#so that no one can find and kill them while they hibernate

[warlordfelwinter]

so far the cutest thing I've learned about baatezu from that book is that they have jealously guarded nap spots

[headspace-hotel]

Tree stuff

Most trees should outlive you. If a landscaper tells you the lifespan of a tree is 10 years, they don't know what they're talking about.

Trees are free. Carefully comb over your yard for baby trees, especially in mid-spring!

Similarly, If you live near a gravel driveway or gravel parking lot, you can find baby tree sprouts that can be easily transplanted by gently removing the gravel bits from around the roots, wrapping the roots in wet paper towel, and transplanting to a large pot.

Do not pile up mulch around the base of a tree. You can mulch under the tree, but it should be a mostly flat layer, not a raised mound, and keep the mulch a few inches away from touching the trunk. Roots need some access to air or the tree will grow roots upward through the mulch, and the roots will slowly wrap around the trunk and strangle the tree to death. It's called root girdling and it is very sad.

Trees need friends!!! If possible, plant two or three trees instead of just one. Trees share nutrients through the mycorrhizal network and they protect each other from storm damage.

Always get a tree that is native to your area and suited to your local environment.

Growing an oak from an acorn is easy. Go to an area where there are oaks in the fall, and collect the acorns that have turned brown and whose hats have popped off. Get large pots at least 8 inches depth, and lay the acorns on their sides on top of the potting soil, then cover them with a layer of damp fallen leaves, and leave them outside all winter long. Just be sure to cover them with some wire mesh or something to protect them from squirrels

Please keep oaks and other large trees about 20 feet from any structure because they will grow huge. Websites will tell you to keep trees X distance away from "structures or other trees" but other trees can go as little as 6-10 feet apart whereas structures need to be like 15 feet away minimum, generally speaking

Prune the tree while it's dormant, NOT in the middle of summer!

If you happen to be from the Eastern United States, please consider getting an oak! They are keystone species and host plants for literally hundreds of insects. We have too many maples here too, so maybe consider a Sweetgum or Black Gum for pretty fall colors?

If you have a tree that's tied to a stake to keep it upright, get rid of that thing as soon as you can, particularly if there's zip ties holding it to the tree, because those can grow into the bark and kill the tree...

If your tree is dead, please consider cutting off the branches and leaving at least 6-10 feet or so of trunk standing. Dead tree snags like this are important nesting places for many birds and you might see a woodpecker

If you live in North America, whatever you do, do NOT get anything marketed as an "ornamental flowering pear tree." They're typically Pyrus calleryana, and they're virulently invasive

Bugs eating a few holes in the leaves of your tree? Good for them! (They aren't hurting the tree unless they're like, fully skeletonizing it, and they're just the caterpillars of butterflies and moths. Want Luna moths or Tiger Swallowtail butterflies? Let the caterpillars eat their dinner mmkay.)

Don't throw away the fallen leaves! Butterflies, moths, stick bugs, lightning bugs, ladybugs, and many other insects hibernate the winter in the fallen leaves. Use them as mulch for flower beds, compost them, or just leave them alone! You'll probably want to stop mowing after the leaves fall if you'd like to see bugs.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Why Feeding Wildlife is Dangerous

Originally posted on my blog at https://rebeccalexa.com/feeding-wildlife-dangerous/

Winter is here in the Northern Hemisphere, which means that wild animals of all sorts are falling back on cold weather adaptations that have evolved over countless generations. Some, like reptiles and amphibians, go into brumation or other hibernation-like states. Others have warm feathers or fur to insulate them as they go about their lives in chilly conditions. They may migrate around their territory in search of various food sources. Not all will survive these harsh months, which makes feeding wildlife to help them through the hard times a tempting idea.

Unfortunately, while this is a kind-hearted act born of good intentions, the impact is all too often harmful. Here are a few of the damaging, even deadly, effects of feeding wildlife.

First, let’s be a little more nuanced about the definition of wildlife in this case. I support the feeding of birds, at least those that commonly visit bird feeders. These birds are of species that are used to their food sources–like seeds, berries, and insects–being temporary, and so they retain their ability to forage for food in various places. Also, because the birds are not being fed by hand, and tend to retain their natural fear of humans, they are not likely to become habituated to us. It should go without saying that trying to convince birds to eat from your hand, or otherwise stop being afraid of you, is a bad idea (more about that in a minute.) And, of course, you need to make sure to keep your feeders clean and watch your local birds very carefully for any signs of disease; here’s an article I wrote on feeding birds safely and ethically. 

Wild mammals, on the other hand, have a tendency to become dependent on human sources of food much more readily than birds. If you leave food scraps, pet food, or trash out where they can access it, they quickly figure out that this is an easy meal, and will hang around more than birds might.

Some birds will be more easily habituated than others; ducks and geese, for example, will lose their fear of humans as quickly as mammals do, especially when being fed regularly at ponds or lakes. So consider this article to primarily cover wild mammals, waterfowl, and any other animal that can be easily habituated through feeding.

A good example of what NOT to do. 

Habituation is the biggest behavior change seen in fed wildlife. A habituated animal is simply one that no longer fears humans, and sees us as a source of food handouts. Unlike normal, healthy wildlife, these animals do not run away when a human approaches, even at a close distance. As mentioned above, this means they may even become aggressive in seeking food, and people have been bitten, scratched, gored, or otherwise injured by habituated animals. It may be easy to see why a habituated bear or moose is dangerous, but even smaller animals like squirrels or raccoons have a very nasty, painful bite or scratch. Some also carry zoonotic diseases that can be passed to humans; rabies is the most notorious, but even a bacterial infection caused by the bite or scratch can be an unpleasant experience.

But this lack of fear isn’t just a threat to us. It also puts the wildlife at risk. Wild mammals that wander through our neighborhoods in search of food are more likely to be hit by cars, attacked by outdoor dogs or cats, and injured or killed by cruel humans. If hunting is allowed in the area, the animal may walk right up to a hunter. Plus wild animals that become a nuisance or threat to people are sometimes euthanized, as relocated animals often end up finding their way back to their original territory, or go find a new group of humans to mooch off of.

Feeding wildlife can also cause them to cease natural foraging behaviors. Not only does this mean they may starve if the humans in the area stop feeding them, but they don’t teach their young proper foraging either, and so you may have animals several generations down the line that no longer know how to find natural food sources in the area.

Also, what we're feeding wildlife can kill them.

So here’s the thing: humans are omnivores. Actually, we’re sort of super omnivores; we have one of the most varied diets of any species, especially now that we’re able to grow all sorts of domesticated crops, including but not limited to two dozen cultivars of wild mustard (Brassica oleracea), various and sundry grains, legumes, tubers, etc. And because we’ve spread all throughout the planet, we’ve successfully sampled thousands upon thousands of edible animals, plants, and fungi. We’ve managed to evolve tolerances to substances some plants produce to keep from being eaten, like caffeine and capsaicin, and some of us go out of our way to seek them. We’ve also heavily altered some of our foods through cooking, to include some methods that render the food quite unhealthy even for us (not that that stops us from eating it anyway.)

All of this means that over 300,00 years of existence, Homo sapiens has evolved the ability to eat a truly mind-boggling array of foods. Unfortunately, even the other omnivores in our lives can’t necessarily tolerate the foods we eat. Domestic dogs evolved alongside us, eating first our refuse, and then sharing our meals, for thousands of years. Yet they still can’t safely eat chocolate, avocado, onions, or grapes, and some things we’ve created like the artificial sweetener xylitol can also be harmful–even deadly–to dogs.

So when you put out a plate of table scraps for your local squirrels, opossums, raccoons, or even bears, there’s a very good chance that something there is going to make them sick. You could even be sentencing one of your visitors to death! Even if they don’t immediately get sick, over time eating the wrong foods could seriously affect the health of wildlife, and may lead to sickness and an earlier, unpleasant death.

Sometimes, even something that seems like the “right” food can be deadly. Deer species in North America are adapted to eating lots of woody vegetation in winter; their gut microbiome is perfectly balanced to digest this tough food. However, some people like to feed them corn, either because they want to be nice, or because they want to hunt the deer. Unfortunately, the nutritional makeup of corn is very different from the deer’s winter fare. The carbohydrates in the corn can cause a condition called rumen acidosis. This overloading of carbs causes Streptococcus bacteria, which occur naturally in the deer’s chambered stomach, to overpopulate in a matter of hours. This raises the acidity of the stomach, and kills off many of the other microbes in the gut flora. This sudden imbalance essentially causes the stomach to stop digestion altogether. In a severe enough case, the deer dies a horribly painful death within twenty-four hours. Deer that survive often have permanently damaged stomachs, which can lead to worse health overall and a shortened lifespan.

