#tarantula hawk kin

[yourfavoritemenace]

°*•🐝» tarantula hawk stimboard !

🐝-🐝-🐝-🐝-🐝-🐝-🐝-🐝-🐝

[doodlepede]

how am i supposed to pick a favorite hhhh does it have to be true bugs or does any arthropod work??? jgjgkejdn i adore every tarantula but if i had to pick just one

maybe Aphonopelma chalcodes (Arizona blonde) because they have a reputation for being super tame and docile, described as gentle giants. theyre one of the only tarantulas for whom handling isnt a horrible idea, depending on the individual of course. females can live up to thirty years! i want one really really bad!

also, @hawkpartys i think if i had to give you your government mandated bug kin / bugsona, I'd have to pick a hawkmoth (duh). maybeee a hummingbird hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum) because their red hindwings makes me think of red tailed hawks, and youre their top ID'er on iNaturalist so thats your other government assigned kin/sona

I'm curious! For you fellow bug enjoyers, what are y'all's favorite bug species :?

(Plus, bonus question if you reblog this from someone, is there a bug species you associate with the person you reblogged this from or bug you think they'd be?)

[tarantula-hawk-wasp]

Assigned dean kin by my subconscious

Anyways so I feel like death warmed over bc I got 2 hours of sleep despite trying for many more bc my brain just decided that wasn’t happening but for the brief period I did sleep one of the dreams I had was about Supernatural and like Dean hadn’t slept in like two days and was on the verge of collapse and kept trying to investigate a haunted casino but he also kept collapsing and passing out in various places and Sam kept having to drag him to out of the way spots and Dean kept being in denial that he needed to sleep despite like literally fainting.

Like I knew it was my subconscious being like hey Hal tarantula hawk wasp this is what happens when we don’t sleep

[itallstartedwithplayingvet]

Whumptober Day 22 - Do These Tacos Taste Funny To You? - Poisoned/Drugged

Fandom: Original

Characters: Dune the scorpion (OC), Bristle the tarantula (OC), Droplet the frog (OC)

Content Warnings: Venom, paralysis, lady whump (though not of a human woman), bugs, spiders

Word Count: 1,342

“I’m not going to miss this place.”

Dune felt herself crack a smile at Bristle’s comment. “You know, the desert really isn’t so bad once you get used to it.” She called back to him.

He scoffed. “You only say that because you were born here! I’m from the rainforest! I need moisture in the air, for Arachne’s sake!”

“Ugh, remind me not to visit once we find you a new home.” Dune teased. “All that mist sounds unbearable.”

“Oh, but you must visit!” Bristle replied. “Droplet would miss you...and well, I wouldn’t be too happy in your absence, either.”

“I’m not going to travel all the way to the rainforest for your pet frog, Bristle.” 

“Why not? I’d do anything for her, and she’d do anything for me. Right, cutie?”

Dune rolled her eyes as she picked up on the sounds of Bristle affectionately doting upon his little frog companion from behind her. She found the concept of keeping an animal for reasons other than getting food or a service from it to be rather pointless. She knew that long ago, the ancestors of rainforest-dwelling tarantulas had kept frogs in their burrows as a form of pest control, to protect their eggs from ant raiders. But selective breeding had seen those frogs reduced to a quarter of their former size in order to serve as companions for tarantulas without eggs to protect, and now they weren’t much help at all. Really, what was the point? To keep from getting lonely? Loneliness was something meant for displaced eusocialites...not for loner folk like scorpions or spiders. 

Her thoughts were broken by the piercing cries of Bristle’s frog. “Will you shut that---” As Dune turned to face him, however, she was met not with the sight of Bristle trying to soothe his nervous pet, but rather, with the sight of something large and black lurking in the shadows just behind him. When she caught the flash of an orange wing, she knew with a dreadful certainty just what it was. “BEHIND YOU!”

The words had barely left her when the stalking creature moved with terrifying speed and latched onto her companion. She saw the silhouette of a massive, needle-like stinger poised underneath him for only a fraction of a second...and then, it was plunged into his flesh.

Bristle gasped in a mixture of surprise and pain. Then, his face began to contort into all manner of agonized expressions as the creature’s venom entered his blood. His final expression was a pleading gaze fixed on Dune...and all in the span of mere seconds, before Dune even had time to react, he was suddenly screaming so fiercely that she could see his fangs in their entirety. 

The creature that had stung him soon withdrew its stinger with great force, and stepping away from its victim, the creature stood upright in the manner of Insectfolk -- two legs, four arms. It was pitch black in color, yet some small patches of its body shone a vibrant blue in the last remaining glimmers of sunlight.

