#aquatic med

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Well everyone, I performed my first ever cetacean ultrasound today!

My “patient” is in excellent health, and this session was meant merely as practice both for me and for her—ensuring she remains comfortable holding still for scans. Because whales and dolphins are too big for manual palpation or x-rays, ultrasound is how veterinarians visualize their internal organs and ensure they remain healthy. Cetaceans in human care routinely receive ultrasound scans to monitor their health, even if they are not ill or pregnant.

And it’s a great example of cooperative care! Unlike dogs and cats, which have to be sedated or manually restrained by humans in order to get diagnostic ultrasound images, cetaceans in human care are trained to float in place while the veterinarian places the ultrasound probe on them. They are free to leave the session at any time. And there’s no need for ultrasound gel, because the water acts in its place!

(Photo not of me… published by Georgia Aquarium when their beluga Whisper was pregnant with her calf Shila)

All in all, a great end to my externship!

[doodlehorseafternoon]

Being a veterinarian is fun because yes I'm a horse vet primarily, but I have the resources and training to learn how to work on multiple species

Does this mean performing anesthesia on a goldfish for the first time is any less stressful? No, no it does not

[deepgrotto]

Redesign of a tattoo I designed for myself 3.5 years ago! The first draft was done in 2020 after being accepted to veterinary school. Now I have less than a year left until I'm a whole doctor! Time flies, and seeing my improvement over that time was pretty nice too!

[littlebluespoon]

Unstuck (Octo!König Part 3)

Happy Halloween! Have a little treat on me <3

This one is dedicated to the lovely anon who filled my ask box with octo!König ideas. I couldn't not use the nipple piercing one, its like it was made for octopus!König.

Part 1 - Stuck Part 2 - Stuck (Again) Part 4 - Stranded

<1K, 18+, nipple piercings, top half nudity, angst

Anyway, without further rambling, part 3! Have fun!

Your three weeks of leave were wonderful, spending time with family, catching up with friends and even treating yourself a little. Your friends had dared you to get piercings and after much debate and convincing yourself that no one would know you were breaking regulations as they’d be under your clothes at all times, you got yourself nipple piercings.

Returning to base and to work meant you were kept busy. Enough that you barely had time to worry about anyone finding out your little secret. In fact, you had nearly forgotten all about them the day it happened. There was nothing wrong with the day, it had been a standard day, nothing remarkable and no issues had cropped up. You had only dealt with some cuts and bruises so the paperwork you had to do was minimal, and as you mindlessly finished it up your mind drifted to dinner. The door slamming made you jump. There in the doorway stood Horangi, 

“Take him! Before I rip his arms off!” He shouted at you, throwing a ball towards your desk. Before you could respond, he was gone and the ball was moving towards you. 

Unable to process the last few seconds it took the feel of tentacle on your arm to move you into action,

“König? What’s wrong?” Seeing as your last few experiences with the hybrid involved him being injured, you made a beeline for your aquatic med kit and towards a patient bed.

“Come on, let me get a look at you,” you tried pulling him off but were as unsuccessful as ever. He just continued up your arm towards his favourite spot which is when you began to panic,

“No König! Just stay where you are, okay?” Attempting to use your free hand and block him from continuing up your body while making sure he wasn’t bleeding, wasn’t the easiest of tasks. Especially not while you scrambled for an excuse as to why he couldn’t be attached to your chest,

“I uhh… I took a hit in training. I’m bruised, yeah. Eh, I’m all bruised so you can’t sit there today.” Seeing that there didn’t seem to be anything physically wrong with him you walked back to your desk, closing the door as you went. König seemed to consider what you were saying, he stopped his climbing efforts and stared at you. You who had suddenly found so much more paperwork that needed doing. 

Settling back into a rhythm of paperwork with König on your arm was fairly easy and it lasted a while. Enough that you had distracted yourself in checkboxes and signatures and your heartrate had come back down to normal. Until König reached out a tentacle and brought it hammering down across your chest. With a yelp and a flinch, you dropped everything,

“König! What the hell was that for huh?!” You stared down at his beady eyes, in a stand off with him. He moved closer and you flinched, one of his arms were held aloft, swaying gently in the air and every so often it found its way closer to you. Distracted by the arm in the air, you never even noticed the other two, as quick as lighting, they darted forward and ripped your shirt open. 

Your unmarred chest stared back at him. And you could have sworn his expression was that of a raised eyebrow. You, too frozen to react to anything, standing there as he worked the rest of your clothes off until he found what you were hiding. No bruises. Two little metal bars. A rapid heartbeat.

“It’s not like anyone else knows. And besides, if you weren’t such a pervert, you wouldn’t know!” Your defence was shaky, even you knew it, “Can’t just respect someone’s boundaries can you? You’ve got to have whatever you want.” Lashing out in an attempt to keep from crying as you pulled your shirt across your chest but you found your efforts hampered by König as he began climbing up again, 

“No!” Brining an arm across your chest to protect your nipples, you shout at him, “They can’t be touched so just shimmy your way back down. And while you’re at it, why don’t you just get off?” He freezes at your words, you’ve been annoyed at him in the past but never angry. Never upset. 

As he pulls himself off to sit on your desk you bring a hand to your eyes, desperate to remove any evidence of tears before turning away from him to find a new shirt. Cleaning yourself up, removing the small spots of spilled ink on your arms and coving yourself in a spare shirt you made your way back to your desk. Expecting to find a grumpy octopus instead you’re met with a puddle of ink ruining your paperwork and not a bit of orange in sight.

