#lemuria challenge

[knuppitalism-with-ue]

Forgot to post these yesterday here! Our first two constructed ecosystems are coming together for the #LemuriaChallenge. We started yesterday with the coral reefs...

And continued today with the rudist reefs...

Afterwards we laid the foundation for the carbonate platform reef which will be finished today. Also on the menu later tonight: coasts!

We have over 950 entries with several thousand species to choose from, so this will be a lot of work

We continue with these around 9 PM CET

[arminreindl]

My newest submissions for the Lemuria challenge, both baurusuchids tho with different approaches.

While the family is present on Lemuria due to Pabwehshi, baurusuchids come in two flavours. Baurusuchines and pissarrachampsines. For a while Pabwehshi was treated as closer to Baurusuchus but the most recent paper has it as a pissarrachamspine. Given that all other baurusuchids besides Pabwehshi are exclusively known from South America, its really anyones guess which one should be present. Especially given the big unknown that is baurusuchids in Africa.

Anyways, so that its not just the same animal reskinned I obviously went into different directions. Cuonchampsa I kept on the smaller side and left "naked", something informed by what we see in Pissarrachampsa, which despite being known from ample material preserves not a single osteoderm in its vicinity. Baurusuchids are already light in terms of armour and likely didn't use it to stabilize their gait, so this loss is far from improbable. Still, I did elect to keep it smaller because of that anyways. I also made them group animals, inspired by Pissarrachampsa nesting sites, tho again exaggerating things for the sake of spec.

With the baurusuchine I was aiming for something larger, more robust and gnarlier looking. I kept the osteoderms, tho in accordance with recent papers I opted to hide them under extensive soft tissue, going for a kinda cracked texture of sorts (so not quite the leathery softshell turtle dermis the paper uses as an example). Tho the two wouldn't usually encounter another, I kinda went for a bit of a tiger - dhole energy between the two (also referenced by the genus name of the former).

I also did some rough scaling to highlight the size difference

[he-who-needs-to-be-silenced]

My two most recent Lemuria submissions

A nautilid genus

And a horseshoe crab genus

[harpagornis]

Lemurian Monotremes

Lemuria has about six species of monotreme mammals living in it. They arrived to Marama during the Oligocene, likely due to brief contact with Sahul. As New Guinea was seperated from Australia at this time, it has been speculated that monotremes evolved to fill terrestrial niches in the absence of other mammals. It certainly explains the parse fossil reccord of echidnas in Australia, and the terrestrial habits of the Lemurian species.

There are three species of Lemurian echidnas, under the genus Lemurioglossus. They closely resemble the long-nosed echidnas of New Guinea and likewise populate the forest environments of Lemuria. The relationship with Oceanian echidnas is controversial, some holding this animals to be an example of convergent evolution. They seem to have lost their teeth independently according to genetic studies, and likely adopted a terrestrial lifestyle independently as well. They seem to have gone through a population bottleneck, likely due to the colder and drier climate of the Pliocene, the Elumbava (L. giganteus) splitting during the Pliocene and the Atrava (L. atrava) and Numbal (L. pardus) during the middle Pleistocene.

The Elumbava is the largest of the living monotreme species, measuring one meter and weighting up to 30 kg. It is specialised for the montane forest ecosystems, and it can actually climb trees in search of termites, ants and honey. The other two species occur in the lowland rainforests and feed primarily on worms and slugs. The Elumbava is pale with black dots, the Atrava is black with a brown snout and the Numbal is brown with white stripes. Like their aussie relatives they carry their puggles within temporary pouches, and have four headed penises. Like all monotremes they have tarsal spurs, but they don't produce venom and instead these animals rely on their spines for protection.

The midus or echidna-platypodes are comprised of two genera, Midutherium and Lemuriorhynchus. The former is compromised of two species, the Forest Midu (Midutherium sylvus) and the Swamp Midu (Midutherium malificarum). Both dig underground like moles in search of worms and other invertebrates, with the Swamp Midu also swimming like a platypus or desman. Their toothless beaks are thinner than those of the platypus, but they are otherwise very similar. The Ganiva (Lemuriorhynchus deserti) on the other hand preffers drier environments, digging through the sands of the savannas and semi-deserts. It bears a broader beak, and it is the only living monotreme to still have teeth. All midus have two headed penises like the platypus, and raise their young in a burrow. The two genera are thought to have split during the Oligocene, with the Ganiva having expanded westwards towards drier environments while the other two Midu species split more recently in the Pliocene. All midus are highly venomous, their venom not only causing severe pain but potentially killing elderly and children.

The six Lemurian monotremes are rather cryptic species and have little lore about them, though the Elumbava is featured in highlands mythology as a sort of trickster god. It is also eaten, usually acompanied by gingko fruits. All six species are endangered due to habitat loss.

[nymphaea-blue]

Love and Deepspace boys with a lemurian!reader.

Info : 1.2k+ word count (about 400 per part), fluff, very slight angst in Zaynes part.

Notes : We need more content about lemurians, especially now since it's mermay!

Rafayels part is here!

Zayne

He would be curious about you and how your body is different from humans because of your origin, he would study you a lot and ask frequent questions. It was a bit creepy at first but he has your best interest at hand - he just wants to be able to take care of you in case something happens, so of course he needs the knowledge to do that. He doesn’t say it but he is afraid that you will be in pain because of some lemurian sickness or something will happen to you and he wouldn’t be able to help, or worse - he would harm you further.

Zayne finally realised why you were clinging to him so much. His body temperature was oftentimes naturally cold because of his evol and since cold temperature reminded you of water which was once your home, you of course often migrated to him. He made sure to have ice cream or cold water in his apartment whenever you came during hot seasons to cool you down, though his favourite method to do that was still cuddles.

He was a little unsure of your lemurian form at first, he wouldn’t come too close or talk too much but that was just because he was stunned, you were beautiful. It was shocking to him to see a literal tail instead of your legs but he quite liked you like this, not much changed in your relationship… other than the fact that now he was much more keen to have baths with you after he understood your need for the water, and he would encourage you to change into your lemurian form more to “stretch out your tail to keep it healthy” (he just wants to admire you). He’s also just a little freaked out by your ability to breathe underwater but he gets used to it.

