Once again on “What happens when an artist and a writer are friends?”
 
TLDR: Justice requested a cover art for his fic. Which is titled Springtime for Thorax.
 
Long version:
 
So, I - being a complete nerd - was looking up information on beetles for wing references and carapace ideas when I ran into a Youtube link. Specifically, this Youtube link
 
After I stopped laughing, I linked it to Justice, who also found it hilarious. And I honestly couldn’t tell you which of us came up with the idea of having this be a changed-ling courtship ritual, but I do remember spouting off the tidbit I read around the same time about some species of rhino beetles battling rival males by flinging them from trees… and then promptly do the same to the female after mating should they win.
 
While the males lobbing one another has been well documented, I have no idea if the females getting the same treatment is true, since I couldn’t find a confirmable source for them to yeet her like a beach ball during spring break, but I hope it is. Frankly, nature is fucking weird and I believe it is well within the realms of possibility. (I love bugs, they’re so damn fun!)
 
Anyway, we had a giggle-ridden chat about this, and how it’d be perfect for the changed-lings. He ran off to write the fic, and I settled down to work on this during breaks between commissions.
 
No, I’m not colouring this, Thorax’s colour scheme quite literally hurts my eyes.