#bug lore :)

[stevie-petey]

can we get a blurb from dustin’s pov after they leave steve and robin? like when they’re crawling through the vents and bug is j overthinking i’d love to see this from dustin’s pov!!

of course !!

enjoy <3

"are you okay?"

"'m fine," your voice comes out weak, weaker than you had meant for it to, and dustin knows that youre lying.

hes watched you ever since he forced your body into the vents. again his eyes fall to your white knuckles, the shaking in your shoulders, the lost look in your eyes.

its as if all the life has drained out of you, and it terrifies dustin to see.

hes known for a while that you love steve. the moment you called him for help last november, dustin had known that there was something going on between the two of you. though it had surprised him, disgusted him, even, watching the way the two of you danced around each other eased something within dustin.

when your father left, he took all the light with him. the music, the soft humming of july, the honey and sweet tea. dustin was too young to really miss it, the memories more like a hazy dream, but you remembered everything.

after the move to hawkins, you became someone dustin was afraid of. he would never tell you this, but for a while he was scared he would never get the old you back. the sister who played with his hair when he was tired, who raced with him on their bikes and always let him win. dustin feared that he had lost both his father and sister during the divorce.

but then, over time, you came back to yourself.

meeting jonathan served as the catalyst. befriending someone who understood your pain, someone so similar to you, scars to match. soon your light came back, in pieces, then all at once. a month into settling into hawkins, dustin had heard your laughter from the kitchen for the very first time in months, and he knew then that he had his sister back.

then steve somehow came into your lives. dustin still isnt really sure how, but he did. one day it was just you and dustin, and then suddenly there was steve, and it was the missing puzzle piece neither of you realized you were missing.

steve, who set a spark in you every time he looked at you. who made you quick to anger and to melting. who was wrapped so tightly around your finger that dustin almost pitied him. though really he knows that youd do whatever steve asked you to, as well.

seeing the two of you together had eased an uncertainty within dustin that he hadnt known had been there.

he liked jonathan, viewed him as a brother, but when nancy came along, the old fear of losing you came crawling back. that november, you were drifting away from everyone. dustin had sensed it, but he held out hope that jonathan could pull you in again.

only he couldnt. not this time. and dustin was terrified once again.

until steves concerned eyes fell on you when he pulled up to the wheelers. until your exhausted body gravitated towards his. dustin knew, then, that you were now tethered to someone else.

and now steve is gone. locked in some prison with men who want to hurt him.

his sisters tether, the one she loves, the one who dustin has come to view as his own brother as well, is gone.

[chickenchirps27]

DIGITAL COLORING FINALLY CLICKED TO ME HOLY SHIT

Also Magical Girl Bug ☆ 🐛 ☆

[oooocleo]

Perfect reason for me to pick up the bug drawings again is to stick them in the lore doc 💁 this is megascolia procer

[nyehilismwriting]

How do the bug aliens perceive humans? Are we intimidating from their pov or just weird/ugly/cute/mid? Do they have any human stereotypes or jokes?

the bugs are pretty diverse in their exposure to humans - the ones that live and work closely with humans tend to regard them pretty casually: it's been a couple of generations since first contact, they're conceptually used to the idea. there's still some frictions, usually caused by communication issues - that's probably the big one..humans are Weirdly Loud, have to express everything in words (so unwieldy) and completely oblivious to more subtle ways of communicating🙄 there's provably some frustration there, which tends to improve with exposure.

the ones that are less used to humans probably run into these issues more - humans are difficult to talk to, easy to frighten or offend, prone to panic, judgemental, fleshy, tiny, loud, smell weird....

[kabutoden]

dose voidrot exist in your au

yeah it does now... i didnt think about it at all and needed to look it up LOL. on alternia, trolls with voidrot would be pretty screwed but i could see it being treated on Caeser either with dependent relationships set up by the gov (i.e. someone who burned out being set with someone with power overloads) or by being given batteries to drain daily. Goldbloods see themselves as like an exclusive high tier in the Gold Rule system due to their importance in running and protecting the colonies, so they're eager to look after their own. however, an individual with voidrot would definitely suffer from being treated differently.

i imagine they've researched re-igniting burned out trolls and have had some success with it, though a psiionic who's power was broken and then re-lit is probably still more fragile than other psiionics. they really prioritize psiionic health care in the gold rule system.

it's notable that claudii doesn't experience the migraines, loss of control, and great pain associated with powerful psiionics due to his surgery and being drained regularly. the surgical intervention and research into draining was done around 400 years ago, back when the second golden emperor died from exploding. there were around 70 subjects who volunteered to be experimented on, each experiencing a range of successes, and the most stable of these operations was saved to do on the next emperor.

what the elders(who's lives were artificially extended while they were condes helmsmen) didnt think of was that most the subjects who were in those experiments lived and died hundreds of years ago. but the visible surgery done to claudii makes him feel very isolated, and charge drainings are uncomfortable.