Zayne made sure to keep your secret hidden, he was a supportive boyfriend from the start even if he didn’t know much about you and didn’t fully understand all your quirks yet. Not many people knew about Lemuria, people thought it was just a myth but now he knew it wasn’t and he was dead set on keeping you safe. Need a checkup in the hospital? Zayne would be doing that. One of the doctors thinks your temperature is too low? No it isn’t, you just didn’t wear warm enough clothes, he would say.

Xavier

He would not know for a longer time and he would probably be oblivious to any hints about it too. Once you would tell him though, he would be supportive but it ended at that. Later on however, he would start acting all weird with you. You were sitting down with him, talking to him about what happened at work and then he suddenly gets you a glass of water even though you had a different drink. You visited him in his apartment and he now had a humidifier and a lotion that he would randomly start to apply on you. And more. When you asked him about it, it turned out that he was studying how to care for fishes and other water animals and it said they needed lots of water and a cold, humid environment, and it worked. 

Xavier would find your Lemurian form to be very pretty though you wouldn’t have many chances to show it to him, since your dates were mostly to public swimming pools and he didn’t have a big enough tub, but you did manage to show it to him once and he absolutely adored it. All the shiny scales, your eyes, he loved literally all changes of yours. You were worried he wouldn’t like them, but Xavier reads a lot of comic books so he was used to the image of fantasy creatures, though you were still the prettiest one he ever saw.

He would start to look at you a little more closely, try to see your mannerism, what you liked, what you didn’t want to touch, everything. He wanted to figure out how to make you more comfortable, since he guessed being a lemurian did come with its own challenges but he was prepared to help you navigate them. You felt bad since sometimes you had to cancel dates because you just didn’t feel like yourself but he always understood and just stayed at your place with you instead.

Xavier wouldn’t bring it up too much, it just became something natural for him at some point so he wasn’t even surprised if he would find you sitting in a bathtub for a few hours or if you would start speaking in lemurian after something scared you. He did however like to ask you about your home sometimes, since it was something very precious to you. 

Sylus

Supportive king from the start because he is a dragon! You told him once over dinner and while he was curious, he was very respectful and made sure you took everything at your own pace. He would playfully tease you about it but it was all in love, his favourite way to tease you is to ask you if you still ate seafood if they were technically your neighbors and he would start to call you something like “starfish” instead of “kitten” sometimes just to see the reaction he would get out of you.

Fascinated about your lemurian form, he took it in as if he was looking at the most expensive diamond in his collection and he touched you like it too. He was always careful, gentle, as if he was afraid to hurt you or say something wrong but he would hide it with his confident tone. His pool was big enough to contain you so you sometimes had a chance to transform, but Sylus noticed that it wasn’t really as big as it should be for you to swim around freely so he made it like 5 times bigger. And his bathtub got upgraded to a bigger one too so you would be able to bathe with him while in your lemurian form since he wanted you to feel free to always transform whenever you wanted.

Sylus adores it when you speak lemurian, it’s like the hottest thing to him. He knows many languages but this one he sadly can’t learn since it’s lost to time but it was no issue because now you get to teach him! He managed to pick up some necessary stuff for when you don’t remember words in English or for when you are feeling horrible during one of the many cycles you go through as a lemurian, things like “food”, “need water” or his favourite - “hug me”. He also loves to hear you sing, your voice is one of a true siren and he will gladly fall under your spell each time if it means he gets to hear you sing more.

Ensures that nobody knows except him that you are a lemurian, not even the twins know since as much as they are useful, they probably would make you feel swamped with questions which he didn’t want. One day someone during an auction accidentally heard you say something in lemurian to Sylus and he did not hesitate to kill that guy on the spot. Another time during an auction people were talking about lemurians, their blood especially, and some were trying to gather intel on them, but Sylus quickly shut the whole thing down, because not only he cared about you but also about the very few of your kind that were somewhere in the world.

[a-hermit-pining]

Crown For a Flower

Request: @queenondeezmatatas A RAFAYEL MERMAID AU SET IN THE 1800s WHERE MC IS A ROYAL LIVING IN A CASTLE BY THE SEA OFC AND THEIR LOVE IR FORBIDDEN BUT IT DONT MATTER PLSSSSS PLS PLS PLS let them be happy even if just for a millisecond😭🙏🏻

AN: This turned out to be different but I could not resist this idea. I just love dramatic stories sooooooo much. It isn't 1800s esque but I promise to get to that someday.

Pairing: Rafayel x Empress Reader

Genre: Fluff and ROMANCE

Summary: "It was a wedding unlike any other," the merwoman whispered to her sleepy daughter. "The union of Prince Rafayel and the Empress..." And so, she began to tell the tale.

The Lemurian court waited. Bowed on their knees. The seabed itself trembled beneath the drums that announced the emperor.

The tyrant. He who bled both lands and seas, had come. Invading the quiet bliss of Lemuria to uphold the ancient oath.

Peace had arrived with feet that dragged blood into its halls.

To wed, to form an alliance, the emperor came. And just like that, the court bowed lower, accepting the wedding that promised an end to a one-sided war.

Rafayel bowed with the rest of his father’s brood. The bastard, crouched behind the legitimate princes.

And standing at the altar was his aunt, Talia. The bride. The offering.

Where there should have been shame, there was only relief.

Assurance that their world would be spared. That the emperor would not strip the very seas of water to slaughter every last one of their kin.

Worse things had been done to the dragons of the West, burned alive with the mountains they guarded. And to the angels, plucked from the skies to amuse the emperor’s court.

So, marriage was a merciful fate.

It would grant them protection, from the emperor, and the monsters he had made of all others.

“All bow to the sovereign of the world,” a guard announced. And the kneeling court bowed further still.

The footfalls of soldiers echoed through the sacred hall. The clang of armor, the hiss of swords that had bled nations.

And yet, within that grim procession, there came a note of sweetness. A chime, delicate as windchimes swaying in spring.

