#Long Tailed Carpet Sharks

[subbalakshmisastry]

EXOTIC BAMBOO SHARK / CAT SHARKS / LONG TAILED CARPET SHARKS in Lokaran...

[the-great-unikitty]

It's May, so I drew a mermaid. I'm not following any challenge guide or anything I just wanted to draw one and might draw more.

[all-purpose-dish-soap]

34 / 3.2k / part 2 of shark mermen Gaz and Soap for mermay >:)

...

You wake up to the morning sunlight glimmering off Gaz's salt-glazed skin. He's leaning over you, watching you intently with those fathomless all-black eyes.

You gasp and immediately drag yourself away--or try to, given the way his tail is wound under your legs like a snake's. In your haste, you bump up against Soap, who lurks behind you, somehow again taking you by total surprise.

Your heels scrape against sharp gravel as you fight to get out of reach. Gaz's tail coils inward as if to drag you back in, and you almost collapse over it in your scramble. But you finally manage to get out of reach. You stare down at them, your heart pounding in confusion and panic.

Soap smirks like this is the most fun he's had in weeks. His tail swishes in the shallows behind him. "G'morning."

This is a nightmare. A hallucination.

"Don't look so shocked," Soap says. "You've still got all your pieces. You really should try being more thankful. We saved your life."

"Saved my--" You cough and sputter. Salt and sand coat your throat. "You tried to kill me!"

"You would've died anyway," Gaz says. His matter-of-fact tone of voice is somehow more terrifying than Soap's high-energy arrogance.

"We were havin' a little look at you," Soap says. "That's all."

"You bit me!"

"Just a nip," Gaz admits. "I was curious."

"I wasn't," Soap says with a flash of his sharp teeth. He looks down at the second set of teeth marks--his teeth marks--on your calf. "That's a love bite."

⬇ nsfw, monster mermen, overt predator/prey dynamics, blood kink ⬇

You pull your legs in, withdrawing further up the rocky beach as you get to your feet. You don't have much space to get away from them. Worse, this tiny cove will be all but swallowed by high tide. The only way out is either back into the water or up the rocky face of the cliffs on all sides. You can only imagine the rock cutting into your bare hands and feet--or worse, climbing halfway up, slipping, and landing on the carpet of glass-sharp gravel.

There’s nowhere to go.

Soap stretches toward you again as you back away. He does it in this motion like a shrug, like he's luring you into a false sense of security by making you think he just happens to be putting his hands near your ankle. He can’t hide how the muscles in his shoulders bunch, wanting to pounce. "You'd have a better chance jumping back into the sea and holding your breath than climbing those rocks, human. Maybe you outswim us this time, even. Want to try?"

"I'll take my chances," you snap. His claw brushes your foot, and you quickly backpedal, climbing up onto the biggest boulder you can manage. It's only about as waist-high, though, and unsteady. Not quite tall enough to boost you toward any solid footholds up the forty-or-so-foot cliffside. Still, you have to try.

Gaz watches with annoyance as you reach for a shallow indent in the rock. "You'll kill yourself. Be reasonable," he scolds.

Your fingers find uncertain purchase in the shallow ridge overhead, and you force your toes to get with the program and grip what might be a rocky shelf to your side.

The two mer watch you haul yourself up a few feet. Soap pushes himself up the beach to get a better view, tail curling. Gaz studies the muscles in your legs. Then he watches your hands grip the rocks. You look even more defenseless in the sunlight, skin battered from exposure and clothes torn from the waves. His eyes follow the curve of your calf to the blood that's dried on your ankle. It looks bad.

He doesn't see you making it high enough for the inevitable fall to kill you, but it irritates him that you're choosing to act like this. You're fragile. Obviously, if he and Soap wanted to kill you, you'd be dead. They did their best to not kill you. He did, anyway.

"You think we'd let you drown when the tide comes in after keeping your fragile human body alive and intact this long?" Gaz calls up.

You ignore this in favor of boosting yourself up another foot. Your fingers slip on the next hold. Gravel clatters down the rock and showers both mer.

Soap smirks. "Gonnae fall, aye?”

Gaz's voice is flat. "Let her."

You make it up another two footholds before you slip.

Soap's smirk morphs into a wild laugh as you topple backward. You land on the rocks, hard, air knocked out of you with a surprised gasp. Both mer prowl toward you.

You dig the heels of your hands into the wet sand to scramble to your feet again. A sudden, sharp pain makes you hiss. You rip your hands out of the gravel to see a shard of curved glass sticking out of your palm of your dominant hand. Blood stains the base and wells up, trailing down your wrist.

Soap clocks the smell of blood. "What d'you want to try next, hmm?" he muses, tail swishing behind him. "Hurry up before the tide comes in or that cut'll attract somethin' unfriendly."

You glare at him. You want to scream. Or cry. You need help, but what are the chances the rescue boats will come back this way?

"So?" you snap, hiding your hand against your chest as he leans closer. "What does it matter to me if you eat me or something else does?"

"We don't care to eat you," Gaz says. "And if we did, we wouldn't share."

"Don't know about that, Gaz," Soap purrs. "You think she looks delicious, don't ya?"

You look from one to the other, still clutching your bleeding hand. "Why would you bring me here if you didn't want to eat me?"

"Curiosity." Gaz's eyes dart back to your face. “I told you.”

Frustration burns in your chest. "You bit me. You dragged me around the water. What else is fucking left to be curious about?"

Gaz hesitates. To him, you are a sight. Tattered clothes clinging to your damp body, he can see more of you than when he first spied you on that little boat, sitting so carelessly with your legs dangling in the water.

He stares at the bite wound on your arm. It's not just a “nip” like Soap’s--it's deep. A bite that left a deep, dark, ugly mark surrounded by a ring of dark blue-purple bruising. It will scar. The memory of his teeth will always be in your skin. He can still taste you: fresh adrenaline, copper blood, and seawater.

"What you feel like." His voidlike eyes are half-lidded, his voice soft. "Up close."

You glance back at him, your heart pounding. You're defenseless right now--you have been since they threw you onto this beach. So there has to be some truth to what they're saying, right? You remember reading somewhere that sharks are curious. That they sometimes investigate with their teeth, biting without any real intent to injure. So... maybe...

Soap leans in behind you and skims his clawed fingertip up your arm, his voice just past the shell of your ear. "We can take you back to shore, easy. We just need to clean those wounds. How about it," he purrs into your ear. "Gonnae help us help you?"

You shy away from his touch, feeling goosebumps break out all over. "Okay. Okay, fine." You glance down at your hand, then at Soap. "But not... not you."

You look at Gaz, hesitant, but your meaning is clear.

Soap's smirk twists into a frown. "Why not me?"

Gaz snatches your wrist. "Come here, then."

You find yourself pulled into the arms of a shark again as Gaz shuffles you into the crook of his arm. You're awed at how much bigger than humans these shark mer are. He coils his tail under you both. He grips your bloodied wrist in one hand and plants the other firmly on your hip to slide you even more flush against him. Any protest you had dies in your throat as he repositions your injured hand in his and plucks the glass out in a single, rough motion. A gasp punches out of you. The noise has Gaz pulling you closer, his arm wrapped tight around you.

You tense up, watching the claws on his hands very carefully, but he seems to maneuver you in such a careful, conscientious way to keep from hurting you with them that, once he has you positioned on his tail, you relax somewhat. They really are being careful with you, you realize. Some of the tension leaves your shoulders. You breathe out through your teeth. You can let this happen. Some people would love to be in your position, even. There's something tender but not quite gentle in how he grips you and how his thumb presses into your thigh.

He tucks your head under his chin. A low hum vibrates in his chest. Something about the sound is soothing. Or at least distracting enough that you don't notice him moving your hand to his mouth until his hot tongue laves over your wound.

Your blood--in his mouth--and roaring in your ears. How did you let yourself be tricked into letting a shark lap up your blood while he’s holding you close enough that you can see the beads of sea water clinging to the scarred ridges of his chest?

Even Gaz is somewhat surprised at the way his tongue instinctively scrapes over your wound to stem the blood flow. It's not an entirely animal compulsion to lick the wound clean--it's a practical enough way to clear away the blood. Tasting you is a bonus. That's what he tells himself as he trails his tongue down your arm to catch what's dripping down in rivulets to your elbow.

You squirm at the sting. Gaz tightens his grip.

"Is that all you were curious about, then?" Soap asks, sliding closer. He's talking to Gaz but looks down at you with glimmering solid blue eyes.

"Steady," he breathes, his voice still rough. He can smell your nervousness. He can feel your heart pounding. "She's got cuts all over. Let me..."

You feel his hands begin to peel away your tattered clothes and slide under them. You bite down on a squeal, grabbing his wrist. "Hey--!"

