal stage. After approximately 1-2 weeks, adult ANM-590 flies emerge and the cycle begins anew.

Anomalous Properties:

ANM-590-1 larvae exhibit rapid tissue regeneration and healing properties in their host, preventing severe damage to the gums despite extensive feeding. This is believed to be a survival adaptation that ensures the host remains functional until the larvae reach maturity. The host's immune system is also suppressed, minimizing inflammatory responses, which further allows the larvae to go unnoticed.

While ANM-590 infestations do not typically result in fatalities, they can cause long-term dental damage if untreated. In severe cases, ANM-590 larvae may become dislodged and enter the bloodstream, causing embolisms or systemic infections, although this is exceedingly rare.

Psychological effects have been noted in several cases. Infested individuals frequently report anxiety, insomnia, and obsessive-compulsive behaviors related to oral hygiene, often excessively brushing or flossing their teeth in an attempt to alleviate the sensation of crawling or itching.

Discovery:

ANM-590 was first identified in 20██ after a series of reports surfaced from rural villages in Belford Roxo, Brazil, where several individuals had been admitted to local hospitals for extreme gingival irritation. Initial reports were dismissed as cases of severe periodontal disease or fungal infections, but further investigation by Institute agents revealed that the symptoms were caused by an unknown parasitic entity.

Subsequent containment efforts led to the identification of several breeding sites in tropical forested regions, where adult ANM-590 specimens were captured for study. Due to the widespread nature of non-anomalous botfly species, it is believed that ANM-590 may have existed undetected for decades before being formally classified by the MOTHRA.

Addendum 590-A:

Interview Log 590-04:

Interview with Dr. Moron, a Institute dentist and researcher who was exposed to ANM-590 while examining a patient.

Interviewer: Dr. █████

Date: 20██

Dr. Moron: "The itching. It was unbearable. At first, I thought it was just dry gums, maybe an allergic reaction to something. But then… I felt it, like something was moving under the surface. I had this irrational urge to dig into my gums, to get whatever was inside me out."

Interviewer: "You performed a self-extraction, correct?"

Dr. Moron: "Yes. I used a pair of sterilized dental tweezers and started probing around one of the swollen areas. That's when I saw them. Tiny, wriggling white larvae, right at the base of my molar. I can still feel it sometimes, even though they’re all gone. It’s like they left something behind."

Interviewer: "Did you experience any psychological effects?"

Dr. Moron: "Every night I dream about it. The sensation of them moving, feeding, growing. I keep imagining they’re still in there, just deeper. Hiding."

Addendum 590-B:

Following the interview, Dr. Moron was placed on temporary medical leave and has been referred to psychological counseling due to ongoing symptoms of parasitosis and persistent gum irritation. No further ANM-590 larvae were found during follow-up examinations.

Note: Personnel exposed to ANM-590 should be monitored closely for similar psychological aftereffects, even after physical decontamination and removal. Further research into the long-term effects of ANM-590 infestation is ongoing.

Addendum 590-C:

Due to increased reports of ANM-590 infestations in urban areas, containment teams have been deployed to dental clinics and hospitals in high-risk regions. Task Force "Mouthwashers" has been created to respond to outbreaks and prevent ANM-590 from spreading into densely populated areas.

End of File

[v-isca]

a guy and his parasite for @glitchbirds

(info for the labeled sketches under read more)

the labeling is kinda disorganized bc i just labeled them in the order i sketched them

a). initial sketch b-c). clean shaven and scruffy versions d). first attempt at drawing the worm. i've never watched the tingler but the character art immediately made me think of a bobbit worm so that's what it was mostly based on, with some centipede-like antenna and tongue eating louse front limbs. then i switched to section g's design bc i figured it being flatter+having softer segments would work better if it were to pop its upper body out of the host body every now and then e). i like botfly larva. thus a botfly-ish larva stage was added lol. probably a stage that happens when the species is already in a body and trying not to get dislodged/removed f). bloodworm mouthparts are cool g). flatter worm design. kept some bobbit worm/isopod elements while changing the head to be more wasp-ish (without the huge eyes) and making the body more tapeworm-ish. was specifically thinking about the emerald cockroach wasp bc 1) they look cool 2) of the way they manipulate the roaches they prey on (also tbf i don't know that many parasitoids) h). side view of leonard i). back view showing the worm popping out of the body a bit j). random sketch

[cipheramnesia]

Boredom gestated in days of coming and going from the little hotel room, walking in nonsense patterns all over the city. They filed reports in triplicate, Sy shed pollen, and once in awhile granular seeds dropped off the plants he'd stuck to himself. It was routine, as far as the clutching fingers of the empath/morality scanning and endless cameras were concerned. As with any emotional resonance, boredom required layering, and Doc had been folding over a pastry of dull apathy into a crystal matrix to allow her to cross-map it into the language processing psyche of other forms of sentience.