A sound not of death, but of beauty.

“Rise.” The voice rang clear. Firm, but not unkind.

And in place of the tyrant, stood you.

The princess. Now crowned. Now empress.

Rafayel stared from a distance, his view obstructed by the silhouettes before him. But he could still hear the sound, the cheerful chime of a silver hairpin catching the current. Even as the court broke into whispers.

“I apologize,” you said, “but my father did not live to keep his word. So I have come. His heir. I shall complete this alliance.”

Rafayel pushed through the crowd, just in time to see you standing before Talia, your hand outstretched.

“That is, if your heart is not taken by another.”

The tyrant who tormented heavens, earth, and sea, had fallen. Slain by his own daughter, with the same cruelty he had borne unto others.

And now, the savior of worlds stood in their court. Not with demands, but to keep the word of peace.

The word of marriage went out. Of the newest empress seeking her groom. Word carried to every corner of Lemuria.

A simple challenge accompanied it. Issued in the quiet wake of Aunt Talia stepping down from the marriage proposal.

Rafayel stared at the wooden box in his brother’s hand. It was smooth, polished, its grain fine beneath his fingers, like a breath trapped in time.

To win the empress’s hand, One only had to open the box.

But not with hands. Not with keys. Not with tools.

The box was to be opened by its own element. In a way that required no force.

And those who resorted to force, who pried or cracked or cut, had been named. Called out by you directly.

The court had been abuzz with the puzzle. Dozens had tried.

None had succeeded.

Whatever lived inside the box shattered at the touch of violence.

A box that refused to be opened with force…What could slip into the very grain of wood itself?

"May I?" Rafayel asked quietly.

His brother sighed, handing over the box before marching off in exasperation.

Rafayel hadn't been given one of his own. He wasn’t even meant to be a part of the challenge. No one expected anything from the bastard son, barely a prince.

But he had wanted to try. Not for the marriage. Not for a crown.

He just wanted a reason to see you again.

To get a little closer. To catch another glimpse of the hairpin that had snared his attention in the court. It haunted him now. It rang through his sleep. Slipped into his drawings.

It was everywhere. Like you.

And this box… this puzzle… It was the only way to stand in your presence again.

To look at the one who wore the chime in her hair.

The one who was leaving tonight.

Leaving behind the challenge. Leaving behind Lemuria. To return to your empire.

Unless. He could solve it. Unless he could make the box bloom.

He will find you. He will make it so that you come to him

As his bride.

You stared at the block. A blooming weed stared back.

After two months, the answer to your challenge finally arrived from the courts of Lemuria.

Delicate wood had been parted. Split not by blades, nor keys, But by the slow persistence of roots.

A flower had bloomed, and in blooming, revealed your heart. Your aether core within the box.

A soft laugh bubbled from your throat. Not of amusement. But of quiet, content recognition.

A fragment of your soul seemed to glow from the cracks. Your heart, unveiled. Nestled between petals.

"Let it be known," you said, rising to your feet, "that the Empress is eager to be wed, to the one who holds the mind to unveil my heart with such beauty."

You turned, voice unwavering, lips soft with something dangerously close to a smile.

"Prepare for the wedding."

They say he never tried to pry the box open.

While others scorched it with spells, cracked it with blades, whispered incantations to break its seal. Rafayel only placed it in the sun.

He watered the soil beneath it each morning. Let the dew kiss its corners. Watched for mold, checked the grain.

He tilted it toward the light when the tide shifted, knelt beside it to whisper apologies on stormy nights. Some nights he rested beside it, cheek pressed to the stone, breathing with it as though it were alive.

And when he noticed a single thread of green peeking from beneath the lid, he didn't touch it. He simply watched.

And when the bloom finally opened, delicate and white, cradled in the broken seal, he wept.

Leaf by leaf, he witnessed the box part, not with force, but with trust.

Its edges softened. Its roots slipped into the wood like secrets. He charted the curves of each petal. Studied how they curled. How they clung.

Not for triumph. But for the quiet, impossible sight of your aether core. Glimmering red piece of you that lay in his blooms.

A treasure that refused to yield to force. Had revealed itself under his care.

"It was a wedding unlike any other," the merwoman whispered to her sleepy daughter. "The union of Prince Rafayel and the Empress..."

And so, she began to tell the tale.

Welcomed with gentle waves, the new Empress walked along a path paved in gold coins and pearls.

With a procession of two hundred, the humans came to Lemuria. With drums, with songs, with joy that had been lost for centuries.

Never before had there been such grandeur. Not for a wedding. Not for any union.

With them came the surviving dragons, seeking the calm of the sea to soothe their scorched wounds. Elves from ancient forests. Fae from veiled worlds. Angels, freed from their shackles.

Delicacies unheard of were offered to the court. Treasures brought by every race to honor the Empress who had brought order from ruin.

Peace had come to Lemuria with the promise of this union, but it had touched the entire world. It was as if the whole of creation had paused, just to witness them.

And Rafayel stood at the altar, when he heard the chimes again.

He looked up.

And there you were.

He had to force his eyes away from your hairpin, to allow himself the full, unshaken sight of you. Standing beneath the Cove of Oaths, you wore no crown. Only the hairpin.

And nestled beside it, his flower. His breath caught.

The vow taken by the heart of the ocean.

You stepped closer, alone in this moment. Alone in this oath.

This belonged to no court, no kingdom, no god. Only to you and him.

"You already have my heart," you said, smiling softly as you stood before him. "Yet, I have not had the chance to have yours." You tilted your head, "Is this to your wish? Our wedding, is it more than an oath to you?"

And Rafayel looked at the flower.

"Pilin flowers," he said quietly, "grow only with love."

"They bloom yellow with infatuation... blue with lust..."

His hand rose, fingers trembling as they brushed the white petals resting in your braid.

"And white," he whispered, "with love."

