#Maine Cockroach Control

[greenpestdefense]

Residential Pest Control Maine | commercial Pest Control Auburn

[bestanimal]

Round 2 - Arthropoda - Insecta

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our last athropods, the hexapod crustacean class Insecta, is one of the most successful groups of animal on earth. They are the most diverse, with over a million known species, comprising more than half of all eukaryote (animals, plants, fungi, etc) species, making them the “Default Animal.” They are comprised of three main groups: Archaeognatha (“Jumping Bristletails”), Zygentoma (“Silverfish” and “Firebrats”), and Pterygota (winged or secondarily wingless insects).

As hexapods, insects have a three-part body plan: head, thorax with 6 legs, and abdomen. They have compound eyes (some in addition to ocelli) and a pair of antennae. Many groups have 1-2 pairs of wings as adults. Insects have many means of perceiving the world: compound eyes and ocelli for seeing, tympanal organs for hearing, and receptors on the antennae and mouthparts for smelling. They live in almost every environment and occupy almost every niche. Many are aquatic, or have aquatic larvae. They are the first animals to have evolved flight. Some are solitary, some are social, some live in large, well-organized colonies. Some communicate with pheromones, some with sounds, some with bioluminescence. Some are venomous, some are poisonous. Most insects hatch from eggs, though some are birthed live. Some hatch as miniature adults, some go through a partial metamorphosis in which the larval stage looks vastly different from the adults, and some go through a complete metamorphosis in which a nearly immobile pupa is formed. Some insects provide maternal care. Some are carnivores, some herbivores, some omnivores, some parasites. Some spend most of their lives in their larval stage, and don’t even feed as adults. Due to the high diversity of insects, it would be impossible for me to summarize them further!

Fossil insects are known from the Paleozoic Era, during which they achieved large sizes, such as the giant dragonfly-like Meganeuropsis permiana, with an estimated wingspan of up to 710 millimetres (28 in), and a body length from head to tail of almost 430 millimetres (17 in).

Propaganda under the cut:

Insects are absolutely critical in all ecosystems, forming the base of the food chain, turning and aerating soil, controlling pests, encouraging or controlling the growth of plants, scavenging and recycling biological materials, and creating topsoil. Without insects, our planet would die.

There are many contenders for “largest insect.” The Giant Stick Insect (Phobaeticus serratipes) is the longest insect in the world, with specimens recorded at over 56 cm (22 inches), including their legs. The Giant Weta (Deinacrida heteracantha) is the heaviest, with a record of 2.5 ounces. Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) has the largest wingspan, which reaches up to 30 cm (1 foot) wide.

Meanwhile, the smallest known adult insect is a parasitic wasp, Dicopomorpha echmepterygis, commonly called “Fairyflies”. Males are wingless, blind and measure only 0.127 mm long.

Many insects are popular pets, including various species of mantis, cockroach, beetle, moth, and ant! Some are even domesticated, including silk moths and honeybees.

Many insects are eaten by humans, and farming insects for food is considered more sustainable than farming large chordates. These farmed arthropods are referred to as “minilivestock.”

Shellac is a resin secreted by the female Lac Bug (Kerria lacca) on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze, natural primer, sanding sealant, tannin-blocker, odour-blocker, stain, and high-gloss varnish. It was once used in electrical applications as an insulator, and was used to make phonograph and gramophone records until it was replaced by vinyl.

One of the biggest ecosystem services insects provide for humans is pollination. Crops where pollinator insects are essential include brazil nuts, cocoa beans, and fruits including kiwi, melons, and pumpkins. Crops where pollinator insects provide 40-90% of pollination include avocados, nuts like cashews and almonds, and fruits like apples, apricots, blueberries, cherries, mangoes, peaches, plums, pears, and raspberries. In crops where pollinators are not essential they still increase production and yield. Important pollinators include bees, flies, wasps, butterflies, and moths.

Many insects are sacred to humans. In Ancient Egypt, scarab beetles were used in art, religious ceremonies, and funerary practices, and were represented by the god Khepri. Bees supposedly grew from the tears of the sun god Ra, spilled across the desert sand. The Kalahari Desert's San People tell of a legendary hero, Mantis, who asked a bee to guide him to find the purpose of life. When the bee became weary from their search, he left the mantis on a floating flower, and planted a seed within him before passing from his exhaustion. The first human was born from this seed. Dragonflies symbolize pure water in Navajo tradition. In an Ancient Greek hymn, Eos, the goddess of the dawn, requests of Zeus to let her lover Tithonus live forever as an immortal. Tithonus became immortal, but not ageless, and eventually became so small, old, and shriveled that he turned into the first cicada. Another hymn sings of the Thriae, a trinity of Aegean bee nymphs. Native Athenians wore golden grasshopper brooches to symbolize that they were of pure, Athenian lineage. In an Ancient Sumerian poem, a fly helps the goddess Inanna when her husband Dumuzid is being chased by galla demons. In Japanese culture, butterflies carry many meanings, from being the souls of humans to symbols of youth to guides into the afterlife. Ancient Romans also believed that butterflies were the souls of the dead. Some of the Nagas of Manipur claim ancestry from a butterfly. Many cultures use the butterfly as a symbol of rebirth. And the list goes on…

[legendary-lunatic]

Okay, So I just finished binge watching all four Despicable Mes in one day, and I gotta say that I did not care for the fourth movie.

It was disappointing… which is a shame, because Maxime Le Mal is awesome.

The concept of a cockroach villain, is epic. He had a great character design, a fun personality, and he had past conflict with Gru.

The problem with the fourth movie is that it is not plot driven enough and instead keeps splicing screen time for family fluff moments and side characters like Poppy.

Poppy, as much as I thought she was a fun presence, was NOT needed in the movie, and neither was all of that Safe House Country Club shit. Why would they go out of their way to say ‘Hey Gru? Let’s stop acting like the grumpy protagonist we love and instead behave completely out of character so you can pretend you like playing tennis.’ It was unnecessary and not what we needed from a character we have grown to find charming because of the way he can be both kind and a grumpy asshole. (Like Shrek.) Shrek does not belong at a country club, and neither does Gru.

We introduce a villain school that Gru went to only to not only completely avoid talking about him or the school in that context, but bring it up again solely for an irrelevant character who overall contributes nothing the the story at hand.

All of the other films in some way had a proactivity to them that kept the main antagonist in mind, and this film does not work because they keep shoving Maxime to the side. They should have completely scrapped all the minion fantastic four hero parody crap and stayed focused on the overall narrative and developing the new central antagonist.

It would have been fantastic if we had gotten more background on the conflict between Gru and Maxime. Apparently they had a little rivalry or just generally were jerks to each other in school as we find out that not only did Gru steal his song, Maxime pantsd him in front of the school, not to mention how they interacted in the beginning of the film, so clearly there is bad blood. This is the first villain that had conflict with Gru specifically, and it would have been an excellent central plot point to focus on his early life, or a great way to develop a villain that’s built out of personal grudge rather than inherently destructive ambition like the others.

And instead that was SQUANDERED by this absolutely directionless travesty. Maxime’s girlfriend, first of all, was useless and distracting. All the little cutaway moments and side stories were unnecessary, and overall it was incredibly disappointing to have a guy that can CONTROL COCKROACHES do absolutely nothing with them. He could be strong and invulnerable, He could have been mutating more people, controlling swarms, he could have been going after Gru more intensely and talking about how they bullied each other and that could have been very interesting.

But no. This is the only film in which the main antagonist takes such a back seat that he can effectively be cut from the film and it would hardly impact a thing. Maxime had potential and stage presence, and they did nothing with it in favor of fluff.

And Listen, LISTEN, fluff isn’t bad, I love their family- but it should not comprise 98% of the film!!! It should be wedged into little moments between plot points. Even Despicable Me 3, which had a bizarre out of left field twin plot, handled their villain with more respect and managed to tie in the two narratives in a way that culminated in a final act that was satisfying to all the characters.

Brat had charisma and was a genuine threat and was present enough in the story that he was still necessary to the story overall because he and his diamond were the reason Gru lost his job and he and his brother did the heist to retrieve it. By the end of the first half of the film we knew that Brat was a washed up star that peaked in his childhood and was trapped in his nostalgia, and he had a fully fleshed out motivation and draw to him despite being rather simple that allowed us to indulge in his quirks. His pathetic nostalgic personality CARRIES that film because it’s funny and endearing and believable because we’ve all met someone like that.

But Maxime is not such a simple character by design because his motivations are relationship focused- and in this film they spend most of the time running away from Maxime, which is counter intuitive and lets us understand absolutely nothing about the guy. Because they didn’t delve deeper, Le Mal’s motivations were weak, and thus the overall STORY was weak. We don’t even know why he has such an intense hyper fixation on cockroaches that he would literally roachify himself and make that his central theme!!!

Why didn’t Lucy and the kids go to the safe house and Gru could stay to deal with his rival? It doesn’t make sense!!! And the AVL was doing nothing about the threat at all and instead was being ridiculous by giving the minions super powers? Ineptitude to the point of absurdity. What is the point of going to a safe house if they aren’t trying to resolve the issue and then Gru does it anyway?!!!!