[get-back-homeward]

Stage Play: My Old Friend

i've been here more than 2 years now and gone deep into the tags a decade back. but i've never seen anything about Two of Us 2.0: My Old Friend, a stage play by Stephen Larsen imagining a final meeting with John and Paul on November 5, 1980.

here's the summary:

The play begins on November 5, 1980. John Lennon, alone in his apartment at the Dakota in New York City, is at a crossroads. He has been having recurring dreams of death and is ready to make big changes in his life, that is if he can summon up the courage. Just then, who should appear, unannounced at his door but Paul McCartney.  The two haven't seen each other for about four years.  John is both glad and a bit wary at the sudden appearance of his old friend.  Can they mend fences? Can they come together? Or they forever doomed to be bound by the strands and complications of their shared history?

here’s a copy of the script.

it packs a lot of bug lore into a few acts (probably too much for a general audience) and leans a bit exposition heavy to fit it into J&P conversation (assumes they haven’t talked most of the decade but then they start bearing souls). the dialogue is an acquired taste, and it commits the Two of Us sin of making paul more normal for the sake of plot and using him to talk through to john. it also leans into very dark territory by the end (tarot reading with jayne mansfield among other things), which is probably tough even for devoted fans.

but it notably features some very J&P moments complete with goons humor, spontaneous bursting into song, and wild tonal shifts that are very them. it's funny then that the most authentic bits are the ones that make me doubt it could ever be adapted right to the stage. at least not without a devoted group producing it.

would have made a good fanfic though. it's especially poignant after Now and Then's release, even if i am a bit skeptical about the timelines (the idea john and paul didn't see each other for 4 years, that the fall 1980 meeting was out of the blue, time of writing Now and Then, etc.). with the biopics back in discussion, it's worth taking another look at it.

this script was read onstage in holmdel, new jersey in 2018. did anyone attend the script reading?

more importantly, has anything been done with it since?

[flightyalrighty]

Perhaps Rouge and GUN already know Shadow has a bug in his brain. With a head injury like that, surely they did a brain scan and would be scrutinizing it to death. Plus I can't imagine GUN passing up the opportunity to look in his noggin either. Also, do the bugs eat the brain, or do they merely control the host while they take nutrients (from their blood, most likely)?

To preserve the mystery and horror that comes with the unknown for folks that don't wanna lose that, I've placed my answer under this cut:

When the parasite is active (and it is most active during the "moving in" phase before it grows large enough), it produces an invisible field around itself that messes with all electronics within a range. The range is small, of course, when it's just a larva, and increases either with size or, in the case of the cave, numbers.

For most of the time while Shadow was unconscious, the parasite was active and settling in. Any electronics that got too close to his brain during that time would freak out.

This would cause some fear and confusion in the med-bay when, for instance, his heart monitor would randomly go bananas, even when nothing's actually going wrong.

Electronics can be protected from this by being wrapped in aluminum foil, but let's not get ahead of ourselves :P

As for what the parasites eat, they like to feed off of various chemicals that get sent to the brain, but mainly adrenaline. This is why they force their hosts to produce more and more and more of it.

[not-5-rats]

'tell me you didn't...'

(GUESS WHAT, IM BACK WITH MORE CHESTER LORE :DD)

((I started this in like June so sorry if some of the writing is kinda shit lol))

Chester made no attempt to hide the body so by the next morning Guards were at the door, Audrey answered

"S'cuse me Miss, are you Audrey Markins?"

She confirmed her identity and the guard dropped his head slightly, sighing before he spoke

"Am sorry to tell you Miss, but your boyfriend, Erik Tlin was found dead this morning, down by the river"

She was stunned, she stood there her mind visibly shutting down as the news made its way through her like an electric shock.

