#not even dung beetles

[sehetep-shenwer]

Maat forgive me for cursing my followers with this image and knowledge. May Set strike it down with His chaotic lightning. May Sekhmet melt it into nothing with Her heated breath. And May Thoth smite mormons with facts and logic!!!!

Senebty :3

[counselor-elijah]

Dung beetles! Specifically Geotrupes stercorarius!

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

African Woolly Chafers (Genus Sparrmannia): these beetles have a uniquely "fluffy" appearance, thanks to the long, fur-like setae that covers their bodies

Beetles of the genus Sparrmannia are widely distributed throughout the arid regions of southern Africa. They have very distinctive features, with large, plump bodies and tawny-colored "fur," and some species can measure up to 25mm (nearly 1 inch) long.

They generally hide in underground burrows during the day, and emerge only at night, when the desert is substantially cooler. The dense layer of "fur" acts as insulation, which allows the beetles to remain active at night, even when the temperatures plummet.

Sources & More Info:

The Coleopterists Bulletin: Biology of Sparrmannia flava

The Book of Beetles: Sparrmannia

Eyewitness Travel Guide to South Africa: Sparrmannia flava

Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa: Revision of the Genus Sparrmannia

Descriptive Catalogue of the Coleoptera of South Africa: Genus Sparrmannia

Excerpts from the Book Pollinators, Predators, and Parasites: Temperature Control in Sparrmannia flava and Dung Feeding in Woolly Chafer Beetle Larvae

[passengerpigeons]

im on the home stretch of maldoror. for a second i thought i lost it and i was like what a funny way to end this year's annual attempt at reading it

[sarahmackattack]

Look you thought YOU were having a bad Monday, but please get some perspective. In all likelihood nobody rolled a gigantic orb of shit over your body, compressing you stinkily into the dirt.

[vamplvr3]

my favorite insect fact ever is that nocturnal dung beetles can actually see the milky way and even use it in order to navigate! i think thats so crazy to think about!!

dung beetles are my favorite beetles ever, but i dont really share that because people think theyre gross. i hope this allows other people to see how cool they actually are! i also love seeing them fly theyre so sick and rad.

[luminarrow]

im so mad about rellor from pokemon im not gonna even say anything. im just going to look away forever.

[tk-duveraun]

Another qijiu au for qijiu week

Upon cultivating a golden core, people are able to manifest a familiar from their spiritual energy with the essence of their soul attached.

They do not choose the form the familiar takes and (beauty as righteousness remember) those with less elegant or less mighty familiars simply choose to leave them unmanifested

Better to be seen as suspicious for not summoning than "confirm" your "rotten core" by having a distasteful animal

YQY *can't* manifest a familiar due to the damage to his soul, but everyone thinks his familiar is a great phoenix. Truly only the new-sect leader who as a disciple suppressed a heavenly demon could have such a magnificent spiritual creature as a rejection of his soul.

The phoenix is actually a part of SJ. The part that refuses to let go of Qi-ge, even after everything. The phoenix dotes on YQY and even grooms him, so of course people assume it's his own

SJ doesn't manifest it often because he hates how the creature has forgiven the unforgivable, but at the same time he allows it and corrects no one bc he needs some piece of himself, no matter how small, to be loved and accepted by the qi-ge who tried to erase him from his life

Even though YQY clearly only allows it bc the perception of having such a creature as a reflection of himself boosts his credibility

But of course this means the sect believes SJ's familiar to be a dung beetle or some mangy mutt, to reflect how vile he is.

[darksilvania]

TOBOGGRUB [Toboggan + Grub] Bug/Ice The Sled Pokemon Abilities: Slush Rush/Snow Cloak - Refrigerate (HA) Dex: "It dashes through the snow at high speeds thanks to its modified legs, all up and down the snow covered hills. Kids love to ride them like sleds. Despite its small size, they are tougher than they look, with a thick protective layer of skin and special crystal-like lenses over their eyes they can easily traverse the snowy mountains of Kroel even during the heaviest blizzards.” Moveset: -Pounce -Quick Attack -Aurora Veil -Snowscape

SCARABALL [Scarab + Ball] Bug/Ice The Snow ball Pokemon >Evolves from TOBOGGRUB at level 12< Abilities: Slush Rush/Snow Cloak - Refrigerate (HA) Dex: "It encases itself in a large snowball and moves all over the mountians rolling at high speeds, however it can’t see while inside this ball, so it often crashes with anything on its path. It makes sure its snowball doesnt gain too much snow, so it doesnt get too heavy, so it sometimes crashes intentionaly to remove the snow excess” Moveset: -Steamroller -Bulldoze -Ice Ball -Hail