Brain dead. Disappointing. On every level.

They didn’t even resolve the personal conflicts the girls were having, what with Margo having trouble at school and Agnes not liking telling lies! What was the point?!

The animation may have been pretty, but the plot was weak. The character motivations were weak because they didn’t expand on them. There were thousands of directions they could have gone with this film and they chose to go NOWHERE.

The best part of the film is the end, and only because we got to see Maxime be relevant for three minutes and it implies that they’ve managed to wrap up their implied but borderline nonexistent rivalry. And we got two seconds of Brat dancing way too over sensually to ‘Rule the World’ because it’s an 80s song (the power of character consistency)

I don’t like hearing ‘ItS JuSt a KiDs FiLm’- NO. Pandering to children is not an excuse for bad writing in family media, and this franchise has been out long enough that it has an audience larger than just kids. Kids media and family media deserve better and should still have good narrative standards. Do not insult our intelligence by giving us content without purpose. It costs millions of dollars and months upon years to make a film nowadays, there is no excuse for not sitting down and coming up with a decent story direction and cohesive plan. A family film can be enjoyable for little ones and still have depth to it-

Family movies have been getting insanely messy lately with their story content because they think seeing characters we like regurgitated at us with good animation is enough to keep the company afloat and appease everyone, and it’s irritating. Dig deeper, have some respect for your craft. Keep our expectations high to keep us coming back!

I love the Despicable Me world and characters, but honestly this was such a disjointed film that it was almost hard to enjoy because I just kept waiting for something, anything to happen, and was utterly let down.

Maxime Le Mal deserved better as a villain, and this film deserved better. This franchise deserved better. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[cenorii]

Indifference and Excella

Today I'd like to talk about an issue like indifference and its consequences. But we won't talk about whether it's bad or not, I just want to discuss how Excella's indifference changed the history of all the following games.

Excella had known Wesker since about 2003, but had been directly close to him since about 2006, when she gained control of Tricell Inc. From 2006 to 2009, she was close to him, through which she began to experience romantic feelings that blinded her critical thinking. But even without the crush, she was indifferent to what kind of person he was, and that probably always annoyed him in people (Wesker's second report states how he hates people who elevate others only for their background and not for their personal accomplishments. Excella exalted Wesker perhaps not even for his research but for his looks, that is, she did not read between the lines at all and did not pay attention to who was actually standing in front of her).

Being indifferent to his personality, she did not notice at all, so unstable man was next to her. The object of her lust had a huge bouquet of psychological problems and inferiority complexes, which he hid behind a mask of calmness.

However, even this mask gave a crack in re5, you can tell by the animation of the sudden outburst of anger.

gif by

But while in re5 he's angry because his plan is slowly falling apart, in the Lost in Nightmares DLC, it's much deeper than that...

He just learned the truth about his life, and his anger is probably directed at that fact. He's angry at the truth and the fact that his past continues to haunt him (Chris and Jill). His past in the form of Umbrella, who he ran away from, has also caught up with him again, turning out to be the truth he had to face. Because of his pretense and “calm” image, he never learned to deal with his emotions, and I'm surprised that Excella never noticed it, since he must have been angry when the cockroaches mutated on his ship.

Based on all of this, Excella hasn't been paying attention to the fact that the person next to her isn't what she thinks he is. Chris is blind to Wesker's psychological problems too and he is clearly not the person who would suggest he go to a psychiatrist, but he, unlike Excella, has good reasons for this. For example, he's blinded by his resentment toward Wesker (for the mansion, for kidnapping Jill, and so on), he's also blinded by hatred. But Excella treated Wesker well, was directly next to him, and still missed the fact that everything in his character screams that he needs help.

Yes, if someone had offered him psychological help, he obviously wouldn't have liked it, but he would have realized anyway that someone had shown him attentiveness. He would have felt that someone cares about something much deeper in him than his external image, and maybe that would have made a difference.

Just imagine that ONE caring person could have changed the course of further history by showing of the right attention. Especially if this person had appeared long before re5, for example in 2006, when Wesker was the most psychologically unstable because he learned the truth from Spencer. Feeling that someone didn't just sympathize with him, but wanted to help him deal with an deep problem, perhaps he would have made other decisions in the future.

After all, in fact, Wesker is not so much interested in Uroboros and power, as in getting people from it who would be equal to him and consider him. His main problem is a sense of detachment, as if he is superfluous, different from everyone else as a white crow, and so he needs a society made up of white crows like him. He strives to stop feeling "different". And for the sake of this, he has made the mistaken decision to “make others like him”, because he considers "ordinary" people unworthy.

However, he turns a blind eye to the fact that all these people he considers unworthy have a chance to merge with Uroboros and become like him. So it's the same "unworthy" people, just in a different cover, you know? This is another fact that proves that he doesn't care what kind of people will become the Uroboros users, he wants that they just exist. It's important to him that there are people like him.

And if just ONE person in his past had shown genuine empathy for his personality, advising him to see a specialist, maybe the whole RE story would have gone differently. There would be no Jill kidnapping, no Uroboros, no biological weapons and the organizations responsible for them, because Wesker, based on his words, is disgusted by war and pestilence. There would be no reason for him to do all this and pursue his dream through the dirty ways. His dream are of a world without decadence, a utopia where there is no destruction. And biological weapons are precisely the tools of war, pestilence and destruction. If he had other goals, Wesker would have gone up against BOW, and knowing how well he was able to counter his competitors, the bioterrorists wouldn't stand a chance.

Let's not forget that Wesker developed many weapons against bioweapons, the blueprints for which were later found by Blue Umbrella ("Albert System Weapon"). So even being a bioterrorist involuntarily, he developed means against BOW, indirectly speaking out against his own work

Draw your own conclusions, I was just sharing my thoughts on indifference and how Excella's blind love contributed to the situation <3

[morbidsmenagerie]

Making Better State Insects

So at some point I stumbled across a list of State Insects. Honestly I wasn't even aware states had "state insects", but as I looked down the list my disappointment grew. A vast majority of states had selected the European honeybee (which is not even native) as their state insect, with monarch butterflies and ladybugs being the two runner ups. I thought this was a damn shame because there's so many interesting insects in the US, so I'm making a better official new list of state insects.

For this list my criteria are:

Insect must be native to the state

No repeats

Insect must be easily observable to the naked eye

I also had general guidelines of picking insects that were relatively common (based on inaturalist heat maps of observation) and picking insects that were cool or interesting. Some of these insects I picked because I thought they were important parts of the areas culture and experience (lovebugs, toebiters, and periodical cicadas) and some insects I picked just to raise awareness that they exist in the US.

I also don't think I gave anyone huge L's, no mosquitoes, louses, cockroaches, ect, because my goal of this list is to get people interested in their native insects and I want it to be fun to find and observe your state insect.

Also some states get gold stars for picking state insects that already meet these criteria and are cool so they get to keep theirs. Some states also have "state butterflies" or "state agricultural insect" which for this list I'm ignoring, you can keep those I'm just focused on state insects. Slight disclaimer also, I've only ever lived in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and South Carolina, and all these states are keeping their original state insect. So all the insects I'm choosing are for states I haven't lived in. Also I'm not including photos in this post just for my own sanity.

List under the cut!

Alabama

Old: Monarch Butterfly

New: Giant Leaf-footed Bug (Acanthocephala declivis)

Leaf-footed bugs are cute, they're big, they're stanced up, the males have big back legs, you've probably seen them. Being true bugs they have piercing mouthparts and suck plant juices.

Alaska

Four-spot Skimmer (Libellula quadrimaculata)

Alaska gets to keep their old state insect, it's a cool dragonfly and apparently was partially chosen to honor bush pilots who fly to deliver supplies in the Alaskan wilderness, so really cool!

Arizona

Two-tailed swallowtail butterfly (Papilio multicaudata)

Arizona also gets to keep their state insect. Kind of a shame because Arizona has a lot of cool species, but it did meet my requirements and they get points for choosing a different kind of butterfly.

Arkansas

Old: European honeybee

New: North American Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus)

One of the largest assassin bugs in the US, these guys are appreciated by gardeners for their environmentally friendly pest control. They also look badass.

California

California Dogface Butterfly (Zerene eurydice)

Endemic to California and on a stamp! Again, kind of a shame because there's a lot of cool insects in California, but I respect this choice, especially since California was the first state to designate a state insect (1929).

Colorado

Colorado Hairstreak Butterfly (Hypaurotis crysalus)

Same deal as California, the state's name is in the common name, unique butterfly found in the four corners region. Just get a stamp or something soon!

Connecticut

Old: European Praying Mantis

New: Cecropia Moth (Hyalophora cecropia)

You picked a state insect no one else had but went with a nonnative mantis? Here's an insect that'll make you stand out and it's a native species. Lesser known than some of the other giant silk moths, the Cecropia moth is the largest native moth and has some truly stunning colors.

