#a random carapace

[turtleblogatlast]

Things I make for myself when insomnia kicks in

Just a chart about what I wanna change up and keep consistent in my art - I mainly wanna draw Raph with a tail because he deserves one, it fits too well. Donnie gets a long tail too because I didn’t realize how dino-like he looks until I gave him one, and now it’s a must for me haha.

[drexee]

And finally, Mikey!!!

Bayverse!Mikey x gn!Reader

Warnings: fluff, spelling maybe?

Raph | Leo | Donnie

Mikey Sleep HCs

Michelangelo used to have a twin bed, actually! It really didn’t bother him! He would just face plant into the mattress and knock out

fun fact: that was the same bed he’d had since he was little! Yes, the bunk.

But it wasn’t until you came along that he thought maaaaaybe he should get a bigger bed😭

He’s rolled off the side one too many times when you slept in the same bed together 🥲

Now he has a queen sized bed! Very plush, you sink right in

He has a comfortable and large blanket, it’s tattered at the edges but, “It’s well loved! It adds character ;)”

Mikey has a LOT of pillows on his bed. And one (1) body pillow he did not nab from Donnie’s room

Also has clothes on his bed, clothes he’s been meaning to fold and put away, but he just… never got around to it

Honestly, when you first walked in, you didn’t even know he had a bed

But it’s there, trust

He’ll knock some off and boom! A bed!

He. Snores. LOUD.

like, hONK shooo HOONNK mimimimi 😪

If it weren’t for those thick cement walls, you’d be able to hear him clear across the lair!

But it mellows out the deeper he goes into sleep

Now, about the sleeping positions

He has no favorite!

if you’re in bed with him, he’s happy 🥹

Sometimes Michelangelo will have you wrapped up in his arms, other times he’ll be laying on his back (propped with a few pillows) and have you up against his side

It depends on how he’s feeling that night

But you always wake up with at least one of his limbs draped over you

If it’s been a long day, he’ll lay his head on your chest and listen to your heart beat

It gives him a chance to rest his eyes and his very busy brain for a bit, allowing himself to just focus on you and clear out everything else

Your fingers would draw lazy circles on the back of his head, and across his neck, over his carapace, down his shoulders and lightly scratch his jaw

Maybe even kiss his forehead too?

He’s Swooning, oh my god

He loves it

Mikey will be chirping and churring so much he’s practically vibrating

He’d also be drawing pictures with his hands over your skin, tracing your shape and committing it to his memory

He’d see the goosebumps that follow his fingers and he would go back and trace over them, slower

Mikey loves loves LOVES your voice, so he’ll ask you to talk to him while he’s cuddled up with you

Pillow talk is a big thing for him, from various topics to deep conversations to cracked out stories that have you both gasping and dying with laughter

And honestly the raw emotions that come out in the dead of night? When it’s just you and him bundled up together sharing every random thought that comes to mind until one of you drifts to sleep?

That’s what he lives for

It’s intimate in a way that nothing else could ever replicate

In the mornings, he will lay onto top of you

Like, he will CRUSH you. Lovingly. 😌

He wants to be close to you!! And soak up all your sunshine!!!

and he’s not above peppering every inch of you with as many kisses as he can

You have to literally shove him off of you to get him to stop😭

Even then, Mikey will grab your arm (or whatever you used you get him away) and start kissing that

And once you’re properly awake, he’ll have you two head over to the kitchen to have some breakfast together

Voila!! That’s all four! Sorry these took a bit! I have like, a full time job and I’m in school, and honestly only get these ideas when I’m right about to fall asleep 😭

Anyways! Hope you enjoyed! Til next time!

[dial-tone]

If you have picked a random person to “have a crush on”, not even considered what loving someone romantically means, or are generally repulsed by the idea of romance in general, I have news for you:

The average mirrorhawk is a small type of aerial mollusk. In early stages of life, they will construct a small carapace, a composite of mica and their own enameling excretions, to protect themselves from the harsh environment we’ve seen on display today.

[blazing-butterfly]

Random fantasy idea: "Dark knights" as a kind of biological monster with hard outer carapaces that evolved to look like armor as a sort of natural mimicry.

Their ancestors looked more like bipedal turtle/armadillo/pangolin creatures than anything else and would only be mistaken for knights in poor visibility (like the dark dungeon tunnels they use as burrows), but it was helpful enough with intimidating other monsters and avoiding aggression from adventurers that over time natural selection rewarded more convincing disguises and imitating how knights acted, which also let them expand their habitat aboveground and into the fringes of populated areas.

The modern dark knight is a more sophisticated mimic than its ancestors, with scales that look clearly like armor although they don't exactly match any real style, and details like a hairy plume or other ornament on its head, jaws that look like a visor when closed, deep-set eyes to give the appearance of looking out through eyeholes, and even asymmetrical claws that look like a sword and shield in their neutral position, making it difficult to identify one from a distance. They're roughly on par with dogs for intelligence, and some have attempted to domesticate them and train them to behave even more like knights, but while their loyalty can be genuine most of their "chivalrous" behavior is still just imitation.

[probablyfunrpgideas]

Horror Creature Idea

An animal that has learned to mimic the “deus ex machina” or other random helpful encounter. It has a sixth sense for people in the depths of despair or on death’s door, and shows up to rescue them and provide a glimmer of hope.

As a mimic, this beast has many forms, but a common one is an almost-human with jaunty, colorful attire. “The Friendly Wanderer is a cheery fellow. Bright blue his carapace is, and his talons yellow!” One of them might bounce along the road in time to pull a poor hero out of quicksand and take them to get dry in its cozy hut nearby (from which nobody ever emerges).

The great thing about the Friendly Wanderer is that you can use one of them to rescue your players from a really tough fight or challenge that they can’t figure out, but then you don’t have to feel bad about being too nice because they get put in an even worse predicament!

Scholars have a hard time studying the Friendly Wanderer’s habits and abilities because of its unique hunting style. We’re not sure whether it has magic beyond its disguise capabilities, but we do think it gains sustenance from feelings of betrayal in addition to eating its victims’ bodies.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

How to Build a Team, Fixing the Recruitment of the Temp Heroes

I've had a few people ask me questions about Miraculous rewrites, so I wanted to quickly touch on something that doesn't get discussed much. Namely that the recruitment of the temp heroes failed at a fundamental level IF the end goal was to make a team. If the end goal was to have one-off episodes where the temp hero of the day shows up and is then forgotten, then the way canon did it is fine. But I think most rewrites that include the temp heroes want to actual give Marinette a larger team, so let's talk about how you do that.

