#mask is doing homework | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dangoarts · 1 month

Text

ok the rot has become terminal and spooks won't stop yelling at me until i make this WEEEEEEE

lethal company creature headcannons

featured creatures (in order): brackens, masked, nutcrackers, jesters, coil heads

@currently-simping you did this

cutting for length, descriptive body horror

brackens

they are plant. :3

ok getting serious they spend the beginnings of their lives germinating with their leaves above the surface and their bodies below it. once their bodies are conscious and functional enough, they dig themselves out of the dirt and start being little gremlins

brackens are fairly solitary, but they usually guard the sapling until it uproots, then teaches it how to hunt. once it can survive on its own, they part ways

eye contact is seen as a challenge. they display and shake their leaves to make themselves look bigger

BIGENDER 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥aka brackens don't have a bodily gender and their spores can be female or male when needed

brackens about to bloom are SUPER aggressive, usually killing and eating anything they can get their hands on to grow their spore blossoms. when they start blooming, they do a complete 180 and get really friendly towards anything similar looking to them. this includes employees and masked. once they have a sapling to protect, that chumminess is Gone and it's back to hyper aggressiveness

the modern day population of brackens is slowly dying out, with the populations on vow and march surviving just marginally better than the others. most brackens are malnourished, since their main prey, humans, are getting smarter at avoiding them, and their original alternate source, baby forest giants, is near impossible to get. additionally, saplings need a saturated area of soil to germinate, and the desert and snow moons don't have the necessary water to keep them alive

growing reproductive spore blossoms takes a lot of energy, but since brackens are typically malnourished, they often don’t have the energy to spare growing them, so they just skip it. if they do, it’s hard for the spore to plant and germinate because unless they’re on vow or march, the climate can NOT handle them. also they’re usually inside the facility and the spore can root on concrete, but the child’s body can’t grow after being fertilized so it dies soon after

sometimes spore lizards carry and germinate bracken spores, and those children are orphaned if they manage to incubate. they weren’t taught neck snapping, so they usually just brute force kill by mauling their prey

brackens are angered by staring and coil heads freeze when looked at so it's like an opposite thing. brackens would take that as a challenge and try to snap their neck, they can't bc it's on a spring, they get angry and start to maul them, coil heads incinerate themselves when deconstructed, Fire Bad to plants. no this isn't me projecting i have no idea what you're talking about

masked

strap in gamers this one's a doozy

starting with the physical stuff because the culture is all over the place depending on circumstances

their mask is the core of themselves. all of their memories and their personality are stored inside it. the material is like keratin or bone

a mask without a host hibernates until it detects a viable one nearby through body heat. masks that hibernate for a while take longer to wake back up and recognize a viable host is near. viable hosts are mostly humans, but they can attach to and control any humanoid body, organic or inanimate

when they attach to a host, they hook tiny claw-like structures into the host's face to secure itself. afterwards, it burrows into the eyes and travels through the optic nerve to take control of the brain. the host is unfortunately alive through it all until it reaches the brain

the longer a masked is bonded to a host, the more they replace the host's internal structure with their own. they mainly target bone structures and nervous systems, breaking them down, replacing them with its own branches, and storing the compounds in the host's blood. once a masked begins this process, they can no longer detach from their host until the body is damaged beyond repair. when it does, they store as much necessary compounds in their mask, then essentially kill off their branches

they can essentially keep their host's body alive forever, as long as they maintain it. they can draw energy from practically anything, even electrical sources like apparatuses, but they can only grow and spread when they have an organic food source. not many masked keep their body past 150 years, since the upkeep needed to maintain it is incredibly demanding

when a masked converts a human into another masked, they use their host's blood to forcibly transmit their parasite to them. the compounds found in the blood are used by the new branch of the parasite to rapidly construct a shell to protect themself. they typically turn others out of instinct, but sometimes they turn people because they're lonely or because of social pressures (will be explained later). some refuse to turn others for personal reasons

masked parasites are related to nutcracker and jester parasites. while nutcrackers and jesters need an inanimate shell to protect themselves with, masked evolved to create their own shells and prey off of viable hosts to spread. they typically don't view nutcrackers as threats and are often partnered with them for protection, but loners will sometimes attack nutcrackers to steal their shell if their body is deteriorating

their masks are durable, but enough blunt force can break them. if a mask is broken while dormant, they die since they can no longer properly attach to any hosts. if their mask is broken while bonded to a host, they are essentially a walking corpse (more so than usual). they have memory issues while they are still alive, since their masks contain most of their memories, and when their body is unusable, they die along with it

i'm closing my eyes and ignoring the microbiology nerd in my head

ok now for the social aspects

there are two main groups of masked: loners and masquerades

to start with loners first since they're easier and cover the base culture, loners are like their name suggests. they're typically people who get possessed by dormant masks scattered across the moons or people turned by other loners. they also consist of masked that don't have a standard host; for example, a masked with a bracken host

they're often found in groups of one to four, mimicking an employee group

masked are very social creatures, and if they aren't with at least one other entity, masked or not, they'll seek out someone to turn

