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bogleech · 3 years ago

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I took my second ADHD pill a little too late I guess because it was suddenly 4 am and I made this thing about why parasitic organisms are shaped like ways and how to consider that for your fiction settings. Raw text version below the cut for people with busted seeing:

SO YOU WANT TO DESIGN A PARASITE (and if not, you should)

a brief creative guide by jonathan wojcik ( bogleech.com )

A parasite, in the strictest definition, is an organism that exploits the body of another species as both its habitat and its food source, without providing a direct benefit to its host, and it is the single most common lifestyle on the planet Earth. Almost every single non-parasitic species suffers from multiple uniquely adapted parasitic species: a one tiny crustacean is found exclusively in the nostrils of walruses, there's a leech adapted only to the rectum of the hippopotamus, there's a mite that clings only to the inner jaws of an army ant and there's a parasitic tardigrade found only on the skin of a sea cucumber.

An animal's parasites are as much a part of its ecological history as its habitat, diet and reproductive methods, so if you're not designing parasites for your fictional species, you aren't done designing your fictional species!

For those interested in tackling this "realistically," here's what we can learn from the real thing!

ENDOPARASITES (internal parasites) tend to be smooth and streamlined to slip softly through the body, causing as little physical damage as possible. Some use delicately sharp mouthparts to feed on tissues or body fluids, while others may simply soak up surrounding nutrients like a sponge. Because they live in darkness, endoparasites have no use for eyes or pigmentation. They are usually pale or transparent, but some may appear pink or red from their steady diet of blood.

One rare exception to the color rule is Leucochloridium. These flatworms display colorful "brood sacs" through the skin of their snail hosts in order to entice birds, which will spread the parasite's eggs in their droppings. This is also an example of something almost universal to endoparasites: they tend to have multiple life cycle stages, and each one infects an entirely different host species, usually exploiting the food chain to get from one host to the next, and in many cases actively altering the behavior, health or appearance of a host in the process.

Nearly all animals have not only their own unique endoparasites, but also their own unique ECTOPARASITES, or external parasites, which must be adapted not only to their host's body but to the surrounding environment as well. The ectoparasites of furred or feathered animals like mammals and birds are typically bristling with spines, hooks and claws to navigate the host's coat and avoid being thrown off. The ectoparasites of smooth, slippery animals like fish and amphibians may also employ hooks or barbs, but rely most of all on suction, and are often as flat as possible to fit flush against slick skin.

It's important to note that not all tiny, blood-sucking pests are proper parasites! Mosquitoes, horseflies, vampire bats and most leeches, for example, do not live on their host's body long-term, but visit only momentarily to feed, which is instead considered a category of predation. There are, however, truly parasitic leeches that even brood young on the bodies of their hosts, and parasitic flies that complete their life cycle entirely in host fur!

Possibly the most graphic parasites are those that manifest both internally and externally: this is particularly common among parasitic crustaceans, such as Anelasma barnacles and anchor worms. Despite being crustaceans, these creatures have reduced much of their anatomy down to fleshy stems and roots they bury deep within the host's flesh, while the parasite's reproductive systems and egg sacs dangle outside of the skin. Note that parasites of fish can especially get away with this because fish don't have appendages capable of pulling the parasites out, and by leaving their reproductive organs outside, they can spread their eggs or larvae into the water current!

So, when designing a parasitic organism, consider all of the following factors and how they should affect the appearance of the creature: Where does it live on its host? What does it feed on? What does it NOT need to facilitate its lifestyle? Perhaps most importantly, why can't the host easily get rid of it?

I wrote this guide mostly because a lot of fictional parasitic creatures put no consideration at all into these evolutionary characteristics. Oftentimes when they don't look like mutated lampreys, they look like broadly "weird" or "gross" creatures with no obviously parasitic adaptations. These can still be fun monster designs and you should never feel like you have to follow "rules" when building your own world, but if you never realized why parasites look the way they do, maybe this has inspired you to consider what kinds of creatures make life a little more miserable for your other original species.

#art #biology #nature #animals #world building #spec evo #specevo #speculative evolution #creature design #character design #art guide #art tips #design advice

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sideblogformindtrash · 4 years ago

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A GUIDE TO RUNNING ON THE WOODS ™

Keep in mind this is mostly based on the forests I’m familiar with and my own observations: highlands; temperate climate, very few species of large predators. This may vary for tropical and boreal forests, as well as country-wise; geography is also highly variable; Also, this intended as a writing resource for a community that likes to torture their ocs; don’t take this as survival tips, I’m just some dude on tumblr.

CW: Just about anything that can happen on a forest that I remembered about.

General/Terrain-wise:

-The floor likely won’t be plain. There might be plenty of spaces that will require climbing or careful descent; there might be places where the ground isn’t steady;

-If it has rained recently, the floor will be slippery; it’s very hard to climb. If the soil is mostly of clay, it’s almost like running on soap. In that case, places that are used as a passage (trails and such) are much more slippery than the ground around, due to lack of leaves/branches and also the process of compacting the floor that occurs on frequently used trails;

-If it is raining while you are on the forest, branches, fruits and maybe whole trees will fall. It’s easy to get hit by it. Pine trees, specially, are very likely to drop branches and pines.

-If not following a path, there will be plenty of branches making the passage difficult; a lot of them on the floor. It’s easier to trip and get cut on the branches that are fallen than the ones that are closer to the eye-sight so plenty of cuts and bruises will be on the legs.

-There are holes on the floor made by burrowing animals. If it’s dark or you are running, is very easy to break a leg by falling on one of those.

-There are probably some river-streams on the forest. Most might be tiny, but crossing them can be tricky, the rocks are slippery and might be sharp;

-This river-streams are likely at a lower level than the rest of the terrain, causing a stiff descent – river – ascent terrain shape, like a V.

-If the forest is just a patch in the middle of a rural area: somewhere there will be barbed wire. People still like to divide their territory even if it’s in the middle of nowhere.

-There might be bridges, but the estate they are in might be bad; or they may be just pieces of wood far apart with room to trip.

Animals:

-Most mammals and birds are very unlikely to be a bother on the forests. But arthropods will. It’s possible to step on ant-hills or get caught on spider webs. It’s unpleasant, but, most spiders aren’t very poisonous (largely depending on where exactly you live).

-On the other hand, plenty of caterpillars can be dangerous; varying from causing burns to species that can kill you from shock. Caterpillars stay on tree branches, some of them have colors that make them mask with the trees and leaves, so it’s very easy to accidentally touch one while holding a branch; specially for someone on a panic;

-There are mosquitoes. A. Lot. Of. Mosquitoes. They are annoying but following the swarms might indicate a water-source. Lakes and swamps might have leeches;

-BATS: they tend to fly on open paths; if there is a trail on the forest they’ll follow it instead of going through the middle of trees or over them. They are also little bitches and like to go close to your head to mess with you; but they are very unlikely to attack. Most of them eat insects, fruits and plants.

On rural areas:

-There might be agressive dogs trained to protect the households or the other animals;

-Cattle itself isn’t friendly either. They’ll try to avoid you most likely, but if you get too close they will attack. Cows can be very aggressive. (Sure, they can be docile too if they have a lot of human contact, specially towards their owners, and are pretty intelligent animals, but cattle on a pasture is unlikely to be trained to be docile and will see a stranger as a treat). They are more likely to attack if they have youngs. Imagine running away from your whumper just to die to a cow.

-The one above also apply to goats, sheeps and llamas. Pigs are generally not agressive and will more likely just run.

Water/Food:

-Still water is the less safe to drink. Clear, running streams are safer. The closer to the spring source the less likely to be polluted; however is never safe to drink a large amount without being sure.

-They might contain parasites; however, parasites take a while to manifest any type of symptom and are manageable. Dehydration isn’t. This is to short term-forest scenarios. Some parasites will cause diarrhea, that will lead to further dehydration.

-If lacking in options, a way to filter the water is digging a hole close to the water source and getting the water that fills the hole; the dirty and rocks will help filter it somewhat.

-Rainwater is the safest source; As well as indirect sources such as fruits; however very non-reliable.

-Some trees have thorns on the branches or on the trunk. Some of them have on vines, too.

-There are crabs on freshwater! They aren’t too hard to catch, it can be done by having a small net and causing some movement in the bottom of the stream; however they are usually very small so not a huge food source.

-Insects, if not venomous/poisonous, are food ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-I’m trying to write about frogs, but like, we have a distinction between sub-types of frog that make this easier but for what I can see on English, everything is just frog or toad so………… maybe take this with a grain of salt, but:

-Frogs can be food too. Some of them are really dense and will just let you catch them. HOWEVER HYLYDAE FROGS AND TOADS ARE POISONOUS. On the case of toads, they have poisonous glands on their skin; they might be safe to eat if the person knows how to remove those;

-AS A GENERAL FOR ANIMALS: THE MORE COLORFUL SOMETHING IS, THE MORE LIKELY IT IS POISONOUS;

-There are about 50.000 plants that can be eaten, but aren’t cultivated so we tend to not know about them. There are plenty of plants that have some medical use, as well.

Medicine:

-Calendula and Arnica might be some ya’ll might like; they help with cicatrization and easy muscular pain.

-Lighting a fire on a humid forest is very very very difficult. Soggy wood and green leaves don’t like to burn. Philodendron imbe can be used to soothe Burns (it has to be slightly cooked). (I can write more on this if someone is interested).

-Is possible to be mostly immune to poison ivy burn. It’s an allergic reaction; albeit a very common one. However it’s also possible to get more sensitive to it overtime;

Caves:

-There are wet and dry forests; on a temperate forest, while it’s possible to find caves, they’ll likely be flooded or have small, discreet entrances that someone won’t notice on a panic. When on doubt, follow the bats.

-It’s. Dark. It’s ungodly dark. Think the darkest room you’d ever been at: it’s dark. The passages can be very narrow, barely fitting a person. The terrain inside can be very irregular and full of holes as well.

-Caves are humid even if they don’t have rivers inside them anymore. They also have their own mini-climates that tend to be stable during the whole year; And while some are cold, there are also some that are warm. They might be a good place to stay if the outside temperature is freezing cold, as long as not losing sight of the entrance.

-They house snakes, scorpions and spiders. Again, baths won’t bother you, but you can get sick from the guano (from breathing fungi spores of H. capsulatum that grown on it); or get an accidental scratch when they are diving for the outside;

#whump #whump writing #whump scenario #whump prompt #whump writing resource

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aishele · 2 years ago

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7. Dragonfly-cat

Hi! This is #cutehybridsdrawingchallenge still going on! I'm doing it with my friends @holi_klimowicz, @paula_nazar_chuck and @cozazycko and all of you are welcome to join us ❤️ Don't forget to use our hashtag and to tag our profiles so we could see and share your art!

This guy here is a hybrid of a (really big) cat and a dragonfly (also very big, yes). These wings may not look very strong but the fact is that this creature is totally able to fly with them. Even if it probably looks completely stupid doing it xD

I think this mysterious cryptid lives somewhere among the dried reeds of Revachol, invisible most of the time. It's only possible to see it during sunrise or sunset when it shows up in the shallow waters to meet the Insulindian Phasmid for a quick high five.

#cutehybridsdrawingchallenge

snail-peach

underwater hen

mushroom cloud

cat-whale

star dog

snake with bat’s head and wings

cat-dragonfly

little animal with plant body with little buds

a plant-fish hybrid that is half-cactus and half-blowfish.

plant that performs photosynthesis at night (with the light of stars and planets)

mosquito flower (six legs, agile, drinks blood)

plant-sheep, green, covered with little leaves, flowers, fruits

#cryptozoology #cryptid #animalhybrid #cathybrid #dragonflyhybrid #reeds #insulindianphasmid #discoelysiumfanart #sunsetorsunrise #dragonflywings #hugecat #illustration #cutehybridsdrawingchallenge

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throwaninkpot · 4 years ago

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There were so many better things I could have done with my time instead of doing a targeted relisten of all episodes that feature Mikaele Salesa, but here we are.

