#full of alien and endangered creatures

[puppetmaster13u]

I was today years old when I learned Superman has a straight up Zoo in the Fortress of Solitude

[stmonstercalendar]

THE FULL LIST OF BINGO PROMPTS

Overexcited for Mermay and struggling to catch all these plot bunnies? (Tadpoles?) Looking for a twist or a direction for your idea? Need an extra push?

Here's the 100 prompts that went into the Mermay Bingo cards to help with your inspiration! For an extra flavor, use a D100 >:3 (I've been using this dice roller recently.)

Happy creating!

storm

island

based on (fan)art

siren 

merrow - a mermaid or merman in Irish folklore. The merrows supposedly require a magical cap in order to travel between deep water and dry land.

selkie - creatures that can shapeshift between seal and human forms by removing or putting on their seal skin

witch

naiads/nereids - naiads - a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater nereids/nereides - sea nymphs, who often accompany Poseidon and can be friendly and helpful to sailors 

cave

spirit

river

pearls

kelpie -  a mythical shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs in Scottish and Yorkshire folklore. It is usually described as a grey or white horse-like creature, able to adopt human form.

cecaelia -  like a mermaid, but half-human, half-octopus

size difference

tentacles

asrai - a type of aquatic fairy in English folklore and literature

​fuath - (lit. ‘hatred') malevolent water spirits in Scottish Highland and Irish folklore

teeth

ship

tropical

treasure

holiday resort

 bioluminescence

 meet cute

shore

lair

Lighthouse

song

 Rum

 Pirates

 meet ugly

Trance

 predator

Science

mischievous

yacht

Anatomy lesson

Show

Hunt

Cryptid

High Fantasy AU

Stranded

fresh water

Fairytale

Fashion/Clothing

Sapphic

Freak Show

Scales

Trinkets

Offering

air pocket

Wounded

Whump

 Followed

Beach

Sci Fi AU

Modern AU

The Deep

Shapeshifter

Courting

Rituals

 Trap

Crossover

Ancient Greece

Ovipositioning

Divine

Eldritch

Dock

eggs

Washed ashore

Lost

 Stargazing

Endangered species

 Atlantis

Cultural differences

Aquarium

Language Barrier

Childhood Friends

 Mimicry

Hermaphrodite

 mer society

Slavery

Mpreg

Underwater

Drowning

Royalty

AU

Savior

 Skinny Dipping

modern fantasy

steampunk

enemies to lovers

found family

angst

friends to lovers

friends with benefits

alien

mating cycles/in heat

breeding

[brokehorrorfan]

4K UHD Review: The Guyver

Following in the wildly successful footsteps of Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Guyver takes a (relatively) grounded approach to its outlandish source material — in this case, a Japanese manga series — without divorcing itself from its comic book roots. Produced by Brian Yuzna (Re-Animator, Society), the 1991 film is directed by special effects wizards Screaming Mad George (Society, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) and Steve Wang (Predator, The Monster Squad).

As the Star Wars-esque expository opening crawl explains, mankind was created by aliens as an organic weapon. The evil Chronos corporation is further developing a technology that allows humans to change into "super monster soldiers" known as Zoanoids for world domination. The only viable defense against them is The Unit, a piece of bio-booster alien armor that increases a human's natural powers a hundredfold, turning them into The Guyver.

Mark Hamill's top billing may lead you to believe that he's the titular hero, but he instead plays a supporting role as a CIA agent investigating Chronos. The real lead is Jack Armstrong (Student Bodies) as Sean Barker, an amateur martial artist who's the only person that can activate The Unit. When his girlfriend (Vivian Wu, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III) is endangered, Sean utilizes his newfound powers to take down Chronos and the Zoanoids.

Armstrong is a bland lead, but it's not entirely his fault. In addition to a mustachioed Hamill channeling Colombo, he has to compete with several scene-stealing character actors. Re-Animator's David Gale chews the scenery as the malevolent head of Chronos, briefly reuniting with Jeffrey Combs as the company's scientist, Dr. East (get it?). Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) plays Gale's right-hand Zoanoid with Jimmie Walker (Good Times) as his rapping goon. Linnea Quigley (The Return of the Living Dead) cameos as a scream queen.

But the real stars of the show are the creatures, the designs of which showcase boundless creativity. The Guyver looks like Ultraman by way of Clive Barker, and each Zoanoid adopts a different animal's traits. While a number of other artists were employed to pull off the myriad of monsters, George and Wang's fingerprints are all over the effects, imbuing the alien superhero movie with some disturbing body-horror.

Jon Purdy's script deviates significantly from source material not only in terms of story but also tone. While some of the manga's dark atmosphere and violence remain intact, it's undercut by goofy humor in an attempt to appeal to a younger demographic. Fans of Yoshiki Takaya's original creation were no doubt disappointed (Wang attempted a bit of a course correction with his 1994 sequel, Guyver: Dark Hero), but the tonal confusion is actually charming.

Originally cut down to a PG-13 rating in the US, The Guyver has been newly restored in 4K from the original, R-rated 35mm camera negative with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 options for Unearthed Films' 4K UHD + Blu-ray release. Far removed from the days of Jaws and Alien in which the monster was largely hidden in shadows, George and Wang put their creations on full display — and even with a crystal-clear restoration, the in-camera effects shine.

Two new audio commentaries are included. The first is a lively one with George and Wang, moderated by Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films author Dom O’Brien. It's not the most informative track — the filmmakers admit to not having seen the film in over two decades — but they're enjoying themselves so much that it hardly matters. The second commentary features creature crew members "Evil" Ted Smith and Wyatt Weed, who delve into the nitty-gritty of the effects.

Yuzna and George each sit down for thorough new interviews. Yuzna reveals that he's been approached about a remake, but the rights are complicated, while George's infectious energy lasts the entire 56 (!) minutes. Creature suit camera test footage is included with commentary options from George and Wang or Smith and Weed, while outtakes and a gag reel feature George and Wang commentary.

Other extras include: alternate title sequences in English, German and Spanish; English, German, Spanish, and French trailers (all carrying the alternate title Mutronics); and extensive promotional and production galleries. The collector's edition also comes with the soundtrack CD composed by Matthew Morse (Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker) and a booklet featuring liner notes by O’Brien and Morse.

The Guyver is available now on 4K UHD via Unearthed Films.

[wolven91]

A Happy, Imperfect Life

William sighed as he woke. Rain drummed on the slanted windows above his head, it was a steady, hard rain. The water that constantly sluiced off the window promised it was going to be a wet day, all day.

Thankfully, there was no need to leave his apartment. No job to go to, no bills to pay. One of the joys of being amongst the stars and being a member of an endangered species, meant that William had been offered a place of his own as soon as the settlement had been opened. A year later and his little slice of life had taken on his personality. Posters of alien films that he'd enjoyed, hard copies of their music were stacked in a ramshackle pile near the music player.

But William's favourite part of his home, was his bed. Designed for an ursidain, it was massive. Ursidains were usually over twice the height of a full-grown human, so length ways he had to scoot on his ass for several lengths before escaping via the bottom and with the giant bear-like creatures being so large, both in width and mass, the comparatively tiny human could roll sideways several times either way before falling off the bed.

It all meant that each night, William slept in an expanse of soft, cushioned heaven that he had only dreamed off back on Earth.

A small smile graced his face as he considered it all. He missed his family, that wasn't ever really going to heal completely, but their painful memory had at least scabbed over. Every now and then something would catch it and the pain of their loss would flair, but he was at least coming to accept that whilst unfair, his life wasn't over just because theirs were.

The sound of a tongue licking a muzzle with a half-asleep growl came from below his chin. Glancing down, William couldn't help but smirk at Torri's leather nose sticking out from beneath the massive blanket. Any time the blanket fell, and William was exposed to the cold, he'd need to wake Torri just so the canid could grab the blanket and pull it back into place. So much material to cover the expansive mattress made it quite heavy, more so than what William could leverage when laying down.

Torri, a male canid, was half asleep and laying on top of William. His head was resting on the man's torso, the size difference meaning that it alone was enough to cover him from hip to just below his collarbone. The canid's shoulders pressed the human's hips into the mattress and the arms were raised up, either side of the human. William's legs were splayed apart but hugging the canid's torso on either side. They weren't long enough to reach the canid's hips. The human was totally pinned. He may have been able to wiggle free by climbing up the bed, but these kinds of mornings were his favourite.

Canids ran hot, heating the human and with the weather so awful outside, the gentle warmth was bliss. There was only one problem, highlighted when the canid opened one eye and rolled his head upright, his furry jaw pressing into William's stomach.

"Oh! Careful, you're right on my bladder."

Wrong thing to say, the canid grinned wickedly and deliberately pressed down resulting in William scrabbling at the canid's head while complaining. Thankfully the creature stopped and raised himself on his arms before crawling up the bed, easily straddling the human.

"I'm cold now." Pouted William, up at Torri who smirked down whilst gently shaking his head in humorous disbelief. The canid leant down and placed a gentle kiss against the human's lips. William returned the kiss, stroking gentle fingers through the fine, if messy fur along the canid's jawline. They stayed there, enjoying tasting one another.

"Such cruelty I subject you to. I'm sure to lose my job."

"Definitely. I need the loo though, and you need to brush your teeth. Dog breath." William ribbed at the canid while rolling to one side, intending on leaving the bed.

"'Dog'? The little yappy things you showed me? If you're calling me a feral, I can show you feral..."

"Don't you da-ACK!" The human's words were cut off as the canid easily snatched the human up, bringing him back to the centre of the bed with ease. It was always humbling to be shown just how outclassed humanity was on the strength scale. Aside from the races that were smaller than humanity, the rest, the vast majority of the various species, were all stronger and all larger.

It was hard to accept that even if one devoted themselves to being the strongest fighter, the strongest human alive, it only meant that they might be on par with an average member of the larger species. Torri was a canid. The soldiers of The Galactic Community. They were feared by the established species as the boogeymen that came to correct any person, city, planet, or system that strayed too far from The Community's goals. Canids counted in the trillions and each and every one of them had all the equipment of a werewolf of yore.

Claws and teeth. Deadly, strong, fast, incredible trackers and fighters. They hit hard, healed rapidly, and worked with one another with such efficiency it bordered on telepathy. Trillions of canids.

Humans counted in the millions. Not on the planet, in the whole galaxy; a handful of millions. Fighting The Galactic Community wasn't an option. Fighting anyone wasn't an option. A lone human would be taken out in seconds. Even if every human moved as one, the sheer numbers of only one of the other species would overwhelm them, let alone the sixteen member species of The Community and the unknown others.