SNOMOBEETL [Snowmobile + Beetle] Bug/Ice The Snowmobile Pokemon >Evolves from SCARABALL at level 30< Abilities: Slush Rush/Snow Cloak - Refrigerate (HA) Dex: "It creates special snowballs mixing compacted snow with its own saliva. This snowballs are incredibly tough and take longer to melt than regular snow." It uses its modified claws and special snowballs to ride across the snow at incredibly high speeds, even using the terrain to jump over long distances. People often uses them as snow vehicles” Moveset: -Extreme Speed -Ice Spinner -Lunge -Avalanche

I decided to finish all the fakemon I have previously posted with only base colors, which are a lot, so here you have the first set of them

TOBOGGRUB is based on a sled or toboggan

SCARABALL is based on snowballs, snow rollers. and snowmen

SNOMOBEETLE is based on a snowmobile

All of them also are wearing "snow gear"

And they are all based on the Dung Beetle. just a small not, I made mine way before Rellor and Rabsca were released

[en-vys]

Lowkey Saiki with a s/o that has a bug collection.

saiki, k. - love bug ఌ

“GET IT AWAY.” he says, freaking out. you seriously had to calm him down. even talk him out of teleporting to america. “c’mon kusuo. its not scary. its a ladybug. if anything you’re gonna make a lot of people worry when they see a high schooler on top of a cell tower..” he shakes his head, his answer echoing in your head clearly, it was seriously a no. “kuu.. you’ve seen a dung beetle before, why are you afraid? this ones harmless.” evidently knowing the answer, you let the ladybug down on a nearby sprout of plants coming up from the ground. looking back up in the blaring sun, covering your eyes a little. “kusuo. its gone now, come down.” he hops off the side of the pole, slowly coming down. “see hun? no mar- oh no.” you look down and see a small red bump on your hand, where the lad- “see? this wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t let that lady bug touch you. now i have to fix your hand.” the two of you walk back home in silence as you felt embarrassed for being told off by your boyfriend at how careless you were about a “small, harmless” insect. until when you turned to open your homes gate, kusuo grabs you by your wrist and holds it for awhile. “i’m sorry for scolding you. i’ll see you tomorrow, love you. you nuisance.” supposedly he had seen how sad you felt, frowning a little after. “ ‘kay, love you. see you tomorrow.”

hi lovie, sorry if its not long enough, or what you wanted 😭😭 and for taking so long 🙏🙏

@en-vys : this is my ONLY account other accounts with the same name are NOT me, do not repost on any other platform, translate, or steal in anyway. - 2024

[monstersdownthepath]

Homebrew Horror: Beetle Knights

(art is of the Dung Beetle Knight, from Kingdom Death: Monster, from which this creature draws inspiration)

Also known in some circles as the Liegeon, Fauxladins, and most commonly Chevaliars, Beetle Knights are enormous insects which have, aided by magic-rich diets, evolved over countless years to fall into an incredibly strange niche in which they serve as guardians and allies to more intelligent creatures in order to hunt greater prey. That their human shape allows them to avoid scrutiny from true monster hunters is, itself, a benefit.

On their own, Beetle Knights are relatively dim creatures guided almost entirely by supernaturally potent instincts. They spend the majority of their lives wandering the world, following the roads and paths set by the races of man and elf from settlement to settlement as they slay and devour monsters and bandits they encounter, giving off the illusion of a reclusive, wandering knight keeping the roads safe. Their humanoid but elaborate appearance causes unquestioning townsfolk to mistake them for mercenaries, kingdom guards, and especially adventurers, which is their true goal; to be directed at a threat which requires a heavier hand than most civilians are capable of mustering, for it is these greater beasts on which the Beetle Knights prefer to feed.

