#selachimorph

[unofficial-sean]

he is staring respectfully

[space-robinhood]

My alien buddies called the Narkans. They are an intergalatic race of warmongers seeking to expand their empire evermore 'cause every scifi roleplay could use one, and because I love roleplaying absolute gremlin characters that are fully capable of killing you.

The developmental stages of a Narkan young (also known as minnows!)

Examples of gigantism, dwarfism, albinism, and piebaldism in Narkans.

Examples of true raptorism and true selachimorphism in Narkans.

-

Their home planet kinda got mega-destroyed, so the remaining population lives among this behemoth of a mothership known as The Megalodon, where they go from galaxy to galaxy to extract resources from other planets in order to stay alive.

It's piloted by this loser known as Dako, except you're more supposed to refer to them by their title "Strategos" since they are regarded as a deity whose mortal host has long perished. They have a hundred million wires in them that allow them to pilot the ship, as well as talk to and observe every Narkan alive simultaneously through the chips shoved in their brains. Sorta like this:

Weird stuff.

[endreal]

In this literature review the author will explore how a seminal publication¹ by Helen Folasade Adu—published pseudonymously—predicted a radical and now nearly-universally acknowledged shift in the subfield of Selachimorphic topography roughly 30 years prior to its popular acceptance within the wider ichthyological field of shark research.

¹Sade, and St. John, R., 1984. Smooth Operator. Diamond Life 1:1.

[luvuwite]

Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorpha (or Selachii) and are the sister group to the Batoidea (rays and kin). Some sources extend the term "shark" as an informal category including extinct members of Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) with a shark-like morphology, such as hybodonts. Shark-like chondrichthyans such as Cladoselache and Doliodus first appeared in the Devonian Period (419–359 million years), though some fossilized chondrichthyan-like scales are as old as the Late Ordovician (458–444 million years ago).[1] The oldest confirmed modern sharks (selachimorphs) are known from the Early Jurassic, about 200 million years ago, though records of true sharks may extend back as far as the Permian.

Sharks are u! I eat u

[ketrinadrawsalot]

Kaijuly #6: Emperor Selachimorph. Was it a coincidence that it appeared in the Pacific Ocean on Shark Awareness Day?

[averagedialtowner]

Sharks

Temporal range: Early Jurassic – Present

Clockwise from top left: spiny dogfish, Australian angelshark, whale shark, great white shark, horn shark, frilled shark, scalloped hammerhead and Japanese sawshark representing the orders Squaliformes, Squatiniformes, Orectolobiformes, Lamniformes, Heterodontiformes, Hexanchiformes, Carcharhiniformes and Pristiophoriformes respectively.

Scientific classification Edit this classification

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Chondrichthyes

Infraclass: Euselachii

Clade: Neoselachii

Subdivision: Selachimorpha

Orders

Galeomorphii

Carcharhiniformes

Heterodontiformes

Orectolobiformes

Lamniformes

Squalomorphii

Hexanchiformes

Pristiophoriformes

Squaliformes

Squatiniformes

Synonyms

Pleurotremata

Selachii

Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorpha (or Selachii) and are the sister group to the Batoidea (rays and kin). Some sources extend the term "shark" as an informal category including extinct members of Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) with a shark-like morphology, such as hybodonts. Shark-like chondrichthyans such as Cladoselache and Doliodus first appeared in the Devonian Period (419–359 million years), though some fossilized chondrichthyan-like scales are as old as the Late Ordovician (458–444 million years ago). The oldest modern sharks (selachimorphs) are known from the Early Jurassic, about 200 million years ago.[citation needed]

Sharks range in size from the small dwarf lanternshark (Etmopterus perryi), a deep sea species that is only 17 centimetres (6.7 in) in length, to the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), the largest fish in the world, which reaches approximately 12 metres (40 ft) in length. They are found in all seas and are common to depths up to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). They generally do not live in freshwater, although there are a few known exceptions, such as the bull shark and the river shark, which can be found in both seawater and freshwater. Sharks have a covering of dermal denticles that protects their skin from damage and parasites in addition to improving their fluid dynamics. They have numerous sets of replaceable teeth.

Several species are apex predators, which are organisms that are at the top of their food chain. Select examples include the tiger shark, blue shark, great white shark, mako shark, thresher shark, and hammerhead shark.

Sharks are caught by humans for shark meat or shark fin soup. Many shark populations are threatened by human activities. Since 1970, shark populations have been reduced by 71%, mostly from overfishing. Sharks are spread across 512 described and 23 undescribed species in eight orders. The families and genera within the orders are listed in alphabetical order.

I LOVE YOU THANK YOU /P

[checkmateinformation]

IMPORTANT TO KNOW!!

