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Post by Brownie on May 9, 2024 20:05:00 GMT -5
BugClan The Cursed Ones About Once this was a noble Clan called MistyClan, but that was before the Curse. Ten moons ago, early in the spring, MistyClan expanded their territory. They did not know that their new hunting grounds were the home of two very powerful Sorceresses. A MistyClan patrol accidentally caused a landslide, and, rather than see MistyClan's camp decimated and their Clan wiped out, one of the sorceresses gave her life to hold back the stones long enough to save them all.
The other sorceress, however, only blamed MistyClan for her sister's sacrifice. She Cursed MistyClan, transforming them into bugs, making it impossible for any of them to get along with their neighboring Clans and ensuring that any outsiders will treat them as enemies on sight.
While BugClan's members each are hybridized with different insects, all have six legs, antennae and wings, though only a few can fly. Leg patterns can be in two forms: hexapedal, where all six legs are on the ground and used equally for walking, or more rarely quadrupedal/centaurism, where the two hind sets of legs are used for walking while the front pair is held upright by the chest and usually modified or visually distinct from the motile legs.
Kits and apprentices do not have wings and often have different markings than their fully mature form. At around fourteen moons, an apprentice will pupate, going into a deep sleep for a moon, nesting down and creating a hard shell around themselves. When they eclose, they will be in their adult form and will be given their warrior name. In this way, all the Cursed cats have a weird mixture of incomplete and complete metamorphosis, without molts, but with a pupal stage between their nymph form and being a winged adult.
[[ NOTE: All species names in the allegiances will be linked to the inaturalist stub for that species. I tried to pick interesting (and often tropical, for the colors) species from the genera I'm familiar with ;) ]] Territory BugClan's territory is within a valley between two cliffs. A waterfall lies at the very back, with a ledge above that drips ivy and conifer needles onto the valley below. This is where the Enchantresses lived, in a small abandoned cabin with a garden near the river's head. The rockslide decimated BugClan's former camp. Recently, a fallen tree created a bridge up to the ledge, and this is where the fated patrol went to explore the territory that was previously inaccessible to them, accidentally triggering the landslide. The fallen tree had weakened the cliffside, and when the cats used it to climb to the ledge, the rocks gave way. Only the younger Enchantress was killed, holding back the stones by magic so that the Clan could evacuate their camp. Now, BugClan's new and temporary camp is in the thistle grove south of the Moonstone cavern. This camp is much less sheltered than their previous one, and the Clan is nervous to be so close to the Stone Beach across the river, which is frequented by twolegs in the autumn. Speaking of humans. The west side of the valley has a gravel path and many foot trails through the heavy deciduous forest. Near the back of the valley is a wild-kept orchard, with scattered apple, pear and cherry trees, as well as many types of berries, including blueberries near the waterfall's pond. The orchard is not tended, and humans only come by to harvest a few times a year, when the fruits are ripe. They otherwise don't venture into the forest deeper than the dock, where they load their canoes. The forest is good hunting grounds. The only real landmark is the circle of mushrooms in the very center of the forest; for a long time, the cats believed it's magic to be only kit's tales, but after encountering the Enchantresses, a lot of cats are speculating the the circle of mushrooms might be magical after all. Just across from the Stone Beach is the Crescent Pond. The land between the river and the pond is low and marshy, with plenty of herbs and wildflowers. Beyond that is a stand of pine trees. The southern portion of the pine forest is on low, marshy ground and a flood in recent years has downed a lot of the fragile trees, leaving the clearing open with decomposing stumps and logs. A tall mound of mossy boulders--perhaps the remnants of another landslide a long time ago--lies scattered around the eastern wall here, and is a good hunting spot as well. The center of BugClan's territory is open field with only a few trees scattered about. One meadow is particularly lush, and the tall sedges often have circles pressed into them where deer nest during the days. The two thinnest portions of the river both are fast-moving rapids; the upper rapids have carved out a gully, perhaps only a few tail-lengths deep, but a fallen log ended up catching other branches when the river flooded and now provides a stable crossing in the part of the river too dangerous to swim. The Moonstone hides in the eastern cliffside, accessible by a switchback trail. It's quite steep, but the ledge that hosts the cave entrance is wide enough to have hanging mosses and shrubs, and is a very good place to catch birds if a warrior is patient enough. No cat but the leader and healers are allowed into the Moonstone cave. The cave itself curves slightly to the right of the entrance, hiding the Moonstone from the outside light. A crack all the way to the sky admits moonlight, causing the stone to sparkle at the right times of year. The stone itself takes up the entire back wall of the cavern, reaching up in a vein all the way to the roof. Several smaller crystal lumps scatter the cavern floor. Leader Once a long-furred calico molly with orange eyes. Now merged with a leafcutter bee, Crimsonstar's front--her head, neck and back as well as her legs--are black, while tufts of white fur highlight her belly and make rings around her front two pairs of legs at the shoulder. Its tail and hind paws are a bright red. It has a pair of dusky-black, membranous wings and its antennae are black and not much taller than her ears. Her stomach and underside of her tail has very long fur with barb-like serrations like velcro, sticking to debris, other cats' fur, and generally making it impossible to keep clean. She has a retractable sting at the end of her tail that holds venom.