Before you can voice your protests fully, Soap's fingers brush the small bite mark on your ankle. You jolt, pulling your legs away and hugging them to yourself. Distracted by this, Gaz lets his free hand glide over the outside of your leg. His calloused fingers follow the curve of your hip, your thigh, your calf. He tugs your leg free so he can study the underside, too. He runs the pads of his fingers all the way back up to the bend of your knee, along the flesh of your hamstring, across the inside of your thigh. You shiver.

At the same time, Soap tugs at the bottom of your tattered shirt with interest. "Why d'you humans wear cloth? Is it because your skin is too thin?" Before you can reconsolidate yourself enough to answer, he scoffs. "All the good it does you. Shreds easier than seaweed."

“Mm,” Gaz agrees absently. He shifts you so your back is back braced up against his chest, your legs bunched up atop his tail. This way, he can keep you here and keep his hands free. He’ll have as much access to you as he needs.

At this angle, you feel rather than see the smooth dark planes of Gaz's chest and stomach. It should be wrong to notice the scars that run over his arms as they pass over you. Or the way his muscles ripple under your back. His body is a dichotomy: warm to the touch and smooth as fine silk, but rough and coarse with scars. Plus there’s the shark half.

Soap snatches up one of your ankles. He prods at your foot. "You get around on these?"

You huff. "When I can, clearly."

He runs the edge of one of his claws over the top of your foot, follows the arched bone underneath, and presses into your instep. He pokes and prods and presses hard on the ball of your foot with a curious look. "Must be slow."

"Doesn't have to be fast," you mutter.

"Then how d'you catch food?"

"I don't have to catch my food."

"You're a predator, though. You've got eyes facing forward."

"I can hunt what I need to hunt.” Salads and instant noodles, but you don’t bother saying that.

"That's good." Soap's hands slide to your toes. He finds it weird how your feet sort of resemble his hands. Little fingers and claws and everything. "As long as you've got prey slower and smaller and softer than you are."

"If that's even possible," Gaz says.

You scowl. Rude.

Gaz seems to enjoy your sour reaction a little too much. "I suppose your prey must be stupid, too."

"Watch it."

A smirk plays at his lips as his gaze flicks down to the rest of you, curled up on his lap in his arms. "Do you think you can make me? What'll you do--scratch me with your claws?" He laces your fingers with his. Your soft, blunt human fingers and his thicker, sharper, callused ones. "Bite me with your razor-sharp teeth?"

"Maybe."

"How vicious." He nudges your bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. "Go on, then."

You consider it. Then you realize it would just prove his point, so you turn your face away with a huff. You wish you'd paid more attention to all those National Geographic specials about mer. You don't specifically remember any real-life cases of shark mer eating humans, but there are definitely made-for-TV movies about it.

Soap's hands creep up to your calf. His thumbs prod your shin and then your kneecap. "I can feel her bones," he says in surprise.

"We both have bones.”

"Well, yours are like rock. Ye got thin skin, hard bones. 'Cept your claws." Soap's fingers wander up your bare legs past your kneecaps. When they make it to your thigh, he grips it with his whole hand and squeezes lightly.

He's fascinated--amazed, even--by your body. It's almost enough to make you feel self-conscious, but everything you'd cover up is a fascination for them. Bumps, stretch marks, pock marks, folds, fat, stubble--you feel yourself tense up when hands wander to those parts of yourself you've learned to be ashamed of, but they don't react. Of course they don't, but still. It feels strange.

Gaz notices your discomfort. He keeps his grip light and loose on you, but his eyes linger on the flesh of your thigh in Soap's hands, the way your skin dimples under the pressure. "It's like a seal,” Gaz says.

"My thigh is like a seal?"

"Soft and blubbery,” Soap adds. "And seals are delicious." He leans down and pinches a bit of skin in his teeth.

You squirm a bit at the harmless little nip, but moreso at the way his hand slides a little too far up your thigh. You put your uninjured hand over his to stop it from going any higher.

Unfortunately, that just seems to draw his attention to what might be up there. His eyes flick up to your shorts. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't seem like nothing." He grabs the hem of your shorts to slide them higher.

You grab his hands. "Hey!"

He grins. "You're a bit twitchy.”

"That's not allowed," you tell him, face burning.

"Isn't it?" Gaz says. He loops his long fingers under your thigh and lifts it up as if to give Soap more room. "Whose rule is that?"

You quickly snap your thighs shut anyway, curling your legs into yourself as best you can. "My rule. Don't touch."

A low noise of frustration rumbles in Soap's chest. "Why do humans cover up so much?" His hands slide up your outer thighs, and he bends until his face is almost level with your stomach. His frown deepens as if this were the thing he was really curious about. "Just let me look for a second."

"Absolutely not."

"Waste of nice soft human skin," he mutters. "Hiding it all away."

“Let us in,” Gaz says.

“No.”

"Not even me?" he asks.

"No."

They both frown.

"Why not?” Gaz asks. “What are you keeping there?"

You huff. "It's my-- my reproductive things. Happy?"

"Your... reproductive things." Soap furrows his brow and turns his head to Gaz. "Reproductive like a fish?"

Gaz's fingers continue to squeeze your inner thighs in slow, deliberate motions. "No," he says after a beat. "Like a mammal."

"Ah. So?" Soap gives you a blank look. "Those are all up inside you then, aye? Nothin' to see."

He takes hold of your knee again. You immediately pull out of his grasp and turn to the side, sitting up on your knees this time as Gaz shifts his tail to accommodate you. "Nothing to see as far as you're concerned," you respond, curt.

Soap continues to leer at you, but his prodding is less insistent at your clear refusal. "Just tell us then. Where is it exactly? In the front? Or the back?"

You cross your arms. "None of your business."

"Don't humans mate for fun?" Soap asks.

“I didn't say that.”

"They doooo," Soap singsongs. He smiles and bares his teeth, the sharp points on his canines glinting in the light.

All the heat that had gone out of your cheeks comes rushing back in. " Do you?"

Soap grins again in that annoying way. "We do. Very fun. So what's the big deal?”

"We're not mating is what," you snap. You push yourself off of Gaz’s lap and stumble a bit, catching yourself with a splash into the deepening tide. "When are you taking me back home?"

Soap looks disappointed at the possibility of being deprived so suddenly of his new toy.

Gaz frowns too. "Now you're talking like you didn't enjoy yourself." He pushes himself up and follows you into the water, his fins cutting through it smoothly. "But a deal is a deal. We’ll take you back to shore. Once night falls, of course."

"But it's morning!"

"So it is." Gaz circles your legs, forming a crescent around you as he comes to a rest on his side in the shallow water. He smirks at you like he finds your confusion endearing in a tedious way. "Night will come again. We've got time until then."

"But the tide will come in," you remind them, casting a look back at the tiny little cove.

"It will,” Gaz agrees.

You don't like the way his smirk grows. Soap grins, too.

A slow realization that you're being toyed with comes over you. "What am I supposed to do, then?"

Gaz's smirk turns to a lazy little grin to match Soap’s. "Keep letting us entertain you.”

You hem and haw, but ultimately, when they pull you back into the shallow water with them, you don’t fight it. You’d rather conserve your energy.

Soap's hands join Gaz's, running up your strange human legs again. "We're going to keep her. Right, Gaz?"

"Of course," Gaz murmurs. The sea doesn't like to release its gifts. "Why would we bother leaving a catch intact without keeping it?"

...

part 1 / [part 2]

more Gaz / more Soap / more mer au / masterlist tag

[xxnomadsxx]

Nomads AU! Branch’s second in command..look I haven’t finished a drawing for them yet ….BUT it’s coming

Originally I wasn’t gonna have them in the story. They were just used to be a reason for why Branch was in the feral troll village, but then I got the idea for a brother rivalry between them and Brozone and I was like “OH! I have to do that!!!!!” (I am so sorry I really wanted to make an Oc please don’t unfollow 😭)

Branch’s Second in command is basically a replacement brother? (no one sure what gender they are? So Branch just calls him his brother?with a question mark) Honestly, the relationship is like SUPER toxic, like I’m talking about his second command has accidentally tried to eat him on a couple of occasions and has gotten him hurt multiple times on accident. (They’re also a huge reason on why is kind of more paranoid and aggressive troll that he is today) also they occasionally just bite Branch, maybe on the arm, leg, or just nibbling on his hair (I promise they won’t eat Branch they just like biting stuff) the biting freaks Branch out a lot (poor guys trauma won’t ever leave 😔)

What they look like is basically a description I gave of the feral (trolls?) a while back claws, tail, sharp teeth, messy looking, slitted eyes, and pointy ears the second in command/brother? wears half a cloak that only really covers one of their sides while also having the most stitched together outfit known to anyone in the village, arms and legs basically covered in bandages and scars surprisingly their face is scar free, their hair is similar to Bruce’s with how it cascades down his back, The only difference is it’s way messier and pitch black sometimes say to Branch how it makes them look more like family (which is cute in my opinion) They have shark teeth and sort of just has this look on there face of “I will bite you if you get close to me and if you’re not close to me, I will still bite you.” Their hair has some branches and leaves in it, but still pretty clean. Sometimes they lay on the ground and just pretend to be a carpet (I mean with how much hair they have it just completely covers their body) people have walked over them on accident before.