Some notes!

MAG014 - Piecemeal

there's not much here. a victim of The Flesh is losing parts of their body, and tries to strike a deal with Salesa for...something...presumably an artifact that he thinks will save or protect him. but he can't afford it, and is killed by the statement giver shortly after.

MAG038 - Lost and Found

"several crates packed to the brim full of heavy looking volumes" Leitners?

statement giver is struck by Salesa's laugh and isn't sure why; this is a Spiral episode.

thank God Salesa is no longer in possession of the vase, bc I swear, I swear, if it so much as sat on an end table in the same room as Martin or Jon, I would have crawled through my phone to drop the ding dang thing off a building and let it shatter below.

it's in his post-statement notes, while discussing Salesa and how he sells a large amount of artifacts to the Institute, that Jon spots the spider that he smashes, causing him to accidentally break through the wall and discover Jane Prentiss's worms as they prepare to invade the building. which feels significant, given the spider-filled company he seems to be keeping now.

MAG045 - Blood Bag

here's where things get interesting. the statement giver works in a lab studying mosquitos to find a preventative measure against them spreading malaria. the statement giver's boss is distantly related to a doctor who helped stop a cholera pandemic way back when. the boss owns an antique syringe case that belonged to that doctor, and then sells that item to Salesa to help fund this project. it's only after the syringe is sold that things start to go Wrong, and the mosquitos obviously become agents of The Corruption.

why is that interesting? when a statement features an artifact, usually The Fears only show up when that item enters the story, not when the artefact leaves it. The Corruption only starts to infect the mosquitos after the boss no longer has the syringe. especially with its connection to a man who stopped the spread of a disease, the syringe almost plays the part of a talismen against evil in this story, and with it gone, they have lost that protection. which is a curious flip for Salesa (known Cursed Artifact Dealer) to have bought something that might ward off The Fears rather than something that works for them.

MAG066 - Held in Customs

when the statement giver opens the box in Salesa's cargo (an artifact probably equal parts Buried and Lonely), and finds it empty, Salesa looks concerned. I always interpret that as he used to have someone in the box, but the box ate them already.

he warns the statement giver not to fall asleep (as a precaution against waking up to find himself in the box? as a survival tip for when he finds himself in the box?) which reminds me of Gerry trying to help various people survive the Fears, but he also placed a bet with Peter Lukas on whether or not the statement giver would survive, bc might as well get some fun out of it. Salesa contains multitudes.

"whatever this grand game is, Salesa is definitely involved. I just wish I knew whether he was a player or a pawn, or something else entirely." HMMM.

MAG115 - Taking Stock

statement from Salesa himself!

I relistened to Leitner's statement to double-check, and I'm pretty sure Salesa is the only surviving assistant from Leitner's library.

I don't have a lot of thoughts for this one, but get you a man who is so good to his crew that they help him cover up a spooky death without batting an eye.

MAG141 - Doomed Voyage

"he always used to say, he needed a crew to follow him out of trust, not fear" I don't know if this is just the fact I see this same sentiment over and over in Web!Martin fics, but, this reminds me of The Web.

"I don’t know exactly what was different but the whole mood of the ship was off. Kind of sour, somehow. I think it must have been Salesa. Everything always kind of… reflected him. You know people like that? When he was happy, satisfied, everything seemed to run smooth. When he was angry, everyone would be on edge, irritable." hmmm, again: The Web? maybe?

"Once found [Salesa] poring over an old photo album. The ship was there in the pictures, but a different captain, different crew. I asked him who they were, and he just looked at me, eyes sunken like hadn’t slept, and for a second I felt like he was seeing someone else, not me. But then he just shrugged. 'Dead now,' he said, 'doesn’t really matter.' " Hmmmm. what happened to your old crew, mister Salesa, sir?

I wonder if there is a connection between the photo album of his old crew, the final job which is procurring an old camera with a cracked lense, and the fact Salesa's ship is called The Dorian (as in, "The Picture of Dorian Gray").

speaking of the camera. We see the same thing here that happened in MAG045. Salesa and a handful of crew members go to an island to retrieve an artifact. they come back with the aforementioned old camera with a cracked lense, having lost two of the crew members that went with him. and, now the camera is out of its former owner's possession, a storm starts brewing over the island. lightning strikes the trees, and the statement giver can see some vast (nudge nudge) creature below the water surrounding the island, beginning to break the surface. the statement giver falls to the deck of the ship as they sail away, and when he looks back, the island and storm are gone.

just like how The Corruption began to infest the mosquitos once Salesa bought the syringe, The Vast goes after this island once Salesa takes the camera off of it.

CoincidenceIThinkNot.Meme

idk. this is probably me reading too much into it. but it's not entirely impossible that Salesa has been collecting artifacts that ward against The Fears somehow. and if he is, I wonder if that has something to do with how seemingly untouched his manor house has been by the Fearpocalypse.

anyway. when Salesa supposedly dies in an explosion, we only have the captain's word for it (who dies soon after himself). so he might have faked his death.

(and you know what they say. if one cool tank-top-wearing man survived the explosion that supposedly killed him, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibilities that another cool tank-top-wearing man may return from his relaxing kayaking trip. 👀) (I don't really think Tim will come back, but it's nice to dream.)

#tma spoilers #mikaele salesa #the magnus archives #theories #this has been a post

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creaturesfromelsewhere · 4 years ago

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Florida's Nightwings

“Bats frighten me. It’s time my enemies share my dread.” - Bruce Wayne

Unlike Bruce Wayne, bats bring me great joy. I smile whenever these tiny friends (fiends?) bid me whispered greetings upon silenced wings. But I know well that I am an anomaly. Die Fledermaus are considered harbingers of doom amongst the unenlightened and torch-wielding villagers. Popular culture bestows upon angels the wings of eagles while demons are 'condemned' to suffer the leathery wings of bats. Count my company amongst the demons - angels make poor companions when club-hopping.

Florida has been blessed with 13 resident species of bats and a further 7 species that show up from time to time - truly, and embarrassment of riches. In Gainesville, the University of Florida boasts the largest occupied bat houses in the world. At dust, a staggering half-a-million bats set forth from these lairs on their nightly quest to eat as many insects as possible before the next sunrise compels them to return to the roost. The sight of such massive cauldrons of bats (a flock of bats is called a cauldron - isn't that grand?) setting forth at dusk is one of the dark wonders of the natural world and I strongly suggest it be added to everyone's bucket (of blood) list.

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Florida has something of a love / hate relationship with bats. The vapid beach dwellers hate mosquitos slightly more than they hate bats. Thus bats have been begrudgingly granted a modicum of respect based solely upon their ability to control the population of those tiny vampires. The result of this peculiar compromise is that one sometimes sees bat houses installed within the mansions of the well-to-do or even in the centers of towns, like in DeLand, Florida, for example.

I could go on and on about Florida's winged exterminators, but a blog isn't the appropriate forum. If you want the authoritative source, check out Bats of Florida by Cynthia S. Marks & George E. Marks. It is the exhaustive grimoire upon the subject and my personal copy is well read & well worn. One peculiar puzzle is why some bat houses are eagerly occupied while others are ignored. Seems we goths are fussy in our abodes regardless of species.

But wait - there's more. No visit to Florida would be complete without a tour of the Lubee Bat Conservancy. This is a place where you can get inside huge cages with giant bats - and feed them. I'm not kidding.

You may be goth, but you'll never be I've-been-inside-a-huge-cage-feeding-giant-bats goth until you've visited Lubee. Of course, these giant fruit bats are not native to Florida. They do usually have native Florida bats in rehab there, while the exotics are there for breeding and conservation purposes - no plans to release them since they'd be an invasive and our winters are too cold for them anyway (!!!). The fruit bats are adorable, friendly, and would love to have you feed them. And since Lubee is just north of Gainesville, so you can catch both of these amazing bat attractions in a single afternoon and still have your evening free for feasting upon the blood of those pesky torch-wielding villagers.

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CreaturesFromElsewhere 4/10/2021

#bats #florida gothic #lubee bat concervancy #gainsville bat houses #bats of florida #darkly inclined #goth #southern gothic #eco goth

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0the-duchess0 · 4 years ago

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Pokémon type strength and weaknesses explained masterpost

Most of this logic can be used vice versa.

Normal is not very effective against rock and steel. Rock and steel are very sturdy. Unless you have the tools, you won’t break them. Normal is a physical based type without any “extra’s”.

Normal and fighting are ineffective against ghost. This speaks for itself. In ghost stories, ghosts are transparent and can pass through solid objects and living things (normal/fighting).

Water is supereffective against fire. fire is weak to water, because water puts out a fire.

Fire is effective against grass and bug. nature burns easily, especially wood.

Fire is effective against ice and steel. Ice and steel melt when temperature rises.

Fire is weak against rock and ground. You can use sand to put out a fire. rocks may heat up, but are indifferent to temperature changes. Moreover, some rocks turn into diamonds when submitted to heat and pressure.

Dragon types withstand the forces of nature (water, grass, fire, electric). This might be because most cultures see dragons as elemental figures. They can breathe fire, or cause thunderstorms with their wings, or live in the ocean.

Dragon is weak to ice types. Just like the dinosaurs died off when the Ige Age hit.

Grass is effective against water. plants drain water in order to feed themselves.

Water is effective against ground and rock. If water runs along sand or rocks, it causes an effect called sedimentation. The rock wears off by the constant stream of water, and the pointy edges get softened. Sand is easily carried off in a stream, and soil becomes mush if you add too much water. Ice is effective against ground and rock for the same reason (solid state of water).

Water is weak to electric. Water conducts electricity, making the impact greater.

Electric is not very effective against grass. Just like plants, trees and grass, thunderstorms are part of nature. Also, wood on itself isn’t a great conductor for electricity.

Electric is weak to ground. It also keeps your house from burning down in the event of a shortcircuit.

Electric is effective against flying types. Ever seen a bird fly through a thunderstorm?

Grass is weak to poison. Humans are known for using toxins to kill off weeds.

Grass is effective against ground and rock. Roots easily tear soil apart.

Grass is weak to flying and bug types. Berries, seeds, fruits and sometimes flowers and leafs are vital to the diet of both birds and bugs. Both also use products of nature to build nests.

Grass is not very effective against steel. Nature had to make way for man-made structures.

Ice is not very effective against water. Both are the same substance, but in a different state (liquid/solid).

Ice is super effective against flying. Birds migrate when cold weather hits, because they generally can’t survive low temperatures.

Ice is not very effective against steel. Steel is indifferent with lower temperatures, and won’t crack easily.

Fighting is super effective against normal. Imagine a brawl between an untrained person and a black belt. Who’d win?

Fighting is super effective against rock, ice and steel. If you train your karate skills hard enough, you’ll be able to punch through all three of these. This is actually possible, and the subject of a lot of fighting cartoons and movies.

Fighting is not very effective against poisoning. When you become ill, there is very little to do besides taking medicine and resting it out.

Fighting is weak to flying types. Mankind has, unfortunately, never evolved to fly on its own.

Psychic is super effective against fighting types. The mind works quicker than the physical body. Moreover, the phrase is “think before you act”.

Fighting is not very effective against bug types. Ever tried to swat a fly? And how many of those have you swatted in one go? Also, for every human on this planet, there are approximately 200 million insects for one human being. They have truly outnumbered us.

Fighting is super effective against dark. Fighting types are often humanoid, because they represent the human body in most ways. Your eyes can adjust to darkness for a certain amount, and the rest you can solve with pressing the light button.