___

As always my ask box is open for asks and requests <3

[nientedal]

Hello, I binged a bunch of your Megamind fics last night (best mistake of my life 🥲). But since I'm not an old Megamind fan, or even an old fan of yours, I don't really know how did you come up with the bird-like singsong language headcanon and not sure where to look for answers either. Megamind with gills headcanon is pretty intuitive, but this? Tell me more, please ~

Thank you for your work. Megamind is a masterpiece, but even DreamWorks couldn't begin to explore all the implications of the story.

Omg I love this question, thank you for asking! And I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed my writing 💙👽💙 I hope you can nap today!

The short explanation is simply that the way I see it, if Megamind's species can live underwater, the language spoken in his culture of origin cannot work the same way our languages do. The primary mechanics of human languages, air flowing out through our mouths, will not work for an aquatic species unless their language is bubbles. So I needed something else, and...I like birds a lot. When I wrote Swansong (I think Swansong was my first fic in which Megamind speaks any Punktsyk), I honestly wasn't thinking about it very much, except "birds whistle and chirp, and so do dolphins and whales, so Megamind sounds like birds and dolphins and whales."

The long explanation of how I got to the fully-developed headcanon for his language as I currently write it is below:

The long explanation is that Megamind's specific combination of birdsong+whalesong was developed over a long period of time. I like birds a LOT, lol. I've also always loved the idea of a Megamind who looks more or less human-shaped, but is otherwise very very alien. So (years & years before I started writing him with gills) I wrote him as making some bird-like sounds very early on in my writing. 2012, 2013 or so, I think. I also wrote him mentioning a syrinx, which is a vocal structure some birds have. Just for fun, because at that time I was avoiding writing very much about his homeworld. And I wrote Swansong, which...as far as I know is the first appearance of Megamind with gills, so I didn't have much inspiration other than "I like birds" lmao. But I needed him to speak to Minion underwater, and I have no idea how Minion manages aquatic English, so I gave Megamind a different voice and leaned into those bird noises I had mentioned in passing before, in other stories.

Aaaand then I got depression and didn't publish anything for a couple years... and THEN I got on new meds and came roaring back to life with new inspiration, thinking, Fuck it! We've had no new information in years! I'm gonna do what I want! Gills! A new language! Let's go let's go let's go!

First, I needed a reason for Megamind to actually be fully fluent in his parents' language, so I gave Minion inherited memories. With the way I was writing Minion's biology, it made sense that his species might be able to do something like that. I thought, okay, Minion lives in an orb underwater, how long would it have taken him to learn any human languages? So Megamind is fully fluent in his parents' language because Minion could really ONLY speak that for a long time.

And THEN I sat down and started trying to actually figure out the language itself. I had already had the thought (several times, over the years) that if those bird noises I gave him are natural for him, there was no reason any of the languages on Megamind's homeworld would sound even remotely human. I was really sad about this, because I had hoped to write something Roxanne could eventually learn to speak, but...it just wouldn't work in my head. I was writing Dive and fully committing to Megamind as a fish-man, so his language needed to make equal sense in water and air, and for that, it needed to be something truly alien.

Like I said, I had written him singing already. This was just his language from Swansong, but more developed. I wanted a deeper song for him, too, like a whale, so I wrote long chambers along his spine, to run air back and forth and sing the emotion underlying the birdsong "words." I also gave him a kind of rolling "vocal loop" to keep air flowing through his syrinx without letting go of it through his nose or mouth, so he can sing underwater as well as in air. I think he probably also has structures he can work behind his nose, for clicking. He can make a LOT of noises, lol.

If I'm remembering correctly, I was still thinking maybe he had a different language out of the water while I was writing Dive. It wasn't until a couple months later when I wrote Wake Your Sleepy Soul that I decided it was a single language. I imagine it sounds a bit different underwater than in air, but the language itself is the same.

There is more I can tell you about Megamind's voice, but I think that's everything for why I wrote his language the way I do! and I must sleep. Thank you again!! If you (or anyone else reading this) have any other questions, please ask away, I LOVE talking about this stuff.

(Oh and go watch Megamind Rules if you haven't seen it yet! I think it is actually very cute and earnest. Wonderful show for kids, I really enjoyed it and hope they release the second half soon.)

[ask-cyantist]

What kind of specimens do you do research on?

[Cyan is surprised to see another new face in her laboratory.]

"Oh- uhm- people are interested in my work-? Besides Captain Black and the med bay crew, I suppose. Well!"

[She turns from her work table and gestures to her current specimen display wall. She can't help the little smile of pride and quiet excitement.]

"I'm a biologist, so I adore the study of living organisms! I do have a fondness for aquatic and ignitic life, but I have a collection of a large variety of specimens, plants included. My job here at HQ is to document as much info as I can on alien organics, and find if there's any useful applications for husbandry and farming of various species!"

[dilatorywriting]

Hello.. saw u were going to vet school and I wanted to ask:

How did you go about getting experience in the field? I’ve tried to search for volunteering events or part time jobs or anything i can find that involved working with animals, but theres barely anything where I live. Closest thing i found was farm work but i don’t know if that counts. Sorry if this is a bit vague

So I emailed a practice and asked to shadow. That turned into me working there as an assitant and that was how I got the majority of my experience. My other experience was volunteering in shelters and then also an internship doing aquatic things.