The guard allowed her a minute to compose herself then asked to be let in. She let him in and they sat together in the living room. He asked her if she had seen Erik the day he died and she told him they had a date-day together, went to the library, had lunch in a small cafe, went shopping, he dropped her off at home, said goodbye and she hadn't seem him after that.

The guard continued to ask questions and Audrey provided him answers, until the man decided he was satisfied with his evidence.

"Once again I'm sorry for you loss Miss, and if you find anything to report please do so. Good day"

She broke down, the second that door was closed, she snapped. She didn't understand why she was so upset, this is what she wanted....right? She never wanted to deal with that sick son of a bitch ever again. But she couldn't believe he was dead. Sure he was an abusive asshole but now...he's dead?

She sat in the living room and cried, she was kind of grateful that the girls had gone to visit their Aunt that week, it meant they wouldn't see her like this...but Chester did

Chez had been at training all day so he had heard the ruckus about the dead Erik, Erik's brother Pascal was in the same training group as him so he had witnessed the breakdown. Leo was sick and tired of hearing about his dead brother, he was already hurting because of it and now everyone was asking him abt it and he just wanted them to fuck off. So he told them that, Pascal yelled at everyone who came near him, even those that were meant to be training them.

He was so rough towards everyone around that training was called off early, Chester was more than grateful to be let go sooner than he thought. He'd been feeling...odd, all day. It wasn't guilt, he didn't think so atleast, he just felt off, as though he wasn't really there...like nothing was real. He tried not to think of the previous night, he tried to forget what had happened but no luck.

He decided he just needed to rest, nobody knew it was him, he just had to keep his head down until all of this was over.

So he made his way home, the path back was long and rocky, pretty difficult to get through but he was used to it. As he made his way back across the town he saw countless posters asking for help to find the 'monster' behind their beloved Erik's murder...Chester had forgotten just how many people that sicko had wrapped around his grimy fingers. How many people believed him to be an angel sent down as a blessing from the universe. He couldn't belive how much he got away with right under their noses....maybe he did the world a favour

He froze on the spot, what was he thinking? He just killed a man, he should be feeling guilt not this fucked up sense of righteousness. He should be feeling awful right now...but he wasn't. Why didn't he feel any guilt? Shame? Any negative emotion! No...he felt nothing. Nothing, after what he had done...what the fuck was wrong with him.

He got so caught up in thoughts about his own feelings that he didn't even notice the path narrowing under foot. He was so oblivious he almost walked straight into his own front door, luckily he realised where he was before the collision. He went up to the door but hesitated as his hand rested on the handle

Audrey

Surely she would know, of course she would. Everyone knew! She would be a mess...oh God. He prayed she wouldn't notice him as he cautiously pushed open the door into the living room. Once again luck was not on his side

He could hear Audrey crying from outside but it wasn't until he stepped inside that he saw how devastated she was.

She was sat on the couch, her knees pressed to her chest with her forehead resting ontop of them, her hands clutching her legs as though they were the only thing around her. Her agonised wails echoing through the room, it was no suprise that she hadn't heard him enter.

Chester couldn't stand to see his dear sister like this. He stared for a moment, considering his next move carefully then decided to approach.

He walked over and sat beside her on the couch. She jumped slightly as the couch shifted, her head shot up and as she spoke she attempted to rub away the tears that stained her face

"Chez, shit, I thought you had training today:

"Did, was let out early...Pascal was a state"

Audrey scoffed to herself at the statement, she sat up, crossing her legs on the couch before speaking again

"Of course he was, his brother was just fucking murdered. Honestly I'm suprised his parents let him go to training today, must've been hard"

She began to tear up again, Chester wrapped an arm around her shoulders which caused her to break down once again. She turned and leant into his shoulder, her tears staining the cloth of his shirt...but he didn't mind.

She cried, rambling about how young Erik was, that he didn't deserve to die, that she couldn't stand the idea that smbdy went out of their way to kill him. Chester didn't respond, he just held her close, gently rubbing a thumb across her back to remind her she wasn't alone.

"I just...*sniff* I can't belive it, why, what was the reason!? Everyone *sniff* everyone loved him, why-"

Chester felt himself tense at these words, after everything he had done to her, all of it, she was just looking past it, ignoring it. No, this couldn't be happening. He then spoke, without thinking.