Poison is not very effective against ground. Ground can wear off most toxcins (henche the ground still bearing plants after you spray it with the weed killer). by greater levels of toxcidity, you can try draining it out.

Poison is not very effective against rock and has no effect on steel. Not many rocks have living cells that can get poisoned living on them, and rocks themselves are indifferent. Steel is no living organism at all.

Poison is not very effective against ghost. Try to poison something that’s already dead. It’ll be a tough job, I can tell you that much.

Poison is effective against fairy types. Fairy godmothers lift curses, fulfill wishes and turn pumpkins into carriages. The one thing they didn’t do was save Snow White from that poisoned apple. Shame.

Ground has no effect on flying types. Cause birds are in the sky, not on the ground.

Ground is not very effective against bug types. A wide variety of bugs, like ants, burrow themselves into the ground to find food or build nests.

Ground is super effective against rock and steel. An earthquake causes so much shaking and impact that it could break a rock and tear apart steel.

Flying is super effective against bug. Birds eat bugs as a part of their diet.

Rock is super effective against Flying types. Ever heard of the phrase “to kill two birds with one stone”?

Flying is not very effective against steel. Just like the flora, the fauna had to make way for man-made structures. Also, nighttime animals, owls and bats in the case of anything flying, can get off rythm by too much light, like the amount that burns in the city at night.

Dark, bug and ghost are super effective against psychic, and psychic has no effect against dark. Psychic can be compared to the human mind. The most common fears are those of bugs, ghosts and the dark.

Psychic is super effective against poison. Unlike the body, the mind is still capable of full function when you’re ill. Not that you’ll always feel up for it, though.

Psychic is not very effective against steel. So sorry, the spoon bending trick only works for Uri Geller and that one kid in the Matrix. The rest of us will have to use brute force to bend steel.

Bug is not very effective against fighting. Yes, bugs are irritating, but also very vulnerable. For when you finally squat the annoying fly.

Bug is not very effective against poison. Pesticides exist.

Bug is not very effective against ghost. You can’t really sting something that you’ll pass right on through.

Bug is super effective against dark. Most bugs crawl into dark and narrow spaces and are perfectly fine. Some bugs are active suring the night.

Bug is not very effective against steel. For the same reason as flying types.

Bug is not very effective against fairy types. Some fairies are depicted as having bug like features, such as butterfly wings.

Rock is super effective against bug. No newspaper or swatter around? Try a rock against the pesky mosquito!

Rock is not very effective against steel. Rocks might be sturdy, but steel takes the cake.

Ghost is supereffective against ghost. When you’re both in the afterlife, it’s a free for all.

Ghost is not very effective against dark. The dark is a very popular time for ghosts to be active. Most of them can only appear at night.

Dragon is super effective against Dragon. They will fight for their territory, and it will be bloody.

Dragon is not very effective against steel. Many of them have been slain by swords.

Steel is not very effective against water. Water can rust steel.

Steel is not very effective against electric. Metal can receive static shocks.

Steel is super effective against ice. Just shovel your driveway if there’s snow blocking your path.

Steel is super effective against fairy. Godmothers might be loved by their princesses, but there is one thing princesses love more: knights in shiny armor.

Fairy is not very effective against fire. This might be for the same reason as bugs, because they can look much alike, but also because it’s the knights in shiny armor that fight the fire breathing dragons, not the fairies.

Fairy is super effective against fighting. Fairies are supernatural beings compared to humans, which the fighting type represents.

Fairy is super effective against dark and dragon. Even if they do not always fight actively themselves, faiires often aid those on a quest to defeat evil or conquer a wildebeast.

A lot of types are weak to their own element. The exeptions are dragon and ghost (super effective) and normal, flying, ground, fighting, bug, rock, and fairy (regular effectiveness).

Let me know if I missed any. Like I said, a lot of these work in reverse (example: Water is super effective on fire, fire is not very effective against water).

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sepublic · 4 years ago

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Sense and Insensitivity!

Aaah, I swear this episode helped fix a crippling absence in my heart that I’ve been missing out on! I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is… MORE OWL HOUSE!!!

I feel like this entire episode is a rather meta joke about the writing process, especially with the whole bit about publishers and how they’re forced to do crunch-time; Pretty sure that’s a real thing, and if so, I applaud Dana and the crew for making sure to remind viewers! And also, Luz, SAME… I, too, understand the pain of being a writer!

There’s not much else to say about Piniet, but I like his design, premise, and voice! He’s pretty neat, and his ability to read entire books within seconds is… It’s much too powerful! I must have this power… Not gonna lie, I didn’t expect HIM to be the true mastermind behind it all (rather, just a lackey for John de Plume) but I guess it makes sense! I thought Plume was kind of an annoying narcissist, but after seeing what he’s going through I guess I can’t blame him for desperately drinking up any love and support he can get!

That scene with the cubes though… Pretty freaky stuff, honestly. Legit thought a dude died when Piniet stepped on him, but apparently not- Still, we never see them revert back to normal, and with Piniet conducting business as he usually does after this, YIKES. Also, love the chaotic energy of Not-Dana in this episode, I didn’t really see her coming into play here but it makes so much sense! Also, this episode can be seen almost as a metaphor for what happened in real life, perhaps- Piniet/Disney wanted to pull more writing from King/Alex Hirsch, who didn’t want to dedicate the rest of his life to Ruler’s Reach/Gravity Falls! Then Dana/Not Dana comes in, dazzles Piniet/Disney with her story/The Owl House, and King/Alex Hirsch is free to do as he pleases (in this case, becoming a VA) while poor Not/Dana has no clue what’s in store for her!

Subtle, Dana. I like it.

And Luz and King’s friendship! I love episodes that delve more into King and his insecurities, and I’d DIE for these two goobers! I love that while King and Eda are definitely partners-in-crime, there’s a certain silliness to Luz and King’s friendship that is unique to their relationship! Not to discount Eda and her bond with King of course… More on Eda later, naturally!

Typewriter was a hilarious character, and I love how Luz still wants to show unconditional support for King after he’s famous! It just shows how kind-hearted and empathetic she is… She knows what it’s like to be lonely and not taken seriously and she doesn’t want to take away the gratification from King! Likewise, I love how the show acknowledges that King may just be a tad-bit jealous of Luz and Eda, or at least he recognizes that they ‘have’ what he doesn’t… To King, his two friends seem self-assured and confident, like they’re living their own dream while he doesn’t! I can see why King acts selfish at times, he justifies it to himself because he thinks that Eda and Luz are already having it so good… Surely it can’t hurt to indulge himself once in a while, right?

But at the same time, King is not truly selfish. Once he realizes he’s messed up, he’ll go back on his mistakes to make amends, ASAP, throwing away whatever he’s gained for that precious friendship! Maybe the REAL power was the friends we made along the way…? Regardless, it’s clear that Eda and Luz, the latter especially, take his insecurities and thoughts a lot more seriously than anyone else, and I think that’s what’s so important to King! The fact that they listen to him, they humor him… And it’s because part of what makes them so well-off is King’s own presence! I just LOVE this trio you guys!

Also, imagine Boscha’s perspective of Luz and King after everything. I swear, these two –and Eda- are such utter weirdos and cryptids to everyone they come across, it’s amazing! I’m also low-key wondering who made King that scarf… I might want to check later. Not-Saria, planning to trash on that book if it fails you… I know how you feel. And beware King, “There’s more to life than shipping” is fighting words! They’re not FALSE, but still, it’s like that meme about how they hated him because he told them the truth! Like I said, this episode was hilariously meta and close to home, and you get the feeling that Dana is one of us- A fan that’s obsessed over things in the past and suffered laboriously through the pain of writing!

But… EDA AND LILITH! OH, how I’ve waited for this! I knew it, I knew it was coming, that delicious sibling interaction and team-up, and oh it feels SO good!

I’m glad to see that Once Upon a Swap hasn’t changed how Lilith feels! It’s pretty ingenius how her strategy for capturing Eda is just ‘procrastinate as long as possible’ and she manages to justify it! Of course, Belos probably won’t tolerate this strategy for long after a while…

Speaking of Belos- He needs the Bloom of Eternal Youth?!? Is it for some other purpose, or is the dude himself aging? Who knows HOW old he’s been, or how long his rule has lasted- For all we know he’s been the original creator of the Coven System himself! There are even some theories that he was the Boiling Isles Titan, or lived long enough to interact with it! Given how the Bloom was fake from the very beginning, has he been relying on ways to extend his youth throughout the years, or is the first time his years have caught up to him?

Does he want Eda, partially to mend this? What if the curse was cast by Belos on Eda, to drain her of her youth in a parasitic exchange? The show itself has more or less confirmed that Eda is getting older because of the curse! WHAT IF Belos killed the Titan, because he acted as a parasite by draining its life-force to keep himself alive- He DOES have an insectoid motif, and I guess you could connect insects to creatures like Mosquitoes and Fleas…

Anyhow, I’m glad to see that Eda will also go out of her way for Lilith, too! The mixed-feelings, aggravation, and genuine love between the two is so amazing… I love how the two are acknowledging that the other means well, and has their own reasons for what they’re doing! And I love how the show has confirmed it- That Lilith DOES want Eda to join the Emperor’s Coven, she just wants her to do it on her own terms, with her own agency! I love this complicated relationship between these two sisters, where they loudly proclaim that they’d sell one another to Satan for a corn chip, but then would move the stars for the other when no one else is looking!

Obviously the trailer spoiled us, but it was obvious from the get-go that Ratman Witch dude was a fake and it was a trap! Love how they play with the twist by just… Having Eda and Lilith not bat an eye! After all, this is some one-off goon without a name, VS the two most powerful Witches in the Boiling Isles (sans Belos, possibly)! I’d say I wish we got to see the two fight together, but let’s be real- There wasn’t even a fight to begin with. They likely combined a single spell together and ended it within seconds… And on a side-note, I like how Eda confirms that she and Lilith got into trouble together in the past, too! Hence ‘There she is!’ in Covention.

As for some smaller thoughts;

I find it funny, but not surprising, that Mattholomule has been relegated to physical labor in Piniet’s publishing company! Isn’t that child labor? We know Luz is fourteen, and he’s around her age, if not younger- Especially how Luz notes how light he is, and how Matt’s similar height to Gus indicates he’s about the kid’s age. I dunno, I don’t know Boiling Isles rules on child labor, if they even have any, and even if they did I doubt Piniet cares! I wonder how Not-Dana will get herself out of THIS conundrum with him… Not that I doubt she will of course! She’s got that chaotic energy and hasn’t survived this long for nothing!

And I love Luz, being all weird as she is, having to use her teeth to tear up the contract instead of her hands like anyone else would! I can’t quite understand her mind, but it’s part of what makes her such a favorite to me! At least a contract isn’t some organ from a monster you just came across… And clever of her to use the Light glyph for the book! I love King’s realization of a missed pun, and the unstoppable teamwork of him and Luz!

Given how King has already messed up a few times by being selfish, I have to suspect this will come into play in Really Small Problems, with King feeling like he’s begun to drive Luz away with his vanity and becoming desperate to rekindle their friendship! But as we all know, there’s nothing he needs to prove- Luz cares for him and vice-versa! And ironically, King indulging in ‘Mysterioso’s’ product is also him being selfish, but in general… I like how the show recognizes his crippling insecurity beneath it all, his feelings are valid and not unfounded. Even without the possibility of him having been an ACTUAL King of demons, the show still makes a compelling motive and reason for what he does!

Speaking of a potential backstory… It’s worth noting that King claims his name is actually a rank- So what was his real name, then? Does he even remember?Likewise, he mentions that becoming a famous author will help him in his reclamation of power…

All-in-all, this was a good, solid episode! It’s clearly a very relationship-driven episode, which as someone who enjoys the relationships between characters in this show- That’s amazing! It really establishes how characters truly feel about one another, while subtly setting the stage for something else… I love it!