Delaware

Old: Convergent Ladybeetle

New: Periodical Cicada (Magicicada septendecim)

Cicada's had to be somewhere on this list and Delaware was one of the main hotspots for brood X, one of the largest broods of the multiple staggered brood cycles. Hey, they have a lot of history in America. Accounts go back as early as 1733, with Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin making a note of them.

District of Columbia

Old: None

New: Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

The Entomological Society of America is trying to get the Monarch Butterfly added as our national insect, so I think that's reason enough to let DOC claim it.

Florida

Zebra Butterfly (Heliconius charithonia)

Florida gets to keep their state butterfly, but the populations that have existed in Florida are in steep decline. Ideally I would want being the official state insect to come with some protections, hopefully people can get invested in reintroducing them.

Georgia

Old: European Honeybee

New: Horned Passalus Beetle (Odontotaenius disjunctus)

Also called bess beetles or patent-leather beetles, these cute guys are important for forest systems because they eat decaying wood, helping to break down felled trees. They're cute beetles that squeak when disturbed.

Hawaii

Kamehameha Butterfly (Vanessa tameamea)

An endemic Hawaiian butterfly named after a ruling dynasty of Hawaii. Their population is under threat, as with a lot of native Hawaiian species, so I think this is a good state insect to build protections and activism around.

Idaho

Old: Monarch Butterfly

New: Ice Crawler (Grylloblatta sp. "Polaris Peak")

Look Idaho, I have to admit that even though I've traveled extensively through WA, OR, CA, and NV I've never stepped foot in Idaho and I don't intend to. Your state exists in a weird liminal zone, not really the pacific northwest but not really whatever Montana is either. Your state isn't even all in one time zone. So look, I really wanted ice crawlers to be on this list, but they're exclusively found on mountains in the pacific northwest and Sierra Nevadas. Normally I would've given them to Washington or Oregon, but those states already have state insects that work for them. So your state gets ice crawlers, and they do exist in Idaho in the panhandle. It's not an L, ice crawlers are amazing extremophiles that crawl over snow in high elevation mountain peaks. They exist in their own unique order and theres only one genus in the US, with different species being region locked, sometimes onto specific mountains. Their thermoregulation is so delicate, the warmth of someones hand holding them causes them to over heat and die. They're cool, unique, and weird, and let's face it so is your state. At least I didn't take a cop out by picking the potato bug.

Illinois

Old: Monarch Butterfly

New: Red-banded Leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea)

Leafhopper done Chicago style.

Indiana

Old: Say's Firefly

New: Common True Katydid (Pterophylla camellifolia)

I wanted to give you Say's Firefly. I really did. But when I looked on Inaturalist not A SINGLE OBSERVATION was listed for the species in Indiana. I'm even going to post pictures.

So even though this is extremely funny I'm giving your state the Common True Katydid instead. Large, loud, and easy to spot, these guys can frequently be heard chirping in trees. Not only do different populations have different rates of chirp, but the rate of chirp is also so predictably dependent on temperature that you could make an equation to tell the temperature based on chirp rate.

Iowa

Old: None

New: Westfall's Snaketail (Ophiogomphus westfalli)

Really cool clubtail dragonfly that's almost exclusively found in Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas.

Kansas

Old: European Honeybee

New: Rainbow Scarab (Phanaeus vindex)

A kind of true dung beetle, they play an important role in removing waste. And although they don't roll waste like the stereotypical dung beetles, they are extremely pretty.

Kentucky

Viceroy Butterfly (Limenitis archippus)

This is fine.

Louisiana

Old: European Honeybee

New: Lovebug (Plecia nearartica)

Look, one of the southern states was going to get this one and Louisiana has a majority of the observations for them. Although annoying, it's things like having to scrape thousands of flies off your car that makes the Southern experience. Embrace it!

Maine

Old: European Honeybee

New: Brown Wasp Mantidfly (Climaciella brunnea)

I really wanted these guys to be somewhere on the list. Neither a wasp, mantis, or fly, these are predatory neuropterans related to lacewings. They have raptorial front legs (resembling a mantis) and their coloration resembles paper wasps that they live alongside. Weird, unique, and wonderful!

Maryland

Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas phaeton)

This butterfly might've been picked for the resemblance of the state flag. It's in decline in it's native range, so hopefully more awareness and consideration to state insects will help push conservation efforts.

Massachusetts

Old: Ladybug

New: Hornet Clearwing Moth (Paranthrene simulans)

Hornet mimic moth, the caterpillars feed on chestnuts and oaks. All lepidopterans (moths and butterflies) have modified hairs on their wings that form the "scales" that give this order their name. For this moth though, parts of it's wings don't have any scales so it more convincingly resembles a hornet. Underneath the scales, butterfly and moth wings look pretty much like any other insect's wing. Cool!

Michigan

Old: None

New: American Salmonfly (Pteronarcys dorsata)

The biggest salmonfly in North America. They make excellent fishing bait, and several fly fisherman use salmonfly lures to catch trout. Their nymphs are also an important indicator of water quality, with them being one of the first species to disappear in the presence of pollution or contaminants.

Minnesota

Old: Monarch Butterfly

New: American Giant Water Bug (Lethocerus americanus)

Also one of the ones that had to be on the list somewhere, and the Inat heatmap says Minnesota. Toebiters are part of the experience, and they are cool and ferocious looking.

Mississippi

Old: European Honeybee

New: Eastern Eyed Click Beetle (Alaus oculatus)

Click beetles have a cool adaption that allows them to launch themselves in the air to avoid predators. This makes an audible sound, hence their common name. The Eastern Eyed Click Beetle is one of the largest and most striking click beetles in the US, with large false eyespots on their thorax.

Missouri

Old: European Honeybee

New: Goldenrod Soldier Beetle (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus)

A soldier beetle that feeds on aphids and small plant pests, these beetles also eat pollen and nectar from flowers. They don't harm the flower, and though their common name reflects their preference for goldenrod flowers, they're also an important pollinator of the prairie onion (Allium stellatum). This is a native species of onion that grows from Minnesota to Arkansas.

Montana

Old: Mourning Cloak

New: Western Sheep Moth (Hemileuca eglanterina)

Mourning Cloak butterflies do technically work for my criteria, but I wanted to showcase some more regional insects in this as well, as Mourning Cloaks are found throughout North America and Eurasia. The Western Sheep Moth is an absolutely stunning giant silk moth, found throughout the western United States. Although not as big as some other silk moths, the bold orange and black coloration on these make them absolutely stand out.

Nebraska

Old: European Honeybee

New: Blowout Tiger Beetle (Cicindela lengi)

A tiger beetle with unique patterns, these guys are active predators and are particularly difficult to spot because they run extremely quickly. They seem to be pretty cold tolerant and exist from Colorado up into Canada.

Nevada

Vivid Dancer Damselfly (Argia Vivida)

This damselfly was picked as Nevada's state insect because it's widespread throughout the state and matches the state colors, silver and blue. That gets my seal of approval!

New Hampshire

Two-spotted Lady Beetle (Adalia bipunctata)

This is fine.

New Jersey

Old: European Honeybee

New: Margined Calligrapher (Toxomerus marginatus)

A pretty hoverfly, they strongly resemble bees in both looks and behavior. Larvae feed on common plant pests such as thrips and aphids, while the adults sip nectar and pollinate flowers. These helpful attributes make it something the Garden State can appreciate!

New Mexico

Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis grossa)

New Mexico wins the official state insect list by a landslide. Not only is the tarantula hawk a super cool and formidable insect to showcase, but New Mexico's state butterfly (Sandia Hairstreak) was discovered in New Mexico. No notes 10/10!

New York

Nine-spotted Lady Beetle (Coccinella novemnotata)

A native species of lady beetle that's been in decline in recent years, New York is one of the last remaining states where they've been spotted. I also appreciate that New York designated a specific ladybug species instead of just saying "Coccinellidae species".

North Carolina

Old: European Honeybee

New: Eastern Rhinoceros Beetle (Xyloryctes jamaicensis)

A large native species of rhinoceros beetle. They breed in ash trees, and are under threat due to competition from the Emerald Ash Borer.

North Dakota

Old: None

New: Nuttall's Blister Beetle (Lytta nuttalli)

As with all blister beetles, these guys have a chemical defense. Unlike the more famous Bombardier Beetle thought, instead of being black and red they are iridescent red/purple and green.

Ohio

Old: Ladybug

New: Bald-faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata)

Look, when the one thing everyone knows about your state is that it sucks, it's time to lean into it. Bald-faced hornets, everyone knows them, everyone has opinions about them, and they get a lot of attention. I don't think I have to explain this one anymore.

Oklahoma

Old: European Honeybee

New: Giant Walking Stick (Megaphasma denticrus)

The largest insect in the United States. Being a native walking stick, they're less damaging than the imported invasive walking sticks that are heavily controlled.

Oregon

Oregon Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio oregonius)

Oregon in the common name and in the species name, and also has a stamp!