Every day, Loren hung up his coat with a wyjack stone sewn into the lining along with a series of copper antennae loop feeds. Doc fed the monitors in the hotel room a hot brick of utter disinterest and the wyjack stone looped three days of randomized coming and going feed through their helpful state sponsored nannycams.

"Nice to see you still have the touch." Loren sat on the bed and rubbed his face.

"Muddy castles," Doc said, "basin starved." She dropped a blank sysnet keyboard on the bed and jabbed at it repeatedly, grinning around the room. "Anything goes on the average repeat." She stabbed some of her sharper cystals into the cheap polyplast bedside table and scratched it up.

"There goes the deposit," Ngyuen said. She and Sy were slotting big PhiMa filter drums into the transynthetic material release flash cutter, or the drillvana as Loren kept calling it, which was built out of some of the equipment they'd been pretending to use the past few days.

Sy pulled flat white glasses over his face, a shield from release of the material plane. "We were never getting that back," he said, as Loren and Nguyen put their own eye shields up. He and Ngyuen angled the drillvana down and he pushed the joystick forward. The floor of their room snapped out of existence, fully convinced it was unnecessary to the material world. Layer after layer snapped away, filling the room with acrid synthscendence afterburn until a blast of stale and fetid air announced the sewer line.

Originally the drillvana had been designed for military use, but even the most complex reverse ethic-preguilt binding hadn't been able to protect the user from catastrophic backblast when it was used on living targets. It had been relegated to construction use after the small asteroid testing facility and everyone in or on it spontaneously turned into an equal mass of botfly maggots, which promptly died in the vacuum of space.

"Creative scaled downward!," Doc said, throwing a crystal through the steam into the sewerpipe. It made a gray clatter, flickered in the mists. Loren coughed and waved at the smoke. Sy took off his glasses and grabbed some of their kit, along with Ngyuen.

"Who wants to go first nevermind." Sy rolled his eyes and followed Doc ever downwards as the woman burst into a rare 9th century Pancsovanian aria.

Nguyen looked at Loren. Loren took a breath. "She's the best at what she does," he said. "Whatver that is."

Nguyen slapped his shoulder. "Relax. This is the easy part, remember?"

○ ○ ○ ○ ○

"What's up with the coms today?"

"Buggy as shit, worse than usual. Plus there's some mutt nonsense going on."

"Oh what, another sit-in about the bands. Fuckin zoophiles. Ungrateful liberals."

"Nah, sounds like actual mutts trying to run a rally. Half the precincts went out to bust some butts."

"Shit, we miss all the good stuff. Did I tell you how a wolf almost bit my sister's kid?"

"Lissen, I know they're dangerous but if I have to hear you tell that story again I'll eat my own taser. Dispatch, helloooo anyone at all, over?"

"Phnfmssh cmdnnkk tk dddt shhhdl."

"Wow."

"Anyway, you think we missed out? Check it, I finally got the file. Wanna see who we got in the back?"

"Sure- Huh, well that's a hell of a rap sheet. Laika, what? Blackwood? Where's she from with that kinda name."

"Here, she just had it changed. Look at that though. Her own family, and a bunch of hunters, maybe more if we get a confession."

"Ha. We'll get one alright. Hey little puppy, hear that? Someone's gonna go to the pound and this ain't one of those no-kill shelters either."

"Oh look at her snarling, I love when they act all scary. Here we go, we got netmail. Some kind of radical wolf freedom terrorists running amok, they got no room. Says drop her off at the Citadel."

"I'm not spending all night going to Citadel Enforcement, let's just have an accident on the way."

"I need to make my quota, and the overtime's good. I can log you out, if you wanna drop."

"Sure, drop me by the 12th on the way. I'll owe ya one. Say night to Spruce and Marcos for me."

"Watch your back, some of the mutts are supposed to have bombs."

"That's funny. Lucky if they can even pronounce 'Improvised Explosive Device.'"

"You crack me up. Say hi to Ilsa for me."

"Her name's Melissa, jerk."

...

"Just you and me now. Oh don't glare at me, you got off easy, barely half a beating."

...

"Anyway enjoy the floor back there, because you know what happens with bitches at Citadel Enforcement. Well, let me fill you in, it's in the same building as Scientific Innovation for a reason. Haa!"

...

"Heh. Yeah. Laika's a dumb name anyway."

Part 7: The Tower

a story by @rox-and-prose and @cipheramnesia

Dusk turned the Nevamil sky a flat aquamarine, and made visible the red lights blinking atop the Citadel. It was the tallest building in the capital city, Aureodar, even visible from the far off gridded streets of old houses converted into apartments. The last time Laika had seen it was a field trip for school.

The little blue Kirov was somewhere between the mountains and Genghis Khan and the most anonymous hopper port they'd been able to find in Aureodar. She worried about Sy, seemed ages past she'd been this physically far, though it was hardly more than weeks. Wires and talismans crossed over the streets, bikes and busses swooshed wet pavement, and linecars screeched overhead, all wrapped around her and her backpack and familiar unknown faces of the United Eastquad Block.