Up-next is Adventures in the Elements, a totally-new episode that I have NEVER seen, and I will DEFINITELY discuss my new thoughts about it when it officially airs!

#the owl house #owl house #the owl house king #the owl house luz #luz noceda #the owl house eda #edalyn clawthorne #the owl house lilith #lilith clawthorne #the owl house piniet

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primrose-fr · 4 years ago

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Wildlife of the Scarred Wastes

Hey I put together a list of all wildlife found in Plague, for writing purposes. Because it's pretty unique from the rest of Sornieth. Thus can be a bit difficult to write for. It's also interesting to note that most of the creatures can be found in other locations too, I picture the varieties found in plague to be more...plague-y. I hope this is at least a good jumping off point for you writers/worldbuilders!

Includes little personal notes here and there about possible uses, ecology and real-life equivalents, and interesting notes from the items bio too.

Everything under the cut. Long post ahead

Meat:

Panther Anole (Small, fool hardy, easy prey for hatchlings) Plague Bat (Bat that carries plagues?? Probably a small snack for adults and a meal for hatchlings) Satin Mouse (Magically charged mice, might have been introduced from Arcane) Java Sparrow (Small songbird, Nutritious) Shrew (Small and mole like, cannot be tamed) Marsh Rabbit (Oily water repellent fur, probably like a softer beaver pelt. Decent meal. Probably farmed for fur) Dappled Clucker (Chickens whose females brutally fight over males. Probably farmed for meat) Steppes Box Turtle (known for it's shell pattern) Musk Scrapper (Like a brown skunk, stinks but apparently the meat is incredible.) Flecked Bushrunner (Type of quail. males race each other to impress females. Proabably a common type of wild game) Wood Duck (Probably a common type of wild game) Silver-Laced Rooster (There was a play about a rooster trying to woo a dragon. Ended poorly.) Arroyo Toad (Most dragons are immune to it's toxin but Mirrors are allergic to it.) Plantain Poacher (Type of squirrel monkey. Common pest that raids produce stores.) Bush Rat Wallaby (Probably a decent sized meal) False Podid (Decent meal, cousin to common podid, tastes best when roasted in the shell) White-Eared Hummingbird Coral Snake (VENOMOUS. Rear-fanged. But edible to dragons if eaten carefully. Snakes store their venom in the head area. Body meat is generally fine.) White Squirrel (Cannot jump, probably easy prey. Most likely is native to Ice) Tokay Gecko (DEADLY. Covered in a potent poison from head to toe. (Note: real tokay geckos are not poisonous, just massive bitey assholes)) Bleeding Heart Crow (Only Males have the "Bleeding Heart" coloration) Ferret (a treat for most dragons, might also be kept as pets and for hunting small game) Sugarglider (Common pest in sugarmelon crops. might also be kept as pets.) Bar-Headed Goose (Might be farmed for meat/feathers) Hellbender (Massive salamander (one of the largest species on earth!)) Emerald Striker (VENOMOUS. Emeralds contain the toxin) Silver Raccoon (Known to steal and hoard silver.) Green Iguana (apparently very friendly and probably common pets (Important Note: Real green iguanas are NOT friendly and want nothing more than to whip you to shreds. Make terrible pets!)) Bog Canary (Song is apparently horrible, but plumage is pretty, might be kept as pets (Note: the art depicts a budgerigar not a canary)) Golden Reefprince (Regal and golden, best served to someone you're trying to impress. Probably farmed and marketed in the same vein as Valentine Roses) Black Swan (Probably farmed for Meat/Feathers) Green-throated Skink (More confident then it's cousin, probably more common to see skittering around in daylight) Dustrat (Seen as vermin, a sign to clean your lair) Banded Dart Frog (POISONOUS. However NOT deadly. Instead it's hallucinagenic. Probably farmed as an legal and/or illegal narcotic. Probably a big market for them.) Collared Lemming (Probably has a local superstition about it staring into your soul and knowing all your secrets) Webwing Alpha ( might be farmed for meat or plumage. Or kept as familiars) Yellow-Throated Sparrowmouse (kept as Familiars. Plumage might be used in crafts) Basilisk (Direct eye contact can turn dragons to stone. Probably Hunted as Big/trophy game. Also Kept as familiars) Clown Charger (Skin is poisonous. Might be hunted as Trophy Game but not eaten. Also Kept as familiars) Parasitic Fungus (Has mind controlling fungus, however fungus rarely takes. Also Kept as familiars) Fungalhoof Qiriq (Leaves a trail of fungus where ever it goes, easy to track dangerous to hunt. Might be hunted as big/Trophy game or as possible rites of passage . Also Kept as familiars) Roving Lionsnake (Large dangerous ambush predators that stalk long grasses. Might be hunter for trophy game or possible rights of passage. Also kept as familiars) Murkbottom Gull (Common seabirds, most likely a common sight at waterways. Also kept as familiars) Giant White Toridae (Large! Has Myths and urban legends surrounding it. Probably hunted as Trophy game or even rites of passage. Also Kept as familiars.) Ultramel Amphithere (Amphithere displaying the "Ultramel" color morph. Probably popular pets. Also kept as familiars) Auburn Woolly Walrus (Hostile due to chronic pain. Probably Farmed for meat and fur while also being hunted as big/trophy game. Also kept as familiars.) Hooded Dodo (Completely blind despite three sets of eyes. Probably farmed for meat and feather. Also kept as familiars) Infestation Hound (Wild ones are ambush predators, baiting and eating scavengers. Probably Domesticated by plague clans and bred then raised as hunting partners and companions. Kept as familiars) Heartred Croaker (Meat is uniquely brown and green in coloration. Kept as familiars) Mossy Cerdae (Healing magic-less Unicorns. Population is rising exponentially. Probably hunted for meat/fur/horns. Kept as familiars) Hippojay (Might be farmed for meat or hunted as big/trophy game. Or kept as familiars) Bluetail Skira (Blue algea clings to their tail fur causing the blue coloration. Might be farmed for meat or hunted like big game. Or kept as familiars) Paddyfowl (Common predator to smaller amphibians, might be farmed for meat or plumage. Or kept as familiars) Moordwelling Trunker (Displays are a lot like jousting. Probably farmed for meat. Or kept as familiars) Glowing Pocket Mouse ( A light snack. Or kept as familiars) Grey River Flight ( Probably farmed for meat and water resistant hide. Or kept as familiars) Brown River Flight ( Probably farmed for meat and water resistant hide. Or kept as familiars) Bearded Pupowl (Actually a vertebrate! Amphibian and probably distantly related to salamanders. Kept as familiars)

Aquatic Life:

Crawdads Wetland Vampire (Leech) Glass Minnows (maybe kept in dragon aquaria?) Mussels Clown Shrimp Warmouth (A mid sized bass/perch-like fish, probably decent eating) Wave Skippers (Flying fish?) Sea Hare (Sea slugs) Sunset Sea Dragon Dumpling Squid (bio implies they’re eaten and dipped in sauce.) True Rainbow Trout Green Corydoras Catfish (tiny bottom dwelling catfish, maybe kept in dragon aquaria?) Golden Cushionfish (Pufferfish) Seabed Pincher (Hermit crab) Blackwater Jester (Appears to be a cardinal fish of some sort) SeaHeart (Some kinda urchin) Aether Hermit Black Maiden (type of Black Guppy, possibly poisonous? maybe kept in dragon aquaria?) Ruby Tetras (possibly a red version of the blackskirt tetra, maybe kept in dragon aquaria?) Blue Ring Octopus (DEADLY. Venom can straight up kill smaller dragons. Considered an accomplishment to catch and eat properly. Probably equivalent to Fugu.) Striped biter (Similar to a cat shark in appearance. Apparently very common.) Devilsnap (Apparently an oyster that bites back) Blue Dragon Seaslug Cobra Snakehead (mid-sized carnivorous fish) Nebula Floaters (Jellyfish of some sort, very sweet may cause tooth decay) Pond Slip (Come from dirty water, VERY important to clean) Cinnamon Loach (Popular gift among the seafood eating dragons, may also be kept in dragon aquaria?) Deviant Darter (Covered in pustules, looks plague-y) Giant Isopod Billy Bass (Breaks into song when taken out of the water, mid-sized fish probably decent eating) Discus (Popular, beautiful, and challenging to care for in irl aquaria. Possibly kept as decorative fish for the upper class in dragon aquaria) Four-Eyed Butterflyfish Pincushion Urchin Gaseous Megashrimp (Big, kept as familiars. this is speculation but depending on the size it may also be used as a seafood alternative to whole roasts like pig) Skittering Megashrimp (See above) Longjaw Lurefish (Based on the jawfish, probably much bigger. preys on birds) Glow Star (glowing starfish. Glow fades when it leaves the water. Might make good underwater decoration) Wave Sweeper (Patrols shallow waterway. Probably hunted for meat or ignored, Kept as familiars) Plantation Pincher (Considered a rampant pest on farmland.)

Insect Life:

Fungus Cutter (Large fungivore ants) Glade Swarmer (Builds large hives and defend it fiercely, disturbing it will end in either a feast or a healers visit) Crop Cutter (Pests that can devour entire fields. Plant eater hate them while others feast on them.) Maggot (common on the many festering corpses of the scarred wastes) Harlequin Ladybug (perform intricate aerial acrobatics, can be challenging for hatchlings to catch) Salt-Marsh Mosquito (Carry many diseases, numbers swell in summer) Tachinid Fly (Their carapace can be ground into tincture and tonics with restorative capabilities. Valuable. Probably farmed for medicinal purposes) Redwing Hopper (Spend most of their time gliding. low-flying dragons end up with face fulls of them.) Greenworm (Blends in well and challenging to find) Land Snail Rainbow Grasshopper (Taste terrible. seems to be a common prank to tell younger dragons that they taste like rainbows.) Tinder Bug (Tastes good if properly cooked, also effective tinder) Earwig Craftsman Brightback (Crafts intricate nests around spherical fruit, to which the fruit inside is eaten leaving behind the dried structure.) Redknee Tarantula Dusty Cicada (Collecting their shells and placing them in unexpected places around your den is considered a fun pastime) Millipede Wasteland Pauper (In an event known as the Blue Harvest vast numbers of this butterfly go migrating.) Stinglash (DEADLY. Aposematic. Skull pattern on it's head is a threat display. When stinger is removed however it's considered a delicacy) Shale Skitter (Pillbug relative. Completely flatten themselves when threatened) Parasitic Grub Red and Black Froghopper Fever Fly (Ingesting this fly is fine. being bitten by this fly leads to fevers and muscle spasms (dancing!)) Two-Tone June Beetle (Best served lightly toasted) Blackshield Cockroach (Fae use rocks to crack it's shell for eating.) Yellow Jumper (Deadly? Very tasty apparently) False Veneer Moth (Pattern on it's wings shines to distract predators) Yellowtail Caterpillar (Commonly eaten in piles with pepper sauce, cucumber, rice, and wrapped in seaweed) Orchid Beetle (Native to the Starwood Strand. gets its coloration from the plants it eats) Water Bug Catocala Moth (Cryptic patterning on wings) Giant Prickly Stick Insect (Has a hard time find mates due to effective camouflage) Autumn Pennant (Dragonfly. Scarce, only appears towards the end of autumn) Sugarbee (Feeds on sugarcane. Popular as sweet treats. might be treated like candy to insectivores) Firefly (Probably native to Fire. Has a crisp, crunchy texture with an extremely spicy flavor.) Dead Leaf Mantis (Feeds entirely on brain matter. (braaains)) Hydra Scorpion (It's said that cutting off it's tail grows two more in it's place. Probably large and treated like big/trophy game. Kept as familiars) Triple-Sight Firebug (Dragons closely bonded to this bug can use it's sight for short periods of time. Possibly used for rough reconnaissance. Kept as familiars) Tufted Leaf Beetle (Pests. A swarm of these beetles can devour a field overnight. Kept as familiars.) Tender Larail (Consumes all parts of a plant except seeds, which it carefully buries. Might be a Keystone species. Kept as familiars.) Spoiling Scorpio (Probably large and treated like big/trophy game. Kept as familiars)

