#Carapace On Dorsal Side

[subbalakshmisastry]

RED EARED SLIDER in Lokaranjan Aqua World Mysore / Underwater Zone Mys...

[bakushinverse]

シン•アンギラス SHIN ANGUIRUS [A King's Companion]

“At first we thought Gojira and Anguirus were fighting to the death, however it seems they were only ‘playing’ as it were. The two seem to enjoy each other's company, Anguirus often seen at Gojira's side when migrating from Island to Island.”

Natives to many Pacific Islands have similar stories passed down from generation to generation of an enormous dark being with permanent open wounds in the gaps between giant armour plates. The dark being is often accompanied by a smaller armoured warrior with a carapace covered in spikes and a tail ending in poisonous spines that could fell entire fleets of craft with one swing. Only recently however have Monarch witnessed this companion to Gojira, this strange Ankylosaurus like creature, seems content avoiding humans where it can. After the appearance of Shin Gojira in 2016, like Yoroi Gojira it has become more prominent and more active. Yoroi Gojira and it's companion, named Anguirus by Monarch, have been tracked heading towards the Calbuco Volcano in Chile with unknown intentions.

The Monarch Base in Antarctica investigates a spike of an unknown type of radiation near the Australian territories. During the expedition several soldiers and scientists are killed in a bizarre attack and footage shows several strange crystal like creatures. A skeletal humanoid like figure, reported to be 10 feet tall with dorsal plates and a tail was said to be seen by the survivors. Serizawa having studied Shin Gojira when it was frozen immediately fears the worst and travels to Antarctica despite the Shobijin’s warnings.

Height: 45m

Length: 180m

Attributes:

Spikes. Many of. Quite sharp.

Heavily Armoured

Deceptively Fast

Very Loyal to Yoroi Gojira

Spikey Ball of DEATH

Dislikes humans, avoids them where he can. Has been known to intentionally smash ships that intrude on his territory unlike Gojira who usually ignores them.

Especially dislikes technology and Machines.

Stubborn, fearless and will NOT back down in a fight.

________________

Shin MonsterVerse Series

FIRST | PREVIOUS | NEXT

ShinMonsterVerse Masterpost

[yautja-lover]

ROTTMNT 🐢💜❤️‍🔥 Betrayer of My Heart 💔

Chapter 1 The Prologue of Lucy Jones

Lucia "Lucy" Jones x Donatello "Donnie"

You're probably wondering what's a female mutant, half turtle and half human like myself taking shelter inside a drain pipe underneath the sewers of New York on a rainy night such as this? Well, let me tell you... I wasn't always like this, I used to be human, or at least I was born human.

My name is Lucia Jones, Lucy for short, and no, I'm not related to Casey Jones... at least not to my knowledge I'm not. I was an orphan that was abandoned by their parents on Christmas Eve and left with nothing but the blanket I was wrapped up in since the day I was born to survive during the freezing winter's night. I was a foster child with trust and abandonment issues, when I first found out that I was being adopted I was anxious while being slightly hopeful that I would have a family to love and be cared for.

Turned out the foster parents were evil scientists working for a man named Oroku Saki that would use me as their Guiana pig to do their experiments on. So I ran away numerous times I was able to outsmart them or so I thought... they somehow always managed to find me.

Then one day I was able to escape with some help by four mutant ninja turtles. They took me in under their care and treated me like I was a part of their family, for the first time in my life I didn't feel alone and felt like I could learn to trust again. They made me feel safe and make me feel like a normal human being, that I could be myself around them.

There's Raphael or Raph for short he's an alligator snapping turtle a large, muscular figure that stood six feet tall with bright green skin, an orange plastron with forked top edges, and a dark green carapace with three dorsal ridges. He has spikes on his shoulders and elbows with a sharp snaggletooth protruding from the right side of his upper jaw. He wears a red bandana that covers the top of his head with long, torn bandana tails and a tear underneath his right eye.

He gives the warmest hugs and is practically a walking teddy bear underneath all that warrior spirit but doesn't be fooled cause he is quite scary when he's upset or protective of others he cares about.

Next, there's Leonardo or Leo for short he's a red-eared slider that stood at five feet and five inches tall with lime green skin, a mustard yellow plastron and a green-blue carapace with a teal pattern. He has two red crescent-like stripes over his eyes and yellow stripes on his upper arms and thighs, he also wears a blue bandana with long bandana tails.

And like Raph, their like the big older brother I never had and are very protective over me. Though Leo is the more serious one of the two.

Thirdly, there's Michelangelo or Mikey for short he's an ornate box turtle that stood at four feet and seven inches tall with blue-green skin, a bright yellow plastron, and a blue-grey carapace with a yellow pattern. He has geometric yellow markings on his shoulders and thighs with a small tooth gap in the left side of his upper jaw. He also wears an orange bandana on the top of his head with short bandana tails, wristbands, socks and knee pads with red faces on them (a dead face on the right and a smiley face on the left) with a pair of magenta and cyan sticker on his plastron (a triangle and a lightning bolt).

His personality is as colorful and cheerful as his appearance, like me he's the smallest and the youngest of the group. His spirited-heart personality can light up the room and cheer anyone's mood up.

And lastly, there's Donatello or Donnie for short he's a spiny softshell turtle that stood at five feet and three inches tall with jade green skin, a light brown plastron and a brown and green carapace with dark brown spots, he has geometric purple markings on his shoulders and thighs. He wears a purple bandana that covers the top of his head with short rectangular bandana tails and a silver pair of asymmetric goggles (that reminds you of 3D glasses) he also wears a purple battle shell to cover his real shell for protection along with other gadgets (making him look like a turtle version of Batman).

He's the kindest and sweet guy I ever met who has my heart... I thought he was one person that I could trust that'll never do anything to hurt me or betray my trust. Sadly I was wrong... cause he's the reason why I'm like this, he took away my choice and right of being a human.

This is my story and the beginning of my origin from being an orphan child to a mutant turtle taking shelter inside a drain pipe underneath the sewers of New York.

[funniefroggiehat]

Hey ..... is yr refrigeteator running.. ? well ..... YOU BETTER GO CATC IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAA

Isopoda is an order of crustacean, which includes woodlice and their relatives. Members of this group are called Isopods and include both terrestrial and aquatic species. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and five pairs of branching appendages on the abdomen that are used in respiration. Females brood their young in a pouch under their thorax.

Isopods have various feeding methods: some eat dead or decaying plant and animal matter, others are grazers, or filter feeders, a few are predators, and some are internal or external parasites, mostly of fish. Aquatic species mostly live on the seabed or bottom of freshwater bodies of water, but some taxa can swim for a short distance. Terrestrial forms move around by crawling and tend to be found in cool, moist places. Some species are able to roll themselves into a ball as a defense mechanism or to conserve moisture.

There are over 10,000 identified species of isopod worldwide, with around 4,500 species found in marine environments, mostly on the seabed, 500 species in fresh water, and another 5,000 species on land. The order is divided into eleven suborders. The fossil record of isopods dates back to the Carboniferous period (in the Pennsylvanian epoch), at least 300 million years ago, when isopods lived in shallow seas. The name Isopoda is derived from the Greek roots iso- (from ἴσος ísos, meaning "equal") and -pod (from ποδ-, the stem of πούς poús, meaning "foot").[2][3]

Classified within the arthropods, isopods have a chitinous exoskeleton and jointed limbs.[4] Isopods are typically flattened dorsoventrally (broader than they are deep),[5] although many species deviate from this rule, particularly parasitic forms, and those living in the deep sea or in ground water habitats. Their colour may vary, from grey to white,[6] or in some cases red, green, or brown.[7] Isopods vary in size, ranging from some Microcerberidae species of just .3 millimetres (0.012 in) to the deep sea giant isopod Bathynomus spp. of nearly 50 cm (20 in).[3] Giant isopods lack an obvious carapace (shell), which is reduced to a "cephalic shield" covering only the head. This means that the gill-like structures, which in other related groups are protected by the carapace, are instead found on specialised limbs on the abdomen.[3][8] The dorsal (upper) surface of the animal is covered by a series of overlapping, articulated plates which give protection while also providing flexibility. The isopod body plan consists of a head (cephalon), a thorax (pereon) with seven segments (pereonites), and an abdomen (pleon) with six segments (pleonites), some of which may be fused.[5] The head is fused with the first segment of the thorax to form the cephalon. There are two pairs of unbranched antennae, the first pair being vestigial in land-dwelling species. The eyes are compound and unstalked and the mouthparts include a pair of maxillipeds and a pair of mandibles (jaws) with palps (segmented appendages with sensory functions) and lacinia mobilis (spine-like movable appendages).[9]

The seven free segments of the thorax each bear a pair of unbranched pereopods (limbs). In most species these are used for locomotion and are of much the same size, morphology and orientation, giving the order its name "Isopoda", from the Greek equal foot. In a few species, the front pair are modified into gnathopods with clawed, gripping terminal segments. The pereopods are not used in respiration, as are the equivalent limbs in amphipods, but the coxae (first segments) are fused to the tergites (dorsal plates) to form epimera (side plates). In mature females, some or all of the limbs have appendages known as oostegites which fold underneath the thorax and form a brood chamber for the eggs. In males, the gonopores (genital openings) are on the ventral surface of segment eight and in the females, they are in a similar position on segment six.[9]

One or more of the abdominal segments, starting with the sixth segment, is fused to the telson (terminal section) to form a rigid pleotelson.[9][10][11] The first five abdominal segments each bear a pair of biramous (branching in two) pleopods (lamellar structures which serve the function of gas exchange, and in aquatic species serve as gills and propulsion),[3][12] and the last segment bears a pair of biramous uropods (posterior limbs). In males, the second pair of pleopods, and sometimes also the first, are modified for use in transferring sperm. The endopods (inner branches of the pleopods) are modified into structures with thin, permeable cuticles (flexible outer coverings) which act as gills for gas exchange.[9] In some terrestrial isopods, these resemble lungs.[3]

Isopods belong to the larger group Peracarida, which are united by the presence of a special chamber under the thorax for brooding eggs. They have a cosmopolitan distribution and over 10,000 species of isopod, classified into 11 suborders, have been described worldwide.[3][13] Around 4,500 species are found in marine environments, mostly on the sea floor. About 500 species are found in fresh water and another 5,000 species are the terrestrial woodlice, which form the suborder Oniscidea.[14] In the deep sea, members of the suborder Asellota predominate, to the near exclusion of all other isopods, having undergone a large adaptive radiation in that environment.[14] The largest isopod is in the genus Bathynomus and some large species are fished commercially for human food in Mexico, Japan and Hawaii.[15]

Some isopod groups have evolved a parasitic lifestyle, particularly as external parasites of fish.[9] They can damage or kill their hosts and can cause significant economic loss to commercial fisheries.[16] In reef aquariums, parasitic isopods can become a pest, endangering the fish and possibly injuring the aquarium keeper. Some members of the family Cirolanidae suck the blood of fish, and others, in the family Aegidae, consume the blood, fins, tail and flesh and can kill the fish in the process.[17]

The World Marine, Freshwater and Terrestrial Isopod Crustaceans database subdivides the order into eleven suborders:[1]

Asellota – This suborder contains the superfamily Aselloidea, a group that contains most of the freshwater isopods in the northern hemisphere, and the superfamilies Stenetrioidea, Gnathostenetroidoidea and Janiroidea, which are mostly marine. The latter superfamily, Janiroidea, has a massive radiation of deepsea families, many of which have taken bizarre forms.

