#love that funky little parasite

[the-trans-dragon]

I am eagerly waiting for my society to figure out that our sex is more complicated and nuanced than "male and female" and I think a nice baby step would be admitting that our concept of sex is...

...inadequate?

...incompatible with a comprehensive understanding of life?

...silly?

I don't think humans will ever have the perfect terms for perfect comprehension but...it's kinda human nature to try to find the words. Are you telling me that this type of terminology (link to the Wikipedia article) is the best we can do? Even when discussing creatures that clearly are not compatible with a binary view of sex?

Like, if we can't even admit that complex sexes exist somewhere on the planet, how could we fathom that they exist within us?

[compulsiveimpairment]

hell yeah more bms :D

it is the date the au was made! the original au (Bloodbath) was made sometime near the beginning of november 2023, but this au (Alt!Bloodbath) was made on the 30th of December! i was pretty skeptical about the writings colour differences, but i left it anyway (for some reason??)

lazuli and totality reaalllyyy dont like each other all that much- but im sure theres something to help out!

Lazuli is happy to be here, and Totality? He'd rather go home, but he's gotta get that therapy!

Hello fellow sams au creator, do you have a Bloodmoon? You do? That’s great! Have they gone through some hard times? They have? Well then, would you like to put them in therapy? Specifically therapy with other Bloodmoons who might’ve experienced similar things? Then look no further, as you have come across the Bloodmoon Therapy Circle!

Yup, I finished it :), really like the way I organized this, it looks cleaner.

Anyways, the offer is open, any of you wanna put your blood boy in therapy feel free to fill this out, tho I do ask that you tag me, I’d love to see what y’all have!

And if you’re not sure what the fields mean, I made a post earlier about it, I can still answer any questions you might have about it tho

@potatotato-26 @bipolar-sad-and-ready-to-cry I saw you guys wanted this so here!

@atherflame-theconcubus @raye-6-art you guys helped inspire this so you too get quick access

Go wild y’all!

[vhsdruid]

terribly sorry if this is a weird question but i would LOVE to hear more about wasps . funky little dudes

wasps are a relatively new species in terms of insect evolution, having appeared in the jurassic period alongside the first dinosaurs. there are hundreds of thousands of species, which could include ants and bees depending on your exact definition. they're all included in the group apocrita, or the "wasp waisted" hymenoptera. they are some of the most successful insects on the planet.

DID YOU KNOW?: the stinger of apocrita is a highly adapted ovipositor, the organ used for egg laying.

STEP ONE: their ancestors, the sawflies, had evolved a serrated ovipositor that could bore into plant material as a safe place to lay their eggs.

STEP TWO: the first wasps would use the ovipositor to instead lay their eggs inside of other animals (parasitoidism), which then provides the developing young plenty of food. many of these wasps would develop a unique variety of venoms to aid in the capture of prey, often by paralysis.

DID YOU KNOW?: there are more parasitoid wasps than any other kind of wasp, with an estimated 100,000 species! this includes the iconic cicada killer wasp.

STEP THREE: the transition from egg laying to defense is not entirely understood, but is believed by some to have been a direct response to predation by vertebrates. if you think about it, it's not all that easy to sting through a tough exoskeleton (though it can be done), it's much easier to sting soft, fleshy things that are trying to eat your delicious grub children. these wasps no longer lay eggs with the ovipositor, instead having an opening at the base of the stinger. the venom would be adapted to illicit a pain response, a harsh lesson to not mess with wasps!

DID YOU KNOW?: male wasps CANNOT sting as they do not have an ovipositor. though, some males will still mimic stinging, or even have pointed abdomens to help sell the illusion.

QUICKFIRE ROUND:

while wasps are famously eusocial and will often live in large communal hives, the vast majority of wasps are solitary and live on their own.

the largest species of wasp is the northern giant hornet, who's queens are around 2 inches in length. the smallest species of wasp is also the smallest insect ever! dicopomorpha echmepterygis males have been measured as small as 139 micrometres in length.

its common knowledge that wasps can sting multiple times and honey bees cant. this is a unique adaptation of the honey bee, who deliver a more potent sting by leaving the stinger embedded in the victim as it continues to pump rounds and rounds of venom. unfortunately, the stinger is directly attached to many vital organs, which are then damaged in the process, causing the honey bee to die.

insects breathe by absorbing oxygen directly into their "blood". wasps aid in this by rapidly expanding and collapsing their abdomen to force air in and out. if her butt is vibrating, shes just taking a breath :)

the iconic coloration of the wasp, usually yellow and black, is part of their defensive strategy! this is a form of aposematism, the advertising of danger to potential predators. they want you to notice them, so you know to steer clear!

the coloration is SO iconic that thousands of insect species mimic it in hopes of also warding off predators. this includes flies, moths and butterflies, and even their own ancestors, the sawflies.

parasitoid wasps are very specific in their choice of prey, likely due to the unique cocktail of venom they must possess to influence any given species. for any arthropod, there is a species of wasp that specializes in parasitizing THAT specific arthropod.

because i know some people are wondering, the venom of parasitoid wasps can only effect arthropods, there will be no wasp based mind control within the next few million years. some parasitoids have been known to sting defensively, which is still quite painful depending on the exact species.

some wasps are HYPERPARASITOIDS, meaning they will lay their eggs on other parasitoids that are already parasitizing something. its parasitoids all the way down.

one of these hyperparasitoids is the velvet ant. despite it's common name, they're actually a species of wasp with flightless females. the males do possess wings, and in some species, will assist the female by carrying her to an environment with better resources.

the venom of gall wasps will, when inserted into a tree or other vegetation, cause it to grow a mass, known as a gall. basically a bootleg fruit, filled with nutrients. these wasp galls will then safely house the wasp's young which eat it from the inside out, before emerging as adult wasps.

obviously, theres wasps that parasitize the gall wasps inside the gall.

fig wasps are the only animals that can pollinate figs, and do so by crawling inside to lay their eggs before dying inside the fruit. well, the only animal other than humans, which find figs quite tasty but don't typically enjoy eating dead wasps.

i probably wont ever get a better opportunity to share this information, sorry: the queen honey bee mating with a drone is audible to the human ear, making a popping sound. the drone's endophallus (penis) is violently detached in the process and he dies soon after.

lastly, lets just marvel at the beauty of the wasp. they have some of the most striking appearances of any animals on earth.

i am just fillled with awe when i look at them. a powerful and intimidating predator that takes great care in raising the next generation. perhaps my favorite animal.