The second in command/brother? Doesn’t really have a name. Everyone just calls them Thing and that just became its name. Thing is maybe just really bad for Branch’s mental state, but they genuinely do really care for him. I mean the whole reason Branch is here is because Thing got one look at them and said “new little brother” and sorta just kinda adopted him.

Thing is is like the most insane feral (troll ?)(whenever they do something their motives behind it is either baby brother or feed there is an in between ground of just both) Thing is the head of the militia, and surprisingly is the most trusted with the village, due to their survival instinct/ tactics, and overall mindset of protection they’re kind of dumb though (so branch doesn’t really leave him in charge a lot for long periods of time but still trusts them over anyone else)

Random facts Thing owns a mug that says best big brother? on it, and it is like his most prize possession(and only possession) They once tried to eat a troll egg. Their excuse was omelette.(the egg was fine don’t worry) they are basically the most feral feral troll, (which is honestly really hard to do so claps for him I guess) He has tried to eat Creek on multiple occasions, the only reason he stopped is because they now have some weird deal going on (Creek just feed him bits of his hair.) They constantly run on all fours like a gremlin usually having their claws out just to climb trees and over buildings around the village. The trolls and feral(trolls?) just sort of got used to them and they’re weird freaky antics (they’re surprisingly really well respected and a lot of people quite like them… they just get super scared of them) As a kid they basically saw Branch as a pet until after like a week they were like “OK this is my baby brother now.” Similar to how trolls put their babies in their hair they sometimes just put Branch in their hair (Which Branch has gotten used to he just doesn’t mind it as much anymore but still hates it.) Nonetheless, no one is quite sure how old they are or where they came from in the village they just sort of been running around for years and then one day just showed up with a troll.

Thing can speak! Most of the time they prefer to just make weird animal noises or hiss and growl. They really only speak to Branch and anyone who has a genuine concern or anything (I mean he still has to be a good second in command) and even when they do speak it’s always in this raspy sounds like it hasn’t been used in like weeks voice. Has the most broken English ever they also speak in 3rd person quite a bit. (They can’t read and just ask a bajillion questions to anyone about anything or just run their own “tests” on stuff to see how it works)

I’m going to give it to you straight, the only reason Thing exists is so I can have a brother rivalry between them and Brozone I mean Branch’s biological brothers who he loved very much as a kid vs the creature who cared and raised him for 20 years after they left (The scenarios would be amazing!!! 🤩)

Branch and Thing have a very good relationship, Branch really loves them since Thing hasn’t abandoned him like everyone else and raised him with love (never mind how toxic of a home it was and still is)

[critter-creature-or-beast]

[Image ID: two gifs of an ornate wobbegong shark swimming above a bed of ocean plants. These carpet sharks have blunt noses and long bodies ending in tapered tails, with large pectoral and pelvic fins sticking out horizontally along the sides of their bodies, as well as two triangular dorsal fins on the tops of their tails. They are light brown with wide bands of dark brown, and covered all over with white or light colored rosette spots. End ID.]

[blake-1030]

Okay, I had this thought earlier when I was petting my dog, what if ghouls thumped their feet/leg (idk) when you scratch them in certain places? Like, for example, if you scratch Cumulus under her chin her tail wags and leg thumps?????

I’m gonna right about it, right now.

Swiss x Phantom (they’re so me core)

It’s mostly just fluff ig, a bit suggesting for like 0.2 seconds at the end.

Phantom lay on the couch, watching but not really listening to whatever Mountain had put on the TV. Some nature documentary or something. Phantom preferred the shark documentaries anyway.

Phantom felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Swiss, grinning at him.

“Hey, bat, I’m feeling kinda lonely, come with me to my room?” His grin stayed, his tone soft, but had an undertone of mischief.

“Ummm… yeah, sure, I’ll go with you. As long as you’re not planning anything” Phantom may have been new to living topside, but he wasn’t as gullible as some ghouls were when they were first summoned.

“I promise… now hurry up! Pleaseeeee” Swiss whined, trying, and failing, to give Phantom puppy eyes.

“Fine fine, I’m coming” Phantom said as he got up “bye Mountain”

Mountain merely hummed in response, seeming very concentrated on a particular plant in the documentary.

Both Swiss and Phantom make their way to Swiss’ room. Swiss turned to Phantom.

“Hey, bat…I need to try something, I’ve tried it with some of the others, and they LOVED it”

“Depends, what is it?”

“It’s a surprise”

Swiss grinned again “you up for it?”

Phantom contemplated for a moment. “Fine, but it better not be anything weird”

“Thank you thank you! Don’t worry, you’re gonna love it”

Swiss led phantom so sit on his bed, Phantom crossed his legs, which he seemed to do a lot. Swiss sat on the swivel chair Rain and Dew had gotten him for his birthday. Swiss gently placed his hand on the smaller ghouls thigh, easing his legs to sit in front of him, rather than being crossed legged. Phantoms feet resting on the floor.

“Good boy” Swiss hummed, making phantom swallow hard, his cheeks going a slightly darker lilac than the rest of him.

“You sure you’re okay with this?” Swiss asked, not wanting to cross any boundaries.

“I’m sure, I promise” phantom reassured.

Swiss nodded and moved his hand to be under Phantoms chin, he scratched gently. Phantoms eyes gently closed, but nothing more.

Swiss’ hand travelled to be behind phantoms horns, he scratched there too, Phantom merely hummed.

Then he moved his hand to the back of phantoms neck and he audibly gasped. Phantom tilted his head back, his tail gently wagging.

“That nice, baby bat?” Swiss asked, sounding teasing.

“Y-yeah…do it harder” phantom paused “…please”

“As you wish”

Swiss happily obliged, scratching the back of his neck slightly harder. Phantoms foot began to thump against the soft carpeting on Swiss’ rooms floor, Phantom purring gently.

Swiss smirked and begin to wrap his hand around his neck, squeezing for a mere second, causing Phantom to let out a down right whorish whine.

Swiss’ smirk only widened

“Oh, Phantom, you should be careful what noises you let slip”

[spacefinch]

Do you know much about sharks? They're my personal favourite underwater species. Feel free to use this as a shark info dump if you want btw :-)

I also love sharks! Here's some fun facts!

The largest species of shark is the whale shark. They're known for being "gentle giants" so to speak.

They don't bite! Instead, they swallow seawater and filter plankton through their gills.

The smallest species of shark is the dwarf lanternshark, named for its bioluminescence, or ability to produce its own light.

Sharks have incredibly keen eyesight. Not only can they see well in the dark, they can also see colors!

They also have an excellent sense of smell, which helps them find prey.

Sharks also have a "sixth sense:" electroreception! Using tiny sensory organs on their nose (called the ampullae of Lorenzini), they can sense electromagnetic fields emitted by other animals.

Some sharks lay eggs, while others give birth to live young.

They've been around longer than the dinosaurs! The oldest known shark fossils are from over 400 million years ago, during the Devonian Period, also known as "the Age of Fishes."

The now-extinct megalodon was the largest species of shark ever! They were even bigger than whale sharks!

Look how huge it is! It makes the great white shark look tiny!

Shark skin is made of rough scales called denticles, and it kind of feels like sandpaper when touched. (I've never touched a shark, so I'm just taking the marine biologists' word for it.)

It's very rare, but a female shark can reproduce without having mated with a male shark.

Some species of sharks, like nurse sharks, rest in dogpiles-- or should I say "shark piles." It's thought that they do this for protection from predators.

Here's a pile of nurse sharks! It's a bit cramped, but they don't seem to mind!

Thresher sharks have very long tail fins! Sometimes as long as the shark's body!

They use their long tails to slap their prey before eating it.

Thresher sharks are one of the few endothermic sharks, meaning they can produce their own body heat!

There are 12 species of wobbegong sharks. The name "wobbegong" means "shaggy beard" in the Australian Aboriginal language.

The wobbegong's "beard" is actually made of barbels, or special organs that help it feel its way around. (Catfish also have barbels!)

In English, they're also known as carpet sharks.

