#cause they're mutualistic

[amouramaryllis]

lichens r such a love story

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Fujitsumon

Debut: Digimon Pendulum 2.0 Deep Savers (kind of. It's a little complicated. But don't worry about that)

Fujitsumon is a darling little eyes-in-a-void barnacle! With their brown exteriors, they really do bring to mind Jawas, world-renowned eyes-in-a-void creature. This is a rare design choice for a barnacle, and a barnacle is a rare creature inspiration choice! Too rare! They are such incredible and fascinating animals, and should absolutely be represented as such, and not just background decorations!

Fujitsumon is essentially a Digimon by technicality, an accessory of a creature, and I'm fine with that. They're acknowledged as creatures, and that's enough for me! They're almost always seen attached to the surface of another creature, and that sure is barnacle of them!

This is their host, Octomon! Or Octmon, if you don't like the dub name, but I think Octomon sounds better. Octomon wears a clay pot on its head, and Fujitsumon live on top of that! This is a smart setup. If I lived underwater I would love to wear a hat that some barnacle friends of mine could live on! Fujitsumon and Octomon have a mutualistic relationship going on, where the barnacles will sense danger, and warn the octopus of it, getting the whole group out of danger!

The reason I wasn't so sure about Fujitsumon's debut is that in Deep Savers, Octomon's sprite looks like this, not nearly detailed enough to even depict some barnacles! However, it does seem like the official art was made around this time, so I might as well consider this Fujitsumon's debut too.

There isn't much to Fujitsumon, but I love it! It's cute, it's a barnacle, and it's almost a "secret" creature, and that makes it, dare I say, even more fun than if it was a standalone obtainable Digimon! A charming little oddity in the digital world.

That's what I thought until I found out this little barnacle has a whole dedicated ANIME EPISODE! YEEHAW! This is the best barnacle-related cartoon episode I've ever seen! Better than SpongeBob SquarePants episode 164a Barnacle Face! Why, even better than Benny the Barnacle (2022)! Can you believe it? Better than Benny the Barnacle? I can.

In this episode of Digimon Ghost Game, the human protagonist is tormented by premonitions of disasters occurring to everyone around him, revealed to be caused by a Fujitsumon settled on his head. A land mammal is no place for a barnacle! Wouldn't it be crazy if you could go to the beach and leave with a barnacle settled on your fingernail? What would you even do? I would probably feel obligated to dip my finger into the ocean regularly to let it filter-feed. If only we had air plankton!

This Fujitsumon, as well as others that are affecting other humans, come from one particular Octomon, who got so angry at his barnacles that they Left. These are no real-life, cemented-in-place-for-the-rest-of-their-lives barnacles! They can just get up and leave if they're bothered. I bet real barnacles wish they could do that! It would be so embarrassing to end up settled right next to a turtle's... hehe... I shan't say...!

Octomon's petty outburst was over his magic brain barnacles not using their clairvoyance to help him win at a mobile game. Now, because of his Gamer Moment, there are Fujitsumon stuck directly to peoples' heads, which can cause these heads to explode. Maybe he should have just played a good mobile game, like Pico Pets Puzzle! *high fives someone offscreen*

Don't worry! Everything's ok in the end, like it always is with invertebrate friends! Octomon apologizes, the lead Fujitsumon gathers the whole crusty crew, and everything is fine except for the physical damage that has already been done, but don't worry! The virtual invertebrates are all friends again! Squishy or chitinous, none of us have spines, and that's what matters!

If you know of any obscure barnacles in media, please let me know in the notes! And until the next high tide, remember to close your armored plates to prevent dessication!