[evolutionsvoid]

No doubt one of the smallest Oliphants, the Leech-Snouted Oliphant has shed itself of the great size and might that its family is known for. While others may stand tall and proud, the Leechsnout shambles through the undergrowth and sticks to the shadows of the wild. The powerful bulk of the other snouters allows them to take what foods they want and shrug off predator attacks, while the Leechsnout is a sneaky and hidden thing. Many who have failed to get a close look at this species often mistake it for a leech or a kind of serpent, refusing to believe a towering oliphant can be reduced to such a small conniving thing. Yet, the Leech-Snouted Oliphant is one of them, and it is getting along just fine with its special lifestyle.

While other Oliphants feed upon soft foods, sludge and loose humors, the Leechsnout has refined its diet to a single fluid: Blood. It feeds primarily on the crimson humor, and will draw it from any beast or human who leaves themselves exposed. Drab in color and short in stature, the Leechsnout is able to conceal itself in the surrounding environment, waiting for the right moment. They sniff out the scent of prey and follow their nose to places where food drops its guard. Their smarts and long memory allow them to memorize the schedule of prey and know the locations where they bed down or remain still for long periods of time. They stick to the shadows and remain perfectly still, knowing that Blood will be theirs if they are patient enough. When their unaware target goes to sleep or pauses to rest, they scurry in quickly and deploy their snout. Unlike other oliphants, their trunk has sharpened hairs on the tip that are coated in a numbing poison. They "bite" into prey to draw Blood, all while their toxin keeps their target oblivious to the attack. The trunk will then pulsate and suck, drawing in its liquid meal. It will drink for as long as it feels safe, always ready to scurry at the first sign of rousing or awareness from its target.

Due to their small size and parasitic diet, the Leech-Snouted Oliphant is something of a coward, seeing no point in fighting and all the merits of fleeing. However, in a bind they will use their snout or sharp tusks to defend themselves. These remaining teeth are sturdy enough to pierce hide, and often are deployed if a target's skin is too thick for their hairs to slice through. Their body and tail is also covered in quills, to help protect them from predators. Their huge ears can also be used for cover or to distract attackers, often resulting in them biting a chunk out while the oliphant scrambles away unharmed.

Leech-Snouted Oliphants are often looked down upon, and not just because of their size. Their leech-like behavior forces them to be compared to the sacred creature, and the snouter is doomed to fail every time. It is seen as a shoddy copy, a wanna-be. While some may point out that its life of Blood makes it a worshiper of the humor as well, folk cannot get past its sneaky behavior and crummy appearance. Those who tie themselves to Blood should be proud and bold, never clinging to the shadows like cowards. Perhaps it is these same reasons why many folk despise vampires, accusing them of trickery and deceit as well. But yet, these same folk may partake Blood in large doses as well, and no person is a saint. Vampires do live out in the open in some places and do not hide their love of Blood, yet they are shunned all the same. Maybe these aren't reasons why folk hate vampires and the Leechsnout, more so excuses to cover up a disgust that was already there.

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

"Leech-Snouted Oliphant"

This oliphant is different from the others, as it is not based on any medieval art. Just me making a funky little monster. And this is the last of the oliphants....for now.

[fumifooms]

Do you think hanahaki-AU fits DunMeshi? As one of magical traps/curses of the dungeon, maybe. I only thought of Chilchuck's flowers: hemlock (pun intended. Also small light flowers giving headache), clover/shamrock (so Irish! Also sweet - and Chilchuck dislikes sweets), thistle (so prickly - and Celtic too) - and there my imagination stopped. And thank you for hosting the marchil event, it was great!!!

Oooh! You know what yeah I see the vision! I’m not a hanahaki person myself but yeah… Yeah I could see it. Out of any fandom, for the fantasy manga about funky speculative fauna and flora it could 1)make sense for it to exist in the world and be in line with canon and 2)be very interesting to explore. I imagine it’d be a sort of parasitic plant that grows in you not unlike how tentaclus and cracks in walls… I do feel like they’d have found a way to cure it and get rid of them in the world though, but it could be that people who can treat it are rare especially since it’d be a delicate operation. But a straight up magical curse from the dungeon would also be very interesting.

I really like your picks for chilchuck!!

I tried to look for flower meanings and you undersold hemlocks their poison are straight up terrifying. Hemlock also reminds me of the word wedlock, if that adds anything�� Because of their poison they’re associated with pain and self-sacrifice, had trouble finding anything that didn’t start and end at "they’re bad news" lmaoo. Clovers are more of a no-brainer with meanings like hope, faith, love and luck. I associate them with youth as well but looking it up that’s just a me thing… Luck could be fun in an ironic way considering his life conditions, but also fun for the lucky very precise shots he makes like when he threw the knife at the dragon or with his bow, though he would hate having it be attributed to luck instead of his own hard-earned skills haha. And omg the Thistle…….. I’m obsessed with that actually. Sensory horror wise it’d be really interesting to read how it’s like coughing it up, ESPECIALLY with the sweet taste accompanying it oh my god. If we’re going with a marchil angle, the fact that she’s a sweet person… He dislikes sweets and he hates that he loves her. It reminds him of her and he hates it, the thistle in his throat is also her, his love for her is a thorn in his side, he loves her and it hurts him and he hates it all. It’s so Chilchuck to just suffer in silence and do jackshit about an unrequited love except beating himself up for it, sigh…