Farms definitely do count! Getting hands on experience on farms can be incredibly helpful, especially because you tend to do more there than you would in a small animal hospital just because Farm medicine is Like That. But yeah, if Farm Med isn't your fav, I would email around local practices asking to shadow. That's what most people I know did to get experience.

[mr-clow]

Kal’Hal notes on a human ship. Part 2:

Laffite woke up a few moments earlier than her alarm told her to. She rolled around the bed for a while, thinking about yesterday's events and stretching her torso. She felt the air going out between her ribs. Kal’Hals had evolved from an aquatic world, and they could breathe water or air, their gills having evolved into pseudo lungs, their hands with palmed fingers and a powerful tail connected where humans would have legs. Her big blue eyes with no white to sight, something that humans had and still looked weird to her, panned the room, and she saw a small package on the floor in front of the door. She unrolled her tail and with the full length of it she reached the box and put it on her bed…

I opened the box, inside the first I saw was a colourful paper with some kind of human animal that was saying get well soon. I looked kinda cute, but I didn’t get any reference if there was any and Mag had signed it. Below I found a card with a clip attached to a paper that explained that is a long term sensor to check the radiation received and that humans use it when they work in radioactive environments (They really work in radioactive places!) and also below there were some pills. The paper explained that it was something humans used in case they got poisoned, but I should check if Potassium Iodide was bad for my health, something even I didn’t know. Below all that I found a small device that I recognized, it was a radiation sensor. Maggie really tried and I was glad.

I had met humans before, even if a lot of other species treated them as wild dangerous creatures, Kal’Hal knew better. Both species had an early relationship and for more than a thousand human cycles they had been supporting each other. Humans could be extremely loyal given the same treatment, and that didn’t include their pack bond. I have never been included in a human pack, but some people said that there was no safer place in the universe than being included and surrounded by a human pack. I wondered if this box was only a form of respect, or if it was a sign that they had started to include me in their pack.

After that, I took the time to moisturise my skin and change my clothes, my world was way more humid than earth and I needed to keep myself healthy. After that I took the things from the box, read the instructions again and searched about those pills on my way to the mess hall.

When I reached the mess hall my face was showing quite the concern, those pills could shut down several of my organs, technically I had a blister of poison in my hand. Maggie waved a hand, she was having breakfast with Bill who was in charge of the engineering department, Rose and Raúl, both of them colleagues also from the same department. I waved back, took a tray and served myself some food. Most leaves from the human world, some processed seeds and various teas were fit for my consumption, so I chose peppermint tea and a light salad. Most humans wouldn’t eat this at this hour, but the cook knew my taste, so I gave him a nod and an imitation of a smile, he smiled back, and I went to sit with Maggie.

Maggie asked how I was, and I explained that I still felt uncomfortable, but I was willing to give it a try and thank her for all the things she got me. Bill explained that everyone room in the engineering department had helped and that they had asked in the Med bay for the pills. My face turned with worry and Raúl asked what happened. I took the time to explain that iodine was poisonous to a lot of species and turned back the pills. They apologised, and then the conversation turned to other things from work, and I felt relaxed. Maybe they were starting to include me in their pack.

I went back to help Maggie assemble the reactor we were working on the last day. The job hasn’t advanced too much, but I noticed some tools that weren’t here yesterday. “Maggie, why did you bring all this?” While I checked a welding equipment that I haven’t seen before. “Yesterday, after I left the box in your room, I came back here and checked all the boltholes and filled the ones that had more diameter than they should. You shouldn’t worry any more for this” Her face had a smile but with an expression I didn’t knew. “Thanks Maggie, I appreciate all this. Anyways the sensor you gave me didn’t go off even in here, so I’m starting to feel more secure” I took the sensor from my belt and showed it to her. “Ehhh Laff, I don’t want to scare you, but you checked that it was set to your standards? It is really sensitive, but you have to program it” I looked at her, then at the sensor, and it was true, the threshold was set to 1mSv, lower than a human needs it but higher than I was comfortable. I changed it and when I pressed OK the sensor went off automatically. I looked at her worried and she took my hand and led me outside. “How low did you set it, Laff?” She asked with a worried look on her face. “Not too low, only 0.01mSv” and she put the same smile from before, “Oh hon, that won't do. Why don’t you try 0.4mSv at least, remember what I said yesterday. Earth is slightly radioactive, humans are, and this ship also is human made. Nobody got hurt before with even more than that, so let's try that.” I nodded slowly, I didn’t like it, but I knew she was right and changed the alarm. It stopped, and I exhaled, she took my hand again, and slowly we went inside the room, it didn’t sound again.

All that day I was distracted, but Maggie chatted as usual, and she gave me some simpler tasks, so I could entertain myself. At the end of the shift I went out to the mess hall with Maggie and when we sat down I looked at her and Bill “Yesterday you told me that humans knew how much radiation makes you sick, it’s that true?” Bill and Maggie looked at me with a serious face. Bill took a breath to start speaking, but Maggie spoke first. “Look Laff, we are not proud of explaining this to you, but I consider you my friend and I think it is fair to explain you some of our history”

[creative-caramel-coffee]

Dr Crushers Padd

Pairings: Deanna Troi & Beverly Crusher & Reader

Words: 2.2K

Summary: You get your period and nothing short of chaos ensues.