Crimsonstar Deputy A large, black tom with ginger markings on his neck and amber eyes. Mixed with the formidable stag beetle, Stagfang's most notable feature is the strong, horn-like mandibles that curve from his jaw. They aren't articulated--that is, he can't move them separate from his skull--but they are still sharp and sturdy weapons. Stagfang is a large cat, with broad shoulders and thick legs. His tail is a short bob. His body is protected by hard, armor-like elytra and while he does have orange-hued wings folded beneath, he is far too heavy to use them for anything more than showing off his impressive wingspan. Stagfang is surprisingly more agile than he looks, but still is fairly slow.
While very young for a deputy, Stagfang was only given the post this moon. He was only seven moons old when BugClan was Cursed and grew up in his insectile body. Unlike the older cats, who are still adapting to the changes, he and the younger generation have taken to their new forms more easily. The old deputy, Leafglare, stepped down, unable to properly manage the Clan as she doesn't understand the new benefits and limitations of their forms. The Clan argued to put a younger cat in the position, one that could help guide the Clan through the Curse, and Stagfang was nominated for the position, as he had the most control over his body and was willing to go out of his way to help others. Healer Formerly a white-and-gold tabby smoke tom with green eyes. Now Goldflare's base coat is ebony black, though he retains a shimmer of gold across the tips of his fur. A red cap sits atop his head and golden markings like agouti tabby stripes curl up his cheeks to his eyes. His antennae are serrate: like many pyramids stacked tip-to-base, and curl around his ears. Of course, one wouldn't be a lightning beetle hybrid without some bioluminescence! Goldflare has several cream-colored patches on his stomach and tail that can light up, either a golden yellow color or a neon blue. He hasn't figured out how to control this yet, and his lights flash erratically when he's upset or frightened. Warriors
Formerly a golden tabby tom with green eyes. Bumblecloud now looks like a bee... but he's not. He was hybridized with a bee-mimic robber fly and while he has the black-and-gold colors of an eastern bumble bee, he only has two gossamer wings and a pair of paddle-like halteres that are very sensitive to changes in pressure and allow Bumblecloud to know when things sneak up behind him. He also has lightning fast reflexes, regaining his agility as a young warrior, which has given this older tom a second life. He is one of the few older cats in the Clan that fully embraces their new forms and sees his change as a blessing, not a curse.
Bumblecloud is a hybrid with centaurism, and only walks on his two pairs of hind legs. His front pair are held up, close to his chest most of the time, and have a high range of motion around the ankle. His claws on his forepaws are always extended and longer than usual, good for holding tightly onto tree trunks or prey alike. He has a fringe of long, stiffer fur along the length of his forelegs. His antennae are shorter than his ears and are held in a distinctive "Y" shape. Leafglare once was a pale grey molly with amber eyes. Now she's hybridized with a leaf mantis. While her fur is still downy and grey, she has bright green wings and a green frill that can extend over her head, camouflaging her when she's scared or, if she really focuses, to hunt. She also has centaurism, with her front two legs modified into raptorial, grasping arms. Unlike her relatively cat-like body, these legs are entirely mantid and are green without any fur. Her front pair of legs are lighter on the inside, with a distinctive dark eye-spot that makes her look like a large predator, especially when she's reared up and with her frill extended.