Though fully capable of hunting down their own food in the wild, Beetle Knights have grown to enjoy the safety and comfort offered by living alongside humans, especially when it becomes time to reproduce. During breeding season, Beetle Knights require an enormous amount of food both for them and their young and thus must hunt greater prey with more magical energy within. To do so, the parents couple only briefly before going their separate ways and proceeding to infiltrate (or get accidentally brought into) existing adventuring groups as mysterious and stoic hirelings, secreting powerful mind-bending pheromones which cause these parties to behave more recklessly and require little prompting to go hunting dangerous prey. These pheromones also have an unusual effect on the mind of any nearby humanoid, causing them to rationalize or fully ignore their 'new hires' more inhuman traits, going so far as to interpret their chittering vocalizations (which already sound distressingly close to human speech) as motivating--if terse--speeches to drive them ever forward towards their goal. Most 'hosts' to a Beetle Knight rarely realize just what they've been traveling with the last few weeks until they part ways, the effects of the pheromones fade, and the adventuring party realizes that their 'hireling' didn't actually take any coin or gems in payment.

The only payment they require is food. Beetle Knights feed readily on almost anything they slay, using any lulls in adventuring to gorge themselves at every opportunity. Their inordinately powerful jaws can crush iron, to say nothing of bone, and their wandering habits leave them little room to be picky. They will even consume the equipment of their fallen foes and the iron alloys found in destroyed Constructs, ferrous metals recycled by their magic digestive system to reinforce their carapaces and mix with the resinous secretions they use to form their weapons and nests. Unattended magic items are consumed ravenously, the magic extracted from these items and used to fuel the growth of their young; their habit of eating overlooked loot is what normally brings them into conflict with their 'host' parties, which rarely ends well for the human adventurers.

Beetle Knights grow to be anywhere from 6 to 8 feet tall, and weigh around 300 pounds. Individual Knights can live upwards to 10 years, but most die much sooner through combat.

Beetle Knight CR 8 Neutral Medium Magical Beast Init +1 Senses: Darkvision 80ft, Scent, low-light vision, Perception +12 Aura: Pheromones (60ft, DC 19) ------ Defenses ------

AC: 24; touch 15; flat-footed 24 (+1 Dex, +10 natural, +4 deflection) HP: 100 (10d10+40) Fort +11 Ref +8 Will +6 Defensive Abilities: Ferocity, Chitin Plate; DR: 5/Magic and piercing; Immune: disease, poison, charms and compulsions. ------ Offense ------ Speed: 30ft, climb 20ft, fly 20ft (poor) Melee: +1 Resin Longsword +16/+11 (1d8+6/19-20), bite +15 (1d8+5), slam +10 (1d6+2); OR bite +15 (1d8+5), two slams +15 (1d6+5 plus grab) Special Attacks: Crushing Jaws, Pounce, Rend (2 slams, 1d6+7) ----- Statistics ----- Str 20, Dex 13, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 16, Cha 6 Base Atk +10; CMB +15 (+19 when Repositioning or Disarming); CMD 26 (30 vs Reposition and Disarming) Feats: Dirty Fighting, Improved Disarm, Improved Reposition, Greater Disarm, Greater Reposition Skills: Climb +17, Disguise +4, Fly +12, Perception +13; Racial Modifiers: +10 to Disguise checks to appear as a humanoid knight Languages: Common plus one local language (cannot speak). SQ: Resin Equipment, Pheromones ------ Ecology ------ Environment: Any temperate land Organization: Single, pair, or adventuring party (1~2 plus 3~4 travelers between 1st and 10th level) Treasure: Standard (+1 Longsword, magic and mundane items kept as a snack, monster parts, other treasure)

------

Combat: Beetle Knights fight with a startling amount of tactical knowhow. If fighting alongside a party, they attempt to maneuver opponents to allow any allies present to flank and move enemies into the line of fire of allies with reposition maneuvers. They will also work to prevent enemies from drawing too close to more fragile allies, and disarm enemies with dangerous weapons. If alone, it will attempt to disarm enemies whose weapons pierce its DR first, then focus on one enemy at a time until each are dead or have fled.

Morale: When part of a party, Beetle Knights fight fiercely and without fear of death, instinctually assured that their allies will at least attempt to keep them alive (whether or not this is truly the case). If alone, Beetle Knights flee when brought below 30 HP. In either case, the Knights will play dead at 0 HP or below and drag themselves to a safe location to recover.

------ Special Abilities ------

Chitin Plate (Ex/Su): The extremely tough shell of a Beetle Knight is woven with iron and hardened by consumed magical power. It is part of its body and thus does not impede its movement and cannot be sundered or broken. If it is struck with a targeted Dispel Magic (dispel check DC 21) or enters an Antimagic Field or similar, it loses its deflection bonus to its AC and its Damage Reduction for 1d4+1 rounds (or until it leaves the Antimagic Field).

