#a cetacean of some kind maybe?

[pumpkingeorge]

Hey guys did you know that in terms of male human and female Pokémon breeding

[roturo]

LIKE CRAZY - dick grayson x f!reader

① NEW REQUEST FROM ANONYMOUS!: bestfriends into lovers.

→ summary: Being friends with a beautiful and smart guy like Dick had you like crazy. Plenty of girls would be asking for his number, or a date with him. But all of them got rejected by him, why? well, because he only had eyes for you.

→ warnings: SMUT. p in v, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it), use of nicknames (sweetheart, princess, baby, good girl, etc), teasing, jealous!dick, insecure reader, possessive behavior, reader is mentioned as part of the og titans, kinda of stalker/pervert behavior, size kink.

TUMBLR IS BASED ON A REBLOG SYSTEM. PLEASE REBLOG MY WORK. THANK YOU. ENJOY. SMUT BELOW THE CUT.

Being friends with Dick Grayson wasn't easy. You spent many nights of your life waiting for him to come back from patrol and heal any wound he came back with. As much you tried to stay away from any of the heroes things since the originals Titans dissolved, somehow he always found a way to make you follow him in every new adventure he found. Even if this meant to never becoming a normal person with a normal job, normal clothes, or normal dates.

Dick wouldn't describe himself as a pervert. Yeah, he has his... problems. But a pervert? Haha, no. Watching you from a distance through your windows from your apartment isn't being a pervert... a stalker? well...

He wouldn't lie he felt his bottom part of his suit getting tighter every time he saw you by accident, ACCIDENT, changing clothes, or going out after a shower in just some tiny panties looking for some shirt he left in your house to wear with no bra.

But this night? Oh this night was different. You were getting extra ready. Were you going to text him to go out? Come to your place?

And don't get him wrong, he's not in love with you. Possessive? Well, maybe. Someone had to keep an eye on you.

He's been quite busy getting the Titans together again in some way, taking care of Rachel, dealing whatever is going on with Kory, and well, Deathstroke.

And maybe he's a little upset and maybe mad at the fact you wouldn't come back to help him with Deathstroke, but he has the other Titans right? This was only part of one of his problems.

But you weren't as selfish as him, you get worried about your friends, and usually ask them how's everything going. And that also included a very descriptive situationship of Dick and Kory for your taste.

So he's finding someone new, that's okay! You can't deny every since you met Dick, you had a tiny whiny little crush on him. How couldn't you? You both have been friends since you were little kids, you were always together, had helped the other in the toughest situations...

So, what a other better way to move on than meeting someone new? This new guy was kind, funny, nice looking, maybe not as handsome as Dick, but passable, he might not be as intelligent as Dick, or as protective and fit as him, but knowing that your crush might get with someone prettier, stronger, than you, had you like crazy.

You can hear the voices in your head trying to get the pressure off you as quickly as possible in some bad ways, but you couldn't let yourself do something bad or that would affect Dick in some way.

New guy invited you to some new club in the city, you were getting ready to get lost in the lights and drunk in the dance, you got this new Cetacean blue tiny dress, which you called ¨nightwing blue¨ since it reminded you of him. Last touches of makeup and you were ready to go out. And just in time, your date knocked on the door.

When Dick saw you getting out of your room a little too excited for his liking, he got.. worried? jealous?... you were probably going out with some friends.

¨Oh¨ Were the words that left his mouth when he saw you opening the door and smiling to new guy. When did you met new guy? You never told him about him. Quickly he got his phone out and took a picture of new guy for some... future research. Right now he had another problem to deal with.

¨Sorry, wait for me a minute i'm going for my phone¨ You told him while going back to your room, but when you came back, you never expected seeing Dick coming out of your bathroom in some pajamas he probably left one day in your apartment, with a short glance before he closed the door you could see his suit somewhere in the floor of your bathroom.

¨Babe? Is this your new friend you talked me about? The gay one?¨ Were the first words he left while going close to the door and looking at your date, with a devil grin in his face he got behind you wrapping his arms in your waist in a possessive way. To say you were shocked was little, same to your now ex-date.

¨I'm sorry new friend, but me and my girlfriend have some things to talk and figure out. Maybe next time you can go out with her. If there´s a next time.¨ The last words were barely loud enough for you to hear when he closed the door extending his arm while not letting you go in a no so calm way.

What. The. Fuck.

¨Yeah, I should ask you that too¨ You didn't realized you said it out loud. ¨What are you doing here Dick?¨ Was your first of many questions, but to say the big bump you started feeling at the back of your low back wasn't making you giddy, had you wondering if all this was a dream.

¨Claiming what's mine.¨ He answered to your question, turning you around, looking at your small figure and doe eyes full of pure confusion had his pants getting tighter around his cock. ¨When you were telling me you had this new friend princess?¨ He said, moving his hand to your face, tilting your chin to a side with one of his fingers. ¨He's not a friend.¨ You told him, assuring him he's no longer a friend, knowing how Dick is, you recognized the darkness in his eyes, but also you think you're getting crazy because you swear you can see a pint of lust in his eyes. But you guess Dick didn't got your clarification as how you meant it, since he pushed you to the wall, caging you with his arms.

¨Oh, so he's not a friend? What is he then?¨ He looked at you, eyes now full of just lust, devouring every inch of your body, waiting for a word that would let him in and make you his. ¨He's nothing now.¨ you told him, locking eyes with him, is like he read your thoughts, both of you wanted it to happen and it did.

¨Good girl.¨ The last words that left his mouth when he started kissing you, it's like both of you were waiting for this moment to happen because the kiss was full of passion. You could feel his smile while kissing you, with a small bite of your lower lip that made you let out a small whine, he started kissing your neck, every time going lower and making sure to leave a bruise that will turn purple by tomorrow. ¨You don't know how much I missed you princess¨

His words made your legs weaker, and a wet feeling became stronger going down your thighs. His hand started going towards that place were you needed friction, and when you felt his fingers playing with your panties a small moan left your mouth. ¨Oh sweetheart... all wet for me. Just for me right?¨ He pinched your clit with his thumb and index finger making you squint and give small nods to him. ¨Words baby, I need words.¨ He started playing with your clit, his mouth not leaving your neck.