Leafglare once was BugClan's deputy and a force to be reckoned with, a stern and bold molly that was impossible to argue with. After the Curse, though, she's gone skittish, unable to really control her extra set of limbs and often startling into her defensive form. It isn't just her new body either: Leafglare was the cat that led the patrol into new lands and her recklessness caused the avalanche that got them cursed in the first place. Although the other cats don't blame her for her choices, made in ignorance and arrogance as they were, she feels solely responsible for the Curse and sees her form as punishment for her actions. Once a small ginger tom with blue eyes. Embershade is now crossed with a flat bark beetle, an odd pair that gave him a startling crimson coloration and extremely short legs. He's the same length as a normal cat muzzle-to-tail, but his squat legs mean his ears barely reach other cat's shoulders. Embershade was used to being small but being short is much worse! His blood-red fur is impossible to miss against green foliage. His only saving grace is his beetle form's hardened elytra which, if he folds his legs underneath him and presses close to the ground, protect his entire body and makes him nearly impervious to anything that wants to hurt him. He has long, black, bead-like antennae. All six of his legs have black socks.
Once a grey tabby cat with blue eyes. Ashpetal's cross is with a grey petaltail dragonfly. Their long wings are the star of the show: narrow and held out from their body, they struggle in enclosed forest and dense undergrowth with their fragile wings. Good thing they are one of the few cats in BugClan capable of flight. Ashpetal is a nimble and agile flyer, and though it took them a while to learn, they now lord their prowess over the skies and have learned how to catch birds on the wing. It helps that their legs are well adapted to catching prey on the fly, with thick fur that makes a basket to scoop birds from below. They have an exceptionally long, grey-and-black striped tail that helps them make adjustments to their flight. Their antennae are nearly invisible, almost shorter than their fur, but their blue eyes have grown large and are keen when it comes to movement.
Once a pale ginger molly with grey eyes. The Curse made Honeyshell into an ant. She is the only wingless warrior in BugClan. Her fur is a golden yellow, bright and sunny as her personality. She has long, elbowed antennae, which are the only outward sign she's Cursed at all. Honeyshell instead has a very keen sense of smell and can read a cat's mood only by the scents they put out. She can also leave her own scent trails that smell strongly of citronella, and has recently realized that she can use her scent--allomones, technically--to... influence others' emotions and make them more receptive to agree with her. She doesn't much like the implications of that, and so far has kept her ability secret, only using it in small doses to smooth over arguments and encourage cats to get along.
Ebonyflame was once a seal point tom with green eyes. Now crossed with the stunning ebony jewelwing damselfly, his fur is dark and sleek, shining with green and blue iridescence. His wings are tall and held above his body: two pairs of long, narrow wings that are dusky black in color with bright white dots in the middle of the costal vein. He can't fly with them, but he can flit: rapid movement of his wings gives him extra lifts on his jumps and lets him drift slowly to the ground from tall heights. More falling gracefully than a true flight, but it's more than some of his Clanmates can manage. He has an exceptionally long tail and long, narrow limbs, giving him a spindly appearance.
Despite his dainty frame, Ebonyflame is a daredevil. He's constantly pushing his own limits and taking risks simply because he can. He is vain, but hates being called out for it and often lashes out when complimented. Nightflash's appearance hasn't changed much. As a cat, he was a lanky, black-furred tom with heterochromatic eyes. His form now, mixed with a dark fly, is much the same: made for agility, with thin limbs and sleek, dusky wings pointed sharply like an arrow down his back. He has the quickest reflexes in the Clan. While not raptorial, he is more comfortable holding his front legs a few centimeters off the ground, as they are shorter than his hind two pairs. A long, hooked claw replaces his dew claw on his front pair of legs, and his front paw-pads are abrasive and rough. His antennae are only two, stubby segments with a longer, plumose bristle that curves forward.
For all this, however, Nightflash's most striking feature remains his eyes. Flashing with all the colors of the rainbow, his eyes seem to change color depending on the angle you view them at. Head-on, they are dark blue with amber rings around the iris, but at a slant, the colors can shift to violets and greens, reds and golds. Every year in late spring, he has a craving for blood. Prey-blood will do, but he has the insatiable urge to hunt all the time and his temper is short until the craving period is over. His mouth is very sensitive and he prefers to eat softer prey. Cricketneedle was once named Raindapple. Like some of the younger cats in the Clan, they chose to take a new name to better suit their new form. Once a rather nondescript grey cat, Cricketneedle is mixed with a vibrant tree cricket now. Their body is still grey--blending better with the stony rock faces than the foliage--but their head and neck are now a vibrant orange. Not ginger, orange. It's darkest on their muzzle and fading to an almost gold near the base of their neck. Wings, box-like and folded tightly over their sides, are too flimsy to fly with, but can allow them to clumsily glide at the peaks of their jumps.
