#bugs alien stuff

[tinie-alien]

Okay, final part of my Xmen(/Marvel) agere icons for tonight lol

Mama Bear CG flag: Ororo, Rogue, Jean

Wolf regressor flag: Logan, Bucky

Knight CG flag: Charles, Logan

Trauma Regressor Flag: Wade, Bucky

⭐ Masterpost • Request Info ⭐

[melancholy-pubby]

🐶 Combo Board! (Part 1/8) 🐾 Petre Puppy & Petre Wolf 🐺

(shout-out to @/urwerewolfboy for a couple of the plushie PNGs!)

🦴 Petre Board Masterpost 🦴

[soft-bugs]

Some self-indulgent/personal nostalgia agere boards in rainbow order 🥰🥰

[personostient]

The flower dwelling Creeping Crab

- An uncommon predator of the logstem meadows. They live solitary lifestyles and though vividly patterned, boast remarkable camouflaging abilities that allow them to rapidly adapt to any colorful surrounding in a matter of seconds.

- The average male can easily span more than twice the height and five times the length of man, not even factoring in their long, powerful legs.

- Aspiring Ambassadors are urged to retake the necessary body language training courses and extraterrestrial color theory in-conjunction with Arthroterran speech.

‘Save yourself the trouble of accidentally propositioning your escort over dinner and give them a real show of your know how, will ya?’

[w1f1n1ghtm4r3]

(wip) i guess the entire post office crew is bugs now

[friendly-alien-fucker]

Being with an ooman brought forth a good number of oddities, most of which they adored.

You were different from them, in terms of looks, yes, but also in terms of culture. And as they whiped away the liquid streaming from your eyes they realized once again how different you were in terms of morals as well.

"I'm a monster!" you sobbed, your voice frantic and shaky, and they took you into their arms on instinct at the sound.

"You're overreacting." They attempted to console you, which didn't quite work as intended they came to realize as you slapped their chest.

"I killed it! The poor little fella... they already have such a short lifespan..."

Seeing you in so much pain over the death of a being that didn't even have a conscience, they wondered how you managed to think of them as anything other than a monster. With their walls of proudly displayed trophies.

Some of them had only half your life expectancy, some lived longer than them. Some even had family.

"Fella?" they instead focused on consoling you through your strange breakdown "what makes you so sure it was male?"

You gasped, your eyes suddenly wide in horror "I didnt even think of that! What if it was female? What if it was expecting? What if I just killed an entire bloodline??!"

Though they were apparently not very good at it.

Unsure on what to do or say, they simply continued to hold you, the purring that they've subconsciously started to do getting louder.

"If it brings you any comfort", they began quietly as they heard your sobbing come to a slow stop "its unlikely it felt any pain, being the size that it was."

"It does," you mumbled, only parting from them shortly to whipe at your face "thank you."

They simply nodded.

How your species managed to become your planets apex predators remained a mystery to them.

[b1asho]

Bugs

Here's what I've got to say, I didn't proofread any of it, will do that later, but I went a little more into stuff like what flips the switch on them turning into a Dorest (blue guy) or Rox (red guy).

((Tldr its not a switch its a sliding bar that'll get stuck or drop back down to 0 without the right input!)

Anyway, their life stages are:

'Egg, Early Stage Larva, Late Stage Larva, Prepupa, Chrysalis, Juvenile (aka Chick's, Dusties, or Hatchlings) pictured is molt 1 of 3, Subadult (aka Colts or Proxies) pictured is molt 4 of 5, and Adult (aka Imago, Types D or R.

Eggs are around golfball sized, and stay on the Rox’s abdomen area via a sticky pouch that forms when the eggs are laid onto them. I haven’t gone in depth into how they do the deed because idk, but it’s relevant here so let’s do it: basically they lock gonopods with each other, both get off, then the Dorest lays their fertilized eggs onto the Rox and the Rox releases fertilized eggs on themself. The residue hardens into a leathery skin over the eggs (there’s about 12 of them in total, 6 from each party)until they hatch into a soft little infant. This process can technically be done in reverse (with the eggs being laid/held on a Dorest). They could even self-fertilize (that is very hard, though, because they’re designed to reproduce with the stimulus of both D/R pheromones. Eggs won’t even form if you don’t have the presence of both in your living area. You’d have to find a way to replace the missing half if you want to actually get anywhere) but both are *major* taboo because it goes against their roles. The Rox is supposed to hold because they’re larger (it’s more comfortable for them because they have more space down there), they can defend the eggs better (which mattered more with their ancestors and so carried on thru today) and if they’re in a reproductive role they have more time for proper pouch care and more nutrition as opposed to a reproductive Dorest, who still has duties outside the unit that can include labor. When the Rox feels the larva moving around, they’ll rip open the pouch to release them (where they then fall under the care of the nearest applicable Dorest. )

This little guy then grows during their larval stage, continuously shedding their soft outer casing rather than having a designated number molts like in later stages. Nothing new is being grown, specific things are just getting bigger (such as their head, arms/legs, and setae) as they store fat and prepare their body for the metamorphosis. They only have an exoskeleton, which is fairly springy and soft. Basically, the larva stage is only for storing energy and getting things bigger to be a better blueprint for their new features later.