Unlike "normal" sharks, they spend their days camouflaged on the seabed. They also have poor eyesight compared to open-sea sharks.

This here shark is a Spotted Wobbegong! Funny looking dude, I love him.

Hope this satisfies your desire for shark facts!

Best fishes,

Finch

[pennylanefics]

i love sharks and i love greta. i had to do this. i've had this done for like almost two months and i really am so proud of it 😂 i include photos of the sharks and why i associate them with each guy :) it's quite a long post...but enjoy!!

Whale shark

Gentle giant

So cute and sweet, doesn't bite people because it doesn't have teeth (the shark...not Danny)

Beautiful pattern - Danny's freckles/rhinestones??

Tiger Shark

Distinct stripes

Reminds me of his highlights, kind of, in a way

Distinct snout...Daniel's beautiful, beautiful nose

Blacktip Reef

One of my favorite sharks

I don't know, i just love them, they're so cute

I also love Danny and he is cute

Black tips = Danny's eyeliner

Lemon

Distinct yellow-ish skin

Compare it to Danny's blonde highlights

Epaulette

SO CUTE

Distinct markings, some remind me of Danny's freckles

Pajama shark

Stripes remind me of Jake

The Pants™

That's basically it

Oceanic Whitetip

The Joops sparkling/showing from under his hair remind me of the shark's white tips. That's it

Bonnethead

My absolute favorites

They are just so cute

Look like they have little hats (kind of?), a little reminiscent of Jake's hats

Thresher

Jake whips his hair back on stage all the time

Threshers whip their tail to hunt prey (it's really fucking cool)

I love these guys

Shovelnose Guitarfish

These are so cool

Got their nickname from how they look like/are shaped like a guitar

Jake...guitar...no further explanation

Zebra Shark

The spots remind me of Josh's rhinestones

They are so beautiful. Josh is beautiful. Yeah.

Mako

Very slender, making it the fastest shark in the ocean

Josh is fast as fuck prancing around on stage. Also in the "Age of Machine" video

Josh has a slender, snatched waist too

Nurse Shark

Reminds me of his little mustache

Honestly, that's it

Silky

Named for their soft, silky skin

We all know Josh has soft skin, let's be real. It's been confirmed by fans too

Wobbegong

These reminds me of Josh's second DIG outfit

Giving of the vibes of carpet...hence the classification of carpetshark

Blue Shark

Blue sharks are sometimes forgotten, and I feel like I forget about Sam sometimes...whoops

Great White

Eats/bites things out of curiosity

Well...Sam has been known to do the same

Leopard Shark

He wears leopard prints a lot

Plus the "whiskers"/feelers is very similar to Sam's mustache

Basking

He always has his mouth open in photos

Basking sharks feed with their mouths open, AKA filter feeding

Bull Shark

I forgot my reasoning for this one but it seems reasonable

I have no clue...

They're aggressive, though, and I feel Sam gives off the same energy when talking in conversations/interviews

[obaewankenope]

Trick or Treat!

Long-tail carpet sharks or bamboo sharks are paetof the Hemiscylliidae family in the Orectolobiformes order. You can find them in shallow tropical waters in the Indo-Pacific and tend not to grow any bigger than 48 inches. These babies are pretty chill with looooong tails that are longer than the rest of their bodies. Honestly, they're pretty cute imho.

This is a Speckled Carpet Shark (fancy Latin name: Hemiscyllium trispeculare) found around north and west Australia. It's a cutie.

[monkprincess]

Ultrasounds, mens deodorant, rainwear fetish, mewing, slugging, hair growth subliminals, edible flowers, sunbathing, glowsticks, push pops, beer, data storage, light pollution, kahlua, hotel shampoo and conditioner, clem creevy, silver tooth, math rock, wetlands, ringtones, dubstep, upcycling, boxing, spiral dynamics, the rainbow serpent, low pressure systems, terrariums, broken nail, slam poetry, sequins, power tools, depth perception, blood loss, carpet burn, atheism, hot tubs, placenta, cicada shells, aeroguard, racecars, Ma Anand sheela, public pools, conspiracy theories, sacred geometry, bioterrorism, pissing in the shower, gunshots, rosehip tea, andy lee, dermatillomania, trepanation, crystal skulls, stealth, warheads, algae blooms, sensory deprivation chambers, singing, the sky, softcore porn, my head, blood, shark culling, cognitive dissonance, second cousins, ringing cedars anastasianism, tinsel, olive oil, codes and ciphers, petrol, tricks, hacks, tripe, nutribullet, slasher movies, the present, cancel culture, circumstances, mud, browbone, saliva, stage fright, plastic, dermarollers, chewing hair, littering, long car rides, zumba, prayer, minecraft, spatial disorientation, art deco lamps, emojis, saunas, constellations, facial recognition, memory loss, chiropractic, yahweh, canberra, cellulite, seafoam green, earthquakes, cuticle pushers, fresh air, sternum, sugar motta, christmas lights, sneezing, van halen, ink poisoning, vampire diaries, pine needles, hawaiian glam metal, glow worms, beatboxing, crack pipe, home birth, night lights, high pony tails, public school, smiling at people, dinosaurs, cheerleading, souvenir shops, dance concerts, feng shui, farms, time loop movies, soccer tape, aromatherapy, bird’s nests, iview, dragonfruits, phosphenes, gut shots, alchemy, Pangea, aquaculture, tar, glock, finches, ibiza, the 52hz whale, fruit ninja, tinnitus, crying spells, silphium, cardiophilia, relapsing, the garden, hexagramatron, sherbet, schi💋ophrenia, headstands, the summa, quantum wealth codes, google translate prophecies, cheer mixes, burnt toast, school disco’s

[thecreatureawaits]

Creature Awaits #226

Each week I plan to feature an amazing creature, admiring God's fantastic artistry. Hopefully it’ll brighten someone’s day to see something new and interesting if they haven’t seen it before. : )

(Endearing capture taken by Paul Korecky (CC BY-SA 2.0))

The Tasselled Wobbegong

Scientific Name: Eucrossorhinus dasypogon

Region: Shallow reefs lining northern Australia, New Guinea, the Aru Islands and Waigeo

Size: Up to 5'10" (~1.8m) long

Interesting Notes: This unique and beautiful carpet shark rests camouflaged against coral reefs along the sea floor with its tail curled under ledges and in caves during the day, although it may ambush unsuspecting passersby should the opportunity arise. At night it more actively hunts its favored prey among crustaceans, cephalopods and fish - luring many to their feasted-on fate by slowly waving the end of its tail like a small fish.

[weird-science14]

HI POOKIE THIS POST IS FOR YOU @anthony-ant-14 SINCE YOU TAGGED ME IN THAT AQARIUM SHARK POST!!

The Hemiscylliidae are a family of sharks also commonly known as longtail carpet sharks or bamboo sharks found in shallow waters of the tropical indo-pacific.

They’re relatively small, the largest species not reaching more than 121 cm/48 in of adult body length. They have long cylindrical bodies and long tails which exceed the length of the rest of their bodies. They are sluggish fish and usually feed on bottom dwelling invertebrates and smaller fish.

Sharks of these kind can be kept in home aquariums and are actually ideal for this since their natural habitats are tidepools, coral beds, and around boulders. The fact they’re used to smaller spaces helps them adapt better to aquariums compared to other species. Their small size and preference for warm temperatures also makes them better aquarium fish.

Sorry this is so short :( I couldn’t find a lot of information to give you. Have some photos instead!

[ferinehuntress]

FORGED (vi)

◈　 ⇢  @jynxd　 ⋯　 GLIMPSES OF THE PAST . 　　send FORGED for a scene from my muse's past that they think made them stronger in the long run

　⊰ ⸻ ⊱　Vi nearly stumbled over her foot at the question and twisted her head to look at Bli. Why... why would they ask her that? No, nothing in her past made her stronger, she always claimed it, but every time she thought back to certain events she saw a scared lonely little child who just wanted her parents. "I don't ..." Vi hesitated as she reached down, pushed the chair into the table, and moved over toward the fish tank. It was massive, something she would have never been able to afford on her own, and yet Caitlyn had splurged to get her it.

There were four sharks in the tank; a speckled carpet shark, two short-tail nurse sharks, and an epaulette Shark at the bottom of the tank. Other companion fish within the tank included a few Surgeon-fish, clown fishes, paddle-fin, banana, and coris Wrasses. All of these fish brought so much color, from reds and golds to some orange and blue and yellow; as they swam around the oval framed fish tank. It was the one massive splurge of money Vi had, but part of it was due to reminding her of Powder. Her hand pressed slightly against the tank, as a few of the fish swam up and swam back and forth near her hand.