And what would humanity fight for? Earth didn't exist anymore. William had seen the Sol System with his own eyes. Where 'Earth' had been, was dust. Not even rocks remained. It was... hard... to accept that all humanity's culture and history was gone. Cave paintings from the first human-like creature were just memories. But all was not lost. There was no 'bad guy', no one vocally wanting humanity's destruction. The Community claimed what happened was a horrible accident. An event that nobody could have predicated or stopped beforehand. Whether that was true? Well... that was above William's paygrade. All he knew was that humans were adored by all sixteen races, they were the favourites.

Currently, William's concern was the massive, broad, vengeful tongue that was being slapped and wiped across his face. He brought his arms up to defend himself, shouting and crying out, although his laughter undercut any concerns that he was serious. The canid merely continued, forearms, cheeks, forehead, ears, exposed lips. All were open for him to 'attack' until Torri was satisfied. The human was panting, while wiping his face clear of drool and slobber in the calm that followed.

"Gross!!"

"Don't call me a 'dog' then. Although, that was fun, and you taste good..." Torri drew the last word out into a growl before lowering his head against and pushing his snout into the crux of William's neck and shoulder much to the human's 'squeaking'. Teeth nipped and nibbled until the human was able to extract himself from the canid's assault.

A few minutes later and the mood had changed significantly. The canid was holding his arms crossed, blocking the bathroom door, preventing William from leaving.

"You said you wanted to clean your teeth and you absolutely need to." Torri pointed out, glaring down at the human, pointing with a claw before recrossing his arms. This was the same look Torri gave anyone that he wanted to leave him alone when guarding somewhere, yet the human remained defiant.

"Brush. I want to 'brush' my teeth." William pointed out, emphasizing the point, whilst holding the still squirming creature between two fingers.

"That's inefficient and 'gross' as you say."

"I'm not sticking a bug in my mouth!"

"It's not a bug, it's a type of shrimp and it's how everyone keeps their teeth clean." Torri explained with the air of explaining that water was indeed wet.

"I'm not-" The human's words were lost as the canid, with frightening speed, reached forwards with one hand, and held the human's jaw in one hand, holding his teeth apart through his cheeks, then Torri, using his free arm, merely grabbed William's forearm and brought the squirming creature to his lips. Before William could react, the shrimp had pulled itself into the human's mouth and begun its work. The canid merely clamped his now free hand over the human's mouth with a bemused expression while William squirmed and screwed up his face, feeling the thing writhe and move.

"Don't swallow it. Never eat a dental shrimp." The canid explained while watching the human's face. Within ten seconds, William could feel the shrimp attempting to crawl back out through his lips, where the canid finally released him. The canid didn't bother trying to pluck the dental shrimp from the human's lips. Canids didn't have that kind of dexterity and would more likely leave William with at least a cut. Instead, the solider merely took a step back while William instinctively spat the tiny creature on to the floor whilst trying not to gip.

"There; you see?" Torri bent down and plucked the creature from the floor, before throwing it into the jar of green liquid kept by the bathroom sink with others of its kind. "All clean!"

William frowned, and hated the fact that when he ran a tongue over and along his teeth, they felt like he had just come from the dentist after a clean and polish. Better than what he could have done...

The various worlds and cultures amongst the stars had an infinite array of treasures to behold. They were post-scarcity societies. There were countless wonders that blew Willaim away like every time he got to see space stations the size of moons float through the sky. Then, there were the culture shocks. Reminders that this wasn't Earth, that it wasn't sanitised or what was expected on Earth.

The mere act of 'brushing' one's teeth was seen as primitive and disgusting. Whereas using a symbiotic creature to accomplish the same goal was completely normal. The human breathed in deep and calmed himself. When in Rome... He considered the event in a positive light, letting more of his standards from Earth slip further away.

"It's... kind of minty..?" He admitted honestly.

"That's the way! Now... the truly hard task of deciding what to do today. We could sit on the sofa and watch the new show or lay in bed and watch the new show."

"New show?"

"Aw! I forgot to tell you! They found a 'lapped top'! It's human and they put the show onto the data net. I don't know if you know it or not, you said that there were enough films not everyone had seen everything?" Torri explained, walking back into the living area.

"Do you know what it's called?" William asked, eyeing the squirming shrimp before turning off the bathroom light.

"Something like The Blue Extended Ring Lords? I'm not remembering it right, but it's something like that."

The human paused, before letting hope bloom inside of him. Torri had no idea what he was suggesting. William had to admit, the pros outweighed the cons with living with aliens sometimes. As he watched Torri create a nest on the sofa before patting the space between his legs for William to join him, the human gave a contented grin.

Life could still be good. 

[ratsinspaces-blog]

This is gonna be interesting…

Hello, I’m Rat and I like to make art and stories! The Moonglade Rangers is a Webcomic project that I’ve been working on on and off for over a year now. It’s a sci-fi story with comedy and lovecraftian horror elements that follows the adventures of Bianca, the first human member of The Moonglade Rangers - an interplanetary organization dedicated to the preservation of alien ecosystems. With a cast of colorful alien companions by her side, Bianca is assigned to help the newly formed Troop #97 in their mission to break a barrier of hard light separating the rest of the Milky Way Galaxy from a vast array of uncharted solar systems.

Since I know this summary of my comic may have gotten you curious, here are some of the answers to you questions

What’s A Moonglade Ranger?

The Moonglade Rangers are an interplanetary Organization dedicated to the preservation of alien ecosystems - whether it be via raising the numbers of breeding pairs in an endangered species from a gas giant, restoring a burnt down forest on a dwarf planet, or relocating an interplanetary fungai that’s invading a donut shaped planet(yes they’re real). The space faring members of the Moonglade Rangers are stationed on space bases, dwarf planets, and moons across the Milky Way and are routinely assigned to go on missions by the nations in the interplanetary alliance, The Moonglade Trust. Most Moonglade Rangers belong to numbered troops of 40-60 members led by a captain. While each troop has their own unique goals and specializations, they can all be lumped into three distinct categories -

What are the types of troops?

Troop #0 is the council. It’s comprised of the organizations most experienced members, all with the primary goal of running and protecting The Moonglade Rangers Organization. The Council approves new Troops, sends off troops on missions, creates space stations, makes and enforces rules, and puts up with all the other nonsense that comes with running a giant alien organization.

The even numbered Troops are known as the Receiver Troops. Their primary duty is to operate the organization’s many bases. Your average Moonglade Rangers base is an interesting place - filled to the brim with giant biomes full of monsters and laboratories testing new eclairs and technologies. It’s the job of the Receiver Troops to keep all these strange alien relics secure.

The odd numbered Troops are Known as Giver Troops. Their main duty is work on off-base missions. They’re often found living out of their ship as they travel from planet to planet searching for rare creatures and preventing ecological disasters. Being a Giver Troop is infamously deadly, and it isn’t uncommon for members of these troops to end their careers dead or crippled.

What’s The Deal With Troop #97?

Troop #97 is a newly approved Giver Troop founded with the ambitious purpose of exploring The Dark Forest, a vast uncharted space separated from the rest of the Milky Way by a mysterious hard light barrier. Not much is known about what’s contained within The Dark Forest, but it’s been the dream of Troop #97’s inquisitive captain Satyr to find out. The Troop is staffed with many skilled officers - including the feisty young first officer Aries, the goodhearted CMO Mothball, and the famous(or infamous depending on your view) Science Officer Gribblyn. The only thing standing in this promising new Troop’s way is the gosh darn barrier. They’ve fortunately recently found a temporary opening to the Dark Forest in the form of an unstable wormhole. They’ve even used the wormhole to travel to their first Dark Forest Planet - a terrestrial planet called Earth. But it’s only a matter of when, not if the wormhole will close. Thankfully they’ve found an unexpected alley that may help them permanently open the Dark Forest, an earthling called Bianca.

I would like to say thanks for coming to this blog! I hope you enjoy your stay with these silly space characters of mine!

[waz-png]

An ode to prehistory.

250 million years ago, and the beginnings of a new era in Earth’s history is forming. The air is clean and the forests are lush, and mammals are considered a rare treat. Reptiles grew to alien sizes, dominating the land, sea, and air. It was a time of kill or be killed, where survival was the only goal. This was one of the toughest and most relentless eras in Earth’s history, and will forever be known, as the rise of the dinosaurs.

Today, Homo sapiens is the most dangerous species on the planet, and we are in abundance. There was a time when we were considered endangered, when our species bottlenecked, yet having the intelligence that we do, we found it easy to bounce back. Looking around at the world we have created, it’s easy to forget what we really are. Back in deep time, before our species even began, animals like us were practicing familiar human emotions. 2 million years ago, animals were practicing compassion, and from these animals evolved us. Homo sapiens may have not been around long, but in the 300,000 years of our existence, we have revolutionised the world, unlocking intelligence, conquering death, and becoming the most powerful animal ever seen since the death of the dinosaurs.

Prehistory is considered to be everything that happened before the beginnings of human civilisation, including the story of how we rose to the ranks. It is something that people have swiftly lost interest in, unbothered by the incredible intricacy of how we got here, and how truly insignificant we are in the 4 billion year long timeline of our planet’s history. People can go through life believing that this planet was made for us, that humanity was the goal; but if that is true, who would want this to be the goal? Why are we doing everything in our power to destroy the home that was gifted to us? Humanity was never the goal, and it is purely by sheer luck that we are even here in the first place.

Whether people realise it or not, we owe our lives to the dinosaurs, for without their noble sacrifice spurring the rise of the mammals, we wouldn’t be here. Who knows what the planet would’ve looked like today, if the asteroid didn’t catapult evolution into a new direction. Mammals may have grown to abundance, but I doubt humans would even be here. We are ultimately a feeble creature, sporting no claws or fur or sharp teeth, reminding us in itself that humanity was never the goal.

For many, it is assumed that dinosaurs have forever been known due to the age of their fossils, but even Abraham Lincoln wouldn’t have known about these creatures. This is why prehistory is so fascinating; within 200 years we have discovered incredible amounts of groundbreaking information about what the Earth was like 65 million years ago, about how animals back then lived and moved and ate. Though we are a corrupt species, our ability to discover can never be faulted.

The Earth has held the last moments of thousands of animals in place for millions of years, locking them in time. Only now can they be discovered by animals of the future, being dug up and brushed off, their ancient relics placed in a pose for us new animals to gaze upon in admiration. It’s beautiful, how we have gained so much ungodly power and unmatchable intelligence, able to wipe out entire species within seconds, yet we still find the time to honour those prehistoric beasts, dedicating whole museums to their existence. We’re able to chance upon a fossil, and unlock new knowledge that would blow the minds of people 200 years ago. We’re able to hold a piece of the past in our hands, knowing that what we’re holding is an individual that was once living, and use our inventions to discover every detail about its life. We look upon the skeletons of mighty sauropods, and can easily picture their bodies full of life, how elegant they would stride, how chilling their songs were.

