🐛 THE BUG LEAGUE CHARTER 🐜

Governing the Small
As Recorded

I. AUTHORITY

Bug League exists by the continued participation of its members and the accumulation of precedent. Authority derives from observation, judgment, and memory. No external body supersedes the League.

This Charter is binding unless amended, revised, ignored, or replaced.

II. PURPOSE

Bug League formally recognizes, evaluates, and ranks bugs and other qualifying organisms observed in the field. Participation constitutes acceptance that League judgments are subjective, final, and correct.

Evaluations may include consideration of purely hypothetical interactions, including imagined standoffs or battles between organisms. Such considerations are conceptual only and do not authorize handling, provocation, or interference.

III. SCOPE OF GOVERNANCE

All invertebrates qualify, including insects, arachnids, mollusks, annelids, and other organisms without backbones.

Vertebrates are excluded except as provided herein.

The final calendar week of each month is Bird Week, during which birds are the sole eligible organisms.

No other standing theme weeks exist. Any other deviations from standard governance are ad hoc, non-recurring, and announced at the League’s discretion.

IV. IDENTIFICATION

Tools such as iNaturalist are used solely for identification and taxonomy. Scientific classification informs evaluation but does not determine worth, rank, or outcome.

The League may accept, question, or override identifications as circumstances warrant.

V. EVALUATION CRITERIA

Organisms may be evaluated using any combination of the following traits:

• Bug Power
• Apparent Danger
• Hardiness
• Coolness
• Beauty
• Suave
• Weirdness
• Unique Feature
• Vibes
• Historical Aura
• “I shouldn’t like this, but I do”

No weighting system is disclosed. Consistency is not required.

VI. CONDUCT

Observation must be non-interfering.

Prohibited conduct includes:
• Harming organisms
• Staging, baiting, relocating, or bug fluffing
• Introducing, transporting, releasing, or deploying organisms for the purpose of observation or advantage
• Retroactive challenges to eligibility after judgment

VII. IDENTITY, ANONYMITY, AND LORE

Bug League does not conduct introductions.

Real names are neither required nor encouraged within League channels and should generally not be used. Identity emerges through posting history, rulings, precedent, inference, and lore.

Soliciting names, initiating introductions, or conducting first-day-style social exercises within Bug League is prohibited. Nicknames, titles, misattribution, and mystery are acceptable and often preferred.

Bug League is not a summer camp.

VIII. FINALITY

League judgments are final. Appeals may be heard, acknowledged, and disregarded.

Precedent accumulates. Memory is long.

IX. RANKINGS AND RECORDS (optional but recommended)

Bug League may maintain informal or formal rankings, ladders, tiers, or ledgers of notable organisms. Rankings may be cumulative, seasonal, ceremonial, abandoned, or quietly contradicted by later events.

No ranking is ever truly final. Some are merely harder to escape.

X. CALENDAR OBSERVANCES

Bug League observes Bird Week as defined herein.

The League additionally recognizes seasonal, symbolic, or time-based observances as described in Section XII.

XI. ENFORCEMENT

There is none.

Norms are upheld through precedent, silence, ridicule, admiration, and selective memory.

XII. SEASONAL TOURNAMENTS (EQUINOXES & SOLSTICES)

Bug League observes four annual Seasonal Tournaments, aligned with the Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox, and Winter Solstice.

Each Seasonal Tournament follows a three-week structure within the month in which the equinox or solstice occurs:

Week 1 – Submission Period
Members may submit one bug candidate per person. Submissions must include identification, imagery, and a brief case evaluated using League traits.

Week 2 – Bracket Formation & Seeding
The Commissioner establishes a single-elimination bracket based on the number of eligible submissions. Seeding may be random, narrative-driven, vibes-based, or unexplained.

Week 3 – Voting & Resolution
Matchups are decided by League vote until a single Seasonal Champion is crowned.

Seasonal Tournaments are ceremonial and bugradery-building events. Seasonal Champions receive permanent recognition within League posterity.

Seasonal Tournaments exist to formalize battles, mark cyclical time, and concentrate competitive energy without destabilizing regular League operations.

XIII. AMENDMENT

This Charter may be amended, revised, suspended, contradicted, or quietly drifted away from at any time by general consensus, assertive declaration, or sustained practice.

This Charter is the authoritative record of Bug League governance and may be reproduced, cited, or ignored as needed.