[blondphobic]

I keep seeing people saying they don't like rafayel because he’s unreliable, “he’s a merman, he’s putting a façade to deceive mc and is rude to anybody else, he condemned his people yada yada” and others surface level half assed reading of his character and man I’m tired.

to the moment we first met him (first first met him, in the forgotten sea myth) rafayel is portrait as not sharing the same disdain for humans as the majority of the lemurians, he calms the storm so the ship mc was in doesn’t sink and saves her from drowning (yes, he fucks with her a little but the intention was to save her), they only met because he snuck out and went where he isn’t suppose to be.

forgotten sea rafayel is playful, carefree and a little naive, he not really fathom the extent of his powers as the sea god until the moment of the coming-of-age ceremony and even then he challenged the deep sea. he didn’t choose mc over lemuria, he lied to save both of them.

the rafayel we meet at the sea of golden sand, the one who seems to have assumed his position as a lemurian leader (kinda) and is in fact trying to retrieve the heart by deceive mc is the most “sober” version of his character, he acts like people expect him to act like a sea god but can’t help but falling in love with mc again and again tries to save both her and his people by erasing her memories and trying to rewrite the tome of the sea god.

rafayel cares deeply about the lemurians, he has a fucking bounty on his head for going after people who are involved with ever and their experiments on merfolks, before we met him on the main story he already gave up on us (think of that one scene where talia ask him if he thinks about his marriage and he just answers ‘no’), he’s focused on protecting the remain lemurians, it’s only when mc goes after him at his studio that he decides to come with the bodyguard thing so he can be closer to her.

he’s stuck in this eternal conflict between his obligations with his people and his love for mc, the man (merman?) he believes lemurians want him to be, who’s a leader and makes sacrifices vs. the man who comes to the surface when he’s with mc, who can be carefree and even vulnerable, who plays in the rain and dances around in puddles with her, who gets excited about things that look insignificant to most of people and is passionate about everything he does.

I keep seeing fans saying that “rafayel is for the girlies who need to heal their inner child” and I think it goes both ways, rafayel is his most sincere version when he’s with mc and that’s scary for him, in his cards he seems to be always fighting for control but never with mc, he’s fighting himself.

rafayel loves us but he’ll give up on his happiness over and over again if he thinks that is the best for mc, he’s very skeptical for someone who is a literal god and deep down I think the only thing he truly believes is that mc will always find her way back to him.

[mysssticc]

LOVE AND DEEPSPACE BOYS PLAYING MINECRAFT WITH YOU

Xavier

• It's canon that he really likes video games and it’s a really good player.

• He has played Minecraft before but this is the first time he has played with someone.

• He’ll make sure to protect you against any monster.

• His main purpose is killing the Ender dragon.

• Not really interested in mining or exploring.

• He is not a fan of building either but if you want a pretty house he’ll happily help you.

• He’ll like to add mods that’ll make the game more challenging, and definitely horror mods so he can protect and comfort you when you need ❤️

• He would usually stop playing after killing the dragon, but he will continue playing just to spend more time with you and do whatever you want next.

Rafayel

• He plays video games too but he’s not really passionate about it

• He hates that everything is squareat first but once he realize how much he can do he gets over it

• He loves to build, he is not satisfied with just a house, he’ll materialize anything that comes to mind

• He’ll use very odd blocks too, anything that’s pretty enough deserves a place in his little projects

• Definitely will build some underwaters construction too, he won’t tell you but he’ll try to recreate Lemuria

• You’ll be in charge of getting everything he needs, he’ll boss you around a lot (lovingly)

• If you two decide to add some mods he’ll want one where you two can get marry ❤️ (and anything that can improve his constructions)

Zayne

• He is not very interested in video games but agreed after your insistence.

• He never played Minecraft before (or any other game) but learned pretty quickly and became good at it

• Although he doesn’t enjoy it a lot at the beginning he loves sharing a new activity with you ❤️

• He does everything you ask:

- If you want to build a nice house, he will get you everything you need.

- If you want to go after the dragon, he will help you get ready.

- If you are afraid to fight monsters, he will try to kill them for you.

Whatever you want or need, he will do it.

Sorry for any grammar mistake, English is not my first language, hope you liked it!!

[hoaxghost]

We here at the Welkins Cruise company want to offer you a chance to come on board for our maiden voyage of the M.S Lemuria!

20 lucky contestants will be chosen for a once in a life time journey aboard our airship for a cruise of the skies. Luxury, entertainment, food, and memories to last a life time will be found! However- we cannot promise how long that life time will last....

----

Ascent of Lemuria is a text based 18+ Killing/Elimination Game set over the course of 9 weeks. Puzzles, challenges, and the looming threat of death are around each corner. If this sounds interesting you can check out more information below in our discord server!

Apps close June 9th.

[n3rdyslvt]

so many love and deepspace spoilers!!please dont read if you dont want to see me short circuit by the time it gets to raf. i’m literally just rambling about how they ended up in the current timeline. but i do have a conclusion at the end if you want the gist without the word salad :)

xavier + caleb + zayne

anyways i’m reading a summary of the xavier lore from otome kitten (i love having it all collected in one place in a nice timeline) and it has me wondering about how exactly the men got here with all their philos trauma. xavier is easy, we know he travels back to earth (traceback II) and from what i’ve heard zayne doesnt remember his astra trauma. with caleb and zayne i’m inclined to say that this is their first/original life. xavier goes back to the current timeline because this is the timeline in which the aether core is fused to MC’s heart, making it the beginning of her trauma. So, i’m gonna operate under the assumption that the events of this timeline somehow lead to the foreseeker and in multiple lives caleb and mc have this little found family + immense childhood trauma thing going on. in terms of dawn breaker… I don’t have that myth 😝 buttt once i read more zayne lore i might be able to include it somewhere in my timeline

sylus

ok after reading an unrelated reddit post I have remembered that sylus is also very simple. he just came here a little while after the chronorift catastrophe (about 2 years i think) through the deepspace tunnel.