Plant Life:

Highland Dryleaf (Hardy. Tastes awful. Plentiful) Marsh Choker (Named for it's choking pollen. probably grows in wetland areas.) Desert Scrub (Plentiful. Tastes like dirt) Diseased Fungus (Has a following that believe it tastes zestier than normal fungus. Probably cultivated or foraged for.) Carnaval Tulip (Pretty, often in bouquets. considered by plant eaters to be "edible arrangements" Probably cultivated for food and appearance) Crisp-leaf Amaranth (Seeds are edible and commonly eaten, while the leaves are eaten less commonly.) Wild Catsup (grows along cliff-sides in thin patches with bright red flowers. might also go well with wild mustard greens) Always-Autumn (Thistle. Blooms year-round with sun-dappled colors.) Canyon Ruffage (Staple for herbivorous animals and dragons alike, common in dry areas) Blood Acorn (Filled with nutrient rich nectar) Cinnamon (Probably cultivated for exportation in the spice trade) Chickweed (Used in herbal remedies to sooth itchy scales. Probably cultivated for medicinal purposes) Herbal Plantain (Leaves of this plant can be used as an effective anti-toxin. Probably cultivated for medicinal purposes) Peace Lily (Pretty and edible, it's petals are a favorite snack of peace doves. Probably cultivate for decoration and consumption.) Gryphon's Blood Sempervivum (Appears to be a type of succulent that grows in sandy red (clay rich?) earth near gryphon territory. does not actually use blood in cultivation.) Treasure Plant (Considered to bring good luck if kept in the lair. Possibly cultivated for decoration or as gifts.) Boxwood (Has a subtle flavor?) Winter's Delight (Sweet red berries that taste the best at the coldest point in winter, Most likely native to Ice) Bonebark Mold (Plentiful. grows on dead trees.) Ashfall Prickler (Nectar on the inside has a spicy flavor that oddly goes well with anything.) Honeycrisp Apple (Probably cultivated for food. Most likely food source to Craftsman Brightbacks) Turnip (Does not keep long and must be eaten immediately. Probably cultivated for food.) Wasteland Pear (Common. but finding an edible one is not.) Cindermint (crunchy texture with a fiery kick. Often dried and crumbled up to help accent desserts or teas. Probably cultivated for this reason.) Butcher's Fig (Fruit has a crimson coloration, juice stains the mouth for days.) Leechroot Mushroom (Parasitic fungus native to the Scarred Wastes. Pests. Targets healthy plants.) Green Plantain (Has a tart flavor and can be stored in cool places for long periods of time. Probably cultivated and exported to other flights.) Daffodil (Can be boiled, mashed, and used in stews. Blooms are also pretty. Probably cultivated for these reasons.) Grassland Grain (Easy to spot and filling meals. Great for foraging on the road.) Water Lilies Crimson Jadevine (Extremely rare. ground up to make war-paint. Might be cultivated for this purpose and might also be treated as sacred.) Sour Strawberry (It's a strawberry, but sour) Wilting Rose (Its a rose, but wilting) Pompom Mums (Vibrant, cheerful petals. Very attention getting to pollinators. might be used to attract pollinators to fields. Also useful for decorative purposes) Sand Creeper (Type of ivy that spreads prolifically over sand. Might be a good crop for those in barren wastelands.) All Seeing Shroom (Disgusting looking, covered in veins and tumors. Unknown if edible but can be traded as currency in select venues.) Ancient Mushroom (Rumored to aid with a dragons growth) Over-ripe Cherries (Cherries that ripen then go bad at a break-neck pace. Probably not cultivated.) Melon Marzal (Behaves like a normal plant until it matures in which it will become more animalistic. Weird. Kept as familiars)

???:

River Muck (Goopy. probably common in or near waterways. Probably a pest/hazard) Poultrygeist (Ghost?? Probably some kind of urban legend. Kept as familiars) Undying Featherback (Undead and requires magic to kill permanently. Probably a serious threat to plague clans. Can be kept as familiar) White Rot Deer (An older wood ear deer, not hunted nor eaten. Cultivated by dryads for protection. Also Kept as familiars) Sanguine Multimist (Sentient mist?? Probably has urban legends surrounding it. Kept as familiars.) Creeping Tendril (Animal like?? Shy, only moves when no one is looking. Kept as Familiars) Blue Vein Pansy (??? Uproots and moves itself to more optimal locations when required.) Ancient Fungus (Has a cracked, stone hard outer shell. Kept as familiars)

#my writing #reference #resource #flight rising #flight rising lore #fr #plague flight #fr plague #fr lore #long post #might not do ones for other flights unless I get like a specific request #if I missed any let me know!#Ecology of Sornieth

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heliosphoenix · 4 years ago

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State of the Planet: 2020 Edition.

I know what you're thinking.

"How can you even think of doing one of these for this year? After everything that happened? You can't possibly be trying to do your little feel-good writeup!"

Well...you're right. I can't. That's right, State of the Planet is cancelled.

I don't really have to explain why, do I? I have no words to describe this year and I know you don't want to hear them anyway. I understand your anger, your frustration, your sadness, everything you're feeling, I get it.

This wasn't the year you imagined and almost certainly not the one you wanted. Thanks for being there the entire way, and I'll see you next year.

Okay, I'm just kidding. I couldn't do that to you folks, I just wanted to get some more mileage out of a dead meme.

I first started this missive several years ago when I noticed that people were developing a tendency to condense the previous lap around the ol Sun into a series of terrible, horrible, no good very bad events at the expense of anything good that may have happened. I don't know why this was done, maybe as a ways to ensure that the coming year would have to be better by default.

Well...we all saw how that worked out for this year, didn't we?

As you all know I prefer to do things differently. I prefer to go out on a high note and remember all the good things that happened in the past year. If nothing else, I think it helps remind us that as much as we want to bemoan and be pessimistic about the state of our culture, society, civilization and even species, there's plenty of evidence to suggest we're not doing so bad after all.

And even thought it feels like this past year the world went out of its way to teach us some rather harsh lessons, I'm still determined to find something good that happened. So let's take a look back at some of the good things that happened in 2020:

A circumbinary planet was discovered at the TOI 1338 system.

Luxembourg became the first country to make it's public transportation free.

The Bhadla Solar Park became the largest solar park in the world.

The BepiColumbo space probe departed for Venus, en route to an arrival at Mercury in 2025.

A fast radio burst was detected from a Magnetar in the Milky Way, the first time such an event has been detected in the Galaxy.

A team of British and Kenyan scientists discovered a microbe that can block mosquitos from transmitting malaria.

A black hole was discovered in the QV Telescopii system, at 1120 light years away it is the closest known black hole to Earth.

A 425 million year old fossil of a millipede was discovered in Scotland, one of the oldest fossils ever found.

SpaceX launched their Dragon 2 spacecraft on its first crewed missions, the first astronauts to launch from US soil since 2011.

The Perseverance rover was launched to Mars and is expected to touch down in February.

The Barakah nuclear power plant in the UAE became the first operational nuclear power plant in the Arab states.

Wild polio was eradicated from the continent of Africa.

Skeletons of 31 prehistoric animals, including 200 mammoths, were found at a construction site in Mexico City, it was the largest finding of mammoth bones ever.

The 5.37 mile La Linea highway tunnel was opened in Colombia, it's the largest road tunnel in South America.

Kosovo, Serbia, Sudan and Bahrain all decided to normalize their relations with Israel.

Phosphine, a strong predictor of microbiological life, was discovered in the atmosphere of Venus.

Preserved remains of a cave bear were discovered in Siberia.

A 1634 edition of Shakespeare's final play, The Two Noble Kingsman, was discovered at the Royal Scots College's library in Spain.

The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft landed on the asteroid Bennu and collected samples for return to Earth in 2023.

The Falkland Islands were declared free of land mines.

Molecular water was detected near Clavius crater on the Moon.

An AI algorithm called AlphaFold was able to figure out the process of Protein Folding.

The UN commission on Narcotic Drugs removed cannabis from its list of dangerous drugs.

The EU committed themselves to reducing greenhouse emissions by 55% over the next decade.

A Great Conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn occurred, the closest one seen in the night sky since 1226.

Comet NEOWISE passed by the Earth and was the brightest comet in the night sky since Hale-Bopp in 1997.

Among Us became one of the most popular games in the world.

Half Life: Alyx was released, the first Half Life game in 13 years (FINALLY).

Joe Biden was elected as the 46th President of the United States.

Remember all that? Good. Because that's where I'm at.

You, dear reader, are in the future. Perhaps you're reading this in the final hours of 2020, or the first hours of 2021. Or maybe so much time has passed that both those years are now confined to the history books.

Perhaps everything I listed above is not enough to overcome all the bad things that happened this year, and that's a fair assessment. Maybe at the end of the day there's nothing that can overshadow the fact that someone in China who ate the wrong bat resulted in the entire world coming to a stop. If that's your feeling, then I understand completely.

But let the record show that those things did happen. In a year full of chaos and uncertainty and anxiety and dread, there were still moments where we could objectively punch our fists in the air and say "yes!" Even if only for a moment.

So now comes the part where I have to take all the things that we just went through and sum it up in a single word. Usually I don't think about this until the day of, but this time I've actually known for months what I was going to say:

The word is...Goodbye.

It sounds both strange and appropriate at the same time, doesn't it? As we close out this year, as well as this decade (reminder that 2021 is the real start of the next decade) we can look back and realize we've had many experiences. Both positive and negative. Hopefully they were mostly positive, even during this year.

But there is at least one experience we've all shared together, especially in times like these: saying goodbye.

I will confess to you all that I have a hard time saying goodbye. Hell, I don't even like the word. Whenever I end a conversation, I always use some variant of "see you later", since, to me at least, "goodbye" just sounds so final. Though with that said, I will also admit there's some people in this world that I had no problem saying goodbye to, and I don't mean "till we meet again", I mean "get lost." And I'd be lying if I said there weren't some people who felt the same about me, but I digress.

In the last episode of his show, Red Green delivered a monologue about saying goodbye. A monologue that I am now shamelessly ripping off for your reading pleasure. Not just because it's a way to get this done quickly, but because I think what he said is very true.

Red says that when it comes to your good friends and your family, you never really have to say goodbye. Why? Because they're always in your mind. And whenever you think about them, you're together again. I can tell you from experience that works rather well, even when it involves people that I don't want to think about. But even in that instance, where our last interaction was a negative one, I can't help but think back to all the good times we had together, and for a moment I reminisce. It's nice when it happens.

We've all heard the phrase "nothing lasts forever" and we tend to dismiss it as a cliché. But we're still constantly confronted with that reality, even if we never realize it. As Al Pacino said in Any Given Sunday; "When you get old in life, things get taken from you. That's a part of life."

We've all lost things in our lives, and I just don't mean toys that have been sold or people that we love who are no longer on this mortal coil. I'm referring to the moments in our lives where we're forced to accept that our circumstances have permanently changed, and that the way things were can no longer be the way things are. This is why you shouldn't be having kids when you're in your 70's, and no one over the age of 50 should be naked in public.

On a more personal note, this year I got that feeling once again. It's not just because I'm most likely leaving one job behind for another job, but there were things in my personal life that shifted so dramatically that I knew things could never be the same again. And seeing as how, for the most part, I liked how things were, I'd be lying if I said that this change didn't cause me some distress.

