#genus excuse me

[butchsquatch]

it’s the time of year when everyone learns what a ginkgo leaf looks like

[fungus-gnats]

saw a lot of fungi on a hike <3

(image IDs under the cut)

Image 1: Close-up, top view of Mycena roseilignicola (Rosy Mycena) on a mossy log. They have clear pink caps with depressed centres, and stipes (hardly visible).

Image 2: Front view of Amauroderma rugosum on the forest floor. It has a brown stipe. It has a cap with concentric zones of brown and slightly rolled black edges.

Image 3: Fungus in the Flammulina genus on a vertical piece of log, with yellow-brown caps that are darker in the centre. It is broadly convex and has stipes (hardly visible).

Image 4: Rhodofomitopsis feei on a log. It is sessile (no stipe, bracket fungi). It has a cap with concentric zones of brown, and white edges.

Image 5: Fungus in the Trametes family on a mossy log. It is sessile and its cap has concentric zones of brown, light brown, green, and brown.

Image 6: Scattered Mycena roseilignicola (Rosy Mycena) and Mycena chlorophos on decaying sections of a log. The photo is overexposed and the caps of the Rosy Mycerna appear whitish, almost light pink. They have depressed centres and visible stipes. Mycena chlorophos are small and white, with broadly convex caps and stipes.

Image 7: Top view of Mycena chlorophos on a crevice of a log. They are small and white, with slightly recurved edges and less visible stipes.

Image 8: Fungus in the Ganoderma genus on a vertical piece of wood. It is brown with a sandy texture closer to the wood, has irregular concentric zones of darker brown, and is white at the edges.

Image 9: Fungus in the Ganoderma genus on a piece of wood. It is sessile, dark pink near the wood and white or light pink at the edges. It has slightly recurved edges and a moldy-looking texture.

Image 10: A further, point-of-view shot of Scattered Mycena roseilignicola (Rosy Mycena) and Mycena chlorophos on a log. The fungi appear to be very small, clustered along some sections of the log. There are dead leaves on the forest floor and various plants in the background.

[xyaehir]

need ur attention asap —

SYP — w characters who i think are actually really clingy (secretly or not)

GEN. — fluff

WARN. — gn!reader, clingy characs, pda, sickening couple activities

REQ. — “do you do carlos madrigal x reader.. if yes, could I get one?? i can’t really find any recent ones now and I love your works! if not, that’s completely fine!!! xx”

NOTES. — im literally so bad at sticking to one character 😭 im glad u love my works, have a good day lovely <33

thinking about having a clingy bf who can’t get enough of ur love <3

ur clingy bf! who can’t stop clinging onto you like a koala.

ur clingy bf! who loves back hugging you and discovering different cuddle positions.

ur clingy bf! who shows up to your door at random times with a bouquet of your fav flowers.

ur clingy bf! who has a secret obsession with the sweet taste of your lips.

ur clingy bf! who encourages you to play the chapstick game, a new excuse to kiss you over and over. (he doesn’t even make an effort to guess the flavour..)

ur clingy bf! who pulls you away at any social event to kiss you breathless.

ur clingy bf! who stares at you with a subtle pout as his friends drag him away to do god knows what.

ur clingy bf! who basically uses his status to go see you instead of doing what he should be.

ur clingy bf! who refuses to remove his arms around you in the morning, leading you to quite literally limp around with him attached to your hip.

ur clingy bf! who tries to act stoic in public but his facade crumbles in 5 minutes and his hands are back on your waist.

ur clingy bf! who has a habit of rubbing your noses together.

ur clingy bf! who carries you all different styles and doesn’t care about your protests.

ur clingy bf! who always cradles your face so gently whenever you’re ranting and just stares at you with heart eyes and a big, silly smile on his lips.

ur clingy bf! who pulls you back to his chest when you get even a centimetre farther from him.

ur clingy bf! who gives you another bottle of his perfume to spray on your clothes so you smell like him when you go out.

ur clingy bf! who’s always there for receiving and giving affection, especially on hard days.

ur clingy bf! who’d rather die than leave the comfort of your arms wrapped around him, his safe place.

ur clingy bf! who loves you so much that he has to remind you how amazing you are literally every 10 minutes.

ur clingy bf! who send you those care-packages every month filled with all of your favourite things, skincare, games, books etc.

ur clingy bf! who always matches with you in real life and in every game you two own. (no such thing as u playing a game that he doesnt play)

ur clingy bf! who’s always loud asf whenever he sees you. (mf sprints to u to give u a hug)

ur clingy bf! who calls you every single term of endearment, even the weirdest ones.

ur clingy bf! who definitely unironically calls you his pookie wookie farting glitter boo boo bear. (he says it so seriously too..)

ur clingy bf! who wont let you pay for anything and spoils you with everything he can get his hands on.

ur clingy bf! who would and will give the world to you.

thinking about having a clingy bf who can’t get enough of u <3

bonus!! —

the sound of the iphone alarm rings throughout the bedroom. a mix of deep, raspy groans and soft whining fill the room, replacing said irritating noise.

you reach to tap the ‘snooze’ button but a hand grabs your arm. he stretches a hand out to hit it instead but missed 5 times before effectively shutting it off. he groans, wrapping his arms around your waist and burying his face into your chest.

“babe, get up. you’re too fat, you’re suffocating me.”

“‘s too early to get up, stop squirming,” he reaches a hand up to your face, trying to cover your mouth before you slap it away.

you wriggle in his grasp before stopping, surrendering to his warmth.

“morning, my sweet waffle with honey, maple syrup and berries on top.”

there was a good few seconds of silence to make you realise he’s not joking and genuinely calls you that.

upon imagining the image of waffles in your mind, the idea obviously makes your stomach grumble. you wanted to get up and make some but forgot about the tired guy on your chest.

with a loud groan, you drag him with you out of bed. you can definitely hear his quiet giggles as he brings the blanket with him, perched on his shoulders while you drag him around.

bonus #2!! —

“i got it, i got it!”

“baby, let me pay for it!” you strain out, struggling against his tight embrace. you can feel the vibrations of his chest behind you as he captures your arms in one hand and tries to put the money in the machine with the other.

you squeal when you free your hands from his vice grip and he tickles you to prevent sticking your money in.

“babe, babe stop! i wanna pay, its my turn.”

“i got it, don’t worry. im not gonna let you pay, ill cover it,” he laughs, taking the cash from your hands and slipping it back into your wallet.

at this point, you’re thrashing around in his grasp, not harsh enough to hurt him though. he has his arms hooked under your shoulders to prevent you from moving forward.

“please, let me pay! i got it, its fine!” he protests through his own laughter.

you throw your head back on his shoulder, giggling while trying to free yourself from his grip. he leans downwards and presses several kisses to your face, successfully stopping your movements.

he paid for you again. hey, at least you tried, right?