Once they’re ready, their body starts sectioning out a bit for the general layout of what they’re going to look like (this is the prepupa stage, characterized by their larger size and more discernible features). they all gather in a suitable place (or are herded to a specific place by adults), and then go inactive to grow a thick outer layer derived from their exoskeleton. This serves as their chrysalis. The chrysalis stage is where they actually change , adding in the body parts of adults (such as scales, claws, their mouthpart and head layout, eyes, fingers/toes, antenna, etc) and completely restructuring themselves for bipedalism. As I mentioned earlier, offspring are usually separated into different areas. This is to make it easier to concentrate the pheromone signals and enzymes they’ll introduce to cause the Drecu soup in the chrysalis to develop a certain way. (If this doesn’t happen, basically they don’t have the thing that unlocks their instructions on how to grow. they’ll stay soup and just die in the chrysalis.)

Juveniles/Chicks/Dusties/ Hatchlings are where they consider the true start of their life to be. The 'Dusty'nickname comes from the dull gray if their scales. Based on the prompts they received in the chrysalis, they emerged with either Dorest or Rox traits being dominant. However, as you can see, they still kind of look similar. Particularly, the Rox is missing/has underdeveloped a lot of the discerning Rox features (they have the space for their ear disks but haven’t grown them yet, so they’re deaf, they arent red, don’t have quills , and don’t have their thumb claw)

This is because Dorest is the default, the R enzyme breaks down the enzyme that makes them a Dorest.

They have a predisposed path (broad strokes in their head, leg, abdomen, and tail shape that happened in the chrysalis) that was determined in the chrysalis, but at this age they need continued reinforcement from D/R adults around them in order to ‘lock in’ those adult traits. Because of this, they’re usually kept separated after emerging from the chrysalis ( D hatchlings with other Dorest and R hatchlings with a lower caste Rox or under the care of a Dorest with enough Rox around to introduce them to more of the R enzyme)

Once they have pupated, there are a total of 5 size changes. The first 3 are in the juvenile/hatchling/etc stage where theyll be locking in features. There is a ‘critical period’ during the end of the juvenile stage where insufficient/irregular reinforcement or too many mixed signals will cause them to miss the ‘lock’ that causes them to develop and/or fully retain those features. (depending on when this happens, this means that a Rox can be missing anything from their color to their spines, and even a Dorest can not develop their horns, tail, or colors. )This can’t be undone after the 3rd molt that brings them into the subadult stage (which means they wouldn’t qualify as a subadult, since they’re missing a lot of those developments)

a similar change can happen if an adult Drecu is isolated from others, though this will only change their behavior because their body has stopped changing at this point. for example, a Rox removed from all other drecu will begin to present as a Dorest (emitting those pheremones and being less aggressive/more nurturing and caring rather than possessive and territorial), and in an environment where there’s only other Rox around they might start giving off Dorest signals too. A Dorest removed from any other drecu will act the same, but when there’s only other D around one might start presenting like a Rox (acting territorial, aggressive, and leaderlike) and mimicking Rox signals.

The subadult stage is very close to being adult. They're called colts because of their newness/inexperience, not because of the horse thing. Theyre also called proxies because they're closer to adults in the unit, therefore doing more important tasks that have been delegated to then. The number of size-changing molts can vary here, but its usually they'll go throguh the last 2 of the total 5 (but, some lower castes stay around this size due to nutrition and stuff.) If they’ve properly developed from the previous stage, they should have all their adult features and should keep those features for the rest of their life.

They’re considered an adult when they can reproduce, which changes their size, setae hair length, and coloring. Whether or not they actually *do* reproduce is a whole other status thing, since only some in the unit have that right.