The issue with the temp heroes lies in WHY they're recruited. To demonstrate what I mean, let's quickly talk about Rose's recruitment in Guiltrip.

In Guiltrip, Juleka tells the class that Rose suffers from a random, unnamed chronic illness. This leads to Juleka getting akumatized because she feels so guilty about outing Rose's secret. In order to save Juleka, Rose gets the pig miraculous, becomes Pigella, and gives her girlfriend a look into a fake world where everything is happy and perfect! (The pig is weird.)

The problem with this setup is that Rose is functionally nothing more than a random power up that Ladybug needed to help fight the akuma of the day. The episode would have worked just as well if Ladybug dual wielded and, after the episode is done, there's no need for Rose to stick around because Juleka has been helped and Juleka is an outsider to the team. Let's look at how you rewrite this setup to make it feel like Rose is being recruited for the good of Ladybug's team.

Instead of the episode being about Juleka exposing Rose's illness, we're going to have the episode start with Marinette getting upset about something. What that thing is really doesn't matter, but for ease, let's say that she gets a bad grade and is feeling down. Alya tries to cheer Marinette up, but it doesn't work because Alya's not good at that kind of pep talk. Marinette asks to be alone and wanders off, going to sit alone in the courtyard or something. Enter Rose, who overheard Marinette and Alya talking. Rose will manage to do what Alya can't and cheer Marinette up. Once the pep talk is over and Rose is long gone, Tikki will comment on Rose's ability and Marinette will say something about how Rose is good at knowing what to say/keeping a positive attitude in the darkest times.

Cue the akuma of the day coming in. For the sake of this hypothetical, let's say that Ladybug has built up her team already, so Alya and Nino are both full time heroes. This means that we have Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, and Carapace charging into battle, but it's a tough one. The akuma is crazy strong and, the longer the fight goes, the more they all lose hope. They try to encourage each other, but it's not working. The words feel empty.

Then Ladybug remembers Rose.

Ladybug rushes from the battlefield and recruits Rose, who joins the team and changes the tide by restoring the team's hope with her encouraging words and dauntless spirit. The episode ends with Rose joining the team because they clearly need someone there to keep their spirits up when it feels like hope is lost.

Do you see how that simple shift changes everything? How Rose is no longer a one-off, easily-forgotten power-up?

Now, as much as I love Rose, I personally wouldn't recruit her to any team I make because the role she's most suited to feels too close to the role I think Adrien should have, but this was just an example so that doesn't matter. What matters is that this is how you should approach the temp heroes IF you want to create a strong team dynamic. They shouldn't be recruited just because a random loved one is in need. They should be recruited because team miraculous is missing something it needs and that person fills the gap.

This is what I mean when I say that a small team works because you can center them around Marinette and Adrien. I don't mean canon's creepy shipping thing, I mean that you can focus on what abilities Ladybug and Chat Noir lack and build a team around filling in those gaps. For example, Marinette is really good at thinking up creative physical solutions, but her creativity doesn't extend to thinking up stories. And Adrien may be an actor, but his improv skills are focused on word play and romance, not crafting stories via pure imagination or a mix of imagination and putting together subtle verbal clues. Meanwhile, Alya comes up with stories all the time, so it makes sense that they'd recruit her to be the person who wields illusions, which is all about storytelling.

[meraki-sunset]

If by OG version you mean the Candy!Epilogue, she's not an ecto-baby. She's Jade and Rose's naturally born, biological child. Because for some hellish reason, the writers decided to give Jade a dick and justify it as part of her being fused with Bequerel. When having a secret ecto-baby behind her husband's back would've been less weird but still justify why she hid the child. Rose even explained the pregnancy was really short, like a dog pregnancy.

Anyways, the version of Yiffany that shows up on the final video on CSAU is still Jade and Rose's kid, i don't think it would make sense for a diferent mix of parents to produce the same child.

She was just made through ectobiology this time around, along with hundreeds of other babies, that's why it's not weird for her to exist. The kids mixed their DNA in multiple posible convinations and Jade+Rose was just one of many.

That's why i added that little frame where Kanaya is playing with her. She has no reason to be mad at Rose, Jade or their bio baby, because Yiffy just one of docens of random babies they all made to repopulate the planet, instead of an afair baby.

And the same goes for Tavros and Vrissy, they would never come to exist in CSAU if it's not as random Ecto-babies, because their bio parents just wouldn't have them. Harry Anderson it's a diferent story.

So, in this timeline, they still exist and their bio parents are the same, but they were born from ectobiology and were last seen leaving in a ship with the carapace and other babies and grubs.

[wallcreeper-and-oro]

OOC: another bit of random thought, a lot less profound

do y’all… do yall see it?

these are the characteristic multiple setae (part of the sporophyte of a moss, the thing that produces and dispenses the spores) of the Plagiomnium medium and the gorgon, probably it’s vorpal gun

maybe i’m just too deep into the lancer brainworms but maybe… but maybe…

especially since the HORUS mechs are specifically called out to be a mix of biological and mechanical stuff, and i know most HORUS pattern-types lean into the more fleshy icky gross part of organic but also what if they don’t have to solely have that kind of organic? why not other biota!

also a lot of the little sensory things pushing out of the gorgon’s carapace that we see look very fungal to me, or some kind of moss or lichen

[snakeunderyourboot]

Therapy for Miraculous Team fic idea

cool idea for miraculous fic set during season 2-3 (get away all this shit from seasons 4-5)

Okay, so one day Mayor of Paris announced that as thanks to the Miraculous team for all they did for Paris, they can get free mental health care. Like a free therapist. Talk about perks being superheroes

Anyway, Ladybug of course says that its dangerous and they can't really talk to said therapist because people can figure out their identities. Chat Noir agrees, but in the end they both start using said therapist.

It starts with something more trivial like high school stress or tips for how to deal with anxiety, small things like that. But as time goes and therapist being an actually nice person who never tries to guess who they are under the mask and just wants to help them, both Ladybug and Chat Noir loosen up a little. They now talk about other stuff, more personal to them (still hiding their identities)

Even temporal heroes sometimes use therapist services. Rena Rouge asks how can she be passionate about her hobbies without it hurtung her friends, Carapace asks tips how to help his friend who is in a difficult family situation, Queen Bee (she is the last to visit therapist but even she caves) asks how can she change herself so that she stops losing people. It's all very nice and well, and the team grows so much closer than they were before

Only the thing is, the therapist is actually a double agent working for Hawkmoth.