— (bllk) NAGI, sae, REO (genshin) KAEYA, CHILDE (star rail) gepard, JING YUAN, SAMPO (haikyuu) SUNA, tsuki, KENMA, KUROO (KNY) TANJIRO, AKAZA (ENCANTO) carlos, CAMILO (ATSV) miguel, MILES, PAVITR () YOUR FAVES

@xyaehir 2023. This is my content, inspired or not. Do not translate, copy or plagiarise my works in any way. Reblogs and likes are greatly appreciated. <3

[elbiotipo]

How should nekomimi be inherited to not look weird?

I think that if they are simply humans with certain animalistic traits then it can be done like irl phenotypes, basically "some mixed kids inherit them, some don't" and leave it here, so there can be a community of mostly cat people with some individuals with fully human features to not make it look weird (and vice-versa, some nekomimi people amongst "normal" humans who don't belong to any of the cultures of cat people).

But what about some more complicated feline features like vision or dietary needs and such?

And even more importantly, is my idea of how to do nekomimi genetics in a fantasy setting not weird in itself?

It's NOT weird. The only thing better than catgirls are catgirls who fit in the worldbuilding.

Now, if you want a technobabble excuse, you could always use homeobox genes that you could say develop different kinds of ears, tails (biologist note: this is NOT exactly how homeobox genes work, but they do kinda work as an technobabble excuse) inside a wider, let's say, "humanoid" species or genus. These could be inherited as diverse alleles of such traits (for example, the 'ears' gene could have cat-like, dog-like, human-like, etc. alelles) and also have mendelian or non-mendelian distributions. Suppose you want to make a fantasy mendelian system, you could say "cat ears are recessive, human ears are dominant" (note: "recessive" and "dominant" don't mean "worse" and "better" it just means than an allele is "hidden" or deactivated by the dominant one. Sorry if I make a mistake, I learned all this in Spanish) and figure out inheritance from there, just traits that are cleanly inherited in regular proportions. This is not how most genetics work, however. There's multiple kinds of non-mendelian inheritance... multiple alleles, codominance, sex-linked inheritance, and of course quantitative genetics which is when alleles don't manifest in a single discrete trait but rather a continous measurable one (such as height)... now I feel I'm doing my genetics course again, but I'm sure you can tell how such things can work if you read an intro text about it.

There's a bunch of caveats here, and I'm gonna speak very broadly here. In humans, there aren't single, well defined genes that codify appearance for, for example, hair texture and color, skin/eye color, etc. in the sense that there's a "blue eye gene" or "curly hair gene". In fact this is the case for most genes, most are multi-allelic or quantitative with different 'weights' for a continous trait. Or BOTH. People tend to inherit different genetic 'weights' (very unscientific term here, sorry) from one parent or another and this can be very random, with some expressing different traits even if having the same family (this is why you see people who resemble almost perfectly to one parent instead of a "mix" of both, and of course those who indeed look like a mix of both. And these in turn have nothing to do with genetic diseases, blood types, or other inheritable things) There are hundreds of genes involved in each trait of human appearance and they all interact with each other, and most aren't even known, we don't fully know the genes that regulate skin, hair or eye color, just to give a few examples. So it's almost never stuff like "dominant purple flower, recessive white flower", Mendel was VERY lucky and smart to pick out discrete alleles to find out his laws. Most traits aren't like that at all, especially in animals.

Which brings me to my next point. It's very unlikely mendelian inheritance of traits such as ears or tails would have evolved naturally in animals. The development of characteristics such as ears or tails is deep, deep in the early embryo development, a very fragile period for animals. A species that has such huge genetic variations in such key periods of development faces severe selective pressure and it's unlikely these extreme "alleles" would remain, errors on them would cause extreme malformations or just embryos not developing at all. Even humans have this trouble, the loss of tails in apes, for example, has let us to suffer from spina bifida, every body plan change has a huge cost and this is why animals are sometimes very conservative with it, most body plans are the modification of existing features rather than the apperance or removal of different ones, and this is at evolutionary scales, not even living populations. Of course, some animals are more, let's say, plastic, like dogs, but even they have a general body plan, there aren't dogs without ears or tails, for instance. Even dogs are the consequence of tens of thousands of very intensive artificial selection which did not happen naturally at all, I mean, it's not like poodles or daschunds have any sexual or natural selection advantage for themselves, they are adventageous for us. You can see that wild and feral dogs, without the pressure of human artificial selection tend to converge into a more general dog plan (the so called "pariah dog", but also see dingos, and of course wolves, I'm skipping a lot of stuff here), adapted to local climates.

Surprisingly, I can see diet being less problematic in this sense. After all, we know there are for example human populations adapted to lactose. Dogs have also evolved enzymes to digest carbohydrates which wolves don't have, while not as nutritious as their carnivorous diet it works better with our human diet. Different bacterial flora can also help digest things that are surprising though, such as cellulose (though bacterial flora is still an underrated and ongoing field of study) It's also much easier to imagine changes in dentition than the whole head plan. So I can easily imagine different populations adapting to different diets. Same with eyes, I mean, daltonic and colorblind human population exists, the EYE is mostly the same, but it works differently. But again, the body plan remains the same. Humans or dogs might have different aptitudes for diets, but they don't stop being omnivores or carnivores.

Of course, tis' fantasy. So why expect things to follow natural evolution? Hell, why even expect fantasy people in a pre-industrial setting to know about homeobox genes? Depending on your setting, it might be that these traits are stable and inheritable because of a magical curse/blessing, or that the gods or the inherent magic of the world said so. However, if you have a species that has multiple, very different appearances and those are inheritable, you're dealing with some rather heavy stuff here that redefines your concept of humanity. In Dungeon Meshi, for instance, they talk about this, as the typical "elf, dwarf, halfling, human" fantasy races all can and do have children with each other, and (spoilers!) they seem to have a common origin, and thus all are actually called "humanity" which is a very interesting concept, because, indeed, what else are they if they don't actually have any real biological barriers. Meanwhile, the differences with other more "distant" species? races? such as orcs and kobolds (canine-like) are shown as rather arbitrary and depending on the culture, in fact, even humans (or rather "tallmen") get excluded from "humanity" in some cases. (not even tackling the whole long-short lived races thing). Similarily, you could say these "nekomimi" are just humans with a particular blessing or curse (again, in Dungeon Meshi, there is Izutsumi), but that works on the particular designs of your fantasy world and magic system... and let's say that when such concepts have appeared in real life, well... I don't need to tell you these are rather heavy and controversial topics to tackle. I don't think you should shy away from portraying them, but again, it's something to think about very carefully.