Crushing Mandibles (Ex): A Beetle Knight's complex jaws can rip apart almost anything. Its bite attack is always treated as a primary natural attack, and ignores the first 5 points of hardness and/or Damage Reduction of any object or creature it encounters.

Pheromones (Su): A Beetle Knight produces a subtle mist of magical pheromones that it fans in every direction with subtle movement of its wings. Creatures breathing in these pheromones must make a DC 19 Fortitude save; those who fail see the Knight as a human (or whatever humanoid creature is most common to this area), parse its vocalizations as intelligible speech relevant to the current situation, and rationalize or ignore any strange behavior or blatantly inhuman actions it takes. It does not need to make Disguise checks to hide its nature against creatures under the effects of its pheromones. These effects last for 24 hours, unless a creature (typically its adventuring party) has spent a continuous 24 hours around the beetle, at which point the pheromones do not leave their system until one week has passed. A creatures who succeed their saving throw against the pheromones must make a new save each minute they spend in the aura.

Resin Equipment (Ex/Su): A Beetle Knight can weave digested magic and metal into its own resinous secretions, creating weaponry. With 2 hours of work, the Knight can create a resinous version of any simple melee weapon. With 6 hours of work, it can instead create a longsword or greatsword. The Knights prefer one-handed weapons, allowing them to deliver secondary slam attacks, and they are considered proficient with any resin weapon they make.

Any weapon created by a Beetle Knight is treated as a steel version of that weapon with a +1 enchantment bonus. Unless magically compelled to do so, they will only ever make weapons for themselves, and will consume damaged or broken ones to remake them. Beetles tend to only have enough resin to make three weapons a week.

------

Champion Beetles are Knights who, by consuming large quantities of magical foods from prosperous host parties and having been resurrected via magic at least once, undergo a second metamorphosis which takes a two weeks to finish, emerging from a gilded cocoon as a golden warrior with greater abilities than their common kin. Champion Beetles gain between 4 and 6 additional racial Hit Dice and typically favor taking feats which allow them greater proficiency with more combat maneuvers, usually Dirty Trick, Trip, or Sunder. In addition, they gain the following abilities:

Resistance 10 to one element, Resistance 5 to two other elements, typically the most common forms of elemental damage they've encountered on their journeys.

Increased DR from 5 to 10/Magic and Piercing.

+2 to their natural AC and +2 to their deflection bonus.

Their Resin Weapons gain an additional +1 enhancement bonus.

Increase each of their mental ability scores by 2.

Fast Healing 1.

Champion Beetles can live upwards to 40 years. There is a 10% chance that the larvae of Champion Beetles hatch with the Advanced simple template and 1d3 of the above abilities selected at random.

[pointpilot]

Untitled Labru Fic

synopsis: laios indulges kabru in his childhood country bumpkin lifestyle. laios is a freak AND kabru learns something about himself

word cont: 935

inspired by my post here

-

“Did you know you can eat these, Kabru?”

Securing his hands around the base of a branch and a leaf which it was tethered to, a rip was heard as he took the leaf into his delicate hand. 

“I supposed I didn’t.” Kabru replied, attentive eyes following the rich green leaf now in front of him. He noticed the fronds had a sort of peach fuzz to them as they caught themselves in the orangey-blue sky. “These are called Winauk leaves, they come from Winauk trees. I’d be careful with eating them all the time, though.” Laios aimlessly waved the leaf around.

“Why?” Kabru queeried, arms folded as he lay his back against this tree. Before looking up at Laios, he admired the open field they relaxed in, tall grass swaying whichever way in the wind while rays of heat gently tingled their skin. 

“Invasive beetles from the Eastern Archipelago are known to carry fungi that infest the leaves. If you eat this leaf with the fungi present, you could get a really bad disease.” 

Laios threw the leaf in his mouth. 

Dumbass!!! Then why would you eat it!?

Kabru screamed in his mind, he then started to say this aloud, but his words came out like this:

“Oh, is that safe to eat then?” He asked with a gentle smile of concern, pointing to Laios’ mouth as he obnoxiously chewed, the blond sitting himself next to him. “I’ve eaten these so much as a child that I can taste the difference. Want one? I’ll taste test it for you!” He gestured his hand towards the branches of the tree. “I promise they’re really good. Almost minty.”