Every ecosystem has adapted over thousands of years; in some cases, an ecosystem may be millions of years old (with some changes in species makeup, of course.) Over that time, species have evolved to keep each other’s numbers in check, whether through consuming each other, competing for resources, or spreading disease to other species as well as their own. One of the biggest limiting factors in a species’ habitat is the amount of food that’s available. You’ll generally have fewer large predators in a place than large herbivores, for example, because the land can support a lot more plants to feed herbivores than herbivores to feed carnivores.

So the ecosystem is able to keep its species in balance; any time a species begins to overpopulate, predation, starvation and disease tend to knock the numbers back. Some species even have “boom or bust” population cycles; lemmings, for example, are thought to have population fluctuations tied to the number of ermine preying on them in a given area.

But when we humans artificially change the availability of food in a given place, we can cause serious disruptions in these natural checks and balances. Put too much food in a place over time, and you end up with overpopulations of the animals that eat that food, with subsequent deaths from disease due to overcrowding, and starvation when the population inevitably outgrows even the artificially added food.

By John Davis, CCA-2.0

Speaking of disease, when feeding wildlife many people just dump the food in the same place every day or night, whether that’s pet bowls, a trash can, or a feeding site. This causes wildlife to congregate in unnaturally large numbers and on a regular basis, which again leads to increased disease transmission. Keep in mind that wildlife don’t have veterinarians they can just go to when sick, so you end up with wild animals dying some pretty slow, awful deaths due to these diseases. (And yes, this can happen with birds–again, why it is so incredibly important to properly clean your feeders regularly!)

I know it’s tempting to entice wildlife closer, and to want to help them through tough times. But it is incredibly important to keep a firm boundary between us and wild animals. We’ve already interfered in their lives and their behaviors enough. The more we meddle, the more harm we do to them, even if our intentions were good.

But wildlife are not pets. They are their own beings with their own lives and agendas, instincts and territories. They are, as Henry Beston wrote in The Outermost House, “not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.” And we respect them best when we give them their space and allow them to live as wild a life as possible in a world we have so dramatically changed.

If you want to create the best world for your local wildlife, create habitat and natural food sources for them. Remove invasive species, and plant more native plants, especially those that offer food and shelter to wildlife. (The native plant finder is a great starting point for those in the US.) Work to protect what wildlife habitat is left, especially habitats that are relatively undamaged like old-growth forests. This way you are helping to maintain space where these species can live the lives they have lived for many thousands of years without our interference.

Did you enjoy this post? Consider taking one of my online foraging and natural history classes, checking out my other articles, or picking up a paperback or ebook I’ve written! You can even buy me a coffee here!

[i-am-hungry-24-7]

A silly little idea but what if reader is asleep in the rec room because she's just so exhausted after mission days ago? And it's not just sleeping, you're literally hibernating. The four men have to check everywhere cause you're not in your room. First is Soap who find you. When he saw you're sleeping peacefully in sitting position on the couch (glad Price has changed that old dusty couch with the new one), he can't help but also feel sleepy, especially seeing how relaxed you are. So instead he joins in sleeping with you on your left side.

The next is Gaz who's been busy finding Soap and need his assistance. He also notices he hasn't met you since morning. When he found both of you snoring in the rec room, he smiled to himself and let the exhaustion take control over him. He's just gonna rest his eyes a bit okay. Now, he sits on your right side and close his eyes.

Ghost has been grumbling because the two sergeants now are absent in rookie's training. He immediately checked the rec room and what greeted him was something that made his heart warmed a bit. He found you, Soap and Gaz are snoring on the couch. Soap's on your left, his head leaning on your smaller shoulder. You're in the middle and Ghost just realized how youthful you're actually looking without too much stress or mental burden when you sleep. Gaz is on your right, his left arm tangles with yours. Ghost smiles behind his mask, pulling out his phone from pocket and snapping at least 10 pictures of you sleeping together. He can use this for the next threat or blackmail (but actually, he saves it for himself because you're just so adorable sleeping together).

As Ghost's about to flee from there, Price enter and sees the whole scene. He looks at Ghost with hint of amusement and shakes his head a bit. He gets out of the room right after telling him "Wake them up in 15 minutes" and Ghost nods.

Hello anon no this is not silly this is soooo cute 😩💖 Imagine them cuddling and sleeping like a pile of cats. They deserve the peace after so many troubles waiting for them. TYVM for sending this wonderful idea to me 🫡💖

TF141*F!Reader

Summary: you fall asleep on the couch in the rec room, and the sergeants joins your nap while Ghost and Price enjoying the scene

Each Other’s Shelter

“Bonnie?”

Soap opens the door to the rec room. He has been finding you, yet almost dug through the whole base, the last place he expects you will be in is the rec room. You aren’t someone who would fall asleep easily already, let alone sleeping outside your room. So when he sees your figure, sitting on the couch in a weird position that he doubts how you’re able to sleep like a bear hibernating and unbothered by all the noises, he’s sort of confused and amused at the same time.

He walks towards you, casting a shadow on your figure when he stands in front of you. You look so serene and young, your usual frown and stress-included expression vanishes when you’re deep in your sweet dreams.

“Bonnie?” He whispers again as he kneels.

You still don’t move or react even a bit, and he laughs quietly at your slightly agape mouth.

The mission you guys just completed a few days ago must have exhausted you to your limit, but he loves to see you like this, wandering in your own dreams without the mundane burden on your shoulders.

Soap lets out a big yawn which even surprises him, he thought he was quite energetic a few minutes ago, but he wouldn’t complain about the spell you secretly cast on him with your peaceful presence.

A short nap won’t kill him, right? He contemplates as he takes a seat on your left side, letting your bodies squeeze together that the warmth is flowing between, and drifts into the dream along you.

Gaz asks almost everyone whether they saw Soap or not, he really needs some help from the sergeant right now, and even you have not been seen since the morning, like you two just disappear from the base.

He almost starts forming the conspiracy theory that you two are playing hide and seek together and the winner will get the excessive one-slice cake stored in the fridge.

He’s feeling tired from the sore muscles and the lack of rest after the grueling mission. The whole team just straight back to work after dealing with those bullshits, he’s worn out, and surely you and Soap are the same as him when he enters the rec room and sees you snuggling on the couch.

Soap leans his head on your smaller shoulder compared to the team, and seems like you unconsciously scoot yourself to seek the heat beside you, as your head angles towards Soap’s too.

A little tranquil haven built by you two inviting him to join with its magically soothing comfort.

Just going to rest his eyes for a while, the papers can wait.

Telling himself and chuckling at your suddenly stuttered tiny snores, he sinks into the couch beside you.

Gaz smiles when he imagines you shooting daggers at him when he laughs at you for your adorable snores later, and lets the rest he longs for cocoon him from the chaotic world.

When one of the recruits asks him about his sergeants since they’ve been waiting for them and their training, but neither Gaz nor Soap shows up, Ghost just sighs and waves the recruit off, and goes on his way to search the little dorks.

He doesn’t stop and guess where they will be, he just heads to the rec room. His instincts and years with his teammates instruct him the whereabouts of them.

What Ghost doesn’t expect is you’re with them too, and he takes in the scene unfolding in front of him, the heartwarming vibes filling the room make him soften and curl the corner of his lips under his mask.

When was the last time he felt such overwhelmed by tenderness that his bad temper was conciliated? He lost count of it, but he knew only his team and his love could provide him with this relief.

He fishes out his phone and snapping you cuddling together like newborn bear babies. The photos capture the sight and freeze the gentleness wonderfully, from how you and Soap tilt towards each other, to the way your arm tangles with Gaz’s, fingers intertwined tightly like you are afraid to let go.

Ghost watches the exhaustion brings all of you to somewhere without having to worry. Of course he notices Gaz hits his limits after the mission even though he tries to hide it, and Soap is unaware of the need for rest which’s deep down his heart. You force yourself to keep going with tiredness chaining your ankles, ending up adding wrinkles in your brow these days. Now the vivid contrast reminds him how youthful you actually look, and he hopes the innocence can stay on your beautiful face longer.