Maybe they had some personal vendetta against the Miraculous team, maybe they just didn't trust them, maybe some other reason - just the idea that said therapist was not all that great.

Until they started listening to the heroes and suddenly hit with the realization that they are just kids. Ladybug can restore Paris in a matter of seconds, but she is extremely anxious about school and has a poor life-work balance. Chat Noir can destroy everything just by touching it, but he also spends so long pretending to be a perfect version of himself that he has no idea who he truly is. Rena Rouge can make a perfect illusion with a few notes, but she also feels like she constantly misses everything and she hurts more people than actually helps them. Carapace can shield a bullet, but also worries about his friends and not being enough for them. Queen Bee is able to freeze a person, but also is so deep in her own familly problems that she is also comepltly lost what she is as a person.

Suddenly therapist realizes that people who were protecting Paris for so many years - are just kids. Kids who should worry about their grades and school drama and not fight a magical terrorist every day.

Maybe then therapist starts selling false info to the Hawkmoth. Maybe they now trying to figure out the Hawkmoth identity. Maybe then Therapist becomes probably the only stable adult figure in superheroes lifes they can go for. Maybe they start learning more stuff about miraculouses. And maybe they suddenly met with a choice to step away and probably let those kids make so many mistakes or step in and help them in every possible way.

Just the idea of some random parisian therapist looking at miraculous team and deciding that that is enough and help them.

Edit: of course we can take more hilarious approach because imagine you start listening to all the stuff those kids are up to. Someone was in a doomed alternative version of their world, someone tried to cataclysmed themselves and all that while dealing with school. I pity that therapist

[moonamite]

Random ass ROR swimming headcanons because I’m at the lake and felt inspired:

Johnny- Can swim decently enough.

Chet- Absolutely cannot swim, sinks like a rock. I’m imagining him with big floaties and a tube.

Javier- Uncomfortable with being wet. The water gets all in his carapace and makes his wings heavy.

Reggie- Depends. Pool water irritates her skin. Salt water is uncomfortable. Loves regular water though. However, she doesn’t exactly ‘swim’, it’s more like walking along the bottom.

Chip- The best at swimming, and actually enjoys it. Unlike the others, he’s built for the water. (If you’ve seen my Chip hcs you know why)

Randy- Pathetic doggy paddle. It’s hard to swim with eight scrawny limbs. He swims with his neck awkwardly craned upward to keep his head above the water.

[mismatchedtwins]

Mismatched Twins - Take Four

“Tell me again why we can’t just teleport?”

The injured turtle clutches at Donnie as he leaps from one floating rock to another, face pressed against his shoulder at the sudden changes in gravity. Like any Leonardo predictably would, he’s doing his best to pretend that each jump isn’t affecting him. Donnie knows that the ribs pressed against his carapace have to be causing some discomfort, even if they do have a solid layer of plastron.

He keeps refusing Donnie’s offers to break, so Donnie presses on.

He’s only a few pounds heavier than April, probably due to the shell, but Donnie’s spent years dragging things around the lab, so he knows his endurance can last far longer than his body believes that it can. Though, it has been driving him nuts, that something about his physique has felt oh-so-remotely off since he… arrived in this prison, but he’s doing his best to think about important things.

Not the small fire burning his ankle or the nail in his shoulder every time Leon moves his arm even lightly. Things like, getting home to the brothers that watched him… transport away at April’s hands and who have probably written him off as dead.

He has to get home. They have to know he’s okay.

“Leonardo.”

Donnie grips the rock as he gets his footing, grateful for the strange pulls of gravity between the masses that occur in Dimension X and this strange, broken dimension. He doesn’t know how long he’s been moving, but the fluid jumps ease the burden.

“Ninpo… batt’ry low.” His companion sounds tired, but he’s still conscious, and that’s really want Donnie cares about. “Can’t re…charge. Need to pre…preserve it.”

“Inconvenient.” Donnie mutters as he finally locates a good area for a pit stop. “Stay with me, Leon. Just a few more bounds.”

“Not sleeping.” Leon mumbles. “Not…asleep.”

“Keep it that way.”

Donnie hurries his pace, only stopping when he stumbles and almost loses his balance. He takes a couple breathes, ignoring the fuzz in his peripheral. Leon notices and offers his continuous, halfhearted, “Put… medown. I can w…walk.”

“Don’t see much of a point.” He states cooly as he soldiers on, “We’re practically there.”

Leon shifts, “Where..?”

“Hopefully, a safe place for you to rest.”

“I don’t need-”

“I’m one word away from dropping you.” Donnie lies as he finally crosses the distance. “You’re not the only turtle who could use a break, you know.”

No snappy reply to that one. Donnie tries not to let that worry him.

He sticks the landing and then carries Leon across the homestretch. There’s a small enclosure a couple feet away, not big enough for two, but wide enough for one of them to curl up in. Theoretically.

Donnie kneels down next to it and the weight drops from his back.

He’s grateful to see an exhausted, but conscious turtle surveying him apprehensively. He looks to the side, face scrunching.

“You don’t expect me to crawl… ‘n there, do you?”

“Once I’m done with your check-up, yeah.” Donnie offers helpfully, pressing hands on both sides of his jaw and checking his pupils in the relative dark. “Because I’m going to look around and I don’t want you to be a sitting duck.”

The turtle yawns and digs his phone from his belt. It’s one of those shiny, smooth, compact phones that can do a million more things than Donnie’s glorified walk-in-talkies can do. Donnie tries not to ogle as he taps the function for the flashlight and then offers it.

He mutters a thanks and pretends like the random burst of jealousy never happened as he confirms that Leon’s pupils are behaving appropriately. He turns it off afterward upon seeing the battery was nearly halfway dead, certain that they should preserve it.

Leo doesn’t seem to share the same sentiment. Upon it’s return, he immediately opens an app to flick through it.

Donnie turns off his phone and pockets it.

He earns an indignant squawk and baps the hand that reaches out.

“Too much exposure to screen light awakens the brain.” He recites the private factoid that he has never once told his brothers ever for his own sanity. “I’ll give it back once you rest.”

“If you wanted to ditch me this much, you coulda done it back there.” Leon’s grin doesn’t reach his eyes, too laced in pained exhaustion. “Would’ave saved you some time.”