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Firefly (Photuris pensylvanica)

Pennsylvania in the common name and species name. If fireflies weren't already on this list I would've made sure to include them somewhere.

Rhode Island

American Burying Beetle (Nicrophorus americanus)

When I saw this on the list I was worried. American Burying Beetles are one of my favorite insects, but they're extremely endangered now. I also thought they existed more in the midwest, so I was worried I would have to change this one because it violated the "native to the region" rule. But! To my pleasant surprise, not only did their historic range extend to Rhode Island, but there is actually a carefully maintained wild population on Block Island. They estimate between 750-1000 individuals live there, making it one of the few remaining places where the American Burying Beetle still exists. Excellent work Rhode Island!

South Carolina

Carolina Mantis (Stagmomantis carolina)

This is fine. I wanted to give South Carolina the Palmetto bug but they're actually not native.

South Dakota

Old: European Honeybee

New: Golden Northern Bumble Bee (Bombus fervidus)

"Save the bees" should really be focused on native pollinators, many of whom are in decline. There are a lot of species of native bee you can feature as a state insect, with the Golden Northern Bumble Bee being a particularly large and striking species.

Tennessee

Old: Firefly and ladybug

New: Black-waved Flannel Moth (Megalopyge crispata)

Seriously look them up, these guys are adorable.

Texas

Old: Monarch Butterfly

New: Rainbow Grasshopper (Dactylotum bicolor)

It was really hard to pick an insect for your state. The Texas Unicorn Mantis was a contender but I eliminated it because it's really only found in the southern part of Texas, so it was between the Rainbow Grasshopper and the Eastern Velvet Ant (or Cow Killer). I went with the Rainbow Grasshopper because it's more wide spread and common, and occurs everywhere except the east part of Texas. But the Eastern Velvet Ant only occurs on the east part of Texas, maybe you should get an East and West Texas insect? I also thought more people have probably already heard of the Eastern Velvet Ant than the Rainbow Grasshopper, which is a shame because they're super interesting to look at.

Utah

Old: European Honeybee

New: Mormon Cricket (Anabrus simplex)

Mormon Crickets are not true crickets, and instead closer related to katydids. Their common name comes from an early account of Latter-day Saint settlers in Utah. In 1848, a swarm of Mormon Crickets decimated the settler's crops, so the legend goes that they prayed for relief from this plague of insects. Later that year, a swarm of gulls appeared and ate the crickets, thus saving the crops. This is recounted in the "miracle of the gulls" story. To recognize their contributions, the California Gull is commemorated as Utah's state bird. I thought it was fitting then that the Mormon Cricket be recognized as your state insect.

Vermont

Old: European Honeybee

New: Long-tailed Giant Ichneumon Wasp (Megarhyssa macrurus)

A pretty wasp with an extremely long ovipositor, these wasps are common in deciduous forests across the eastern United States. They can't sting, and instead use their long ovipositor to stab into tree bark and deposit eggs on the horntail larvae that burrow into the trees.

Virginia

Old: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

New: Giant Stag Beetle (Lucanus elaphus)

A large stag beetle native to the Eastern United States. Although not as well known as their similar looking fellow stag beetles from Japan, these guys are a lovely chocolate brown instead of solid black. Like most stag beetles, they breed in decaying wood.

Washington

Green Darner Dragonfly (Anax junius)

I imagine this was chosen because it matches the flag.

West Virginia

Old: European Honeybee

New: Appalachian Tiger Beetle (Cicindela ancocisconensis)

This tiger beetle likes hilly terrain. As with all tiger beetles, they can be hard to spot because they run across the ground in search of prey. They are fast! But this can make it more rewarding when you finally catch up to one.

Wisconsin

Old: European Honeybee

New: Phantom Crane Fly (Bittacomorpha clavipes)

Don't believe old wive's tales about crane flies drinking gallons of blood, they are nonbiting. Those striking black and white legs are hollow, and are held out when they fly, making an extremely distinct sight that's been likened to sparklers or snowflakes.

Wyoming

Sheridan's Hairstreak (Callophrys sheridanii)

This is fine.

[crevicedwelling]

I'm building a bioactive enclosure for my carpet python, and was wondering if I could use cockroaches instead of isopods for a cleanup crew (would put in food for the roaches as well). My main thoughts were about figuring out a species that wouldn't nibble my snake, wouldn't decimate live plants, and wouldn't just be pet dirt (looking at you domino roaches). Hissers and green banana roaches are particular favorites of mine.

I appreciate you saying you’d feed the roaches more than just what the snake produces as waste, which no cockroach or isopod colony could live on alone. I think hissers would have no interest in cleaning up snake poop though (they tend to be mostly interested in veg and fruit) and I’ve never kept banana roaches, but they are absolutely pet dirt as juveniles and very flighty as adults. the banana roaches probably the best choice you mentioned though, although I don’t know if they’d clean up snake poop either. all the other roaches I know that do well on feces are too finicky to keep in a less-controlled environment or run the risk of bothering your snake.

if it were me I’d probably just have a healthy population of springtails (multiple species), various mites, and just spot clean the poops. maintaining a bug colony pet in with a reptile pet raises too many problems imo (substrate changes become more frequent, what about buildup of cleanup crew feces, how do I catch the overpopulated cleanup crew, will they eat my plants).

[ms-scarletwings]

New (Cursed AF) Invader Zim Headcanon:

Barring the potential for major acute blood loss, Irkens can actually survive a full decapitation.

And I brought substance to make the case with.

Cockroaches, one of the most infamously durable of real life animals, can live for several days, sometimes even weeks without their head. And for the most part, they still even act like normal roaches- crawling about, reacting to touch, standing around, etc. it seems the only reason this eventually catches up to the critter is because no mouth = no way to keep bringing necessary food and water into the body. If that were bypassed, however, it stands to reason the little zombie could thrive just as much as a headed roach.

Almost disturbingly, the head itself can actually last a surprising amount of time solo as well. Experiments with decapitated roaches show that after body separation, roach heads can still move their antennae for hours before succumbing- much longer even if kept refrigerated and supplied with nutrients.

One of the neat things about roach bodies that makes such a feat possible is how their nervous system is set up- simplified ref against what yours looks like below

Now, anyone who has ever said a roach can survive for a while without its brain is not being entirely accurate. Functionally, they actually have two sort-of brains: the main point of nerve centralization is contained in the head, which for the most part is a primary brain responsible for movement coordination, certain technical functions, interpreting stimuli that comes in from the antennae, and more. The second main point of interest in this system is a series of nerve clusters running down the insect’s abdomen known as ganglia (singular: ganglion). These bundles of neurons are not exactly brains in their own right, but they do function as an extended CNS that handles the control over the digestive tract, reacting to stimuli, leg movement, and other more basic bodily functions. These can operate the body on a primitive level after the loss of the main brain, up until thirst/starvation begins to run the wind out of the sails.

You know what sort of creature actually DOES have two entire complete brains? One up top, and an auxiliary backup a little further down?

If you were nodding along and saying “irkens!” Then you would be correct! One peanut and five more days in the bunker for you 🥜 ~

As is obvious to anyone familiar with the show, the PAK is an essential cybernetic addition to Irken biology, holding their gear as well as an entire digital backup of their personality and memories. While it serves many functions to the user, the first and foremost priority of one is to protect the existence of the meaty entity it needs in to carry itself around.

To that end we’ve seen some autonomous acts from time to time with Zim’s close calls. If you recall “Plague of Babies”, he… kind of died for a moment there, caught up in a wave of GIR’s lethally amplified stupidity. In response, his PAK appears to resuscitate him with a quick jolt. The would-be events of “10 Minutes to Doom” emphasize the necessity of the PAK for any Irken’s survival beyond several minutes, which directly implies PAKs facilitate a major biological process their natural bodies are no longer capable of alone. Personally, I think it might be something either neurological or related to respiration, on a hunch.

Well, whatever it is, they are toast without it in swift manner, and the PAK doesn’t prefer to be without its other piece anymore than the body does. Dib’s revelation about the technology described their relationship with its body like that of driver and car, but I think he’s missing something. The PAK is actually more than capable of carrying itself around without the body… at least for a time.

When I think about those things, a little dilemma pops up in my head concerning how they.. well, how they’re powered. It is never explained or demonstrated that they are given time off of the body in order to charge; however, irkens are probably advanced enough to have some smaller and sci-fi wildly potent and small energy source up their sleeves, but actually, that wouldn’t quite make sense here. Because Irken bodies still produce their energy the same way every other lifeform in the known galaxy does, with food. Lots of food, actually. They can mow through snacks at about the same rate as Augustus Gloop. PAKs don’t need to produce their own independent energy source, they just need to efficiently make use of what this organism is already evolutionarily fine tuned to do naturally. Now that’s smart engineering.

And so, like any respectable auxiliary life support feature, they hold some of that energy in a reserve for those crisis moments like in “Plague of Babies”, and also in a deleted scene made for “Abduction”!

Fun trivia fact, but originally that episode was supposed to feature a sequence where Zim nearly game overs again. He takes a gnarly hit and a literal plunge through open flames that knocks him out in a free fall.