[kooldewd123]

Alright I've got some THOUGHTS about the Iskoort and how they relate to Yeerk ecology that I've been dying to get out but I wanted to wait until I reached book 26 in case there was some detail I was forgetting. So obviously, the big twist with these guys is they they're actually some offshoot of the Yeerks who found a way to evolve past the need for parasitism by creating an artificial species to inhabit. The part that's been really sticking out in my mind as I reread the series, however, is that this isn't actually the first time a concept like this has been brought up. Let's take a look at Guide's description of the Iskoort:

Since we formed our symbiotes, the combination Isk and Yoort, we have been as we are now. ... The Isk cannot live without the Yoort. And to ensure this symbiosis would be real, the Yoort, too, were modified. Now Yoort cannot live without Isk and Isk cannot live without Yoort. They are one creature with two parts. - Guide, #26: The Attack

This description sounded familiar to me when I read it for some reason. That's when I realized: It's weirdly similar to the way that Seerow describes the relationship between the Yeerks and the Gedds:

[The Yeerks] have no history of harming intelligent life-forms. The Gedds are barely conscious in their natural state. It's not as if they were stealing the bodies of truly sentient creatures. They and the Gedds are symbiotic. - Seerow, The Hork-Bajir Chronicles.

The Iskoort aren't a symbol of what the Yeerks might become become in the future - they're what the Yeerks already were before the Andalites found them. The Yeerks, within their native habitat, aren't parasites, but rather mutualistic partners to the Gedds. The Gedds' bodies give the Yeerks new senses and enhanced motility, while the Yeerks' capabilities for higher thinking grant the Gedds all the benefits that come with it, such as greater survival skills and the framework of civilization. Yeerk benefits from Gedd, and Gedd benefits from Yeerk. It's not hard to imagine that over many generations, as the Yeerk/Gedd relationship grew deeper, we could have seen something strikingly similar to the Iskoort evolve.

But then the Andalites came.

The Yeerks specifically evolved to infest the barely-sentient Gedds, but it turns out that much of sentient life in the galaxy mirrors Gedd anatomy closely enough to also be viable hosts for Yeerks. Like I said before, the Yeerks didn't necessarily evolve as parasites, but they became so opportunistically when unleashed upon unsuspecting habitats that had never had any reason to evolve defenses against such a threat. You know what we call something like that in real-world ecology? An invasive species. And I just love that. Animorphs is a series with a strong, clear environmentalist message. Invasive species are some of the closest examples we have to actual villains in nature, so creating villains that reflect them is a brilliant idea. And with this perspective in mind, even more parallels start to pop up! Real-world invasive species often begin spreading as stowaways on settler ships, and the Yeerks began spreading using Andalite advance ships. Invasive species can cause ecosystem collapse by out-competing native species, and the Yeerks intentionally destroy the ecosystems of worlds they've conquered. My biology brain has been latching on to this idea ever since I read that passage from Seerow. It's such an interesting shift in the way to analyze the Yeerks' actions.

[adobe-outdesign]

Any headcanons for the Hatenna line?

They're considered hard Pokemon to train due to their sensitivity—they're mostly caught by trainers with a lot of experience.

While two separate species, they frequently interbreed with the Impidimp line.

They're also considered to have a mutualistic relationship with the. Impidimp line. The line eat emotions that bother the Hatenna line, so the Impidimp gets fed and the Hatenna isn't bothered by unwanted emotions.

Because they are sensitive to emotions, the line tends to prefer staying in their Pokeballs and only coming out for short periods of time.

The line is popular with fashion icons due to their hair and hats. Them being hard to train only makes them more popular as a status symbol.

The tentacle on Hatterene's head is prehensile and used to grab prey. It can move at lightning-fast speeds.

Some old Galarian myths involve Hatterene that shapeshift into human woman during the daytime to lay curses on people.

Hattrem have a habit of attacking people who emote too much. This only causes people to emote more from pain, creating a cyclical effect.

The line's sensitivity makes them popular amongst both psychics (no overwhelming thoughts or emotions) and less emotive neurodivergent people.

The line mostly lives in isolation, only joining together with others for short periods of time.

[dirty-bosmer]

Tell me about the fish you saw snorkeling please :)

Oh my GOD I nearly burned my self with my coffee when I saw this. Thank you so much for asking, but also you've opened the flood gates because it just so happens I am about to dump so many fish on you. While I primarily study freshwater fishes, I am a lover off all things aquatic, so here we go (all these images are from the internet):

Parrot fish galore and HUGE ones at that. The biggest one I saw looked like this. I don't know my scarids very well, but I do know that I saw a bumphead parrotfish. So funny looking. I was honestly surprised by how all the fish out there are CONSTANTLY nipping at the corals, but the current was pretty strong so we all had to swim a lot. It makes sense that they always need to be eating. I had no idea life on the reef was so turbulent

A lot of acunthurids. No blue tangs but plenty of brown ones and some unicorn tang! The ones I saw had really small humps.