I’m sorry Thistle thistles are a Chilchuck thing to me now <3 You know I always underestimated how wild thistles look… It really does look like the flower is in a green jester costume with a funky little collar. Kui you visionary Thistles are also small and round and cute… What the prickles? No no that’s just little hair ahoges <3

I don’t have any particular ideas for everyone else… Forget-me-nots are a very Marcille pick with devotion, true love and remembrance… I also associate Marcille a bit with buttercups. Also Queen Anne’s Lace, which besides beauty symbolizes sanctuary, safety and refuge… Their seeds are edible and kind of taste like thyme btw, hah, time. They’re all softer kinds of flower, no poison or thorns afaik, and I think it suits her. Unrequited love with her wouldn’t be something as acid, it’d be a more poetic sort of ache, doomed longing that feels like a bruise rather than salt in an open wound.

[gay-little-izzet]

I love the funky little phyrexian shapeshifter so much and am curious if you have any spare bits of OC lore about them

I do!

Okay okay so a while back some friends and i were brainstorming what planes we would be from if we were characters in magic, and I tooled around with a few ideas but never really settled on anything, I was fascinated by the worlds and factions of every new set and couldn’t quite pin anything down.

When One started releasing story and cards, I realized I really loved the aesthetics of phyrexia, so I decided to have my self-insert/oc become a phyrexian metamorph, because I’m trans and basic and if I see a shapeshifter I want to be it.

I thought it would be cool to get that izzet angle by making them a surgeon who ended up being rejected from the progress engine for some flaw, and sent to the quiet furnace to be melted down—where they decided they actually liked being molten. Also, I think that the ideas of the “Great Synthesis” and the “Great Work” don’t really oppose each other as red and blue ideas often do, and could instead be combined into an endless cycle of experimentation and creative exploration.

Originally I thought of making them a compleated character, but honestly I feel like I can relate to someone born on new phyrexia—between being trans, being neurodivergent, and coming from an oil obsessed, imperialist, frequently awful country I…well, it’s not too hard for me to project onto some silly little robots.

With that in mind, I wanted to explore what phyrexians who escaped Norn’s mind control might have been able to do after the invasion, so here’s my take on one who decided to devote themselves to helping people have control over their bodies, instead of the typical “compleat first ask questions later” method with phyrexia. Although this is essentially a reference to all of the compleated planeswalkers and ocs I’ve drawn in the past, I imagine he would end up doing a lot more of the opposite, helping reverse the compleations of people who didn’t want to be phyrexians in the first place, or other surgeries. In addition to referencing my art, this isn’t actually too far off from what I’m actually studying to do irl! More the flesh stuff than the machine, unfortunately.

As for the safety of doing such things, I thought it could be interesting if their oil was somehow non-viable, at least to the extent that while they could use it to give others mechanical enhancements, it wouldn’t be infectious or transmissible from these patients. I really liked the comparison of phyresis to a viral infection in the latest chapter, because it makes a lot of sense for my interpretation of phyrexia in general—at their core, they’re just replicating and reproducing, like any living thing (or any protein shell full of genes). And it just so happens that their life cycle and reproduction is directly harmful to most of their hosts, like any parasite. Not necessarily evil, at least not at an individual scale, but certainly dangerous. I’m getting a bit off topic here, but suffice to say I think it would be interesting to see what happens when you remove the inherently infectious aspect of phyresis.

Uuhhmm this was a lot but I hope some of this is interesting to read!

[tokiro07]

Ichi the Witch ch.5 thoughts

[Look With Your Special Eyes]

(Topics: narrative progression - flavor text/worldbuilding, speculation - Uroro/Ichi)

Welcome to Mantinel

Looks like my prediction from last week that Nichi would likely use this chapter to continue establishing the core concepts of the story, namely either the goal or antagonists, has turned out to be incorrect

Instead, Nishi has opted to use this chapter not to introduce us to anything particularly new, but to introduce Ichi to the rest of the cast, with the entire Witches Association observing him in action and forming their own opinions of him

That said, because we get to see so many new characters and designs at once, that does mean that we're getting a solid preview of the big players we're liable to meet going forward, like how in Food Wars you got to see prototype designs for a lot of the cast in the crowd when Souma was giving the introductory speech for the incoming class. How many of them will be important, I obviously can't say, but I imagine Nishi at least has a few ideas for each of them just in case she has the time to visit all of them

I saw quite a few comments about the lady with the sunglasses and beard-like chin accessories, which makes sense since she takes up the most of the real estate on the page and has an established team, so she was likely meant to make a big impression. Me personally, though, I'm the most curious about the crying girl with the mouths in her hair. Is her hair alive? Is it a spell? A magic item? A curse? A Magik parasitizing her hair Skullgirls style?

For what little this chapter offers in lore, it's details like that that make this chapter rich in flavor

Flavor Text

The mirror-based magitech of the Witches Association, Desscaras' self-aggrandizing username, the fantastical fashion sense of the Witches...all of it really helps to build the vibe of this world

It all feels so alien, but not in a way that I can't tell what I'm looking at either. There's a level of clarity and familiarity that keeps me from feeling unwelcome, but just enough mysticism that I don't foresee myself getting too accustomed to be surprised by whatever's around the next corner, at least not anytime soon

I particularly love the energy that Shirabedonna brings to the table; rising up from a puddle in the floor feet first with her platform shoes filled with liquid and a pair of eyes staring out at Ichi is such a striking image, and one that I won't soon forget! Following that up with her rabid and insatiable desire for knowledge, that big smile, those funky pants, and her cat-clawed gloves as she plays with a sample of Ichi's hair...she's just so fun!