“You need a nap.” He scolds, trying not to think about how much he sounds like his own bossy brother. Oh, Leo. “And I need to confirm that we’re not going to starve here.”

“Dehydration’ll get us first.” Leon points out as Donnie moves on. That’s a morbid thought, but entirely accurate. “Not if I can help it.”

“You gonna pull water from rocks?”

“Don’t exactly have any godly powers on my side.” Donnie states wryly. “So I’ll have to make do with what I do have.”

“Which is…?”

“Science.”

“…Science.”

“Science.”

“What does that even…” Leon shakes his head. “You know what? Don’t care. Not napping.”

“And why not?”

“Cause you like jumping off cliffs for fun.” Leon pokes his face with a smirk. Donnie knocks the invasive hand away, pressing a finger to the vein in his neck. “Someone’s gotta keep you alive.”

Donnie huffs, shoving memories down when three other turtles told him a variety of the exact same thing. “I can take care of myself.”

“You jumped off a cliff.”

“Okay, technically, I only took a few steps.”

“You walked off a cliff.”

“I was testing a reasonable hypothesis.”

“Mhmm, mhm, mhm.” Leon nods patronizingly before he drawls, “Totally get that. And that’s why I’m here. To talk you out of testing dumb theories that could kill you, don’tr-”

He blinks, abruptly, body going stiff. Donnie furrows his brow at the strange slur of words, but lets him stew in his thoughts, appreciative of the new silence that comes with it.

“Okay, nap time.” Donnie proclaims when he decides that Leon isn’t going to die if his body shuts down for a bit. “We’ll keep moving once your body has recouped.”

“You really expect me to sleep here?” He eyes the hidey-hole like he expects it to turn out to be a monster’s mouth.

“Yep.”

Leon doesn’t move. Donnie scowls irritably.

“If you do not rest, you cannot heal.”

“Can and am.” Leon preens, waving a hand down his plastron. “This fine bod was made that way. Goat man says that my body’s always getting better even as I get worse.” His face blanches, “Hey, that sounds less complement-y than I remembered…”

Donnie attempts to process past the blatant ego. “Goat man..?”

“Y’know.” Leon rolls his hand. “Draxum.”

Donnie can’t fathom why this kid thinks he should know that name. “Maybe I should double-check for a concussion.”

“You telling me you’ve never heard of Draxum?” Leon gives him a funny look. “Mad scientist? Ooze wielder? Cafeteria lady? Dad-not-dad? Big part of the Mad Dog backstory?”

“See, now you’re just spitting out words.” Donnie grumbles as he cups his cheeks and lifts his head, more to annoy him than for medical analysis. “Hold still.”

Leon only waves his arms, words mashed like his face. “He t’rew me off a wroof!”

“That’s nice.” Donnie hums with a calculated condescension, smirking when his prisoner attempts to scowl. Leon shoves against his plastron and squirms free, indignant as Donnie releases him and holds up his hands in surrender. “It was awful, actually! It was a really tall building! Really tall!”

The high and whiney tint to his voice reminds him of when Mikey is in serious need of some feeling validation. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he gives him a more solmen nod instead. “Sounds it.”

He eyes him, suspicious. “I could have died. I would have!” His voice drops dramatically. “If Raph hadn’t caught me.”

“Raph catching Leos when they fall off tall buildings is a universal constant.” Donnie notes to show that he’s being very attentive. “This Draxum, scientist, lady, goat man, is not. Got it.”

Leon continues to give him the stink eye. Mikey usually complains a lot longer than this, so Donnie isn’t sure if it’s an appropriate time to move on to what really matters or not. “So…”

“Tell me a bedtime story.”

Donnie stares at him. “Excuse me?”

“You want me to go to sleep. I want you to tell me a story.” Leon decides with a bright grin. “A really good one about these brothers that you won’t stop blabbing about.”

Donnie feels like he missed something. “…Why?”

“Limited time offer, guy. Take it or leave it.”

He hesitates. “And then you’ll sleep?”

Leo lays himself down and scoots into the mini cave. With little room left, he gets comfy on his plastron, “Bedtime story. Go!”

“Aren’t you fifteen or something…”

“Less questions, more story, aaaand go!”

“I feel kinda-”

“Guuuuy-”

“Fine!”

He smirks, chin happily settled on fist.

Donnie bites his lip.

“Here, I’ll help! Once upon a- now here’s where you start- tiiime…”

Hoping to shut the turtle up for five minutes, Donnie starts telling the least daunting, embarrassing, or traumatizing recent memory that he can recall: namely, that one time Stockman turned a bunch of bugs into mutants and started robbing banks, giving Donnie the chance to save the day with his harnesses.

Even if no one mentioned that bit.

Which wasn’t important. They all did their part.

Besides, they were really cool. Mikey reassured him of that.

“…And it turns out, Raph apparently learned some super secret phrase from Splinter to help him keep calm in the battle. It really ticked Leo off that he wouldn’t share it with him.”

He chuckles as he recalls his ‘older and maturer’ brother arriving into his lab to slam the door and pathetically snivel to him about it. “Raph was super smug about it until Splin-ter…”

He trails off and his smile fades when he catches the look on Leon’s face. It disappears as he faces away, stretching his arms with a dry smirk. “You are really good at that.”

“Oh, heh-?” Donnie rubs the back of his neck bashfully as heat crawls up it. Usually, it’s Mikey who gets attention for that sort of thing. “G-Good? At-?”

“Lying.” Any humor disappears. The heat drops down and burns in his chest. Donnie narrows his eyes. “I wasn’t lying.”

“Spoken like a true fibber.”

“You’re the one who asked me to-!” Donnie starts, hand at his chest, but Leon meets his gaze cooly. “I was waiting for you to slip up.”

“Slip UP?!”

“People usually do. Especially with a lie as detailed as this one.” He squints at him. “You’re almost as good as me.”

Donnie can’t believe the audacity. “What POINT would there be in lying to you?!”

“Make me eat up your sob story so I help you out.” Leon explains simply before he shrugs. “S’what I would do.”

“It is not a sob story, and I don’t need your help!” The blaze spreads, so he wrenches himself to his feet and stomps away. Leon calls after, “Don’t go jumping off any cliffs!”

His fists clench. “I DIDN’T JUMP!”

Donnie expects him to shout after or, shell, even transport beside him since he just admitted to being a liar, but he goes quiet. Donnie gives himself a few minutes to seethe before he drags himself back to his companion. Leon’s carapace is to the entrance, body tense.