Calabozoida – A small suborder consisting of two marine species in the family Calabozoidae and one freshwater species in the family Brasileirinidae which is found in subterranean locations.[18]

Cymothoida – Chiefly marine isopods[9] with over 2,700 species. Members are mostly carnivorous or parasitic. Includes the family Gnathiidae, the juveniles of which are parasitic on fishes.[19] The previously recognised suborder Epicaridea is included as two superfamilies within this suborder and Cymothoida now includes part of the formerly recognised suborder Flabellifera.[20] Also includes the former suborder Anthuridea, a group of worm-like isopods with very long bodies.

Limnoriidea – Mainly tropical isopods, some of which are herbivorous.[20]

Microcerberidea – Tiny, worm-like isopods that live between particles on the bed of freshwater and shallow marine habitats.[9]

Oniscidea – Semi-terrestrial and terrestrial isopods fully adapted for life on land.[9] There are over 4,000 species of woodlice inhabiting forests, mountains, deserts and the littoral zone.[21]

Phoratopidea – A single marine species, Phoratopus remex, which warrants its own suborder because of its unique characteristics.[20]

Phreatoicidea – Small suborder of freshwater isopods resembling amphipods, limited to South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand.[9]

Sphaeromatidea – Benthic isopods mostly from the southern hemisphere with respiratory pleopods inside a branchial chamber. This suborder now includes part of the formerly recognised suborder Flabellifera.[20][22]

Tainisopidea – Freshwater isopods in a "relictual environment".[20]

Valvifera – A large group of benthic, marine isopods with respiratory pleopods inside a branchial chamber under the abdomen.[9]

[rantsintechnicolor]

Ship log: the cruise line’s private island in the bahamas

I guess I don’t need to protect the cruise line’s identity. Anyone who spends one minute wondering why one of the port stops is just an extension of the cruise line will see that the cruise line is making shit tons of profit that they don’t have to share with local businesses of an actual port city. They pay no fees to dock at the port of an island they own, right? Or do they lease? I suppose they need the profit after all the pandemic loss they experienced?

It’s fine. I’ll still treat it like any port city. Pick up my trash, be kind to the locals, enjoy the plants and animals. Can’t say I saw a lot of animals on this island. Passerines, gulls, frigate birds. A few insects; large ants and what looked like a dead millipede with a thick carapace, if carapace is a word they use for insects (I don’t think it is, but the word conjures strong, armor-like, dorsal covering).

We didn’t rush off the ship, because it’s our vacation. We didn’t rush to the other side of the island to be far away from the majority of the activity, because this is supposed to be a vacation. We made it to the beach while it was still relatively quiet, found ourselves some beach chairs with shade, and dipped into the water. (I always move slower into the water when it gets to my thighs and torso and chest. I resist the change in temperature to cooler than my body. I’m always fine once I’m in. The water was very fine indeed. Fifteen minutes in, retreat to shade. Read. People watch. Repeat. Flip off the drone flying directly overhead. Use my other hand because one middle finger doesn’t seem to be doing the trick.

On the other side of the island is a DJ dance party. Maybe. We can hear their voices rise in a cheer. Or is it shock and surprise. They are either having fun or they are shocked by a Jurassic Park style event. Patient zero. Gun massacre. Perfect day at Coco Cay is a perfect day for a zombie apocalypse. (Let’s back up to Miami Beach for a moment. Advertising on floating billboards and sky billboards. One sky billboard in particular encouraged Miami to shoot machine guns. Beautiful babe holding the gun on a bright yellow background. I couldn’t help but imagine the next big gun massacre being on a beautiful beach somewhere like Miami. I wonder if anyone else on the beach had a similar thought.) 

My wife wonders aloud on the way back to the ship if islands like this are the transition from private resort funland to a West World type experience. Damn. What if it is?

[mutating-the-city]

Muse Info

Subject 1, aka Red/Buster (Raph)

Age: 17

Species: Turtle Mutant

Height: 7’5

Pronouns: He/him

Attractions: Questioning

Description: A mutant alligator snapping turtle with bright green skin, an orange plastron with forked top edges, a dark green carapace with three dorsal ridges, and a large, muscular figure. He has spikes on his shoulders and elbows, yellowish scleras and teeth, red eyes, and a sharp tooth protruding from the right side of his upper jaw. He has a short tail with spikes along the top, similar to the ones on his shoulders. Said tail is about half as long as one of his legs. He has a thin scar across his neck, usually covered by a dark metal neckpiece with a red circle at the front. He also wears a red mask that covers the top of his head with long, torn tails. His mask has a tear underneath his right eye. He wears red cloth around his elbows, white wraps around his hands and lower legs, and black shorts.

Subject 2, aka Blue (Leo)

Age: 16

Species: Turtle Mutant

Height: 5’6

Pronouns: He/them

Attractions: Bi (extremely)

Description: A mutant red-eared slider with lime green skin, a mustard yellow plastron, and a green-blue carapace with a teal pattern. He has red stripes over his eyes, yellow stripes on his upper arms and thighs, and bluegreen eyes. He wears a blue mask with two long tails and black wraps on his forearms and lower legs. Slung across his back are a sniper rifle and a sword with a blue hilt.

Subject 3, aka Purple/Specs (Donnie)

Age: 16

Species: Turtle Mutant

Height: 5’4

Pronouns: He/them

Attractions: Bi Ace

Description: A mutant spiny softshell turtle with jade green skin, a light brown plastron, and a silver metal carapace with spikes along the rim. They have geometric purple markings on their shoulders and thighs. They also have a large head, yellow-tinted teeth, and thick black eyebrows. Replacing his forearms and half of his left upper arm are two extremely advanced robot arms with silvery plates and occasional small lines of purple. The outside of his upper left thigh and entire lower right leg and foot are also robotic. He wears a purple mask with short tails and a pair of silver goggles with thick opaque purple lenses. Underneath these goggles their eyes are purple with slightly yellow-tinted scleras and pupils that become reflective in the dark. They also wear black wraps on their forearms when disguised in the city, to hide their mechanical parts.

Subject 4, aka Orange/Ollie (Mikey)

Age: 15

Species: Turtle/Spider Mutant

Height: 4’6

Pronouns: He/it

Attractions: Questioning

Description: A mutant ornate box turtle with blue-green skin, a bright yellow plastron, and a blue-grey carapace with a yellow pattern. It has geometric yellow markings on its shoulders and thighs, orange eyes, slightly tinted scleras, a tooth gap in the right side of its upper jaw, two fangs on each side of his mouth, and a forked tongue. He has four eyes and four extra spider limbs on his back, coming from under his shell. Its mouth can split open to reveal four spider-like mandibles, and it can also turn its eyes completely red. It wears an orange mask with short tails, orange socks, black wraps on its lower legs, and orange knee pads with red faces on them (a dead face with a zig-zag mouth on the right and a grinning face with sharp triangular teeth on the left. Both of the faces have four eyes).

[develation]

🌹Titan AU

From the third installment to the Titan AU

Ink whined long and loud from his spot on Nightmares couch. He wanted to roll around and rub his spires against the fabric to stop the itch, but if he did that then he'd rip the fabric. And then have to listen to another lecture.

Post was arguably the worst part of this mess. They were just mutating back into their original forms, which would be a relief, but for Ink, it only meant one thing.

Shedding.

The spires and boney plates along his spine and tail were made out of solid bone, so it would be easier for the body to get rid of them by shedding pieces in small patches.

It wasn't painful (unless he forced it) but it was extremely itchy in ways that Ink couldn't even explain.

So he just laid there, sometimes feeling flakes and shards of bone fall onto his spine. Moving just made the itch worst, he was too sore anyway.

"What... are you... doin'?"

Ink only groaned. This was the first time they had decided to recover inside the castle walls. Error and Nightmare not wanting the gang to know about the titan situation. But after everything that had gone down.

All of them just wanted to feel safe. So to the castle it was.

Error had locked himself in his room immediately, most likely going through a similar process to Ink right now. As the other was technically an insect, which meant he needed to molt all of that carapace off somehow.

After an explanation to his boys, Nightmare had holed himself up in one of the bathrooms, soaking in warm water. Ink found it slightly unfair that all Nightmare had to do was sit in water for a while and bam! Good as new. He was maybe a bit bitter. Just a little bit.

Either way, that left Ink somewhat handling the crew. Which he would do, whenever it didn't hurt to move.

He could feel Horror's eyelight scan over him, and the way the goliath's weight leaned onto the back of the couch. A single claw taped one of his spires, and Ink flinched.

"You're... losin' pieces... little blot." There was a steady pause before he stoke again. "Does it... hurt?"

"Nah," Ink's voice was still rough, even tho the ordeal had gone down 2 days ago. "Just itchy. Real bad. I can't reach cus' it's mostly in between."

No response. Ink didn't try to angle his skull to see, just closed his eyes to try and focus on anything else.

Then the claw returned to his dorsal side. Ink blinked his sockets open, starting at the arm of the couch in front of him, nervous. Horror's finger-tip didn't move from where it ghosted the tender root of one of Ink's spires, waiting for protest. When there was none, the claw pressed down carefully, before delivering a gentle scratch.

Ink felt his eyelights dilate and his ribcage stutter. The strokes were light enough to not force it, but firm enough to pry any loose pieces off.

The other fingers joined, and then another hand, scratching with the same precision and gentleness.

The relief was so mind-reeling that it forced the tears already prebuilt from earlier frustration to spill over. Horror stoped at Ink's lack of emotional control, but quickly started up again when he felt Ink's spine arch up towards his hands.

"Feel... okay?" Okay was barely even the word to describe how he felt. Ink wanted to spew full paragraphs of thanks but all he managed was a slight "mhm".

If he started purring, then Horror didn't mention it.

[alphynix]

(I will probably do more with these pipe-necked weirdos at a later date.)

Transcript for the text on the image under the cut:

PAGE 1

Spectember 2020 #14 | nixillustration.com | alphynix.tumblr.com Concept suggested by: Jesse Sosa & anonymous

Land Sharks

(Selachipoda)

[Image: an early shark with a tapering eel-like body plan and four flipper-like fins. Its dorsal fin is ribbonlike, forming a continuous low fin along its back and tail. There's a long pointed spine on the back of its head.] Xenacanthus-like ancestral form

In a different version of the Late Devonian, sarcopterygians never made their way onto land – but instead at the dawn of the Carboniferous a lineage of early sharks took that evolutionary leap.

