...So it looks as though Mythos truly are the Dittos of Furrae.
"Chalkboard-sound" haired Fluffy is adorable. And the Insectis is pretty cute too, in a certain way. It looks like it's a little shy for some reason.
Question: Aside from the creature council, have we ever seen an Insectis in canon?
You mean aside from what is on their demonology 101 page? I think not.
\o/ fellow bugs.
The insectis looks adorable ^_^
INSECTIS INSECTIS YAY INSECTIS! :funkluigi1
I've been waiting for this one! Another tiny shred of info for them; their speech patterns! And another Insectis physical sample!
*hoards with all other Insectis info gathered*
HIISSS. My info! >:O
Wasn't there an insectis manning a grill at the evil beach party?
Quote from: !KCA on September 03, 2008, 09:43:41 PM
Wasn't there an insectis manning a grill at the evil beach party?
Link just to make sure?
Quote from: Darkdragon on September 03, 2008, 09:51:20 PM
Quote from: !KCA on September 03, 2008, 09:43:41 PM
Wasn't there an insectis manning a grill at the evil beach party?
Link just to make sure?
http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_193.php
Hmm...maybe?
It seems more likely some sort of mythos. Or it might actually be a Mythos/Insectis hybrid...
Urghawa! Old art! D:
I think that was drawn back before I had a full idea of what the Insectis were like...so I would go with Insectis/Mythos hybrid at this point.
I am happy with how the speech patterns worked out...though I apologize if they are difficult to read. I wanted to indicate that whenever they need to pronounce a sound that normally would be easily done with lips, they have to use a faux vibration inside their mouths to try to imitate the sound. Not sure if I succeeded or failed.
Quote from: Amber Williams on September 03, 2008, 10:25:21 PM
I am happy with how the speech patterns worked out...though I apologize if they are difficult to read. I wanted to indicate that whenever they need to pronounce a sound that normally would be easily done with lips, they have to use a faux vibration inside their mouths to try to imitate the sound. Not sure if I succeeded or failed.
That makes sense. Very cool indeed. I didn't quite pick that up while reading it, but I could tell that they had to be doing sounds differently.
Quote from: Amber Williams on September 03, 2008, 10:25:21 PM
Urghawa! Old art! D:
I think that was drawn back before I had a full idea of what the Insectis were like...so I would go with Insectis/Mythos hybrid at this point.
I am happy with how the speech patterns worked out...though I apologize if they are difficult to read. I wanted to indicate that whenever they need to pronounce a sound that normally would be easily done with lips, they have to use a faux vibration inside their mouths to try to imitate the sound. Not sure if I succeeded or failed.
If it was just the lips that would actually only restrict sounds of /b/, /p/, and /m/ in English.
Quote from: Darkdragon on September 03, 2008, 10:43:55 PM
If it was just the lips that would actually only restrict sounds of /b/, /p/, and /m/ in English.
Actually, it would also affect lip+teeth sounds /f/ and /v/ and, apparently, rounded semivowels such as /w/ and /r/. (Although the "r" in "hard" isn't actually rounded.)
*Note to self: next time when writing with Insectis, use the speech feature to up the creepiness factor significantly.* >:3
Also, the way the sounds were done was pretty cool. Judging from Fluffy's reaction I equated it very much to a chalkboard-ish noise, perhaps the mechanic squealing of broken machinery, perhaps throw in a dash of fork-against-porcelain-dinner-plate, something to that effect. Must say something about the way Insectis hearing is built, too.
Note to self..Buy earplugs for fluffy! :U
Quote from: Amber Williams on September 03, 2008, 10:25:21 PM
Urghawa! Old art! D:
I think that was drawn back before I had a full idea of what the Insectis were like...so I would go with Insectis/Mythos hybrid at this point.
I am happy with how the speech patterns worked out...though I apologize if they are difficult to read. I wanted to indicate that whenever they need to pronounce a sound that normally would be easily done with lips, they have to use a faux vibration inside their mouths to try to imitate the sound. Not sure if I succeeded or failed.
makes perfect sense to me, trying to mimic sounds with rasps and clicks of their mouthparts. My guess is that their native language is music to the "ears" to an Insectis (whatever passes for hearing apparatus for them, anyway)
Quote from: !KCA on September 03, 2008, 10:50:59 PM
Quote from: Darkdragon on September 03, 2008, 10:43:55 PM
If it was just the lips that would actually only restrict sounds of /b/, /p/, and /m/ in English.
Actually, it would also affect lip+teeth sounds /f/ and /v/ and, apparently, rounded semivowels such as /w/ and /r/. (Although the "r" in "hard" isn't actually rounded.)