Stepping backward in order to leave, Ghost halts when he hears the low huffs of laughter coming from behind.

“Price.” He calls the man narrowing his eyes and obviously enjoying what’s happening in the rec room just like him, and shakes his head feigning a resigned attitude. No words are exchanged between them, as they just want to admire the undisturbed view in silence.

“Wake them up in 15 minutes.” Ghost feels the reassured pat on his shoulder before the Captain exits the room with a lighter mood.

His eyes trail at Price’s figure until it becomes a dot from the distance, then turns back to the three of you still napping on the same spot without stirring.

Glancing at his watch to remind himself to wake up all of you, Ghost guesses 5 more minutes is acceptable, and he knows Price will agree with him.

a/n: Price ‘threatens’ Ghost to send him the photos btw

thx for reading, have a nice day/night :D!

[ethereal-pie]

bullfrog head cannons

I have seen no fics of this beautiful French man so I have done it myself

just a ramble of my thoughts in bullet point form

he is an american bullfrog, he not only looks like one but also there are tons in France

He enjoys warmth and gets grumpy if he is too cold

I feel like he doesn’t touch you all that much but adores cuddling 

If given the opportunity he will burry himself in pillows and blankets ( bonus if they are weighted) especially during winter cuz of his hibernation instinct

He will insist you join him and promise it’s very comfortable 

He isn’t slimy like his real world counterpart but his skin feels very moisturized 

He gets cold super easy and shove himself under your shirt or jacket to soak up your natural body heat 

You also don’t have to worry about it being too hot to cuddle as he is cool to the touch 

He will insist you let him put his cold ass hands on your bare back to warm them up , he will pout if you don’t let him 

Letting him do this will more then likely result in him having his head under your shirt and his face pressed into your back and his hands on your upper stomach 

He usually avoids conventional touch based pda, the most normal pda you’ll get out of under normal circumstances is a peck on the cheek 

Instead the way he shows touch based pda is by sitting on your shoulders

Although if he is super cold he won’t care all that much

 And  Unless your in a situation where being partners with him would put you in danger, he will be  fairly vocaly affectionate

He will call you his beloved and other pet names 

As well as praise, flirt and compliment you

Some of His pet names  involve your name 

He seems like a darling, my dear, love type of person

He will jokingly call you stupid ones as well 

He has a lot of running jokes with you and will tease and joke around with you all the time, he just likes laughing with you in general 

Some of your jokes might take a second to land with him in the beginning but as your relationship continues he will pick up almost immediately 

He tries really hard to be cool cuz he wants to make friends but everyone being stuck on him being a frog annoys him a lil 

He will complain about this to you at least once 

He is trying to be cool and Poetic!

When he is mad he will begin to speak in a mix of French and English but he doesn’t really yell at all, he does talk faster tho 

He will bath for hours but doesn’t like to shower 

He cannot use certain soaps or he will get sick because he will absorb the chemicals through his skin 

He likes the look of bubble baths but if he sits in them he gets sick cuz of the soap In the water 

Given his accent I assume he speaks French but I think he can speak multiple European language, due to his job 

He is very adverse to the idea of eating bugs, he isn’t scared of them but if someone offers him a bug he will be grossed out.

He is the kind of person to not only catch and release bugs he finds inside but he will have little convos with them too

You’ll hear in the other room “hello there my miniature friend.’’ And as he takes them outside “ I’m very sorry but you cannot stay here.” 

His approach to flying bugs is far different, he will take NO PRISONERS

He is very efficient with a fly swatter and knows all the concoctions to lure and kill flys fruit or other wise 

He avoids using his hands cuz of the bug guts 

If you are afraid of bugs he will find it amusing but he won’t tease or torment you, he will just chuckle at how ridiculous you look up on the counter while he captures the invader.

He is very polite and kind to everyone he interacts with unless they have done something to warrant other wise 

He will use French sayings in English  instead of the English one because he is convinced that “ they are far superior” 

Pins and needles are now ants, it’s raining ropes not animals, forget apples and trees, dogs don’t make cats.

If you use the English versions he will argue the French version is better 

“ bolt of lightning explans the felling of it, love at first sight is so bland.’’

Please convert he will find it unendingly adorable every time 

He does get cuteness aggression and will randomly shove his face into your chest and aggressively nuzzle into you whist squeezing you and violently kicking his legs and making a happy humming 

He will be embarrassed the first few times he does this 

He will get cuteness aggression from your cuteness aggression 

If you bite him he will be very confused but won’t care all that much so long as you aren’t hurting him

You will probably be taller then him and honestly he likes it that way because when you hug him he feels like momentarily  he is a totally encased by you 

You can carry him but only certain ways

No toddler hold, with one arm and him on your hip 

Piggy backs, shoulder sitting and standing are encouraged 

You can only sling him over your shoulder in emergency’s 

Same with under your arm 

He doesn’t like princess carry’s cuz he can’t hold on to much and he wants to touch with  max surface area

Carrying him by his armpits away from you has the same problem, he will struggle 

He does enjoy if you hug carry him with both arms, either his face in on your chest or resting on your shoulder 

I have made a helpful diagram ( I can draw but it’s just stick me cuz I’m lazy)

He will randomly start monologueing if given the opportunity 

He will tell you about being an assassin but only if you ask 

I think he is more likely to be with Someone who has prior experience with fighting

He feels nauseous after producing bubbles 

He will lean on or try to be touching you while he recovers 

You cannot truly surprise him, he will know something is up the moment you even begin to plan 

He knows because you act slightly different 

And hiding  or sneaking something past him is also impossible 

He has to actively try to avoid finding out what your doing 

You’ve snuck something into the garage, I guess he isn’t going In There for a while 

Hiding something behind your back, he isn’t even gonna face your direction while you hide it 

You cannot sneak up on him either 

When you try he will scare you by suddenly turning around and grabbing you 

On the other hand he has  scared and surprised you accidentally many times 

hope you enjoy and this inspires more fic to be written of bullfrog

[powdermelonkeg]

Worldbuilding

Made a new fantasy world in my spare time today, populated it with fantasy races.

Premise of the story: An elf chef who runs the best restaurant in the area gets his ingredients by diving into the local dungeon. His restaurant is the best not only because of his fantastic cooking skills and quality ingredients, but also because he can serve anybody that comes through his doors; each of the races has different dietary needs and finds different things poisonous, and he can cook for anyone.

One day, he's in the dungeon, and he falls down into a lower level nobody's been to in AGES. Thing is, though, there's a human living there, a biologist who's been studying the dungeon ecology for centuries, and the last human alive—all others were wiped out centuries ago due to a plague, and she's only alive because she's been living in the dungeon.

Main story arc is this guy trying to figure out not just what she can eat, but what she'd LIKE to eat, without killing her in the process.

Yes this is inspired by Dunmeshi. What of it.

Races are:

Humans (extinct)

Elves

Faunlings

Halflings

Orcs

Dwarves

Brounies

Gnomes

Elves

A camouflage species, their colors depend on the environment they're in. A snow elf would be pale white, a wood elf shades of green and brown, a dark elf (as in, lives underground) stone gray with jet black hair, and so on. Knife-point ears. Average height: 5'8"

Diet: Vegetarian, can't process meat at all, regardless of source.

Faunlings

Deer-like people, ranging visually from elves with horns to satyr-like. They're all one species, despite individual variation.

Diet: Opportunistic carnivores, they CAN eat meat, but mostly eat plants; can't process milk or most sugars past infancy. Average height: 4'10"

Halflings

NOT hobbits. They're small people, deathly pale and young-looking in their base form, with nub horns on their heads. Their appearance changes depending on who they live nearest, from their build to their coloration—a halfling living near wood elves might get taller and coppery with pointed ears, while a halfling near faunlings might have furrier legs, dappled shoulders, and longer horns, etc. Average height: varies wildly

Diet: Obligate ovivores, eat almost exclusively eggs when young and need lots of protein. Depending on who they live near, they'll eventually adapt to local cuisine and build up poison tolerance, but forcing that adaptation to go too quickly can send them into shock.