Their jumps, of course, are where they shine. Their hind legs are longer than the rest, held tightly to their body when at rest, and very strong, giving them a massive leap. Their bones snap to give their jump more force. Their hind legs are also adorned with a row of sharp spines. They thought that, like field crickets, they could use those spines against their wings to make sounds, but nothing worked. After a long while observing her orthopteran cousins did they realize that they instead could sing by locking their wings together over their back and vibrating them. It's taking them a while to learn to use new muscles to move their new appendages, but they are dedicated to learn to make beautiful music with their new form. Apprentices Scorpionpaw was the only kitten to have gone through the Transformation, turning from a cute little black-and-silver fluffball to a scorpionfly nymph. Now his silver tabby markings have turned bright ginger, a zig-zag of black and orange across his back. His neck and chest are crimson. His antennae are much longer than his ears. His muzzle is long and narrow now, more like a canine's than a cat, with short but sharp fangs. Like all Cursed apprentices, he doesn't have wings and his tail hasn't quite developed the shape of a scorpion's sting, instead looking... bulbous. Club-like. A bit ugly, to be honest, but his tail is strong and he's currently terrorizing the younger apprentices by using it to bop them over the head when their mentors aren't looking.
He's excited to have his wings and full tail, sick and tired of being in this middle state. But he's also terrified of going through pupation, an event which the younger warriors only ever use to scare the apprentices. He's scared he won't be the same cat on the other side of it, and even the promise of his adult form isn't enough to assuage his terror for the upcoming ceremony. Copperpaw looks like a normal cat, only with antennae: tall and pale grey, with ginger clubs at the tops. Her fur is patched with pale grey and ginger and covered with black spots. Her chest and stomach are bright white and covered in very soft fur. Her front pair of legs are very small and held close to her chest. She often keeps them entirely buried within her long chest fur, invisible, as they are very sensitive to smells which can quickly overwhelm her.
Copperpaw is a nervous cat, easy to spook. She often hides behind her sibling, Lichenpaw, and while she's an alright hunter, is awful at fighting. She knows she is crossed with a butterfly and hopes desperately that her adult wings will allow her to fly. The only reason she didn't become a healer's apprentice is because she somehow thinks that if she did, her wings wouldn't be strong enough to carry her. So she trains strength, despite not being a good fighter, hoping that will be enough to let her fly when she's grown. Lichenpaw is crossed with a harlequin longhorn beetle, intricately patterned with black and red on a grey base coat. Black triangles outlined with red mark Lichenpaw's flanks. But their antennae are the star of the show: long and tapered, easily the length of their entire body, Lichenpaw holds their antennae over their shoulders and down their spine most of the time to avoid damaging them or getting them caught in the leaves.
Lichenpaw is an easygoing apprentice that tries not to involve themself with the others' drama. They don't get in the way of Scorpionpaw and tend to avoid conflict altogether where they can. They're a decent fighter and are good at surprising and scaring their opponents with wickedly fast moves and erratic sounds and movements. They aren't very good at hunting, though, being unfortunately heavy-footed and far too bright to blend into the brush.
For now, they use all six of their legs to walk. As an adult, their front legs will grow longer than the others and will have to be held upright. Owlpaw is simply adorable. She has large, golden eyes and long, black fur. She's shaped like a puffball. A single yellow dot sits on the back of her neck. Her chin and chest is colored copper. Her ears are tall and tufted, and her antenna are long with large clubs on the ends. She's a bit clumsy and shy, but warms up to others quickly and once she makes a friend, there's little they can do to make her lose faith in them. Wasppaw seems to be crossed with a wasp: with a thin, angular body and distinctive black and yellow coloring, it wouldn't be surprising for a cat to make that mistake. But Wasppaw doesn't have a sting, and her front legs are strong, with sharp, bony spines and long claws. She's crossed with a mantisfly, and is more closely akin to her mother's form than her paternal grandmother's bee. Most her body is actually a ruddy red, with yellow and black tabby stripes and a black stomach and chest. Her antenna are just as tall as her ears, with yellow tips. Her two pairs of hind legs are lighter orange than the rest of her fur. Her eyes are light yellow, with red pupils.