Since this is a heavy topic, I'm gonna take you out of fantasy for a sci-fi perspective. In my biopunk setting (it's on the tag "soft biopunk" on my blog) there are kemonomimi people all around, and in fact, all sort of genetic cosmetics, in fact, one of the main characters is indeed a communist catgirl. Most of it, however, is made in adults, much like getting tattoos or piercings. Tegument (i.e, skin) in humans and most vertebrates is surprisingly plastic, and one can 'grow' ears and implant them, or estimulate the production of feather or scale genes in the skin. Meanwhile, things such as tails have a little more involved surgery, since you also need to take into account nerves, muscles, circulation, etc. Meanwhile stuff such as muzzles and others require very extensive surgery, so it isn't as common. So these are implants (non inheritable) rather than expression from embryos, what geneticists would say germline modification. Such things also occurs but is done way more carefully and is more extensive, and it's nothing you would do just for the sake of cosmetics, when you're doing that, you're basically starting a new branch of humanity with all that implies. On the other hand, sentient "uplift" cats, dogs, and many other animals do exist, but they aren't animals that act like humans, they are sentient animals with a way of thinking and behavior very different to us, you aren't talking to a "cat with human intelligence", you're talking to an intelligent cat (when they want to talk, anyways). So, you can't REALLY turn a Felis catus into a catgirl, but a Homo sapiens can do a rather passable one.

Well, this has been a lot of fun to write and think about, so I hope you enjoyed it, and sorry for the walls of text! I promise to make a better post with some better illustrations of hot catgirls. In any case, if you found this useful, I would be very grateful if you gave me a tip! Given our economic situation here with Milei (the guy who cloned his dog, how appropiate), anything helps!

Feel free to ask anything you'd like!

[thenightfolknetwork]

I study maths at uni, and you would be surprised at how often all the arcane-looking symbols mathematicians manipulate cross into being actually arcane (in a thaumaturgically potent sense). It’s an absolute pain if you, like me, are from a genus with… shall we say intense thaumaturgic sensitivities. 

Things have been coming to a head with the graph theory class I’m taking this term. I absolutely love graph theory, in fact I want to do my thesis research in it someday, but my allergies have been getting so bad that I’ve been considering abandoning the field entirely. 

See, graphs, the formal mathematical sense, are objects  consisting of verticies connected by edges. These can be visualised by drawing a bunch of dots (representing the verticies) connected by lines (representing the edges). Many common shapes and symbols are visualisations of graphs! Take, for instance, the complete graph on five vertices (K5 for short). To visualise K5 you can draw your five dots equally spaced in a circle, draw a straight line between each pair of these dots, and… arrive at a little known symbol called a pentagram. 

Which is exactly what I did when working on a homework problem a couple of weeks ago. I was so focused on the maths I didn’t even realise what I had drawn until my hand started smouldering. I managed to put out the blaze, but not before my work was burnt to a crisp. I was working on the assignment the night before it was due- I know, I know- so I didn’t have time to rewrite it. Needless to say, my professor was not particularly interested in marking the pile of ash I turned in, and I was curtly informed that “I’m allergic to my homework” is not a valid excuse for failing to turn in legible coursework. 

I’m at an impasse. K5 is an extremely mathematically important graph- it’s the smallest complete graph that’s not planar. That is, you can rigorously prove it’s impossible to draw K5 without your edge lines intersecting, even if you are allowed to curve the lines however you want as long as you don’t lift your pencil. This results in K5 having some rather interesting pathological behaviour that makes it an important counterexample in many graph theory proofs …but I digress. Point is, that (quite literally) infernal K5 graph is ubiquitous in graph theory, and it’s far from the only thaumaturgically reactive symbol in the field. I’ve had some other near misses - once I even started to spark during lecture, though no fire broke out that time thankfully. The professor is getting increasingly impatient with me and has given me an ultimatum: get my thaumaturgic allergies under control or drop out of the course. I don’t know what to do. Please help. 

[OOC: thanks for bearing with the long mathematical infodump- I love your podcast, the premise leaves so much room for creativity and I have many thoughts about how the canon might tie into my favorite subject. It is true that mathematics historically could get weirdly occult-adjacent. In particular the pentagram, in addition to having interesting mathematical properties, was also the symbol of the delightfully bizarre secretive math cult founded by the Greek scholar Pythagoras- as in the Pythagorean theorem guy. I think in the MA universe there was definitely something liminal going on with the man. Also, for a proof that K5 is not planar- along with other graphs with certain properties- here’s a really cool open source resource! I do love graph theory a lot- this result in particular is really fun to play around with https://discrete.openmathbooks.org/more/mdm/sec_planar.html)]

First things first, reader – thank you so much for bringing me a question that reminds me how much I still have to learn about the world. I admit, mathematics has never been my strong suit, but I've always thought it was a fascinating field of study. Your letter makes me want to learn more!

Fortunately, your particular predicament is rather easier to solve than untangling the mathematical mysteries of the universe. You can deal with your thaumaturgic allergy on two fronts – both by treating the allergy itself, and by securing some additional support from your university.

For the allergy itself, it may seem obvious but have you tried taking an antihistamine before you start your homework? Thaumaturgic allergies function the same as any other allergic reaction, even if the physical response from your body is rather… different.

If over-the-counter antihistamines aren't effective, make an appointment with your GP. Depending on the severity of the allergy, they'll be able to explore treatment options with you or refer you to a specialist. This may include other medication or perhaps desensitisation therapy, where you will be exposed to gradually increasing levels of magic to build up your thaumaturgic tolerance.

As an aside, I must urge you never to attempt such desensitisation on your own. Quite apart from the health risk this poses to yourself, there is also the combustible nature of your allergy to take into account. Besides which, paying a magical practitioner to do random spells in your vicinity in the hopes of prompting a reaction strikes me as an especially dangerous way to waste one's money.

While you're pursuing the medical side of your issue, I encourage you to seek out proper support from your university. I'm pleased to say that your lecturer is thoroughly in the wrong here – being allergic to your homework absolutely counts as grounds for reasonable adjustments, including an extension on your missed deadline.

Your university should have a system in place for supporting students with disabilities and other additional needs. Get in touch with them at the earliest opportunity to talk through the options available for you. At the very least, they should be able to provide you with some thaumaturgically non-reactive writing materials with which to do your work.

Finally, a word of reassurance. Allergies can be extremely frustrating, and even frightening, especially when they aren't taken seriously by the people around you. But there are plenty of treatments available and I see no reason why this should get in the way of your chosen career. And if you do happen to make any breakthroughs in the wonderful world of mathematics, I'd love to hear – even if I might not quite be able to follow!

[For more creaturely advice, check out Monstrous Agonies on your podcast platform of choice, or visit monstrousproductions.org for more info]

[coyotefang1987]

Flower Symbolism in Trigun

Okay so I've been going insane in the last few hours since the new episode of Stampede and I needed to share my very incoherent thoughts.

So here we go: (please excuse my grammar, I'm typing this up in an absolute craze)

Please note, there are major spoilers here

[Plant in context to Trigun will be capitalized btw]

I want to start off by pointing out the whole idea with calling the creatures that Vash and Knives are as 'Plants' and 'seeds' in the first place--that in itself is so much. Not to mention Noman's Land is a desert plant with little to no flora at all.

The idea and symbolism of life and rebirth presented with the idea of plants. Like how flora are usually the first type of lifeform to come back post mass extinction events. How plants are primary producers in the food chain, how life couldn't be sustained without plants giving up oxygen, food, and converting the sunlight into energy/sugar. Despite being giant moth flower humanoid creatures, the Plants in Trigun are doing essentially the same thing. Except they aren't renewable and they might also be sentient.