The xenacanthids were a group of small freshwater sharks with eel-like bodies and distinctive spines on the back of their heads. Some of them developed the ability to “walk” with their fins in a similar manner to modern epaulette sharks, and were able to survive brief crawls onto land to disperse to isolated bodies of water.

Soon this became a more mudskipper-like lifestyle, spending more time on land with stronger jointed fins. Their gill slits became enclosed in an inflatable “balloon” of skin with a single opening at the back, with the gills themselves stiffened against collapsing and able to absorb oxygen from the air as long as they were occasionally re-moistened with gulps of water – the start of something convergent to lungs. The head-spine shifted from a defensive function to a display structure, mobile enough to be raised and lowered to flash brightly-colored fins at each other.

Some descendants of these early land sharks went on to become the caecilian-like SNAPWYRMS, burrowing limbless creatures specialized to hunt small soil invertebrates – but others developed along a more tetrapod-like path.

Already using internal fertilization and giving live birth to fully-developed young, SHARKAPODS weren’t reproductively tied to the water like early tetrapods were in our timeline. Their neck-lungs became larger and more sophisticated, able to function in the increasingly drying climate of the Late Carboniferous. Now housed in rigid bulbous horn-like structures, their breathing used a unidirectional airflow system, pumping air in from the spiracles behind their eyes and exhaling it from the vents at the back.

While superficially lizard-like in shape, their leg joints didn’t bend in quite the same way, giving them a somewhat awkward gait resembling that of a tortoise.

But their cartilaginous skeletons couldn’t support much weight on land, and so they weren’t able to grow particularly large at first, generally remaining similarly-sized to their ancestors at only about 1m long (3’3”). The most successful Paleozoic lineage of sharkapods, the SHELLSHARKS, solved this problem by instead developing an exoskeleton-like carapace from fused dermal denticles, forming stronger stiffer supports for their bodies and allowing them to grow several times bigger.

[Image: a descendant of the eel-like shark. It's a mudskipper-like or amphibian-like animal, with four proto-legs, bulging gill pouches, and a colorful display fin supported by the spine on its head.] The transitional stem-sharkapod Vexillispinus ambulopterygius

PAGE 2

[Image: a descendant of the mudskipper-like shark, a worm-like animal with a long limbless body. A close-up view shows it head, with tiny vestigial eyes and its toothy jaws extended out like a goblin shark.] Snapwyrms like Harpavermis gaphilus had long snake-like bodies and only vestigial eyes, detecting subterranean invertebrates with electroreceptors in their snouts. Their gills were reduced and most of their respiration took place through their moist naked skin. Extending jaws with a slingshot-like motion allowed snapwyrms to rapidly snag their prey.

[Image: an armored sharkapod, a vaguely lizard-shaped animal covered in in armadillo-like carapace, with its limbs supported by an exoskeleton and serrated edges to its stumpy "feet". Its head is still shark-like, and it has a small colorful "flag" fin on its head and bulbous "lunghorns" on the sides of its neck.] Edaphoselachus sosai, a basal shellshark Large pointed denticles on the ends of shellsharks' limbs act like claws for traction.

Early shellsharks were still small carnivores or insectivores, and were not apex predators. Although their extensive carapaces proved useful to bear more weight and grow larger, the solid structure initially evolved as protection against the main predators in their ecosystems – huge arthropods such as griffinflies.

Later members of the group began to experiment with omnivorous and herbivorous niches, and by the Permian had become the largest terrestrial vertebrates of the Paleozoic. One of the very biggest species was Testudosquama avignatha, a 3m long (9'10") herbivore with a voluminous plant-fermenting digestive system.

Sharkapods' nostrils were blind holes and weren't involved in breathing at all, instead using a bellows-like mechanism to actively pull in air for their sense of smell. In some species their snouts became quite bulbous, housing increasingly complex and sensitive nasal systems.

While both their lunghorns and nasal chambers were sometimes used to produce loud resonating sounds, most Paleozoic sharkapods' hearing was poor, only able to hear low-frequency sounds in air and detecting them as much through ground-based vibration as with their under-developed internal ears. Visual communication was still prevalent, with the ancestral mobile flag-fins being retained on most species.

Extendable jaws remained a characteristic feature of sharkapods, swinging forwards to grab at food and then pulling it back into their mouths – although they were unable to chew and each bite had to be swallowed whole. Some of the herbivorous forms even fused their teeth into hard beaks to snip up tough vegetation.

[Image: a large armored shellshark with a vaguely tortoise-like body plan and a vivid black-and-orange color scheme. It has a bulbous snout, large lunghorns, a small flag-fin and a spiny tail. A close-up view of its head shows its beaked jaws extending.] The giant shellshark Testudosquama avignatha

[remmushound]

@brightlotusmoon Part 2 of the Bay/Rise crossover!!

The memory just kept replaying in Donatello’s mind. He tried dismissing it, but it would return and dominate his mind like a storm over the city. Running. Running, and April was in the lead— Splinter was pulling her along. Michelangelo in his shell. He did that when he got scared, it couldn’t help it. It was biological. Leonardo was there with him…

Donatello’s legs ached. His back ached, and his arms, and his stomach. Everything burned from the strain. He kept going.

Everyone was running. Everyone was ahead of him— he couldn’t keep up. He was falling behind and he was—falling! Tripping. Splinter looked back and cried out to his son, and then Leonardo looked back. But Leonardo couldn’t leave Michelangelo…

Donatello noticed the camera in his exhausted stupor. He disabled it just as quickly. His spider arms couldn’t take much more of this. He needed a break. He felt warm dripping down his arms. He kept going.

There was a weight on his back. A comforting weight that covered him like a mutant shield, hugging him from behind and securing a wall between him and the Shredder. Raphael…

Donatello felt one of his metal arms give way. It echoed painfully and the additional weight made him stop. He could feel those eyes staring at him...

Donatello told him to get off, but Raphael held those seconds steadfast. Raphael held him.

Now he held Raphael. Donatello forced himself to backtrack in his desperation for rest.

The shredder was upon them. Claws of titanium slicing through hard keratin like it was butter. The scream. The blood. The portal…

A sword made him stop a moment. A katana, pointed at him. A clear threat. He tried to call out, but found the words stopped at his throat. He tried to step out into the light…

The rift was unstable. Something was pulling them away from their desired destination. Donatello clinging to Raphael. Leonardo clinging to Michelangelo. Splinter clinging to April. Everyone trying to reach out for the others…

Instead, the light came to him in a blinding flash that made him unsteady on his feet.

Then falling. Freefalling through the sky. The hovers on his battle shell the only thing keeping him and Raphael from hitting the ground too hard.

Donatello had to say something, and he tried to make it something distinguished and peaceful. A plea for salvation. All his mind could think to say was,

“Help…”

*****

At first nobody moved. The shock was too great and the confusion strong between them. When someone did move it wasn’t at Leo’s command. Donnie moved forward on his own, grabbing one of the spiked monster’s massive arms and trying to yank him up.

“You gonna help me or what?” Donnie snapped, looking back at his brothers for help.

“Donnie, we don’t know what they are!” Leo finally broke the shock to argue.

“I know I’m not willing to let this one bleed out, so stop standing there trying to catch flies and help me!”

“Raph.” Leo shook his head and motioned for Raph to help, “Help Donnie! Mikey with me.”

Raph hurried forward and grabbed the massive mutants other side, heaving him up together and supporting the hundreds of pounds of muscle between them.

“Shit!” Donnie eyed the damage to the turtle’s carapace, “Looks like he went ten rounds with a semi!”

“He looks kinda like Raph!” Mikey said, voicing the thoughts that filled his brothers minds.

Leo, Raph, and Donnie all exchanged looks. Leo heaved the smaller turtle onto his back, still muscular and a decent weight despite the smaller size, and Mikey was there to help him.

“Let’s get these guys home and have Don patch em up.” He held up a hand when Donnie tried to speak, “We’ll talk later. Let’s go.”

*****

No one said a word on the way back. Mikey tried a few times but when no one, not even Raph, reacted to his attempts at a joke, he eventually went quiet. They hustled at Donnie’s impatient prompting, and the whole way the box turtle was muttering equations and percentages under his breath that none of his brothers could quite make out. When they came through the tunnels, Splinter was there to greet them. His watery eyes went wide and ears back when he smelled the metal of blood clinging to his sons.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

“It’s not our blood, sensei.” Leo answered.

Splinter’s eyes searched up and found the sight of the wounded young mutants supported by his sons.

“Oh my…”

“They’re really hurt, dad.” Leo shook his head.

“Here, here— lay them on their stomachs. Be careful!” Donnie guided his brothers to lay the wounded on a table after swiping everything off of it.

“I’m sorry dad, I—“ Leo tried to say.

“Don’t apologize, go!” Splinter urged, and Leo obeyed.

“They gonna be okay, Don?” Leo said as he laid the soft-skinned mutant on the table alongside the giant.

Donnie pulled his goggles down to get a better read on their vitals. “Leo, I need you to go get my mutant aid kit from my lab— the green one with a turtle on it, not the cross.”

“Okay, Don.”

“What can we do?” Raph offered.

“You can give me space.” Donnie growled, “Nothing you can do here, just try to stay quiet so I can focus…”

Donnie pulled himself onto the table, turning his attention to the struggling snapper— for that’s what he recognized the species as almost as once. He lifted the massive head in both hands, taking a quick look at the nostrils in search for blood. Then he came to the mouth and heistated.

“Actually, Raph.” Donnie called back to Raph before the turtle could get far, “Could you give me a hand here? Just— just open his mouth so I can make sure he’s not aspirating?”

“Sure.” Raph hurried over and pried the massive jaws open without a care as to losing a finger or two should the mutant wake.

“Mm. No blood.” Donnie sighed, “Help me take his gear off.”

Raph obliged Donnie’s command and helped him to remove the armor, tossing in a pile to the side. Leo hurried back with the kit Donnie needed and Donnie was quick to take it. Donnie took a flashlight from his belt and shined it into the massive blue eyes of the wounded beast, giving a grin of confidence as the eyes contracted and reacted to the light.

Donnie pulled on his rubber gloves before he started to examine the obvious source of damage.

“What could’ve caused this?” Leo asked, peeking over the bloody carapace.

Donnie hummed and hovered a finger across the cracks. “The cracks don’t follow the suture borders like any normal crack would. This wasn’t an accident, this was very deliberate. Something… some type of three-bladed weapon. Whatever it was, it got him good.”

Donnie opened the turtle care kit and pulled out a drill.

“Can it be fixed?” Leo asked.

Donnie was hesitant to give any answer other than, “We’ll see.”