Kabru had an ultimatum. Keep a friendly, albeit flirty relationship with Laios to continue to truly see how his crazy-ass ticked, or get a disease and die. Truly, he was interested in Laios’ history and how it shaped him into the person he is now. Which is why he went out into the vast rural lands of Melini with him to indulge in Laios’ former rural lifestyle. Kabru knew how much he missed his homeland, and used this as an apt opportunity to become closer to him, while also being curious as to what this entailed. 

“I’ll try a leaf.” Kabru forcefully beamed, splaying his palm out so a Winauk leaf could be placed in that empty space. Laios beamed back, rushing up to grab a leaf for Kabru. In all honesty it was quite adorable how excited Laios became introducing Kabru to his former lifestyle. Oh well, it is what it is. If he truly did get sick, Falin could work her magic. 

-----

The next day, Kabru surprisingly didn’t become severely ill and die. Today he walked beside Laios in one of Melini’s many produce fairs. This was the norm for any rural type of area anywhere, and Laios was just geeked to see it. 

Many farmers had their best produce up for sale, beautiful vegetables, fruits, and even monster foods such as basilisk eggs and mimic claws to name a few. Kabru clutched Laios’ flushed arm harder once he saw a sign indicating harpy eggs were for sale, though.  

As they continued to walk through the colorfully vibrant fair, Laios saw something in particular that piqued his interest. 

“Kabru, look! I’d love for you to try these!” Kabru curiously picked his head up from his melting exorcism sorbet, dripping onto his fingers. He opted to just get rid of it as he was getting tired of the sorbet, chucking it in the nearest trash bin. 

By the time he turned around to what Laios was pointing at, his face scrunched and contorted in a way he thought he never could. But only Laios could make him do that.

WILD ANTS AND CRICKETS

No.

Dear goodness no.

This was nowhere near treasure bugs. Monsters had a sort of magical feel to them, a feel that separated them from regular, everyday insects that didn’t feed off of mana, but fed off of the disgusting dung and sediment of the earth.

Kabru’s resolve broke.

“I’m sorry Laios, but—”

Laios had the most joyous expression on his face, placing an order for two small bags of (thankfully) dead crickets and ants. He held them in his hands and beamed towards Kabru. “Falin and I would go out and eat these all the time! Personally my favorite is cheddar crickets, but these’ll do.” 

And just like that, Kabru realized something.

Laios would probably never have an opportunity like this again. He chose Kabru to come with him not only because he cared, but because deep in his heart he knew Kabru was the only person that’d willingly indulge in his fun activities. 

Kabru also didn’t want Laios’ fond memories of them together to be fabricated all for the sake of studying him. 

He genuinely enjoyed Laios’ company, no matter how crazy he was. 

He enjoyed walking barefoot in the tall grass while being surrounded by Winauk trees, he enjoyed how Laios would take him to secret vibrant strawberry patches, and especially enjoyed playing with village dogs together, running with the dogs in wide, open fields.

He obviously despised eating potentially diseased leaves and right now, didn’t even want to look at an insect.

But in a world where resurrection is common, he could die over and over for Laios and deem each of those deaths worth it. It wasn’t like he hasn’t died numerous times already. The only difference now is that he’d die a million times with purpose.

“I’ll eat both.” Kabru gave Laios a closed eyed grin. 

Kabru threw up the insects five minutes later.

[lovelyelbowleech]

what are your thoughts on this? 👀

Hello! Sorry it's taken me a while to respond, but I have been thinking about this all week! 

I love this idea so much! I think Piandao would really enjoy teasing both of them. For Zuko it would be little reminders of his favourite student never calling his opponent names or throwing himself around in a preteen huff. But he would also enjoy bringing up his new favourite student to Kazuma in their correspondence.

To Zuko he would be: 

My favourite student always carried himself with grace and decorum even when under pressure. 

And to Kazuma he would be:

I have finally found a student who is perhaps more difficult and stubborn than you were. 

On reflection, perhaps it is unfair to put you on the same level, as he is only nine and has plenty of time to grow out of it.  

To Zuko:

My favourite student understood that a calm mind is important for remembering his footwork. He was always poised and to the point, and did not let his emotions run away with him. Although occasionally, I admit, he could be a little verbose in his correspondence. 

And Kazuma:

While my new favourite student has a propensity towards histrionics at times, he is focused and dedicated far beyond his eleven years. 

When he called a certain captain of his acquaintance an over-entitled, inbred gasbag, it made me think fondly of the three page letter you wrote about Lieutenant Minato during your first commission. If I recall, there were seven paragraphs alone dedicated to the possibility of his birth being due to an unfortunate union between a dung beetle and a pig chicken. 

