#Kurkulie

[almightyhamslice]

Insektober day 24: Prank

Kurkulie convinced Synapse to use the Sky Breaker on the first day of May, so when Nokturno wakes up, she thinks it's the middle of winter! Due to her complicated upbringing (she was raised underwater, then developed her hibernation condition shortly after emerging on land) Nokturno has never seen snow in her entire life!

[maxtonyshow]

Max & Tony talk with long time friend Marcus McKenzie!

Marcus has recently started up a brand called Summer alongside fellow Chicago Artist Alex Kurkulis. Listen to how it all got started!

SHOP SUMMER

SUBSCRIBE TO THE MAX & TONY SHOW HERE!

SPOTIFY

APPLE

GOOGLE

[almightyhamslice]

Insektober day 12: Mystery!

Kaboche tries to read Sherlock Holmes to Kretinus, but he passes out after a few chapters. Unity, however, is eager to hear the end of the story even though she's read it 10 times before!

If you remember, Unity is the former librarian of Krud City and a ghost inhabiting it in the present day. She talks to Kruds who care for the library and make offerings to her! Most Kruds are so careless with the books and shelves, but Kaboche is at least decently respectful. He likes to visit the library during his lunch break and even keeps a mini fridge in there for snacks of his. He offers them to Unity, but she can't actually eat them since she's a ghost and it'd go right through her! But she is flattered by the gesture.

I dunno if Kretinus can see her, but I'm sure Unity's happy to see her nephew again regardless! I think he would like to try to talk to her but often doesn't have the time... today's failed book club session not withstanding LOL. Related, Synapse and Kurkulie can't see Unity either!

Also I slightly revised Unity's design since the last time you saw her! I switched her color scheme around so now her face is darker and her eyes have brighter highlights to better reflect actual Boll weevils. I'm also RLLY tempted to draw her with pompoms on her shoes to match her eyelashes (which are meant to resemble cotton balls cuz boll weevils eat cotton) but I honestly worry it'll make her look too much like a clown LOL. Maybe I should just lean into it at this point smh... Boll Weevils are pretty funny. they have their own monument and everything!!

I dont think Kretinus likes Sherlock Holmes much. Maybe they should introduce him to BBC's version of the story... LOL! just kidding I never watched that shit lmao

[almightyhamslice]

Insektober day 3: Backstory!

A young Krabo (not quite a Lord then) pays a visit to Doctor Aedes' laboratory, though he's actually only here to see her assistant, Synapse. He is here for a weekly dose of T, which Synapse gives him since Aedes' vision isn't what it used to be.

Aedes is a tiger mosquito! She was ancient, having been lead scientist for several decades. She trained Synapse and Magus in their youth, and was only succeeded by another lead scientist (Magus) after she passed away. She was friendly and humorous, but often times a little too playful and liked to mess with the other Kruds. She was very meticulous about her work, but a lot of her patients feared she was a quack. If she were still alive she'd tell you it was all nonsense!

Krabo headcanon/overanalysis under the cut???

Regarding Krabo, he has a funky relationship with gender to say the least. Krud society is not outright hostile towards transgender Kruds, nor is there anything explicitly stated in Krud dogma that would cause your average Krud to be dismissive of transgenderism, but Krabo still feels the need to hide this facet of himself in front of his peers, other than Synapse and the doctors. I think whether or not Krabo wants to admit it, Krud society does often punish those who stray from conformity, and he's afraid because to transition would be "non-conformist" of him. He often goes through old documents about himself and forges them to reflect his current self, to keep commoners from finding out his "secret". Synapse and Kurkulie have reminded him time and again that it's not as big a deal as he makes it out to be, but I think Krabo won't feel truly comfortable until he resolves his inner turmoil and self hatred. He's... kind of a mess?

Anyways this isn't like canon to the show or anything its just smth I thought of cuz I couldnt figure out what type of cockroach he was when I watched the show LOL. I thought he could be a dubia cockroach since they don't fly or climb and they're very round. Thing with that is, the males still have prominent wings n the females only have wing stubs. Krabo had stubby wings in Insektors: The Making Of, so that gave me the idea that he might've removed them on purpose!

