#sawbacks

[herpsandbirds]

Ringed Map Turtle aka Ringed Sawback (Graptemys oculifera), juvenile, family Emydidae, found in the Pearl River system of Mississippi and Louisiana, USA

photograph by Micah Cefalu

[paintedmakos]

Palestine will be free 🍉

Jordan Bream (Acanthobrama lissneri) and Sawback Angelshark (Squatina aculeata)

[antiqueanimals]

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Volume 6: Reptiles. Written by Bernard Grzimek. 1984. Illustration by Helmut Diller.

1.) European swamp turtle (Emys orbicularis)

2.) Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta)

3.) Caspian turtle (Mauremys caspica)

4.) Ringed sawback (Graptemys oculifera)

5.) Spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata)

6.) Spiny turtle (Heosemys spinosa)

7.) Common box turtle (Terrapene carolina)

8.) Red-eared turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans)

[autoacafiles]

[thelastgherkin]

TFN Haul Roundup: TITANS RETURN Under-3

Once upon a long time ago, I ordered some custom Titan Master faceplates: Mainframe, my pride and joy Straxus, and the Maximals’ greatest hero.  And now, he’s complete!

Under-3 was originally a McDonald’s toy for the littlest tiniest babies.  Because it said “Under-3” on the baggy where his name should be, the online fandom treated that as if it were his name.  To Gen Xers, this is what is considered an hilarious joke.

It needed another layer for me – and we finally got one when an ineptly-written comic added the hilarious twist that the Happy Meal-original character called himself “Unit-3” after the rest of his squadron was killed in vague yet horrible circumstances.  Now that’s comedy.

I was finally able to finish Under-3 thanks to @sameasiteverwoz, who provided the Titans Return Sawback.  I think I overdid it with the robot mode paint, but the lion head is the main attraction here, so I don’t mind too much.

[thorsenmark]

Looking Across a Valley to Mountains Beyond...(HDR, Banff National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: Looking across this view, I felt the dynamic range might be too much to pick up the wide range from the clouds to the trees in the valley below. I decided on using 5 bracketed photos and combining them with Nik HDR Efex Pro 2. I later used a Low Key CEP filter to tone down the brightness of the image especially with the nearby trees.

[atlasthetitan]

From top to bottom: LX, MX, AX

[rawcherrycake]

TURTLESONA!!!!!

I really wanted to make a turtlesona bcz interacting with other artists here is so fun, but i needed someone to represent me x]

Meet Galileo! (Or just Gal)

He's a black knob sawback turtle, used to be human. Very nice, book-smart but extremely oblivious, indecisive, kind but will drop kick anyone to jupiter if challenged

Carries two bandanas, can wear either or both

[ffxivxd]

The gunblade, magitek sawback, was requisitioned by the Garlean Imperial Army. The magitek-powered gunblade was used by a handful of Bozjan conscripts among their ranks. Of course, the Bozjan's scorned this abomination.

[dimorphodon-x]

Patch

I've had this done for months and well, I guess I worked hard enough on it to publish it. Warning for descriptions of animal injury and pet loss.

--

[A crystal basher was a miner’s best friend. Patch was Sawback’s most reliable and sturdy companion.]

It had started with the sound of a crack. 

Immediately the tunnel went silent as every miner froze and listened. Another crack, small pebbles dropped from the ceiling, and the walls trembled.

No one needed to say anything, they already knew the drill, hurrying towards the nearest exit as quickly as possible as the walls shifted and began closing in on them.

One miner lagged behind, an old leg injury acting up and slowing him down. He clung onto his mechanimal companion, a smokey black crystal basher with a cream colored dome. The basher remained calm as he helped keep his handler on his feet, despite the large rocks and boulders crashing down around them. 

“Sawback!” The miner lifted his head at the sound of his name. A second miner was rushing back towards him, arms out. Sawback’s crystal basher shifted, suddenly looking about and pushing at his handler, “Patch?”

Patch let out a short bleat and used his hip to shove Sawback forward into the second miner’s arms. The two stumbled back as more debris fell down on and around them, blocking their way out. The ceiling dropped a few feet and there was another alarmed bleat before it crashed down.