Well, I never properly studied phonetics anyways. :animesweat
Quote from: Aisha deCabre on September 03, 2008, 11:00:19 PM
*Note to self: next time when writing with Insectis, use the speech feature to up the creepiness factor significantly.* >:3
Also, the way the sounds were done was pretty cool. Judging from Fluffy's reaction I equated it very much to a chalkboard-ish noise, perhaps the mechanic squealing of broken machinery, perhaps throw in a dash of fork-against-porcelain-dinner-plate, something to that effect. Must say something about the way Insectis hearing is built, too.
Judging by the way Amber wrote it, I would also assume it to be a continuous screeching noise. Or am I just over-analyzing it and it was a sample of someones handwriting gone though Photoshop?
Quote from: Darkdragon on September 03, 2008, 11:11:47 PM
Judging by the way Amber wrote it, I would also assume it to be a continuous screeching noise. Or am I just over-analyzing it and it was a sample of someones handwriting gone though Photoshop?
Pretty much. The insectis language isnt so much fingernails so much a single large needle on a chalkboard moving up and down in varying fequencies...along with what probably sounds like a coffee grinder going off. The Insectis primarily communicate by vibrating some inner chords and mandibles in a particular rythme...meaning they dont really even use their mouths half the time.
The Insectis have a double flaw in that their tongues are also not very language-friendly so most Insectis which become translators undergo a surgery to make it more elastic. But it still gives them issues with a great deal of words and most will simply try to replicate what they think a syllable sounds like by trying to make a vibrational version. It doesn't always quite work out. Either way it usually takes a lot of training for an Insectis to learn the language much less make it sound moderately tolerable. About 95% of the Insectis race doesnt even bother and wouldnt be able to speak a word of Furrae's language if their lives depended on it.
Moar information! :O
I always imagined the Insectis language would sound like clicking and buzzing, but this is good. Of course, I'll have to come up with an excuse as to why my Insectis character I'm using for some RPs actually knows 'surfacer' language if I use him again in another RP and keep him as close to canon as possible, even though I had to flesh him out with details that almost certainly aren't... :/
I've heard the sound of cutting sheet metal...
...this is probably more like cutting sheet metal with a spork o_O
*goes back to lurking* :mowninja
Quote from: Amber Williams on September 03, 2008, 10:25:21 PM
I am happy with how the speech patterns worked out...though I apologize if they are difficult to read. I wanted to indicate that whenever they need to pronounce a sound that normally would be easily done with lips, they have to use a faux vibration inside their mouths to try to imitate the sound. Not sure if I succeeded or failed.
I really liked it! I always saw my ant-self as being kind of clicky and screechy.. I 'conned on' to the sound before I read this thread, its well done!
So yeah, you succeeded =)
I'm really happy you drew another Insectis! Ive been wondering my 'place in the world' of DMFA for a while now ^^ Since my character is a dragon who becomes an insect fur (insectis, really) and so would likely be living amongst them.
I'm curious, are there insect-like beings? And are there other Insectis variants? (like there are different styles of beings and Mythos etc)
Quote from: Eibbor_N on September 03, 2008, 08:59:31 PM
...So it looks as though Mythos truly are the Dittos of Furrae.
Probably more that mythos covers such a wide variety of weird creatures that it's easier to find something that makes a match. :3
Yeah...the thing to remember about Insectis is they live underground and do a lot of digging. So for their language, they need to "feel" it, and those antenna are good enough to be able to pick out the difference between one of them giving a warning amongst the sound of digging and grinding. While there is a little bit of clicking in the language, its not a main feature. The Insectis likely would find our language incredibly monotone and the idea of a whole language that is set on the same sound frequency would be considered really foreign to them.
As for insect-like beings, the answer is no. Much like the Mer, the Insectis dont have any bug anthro equivalents so you wouldnt find any bee anthros or butterfly anthros or whatnot in furrae much like you wont find any dolphin anthros in the ocean. The closest one might find is some of the Mythos...but as Tikki pegged it, its not a case of there being one race of Mythos that can boink anything and have kids so much that there are so many types of Mythos there is usually one or two sub-classes in there that have enough compatability to go the distance. As such, a Mythos that may crossbreed with an Insectis is likely not able to crossbreed with a Cubi.
Yay for Insectis! Though I guess that means I am not an Insectis crossbreed. :cry Though I did make a character based off of the Mythos 'race' for RP elsewhere. Amber has a big brain, full of scary stuff and neat stories..and scary stories and neat stuff.
Was that a male or female insectis. How do you tell anyways- by the size of the antenae?