We are a powerful species, climbing the rungs of the evolutionary ladder to a time as alien as ours. Our power derives from creatures of the past, beginning in the pumping hearts and adrenaline-fuelled veins of tiny mammals brave enough to fight back against the toughest climate in Earth’s history. We owe our lives to those early mammals, ones whose days were fuelled only by the goal of avoiding the jaws of mighty reptiles. And we owe our lives to those reptiles, too, since without them our mammalian ancestors couldn’t dominate the Earth as well as we have today.

It is a beautiful thing, paying homage, as we practice the ancient art of compassion for animals more powerful than us, honouring their deaths by displaying their mighty bones in glorious forms across the world. We fix their teeth and shine their horns, filling in the gaps to make their revival a perfect one. And, if by some miraculous chance those animals are looking over us today, I’m sure they will be thankful that someone has found them, that someone has not forgotten them. We have allowed them to breathe once again, instead of leaving them to be suffocated in stone for the rest of time and back.

This is an ode to prehistory, a time more deadly than today, ruled by animals more deadly than us. Without them we would be nothing, so honour them, and thank them, for we might kill the Earth before it has a chance to pave our path of evolution for the future, ending all life here. If we can’t look into the future, admire upon the past; it is from them we have grown, and, if Earth ends with us, we mustn’t forget to thank them on the way out.

Two Earthlings, John Brosio. 2003.

[fatehbaz]

There is this desert wildflower -- a rare plant, an endemic species -- known to inhabit only about 10 acres of land along the base of the Silver Peak Range at Rhyolite Ridge. The plant is small, short, unimposing. The plant’s home -- within Nevada borders, a bit north of Death Valley, a bit west of Tonopah, and a bit east of the Inyo Mountains and the desert valley below -- sits near the ecological transition zone between the Great Basin ecoregion and the Mojave Desert.

Surveillance cameras, installed in the desert, now monitor the wildflowers.

The plant: Tiehm’s buckwheat (Eriogonum tiehmii). More than half of all of the surviving plants -- more than half of the species -- were killed or damaged in summer 2020.

Amidst ongoing mining surveys in the region, Australian mining company ioneer is seeking a permit to open a lithium mine at Rhyolite Ridge. If their plans are approved, it has been estimated that about 50% to 75% of Tiehm’s buckwheat will be destroyed.

So of course, there is controversy. In that context, the mine developer, politicians, land management agencies, the governor’s office, field ecologists, and environmental groups are all closely watching the creature. And they’re all arguing fiercely over what, exactly, happened in summer 2020 that led to the plant’s death and destruction.

-------

I’d been following this controversy, but it wasn’t until I read a recent article that I was able to see the comments of multiple biologists brought together in one place. Daniel Rothberg, writing for The Nevada Independent, synthesized a lot of the ongoing controversy and research in an enlightening article from 10 January 2021, where he cites plenty of biologists with, at times, conflicting ideas about what was responsible for the destruction. (Most of the quotes here can be found/verified in that article. Basically, all I’m doing here is summarizing Rothberg’s reporting, so I’d recommend just checking out his article.)

-------

In 2019, after the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned state and federal agencies to list the plant as endangered, the Australian mining company basically said (here, in Rothberg’s words) “that a mitigation proposal for Tiehm’s buckwheat,” rather than full-blown legal protections, ‘would maintain the species” adequately, with the company apparently preemptively deflecting criticism by “emphasizing the need for more lithium in supply chains for batteries and electric vehicles.”

So, in September 2020, it was announced that thousands of the plants had recently been found dead, with thousands more damaged.

In October 2020, a supervisory biologist (Jim Morefield) with the Nevada Department of Natural Heritage submitted a report stating that “of about 44,000 individuals, one could estimate that 16,000 plants were killed [in summer 2020] and another 11,000 damaged, leaving about 17,000 plants undamaged as of September 17 [2020].”

Some botanists -- working for environmental groups, universities, and land management agencies -- are saying that the “staggering” number of damaged plants and the extremely sudden occurrence of the damage suggest that the plants might’ve been targeted purposely by humans. (A field survey sponsored by the Center for Biological Diversity submitted: “The buckwheats appear to have been dug up by small shovels or spades.”)

Other scientists -- including some working for land management agencies, universities, or otherwise contracted by the lithium mine company -- say that rodents were responsible. This claim (about rodents) raises more questions: If rodents did engage in herbivory (which hadn’t previously seemed to affect this buckwheat species, especially at such scale and pace), then what would’ve driven the rodents to do suddenly harvest buckwheat?

-------

Settler-colonial land management agencies can’t find a consensus about what happened.

Rodents? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service visited the site to assess evidence of rodent herbivory on the buckwheat. They claimed that white-tailed antelope ground squirrels might’ve been the most likely responsible vandal.  The study’s lead author, a botanist from the region, acknowledged the tension: “Many biologists wrote into the Fish and Wildlife Service with their opinions that this could not possibly have been caused by rodents [...].”

The Nevada Department of Wildlife also investigated the site and instead reported that, if rodents had indeed been responsible, the damage looks more consistent with foraging behavior of pocket gophers. But even the department’s director also added: “the scale over which the disturbance occurred by far exceeds known home range size for an individual pocket gopher” and also doubted that multiple pocket gophers would simultaneously shift to targeting the buckwheat, especially at such a scale.

Meanwhile, the Nevada Department of Natural Heritage report on the damage estimated that, as summarized by Rothberg’s article: “if 27,000 buckwheat plants were damaged or killed, 900 individual rodents would have had to have consumed one plant per day for the course of a month.”

To be fair, some other ecologists in the region, some cited in Rothberg’s article, do reference how 2020 was the driest year on record for the Great Basin, and these ecologists acknowledge that they’ve seen some evidence of rodents’ herbivory in times of drought. Part of the implication: Anthropogenic climate change and associated sudden drought/heat might drive rodents to rapidly change their habits and target unusual foraging items, like the buckwheat.

-------

Of course, James Calaway, executive chariman for the mining company ioneer, referencing the USFWS study (the one that name-drops white-tailed antelope ground squirrels as the culprit), said that the study “conclusively shows that the destruction of Tiehm’s buckwheat at Rhyolite Ridge discovered in mid-September was exclusively animal caused.”

“Conclusively.” OK.

Patrick Donnelly, director of the Center for Biological Diversity, speaking about the origin of the destruction, said recently about the source of the destruction (quoted in the Las Vegas Sun): “It does not matter if it was a squirrel or a kangaroo or aliens or James Calaway himself. The plant needs to be listed under the Endangered Species Act. It should have been listed when we discovered the damage."

Ben Grady is president of the Eriogonum Society (Eriogonum being the genus/family name for buckwheat) and a botanist at Ripon College. As quoted in Rothberg’s article: “I study buckwheat, and normally there is not a lot of herbivory on buckwheat.”

Naomi Fraga is the director of conservation at the California Botanic Garden. Working with the Center for Biological Diversity, she visited the buckwheat site to perform an assessment of the damage. As quoted in Rothberg’s article, speaking about the USFWS’s study: “I just don’t think it’s a case-closed.” Fraga, referencing the possibility that rodents were responsible: “It would be extraordinary.” Also Fraga: “That is one of the largest puzzles that is hard to reconcile with a natural event: the targeted nature, how specific it was and that it occurred across a whole range of the species.”

-------

See photos of the desert wildflower, and read more: Daniel Rothberg. “The curious case of a rare plant’s destruction raises further questions about the extinction crisis, climate change and the role of humans.” The Nevada Independent. 10 January 2021.

Interesting plant, interesting tale.

[ajconstantine]

A Gleam of Water Darkly

For @tawnyontumblr, because she asked for it.

This is a snippet from my WIP A Gleam of Water Darkly, which is a Our Flag Means Death AU, set in the world of Pirate of the Caribbean, (before the time of Jack Sparrow) because I wanted a world with magic, and water spirits, and curses, and all of that fun stuff. It has a happy ending, I promise.

-------

A movement caught Stede's eye and he spun, a gasp escaping him at the sight of a horse standing in the water near the shore. Although calling it a mere horse was like calling a diamond a hunk of glass. This creature was a stunning vision of gleaming white, silky strands of the mane and tail streaming down with nary a tangle, coat gleaming impossibly brightly in the dim light. It almost seemed to be shimmering, lean muscles flexing as it shifted in the water. Black eyes regarded him with wariness. It tossed his head, sending its shimmering main rippling through the air as Stede took an involuntary step forward. 

Before he knew it he had stepped close enough to touch, his hand sliding along that impossibly silky smooth mane and—

~Run, run, run, free, wind, run, run, run~

Images blasted through his mind of flying through the undergrowth, bursting free of the trees and running fast, oh so fast, insignificant animals scurrying away from our hooves—

He stumbled back, gasping as he broke contact, nearly falling. The—mind—if the maelstrom of raw sensory data could be called that—threatened to engulf him. But the last image that had flashed through his mind from the creature was of a skeleton tucked into a large bed, surrounded by treasure somewhere underwater. That had to be it, what he and Ed had been searching for!

“Where is that?” he asked eagerly. “How can I get to it?”

A toss of the mane into the air, as it pranced closer, as if in invitation. Stede cautiously touched his fingertips to its flank, more prepared now, for the alien emotions and images that his brain translated into words. 

~Ride, run, free, run run run~

“You’ll take me there?”

A pulse of agreement filled his mind, colored with wild eagerness. This had to be the Baekhest the farmer had spoken of. He had talked of it being extremely dangerous, but small towns were full of superstition, and the other water spirits had never hurt him, had helped him even. Surely his ring would protect him, as it always had done. 

“Will you hurt me? Or ah, kill me?”

The Baekhest shook its head, which was a strange gesture to see on a horse-like shape. ~No no no, can’t~

Well. He had come this far and would not be deterred. Ed desperately needed something that was in that treasure trove, and Stede would be damned if he let the pirate endanger his life by continuing to pursue it. 

“Come on then. Maybe I can stand on that chest over there to mount you.”

The creature’s hooves splashed in the shallow water as it pawed at the ground and shook its head violently. Stede looked at it, puzzled, then understanding flashed through him. “You can’t leave the water, can you?”

The Baekhest settled, as if in agreement. Stede sighed. Maybe he could convince the creature to kneel or something. He stepped forward into the water, his ringed hand reaching out. The Baekhest held itself perfectly still, watching him.