If you recall my Trans Day of Visibility drawings featuring Insektors characters and OCs, you might remember I drew Krabo on there but I didn't color him in! That's because, unlike Kaboche, he's stealth. He's generally pretty uncomfortable with others knowing he's trans. There is actually 1 other trans insektors character I haven't gone in depth with yet, but... thats for a similar yet different reason. It's difficult! I want to reveal who it is but their identity is so tied to a story arc in my rewrite that I think it'd be a huge spoiler! Wtf do I do there... write the damn rewrite I guess LOL.

[almightyhamslice]

my drawing for the ‘science’ prompt. since the AU one was late, this one was too...

Anyhow Itchy gets a checkup!! They are getting their wires rearranged. It’s a lot like getting a vaccine in a way...

[almightyhamslice]

Full-color drawings of all my Insektors characters, other than Kachhua since I already drew several of her. They are, in order: Iridamorous, Makabris, Nokturno, Okagne, and Kurkulie. Iridamorous is a Verigreen, all the others are Kruds. You may recognize Makabris, Kurkulie, and Okagne from sketches I’ve posted on this blog previously! 

Iridamorous, or Irid for short, is a bagworm moth. He has quite a knack for building things, and is good friends with Kachhua. He’s also a spy, so they do spend lots of time together outside of the Flowered City. He is a frequent victim of mistaken identity, by the Kruds he often eavesdrops on. They never suspect a thing...

Makabris is a stink bug. He is the Kruds’ blacksmith, and he supplies Synapse with metal as well as helping him construct his machines. Makabris tries to maintain a good relationship with all the Kruds, though it can be difficult sometimes due to his... scent. He has something of a brotherly bond with Krabouic and Kaboche.

Nokturno is a mayfly. She is basically comatose 11 out of 12 months of every year, awakening only for May. Feeling like she’d be a burden to the Kruds otherwise, she assigned herself the job of inspector, tasked with writing down anything dangerous or suspicious she finds within the city during her only month awake. Kurkulie is in charge of monitoring her for the rest of the year, after the end of May. It’s a rather time-consuming job, but at least it’s been easy. Nokturno is quite fond of Kretinus, since he’s always the one to walk her around the city & tell her what she’s missed each year.

Okagne is a jumping spider. She is a weaver, and she specializes in blankets... mostly because her fellow Kruds don’t really tend to wear clothes that aren’t metal armor or merely part of their exoskeleton. She’s the second youngest (named) Krud in the city, other than Max of course, and is very energetic and a bit naïve. As a spider, of course her primary medium is silk... though, she is known to use more coarse material out of spite if someone makes her mad (like Krabo LOL).

Kurkulie is a filbert weevil. She is the Kruds’ doctor, a position she shares with Synapse if things get dire. She’s a very kind and caring person, but isn’t as knowledgeable on medicine as she ought to be. If she isn’t confined to her office with Nokturno, she can often be found in the library looking through medical books for assistance. She is farsighted, and needs glasses to read and work... which she rests on her antennae. Perfect spot for them, correct angle and everything! She is Kretinus’ mother, and they are very close. She loves her son dearly, no matter how many mistakes he makes.

whew, that was a lot more text than I thought I was gonna write LOL. Hope you like them though! I had fun designing all of them!

[almightyhamslice]

Insektors fan-character creation guide, please? 🤩🤩🤩

Ok honestly I'm not the absolute authority on Insektors OCs nor do I have a super strict method, BUT I will take you through my personal design process!!

So firstly, I decide on a species of bug. This is the foundation of the design, so it's pretty important! I often choose insect species that are personal to me in some way, but it's totally ok to pick a species just because it looks cool! I did that for Drako, Kurkulie, and Nokturno, lol.

Species also has somewhat of a bearing on personality, in many different ways. Makabris is super burly because stink bugs are a type of shield bug so he's very defensive, but he's also rather easily embarrassed due to his reflexive defensive chemical spray. Kachhua is prone to lying because the green tortoise beetle mimics the ladybug, pretending to be something it's not.

It can also be fun to invert species tropes when designing a character! Iridamorous is very gender non-conforming, while bagworms are extremely dimorphic IRL. He borrows traits from male and female bagworm moths, but is most easily distinguished as male because he flies. Rook is a water strider, but he has severe thalassophobia (or... hydrophobia, perhaps? which is funny since water strider legs are hydrophobic in a biological sense) and wears a coat that looks just like a life jacket.

Regarding species, there's also anatomy to think about.

