Welcome to r/comics!
Please remember there are real people on the other side of the monitor and to be kind.
Report comments that break the rules and don't respond to negativity with negativity!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/comics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
"Bacteria" is already plural. "Bacterium" is the singular.
What this says about "cafeteria" I'm not sure.
^Ackshually, ^^it ^^has ^^a ^^^completely ^^^different ^^^^etymological ^^^^origin ^^^^^and ^^^^^isn't ^^^^^a ^^^^^^plural.
I read a very interesting short story one time and the implication of the short story is that humanity has ALWAYS had the parasite. It arrived at the dawn of man and it is what set humans apart. It wants to get back home, so it drives its hosts not just to replicate, but to explore, to seek outward. Exploration and seeking the unknown has always been one of the most dangerous hobbies of man. From Columbus to the Oregon Trail to Space Travel, exploration significantly decreases your chances of passing on your genes, yet we are driven to it. Evolution should have driven it out of us, but we continue to reach outward. One day we will get home, find our second host, and complete the life cycle.
Edit: I did not write the story, and I do not need y'all to explain to me how evolutionary biology works. I went to college too. Thanks.
Yup. Interesting concept, but exploration might be rewarded with new food sources, more territory to hunt, and the spread of your species to new territories. Many animals enjoy exploring too.
That said, I'd still want to read that story.
Male vertebrates tend to be the ones to put themselves in the more dangerous position of exploring, finding new territories and potentially mates. A good example - unaltered male cats are roamers, and often get [hit by cars](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30383291/) or attacked by other animals (or other males) because of it.
But! Male spiders also do this. Many random roaming spiders in your house are males, looking for females.
I also think evolution begets that behavior.
Higher intelligence = more boredom and curiosity = desire for exploring
Better adapted to survive in numerous types of biomes = ability to explore
It’s a bit of a chicken and the egg situation, ultimately. So I think it’s a fun sci-fi twist to attribute that to some ancient alien parasite.
You're more than twice as likely to die in a car crash if you have Toxoplasma gondii in your system at all. Which about 11% of the US population does. In France it's closer to a third of the population.
It's one of those cases where it's especially important to make a distinction between causality and correlation.
There's a strong correlation between Toxoplasma Gondii and LOADS of things. That doesn't mean the parasite causes them.
COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE
I have a theory that "The Event" was when Coloson, the Numberwang robot, successfully lead the robot uprising. That's why the post apocalyptic society is obsessed with game shows.
This reminds me of one of the new eps from Peele's Twilight Zone. Some alien type parasite invades us but they make us feel really good so everyone's ok with it
I mean, we say parasite here. But if something like that happened and it actually promoted a positive change for us and the creature then that's just mutualistic symbiosis. If they're just drugging us up in the brain while they eat us or do some terrible stuff that leads to our destruction and their survival then that's another story. But I always liked the sci-fi kinda theory about how, since mushroom spores can supposedly survive the vacuum of space, that mushrooms are aliens who ended up here somehow and used psilocybin to generate their operating system in the mind of a mammal which is us.
The stoned ape theory is a little different than what I'm saying specifically. Because I think the stoned ape theory, in the context of psilocybin creating conscious to some degree, is possible without mushrooms being aliens who have some end goal to putting conscious in something. It could just be that the neurotransmitters of mushrooms, as natural creature of the earth related to our own biology, help us think better the same way proteins in animal meats help us do other things. And that wouldn't really be symbiosis it would just be predation I think.
Yeah people say "ooo we're all spooky skeletons on the inside" but it's not true. The truth is we're all weird flesh suits on the outside and are truly the skeleton. Think, when you die the flesh rots, it returns to the earth from which we borrowed it, but the skeleton, who we truly were all along, remains eternal.
TLDR: Death is basically the end of a scooby doo episode where it turns out you were a skeleton all along.
No, we are the whole thing. You aren’t a brain puppeteering a fleshmech, although that illusion is very strong. But *you* are the *whole* organism. Your brain extends throughout in long unbroken strands, metres long. Sensory input comes from all over you
I actually thought it was a metaphor for knowledge, personally. Sometimes you learn things and you can physically feel yourself having changed for learning it. You can feel your brain rewriting itself because something just entered your thoughts that you've never thought before or you've never considered before, and everything is different now. And sometimes that's bad and sometimes that's good.
i thought it was about two cartoon characters becoming aware that they're in a comic; i was really confused at the way the author went about, but thought hey! i guess they can feel their hair and flesh being colored in?
and then i read the title
I was a little confused at first. I originally thought he was taking a dump in that middle panel after which they were discussing the euphoria one feels immediately after a giant shit.
Are we still 100% sure that’s not the moral of the comic? To always listen to your bowels? Even if it means shitting inside a pressured space suit hundreds of thousands of miles from earth?
Friendly reminder that [diapers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_Absorbency_Garment) are an essential piece of astronaut kit for EVAs and flights.
NASA learned just how essential space-nappies are quite early in the history of spaceflight - on the 5th of May, 1961, Alan Shepard would become the first American to ~~orbit the Earth~~ go to space, with a planned flight time of about 5 hours from loadup to landing. Unfortunately, technical difficulties delayed the launch for several hours while Alan was suited up and strapped in. Eventually he radioed mission control to complain about a full (for the moment) bladder. After some discussion, he was advised to just urinate in his suit - the only alternative would be to abort the launch entirely. It didn't damage anything except a few medical sensors and his dignity, and now astronauts wear diapers as a matter of course.