But that's all a part of growing up, isn't it? As much as I may cringe about reaching 30 years of life on this Earth, I accept it all the same. Because, if nothing else, it's a reminder that I need to keep moving forward. Is it sad that the good ol days are now just memories and dreams? You're damn right it is. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing, because even if they're not what's happening now, they still did happen. And who knows? Perhaps the days to come will be just as good, if not better. In my opinion, that's something to look forward to.

And the same is true for all of us: if we want to live a happy fulfilling life, we have to keep moving forward. We can reminisce about all the fun we've had in days gone by, but it's just as important to be ready for the days yet to come.

I think that's why New Year's is such a poignant holiday for all of us. It's a tacit acknowledgement that we have to say goodbye to the old, so we can say hello to the new.

And at the risk of making this entry so long that by the time you're finished it will be 2022, I'd like to do that now.

To all the people that have been with me since my early days, thanks so much for all that you've done. I appreciate you sticking it out with me this far and I hope you'll continue to do so for many years to come.

To all the people that I've met recently and have decided to join me on this ride, welcome aboard. We're glad you could make it and we hope you'll stay a while as well.

And finally, to all the people that are no longer here, whether they've merely left my social circle or left this mortal coil altogether, all I can say is that we've had a great run. Whatever our reasons for parting are irrelevant now and I wish you nothing but good fortune in whatever it is you decide to do. Perhaps, God willing, our paths will cross again some day. But even if they don't, I hope that every so often we'll think about each other and smile a bit.

And now I'd like to close with something different. Usually I ask you to comment below with something good that happened to you this year. You're more than welcome to do that. But if you're looking for a change of pace, may I suggest that you close out your 2020 (or open your 2021) by listening to this song from the great Ashleigh Ball and Michelle Creber (yes I know many of you are hoping to leave the Miniature Equines in the past, but I'm hoping you'll permit them one last indulgence).

https://youtu.be/XjkPH6sZM_o

This is the song that inspired me to write this missive (along with the aforementioned Red Green) and as you're listening, I want you to think about all of those you said goodbye to this past decade. Think about all the fond memories you had together and give yourself a smile as the clock strikes midnight. Even if they're not with us today, we still have all the memories of them that no one can take from us, no matter what happens to the world.

And now the time has come for me to end this missive. Let the record show that this was my final word on 2020 as well as my expressed hope for charity, kindness and goodwill to flourish throughout the world in the years to come.

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your hands, if we be friends

.And 2021 shall restore amends.

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chelsfic · 5 years ago

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Trustfall Part 2 - August Walker/Reader - Mission: Impossible Fallout fanfic

Image: Stock image of multiple locks on a door beside an image of Henry Cavill with scruff and mustache and a curly lock of hair falling over his forehead. The Henry pic came up in a Google image search, but I think it should be credited to: @kinghenryviii-i-am

A/N: You’ll notice from some details (references to dollars, stores, elementary school) that this fic is set in the U.S., not in London. I felt it would be more authentic for me to write within my own frame of reference rather than try to manhandle English colloquialisms and such. You can think of it as AU. Or, I can just admit that I’m a bit lazy. Either way I really hope it doesn’t take you out of the plot.

P.S. I’ve never had a plan in my entire life. Somehow, this is the Home Depot episode of Trustfall. Enjoy!

Part One

***

You make up the guest room because that’s what you do when you have a guest. Never mind that the guest is a (former?) terrorist...a double agent and a traitor. Never mind that you don’t strictly want him here and he’s less of a guest and more of a...passive captor. Never mind all that. Making the bed with fresh sheets and putting out clean towels is what you do when you have...a guest.

“So...,” you gesture to the open doorway. The same doorway where you stood frozen, three weeks ago, while he pointed a gun at you. The memory rises like an unwanted specter before your eyes and you need to take a steadying breath before you can go on. “This will be your room. Th-there’s a bathroom attached. The linen closet is just across from you if you need more towels or blankets. I had an extra toothbrush so I put that on the sink for you….a-and the kitchen is downstairs just across from the living room if you g-get hungry…”

You’re rambling and this really is absurd. The bastard may be paying you but there is no reason you have to be nice to him. It’s like your brain is short-circuiting. You hate him for what he did to you and for making you feel scared in your own home. But you’ve never had it in you to seek out conflict when you find it so much simpler to take the high road and be able to live with yourself as a “nice person.” It’s a dysfunction. You should probably see a therapist about it. Or hit him. Maybe you should hit him.

In an effort to assert yourself you add, “And keep out of my room. And my office downstairs. I’m not agreeing to you having access to every inch of my personal space.”

The effort is somewhat diminished when you spy the unreadable, hard expression on his face and tack on a “please” to the end of your demand. Damn it.

“Of course,” Walker smiles and how can it be allowed for him to look so boyish and charming? He’s a criminal! “This is still your home, Y/N.”

You don’t know what to say to that. It sure doesn’t feel that way.

***

It’s amazing how quickly you can become accustomed to the most bizarre changes. Before you know it a week has passed. Walker...August...keeps to himself in his room. He’s gone out a few times, always at odd hours. Sometimes he’s not back yet when you wake up in the morning. But for the most part he’s just...there. All the time.

You’ve spent every night since he came here laying in bed with your hands fisted in the blankets and your eyes locked on your door. His room is just on the other side of your bedroom wall and you can sometimes hear the muffled noises of him moving around at night. So far he’s respected your request that he not invade your space more than necessary but that can’t last, can it? You find yourself mentally reliving those terrible moments. The cold apathy in his eyes as he stood over you. The false concern in his words before he pulled the trigger. Why would he say he was sorry? If he was sorry...if he’d cared he wouldn’t have done what he did.

In the mornings, you feel tired, wrung out. This can’t go on. You’re due back at work on Monday and you can’t teach a class of second graders on no sleep. Friday afternoon you drive to the hardware store and purchase a sliding lock kit for your bedroom door. August is in the kitchen when you get home. He watches you set your bag on the kitchen table and remove the contents.

You look up at him feeling absurdly guilty. You force yourself to square your jaw and look him in the eyes, “It’s for my bedroom...I can’t...I can’t sleep at night.”

August’s eyes flash with emotion before he carefully schools his features. He’s been trying to remain as unobtrusive as possible. For all he manipulated you into this situation he isn’t a sadist--he doesn’t want you to feel afraid. He just doesn’t know what he can possibly do to reassure you.

He nods sensibly and comes over to inspect your purchase. It’s a simple sliding lock like the kind you’d see on a public restroom stall. He picks up the package turning it over in his hands. He’s standing right next to you, looming, and you’re aware again of his massive presence. You can feel the heat of his body and you can smell the scent of him. He smells like fresh soap and gun oil. You’re suddenly aware that he’s wearing casual clothes, a t-shirt and jeans and thick, white socks. The outfit makes him seem so normal, so human. Without your permission you feel your body sway toward him like a mosquito flying toward an electrified lamp. Why are you attracted to something that can hurt you?

“Smart,” he remarks, setting down the package, “but this type of lock won’t do much to keep out someone who’s determined.”

“What?” you ask sharply with a look of suspicion. Surely he must realize the lock is meant to keep out *him.* From the apologetic look he flashes you, you can tell that he does know. So why is he telling you this?

“Why don’t we head back to the store and find something more heavy duty?” he suggests.

***

Walking through Home Depot with August Walker at your side pushing a big, orange shopping cart is surreal. There’s no way you can forget who you’re with either because he draws attention. He’s tall, muscled and striking; people’s eyes are drawn to him like magnets. You wonder how he ever got by working under cover.

He swings down aisle after aisle with a purposeful stride that leaves you nearly tripping over your crutches to keep up. When you reach the aisle with locks, doorknobs and other odds and ends he selects a heavy metal deadbolt from the wall display and tosses it into the cart.

He turns to you, looking doubtful, “Do you have a power drill at home?”

“Err...no,” you reply sheepishly.

He moves on: screws, drill, drill bits, a hole saw. Then he’s leading you to the back of the store and down an aisle lined with different style doors. You hook your hand into the crook of his elbow to slow him down.

“August!” you exclaim, practically out of breath trying to keep up with him. “I don’t need a new door.”

“Yes, you do,” he says simply and turns back to display. He selects a heavy steel door that looks more suitable for a jail cell than your bedroom.

“That’s hideous!” you snort, forgetting your anxiety and nerves.

August huffs out a laugh and shakes his head, “It’s secure.”

When the cashier rings everything up the total comes to over six hundred dollars. You widen your eyes and reach into your pocketbook with trepidation. You just don’t have that kind of extra money. August pulls out his wallet and hands over a stack of hundreds without batting an eye. You stare at him in shock and he just shakes his head as if it’s nothing. You are going to have a talk about household expenses.

***

You watch him hang the new door, greasing the hinges and testing the swing of it opening and closing. You’re perched on the end of your bed and he’s standing in the doorway wearing a tool belt and changing out the bit in his drill to start making the hole for the deadbolt. You let yourself enjoy this bizarre, peaceful moment. Watching him do home repair is so...oddly calming. August could be your handyman or...your husband.

But...he’s not, you remind yourself. No, this man is the reason you need a steel door installed in your bedroom in the first place. The reason you can’t sleep at night, the reason you have nightmares that cause you to wake up with tears in your eyes and a sob in your throat. You can’t--you cannot forget that.

August finishes up installing the lock and the doorknobs. He takes his time tightening the final screws and checking that the lock slides effortlessly into position. As he fiddles with these adjustments he watches you from the corner of his eyes. You’re seated on the bed with your good leg tucked underneath you, chin resting on your palm and paying attention to everything he’s doing. Your posture is looser than he’s seen it since his arrival and he feels a rush of warmth in his chest that he can’t identify.

All he knows is he hates seeing the flash of fear in your eyes every time he catches you unaware. He hates seeing how tired you are in the mornings. And he really, really hates the muffled sounds of sobs that come from your bedroom late at night. He wants you to feel safe again. He knows he robbed you of that feeling. When he came here a week ago it was with the calculating intention of taking advantage of the damage he’d done and forcing you into a position of being at his mercy. But since he’s been living with you and witnessing the consequences of everything he’s done all he feels is an unfamiliar guilt eating away at his stomach and making him feel like worse than vermin.

He swings the door closed and twists the lock into place with a satisfying click. He turns to you with a smile and a feeling of accomplishment that he hasn’t felt in a long time.

“There,” he says, twisting the lock again and opening the door so that you don’t feel trapped with him in your bedroom. “Now you’re safe.”

Tag List:

@thorins-queen-of-erebor @viking-raider @onceuponathreetwoone @angelic-kisses13 @afangirldaydreams

#august walker x reader #august walker imagine #henry cavill imagine #mission: impossible fanfic #chelsfic #henry cavill

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publiccollectors · 5 years ago

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QUARANZINE #96 QUARANZINE #96: Deep Time Chicago. As I reach 100 issues (my stopping point, at least for now), it's clear that if I published 10,000 issues I still probably wouldn't cover nearly all that could be written about this pandemic. Still, the project has been a little short on writings about ecological science and today's zine helps address that lack. Thanks to my friend and issue contact Sara Black and Deep Time Chicago for stepping out of the forest and into print for this issue, which explores the ecological roots of the pandemic and what frogs have to do with what we are experiencing.

Full text: Forest Connection by Deep Time Chicago

Someday we’ll find it The Rainbow Connection The lovers, the dreamers and me

- Kermit the Frog

Forests visibly exclaim connections between beings and systems. Fallen trees open up light in the canopy for abundant new growth. Decaying trees feed the wood-loving mushrooms whose mycelium holds moisture for the mature tree stand. Insects perform the externalized sex-act of plants through cross-pollination. Birds, bats, and frogs feast on those insects and become food for larger mammal species or make abundant waste to enrich the soil with microbes.