TW: blood, period, not sleeping, mentions of drowning, mentions of assault, cramps,

Role PLATONIC NURSE R

A/n kinda crackfic? Idk.

Wake up stained sheets making late to shift as Change bed. No credits for new sheets already recycled. Sleeping on towel so not sleep well. Tried on mission.

It was simply supposed to be a regular away mission. Nothing more, but it would never be that easy for you. Never.

The streak of bad luck started about two days ago. When you woke up on your period. Or more like… in it. You bled on the sheets during the night and so you had gotten up and put them in the recycler only to find that you didn’t have enough credits to replicate new ones.

Because you had only just transferred on board your credits from your last posting hadn’t transferred yet. So, you had been sleeping on a goddamned towel for the past few nights.

Better still because of your issue with the sheets, you managed to show up late to your first shift in sickbay. Not a good impression and you certainly weren’t going to tell your boss you had bled on the sheets. She was a woman and she had made it to shift on time. Heck Dr Beverly crusher was the CMO, and her file said she had never been late to shift. Not once.

Luckily, she let you off the hook and she seemed really nice. She had taken to you in the short time you had been there. She said you reminded her of Wesley. Whoever that was. Oh yes … her son.

Then yesterday she had told you she wanted you on the away mission. You majored in paediatrics, but your minor was xenobiology. Making you one of the more qualified med staff for the mission. It was simple really. A new planet was found orbiting twin binary stars, and its unusual orbit had some impact on the life on the planet. Radiation from the binary stars had made scans near impossible, so you and Dr crusher were to scope the plant life. Deanna Troi, ships Counsellor was also going incase of any more intelligent life being present. Also, Worf, data and Riker.

The trip had started off simple enough. You and doctor crusher had been charting and sampling the plant life in small bio containers to take back to the ship when the cramps started.

Normally, working in sickbay you could find something to dull the pain. Usually, some generic over the counter pain medicine that not even the CMO needed to sign off on administering. However, you were on an unknown planet with no pain medicine and no easy way to slip away to change your pad which probably needed it by now. And better yet you didn’t bring any pads with you.

You cursed softly and Deanna shot you a confused look sensing your distress. She turned to walk away from where she had been talking to riker by some large trees and began walking to where you and the good doctor were sampling some berries on a small shrub.

Seeing her approach, you stood to address the doctor. “I think i can hear a creek nearby which would indicate more plant life, most likely aquatic. Can i go have a look?” You said.

“Sure. Stay close though in case of trouble. I don’t want to have to pull you out of a creek.” She said with a smile, and you laughed.

“Don’t worry doc I’m an excellent swimmer.” You winked and disappeared into the bush.

The creek wasn’t hard to find. There were some odd plants around the edges which swayed with the current. Taking a scan with your tricorder it showed some interesting levels of saline content. The creek was obviously salt in nature.

You uprooted one of the small plants and gently placed it into a container. Where its leaves had touched the water, they had turned from red to a deep purple. That would have some interesting implications. Just as you scooped up a small vial of water your stomach cramped again, and you quickly put a cap on the vial and lent against a tree with your knees at your chest.

The cramps began to lessen as you tried to relax, footsteps came from nearby. Too tired from your awful sleep last night to turn and look you waited for them to come into view.

“Y/n?” A voice called. And you sighed. Deanna.

“Im here.” You said and the footsteps came closer until Counsellor Troi was stood above you.

“I can sense something wrong.” She said with an oddly motherly look. “What are you doing on the ground?” She asked.

“Moping.” You responded and she laughed softly.

“May I join you?”

“I don’t own the ground.” You said with a half-smile.

“Very well then.” She sat next to you, legs folded and back pressed against a tree opposite you. “Whats the matter Y/n. You seem … off.” She said with a kind smile. You sighed and opened your mouth to talk before shutting it and biting your lip.

“I sense a lot of conflicting feelings in you Y/n.” Troi said softly.

“There you are!” Came another voice and you jumped in surprise. “I didn’t mean to scare you Y/n.” Dr crusher said placing a hand on your shoulder. “Nice spot you found.”

“You're not mad I’m not working?” You said meekly and she frowned.

“No. I think we could all use a break. You especially, you look exhausted. Are you feeling alright?” She said as she sat so the three off you were in an odd triangle.

“Im good.” You said with a weak smile and Troi shot you a look. The smile fell.

“And a poor liar.” Dr Crusher responded, “I don’t need to empathic to know that.” She said and looked you up and down. “You haven’t been sleeping.” She said knowingly. You looked away and rested your chin on your knee.

“There’s more isn’t there.” The doctor added and you sighed.

“It’s dumb.” You huffed.

“I assure you whatever it is isn’t dumb Y/n your emotions are very real.” Troi said.

This time you didn’t respond simply looked at the water flowing by lazily in the creek. The sunlight came in rays through the dense tree branches overhead and the foliage was a beautiful deep green with oddly placed red and purple plants.

Before you knew it you had zoned out watching the water, a combination of your tiredness and ADHD. You heard the two of them talking softly and simply listened to the ambience.

After a moment you heard the familiar beeping of a tricorder. Turning you glared at the doctor who was scanning you.

“Im fine.” You huffed gently directing her hand holding the scanner away.

“You zoned out.” Deanna said.

“Im just tired. Thats all.” You muttered.

“And why, pray tell, are you so tired Y/n?” Beverly asked.

“A combination of things.” You replied vaguely and Beverly raised a brow and the scanner again, pointedly.