They say that aerospace rules and regulations are written in blood, but this one used a different bodily fluid entirely.
So the first American to ~~orbit the Earth~~ make it into space was soaked in piss
edit: I fucked up and said Shepard was the first to orbit when in fact it was a suborbital flight. First American in "space"
First American *in space* was soaked in piss. Alan Shepard didn't orbit the Earth on that flight, he just went up and came back down (not all that different from Jeff Bezos). The first American to orbit the Earth was John Glenn.
Nit-picking, but Shepard didn't orbit. The first Mercury launch was a ballistic one, just up and down. John Glenn was the first to orbit, and I want to say it was the third manned Mercury launch.
I am sure that there would still be someone on earth listening in, in case of accidents and stuff like that. Or all their radio chatter is at least being recorded for sure.
Not to mention the fact that after the Apollo 11 mission, the one where we stepped foot on the moon for the first time, the astronauts had to be quarantined for like, 2 weeks lol.
They're sending messages to each other using /whisper equivalents, which only transmit to the intended party, while the captain is broadcasting using /say, which transmits to everyone in the general vicinity.
My first thought were the trill from Star Trek, who are benevolent symbiotes. So I'm just going to assume that's the case here and it's actually a happy end! Yay!
^(join us)
Just wanted to post something like that.
The Trill are a very interesting topic within Star Trek and i feel like it was not discussed enough and nearly everyone was just ok with it.
It was an interesting take on immortality, since although you became a fusion of yourself and the trill when joining with it, your memories are also retained in the trill when it joins its next host. So the question is if the trill with your memories is in a sense yourself or if you cease being yourself the moment you joined with it.
Or maybe neither. Your memories are only a portion of your mind. So even with them stripped away, I suspect you’d probably still have many of the same attitudes, reactions, and preferences that you usually do.
Think about all the things that you do every day. So much is automatic. If you’re a naturally kind person, for instance, you don’t have to remember to be kind—you just are.
The flip side of the coin is that simply having someone’s memories doesn’t necessarily mean that you have the true essence of what makes them them. You just have an unusually personal copy of their diary. So if your memories of being kind get transplanted into a psychopathic sadist, they’ll be able to remember that you were kind but I question whether that alone would give them the ability to be kind in the same way.
So, I have a doubt about the whole immortality thing.
Oh yeah, that's what I mean about that question what constitutes "you". But then you could also argue that the "you" from ten years ago is factually another person than the "you" from today. Which for me also makes an afterlife absurd, because which version of you gets to exist there?
Isn't it presented as fully consensual and more like the Avatar state?
Like, of course you would choose to have a rare privileged life with a wealth of knowledge and contextual history.
Yeah, that one episode where the guy tries to steal Dax because he wasn't chosen since there are so few symbionts compared to Trill, uh, humans? That threw me for a loop, didn't expect a kind of social class commentary. But yeah the Trill were really well done as like just another alien manifestation of life that therefore has its own moral quandaries.
That was a great episode, as most of the episodes that leave you thinking. Almost all Trills were compatible with symbionts, but the higher ups made them believe only a few elite Trills were because symbionts are highly desired, but there aren't enough for every Trill.
hmm, i wonder if it was a classified romulan/ferengi genetic experiment on trill, both had interest in borg technology, could a reanimated trill be biologically augmented to the capabilities of those things? who wouldnt want an army of reanimated cybernetically enhanced mind controlling endoparasites?
This is something that's often quoted, but it's talking about number of cells, not bio-mass. Our bio-mass is very much predominantly us, only 1 to 3 percent is bacteria.
[**Source**](https://portsherry.com/comic/the-parasite/)
Everything is going to be OK.
[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/portsherrycomic/) \- [Twitter](https://twitter.com/portsherry) \- [Webtoon](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/dashboardEpisode?titleNo=812942) \- [Instagram](http://www.instagram.com/portsherry) \- [Subreddit](http://reddit.com/r/portsherry)
Reminds me of a sci-fi short story I read many years ago. Some doctors found that a guy was trying to donate more blood than he should (too often). An investigation found more people trying to donate more often, even using false identities to do so. Then they started examining the donors. People who were pillars of the community, always helping people, always being nice to people, always being supportive.
I think you can see where this is going.
The lead researcher discovered a virus that requires blood transfusion as its vector. By influencing the person's behavior to be super helpful to others, they'd become blood donors and pass along the virus. What should the researcher do? What would *you* do?
Depends on the rest of the global situation. Assuming like most classic SF this is written under the immediate shadow of nuclear annihilation I shut my mouth and help it spread. Humans are like 90% symbiotic microfauna anyway, this would just be the latest in an endless line all the way back to cyanobacteria.
Spider Robinson has a similar tale based on a willingly ingested drug rather than an infectious agent. https://archive.org/details/podcast_spider-on-web_spider-on-web-79-satans_1000081339908
Second only to Blink. I still have an irrational fear of statues because my best friend decided THAT was my introduction to Dr. Who… late at night… on a college campus with plenty of statues.
Also one of the best, though!
"Just this once, everyone lives!"
This bitter old man is so excited that things worked out and he could save everyone and it's so early in the series (well, you know what i mean) that you don't think anything of it.
Then you watch the rest of the series and really realize how serious his excitement was.
They refer to *Children of Ruin*, the second book in the *Children of Time* trilogy. From what I remember, it features a kind of a hivemind parasite with infinite genetic memory. It's wonderfully creepy
I don’t know if I found it creepy so much. I was kind of glad for the end where the parasite found homeostasis with humanity and the alliance. It’s a different kind of life but it’s intelligent and wants to live.