This is a convoluted way to introduce some possibilities for some WEIRD lookin drecu characters who fumbled the critical period. I'm cooking one up rn >:)

[luck-of-the-drawings]

[OLD ART ALERT] A COLLECTION OF SCENES FROM THE GILLIONS CATSCRATCH ARC THAT BROUGHT ME GREAT JOY. i love fishy chips especially when its just gillion being delirious and violent and hostile

[heweramber]

the girlies

They're canonically dating each other

[softness-and-shattering]

So I put on this netflix show, in their tradition of being extremely obvious with names its called Mech Cadets, and its an alien-mecha human-pilot fight-the-giant-bug-aliens story. My first complaint is that the alien mechas are called Robo's. Wow exciting /sarcasm. Anyway thats totally forgiven because 1 the story actually makes choices and puts the characters through consequences instead of like hinting at oh it something bad gonna happen psych we dont have the guts for that. Its a kid/teen show so its not super dark but it follows through and goes the places it needs to.

2, and maybe most importantly, I gotta talk about the disability rep. There's four teens chosen by the alien mechs to be their drift-compatible pilots (I think im using that correctly? Im not super informed on the genre but I know some), and we see straight away that one of the guys has a prosthetic leg from the thigh down, and uses it as an example to tell the main protagonist, hey none of us are perfect we dont have to be perfect we just need to be human. The next episode the mechas are given human-designed weapons to fight with, and the disabled kid gets these flippy sticks I cant quite work out. One of them gets a staff, the other gets this glove for punching, story moves on. Then a bug-alien-antagonist gets into the teens dorm and while fighting it, the alien dismembers the guys prosthetic. He immediately grabs his crutches and goes to town on it with his crutches, and balancing on them to kick with his one good foot*. Then they disconnect the rest of the prosthetic and use its sharp edge to kill the alien. And then he just moves around on his crutches with no comment and Ill cut myself off there so I dont spoil the whole thing.

Except, a couple episodes later, Im watching him in the mech fighting and moving around, and I realise that his giant fuck-off monster attacking weapons ARE A PAIR OF CRUTCHES. Theyre his fucking WEAPONS. Thats cool as fuck!

[acatwithapencil]

Here’s another LiS oc from 2022

[tinie-alien]

Cozy Christmas-y Agere Board for Wade & Logan 🥰☃️

🌟 Request Info • Masterpost 🌟

[cordycepsbian]

bug fabl dragon designs

[soft-bugs]

Some 2D-Animated Animal Characters that Impacted my Childhood 💕💞

Characters from left to right, top to bottom: Koda (Brother Bear), Stitch (Lilo & Stitch), Jake (Adventure Time), SpongeBob SquarePants, Scamp (Lady & the Tramp 2), Courage the Cowardly Dog, Squirtle (Pokémon), Aipom (Pokémon), Cheshire Cat (Alice In Wonderland 1951), Scooby Doo, Eeyore (Winnie The Pooh), Kovu (The Lion King 2), Max (Max & Ruby), Blue (Blues Clues), Snoopy & Woodstock (Peanuts), Chowder, Max Goof (A Goofy Movie), Mushu (Mulan), Hige (Wolf's Rain)

[personostient]

MORE. Baug Aliens.

Introducing Sterling Wasps, native hymenopterans of the Glass Sea Bed:

These wasps are variable in color, exoskeletons shifting from an obsidian black to a gleaming silvery sheen under direct sunlight.

Their unique physical make up serves as a way to reduce and reflect heat and harmful radiation while active during the day.

Sterling Wasp Colonies form deep burrows beneath the sand; Their caves often take on a crystalline form or patterning along the walls and ceilings

They are fast. Rivaling jet speeds, their wing beats carry them far across the scorching sandy surface to limit their time above ground. (Spectators observe Wasp activity as a glittering from a distance matching that of the sparkling sand.)

———

‘Ambassadors, looking for more information about special presentations or volunteer opportunities? Contact your local division leaders and bee involved!

Please also join us for the upcoming “Wings Over Seas” air show and festival for heart racing experiences! Food, Music, Aerial demonstrations, epic tournament sporting, immersive exhibits, and exclusive lectures held by our hymenopteran guest speakers (See details inside)’

- Excerpt from ‘Hive Society’ Springtime Ambassador Programs

[brawlingdiscontent]

Forces beyond my control have compelled me to write this musical meta-analysis of Supernatural season 8, episode 17, "Goodbye Stranger", the one where after Dean's beautiful pleading breaks through Naomi's brainwashing, Castiel flees the crypt and absconds on a bus with the angel stone while the titular track plays.