Ghosts gathered around her, whispering. You keep coming back here little wolf girl, you'll never get away from this place. Little wolf girl, you know you belong here. Freak. Queer. Sissy. Killer. Monster. You thought you were better than us, you never were. Laika let them needle and claw her. They were her ghosts, not the other way round. Every horrible word only built her up. Luna was with her in that way.

Most of the houses on K Street were mods, from early to late first century post-terraform. They were all retrofited from the original single family modules, but they were tough as nails, old construction built to weather thr storms of atmosphere generation. Number 1132 was where she was headed, lights were still on in the third floor windows.

Laika took a last look around on the front door's stoop. The poles for street lights and warden ropes all had at least three CCTV cameras and arrayed parabolic empathy receivers tuned into psychic conflict between morality and legality. She flashed a tight little smile at the familiar old glass eye of the state before pulling a short crowbar out of her bag and cracking the door open.

The third floor smelled of some sharp, fragrant allium along with sweet woody flavors and cooking meat, enough to rouse her stomach. Deep breath, ignore the ghosts, knock. A woman with her black hair in a bob cut, rolled up sleeves on her billowy dress, a little sweaty and confused, almost a quarter meter shorter than Laika. A wave of gaming sounds, net music, and oven warmth joined them both on the landing.

"Hey Tara," Laika said.

The other woman looked closer. "Laika? Oh tides, it is!" She wrapped Laika up in a big soft hug inside thick arms, crushing her stick body. "I thought you, I don't know, I thought you were dead! I mean, there were rumors?"

"Uff! Uh, hey. Sorry to be like, unannounced. Is it okay if I come in?" Laika hesitantly patted Tara's shoulders until the hug relaxed and her feet were back on the floor.

"You just have to, please. I'm sorry, when did you get back, why didn't you call?"

Unlacing her boots and slipping them off, she said, "I just got back today, um. I've been a bit off the net you know." She dipped her hand in the tiny basin by the door and thumbed a drop of water on the polished river stone at the altar. "But I wanted to see how you'd been, I guess. It just, well it's weird. That smells amazing."

She saw a couple kids blasting through uncreatively humanoid aliens, loudly and luridly across the living room screen, followed Tara into the kitchen and dinette area and watched her stir around sizzling veggies and meat in a wide dish. "Thanks," Tara said. "The spawn over there don't always appreciate it, but you know how... well, how kids can be..." Tara frowned awkwardly.

"Yeah, uh. Yeah." Laika rubbed the back of her neck. "So what all have you heard?"

Tara stuttered with a little embarassment. In the distance Laika could very faintly hear sirens, but she knew they weren't for her. The people who would come for her didn't use sirens or advertise their presence.

Half paying attention to Tara, she added, "Well, uh, some is true. But... you knew it was bad at home. Stuff happened. What about you though? Like, two kids? Wow!"

Tara probably was relieved at the change of topic, and Laika was glad to take a minute, but she couldn't focus all the way. She was waiting.

[botflydesign]

ONE OF A KIND "RED EYE" TIE-DYE T-SHIRT

&

"GREAVES" BLACK DENIM JEANS

-BOTFLY

[pledgeofblithesomemay]

[flagellant]

what being against intelligent design actually means is that you witness the existence of "horrific" things such as botflies or tarantula hawk wasps or so on and cannot be willing to believe a so-called benevolent and all-loving God could be real, if he created such things

what i propose is we create a new way of being against intelligent design because the way that my back hurts nonstop forever seems pretty fucking stupid of Big G to think He can get away with

[nerves-nebula]

Really loving the botfly design

Looks cute and innocent but is actually a fucking parasite

just like real botflys :D

[a-student-out-of-time]

So against all conventional wisdom I decided to watch Island of Giant Insects because a) I’ve seen plenty of B films of a similar presume and figured I would be desensitised enough to it. And b) I’m writing a few pieces that contain a lot of insect horror so y’know research material. I was wrong as it’s so cringy and bad. It’s not even ‘so bad it’s good’ like with the B rated films I watched. I found Orbe to be such a insufferable protagonist (1/2)

//Let me be the first to say, I'm so very sorry ^^;

//It's true tho! Ai is pretty much the only person in the cast I don't dislike, and the others...god, I've felt more investment for characters in some slasher movies I've watched, even knowing they're basically just cannon fodder ^^;

//The fact that the protagonist of this story is more concerned about the vicious insect larvae that are eating her classmates, than the people who are being eaten...that's just stupid. On every level.

//And the others manage to be even worse later on, including the worst possible criminals you can imagine. Most of which are just there for the sake of conflict and empty cheap drama

//The CGI is amazingly hot garbage, that's also true

//The only compliments I can give are to Ai, who deserved better, and Mami Miura, mostly because I like her design

//And yet somehow, the anime doesn't go as bad as the manga, from Ai's death to the Botflies...dear god, the Botflies

//I'm not going to think about that, and instead leave you with this pleasant image instead:

//Have a drink for your troubles