I won't declare her my favorite this early, but if she's big enough to keep making appearances and contribute to the actual plot, there's a very good chance that I'm going to fall in love with this woman

Plus, while I said this chapter was light on lore, I didn't say it was devoid of lore, as Shirabedonna gleefully provides

What's In a Name

Thus far we've met three Witches, each with their own title: Desscaras the Abyssal Witch, Monegold (or Monigold as this chapter spells it, not sure which is accurate) the Aureate Witch, and Shirabedonna the Analytical Witch. I assumed that these names came from either signature spells or behaviors they were known for. While Desscaras has given no indication thus far of what makes her "Abyssal," Monegold at least has gold in her name to match with "Aureate," so at the very least I was confident they weren't arbitrarily assigned

Shirabedonna's introduction immediately suggests that both factors are viable, but most likely the former is the important part, as Shirabedonna's signature spell seems to be to cast this world's equivalent of Scan or Tattle. That said, I'm guessing she specifically hunted down Sachikila for its analytical power since she's clearly obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge, so it's entirely likely she got that name before attaining the spell

Speaking of names, Nishi has opted to directly answer a question of mine from ch.3: the chants are the names of the Magiks, but not the names that we're told! Reminiscent of the Fae, the Magiks' associated chants are their true names. What this means for their societal structure is unclear; do they use those names within the context of Magik society and hide them from humans, or are they unknown to everyone? And what's the purpose in hiding them? Perhaps knowing their true name when they're released from their current Witch would allow one to capture them more easily?

Desscaras says that only the Witch who holds a magic stone can read its chant, but Ichi was able to use Desscaras' Lazud and Parthion when obviously he doesn't hold their stones. Is that a quirk of Uroro's Ultra Amplification, or can Witches share spells with each other? I'm inclined to believe the former, but all current evidence suggests it could be the latter

Now that we know that chants are secret names that may or may not be used for controlling a Magik against their will, I'm more confident than ever in another theory from ch.3: Uroro most certainly has a chant, and I'll bet he has very good reasons for keeping it a secret

I'd wager that Uroro's chant will be a major upgrade for Ichi either in a few arcs or possibly his final upgrade at the end of the series, and its attainment will likely be the mark either a milestone or the conclusion of their joint character arc. Whether that will be the two of them becoming true partners like Asta and Liebe in Black Clover OR if it will represent Ichi's mastery and surpassing of his internal antagonist a la Yuji gaining Sukuna's Shrine in JJK, I envision it being a defining moment for Ichi's character

Based on Uroro's sudden manifestation in this chapter, I anticipate next week's chapter will serve as a projection of that very arc

Shoulder Devil

While I can't imagine that Ichi will give in to Uroro's temptation, as the Witches have not violated Death for Death yet and deliberately antagonizing them would make it significantly harder to hunt the established Magik targets, Uroro's actions will certainly have consequences for Ichi in the immediate future

As Shirabedonna says, every member of the Witches Association is currently forming a unique opinion on Ichi and deciding whether or not he can be trusted. Ichi's ability to withstand and possibly fend off Uroro will likely garner some level of trust from them, but if Uroro firmly establishes himself here as the primary antagonist, then it will be a lot easier for Ichi to come into conflict with other Witches since they'll go through him to get to Uroro. This will make defeating Uroro more permanently a necessity, as otherwise he'll continue to use Ichi as the impetus to orchestrate conflicts within Mantinel

If Uroro can be even remotely assuaged, though, we'll still undoubtedly have some Witches who don't trust him, but more importantly we'll see the beginnings of Ichi and Uroro's friendship. In that scenario, those fights will be for the sake of strengthening Ichi's bond with Uroro and demonstrating to the Witches Association how peace between human and Magik is possible

Either way, I think for now this interaction will be a good way to benchmark Ichi's current abilities, as what we've seen so far has almost certainly provided a skewed understanding of Ichi's relative standing in this world

Level 1 Mage

As Shirabedonna points out, Ichi's magical power is on par with the average woman - which is to say, completely in line with what you would expect from someone with no formal training

What this means is that, despite being able to defeat the ostensible strongest Magik, Ichi's capacity for spellcasting is really nothing special outside of Uroro's Ultra Amplification. This was already telegraphed pretty well by the fact that using UA knocked him out for three days at a time, but it's good to get the understanding that this would happen to anyone other than well-trained Witches, and might actually be worse for people without Ichi's physiological advantages

It's also helpful to have the path to overcoming that weakness mapped out; if Ichi is only as good as the average woman, then his upcoming experiences and training will naturally make him more suited to using Uroro's magic. In the meantime, though, his unusual physical strength and technical prowess should help to make up the difference in magical power and experience when he's inevitably pitted against other Witches, at least the early-game ones

What we really need right now to get a proper understanding of how much those factors make up for his weaknesses though is a ceiling battle. The Strongest Witch vs. the King Magik looks like a ceiling battle on paper, but because of Uroro's feminine immunity, neither of them got to show off what they're really capable of and we're left without a clear picture of how strong Ichi needs to aim to become by the endgame

That could end up happening here, with a high-ranking Witch stepping in to stop Uroro from tempting Ichi against them, but it could just as easily be a low-ranking Witch to establish not the power ceiling, but the power floor that Ichi has only barely managed to step onto. I could go either way, so long as we understand just how far apart Ichi and the likes of Desscaras really are by the end of the fight, as making Ichi seem impossibly strong in turn makes Desscaras seem shockingly weak when that's definitely a misdirect

No matter how it shakes out, this is all clearly still just prologue, and the real adventure won't begin until all of the pieces are in place

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[pumpkinmetaphor]

thats the same eye emoji i have! glad we both are seeing the same thing when imagining kaoru's little "i'm looking into your soul" stare. he's just a Little funky (severe understatement)

oh no i wouldn't consider it written fanfiction. you can find just about every wattpad trope with the gacha kids aswell. mom sold me to bts. fell in love with my boyfriend's boss. pregnant by my ex's dad (ACTUAL MOVIE???????). they have it all.