So the common name for acunthirds is surgeonfishes because they have these sharp, blade like spines on their caudal peduncle called a scalpel. You can see it a bit more clearly on the Clown Unicornfishes (which were my fave cause the colors were so bright). Here they're the bright orange processes near the tail.

Wrasses. SO many wrasses. We saw birdnose wrasses with their long snoots, moon wrasses that were as colorful as rainbow lorikeets. My favorite were the cleaner wrasses following all the big parrotfish around and eating their ectoparasites,

I saw a moray!! That was the most unexpected find for me. I was the only one in my group to see one, but it was so far out that the crew working the sailboat had to call me back in 😅 It was brown and spotted black and looked just like this guy. I didn't actually see his head, but I saw his long long body. He was huge!!

Some gobies hiding in their holes. Apparently some species of goby have a mutualistic relationship with shrimp. The shrimp digs a series of tunnels in the sand and the goby stands sentinel at the entrance. The shrimp then maintains contact with the goby with its long antennae so that it knows if the goby moves or startles when predators are nearby.

The goatfish was probably my second favorite find after the moray because I had no idea they were out there. Goatfish have two long chin barbels covered in tastebuds that they use to probe along the sand in search for prey. They are quite dextrous barbels too. They flick em around so fast!

I got stung by something! it whipped me across the face pretty much 20 minutes into the water and it felt long and filamentous so i thought maybe it was some stray strand of anemone or jellyfish with active nematocysts. The crew member said it was likely a small jelly so woohoo! I got stung by a jelly on the great barrier reef :D

Triggerfish. Iw as hoping to see more tetraodonotiforms like puffers or filefish or a cowfish maybe, but I'm glad I still got to see at least one representative of the order cause they are among the most bizarre groups of fishes

This Moorish Idol that looked exactly like Gill from finding nemo

Lemonpeel angelfish, bluegirdle angelfish, emperor angelfish, you name it.

a lot of chaetodontids too. As I said, I don't study marine fishes so all the butterfly fishes looked so similar to me XD most of them were some combination of white, yellow, and black with their characteristically tall bodies and narrow snouts.

Giant clam!!! THEY WERE SO BIG. And so colorful. The movement of their spiracle truly hypnotized me.

Alright. That's all I got time for at the moment, as I need to pack and head up to the rainforest for the last leg of my trip. I'm sure I have forgotten dozens of fish already XD Thank you for attending my show and tell and for expressing interesting. Truly, I'm living any biologists dream rn, and I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to visit such a beautiful part of the world 🥲

[leonidas1754]

Hero and Kel, and Hard-to-Handle Plants

It suddenly occurred to me that the plants Basil assigns to Hero and Kel have one thing in common- They're both plants that can cause injury.

(I should note: I don't think any of this is intended, it's just something I noticed)

Cacti have very clear thorns, and that's accepted, even appreciated in some ways. They're tough, they don't need a lot of care, and arguably suffer if given the closer attention that other plants might need. But they thrive in the appropriate environment and often have mutualistic relationships with other creatures in their native biomes. And despite the spines being harmful to humans, they seem to be viewed as part of the appeal of cacti. Can you imagine having a cactus where the spines are all removed? I'm sure they exist, because of course someone would try, but really.

Kel is a flawed person, but he's still quite strong and clearly is doing well in spite of the difficult circumstances he's been put to. The only threat he shows others are when he perceives them as harmful, like Aubrey and the Hooligans early on, or... Well, I can't tell you for certain how he views his mom, but it's clear he's not on entirely positive terms with her. Regardless, Kel is just Kel.

Roses, on the other hand... It can be easy to forget that roses have thorns. It's something that's commonly known, but it's not really thought about much, I'd say, not outside of poetry and, well, symbolism, haha. And the reason people tend to not think about it? Well, most likely because both in real life and in media, it's rare we encounter roses with thorns. I think it's safe to say that the majority of roses are simply sold, and typically, the thorns are removed in order to do so. They're often just ignored in media, no need for them unless they're directly relevant to whatever story is being told. I'll see them drawn on vines sometimes, but that's about it.