Despite his incapacitated state, the PAK extends its spider legs in order to catch a walkway railing, both saving his life and proceeding to keep carrying his limp body to a safer location, until of of course, he comes to about a moment later and carries on.

And neither of these are the only times it’s sprung into action the moment it detects something has gone horribly wrong. When accidentally detached from its own host, an emergency response will be triggered within the PAK in an attempt to reattach with its body. Failing that, it attaches instead to… well, whatever it can find.

In “10 minutes to Doom”, this was unfortunately Dib, an incompatible match (or maybe it just picked an improper attachment site), and in the comics… things got interesting at a point or two.

So, I already know what happens when you separate an Irken from their spinal brain, but what about the cranial one?

Because, they actually don’t seem on the same level of urgent necessity? Now that I think about it?

The time machine kerfuffle and the brain eating parasite escape were both events this guy evidently survived, albeit not comfortably or ideally until the problem was fixed (I have to assume in part with GIR’s or the Computer’s help). Now that I think about it Zim’s incredibly fortunate that most of these more serious mishaps happened inside of his base. But it’s theory time.

So, we do this, to a hypothetical green bug bastard

For fun let’s say, hypothetically again, like the hardy earth roach, he blood clots quickly.

Well, first and foremost, that higher up nervous system blackout is probably going to cue the PAK in to begin the following protocol:

1. Activate an emergency response to quickly access the situation.

2. Immediately scurry the body the hell away from whatever manner of threat just shaved a little too much off the top, engaging in all possible defensive measures if necessary.

3. Devote the entirety of its remaining backup power (of which it would have much more stored within the headless body than if it were itself detached) into making a beeline for the coordinates of the nearest Irken source of assistance. On the homeworld, or any fully colonized planet, this would be a cut and dry matter of finding the nearest theoretical space clinic or whatever those freaks have (maybe those dbz regeneration tanks? Idk that would be cool wouldn’t it?). For the lone invader… home base is the next best alternative, being a secured location with plenty of resources and advanced technology at the ready. I would bet my own head that situations like this are a huge highlight to the prime value of a personal SIR companion.

Now, best case scenario for what this help looks like depends on whether we can save and bring the head along too. Reattachment and repair at that point should be a pretty simple matter at the tech level we are working with, afterall. But that’s again, the ideal case scenario. Could they just… regrow the head eventually? We don’t really have a clear answer on what the limits and capabilities of what the Irken healing factor is, but I want to at least guess that having a personal lab and assistant on hand is going to help. Bare minimum, a solution can get worked out to supply the body with needed blood sugars again to buy more time.

The PAK itself retains a pretty much perfect digital backup of its body’s memories, experiences, and identity, so it’s not like information has been permanently been lost with primary brain damage. Replacing the primary brain entirely might be as easy as backing up your iPhone and downloading everything into some shiny new hardware. Hell, it may not even need be Irken hardware!

Do you know the real disturbing things from “Dark Harvest” NOBODY brings up are???

Why the fuck was an instantaneous organ-swapping device already just something Zim was carrying around in his toolset?

And

Zim’s morphology was horrifically receptive to those dozens of xenographs.

Those human organs were actually beating, pulsing, absolutely redundant and unnecessary in his body, but completely still functional and healthy in the name of selling his act to the school nurse. He didn’t just clumsily cram a bunch of offal into himself, he competently integrated them into his biology and somehow wasn’t suffering like… the tons of complications you’d expect from trying a stunt like that.

And in the comics, there’s this other fella I just adore for how skrangly he looks, and believe it or not, his actual fucking name is Skrang.

He’s a smart guy, though. Don’t be fooled. And I mean like, a smart guy. And it’s all thanks to a little help from a little upgrade he’s been fitted with :)

So, I hope you take all the implications I’ve been building here and make what you will of them. I genuinely think an Irken has a decent chance of making it out of a beheading alive to seek sadistic vengeance another day. Do I think ZIM could do such a thing? Tbh, I think he’d have to rely on GIR to come in clutch, and we may know that’s a complete roll of the dice in any case.

Wow, this got morbid, but, par for the course really.

[spitdrunken]

this is the first time I've ever requested any authors in my several years on Tumblr and I NEED, NEEEED you to write more maxime, no one writes him the way you do, just a crumb i'm so desperate😭😭😭/notforcing

I appreciate your enthusiasm soooo much <33!! I'm glad there have been people who enjoyed my awfully specific maxime fic HAHA

notes: Maxime is a Villain, obsessive behaviour, mind control, body horror (!!!), insect mentions, focus on cockroach transformation.

Even if you escape, there is not necessarily a better fate waiting for you, out there.

Maxime has changed you. There is little chance of you leaving his grasp if you are largely still human. If you only have antennae sprouting from the top of your head and tiny, fluttering wings on your back, unable to lift the weight of your entire body, his security on you will be tighter than ever. Maxime le Mal is far from stupid, though his bravado does take away from his credibility. After all, at that point, you're still coherent to protest and speak back, to form plans and to possibly escape him.

When you're more cockroach than not, lost in the maze of a permanently confused mind, it makes sense that Maxime would allow you a longer leash. You can hardly speak, after all. Most of the time, he's not even sure if you can understand, truly comprehend, what he's even saying to you. You've taken to buzzing and humming and vibrating your wings as your main mode of communication. Your pupils are permanently blown wide and, recently, your peripheral vision has seemed to have improved. (This requires more research.) You're clingy with him. He's your reason for being, the love of your life, your mate... In short, Maxime is lax with you, because he has no reason to believe you would ever leave, and you have no desire to. He's extracted all the fight out of you.

Neither of you would be quite prepared for an accident. 

If you escaped, you wouldn't quite know what's even going on in the first place. The outside world is much too intense for you. There are too many people, too many noises, too many smells, so many lights, so many, so, so, so... You are left utterly disoriented, stumbling all over the streets of the town Maxime has housed you in.

As a cautionary measure, Maxime had plastered your face online as an accomplice long ago. Had made you speak out your support for him while you hardly knew what you were saying, well underway in your transformation. As Maxime is a wanted criminial, now, so are you. With your... Unique appearance, it would take you no time at all to be caught and shipped off to some prison or other. You're in a panic. You don't know what's going on, all you know is that his scent is getting fainter and fainter... You had tried to find your way back, but you couldn't! Now it's too late.

Even though you're hardly capable of conversation, anyone in prison won't allow that to be your saving grace. With villains of 'your' calibre, any dirty tricks are on the table, and so acting stupid would be not far from the expected... Here, Maxime himself is your one and only saving grace. You're his, and he'll break you out whatever the means necessary-- They had it coming, he'll say, all outrage and offense.

[tallysgreatestfan]

Specials in the book vs the movie

Now, from the way they are described in the book, I am not sure if you could even possibly translate that into a movie, especially not with this budget, but: It is really frustrating what the movie did with the Specials.

In the movie they come across as your garden variety super soldier, but in the book they are honestly one of the coolest cyborg designs I ever saw in scifi (and scifi is my main reading and watching genre).

For starters, yes, they are much stronger and faster than the humans in the setting, but most of all, they are surged to look intimidating. They use plastic surgery to make the Pretties look beautiful, but for them the Cities huge medical advancement is used to design their faces and body type in a way that is not even necessarily visibly non-human on first glance, but the type of facial features one instinctively is afraid of. Which is such a interesting concept.

They also, and I can totally understand that this would have been incredibly hard to get right, maybe impossible, move in a way that is just slightly off. Too fast and too angular. The book describes it as elegant but almost insect-like, like cockroaches slithering across a plate. You see them for longer than a second and instinctively know that that aren't humans anymore. It's taking the uncanny valley and using it for warfare.

It is a bit visible in the way Laverne Cox plays Dr. Cable, even she plays her much more human than in the book. She does emote and she does have body language - but much lesser than most people do, and she uses the majority of it to manipulate people. She also doesn't do all these small, unconscious movements like cleaning your fingernails, bobbing your foot or scratching your face.

Third: They are disturbingly fast. The scene where they invade the Smoke is described in the book as the Specials just casually walking into the complete chaos, and it doesn't looks as if they are doing anything - except that they herd Smokies in front of them and everybody they walk past is tied up on the floor. Which is such a cool visual, but again, not sure if its possible to film that.

Its also, and this is yet another reason why I dislike the changed Peris plotline, much more complicated and disturbing than them just being mindless killing machines. To be fair, it only is explained in the later books, but it is more like an artificially induced personality disorder, carefully tweaked so that they have a sense of superiority towards Uglies and Pretties, but also notice the beauty of the natural world much more intensely than them and are ready to protect them, anger and impulse control issues, and loyalty to the City.

What makes that even more disturbing, and this is not directly canon, but it would make sense from certain events in the later books, they seem to specifically pick already neurodivergent people to mold them into that. Yes, the series has light, but there, neurodivergence themes later on. This aspect is handled surprisingly well and empowering (unlike the eating disorder and self-harm rep, but that is another topic).