As soon as his hand made full contact, ~Run run run fast~ his fingers jerked into a fist around the silky mane. He could almost feel the wind in his hair—mane—as his other hand found its way unbidden to the creature’s neck. ~strong, powerful, fierce~ 

Strength flooded him the likes of which he had never felt before, coursing through his veins like quicksilver that burned. Without thinking about it, he tightened his grip and easily swung himself up on the creature’s back.

Fierce exultation flooded him as the Baekhest stepped forward onto dry land, and reared up as if in victory. ~Run, hunt, joy, rend~ Images hurtled through his mind—hunting down our prey, the satisfying crunch of bones between our strong teeth—

Too late, he realized he had made a terrible mistake. He needed to get off—but he couldn’t make his legs move. They were frozen as if he was a part of the Baekhest now. 

“No! No! This isn’t what I wanted!” He struggled against the wild, monstrous pressure of the otherworldly mind battering against his, threatening to swallow him whole.

His last despairing thought was Edward, I’m so sorry. I’ve failed I’ve failed you, as the Baekhest whirled to plunge into the pool and the water enclosed over his head.

[your-local-lakewood-dragoness]

Y'know how everyone has one of those werewolf AUs, right?

Well, I have decided to do that too! For OK KO! But: what I'm doing with it is, to me, a really neat... unique take on said werewolf AU theme, but it's involves an alien creature that's sorta reminiscent of one but also not. I... don't... know. Just lemme set up the newest AU this way:

The premise of it takes place just moments after KO has merged and awakes to find out he eradicated everyone. (Very akin to the actual scene itself) The P.O.T.U. is there for the wish stuff. Wishing everyone to life remains the same, everyone else living their best life..... except him. After what this KO has pulled, the atrocities he committed, the powers he completely stripped people of, the lives he took. After causing this much damage when he was TKO.... he feels he doesn't deserve to be called a hero after everything. He's not careful with the word choice for his part. So a monster (what he calls himself) like him deserves a wish that would for sure punish him for his crimes. So he makes it, and there's this spirit/ghost of an alien werewolf species, called an Alterwolf. It ambushes him, when KO least expects it, and eventually makes itself at home in his head.

As sad as this sounds, KO in this AU believes he deserves a penalty for this. Cause... the stuff that went on in "Let's Fight to The End."

----------

The Alterwolf ghost, who goes by the name Lupus, responds to KO by afflicting him with a horrible curse: at every full moon night, he involuntarily becomes the same aforementioned werewolf-like alien creature, with very little self-control, but KO is aware of what the spirit forces him to do, but doesn't bother to intervene. He runs rampant at these nights, terrorizing the people he faced at the tournament itself.

-----

As few years go by, and he becomes a little older, (present day in the year this AU takes place; he's a teenager by then) he reluctantly tries to speak with the possessor and build a decent relationship with him, but one additional transformation trigger surfaces during this period: The second trigger would have no full moon involved, and for this- changes when he is caught in a situation that really threatens/endangers him. This occurs in reaction to said danger-- a boost in adrenaline.

Designs/about the characters:

This is him when he was alive ^^^^^^^^^^

And this him now... ^^^^^^^^^^

And Lupus is the ghost of a 600+ year old Alterwolf that might have some issues coming to terms with his destructive/potentially murderous tendencies.

This extraterrestrial mangy mutt is known to be these from his personality: Vindictive, sarcastic, fairly sadistic (if pushed far enough), fondness for making dark jokes/commentary, thirsty for moonlight, monstrous habits, lashing out at people he considers annoyances, believes killing/murder isn't much to make a fuss about, violent and sometimes-- when he doesn't admit it openly-- on occasion... protective.

From what you can guess, KO absolutely hates those full moon nights where he's forced by him to change this way. And yes.....

He's as hairy as you imagine him to be in that form. So here:

This was him at the emotionally fragile, ripe age of 6 - 11. (And just a mere three inches taller when he looks this way.)

Doesn't really make it better he's been stuck with this curse for a couple years now.

Yes. You read right. No need to get your eyes checked. It's been that long.

This is him-- now.

To lighten the overwhelming Alterwolf symptoms, KO wears patches Dendy was more than welcome to make to him, (he started using them 2 weeks after reaching his teen years officially) stating what it says in his design picture.

But only is he allowed to wear them and keep it on the week preceding AND during the week of that full moon night. (But that doesn't mean it's effective in any way if he feels that adrenaline rush.)

When that week does approach closer however, he gets this circular light that would progressively glow brighter on his chest--

--until that night comes, and it fully emerges as an orb embedded on it.

Then it looks like this:

Now these days he has a more stronger, and maybe a tad more taller appearance whenever exposed to both things.

Look at that... And take a peak at how big he gets. I mean, wow.

_-_-_-_

I think that's it for the important stuff. So here's some fun facts you should probably know! In the next post because a single one per post only allows 10 apparently. 😑

Here: https://your-local-lakewood-dragoness.tumblr.com/post/663901461854535680/alright-time-for-alterwolf-imprisonmentcurse-au

[cuddlecave]

is xiphoid

first: you *are* good

next: alright thingrey au

how bout an alternate 'the team finds out the shapeshifter is still alive, whoops!' but in an utterly disastrous way

it's been a while since antarctica! a long while, and gord and benr *meant* to tell the team about them ages ago, when benr became human shaped again, but there just never seemed to be a good time? and really, whats one more day, week, month...

anyway the team is utterly oblivious of benr, but being aware of gord, means that's they've noticed he's not been spending as much time with them! been spending, like, a lot of time at home, actually--or away from town. sometimes even avoiding them! they're worried, bc really, this is not the way to deal with trauma, gord! you don't pull away from your friends, you get help! just bc you can't see a therapist doesn't mean you shouldn't try to process it!

anyway, gords generally cagey about where he is, but on a rare team night where he had come to hang over...they very much on purpose get him drunk. now, drunk gord is still pretty fucking cagey (he loves his boyf and would never endanger him if possible), which is a shame, but tom is able to ask a question casually enough that gord doesn't think about it...and ends up telling them he goes out to the [insert desert area here] sometimes. when pressed on why he goes, he seems to realize he made a mistake, and bolts, cutting the night short.

now, credit to gord, him and benr don't go back to that particular desert area after that. but the team are damn smart, and figure that just bc he's not at that area anymore, doesn't mean he's not in *any* desert area anymore.

takes some trial and error--figuring out when gord seems to be out (he never answers his phone when he's out, his car is not at home), and then checking a desert area (didn't get anything but desert the first few times). but eventually...they find his car.

things paint...a worrying picture. there's camping/chilling gear in the car (chairs and a shitty tent, left from when gord tried camping several years ago and never bothered to remove from his car) but they're not set up and gords not there? the doors arent locked and the keys are in ignition? (gord doesn't want to drop his keys running from benr, he did that once and it sucked. also why he doesn't bring his phone! but he's out like 55 miles from the nearest town, who's gonna steal his car?) there's torn up foliage around, as if something big came through (benr may give gord a head start, but he still likes to be big enough to a) chase well, and b) nom gord after), and most worryingly--a set of human footprints in the sand, clearly running based on stride. and some strange larger footprint *next to them*.

their friend was ambushed by something big, and is going to get got. (this is not entirely untrue. not ambushed, but definitely going to get got, lol.) they set off quickly following the footprints.

meanwhile-gord and benr are having a *great* time! the exercise feels nice for both of them, it's a cloudy day so it's shady, they're gonna order pizza and play playstation after this--its gonna be a wonderful day. it already is!

gord, at this point, is beginning to tire out. benr is getting closer. he pushes himself a bit farther, to stretch out the chase just a touch longer, and makes a sharp turn around a rock formation, causing benr to briefly crash into it, giving him a few more steps. but he's tired, and well, benr has better stamina--and agility. benr bounds over the rock formation and uses it's height to gain just a bit of an extra boost, and tackle-hugs gord. they nearly crash into some sharp shrubs, but they're fine.

gord turns and looks up at benr and grins, and benr leans down to him, and gives him a long kiss. gord hums in contentment and relaxes. he's gonna get to doze, now, before driving. naptime, hell yeah.

benr picks him up to swallow him and he just remains basically limp, exhausted, letting benr manhandle him, gently maneuvering him into his jaws. he's swallowed with little fanfare, and happily settles in his tum, almost immediately starting to doze as benr starts to walk.

then he hears screaming, and benr sharply moves, and suddenly he's wide awake.

-

the team follow the tracks. it's a long walk, even moving at speed--gord must have really been booking it, which means hopefully he's still safe, got away some how. surely nothing would chase him for too long, when he was outrunning it this well. the trail goes on and on and on--its looking less like this thing gave up. and gords footsteps are shorter, he's not managing a hard run anymore. they're coming up on a rock formation--its still several hundred feet away. close enough to see a figure that can only be gord run from behind it, but far, far to far away to do anything about what happens next.

they see him turn sharply, and something big hits the rocks, clearly taken off guard. he makes it a few steps. and the team look on in absolute horror as what can only be the shapeshifter jumps off the top of the rocks, and tackles gord to the ground. they're partially obscured by the desert plants, but it's enough to see, even at this distance, the rippling body parts of the creature, pinning gord down.

the thing leans its head down toward gord, and they can't see what's happening with the plants and distance. and then.

it picks a completely unmoving gord up, and swallows him whole.

oh, god. it snapped his neck. it ate him. it's going to try to finish what it started in antarctica oh fuck does anyone have a flamethrower?!

a seeing it stand and start to leisurely walk in the direction they came from, they're finally broken from they're spell of silence and horror. somebody starts screaming angrily, and bubby has a lighter and big spray, making a makeshift flamethrower--and they run towards it in vengeance.

it notices them and sharply turns, booking it in the opposite direction.

(1/?)

continued under the read more!