When I mentioned this to my new favourite student, he told me that the dung beetle is much maligned, and is a hardworking and complex member of nature's wondrous masses. He seemed very indignant that you would disparage it in such a way. 

I think very highly of him indeed. 

Kazuma has no idea if this new favourite student is a real person or not, but he rather likes the idea that he is, and he is bringing some joys and terrors to Piandao's life. 

Zuko meanwhile has built up a rivalry in his head with the mysterious favourite student and fantasises about defeating him in a Very Serious And Important sword fight and causing Piandao to be very impressed. 

Thank you for this idea, and sending it through to me! ❤️

[shuueep]

Ok so basically, usually Scarab Beetles lay eggs in dung balls then roll them over long distances.

Also fun fact, Scarabs aren’t just dung beetles. There are a ton of different types. And so now I will spend a few minutes finding Scarab’s exact beetle species.

Ok I have found it. And guess fucking what. He is trans. So the beetle that I found that matched Scarab the most is a female Strategus aloeus or Ox Beetle. The male ones usually are darker and have black heads. And they also have spiked faces.

As seen above.

And notice, that even when attempting to intimidate, Scarab doesn’t have horned faceplates

And guess fucking WHAT. Even though Ox Beetles have working wings, they don’t fly. Just like our boy.

Ox Beetles also feed on flowers and fruit. Hence why he might have been offended when offered a dung ball.

What was I talking about? Oh right. Jake the third.

So you see, Ox Beetle females lay eggs (usually in wood or undergrowth) and then they hatch from there.

I have no idea how Jake the third would have been born, apart from Prismo doing some wishmaster shit and just making him appear. But now I know what the real life Jake the Third looks like

Look at this cutie. Thank you for coming to my autism rant

YOU COOKING, DUDE 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

YOU MADE ME LAUGH LIKE A MANIAC RN

THE TAKE ON SCARAB IS MUAH WOO F YEAH TRANS SCARAB REAL!!!🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[morelikeravenbore]

✨ Hogtober Day 9: Poppy and her unlikely French bestie!

🦋 Below the cut: a short excerpt of Poppy leading a gang of angry Hufflepuff's to accost a certain Slytherin boy for being an idiot to a certain Ravenclaw girlie. Featuring cameos by some of my favourites: Gibby @galaxiasgreen , Siobhan @sloanesallow and Lory @lorriiraine.

No sooner had he set foot beyond the wrought iron snakes that guarded the common room entrance than he was set upon by a gang of angry Hufflepuff's.

'Sebastian Sallow, you heartless brute!'

Flanked on either side by several of Aurélie's new friends, Poppy Sweeting marched toward him with a scowl that ought not to have intimidated him given she was several good inches shorter than he.

'Poppy —' he began, shrinking against the wall.

'Don't Poppy me!' She leered up at him, hands on her hips. 'You've got some explaining to do!'

Several pairs of shrewd eyes narrowed on him: Gibby, her blonde pigtails done up in blue ribbons, seemingly unaware that one of them was coming loose; Siobhan, casting anxious glances over her shoulder every few seconds; and a pink-haired girl he knew only as Lory, who wore a large pair of pumpkin-shaped earrings though Halloween was almost a month past. Sebastian gulped; a singular angry Hufflepuff was fairly easy to deal with, but a group of them was an entirely different situation.

'Me?' Sebastian raised his palms while Ominis snickered beside him. 'What have I done?'

A murmur of distinctly unhappy badger sounds ran through the small but angry assemblage.

'Aurélie isn't helping with the Thestrals any more!' Poppy accused.

'She hasn't spoken a word to us in days!' Lory exclaimed.

'She won't eat!' Gibby cried.

'Right,' Sebastian scoffed. 'And you all assume this has something to do with me?'

Four angry girls threw their hands up in exasperation.

'Why are boys always so —'

'— thought you were supposed to be smart!'

'— and after all the sweets I've given you!'

Sebastian flapped his hands for silence, wary of the crowd of curious onlookers that was starting to gather around them. 'Alright, alright! Bloody hell, keep your hair on, will you?'

Inclined to roguery as he was, Sebastian had been shouted at by a great many people throughout his life: his sister, his uncle, Ominis, almost every Professor, almost every school portrait, both the Ravenclaw door knocker and the Gryffindor Fat Lady, and even a lone tree on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest who he'd sworn had called him a 'lumbering lout' — but being shouted at by a collective of five-foot-nothing, flower-wearing, sweet-eating Hufflepuff's was a novel experience.