raffy

now we have the hard one. raf should be easy because i have both of his myths but his lore spans so many fucking centuries. with rafayel i dont fucking know guys 😭 i dont know how when they first met (like how 214 years from earth passing mc and xavier meet. the mc cursed to die and be born again in starfall forest) i know god of tides is first then abysswalker because the ocean is dried up (i know i need to listen to fragrant dreams, i just hate that MC isnt voiced too. either voice her or give the bf asmr experience and dont have her talk.) anyways long story short with rafayel its mostly an issue of how is he even in the current timeline??? does he spawn? does lemuria go through constant rises and falls? maybe because he and MC share a heart they share similar challenges where he might be reborn occasionally or forget past lives. i still dont know why he exists on earth or how lemuria really fits. what would help is knowing if rafayel has specific memories of earth and linkon before the chronorift. because theres a theory that MC came through the deepspace tunnel and didn’t actually have an earth family before josephine and caleb sooooooo if thats true then rafayel could remember the lemuria from philos and he and the others that were still alive were simply able to rebuild in linkon after being transported through the tunnel. i knowwwww you’re gonna say “but talia is a famous opera singer and a career like that takes years”. ok yes, but zayne is 27 and the fucking chief cardiac surgeon. theyre mermaids that have lived for centuries. you think she couldn’t use those lovely little vocal chords to propel herself into stardom?? its literally cannon that if talented enough, you can get yourself into any role regardless of age or experience caps.

conclusion

so tldr, xavier and sylus used the deepspace tunnel, caleb and zayne are living their first life like MC… potentially, and rafayel is an anomaly that i cant figure out currently 😫😔 buttt he might’ve came through the deepspace tunnel like MC during the chronorift catastrophe (if MC did)

if you read everything, mwah mwah mwah thank you.

[rafayelling]

Title: The Flame Beneath the Waves | Rafayel x OC AO3: Here A/N: I've posted this on AO3 about 2 weeks ago, but since I'm starting a Tumblr here, I'll post it here as well. This will be a more poignant take on the Sea God Rafayel's myth. Hope you'll like it!

Summary:

There was once a god who lived beneath the silence of the sea. He ruled not with thunder nor flame, but with the hush of the deep, where no human voice could carry, and no sunlight ever dared to fall.

Rafayel.

The name was older than most waves, whispered through shipwrecked dreams and sailor songs, worshipped by those who never knew him. He was born of salt and silence, raised in Lemuria - a kingdom veiled in bioluminescence and sorrow, where coral grew like cathedrals, and the ocean remembered everything.

He was beautiful in the way forgotten things are beautiful - with short, sea-dark purple hair, unruly like tides that refused command, and eyes the color of storm-washed dawn - pink stained with the breath of blue.

The kind of eyes that had seen centuries, yet still looked for something more.

The Flame - it floated in the sacred chamber, a sun forged of longing and magic.

It burned not with heat, but with devotion.

It required a heart to stay alive.

Every millennium, the Sea God must receive the heart of a devout mortal - someone who had loved him so deeply, so completely that their sacrifice would fuel the light that kept Lemuria from falling into darkness.

Without it, the kingdom would rot.

The dark would eat the coral.

The silence would win.

And so, a young Rafayel watched the God before him.

Watched as he took the heart of countless devout followers.

Each name lost in the waves.

Each ceremony colder.

Each one made him quieter.

Until her.

She fell like a wish from the sky.

The girl.

The mortal.

Eliana.

Thrown into the sea by trembling hands, her limbs bound, her mouth gagged, her soul unready.

A sacrifice, twisted by an old cult that claimed to serve him.

They believed that the sea demanded blood.

They were wrong.

He hated them.

He saved her.

Broke the surface with the fury of a god scorned, caught her before the sea could claim her.

Breathed life into her lungs beneath the tides.

She coughed against his chest and screamed when she saw his eyes.

She woke in Lemuria, bathed in light that was not the sun, surrounded by glass gardens and fish that glowed like stars.

She tried to run, tried to swim away.

But the sea was endless, and the kingdom was sealed.

Rafayel was patient.

He told her the truth.

That he had saved her, that she now lived in the last kingdom beneath the world.

That to remain, to breathe, to belong - her heart must one day be his.

Not in love, but in sacrifice.

She cursed him.

Told him he was no god, told him she would never kneel.

He only smiled.

“You need not kneel,” he said.

“Only… stay.”

And she did.

Days in Lemuria were unmeasured.

Not by clocks or calendars, but by the color of the currents, the drift of plankton, and the rise and fall of glowing jellyfish tides.

Time moved like memory - slow, and sometimes sweet.

At first, she stayed because she had no choice.

Then, she stayed because of the way he looked at her.

Not with hunger, not with command.

But with wonder.

As if she were a shoreline he’d never seen.

As if he feared she'd vanish like foam.

Eliana, the girl with surface eyes and salt-tangled hair, was no ordinary soul.

She did not bow.

She did not call him lord.

Instead, she asked him if he ever swam in circles just for fun.

She challenged him to races through shipwreck bones, laughed at his startled expression when a sea turtle bit his hand.

One day, she showed him how to make shadows dance on his skin - using only light and her fingers.

“It’s called a puppet,” she said, twisting her hand to form the wings of a bird.

He watched, mesmerized.

“You teach me strange magic,” he murmured.

“It’s not magic,” she smiled. “It’s sunplay.”

He blinked.

“Sun… play?”

Her smile faltered. “You’ve never seen the real sun, have you?”

He turned his gaze upward, to the watery veil above them.

“No. Only the Flame.”

And Eliana, with a sudden ache in her chest, reached for his hand.

“Someday,” she whispered, “I’ll show you the real sun. The one that warms your skin. That burns you if you stay too long. The one that makes shadows real.”

She didn’t know why she said it.

Perhaps she just wanted him to believe in something bright.

Perhaps she wanted to believe it herself.

They swam through cities carved in coral, walked through gardens made of sea glass and kelp, chased luminescent fish through halls of moonstone.

He showed her the Cavern of Echoes, where the voices of past rulers whispered when no one listened.

He showed her the currents, magical threads that flowed like rivers between dimensions, where time warped and stars fell like rain.

He even showed her the place he went as a child, hiding from tutors, skipping his rites.

A secret cave with a broken mosaic of the first sea god, half-covered in moss, forgotten by priests.