Her eyes closed as she leaned her forehead against the tank. "Maybe, when I was eleven, Vander got me into boxing with him. He saw the struggle I was having with my anger and my outburst. I scared Powder a few times, so I sometimes avoided her at times when I felt it spurring. So he taught me how to punch, how to hit. It was never about fighting for him but an outlet so that I could get these emotions out without hurting someone," Vi leaned back up and walked away from the tank as she dropped down on the couch, throwing her head against the seat and putting her feet over the armrest. "Just, jab jab, punch punch," Vi mimicked the moves into the air, her fist strong and wind rushing around her powerful hits now.

"I'm not sure if he did it so I could protect myself, or if it was solely just an outlet, but being able to punch and fight helped me to defend myself better. It's the one thing that made me strong, so that I could protect people I needed to protect. Or, at least try," She had failed so much, she couldn't fail again.

[aggimaginary]

The Bad Guys (my version) - The Heist (chapter 3)

First Previous Next

Hey guys! Sorry for delaying the publication for hours. I was sick as I felt that I had a fever, so I decided to sleep more today. But now I felt better, I had time to post this. Enjoy the heist!

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"So here's the plan. Like every year, the ceremony will be held at the Museum of Fine Arts..."

The plan was set. They would infiltrate the fancy-pants event at the Museum of Fine Arts, posing as guests who were there to celebrate the life and achievements of that annoying guinea pig, Professor Marmalade. During the festivities, they'd sneak backstage using Web's clever hacking skills. Wolf finished explaining the plan for the gang, "...where the Golden Dolphin will be positioned just beyond the backstage curtain."

"Pssh," Piranha said, waving a fin. "Sounds easy."

"Sounds easy, hermano," Wolf agreed, "But to get there, we need to bypass three levels of security. So. Step One: We'll need to blend in."

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The Bad Guys all got to work finding their costumes for the night. Since most of their lives were spent stealing, getting gussied up for a party was a new kind of fun. By the time the party rolled around, they were all set. Wolf had chosen a snazzy suit, along with a dapper fedora, silk tie, fake mustache, and tinted glasses. He had mastered the part of a fancy movie star, like George Clooney as his muse and guide. That guy always looked good.

Shark, meanwhile, had gone the opposite direction, cramping his body into a gorgeous gown that was stretched to the limit by Shark's massive, muscular form. Perched atop Shark's head, Tarantula had fashioned her long limbs into the shape of a butterfly fascinator hat.

Snake went old-school, complete with a classic suit, handlebar mustache, monocle, top hat, and a pair of fake arms to help fill out the look.

Piranha squeezed into a kid-size coat, a tiny top hat, and tails, looking handsome and a bit childish—but it did the trick.

Hornet was hiding under Piranha's hat, poking his head out to see. He didn't need a disguise as he was too small to be noticed. This was a good advantage to him, but it could be lonely sometimes... not being noticed by others, but he was happy he always got to notice by his friends.

When they arrived at the museum, they joined in with a long line of guests who were already milling about, waiting to enter the event. There was a grand staircase stretching up toward the Fine Arts Museum, and the group of disguised Bad Guys had just begun to climb the steps when a stretch limo pulled up at the bottom of the stairs. Many of the guests turned to watch as Professor Marmalade, the eccentric and good-natured do-gooder who would be honored that night, popped out of the limo and began his own march up the stairs to the party. Paparazzi flooded in around the little guinea pig, eager to snap shots of the evening's featured guest.

"Professor Marmalade..." Wolf muttered, "This year's recipient of the Gold Dolphin and the most annoying good guy on the planet."

Marmalade waved to his crowd of adoring fans, then stepped up to talk with Tiffany Fluffit, the eager news reporter who'd been assigned to the night's festivities. "Professor," Tiffany started. "In the past year, you've stopped wars, fed the hungry, and saved countless pandas. Some have described your goodness as second only to Mother Teresa!"

Professor Marmalade nodded, putting on the look of earnest humility. "Oh, Tiffany, it's not a competition! And if it were, it would really be more of a tie. But we can all agree that there is a flower of goodness inside all of us, just waiting to blossom."

Everyone within earshot broke into applause, overcome with love for the oh-so-good professor. Marmalade waved to the crowd as he continued his climb up the red carpet, heading inside to the awards ceremony where even more fans were waiting for a glimpse of that evening's headliner.

"Once we get inside," Wolf continued "There are two armored doors..." He explained how they would get into the doors that were locked and sealed tightly, with extra protections, to ensure that the beloved Golden Dolphin was safe and secure until it was thrust into Professor Marmalade's grubby little guinea pig paws. "The first door can only be opened by a special key card that is carried at all times by our dear friend, the chief of police," Wolf told the others. "The second is outfitted with a retinal scanner that only words with Governor Foxington's eye, and it's also guarded by an elite special ops until trained to strike first and ask questions later."

The other Bad Guys nodded,

Wolf pointed out, "Since Governor Foxington is the only one who has clearance to open the second door, Step Two is that she and I will need to get up close and personal..."

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"Okay, friends," Wolf said, rejoining the others on the far side of the museum's huge entranceway. He flipped the ring that he secretly stole from Diane, and said while catching it back into his paw, "It's showtime.

He and the other Bad Guys started to make their move, heading inside the museum, with Wolf instructed, "Once we're in, it's on to step three: We split up and we take our positions."

Meanwhile, while the Bad Guys entered the museum, up on the floor above, the chief of police was instructing the fellow police officers on their mission for the evening. She paced the floor back and forth, declaring, "Officers, if the Bad Guys crash this event, I am definitely going to lose my job, and I will not hesitate to take you down with me. Now, move out!"

The officers all saluted Chief Luggins and said, "Yes, ma'am! Hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut, hut...," while running to their positions. While the other officers got into position, the chief marched off, setting off on her patrol.

Back on the first floor, the Bad Guys were starting to move into their positions, looking as inconspicuous as possible, without anyone noticing.

Shark offered Tarantula a hand, as she climbed into his hand, and leaped down onto the floor, crawling off in a different direction, while the boys went their own separate ways. Hornet wore his helmet, and flew up as high as he could to take his position above to watch over the others.

Piranha was leaning up against a fountain and waited for the perfect moment before jumping in and quietly swimming underwater with a huge grin on his face, while making sure his little top hat followed him too. He ended up swimming through the pipe system of the fountain, heading towards somewhere for his part of the plan.

Snake looked behind him to make sure no one was following as he was heading towards a swirly, wavy golden pole-like statue.

Shark was heading into the receptionist area to fit in with the other guests.

Tarantula was crawling along the floor, avoiding getting stepped on by accident, while heading towards a wall to climb up onto.

Hornet was flying from one hanging light to another.

Wolf was gazing upon the quiet floors around the art areas, cool, clam, and certain that this heist was gonna go without a hitch.

Tarantula placed her hand on her communicator, and spoke through it, "Mic's on. Everyone on comms, do you copy?"

Each Bad Guy responded in order, letting her know that their comms were working as Wolf stated, "Copy."

"Copy" added Snake.

"Copy," responded Hornet.

"Copy" mentioned Piranha

And Shark replied with a high-pitched voice to match his female disguise, "Copy,"

With that, the Bad Guys were on the move.

Snake looked around to see if anyone was watching before carefully scaling up a high golden, swiggly pole, and entered the top vent.

Meanwhile, once Snake entered inside the vent, Tarantula was riding on the back of a fellow security officer, who was heading into the security room, as he used his keys to unlock the room before entering.

Over by the reception area, Shark had taken a seat by a table with a lot of drinks as a man dressed in a tuxedo approached her, and offered a drink, "A drink for the pretty lady?"

Shark, staying in tune with his disguised character, spoke in a high-pitched voice, "No, thank you. My life is too complicated right now," he took the two drinks out of his hands, much to the man's confusion.

When Hornet flew to the last chandelier he could find closer to him, he activated the HUD effect of his helmet, showing the video footage of the areas down below.

Up in the vents, Snake slithered slowly and carefully along the metal before stopping and going through the next part: shedding through his disguise... literally. He broke through his old skin and slithered out of it, and his disguise, emerging out while wearing a black bodysuit that covered his whole body, with his face as the only thing not covered, before moving forward.

Over in the men's restroom, a caterer wearing a catering uniform was whistling a happy tune while heading into a stall to use the toilet. However, he didn't see Piranha slowly peeking his head out from the toilet with a huge grin on his face as the man closed the bathroom stall door behind him, sealing his fate.

Back in the security room, Tarantula plugged in a red hard drive into the hard drive system and opened her lap-top, typing a code to log into the security cameras, while allowing the occurrence of multiple screens popping out from her computer so she could have a clear view of everything that was going on. On one of the screens, she saw the camera pointing at the Golden Dolphin, making Tarantula comment through the comm, "Boys, it's Dolphin season." Behind her, the poor, helpless security officer was hanging upside down, and gagged by duct tape.

