#fossilized dumuzi

[herebecritters]

HAPPY PRIDE GUYS 💕 🏳️‍🌈 💕

Collaboration art I worked on with @ickyguts and @technicoloranimalviolence

All the star blorbos marching to the beat of their own drum 💞

[heremob]

Crazy guys i posted on Bluesky and im posting here too

They all belong to @herebecritters 🤓

[preacherpollard]

A History Of Suspicious Serpents

Dale Pollard For some strange reason cultures all over the world have long had an obsession with snakes. Of all creatures in the animal kingdom to worship, the serpent certainly doesn’t make logical sense for a plethora of reasons. The Bible opens with the craftiest beast of creation tempting the woman and successfully bringing about the destruction of mankind. The serpent didn’t have a great…

[o-craven-canto]

Ea, our Second Chance (3)

3. South of the Dagon Sea

(> Back to 2d. The human presence > On to 4. Earth, 2070)

(full image)

The aridity of the region north of Landing Point, compared to what would be expected by its climate, can be explained by its geology. Like the Mediterranean, the Dagon Sea was formed by the closure of an ancient ocean between two continents. However, that faultline has long since cooled: no longer crushed between the continents, Dagon is slowly being filled by sediments. The Landing Point-Civitanova region lies on a karst, a portion of uplifted former seafloor mostly composed of fractured limestone. Rainwater percolates through the fractures into underground reservoirs and sinkholes, so that very little remains available for surface life. – G. Gordon, M. Wang, "Karst features in the circum-Dagon coastline and their biotic impact", Journal of Xenoecology 55, 98 AL

Red stick (Tribaculum deserti, Bactropsida). 80 to 160 cm tall (above ground). A common reed-like red plant with a hollow stem. It stores energy and water as a gluey paralaminarin-based mucus. Close colonies can share water and sugars through underground stolons. Artisans in the northern Spore towns (and some Soil-of-Ea tribes, having imported it into eastern Dumuzi) work the red stick in a way similar to bamboo to produce staffs, drinking vessels, or knife blades, or to build stilt huts, depending on the size. The mucus may be used as seasoning in its natural state or refined into red sugar. Dagonian potato (Hypogea tuberosa, Choanopsida). 8 to 16 cm tall (above ground). A tuber-like structure stores abundant water and paralaminarin. It multiplies mostly by vegetative reproduction. Edible for humans with some processing, mostly chelant washing to remove the excess of metals. Older tubers concentrate phosphate, which is highly toxic for Ean wildlife, and form bone-like nodules. Similar nodules are extremely common fossils in central Inanna; crushed fresh nodules are used as fertilizer and xenocides for Terran crops. Purple razorleaf (Tomophylla hamifolia, Bactropsida). 20 to 60 cm tall (above ground). The most common red plant of the circum-Dagon brushland, especially near salty and brackish water. Its leaves are lined with minute crystals of calcium nitrate that make them brittle and extremely sharp; in older leaves, they grow out into denticles that block the movement of even insect-sized grazers. Dead leaves from razorleaf and related species are used as fertilizer in small-scale farming of both Ean and Terran plants. Roofmole (Ostracotalpa rufa, Diplostomia). 10 to 18 cm long. It lives mostly between 50 and 250 cm deep, feeding on Dagon potatoes and other roots, though it occasionally consumes burrowing helicoscelids. It forms loose communities of about 20 individuals that forage separately and share food by regurgitation. Its tongue is comparatively atrophied: regurgitation and dirt manipulation are mostly effected by the muscular tongue-like labium. Being able to digest starch, it can threaten cultivation of true potatoes and other Terran subsurface crops. Yellow sand needlesnake (Syringophis sulcatus, Simplostomia). 15 to 25 cm long. The roofmole's main predator: it locates its prey through the sand with its extreme sensitivity to vibrations, and breaks through its galleries attacking the roofmole with its rostrum, which serves both as sense organ and weapon. The abrasive proboscis grinds flesh against the palate; the olfactory flaps, ending in stiff, sharp bristles, help with both digging and food collection. The hooked collar and back-turned scales prevent the animal from sliding backwards in its tunnels. The symbol of the Spore's slingthrow olympic team is a stylized needlesnake. Black-and-yellow flagbug (Semaphorus anopticus, Parentoma). 1.5 to 3 cm long. Strong calcified mouthparts allow it to graze on the hard leaves of the purple razorleaf. Females inject eggs into carcasses so that freshly hatched larvae will enjoy abundant food without competing with the effectively herbivorous adults. The first Parentoman ever described: the specific name, literally meaning "eyeless", was given before the details of Parentoman sight were known. – Field Guide to the Native Ecosystems of Inanna, Plate 16, circa 225 AL 

Some of the very first native species seen by human settlers, still visible in the dry wilderness around the Metacapital.