i personally think teenage kaoru's a little too unhinged for written fanfiction. he wouldn't be able to write coherently he'd start ranting halfway through the block of text he's creating. it'd be something along the lines of "hikaru sighed and stared at me blankly because he hates me and im going to make his life a nightmare 'listen i don't care what you say we dont need you here anymore you worthless shit just leave the house already i have a GIRLFRIEND to get to who i care about WAY more than you' he rolled his eyes at me and i felt tears falling down my face because im a parasite and will never be fixed and can't feel my hands and-"

then he'd end up breaking off a few keys on the keyboard in rage. something like that. gacha life places restrictions on his thoughts. none of that now 😝😝 all gacha hikaru has to say is "hey our fashion line tanked and moms being arrested for tax fraud lol. we have to sell you to the ootori family for money" and off he goes. getting whooshed into the elusive ootori mansion. My Immortal by evanescence being blasted as background music during the car ride scene. maybe he'd make yuuichi and akito the preps ❤️

also i sincerely apologize for tainting your youtube algorithm with gacha life........ let's hope you're getting recommended the "good" 2 hour long movies and not poorly made animation memes

Update on all of this! My cousins are here and the twelve year old has informed me that Gacha Life is OUT and kids have Gacha Club now, then proceeded to give me full power over her Gacha Club. I'm very bad at it.

She's also VERY entertained that I have seen the animatics and says the best one she's seen is one where a girl gets sold to the Chinese Government to be a secret spy. That Chinese Government? One Direction.

You're right though, Akito would be a prep. And a rival gang leader.

[fallentheatre]

Time... to be a little insane <3

I entirely blame @hoverboards-and-dragons for all of this. They introduced me to the God and Archangels concept brainrot and then the Roo brainrot. And this should help explain any drawings we do with these funky designs too.

First, lets meet the cultivator of creation himself, Ady (Adonai)! (AKA the 'God' figure)

He's a gigantic plant entity that can re-arrange his floral body in ways of slightly less concerning body horror. One moment he has paws, the next, all the roots in his legs mangle and reform into claws. The yellow cloak of leaf-fur can expand into wings, but he doesn't use those all that often. He's large, a big beast. Just a massive mass of plant deity that is incredibly soft to touch.

Creation is his garden and he intends to remove it of all parasites through any means necessary.

He also will photosynthesize in the sun. He's not mediating. He's eating. Let him eat in peace.

Meanwhile... we have the parasite he's been trying to rid creation of from day one.

Roo! The 'root of evil' in Ady's creation garden (Their garden)

Where Ady is gentle fun leaf-based body horror, Roo is straight flesh and gore. A parasitic mole in the eyes of Ady and by extension his creations, Roo is something that needs to be exterminated, though none have the power to do so. She's got plant-like elements to her, something that insults Ady personally, due to her 'lure' human-like form sprouting out of the mouth like a flower.

Oh yeah, it's a lure. What easier way to draw prey into the jaws of death than to look like a struggling victim in a sinkhole? It also makes Ady feel uncomfortable beyond belief after the lure becomes more human-esque to specifically and personally drive Ady insane. They're awful to each other. Complete enemies who drove each other to become who they are today. If they aren't ripping one another's throats out, they're being the pettiest people alive.

Roo is a lot more chill compared to Ady. She kinda just does her thing, as she too is fundamental in creation. Roo and Ady spawned together in the abyss and expanded it to become more. No matter how vile her action or how Ady ensures all know her as evil and rot, Roo is vital to creation. They even created their first living organism together in collaboration. That is when it turned for the worst, as their morals clashed until they started to flash their teeth and unsheathe their claws in battle. Ady is generally well put-together, despite being a complete goofball on the outside. But when Roo is around? All his whimsy is gone. There is only mutual hatred and violence.

They're both big beasts, and the full body of Roo is yet to be determined. They're so fascinating because everything would be going so well if they just. Didn't resort to violence and aggression when things dont go their way. They're the only ones who can truly pose a physical threat to one another, and therefore are the only ones they lose their own composure's around.

Still working on the finer details, as these are just concepts at this stage, but I love them dearly. They're awful I hope they maul each other so thoroughly that they cannot tell each other apart in the carnage they make.

Roo kind of became just the blame for everything. Yeah she takes full credit for the things she did do-- she doesn't regret anything. But Ady sees her as the core source of evil, when all he wants to do is spread and nurture good. Roo has accepted the role of evil, not really caring for nor needing a definition for what she does, and Ady kind of forces everyone to see her as nothing but evil. Good and Evil just happen, but both have strange relationships with the ideas. I'm still figuring it out but like. Everything is a grey area can you two stop and accept that please! No? Well. Just keep arguing then I guess.

But yeah she's sick of Ady's shit as much as Ady is beyond frustrated and furious at her.

I also did her demon disguise / form! I don't know how to describe clothing or anything but I really like her. And the downward markings on her stomach is her body showing. It's like a slightly soft exoskeleton? I don't know how to explain pffff.

I then decided to also go ahead and do a human version of Ady. Comedy gold I tell you. Both of these guys make me very happy <3

And as a treat, I also did rough ideas for how Lucifer and Micheal look!

And before anyone says anything, no, those aren't top surgery scars. They are natural markings. Since Lucifer is the morningstar, rising before the sun, it's supposed to make the star on his chest look like it is rising, where Micheal, the eveningstar, is supposed to be setting! (I'd say falling, but that feels... disrespectful lmao)

They also get the leaf-fur elements and some more nature theming due to my idea really focusing on the garden aspect (because it is so fun and i love plant / bug / animal designs so much). Also tried to make Lucifer look more snake-like where Micheal really seems to be heavy on the bird elements (did I hear birds hunting snakes? No? well... what a very funny thing to hear from the wind ehe)

Uhhh yeah. First time trying to ramble out a few of the concepts I have. No idea if I explained anything well but hey! What are rough first drafts if not scribbles on a page?