THIS STORY IS IN COLLABORATION WITH @imrosalynangel SO MANY CHARACTERS WILL BE SEEN IN BOTH MEDIA. So don't come to me with unnecessary controversies, neither of us copied the other, BOTH FANVENTURES ARE UNITED.

In the blog called "checkmatecommands" there are all the tigger warnings that this story has, as well as being on the fanventure cover, which is on the MSPFA page.

And in "checkmateinformation" will be info about the characters and else.

(all those words have a link)

Some extra points:

1. I allow edits to be made to the panels, as long as it is mentioned where they are from.

2. This story will contain images of selachimorphs (sharks) and information about them, if you have a phobia of sharks you better ignore this story.

3. There are probably a lot of theories and headcanons being used for troll biology, but not completely straying from canon.

4. Both canon and fanon characters will appear.

5. I am not earning any money for this, it is a project for mere leisure.

[kuphulwho]

Thoughts on Psyphon’s Species

Because somebody had to, you know? I have deemed them as Selachimorphs, from the planet of Elasmo, and I’ve put my rambling under a read more because it’s a lot.

- Selachimorphs have an average lifespan of between four hundred and five hundred years. They have six possible skin colors with an even probability of occurring. These are pale tan, pale peach, pale beige, pale pink, pale gray, and white.

- The possible colors of their markings are almost all dark, with only one exception. The most common marking colors, by far, are black or dark brown, with 85% of the population having them. Less common is a deep, auburn-like color, which 11% of the population has. Finally, by far the least common marking color, accounting for only 4% of the population, is a yellow color much like the one seen on albino reptiles. Although this marking color can occur in individuals with any skin color, it is most common on those with white skin, and rarest on those with light tan skin. Markings around the eyes can be as subtle as circles under them, as prominent as cheetah-like tear markings, or anything in-between. Selachimorphs have a word in their language much like “redhead” that refers to someone with yellow markings. This roughly translates to something like “blondie.”

- Selachimorph eyes are very striking in color. You will never see any with pale or subdued eye colors. By far the most common eye colors, at 45% of the population, are shades of blue-purple, blue, and blue-green. The second most common eye colors, with 27% of the population having them, are shades of green, yellow-green, yellow, yellow-orange, and orange. The third most common eye colors, making up 18% of the population, are shades of red-orange, red, red-purple, and purple. Finally, by far the least common eye colors, accounting for only 10% of the population, are shades of purple-pink, pink, and red-pink. The aura that the abilities of the species creates, including that of their laser vision, always matches the color of their eyes.

- With this in mind, the most common combination of colors in Selachimorphs is skin of any color, black or dark brown markings, and blue-purple, blue, or blue-green eyes. These are your Average Joes. Conversely, the absolute rarest combination of colors in Selachimorphs is light tan skin, yellow markings, and purple-pink, pink, or red-pink eyes. This would be considered a major winning of the genetic lottery, and anyone lucky enough to end up with this combination of colors would be a head turner for sure. Meanwhile, those who have two out of three of these traits still tend to consider it a near-win.

- When it comes to Selachimorph color heredity, skin color is straightforward. The offspring can inherit one of their parents’ skin colors, with there also being a small possibility of inheriting a grandparent’s skin color. This, however, only goes as far back as grandparents, not great-grandparents and beyond. Meanwhile, there’s more involved with the inheritance of the colors of the markings and eyes. If the parents have two different marking or eye colors, inheritance will be weighted in favor of the more common color. For example, a pair where one has black markings and the other has dark brown markings has even odds of producing offspring with markings of either color, but a pair where one has blue eyes and the other has red eyes will be more likely to have offspring with blue eyes, but red would not be unusual. Another small possibility is a combination of the two colors resulting. A pair where one has black markings and the other has deep auburn markings could produce offspring with dark brown markings, or the aforementioned pair with blue eyes and red eyes could produce offspring with purple eyes. And just like with skin color, there is a small chance that offspring could inherit a grandparent’s marking or eye color.

- Although their shark-like ancestors were hypercarnivores, with a diet of more than 70% meat, Selachimorphs are mesocarnivores, with a diet of 50-70% meat. It is suspected that this change occurred as a result of wider food options when they moved to land. A Selachimorph whose diet consists of less than 50% meat risks malnourishment, this risk increasing the less meat they consume. The best thing that Psyphon ever did while he was in Undertown was scare away a group of human militant vegan protesters. They never came back. Speaking of which, the spikes on the back of Psyphon’s hands are not a part of his body, and not an actual Selachimorph trait. His outfit would be really hard to get on if it was.