*****

While he worked, Donnie made sure to keep a close eye on both the snapper and the smaller companion. A softshell, he suspected due to the face shape. His vitals were stable enough and if they did start to drop than Donnie would know. Fixing the shell without the bone sutures to guide him proved difficult, but not impossible. It just involved drilling a lot more screws in than he usually would, and a much slower, tedious process. Drilling the holes parallel to each other and connecting them with tightened wire to pull the cracks together. The more he worked, the more he realized why the slashes were as awkward as they were. Whatever had attacked him had attacked not only the shield of his carapace, but taken off a few of the many spikes that covered his shell. Two of the dorsal ridges had been taken off at their middle, and a third was slashed off completely. Several more were chipped and slashed at the top, but not enough to warrant repair— not deep enough to bleed. After near two hours of intense focus, Donnie finally backed off the snapper and started to remove his bloody gloves.

“How is he?” Leo was on Donnie in an instant, “Is he okay?”

“He’s… stable.” Donnie said, discarding his gloves safely in the bio hazard bin.

“So are we gonna talk about what the fuck is happening here?” Raph appeared just as sudden and quick as Leo.

“He was hurt.” Donnie said calmly, going to his sink and washing up to his forearms before placing fresh gloves. “Something attacked him.”

“Yeah, we understand that, but… why does he look like Raph?”

Donnie didn't have an answer to give, even if he wanted to.

“Mikey, leave him alone.” Donnie pushed past his brothers, holding his gloved hands out in front of him and avoiding contact with everything that might contaminate the rubber. Mikey had taken the opening of Donnie’s absence to jump on the table and start to poke at the subject that Donnie now turned his attention to. Donnie ushered Mikey off of the table and away from his patients. “If you wanna help, see if you can figure out how to take that shell peice off of him.”

Donnie started to give the other mutant the same mouth and nose exam he had given to the snapper. Mikey obliged Donnie’s request, if only to give him more time to be in contact with the new mutant. Mikey picked up the mutants hand and dropped it, laughing as it dropped hard.

“Dude! This guys out cold!” Mikey stood over the mutant and leaned down to stick his face in the softshell’s.

“Out of the way, Mikey.” Donnie huffed and nudged Mikey away with his shoulder.

“What? Come on dude, I’m helping— I’m helping! Hey, what’s this button do?”

“Mikey, do not—“

Mikey pressed the botton on the mutants belt, and the belt snapped undone.

“Oh.” Donnie blinked, “Guess that could’ve been worse. Might’ve helped, actually.”

“See? Told ya I was helpful!” Mikey picked the armor off of the mutants carapace and tossed it haphazardly to the side. “Yoooo! He looks like a burnt pancake!”

“Mikey!” Leo scolded, “That’s not nice!”

“Why’s his back like that?” Mikey gawked.

“Yeah. It’s more like a moldy tortilla than a shell.” Raph commented.

“Cut it out, both of you!” Leo snarled.

“Why’s he look like that?” Mikey laughed and poked the shell, “ewww! It’s all squishy! And flexible!” Mikey bended the bridge of the shell and made the unconscious mutant groan and wince.

“Stop That!” Donnie nudged Mikey away. “He’s a softshell.”

“A what?”

“A softshell. Judging by these ridges, I’d guess Apalone Spinerifa—“

“In non-geek speak, please.”

“Spiny softshell.” Donnie sighed, “Anyway, his vitals seem stable, and there’s no obvious signs of damage. I’m guessing he just exhausted himself trying to carry that snapper for god knows how long— hell, I was breaking a sweat just carrying him home, and that was with Raphael’s help!”

“But he’s gonna be okay?”

“Mm.” Donnie hummed and started to examine the fleshy parts of the mutant. “He has some minor scratching and abrasions— nothing a little rest TLC can’t fix. They’re both cold, though— I’ll need to hook up a heat lamp to try and keep their body heat from dipping too low.”

“When will they wake?” Splinter asked suddenly, the brothers parting as he approached to let him get a better view of the young mutants.

“Hard to tell— the softshell will probably be up before the snapper, so anywhere from a few hours to a day I’d say.”

“And their ages?” Splinter traced a careful paw between the two wounded creatures, his eyes soft with worry.

“Um. Can’t really get specifics, but still in their teens— no older than sixteen I’d say.”

“Just boys… younger than you four.” He took the softshell’s head in his hands to look at his features more closely.

“What should we do, father?” Leo asked, appealing to the old rat.

“Mm. Make them comfortable. They are our guests.”

“But—“ Leo went to argue.

Splinter held up a paw. “They asked for our help, and we will give it to them. For now, all we can do is wait for one or both of them to wake up…”

[f107group2]

Spiny Lobster: Spiny and Clawless but Colorful Nonetheless

Photo from: Florent’s Guide to the Tropical Reefs

Yes, you read it right! Apparently there exists a lobster (Family Palinuridae) without claws. It may not be the one you’ve exactly imagined when you see those crustaceans whose claws are clamped in an aquarium outside a seafood restaurant but we’re pretty sure these lobsters saved the chef from some pinches. To some punctures? That we don’t know. It is named spiny lobster afterall!

I. Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

 Phylum: Arthropoda

   Subphylum:   Crustacea

     Class: Malacostraca

       Subclass: Eumalacostraca

         Superorder: Eucarida          

           Order: Decapoda

             Suborder: Pleocyemata

               Infraorder: Achelata

                 Family: Panuliridae

                   Genus: Panulirus

                      Species: versicolor (Fofonoff et. al. 2018)

II. Distribution: Hi! So my address is just right here..

Photo from:  Lavery et. al. 2014

Known as the Painted Spiny Lobster, they are native to the Indo-Pacific waters and are distributed in the Red Sea, South Africa, Southern Japan, Northern Australia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. However, the first non-native occurrence is reported in the Brunswick River, Georgia (Fofonoff et. al. 2018).

III. Anatomy: Pinching for that Body Plan

Extenal Anatomy

The external anatomy of a true lobster (Family Nephropidae) is composed of two parts: The Cephalothorax and the Abdomen as depicted above. The same is true for spiny lobsters but the Paniluridae traversed a different way in the path called evolution.

Photo from: Charles Derby 2011 (up) and Nemesis Database Species Summary (down)

So what do true lobsters have that spiny lobsters don’t? Or better yet what makes spiny lobsters unique from other lobsters?

Spiny lobsters lack the prominent claws and rostrum associated with true lobsters and instead have two frontal horns and prominent dorsal spines (Fofonoff et. al. 2018). Its body is tubular in shape with all of its legs not possessing true pincers and the first pair is not enlarged (Tavares). The antennae are cylindrical, enlarged, and longer than its body. The total body length reaches up to 400mm, but the average maximum size is around 300mm. The male spiny lobster tends to be larger than females (Fofonoff et. al. 2018).

Panulirus versicolor’s carapace has a whitish background, with large areas of bluish-black. The abdomen, on the other hand, is predominantly green in color and the telson is a mix of bluish-black and green. The legs are lined with black and blue stripes. The antenna is pinkish-red in the thicker and lower segments and becomes white ringed with black rings in the upper segment (Sutton 2017).

Photo by: Sutton 2017

The following are brief functions of the spiny lobster’s general external anatomy:

Shell: This part is the lobster’s exoskeleton, made from chitin, which serves as a protection for the internal anatomy. However, for the lobster to grow, it sheds its shell in the process called molting.

Antennae and Antennules: The antennae and antennules of the lobster are used as chemoreceptors, which detect odors and chemical signals to help them in locating food, mate, and avoid danger. In spiny lobsters, the antenna is longer than the antennules.

Stalks: For their vision, lobsters have long and stalked compound eyes. Although stalked, their vision is not that excellent, and can only see images in dim light.

Legs: Since they are under Decapoda, they have 10 legs that are used by the animal to navigate its way on the seafloor.

Tail fan: This is the last segment of the lobster. It has a telson as the center tail fin and pairs of uropods at both sides and is used for backward propulsion.

 Internal Anatomy

These creatures as a member of the Decapod group have internal organs that are the same as the other species. Its circulatory system is open, unlike humans. They have a single-chambered heart that is composed of muscles and ostia, or openings. Usually, the heart of an adult lobster beats for 50-136 beats per minute.

IV. Reproduction and Life Cycle

Photo from: Shiran Weerathunga, 2014

A day in a lobster’s life, they reach sexual maturity at the age of 5 to 6 years. The male’s task is to mate with as many female lobsters there is. Usually, they mate to a depth of 50 to 100 feet of water. As they mate, the male will deposit its spermatophore or known as the plaster in the female’s belly. After a while, the female will move to waters less than 30 feet deep, and when she is ready to spawn, she will use the pincers on her fifth walking leg to cut the plaster and fertilize her 80,000 to 800,000 eggs.

These eggs will be deposited under her tail, where she will perform parental duties until they hatch 9 to 10 weeks later. Usually, the larvae are transparent, large, pigmented eyes with long legs, and have little resemblance to adult lobsters. After 7 to 9 months they drift with the currents and eat plankton, after which they go to shallow water and settle at the bottom. Their lifespan is estimated to be 15 years (Cardone 2008; NOAA Fisheries 2020).

Check out this video of spiny lobsters mating!

and these cute baby lobsters!

V. Ecology

Habitat

They are found living singly or in groups in shallow water ranging from the low-tide marks up to 15 m depth and often reside in rocky areas, coral reefs, and overhangs that provide them protection (Fofonoff et. al. 2018; Mortiz 2010).

Photo by: Aquapix

Feeding Habit and Predators

Spiny lobsters are nocturnal and carnivore feeders. They even exhibit cannibalism at some point in their lives.They remain hidden in their reef or rock shelters called dens during the day and hunt during night for a variety of mollusks, shrimp, crabs, worms, and sea urchins (Sutton 2017). They use their strong legs to pry open their prey. Meanwhile, spiny lobsters are a delicacy not only to humans but octopus, groupers, and trigger fishes as well.

Be fascintaed with this video on how spiny lobsters protect themselves from a trigger fish.

VI.  Relationship with Humans

Ornamental organisms

The juvenile painted spiny lobster displays a vibrant and attractive coloration of blue and purple body with white antennae which has attracted the market of tropical marine aquarium trade (Fofonoff et. al. 2018).

Photo by: Rokus Groeneveld & Sanne Rejis

For consumption

Spiny lobsters in general are eaten and are regarded as a delicacy. The meat located at the lobster’s abdomen proved to be very tasty and chewy.

While the lobster is a rich source of copper and selenium, it contains very high cholesterol, thus, it should be eaten in a regulated manner. Additionally, lobster contains zinc, phosphorus, vitamin B12, magnesium, vitamin E, and a small amount of omega-3 fatty acids (Ware 2018).

For livelihood

As of 2011, Panulirus spp. farming has not been reported in the last years to FAO but the species are cultured in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines (Clive and Shanks 2009). Philippine waters are a natural resource of seeds for lobster farming and so there is a regional trade in peuruli and juveniles to establish spiny lobster farming.