“Fine… fine.” You huffed.

“The truth this time.” Deanna added, “I’ll know.”

The doctor nodded and sat back on her heels, so she wasn’t hovering as much as before. You rubbed a hand over your face and let out another sigh, this time of defeat.

“I haven’t been sleeping really well and … you know …. Women things.” You said looking away.

“Ah…” Beverly said and looked you up and down. “Do you have everything you need?”

“No.” You muttered.

“No?!” They both exclaimed.

“What are you using?” Beverly asked.

“Right now?” You asked resting you head on the tree. And she nodded.

“Right now.” She agreed.

“Nothing. Let’s just say I’m grateful the lower half of the uniform is black.” You said closing your eyes.

“You know i could have given you a pad, right?” The doctor said and placed down her med kit, opening it up and pulling out a small white package. You groaned.

“Cramps?” Deanna asked and you nodded and before you knew it there was a hypospray being pressed into the side of your neck and the pain melted away.

“Thanks.” You said rubbing your neck.

“That’s perfectly alright Y/n.” The doctor responded. “Now you said you hadn’t been sleeping well.” She said and looked at you with her best motherly look she used on Wesley to get him to clean his room.

You sighed and relaxed into the tree.

“I bled on my sheets my first night here and like an idiot I forgot to check if i had credits before recycling them. There must have been some issues transferring my credits from my last posting.” You explained and Deanna and Beverly frowned at each other.

“Y/n what are you sleeping on?” Deanna asked and you looked away, avoiding eye contact.

“A towel.” You mumbled after a short pause.

“A towel?!” Beverly exclaimed. “Wait a minute … you said the first night. Is this why you were late to your first shift?” The doctor asked and you had to give her credit, she was quick. You looked at her and simply tapped your nose. She sighed.

“Y/n i can replicate you some sheets myself. If you need something just ask. I’ll see what i can do about getting you your credits.” Beverly sighed.

“Thank you.” You whispered.

“Now, go change.” She said and pressed the white package into your hand, folding your fingers over it.

“We’ll keep the boys away for you.” Deanna winked and you gave a half laugh.

“Thanks.” You said and walked a bit off past some trees and out of sight. Once you had successfully changed your pad out you grinned to yourself and placed the old one on a rock. Deciding to have some fun you pulled out your phaser and pointed it at it. Altering the setting and disintegrating it. You grinned to yourself and walked back.

Both women turned to look at you. The doctor frowned. “What did you do with it?” She asked and you grinned and tapped your finger on your phaser. Her jaw dropped open.

“You didn’t” Deanna laughed. “That’s genius.”

“An old trick my last commander taught me on one of my first assignments.” You said and sat down in your spot again.

“So, are you feeling better?” The doctor asked and pulled out her tricorder as a threat again. You smiled.

“Much.”

“Shes telling the truth.” Deanna said with a nod.

“What was in that hypo?” You asked with a grin.

“Caffeine laced pain killer.” The doc grinned and Deanna shot her an unimpressed look.

“My girl.” You said with a smile and shot her finger guns making her laugh.

“You’re both incorrigible.” Deanna said shaking her head. “Doctors.” She sighed sounding defeated. “Fixing everyone but themselves.”

“Correct.” You said and stood, offering a hand to the doc. “Shall we continue my good sir.” You smiled and Beverly smiled back. “Of course, my dear.” And you hauled her to her feet before turning to Deanna and offering her a hand. She smiled softly and took it.

Once the three of you were upright, you gestured for them to follow you.

“Watch this.” You said and dipped your finger into the water before using your other hand to hold one of the plants leaves from earlier steady. With your wet finger you drew a small love heart on the plants leaf. With a fake gasp you turned to the doc. “Why thats anatomically impossible!” You gushed in a mock tone, “It has a heart.” You said feigning shock.

Deanna hid a smile with her hand and Beverly gave you an unimpressed look. “Im never giving you caffeine again.” She said and you braced your hands on your knees and stood, brushing off your pants and grinning.

“Well, we should probably head back before we find out if data can have a conniption or not. But we could always stay … in the name of science of course doc.” You said and she rolled her eyes.

“Data will be fine.” Beverly said and pulled you behind her back up the small bank and past the bushes from earlier.

“Ready to go ladies?” Riker asked once he saw you.

“Yes.” You deadpanned and he laughed.

“Tough crowd.” He said and you lightly slapped his arm. “Assault of a senior officer. I should throw you in the brig.” He said with a smile, and you rolled your eye.

“Yeah right, senior indeed old man.” You said with an air of sarcasm, “And I should have had you court marshalled back in the academy when you decided to take sixteen young betazed women…” You began, mocking him. Before you could finish, he clapped a hand over your mouth with a smile.

“Well thats enough of that.” He said matter of factly, and Beverly smiled an amused smile at Deanna who smiled back.

“I can always get the story later.” Beverly said and riker went to respond but yelped.

“Ew Y/n. Don’t lick my hand thats gross.” He whined, wiping it on his pants.

“Please, i once watched you drink someone else’s coffee before an exam.” You said rolling your eyes.

“Ew will … really?” Deanna asked and you grinned.

“That was tame compared to some of the stuff he did.” You said with a shit-eating grin.

“Riker to enterprise.” Riker interrupted tapping his combadge and you laughed deeply at his obvious distress.