There seem to be two ways to end up in Special Circumstances, and its way to easy for Peris to have this happen:

Be with the wardens (they are actually different to Special Circumstances), the firefighters or the doctors, aka the only professions in the City which don't have the lesions, and stand out in some useful way. Likely how Dr. Cable ended up with Special Circumstances.

Be self-destructive and mentally ill in a way that seems useful to be manipulated. Happens with [redacted] and [redacted]

And they actively screen the Uglies for who might a good candidate for Special Circumstances in five to ten years. The Uglies dorms are so easy to trick not by oversight, but to watch who is able to tweak the rules and who not.

They also have fangs in the books. Which would have looked so cool, but also acting with fake fangs is a pain in the ass (ask the Star Trek Discovery season 1 Klingon cast), so I can understand that they left that out.

Another thing the movie sadly dumbs down is just how invasive not just the Pretty surgery is, but the Special surgery even more. Tw for surgical gore for the rest of this.

They skin the person and replace the skin with new, more flawless skin for both operations. They also take out all teeth and replace them with ceramic teeth in both operations. What is unique to the Special operation is that they replace most muscles with cybernetic muscles, and that they replace the entire skeleton with the same much more sturdy ceramic they did the teeth with. No, I do not want to know how this logistically happens.

Also just so many other cybernetic implants. A chip in the fingertips that makes them able to put their fingers on glass and translate the vibrations into the sound happening in the room behind. Various tweaks to the eyes, or maybe they completely replace the eyes, it is unclear, but Specials can see infrared radiation. Software to calculate the time and direction just from seeing the stars.

I do like how Laverne Cox interpreted Dr. Cable, but for the other Specials I would have really liked to see more

[ainnur]

Not my normal vibe but Mermaid OC challege by @monkiart with my oc Ayu and @yingjiaoyue ' s oc Syaoron. Call them "ToxicRose". Ayu is siren in this and Syaoron still a seafood chef.

Yeah I suck at drawing scales and bg 😔

Anyway their story for this AU

ToxicRose [Siren AU]

In this AU Ayu is a siren from Mermaid Island [Yes that place exist at my country lol] . Mermaid and siren is both rival with same bad trait. Set in dark fantasy setting they both not safe in a hand of humans. Not only them but other magical sea creatures will be hunt by human to serve as meal.

Ayu was caught by human and brought to Syaoron's restaurant. At first Ayu tried to used her siren power to control Syaoron but that didn't work. She was place big aquariam before her time to be cook. But to her suprise that time didn't come. She heard she was supposed to be main dish for very big night. But that night something bad happend. Ayu doesn't really know what happend.

She can hear the chaos but never really understand what happend since she was locked anyway. The aquariam wasn't a normal one. It's was thick and coated with strong magic. Though it doesn't harm Ayu, it still trap her.

Ayu just swim around in aquariam waiting for her time. She heard that the night she was supposed to be cook was sabotage by someone. That person tried to ruin Syaoron's restaurant status by making it look bad. Somehow they manage to free a lot rats and cockroachs in one time and cause the flood in building. But somehow Syaoron got everything under control. The 'big' persons Syaoron have to serve wasn't please with what happend.

Somehow Ayu feel bad and impressed with Syaoron for that. With all the things that happend it's kinda leave bad taste in people mouth. Business have been slow Ayu would say. She heared the news by Syaoron workers when they talk to each other that the person cause the chaos other night was a weird looking man and a black monkey.......? Police still investigating about that.

--------------------------------------------------

"Tertekan nampak" Ayu said to Syaoron as he give Ayu her meal of the day. Ayu got feed 3 times a day which wasn't bad. "Huh" Syaoron look distracted. "I said you look kinda stress" Ayu just chewing her fish. Syaoron looked Ayu with blank stare. This kinda their routine everyday for now. Syaoron came and give Ayu her food and Ayu tried to talk with Syaoron. Could say she was bored. She have nothing to do anyway. All she did was swim around a watch every worker and Syaoron through the aquariam glass.

"It's none of your business" Syaoron said could not bother with Ayu. "I can help you" Ayu said quickly. Syaoron just looked Ayu with questioning look. " I know...that business kinda slow lately...." It's worst actually maybe Syaoron restaurant have to be close because of the bad repotation they're having and all the worker start to wanting to quit . "You know I'm a siren right?...I can help you by using my power". Ayu bit hesitate to ask but she did it anyway. Syaoron wasn't stupid. Of course he know about how siren power work.

Syaoron looked away for a minute before looking back at Ayu. "What are you offering?". Syaoron asked fast with serious face. This time like this he is desperate. Ayu was cought off by that. She really wasn't expecting Syaoron consider he offer. "I'll help you got your customers back and in return you make people stop hunting creature at Mermaid Island. Just Mermaid Island, I don't care if want to hunt at other place." "And how are you gonna do that when you in here?" Syaoron asked. "I have a human disguise. Well... supposed to have . I just never try. But do we have a deal?" Ayu asked with awkward smile while give her hand to Syaoron. "Deal" Syaoron shake Ayu hand. Damn he really is desparate.

Finally Ayu is free..... with cost.

--------------------------------------------------

Sorry this story kind boring. Can't think of any other idea for this au so this will do .

[greenpestdefense]

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[l-ii-zz]

It’s been a while since I wanted to introduce him. The very main villain of my AU lol.

He had another name when he was alive, but when he trascended to the Control Brains he adapted his alter ego “Amygdala”.

He was the very first “Tallest” and pioneer of the Irken society as we know it today. His body died some schmillion of years ago but he invented the Control Brains (and the PAK) in an effort to keep his twisted mind alive inside its memory so he could be able to keep the Empire under his control. He gets more and more powerful as the memories of his successors are saved every dynasty. Amygdala will be more relevant in the last arc but he’s always been there since the beginning, watching silently.

…Oh yeah, and then there’s the little one. It doesn’t matter, it’s just a little nuisance. That thing is a worthless creature that doesn’t have any kind of power in the limbo of the Control Brain’s memories. However, the little one is like a cockroach. No matter how many times Amygdala have tried to erase it from the Control Brains, it always comes back.

[short-and-ugly]

Really normal length Skoodge analysis

Gonna just start with the simple things. Things you can get from watching one time alone. Maybe. Probably not I don't think you people think about him enough to gather any of this. No. I'm sorry I love you all. I'm just a specific level of detached from average not-Skoodge viewers and don't know what all is expected. It's that one meme "Even when compensating, experts in any field will overestimate the average person's knowledge."

It's rough. Let's get into it.

Speech is probably an easy one! Yeah? Yeah.

A lot of the things he says are very literal... there's a lot of tacting things that are currently happening. A lot of stating the obvious.

("I'm afraid!")

Admittedly... this is probably a byproduct of him not being a "main character." His dialogue is a lot less important than that of characters like Zim and Dib. But it's still worth talking about! I'd like to think it's genuinely just his personality to be obvious and talk about things as if people aren't already aware of them. Maybe even have him be a bit tone-deaf. That's more headcanon territory though! So let's walk on past that before I confuse myself and all of you.

DOUBLE NEGATIVES...!

... only happen once. In the background. While he's being talked over by a bunch of teammates.

("Yeah; really that's actually good and more logical cause I don't really wanna make a chain or nothing like that.")

His speech is a lot more casual and, in transcripts for unfinished episode(s)(?) almost innocent!

frothing at the mouth at this one actually i dont like it. not good. this is just exposition. he would not fucking say that (probably wrong) (this was written by the shows writers) (it still makes me angry)

This one I just wanted to add because it's silly. Look at how silly he is. He's just a fun loving guy. Why does his mind go to dancing straight away? We'll never know... the inner machinations of his mind are an enigma.

Skoodge reads as... more impulsive than anything (and maybe a little anxiety-riddled but that might also just be me projecting). He doesn't strike me as a critical thinker who really tries to like... weigh the consequences of his actions. He just does shit and when it doesn't work out he does more. I imagine that's what most irkens are like, actually, now that I think about it...

His gut instinct must be controlling him because if it isn't then I honestly can't find any good explanation as to how he's survived for so long.

Which perfectly segways me into something a little more analyzing-like:

Skoodge is a cockroach.

He got shot out of a cannon and still comes back to the Empire. He... really does seem to believe that being here will help him out somehow. As if it hasn't already been proven that nothing he will do will satisfy the society he hails from.

Desperation can make you do desperate things; and Skoodge's entire character just reeks of desperation.

From apparently being considered to eat his own skin (before being deemed too much by the network) [no screenshot available because I don't even know how I'd begin to look for it] to the more canonical screaming-like-a-baby whenever something happens to him, it kinda makes you wonder how the hell he even got to where he is in the first place.

Now, this is more speculation than actual evidence, but I think it's a fair enough bet to say that Skoodge earned his title as an invader. He has no height to propel him forward in society, so whatever he did would've had to've involved sheer tenacity and an inclination for survival.

He is almost definitely, genuinely, afraid of death. And because of that, he just... doesn't die.