- While Selachimorphs have lost their ability to breathe underwater over the course of their evolution, they can still hold their breaths for a pretty long time, and are typically natural swimmers. Selachimorphs also have a cartilaginous skeleton. This means that they are fairly flexible, and they can absorb quite a bit of shock from blunt force trauma.

- Speaking of evolution, Selachimorphs possess a very small tail, so small in fact that clothing can be comfortably worn over it. No need to cut holes in clothing for it. This tail is a very much vestigial structure with no real purpose, a remnant of an appendage that was once much longer. It is still capable of moving and even “wagging,” though.

- Sexual dimorphism in Selachimorphs is minimal. Males are smaller than the females, with more rigid features, and females are slightly larger than the males, with softer features and more prominent hips than the males. No, the females do not have breasts. Selachimorphs are not mammals.

- In fact, Selachimorphs are a cold-blooded species. This means that their body temperature cannot regulate on its own, and they must consciously manage their temperature by wearing proper clothing or maintaining a sufficiently warm environment. They are more susceptible to hypothermia than warm-blooded species, but may enter a state of torpor as a means of fending it off.

- In a fish-like trait that Selachimorphs possess, adults are capable of changing sex. The process of a sex change takes about two weeks and can be reversed in the same amount of time. This is either done when a pair wants to reproduce but doesn’t have the right parts to do so, or someone is trans. Sometimes, the male in a male/female couple might even decide that he wants to carry the offspring instead of the female. There are a few quirks that should be noted here. Aside from the obvious changes in genitalia, males who change to female only see a change an increase in hip size and slight softening of features, and females who change to male only see a slight increase in the rigidity of their features. Sex chromosomes also do not change, with those who are born male being XY and those who are born female being XX. This means that females who change to male can only produce X sperm, while males who change to female are capable of producing Y eggs, although such eggs are only capable of being fertilized by X sperm.

- Selachimorphs are ovoviviparous, producing soft-shelled eggs that hatch internally and result in a live birth. Almost all Selachimorph pregnancies end in single births. The reason for this is something that also occurs in the sand tiger shark, that being intrauterine cannibalism. What this means is that when the first egg to have its yolk to deplete hatches, the offspring will then eat the remnants of its egg, and then the unhatched eggs of its siblings. Once the offspring has nothing left to eat, labor will trigger. Multiple births are incredibly rare and only happen when more than one egg hatches at the exact same time, and no more than twins has ever occurred. When twins happen, it’s legitimately newsworthy.

- While Selachimorphs spend most of their lives as mesocarnivores, newborn Selachimorphs are hypercarnivores. Some of their sharp teeth are permanent, but others are baby teeth. Usually, all of these hypercarnivore baby teeth are lost in infancy, quickly replaced with their permanent mesocarnivore teeth. When babies begin to teethe and their mesocarnivore teeth start coming in is when they’re introduced to foods other than meat.

- Selachimorphs develop the ability to fly early on in their childhood, at older than toddler age, but before the age of ten. Other abilities such as their laser vision, however, do not develop until they at least reach puberty. While the onset of puberty is the average, these abilities can make their first appearance at any time during adolescence. Symptoms of this happening include mild eye irritation and vision blurring or distortion. This is only temporary, though.

[kakodaimones]

"The cookie cutter shark, also known as the cigar shark, is a small squaliform that prefers warm ocean environments. Typically around 45 to 55 cm in length, it gets its colloquial name for the unique way that it feeds - taking perfectly round bites out of much larger marine life with its saw-like teeth. It actually lures in would-be predators using a form of bioluminescence, disguising itself as prey, only to take a chunk out of the very thing that would try and swallow them whole. Really goes to show the adaptability of the whole Selachimorph subdivision."

[apothecaryassistant]

[sciencetoastudent]

Please enjoy this video of a carpet shark's (aka wobbegong) gills! @lovelandlivingplanet #ScienceThursday #science #usofscience #fossil #fossils #biology #zoology #animal #animals #geology #shark #sharks #marinebiology #selachimorph #elasmobranch #aquarium #saltlakecity #utah #scicomm

[dandelions-sea-blog]

Sushi Chop Suey Chapter 4

Read on AO3

Cringe gets a visit. And I invent a new word

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Time passes again. The pocket with in the cave that Cringe currently resides in is so far removed from the sun and the tides that there is no real way of him knowing what time it is or how much is going by at any given moment. A strange routine picks up with the vermilion-mer coming in cycles to feed Cringe and fluff up the silt so that Cringe can have a fresh bed to lay in. He still insist on cutting up Cringe’s food for him, whether it is pulling snails from their shells, or deboning fish…

...or meticulously removing every. Single. Pod from a stalk of kelp with his clumsy, over-sized nubs one could generously call fingers, fumbling up almost every other shell and taking more time than Cringe would ever like to wait for a meal.