You can probably see where I'm going with this.

Hero is clearly held to a high standard. He works his ass off, he aims to please, and, well... Everybody loves him, just like a rose. And just like a rose, those thorns? They're undesirable, removed to make the flower more pleasant for others. It's not hard to see that manifested in Hero, if you know what you're looking at. He hides his flaws, he rids himself of anything others don't think he should be. He does his best to please others, regardless of what he actually wants.

Am I reading too much into this? On Kel's end, absolutely, on Hero's, -wiggles hand- I guess that depends on how you view Hero. Personally, I think Hero could use some thorns after everything is said and done.

[rw-ethology]

Do you have theories on why lizards and how relatively open are they to being befriended by slugcat? Them continuing to be a threat to slugpups makes sense, as well as possibility of the lizard accidentally biting the slugcat during a careless attempt at feeding (which is why I now only give them snacks by tossing and running the moment I am sure the Lizard is locked on it). But usually it seems predators take longer to form such mutualistic (suppose?) approach, especially to prey. Cycles maybe?

Looks like kind of a mixture of both generally recognising when it benefits them to stick around, and resource-guarding behaviour directed towards a creature that has made itself look very valuable.

There's two main ways a slugcat can go about taming a lizard- by establishing itself as either a source of food, or a source of protection (saving one from a vulture causes your reputation with it to go way up). Either way, you've convinced it that eating you or letting you die would be counterproductive at this point, so as long as it remains convinced it'll follow you around and protect you from its rivals and other threats so it doesn't lose out. There's probably a number of things that factor into why they'll act in this way so readily, but if you look at it as an alternate expression of other traits and behaviours they already show off, you can kind of see where it might stem from.

Lizards are incredibly food-motivated- they'll go for pretty much anything they can fit in their mouth (that's large enough to be worth the effort), and will ignore almost everything else to run and cache it in their dens, presumably to store for later instead of wasting time that they could be spending finding more. Especially considering the state of the world and limited time pressure placed on every creature by the rain, in general it's probably kind of difficult for a large carnivore to consistently find enough to eat every single cycle. A successful catch whenever you need it isn't at all a guarantee; with that in mind, them having developed some degree of stockpiling behaviour would make sense, and suggests at least a rudimentary understanding that being careful with your food supply hugely bolsters your survival odds in the long run. Likely as a direct consequence of this, many lizards are highly territorial and/or competitive to varying degrees, and will chase rivals down and fight viciously to steal each others' prey or protect their resources under threat. It's also important to note lizards have a global reputation system- if you're nice enough across the board they'll become passive and if you harm enough they'll start to fear you, a behaviour unique amongst predators that suggests as a species they're just about intelligent enough to learn from experience and observation when it's better to just leave something alone.

It's most likely these specific characteristics that allow a lizard to become "tamed" so quickly. All you're really doing is taking advantage of their ability to recognise a valuable benefit, and redirecting their drive to defend one onto you, by teaching them to associate you with good things. No matter how tasty a slugcat looks, if it's proven time and time again that it will provide more food and support (that you desperately need) while alive than it could ever be worth dead, then why on earth would you want to let it die, or allow some other creature to take advantage instead?

However, this relationship only lasts as long as you put the effort into maintaining it. If you fail to let them into your shelter or feed them enough in subsequent cycles, or throw weapons at or around them (even by accident), they'll decide you're no longer worth the effort and quickly go from warning-bites to straight up turning on you as your reputation drops. Additionally, considering they by and large don't seem to recognise the slugcat's other companions- be it other tamed lizards or pups or friendly scavengers- as anything other than a rival or something else to eat, it's pretty clear that to their understanding they really are just guarding a resource and not joining a pack; lizards are not social creatures by nature with very little need to have developed emotional intelligence (even yellows I suspect aren't very close with each other beyond their advanced hunting formations and sharing prey), and any cooperation is strictly down to improving their odds of survival, not any form of attachment or gratitude as we would recognise it. It's still considered mutualistic, as both parties benefit from the relationship, but while a slugcat might become emotionally attached to their companion, the lizard isn't really capable of reciprocating in the same way.