'Up until last week, you were drawn to her like a salamander to fire,' scolded Poppy, regarding him less like a salamander and more like a dung beetle. 'Now you don't even sit with her in class. What happened?' Her eyes narrowed dangerously. 'You've lost interest?'

'What?' Sebastian spluttered. 'No, I —'

'You broke up with her?'

'Broke up?' His voice rose as high as his eyebrows. 'Poppy, we weren't even —'

'Then what?' she demanded amid a chorus of fervent nods and angry mutterings. 'Why is she so sad?'

Sebastian raked his hands through his hair.

'She doesn't return my... sentiments,' he muttered to his feet. 'She made that very clear.'

But rather than sympathy, Sebastian was met with another collective groan.

'You can't seriously be so clueless —'

'— should be forced to take lessons in self-awareness!'

'— slaving away in the kitchens and this is how you thank me?'

'Ominis, help me.' Sebastian threw a sideways glance at his suddenly stoic friend, but Ominis, the bastard, only chuckled, 'Help? But you're handling this so well on your own, Sebastian.'

Sebastian turned back to the group. 'Listen,' he implored, 'she doesn't want to see me any more, alright? She told me herself. This was her decision, not mine.'

Poppy drew herself up; Sebastian gulped. 'Oh, it was her decision, was it? And do you think she's in the right frame of mind to make rational decisions? Hm?'

'No, but —'

'Does she look happy about it, do you think?'

'Poppy —'

'Does she?'

'Not every decision leads to happiness!'

'Then it's the wrong decision!'

'Bloody hell!' Sebastian lowered his voice with great effort. 'If you just understood the circumstances —'

'I don't need to understand the circumstances!' Poppy cried. 'You don't abandon someone you love! Especially when they're in pain!'

The truth in her words stuck Sebastian like a pin. He hung his head in shame, but Poppy went on unabashed, brandishing a small but mighty finger at his face. 'You've been through what she's going through, you of all people should understand that she's only trying to protect herself. I'm disappointed in you, Sebastian. — And you!' She turned her wrath to Ominis, who stiffened mid-snicker and fell silent. 'You shouldn't have let her give up on choir!'

'Yeah!' chorused the girls.

'Yeah!' echoed Gibby as she angrily thrust a box of truffles at each of them. 'And if you don't sort this out, these will be the last batch of truffles I ever bake for you!'

— How to Make a Villain, chapter twenty-two. [wattpad | ao3]

[transgenderer]

The Australian Dung Beetle Project (1965–1985), conceived and led by Dr George Bornemissza of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), was an international scientific research and biological control project with the primary goal to control the polluting effects of cattle dung.

Upon his arrival to Australia from Hungary in 1951, Dr Bornemissza, an entomologist and ecologist, noted that Australian farmland was covered in a large number of cattle dung pads.[1] This was in contrast to the fields of Europe where the dung was removed and recycled back into the soil by various species of dung beetle (coprids). Native Australian species of beetle had co-evolved alongside marsupials such as the kangaroo and wombat, which produce small, hard, dry and fibrous pellets of dung. Cattle were relatively recently introduced to Australia by European settlers in the 1880s and produce large, soft, moist dung pads. Native beetles, with a few exceptions, are not adapted to utilise this type of dung as a food source or breeding ground and so without such fauna, the dung pads remain on the pasture and take months or even years to decompose. Cattle will not feed from the area of rank pasture surrounding the dung pad, and with the large quantity of dung produced (up to 12 pads per animal per day), this reduces the area of land available for cattle grazing by as much as 200,000 hectares (2,000 km2) per year.[1] Cattle dung is also a primary breeding ground for several pestilent species of fly and parasitic worm.

The Queensland Dung Beetle Project concluded that one outcome of the study was to confirm the "outstanding success" of the original CSIRO project to select and introduce dung beetles into Australia, and "the impact of this on soil, water and pasture health, and on control of pest flies is undoubtedly worth many millions of dollars a year".[15] Further to this, the success of the Australian Dung Beetle Project is claimed to be the reason why Australians can now enjoy a café culture, as up until the 1950s, bush flies were so problematic that it was illegal for restaurants and cafés to offer outside dining unless a designated area was enclosed by fly-wire.[1][16]