“Enterprise here, ready to beam up sir?” O’brian asked and Riker gave the affirmative.

“Saved by the bell.” You mouthed with a grin as the small team beamed up.

[cozy-cosmic-horror]

umm can i, like, request a poem, ig? or give you like a specific idea or something? (your bit about flesh poems piqued my interest)

Uh, yeah, sure I guess? I'm mostly focused on aquatic stuff of a sort, at the moment, merely bc that's the metaphor I'm going for a competition of sorts. (Partially because I don't think the judges would appreciate flesh poems). But it's still fleshy in part, whalefalls and stuff

Anyways, I'm rambling cause my meds wore off. Ofc hun, fire away. Ideas/suggestions for poems are appreciated.

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Ugh, I just watched that one South Park episode about whaling and all the pointless cetacean violence (that doesn't even represent the actual issues at hand all that accurately ofc) has left me rather upset. Any positive cetacean thoughts/news to share to help cleanse my brain?

Ugh, I'm sorry. I've never watched that show, but I've seen GIFs of the episode you're talking about, and it made me rather nauseous.

As for happy cetacean news... remember Izzy, the dolphin who was rescued from Texas after being repeatedly harrassed by beachgoers to the point of permanent disability? In November 2022, she found her forever home at Clearwater Marine Aquarium!

Izzy currently lives with Apollo (who arrived at CMA in 2021 after rehabbing at SeaWorld) and Hope, who was the "best friend" of the late Winter.

In related news, Clearwater is currently rehabbing a little female rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis)! I adore this species, which is rarely seen by most people since they live off-shore. Only two facilites in North America house stenos (all of which are non-releasable rescues), and if you've never seen one in person, I would add that to your bucket list. They look like dinosaur dolphins. It is not yet known if this darling girl will be releasable, but I will share CMA's updates as they post them!

[doodlehorseafternoon]

Sometimes clinical year vet school is learning you don’t really like a specialty, and sometimes clinical year vet school is learning you really want to work on horses, livestock, and GOLDFISH

I have found a ridiculous niche and I will be digging

[msweebyness]

DuPont School for Monstrous Youths- Monster Quirks

More stuff for the monster kiddos! I was inspired by a few of my HC’s to make this, some fun quirks about the different monster species! As always, @artzychic27 and @imsparky2002!

Werewolves have the biological compulsion to howl whenever they see the full moon in the sky. This makes it very hard for people in the dorms near Kim to sleep at certain times in the month.

They also shed. A LOT. Whenever Kim gets out of the dorm showers, the entire floor is lined with fur.

Yetis and Sasquatches both have the…interesting habit of throwing rocks to express when they are displeased by something. If Ivan or Denise is mildly annoyed, they might hit you with a pebble. If you REALLY piss them off…

Whenever they’re spontaneously excited or really happy about something, phantoms have the tendency to let out an incredibly loud, earsplitting shriek. (They share this trait with banshees) Surprise parties are a BAD idea with Jean.

All vampires are allergic to garlic, but the reactions they display can vary from vamp to vamp. (For instance, Juleka breaks out in hives, while Luka’s throat swells up.)

Due to them being constantly charged with electricity, Steins are mildly magnetic and metal objects have a tendency to stick to them. If Nino can’t find his keys, chances are they’re stuck somewhere on his person.

If you have allergies, it’s a good idea to keep some over-the-counter meds on you if you’re going to be around Mylene extensively. Plant monsters are constantly releasing pollen into the air around them.

Mummies have to routinely change out their bandages for hygiene reasons. It’s an incredibly tedious process that requires a complex spell and total concentration.

Moth and spider monsters actually shed their exoskeletons once a year. Reshma’s and Marc’s happen to largely coincide with each other, and they know all of the other’s comfort needs for the admittedly painful process.

If something is trapped in a slime’s body for an extended period of time, it will dissolve, no matter what it happens to be. This is why Mireille’s kind donates their slime for excavation and construction work.

Skeletons have a special language of communicating with one another based around the sounds made when certain bones are tapped. Rose has taught it to all of her friends.

Saltwater aquatic monsters (even half like Ondine) tend to have extreme mood swings that coincide with the high and low tides.

If you remember the famous Nessie photo, you may wonder why Ondine doesn’t have a more serpentine appearance. Well, most aquatic monsters can change between their giant sea/lake monster and humanoid forms! (Ondine looks a lot like The Water Horse, just with a big, Spinosaurus-like crest down her neck and back.)

Gorgons have to use special mirrors that are engineered not to reflect their stone gaze. However, if a regular mirror is stared at by a Gorgon, if that mirror is crushed under the darkness of a new moon, it can produce a special powder that is capable of reversing their stone gaze!

Some harpies are born with a special talent that aids them more than others in their deceit and spreading of chaos, a sort of leg up over others. They’re known as ‘specials’ (Lila, for example, can imitate anyone’s voice after only listening for a few minutes. She can perfectly simulate anyone from either class. Before the others discovered this, she used it to, of course, cause a huge, messy fight with everyone mad at someone else, believing they’d said something bad about them, though this didn’t work out as she planned. It was more of an tense few weeks with everyone on edge until they all came together to figure out what was going on.)

Leave thoughts and ideas for more in the comments and reblogs!