In addition to that, in media, seeds are usually a representation of hope. And in this case, a seed pod carrying the hope of humanity. I've been likening it to dandelion seeds. I don't think our group of guys were the only space-fairing fleet that was sent out from Earth.

I don't know how much of this symbolism is intentional and how much of it is completely accidental, but boy howdy is it there and am I going to eat it up.

Geraniums!

First off, the most obvious one is geraniums. The flower is very much thrown into our faces. What does it mean?

Okay so there's like 400 types of geraniums out there, they're not like a specific species- and when people say 'geraniums' it usually also includes pelargoniums which are a different genus. But you're not here for me to monologue about flower classification-

Well, operating under the assumption they're using the most common type of red geranium, which, funnily enough is not a geranium but rather a pelargonium. Pelargonium x hortorum. Commonly known as zonal geraniums or garden geraniums. I don’t know if I even need to expand on the idea that Vash and his story (and the Plants in general) are represented by geraniums. If the red coat wasn’t already a giveaway, I think the newest episode definitely makes it very clear. Well, first off I think it's interesting that they’re not ‘true geraniums’ (different genus, same family). Like how Vash and Knives look human but aren’t ‘true humans’.  

(Did you know geraniums can reproduce asexually via their roots by just…sprouting a new plant? It’s called clonality. Anyways yeah, I’m too lazy to expand on it but there it is. You can probably see the connection I'm trying to draw here)

Furthermore, let’s look a little bit into what geraniums represent. So according to the vast knowledge of the interwebs (I will put the links I used at the bottom.) geraniums are “attributed the powers of love, peace, healing, elegance and spirituality. They mostly have desirable symbolizing meanings, including fertility, health, joy, protection, frustrations passing away, and true friendship.” Red geraniums in particular are attributed to protection and ward against evil., spiritual beings and saints. “The geranium flower was a symbol of prosperity in Egypt, longevity in Japan, and immortality in China���. *Stares at Vash and Knives*. Gods…immortality…saints. Alright Nightow, I see you.

Look, I’m not done here. DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA geranium took on a slightly more negative meaning. Envy, deceit, folly, foolishness and stupidity. Although they were also seen “as ‘horticultural bourgeoisie’ and a sign of ‘crudeness and thoughtlessness of taste’. Geranium became a symbol of industrial mass culture.” This was probably unintentional (and if it is intentional, holy fuck.) but the idea that Earth in Trigun was destroyed by the folly of humans because if mass industrialization? Hello???? OKAY.

There’s just so much history with geraniums. I’m STILL not done. Let’s talk a little about geraniums and Christianity, yeah? You know, the thing that Trigun is chock full of symbolism of.

So first off, tradition. (I am not Christian, nor do I know much about Christianity, I just did some research on the topic so feel free to correct me.) I do believe there is a tradition to buy and gift red geranium on Good Friday? (I can’t find a very credible source about this, just some blog posts so idk) And the red is to represent the blood that Jesus sacrificed for the people. How he was beaten and bloodied because of his love for the people. How…he was given a purple cloak that turned dark with blood while he was mocked. 

Sound familiar?

Do we want to talk about Vash’s red coat turning black in the latest episode? Or maybe how traditionally dying Plants are red and healthy ones are blue? But Vash keeps himself covered in red?

Now, here’s an interesting fact. Did you know, wild geraniums look very different from the ones people like to commonly grow in their gardens? This is the spotted cranesbill (Geranium maculatum), the most common wild geranium. Look, maybe I’m stretching it here, but cultivated Plants vs independent Plants, anybody?

Anywho, not the point I was trying to make. Did you know another common wild geranium is called the Saint Robert’s Geranium? Robert’s? While no one really knows who the ‘Saint Robert’ the flower is named after, it has a very fun symbolism. Check this. The seed pod of this flower supposedly looks like the beak of a stork, which had people believe that they could help a couple who wish for children with fertility when used as an amulet and placed under the bed. cough Ep 11 pregnancy scene cough. Apparently, medicinally they’re also used to staunch blood flow from wounds. Despite that, in certain regions, it was seen as an ill-omen plant associated with death because snakes would often hide in its leaves. Snakes? Like…in Adam and Eve? Like as in temptation? As in Knives and Vash?

Okay last bit on geraniums. Just a little on the colors. In episode 11 of Stampede we see the giant plant root monster thing blooming flowers. I have assumed that they are black geraniums, aka Geranium Phaeum 

aka mourning widows. Of course, I could be wildly wrong but the meaning of this is fun so hear me out. While there doesn’t seem to be a direct meaning for black geraniums, we can clearly draw some conclusions on the common name for this flower. Like seriously, mourning widow? They’re also known as dusky cranesbill and black widow. Obviously associated with death (and grief?) and apparently maybe marriage??? Doesn’t help that geraniums can be considered a traditional bridal flower too. I think they’re also associated with melancholy. Anyways, on the other hand, blue blooms usually symbolize calm and peace while purple blooms symbolize royalty, accomplishments and admiration. 

So in context to the blooms we see at the end of ep 11, grieving for the loss of someone (Rem, his memories), rising to his Plant roots (haha get it?) and being ‘at peace’. 

HEY LET'S TALK ABOUT DOGWOOD

So I remember reading somewhere that he’s named after a singer or band or something but– His name is so close to dogwood that I could not pass it up.

Dogwood is a blooming tree that seems to have a representation in Christianity. There’s a legend about the tree and Easter. So apparently, the cross that Jesus was crucified on was made from Dogwood, because of such it was cursed and blessed. Cursed to be small so it can’t be used to make another cross but blessed to bloom beautiful flowers at Easter time.

The flowers of the Dogwood trees always bloom with four petals, like a cross, the center like a crown of thorns. Each tip of the petal is indented like it's been pierced with a nail and discolored like it was stained with blood. So goes the story. 

I think it's interesting that Wolfwood’s name is so likened to this flower/plant and I don’t believe this is unintentional. LIke it’s right there. Cursed by the Eye of Michael to grow too fast, blessed to be strong and hard to kill. Is/bears the cross that brings Vash to Knives in the end. 

Lilies (and other Flowers)

So, I personally think the plants look a lot like lilies. And lilies are commonly attributed to the virgin Mary. They typically represent purity, innocence and rebirth. They are often gifted at mourning flowers as well and are one of the most popular flowers at funerals.

Either that or the blue-eyed Mary flower, which has less meaning attributed to it other than its name.

Anyways, that's all my thoughts for today. Thank you for reading all the way down here if you make it hehe

If people find more flower symbolism or have thoughts please let me know, I want to hear them!!!<3

Geranium history and meaning: https://www.pansymaiden.com/flowers/meaning/geranium/

Geranium and Christianity: http://www.whispersofhismovement.com/2012/04/05/geraniums/

Mourning Widows: https://gardenersapprentice.com/gardeningtips/mourning-widow/

Dogwood story: https://www.plantmegreen.com/blogs/news/easter-and-the-legend-of-the-dogwood-tree#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20story%2C%20it,cursed%20and%20blessed%20the%20tree.