Orcs

Cat eyes and feline fangs, big and muscular. Like elves, they camouflage based on location, but they tend to be more colorful overall. Average height: 6'10"

Diet: Heavily meat-based diet, they eat most meat raw. Highly lactose intolerant, may occasionally eat plants, but can't process grains.

Dwarves

Short and stocky. Dark blueberry purple-blue by default, will temporarily turn pale on parts of their bodies that are exposed to light for a few hours. Sunlight sends them into temporary hibernation and petrification, making them statue-like. On cloudy days, they're lethargic, and on moonlit nights, their skin gets a little harder, with white patches depending on the strength of the moonlight. Average height: 3'9"

Diet: They have a tolerance for poisons that most races would die over, but they can't stand most acids. Citric acid in particular is poisonous to them. Cavern-based diet.

Brounies

THESE are the hobbits. Short and humanlike, with long, fur-tipped tails. Usually monochrome in color scheme, leaf-point ears. Average height: 3'2"

Diet: Can't process plant fibers properly, all plant matter must be cooked to break it down. Mostly raw pescatarian.

Gnomes

Even smaller than brounies, humanlike, with round-edged pointed ears and generally plump bodies. Average height: 2'4"

Diet: Vegan, with HIGH poison tolerance, they actually need some poisons to live. Mushrooms and fruit make up much more of their diet than leaves do.

[cheesycatz]

Worm in the Apple (the Wormton AU fic) is at 120k words! Obviously the worm guy loves apples, fruit, and sugary stuff in general, though it holds no nutritional value for him. It's fitting, since most of the "worms" found in apples are actually just some form of insect, just like how Wormton himself isn't an actual worm. Being as contradicting as possible is his whole thing, I suppose.

May blithering helminth codswallop posthaste be upon thee if thoust must ruminate over thine virulent and insiduous merchant Sir Spammington G. Spammington The Deceitful:

Anyways, I've been struggling to write the depressing crap, so I often like to imagine the ending where they can all be happy together in Castle Town. I interpret Castle Town as a place where darkners are less bound to fate, since it doesn't seem to manifest from the real world, and is made of pure darkness, whatever that means. Wormton wouldn't have to hide anymore, but he would very much be, uh, neutralized if he tries to infect anything. He wouldn't get to have sixteen identical feral worm children that look like slightly smaller mirror images of him crawling all around the place, unfortunately; Castle Town could do without a highly invasive species that eats and destroys everything. I imagine that he'd keep the suit jacket so that he actually has some pockets, as well as to hide himself a little bit. Malworms naturally like to stay outside of the spotlight, so he's not very comfortable without his disguise. Not that being crammed inside his disguise was much more comfortable, but, hey, what other option did he have?

I like to imagine the addisons getting stuck with Wormton in Castle Town due to it having greater population density. I'm considering making it so that they don't even know he's there at first, like those criminal cases where some guy is living in a family's attic for months unnoticed. He'll have the opportunity to harass Swatch, interact with other characters like Lancer, and send "mild" death threats to Rouxls. I think he'd avoid Kris and the other lightners. He tries to kill Kris and absorb the SOUL from the get-go, and the two of them lack that puppet connection, since Wormton never picked up the phone. Still, he does pick up on their stilted movements that mimic his own when he's puppeteering his disguise, and does realize that the SOUL is a little more controlling than he would want, so they eventually reach a peaceful conclusion (This AU follows the pacifist normal route. This cold-blooded mf would probably just go into hibernation and do absolutely nothing if the player did a Weird Route). He's still pissed about them taking his shadow crystal, even if the starry night sky it once let him witness will never shine through its surface again. Kris is such a gremlin from what we know that I think it would he sweet if he valued the fact that, while they find his puppet-like disguise creepy, they're unfazed by his real appearance. Kris can go on his "people I don't fantasize about murdering and eating regularly" list, which might just be his "nestmates :^]" list if he'd actually admit it

Back to writing about him hating himself so much that he can't fathom someone healing him unless it was a transactional favor, hiding in a locket closet with no stimulation because he thinks he's trying to kill Blue whenever he's in an instict-driven half-asleep state (emphasis on thinks), believing the only reason that Blue is worried about him hiding so much is because they want him to leave faster, understanding so little of his actual species that he becomes stressed when he does anything that "isn't normal," Having fits of anger and mental breakdowns and feeling bad about it afterwards, using the worst coping mechanisms known to man, and devouring an entire 16 inch regular crust meat lover's pizza in one sitting

Cover art concept as a lil treat. Probably won't actually draw it until I'm ready to start releasing chapters, but it's fun to think about for now. I'll do my best to live up to expectations as someone with zero experience writing fiction and long-form content in general o7

[nerfpuncher]

Bad Batch Headcanons: Black Out Drunk.

Hunter

My dude just wants to feel the wind in his hair.

Hunter black outs and decides to go on grand adventures

Just happens to forget to tell the others and just disappears.

Next thing you know Tech picks up a report over coms of a man matching his Sargent's description sprinting barefoot and shirtless down the street towards the nearest park.

Dude just wants to lay in the grass.

He will attempt to hibernate his hang over away, avoid his bunk at all costs cause he is a GRUMP.

Does not believe he did that till Tech brings up security cam footage.

Crosshair

Smilar to Hunter in that he dips without telling anyone.

Only Crosshair makes horrible desisions

Tattoos? Oh yeah. He has the name Jessica tattooed on his damn hip and to this day no one knows who that was.

Got his nipples pierced not once, but twice. He has never lived that down.

Came back one time with his hair dyed BRIGHT yellow. Wrecker called him Dandelion for a week.

The next day he is more angry that his assigned babysitter didn't do their job and now he has a God damn tooka tattooed on his chest.

Tech

Galaxies drunkest driver

Hide the fucking car/ship/speeder keys cause this man's confidence in himself is ridiculous

Has the "ready to kill God or die trying" mentality

Tries to flirt, goes about as good as you would expect

Easy to keep an eye on thankfully.

Wrecker normally has to hold him while he wails about how if anyone else drives they will die.

Ngl, super fun to fuck with him when he is in this state.

The next day? He is one of those assholes who is never hung over. Just wakes up ready to go again like it never happened. Everyone hates him for it.

Echo

He is the emotional drunk. Hands down

Like, has one arm around Tech's neck, the other around Hunter's, holding them close loudly telling them how much he loves them.

Clingy in a fun way.

Down for what ever the others wanna do.

Easiest to keep an eye on cause he is not going anywere

Likes to tell stories, makes himself cry sometimes but that's okay he deserves that.

Randomly picks someone to cuddle with once back on the ship.

The next day he sips his black caf trying to pretend it didn't happen. But as always Tech has pictures.

Wrecker

My boy is all hype. Like "LETS FUCKIN GO!!!" Happiest drunk to ever drunk.

He ain't one to half ass shenanigans.

Dancing? He down. Some asshole wanna fight? Meet him in the parking lot.

Def forgets how big he is.

Like a bull in a China shop.

Makes friends with everyone.

Dog at a party? Wrecker is there.

Best beer pong partner you could ever have. Drunker he is the better his aim.

The next day? You would think someone beat him. Groans and complains about how much his head hurts and how he feels like shit.

+ Bonus

Rex

He don't cut loose often but on man when he do.

Man will decide he is the next winner of Galaxies Got Talent.

He's not.

But he is confident and most the bar cheers him on anyway.

It's the same song every time. Friends In Low Places.

The next day he spends sipping caf while trying to find every recording of his performance so he can delete it.

[killergirlfuria]

So I may or may not be working on a tiny little very self-indulgent crossover thingy. Will this go anywhere past this pic? We'll see.

The gist of this AU; year is 2029. Prototype and AC1-3 took place in 2012, Resident Evil Village in 2015. Alex and Desmond have been together for 17 years. Through legally sound and morally questionable means, Alex and Desmond ended up as legal caregivers of Elijah, Pariah/Michael, and Rosemary Winters.

From left to right; Desmond, Alex, Elijah, Pariah/Michael, Rosemary, Dana.

Stuff about it under the cut.

While they are messing with Abstergo and Brotherhood in Europe, they befriend one Ethan Winters and, after his death, Mia entrusts them with Rose as she can't take care of her in her deteriorating mental state. And, realistically, they're probably best equipped to giving Rose as normal life as someone as her could get. She grows up happy, aware and accepting of her powers. Hard not to, when out of her two dads one is effectively a demigod and the other is eldritch sentient plague. Being a sentient mold isn't so weird in this setting.