For some Chicago folx, the forests have become a place of refuge during the months of shelter-in-place. For others, a full alienation from green spaces has become, or already was, the norm. In the early weeks of shelter-in-place, Deep Time Chicago began to study the ecological roots of the pandemic. Two texts provided the playbook for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): Big Farms Make Big Flu: Dispatches on Influenza, Agribusiness, and the Nature of Science by Rob Wallace and Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen. Both of these works led us to the forest, where the practices of the Anthropocene continue human patterns of disruption to arboreal ecosystems and make a pandemic of this scale inevitable.

Analogous to the canary in the coal mine, frogs are a marquee species, announcing through population collapse that we are in the midst of a mass extinction. The Black-Eyed Tree frog, a real world referent for Kermit the Frog, and a sentinel species in the forests of Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, is nearly extinct due to two anthropogenic stressors: rapid habitat loss from deforestation, and exposure to Chytridiomycosis, a fungal pathogen globally spread through trade of wild amphibians. A pandemic. In the past 30 years, more than 200 frog species worldwide have gone extinct due to this pathogen; 300 more are in rapid decline. The fungus thickens the skin and hinders the absorption of water and oxygen - frogs breathe through their skin - which leads to multiple organ failure. Similarly, in severe cases of COVID-19, human lungs fill with fluid and impair oxygen exchange, leading to multiple organ failure. We need to find the connection.

It turns out that SARS-CoV-2 is also of-the-forest. Not only are forests reservoirs of CO2, they are the safe harbors of diverse species of bacteria and viruses, potentially pathogenic microorganisms that are highly capable and adaptive, with long complex genealogies. Microorganisms hang out in abundant diversity in forest ecologies, but they do not perambulate. They need a host to carry them. Companion species, or reservoir hosts, which could be bats, mosquitoes, gorillas, rats, or frogs, live comfortably with pathogens without any adverse effects, even with viruses as deadly to humans as HIV (AIDS), H1N1 (Spanish Flu), or SARS-CoV-2.

Our most dangerous interactions with these microbes come from continued forest disturbances by humans, which send previously symbiotic microbial balances into new species contact. Deforestation for industrial scale agriculture or timber extraction puts immense pressure on wild animals already compromised through increased habitat loss. Local populations, in search of resources, hunt or subsistence farm in greater territory ranges. Reservoir species that may carry a virus without harm are increasingly likely to come into contact with domestic species such as pigs, poultry, horses or even humans. When a viral pathogen enters a new species, it is called a spillover. When a pathogen jumps, the spillover species can also act as an amplifier of the disease, rendering it even more deadly.

Industrially farmed chickens and hogs are excellent amplifiers, as they are packed into confined spaces where cross transmission is easy and immunity is low. When a virus, fungus, or bacterium reaches humans, it is well poised to travel on trucks, ships or planes, whether we are an infected biological vector or carrying the pathogen on commodified goods. With Chytridiomycosis, humans carried the pathogen around the globe on commodified frog species; in the case of SARS-CoV-2, we are carrying it within us.

Amidst the suffering born of COVID-19, we naturally speak a great deal about possible responses and seek to assign blame. We look to medicine and government for containment, treatment, and the hope of a vaccine. When seeking causes, the appearance of this virus is treated as “novel”, a surprise, a natural disaster, or politicized through conspiratorial frameworks of lab-engineered bioweapons and xenophobia. But we are not separate from the ecosystems we decimate. We are accountable for how these microbes are spread. These wild beings and these forests are here now, in our communities and in our bodies. Someday very soon, like today, we had better find the connection.

#QUARANZINE #Deep Time Chicago #Public Collectors #Marc Fischer #coronavirus #covid-19 #frogs #zine #zines #Publications #RISO #one-page zine

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rooksilver · 5 years ago

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I spent half an hour writing a well-researched, geniunely high-quality, 800-word dissertation of the scientifics of a vampire bite and simply because of the sheer amount of effort I put into it, I’m sharing it with you. Copied and pasted, because that’s harder to ignore than a link. I demand to be seen.

The Scientific Components of a Vampire Bite

A Dissertation

Most people have heard the legend of the vampire. A mythological creature that attacks unsuspecting victims, sinks its fangs into their neck, drinks their blood, and transforms them into a vampire as well. The creature appears in legends as early as Ancient Egypt and China. It is a well-known story and the vampire, to this day, is a feared creature. However, I suspect that vampire attacks may not go as smoothly as the myths depict. In this essay, I will analyse the necessary components for a vampire to realistically drink blood and the possible effects of this, including comparisons to other blood-drinking animals, such as mosquitos and certain species of bat.

First, we must address the vampire itself. Its primary food source being blood, it must be equipped with the physical properties to acquire it. An obvious example is its fangs, used for puncturing human skin to reach the arteries below. However, is this the only biological trait it possesses to feed itself? I believe not. To be able to successfully feed on a human being’s blood, it would be necessary for the vampire to have access to an anticoagulant, to allow the it to drink. As the fabled high success rate of vampires must be due to evolutionary success, the anticoagulant must in fact be present in a vampire bite. But where?

To answer this question, we consult other areas of nature, looking for animals with similar food sources and adaptations. The idea that comes quickly to mind is of the mosquito—a small long-legged fly that feeds, among other things, on mammalian blood. How does the mosquito overcome this biological hurdle? When inserting its proboscis to reach the blood, mosquitos inject a small amount of anti-coagulant, in the form of saliva, into its prey to prevent the blood from clotting, allowing it to easily drink. However, this anticoagulant has other effects. When the human immune system detects the mosquito’s anticoagulant, it gives off a reaction intended to flush out the foreign substance. This causes the bite to swell slightly and itch.

Another animal with an extremely similar diet is the vampire bat. Immediately, we notice the similarities in the names. Indeed, the vampire bat was named after its similar biological disposition with the mythical creature—it, not unlike the mosquito, feeds primarily on mammalian blood. Although it mainly preys on livestock such as cattle, it will, given the opportunity, bite a human being. Once again showing similarities to the mosquitos, it too injects an anticoagulant into its victim’s bloodstream. On the rare occasions where the vampire bat feeds on human blood, the human being’s immune system reacts similarly as when reacting to a mosquito bite—the bite will swell and itch.

So, with such solid scientific evidence, it is fairly logical to assume that vampires use the same method, injecting anticoagulant into their victim through their fangs. However, that raises an interesting question, one worthy of our attention—what effects does this anticoagulant have on the human body? As seen in the earlier examples, when the human immune system detects foreign substances, it reacts to flush out the intruder, in the form of swelling and itching. There is no reason for it not to do the same with anticoagulants injected by vampires. However, as vampire bites are much larger than mosquito or bat bites, it is likely that the effects will also be largely magnified, making for an extremely uncomfortable, itchy swelling on the side of the victim’s neck.

Another question that comes to mind when considering this new insight on vampire bites is, where would the anticoagulant be stored in the vampire’s body? Once again, we turn to the examples of vampire bata and mosquitos for answers. In both animals, the anticoagulant is created in its body in the form of saliva. We are therefore inclined to believe that vampires do the same, generating anticoagulants in the saliva glands, an interesting side note to our thesis.

The entire thesis, however, can be challenged by a simple concept—if a vampire bite transforms a human being into a vampire, would these effects still take place? Well, according to legend, a vampire cannot eat any human food. If one were to do so, it would fall immediately ill, with symptoms including vomiting. This implies that vampires do in fact have immune systems, one which violently rejects any foreign substances. Therefore, it is safe to say that a bitten human-turned-vampire would still have itching and swelling reactions to their bite.

In conclusion, a vampire bite is not the terrifying, smoothly-executed operation as depicted in myths, but in fact an common natural process with an extremely uncomfortable aftermath. Furthermore, biological parallels with other animals, such as the well-known vampire bat and common mosquito, hints that the existence of vampires may not be as improbable as previously thought.

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siliquasquama · 5 years ago

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COVID-19 and the Epidemiology of Zoonotic Disease in Relationship to Modern Human Industry: Educated Guesses from an Amateur’s Brief Research

Wikipedia's basic description of the SARS-COV-2 says that while bats are the most likely natural reservoir, the genome of the virus as it exists in bats is just different enough from the human strain that there was probably an intermediate host between bats and humans. In other words, the virus probably did not come from people EATING bats, nor purchasing bats from the market, but perhaps it did come from going to the market to purchase bats for eating.

I find Wikipedia's explanation plausible because of an article I read on Chuangchn.org, which asserts that we get epidemics when an expansion of human activity into wild microbial reservoirs allows certain viruses to hit crowded populations with low immunity, be they livestock feedlots or slums full of severely stressed humans. Normally those reservoirs have buffers against infecting humans because of a great genetic variety among the wildlife, such that any one strain can only spread so far; as modern capitalism steadily reduces the size and genetic variety of wild populations, their attendant microbial parasites have fewer barriers against reaching humans.

So you get one virus running into, say, a vast pen of cattle, and as the cattle have no immunity, the virus faces very little selection pressure that would force a greater genetic variety. Instead the selection pressure is to spread as fast as possible, which means to grow as fast as possible, and the faster a virus grows, the more strain it places on the host, so within a short time the virus goes from benign to deadly.

And so you tend to get epidemics coming close on the heels of major capitalistic shifts in the concentration of living creatures. English outbreaks came in the era when they began to enclose their cattle in pens; the Spanish Flu started in the pigs of a Kansas stockyard shortly following the rise of American industrialized agriculture.

Admittedly these viral outbreaks can occur with direct human incursions into the wild, either by incorporating wild animals into modern markets or simply pushing industrialism into wild areas. Ebola seems to have appeared first in the 1970s with an English-owned cotton mill operation that planted itself in the central African jungle and occurred again every time that sort of industrialism increased its presence in the area. Likewise HIV is said to have come from humans eating "bushmeat", which is any manner of monkey meat, as if humans had not been doing such a thing before, so that they had no immunity to what they found within those animals -- maybe, then, they were going after bushmeat because their usual food sources were out of reach? Oh, wouldn't it be interesting if HIV and Ebola came from the same damn cotton mill!

This is not the case. According to the Chuangchn article, Ebola was first recorded in 1976 where the most common strain of HIV appears to come from early-20th-century Kinshasa, or should I say Leopoldville, the capital of the Belgian Congo and centerpoint for a great deal of environmental degradation and societal upheaval through modern capitalism. Bushmeat had been a common food source for a long time, with Simian Immunodefficiency Virus being endemic in wild primates. People used to catch SIV all the time. They resisted it well and fast enough that it could never spread from human to human. Then Leopoldville created a world where increased prostitution could spread syphilis more quickly, such that the ulcers which present the greatest danger of transferring SIV were all over the place, and SIV was now able to jump from one person to another fast enough to mutate into HIV.

Now as for Ebola and HIV, both of those diseases are more deadly than the diseases that seem to come from livestock concentration. One of them is a hundred percent fatal, the other fifty percent without treatment. Likewise the source of the Black Plague was Central or East Asian rodents moving into human agricultural areas due to climate change, and the disease itself appears to have an untreated mortality rate of thirty to sixty percent if bubonic, one hundred percent if pneumonic or Septicimic -- as if a wild microbe that hits human populations without an intermediary host is invariably more deadly than one that arises out of the intermediary host.

That's assuming the Plague hit humans directly through people eating gerbils in the manner of people eating Bushmeat to catch SIV, and that neither rats nor fleas were the intermediate host where the bacteria could go from benign to virulent. To compare the Black Plague to Ebola is also to conflate the behavior of viruses with bacteria. I do not know if they would react to certain selection pressure the same way.