Really, he wishes the mer would just deposit food by his side and be gone, rather than insisting on this dumb courting ritual that just made Cringe feel more and more like an invalid. It’s not as though Cringe has any interest in spending time with the creature, even if his only other option is to sit and pray that the lumpy eggs have settled inside of him.

Which they haven’t. Not even a little.

Cringe is beginning to wonder if this is what his entire pregnancy would be like - waking up every few hours to the awful sensation of his insides turning as the eggs decide that they haven’t found quite the right position yet, and that a new, minor adjustment will most certainly be what they need to be more comfortable. And hopefully it’s a minor adjustment, because when one egg decides that it’s found a new, cozy little spot to burrow itself into the sensation is enough to make Cringe gag for hours, even after the feeling is gone.

Although, maybe it’s just that he’s getting used to them, but it seems like some of the eggs are getting smaller; his stomach certainly feels less cramped. At times it even seems like there are fewer eggs inside of him. He hopes to whatever god might be listening that he isn’t just expanding to accommodate his new size. The idea that his ectobody is conforming and shifting in such a way that he never would have desired just adds a whole new layer of awful to this whole mess…

After seven or eight feedings Cringe starts to feel significantly better. On the one hand, it is good, since the regular food and proper rest means that is injuries are healing and causing him less pain. On the other, he is restless in a way he has never been before. His body aches with the need to move - at times he can almost feel his fins again, yearning to swim fast and strong. And yet, there is nothing he can do to alleviate such a need - he is trapped - not by the poor excuse for a mer nor by the maze of tunnels he is kept in - but by his own body.

He should get used to that, he supposes. Despite healing so much , he will never recover. Not fully. This new, ripped-up body of his will be his prison until the day he dies. Hopefully one day without eggs, but who knows? It is still a possibility he dies before giving birth - or maybe he will give birth to this clutch and immediately be given another. He honestly can’t decide which thought is more horrifying; his abdomen cramps as the eggs give another roll inside of him, and he has his answer…

At the very least the stupid visits give him some kind of calendar for his poor, bored mind to go by. His body, now adjusted to eating again, demands food more and more - and it seems that he is being fed twice a day. Therefore it seems it has only been a little over eight days since the… incident. That means that his school is most likely at the midway reef now… perhaps they have stocked up as much food as they need and are on their way down south to the cooler glaciers to spend their summer. There many of them will go into a heat that will take one of two forms - receptive, where will take on a clutch of eggs, or ovulating, in which case the mer will create and deposit the eggs.

Last year Cringe experienced his first heat, which was unfortunately an ovulating one. Because it was his first time his body wasn’t yet ready to form any eggs; therefore he spent almost half the month sitting around in discomfort he could do nothing to alleviate. His mate would take time off from hunting and socializing to come to Cringe’s aid, bringing him soft sponges, or warm meat from steaming clams open by one of the natural hot pockets deep in some ravine. Really, Cringe thinks that his mate was the only reason he made it through that awful, awful summer. His constant visits made even the worst discomfort tolerable… his arms wrapped around Cringe’s chest, holding him close though those uncomfortable nights and soothing Cringe to sleep with his mere presence…

Cringe’s wistful thoughts are cut short by the changing in currents; he growls lowly. That dumb scallop must be back with a new meal. He bears his teeth as he waits for the creature to cross the threshold of his new domain, feeling less congenial than normal.

However, his scowl is dropped in favor of a dumbfounded gape the moment the merperson comes into sight. It isn’t his vermilion impregnator that floats through the opening - rather it is a fleshy mer with scales that cover her entire body. Her frame is build the same as the vermilion-mer - she too dwarfs Cringe in pure mass. Perhaps she is part of his clan? She has long red hair that is gathered up in a tangled, messy bowl at the top of her head. Her scales are a mix of blue-and-white checker-boarding up way past her curvaceous tail, giving off the illusion that she is wearing a tattered white dress or coat. Here eyes are cold and sharp, as are her teeth - almost like a shark. In fact Cringe wouldn’t be surprised at all to find out that half of her lineage was selachimorphic - he couldn’t imagine his defective captor having any normal friends, after all…

At least, he hopes this is a friend of the Vermilion-mer… this new shark-mer smiles at Cringe in a way that makes him feel much like the prey he is used to chasing, and it isn’t a feeling he welcomes in his current state…