Later when raiding Abstergo bases they find Elijah held there. Desmond, now aware that he has a kid obviously refuses to leave him. They kill Juno as a father-son bonding activity, visit Elijah's mother grave. Cry a bit, argue a bit (he is a traumatized tween) but figure it out. It forces Alex and Desmond to slow down a bit; they do want to give their kids a stable childhood, after all. They thought they had more time, since Rose was barely a toddler, but with Elijah on board they reevaluate. Somehow, Alex ends up being his favorite dad. Desmond is only a little jealous, but he gets it. He likes Alex a whole lot, too.

They have a little break, a little wedding, they wrap up the Templar mess as well as they can for the time being. Desmond takes the Mercer surname and so does Elijah, because Bill does not deserve his name to be carried on.

Desmond becomes a Mentor somewhere in the middle. He's determined to drag the Brotherhood back into functionality whether it likes that or not; no more Bill sending people to die for nothing but his ego. Bill doesn't take it well, of course, but who'd care about him at this point? Desmond has three lifetimes worth of Mentor memories and the scariest dog on the block for a husband.

Alex does science, because he likes it. He's the kind of person to find writing dissertations fun. He may become an university professor; college students tend to be the most agreeable and most entertaining breed of a student. He does photography too. It's a memory-making thing.

They tackle Blacklight properly; find Pariah. Pariah, as it turns out, is actually somewhat unstable, hibernating most of the time, and stuck physically and mentally at 8 years old. Alex offers Blacklight to stabilize him; Pariah accepts. Purges his DNA of irregularities, replaces what's missing with Alex' DNA and the Blacklight. It's a little weird, to retroactively make him Alex' child when he was born before Alex, but that's what they're dealing with now. Pariah is still 8 in every way that matters. Greene named him Michael, which he gladly accepts (he never had a name before), and then he's a Mercer too.

It's 2020 by then, so plague jokes abound.

Dana in the meantime does what any girlboss does, gets her journalist career going, writes a book or two. Is instrumental in orchestrating the public downfall of Abstergo and Blackwatch. Adopts two cats. Struggles to find a girlfriend because things are never boring with the Mercers, but their kind of excitement oft comes with threat of bodily harm, cults, and shady corporations being hunted for sport. She's also kinda sorta infected with a dormant strain of Blacklight because it was either that or dying to whatever Greene infected her with.

In 2029 Desmond is 42 years old, Alex is 46, Elijah is 24, Michael/Pariah is 17 (chronologically 60), Rosemary is 15, and Dana is 38.

[bonefall]

Glowworms

(because i keep getting asked about them)

[ID: An adult female glowworm of the species Lampyris noctiluca. It has a bright green glow and clings to a plant.]

Before I even get started, let me lay down some education on the entire Lampyridae family so that we're all on the same page about the specific species that I'm going to talk about for the UK. I've done more research on this topic than the last time I brought it up, and I come bearing knowledge

Lampyridae is a family of beetles, descended from a bio-luminescent ancestor. There are more than 2000 species of Lampyridae, and they can be VERY different. This family is called "fireflies," "glowworms," and "lightningbugs" but ALL of those common names are AWFUL for referring to the full family becaaaaaauuuusee...

Not all lampyridae can fly

Not all lampyridae can glow as adults

Not all lampyridae light up passively; some use it as a lure or a warning

Not all lampyridae light up during flight

In the US, our most iconic species light up during flight, and our most common species have males and females capable of flight. So when I'm talking about "glowworms," remember that those traits are not shared by ALL species of Lampyridae, and especially not this one.

The UK has one species of glowing Lampyridae, Lampyris noctiluca, the Common Glowworm. There's one other, non-glowing species but it's extremely rare and only in the south, and an occasional visitor from mainland Europe.

GLOWWORMS

Only the female lights up, and her final stage is not capable of flight. This is called a "larviform female," because she looks like the wormy adolescent stage that all Lampyridae go through.

The female will climb up to the highest blade of grass she can find and wiggle her butt around until a male, who CAN fly and does NOT glow, finds her. Then she lays eggs and dies.

So because the adults do not eat and quickly die after reproduction, most of a glowworm's life is spent as a larva.

The larval glowworm is a SPECIALIZED predator of gastropods. They hunt snails and slugs for ONE or TWO YEARS (depending on how much food there was in the first year), hibernating over the winter, then waking up and doing it again. All movement in the species is done by the larvae; they have a REALLY hard time establishing new colonies because of this.

This is NOT a pioneer species. You need to have undisturbed grass, moor, or heath, no pesticides, not overgrazed, not brightly lit, for generations of these insects AND their prey. It's REALLY easy to decimate the glowworm population in an area via carelessness.

(let alone the horror story in the Glowworm Survey page where a tiny colony was intentionally destroyed, which is why they have a policy about keeping quiet on reports of certain colonies except to researchers ;_;)

so LOOK AT ME

HOLDING YOU BY THE SHOULDERS

You need to protect glowworm populations when you can. If you ever briefly hear posts in passing shouting about sterile lawns, light pollution, and pesticides, THIS IS WHY. If you live on the island and feel like there's a shit ton of slugs in your garden for some reason? Might be because these factors killed off their specialized predators, leaving you with an unfilled ecological niche.

Environment

Hypothetically, glowworms should be distributed all across Great Britain, except the Scottish highlands, though they have the strongest concentration in southern England.

Functionally, their population is incredibly fragmented. They need tall grass or heather, low light pollution, undisturbed (no pesticide) land, and lots of gastropods to eat. While they can work with forest verges and railways, places for them to thrive are getting rarer and rarer in the UK.

So to restate their very specific environmental needs;

Undisturbed land Glowworms and construction don't mix. Pollution, pesticides, and destruction can destroy the little patches of land glowworms have left. They need up to two years to go from eggs to adults, and a safe place for that to happen in.

A population of gastropods Baby glowworms eat slugs and snails. Because of that, they can't live where it's too dry.

Tall grasses, shrubs, or heathers, but not TOO tall A tree won't do! Glowworms do not live in trees! The females need a tall stalk to climb to the top of, so that they can signal to flying males. At the same time, they can't hunt or find each other in a savanna or a wheat field. Well-managed heathlands are excellent habitat for glowworms.

Low light pollution If it's too bright, males can't find females. Highways with heavy traffic, urban areas, and anything else that gives off constant light will affect the glowworm population.

They glow in June to May, in summer, at night. You won't find glowworms in winter, as all the larvae are hibernating at that time.

BB FAQ

When I determine if something will show up in the Better Bones AU and my Clan Culture expansions, I use iNaturalist to suss out if people are seeing it in the modeled region. Lads, there is a bald spot in my modeled regions. It's almost comical. The closest is in DERBYSHIRE, RIGHT out of reach.

So I'm still unsure about adding them. For now, they are not in BB. I GOT A REPORT FROM A FAN I will be adding them to BB.

"How do Clan cats feel about them?" They're unfathomnably holy, especially because they spend their larval stage eating snails which can be used in divination rituals. WindClan in particular considers themselves blessed for living around them.

"Can you use glowworms to light up the night?" Yes but that's really bad for their populations; leave them be! Clan cats wouldn't use something so holy in such a trivial way.

"Can you eat glowworms?" No they taste really bad. The chemical that makes them light up is REALLY bitter, and it's present in both the larvae and adults. Plus Clan cats wouldn't eat something so holy.

[whitewitchqueen]

one of the characters I don't talk about enough is Ranni. To be honest, I talked about her a bit in my concept, but I think she's really interesting when actually taken a deeper look at.

In complete opposition to the Golden Order and the Greater Will, she wants to create era of stars where people are free from control of the Greater will. She steals the Rune of Death, kills the first of the Demi-Gods, and kills her self all in order to serve her cause.

This is all to say that, if obsessed with Dream!reader, would stop and nothing to get them to her. I've been thinking a lot about how Dream!reader's powers would work, and I think as they spend more time in the Lands Between they slowly start to fade, if that makes sense. Like reader can't stay in a dream forever, no matter how real it feels. Ranni and Miquella spend most of their time trying to extent this dream, keep them here longer, but it never prevails.