By Selket... Dune, in fact, knew of this creature. It was the bane of desert-dwelling Arachne-Kin---the Tarantula Hawk. A sub-species of wasp, they were very particular about their breeding habits, and over thousands of years had not strayed from the instinct to paralyze large folk---usually tarantulas---so that their young might feast on their still-living bodies when they hatch. It was a gruesome habit, and Dune had seen the aftermath of such a method before during her travels in the desert, the lifeless husks of tarantulas much like Bristle, bearing a single entrance and exit wound where the young of the Tarantula Hawk had feasted upon their innards, and then left after having their fill.

Her mind flooded with the sounds of Bristle’s agonized wails and the thought of him as just another hollowed-out corpse in the sand...and it motivated her to do something rather foolish.

Dune raced towards the Hawk with a cry of rage, her own stinger poised to strike and fill the parasite with deadly venom. As she struck, however, the Hawk leapt to the side, sparing her body, but catching her wing upon Dune’s stinger, which promptly tore quite thoroughly.

The Hawk glanced at her torn wing in surprise, and then turned to Dune in fury. “You should have stayed out of this, scorpion.” She hissed. “Before you interfered, I was only going to take him.”

“I won’t let my friend be subjected to such a gruesome fate.” Dune snapped back. “He’s a good tarantula. He doesn’t deserve--”

The Hawk laughed at her. “Of course he doesn’t! No one deserves it! This is instinct, scorpion, nothing more. We can’t change our nature any more than you can stop your tail from brewing toxins!”

“I’m still not letting you take him. If you want this tarantula, you’ll have to kill me!” Dune stepped in front of Bristle’s still-screaming body, shielding him with her body. A single glance back at him would tell her that the paralytic component in the Hawk’s venom was already taking hold of him. His limbs were stiffening up, curling towards his body as though he were in the final throes of death. There was no time now to comfort him. The venom wouldn’t kill him, at least. It wasn’t meant to do that.

“...Your dedication to your friend is admirable.” The Hawk mused. Dune thought she detected a hint of sorrow to her voice. “...But I’m afraid I still need him. I’m sorry it had to come to this.”

In the next instant, the Hawk darted towards her, stinger poised to sink into her abdomen. But Dune was ready. She swung at the Hawk with one solid claw, knocking her to the ground. She didn’t wait for the Hawk to get up, before turning back to Bristle and attempting to drag him away.

“Easy, easy.” She spoke gently to him, trying to ease his terror. “You’ll live. The pain won’t last for much longer, and I’ll find someone to help you.” 

As she spoke to him, though, she saw his eyes focus on something directly behind her. Dune felt the Hawk’s spiked limbs seize her from behind and yank her away from Bristle. She thrashed and thrust wildly with her stinger, desperate to break free. At last, she slammed her head into something beneath her---the Hawk’s head. Reflexively, she released Dune, who scrambled away to recover, before tackling the Hawk.

The pair rolled down the side of a dune, locked together in combat. They landed with Dune pinning the Hawk to the ground, her stinger poised to execute the meddling wasp. “Now you will know why they call my people Deathstalker.” Dune, enraged, plunged her stinger into the Hawk’s thorax. The Hawk cried out---and plunged her own stinger into the underside of Dune’s abdomen. Dune echoed her cry.

For a moment, the pair of combatants remained still, each pumping their own mixture of venom into the other. The Hawk could not say another word to her enemy before Dune’s venom sent her into a fit of violent convulsions. Meanwhile, Dune wrenched her stinger from the Hawk’s body, and staggered a short distance away, before the rapidly spreading pain of the Hawk’s sting made her collapse. 

Dune convulsed as the Hawk’s venom coursed through her veins. In an instant, she was consumed by the sensation of being struck by lightning---over, and over, and over again. She felt as though her body had been lit ablaze from the inside. Though she feared attracting other opportunistic hunters to her location, Dune could not resist the urge to scream. And scream she did, sinking her claws into the sand and letting out a desperate wail that echoed across the barren desert. In her last remaining moments of lucidity, she screamed the name of Bristle’s pet.

“Droplet! If you can understand me at all, PLEASE find someone who can help us!”

Atop the dune, perched by her master’s side, was the faithful little frog called Droplet...quivering with terror from head to toe.

[swampgallows]

after SEVERAL DAYS ive finally completed my own version of this. not to be confused with husbando squares. i had to really reach for a couple of these as i was trying very hard to make this a favorite list and not a kin list but you can see the parts where i failed

descriptions under the cut, starting at the top and left to right:

JAN VALENTINE from Hellsing: i was obsessed with this dude when i was like 13. i wanted his beanie and i loved his fucked up piercings. also the first blowjob i ever saw. i covered my eyes. traumatizing!

RED DEATH from Venture Bros.: a dignified killer. the voice of clancy brown is absolutely integral to this character and my affinity for him. cant go wrong with a murderous family man. “brownies? yes, thank you!” plus he had a sick mohawk in the 80s.

GENERAL GRIEVOUS from Star Wars: coughing bastard wields four glowsticks at once. what’s not to love?