Lily meaning: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/home-decor/a39982524/lily-flower-meaning/

[nisaetus-nerd]

Blog cover by @/katiethecreature.

🦅 Introduction 🦅

Salutations! You may call me Captain, though I also go by Theory, Phoebe, and Payne (as well as various kin names/nicknames). I am 16 years old and autistic, with an interest in ornithology, the sciences, and ghost-related fiction.

I am not a particularly sociable person, but I hope to interact with like-minded individuals. This blog will consequently focus on my experiences as an avian therian.

Tumblr is not where I am most active — if you are looking to reach me, please do so through my Discord (@sayornis_spectre). [Excuse the different user; this account is a bit of an incognito one.]

(More under the cut!)

🪶 Theriotypes

(Flags were designed by me and entirely free for others to use — they signify a Wallace’s Hawk-eagle therian and Common [Eurasian] Kestrel therian [though the flag is specifically based on female kestrels].)

Wallace’s Hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nanus)

Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

I am also a Lemon Shark (Negaprion brevirostris), along with Falco- (genus) and Carcharhinidae-hearted (with heavy emphasis on Blacktip Reef Sharks [Carcharhinus melanopterus], which is more of a midst-type).

(I have a variety of other additional kintypes and heart-types, though my experiences revolving around these are not the focus of this blog.)

If you are curious about the shark elements of my identity, visit my side-blog, @negaprion-nerd!

🪶 Pronouns

I predominantly use bird-themed noun neopronouns, as my gender is largely influenced by my alterhumanity. Not all of my preferred pronouns are listed — feel free to experiment with others. The only one notably off-limits is ‘tweet’ (as a noun neopronoun); this has been used in an offensive manner towards me in the past and has negative associations.

chirp/chirp/chirps/chirpself

ghost/ghost/ghosts/ghostself

bite/bite/bites/biteself

beak/beaker/beakers/beakerself

it/it/its/itself

The comprehensive list of my pronouns (and names/nicknames) can be found in this Google document.

🪶Interests

My non-bird-related interests will seldom be mentioned here; I am listing them purely as conversational starting-points (I have no objections to chatting about shared interests — feel free to approach me about any of them!).

Despite this, keep in mind that these are my interests, and not always my areas of expertise. Though I know a considerable amount about some of the listed, I may just be looking to research into them. Do not ask me for information of the following; this makes me uncomfortable.

(It should be noted that I have left many of my interests unlisted.)

🧪 General

Ornithology (this is my most dominant special interest!)

Natural Sciences as a whole (this is another special interest of mine)

Natural History (I am utmost intrigued by animals and fungi)

Evolution, Taxonomy & Genetics

Falconry & Birds of Prey

Sharks

Ghosts

🧪 Media

BBC Ghosts

Dead Boy Detectives (TV)

BBC Merlin

Luca (2021)

Ghostbusters (Movies)

Rio (Movies)

Bluey

Ducktales (2017)

Six of Crows (Duology)

Lockwood & Co. (Book Series)

Sherlock & Co. (Podcast)

Imagine Dragons

🪶 Tag Key

#captips posts revolving around things I like to do to feel closer to my theriotype/s.

#nis-art-tus posts including art/crafts I have made. I am mostly a digital artist, but I do dabble in physical mediums.

#facto tinnunculus miscellaneous bird facts, perhaps relevant to avian therians.

#cap’s userboxes all fulfilled userbox requests will be tagged with this — anyone is welcome to use these userboxes, regardless of having requested them or not, so long as I am credited. (There may be exceptions, which will be stated within the post itself.)

🧪 As of the 5th of September (2024), I no longer take requests.

🪶 Userboxes Hoard

Please do not use these without my prior approval. Some of these userboxes are tailored specifically to my personal needs, and I am therefore uncomfortable with them being used by others.

🧪 Userboxes by Others

Userboxes by @/katiethecreature.

[odditycircus-2002]

Random MK1 Valentine Blurb

Featuring MK1 Medusa!Reader and Baraka

Medusa!Reader: I saw this, and it reminded me of you. Cacti in Earthrealm are hardy plants that can survive in the harsh desert with little to no water for days, even years! They're a genus determined to thrive despite their scorching environment, much like you.

*Medusa Reader hands Baraka a potted cactus that they got from Earthrealm, which he accepts with what they now recognize as a smile*

Baraka: Thank you, Y/N. I will cherish this. I also got you something from Earthrealm.

*Baraka reaches into his pocket to pull out a red heart-shaped box and hands it to Medusa!Reader. Behind their mask, Medusa!Reader's eyes widen, and they start to salivate. They don't hesitate to practically tear open the box and go to town on the chocolates.*

Baraka: Cage told me about this Earthrealm holiday called "Valentine's Day" and recommended gifting you this.

Medusa!Reader: Marry me?!?

Baraka slowly blinks: Pardon?

Medusa!Reader a little too quickly: Nothing!

*They then stuff more chocolate into their mouths to have an excuse not to talk.*

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Excuse me but since when is it spelled T.rex instead of T-Rex? double checking because even autocorrect says T-Rex is right and T.rex is wrong thank you in advance and have a nice day

T. rex stands for a genus and species name, Tyrannosaurus rex

we can shorten genera to their first letter to allow for ease of communication

leading to T. rex

in genus and species names, the genus is capitalized, the species is not

there is never a hyphen between the two

it has never been T-rex, or T-Rex, or variations thereupon.

It's always only been T. rex

autocorrect is wrong. thanks.

[futurebird]

The Worst Ant Video on the Internet

I did it. I found the worst ant video on youTube. I'm not going to link to it because it's *so* bad that I can't rule out the very real possibility that someone made it this bad just to bait people into watching it. But, let me give you a little taste of the horror.  The calamity starts with the title:

"Most Dangerous Ant Spices"

Yes. "Spices."

Dangerous ant spices? Are we talking tarragon and cumin? Are these spices dangerous to ants? Or is this a warning about the dangers of ant cooking?

The spelling error is bad enough, but also the whole concept of such a list is a little... gauche? Why is there this idea that the only thing that makes insects interesting is thinking about how much they could kill you?

But-- even this I could excuse. After all there are a few ants with dangerous stings. But, what do you think is on the list? Do you want to know? Too bad I'm telling you anyways:  

10. Harvester ant (This ant has a sting as bad as a bee. So, not a terrible entry for the bottom of this list...But the photo they used)

That is NOT a harvester ant. That is a weaver ant, genus Oecophylla. Weaver ants are tropical and use silk to make their nests in trees. Harvester ants are from the families Pogonomyrmecini and Stenammini, these are desert-dwelling ants who collect seeds and live underground. They don't even look alike at all. They do both have a sting, that's about as bad as a bee sting.

Maybe the next ant on the list will be better...? (of course not)

9. Redwood ant (What did wood ants do to deserve this??)

I don't even know what ant they meant by this. They showed an image of Formica rufa, the wood ant, and rufa do have a reddish color ... so maybe they are also called "redwood ants" But, why are these ants on a list of "Dangerous Ants" ?? They are a protected species that lives in the pine forests of Europe! They don't sting and can't even effectively bite a person. Their colonies are huge. They build mound nests of pine needles a meter in height and live in groups of 100s of thousands. They are gentle custodians of the forest enriching the soil and keeping the arthropod populations under-control. Beneficial ants that are so well loved they are protected from poaching since without them the forests would not thrive as well.