it is possible to befriend a masked without them turning you, although it's pretty difficult (this one's for all you gays out there (i'm gays /hj))

some masked join an employee group, with a select handful of them staying with their original group after being turned by a mask their host put on. even though it's technically the mask in control and the host is no longer alive to dictate what happens, some residual feelings from the host can influence the masked's decisions (this is seen easier in masked with robotic hosts since the pre-programmed code can influence how they act)

touching foreheads is very sincere between masked. it has multiple meanings depending on the context, like "i'm sorry," "i love you," or "i missed you." it's typically reserved for those they're very close with or when they want to show they're genuine

give them a hug. you will most certainly not have a parasite thrown up on your face they are just lonely

masquerades are larger groups of masked, usually around an average of 30-50 depending on the moon and the political strength of the ringmaster leading the group

these occupy mansions on rend, dine, and titan, although there are more on rend and titan. they act similarly to the mansions' previous owners, with some even claiming to be the original owners. they often have nutcracker guards

the largest masquerades are on rend, which is believed to be the birthplace of the masked. some argue it's titan, but those who believe that live there instead. there are tensions between these two groups

the mansions claimed by masquerades are documented on the company terminal, and the ship autopilot avoids landing at any site deemed compromised by them. sending employees there would be an immediate death sentence

rend is the most accepting moon to loners, and the most hostile moon towards potential hosts. members of masquerades regularly travel throughout the moon to find any wandering loners, meet with other masquerades they're on good terms with, and turn any stray employees they can get their hands on. it's expected for rend masked to turn anyone they meet, which can be difficult for some to get behind

dine's masquerades prefer to be more secluded and selective than the other two moons. it's downright impossible to find their mansions without an internal guide. members keep to themselves and stay indoors, any loner that shows up at their doors are put under heavy scrutinization before they're either accepted or kicked back out again, and stray employees are typically killed rather than turned

titan is like the annoying rich guys of the already annoying rich guy masquerades. they think they're better than the rend and dine masquerades (spoiler: they're not). like rend, they expect their members to turn anyone they meet, then they run the new masked through an indoctrination (hazing). anyone who doesn't live up to the uptight standards in titan masquerades are thrown to the dogs

masquerade members, especially ringmasters, decorate their masks with sigils denoting what group they are allied with. they also add any other decoration they want to, like additional paint, feathers, sequins, or ribbons

masquerade members aren't very accepting towards masked with nonhuman hosts. it's a byproduct of old traditions and social brainwashing

their most important tradition is when a member's body is about to give out. their trusted allies stand watch as they go dormant and abandon the body, then they're assigned with finding a new host for them. anyone caught purposefully keeping the mask dormant is instantly thrown out of the masquerade or killed

holy hell i'm finally done with the masked that was so much

spot my favorite impossible difficulty

nutcrackers

this one's gonna have a lot of speculative history behind it let's go

originally, the parasites controlling nutcrackers were a lot smaller, hunted mollusk-like creatures for food and shelter, and overall kind of cringefail. they eventually grew a bit smarter and started constructing bigger shells out of whatever they could find, held together by their tendrils and a dream

they act like starfish where if you cut off a tendril: not only will the original grow it back, but the tendril will grow a body. you need to Melt Them.

like humans, their pupils dilate and contract to control how much light enters their eye. however, their pupils also dilate according to their mood

it's hard for them to discern the difference between inanimate objects and creatures standing still. they mainly react to movement

scientists took an interest in studying them and seeing what they'd use as shells. they discovered that if they were given a humanoid shell, the parasites could replicate motor movements

they began selectively breeding and raising the parasites to encourage larger, smarter specimens. these were given larger and larger robotic shells until the first model nutcrackers were made

wealthy families on the three snowy moons bought the nutcrackers as guards, and the business of manufacturing nutcrackers soon exploded. the most common models made during this time were property guards, personal guards, and facility monitors

nutcracker model exteriors are a mix between wood plating and metal jointwork. inside, they have a robotic skeleton, with some models having a voice box for speech, a music box as a sort of alarm, or both. the parasite's core is its eye area, and it rests at the nutcracker's jaw for an easy line of sight. the rest of it wraps around the robotic skeleton, acting as the muscular system of the body

when tensions on titan escalated into an all out war (mentioned in sigurd's "real job" log), production of nutcrackers shifted towards war efforts. my personal headcannon is that the war was fought over how the company monster should be dealt with, whether it was keep collecting scrap since that keeps it tame or create a bomb strong enough to kill it, potentially destroying the entire moon of Gordion with it. the nutcrackers were produced for the side that wanted to keep the company tame

ok history lesson over

more info can be found on @currently-simping's blog! they're the other half of my brain cell and we practically co-own everything we do. they're way more interested in nutcrackers than i am :'D. as of writing this, you can find scraps of their nutcracker hcs/lore here and here

jesters

this one's gonna be shorter than the others, mainly because i want to keep with the whole "what the fuck is this thing" vibe it initially has, and it also gives me an excuse not to write a 5 paragraph essay about it oops