LURTZ from Lord of the Rings: ground zero for the closest thing to a sexual awakening

KUP from Transformers: that’s just ME, babey! old know-it-all curmudgeon stops at mcdonalds for one black coffee and leaves

JANE LANE from Daria: if i’d watched Daria in high school instead of college I would have modeled my entire existence after her. she treads between being an ideal older sister and being the greatest lesbian/girlfriend ever

THRALL from Warcraft: thrall practically raised me through my teen years and was there for me as a surrogate orc dad before he became an actual dad. the horde is thrall’s family and when i say i’m his child i MEAN it

MEWTWO from Pokémon: mewtwo knocked my socks off when i encountered him in cerulean cave in 1998 on pokémon red, and then once i found out about the first 10 minutes cut from the english version of the movie in 99, it was all over

REXXAR from Warcraft: that’s just my strong asexual mok’nathal husband. i used to pal around with him in desolace back when he was champion of the horde, and once he made his way back to his people at thunderlord stronghold we consummated our vows

DIN from Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons: this is the only zelda game i have ever played, one i bought with my own money, with CASH, and i played the shit out of it. i love nature magic and dancing and din has both. 

CHERNABOG from Disney’s Fantasia: i warped the VHS watching this part over and over as a kid. he’s called chernabog now but he was referred to as “satan” initially, and bela lugosi modeled his movement (though they ended up using the director’s poses instead). when he unfurls his wings? that’s the real shit

TWILIGHT SPARKLE from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: i love all of the ponies in their own way and despite how much i abhor tara strong’s VA work twilight remains a top favorite. her anxiety and perfectionism show the downsides of her ardent studiousness, but dont portray her erudition in a negative light. a lot of cartoons i saw growing up always had an “egghead” nerdy character who was unpopular for doing well in school or caring about academia. while i know as an adult that it’s all essentially worthless it’s really affirming to see that pressure candidly portrayed while also not being totally dismissive of it. school was one of the only things i was ever good at, and twilight’s character shows both its heavy downsides and the ways in which it actually can be applied to the real world. 

[free space] GARROSH HELLSCREAM from Warcraft: literally me

WASHU HAKUBI from Tenchi Muyo!: one of my longtime faves! washu is a genius scientist, but with tenchi muyo being a mythological sci-fi series, that points her closer to witch/mad scientist/alchemist. i also liked the gimmick of her being thousands of years old but insisting on portraying herself as a short snarky teenager. plus i love her crab motif and her little wooden cheerleader puppets

JOHN SILVER from Treasure Planet: bear cyborg dad. super huggable, great voice, and has a lil irish jig follow him around in the soundtrack. neck rolls + tooth gap = hell fuckkin yeah babey

AIUSHTHA THE ENCHANTRESS from DotA 2: sproink!

PEPPER ANN from Disney’s Pepper Ann: this show made me excited to attend middle school LMFAO because i related to pepper ann so much as a kid. much like twilight sparkle, PA is super neurotic but has an explosive, if not borderline delusional, imagination. she dressed and behaved like an actual kid, and plus she looked like me too. even in the 90s it was rare to see a kid with glasses that wasn’t shafted to the poindexter stereotype, especially a girl (e.g. Gretchen from the fellow Disney show Recess). i liked that she wasn’t feminine but also wasn’t a hard tomboy; she gave me space to feel like i was allowed to exist outside of that kind of gender binary (and especially her younger sister Moose blows all gender expectations out of the water). 

ASUKA LANGLEY SORYU from Neon Genesis Evangelion: foundation of my childhood identity along with all the trauma and posturing therein. think garrosh if he were a 12 year old girl who piloted a mech

DEVIL ZUKIN from Dance Dance Revolution: amazing outfit, rocked the konamix. i like evil zukin too but devil zukin is the fave. sleeveless crop top hell yeah

UNDYNE from Undertale: my bi awakening at 25. strong fish lady love spagety

HELLBOY from Hellboy: mike mignola’s art style has influenced a lot of my own. he’s a demon who chooses to be the good guy and that’s everything to me. he loves kitty cats and pancakes and punches nazis, and hellboy ii: the golden army is one of the best movies of all time.

BLACKARACHNIA from Beast Wars (Transformers): LOVE this bitch. she got to hang out with tarantulas and also expressed that moral grayness i totally love, chillin with rattrap and makin jokes. spider motif is v good also

LEAH from Stardew Valley: life goals. wife goals.

NAILS from Cool World: this movie fucking blows LMFAO it’s absolutely awful but it has the most banger rave soundtrack next to hackers and ralph bakshi’s animation as always is a spectacle. Nails is a hapless anxious cop-spider who can barely load his own gun and looks like a predecessor to a Cuphead reject. plus he’s voiced by charlie adler so he’s got huge personality. funny spider guy

HAWK MOTH from Miraculous: i know what i am. im a bitch who loves bug motifs and villains who are outwitted by literal children, who are utterly convinced they are doing the right and just thing, who stare a redemption arc in the face and go “...nah”