#bug fables headcanons

Alright look, I know in the past I've said I'm lazy

Well... Truth is I mostly forgot a lot of information in regards to the information for this

But I recently remember at least a bit of it soooo

We're gonna start with

The World Differences

The biggest thing changed was actually magic, namely in the way it functions.

Magic is still a rare thing to get and is more rare depending on which species of bug you are:

Bees, wasps, ants, termites, and mantis are all examples of ones less likely to be born with magic

Roaches and moths are more susceptible to being born with magic but still the majority don't.

Magic can also be enhanced through use of outside sources. Got ice magic? Eat something cold and it'll give a boost! Electric magic? Accidentally shocked yourself? Your enemies will feel that later. The list can go on with life/plant can be enhanced with sun and water, and Fire can be enhanced through smoking (important later but we'll get there)

It is, however, recommended by doctors you DON'T enhance your magic. Why? Regardless of how seemingly harmless some of the things you can do to give a boost, magic itself can affect the body in horrifying ways. This will lead to our next bullet point in that

Magic is a deformation of sorts, having varying levels of impact dependent on how strong the persons magic is, and usually there will be other present issues alongside it. Weird development (larva to adult), weak exoskeleton, and extremely poor eyesight or even blindness, just to name a few, can go along with having magic

Another thing is that magic can harm the outer shell as well which leads us to the next world section being

FAILING TO USE ATTACKS PROPERLY

You know how Team Snakemouth, if you fuck up the buttons, will fail to properly use their attacks and do less damage? Well, I thought about what would happen if others were capable of also failing their attacks. Some are more catastrophic than others.

Magic as stated, is the most harmful of the bunch, using Hoaxe as an example, you may have noted in the drawing I posted of him (even if that one specifically isn't quite my design for him) had his fingertips discolored. Those are burns caused by his magic backfiring on him. In one of my older designs it actually was a much worse affect but I ended up tuning it down later as Hoaxe's actual magic is significantly weaker, almost non-existent, without the use of the crown. It almost seems like it shouldn't even backfire like that...

Regardless, in most of the other cases, failing attacks may just mean falling over, dropping your weapons accidentally, or outright missing

The only other person I need to talk about with failing attacks is Mothiva simply because she has that one attack where she sings. Her failing that is EXTREMELY unlikely but even Mothiva can have off days

Termite days are different from any other, the lack of sun will cause that for sure. Their days are simply called "shifts." As such the people around will differ depending on which shift it is

And that's pretty much it for world lmfao. If I come up with more I'll probably just edit this post now onto the

Character changes

Not many characters were changed from the og so this shouldn't take quite as long! No guarantees about being a yapfest though lol

Starting off: Kabbu! His change is very mild, and I got inspired by art I saw some time ago? It was on Reddit, the user is XXX_EpicGamer_XXX. The change to Kabbu is that he has gauntlets! To elaborate a bit further on this: this deals with being from the North. Getting metallic arms in the north is how they tell their army from their average citizen. Maybe at one point I'll yap about the North because hooboy have I created an entire story worth in regards to the Republic lmao.

Since the North is so closed off as well I hc that he was given the Bug Rangers books during his recovery from his first encounter with the beast and this is why he's OBSESSED with them. It helped him through the hardest point in his life

There is more stuff with Kabbu but honestly that would require me to yap about the North which I might do at a later point. Just not this post this is more for changes to base game not the additional content to the au.

Next up: Leif! They got minor changes as well but nothing big. Main thing is: it took a long ass time to fully attach to Leif. For a while the cordyceps wandered while Leif's body started to rot. Rotted areas became replaced by ice, so: anytime Leif gets injured, he unconsciously (but very slowly) encases the area in ice. That's pretty much it lmao

We can move on to the Wasp gang

Zasp is transmasc. Also context in the game makes it seem more like he didn't come from the wasp hive we know in bf being that he's said to come from a "Faraway Land" (unless that's a bf plus edition. Ngl it might be).

But anyway I like to think he came from a different wasp kingdom anyway lmao. Did at first live for a bit in the wasp kingdom before saying "fuck that" and leaving.