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 1 - Side B

Propaganda below ⬇️

Valery

tw unreality skip to eddie

His feet are washed in a scene very reminiscient of Saint Peter being washed by Jesus, his leitmotiv is stronger than ever in the scene in front of the church, and his whole arc is about forgiving those who sinned against him.

I'm pretty sure he's actually russian orthodox but rules say that's allowed. His conversation with Katya Jesus told them to turn his cheek literally made me cry ahhh greatest mafia movie of all time

Eddie (tw mentions of suicide)

He meets Venom (the alien goo parasite that inhabits his body) in a church. Eddie is depressed and about to end his life and just before he does it goes to church and prays to God to forgive him because suicide is… y’know, a sin. Anyway Venom possesses him and saves his life and they have a crazy relationship/love story and the stained glass window in that church becomes important symbolism for them <3 He is the most catholic man ever

Admittedly, most of Eddie's insanity has little to do with Catholicism, he's just a deranged weirdo (affectionate) but he was suicidal once and went to a church to ask forgiveness before killing himself. That's where he met the symbiote and their relationship has parallels to both marriage and religion.

Listen listen he is the epitome of Catholic trauma. He’s got the angst. The repression. The je ne sais quoi. His whole story is basically very dependant on churches if that makes any sense. Like he tried to kill himself in a church and that’s when he bonded with the symbiote. They stopped a symbiote invasion by fu̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ crying out in agony in a church. EDDIE AND VENOM GOT MARRIED IN CANON IN THE CHURCH WHERE THEY MET. He also has so many breakdowns in churches and we love that for him.

He meets Venom in a church and has a lot of religious moments connected to Venom. They also sort of get married in the church they met at? It's gay. Eddie is catholic and in a committed relationship with an alien and it's gay.

(Cw suicide mention) He's canonically Catholic and has such a funky (read: kinda fucked up) relationship with it. When his life fell apart he went to a church to pray for forgiveness for the sin of committing suicide and to ask God to kill spiderman i think but then before he could actually do anything an alien came down and connected with him (in a gay way) and he was like "are you an angel". Also his sense of morality is totally fucked, its like "if you've done something bad once you deserve to die" and I like to think that's related to the specific brand of Catholicism

killed a cop in church (amazing spider-man 1963 comic, issue 300), had a homoerotic rebonding moment with his symbiote in church (venom: planet of the symbiotes comic), asked jesus to carry out a hit on former coworker peter parker (spider-man 3 movie)

more here

[mushroom-madness]

🍄 ROUND 2: MATCH 13 🍄

🍄 Vote for your Favorite Fungi! 🍄

Descriptions Below ⬇️

Zommoth

"Zommoth is an optional/hidden boss in Bug Fables, fought at the end of the Leif's Request side story. It is also a cordyceps fungus inside a moth host and Leif (whom we also submitted) refers to it as their sibling. It was an experiment to see if bugs could be given magic by infecting them with the parasitic fungi, and the result was This Beast (affectionate). There are other cordyceps in the same laboratory it's found in, but Zommoth is the strongest and the most notable by a large margin. Very little is known about it as a person but it's stated to be a "guardian" figure and implied that it was protecting the lab and the other zombies in it. We are emotionally attached to it. Also, its color scheme is the nonbinary flag." - Submission 47

"Oh boy, do we LOVE this fungus! Zommoth is a cordyceps beast and immortality experiment made in search of the power of the Everlasting Sapling, a thing said to bring eternal life. Unfortunately, as it often is with this sort of things, they the fungus and they the moth were both quite displeased with being involuntarily used for the sake of roaches chasing immortality. It killed everything in the lab and proceeded to take it over with their many, many fungal siblings.

Technically speaking, Zommoth is a blend of both the fungus and its moth host, now twisted beyond recognition and unable to separate even if they wanted to, but we do think it still counts. It's at least 50% fungus. Probably more, it doesn't seem to have had much use for most of those moth bits. It is loving sibling to many undead fungal hybrid abominations, and its hobbies include screaming, firing lasers at people who intrude into its lab, and crawling out of the water like a beast from a horror flick. We believe it deserves to compete, and also to win." - Submission 52

"Oh yeah this thing is a fungus isn't it. Positively overflowing with cordyceps. Honestly kinda forgot about it for this but saw my mutual bring it up and I figured it would need the support. It sure is a Phucking Phungus" - Submission 68

"A zombie moth full of Cordyceps fungus, the result of a horrific experiment. "Sibling” to Leif, as in created through the same unethical project, if you read my last submission. - Submission 105

Zommoth Propaganda

Bug Fables Wiki

Stanley

"He is just the sweetest child and he gives the best hugs! Lookit him! He had 4 arms for extra good hugging! THE BEST BOY DESERVES TO WIN! I love him, he deserves all the good things!" - Submission 7

"A happy whimsical child, but very lonely because they're sick. Will encourage you to make a mess with them." - Submission 41

"He is my favorite boy and is just so pure and adorable. He gives me drawings and gives the best hugs, even if he doesn't win I would be so happy he even got in." - Submission 48

"He's just a lil boye.... - Submission 57

"He's just this young kid, only 8, and he's just so cheerful. He'll draw pictures for the player character, Stella, want to experiment with various things, follow you around just being curious about things. He's such a good kid. Yet the entire time you have him aboard the ship you know that he's dying and you'll have to take him to the Everdoor at some point for Stella is the spiritfarer and ferrying people to the afterlife is what she does. Needless to say I cried especially hard when the time came for me to take him to the Everdoor" - Submission 59

"Y"know I honestly dunno alota details about Stanley cuz I haven't gotten him in spiritfarer yet but I can just tell how funky he is ok" - Submission 64

"You know him. You love him. He's adorable. I couldn't not throw in a vote for him" - Submission 66