¨Dick... Please...¨ You said, putting each hand of yours in his shoulders for support. ¨What do you want princess?¨ His hands moving your underwear to the side, getting his fingers wet thanks to your fluids. ¨I need you Dick¨ You moaned at the movement of his fingers playing with your hole, clenching around nothing.

¨Where do you need me baby?... Here¨ He introduced one finger into your needy hole, making you leave a loud moan. ¨Here?¨ His finger moved towards your clit, playing with it. ¨Or... Here?¨ He introduced his wet finger into your mouth, making you taste yourself at which you gratefully sucked his finger. ¨Everywhere, I need you everywhere.¨

With no more words needed he unlaced his sweatpants, taking his cock out, an angry reddish tip needy for attention was leaking pre-cum, ready to be introduced to your as equal needy cunt.

He turned you around, with no care, he broke your panties in the need of freeing your cunt. Your hands looking for support got into the wall, the cold breeze of air feeling your cunt, got you needier. ¨Can you please just fuck me Dick?¨ You said, moving your hips backwards looking for some friction of any kind. ´´Greedy, aren't we?¨ He chuckled at you being this impatient for him. Never in a thousand times, he though he would have accepted his feelings for you. But almost loosing you to another man, had him like crazy.

So with no time wasted, he inserted himself into you, making you moan at the process, Dick threw all his self-control and started thrusting into you. All you could say was small mumbles of his name and words like ¨more¨ ¨faster¨ ¨harder¨

Like if the feeling of his cock inside of you wasn't enough one of his hands moved all the way down until he found your clit and started playing with it. You were sure the other hand who was supporting you by grabbing you by your hips was going to lease some bruise tomorrow.

¨This pussy is all mine. No one's else, all mine now love.¨The last four words were said each by one hard thrust into you, perfectly touching your g-spot with each one. ¨You´re all mine now sweetheart. I won't let anyone else have you.¨

His words and the sound of skins slapping made you dizzy enough for your vision to start turning blurry, the pleasure becoming too much for you, your climax came like a rollercoaster. But that didn't stopped him, it made him even more desirable of having you all for him. You didn't think his thrusts would become faster or harder but oh boy... the did.

And that didn't stopped you for coming again, clenching his cock with a loud moan when your liquids started going out of you. You squirted all over him and it felt so good. That brought Dick over the edge and made him cum. Giving some last hard thrusts into you to deposit all of him, he just smiled while giving you little pecks in your neck and back.

¨I love you.¨

He hugged you, ¨And i'm sorry this is the way you're finding out, but I couldn't stand seeing you getting ready for another man that isn't me¨ He turned you around, the lost of the feeling of him inside you made you whine.

Inserting his cock again into his pants, and adjusting your dress, he gave you another kiss, this one full of pure and sincere love, his eyes no longer full of lust but now full of passion.

¨So you were stalking me?¨ You said between a giggle, which turned into a small laugh when you saw his face turning into shock and his ears getting red. It's like you didn't know he was watching you almost everynight getting ready for bed, and maybe some nights you gave him a show of your naked body.

¨Uh...No?¨ Was all he could say before you kissed him again and laughed at his shyness of being discovered.

You were sure this guy was the love of your life.

[orcinus-veterinarius]

When horses end up with severe leg/hip injuries, they are almost always put to sleep. The odds of recovering full mobility from such injuries are slim and the odds of reinjury are high, so even if the horse is perfectly healthy in all other aspects, it is generally recognized to be more humane to put them down than to keep them alive just to live the rest of their lives limping around a small paddock or stall. A life for a horse in which s/he cannot gallop, leap, explore and play is no life at all. Why not apply the same logic to cetaceans? A life for a cetacean in which they can’t dive hundreds of meters, make meaningful autonomous choices (“should I play with the rubber ball or the puzzle feeder today?” is not a meaningful choice; research has shown that autonomy is crucial for animal welfare), echolocate and experience the rich biodiversity of the ocean is no life. I really don’t understand why it’s so horrible to think it more humane to euthanize a confused and sick orca calf if there is no chance of rehab and release than to take her/him permanently into captivity. It’s not disparaging or hateful to cetacean trainers to say so—I know they care about animals—it’s simply a logical ethical stance. Instead of searching in vain for orca conservation organizations that aren’t “radically anti-captivity”, maybe pro-caps should look inwards and ask themselves why all the major orca organizations (Center for Whale Research, Orca Behavior Institute, OrcaLab, Wild Orca, Orca Conservancy, Far East Russia Orca Project, etc.) as well as some cetacean organizations (ex. Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Cetacean Society International) oppose captivity. Is it because all of these esteemed groups, which if you look them up are all staffed by credentialed scientists, have been duped by the “animal rights agenda”, or could it be because maybe, just maybe, they know what they’re talking about? If captive orcas are so different from wild ones that wild orca biologists have no credibility to speak about their welfare, then that’s a clear indictment of captivity already.

Hi. I'm sorry for not answering right away, I was still at my externship when I got your ask, and I wanted to be able to sit down and give you a proper answer. So unfortunately, I don't think what I say will satisfy you. I don't expect to change your mind, nor is that my goal here. I only want to explain why I believe the way I do, so that you or others reading this can at least understand that it's not a position I take lightly, nor do I think it's infallible.

(Long post below the cut):

To start off, as an (almost) veterinarian, there are absolutely plenty of circumstances where I find euthanasia to be the correct decision. Euthanasia is our final gift to our patients, a swift and painless death in the face of prolonged suffering or poor quality of life. A large dog with debilitating osteoarthritis. A cat with terminal lymphoma. A down cow. A raptor with an amputated leg. Or like you mentioned, a horse with a fractured hip. These animals would live in a constant state of pain that they don't understand, and death can rightly be considered a kindness to them.

But an otherwise healthy orca calf? I would consider that a false equivalence. I agree that life in the wild should be prioritized whenever possible, and that captive orcas lead very different lives than their wild counterparts. But if that orca cannot return to the wild (orphaned and unable to be reunited with its pod, habituated to humans, non-painful disability such as deafness), and there is a facility willing to take it on, I do not think euthanasia is an appropriate option. In human care, that calf can still swim, breach, and dive, even if not to the same depths as the ocean (it's also worth noting that these are all costly behavior energetically and are not performed for no reason). It can still socialize and form family bonds with an adopted pod of whales. It can still (theoretically) mate and rear calves. It can still engage its big brain in problem-solving through training and enrichment in the place of hunting. And as a bonus, it will never go hungry and has access to veterinary care if ill or injured.

