[Start ID. A Poorly-edited Version Of The "Girls, Did You Know... That Umm," Meme. It Follows Up With

one fun thing about being a teacher in march 2023 is that chess is a literal epidemic among teens. we are starting to have meetings about how we can STOP teenagers from playing too much chess which is like if we were trying to figure out how to stop them from reading for fun. When i was in high school five years ago chess was nerd shit only but now it is transcending every social and language barrier and is absolutely rampant. kids aren’t on their phone texting in class anymore it’s ONLY chess.com. kids are playing chess on their phones while playing chess in real life. this is still better than tiktok because at least the kids are developing an attention span from this

[Start ID. A drawing of @mieczmaszyna 's character Izzy. In the words of its creator, Izzy is a humanoid robot with a white chassis, oval head, black headset, square green glasses, claws, and a tail resembling a cable plug. Ai wears a cowboy hat, vest decorated by a star and bottle cap, pants with tassels, spurred boots, and a red bandanna. He's viewed from the side, kicking up one leg and holding both arms out in front of itself to shoot finger guns, looking excited and rather jaunty. The background is a dull yellow-green, muddied by the warm reddish tone of the drawing, and in paler green are the words "BANG BANG!!" by ais arms. End ID]

robot cowboy!!!

oh boy I am memorizing Too Many Species Right Now!! Most of them are because I have bug characters

Here is all of the information I can gather directly from my mind right now:

(mentions of lots of arthropods and a cnidarian under the readmore!)

Sphecius convallis - the pacific cicada killer wasp, closely related to but not to be confused with the more well-known eastern cicada killer, in the same genus with the species name speciosus. It's a tannish-orange color with yellow and off white markings, primarily on its face and abdomen.

Parides montezuma - Montezuma's cattleheart, a black butterfly with bright red markings on the tips of its forewings and on its abdomen, grayish stripes also marking the latter.

Dynastes tityus - the eastern hercules beetle, one of the horned beetles in a dull greenish-yellow, with black freckles on the elytra, as well as a black elytral/prothoracal "margin", prothoracal horn and head. It has tan fur on the undersides of said horn, as well as thorax and abdomen. As with most (all?) horned beetles the horn is only present in males.

Apis mellifera - way too prevalent for me to forget ever, the western/european honeybee. This is the bee that is normally and widely domesticated for honey. It has a light brown head and thorax and (in workers) a yellowish and dark brown banded abdomen, and is one of the rare social species of bees. While western honeybee numbers are in fact decreasing, they aren't close to extinction and are competing with native bees, who ARE indeed endangered.

Polistes olivaceus - commonly referred to as the yellow paper wasp, yellow oriental paper wasp or Macao paper wasp. Yellow, with thin and numerous tan, brown or black bands all along its body.

Sphex pensylvanicus - the great black wasp, or great black digger wasp. It's pretty notable for being all-black with metallic, dark blue wings, and was probably first examined in Pensylvania, U.S. considering the species name but can be found in several places that are Not There in the country. I found a dead one on the side of the road and I put her in my house

Tachypompilus ferrugineus - The rusty spider wasp. It's one that preys on spiders (several? only one?), dragging it (them?) back to her nest to lay eggs on. I've already nerded out about this for a reason, because seeing a red wasp with metallic blue wings drag a wolf spider 2x her size across your front lawn into a hole of unknown depth is a memorable experience.

Polydrusus impressifrons - A weevil. It's sort of pale lime green, sparkling with yellows and darker greens in the elytra chitin, which notably to me is not smooth but rather has straight thin "valley"s carved through it from end to end? I'm sure there's a better word for it but I can't currently remember.

Pleurobrachia pileus - A jellyfish called a sea gooseberry along with the other member of its genus. ...It looks like a drop of water.

Myrmecocystus mexicanus - An ant in one of the genuses holding those known as honeypot ants, but it's not really said if the species itself is in fact one with modified honeypot workers, so I assume it probably isn't? Workers are a light golden-tan, with the head being a bit darker.

Cranjon cranjon - It's a thin light brown shrimp, that iirc is often caught for food. I just think the name is cool

Vespula maculifrons/germanica/vulgaris - three very similar-looking species of yellowjacket in the same genus, the former called the eastern yellowjacket and both the latter called european yellowjackets, though germanica is also called the german wasp while vulgaris is called the common wasp. They're basically what the average person thinks of when hearing the word wasp, with striking bands of black and yellow. They construct papery nests despite not being part of Polistes, and I can't exactly remember their differences currently? There's a tree in my area they were all swarming around about a week ago and I fed them italian ice before one was carried away and eaten mid-flight by a larger bald-faced hornet. Fun times.