"guy!! ever!!" - Submission 84

"Grew him in my garden and he took over my guest room. He's my son who I will personally escort to the afterlife." - Submission 86

"He is such a sweetie!" - Submission 87

"He is my son. you Know" - Submission 89

"He's my bb boy I adore him so so much I wish to give him French fries and let him draw and I'm still distraught over him leaving :((best boy <3» - Submission 99

“I know he was an example but I want him in!!! He's just a little guy!!!! You literally get him from growing him out of a garden and he's just a kid spirit that follows you around and I love him so,,, HE CALLS YOU BIG HAT I-

Also him being in the bracket would be propaganda for people to play spiritfarer in general good game 10/10 - Submission 134

Stanley Propaganda

Stanley Propaganda

Spiritfarer Wiki

[ethereal-forest-furry]

ATTENTION ALLIUM ENJOYERS

this is a walking onion :3 every time they bloom (just a few tiny white flowers) instead of making seeds they make Tiny Baby Guys... like literally whole baby onion plants attached to the stalk like funky little parasites (/affectionate)

the stalks fall over pretty easily like mine did, so they end up planting the little critters in the soil a couple feet away- and theyre all connected by the stems in like a green onion chain and its like they walk around the garden!!! :3

these are a hybrid of welsh onion (which is from china btw... its bc welsh used to mean foreign) and the annual type that we all know. theyre way more resilient and adaptable than either parent - they can thrive in heat, drought, partial shade, poor soil, etc. and have like no diseases at all AND they grow super fast

and theyre perennial!!! just let them chill forever and make little onion bulbs with pretty much no care :3

love these guys, v excited to get babies and plant them everywhere to come back later and get so many onions >:3

[starving-mimi]

parasitic shadeling cuz i love those funky little doods

[definitelynotshouting]

Completely random thought entered my head when you replied to a prev ask with "He's like if a worm was a parasitic wasp...".

Funnily enough here's another worm that is not a worm called a caecillian. it's not a mollusc, insect, snake or legless lizard. It's an amphibian of all things.

oh and certain species do something called maternal dermatophagy which is the mother feeding their babies their own skin :)

do what you will with this knowledge

OHH I HAD TO LOOK THESE BAD BOYS UP BUT MAN THATS THE CREATURE OF ALL TIME HUH... im actually incredibly obsessed with how close they are in colour to what @/corvidaearts and i settled on for your average Watcher. That is a little dude right there and i love him and his funky amphibian face :]

Picture below the cut if anyone wants to see it!!!

Beast of all freeking time. Im blowing it kisses and wishing it a wonderful day at work (burrowing in the ground)

[samferd]

This is probably gonna be really really long, so I'm putting all this shit below the read more. But this is the post where I explain my cool and awesome original species.

So. Let's start with names first. X-Parasites are the name (yes I know that's the name of the parasites in Metroid Fusion but by the time I learned about that I was already in too deep and that was years ago, now I'm in waaayyy too deep).

Anyways, anatomy!!! Yippee!!! Do you like weird sci-fi and biology? I sure do. Get ready girlsss.

This is what they look like in their "true form":

And this is what they look like disguised:

Now you may be saying, "Oh Samferd, that's just a human! That's not original at all!" And to that I say, shut the fuck up, they're my freaks and I get to choose what they look like! Buutt just because you asked not so nicely, I'll tell you some fun tells that are different from humans. Here’s a diagram:

A weird quirk about X-Parasites is that depending on the region they're born in, they'll have slightly different quirks with their biology, here's some examples:

Last biology thing before I move on to a slightly different thing. Why are they considered parasites? It's in the name and yet I haven't mentioned it yet. Well this is the right spot to be if you'd like to know why. There's a thing in this slightly alternate version of Earth called xenia (Pronounced like it's a z. I just thought the x was funny lmao). This is an energy source that all living things naturally create by eating, drinking water, or sleeping. I lied though, X-Parasites don't make xenia. Well how do they get it then? Go into a bloodstream, stupid. Xenia is stored in the blood and there might be a little guy in there taking it! Don't worry though, most times they're like, just hanging. Yeaaahh most times they don't really act out their namesake and instead go for the commensalistic route. Xenia (at least in humans) is very easily extracted. And at the fast rate that 99% of people regenerate it, there's usually no harm in having an X-Parasite in you from time to time. Help a little guy out! And if you know of their existence inside you (you likely wouldn't they were wiped out of history but we'll get to that in a bit), you can do some funky shit. They have this weird reaction with the pain killers they produce (yes they secrete pain killer chemical shit, they love you and getting a drill into your bloodstream would suck without it). This makes it so you can create metal blades in whatever shape you want out of the area you're in. Want blade wings? Go ahead! Wanna make a cool dragon helmet out of even more blades? Sure! Wanna actually use it like a weapon? Laaaame that's the obvious answer. But sure. Also the metal's light blue cause it's cool.

Now this is all sounds great, this isn't parasitic! You get a funky guy (yes they can communicate and read thoughts when they're in you, don't question it) and cool blades? Disappointing! But don't leave just yet! The more dangerous method is similar, you know, they get in your bloodstream and shit but instead of just extracting the xenia, they can just straight up drink the blood! Also by doing this, they can get better access to your nervous system, letting them just control your body! Whoops! People tend to die in 3 days if they stay in there, which if they started controlling you, they most likely would! It is very frowned upon in their society, so the rate at which it happens (especially in present day) is very low.