Not sleeping. More than likely pouting.

Such a Leo move…

The sudden prodding ache reminds him of his mission.

Right. Back to worrying about important things.

He exhales and shakes off the invisible hand smashing in his chest. It gives some reprieve for him to focus, trying to dig up even the smallest facts that he knew about Mikey’s stories in Dimension X.

They had confirmed that Mikey had only been there several hours, which is good, because Donnie’d had plenty of trouble calming Leo’s irrational crisis over whether or not he was still the oldest. It was way too many hours wasted on an afternoon where he actually wanted to be sleeping. He’d never have made progress if the timeline had been expanded to months. If that had been the case, Leo would have had to fork over his big brother title, as degrading as that sounded.

Donnie can’t imagine what it would have been like to be separated from his family for that long.

Mikey had been all too eager to go into deep specifics about his time in Dimension X. Donnie forgot most of the unimportant things, but he’d estimated that Mikey’d eaten all his pizza reserves with the first hour or two there. Then he’d tried a variety of… Randomly described objects that ‘looked tasty’ before he’d settled on the Squeebles.

Supposedly, they’d had the texture of milkshakes, but not any definite flavor. They were yummy, boosted his “savageness,” and didn’t appear to have any negatives effects.

It would be good information to have if there was a single glimpse of life in this place at all. Is there even a working ecosystem?

He hasn’t even seen any boom rock trees or signs of the familiar silver bases. There didn’t seem to be much of anything. Not that he misses the Scatterpillars or elemental giants or Kraang worms.

Donnie shudders. Definitely not.

Then again, if the Kraang have access to cloaking domes, then what does that mean for these Krang?

Donnie sighs. He’s getting nowhere like this.

Mikey managed to explore and master miles of Kraang territory before they reached him. Sure, Mikey had his photographic memory, but there has to be a way to get similar results. There must be a way to replicate the kind of… Oh. Hm.

Donnie checks on Leon. He remains faced away.

Good. He stretches out his arms, cracking his knuckles. Might as well try. What does he have to lose?

….Other than every trace of his dignity and self-respect.

He exhales in a huff. Okay. Head in the game. Think Mikey.

What would Mikey do?

Or better yet, what would Savage Mikey do?

Climb anything climbable. Swing from anything swingable. Wander around touching absolutely everything that he doesn’t understand. Stick unidentified objects between his toes.

….Yeah, he’s not doing that last one.

Donnie starts walking. His first instinct is to just wander, but Mikey’s more of a moth-to-a-flame kinda of turtle. So he chooses the random piece of curved metal in the distance. He ignores the knee-jerk reaction to dismiss any action that he doesn’t understand, obeying the urge to climb up and leap-frog to the next hunk.

A hollow clang greets him on the fourth landing. Donnie lifts a hand to look at the silent print left behind, brushing away more of the grime that reveals a light pinkish color. He slides down immediately, moving to the next large structure and finding a similar hunk of charred metal. He traces the bottom, where metal merges with rock, and debates how it got there. The metal almost looks seared in by some kind of intense heat. Was it purposeful?

He peeks around it, curious eyes trailing to a high point up ahead; tall but thin metal sheet slotted sideways into the ground. He fires his grapple and launches up to it, pulling himself to a comfortable crouch. His new weight doesn’t budge it, so he stands.

There’s a massive crater taken out of the island. Whatever’s left of the missing spot must be floating in the atmosphere around it. The destruction is mesmerizing. Of course, whatever the history of this dimension was, Donnie gets the feeling that it was not pretty.

He wonders if the Krang knows what it is. Maybe those horrors are part of the reason that he was so furious Leon brought him back.

Donnie’s eyes lock on movement in the distance. His eyes widen with interest and, because it’s definitely something Mikey would look into, he slides down to the ground and takes off in a sprint.

He heads towards the landmark. It’s the only chuck of faded pink with black stripes, so it’s not hard to track. He trips at the spike of pain up his leg when he nears his destination. He ducks behind a smaller rock, down on one knee with a light hiss. He wouldn’t let Leon waste bandages on it when the bleeding had already stopped.

If only the pain would copy.

Rubbing the sore limb, he peeks around with round eyes.

There’s a… creature squeezing through the doorway. It has one foreleg and two hind legs, bright pink tentacle-looking appendages sprouting from its back. The rest of its body is also a color scheme of pinks and purples, a dull yellow eye on the leg underneath the clashing jaw. It appears stuck, wiggling and gurgling and straining to get through the minuscule opening.

Donnie lowers a hand to his belt, startled when he realizes that his t-phone is gone. He knows it’s the right pocket because of the extra padding. Only Leon’s remains. He searches every pocket, horror and fury tight over his chest. How?! When-?! Seriously!?

He’s been here all of five minutes and he’s already lost his t-phone?!

That’s what he gets for harnessing his inner Mikey.

He looks back to the creature. Its struggle is becoming weaker and weaker. It raises its head and makes a high sound, like it’s calling out.

Donnie feels a tug at his heart, but he’s not stupid. He waits until the fight leaves it and it slumps to the ground, panting and gurgling, before he stands up. The half-lided eye locks on him, tentacles turning in his direction, but he keeps a passive hand outstretched. “It’s okay, little… creepy. Alien? Thing. I’m a friend.”

The creature squirms. Donnie moves over to the metal, feeling over it, searching for a way to dislodge it from the ground. He finds a corner to stick his fingers and braces his foot against a spot that’s a different tint of metal. He tenses his posture and yanks.

He cries out as nonexistent barbwire locks down on his shoulder. His vision whites and his hands cut into the metal, but he stands his ground and it eventually gives way.

He falls down with it, heavy weight bumping against his knees before hitting the ground. He quickly runs shaky fingers over his shoulder, because with his current string of luck-

He exhales in relief. Not dislocated. Better keep it that way.

Just to confirm, Donnie rolls his shoulder. Immediate pain, but the joint feels stable and nothing is oddly tingling. He flexes his fingers, reaching his arm above his head. Again, pain, but there’s apt motion.

Positives.

He can work with this.

Donnie looks up. Behind the compact metal is a wide tunnel.

Donnie can’t tell how long it is because it descends into an impossible darkness pretty fast. The creature garners his attention when it shifts. It attempts to rise, only to crumble before it can get its footing, flickering eye shutting with a gurgle. The tentacles on its back flail with a lot more life than it seems to have, extending towards Donnie as he watches curiously.