I can't remember the scientific name of this one, but it is most commonly referred to as Avispa de caballo (Horse's wasp, not to be confused with horse guard wasp) and it bears close resemblance to cicada killers, due to them both being sand wasps.

Megaloblatta longipennis - one of, if not, the largest species of cockroach. I don't know why I remember this?

Lampyris noctiluca - a species of lampyrid beetle, of which is otherwise known as a firefly or lightning bug, or a glowworm for the larvae and the larviform adult females. The species is one of the most commonly seen fireflies, I believe?

Coenagrion puella - a damselfly species. The male imagos are blue, while the females are green or brown, and both have black abdominal bands and thoracic stripes. It's one of the species that folds its forelegs up near its head.

Strategus aloeus - the ox beetle. It's chestnut brown, with the males having one long forward-facing prothoracic horn and two smaller ones facing back. It doesn't have haired elytra like Pygopleurus, but the underside sure is fluffy!

And that's not even counting all the times I nerded out while writing this, like about how cockroaches are actually most related to termites and that taxon is the sister group of mantises, or how brush-footed butterflies (including monarchs!) do the same thing (as puella) with their reduced forelegs tucked up behind their head so they stand on fours, or how odonates have such large eyes and great vision that they catch their prey 90% of the time, being the most successful hunters, and can predict said prey's movement. Or counting the many nudibranchs I remember the appearances, but not the names, of in vivid detail

Anyway. Uh. Writing this felt way shorter than the time it took. Goodbye

~Mostly Mollusk~

Part 4 - Part 5 Here - Part 6

Characters. (Mortals anyway.)

-Known Characters

A list of notable travelling parties, vendors, and fighters.

Travellers move between settlements, Path-dwellers are constantly travelling but don't actually enter towns, as opposed to Outsiders who take up residence in a specific place outside of settlements instead of travelling, and Explorers travel often and sometimes enter towns but are mostly focused on finding new places. a 

---Kritto

She/her

Coenagrion puella (color/gender difference intentional)

Citadell Citizen/Explorer, Aerial/Terrestrial

A blue dragonfly cartographer who enjoys mapping the world around her free of cost, her excellent vision adding an eye for detail and near-perfect recreations of the surrounding views.

Service: Map (Kritto's Stall, Citadell)

---Lidii, Gorge, and Rantan

She/her, he/him but it's whatever really, he/they

Myrmecocystus mexicanus, ??????, Strategus aloeus

Traveller(s), Terrestrial

An explorer trio, the ox beetle Rantan carries Gorge, the clam archivist, to see the sights (or not--Gorge doesn't have eyes) while upbeat ant fighter Lidii wanders ahead. Lidii enjoys beating Gorge at Rainbow Shell while the latter wonders why she always wins, and Rantan exasperatedly goes along with their antics. 

Lidii- *trying to get Rantan's attention* Rantan- "What were you saying? I'm busy trying to pretend I'm literally anywhere else."

Lidii has definitely attempted to name the group. The others haven’t actually accepted this moniker, but whenever needed she uses “Team Taranoake”.

She has also made the trio friendship bracelets out of bits of shell. 

Service: None? Introductions? Travel?

---Bidibi 

They/them

Mortal form is a horned Dynastes tityus

Path-Dweller, Terrestrial

A large rhinoceros beetle who carries a pack of supplies twice their size on their back to trade while on the road (that, somehow, doesn't seem to burden them at all), appearing wherever needed. Secretly the god of the Path, though their reverence is much more informal than that of a patron god like Ven, for their truth as a God is little-known. Their large backpack contains the anchors of several other gods and they function as a sort of bridge between the mortal realm and more fantastical beings.

Service: ???

---Pard

They/them 

Polydrusus impressifrons

Outsider, Terrestrial 

An arrogant, self-proclaimed noble, who only survived for the fact they were a grub when the rest were exiled and killed. Oof.

Service: Lore

---Arbiter Len

All pronouns

Homarus americanus

Taranoake Citizen, Aquatic/Terrestrial

The figurehead of Taranoake, friendly and well-known among its citizens. See "Current Leaders''.

Service: (Facilitating discussions and resolving disputes between residents, a figurehead of the town. Unknown what their service to the player would be.)

---Drop

They/them

Pleurobrachia pileus

Taranoake Citizen, Aquatic

A sea gooseberry who frequents the Bay. Take care when around them, especially if you're any sort of tiny, delicious crustacean. (Laws don't apply to them obviously.) 

Service: None

---Cranton

He/they

Heterocarpus ensifer

Outsider, Aquatic

Not confined to a town, Cranton is a shrimp and excellent chef living close to the shore.