Sawback opened his eyes, frame shaking, shoulder and leg burning, and looked up. The ceiling of the tunnel had stopped just overhead. He looked to his side, the second miner, Godfree if he remembered right, was unconscious, his head bleeding, but still alive if his rattling vents said anything about it.

“Beh,” Sawback looked forward, and his eyes went wide.

“Patch!” The smokey basher stood upright before the two miners, frame stiff and trembling with exertion. There was a small crack on the cream white dome of his head from the ceiling, which he was currently holding up all by himself.

“Oh Patch,” Sawback grunted as he used his good arm to sit upright, “you tough little scrapper! Well done!”

Patch didn’t respond of course, huffing and grunting as he stood motionless. The miner looked about, a frown on his face. Patch was likely holding up many tons of rock right on his head, and who knows how long the crystal basher could hold out. Probably not long enough for any help to arrive.

“Gotta do something…” Sawback muttered to himself. All that surrounded the trio were fragile rocks, nothing that he could use to help Patch keep the ceiling from falling down on them.

Godfree finally shifted, groaning as his eyes flickered online, “wuh…?”

“Oh good, you’re alive,” Sawback turned to him, “think you can help us get out of here?”

The other miner blinked wearily as he lifted his hand to feel at the gash on the top of his head, pulling away with a wince and looking at the blood on his fingertips. With a frown, he looked around, immediately startled by the sight of Patch, “is he-?”

“Keeping the ceiling from crushing us? Yeah,” Sawback smiled and his chest puffed out with pride, “that’s my boy!”

Patch merely grunted at the praise. Godfree on the other hand, appeared horrified.

“He can’t keep that up for long, Sawback. That’s too much weight to hold up, even for a basher,” Sawback blinked, then looked back at his mechanimal companion. Crystal bashers were tough critters, handy for carrying heavy items or injured mechs and clearing obstructions from pathways in the mines. They were strong, but they weren’t invincible.

Patch was already punching far above what he could handle. His legs were shaking, his frame was overheating, and that crack on his head was slowly growing longer. Sawback felt his spark sink as he watched the mechanimal struggle. 

“I… what do we do? We can’t just… sit here and do nothing!” Sawback ripped his gaze from Patch to Godfree, his pale eyes wide with worry and desperation. The other miner sighed and again looked around in the small dark space. He pulled a lantern from his subspace and turned it on, the sickly green light flickering as it allowed the mechs to better see what their situation was.

It didn’t look good.

Both of the miners were injured, Sawback could already feel his own injuries and saw the head injury Godfree sustained, but he didn’t realize that one of the other mech’s arms was trapped underneath rubble.

“It’s not completely crushed at least,” Godfree huffed, “I can still move my fingers, but I don’t think I can pull myself free. Besides, moving these rocks the wrong way might only do more harm than good.”

“Right…” Sawback sagged into the pile of boulders, his frame suddenly feeling very heavy and tired. He looked back at Patch, the hurt in his spark only worsening as he watched the stubborn beast keep the ceiling off of the doomed miners for as long as possible, even if it was all going to be for nothing in the end.

“Amazing critters, aren’t they?” He startled when Godfree spoke after some time spent in silence, and gave the other mech a curious expression. Godfree motioned towards Patch with his chin.

“Just look at him. He’s so determined to keep us online, even going as far as to hold up the whole mountain on his head if it means we get to live a little longer. Just how many crystal bashers were just like that? How many managed to save the lives of their mech handlers? How many chose to die at their side rather than save themselves?” 

Godfree smiled fondly, though his eyes were sad, “isn’t that amazing? That they would rather their handlers not die alone than to leave them to their fate? They care about us more than those pompous high class scrap heaps above ground ever will.”

“Yeah…” Sawback swallowed dryly. He had been Patch’s handler for centuries, the basher never leaving his side and supporting him when he had originally damaged his leg. Damn struts were still broken, he never could rely on the higher ups to offer any medical help.

The trio again sat in silence for an uncertain amount of time. All the while, Patch never shifted, despite the fact that he had to have been in immense pain.

“Hey, Sawback,” it was again Godfree who broke the silence, “you know about the movement going on topside?”