“Oh man.” It doesn’t look hurt. Donnie stands to move closer, yet unsure if he intends to offer comfort or a medical examination.

Can he rightly complete an examination of a creature that he doesn’t grasp the biological make-up of? Would this be one of those times that Leo glares at him and warns about ‘boundaries’?

That usually has something to do with sentience. Interesting query.

How sentient is it? Only one way to find out.

“Are you okay?”

The creature doesn’t answer or even move. The tentacles continue stretching out, getting tangled in one another in futile attempts to get closer to him. It’s cute, in a grotesquely ugly kinda way.

He crouches and reaches out. “Hey, there. I-”

“NINJA SNATCH!”

It’s only Donnie training that allows him to dodge the swift grasp of this entire turtle chucked at him. He gets a glimpse of the shocked expression before he’s crashing into the wall. The turtle peels off like an old sticker and falls back in his carapace as Donnie stomps over, glaring down at him. “WHAT are you DOING here?!”

“Saving you.” He winces before pointing to Donnie’s leering figure. “And, your welcome.”

“Saving me from what?” Donnie gestures to the creature. “This half dead thing that’s in desperate need of help?”

“Yes.” Leon climbs to his feet with a grunt. “That, but say it again more heroically. And with gratitude.”

“I was perfectly fine-” Donnie indignantly turns to head back to the little guy, only to fall face-first when arms lock around his leg. He yelps as he goes down. “‘EY!”

“Don’t touch it!” Leon demands. “It’s evil!”

“It’s dying!” Donnie shoots back. “Helpless and weak and pathetic and would you let go of me!?”

“Not if you’re gonna TOUCH IT!”

If that turtle had been fifty percent less heavily injured, Donnie could have pulled a couple of unsportmanshiply moves that would have set him free. Unfortunately, he has a conscience. “If you insist, then I won’t touch it. Now will you let me go?”

Leo lets go. “No problema.”

“Big problema.” He mocks. “You’re supposed to be asleep.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“We made a deal! I kept my end!”

“That does not sound like a deal I’d make, no.”

Donnie bites down a growl. How is this guy a Leo again?

“What do you say we get moving. Yes? Double yes? Oh, wow, Leo, you’re such a genius why didn’t I think of-”

“We can’t leave it.” Donnie looks at the creature. The tentacles are lying flat on its back, and Donnie can’t tell if it’s breathing. Was it breathing before? “It needs help.”

“If Krang wants his pet, he can come help him.”

“Pet?” Donnie repeats urgently. “That’s the Krang’s?”

“What did you think the tentacles were? Decoration?”

Donnie hesitates as his companion sits up. “Krang’s or not, we can’t just leave it to die.”

“What is with you?” Leon groans as if Donnie was being the unreasonable one here. “Do you want to become a mindless freak?!”

“Firstly, rude. Secondly, it’s not its fault it has different sentience!”

Leon pats his legs, expression bored. “Okay, there’s no way you don’t know about the Krang infection.”

“No! I don’t!” Donnie’s heart races. “What is a Krang infection?”

Leon narrows his eyes. “The Krang stick their tentacles in you and you transform into a zombie slave. Then those guys stick their tentacles in other people. Or rip them to shreds. They probably did it to most of New York. How did you miss that?”

“Because I wasn’t in your New York?!”

Leon only frowns at him. Donnie looks back at the creature. “So- so if I had touched that…”

“You’d be infected. And I’d probably have to kill you.”

Donnie stares at him. He doesn’t smile.

“So… Are you gonna kill it?”

Leon leans to the side to squint. “Seems kinda dead already.”

“Yeah.” Donnie admits quietly. He gets to his feet and goes over, careful to keep distance between him and the limp creature.

Leon trails after him and pulls out his sword to poke it. “What’s wrong with it?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t look injured.” Donnie’s hand goes to his belt again, only to come up empty. “Urgh, right, no t-phone.”

“T-phone? Is that what this is?”

Donnie’s head whips around. Leon tosses his t-phone in his hand. “What’s the T stand for?” He snickers. “Turtle?”

Donnie hurriedly swipes it back. He taps the screen, only to get greeted with a countdown. “You locked me out?!”

Leon shrugs carelessly. “I’m really bad at guessing passwords.”

“You-?!” Donnie spits out a frustration sound and spins to stomp away. He ends up inside the entrance, glaring at this surroundings. The heat fades as he approaches the wall.

Leon remains outside. “Um, guy? Where… You going?”

The wall is cool metal. The entire tunnel could very likely be man, er, Krang-made. The grim on his palms says that no one has been in there for a while. “It came out of here.”

“Sounds like a good reason to head the opposite direction.”

Leon has a point. But, would Savage Mikey head back?

The dark is making his skin crawl. Especially with the knowledge that a Krang creature came out. Could there be more?

Would Savage Mikey want to know? Maybe.

Donnie doesn’t. It’s illogical. And dangerous.

And yet. And yet.

It could be beneficial. It could be part of a base or ship. It could be something else entirely. If there’s some abandoned tech in there that could answer some of his questions... That could get him home.

Should he risk passing it up?

No. He can’t. Savage Mikey wasn’t willing to let anything stop him from reaching Leatherhead.

Donnie can’t let his uncertainty stop him from reaching his brothers.

He resumes his examination and touches the black stripe. It is, in fact, not paint. “Look at this. It’s some kind of… vine.”

Leon stays in the entrance. “I have bad experiences with vines.”

“It’s a sign of life.” Donnie looks deep into the tunnel. “I want to see where it goes.”

“Just a suggestion… What if we… Didn’t? Do that?”

“We don’t have to do anything.” Donnie moves forward, switching out the phones. “You do whatever you want. We both know it’s what you’ll do anyway.”

“Aw, come on, man. Don’t be like that!”

Donnie’s confident that he has every reason to act however he pleases. Unfortunately, common sense has him hesitating.

“…What are you so scared of?”

“I’m not scared.” Leon whines, but the way he looks at the vines, fingers scratching lightly over skin, Donnie begs to differ.

He might have believed him, one broken agreement ago, but he’s tired and pained and his patience has already worn thin.

Leon’s first mistake was admitting that he was a situational manipulator. He could easily be drafting an lie or excuse right now. It could be trick, and he was not about to get played.

He was too smart for that.

Besides, he had things to do. More important things.

“You’re welcome to wait.”