(cont) oh fuck, thinks benr. this is not good. Not Good at all. gord frantically asks what's going on?! and goes cold when benr says 'ur friends saw us. and buby has fire.' the good thing is, benr is bigger and faster than humans. the bad thing is that he's been running all morning and now has over 200 pounds of boyf swaying in him, even if he's holding gord as tight as possible so he's not getting thrown everywhere. he's not gonna last long, and there's nowhere to hide. gord is furiously thinking. but he's also exhausted, and panicking. the thoughts in his brain are sticky like drying glue when he tries do something with them, and he can feel benr slowing. it's not by much, but his alien bf getting hurt *at all* is unacceptable, so. he decides to stop thinking and start doing. he tells benr to 'stop and let me out! as fast as you can!' and benr skids to a stop and turns half facing the approaching team, and splits his abdomen open and gord comes tumbling out into the light, getting immediately covered in dust and mud sticking to the saliva covering him. it's kinda gross, but at the moment it's not even registering, bc in those moments buby has nearly caught up. gord stands, pushes benr behind him, who let's himself be pushed purely out of surprise, and holds his hands out. 'its me! I'm fine it's ok it's me, please I can explain, just turn off the fire! it's ok!' but the thing is, as far as they're concerned...'you fucking imposter we saw gord die! get a better lie!' and buby is still running full tilt at them. gord has enough time to think, *aw fuck, this is gonna hurt*, before buby lights his makeshift flamethrower and gord is suddenly extremely hot, in pain, and knocked on his back. he can see the sky for a quick moment, before what can only be benr is standing over him, protecting him from further fire. a few limbs quickly use the dirt to put out the couple embers on his shirt (well, what's left of his shirt...) buby jerks back at the large being leaping in his direction, but it stops as it stands over the gord-imposter. which... is not moving. or writhing like the shapeshifter, or trying to split off from the damaged part. it's just...lying there. shallowly breathing as if in shock. buby gets a bit of a sinking feeling. - I got tired after writing this but basically benr tries to angle around enough to protect gord and also use teal green on him from another mouth. the team quickly figure out something is fucky, and that gord...might not be a Thing?? gord is in zero shape to have a real conversation--burns are serious business, and he basically passes out during teal-green. so why was the creature... protecting gord?? especially if it ate him?!?! there's an uneasy (extremely uneasy) truce, and benr carries gord back to the car, flamethrower pointed at them the whole way. they leave gords car and take them both back to toms place, in the car they drove in. it is supremely awkward. especially when gord wakes up for half a minute, kisses benr, and passes out again. not sure how it would go from there,, .... didn't mean to accidentally write a minific but here we are!! I really like the 'extreme misunderstanding vore' trope, lol.

ohhhh man this is like an angsty version of a regular not-a-game au idea i've thought up before o: thinking about what would happen next... the whole car ride home, benb was hitting gord with more healing (tho he gave the guys ample warning first about what he was doing so they wouldn't think he was attacking or something), and thanks to that, gord's burns are healed up to the point where he doesn't need hospitalization, just some burn cream and good rest to finish it off. (and a hair cut. benb is very sad that he couldn't repair gord's burned hair and beard. when gord's awake again he's just "Dude it'll grow back, don't worry." "i knooowwww but it still sucks. your hair was SO pretty. and you look like a sixteen-year-old without facial hair. kinda weird. babyfaceman." "WOW shut up."). when gord's awake and aware enough again, they all have a sit down and get an explanation from him and benb. benb goes on to basically give a summary of his whole backstory; explain what exactly he his and how he got to earth, and what he was trying to do both at the b'mesa base and that first norwegian base he first thawed out in. when he gets to the part about why he never wanted to hurt the sciteam, that does a pretty good job of warming them up to him. "the thing about that frzn guy is he was a total asshole. HUGE douche canoe. and i was like 'maaaan i don't wanna be this guy, he suuuuucks', but then i noticed that he'd hardly ever interacted with anybody else there. new guy on the base. nobody knew him, or knew what he was like. so i figured i could get away with acting like myself instead of him, and nobody would notice. i've never been able to just be me around other people, only when alone. i didn't really... know how it was gonna turn out. but you guys ended up liking me! you invited me to come hang out on breaks, and play video games, and watch movies, and talk about soda and photography and it was fun and nice and good! you were nice to my dog body, too. giving me a name and everything... you're all great cools. i got attached to you guys. like, super attached. didn't wanna hurt you, ever. 's the reason i never touched the sled dogs, too- i knew tommy would be sad if something happened to the dogs, and i didn't wanna make him sad." (bubs probably acts like he's not touched by that, but he is :B and also, like i've said in a post on my main, bubs feels some sympathy towards benb after hearing about his origins as an unethical science experiment. bubs wasn't grown in a lab in this au, but he was still subjected to some painful "knowledge tubes" experiments due to his contract with b'mesa. so he still knows that feel, bro. unwilling lab rat solidarity.) benb apologizes for everything in antarctica, and bubs apologizes for torching gord, but then the team asks what the fuck? happened in the desert?? and gord explains the "one-sided tag" game they do to help benb burn up energy, and that benb was just carrying gord to let him rest from the run on the way back to the car. ("Carrying you in his stomach, though?" "nah i don't put him where food goes. it's the uhhhh *lip smack* nap organ. custom made for sleeping in. bedry time.") (they also at one point explain "also we're dating" to which gord gets accused of being a monsterfucker ha ha. and then benb's like "ew no i'm ace" and harold goes on about how beautiful interracial young love is.)

[makkoskafanfic]

For the wip thing: Berserk 😉

Thank you for asking for this one! 🥰

I started to write this when I was re-reading the Golden Age arc for about the 100th time and I really wanted Guts and Griffith to just get on with it.

I dropped it when I realised no matter what I wrote, canon had it a hundred times better. You can't write fanfic for perfect stories.

Griffith didn’t consider the world to be a complicated place. To the contrary, he thought matters of life were rather straightforward, simple even. He had a dream – or rather an aim, as he knew he was going to achieve it, and everything and everyone was a tool to help achieving that. He didn’t consider himself evil for it, simply pragmatic. He was, in a way, even doing good, providing his men with a reason, a goal to live for.

With steady steps he was advancing up the marble road leading up to the castle. Why would he be satisfied with anything less than the top? His comrades – his underlings - knew they were expendable. They didn’t seem to mind. They had their own aims in life, incomparably smaller they were than Griffith’s though, and they were all moving towards those. It was a dangerous world, where the strongest ruled, and they all knew and accepted that.

And there was Guts.

His skills, his power, his determination was unequalled by anyone but Griffith himself. Yet, he didn’t seem to have a dream of his own. For all intents and purposes, he was the perfect tool. He was not simply willing to do what Griffith commanded – he appeared to yearn for the White Hawk to direct him, to give him a purpose, a task he could live for while it lasted. He seemed the most content when Griffith used him as an extension of his will. Despite his usual gloomy attitude, he was clearly joyful when he could swing his ridiculously oversized sword on a battlefield for the glory of the Bank of the Hawk. For the glory of Griffith.

Problem was, he couldn’t think of Guts as a tool only.

Griffith sighed in annoyance. Being bedridden was a real nuisance. When the sycophants of the court didn’t try to lick his feet in hopes of some gain, he had nothing better to do than to stare at the white ceiling and let his mind wander on all kinds of things. Like Guts, their last fight with that monster Zodd, the castle, the path to the throne, Guts, the Band Of Hawk, Princess Charlotte. Guts. Guts, Guts, Guts.

“What an annoying man,” he muttered.

“Did you say something, sir?” a maid appeared out of thin air, looming above his bed in concern. She was the one who seemed to jump on every opportunity to treat his wounds or give him a bath, letting her hand linger just longer than it was necessary. Griffith smiled at her faintly. Maybe when he got his strength back, he could entertain her.

“Thank you, I’m quite alright,” he waved her away, and with obvious hesitance, she went.

He had to come to a decision on what to do with this growing obsession with his Raiders Captain. It was starting to overshine much more important things and that wouldn’t do.

Should he try to bury these feelings, this yearning? They provided no contribution to the great scheme of his plans, so why harbour them? Problem was, he wasn’t sure at all he was able to do that. Pragmatic he was above anything else, he wasn’t heartless, wasn’t above having emotions.

He could get rid of Guts. The man would take on any task he bestowed upon him, and he could find him a quest dangerous enough not even he would survive. However, just the thought of Guts dying filled him with unbearable pain. When they faced Zodd, he had two things on his mind. One was that he couldn’t let anything, not even a demon with superhuman power stand in his way and prevent him from advancing forward. The other was the burning need to keep Guts alive. The two of them together, they could do anything. The warrior was his, and he would die when Griffith deemed it his time to die. But that time wasn’t now.

The third option was to act on his obsession. Burn it out of his system, so to say. Take Guts as his lover, to make him his, completely.

His heart beat faster at the thought. Young he was, he had several lovers of both genders. He always engaged them for some gain and never for pleasure alone. Sleeping with Guts would be quite different. He yearned to feel those muscles under his touch, he wanted to subdue that brutal physical power, to hear that gruff voice groan and beg for pleasure…

He was going to have it. Guts was his and he could do whatever he pleased with him. And his Captain was going to enjoy it. He felt thrilled by the prospect, uncharastically excited. There was this man he couldn’t keep his usual cynicality around but with his decision made, he was no longer frustrated about that. Why be torn over it, when he could just enjoy it? Decision made, he closed his eyes and sank into a deep, healing sleep.

*/*/*

The hard tiles of the rooftop dig into the muscles on his back, but Guts didn’t let himself be bothered by it. He wasn’t sure how long he was lying there, staring at his sword, at the full moon, pondering, pondering, pondering over the conversation he had today with Griffith.

“There’s no reason,” he said. “Do I need a reason for that? A reason for risking my life to save you.”

He was recalling these quiet, matter of fact words for the millionth time, wanting them to be true, yet scared that they were. Regretting they were interrupted before he gained their meaning on the spot. There was that look in Griffith’s blue eyes - what did it mean? It made Guts' heart race not unlike battle did, although there was no hostility in them. His leader was a very rational man, and it was unlike him to risk his life without a clear gain. Useful as Guts was to him, it made no sense to endanger himself in a fight like that. When he said that, asked if he needed to have a reason to risk his own life to save Gut’s, he appeared as if he didn’t know the drive for his own self-dangerous actions. Yet, the glance he cast at him spoke of something different. Griffith always did everything with a very good reason, even if that reason wasn’t obvious at first to simple men like him. That look though - he would have said more, some kind of an explanation, that would have made the whole situation clear, Guts was sure, if they weren’t interrupted.

But they were, and that made Griffith enter his politics-in-the-court mode, which was so alien Guts. He hated to watch how his leader bowed his head, uttered humble words, even if he understood why he did it.

Well, the King and his companions did cut their talk short. Even if Guts felt resentful and curious about what Griffith would have said, what was done was done.

He did it for me, he thought. He risked his life for no higher reason than to keep Guts alive. He turned this around his mind. It seemed unlikely and yet, maybe it was true.

The moon above him seemed as unreachable, as far above him as Griffith is. A magical, mythical creature. He adjusted the hold of his sword in his hands. The blade was reality, the only thing he knew. He was but a mere swordsman, even if he was a talented one. Yet Griffith deemed him worthy…

He knew only one thing. From now on, he would wield his sword for him. Griffith very much had his dreams, he knew what he wanted and was doing everything he could to achieve them. The least Guts could do was to help him.