Back in the bathroom, Piranha came out of the stall, wearing the innocent/knocked-out caterer's uniform, with tiny glasses on his face, and his Mohawk slicked down to look fancy. He tightened his bow tie and replied, "Copy that. I'm on the move."

Back at the party, the chief of police continued her patrol, talking into her walkie-talkie, "Unit two, is the backstage area still secure?"

The radio scratched and answered back with the fellow officer's voice, "Unit two. All clear."

The chief of police smiled, "This is where all the training pays off."

However, she wasn't looking where she was going and accidentally bumped into a mysterious stranger, which was actually Wolf, but she didn't seem to recognize him.

Wolf merely tipped his hat, making sure the chief didn't get a good look at his face as he turned to "leave", "Oh, pardon me. Terribly sorry."

Luckily, the chief didn't seem to recognize Wolf, and humbly answered to him, "Not a problem, sir," Then she spoke into her walkie-talkie again, "Keep your eyes open, boys. They could be anywhere, just waiting to humiliate us."

Little did she know that the "bump" was all planned, and Wolf had gotten a hold of her I.D. keycard without anyone noticing. As Wolf continued to walk towards the next stop on their heist plan, he looked up at the security camera that was watching him and smiled, showing off the card.

Hornet smiled as he watched Wolf in his helmet through the security camera, "Wolf is in position," he reported to the rest of the gang.

Tarantula heard him as she transferred her communication to Piranha, "Piranha, you all penguin-suited and booted?"

Near the kitchen, caterers were pushing out carts that had plates of food all organized on it. Pushing one of those carts was the disguised Piranha, who answered quietly so no one could hear him, except for Webs on the comm, "Affirmative. I'm a clean, mean, Dolphin-stealing machine," he looked up and happily greeted the other caterers, "What's going on, guys?"

While most of the other caterers went left, Piranha turned right and was pushing his cart somewhere. At the ceiling, Hornet saw Piranha separated from the other caterers as he spoke, "Piranha's out."

"I saw him, Hornet," Wolf replied as he was walking towards the stairway at the 2nd floor, eyeing Piranha while smiling, knowing their heist was going on without a hitch. Along the way, he pickpocketed a few of the guests, stealing their wallets, and a pearl necklace along the way.

On the floor, Piranha wheeled his catering cart over to a janitor's closet and jumped up to pull the handle and opened the door. Piranha was waving his fin while looking up on the ceiling where Hornet was watching his and Wolf's every move. Piranha smiled and then pulled the cart inside, ready to set up their next part of the plan.

Hornet nodded as he reported to Wolf, "Alright, Piranha's in. Are you sure you can handle this, Wolf?"

Wolf watched Piranha going inside the janitor's closet, and told Hornet through his comm, "I got this, Hornet. I'm on my way down."

"Perfect. I'll go check on Shark now," Hornet said as he flew all the way down from the chandelier, and headed to the floor where Shark is now.

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5 minutes later, when Wolf entered the janitor's closet with Piranha waiting for him and chopping on lemons, he was heard speaking into the comm, "Webs, what do you say about moving on to step four?"

Tarantula nodded, "Copy that," then, she turned her speech to Shark's comm while watching him on her screen, "Shark, you're up. Do your thing."

Shark gasped happily before asking quietly, "Do I get to improvise?"

Wolf answered on his comm while hiding inside under the tray rack and Piranha placed a plate on top of the serving rack, "Yes, fine. Improvise. But please be subtle."

Shark nodded in agreement, standing up and pouring his drink onto the floor, before he quickly tossed the table away and shouted in a high pitched voice, "i'M HAVING A BABY!!!"

All of the guests in the reception area turned around, looking at the disguised Shark, and gasped in worry as Shark continued the façade in a high-pitched voice, "Is there a doctor? Or perhaps several security guards that could leave their post and help me?!"

On the ceiling, Hornet was watching the whole scene as he facepalmed and groaned, "Seriously? That's not even subtle! I mean, who could fall for that—?"

On cue, the two security guards that were standing by the door that the keycard was needed immediately rushed over to "Help" the "pregnant" Shark.

Hornet was surprised that this distraction Shark made really worked, "Well, I was wrong," he then mumbled to himself, "This guy is really gonna get an award someday."

While this went on, by the elevator nearby, Piranha came out, wheeling the catering cart, and pushed it up to the door, while Wolf secretly used the keycard to unlock it, and opened the door, so they both could enter.

Inside the hallway, both Wolf and Piranha eyed the two guards that were standing in front of the main door, and they nodded at each other, set to do the next part of their plan.

The two guards were keeping watch when they saw a mysterious catering cart roll up towards them. Curiously, one of them picked up a name card that described the "dish" as he read, "Fish surprise?"

However, when they lifted the lid to see the food, they did get a fish surprise: an adorable Piranha, smiling cutely, dressed up like a caterer, kicking his legs in the air, exclaiming, "Surprise!" He leaped off the plate, tackling the two guards.

Not two minutes later, both guards were easily beaten and helplessly laying on the catering cart, with Piranha gently brushing the dust off his outfit, and Wolf holding his phone with the photo at the ready. He kicked the cart away before enlarging the image, trying to make Diane's eye in the photo bigger. However, it still looked very blurry.

With that, he sent the photo to Webs, and asked "Hey, Webs, can you enhance this..."

Not ten seconds later, a perfectly enhanced, clear image was sent back to Wolf, with Tarantula replying, "Done. Eight steps ahead of you, Wolfie."

Wolf used the now clear image to have the scanner scan the eye, as it accepted it, opening the metal doors, allowing Wolf and Piranha inside the backstage area. All the way past a set of lasers was their prize just waiting to be caught: the Golden Dolphin trophy, making Wolf smile and laugh.

Over at the reception area, a lady was speaking through the speakers, "Ladies and gentlemen, your emcee for the Good Samaritan Awards..."

Meanwhile, Shark was practicing the "pregnant breathing" technique to keep up the façade of being pregnant, until he heard Wolf speak through his comm, "All right, Shark, we're in."

Shark quickly stood up and told the people around him, including the officers, "Oops, I forgot, I'm not pregnant," he left to sit elsewhere, making the officers very confused.

At the stage, the announcer then spoke, " ...president of the committee, Governor Diane Foxington," The crowd of people applauded her, with Diane, who was wearing a beautiful magenta dress, walking onto the stage and towards a podium with a mic.

She smiled and said in the mic, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Last year, we faced our biggest test when a meteorite crashed into our dear city. That meteorite didn't just make a hole in our city. It made a hole in our hearts."

The audience all awed sadly, remembering that day, with Shark even emitting tears as well, to keep up with the disguise. Even Hornet watched the whole scene. Even though he's a bad guy, he still felt sympathy for the disaster made by that meteor.

Diane then continued, "But even in tragedy, Professor Marmalade, he did what he does so well. He made us look at things differently. And thanks to you, Marmalade, the Love Crater Meteorite will forever serve as a symbol of how there is good even in the worst places."

Backstage, while the ceremony was going on, Wolf and Piranha tore off their disguises, revealing their black bodysuits, and took opposite sides of the room, leaping off the stair banisters and statues to get up high towards the ceiling.

On cue, Snake popped his head, and most of his body out, set to be both boys' rope. Wolf and Piranha leaped towards Snake, grabbing onto him, as Wolf barely held on, almost slipping.

Snake did his best to hold them up, "Hurry up."

Piranha climbed up to the top of the vent and held tightly onto Snake's tail, like if he was holding the end of a rope. Slowly, he helped to lower Snake and Wolf down towards the trophy, carefully and cautiously, getting closer and closer.

Wolf, seeing that they were mere inches from grabbing it, commented to Snake, "This is going surprisingly smoothly."

However, when Wolf readied to grab it, the ring he nabbed from Diane earlier flew out and fell, slightly hitting the trophy before it started to fall towards the lasers.

Then, a bunch of rays shot up and were set on fire, as Wolf quickly scrambled to catch the ring before it could hit the lasers, nabbing it with his feet, and barely dodging a laser being fired right at him, which ended up hitting and destroying a statue.

Snake, seeing the lasers, commented, "What the molt is that!?"

Wolf looked up and then saw something that made him gasp, and commented, "The Wolf Hornet Piranha Snake Shark Tarantula Protection System," he pointed to a metal sign attached to the moving rod of one of the lasers that had the acronym for what he just said, and a picture of all six of the Bad Guys' face silhouettes, with a big red "NO" sign over them.

Tarantula overheard Wolf's comment over the comm, "The WHPSST?"