“Movement?” Sawback blinked, “no, I haven’t really heard anything significant.”

“Rumor is there’s a mech up there fighting for us, a miner just like us,” Godfree tilted his head back with a hum, “Megatronus I think he calls himself. If we get out of this alive, I plan on joining him. What about you?”

“Fighting for us?” Sawback again blinked. Again, he turned his attention back to Patch. If that rumor were true about this Megatronus guy, maybe he was doing the same like Patch was doing right now. Risking everything and suffering greatly for a pair of mechs that the rest of Cybertron couldn’t care less for. 

“Beh,” the crystal basher let out a soft bleat, pink energon slowly oozing from the crack on his dome. Sawback chewed on his lip, his spark buzzing in its casing. It was painful to watch his companion suffer like that. It was a sight that, if he ever were to get out of this alive, he wouldn’t want to see repeated.

“Yeah,” Sawback slowly nodded, “yeah I think I’ll do the same if it means Patch will never suffer again.”

“Heheh, that’s the spirit,” Godfree smirked and let his head fall back against the rock with a huff. He closed his eyes for a few minutes before his frame stiffened and he sat upright.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Shh!” Godfree held a finger over his lips and leaned the side of his head against the pile of rocks. Sawback did the same.

“No way,” his eyes widened and Godfree grinned excitedly, “they’re digging us out!”

The sounds of drilling and voices were still muffled by the wall of debris, but it was slowly getting louder as the minutes passed by. It wasn’t too long before they could more clearly start to pick out individual voices.

“-think we’re close!”

“There’s a pocket just ahead.”

“Could it be them?”

“Guys?” Sawback called through the pile of debris, “hey! Guys, we're here! We’re okay!”

“Sawback? That you?”

“Yeah! Godfree is here too, and Patch!”

“You need to be careful!” Godfree added, “Patch is literally the only thing holding up the ceiling right now!”

The drilling slowed to a stop and the pair could hear hushed voices going back and forth for a bit, probably discussing on what they should do.

“We don’t have much time,” one of their rescuers responded, “but we’ll be as careful as possible! We’ll get you guys out, I promise!”

“Uhg, never make promises like that,” Godfree huffed and rolled his eyes. Sawback just chuckled fondly.

“Oh!” Godfree suddenly flinched and started to laugh, “hey, they found my arm! Hey guys!”

Sawback could hear rocks being removed and voices chattering excitedly. The pile of rubble shifted and Godfree was sucked in, “Godfree!”

Sawback yelped as the small cave trembled and the ceiling sunk down a few inches. Patch whined as energon poured from his head, his frame creaking, gears crunching, struts straining and on the verge of snapping. Smoke started to seep from seams and segments of armor, a blaring sign that his internals were burning from exertion.

“Patch!” The remaining miner gasped, “guys! Please! He’s barely holding on!”

“We’re trying Sawback,” one of the other miners responded, the light from their headlamp shining through the new hole. Hushed murmurs could be heard on the other side as they could probably now see the struggling crystal basher.

“How long has he been standing like that?”

“What can we do?”

“It’ll take too long to get any supports in there…”

“I don’t think he can last much longer.”

Sawback sagged as he listened to the other mechs. He stared hopelessly at Patch.

“No, there is no hope for the basher. Just… grab Sawback, that’s all we can do.”

“What?” Sawback’s frame went stiff, “you cannot be serious! I need him!”

“Bashers can be replaced, Saw.”

“No they can’t! There is none like Patch!”

The voices were silent for a moment, “look, Saw, we can’t do anything for him. We only have so much time before the supervisors arrive-”

“NO!”

“Come on, we pull him out when I give the signal. Ready?… go!”

Hands broke through the rubble and grabbed at Sawback. He cried out as he was dragged back, his shoulder wrenching loose from its socket and his armor scrapped up by rough debris.

“We got him! We got him!” Sawback flailed in the other miners’ arms, his spark spinning in a panic.

“Patch! Get Patch!” He screamed, one arm reaching back towards the smokey colored basher. He couldn’t hear or see any of the other mechs around him as he stared at his companion in desperation. Patch stared right back, his pale eyes calm as he let out a comforting bleat.

“Beh.”