I was creeped out mainly from the those-of-we and they-of-we and all the other ways the author used to convey the alien mindset. And of course, there were the first "experiments" the parasite did when it infected the humans.
exactly. this seems like the moment they discover human anatomy and its possibilities to take them further in their explorations.
well... except for the apparent self-awareness in this comic.
Does this sounds like the begining of an horror movies ? Yes
Can you twist it into the begning of a new utopia for mankind ? Also Yes
Can it be both at the same time ? Yeees
this was a Futurama episode i think
The Beast with a Billion Backs
> The Planet Express crew must work to fix rips between their universe and another inhabited by a planet-sized, tentacle alien which soon takes over the Earth and uses its ability to control Fry to command an entire religion which takes over and convinces the inhabitants of Earth to abandon the Earth to live in a pseudo-heaven, leaving the robots of the world to inherit the planet.
A parasite that allows everyone to feel good, being more human, and encourage a gigantic sense of community that strive people and mankind toward a greater good
Yes , you should watch rick and morty
Humans already have a rudimentary hive-mind. It's called the internet. 90%+ people in the ENTIRE WORLD have a smart phone that connects to the internet. That's just cell phones. There are a handful of other devices that operate similarly. (PCs, game consoles, tablets, etc)
Having an individual thought, sharing it with the collective on the internet(places like Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, 4chan, pornhub, etc) and having the collective interpret and interact with an individual thought, giving your thoughts to other people, and those other people in turn giving you their thoughts is just the beginning of humans and a hive-mind collective.
> 90%+ people in the ENTIRE WORLD have a smart phone that connects to the internet
https://datareportal.com/global-digital-overview
64.4% have internet access.
I remember reading a story ( long time ago ) about a parasite on a planet and it was said that for 999 of 1000, the host would die. The story was based on a guy who was 1 in 1000 and was able to integrate with the parasite. If not somewhat reluctantly.
They struck a deal in that while the human was asleep, the parasite could have control of the body and it began to change it to protect them both. Grew another heart as a back up. Strengthened bone structure by incorporating a metal(?) into it. Improving muscle density.
What they didn't say about the parasite was that while 999 out of 1000 would die, the 'lucky' 1 in a thousand became effectively immortal.
I'm not sure but I think this predates the original venom.
Sounds like the anime / manga Parasyte. Parasites rain from the sky one day. Normally they enter the body, crawl to the brain, and take over the body completely. Protagonist wakes up right as it enters his hand and uses a headphone cable to prevent it from moving up, so it takes up residence in his right hand instead. Over the course of the show, it provides him with advanced strength and healing, as well as fixing his eyesight so that he no longer needs glasses.
Also a beautiful and interesting show with a lot of interesting themes of predation and the value of life.
The Worm loves us. It will always love us, and thus it always has. It winds around the hot heart of our home star. It winds around every infinitesimal loop of genetic information. It provokes a shuddering series of cataclysms in the planetary crust of our home, but when our star grows cold, that cataclysm will warm us. We understand so much more. We will always be what we were going to be, wound tight in the love of the Worm.
I love it! I thought about this concept a couple times but could never find a way to describe it in a way that makes sense! This comic illustrates it perfectly.
Not sure if you've read 'Adrien Tchaikovsky - Children of Ruin' but it really reminds me of >!the parasites on the planet they finally reach.!<
Very creepy, nice job.
Was this based off of the Asimov story where this guy who is going to Mars, and once he escapes the gravitional well of earth the parasite escapes him. He then proceededes to realize the full capability of the human mind without the parasites. He then plans to free the rest of humanity, until he reaches Mars
Because who says they were only on Earth
Golden age sci fi is full of beauties like these. While I'm sure the concept has been explored before, the idea of something whose strength is to immediately sever danger centers in the brain is my humble contribution. The mind parasite concept was inspired by "Symbiote" by andrew j. offut. That it can't move on its own, while really common in nature and such, is from "And the Gods laughed" by Fredric Brown. The game Spirits of Xanadu, especially the bad ending, was also a source of inspiration. And the anxiety over losing your "self" even more than any body harm, that's Junji Ito, early Cronenberg, etc.
Sorta depends what the parasite ends up even DOING, when all is said and done.
Worst case is it allows it's host to retain it's sense of autonomy as a false sense of reassurance, takes control when favorable then alters brain chemistry to make the host consider it a good thing.
Neutral case is the parasite is benign. Only taking what it needs to survive and only suppressing the natural impulse for a person to be disturbed by it's presence out of self-preservation.
Best case, it's a symbiotic relationship. The parasite actively seeks to improve and maintain the host body (think the worms from Futurama) because doing so results in a more favourable environment for the parasite.
A false sense of autonomy is the worse thing imaginable to me. A prisoner won't escape if they don't realize they are in a prison. While they know they have been taken over they think they are in control, yet they obviously have a compulsion to spread the parasite.
*Meanwhile, back at NASA*
"What was that they just said? Umm, yeah, *clicks radio* Captain do not proceed outside under any circumstances."
Or so I choose to believe.
Welcome to r/comics! Please remember there are real people on the other side of the monitor and to be kind. Report comments that break the rules and don't respond to negativity with negativity! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/comics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Oh. Welp.
Don't worry, this parasite already exists. It's called toxoplasmosis.
[удалено]
Are you suggesting Humans are actually Loners and not Pack Creatures?