Wolf was close to freaking out, "This was not supposed to happen."

Snake, concerned now, asked, "What?"

Tarantula, in the security room, seemed calm about it, "Guys, calm down. I'm on it. Initiating WHPSST override protocol," she pulled out a red hard drive that had a white skull that had an orange flame on it, and plugged it into her computer.

Tarantula started to type away, trying to hack into the WHPSST system, and said happily when she thought she had it, "Get it, queen!"

However, to her shock, the screen had a big red X, indicating she didn't successfully hack into it. And over in the backstage area, Wolf seemed to sense that something was wrong, "Did it work?"

Tarantula groaned and shouted, "Just give me five minutes," she tried again to hack into it.

However, when Wolf and Snake heard Diane starting to welcome Marmalade to the stage, Snake commented, "We don't have five minutes!"

Over at the reception area, Diane announced, "And now, please help welcome me to the stage... "Professor Marmalade!"

The guinea pig smiled and got up from his seat, interacting with the cheering crowd, who shouted things like, "Aw," and "We love you, Professor Marmalade!"

Shark was spying seeing Marmalade heading to the stage, speaking quietly into his comm, "The pig is on the move. I repeat, the pig is on the move."

Even Hornet saw Marmalade going up the stage as he yelled through his comm, "Webs, hurry up! We're running out of time!"

Wolf was starting to panic, shouting into his comm, "Webs, Webs, the curtain's going up any minute!"

However, despite what Tarantula tried, nothing seemed to be working as she replied, "It's not letting me in!"

Wolf and Snake tried to offer some solutions as Wolf said, "Check your system preferences."

Snake added, "You probably need to download a driver."

Wolf then mentioned, "Try rebooting."

In the security room, Tarantula seemed to be smiling, and said sarcastically, "Oh, my gosh, you fixed it."

But when Wolf and Snake asked, "Really?"

On the comm, Tarantula angrily shouted back, "NOO!"

Just then, through the HUD effect of his helmet, Hornet saw the live footage of Chief Luggins heading to the security room where Tarantula was in,"Oh no," Hornet commented as he spoke through his comm, "Webs, watch out! There's a..."

In Tarantula's end, she heard someone knocking on the door and saw the door handle jiggle, and heard the chief of police's voice , "Hey, Larry. Come on, open up. What did we say about locking doors?"

Tarantula knew that if the chief got in, they were gonna be so busted! She frantically commented, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no," She then communicated to Shark, "Shark, I got a situation here!"

Shark answered back on the comm, "Copy that. I'm on my way."

Tarantula prayed that the chief didn't try to come inside.

"I'll keep a more eye on the chief. I'll be right there, Webs," Hornet said as he left his position, and flew back to the main floor as fast as he could.

In the vents, Piranha could feel his stomach starting to eerily gurgle, as he tried to hold on as hard as he could, commenting strenuously, "Hurry up, guys."

Tarantula knew that it was now or never as she cracked her knuckles, and said, "Time to turn this baby on beast mode."

She pressed a button on her computer, which allowed a smaller set of keyboards to emerge, and shouted in determination, "Eat it, WHPSST!"

As fast as lightning, Tarantula started to type up a storm, trying to quickly override the WHPSST system so her friends could steal the Golden Dolphin and get out in time.

Meanwhile, Piranha could feel something very "gassy" was about to happen, and panicked, "Please, not now. Wolf."

Wolf looked up and knew what was about to happen, and tried to tell Piranha to stop it, "Wait, wait, wait. No, no, Piranha!"

At the reception area, Marmalade was giving an acceptance speech, "This award is for..."

Suddenly, everyone grew quiet when they heard what sounded like a fart, but figured it was nothing, allowing Marmalade to continue, "As I was saying..."

Piranha saw the gas cloud he had emitted was spreading through the vents, and that made him even more worried, because what if someone smelled it?! They were gonna be in even more trouble, making him utter frantically, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

And was he right about someone smelling it and causing trouble, because in the security room, Tarantula was hard at work trying to hack when she smelled something odd. She turned around and saw Piranha fart cloud entering the room, and she grew frustrated, shouting into her comm., "Piranha! Are you kidding me?!"

She heard his voice answer, "Sorry!"

Tarantula continued her hacking to work.

Back at the reception area, Marmalade was continuing his speech, "And that's why my Gala for Goodness will raise all the money needed for those less fortunate."

The chief of police was starting to get impatient, continuously knocking on the door and shouting in an attempt to get "Larry" to open, "Come on!"

Tarantula saw the whole room become enveloped in Piranha's fart cloud, and in a desperate attempt to try and finish her work without passing out, she took a huge deep breath of the last bit of fresh air in the room and begun trying to hack as fast as she could in the fart cloud.

Meanwhile, the chief was getting angrier, and then commented, "I'm starting to get mad here, Larry," She pulled out a set of keys, finding one to unlock the door.

Hornet was clinging on the wall where he watched Chief Luggins flipping the keys to find the right one for the door. Hornet gasped as he knew if the chief found the key, she would soon find Webs inside, and the jig is up, "Shark, hurry up. I don't think Webs have time!" Hornet said through his helmet when contacting Shark.

"I'll be there as soon as possible. Just stay there, and keep an eye on Chief for me." Shark replied to him. But Hornet was in a state of panic as he couldn't just sit here and wait for Shark or the chief to open the door and catch Tarantula inside.

Tarantula was trying her best, but the fumes were starting to get to her, and they were so strong, it made her eyes water and that made it hard to see.

Wolf panicked through the comm, "Webs! Webs!"

Tarantula kept holding in her breath and tried to wipe away the stinging eye tears from the gas cloud, so she could finish the second half of her attempt to hack into WHPSST.

On stage, Diane announced, "And now the moment we've all been waiting for," and was getting set to give Marmalade the trophy.

The curtain started to rise, about to show the backstage. Wolf and Snake saw this and panicked, trying to move upward to avoid getting seen, while also trying to dodge the lasers that still followed them.

In the security room, Tarantula was close to completion, and had almost finished successfully hacking into the system, but the fart cloud became too much, and with a heavy heart, and a last teardrop, she slumped over onto the desk and passed out.

Wolf and Snake were panicking as they saw the curtain that separated the front and back stage, panicking that they were gonna get seen.

Outside, the chief had used the key to unlock the door, and had just slightly opened it, since she was trying to open it so she could go inside, when she heard a high-pitched voice ask her that made her turn around, "Excuse me. Is this the ladies' room?"

It turned out to be Shark, in his female disguise.

Hornet saw Shark finally arrive as he sighed in relief, "Phew!"

The chief luckily didn't recognize Shark in disguise, and answered happily, "Oh, uh, y-you need to take a right at the end of the hall, ma'am."

However, because she wasn't paying attention, the chief didn't notice that the slightly cracked opened door was the miracle that made the fart cloud disappear.

Hornet noticed the fart cloud escaping from the room. That meant Tarantula can breathe while focusing on her hacking, "Webs, Webs, wake up. You're all clear!

This made Tarantula come back to it, so she could finish the job. With a few quick clicks on her keyboard, Tarantula was able to override the last column to completely override the entire WHPSST system.

Tarantula smiled victoriously, "Yes. Woopang!"

However, she was greeted to one last nasty surprise: a tab appeared, "I'm not a tarantula"

This made Tarantula groan, and shouted, "Oh, come on!"

She used her mouse pad to scroll the pointer to the box to confirm she "wasn't" a tarantula, and that was the final key that turned off the WHPSST system, shutting the rays down, making Wolf and Snake very relieved, and just in time too.

On stage, Diane proclaimed, "And now it is my honor to award Professor Marmalade with the Golden Dolphin," She was set to pick up the trophy to give to Marmalade.

However, the audience, Marmalade, and Diane were in for a shock to see that the Golden Dolphin... was gone!

The audience was in dismay, including Diane herself, who uttered, "No."

"No," Marmalade added in concern.

By the security room door, Shark overheard what had happened and exclaimed to himself in his normal voice, "Yes," Then, he straightened up, acting lady-like again, and said in a high-pitch voice, "I mean, yes!" He gave the chief a friendly lady wave before walking away, while the chief stood there in confusion, before shrugging, not thinking about it too much.

However, when she opened the door all the way, she was greeted by a sight that made her scream in panic: a computer screen that showed that the Golden Dolphin was missing. She ran off, shutting the door behind her, but forgot all about Larry, who was still tied up and gagged with duct tape, hanging from the ceiling.

Back at the reception area, Diane tried to keep the peace with the panicking crowd, "Everyone, everyone, uh, please don't panic. Just stay calm. I'm-I'm sure there's an explanation for this. I repeat, uh, please do not panic."