Sawback’s world went dark and silent. Everything slowed down. Patch’s eyes dimmed and his frame started to relax, and that was all it took.

The silence following the deafening thud lasted both seconds and centuries as the stunned miners stared at the solid wall before them.

Sawback didn’t move as he felt Godfree’s hand on his uninjured shoulder. The other miner gave his scuffed plating a soft squeeze.

“He… he won’t suffer anymore. Never again.”

Sawback didn’t know how to describe the multitude of emotions curdling in his core. It hurt, burned even. He grit his teeth and shrugged Godfree’s hand off of his shoulder. The burning spread from his chest as he stood up, ignoring the pangs of agony in his struts. 

He limped up to the wall and placed his hand on its cold smooth surface. Just by touching the solid mass, he could imagine just how heavy it must’ve been to hold up. Being crushed underneath it would’ve been instant death. There was hardly any comfort in knowing that Patch didn’t suffer, because he did suffer. The image of his breaking frame was still clear in Sawback’s mind.

He should’ve stayed with him.

He should’ve been more careful. If he never injured his leg in the first place… no, injuries were inevitable in this lifestyle. That’s just how it was. Sawback was not at any fault there.

His lip curled into a snarl and he scraped his fingertips over the wall’s surface. The other miners were muttering and approaching him. He couldn’t hear them past the rush of energon in his lines.

Sawback had seen death many times down here in the mines, he’d lost friends before, he’d heard the mournful wails of mechs cradling the remains of companions. Though most bodies never were retrieved, left abandoned and forgotten under tons and tons of rubble. The higher ups just sent in more fodder, ignoring those that remained, broken, beaten and starving. 

Because they just didn’t care. It was all their fault. All of this pointless death and pain and loss just so some rich asshole can sip expensive wine in a crystal garden in their decorated oversized mansion without a care in the world. “I’ll make those spoiled bastards pay for this.”

[valkariel]

Mad Moxxi

» Borderlands 2 Cosplay «

Moxxi vibes from Borderlands. Works in red too :>

Head: Royal Seneschal's Chapeau - regal purple Body: Neo-Ishgardian Top of Fending - regal purple Hands: Prestige Gauntlets of Light - snow white Legs: Valentione Skirt - metallic gold Feet: Gambler's Boots - default

Earring: The Emperor's New Earrings Neck: The Emperor's New Necklace Wrists: The Emperor's New Bracelet Right Ring: The Emperor's New Ring Left Ring: The Emperor's New Ring

Main Hand: Imperial Magitek Sawback Off Hand: --

Fashion Accessory: -- Minion: -- Location: Amh Araeng - Twine

Shader: Faeberry Bloom

[cutecuttlefish]

The sword of the day is the rooster-head French pioneer sword.

This multi-purpose weapon was used by military engineers in Napoleon’s forces called “Sappers” during the 19th century. The blade features a sawback that makes it a fantastic utility and brush tool, useful for building fortifications. Not only that, but the clip point and edge made it a good shortsword for close-quarters combat. Apart from the sawback, the most notable feature of this sword is the pommel, which featured a cast-brass rooster head. The rooster is an emblem of France, symbolizing hope, faith, and vigilance.

[mattydemise]

Vulnerability for a man is terrifying, especially one that was indoctrinated into the cult of masculinity at an extremely early age. I’ve always had better use of my faculties than most, but that doesn’t change the testosterone coursing through my system like a slow poison. It doesn’t stop the adrenaline, chemicals, and hormones, running rampant in me after I train and lift weights. Those reward systems are deep within my core and exist to keep me at my peak. But they also run in conflict with my mind. Eroding at my reason, scraping away at those soft bits of me like the blade of a sawback knife dug into the well of a bone, prying at the marrow. There exists an artist in me but he is routinely fighting for his life, clinging at what he can, to continue existing, in an environment that’s more akin to a shell-blasted battlefield than a paradise. There is a part of me that exists for destruction, not self-destruction, but the annihilation of everything around me. I’ve been setup as this measuring stick (both through fate and my own hand), like my father and his brothers, and their father before them. Masculinity is this weapon to be tried and tested and when it fails it’s discarded and left in the dust like a broken body and left to wither and become the dust that envelops it. The artist in me sees the strife in that sort of existence, he acknowledges the hell, and seeks to ease those troubles and make way for something better than fighting, fucking, and out and out warfare. The creative within me sees the value in having and showing some form of softness, he’s more cunning and shies away from the mortal combat the other side of me craves and hungers for. To use a simple analogy, the artist is my brain, the warrior is my heart, and the pull between the two will likely exist until my blood ceases its near eternal course and my body grows cold and rigid with death. The plight of man is the animal instincts that drive him ever onwards, into glory, into Valhalla, into heaven, and carrying the legacies of every father in his line. Our codes are ancient and have existed for as long as we have. Perhaps the fate of man is to carry his cross of masculinity, of strength and will, and be better than his own father, the only true sin being to fail in that sole endeavour and purpose.