[execatrix]

It’s also come to my attention that for some reason people really hate Pax?? 

Or maybe for no reason at all, since the worst of this fandom has a sort of cult mentality...but anyway...

I didn’t particularly love him, either. I actually didn’t care too much about him as a character at all. But I think his presence in the show made some kind of point and added something challenging for Ben to deal with, specifically in his position of being the hero.

Unlike Looma, for instance, who, like I mentioned in my last post, didn’t add much of anything besides a glimpse into another planet’s culture and courting dynamics. Which wasn’t even the focus for most of the time she was involved in plotlines.

There’s a lot of balancing morality and ethics in Ben’s position. It’s not easy to be in his place because of that.

A character like Pax - an activist for the rights of endangered species - brings on something new related to the alien themes running throughout the show. Something Ben, as a hero who’s job is to protect and avenge the innocent, should hypothetically also care about. 

After all, alien species who aren’t “sapient” like most aliens Ben meets, are also living creatures. They are on par with Earth animals, and deserve at least the same kind of rights and protection as Earth animals do. They shouldn’t be abused or taken advantage of, and that is where Pax’s motivation is good. Ben even agreed that he meant well.

Pax gets Ben wrapped up in his activism because it’s for the betterment of a species who deserves to know what freedom looks like. It seems like a harmless and even admirable motivation. But Ben didn’t know that a species like the Screegit could be dangerous if let loose in a nitrogen filled environment like Earth. 

The mutated Screegit caused so much destruction that Ben could hardly keep up to make sure no civilizations would get seriously hurt. He broke through tracks and Ben had no choice but to resort to getting run over and use himself as the makeshift missing train tracks.

Activism - something fueled by generally good morals and ethics - ended up causing harm, proving that morality, ethics, and avenging the innocent isn’t as straightforward as it initially seems. 

Especially in a universe as vast as the Ben 10 universe, full to the brim with alien species not confined to the limits of Earth, and, subsequently, potentially becoming an unexpected threat, forcing a hero like Ben to protect the innocent civilians of his city, as well as an endangered species.

It’s not evil, it’s forces of nature. And he has to find the balance between them.

[thevindicativevordan]

Terra-Man

I created a section for Superman Rogues in my Superman masterpost so I feel obligated to actually write about a character for there. But I don’t really want to dive into the nuances of Lex or any of the big guns just yet, so how about we talk about a guy most people don’t even know exists?

Terra-Man friends! The Pre-Crisis version was created by Cary Bates, Curt Swan, and Dick Dillin. Based on Clint Eastwood’s “Man with No Name”, he was a child of the old American Wild West, with his father killed by an alien. Young Tobias Manning was then adopted by said alien out of guilt. The alien took Tobias with him out into the cosmos, trained him, and crafted high tech weaponry for him that resembled weapons used by 19th century cowboys. He was also gifted with slowed aging that gave him nigh-immortality. Tobias killed his alien guardian and struck out on his own as an interstellar criminal, taking the name “Terra-Man” to homage his Earth roots. His Pre-Crisis fights with Superman varied between him being treated as a bizarre gag villain and a deadly serious threat.

Spoilers: The guy who ages up Superman is Tobias. He actually comes across as a legitimate threat in the story, using preptime to outwit Clark repeatedly:

And it was the first time I had read a story with Terra-Man in it that made me go “this guy could be a legitimate threat”. Of course Bates had more creativity in his pinkie than a lot of creators produce in their entire careers, and the Post-Crisis revamp of Terra-Man really sucked:

They got rid of his cowboy hat (a creative felony if I ever saw one), and revamped him as a businessman who had a crisis of conscience over the environmental damage he was causing, and thus set out on a crusade to protect the environment. They kept the high tech weaponry, and gave a lot of it an ecological spin, he had gadgets that allowed him to drain Superman’s solar levels to make him susceptible to weaponry, but the background motivation has aged poorly. Given the current environmental state of the world, more people would probably cheer this version of Tobias on as a hero (just look at Green Arrow or the Poison Ivy fans!) than want to see Superman beat him up. Also he still talked like an old school cowboy for some bizarre reason? Or maybe that was just how writers thought every Texan talked.

Anyway he ended up getting ripped in half by Black Adam and basically has been gone ever since as far as I’m aware:

 So he’s been absent for two whole reboots now, New 52 & Rebirth, so I feel entitled to give my idea for how to make him work as a Superman Rogue. First up: his design. None of the ones I posted above really worked for me, none of them look “cool”, and if Venom and Carnage have taught us anything it’s that 90% of why some villains stick around is that they look cool. The Pre-Crisis one is too plain looking, he looks generic, the Post-Crisis look lacks a hat and the cowboy theme and is thus unacceptable. Luckily there’s already two very cool looking sources to draw on for a new design:

Guy front and center is Terra-Man from the Legion of Superheroes cartoon, and my first introduction to the character. His backstory was heavily modified for the show, but he was a stone cold badass, forcing Imperiex and Superman X to team up to beat him. Think Cad Bane from The Clone Wars by way of Terminator and you basically get the gist. I honestly wouldn’t mind just straight up taking that design and adding the mustache of the comic version. But there’s another source to draw from:

How the hell this guy never caught on I’ll never know. Maybe because Morrison never gave him enough badass moments during their Action run? But Nimrod has a very cool design, and he also has some crazy weapons like a gun that shoots telepathic bullets, he already feels somewhat like a Terra-Man revamp to me. I’d take the idea of a helmet/full body suit and the crazy high-concept tech weapons from Nimrod & Pre-Crisis Terra-Man, and combine it with the color scheme, basic outfit and hat of the animated Terra-Man. That would be a really cool design that would get people interested in Tobias I feel.

Second off: the name. Maybe I was just dumb as a kid, but I was always wondering why animated Terra-Man never used his earthbender powers. He clearly had them, why else would he call himself Terra-Man and not Space Cowboy? In the interest of retroactively justifying my young self’s stupidity, I propose a new name: The Terran. I think that does a better job of conveying what his deal is, that he’s a former resident of Earth aka Terra who has gone out and made a name for himself in the cosmos. Think of the children who will no longer be confused about why he’s not throwing boulders at his foes. I rest my case.

Third and finally: The motivation. Why does this guy show up on Earth? What’s his deal? Why does he hate Superman? Well I think there’s some easy justification in explaining why he would finally return to Earth in the first place by making him a hunter like Nimrod was. Terran is out to hunt the most dangerous creatures of a species for sport and profit. Guess who has an Intergalactic Zoo in his Fortress, containing last members of extinct species some of whom posses hides or organs that would fetch high prices on the galactic black market? That’s an easy way to justify why the two would first come to blows, and where the root of the contempt for each other would begin.

But that would only be the beginning. See there’s some very interesting twists on the Superman concept with Tobias. He inverts a lot of the core components of Superman. He’s a human who was abducted and adopted by aliens as a child. He got his “powers” from his alien father, and his “name” from the aliens he worked for and killed. He’s a human straight out of Earth’s past, a literal Man of Yesterday. I think you could do some very interesting stuff by contrasting the two, and one of the big ways to do it would be to make Tobias Manning gay.

Yeah yeah get your jokes out of the way but hear me out: Tobias is from 19th century America, not exactly known for it’s tolerance of homosexuality (or anything non-WASP really). Part of why Tobas stayed away for so long then was that he felt alienated from his home planet. He thought he would never be accepted there, and thus stayed away and tried to carve out a life for himself in space where at least no one looked down on him for who he loved. So when he finally comes back and sees the way things have improved he’s overjoyed. Finally he can be himself among his own kind, he doesn’t have to stay away from Earth anymore, he can stay here and reconnect with his heritage. But then he runs into another barrier: He was raised according to 19th century American norms as a kid, then by alien norms for the rest of his life. He has zero in common with regular humans in the 21st century DCU Earth. His speech is antiquated and peppered with alien words no one understands, marking him as odd. Nobody shares any of his interests, and his job, which would’ve been cool and badass in the 19th century, now invites disgust in everyday conversations. Tobias may have been a human born on Earth, but he was born in the Wild West and raised in space, and he’s become totally alienated from the rest of humanity.

Enter Superman, an alien born on another planet but perfectly able to live amongst humanity since he was raised by them and educated in their modern standards. He’s white-passing and straight, and those two attributes help him be accepted. It would absolutely piss Tobias off that this alien is viewed as more human than he is, is accepted where he is not, and that would fuel the fires of resentment. So when he and Clark cross paths, Tobias is out for blood. Not just to beat/kill Superman, but to embarrass him, humiliate him, make him the outcast for everyone to point and gawk at. Also killing one of the last Kryptonians would really help cement Tobias’ reputation as a stone cold badass hunter which doesn’t hurt either.

On Superman’s side, part of him would absolutely despise Tobias for being a poacher, for hunting and killing endangered species, for trying to kill or humiliate him. He’d be put off by Tobias’ 19th century ideal of manhood and enjoyment of killing, something Superman wholeheartedly abhors. But on the other hand he would absolutely empathize with Tobias’ frustration. Clark has felt alienated from humanity at points himself, but also recognizes that he was lucky to look and be like he does given where he landed. He’d want to try to reach this guy, to connect with him, given how much he can sympathize with the longing for a place where you can be yourself without fearing rejection from others. Whether he would ever succeed is anyone’s guess.

I realize the possible pitfalls in making a prominent villain, who is also a cowboy gay, but I do think what I have here is an interesting way at looking at the very concept of “alieness”, a topic often explored in Superman stories. I’d add a prominent gay member to Superman’s supporting cast as a counterbalance too, either to the Daily Planet or the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit.

So yeah that’s how I’d revamp Tobias into the Terran.

[crystal-moon-101]

My redesigns for this popular trio!

The Secret Generator 10 (Or Celebrity Trio but that doesn’t really work for me because of Zak...) I’ve been meaning to get around to doing this, since I am really fond of these three boys. With Zak and Rex both being part of my top two shows of all time. Sorry Ben....

-Zak Saturday-

He was the most fun working with. His warm colour palette isn’t something I work with often, but I think I did alright. He also as some small details you might notice, like the fangs, eyes and scales.

Notes:

14 Years Old

5′5 (Will only grow to be 5′8. Which confuses him since both sides of his family have very tall genes. Ulraj pokes fun at him, saying all that height is going towards his ‘Kur Form’)

Dead on the inside.

Aggressively Pansexual

His human side has been growing reptilian features. Noticeable fangs, scales growing around his lower neck, around his chest and upper back/shoulders, pure orange eyes with pupils that can become thin slits and a slight forked tongue. 