Awww... and here I wanted to talk about linguistics, and I was already beaten to the punch. Ah well. XD
<.<
Obviously the bilabial sounds would be out (plosive, labial, and fricative), and probably the labiodental. Given that I'm not sure whether or not they have teeth or not, some of the dental sounds might be problematic. Given what Amber said about their tongues, they can probably approximate retroflex sounds... but I can see why it'd be hard. :P
The weird one for me is the velar 'g' ... not sure why they had trouble with that, unless it's due to the shape of the mouth cavity. :P
I can see the Insectis as being able to make some of the non-pulmonic consonants, but since they wouldn't really translate it's not likely they'd show up.
To break it down more simply, at least according to my phonetic alphabet chart, the consonants the Insectis would have the most trouble with would likely be 'p', 'b', 'm', 'f', 'v', and the various 'th' consonants, as well as possibly 'r' depending on how flexible the tongue is.
More about phonetics than you ever wanted to know! XD
And, uh... yeah. >:F
That all aside, it's been a few years since I took phonetics and phonology at university, and so the issues the Insectis had with 'English' was a rather amusing reminder.
Gah. I wanted to plug my ears and the sound was in my own mind! Gah. The text box with their language is uber creepy btw...
Quote from: Kipiru on September 04, 2008, 01:41:12 AM
Was that a male or female insectis. How do you tell anyways- by the size of the antenae?
Assuming they have traditional male/female genders to begin with.
Also, he/she/it also has a fancy outfit...
Wait a minute, what was it trying to say? I could make out most of the common stuff it said, but some of the letters being scratched out made me go "Huh? :erk"
Now, I just wonder how long Amber spent talking to herself, trying to select the sounds that would be difficult.
...I can't be the only one who did that after reading it.
Quote from: Aleolus on September 04, 2008, 02:41:48 AM
Wait a minute, what was it trying to say? I could make out most of the common stuff it said, but some of the letters being scratched out made me go "Huh? :erk"
Look carefully - Inside each "scratched out" dark area, there is the letter, in grey/white, and fairly small. But each letter is indeed there(the G in lan
guage isn't really visible though).
-RobbieThe1st
This Insectis looks really cute.
I don't know why...but I want to hug it.
That speech looked like my EKG when I went to the ER. :mowdizzy
*Charline breaks out an industrial-sized can of Raid* Big bugs are bad. :P
Quote from: Amber Williams on September 04, 2008, 12:27:47 AM
Yeah...the thing to remember about Insectis is they live underground and do a lot of digging. So for their language, they need to "feel" it, and those antenna are good enough to be able to pick out the difference between one of them giving a warning amongst the sound of digging and grinding.
Aha! So the
do hear and have a tremorsense with their antennae! Maybe not as sensitive as I've been making it out to be, but still! That's one thing I
won't have to cross off!
I'm having much fun with buggy information :3
Quote from: Kipiru on September 04, 2008, 01:41:12 AM
Was that a male or female insectis. How do you tell anyways- by the size of the antenae?
I would assume, like the rest of most things in the comic, are similar to real life insects. How insects work, at least colony based insects, is all are female until they are running low on numbers when a male comes along, breeds with the queen, and then instantly die. So if Insectis work the same way as most colony based insects.... then I would hate to be one.
Okay... I've read Amber's string of hilarity since the old "blacknwhite" days... .but I had to register today just to say how hilarious I found today's Hybrids #10 issue. Its been a meh last.two.weeks and anything that makes me laugh is win.
Plus my fondness for linguistics and insectivore sci-fi races and watching Fluffy cringe.....
Quote from: Vexx on September 04, 2008, 12:49:43 PM
Okay... I've read Amber's string of hilarity since the old "blacknwhite" days... .but I had to register today just to say how hilarious I found today's Hybrids #10 issue. Its been a meh last.two.weeks and anything that makes me laugh is win.
Plus my fondness for linguistics and insectivore sci-fi races and watching Fluffy cringe.....
Well, to be fair, the last few week haven't had much in the humor category, what with Hannah's death and Dan and Anna getting their butts kicked and Abel having to deal with his emotional problems... it just hasn't been a pretty month overall.
Incidentally, welcome aboard Vexx! I hope you stick around, we're a lot of fun, really we are! Just don't forget to check your grammar, follow the rules, listen to the moderators, don't cross the Box, and remember that anyone who gives you advice is out to get you!
Quote from: Lucheek on September 04, 2008, 07:41:00 AM
This Insectis looks really cute.
I don't know why...but I want to hug it.
I second the cuteness.. but I wouldn't hug it if I were you. Given their xenophobia I don't think it would appreciate it.
The way that the native language is written looks like my father's signature. :B
And as usual my post goes on without notice from anybody else. D: I'm so unloved.
Quote from: Rakala on September 04, 2008, 03:15:38 PM
And as usual my post goes on without notice from anybody else. D: I'm so unloved.