I imagine readers powers like a two way mirror. Reader can see/enter into their world, but they can't do the same. Why this is becomes a great point of contention with the other characters. Marika, as much as she cares for reader, feels as though reader is hiding something from her, a power beyond her imagining. Miquella is probably the only one who came close to finding a way to reader, but is never fully successful. He might have tried to enter your mind once or twice, but it never goes far, it's like there's something keeping him from delving deeper.

For some clarification, I imagine reader has different types of dreams. Dreams where they're able to connect to certain characters, and dreams where they're actually able to enter into the Lands Between. Either way, they're both "dreams" for reader since they actually have to fall asleep to trigger these dreams, even though they are very real.

Anyway, this is where Rani comes in. I imagine, with her connection to the moon, the stars, and night, she also finds it easy to enter your mind. Maybe when she enters her hibernation, when she's at her most focused is when she's capable of entering your dreams. There, with you, she's able to learn that it's your soul who enters their world, not your body. Your body remains slumbering in your world. She deduces that if there was a way to bring your body to their world you should stay with them.

I think Miquella would eventually figure this out, maybe he'd use his powers to keep you asleep while he explores your mind. Either way, his plan is much different. He thinks it'd be easier to keep you asleep forever, so that you remain with them. While Miquella is kind and thoughtful, he has no reason to care for your world or the people who inhabit it, other than you. He sees no problem with keeping you dreaming if it means you don't leave.

Either way, you don't have say in any of this. The only way to prevent this is to learn more about your powers, and prevent yourself from dreaming of the distant realm.

[littlemoriflower]

Mori Book Recommendations, by littlemoriflower

Hello, dear-friends!

It's been a while since I have done one of these "longer" posts. I have been very absent, not only from this blog, but from the internet at large. School has been killing me lately, and I let the tiredness get the best of me more often than not.

However, I'd like to state that I continue to love AND wear mori everyday. not that anyone was accusing me of not doing it lmao I've simply been lacking the motivation to make more posts, but I hope that that's about to change! I won't be posting every day, but I'll try to come by and be more active in the community where I found so much happiness and lovely people in!

On another note, I have noticed more people joining the community! ^^ That is so exciting!!! I welcome all of you to our humble corner of the internet, and I hope you find peace and happiness in mori kei, as much as we mori folk do! (✿◡‿◡)

Now, to the post!

The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Synopsis:

Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle in Misselthwaite Manor on England’s Yorkshire moors after the death of her parents. There she meets a hearty housekeeper and her spirited brother, a dour gardener, a cheerful robin, and her wilful, hysterical, and sickly cousin, Master Colin, whose wails she hears echoing through the house at night.

With the help of the robin, Mary finds the door to a secret garden, neglected and hidden for years. When she decides to restore the garden in secret, the story becomes a charming journey into the places of the heart, where faith restores health, flowers refresh the spirit, and the magic of the garden, coming to life anew, brings health to Colin and happiness to Mary.

Goodreads

Anne Of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery

Synopsis:

This heartwarming story has beckoned generations of readers into the special world of Green Gables, an old-fashioned farm outside a town called Avonlea. Anne Shirley, an eleven-year-old orphan, has arrived in this verdant corner of Prince Edward Island only to discover that the Cuthberts—elderly Matthew and his stern sister, Marilla—want to adopt a boy, not a feisty redheaded girl. But before they can send her back, Anne—who simply must have more scope for her imagination and a real home—wins them over completely. A much-loved classic that explores all the vulnerability, expectations, and dreams of a child growing up, Anne of Green Gables is also a wonderful portrait of a time, a place, a family… and, most of all, love.

Goodreads

Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones

Synopsis:

Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.

Goodreads

Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke

Synopsis:

One cruel night, Meggie's father reads aloud from a book called INKHEART-- and an evil ruler escapes the boundaries of fiction and lands in their living room. Suddenly, Meggie is smack in the middle of the kind of adventure she has only read about in books. Meggie must learn to harness the magic that has conjured this nightmare. For only she can change the course of the story that has changed her life forever.

Goodreads

By Ash, Oak And Thorn, by Melissa Harrison

Synopsis:

Three tiny, ancient beings - Moss, Burnet and Cumulus, once revered as Guardians of the Wild World - wake from winter hibernation in their beloved ash tree home. When it is destroyed, they set off on an adventure to find more of their kind, a journey that takes them first into the deep countryside and then the heart of a city. Helped along the way by birds and animals, the trio search for a way to survive and thrive in a precious yet disappearing world...

Goodreads

Alice In Wonderland, by Lewis Carrol

Synopsis:

When Alice sees a white rabbit take a watch out of its waistcoat pocket she decides to follow it, and a sequence of most unusual events is set in motion.

Goodreads

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: We came in peace……  ( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)        

*Photo taken from Orbital Sentry 25371 upon first contact with human colony ship “Athena’s Hand”

“Humans greet you with a smile, but keep their hand on a gun.”

“Humans live for war. It’s in their blood.”

“The only time a human stops fighting, is to ask for directions to the next one.”

“A human’s eyes are a window to the soul. Look close enough and you can see the pit they crawled out from.”

There isn’t a space faring species that does not know a tale of humans. Some stand in awe of them, others in a hard won respect; but so many more cower in the shadows when they hear the tread of human feet.

So many tales of human brutality, their viciousness, their prowess on the battlefield and the cunning ways they find to envision new ways to carry out their slaughter. That is how humanity is known throughout the galaxy.

They are killers unlike the galaxy has ever seen.

Yet it would surprise many that this was not always the case. There was a time in fact when they were just humble space explorers taking their first steps off their homeworld into the great beyond of the stars.

In their early years they struggled so hard just to reach the other worlds of their home system. Barren, lifeless orbs of rock and gas circling their star; ever close and yet always beyond their reach. It would take them several hundred years before they set foot upon their moon alone, and then another two hundred before they reached further out.

As time progressed they became ever more capable of navigating the ebbs and flows of the cosmos and soon the travel between worlds was as trivial as watching the sun rise. From there they looked to new horizons and new worlds out in the depths of space; calling to them like the sirens of old.

They left their home system in peace, and it was a shame the rest of the galaxy was not ready to greet them in peace.

Lacking jump drives, human ships were designed for long duration hibernation cycles. This method would allow them to travel longer distances without experiencing the harshness of time. While certainly effective for such a limited level of technology, it did have its down sides. Many of these ships were left in the hands of mechanical stewards or a skeleton crew who were only trained with ship maintenance.

They were not prepared for crossing the threshold of the Jackalin defense perimeter by mistake. Their sentry guns detected the human ships but lacked any classification for them; and as they ignored the final warning from their automated systems and crossed the border of Jackalin territory they were fired upon by their orbital sentry guns.

Then there were the Titval slavers that boarded their ships and stole hundreds of sleeping humans for their slave markets, Mulari terraformers mistook a human colony for inferior life forms and froze over their colony killing every colonist, and worst yet when some floated into the quarantined zones and awoke to the jaws of Rat’ga’va biting through the glass and devouring them as they screamed in agony.

At nearly every turn, human deep space expeditions were met with disaster and horror. Hundreds became thousands, thousands became hundreds of thousands, and the eventually millions. The universe it seemed was far from ready to welcome them.

So one day the expeditions simply stopped, and for the next three hundred years humanity remained quiet in their own little corner of the galaxy. Never treading far from their home system; staying close to home where it was safe.

When next they set foot on the galactic stage they were heralded by a fleet of warships and countless legions of soldiers. Every alien was a threat to them and they responded as such through force of their new arms.

They would not be caught unaware again; never again.

[rainworld-oc-showdown]

Splendor by @fragile-gods vs The Eradicator by @frnletorres - round 1 set 1

Splendor- Description:

splendor would have an extremely high food requirement with very little carry-over (if any at all) up until the rot is neutralized, because they’re feeding both the “healthy” body and the rot. they’d have the ability to grapple and enter a stance where they’re able to send their tongue out to grab and consume prey. his agility (minus the grapple) and spear throws would be somewhat close to average, but would get worse as his remaining time to seek help shrinks and his rot’s abilities become stronger.