"Ray...I'm sorry, I really am, it's hard losing those you...love but Ray we have to be honest with ourselves here"

She was a bit taken aback by what he said, she went to ask what he meant but was cut off as Chester continued to speak. His eyes now glued to the floor, unable to look up at his sister

"Erik...he wasn't the good man you claimed, you know it, I know it, there's no need to lie"

He fell quiet awaiting her response...but she didn't know what to say. They sat in temporary silence before Audrey finally found her words

"I...I don't know what you mean Chez-"

"Audrey, we're not playing this game anymore!"

Chester couldn't stand it anymore, this guy had treated his sister like shit and still, after death, she continued to defend him! What the fuck was she on!

"He was abusive Audrey! You know as well as I do how awful that fucking monster was! You can't defend what he did, nobody could! You can't just shrug it all of...I mean he hit you! For divines' sake Audrey!"

He stared over at her, she had sprung away as he began to yell. He now stood infrotn of the couch, staring down at her, he tried to remain civil, he tried not to show his feelings but it was too much. He couldn't hide it anymore.

Audrey looked up at him, the tears still glazing her eyes but a layer of...something else hidden behind the despair. Confusion, hurt and anger chasing each other through her gaze, when she spoke the emotions seeped into her quivering voice

"...how the fuck do you know that..."

He tries to hold his stare but his eyes betrayed him and fell to the ground, his head hanging ever so slightly with shame as he mumbled

"...last night, I....I saw what he did"

All the hurt and despair drained from Audrey's expression, all that remained was anger...and betrayal, she went to yell at him, to shout about privacy...but then a realisation dawned on her, all the hints finally allinged like stars in the sky

"Chester...you didn't, please tell me you didn't..."

He gave no response, Audrey pushed herself off of the couch and roughly snatches Chesters collar. She held him tightly, her eyes shooting daggers straight through his. Her voice, a threatening hiss

"Chester! Tell me you didn't kill him!"

He glanced up at her, his gaze weak...pathetic, like a cat kicked out into the rain. His mouth opened to respond, but no words fell out...that was enough for Audrey

The hands around his collar went limp as the assertiveness/ aggression left Audrey's posture. She didn't say anything as her hands fell to her sides, she just stared at the man stood before her...the man she used to call her brother. The silence that filled the air was like nothing Chester had ever felt before, it was sore and deafening.

After what felt like an eternity Audrey turned away from Chester and spoke, her voice hushed yet demanding

"...get out, get out of my house you...you heartless bastard"

Chester reached out, attempting to plead with her, begging her not to do this. He was never like this, never this emotional, this pathetic...but he couldn't lose his family...they were all he had

Audrey didn't let him speak, she kept her back turned not daring to look at that...thing...thay stood behind her

" I won't tell anybody...as long as you stay away. Never come back, or else"

With that she walked away, into her room, making it clear that this was not up for debate.

Chester felt tesrs fill his eyes and drip down his face as he stood infront of the doorway. He couldn't believe it...he's lost everything. His brother, his family...his home. He tried to stop the tears, they made him feel weak...he couldn't bear to feel weak in this moment.

He grabbed his bag from training that day off of the floor, he hesitated as he stared over at Audrey's door

"...I love you Ray...I'm sorry.."

with that he opened the door and stepped outside

[bugisbonkerz]

earliest drawing of duck i can find that i made…… must’ve made it when i was a wee 12 year old

[mysterygears]

bugs me and bf have conjured:

snuggle bug

hot bug

bug ass (resummoned)

pain bug (catchphrase: "twist it left or twist it right") (i hate him)

bug bug (catchphrase: "bug it left or bug it right")

buddy bug (he is your friend :))

spider bug (spider and bug at the same time)

shit bug (in relationship with buddy bug)

i will add on if the bug lore expands

[beepccore]

there’s lots of fake ass duality. there’s tons of old swinging pendulums.

you were tailor made for this era!

tick. tock. tick. tock.

[stevie-petey]

hiiiiiiiii honey <3 could we get a blurb about bug telling steve about jonathan’s outburst towards her after he took the pictures of nancy and steve’s reaction to learning about it???? it would be so so appreciated by me <3 you’re the best ever <3 MWAH

(i am being held against my will to write this jonathan sweetie im so sorry) (i love u val) (u are evil)

i know this isnt necessarily what u MEANT but ,,, ive been dying to expand upon bugs kindness and how it may seem annoying and pathetic, but its hers ! its her kindness !!!

enjoy <3

"no way you guys havent wanted to strangle each other at least once." steve remarks one day as he watches you and jonathan work side by side at the cash register.

jonathan had been bored today and decided to join you and steve at work, something that you're very happy about, honestly.