[ajaywithcrowfeathers]

There are many benefits to being a marine herpetologist

This is my gift to @justanerdwithatablet as part of the DCA Secret Santa 2022! I was mostly inspired by a mix of: enemies to friends (speed-run edition), Unhinged Sun™, and hurt/comfort. Also, Song of a Siren Mer!AU by SolarRush (which I absolutely loved reading) herpetology/sea snakes, and the tumblr post by theaimfiles he reblogged which said “sharp canines and glowing eyes are top tier character design” (which is absolutely true)

Sorry about any errors, I tried to catch as many as I could but there still might be a couple hiding somewhere that I missed.

Here are the pronouns used: Sun: It/It’s in the beginning then they/them Moon: They/Them and He/Him Reader: He/Him  (I tried to use pronouns to show how connected to Sun and Moon the reader feels/how he feels like Sun is less like an animal later in the fic, I’m not sure if that shows through, but that’s what I intended)

If dialogue is in italics “like this” it means Sun or Moon are communicating telepathically.

I will also post this on AO3, if you would prefer to read it there

Without further ado, here is the fic, hope you enjoy!

Alright, just one more look around, then I’ll head back.” You tell yourself as you wade through the shallow ocean water. It’s been a long day of exploring these tide pools and cave systems, looking for the aquatic snakes you’re researching. Unfortunately you haven’t been able to find any today. 

Suddenly, a glimmer of orange scales catches your attention. You turn and look into the cave entrance where you think you saw the end of a tail. The color was odd though, as far as you know none of the snakes or other aquatic reptiles in this area have such bright orange scales. The possibility of discovering a new species or color morph replaces your exhaustion from a hard day of exploring with determination. You crouch down, peering into the cave entrance. It’s one of the largest you’ve seen in this area, definitely big enough for you to fit into even with the proper diving and safety equipment. 

At first you think your haste may have scared away the animal, but as you look deeper in the cave you see something glowing faintly. Something is looking back. Eyes, human eyes. Or mostly human, except for the lack of pupil and iris, and the lightly glowing milky sclera. The eyes are part of a similarly mostly-human face. The general shape looks human, but instead of skin it’s covered in small scales, yellow on the right and off-white on the left in the rough shape of a crescent moon. The nose looks very flat, mostly a small raised bump with two nostrils that seem to have flaps covering them while the creature is underwater. 

You know you shouldn’t project human emotions onto non-human things, but this creature looks a lot more human than most, and it definitely looks scared. 

The tense moment of eye contact swiftly breaks as the creature turns and dives smoothly into the cave. At least you get to see more of it as it flees. It definitely has a tail, and a massive one at that. It reminds you of a Naga, a mythical half-man half-snake creature you read about several years ago. Its tail is yellow-orange with splotches of red, but most concerning you notice several fresh wounds. 

You stand frozen in shock for a few moments, you’re still struggling to process the last few seconds and figure out if you slept in today and are currently dreaming. Only one thing is clear in your mind: whatever that creature was, it was clearly injured. 

Determined not to allow this strange being to suffer, you rush back to your base to gather the supplies you will need. 

After gathering your med kit and the salmon you were planning on eating for dinner you made your way back to the cave entrance. 

You gaze down into the cave and hold the salmon out in the water. You're hoping the smell of easy prey will lure the creature back out, and it accepts the salmon as a peace offering instead of deciding to eat you instead. 

You search the dark waters for those mysterious glowing eyes, or a glimmer of warm scales. Unfortunately, the sun has started to set, making it even more difficult to see into the cave. 

Thankfully, the darkness makes the glowing eyes even more apparent when the creature finally emerges a few minutes later. 

You hold the salmon out as far away as you can, and try to keep your fingers tucked away. You’re only just realizing how potentially stupid this is. Then again, you never were one to think much about your own safety when others were in danger. 

All you can see from the depths of the cave is the movement of the creature's eyes, which seem to be completely ignoring the fish. That's not a good sign. 

If only you had brought your head light, you may have had more warning. You may have been able to see the great tail coiling into position, the slim but strong arms grabbing an outcropping of rock for leverage. You may have seen the triangular fins around the creature's face flare as it bares its sharp fangs. 

Your weak human ears can not hear the warning hiss over the gentle ocean waves. 

If only you had brought your head light. 

In the split second it takes you to blink, the creature lunges from the depths of the caves. Your heart pounds in your chest and you sputter on salt water as you are instantly pinned by the hissing beast, its razor sharp fangs only inches from your vulnerable throat. 

You stare into its pearlescent eyes, trying to determine your fate. As you process the shock of nearly being killed you are fully aware that if the creature wanted you dead you would not still be breathing. You try to calm yourself, and look as non-threatening as possible. 

Slowly the hissing quiets, until it fades back into the sounds of the waves. Its jaw closes, but its teeth remain bared. The warning is quite clear: I won’t hurt you if you won’t hurt me. 

You start to speak, but your voice cracks both from lingering fear and dryness from the salt water you accidentally swallowed. 

“I-I don’t want to hurt you, I just want to help.” You try to keep your voice level and calm. You slowly bring your hand holding the salmon forward, taking care not to make any sudden movements. 

“This is for you, I wasn’t sure if you could hunt with those slashes on your tail.” You know the creature probably can’t understand your words, but you’ve been working with animals for long enough to know most can at least understand tone. 

Softly glowing eyes stare deeply into your own, they seem to see right to the core of you. Without breaking eye contact they grab the fish. Soft scaled fingers brush against your own, you can feel razor sharp claws carefully kept out of the way. 