Story:

hi so one of his parents was made semi-unintentionally by sliver of straw (it would make more sense if i explained the story of one of my other slugcats) and the fucked up genes in that parent presented as rot in splendor. he’s sent out to seek help from anybody he can find that could help and ends up giving the rot to one of ISO’s neighbors before being helped by ISO themself

(the rot has been neutralized at this point in that it doesn’t spread any further, but is still a part of splendor’s body because he doesn’t know how to survive without taking advantage of how it gives him the ability to grapple to the environment and Consume much larger prey)

The Eradicator- Description:

Stats: Needs 7 (10 max) pips to hibernate. Can only eat corpses, with batflies giving 1/4 pip and baby centipedes/noodleflies one pip. Starts with the glow and the mark. Can dual wield, has 1.5 spear damage and has a stronger maul than artificer. Can also throw spears upwards. Heavier than survivor. Regular lung capacity and swim speed. Slightly slower than survivor when walking, but crawling and climbing speed is the same. Can do very high and long jumps however, and even leap vertically, allowing it to reach high places without having to backflip. Longer slides.

Abilities: It can secrete a sticky substance from its hands, allowing it to: Temporarily climb walls, with a meter depleting everytime you climb up and recovering as long as you’re not on a wall. Craft bombs and bomb spears with cherrybombs Cling onto big creatures, letting you maul or stab them before being shaken off. It has a thick skin, making it harder to get stunned, giving it more time before being incapacitated by predator bites, and a small chance to survive spear hits. It can hold items with its mouth, with the drawback of not being able to eat or maul while doing so.

Campaign: The campaign would take place on a new map, composed mainly of an iterator and its city with a connection to the void sea through a mining facility under it. Most of the campaign would be spent in the city, divided in regions and with a focus on verticality and climbing, similar to metropolis. In exchange of not having to deal with the rain while in the city, and besides the day/night cycle, the shelters in each region will not open until a specific number or type of creature are killed. Once enough kills are achieved, that region will be “cleared out”, permanently opening its shelters, reducing its creature spawns, and unlocking the gate to the next region. The rest of the regions (Inside the iterator, under it and on the surface) function as normal. There would be a high quantity of vultures, introducing more variants of them (such as juveniles), with the final region being a vulture nest with a final boss at the highest point to end the campaign.

Story:

They where created by an iterator in response of his city being overwhelmed with vultures and other creatures, with its main task of being basically pest control. Without getting to deep into said iterators lore, the reason he chose a slugcat for the mission is he already had experience working with their species, using them as workers to maintain his structure. The Eradicator can either attempt to fulfill its mission, or dip and take a swim in the void sea.

Fun Facts:

While it doesn’t really affect its abilities or story, its kind of a slugcat and lizard mix, shown by its frills and coloration. Also is genetically engineered to hate birds.

[layce2015]

Supernatural (Dean Winchester x Female!Reader)

The Mines

First Chapter / Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

"I don't...I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real." Haley stammered, the next morning, after Dean explained about what we do while Sam was flipping through John's journal and I had a bag of M&M's and was starting to eat on them. "I wish I could tell you different." Dean said to her.

"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" She asked.

"We don't. But we're safe for now." I assured her.

"How do you guys know about this stuff?" Haley asked us and Dean and I consider this for a moment.

"Kind of runs in the family." We said, in unison, as Sam comes over to us.

"Hey. So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch." Sam said to us. "Well, hell, you know I'm in." Dean said. "Yeah, me too." I said as Sam shows the wendigo page of John's journal to Haley and Ben.

"Wendigo is a Cree Indian word. It means evil that devours." Sam explains to them. "They're hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, or other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter." I informed.

"How's a man turn into one of those things?" Haley asked then Dean and I pick a couple things up off the ground.

"Well, it's always the same. During some harsh winter a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp." Dean said.

"Like the Donner Party." Ben said and we look at him.

"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality." Sam said.

"If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry." I explained.

"So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?" Haley asked us and we give her a worried look. "You're not gonna like it." Dean said then he glances at me then at Sam then back to Haley.

"Tell me." She said, shakily.

"More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there." Dean explained and Haley has a horrified look on her face. 

"And then how do we stop it?" She asked. "Well, guns are useless, so are knives. Basically—" Dean started to say then he and I hold up the can of lighter fluid, a the beer bottle, and the white cloth we'd picked up.

"We gotta torch the sucker." He said.

****

Minutes later, Dean leads the way through the woods. Haley, Ben, Sam and I follow as we pass trees with claw marks and blood. I held onto the Molotov.

"Dean. (Y/n)." Sam calls out, sometime later, as he was leading us this time. Dean and I catch up with him. "What is it?" We asked him. Then we looked around at the trees, there were bloody claw marks and broken branches everywhere.

"You know, I was thinking, those claw prints, so clear and distinct. They were almost too easy to follow." Sam said when we heard growling. 

The three of us whip around as the trees rustle. Haley was standing under a tree, when blood drips on her shirt. She notices and looks up, then leaps out of the way. Roy's corpse lands where she'd stood, Dean and I examine Roy as Sam goes over to Haley. "You okay? You got it?" Sam asked and she nods.

"His neck's broke." I stated as Sam helps Haley up when we heard more growling. "Okay, run, run, run, run, go, go, go!" Dean shouts and we take off in all directions. I ended up running with Haley as we ran for a few minutes. Unfortunately, we stopped when we see the wendigo in front of us. Haley screams in fear as it comes at us.

****

*3rd person POV*

"Haley?" Ben calls out as he, Sam and Dean walk around, both the brothers were beyond worried about their friend. Especially, Dean. Then they found the broken bottle of the Molotov, the brothers look at each other as they become worried and scared.

"(Y/n)!" Sam calls out.

"(Y/n)!" Dean shouts as he frantically looks around. If that son-of-a-bitch grabbed you....Dean didn't want to think about the worst case scenario. Hopefully, it kept you alive.

"If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" Ben asked the brothers. "Honestly? I think because Roy shot at it, pissed it off." Sam said when Ben finds a trail of peanut M&Ms and picks one up.

"They went this way." Ben yells and the brothers catch up to him as he hands over the M&M. Sam laughs while Dean let's out a sigh of relief. "It's better than breadcrumbs." Dean said as Sam tosses the M&M away.

****

The boys follow the trail until they come upon a mine entrance marked with a sign that says WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL. Sam looks at Ben and Dean, shrugs, and goes inside, the other two boys follow. Above the entrance is a larger sign that says KEEP OUT NO ADMITTANCE.

Sam shines his flashlight ahead of them. But then they hear growling, so he shuts off the light and goes to the wall as Dean pulls Ben against the wall. The Wendigo comes towards them, Dean covers Ben's mouth before he can scream but the creature takes a different tunnel at the crossing.

After waiting a few moments, the boys keep going.

The floorboards underneath them, creak and they fall through the floor and land on a pile of bones. Ben spots a pile of skulls next to them and leaps backward. "Hey, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay." Sam assured Ben then Dean looks up and his eyes widen.

Haley and (y/n) were hanging by their wrists from the ceiling. Dean smacks Sam as he gets up and runs to (y/n) while Sam looks up and saw this. "(Y/n)!" Dean said with worry as Sam and Ben get up and run towards the girls.

"Haley, wake up!" Ben exclaims to her as he goes to her. Dean grabs (y/n) and shakes her while Sam stands next to him. "(Y/n)!" He said and she begins to open her eyes, relief started to wash over him.

"Hey, you okay?" Dean asked her, concerned. "Yeah." She whinced while Ben said to Haley. "Haley, Haley, wake up, wake up!" And then she began to wake up.

Sam cuts (y/n) down and Ben takes care of Haley. They help the girls over to an empty patch of floor and got them to sit down. (Y/n) makes pained noises. "You sure you're all right?" Sam asked his friend, concerned, and (y/n) grimaces.

"Yeah. Yep." She said, in a croaky voice. Then she looks up at the boys then looks around.

"Where is he?" She asked, referring to the wendigo. "He's gone for now." Dean replied to her as he pushes back a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear.

Haley divests herself out of the rope then stands up and spots Tom still hanging. "Tommy..." she cries and she hurries over to him and touches his cheek. Tom's head jerks up, making Haley jump back and shriek. Then she turns to Sam. "Cut him down!" She ordered and Sam starts to cut him down. "We're gonna get you home." Haley said to her brother as (y/n) starts to stand up and starts to steady herself.

The stolen supplies are piled in the corner and Dean picks up flare guns. "Check it out." He said as he holds them up to the others. "Flare guns. Those'll work." Sam said as he grins. Dean and (y/n) laugh as Dean twirls the guns.