Wasppaw is prickly, and doesn't like other cats cozying up to her. She thinks herself a lone wolf type and doesn't need friends, thank you very much. She can be overprotective of Owlpaw and though she's actually the younger of the two, likes to think of herself as the older sister. Queens & Kits Unlike the others, Shiningstream's Curse isn't a bug at all, but a spider. A peacock jumping spider, bright and vibrant. She has two pairs of eyes: one regular pair, sky blue and a smaller pair just above and inside, a darker indigo. Red stripes run from the corners of her eyes down her grey muzzle. The rest of her fur is black: down her neck and over her shoulders. But her back is cyan, with three red stripes. She has eight legs: the six back legs are for walking, and two others are smaller and held close to her body. All of her legs are grey with black stripes: the front two with thin markings all down the leg, and the hind two with only a single black shackle around the ankle. Shiningstream also has a pair of palps, fuzzy over her muzzle, hiding her mouth from sight until she opens them to reveal large, black fangs. Thornkit - Platycotis vittata A black tomkit with white stripes and stunning red eyes. He has red markings like wings on either side of his shoulder. His legs are dark grey, and shackled with white at the ankle. Dawnkit - Graphocephala coccinea A rather unassuming yellow molly with red markings on either shoulder like her brother's. Every cat will be surprised when she inherits a similar blue-and-red pattern like her mother's. Featherkit - Lystra lanata An odd looking tom, with white fur, pale ginger tabby markings and a long, feathery tail. He has stunning red eyes. He has a rather flat face and short ears. Frogkit - Cercopis vulnerata A black molly with a red splotch covering her hindquarters and tail. She also has a flat face and short, rounded ears. Alderpuddle was a very small, chocolate smoke molly with amber eyes. She has a similar color, Cursed with the form of an alderfly, her dark fur is now marked with lighter lines to outline her joints. Her wings are held tent-like over her spine, lighter and translucent with black veins. She has long antennae. Now that she's close to kitting, Alderpuddle refuses to leave BugClan's old camp near the waterfall pool. She's determined to bear and raise her kits there, even if the camp is covered in debris. Elders Dawnbuzz has always been a large molly, but now she is truly massive. Mixed with a carpenter bee, Dawnbuzz is easily the biggest cat in BugClan. Her form also gave her a stunning golden mane of long, fluffy fur, though the rest of their pelt is short, sleek, and black. Their fangs were enlarged as well, giving her an underbite. She has a white mask over her muzzle and her dark eyes, a stunning contrast to her dark fur. Unlike Crimsonstar, they don't have a sting. But that doesn't mean she's defenseless: her size alone would be enough to deter most anything from trying to fight her, but she also gained a near deafening buzz by vibrating her body and wings.
The Curse has given this old molly a second wind, and she finds great joy in their new form. Once a small grey tabby tomcat with heavy white spotting and green eyes. Stonefleck's Curse is a curse indeed: crossed with a small mayfly, Stonefleck found his physical health deteriorating quickly after his transformation. He grows tired easily and his legs and bones are weak and fragile, a combination of traits that forced him to retire early. He is, quite understandably, envious of cats whose Curse made them stronger, like Stagfang's or Ashpetal's. He hates Leafglare, both for making the choice to push on and get the Clan Cursed in the first place, but more so because he believes he should have received her strong mantis Curse and she his. She already acts like the Curse has taken everything from her, and he feels slighted because he's the one that actually is suffering for it.
Stonefleck's appearance is more mottled than tabby, now, with a mix of greys and whites along his small body. His tail is forked into two, and his wings are small and stand folded above his back. They are mostly clear, but the costal side of his forewings are mottled with a thick band of dark grey. His antennae are tall and filamentous, almost like tall whiskers above his eyes. His underside is lighter than his back. Family Tree Dawnbuzz + ?? = Bumblecloud, Goldflare Bumblecloud + Alderpuddle = Wasppaw, Owlpaw = Ashpetal, Embershade, Leafglare Shiningstream + Honeyshell = Thornkit, Dawnkit, Featherkit, Frogkit
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Post by Tanglefire on May 9, 2024 23:39:10 GMT -5
Ahhh, I love them so much!! I love the fairytale-esque backstory and you chose a lot of fun bugs so I loved imagining the cats. It's very hard to pick favorites because I love all of them but some of the ones that stood out to me were Crimsonstar, Alderpuddle, Leafglare (very cool), Lichenpaw, Honeyshell, Shiningstream (along with her adorable kits), Dawnbuzz, Ashpetal, and Stagfang...also Cricketneedle, Owlpaw, and I'll probably list all of them at this point so we'll just say they're all amazing. They all have really interesting stories too so they'll be fun to play with. I'll probably start drawing them after I finish drawing CometClan (I procrastinated and haven't done all the apprentices (though I am almost done with them), queens + kits, and elders yet but most of the Clan is done and I finished all the warriors, etc.) These bug cats make me very happy, thank you so much!
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