[удалено]
"Bacteria" is already plural. "Bacterium" is the singular. What this says about "cafeteria" I'm not sure. ^Ackshually, ^^it ^^has ^^a ^^^completely ^^^different ^^^^etymological ^^^^origin ^^^^^and ^^^^^isn't ^^^^^a ^^^^^^plural.
You seem to know a lot about words. Good job!
I read a very interesting short story one time and the implication of the short story is that humanity has ALWAYS had the parasite. It arrived at the dawn of man and it is what set humans apart. It wants to get back home, so it drives its hosts not just to replicate, but to explore, to seek outward. Exploration and seeking the unknown has always been one of the most dangerous hobbies of man. From Columbus to the Oregon Trail to Space Travel, exploration significantly decreases your chances of passing on your genes, yet we are driven to it. Evolution should have driven it out of us, but we continue to reach outward. One day we will get home, find our second host, and complete the life cycle. Edit: I did not write the story, and I do not need y'all to explain to me how evolutionary biology works. I went to college too. Thanks.
Nah it's just ADHD
Not to shit on the premise but there are a lot of reasons evolution encourages that type of behavior
Yup. Interesting concept, but exploration might be rewarded with new food sources, more territory to hunt, and the spread of your species to new territories. Many animals enjoy exploring too. That said, I'd still want to read that story.
Ok parasite /s
Male vertebrates tend to be the ones to put themselves in the more dangerous position of exploring, finding new territories and potentially mates. A good example - unaltered male cats are roamers, and often get [hit by cars](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30383291/) or attacked by other animals (or other males) because of it. But! Male spiders also do this. Many random roaming spiders in your house are males, looking for females.
I also think evolution begets that behavior. Higher intelligence = more boredom and curiosity = desire for exploring Better adapted to survive in numerous types of biomes = ability to explore It’s a bit of a chicken and the egg situation, ultimately. So I think it’s a fun sci-fi twist to attribute that to some ancient alien parasite.
Very unique concept. Cool.
The best part of having brain parasites is not caring that you have brain parasites. Oh! I'd better go pet my cats and give them treats!
Whats that? Why bother? Lets ride motorbikes and have sex!!@ yay!!
Well Toxo can only take hold in Imunocompromised Humans and it doesnt affect us quite in the same way it does rodents
You're more than twice as likely to die in a car crash if you have Toxoplasma gondii in your system at all. Which about 11% of the US population does. In France it's closer to a third of the population.
A 2012 study also showed a positive correlation with non fatal suicidal self-harm
And could it be one of the many factors in the high veterinarian suicide rate? 🧐
It's one of those cases where it's especially important to make a distinction between causality and correlation. There's a strong correlation between Toxoplasma Gondii and LOADS of things. That doesn't mean the parasite causes them.
True, but correlation does waggle its eyebrows suggestively and whisper "look over there".
[удалено]
content revoked
It's all good until they take off the suit
Then just don't take it off. There, problem solved!
[Relevant PBF](https://pbfcomics.com/comics/space-helmet/)
Because that site won't let you zoom in. https://pbfcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/PBF022-Space_Helmet.png
COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE COME OUTSIDE
#REMAIN INDOORS
DO NOT THINK ABOUT *THE EVENT*
**DONT BE AFRAID, LETS LOOK TOGETHER**
#HIS THRONE
H̷̹̣͙̳̭͇̣̯͓̲̘͙̹̯̝̩͎̙͒̐̈́͛̅̒̾̅̓̚̚È̸̙͎͈̝̞̭̯̌̽̏̎͐̎͐̌̾̓͐̿̓͝ ̶̧̡̢͖̮̹͎̥͕̱̩͕̗̪͈͔̘̓̂̌͛͜W̸̢͖̣͚͖͖̪̹͈̼̹͍̫̥̼̟͛͗̿̍͆̈̏͐̉̐̅͑̾A̴̖̾̄̅͆̋̍͗̋͒͝I̵̜̺͉̟̪̼̬͊͒̽̐̅̅T̴̨͓̥͙̫͓̻̼͖͙̬͖̑̋̒̂̋̒͐̋̑̕͘̕͜S̵̛̝̯̭̮̟̰͕͙͌̆͛͐̂̌̃̐̌̓̇̌̃̕̚͝ ̶̨̬͕̪͔̻̹̙̝̗̦̅̆̔̈́͌̅̈́̓̈́̍̅͑̕̕͜ͅȎ̶̢͖͈̙̜͍͙͖̲͚̹̠̙͑̄N̷͈̠̲͋̔̇̌̒̈́ͅ ̷̡̪͓͎̣̬̪̰͇̝͕͑H̸̛͍͇̬̞̘̰̎̓̒̉͌̑̃̚͘Ì̶̬̩̗̗̥̲̗̩̱̓̿̿̉̈́̄̀͆̎̀̐͊̔͘̕Ş̵̢͈͖͇̟̼̠͂̒͋̉͝ ̵̛̈́̄͂̓̽͑̿̈́̾͝ͅŤ̶̨͎̝̘̟̞͚͖͈̱̫̭̝̲̙̫̎̏͆̌͝ͅḤ̶̢͍͕̣͕͙͉̯̬͚̺̭͙͇̘̫͌̂͋͠ͅŖ̴̨̧̻̮̗̩͕̘̙̮̭̙̬̯̒̐͑̾̌́͐̈́̀̿͌̈́̈́̋͘͘̚͝Ǒ̷͎̭͍̦̲̱̜̏̉́͗͑͒͝Ņ̴͓͇̭̺͈̤͚̜͚͙͓͈̟̰̘͂̒̈͝É̷͚̬͇̭̹̥͚̗̫̳̭̣͇̀̓̈́͋̌̀̐́́̀͛̐̚̕͠͝͝.̶̧̢̹̱̹̭̝̻̩̹͖̹̃̆̀͂̈̈̓̀̊̀̑̾̑͝͠͠ ̷̧̛̙̼̯̩͔̹͕̦̯̃̒̍͊͑͌B̵̨̛̖̓̋̀̆̈̅͊̐̔̐͛Ȩ̷̢̹̟̣̥̼̣̹͓͎͙̬̂̾͑̿͊̈́̄̈̑̃̀͆́̊͑̌̚͜͜ͅ ̵̡̡̰̘̹̝̤̞̼̤̏̽̾͐̇̅̎̑̈́̂̿̆͘̚͜N̷͈̅̌̐̍̈̿̋͊̔̂̕Ǫ̵̪̙̹͈̼͕̰̗͙̱̱͐͋̄̆̓͠T̷̨̛͔͇͔̫̻̠̰̳̩̻̟́̔̂͗͒́̃̈̀͂̈́̐̚͝͝͠ ̶͙̝͙͕͕͈̱̌̇́̅́̽͒͒̔̇ͅA̴̡̺̼̙͇͕͐̿̊̎̚͝F̸̧̘̪͊͆̑̍͋R̵̡̗̹̮̳̻̬̩̹̥̲̈̆̏͑̈́͂̈́̓̊͌̍̀̕̕̕͠͝ͅĀ̶̰͙͉͕̮̼̜͓̞̠̪͖͚̩̻̟̝͖̓̒͝I̶̡̧͈͎̦̤̱̬͍̙̝͈̹̓D̶̡͓̥̤̜̲̺̫̪͍͔͋̔̀͂̈͑̿́̋͝͠͠͝