They head down a tunnel, Dean and Sam in the lead with the flare guns, (y/n) behind them also holding a flare gun. Haley and Ben were behind them as they supported Tom, who is limping. But then the growling started up again.

"Looks like someone's home for supper." (Y/n) remarked. "We'll never outrun it." Haley said, fearfully, and Dean looks back at the others.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Sam said while (y/n) looks at Dean, confused.

"All right, listen to me. Stay with Sam and (y/n). They're gonna get you out of here." Sam said to Haley, Ben and Tom. "What are you gonna do?" (Y/N) asked him.

Dean winks at her before he starts walking and yelling. "Chow time, you freaky bastard! Yeah, that's right, bring it on, baby, I taste good." (Y/n) shakes her head at this. "Crazy bastard." She mutters as her and Sam wait until Dean is a safe distance away.

"All right, come on! Hurry!" Sam said and (y/n) and the three siblings follow Sam down the tunnel. "Hey, you want some white meat, bitch! I'm right here!" They hear Dean yelling and (y/n) looks towards the direction of his voice. Please be careful, Dean. She thought as her and the others hurry down a tunnel.

But then there was growling and Sam and (y/n) point their guns at it, but then lower their gun and (y/n) turns to Sam. "Get them outta here." (Y/n) said said to him.

"(y/n), no." Sam said but (y/n) shakes her head, her mind already made up. "Go! Go! Go!" She yells at Sam and he, reluctantly, obliged and helps the siblings down the tunnel.

(Y/n) holds the flare gun ready to shoot, looking down the tunnel. "Come on. Come on." She whispers just as she heard growling. She turns and sees that the wendigo is right in her face. She shoots and misses then runs after Sam and the others. 

"(Y/n)!" Sam and Haley scream as she catches up with them. "Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry." She shouts at them as they run to the end of the tunnel, the Wendigo right behind. "Get behind us." Sam said and he and (y/n) block the three kids.

The Wendigo approaches, taking its time, but then Dean comes up behind the monster. "Hey!" He yells and the Wendigo turns to him. Dean shoots it in the stomach, the flare goes off and the Wendigo goes up in flames. "Not bad, huh?" Dean laughs, making Sam and (y/n) grin at him.

****

*(y/n)'s POV*

Sometime later after calling for help, an ambulance loads up Tom while two police officers interview Ben; Sam stands behind him. "And the bear came back again after you yelled at it?" The officer asked Ben. "That's when it circled the campsite. I mean, this grizzly must have weighed eight hundred, nine hundred pounds." Ben said and Sam nods.

"All right, we'll go after it first thing." The officer said.

Meanwhile Dean walks up to me and Haley, after we got patched up. "You girls doing okay?" Dean asked us and we nodded at him. "So I don't know how to thank you." Haley said to him. "It's no problem." Dean said just as a paramedic comes up to Haley.

"You riding with your brother?" He asked her. "Yeah." She replied and the paramedic heads back to the ambulance. Haley then turns to Ben, who walks up to her.

"Let's go." She said as the boys and I nod at each other. Haley then kisses Dean on the cheek, and for some reason I felt something in my chest stir. Like something hot was burning inside once I saw her kiss Dean's cheek.

"I hope you find your father." Haley said to him then she turns to me and Sam. "Thanks Sam and (y/n)." She said and we nod at her as her and Ben head for the ambulance, and climb inside of it with Tom, who is shirtless and bandaged.

Sam and I sit on the Impala's hood with Dean as the paramedics close the ambulance doors and they began to load up and head out. "Man, I hate camping." Dean grumbles which made me laugh. "Me too." Sam and I said as the ambulance drives away.

Then I look up at Sam. "Sam, you know we're gonna find your Dad, right?" I said. "Yeah, I know. But in the meantime?" He said then he looks over at Dean and said. "I'm driving." Dean sighs then tosses Sam the keys.

"Lead the way, boys." I said to them as I head over to my bike and they loaded up in the Impala.

Then we drove off to our next destination.

[muzzleroars]

Every time I see that pinprick of a pupil and the crazed limitless energy it gives your V1 it makes me wonder; What if anything could get V1 to be truly 100%, flat hamster levels of relaxed and content? Could it achieve such a state on its own or would it need help from the like if Gabe / V2, ect?

so glad that little pupil gets its character across exactly...fully vibrating with the need to destroy at all times.....because v1 fundamentally is incredibly difficult to calm down, especially to the point where its background protocols might be suspended.

i have talked a little about this before, but v1 is capable of achieving some sense of composure if it can suppose that it's not currently engaged in battle and that the war is, for a time, removed from it. but even this reprieve is marked by restless energy: it becomes insatiably curious instead, still attempting to play, to explore, to relentlessly tear apart its surroundings for what it might discover in them. it wants constant engagement even outside of active battle, it wants its mind forever occupied and stimulated, and that's truly what makes it difficult to find actual repose. it just wants to do, it wants to go, even if that doesn't mean its routine violence - as such, it does need assistance to fully relax.

the first time it learns to do this is through gabriel because it has no incentive to do it otherwise and honestly...it can't really find enough peace in its own mind to accomplish it by itself. it can shutdown if it needs to, hibernate if it must, but it has no true downtime as it is now, programming attuned to the brutal pace of hell and the war it must keep making if it wants to stay alive. but now there's gabriel, and he's tired - the light has been torn out of him and he's drained besides, a refugee from a heaven he freed by killing his own people, coming to terms with all he's done and the lie that his life was. his energy is no longer limitless and his ability to indefinitely push through his exhaustion has left him...put simply, he needs a break. he wants peace, and eventually, when comfort and intimacy work their way into his relationship with v1, he wants to have that peace with it. in his mind, it seems highly achievable, natural even as they become close...but he has to find out that's unfortunately not the case. like. he understands v1 needs excitement and he's happy to give that, thriving in their sparring matches as much as the machine opposite him does. and it should then follow that they can find a more pleasant haunt, in limbo, in lust, wherever, where they can relax in each other's company - it's something he desperately wants now, to start balancing out the sharpness of their relationship. not because he doesn't deeply indulge in that sharpness, but because he wants to see other sides to v1, to see what it might do on an evening spent quietly in time passed slowly.

v1, turns out, is mystified by that!!!!! it can understand disengaging now, it knows how to relate to him without a fight through playing, through exploring, sometimes too through just...listening to him. a lot. he likes to talk. but this, it can't understand. gabriel seems to want very little, but that's the problem...what does it do? it doesn't want to go because it wants to be with him the way he wants to be with it, but it simply has nothing to go off of, nothing in its programming to direct it. so the night is much longer than expected, with gabriel trying to get it to understand what he wants while v1 sits still for all of two seconds, trying to clean its weapons or preoccupy its mind, before it's up to tear apart the house again. but they both know by now this is a relationship that requires a lot of learning and a lot of consideration for two creatures that can have very little understanding of what makes the other one work. so gabriel watches, seeing that v1 isn't leaving, not even going outside, so it's obvious it wants to be here. and soon he sees as it rifles through the home that it continuously picks up books, opens them to read a couple paragraphs of text, and then tosses them aside. he asks it why, if none of the books interest it, and he learns through some rudimentary and frustrated signing that it can't read "irrelevant" text, even if it's fascinated by the material. it's a headache, but it hasn't found a good way of circumventing that programming. gabriel gets about halfway through his offer to read to it before v1 scrambles around the room to pick up a dozen books and shove them at him, pointing emphatically at the pile.

and that's the first time v1 truly slows down - initially it's excited as always, restless and moving all over the bed gabriel takes it to, but eventually it can steady itself when it has his voice as an anchor. it listens attentively to his reading, keen interest and bright intellect attending each word and so satisfactorily occupied, settling in beside him as it uses the opportunity to meet him halfway. quiet. easy. his cadence is melodic and his delivery soft, v1 slowly writing this into its memory, copying down what it means to be at ease. its core programming resists it, but it wants everything it can take from its time with gabriel knowing how limited it all might be. so it takes it a few tries, a few more times of listening and almost brute forcing retirement, but it soon knows when it should slow down...when it itself might want to slow down. and it (quietly) thrills at it, eventually able to enjoy more idle conversation or perhaps just silence, although gabriel still reads to it quite often (it'll figure out that annoying piece of code one day...but it doesn't feel too pressing now)