Service: Food (Cranton's Shed)

---Ceras

They/them 

Babakina festiva

Explorer/Traveller (former Outsider), Aquatic/Terrestrial 

An aeolid nudibranch with an older sibling Fess, who became stranded away from them after being caught in a rip current and washing up on Taranoake's shore. Unlike other sea slugs, they have the ability to survive on land, for unknown and currently-being-explored reasons

Service: They don't have a service they're the player character

---Tan

They/it

Cordyceps militaris (hosted by Felis catus, a vertebrate)

Outsider, Aquatic/Terrestrial

A strange, almost cheerful fungus inhabiting the body of the only intact towering, black-furred, long-dead organism they could find.

Service: Lore?, Mycelium translator (if they can get over their mutual hatred for the rest of their literal kingdom)

---Claws

She/her

Coccinella septempunctata

Taranoake Citizen, Terrestrial

A retired fighter ladybug who sells weapons at the Agora, some much larger than she is. If you start up a conversation with her, just be ready to stay and listen until dusk sets. Oh, and you ARE going home with a lighter glass-pouch…

Service: Weapons (The Agora, Taranoake)

---Azent, Monti, and Kee

He/him, she/her, ???

Sphecius convallis, Parides montezuma, Sphecius convallis

Taranoake Citizens, Aerial/Terrestrial

Azent the wasp, his child Kee, and butterfly partner Monti. Monti's brood didn't live long enough to truly see the world, so she raises Kee as her own (alongside the larva's actual father). Azent is missing an antenna, which does provide benefit in tolerating the oversaturated salt-smell of the sea.

Service: None (?)

---Machula

She/her

Vespula maculifrons 

Taranoake Citizen/Traveller, Aerial/Terrestrial 

An exile from her hive for attempting to overthrow her mother, who's taken up residence in Taranoake due to the fact that they were the only city who'd have her. Has a sort of rivalry with Azent.

Service: None

---Ghost

They/them (plural)

Danaus plexippus

Taranoake Citizen, Aerial/Terrestrial 

A pale and rather antisocial monarch who speaks rarely, but always using plural pronouns for themselves.

Service: None

---Nell

She/her

Acheta domesticus

Taranoake Citizen, Terrestrial

A cricket nymph, who may not be well-known among most of the adult citizens, but is renowned by her fellow children in being the only to reach the Acorn (the only wingless, that is).

Service: None

---Quinn

He/they

Smerinthus cerisyi

Taranoake Citizen, Terrestrial

An older moth missing an eye. While he was once a traveller, now he's settled in Taranoake as a storyteller.

Service: Lore

---Carmine and Kalanchoe

She/her, she/they

Tachypompilus ferrugineus, Cotinis mutabilis

Taranoake Citizens, Aerial/Terrestrial

A bright spider wasp with a love for cooking (and her partner Kalanchoe), and the latter coleopteran target of affection. Both insects have a color mutation to their wings, in which Carmine's are a more fiery blue and Kalanchoe's hindwings are pink.

Service: Food (The Agora, Taranoake)

---Blue-Gills

They/he

Porcellio hoffmannseggi

Citadell Citizen, Terrestrial

A sowbug cuisineur.

Service: Food (Noctiluca Cafe, Citadell)

---Tawny-Buzzard

She/her

Apis mellifera

Citadell Citizen, Terrestrial

A honeybee scientist appreciating the more experimental side of her city's God. Wingless for, ahem, completely unrelated reasons and is on thin ice to be banished.

Service: ???? (H.C. Labs, Citadell)

---Dune

He/they

Centruroides vittatus

Taranoake Citizen, Terrestrial

A scorpion diligently guarding Taranoake from any perceived threats, despite not being asked to. They almost always let others go, though.

Service: None?

---Allibel

They/she 

Magicicada septendecim

Taranoake Citizen/Traveller, Terrestrial

A travelling musician who wields a free-reed instrument made from a full, delicate pill-millipede corpse. It's unknown how exactly she acquired it.

She's actually a 17-year nymph, who emerged with a mutation that either delayed her maturity or stopped it entirely, and found a love of music--and a way to make the most of her time without wings.

Service: The Vibes™ (Anywhere)

---Tenaram, Amarmallus, and Magtauran

He/him, they/he, they/them

Menippe mercenaria, Sphodromantis viridis, Scolopendra cingulata

Taranoake Citizens, Aquatic/Terrestrial, Terrestrial x2

Champions of the Colosseum! An imposing stone crab, who's actually pretty boastful, loud and charismatic, much to the annoyance of everyone else in the Barracks. A quiet and cold mantis who is quick to anger and avoids any non-fight interaction with anyone. An almost downright terrifying centipede that doesn't really seem to care much about anything.