With all that in mind, it's likely not the case that they're any more open to being "befriended" on an emotional level than any other predator in-game- they're just the only ones you can successfully lead to believe that you might actually be more useful alive than you would be as a few extra food pips, and for that to work out in your favour. Other major threats to the slugcat like vultures, miros birds and most large invertebrates most likely either lack the intelligence to discern one prey item from another, or they're so high on the food chain there's simply no meaningful benefit they could get out of collaboration (or both). It just so happens that lizards manage to be in the perfect position on the food chain with ideal behaviour to take advantage of that it's made possible to convince them being your friend is worth it, however temporarily.

-----

BONUS: the first lizard i ever tamed. was a little bit pathetic and utterly failed to protect me from anything before falling off a building in sky islands trying to wrestle a white lizard and losing, but the several painful minutes I spent being mediocre at squidcada hunting were worth it anyway. I miss him every day. godspeed you blue idiot

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

I am gonna talk about the izcourse one more time today, but the villain of this post is not the Izzy stans nor Izzy himself. It's the anon. So this does not actually count towards breaking the promise I made this morning about taking a break for a couple days.

I know we occasionally poke this fucker by grading their anons or whatever and I know the Izzy Stan's are presumably having the time of their lives considering that he's not blocked yet on that side of Tumblr, but I'm gonna say something pretty uncomfortable for all of us alike. This anon sucks, they're racist and ableist and probably some other ists that they just haven't gone mask off about yet. They are suicide bating and they are waging a harassment campeign, but the fact that they're in the inboxes of literally everyone proves that this is not an ideological thing. It's just about making other people, and probably themselves, miserable.

We are baring witness to someone else's months long mental breakdown. I think it's one person because they say the same things over and over again in the same type face. If that is the case they're probably unemployed or young enough to not need a job yet given how much time to post they have, although one of my many sometimes nemeses on this sight has suggested they're in their thirties and they didn't dispute it. they're cyber stalking an ungodly number of blogs. And there's something going on with them that makes it such that their chosen pass time is sending Anon hate. What I'm saying is that if I had to guess how the Anon is doing I'd say this person is probably the farthest thing from mentally well that I've personally interacted with, and I'm a head case who works in a field where I occasionally have to assist in a mental health crisis. (I'm a head case and that is my job those two things are unrelated)

I'm not saying any of this to get you to go "oh poor Anon". They are still the villain of this post. Nor am I saying it to justify the harassment. I'm saying it because it should sort of change how we interact with them. I'm being very frank about what's going on here. Another uncomfortable thing about this whole situation is that this person is beyond any of our help. They are semi anonymous and even if they weren't you kind of have to know a person irl to get that sort of help for them. The best way to deal with this situation is in fact to freeze them out. I tried reason. Many others have tried dunking. None of it is working. After a certain point this may be a sort of mutualistic digital self harm for some people. (I goad you into saying hurtful things about me, I say hurtful things about you, we continue making each other feel like shit forever) we really do have to be the ones to cut them off. Their only goal is misery. Don't let them make you miserable.

I don't usually make a call for someone to be the bigger person, because I like to get down and dirty. But this is different. It's not about the show or the fandom. It's about a vortex of suffering that we're only making worse by getting sucked into. That's not a moral judgement on anyone who has interacted in good faith or bad with this anon. It's practical. Block, maybe look up what reporting an anonymous message does and if it does anything lmk if you feel so inclined. I'm not telling you to take it lying down, but we've all gotten our shots in at this point there's no point in dragging it out unless you're trying to maintain the image of being persecuted, which is not worth the suffering it causes on your end.

[straightyuri]

this sounds like. INCREDIBLY annoying if it was real but I'm imagining heater as a campaign.... I'd be like. a glorified escort mission. I think heater would have a pretty low food requirement but you would have to take care of mutualist.... if mutualist dies u can't sleep or something idk. I don't wanna hypothetically softlock this hypothetical campaign. mutualist would uhhh. guhhh... they'd fall over sometimes like when you're starving and it would get worse over the course of the campaign (probably decided by something similarly to the dreams...) hmmmmm initial goal would be moon but she'd be like oh... I'm sorry little creature, but I cannot help your friend... after that idk what the goal would be . shrug.