The moment breaks, and the creature's eyes snap down to the piece of fish as they snatch it away from you. They inspect the filet closely, looking at all sides and flicking their long forked tongue out to sniff at it. Finally, they seem to deem it safe and take a small bite. The fins on their head ripple and they make a sort of trilling sound, then they unhinge their jaw and swallow it whole. 

With that distraction out of the way they focus on the med kit in your other hand. They tilt their head to the side, trying to figure out what the strange box is. 

“It’s a med kit, I saw the wounds on your tail earlier and I think I can use the supplies in it to help you heal.” You use the same calm tone as before and gesture slowly to their wounds. They look at their tail, then back to the med kit, then up at you. They then look back between you and the med kit several times, as if waiting for you to do something. 

A bit confused, you open up the kit, and allow them to look inside. They glide closer and inspect the contents of the kit, careful to not get any water inside. You can see their tongue up close as they sniff at the various supplies. It looks exactly like a sea snake tongue, except much, much larger than any you have seen. Of course, you’re never seen one attached to a human sized snake before either, so it was probably proportional. 

They seemed satisfied after a few moments of sniffing and examining, and closed the kit. They then took it from you and carefully held the handle between their jaws. 

“Wait! I don’t think you know how to use - ah!” Suddenly the creature reached out and grabbed you as well, thankfully not with their jaws this time. 

“What are you - ?!” Before you can finish the creature hugs you against their chest and dives into the water. 

Fortunately, they resurface quickly and you gasp in air instinctively. You struggle to free yourself, but the creature's hold is much too strong. You try to kick back behind you, but their tail easily dodges out of the way. 

The creature lowers back towards the surface and you quickly fill your lungs, hoping you’ll have enough oxygen to last until they resurface. They dive down, the only thing you can see is the cave entrance growing closer before you must close your eyes against the burning of the salt water. You can feel the smooth scales of the creature's stomach pressing against your back, and it's easy to feel the power within the muscles just below those scales.

After a panic filled minute you finally emerge. You wipe the salt from your eyes and look around, determining the creature took you to an air filled section deeper in the cave system. They gently set you down on a smooth rock ledge then clumsily shimmy out of the water to join you. You're so distracted by your lingering adrenaline and the somewhat ridiculous sight you don't even notice you're not alone. 

Without the ocean waves to disguise the warning hiss, it is easy to hear this time. It is deeper than before, and comes not from the creature in front of you, but from behind. 

You rapidly turn, and see a second creature. This one looks similar to the first, but is all blues and blacks with spots of yellow on their tail instead of oranges and reds. They also lack the triangular head fins of the other creature, and instead seem to have some kind of tattered hat. They are also covered in wounds, and seem extremely weak. 

They attempt to rear up and bear their fangs, but stumble and hiss in pain. The orange one immediately rushes to their side, seeming to try to comfort them. 

“Why did you bring a human here?!” You gasp in surprise as a low, rasping voice fills your mind. 

“Because he can help you, he has supplies, look!” A higher voice this time, it somehow reminds you of woodwind instruments. The orange creature holds out the med kit, the blue one glares and hisses at it. You decide you should probably try to help, you don't want his condition to deteriorate any further. 

“They're right, I just want to help you.” You try to sound as reassuring as possible. 

“He can, understand us?” Asks the blue one, he does not seem happy about this development. 

“I…may have connected with him earlier…” The orange one seems a bit sheepish as they admit this. 

“You… WHAT?” 

“I needed to see if he was trustworthy, and he is! We need his help Moon, you know you won’t last much longer, especially if infection catches...”  They look deep into the others eyes, trying to make him understand. “You're all I have left brother, I can't lose you too.” 

The blue one, presumably Moon, looks away with a hiss. He turns his attention to you. In only a few seconds he has you pinned, his bared fangs barely an inch from your nose. For the second time today inhuman eyes stare deeply into your own. The sclera in his right eye is pearlescent white like his brothers, but his left is pitch black. His pupils are glowing red slits. After what seems like an eternity, he looks away. 

“Fine. But if he betrays us, I'm blaming you.” The orange creature seems to grin at this, or they could be baring their fangs again. It's hard to tell with all the teeth. 

“Good! I suppose introductions are in order then. My name is Sun, and this is my brother Moon.”

I hope you enjoyed reading and have a lovely day, - AJ

[carneliansunrise]

Finally I am starting cymbalta. I'm really hoping this medication helps me, i know with all meds it's a hit or miss. Soon a gene testing kit will be arriving, and I'm hoping I can get on financial aid so that's not too much of a whammy, and that way we can understand better what meds my body won't reject. This fight is exhausting, I definitely couldn't do it without my partner. 💛🥺🫂

I also want to look into aquatic therapy. My rheumatologist wants me to go physical therapy, but I read that aquatic therapy can be good low intensity for fibromyalgia. The only place I can think of that offers it would be the YMCA which I think would require a monthly membership. More stuff for me to look into.

Also, I tried gluten free pizza today and it was yummy, just wish it wasn't so expensive. I still need to look into gluten free foods, if you have any tips on how to eat gluten free w/o breaking the bank, please let me know. Thank you. 💛

[thelegendofstudy]

I just got a callback from one of the people I reached out to for a PhD. He said he wants to meet and learn more about my interests.

I'm sort of freaking out. I have a lot of interests and need to consolidate them comprehensively. Aquatic animal vet med is quite broad and very understudied. Anybody have any advice?