Donnie glares at him, pointedly clicking on the flashlight that’s thankfully accessible from the Lock Screen, and then starts his trek into the tunnel. Leon calls after him, but since his name is not and never will be “Guy,” Donnie confidently heads into the dark.

With a soft, “eugh boi,” Donnie hears padded steps follow him.

Previous Current Next

[vampuplove]

my tmnt iteration 🐢

yoshi aka splinter found the 4 turtles inside a crashed TCRI truck. the mutagen from broken canisters covered both him and the turtles mutating them. it is implied that when struck by the truck the blow killed yoshi but the mutagen restarted his heart and mended any injuries, reviving him. the turtles aren’t biologically sister as they are of different species and therefore from different clutches. as turtles they had anywhere between months and a day age difference but when mutated it translated into human years explaining the 2 year gap between mikey and leo/raph but the age is estimated and instead of birthday the turtles celebrate their mutation day. splinter eventually discovered an abandoned metro station that was never opened and decided to stay in there as their home. the station had a small cafe area and public restroom and thankfully hasn’t been cut from the city’s power and water grids. april met the turtles when they were 7 and she was 16, splinter left them in an alleyway while looking for food and supplies and april stumbled upon them. at first splinter was really freaked out when he saw april but when he realised she was friendly and didn’t mean no harm they got to know each other and sometimes april would come down to the lair to babysit the turtles while splinter was out. she eventually introduced the turtles to pizza when she brought a box with her and they fell in love with it.

the designs are mid show of sorts that are after the barn arc

leonardo: a bellinger turtle with leatherback sea turtle genes. the eldest and the most aquatic out of all the turtles. likes spending her time swimming in the flooded metro tunnel situated in the centre of their lair. she got a similar virus to what regular bellinger turtles have making her slowly lose her vision as she aged. that did not stop her as she learned to rely on her other sense and acquired a 6th sense of sorts to help her get around. her blindness doesn’t hinder her in combat and actually makes her more capable of moving around in the dark than her sisters but still she cannot see faces so instead she maps them out in her mind by touching them with her hands to memorise them. she has shell cell just like everyone else except it is modified to show in braille. in her free time she enjoys listening to music or audio books and if her sisters are around listening to tv while one of them describes the action on the screen. she has physical hatsune miku memorabilia like figures and plushies that she can touch. leo can still see in blurs of colour but no matter what donnie tried she couldnt help her vision. she is self conscious of the scars given to her by shredder and tries to cover them with a hood. while still agile and strong she has issues with her right knee and wears a knee brace. her element is the ocean waves

raphael: a red crowned turtle with cherryhead tortoise genes. she is the second eldest. she is the worst swimmer but makes up for it in physical strength. the piece of her plastron was cracked during an accident while they were small and the lore for the gold tooth is yet to be decided. the flame carving on her plastron was made by mikey. she is extremely protective of her sister and although gets jealous by assuming that leo is splinter’s favourite still loves her very much. has a tortoise named spike a small brine shrimp tank. she was the first to meet casey and thought back against her drunk father. her element is flame

donatello: a painted turtle with softshell turtle genes. she is the middle child and spends most of her time in her lab. she built the heat lamp above the sitting area where her and her sisters like to bask and relax after a long day. her shell was crushed by rocksteady and bebop but fortunately with leatherheads helped bring her back with a new metal carapace to replace her old on. sarcastic and cool headed, her personality resembling 87 raph. her love language is random niche gadgets. she is the next most aquatic after leo and sometimes joins leo for a swim. her element is lightning

michelangelo: the most creative out of all of them and has a lot of hobbies ranging between art and crafts to cooking and skateboarding. is the glue of the family with a spunky attitude and quick thinking. although the worst fighter out of her family she still can handle herself in a fight. has an orange tabby cat she named klunk that she found while looking for scraps at a junkyard. she can be a little absent minded but she is definitely not unintelligent and takes great offence to anyone babying her. her element is constellations

[spikulec]

A second Spriggan with the species abilities:

Creature Type: Humanoid, Seelie Ylfe Size: Medium (~260 cm | ~8.5 feet) Age: Once they reach adulthood, Spriggan cease to age. Like all the Ylfe, their species can live forever if no major harm befalls them. Diet: Plant-based. Common Appearance: Heavy chitinous carapace shell (with wings hidden inside). Many Spriggan have horns and/or antennae. Spriggan are visually based on beetles

Ability Score Increase: +2/+1 Any (by Tasha’s Rules) or +2 Wis/+1 Con (By Classic Rules). Ignore this point for ‘24 Rules.

Heavy Flight: Short, insectile wings allow you to perform heavy flight over short distances. You gain a flight speed equal to your walking speed. However, your flight produces a low, vibrating sound that can be heard clearly within 100 feet from you, and faintly heard out from another 100 feet. The flight speed has no effect if you are wearing heavy armor. They may, however, wear medium armour. Chitinous Armor: You have +1 to AC regardless of the armor type you are wearing Carved Sigils: You choose a hard flat surface no larger than 1x1 feet, for example a rock, a wall, your shell. Spending 1 minute/10 full turns, you can carve a sign that is readable only by the creature type of your choice (ylfe, humans, townsfolk). The sign can contain a message of up to 10 words and contains emotional charge of your choice. Regardless of where you are, you know your approximate location relative to the sign. The marking is visible to all the creatures with eyes and/or sensitive to magic. It can easily be removed or destroyed. If it gets destroyed, the message can no longer be read and you can’t navigate towards it. Green Warden: As an action, you can detect the presence of any plant or fungus within range (proficiency score x 10 squares). The plant has to be alive and healthy. Upon casting the ability, you learn the location and the approximate amount of plants within range. When you consume a fragment of such a plant, you can see what has been happening in its vicinity for the past hour, as if you were standing in its place. Faerie’s Circle: By spending 10 minutes, you carve a magic circle into the ground. The area can’t be larger than 10 feet radius, but no smaller than 5x5 feet. As soon as you finish, the edges of the carving immediately overgrow with mushrooms, flowers, or any other type of plant of your choice. Regardless of the form, the circle visually stands out from its surroundings, emanating a magical aura and lasting for the next 7 days. If any creature (except for Beasts, who are immune) enters the circle, it must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spellcasting DC, or (8 + Proficiency + Cha/Int/Wis) if you wield no magic. On a failed save, the unfortunate being immediately gets lost for 24 hours. Your target:

Cannot point out directions, even with a map or compass 

Makes all Survival checks with disadvantage 

Cannot memorize new landmarks. 