With all this mayhem going on, no one saw the Bad Guys, back in their original disguises, slowly walking away, making a clean getaway, with the trophy hidden somewhere so they could take it out without anyone seeing them.

With their heist complete, Wolf smiled and said softly to the team, "Nice work, everybody. Now, let's make like a wolf and get the pack out of here."

Piranha chuckled, "Ah, wordplay. I don't get it."

Hornet rolled his eyes, and facepalmed, "Ugh, Piranha, try to keep up, man." He clapped the back of his hand with his other hand while growling at Piranha.

Marmalade, wanting to help everyone stay calm, stated, "Diane, Diane, if I may..." while running up to the podium, climbing up to the top of it, and holding the microphone in his paws. He faced the crowd, "You have to understand, I didn't bring hope back to the city for an award. I did these good things because of how they made me feel."

The Bad Guys didn't seem to be paying attention to what Marmalade said as they were sure of having a nice, clear exit, even when Marmalade said, "That tingly feeling I get. That shivers up my spine. The wag in my tiny tail."

At the sound of the "Wagging tail" part, Wolf suddenly...stopped, and turned around, removing his glasses and looked up at Marmalade, listening to what the guinea pig said next.

Marmalade, with the sweetest look in his eyes, commented, "Because, you see, being good just feels so good. And when you're good, you're loved."

Wolf couldn't help but find a sense of wonder in that, but before he could divulge his feelings any deeper, Wolf felt his tail wagging, and tried to get it to stop, with his team watching in confusion.

"Wolf," whispered Snake.

"Wolf," whispered Piranha.

"What are you doing," whispered Shark, in his normal voice.

"Stop that," whispered Hornet.

"Go," whisper-shouted the whole team, trying to get Wolf to come back to them so they could escape.

However, the commotion made one of the guests turn around and see Wolf standing there without his hat or glasses, and his fake mustache falling off. He immediately recognized who he was, and shouted in fright, "It's the Bad Guys!"

All of the guests started to scream and panic at the sight of the Bad Guys with the chief of police stepping in, pushing two of the guests aside so she could stand up front, and shouted, "Arrest them!"

The other officers quickly moved in, sliding down police lines, or leaping off the ledge up on the upper floor, and together, they quickly surrounded the Bad guys, giving them nowhere to run.

Backed into a corner, thinking that she had finally got them somewhere where she could catch them, she exclaimed while pointing at the Bad Guys, "They stole the Golden Dolphin!"

Wolf tried to play it cool, making it seem like his team was innocent as he said while crossing his arms and leaning up against Snake, "Come on, you can't prove that."

However, the Golden Dolphin Trophy that dropped from under Shark's dress could as Shark also tried to play it cool, shouting in his female voice, "My baby," but it was no use.

Hornet facepalmed once again. He knew Shark's acting was useless since they were exposed, "Shark, knock it off! The jig is up!"

There seemed to be absolutely no escape as the chief stepped forward, cracking her knuckles, and set to arrest them with the other officers excitedly, "On your knees, Bad Guys! With your hands up!"

However, none of the Bad Guys had any intentions of getting caught, especially Snake, who slithered forward from behind Wolf, and shouted, "Never! We're out of here!"

Wolf launched his grappling hook onto the ceiling, as it broke through the glass ceiling, set to pull everyone up. The rest of the Bad guys gathered together, holding tightly onto Wolf so they could all be pulled up to safety, while Snake wrapped around them, securing all of them together like a seat belt. Hornet didn't need to stick with the guys. He already could fly, so all he needed is to just follow his friends when they made their escape.

"So long, suckers!" Wolf exclaimed. However, when Wolf pressed the button for the line to retract, instead of the grappling hook pulling the team up, it tore Wolf's pants up, leaving Wolf in his boxers. All of the guests, officers, and even the team themselves looked down at what had just occurred, while Wolf felt quite embarrassed, shooting a sheepish smile while he brushed his hand back to the back of his head, and commented sheepishly, "Well, this just got a little weird."

Hornet couldn't help but groan embarrassingly, and facepalmed once again, disappointed by Wolf's failure of helping the team escape. Despite that Hornet could fly, he couldn't bear to go without them. He rather stayed and got captured with the team than leaving them behind. The entire team of Bad Guys all grinned sheepishly, hoping that everyone wasn't going to take this too seriously... but they were wrong.

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Special thanks to MasterClass60 for helping me with this chapter! This is a long one, and I can't make it myself!

I hope you like this chapter. Please comment and stay tune!

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Ancardia's Unusual Animals--The Kraken

Classification: Beast (arthropod)

Habitat: Deep ocean, concentrated around continental shelf zones.

            The Kraken is one of the most feared and revered oceanic predators, as well as one of the largest. It isn’t the apex predator, however, especially not as a much smaller juvenile. These unusual crustaceans have traded out a jointed tail and lower body for a membranous, tough, multi-branched back half, its structure supported partially by water and partially by an internal fibrous pseudo-skeleton made up of struts and discs that produce a very flexible result. Each of these “tentacles” is capable of prehensile grasping as well as a whipping motion which both intimidates parasites and intruders away from itself and provides swimming propulsion. For more delicate movements, kraken possess a soft-tissue water siphon coincidentally very similar to the siphon of a cephalopod, and it can also be found “walking” along rocky, cold seafloors in the outer shallows’ faint sunlight using its front pair of powerful claws, especially while foraging and feeding. Its front end very strongly resembles a black-colored lobster with long paired feelers, large, reflective eyes that give the kraken great clarity of vision, and high, pointed ridges along the back of its shells.

            Kraken begin life after hatching from small eggs hidden gravelbeds and sandy bottoms on the ocean shelf by their parents. These eggs number up to 10,000 per pair of kraken, though most of the eggs will be discovered and eaten by a variety of bottom-dwelling fish, crustaceans, and other creatures before they have any chance to hatch. Of the roughly 1,000 tiny kraken that hatch per clutch, very few of those survive to adulthood; a freshly-hatched kraken is only slightly larger than a human baby and has a soft carapace that needs days to harden, and their natural predators include a wide variety of shark species, seals and sea lions, orca whales and some other predaceous tooth whales, conger eels, gajah-mina (“fish-elephants”) and giant sea-worms. Kraken juveniles grow quickly, and molt eight times in their first year to reach a size similar to that of a large shark or dolphin—at which point they lose many of their hatching predators. Once larger than a human, young kraken are generally only susceptible to attack from orcas, livayatan, gajah-mina and large sharks.

            Kraken take roughly fifteen years to reach adulthood, and continue growing slowly throughout their lives. The average adult kraken measures 14 meters from head to the end of the tentacles, and weighs in excess of 18 tons. Some particularly venerable kraken have measured in at more than 20 meters. Kraken do not have a known natural lifespan—most kraken live between 20 and 90 years, and most of all ages in this range suffer premature mortality from their main predators. It is believes that kraken are like some other low-metabolism sea beasts, and can live as long as their food supply and space supports them. Due to its massive size, there are a select few animals which can hunt kraken adults: The Sperm Whale, which hunts these odd crustaceans at certain times of year or in the absence of giant and colossal squid shoals, and the Livayatan, which is the Ancardian oceans’ apex predator. Kraken themselves are primarily carnivorous, though do opportunistically consume kelps in certain times of abundance. As hatchlings, they root around for sea-worms, krill, and small bottom-dwelling crabs and fishes; as juveniles they scale up to hunting larger bottom-feeders such as skates, smaller rays, flounder and invertebrates like spider crabs and sea urchins. As adults, kraken hunt a variety of animals, but seem to prefer hard-shelled creatures: Giant clams and abalone are favorites, which the kraken crushes open with its powerful claws, but it also pursues deep-water swimmers like oarfish, slower-moving squid, giant dragonfish and larger rays and carpet sharks. Kraken are also surprisingly docile regarding swimmers and divers as adults—it is the human-sized juveniles which respond most defensively to human-sized creatures approaching them—and most kraken ignore creatures of a human-like size and shape unless attacked by one. The violent reputation of kraken is owed to the behavior of some individuals after being disoriented by electrical storms at sea and forced to surface—several reports of kraken latching onto ships and boats and capsizing or breaking holes in them are the result of the kraken misidentifying ships as pieces of floating driftwood and flotsam, and clinging to it to avoid being further battered by waves during storm swells.

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Sharks 'walk' on land longer to survive climate crisis

Sharks ‘walk’ on land longer to survive climate crisis

The epaulette shark is a long-tailed carpet shark that is evolving in the midst of a climate crisis by enduring prolonged periods of hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, in order to walk on land for up to two hours and escape warming oceans. The three-foot-long shark was recently found to be able to use its paddle-shaped fins to move 98 feet on land – previous research suggested it could only live out of…