History time!!! Did any of you miss history class? I didn't think so! I don't care though! Have some fake history (now with substantially less diagrams):

Waaaayyy back in the day (when humans were first becoming humans as we know it), X-Parasites existed alongside them. Consuming so much of their xenia made them be able to be human like, it took a very long time for them to really look human though. However, a side effect of this was that they evolved to only be able to eat human xenia. Humans nearly worshipped them due to their ability to help create the previously mentioned blue metal. People would harvest this and use it in buildings and weapons and it was incredibly durable. This also happened to lead to a lot of X-Parasites becoming blacksmiths and them having painted chainmail tapestry called a Kexiv (Yes I am gonna find a way to put an x in all of the names, no I have not named the actual metal). Also a side note because I don't know where else to put this, they can live for hundreds of years, ten years of living as an X-Parasite is comparatively one year for humans. Anyways, soon after European colonists came to America to steal some land, people started getting paranoid. This is mostly due to a lack of relations with many of the X-Parasites and increasing racism(? does it count as racism if they're different species??? I guess speciesism??? Is that a word???) and the lack of relations is primarily due to people messing around with new and cooler metals. The paranoia led to an all out "war" and by "war" I mean literal genocide. This led to most of the X-Parasites all dying out and seeking refuge in the sewers. People ended up literally burning and destroying all traces of their existence so the royalty of the world would look better by making it seem like there wasn't a literal genocide they did. They are slowly recovering however, they built colonies inside the sewers they took refuge in. It's significantly less gross (they have a floor and society and shit. Yippee!!) That's not to say everything's all fun and games (not to say living in a sewer is ideal, far from it), there's very few people that know of X-Parasites anymore and most that do are people that have had their ancestor's bigotry passed down and thusly tend to be x-hunters (fairly explanatory, people that hunt X-Parasites). However, it is slowly getting a little better :) nature is healing.

Ummm I don't know how to end this. Bye.

[yourbestpalpercy]

Have another thingy from school!

Alright, I have…a weird couple of characters. I can’t even explain why I love these characters so much. So, to start: Pal Percy from Playtime with Percy. I want you to be prepared for this dummy. When I say Pal Percy, you probably think of a friendly little guy, right? A little buddy, a little friend, just a tiny little pal. Well, tiny and little are a few ways to explain one of my favorite characters. Now, he has a very pitchy and bit crushed voice that you’d hear from a kid’s toy. Okay, now we’re getting closer to this little guy. His voice is like a kid’s toy! Like a Leapfrog branded thing, how sweet…! He was designed to be your best friend. He’s a small toy that’s designed to be your best friend. He’s similar to a Tamagotchi so he can’t be dangerous at all. He’s just a little guy like Flowey from Undertale or Wheatly from Portal 2. Fun fact, that’s where his character came from!

Okay, now allow me to show you an image of our little buddy we’ve made^^! I made the words bigger so you have no true idea.

Okay, back to normal text. Wh-What do you mean he’s completely insane and is obsessed with being ‘Your Best Pal’ to the point where he’ll kill you if you deny him-? Not only that, he’s made creatures, has wires, is parasitic (a word that has lost all meaning for me because of the obsessive tamagotchi), and has taken over a large animatronic for his bossfight!

Now onto his little buddies! The TamaTerrorz ♥ ️ ✨. These little buggers are absolutely adorable. This isn’t a fakeout. I genuinely adore these tiny creatures. They’re aggressive in game but practically everyone in the Playtime with Percy fandom has fully agreed that these creatures would be adorable beans if Pal wasn’t controlling them. There’s 4 in total (5 if you count TamaMunchi despite him being an easter egg). I like them all. I actually have a list!

TamaBruti

TamaLanki

TamaRoachi

TamaMunchi

TamaOpti

And I’ll list my reasons after photos!

TamaBruti: I really like how silly TamaBruti looks with his extremely dilated eyes. I cannot take him seriously like that. TamaBruti represents the arms (Known as TamaBruti_Arms… in the fake credits before the fight). He’s also the living definition of a brute. The way he gets to you? Simple, he punches down the walls and enters your room like he’s the Kool Aid Man. Hence why I gave him the nickname: ‘TamaKoolAid’. Also, all of his models look extremely derpy. Ruined-Cade after you defend yourself from him? He sits down on the table and contemplates his decisions. Broken Storage? He’s just staring at the camera without a single thought behind his eyes. Gnawed Playroom? He is observing the hallway at a 45 degree angle. Does it make any more sense at that angle, bud?

TamaLanki: I just like his design. He lives up to his name; he’s lanky. I think of him as being rather violent and I think he screeches a lot when he doesn’t get his way. Some people hc him as trans because of the character on his screen (mouth?), who is a girl and I think that’s super cool. He is the body (TamaLanki_Body… in the fake credits). TamaLanki is super cool in my opinion. Also, they’re your ticket out and away from Pal Percy as he is connected to the power and you need to complete his minigames to electrocute Pal. So, naturally, TamaLanki is in your office at all times of the boss fight. If you ignore them, unlike Pal (IN THE EARLIER NIGHTS), he’ll just kill you. I think he’s pretty neat.

TamaRoachi: I don’t have a big paragraph to give about these bugs. I like them solely because I heard one of their funky noises and they sounded like a rabid bulldog. I thought this was funny and grew attached to these Roachies. They are in the false credits as TamaRoachi_Legs… that’s it!

TamaMunchi: This one isn’t even in the boss fight. He can appear in the custom night for the bossfight though. Only the custom night though. He doesn’t have a thing in the false credits but looking at concept art has him labeled as ‘Jaws’, which…yeah, he definitely has no doubt. I’m pretty sure everyone just agrees that TamaMunchi is dog-like and I really like this idea. Admittedly, I thought they looked more like a mouse at first. My eyes have opened though and Munchi is clearly a puppy doggo. Someone even added them into Minecraft and I have decided to switch Roachi and Munchi around

TamaOpti: …They’re…just neat. I honestly have no opinions on Opti (Sorry Opti Fans!!). They’re the smartest of the TamaTerrorz and I headcanon that they take control as the leader if Pal isn’t present. I also can’t give a big ol paragraph to this guy. They just exist to me. I like their design. Here, they’re labeled as TamaOpti_Eye in the fake credits. I apologize to the Opti fans again. I can’t tell a lot about this guy.

And that’s it! I have said everything! Mreh!