"oh, ive definitely wanted to strangle jonathan," you say, writing down a new shipment receipt while the boy next to you doodles.

steve rolls his eyes. "old married couple squabbling doesnt count. im talking, like, full on betrayal and hurt here. you guys are always so... you, and it has to be an act."

jonathan snorts. "shouldve seen the fights we had last year. surprised y/n didnt kill me with her bare hands."

"i dont believe you."

"no, hes right." you look up at steve. "he threw a jacket at my face last year and then told me we werent family the night he took those pictures of nancy. then cried in my arms like a day later."

steve stares at you, shocked.

"i also then slept in nancys bed and lied about it. and tried leaving you behind a few times."

"that you did," you flick jonathans ear, causing him to wince in pain. "you deserved that."

"i did."

during this entire exchange, steve hasnt said a single word. hes still stunned, baffled by the fact that jonathan could be so cruel to someone so wonderful.

"wait a second," he looks between you and jonathan. "and youre still friends?"

"yeah." you both say at the same time.

steve cant fucking believe it. you do anything and everything for jonathan, that much is obvious, and sure. steve has seen jonathan do small acts of kindness towards you, devote the same back, but to throw a jacket at you and belittle you? and now here he is, joking about it alongside you. as if it was all okay in the end.

"youre too nice sometimes, y/n." the words leave steves lips before he can stop them. once he realizes what hes said, he looks up at jonathan and panics. "sorry, man. im sure you guys talked it out and... yeah."

jonathan shrugs. "no, youre right. she is and i was dick."

"im right here, you know."

steve winces. "sorry."

"its fine, honestly." you go back to scribbling shipment orders. "i am indeed too nice, but i dont ever really see the point in holding a grudge? i mean, jonathan apologized and i understood the stress he was under. sure, it didnt erase all the hurt he caused, but after almost dying immediately after being mad at him for not including me in something... i dont know. it felt silly to hold onto that anger after. childish, even."

jonathan and steve share a look, for once both seeming to think the same thing.

shes too good.

you hate that they do this. you hate that people view your kindness as a weakness. after the hell youve been through, long before monsters even came to hawkins, youve learned the hard way just how rare kindness is.

now you try to be kind to everything and everyone, no matter what it may cost you.

the kindness is yours, no one elses.

and if that makes you weak, then at least it made you better.

you tear two pieces paper from your notebook, scrunch them up into balls, and then throw them at steve and jonathan. "stop pitying me. im kind and i love that aspect of myself. i dont care if it makes me vulnerable or pathetic. its a piece of me, and i wouldnt change it. if you dont like it, then that belittles me even more than emotional outbursts ever could."

jonathan sighs. "youre right, bug. youre a very kind and lovely person and its what makes you a joy to be around, paper balls and all."

steve plays along. "definitely a better super power than spider-man, dare i say."

"okay, lets not get ahead of ourselves now," you giggle, appreciative of both the boys. they may not understand or like the way you view the world, but theyre at least trying.

its all you could ask for.

even if steve later on that day pulls you aside to whisper, "i think i can kick jonathans ass this time, if you ever need it."

and its enough.

[lilybug-02]

Plan has been thwarted.

Bug Fact: Researchers have observed REM-like behavior in Jumping spiders. Suggesting that spiders may experience dream-like sleep.

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Masterpost

[chippedlore]

it's 4-sweater weather, im feeling snug as a bug 🪲🐛🐞🦋

[nyehilismwriting]

im sorry this has probably been asked before but i cant seem to find anything about it sooo how do you pronounce rhaxa and imxa?

no worries! i have answered this before but i couldn't find it either lol so: rhaxa is pronounced like "raks-a", with the x as in words like taxi; imxa is pronounced 'im-shah', with the x as an sh- sound.

there is going to be a third alien character introduced in ch5 part 2 (in some routes) who's name is xadi, with the x pronounced similar to a z- sound. just to keep things complicated:-)

[get-back-homeward]

looking at this again after looking up mike’s photo of the drainpipe. i’m wondering if there are two pipes? mike’s photo doesn’t have a door to the left.

thanks @underthecitysky for asking about it!

saw thee fanfiction drainpipe leading up to the top floor of Paul’s house today