This is not a wild life. This is not the same life they would've, or should've known. A pool, no matter how well-appointed, is not the ocean, and we should not claim they're comparable. But I don't think it's a fate worse than death. I truly don't. But if it is... if freedom really is worth more than life, then all captive whales need to be euthanized. Even in a sea pen setting, they will not be free. They will not choose their food, their companions, their enrichment, their comings and goings. Those choices will still be made on their behalf by caregivers, and they will still have pretty much the same levels of autonomy as in their tank habitat. They will still be captive. (While some people do advocate for this, I don't think it's a popular outlook. Even SOS Dolfijn, a historically anti-cap organization, recently announced plans to build an aqauarium as a permanent home for non-releasable cetaceans rather than continuing to euthanize them).

Speaking of autonomy, yes, it is very important. But I truly don't think the orcas are distressed by the lack of meaning in choosing between enrichment devices. I think that's why we disagree on this topic... we have different worldviews. We both see orcas as beautiful, intelligent creatures, but I do not see them as people. They are animals, and for all their complexity, I interpret their behavior the same way I do any other species... they are motivated by food, reproduction, and (since they're highly social) companionship. Because of that, I still think we can give them a good life in human care, which is why it frustrates me to see the zoo community throw up their hands and give up rather than trying to improve our current less-than-ideal setups (*shakes my fist at the Blue World project*).

Now, I don't think it's wrong to be emotional about animals. I most definitely am! And it's very clear to me you love orcas and care about their wellbeing deeply. I admire that about you, and I appreciate your passion.

On to the next point... in the cetacean world, I've found that there is an unfortunate divide between researchers and caregivers who work with cetaceans in human care and those who study them exclusively in the wild. And that schism far predates the Blackfish era. Most of those organizations you listed are indeed legitimate, and I fully support their vital work and encourage others to do the same. A few of them, though, share things like this:

I think you can understand why this hurts me. And it's a lie. I've now interned at three aquariums (two of them AZA-accredited) that house various species of cetacean, and it's impossible for me to reconcile what I know and have seen to be true and what Whale and Dolphin Conservation wants the public to believe: that these unbelievably loved, vivacious animals are drugged and tortured by their greedy captors. It's not true, and I do not appreciate WDC for spreading this creepy artwork around. Nor do I think that fighting captivity is a beneficial allocation of resources when there is an overwhelming number of genuine threats to the survival of wild cetaceans.

Anyway, back to the scientists. Personally, I don't consider researchers who work exclusively with wild orcas to be either superior or inferior to those who work with captive whales. And sometimes I wonder how much of their position is a self-fulfilling prophecy: if someone opposes captivity on moral grounds, they won't work with captive whales, so they'll never get to know what their lives and care are like beyond maybe a single tour of the park or memories of how things were done in the 1960s (like Dr. Spong, who worked with some of the very first captive orcas at the Vancouver Aquarium).

I also don't think it diminishes the expertise of wildlife biologists to say that they are not experts on husbandry, training, or medical care... those are very different fields, and ideally, they should all inform each other. And of course, there are folks who work with both wild and captive whales. One of the reasons I linked SR3 in my previous post is they have staff with backgrounds in both managed care and research of free-ranging populations (I actually have no idea what the organization's official stance on captivity is, it's not something they address).

Maybe I'm wrong. I try my best to keep an open mind, but I know I'm also swayed by my own preconceptions and experiences. When I started this blog in December 2020, I was a first year vet student with minimal actual experience outside of domestic animals and some herps, and had only recently adopted the pro-captivity outlook. Now, I'm much more deeply involved in the zoo and aquarium world. These are people I know and respect, people who have written me letters of recommendation and comment on my Facebook posts, people I've had dinner with and showed up with after hours to care for a sick animal. And I recognize that biases me. The zoo world is often resistant to change, especially folks who have been in the industry for many years. And that doesn't do anyone, especially the animals, any good. I don't want to get stuck in an echo chamber, so I make it a point to read anti-captivity literature, even when it upsets me. If there is anything I can do to improve their lives, I want to learn about it, regardless of the source.

I try to adapt to new information. For example, in the past few months alone, I've become a lot more favorable toward the idea of sea pen habitats. My concerns about "sanctuaries" are more logisitical* and philosophical** rather than the idea that artifical habitats are inherently superior to pen habitats (they're not), especially when plenty of traditional facilites already make great use of ocean pens or enclosed lagoons. There are pros and cons to both, and a lot of it depends on the needs of the individual animals.

*funding; maintenance; lack of land-based backup pools and fully-equipped medical facilities; introducing immunologically naive animals to pollutants and infectious agents; disruptions to native wildlife; staffing activists and wildlife biologists rather than those with relevant husbandry experience

**villainizing aquariums; promoting the project as a "release to freedom" to the public when it's really another form of captivity; claiming the animals' lives will be "natural" when they will still require training, artificial enrichment, contraceptives, and social management if done correctly; downplaying or completely denying the very real risks of such a transition and insisting the animals will automatically be better off when Little White and Little Grey have proved that's not the case

If you made it to the bottom, thanks for reading. I wish all the best for you, and I mean that genuinely ❤️ even if we disagree, I hope you can appreciate our shared love for these animals and a desire for their wellbeing. Best of luck in all your endeavors!

[tanadrin]

Do you think it's possible there's a planet with multiple stable sentient species who interact? Or would such a situation inevitably end up with one getting wiped out or the two hybridizing

Well, they could only hybridize if they were closely related, like humans and Neanderthals. And IIRC there's some evidence that humans and Neanderthals/Denisovans probably weren't all that interfertile to begin with, with most coding Neanderthal alleles getting weeded out of our genome.

I think it would be very difficult for two sentient species that shared overlapping niches to survive. H. sapiens and Neanderthals were both smart, seem to have both had language and culture, and had similar levels of technological sophistication, but the latter had a much lower population and so couldn't really compete when their cousins invaded their territory. And maybe some of this is a function of the wider human clade's tendency to engage in warfare and ecologically disruptive hunting--there's a big wave of megafauna extinction that seems to have followed the expansion of human populations all over the globe--but I'm not sure how many species of big-brained tool-users any niche could support.