“I used to pretend he would speak to me,” Rafayel confessed. “Tell me it was all a mistake. That I didn’t have to be him.”

Eliana said nothing, but her hand found his again.

This time, she didn’t let go.

Their bond bloomed quietly, not like wildfire, but like seaweed unfurling toward the light.

One evening, as the current slowed to a lullaby, they sat beside the Flame.

It pulsed softly, like a breathing heart.

Eliana rested her head against his shoulder.

He did not move.

The warmth of her against his skin sent ripples through his stillness.

And when her hand slipped into his again, no longer out of fear or pity or habit, but out of something unnamed,

He closed his eyes and imagined the sun.

There was a kiss.

Not loud. Not fevered.

It happened between laughter and silence, between a shared story and a shared breath.

He had just told her about the time he tried to rescue a stranded dolphin and accidentally overturned a sacred boat in the process.

She laughed so hard she nearly cried.

In the softness after, when her laughter dissolved like seafoam, he leaned in without thinking - and she didn’t move away.

It was not a claim.

Not a vow.

It was a quiet ruin, a surrender of something ancient inside them both.

Her lips tasted like salt and promise.

His like magic and mourning.

When they pulled apart, neither spoke.

But he touched his forehead to hers, and in that moment, she could feel the weight of a thousand years trembling against her skin.

And still, the day drew closer.

The day of offering.

The ceremony.

The ancient flame, kept alive by the devotion of mortals, was dimming.

The sea priests warned him.

Lemuria would fall if the ritual did not proceed.

Eliana had become devoted, more than any before her.

Not through chants or chains, but through love.

They both knew it.

They did not speak of it.

But it lived in every glance, in every brush of fingers, in every ache they buried beneath starlit water.

The night before the ceremony, the sea was still.

The coral gardens had closed their petals, and the jellyfish pulsed like sleeping hearts.

And Rafayel, god of the deep, stood before her in silence.

His tattoos glowed faintly in the darkness, veins of memory and burden.

He stepped closer, and his voice, when it came, was a prayer—

“The Sea God’s heart,” he said, each word carved from breath. “Mine heart. Dost thou want it?”

Eliana trembled.

She had never heard his voice like this.

Not royal.

Not divine.

Just human.

She couldn’t speak.

So she stepped forward, placed her hand on his chest, right above where the flame within him burned.

And she nodded.

Once.

Slowly.

The ceremony was held in the Temple of Flame - a place older than grief, built from black pearl and fossil stone, suspended in the trench’s quiet throat where not even whales dared to sing.

The priests wore white veils over their faces, their voices crawling along the seabed, dragging the weight of centuries behind every syllable.

Eliana stood barefoot before the altar, draped in woven kelp, her hair crowned in sea glass and ivory shells.

Her eyes searched for him - not the god, but the boy beneath the waves.

The one who once climbed coral walls to chase sunfish.

The one who taught her how to breathe in the dark.

Rafayel stepped forward.

His gaze was quiet, unreadable, like the sea before a storm.

He held in his hands a shell, golden, split down the middle.

The vessel that would hold her heart.

It was the way of things.

The price of Lemuria.

Give love, lose life.

The sea held its breath.

Priests raised their arms.

The Flame pulsed with hunger.

Eliana closed her eyes.

She felt the water tighten around her, as if even the ocean could not bear to witness this.

And then - nothing.

No pain, no taking.

Only warmth.

A searing warmth pressed into her hands.

She opened her eyes—

—and he was there, kneeling before her, his body already beginning to dim.

In his palms, he cradled his own heart.

It was not a bleeding thing, but light, pure, and trembling.

The same hue as the Flame, only gentler.

Flickering.

Fading.

“This is my promise to you,” he whispered, voice cracked. “For ‘tis Lemuria’s vow, a bond everlasting.”

The temple began to shudder.

The ocean, once reverent, screamed.

The Flame, denied its sacrifice, raged.

It howled, not as fire, but as the betrayal of order - the collapse of balance.

Rafayel stumbled back, the tattoos along his arms turned dull, his tail losing shimmer, becoming heavy, slow.

He looked up one last time.

Eliana stood frozen, heart in her hands.

Tears caught in the water around her.

“I wanted to see the sun,” he said, as the ceiling cracked.

“And I… I wanted to show you,” she breathed.

The wrath of the sea came swiftly.

Waves, as if summoned from every corner of the abyss, rose in fury above Lemuria.

They slammed against the cliffs, tore coral palaces into sand, ripped sacred gardens from their roots.

The temple collapsed behind him, stones crashing into the deep.

Rafayel stood at the threshold, his arms around the dying embers of the Flame, as if holding the last breath of a world.

And Eliana—

Eliana was gone.

Whether taken or fled, whether spared or lost—

None could say.

He walked alone through the ruins.

His steps no longer divine.

Where once fish bowed and currents parted, now silence pressed against him like a coffin of water.

The throne of Lemuria crumbled behind him.

The citadel drowned.

The kingdom he gave everything to protect, now swallowed by the same sea he once ruled.

And in his hands - ashes of light, and the memory of her voice.

"I'll show you the sun."

He had never seen it.

But he imagined it now, every time he closed his eyes.

He pictured it burning gold on her skin.

He pictured her smile beneath it.

He pictured a promise never kept.

Time did not move after Lemuria fell.

It drifted, aimless, unfelt.

The ocean, once warm with devotion, turned cold and wild.

Fish forgot how to sing.

The kelp forests no longer danced.

Even the currents, once playful, moved with hesitation, as if mourning the rhythm that once guided them.

Rafayel remained.

Not as a ruler.

Not as a god.

But as a relic.

A shadow wandering through broken halls, haunted by laughter that was once real.

The ruins of Lemuria became a graveyard.

Not of bodies, but of dreams.

Coral crowns shattered beneath drifting sediment, and the throne was claimed by barnacles.

Sea glass windows lay buried in the dust, never again to hold light.

Still, he wandered.

Through the empty passageways where once Eliana’s footsteps echoed.