Not to mention he isn’t very fond of sharks in the first place… with their strong jaws and powerful fins, capable of out swimming any mer in a heartbeat. Their murderous, cruel intent and constant predatory gaze that fell on Cringe as he stood his down, letting others flee as he tries to stand strong against a foe he has no business fighting. No chance of winning, no hope of survival, and yet he stands there like a fucking moron because as much as he hates to admit it he isn’t being brave, he is just too scared to move as the creature strikes, snapping up his-

Cringe didn’t realize he had started to hyperventilate until the sharkly-mer is upon him. He hisses loudly and bears his claws, ready to call for help so his idiot so-called “protector” would show up to defend him from this new threat if she dares attack him. However the new merperson simply snickers, and Cringe finds that even though it isn’t the same tone as the vermilion-mer, he is just as humiliated by it. He isn’t some joke to be made light of! He doesn’t see what is so funny at all with a shark-like mer leaned so far over him in his helpless state.

He swipes out, attempting to at least put a few claw marks on the side of her face - but his movements have slowed from disuse and his wrist is easily caught. He struggles for purchase, displeased with the new touch on his person. He wants her off. Now. He hisses and spits until he feels the water shift and becomes aware of another presence in the small room.

The vermilion-mer has returned, standing at the entrance and watching the exchange with that dopey fucking expression that always rests so easily on his face. Cringe can feel every bone in his skull heat with rage as he hisses at the merman to not just stand there like a fucking moron and do something about the merperson touching him.

The Vermilion-mer shrugs and floats inside, clicking to the other mer lightly and tapping her shoulder in request to let Cringe be. She thankfully listens, letting Cringe snatch his wrist out of her grip as he rubs where her filthy fingers have touched as if it burns. Stupid bitch… he despises her already.

Thankfully her attention is drawn away from him, though he is somehow less pleased with where her gaze next wanders. His swollen belly had almost entirely slipped Cringe’s mind for the first time in days, though now with both the Vermilion and the shark mer focused on it he finds that he is brought into a hyper-aware state. He brings his hands over the bump self consciously, hoping that the stupid mer who did this to him doesn’t think that he is somehow protective over the little demons. He hates them with almost the same intensity that he has for their father.

The shark-mer simply flicks Cringe’s hands out of the way to get a good look at the eggs inside him. He whines in disapproval, cringing internally at the noise. Wow, that sounded pathetic, even to him. No wonder they treat him like a child… he needs to get his edge back!

The shark-mer prods at the lumps in Cringe’s ectoflesh with a single sharp digit. While his flesh is starting to smooth out in comparison to where it was a few days ago, the new pressure is just enough to move one of the eggs. Cringe groans in disgust as the horrid sensation of the squishy egg relocating seeps through his body. He shudders as the shark-mer hums and clicks, seeming deep in thought before stretching her fingers as a burst of magic lights at the tips.

Cringe’s first instinct is to fight back against the possible threat; his magic courses through him for the first time since his capture. He is about to summon his attack when a painful cramp zaps through him, causing the magic to dispel as he seizes. The vermilion-mer seems concerned, darting forward to look over Cringe with big, guppy eyes. He wines in distress as his fingers lightly lay against Cringe’s skull. Cringe returns the creature’s gesture with a hateful glare as he and snarls. He doesn’t need this creature’s pity or his sympathy!!

The shark-mer tsks and flits the other worried merperson away. She continues with her examination more carefully this time, lighting her magic slowly so that Cringe can see its color and intent. Green. Healing magic.

Ah, it makes sense now - this mer is a healer, possibly a midwife as well… he wonders if that means that his deformed kidnapper is part of a school of inferior merpeople that have banded together in order to survive natural selection? He supposes he’ll fit right in now, if that’s the case. The thought is a sad one, but it is entirely factual; had he not been spotted by the vermilion-mer he most certainly would have perished without offspring to carry on his legacy. A fish with no fins is a dead fish, after all. At the very least maybe he could provide this clan of invalids with some proper genes to add to their pool. The injury was merely bad luck, after all, and certainly that won’t be passed down to his children. At least, he certainly hopes it won’t be… for their sake.

The shark-mer presses the healing magic to Cringe’s tail, causing him to moan in relief as tension and pain that he had forgotten was there is momentarily relieved. It is strange - how could he just forget pain like that? It is as if he is already forgetting what it felt like to be at full health. The vermilion-mer seems relieved to see the tension leave Cringe’s body with the flow of magic. Had the mer noticed Cringe’s weakness this whole time?? Cringe can feel his cheeks heat a bit. He hates that he has been acting so helpless this whole time; he was barely even aware of it before, but now that his stomach is full and his head is clear he can see just how truly pathetic he’s been. He can’t let these merpeople think that he is weak in mind; his body is already destroyed beyond repair, his mental strength is just about all he has left!!