I know at an objective view, he doesn't die because it's funnier that way, and helps with jokes and gags, but like... c'mon. This is a deep analysis post. I'm allowed to get a little indulgent with it.

Treading into more theorization-territory here.

Irkens are raging Xenophobes.

And Zim fits this bill perfectly! He's slotted himself into this mindset without any issue, making up... unique slurs for humans and other things he comes by. Because he tries too hard to be a perfect irken. Maybe. That's a topic for someone that's insane about Zim, not me. This is about my guy.

If Zim is the perfect representation of an irken soldier (on a purely superficial level), then Skoodge is an outlier. Not in that he's good at his job; he's supposed to be! No, rather, his differences lie in his temperance. His composure, whatever you call it. He is far too complacent and even possibly a bit meek, if you wanna go ahead and call him that.

You see that? That right there is respect for a... honestly almost certainly, by irken standards, inferior species.

Now, this could either mean one of three things.

Either A) Skoodge is not space racist (best case scenario)

or B) Skoodge lacks self-confidence; not seeing himself as superior, and thus being compliant and respectful to the obvious figure of authority in front of him.

or C) Skoodge does not have respect for his Empire (very unlikely, seeing as the only reason he's still here is because he's trying to gain a promotion from said Empire)

Shooting down option A immediately with this dialogue here (Battle Of The Planets)

Sorry folks... he is very much so still space racist.

As for option B...

I'm going to be completely honest here. I think I've been interpreting this wrong in my series. I have a whole lot of complex reasons explaining why Skoodge doesn't have much confidence, but honestly, he reads as more... chill. And down-to-earth, than he does as self-loathing.

There is possibly evidence of him having a more quiet and subdued personality, instead of just him not being a xenophobe; and it comes from the very first episode!

Crying in front of the tallest at the Assigning. Admittedly, Larb cried too; but he at least had enough push in him to say something.

Skoodge doesn't. He's even disheartened by the Tallest's initial jeering of him! Which admittedly, might not be the best example of low self-esteem, because those are the literal Leaders of his fucking Empire... but it is definitely a shift from him being the proud, confident, short-and-ugly invader that he's shown to be in Battle Of The Planets. Invading Blorch must've really (rightfully) inflated his ego.

Which he normally lacks.

He lacks ego, but that doesn't mean he lacks confidence. He knows that he's good at things in spite of his flaws, and takes pride in it! Even though that pride ends up shooting him in his own foot. Sad.

And why is it that he lacks ego? Every other irken thus far (sans maybe Sizz-lorr) has demonstrated just how... important. It is for them to have one. How almost ingrained into their nature their egos are. Why does Skoodge not go on to boast about his glory when any other irken in his situation would? Again, it's going to be another one of those things that I just can't be too sure about, but I'm going to hazard to say that it's because he's so physically flawed. Short and ugly. (Probably the reason why his uniform is stained. Why put forth the effort to make your uniform look good if it's impossible for the rest of you?)

There is. Almost no doubt in my mind, that he's had to fight tooth and nail to get to where he is, claw his way to the top. And if he's done that, he knows the struggle of being lower? He knows because no matter how high he gets, he'll still always be that "lower"? augh. what the fuck.

Skoodge has been humbled by this because he's been reminded of it at almost every point in his life. He doesn't boast to inferiors because he knows that there is nothing to boast, that he is technically one of those inferiors. Because even despite his successes, someone will always go on to point out his flaws.

Which really brings attention to Battle Of The Planets, to the Tallest pointing out his flaws. He just had his greatest success. Purple gave him one flaw, he gave another. And he gave it proudly.

... SECRET FOURTH OPTION D YEAHHHH BABY!!!!

FAWN RESPONSE.

With his inclination towards survival it would make sense to reason that he's only polite in front of potentially-threatening company because it means that he's less likely to get pummeled for being. Anything else.

Being polite is just as credible a survival technique as anything else! We just don't get to see any other irkens using it.

Skoodge is. Competent. He conquered his planet first!

He's a good invader. And that's probably because he knows when to run.

He's very vocal about it, if he knows (or thinks) that there's someone around to assist him. Silent with his impending doom (ha) at the Assigning, but very very loud when being chased down in the canyon by the hogulus in Hobo 13.

Now, I don't know about you, but irkens don't really strike me as the kind of species to back down from anything. To me, they read as more of a "do it or die" kinda group. Again, this whole trait kiiiinda almost begging to be pegged as outlier. The only thing that makes me on the fence about this one is, again, the fact that it's a cartoon and Skoodge's fear might be for the sake of gags.

That doesn't really explain this though. He has literally no reason to be scared here. In this specific scenario (Day Of Da Spookies! unfinished episode) he's disguised as a human. Every person there is none the wiser to him and his alien nature. He's just... like this...? All the time? Apparently? Maybe?

Or maybe! There's other things at play here!

Skoodge is competent...

... but.

A friend put it into better words than I could:

His brain turns to mush whenever he's around Zim.

(Honestly, the volunteer line might actually add on to his possible lack of self-respect? Hard to say if it's that, or if he's just that desperate to give respect at the sign of any spare bit of authority, even if that authority comes from an irken shorter than him.)

It makes me wonder if most of what we've seen of him is just Zim's influence on him. Scared at the Assigning? He didn't know Zim was there, so that had to have been genuine. Saluting to an inferior species? He had to have known that Zim was there, because Zim introduced himself first (and very loudly at that), but I think it was also genuine because Zim wasn't directly influencing him?

Screaming because of the hogulus and running like a child from some humans? Those are almost definitely Zim's doing. I just. Don't know How.

Screaming is a weakness, I think; at least it should be (in the eyes of irkens), and when Skoodge does it he does it because he seems convinced that Zim will help him. And yet Zim never does! Skoodge has no reason to believe this!

But still, believe he does.

They had to have been... kind of close? At one point in their lives.

Potentially. I don't know how close a person can get to Zim, but Skoodge has just barely managed to do it, by virtue of the fact that he is quite possibly the only living thing in the universe that can tolerate being around Zim for more than five seconds.

And his cockroach-itude. That definitely helps. You can't be killed by Zim's passive destructive radius if you genuinely just can't fucking die at all.

But that explains nothing of his weird eagerness to do things for Zim. It borders on obsessive. It might actually be obsessive, since he's apparently been living in Zim's vents ever since the events of Hobo 13. Without telling him.

Skoodge is fucking deranged. Skoodge doesn't even register as a blip on Zim's radar of people-to-acknowledge, but he will still always just do things for him, and be excited to, too!

I don't know what's wrong with him. The less easy and definitely one too many steps detached from canon explanation would be that he views Zim as the ideal irken and strives to be like him. The easiest explanation would be that he just really likes Zim.

Gosh. Even that still raises the question of how or why he would. Zim is fucking terrible to not just him, but everyone. He is unbiased in whose life he ruins.

And Skoodge is perfectly content with just letting Zim ruin his.

man. i hate him. i really really do.

[practically-an-x-man]

I won't lie. I got distracted watching a video of a guy who's tent was being torn apart by leaf cutter ants and began researching the logistics of that.

BUT I'M BACK with an ask ONCE AGAIN. And it's bugged themed. For definitely unrelated reasons.

Your characters gain the ability to control one species of bug (specific species, not all of ants or all of wasps), and they have as much time as they need to research what bug they'd like. What qualifies as a bug in this case is subjective. Anything in class insecta is fair game but arachnida is cool too.

First of all, that documentary sounds fascinating and I can totally appreciate going down a research rabbithole like that :D

Second, I love this ask, let's dive right in!!

Rae: Copidosoma floridanum - a type of cosmopolitan wasp. The main reason she'd choose it is for it being cosmopolitan, she can utilize this power regardless of her travels.

Robin: Reticulitermes flavipes - the eastern subterranean termite. She'd pretty much exclusively use this power to keep them away from the operahouse and its wooden sets (same with her parents' house, since it's pretty old)

Madison: Pachydiplax longipennis - the blue dasher dragonfly. Technically any dragonfly would suffice, but blue dashers are common where she lives so she wouldn't have trouble finding them. Either way - semiaquatic, predatory, and edible in a pinch.

Ophelia: Camponotus pennsylvanicus - the black carpenter ant. Am I stealing this from Ant-Man? Maybe. But she'd find a way to use them in her lab, for sure.

Gia: Apis mellifera - the Western honey bee. Having an infinite supply of pollinators is a surefire way to keep her shop, and her clover, as healthy as possible.

Jasper: Melolontha vulgaris - the May beetle. Oil from their larvae is sometimes used as a topical treatment for scratches, abrasions, and rheumatism in traditional medicine - it's not quite Neosporin, but it'll work in a pinch

Kestrel: Eristalis tenax - the common drone fly. Another cosmopolitan species, good for use on their travels, but small and unassuming enough that could be good for some quiet espionage.