Most of his reason for leaving is just the general treatment of outsiders.

And Zasp does NOT put up with shit especially after some of the shit from his hive

...unless it's Mothiva. When Zasp falls he falls HARD. Won't admit to it though ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Mothiva also has her own issues but is too stubborn to ever make herself talk about it

She has a pretty bad fear of being forgotten

Vanessa I was very against Elizant I, while Vanessa II had admiration for her.

Vanessa I and Vanessa II didn't really have a great relationship- Pretty much arguing every time they were put into a room together. Vanessa II felt conflicted though when her mother passed, she never hated her mother but she never could have a real conversation with her.

Vanessa II aimed to be NOTHING like Vanessa I- for better or worse. This would cause tension in the hive.

Fuff and Jayde are actually roughly the same age as Vanessa II. Fuff being the youngest of the three. And they've been fairly close since they were young in spite of social hierarchy.

Mostly cause Vanessa had a tendency to run off to a different part of the hive and it kinda just happened that she ended up meeting Jayde and Fuff.

Fuff is intersex but pretty much hides it as much as possible. Fuff is aware of what happens around the hive

Fuff really struggles with probably standing up to people outside of when his job absolutely pressures him into it. He tends to not think about what exits his mouth during this.

It's caused a couple issues but nothing major... I think? [Evil and intimidating Hoaxe]

Hoaxe. Hooboy. Where to start?

The reason of Hoaxe wearing a collar is because it's intended to be a gift from his mother. His mother had been making it for him before they had to flee and quickly threw together the rest so at least if he died he could still be recognized and buried with a name. She'd hoped that it wouldn't come to pass but she knew of the possibility.

Hoaxe would remove the tag later

it takes a lot for Hoaxe to let himself fall. He doesn't wish to be seen as weak as he has been his whole life

Brainwashed wasps are extensions of him- what they say is controlled by him as well. This can lead to 2 outcomes: they either feed into his delusions, or arguments ensue.

To clarify though, this is a one way, meaning all wasps can only know whatever he makes them say in terms of knowing him. Not that many care to now as they did before.

Hoaxe couldn't speak when arriving to the Wasp hive.

In some way he was taught (see: iffy hcs that I'm basically unsure if I'm keeping)

Hoaxe is feisty AF. This fucker is feral how TF was he expected to adapt to society? Oh he can also be a bit "theatrical"

For this purpose he will not be caught dead looking like shit. He, uh, uses men's 200 in 1 (joke). Bro does not know actual skincare yet he thinks he serves. At least he figured out eyeshadow after having stabbed his eyes a couple times

He was also the first person Vanessa would take in after her mother's passing and, to Vanessa, a start of a new era for wasps. And a new era it twas indeed

Astotheles and Elizant II have a... Complicated history

Aka they're divorced. Elizant II married young because she figured she, under no circumstances, would ever end up as queen

This caused MAJOR issues between the two of them because of the fact sometime before Elizant II took over, the bandit settlement started it's actual formation. Elizant II refused to allow them to be their own settlement due to the caravan issue. "Once a thief, always a thief" eh, Elizant?

Section for headcanons that I'm kinda iffy about

Hector IV used to be head engineer and worked very closely with the roaches

An... Incident would leave him forced to retire and mostly blind

He was surprised when Layra II chose him specifically of all termites to travel the distance to create the new termite kingdom. Both with the fact he can hardly see and the fact that he's a runt king. He became smitten with her due to this though.

Hector has frequent nightmares but is too prideful to admit it- even to Layra. Layra knows something is up and is waiting for Hector to open up of his own accord

The visor Hector has was a gift from the roaches some time before they left. It allowed him to zoom in (similar to a camera) to be able to see things better. It's not perfect however as he still can't see specific details. Most of the time it's making out shapes more than anything

Hector also gets incredibly insecure about shit (which a lot of the time leads to his outbursts)- especially when a big project is involved. Hector cares for his children as much as Layra does- even if he doesn't say it much. The idea of having what happened to him happen to them scares him deeply.