But I do think that species with very different niches could coexist peacefully, at least long enough to work out that species in other niches were sentient, and to develop the ethical frameworks necessary for coexistence. If there were superintelligent squid, they wouldn't ever compete directly with humans for habitat (though we might have eaten a fair few by accident). We have also managed (just!) not to render extinct cetaceans, which are fairly intelligent, or our close cousins the chimpanzee. I could also imagine a science fictional scenario where two intelligent species were in some kind of important symbiotic or commensalist relationship that would stabilize their coexistence.

I think the other tricky thing though would be timing. It took a long time for the genus Homo to develop intelligence. AFAICT the australopithecines were closer to chimpanzees in terms of intelligence than they were to us; H. erectus was a lot smarter, but probably didn't have language; it's not until 700,000 to 200,000 years ago you get human species that are more fully developed in terms of their intelligence, and that feels like a super narrow window in terms of evolution for another intelligence species to also emerge. Because once you do get intelligent tool-users who spread over most of the globe, they seem likely to me to start to modify their environment in profound ways, like we have. So if another intelligent species doesn't already exist, the circumstances in which it is likely to arise after one species comes to prominence are going to be very different--more of an uplift scenario, maybe. Like I think if we discovered a group of chimpanzees with rudimentary language tomorrow, we would do our best not to fuck with them, but we would inevitably have some kind of impact on their existence for better or worse, right?

Maybe your best bet for multiple sentient species would be to have a reason that the first species (singular or plural) that arose didn't come to dominate the entire planet--they were aquatic, and so never mastered fire; or they were otherwise highly restricted in the biomes they could inhabit; or they were small in number like the Neanderthals, but could retreat to refugia in mountains and forests rather than be wiped out; or they were a diverse clade like early humans, but they also spread out very rapidly, and were subsequently isolated by climate conditions. Like, imagine Denisovans (who were already in Asia) had crossed the Bering Strait land bridge to the Americas, and then sea levels rose cutting them off until the Age of Discovery. If you had a planet that didn't effectively have a two supercontinents like Earth, you might have many more opportunities for related-but-geographically-divided species to develop (though that doesn't avoid the problem of what happens when they meet each other and start competing then).

[transingthoseformers]

Another note on the mermechs is that some give live birth, some lay eggs, and others something more along the lines of a mermaid purse.

Rodimus, whose sub species lays eggs, is very confused by his two children, one (Flamewar) is a perfectly normal sized egg and eventual fry and the second (Splendid) is a large pup that is live born and nearly killed him. They actually have two different sires because breeding season was interrupted by the oil spill and when Rodimus healed it started again and he and Thunderclash got frisky.

This is a reason different subspecies of mermechs don't usually interbreed. Poor Rodimus is all kinds of confusion, which is part of why he grabbed onto Drift as support. Because you aren't supposed to have fry needing care at the same time as eggs but Thunderclash's species calls his pups and he has a bunch of confused instincts and no support on top of needing to defend and map out his newly claimed territory.

Running into the himbo shark Riptide (Thresher shark) is a big relief and the first addition to the Lost Light school/pod. Though he is slightly confused by how fussy Rodimus is about Splendid as pups are fairly self-sufficient immediately but he is going with it. Hunting is easier in a group, and Riptide is unexpectedly very social. Plus, he likes Rodimus and Drift and teaching Splendid to test things out by biting. Drift does not appreciate this addition to Splendid's behavior as he is usually the one covered in bitemarks since she enjoys nibbling though her teeth aren't exactly razors like Riptide thankfully.

I'm leaning towards Thunderclash being a type of cetacea, which means Splendid's creation is extra unusual, and Ratchet eventually does have to help because Thunderclash's species feed their young filtered Energon live food at first. Rodimus eventually starts panicking about it because fish mush isn't working entirely. Drift drags the baby to Ratchet's facility, and they start caring for her. Eventually, Rodimus comes into the tidal pool to be nearby, and Thunderclash is watching everything go down, and once things calm down, he ends up pulling himself out of his tank to come croon at Splendid since Rodimus can't stay with her while Flamewar needs guarding as she is unhatched. Thunderclash is the one who explains things to Ratchet, who insists Rodimus gets a full checkup once things calm down and find he is incredibly stressed and needing some medical attention that he'd hid last time.

Now they are both doing better with Splendid being bottle fed until she's big enough, which fascinates Riptide, who especially like starring at First Aid who becomes involved.

It also confirms that Thunderclash is to blame. Which only makes things stranger when Flamewar hatches, and now Drift has two baby mers to watch.

HgGhh yes, oh poor Roddie, this makes sense of why intersubspecies breeding is probably rare, at some level there's a degree of danger

Rodimus is going through it but he has mecha and mers here for him

Thresher Riptide!

Drift:

Drift: rIPTIDE I STG

I'm also getting cetacean vibes from Thunders, maybe his mer form is based on a medium to medium large species of toothed whale

Drift and Ratchet yet again being the responsible ones

Ooo, Aid?

Poor Drift getting sucked into this mess shdhdhdh

[sentienttoastah]

Trying out new art styles. Whale skeletons are very cool :) And of course it wouldn’t be complete without the usage of the colour green for no reason in particular (Spoilers: I think I like the colour green).

Thoughts on Moby Dick for today: A bit of the cetology chapters and a bit of Ishmael! Because… Whale.

We all know there’s copious amounts of whale anatomy lessons in Moby Dick, some of which are true and some are more outdated. This is usually the least favourite part of the book for many people, and understandably so. It can be annoying for those who only read for the story and probably even more annoying for people who are actually interested or knowledgeable on the modern topic of cetaceans (or marine biology in general I mean like Ishmael called a seal (or was it a walrus? I forgot) an amphibian I don’t think I have to elaborate).

But I’ve always thought the way Ishmael narrates the story, even though it’s through a book, is as if you were actually there sitting in front of him while he tells you the tale. Like listening to an actual sailor ramble about the ocean. Like a one-sided conversation, you could say. It just gives those vibes. That feeling of a naturally flowing conversation was actually what kept me really interested in the book because even though he barely talks about himself you can feel a kind of connection to Ishmael.

So if we were to treat it like him actually telling you all of this in one sitting on the spot I thought wouldn’t it make sense for him to want to avoid the worst parts of the story? So he drags it out before getting to the sad part. Or alternatively, the more logical explanation is the fact it’s a sailor telling a story about the sea to a land dweller so of course he would want to give them quick context notes. And especially considering the time this book was first published many people were unaware about even the basic facts of a whale.