If they try to recognize a road, place, or landmark they have seen before, they have to make a History check with disadvantage 

If they start a journey while affected by the power of your circle, they move in a random direction, mistakenly convinced that they know the right way

Every Spriggan also gains following traits from Seelie creature type:

Dark Materials: Ylfe are not native to our world and have a natural aversion to metal. Under no circumstances can they willingly come into physical contact with any object made of this material. If a metallic object touches flesh of the Ylfe, they immediately become Frightened of it and remain so, until the physical contact with metal stops Creeping Shadow: The Seelie fear the shadows, and if they are in absolute darkness for too long, their body and mind begin to suffer. For each six hours spent in total darkness or in the Shadowfell, you gain 1 Exhaustion Point. Yet, you cannot get lost in Feywild without a direct magical influence. You do not suffer any negative consequences from Dark Materials or Creeping Shadow while in this plane. Light of the Paths: Every Seelie learns the Light cantrip and can cast it without material components, summoning a light that lasts for 24 hours, even if the caster becomes unconscious. Luminous Court: You can expand your mind to connect with your home realm, the Feywild. By spending one 1 minute concentrating, you can sense other Seelies, and all the creatures/objects from the Feywild within a 100ft (~30 meters) radius. You can use this ability the number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. 

[whatsthetime-mrwolf]

Getting out the jitters

I'm going to watch the Dev livestream for Monster Hunter Wilds tomorrow and I am so jittery from anticipation

just :V *squeak* all evening my body is READY I love everything in the newest trailer so far and am thrilled to see more of where this style is going

Like this!:

Lala bambina is a boss I could see happening in Hollow Knight tbh! I know Rise/Sunbreak had some very stylized monsters to match the theme of Japanese yokai and spirits, but I'm thrilled to see some more fantastical flair in the SpecBio monster designs that came in with World.

Balahara is another great example:

Like, the head design reminds me of those old final fantasy monsters that had random tentacles, BUT is supported by the speculative biology design that gives it features that make sense. Balahara is a sandworm dragon, it has clam eyes (and thus the fleshy tendrils and outer carapace make sense) because it doesn't need eyesight while swimming in the sand.

I'm just super excited to see more of the mechanics of a hunt, and any new features or hub processes. Will there be Seikret customization?! Please please let me put doodads on that raptor mount.

[meraki-sunset]

I was thinking of the cherub adults; do you think they'd have aspects too? Or because they're before a session they don't?

I mean, the trolls ancestors also have aspects and they were before a session, so they could also potentially have one?

To me, everyone has an aspect. Because aspects are the primordial components of the universe in Homestuck, so I think everyone is born tuned to one specific aspect, regardless of if they’re born inside the game or not, destined to play it or not.

The kids and trolls were meant to play it, they were created for it, but Calliope and Caliborn weren't and weren't supposed to play. Cherubs being a super powerful being of legend aside, they were simple mortals unconnected to Sburb, but they still played it, the game let them have a session and they had classpects. The strongest posible classpects no less.

Another good example are the extended zodiac signs. They tell us the aspect and lunar sway of random trolls, even tho they will never play the game. People are just born with an aspect

The only people I believe are born without a classpect are carapace, consorts and leprechauns, because they were created by the game itself to fulfill a role in it, so it would make no sense for the game mechanics to give them a player classpect.

They themselves are already a part of the universe creation.

The same way Players can’t use the Queen’s ring, because its purpose is to be used by a carapace

So yeah, They could be time and space, like with trolls and their descendants or they could have ony other aspects, but Calamity and Calmasis should have aspects, simply because they’re mortals, born inside a Sburb-created universe, in which everyone is tuned to an aspect. (According to the Skaianet files, Calamity was born on universe B1, the beta kids original universe, while Calmasis was born on C1 the EarthC universe)

[total-convergence]

This is a sandwalker, common in the “african” deserts of AfroEuroAustralAsia. These animals belong to a diverse group often called “the Headless”, or “Bluebloods” because most of them look like they lack necks, which isn’t quite true. Their ancestors, the giant malaysian cockroach, ironicaly has a very flexible “neck” for an insect. Some call them “Bluebloods” because they have blue, copper based blood, and also a lot more efficient vascular system than their sixty million years old ancestor. The sandwalkers are rather primitive compared to the other headless, but evolved extremely rapidly like the rest of them.

The malaysian roaches were one of the first animals to re-colonize the islands in oceania devastated by human activity (it was also very common for them to raft since the ocean levels were quickly rising) and so they appeared in an environment with many unoccupied niches and no predators with the exception of birds, that later established populations on said islands too. A lot of the already big roaches grew even bigger because the bigger you are, the more you can eat and the harder it is for the birds to swallow you. Larger individuals would also have slightly different calls due to their body shape, and so they would more likely socialize and mate with similarly sized roaches, resulting in a very slow sympatric speciation contributing to the headless’ / bluebloods’ evolution. The manmade nanite activity has driven many species to extinction, but in case of these giant roaches, they speeded up their enlargement process, because the odds we on their side and the nanites caused several random mutations that contributed to the developement of active respiration and later complex vascular system. As the sea levels were decreasing, the islands of what was previously Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua new Guinea and the neighbouring countries, increased in numbers, size and diversity, and so did the headless. They later dispersed into what used to be Australia, where they also thrived. When Australia started colliding with Asia (ca. 50my after human extinction), the headless experienced a huge decline because of the competition from mainland animals, but a few of them have managed to spread far into the west into Africa, which by now was separated from Asia and Europe by tall mountains instead of the sea. And among these bluebloods are the sandwalkers.

Oh and about the organ on the male’s back? These are modified wings. Giant malaysian cockroach females lack wings completely, and so do the sandwalker females. Males use these “wings” to serenade for the females with chirps and buzzes. The hind wing became a stump, while the fore wing went harder and immobile, completely encircled the hind wing and fused with the carapace. Males create these sounds by stridulation, vibrating the hind wing while it is in contact with the grooved carapace. The immobile fore wing acts as a sound amplifier. Different headless species have different shapes of these structures, creating vastly different mating calls. The larger ones make sounds similar to a pitched-down chainsaw and can travel for houndreds of meters.

And here’s a bit more cartoonish one. Her name is Head and she belongs to a young Yuo Yowa (a species not introduced yet) merchant who travels around the desert and sells low quality salt for high prices.