very very VERY territorial creatures, but only with themselves and masked. they'll claim a mansion as their territory, then chase out or maul anything it perceives as threat. they'll hunt loot bugs, snare fleas, and thumpers for food

if another jester tries to enter one's territory, they'll fight for it. a fight between jesters is incredibly violent, and bystanders have a high chance of being mauled if they're nearby. the losing jester either flees the area or is killed and cannibalized by the winner

they easily mistake employees as masked. if it could tell the difference between a human and a masked, it probably wouldn't attack humans, unless the human was moving into the mansion

their skull is made out of the same material as a masked's mask. it's broken up into virtually seamless fragments that snap together when it pops. their limbs are similar

where did the box come from? who the hell knows. it's completely indestructible though

they see with echolocation. they can detect vibrations through the floor, and it's precise enough to tell them what kind of creature is making the footsteps and where they are in relation to them. when popped, their screams help them pinpoint their targets even better

some people think that the reason why jesters hate masked so much is because masked initially preyed on them as hosts, which could be the reason why they have their skulls

if it doesn't see you as a threat, it's either relatively disinterested or it plays around with you. they typically like messing with nutcrackers

coil heads

i had to exposure therapy myself by making a half-coil oc before making lore these are the beasts that freak me out the most

they are NOT NATURAL!!!!! AIN'T NO WAY!!!!!!

looping back to the mentioned war in the nutcracker section, coil heads were created as a response to nutcrackers. since nutcrackers have a difficult time identifying threats until they move, the opposite side built and programmed their own robots to freeze when looked at on the battlefield

they were programmed to also attack enemy soldiers, but after the war, they couldn't detect what was the difference between enemy and ally and defaulted to enemy

they're powered by miniature nuclear reactors at the core of their chests that double as self-destruct buttons. if any part of the coil head's shell is taken apart, it'll trigger their core to melt down

their blueprints and code were kept under heavy lock and key, and the self-destruct sequence upon being taken apart made it impossible for anyone to study and harvest that information from a model. the guarded information about them was lost after the war ended

the "nails" in its body are sensors that allow the coil head to detect any entity staring at it in a 360 degree field of vision. the sensors can detect the direction of an entity within 30 feet of it

don't ask me where the springs come from i have no justifiable answer to that

why do they not have forearms

sir what is Wrong with you

#I'M INSANE!!!!!!!!!!! I'M CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!#instead of doing my mountains of homework i spent all day doing this i hope you guys appreciate my sacrifice /silly #lethal company #lethal company headcannons #lethal company bracken #lethal company masked #lethal company nutcracker #lethal company jester #coil head #just a ramble #long post

47 notes · View notes

jzixuans · 2 years

Text

okay i lied last thought

i think the main thing that's been bothering me about the school master plotline besides lady lesso's uh . thing. was that by having him engage with the students and the professors so openly it makes it so clear early on that he's using them as chess pieces and is targeting sophie.

which isn't necessarily a bad thing because god knows that studios these days keep trying to pull a fast one on the audience, and the movie seems to be gearing more to the thesis of "there is more nuance in this world than you know" (which i believe nicely ties into agatha telling sophie that she's human at the end because it brings into the discussion a nice look at what humanizing these stock alignment fairy tale characters means), BUT i still do sincerely wish that they hadn’t name teased rafal so much and that the school master was if not morally ambiguous by matter of sheer not showing his face to anyone in centuries, then at the very least outright GOOD because the movie makes a very explicit point to show us at the very beginning that rhian the good brother is the one to survive.

because like, the audience knows that there was something dubious about the opening's anticlimax, but the rest of the school does not. if they truly were committed to suggesting that the school master had sinister motives and they were adamant that he interacted with the rest of the school, then they should have given him a kindlier or more sage personality in his introduction at orientation that would later be dropped (or not!) when sophie and agatha confronted him in the tower. like a sentence about how Yes it seemed that good has been winning for the past century, but that he has faith in both sides that they will do their best to win and that the world is still in balance. i don't know. something. i believe rafal is a better actor than that. he knew his brother best. that would have made knowing that he was up to something the whole time a lot more fun than sitting with the discomfort of his persona being apathetic at best between the schools.

#ah shit should i have tagged for tsge spoilers are any of you planning to watch. oops.#i'll be real my favourite is still how the novel said that the school master never came down and he wore a mask so we never saw his face #but everyone was adamant that he was the good brother because good kept winning for a century #and then it turned out that good kept winning because the storian was keeping the balance. like even the school masters had to yield #to the storian. that was cool. that was a fun twist #i would have been so prepared to accept the movie's take on events if they had put any effort into making them more than #metaphorical cardboard set props‚ though. like i look behind them and there's not a lot going on there #which again! movies are short! but still #take out that dumb fight in the cafeteria and replace it with more school master stuff or agatha learning about the past students at LEAST.#speaking of‚ the new implications that those two evers Knew that students who failed got turned into objects or animals but tedros never #realizing is Very crunchy. i mean‚ again‚ kind of flimsy‚ but crunchy nonetheless #okay i need to start being normal i need to like. do ANy amount of homework and then go to bed.#tick talk

7 notes · View notes