Because among the many reasons Melville wrote Moby Dick was to educate people on the wonders of whales. And he succeeded! …Partially. He might not be the one we should give all of our credit to for the research of whales but at the very least he sparked a kind of curiosity in the common people back in the day. Sure it’s outdated but he tried his best and I think that’s very cool :) shout out to Herman Melville for that.

Oh oh wait! I just thought of something. We can also view it as Ishmael writing a personal diary instead of being an actual book to publish to many. That works well too, and gives him more reason to want to drag out the tale. He’s not just writing about their death and demise he’s writing about their lives to remember as well. A diary.

But on a different note, since I think that whole previous subject is already commonly thought about enough by Moby Dick readers;

Whale skeletons like I mentioned before are very cool too. But at the same time they kinda freak me out. Cause it looks like both a fish and a mammal at the same time. The skull especially reminds me of I think horses or other medium sized quadrupedal herbivores?? And the fingers are freaky too. The fingers are the freakiest. I’m sure if you showed them to someone who has never seen a whale skeleton they’d be very confused or scared. Maybe both.

But it really is curious to see the remnants of their land dwelling days through their bones!

[coprolite-posting]

Fin fin come and see him... Extra info + cleaner pics under the cut!

Skeleton mishmashed from various toothed whales, a handful of birds, and treefrogs for the lower legs, with inspiration from pterosaurs and even sauropods (for the connective air tubes running down the tail).

Why include a pneumatic element on a partially-aquatic organism? I figure that, unlike what was portrayed in any of the game animations, renders, or accessory media (to my knowledge), these guys would probably need to at least be able to fan their flukes in and out for flight control. Personally, I interpreted a lot of the flight animations as having a flying style akin to hummingbirds. They usually keep their tails tucked in a straight line, but can widen them out into a short fan- or even a larger v-shape- to slow down or show off. Not entirely unlike a cetacean’s fluke! I just... wasn’t quite sure how to put together the bone/muscle combo to make it happen. So you know how some insects will, like, inflate parts of themselves, especially in order to get weird exoskeleton shapes before they harden? It’s sort of like that, or like the air sacs the sauropods in Prehistoric Planet had, but with more connective tissue in there so it’s not *just* a bubble. When not inflated, I imagine they kind of fold in on themselves. Maybe even crumple a little, you could say.

The mobility in the lips and ankles are mostly interpretations of artistic anthropomorphisms, more or less. To be fair, a lot of renders and artwork are presumably impossible- I don’t think you can make fingerless wings function as hands in something that would presumably possess an endoskeleton- but others show things like the bottom lip pursing a little bit, or have the feet posed in a way that would be a little easier to accomplish with a range of motion more akin to that seen in human wrists. To be fair, humans are the easiest organisms to model anatomy after because you can just look at yourself or a buddy, yeah? But I figured the legs, at least, would make sense as being more grabby in order to construct their nests. In-game it looks something like a weaverbird’s, just on the ground (or maybe something akin to a beaver’s if you squint). Without a proper beak, I can’t see these guys doing much “weaving”- I think more dexterous hindlimbs could help make up for that.

The teeth are definitely off-canon- mostly because I had already drawn them when I remembered they’re occasionally visible. The molars and overall composition were mainly inspired by fruit bats, as the species is partially frugivorous; however, they have been known to hunt fish as well. The front teeth were vaguely modeled after the hook-like needles found in the Ganges River Dolphin (with additional lip around them), which transition into a flatter set of porpoise-like teeth that are... vaguely convergent in shape with those of certain herbivores. Conveniently, a few porpoises were also referenced while I drew the skull, since they tend to be small and have less elongated faces.

The term “Dolphin-Bird” was taken from a... digital book, I think? Most people refer to the species as “finfins” or something of the like, which is fair, but I kind of imagine it as the specific name of the most well-researched member of the species, since the other two individuals present in-game are given different monikers (although I can also see it as being a sort of “bull/cow/calf” situation). Hence, this is what I derived the genus name from. The species name, on the other hand, references the species’ amphibious lifestyle and ability to fly; coinciding proficiency in flying, walking, and swimming isn’t entirely common in Earth animals (although not unheard of). I thought of naming it after the species’ home planet, Teo, but I wasn’t entirely certain how best to do it, and I imagine living on another planet isn’t entirely noteworthy when there’s an entire ecosystem to name as well.

Anyways, on to the cleaner uploads! In order: Body + wings lineart, body without wings lineart, and just the skeleton. It could probably be considered a slight redesign, but it’s mostly because I was trying to draw something with more realistic proportions and textures.

If you actually read through all of this you are so cool and swag <3 this is literally the first time ever I’ve tried to do something like this in earnest so you are allowed to think it sucks shit lmao

[cartoonscientist]

to me the debate about whether trans men are identical to cis men or not going on right now online sounds like this:

“just a reminder that some fish don’t need salinated water, and if you put them in a saltwater aquarium it can actually kill them. I recently went through a long recovery process after being mistakenly put in a saltwater aquarium, since most of the fish in my area are from the ocean.”

“what, so suddenly you don’t want to be a fish anymore? every single fish I’ve ever met has needed saline water. there are whole essays written about it by cetaceans, who are incidentally much smarter than fish because of their larger brains. so I would be much more inclined to trust a cetacean than a fish on matters concerning fishkeeping.”

“but I’m just a different kind of fish. I’m a freshwater fish. maybe you just think saltwater fish are the only kind that can exist because you’re familiar with them.”

“why are you so ashamed of having gills?”

[wuxiaphoenix]

Worldbuilding: What Feasts on Zombies?

Bzzzzthmp!

Whatever you think that was, you’re likely to be surprised. When I heard it I thought two cicadas had, for some reason only known to bug-kind, decided to knock themselves silly trying to buzz in females.

...I was half right?

What I heard, and then saw - I spied the critters in the leaf litter - was an act of predation, by one of the biggest wasps native to North America. Called, aptly enough, the cicada killer.

It is big. Most of two inches big. Carry off whole cicadas big. Do serious lawn damage digging tunnels big. If hornets were that big whole neighborhoods would be screaming for exterminators; with some justification, hornets are aggressive. They generally won’t bother you unless you bother them, but if you’ve ever had to weed a hedge and accidentally bumped a nest, that’s cold comfort. Maybe even colder than the ice on all the swellings, oww....