Photo from: Mercator Media Ltd 2020

However, an article published in 2018 says that BFAR will bring the lucrative lobster culture to poor communities in Eastern Visayas by providing the cages and feeds to the beneficiaries (Meniano 2018). According to BFAR, the lobster culture is very ideal not only because of the strong demand from China and Taiwan but also because it is very expensive (4,000 per kilogram) (Meniano 2018).

VII. Did you know?

1. Lobsters pee out of their heads. While their anus is located posteriorly, their bladder is found under its brain and the opening is located at the base of their antennae, or just under their eyes!

2. The female lobster takes "her clothes off" to mate. Female lobsters “take off” their shells during molting and it is in this process that they decide to mate as well. 

3. Lobsters have two stomachs. To make things even more weird, the first stomach located on its head has teeth! It functions to crush food and the second aids in digestion and is located at the abdomen.

4. Lobsters can detach one of their limbs in an emergency. Don’t worry, they are able to regrow it during the molting process.(Yes, the organism in the video is a crayfish but the mechanism is the same with their lobster cousins!)

5. In the 17th century, lobster was anything but a delicacy. In fact, a field guide by Motoh from Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center in 1980 said that the spiny lobster sells for about ₱55/kg in Manila and ₱40/kg in local areas! Now, as stated above, it costs ₱4,000/kg!

Photo from: Creative Tourist (Courtesy of Barnsley Museum)

6. The blood is known as the hemolymph and is color blue due to the presence of Copper.

Photo from:  @WhatTheFFacts on twitter

VIII. References

American Lobster. (2020). Overview of Homarus americanus: The American Lobster. Retrieved November 9, 2020, from, http://www.parl.ns.ca/lobster/overview.htm 

Cardone, B. (2008). The Lifecycle of Spiny Lobsters - California Diving News. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://cadivingnews.com/the-lifecycle-of-spiny-lobsters/

Clive, J., Shanks, S.  (2009). Requirements for the aquaculture of Panulirus ornatus in Australia. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, 98-109

Fofonoff PW, Ruiz GM, Steves B, Simkanin C, & Carlton JT. (2018). National Exotic Marine and Estuarine Species Information System. Retrieved November 9, 2020, from, http://invasions.si.edu/nemesis/

Lavery S.D., Farhadi A., Farhamand H., Chan T.Y., Azhdehakoshpour A., Thakur V., Jeffs, A. (2014). Evolutionary Divergence of Geographic Subspecies within the Scalloped Spiny Lobster 

Panulirus homarus (Linnaeus 1758). Retrieved November 9, 2020, from,DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097247 

Meniano, S. (2018). BFAR eyes lobster farms in 3 Eastern Visayas provinces. Retrieved from Philippine News Agency: https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1042610#:~:text=Lobster%20culture%20is%20very%20ideal,high%20preference%20for%20live%20lobsters.&text=A%20fishermen%20can%20raise%20up%20to%20100%20lobster%20juveniles%20in%20a%20cage.

Mortiz. (2010). Family Palinuridae - spiny lobsters. Retrieved from SealifeBase: https://www.sealifebase.ca/Summary/FamilySummary.php?ID=13

Motoh, H. (1980). FIELD GUIDE FOR THE EDIBLE CRUSTACEA OF THE PHILIPPINES. Iloilo, Philippines: SOUTHEAST ASIAN FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT CENTER (SEAFDEC) .

NOAA fisheries. (2020). Caribbean Spiny Lobster. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/caribbean-spiny-lobster#:~:text=Spiny%20lobsters%20may%20live%2015,3.6%20inches%20in%20the%20Caribbean. 

Sutton, A. (2017). Painted Spiny Lobster – Facts and Photographs. Retrieved from Seaunseaan: https://seaunseen.com/painted-spiny-lobster-facts-and-photographs-clone/

Tavares, M. (2002). The living marine resources of the western central Atlantic. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Area 51 and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, 294-325.

Ware, M. (2018). Everything you need to know about lobster. Retrieved from Medical News Today: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/303332

[hpoelzig]

Pondering GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019)

Director Michael Dougherty amply demonstrates his credentials as a Godzilla fan in bringing to the screen a film that lovingly references myriad aspects of the various Toho series since 1954. This lavish and detailed homage to the legacy of Godzilla is full of nods that aficionados will find delicious and our favorite daikaiju have never looked more conscious and gloriously alive. It is crafted in an American summer blockbuster style in its breathless pacing so that one has to be quite sharp to spot all the goodies he’s woven into this third episode of Legendary’s MONSTERVERSE. While Gareth Edwards’ 2014 GODZILLA employed a Spielbergian touch, Dougherty offers the most Toho-esque installment so far in this franchise. 

Essence of Toho

In my review of the 2014 Edwards film, I had speculated that a MONARCH-centered approach would be best going forward, and indeed that has been the case with both KONG: SKULL ISLAND and this film. Dougherty has taken that Toho Showa series’ leap into “super science,” with defensive masers, secret bases around the globe enveloping recumbent daikaiju, and the ORCA device, meant to communicate with the Titans. This approach, sort of sci-fantasy, enlarges the sandbox in which he can play and recalls what has been part of so many prior Godzilla outings. MONARCH’s Argo, an immense flying wing, seems to echo the various “Super X” vehicles from the Heisei series, the Marvel Comics S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier Behemoth from their Godzilla: King of the Monsters series, as well as being a nod to both the flying wing from George Pal’s THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (the Northrop YB-49) and to the name of the ship from JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, so well depicted by Ray Harryhausen. One particular delight for me was the Osprey’s arrival at the Castle Bravo facility, recalling the opening of DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, where a helicopter descended into a similar circular vertical tunnel to reach the hidden base on Monster Island. And, as Toho had done with its production design, these MONARCH scientific/military installations are full of gigantic screens surrounded by flashing lights from which “officially concerned” humans can monitor the global monster action at a safe distance.

Eggleton’s Impact

I was impressed by the painterly cinematography in this most Eggletonian-looking of Godzilla films—I actually expected to see Bob acknowledged in the credits as his visual style so permeates many scenes. Fans of his paintings cannot miss how much of the imagery is flavored by this extraordinary artist’s numerous works. That impressionistic sensibility Edwards had captured in the HALO descent to San Francisco scene infuses much of this movie. And his method for viewing the Titans from human perspectives to make their scale apparent was also deliberately maintained by Dougherty. Despite so much care having been lavished on the sweeping imagery, these sumptuous frames fly by in fractions of a second, which has sadly become the standard action film approach to editing and pacing. That for me is a disservice to those who clearly worked diligently to craft impressive and iconic visuals—such splendor should not be snatched away so swiftly from our hungry eyes. Lingering just a bit longer on some of these fantastic moments would have been so much more satisfying. When King Ghidorah seizes Rodan’s volcanic aerie and regenerates his missing head in a very bizarre, placental manner, his dominance over a foreground cross suggests his demonic power, much as FANTASIA’s Chernabog perched atop Mount Triglav—a gorgeous and potent symbol. He then sends out a call to rouse the world’s Titans to do his bidding as their “usurper king.” That pivotal moment passes far too quickly. Would that the two flanking heads have paused and then looked to the central dominant head, who would return their gazes, then look skyward and begin voicing “the call.” Then the other two would join-in, very deliberately, with some unearthly new sound reaching out to be that irresistible global conscription summons. That could have kicked the scene up significantly. The triple voiced sound used in the film was less of a command, rather a sort of keening, which quietly lingered in the following scenes of the other Titans awakening. For my tastes it should have had more of a dramatic emphasis—and have been audibly unique to the moment. Even somehow having King Ghidorah take note of his new troops as they each arise and perhaps respond audibly to his summons would have made his dominance much clearer and more exciting—perhaps cutting back to him as his heads express a knowledge of each new disciple’s activation?

Daikaiju Design

The designs of the quartet of classic Toho stars move to the top of my favorites, as each are detailed, expressive, and dynamic. Tweaking Godzilla’s look to enlarge his dorsal plates and having them flicker even when not powering up for a blast of nuclear plasma works well—he crackles with latent energy. While the 2014 look is an excellent, naturalistic one, changing the primary row of dorsal plates to repeat the 1954 design and then bumping up the secondary rows to Heisei-styled size makes him more in line with earlier Gozilla incarnations. I’d still like him to sport a proper tertiary row of plates that are clearly defined, which has been a common aspect of many incarnations of the King of the Monsters. Taking those sauropod-esque feet and enlarging the claws for more of a predatory aspect looks fearsome, and I like the shortening of the whip tail of the 2014 version to be more like the standard Godzilla profile. And having a new climactic revival of “Burning Godzilla” was a fine choice, reigniting that concept from GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH. King Ghidorah is masterfully realized, a proud successor to DRAGONSLAYER’s Vermithrax Pejorative, who can fly, stride or wing-walk with sinuous beauty. That aspects of his wings echo a William Blake image of the Red Dragon really makes for such resonance. The three heads being somewhat independent with unique personalities was also a superb concept. Ghidorah’s condescending curiosity regarding those nasty, puny humans he was seeing for the first time—even to licking their corpses to explore them—brought forth his diabolically sinister consciousness. His gravity beams and the neck-glow charge-up are splendid. Mothra in her bioluminescent glory is stunningly conceived, from impressively carapaced larva to majestic moth-mantis-wasp imago—magnificent, mysterious, and with a feminine puissance. Rodan as the fantasy firebird, a magma-veined pterosaur, fiendishly skeksis-esque in angry avian awareness, has such presence. Bowing like a courtier to both the usurper and finally to the true king, he exhibits a calculating, conscious persona. His thrilling barrel-roll to take out the pursuing jets was about the most spectacular image we’ve seen of him, ever.

As Toho had done in SHIN GOJIRA, Godzilla’s roars from the various series were employed, as well as his roars from the 2014 film. I was hoping for more of the very deep vocalizations from the 1954 original. Mothra sounded as she always has, with plaintive chirrups and screes. The cries for both Rodan and King Ghidorah were not the originals, and were for me a bit more “generic giant monster” voices. I would have loved to hear new recreations of those readily recognizable Rodan yawps and cackles, and much more forward versions of KG’s triple toned “bidi-bidi-bidi” voice—rather than the faint references buried in the raucous sound design. I rather expected more original Toho monster sounds than were used for both of them, since Daugherty was employing past iconic sounds for both Godzilla and Mothra and seemed to be teasing that during the film’s production. 