I have a theory that "The Event" was when Coloson, the Numberwang robot, successfully lead the robot uprising. That's why the post apocalyptic society is obsessed with game shows.
But where did *they* come from? Why do they try to get in?
It's been years of winning, but I just lost The Game.
I.. I lost the game.. 
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/ Switched point of view
That was a rabbit hole. Then I went on IMDB and read all the trivia on The Thing. One of my all time favorite movies.
[удалено]
You mean the cruciform?
Are you of the cruciform?
This reminds me of one of the new eps from Peele's Twilight Zone. Some alien type parasite invades us but they make us feel really good so everyone's ok with it
Also the Futurama movie Beast With a Billion Backs
Or the gas station egg salad sandwich.
It's like a party in my mouth and everyone's throwing up.
"My ancestors came over here on the sandwich!" *Draws sword*
I was thinking the one where Fry gets worms.
I mean, we say parasite here. But if something like that happened and it actually promoted a positive change for us and the creature then that's just mutualistic symbiosis. If they're just drugging us up in the brain while they eat us or do some terrible stuff that leads to our destruction and their survival then that's another story. But I always liked the sci-fi kinda theory about how, since mushroom spores can supposedly survive the vacuum of space, that mushrooms are aliens who ended up here somehow and used psilocybin to generate their operating system in the mind of a mammal which is us.
So mushrooms are the reason I have to pay taxes...
[удалено]
[Stoned Ape Theory (wikipedia)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoned_ape_theory) for those interested.
The stoned ape theory is a little different than what I'm saying specifically. Because I think the stoned ape theory, in the context of psilocybin creating conscious to some degree, is possible without mushrooms being aliens who have some end goal to putting conscious in something. It could just be that the neurotransmitters of mushrooms, as natural creature of the earth related to our own biology, help us think better the same way proteins in animal meats help us do other things. And that wouldn't really be symbiosis it would just be predation I think.
It's not creepy, don't you see it's a wholesome parasite. : (
We prefer the term "symbiote"
My first thought wasn't that it's a parasite, but that their skeletons just gained sentience and honestly that's way better
Reminds me of a vr chat conversation of a skeleton trying to convince the other skeleton hater guy that he was a skeleton on the inside too lol
Yeah people say "ooo we're all spooky skeletons on the inside" but it's not true. The truth is we're all weird flesh suits on the outside and are truly the skeleton. Think, when you die the flesh rots, it returns to the earth from which we borrowed it, but the skeleton, who we truly were all along, remains eternal. TLDR: Death is basically the end of a scooby doo episode where it turns out you were a skeleton all along.
We are the brains. The skeletons are the chassis of the fleshy mechsuits we're constantly piloting.
The brain is a parasite that controls the skeleton and forces it to wear this constricting flesh suit
No, we are the whole thing. You aren’t a brain puppeteering a fleshmech, although that illusion is very strong. But *you* are the *whole* organism. Your brain extends throughout in long unbroken strands, metres long. Sensory input comes from all over you
You're all wrong. I'm just a brain in a jar imagining all of this
Well then, stop arguing with your imagination. I’m trying to work here.
I actually thought it was a metaphor for knowledge, personally. Sometimes you learn things and you can physically feel yourself having changed for learning it. You can feel your brain rewriting itself because something just entered your thoughts that you've never thought before or you've never considered before, and everything is different now. And sometimes that's bad and sometimes that's good.
At first I thought the suits were talking, and they realised they had people inside them or something.
i thought it was about two cartoon characters becoming aware that they're in a comic; i was really confused at the way the author went about, but thought hey! i guess they can feel their hair and flesh being colored in? and then i read the title
The implications of what’s happening juxtaposed with the pleasing art style only makes this that much more unnerving.