Cicada killers are not aggressive. At least toward much of anything besides cicadas. Which makes sense, they’re ambush predators who live a few to a set of tunnels, not one of hundreds of hunters for a single nest that concentrates all their resources. Like mountain lions or cheetahs, a cicada killer is only interested in prey of a specific size, and has no interest in tangling with bigger things.

(The problem with mountain lions being that we fit into their prey size. Cats. Sigh.)

So if your fictional world has something that shows up in hordes on a regular basis, like cicadas do, be that horde zombies, clowns, orcs, or lawyers - if there’s enough of them on a moderately predictable schedule, something will evolve to prey on it.

It doesn’t even have to be that regular a schedule, or close together in time or space. Look up whalefall. When a big blue or one of the other cetaceans succumbs in the ocean, the resulting tons of corpse slowly sift to the bottom, and attract an entire community of deep-sea lifeforms that make an ecosystem for decades. A lot of these eerie critters are also found in deep-sea hot and cold hydrothermal vent communities, so they’ve had millions or even a billion years to evolve. But there are also specialist worms that make a living off whale bones. Figure that one out.

What would evolve to eat a horde of zombies?

Don’t get me started on the World War Z type. They don’t rot, they don’t suffer from freeze/thaw cycles, they can hunt down humans even without working sensory organs, their flesh is toxic to everything, they have perpetual motion with no energy input... that’s not an infectious organism, that’s a demonic infestation. Yet priests and holy water don’t do any good either. No ecological balance. Pfui.

With zombies that give at least a nod to real biology, something ought to eat them. Just as there are bacteria and other microbes that eat the various parasitic fungi of the world. Decomposers unite! You have nothing to lose but your depleted substrates!

So what kind of predators should there be for your unstoppable hordes? Go wild!

[cooking-with-hailstones]

I was seized with this text for my Zelda Trek crossover au while showering so here you go. If this gets more than 5 notes maybe I'll actually write the whole thing one day

Captain's log, stardate (something in DS9 S3) We have been picking up on unusual energy readings from a planet just outside of the Wormhole. An equivalent distance away from the wormhole as Bajor is on our side of the alpha quadrant. These energy readings are highly unusual and might indicate an intelligent pre-warp civilization. Starfleet command has requested that we investigate the activity on this planet as soon as possible.

In order to find out more about their technological capabilities, peoples, what stage of technical and political development they are at, and how close they are to warp travel, I have sent a small investigation team to the planet, consisting of Lieutenant Dax and Dr. Elizabeth Kamatic, a first contact specialist from Starfleet command. 

...

Captain's log, stardate (a little while later). Lieutenant Dax has reported some particularly interesting findings. Apparently, this planet is made up of several isolated geographical regions populated by four major sentient species. There is some kind of silicone based, rocklike life form, who appear to be inhabiting warm volcanic regions. There is a race of bird-like people who occupy the higher altitudes and more frigid climates. There are some semi-aquatic beings, akin to fish or cetaceans, reminiscent of the old Earth myth of mermaids. Lieutenant dex has been unable to confirm.

Finally, there is a race of humanoids similar in appearance to humans or vulcans. Lieutenant Dax made mention of their elongated pointed ears, but in all other respects they seem to resemble humans. Lieutenant Dax stated that there appear to be several separate ethnic groups of these humanoids, though more research is needed to determine what these differences are.

The incompatibility of each species within each other's habitats seems to have made for relatively peaceful coexistence, fostering rich trading networks. Dr. Kamatic has found very little evidence for any kind of armed conflict between the races and they seem to get along amicably with minimal xenophobic prejudice.

[dogtoling]

Based on the limited information we have, tell me how you want the new DLC to go. Forget what Nintendo will probably do, just give us your dream story, level design, characters, etc.

Thanks!

Based on the limited information we have I think it's safe to say that Off the Hook and maybe even the NSS will be part of the story, which... I mean honestly, I just want them to make it WORK. It's probably going to take place in some sort of alternate world, so there's a lot of things they could do with that. All I ask for is if the main focus is going to be on self-reflection or anything of the sort, PLEASE OMG make the characters have PURPOSE. If they do 1 more story mode where there's celebrities inside your brain commentating the adventure for no reason just to do a little dance over the final boss i'm going to go insane

As for what I'd actually want Side Order to be. um, good question... the premise that we do have based on the really limited stuff we've seen is honestly not inspiring to me at all. The implication that it's not even taking place in the real world would mean that it's EXTREMELY character focused, and given that splatoon has a really bad track record with writing characters, that immediately made me zone out. I put up with Splatoon's stories in the hopes of learning more about the world, and the characters are just kind of there getting in the way of the good stuff. So if the DLC is completely alienating itself from the world, what's in it for me? Lol. Other than general world lore, Side Order looks like it might have callbacks to extinct animals and nuclear weapons and probably humans, but I would still much prefer to learn CURRENT world lore. I guess all I can hope for is that we get really good history lore and it DOES tie into current MAJOR worldbuilding.

Ignoring most of the stuff we have hints of: it's good to remember that we've pretty much only seen concept art so far. And like, with Octo Expansion's track record, concept art rarely reflects what we ACTUALLY get in the game. With the gameplay we do have with your player character in bleached Inkopolis Square, I think it would be cool if there were several of these hubs and doing levels (let's be real, there's probably going to be levels again... even though I'd be interested in them trying something new) would slowly recover color. It has something of a faded or unclear memory of something familiar -type of vibe going on, which is at least how I see it. And I could be wrong, but it would be really cool if we had a story of self-reflection and every hub world went deeper into the player's memories.

There's no confirmation that it will be based on memories at all, and if it is, then there's also no confirmation that it will be based on the PLAYER'S memories. What about other characters or maybe... O.R.C.A? I don't know how on earth the corals would tie to it, but O.R.C.A. left some pretty huge loose ends in RotM by not doing much of anything (on screen, at least), and it IS a computer AI that has seen humanity's extinction and the birth of the Mollusc Era. It would make sense for it to be able to pass on information about humanity's extinction in detail. I'm thinking about the nuclear architecture in the concept art and the presumably cetacean skeleton or fossil that flashes in the trailer, implying both of those are very important. What would stuff like that be doing in JUST the player's memories? O.R.C.A. being a part of it WOULD give a sensible reason for being in some kind of digital realm, too. There is the chance that it is a digital realm of some kind just based on also one of the concept art with Marina with random digital pixels around her.