I think generally when designing Insektors characters, it's completely acceptable to play fast & loose when it comes to bug anatomy. Generally characters will have less arms/legs than their IRL counterparts, and some can have very fantastical features (canonically: Krabouic & Kaboche have weird teeth, Synapse has a large crest instead of a long snout like Kretinus even though they're both weevils, and neither Aelia nor Pyro have proboscises)!

It's also okay if you pick a species that's kind of close to a canon character's species, and your fan character looks nothing like them. Like I said before, Synapse and Kretinus are both weevils and look nothing like each other! Iridamorous is a moth just like Pyro, but he doesn't look like him, and Makabris is a type of shield bug just like Krabouic and Kaboche (though, that's just my headcanon personally. They're really vaguely designed imo lol... but I guess that's more reason to get experimental with anatomy, right?) So really, I think nothing is off the table.

Generally most Insektors characters do have the same number of eyes as their IRL counterparts, but Prince Max and Queen Bakrakra do not. This could mean that 2 eyes is just the standard for all characters, but I don't think it's set in stone, hence why Zarojo has eyespots & goggles with 3 lenses, and Okagne has 6 eyes.

Stylistically, I try and stay as close as possible to the source material, though it's fun to break a few rules every now and then!

A lot of my characters are modeled after canon characters, having something of an amalgamation of multiple characters' features. I think Okagne is likely the least canon-compliant of the roster, since she has fuzz all over (which isn't exhibited on any of the characters), weird eyes, and extra arms that take on a weird shape. Fuzz in general may be non-canon-compliant because I imagine it'd be a pain to render using such old cgi technology, but I think it looks cute & it'd be weird for certain bugs not to have it (except Nokturno, Mayflies don't actually have fuzz at all- I just drew her with a fluffy collar because it made her look cooler LOL). Plus, the UK dub mentions that Pyro has dandruff... which you have to have hair in order for it to manifest!! So of course insektors characters can be fluffy!

Additionally, I don't really draw FCs with eyelashes, since no characters in the show have them. The exception to this would be Unity, because I wanted to think of a unique antenna placement for her that'd be different from all the other weevils. So generally I avoid eyelashes, but like a lot of other features, I'm sure they're possible! Also don't be afraid to give your characters more human-looking clothing. I personally like to skew towards more organic-looking outfit designs, but again Pyro proves to be a very helpful reference in this situation! He DEFINITELY wears clothes that are not made of exoskeleton material. Crosette wears actual clothing, and so does Kaliko. Okagne and Iridamorous are intentionally ambiguous, and Makabris and Kachhua's 'outfits' are definitely all just part of their bodies. Fun fact, Makabris' collar pattern (the part before the stripe at the end) is intended to look like a fading houndstooth pattern!

Lastly, character names!

I like giving my characters rather verbose names, though some of them (Drako & Rook) are rather brief. Most character names I decide on have some form of meaning behind them, and others are chosen just because I think they'd sound cool (like Kaliko lol). For more examples: Zarojo's name is pretty simple & just based on their maroon coloration ("za rojo"- the rojo- the red), Crosette is named after a type of firework (since she's a red cracker butterfly, it made me think of firecrackers), and Nokturno's name is derived from 'nocturnal' (since she's asleep when the Kruds are active... it's not a perfect description since she isn't really nocturnal, but it does sound cool LOL). I tend to think of names last, since it usually takes me ages to come up with them. Nokturno especially, I have files on my computer calling her 'Nokturna' and 'Nokturnus' because I couldn't decide at first. Also, I like to include 'K' in most of my kruds' names, to match the naming scheme used in the original version & NA dub of the show. This is DEFINITELY optional, and I don't follow it all the time.

So, that's about all I've got I think. I hope you found this helpful, and have fun drawing your character(s)! I'll have to check the Insektors tag more often, I'd love to see other people's characters! I think I've actually only met one other person who even HAS insektors fan characters, and that's @dnpanimationstudioclone lol! so, shoutout to her as well. (she also inspired me to call Lord Draco 'lord' instead of 'king' during a discussion we were having on discord)

[almightyhamslice]

Had a bad dream, Nokturno?

[almightyhamslice]

idk if Kruds have cameras but they should. Anyways here’s Kretinus as a larva, and his mom Kurkulie. She’s a filbert weevil.