8. Odorous house ant (lol what?)

A few years back there was a recurring argument online about if ants have a smell. People who grew up in areas with the odorous house ant know that some ants, when crushed smell like coconut... or rotten face cream. The smell isn't exactly overwhelming and it's only around when the ants are crushed or injured. But it's very distinctive nothing is exactly like it. Most ants have no real smell. So people argued about this online.

But other than the smell there isn't much to say about these little ants. They are tiny, can't sting, can't bite. They can be house pests. So they are dangerous to your poptarts. Might smell a little odd for a few moments if you step on one. If this is "Dangerous" I don't even know.

7. Leafcutter ant

These ants are remarkable but they can't sting, they do have a powerful bite so I guess that's a little "dangerous" ... the majors could draw blood biting you. And they can defoliate a tree overnight ... so that's kinda ... "dangerous" ... at least they used the correct image.

6. Argentine ant

(is this a list of ants... most dangerous to other ants?)

Another ant that can't sting or bite. Linepithema humile is an invasive species and a huge threat to ant diversity in some parts of the world. This makes it even more unfortunate that the video, like many "resources" online used the incorrect photo for this ant. If you search for this ant with the common name "Argentine Ant" you will probably find a photo of another species incorrectly identified as an Argentine ant-- and, since it's invasive, incorrectly identifying one of your local beneficial species of ant as Argentine could lead to killing off the wrong ants. So. I edited this photo as it's not just misinformation... it is destructive misinformation.

Neither the ant in the photo, nor Linepithema humile are in any way "dangerous" except for the danger posed to native ants.

5. Carpenter ant (YES every single one!)

They did at least use a photo of one of the thousands of carpenter ants (Genus Camponotus) for this one. But that doesn't make up for labeling a harmless Campontus as an invasive in the last list item.

None of the Carpenter ants can sting or be dangerous. Some have a significant bite, but not as bad as the leafcutter ants lower on this list.

4. African ant (You aren't even trying anymore.)

I've decided making up something called an "African ant" putting it on a list of "dangerous ants" then using a photo of a trapjaw ant (Odontomachus speceis) that isn't even from Africa is probably racist ... somehow.

I think they meant to show the most famous ants from Africa, the driver ants. (Genus Dorylus) This is a genus of army ant that roves through the forests in columns of thousands. Their majors look vaguely like trap jaw ants. And they are a little "dangerous" ... though they are also well-loved since they will clean your home and land of pests.

3. Red fire ant (Guess what the photo showed. GUESS.)

Oh. NOW they show a harvester ant. I think that people don't think that real fire ants look as formidable as their reputation. So they use photos of the larger more beefy looking harvester ant instead. The common name "fire ant" refers to Solenopsis invicta, and invasive species with the ability to sting.

The sting of one fire ant isn't much... but they sting in great numbers and can be a problem. But this photo is a harvester ant, which is a much larger ant and beneficial. Harvester ants also sting. This may be why these ants are so often confused.

They had correct images for the last two items in their list. And both of these ants have significant stings and bites. That said neither is hunting humans for food or planning to take over your school board and ban books or anything.

2. Bulldog ant 1. Bullet ant

List is hot mess.

[just-another-mess-in-a-dress]

B/G/3 Snz Head Cannons pt 1 Bois

Writing horn at work because that’s what you do when you’re an adult waiting on emails right??

Snz headcanons for b/g/3 characters let’s gooooooo (in parts because tumblr has decided word count matters rip)

Astarion

Photonic sneezer for sure

Beyond that I think his nose is much more sensitive now than it was when he was alive so being out in the wilds I think made him an absolute sniffly mess for the first few days

After the initial shock of being in the wide open world I think the sensitivity to strong florals sticks with him.

Usually sneezes in doubles but sometimes threes when he’s really irritated

Covers with steepled hands or tries desperately to stifle

Is REALLY bad at stifling

I feel very strongly about this - his voice gets deeper when he sneezes/is congested

Like we know when he’s quiet and genuine his voice gets a bit deeper and less performative

And I imagine he’s shit at changing how his sneezes sound so they’ve gotta be deep in his chest

Typically follows up with a dazed, ‘excuse me’

Expects to be blessed and will be pouty about it if he’s ignored

If vampires could get sick he would make it everyone’s problem

But be lowkey embarrassed about it if a partner was genuinely worried and doting on him

Gale

This man always has a handkerchief on him

Compulsive stifler even before the orb but after the orb it becomes even worse

Ignore his high con score this man gets sick often and it’s always a stuffy head cold situation

Does that thing where he keeps his handkerchief balled up under his nose while he reads/writes to keep it from dribbling.

Is an expert at covering sneezes but on the off chance he didn’t feel one coming he gets super flustered about it

King of the stuck sneeze and he’s mostly okay with that - if it doesn’t come out he can’t blow up lol

Once he’s cured of the orb the first time he catches a cold it’s the sneeziest cold he’s ever had and he lowkey forgets that he can sneeze freely until his partner or a well meaning friend gently points it out (or points it out like an asshole if you’re like that or Astarion lol)

His natural sneezes are loud and always comes in fits, like never one or two

Apologizes every single time

Cannot hold a conversation in the midst of a fit but will try

Doesn’t really have allergies but will occasionally get stuffy voice if he spends too long in the archives

Halsin

This man has never covered a sneeze in his goddamn life okay?

Will blow his nose into his hand if he’s out in the woods and will flick the mess onto the ground before wiping his hand on his thigh

Loud sneezes but not quite atomic bomb levels of loud

Almost always at least a little bit of visible spray

Gets really bad itchy fall allergies every year and knows exactly which genus of plant causes it (will weaponize this fact for a partner who has the kink)

Sneezes mainly in singles but when it’s allergies it’s always doubles

Doesn’t expect blessings but will gladly take them

Usually directs the blast down or away from others if they’re around

Openly acknowledges that he likes sneezing ‘It’s a natural process and it feels quite nice I think’

Being a healer means he’s aware of contagion and how it works but doesn’t think much of his own sneezes until it’s too late

Yes he’s built like a brickhouse and yes he does work himself too damn hard - he also loves being taken care of by a partner

Has been known to induce unprompted because he ‘just wants to hurry things along’ whore

Wyll

Baby boy has the most expressive nose in existence

He always describes sneezes as tickly or buzzy when he’s congested

Comments on his sneezes all the time

Hitchy and gasping breaths into every sneeze

King of build ups, cannot have a sneeze without at least five seconds of warning

Covers every single time but can never find his hanky so it’s usually hands or elbow

Will ask to borrow your handkerchief and will give it right back after decimating it with a blow

Tries to stifle but is really bad at it and it just makes him sneeze more

Sneezes in threes and fours but occasionally sneezes only once

Dust and pollen sensitivity

Every cold starts in his chest but settles in his nose for weeks after

Will breathily remind you he’s not contagious as a sneeze rips through him.