Yeah this has turned into random theories and wishful thinking. Honestly I just want an interesting story that is relevant to the current setting of the game! End of the Human Era lore is always something I'm up for even though I'd prefer it didn't become the shock value number one plot point of all the story modes going forward (it's a game about the squid world, why are we still focusing on the human world...)

[pleb-the-original]

Day 20: Steller's Sea Ape

(This might be a bit of a sad one. I just wasn't sure what to do for a while until I remembered Atlantean reincarnation. I figured the sea ape would make for a good spirit but what kind? Well, the kids have to go somewhere. Maybe Ruin did something to my head making me have dead kids on my mind. Being a fnaf fan tends to do that to you) Sadly, even a perfect society is not immune to tragedy. Despite the utopia that Atlantis is, some things are just inevitable. We have already touched upon death plenty of times this chapter, but death is not just for the old or mature. For even children can fall prey to the reaper’s hand with no hope of preventing it. However, these children of course get a light at the end of the tunnel. Plenty of children were chosen by the Leviathans in the past to be reincarnated into great spirits, warriors and revelers. But some just simply wanted to play. That’s when they say Swift had his idea. He decided to create a new kind of spirit for the children to become. Something silly and playful so they could enjoy their afterlife satisfying their curiosity and living a happy existence without fear. So he created what humans call the Sea Ape. A mix between cetacean and fish so that it could fit any type of Atlantean, these “apes” soon filled the halls of the Leviathan’s palace with laughter and joy. Of course they would not just be limited to the palace. They could explore wherever they wished in the seas. The ocean became the world's grandest playground for them. This was not meant to last however. One day one of these came across a ship full of humans. Consumed by curiosity it showed itself to them, observing for a very long time. Then it decided to see if they wanted to play, showing off by juggling a seaweed stalk. That’s when the human that would soon come to coin its name shot at the poor ape. It was confused and a little frightened, even more so when the human fired again and nicked a bit of skin the second time, causing it to run away in fear. Swift was terrified and a little angry. They say storms grew harsher around the human’s home country. That’s when Swift decided the apes would remain in the palace, only going out when supervised. Yet their happiness has never been compromised. As we know it, under the care of Finley they still remain joyous. So I believe that Atlanteans can rest easy knowing that even one of the greatest personal tragedies that can occur will still lead to a happy existence for the ones lost. (Excerpt from The Water Cycle: Atlantis and Reincarnation)

[scriptdogtor]

Answered Ask Part 2: Can they Crash the Wedding?

Original ask: https://www.tumblr.com/scriptdogtor/712265196084838400/one-of-my-favourite-scenes-in-tlm-is-when-the?source=share

Part 1

What is this?: Bottlenose dolphin.

ID notes: The first thing people think of when they need a generic dolphin. Has a long rostrum.

Can this species make it to the barge?: Yes. Most quantifiable animal facts on the internet aren’t averages. This is particularly true for things like land speeds, breach heights, and lifespans. We usually find the most exceptional recorded number and use that as our factoid and it distorts the real-life picture.

So while dolphins can breach absurdly high (~30ft), I couldn’t find data on what an average wild dolphin is capable of.

I’ve been avoiding make a decision on how high the barge sticks up from the water. I have no idea. Google says lots of barges only stick up like 12-15 feet above the water, which would be a breeze for most bottlenose dolphins. Getting down would be a different story and you’re not really supposed to land belly-first on a hard, dry surface.

But in the film all the dolphins do is hover in the air slightly and spit some water. Ignoring coyote time since this is animation, I’d buy dolphins being able to breach that height.

I don’t actually know if cetaceans are capable of spitting out a stream of water like humans can. I feel like it’d be more realistic for them to spew from their blowholes, and that has the bonus of being really, really gross. 

Is this species Asshole Enough?: Pretty much. The “dolphins are assholes” thing going around on the internet doesn’t have a lot of nuance, but a lot of wild dolphins are motivated by novel human reactions to things. This is why you shouldn’t interact closely with wild dolphins - if they find out you’re fun, that means the thing you’re on (dangerous boat) is fun, too.

What is this?: Greater flamingo.

ID notes: Flamingo native to the Mediterranean.

Can this species make it to the barge?: Yes. But I also checked the Crash the Wedding clip and I can’t actually find any flamingoes that participated. So...???

Is this species Asshole Enough?: I don’t actually know. I’ve never worked with flamingoes and I don’t know any flamingo keepers. My guess is probably not, since they’re not known for their human interactions, but large colonies of birds learn how best to get food and if that conflicts with human peace, watch out. This is why seagulls get the asshole treatment - their most efficient ways to get food involve harassing or stealing from humans.

What is this?: California sea lions/fur seals that move weird...?

ID notes: These creatures have ear flaps, which means they can only be sea lions or fur seals. The only pinniped native to the Italian coast is the Mediterranean monk seal, and even then those are rare. That’s not these guys. Fur seals have longer flippers, but honestly it’s hard to tell because they have short flippers when they’re on the barge and they’re lighter like sea lions can be. Honestly, they probably referenced a bunch of seals/sea lions and California sea lions are the ones you tend to get when you’re looking up generic seals (they aren’t seals).

They look roughly the same size, so I want to say they’re all male since they have slightly bulkier heads? Again, this is probably an animation style thing I can let go. On the barge at least one has a sleek head while she’s bouncing Vanessa.

Can this species make it to the barge?: I couldn’t find an average porpoising height for these guys. They do jump on boats a lot, so a solid maybe?

Is this species Asshole Enough?: I mean, they’re highly motivated social creatures, kind of like humans. Humans are often assholes. They could do it.

Shoutout to the pelicans you can’t see that well until they make it to the barge.

What is this?: Great White Pelican.

ID notes: This one is also kind of generic-animal animation - I say great white pelican since it’s native to Italy, huge, though not the largest type of pelican. They’re all white on the barge.

Can this species make it to the barge?: Gets a pass - it can fly.

Is this species Asshole Enough?: Birds that interact with humans tend to act like assholes because it’s how they survive around us. But they can hold prey in their mouths, so they can drop it just the same.

[gaykarstaagforever]

It seems weird that hominids split off from our ancestors with chimps 7 million years ago because we stupidly decided to jump out of the trees and not go back, while they stayed there.