Your post made so much sense that we didn't need to comment any further on it. I have to wonder though what kind of social structure they have...
Sorry Rakala. I just didnt feel like giving your post an answer.
EDIT: Someone asked me if the Mer also had a unique language...I forget if it was via PM or in the thread. But anyways, the answer is yes they do. In speech bubble form it would likely look like this:
(http://www.missmab.com/Images/Mer_Bubble.jpg)
Deduce from that what you may. :U
Quote from: Amber Williams on September 04, 2008, 03:43:31 PM
(http://www.missmab.com/Images/Mer_Bubble.jpg)
Deduce from that what you may. :U
Sounds deliciously squishy. >.>
I wonder if there is a font I can post in that sounds like an insectis :D
Quote from: Amber Williams on September 04, 2008, 03:43:31 PM
Sorry Rakala. I just didnt feel like giving your post an answer.
EDIT: Someone asked me if the Mer also had a unique language...I forget if it was via PM or in the thread. But anyways, the answer is yes they do. In speech bubble form it would likely look like this:
(http://www.missmab.com/Images/Mer_Bubble.jpg)
Deduce from that what you may. :U
Glub. :3
Insectis: Definatly one of my favorite races now.
That is all.
Quote from: Jairus on September 04, 2008, 12:52:21 PM
Quote from: Vexx on September 04, 2008, 12:49:43 PM
Okay... I've read Amber's string of hilarity since the old "blacknwhite" days... .but I had to register today just to say how hilarious I found today's Hybrids #10 issue. Its been a meh last.two.weeks and anything that makes me laugh is win.
Plus my fondness for linguistics and insectivore sci-fi races and watching Fluffy cringe.....
Well, to be fair, the last few week haven't had much in the humor category, what with Hannah's death and Dan and Anna getting their butts kicked and Abel having to deal with his emotional problems... it just hasn't been a pretty month overall.
Incidentally, welcome aboard Vexx! I hope you stick around, we're a lot of fun, really we are! Just don't forget to check your grammar, follow the rules, listen to the moderators, don't cross the Box, and remember that anyone who gives you advice is out to get you!
Argh.... and of course, my first post was just ambiguous enough to be misunderstood :)
What I meant was that MY REAL LIFE last two weeks have been meh and I was happy that the comic made me laugh. I've loved the last few weeks (though I was grieved to see Hannah go -- how often do you get to see an undead cute bunny girl as a character? And she had all the sharp dry wit lines?).
Quote from: Vexx on September 06, 2008, 06:39:26 AM
Argh.... and of course, my first post was just ambiguous enough to be misunderstood :)
Only by Jairus. ;-]
Quote from: Vexx on September 06, 2008, 06:39:26 AM
What I meant was that MY REAL LIFE last two weeks have been meh and I was happy that the comic made me laugh. I've loved the last few weeks (though I was grieved to see Hannah go -- how often do you get to see an undead cute bunny girl as a character? And she had all the sharp dry wit lines?).
Indeed. Wit FTW.
Cute is expected, with Amber; heck, she made Drip cute, she can make anything cute. ;-] But undead bunny girl? That's just rocking, man.
Quote from: Vexx on September 04, 2008, 12:49:43 PM
Plus my fondness for linguistics and insectivore sci-fi races and watching Fluffy cringe.....
Insectivore? Who's eating insectis?
Sorry, just being nit-picky. :mowwink
... would you prefer "insecticide alien races" ? ;-]
Snipped bits out of actual conversation:
Stygian: Well, it looks like it's the Mythos who can screw around to the most result. Then again, as mentioned, likely it's specific to Mythos race...
Keaton: Amber said that Mythos are pretty much in every list because they're a mixed bag, and are made up of many subspecies. Mythos who can reproduce with Insectis are likely not going to be able to reproduce with any others, for example.
Boogeyman: Well, that's no fun. Let's fix that. A breed of Mythos that's survived because it can [boink!] anything and have the kids be its kind.
Stygian and Llearch, both at the precise same time: They're called Cubi.
Quote from: AmigaDragon on September 06, 2008, 07:04:33 PM
Quote from: Vexx on September 04, 2008, 12:49:43 PM
Plus my fondness for linguistics and insectivore sci-fi races and watching Fluffy cringe.....
Insectivore? Who's eating insectis?
Sorry, just being nit-picky. :mowwink
Quote from: llearch n'n'daCorna on September 06, 2008, 07:08:24 PM
... would you prefer "insecticide alien races" ? ;-]
I think "insectoid" might the word Vexx meant to use.
Vexx, one other thing to keep in mind:
everyone here is insane. That includes
you. Just though I'd mention that.
*gives a Cheshire Cat grin, then fades from view*