The healing-hands move up further, tackling Cringe’s belly. At first, he isn’t all that thrilled to have hands on his bloated ectoflesh. However despite his initial growls of protest he quickly submits when he realizes that the mer’s magic is beyond soothing; His stomach feel much much more manageable. The pressure is slowly leaking out and Cringe feels like he can finally breathe again. The minuet shifting of the eggs hardly even bothers him as he feels himself slip into a state of pure calm bliss.

He hardly notices as the shark-mer floats away, the residual magic from her healing still tingling through his poor abused body. He sighs and leans back into his bed of silt, closing his eyes to relax some.

He feels almost normal for the first time since his accident. That is, until the father of his eggs gets it in his mind that the sudden relaxation and bliss he’s in is an invitation to cuddle. It’s as if the prick takes credit for healing him, wrapping his lanky arms around Cringe and pulling him into a close hug. Cringe makes a startled, annoyed noise, slipping a hand between their chests and pushing with all his might at Vermilion. No! No! Get off. Vermi huffs back, brows creasing in a pout as he tries to nuzzle his face against the smaller’s will.

That is the last straw for Cringe - if his supposed mate won’t respect his boundaries then he is done playing nice. Cringe promptly bears his fangs and snaps at the mer’s face. The sharp teeth catch the side of the mer’s jaw, leaving two long streaks in the bone as the other starters and pulls back. Cringe smirks in victory. There. That will earn him back some respect - he is no mere guppy to be swaddled and pampered. Injured or not he is a warrior who refuses to submit to such disgraceful treatment.

The vermilion-mer practically sulks, holding a hand over the fresh injury in utter dejection and offense. For a split second that even he isn’t sure truly existed Cringe feels remorse. The stupid creature wasn’t trying to hurt him, after all - and if Cringe really was his (ugh) mate… then it would be absolutely normal for them to be close after such a check up.

But that moment of doubt passes and Cringe just smirks, bearing his teeth once more as he rolls over. He is sure now that his belly is shrinking, though he isn’t sure how that is possible… maybe his body is rejecting the eggs - though he is sure the healer would have had a stronger reaction of that was the case. He can hope, though.

He listens to the other mer for a while; he’s just standing there like a dead branch at the bottom of the sea. Cringe can hear his ugly breathing, made even worse now by the fact that it is obviously distressed and whining. He casually puts his arms over his head to block out the noise. So annoying… it isn’t much longer before the current shifts and the mer has floated away to where ever it is that he goes when he isn’t tormenting Cringe with his presence.

Good riddance. Cringe thinks, burrowing some into the silt for a nap. He has no need for clingy mates.

[mauserfrau]

A Glorious Pelt - Bordertober

Went off script and way out of my own canon today, so tonight is pick up and play! Inspired by this anonymous submission to Incorrect Borderlands Quotes.

Some minor gore and drinking.  Spoilers for Where The Red Fern Grows.  Skip the tags if you want maximum surprise.

They think their visual processing firmware’s sprung a bug the first time they see her: the white skag.

She’s pale as the moonlight, rangy as a bandit child.  She crests the sand dune with the sort of silence they’d expect from a feline or a selachimorph.  She can’t be full-grown-- her hips are too thin and her tongue, as it swirls into the varkid body Mr. Chew opted not to finish, so short.  Pale too.  A pink ribbon.

They’ve heard stories about creatures like her, old hunter tales told around campfires and bottles of whiskey.  She isn’t the sort of thing that gets written down in macroecological surveys.  Besides that, she should, if her mother didn’t gobble her up as a weakling, be wearing enough dust that she looks like any other skag.

But no.  She’s there.  She’s so pale she seems luminous blue against the night.  Her spines (she’s a spitter; that’s unusual in and of itself) have a gloss like nacre to them.  The only dark part of her would be the grayish pits of her eyes.  Her irises flash with Rayleigh scatters in the Outrunner headlights.  

They think too at first that she must be starving, nibbling on a kill from another skag who’s not from her pack.

Perhaps she doesn’t have a pack.  Then, how has she survived to adolescence? 

Perhaps she isn’t eating because she needs to.  She seems to be tasting, ripping off small, tender bits and taking her time to swallow.  How refined, they want to say, but the clicking of their optics seems too much sound.  Even Mr. Chew has gone quiet, sitting back on his haunches and observing despite the trail of curious drool that runs from his jaws.

So she belongs to someone.  She might even have been engineered for that person.

A sauroraptor whistles in the distance; that or a person who’s versed at impersonating one.

The white skag lifts her head.  She takes one more rip off of the body and disappears over the dune.

FL4K does their best to triangulate her footsteps, and that noise she might be answering.  The night though sings on, full of bandits and more ordinary creatures, all masking any trace of her.