Service: Entertainment (Colosseum of Ven, Taranoake)

---Flicken

They/she

Phausis reticulata

Taranoake Citizen, Aerial/Terrestrial 

A small, energetic and stealthy firefly with a tendency to appear out of shadows at random times and startle those around them. Friend to many of the ghost crabs but best friend to Bem.

Service: ...Jump scares

---Grek

He/him

Breviceps macrops

Renin Citizen, Terrestrial

An old, grouchy desert rain frog with a missing eye and a tendency to scream at the top of his lungs at the slightest inconvenience. The sole survivor of whatever wiped out all the frogs. He has been living in solitude for 10 years waiting for rain to tell him it's time to leave.

Service: Lore (...?)

---Bem 

They/them

Ocypode quadrata

Taranoake Citizen, Aquatic/Terrestrial

A joyful ghost crab child with a dream to fight in the Colosseum. They were born with two missing legs and use prosthetics fashioned from driftwood and seaweed, which help them walk but aren’t very fast or mobile, so they settled on helping Claws make and sell weapons. Best friends with Flicken.

Service: Quest (to get a Citadell scientist for better prosthetics)

---Cren and Terret

She/her x2

Camponotus pennsylvanicus, Reticulitermes flavipes

Citadell Citizens, Terrestrial and Aerial/Terrestrial

A carpenter ant and termite alate (and of course, their 27 aphids, per Cren’s obsession). While the former is something of an artist, and very much a carpenter as her species dictates, Terret is a wood-eating scientist who keeps completely to herself, besides living with her partner.

Service: ? (Woodworker’s Association, Citadell) (possibly fulfilling Copi's and/or Bem's quest, as well as one of their own) (I no longer remember what those last seven words meant)

---Sepinti

She/her

Magicicada septendecim

Traveller, Aerial/Terrestrial

A cicada singer, Allibel's sister--though she's not any older, makes fun of her for her immaturity mutation, while keeping herself in the spotlight. Only competitive, though, not a complete jerk.

Service: The Vibes™ (in set areas)

---Lumi

They/them

Goniobranchus kuniei

Kelsik Citizen, Aquatic

The sea slug merchant of Kelsik, a bit mischievously enthusiastic about their goods.

Service: ...Sells Things? Food maybe?

---Copi

She/they

Xylocopa virginica

Explorer, Aerial/Terrestrial 

A young carpenter bee who lost her nest and is yearning for any feeling of community. (Has already been kicked out of several Andrena and Colletes burrows, for lack of knowing they're actually solitary.)

Service: Quest (read above. may become adopted by Cren)

---Eken

He/she

???

Outsider, Aquatic

An extremely confused vendor eel who only works in trades, he’s well known for his vast array of strange items and for having no idea how to price anything. Her main logic is “if it looks cool it's probably a fair trade” and especially favors shiny things.

Service: Strange things and stranger prices.

---Genni

???

Chroicocephalus philadelphia

???, Aerial/Terrestrial

A strange sky-creature. It shows no sign of intelligence, and speaks in loud squawks, though Ceras has chosen to imprint on and name it.

Service: Quest (A Meal Of Great Elegance)

---Beowi 

They/them

Dytiscidae species

Explorer, Terrestrial (technically not aquatic as they only skim the surface)

A “ship” captain and self proclaimed pirate, this diving beetle has a fierce love of the water and an even fiercer hate of actually being in it, so they constructed a floatation device of sorts cobbled out of driftwood, seaweed, and countless strange buoyant objects. 

Service: Quest (Track Down the Beast)

id: a digital drawing of an original character-diner. siner is a humanoid with blueish grey fish scales, a fish tail and a sea urchin head. they’re wearing a yellow dress with a floral pattern, white socks and black roller skates. they’re shown skating along a rainbow, throwing both of their hands up in the air, making peace signs. the background is blue and filled with fluffy clouds. end id

diner uses any pronouns

ok maybe I did clean it up a little

[Start ID. Two versions of a humanoid robot with a head resembling an old tv and insect-like antennae, standing on a peach-colored background. They are more or less facing forward, though its upper body is twisted slightly to the side, so they’re looking somewhere above their raised arm. The bot is painted pale green on its lower body and arms, while its head and chest are a dull red. It features a number of markings, including icons for its favorite games, various hearts, and two across its chest that resemble stylized mastectomy scars. Both versions of the robot are the same, though one is wearing a red bandanna and a blue button-up shirt with fronds and flowers. End ID]

in honor of TF2's sweet sixteen and repostober, one Pyro from just about six months ago 👍

@friendlyengie since i heavily referenced off your pyro here! Hope you don't mind me tagging you, your stuff is cool and I'm a big fan of your femfortress designs especially :]