A Grim Setting

While there is some humor—not all of it apt— intended to break tension, the plot of this film builds upon the global revelation to the people of Earth that past super species were essentially their “gods,” knocking present day humans down a few notches on the dominance pyramid. The context is alarm and terror, though the MONSTERVERSE also offers awe and wonder as viewed through some of those studying the returning Titans. Serizawa remarks in a senate hearing that humanity should be viewed as Godzilla’s “pets”—and he means it. He respects “all forms of life” and sees our world as one that must have a balance which is inclusive of its natural organisms, regardless of where we might end up in Nature’s organic tapestry. Over the course of the film, much is learned about the fascinating past history of human societies who lived in harmony with the Titans. Toho implied some of this in their films—Mothra was regularly portrayed as an eternal goddess for the islanders she protected—but here it is made quite explicit and detailed. Godzilla’s temple lair in submerged Atlantis, with gigantic friezes and sculptures honoring him, is surely an enrichment of this ongoing saga. There is a dark side to this scenario wherein some see humans as being abusive to their world and thus in need of being forcibly “tamed,” and then there is the collective might of the military who want to subjugate these creatures and restore man’s preeminence—behavior that began in the original GOJIRA and sustained throughout most of the films. 

Dr. Emma Russell is an oddly polarized primary character. To begin, she seems a concerned mother who has rescued her daughter Madison from her husband’s descent into alcoholism, which had been incited by the death of their son Andrew during Godzilla’s San Francisco battle with the Muto’s. An aside: That plot aspect is reminiscent of a similar character motivation in the third of Kaneko’s Gamera trilogy, wherein a young girl’s commitment to invoking the destructive daikaiju Iris is sealed by her parents’ collateral death during a monster rampage in the first film where Gamera, an Earth defender, destroys his adversary Gyaos. That Emma is no “mother of the year” is quickly exposed when Allan Jonah’s eco-terrorists arrive to snatch she and her daughter (and her Titan controlling ORCA device) after they execute the innocent MONARCH crew studying Titanus Mosura. Emma has indoctrinated her daughter to comply with her pursuit of shattering mankind’s toxic presence by releasing the Titans as “antibodies” to the virus that is human kind. And Emma is in cahoots with these extremists, her obsession being the first cause setting in motion the slaughter of her MONARCH colleagues in China, Antarctica, and Mexico as well as the other locations wherein the Titans are roused to destroy their containment facilities. And countless others then perish around the globe as the revived Titans rage. The script makes her somewhat sympathetic as a mother—she is shown to love and be concerned with her daughter and mournful of her son—but one could not give her a pass for the oceans of blood on her hands. Nor should she be forgiven for making Madison a victim of Stockholm syndrome. Madison, comprehending the grievous practices kindled by her mother’s theories, does awaken to reject Emma’s deeds and then she strives at great risk to use the ORCA to solve the global catastrophe wrought by both Emma and Jonah’s fanaticism. There is a cut scene in the video release of Madison training with the eco-terrorists which would have underlined her submission to her situation—I would have included that for the parallel with Patty Hearst it presents. Madison ultimately is heroic, and her father Mark renews himself by stepping-up to guide MONARCH’s efforts to understand and control the Titans. He provides some crucial insights based on his knowledge of animal hierarchy and behavior. Ultimately, Emma seeks atonement through her sacrifice, which brings some justice to her character’s story, while Mark and Madison are reunited in a world reeling from cataclysmic destruction. A rather “heavy” arc to this family’s journey, and properly symbolic in dealing with present social concerns. I think that it seemed to be missed by many viewers who were more concerned with the pyrotechnics of the battling Titans, but for me it is a properly grounded human story which offers a grave context to the monster spectacles.

Homages A Plenty

There are so very many references in this film, both visually and via dialogue—“Easter eggs” abound! I’ll touch upon a very few, leaving exhaustingly listing them to other obsessive fans. I enjoyed the numbered MONARCH outposts having significance—the release year of the film in which the Toho daikaiju there contained was a delight and also the fun nod to THE THING in the Antarctica outpost numerical designation. Modernizing the Shobijin by having Doctors Chen and Ling, and generations of twins in their family, as “priestesses” of Mothra is an excellent touch. The new Titans are gleeful references to mythology and cryptozoology, demonstrating that many cultures have embraced daikaiju throughout history. Intriguing archaeological mysteries are touched upon such as 12,000 year old Göbekli Tepe, hinting at past humans dealings with Titans. Even an article in the jam-packed end titles is authored by Steve Martin, the character played by Raymond Burr in the American version of the 1954 film which was first to be titled GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS. 

MONARCH’s mission critical submarine is named USS Scorpion, after an American nuclear submarine which was lost under mysterious circumstances, and it has a Captain Crane, like The Seaview in VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. Its conning tower likewise has Seaview-esque planes and shape. The skeleton of Anguirus has a cameo, briefly glimpsed outside of Godzilla’s temple lair, and if only we’d gotten a better look at more of the Atlantean art paying homage to Godzilla—there seem to be monumental figures with Godzilla heads atop humanoid bodies holding some sort of ceremonial weapons which Serizawa passes on his way to revive his “old friend.” A sculpture of Pazuzu is glimpsed atop a step pyramid in that lost city—such artifacts all sadly obliterated to revive Godzilla. Some more time to drink in this elaborately detailed majestic setting would have been appreciated.

Several key plot events here are reshufflings from past Godzilla films. The concept of one daikaiju sacrificing itself to revive another was pivotal in GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA 2. There, Godzilla is tortured to near death by electrodes from Mechagodzilla which pierced his body and fried his secondary enlarged ganglial areas. Fire Rodan, nearly expired from his conflict with Mechagodzilla, as a dying act drapes himself atop the fallen Godzilla, evaporating into a sparkling mist and then both healing and resurrecting Godzilla, who now has an even more powerful, red-tinged plasma beam. In GMK, Godzilla is the “heel” who fights the more positive trio of Baragon, Mothra and King Ghidorah. Godzilla seemingly kills King Ghidorah, so Mothra makes a direct, suicidal flight at Godzilla who evaporates her with his plasma breath—shared imagery with Daugherty’s film, though here King Ghidorah and Godzilla have reversed roles. In Kaneko’s film, Mothra’s energy descends upon King Ghidorah in a sparkling cloud, reviving him and enhancing his wings and gravity beams for the final combat with Godzilla. That Godzilla thrives on exposure to radiation has long been part of the basic lore of many of the films, and his revival and enhancement through extreme exposure was no surprise as being primary to the MONSTERVERSE’s mythology. And the scene wherein King Ghidorah “powers-up” via biting electrical cables in the Boston battle reminds me of Kong being electrically revived in the original KING KONG VS. GODZILLA. Godzilla’s expression as King Ghidorah takes that bite, and then the massive arcs of electricity that spread out from his wings to clear the attacking human’s jets are both such memorable moments—which could have been given just a bit more time to accommodate earned “oohs and aahs.” 

The novelization of GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS goes into detail about some of the Titans only glimpsed or simply listed in the film, and one hopes they’ll emerge in the next or further MONSTERVERSE installments—if any. There is a beautiful, brief passage in the book which is told from Godzilla’s point of view. We see through his eyes his responsibility as the lord and protector of this world—the globe is his domain and he is aware of the entire planet, sensing time passing through the shifts in Earth’s tectonic plates. He is aware of the much younger Kong, but unconcerned as Kong is only responsible for Skull Island. We know Kong is the last of his kind, and Godzilla also seems to be as well, though in the comic prequel to this film the story of the Godzilla-esque skeleton infested with the two Muto spores was explained as being Dagon—perhaps his elder “cousin”? The Muto which killed him was vanquished by Godzilla between the 2014 and 2019 films in that comic, which also serves to explain the change in his dorsal plates, which Dougherty has said are continually growing, like antlers. It would be a delight if the Kraken, snoozing as it embraces a sunken nuclear submarine, and Mokele-Mbembe, designed according to the legends as part serpent and elephant, had scenes in the films to come. If Godzilla at some point must sacrifice himself to save the world, discovering another younger member of his species in the Hollow Earth regions would not be surprising and would also embrace that “son of Godzilla” concept used in Toho’s series. The sunken Atlantis being part of the subterranean world evokes Verne’s JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, and of course the 1959 film adaptation concludes with a gigantic lizard menacing the remains of the Lindenbrook party in its ruins. Perhaps there are other humans (humanoids) “down below” as well, in fascinating antediluvian cities, much as Toho posited with the Seatopians, or even like the subterranean Sumerians from THE MOLE PEOPLE? Possibilities abound!

The Score

We’ve been quite fortunate that the scores for Hollywood Godzilla films have been powerful, thematic, and thoughtfully composed works wrought by talented composers. Both Arnold and Desplat crafted magnificent music that expressively carried the action. McCreary’s is the first MONSTERVERSE score to incorporate iconic themes for both Godzilla and Mothra from the Toho scores, and these quotations were well-timed and heightened the drama. Additionally, his new themes are both strong and memorable. The thematic material for King Ghidorah constantly iterates the number three, and the general rising melodic line is even kin to that of Holst’s “Mars, The Bringer of War” from THE PLANETS. The chanting monks’ voices offer a mysterious sense of religious awe to support the diabolical “destroyer of worlds.” Rodan’s theme features whooping horns, as if to echo the “Samurai of the Skies” cries. Even the film’s opening quiet theme has that “Go-Ji-Ra” rhythm that was used in both the 1998 and 2014 films to craft memorable new musical signatures for the King of the Monsters. Most touching was the gorgeous choral music accompanying Serizawa’s Spock-esque sacrifice—which even visually rhymed the descent of the mini-sub with the photon torpedo casket sequence from THE WRATH OF KHAN. The MONSTERVERSE’s Serizawa is essentially a transmogrified Dr. Yamane from the 1954 GOJIRA, a man who studies and appreciates Godzilla as a living being. By having him sacrifice himself not to destroy Earth’s dominant Titan, but to revive him with a nuclear weapon and thus save humanity, works as a pragmatic inverse linking him to the original Dr. Seizawa, the self-immolating physicist who conceived of far too deadly a weapon in the Oxygen Destroyer. McCreary’s “requiem” suited that sequence to perfection. When Godzilla rises again and blasts forth his plasma beam into the sky, the Ifukube-based accompaniment was deeply moving, and the moment Godzilla looked to his human saviors was delightful. He seems to acknowledge their role, much as that of the people from a past civilization who had idolized him, and the soundtrack even has a fleeting phrase of Ifukube’s Godzilla theme much as it was scored for high woodwinds in the requiem from GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH—a very brief and subtle nod. McCreary’s triumphant symphonic apotheosis of his own opening Go-ji-ra theme over that concluding acknowledgment of the Earth’s true monarch brought me chills. Being followed immediately by McCreary’s magnificently over-the-top arrangement of B.O.C.’s song “Godzilla” to commence the end titles was fan service of the highest order. Its refrain, “History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man!” is of course the underlying theme of the Legendary MONSTERVERSE. “Bravo!” Maestro McCreary!