A big reason as to why he built the submarine was because, even when he was little, he wanted to see under the water's surface. Even if that dream is unattainable now, the submarine still feels like a symbol for him

He ended up giving it to the Ant kingdom (or really, the explorer's association... Refuses to say it "belongs to the Ant kingdom") because lingering on an impossible dream at his age to him felt childish. He's a king for fuck sake, he doesn't have time to explore the deep sea! But..maybe, just maybe.. no, forget it.

Hoaxe- for one reason or another- doesn't connect with his body. Nothing about it. Not the name. Not the face. This isn't him. He can't be- (trans or dissociation: you decide :])

Hoaxe's base fire magic is very weak. As such, beyond just the crown, he actually smokes a mixture of herbs to boost his magic

This method is already unhealthy but one thing that makes it worse is his exoskeleton was already very weak- enhancing his magic as much as he did made it so much worse.

This is why he didn't do that much himself til much later. Long distances put a major strain on him and it was easier to send a bunch of wasps then to risk himself.

He actually was only taught basic bugarian and taught the rest to himself to the best of his ability. He tends to forget and mistake words for another

He honestly knows Roach dialect better. Whether by hearing and reading it for years or forcefully teaching himself? Maybe no one knows

Au Information!

‘Beasts’ basically refers to anything that isn’t a bug or god. It’s the category of “I don’t know what this thing is but stay away probably.”

‘Deadlander‘ can refer to basically any scary thing you find in the deadlands, whether that be the unnatural fungus-plant-bug eldritch monstrosities that we call ‘true’ deadlanders, or the few non-bug creatures that survived the Day of Reckoning. Almost all of the larger ones, such as elk or giants are gone, but some smaller creatures have managed to persist. Remember that when you’re less than an inch tall, a simple snake is quite menacing!

‘Bugs‘ both refers to things we classify as bugs along with ‘bug-adjacent‘ creatures like pillbugs or spiders. They’re pretty much the same as far as most people are concerned. In some cases, you can find both an unawakened and awakened variant of the same species!

There are mines, but humans have already dug up most metals near the surface, and the mines are very shallow.

However, we know that Metal island is a car wheel, which are usually made of either Cast Aluminum Alloy or Steel. Both of these would match the properties that metals used in Bugaria display, being very strong and having a gray color.

Mothflies prefer dust baths since it's quick and efficient way to cool off and stay clean. They can bathe in water but it's too risky since the water would make their wings too wet to fly. Not to mention water droplets could easily give up their position if they were to hide.

A lot of what they learn from awakened bugs is by simply observing. They'll watch travelers throughout the Forsaken Lands. The smartest clusters will send a few mothflies inside the Termite Kingdom to observe the inhabitants and bring back information. Due to not understanding any Bugnish, some things they understand, like a king and their subjects, and other things they don't, like shopping. But all and all, the end goal usually is to lure weary travelers in and eat them.

It is through these observations that the False Monarch and its "subjects" attempted to act as if they were a Kingdom with civilians in the settlement that Elizant I abandoned.

The smartest clusters are usually the ones to take up the mantle of "Monarch" or some sort of leader. As the leader it is their job to ensure the entire collective (the other clustsers that follow them) survive, eat, and flee if necessary.

Mothflies are omnivores. They eat squash and pumpkins. They'll eat any bug they can take down for meat. The larger the cluster the easier it is to capture prey.

The biggest mystery to researchers is how mothflies aquire their masks and robes. Mothflies use pieces of their environment to create their masks and robes. They'll take discarded fabrics from their prey or from exploring and mend it together with pieces of squash vines. The masks are made from broken wood and dried pumpkin pieces. The colors come from crushed plants and berries.

Clusters can be made up of families, lone mothflies banding together, or both. Mothflies are always eager to have more additions to their groups. If a cluster gets too large, they may break into multiple groups. Sometimes those groups become a team of false citizens.

Baby mothflies start off as little grubs. It is important that the grubs remain somewhere hidden and safe to be taken care off. Preferably a cave. If the parents are a part of a cluster, the mothflies will all take turns taking care of the grubs by cleaning and feeding them while the others hunt. If there are only just the parents then one hunts and the other takes care of the grubs.