Even also displays some reptile behaviour. E.g, soaking up sunlight on a rock, alert nature, able to stand still as a statue. (He’s done these things since he was young. His parents just thought it was something he picked up from Komodo.)

The light that forms around his eyes when using his powers have darkened the skin around his eyes. (Suggested by my friend)

He is oddly thin and lanky, but it’s often hard to see because of the baggy clothes he wears.

That being said, he’s a lot stronger than you think he is. Can easily lift people twice his size.

Constantly has to get new hair ties. They keep breaking because 1. Every time his powers cause all of his hair to flow, the tie snaps. 2. Working out in the wild, it keeps getting snagged by tree branches or slipping off when he tumbles downhills.

While quiet and casual outside of battles, he will become a lot like his mother on the field.

Has freckles from his maternal side. His mother doesn’t have them, but Doyle does.

Will casually mention his ridiculously and scary adventures like they’re nothing, not because he’s bragging, but because he truly doesn’t understand what normal really is.

So use to being grabbed by the scruff of his shirt that he will always go limp when you grab him like that, much like a baby animal. 

While he can act very eerie and strange, he’s a very sweet and understanding guy. 

That being said, he can be hella scary when he wants to be.

Don’t mess with his family or he will send an army of Grootslangs to your house.

Still trying to figure out his placement in life and what Kur was really meant to be.

After being taught by his family and uncle, he went to Tsul 'Kalu to be his new mentor.

-Rex Salazar-

I think I changed him the least, but I added extra details and made his shirt, pants and shoes into a one-piece suit. It always baffles me how he can pull off this colour scheme so well.

And while I didn’t draw it here. I would definitely make his pure EVO form a lot smaller. Make him come across more like a monstrous zombie robot thing. The reason why is because those EVO forms he had just felt like they belonged to different shows, like transformers. A more creature design would fit better, I feel.

Notes:

16 Years Old

6′1 (Will grow to be 6′5. Yeeeeeee, he’s a big guy.)

Lady killer~

Best wingman and even offers pretend dates to help you.

Can always hear and feel the technology around him. Strange to everyone else, but he’s learnt to live with it. Even comes in handy when trying to find a good wifi connection.

Knows when to cut the bullcrap.

He does have a bit of a science brain, but he uses it differently than his family had.

Constantly jumping between worlds. Sometimes even tossed by someone.

Talks in his sleep, mostly reciting nanite binary coding.

Lonely lad and child solider, great mix, right?...

Goes all out with holidays. He once, somehow, got real snow in Providence. No one knows how to this day.

Hates lightening.

Has nearly called Holiday and Six mum and dad multiple times.

Has a lot more abilities he has yet to discover. (Including turning people EVO.)

Never asked for any of this, but, eh, what ya gonna do

Is always overexcited when doing normal things. (Werids out Noah a lottt.)

You’re endangered if he decided to use his full raw power. (Key signs to look out for is a large amount of circuit patterns covering him, glowing eyes, tips of his hair glowing too, sharp metal growths and technology around you flashing like crazy.)

Loves Imagine Dragon.

Sharp eyelashes.

Just wants hugs, give him hugs!

Always frustrated when someone from his past tries talking to him about the past. Sometimes he wonders if people forget.

Skilled drawer and smooth singer.

Has an EVO pet (Her name is Siri, Btw)

Some have compared him to being a living, breathing nanite. 

Eager to have family game nights! “Poker doesn’t count, Bobo...”

Once had a malfunction, his whole body was out of wack. (Noah laughs about it and even has some recordings, much to Rex’s dismay.)

Has a civilian outfit that Noah put together. (He refuses to take off his goggles, however.) 

-Ben Tennyson-

Now, I already made a redesign for him, along with Gwen, Julie and Kevin (Both for teen and kid versions). I used the same look, just adjusted some details and colours.

Notes:

15 Years Old

5′9 (And he stays that height. He peaked in height very young, but stop growing quickly. This does annoy him.)

Dumbass with bad impulse control.

Even he’s confused by how he keeps attracting women.

Had a rather lonely childhood with many bullies. (It’s why he often seeks attention, he’s afraid of being alone and forgotten again.)

It’s also what made him jealous of Gwen when they were young. Most treated her like the better of the two.

Pretty crap at sharing his feelings. He would rather play it off as a jerk, then go and drown himself in smoothies...

A secret momma’s boy. “Benny Bear” As his mother likes to call him.

Has an interesting dynamic with Azmuth. Despite their arguments, they balance each other well. Others have even seen them taking care of each other (Almost like father and son), but the pair will always deny this and say it’s ‘strictly’ professional.

 Surprisingly great with kids. (This was truly noticed when seen around his 14 baby chills.)

In the future, he will have a nasty wound on the battlefield, which will result in the Omnitrix becoming his new arm and merging with him.

When he takes thing seriously, you know shits going down!

Has a german shepherd name Boston.

 Likes to call Vilgax ‘Calamari’.

Has grown to be close to most Tennyson members. (E.G Camille, who was actually his babysitter after she joined the family.)

He doesn’t like peacocks after...an incident at the zoo. His mother still apologizes to this day.

Decent singer and very skilled at the guitar. 

Has picked up combat moves from Tetrax.

Has always felt like he’s nothing without the watch. Others have said otherwise.

He knows how to speak certain alien languages, Galvan being one of them.

His schedule is a nightmare, because something is always popping up that involves him. This means he sometimes forgets to eat, sleep or even wash. It’s why he’s often caught napping.

Sometimes wonders if he’s human or alien at this point, maybe something else entirely. 

Very soft poofy hair.

Is hated by almost all his villains. He just loves pissing them off.

[nextwarden]

Webtoons are good for the soul PART II - ECLECTIC BOOGALOO

A continuation of this.

Sea Salt and Sand by neggut [ongoing]

In the autumn holidays 3 months ago, Brynn and Bailey shared a kiss. When Bailey left, Brynn tried to forget all about her and continue living an unremarkable life, only for Bailey to suddenly transfer to her school! What follows is a coming of age story full of pining, misunderstandings and confusion as Brynn and Bailey question the true nature of their relationship. 

It’s cute and a bit angsty but not too much. The art style often feels incomplete or rushed but in a good way, its flaws give character to the characters and the story. One of my all time favourites.

Apathy meets labrador/10

Dragonbourne by Gummy Shark [ongoing]

After a troubled past, Sir Ross Edmund Avery is somewhat content to lead a mundane existence, alone in his house. However, when he stumbles upon a child in the woods on Solstice Night who is anything but mundane, his simple life will be turned upside down.

A scar(r)ed man adopts a feral child, hijinks ensue. Once again, the art style is endearing, full of curves and long lines. Haven’t checked on that one in a while but the first twenty chapters were very promising.

Found family/10

The Last Human by Zack Jordan [ongoing]

She's the galaxy's worst nightmare: a Human. Fortunately, she's the last one. Now her adoptive (alien) mother is realizing that raising a young Human is no easy task.

Basically the badass and child duo trope but the truth may surprise you. Fun, cute, very wholesome, and surprisingly emotionnaly philosophical at times. Spidermom is best mom.

Recommend/10

Vampire Husband by Scragony [ongoing]

The life of Charles the Vampire an Cheryl the human after years of marriage.

What if tragic romance between human and vampire but they had their “happy-ever-after”? This is after. It’s funny and cute.

Relationship goals/10

Blood Stain by sigeel [ongoing]

A story about courage, growing up and finding friendships in most unlikely places... spiced with some MAD SCIENCE! 

Haven’t quite wrapped my head around this one yet, but it’s fun and drawn by sigeel (a.k.a. Linda Sejic) so of course it’s beautiful. Enjoyed it a lot, will have to keep reading.

Bloody merry/10

Punderworld by sigeel [ongoing - on hiatus]

Hades' and Persephone's love-struck misadventures.

Another take on Hades and Persephone’s love story. Once again, sigeel, so of course I love the art.

Bumbling idiots/10

The Queen and the Woodborn by Shiniez [ongoing]

Far away behind seven hills and seven forests, seven fields and seven rivers, there lived a Queen... welcome to the queen and the woodborn. a fairy tale romance for the mature readers about the unseen Queen and the Goddess in the woods. a tale of the two forgotten by the world around them who will make the world remember their names. expect gods and monsters and a romance for the ages.

Not many chapters yet but very long ones to compensate. This one is by Shiniez (a.k.a. Stjepan Sejic) so, once again, love the art. The story, the character designs and concepts, and the pace are all amazing.

Very wow/10

P.E.T.S. by Gyxks [ongoing]

Just when Tasha was about to start a new life, she was abducted by aliens. Fortunately, she and other humans were rescued by an interstellar general named Tourmaline. She soon discovered that her body was unfit to return home without endangering life on earth. Join her on her journey traversing this new world and these new feelings for an alien general. 

POV: You’re living your best life as a young adult, at the shopping mall at 2am in your pyjamas, when suddenly death aliens rain pain all around and you’re abducted only to be saved by tall buff alien commander lady. Romance ensues. Maybe, it’s slow burn but quite enjoyable to read.

Blush/10

Scoob and Shag by Misterie Krew [ongoing]

Scoob and his best pal Shag are up to their usual hi-jinks, but everything is not as it seems in their latest adventure. 

No relations to any character whatsoever. None. None at all. Also no relations to any kind of sense at all either. Can’t quite explain that one except that it’s genius. Just read it.

Is that a gun?/10

Bewitched by peachyytown [ongoing]

The witch who keeps "kidnapping" the princess is actually her girlfriend and they're just going on dates.

Short but cute alternative take on all that witch/monster/princess shenanigans. In the same vein as Our days in Lumain. Also the art is very nice.

Meetcute/10

When the Pink Trees Bear Fruit by neggut [completed]

A sweet love blooms between two women on an orchard in 1973.

A short story, five chapters only, but play devastatingly well with one’s heart. In the same vein as It Stems From Love by Soya S. Holm. neggut ist sehr gut.

Tears/10

Rooftops & Roommates by Zaanart [ongoing]

Jeb is an architecture major at university, rooming with his best friend Todd. There's just one problem... Jeb’s secretly a gargoyle! Between studying, partying, and a bad ghost problem, will Jeb be able to keep his true identity a secret?

Jeb is sweet, Jeb is fresh, but Jeb is decidedly not very good at keeping a secret. It’s funny, slice-of-life, roommate college shenanigans at its finest. With a magical twist.