[herebecritters]

God of Rebirth, Dumuzi

[herebecritters]

Some more doodles in the meantime…

[herebecritters]

And on Christmas Eve, Icky was visited by 3 spirits…

Icky belongs to @ickyguts

[herebecritters]

BIG UPDATE FOLKS!

So I’ve been meaning to say something about this for a while now, but due to time restraints and me trying to get stuff more established, I just haven’t been able to. Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been posting up here much for a while now. Those of you who follow my other socials have probably also noticed that I have not been tagging anything as Htf within the last month or so and that my art there has had small design tweaks taking away some of the more iconic features that are standard for Htf (piecut eyes and pink heart noses for example). So I will be completely transparent with you all here.

Essentially, thanks to encouragement from outside friends and for the sake of my own mental health, I’m ripping my ocs and story out of Htf completely. By this point it has completely become its own thing. The concept of Death loops and anthropomorphic animals are not exclusive to Htf and even then, so much has deviated from the original formula that I hardly recognize it as that anymore. I haven’t had much desire or interest in drawing canon stuff for a while now, and it’s not a matter of me disliking it. I just have been feeling so fulfilled by this original story that we’ve been building for a few years now and I really want to dive into it and make it a real thing outside of the confines of a fandom. Being able to share this story to others on the outside of the fandom without needing that specific context has been really good for me and I feel like the art and writing I’ve been pouring my heart and soul into now has a future.

What does this mean? Well the story for the most part is the same. There’s been some redesigns such as Nergals temple, the idols, Dumuzis brother (which luckily cro-marmot did not *really* have an established character in show and my characterization of him is my own anyways), but the overall plot and world building and the way the curse works was already my own original idea so that stays the same. I will not ignore that this story is very inspired by Htf, but it’s grown so much that I think it’s time that it walked on its own. Canon Htf characters are no longer a part of the world, there is no “Happy Tree Town” ect. Certain ocs, however, are still a part of it; such as Icky, Hopps, Screwball, Kyle, ect. This is still a collaborative effort with @ickyguts and @technicoloranimalviolence since they have been a part of it for a while now and have both inspired me and have helped me a ton with writing. Their ocs are still their ocs of course and what they do with them will always be ultimately up to them so nothing will be made involving their ocs without their consent. They are part of the team for as long as they wish to be <3 And I am so proud and honored to be working with them on this project.

Now I want to make it clear that while I’m cutting this story completely out of Htf that does not mean I hate Htf or the fandom or anything. It’s done a lot for me and people for the most part have been very kind and supportive of me. I may still even draw fanart of canon characters in the future if I ever get the itch to again. I just really wanna be able to do more with this story outside of that. I haven’t felt so fired up by a project like this in so long and since I’ve made the decision to do this I have been feeling really excited and happy about creating again. There’s something really fun about working on a project that’s your own that I can’t explain. I’m still establishing and setting up a lot for it but it’s very much in motion and I have a lot of cool folks cheering me on inside and outside of this little fandom. I know I’m definitely going to be taking a hit as far as followers go now that I’m going full original content, I may even lose a lot of you here because of it, but there’s something really exciting about building from the ground up. I want to make it clear though that there is absolutely no pressure for you to stick around if me drawing Htf was what you were here for and if this news makes you lose interest in this blog. I want people to follow me because they like my work overall.

That brings me to the fate of this blog. I will still keep it up and keep up my old posts. Like I said I do not wish to try and bury the roots of this story. I’ve joked with some friends that I’m “pulling a 50 Shades of Grey with this shit”. Old art will remain, but here on out the trio and my other ocs are not a part of Htf. Be Brave is no more.

Now, they are part of a project we call Fossilized.

ALSO I’m on bluesky now!

You can follow me on Bluesky HERE

And Official pages and content for Fossilized will be hosted HERE (site very much still a WIP though)

So much love and thanks to those of you who have stuck with me up until this point. And for those of you who continue to stick with me, buckle up, cus it’s going to be a wild ride! 💖💖💖

[herebecritters]

WELCOME!

To those of you who are new here, I make a horror comic series called Fossilized along with @ickyguts and @technicoloranimalviolence about a bunch of unlucky critters who find themselves trapped on an ancient cursed Island stuck in a never ending death loop.

Few things to note about this comic before I throw links at y’all~

1. Mature Content Warning~

This comic is intended for an adult audience. There will be sex, violence, gore, strong language, and other mature topics present in this story. Keep in mind that this is a HORROR series. Many of these characters are bad people who do bad things and, as is the nature of horror, uncomfortable and mature themes will be explored.

You have been warned. Read at your own risk.