Could Be Bettered

Some minor cavils. I prefer to hear the word Ghidorah pronounced in the more euphonious Japanese manner, with the three syllables (ghi-do-rah) given equal emphasis and the first one slightly higher in pitch. One can hear it when watching Toho’s original Japanese prints with English subtitles. Americans emphasize the second syllable (Ghi-DOR-ah), and thus the middle one sounds like the English word door, while the Japanese put the R on the third syllable. I’d have dropped that weak gonorrhea joke, and the “very long fortune cookie” line was a tad clumsy, and a bit out of place for the dignified Serizawa. In this film he seems to take a bit of a back seat to Dr. Mark Russell, once he’s on the scene, which is a bit of a disservice to his character for me. And that his sidekick Dr. Graham is so quickly dispatched by King Ghidorah during his emergence seemed a bit too casual—her character was a fine one, and I’d have enjoyed more from her going forward.

The film brings back the Oxygen Destroyer, a wonderful nod to the original, and they hint at it being tested in the news crawl Madison and Emma have on in the background in their opening domestic scene at the China base. The news commentator’s reporting of “mass die-offs” must be from the military testing it. Rather than having it come as a surprise announcement when the incoming missile is announced by Admiral Stenz, I think that viewers should have been clued-in earlier, and rather easily. The audience primarily sees things from the point of view of the MONARCH characters. But if we go to that senate hearing scene, from which the MONARCH crew departs having been alerted to the eco-terrorist attack on their Mothra temple base—despite being warned that there will be consequences, that scene could have briefly continued. Admiral Stenz would reveal to the committee, once Serizawa and crew have departed, that the military now has a prototype weapon that they think could be used to exterminate the Titans. We’d cut from the blurred footage of the Mutos on the monitor to a graphic of the Oxygen Destroyer (what we saw later when Stenz alerts the Argo team), while Stenz declares this is their tested proposal for conquering the Titans. If one wanted to flesh it out, then perhaps running some brief footage of it killing fish or other forms of life with some dark accompanying music would be a strong punctuation. But even that wouldn’t be required, just that graphic and a Stenz voiceover would have done the trick. So, rather than ending on a weak joke about blurred Titan genitals, we’d have the Oxygen Destroyer’s revelation as added tension for its eventual use.

With such wonderfully detailed renditions of the Titans, particularly the four Toho guest stars, I think they went a bit too far in trying to fit them into their environments by surrounding them with clouds, mists, and fog. This gives the Titan scenes an overall soft and painterly feel, and I can enjoy that aesthetic choice, but seeing the creatures that were so very carefully designed, and whose movements are crafted in such a convincing manner, being obscured far too often I think was an error. Dialing that back somewhat would have been a wiser choice—show us what you’ve got! Particularly in the expert choreography of the battling Titans—which in some scenes appears to have been inspired by Matt Frank’s compositional style—being able to see how the tussles and tumbles progress with greater clarity would have enhanced the viewing experience.

Wishful Thinking

I would hope that there might eventually be a “director’s cut” in some future boxed-set home video release of the MONSTERVERSE films that would relax the pace of this film somewhat—taking time to linger on the beautifully crafted images so that we won’t have to freeze-frame to savor the glories on screen. And the storyboarded but unfilmed mid-credit scene of another Mothra egg being sung to by twin young girls in another hidden temple space beneath a modern city should be added-in or at least exist as part of the extras—possibly an animated version? If the box office returns from the next installment don’t justify further live action films, it would be fun to have a MONARCH-centered animated series exploring the numerous Titans and how humanity must deal with them. The cartoon series that followed the 1998 Emmerich GODZILLA film was quite an improvement over its progenitor, so I suspect something similar could happen with this franchise going forward once live action films are no longer produced.

The Coming Conflict

Daugherty has reportedly had some plot input towards Wingard’s upcoming GODZILLA VS. KONG, and so the end titles give us glimpses into what might be to come via various briefly shown illustrated articles. One explains that the newly emerged Titans were being drawn to Skull Island, so one has to wonder if that locale could at the conclusion become the “Monster Island” of the MONSTERVERSE? That it is a gateway to the Hollow Earth is an exciting prospect, for more mysteries abound there. Already the rumor that the APEX corporation, which funded Colonel Alan Jonah’s eco-terrorists, is now behind the construction of Mechagodzilla (the toys of this character have been leaked already), who will have an ORCA variant built-in to lure Titans to the slaughter. 

King Ghidorah can regenerate in an unearthly manner and the director has mentioned in interviews that his consciousness is spread through his body. Daugherty has said that whatever might have fed on the carcass head could perhaps become some sort of mutating “legion,” perpetuating King Ghidorah, from flies to any sea creatures that took a nibble, if the series goes on. The rumor mill suggests that materials from the brain of this dead head have been used to create a bio-tech controller to enhance Mechagodzilla. Now that we’ve gone to a Showa series sensibility, the film makers have a great deal of latitude for referencing some of the more fantastic concepts from earlier films. With the biggest blockbusters today being super hero fantasies, one need not try to pretend that MONSTERVERSE films are bounded by the laws of our Universe. The relatively more “realist” approach of Edwards’ 2014 GODZILLA has been evolved into a broadly fantastic approach, which reflects much of what Toho had done in all of its series.

Fan Reactions

It seems some Godzilla fans on message boards are now turning on Dougherty’s epic—everyone seems to want each new film to be their vision of the perfect Godzilla film and then disappointment sets in when it isn’t. Yet so many of the films throughout the ongoing saga of Godzilla have been silly, cheesy, daffy, and sometimes just dopey—yet many of we aficionados embrace them all for their charms, after all, we get to see more of Godzilla and his fellow daikaiju. They appeal to quite a wide range of viewers of all ages, and as one ages, different films might head a favorites list based on one’s evolving tastes. Better that more Godzilla tales are wrought and released, regardless of whatever flaws we might find. In GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS the incarnations of our old favorites and some intriguing new Titans are truly extraordinary, brought to vivid life with contemporary effects capabilities. Never before have these sorts of films been graced with such mammoth budgets and been seen by such large audiences around the globe—a golden age for Godzilla is upon us.

Huzzah Daugherty!

Despite its flaws, I find so much to love in this film, particularly that final scene. After Godzilla has vaporized his age-old rival and literally “smoked” his final head, the Titans summoned by Madison’s activation of the ORCA in Fenway Park arrive. Godzilla, battered and weary from his strivings has exhausted the energy gifted to him through his ally Mothra’s sacrifice—like Heracles after his many labors. This unbowed victor is at last confronted by the other awakened super-species. It looks like a further battle could ensue, as Rodan swoops down at last. But, that canny firebird knows his place and thus submits to the true king, with a nod and almost a courtsey-like gesture of his cape-like wings. The other Titans then “bend the knee” and Godzilla bellows his triumphant “skreeonk” as McCreary’s music superbly supports this coronation scene. I felt such a powerful frisson at that moment and do with each repeat viewing. The Titans demonstrate their consciousness, intelligence, and their sense of natural hierarchy in what is one of my favorite conclusions in the entire canon of Godzilla films.

So, I salute Daugherty and all the others involved in what for me is a grand outing for all of the Titans and a very fine addition to the roster of Godzilla’s adventures. I’ve watched it many times since I saw that first Thursday night preview screening, and I continue to enjoy it immensely. Like all of the earlier films, I don’t dwell on what I see as flaws, but I celebrate the unique wonders that have been wrought, and these abound in this Toho-redolent GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS. 

The bar has been raised. Batter-up, Adam Wingard—let the MONSTERVERSE continue!

—Peter H. Gilmore

[cookiecutterwrites]

The parasite is attracted to neural activity.

Word count: 864

TW: Parasites, mention of surgery and physical examinations

This is a work of fiction written to look like a report. The parasite isn’t real, it can’t hurt you!

Physicians across the nation warn of a rachis worm epidemic, also known colloquially as the bone louse and the spine-eater. The parasite infiltrates the human spinal cord, growing up to 16 inches (41 cm) over the host’s lifetime, eventually replacing the vertebral column completely. 

Early symptoms include lower back pain and a prickling sensation described as ‘unsettling but not painful’, which researchers attribute to the growing larva squeezing between the dorsal tissues and orienting itself in preparation for implantation in the spinal cord. At this stage, its presence can only be confirmed through biopsy.

Once attached, the legs recede and the worm grows with its host, taking approximately 23 years to reach full size. During this time, the parasite envelopes and liquefies the spine, repurposing minerals to form its exoskeleton. Protrusions develop along its carapace that mimic human spinous processes. Because the worm’s segmentation aligns exactly with human vertebrae, a late-stage infected spine is indistinguishable from a healthy spine through visual examination or palpation.

The parasite is attracted to neural activity. Its highly modified mouthparts secrete an enzyme that digests the brain stem over a period of 5-6 years. The brain stem is then replaced by a proboscis-like appendage that allows the worm to receive electrical impulses directly from the brain. Ligaments and tendons are frequently damaged during deossification but the worm is able to produce a connective tissue of similar composition and flexibility but of higher tensile strength, which then fuses with the surrounding bone. A placenta-like organ prevents the parasite’s blood from mixing with the host’s while facilitating the exchange of nutrients, fluids, and minerals.

Late stage symptoms include fatigue and memory loss as a side effect of the worm pulling massive amounts of copper from the hosts’ diet to synthesize hemocyanin, the main component of its blue blood. Most patients presenting with these symptoms have carried a worm for an average of 7 years, and are often unaware of the extent of their infection, or unaware they were infected at all. Patients suffer from a dulling of the senses and loss of coordination in 15% of cases. At this stage, damage to the spine is irreversible. Removable has only been attempted experimentally, to mixed results.

Once mature, the worm’s characteristic carapace can be detected through x-ray. Until then, a biopsy is the most reliable means of diagnosis. At this stage, the spine has been absorbed and replaced completely by the parasite. Just last year, searches for ‘bone louse’ and ‘spine-eater’ jumped when an x-ray of the worm in its final stages went trending.

Testing has shown that hosts with fully-grown worms have higher-than-average pain tolerance and experience virtually no back pain. Patients frequently hurt themselves by accident. Researchers speculate that the worm secretes a compound that dulls the pain of the deossification process. Further research is being conducted on isolating this painkiller.

The parasite’s life cycle has not been studied extensively. Rachis worms undergo cycles of rapid growth and dormancy. In the weeks preceding a molt, the host may experience cravings for copper-rich foods such as beef liver and chocolate. Maintaining a diet high in copper can allay symptoms of copper deficiency. Other than these cravings, appetite does not significantly increase despite elevated caloric demands.

Rachis worm eggs are microscopic. Eggs travel inertly through the hosts’ blood vessels to collect at sites with high neuron activity, such as the lips, hands, and fingers, before aggregating and migrating to the skin. Egg clusters present as blisters on the hands and lips. Correlational studies suggest that the disease is transmitted through contact between these neuron-dense regions, with one study demonstrating that simply holding hands while sharing a fear response is sufficient to transmit the infection. The proposed mechanism by which the disease transmits is that once a particular threshold of neuronal activity is exceeded, the blisters burst and larvae burrow into the skin of their next host. Rachis worms only target humans and have no intermediate hosts.