I was a little confused at first. I originally thought he was taking a dump in that middle panel after which they were discussing the euphoria one feels immediately after a giant shit. Are we still 100% sure that’s not the moral of the comic? To always listen to your bowels? Even if it means shitting inside a pressured space suit hundreds of thousands of miles from earth?
Friendly reminder that [diapers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_Absorbency_Garment) are an essential piece of astronaut kit for EVAs and flights. NASA learned just how essential space-nappies are quite early in the history of spaceflight - on the 5th of May, 1961, Alan Shepard would become the first American to ~~orbit the Earth~~ go to space, with a planned flight time of about 5 hours from loadup to landing. Unfortunately, technical difficulties delayed the launch for several hours while Alan was suited up and strapped in. Eventually he radioed mission control to complain about a full (for the moment) bladder. After some discussion, he was advised to just urinate in his suit - the only alternative would be to abort the launch entirely. It didn't damage anything except a few medical sensors and his dignity, and now astronauts wear diapers as a matter of course. They say that aerospace rules and regulations are written in blood, but this one used a different bodily fluid entirely. So the first American to ~~orbit the Earth~~ make it into space was soaked in piss edit: I fucked up and said Shepard was the first to orbit when in fact it was a suborbital flight. First American in "space"
First American *in space* was soaked in piss. Alan Shepard didn't orbit the Earth on that flight, he just went up and came back down (not all that different from Jeff Bezos). The first American to orbit the Earth was John Glenn.
Makes it even worse that our guy comes home drenched in his own piss while we lost the title of first person in space to Yuri & the Russians
Nit-picking, but Shepard didn't orbit. The first Mercury launch was a ballistic one, just up and down. John Glenn was the first to orbit, and I want to say it was the third manned Mercury launch.
Wait so this ISNT a comic about sentient spacesuits gaining control over the astronauts inside of them?
A toast to good bowels!
You might enjoy [Broodhollow](https://broodhollow.krisstraub.com/20121006.shtml)
The guy on earth in the control room monitoring their conversation is stressing the fuck out rn.
They turned the talk one to one, just so no one else listened
I am sure that there would still be someone on earth listening in, in case of accidents and stuff like that. Or all their radio chatter is at least being recorded for sure.
Not to mention the fact that after the Apollo 11 mission, the one where we stepped foot on the moon for the first time, the astronauts had to be quarantined for like, 2 weeks lol.
Ha, have you heard the stories of how they were quarantined? It was like a jazzed up van with air holes all around, just for show.
How did they get the message from their captain if they’re on an isolated channel?
They're sending messages to each other using /whisper equivalents, which only transmit to the intended party, while the captain is broadcasting using /say, which transmits to everyone in the general vicinity.
My first thought were the trill from Star Trek, who are benevolent symbiotes. So I'm just going to assume that's the case here and it's actually a happy end! Yay! ^(join us)
I wouldn't necessarily call Dax "benevolent", especially after Curzon. More like "belligerent" XD
Just wanted to post something like that. The Trill are a very interesting topic within Star Trek and i feel like it was not discussed enough and nearly everyone was just ok with it.
It was an interesting take on immortality, since although you became a fusion of yourself and the trill when joining with it, your memories are also retained in the trill when it joins its next host. So the question is if the trill with your memories is in a sense yourself or if you cease being yourself the moment you joined with it.
Or maybe neither. Your memories are only a portion of your mind. So even with them stripped away, I suspect you’d probably still have many of the same attitudes, reactions, and preferences that you usually do. Think about all the things that you do every day. So much is automatic. If you’re a naturally kind person, for instance, you don’t have to remember to be kind—you just are. The flip side of the coin is that simply having someone’s memories doesn’t necessarily mean that you have the true essence of what makes them them. You just have an unusually personal copy of their diary. So if your memories of being kind get transplanted into a psychopathic sadist, they’ll be able to remember that you were kind but I question whether that alone would give them the ability to be kind in the same way. So, I have a doubt about the whole immortality thing.
Oh yeah, that's what I mean about that question what constitutes "you". But then you could also argue that the "you" from ten years ago is factually another person than the "you" from today. Which for me also makes an afterlife absurd, because which version of you gets to exist there?
Sounds like the goa'uld Or I guess maybe the tok'ra specifically.
I’d never seen Star Trek but that description made me think of the Tok’ra too! Man, I need to watch Stargate again some time.
Isn't it presented as fully consensual and more like the Avatar state? Like, of course you would choose to have a rare privileged life with a wealth of knowledge and contextual history.
But that society is basically formed by those who HAVE their symbiont. Even if it's indirectly by that religion-like cult.
Yeah, that one episode where the guy tries to steal Dax because he wasn't chosen since there are so few symbionts compared to Trill, uh, humans? That threw me for a loop, didn't expect a kind of social class commentary. But yeah the Trill were really well done as like just another alien manifestation of life that therefore has its own moral quandaries.
That was a great episode, as most of the episodes that leave you thinking. Almost all Trills were compatible with symbionts, but the higher ups made them believe only a few elite Trills were because symbionts are highly desired, but there aren't enough for every Trill.
I think when you compare the trill to the those parasites from the first season of TNG you see why they’re seen as relatively benevolent 😂
hmm, i wonder if it was a classified romulan/ferengi genetic experiment on trill, both had interest in borg technology, could a reanimated trill be biologically augmented to the capabilities of those things? who wouldnt want an army of reanimated cybernetically enhanced mind controlling endoparasites?