Can be loud or soft but are always drawn out

Doesn’t want to admit he loves being taken care of but it does melt him on the inside

Gets really teary when he sneezes and will make jokes about it to deflect his embarrassment

Very aware of germs and contagion but still manages to catch every bug that goes through his friend groups

Gets disappointed if he’s not blessed after a sneeze

[zandra-lang-cave]

"Not alone anymore" part 1

Space is a weird place, but so was earth so Casey didn't complain. She really didn't miss earth, she was an age up orphan so besides a few casual friends she really didn't have anything waiting for her. But space have every new opportunity awaitng for her and she toke them all, from being chosen has a test embasador to joining a small crew and more reasenly leading her own crew, space become more of a home than earth ever was. She was not going back to her planet any time soon.....

At least that was the plan.

"Why are we here again?" Casey spoke while taking a few empty boxes down the ship.

"Honey be carefull dont over do yourself" th doctor and second in comman of the ship spoke "we need to re-suplied the ship and earth was the closes friendly planet" marcy states while she carried empty boxes in her tentacles to re-stoke.

"Earth friendly? When the pigs fly" the captain complain while also being annoyed by her partner commends.

"What's a pig?" Ask another member of the crew. A very tall rock like golem creature with golden glowing eyes.

"The Sus domesticus" spoke a forth member. A three legged semi-humanoid creature with 6 fingers and 3 eyes "also often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus Sus. is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mamma that is commonly ingested by the homo sapiens. Also know has humans" He finish.

"I don't get it?" Says the golem.

"Randal means that they are food sandy" the fith and final member of the crew spoke. A small insect like creature that was carrying the most boxes out of everyone with their physiquic powers and glowing antennas.

"But Atticus, I thought humans eat plants?" The golem said.

"We eat alot of stuff pal. Why you think I have a full room just for my supplies" Casey states while finishing delivering the empty boxes to the station workers.

"I thought you were just a glutton" Sandy states.

"She is. But Humans also need alot of different nutrients to work perfectly" Marcy states "now If only you could eat healthy for once it be great" she states with an annoying tone while her antennas shake.

"I'm eating right. Thank you very much" the captain states annoyed.

"Casey if I didn't know how resileant humans are with food il be putting you in a strict diet" the octopus like creature says while pointing at the human.

"I'm not a kid darling. I can take care of my self" Casey says while walking towards the seekat.

"I'm just looking for you. I'm the doctor of the crew I have to look for everyone" she says while her antennas shake slightly.

"Well I can take care for my self. So can you just leave me be. I don't need you to keep looking for me has if I'm gonna die any second. You are my partner not my babysitter" the human states.

There was silent in the room. The human was staring at the seekat and this one, while laking any face features was equally challenging the stare of her captain wile her antennas shake extremely.

"Ejem" a new voice says, drawing the attention of the whole crew "excuse me ma'am. We are finishing taking the list of all you need. It's gonna take a few hours so you are free to wander the city"

That caught the attention of the crew.

"The city!" Screams Randal, Sandy and Atticus in over joy.

"And since when were aliens welcome in the city. Last time I check, earth was still working hard on trying to break the news of aliens to the world" says the captain a suspicious tone.

"I agree" says Marcy "I know not all humans are ready to embrace life outsides their system" she finish worried.

"That was a decade ago, times change" the worker states while given the captain and the doctor a pamphlet before leaving.

"So where are we going?" Ask the smalles being excited "better be something I get to enjoy. I'm not exactly fit for everything"

"Lets go to a museum!" Randal propose "what better way to relax than absorbing knowledge" He finish.

"Are there any arenas here? I could watch a live fight right now!" Sandy spoke.

The three of them start discussing what would be the best place to go.

"I don't think I have the hearth to tell them there is nothing like that in this city" says the doctor while looking at the pamphlet for something for the crew to do.

"Better find something quick, I can see they are alredy looking for ways to attack" the human spoke.

"Oh really, wouldn't you preffer to look something to do by yourself. Misses leve me alone" the doctor says.

Casey just stare at her partner bewildered.

"Oh yes, we are not finish here. We'll talk later, I wouldn't ruin everyone's fun but we are gonna talk later" the seekat says without looking at the human.

"Right" Casey finish.

"OK everyone. I look at the pamphlet and found something we can all do while we wait for the ship to be re-suplied" the doctor states.

"Awww...." the three beings whine at that while they stop fighting each other.

"We are going..." she pause for a second "to the aquarium!" She finish overjoyed.

"Human aquatic life?" Randal spoke "isn't there something better"

"Yeah, watching fish doesn't sound that interesting" says Atticus while sandy shakes their head in agreement.

"We are going to the aquarium and that's final" the seekat states firmly "now go get redy."

With that say the four creatures go to the ship and get everything they might need for their small adventure.

"Great so, I call the aquarium to buy some tickets and make sure we don't give any worker a hearth attack" Casey says to her partner "sounds right?"

Marcy stays silent for a second before speaking "do wathever you like" she finish before going to the ship.

Casey is leave alone while she re-think on what she says and realize how stupid she is acting. Cursing under her breath while she goes to the ship while she thinks how to Apologize to her partner.

----‐--------------------------------------------------------------

Tried not to give your character any trauma or drama is impossible. Don't worry things get better but you'll have to wait until next part. Cause it was starting to feel to long so a two partners will it be.

[marina-the-witch]

idk if i'm just jaded by mid games but i'm really tired of the "this dinosaur design looks nothing like the actual dinosaur bc it's an alien/different genus" trope of Turok, Ark, Exoprimal, Carnivores (Carnivores at least has a bit of an excuse in all fairness) and etc. bc it's like, idk, to me it feels like a lazy excuse. Imo it's completely valid to feature inaccurate dinosaurs in your work but why not just own it? I find it way more unbelievable that an alien planet perfectly replicated the conditions and food network of earth in the mesozoic and the creatures share most of their physical features with dinosaurs too but not all, in comparison to a dinosaur literally just not looking like what it might have looked like.

[yallemagne]

Today's Voyage of the Nautilus is fucking hilarious.

“By the way, Professor Aronnax, you aren’t afraid of sharks, are you?” “Sharks?” I exclaimed. This struck me as a pretty needless question, to say the least. “Well?” Captain Nemo went on. “I admit, captain, I’m not yet on very familiar terms with that genus of fish.” “We’re used to them, the rest of us,” Captain Nemo answered. “And in time you will be too. Anyhow, we’ll be armed, and on our way we might hunt a man-eater or two. It’s a fascinating sport. So, professor, I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early.” This said in a carefree tone, Captain Nemo left the lounge.

Nemo, I know you think that's a very cute date idea... but no.

“Thank heavens!” I said to myself. “Conseil will never want to come along, and that’ll be my excuse for not going with the captain.”

Babe, you can just tell him you're afraid of sharks. He'll act disappointed, but he knows you're a dirty land-dweller, it's fine.