Quick links – link to full song - song clip in the episode - Dean and Cas crypt scene

"Goodbye Stranger" is an archetypically Dean song: the narrative seems to be a roving man leaving a fling after trying to make a go of settling down, severing ties but wishing her unconditional happiness -- but the show positions it as Cas'. While there are other resonances with song within the episode (Meg dies, Cas and Naomi's sudden estrangement), it most aligns with the bittersweet parting of Cas leaving Dean. And I'm absolutely tickled pink at the implication that that 'love 'em and leave 'em' Dean Winchester has been one-upped in this regard by his gay angel boyfriend. (I imagine Dean going 'oh. So that's how it feels'--though we all also know that he’s never as Bad as he pretends to be.)

The song is multi-layered and complex, and for me the clincher is in the small details. Beyond its surface of upbeat orchestrations, the possibility of the singer’s callousness emerges, that his seeming consideration towards his lover(s) is a front. But then you have these hints—the little clutch of the key change towards the minor in the piano vamp before the chorus; the plaintive, possibly wistful note in the question, 'will we ever meet again?'—that suggest that the callousness, too, may be a front. And is this not Dean to a T?? A big blustery facade of affability and/or detachment hiding a vulnerable, squishy interior, a bleeding heart? And the song’s attribution to Cas also suggests a similar state of mind in Cas in the departure scene that it underscores.

I argue the song is the key to the episode. Before it plays, Dean's pleas of "We're family... I need you!" reach Cas through Naomi's brainwashing and break the spell of her compulsions. His mind newly freed, Cas tells Dean he has to hide the tablet and protect it from Naomi, but also somewhat inexplicably, from Dean—or perhaps not so inexplicably.

Things have changed for Cas regarding Dean. When Cas first rebelled in S4 it was for the cause of Team Free Will as much as his feelings for Dean, and only since his recent stint as a human has he begun to examine these feelings. (As he notes a few episodes later, "The ebb and flow of human emotion. Dean, I've been on earth for a few years and I've only begun to grasp it" - (9.6)). Furthermore, the angels have drawn his attention to Dean's impact on him. Hester accuses Dean (in front of Cas) in 7.21: "The very touch of you corrupts. When Castiel first laid a hand on you in hell, he was lost." In his new state, Cas can see the parallels between Naomi and Dean as people who have influence on him; Naomi through mind control, Dean through love.

This influence of Dean’s is conveyed via the “Goodbye Stranger” theme. The Dean vibes and classic rock form suggest that Dean is rubbing off on Cas (so to speak). And just as the narrator of the song claims settling down is not for him—love and romance are not supposed to be the purview of angels.

This is where we can pull on the song lyrics, particularly those that appear in the specific clipped portion of the song in the episode’s closing scene. Towards the end the singer croons, "Sweet devotion, it's not for me." We could read this two ways: - one is that Dean certainly poured out some sweet devotion in his plea to Cas in the crypt- but two, is that perhaps the sweet devotion is something being felt by Cas, and that he's running from. One of the messages of the song is freedom (including from romantic entanglements) which very much resonates with Supernatural’s overarching theme of free will. This is a major concern of Cas’ as he gave up everything for free will (and Dean) so he must contemplate anything that might challenge it—including his love for Dean.  We must also consider Cas' atrocity-related feelings of unworthiness (mirroring Dean's in S4) which made him stay behind in Purgatory - perhaps he doesn't feel worthy of Dean's love.

When Cas says he has to protect the tablet from Dean, he means he has to protect it from his feelings for Dean and the way they've fundamentally changed his nature (“knowing you has changed me”). Freshly freed from Naomi’s power, he needs time to sort out for himself what these feelings are and the influence they have on him. (When Cas tells Dean he doesn’t know what broke the connection in the crypt, at best he's still processing and confused, at worst he’s lying.) Not to mention that Cas still feels the need to atone for massacring all those angels—this is not the time for selfish feelings, no matter how much he may want to indulge them.

The song at the episode’s end confirms Dean's influence and also reveals that though Cas is fleeing, he's now (and always going forwards) carrying a part of Dean with him.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk justifying my listening to “Goodbye Stranger” 178 times on loop - sponsored by the power of doing a little reading!

A little postscript on lyrics-based joy — One of my absolute favourite things is reading break-up songs through the lens of Dean and Cas’ frequent enforced separations: I would absolutely sob to hear Cas tell Dean: "Feel no sorrow/ Feel no shame/ Come tomorrow/ Feel no pain." Within the context of “Goodbye Stranger” one might read into the potentially more callous side of the lyrics—the flippant and inadequate advice of one escaping commitment—but in Dean and Cas' world (where they’re most likely to be tied to one of Cas’ eight deaths) they read as a true benediction. And is this not the message that Cas would most want to leave Dean with?? Be still, my heart!!