Through the shattered temples, where she once touched his hand and asked why the Flame was always so sad.

He searched for remnants - a strand of her hair caught on coral, a trail of bubbles with her scent, a song she might’ve left behind.

But the ocean was silent.

It kept no record of love.

Sometimes, he spoke to her.

He whispered into the deep,

“I still remember the sun you promised me.”

“Do you still have my heart?”

“Did it burn you, or did it keep you warm?”

There was never an answer.

Only the moan of distant whales, the creak of tectonic bones shifting in the dark.

He sometimes left small things behind, like offerings to a memory.

A shell he once found that looked like her smile.

A pearl he’d carved into the shape of a bird.

A ribbon from her robes, preserved by magic and grief.

He would place them gently on the altar of rubble where the Flame once lived.

Then he would sit, tail curled beneath him, hands clasped as if in prayer.

And wait.

He remembered the way she held his hand when she was afraid.

Not tightly, but like she was reminding herself that he was real.

He remembered the first time she wept when she saw a child’s bones deep beneath a fallen ship, and asked him why the ocean took without asking.

He hadn’t known how to answer then.

He still didn’t.

He remembered how she painted the sun for him with crushed coral and light spores - a child’s scrawl on a cavern wall.

It was crooked, too bright, and a little wild.

But he had touched it with trembling fingers and believed.

He dreamed, sometimes.

Dreams full of salt and surface.

Of air that hurt to breathe, of Eliana walking along a beach wearing white and light, her feet bare, her eyes searching the horizon.

He would call to her.

But the waves were louder.

Always louder.

And she would vanish beyond them, like all things he could not hold.

Years passed. Or maybe centuries.

Legends changed.

The songs about Rafayel were twisted by time.

The mortal world remembered only fragments - a sea god who betrayed his people.

A city lost to arrogance.

A love that drowned the world.

No one sang of Eliana.

No one spoke of her gentleness, of how she tamed the deep with nothing but her heartbeat.

But Rafayel remembered.

He remembered her laughter echoing through water like light refracted.

He remembered her hands cupping his cheek after he flinched from the Flame.

He remembered her saying, “You are not a god to me. You’re just you.”

And how, in that moment, he had never felt more divine.

Sometimes, surface ships passed overhead.

He never rose to them.

He watched their shadows drift above like ghosts, but never followed.

He could not bear the surface.

Not without her.

Not without the promise of her waiting there, arms outstretched beneath the sun.

And what if she were there?

What if she had lived, kept his heart tucked against her chest, and walked the shoreline with her gaze on the waves, waiting for him?

What if she burned beneath that real, golden sun, and wondered why he never came?

That was the cruelty of hope - it kept him breathing.

But it never let him leave.

And so he wandered.

A god no longer, a heartless king.

His tattoos faded, his tail dulled.

His eyes, once bright with pink-blue wonder, grew dim.

But he still swam the ruins.

Still whispered her name into the dark.

Still waited beside the ghost of a flame.

Still remembered the sun he had never seen.

And the girl who promised to show it to him.

[arminreindl]

Some entries for @knuppitalism-with-ue 's most recent spec evo challenge, Lemuria. I kinda went a lot into sauropods, but will try to steer more into Notosuchia from here on out.

The current entries consist of 1) a small monogamous rainforest sauropod 2) a large solitary desert wanderer 3) a hippo-like swamp dweller 4) an aggressive native of the mountains 5) a pig-like peirosaurid

[he-who-needs-to-be-silenced]

(← runs a spec evo game) how the hell is Lemuria getting so many people on board like that. What are its advertisement methods

didcore

[harpagornis]

My submission to #lemuriachallenge

[talonabraxas]

Types of Starseed

There are a great many different types of starseed, but some of the most commonly-identified include:

Pleiadian

Originating from the Pleiades star cluster, Pleiadian starseeds are loving, intuitive, empathetic, creative, and sensitive individuals who have a mission to bring peace and spirituality to Earth. They are some of the oldest souls, and are among the more common starseed types. They are therefore also one of the best understood. Pleiadian starseeds have a special connection to the Divine Feminine and Akashic records.

Sirian

Originating from Sirius, one of the most important stars to play a role in spiritual awakening, Sirian starseeds are peacekeepers and guardians: bold, strong-willed, and passionate beings with a strong sense of responsibility and leadership. They often exhibit a focus on technology, innovation, and spiritual teaching.

Orion

Hailing from the Orion constellation, Orion starseeds are said to be insightful, analytical, and committed to justice and wisdom. They are attuned to ancient wisdom, which often manifests as an entrepreneurial or scientific spirit! Orion starseeds work to overcome challenges, and are therefore seen as “warriors for the light”.

Andromedan

Coming from the Andromeda galaxy (often thought to be home to various extraterrestrial civilisations), Andromedan starseeds are said to be wise beyond their years and have a strong sense of justice. They are creative and innovative, and tend to have a strong calling to bring new ideas and technologies to Earth.

Lyran

Originating from the Lyra constellation, Lyran starseeds are said to be the oldest souls in the galaxy, and are creative and excellent communicators. Sometimes depicted as being the ancestors of humans, Lyrans may have a stronger than usual connection to the Earth (especially to Egypt: one of their closest links to home) and a desire to heal and uplift. Lyran starseeds have a special connection to the Divine Masculine.

Arcturian

All the way from Arcturus (said to be home to highly evolved and spiritually advanced beings from a 5th dimension), Arcturian starseeds possess profound and innovative qualities of wisdom and healing, and a strong desire to help others awaken spiritually. They often feel more comfortable in their human forms than other starseeds.

Venusian

As you’d expect, Venusian starseeds are from Venus, and are compassionate, loving, gentle, and artistic. They have a great interest in the ancient civilisations of Earth, as well as outer space. The ancient Egyptian goddess of love and motherhood, Hathor, is thought to have come from Venus in the fourth dimension.

Lemurian

Ancient souls originating from Lemuria, Lemurian starseeds (and Atlantean starseeds) are believed to have made Earth their home sooner than any other type. They are said to be healers and teachers, and keepers of ancient wisdom. Although the defunct civilisation of Lemuria was on Earth (before its downfall at the hands of dark reptilians), its people were advanced enough to communicate with and travel to other planets.