Ship/10

Everything is Fine by Mike Birchall [ongoing]

Sam and Maggie are a normal couple, in a normal house, in a normal neighborhood. There is nothing strange about their heads, their neighbors or their sweet little dog. Everything is Fine.

I haven’t actually started this one yet, but the premise is very very very interesting. Perhaps not for thos who are faint of heart? Deceptively cute. Or is it?

It’s fine/10

Castle Swimmer by Wendy Lian Martin [ongoing]

What happens when your entire life is ruled by a prophecy – your future foretold by people you’ve never met, who died long before you were born.  Such is the story of two young sea creatures.  One believed to be a guiding light for his people, a Beacon who will lead them to a bright, prosperous future.  The other is a teenage prince for who’s destiny is to KILL the Beacon so that HIS own people might thrive.  When both reject the course set for them, it leads to a raucous adventure as big and unpredictable as the ocean itself – and a romance that nobody could have predicted.

It’s fish. It’s gay. It’s under da sea and ya gotta kiss the boy. I haven’t read it all yet but enough to vouch for it and to have some vested interest in the universe and its lore.

Enemies to lovers/10

Demon Highschool by Kiiyoko [ongoing]

After a compromise it was agreed that criminals would attend a "demons highschool" where they would work as slaves for demons And while it was all in good favor, things take a very dark and twisted turn at said, highschool.

There’s something, some kind of twist, about the MC which I haven’t gotten to yet, and which I am very interested to discover. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this one as of now, mostly curious I’d say.

Pet/10

Hooky by Miriam Bonastre Tur [completed]

Dani and Dorian have missed the bus of the school of magic. Now, they must find someone who teach them how to be a great and good witches... Or maybe not.​ 

This one is a strange one about witchery and family. Surprisingly deep and serious at times, very enjoyable. Unfinished on Webtoon but a good start to get into the story.

Siblings/10

Loving Reaper by Jenny Jinya [ongoing]

Animals struggle. Pets and Wildlife alike. The reaper cares for their stories and helps them with the crossover. Short stories about the "Loving Reaper" to raise awareness and collect funds. Breaking hearts for a good cause.

Beautiful bittersweet stories about animals, pets, life and death and love.

Tissues/10

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures by StarBite, CRC Payne, Kielamel Siba, Lan Ma, C.M. Cameron, and Camille Cruz [ongoing]

Batman needs a break. But with new vigilante Duke Thomas moving into Wayne Manor and an endless supply of adopted, fostered, and biological superhero children to manage, Bruce Wayne is going to have his hands full. Being a father can't be harder than being Batman, right? 

What if Bat-family but happy? Official comic, barely started, very fun.

Wholesome/10

The First Night With the Duke by MSG, Taeva, from an original work by Hwang DoTol [ongoing]

A handsome, selfish noble falls for a beautiful, kind commoner -- at least, that’s how the story’s supposed to go. When an average college student wakes up as Ripley, an extra in her favorite romance novel, she resolves to enjoy the luxuries of her character’s status while watching the novel's plot unfold from the sidelines. However, her plans are soon derailed when she finds herself in bed with no other than Duke Zeronis, the novel’s hero! Dodging the villainess’ schemes, the Duke’s advances, and her own feelings, can Ripley keep the story on track and survive beyond the first night? 

Haven’t read that one but a very dear (and respectable) friend (*cough*  @berigolote​  *cough*) of mine keeps pestering me to give it a try. So here it is, try it.

Do it before me and you get a cookie/10

HEART Anthology by Marvin.W, caw-chan and many other artists. [ongoing]

Featuring stories from the 2020 Short Story Contest!  From wholesome stories to tearjerkers, are you ready to catch these feelings?

A collection of beautiful stories on the shorter side, all about the many kinds of love in life, the many beauties of it, and the pains that make it worth living.

Tears that warm the heart/10

In My Heart by Redfield42 [ongong]

Sasaki Mari is a typical delinquent troublemaker whose only goal is to get a boyfriend, but due to her reputation as bully and low grades, all the boys reject her. Then she decides to change her style, and asks for help from the student with the best grades in the class.

It starts off light and fund and progressively seems to delve a little bit more into the seriousness of life. Not a tragedy, however, and very much worth a read still.

I think I have a trope I like/10

My awkward princess by LazyArts [ongoing]

This love story is about a girl named Luna charlotte, and the student council president Alice Evelyn. Luna is a delinquent whom often gets in trouble, as Luna reaches the end of the line she almost gets expelled, now luna has to become a model student with the help of Alice. Will Luna be expelled or will she succeed, read to find out.

Along the lines of Not So Shoujo Love Story, In My Heart, and Susuhara is a Demon. Delinquent/Good Student meetcute, romantinc hijincks ensue.

Seduction/10

RAINBOW! by Rue & Sunny Gloom [ongoing]

This is the story of a girl named Boo. She has pink hair and a vivid imagination and she is about to discover a side of herself that she never considered before. 

Okay, so yes, this one is also also a delinquent meets cute nice girl, but - BUT! - there’s an element of story telling that I love about it: the way we see Boo’s anxiety incorporated visually into the story. Just for that it is one of my favourite recent discoveries!

Protecc/10

-----------------------

Okay, that’s all for part II. Hope you enjoy those as much as I do. Thanks for your attention, sorry for the length and, please, do keep on reading, they all deserve it! As do you.

PART I

[anhed-nia]

BLOGTOBER 10/5/2020: THE RIFT (1990)

In my household, the sea monster movies of 1989 are a frequent topic of conversation. My husband and I often discuss the strange convergence of THE ABYSS, LEVIATHAN, and DEEPSTAR 6 on moviegoing audiences that year, as if they represent some sort of tulpa conceived by the collective unconscious and unleashed upon humanity. I don't know what was in the zeitgeist at the end of the '80s that made everyone so ocean-oriented (environmentalism, maybe?), but leave it to Roger Corman to pick up on it: I didn't even realize until last night that he produced two pictures called LORDS OF THE DEEP and THE EVIL BELOW in 1989, that have to be included in this survey. The reason I even found this out is that my esteemed colleague @moviesludge​ pointed out to me that there is yet a sixth movie in this category, and the Corman additions were wisely listed along with the others on its Wikipedia page. It was a little late to the party, but 1990's THE RIFT is possibly the weirdest and funniest of the bunch. Speaking of partying: Someone sent my other blog a message asking if I thought there were whole categories of people who should, and should not, smoke weed. I didn't have a very exact answer for that person--I think it's more that there are conditions under which you might be encouraged to, or not to smoke weed. Today, I would like to add that according to my analysis, it is my belief that people who are watching THE RIFT are among those who would be well advised to smoke weed.

I really enjoyed THE RIFT, although I'm not confident that I'm up to the task of describing it. In the broadest strokes, it's about an experimental NATO submarine travelling to the deepest depths of the sea to recover the black box from a previous version of this same submarine, which didn't do so well. The mission is immediately endangered by the fact that nobody on the sub seems at all informed about what they're doing, with a ragtag band of spunky scientists clashing with the hard-nosed Navy presence over really basic stuff, like, how the submarine works, and what's wrong with it. Inevitably, they run afoul of bizarre creatures infesting the wreckage of sub #1, at which time Navy Captain R. Lee Ermey hands out a whole bunch of bloated experimental firearms that I guess he realized they were going to need, but decided never to introduce them to the crew before now, telling them essentially, "These things are new and weird and really extremely dangerous to use, so, good luck!" Hijinks ensue.

Anyway, when R. Lee Ermey is the least campy thing in your movie, you've got something special going on. THE RIFT has a kind of alienated, cartoony quality that is difficult to define, but that I experience as generically "foreign". If I didn't know that this was a spanish co-production, I might have guessed it was norwegian. It reminds me a little bit of Dick Maas' similarly broad elevator amok movie THE LIFT, although THE RIFT is not at all calculating. It is directed, co-produced, and co-written by Juan Piquer Simón, of PIECES fame, and this movie is about as under control as that movie. For my money, though, the heart and soul of THE RIFT is production designer Gonzalo Gonzalo (also of SLUGS fame!); the film's Tonka truck miniatures brought me much joy, along with his bubble wrap kelp forests and Freudian cave maze. Whatever innocence that all carries, however, is tainted by the monsters that inhabit these environs. Anybody whose hackles were raised by the new DUNE's "butthole worm" will be seriously overstimulated by THE RIFT’s cavedwelling mutations, whose faces are so specifically vulva-like that you really can't call it referential; as an added bonus, their larva are fetus-like homunculi that look alarmingly like MAC & ME. Once the armed response begins, THE RIFT degenerates from a budget ALIENS/LEVIATHAN/THE ABYSS/etc ripoff, into a full-blown splatter movie that inspired me to put on Luigi Cozzi's messy CONTAMINATION immediately afterward, if that tells you anything.

^^^ AHEM.

The strange, janky material quality of THE RIFT is mirrored perfectly by its oddball performances. The typically blustery Ermey takes a backseat to the film's absurd hero, over-coiffed soap star Jack Scalia, who looks like he made a pit stop on the Highway to Heaven in order to make this movie. Actually, one of the things I really appreciate about THE RIFT is how consistently men are objectified over women. If a random closeup of the token "horny black guy's" silk boxer shorts is off-putting, and the swedish scientist Sven looks and acts confusingly like somebody from ZOOLANDER, all of this is brought into perspective by a scene of Scalia asleep at his computer, inexplicably shirtless, with the fringe of his mullet dusting the tops of his muscular shoulders, while his love interest (soap star) Deborah Adair gazes on blankly, looking for all the world like Marcy D'Arcy from Married...With Children.

Anyway, it all makes a certain kind of sense when you know that the most sexploitable person in the cast is the delectable Ray Wise. Sadly, he doesn't have any topless scenes, but he gets your attention every time he's on the screen, because he's really acting. Ray Wise is the kind of actor who doesn't have a lazy bone in his body, bringing just as much intensity and nuance to a goofy B movie like THE RIFT as he does to FIRE WALK WITH ME. (Not that he has exactly the same opportunity to BE intense as in FWWM, but you know what I mean) It's slightly disconcerting, actually, to have the rest of the cast flexing, peeling fisheyes, blubbering hysterically or just giving up, in the orbit of Ray Wise who is, like, really delivering. Must love Ray Wise.

I'm a little chagrined that I watched THE RIFT this year, only because it would have been nice (?) to watch all six of the 1989/1990 sea monster movies in one program, and I'm already running out of room this year. Oh well. Maybe by the time I'm ready, I will have come up with something more interesting to say about the present film, than that it is highly amusing, and I highly recommend that you...er, self-medicate, if you are so inclined, for maximum enjoyment. Thanks again to @moviesludge for the fun rec.