2. Asks are Open~

I know I have kinda dropped the ball on answering asks lately due to changes in the story direction as well as outside forces, but I do miss answering em. So I may dust off some old ones as well as accept new ones.

Please keep in mind that I will probably only respond to asks relating to this story/project. Thank you for understanding.

Now onto the links…

LINKS

Fossilized Bluesky: Here we will share updates, promoarts, and concept arts ect

ComicFury: Here you can read the main storyline comic, The Unfortunate Ones

Global Comix: Here you can read The Unfortunate Ones comic along with the 3 precursor books.

The Unfortunate Ones: Comic following the stories of the castaways who find themselves trapped on the Isles.

Children of Theia: (Coming soon) Collection of illustrated short stories about the rise of the trio to godhood.

First Civilization: (Coming soon) Collection of illustrated short stories about the rise and fall of the civilization on the Isles proceeding the meteor impact.

The Undying Colony: (Coming soon) A journal documenting a colonies long occupation of the Isles of Darí.

* Updates will also be posted here on the tumblr as well, but not always full pages.

[herebecritters]

Various doodles~

[herebecritters]

Livestream in 30 min!

Come watch on my instagram HERE

[herebecritters]

Livestream tomorrow 12pm est, hosted on my Instagram here

Watch me draw comics about evil prehistoric animals~

[herebecritters]

Hey guys, how ‘bout a fun fact science corner? I’m wanting to talk about Kimbetopsalis Simmonsae. I know it’s a big word, sadly we don’t have common names for most extinct animals so any creature that hasn’t existed within the last 1000 years is gonna be a mouthful.

Now what does Kimbetopsalis have to do with Cro-Marmot and Dumuzi? This is where science and my headcanons merge.

So Let’s talk Dino-Sore days.

If Cro was around during the age of the Dinosaurs, that dates him all the way back to the Mesozoic era. So let’s throw him at the tail end of the Cretaceous period, when the most popular of the giant reptiles reigned, tyrannosaurus, the titanosaurs, pteranodon, ect.

Marmots did not exist at any time during the entirety of the Mesozoic. In fact, though many of the mammals that lived during that time were very rodent like, true rodents did not even appear for another 10 million years after dinosaurs were wiped off the face of the planet. And marmots did not evolve for at LEAST another 48 million years after THAT.

So Cro and his sister Dumuzi could not have been marmots. So then what were they?

Time to put on my paleonerd hat.

Meet Kimbetopsalis Simmonsae

To the left we have paleoart of what we believe Kimbetopsalis to have looked like, and to the right we have a modern day marmot. Not too drastically different, eh?

Now here’s what’s really cool about Kimbetopsalis. We have fossil evidence that tells us that they are one of the few survivors of the K/PG mass extinction. That’s right, these are one of the legendary mammals that survived the famous asteroid impact that wiped out all the non-avian dinosaurs and played a role in bringing forth the Age of Mammals. If it weren’t for little survivors like them, we wouldn’t be here!

Kimbetopsalis is part of a group of mammals that no longer exists, the multituberculates. These group of animals survived for 130 million years, dying out and disappearing from the fossil record forever in the late Eocene. But don’t be too sad! Multituberculates existed for longer than ANY other group of mammaliforms, including the one that you, I, and every canon character of htf belongs to. The placentals. Today there are only three living groups of crown mammals (aka true mammals): the monotremes (such as the platypus and echidnas), the marsupials (such as kangaroos and opossums), and the placentals.

Now I could go on forever about taxonomies but trust me we’d be here forever. Especially since we are still learning what we can to fully understand mammal evolution. You see, the fossil record for Mesozoic mammals is scarce. Mammals did not get much larger than a badger throughout all the Mesozoic so they did not fossilize easily. Most of what we know about them from that time is from small fragmentary remains, mainly teeth. But despite very few full fossils having been found, we are learning and discovering something new about our ancient mammalian ancestors every day. What we know is constantly changing, but that is the nature of paleontology.

Like I said. We’d be here all day. So let’s move on.

As far as mammals go, Multituberculates like Kimbetopsalis were very common during the Mesozoic. They are easily identifiable by, you guessed it, their teeth.

As you can see, the molars have some crazy cusps on them, also known as “tubercles” hence the name. Their teeth are designed for chomping and crunching all kinds of vegetation. These teeth are very unique among mammals and probably helped them to have a generalist diet which would have aided them greatly in surviving the aftermath of the Chicxulub asteroid impact.

Anyways, Kimbetopsalis is a survivor and a cool little critter, much like Cro is. They lived among the largest land animals to ever walk the earth. They survived the horrifying event that saw an end to the Age of the Reptiles.

I dunno bout yall, but I just think that’s pretty neat.