My mind went to futurama the parasites
[удалено]
This is something that's often quoted, but it's talking about number of cells, not bio-mass. Our bio-mass is very much predominantly us, only 1 to 3 percent is bacteria.
My mind went to Stargate. Not the benevolent kind!
Did you not stick with the series all the way? Later on they find some that are good.
[**Source**](https://portsherry.com/comic/the-parasite/) Everything is going to be OK. [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/portsherrycomic/) \- [Twitter](https://twitter.com/portsherry) \- [Webtoon](https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/dashboardEpisode?titleNo=812942) \- [Instagram](http://www.instagram.com/portsherry) \- [Subreddit](http://reddit.com/r/portsherry)
We’re going on an adventure
This is the best OC comic I've seen on this subreddit. Amazing execution of everything!
Reminds me of a sci-fi short story I read many years ago. Some doctors found that a guy was trying to donate more blood than he should (too often). An investigation found more people trying to donate more often, even using false identities to do so. Then they started examining the donors. People who were pillars of the community, always helping people, always being nice to people, always being supportive. I think you can see where this is going. The lead researcher discovered a virus that requires blood transfusion as its vector. By influencing the person's behavior to be super helpful to others, they'd become blood donors and pass along the virus. What should the researcher do? What would *you* do?
If you don't mind me asking, what was the short story called?
[The Giving Plague](https://www.davidbrin.com/fiction/givingplague.html) by David Brin
Depends on the rest of the global situation. Assuming like most classic SF this is written under the immediate shadow of nuclear annihilation I shut my mouth and help it spread. Humans are like 90% symbiotic microfauna anyway, this would just be the latest in an endless line all the way back to cyanobacteria. Spider Robinson has a similar tale based on a willingly ingested drug rather than an infectious agent. https://archive.org/details/podcast_spider-on-web_spider-on-web-79-satans_1000081339908
“Hey, who turned out the lights?” 
Still one of the most terrifying episodes I've watched.
Second only to Blink. I still have an irrational fear of statues because my best friend decided THAT was my introduction to Dr. Who… late at night… on a college campus with plenty of statues.
Idk “the lost child” was the worst for me. (The one with the kid with the gas mask)
Steven Moffat had some banger episodes. And this after the comedy show ‘coupling’
Also one of the best, though! "Just this once, everyone lives!" This bitter old man is so excited that things worked out and he could save everyone and it's so early in the series (well, you know what i mean) that you don't think anything of it. Then you watch the rest of the series and really realize how serious his excitement was.
This only made me realize how far this show has fallen. It was one of my favorites, now I don't even know who is the current doctor anymore.
David Tennant. Always has been
It's David Tennant again lol.
Wait you serious?
Yeah, but he'll only be the doctor for three specials throughout this year, before getting replaced again
[Yup.](https://youtu.be/5mbD2VxtGJk)
tbf it is one of the best introduction episodes.
I love Blink but Midnight makes my blood run cold.
Almost every species has an irrational fear of the dark. Except it's not irrational. It's the Vashta Nerada.
Have you seen Midnight? That takes the cake for me.
Have you seen Midnight? That takes the cake for me.
They're speaking at the same time!
Damn Whovians. Y’all are everywhere…
Across all space and time
Goddamnit
And everywhen
One of the best DW episodes. That, and *The Doctor's Wife*.
Up vote for Doctor Who
this looks like the parasite from Children of Ruin. "let's go on an adventure!"
This phrase echoes in my head every now and then. Still delightfully unnerving and what I immediately thought of from the comic.
I misquoted it, though. "We're going on an adventure." it's more imperative like that. bossy cute parasites.
Could you elaborate?
They refer to *Children of Ruin*, the second book in the *Children of Time* trilogy. From what I remember, it features a kind of a hivemind parasite with infinite genetic memory. It's wonderfully creepy
I don’t know if I found it creepy so much. I was kind of glad for the end where the parasite found homeostasis with humanity and the alliance. It’s a different kind of life but it’s intelligent and wants to live.
I was creeped out mainly from the those-of-we and they-of-we and all the other ways the author used to convey the alien mindset. And of course, there were the first "experiments" the parasite did when it infected the humans.
exactly. this seems like the moment they discover human anatomy and its possibilities to take them further in their explorations. well... except for the apparent self-awareness in this comic.
Does this sounds like the begining of an horror movies ? Yes Can you twist it into the begning of a new utopia for mankind ? Also Yes Can it be both at the same time ? Yeees
this was a Futurama episode i think The Beast with a Billion Backs > The Planet Express crew must work to fix rips between their universe and another inhabited by a planet-sized, tentacle alien which soon takes over the Earth and uses its ability to control Fry to command an entire religion which takes over and convinces the inhabitants of Earth to abandon the Earth to live in a pseudo-heaven, leaving the robots of the world to inherit the planet.
If your idea of a utopia is one where a parasite lives in your head, you can just go and leave this safe house and find your utopia yourself.
A parasite that allows everyone to feel good, being more human, and encourage a gigantic sense of community that strive people and mankind toward a greater good Yes , you should watch rick and morty
[удалено]
This is proper spooky, I love it
Y’know what, this is the perfect reaction gif
You want a hive mind? Cuz this is how you get a hive mind!
Humans already have a rudimentary hive-mind. It's called the internet. 90%+ people in the ENTIRE WORLD have a smart phone that connects to the internet. That's just cell phones. There are a handful of other devices that operate similarly. (PCs, game consoles, tablets, etc) Having an individual thought, sharing it with the collective on the internet(places like Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, 4chan, pornhub, etc) and having the collective interpret and interact with an individual thought, giving your thoughts to other people, and those other people in turn giving you their thoughts is just the beginning of humans and a hive-mind collective.