[chroniclingworlds]

Proboscoids

Like their relatives the Vesicae, the Proboscoids have a strangely rounded body and unusual skeletal structure. The Proboscoids take this to the extreme with almost no neck and a head nearly fused into their body. This may have evolved as a defense against predators, as the neck is a target and a more rounded body has fewer vulnerable points. To reach food and water, their jaws have developed bizarrely, on a long flexible trunk connected to the body with only the highly extended esophagus and flexible soft tissue.

Worm-mouths

Pictured: the spotted worm-mouth, native to the open woodlands south of the Black Mountains.

These are iconic Proboscoids, with incredibly round bodies and a long, tentacle-like prehensile mouth. Because of the highly specialized nature of the jaws, they do not have room for a full jawbone, and instead just contain a sharp bony nub for snipping off leaves, which are swallowed whole. Smaller and swifter than their relatives, they roam the plains in herds and sprint off at the slightest sign of danger. When they run, the trunk is lifted and tucked up against their head and back, keeping it out of the way.

Snouties

Pictured: the woodland squeaker, named for the strange high-pitched alarm calls they make, found on the outskirts of the far eastern Southern Forest.

With a very flexible upper lip, the Snouties are named for their ability to grasp and hold things with this “snout”. The Snouties have the most muscles and nerves of any Proboscoids, making the mouth incredibly dexterous and sensitive, almost able to operate like a hand. They have even been seen delicately picking parasites off each other. Living along the fringes of the southern forest, they reach up into trees to feed on tender leaves and fruiting bodies. Generally these animals are very shy and hang around in the shadows of the forest, nervously keeping watch for predators.

SawBacks

Pictured: the sickle-claw SawBack, native to the plains of the Eastern Rise.

These creatures have a shorter, stiffer trunk with more developed bone-teeth for feeding on tough desert plants that grow on the seasonal plains. And that isn’t all they use their sharp teeth for; they have also been observed eating small animals, making them the only known Proboscoids to engage in omnivorous activity. With ridged armor on their backs and an elongated claw on their second toe for self-defense, they are difficult for predators to take down. They are also known to be somewhat aggressive, charging defensively at any perceived threat.

Orbiphants

Pictured: the white-crested Orbiphant, the species once used as war mounts in a famed Xaraka battle, found on the plains between the Pinnacles and the Black Mountains.

The largest of the Proboscoids, these animals roam the midlands in herds of up to 20. Their trunks are shorter and lined with bony projections for grinding food as it travels down the esophagus, making them very effective at feeding on tough semi-arid plants. These are far-roaming seasonal migrants, often spending summers in the open woodlands fringing the Southern Sea and winters in the hot savannas surrounding seasonal watering holes. Although they are far from being considered “domesticated”, there is at least one Xaraka culture that historically used these as riding war-beasts. Several villages west of the Black Mountains still have a familiar relationship with them and allow the animals to feed from their farms.

[worldsandemanations]

Ringed Map Turtle aka Ringed Sawback (Graptemys oculifera), juvenile, family Emydidae, photograph by Micah Cefalu

[idiot-mushroom]

haii u wanted asks :3

idk if u already answered this so arry if u have

who is ur fav turtles ( from tmnt ) and also what's ur favorite turtle species , if u have one ( generally )

- …ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

i like raph, in literally any iteration

but i like map turtles/sawback turtles the most 🐢✨