The rachis worm is the only extant member of the arthropod family Ossifervidae. Its closest living relatives are the horseshoe crabs. Rachis worm infection has been a recognized disease for thousands of years and its carapace is easily recognizable in human remains. Researchers are still unsure of when the species first started coevolving alongside humans and of how widespread the disease truly is.

Addendum: Pathologists at the Overbrook Dormer Institute issued a statement on Tuesday clarifying that it is misleading to report on the rachis worm as a ‘parasite’. An infection is generally not detrimental to the host, and may even be beneficial. Leading researchers are now discussing deliberately infecting patients to cure debilitating back pain. One patient was found to be infected with 13 worms upon his autopsy, but until then, had lived a relatively normal life in perfect health. New research shows that for unknown reasons, hosts typically exceed the life expectancy of their region by 20 years. Further research is needed on interactions between the worm and its host. It is still a mystery as to why the rachis worm targets the human central nervous system. However, patients should not fret, the worm has not yet demonstrated any appreciable ability to influence its host’s thoughts or behavior.

[pokegeek151]

Word-of-the-day writing challenge - 5/22/22

carapace. noun. a bony or chitinous shield, test, or shell covering some or all of the dorsal part of an animal, as of a turtle.

The adventurer’s guild was crowded and loud, but the crowd had a distinct, almost electrical energy to it. Heysel had been around groups of knights, of soldiers, of courtiers and drunks and servants and all manner of people, but never had the collective been this abuzz.

It’s the magic, he reasoned. Almost everyone in this building was sure to have at least some magic on them, or at least had the experience of being surrounded by it. Heysel couldn’t detect the magic, not directly, but even he could feel it concentrated in the air.

Nith looked distracted and excited by it, her eyes flicking about and her body almost jerking when she sensed something interesting or powerful. She would probably have a headache later, but she was at least excited.

Chayo fit right in. For once, she was not the biggest person in the room, and no one was afraid of her. She had an intensity under her skin that tended to scare civilians away, but here, it was par for the course.

Kaitz stuck close to Nith, equally intrigued and overwhelmed by the energy in the room. There was purpose in every footstep and a readiness in every sword and spellbook strapped to someone’s side.

Heysel became aware of one particular person walking directly towards them with purpose. He watched her weave smoothly past much larger adventurers, some of whom ignored her, but many of whom stepped out of her way, a sign of deference not offered to many by this type of crowd.

As she moved, her dark cloak shifted and flipped open a few times, and Heysel could almost see some sort of translucent underlayer flash in the light.

“Greetings!” she called once she was close enough to be heard by the three who were not paying attention. “Welcome to the guild hall. Are you new here?”

It was a false question. She had a small board with paper clipped to it tucked up to her chest and a tone that Heysel recognized as forced politeness draped over a simple script. She was the type who knew everyone who had ever walked through her doors, and she did not know them.

“Yes,” Heysel said as Nith, Chayo, and Kaitz took a moment to process the fact that they were being addressed. “Are the guild leader?”

The woman laughed lightly. A question she had long grew bored of. “No, no. I’m just the administrator.” Stressed, in a hurry. “My name is Made. You are?”

“Just browsing,” he said. “We’re not looking to join formally at the moment, just check the mission board.”

“I will direct you to our mission guidelines packet, then,” she said, already unclipping a stack of small papers from her board and handing it to them. “There are different rules for use of our facilities for non-guild heroes. If you do not follow them, you will not be permitted future use of our facilities.”

“Are you buzzing?” Kaitz suddenly asked.

If Heysel focused, he could indeed barely hear a faint buzzing coming from Made.

She pulled the front of her cloak a little closer around her. “Don’t worry about it. Please review the guidelines. If you have any questions, you can come to the desk. I will be happy to assist you.” With that, she turned and wove her way through the crowd once again.

[thekaijudude]

Zegan, the Space-Time God of Destruction Things that suggest that Zegan is actually just a new Giant Walking Aquatic species: 1. Came from the Ocean 2. Literally Swam through the City (With great grace of course) 3. Has a Shark-like dorsal Fin 4. Has a Tail Fin 5. Has Crustacean Carapace all over his front 6. Has Crab-like pincers as hands

7. Has multiple fins on his back 8. Sounds like a dolphin

9. Has two giant fins on his side (which looks like wings but I’m gonna assume those are fins cause we don’t see him really flapping it when he propelled himself nor do we see him fly using them)

Things that suggest Zegan is a SpaceTime God of Destruction: 1. Has that one beam which sends things to an alternate dimension Seriously TsuPro? You might as well call Pigmon the Overseer of Worlds by just giving him one OP attack.

[natik-lore]

Rustback Hymdromons

Species: Rustback (also called redback, redstripe, and redrock)

Type: Surface-dweller

Habitat: Desert, mountains, rocky areas. Tend to live in places rich with iron deposits. They make their homes from stone and clay, either by crafting their dwellings themselves or by taking refuge in-between or under rocks. They have also been observed living in cave systems, abandoned towers, and abandoned burrows.

Diet: Carnivorous; they eat large animals, small animals, hymdromons of other species, occasionally carrion. They will sometimes use plants medicinally or in beverage, but that aside they only consume animal matter.

Appearance: Rustbacks are the heaviest, bulkiest hymdromon species. They all have thick, rough carapaces adorned with jagged spikes. They have much stronger, sharper jaws than most hymdromons- designed for gripping hold of and tearing flesh.  As their name suggests, most adults of the species have a rust-red or blood-red stripe running along their dorsal side, although some variations lack this stripe and some are totally red all over. The base color tends to range from slate gray to tan to muddy brown. The males of the species are usually coal black or silver with bright scarlet or orange stripes. Juveniles of the species are mottled gray and brown and have no stripes. Eye colors include blood red, scarlet, pink, orange, gold, and chestnut.

Castes- There is no tatik or “worker” caste in the rustback species; the only non-reproducers take on the kratik or “warrior” body type. The kratik of this species have thicker, heavier foreclaws, uniquely designed for lifting and digging through stone. Their foreclaws have enough strength to crush carapace and solid bone. The patik (males) are small but heavily armored, and rather than one horn they possess two- giving them an appearance somewhat like tiny, eight legged rhinoceroses. The matik (reproducing females) of the species are also heavily armored and tank-like, with a unique part of their armored carapace being able to lift up and down to protect the newborns carried on their backs. A rustback mati is considered to be one of the most dangerous animals on the planet.

Behavior: Rustbacks are slow-moving ambush predators that are primarily active at night. During daylight entire clans can often be found sunning themselves on rocks for hours at a time. When threatened, they will either  tuck themselves under their hard carapaces until danger passes or they will let out a shrill screech and lash out at the predator with their powerful foreclaws. Clans tend to be small and usually live isolated from other communities of their species. They are extremely territorial over their hunting grounds and do not tolerate intruders. When more than one clan does live in close proximity, they often battle to establish dominance.

[akitydoesart]

Name: Kabold

Alias: Alien Vampire

Discovery Date: Nov 10, 1962

Place of Origin: Unknown Planet

Stomping Ground: Homeworld, Central Africa

Height: 30 feet

Length: 200 Feet(Eyeballing it here, hang with me)

Biology: Kabold’s biology is alien to say the least. It has many organs similar to that of earthly creatures baring a few exceptions of missing specific ones and having others that are completely unknown. For instance, it has no heart, and its “brain”which is more like a mass collection of advanced nerves, goes down the entire length of its body, acting as a sort of spinal cord. Despite such an important organ, damaging this cord has no long lasting damages and heals quickly. Most of its more important parts of this “brain” is housed in it carapace-covered head where its safe. Its body moves fluid around through several heart-like organs scattered around parts of its body. It has no bones, and instead it’s body is built on thick muscle, much like a annelid. Unlike an annelid though, it has limbs, with digits. The creature is built like a snake, and fights like one too by using its muscular body and tail and arms to coil and subdue its prey while injecting its complex venom till the target is subdued. Kabold then proceeds to feed, but not to kill. The otherworldly creature will actively keep its prey alive as long as possible, periodically feeding on it until it expires. In this time, it will stow its catch away in its den, never leaving unless it has too. This behavior has been compared to how some mammals store food for winter, or wasps burying food for their offspring. Kabold’s home planet may have been a harsh environment judging from this behavior, as storing food for as long as possible indicates there are long periods of time where as the predator may not be able to feed.

Despite thriving in a small territory, it will go far and wide for prey. Compared to the organisms of Earth, the creature has no gender at all whatsoever, and procreates by fission; splitting its body, naturally or body torn in two or more pieces. Its eleven insect-like eyes are poor, and Kabold mostly finds its way around through vibration and sound with the use of its luminescent frills going along its dorsal side.

Personality: Kabold is a very reserved predatory kaiju, but isnt a malicious one. In fact its very content ignoring everything around it that doesn’t require its attention. Unless its possible prey or attacked, Kabold will contently stay isolated. Despite its hunting and feeding tactics, it is not a cruel creature. Efficiently feeding is simply part of its life. If offered a substantial passive feeding, Kabold isn’t opposed to the kind gesture. It will be open to a relationship if the opportunity arises.

-Notable Muscular Power

-Notable regenerative ability

-Immunity to radiation

-Neurotic that causes paralysis and slows metabolism and electrolytes

Origin: During the early sixties, the scare of horrors from the stars ran wild on televisions. It may have been poetic that one of the first extraterrestrial Kaiju to appear was a bizarre salamander-like worm that fed on the body fluids of other living creatures.

It began with a few mysterious disappearances of animals in Africa, mainly large ones such as Elephants and the like, and eventually down scaled to humans and any other fauna that the alien creature could find. In its desperate urge to feed, it was quickly discovered and attempts were made to destroy the mysterious animal. This only enraged it, and every attack made urged it to move to new territory immediately after. Its desperate need to feed however kept giving it away. The small animals that it crushed in its massive tongue and sucked the fluids out of simply were not enough. After the help from neighbors to the north, Europe, the creature was thought destroyed for many, many long years until it resurfaced again in the Rain-forest of the Congo. How the creature survived so long and continue feeding without being noticed brought question up, but after other emergence of large Kaiju, its thought the alien creature found suitable large prey in some hollow. 

How this animal got to Earth is a mystery. Unlike others, it doesn't seem like Kabold was sent Earth later on purpose for any reason. One theory that came about was that some alien race simply dumped it on Earth wanting to get rid of it, like some humans dump their overgrown pet alligators into the nearest body of water. With no connection to Venus, Mars or the Beyonders that came far later, there seemed to be no other explanation how an unknown extraterrestrial organism mysterious appeared on Earth. None any more likely, anyway.

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This creature had lots of inpsirations, all which I can’t name. One was Irys from Gamera, and thats clear in the head and blood sucking. But I also thought of Velvet Worms, Salamanders, and the Vampire from the Fright Night remake just to name a few.

@tyrantisisterror