1. most nest bugs Love sleeping in confined areas. pillow forts are very common amongst those who have moved out of their nest
2. zero concept of personal space 💔💔they’re used to being all crowded in with each other so they just default to getting right up in peoples faces for casual conversation. sometimes it is subtly just being a little closer than necessary, and sometimes it is. not
And finally 3. similarly. no concept of inside voice. they’ve got a hundred people running around at any given moment, they’re used to having to yell to talk over people
Alright, random bug fables hc as promised because still no Apple Pencil (in no particular order)
Leif loves spicy food because the cordyceps dulled his taste buds, almost no one can handle his cooking because of the spice levels.
That being said, Zasp could absolutely handle it, wasps have a spicy food culture and he likes it even more than the average wasp.
Kabbu would love a compression blanket, Vi by contrast would raw dog it, no blankets and no restrictions
(Based off a conversation with a mutual) Leif would be really hot to other bugs post cordyceps (probably a biological thing to attract more hosts but doesn’t work in his case cause he’s sterile) but exists in a sort of “uncanny valley” area with moths.
Leif is one of the only people in Bugaria with a single parent, community raising (colonies, village mindset, etc) and more than one parent (looking at Mothiva and her four moms lol and just regular ol’ two partner) are far more common.
Building off that Mothiva has four moms (iykyk)
Kabbu would fucking love the ren fair, and dnd, he’d be a nerd
Neolith too they’d go on dates (platonic or otherwise, depending on interpretation) based on it.
The four queens have kissed at least once, to varying degrees of success (political or otherwise) I will not be elaborating on that.
Kabbu gets crushes really easily, and on top of that becomes a bit of a doormat, just pure wet towel energy
Toph (atla) and Vi (if somehow they were to meet) would be best friends, their basically the same people in my mind
The leafbugs keep Madesphys as pets. Unlike other bugs, their screeching doesn't stun them at all. In fact, the leafbugs keep the Madesphys as guard dogs because their screeching can stun prey, which allows them time to attack. They make for good alarms too! If their village is being attacked by any monstrous bugs.
All of the structures found in the Wild Swamplands (bridges, lifts, etc) were made by the leafbugs. This was especially done to get to certain areas of the swamplands quickly.
Worms are a part of the leafbug diet. They fish them up with nets, cook them with veggies, and eat them. Aside from that, they eat the same things other bugs do.
The reason the Leafbug Ninjas can clone themselves is due to crystal magic. Blue crystals are good at recording past events and encounters of whoever keeps them. So, the Ninjas take advantage of this and clone past versions of themselves in combat.
Even though Team Snakemouth did tresspass in their territory, the leafbugs are relieved that the trio slayed The Beast. Much so that they don't mind Kabbu returning to Bit and Master's grave.
Leafbugs wear masks. It's to further help them hide in the tall grass.
They're really good at weaving grass into baskets, rope, and other objects.
Disclaimer: This contains spoilers for not just Bug Fables, but also, my au. If you'd rather wish and see this kind of stuff as I write it DON'T READ THIS. Why have I decided to make this in the first place? Because there are people who would rather have this information now than waiting for it which is okay! Others may see some of these hcs and want to use them in their own stories which is also okay! I'm not here to make you consume my content as a whole and I will never gatekeep hcs lmao. Some of these are honestly unoriginal anyway and I'm far from the first to think of it. This disclaimer is mostly for people who want to watch my whole au unfold through my posts 💜
To make it less likely for anyone to accidentally read it I added a cut :3
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!
Because I need to get my thoughts together for this part, I won't quite write out this section yet. For now it's just the hc sections
My thoughts on how Bugs (HK and BF) see the beings of their world
Note: The final bosses and some important enemies of both games are shown below!
‘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!
‘Gods‘ are often very withdrawn from all other beings, so getting information on them is difficult. Regardless of their distance, they still tend to massively impact the world around them. In terms of their physical bodies, gods are known to take on ‘divine‘ variations of a bug, beast, plant or fungus.
So, in Bug Fables, we see a decent bit of metal, all of which is a light gray. There seem to be some exceptions, such as the Mender bots, but those could just be paint.
This raises two questions: Where are they getting it, and what metal is it?
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.
I headcanon that they don’t actually know how to smelt ore, because they instead just take pre-smelted metal off Metal Island.
Since a lot of folks really liked that one post I made about Leafbug headcanons I think it's time I did some mothfly/false citizen headcanons as well. So without further ado let's hop in!
Mothfly Headcanons
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.
Every bug in Bugaria whenever they’re looking for the perfect mate and/or life partner.. they find a shiny gem in order to properly propose the bug. You can simply fashion the gems in any shape or form. For example necklaces/pendants, rings, or similar leave it as it is.. if you prefer it to be a potential good luck charm or family heirloom. (To sum it up similar to a normal human marriage proposal.)
You can buy a gem from a traveling merchant or at any part of the kingdom however the gems price range in berries is quite hefty, so might I recommend to think carefully before purchasing a shiny gem in case it turns out to be a fake.
Marriage proposals for nobility on the other hand are completely different story.. All they have to do is to carve their family emblem within their gem fashioned in any way they choose.
If it’s a fake or a forgery then the marriage won’t be approved.
It can be any kind of gems or gemstones rubies, diamonds, sapphires, quartz crystals, etc just as long as it came from the heart of the individual. (Metaphorically speaking.)
That’s it for one of my headcanons for Bug Fables for now! 🙂