All I know is that these microbes which become dangerous among crowded livestock seem to have a lower, or perhaps slower, mortality rate than the ones which develop from direct wild-to-human transfer. The zoonotic diseases that humans are supposed to have picked up from livestock at the beginning of human-animal domestication -- Tuberculosis, Smallpox, Cowpox, Glanders, Escheria Coli, and so forth -- generally have a much lower mortality rate than Ebola, with only Smallpox reaching the untreated mortality rate of the Black Plague --

In populations already exposed to the disease, at any rate. For virgin populations such as the entire Western Hemisphere circa 1492, the untreated mortality rate was something even Ebola could not match. It may simply be that the zoonotic diseases livestock herders are familiar with are less deadly because their most dangerous strains burned themselves out tens of thousands of years ago. In that sense, the only real difference between zoonotic diseases incubating in livestock and those hitting humans directly would be the novelty, where these wild diseases, being invariably new to us, have not yet burned through enough people to create a selection pressure towards less fatal strains.

One might argue that Rabies has been known for many thousands of years and remains as deadly as it ever was, and is a very good example of how dangerous a virus can be when it infects humans directly from the wild. But the fact that Rabies spreads though biting means that it's not viral in the same way as most other diseases. Despite the fact that the virus itself has an evolution rate similar to any other RNA virus, it doesn't have the transmission rate of most other RNA viruses, so I would expect that its effective rate of evolution is much too slow to force it into something less deadly.

In point of fact, of the seven major species in the Lyssavirus family, nearly all of them follow the same pattern as Rabies: bats as a wild reservoir, human transmission through biting, fatal if untreated, human transmission extremely rare. Only Mokola Virus is endemic in mammal populations like the Rabies we know, and then only in South Africa; as it has the possibility of being transferred by Mosquitoes, it may have a much shorter time scale for selection pressure than any other Lyssavirus and, as it happens, one of the two humans who contracted the disease recovered. Nor do the cats infected with Mokola Virus exhibit unprovoked aggression in the manner of Rabies. While all these strains appear to have evolved within the last 1500 years, only Mokola Virus appears to face enough selection pressure to evolve into a milder form. For the rest, they still run wild, and it will be a long, long time before they settle down.

Rabies remains deadly for being new in comparison to its evolutionary time scale, and HIV remains deadly for being new in relation to its own time scale, and Ebola remains deadly for being new in general, where livestock-zoonotic diseases have been facing more intense selection pressure for quite a while longer than these diseases direct from the wild. We're all virgin populations for Ebola, Rabies, and HIV like the Western Hemisphere was a virgin population for Smallpox. That's a more prosaic explanation for this discrepancy than some aspect of livestock that makes their epidemics less deadly...

Especially since James Gallagher at the BBC News says HIV is already adapting into a slightly less deadly form as it gets used to human immune systems.

And yet the initial outbreak of SARS in 2003 was entirely novel, it came from a wild vector and its case fatality rate was an average of nine percent. That looks like a case of a novel wild virus with direct transfer being much less than fatal. Palm Civets, there you go, there's the vector, right? Except that these palm civets were in the wild-animal MARKET, and the virus itself has a wild reservoir in bats, so if the civets were shoved in close together like any livestock then the disease would have developed within their population just the same as if they were all pigs. I can't say that SARS was a direct transfer from the wild.

As for this Novel Coronavirus...while Hubei does a lot of livestock operations but the pandemic has been traced to Wuhan's Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which also sells lots and lots of wild animals, quite similar to the meat market in Guandong where the 2003 SARS came from. As I imagine it, the virus started from one bat, incubated among wild animals crowded together, and developed in just the same way as 2003 SARS.

The fact that the virus appears to have a low variability among known genomic sequences stands in marked contrast to HIV, which has a great deal of genetic variability in its many subtypes, and Ebola, which is an entire genus of viruses, as well as the aforementioned seven species of Lyssavirus, of which Rabies is but one part. It is as if this novel Coronavirus hit a crowded population just once and took off from there, facing, as I said, no selection pressure to force genetic variety, where viruses picked up directly from the wild have competed against their wild hosts a long time before ever reaching humans.

I imagine the scenario as follows:

1. A living landscape in its proper state has a great deal of genetic variety among its multicelled organisms.

2. This variety creates an evolutionary selection pressure in their attendant microbial populations, which means these microbial populations will have a degree of genetic diversity matching the macrobial popluation.

3. Humans pushing their industry into these areas for the first time reduce the genetic diversity of the area, thereby reducing the diversity of immune responses, and letting certain microbes spread farther.

4. At the same time, humans pushing industry into these areas are coming across populations of wild microbes that still have a high degree of genetic diversity.

5. Humans doing the grunt work in this industrial push have many opportunities for contact with this population of wild microbes through direct contact with wild animals.

6. Wild microbes enter the human population with multiple strains, be they subtypes or whole species, where a wild microbe hitting a stockyard first would be only one or a very few strains.

7. Having a high degree of genetic variety from the start, they have much more chance to compete against human immune systems than the intermediary-incubated epidemics, so they are invariably more damaging to their human host.

8. By the same token, they cannot be endemic among human populations like the diseases that grew out of microbes hitting livestock operations, because as they have survived within wild macrobial populations that resist them well, they are optimized for surviving within a host and against virulence. Their methods of human-to-human transfer, be it saliva, sexual intercourse, or skin contact, have a low rate of success compared to the livestock-incubated diseases.

See for example Leprosy, which appears to have a wild reservoir in Red Squirrels, does terrible things to its victims, and...is not very contagious between humans.

The existence of Cholera complicates this picture because it is an incredibly deadly disease like Ebola, and it seems to be endemic to human populations, in contrast to Ebola which disappears until industry expands into the jungle again. And it is extremely virulent, without having a stealthy effect on humans. How does Cholera win the epidemic jackpot? By having its wild microbial reservoir in water. Water contaminated with fecal matter causes zooplankton to pick up the bacteria; oysters then eat the zooplankton; humans eat the oysters, and get sick; suddenly they’re contaminating the water with their own fecal matter and the disease is living free in the local water for a while, and everyone else gets it. Cholera is unusual for having a wild reservoir that is invariably close to human habitation, such that it remains endemic without becoming any less wild. Let us say, then, that Cholera is not endemic to humans, but is endemic to a source so close to them that it might as well be. It comes in waves, because it comes on the waves.

Perhaps not so unusual. There is a land-based wild reservoir that resembles that of Cholera. Once upon a time, there was once another extremely virulent and deadly disease in the manner of Cholera, called the English Sweating Sickness. It killed its victims in the space of hours, and had outbreaks from 1485 to 1551. The most likely source was a strain of Hantavirus with a wild reservoir in rodents. Like the schools of wild fish, its reservoir was constantly interacting with human populations, as rodents broke into human food stores. English Sweating Sickness has never been seen again, but Hantaviruses remain quite dangerous, enough so that a discovery of mouse droppings in a human space demands immediate and thorough cleanup.

I find it telling that the aforementioned article mentions this English Sweating Sickness coming in a time of agricultural and social upheaval. I also find it telling that Wikipedia attributes the first major recorded Cholera epidemic to increased commerce, pilgrimage and migration. Just like folks in China hitting the SARS viruses, eh? Wuhan’s meat market has a bunch of wild animals to sell because people are running into them more, as they push capitalist industry further into wild spaces. So those wild microbes hit populations that are tailor-made for turning a virus into an epidemic. These wild reservoirs are somewhat dangerous on their own, as Rabies and Lyme Disease will tell. You can walk in the forest without fear of breathing them in, as long as you avoid getting bit by anything. But to destroy their habitats, to reduce the genetic diversity of those places, so that there's less buffer between the viruses and us, just for the sake of making more money faster, well...that’s when these critters get into our lungs.

It’s the interface of an increase in Intensive Industrialism with Wilderness that does the trick.

As I live in the Northeast United States, in the foothills of the northern Appalachian Mountains, I and all my friends deal with this every damn summer when we have to worry about Deer Ticks. Those didn’t become a problem until people shoved their big suburban houses up against the woods just as they were coming back, and in the new forest with new deer populations there were no wolves, so there’s deer everywhere and there are deer ticks everywhere. Lyme Disease gets into a person and it never goes away on its own, but gums up your joints and wears you down over the years if left untreated. Call it the AIDS of New England. Human immune systems can’t handle AIDS nor Lyme Disease, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Lyme Disease is yet another virus direct from the woods.

Supposedly Poison Ivy comes from the same issue, for as people shove their houses up against the woods they create more of the edge-forest area where Poison Ivy thrives.

It’s that edge that does it. The edge between Industry and Wilderness, that’s where the world boils and roils and spits out hot stuff like someone put too much oil in the fry pan. Edge environments always have the most activity in the first place even if they’re All Natural. Continental shelves, forest edges, river banks, lake shores, swamps, salt marshes, whatever the biologists will call an Ecotone. That’s where the living world boils and roils, as the creatures of one biome meet another. If Intense Human Industry barges into the place and smashes it up without an ounce of caution -- well, the results are like someone smashing a fist into a frypan of simmering oil.

“That’s what you get for messing with the Wilderness!” cry the Eco-facists and all the folks who think humans are a disease upon the earth. “Mother Gaia takes her revenge! So there!”

And there I come to the one part of Chuangchn’s article that I really disagree with. The author thinks that we’re Losing The Wilderness. But I don’t think we’ve ever really had any. Not Wilderness with a capital W, at any rate. Humans have been significant shapers of the living landscape for tens of thousands of years. Our species has been fairly well integrated with the world and highly influential, a lot like beavers making ponds all across northeast North America. In the same time period as beavers, humans were setting enough small fires in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico to be a bigger factor for forest fires than the climate was. Likewise the Amazon Rainforest that we think of being a Pristine Landscape Untouched By The Hand Of Man was actually shaped by centuries of human activity. Humans made all the terra preta that you can find throughout the rainforest. Hard to believe that they could make fertile soil without livestock! I will leave you to guess of where that manure came from.

Indeed, to speak of "wilderness" implies that we are separate from the world, and it is this mindset that leads us to set aside certain areas as Natural Pristine Beauty and then pave over everything around them. Both lands are thus diminished by the desire for Purity. If we were willing to incorporate the rest of living world, letting it live and grow with our influence but not our destruction, as once we used to, such that the genetic variety of the world was not reduced -- perhaps then we would not have these epidemics after all. It is not that we need to Preserve The Wilderness so much as we need to become part of the world again.

As it is, capitalism prefers that this does not happen, because it means a slower increase in personal wealth for the select people holding all the money. Capitalism does not live and let live. It cannot. The system wants more, more, more, faster and faster. To clarify: certain people holding all the money want more, more, more, faster and faster. There is no place they would let alone if they could make lots of money off it soon, nor any place they would let make money slowly when it could make money quickly. So you see people choosing to strip-mine a place instead of sell tickets for river rafting.

This was never necessary, except to serve the greed for personal wealth and power. And yet, was it even necessary for that? The Empire of the Incans functioned without money or markets, as did every civilization for thousands of years, until someone invented coinage around the 600s BCE. Plenty of wealth and power to be had without coins, surely! The real value of money is liquidity and speed, and some people want their fortune Now. Maybe it’s the Greed For Speed that makes the difference between the power-grabbing of an aristocrat and the power-grabbing of a merchant.

And so as we alter the landscape too fast it cannot adapt in time, and suffers greatly.

We see the results in one epidemic after another. It’s not Gaia’s Revenge; it’s just the fallout of us setting things up to make a virus’s happy accident our unhappy accident, time and again.

#Coronavirus #covid-19 #epidemic #epidemiology #capitalism #if I was a real researcher this thing would have taken me a week and it would be closer to the mark #as it is it took a day #but I have done my best from the sources I could find #I have tried to make sure that my educated guesses are reasonable and well-supported #such that this essay will contribute to your understanding of the issue #instead of leading you astray #make of it what you will

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