Atlantean

Ancient souls from Atlantis, Atlantean starseeds are truth seekers and are technologically adept. Like Lemurian starseeds, Atlanteans starseeds no longer have a physical territory on Earth, as their ancestors abused their success until they were destroyed. However, those who survived their realm’s downfall had often travelled to other planets or dimensions, so can return to Earth as starseeds.

Indigo Children

Younger souls that are here to lead others into a new age, Indigo Children are independent, strong-willed, and disruptive to outdated systems. They are agents of peace and justice, and have no tolerance for evil. Indigo Children are often born with memories of their divine gifts, qualities, and mission intact, and come from a spiritual dimension of Earth that hasn’t yet finished ascending.

Illustration of a girl sitting in the middle of a large glade of magical flowers looking into infinity.

Crystal Children

Often grouped with Indigo Children, Crystal Children share the former’s mission to usher humanity into a better future. They are natural healers and lovers of nature, and have a strong connection with Pleiadian energy. Crystal Children bring joy, light, and harmony to all that they touch.

Rainbow Children

The third of the starseed types to often be grouped with Indigo Children, Rainbow Children are the youngest souls of all, and are still working to understand their role. Although their awareness of their nature can make them seem a little detached, they excel as healers and teachers, and rarely fall victim to illnesses or health issues.

Lightworkers

A unique type of starseed, Lightworkers aren’t tied to any specific planet, realm or celestial body, and are instead defined by their mission to spread light, love, kindness, and goodness. Their goal is to encourage spiritual evolution, and to help the Earth (and other worlds) to tap into higher frequency information and rise in consciousness.

Mintaken

Hailing from the planet Mintaka that once lay within Orion’s belt, Minkaten starseeds are among the original lightworkers. They’re fascinated by astrology and crystals, and are gifted with extraordinarily strong intuition. Because Mintaken no longer exists, Mintaken starseeds can feel intensely homesick, but often find solace around water.

Feline

Feline starseeds also originate within the Lyran constellation, and can be glimpsed within the cat-like artwork of some ancient civilisations. Feline starseeds are detached from the physical and in tune with the spiritual. They exist in a higher dimension to humans, and often have telepathic or psychic abilities.

Maldek

Just as Lemurian and Atlantean starseeds survived the downfall of their realms on Earth, finding refuge among the stars, Maldek starseeds survived their planet’s destruction. Maldek was a planet in our Solar System that died as a consequence of misusing technological power, and greed. On Earth, Maldek starseeds try to teach humans how to better use technology and other tools to avoid a robotic apocalypse.

Avian

Avian starseeds come from a purely spiritual realm, and journey to Earth to teach humans about metaphysics and spiritual truths. In essence, they serve as spirit guides, showing how a more spiritual life can lead to an advanced civilisation. As their name suggests, Avian starseeds often have bird-like qualities.

Martian

Martian starseeds come from the planet Mars, and seek to connect with the human race and assist with its advancement. The call of Martian starseeds might be why Earth astronomers have always felt a strong pull to Mars. The appearance of Martian starseeds is a mystery, although they tend to feel a connection with water and fire.

Polarian

Among the first spiritual beings to travel from a higher dimension and incarnate in human bodies, Polarian starseeds come from the North Star, Polaris. They are highly empathetic, and are able to feel the Earth’s energies at a very deep level. As a result, they are able to serve as mediators between humans and planet Earth.

Hadarian

Fleeing from Beta Centauri to escape slavery, some Hadarian starseeds settled on Earth and seek to build strong and happy relationships. Shy and introverted, their loving natures can make them susceptible to manipulation, but their past and present struggles can’t dampen their enthusiasm to spread unconditional love.

Reptilian

Shape-shifting, lizard-like starseeds of unknown origins who try to crush humanity’s spiritual enlightenment, Reptilian starseeds rarely have a positive goal. They desire control over humans for their own benefit, and plunge those who they influence into greed and selfishness. They played a part in the destruction of Lemuria and other realms, and are opposed by many of the other starseed types.

Draconian

A type of Reptilian starseed from the constellation Draco, Draconian starseeds seek to unite many people to a common goal, although whether this mission is for good or evil depends on the starseed. Some can be greedy and manipulative leaders, but others are diligent workers who guide awakened humans to accomplish just causes.

Agarthian Beings

Rather than originating offworld, Agarthian Beings actually come from a faery realm within Earth itself, and are therefore deeply connected to the planet. They actively protect the environment, and remember even forgotten Earthly catastrophes like the sinking of Atlantis.

An Introduction to Starseeds:

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Splatoon 3 Weekly Fashion Challenge - Week 63:

*stumbles into the room in a frenzied panic* Hi everyone how are you I forgot about the challenge because I spent all of yesterday playing Dark Souls 3. Oops.

Anyway, there are only a couple of weeks left of Sizzle Season 2024, so we're beginning the Sendoff challenges, which naturally means that this week's theme is:

Last Stop, Lemuria!

Assuming the writing on the wall is correct then Lemuria Hub is the last stage being added to Splatoon 3, and personally I'd say that it's not a bad choice for it! After all, what is a train station if not a place of endings? It's also a place of beginnings, so you better begin being inspired by it to put together some outfits!

Special Rule: Put together an outfit inspired by Lemuria Hub. A train station is the temporary home of all kinds of people, so there is plenty to choose from. Train attendants, engineers, station staff, travelers, tourists, you name it. Get creative!

Rules:

Put together an outfit of any kind that you feel matches this week’s theme. Be sure to give it a name, as well!

Send it to me via ask or submission, please don’t add it to a reblog, that makes it very easy to miss! Also, please make it clear that it is a submission for the challenge and not just a regular submission.

Only one outfit per person! You can submit multiple photos of that single outfit, though.

Please include the gear you picked in the submission. It makes my life just a touch easier!  

Since I am a day late, the deadline for outfit submissions is 10 PM UTC on Wednesday!