Mutualist would probably have modified slugpup ai so that they're a little more helpful when not falling over. as an incentive to not just put them on your back n keep them there. <- mayb they'll jump off your back if something interests them (such as food or certain items or certain creatures) but as the tiredness gets worse they're less n less likely to. I think it would cause problems tho but it's just a hypothetical thought here

[cloudsrust]

Oooo!! Sozo pretends to be an ant! Interesting! Can I ask why? (Also what did Helob think when he found out Sozo’s a spider like him)

So- simplified answer: Sozo pretends to be an ant to both appear less threatening and more trustworthy to others (you'd be quicker to trust an ant rather than a spider) and as a mean of protection: where there is one ant there is often more to come, so many are discouraged from attacking him unless they're ready to take on a whole possible colony. (which- since arthropods are as big as mammals in this universe- is even more frightening than normal). (There is also a specie of spider (the Aphantochilus I believe) that mimics ants since they're its main prey- my Sozo isn't really based on one but I for sure took inspiration.)

Oh, and he also does so because he's convinced that that's the “Mushroom Gods”'s preferred form for a vessel.

More complex answer- *takes a deep breath*.. I have to first explain 3 more headcanons:

-How Menticides grow. -What they do. -What the Mushroomo are.

(CW: mention of self-sacrifice, self-mutilation, flesh/blood offerings, self-cannibalism, spider behaviour under the cut- nothing is too detailed but be warned.)

Let's start with the Menticides Mushrooms.. I still kept in mind that they're based on the Cordyceps, but at the same time I sprinkled in some ritualistic/myths stuff. They're no ordinary mushrooms, they only grow in Anura and only where a specific type of blood or body has been buried: That of someone who offered their being or life to the Mushroom Gods.

Anura is Heket's reign, the goddess of famine- who doesn't always answer the cries of hunger of her subjects. The most desperate turn their backs to her, worshipping instead the Mushroom Gods by offering parts of their own body, to have at least the mushrooms, born from their offers, to eat.

And so the Menticides' keep growing in the lands of Anura, at least until their roots have flesh to consume. (Mind you- this is what the rumors say, no one knows if the Mushroom Gods are actual deities or just hallucinations caused by either hunger or the spores. Even blood or bodies that didn't worship them could still grow pure Menticides- but everyone would think that those were heretics that had abandoned Heket's cult and worshipped the M. Gods instead.) How do the mushroom keep multiplying and growing? They're simply highly addicting. Their taste alike to a whole feast is sure to hook in anyone who eats enough. To have their taste, those who have become addicts, keep offering more and more- until they either offer up their whole body or succumb to the self-injuries. Now... wouldn't it be crazy if there were some that actively cultivated them?

Here comes the Mushroomo, the perfect mix between ant and mushroom. (I remembered of a specie of ants that literally “cultivates” mushrooms in a mutualistic symbiotic relationship- so since my stubborn self wanted Sozo to be a spider, I headcannoned the Mushroomo as ants instead!). They're so close to Menticide Mushrooms they became one with them, cultivating them onto their own “living” bodies. (If you kill them when you first meet them they will drop Menticides- and since they say they hadn't found any.. those might've been on their bodies.)

What does all of this has to do with why Sozo pretends to be an ant?

I already said that I see Sozo as an outsider, a travelling researcher of mushrooms that ventured to the Lands of the Old Faith. It is very likely that he stumbled upon Menticide mushroom and, not knowing the local tales around them, he consumed them for his research to take notes. He quickly became addicted, so addicted that he consumed almost all of the Menticides of the zone he had found them in (which, for someone that doesn't know the place that well, might mean that he consumed practically all of them). Realizing how his feast would soon be over, he tried to cultivate the few he had saved as he would with other mushrooms- but nothing ever grew of them.