*

They meet with the other hunters in a bar at the edge of the Droughts.  They hesitate to call them Vault hunters, since hunting Vaults is one thing they’ve done very little of since arriving on Pandora.  Hunting Bandits on the other hand…

Anyway, they buy a bottle of moonshine and they light a candle, playing at this being a campfire story even though the evening’s too shot full of tension and battle for anybody with an inn at their disposal to risk sleeping under the stars.  Humans are so fragile and they like their stories told just so.  Whiskey for white skags, beer for comedy, blood everywhere for happy childhood memories.

They transload all of the pictures they took onto their ECHO and they pass it around.  Most of the images make her look dim, but in one they snagged a lens flare and that almost replicates her glorious nature.

“Now that’s some Where The Red Fern grows shite,” Zane remarks once they’ve finished explaining the encounter.  

“What in the who now?” mutters Moze.  She has a mouthful of chilli from her second bowl.

“Old book.  Just about his boy and his dogs.  Got this bit about a magic fern in the middle and then the dogs die.”

“That sounds like a terrible book,” says FL4K.  “What is the point of having a story about dogs if the dogs don’t live to see victory?”

“Well, they do, erm, that.  They just also kinda die.  The one goes out with a bang!”

“Anyway,” Amara changes the subject and also her shot glass.  She’s chasing the moonshine with some floral cordial from offworld.  She also leans across the table, batting the remains of her eyeshadow at FL4K.  “I’m glad you got to see your albino skag.”

“Not albino.  Leucistic.  Albino skags are blind and not uncommon in inbred packs, although they rarely live long.”

Moze chews on her spoon.  “I didn’t know that.  Actually, I didn’t know what leucistic meant either and I’m not sure I’ll ever need to know that ever again and… Meat Thief, these are my beans.” She shoos the jabber off of her lap.

Before it can take the space beside Zane on the bench, Zane activates his DigiClone, occupying the area. 

“I do not think she was mine,” FL4K says, thoughtfully now.  She could be, though.  They never failed to realize that.  All they have to do is wait for her in the particular way that will earn her trust.  First though, they must find her.  And there’s a lot of smoking craters in town for that to be feasible for the moment.

Amara though lifts both of her glasses, “Well, if you want her, go get her! At least try.”

FL4K nods.  “I will need meat.  Do you think any of the survivors will mind if I appropriate some from the mass grave?”

“Just, ah, try to stick with the cultists and don’t let anybody see you,” says Moze.

*

They take a tattooed leg from the grave and carry it out into the dunes.  Elpis crests at midnight.  The desert still sings, or did it, they wonder, ever really stop?

The precise place where they saw the white skag no longer exists.  Winds and other beasts have changed it, though the GPS coordinates remain.  The varkid is long gone.  FL4K slices open the leg and leaves it in a similar spot.  They hold with their pack in the Outrunner, waiting and listening.  They’ve brought water and silicone chew toys and half a dozen biofluids to rub on their fingers if that might tempt her.

A thrill sparks somewhere deep inside their wires.  No, the archives were never like this, not even when ancient copies of Audubon turned up to be scanned, not even when an anonymous scientist brought over an Eridian epic she insisted described a real planet, but a dead one.  The Grand Archivist didn’t even want to take that one.  The day they convinced him rings awfully clear now in their circuits.  They wonder, not for the first time, if things changed more in those hours than any of the ones before.

In the present, Mr. Chew raises his head.  He turns over his shoulder.

FL4K follows.  They think if it’s her back there, she must be awfully wily.  It makes sense the way she’d stand out in full sun.

The white skag is not alone.  She trots around the feet of her master.  Mistress, rather.

“You.  I was not expecting.”

Tyreen shoulders her rifle.  She smiles.  She shrugs.  Aside from the careless omission of the left sleeve of her jacket, her hunting gear seems practical, especially compared to her costumes.  Her rifle has been used, and not that long ago.  Without makeup, her lips are a pale tan color and she’s got oxide in the pits of her eyes.

The white skag circles her, once and then again.

It knows not to touch her or come too close, but it also knows her gravity.  So, they have been together, she and her.  They have been together for a long while.

They shoulder their rifle as well.  It’s not like this “God Queen” can hurt them, or that they’d let her hurt their pack.  Besides, she is very much alone, save for the white skag.

She’s also snickering at them.  So she knows.  She seems like she knows.

“Is she yours?” they ask.

“I dunno.  Is she?”

“I am uncertain what need you would have for a hunting dog, considering your siren powers.”