But then it occurs to me that prairie dogs / chipmunks basically did the same thing, compared to squirrels. Squirrels stayed in the trees, and these other tiny lunatics took to mucking around on the ground.

In their case the ground ones stayed largely quadrupedal, because they traded tree-climbing feet for digging paws and build burrows / dens. Our ancestors, however, just went bipedal and traded our tree-fingers for the odd hands we have now. Maybe because we found African caves to live in? Or we very early figured out how to build primitive shelters / nests out of plants and rocks in protected rocky terrain.

The hand evolution led to the evolution of big brains, in some capacity, it seems, because we certainly got the modern hands before the giant brains. So it worked out that way for us.

It's just interesting that we could have easily become stupid mole-people, if not for some varieties of pressure that favored the sensitive finger / thumb thing.

Meanwhile birds and cetaceans and chimps are smart, so, clearly, having our weird hips and hands isn't a prerequisite for intelligence. Though they aren't where we are. Something about us made some kind of difference.

Maybe it was just our penchant for drama.

Though if you watch chimp troops, they obviously love being political bitches, too.

And I hear things about dolphins that makes me not entirely trust them.

And crows are obviously up to things.

This evolutionary biology thing is complicated.

[magicalcelestialgem]

Crossover Headcanons Part 1

Just thought to put some headcanons about crossovers between… literally my fandoms and original content. I wanted to start with ADJ.

ADJ Crossovers (feat. Solaritia)

World of Cars (Glowing Eyes AU)

Solaritia is in the World of Cars, a world of living vehicles, planes, locomotives, boats, anything that got windows, wheels, or is straight up for transportation. What does she do? Well, what she usually does in a mortal world and as a dragon. Look for food, roll in sand or mud, or fly around. Sadly, poor goddess does not find any meat. She does eat tree leaves and grass though.

Solaritia, knowing she is in a dragonless world, she will go into her tiny spirit form and act like a cryptid of legend. She only goes into her true form when she is alone. This holds up for a while, but the world isn’t perfect and it was not long until at least one of the world inhabitants spot her in her full glory.

You can imagine who saw her. Could be a racer from Cars movies or a character from Planes movies. Once spotted, Solaritia will freeze like a deer in the headlights. But if they mean no harm, she will continue on about her day and let them watch her as long as they don’t do anything. But if they do mean harm, she will fly away and be forced to breathe her sun element (which is more powerful and hotter than normal light) when necessary before disappearing into her tiny spirit form.

Solaritia soon made the news as the mysterious alien sun dragon. Many cars and planes travel far to find and see her. Many even tried to capture her. Many had questions on who and what she is, why she is like this, etc. and some zoologists wanted to interact with her as they saw that Solaritia was a very intelligent creature, maybe even as intelligent as they are. Soon, she got the name, “Sunny.”

Solaritia does also tend to get curious around those who did not harm her. She approaches, calmly, and the ones whom she gets close to feel the gentle, warm bursts of air coming from her nostrils. She’s sniffing them. But then she turns arounds and leaves. Some take pictures of her to remember forever as they felt like she was a gentle creature and must be left alone. She even approaches boats, including Navy boats, when she is out flying at sea, but out of caution, as she does not like to bother anyone if they seem busy. Many managed to take pictures when she was spotted before she turned and flew away, never to be seen again. One time, she approached the Dwight D. Flysenhower, remaining about fifty feet away, and many stopped to stare at her. Most, like Bravo and Echo, were not sure what her intentions were and Solaritia feels a magical presence there. She is able to see that they mean no harm, but can tell that they were soldiers, letting her know that they will attack if she dares to do so. For some time, about thirty minutes, Solaritia just flew like a seagull does around a ferry and then she changed her direction and flew away into the horizon. Let’s just say that everyone who witnessed her can never forget that moment.

But then, one day, Solaritia disappeared. Like, really disappeared, without a trace. Many feared that she was killed, many were happy she was gone. Investigations went out to find her body, but it was nowhere to be seen. It was like she was wiped out of existence. Unknown to them, Solaritia was brought back her homeland. If there is one thing Solaritia remembers from that world, it’s everything. It was nice to get to know a world beyond her own.

Inspired by those animals, especially large cetaceans, who approached humans and did not do harm to a tiny living being. I’ve imagined Solaritia to be the friendly, approachable kind as she is curious and friendly, but very considerate and cautious as she knows that they can mean harm. Anyone who got approached by her can never forget the moment that a wild, intelligent beast has gotten close to them, but still did not mean harm. It is a magical moment I wish to experience in real life, to be honest. Seeing a majestic animal like a whale approach and do no harm.

[gallusrostromegalus]

In TPOFATGIF, are dogs, like, extra domesticated from exposure to humans? Have they domesticated anything that we haven't? Maybe some sort of little house cryptid.

Dogs are about as domesticated at they are IRL because there is kind of an upper limit on how domesticated an animal can get- A dog from 3,000 years ago would be about as cuddly and with the same anatomical features as one from today. However, I'm choosing to believe there are some additional domesticated animals:

Cheetah: Cheetah were, for quite a while in the ancient world, a semi-domesticated hunting animal. The pharaohs of egypt definitely kept them, and I decided the tradition was kept up through time- there are Wild and Domestic Cheetah. Domestic Cheetah are kind of considered a Rich People Pet or a Working Animal because they're expensive to maintain, kind of like how horses are today.

Hyena: Hyena are extremely sociable carnivores that humans have had intermittent sucess domesticating IRL, and I think there are fully-domesticated Spotted Hyena in TPOFATGIF who do guard work. They're not common outside of the kind of housing that could be described as an "Estate" or a "Compound" because you can't have just one- they do best in large packs and with firm territorial borders. They're also sometimes seen with mobile caravans or nomadic people.

(Note: Do not do this IRL. Also, read about "The Hyena Men" photographed by Pieter Hugo if you want to learn about some genuinely fascinating people)

House Hippos: These exist due to the Midwinter Boredom and Alcohol-fueled antics of Canadian Wizard "Squirrely" Dan Wilson. They're not really considered "Pets" though some people keep them, like how some people keep Isopods.

Reverse Domestication: Some species of costal and river dolphin are sucessfully training humans as fishing companions, and there is hope among the cetacean scientific community of a breeding program to create more docile Beach Apes in the future.