During a night of withdrawal he a had a vision of the Mushroom Gods, whom revealed to him how to have more- all he needed was a flesh offering. Sozo both mesmerized and terrified by the experience, decided to do as told for desperation. He ripped off a pair of his arms (he could always regrow them afterall.. just a few molts and he would've been good as new, and most importantly he would've had more mushrooms!) and set up a offering ritual- before fainting due to the stress his body had had to go through. Sure enough the morning after more Menticides had grown where he had buried his limbs, but there was more than just the mushrooms: a horde of Mushroomo.

Even a tarantula can be as good as dead when surrounded by ants- he had to think fast. He kept his extra sets of eyes closed and made sure his fangs were perfectly sheeted into his fur, then he started praying they would fall for his play. Thankfully, with the help of also his missing limbs and his strong mushroom scent, the Mushroomo were fooled into thinking he was one of them, welcoming him in their colony. (Let's be real- I'm sure their brain is quite mushy (pun intended)).

During his stay, apart from consuming Menticides daily, worsening his mental condition and addiction, he also started to envy the little ones for their connection to the mushrooms, the ants being one with the Menticides, making them closer to the image of the Gods they worshipped.

So the moments he molted in secret, and a bit of his limbs regrew, he does a ritual once more- only this time is a union ritual.

He offered his living body to the Mushroom Gods, asking to be one with them like the others. To solidify his request and the union ceremony, he offered only one of his arms to the Gods while the other he consumed himself.

The day after his head felt heavy and all the Mushroomo were venerating him as their leader: they saw the face of their gods on the mushroom that had grown onto Sozo- and it was smiling down on them.

So- yeah.. Sozo pretends to be an ant to keep his followers at bay, was he to show that he is a spider around them they would at best freak out and run off or at worst think he killed their leader and “avenge” him, killing Sozo. So anytime he molts and fully regrows that pair of limbs he rips them off, both to keep his identity secret more easily and to renew his union with the Gods. (fun fact: a spider will rip their arm off if it's badly damaged or if that will save its life from a predator or danger- as long as it detaches correctly it's just a little annoyance to the spider.) Other than that, as I mentioned at the start, Sozo believes this ant-like form it's what the M.Gods want from him to be one with them. Take it as either a self-conviction to have the hope to one day ascend to Mushroom Godhood himself (the statue he gifts you makes me think that he doesn't only worship them but wants to be a M.God himself), or as an excuse to push through the whole ritualistic leg ripping and living with followers that would tear him apart were they to discover what he really is. (so other than the paranoia caused by the drugs he also as.. a very justified fear).

-

(I usually use they/them for Helob, just a heads up so there is no confusion in this bit!)

About what Helob thought when Sozo revealed to be a spider- it might be a bit anti-climatic but.. nothing changed much for them.

My Helob looks for two main things whenever they meet a new face: are they prey or are they predator? And if it's the latter- are they foe or ally? Those they see as predators require more investigation on their part- and since Sozo was seen as a predator even when he played the part of an ant (the whole reasoning of- if there are more nearby and they attack him they're done for- since certain ants species can and will overpower a spider when in group.) they took their time knowing him. By the time they found out the truth they had already concluded that he wasn't a threat.

It also helped that, in my headcanon, Helob finds that out after Sozo has just molted. (This makes Sozo, the bigger spider, equal if not weaker than Helob, the smaller one, strength wise.) That allowed Helob to show him that them and Sozo are allies in their eyes- friends- and that they were neither scared nor willing to attack him over the fact that he is a spider like them- even during such a vulnerable moment. The best I can say they thought is that finally they can talk spider to spider with him-! And have someone to share their uhm- cuisine whenever there is the risk for the "morsels" to "spoil". (a rare occurrence but- it's never good to waste food).

[garudabluffs]

...the term"parasite" encompasses everything from viruses and bacteria to fungi and protozoa all the way up to the multicellular parasites, the animal parasites.

Why losing parasites could have devastating effects on our ecosystem

CHELSEA WOOD: The word parasite evokes for me this beautiful netherworld of organisms that most people are unfamiliar with, that exists just under the surface of everything that's familiar and that are beautiful. They play by their own rules. They do things that are out of a sci-fi movie. And yet they're more common than pretty much any other organisms that surround us.