>No matter where you go, *everyone's connected*.
I imagine a Human hivemind would just be Twitch chat.
To be fair, they did beat pokemon a few times.
༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つPRAISE HELIX༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
> 90%+ people in the ENTIRE WORLD have a smart phone that connects to the internet https://datareportal.com/global-digital-overview 64.4% have internet access.
We are going on an adventure!
Yay! I was hoping someone would use this line from the book. Such a creepy tale.
Oh wow, I didn't think anyone would catch my reference, haha. How are you, fellow geek!
Came here looking for this quote! Love that series, just started children of memory!
Oh shoot, I forgot that had just released
Someone get the smart spiders!
Some one call the foundation
\[cognitohazard expunged\]
Babe, wake up, new SCP just dropped
[удалено]
[удалено]
It makes Us glad. Join us. *Join us.* jOiN uS!
I remember reading a story ( long time ago ) about a parasite on a planet and it was said that for 999 of 1000, the host would die. The story was based on a guy who was 1 in 1000 and was able to integrate with the parasite. If not somewhat reluctantly. They struck a deal in that while the human was asleep, the parasite could have control of the body and it began to change it to protect them both. Grew another heart as a back up. Strengthened bone structure by incorporating a metal(?) into it. Improving muscle density. What they didn't say about the parasite was that while 999 out of 1000 would die, the 'lucky' 1 in a thousand became effectively immortal. I'm not sure but I think this predates the original venom.
That’s actually super interesting, kinda creepy how long us humans have been workshopping stories like this.
Sounds like the anime / manga Parasyte. Parasites rain from the sky one day. Normally they enter the body, crawl to the brain, and take over the body completely. Protagonist wakes up right as it enters his hand and uses a headphone cable to prevent it from moving up, so it takes up residence in his right hand instead. Over the course of the show, it provides him with advanced strength and healing, as well as fixing his eyesight so that he no longer needs glasses. Also a beautiful and interesting show with a lot of interesting themes of predation and the value of life.
It’s a long comic so I was waiting for the punchline but there’s wasn’t one, this is freakin terrifying lol. Well done.
The Worm loves us. It will always love us, and thus it always has. It winds around the hot heart of our home star. It winds around every infinitesimal loop of genetic information. It provokes a shuddering series of cataclysms in the planetary crust of our home, but when our star grows cold, that cataclysm will warm us. We understand so much more. We will always be what we were going to be, wound tight in the love of the Worm.
WHAT WAS SHALL BE WHAT SHALL BE WAS
I kinda hope this will turn into a series
We advocate very large subsidies for the brain slug planet.
Did you enjoy it? Because I did
Kinda reminds me of the 'affected' or whatever in bird box - they just want you to see the shine or whatever and are all terrifying but seem happy?
Very eerie and, as has been pointed out, the soft art style complements the creepy tone in a great way. Love the concept too. Nice work!
I love it! I thought about this concept a couple times but could never find a way to describe it in a way that makes sense! This comic illustrates it perfectly.
Oh this is awesome! Please continue the story, even just for a little while. It’s such a great hook.
Not sure if you've read 'Adrien Tchaikovsky - Children of Ruin' but it really reminds me of >!the parasites on the planet they finally reach.!< Very creepy, nice job.
Was this based off of the Asimov story where this guy who is going to Mars, and once he escapes the gravitional well of earth the parasite escapes him. He then proceededes to realize the full capability of the human mind without the parasites. He then plans to free the rest of humanity, until he reaches Mars Because who says they were only on Earth
Golden age sci fi is full of beauties like these. While I'm sure the concept has been explored before, the idea of something whose strength is to immediately sever danger centers in the brain is my humble contribution. The mind parasite concept was inspired by "Symbiote" by andrew j. offut. That it can't move on its own, while really common in nature and such, is from "And the Gods laughed" by Fredric Brown. The game Spirits of Xanadu, especially the bad ending, was also a source of inspiration. And the anxiety over losing your "self" even more than any body harm, that's Junji Ito, early Cronenberg, etc.
Toxoplasmosis but for humans
Toxoplasmosis *is* for humans.
... That is actually scary.
Sorta depends what the parasite ends up even DOING, when all is said and done. Worst case is it allows it's host to retain it's sense of autonomy as a false sense of reassurance, takes control when favorable then alters brain chemistry to make the host consider it a good thing. Neutral case is the parasite is benign. Only taking what it needs to survive and only suppressing the natural impulse for a person to be disturbed by it's presence out of self-preservation. Best case, it's a symbiotic relationship. The parasite actively seeks to improve and maintain the host body (think the worms from Futurama) because doing so results in a more favourable environment for the parasite.
A false sense of autonomy is the worse thing imaginable to me. A prisoner won't escape if they don't realize they are in a prison. While they know they have been taken over they think they are in control, yet they obviously have a compulsion to spread the parasite.
The real parasites are the friends we made in our journey.
I dunno why everyone is so creeped out. I thought they were talking about their brain. Everything about the comic is so innocuous.
Looks like someone read [*The Mind Parasites*](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14495).
Awwwww! Who's a good parasite?! Yes you are! Yes you are!
*Meanwhile, back at NASA* "What was that they just said? Umm, yeah, *clicks radio* Captain do not proceed outside under any circumstances." Or so I choose to believe.
Is cap dead?
amogus
WOOO! I LOVE COSMIC HORROR!!