“Can one find several pearls in the same oyster?” Conseil asked. “Yes, my boy. There are some shellfish that turn into real jewel coffers. They even mention one oyster, about which I remain dubious, that supposedly contained at least 150 sharks.” “150 sharks!” Ned Land yelped. “Did I say sharks?” I exclaimed hastily. “I meant 150 pearls. Sharks wouldn’t make sense.”

This is comedy. That's a lot of sharks.

“How ingenious,” Conseil said, “to reduce dividing and classifying pearls to a mechanical operation. And could master tell us the profits brought in by harvesting these banks of pearl oysters?” “According to Sirr’s book,” I replied, “these Ceylon fisheries are farmed annually for a total profit of 3,000,000 man-eaters.” “Francs!” Conseil rebuked. “Yes, francs! 3,000,000 francs!” 

HE DID IT AGAIN. he did it again oh my fuckgin god. It'd be funny if they priced pearls by how many sharks they cost. Like how you measure a horse's height in hands?

“But,” I said, “getting back to pearls of great value, I don’t think any sovereign ever possessed one superior to the pearl owned by Captain Nemo.” “This one?” Conseil said, pointing to a magnificent jewel in its glass case. “Exactly. And I’m certainly not far off when I estimate its value at 2,000,000 . . . uh . . .” “Francs!” Conseil said quickly.

Aw, Conseil picking up on Aronnax's problem...

“Ye gods, just give me a good harpoon! You see, sir, these sharks are badly designed. They have to roll their bellies over to snap you up, and in the meantime . . .” Ned Land had a way of pronouncing the word “snap” that sent chills down the spine. “Well, how about you, Conseil? What are your feelings about these man-eaters?” “Me?” Conseil said. “I’m afraid I must be frank with master.” Good for you, I thought. “If master faces these sharks,” Conseil said, “I think his loyal manservant should face them with him!”

BETRAYAL BETRAYAL OF THE HIGHEST DEGREE CONSEIL YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO HIM

on the other hand I'm so excited to see Ned Land actually fight a shark.

[jupiterswasphouse]

WASP REVIEW - FENDERSAX/NEEDLE WASP (RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART)

[Image IDs: Two pieces of official artwork from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart depicting the Fendersax/Needle Wasp /End IDs.]

Here's that personal pick I mentioned not too long ago! I actually really love the Ratchet & Clank games, having played through all the mainline games not too long ago. In fact, my playthrough of Rift Apart (One of my favorites in the whole series tbh) is what got me doing these wasp reviews in the first place. I sent a review of these guys to one of my friends while I was liveblogging through the game.

I wanted to say all that as a preface, though, as that initial review of these enemies (Which I will now be exclusively be referring to as 'Needle Wasps' since you hear that name more often throughout the game than 'Fendersax Wasps') didn't exactly end in a high rating.

First, a few things I can excuse just on the pure fact that these are aliens. They don't have antennae, are missing a pair of legs, have four eyes that are seemingly visually implied to be compound yet are still able to turn in their sockets, and don't have any ocelli.

In terms of the body shape, I'd say that, in terms of wasps, they most resemble those of the genus Baeus, with wings. But even then, I'd say that Needle Wasps are more comparable to flies in shape, apart from their four wings as opposed to the two wings and two halteres of a real fly. If anything, Baeus wasps remind me more of a particularly wide-bodied Zoni (from the PS3 R&C games)

[Image Sources: BugTracks, Tom Murray | Image IDs: A photo of a brown wingless wasp with blue eyes in the genus Baeus, followed by an official render of the Zoni from Ratchet & Clank Future /End IDs.]

Next, the "stinger", typically a modified ovipositor on a wasp, making its position, on the head, extremely awkward. Except, this is not used to sting. As for its defensive capabilities, it's used to shoot acid, which isn't exactly an unknown thing among wasps, with acid as a projectile being found in at least one wasp family, the ants (notably Formica and yellow crazy ants). However, outside of combat, the Needle Wasps are later found in Zurkie's bar, using this supposed stinger to drink, making it clear that these are mouthparts! This too is more similar to flies. While flies do not use acid defensively, they do use their spit for predigestive purposes.

The next thing you might notice, is that pair of fangs. It's clear to me that these are not the mandibles of a wasp, but the chelicerae of an arachnid, especially when combined with that inner pair of eyes almost creating a "second face", which is much more spider-like than the rest of the face.

[Image ID: A photo of a brown and black woodland giant wolf spider on a leaf, being held up to the camera by me /End ID.]

In the end, the most wasp-like thing about them might be something that's only implied, rather than shown. In a sidequest, you are intended to fend off a swarm of defending Needle Wasps as Chef Tulio extracts honey from a hive below the caverns of Blizar Prime. The hive itself is never shown, nor are any other hives outside of this one part of Blizar Prime despite these wasps appearing elsewhere, but at least there's one thing! Of course, many real world wasps create nests, and many also make and store honey (honey bees, several paper wasps, honey pot ants).

Now, in my review on Metroid Prime's War Wasps, I said that I couldn't rate them based them based on their merits compared to real wasps due to them being aliens. This time, though, I have to go against that. Metroid Prime came from a pretty good understanding of what wasps are, but the Needle Wasps, despite those few similarities, have too many aspects that don't line up with real wasps and/or aspects that more resemble other arthropods to be truly considered good representation of their supposed real world equivalents. I do find the design itself quite charming, though, at the very least.

-

Overall: 3/10

-

Leave your wasp review suggestion in the replies, tags, or askbox!

Make sure to tune in next week when we cover the Cazadores from Fallout: New Vegas!

[gumpistol]

♥️ + your url 🫡

Send ❤️ + a URL and I’ll write something nice about them/their blog!

        um, gumpistol?? excuse—?? who is that grub?? never heard of them

seriously though gore, why'd you do this to me?? RUDE! THIS IS HARD! i don't like being perceived!!

    nice things about me, lala aka luka aka grub on grub days, umm—i like to think i'm pretty smart, i like science and research and coding a lot. give me a sample of blood or organic tissue or even soil and i can figure out how to extract DNA from it pretty quickly. i can't tell you the species of a plant on a trail, but i can tell you about the general make up of a plant's immune system. i can look at a microscopic worm under a microscope and tell you the genus it belongs to, what it eats, and if it's male or female ( i have lots of pictures ). if it's something i don't know about though, i will eagerly do a dive to learn more about it.

    um, another thing, i really really care about my friends and people in general. genuinely, it makes me happy to see you guys happy! when my friends are sick or not feeling well, it makes my chest physically hurt. but at the same time, knowing if i manage to make any of you smile or laugh or just feel good is the best feeling! seeing my friends on the dash or in my DMs on a regular basis makes me want to explode!! WITH LOVE! you know how mad it makes me that i can't hold each and every one of my long-distance friends' hands?? or give yall hugs and forehead kisses?? it makes me wanna throw a chair across the room!!

    anyway, was that good enough? was i nice enough to myself?! because i feel awkward now :<

@goreburdened / now send me your url or else