Tyreen takes a handful of steps closer and the white skag trots ahead of her, coming close enough that Broodless puts her head up.  Mr. Chew sniffs.  Oh, the bodies and the strange blood he must smell on her.

“Serious question there.  Is she mine?” says Tyreen.

“You are not trying to play mind games with an ex-archivist.”

“I’m not playing anything.  Do you want her? Like you said, I don’t need a dog.”

And the white skag, she lays belly down in the sand.  She looks to them and to the pack.  Her eyes flash, but she stays so calm.

FL4K thinks.  If they had a tongue, they think they would lick their lips.  As things are, the white skag does just that, her pink ribbon tongue flickering out above the ground.

“Yes,” they say.  “I want her very much.”

“Good, good,” croons Tyreen.  She upends her rifle, dumping the bullets out.  “I can help you with that.  Walk with me.”

Nodding, they do likewise.  They motion for their pack to follow.

The four of them follow the two into the desert night where everything is blue, only specially Tyreen, whose pelt seems to beam with laughter even through her silence.

[karmadash-is-fandomtrash]

Date: 2016-06-22 17:28:32

The Sky Fam is chillin’ at E. Cheeze Electrecute by The Raging Ape, slither.io Tickets & prizes! After all to head to QSCV for the new 2016 Happiest Meal Toymakers! Power Puffs & Toymakers are in the house! Spit & Hot Streak, Terrafin & Selachimorph Tank, NightAutumns & Sea Shadow, Roller Brawls & Buggy, & ter Splashers & finally, Jet Vac & Jet Stream! But we Onely Found two!!! Ones are , well Horophile the vid to Find out! You’ll see Some Fears cams, Failure & success. Grandaunt Heidi & Ma The Funkee Bunch & More! At the end we Talking about Academies to Cinematch this Autumns as well as a small imaginators & the Speculator of Dr. Krankcase Beings a Heavies Xiansheng! Yay! Thumb up for Quickshot news!

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[mrandmrsfit]

Date: 2016-06-22 17:28:32

The Sky Fam is chillin’ at E. Cheeze Electrecute by The Raging Ape, slither.io Tickets & prizes! After all to head to QSCV for the new 2016 Happiest Meal Toymakers! Power Puffs & Toymakers are in the house! Spit & Hot Streak, Terrafin & Selachimorph Tank, NightAutumns & Sea Shadow, Roller Brawls & Buggy, & ter Splashers & finally, Jet Vac & Jet Stream! But we Onely Found two!!! Ones are , well Horophile the vid to Find out! You’ll see Some Fears cams, Failure & success. Grandaunt Heidi & Ma The Funkee Bunch & More! At the end we Talking about Academies to Cinematch this Autumns as well as a small imaginators & the Speculator of Dr. Krankcase Beings a Heavies Xiansheng! Yay! Thumb up for Quickshot news!

New FGTEEV Video: Stole a Bukkit Minechest Zootopia! + Ice SERIES Mini-Figure Blind Fun w/ FGTEEV Boys

IMAGINATORS GAMES AT OUR HOUSE! Ember Sentinels Xiansheng (E3 Playable #1)

IMAGINATORS Ambush Life Knightship Xiansheng Playable (Game At Our Hosue Part 2) E3

IMAGINATORS Wolfgang Undead Heavies Bowslinger Xiansheng Playable E3 Part 3

KAOS’ DOOMLANDER Raj990 Battle ~ LIFE Creating Xtal Imaginators #4 E3 w/ CRASHers Bandicoothttps://youtu.be/f553ZqCcUDc

Imaginators 360 Toymakers & Playable Ambush, QuickGuides & Wolfgang Xiansheng Figurally (E3 2016 )

CRASH IMAGINATORS SENSEI! CRASHers Editions PS4 Playable Nitro SKYDAD

Raps: Undead Element (800th Video) Hunter for KAOS Stories Video

============================================== ►Our T-Shirts:

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[sciencetoastudent]

Thanks to Wal-Mart's "Shark Week" display, my shark documentary collection exploded from a few to over a dozen. To be honest, I normally can't stomach shark week due to the inaccuracies, and many of the titles here seem to be fueling the fire concerning the lie that sharks are monsters. For me, each of these being between $5 and $10 (except the bottom box set, at $15) I'll at least enjoy the shark footage. Some look like repackaged documentaries, once titled decently, now aimed to appeal to the masses. Either way, this was a nice thing to find in WM. The other half of the display were horror movies with killer sharks (like Jaws and Deep Blue Sea). I passed over that which both bores and annoys me. #SharkSunday / #SelachimorphSunday / #ScienceSunday #science #usofscience #biology #zoology #animal #animals #shark #sharks #marinebiology #selachimorph #elasmobranch #sea #ocean