Katherine: Anthrenus scrophulariae - the common carpet beetle. They're one of the four common species of beetles that cause damage to textiles and other artifacts in museums, so that's a 25% lower chance that they'll get damaged on her watch

Quinn: Pepsis grossa - a North American tarantula hawk moth. Its sting is said to be incredibly painful and is among the highest ranked on the Schmidt pain index - she'd go with the bullet ant, but she's a lot less likely to find those in the California desert.

Eris: Paraponera clavata - there's the bullet ant. Eris just wants to cause as much pain as possible, when they need to. What kind of bug could double as a weapon to be used in battle? Bullet ant.

Nikoletta: Periplaneta americana - the American cockroach. It's gross, and she honestly hates roaches (and half of this power would just be used keeping them away from her home), but they're so common in big cities like New Orleans that she's always got a few around to control. It's a similar strategy to Cleo and her rats, really.

Jimmy: Drosophilia melanogaster - fruit flies. Look, here's his logic: they were first used in genetics back in 1910, and they were a big deal, and he works with scientists now too... maybe they'd have use for this power of his? (also credit to the one scientific name I did not have to look up beforehand because I had it memorized lol)

Vivienne: Aedes aegypti - the yellow fever mosquito. Disease is... kind of a big deal in her time, there aren't a lot of cures for these horrific ailments, and while Vivienne itself is largely immune by being a siren, she doesn't want Wojchek or his crew stricken ill by some tiny little bug.

Spider: Sigh... I'd been so careful about strictly insects this whole time, but it would be wrong to give him anything but a spider. Hogna carolinensis - the wolf spider, and the largest wolf spider species to be found in America. He just thinks it would be cool to freak people out by having this massive wolf spider crawl out of his mouth or something. He's... an odd one, that for sure.

[augment-techs]

👀wanna try?? Billy/Skull??

Wow this looks ugly, I am sorry. But for the sake of clarity:

Skull:

Alternates between being the big spoon and little spoon, but is slightly bigger, so it works out better if he's the big one.

Oddly, of the two of them, he's slightly more responsible with his clothes and therefore always has extra on hand for Billy to borrow when Billy... gets "oil" on his shirts or tears his jeans "working on an engine" by the week.

Being that he is a quiet little king of music, he has a way with words and calls Billy all manner of cute things. Things like, "Rain Dance" or "Sugar Star" or "Ocean Heart" or, his favorite "Bones"~

Amongst people he knows and trusts he is exceptionally extroverted. If he is not used to a group of people, he tends to fade back until he's sure he can be tolerated.

Acts of Service is his main love language, but he speaks all love languages, so if Billy needs more than one or the other, Skull can supply.

There is exactly a one in fifty chance he would ever confess first. But, the multiverse exists; there's gotta be one somewhere that didn't chicken out.

He could break a window screaming over seeing a cockroach skitter by or duck for cover if a moth or grasshopper or wasp gets into the house. Yet, oddly, he won't let anyone kill them, preferring to carefully relocate them, even while freaking out under his breath.

He has a license, he can go from point A to point B. He is not allowed to drive cross country due to the nausea that comes from prolonged coasting.

He basically started cooking for himself when he could reach the stove with a stool. When he is lacking in funds, he can still make a good meal. When he gets older, this is how he truly shows devotion.

Grab him, kiss him, hold his hand, carry him bridal style out in the open. He cannot be embarrassed by affection.

In a relationship, he is very much aware that Billy can handle himself, can watch his own back and is not a fragile flower. So he is generally chill with Billy doing what he will, Skull just requests that he send texts if he knows he might be late or needs something. Unless there's some homophobic douchebag bothering Billy. Then WATCH OUT.

His having more relationship experience is kind of a sad, horrible kind of joke amongst their friends. Sure, he's got a body count higher than two, but holy fucking shit, they all were a horror show. When he wasn't being used for convenience, he was being used to prevent loneliness and lied to the entire time. Not to mention when a mind control or love potion is added to the mix. So...yeah.

Billy:

He tries to be the big spoon at least three times a week, but he is fully aware that he has more muscle and softness than Skull, so he might usually be the little spoon, but that's mostly because he's basically a lovey for his boney-ass boyfriend.

Half of his closet and drawers are filled with clothes he's snatched from Skull; which is very amusing to Kim and Trini when they visit and want to go out and often end up dressing him in his boyfriend's wardrobe. He once wore stirrup leggings with Cinderella flats and a black linen blouse that hung off his shoulders with only the top two buttons latched so he could show off a deep blue sequined crop top that complimented the elk skull and Death Head moth necklaces around his neck--all from Skull; the entire ensemble making him look like a model. (And Skull is fully aware that he's never getting those clothes back.)

Doesn't use nearly as many pet names as Skull, but he does call him easy things like sweetspark, honey heart, marigold, darling, etc.

He's not as shy and background oriented as he was in middle school, but he's not as out there as literally all of his friends. Which is fine and hasn't given him a complex at all.

Service, touch, gift giving, making things--these are his ways of showing affection. He will use words when needed, but he's so often in his own head that sometimes the words just...stay there.

He would have to be the one to say he loves and wants to love and wants a relationship when it becomes very obvious that all the signs for romance are there...but history kind of prevents Skull from acting on things. And he gets it. Of the two of them, Billy has people in his back corner to provide support, Eugene just has Bulk (and maybe his brother when he's...around).

He will not kill pollinators or spiders, but he will tear apart a work area just to get a mosquito.

Billy literally remodeled a car from the early '90s into a flying future miracle. He has risen above the "gays can't drive" thing, thank you.

He can make pasta and microwave dinners and popcorn. He can sort of bake cookies. One should not ask him to do more than that, because he will forget something and go work on an experiment and blow up the house.

So-so when it comes to PDA. Largely because he feels like he's somehow being impolite to other people, but if Skull is feeling low, Billy will actively make sure their hands are attached and that his boyfriend's face is flushed from Billy kissing him all along his face and shoulders.

There is a one in three chance that Bulk and Skull will be in the area of a monster fight at any given time. Rita and Zedd and their minions know them BY NAME. Of COURSE Billy gets protective of Skull to the point of ridiculous a lot of the time.

He's basically always known he's gay. He's had a lot of crushes on his guy friends and allies, but never actually tried to ask for a date. He has had sex with other boys, but not a real relationship--most of the time it was coming off of a stressful battle because of Power overload. So...not much experience. Thankfully, Skull is much more patient than others would believe.

[mysticstarlightduck]

OC vs A Cockroach

Omg this is such a funny concept LMAO, thank you so much for the wonderful tag, @doublegoblin!!!

Tagging: @the-mindless, @writernopal, @cabbojage, @oh-no-another-idea, @crowandmoonwriting, @lassiesandiego, @quisyop, @gummybugg, @tabswrites, @clairelsonao3 and @exquisitecrow

Rules: Rate your OCs on how well they’d fare against a cockroach

I'll go with the main cast of Enchanted Illusions for this one!

Cailean Telkerly - 4/10 Once he sees the roach, he'd try to look tough and unbothered to seem cool in front of Agatha at first all like "I can handle this (says he, visibly disturbed and from a considerable distance)". Like, he might - emphasis on might - actually get the situation under control if he can smack the roach with a broom or something from far away.

But then he would fail miserably at it once that mfer roach starts to fly - like the fear is evident, it's a run-for-your-life. He'd leave that room so fast. I give him those 4 out of 10 points solely because he would try to keep it cool before the roach flies. My boi would be jumpier than a cat in the rain like "Nah, man, hell nope, I think this is the bug's house now, let's just move".

Evangeline Daemitya - 10/10, I'm talking about the most nonchalant, cold reaction ever - solely for the fact that, with her magic, she can disintegrate that bug or teleport it away with a snap of her fingers. It surprises people to no end, because they usually expect her to be terrified of bugs due to her noble background but she actually doesn't mind them - she even has one of those weird dead insect collections.

Vincent Sharppe - 8/10 He is the kind of guy to pick the insect up in a jar or piece of paper and set it free far away outside of his home without saying a word, but whose soul would leave his body should the insect touch his skin or start flying around - he'd still spend a week complaining about it either way.

Harriet Sharppe - -2/10 She actually has a deep phobia of insects, so it doesn't go well whenever she sees one in her home, especially if it is a roach. Harriet can handle any kind of monster and dark magic spell thrown her way, but would have a full-on nervous breakdown if she saw a roach in her room, no one runs faster than her in that situation. She won't enter the room until the cockroach is properly terminated (and she has proof of it), which ends up being Vincent's job, because she will not get close to the insect on her own.

Clarence Van Sterlling - 6/10 Would attempt to become friends with a roach. There's a 50% chance that he'll suceed, and a 50% chance the roach will just scuttle away further into the room and never be seen again. Will be heartbroken - for five minutes - when Thaddeus inevitably stomps the cockroach until oblivion.

Thaddeus Lockhill - 11/10 It's as if he senses the roach's presence before it even has the chance to think about flying away. Then it's over. There's no roach, only its squished remains on the floor - which are quickly cleaned up. Thaddeus carries on afterwards like nothing ever happened. This all takes place in a total of ten seconds.