CHAKRABARTI: Wow. Well, Chelsea Wood is an associate professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington. And Professor Wood does study parasites. So I'm delighted to have you today because in a sense, the fact that parasites occupy this netherworld as you talk about, means that we need to pay more attention to them. So first of all, let's start with some of the basics. When we see parasites, how should we define them? What part of the kingdom of life are we talking about?

C.W. "I define parasites as organisms that live in or on a host and cause that host a fitness class basically.

They take energy from their host, and that means that the term parasite encompasses everything from viruses and bacteria to fungi and protozoa all the way up to the multicellular parasites, the animal parasites. And that means that they can take a whole variety of different body forms.

WOOD: Exactly. Yeah. So there are three different kinds of symbionts things that live in or on a host. One are the parasites and they're the ones that are causing a fitness class. One are the mutualist who cause a fitness benefit to their hosts. Think anemones and clownfish have a mutualistic relationship with one another. The clownfish live inside the anemone, and they provide fitness benefits to that anemone host. And then there are these organisms that sit in the middle, commensals, which cause no impact on their host fitness. So parasites are defined by their negative fitness impacts on their hosts."

CHAKRABARTI: Is there a place on the planet Earth where there are no parasites?

WOOD: As long as there is life, there will be parasites. Anywhere where you can find organisms, there will be parasites on them.

And evolution has sculpted parasites to manipulate their prey hosts to make them clumsier more reckless, slower, in order to make them likelier to be preyed on by the predator. And therefore, for the parasite to be successfully transmitted to that predator host."

LISTEN 47:20 READ MORE Transcript https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2023/03/13/save-the-parasites-healthy-ecosystem

[adobe-outdesign]

It's probably not the first thing anyone thinks to headcanon but do you have any headcanons for the Pokerus virus and it's effects?

Believe it or not I am 100% the type of person to have thought about this way too much already

Pokerus is a mutualistic virus. When it infects a Pokemon, it causes a few days of mild symptoms (due to the Pokemon's immune system attacking it), then goes dormant in response to the attack.

In its dormant state, the virus absorbs cellular waste in the Pokemon's body and converts it into usable energy, thus making the Pokemon stronger.

Pokerus is like chicken pox—you're immune once you've had it once.

Symptoms in Pokemon can vary wildly depending on the Pokemon's physiology, but typically they include mild fever, coughing, and fatigue.

Symptoms after infection are much less noticeable, but include things like heightened endurance/strength and slight increases in muscle mass (and sometimes size, depending on species).

The problem with Pokerus is that it spreads easily, and unlike Pokemon, humans can have severe reactions to it. It's why people don't just infect every Pokemon with it to make them stronger.

Elderly and immunocompromised Pokemon are also at risk.

Humans can get a Pokerus vaccination, just like you would for the flu.

It is illegal to battle in official tournaments with a Pokemon that has been infected within the last week, in order to keep it from spreading.

With that said, you occasionally end up with that one ignorant person that intentionally spreads it around to other people's Pokemon thinking they're doing them a favor (which isn't necessarily wrong, but once again, poses a risk to weakened Pokemon and people).

Pokemon convert into energy to shrink down and go inside of Pokeballs. In this state, the infection is basically paused until they reassume their matter forms.

Pokerus is mostly spread through physical contact with the infected.

Some scientists believe that Pokerus pandemics have broken out multiple times over the last few thousand years, and they serve a natural biological function, much like some wildfires. These outbreaks are believed to be part of the reason why modern-day Pokemon are so powerful.

Pokemon Centers automatically check for Pokerus the first time you bring a new Pokemon in. Not only can they tell you if your Pokemon has it, but they also can let you know if they're immune already or not.

Some poachers will intentionally spread it around the Pokemon they've obtained to make them stronger, as stronger Pokemon sell for more money on the black market. This sometimes ends up backfiring; some poachers have been caught and arrested because they caught the virus themselves and had to go the hospital.

Rangers will occasionally catch and check wild Pokemon for the virus before releasing them again in order to keep an eye on its spread.

Recommended treatment is to quarantine the infected Pokemon for 3–4 days. Little is needed beyond that, aside from offering them plenty of water and bed rest.